canucklehead
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Posts posted by canucklehead
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Recent dinner at the Xiang:
Cold spicy celery salad.
Lamb with Cumin, Beef with pickled peppers.
The heat is insanity - nova hot, bright, and vinegary - it lifts everything and gives you this crazy buzzy capsicuim high. Underlying flavors are very nice though - whole cumin seeds and lamb are a perfect match, the beef has an underlying wokky flavor, and the celery salad is savory and refreshing at the same time (I think that they use chicke bullion powder as part of the dressing).
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Has anyone been to Gene on Main and Kingsway? Looks like a really nice and bright room - right in the triangular space that was Bain's Chocolates for decades.
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I've been to Yew a few times - and the food, service, and drinks all really work well.
However - the crowd is a little odd - think Bravo TV on a late Friday night. Hell's Angels, pro's, businessmen with expense account money to burn... it makes for interesting viewing to say the least.
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Yes - alas they are no more.
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i'd say with the asian food scene here Vancouver is definetely above average
Agreed - but none of the really great places were mentioned in the article.
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you could see the photos on the process on by blog (it's in spanish, sorry). the soy sauce have only been in the sun for around 2 weeks. will post pictures as it brews in the brine. click below to go to the article:
Very intrested in seeing how the differences in sunlight effects the final product.
I apologize if I was not able to give specific measurements - my pictures were centered around watching what my Uncle does and not repelicating the results myself. Much of his process is done by taste and feel.
I am very excited to see how others approach making soy sauce.
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I'm hoping the meal at Golden Sichuan is a one off also. In the past - it was very reliable. But there was almost a complete lack of sichuan peppercorns.
Anywhere you have been for Sichuan that has been good for you or your friend?
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Went to the Xiang on Monday, and then hit Golden Sichuan last night. What a contrast.
The Xiang still serves with Hunan fire burner heat - cool and spiky celery salad and beef with pickled peppers were standouts. The waitress kept asking me if I was sure that I wanted big heat ('da la') and I said yes. Me and my friends got that chili pepper buzzy high as we ate. I may not ask for such big heat next time...
Golden Sichuan in contrast was bland bland bland. Though the food was well prepared, it did not have any spicy heat or numbing piny flavors of sichuan peppercorns. Disappointing - especially since the Richmond location was a real winner in the past. I am not sure if they dumbed it down since the table was mostly non-Asian - but if they did, it was there own stupidity that lost them potentially 6 regular diners.
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Fuel Restaurant sources very good meat and does a standout job preparing it. Call ahead to see what specials they have.
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The food quality is certainly top notch in Vancouver - but there really isn't a very serious room. Not since New World Hotel (now Ramada Renansance) closed down Dynasty.
I've not been to either Lai Wah Heen or Dynasty, so I do not know your definition of "serious" room. Have you been to East Passion on Hornby in the HSBC building? Does that qualify as a "serious" room?
What's the food like at East Passion? I've walked by a number of times - but I haven't had the chance to try it. Have you been akl?
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NOOOOOOOOOOooo!! I loved their Transylvanian Wooden Platter with spaetzel
The Alpen Club on Victoria Drive is sadly just so-so, and the Old Bavaria Haus in New West is good, but Budapest Cafe's schnitzel was GREAT... they will be missed...
Has anyone tried Jagerhof Schnitzel House on Lonsdale?
I am very sad about this also - Jagerhof is good on Lonsdale - but Budapest was really something else! They had very odd operating hours - closed early and slow service - part of their charm, but I am sure it hurt their bottom line.
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Are the bean/flour slices added to the brine whole?
yes
After they're soaked in brine what steps remain?The whole thing sits out in the sun for a number of weeks - as long as it is sunny.
Your last pictures don't look like soy sauce. How do you separate the soy sauce and the miso?They soy sauce is quite light - and has a sharper tang to it. My uncle theorizes that this is because that we don't get enough hot sun here in Vancouver. So the mash does not 'cook out' as long as it should. I think he just pours off the liquid - obviously, the filtration is not 100% - but given the light color and short period in the sun - he did not want to filter off to much of the flavors.
Is anything left over after those are extracted?The solids left over is the miso. I don't think that you discard anything. The miso has better flavor if you let it evaporate down and not extract the liquid as soy sauce.
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Very interesting project. I have a few questions.
How much is 4 lbs of water in volume measure? I'm guessing it's around 2 quarts or 2 liters?
Is that the smallest amount one would reasonable make?
How much soy sauce do you end up with after evaporation?
How much you end up with depends on your taste. You can dilute it by adding cold boiled water.
But generally - it seemed like a lot. It takes my uncle and aunt a good year to get through it all. I'm guessing a couple of litres at least.
Ack - sorry to be so vague! If he makes another batch - I promise to take better notes.
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I think everyone would be happy to see Rob Feenie with his own place again.
It would be very exciting to have Susur come out to Vancouver. We have great Chinese food and we have great West Coast Cuisine - and I think Susur would be able to marry the two in an intelligent and exciting way.
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I really want to try to make this during the summer. What type of climate/weather is ideal? Also, how much salt was in your brine?
You need warm sunny weather to cook out the soybean miso.
Start out with 4lbs of water with 4 oz of salt to the above the proportions. But this is up to your taste - obviously, it should be quite salty. The water will evaporate as the soy sits out in the sun (in a container protected by a mesh cover - you don't wan things falling in, I think traditionally, it was bamboo lids that covered the containers) - add cold boiled water to loosen the mixture. Again - this is up to you, how salty and rich do you want the soy sauce?
Sorry to be so vague - one of the pit falls af trying to translate home cooking into a usable recipe.
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I'm thinking that simulating a sunny climate using fluorescent lights and an aquarium heater will help. Not very eco-friendly, though
Would you need a sun lamp (for UV rays?) - That's a lot of engineering for home made soy sauce.
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Are both Susur and Lee being closed?
Too bad about Susur - had two meals there last year- great food; intelligent, well executed, witty and delicious.
A real loss for Toronto. Wish he was moving to Vancouver instead of NYC.
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naguere - my uncle says the same thing. I suspect that seasoning the board is going to take some time.
With chinese restaurants - ongoing usage keeps the board from cracking. This includes alternating wet and cooked oily food being used on it. Eventually - or so I was told - the board cures and then the board no longer needs regular wetting.
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David
Thanks for the advice - I went to your website also (I assume that's your website). Anyways - I get alot of conflicting advice. My uncle and mom say that I should be soaking it in water. But websites and knife/board experts say that I should avoid water. Right now - I am applying as much mineral oil as it soaks up - and its thirsty!
I also have reconciled myself that it will split. Hopefully - it will be in a way that adds character and not renders the board useless.
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I went and purchased a giant iron wood chopping block. Made from one piece of wood - about 5 inches thick and 18 inches across.
I love it! I've applied many layers of mineral oil and it is a suprisingly thirsty board. I was told that I should place a wet cloth over it of the first year or so of use, otherwise it is very prone to spliting. Sure enough, one night I did not have the wet cloth over it - and small cracks started forming, despite the many layers of mineral oil.
I guess it will take a while for this block to fully cure. Does anyone else use this type of chopping block? Any thing I should be aware of?
I would make me sad if it did split badly, but I want to use the board and not baby it.
In the meantime, I will regularly oil it and keep it slightly damp.
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I remember heading out to UBC Farm for the summer Feast of Fields wing ding. It was one of the highlights of the season.
Treats from John Bishop, Rob Feenie, Colleen Mclean, and Jeff Van Geest are just a sample of the food on offer. The venue itself was just as great as the food. Seeing little kids squeal with amazement at the live chickens, wandering among the sweat peas and sun flowers, and my first close up look at a bee hive (and I've got the sting to prove it!).
Thanks for keeping us in the loop Zuke.
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When is the best time of year to make it, or can it be made anytime?
I noiced the original post was in June, so I guess some sun is needed.
You don't say how much water is in the brine,
Making soy sauce definitely needs sun - the soybean brine needs to cook out in under hot sunny weather. In Vancouver, that means the window to make soy is pretty short.
Let me check the concentration of the brine for you.
fmed - thanks for the heads up on the spores at Fujiya - your food knowledge is genuinely impressive. So far - my uncle has just let wild molds take hold - so it would be intresting to see what a proper culture would produce. Not sure how to incorporate it into the soybean disks. Perhaps at the same time flour is kneaded into the soy. I suspect using a true culture would allow you to not have to use wheat flour - thus resulting in a truly wheat free product.
Cool!
And I'll second the hope that there are other home soy brewer's out there who will share some more pictures.
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Barbara Jo's Cooks for Books makes Savuer's Top 10 Cookbook Stores - in the World
Congratulations to another local hero. How fucking great is that?
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For the most part - the fish is for show. I don't know of anyone who has ever ordered one - and as you say Ah Leung, the meat tends to be too flaky and coarse. When it is ordered - it is usually taken apart and served over a number of courses.
It makes me sad seeing these beautiful ancient creatures being put on show when there is no real culinary reason to have them around (I know - I am getting soft in my old age!).
There have been instances where people buy these giant fish or giant crustaceans - and try to return to them to their home waters to release them.
But forget about that - more food pictures Rona. And not to be out of line - you're a looker!
Kingsway, from Vancouver to Burnaby
in Western Canada: Dining
Posted · Edited by canucklehead (log)
Hi Genki as noted upthread
Potato Croquettes w/ Tonkatsu Sauce - very nicely fried.
Chicken with Daikon over rice. Fried Ebi and Fish dinner
Amitsu and Ice Cream rolled in cornflakes and fried.
The prices for most meals float around $7 - everything pictured was sub $30. Pretty staggeringly good deal really. Recent specials include a grilled makerel mean and a dessert of banana tempura served with ice cream.
The cooking is so homey and grandma - its insane. The quality is quite good - certainly much better than Hachi Bei on 16th. The restaurant is in a old folks home and is located just off Kingsway - but it feels lilke a million miles a way - the little street is so green and lush with white cherry trees.