Big Joe the Pro

Ok, all three of her books have been in my possession for over several weeks now and I'm very impressed. Upon seeing the cover of her memoir I realized why I hadn't paid her more attention until now; the cover of the US edition totally turns me off. I'd seen that at the bookstore and - not knowing anything about her or her work - thought, 'why would I care about this persons exploits in China?'. Amazon's shipping to China has gone down in price?!? I ordered five books and last year that would've cost US$45 ($20 a shipment plus $5 a book). This time it was US$29-something and they arrived in less than two weeks.

America's Test Kitchen turned me on to this technique I believe, via their recipe for Chicken Tikki Masala. Great stuff.

Some good opinions here from some learned people, no Chinese chefs to weigh in? I guess they're too busy learning their craft to learn another language as well which is totally understandable. I've been living here in Beijing for awhile (longer than I'd care to admit, ha ha). I don't eat at the high-end places often. Sometimes I will go to the mid-range places and the canteen at work is definitely low-end so that's the basis of my comparision. Also, I've been trying to work on my cooking skills for the past couple of years, mostly American standards (comfort food) a little Mexican and Chinese. Ok, that's enough background. There's a definite difference between low and mid-priced restaurants normally, and it's similar to what you would expect in the west; better ingredients and cooked with more care. Also, the fancier the place the more little restaurant tricks they throw in to elevate the food. I'm particularly thinking about little flavors that are hard to identify and not something you'd probably bother to source and prep if cooking at home. I believe that there is a high-level of technical proficeny that can be required in some dishes regarding sauce building (melding the oil, spices, etc. at exactly the right time) and time in the wok. I don't feel it's more difficult than other cuisines but is definitely different. The fact that the languages and dialects of China are so different from 'ours' doesn't help in understanding their cuisines. I haven't been doing it that long and I can cook better than the low-end places, although my repertoire is limited. Some people here on eGullet have been very helpful in that regard. Mid-range here I come! That's what I love about food, always something else to learn. I'd prefer to stay out of the cultural arena but some valid points have been raised I think.

This is all pretty much inline with my beliefs (food is a religion, right? [ha ha] but I don't think I misquoted, it was late and perhaps I shouldn't have used so many pronouns). The reason I've asked is because I get a little weary of the locals here constantly taking the attitude that their cuisine is so much more difficult than others. It's changing but I still run into this constantly. I attribute it to: a natural tendency to believe your culture is superior a lack of knowledge about other cultures and cuisines (McDonald's and KFC are not the extent of western food)* My response to these superior types, if I'm in the mood to debate, is to show them a photo of my spice collection and point out that as wonderful as Chinese food is (hey, I cook it 80% of the time), there are also a lot of other wonderful experiences and flavors in the world. An oven can add a level of complexity to a cuisine as well. McGee in "On Food and Cooking" seems to take the opposite stand as Mr. Wang from Legend (I hesitate to imply that these two are at the same level of knowledge or have similar motivations). If I remember correctly McGee states that in French cuisine the chef must build the sauces individually each time whereas in Chinese cuisine the chef can take shortcuts as the soy sauce has been aged (I'm probably misquoting here but I hope I've imparted the just of McGee). Anyway, thanks for the outlet and I'm looking forward to more comments on this. * = Speaking of KFC in China, they do a wrap that is awesome. It looks like a big wrap of roast duck and has some of the same condiments inside but with fried chicken substituted for the duck. I could eat that everyday!

A Mr. Wang, co-owner of Legend, a place written up in the NYT... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/dining/reviews/legend-bar-and-restaurant-nyc-restaurant-review.html ...says, in the last paragraph, that Chinese food is more difficult to cook than French or Japanese as it's not sauce-based. Each time the chef cooks a dish he/she has to make it from scratch in the wok. I'd like to hear some eGulleters weigh in on this?

I'd like to vote for more authentic Chinese dishes being posted rather than Americanized ones but both are greatly appreciated. Interesting cultural side note; it can be difficult to find some of the ingredients that you use 'up here' in Beijing. Sa Cha sauce is a good example, Beijingers don't normally use it. Red Vinegar is another, the supermarkets don't stock it.

Yes, bao zi (steamed dumplings) are awesome anytime and are easily frozen / reheated. There are some recipes here: www.china.org.cn/english/food/26602.htm

Ok thanks Ah Leung. Your pictoral recipes are pretty good! They're a recent discovery for me and I made the Lemon Chicken and Hong Kong-style Curry Chicken this week to excellent reviews from the better half.

I've not dined there yet but hope to one day, thanks for the input. Chef Ripert's book, "On the Line" I think it's called, was interesting I thought. Have they been able to renew their lease? It was a concern expressed in the book.

I bought a case of small bottles of beer (they mostly do the large bottles here and usually I don't feel like drinking the whole bottle, cans aren't appealing to me). I also got a few boxes of passable French wine. I like the boxes because my wife doesn't drink and, once again, I don't want to drink a whole bottle.

Ok, I've got the US version of the Sichuanese cookbook and the memoir (although I'm not a huge fan of stories about food) in my Amazon shopping cart. Is the Hunanese book worth getting as well? So many recipes, so little time... It's US$ 20 an order, plus US$ 5 a book to China so I like to fill up my cart, preferably with heavy books that would weigh down a suitcase quickly. I've also got one the books she mentions in 'The Browser' article in my cart, "The Food of China" by E. N. Anderson. It looks like a valuable cultural study. Food is such a huge part of the culture here. Amazon's got the 'Look Inside' feature on this book which is nice as the closet decent English-language bookstore is in Hong Kong. Perhaps there's a thread about excellent Chinese cookbooks here, I should search for it. Your comments are appreciated!

John Belushi, disheveled, half-drunk and in need of a shave; "Food Fight"! 'National Lampoon's Animal House' classic stuff It's the first thing that came to my mind (and it didn't take too long to arrive).

Can I put the same person on both lists? The British version of Gordon Ramsay's 'Kitchen Nightmares' is great television. It's informative, occaisonally funny and I can pick up a few cooking tips as well. On the other hand; the U.S. version repels me, and 'Hell's Kitchen' does as well. It makes me feel sad for the state of my homeland to watch what passes for entertainment there and angry at the producers of the show for aiming so low intellectually.

Are her books that good? I know she gets mentioned here a lot and there are some threads about cooking with her books, but, I've never seen one. Which one of her books would you say is the best? I took a cooking class here in Beijing a few weeks back and dropped her name, the people there seemed to think that her recipes weren't completely authentic, that they were altered a bit to suit western tastes? Personally, I like Irene Kuo's book a lot. Mark Bittman recommended 'The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook' by Gloria Bley Miller and it's pretty good too. 'The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking' by Barbara Tropp was recommended by several people, would anyone add it to the "best list"?

Thanks for the photos. Wow, what an amazing building! I'm a sucker for old train stations

Metro, awesome, thanks Kent. I like that store a lot and go there a couple times a month (and would go a lot more often if it were closer).

Ok, thanks for the replies. I always have two different types of towels hanging next to the sink and I swap them for new ones on a daily basis per advice from Mark Bittman. One is an Ikea tea towel for drying hands and pots, it doesn't get oily or really even dirty at all. The problem is the other. They're made of that 'super absorbent' fabric and are in several colors (blue mostly). They're not so expensive (but not really cheap either) and they last a long time (several years). They are retired to the rag pile when they develop holes or get frayed. I use paper towels sparingly for really oily messes. I wash them in the washing machine in cold water with Tide when I get a full load. I'd like to use hot water and bleach but I'm guessing that that would stain the color? Unfortunately I've not seen a pure white kitchen towel for sale here in the size and thickness that I like (similar to a shower wash cloth). Ok, stupid question time but please understand I've been abroad a lonnnng time; OxyClean is a brand of detergent, correct? What are it's characteristics (perhaps I could find something similar here)? Now that I'm typing this I seem to recall 'color-safe' bleach, is there such a thing and is that what you use?

Despite my best efforts, which admittedly are nothing fancy, my kitchen towels are getting a little stiff and smelly from accumulated oil. It doesn't bother me so much, I mean; I wash the things, but the better half is on my case about it. Is there something better than Tide? The kitchens I worked at all sent their towels out to be washed so besides lye, my mind is drawing a blank as to how to deal with this problem. I guess I could go to the hotel supply store here in Beijing and get a five gallon container of some really awesome detergent/paint thinner but I'd like to avoid yet another container that my fifteen month-old could guzzle. What's your solution? Thanks!

I just took a cooking class here in Beijing and the Chinese chef (a pretty knowledgeable guy who does consulting in the US) went thru a lot of corn starch. No mention was made of any other types of starches but it was by no means an intensive course (just some half-drunk foreigners learning a few dishes) and I didn't ask. It is sold in bulk at the street markets, granny can get a little bag or restraunteurs can wheel off a load. The chef used a lot of it to coat eggplants wedges that were deep-fried. It was also included in meat marinades, it's purpose is to coat and protect the meat while stir-frying (seal in juices). It should be the last item added to a marinade BTW. Chef ran his fingers thru the slurries added at the end to check for lumps.

Sorry AnneN but I normally cook at home so I can't help too much. If I have visitors I normally take them for; roast duck, Mongolian hot pot and Korean barbeque, that's about all I could tell you. There are some others who frequent this site who could help you I'm sure, start a thread? There was one a few months ago about roast duck. There's a 'cooking school' here called Black Sesame Kitchen. It's a tiny little place in an old hutong area that does classes for foreigners and they have open dinners once or twice-a-week. That might be a fun thing to do, especially if you don't speak the language. They have a web site.

It's funny, my Chinese colleagues all stand far away from the things like they're little reactors or something. I laugh silently about it but...

Is the WSJ free or do you have to pay? Speaking of paying, I haven't seen any McGee articles in the NYT lately, what's up with that?

I'd be interested to know if anyone in China has had it delivered, I'm not sure what customs would make of the huge block of books? Also, anyone had any marital problems after their spouse discovered how much you paid for it?

I've never heard of a cooking school of his here but I'm not exactly plugged in anywhere. I did hear that he is trying to raise the respectability of the profession of chef here on the Mainland, although I'm not sure as to how he's going about that.

Ditto on the dull, particularly at the end when the judges were individually assigning numbers to each chef's efforts while that weird cymbal music droned on in the background. It was very tedious.