Chinese Eats at Home (Part 2)

[Dejah]

Oh, sure, now you have all fuelled my cravings for more curry!  

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Congratulations! This thread has achieved page 30 now! Would you like to celebrate it with:

Indian curry (so many to choose from)

Malaysian curry (coconut milk!)

Vietnamese curry (lemon grass and lime juice and fried shallot)

Chinese curry (the green pepper, onion, patoto stuff)

Thai curry (red, green or yellow?)

Japanese curry (MSG!)

English curry

???

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All of the above!

Last night, I made Beef Chili Curry ( bade aur mirch ki curry) from Meena Pathak'

Flavours of India. To make this Chinese related, we had it for supper with jasmin rice. Just now, we ate the leftovers with cheung fun. That curry sauce was so good with the rice rolls!

I was going to make Grilled Lemongrass Pork Riblets from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, but the meat needs to marinate for 24 hours. I will have to wait until the weekend.

I am enjoying the two new books I bought. The photos in both are great inspirations. I always like to see what the food should look like even if mine don't look as pretty. Have to keep remembering: Professionals paint their food.

Edited to add last night's Beef Chili Curry.

Edited February 8, 2007 by Dejah (log)

[Dejah]

Sorry if I veered everyone off topic. 

Back to food...

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Oh, we we all do get carried away sometimes. After all, CNY is fast approaching.

I was cleaning out my fridge for supper tonight - finished off leftover roast beef, topped with the curried beef, with a big plate of Shanghai bak choi miu stir-fried with garlic and drizzles of sesame oil.

Instead of rice, we had Weight Watcher friendly pretend potatoes - boiled lobak then stir-fried with 4 peppercorn spice. I really like this substitute, but it's not rice.

[Ben Hong]

Cantonese (familiarly) "Sik joh fan mei-ah?"

Toysanese: "Hek a-fun mei-ah?" Or very familiarly, "Hek a m'hung ah?"

[Dejah]

Mandarin as it sounds to me" Chur fan lah mah?"

Chi fan le ma?

吃烦了吗?

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I guess I didn't acquire the proper tones through osmosis in the Mandarin class.

There's Cantonese coming thru' in the "lah mah"

I want to make red braised beef with white radish tomorrow - a la Fushia Dunlop's Land of Plenty. Reading through the recipe, I don't know what cao guo is, even after seeing the image on google. I don't have it in my pantry, and if I can't find it tomorrow at our small store, can I substitute it with something else? I'll have to leave out most or all of the chili bean paste as my mom doesn't eat spicy.

Maybe I should just use soy sauce, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, scallions, wine, rock sugar, and daikon?

[muichoi]

Cao Guo is very similar indeed to the black cardamom.

[Dejah]

Cao Guo is very similar indeed to the black cardamom.

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Thanks, muichoi! The glossary did say it was cardamom-like. I have black cardamom, so I'm set to go!

Liuzhou: You could fool me anyday. I can't read Chinese characters except for a couple.

[Dejah]

I've got two different "braises" in the oven: one is Fushia Dunlop's Red-Braised Beef with White Radish in the sandpot for those of us who like spicy, and the smaller cast iron pot is Gloria Bley Miller's Red-Simmered Spiced Beef with Turnips. I have them both in the oven set at 275F. In the last hour, I'll cook the turnip chunks separately, then add them for the last half hour or so.

Show 'n' tell after supper.

[Dejah]

Catch up time with the pictures!

Yesterday for lunch - fried wutau goh.

For supper - Pickerel with mixed vegetables. The fish was marinated in salt, white pepper, MSG, sherry, ginger. oil, cornstarch.

Lunch today - "Naked" wontons, egg noodles, siu choi, char siu, sweet chili sauce and cilantro -my favourite herb!

Good to every last drop! I collect roosters.

Edited February 12, 2007 by Dejah (log)

[Dejah]

Ok. Here are the results from my "braising" afternoon:

We also had fresh lily bulb soup, stir-fried baby bak choi, and jasmin rice. Po-Po came for supper.

This is Fushia Dunlop's Red-braised beef with Turnip - the dish on the left in the above picture.

The smaller-portioned one is from Gloria Bley Miller - Red-simmered Spiced Beef with Turnip.

For Ms. Dunlop's, I could have used more toban sauce. This time, I actually liked the underlying heat from the Szechuan peppercorns. I didn't bit into any, so just experienced the heat. I added some fresh chilis. I think I'd like more variety in vegetables rather than just turnip.

The non-spicy one was really rich! It was very tender and Po-Po loved it.

I used beef shortribs. There was a great deal of fat floating on top, so I took the meat out, chilled the liquid, and skimmed off the fat. The lobak was 1/2 cooked by boiling, then added to the braise 30 minutes before we ate.

I'd make Ms. Dunlop's again with more heat. With the red-simmered recipe, I think I prefer the flavours with pork.

[hzrt8w]

Lunch today - "Naked" wontons, egg noodles, siu choi, char siu, sweet chili sauce and cilantro -my favourite herb!

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What does "naked" mean? No wonton wrapper? Would the ground pork filling form a ball shape without the wrapper?

[hzrt8w]

My dinner picture from the pictorial:

Stir-fried Mustard Greens (Gai Choy) with Fish Cake (鱼雲抄芥菜)

[C. sapidus]

Ok. Here are the results from my "braising" afternoon:

We also had fresh lily bulb soup, stir-fried baby bak choi, and jasmin rice. Po-Po came for supper.

Dejah: Wow, beautiful braises!

For Ms. Dunlop's, I could have used more toban sauce. This time, I actually liked the underlying heat from the Szechuan peppercorns. I didn't bit into any, so just experienced the heat. I added some fresh chilis. I think I'd like more variety in vegetables rather than just turnip.

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Yes, I felt the same way about Ms. Dunlop's red pork. It was good, but needed a litte more "something". What other vegetables do you think would work with that dish?

[Dejah]

Lunch today - "Naked" wontons, egg noodles, siu choi, char siu, sweet chili sauce and cilantro -my favourite herb!

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What does "naked" mean? No wonton wrapper? Would the ground pork filling form a ball shape without the wrapper?

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I'm trying to reduce my carb intake, so wonton wrappers were omitted.

Take a lump of filling and rolling it around to form a ball - just the way you'd make meatballs. The filling was ground lean pork, shrimp, and waterchestnut. I missed the wrapper, but it was still good.

Yes, I felt the same way about Ms. Dunlop's red pork. It was good, but needed a litte more "something". What other vegetables do you think would work with that dish?

Bruce: I've been thinking about other vegetables. Have to be careful as carrots or other colourful vegetables would add sweetness, and that would change the flavour of the dish. I'll have to look through other Szechuan recipes to see if they offer anything different.

Suggestions from eGulleteers would be most welcomed.

[Ben Hong]

I'm trying to reduce my carb intake, so wonton wrappers were omitted.

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But Sue-On mui, you have noodles in the bowl .

[Dejah]

I'm trying to reduce my carb intake, so wonton wrappers were omitted.

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But Sue-On mui, you have noodles in the bowl .

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What sharp eyes you have, Ben Sook.

I said "reduce", not remove!I think I had at most, 1/2 cup of noodles.

We just finished lunch: leftover red-simmered beef from Gloria Bley Miller's recipe - on sprouted grain bread. Mine was piled high with mixed field greens - very yummy.

There is still some of Ms. Dunlop's braised beef in the fridge. Will leave that for tomorrow as I am grilling Vietnamese Lemongrass ribs tonight. The sun's out, so I will bundle up and be brave. What sacrifices I make to try new recipes. Food - the all powerful!

I wanted to make spicy cucumber salad for a side, but the English cukes are close to $3.00 each! May break down and do it anyway.

[hzrt8w]

There is still some of Ms. Dunlop's braised beef in the fridge. Will leave that for tomorrow as I am grilling Vietnamese Lemongrass ribs tonight. The sun's out, so I will bundle up and be brave. What sacrifices I make to try new recipes. Food - the all powerful!

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I use the indoor grill for making my Vietname BBQ beef/pork slices. It works pretty well. Just heat up the cast iron grill over 2 regular gas stove burners.

Better have good kitchen ventillations though.

[Ben Hong]

I am grilling Vietnamese Lemongrass ribs tonight. The sun's out, so I will bundle up and be brave. What sacrifices I make to try new recipes. Food - the all powerful!

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quote]

Do you know that it's not rising above -20 C. tomorrow in Brandon?? Talk about tough prairie women!! What's next?? You going out to hunt and butcher your own buffalo in a blizzard???

Edited February 12, 2007 by Ben Hong (log)

[Dejah]

There is still some of Ms. Dunlop's braised beef in the fridge. Will leave that for tomorrow as I am grilling Vietnamese Lemongrass ribs tonight. The sun's out, so I will bundle up and be brave. What sacrifices I make to try new recipes. Food - the all powerful!

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I use the indoor grill for making my Vietname BBQ beef/pork slices. It works pretty well. Just heat up the cast iron grill over 2 regular gas stove burners.

Better have good kitchen ventillations though.

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I actually have the Jen-Air indoor grill, but it shuts off when it gets to the temp. I want. It's an older model, and the repair guy can't seem to find out why this happens. The downdraught exhaust also shuts off when it heats up. I think I need the hotter temperature to get the proper charring on the meat.

So, I will brave the cold. Actually, it's warmer this week than it was last week - with temps around -35C and windchill of -40C.

Me Brave Chinese Woman on the Frozen North!

[Dejah]

Me Brave Chinese Woman on the Frozen North!

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How many kilometers are you from the Northpole again?

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OMG! It's -37C outside and I'm grilling the ribs!

These ribs had better be worth it!

[sheetz]

Haha, we're supposed to be getting a foot of snow tonight, so it's no picnic here, either.

I spent most of the weekend making dumplings (or as the Toisanese say, "tay") for CNY. It was a lot of work, but here are the fruits of my labor.

Here I have spring rolls filled with pork, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and carrots; jin dui using this recipe for the dough and homemade lotus seed paste for the filling; and fried wontons stuffed with ground turkey (I ran out of pork) and shrimp.

These are potstickers made with homemade wrappers and stuffed with ground turkey and bok choy, and lo bok go with dried shrimp and lop cheong.

Whew! I have a newfound respect for Chinese grandmothers.

Edited February 13, 2007 by sheetz (log)

[Dejah]

Haha, we're supposed to be getting a foot of snow tonight, so it's no picnic here, either.

I spent most of the weekend making dumplings (or as the Toisanese say, "tay") for CNY. It was a lot of work, but here are the fruits of my labor.

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Well, sheetz, you have my respect! I probably won't get many tay done for CNY. I'll be busy cooking bday supper for #1 son - bday on NY'e eve. I was planning to have prime rib and alaskan king crab. Made the mistake of asking what he'd like, and he said, "Chinese food!" So, back to the drawing board!

[Dejah]

sheetz said she is expecting a foot of snow in her area tonight. Here's what I was

working in tonight!

and:

and finally:

The results of standing out in the backyard, grilling in -37C weather! Even Atticus the dog couldn't be enticed to join me.

These are the Vietnamese Lemongrass Ribs from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. I put them onto skewers for easy of turning. I really liked them, but will increase the lemongrass and caramel sauce next time. The flavour was definitely there, but I like everything bigger than life.

To make this fit into the Chinese Eats at Home, I stir-fried lotus root, peppers, straw mushrooms, babycorn, etc as a side, along with spicy cucumber, and, um... uh... the best Indian spiced basmati rice I've ever made!

I think this should be considered my Valentine's Day present to hubby. M uch better than a card or box of chocolates.

[C. sapidus]

Tonight we made Barbara Tropp’s hot and sour Hunan chicken. School was out today, so I prepared all of the ingredients this morning while home with the boys. I liked some things about this dish and did not like others. The texture of the vegetables was very nice, with the carrots sliced thinner and cooked longer than the zucchini. Ms. Tropp’s instructions were excellent as usual, and I learned several techniques from this one recipe.

I had never “velveted” chicken before, and perhaps I did it wrong but I prefer the taste and texture of chicken that has been seared in a hot wok. Also, the flavors of the sauce never really came together. I’ll try the leftovers for breakfast – perhaps it just needed a little salt. Overall, not bad for a quick weeknight meal, but I probably won’t make this again.

Edamame and jasmine rice on the side. I hope jasmine rice isn’t “trendy” – I like it too much.

[snowangel]

I had never “velveted” chicken before, and perhaps I did it wrong but I prefer the taste and texture of chicken that has been seared in a hot wok.

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Bruce, did you velvet in water or oil?

[sheetz]

I had never “velveted” chicken before, and perhaps I did it wrong but I prefer the taste and texture of chicken that has been seared in a hot wok.

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For chicken, especially dark meat, it's really not that important. It makes a much greater difference for beef, which can get very tough if overcooked.

Edited February 16, 2007 by sheetz (log)