mudbug

I agree. While I'm all for simplicity and maintaining the integrity of the seafood and flavor, I find American seafood dishes quite bland relative especially to Chinese methods of cooking. Hummm... may have to be making a seafood purchase here in a few hours....

Here's a different one, easy and good. They disappear at parties... Heroin Wings 4 lbs. chicken wings 1/2 cup butter 1 cup grated parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons dried parsley 1 tablespoon dried oregano 2 teaspoons paprika 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper First, preheat the oven to 350. Cut the wings up into "drummettes".Then combine the grated cheese and the seasonings. Line a shallow baking pan with foil unless you like scrubbing pans. Melt the butter in a shallow bowl or pan. Dip each "drummette" in butter, roll in the seasoned cheese, and arrange in the foil lined pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350. From: Dana W. Carpender

I know your post is specifically in regards to the Southeast but here's some interesting additional information. Did you know Kudzu is illegal to buy, sell or plant in most US states? But there are plants like this in every country. Take ong choy (water spinach) for example... I've often wondered the same thing about why, since it's considered an noxious weed in Florida and is taking over the swamps, someone doesn't harvest it and sell it. It's soooo good and a consistent favorite vegetable in the Asian community. But then, there are plants like this in every country. Considered weeds in one and consumed as a common vegetable in another.

There are actually some great suggestions at this thread as well.

Steamed sticky/glutinous rice with fillings wrapped in lotus/bamboo/banana leaves is always a good winter meal contribution.

Sushi? Ebisu.

jo-mel, Just curious, have you had lobster, the 'Lobster Cantonese' method?

Blanch for a minute or two and plate. In separate pan, heat up a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil until smoking remove pan heat, add splash of soy sauce and maybe some red pepper flakes. Pour immediately over vegetables and serve.

Another vote for Lobster Cantonese. Uummmmmmmm....

Absolutely love it. One of my all time favorite foods, definitely in the top three. Prefer it Chinese barbeque style as you'd find in Chinatown where the skin is crunchy/crispy and blistered with bubbles. Soooo different from American BBQ.

Irene Kuo's "The Key to Chinese Cooking". Excellent. Usually has what we need if we're looking for something specific. Teaches the fundamentals of Chinese cooking which can be applied to different ingredients. I see you also recommend it a the Chinese cookbooks thread.

Not necessarily, it's sort of like making an artisinal bread which just didn't rise enough. I think it may have been the rise time. Perhaps I let it go a little too long.

Same thing happened with Kitchen Aid Mixers when they got bought out a few years ago. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

Same goes for all treatments... (... understood ...) ;) Anyway...

Very interesting. jhlurie, Assuming access to decent health care is readily attainalble, there is no reason for anyone to have any type of ongoing ulcer today. There are drug, antibiotic, and surgical treatments.

SobaAddict70, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the "pink" can be attained from food coloring. It's more for presentation than anything else. Keep it simple and don't worry about the pink color. If you like pickled ginger, you may also enjoy any of the various pickled vegetables, rizomes, and tubers offered at Asian grocery stores.

My only problem with self rising flower is that I don't use it up fast enough. It's hard to tell how old the leavening is in it, so I don't like to let it hang out for long. This may be a dumb question, but short of ruining a full recipe is there a quick test to tell if the baking powder still has some kick? I've always wanted to be able to quickly throw biscuits together in the morning and the self rising flower would save a little time. If you're that worried about it and you know that about yourself, don't buy the self rising flour. It'll take all of 30 seconds to measure the baking powder and salt for your biscuit recipe. Measure it all out the night before even... Can't imagine it'd take more than five minutes. As for a test, the amount of baking powder mixed in with the flour would be so diluted, I'd imagine you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

I've grown stevia. Stevia is an herb and it is a wonderful alternative for sugar and sugar substitutes. Just top by a farmer's market in the spring or a greenhouse. Pick of a leaf of the plant and chew it. You'd be amazed how sweet it is. Last month I posted a question regarding making sugarless peanut brittle from scratch and Whey Low was recommended. I ordered it and made the brittle. It came out very well. No complaints. Whey Low

You can find self-rising flour at grocery stores. Several companies make it including Gold Medal, Martha White, and Pillsbury. Self-rising flour has baking powder and salt already added and is more common in the South, where making biscuits is popular. For each cup of flour required, put 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt in a measuring cup. Top off with low protein flour. photos 1 photos 2 On Flour

Well, Thank you everyone for your input. I made them both. The first one I did not have time to do the last step which was to allow the mix to ferment after adding the bicarbonate so it came out solid instead of full of holes as it should have been, which is also why it was more of an off white color instead of transparent white. I'll have to try it again in it's entirety. The second one came out but the cakes were only one to one and a half inches high. I seem to recall them being twice that height. I did use regular dry yeast. The texture was perfect. Elongated vertical air striations and bubbly air pockets towards the top. Any thoughts on height would be appreciated.

Gary, Thank you so much for your response with the egg custard, was referring to both the crust and filling. Yes, I'd love the recipe for the crust as well. I don't have any of the Wei-Chuan books but I've read on the forum they're supposed to be some of the best, so I'd rather try a recipe from a universally respected source... trillium, I think I'd like to find a happy medium in regards to the filling since I'd like to serve this to several people at Christmas.

There are so many recipes for the Chinese egg custard tarts they serve at dim sum, I confuse myself. I've made it a handful of times and only once, years ago, did it come out light and sweet with a perfectly smooth consistency and flaky crust. I have no idea which recipe it was at the time and I don't want to waste my time experiementing with something that isn't going to work. I've been disappointed too many times. Some recipes have evaporated milk, half and half, extra yolks, custard powder, white vinegar.... many of which I'm guessing were not traditionally used. I'm leaning towards the following recipes (open to others as well): Chinese Egg Custard Tarts I Chinese Egg Custard Tarts II Chinese Egg Custard Tarts III Any pros/cons to any of the above? Which would you use? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for your input. (Any more comments are still welcome.) Guess I'll try them both to compare! Another question: I can't find compressed yeast around here. What would be an appropriate substitute for the second recipe?

I have a question about the following "Bok Tong Go" recipe. I've searched high and low online for a recipe and finally found these. I plan on making the first one. Bok Tong Go I Bok Tong Go II I am several hours away from any place that would sell these pre-made and would love to make them myself. Does anyone have any comments on the specific type of rice flour to use, or what to definitely avoid? There are several different varieties of rice flour at the Asian groceries in my area. Also, if anyone has any authentic recipes for the same cake, I'd greatly appreciate link or a pm. Many thanks in advance...

Poots, It's common for those who enjoy the process to grow mushrooms at home. I grew Oyster mushrooms a couple of months ago. Pretty easy, just try to keep up with them once they start, you can just about "see" them grow because they grow so fast. It's completely fascinating. There are plenty of sites which sell mushroom kits.