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Speaking of "Bak Kut Teh", which in Chinese is 肉骨茶. A friend who lives in Malaysia had sent me a package of Bak Kut Teh seasoning. I followed the instructions and used it to make the dish. It is pretty tasty. I have an impression that it is quite similar to the Lo Shui (master sauce) in mainstream Chinese cooking. The result broth (or liquid) seems a bit salty. I did not keep it. Then... I feel like a complete idiot... My friend asked me if I drank the "Teh" (tea) from Bak Kut Teh! And I had to tell her the truth... Questions: What is the essence of Bak Kut Teh? Is it in the meat you cook with the seasoning? Or is it in the "sauce" (tea) itself? Or is it both? Is the broth/sauce/liquid supposed to be salty? If not, I must have done something wrong. Why is it called "Teh" (茶) when there is no tea leaves involved? (or maybe I didn't make it properly). What is the proper etiquette of eating/drinking this dish?

The Chinese soymilk skins can be one of: 鲜竹, 腐竹, 枝竹, or 甜竹 depends on which is used for cooking. Most likely it's 鲜竹. See my old post for explanations on the differences: Seen Jook, Foo Jook, soya bean derivatives, Membranes of soya bean congee

Lemongrass does not soften regardless of how long it's cooked. Chopping it into fine shreds makes it easy to eat without noticing. In Vietnamese BBQ, lemongrass is used to marinate pork and beef slices, along with garlic and fish sauce. The taste is excellent! Haven't had any lamb in Vietnamese restaurants. Not sure if they cook lamb at all.

Picture: Chinese name: 南乳吊燒雞 English name: Cantonese Roast Chicken Category: Cantonese dinner entree, Poultry Description: Whole chicken rubbed with nam yu (red fermented bean curd), five spices and salt, then hung and roasted until skin is crispy. Chopped into pieces when served. Condiment: Ground raw garlic and ginger mix. (Offered at: Won Kee Seafood Restaurant (408-955-9666), Milpitas, CA, USA)

Lemongrass (香茅), while common in Southeast Asian cookings (e.g. Vietnamese), is not typically used in traditional Chinese recipes. Yesterday, I saw Dejah's crab dish which used lemongrass: Cooking crabs using lemon grassy I have one of my own recipes which uses lemongrass: Chicken with Lemongrass and Black Bean Sauce (香茅豉汁鸡) I saw an episode of "Yeung Can Cook" last Saturday. He used lemongrass to make a "Hot and Sour Soup", which is more of a morph between Thai and Chinese. I am wondering: is lemongrass used more and more in main stream Chinese cooking? Have you ever used lemongrass and blend it in with traditional Chinese recipes? How do you like the result? Do you use lemongrass in whole stalks or chop them up in fine grains? What dishes are good with additions of lemongrass?

Wonderful! Great pictures! What are summer rolls made of? The last item: how was your wrap prepared? Steamed? Fried? Scallops can easily fall apart. Did they hold up?

Fantastic! Save some for me please! Oh, no, seafood cannot last... Looks like I am not the only one who cooks with lemongrass in this forum!

True. But the original post said people were afraid of these crabs. What I am not clear is whether they were afraid of the crabs because the crabs destroyed the crops, or they were afraid to eat these crabs thinking the crabs carried disease. If they thought the crabs carried disease, then they defintely would not eat them. Perhaps it's because they have not experienced crabs cooked with ginger and green onions and oyster sauce! Yum! I can eat that everyday...

I am sorry. I was only kidding when I posted my note. (Note the "6 days 7 nights" thing... theme from the Harrison Ford/Anne Hache movie). Who can eat out and get stuffed for 7 nights straight? But if there is indeed such an event exists (round the North America), San Francisco may qualify as a destination too.

I think we should have a MOE (Member Organized Event) to meet in Vancouver for an annual 6-days/7-nights gathering. Just to eat!

Yeah, the low roof may catch on fire too from the flame when you dash in cooking wine into the burning wok. I just saw an episode of "Yeung Can Cook" yesterday. He visited some restaurant kitchens in Taipei. The burners they showed looked very much like yours in picture #3. Looks really like the after-burner on a F-15 jet!

jo-mel: Huo is just a surname with no special meaning. (Like mine: Leung has no special meaning). The word Qu in use is a transitive verb, means "to get rid of". So his name means "to get rid of sickness". I have used Google last night to search based on 霍去病 and 蟹. There were many documents returned. But of the dozens that I scanned through, none of them tied Huo to eating crabs. I can't quite understanding this legend... whether it's the famer losing the crops because there were too many crabs, or the farmer were afriad of eating crabs because they thought the crabs carried disease? If it is the former case, why not just kill the crabs (not have to eat them)?

All measurements of sauces and spices in the receipes match with the serving suggestions and the amount of meat and other ingredients used. It is just that I use a small plate of Chinese design to pose the final photograph, it doesn't hold all the food. I just don't want the readers to think that 3 pieces of chicken breasts would come out as just one small plate! LOL! I don't like those jarred Black Pepper Sauces either. I don't think they do it right - even with the LKK brand name. There other "Black Pepper Something" dishes that you had in restaurants are mostly fermented black bean base with black pepper added. Since I bought this small pepper grinder, I wouldn't even go back to the ready-ground black pepper!

I just read this 3-year old post about Cantonese food by Toby. Very nicely written for those who have not read it: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=124374

infernooo: That is a very nice burner! It matches your name! I envy you. I hope your kitchen fan can handle the extra fume generated by cooking with this thing. Wherever I live, I always have to replace the regular kitchen fan with the Taiwanese made kitchen fan specially designed for Chinese cooking.

#25 Chicken Stir-fried with Butter and Black Pepper (黑椒牛油雞丁)

Chicken Stir-fried with Butter and Black Pepper (黑椒牛油雞丁) Butter in Chinese cooking? Well, not in traditional recipes. I have been to a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant in Garden Grove, California. They offer a dish named "House Special Chicken". They wouldn't tell me what the "House Special" sauce is made of, but the taste of butter and black pepper is unmistakable. I have since come up with my own version of Chicken Stir-fried with Butter and Black Pepper. The result is very nice. This dish is very light. It doesn't use any heavy sauces as in traditional Chinese recipes except a small amount of light soy sauce. Picture of the finished dish: Serving suggestion: 3 to 4 The main ingredients: (Clockwise from the top right) 3 pieces of chicken breast, about 2 pounds. Fresh black pepper (or use ground black pepper). 1 small chili. 1/4 of a stick of butter (one stick is 1/4 of a pound). 5 to 6 stalks of green onions. 4 to 5 cloves of garlic (not shown). Preparations: Trim the fat off the chicken breasts. Dice the chicken meat into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes. To marinate the chicken meat: Use 2 tsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of freshly grinded black pepper, a pinch of salt (suggest 1/4 tsp or to taste), 1 - 2 tsp of light soy sauce, 2 tsp of Shao Hsing cooking wine, 1 - 2 tsp of corn starch. Add all ingredients to a small mixing bowl. Mix all ingredients. Set aside for at least 20 minutes before cooking. Meanwhile, trim off the ends of the green onions. Chop into 1/4 inch pieces. Peel and mince 4 to 5 cloves of garlic. Slice about 1/2 of a small jalapeno chili. Use about 1/4 of a stick of butter (about 3 tblsp), cut into slices. Cooking Instructions: Velvet the chicken meat first. Heat up a pan/wok on the stove (set at high). Add 3 tblsp of cooking oil. Add chicken cubes. Cook for a few minutes until all chicken meat barely turns white (slightly undercooked). Remove from pan. Start with a clean pan. Stove set at high. Add 2 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil starts fuming. Add butter. It would quickly melt. Add minced garlic and sliced chili. Add 1/4 tsp of salt. Divide the chopped green onions into 2 portions. Add only the white portion of the green onions into the pan. Grind another 1 tsp of fresh black pepper onto the mixture. Dash in 1 to 2 tsp of white vinegar. Add about 4 to 5 tblsp of chicken broth, and 1 tsp of sugar. Bring the mixture to a quick boil. Use some corn starch slurry (suggest 1/2 tsp with 1 tsp of water) to thicken the sauce a little bit. Re-add the chicken into the mixture. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Before removing the chicken from the pan, dash in 1 tsp of light soy sauce and add the remaining portion of chopped green onions. Stir well. Finished. The finished dish. Grind some more fresh black pepper on top if desired. The quantity made in this recipe is a bit more than twice the portion shown in this picture.

TP: Fantastic pictures!!! On the Steamed Talipia Teochew Style: Is it cooked the same way as what you showed us (steaming pomfrets)? The fish seems to be immersed in broth, is that right? Do you know what ingredients there are in this dish? I see tofu, and what seems to be choy poh (preserved daikon turnip)?

Project: Chopping Chicken Whole 1.0.1 Lay drop cloth around kitchen area. Protect cupboard. 1.0.2 Lay newspaper on the center of floor, a 4ft by 4ft area. 1.0.3 Locate chopping block. Place on top of newspaper. 1.1.1 Locate cleaver. Check edge. Sharpen if necessary (see 1.1.1A) 1.1.1A (Alternate plan) Locate grind stone. If cannot be found, use file (See 1.1.1AA) 1.1.1AA (Alternate alternate plan) Try to locate the file in garage. ..... ..... prasantrin: don't worry too much for not having whole chickens. I cook many Chinese dishes that call for whole chickens with just chicken breasts. My wife is a "pure white meat" person. You just adjust for the cooking time. White meat cooks faster and is not as tolerating as dark meat from overcooking. The meat is a little bit rough without the protection of the skin. That's the trade off. Cook the whole breast. Cut up into pieces with a chef knief when ready to serve.

Nope. You don't want to know... Food coloring.

Another recipe that uses nam yu (red fermented bean curds): Stir-Fried Lotus Roots with Dry Conpoy and Hairy Moss Fungi (連年發財: 瑤柱發菜炒蓮藕)

Fabulous pictures! This is a very good example of how tofu and gluten can be used to substitute for meat in many Chinese dishes. Chinese monks eat a lot of tofu. Jason: One suggestion that I have is to season the tofu first before mixing with the mustard greens to make the filling. (e.g. with sesame oil, light soy sauce and ground white pepper?)

I used to have difficulties keeping dry ingredients last after the sealed plastic package is opened. For example, wolfberries will turn brown and lose their flavor over time. "Golden needles" (Dry lily buds) will turn brown, then dark brown over time. Whole spices (star anise, clove, etc.) will lose their fragrance over time. Some ingredients may even turn moldy (e.g. dry oysters). I know the best method to store these ingredients is using air-tight jars. But these nice jars with sealed lids are selling at over US$5.00 a piece. I would need to buy a lot of them. The costs add up. Here is a trick that I deployed recently: save some of the empty glass jars from your sauces or drinks. The jars that I like to use most are the ones containing oysters, spaghetti sauce and Ovaltine because of their straight wall design. Wash and air dry these empty glass jars. Put the dry ingredients in the jars. To these jars air-tight, I just use some clean plastic bags from grocery stores. Fold it up maybe 2 to 3 times to increase the thickness. Lay the plastic bags on top of the jar openings, then close the lids. Shut tight. The plastic bags serve as a gasket. They effectively seal off any cracks between the lid and the jar. Use a pair of scissors to trim off the excess plastics hanging over the edge. The dry ingredients can be kept much longer without degrading inside air-tight jars.

Picture: Chinese name: 蒜子魚腩煲, or 紅燒魚腩豆腐煲, or 斑球豆腐煲 English name: Braised Fish with Roast Pork in Garlic Sauce, or Cod Filet with Tofu in Clay Pot Category: Cantonese dinner entree, Clay Pots Description: Cod filets, tofu (with skin deep-fried first), a few pieces of roast pork and whole garlic braised in a clay pot with sauce made from oyster sauce and soy sauce. (Offered at: Won Kee Seafood Restaurant (408-955-9666), Milpitas, CA, USA)

Oh, you definitely have to swing you arm up and sway the cleaver down to chop. The momentum - by the heavy weight of the cleaver and your arm swinging motion - along with the sharp edge is what cut the chicken bone clean, without crushing. The chopping block is important too. The best is the soft kind where it absorb the pounding. If you chop chicken on the modern white plastic boards the result is not as good.