Beebs
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Posts posted by Beebs
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Dry sherry or even cooking sherry is a much better substitute for shaoxing wine than sake. Or if you can find cooking shaoxing wine or plain Chinese cooking wine - these ones have salt added.
If you only need a small amount - say, to marinate meat - you could probably get away with using sake in a pinch. But it definitely won't be the same. And I don't recommend using shaoxing in place of sake - it would change the flavour of your finished dish drastically.
Coincidentally, I'm making a dish right now that needs shaoxing for marinating the meat and also in the sauce, but I've just discovered I don't have quite enough wine. I might need to make up the difference with a bit of sake (no sherry to be had in the house).
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There's a Maggi banner in the fruteria photo! Is Maggi Sauce a popular condiment in Ecuadorian cuisine? How is it used?
I have a love affair with Maggi Sauce on soft boiled eggs and fried eggs - they just don't taste quite right to me without it. I am always amazed by how ubiquitous Maggi is, though it doesn't seem as well-loved in North American cuisine.
Terrific foodblog, by the way. Followed along in your previous foodblogs, and this one is proving just as enjoyable - thank you for bringing us along for the ride!
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Yup, you can find them up here in the Vancouver area. I've seen them at some of the organic Whole Foods-type places, and they're usually available at farmers' markets. Less so in regular big box supermarkets where kale, chard, gai lan, other Asian greens are more popular. I've also received them in a CSA box once. I made it into the Portuguese caldo verde soup - very delicious.
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I've not seen dried red or black currants (the berry) around here. However, currants (the grape) are absolutely crucial in a good Canadian butter tart!
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Oooh! I forgot it's Pi Day today! Incidentally, I made a shepherd's pie last night, but it's not round. I guess we will have leftover non-round shepherd's pie for dinner again tonight!
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And how customizable are we talking about? If I wanted some weirdly obscure Tibetan dish, can I still get it? What if the ingredients for said weirdly obscure Tibetan dish are difficult to source? If this restaurant is a no-holds barred, whatever I can possibly want in the world to eat, I'd probably want to try ethnic dishes that I've never had and can't get here. Of course I would have to be able to pay for it....which is another problem entirely.
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Technical challenges aside and not counting private chefs, if such an establishment opened in Vancouver, I personally would not likely pay to try it.
When I get a craving for something, I want it right now, not 24 hours later when I might be craving something entirely different. Half the time, I don't even know what I want until I see a menu - the power of suggestion and all that.
I'm not particularly interested in digging up a recipe and giving it to the chef to make, and paying for them to make it, when I can't even be sure they'll do a decent job of it, given that the chef is trying to be all things to all people. Let's say I've got a craving for soup dumplings. Wouldn't it make more sense for me to go somewhere already established that I know can make decent soup dumplings? I can get my soup dumplings right away, I know they're going to be good, they're not going to be ridiculously expensive, and I don't have to compete with other diners for the chef's attention who has to make Aunt Carol's lasagna, chiles rellenos, take out pad thai, and Sunday roast just like Mom used to make.
There probably will be other Vancouverites who would go for it, just because it's new and different, and want to jump on the bandwagon. I highly doubt it would last here, though - it'll be far to costly to run in this city.
Interesting project, though, definitely made me think about it. Let us know how it goes!
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Usually it's pizza, beer, & a movie at home. We had pizza already a couple days ago, so it might be Church's Fried Chicken this year for a change. And something vaguely vegetable-y, I suppose. I also like to make a simple dessert, but we're out of milk & eggs, and I screwed up my back, so we'll have the mini apple pie & blueberry pie DH bought.
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I don't have a horse in this game - Seahawks are out.
Serving the main at half-time - that IS a good idea! I am going to adopt it too. Previous years I'd just put everything on the table as it's ready. I'll bring out the char siu sliders, salads, rice vermicelli out at half-time. In addition to the stuff I listed up thread, I'm going to make the rumaki Smithy suggested (if I can get decent chicken livers), bought an assortment of Chinese NY candies & sweets, hot spinach dip, and sticky rice cake and birthday cake for dessert.
It's also Downton Abbey night, but not till 9pm PST. Some friends will probably stay, but I'm not sure what to do for food for the couple hours or so between the game and Downton. Stretch out dessert? Port & cigars for the gentlemen, and tea for the ladies in the drawing room??
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43 minutes ago, Smithy said:
Or bacon wrapped chicken livers, with or without the accompanying water chestnuts? It was all the rage in the US a few decades back, and I still like it - although I suspect it isn't Chinese.
Rumaki! I've never made it, but that would be a fun Super Bowl snack! It's definitely not Chinese
, I think it is Polynesian/Tiki.
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Looking forward to everyone's menus!
This year is a triple-whammy for us - Super Bowl + Chinese New Year (Eve) + Hubby's Bday. We're having friends over but menu planning is a bit of a challenge. Kick off is 3:30 in our time zone. I don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen, must have some snacks/finger foods, no deep frying, must have pork (DH's request), should have some CNY "lucky" foods. A lot of traditional CNY dishes are off the table because too much prep or too much a la minute cooking or just not appropriate for Super Bowl (steamed whole fish, anyone???).
So far I have:
Pot stickers
Stir fried mee fun (rice vermicelli)
Marinated cucumber salad
Pork - Maybe Chinese bbq pork sliders.
Bacon wrapped cocktail weenies??? DH likes it.
Birthday cake
???
Stuck on snacks. It'll probably end up being the usual chips, dip, salsa, etc. I'd love any comments or suggestions!
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Depends on where we're going, why we're there, and if it's the first time visiting. We try to eat as local as possible, try a mix of upscale & casual fare, get recommendations on what/where to eat from friends. We also try to eat things that we can't get here at home. If we're going somewhere "exotic" with a lot of unfamiliar foods, we will try as many new things as possible. Grocery stores, supermarkets, and outdoor markets are awesome.
We just returned from a super-quick visit to Taiwan for a family thing, so unlike my previous visit there, we ate a lot more convenience meals this time around, like the hotel buffet breakfast (which was actually quite good). But we still managed to eat a bunch of different things that we can't get here - a lot of unusual seafood dishes, familiar ingredients but prepared unfamiliarly, and some things we really enjoyed on the previous trip. Bought stuff from the local bakery and grocery stores to bring back home. It helps that neither of us have any allergies or dietary restrictions, and that we're not squeamish with unfamiliar foods.
We draw the line at eating dogs, cats, people, pandas - and spiders, because I am terrified of them.
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Has anyone else had trouble finding kabocha squash this fall? I see all kinds of other squashes, with butternut (including the cute little single-serving size variant), acorn, and delicata being particularly prominent right now, but I can't find a kabocha to save my life this year!
I feel like I'm having the opposite problem - mostly what I've seen here are kabochas, and not much of the other stuff! Trade you a pile of kabochas for the delicata!
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I've seen flattened pig faces here, but nothing quite like your friend there.... There's something very "Silence of the Lambs" about it (Silence of the Pigs??).
How would you prep it for eating? Can you just dive in and eat it as is? Do you have to soak it first? Can you deep-fry it? Is it soft or leathery? How does it compare to say, the crackling on siu yook (roasted pork)? Will I stop with these questions already?
I don't know how I'd feel eating something like your friend, but I think intense curiosity would win out in the end.
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Not exactly a bean, but after making hummus from dried chickpeas, I am never (except in a pinch!) using canned chickpeas again. What a difference!
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Thanks, Cyalexa - that looks tasty, I'll give it a go next time. By "fast", I mean that it can be baked in an hour or less (as opposed to the 4 hours or so some baked bean recipes call for). Anyway, I ended up mixing up ketchup, molasses and a few other ingredients, baked it for about 40 mins at 375F. Turned out pretty well. Leftovers for breakfast.
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I had creepy crawlies infest a jar of adzuki beans. Don't know if they were weevils.
A few weeks ago I threw out a bin of cornmeal, semolina and probably a bag of beans that was infested with moths. But I think it came from the semolina. I didn't try to save the beans, but then again they were regular non-fancy beans and I was so grossed out I just tossed everything. This was a week after I tossed out a bunch of boxes of nice pasta infested with grubs and beetles that were in a completely separate cupboard.
You are in good company, my friend.
Anyway, I froze a couple bags of cooked, non-buggy beans (great northern), and am planning to have some for dinner tonight. I'm a bean newbie (didn't grow up eating beans), and I'd like to try fast baked beans with pre-cooked beans. What's a good recipe? I will probably end up tossing ketchup, molasses, etc., bake it, and see what comes out the other end.
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Good timing on this topic! I have a smallish kabocha on hand, planning to make some of it Japanese-style with soy & mirin. Unfortunately out of dashi. Maybe soup with the rest? I like a little Thai red curry & coconut milk in it.
My current favourite variety is delicata. It's a good small size, easy to cut, and the skin is fine. First time I had it, it came in a CSA box. Didn't know what it was, so DH called it stripey squash. We've been calling it stripey squash since.
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After the first bite, I worked the fruity bits off the seeds, strained it through my teeth, and spat out the seeds. But still, too many teeny tiny seeds for the fruity bits.
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Just had a prickly pear fruit for the first time yesterday. It was a disappointment. Nice flavour, but - bleccch! - all those hard little seeds, nearly cracked a tooth on one. I can see how it would have made a good juice or puree with the seeds strained out, but eating out of hand - no thanks.
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Moon Festival was just last weekend, which puts me in mind of mooncakes that have a savoury-sweet meat (pork) filling. It was most definitely desserty. I don't know how well it would work with fish, but I imagine it's possible....
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Great blog, very fascinating! I love Naramata - it's been a few years since I've been. We're heading out there for the big marathon in a couple weeks, so hopefully we'll get a chance to visit some of the wineries there.
How did you get into wine making? Do you produce mostly for consuming at home, or do you sell it? Have you grown other grape varietals or do you stick to pinot gris & merlot?
(Teehee! My profile pic is from a Naramata vineyard! Can't remember which, though.)
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I'm intrigued by the green tea flavour! How does it taste?
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White Spot Pirate Paks?
(For anyone not familiar, White Spot is a BC-based family-style restaurant chain. Pirate Paks are kids' meals that comes in a really cool paper pirate ship. You get an ice cream cup and a gold foil chocolate coin in it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Spot
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Shaoxing wine or Sake?
in Cooking
Posted
Right. The province of BC has really dumb, antiquated liquor laws and the only cooking wine allowed for sale in the grocery stores here are the heavily salted ones. And the non-salted stuff from the liquor stores is not cheap either.
Last night I ended up using half shaoxing and half sake (for Taiwanese braised pork sauce on rice - lu ruo fan). The sake didn't affect the dish as far as I could tell, but there are a bunch of other ingredients in there anyway.
To the OP - what would you use shaoxing for?