Gastro888
-
Posts
1,339 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by Gastro888
-
-
Hey, dudette888!
If you go traditional CNY, it might be a very enjoyable, educational dining experience for your non-Chinese dinner guests, yes? At which restaurant will this spectacular banquet be held?
Just nosy
spaghetttti girl!
I agree with you. After reading this post I'm leaning towards a traditional menu with the glowing narrative. (Yes, you buff and debonair 'fei-jai' I'm referring to you.
)Mark's Duck House! Everyone's all over the DC area and MD restaurants aren't as good as the VA ones (well, for Cantonese, IMHO...except for Oriental East's dim sum) and it's a good location.
My fear is that the sea cucumber will go to waste as I know some people are texture phobic. Anything squishy and they go ick. Baaaah.
-
(To top it off, she was mean to me! She called me fat at the dinner table! This could explain why she didn't know good food...)
She called you fei mui? LOL. Sorry, but that's how people in Hong Kong are - very blunt (to put it mildly). It surprised me when I first moved here. I was in a restaurant where there was a rather chubby waiter (not American-size chubby, though, Chinese-size chubby). A customer yelled out "fei jai!" and the waiter immediately turned to him. He didn't look at all offended.
Oh, I know Chinese people are blunt as heck and lack a social fliter. I'm guilty of that but some of our people need to be schooled!
It was worse than that...we were eating at her house (it was the one of the worst meals I ever had in anyone's house. She is a horrible cook...nothing was edible. (She made this curry taro root dish and didn't cut up the taro root. It as a big circle of taro root sitting in bitter curry...about 6 inches across) and I was eating my bowl of rice and some mushrooms (the only edible thing on the table) and she commented that I was eating so little. Everyone else knew it was b/c the food was horrible and my former bf told his aunt that oh, she just eats small meals throughout the day that's all. Her response?
"Well, no wonder she's so fat."
It took all my hometraining not to fling my ricebowl at her face. (And I was a US size 8 then) Everyone was shocked at what she said. Don't get me started on how the rest of that trip went...
Sorry!! Tangent, tangent, tangent.
-
spaghetttti - Haw Flakes! Woo hoo!
OOH! They are the best.
I love preserved lemon peel. Yum. (Wait, does that count as candy?)
-
I'm sorry!!!! A thousand pardons, spaghetttti!!!!
For sure we'll hit Palena next time you're in town!
But you'll have to work out before hand. Have mercy, I think I ate my caloric limit for the week tonight!
-
As for chopsticks, how do y'all like yours? Bamboo, laquer, metal? Round, square?
Me, I prefer the bamboo type that are round with tapered ends. The square ones are ok. The thinner the better. We have some black bamboo chopsticks at home. My parents use them but for me, I would rather not since I have a choice.
The laquered ones are lovely but for some reason food tastes best to me with bamboo chopsticks. Peasant girl roots...you can take the girl out of the rice paddy but...
-
But it's always a good sign when I'm on a date and I see the guy I'm with can use chopsticks.
Yep! I should've know this one date was trouble when he was crossing his chopsticks as he was picking up sushi...
-
Tonight was my first time at Palena. Service was friendly and professional.
My friend and I split the fry plate. Excellent! To me, I thought it was almost tempura like. The fried lemons were amazing! Who knew you could eat fried lemon slices? Loved the dip - does anyone know what it is?
I ordered the cheeseburger (med. rare) and my friend got the chicken. My burger rocked. It was the best burger I've had anywhere. It was perfect - juicy, perfectly pink in the middle with a crusty exterior. The cheese and spread complimented the burger well.
As for the chicken, honestly, it was a little too "herby" for my taste. Maybe I'm not used to the flavor of rosemary. However, it was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. Very moist with a crispy skin. How the heck do they do that?
For dessert we got the chocolate toffee torte. Perfect! It wasn't too cloyingly sweet like some torts. Just the right amount of bitterness and the cream anglese was a nice touch. Loved the praline pecan on top!
It was a great experience and thanks to y'all for starting this thread - it was the reason I went!
-
Goh porn! We could take that down so many paths....
LOL! *snort*
You're funny, Dejah!
Got your correction, thanks!
I'll post pics of my CNY banquet when we have it. I have another thread on this forum.
Sidebar to Big brother Ben: For sure I'm doing as you advise. The only problem is that I am getting pressure to find a husband and my parents don't understand why I have no desire to settle down yet. And when I meet single Chinese men my age, they're intimidated by the fact that I speak my mind and don't want to stay at home and mend socks for them! LOL! *grin*
-
OK, now I understand. True, if I was living in HK with all that wonderful food I guess I wouldn't have incentive to learn how to cook either. But it still boggles my mind to this day (and this was 4 years ago...) that his aunt didn't know how to find any good food in HK. Every single place she took us was CRAP. I mean, worse than what you find in the US. Seafood place, dim sum, bakery - crap, crap, crap. On our own, we found wonderful places. (To top it off, she was mean to me! She called me fat at the dinner table! This could explain why she didn't know good food...)
So back on topic...should I go traditional CNY or traditional banquet style? Maybe a certain mix?
-
That's so wonderful you have those memories. You really should write a book with recipes in them! Sounds cliched but definitely consider it. As for those crotchless pants - when I was in China in 2002 they were still doing that.
Chinese New Year rules, hands down.
Sidebar - would you kok me if I told you your son and I are the same age?
-
I'll be staying near S. Croce so thanks for the tip!
Tripe rules...I'll definitely try the Lampredotto. Yum.
Mercato Sant' Ambrogio is a daily market or open only on certain days? I wonder if I can get guanciale in Florence...
-
Thanks, Dejah! I'll try it and see what happens.
Ben, those childhood memories sound so nice! You are so lucky to have experienced a true Chinese New Year. You were probably the cutest little thing asleep with a drumstick in your hand.
Now that's a mark of a true Toisan! We don't let anyone mess with our food. =)
-
For sure we'll never adopt all the cultural habits of another culture that's not our own but basic respect and an open mind will get you far in life.
As for people who hang their spoons on their nose - same deal as with chopsticks. Respect the food you're eating and the people you're with. And who put chopsticks in their mouth like a walrus? A *kok* on the head in all instances! (For those of you who didn't grow up in a Chinese household, a *kok* is a double knucklerap on the head. It's swift and unavoidable and usually follows up with a scolding!)
-
Ah, yes! Lampredotto! I read about that in my guide book. Which part is it? Large or small intestine or is it tripe? For sure I'll try that.
Thanks for the tips! Wow, Pan's been to alot of places!
-
Well, most of the Asian places have chopsticks out for you to use in my area. But that may be due to the large Asian population we have here.
Can I say one thing that really annoys the heck out of me about people using chopsticks? When people "play the drums" with them - it's so disrespectful and ignorant. Every time I see some idiot doing that in a restaurant I want to walk up to them and *kok* them on the head like a Chinese granny. Have manners at the table!
-
The 2nd photo! Great job!
I thought it was so funny you daid bing bing bang bang.
That is such a Malaysian Chinese phrase. I kneow of a Malaysian Chinese family who would say that if the kids were running around making too much noise. As for fitting into your cheongsam, why not try a detox diet of green tea and veggies for a day or two?
Does anyone have a loh bak goh recipe they'd like to share? My mom's recipe is makes a soft loh bak goh and I prefer a slightly firmer one. I wanted to see what others were doing so that I could find out what affects the outcome.
-
Hello!
I will be visiting Florence for the first time in a few weeks. My main purpose for this trip is to visit Apicius Cooking School and see what it's like and learn more about their programs. I will have one and 1/2 days free to wander around the city. I will be traveling alone (I am female - I've been to Rome before and didn't find it intimidating but I travelled with my best friend).
So far I've learned that Florence is pretty much like any European city, relatively safe for women. And that I should try the Florentine steak as well. I am planning on checking out the main market in the early morning.
I would greatly appreciate any hints/tips/advice the eG community could give me in the following areas:
1. Does anyone know of the Apicius Cooking School?
-If so, what are your opinions on it? I am looking at the Food Communications program. My main worry is that since the school's not accredited my degree will not hold as much value. (I want do work in the food industry and thought this would be a good stepping stone)
-Anyone with personal experience, I would love to hear your story!
2.What quality cheap eats suggestions would you have around the city? I'm not looking for a glamour spot - give me a hole in the wall with great food at a reasonable price and I'm happy. Food above decor!
3.What should I eat/buy foodwise? What are the food experiences I MUST have while I'm there? (I can't hold my liqour to save my life so wine's not high on my list!
)4. What is the ONE thing I must do while I'm there?
I apologize for the long post!
Thank you in advance for your help!
-
This is an odd recipe, Todd, because the soup is actually mixed in to the filling. I don't see how this would produce what we commonly understand to be xaiolongbao filling (i.e., a meatball surrounded by soup).
Not sure why people think otherwise, but pork skin is chock full of gelatin. As these guys at the NC State School of Engineering say: "The best raw material for the derivation of gelatin is pork skin."
But I don't think it would work in the soup dumpling receipe. Whirled pork skin won't give the same effect as aspic/jelled soup stock. I'm just thinking that you'd bite into the dumpling and this gritty liquid would gush forth instead of soup.
-
You also have to remember that our traditions are constantly evolving. For instance, in Hong Kong we haven't been able to eat whole chicken for the past several years at CNY because of bird flu (not this year, so far. keeping our fingers crossed). Since all the chickens were slaughtered to avoid the spread of the disease, we just haven't eaten it. Is my aunt upset? yes, but she lives with it. And with all the food that she makes, do we go hungry without the chicken? certainly not! she's a fabulous cook.
We get the JadeWorld TV feed at my house and when we saw that on the HK news man, we were bummed for all the HK people for CNY. That's rough!!!
Sidebar: You're lucky you have an aunt who's a good cook. I swear, my old bf's aunt was the ONLY woman in HK who couldn't cook to save her life and could find all the BAD restaurants in HK. I mean, hello, how is it possible to find all the BAD restaurant in HK? Lord have mercy!
-
Chill pill dude.
Please note that Gastro888 is a duda, not a dude!
.......
Restaurants usually put together some dishes with these wealth/health symbolic ingredients and call them CNY specials (run for about a month after CNY). And, of course, charge extra $$$$$ for them. So the ones who got to see the luck (or $$$$$) for sure are the restaurant owners.
I was not sure whom to believe (our elders) since I was small. Everybody says something different. And the same person can say things differently at different times, picking whatever that fits the argument at the moment. That's the one part about the Eastern culture that I didn't miss much.
Yeap, I'm a dudette. You know, the restaurant owner told me to call back in one week when they'll have the CNY menu. We want to do this banquet for about 30-35USD per person. Thanks for the warning about the menus, hzrt8w. If they're going to charge more for it, I'll have to decide if it's worth it or not. We'll have alot of non-Chinese people at the table so my main concern is that if we go full on traditional, people won't like it and won't eat it. And I can only speak for myself but I get annoyed when good food is wasted! (I wonder if we could get them to make that coconut neen goh...gosh, that sounds really good.)
A live chicken would be really nice to have as would fish and the lo han jai dish. Problem is alot of people won't eat black moss or gingo nuts.
Go figure that restaurant owners would profit off CNY. Typical!
-
OK, didn't realize you weren't trying to be serious. I get a little hot under the collar when people give me the know your roots speech! My chopsticks get rilled up! LOL!
True, true, you don't know if all those old wives tales are true or not. I'm afraid of all the stuff they tell me I need to do after I give birth.
Ai ya!
Why would short ribs be on the menu? You mean BBQ short ribs? Ick. (Now Korean BBQ short ribs...yum...but that's a whole 'nother story)
-
Yetty, those apples look fantastic! What do they taste like?
Today - Niseen Cup of Noodle from Japan, chicken flavor. Yes, I'm totally violating eG with this statement but I love authentic instant ramen cup of noodles from Asia - not the kind you get here. Got it at a local Japanese market for 2 bucks. I know, I know but...
Barely cooked, please. Love them al dente.
-
Sounds like a place where people watching would be alot of fun.
I suppose the dress code is 'designer label whore'? *grin*
-
Ai ya, dan tat is not the same! We're talking hard boiled eggs only here, not things made with egg. =)
Nah, you'll only know if its ill effects once you're married and trying for kids. *grin*
Florence Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations
in Italy: Dining
Posted
Really? What things have you heard about Apicius? Please, do tell! I need all the help I can get.
No, I don't have former culinary training. I grew up in my parents' Chinese restaurant.
I was looking at their food marketing program in particular, not their culinary program because I do not want to be a chef per se but I want to do something related to food. My background is in marketing.
I would appreciate meeting up with you! Perhaps we can PM and discuss?
Thank you, divina!!!!