Fengyi

Marco Polo, you've made me hungry for this again....and I only made it last Sunday for dinner....! Your descriptions of your grandmother's cooking and her family background were terrific.. and I must add that I too was one of those kids who stole raw meat from the pot (hee!hee!).

Don't be scared It's really easy to make at home - and at least you know the meat is good and your own kitchen is clean! I make both Korean and French steak tartare at home (as I live in a small town where there are practically NO decent restaurants) and they work out really well. Mind you, I think we've decided that Yook Hwe is nicer than the French version (hee!hee!) . I always tell my butcher that I am eating the beef raw and they always give me good, clean meat which is freshly cut. Lately I have taken to doing the tartares with rump and sirloin rather than the fillet, because I think the texture is much nicer and more interesting. Either way, we've never gotten ill ever from it. You should just go for it Think of the yumminess you are missing!

Thanks for the tips, Dejah, Trillium!! I will look much harder at the dried (and for the turnip, salted) foods section in the store - and keep my eyes WIDE open! And Julian - your description made me SO hungry (and it's only 8:30 am for me!!!).....thanks!

Thank you for posting this term 'Jacob's Ladder'!! I finally got up the nerve to ask the oldest butcher at our local place about this cut. He immediately recognized the name but said he hadn't cut it for a while. He gave me a quick talk about where it was located....and result! He is ordering me a 'whole ladder' and I am going in next week to get it cut up as I like. Thank you again for giving me the 'magic words' to enable me to eat short ribs - yum! yum!

Sorry - my bad! I phrased my question in a particularly obtuse and foolish fashion...what I meant is to ask if there were special characters for the dried form (kind of like when shrimps become 海米 or scallops become 瑤珠). I thought it might be something esoteric like that because I don't recall seeing 乾栗子 on the shelves...but, heck! the local Asian supermarket isn't that organized so it's probably my inability to see the wood for the trees (or maybe just the 'wood ears!' )

Thank you too Azn for the recipe - I really want to try and make it for this CNY!! I also have a question about the chestnuts - you don't happen to be able to write the Chinese characters for them, do you? I don't recall seeing them - but maybe with the UK/US english difference, they're called something else here in the UK. Also (sorry another question!), some of the people I have coming over for CNY are allergic to seafood. Is it OK to miss out the dried shrimp? Is there something you would recommend for a substitute? Thanks again!

Ah! the deliciousness of all bagged snack crisps.... Only possibly improved by placing the contents between two slices of processed white bread which have been thickly spread with mayonaise... and *squishing* it together into a wodge of crunchy salty goodness. Doing the above with a packet of Walker's Cheese and Onion Flavoured Crisps (Chips) is a truly shameful pleasure....

I tasted the 1998 range at Pol Roger this summer and really really liked them. It struck me that they probably will all be drinking sooner than their 1996 equivalents. What did you think about the 'age-abilty' of the '98? BTW, The 1998 blanc de Chardonnay is lovely - even when we had it standing around cars on the Eurotunnel crossing out of plastic glasses, it was Heaven -even more apples than the regular 98 and ever so sprightly!!

Thank you - I know so little about Piemontese cuisine that I felt quite embrassed to post the notes and wasn't sure if it was the 'thing to do'. The one thing about this board.....the more I look at the postings, the more I long to return asap to Italy....thank goodness for Ryanair!

I'm not sure where to add this exactly, but I thought this thread was as good as any [although I only went for 3 days of eating in Piemonte, rather than a week]. I just wanted to add some restaurants to Marco's list. The two places near Barolo were suggested by Raffaella, the owner of the lovely Band B we stayed in (called Gioco del'Oca) as being well-priced and fun. Sorry if these notes are too rambling and ridiculous, I haven't posted much like this!!!! We went to: La Cantinetta Barolo We had a very enjoyable evening here, putting ourselves in the hands of our waiter for a very filling dinner of: Four antipasti of: Duck and rabbit paté with red onion jelly, Vitello tonnato, Egg and onion custard with red pepper sauce and cardoon with Fontina sauce (all of which were very competently done and rather yummy) and then, the best of them all: a large ravioli filled with an essentially raw egg yolk and spinach. This was cooked to a T and the egg yolk was divine. Then we had ravioli al plin with sage and butter sauce (which was very nice) and some tagliatella with ragu (not as good as a similar dish I had last March in the Osteria del'Arco in Alba) and my spouse had Guinea fowl with prunes, green beans and herbed polenta, which he enjoyed tremendously. They (sensing our greed perhaps) gave us four desserts: pannacotta, semi-freddo, hazelnut and chocolate tart and bonét (the latter made with eggs, chocolate and amaretti biscuits), of which the most succesful were the pannacotta (lovely texture) and the tart. With the meal, we mainly drunk 1995 Barolo, Serralunga d’Alba, Fontanafredda, which was slightly dissappointing - a little bit too much age perhaps? It seemed a bit personality-less....however, it had nice perfume on the nose and still enough acidity to go well with the rich food. Osteria del Vignaiolo just outside La Morra This was a very welcoming place with a nice interior and lovely position amongst the vines. We started with Carne cruda, a molded brocoli mousse with Fontina and black truffle sauce and a Jerusalem artichoke tart. The meat was very nice and well-seasoned. The tart pastry was a tad overcooked, although the filling itself was delicious. The broccoli mousse was lovely and light. For the primi, we shared a risotto of zucchini and goose foie gras. This was really, really good. The texture, richness and flavours of the dish worked wonderfully together. Possibly one of the best risotto's I've had (not that I am a veteran risotto eater or anything!!!) My spouse went on to braised lamb shank with beans and pancetta with potatoes, which tasted very rich and well-braised. For dessert, we shared the malvasia zabajone, which was very well executed (though it doesn't really light my fire as a dish particularly). The wine was 2003 Langhe, Roberto Voerzio and an absolute stunner!!! It almost distracted me from the food! We were a bit shy of choosing it because of the difficulties of the 2003 harvest - but the fruit was lovely, not overwhelming at all and it had beautifully balanced acidity and tannins- the whole was a joy to drink. I wish I could afford taste this guy's Barolos......one day! This place was the most reasonably priced - all the above for about 80 euros! The last night, for an anniversary treat, we stayed at the Relais di San Maurizio, in San Stefano Belbo. Of course we dined at da Guido da Costigliole We'd stopped earlier and bought some 2002 Asti, I Vignaioli di Santo Stefano, which had the mouth-feel of a German Riesling at Spätlese level and also showed a nice honeyed richness with Muscat fruit throughout. In the evening, to start my spouse (who went for the tasting menu) had Vitello tonnato and Cardoon with Fontina, which were the best executions of these dishes that we had had, while I *devoured* this dish called "Abbiamo fritto l’uovo" which was not actually a fried egg, but one lightly baked in the oven then served with a kind of funky wavy bruschetta on top of white truffle sauce. Incredible and probably the largest source of dish envy to have transpired between us while in Italy! Then we both had Lidia's Ravioli Al Plin, which were much bigger than we were expecting. But the filling - WOW!- the texture and taste were fantastic. Again, the best execution of such a traditional dish that we (in our VERY limited experience) had have. For main courses, I had the 12 month old 'Veal' pave steak with ‘deep-fried’ foie gras, which I (being a monster) adored for its richness and mix of lovely textures (chewy, crunchy and melty all at the same time!!). The other main was braised lamb shank with pumpkin sauce and green beans and aubergine, which was well-done but nothing to really rave about. With a very cute Tiramisu for dessert, we were about as full as one can get! (though I managed to sneak in some Moscato Passito made by the good ole I Vignaioli di Santo Stefano - very luscious but not tooo heavy). The wine was 2003 Langhe, Paolo Scavino which, while not as good as the Roberto Voerzio, was very delicious and, again, showed lovely fruit and good balance. In all, dinning here was a very enjoyable experience, but maybe a bit expensive to return to again for us! [though not for the other diners, who were whooping it up on white truffles everywhere.....at least we got to enjoy the smell! ] We've already decided that we must return to Piemonte again and sample some of the restaurants that e-gulleteers suggest (I wasn't quite organized enough in time to make a list for this trip!). It certainly is a lovely place to eat and drink!!!

Me too. My mom always taught me to clean my plate. ← I think there's a great divergence in Chinese eating for 'inside the house' and 'as a guest'. We were always taught that, while in the house 'en famile', leaving rice was an ABSOLUTE no-no! The reason for it (beyond the 'you'll get a spouse with as many pockmarks as grains of rice that you leave in your bowl' threat) was given as essentially that of the Li Shen poem from the Tang Dynasty: 憫農 鋤禾日當午，汗滴禾下土。 誰知盤中飧，粒粒皆辛苦。 "Feelings for the Farmer" (my VERY bad translation) Hoeing the rice plants, while the sun is at noon The sweat drips onto the soil beneath the plants... Who can comprehend that, of the cooked rice on the dish, Each and every grain is of such hardship and bitterness? Any time rice was left, it brought on a 'suffering farmer' lecture.... We *were* brought up never to finish the dishes "cai" (even at home) but always to leave surplus of it, but rice was another matter.... However [deep breath] we were not allowed *ever* to clean our plate or bowl 'in the outside world' while being a guest of someone. It was quite difficult as a child to fathom this strange behaviour (and I really liked the fried rice/noodles at the end of banquets too!!! I used to yearn for it!) - my mother telling me on the one hand to finish my rice, on the other to leave it all! Those darned conflicting messages of 'feelings for farmers' and 'giving face to the host'!!!!!

Lucky you! Around here, it's at least twice as much, if not more. I don't even think I can get the small size for that price. If I could get large head-on shrimp for $3.99/lb., I'd have it every night. ← Oh my! I pay about $25-$28 USD (equivalent) a kilo...so aboout $14USD a pound?!?! Mind you, I could get them a bit cheaper but I prefer to buy the "Sustainable Marine Practice" certified ones. But even the cheaper ones are still only a few dollars cheaper (about a UKPound a kilo difference). As with you, "I call the Duck", I think I would eat prawns every night if they were that cheap!!! And you're right, hzrt8w, the dish does come out 'wetter' than yours....but the sauce is SO SO SO good! Actually, it's so yummy that I have been known, while clearing up dinner, to put left over rice into the sauce-glazed dish...and eat it over the sink - because I cannot bear even that tiny bit of sauce to go to waste....

I am not sure how one can achieve this. I have not heard of it, and I never thought of it. ← Oh, I've been thinking about it - and there are advantages to head and tail separation I feel. It's easy enough to do, just an extra step in preparation, that's all! I have a feeling the method comes from a particularly fussy family cook, whose cooking was famous for its exactitude (alas, she retired before I was old enough to know her!). I haven't been able to afford the prawns to make this dish the two different ways (you would not believe the price here!), but on pure speculation, I love the way the juice from the separated heads enriches the sauce and, conversely, how having the heads bathed separately in the sauce improves there flavour.... But I will try your way hzrt8w! and give it a go! when prawns are on sale.........

Interestingly (or maybe not.....geek-warning alert!!!), the characters la4腊 can be written 臘 and the former character used to be read xi1, for which it meant 'cured meats' while the la4 reading was reserved for the La Festival (which is rarely, if ever, celebrated now, but there are some really nice Tang poems about it....). Actually, the second la4 character is the more common ancient form of la4, but it appears that, in a great coalescing (sp?) of festival and what was prepared there, the association of the two became what it is today with 臘 and 腊 and la4 and xi1 all merging together (just like how the term la4 became associated with the twelfth lunar month). In the Shouwen Jiezi (說文解字), the character 腊 doesn't even appear, just the other - which indicates the sacrifice of la4, but even by this point (i.e. Han dynasty) it was associated with dried meat.... [geek mode off] and back to real food - I need to make some lapyuk as the thread on Naw Mai fan is making me REALLY hungry and I can't seem to find it anywhere near me. So, question for Ben or BettyK - how long do you need to hang it for? Will it take ages or can you eat it pretty soon after curing?

Oooh! they look good! A question though: when I was taught to make this dish (courtesy of School of Mum), I was told to separate the heads and tails carefully and to cook the heads for about 30sec./1min. more to ensure that they and the tails were cooked to the same state. But those ones in the picture look good.....am I wasting time fiddling about? Is this only an 'old wives' tale'? Am I just giving my spouse the chance to eat extra heads, while leaving me the tails?!?!?! Sorry I can't contribute to the thread with pictures. Just like onigiriFB, I live in a 'Chinese Restaurant Deprived Area' (CRDA). And Canucklehead's pictures are making me regret leaving Vancouver, Canada more and more and more and more and more........

I may be being too radical here, but the one thing that improved my mapo Doufu beyond belief was a tip from a Hubei friend who loved Sichuan food. She told me to make it using a half beef half lamb mixture and to fry the mince really, really well. It makes for a stellar, strong taste that really stands up to all the black beans, chiles and sichuan pepper that goes in the version I cook. If you are into strong flavour, do try it! Do keep in mind, though, that I prefer the really fire-y type of Mapo Doufu (swimming under a dusting of Sichuan pepper and a thin layer of redhot oil), like the ones I have eaten in Sichuan itself. Big flavours (or as my mother would have it...."you cook just like a Sichuan peasant!"). I'm just a big chile-head

In my family, we would have pig's head both English and Chinese style - but made very differently... As Aprilmei said, Chinese style involved separating all the bits and red cooking them. The pigs ears were sometimes 'white' cooked as well but always cut very very finely (very nice on a bowl of congee). As I recall, you can sometimes buy the separate bits already cooked at BBQ houses that 'go that extra mile' Basically, to make it, use your master sauce (I keep mine in the freezer) add the usual bits and pieces to make it up to the volume needed and then cook, and cook, and cook. A slow cooker is good for this. Pork cheeks are nice kept in fairly big chunks, and turn a lovely texture. And then, my mother would also make headcheese from the whole head when she was in an English mood... but I never reckoned it was as yummy as the red cooked bits myself...

I don't think it was the first as I didn't get any of the "rice-grain" texture of rice pudding- and there appeared to be no milk product of any sort in the mystery mix. As for the second.....I'm afraid it brought back more traumatic memories of the same person's cooking (see other post)....oh dear! I wish the dessert had been mashed *plain* potatoes in retrospect... *sigh* I guess we'll never know......

Oh - it would be much harder to avoid appley-cinnamony things than rosewater normally...eeek! For my part, I am definitely in Rachel's camp....the trouble is ............ the same person has ALSO served me that second dessert in Megan's post TOOOOO! Yes, I have been forced to eat that combo of cornstarch, milk and rosewater. It is disgusting, truly horrible. It's like perfumed flavoured talcium powder water... Worse still, it had failed to set, so it was liquidy-wobbly perfumed talcium powder water.... Luckily, that time, I was hosting the said dinner in my own house, so I took over hostess role and cleared the bowls while hiding my own! [i should mention that this same person wanted to bring the main course too...saying that it was an amazing Iranian dish...I was looking forward to it, having had good Persian food before. What was produced were these huge balls made of gross minced beef mushed together with overboiled peas and rice, which had then been boiled for about 1/2 hour. It was vile!] Oceanfish: I so so wish I could say something....the trouble is, that this person regards himself as a good cook (even to the extent of trying to write a cookbook!!). I think this person regards his own food as really really good... I really can't bring myself to say anything...I don't know what I would do!! How did you phrase it? I've tried to set an example... last time, I invited this person over I cooked the following: Foie Gras Poêlée with Blackberries --- Tomato and Darjeeling Tea Consommé --- Trio of Marinated Salmon, Grilled Chilli Squid and Seared Scallops with Black Pudding ---- Duck Terrine with Rosemary Oil ----- Five-Spice Roasted Pork Belly with Sesame Rice and Braised Shanghai Cai ----- Spanish Almond Torte with Apricot Coulis I mean, you think he would have sussed out that I quite like good food!

I was hoping not to have to add to this thread but.... I had a dinner that was not only truly bad, but one of the dishes SO mystified me that it has kept me up late at night since that dinner wondering what on earth it was......... (don't ask me to ask the host what it was - I just can't face that!) The first course was a buckwheat bread mixed with rice balls made with idly flour and RAW caraway. Medicinal beyond belief..... thank goodness, there were some nice olives there as well. The main course was undercooked pan-cooked lambs hearts, which were served with pallid potatoes, rock hard chestnuts and uncleaned squash (well, the seeds were removed, but none of the stringy stuff!). A symphony of beige, which narrowly avoid shooting off the plate as I tried to cut into those rock-hard hearts.... So far, I had struggled through the meal and had finished what was on my plate...but the horrors of dessert lay in wait - and herein lies my question. We were served what looked like (and tasted like) a bowl of mashed potatoes flavoured with lashings (and I mean lashings) of rosewater, decorated with....banana chips. It was unbearable - I tried to eat it. I really really tried. Really really really. It was like perfumed wallpaper paste.... To my embarassment, I had to give up (rosewater always makes me feel slightly ill, to be honest). My half-eaten bowl was not cleared by the host, but it just sat there looking accusatorily back at me. Does anyone have any idea what this was? It wasn't really grainy like semolina or anything...but smooth and cream coloured (yes, we had an entirely beige meal!)

I had a friend who was adamant that if it didn't have 'yacai' 芽采 (a very specific type of pickled vegetable), it wasn't 'dan-dan' mian. Mind you, before I met her, I'd never had dandan mian with yacai in it.....so I always stayed rather quiet..... I must say, though...if there was broth in dandan mian, wouldn't the poor vendors have had terrible trouble with the pole bouncing about on their shoulders, shaking the pots and ended up with burns on their shins.....?!?! I mean, from a practical point of view...cold and broth-less would make sense considering the history of the name.....

Exactly the same with our family - my mother would inspect my rolling with eagle eyes to make sure I didn't roll the rolling pin (aka broom handle!) in too far. Woe betide the person who rolled over the centre bit! One thing I've learned is that it's very useful to make hainan jifan (chicken-rice) 海南雞飯 for dinner the day before doing a big Chinese dinner party. You get great leftover chicken for making 'liangfenr', bangbang chicken or anyother cold dish to start ...and the chicken stock left from poaching is always terrific to use. Also, any leftover dipping sauces can be put out for the dinner party (If, unlike me, you don't demolish them....)

I'll chime in and say ditto to you, hrzt, as well! The 'liquid boiled off' method was the one I was taught too. I'm not sure where it's from as I was taught this by my mum who, although being from Heilongjiang, has learnt most of her cooking from Shandong and Hongkong people. You can get generically named 'Zhengjiao' 蒸餃 in some parts of China I've been to. I had some lovely ones in Xian which they nicknamed 'dragon's eyes (like the fruit)' if I recall that right (a few years ago now!). Hi Irwin! I've never had cilantro offered with Jiaozi - but it sounds nice! I think my family goes for chile sauce instead Have you had the really nice pickled whole garlic cloves with jiaozi? that's a nice combo too! With the 'hamburger type', do they call it 'hezi'? 盒子? Is it made with two skins crimped around the flatten filling? If it is, GOSH! I envy you getting those at a restaurant!!! I find them hard to make but totally yummy! My mum used to call them 'sun' jiaozi, whereas the regular shaped ones were 'moon' jiaozi BTW, I do think one crucial difference between jiaozi and guotie is in the skins. Because of the hot water dough, all the 'helpers' in my family had to reach a certain skill level before we were allowed to help make guotie...but even little kids were given lumps of jiaozi dough to play with. I was always told it was because the guotie dough was much more sticky to work with?!?!? Does that make sense?

For lunchtimes only, the Guinea pub (in Bruton Place, right near New Bond Street in W1) does the most amazing Steak and Kidney pies. I think they've won some sort of nation-wide championship with them and the pies really are lovely and reasonably priced (about £5 last time I had one). The sandwiches are pretty good too. Do be careful if you go, though - it's a bit confusing because the pub is right next to a posh restaurant which is called the Guinea Grill and it's fairly easy to choose the wrong entrance. Also, it's really popular so I would recommend arriving early if you want one of the few seats.....but the pies are worth it!

Oh good another mutt! Maternal grandmother: Manchurian from Shenyang Maternal grandfather: Shandong Han (but lived in Russia when young) Paternal grandmother: English from the Midlands (the family had been in one area since at least the 1600s!) Paternal grandfather: Low Scots-origin (west coast) Canadian settler On the lateral 'family shoots', there's Dutch, Indonesian, Japanese and Spanish.... Having been born in KL Malaysia, I lived in HK, Vancouver, Montreal, London, Beijing, and (for a wee bit...) Barbados! I get a bit confused when people ask me where I'm from..... but the best thing is that I've had the chance to eat myself stupid on foods from around the globe To add to Pan's excellent advice, I know of a good place to the south east of the city centre, but I *cannot* for the life of me remember its name - I will try and dig it up, if I can. You might try looking at the website of Beijing City Weekend magazine (it's something like www.cityweekend.com.cn) - they have restaurant awards every year for the 'Best of..' Have a good trip!!!