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I am intending to cook a Singaporean recipe (of obvious Chinese origin) for a soup which includes the above as an ingredient. I have ascertained the Latin name from Terry Tan's Cooking with Chinese Herbs and understand that it is a dried root, mainly used by the Chinese in broths and soups for medicinal purposes. Has anyone had experience of the stuff? e.g. Does it in fact taste so foul that I would do better to leave it out? Or the contrary? And how easy might it be to find? Could I get it in a Chinatown supermarket or do I need to go the the Chinese herbalist next door? Of course I can find out all these things myself by trial and error, but I would be interested in any knowledge from others. v

Does anyone have any good recipes for baby bok choy? I generally steam or braise it, but am getting bored of my own ideas!

I lust after Wonton. Never order Hot & Sour though I enjoy it. And get Sizzling Rice Soup every time I run across it. Do you have a favorite Chinese soup or know of a restaurant that serves particularly great soup?

Mamster's special recipe. +++ Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

We had a chicken with chinese sausages and black mushrooms from "Staffmeals from Chanterelle" yesterday for dinner. As recommended by the book i bought sausages containing some duck liver. As i sliced them to put into a pan for cooking i tried one piece, and it really tasted funny, almost coconut-sweety, but i decided to proceed. The dish came out pretty well; chicken, mushrooms (i used fresh oysters) and braising liquid (contained oyster sauce, chicken stock, soy sauce, ginger and scallions) were very tasty, but i still was not thrilled by those sausages. The dish is really worth trying again, but what's with sausages? Should i try some other brand? My store carries about ten of different kinds.

I love it. I've never made it. Now I want to try. Any tips, hints? Good recipes to share?

During the American Chinese food authenticity revolution of the late 60's and early 70's Mo Shu Pork had the cachet of something delicious, authentic and unusual. Somehow it's gotten sidetracked. Pedestrian and unexciting now seems like more apt descriptions of its usual state of being? How do you feel? What do you expect to see when you order it? What ingredients do you expect in your dish? What do you want in a Moo Shu pancake? Do you want hoisin sauce on your Moo Shu? Did you know that hoisin on Moo Shu is like catsup on steak?

I like both. Dried is so good in soup or stir fried with veggies.

Shrimp with Lobster Sauce. When did you first eat it? Where do you like to eat/order it? What do you expect when you order it? What color is it's sauce? Is it authentic or Americanzied Chinese food?

Some people like the creaminess of taro in their desserts like in ice cream or soup. I like taro in pancake form, much like the daikon pancakes in dim sum. Others can't stand it. Hate the starchiness.

It seems in movies or on TV sitcoms, whenever the actors eat Chinese carry out they always eat it out of the carton with chopsticks. After polling friends and family, no one eats out of the carton but rather use plates. It is about 50-50 for the use of chopsticks at home. What do e-gulleteers do?

For a trip latter in March early April. What the recommended Chinese restaurants any cuisene? Especially but not limited to wine friendly places. Flavors and tastes are much more important than being "in" or the decor.

This thread was inspired by a current similar one on the India board, thanks to Mongo Jones. Ketchup is generally associated with hamburgers, fast food, and as a camouflage for other culinary atrocities. The highest per capita use of ketchup (as well as Jell-o) in the US is in Salt lake City, and I won't further elaborate on the relevance of that. Like Mongo Jones' aunt in New Delhi, my wife had an honored place for ketchup in her pantry long before she left Shanghai. I think she considers jumbo bottles of Heinz ketchup as much a "find" as the 50-lb. bags of Calrose rice at Costco. She uses it some obvious ways, such as a base for the peculiar Shanghainese "Russian" (luosang) soup, and for the sauce that accompanies her version of "squirrel" fish. It's also used to give color while toning down the heat of some Sichuan style chili-based dishes for the Shanghainese palate, and I'm sure she sneaks it into some other sauces and bastes that are not obviously tomato-ey. The touch of sweetness (a hallmark of Shanghai cuisine generally) in ketchup seems to make it a good fit for her cooking. Does any one else want to 'fess up on their use of ketchup in Chinese food or their knowledge on the use of the noble condiment in other regional Chinese cuisines?

I'm trying to figure out how my mother used to make this stuff. The aroma that filled your head as you ate it was soooo good. mike

talk to me. i love this stuff, and i'd like to make it at home. since i found myself with a jar of tahini, i figured i'd give it a shot. boy is that some bitter stuff. various searched led me to several recipes, none of which seemed very good. so i combinded them all to come up with a mixture of peanut butter tahini chili oil sambal soy sauce ginger rice wine vinegar garlic sesame oil sugar light brown sugar cucumber garnished with cilantro an scallion the final product was edible, but not what i was hoping for. and it had a bitter finish under all of the other flavors. any thoughts?

This is a continuation, from the NY board when we were discussing the "Best Chinese seafood in Flushing." I was wondering what are the differences between Peking duck and Cantonese duck? Until recently I thought there was only Peking duck. Could it be that there's no difference between the two, except for the name? Peking duck is associated with upscale dining, while Cantonese duck would be at the other Chinese restaurants. -------------- Steve

I've been completely dissatisfied with the roast pork and related roasted meat items from the Chinese restaurants in my neighborhood, and I refuse to believe that my only choice is to get this stuff in Chinatown. In addition, given how cheap pork is in supermarkets it seems logical that I should be able to make pounds and pounds of the stuff for the price of one small portion in a restaurant. So what's the basic procedure for making, say, that nice red roast pork at home? What cut of pork is used, what do you need to do to it before cooking, and how do you cook it? Please assume zero knowledge on my part (always the case).

Specifically Kung Pao Chicken or would beer be more appropiate? Thanks!

One of my favorite fruits, delicious and exotic, fresh litchi's US availability has increased in recent years. Quality can range from terrific to just fair, though I manage to find excellent ones most seasons. You just have to pay for them. In years past $6/lb seemed to be the price, and a generously sized bunch would set you back the better part of a twenty. Not now --Chinatown prices have been as low as $2/lb. though don't be surprised to pay more for the really good stuff. This year there seems to be a bumper Floridia crop and prices are quite moderate--and the quality I've had so far has been pretty good. SOME IDEAS FOR LITCHI 1. Add them to sweet & sour pork or chickcen -- in fact it's a good excuse to make this maligned but delicious dish. Don't cook them, just peel, seed and toss a few into the dish just as you're saucing it after everything else is cooked. 2. Fresh litchi sorbet -- At this price it really makes sense -- still expensive but not outrageous -- just lotsa work and really special. But if you take this advice please don't forget to PM and invite me over for a taste! Good thing to do with litchi that need a flavor boost. 3. Fruit salad -- What a treat to find fresh litchi mixed in. Todays breakfast is a fruit salad which has: strawberries, litchi, white donut peach, watermelon, fresh cherries, homemade stewed sour cherries banana, and a prune or two as a garnish.

The food diary thread (keep them coming) has got me thinking about my relationship to Asian (particularly Chinese) food. [i'm not going to start trying to make sushi at home except maybe as an entertainment.] Although I think its incidence may have been exaggerated over the past couple of weeks, it's clear to me that Chinese and related cuisine is a very regular part of my diet, but that I almost never attempt to cook it at home. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, experience: I am confident I know more or less what I'm doing with European dishes generally. Meats and fish turn out fine, pasta and risotto probably better than the average decent restaurant over here (although some notches below the best). On the other hand, my occasional attempts at Chinese dishes are unarguably worse than the average decent restaurant. Of course, this is related to the relatively tiny amount of experience I have. The main issue here is fear of the wok. This may be partly rational, viz. the widespread line that you can't cook well with a wok on a domestic gas hob. Related to this is the speed of cooking: I am used to tasting throughout the process and adjusting amounts, speed and heat accordingly. Wok-cooking seems more like Superman in the telephone kiosk: when do you get to respond to what's happening? Then there's the sheer number of ingredients that seem to be involved in many Chinese recipes, versus European ones. Concerns here include both managing the increased number of variables and simply managing to control a decent larder of useable ingredients. Then there's the fact I don't have a rice cooker ... Firstly, then, is this something I should be pursuing, or is it best left to the several good-to-very-good restaurants within comfortable walking distance of where I live? And if so, am I best just continuing to bash along until I improve, in which case can somebody recommend a good book to work through, or should I think about an evening course or something?

Abalone used to be quite common along the california coast. No longer. How do you like your abalone prepared? Whole? Sliced? Grilled? Braised? Or in soup?

I know your latest book will deal with how to make well known dishes, but are there a few most important tips you could share on how to best make Chinese food at home?

Hello Ed Thanks for joining us. Your replies here sure are making fascinating reading, even for someone who won't get close to most of the places in the USA you talk about Chinese (and I think most Oriental) meals are generally structured in the form of a mini-buffet, with groups of dishes in the centre of the table and diners taking small portions of two or three dishes at a time into their own bowls to eat. It occurs to me that this creates some interesting restraints, and opportunities for Chinese meals. On the one hand, the balance of dishes becomes quite complex, ensuring an appropriate variety and quantities of vegetables, accompaniments, sauces and meat dishes. On the other hand (do I sound like Jackie Mason ?) this must give a chef exciting opportunities to mix and match components. How is a relatively untrained diner to get the best out of this form of self-service ? Which types of dish, in what sequence, provide the best experience ? Or is it safe to assume that dishes served on the table at one time will all "go together" well ?

Have any egulleters tried Indian Chinese? This is a wonderful combination, I think many of you had a taste of this thanks to Suvir at Diwan -- the garlic cauliflower I would love to get some discussion going in this area... I would be happy to share some recipes here as well Thoughts? Comments?

Ed, thank you for taking time to answer our questions. Could you say anything about how you judge the quality of a Chinese meal, either the menu or individual dishes? I realise that this may be difficult because of the variety of Chinese cooking traditions, but are there common features you look for? Are there particular dishes that are good tests of the skill of a restaurant? I ask this in part because I've just returned from Hong Kong. We had some extraordinary meals, all Cantonese. The fish and vegetables, in particular, were better in texture and flavour than most dishes I get in restaurants here. What would you look for?