nondual1

Izumi-ya? Yup, I saw flats of the little seedlings there a week ago. This wonderful shop is tucked away on Alderbridge, just half a block west of No. 3 Road.

A craving for garlic? Hmm, why don't you just head for the nearest Korean restaurant? If you're unusually lucky, you might even get pickled garlic as one of the side-dishes! I just had dinner at Golden Szechun (Broadway and Burrad). Sichuan cuisine, as we all know, makes liberal use of garlic. Among the many garlicky dishes I had tonight was the "Zhong's Dumpling" (钟水饺）which literally has a layer of garlic covering it. The neat thing is that, after whatever they have done to the garlic, it is no longer aggressive, but is subtly sweet and fragrant. It's there but it's not really there; you think it's not there but it sneaks up on you. The aroma is going to haunt me all night, I am sure. And spare Count Dracula a visit...

Kristen-san and Hiroyuki-san (and the others): What a wonderful thread and thank you for sharing your insight on Japanese rice! As soon as I finished my first bowl of rice in Osaka a few years back, I realized that all the so-called "Japanese rice" I had had outside of Japan were pretty much fakes. If it weren't for possible customs restrictions (and the weight!), I would have smuggled a few kilos of the real thing back in my luggage. Real Japanese rice is heavenly, the ultimate staple. I was under the impression that, due to long-standing national policy, Japan banned the export of rice (and severely restricted the import of the same as well). I was pleasantly surprised to find small -- and thus relatively expensive -- bags of rice that claimed to be produced in Japan, not the US, available here in Vancouver, BC. There are three varieties available now: Komachi from Akita, Hitome from Miyagi and -- I forget the type -- from Chiba. I have tried the Akita one so far and it tastes very different from the US-grown types I used to use, with much shorter grain, and almost as heavenly as the bowls I had in Japan. The color, the sparkles, the texture, the taste... ahhhh! My question to the experts at hand is, thus, can these exported rice be real? In other words, is there really a ban on export? Another related question is: is rice pretty much a commodity such that, say, one bag of Miyagi Hitome rice is just as good as the next -- or is it more like Burgundy wines, that which are produced ten feet apart can taste vastly different? Thanks!

It looks fabulous!!! Can't wait for the next one (May 22 is it?). How much does it cost for the whole evening: the tasting, the introduction, dinner and wine? Must be quite expensive to be so wonderful! Please inform. Thanks!

Hmmm... am I seeing double or something? Abdel Elatouabi was on CityCooks today (using his tangine!) and saying that he owned TWO restaurants. So the Davie location is still hanging on? See here, here, and here.

So, there is still hope after all...?? I have not eaten at Juicy or Prime Time -- they look scary enough from the outside that I hesitate to set foot in them. Of the chains, I prefer KFC over Church's, although that's really not saying much. I have passed by Lee's in Richmond a few times, but just haven't had the chance to actually try it. That I should do in the near future. Incidentally, there's also a "Lee's" in Burnaby (Here): Are the two Lee's related in any way? Would I get the same good chicken at the Burnaby one? Now, if only someone knows where to get chicken fried steak... Thanks a million!

Chef Wayne Martin of Chartwell was on CityCooks today (4/26/2005) doing a bunch of fushionish dishes today (see here and here, for example). Whereas I am not particularly interested in those, he mentioned more than a few times Austin, TX (Hook'em Horns!!!) and CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN, which drew my attention majorly. Once in a while, one does need an infusion of fat in one's diet and chicken fried IS the way to do it. Unfortunately, from the earlier posts on this thread, it would seem that Vancouver is rather wanting in this area -- I might be wrong, but even Big Al is no longer behind the fryer at T & J. So, I figure I would give it one last try and ask if anyone knows of any place that serves chicken fried chicken and, with incredible luck, chicken fried steak? Many thanks!

As you probably are aware, BBQ/Kalbi is not "everyday fare" for most Koreans, who usually have it as a treat -- usually with lots of drinks for a good time. The everyday fare centers more around soup and rice (and kimchi, of course). Catering at least in part to ESL students who probably cannot afford BBQ/Kalbi on a daily basis, the downtown Korean restaurants just may not be as "BBQ-heavy" as those elsewhere, many of which got started years ago serving *Korean* tourists who would come for BBQ and a good time. So, you are likely to find really good hotpots, soups, noodles and so on in the downtown Korean restaurants. Among my favourites, all of which would have to haul out the butane burner should you order BBQ, since they don't have the fixed, gas type: 1. Jang Mo Jib on Robson (near Denman), which serves the now-ubiquitous Gam Ja Tang ("Pork back-bone soup/hotpot.") It is amazing to see how tasty those "soup bones" can be. Very hustle-bustle though, sometimes with a line-up. 2. Cafe Koreana on Robson (near Jervis) has some good and reasonably-priced dishes. The decor is a little off-the-wall however. 3. And my favourite is Madangcoul on Denman, just around the corner from Jang Mo Jib. A most friendly place serving very down-home cooking. Mom's cooking, you know. I have heard good things about Norboo (sp?) on Robson (near Cardero), but have not been there personally. But don't confuse that with Ap Kung Jung, which is just a few stores away; I don't recommend it at all. Go forth and explore, my friends! [Edited to format the quote correctly]

Hmm, one of my favourite dishes/meals... First of all, Muck Ja Gol on Kingsway (near Nelson in Burnaby) uses real charcoal. But except for that one merit, I actually don't find their meat and side dishes all that excellent. Try it if you must. Chosun, also on Kingsway, near Joyce Street and the border of Vancouver and Burnaby, has probably very good meat and marinade. The side dishes are all right as well. It tends to be quite expensive, so, as much as I like it, I don't go there all that often. My favourite is (drum-roll please!) Mi Sun Rae -- well, guess what, also on Kingsway! -- near Sperling in Burnaby, which is both reasonably priced and features excellent meat and side dishes. And very authentically Korean. They might still offer this: If you order three orders of kalbi, you get a free pancake. And please try their (unmarinaded) pork belly; it's refreshingly different from the "normal" Korean BBQ we usually know. Now you got me thinking I should have BBQ tonight... devil you!

I think what your niece is thinking about is the "Ci Fan" (literally, "sticky rice") typically found in cuisines of the region around Shanghai. Some Taiwanese restaurants have it too. Either savory or sweet -- you have to specify which when ordering -- it is a big part of Shanghainese breakfast, alongside soybean milk and plain yao tieu. The contrast of the crunchy yao tieu and the sticky rice is what makes it so attractive. Add to that the crispiness of the bits of pickle ("Za Cai") and the aromatic dried pork shreds ("Ro Song"), the savory version is my favorite. I believe the sweet ones are made with sugar in the place of meat and pickle. It is quite easy to make but quite challenging to make well (duh!). The key is the ingredients: you need very good yao tieu, preferrably fresh from the fryer, and sticky rice cooked just right, which is neither too moist nor too hard. Lay out a nice piece of saran wrap and oil it very lightly. Spread, not too ambitiously, a layer of warm sticky rice on the wrap, leaving lots of spare wrap all around; then spread on top of the rice a layer of pork shreds and pickle bits. Put a piece of yao tieu across and quickly roll up the "log." Tie up the two ends and apply pressure to shape it well. I find it easier to cut the finished product still wrapped and in larger pieces (like halves or thirds and no smaller). Eat it while the rice is still warm and the yao tieu crunchy. Hope that works for you!

Not that I am a linguist or anything... Just as someone reminded us that it is pronounced "Hoisan" rather than "Taishan," "Toishan," or even "Toysan," may I ask if "say nui bow" really should be pronounced "slay nui bao"? The "l" sound is very slight, and is found in "slam" and "slay" (the numbers 3 and 4, respectively). My late father drilled me on this when I was a kid. I wonder if it is just a parochial variance of our dialect? By the way, technically speaking, Hoisan is part of the "Four Counties," the other three being Hoiping, Yinping, Sunwui, the dialect, cuisine and culture of each being a little different from the others, but not by much. In any case, I am sure we are all welcome here, right? [Edited to add "food content," so as not to get deleted] Although I don't have a recipe for "hom sui gok," for making dim sum has never been my forte, I have managed to google for one here (http://www.wupage.net/7/zuofang/meishi/010.htm ). You would need to be able to display Chinese characters to read it though; should that be a problem, please speak up and I will try to translate it somehow sometime.

Do we Toysanese like our food or what...??? Just joined the board and thought I might add a few words... The 2 terms have a common word of "chop". In Chinese it means "gathering", or "together", or also "assorted". It is the "gathering" meaning used in "dai chop wui", and "assorted" in "chop suey". The term "chop suey" just means gathering the bits and pieces (implied raw food ingredients to make the dish). ← Whereas chopsuey is a stir-fry, dai chop wui (or "da za hui" in Mandarin) is typically closer to a braise, thus the "wui" part. The ingredients are not as finely chopped as chopsuey (less "suey"??). Many Northern Chinese cuisines would put da za hui on their menus. Sweet and Sour Pork: I agree that you will probably find this dish with different incarnations in different parts of China. It is a common dish in Cantonese cooking. I like the Sweet and Sour Pork prepared in Hong Kong. But in the States, it's a different story. It's the same story that while some of these dishes indeed originated in China, they turned into something quite different in the USA (or elsewhere around the world outside of China). Orange Beef (sweet sweet sweet), Chicken Chow Mein (where "mein", or noodle as we know it, is optional), and Egg Foo Young (can't stand that they put so much flour in the egg mix to make an omlette, and oh, with the terrible "gravy") came to mind... ← Actually, I was quite surprised to see some of these dishes featured in Korean restaurants, e.g., sweet-and-sour pork as "tang sue yuk". Though different, they are just as delicious when well-made. As well, many of these dishes are not the inventions of our Toysan Lo Wah Kiu as some might believe. Besides sweet-and-sour pork, which someone has already talked about, egg foo young is found in many regional cuisines of China. And orange beef probably has a Sichuan origin -- although typically much less sweet as the "Old Chinatown" version. On that note: the one delicacy I really missed about "Old Chinatown" food is fried stuffed-boneless chicken wings. Anyone had them lately? One last thing: I would go out on a limb and assert that, to be a "real" Toysanese, you have to have had "hong yuang" (savory -- as opposed to sweet -- rice ball in soup), typically made annually on the Winter Solstice. And if you have a taste for "steamed salted fish on meat patty," you are eligible for the Toysanese Gourmet Hall of Fame... Glad to see us being "outted!"