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Me too. AND pasta: quasispaghetti carbonara. or linguine, or whatever long noodles I touch first. Put on big pot of water to boil. Dice a few slices of bacon, throw in skillet, wok, whatever. Dice a shallot or two, slice a clove of garlic, add to pan once bacon has crisped. Beat together eggs, grated parmesan, a bloop of ricotta, S&P, red pepper flakes. Wash a few leaves for salad. When water boils, add salt, add pasta. While pasta cooks, finish leaves etc. for salad. Open wine. Drain pasta lightly, dump in pan with bacon etc. Toss. Pour on egg/cheese, toss, turn heat to lowest. Dress salad. Toss pasta one last time, serve. Serve salad. Pour wine. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Just a thought. What about using a chimney starter with a wok? I imagine size compatability and stability would be the main concerns, but tantalizing prospects, I think.

It's kind of a cool story. I was trying to eat "healthier", and I had ruined my first attempt at wokking by adding a lot of 5 spice powder (thinking it would make the food spicy). I noticed in the paper the local Adult School was offering Chinese Cooking classes. I signed up. The classes were held at the home of the instructor and were limited to 8-10 people. She has a portable table that unfolds and holds about 8 people comfortably around it. We each took a place, and the teacher walked us through several recipes "hands on". We each made dumpling dough and fillings, then filled our dough. Cooking was done over a pertable butane stove right at the teaching table. Since I moved to Cleveland, I have found other opportunities for classes - Viking Range and Sur La Table have stores here that offer classes, and there are at least three local cooking schools that I know of; I have also taken classes from, again, my local community adult school. It is well worth the time and trouble!

Interesting. Was just browsing the list of explanations (also handed out with the menus when eating in) and noticed that it is indeed supposed to be "one of the most spicy and famous Sichuanese dishes"; what I got was not even close. My only guess is the they gave me braised beef with brown sauce instead--in fact, there was definitely celery in there so that must be what happened. Moreover, when I finally ate at the restaurant last week--which was tremendous, incidentally; better even than either of my two meals at the 9th Av. location--the Chong Qing chicken was just about the spiciest thing I've ever put in my mouth. (What, you mean I wasn't supposed to eat all those whole chili peppers? But the chilis were actually less spicy than the chicken!! ) And the ox tongue and tripe and the cured pork in a little hot wok were both of at least the requisite spiciness. So they're certainly not toning down the spice as a general rule.

stir fry lots of chopped bok choi or cabbage greens in duck fat (or peanut oil in the unimaginable event of not having any duck fat) with masses of roughly chopped garlic, some red chilli flakes, some coarsely grated ginger. Add a little stock, fish sauce, soy to be about an inch deep on the bottom of the wok/pan. Meanwhile, cook soba noodles, drain, then toss into greens, add sesame oil if liked, swish about, serve. should be like a soupy stew. Can add tofu at stir-frying stage.

Annabel Jackson, Taste of Macau: Portuguese Cuisine on the China Coast Grace Young, The Breath of a Wok: Unlocking the Spirit of Wok Cooking Through Recipes and Lore I have had "Macau" since last spring, "Wok" for about two weeks. Although the subjects of these books are entirely different, they both are ultimately about "real people" dealing with food traditions in changing times. Each book combines stories about the people involved with a few well-chosen recipes. Most of the recipes are from the people in the book, edited by the author. So far, I have done eight recipes from "Macau" and three from "Wok." These have all been well written, fairly easy, and have provided good eating. The special dimension is the insights into the lives of the contemporary people who have contributed family favorites. Of course, you will also learn about Macau and woks. The combination of recipes and essays makes each book a "must have" for an arm-chair traveller like me. BB

When this discussion was new, I asked a local merchant to recommend a wine to go with Chinese food. Among other things, I got a bottle of Bonny Doon "Pacific Rim Dry Riesling." Over the weekend I had a chance to try this with a simple Chinese meal. The dishes were slightly "unbalanced" - a stir-fry and two steamed dishes, but there was a good variety of flavors to taste with the wine. These recipes are all from Grace Young's new Book "Breath of a Wok:" Stir-fried Corn and Green Beans Silken Tofu Steamed with XO Sauce Chicken Legs Steamed with Fermented Tofu It is well known that a Riesling goes with spicy food, but Chinese cuisine has many complex flavors. In this case there is the "fishyness" of XO, and the "earthyness" of the fermented tofu. The wine was good with the meal, mostly by not being too challenging. In fact, though, as carswell has mentioned no wine will go equally well with a varied spread of Chinese dishes. The XO seemed to "want" something crisper. I am still pondering the chicken dish. I love fermented tofu, and the sauce here is wonderful and deep - I have to experiment. A good South American red might work, but balance would be tricky. I finished the meal with an adaptation of Monica Bhide's kulfi - substituted minced crystallized ginger for cardamom, and garnished with orange blossom water. I sipped the last of the wine with this. Somehow, the wine seemed to "fight" with the orange blossom after-taste, but mostly it went well with the whole meal. BB

The owner of the Chinese grocery I worked at years ago used to get a panelbeater to "pre-season" the woks with a blow-torch...can't give you any details, sorry, but a blow torch might also help get rid of burned-on old gunk so you can brush it clean and start again. I've been told that you should heat up a new wok full of oil until it smokes, then allow it to cool in the pan, discard the oil, wipe dry, and leave. However, I would be inclined to heat the wok evenly to cure the film of oil remainins.

Finally got out to Saffron yesterday; on a grey, cool middle-of-a-holiday weekend, this place was hopping--at 1pm and later! First of all, it's a truly lovely space with aforementioned tiles, Indian accents, and it was SPOTLESS, right down to the bathrooms. All of that is a welcome sign when entering any restaurant. The only quick concern that one friend had was that she was underdressed (in shorts); I told her I wasn't worried--we were still on Rt. 10, and it was the middle of the day. I turned out to be right--people came in wearing everything from jeans to what I'd call business casual to saris. When the two (of 4 1/2 of us) first arrived, there were only 4-5 tables occupied. This was just after 1pm. By the time we left around 2:15, the place was packed. Nobody had to wait for a table, but there was a constant stream coming through the door! I also noted (a good sign as far as I'm concerned) that we were the only non-Indian or non-Asian group in the room. Although I knew that I'd have the buffet, I wanted to look at a menu, but was surprised that I had to ask if one was available. Aesthetically, it's very attractive, and I'd say that there is a wide range of dishes based on my experience eating Indian food. Prices went from $4 for appetizers (i.e. samosas) to $23 for a few of the entrees. That to me seemed a tad high, but there was plenty priced in between those numbers. At $9.95pp, though, there was no doubt of what I was having. We were starving and hit the buffet because our other friends were a solid half hour behind us. The buffet is huge, and even included two desserts (Kheer + ???), although I never got to try either of them b/c I was so full. There is a full range of both vegetarian and meat dishes; we started with a cucumber/green pepper/red onion salad in a dressing that was likely made with yogurt, but it was very light, and very refreshing. Not raita--something slightly different. Then there were (room temp) fried veg fritters with another yogurt-looking sauce. Next were (warm) spongy-like pieces of small bread (about 3" round, cut in half) with a variety of sauces available, including the standard mint chutney and tamarind sauce. The surprise there was what I would call a vegetable soup, and after asking, I was told that yes, it was another 'sauce' for the spongy breads. I put some in a small dish and took it back to the table; more on that in a moment. Continuing down the line, there was wonderful Chole (chick peas) on a large flat wok-like server--can't remember what that's called. There were large pieces of a chick-pea flour bread surrounding the chole--also tasty. Then there were easily 8 more chafing dishes of everything from lamb to chicken tikka masala to tandoori chicken to peas pulao (peas in rice) and yellow dal (lentils). There was also a saag dish that I hadn't seen before--basically a creamed spinach with corn in it. We sat down to eat, and a basket of naan (unexpected, 'tho I had commented to my friend that I was surprised there wasn't any on the buffet) arrived very quickly. Our water glasses were refilled constantly throughout the meal. And when I asked if the veg 'soup' was supposed to be for the spongy bread, one of the waiters immediately ran to get me a spoon, and was mixing them together for me. For a brief moment, I thought he might actually feed it to me! Our other friends arrived with their 8 month old (who is unbelievably great in restaurants), and the staff jumped to get them up to speed. Friend's hubby is a very picky eater (but we love him anyway), and he ordered Saffron Tikka off the menu. I thought it was the restaurant's version of Chicken Tikka Masala, and told him they had it on the buffet, but since he's weird about what he'll eat, just let him do his thing. It turned out to be a sizzling platter of tandoori chicken cooked with (I'm assuming because of the color) saffron and onions and peppers along with it. My comment? "Look! Indian fajitas!" It came with rice. My other friend was stubborn and didn't listen to me when I told her to check out the buffet before ordering from the menu. She ordered yellow dal. Helllloooo? It's on the buffet!! For the same price (or darn close) she could have sampled all of the other veg dishes as well. Oh, well--her $$. She loved the dal. I finished my lunch with a terrific cup of masala chai. Overall, I liked everything I tried (almost all of the dishes), but my favorites were the chole and the dal. Without exception, ingredients were fresh, presentation was nice, and everything was constantly being replenished on the buffet table. My only real complaint is that there isn't enough spice in the buffet items!! One of the things I love about Indian food is the 'kick', esp because it's one of the few that I can tolerate while still enjoying the food. The veg 'soup' with the spongy bread had kick. The dal had some kick. Everything else was fairly mild, though very tasty. I'm wondering (as have others on this thread) if they're either toning down the spice to please the masses or, as we speculated, if the owners/chefs are from a part of India where they just don't cook with as much of it. Does anyone here know? In terms of service, the only true complaint I have is that the waiter who took my friend's dal order didn't say to her "Do you know that it is the same dish that is on the buffet?" When the dish was brought to the table, the server said it at that point, which made her feel even dumber than she already did (she had already seen it on my plate). They would have won points with me for saying something ahead of time. Other than that, they could not have been nicer, including talking to/playing with my friends' daughter, who sat in her high chair cooing at everyone around us. If anything, they hovered even a little too much. As I came back from my 2nd trip to the buffet, I had to do a little dance maneuver to get around one of the waiters who was sort of parked next to our table! The owner came by twice, once while we were eating to ask how everything was, and again to bring the check--which he promptly gave to the 8 month old. We all agreed that we will be back any time we're in the area. For $9.95 (maybe less during the week, from what I've read), you can't beat the deal!! EDIT: Rachel, is there any way to change the subtitle of this thread to mention the name of the restaurant? I had to do some digging to find it! Thanks.

Had a nice browse through Chapters on the weekend. I took a rest in one of their chairs with Grace Youngs's Breath of the Wok. I checked out the section on seasoning a new wok. I may have to stop using my wok for steaming, just so I can achieve that beautiful patina in one of the pictures! I tried to find B. Tropp's Modern Art on Ebay, nothing . . . But I did win the bid for Grace Young's Wisdom for $7.70 US. Looked in good shape "like new". Just what I needed; another Chinese cookbook! Went to a friend's daughter's wedding last night. We gave them a carbon steel wok, a rice cooker and a coiled binder book " 365 Ways to Wok". It had more than just Chinese recipes. It had been sitting on my shelf, never used, and I thought it would show them that there's more than one use for a wok. The bride's father was our karate sensei. She is now a second degree black belt. I hope her husband never complains about her cooking!

I saw my mother using a big piece of fat pigskin to mop every new iron wok she bought. She also heated the wok while she was cleaning the wok with the pigskin. She says it can prevent it become rusty. It works; at least we use the wok three times a day. I am not suggesting you do it too often; otherwise, we should open another new topic of how to clean the grease on the woks. Ha..

When I wash and dry a wok, after using it, I always rub a little, tiny, teensy bit of oil in it, and wipe it completely with paper towels. It keeps my woks from rusting. BUT -- don't ever put a wok away glistening with a layer of oil. The liquid in the oil evaporates over time, and you end up with a thick finger-scraping gel.

I am guilty of steaming food in my wok. . . It's fine if I get it cleaned and dried immediately after cooking, but when we have company for supper, then it gets left until later. Having to "cleanse and re-season" my wok many times doesn't seem to affect my wok. In fact, this is the same method we used on our four 24" woks at the restaurant on Sundays. This is when we do an all out thorough cleaning on the whole kitchen. It's wonderful to start the week off with clean shiny woks, steam tables, etc. Cleaning the woks regularly this way avoids any " black specks" coming off onto the food.

You are bringing back so many memories. bubbling enormous woks of kitchere, and innumerate sadhus lined up with banana leaves. And radha ballabha katchoris.... those are so so good. I haven’t had them for years. I can see this will be a cooking weekend. I never knew Kurma, but i did know Yamuna quite well. We cooked in the same kitchens in England for several years. Also I think she has a recipe for malpua that is not so difficult. The heat and humidity and general strangeness of Bengal really overwhelmed me. I came home with rolls of photos, but I couldn’t even remember what they were of when I got home…it was the poha and sukta that i can still taste in my mind nearly 20 years later! I really like eggplant and neem, but I never make it. I have never seen Neem for sale here. I will see what i can come up with for recipes, but I am not great at that. I learned to cook watching people, and tasting stuff and figuring it out, so I am not very good at writing it down. Yamuna is the only book I have really used, ( starting with a typed draft of her first book many years ago), except for Aroona Reejingsahni, and she doesn’t really give recipes as much as general ideas... cook it till it is done, a nice amount of maida etc. See, I talk too much! But food is one of my favorite topics, and you are all making my mouth water!

If it is periodically getting rusty, you are not seasoning it well enough. I used to have that problem until I followed the instructions in Barbara Tropp's "China Moon" cookbook for seasoning a carbon steel wok (sorry to bring that up again! I think it is also in her "Modern Art of Chinese Cooking" book) - I heated the wok in segments, placing the metal directly against the highest flame I could get on my stove until it changed color completely, then rubbed oil in and repeated. The two woks I have treated this way have never rusted!

Chopping vegetables? with bontis, and on your first trip to India? Now that must have been quite an experience! That and the heat+ humidity, as i surmise by the presence of mangoes that you were there, what, July-August? Please do write about your phalar experience in detail in the poha thread. Were your parents ever at the famous Panihati festival in Haora, which had been initiated by Srimanmahaprabhu, and the very combination of mango. Banana, poha gur and yogurt you describe is de rigeur? That, and the fun of Harir Loot, where confections are thrown on the ground in joyous merriment, and everyone rushes to pick them up amidst much laughter. Friends on this forum probably suspect me of being a crazy Bengali making up outrageous claims for weirdo Bengali foods! You are my witness! By the way, did you ever reconcile yourself to the fried neem leaves and Neem Begoon or Eggplant with neem leaves? My very favorite, but certainly an acquired taste. Also, have you ever worked with Kurma? Too many questions, but am so excited to find someone who has visited Mayapur. I had written Monicaji, that the huge katahas/woks of Mayapur bubbling away with khichri and feeding thousands definitely are one of the wonders of traditional Indian kitchens. Would you have any photographs?

I might lean on to the chinese version of preparation here to prepare chicken and vegetable stir fry, Ive used it a couple of times and it comes from the Argo® corn starch and Martin Yan 's cooking recipe-booklet here it is then as it is in the cookbook: This recipe is similar to the chinese-restaurant favourite, Moo Goo Pan, which takes its name from a province in northern China. Moo Goo means mongolia.Gai and Pan refer to rice and chicken. Under 15 minutes Makes 4 servings 3/4 lb boneless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 1Tbsp minced ginger or 2 tsp ground ginger 2Tbsp ARGO® corn starch, divided 1/2 cup chicken broth 2 Tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp dark sesame oil 2 Tbsp Mazola® oil 1 cup sliced mushrooms* 1 cup snow peas, halved* 1 small red bell pepper cut in thin strips* 4 green onions, cut into 3/4-inch pieces* 1. In a medium bowl, toss chicken with ginger and 1 tablespoon corn starch to coat lightly; set aside. 2. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1 tablespoon corn starch, chicken broth, soy sauce and sesame oil, set aside. 3. In wok or a large skillet heat oil over medium-heat. Add chicken and cook stirring quicklyand frequently (stir fry) 3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. 4. Add mushrooms, snow peas, red pepper and green onions and stir fry 4 to 5 minutes or until red pepper is tender-crisp. 5. Stir soy sauce mixture until blended then pour into wok. Stirring constantly, bring to boil and boil 1 minute. Serve with rice. *Time saver Tip: substitute one 12 or 16-oz package frozen Asian vegetables for above // This recipe was also on the package( no P47207104Z) cover of Argo® corn starch I did enjoy making it very much and best of all is that it s so similar in taste to the indian chinese preparations, Ive adjusted my chilli additions slightly but otherwise it is perfect for me, and I also added milk 2Tbsp to 1. step above it helps tenderize the chicken better. And I did forgo the chicken broth but used water instead of it. work fine.

One time, I put a wok in the 'cleaning' cycle of my oven! It took every last bit of anything off the surface, and left me with a clean, but rusty wok. I then scoured it, got rid of all the 'debris', and started the seasoning process all over. Worked fine. BTW -- that wok had two metal handles. If it had had a wooden one, I would have simply removed the handle.

In the cookbook thread, FoodMan mentioned that in a BT book there was a section on how to re-season a rusty wok. Can anyone elaborate on this? For myself, my $15.00 wok of many years has gone through several rusty periods. I usually soak the whole inside of the wok with a mixture of half water and half vinegar for a few hours. When it looks clean, I wash it well with soap and water, heat it until the bottom turns blue then drizzle oil over the entire surface. Once it starts to smoke, I let it cool, then wipe off the excess with paper towel. That seems to do the trick.

I just won the e-bay bid on this book: "The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking, Techniques & Recipes by Barbara Tropp. Hardcover, first edition l985. Good condition. Including an unorthodox chapter on East-West desserts & a provocative essay on wine by Gerald Asher. This book explains everything from how to re-season a wok that has grown rusty with neglect to how to cut water chestnuts to a precise peppercorn-size dice. A superb teaching book, containing core chapters on Chinese cooking techniques--stir-frying, steaming, deep-frying, sand-pot cooking, and smoking-illustrated with hundreds of line drawings. From poultry, fish, tofu, noodles, soups, breads, etc. Plus much much more. Over 550 pages " I sure am looking forward to recieveing it, and I hope it is in as good a condition as the seller claims. Elie

I love poha since I came here to us I've been using the recipe indiagirl mentioned here .. with poha substituted with oats bran.. helps to cook with it you know healthwise, only thing I've to mention is that oats need a lot less soaking before putting into the wok but also be careful for not forming clumps for they cause a kind of stickiness later you'll know when to time it right if you try two times.. good luck if you need hints take me up on it and pm me.. laterif there are too many pm's I'll send the complete set of steps on blog

A recipe for Beignet Soufflés – Nun’s Farts! 2 oz. butter, at room temperature Pinch of salt ½ cup all-purpose flour 2 large eggs 1/8 teaspoon orange oil or 1 tablespoon dark rum Vegetable oil for deep-frying Powdered sugar Combine 4 oz. water with butter & salt in saucepan and bring to boil. Remove from heat and add flour all at once. Stir vigorously until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a ball around the spoon. (If a ball does not form almost immediately, hold saucepan over low heat and beat briskly a few seconds. Cool slightly.) Add eggs, one at a time, and beat vigorously until mixture is smooth and glossy after both additions. Add orange oil or rum, if desired, and beat again. Add oil for deep-frying to a wok, heavy skillet, or deep fryer to a depth of about 2 inches. Heat to 360° F. Drop dough by tablespoons into hot fat. Fry until browned on all sides and center is cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Fry and test one first to determine approximate cooking time. Drain on unglazed brown paper. Serve hot, sprinkled with powdered sugar. [Classic Beignets are, of course, yeast-raised fried breads.] Last evening, while musing on the subject of fried breads, I thought of those delightful little doughnuts known as Zeppole. (They're a toothsome specialty of Naples.) I have a recipe at hand if you're intrigued.

It is a fairly common Chinese cooking technique called 走油 in Cantonese. I learned that it is called velveting from this forum. Basically meats taste better if you brown them alone in oil first before cooking with seasoning and sauces. The key is actually that you should cook your sauces (brown bean sauce, hoisin sauce, etc.) in high heat along with the aromatics (garlic, shallot, onion and such), and dash in either some vinegar or xiaoxing wine -- get the wok/pan flame up would be even better. Then you add in chicken broth and sugar and bring to a boil. At last, thicken the sauce (corn starch) and re-add the meat (so it would not be overcooked) to finish. Then you drip on top sesame oil or shredded scallion. Most of the stir-fried dishes are cooked best this way. If you have a chance, try the 2 different methods side by side. You should be able to observe the difference in the taste. Also, forgot to mention previously: Zha Jian Mien is slightly hot/spicy. I use chili bean paste 豆板酱 along with brown bean sauce and hoisin sauce.

I have to get back after asking my folks home love I have not ever thought of it sincerely may be a week before I get across back and forth.. maybe my mother in law will allow it for this web blog atleast sincerely Im hazarding one guess at the rasam powdered spice : Use this for while preparing and to finish in tarka too, it tasted infinitely better than store bought ones I have tried(can't remember which ones I've tried but in general they are not as authentic as the one Im using at home) so here goes: dry toasting of these in a low heat in a wok or a big kadai : cumin, black peppercorns(Whole), coriander seeds that all grind in a spice mill all of these together after sufficiently coolong off.. I m going to try this and report back ( can't get enough courage to phone my mil for this sorry)..

I don't think looking at population as a number is enough to explain a restaurant scene, you have to look at income, education and ethnic mix as well. For example, the town I currently live in has a population of 100,000. Urbana-Champaign (where I study) also has 100,000. We are both in the middle of corn fields, equally far away from Chicago. However, most of the people in U-C work for or study at the University of Illinois, wheareas most of the people in my "home"town work for an insurance company, or for a much smaller university. My town has 3 indian restaurants (our major ethnic minority, oddly enough), a bunch of "#1 WOK" type chinese places, two "fancy" places, one "hippy" place and a bunch of chains. In Urbana-Champaign we have 5 korean places on Green street alone. A bunch of indian, thai, vietnamese, bubble tea etc etc places, a bunch of nicer places including at least two affiliated with the slow foods movement. Several huge asian groceries, several middle eastern groceries and so on. Same number of people, totally different population. Having recently made the move from the city to these very distant suburbs, I think urban/suburban generalizations are to a certain extent a myth. But where there is truth is that urban generally means lots of people, noise, friction, rapid spread of information, and with it, sophistication. Hence political and social engagement (on either side of the debate), being open to different cultures not in a naive "crab rangoon" way but in a well informed, first hand kind of way. Not seeing an unfamiliar situation necessarily as a bad thing. Urbana-Champaign fits that description a bit more, and I think you can see it reflected in the food. Similarly, in my town you would hardly ever run into another person on the street, and I think that is also reflected in the food. Unfortunately, I think the one common trait that unites people who choose to live in this type of suburbs is pragmatism. This explains Wal-Mart, this explains vinyl siding, and this explains the massive portions at Applebees. But suburbs, like unhappy families, are not all alike. In Urbana people will order sushi, whereas people in this town by and large will not. You need to look around and see income levels, education, what has so far been successful, how far you can push the envelope in your particular suburb.