FeChef

I find this hilarious. It seems the worst person to ask about chinese food in the USA is someone from china. Dont take that the wrong way. Its just that this is how chinese take outs run their business here. The places are run by chinese, not americans. Another thing is that alot of people in the usa are obsessed with watching their sodium levels, so chinese take outs most likely cut back alot on the soy/sodium in the dishes. Using wonton soup as an example it has barely any salt in it. They probably use low sodium chicken broth/stock. Its really the only item i order that definitely needs a soy packet or two.

You use them as a condiment just like you would use a ketchup packet when you order french fries at mcdonalds to go. I know mcdonalds is in just about every country so surely you know what a ketchup packet is? Anyway, the soy sauce packets are given to you when you order food to go at chinese/asian take-out places. You can use them to put on your meal if you feel it needs a more salty taste. I like to put a few packets of soy sauce in my wonton and egg drop soup.

Thank you huiray for your very detailed information. As ive mentioned, the distinct flavor im referring to in the "meifun" dish is not curry so the "singapore" version is out the window. But this distinct flavor im talking about is common from one place to another. Some maybe more "bold" then other places. You may be right that this could be a sauce that gets reduced which would explain the stronger flavor from place to place. I do have a few brands of oyster sauce that i have tried. One is some cheap stuff i got at walmart called dynasty oyster sauce. I have used this stuff in a few general tso sauce recipes and it was not bad at all when i used those soy sauce packets. Its when i used kikkoman, or any other brand that used brewed/fermented soybeans that ruined it for me. I will have to take another go at this with this hydrolyzed soy sauce. I picked up a bottle of La Choy soy sauce today at a grocery store about 18 miles from me. I plan to experiment with it all this week. I use alot of MSG in my food but i dont think that is the flavor im tasting in these meifun dishes. I remember reading something about this XO sauce you mentioned. Its been awhile so i will have to read more about it, and if it sounds like something i may like i will order it from amazon or something. I picked up a bottle of this stuff from a company called Assi soba sauce. It said its a sauce good for noodles so i thought i might try it. It wasnt cheap ($8usd) for 16oz bottle. But im desperate to find this distinct flavor. I just remembered there is a product i bought tha had a flavor that was similair to this distinct flavor im talking about, and it came from packet #2 in a yakisoba spicy chicken ramen container. They cost about $1usd , so its not very cost effective to buy jusy for the #2 packet.

Yes i know the packets isnt the best way to go but untill today i did not know what hydrolyzed soy was. I only knew i liked the taste of the stuff in the packets. Also, yes i could buy any asian ingredient online IF i knew what i am looking for. I have spent $$$ buying all kinds of asian ingredients and sauces at local grocery stores just to try them and see what they taste like. Sadly, they were probably bad examples of what "quality" asian ingredients should taste like. I have spent a good portion of today scouring the internet trying to find a recipe for mei fun that includes an asian ingredient i never heard of. Sadly, no dice yet.

jayt90 sent me in the right direction pointing out hydrolyzed soy. After reading up on it, i found that they are able to extract the flavor without fermenting. Also that there is no smell, where naturally brewed fermented soy has a smell that is probably the smell i dont like. There is also a bitter-ish tangy-ness to the fermented soy that i dont like either. I am almost certain now that every chinese take-out that ive eaten at and liked probably doesnt use fermented soy sauce in their cooking. They may have a bottle of kikoman at the table, but probably just there for show. Im sure they use the good hydrolyzed stuff in the back.

Thanks. I know i have tried a few of La Choy brand sauces. I cant say i liked the taste of those sauces, but it could have just been something else in the sauces that i didnt like. Hopefully i will like the soy sauce though. Its worth a shot, and i think i saw that brand soy sauce at one of the local grocery in my area. Damn....not carried at my local walmart, and out of stock at another walmart 20 miles from me. Damn, not sure what grocery store i saw it at.

There is definitely another flavor besides the flavor from the pork, shrimp..ect. The flavor is cooked into the rice noodles. I am thinking maybe the oil they use has some flavor infused into it that i have not heard of or tasted in anything else.

Mostly "regular" and tamari kikoman brand. I have tried generic store name stuff aswell. The only one i ever found that was tolerable was Pearl river bridge mushroom flavor dark soy sauce. I cant find it anymore where i live and not really what i am after but it was better then everything else ive bought. There is not much choices in my area for asian ingredients. There is no asian markets anywhere. Every grocery store in 50 miles has probably 36 inches of shelf space to fill with asian ingredients that are either bottles of sauces or cans horrible asian veg that leave a funky metal taste in the food.

I just used that image as a reference for Liuzhou since he/she never heard of soy sauce packets. I cant say i ever tried that brand.

The problem is that there are so many "asian dishes" that are on the menu at "chinese take-outs"in america. There is chinese,japanese,cantonese,thai...ect..ect. I have no idea what is what. I am not of any asian decent so when i search for a recipe for a favorite asian dish i must rely on the internet. And 9m out of 10 times all the recipes i find require soy sauce as the main flavor enhancer. Some dishes i have hard time finding recipes. An example is a dish called "meifun" it comes in a wide variety of ways. 3 main ones are shrimp, house special, and singapore. I dont like the flavor of curry so did not like the singapore version, but the house special is my favorite that comes with pork, chicken,and shrimp in it. The seasoning they use is like no other flavor ive ever tasted. Its not very dark in color so a dark soy sauce is most likely not used. Its served on the dry side so i doubt they use a sauce. I have ordered this dish at many local chinese/asian take-outs and they are all similair in taste. Every recipe i find for meifun or maifun require either curry (singapore version) or soy sauce with no other stand out flavor besides chicken broth/stock.

See this is the type of information i was asking help with. What makes this type soy sauce, and have that umami flavor? Also, could it be that most "asian take-out" use this type , but just in large containers instead of packets?

Alot of dishes/recipes call for oyster sauce. All the bottles i have/have used have fermented soy in the ingredient list. If i reword chinese take-out to asian take-out would that make you feel better?

Yes i realize i can try to buy the packets. I even considered asking the local chinese take-out's if they would sell me a box. But i really posted here to find out information on the differences. Mainly what are they using to cook with that doeesnt ruin the smell/taste of the food i buy from them. Are they even using soy sauce? When i make any asian dish at home, it always calls for soy sauce and its the same dishes i buy when i go chinese take-out. Im confused. I have tried narrowing down every ingredient i add and it all comes down to the soy sauce. Sometimes its another variant of soy sauce like stir fry sauce, teryiaki sauce, oyster sauce..ect..ect. All have fermented soy in the ingredient list, and all kikoman,la choy, and asian gourmet brands.

I did some google searching and it sounds like the burning in the throat could be an allergic reaction to soy. I dont know if im allergic though because the soy sauce packets contain soy and those dont effect me at all. They dont say fermented soy on them like the bottled stuff does so im wondering if that could be a factor.

I dont know why but love those chinese take-out soy sauce packets. I have tried all kinds of store bought brand names and i can not stand the smell and taste of them. Some even make my throat burn. Not like a spicy capcaisin or horseradish burn, but like this weird burn you would get if you swallowed salt water while swimming in the ocean. Sorry its the best way i can describe this feeling. Anyway, I am hoping someone knows more about all the different types of soy sauce that could steer me in the right direction. Just incase this gets mentioned....I do not find these soy sauces too salty. I actually add salt to some of my dishes if i run out of these soy sauce packets. And when im out of the packets and am forced to use the store bought bottles, i try to use less soy sauce and add salt instead. So being too salty is not the problem. Thanks. And yes i am aware the salt water reference sounds contradicting, but i cant think of any other way to describe this sensation in my throat from these store bought brands.

The paper towels did the job. The brisket wasnt swimming in a pool of liquids.The rub stayed on the brisket. But the bark/crust still lost some of its crunchy texture. I think longer dry ageing and a harder pellicle will be needed next time. The brisket did turn out fantastic though. I decided to chill overnight and slice it thin, instead of chopping it like you would burnt ends. It was borderline slice/pull whicj is the texture i like. Next time im going to dry age a chuck roast and form a thick bark then SV and chop/pull it for burnt ends.

You really shouldnt go more then 4 days using the paper towel method. Ive done 3 weeks for beef using drybagsteak though. The paper towel method is really just a quick way to pull some moisture out of the surface so the dry heat in the smoker can form a nice crust in a short amout of time without drying out the inside of the meat. I never tried to dry age pork for any other reason or more then a day or two. Again, this isnt for flavor, just a way to dry out the surface.

Another trick i use for butts, brisket, and chucks is paper towel dry ageing for a day or so to form a rind (pellicle) this will also speed up and improve the bark/crust formation in the smoker.

The beef back ribs i posted were done as followed: Smoker set to 275F (preheat) Lowered to 200F ribs were sprinkled with coarse kosher salt, coarse black pepper, and turbinado sugar. smoked with alder about 2 hours of subtle blue smoke. pulled out when probed between 150-155F hit it with a quick torch just for good measure (probably wasnt needed but didnt hurt) lightly brushed with thick bbq sauce and bagged and SV 155F for 30ish hours. removed from bag with another quick surface torch and set on cooling rack, foil overtop in oven to keep warm (150F) till served (about 30 min) Some important info: I use an electric smoker with a smoke generator attachment. I use hardwood lump charcoal to smoulder the Alder wood chips. I dont use a water pan, or mist/mop any liquids. You want the surface to dry out as much as possible. This is what gives you Da Bark.

Well somebody has to test these things. Dont get me wrong, I could do bbq traditionally in the smoker, but why worry about watching it all day/night and bringing it to "pull" temps of 190-205F when you can #1 only watch it for a few hours in the smoker. #2 get that same "pull" texture at 155F. And #3 end up with a much more moist inside. For the past few years my only issue with SV i had was losing some of that bark/crust im use having with traditional bbq. You could really tweak this and have every bite being a moist juicy "burnt end"

Crunchy, moist, gelatinous, sticky, sweet, salty, smokey, savory.....drooling yet?

Im thinking the paper towels might not have been needed to preserve the bark/crust. The trick i believe is getting the meat to the final target temp first that you plan to "hold" it at in the SV. I smoked some beef back ribs to 155F the day earlier and put them in the SV @ 155F for 24-30 hours. I even brushed a tiny bit of bbq sauce on them before bagging. The sauce was pretty thick and when i pulled the ribs out there was just a tiny bit of slightly thinner bbq sauce in the bag. So there was a bit of juice loss but the bbq sauce thickened the juice up. This may be a good way to prevent meats from swimming and losing their bark/crust. If bbq sauce isnt something you like on bbq, im sure other thickeners could be used. Although similar, I thought of even tomato paste, that double concentrated stuff in the tubes would work nicely. Anyway pics of the beef back ribs.

Dont confuse collagen with fat. Collagen converts to gelatin. When i make stock i get 3 layers. top layer is fat, second gelatin, 3rd is sediment.

Its in the bag wrapped in 3 layers of paper towels. It took 3 layers till it sealed with the last layer being compleyely dry. The second layer was slightly wet. The very first layer absorbed pretty much all the juices that came out while vacuuming out the air. We will see how much, if any juices are in the bag in 24 hours.