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In a few weeks, Ms. Alex and I will attend a six-course prix fixe "East Meets West" dinner at Friendship in Chicago. It's BYO, and we certainly could use some wine suggstions. At this point I don't know if it'll be just the two of us or if other eG'ers will be joining. Let's say two bottles for now, and I'm less concerned about a wine for the dessert course. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Here's the menu: I. Panko Crusted Crab Cake on Watercress with Szechwan Chili Aioli II. Seafood Cream of Corn Soup with Lobster Broth III. Peking Duck Wrap and Duck Confit in Taro Root Basket with Mandarin Orange Grand Marnier Sauce IV. Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass on Seaweed Salad with Gingered Sweet Soy and Chili Oil V. Wok Roasted Mushroom Caps on Chicken Flavored Sticky Rice VI. Ginger-Scented Tofu Cheese Cake and Sweet Purple Yam Ice Cream with Raspberry Coulis

Steamed Triple Egg Custard 1 T minced garlic 2 T canola oil 1 preserved duck egg (thousand-year old egg or "pei tan"), coarsely chopped 1 salted duck egg, yolk only, coarsely chopped 3 large eggs 1 c water 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp ground white pepper 1 T soy sauce 1 T chopped scallions (green onions) 1. Heat oil in a pan and fry minced garlic in oil until golden and crispy. Remove from pan and set aside. 2. Scatter chopped preserved egg and salted egg yolk on the bottom on a heat-proof dish (approx. 8-inch). 3. Beat eggs lightly in a medium bowl. Add water, salt and white pepper and stir to blend (the custard should not be foamy). Pour the custard over the ingredients in the heat-proof dish. 4. Prepare a wok for steaming. Set the dish into steamer basket, cover the wok and steam until custard is firm, about 10 to 15 minutes. 5. Combine fried garlic and oil with soy sauce and pour over steamed custard. Garnish with chopped scallions and serve. Keywords: Main Dish, Vegetarian, Easy, Chinese ( RG877 )

Steamed Triple Egg Custard 1 T minced garlic 2 T canola oil 1 preserved duck egg (thousand-year old egg or "pei tan"), coarsely chopped 1 salted duck egg, yolk only, coarsely chopped 3 large eggs 1 c water 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp ground white pepper 1 T soy sauce 1 T chopped scallions (green onions) 1. Heat oil in a pan and fry minced garlic in oil until golden and crispy. Remove from pan and set aside. 2. Scatter chopped preserved egg and salted egg yolk on the bottom on a heat-proof dish (approx. 8-inch). 3. Beat eggs lightly in a medium bowl. Add water, salt and white pepper and stir to blend (the custard should not be foamy). Pour the custard over the ingredients in the heat-proof dish. 4. Prepare a wok for steaming. Set the dish into steamer basket, cover the wok and steam until custard is firm, about 10 to 15 minutes. 5. Combine fried garlic and oil with soy sauce and pour over steamed custard. Garnish with chopped scallions and serve. Keywords: Main Dish, Vegetarian, Easy, Chinese ( RG877 )

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.

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!

Anyone crazy about "soup dumplings"? A special "soup dumpling(bun)" event will be held at Yuan Garden by Ding Tai Fong(means wok bountiful) a famed Taiwanese soup dumpling resturant. Date : 03/03~03/07& 03/11~03/14 Location: Yuan Garden at Sheraton LaGuardia East, Flushing (718)460-6666 ext. 3025 Famed dishes: crabmeat soup dumpling,soup dumpling, steam veg. dumpling, stickyrice dumpling,clear chicken broth, clear beef soup, steam buns(meat,veg., sesame, red bean paste) Warning: I had been this event last year and year before, very disappointed. They sold out almost everything within 2 hours. Not only quality of food were poor but also very pricing. If you really crazy about soup dumplings and really really want to try it , please try to book a early hour reservation. I will pass this year. Achai(a person who brought 50 steam pork and veg. buns back to NYC form Ding Tai Fong L.A. branch and finished they in a week) **Some people say L.A. branch actually is not genuine, but it's good enough for me.

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.

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!)

I don't know if anyone here grew up in a pre-revolution village in China. But, one of my favourite food memories was coming home to lunch from school and seeing my mother dig a small crock out of the ashes of the wok lu (stove). That crock held a treasure that I have not enjoyed since those times - thick jook with salt fish and a bit of ginger slowed cooked in the embers of the stove for 3 hours. We called it "doh fut jook" or stove cavity jook. I miss my Mother.

SK, If it is all the same chain and not just the sharing the name somehow, it's edible but not noteworthy, IMHO. If I have their history correct, the founders of California Wok also own Chung King in West LA which gets props from people, but is no great revelation either, IMHO.

And I did, too. "Use one." But sadly, not for cooking. You see, in my travels, I have primarily lived in homes with electric stoves. And I didn't want to set a comal directly on the burners. So my plan was to get one of those rings that they sell in Asian stores -- to use with a wok. One thing and another, and I never got around to it, so never actually cooked in the comal. It was just easier to grab my cast-iron skillet. But I did "use" the comal. It looked just great in the middle of my dining room table, holding fruit.

Thanks for the info, June. Unfortunately, it sounds like California Wok might actually be healthy (at least relatively speaking). Then I might feel some pressure to go. However, even the positive reviews make it sound extremely bland: basically a lot of steamed and / or barely wokked standard meat and vegetables with tiny amounts of teriyaki-like sauce.

There are a bunch of California Wok's in CA. Unfortunately, I cannot recall ever having been to one, but it seems like the type of place that one could go to for lunch and not really think about it. I've been to plenty of cheap and cheerful Chinese joints to get a healthy veggie filled lunch. In my area, I usually go to Chin Chin or Panda Express. I know, not haute cuisine, but a girl's gotta eat and run sometimes! Here's one review. What someone said about one California Wok --edit-- A way long testimonial --/edit-- Hmm, several very positive testimonials.

Got a thick and glossy brocure in my mail today advertising the Grand Opening of California Wok's first Hawai`i location int he Ala Moana Center. It informs me that: etc. The menu looks pretty standard Chinese-American (Beef with Broccoli, Beef Szechwan Style, etc.) And while the prices look very cheap, and I'm all for low fat, the whole place just comes across as too generic - and not just because it's a chain. On the other hand, it trumpets the fact that Zagat has rated it the best "to-go" Chinese. . . So what's the real deal California denizens? Is it worth trying after all?

I've noticed an African restaurant while driving through Ville St. Pierre. It's on the left going up towards Montreal West. Looks just grungy enough to be authentic Anyone know anything about it... I keep meaning to stop by. Oh, and the bread mentioned above is Injera - a traditional Ethiopian sour (naturally yeasted) flatbread, made from teff flour. It gets that spongy effect from being yeasted, being very wet (a batter actually, poured like crepes), only cooked on one side, and traditionally in a large wok-like pan, covered so it steams a bit. I actually just tried making it a few weeks ago, but since I couldn't find teff, I cheated and used partially sifted whole wheat. Here are some photos: http://www.AdventuresInBaking.com/pss/ Paul --------------------- http://www.PaulsFinest.com

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?

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.

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.

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...

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.

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 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.