Gary Soup

You're supposed to eat the rice?? In fact, when dining out or in a home as guests, Chinese typically do NOT eat rice. It's a face thing, because you fear signaling that you are too poor/cheap to provide enough dishes to satisfy a hunger, or that your host has not done the same.

Not so much a malapropism as a euphemism: I found a brand of Sichuan hot-pot soup base which has as its first-listed ingredient "Cattle Oil". I didn't buy that one.

I got this by email from concept artist Indigo Som (one of her projects involves a collection of Chinese Restaurant Takeout Menus). "3) Even fortune cookies are not safe from insidious corporate advertising. Snapple ads are appearing in fortune cookies that are distributed "free" to Chinese restaurants. As if that's not bad enough, at least one of the fortunes regurgitates an offensive old stereotype; my fortune last night read, "Snapple predicts: You will be hungry again in an hour." Give them a piece of your mind at:" SNAPPLE TEA Consumer Relations Feedback Form As for me, I got a wonderfully wise fortune cookie with the check the other day. One side had 6 numbers for a Super Lotto pick; the other side said "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Out of curiosity, what don't you like about Gold Mountain? I've found it consistently good, if not great, over a long stretch of time. It's good enough and cheap enough for family, and clean enough to bring visitng relatives to.

My knife's not that sharp! Maybe 5mm? My wife hongshao's it in inch-wide hunks. Makes it easier for me to peel off the fat layers and feel less guilty about eating it. Sometimes she cooks it with hardboiled eggs, in case I'm feeling chlolesterol-deprived.

I don't think it's meant to be comprehensive or a comparitive ranking. Probably just a compilation of the most recent review cycle (put together before Bill Daley's review of Y. Ben House the other day). I can't see Koi Palace, Harbor Village and Yank Sing being off the radar screen. I have to wonder if any of them know what they're talking about, except for Olivia Wu. What does Michael Bauer mean by "fresh" siu mai? Freshly ground pork? I don't think Miriwa is even worth mentioning, and I can't see Lichee Garden ranked above Gold Mountain, except maybe for price. (We had dim sum at LG just today). BTW, your link was broken (too many http:'s). Here's a fixed link: SF Chronicle Dim Sum Overview

It's a little red passport-sized booklet published by the People's Government of Shanghai. It's called (translating here) Certificate of Marriage.

And when you can't send a salami to your boy in the army, you can alway send him here....

Sorry to shatter the peaceful post-Holiday slumber on this board, but Spring Festival (a.k.a. Chinese New Year) is January 22, which means you have just 18 days to plan your New Year's Eve feast. Will you eat out, cook, or be a guest at someone else's table? What are your favorite ritual foods and customs?

I'd love to try the Mongolian type hot pot, but I don't want to be messing around with hot coals inside the 90-year old all-wood flat we live in. We used to use an electric hot plate, but it was kind of frustrating because it would take forever for the water to return to a boil, even with a lightweight aluminum pot. Thank heavens we have a gas range. If my wife had to cook on electric burners, she's probably divorce me!

I've never used the "Mongolian" style pots, so I don't know how the thermodynamics work. I think I've actually seen them sold with canned heat-type burners. The "moat" is pretty shallow, and perhaps the chimney portion helps to provide a continuous source of heat. A rice cooker might work, as they are designed to bring water to a boil. If the auto-shutoff is based on temperature rather than time, it might be able to maintain a boil indefinitely.

I think seafood hot pot is a Cantonese specialty. My first worthwhile hot pot experience was a seafood hot pot at Xinya (Sun Ya), a venerable Cantonese restaurant in Shanghai, about 12 years ago. The shrimps that jumped off the platter and tried to make a run for it were the first to get tossed into the drink . Unfortunately, it wasn't Hairy Crab Season. There used to be a place in San Francisco which would provide a whole Dungeness crab for each pot, and another one that included geoduck (no abalone, though).

No prep at all, other than washing and slicing (where appropriate) to the right thickness. You can use a seasoned broth, and will have one of more dips for the cooked ingredients. I'm wondering if you can get a high enough flame with sterno. You can bring your broth to a boil on your kitchen stove, but once you throw in some cold ingredients you will need a good flame to bring it back to a boil.

According to the Noah's blurb on the New World Restaurant Group's website, Noah's Bagels is "designed to whimsically imitate an authentic New York deli." So maybe what they are shooting for is a whimsical imitation of an authentic New York bagel. Nothing wrong with whimsy, but it's no way to design food (unless you happen to be Ferran Adria).

I don't recalling hearing about them being available locally last year. I don't know if imports of live ones would be allowed, but I'm beginning to think that frozen crabs might not be out of the question. Lately I've noticed that frozen large shrimp from China are available (for the first time in my recollection), at a considerably lower price than those farmed in South America. Maybe China's entry into WTO has eliminated some barriers. Irwin, you could always go to Holland for Shanghai hairy crabs; it appears that the little devils have an expat community there. Shanghai Hairy Crabs in Holland

I'm on their list NOW. After SFO opened its new International Terminal it added a secondary Department of Agriculture inspection station outside of the routine customs stations. I happened to come by when they were making everyone run all their bags through X-ray machines. The $50 fine was for making a false declaration. I had checked the "NO" box on the contraband list. I was technically not lying because I had made it a point to be out of the room when my brother-in-law loaded our bags with goodies to take back .

I don't think importation of hams of any type from China is permitted. I personally got nailed at SF International for having a nice hunk of Jinhua ham in my luggage. $50 on the spot and a stern lecture.

Here's the documentary evidence of our Christmas eve hotpot for 4. What we threw in, clockwise from bottom, was: Beef Sea Scallops Mushrooms Spinach Shrimp Mutton (out of sight behind stove) Beef tripe Squid Bean Thread Fried Tofu Fish balls The dungeness crab and accompanying crab dip were prepared separately. "My" side of the pot used a commercial Sichuan hot pot soup base; Mrs. Soup insisted on starting with plain water on "her" side. The bottle in the background was my "pairing": Anchor Brewing Company 2003 Christmas Ale (first of several, BTW). For hardware geeks (is that you, Jo-Mel?), the stove is an Iwatani B-9, a cheapo unit, about $35 in Chinatown. Don't know the BTU output, but it does the job for a pot that size. The divided pot, according to my research on the web, is standard for "Sichuan style" hotpot and yes, really is referred to as a "yin-yang" pot.

It may be comforting to Chris to know that in the eyes of at least one prestigious journal, UK's Restaurant Magazine, El Bulli lost its place as best restaurant in the world in 2002 to The French Laundry in 2003. That'll save him a little on the airfare.

I think cost is a major factor in choice of cooking oils for home cooking in China. Cooking oil has historically been expensive relative to other ingredients, and the cheapest useable oil tended to prevail. When my wife first came to the US, she was astounded that cooking oil was actually cheaper than soy sauce here. I've had her using nothing but Canola oil, for general health considerations, from the git-go and she has had no problems or complaints about it. As Dejah pointed out, it's neutral in taste and doesn't get in the way of the ingredients which are used to give a dish flavor.

I lean toward your interpretation. I've heard it said that they don't even make real New York bagels in New York anymore. House of Bagels out on Geary makes bagels that are pretty close to what New York Bagels USED to be.

Not sure if you are inquiring about the shell, the filling, or both, but "Chinese Snacks" in the Wei-Chuan series has a recipe for Egg Custard Tarts. (Just what you need, another recipe!) Ingredients are: 1c. sugar 1-1/4 c. hot water 2 T. milk powder 1/4 t. salt vanilla extract (amount not specified) 5 eggs The eggs are first beaten, then the other ingredients are poured in and mixed well. The mixture is strained and poured into the shells, then baked in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. The recipe is for 20 tarts. Let me know if you need Wei-Chuan's recipe for the shells.

Bravo again, Professor Irwin! I only got to Macau a couple of times (HK visa extension purposes). I encountered plenty of "street chickens", but not side street Chickens. I don't think Helenas will hear her husband raving about those, though.

I have the impression that Dong Zhi is a much bigger deal in south China (and perhaps among Chinese in SE Asia) than in the north. It doesn't seem to appear on my wife's radar, and when I asked her about it she said that in Shanghai it is a day for preparing a ritual meal offering and burning Hell notes for one's ancestors. The Hong Kong Tourism website characterizes it as China's Thanksgiving day, but Ju-Ju is adamant about that role belonging to the Mid-Autumn festival. Overall, Dongzhi seems to fall behind the Spring Festival, the Mid-Autmn festival and Duanwu in importance, not to even mention National Day. Incidentally, she always makes Tangyuen (both sweet and savory varieties) for the Lantern Festival, but seldom at any other time of the year.

Is it because the Lunar calendar follows the moon, while the solstice follows the sun? The sun always passes that point on the 22nd or 23rd of December. (Or didn't I understand the question?) Most traditional Chinese festivals follow the lunar calendar, and the solar calendar was never used in pre-Republican China. What Shiewie was wondering was why this particular traditional festival is observed according to the solar, rather than the lunar calendar. After all, neither the Spring Festival nor the Mid-Autumn festival are keyed to the solar calendar. I've asked the same question about Qing Ming, which is always April 5 or 6.