Tropicalsenior

He was my favorite Comedian. People were scandalized that I would let my grandson watch him beginning when he was only 5. He loved Dave Allen so much that I just couldn't help it. to this day, He remembers all the skits and we laugh at them together all over again.

You see a side of China that very few Westerners will ever see. Thank you for showing us your China.

Thank you so much for this. The photographs are beautiful and you are a fantastic storyteller. Every time that you post something like this, it is like getting a personal guided tour through a beautiful country that you obviously love.

Don't laugh. Until I left home, I didn't know you could get it any other way. They don't have many tuna boats in Nebraska.

I just wanted to let you know that I've posted it.

I'm new at posting recipes but I did manage to get it done. the recipe for the Char siu pork is Here and I posted the recipe for the Buns so that we don't have to deal with broken or missing links later on. It is Here.

I have made Char siu bao many, many times and I had always considered it a chore until I found this recipe. It is not only easy, it is delicious. It is the closest one that I have found to the Char siu bao that I used to buy in the International District in Seattle in a little bakery called ‘Piece of Cake’. You had to get there early because they were usually sold out by 10. If you would like to go to the original site, this is IT. The pictures are mine. David Soo Hoo’s Bread Machine Bao Makes 6 buns (Bao) Dough 2/3 cup water 4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted 1 large egg 3 1/2 cup bread flour 5 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk 3 teaspoons bread machine yeast Pork Bao Gravy 1/4 C. water 1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry 2 tablespoons oyster sauce 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour Bao BBQ Pork Filling 3 tablespoons diced yellow onion or stalk of green onions 4 oz. prepared char siu (Chinese barbecued pork) Bao Egg Glaze 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons white sesame seeds Rising the dough in the bread machine Place all the dough ingredients in the bread pan according to manufacturer’s instructions, reserving 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Program for the Dough cycle; press Start. (This recipe is not suitable for the Delay cycle.) About 5 minutes into the Knead 2 cycle, slowly add the remaining flour. Dough will be stiff, but by the end of the kneading cycle be pliable and smooth. This is important; if the batter is too moist, the bows will flatten as they bake. While the dough is rising, prepare the gravy. Combine the water, rice wine, oyster sauce, hoisin, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar in the top of a double boiler. Whisk in the flour. Place over simmering water and, stirring constantly, cook until thick and smooth. It will be the consistency of mayonnaise. Remove from the water bath and cool in the refrigerator. For the filling, chop the pork into a large dice and place in a large bowl with the onions. Add the gravy and mix with the pork. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. At the beep, remove the dough from the machine and place on a clean wooden work surface. Roll into a fat 3 inch wide log. Cut the log into 6 equal portions. Place a disc of dough on a wooden work surface (don’t shape on cool marble or ceramic because it will stiffen the dough). With the palm of your hand, press down on the center and rotate your palm, spiraling out from the center. The dough will grow into a 3-inch diameter circle (not lopsided, please) with a pretty spiral-pattern radiating from the center like a flower. Don’t use any flour. Using a 1 1/2-ounce ice cream scoop (size 40), place a scoop of filling in the center of the round of dough. Bring up the dough over the filling, and holding the two sides between your thumb and third finger, and pinching with your pointer finger, pleat the edges to encase the filling. Place, seam side down and at least 4 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, 45 minutes to 1 hour. If the filling is cold, it will take 1 1/2 hours to rise. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350º. Brush each bao with the egg glaze and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in the center of the preheated oven 30 to 40 minutes, until big, puffy, and golden brown. If you have a convection oven, they will bake about 20 minutes. Eat the day they are baked, or freeze in plastic freezer bags up to 2 months. Reheat in a microwave (no need to defrost) for 2 to 3 minutes for a quick dinner My Notes: I followed the recipe faithfully with only the following exceptions. My bread machine does not have a double knead cycle so I put all of the ingredients in at once, adjusting at the beginning to ensure that I had a fairly stiff dough. I made 12 buns instead of 6 and as a result they cooked perfectly in 20 minutes. I also prepared the gravy very successfully in the microwave. The one advice that I would give in forming the Buns is to have the center much thicker than the edges. Roll the edges very thin so that you don't have all the bulk at the bottom when you pinch the edges together. Do not overfill the Buns! I have made this recipe several times and no matter how small or large I make them the filling always seems to miraculously come out exactly even.

Char Siu (Chinese Barbecued Pork) This is the traditional Chinese Barbecued pork that used to be served as an appetizer in every Chinese restaurant. The best cut of meat for this is something with plenty of fat or marbling. Do not use pork loin. It lacks both the moisture and the flavor that a fattier meat will provide. 3 pounds pork shoulder, or butt 2 cloves garlic, mashed 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger 2 tablespoons Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce 2 tablespoons ketchup 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon honey or molasses 2 teaspoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder a few drops red food coloring, optional Cut the pork into strips approximately 2 inches wide and 5 inches long. Whisk together the rice wine or sherry, hoisin sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, liquid honey, sugar, mashed garlic, ginger and five-spice powder. If using the red food coloring, add it now. Place the pork and the marinade in a zip-top bag. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator, for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days, the longer the better. Remove the pork from the bag. Reserve the marinade.Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Fill a shallow roasting pan with 1/2 inch of water and place the pork on a rack above the water. Roast until brown, turning and brushing 2 or 3 times with the reserved marinade for about 45 minutes. The internal temperature of the pork should be 155 to 160 degrees F. Do not overcook or it will be dry. Note: Do not leave out the alcohol. If you don't have the rice wine or sherry you can use rum or brandy. It seems to make a big difference in the penetration of the marinade. Any extra marinade can be boiled and stored in the refrigerator up to a month or in the freezer to be used the next time I like to serve this in 1/4 inch slices with ketchup, Chinese hot mustard and sesame seeds. To make Chinese hot mustard, just mix dry, ground mustard with water to make a paste. Or use the in following recipe to make Char Siu Bao. if you don't have any Chinese five-spice powder you can easily make it with the following recipe. It is an essential flavor in this recipe. Five-Spice Powder 1 tsp. ground star-anise (3 whole star anise) 1 tsp. ground fennel seeds (3/4 tsp. whole fennel seeds) 1 tsp. ground Szechuan or white pepper (1 tsp. whole Szechwan or white peppercorns) 1/2 tsp. ground cassia or cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground cloves Grind to a fine power in a spice grinder or mortar

You may not be a professional cook but you are certainly a natural-born good cook. You are not afraid to expand your repertoire and try new things and you do it well. You are a natural at something many people never learn. Your food is beautiful. You have a very lucky family. That pork belly looks so good that my mouth is watering. I'd gladly put my feet under your table any day. (And by the way, I've worked with professional line cooks that couldn't make an omelette that pretty!)

The recipe for the filling and the buns is within the post right above the second photo. I did make it in my bread maker and instead of making six buns I made 12. if you want the recipe for my homemade char siu (Chinese barbecued pork), I'm going to have to clean the recipe up tomorrow and I will send it to you if you want it. I've revised it a couple times from the original. I'll be happy to share it.

Those hot dogs look so good and I like everything else on the plate but I do so hate sauerkraut. My little German grandmother used to make four or five huge crocks of it every year. I'm telling you, people, it's just rotten cabbage. I couldn't go within a block of her house until it was all finished and canned up in jars. I got deathly sick just from the smell. I've never been able to understand how anyone could eat that stuff.

I made some char siu bao (Chinese barbecued pork buns) for dinner tonight. I'm going to serve them with some stir-fried vegetables and cantaloupe. I found some beautiful sweet cantaloupe at our Chinese market today. One of the buns leaked a little bit. I couldn't possibly serve it so I decided to have it for lunch. Quality control, you know. It was so good! It tasted just like the ones that I used to get at the ‘Piece of Cake’ Chinese Bakery in the International District in Seattle. I used this recipe. It's the best one that I have ever found for these and I make my own Chinese BBQ pork.

You're right . Look how many words Shakespeare added to our language. One of our members should be able to add at least one. That's what keeps the English language relevant and ever-growing.

That's what Google kept telling me.

Google's reaction also. No results found for coothless

I know that feeling. I think they just taste yuk. I love bell peppers but we can't have any in my house because my housemate is allergic to them. That, and onion, and garlic! All things that I dearly love.

I love anything with good sausage which I can't get here.

I have one about 2 ft wide that my husband used to use too pour something into the car. I would happily send you just to get rid of it. But then, you said you have a small apartment with little storage space and it's not very decorative. Maybe you could put a potted plant in it when you're not using it.

That was my thought immediately.

Thanks for the recipe. Personally, I can't stand artichokes myself. I think they're slimy. But I have a dear friend, a California girl, who is always looking for artichoke recipes. I'm sending this straight to her.

I always try to get this cut if I can. It has more marbling and more flavor. And actually this is what they called the Boston butt or the pork butt.. seems rather strange but the pork butt is from the front shoulder of the pig.

Beautiful pasta. Have you tried any with semolina?

They look great to me.

Thank you so much for the recipe. Dinner tonight looks wonderful, too.