muichoi

Just ate the roasted head of a very happy Berkshire pig-how do Chinese people cook it, since I'm sure they don't throw it away? Never seen any recipes, though.

Best cut is cheek, second best shin. Use some port in the initial cooking-then clean the sauce very thoroughly-ie strain it then let it form a skin half off the heat-keep removing until there's no more-then add, if you have it, a glass of the very fine Burgundy you're going to drink with it. I'm afraid it makes a huge difference!

Bit of a nerve to contribute from the other side of the water-but to me the best results come with hand chopped meat-deliberately in a variety of dimensions from 3/4 inch cubes to finely ground. But the essential is pork rind-very finely ground after(long) cooking-shin of beef is best-and returned to the pot. only this gives the richness of texture I'm looking for.

What length of time would you recommend for cooking cashews in the microwave? Do you cook them on full power? ← a dinner plate full takes about 5 mins at full power, stirring a couple of times. Don't forget the water!

Chinese people have the sense not to steam vegetables(except aubergines and some roots).

That sweet flour sauce has just become available here for the first time. It really has a very distinct taste! What's interesting from your pictures is how there's almost no crossover between the brands you get and the brands we get. I wonder why? The Cashews cook really well and evenly in the microwave if you rub them with a little water first. Completely agree about white pepper, it's an essential Cantonese taste(not that this is a Cantonese dish).

Happened to walk past yesterday, and had a brief glance. Is that wine list in the window all there is?

It shouldn't have wheat flour in it. Fine cornmeal is the right flour to use-not so difficult if you make the dough with boiling water. Needs to be fried with lots of ghee!

Nice dish-with the squid we get here, I prefer to use larger ones, and i cook much more quickly-blanch just until the scored squid just curls up, then cool with iced water, the final frying done very fast-perfectly tender squid this way. I also sometimes like to use a mixture of reconstituted dried squid and the fresh.

I love the smell-it has a lot in common with the aroma of truffles,while being right at the other end of the price spectrum. Don't use it as a substitute though!

The dishes with whole chillies I don't find hot at all-particularly when made with genuine sichuan chillies which are really pretty mild-but the peppercorns in oil you can now buy here literally take the breath away with their numbingness-an incredible combination, but you're not meant to actually eat the copious oil.

Thanks everyone! I love congee-the only cure for a hangover!

jo-mel: I believe Sichuan pickled vegetable (zha cai / 榨 菜 ) is a Northern Chinese style condiment. I have not seen it used in Cantonese congee in Hong Kong. I did have some when I travelled in Mainland China. In Northern China, e.g. Beijing, they call congee xi1 fan4 [Mandarin] (稀飯) which literally means "diluted rice". Theirs are more grainly - more like the Teochew congee - than Cantonese congee. As cited above, the Hong Kong style congee "toppings" are typically: - Fried wonton skin strips - Roasted peanuts (with red skins) with sprinkled salt - Sliced yau tieu [Mandarin] (deep-fried bread dough) - Chopped green onions - Thin ginger shreds ← Thanks for the great pictures/thread. Do you eat congee with chopsticks? and are those HK toppings eaten with a plain congee or a flavoured one as demonstrated? are they mixed into the bowl or taken as though the bowl of Congee were one of steamed rice?

Fantastic pictures! I've always wondered whether I wanted to go there(l'Ami Louis)-it's a favourite of Robert Parker, the famous wine commentator, and while I deplore his taste in wine , he really understands what good food is-so I'll go soon . Thanks.

How different is the new version? a wholesale reworking or a minor revision. The original is magnificent.

The whole resin is easily available here in west london,as is everything one could possibly want for Indian cooking.

My guess is that restaurants use lots of pork fat. ← 10% is about right, or a little less. Any more and you taste it ,in the wrong way.

I quite like the smell...but seriously, chuck out the powder and buy the resin . It lasts forever and doesn't smell, and is very easily ground at the time of use.

Wesza, thanks-but are the ducks really hung to dry without some kind of (thin)glaze applied during the drying process? I think that's what happens here in the roasting places in Chinatown, unless the blanching liquid contains other ingredients which come to think of it is a distinct possibility,and the duck skin is left until dry to the touch. I've seen the skin being finished with a blow torch, and the skin is glazed after cooking with golden syrup(!) applied with a paintbrush. I know that if you order peking duck here it's finished by the frying method that you describe. I think 'Chiuchow braised goose' is far easier to make at home!

I agree that it's silly to use a wok on a totally inadequate heat source,and the flat-bottomed variety is a non-starter-the worst of both worlds-but on a reasonably good gas flame I find a wok infinitely more practical than a frying pan, though now i can cook on my outside burner I'd never go back-still, whatever one's used to works best, and your dishes certainly don't look as if they suffer.

hzrt8w,looks great. I keep meaning to ask you if you're happy with your frying pan?

Why NOT, if one likes wine? My gut feeling is that white wine would go well with Chinese food. I, like Ben, can't drink much alcohol...no tolerance, but I do like sips of white...not too dry, with ANY cuisine, and red or white meat. ← Well yes,I'm slightly boorish on this subject, I suppose because I eat and cook most other cuisines as well and I don't like to mix and match-but there's no way a really profound wine is ever going to be equally at home with Chinese cuisine as it is with French.

But why would you drink wine with chinese food?

I love wine and know quite a bit about it. It doesn't really go with Chinese food....not that one can't drink it,but it does no favours to either food or wine, and spirits and beer do go better-I think the idea is really for the commrcial advantage of those selling it. Imagine drinking shaoshing wine or Moutai with steak frites-it's the same kind of inappropriate conjunction.

I know milk powder is used by reputable sweetshops here-though I must say I don't choose to eat indian sweets myself!