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sheetz

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Everything posted by sheetz

  1. I currently live in the Midwest, but I grew up in LA and regularly visit my family there. Restaurant recommendations--all the best Chinese places are to the East in the San Gabriel Valley. We're Cantonese, so that's the stuff I'm most familiar with. NBC in Monterey Park is an old reliable standby HK/Cantonese restaurant, serving dim sum for lunch and specializing in seafood for dinner. Sea Harbour in nearby Rosemead is a local branch of an upscale Vancouver chain and serves more innovative Cantonese dishes. They do dim sum for lunch as well. In Arcadia there's a branch of the famed Din Tai Fung chain of Taiwanese restaurants specializing in Shanghai style Xiao Long Bao (soup buns). There's a place in Monterey Park specializing in Beijing Duck, appropriately called The Duck House. China Islamic in Rosemead specializes in Halal style Chinese food. Little Fat Sheep in Monterey Park is famous for their Mongolian hot pots. That ought to be enough to get you started!
  2. I'm not too familiar with the Chinese food scene in San Diego--its Chinese community is relatively small compared to those in SF, LA, NYC, Vancouver, and Toronto-- but you did say that the waitress was Korean, and there is such a thing as Korean-style Chinese food in the same way that there is American-style Chinese food, so that may be what she prefers. I believe NYC has the 2nd largest Korean population in the US behind LA. It's also a matter of demographics. Recent waves of immigration to Vancouver have drawn relatively wealthy Chinese from HK, and along with them highly skilled chefs to cater to their tastes. In contrast the older Chinese communities in the US have traditionally been made up of poorer immigrants from the countryside. Many people consider LA's Chinese restaurants the best in the US due to the area's large and prosperous community of Taiwanese immigrants.
  3. In the "authentic" Chinese restaurants there probably isn't a huge difference. For instance, I've had dim sum in the East Coast, Midwest, West Coast, and in Canada and the differences are relatively minor. The bigger differences are between cities w/ larger Chinese populations and those with smaller ones.
  4. I was in Chicago with my brother this past weekend and had dim sum at Shui Wah on Sunday. Background: I've been to Chicago before on numerous occasions but it was my brother's first visit. We're both Chinese American and have a vast amount of experience eating dim sum in many different cities. We arrived a little after 11am, and though the place was full we were seated within 5 minutes. First they asked us what type of tea we desired (we got chrysanthemum) and then gave us a paper menu where we could tick off the items we wanted. The first thing we noted was the very limited menu with a few glaring omissions: virtually no baked items (no egg custard tarts or baked char siu bao), and no fried sesame balls. While this wasn't a big deal to us as this was just a one time visit, I think if we were locals the lack of these items is a serious enough flaw that it we probably would not patronize Shui Wah very often. We ended up ordering 6 items off the menu (har gow, siu mai, lo bok go, shrimp rice crepes, char siu bao, salt and pepper fried squid) plus a dish of gai lan (chinese broccoli) that a waitress was carrying around. We enjoyed the siu mai, lo bok go, fried squid, and gai lan. I thought the rice crepes were a bit too chewy and the bao a little bland, though both were still ok overall. Neither my brother or I liked the har gow--the shrimp didn't taste fresh to us. Compared to the cost for dim sum in other cities we've been to the prices at Shui Wah were a little higher. The prices start at $2.40 for a "small" item, but most of the dishes we ordered were more expensive. In LA, where my brother lives, the small dishes are normally priced under $2 and typically encompass all the most commonly ordered dishes including har gow and siu mai. At Shui Wah these two items are considered "medium" dishes. On the plus side we weren't charged for our tea, which is common practice in most other places. Not including tip the final bill was $24 for the two of us.
  5. I would think it is to create instant gravy with the juices. Since I never read directions I never noticed that ← I'm sure that's not the answer because the flour doesn't get blended into the juices. The few times I have added the flour it just forms pasty lumps.
  6. Here's something I've wondered about: Why do the instructions for the Reynolds oven roasting bags say to put a tablespoon of flour in the bag? I use them all the time omitting the flour and everything comes out just fine. Is it to help prevent sticking?
  7. I appreciate everyone's advice. Seems like my best bet is to avoid doing as much *real* cooking as possible. Definitely like the "spreads" idea for quick lunches., and for dinner maybe something ultra-simple like a ham or pork picnic roast along with sides purchased at the supermarket deli. There's a Publix a mile away so we'll shouldn't have problems finding anything.
  8. Later this year my family (4 adults, 2 children) will be spending a week in Orlando at a vacation rental home complete with full kitchen. For the sake of both frugality and convenience we'd like to prepare as many of our meals as possible at the house. We've never done this before so I don't know what to expect, but I'll assume the kitchen is bare bones with minimal equipment and no pantry items. We'll be flying in so bringing lots of bulky items with me will be out of the question. However, I should be able to carry along a few small things such as spices. Any menu suggestions? For breakfast we'll probably just go with cold cereal and fruit, but I'd like to prepare at least half the lunches and dinners. Generally we're not too finicky and have no particular dietary restrictions.
  9. Was the shark's fin real? I can't say for sure but I've never heard anybody accuse it of being fake. Of course, being a buffet, don't expect large amounts and don't expect very high quality. Even so, all the Chinese patrons were getting 3 bowls each!
  10. Over the holidays I went with a group of family members to the Cafe Sierra restaurant located in the Hilton Universal hotel in Universal City, CA. Their weekend seafood buffet is unique in that it includes a number of Chinese (mainly Cantonese) dishes along with the other American style offerings. Off the top of my head, the Chinese dishes include: Shark's Fin Soup, Ginger Crab, Spicy Eggplant, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Fried Shrimp and Squid in Spicy Salt, a few dim sum items (har gow, siu mai, char siu bao), fried rice, and some stir fried noodle dishes. The Shark's Fin Soup was not bad at all but the rest of the Chinese items were pretty mediocre and certainly not the highlights of the buffet. OTOH, the non-Chinese items were quite good. These was, among (many) other things, prime rib, leg of lamb, grilled lobster, king crab legs, oysters on the half shell, and freshly prepared sushi. There were also a large assortment of fancy dessert items along with white and dark chocolate fontains. This buffet is quite popular with Asian locals, and the patrons were probably 3/4 Asian. Price is $42 on Friday and Saturday night, and $38 on Thursday and Sunday. I had no problem eating my money's worth!
  11. I understand that in order to prevent crystalization you need to use two different types of sugars. Table sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, and golden syrup are all just forms of sucrose, so any combination of those may crystalize. You need to add something like corn syrup (glucose) to prevent crystalization. I've used honey successfully, as well.
  12. Thanks. The trick to soft, fluffy buns is a moist, rich dough. I used this recipe: http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showpost....867&postcount=4
  13. Finally got around to making Baked Char Siu Bao. Baked slightly too long and a bit too dark on the bottom, but otherwise decent.
  14. sheetz

    Pot Roast Recipe?

    It's still in the cache http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:AxbUXp...lient=firefox-a
  15. To me, the primary reason for using part vegetable shortening over all-butter is that part shortening crusts are better at holding any type of decorative patterns/crimping during baking due to the shortening's higher melting point. In a taste test, all-butter will generally beat one with veg shortening, but there are many chefs who prefer butter/lard or even all-lard best of all.
  16. I agree with the others to go conservative, unless your client specifically asks for a particularly adventurous meal. During economic times like these I wonder if classic comfort foods might give a better impression. By that i mean there's the possibility that over-the-top stuff like molecular gastronomy could be seen as being too chichi and ostentatious.
  17. Randi, I just wanted to let you know that I was so impressed with your rolls that I made a batch of my own and they came out great. Thanks!
  18. I could have sworn there was already a pecan pie thread as well. Anyway, my favorite is this one from Dean Fearing http://www.starchefs.com/features/memorial.../fear_pie.shtml
  19. For the record my favorite pie crusts are butter+lard, but I've also made all butter crusts as well and I've never had the problem of butter pooling on the bottom of the pan. My first reaction is that there's too much butter in the recipe. What's the recipe that you use?
  20. Some of us living in countries where home ovens are more common do in fact share our baked goods on this forum. Here are a few of mine: Curried Beef Pastries http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11739287...3934_397648.jpg Winter Melon Cakes (Wife Cakes) http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11694110...3934_847575.jpg Pineapple Buns http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11651294..._3934_84233.jpg Egg Custard Tarts http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11645823..._3934_44441.jpg Mooncakes http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7236/1000559yt1.jpg
  21. Thanksgiving was great this year. Here was my menu: Creamed Corn and Butternut Squash Soup with Crab Meat. Soy Honey Roasted Turkey w/ Gravy Eight Precious Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaves Steamed Pork Belly w/ Taro Roots Stir Fried Sweet Potatoes w/ Chinkiang Vinegar and Brown Sugar Glaze topped with Sesame Walnuts Blanched Asparagus in Soy Dressing Szechuan Pickled Cucumbers And for dessert, instead of Pumpkin Pie, which a lot of Chinese don't care for, a Mango Custard Pie--tasting like a cross between Mango Pudding and Egg Custard Tarts, but resembling a Pumpkin Pie in a appearance. The meal turned out just like I had hoped it would--a Chinese style Thanksgiving without anything gimmicky. And it was pretty stress free as very little needed to be done at the last minute. I'm definitely making this menu again.
  22. I've made sweet potato pie using the filling for Paula Deen's pumpkin gooey butter cake, substituting sweet potatoes for pumpkin, and thought it was good. I don't know if that fits your description.
  23. A while back I bought a can of custard powder for a recipe that required only a couple of tablespoons of it, and now I'm not sure what to do with the rest of it. Any suggestions?
  24. Here's a bona fide Cantonese style roast turkey from a real Cantonese-American (me): In a plastic bag, marinate a turkey with: 1/2 cup thin soy sauce 1/2 cup honey chopped garlic chopped ginger Refrigerate for 3 days, rotating once each day. Remove turkey from the marinade, place on a rack in roasting pan filled with 1 cup of water, and bake at 250 deg F until internal temperature reaches 160 deg F, rotating once halfway. Every half hour brush with drippings and a mixture consisting of: honey dark soy sauce oil
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