eatingwitheddie

First, thanks for the compliment and second, thanks for the good question. During my early years in the industry I worked as a captain/maitre'd at a series of high end Chinese restaurants. I have often described my job as 'food shrink.' I would talk with my clients, size them up. ascertain their level of food sophistication, what they liked and didn't like, what they felt like eating, how hungry they were, what they tried last time, and I would then make some suggestions about items I thought were really good and that seemed appropriate. When they hit on one or two they wanted to try I would then direct the conversation to what dishes would go well with what they had selected. The goal was to ying and yang their menu so that they got a good balance of items, flavors, textures and colors. Because I worked in the restaurant and knew how everything looked and tasted, it was easy for me to make sure my clients had a good experience (assuming the chefs did their jobs). As a customer you need to think this way too. Try arranging a menu that has meat, poulty, seafood, vegetable, and starch. Try to order something, mild, something spicy, something with lots of sauce, something without sauce. If you think about things this way if will give you an approach that will work in many different kinds of restaurant situations. Unfortunately, since many different Chinese dishes are variations on one another, it is possible to get too many similar things even though you've tried not to. That's where experience and a helpful waiter will come in handy. In most Chinese restaurants the food will be served family style unless you're pre-ordering a banquet, in which case it will be served in a sequence one course at a time

We are in the hospitality business. I personally never forget that. Obviously the range of experience goes from Danny Meyer's level of gracious and helpful service without being too intrusive, to the brusque nasty, don't bother me - slam the food down school - I'm doing you a favor just being here kind of behavior. How do you go about creating one atmosphere or the other? Well it starts at the top. If the proprietor cares and consistently monitors his service program, it's going to work very differently than the proprietor who doesn't give a damn. You need to set a good example and follow through with your staff and let them know what you expect from them. The dining room is really like a stage. Once the curtain goes up everyone has their role and their lines. I grew up in the business with a tradition of strong dining room management. Left to my own devices I like to set up a system where the front of house staff attends a pre-service meeting everyday. The daily business, specials, schedules, etc. are reviewed and maybe some educational issues, new wines or recipes are covered. I then like to see a clear set of expectations spelled out: approach the customer in the first minute, welcome them and take a drink order, menus on the table 3 minutes after the cocktails have arrived, these sorts of things. Next, the house needs to set up a system of checks and balances so that if the server is too busy to attend to a table within a given time frame, that there is a second and even a third person designated to take care of the customer. Obviously when you're dealing with ethnic restaurants in particular, you may encounter a server whose language/communication skills are really poor. I have a strategy for enjoying these moments. Knowing that things are likely to be off, I decide that my server's ineptitide will become my evening's entertainment. Some of my most entertaining restaurant stories are about asshole waiters! And if you really need something and you're not getting it, don't wait. Get up from the table, go over to the boss and tell him you need his help. A good restaurateur can turn a customer problem into a life long relationship! Anyway, there are so many restaurants and good meals available, if they can't deal with you, leave and go someplace else. Don't forget it's only food - not sex.

I haven't been there since opening night but I hear that things are going well. Please remember that the restauranti s still in its shake down period. I'd be interested in getting your feedback. By the way I hear that the 2 daily papers will review the restaurant in the next week or so: word has it that they will get 2 1/2 stars. And if you don't get there soon tell me, because I plan to return to town later this month. Perhaps we could go together. Like Mr. Kleiner's other restaurants I'm sure they will keep working on Opera and it will improve with age. Ed

Cabrales Thanks for the great post about abalone at FLM. You're a previleged person to have eaten there many times. FYI - A few years back some chefs from 'Ah Yut' the other restaurant you referred to, visited here from HK and had a festival at the Godlen Unicorn,18 E. Bway. I was not there to eat the abalone, but I did try some of their other dishes which were excellent. I particularly remember a mixed vegetable flavored with a house cured pork. Wow!

I have heard great things about Susur Lee's food and little about Ming's. Personally I have tried neither. I'd like to. As for fusion food, I like it when it is good and not when it isn't. More often than not, I find it silly. My prototypical negative reaction comes when I encounter a Peking Duck variation served with pancakes that don't function for wrapping up the duck, but just kind of sit there waiting for the diner to figure out what they're about. This is annoying. I recently facetiously suggested to a chef friend that he had forgotten the maple syrup! Take me to Susanah Foo's in Philadelphia and I'd be quite excited. By the way it's nice to attribute this trend to Ken Hom, but in fact, fusion cooking was a part of the scene in HK for many years before the current trend. By the way, I have a way of thinking about fusion food that you may find interesting. I tend to put it into two categories. The first is a chef who essentially cooks with western methods, using reductions, wine, saute pans, butter etc. and introduces Asian ingredients into his recipes. I have found Wolfgang's Chinoise on Main to be this kind of restauarant. The second category is the one where the food is prepared in a more typical Asian way, in woks, with vegetable oil, etc., but adding in some Western ingredients. Of course none of this is black and white, there is considerable crossover, but I find this a helpful and valid way to think about it. Ed

First of all we'd have to talk about what is considered exciting. I don't find radical innovation exciting just on it's own. I would rather have delicious any day. So to me, when I find an excellent chef who is really cooking great food, that is what I find exciting, though it may not be innovative. I have heard about a number of new things happening this season and next. A quick list (I'm sure I've omitted many) would include: from Jean Georges 1) Shanghai - His Chinese restaurant - about to open in Tribeca 2) A Jean Geroges steakhouse, probably an outpost of Prime (Vegas), opening in the Time Warner AOL complex @ Columbus Circle 3) A third unknown concept at a location in the meat market area from Keith McNally (Balthazar) 4) A large brasserie on Rivington St off of Essex from Gray Kunz 5) a restaurant in the Time Warner AOL complex from Thomas Keller 6) The French Laundry in the Time Warner Aol complex 7) The chef (Dufresne) from 71 Clinton Fresh Food opening his own place in parnership with the Jean George group on Clinton St 8) A new and more accessible restaurant from Alain Ducasse I might point out that hot new young chefs are hard to find out about until they do something news worthy. I assume that a number of these types will surface as well. So is the scene boring, I don't think so. In fact it seems to me that they're saying similar stuff in Paris, like it's boring Paris, all the innovation is in NY! Somehow what is on the other side of tracks always seems to look better. We don't always appreciate what we do have. Ed PS - I'm not familiar with Adria - fill me in please, thanks

A few thoughts about desserts and the Chinese kitchen. There is a substantial difference in the foodways associated with Western and Chinese sweets. When you start to think about what we in the West venerate dessert wise, thoughts turn to great bakeries, chocolate makers, and wonderful ice creams and similar concoctions. I think that there are some really important points to be made right at the beginning of a discussion aboout Chinese desserts. Chinese food has developed with with a emphasis on wok cookery. It use high heat, but for a very short period. With the exception of large, almost communal roasting boxes for barbecuing meat and poultry, we're talking about a cuisine that uses no ovens! For reasons of fuell efficiency among others. So many of our western confections are baked! It's no wonder that Chinese desserts went in a totally different direction. Secondly, we're talking about the world's most populous country where the majority of the people are lactose intolerant. It is a society with virtually no dairy products. No butter, no cream, not many traditions that make use of these or similar products either (even now). We all go to our cupboards from time to time try to prepare a meal from whatever is available. Well, no ovens and no dairy products would virtually insure moving in a direction very different from our Western dessert sensibilities. It is always fascinating to me to go into one of the many Chinese bakeries, where they emulate our Western desserts but do it from a Chinese sensibility/point of view. Some of the items seem almost ersatz, but then there are aspects of Chinese bakers trying to mimic Western desserts, where the Chinese really get it right, and maybe better. They sure are good at making very tender cakes and delicious pound cakes. And their version of "cheap' icing, the tastee cake level, is almost always an improvement over what we're used to on the low end. PS: If you ever eating at Sweet & Tart @ 20 Mott, order their Malaysian Roll. It is a delicious eggy steamed cake that is done jellyroll style and it is delicious.

The idea behind the book I'm writing is that the table of contents will primarily be the lengthy menu from your local Chinese take-out establishment. It will give precise and accessible instructions on how your favorite items can be made at home. It will have the 'A' version of these recipes. There will also be a section on my own personal cooking which has a classical yet modern and evolved point of view What a stupendously perfect format for a Chinese cookbook. Seems almost too good to be true. Can't wait! Thanks. I can't wait too! Ed

I thought I implied that certain basic skills are useful across the lines that separate different cuisines, but since you've brought up the art of butchering, there's one area in which the nature of the cuts varies considerable from the French to the Americans to the Chinese. Do you not agree? This is not to imply the anatomy of the chicken changes from culture to culture. Sorry if I misunderstood. Sure, Chinese are primarily pig butchers and have their own method for seaming muscles and creating particular cuts of meat. Not so much with poutry, but with pork (and goat and beef). This is true of many cultures. The butchers in Italy do it differently than those in France for instance. Very often it seems to reflect what dishes the people cook, and the butchers create and market their products with this in mind.

Bus writes: ' I'm interested in your opinions about the rest of this site.' I've poked around a bunch, but not enough. Obviously I'm intrigued. More later. Ed

Jinmyo wrote "Ed, you're a charmer. As well as very knowledgeable and helpful. Too bad you don't like stinky tofu. Thanks for your wonderful contributions." Thanks for the compliment. But that doesn't mean I don't like people who like stinky dofu. And to be consistent, I don't like stinky cheese either. Yuck! (I'm really quite provincial sometimes - in a worldly way). Regards, Ed

Are you sure this is Szechuan peppercorn oil and not chile oil. Is it red? (this is from Chiles not Sz pep). It could be both.

In another thread, the one about stock, I imply a recipe for great Jewish chicken soup. To be more explicit: HOW I MAKE JEWISH CHICKEN SOUP I would make a basic stock from lots of bones (we always had a chicken foot or two) in water to cover and cook it for 2-3 hours. Then I would strain it and return it to the pot to make a second 'double boiled' stock using the first stock instead of water (you can and should add a little extra water as necessary) and some more chicken (maybe a whole one or a fowl - but bones will yield a great result). Vegetables: celery (with leaves especially), an onion (skin on for color), a leek, a carrot or two (no more or it is too sweet), a parsnip, parsley, thyme (fresh), parsley root (if available), a couple of bay leaves, half a bunch of dill and some peppercorns are added. Boil the stock briefly, then skim and simmer over the lowest heat for 2-3 hours, adding some more fresh dill during the last 20 minutes (this short cooking time will give the soup a nice fresh dill taste). Strain the stock through a very fine strainer and taste for seasoning. It will need lots of salt. If desired, chill it to remove the fat and let any sediment sink to the bottom. It will stay fresh for about 4 days if well refrigerated. NB: Save the chicken fat. If you have used lots of vegetables and herbs (dill) the fat will be very fragrant. This fat is one of the keys to great tasting matzoh balls! MATZOH BALLS I am not anxious to get into this in too much detail (not really Chinese you know) except to say HINTS 1) Use a box recipe 2) Use the soup fat 3) When you mix liquid into your matzoh ball base make sure you use enough, and make sure to wait a good hour before forming the dough into balls so that the dough absorbs the moisture fully and matzoh swells. 4) Cook the suckers long enough so that they are cook all the way through 5) I cheat and put baking powder in my matzoh balls (leavening is not OK on Passover) - I learned this trick from my dear friend Abe Lebewohl of The 2nd Avenue Deli. If you do this make sure the water is boiling hard when you put the balls in. It is necessary to adequately activate the leavening. 6) Put enough salt in the dough and in the water. According to Joan Nathan, the Jewish food guru, I make the best matzoh balls. She featured me in the Matzoh Ball episode of her PBS TV cooking show "Jewish Cooking in America" I like mine "giving but firm" (neither hard nor soft).

On the other hand once you learn how to cut up a chicken it's a skill that goes a long way in many different cuisines.

Oy, the bullshit!

I cook with both. Tapioca is a traditional Chinese thickening agent and potato starch is not. I must admit that I find all this fuss over cornstarch to be extremely silly. There's nothing wrong with it, only with the way people USE it. A far better discussion would be how to use it correctly, and how does it compare with the other thickening agents we're talking about.

Jason, I haven't eaten the Kung Pao fresh killed chicken at Grand Szechuan Int'l., but I can tell you one thing, that it must be the chef's highly personalized version or a revisionist version, because a classic Kung Pao sauce doesn't typically contain Szechuan peppercorn, sometimes also known as 'fagara'. The prototypical hot flavoring in Kung Pao sauce is from scortched dried red chiles. A spicy sauce that is flavored with Szechuan peppercorn will be hot from chiles also, either fresh, dried, infused into oil, or cooked into a spicy paste with or without beans (spicy chile paste wikt garlic or spicy hot bean paste). This type of sauce is named Ma (numb) La (spicy) sauce. Many other classic Szechuan and Hunan recipes use Szechuan peppercorn. For example, in Szechuan Crispy Duck (not a hot spicy dish) the bird is marinated with salt and peppercorns before cooking. Classic recipes for Spicy Orange Chicken/Beef or Kwei Wei (unusually flavored) Chicken call for them as well. One of my favorite stir-fries is the Hunan dish, Tung-an Diced Chicken. It contains batons of red and greeen pepper and lots of coarsely shredded fresh ginger. It's flavored with a deeply burnished spicy brown sauce accented with Szechuan peppercorns and chile paste. By the way, in recent months I have heard from friends in the business that the FDA has banned importation of Szechuan peppercorns. The story goes that they're concerned that certain individuals are allergic to it. I don't know about the veracity of this rumor nor have I tried to see if they're actually available through normal channels. I'd certainly be interested in feedback from anyone out there who can add to this story.

ABOUT OPERA RESTAURANT Last month, Opera, a new contemporary Chinese-inspired restaurant, opened in the South Loop, Chicago's newest about to be trendy neighborhood. Created by the increasingly influential and unusally imaginative restaurateur, Jerry Kleiner, Opera features the cooking of Chef Paul Wildermuth. For a number of years Paul has been the executive chef at Red Light on W. Randolph, another of Mr. Kleiner's creations, and one of the busiest addresses in town. A few years ago Arun was brought on board at Red Light to help oversee the food program. In fact, his role has been as a kind of 'consiglieri' to Mr. Wildermuth, the chef. He continues in this capacity with Mr. Wildermuth at Opera, and has also started working with well known Chicago chef Jackie Shen, who has taken over the kitchen at Red Light. By the way, Red Light was recently awarded 3 stars by the Chicago food press. Arun has been working with me as well. I was hired by Mr. Kleiner to collaborate with Mr. Sampathaviat and Mr. Wildermuth on Opera's menu. In October I spent a couple of weeks developing recipes and helping to define the restaurant's food propram. While in Chicago, I had some fantastic experiences with Arun, aside from Opera, when he invited me to two different tastings at his restaurant. The first tasting found Arun and I sitting together in his dining room at dinnertime with his other guests. The kitchen sent out a parade of sequenced tastes, perhaps as many as 25 different Thai flavors, while Arun gave me a running commentary, explaining each item and what tastes to look for and what sequence they might come in and what he was trying to achieve in each instance. For me this was a magical kind of night. A few days later Paul and I were invited to Arun's Restaurant for a lunchtime tasting of Chinese food. This time Arun was cooking himself - his brother and the kitchen staff had cooked our dinner. He made us very regular and classic Chinese dishes: chow fun noodles, fried rice, chow mein noodles, wonton soup, spicy chicken, lobster Cantonese. Yet each recipe was executed with a little twist, a showcase for Arun's own personal style and culinary point of view. The food was the best. Eye opening in his way of layering flavors and freshness. In any event try Opera if you're in town. It's still evolving and it's starting from a very good place. PS: I don't know if you're familiar with Jerry Kleiner's work, but it is really special. Each of his restaurants, he owns Marche and Giocco as well, is a unique artistic vision, typically characterized by warmth, color, exuburance, funk and casual sophistication. Mr . Kleiner personally imagines, designs, and then manufactures every element of his restaurant's interiors. Chairs, lights, curtains, stairs, hardward - Mr. Kleiner has designed and then made it all. Art work, collages, painted floors and ceiling - all done at Mr. Kleiner direction. Pretty cool stuff. ART! And Opera may be his best work to date. Which would mean it's fabuous. And yes Jerry Kleiner is my friend and client, but it doesn't matter. It's true!

ABOUT OPERA RESTAURANT Last month, Opera, a new contemporary Chinese-inspired restaurant, opened in the South Loop, Chicago's newest about to be trendy neighborhood. Created by the increasingly influential and unusally imaginative restaurateur, Jerry Kleiner, Opera features the cooking of Chef Paul Wildermuth. For a number of years Paul has been the executive chef at Red Light on W. Randolph, another of Mr. Kleiner's creations, and one of the busiest addresses in town. A few years ago Arun was brought on board at Red Light to help oversee the food program. In fact, his role has been as a kind of 'consiglieri' to Mr. Wildermuth, the chef. He continues in this capacity with Mr. Wildermuth at Opera, and has also started working with well known Chicago chef Jackie Shen, who has taken over the kitchen at Red Light. By the way, Red Light was recently awarded 3 stars by the Chicago food press. Arun has been working with me as well. I was hired by Mr. Kleiner to collaborate with Mr. Sampathaviat and Mr. Wildermuth on Opera's menu. In October I spent a couple of weeks developing recipes and helping to define the restaurant's food propram. While in Chicago, I had some fantastic experiences with Arun, aside from Opera, when he invited me to two different tastings at his restaurant. The first tasting found Arun and I sitting together in his dining room at dinnertime with his other guests. The kitchen sent out a parade of sequenced tastes, perhaps as many as 25 different Thai flavors, while Arun gave me a running commentary, explaining each item and what tastes to look for and what sequence they might come in and what he was trying to achieve in each instance. For me this was a magical kind of night. A few days later Paul and I were invited to Arun's Restaurant for a lunchtime tasting of Chinese food. This time Arun was cooking himself - his brother and the kitchen staff had cooked our dinner. He made us very regular and classic Chinese dishes: chow fun noodles, fried rice, chow mein noodles, wonton soup, spicy chicken, lobster Cantonese. Yet each recipe was executed with a little twist, a showcase for Arun's own personal style and culinary point of view. The food was the best. Eye opening in his way of layering flavors and freshness. In any event try Opera if you're in town. It's still evolving and it's starting from a very good place. PS: I don't know if you're familiar with Jerry Kleiner's work, but it is really special. Each of his restaurants, he owns Marche and Giocco as well, is a unique artistic vision, typically characterized by warmth, color, exuburance, funk and casual sophistication. Mr . Kleiner personally imagines, designs, and then manufactures every element of his restaurant's interiors. Chairs, lights, curtains, stairs, hardward - Mr. Kleiner has designed and then made it all. Art work, collages, painted floors and ceiling - all done at Mr. Kleiner direction. Pretty cool stuff. ART! And Opera may be his best work to date. Which would mean it's fabuous. And yes Jerry Kleiner is my friend and client, but it doesn't matter. It's true!

Let's all go to Wittamer in Brussels and forget the rest of this bull----. Ed

Dear Rachel To my mind learning to cook proper Chinese is food is akin to learning a craft. Once you have mastered the techniques you can move ahead and apply your knowledge to create a series of basic preparations and their variations. Unfortunately I don’t think there are just two or three supreme tips. I have a philosophy about how to approach and think about this way of cooking and hope that it will be helpful in guiding you as well as others. 1) Learn how to select the correct cuts of meat and vegetables and how to prepare, cut, and flavor (marinate) them for cooking. 2) Learn how to cook these meats and vegetables so that they are properly cooked through and exactly the right texture. 3) Learn how to season the food you’re preparing. Time after time my cooking seems to reinforce this approach. For example when you’re making beef and broccoli, you start by purchasing the right cut of meat and learning to slice it to the desired shape. Different cuts lend themselves to different shapes. Of course you’ll need some really fresh broccoli. Make sure it isn’t too old and tough. When we start to cook this dish we fry the meat so that it is just cooked through and quite tender, and cook the vegetables so that they aren’t raw, but bright green and crisp/tender. Finally we create a sauce and then toss the whole thing together, for just 20-30 seconds, so that the meat and vegetables are properly seasoned. We quickly dribble in a touch of sesame oil, to create a great smell, and then remove the food from the wok and plate it. Should you toss the meat in the sauce for more than a few seconds it will toughen and your dish will lose some quality. This 3-step technique of preparing the food, then cooking it to the right texture, and then flavoring it, recurs in recipe after recipe. Most importantly, when you start to think about stir-frying this way, it provides an approach for dealing with all sorts of Chinese and Asian recipes. Beyond this here are some other basic pieces of advice: For home cooking I suggest cooking in a 14” flat-bottomed wok. Get a wok strainer Use a Chinese spatula and a Chinese stir-fry spoon Get good recipes Use really fresh food Use good homemade chicken stock As a practical example I have included a fairly detailed recipe for your perusal. Ed Sliced Beef with Broccoli Ingredients: 1 lb. flank steak, trimmed and partially frozen NOTE:you could also use other cuts among them boneless sirloin or filet mignon or my favorite poor man's cut: chicken steak (also know as beef blade chuck steak - it first needs to be trimmed of exterior silver skin and interior gristle) for the beef marinade: 1 egg white 1 T dry sherry or Shaoshing wine 1/4 t salt 2 T cornstarch 1/2 head broccoli, washed and cut into 2”pieces 2 scallions, cleaned and cut in 1/3” pieces 1 t minced garlic 1 t thin sliced ginger, cut in 1/2” pieces for the seasoning sauce: 1 1/2 T Kikkoman soy sauce 2 t oyster sauce 1 t dark soy 1 T dry sherry or Shaoshing rice wine 1/2 t sugar 1/4 t MSG (opt) dash white pepper 1 T cornstarch dissolved with 1 1/2 T water 3 cups vegetable oil add at the last moment: 1/2 t sesame oil Prepare Ahead: 1. To slice the beef: Holding your cleaver at a 45-degree angle to the cutting surface and cutting across the grain, slice the partially frozen flank steak into 1/3” thick pieces, each 2”- 3” long and 1/2” wide. 2. To marinate the beef: Put the beef slices in a mixing bowl and add the egg white, wine and salt. Using your fingers briskly mix for about 30 seconds until the beef is evenly coated. Next add the cornstarch and continue mixing until it is just dissolved. Transfer the beef to a clean mixing bowl, discarding any extra marinade clinging to the first bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. The beef may be cooked immediately though its texture is best after 12 hours. If well refrigerated it will stay fresh for at least 48 hours. To Cook: 3. To cook the beef: Heat 3 cups of oil in a wok until it is moderately hot: 280-300 degrees F. With the heat turned to it’s highest level, add the sliced beef to the hot oil, and using a pair of chopsticks or a slotted spoon, gently swirl the beef in the oil so that the slices separate from one another. Cook, stirring gently, until no trace of pink remains and the beef starts to bubble vigorously in the oil: about 60 seconds. Using a slotted spoon transfer the beef slices to a strainer suspended over a pot to catch the dripping oil. After removing the beef from the oil continue to leave your wok full of oil over high heat. 4. Cook the broccoli: With the flame still at its highest level, reheat the oil for about 2 minutes: until it is 325-350 degrees. Now add the broccoli to the oil and cook stirring gently for 30 seconds. Immediately stop the cooking by draining the contents of the wok over the beef and into the same strainer that’s suspended over a pot to catch the oil. If any of the beef marinade has stock to the wok scrape it out and discard it. Wipe out your wok and return it top the heat. Note: If a great deal of marinade has stuck to the pan you may have to wash out the wok and reheat it. 5. To sauce the food: With the heat turned to its highest level add 1 T vegetable oil to the wok followed by the garlic, ginger, and scallion. Cook, stirring for 10 seconds, then add the seasoning sauce that has first been briefly mixed to redistribute the cornstarch. Stir constantly until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Working quickly add the beef and broccoli to the wok and continue stirring until the food until it is completely coated with the sauce, about 30 seconds. Don’t stir the meat in the sauce any longer than necessary: boiling it in the liquid will toughen it. Immediately sprinkle with the 1/2 t of sesame oil and serve.

OK, I'm ready to go out for dinner in Taipei! Ed

Even though we have been discussing Chinese cooking all week, today marks the official start of my Q & A. I just wanted to invite all of you to keep asking questions and give you some ideas about my particular areas of interest and expertise (and those where I have much to learn). I know the most about how to make delicious food. Cooking techniques, food marketing, equipment, and recipes are all areas where I am strong. I have a lot of New York centric knowledge. Chinese food stores, restaurants, the different Chinatowns, the history of the US Chinese food industry over the last 30 years are other areas we could get into. Unfortunately while I have traveled a lot I haven't lived all over the world. So if you start to ask about a particular place, I may or may not have familiarity with it. Please don't forget that I am Jewish boy from Brooklyn whose grandmother made blintzes and matzoh balls, not fish balls and rice noodles. Sometimes there are areas of a cultural nature that I simply can't relate to because we celebrated Thanksgiving not The Dragon Boat Festival. In any event, it's exciting to be here and I look forward to developing new relationships with those of you with similar passions and interests. To the eGullet community: thanks for your participation. I hope to hear from you. Please take advantage of our new relationship. You're welcome to contact me by posting to the web site or email (when appropriate), and talk about anything. Warm regards, Ed

I have a journalist friend who got an assignment to write about eating dog in the US. He came to me for assistance and I am happy to report no success in this area. Couldn't find any for dinner (or lunch). Not in the US. In China, in Canton in particular, dog is definitely consumed. However it is Koreans who seem to eat it the most. Dogs are primarily consumed during the winter. Purportedly for helping the consumer to acclimate to the cold My eldest son attended college in Beijing for a while and ate dog a couple of times. You've probably heard that catch all line, 'it taste like chicken'. well it also 'tastes like lamb'. He stopped short of ordering the dishes featuring dog's skin.

I have spent some time (not enough) in Taipei. As you pointed out there is a whole street food scene there. In particular I remember 'Snake Alley'. A pedestrians only area perhaps 3 blocks long, it is filled with small storefront food stalls, each with its own specialty. Some of the stalls have a bit of interior space with a handful of tables and chairs. The prototypical offering is a little pancake topped with tiny oysters and a bit of green vegetable which is then folded and put in a glassine bag. Actually it is really only one of many many things available. I remember a 'juice' vendor with three offerings where everything was freshly made. Orange juice was dispensed from a Rube Goldberg type contraption, sugar cane juice out of a press, and then there was the freshly drained snake blood! It was obtained the old-fashioned way. Yum! Snake alley was the first place I saw large perfect speciman apples individually wrapped and sold for a king's ransom (the same price as a lobster). On one trip here I was taken around the corner to a small restaurant that was named something along the lines of 'Wild Animal Restaurant'. It seemed to have about 8 tables and 12 cages. I had been to the zoo earlier that day and saw many types of Asian animals for the first time. I have always taken note (in my brain) that in spite of visiting the zoo, the only one of the 12 animals that was familiar to me was the anteater. This restaurant was the Taipei version of a game festival. You just had to point and they would do the dirty deed and then cook. No worries about aging or even rigor mortis. A very different approach than we have in Western culture. Friends from from HK always talk fondly about the street food they grew up with. It was a major and accessible part of their culinary life and one that really can't be found here in anything resembling the same format. 'Dai Pai Dong' is the phrase that describes this 'cuisine'. Small little eateries dispensing everything from stews over rice, to BBQ'd goose (goose not duck is the thing in HK), to that genuinely famous afternoon snack, turtle jelly w. sugar syrup, are all over town. One afternoon a friend who took me on a series of HK tours introduced me to a snack shop that specialized in a beverage and a bun. Their specialty was a hot drink called 1/2 and 1/2. It was half coffee and half tea. I haven't cultivated a taste for it quite yet.