Prawncrackers

I'm enjoying this 'Professional' series a lot more than the usual 'Goes Large' one (hideous suffix - "Goes Large" - as if to emphasis how silly it really is). Though Slaphead still deserves a thorough tenderising with both mallet and jaccard, I have come to accept this boil on the arse of television. I am content to believe that his soul has been sold; that he has had to perform many degrading acts in order to appear so regularly on our dear national broadcaster and yet have such lack of any discernable talent. He is tempered by the non-BS Roux jnr who simply tells it like it is with authority, clarity and genuine wisdom. Good stuff, two challenges no messing around with stoopid formats. Refreshing to see a TV cooking competition that is actually about the cooking of high-quality food. I hope the format doesn't alter too much in the later stages, no cooking on side of cliffs for our lighthouse-keepers please. Funny though, I think the quality of these pros has only been as good as the amateurs back in the original series all those years ago. Does anyone remember the standard back then? Granted I was only a whippersnapper back then and easily impressed by Frenchy methods but I remember they were really good! Am I deluding myself?

Oh yeah "soong" (鬆 - i think?) is good one in the sense of something is loose, airy and light - like fresh out of the steamer "ma lai go" sponge cake. Never heard it applied to pork chop, though i'd like to try one. How about "lyun" (嫩 ?) - soft & tender like fresh tofu. Combine it with "waat" you have the ultimate "lyun waat" - soft, tender, slippery & smooth - mmmmmm it's those Chicken thighs again Conversely you have "haai" which is rough & dry like overdone chicken breast. Yuk.

In a kind of an interesting turn in the Chinese Eats At Home thread the discussion led to Chinese descriptions of food textures. I don't know if it's been discussed before and you will first have to forgive me because I only speak Cantonese, my written/reading skills are rudimentary at best, so if I make any glaring errors please feel free to correct! Anyway in the thread I was describing how salting prawns makes them more "song" (爽) gives them a refreshing crispness like a juicy apple or a ripe grape. Then there was the "daan ngaa" (彈牙) feeling which literally means "bouncing teeth" and was also a good one for prawns but better for something a little more rubbery like fish balls. Pleasantly rubbery; the kind where the outside gives nice resistance to the teeth but then gives way with a nice resistance too. "Cheoi" (脆) as CFT says is best for crispy stuff like the crackling on Siu Yook - light and crispy not heavy crunch. "Cheoi" is almost onomatopoeic but better still is "bok-bok (卜卜) cheoi" which makes it even crispier!! I think an important part of enjoying Chinese food is the "hau-gum" (口感) which translates to "Mouth-feel" (in fact is this where that horrible cheffy term comes from?). If you think about when you actually eat the two main senses are taste and feel, so why shouldn't the hau-gum be as important as the flavour? One of my favourite textures is "waat" (滑)- smooth, moist & slippery, like the belly or collars of freshly steamed fish or steamed chicken's feet. But this is also sometimes this is the most challenging texture for Western palettes, you know the really slimy texture that most Cantonese people crave!! Like bird's nest or shark's fin, let's face it we're not eating it for the flavour but for the texture (ok partly because of perceived health benefits too I admit). I've only mentioned a few, so which textures do you appreciate and how would you describe them?

I was wondering about Label Anglais chicken a few months ago when eulogising about Label Rouge chicken in this post here. If you are looking for a chicken taste sensation then i can highly recommend these "Yellow South-West" (shoddy French translation) chicken. Still the best chickens i've had in this country. Matthew is right in saying the flavour of the big birds is much better than the smaller ones. I get them from the wholesale market here in Brum so they should be fairly widely available. Never did get round to buying any Label Anglais as they come in boxes of four and i hate having to freeze chicken as it ruins the texture. I've only heard good things about them so i'm surprised you're so disappointed.

That's a good one too! Though i like to associate that daan ngaa feeling with something like good fish balls. Maybe we should compile a list of Chinese textural descriptions. As we all know, texture is almost as important as flavour in Chinese cookery. I'm always a little amused when trying to explain to people how to appreciate the different textures. "Waat" (滑 ?) - smooth & slippery, is one of my favourite descriptions, like with perfectly poached chicken thighs - yum yum.

He's definitely back on form with those two shows. I couldn't help but snigger though when he made his comment about blowing food-blogger's minds with the Spain episode. A little passée when we've probably all read Bryan Zupon's excellent blog in the Food Traditions forum. Just goes to show that TV has a long way to go to beat EG for staying on the pulse of global gastronomy!

Nice dish Bruce, you can do a similar thing with salted duck egg yolks instead of egg white and it gives an extra richness. I too was taught to salt my prawns before frying them as it firms them up and gives them a "song" (爽 - i think) "mouth-feel". Hard to describe that word - kinda pleasantly crisp (like an apple)!!

Chris, to quote your American compatriots - "that rocks!", though i'm really surprised how your heads are pre-skinned. What is with that, why would the abattoir do that? Looks like they just slashed it off!! What kind of pigs were they with black snouts? I love pork, you really appreciate the whole beast once you've had to stick a thumb in an eye socket for leverage.

Fantastic Mexican meal Daniel. Alas, living in the UK severely limits my exposure to real Mexican cuisine. It's such a shame because everything looks so tasty. Still going through the half a pig we butchered a few weeks ago now. So this week to make dent in the pork mountain i had to concentrate on cooking swine. Pork Chop with Green Beans and Red Rice: Char Siu & Stir Fried Veg: and today Twice-cooked Pork:

Like you i have my concerns about the hygiene of trotters so I always like to blanch mine for 10-15mins before using them. Gets rid of the impurities and alleviates some of those concerns. If you are looking for something to do with them then i make this great trotter, tripe and chorizo stew that i've posted on the Dinner!thread thread before, of course you can omit the tripe. My wife is like yours in that she probably wouldn't gnaw on a trotter just like that, but de-boned she absolutely loved this stew.

Here is an invaluable source on YouTube about Japanese knife skills including of course preparing fish: <<click>> He has a lot of videos, his earlier ones are especially informative. Some are quite advanced - i'm still building up to Fugu standard myself There's a lot of hot air about the superiority of this over that. Japanese techniques appear very precise and efficient but a lot of this is to do with the skill of the user and the quality of the equipment. I wouldn't look down on Western fish prep techniques. There are some things you can't do easily Japanese style. For example, three-piece filleting of flat fish where you want a whole fillet from each side. For this a western-style flexible blade is preferable. (It's called three-piece in Japanese because you are left with three pieces - two fillets and the bone). Personally i like to use a combination of flexible western filleting knives and rigid single-bevel knives - best of both worlds. I've only been using Japanese knives for a couple of years and i can see the pros and cons. Best advice i can give is just to go for it - practise makes perfect! After a few hundred fish you'll decide what the best techniques are for yourself.

I posted a jerked poussin on the Dinner! thread a couple of weeks go, here it is again: Been making Jerk for a few years now and with any recipe like this it's evolved over time, here is mine as it stands. This amount makes enough marinade for 4 to 6 big chicken legs: 3 Big Scotch Bonnets - stalks removed but left whole 2-3 limes - Juice and zest Dozen stalks of stripped thyme leaves 2-3 Fat Scallions - whites only 1 Tbl Pimento 2 Tbl Molasses Sugar 2 Cloves Garlic 1 Tsp Salt Splash of Soy Splash of Coconut Rum - optional nearer the end of the marination time. Blend everything very well and marinate overnight. Make sure plenty of the marinade sticks when you're cooking. For me, Jerk has to be lip-smackingly hot with the fruity freshness of citrus and pimento. The sugar helps with the nice caramelisation and the coconut rum gives a pleasing twist if used. Also, i find the Scotch Bonnet chillies vary in quality and they are the most important ingredient. From the supermarkets around here they are small and bland, but from the Jamaican stall at the market they are big, wrinkly and fiery. The problem is you can't really try them before you buy - a really fiery one would kill you!! Ok call me chicken but i think y'all know what i mean

Helped to buy one a couple of years ago from a butcher near me called CH Rowley in Old Arley (near Coventry), didn't cook it myself though. Just called them on 01676 540419, said that a 10kg will be about £60-70 so even cheaper than i thought! As for the most servicable cuts, if you are paying that much then it's all good! Just think whole in a Spanish or Cantonese style, oink oink!

Is that from Pugh's Piglets? Sounds a lot to me, i'd expect nearer a 7-8kg one for that. Do not buy from Forman & Field as they simply buy from Pugh's anyway and mark it up.

In the kitchen just use whatever is at hand. At the table carving fork is preferable around polite company, especially if you have a fancy set in the sideboard that you dying to just show off with.

Oh yeah i didnt mention that did i?! That was just some pureed strawberries with a little icing sugar, it was very YUM indeed!

Welcome Ihollers! Hope you are able to how share your pics soon. Today a simple meal of steamed king crab with fried rice, then strawberries, cream & meringue. There was some sweet chilli sauce and ginger-scallion oil for the crab and rice. The cream for the strawberries was whipped with icing sugar and vanilla to make chantilly cream. Simple and very satisfying.

Not posted on the Dinner thread for a while, everybody's meals look great. In particular i love Ce'ndra's green-lipped mussels. You can't get those big ones fresh over here and the frozen ones are so tough. They look luscious. When the wife is out i usually cook something wildly spicy. I didn't let myself down today with Jerk Poussin with Coconut Rice & Peas: Earlier in the week i roasted a home-made ham and with the leftovers a few days later i made a classic quiche lorraine. My wife declared it was the best quiche she'd ever tasted, i thought it was pretty good too:

I hear you Ce'ndra. It is shameful that i've not cooked anything Chinese for while. So as this thread is a little thirsty here is another of my mum's meals from last week! Chicken, Turbot, Prawns & home-grown Choi-sum: Even if none of us gulleters are cooking Chinese, you can trust my mum to be

Do you mean steamed agg like Japanese Chowanmushi (sp?)? Chinese have something very similiar in which case there is no French influence at all.

There is actually an English word for Fromage de Tete, it's Brawn. I like brawn but i don't think i know anyone else who would enjoy it that much. To be honest i don't think i could love that much to eat a whole head on my own! The head added so much onto the price that it simply isn't worth the effort for me. Trotters yes, head no. Seriously though i am in just as much awe with your smoked andouilles. I've always wanted to hot-smoke my own eels, have you tried fish in your WSM? Do you think it can accomodate a fat long eel?

I would use an oridinary sieve to remove any solids then decant into a suitable storage vessel. As Chris says the gunk will settle to the bottom and all you have to do next time is pour the oil off. Repeat until the oil is be to discarded then just clean out the gunk ready for a fresh batch of oil. I'm not ashamed to say that i recycle my oil four or five times if i'm just doing potato fries. I think the oil gets better after a few uses. I always seem to get tastier fries with 'seasoned' oil. With fish it depends how fishy or oily it is and how it affects the flavour of the oil. For example, monkfish is fine to keep the oil, but sprats i usually discard after one use. Prawns affect the flavour of oil more if they're unshelled etc.

Thanks, i thought it was very beautiful too! That was a piece of pancetta in the background, though the recipe wasn't from the book it was from here. I've made this pancetta recipe a few times and it's wonderful. As for drying and fermentation of those sausages, i just hung them in a roomy cupboard in my garage. The temperature was around 15-18C but i have no idea of the humidity. Felt neither too humid nor arid i suppose. I guess i got lucky first time with these cured sausages. I can't wait to process the next pig. We had a Gloucester Old Spot this time but i think we'll go back to a Tamworth again next time. IMO there was a noticeable difference in flavour. Tamworth was simply more succulent and flavoursome. May not be obvious in sausages but definitely with the hams and pancetta. Does anyone have an opinion on which breeds are best for which treatment? I think my butcher can supply Saddleback, Berkshire as well as the aforementioned duo.

Gulp, to think i could have died on Sunday whilst standing next to one of those things in Brum Chinatown. Mind you i'd finished eating so i'd have died happy. Even if all those ovens are shut down overnight it wouldn't be long before CE marked ovens took their place - the demand for roast duck & pork is overwhelming. Last time i went to Wong Kei, their Duck Rice was £2.80! I'm sure it was this century too, what's the price now?

Cornstarch is good if using prawn and minced pork for Sui Mai as it gives steamed pork a lovely silky texture. If you are frying or using just fish then there is no need for it.