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Mr Wozencroft

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    Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
  1. Fuchsia Dunlops Sichuan Cookery is hands down my favourite chinese cookbook. Many of the recipes are old friends now. I had better plan some space in my allotment for a wealth of broad beans . As sheepish says they are not only expensive but usually starchy by the time they get to supermarkets. I'm going to email Ms. Dunlop and see if she has any leads on this. Oh and btw Sheepish, I have a local supply of some amazingly potent Sichuan peppercorns and facing heaven chilli's. If you are interested, pm me.
  2. Forgive me for not being more precise. I am looking for a chili bean paste recipe that would be best used in sichuan/hunan cuisine. But on the other hand I love chinese food and would be interested in any formulation that impressed your good self. Best regards, Mr. Wozencoft.
  3. I live in the U.K. I have the same problem. Lee Kum Lee is ok but I feel I'm missing out on the real thing. As the ingrediants are readily available here so I'm wondering if anyone knows how to make it from scratch? I've searched the internet but come up lacking. Its salt preserved so all we would need is a salt/flour/broad bean to chilli ratio. I'm presume the broad beans are cooked and mixed with chilli's, salt, water and flour. Then heated to thicken. Does anyone have any leads on this?
  4. There are many variationx of tahina and Chinese sesame paste. Graded from very light to very dark. I prefer the toasted unhulled versions of both. I have used dark and light tahina in Chinese dressings/sauces with good results but the moment I use a Korean dark sesame paste. I have not come across peanut butter as an ingrediant in any of my chinese cookbooks, but peanut butter is cheaper/ more widely available in the west so I'm guessing its used as an aproximation. But is it works and it tastes good, its all liberty hall
  5. For me, like many others, its about squirelling away the good stuff to enjoy another day. I only have a relatively small freezer compartment and its jam packed. So for the last month I have bought no meat; but somehow, magically, its contents never seem to diminish. Any one else have my fortunate problem? -Bags of chicken stock ice cubes. -Fat. Butter, Pork(and skin), duck and beef. Once again in ice cube sized portions. -Fish heads, prawn heads and shells. -Chinese fish cakes. -Egg whites. -Pigs blood. -Chicken feet for stocks and dim sum. -Sichuan hotpot stock. -Red braising stock. -100 gram bags of pork, beef and lamb mince. -Prawns. -Small bags of ham. -Baby squid and other prepped sushi protiens. -Wonton, pizza dough and puff pastry. -bags of bread pieces. -deep fried chinese gluten and blanched canned bamboo shoots. -frozen peas. -bags of meat trimming and shitake mushroom stalks. -Bags of ginger peelings for chinese stock. -and lots of left over soups, stews and currys. I really hate wasting food. I like to portion everything up before I freeze so I only defrost exactly what I need. I also list everything a note pad on the fridge door. So in theory I should know what I have.
  6. Asian ingrediants, my larder is like a mini chinese market. Rows of dried mushrooms, spices, soy sauces, vinigars, dried and preserved goods and a ten kilo sack of great thai rice. Freezer full of stock, fish heads, chicken feet and pork and beef mince. It has been a great little adventure growing from a chinese market newbie to someone who knows their way around the subject a bit. The guy a my local market has finally stopped asking me if I am sure I want to buy the century eggs, chinese sausages and fermented tofu. I like the feeling that apart from fresh goods I am stocked to go.
  7. Speed peeler. Peel goes into a jar of shoasing wine to be used in chinese chicken stock (or freezer bag). Microplane for the flesh. If any flesh is left over I store in a jar with Shoasing wine so I can let them both get to know each other. Little knobbley bits... into the wine jar to be used in stock. p.s. Its easier to grate along the grane rather than against it .
  8. You win. You the man. If we ever get into a garlic pissing contest I'm sure you'll be shooting cloves at the moon But consider cooking when an asian dish with garlic and ginger, the microplane shreds through both quickly and leaves one item to wash up. I'm drinkin beer, your still trying to get that last bit out of the press Cheers...
  9. Does any anyone use a microplane to grate the garlic? Its takes seconds and its closer to a puree than grated garlic. Really usefull for dressings etc...
  10. There many ways of dealing with it. I like to braise it with some aromatics and a glass of wine. When tender strip the meat from bone, cjop and make a ragu with it. Onion, a stick of celery. garlic and olive oil. Then simmer with a few chopped fresh peeled tomatoes and a dash of thai fish sauce. Really good cheap eats.
  11. Spring onions (scallions, welsh onions) deep fried in tempura batter are a revelation.
  12. When working with wet doughs, I prep a plate of cornmeal and flour and coat the doughball lightly in that before shaping. Then I shape onto a non stick matt which then goes onto a peel. Solves the problem of the pie getting stuck on the peel.
  13. I have a thick piece of welsh slate underneath my grill (broiler). I preheat for an hour , shape the pie on a teflon mat before sliding onto the stone with a peel. Then I turn the grill off for a few minutes to give the crust a chance to brown and then turn it back on again to finish off the top. Works a treat.
  14. I tend to finely chop my garlic and grate my ginger of a microplane and add them together. A super hot woks murders the garlic in seconds, so I am always more cautious with my heat levels. When they are fragrent, they are ready. This is one of the reasons I despair of cooking when I have a cold.
  15. I have used the Lee Kum Lee Chilli bean sauce. Its ingrediants are: Salted chilli pepper (48 %), water, fermented soybean paste, fermented broad bean paste, white sugar, garlic, m.s.g. etc. I prefer the Baijia brand. Its ingrediants are: Salad Oil, fermented broad bean sauce, chilli, sichuan pepper, sugar ginger, garlic and m.sg. Not sure which one is more authentic or anything like that, just a personal preference. Incidentaly I bought the Baijia brand at a Korean shop, which was the only place I have found facing heaven chilli's and really good quality Sichuan peppercorns. Suprisingly better than my local chinese markets in terms of Sichuan ingrediants. Perhaps, like myself, the Korean people have a love for Sichuan food? I use the dark pearl river soy sauce and have been happy with it. I prefer the Lee Kum Kee light soya sauce, especially for dipping and noodle sauces.
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