Chinese Eats at Home (Part 2)

[sheetz]

If you can get some whole plums in brine, try steaming spareribs with meen see sauce and a few mashed plums on top. Saltyilicious!

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I still have several more pounds of spareribs in the freezer so I will try that, too!

I swear, those puff pastries look like they were store bought.  It looks so professional! 

Anyone have any pork belly hints?  I'm going to try this one more time.

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Thanks for the compliment. As for pork belly, I've never made it like that before, but it seems strange to me that you would slice it up before simmering, since you'd think it would shrink a whole lot during cooking. Also, make sure you're gently simmering it and not boiling. Just those few degrees can make a difference.

Sheetz -- Those curry puffs look delicious! I admire you for starting from scratch with your own puff pastry. (Yeah, yeah, I know it isn't hard to do -- just time-consuming; that's why I use Pepperidge Farm.)

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It's true that it really doesn't take that long, especially if you've done it before. But the main advantage to doing it yourself is you can customize your ingredients the way you want it. For example, for the puff pastry I chose to use a butter/lard blend, which you'd probably be unable to find in a frozen puff pastry dough, and certainly not at most Chinese bakeries. Yet I think the taste of it goes perfectly well with the curry filling and to me is worth the effort.

[mizducky]

Anyone have any pork belly hints?  I'm going to try this one more time.

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Thanks for the compliment. As for pork belly, I've never made it like that before, but it seems strange to me that you would slice it up before simmering, since you'd think it would shrink a whole lot during cooking. Also, make sure you're gently simmering it and not boiling. Just those few degrees can make a difference.

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Yeah, I was going to say, from my pork belly experiments so far, that it's much easier to control the texture if you keep the meat in large pieces and wait to slice it thinly until after it's cooked. And yeah, you need to simmer it super low-and-slow. In fact, I've gotten my best results yet using a crockpot on its lowest setting, just letting the stuff barely simmer for at least 8 hours/overnight. That "squeaky" texture of the meat you reported from your most recent experiment sounds to me like the meat wound up overcooked--it may sound paradoxical, but even though you're simmering in liquid, you can still dry out and toughen the meat by simmering at too high a heat for too long, as that (and the salty broth) draws too much moisture from the meat and beats up too much on the protein.

I've learned for best results to get a really thick piece with the skin on, preferably one that has rib bones in it. It's really easy to slide the bones out once the meat is finished cooking. Use a cooking utensil in which you can keep the meat flat, in one layer. I've seen some recipes saying to keep it skin-side up, and some skin-side down; but whatever you do, don't do what I did once and put a couple of layers of meat on top of each other because then the skin will stick to the next layer and get all wrecked--still tastes great, but doesn't look anywhere near as pretty.

I have had really excellent results starting from this recipe, but with lots of changes:

--instead of cutting the meat into smallish chunks, I cut it into big strips about 2-3 inches wide; once it's cooked and cooled a bit , I'll then cut those strips into thin slices.

--because the pieces of meat are larger, I cook them for longer--but still really really low (that's where the crockpot comes in so handy)

--instead of all light soy sauce, I do 1/4 cup each of light and dark soy sauce;

--instead of brown sugar, I use the Chinese rock sugar.

--Oh yeah, and I usually don't bother to make the sauce--instead I save the broth for use in other recipes.

Heh, almost a different recipe by the time I've monkeyed with all that, huh? But my pork belly has gotten the taste-tester's seal of approval from someone who grew up eating the stuff, so I must be doing something right!

Edited March 16, 2007 by mizducky (log)

[Seitch]

The list of ingredients you posted is the same except for yu choi and arrowhead, Seith. Thanks! However, my Mom doesn't cook each as a dish, but does cook each ingredient separately then tossed together at the end. We may eat this mixture as part of a meal, but we love it more as a snack - forkfulls wrapped in lettuce.

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I didn't mean that arrowhead,yau choy or tofu were in the mix. Those are dishes from the morning meal. It's those other ones that are in mixed together and eaten with lettuce. It may very well be a Dai Gong thing.

[C. sapidus]

Sheetz and Bruce, you guys are amazing!!

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Ben Hong: Thank you!

Tonight we made Sichuan pepper-salt shrimp from an internet recipe. We tossed the shrimp in cornstarch, shallow-fried it until partly cooked, drained most of the oil, and finished cooking the shrimp with chiles, garlic, salt, white pepper, and ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns. I don’t know if this was Chinese or more Chinese-style, but it was tender, crunchy, salty, and numbing, with a sneaky-hot kick. The rest of the meal is on the Dinner! thread (click).

Sichuan pepper-salt shrimp

[sheetz]

A couple of dishes that are a bit different from what I usually make:

dry fried long beans with ground pork

Shanghai vegetarian "chicken" and shallots in black bean sauce. I bought a pack of frozen soy vegetarian "chicken" a few weeks ago when I was eating mostly vegetarian and forgot about it until yesterday. I'd never cooked these before but I did find one recipe where it was sliced, fried, and then stir fried so that's what I ended up doing. It had a very weird spongy texture, and the deep frying gave it a hard crust. Next time I don't think I'll fry it beforehand and just stir fry it with the other ingredients.

Edited March 18, 2007 by sheetz (log)

[XiaoLing]

Okay, so I am on a seafood kick lately. Haven't really been able to eat too much meat. For some reason, I am steaked-out.

Tonight a simple seafood meal of Stuffed Eggplant, Clams with Black Bean sauce and a veggie stir fry of napa cabbage and shitake mushrooms (I didn't take a pic of that one, figured it was a bit too simplistic. )

I made a HUGE (about 6 or more chinese eggplants) plate of stuffed eggplant thinking that I would have some leftovers for lunch but those darn vultures ate it all. Oh well, I guess I will have to buy a sandwich tomorrow.

[sheetz]

One Chicken prepared two ways:

White Cut Chicken:

Chicken Braised with Chestnuts, from Land of Plenty.

Edited March 23, 2007 by sheetz (log)

[C. sapidus]

Chicken Braised with Chestnuts, from Land of Plenty.

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Mmm, looks good! I have been eyeing that recipe for a while. How did it taste? Did you start with raw chestnuts?

[sheetz]

Mmm, looks good! I have been eyeing that recipe for a while. How did it taste? Did you start with raw chestnuts?

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Yes, I started with raw nuts, which were an awful pain to peel. It tasted fine, though, but next time I'll use preshelled nuts.

[XiaoLing]

We make this dish (red braised chicken with chestnuts) all the time at home. We usually take the short cut and cook with pre-cooked and peeled chestnuts.

Looks great sheetz!

[sheetz]

Stuffed tofu pockets with winter bamboo shoots in a Sichuan style sauce:

Steamed taro with Chinese bacon:

[Gastro888]

Thanks to everyone who gave pork belly hints! I really appreciate it. One day, I'll try it. Maybe when it gets colder. Now that it's getting warmer, I want lighter stuff. I need to keep me girlish figure!

Last night, I roasted a chicken that I picked from the live poultry market. This was my first time cooking something that was alive and moving before I cooked it. (Actually, it was freshly killed about 5 hours before I roasted the chicken. Sorry for the gory details but I'm telling you this so you know the full story).

I took the chicken home, cleaned off the remaining feathers, rinsed it and seasoned the chicken. I seasoned it with:

-salt

-5 spice powder

-white pepper

-garlic powder

-soy sauce

(OK so does having a Chinese girl roasting a chicken seasoned with 5 spice and soy sauce qualify this meal as Chinese food? )

I roasted the chicken for 15 minutes at 450 and then for 40 minutes at 365. This made for a chicken that was very, very faintly pink at the bone - perfect for me. I dislike well-done chicken.

WOW. It was a *HUGE* difference in taste between my chicken and the standard supermarket one. Even from the ones you get from the Chinese market! The meat was tender, moist and had a flavor to it that was so rich and meaty.

I'm never buying supermarket chicken again. I'm already planning to purchase a bird next week to brine. It was really tasty and the cost is worth it - $1.79/lb! I bought a 4.5 pound bird for $8. That was only a couple dollars more than what I would've paid at the local supermarket. So tasty and definitely worth it.

(Although I must admit, I felt a twang of guilt when I was selecting the chicken and then being reminded by my devout Buddhist friend that I committed a big no-no on the karma scale. Oops. Do most Chinese people who follow Buddhist tradition -not the devout ones - feel guilty? Just wondering. No, I'm not trying to start a religious conversation, only asking a question in the context of quality of food (freshly killed chicken is tasty) versus beliefs. I'm getting something that's fresh and hasn't been sitting around but I feel a bit guilty. I wonder if other people who have a strong food culture like ours feel this way.)

Edited March 28, 2007 by Gastro888 (log)

[XiaoLing]

Chinese mothers give you guilt on everything except for the food that you eat. That's an entirely different ball game. They will complain about your weight but in the same sentence say "I made this soup for you because you like it, eat it all and then go on a diet."

Speaking of guilty pleasures, I just recently made and ate one of mine. Pig's feet or to the people who are a big squeamish about the true name it will be known as Pork Hock.

It was very spicy and soft, just the way I LOVE it!! With a side of some very uneventful hot and sour savoy cabbage.

Pork is the "other" white meat, right??!?!

Edited March 28, 2007 by XiaoLing (log)

[Ben Hong]

XiaoLing Mui, red cooked pork hocks are my family's favourite red-cooked meat. Yours look unctuously decadent, redolent of anise, all sticky sweetness that stays on the lips long after the meal,.....oh, gawd.....

[C. sapidus]

Braised chicken with chestnuts (ban li shao ji), from Land of Plenty. I took inspiration from Sheetz’ version, and added a little toban djan for extra flavor. I would have liked to reduce the sauce a bit further, but hungry boys returned from swim team practice ready to eat (and eat, and eat . . .). Three pounds of chicken disappeared, somehow.

[trillium]

BTW, my chicken had black feathers and I think it was a hen.  They have roosters for sale as well as chickens with white feathers, speckled feathers and young chickens.  Is there a difference in taste between hens and roosters?  What about chickens with different feather colors - any difference?

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If the rooster is neutered, it gets called a capon in Western people's markets (I'm still cracking up at how polite the waitress at our favorite Cantonese restaurant is... no calling the whiteys guilos for her, no sir, they're western people). Anyway, capons are usually a lot bigger and fatter then a hen and good for roasting. Unneutered roosters will be tougher and are really good for long braising, but not stir-frying, steaming or boiling. For example, coq au vin is supposed to be made with a coq/cock/rooster.

I think the difference in taste between hens has more to do with species then feather color, but then I've never tasted the difference between brown or white hen eggs either! Some hens, which I prefer, have longer legs and no double breast ( the tenderloin piece is missing). They're usually older "heritage" varieties that happen to be brown or red feathered.

regards,

trillium

[Gastro888]

OK, cool! Thanks for the information. So is there anyway for me to identify a capon by sight only or do I have to get up close and personal? (Please tell me this is unnecessary.)

Feeling under the weather, I made chicken jook last night. I love the broken rice from the Vietnamese market for this. Cooking it in my mini rice cooker, made for a creamy, thick jook in about an hour. For flavor, I added the chicken head with the attacted head right before I pushed the button down to cook. It was amusing to see the chicken head bubbling away in my jook but boy, did it make for a tasty meal!

I ate this with my fu yee (and yes, adding more rice wine and salt did improve the flavor but it's nothing like my mom's brand!) and some dried seaweed on top. Jook. It's a good thing!

[Dejah]

I've been so busy lately that usually supper gets cooked, eaten, cleaned off without pictures. Students will write their final exam tomorrow, so no prep. to do this weekend. I'm also getting ready to go to Amsterdam and England for 2 1/2 weeks come April 9th, so will get my fill of posting before I leave!

Supper tonight was lily bulb soup with pork tenderloin and pork breast bones, and spareribs steamed with meen see and plums in brine.

Didn't get a pic of the soup though.

I made fish-fragrant eggplant a la Land of Plenty with the addition of velvetized pork tenderloin slices served atop of panfried tofu:

I was leery of the "fish-fragrant" part of the title, but it was very good.

Can someone tell me WHY it's called fish fragrant? Bruce? Probably so obvious that I should be embarrassed in asking.

[Ben Hong]

Can someone tell me WHY it's called fish fragrant? Bruce? Probably so obvious that I should be embarrassed in asking.

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It's called fish fragrant because that particular sauce/aroma is generally used for fish dishes, Dejah-Mui.

[Dejah]

Can someone tell me WHY it's called fish fragrant? Bruce? Probably so obvious that I should be embarrassed in asking.

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It's called fish fragrant because that particular sauce/aroma is generally used for fish dishes, Dejah-Mui.

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Really? I wouldn't have thought that - with the Sichuan chili bean paste, vinegar, etc?

[C. sapidus]

Can someone tell me WHY it's called fish fragrant? Bruce? Probably so obvious that I should be embarrassed in asking.

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It's called fish fragrant because that particular sauce/aroma is generally used for fish dishes, Dejah-Mui.

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Really? I wouldn't have thought that - with the Sichuan chili bean paste, vinegar, etc?

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I have read two explanations for fish-fragrant. Fuchsia Dunlop says that the combination of flavors was “thought to have originated in traditional Sichuanese fish cooking.” Barbara Tropp speculates that yu hsiang (fish fragrant) derives from the Yu (Chialing) River of Sichuan and the Hsiang River of Hunan; therefore “fish fragrant” should be translated as Sichuan-Hunan.

Me, I’m staying out of it. And yes, Dejah, with all due respect, you probably should be embarrassed to ask me about anything to do with the Chinese language.

I have made Ms. Dunlop’s fish braised in chili bean sauce (dou ban xian yu). The sauce includes chile bean paste and Chinkiang vinegar, along with ginger, garlic, stock, sugar, soy, and scallions. It was delicious, by the way.

[XiaoLing]

Can someone tell me WHY it's called fish fragrant? Bruce? Probably so obvious that I should be embarrassed in asking.

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It's called fish fragrant because that particular sauce/aroma is generally used for fish dishes, Dejah-Mui.

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Really? I wouldn't have thought that - with the Sichuan chili bean paste, vinegar, etc?

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Chili bean paste, black vinegar, soy and sugar (optional) is a very common way to cook fish in Wuhan, Sichuan, and Hunan. Sometimes we would leave out the chili bean paste and replace it with dried chilis but the vinegar will always be there (aka red braised.) In every household in those provences you will always find them making Dou Ban Yu (Chili Bean Fish) or Hong Shao Yu (Red Braised Fish.)

[Dejah]

Can someone tell me WHY it's called fish fragrant? Bruce? Probably so obvious that I should be embarrassed in asking.

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It's called fish fragrant because that particular sauce/aroma is generally used for fish dishes, Dejah-Mui.

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Really? I wouldn't have thought that - with the Sichuan chili bean paste, vinegar, etc?

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Chili bean paste, black vinegar, soy and sugar (optional) is a very common way to cook fish in Wuhan, Sichuan, and Hunan. Sometimes we would leave out the chili bean paste and replace it with dried chilis but the vinegar will always be there (aka red braised.) In every household in those provences you will always find them making Dou Ban Yu (Chili Bean Fish) or Hong Shao Yu (Red Braised Fish.)

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I was right! It's so obvious I should be embarassed. I have to stop thinking that Chinese cooking means onlyToisanese style.

I liked Bruce's explanation better though.

[XiaoLing]

Bruce's explanation sounds very poetic and it looks like he's done research. Which is more than I can say for myself. I'm lazy.

However, I make a really traditional Sichuan Yu Hsiang eggplant that I learned from real Sichuan natives and the first step is to mark the eggplant to resemble a fish. And then the sauce ends up to be a chili bean meat sauce. Very delicious and great with a big bowl of rice! So, me thinks Uncle Benny is right.

[hzrt8w]

However, I make a really traditional Sichuan Yu Hsiang eggplant that I learned from real Sichuan natives and the first step is to mark the eggplant to resemble a fish.

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"Real" Sichuan native, XiaoLing? Are there many fake ones?