annachan

You're making me hungry! To add to your list, I also miss: Stinky tofu (fried, with lots of hot sauce) Grilled, dried squid (like squid jerky) Pan-fried chive dumpling Eggette Waffle (fill w/ butter, sugar, peanut butter and condense milk) Looks like I may need to take another trip to Hong Kong, soon.....

As always, the dish looks great and I'm sure it tasted even better! But the heads....I so wish you left them on since they're my favorite....It's the Chinese in me that mourns for them....

The steaks came out pretty good the other night, but definitely could be better. One of the problem was that my pan wasn't really big enough. I did manage to sqeeze both steaks into the pan, but could have used more room. The steak didn't brown as much as I like. The other small problem was that I left the steak in the oven for too long. I did 4 minutes on each side when 3 minutes would probably have been enough. My steak wasn't over cooked, it was just medium to medium well, versus what I like, medium rare. I'm still debating on the cast iron pan. I had one before, but never quite got the seasoning part right. I know it can be a great asset in the kitchen....but it's also just so heavy. For now, I'm looking to get a larger version of what I have, the stainless steel pan with copper bottom. Again, thanks everyone for your help. I have 3 more packs of rib eye in the freezer to help perfect my steak cooking method. BTW, the rib eye was pretty good for Safeway meat.

Not to be too cynical, but I would question whether the meat is that good to begin with. Safeway and Giant sometimes sell USDA "Good" grade (less fat, less marbling) at a discount; the steaks are tough. Doesn't matter how you cook them unless you braise them. If they're actually choice grade, I would go with the recommendations to cook them all the way through on medium or medium high heat for 3 minutes per side, flipping every 3 minutes. Flip whenever you see beeds of juice on the top surface. After about 10-12 minutes, it should be done. Salt after the first flip. Add pepper after the second-to-last flip. ← The steak I got are the Rancher Reserves, and have a good layer of fat on the side and nice marbling throughout. I really rarely shop at Safeway and like stores (less than once a month). I only got the steaks because they did look really good. Thanks everyone for your advice. Just took the steaks out of the fridge to take the chill off and will cook them up for dinner for the husband and I tonight. Will report back on how they turn out.

Just got some great bone-in rib eye from Safeway yesterday (on sale for $4.99/lb) and want to get some help on cooking them. They're about an inch or so thick and about a lb each. My prefer method would be to cook them on stove top and finish them in the oven. I don't have a cast iron pan. I'll probably use my cooper bottom stainless steel pan. So, I like to get some guidelines on: What oil? Canola or olive? How how should the pan be before I put the steak in it? How long should I cook the steak on the first side? The second? When do I put it in the oven? Temp? How long? I'm really new at cooking steak at home, so I appreciate any advice you have. TIA

Amber India @ Mountain View for buffet! I just love the place....go there whenever I get a chance. Don't mind driving down from SF once in a while for a meal.

I think you should use whatever chocolate you enjoy. I use Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate because I prefer dark chocolate. The chocolate needs to be thin, so either choose chocolate with high fat content or add oil to melted chocolate. I use a light vegetable oil so it would not effect the flavor of the chocolate. I'm sure you can use a nut oil if you want to add flavor. The instruction on my unit also said that you can falvor the chocolate with liquor.

I've been meaning to ask you, where did you get custard powder from? From the recipes I posted for you in URL=http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=71828#]Post #5 above I've never made them and I don't have the proper iron. Actually, I've never eaten them because I've never even seen them. How thick are these things? I wonder how a pizzelle iron would work with the same batter, probably too flat to yield the proper texture... ← Don't think a pizzelle iron would work. Eggettes are in the shape of eggs. The outside is crispy and the inside is half empty with a more custard like filling.

I think it's hard to say if it's worth the price or not. It depends on the quality ingredients and how much you actually enjoy the ingredients. $100 for the dish (4 servings) isn't expensive if and the ingredients are top notch. The problem is, you often don't know until you've had the dish. $100 is steep if the dish isn't great.

Chinese Seafood: The most decent priced place I've been to is Oriental Seafood Restaurant on Noriega by 32nd Ave in Sunset. Love the succulent spotted prawns, especially @ only $17.99 a pound! There are also a variety of fish, lobster and crabs to choose from. Sushi: My favorite place is Taraval Okazu Ya. I really nice the large selection of rolls (many more variety of rolls featuring raw fish instead of cooked ingredients) as well as fajita style cooked fish. I also love the agedashi tofu, short ribs (get it as an appetizer instead of an entree), and Okazu Ya clams. Haven't been to either Ritz or French Laundry, but reservations at FL are taken 2 months to the date that you phone in, so you may have to go to the Ritz first if you don't want to wait.

A big pot of vegetable soup w/ chicken sausages or turkey meatballs. Usually throw in whatever vegetables into beef or chicken stock then add the meat. Simmer till vegetables are at desired consistency. Oxtail soup and spinach soup are nice too.

I don't care to deal with them at home because it takes a while to cook. But my mom likes to make them. She boils them in a soy sauce/spice mixture until tender (several hours), slice them into thin strips and serve with vinegar and hot oil.

I like the lamb stew idea. I would make couscous with it. Just heat up some broth/stock in the microwave, put in the same amount of dry couscous as the liquid, cover with plastic wrap and it'll be done in 5 minutes. To jazz it up, I would add some spiced almonds and/or golden raisins. Another idea is lasagna. A big tray of lasagna with a green salad and bread (french or garlic).

Would you have the address of this Denny's Cafe, Anna? Tks. ← 5530 Geary Blvd, between 19th and 20th Ave It's open at 8am daily and closes at midnight, except for Fri, Sat, which it opens till 3am Breakfast specials are from 8am-11am, afternoon tea specials are from 3:30pm-6pm (I believe). It has great lunch and dinner specials, too, starting at $4.95, which comes with soup, garlic bread, coffee/tea and entree.

I feel the same way having moved from Hong Kong many years ago. When I go back to visit, I can eat out all the time because it is afforable to. We can get a hot breakfast (congee, noodles, ham and egg, french toast, etc.) for $2 US each with drinks included. You can't get coffee and bagel here (at most places) for that price. There is one place in San Francisco, Denny's Cafe (not the chain) that comes close to the price. They have 3 breakfast specials daily for $2.35, including coffee or hot tea. It also offers afternoon tea specials for the same price.

One place I do really like and have been going there since child is Spring Deer over in Kowloon. I've always love the Peking duck and shark fin soup there.

Water, I remember from somewhere that a little water is added to the meat along w/ corn starch, soy sauce, oil and a pinch of sugar. Grandma used to make it with salted egg most often, and salted fish at times. She also use a variety of preserved vegetables, too. An aunt of mine like to add mushroom, water chestnut and a little dried mandarin peel.

That's a great idea. I would say that you can also do a pasta bar that way. Make several types of pasta (i.e. linguini, ravioli), heat up different sauces (red, pesto, alfredo, etc.) and maybe some protein (chicken, meatballs, sausages) and let everyone serve themselves. I would also put out some sliced french bread, garlic bread and some salad.

Speaking of sausage roll, anyone have a good English sausage (for sausage roll or just to eat plain) recipe? My husband (Brit) always complain that the sausages here (US) aren't the same as the ones at home.

That reminds me of the curry puffs they sell in Hong Kong and some Chinese pastry shops over here. Though the puffs usually contain curry chicken or beef mixture instead of potato. yummy.....

Just finished my friend's babyshower and had great success with some untraditional samosas. Since we're serving for about 30 for brunch, we didn't want to have to deal with frying. But the mother-to-be really likes samosas. Here's the solution: Make the samosa filling of your choice (can be done in advance) When the filling is at room temp, put a heaping teaspoon into a wonton wrapper, wet the edge with some water and pinch close (like a small purse) Bake at a 375 oven for 12 minutes The wonton wrappers stayed crispy from when we took them from the oven till the last guest left (6 hours +).

I'm also someone who uses the empty produce bags. I do also use the trays that some vegetables come in. If it's a really small job (i.e. chopping up a small onion and a couple cloves of garlic), I have even just use a piece of paper towel.

Lately, I've been using my little Black & Decker almost every week to cook tomatoes. I put tomatoes (cheery, pear or large ones cut up), salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and olive oil in a glass baking dish, crank up the oven to about 400 and roast. It makes a great and easy side dish.

I'm not sure where you can get a definitive book on dumplings and such. Depending which region, dumplings are prepared and served differently. There really aren't any rules that I'm aware of that certain shape determines how the dumplings are cooked. Some dumplings can be prepared more than one way. Pot stickers (pan-fried), for example, can be steamed or put into soup. Dumpling is one of those thing that people can and do get creative with. From the filling to the wrapper to the shape to the cooking method, there are many, many possible combinations.

Sugar is used for cooking in our house, but in a moderate amount. I usually put a small amount of sugar, 1 tsp or so, when marinating meat for stir-fry. Cornstach is used as well, but also mainly for marinate (for texture), once in a while as a thickener. The amount is also small, 1 tsp to 1 tbsp. I think the economy of China has a lot to do with the weight issue. Not only was meat expensive, so were things like soy sauce and oil. Therefore, it's been a habit to stretch what's available. Even when food became more plentiful, many of the home recipes remained the same. My family was in the meat and restaurant business in Hong Kong before. Even when we had an unlimited supplies of meat, we consumed a modest amount. We were, and still are, used to using a small amount of meat to flavor the dish so we can enjoy the vegetables more. It's sad to say, but the children in China are now facing weight problems due to better economy and the popularity of western fast food chains like McDonalds.