XiaoLing

I made a Spicy Beef (nu-lan) Stew Hunan style, courtesy of my Hunanese uncle. It’s so tasty and good during this time of the year with some veggies (I made sautéed spinach but will not post because it’s just plain spinach sautéed with garlic) and some white rice. Here is the finish product: And here is a close up: Sometimes I like to put fresh winter bamboos when they become available but my uncle is very traditional and thinks that putting anything else in the stew will rob the beef of it's flavor.

WOW! That sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe. Well, I'm off to the store to find me some Mangos!!!

Thank you aznsailorboi! I really love lotus roots and will definitely try the combo in your pics as soon as I get my hands on some fresh lotus roots. As for your stained purplish color on your lotus roots, this happens when the lotus roots are exposed to oxygen for a while. It's based off the starchiness of the vegetable. To avoid the discoloration or the extra starchiness from the lotus roots, I tend to let the sliced lotus roots soak in cold water and then quickly blanche them in hot water. This will provide a much cleaner taste and color. Hope this helps.

The crumb topping is actually five-spiced rice powder. You can find it in most chinese grocery stores. However, Wuhan has their own special blend of rice powder made from many other spices. That's the one that I prefer but we have to have relatives bring it over from China whenever they visit. But in a pinch, the regular five-spiced rice powder made in Taiwan will do but it's not as tasty.

Hello All, I made a special recipe from my region of Wuhan today. Every family in Wuhan has their own recipe for Steamed Pork Bacon and ribs. This is my family's version with potatoes underneath to soak up all the juices. The meat and fat is so tender that it literally melts in your mouth. You don't even need to CHEW!

I actually use light tasting olive oil for all of my stir fries for years. Although if I am frying anything I would use corn or peanut oil.

It's actually very similar to sichuan cooking but we do not use peppercorns. Wuhan is actually very famous for their street side delights and "breakfast" foods as well as their famous WuChang fish. I will definitely gather up all my pics and start a new thread on Wuhan cuisine.

OOOOOO...I would too!!! Maybe I will start a thread on my native region Wuhan, Hubei. I have tons of pics and food descriptions.

They are available in the northeast. I know that you can buy frozen surf clams in NYC and Boston. hzrt8w- Were your surf clams fresh or frozen? Is there a difference in taste? I have had problems using frozen baby clams and periwinkles before. It was extremely fish in taste and smell even with a lot of ginger and wine.

I just saw this episode too. It's interesting but I agree that soy sauce duck is definitely not an equal substitude for peking duck. Texture is completely different. And I was also equally disturbed when she stated that Shanghainese cooks use sichuan peppercorn in a lot of their cooking as well as fish sauce. Not true at all. I have watch a few of her shows and I honestly don't care for her tv personality. And the background music sounds like bad elevator or porn music. Oops...did I just say that out loud??

I can't really provide the chinese name for these fish but I will try my best with English. #3 – Coral Trout aka blue spot trout #4 – Garfish #5 – Belt Fish #6 – Jellyfish #8 – Silver Bream aka porgy or black bream #9 – Baby Octopus #11 – Snails aka periwinkles #12 – Razor Clams #14 – Butterfish #15 – Red Snapper (based on the shape of the head) #17 – Clams #18 – Whiting #20 – Bonito Hope this helps!

There are many forms of satay sauce. I guess I should have been more clear. In Taiwan and other Chinese regions Sa Cha sauce is also known as satay sauce. So, if you go to a Taiwanese or maybe even some HK resturants (that I have seen in the northeast), you will see many dishes stir fried with what they call "satay sauce" which is really Sa Cha and not a peanut sauce. However, in Southeast asia, their satay sauce is known to be a peanut based sauce dipping sauce for bbq skewers.

Sa Cha Sauce is also commonly known as Satay sauce. It is a very common sauce in Taiwanese households. The ingredients include: Soy Bean Oil, Garlic, Shallots, Chili, Spice, Brill Fish, Dry Shrimp, Salt. It's very yummy!! Common methods of use are in beef dishes and water spinach stirfries. In addition, it is also used as a dipping sauce for hot pots in Taiwan. Hope this helps.

Thank you Franci for posting such beautiful pictures!! I have always wanted to go to Guilin. I have heard that it is absolutely beautiful there. The scenery is suppose to be one of the best in the country. As for the food at the plaza, I have noticed that a lot of malls in China have this kind of set up. It's their version of "food court" in a mall. The foods that I have eaten in the malls has been pretty tasty. I remember drinking a very good/famous chicken soup in a mall in YiChong once. It was a specialty soup stand. They had all different kinds of turtle soup, rooster soup, chicken soup, etc. stewed with herbs, veggies and noodles. Sigh...I wish we had this kind of "food court" in my mall....

I have another question about clay pots. I have the type of clay pot that has the metal wires around it. I love my clay pot and have had it for years. However, the metal wires were starting to rust and I didn't want it to be in my food, so I took it off. Is there any reason for the metal wiring? or is it just for looks? Thanks in advance.

Thank you!! I am honored to be here!

u.e.: Did they specifically say it's "smoked" firm dofu? The picture looks like those pressed tofu that I usually buy, which has been cooked (boiled) with "Lo Shiu" (the master sauce with five spice) that gave it the dark brown taint but not smoked. ← Yes, there are "smoked" firm dofu. My family loves dofu any style and we try any style we can get our hands on. There are tons of products out in markets now and I wasn't aware of "smoked" dofu until recently when I went to my neighborhood chinese market and actually found "smoked" dofu next to the "five spiced" and "braised (lou zhi)" dofu. In addition to that, I also found "smoked" dofu in my neighborhood Whole Foods market. It was an American company and placed right next to the "Italian" and the "greek herb" dofu.

Yes, this is true. I kinda left that bit out so that I wouldn't gross anyone out. My mom did that for my brother and I when we were in China. It's a common pratice over there. If you don't like the idea of chewing up your food first for your child, then do what my Russian friend does. She uses a blender and blends soup or other foods into tiny pieces and then feeds them to her children. None of her children (ages 4 and 2) like fast food or bottled food or candy very much because they grew up eating healthy foods.

Rice porridge is good, cooked in stock. My parents use to mix rice with what ever soup was made that night for dinner and then also add softer veggies and protiens (tofu) to the rice to make it more nutritious and tasty. My grandfather also use to make a plain steamed egg custard (salt, pepper, sesame oil) for all the grandkids. You can also make that and mix it with rice. Yummm....I still do that when I feel the need for comfort foods.