jsager01

if you have a chinese-style steamer, then just get some dried lotus leaves 荷叶, soak/boil, then line the steamer with it, and put the pre-soaked sticky rice on the leaves, and steam away. No sticky mess on steamer, no extra equipment. Especially if you are making Lo Mai Kai. Can never understand why some recipes/cook book authors call for lining a steamer with baking/wax paper etc when lotus leaves are already (usually) used as the wrapper. If you are using it for another application or do not like the flavor the lotus leaves impart to the rice, you can try using banana leaves, bamboo leaves, etc.. the rice will not stick to such 'leaves'. Dried lotus leaves can be found in chinese grocery store and are very cheap. If you have never used lotus leaves before, then take some care in handling and soaking/boiling it, as they are very brittle. But once boiled, it becomes pliable and often used as a wrapper.

I had refrained myself from posting on this thread, firstly, because i thought it was something tongue in cheek, and everyone can have a poke at it. But it seems to have been taken seriously, and not only in this forum. If so, then no amount of explaining why they are sold in vending machines will stop such xenophobic and/or sensationalist 'journalism'. As i understand, the first time that vending machine crabs were associated with eating them live as a snack first appeared in a UK mainstream newspaper, and also carried in blogs by a few western bloggers supposedly based in China (and who should know better?). China bashing is alive and well? and just to make it clear, i do NOT mean on this forum. Whatever, i dont see any point in trying to explain why crabs are sold in vending machines in China.

That's also my understanding. Dont bother with g young. 韭菜 – the green kind, probably the most common and cheapest? 韭黄 - the yellow kind, aka 韭芽, grown very much like asparagus, and has a yellowish tinge. 韭菜花 - the green kind, but harvested only when a flower bud appears at the tip. As far as i am aware there are many translations but no standardised or agreed upon translation into English. I personally prefer the translation into 'garlic chive', as it looks more like a 'western chive' than either leek or whatever, but has a more garlicky flavor than a western chive flavor. I believe it is native to China or at least in that part of Asia, and is grown in many (almost all?) different parts of China, including Sichuan and Guangdong.

You mean ALL the food was dropped in at the same time? If so, then you will need a very large pot, or at least one that is larger than necessary. As different ingredients require different cooking times, it can then be difficult to fish out those that cook much faster than the others. In any case, if you wish to cook all the ingredients all at once (with ingredients added at different times) then why not just cook, or at least get everything to a boil, on your regular gas/electric stove top, and then serve immediately in your favorite pot for hotpot? For me, part of the appeal of hotpot is that it allows each person to select the ingredient(s) and cook it the way he/she likes it cooked - a very 'democratic' way of cooking and eating? (You need little wire scoops for each person). Usually each person only cooks just a mouthfull at a time, and definitely not try to cook all the ingredients for his/her meal all at once. This stretches out the cooking/eating time and encourages lots of interactions/conversations among the diners. If i am host, then i would try to get everyone to cook in alternating sequences of vegies/precooked meats like beef/fish balls, and raw meats. Inevitably, someone would do otherwise, oh well. I use an old electric tabletop, with an older CorningWare square casserole, and have had no problems for parties of up to 8, including 3-4 kids who have no table rights and have to eat off their parents plates. Yes, of course, you can get those mega BTU burners.... but, why are you having a hotpot? BTW, the divider down the middle, if anyone is wondering why, is so that you can have 2 different kinds of stock, usually a hot and spicy one, and a bland one. A kind of yin/yang.

Grind and then run through a fine meshed sieve. You'll find that the grit comes from the hard husks which contribute nothing to the flavor. I normally grind ~6 months worth of peppercorns at once and keep the rest whole. Also, toast before you grind for deeper flavor. I think you have got it the other way round, the grittiness does not come 'from the hard husks which contribute nothing to the flavor'. From what i understand and from my own experience, the 'husk' (which is not hard or at least when compared to the seed) is where almost all the flavor is. The shiny black and very hard little seeds contribute very little to the flavor (and some would even claim it contributes an undesirable bitterness). The seeds together with the pieces of prickly stem leftovers, are what causes the grittiness. Some 'fanatics' of Sichuan Peppercorn would insist that the seeds should be removed before use. For anyone with all the patience, or access to slave-wage help :-), this can done by hand, one peppercorn at a time, just press on it and the husk should separate from the seed. What i do is to first remove the stem leftovers, and then lightly 'bruise' the rest in a pestle and mortar (or even a rolling pin and pastry board), just enough to split the husks from most of the seeds. Put the result onto one end of a sheet pan, tilt it slightly just so that when you tap on the sheet pan, the seeds (being heavier and round) will roll to the other side. The result is not perfect, but then you could clean up the rest by hand, one peppercorn at a time. Or design your own home 'winnowing' technique. Have fun. For anyone wanting to do an experiment, try separating the husk and seed, grind each separately and do a taste and texture test. Has anyone been able to buy Sichuan peppercorns with only husks and no seeds? Perhaps someone should get onto this potentially profitable venture? One easier alternative, to have absolutely no grit, is to make Sichuan peppercorn oil - use any flavorless oil and i believe any recipe for flavoring oils will do. As 'regular' hot chilli peppers are commonly used together with sichuan peppercorns, this could be added to the oil as well. The only disadvantage for some is that flavored oils do not have the 'freshness' of the peppers or flavoring agents. Oh well, we cant have it all?

It looks like your having bought a whole lb of fresh green peppercorns is turning out to be more of a blessing than a 'waste'? in the sense that you are now motivated to try it on more recipes than if you had just bought 10 sprigs yes, its a very versatile spice/condiment. As Nasi_campur says, dont bother with the pickled/salted ones. Something i have wanted to try but never got around to, is to use it in pepper steak/steak au poivre. I guess I would crush half and use it together with salt as the seasoning, and the other half added whole just before end of the sauce to retain the 'pop with aroma'. It would be something like the prime rib that you had cooked earlier, but with a crust of green peppercorns.

I have never seen them for sale in that quantity outside S E Asia. The ones i have bought in chinese/thai grocery stores in Europe and sometime ago in Toronto, have been in packages of about 10 to 20 sprigs, ie 10-20 green vines/stalks with peppercorns still attached - weighing at most a few grams or oz, as they are very light in weight. I usually do not use any more than 10 sprigs in each recipe for 2-4 servings. Fresh green sprigs of peppercons dont keep well, and they turn mushy if frozen. That's why its difficult to find them outside S E Asia? Your best bet maybe to keep them in the fridge (and even then they turn black in about 2 weeks or so), or maybe (as i have never tried) make sauces or other recipes that call for pickled/brined/dried green peppercorns. Or make a gigantic batch of Thai curry and freeze it :-)). My experience is that sprigs of fresh green peppercorns are used mostly in Thai cooking. I use fresh green peppercorn sprigs in Thai curries, especially green curries as it adds to the green color among its other contributions. I also use it for stir fries that are spicy and have meat in them. In any case, my preference is to add the sprigs only towards the end of the cooking, to get that 'just "popped" with aroma' that you experienced. BTW, as you may already know, dont strip the peppercorns from the vine, as otherwise, the peppercorns will sink to the bottom of the curry or stir fry, and you may then have to hunt for them. The vines or stalk do not have much flavor other than being very stringy, and you may wish to strip the peppercorns from the vines just before eating. If you can find fresh green peppercorns, you are most likely to find fresh pea-sized Thai aubergines or egg plants, and they go well together for that 'popped with aroma experience.

There are probably almost as many variations of Yangzhou fried rice as there are Chinese restaurants in US/UK, probably more so among the 'good' restaurants than the greasy take-outs. However, it is a good bet that the Yangzhou fried rice served in US/UK have their origins in HongKong/Guangzhou. In Cantonese restaurant banquets, it is quite commonly served as the last dish before desserts. However, there are claims that Yangzhou fried rice originated from Yangzhou as in 扬州 in Jiangsu province, and those looking for 'authentic' may have to seek out restaurants or recipes from that part of China. Would be interesting to hear from anyone who has been there and had 'authentic' Yangzhou. In any case, as Jiangsu cuisine is in a different school of cuisine from Guangzhou, it would not be surprising that what you get in 扬州 is different from the norm in Guangzhou/HK/US/UK (or for that matter, what you get - in terms of restaurant food - in China or even HongKong is more often than not quite different from what you get in US/UK/Europe). The point I am trying to make is that it is probably better for the OP to identify the specific textures and flavors (and ingredients) that he likes and enjoys in US/UK restaurants, and strive to attain those characteristics, rather than search for the ultimate US/UK restaurant recipe or technique for making Yangzhou fried rice at home. For example, if you want the texture to be 'crispy' ie with each grain separated and identifiable, and also have each grain coated with egg, then obviously you do not pre-fry the egg. I would whisk the egg, and just before dishing up whatever is in the wok, create a 'well' in the wok, add the beaten egg, wait for a few seconds, and then stir like hell (and flip the contents in the wok, but only if you have mastered the technique) to get each grain covered with the egg and all the flavors of the other ingredients. The presence of egg should be barely discernible, and then only through taste or color, ie you hardly see any egg fragments - do this if thats your preference. If you do not wish to use MSG but still wish to enhance the flavor then swirl some chicken stock - home made? - into the rice, as already suggested in earlier posts. If you prefer to use only salt and not soya sauce, then add salt before adding the chicken stock, or dissolve salt in the chicken stock before swirling it into the rice. This will address the problem that the salt may not dissolve evenly. I do not use soya sauce as I want to retain the color of each ingredient, and do not want any of those overall brownish or even light tan color over everything in the fried rice. The color of the rice grains should only be tinged with an eggy yellow, but that's my preference. Yes, eggs and chicken stock do add moisture to the fried rice and can make it soggy. However, the trick is to prep the rice so that it is dehydrated enough that it can withstand and actually gain from the addition of eggs and stock, and be rehydrated without the rice going soggy. I call it 'twice cooked rice'. The other benefit of adding eggs and stock or some moisture is that it helps to even out the flavor of the various ingredients. I usualy use peanut oil, for obvious reasons, but will ocassionally use home rendered pork lard... when i am trying to impress guests with my cooking prowess :-)). For flavor in fried rice, there is nothing like lard, assuming your body can take it and/or your GP will not dis-own you. The peanut oil i get here has too strong a flavor and I usually throw in some garlic while the oil is hheating up, and remove it before adding any other ingredients.

It is hawker/street food supposedly originating from Fujian province in China and known as Oh Chien (fried oysters), and has spread with the Fujianese/Hokkien diaspora to Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It is also popular as a Chaozhou/Teochew street food in the same countries, and known as O Luak. I guess your best bet for finding it in a Chinese restuarant in US or europe is a Taiwanese restuarant serving 'authentic basic home cooking'. As with most Street food in that part of the world, there are as many variations of the recipe as there are street vendors, hawkers or stalls in the more upscale food courts - just google for 'recipes Oh Chien' and you will know what i mean. It is an omelette, or pancake if you like, and usually cooked in a flat bottomed frypan instead of a wok. The basic ingredients are a thin batter of some starch or combination of starches, usually Chinese sweet potato startch (which is totally different from the North American sweet potato), regular potato starch, tapioca starch, or rice flour. This is usually the first ingredient that goes into the well oiled (and my usually reliable source says that it must be lard, to be authentic) frypan. Then the eggs, and finally the oysters. A somewhat sweet Chilli sauce (eg sriracha) chives, spring onions (scallions), cilantro, and fish sauce would complete my list of ingredients. The texture should be slightly sticky, stretchy but crispy at the edges, mainly from the batter. The oysters provide a contrasting texture of being soft, juicy and full of flavor. And i guess the eggs just binds the two together in terms of texture and taste/flavor. The oysters in Oh Chien or O Luak are about 2 cms in length, ie much smaller than oysters you normally get in europe or north america. I find that the smaller of the so-called european flat oysters are a good substitute. However, i have been known to cut up large oysters, and they seem to work ok.

If you are into making your own sushi or blini, you could try topping them with salmon caviar, or with the much more expensive caviars. Alternatively, you could search out sushi restaurants that serve salmon caviar as one of their toppings, quite common in Japan, but i have no idea where it would be available in the US. Or Russian restaurants that serve blini with caviar (in Moscow, there is a chain of blini restaurants, cant remember its name, that serve blini with salmon caviar at a very reasonable price premium over the more mundane toppings - think MacDonalds serving mainly blinis with various toppings). I am no expert, but the few times i have had the different kinds of caviar (osetra, sevruga, beluga, etc) in Russia , the favorite alcoholic accompaniment was, and i am sure still is, vodka straight up. ( I believe it is legal in Russia to buy/serve Caspian sea caviar, but last i heard there was a self imposed ban on exports).

Why is pho (the best or otherwise) in Hanoi (or anywhere in Vietnam)... often described as something to be eaten "balanced on a crap blue plastic stool trying not to break off one of the legs and collapse into a heap of gutter lime peels and pink paper tissue pulp", or something similar?. There ARE 'proper' restaurants, with seats for any sized butt :-)) serving pho in Hanoi and in other cities in Vietnam, are there not? and as 'good' as any served by the street stalls? Sure, if you chose to do so, you can find 'good' (and the cheapest) pho sitting on crappy blue plastic stools by the streets in Vietnam, and i even found one in Paris - though not by the roadside but in a shopping mall. And what is as 'good' or 'best' is obviously very subjective and controversial, especially when so-called ethnic cuisine is evaluated by those with a 'western' culinary upbringing and tradition. Ever wondered why Michelin have awarded stars to Thai restaurants in the 'western' countries only, and only to those owned and operated by 'westerners' ? I dont think the Guardian article is meant to be taken seriously. To their credit, they did try to find the best place for a food in their country or place of origin. However, they fail even in that attempt, eg as Jenni pointed out in post above, and i do not agree that Quanjude is the best restaurant for Peking duck. What is most unbelievable is the recommendation for the best Dim Sum, which is in Hong Kong (OK, so far so good) but the restuarant that serves 'the best Chinese ham and grill it in small slices as an appetiser – amazing with a glass of red wine'. Well, to me, dim sum is basically all appetisers, what did he/she have after the grilled ham, as the main course? I dont know about that restaurant, but has any one ever ordered red wine, or any kind of wine, with their dim sum? I guess Chinese restaurants would try to serve wine if requested, but has anyone ever had wine served in a Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong that paired well with their food?

i guess you do not put those ebony chopsticks into the dishwasher? and as Florida had posted, i dont see why it is necessary or beneficial in any way to put chopsticks into dishwashers. Just hold them between your palms, add some dishwashing liquid, and rub them together under a faucet/tap of luke warm water.

I collect chopsticks (dont ask me why)... made of wood, bamboo, some kind of fish/whale bone, korean metal ones, genuine ivory, and even disposables. Most have some kind of 'embellishment' , eg carved, lacquered and/or inlaid with mother of pearl, etc; However, i dont use any of these, except for the plain fishbone and ivory ones for special ocassions. What I normally use are plain bamboo ones and they are cheap (and green?) enough that i dont worry about replacements. I prefer the bamboo ones to the wooden ones. By 'plain' i mean no embellishment, as i am not sure how safe the various colorings and metals used in the embellishments are, and they also fade or wear off. And i have the bad habit of using my regular chopsticks when i do deepfrying, and of course they burn, but those are usually the only ones that i have to replace. I hand wash as i do not have a dish washer. Bottom line: cannot remember when i last bought new chopsticks, but i think i will have to do so pretty soon, doing a bit more deep frying than normal :-)). BTW: the disposable japanese style chopsticks, ie with pointed tips, are great when i have guests that are not that confident in the use of chopsticks, but would like to use chopsticks etc. They usually use the pointie tips to spear food, it works, ok not for noodles.

For spices that are going to be added in at the beginning, then i dont toast. For example - curry, i dont toast the spices, and i make/blend my own curry powder from scratch (if you have not tried it, its a lot easier than what you might think). I fry the spice paste in oil until i can smell it,or the oil separates out at the edges of the paste, and then add in the meat or other ingredients. For other braises/stews, eg lamb shank or the Chinese red braised pork belly, i just add in the spices which could include cinnamon, star anise, cumin, etc, into the mix at the beginning, usually in a 'tea bomb' or tied in a muslin bag or something. There is no toasting or frying in oil beforehand. The only time i toast is when the spice is to be added in towards the end of the cooking, or just before serving. For example, sprinkling toasted sichuan peppercorns on mapo tofu just before serving (but i also would have added some of the peppercorns, untoasted, and fried with garlic, etc, at the beginning of the cooking). Or sprinkling toasted then ground cumin on leg of lamb roast, for those that prefer a strong cumin flavor.

i bought mine on ebay.nl, but i suppose you can find it on ebay.co.uk as well. The link (i am not sure if i am allowed to post links) is http://shop.ebay.nl/i.html?LH_PrefLoc=2&_kw=jaccard&_kw=Meat&_kw=Tenderizer - and it lists several vendors with different pricing, all based in US. I placed an order with Andy Ahrens (seller) A&L International, whose website is mykitchco.com. The Jaccard Pro Meat Tenderizer 45 Stainless Steel blades with stainless steel columns costs me US28.99 and US$5.99 for postage. It arrived in about 4 working days, if i remember correctly. However, it arrived with the 'plastic' columns (not stainless steel), so i emailed the vendor to point out the error. Within 24 hrs i had a response apologising for the mistake, and saying that i do not have to return what i had received and that they will send me a replacement with SS columns. I asked for the 15 blade as replacement, Just as quickly the vendor replied no problem. I do not buy much over the internet, and i was not expecting such good service. go check jaccard.com to get the latest models and detailed info. good luck

i agree with hzrt8w in that the proposed subs are unlikely to work, and in fact, could be a disaster. IMO, it is better to just leave it out, and you could still have a great soup. the closest substitute i can think of, for dried scallops or dried oysters, is dried squid, and i use that in quite a lot of chinese soups eg, lotus root soup, water cress soup, etc. I have not used dried squid in winter melon soup though. From my experience, it could be equally difficult to find dried squid in Paris chinatowns. The last time i tried to find dried squid (first week July 2010), i could not find them in Tang Freres, or the Paris (?) grocery store, which is oppposite to Tang Freres. I did not try the other (or second) chinatown in paris, which is around the Bellevue metro. If you must use dried scallops or oysters, then stock up on your next trip to London. i could be wrong, but i think the 'chinese' grocery stores in Paris are more geared towards the vietnamese than to chinese, in that you can find glorious and plentiful vietnamese herbs and ingredients, etc, but not the more chinese-specific ingredients like dried scallops? Perhaps others could contribute their experiences of chinese and/or vietnamese ingredients in Paris, or europe in general.

maybe i am missing out on something, but i do not do a final boil down when making stock. I start off by using the minimum amount of water that will result in stock that will be concentrated enough for its purpose, without the final boil down. Some experimentation may be required to determine this 'minimum' amount of water. For example, to get 1 litre of stock, i may start the stock with 1 litre + a bit more to account for evaporation. The water level i start off with is usually not enough to cover the meat/bones. I give it a stir every now and then (if i remember to do so), so that they all get a chance to be immersed fully in the water. I use a stainless steel stock pot with a tight fitting lid, and sometimes even place a heavy bowl, eg pyrex bowl, on top of the lid - thinking that this may keep any steam/heat in the stockpot for longer, and that will also steam the meat/bones that are above the water level. A pressure cooker might be better suited for this purpose, but i dont have one. Or simmer it , covered, in the oven. i usually do a second batch, again with minimal amount of water and no boil down, and use this second batch to add to soups/braises/etc. Of course, the above method is far from precise, and i dont think i have ever made stock with 8:1 reduction, but good enough to finish off a stir fry, etc. I usually simmer my stock for 4 to 5 hours. Any longer, and especially with the boil down, will change the flavor of the stock, giving it a kind of 'canned' flavor that reminds me of store-bought stock. I dont add vegetables or anything else during stock making. Any one ever done it this way?

Great tip. My freezer's pretty small, so conserving space is important for me. I don't really freeze anything other than ice cubes and stock, but even still. Like I said, I mostly use my stock for soups and risotto, so I usually don't mind thawing a whole lot of it at once, but lately I've been using stock to finish stir-fried vegetables, so having cubes would be handy. The main problem for me: ice cube trays. I have exactly one, which is purposed for ice. Apparently, in China people think iced drinks are bad for your qi, so they're not readily available in every shop. I guess I'll have to make a run out to one of the big supermarkets. i do something similar, except that i use a regular tray (ie not an ice cube tray) - any plastic tray that will hold stock to a depth of 2 to 3 cm will do. Once frozen, it should be easy enough to flip the frozen block onto a chopping board and cut into sizes that will fit into, and maximise use of the ziploc bag. The 2 to 3 cm thickness is easy enough to cut thru without too much fragmentation, if any. Not sure if this has any benefit, but i wrap each piece in wax or baking paper before putting into the ziploc bags. Use as many pieces as required, or cut off a small chunk from a piece if that is all that is required.

I second the recommendation for Turkish pizza and donner kebab, for good budget priced food. In fact, if you buy them from the street stalls or take-aways, it is (IMO) the cheapest and best quality fast food in NL. As already posted by others, it costs about 3 to 4 Euros, and enough for a quick lunch. And you can find them almost anywhere. The one I particularly like, because it is less salty than many others that i have tried, is a market stall at the eastern edge of the Dappermarkt, ie when you are at Dapperplein, walk eastwards until you reach the T-junction with Pontanusstraat, and it is right there at the intersection, and usually there is a line up / queue. The Dappermarkt is a pedestrian street market that basically runs east-west, and is interesting if you like flea markets with food stalls, and then and have a great donner. Falafel bars can also be a good bet, if you like such. If you do not know what Suriname is, then google for it, and it will be a very interesting read. Its cuisine is a fusion of cuisines from 'surviving aboriginals', African slaves, indentured Asian (Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, etc) laborers, whatever, and from wherever the Dutch colonials could rope in and ship to the S American colony to work on their plantations (and the Dutch swapped New York USA, to the Brits for Suriname, would you believe that?, yes, hindsight is always.... ). Anyway, back on topic. Being a fusion cuisine of so many diverse cultures, it can be expected that Surinamese cuisine is not homogenous in the sense that some would tend to be more Indian, others more Chinese or more African. Try the 'roti' or 'moksi'dishes if you want a more Indian influence, and for a good example of a more Chinese influence, try the restaurant Kam Yin, at the top of Warmoesstraat , ie nearest to Amsterdam Centraal, THE amsterdam central railway station – and a convenient location for most tourists. Surinamese cuisine is basic asian/african home cooking (unlikely to earn a Michelin star anywhere, any time soon), but excellent value in NL. Try it as an example of grass roots fusion cuisine, rather than fusion as dictated by some celebrity chef who had run out of ideas on how to promote himself/herself, or who were clue less in the first place. I am not a fan of Dutch cuisine, which for me seems to be mostly meat and potatoes, ie mostly boiled/mashed potatoes, cheese, ham, boiled or braised/stewed meats, boiled to death vegies, and sandwiches. But for visiting family, friends/foes i usually recommend a DIY lunch, eg karnemelk (a kind of buttermilk, but if you dont like the idea of buttermilk, then just regular milk; and yes, try milk for lunch and dinner for the dutch culinary experience), a variety of cheeses - try cumin (Komijn) cheese, ham, some breads, some pickles and greens (all available packed and ready to eat from grocery stores) – and find a street vendor for raw (actually pickled) herring, a broodje haring with onions and gherkins. And find a nice spot for your picnic, and there are many parks or squares, eg Vondel Park, Niewmarkt, etc. And after your DIY lunch, look out for Vlaamse Frites for snacks. And these are all at budget prices. If i were looking for a 'real, authentic, classical' Dutch cuisine in a cafe/restaurant for visiting friends/family, i will search the menu for a 'hutspot' or 'boerenkool stamppot' which is a kind of kale hash. I am not Dutch, and will differ to those who will or have posted their recommendations for real dutch cuisine in cafes/restaurants. What i have been told, as i have never been there, is that the D'Vijff Vlieghen on Spuistraat is very popular with tourists, looking for genuine dutch cuisine, but you will not find many, if any, Dutch customers in there. Haute cuisine in NL is mostly French, Italian, Spanish, etc, ie foreign, or at least heavily foreign influenced and not typical Dutch; and over-priced for what you get, ie when compared to the Euros that you would pay for equivalent menu and quality if you were in France or Spain, etc. What i would NOT recommend in NL is rijsttafel in particular, and Indonesian food in general (and yes, there are exceptions, but those exceptions are usually not located in central, touristic Amsterdam). Please note, i am only talking about Indonesian food in NL, and not about Indonesian cuisine in Indonesia which, for me, is one of the greatest cuisines in the world. In fact, i have had much better experiences in Indonesian restaurants in London and NY, than anywhere in NL. You would have a hard time finding anything called 'rijsttafel' in Indonesia, outside of tourist hotel restaurants. Rijsttafel is somewhat like Chop Suey in the US; its an adaptation to suit local tastes, Dont get me wrong, i have nothing against such cuisine, but all admiration for such ingenuity. What i am against is, as alluded to by markemorse, 'they are out of my budget at the moment', and there is no reason for such over-pricing of mediocre Indonesian cuisine. Rijsttafel is over-hyped, over-promoted by all the touristic propaganda from NL, as something 'exotic' or unique, or a must have, to be experienced when in NL. For me, it is the biggest tourist trap, and rip-off in NL (and there are many tourist traps in NL, as one would expect in any popular tourist destination anywhere in the world). Conventional wisdom is, check out, ie look in before sitting down at any rijsttafel restarant recommended by tourist boards/restaurant reviews/etc, and see if you can find one with Indonesian or S E Asian customers. Please let us know when you find them. You could assemble a DIY rijsttafel. Find a small Indonesian toko cafe/restaurant, or better still a take-out place, and then just order small portions of several different items..... you can then choose what you really like, ie not be locked into a Prix Fixe menu, and it will be way more authentic Indonesian and much cheaper. But, if you are a tourist with limited time, and must experience this 'must have' rijsttafel' that you have heard so much about, then check out Sama Sebo, somewhere between the Marriot Hotel and the museum area, and reservations are recommended. there are many good and varied reasons to visit and even to live/work in NL, but food is not one of them,

Take a look at this website. It has videos on how to filet many different species of fish. You may find the 'dutchglish'quite hilarious,and some of the pages are only in dutch, but i think the videos are explicit enough without the language.

i use boneless pork neck, whenever and whereever i can find them. In some of the countries that i have lived in, it may also be included or labelled as pork shoulder, ie there are no internationally standardised meat cuts, but boneless pork shoulder would be close to pork neck. when i first started making char siu, i used pork loin, and wondered why i cannot get the same texture/flavor as restaurant/street hawker char siu. I think char siu needs well marbled pork, and pork loin does not have enough (or any) fat, and it is too 'tender', ie no texture. Also, the final product has to have 'burnt' and crispy edges to it. that is what char siu is for me, and i am sure there are many others with different opinions, and it could be interesting to compare and contrast?

perhaps i should have been more explicit about what i meant. 'spatial evenness of the temperature' for me, implies constant stirring, and/or flipping of the contents in a wok,so that they cook evenly, and the shape of a wok is ideally suited for such purpose. yes, 'a common dish is placed on the table from which everyone serves themselves....'. What i was alluding to was that some restuarants, in particular those that offer all-you-can-eat buffets will cook massive quantities in one wok, and as such its almost impossible, i believe, to get wok hei. Have you ever 'experienced' wok hei in a chinese buffet? I guess i was just repeating that its a lot easier, and maybe a necessary condition, especially in a home environment, to cook in small quantities if you want wok hei.

Let us try to identify and share our experiences with the parameters/necessary conditions to achieve wok hei? assuming that we are agreed that there is such a thing as wok hei; something akin to how umami came to be identified/recognised/legitimised? what i have found as 'necessary conditions', most of which have already been identified by posters on this thread, are: 1. a well seasoned wok to start with 2. high temperature and the 'spatial eveness of the temperature' (i like this, perhsps the author may want to take out a patent for this?), heat source, and choice of oil (but no olive oil, please). To achieve this indoors in a home environment, i find that it helps to cook smaller portions at the highest heat possible, in fact, try cooking one serving at a time. Its a pain, but the rewards are worth it. 3. In the chinese restaurants that i have been previleged to observe, whenever they cook something for which wok hei is critical, it is always customised, ie one stir fry for each customer, ie no mass cooking as you would expect for a buffet, stew, etc, ie no big wok cooking massive portions. 4. yes, 'flame on' is not necessary to achieve wok hei, but if i can get a 'flame on' by tilting, by 'accident', or whatever meams, it is feedback that i have achieved wok hei, and for me that is a good thing, ie i am not that good/confident a cook that i know that i have wok hei without the flame on. Put it in another way, if i have not achieved wok hei, i can never get a flame on no matter what/how i try.

yes, there is a definite difference. I guess the reason why some have doubts about 'wok hei' could be because they have not identified or associated that special 'flavor' as 'wok hei'? For example, i have heard many others say that " i can never replicate the flavor of chinese restaurant dishes, especially cantonese stir fries". Of course, there could be many reasons for this, but my standard reply is "try getting a standalone gas burner, keep it in the backyard or garage, and turn it up as high as you can". If i understand correctly, Chris in his first posting, saw someone flaming a wok with oil before adding the aromatics. I dont do it this way, but do as described by 'hzrt8w' in his posting above.

i have just stumbled on this very interesting thread, and its taken me awhile to read thru it all. I agree with prasantrin in that if food is the main objective then visit Malayisa, instead of Singapore (ideally, visit both if you have the time and can then compare and contrast, the food and everything else). For SE Asian 'fusion' food, dont miss Penang, and Melaka. Yes, public transport is more difficult in Malaysia, but taxis are cheap enough, IF you have agreed on the price to the destination before getting into the taxi, and even if they say that they will use the meter (hotel concierge will usually give you a good idea on what to expect). Of course a chauffered car rental is fantastic (and lots cheaper by 'western' standards) but will still be more expensive than individual taxi trips, from my experience. By contrast, Singapore taxis, in my experience, are among the most honest in the world, equal or better than taxi drivers in Sweden and scandinavian countries, but lots cheaper. Taxi drivers in singapore do not expect or accept tips, at least during the times when i visited. I believe the chilli crab is now a Singapore "national" dish? ie, an over-hyped, over-priced, tourist trap? I have had chilli crabs and variants in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and the only difference appears to the the quality of the crab itself, rather than the spices, cooking techinque, or country/city where cooked/eaten, etc; and its usually cheaper in Malaysia/Thailand than in Singapore for the same quality of crab.