Chinese Eats at Home (Part 2)

[Ben Hong]

To me, you don't "velvet" the meat by browning. It's the marinating of the meat with seasonings, oil and cornstarch that  results in the velvet texture once you chow the meat.  You don't have to remove the meat at medium rare unless you like it medium rare.

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I may be confused in the English terms. In Chinese (Cantones), we say "zhou yau" (running through hot oil). We use that technique for most of the dishes.

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The Toisanese pronounce it "guo yau" or "(pass) through the oil". That is not velveting, it is oil blanching. Velveting is what Dejah described...to make the meat smoother, or velvety. Terminologies can be confusing.

Edited January 31, 2007 by Ben Hong (log)

[shengcai]

I've been enjoying this thread for quite a while now, admiring all of these inspirational and tasty looking meals! Here's my first post to this thread:

chicken with fermented black bean and onion

choy sum with garlic

and to fulfill my daily allowance of cholesterol (and then some) -- bi dan!

[Dejah]

Welcome to the forum! Shengcai.

Your first post looks mighty good.

I'm wondering if your surname is "Cai" is another pronunciation of Choy/Choi/Tsai, and so on. We have some distant relatives here in the city named Cai. Written in Chinese characters, it is Choy.

Are you of the Toisanese clan?

[shengcai]

Thanks, Dejah! You are correct that Cai is another version of Choy/Choi/Tsai, though I am Shanghainese, not Toisanese. (origin of my beloved xiao long bao -- hence the avatar ). Nevertheless, it's nice to know that I may have some aunties and uncles in your neck of the woods. Does that mean I get to come over for dinner now ?

[hzrt8w]

and to fulfill my daily allowance of cholesterol (and then some)    -- bi dan!

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Lovely! I rarely see the transparent egg white and jell/liquid like egg yolks. I guess all the Asian markets in the Bay Area need to be fired! Most carry brands from the same manufacturer. And all are crappy. Dried and dull in color.

[Seitch]

Really?  I never knew.  We probably didn't get ginger with black beans on our side of the mountain.  Oops.

So what's the ratio of ginger to black beans and garlic in the mash?  1:1:1?

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The ratio I'd use is probably somewhere between 1.5:1:1 and 1:1:1 of black beans, ginger and garlic. Try different ratios until you find one you like.

[Gastro888]

and to fulfill my daily allowance of cholesterol (and then some)    -- bi dan!

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Lovely! I rarely see the transparent egg white and jell/liquid like egg yolks. I guess all the Asian markets in the Bay Area need to be fired! Most carry brands from the same manufacturer. And all are crappy. Dried and dull in color.

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Pay dan has high cholesterol? I never knew. Why is that?

Oh yeah and does anyone know where to get uncooked ham dan (salted duck eggs)? I can only find the COOKED kind in NYC. Bleah...

[Dejah]

Pay dan has high cholesterol?  I never knew.  Why is that?

Oh yeah and does anyone know where to get uncooked ham dan (salted duck eggs)?  I can only find the COOKED kind in NYC.  Bleah...

Egg yolks are high in Cholestrol; therefore,.....................

The ham dan you get is cooked? I've never heard of that. Are you thinking they are cooked because the yolk is firm? They wouldn't keep very long even in the fridge

[Ben Hong]

I have never heard of cooked salted eggs for sale except in restaurants. Eggs are naturally high in cholesterol.

Edited January 31, 2007 by Ben Hong (log)

[sheetz]

No, I think they only allow cooked salted duck eggs to be imported to the US now, from what people have told me.

Edited January 31, 2007 by sheetz (log)

[Ben Hong]

No, I think they only allow cooked salted duck eggs to be imported to the US now, from what people have told me.

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That country get stranger and stranger

[Gastro888]

Pay dan has high cholesterol?  I never knew.  Why is that?

Oh yeah and does anyone know where to get uncooked ham dan (salted duck eggs)?  I can only find the COOKED kind in NYC.  Bleah...

Egg yolks are high in Cholestrol; therefore,.....................

The ham dan you get is cooked? I've never heard of that. Are you thinking they are cooked because the yolk is firm? They wouldn't keep very long even in the fridge

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I should clarify - I didn't realize that the process of making pay dan makes them higher in cholesterol. That's what I meant. I know eggs are naturally high in cholesterol.

Yeah, we can't get raw salted duck eggs here. Shoot, that's what I should've bought in Montreal last year! I'll remember that for this year's visit.

[hzrt8w]

I should clarify - I didn't realize that the process of making pay dan makes them higher in cholesterol.  That's what I meant.  I know eggs are naturally high in cholesterol.

Yeah, we can't get raw salted duck eggs here.  Shoot, that's what I should've bought in Montreal last year!  I'll remember that for this year's visit.

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I think that is seems cholesterol is contained in the egg (yolk), that the process of making pei dan would not change that.

It's a bummer you can't get raw salted duck eggs. A few Cantonese-Chinese dishes use raw salted duck eggs. You can make your own. There were discussions on it in this forum a little while back. Duck eggs immersed in brine.

[Gastro888]

I'll try making my own one day. Later. Not now...too time consuming. Maybe when I retire. But so far I have to tackle the pork belly and the black bean sauce for next week. Tonight I've got Mexican and Korean on the menu.

[Dejah]

I'll try making my own one day.  Later.  Not now...too time consuming.  Maybe when I retire. 

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Good Grief! Too time consuming? When you retire? Why you young whippersnapper! I ought to take the gai mo so to your butt!

Salting your old ham dan is NOT time consuming. You buy some eggs, duck eggs if possible, or double yolk chicken eggs, or just extra large chicken eggs. Mix up brine strong enough so that an egg will float in it. Use a non-metallic container big enough to hold a couple dozen eggs. Add the eggs, place a plate on top so the eggs are all submerged but not packed down. Leave it in a cool place for a month - VOILA!

Check the eggs after about 3 weeks. How long it takes depends on how strong your brine solution is.

Retire...hrumph!

[Dejah]

I don't need to cook tonight. The international students are putting on a "foreigner food buffet" at the university. I love their wording. Not sure what the foreigner food will be, but some will be Chinese. The teachers are all guests, so we don't have to take food. Some of the students were disappointed!

[hzrt8w]

I'll try making my own one day.  Later.  Not now...too time consuming.  Maybe when I retire. 

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Good Grief! Too time consuming? When you retire? Why you young whippersnapper! I ought to take the gai mo so to your butt!

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You want me to hold her down?

We Chinese many times go to spend extra time and effort for good eats. Smoked Tea Duck, Peking Duck, many red braised dishes and double-boiled ("Dun") soups, shark fins, etc. etc. take hours and hours of preparations.

Soaking a few duck eggs in salt water for a few weeks does not seem too much of effort...

[Gastro888]

I'll try making my own one day.  Later.  Not now...too time consuming.  Maybe when I retire. 

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Good Grief! Too time consuming? When you retire? Why you young whippersnapper! I ought to take the gai mo so to your butt!

Salting your old ham dan is NOT time consuming. You buy some eggs, duck eggs if possible, or double yolk chicken eggs, or just extra large chicken eggs. Mix up brine strong enough so that an egg will float in it. Use a non-metallic container big enough to hold a couple dozen eggs. Add the eggs, place a plate on top so the eggs are all submerged but not packed down. Leave it in a cool place for a month - VOILA!

Check the eggs after about 3 weeks. How long it takes depends on how strong your brine solution is.

Retire...hrumph!

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Oh, Dejah jeh and Ah Leung Goh, you guys are funny. I am all for taking the time out to make good eats and I'm willing to work. But right now it's not that fesible for me considering I live in a shoebox of an apartment and I am usually cooking for either 1 or at most 2. The traditional (and correct) methods of cooking our wonderful food don't fit in with my current schedule and demands right now. Our ancestors never really had to deal with singleton life in the city. A dozen ham dan would last me at least two years plus I'd have the "hassle" of storing them. (As is, I'm storing my kitchen equipment in my room as there is no room in the kitchen.)

If I made some ham dan now, it may be easy (to be fair, I didn't know it was *that* easy! ) but I'd have this big ol' jar in the middle of my kitchen..that I'd have to walk around to get to the fridge!

Edited February 1, 2007 by Gastro888 (log)

[jasie]

lol. You guys are cute.

I finally have a "jian de liao ren" picture to post. lol. Most of the pictures I take don't look very good cuz its usually piled on and eaten immediately. But... here's my dinner from last night. lol.

Pork fried rice with crispy shrimp chilli on the side.

[Kent Wang]

I believe each duck egg has more than 100% of your daily recommend cholesterol.

Bitter melon stuffed with ground pork, scallions, garlic and sriracha.

[jasie]

Here's what I had for supper last night (friday)

Chai dao kueh.

[peony]

its' weekends again..

cook a simple meal of porridge n fried chicken wings

Pork n Pei-dan Porridge

Fried Salt n Pepper Wings

[BettyK]

Here's what I had for supper last night (friday)

Chai dao kueh.

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What is Chai dao kueh? This dish looks delicious. Care to elaborate?

[jasie]

its' weekends again..

cook a simple meal of porridge n fried chicken wings

Pork n Pei-dan Porridge

Fried Salt n Pepper Wings

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Wahhhh. Your pei dan chok alot of liao! Looks really awesome with the you zhar gwai also! *drools* And the wings look so crispy! 1 order of each pls!

[jasie]

What is Chai dao kueh? This dish looks delicious. Care to elaborate?

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It's steamed plain radish cake, diced up and then fried up with garlic, salted radish, egg and sweet/dark soy sauce! Hehe. Think its mostly found in Singapore and some parts of Malaysia.