Gary Soup

If sansho is indeed related to Sichuan peppercorn, it's probably not available in the US now. Sichuan peppercorn has been barred from importation as a possible carrier of citrus canker, and I would assume that this ban would apply to sansho, too.

No, I'm a curmudgeon. Yosihnoya tried its luck here in San Francisco a decade or so ago but it quickly failed, and never returned. Probably too exotic for us. (Or it may have been the ugly orange plastic bowls they seemed to serve everything in then.) As I recall, it was barely a step up from Top Ramen.

Kind of hard to remember which is "your" segment when the dishes are on a lazy susan, though.

I'm left-handed too, and the main problem I encounter is banging elbows with right-handed chopsticks-wielders. Because of that, I usually grab a corner chair where my left arm is toward the aisle.

BB, though I made it clear thet I am not a mooncake fan, the nut ones are the ones that I will occasionaly sneak a sliver of. Now, if some one can just come up with a traditional pecan pie in the shell of a mooncake... The other Golden Gate Bakery item that people wax orgasmic over are the little chicken pies ("gai pies"). The New Asia (originally called the Asia Garden) is almost up there with Eastern Bakery in the venerability department. It was one of the first (and maybe the oldest surviving) grand "Hong Kong" style dim sum places in San Francisco, and was the place where I passed the "I can eat chicken feet" test 30 years ago or so. (I never really did take a liking to chicken feet, however, and never order them, though my wife will and I will have a nibble). Asia Garden/New Asia is still favored by many elderly Chinese who have been in the US for a long time, and they will tell anecdotes seeing the old-time expatriate actors, performers and literati there. However, there's a general opinion that the quality declined when the restaurant change hands, though I think that the place just kind of stood still in the face of new competition. I've never been to the Great Oriental. By the way, the "bees nest" taro croquettes are my favorite Cantonese dim sum item, too.

This translates to: Peking Roast Duck Or Beijing Roast Duck....

OK, you've convinced me that you really do like mooncakes -- two in one sitting! To say Eastern Bakery is a bit old-fashioned is an understatement. I'd guess they used an abacus instead of a cash register, if I didn't know better. The place was chosen by Bill Clinton for a photo-op during his second campaign, I guess you saw the pictures plastered in the window. Did you also hit Golden Gate Bakery, the one that always seems to have the line out the door (mostly for the egg custard tarts, I'm guessing). And where did you usually go for dim sum?

Starbucks mooncakes? Is NOTHING sacred? But here's a heartening report on that whole mishegoss: Mookcakes Waning

Mrs. Inkling, I can assure you that I have no feathers to ruffle. I'll also venture that it's a hallmark of Asian diners (as it is of grumpy old men like me) to reserve the right to please their own palates. If you can find a magical combination of heat and acidity in a soup that is incontrovertibly correct for every taste, you can probably also bring peace to the world.

I like Koi Palace, too, but the "Shanghai dumplings" we had there were laughable renditions of xiaolong bao: nearly spherical, cohesive meatball-like fillings that would fall out of the too-brittle wrappers, and no aspic broth evident. (To be fair, this was at dinner, and the dumpling chefs may have been off duty). At Harbor Village, did you peruse the lower shelves of the carts? Where else will you see bat wings rolling by the unaware suited business lunchers?

Due respects, but are you also too harried to fill your salt and pepper shakers in case someone wants to "fiddle around" with your mashed potatoes or your sunny-side-up eggs?

Not trying to correct anyone's pinyin. I stubbornly stick to pinyin myself because the profusion of transliterations (formal and ad hoc) and variants gives me a headache. (How many ways are there to render "Chaozhou", anyway?)

Here's another recipe, from a quasi-governmental source in China. Note that it uses horseradish and chili oil for heat. (Take that, Ed Schoenfeld!) My wife also uses chili oil in suanlatang, (that's the way she learned it in Shanghai) and always uses Chinkiang [Zhenjiang] vinegar. Sour and Spicy Fish Soup

The original inspiration for Maxim's was a Russian tea house of that name in the French Concession area of old Shanghai, renowned for its exquisite European pastries. I think almost every Chinatown in the world nowadays has a "Maxim's" selling Western pastries. Maxim's in Hong Kong has grown into a huge conglomerate of bakeries, coffe shops and fast food and sit-down restaurants serving both Chinese and Western foods. I think they will sell any kind of foodstuff there is a market for.

I saw "garoupa" on many HK menus in the three months I spent on assignment there, and no other variations on the spelling. You may not have spent as much time as I did looking at the English menus. The Portuguese influence in Asian waters precedes any significanct English influence. The word "Tempura" in Japanese food comes from the Portuguese. In McDowell's post he may have injected his own typo by using "garouper" in the subject line, while he referred to "garoupa" in the main body of his post as being the term he saw on the restaurant menu. The restaurateur may be from HK and just following precendent. In any event, "garoupa" has a nicer ring to it than "grouper", and aren't we used to seeing foreign terms like "calamari", "scampi" and even "escargots" used on English menus? My main point was that categorizing the use of "Garoupa" as "Chinglish" was a bit hasty.

What's to "get" about mooncakes? I'm a lao wai myself, and love thousand year old eggs, salted duck eggs, etc. but do not like mooncakes, even the Shanghai style mooncakes I usually get foisted on me, which never contain egg yolks. I guess I don't "get" fruit cake, either. Of the Chinese people I know (including my own extended family) the ones who will admit to liking mooncakes are a definite minority, although many will usually nibble a sliver for tradition's sake.

It's not Chinglish at all. Garoupa is the original Portuguese name for the fish, "Grouper" is the English corruption of the name. In Hong Kong it's always called as "Garoupa" on the menus.

I'n not familiar with "chye poh" but my wife prepares a very thin omelette "sheet" for making dan juan (egg rolls that are really "egg rolls"). The savory stuff gets mixed with the ground pork stuffing, however. The skin is microscopically thin and it's a marvel how easily she can remove it from the wok without breaking it. If this is what Ondine means, I think 1-2 eggs would be plenty, depending on size of your wok. She also makes a much thicker omelette-like (more fritatta-like, really) concoction with scrambled eggs and pickled vegetables as an "emergency" main dish, but it's much too thick to be characterized as a "sheet". Parenthetically, she also likes to stew red-cooked pork belly or paigu with shelled hard-boiled eggs. I wonder if that's a Shanghainese influence on Ondine's parents cooking or a Chaozhou influence on my wife's. The preparation of the congee Ondine describes also sounds like my wife's paofan.

I think it was Groucho Marx who flubbed a line and recovered by saying "I got my tongue wrapped around my eyeteeth and I couldn't see what I was saying." But why are they called EYE teeth? (Is this OT or what?)

Mid-Autumn festival is still a month away but mooncakes are starting to rear their ugly heads in SF Chinatown. I know people who actually like them, but I suspect most people view them as China's version of the fruitcake. They're for giving, not for eating, and you sort of know that whomever you give them to will give them to someone else. (At least that's my view.) Do you like mooncakes? If so, what style do you prefer, the Cantonese varieties that have everything but the kitchen sink in them, or the more spartan northern style? Meat-filled Jiangsu-style? Ice Cream mooncakes (I kid you not)? Any mooncake memories?

Oddly enough, I just noticed the Hubei salted eggs in liquid (brine?) in a jar for the first time today, sitting right next to the ones in styrofoam (and from the same producer). The tight seal may be just for shipping purposes.

Good to see you here! You're right, Alemany is Saturday. I rarely get there, as I am carless by choice (and we get most or our produce in Chinatown). I should have remembered that, as I'm well aware that the U.N. Plaza Market is on Sunday (as well as Wednesday) and a lot of the same vendors of Asian produce work both markets.

It wasn't meant to be personal, Tana. Just my quixotic campaign against the hijacking of the "farmers market" concept by what are essentially gourmet food bazaars. (I guess I've just never seen the farmers harvesting their French pastries and chocolate confections.) If "farmers market" has actually been redefined to mean the particular type of contemporary consumer experienc the FP market represents, perhaps you are correct. It IS big in foodies' priorities.

No hanging chads, but this ol' conspiracy theorist of the Paul Krassner school found it interesting that the FDA issused a press release the day before the conference began announcing that last year's Best of Show winner, Capricious Cheese Company (also from Northern California) was recalling some wheels of cheese because the FDA had discovered bacterial contamination on the rind of one sample. FDA press release

Actually, the "big big bog" farmers market is the Alemany market, on Sundays. What the poster was recommending was the Ferry Building Market Hall, a seven day a week venture. That said, even on Saturday there is plenty of room to sit and enjoy a snack out on the pier near the fishermen. I've grabbed a sausage on a roll from the Aidell's booth and done just that several times at Saturday lunchtime. Girchow could also pick up some fixin's and go across the street and use one of the outdoor tables at Justin Herman Plaza.