wonderbread

I'm going to a banquet on Saturday and cooking on Sunday.

So. What are people planning to cook for CNY? This is the tentative menu at my dinner. Do you think I need to make more than one duck for 8 people given all the other food? w/ Champagne: Sesame-crusted almonds First course: Raw fish and jellyfish tossed with apples and cucumbers (Singapore/Pacific Northwest) Second course: Beijing kao ya with steamed buns (whole bird for togetherness) Main courses: Turnip cake (nian gao) Steamed whole fish with ginger and scallions (whole fish for prosperity) Lion's head (for the year of the pig and the lion's dance) with bok choy and dried shiitakes Stir-fried greens with garlic Rice of course Someone else is bringing dessert.

Martin Yan's Chinatown book is good and well researched. What's the goal here? To have everyone sound white just because they can? Most African American comics know how to talk white - check out Dave Chappelle - but they choose to do their routines in their own cultural language.

Inspired by this thread and a pound of fatty pork in the freezer, I made these last night. I used the KitchenAid, threw in an egg and chopped fresh water chestnuts. I was running out of oil, but I had a hunk of Manteca lard in the fridge and browned them in that before braising in the pressure cooker. They were indeed soft and delicious...and pink inside. No cilantro in this mix so there goes that theory. Thanks for all the advice on this thread!

Costco has fresh pomelos right now.

Cold noodles! I was in Beijing in May and everyone was eating bowls of drained cold noodles tossed with julienned carrots and cucumbers and a brown sauce. The sauce is called zhajiang but I don't know what goes into it. If I made it at home I would either make a sesame paste sauce like for dan dan mian, or doctor up some tian mian jiang (a sweet brown paste made from flour). Also, cold Chinese salads like they serve in Shanghai before the entrees. Raw or blanched julienne vegetables like sugar snap peas or cucumbers tossed with rice vinegar, salt, sugar, maybe some sesame oil, soy sauce or chili oil.

Just returned from another trip to Beijing - where the pace was a duck a night. First one at Xiao Wang's family restaurant in Chaoyang. OK - duck was cold. Skin was not crisp. Second was at Da Dong - Chinese people love this place. The duck is super lean, they're specially bred, and in addition to the tianmian (many places serve hoisin) sauce and scallions, they recommend trying it with white granulated sugar and raw garlic paste. The place is all white tablecloths, and they have a number of other items on the menu. Third was back at Liqun, which my friend and I still think had the best duck - fatty and oh so ducky tasting. (The lean duck skin, while crispy, is less duck tasting)

Hi all, Here are two photos to add to this post:

I agree with Devagi. I have a soy milk maker and the soy milk it makes is very watery. I had to watch it very carefully to make sure it didn't burn, because the coils are a pain to clean once the milk burns on them. And it tended to boil over frequently, so I would get soy milk all over the kitchen. I can't remember whether I've given it away or not, but now I buy it at the store.

One of the most common misconceptions people have about stir-fries is that you can throw any combination of leftover meat and vegetables together in the wok and stir it around with soy sauce. In a truly great stir-fry, the cook creates an artful combination of one or two vegetables to match the meat and the sauce. That's clear from hzrtw's posts! Here are some of my favorite combinations. What are yours? *Chinese okra, shrimp, onion and cloud ear fungus with an oyster sauce-based sauce (including sugar, salt, cornstarch, a little water). *Ground pork and tofu with hoisin sauce. *Asparagus and dried shiitake mushrooms with oyster sauce. *Beef, broccoli and red bell pepper with oyster sauce. *Chicken, Thai basil, bird chiles, red bell pepper and fish sauce and sugar. *Asian leafy greens with garlic and salt

I think you're right - it was 98 RMB for the duck at Li Qun. We probably spent 200RMB on the whole meal. That doesn't reflect all meals in Beijing. For one lunch, we had two bowls of jiajiang mein (cold noodles with julienne cucumber and bean sauce), 20 meat-stuffed buns (we thought they were going to be smaller) and a coke for 35 RMB. Shanghai was not necessarily more expensive - I had a bowl of beef noodles that cost 8 RMB. And that was right off the People's Square with air conditioning and tables. In the mornings we hit up some food stalls near Yan An Xi Lu and picked up scallion breads, soy milk and dumplings to feed four people for 16 RMB total. For dinner, we usually spent about 200 RMB per meal eating out, having a 7-course Chinese meal for four people, including chicken, seafood, etc. They were extravangant meals, probably not what you would eat all the time if you lived there. Ice cream ranged from 1.50 RMB for a mochi ice cream bar to the outrageously expensive 10RMB scoop at the government-run souvenir store between Badaling and Beijing. Even the popsicle at the Forbidden City was only 5 RMB.

I just got back from a trip to Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou. The food was really different from the Cantonese food my mom cooked - Shanghai dishes have lots of very sweet sauces. Loved the array of cold appetizers. For Peking Duck/Kao Ya in Beijing:We went to Li Qun in a hutong near Qian Men. Both English and Chinese guidebooks rave about it, it's a total hole in the wall, but the duck was really delicious. It had a lovely smoky fragrance. You can walk from the main street, it's well marked by spray paint, don't let the pedicab drivers convince you that you'll get lost looking for it. The duck is 200 RMB. We ordered the soup, but they forgot to bring it! Also order the glass noodle fen pi appetizer and duck liver appetizers! Shanghai: I was surprised by how sweet the food was. A Shanghai appetizer my uncle (who lives there) kept ordering was a lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice soaked in honey then sliced and served cold. I really enjoyed the wide variety of cold dishes the Shanghainese serve - much more varied than the typical Cantonese charcuterie plate of hams. Lots of cucumber, pickled vegetables, tofu. Smoked fish is a specialty in Shanghai but I didn't particularly like it. Again, too sweet. We also had the squirrel tail fish here, which I thought was also too sweet. Mei Ling Guan, at Hotel 168 on Yan An Xi Lu near the intersection of Pan4 Yu2 Lu (the Shanghainese pronounce it Fan4 Yu2 Lu). The name comes from the original location, which was next to the U.S. Consulate. We loved the Fish Head Stew - in Cantonese we call it Saw Wo Yu Tou. Hot Spicy Crab, also on Yan An Xi Lu, just west of the Howard Johnson All-Suites Hotel at No. 1155, at the intersection of Fan4 Yu2 Lu. Look for the big crab stenciled on in the window and Vegas-style neon lights. It's not really called Hot Spicy Crab. That's just what we started calling it. This place is fantastic - they have hot pots built into each table - but we had the crab cooked for us. You order them by weight and they show up with a gigantic pot of it and stick it in the middle of the table, it has tons of chiles, scallions and some nian gao dumplings. M on the Bund. If you want to eat al fresco with a great view, this place has it. The food is ok, not killer, but the staff is great. Grand Hyatt, High Tea. This is on the 54th floor of the Grand Hyatt on the Pudong side. They have a high tea dessert buffet from 3p to 5p for about 100RMB. Killer view if it's clear, and try to grab one of the very comfortable leather couches. Suzhou: Go to Shi Lu, the night eating market street. It's a smaller street on the edge of town. There's a man who makes dragon beard candy at a table - ask for a fresh batch so you don't get stale ones in the premade boxes. There are a lot of open stalls, but we ended up eating at an indoor restaurant because it started raining. I can't remember the name of it, but I'm sure they're all good. We had really good bullfrog - fried in a batter with chiles and scallions. The water snails are also a specialty. Also, near the end of the street (far end from the stalls) there's a really good foot massage place. Very clean. In addition to all the Chinese food, we ate ice cream every day to reward ourselves for sightseeing. I recommend the Magnum bars, the blue ones are coffee ice cream covered with chocolate. Mmmm.

I just got back from Shanghai - we ate at M on the Bund, which is run by an Australian chef. It's right next to Three on the Bund. Brunch cost about 250RMB per person. The entrees were OK. I had a platter of meats, a pretty good lamb chop, a minute steak, sausage, bacon, mashed potatoes and a fried egg. Our favorite part of the meal was the pavlova. It's enormous though, so order to share. Didn't go back for dinner and ran out of time on the trip to go to Jean-Georges! The staff gave us a lovely tour of the restaurant though.

Frozen potstickers from Costco (do they still have the Panda on the label?) or Trader Joe's Frozen beef tamales from Costco - for a 3-minute countdown to dinner The refrigerated meat lasagna from TJ Frozen Totino's Pepperoni Pizza - a true guilty pleasure Frozen peas, frozen edamame

I have to vacate my kitchen for two months during a remodel and set up a temporary one in my dining room. (Side note: I have enjoyed Dave The Cook's and MelissaH's threads immensely.) I plan to move the fridge, some base cabinets with a small length of counter, a microwave, toaster oven and portable butane burner. I'm not sure what I will do about a sink, other than washing them in the bathtub. Anyone have suggestions on how to set it up? Also seeking suggestions for meals that are easy to make in a makeshift set up like this. Thank you!

Thanks for posting this! I love Hainan Chicken Rice and I've been trying to make this dish at home, and it never turns out quite as good as the restaurant versions I've had. I really appreciate you putting this out there for the rest of the world to use.

Thanks for everyone's advice on the subject - I was thinking about going with the electric ceramic range, then the saleswoman at Sears said that the surface wears out quickly if I do a lot of stir-frying. That was a deal breaker for me. I ordered a Kenmore gas range. Decided not to get a convection oven because other convection owners said the fan is pretty noisy. I will report back with how the baking turns out when the range arrives! Thanks again.

Thanks to everyone who responded. Sears is having a spring sale right now - 20% cashback after mail-in rebate if you buy 3 appliances, so I'm getting close to making a decision. I'm hoping not to have to shell out an extra $500 for a duel-fuel. Also heard that with the smooth ceramic electric cooktops that the pots spin when you stir them unless you hold them with your other hand. Anyone have experience with this? Francois - do you have a convection gas oven?

These look fantastic! Too bad we're almost into the non-R months for oysters. My tip on opening oysters: Stick the knife in the hinge side and wear a big potholder on the hand holding the oyster! Protects your hand, and it costs less than a chain mail glove. I've made a variation on this from the Yan-Kit So Chinese cookbook. You fry up choppd up garlic, ginger, sugar, black beans and yellow beans in a few tbsp of oil, spread it on the opened oysters and steam. Then sprinkle with chopped scallions.

I'm shopping for a new stove/oven and debating whether to get a gas or electric one. I do a lot of stovetop cooking, my boyfriend does a lot of bread baking in the oven, and I make tarts and cookies often. I've heard that electric ovens are better for baking - but I don't have any personal experience with a gas oven. Do you think it makes much of a difference?

I am in the process of redesigning my kitchen - does anyone have advice on gas versus electric stoves? I have a relatively inexpensive electric range right now, and I find it gets much hotter than the gas cooktop that my mom has. Her gastop is pretty new - just a few years old. I am thinking of either getting an electric stove with a glass top or a gas stove. If you like gas, how much BTU do you find you need to stir fry on the burners to get the wok hei?

Just made this with boneless chicken breasts - it came out fantastic. I usually don't cook breasts because they dry out so easily, but the dish came out juicy and delicious. I was out of garlic, and just ended up throwing unpeeled ginger slices into the sauce. Strained and froze the lo shui for the next chicken! Thank you to Ah Leung again for posting this.

Great idea! I was just visiting my parents in SoCal, and we went to Diamond Bar a few times for Chinese food. I added a few restaurants below - would also suggest adding a "Hong Kong Diner" and "Chinese Vegetarian" category.

Nope, not as heavy as an American cast iron. I also at one point had the single-handled, round-bottom wok made of the same material, and I could shake and toss the ingredients inside.

I had a nonstick flat-bottomed wok, that started to lose its Teflon coating so I threw it away. My mom and I spent forever searching for a new one - LA, Seattle, Vancouver - and I ended up getting a cast iron one which is fantastic. Here's a link to a similar one like mine. We found it in Vancouver, BC, at the Yaohan in Richmond. The food really does taste different - it has that special wok hei quality to it. Stir-fried greens taste totally different b/c the water evaporates on contact instead of sitting and steaming the food. Now all I need to do is buy myself a high BTU stove.