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Frogs legs in XO sauce... very very good. The legs are lightly coated in flour and fried before stirfrying with the sauce.

I have never had abalone sashimi. But I eat mirugai (geoduck) quite frequently.

Abalone used to be quite common along the california coast. No longer. How do you like your abalone prepared? Whole? Sliced? Grilled? Braised? Or in soup?

I like the korean version at the end of shabu shabu when they add the rice cakes to the broth along with some of that chili paste/sauce. That sauce has heat along with sweetness.

In mandarin they are called "nien gao".

Steam a big fish. But don't eat all of it. Means that you will have something good leftover every year.

It tastes good in sukiyaki. Takes on the flavor of the meat and sauce really well.

You aren't supposed to chop the scallions. You are supposed to slice it parallel to the grain so it curls in thin strips while it heats in the sauce/oil. The sauce should be watery, not viscous, unless you are making another dish, but not for HK style steamed fish. For a short cut, I use Lee Kum Kee steam fish sauce for this. It's great. Oh yeah, and I microwave my fish. I always place cilantro over my fish before I pour the sauce on it, because I think it adds another flavor. I have my fish under 10 minutes. I'm sure a lot of purists will be pretty miffed about my microwaving my freshly slaughtered fish, but it cooks evenly for me. Depends on what type of fish you buy.

No particular order: Green Village- Shanghainese King's Palace- Shanghainese 888 Seafood- Chiu Chow Seafood Sea Harbour Seafood- Hong Kong/ Vancouver style seafood and dim sum Embassy- nouvelle Cantonese Din Tai Fung Dumpling House- Shanghainese steamed dumplings Heavy Noodling- dao hsiao noodles

I save the fat and put it in my mashed potatoes.

Is it true you are only hiring model/actress types as your wait staff?

Shrimp roe is delicious. I like the head and the eggs more than the actual shrimp meat. Some sushi chefs like to marinate the roe in a little ponzu to cut the fishiness... Most of the Cantonese seafood places in SGV serve large steamed prawns that have the roe, which is prized. It's not cheap, more expensive than lobster per pound. But well worth the money. It's not on the menu, you have to look for it in the tanks and tell your server. There is also a Shanghainese dish that of braised sea cucumbers and shrimp roe. The shrimp roe they use is not fresh but dried... makes for a rich sauce.

Can I have the address? Tnx!

Wow this topic is really close to my heart. What was your family food culture when you were growing up? My parents are Taiwanese American. They were big yuppies (yes we drank pelligrino/perrier at home during this phase) and really into food.... I don't know any other way to describe them. It was great, I got to taste things that none of my friends or classmates of my friends or classmates experienced. My dad used to scuba dive and had a fishing boat. Since my dad is half Japanese, he was used to fresh seafood and knew how to slice sashimi and make sushi: hamachi, albacore, tuna, salmon, whatever, you name it. This was a great treat for all my family and their friends. We would have fresh fish, fresh uni (I mean he would crack open the urchin for me and my 4 year old self would gobble it up). My dad would slice lobster sashimi when there was company, or make chawanmushi with crab. The essence of the crab seeps into the egg. I still haven't found any restaurant that makes this dish. In some ways I was very spoiled. I STARVED when I went away to college. Literally, I lost about 20 lbs my first quarter at school because I hated dorm food so much and there was only so much In N Out I could stand. I didn't know how expensive sushi was until I went to college and had to pay for mediocre sushi myself. My parents spent a lot of money on groceries, on dining, on entertaining. They would throw big parties at our house and we would have either Asian night where they would make their favorite dishes or Western food night with caviar, oysters, roast beef... I was and still am very appreciative of them. Was meal time important? Meal time was extremely important. We had dinner together practically everyday. And Sunday mornings were a big deal, because I would either make french toast or omelettes at home, or we would go eat dim sum, or we would go have a nice brunch. Fridays were not as a big deal, because they either had to entertain their clients/business associates or eat with their friends. So I had to stay at home and eat dumplings in front of the tv, but I never minded because we weren't allowed to watch tv or read when we ate as a family. Was cooking important? Yes. I starting cooking when I was about 11-12... my parents were very encouraging even when I made a nasty cheese souffle. Or when I burned the peach preserves because the flame was too high and I put too much sugar. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? I would be yelled at if I misbehaved. I was too scared. Who cooked in the family? Me, my parents, but not my sister. There is always a black sheep. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? We ate out at least twice a week for dinner. It could be any cuisine. We ate more Chinese/Japanese food though. My mom and I would always want to try a new place that we read/heard about, or a new type of cuisine. My dad and my sister tend to stick with the familiar. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? If there are a lot of kids over then we always ate at the table in the kitchen, instead of the dining room. I really didn't mind, because if the other kids didn't want chicken feet or crispy duck skin or oysters on the half shell or smoked salmon or curry or sashimi that meant more for me. Haha! Suckers! If there was room for my sister and I to sit with the adults, my parents made sure we ate with everyone else. They thought it would be a good time for us to practice our table manners. When did you get that first sip of wine? Around junior high. Although I hated it and never developed my liking of it until college. Was there a pre-meal prayer? No way. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? No rotating menu. I wasn't allowed to snack, so we never had chips or cookies or anything. My mom liked to cooked Shanghai style food. So we always had wontons in the freezer. Always stir fried beancurd (not tofu, the solid brown ones you have to slice) with pork bits and chiles. There was always soup, Cantonese style-something with freshly slaughtered chicken, so wonderfully rich because ham was added, which had slowly simmered forever.... We ate a lot of seafood because of the paternal influence. My mom didn't eat beef and since we were Taiwanese, more pork than other meat. But once a month they made sure my sis and I had a nice juicy rib eye. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? I don't have a family now, so it's just me.... I don't cook as often as I would like. Actually I hardly cook unless I have company, even though I love the whole process. I find it hard cooking for one person, I always make too much! Food is very much a part of who I am though. I enjoy wine with my meals and I hope that one day I'll have a big family I can cook for and share my love for them in that way. I wish I knew how to cook more Asian food but my repertoire (sp?) is limited, basically what I learned from my parents. It's not like I can turn on the food network and learn how to make Asian dishes that require real skill as a homecook the way Mario Batali does with Italian. Thanks for starting this topic. I love reading about everyone else's experiences as well.

Well if they are only selling French wine and you can't bring your own then I hope that they have a fair mark up. Bah!

Don't understand why Bastide won't let you bring your own wine...

Cabrales- Sorry I don't remember the name. I was still in high school when I went, was quite a long time ago...

There is a Cantonese dish that involves sausage & gai lan steamed on top of rice in a claypot. The juice/oil from the sausages drip down into the rice, giving it a nice flavor. The sausages and veggies are removed right before serving, plated separately. Soy sauce is then drizzled onto the rice. Some people don't even eat the sausages at all.

In Taiwan, the Mongolian BBQ places serve venison. It's really good when you add some pineapple, cilantro, and chili oil to it. I use more oil on venison because it tends to dry out more. The meat has better flavor if you first ladle all your wet seasonings on it. Sort of like a very very brief marination before packing it down with whatever else (onions, scallions, carrots etc). I don't add noodles to my BBQ, it is eaten separately in a hot pot.

When I had fugu, at the end of our meal the waitress added rice, scallions to fugu broth, cracked an egg to make a type congee. The broth was very sweet and it was wonderful.

Suvir -- No; when I am in Chinatown, I sometimes drink a beverage made from combining coffee and tea (hot). It is called something like "yeen yeung", and is apparently relatively popular in Hong Kong. Thanks for another great tip. Sounds like yin yang... Makes sense. Where do you get that drink? Do most restaurants serve it to those in the know? "Yeen Yeung" is a type of bird. It is symbolic for love... If you say yeen yeung it implies a couple, which may be where the name for that drink came from. The combo of tea/coffee. It is basically milk, tea, sugar, and coffee. You can get it at boba (tapioca) tea places too. Usually the tapioca drinks are preferred cold because the balls get too mushy sitting in the hot drink for so long. It's more of a hong kong thing so you won't really get it at a taiwanese or shanghai place (non cantonese). Some taiwanese people find it a strange practice since there are people there extremely particular about their coffee.

I've been adding this to root beer (IBC).... very tasty. Any other suggestion or favorites?

If you like Korean BBQ, try Cho Sun Galbee on Olympic and Western. Very good. Chinese food, go to San Gabriel Valley. Sorry, but the dim sum on the west side is a pathetic and sad excuse for the real thing. Go to 888 Seafood on Valley Blvd in Rosemead for good dim sum. Don't know if you guys know this, but a lot of the HK style seafood places in San Gabriel/Monterey Park/Alhambra area are open quite late (12-1am) and after 9pm there are late night menus of seafood. Steamed tilapia, fried tofu, crispy shrimp, spinach with duck egg, beef daikon for $6.95. It's a great deal. If you are really hardcore though, I suggest having a bowl of sharkfin late at night. The warm broth totally hits the spot. MPV Seafood on Garfield. NYC on Valley Blvd. I know that French/Italian food doesn't compare to NYC in terms of general standards but in LA, Asian food rocks!

Yes you just have to marinate it before grilling... I'm trying to find a picture of how it's supposed to look when sliced the way I described... but I can't seem to upload it onto the site. Maybe it's because of firewalls at work. Hmm

I like the other way they cut kalbi. Where they cut around the bone. I don't know the proper term for this... I really like to munch on the meat close to the bone...