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it's based on corn starch. mix 2 tsp corn starch in a rice bowl of water. one egg, loosely beaten, ie. not totally integrated, in the starch mixture, salt pepper oyster sauce pour into hot wok after noodles have been removed, and off the heat, with back of spatula/wok stirrer stir until thickened and egg whites are stringy... taste for seasoning, should be savoury eggy, and picked up flavour from the wok, then pour over noodles. should serve two.

I wanted to use the pressure cooker to get the cooking time down. It did help, as I was able to finish it in a wok for about an hour. Still too soft, like carmelised onion jam. So the next try will be 4 min. in the pressure cooker as you have suggested. This may provide a firm/soft texture, and keep the initial onion smell down, while yielding a good base for finishing in the oven. ← Great! We love testing! I arrived at the four minute suggestion because that's how long I cook sliced onions in mine as part of a recipe or to add to something else. If it's not what you expect at that point, try a couple more minutes, no harm done.

I wanted to use the pressure cooker to get the cooking time down. It did help, as I was able to finish it in a wok for about an hour. Still too soft, like carmelised onion jam. So the next try will be 4 min. in the pressure cooker as you have suggested. This may provide a firm/soft texture, and keep the initial onion smell down, while yielding a good base for finishing in the oven.

How about 'nothing' over the refrig? I have a small kitchen, so I had the soffits opened, and have put casseroles, woks and steamers up there. It is not unattractive. Over the refrig, I have hung a 24' wok, (where else to put it??) and my cumbersome electric wok is on the refrig top.

I will never dip my hands in a sink of soapy water, unless I know what is in that water --- that is sharp. I will never wear loose, long ,sleeves when I am cooking or working with pans (woks) with long handles. I will never reach for the nutmeg, thinking it is curry. I will never push 10 minutes on the microwave, when I mean to push 1 minute. I will never sit next to a right-handed person at the table, if I can help it. I will never say 'never' about food related thingies --------oops-- I already did!

At Pho Thenh Long in Dynasty Mall in SJ, the grilled boneless fish (bun cha) is probably the single greatest dish there. The others are pretty mediocre IMO unless others found it otherwise. It is served in a heated platter with burning fire underneath. The fish sits on top of dills. I would just order this item with rice and leave plenty of tips to the waiters. Maybe the pho is ok, not sure as I forgot how it tasted. The other item was the thick fun noodle that has good charred wok marks and thick brown sauce that is quite ok but nothing spectacular - the combo variety is good. Two other places that has this spectacular dish is Minh in Milpitas and also another place in SF but the name escapes me. The portion at Pho Thenh Long will dwarf the others though, it's quite cheap at something like $12 or so for so much fish and flavor.

Ronnie, I've been doing the lowcarb way of eating since 1997 extremely consistently (have to... it controls my diabetes perfectly). One thing that provides endless variety is stir-fry. Make a nice stir-fry sauce and keep it in the fridge in a pourable container (dry sherry, soy sauce, grated ginger, garlic, a little splenda) and vary your lowcarb vegetables and meats. I chop up things on the weekend, store in containers in the fridge, and then just throw them in a hot wok during the week when I get home. Another of my fave things is to take the ingredients for lasagna, minus the pasta of course, and layer them in oven-proof individual size casseroles, topped with mozzarella cheese. Bake until hot throughout and golden. You get all the lasagna flavor with very few carbs. Turnips make a great alternative to potatoes in stews, soups, and other comfort foods. Practically indistinguishable. 5 grams of net effective carbs in 1 cup which is maybe a bit more than I use for an entire 6 quart crockpot of stew. I also have several good lowcarb cookbooks. I'll list the best of them if you're interested. I tend to go with fresh whole foods that are of themselves lowcarb and not lowcarb substitutes for high carb things.

But of course much depends on where your hood is. New Mexico does indeed have a wonderful old culinary culture. But I can see how you would get tired of the sameness after awhile. And what would you do if you lived in Flint, Michigan, a city where I once searched for hours for ANY non-chain restaurant and couldn't find one. New York, Los Angeles and Houston, on the other hand, are enormous multicultural cities where you can never cover it all. (John are you in London?) For example, I went out to get my kids croissants stuffed with Indian curry at an East/West fusion bakery out of Madras called Hot Breads this morning. (My kids call them goat donuts, and they love them.) While I was there, I noticed that a new Halal Chinese restaurant called Halal Wok has opened in the shopping center. Indo-Chinese food is a fusion style that is popular in India and Pakistan. The style and seasoning is Chinese, but there isn't any pork of beef. Chili chicken is the favorite dish. Then on the drive home, I saw a Honduran restaurant I had never noticed before. It is endless. It doesn't make me want to stay home though. Now I want to go to India and find out about these Chinese muslims who supposedly invented the halal Chinese style.

My wife and I are just getting into this as well, having discovered an intermittently excellent source of whole fish about two blocks from the house. So far, we mainly cook rockfish and yellowtail snappers, both of which yield a firm and tasty flesh. Our favorite technique, is to make crispy fried whole fish, which is much easier than it sounds. Score the fish twice on each side, sprinkle with salt and let sit about ten minutes, meanwhile heating oil in a wok or a large skillet. Wipe the excess moisture the salt draws out off, and then dust it with your potato starch or tapioca powder. Holding the fish by the tail, slide it down the side of the wok (minimizes splashing) and fry maybe 6-8 minutes on one side and 4 on the other. It comes out crispy, not greasy, and we serve it with a spicy Asian sauce (can hunt down the recipe if you're interested), rice, mango w/ lime juice and black beans. Very tasty. We've also just scored the fish, dusted it with jerk flavor and baked it -- on a rackin a pan -- to very good result. The hardest part is serving/eating the thing - trying to get the cooked flesh off the bone without turning dinner into fish rillets. It's worth the practice -- this is the first time I've ever looked forward to Lent. Edited to add: We get ours in a larger than usual Latino market. The fish are apparantly delivered only a couple of times a week, but if you show up the day they arrive, they are as fresh as any in town -- I'm guessing the local immigrants are more comfortable with whole fish than the yuppies who shop at Whole Foods, and that they prefer the lower prices. I hear NYC's Chinatown is the same way, so a visit to a nearby ethnic enclave may pay off. And note, it's generally considered polite to tip the guy who guts and scales it for you a buck or two.

I will never again try to choke my dinner guests. While studying Chinese cooking at the China Institute I did not take Florence Lin's advice ( "do not to cook more than four dishes first time out" ). I did six, in a tiny Park Avenue apartment kitchen, altered by wine and other substances. I got the wok very hot and threw in a bunch of tiny red chiles. The apartment filled with chile smoke and my guests fought for air as they rushed into the hall choking and tearing. I opened the kitchen window to let the capsasin cloud drift out. There were obscenities screamed down the shaft from angry neighbors up wind of my little fiasco. I was totally mortified.

Found the most incredible Chinese restaurant. It is a hole in the wall. We went to the Westport "branch." (Yes; it is kind of a chain, but the food is incredible.) Westport one is across from the Peppermill and is called Shanghai Gourmet. THey just opened another one in Orange, also called Shanghai Gourmet. Then, they have two Norwalk branches called Village Gourmet and Shanghai Cafe. My DH has also been to the Orange location, which is just as good. Don't expect fancy service here. Their restaurants are very tiny with limited seating. We went on a Saturday for lunch and got served on paper plates with plastic cutlery and plastic cups. Have heard from others that the place is jamming on the weekends! Best Scallion Pancakes I have ever eaten. Fresh, delicious mushrooms--YUMMY. I had Wok Glazed Shrimp and Chicken in Ginger Sauce that was too-die-for. Shrimp were huge; they gave you four. Steamed dumplings were also delish. Asians were eating there, which is always a good sign. They have a website with menus and pictures of their restaurants. www.asiancuisines.com www.asiancuisines.com

I have tried atleast 1000 versions of this south indian soup. I do like the westernized 'Mullaghatawny Soup' as well. The best cure for common cold. :) Atleast that's what the southies claim. Here is how I make it. If you have a different version, please post. Boil a third of a cup of Thoor Dhall (yellow gram?) until smooth. In a wok, add 2 tbs oil under medium heat. Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds wait till they all pop.. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 5 pods of crushed garlic, 3 dried red chillies 1/4 tsp crushed coriander seeds. Let it all roast for 30 seconds. Add 3 large diced tomatoes and a pinch of asafoetida and pinch of turmeric. Wait till the tomatoes are soft and well integrated with the rest of the spices (5 min). Add 1 tsp tamarind paste or juice of one lime. Add 2 cups of water. Increase the heat to high. When it starts boiling, add the cooked dhall. Add salt to taste. (1.5 tsp?) Before it start boiling again, remove it from heat. Add 1 tsp crushed black pepper. Garnish with coriander and curry leaves.

Ovens: Electric convection ovens are preferable on account of their evenness and precision, especially for baking and pastry, and many ranges are available in a gas-burner/electric-oven configuration. Modern gas ovens, however, perform almost as well so if fuel cost or other issues need to be considered it's no great loss going with gas. In my apartment building, we don't get a gas bill (it's a building expense so it's factored into the rent but it's de minimus) whereas electricity in New York City is ridiculously expensive. So there's no way I was getting an electric oven, not to mention you might have to install a 220 volt outlet for an electric oven (although you probably already have that wiring). My gas DCS convection range does a very good job. Were I trying to accomplish professional-level pastry feats, though, I'd want electric. Rangetop: Higher power (not that the BTU rating tells the whole story on power) is always something that's good to have on demand. The boiling water example may sound trite, but it is in fact a huge convenience to be able to get a big-ass pot of water up to temperature in half the time. Live with a powerful pro-style stove for a couple of years and then go make some pasta at a friend's house on a regular consumer-level stove. See how much hair you pull out waiting for the damn thing to boil. Boiling also includes activities like reheating soup from the freezer -- the difference is remarkable. Higher power is also useful in several other types of cooking: putting a hard sear on a piece of meat, stir-frying (especially in a wok, where a consumer-level burner is totally inadequate), cooking with a grill-pan, etc. For other types of cooking it's completely irrelevant: eggs, pancakes, bacon, caramelized onions, most classic sauces -- there's no need for high power there. One thing you may find is that with a better stove and better power availability you change the way you cook in order to take advantage (your experience with electric is not indicative; the slow responsiveness of the coils makes them pretty much unusable at high temperatures). You also may find that as you cook over time you'll want that extra power. You're going to have the range for a long time. I think money spent on a range is the best money you can spend in your kitchen: for an extra $1000, you get a totally different, superior category of product. Think about the utility of the upgrade to this central piece of equipment versus the utility of an equivalent upgrade to, say, cabinetry, where an extra few grand can get eaten up by an insignificant uptick in materials or finish.

Off premise catering is a nightmare. The old adage of Murphy's Law never rings more true. No matter how exhaustive your walk throughs and planning meeting are, you will always be searching for something and attempting to pull a rabbit out of your hat at the last minute. One of the hardest things to execute? Coffee. Especially for huge quantities of people, and generally in these old catering mansions with terrible electrical systems. You need a dedicated 20 AMP breaker for each coffee maker, so you will find yourself brewing coffee in virtually every nook and cranny of the place. And you really need an electrician, because the outlets NEVER work like a client tells you. I used to test sockets with one of those $20 little testers at walk throughs, but even that wasn't a sure thing. I never left the restaurant without a full case of sterno, an empty Cres-Cor, Extra sheet pans, and three cinder blocks? Light 10 Sternos and throw them in the Cres Cor and presto, you have an oven. I have actually melted the doors off of these things! Why the cinder blocks? Arrange them side by side, with a sterno in each, and you have the hillbilly version of a Viking range! The minutae involved in planning a sit-down dinner for 400 is mind numbing. And no matter how much you plan, and label each equipment box, one server will take the box with the doilies and salt and pepper shakers and inexplicably place them ON THE ROOF, then forget he has done this. One of my favorite moments was when I was planning a wealthy clients holiday party, and he wanted to have his favorite Vietnamese noodle place do some of the food. So we go and meet the owner to discuss the set-up and his equipment needs, and he starts in on the refrigerators he will need, and the pasta cooker, and the gas fired woks, etc, etc. I leaned over the table and said to him, "Have you ever been camping?" He looked at me quizzically, as the term "camping" did not quite resonate I proceeded to explain to him that he was going to have to figure out how to feed his delightful noodle dishes to 500 people out of coolers and from ONE electric oven with an 8'table for prep. Oh yeah, and you'll be cooking on the loading dock. "That," I explained to him, "is why you can charge someone $10K for noodles." On busy weekends, when we had multiple events going on the same day, I would generally throw up from the stress somewhere around 11AM. And I was GREAT at the job, but I just could not take it anymore. Maybe the old deli tray kind of drop off catering is easy, but full service, fine dining catering has got to be a reasonable facsimile of the seventh circle of hell.

Boston Globe -- January 21, 2004 A recipe for luck: Chinese families dine on foods that will bring good fortune By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff When it comes to the Chinese New Year, preparations start early and food items have a purpose. Pan fried noodle cake with beef recipe adapted from “China Express.” --------------- Her success has been easy as pie: A bright, little Somerville shop showcases Renee McLeod's specialties By Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent Renee McLeod started making pies when she was nine years old and never stopped. Chai-spiced apple pie recipe adapted from Petsi Pies. --------------- A couple's gourmet dreams put on hold: Legislative hurdles delay store opening By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff Winchester, Massachusetts is the future home of The Spirited Gourmet -- neighborhood wine and specialty food store – if owners Chris and Elena Benoit can jump over one big hurdle. --------------- SHORT ORDERS FOR THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY 'Dim Sum' makes Chinese food kids' stuff I want my baby bok, baby bok Ravioli raves Wok this way ---------------

You'll find nearly every kind of ethnic market you need... just not a lot of choices. For Chinese (and most Asian stuff), the big market is 99 Ranch, at the 202 Freeway at 44th Street (Copco Center). Lots of fresh -- and live! -- fish, plenty of ingredients, super prices. Their produce is uneven; the prices are very good, and when the produce is fresh it's wonderful, but I've often gotten stuff that was of poor quality. So check 'em carefully. My other choice for Chinese market is House of Rice, on Hayden at Osborn. Much smaller, and half the store is given over to supplies (such as woks and serving dishes), but the quality is always top notch and they even have (excellent) cooking classes. Recommended. There's a good Indian market on Camelback and 3rd Street. Best place in town to buy spices, even if you aren't an Indian food fan. Another favorite ethnic market is Edelweiss, the German deli and market on Cave Creek road. They stock all the things I need for Eastern European cooking, such as double smoked bacon. Plus a few tables right there, if you can't wait for your sausage lunch. When it comes to Mexican ingredients, the place you want is Food City. There are a few of 'em around town, though the one I go to is at Greenway and 32nd Street. Want buckets of chiles? Stacks of tortillas? Fresh lard? That's the place. How's that for a start?

I'd like a walk in pantry off the kitchen with floor to ceiling shelves and hanging baskets for dry storage. Plenty of counter space in the kitchen, a fan that actually vented outside and not in my face, a salamander broiler and an industrial wok with a burner made by Pratt and Whitney.

Dejah, they're the same, but cookbook writers call them either sand pot or clay pot. I've had my clay pot for quite a while - the top is cracked on the interior but it hasn't gone all the way through to the surface so it's still intact. When you buy a pot, they vendor should have a large bucket of water so you can immerse the pot in it and check it cracks (tiny bubbles show around the cracks). You're not supposed to put an empty pot on the heat or it will crack, you should start a filled pot on a low flame and gradually increase the heat and don't try to "chow" anything in the pot. I generally chow all the ingredients in a wok to give the meat a good colour then put it in the pot. The exterior of the pots turns darker as they get a lot of use but it doesn't seem to affect the cooking in the same way as it does a well-seasoned wok. Here in Hong Kong, bo jai fan is almost like street food in the winter. Small, inexpensive restaurants add it to their repertoire because it doesn't take up any precious kitchen space - they always cook the bo jai fan outdoors on the street so the passers-by can smell it cooking. The best places still cook it over charcoal, rather than gas, and it really adds to the flavour. And as you point out, the crusty rice on the bottom of the pot is the best part. They're only about HK$25 (about US$3) a pot, depending on what you choose for the topping.

The usual name for these meatballs is "Pearl Balls". I see from the recipe from Gourmet, that they use long grain rice. The traditional rice to use is glutinous rice -- also known as 'sticky' or 'sweet' rice. The composition of the glutinous rice is different from long grain and the cooked result is an opaque shiny pearl-like rice -- rather than plain white -- hence the name "Pearl Balls" --'Zhen Zhu Rou Wan'. The recipe in Gourmet is pretty basic. I make mine using Chinese dried mushrooms, and recently have been adding Chinese sausage, which gives them a special flavor. They are fun to make and make a great presentation when served from the bamboo basket in which they are steamed. Before they are steamed, they look pretty, sitting on the rice, but the lettuce loses its color after the steaming process -- ending kinda washed out. The pearl balls can be steamed on waxed paper, but I prefer the lettuce. The rise IS indeed sticky, so they have to sit on something, and cannot be placed on the bamboo alone. This recipe is a combo of one that I have developed over the years, adapted from several others: PEARL BALLS Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked glutinous rice lettuce leaves, or leafy substitute Meatball Mixture:1 pound lean ground pork 8 dried Chinese mushrooms – soaked 30 minutes to rehydrate 8 canned waterchestnuts chopped, not too fine ¼ cup bamboo shoots chopped same as water chestnuts 1 tsp. minced garlic 2 Tbsp. finely minced fresh ginger 2 whole scallions, minced 1 egg 1 ½ Tbsp. soy sauce 1 ½ Tbsp. sherry 1 tsp. sesame oil OPT: 2 links Chinese pork sausage, soaked in hot water till soft, then chopped.fine. Preparation: Rinse the rice and soak in cold water 2 to 3 hours. Rinse the mushrooms, cut out tough stem. Chop fine. Combine meatball mixture and form into 1 inch balls. Drain rice and spread on a clean cloth towel, or paper towels. Roll meatballs, one at a time, over the rice – pressing lightly to make rice adhere. Cooking: --- Add water to a wok, up to one inch below the level of the food to be cooked. ----Bring water to a boil. ----Line the steamer racks with leafy greens or waxed paper. ----Place meatballs on lettuce – leaving ½ inch spaces. ----Place racks over the boiling water, cover, and steam for 30 minutes. Notes: Pearl balls can be cooked a day ahead. Steam only 20 minutes. Cool and refrigerate. Re-steam 20 minutes before use. You can also steam them, then place them on a cookie sheet, and freeze. When frozen, place in a freezer bag. Resteam them, on lettuce, for 20 to 25 minutes. Serving sauce: Equal parts of soy sauce and vinegar. Add sesame oil to taste. (opt.) Add hot oil to give a kick (opt.) Sprinkle with chopped scallion (opt.)

As fate would have it, I found myself in Westport last night visiting a friend who lives near Shanghai Gourmet. So off we went for take out. Results (The three of us dining were all agreed on this assessment): Bland General Tso's, disappointing wok-glazed ginger chicken (shrimp omitted to suit my friend's Kosher-lite tastes), and okay mixed vegetables in brown sauce. What gets highest marks at both locations (from me, at least) are the veggies. Obviously fresh and well-prepared. Yes, I've tried the Ivy Noodle, but not the scallion pancakes. I'll put 'em on the list. Ditto, Panda House in Danbury (although how I'll pass up the Gouladh House is a mystery!)

This was in the Herald, and in a piece in Stuff at Night, they went into great detail dealing with the chefs "quirky"-ness and the afct that he has dined at El Bulli. His amuse is poprocks and powdered popcorn served in a test tube. what do you say to that? Louis changes name for L of it By Food Briefs Wednesday, December 17, 2003 The latest change at the cafe in Louis, Boston goes further than a new chef and a new menu to attract the retail store's power clientele. Under owner Debi Greenberg, the recently reopened cafe has been renamed L. Transplanted New York chef Pino Maffeo (formerly of AZ and Pazo) is in charge of the kitchen. Gone are the pasta and celebrated pizza from onetime supervising chefs Johanne Killeen and George Germon of Al Forno in Providence. Maffeo turns out Asian-influenced prawn tempura and green papaya salad, wok-fried Manila clams and tea-smoked chicken. Several wines and champagne cocktails are offered by the glass. L serves lunch, with dinner to be added this week. Call 617-266-4680.

Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of new Chinese restaurants, particularlly the all-you-can-eat buffets? I can count at least four in the last year. By the way, the dim sum at the Golden Wok on Grand River is pretty good. Somewhat relatedly, there have been a handful of new Japanese joints opening in the area as well. I am not complaining, but what is going on here?

A bench knife! I think I own six, since I use them for everything -- kneading a wet dough, portioning dough, moving chopped veggies to the wok, scraping dried dough off of the counters...

I've spent a good bit of time working in one friend's kitchen - staying with her as I help her prepare to sell her house and move closer to where I live than the current 4-hour+ drive. In the process I have had ample opportunity to plan housewarming presents that will ensure *my* future comfort in her kitchen! She's OK for bowls and gadgets, for the most part (as previously noted she has the only Colony Cup I've ever seen, other than mine), but she is definitely one of the reasons I am hoping to find a source of wooden spatulas. Also high on the list for her is a proper wok, a good big heavy one like my favorite, with a long handle. And a couple of decent knives. And... hmmm, on second thought maybe it'd be simpler to just make her come over to my house when I want to cook.

Good Day, All- I have a few comments and questions about cookware for Sam and Boris and anyone else who might care to comment. The Mauviel commercial-grade copper saute pan I bought recently, 28 cm in diameter (11 inches), which has a stated capacity of 4.6 liters, but which measures out closer to 5 liters (5.5 quarts), is a joy to cook with, and the vertical sides, which are higher than American saute pans have, seem to add versatility and ease of use. However, the saute pan, though very, very heavy to lift, is still not extremely large, in terms of cooking volume. I don't think I'd find a smaller one as useful in the 9.5 inch diameter, let alone 8 inch. Recently, I stopped into a Sur La Table store, here in Chicago. Sur La Table is a yuppie store with high prices, and they carry Mauviel. They now have in stock a couple of Mauviel curved sauteuse evasee pans, the larger being 9.5 inches in diameter. I can see how versatile this pan is, but the 9.5 inch diameter seemed small. I would think that the 11 inch diameter pan, made only by Bourgeat and Falk, as Sam Kinsey mentioned in a post some weeks ago, would be the only sensible choice, given that most of us would have a much smaller pan, perhaps 1 quart or 1.4 or 1.8 liter, something like that, for reducing sauces. Also, Sur La Table, the Chicago store, anyway, now has a few 30 cm frypans (12 inches). This size is, of course, wider, and just as important, deeper, than the next smaller 24 cm (10 inch?) Mauviel frypan. I'd be far more inclined to buy and experiment with the larger frypan. Any comments? Boris, you mentioned recently buying smaller Mauviel saute pans. Am I paying too much attention to size here? The 9.5 inch Mauviel saute pan seems like it would accomodate two pieces of meat or fish, with not much room to spare, but I can't imagine that pan holding enough pasta, with sauce, for two hungry people. Any thoughts? I welcome your comments, because a stitch in time always saves nine. My Calphalon wok and 12 inch saute pans have been gathering dust for years because I bought them without knowing all the facts, and I always welcome comments from professionals who can caution me ahead of time. By the way, separate and apart from cooking specifications, these copper commercial-grade pans are beautiful, and their striking appearance, alone, is exciting. I can't imagine anyone regretting ownership of one or two. Best wishes to all. Greg in Chicago.