sambamaster

This duck is usually referred to as Tea-Smoked Duck. Or Camphor Smoked... My experience with it at AC has been uneven. Once it was wonderful, another time a tad dry... And regarding the above post about the fried dumplings...i've never ordered them there and probably never will...they are not part of the sichuan tradition, so, get 'em in another place that excells with this sort of thing...stick with the Zhong dumplings, the spicy wontons...they've never failed to impress and never anything weird tasting about the filling...always wonderful. As I said in my Chowhound post about this joint, stick with the things they do best and you'll get the best Chinese in town, stray toward the ordinary and you'll get ordinary...ambiguous? Read my post on that other site for details...or I can post it here too....long.... I've had some mediocre dishes here for sure...all in the name of science!!!

Two things: I've had twice cooked pork at Asia Cafe at least 6-7 times (just had it an hour ago---was there for vann's review meal too) and I've never had a smoky flavor to the pork. Ever. This meat has a tinge of skin left on it as well. at least every time i've had it it has. It is not store bought bacon, or never has been in my experience. Maybe you caught an off night. It is the same meat used in the cooked pork with special garlic sauce, an amazing dish, served cold, the flavor of that pork is pure and definitely not bacon. they blanch a chunk of unsliced belly, then slice it before the second cooking, thus twice cooked. 2) Indeed bacon, or smoked belly is used in Chinese cooking. I've seen it for sale in Austin, and eaten it in many restaurants (not in Austin). It is common in Hunan cooking and that has drifted into Sichuan as well. Sichuan Cuisine in Houston and Grand Sichuan in NYC both serve a smoked belly dish with leeks and it is highly recommended. The smoky meat and the sweetish leeks make a wonderful combination. Fuschia Dunlop has a recipe for something like this in her upcoming cookbook which is devoted to Hunan cuisine (got a copy from AmazonUK where it's been out since summer and worth the effort). She even uses regular bacon in the recipe since it's easier to get than Chinese bacon.

"fino becomes a much better deal..." (see below for context) How is mediocre food, even at half price a good deal? Why bother????? Why not go somewhere else where the food is decent...there is not enough time in one's life to waste on crappy food, regardless of price! Especially if you know it's going to be mediocre. Fino is just another place to be seen and some people like to pat themselves on the back because they are smart enough (!) to eat at places like this. I'm still laughing at the good deal statement. Kent, you planning to go back there to save some money???

This thread died a few months ago. Yimay suggested an Asian meat counter. In fact, that is THE place to find pork bellies of any dimension, with, or without attached rib bones. I'm red-cooking some belly I bought this afternoon at the Hong Kong Mkt on Research. I've also used their bellies for Italian roasted "pancetta" which is absolutely scrumptious. The new MT on N. Lamar has belly also. And other pork cuts we don't always see in the "whiter" sections of Austin. Damn, my local HEB rarely even stocks a simple pork roast of any sort. But I live in the suburbs and we know pork ain't healthy! mike