sheetz

I've never given this much thought because that's just how I've always seen it done. That said, vegetables are typically only cut up into bite sized pieces when they are stir fried. Gai lan and choi sum are normally poached so it may simply be a matter of convenience to cook them whole. Sometimes, but not always, they are cut into segments for plating.

Thanksgiving being our big annual food day, our Xmas meals really don't have that same sense of tradition so pretty much anything goes. That said, I think if you'd like to incorporate some Chinese dishes into your feast any of the Chinese New Year foods would work just fine for celebrating the upcoming Western calendar New Year. I don't know what Chinese New Year's dishes are common in your part of China, but do try to include some of them. If you have access to turkeys a deep fried turkey would be a nod to both Chinese sensibilities as well as American tradition.

I find it usually takes about 3 days for a marinade to really penetrate into chicken.

I think stock in the better restaurants will use a blend of chicken and pork parts at least. When you get to the higher priced stocks they will add things like dried seafood

Have you ever watched your friend make it? Or watched the program? I haven't seen the program, but it sounds like you would want the meat in a single layer so that the heat is evenly distributed. If you packed the meat in a huge lump then it would take a lot longer to cook. ETA: The episode with this recipe is on Youtube. Pt 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHHFPcTF3q0&feature=PlayList&p=D4A76EAC372FAFCA&index=12&fmt=18 Pt 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96y1qv8voZA&NR=1 I noticed that it's slightly different than the written recipe.

Also keep an eye out for sales on halloween candy, which can be easily made into a dessert. Many Target stores are discounting them 75%, and they even have printable coupons you can use to bring the price down to a few cents a bag.

I usually fluff because it helps to even distribute the moisture, especially when making a large quantity of rice. If you don't then the rice near the bottom will tend to get really mushy.

There are some videos on Youtube describing how to make momos. Good luck! http://www.youtube.com/user/preservetibet

Since these are dried, I've found that some brands were too tough to eat without softening them up a bit by steaming. As mentioned above an easy way to do that is by adding to the rice as it's cooking.

Just did a little searching on google and 'momos' appear to be a kind of Tibetan-Chinese-Indian hybrid dumpling. Some are shaped like pleated crescents, some like pleated buns, while yet others resemble xialongbao. Not having ever eaten these before I don't know how similar they are to traditional Chinese dumplings. It's possible you might get more help from the India cooking forum.

Many of the most popular types of dim sum have their own topics in the forum. Do you have names or pictures of the dishes you'd like to make?

I'll be in PHX next weekend so I'm looking for a few places to eat, especially local specialties and institutions. I'm staying in Tempe so either that area or maybe in the downtown Phoenix area as I'll probably do some sightseeing there. I'll be traveling alone so I'm not looking for anything fancy. Los Dos Molinos looks interesting, so perhaps something along those lines. Thanks.

According to the cookbook authors the bloggers reference, the 65C technique was developed in Japan. How recently I don't know. I have no idea about the boiling water variations. While the scalded flour/mash technique seems to be fairly common in Western baking, I get the impression (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that it's used mainly to alter bread flavor (as in rye breads) and not so much texture, whereas with the 65C technique the most important aspect is the resultant bread's light airiness and thin crust. The breads enjoyed in HK were almost certainly influenced by the Portuguese sweet breads. Are those traditionally made with potatoes?

hansjoakim, that's interesting because I've never heard of this technique before. I tried to find more info online about it but there was not much aside from the Asian baking blogs. Here's another recipe that uses a variant of the technique using a blend of flour and boiling water. http://theamateurbaker.vox.com/library/pos...ized-dough.html

Yes,, you cool it down a bit before incorporating it into the dough. This blog describes it in more detail. http://cornercafe.wordpress.com/2008/08/28...weet-bun-dough/

I was browsing various Asian cooking blogs and this seems to be the latest craze among Asian home bakers. Basically, the idea is to heat 1 part flour and 5 parts water (by weight) in a saucepan until the temperature reaches 65C (149F), and then mix the resulting "water roux" into a standard bread dough recipe. I just tried it and was very impressed with the results. All I did was blend some water roux in with a standard recipe for rolls and the resulting buns were a dead ringer for the soft crust style buns from Chinese bakeries. Normally when I make things like homemade baked char siu bao the crusts would be drier and tougher than the ones you'd buy. But not then buns made using this method. Instead they are soft and pliable. Has anyone else tried this?

Sure. sheetz: Hey Mom, since you're from Toisan, could you tell what you put in tsap sui? sheetz's mother: Don't be silly, you get whatever you have on hand, chop them up, and stir fry them together. Now get lost and stop bothering me!

Yeah, but it seems to me the fact that this was featured in a TV program goes to show its rarity. I currently live in middle America and I have yet to see a restaurant with tuna casserole on the menu. Now, I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but it's just not something people generally go out to a restaurant for. I don't know if anyone has claimed chop suey doesn't have its origins in China because if you ask someone from Toisan about it they will be certainly familiar with the name. That said, if you ask that person for a recipe, or ask them to recommend a restaurant that serves good chop suey, you will get very funny looks.

I think what hrtz8w is saying is that in China chop suey is really more a method or style of cooking than an actual dish you'd order from a restaurant like Peking duck or Mapo Dofu. Think of it as the Chinese equivalent to the American casserole. Sure, you could call a casserole American 'cuisine,' but when people are deciding where to go out to eat, they don't choose between pizza, steak, and casserole. It's just not something you expect to find on a restaurant menu.

Wouldn't that just be getting some shrimp and mixing it with a bit of cornstarch?

udscbt, at first I thought the idea of combining dishes from different regions on the same menu to be a bit strange, much like combining Tex-Mex burritos, New England clam chowder, and Louisiana po boys on the same menu. But on second thought there are certain regional dishes, like mapo dofu or beijing duck, which are popular all over China, albeit with regional interpretations, so I suppose it's not too off the wall. The first thing I noticed when reading your list is the number of dishes on the menus. Personally, I would increase the number of dishes in menus 1 and 2 as normally a menu for a group that size would include a few more items. Eight courses would be a good number, as Chinese consider eight to be a very auspicious number. On the other hand, four is considered a very inauspicious number (it sounds like the word for 'death'), so I would change the number of items in menus 4 and 5. You could add a soup or something. I'm not familiar with all the items you've listed, but are things like fire dried walnuts, sweet and tangy cucumber pickles, and crispy seaweed substantial enough to be considered a separate course in themselves? Instead I would probably include them as part of an appetizer platter served at the beginning of the meal. Menu 4 seems odd in that 2 of the 4 dishes are chicken. Then there's the level of formality. More elaborate dishes are usually reserved for formal occasions, while simple dishes tend to be reserved for everyday fare. I get the impression that some of your menus mix both formal and everyday dishes, which is fine, but I try to avoid doing that myself when I'm entertaining. Of course, if your guests aren't Chinese it's unlikely they would even know the difference. Finally there's the matter of food symbolism, which you can read about here. Obviously there are no hard and fast rules, and everything that I've written is only from my own perspective, but hopefully I've helped you understand a little bit more about how Chinese people view food and how there's a lot more to it than just tasting good (although that's awfully important, too!).

Thanks for the offer, Tepee, but I'm also going to get some for my sister-in-law who's from Malaysia, so 10 will be not too much at all.

Thanks Tepee, I was able to locate a US distributor for Brahim's mixes. Do you know which of their other sauce products are also good?

dmreed, you'll also be interested in reading this story from last months Gourmet magazine: http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2009...e-east-la-story

Tepee, those beef rendang ones look so good I want to make some. It seems like less trouble than the traditional Cantonese variety, even though it would be a pain to prepare all the spices. Do you know if any of the rendang mixes or pastes are any good?