sheetz

Chinese dark soy sauce. Or maybe molasses.

Lots of Chinese people use skillets at home. The problem with CI's recommendation is they also tell you to use a nonstick pan, which is silly for stir frying. Not only will the nonstick coating decompose very quickly when using the high heat required of stir frying, but since the surface itself does not transfer heat as well as metal, the food cooked in it won't taste as good, either.

What's the best way to freeze biscuits, baked or unbaked? I've heard conflicting advice.

Ha, I'm dating myself, but I'm talking about WAY before Kee Wah and other bakeries opened up in Monterey Park, like in the 70s. And I should clarify, we didn't mail order, but in fact all the Chinese supermarkets in LA carried baked goods from Eastern Bakery that were shipped down from SF. Many probably still do. I have fond memories of those hockey puck-like winter melon cakes shown in the photo just beneath the box of mooncakes, even though the ones I make at home now are certainly better by any objective measure.

Growing up in LA decades ago we got shipments of mooncakes from Eastern Bakery in SF. Yeah, they were dry and stale, but at the time I didn't know any better so they seemed fine to me. Now that I'm used to eating higher quality brands I can never go back. This thread reminds me that Moon Festival is coming up soon, so time to break out the mooncake mold!

I think relatively few Chinese home cooks use 5 spice powder because it's most often used in spice rubs for roasted meats which were not commonly prepared in homes as most of them lacked ovens. For braised dishes which contain 5 spice powder components most Chinese cooks would prefer to use whole spices instead.

I also agree that it's better to teach general concepts and techniques which are applicable to a wide range of dishes rather than focusing on specific recipes. One thing I've noticed that beginners have problems with knowing when it's ok to make substitutions for ingredients in recipes and when it's not, so it might be nice to spend some time going over that.

I went to the Dairy Farmers website and it seems like none of the buttermilk baking recipes uses baking soda. That leads me to believe it is a different variety of buttermilk than what is commonly used in the US.

It also occurred to me that there are two kinds of buttermilk: cultured and old-fashioned, the two not being interchangeable in recipes. In the US we only have the cultured variety, but I understand that in other parts of the world the old-fashioned variety is common. Are you certain of the type of buttermilk you are using? http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-buttermilk.htm

When was the last time you successfully made this recipe? Was it at your current location or have you moved since then? If you recently moved to a higher elevation then that would also cause problems with your cake. Also, what type of flour did you use previously and which one are you using now?

You can also try the old Chinese trick of adding a tiny bit of baking soda to the mixture and marinating overnight. I add a couple teaspoons to my turkey breast meatloaf and the result is significantly juicier.

The cauliflower pizza recipe is so bizarre I have to try it!

Just reporting back on my XO sauce making experience. Taking hints from several different recipes, I made up a batch using dried scallops, dried shrimp, shallots, garlic, fresh chilis, dried chilis, country ham, and various other seasonings. I've never actually had XO sauce before so I wasn't sure how it was supposed to taste, but the end result turned out to be quite delicious. Now that I have two peanut butter jars worth of XO sauce, can anyone suggest interesting ways to use it besides a table condiment?

Does the duck need to be rotated during the cooking or will that ruin the beautiful lacquer coating?

I tried this recipe and agree the dough was awesome for cinnamon rolls. I did have some trouble getting the dough to come together even after nearly 20 min of handling, so I added a tiny bit of extra flour and stuck it in the fridge.

That looks so good! I have to try this because we can't get freshly roasted ducks here.

煎 - http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi...ch.php?q=%B7%CE (sound file) 堆 - http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi...ch.php?q=%B0%EF (sound file) ← I have to laugh at these sound clips. While the tones are correct they sound more like somebody singing a song rather than speaking.

Is dim sum in HK still mostly served from carts? I had heard that many restaurants have moved to menu style ordering.

Doesn't sound like any Chinese people I know, that's for sure!

If XO sauce were free at restaurants wouldn't all the customers order it? Chinese folks aren't ones to pass up a bargain.

That's right. The steamed yeast ones use both yeast and baking powder and aren't as sweet as the Cantonese style ones.

Thanks, aprilmei! I don't think I can get shrimp roe around here, but I do have some good ham I could add.

I would guess that deep fried items like hom sui gok and jeen dui go pretty far back because they're part of the typical repertoire for all the elderly Toisanese women I know.

Yes, the chewier ones have yeast. The Cantonese styles ones don't.

Does anyone make their own XO sauce? I'd like to try making a batch but not sure what's a good recipe.