Chinese Eats at Home (Part 1)

[Tepee]

Looks perfect, sheetz!! Did you use lard or shortening?

[sheetz]

I think if you change the filling to BBQ pork, this could be "Cha siu so"?  (BBQ pork flake)

For Cha Siu So the crust wouldn't have any sugar, but otherwise it's the same.

Is it gooey or is there chunks of winter melon for texture?

There's chunks of candied winter melon, along with some toasted sesame seeds and chopped peanuts.

Did you use lard or shortening?

Lard, of course!

[peony]

was kinda of busy baking CNY stuff..

Baked some lao po bing too..

[sheetz]

was kinda of busy baking CNY stuff..

Baked some lao po bing too..

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Peony, that's a beautiful glaze you have on those. How did you do it?

[Gastro888]

You both did a fantastic job! Someone please do a pictoral on these beautiful wife cakes! Wow, they look awesome!

(But again, I'm too afraid to bake Chinese pastries - one time I made dan tat and it was more like creme caramel in a pie crust. Bleah)

[XiaoLing]

WOW Peony! That looks delicious too!!

Can one of you do a pictorial pretty please?

I'm a bit baking impaired.

Oh and another question, where in the world do you guys find lard? Or do you make it yourself?

[Gastro888]

I've found that you can get the shelf stable lard at any Western grocery store. If you want to trek from Boston to NY's Union Square Green market on a weekend, I've seen leaf lard sold during the spring months. (But you'll have to render it yourself.)

[sheetz]

Hispanic butcher shops will also usually carry lard.

[Gastro888]

Also try your local farmer's or Amish market. The one in Maryland sells lard and it was very fresh. $2 for a whole pint!

[sheetz]

I tasted the wife cakes today and they do seem to taste much better than before. When they are warm the sweetness is muted and the layers aren't as set. Also, I think with the recipe I used that the ratio of crust to filling was too high, and that the cakes themselves were much too large. I wouldn't be averse to making the recipe again with some minor adjustments and doing a pictorial. The only problem is I ran out of lard and would have to go get some more.

Edited January 17, 2007 by sheetz (log)

[aznsailorboi]

I apologize for stealing the stage from lao po ping for a minute.... I'm making the Ginseng Chicken Soup and I just wanted to share the pics of what i have accomplished so far. its still in the crock pot another 7 hrs to go..... lol (warning contains graphic pictures of dead birds)

uhmm the dead birds....

the dead birds after being pre-boiled for 3 min then rinsed in cold water, now in the crock pot

here's the Ginseng no label to whether its asian or american ginseng.

Ginseng and Wolfberries

here's everything in the pot including the dried mushrooms

7 hours is just too long .... i will post more later to the finished soup.

[hzrt8w]

Oh and another question, where in the world do you guys find lard? Or do you make it yourself? 

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It is really easy to make your own lard.

See my picture sequence here:

A Pictorial Guide To Seasoning a Brand New Wok

And as a bonus, you have some "chu yau zha" to chew on at the end or to use them to make Char Quay Teow.

Edited January 17, 2007 by hzrt8w (log)

[hzrt8w]

uhmm the dead birds....

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You can get birds with head and feet? That's great!

the dead birds after being pre-boiled for 3 min then rinsed in cold water, now in the crock pot

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3 birds in a crock pot??? Either these birds are very tiny or that your crock pot is really hugh!!!

Ginseng and Wolfberries

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Young man: after you have all these ginseng, I hope you wouldn't have any problem sleeping.

[Gastro888]

...that the cakes themselves were much too large....

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aznsailorboi is doing a great job with posts. Careful with the ginseng, you're gonna be up all night cleaning your house if you don't watch how much tong you're drinking there! It happened to my friend one time. She was up until 2am cleaning!

And sheetz, there's nothing wrong with a super-size lo poh beng!

Or are they supposed to be all delicate like?

[sheetz]

And sheetz, there's nothing wrong with a super-size lo poh beng! 

Or are they supposed to be all delicate like? 

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These suckers are huge, though! Much bigger than any I have ever seen anywhere. My preference is to make them big enough so that each one is a single serving because if you try to cut them up into pieces the delicate pastry tends to fall apart.

[Gastro888]

You could make mini lo poh bengs - I've seen them in bakeries here and there. But I guess it would be harder.

You could do the El Bulli thing and deconstruct those suckers!

[hzrt8w]

You could make mini lo poh bengs - I've seen them in bakeries here and there.  But I guess it would be harder.

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I have eaten some miniature cakes from Zen's Peninsula as complimentary desserts. I can't remember whether those were wife's cake or little chicken cake. (Gai Tsai Beng) They are a little bigger than the size of a US quarter. Must be time consuming to make.

[sheetz]

I have eaten some miniature cakes from Zen's Peninsula as complimentary desserts.  I can't remember whether those were wife's cake or little chicken cake.  (Gai Tsai Beng)  They are a little bigger than the size of a US quarter.  Must be time consuming to make.

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They would not take as long to make as you think. When making conventionally sized wife's cakes most of the time is consumed by forming the individual flaky pastry doughs. When making miniatures sized ones you can streamline the process by making one large flaky pastry dough similar to French puff pastry and then cutting rounds using a biscuit cutter.

[sheetz]

Made clay pot rice with chicken, lop cheong, mushrooms and bacon. The recipe called for Chinese bacon but I was all out.

[Dejah]

Majra, welcome and thanks for your beautiful pics. I dream of a wok setup like yours.

As promised, these are my wife cakes made using this

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Sheetz: Those low paw bangs are amazing When can I place my order?

I was reading over the ingredients for the filling. As I have never made these, I am not familiar with koh fun - cooked glutinous rice flour. Is there another name for it?

In the second recipe you linked to, there were instructions on making your own koh fun. But, I can't visualize "steaming" glutinous rice flour. Wouldn't it become a "glob"?

What is the function of koh fun in the filling?

[sheetz]

I was reading over the ingredients for the filling. As I have never made these, I am not familiar with koh fun - cooked glutinous rice flour. Is there another name for it?

In the second recipe you linked to, there were instructions on making your own koh fun. But, I can't visualize "steaming" glutinous rice flour. Wouldn't it become a "glob"?

What is the function of koh fun in the filling?

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I'd never heard of it, either, but it's a common ingredients at the Kuali.com website. I know it sounds weird, but I went ahead and steamed a cup of glutinous rice flour just to see what would happen and to my surprise it didn't form a huge sticky mass. There were a few blobs where condensation dripped on the flour but those were easy to fish out. Then I put the steamed flour in the microwave and heated it until it started to turn an ivory color and used that in the recipe.

There's a photo of it at this food blog about 2/3 down the page.

http://pwmf.blogspot.com/2005/10/baking-essentials.html

Using koh fun instead of regular glutinous rice flour makes the filling less gooey.

[Dejah]

What is the function of koh fun in the filling?

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I'd never heard of it, either, but it's a common ingredients at the Kuali.com website. I know it sounds weird, but I went ahead and steamed a cup of glutinous rice flour just to see what would happen and to my surprise it didn't form a huge sticky mass. There were a few blobs where condensation dripped on the flour but those were easy to fish out. Then I put the steamed flour in the microwave and

Using koh fun instead of regular glutinous rice flour makes the filling less gooey.

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Thanks, sheetz. I'll keep that information on file for the day I might decide to try my hand at wife cakes.

[hzrt8w]

Page 20! A milestone! Call for a celebration! We need more pictures...

Dinner... this is NOT Mapo Tofu. Though it looks very close. I didn't have much fresh produce in the fridge... Got a can of the Taiwanese minced beef sauce. Cooked it with some tofu and button mushrooms and corns.

Edited January 18, 2007 by hzrt8w (log)

[aznsailorboi]

here's the brew after 8 hours. I added the bok ni at 5 hours.

and then dinner......

very rich, yet very clean to the palate, and it doesn't have that "medicinal" taste, i guess cooking it for a long period of time mellowed out the herbal flavors.

I dunno if i've been rejuvenated though.

[peony]

Peony, that's a beautiful glaze you have on those. How did you do it?

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I just used egg yolk for the glaze. I didn't use lard but oil, maybe that's the diff ?.