Gary Soup

We often use straight Zhenjiang (Chinkiang) vinegar. It's not overly acid, slighly sweet and nicely aromatic.

Certainly, without belaboring the point: Longjing ("Dragon Well") tea is first on the list of "China's Ten Famous Teas" (an official designation). It's grown on a mountainside outside of Hangzhou, and I became attached to it in Shanghai, where it's the most common (almost the only) type of tea served. Since it's an "unfermented" tea (not aged and only lightly roasted) it's notable for its fresh, floral, almost grassy taste. The earlier it's picked, the more highly prized it is for its fresh taste. The first sprouts are picked before "Qing Ming" (Grave Sweeping day) which is always April 5 or 6, before the first rains of spring. The "Pre-Qing Ming" (or "Qing Ming) longjing tea is the most highly sought after and commands the highest prices. It's literally the "First of the Best" Chinese teas. The first day's production, in fact, always goes to Beijing for distribution among Central Government officials. The other tea I mentioned, Biluochun ("Green Snail Spring") tea is a somewhat similar tea, grown near Suzhou and processed slightly differently. It's No. 4 on the Top 10 Chart. It's also very seasonal, like Longjing, and the first day's production also goes to Beijing. It's remarkable that Bill Todd was able to get his supply from the 3rd day's production. These teas tend to be especially expensive in the US, because buying them from a dealer who is there in person when they are produced and accompanies them back is the only way to be sure of getting the real stuff. There's a lot of chicanery going on with the labeling and distribution in China. But heck, I can get a year's supply for myself for less than the price of one meal without wine at the French Laundry. The second grade of Longjing, after the first spring rain, is a lot more affordable, and nothing to sneeze at, either. Buying the "Pre-Qing Ming" is probably my one elitist habit. I think we all want to be able to afford the best of SOMETHING in this world. More about Longjing Tea [Edited for typos -- probably didn't get them all, though]

Are you talking about cluster teas? They are actually several tea leaves tied together which unfurl to reveal a flower inside. (Todd & Holland classify them as "performance teas"). They can be made with any variety of green tea leaves and can be found in fine tea shops in the US. Or are you thinking about "gunpowder" tea? (No actual flower inside, just leaves furled into a ball before roasting.)

Todd & Holland has 2004 hand-carried pre-Qing Ming tea available on-line as of TODAY. Bill Todd also brought back some biluochun from the 3rd day of production. I'd like to give T&H a boost because my previous source, Gray&Seddon/Sencha, appears to have dropped early season longjing from their listings.

I happen to be a nut for fresh longjing tea. I enjoy sipping an endless glass of it, though generally not in the context of dining. The arrival of Qing Ming is as important to me as the arrival of baseball season (which comes about the same time) because it means that the new crop is being picked. Todd & Holland has pre-Qing Ming and early Spring longjing tea, hand carried by Bill Todd, available as of TODAY. He also brought back pre-Qing Ming biluochun (my second favorite) from the third production day, the youngest he's ever been able to get. I've got my order in already!

I just noticed this post. Coincidentally, my wife used to work as an accountant for the Shanghai Metal Exchange.

Not me, except for some basic Chinese restaurant menu survival skills. I use an add-in called TranStar which will translate a whole webpage on the fly from Chinese to English or vice versa. Not really any more intelligible than Alta Vista or Babel Fish, but it saves a lot of cutting and pasting. I understand enough Shanghainese to keep my wife from talking about me in my presence.

Scanning it won't work with translators. It has to be encoded text.

are/will these be readily available? that is to say, do i not have to worry about never having proper tongue and tripe again? The modified regulations were put in place in January. It's quite possible that a major importer/distributor is bringing in the "legal" stuff by now.

"Sneaking them in" is one thing. Advertising them openly on a well known mail-order website for Asian ingredients is another. How stupid can the Feds be? In San Francisco, they long ago swooped down on every Asian market in town and confiscated all extant stock. You can't get them here even if your Uncle Joe owns a market in Chinatown.

One of the following: a) It's old stock, or b) Procured illegally, or c) He's already getting the newly approved heat-treated ones.

Strolling through the Ferry Building at lunch time, my eye was caught by an attractive display of nothing other than Rancho Gordo beans. (Actually it was the lustful babe on the label that snagged me.) It was front and center, at the entrance to the Village Market. A variety of colorful dried beans plus a couple of of other veggie things (cilantro and chiles?). I wasn't in the market for beans, but I bought the last bag of RG tortilla chips -- tasty, natural and macho enough to handle the toughest dipping jobs. Citybound Rancho Gordo fans, now you know where to go!

That's what it's called. The "monkey-picked" part is just a legend, but it refers to a very high grade of Oolong tea.

I agree with you on that. At Koi Palace I go for the good tea with dim sum. At dinner time, I'm ready for a beer and the tea is secondary. But it's nice that there's even a range of very drinkable teas on the complimentary list at KP. The amazing thing is that this restaurant is really not very expensive. I spent three months on assignment in Hong Kong and I know that "high-end" Chinese food in HK means $$$$$$. Re: the Peninsula. It's on my sh*t list. I went there to meet a family friend (he owns a dress shop there) for dinner, and they woudn't even let me in the lobby because I was wearing shorts. No matter that it was 95 F and 90% humidity...

Some good Chinese restaurants do, even in the US. Koi Palace, just outside San Francisco, for example, has an excellent "Tea List" (below). Mind you this is a full-service restaurant, not a teahouse. I usually order the longjing ("Dragon Well") and it is of a very good quality.

Yep. The starving obstetrician rescued from the Red Guards. I don't remember if it was mantou or baozi, though. They (Ge You and Gong Li) honored their grandson by naming him "Dumpling". Great movie!

Tiburon is the poor sister of Belvedere

Ghirardelli Square is very close by. It's not exactly a gourmet mecca, though Ana Mandara and McCormick & Kuleto have some fans. By "kid friendly" I don't know if you mean will they tolerate infants, or are the kid(s) old enough to be into fun eating. Boudin's chowder in a sourdough round can be fun, at least the first time, and they have decent sandwiches. Of course there's the Ghirardelli ice cream place. Here's a link to Ghirardelli's eats lineup: Ghirardelli Dining

Tissue, as usual you've nailed it. Ham doesn't figure much in Shanghai cuisine at all. The famous Jinhua ham is possibly the saltiest and driest of cured hams anywhere, and is mostly used as a condiment, or served as an appetizer, thinly sliced and steamed. Crab tofu is one of the most delectably subtle of Shanghainese dishes, right up there with crystal shrimp. (So much for "hong shao" everything.)

Gary, would you (your wife, rather) possibly be willing to share the recipe? I understand if she'd prefer not to divulge a secret, though... I can't get her to talk about it. Not that she sees it as a "trade secret" or anything, just that she seems to disdain articulating what she does when she cooks. She never uses fixed recipes (and won't touch a cookbook), she "Just Does It" as the commercial goes, and varies the recipe at whim. She does use lean pork loin, though, but minces it herself with a cleaver. I'm sure the texture has something to do with it. Lately she's been adding a small amount of shrimp, too, along with the usual suspects (no water chestnuts, though, like some recipes call for). Her "veggie" version (for the women of the house, LOL) is mostly jiu cai, a.k.a. garlic chives. They mostly make me belch. Next time I'll look over her shoulder, she doesn't mind that. I don't know how old your daughter is, but the wrapping will probably the fun part for her to try.

Not to belabor the point, but it seemed to be NHK's inclination to color this Japanese woman as nothing less than the would-be savior of a national cuisine (China's). The recognition Sato got from the Chinese Government was more for contributions along historical/folkloric lines than for her "mission", though I doubt the "folks" in Shandong ever cooked the way she preaches. (No sugar? No fat? Tell that to anyone in Shandong who likes to eat.)

The movie seemed excessively long because it was actually a director's cut for a TV documentary, but I liked the "verite" approach. I had mixed feelings about the culinary clashes, and found it colored a bit by Japanese chauvinism (from an ex-pat Chinese director yet!) but admired Li's choice of an old Zhou Xuan song as a musical theme. (It worked for Wong Kar-Wai, too, in In the Mood for Love.) Incidentally, you can find the "theme" song for Dream Cuisine among the files on my Zhou Xuan page (third song down). Historical Zhou Xuan Recordings

They would have grown it just for its symbolism.

It's most likely pork. In other words, he's talking about sweet and sour pork, Shandong style. For the tomato paste, I'm guessing ketchup. That's what my wife would use. I'm a carni-bore too, but with the many things my wife does with tofu in all its forms, could become a vegetarian in a pinch. Tofu is also a Shandong specialty.

It undoubtedly has a predecessor in China, though probably nothing as candy-sweet as found in mall food-court Chinese in the US. The pairing of tart fruit with meat, especially fatty meat, is fairly common in western and southern China, and even Shanghai has its jujubes with fatty pork cuts and orange beef cold appetizer. Then, of course, there's the plum sauce that's served with Peking Duck.