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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.

Is Chinese Yunnan ham available anywhere in America? I don't think so, but people here might know better. Is it comparable in taste to Smithfield ham, as has been mentioned in some writeups? -Steve

If you are Jewish (especially New York Jewish) you know why this link is seasonal. It's a fascinating dissertation, and at the same time kinda funny for its seriousness. (Maybe we just like Chinese food because we're smarter.) Safe Treyf: New York Jews and Chinese Food

It's time for the Winter Solstice Festival (Dong Zhi / Doong Jeet in Cantonese) - strangely it seems to always fall on 22nd December every year irrespective of the lunar calendar (could someone please help explain this?) Some say Dong is the most important festival in the Chinese calendar, more important than Chinese New Year, where families gather and share a meal together - sort of like a Chinese Thanksgiving. A food that is symbolic of Dong is Tang Yuan (tong yuen in Cantonese) - glutinous rice flour balls served in a gingery sugar syrup (or pandan flavoured ones in Malaysia and Singapore). Some have fillings of sugar, crushed peanuts, red bean paste or black sesame paste. We make plain tong yuen at home, larger white ones and smaller coloured ones - when we were little, my sister and I always wanted to have black and multi-coloured tong yuen but my gran and mum didn't like our suggestion. Do you celebrate Dong Zhi? What other foods are symbolic of the festival?

Saturday night a group of friends had a really excellent meal at T&T, 18320 Aurora Ave North. I'd pretty much given up on finding really good Chinese food in the north end. For comparison, I'd call Judy Fu's Snappy Dragon "ok" at best. And even the ID places seem to come up with very mixed (at extreme ends) reviews here and on the other board. We had six dishes, of which five were particularly good. None are fancy or designer dishes. But each had distinctive flavors that distinguished them. The kitchen does a very nice job with spices and particularly ginger. 1. Sizzling black cod. A group favorite, plus this fish is not endangered. It was almost a sweet and sour sauce, but not too sweet and definitely not gummy. 2. Sauteed green beans in garlic sauce with chicken. A standard, particularly well done. 3. Sauteed prawns and vegetables. Nice crisp vegies, loved the ginger. 4. Beef and broccoli. Another standard that somehow just seemed better than usual. Like the chefs aren't tired of making it here. 5. Seafood chow mein with soft noodles. This is definitely not Chun King. 6. Appetizer of deep fried squid with their simplest dipping sauce. Too much breading for me, but the squid pieces were not tough or chewy at all. We did not order from the fish tank, although it did look good.

Help, please: My husband is currently in Hong Kong for business, and had a chance to spend the last weekend in Macau. Since then he's raving about the famous "african chicken" and picked up my curiosity a lot, but unfortunately there is no much information available on internet or in books i checked. I wonder if somebody could help with the recipe outline or detailed dish description? Thank you.

Hot pot (huo guo) is a modern Christmas Eve tradition in Shanghai, where my wife is from, and we've made it a family tradition here (not always on Christmas Eve, for logistical reasons, but close to it). We've taken to using a butane burner on the table, since no UL-approved electric hotplate will keep the stock continuously simmering when you load it up with goodies. Last year I bought a double-compartment pot which (despite the warnings from others) showed no leakage between the two compartments. Some of the stuff we throw in is: - A variety of thin-sliced meats (beef, pork, chicken, mutton) - Fish - Fish balls (and sometimes pork balls) - Shrimp in the shell - Bean Thread - Thin dried noodles - Fried Tofu - (Sometimes) whole eggs in the shell - Leafy green stuff that I never eat Does any one else out there do this? What do you toss into your hot pot? Any favorite recipes for dipping sauces? (We're always looking for new ideas.)

Sorry to shatter the peaceful post-Holiday slumber on this board, but Spring Festival (a.k.a. Chinese New Year) is January 22, which means you have just 18 days to plan your New Year's Eve feast. Will you eat out, cook, or be a guest at someone else's table? What are your favorite ritual foods and customs?

I recently came across the name "Rice Noodle Ha-Moon style." Can someone tell me what this is? Thanks, BB

Anyone remember seeing Mary Sia's Chinese Cookbook (1956) in its spiral binding and yellow cover published by the University of Hawaii Press? Jackie Newman who has the largest collection of English-language cookbooks in world once told me that this was one of the best. Now in the latest issue of her journal on Chinese food, Flavor and Fortune, there's an article by her son, Calvin Sia. it's the story of how his mother, born in Hawaii to parents who were both physicians, took a degree in Home Economics at UH, married and lived with her husband in Beijing for fifteen years, then returned to Hawaii in the late 1930s when conditions there became dangerous, and taught Chinese cooking at the YWCA, and to the military, university and many local people, as well as offering tours of Chinatown. Calvin Sia is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Hawaii. And I never knew when I was there. But the more I learn about food in Hawaii (thanks Wesza and all the rest of you) the more fascinating it is, Rachel

So, what'll it be? I'll take the black pepper eel, the cold beef tendon in hot oil, and the juicy buns at Yeah Shanghai Deluxe; the cold cucumber, cold tripe and tongue in hot oil, and Chonqing Style Chicken at Sichuan Dynasty in Flushing; Aui Zhou Chicken at Grand Sichuan on 50th St.; Tofu and Mixed Vegetables and Roast Chicken with Whole Garlic Cloves from the two-sided Chinese-only menu at Congee Village; and the lamb casserole at Super Taste House on Division St.; and I'll finish off with kaya-filled pao and a piece of cold coconut gelatin at Jing Fong for dessert. What about you?

The Pacific Northwest is actually having a real winter (with snow and freezing temps..gasp!) and that lovely stir-fried luffa, fresh water chestnut and shrimp just doesn't seem right when it's this chilly out. So now I've been doing lots of cold weather stuff like braised shortribs with anise, chun pay and red tofu or lap yuk with taro. What are some favorite cold-weather dishes that you've been cooking (or would like to cook)? regards, trillium

What were your thoughts about when the Chinese had their space mission this past year? On eGullet,we talked about several comments made by the Chinese space agency about the superiority of Chinese space food. Has NASA consdiered working with the Chinese to share space food technology? Have the astronauts ever requested ethnic meals like Chinese dishes on board the Shuttle or ISS?

Cannot find any information of Chinese Leeks which started to appear in local asian groceries recently. They remind me of yound garlic Damn tasty even in their raw state, although i'm planning to make a basic stir-fry with chinese broccoli. Any information greatly appreciated. EDIT: they look like a young leek although a bulb as more pronounced.

[Dear Rushina, will you please forgive me for cluttering up your thread? Felt too embarrassed to start a new one, as this already involves Indian Chinese cooking] Dear Friends, Could you please shed some light on 2 issues in Indian Chinese cookery that has been puzzling me for a while. When/where did the term and item “Manchurian xyz” appear in India? Speaking of the Kolkata scene, the only comparable item seems to have been ‘Fish balls in tomato sauce’ which was served only at Peiping restaurant. The other well-known/venerable establishments, Waldorf, Jimmy’s Kitchen, Chung Wah et al. simply had no tomato ketchup based dishes c. 1955-1980 [ How Hua etc. had not been born, or were in their infancy] Two popular items were Fried Spring Chicken and Fried Chili Chicken, and each of the places mentioned served slightly different versions. The same can be said of Prawn rolls that exhibited even larger differences in style and content. Jimmy’s Kitchen supposedly had the best fried chicken, Waldorf the best Prawn rolls, and Peiping chili chicken. The chili chicken comprised a poussin blanched/parcooked in a lu of water, soy sauce and ginger, then dried and deep fried [Waldorf used to dust their chicken with starch, Peiping not, leading to quite different end results]. Then comes the finish, which was not revealed. Probably a tiny bit of sugar was caramelized in hot oil, soy sauce was splashed in, onion cubes and chopped green chillies followed, last the chicken, rapidly glazed and serves with scant clinging sauce. Note : no tomato anywhere. This chilli chicken had become so popular that by 1980 caterers serving Hindu Bengali weddings had devised a Chilli Bhetki [barramundi, a fish like sea bass], that retained quite a bit of the characteristic green chilli/soy sauce flavor of the original. Moreover, Bengali home cooks had created their own chicken/fish versions, faithful to the chilli-soy duo, with never a hint of tomato or any Indian spices. Googling ‘chili chicken’ recently, came across a range of recipes quite unlike anything remembered from Kolkata. Not a single Chinese restaurant ever used Indian spicing (save green chilli), not even cilantro. Although Peiping had an Indian section, none ordered from it ever, except once when I did, to be met with an incredulous response from the then-Chinese manager. Indian Chinese in Kolkata, in that time period at least, appeared not to have incorporated some of the Indian spicing associated with Indian Chinese in today’s India. What does fried chili chicken involve, according to the taste memories of eGulls? Wonder if somebody here knows Nelson Wang, the famed Chinese restaurateur of Mumbai, whose roots lie in Kolkata’s Chinese restaurant kitchens. Perhaps he could weigh in, although he is an exceptionally important and busy person. [it would be wonderful if egullet could have Mr. Wang for a Q&A session, given the growing interest in Indian Chinese dishes.] Thanks for your forbearance.

Someone asked me this morning if cheese is used in cooking in China, and curiously enough I had been wondering the same thing a few days ago. So what's the story?

I should have posted this earlier... oh well. Any ideas on something I can make at home? Have access to most, but not all Asian ingredients. Any and all suggestions welcome... recipes and links to sites with recipes especially appreciated. TIA

I want to share some of my collection with everyone, please check out my eGullet album. ****Go to the: images.egullet.org *****then click the: Member's Gallery please reply me your opinions, i have pretty a lot of them.

Not sure if any of you are Slate readers, but the past two days there has been a "diary" on HK. Today's entry includes a lot about food, including the comment: "That's what makes it different from the big cities on the mainland, even the ones like Shanghai and Beijing that are booming with new money and businesses. You can't stand on a corner in Shanghai and choose food from six different regions of China. Hong Kong is the Chinese version of New York, my hometown. It's not a grafting of East and West, that old British colonial cliché. It's the capital of the Chinese overseas diaspora, the world's great Chinese urban cosmopolitan center." I am wondering about what those who have spent extended amounts of time in HK (and hopefully the mainland too) feel about this. My impression is that its a bit of an overstatement, I know that in Beijing, you can not only find good Chinese food from all over the country, but also foreign foods from all over the world in a not too large radius from most locations in the center of the city. What impression do others have? For the full article, here's the address

Does anyone know if there's an English name for the herb dong quai? Does this come from a common, recognizable plant? I'm not looking for the scientific name of the plant, just the normal name of it. If there is one... Thank you!

Can anyone recommend any dim sum restaurants in Toronto's Chinatown, or any other really good restaurants?

but this is just pushing us toward the debate...that's why I hate cantonese food, its BLAND! Well, maybe not in Guangzhou, but I have a friend that insists on cooking cantonese here in the US, and to everything she cooks, I must add la jiao or jiang you or something so that it actually has flavor...

Just curious, as I seem to think there are several Asian posters in this forum who have a non-Asianpartner, and Caucasian posters with Asian partners. If you are Chinese, with a caucasian partner, did he or she know about and enjoy Chinese food before they met you? Was Americanized Chinese food their main experience? Did it take time before they tried traditional foods? Do they help in the cooking of same? Gary, were you "experienced" in Chinese cuisine before you met your wife from Shanghai? You've been singled out due to your expertise. Those of you who are Caucasian with Asian spouses/s.o., what are your experiences with traditional Chinese food? My husband is caucasian. He had this first taste of Chinese food when he left home for college. Every prairie town had its Chinese restaurant, all serving the same chop suey of that time. He thought it was great. Then along came me;-). Peasant fare was a totally new experience for him but he loved everything. He does not cook! His parents, a different story. Gramma and Mom only liked rice in rice pudding. Chop suey and sweet 'n' sour was ok...with potatoes , but authentic Chinese...peking duck...steamed chicken... steamed whole fish,... My father-in-law was more adventurous.

The Chinese term 红烧(Hung Siu [Cantonese], or hong2 shao1 [Mandarin]) bears many meanings. My brother-in-law asked me once what is considered a Hong Shao dish. My answer is… well it depends on what it is. Hong Shao pork is different from Hong Shao fish or Hong Shao tofu. All that because this term has been used broadly in many dishes. The word 红(Hung/Hong) means Red (implied hot), and 烧(Siu/Shao) means burning (implied flaming or cooking or braising). I have seen some translated it as “Red Braised” (which is pretty good, though it puzzles readers where the red (color) comes from). I picked up the menu from a neighborhood Chinese restaurant, and I can find 5 different dishes the bear the term 红烧 yet that all mean different things. 1. 红烧排骨 Hong Shao Pai Gu [Mandarin] (spareribs): This is an appetizer. The spareribs are barbequed or grilled. 2. 红烧鱼Hong Shao Yu (fish): The fish is first deep-fried, then cooked again (braised) with a sauce made from brown bean sauce, chili bean sauce, garlic and ginger. 3. 红烧豆府 Hong Shao Dou Fu (tofu): Similar to fish, the tofu is first deep-fried, then braised with garlic, green onions, ginger and oyster sauce. 4. 红烧乳 鸽 Hong Shao Ru Ge (young pigeon): The young pigeons are actually deep-fried. They are dry and have crispy skin. No sauce. 5. 红烧肉 Hong Shao Rou (pork): Unlike fish or tofu, the pork is simmered for hours in a broth made with dark soy sauce, five spices, garlic, ginger, leek and sugar. As you can see now, the term 红烧 may mean barbequed (baked), grilled, deep-fried, braised (brown bean sauce), braised (oyster sauce), or simmered depending on the meat associated with the dish. Very confusing, huh?

I've started working near the ID again and would love to try more of the restaurants here. My friend suggested Chinese for lunch next week but when I asked her where she shrugged. Of course we can wander and try any old place but I know you all have your favorites!! Looking forward to your suggestions for restaurants and the things they do that make them special! Thanks!