mizducky

Hi, Suzysushi--really enjoying your blog so far. The shaka-flashin' Santa is fabulous. Re: personal holiday traditions: I grew up with extended family gatherings for "the holidays" (my non-religious mixed Jewish/gentile relatives just lumped everything in all together). My immediate family also lit a menorah for Hanukah, and also had potato latkes one night out of the eight. But we had no other specific food traditions. A couple of Christmases when I was a kid I tried my hand at making spritz cookies, more as an excuse to fool around with a cookie press than anything else. But the kind of frenzies of baking many folks go through every holiday season is something I've never experienced firsthand. I do love fruitcake, though--the denser the better. Never could quite grasp why the stuff inspires such dread in certain quarters ... My ex came from a Midwestern family of Scotch/Irish/German heritage, and their Christmas food imperatives kind of drove her nutz; and then as an adult she discovered sugar really messed with her head. So while we were together I got lots of stories about the forced march through the stollen-making but no stollen. All throughout my adulthood, partnered or otherwise, I have generally gotten together with various friends wherever I happen to be living at the time for some kind of holiday food doings. These past few years, I've gone to the Christmas day potluck at my UU church. It's a nice homey gathering with some fascinating folks, many of whom are darn good cooks. And they're a fun appreciative crowd to cook for too. As a matter of fact, once I finish this current surf through eGullet I need to hit the kitchen and make my contribution to the potluck: vegetarian borscht, starting from the Moosewood Cookbook recipe and fiddled with in various ways (think I'm going to roast at least the beets and onion). It's been unusually chilly here in San Diego too the past couple of weeks--we actually had frost at night in a couple of places not so far out of the city--so I was really feeling in a hearty winters soup kind of mood. Which will make it extra-cool to see your tropical holiday spreads. My special request: when you visit the North Shore, or wherever else you go, if you could show us some serious "local kind grindz," I (and I bet mmm-yoso!) would be most thrilled. Loco moko, spam musubi, saimin ... and oh yes, the poke! Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like raw fish. Thanks, and rock on!

I've been busy most of this week and have only caught up now. Great blog! And great to find another data point in my informal study of the American Jewish fondness for Asian food. Though I too would at least gently kid you about your attitudes toward eastern European Jewish cuisine--especially when you're definitely on top of the latke game. And I always enjoy virtual tours of Seattle, especially some of my old stomping grounds in the ID and the CD. Though I fear I severely neglected the Ethiopian restaurants when I lived in Seattle. Any chance you might be persuaded to take a swing by Thai Tom before the blog is over?

This whole thread is very inspiring. I've been checking out the pig's feet in my local market and wanting to know what to do with them ... and now I know!

Cool--all very helpful. Especially the part about keeping the meat in one piece--I didn't realize that was the preferred way. The batch above I let cook for only two hours, and the meat came out really tender, but I think that only worked because I'd cut the meat into chunks. Hmmm ... now more than ever I'm feeling the need to get a crockpot so I can leave it going all day long ...

Wow. With all the terrific food that's been posted--especially that gorgeous red-cooked pork, sheetz!-- I feel a little intimidated about posting my newbie-ish efforts. But here I go anyway ... My latest practice run with red cooked pork: This time I wanted to do a bigger batch, so I did it on the stovetop in a heavy cast-aluminum pot with a good heavy lid. I used about a pound of boneless pork, skinless but with a nice fat layer (no longer remember what cut it is--it's been waiting in the freezer for a few weeks). Didn't sear the meat first--was in a bit of a rush. I had the yellow rock candy to use for the first time, along with all the usual seasonings. Also included some chunks of daikon and onion. Very simple--but so satisfying on a cool evening when I'm feeling a little out of sorts physically.

Even the colors are yummy! I'm grooving on the color of #24, especially. I'll be very interested to hear reports on what it tastes like.

I see y'all have been having fun while I was busy. I am coveting that meal of raw tuna, rare lamb, and roasted maitake. I'm digging that picture of the freaky demon on the bottle of soju you polished off. Milk sugars--never really thought about them much. But now I'm contemplating the possibilities of dulce de leche'd yogurt. And I only tried gjetost once or twice long ago, and didn't really "get it" ... but now that the connection with dulce de leche has been made, I'm going duh on myself. And thinking I should give it another shot. Fascinating stuff.

I miss bialys intensely. Yeah, somehow they never made their way outside of New York the way bagels have, and I have no idea why. But part of me is sort of glad, because I'd hate to see them bowdlerized the way mass-produced bagels have been (cinnamon raisin bialys? blueberry bialys? jalapeno/cheese bialys? <shudder>).

Hi! Sorry I'm late. Especially when you're posting photos like this: Swoon. Soul food indeed. And then this extravaganza: Righteous. Rage on, dude. As to what to test all that dulce de leche on: I don't know what's traditional, but how about a really nice pound cake? Or, yeah, you could just provide spoons.

Heh. I haven't been posting because I was busy all weekend with totally non-food-related stuff. I do make myself a bowl of congee nearly every day for late lunch/snack, including today as a matter of fact, but as they all look pretty much alike I hadn't bother to document them. Next time I do an especially nice one, though, I promise to post a picture. (I've never bought or eaten thousand-year eggs before. I'll happily accept any pointers on how to select good ones.)

A lot of folks have already suggested stuff that I would suggest, so some of this may well be repeats: --Food banks can be a great boon, and they're not just for the totally down-and-out; lots of working folks use them to stretch their food dollars. Most food banks just carry real basics like potatoes, onions, and canned goods, with maybe a few more interesting things thrown in, so she'll still have to round out her groceries with a trip to the (budget) supermarket, but every little bit helps. --Stretch the pricy meat by using it as a seasoning/accent rather than the main event of a meal. Soups, stews with lots of veggies, chili, home-made hamburger-helper concoctions, stirfries, etc. etc. etc. --Lots of food-dollar stretchers to be found in soul food/SE US cuisine--a big pot of greens or beans flavored with a ham hock (or a smoked turkey wing, for a version lighter in salt and fat); dirty rice; grits ... --Mexican cookery (and its Tex-Mex variants) is another source good stuff cheap--and a great way to use all that cheese she'll (hopefully) be getting through WIC. --How does she feel about tofu? I know lots of people unfamiliar with the stuff avoid it because they think it's bland, but it just needs proper treatment (marination, cooking in a flavorful broth, etc.) to really take off. And it's some of the cheapest protein in the store. --Same question for variety meats/offal--again, lots of folks think they don't care for the stuff, but again, with proper treatment the stuff's delicious. --How's the roadside vegetable stand action in your neck of the woods? I realize right now in Kansas it's totally not the growing season, but when it is, farm stands can provide some real bargains on produce. --Shop thrift stores not only for a good crock pot (as someone said upstream), but also for some good basic cookbooks to build up her reference library. As a side issue, I'm kind of bummed on her behalf that she was turned down for food stamps ... does she think it's worth it trying to appeal that decision, or to at least talk to someone in the administration about the reasons she was turned down? Sometimes it's just a matter of re-wording the application more effectively, and/or better documenting the need issues, and/or finding a more helpful/sympathetic bureauocrat to help find the path through the red-tape jungle...

The weather's been a little nippy even down here in Southern California (actually got down to freezing last night!) so it's time for simmering some shirataki ... This has also got chunks of firm tofu, carrot, daikon, and onion, plus broken bits of shiitake, in home-made dashi. The house smells terrific!

Hey, at least you know when you're doing mix-and-match ... a lot of the time I'm totally unsure as to whether I've just committed "fusion" or not! Besides, it all looks delicious!

Yep--one whole tail, probably about 4-5 ounces of meat. Plus the broth, which is pretty intense -- in a good way. I was thinking of having the tail meat with some congee tomorrow. And saving the broth for the next time I red cook something.

Wow! That's quite the feast your mom whipped up! It's the actual tail of the bird--the turkey, being a bigger bird, will have a much more substantial tail (plus I think the turkey just evolved a sturdier tail in order to hold up its big beautiful plume of tail feathers). In English the chicken or turkey tail is often nicknamed the "pope's nose" (pity the poor pontif who has a nose shaped like that! ) I very seldom see turkey tails in the market here in San Diego, though for some reason I used to see them a lot more in Seattle mainstream supermarkets. Sometimes they even turn up smoked--great for flavoring a potful of greens! (Though that's more a dish common to the US Southeast...) Some random Googling suggests that turkey hasn't made much of an inroad into Chinese cuisine yet--all the recipes I found seem to be adaptations of dishes traditionally made with other types of poultry. But the turkey tails did take to the red-cooking treatment really well--turkey's a good blank canvas for all kinds of flavorings.

I went shopping at the local Food-4-Less this afternoon, and in the meat case I discovered several packages of turkey tails. I think a lot of people don't know what the heck to do with these things, but I love 'em--they're full of flavor, rich with fat, and really inexpensive. Usually I use them to make soup, but since I'm still playing with my new sand pot, I had an inspiration to use the turkey tails in a red-cooked dish. Not traditional as far as I know, but I figured why the heck not? And they fit in my little sand pot perfectly. The pot just out of the oven: The reveal! I put some chunks of onion, carrot, and daikon in to braise with the turkey and seasonings (light and dark soy sauce, shao zhing wine, star anise, and ginger, plus a scant cupful of water).

According to this article, purple broccoli gets its color from a naturally-occuring antioxidant known as anthocyanin. So purple broccoli is apparently even better for you than the green stuff. (Though, yeah, I think the color will fade at least a bit with cooking, much the way red cabbage loses some of its vivid color when cooked). All the panchan with your Korean meal really made my stomach growl.

This dish looks absolutely scrumptious! I love that slightly-chewy rice stick texture, and every time I look at this picture I can just feel my teeth sliding into one of them. I should have another picture for this topic in about an hour or so ...

Re: DZ Akins--as a nice Jewish girl from New York, I readily admit to major bias in my opinions about Jewish-style deli places, so no such joint here in San Diego is ever going to measure up to my memories of places like Katz' Deli. That said, I do find DZ Akins a decent substitute when I'm having a nostalgic craving for those kind of eats. And yeah, like the New York delis it emulates, DZ Akins definitely gives you value for your money. Their bakery does respectable rugelah too!

I get a really nice texture in the tofu by par-boiling cubed firm tofu for about three minutes in a large quantity of water, draining the cubes well before proceeding with the recipe. I have found this step produces cubes whose outsides resist crumbling when you stir them around in the sauce (though of course you still have to stir them gently!), and whose insides are soft and almost fluffy. Plus I chop my fermented black beans rather than mashing them, so there's texture from that too.

You might also want to look around in the Chinese food forum. There were some lovely photos of daan taat (egg tarts) just the other day, right here. Plus there was a whole topic on these little pastries over here.

Ellen: you can put in pressed tofu to make the vegetarian version. Get some flavored or smoked pressed tofu... cut them into tiny cubes (e.g. 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch). This can be the "meat substitute". Then cook using the same recipe. This will give you 2 layers of texture: the harder pressed tofu and the softer regular tofu. Just a trick to please our taste buds. Where are the firey fresh red chili slices? Oops... watched too many Kylie's shows... ← Hi, Ah Leung--I remember seeing that suggestion about the pressed tofu in your tutorial. I just forgot to buy any the last time I was at 99 Ranch ... and I didn't have any ground meat in the fridge either ... but my mouth wanted some mapo tofu anyway so I had at it with what I had on hand. No fistfuls of red chilies for this girl--but I did get it just hot enough for my tastes with one dried red chile (crushed), and a spoonful each of toban jan and crushed Szechuan pepper. My tongue is happily tingling.

My dinner tonight--vegetarian mapo tofu: I didn't substitute anything for the meat--I just omitted it. Plenty of protein already with the tofu.

I'm so glad you confessed to all this, Ah Leung--I thought I was the only one with weird snacking habits! I too have eaten fu yu as an unconventional snack--either as a spread on bread or crackers, or mashed into sour cream as a dip, as we discussed in another topic. I have also been known to finish of the remains of an open packet of dried shrimp ... and to take little sample tastes of sa cha sauce. Oh and I realize this is a Japanese and not a Chinese product, but I also like to snack on furikake. I'll pour about a teaspoonful out of the jar into the palm of my hand and eat it. And I wonder why I have high blood pressure?

As in oatmeal porridge? I like it in congee, plain or otherwise. ← Heh. Not only do I love fu yu in traditional congee, but I often make what I think of as a mongrel congee in which I substitute rolled oats for the rice (my doctors want me to get more fiber in my diet), and I'll garnish that with fu yu also. Last night I tried an especially out-there experiment--I mashed a couple of cubes of chili-flavored fu yu into some sour cream, and used it as a dip with raw vegetables. The dip wound up tasting just like a US-style blue cheese dip! I suppose, if matching a Chinese food product with dairy just seems way too weird, a similar effect could be had by mixing the fu yu into some mashed soft/silken tofu. Do people have certain brands of fu yu that they prefer? Here in the States, I often see several different brands in the better-stocked Asian markets, with slightly different labelings and ingredients/flavorings, so I've sort of been sampling at random.