Chinese Eats at Home (Part 1)

[Ben Hong]

strange isn't it ? some can take everything, others has adverse effects from eating the pig's internal organs.

we used to eat every part of the pigs, ...brain, livers, kidneys, intestines and even its blood... but nowadays has to refrain ...

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No need to abstain or refrain. There is a need to be vigilant and selective. Certain parts of certain animals have to be cooked through. In most parts of the world pork is still the biggest vector for trichinosis. I still eat offal or organ meats quite often.

[sheetz]

Delicious pix, sheetz. BTW, would like to ask questions about the Fuchsia Dunlop book. Are most of the recipes spicy? Will this be a good christmas prezzie (for myself)? 

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I actually don't own the book. Right now I'm just trying out some of her recipes that I've found on the internet to see how I like them. They do seem very authentic.

Some online recipes:

http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/coo...k/kung_pao.html

http://www.uktvfood.co.uk/index.cfm?uktv=c...chef&iID=530777

http://www.theeagle.com/food/101503sichuan.htm

http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/coo...reen_beans.html

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...FDGGG3D9RB1.DTL

Edited December 1, 2006 by sheetz (log)

[Pan]

[...]Tempoyak is fermented durian cooked with chili, sweet-sourish in taste. Fortunately, my whole family love this tempoyak bought from a stall near my house. It also has ikan-bilis(whitebait) and petai(stinky beans) in it.  [...]

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Wow, tempoyak with petai! Talk about stinky!

(For the record, I find tempoyak OK with nasi ulam, but prefer budu [fish sauce]. I do like petai on occasion, but it sure does a number on the urine.)

[Tepee]

Not much petai in there, Michael, so no Pee-U effects.

Thanks, sheetz, for the links!

[sheetz]

Instead of the typical fattening stuff for dessert I made the poached bosc pears from Eileen YF Lo's The Chinese Kitchen. Very light and refreshing.

[Tepee]

Very light and refreshing.

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...and very good to chase away phlegm and cough too.

I haven't been to China or HK or any other chinese majority countries...so I need you to tell me if the following are Chinese or Malaysian What we ta-paued for Saturday lunch; weekends are rest days for me.

Pan Meen..it is a must to eat this with the sambal (Michael, a noodle named after you )

Curry Meen

Chee Yoke Lo Shee Fun

Edited December 2, 2006 by Tepee (log)

[Tepee]

Hey, guys!! We started off so well. Where is everyone? For those of you who are not able to post pix, we'd love just hearing what you ate. I feel so self-conscious now.

Soup flavoured with pork ribs and some dried seamonster creature hubby bought from a seaside town...see thing in spoon. Also has peanuts lurking at the bottom of the bowl and old cucumber.

A vegetable we call choy taam (looks like brussel sprouts with bigger leaves?).

Initially, I was supposed to make BBQ pork ribs, but the ribs took too long to thaw, so what wuz a responsible homecook supposed to do so that her family get their protein? Call the neighbourhood resto which does great and cheap homestyle food. Kung Po Fish Fillet.

I made this during the weekend...ping pei rolls. The top is lotus seed paste and the bottom is black sesame seed plus winter melon. A very well-received sweet.

[Dejah]

Well, I'm glad someone is on the ball! I'm knee-deep in marking exams, then this weekend was sorta repeats of Ah Leung's pictorials. I did take some pictures but just haven't had time to process. So, Tepee, keep on feeling "self conscious." Are you going to tell us what that "seamonster" in your soup was? How did you get my spoon?!

Let me see, I can describe our meals and post pictures later:

Friday, daughter was home so we had kung po chicken, store bought potstickers (disappointing), and shrimp sushi.

Saturday, second son was home, and it was lemon chicken with sauce made from half a can of frozen lemonade and sugar. I've been mixing foods alot lately, depending on my mood. So, with lemon chicken, we had jeera rice. For vegetables, it was Canadian chop suey.

Sunday was pretty traditional English for China's bday: 10 lb AAA prime rib roast, Yorkshire puddings, oven roast potatoes, veg sides, and Ambrosia Delight for dessert. My saving grace for this thread was chicken and snow fungus soup.

Soulin, the grandson, didn't like the fungus as he said it "looked like brains", but he liked the broth.

I've packed the other half of the soup to take to my students this morning.

Tepee: Not only are your pictures artistic, so are your sweets! I think I could handle, eating them, that is, anything that you'd bake.

Edited December 4, 2006 by Dejah (log)

[Nishla]

I've really been enjoying everyone's posts here. You all make some great looking dishes!

Last night I made pork, five spice tofu and soybeans:

[Tepee]

Thank you for posting your dinner, Nishla. It's especially heartening to see a non-chinese (you are not a chinese, I presume?) cooking chinese, and doing such a great job. Your soybeans are intriguing...I've never seen green soybeans before.

[peony]

tepee, your fillings of lotus paste with winter melon, do you have to cooked the filling again or just add in the winter melon ? I need to use up my lotus paste n kao fun too.

[Tepee]

Peony, the lotus paste is by itself. For the other filling, I mixed ground black sesame seeds with finely-chopped winter melon, then added ko fun and water (agak-agak).

[Tepee]

Well, I'm glad someone is on the ball! I'm knee-deep in marking exams, then this weekend was sorta repeats of Ah Leung's pictorials. I did take some pictures but just haven't had time to process. So, Tepee, keep on feeling "self conscious." Are you going to tell us what that "seamonster" in your soup was? How did you get my spoon?!

Let me see, I can describe our meals and post pictures later:

Friday, daughter was home so we had kung po chicken, store bought potstickers (disappointing), and shrimp sushi.

Saturday, second son was home, and it was lemon chicken with sauce made from half a can of frozen lemonade and sugar. I've been mixing foods alot lately, depending on my mood. So, with lemon chicken, we had jeera rice. For vegetables, it was Canadian chop suey.

Sunday was pretty traditional English for China's bday: 10 lb AAA prime rib roast, Yorkshire puddings, oven roast potatoes, veg sides, and Ambrosia Delight for dessert. My saving grace for this thread was chicken and snow fungus soup.

Soulin, the grandson, didn't like the fungus as he said it "looked like brains", but he liked the broth.

I've packed the other half of the soup to take to my students this morning.

Tepee: Not only are your pictures artistic, so are your sweets! I think I could handle, eating them, that is, anything that you'd bake.

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Dai gah jeh...mark your papers first. We can wait. And, you can also answer my questions later too.

1. I have no idea what that sea thing is. When dried, it looks like a 2D lollipop. I think it's some cheap substitute for scallops.

2. What's jeera rice?

3. That Ambrosia Delight, whatever it is, is making me drool. What a feast for China!

Thanks for your kind words...that will buy you a couple more pix.

[peony]

was quite busy the last few days, so made o-bento for my grandson when I took him to the library. Can't have him eating too much outside food. He loves eating from a lunchbox anyway.

He had egg omelette, sauté beansprout and tofu hotpot.

[MiFi]

Sweet and Sour Chic:

[Kent Wang]

Tepee: Those ping pei rolls are beautiful. You know that shape resembles a butterfly. Maybe you can add a few sprigs of carrot, lotus stalk or ginger to make the antennae.

[Dejah]

Thank you for posting your dinner, Nishla. It's especially heartening to see a non-chinese (you are not a chinese, I presume?) cooking chinese, and doing such a great job. Your soybeans are intriguing...I've never seen green soybeans before.

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They are called edamame, Tepee. I've had them, but only in the frozen form. Not sure what they are supposed to taste like, but they look good.

Jeera is East Indian rice cooked with cumin seeds and black peppercorns. I haven't mastered the art of cooking basmati rice where each grain is still "individual grains." Mine is still too soft, but I sure love the cumin seeds.

Ambrosia Delight is a dessert in a 9x13 pan. The bottom is graham wafer crums, topped with sliced bananas, topped with coconut cream pudding with mandarin orange slices stirred in, along with toasted coconut flakes. This is then covered with whipped cream. It was smooth, cold, chewy, and tangy with the orange slices. I took the rest for the staff this morning. Thought I'd better get it out of the house! (Does mandarin orange segments help qualify this recipe as Chinese?)

What's in the bento, Peony?

And MiFi, what's in the sweet 'n ' sour chicken? Give details, please.

[peony]

What's in the bento, Peony?

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" He had egg omelette, sauté beansprout and tofu hotpot. "

that's the stuff in the bento.

[sheetz]

These were my 2nd attempt at the pineapple buns. Getting closer. You can actually make out the pineapple pattern on some of them.

[hzrt8w]

These were my 2nd attempt at the pineapple buns. Getting closer. You can actually make out the pineapple pattern on some of them.

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Both batches look very nice. What's the secret to the second batch's improvement?

[sheetz]

These were my 2nd attempt at the pineapple buns. Getting closer. You can actually make out the pineapple pattern on some of them.

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Both batches look very nice. What's the secret to the second batch's improvement?

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I raised the baking temperature, chilled the pineapple topping, rolled it out thicker, and re-etched the pineapple pattern on the buns halfway thru the baking. I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve to further refine them, though. Baking can oftentimes seem like a scientific experiment!

[sheetz]

I finally used up the turkey carcass in the freezer to make after-Thanksgiving jook, along with fried crullers (yao tiu) and thousand year old eggs.

[Nishla]

Thank you for posting your dinner, Nishla. It's especially heartening to see a non-chinese (you are not a chinese, I presume?) cooking chinese, and doing such a great job. Your soybeans are intriguing...I've never seen green soybeans before.

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Tepee, thanks for the compliment! I'm actually half Chinese (mom's side). My mom calls the green soybeans "mao dou", and I get them frozen. At Japanese restaurants you usually see them still in the pods. I like them with pork, shrimp or chicken, or in fried rice.

[Dejah]

sheets: Did you make the yao tiu? I want some and the store is closed!

Here are the pictures of the food from this weekend.

Kung pao chicken, shrimp sushi, and commercial potstickers.

Then Cantonese chow mein for brunch yesterday:

Hubby tells me I need to record my "good settings" for the camera. Who's got time when all I think about is cooking and eating?

Most of the pics are taken at night. It's so much easier during the day with natural light. Anyone with suggestions for better lighting? I usually have overhead incandescent lights, then I try with and without flash.

Also, how can I centre the pictures or place them side by side?

[Tepee]

Tepee: Those ping pei rolls are beautiful. You know that shape resembles a butterfly. Maybe you can add a few sprigs of carrot, lotus stalk or ginger to make the antennae.

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Tks, Kent. Yes, it's supposed to resemble a flutterby. I saw it a year ago at a dimsum place (their combination was red bean paste and lotus seed paste) and have wanted to make it since.