C J Phillips

I agree, this is a really interesting topic, and I have enjoyed (admittedly) lurking behind the scenes here. So many excellent points and good insights into Chinese cuisine. As Will correctly noted, different thickeners have been - and still are used - in the different cultural regions of China. Sichuan, for example, uses pea starch (yes, as in carrots and peas), where it's called wandou qianfen or quanqing doufen. Most traditional Chinese cookbooks I refer to call for "starch" (qianfen or dianfen), which is as general a term in Chinese as it is in English. Others include the ones already mentioned, as well as potato starch, sweet potato starch (really popular in Taiwan and Chaozhou cooking), lily bulb powder (as for Jiangxi's crystal meatballs), and mung bean starch. Lots of this seems to be due to local tradition and availability more than anything else, although sweet potato starch does give fried coatings a nice chewiness. I liked Chris Amirault's initial post here, where he went with his gut and made Kung Pao chicken without a final thickener. That was spot-on correct, at least according to my go-to source for Sichuan cuisine, Chuancai pengren shidian (Encyclopedia of Sichuan cooking). Volume 2, page 108 has the following recipe for Kung Pao chicken, which shows where the starch is added, and to me at least this makes a lot more sense: the starch is dissolved in water and tossed with the raw chicken and flavorings before the chicken is fried, which allows the starchy flavor to get fried away. Later, though, when seasonings (i.e., vinegar, soy sauce) are added, this moisture combines with the fried starch and gives the chicken that nice sheen: "Select tender rooster meat and cut into cubes 1.5 cm square. Toss it with flavorings and a starch slurry (shuiqian). Remove the stem ends from dried chilies and cut into short sections. Cut ginger and garlic into slices, and green onions into small rounds. Place the wok over high heat, add oil and heat it up. Add the dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns and fry until they change color. Add the chicken cubes and break up clumps while stir-frying them. Add seasonings and reduce the sauce. Quickly toss and shake the ingredients; add fried peanuts and distribute them evenly before removing the wok from the fire and serving." Anyway, food for thought. And I love those photos...

"Mr. Thingy"! I have a drawer with a bunch of things I can't figure out what they're supposed to be for. Torture equipment? Medieval dentistry tools? Who knows. I was wondering whether the preserved lemons you're talking about are at all like Hakka salted limes. I talked about them on my blog earlier this year and have a recipe there, and would be fascinated to know if they are in any way similar in taste and texture. The Hakka recipe calls for calamondins instead of lemons, so they cure pretty quickly and don't need to be sunned. However, they do turn a dark brown and taste delicious. Thanks! (So envious of that trip to Nanning...) http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2011/01/hakka-salted-limes.html

My little old lady friends have told me that this allows the jiaozi to fully cook through to the center while keeping the dough from turning to mush. It might also have to do with timing; the bowls of water are added to the pot three times, with the water brought to a boil each time before the next bowlful is added. It always has worked for me, at least, even with fillings that have to be fully cooked this way, such as pork. As for fresh noodles, the main directions I've seen have been to bring the pot to a boil, add the noodles, bring to a boil again, and then remove them as soon as they float.

Oops, hit the "post" button too fast. I haven't seen any recipes for pickling wosun, but I imagine that if you blanched the peeled stems and tossed them with some vinegar, salt, sugar, and chili oil, they would be mighty tasty, but this would be more like a salad dressing rather than a true pickle.

First, sorry it's taken me so long to answer you! Wosun is sometimes called "stem lettuce" or "Chinese lettuce," and both the stems and leaves are delicious, but cooked in different ways, sort of like beets and beet greens are always given different treatment. Nowadays the leaves are most often cut off of the tops of the stems, washed, and then cut into 2-inch (or so) lengths before being stir-fried with salt and garlic. That, at least, is the most common preparation I've seen. The stems are totally different from the leaves. They are always peeled, since the skin is tough and inedible. Last autumn I had some friends over for dinner, and they fell completely in love with wosun stems! I cut them into 2-inch sticks and blanched them in salted water just until the rawness was cooked away. Then they were plunged into ice water to stop the cooking, as they turn soft very quickly. Then I made a sauce of roasted sesame paste, light soy, vinegar, and sugar, and napped the drained wosun stems with it to serve cold as an appetizer. Wosun stems are great in stir-fries, too, like the classic Daqian Chicken of Sichuan, which has pieces of the stem cut on the bias, fried with the chicken and peppers, and given a sweet-sour-spicy sauce. Delicious! Let me know if you need the recipes...

I don't know about gourmet, but when we still were carnivores, we often ate happily at Taiwan Restaurant on University in Berkeley. They had great oyster rolls and oyster pancakes and some terrific fish. They have a problem with consistency -- sometimes it's stellar, other times you wonder whether the regular cook didn't show up and the bus boy took over. But it's cheap and worth a look if you're in the area. There's lots more Taiwanese people in the South Bay area, so there's lots more Taiwanese restaurants there, too. Check out the ones in Milpitas Square (880 at 237) in Milpitas whenever you come down this way. All of the Taiwanese restaurants there serve home-style dishes rather than fancy stuff.

That's an excellent question. There's not been a whole lot of books on all of the eight major Chinese cuisines, which certainly is a pity. I'm not really familiar with So's books, but I do know that you can get a pretty good basic grasp of many of the cuisines in Vol. III of Pei Mei's Chinese Cookbook (published in 1979; out of print, but you can sometimes find it online). It's a Chinese-English printing, and it has (along with lots of misspellings and mistranslations) chapters on traditional Jiangsu/Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan, Beijing (i.e., Shandong cuisine, more or less), Hunan, Fujian, Taiwanese, and vegetarian cuisine. This includes a basic introduction to each type of cuisine, as well as recipes and photos. The book is of course pretty outdated by now, but the old girl really was a trailblazer for her time. If you want a book in English on just the individual cuisines, like you noted, only the last three have gotten much attention over the years. There's only a couple other English-language books I can think of: One is "The Northern Chinese Cookbook" by Chang and Kutscher (out of print; 1979); this is very dated and not very reader friendly, but it has lots of recipes from Beijing, as well as, for some strange reason, Shanghai and Sichuan. (Do you wonder whether they ever consulted a map? That's like saying France and Germany are part of Scandinavia.) Kenneth Lo's "Chinese Regional Cooking" (out of print; 1979) has sections on "Peking and North-China Cooking," "Canton and South-China Cooking" (incl. "Four Fukien Specialties"), "Shanghai and East-China Cooking," and "Szechuan and West-China Cooking (incl. "Three Yunnan Specialities"). It's desperately in need of an update, and it's quite a grab bag, but it's better than nothing. Do you read Chinese? If you do, I could recommend some other books. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me could suggest other English titles. As for the word "cuisine" in re Chinese cooking, Wikipedia has an excellent (imho) introduction to the various cuisines, with links to more detailed info on what the major cuisines consist of (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cuisine). Hope all of this helps!

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That is fabulous! Thanks for the recipe and all that delectable information! What are you going to use those lemons for? Any good ideas?

Cindy's is wonderful! We have been there at least 10 times and have never been disappointed. The prices are also pretty reasonable. Martini House in St. Helena is great, and if you're a veggie, they have a delicious mushroom tasting menu that should blow your socks off. And Dean & Deluca nearby has great sandwiches and cheeses and wines so that you can picnic somewhere lovely. We went to Ubuntu this last February for our anniversary dinner. Maybe we got an off night or the chef was out of town, but while the apps were nice, the entrees were so boring I don't even remember what we had. For apps, though, we had some Jerusalem artichokes that were so light and delicious that we couldn't stop scarfing them down. The decor is lovely there, too. If you go to Oxbow Market, be sure and try Three Twins ice cream. Simply incredible.

I know that you're supposed to do that, but I didn't yesterday, and the cake turned out just fine. I'm just a rebel, I guess.

Okay, today I made SuzySushi's recipe, and it really turned out well. Great flavor, great texture. I baked it in an 11x17" pan (couldn't find any 9x9's around, and I was under the gun, so it had to bake fast and I wanted to make sure it was thoroughly cooked before I shot out of the house). The top, sides, and bottom were evenly brown, the cake moist and eggy and tasting marvelously of honey. I'd definitely make this again! A couple things I did that were different from SuzySushi's recipe but seemed to work out well: First, I put a cookie sheet both under and on top of the pan; this really helped the cake to cook quickly and evenly. Warning: lightly grease the top pan so that the cake doesn't stick to it! Don't ask me how I know this. Second, I used a Korean all-purpose white wheat flour that is a lot lighter than American all-purpose, since I've found that it's closer to what's used in Chinese noodle recipes. It has a polar bear logo and green printing; since I don't read Korean, that's all I can tell you about what I used! However, if you can't find it in spite of this excellent and detailed description, a close approximation is 6 parts pastry flour to 1 part all-purpose. Next up: Kuma's recipe and a visit to the local muumuu shop.

I too have been trying to make the perfect castella cake, but so far have been stymied. The flavor is good, but they just don't look right or have the right texture. The ones I used to adore in Taipei were dense in crumb but light in texture, about three inches high, slightly eggy, and with a lovely honey flavor. I can't wait to try the above recipes and suggestions; thanks!

That's an excellent idea. And you're right, they're actually daylily flower buds. I don't know of any organic suppliers. Look for flowers that are still rather orange in color and pliable, which means that they're pretty fresh; if they're brown and hard, they're old and will taste sour rather than fresh. I like to soak them and then tie them into a simple knot to both keep them from falling apart and also to add a bit of texture. And, I just bought some frozen ones that come from Taiwan (Weichuan brand, I think); they're green rather than orange, so they must be buds that haven't opened yet. I'm going to try stir-frying them and see what happens.

What a gorgeous cake! Can't believe it rated only a 4. I am clueless as to what you should do to make it perfect, but remain fascinated by the search and can't wait to try the final recipe.

I'm not quite sure what ingredient you're talking about. Are you referring to lily bulbs (which are white)? Or daylily flowers (which are orange)? Or snow flowers (xuelian, which are whitish but rarely used in cooking)? Or orchid cactus flowers (tanhua, also whitish and a medicine rather than a food)? Or something else entirely? If you don't know whether they were sprayed with pesticides, I'd assume that they are doused in chemicals unless proven otherwise. You can check for bugs yourself, but I tend to store many Chinese dried ingredients in the freezer and then rinse them really well before using them. As for lead, you'd probably have to get them checked by a professional.

Oops, forgot the directions on preparing daylily buds (jinzhen): Daylily buds can often be found in well-stocked Chinese grocers or herbalists. Look for buds that are a fresh pale apricot color; brown ones are too old and should be tossed out. Soak these flowers in hot water for about 10 minutes to reinvigorate them, then drain and set aside.

Here's my personal recipe for vegetarian hot and sour soup. Enjoy! 1 block fresh, firm tofu, organic if possible 4 or 5 wood ear mushrooms, fresh if possible 1 bamboo shoot, fresh or frozen 1 handful dried daylily buds (see note above) 2 oz. veggie chicken strips or pressed tofu 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms 1 tablespoon peanut oil ½-inch fresh ginger, minced or grated 4 cups clear vegetarian stock 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar A few grinds of pepper to taste 1 egg, lightly beaten A small handful of cilantro, chopped, for garnish Slice the firm tofu into pencil-sized strips about an inch long; set aside. Clean the wood ears carefully and remove any tough parts before slicing into a thin julienne; if you’re using dried wood ears, soak them in very hot water for about 10 minutes before cleaning and slicing them. Slice the bamboo shoot, veggie chicken (or pressed tofu), and mushrooms into thin matchsticks and set aside. Soak and drain the daylily buds as directed above, then tie each bud into a simple knot. (This helps keep the flower from disintegrating, and also gives it a nice, chewy texture.) Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large saucepan over high heat until the oil shimmers, then add the ginger and stir-fry for a few seconds before adding the veggie chicken (or pressed tofu) and mushrooms, then stir-fry them quickly for about a minute; pour in the stock and soy sauce. When the stock comes to a boil, carefully add the tofu, wood ears, bamboo shoot, and daylily buds, and bring to a boil again before reducing the soup to a gentle simmer. Allow the soup to simmer for about 10 minutes. Just before serving, stir in the cornstarch-wine mixture and stir continuously until the soup thickens slightly. Add the vinegar and freshly ground pepper, taste, and add more if you wish. When the flavor is as you like it, take the soup off the heat and pour the beaten egg into the hot soup with one hand while stirring gently with the other in order to create delicate egg ribbons. Sprinkle the cilantro on top and serve.

Oh no, they aren't just part of Cantonese cuisine; they're from all over China. Those candied apples and bananas are pretty common in American restaurants, along with green tea ice cream, etc., probably because the owners feel their clientele can't handle anything unusual for dessert. Besides, most Chinese folks I know would rather have fresh fruit after a big meal. My understanding is that (and correct me if I'm wrong) delicious creamy walnut soup (hetao lao) and silky sweet sesame soup (zhima hu) -- can you tell I'm a big fan? -- are both part of Beijing style cuisine and are usually served hot in cold weather. There are many other wonderful sweet soups from northern and eastern China, too, such as those delicate iced summer soups made out of white fungus, rock sugar, and fruits, or hot red bean and date soup, or mung bean and tapioca soup... I think that part of the confusion is that sweet soups weren't traditionally served as after-dinner sweets in China, but rather as between-meal snacks (dianxin).

Oh man, balut are something else. I've watched people eat them, and that takes a whole 'nother concept of what constitutes food. But these folks were chowing down quite happily, feathers and all, so maybe they taste good if one can get past the gag factor. Which I can't, so I think I'll stick to my salted duck eggs!

Duck eggs do tend to have a fishy flavor because of their diet, I believe. But I like to brine them Chinese style since they have a lovely oil in their yolk that chicken eggs never seem have.

I'd heartily recommend the recipe for Mee Goreng Tauceo in "Cradle of Flavor" by the wonderful and wonderfully knowledgeable James Oseland. Do you have this cookbook? If not, here's the recipe: 1 pound (455 g) precooked fresh Chinese egg noodles (rinsed, drained, cut in half), or uncooked Chinese egg noodles, or fresh fettuccine (cooked, drained, tossed with a bit of peanut oil) 10 stalks choy sum or 5 whole small baby bok choy 4 Tbsp peanut oil 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 2 Tbsp sweet soybean paste 7 ounces (200 g) medium shrimp (peeled and deveined) 1 1/2 cups (115 g) mung bean sprouts 4 Tbsp warm water 2 tsp double-black soy sauce 1/4 tsp kosher salt Freshly ground pepper Clean and dry veggies, cut as desired. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat until it shimmers, and then add the garlic and sweet soybean paste. Stir constantly until garlic is no longer raw but not browning. Toss in shrimp and stir-fry until they turn pink. Add the greens and raise the heat to high. Stir-fry until the greens begin to wilt, then toss in the sprouts, cook another 15 seconds, reduce heat slightly, and toss in the noodles, detangling them as you add them. Toss everything together, add the rest of the ingredients (except the pepper), and cook while stirring until the noodles have soaked up all the liquid. Adjust the seasoning and sprinkle with black pepper.

Are you looking for a recipe for the Hokkien hae mee that are used in the dish (which I don't have), or do you need a recipe for Mee Goreng itself (which I do have)?

(Slipped by two geniuses)

If this isn't the top drawer, you should be able to remove the drawer above it. Pull out the drawer(s) above the stuck one as far as you can; there should be little stops on either side that you push in the release the drawer, or else you should be able to lift up the front of the drawer to release it from the little hooks in there that keep it from sliding out. If this is the top drawer and you only can open the drawer a few millimeters, we then proceed confidently to Plan B: take out your retractable steel tape measure, the kind that contractors use, and see if you can jimmy it in through the top of your stuck drawer (this will only require a tiny opening) so that you can move it around in there. Try to hook the bent end of the tape measure over your knife blade so that you can move it; you might even be able to move the entire knife block this way. Even if you can only move the knife block a little bit, this should be enough to help you open the drawer a little more. At that point use a flexible spatula or that steak knife of yours to push things around so you can opening up the drawer even further. To help shift things around more and release some of your frustration, rattle the drawer as hard as you can, up and down and back and forth. Cursing helps. Still no luck? On to Plan C: remove any drawers under the knife drawer, find yourself a long, bendable, stiff something-or-other like a flexible 10-inch offset spatula. Get down on your knees and stick this spatula up and over the back of the offending drawer, and do your best to shove things around in the drawer. Plan D involves explosives, and I don't know whether you rent or own.