bluesman13

talk about dragging up an old thread! Well, I was able to locate it. I found it here: https://www.jetspreeinc.com/products/red-ginger-slices-mee-chun I had or ship it from NY, but who cares!

so good news - I found an online website in Austrailia that sells this product for 5 US dollars a bottle. Bad news - the postage is $40!

If thats the place I'm thinking of, it's closed - but there is a good Asian market right down the street from me but nothing. I even looked the last time I was in LA and couldn't find it.

excellent! thanks for the replies.

I've always wondering about this. Just abut every Chinese cookbook I own, says to heat the wok to the highest setting available (I use an electric cooktop with a flat bottomed wok), add the oil and when it begins to smoke, add the garlic (and ginger if required). Everytime, the garlic burns in a matter of seconds. So, I turn the heat down low enough so the garlic doesn't burn, but I was under the impression that you want a very high heat to a. sear the meat, b. cook the vegetables quickly so they remain crisp tender, and lastly, c. evaporate the water out of the added sauce to concentrate the flavor. Any commnets or suggestions? What do you do?

Hello there, I have a recipe that I started making again. It's Chinese Chicken Salad and uses red ginger threads in syrup as an ingredient in the recipe (the ginger and the syrup). If you're familiar with the restaurant Chin Chin in Los Angeles, they uses this ingredient in their version as well. In any case, I am unable to locate it anywhere. I used to find it in any Chinese Supermarket in LA, but not now. Anyone have a clue where I can find it, and why it has mysteriously disappeared? (I had a theory that red dye was used to make the ginger red and they ran into trouble with the FDA, but that's just my own theory). thanks! While it may be tempted to recommend ginger in brine or such, this is not the same thing :-) (see pic for the one I seek). Photo from web site WaiYeeHong.com

Chris, good thing you don't live in Minnesota. State law states that liquor stores can not be open on Sunday at all. Also, beer and wine can not be purchased in a grocery store. I'm not much of a drinker, but it is frustrating when I'm making a recipe on Sunday and need a bottle of something and can't get it and end up buying that ubiqitous oversalted "cooking wine" that is sold in the grocery. Additionally, for Asian cooking, there is no way to get Shao Hsing rice wine of any quality as liquor stores don't carry it at all. Another strange law here is that you can't buy a car on Sunday. Go figure...

I was interested in this model, but I have only a 12" wok - would that still work. Does anyone have any other models for outside wok cooking that come with a stand?

I would measure the amount of water your maker holds using a measuring cup. I use 2 tablespoons of course grounds per 6 ounces of water. Let steep for a few minutes, then press.

I forgot to say that I've baked many pecan pies (it's my favorite too). Pecan pies are easy pies to make. You can make you own crust or use a store bought one. I always use corn syrup (either light or dark ), white and brown sugar (you can try all brown and taste the difference). And one other suggestion: I used to put the pecans on the pie after I poured in the filling. This is a mistake, I believe. If you put the pecans in the pie shell first and then pour the filling in, the filling will coat the pecans and they will get carmelized (and delicious). Good luck!

fawn, what a truly sweet person oyou are to bake a pecan pie for someone because they like pecan pie!

thank you all so much for all the suggestions! I've found out that the vegetarian guests are lacto-ovum-vegetarians (they eat dairy and eggs). That's a relief! So the menu is looking like this: Vegtable soup with matzo balls (still looking for a good recipe for vegtable soup-not tomato based though) Eggs w/ some sort of lemon/olive oil sauce (thanks to Ludja) Potato or noodle kugel (thanks to NancyH) haroset fruit salad (blueberries, strawberries, pears, and oranges) vegtable salad (brought by another guest) For dessert: almond-lemon macaroons (thanks to stuart for the NYT link) Velvet chocolate cake (from the insert ot the Scharffen Berger chocolate box) Thanks also for the information about sephardic allowances. I knew about the rice - but peas? Why would those not be allowed during passover? Gifted Gourmet, thanks for the recipes and info. And, Jesikka, I knew there had to be reason why my invitaitions were in the sale rack!

we're vegetarians! What should I do/make now? grr. I wish I had known before I invited them!

XiaoLing, you're wonton dish reminds me of a dish called spicy wontons, or szechuan wontons. I've always loved them at restaurants and wanted to make that sauce at home. Is that what yours is, or is that red sauce coming from the other item in the same dish? Steve

I don't work in the restaurant business, but if I *was* the manager of a restaurant, I would want to be notified if anyone gets up and leaves before their food arrives. I would make it my business to approach them and try to rectify the situation in any way possible. Actaully, as a manager, I would want to know if any customers are leaving unsatisified. To me, to give a customer a free meal, or a coupon for a free meal is worth much more in good will and word of mouth than losing a customer or having them bad mouth the restaurant. It seems these days that many restaurants don't treat the customer this way, and the ones that do are the exception. When I do get treated that way, I remember it. This problem, I would surmise starts at the management and training level. As a customer, I would always let the manager know if I was waiting that long and was leaving.

I usually tell the truth. I'll try to start with something positive about the meal and say that the dish wasn't to my liking, and why. On the other hand, I'll also say if the food was really good. The way I figure it is, when I cook, I always ask my guests what they liked and didn't like about the food - I really want to know - otherwise I wouldn't ask. But, I know exactly what you mean, there are times when I just want to eat and be left alone....

I love orange peel beef. I've always felt (after years of trying different dishes at home), that there are some dishes that I just get at a restaurant. Orange Peel beef is one of those dishes. It's usually the deep frying that I try to avoid. But, since this dish seems to vary so much from restaurant to restaurant, it took a while to find the version that I like. But, it seems that the quality of the beef varies from place to place. The flank steak in some places is pretty tough and chewy (which I don't like), but i do like the combination of sweet, sour, salty, and sweet (yes, just like the cookbook)! But, after reading this, I don't know... I think I might try it... Thanks so much for posting your recipe...

perhaps this is a debate for another thread, but a friend of mine who grew up on a farm told me that he would never eat free range chicken because chickens when they are out in the field will peck and eat just about anything including chicken feces. I agree that the raising of chickens in battery cages and debeaking is indeed hideous, but I'm not so sure that free range is necessarily so great either (for the consumer).

Empire chickens are our soup chickens. They make a good roast chicken but I always found them to be unpleasantly hairy. ← Kosher chickens are hand plucked. Non-kosher chickens are dunked in a warm water bath and machine plucked. Some say that because Kosher poultry is not subjected to a warm water bath, that that accounts for a difference in taste. Personally, I think it has to do with the process of soaking the Kosher poultry in salt.

don't mean to hijack the thread into a Whole Foods slamfest, but I agree. Love their selection of produce, love their bakery and their fish counter, but the meat and poultry section is horrible. I haven't bought poultry there for a while, but the last time I was there, the guy behind the counter was explaining to the customer that the meat they sell is "pretty much organic" (at 2x the price of anywhere else) Ugh!

I like mine too, but has yours warped when you place it on the stovetop to de-glaze? (mine has). Steve

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bruce Cost's books: Asian Ingredients and Big Bowl. I like both of them. I also like all of Hugh Carpenters books especially Pacific Flavors, Fast Wok, and Fusion Food Cookbook. Ken Hom's "The Taste of China" is good as well as Martin Yan's "Culinary Journey through China". Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking is good for fast and few ingredients recipes (also for beginners). They may or may not be "authentic" CHinese cooking, but they taste good to me. And, in response to the person who gets frustrated when people ask her about the Better Homes and Gardens Chinese Cookbook, I say great - as least they want to learn how to cook something they like. Everyone has to start somewhere. Who's to say that she may start with that cookbook and move from there to more "authentic" style Chinese cookbooks (or maybe not). There's always going to be someone who orders "sweet and sour pork" from their local dive and thinks it's the best Chinese food they've ever tasted.

earlier in the thread, someone mentioned having the hot dogs put through the pizza cooker. Saturday, when I was there, I asked, and sadly, I was turned down. I like the Hebrew National hot dogs better than the other ones they were using a while ago (I think Sinai?). For anyone who is local, that was at the St. Louis Patk store.

well, I don't know if it's frowned upon here or not, but I find that by adding some tomato paste, it binds all the ingredients together and gives the sauce a silky shiny look. hey, whats' wrong with Alton Brown? I like him. :-)