Chinese Eats at Home (Part 2)

[Dejah]

Breakfast - dou hua beancurd with black vinegar, sliced green onion, soy sauce and the lao gan ma chilli oil variety with whole black beans and sichuan peppercorns.

Usually throw in some preserved mustard tuber and a pinch of sugar too but am out of both. Now THIS is the breakfast of champions..none of those sugar-frosted soggy cardboard cereals for me! 

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Whoa! You like to start your day off with "Chinese rocket fuel!"

[rarerollingobject]

Breakfast - dou hua beancurd with black vinegar, sliced green onion, soy sauce and the lao gan ma chilli oil variety with whole black beans and sichuan peppercorns.

Usually throw in some preserved mustard tuber and a pinch of sugar too but am out of both. Now THIS is the breakfast of champions..none of those sugar-frosted soggy cardboard cereals for me! 

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Whoa! You like to start your day off with "Chinese rocket fuel!"

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Definitely! Though I have been known to crumble crispy bacon over it from time to time....hey, I'm just honouring the Chinese love of pork, right??

[Ce'nedra]

Quick question but what's the best kind of vegie pickles to eat with a heart-warming bowl of congee? How do you make it?

I love congee (hell yeah -it's one of my favourites!) but the problem to me seems to be that in order to make it a dinner meal, I NEED some vegetables (it's a family thing) to eat with it otherwise I feel like I didn't have a complete meal *sigh*.

Oh the congee I'm talking about is the flavoursome century egg/pork kind.

Edited September 22, 2007 by Ce'nedra (log)

[hzrt8w]

Quick question but what's the best kind of vegie pickles to eat with a heart-warming bowl of congee? How do you make it?

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Sichuan pickled vegetable. In Cantonese it is "zha choy". In recent years, they sell these pickled vegetable already cut and packed in small quantity, ready-to-eat. No need to cook. I like to rinse off the liquid that comes in the package, and cut up the picked vegetables (from thin threads to tiny cubes).

[Ce'nedra]

hzrt8w thanks for the suggestion Is Sichuan pickled vegies spicy (I'm assuming this because it's from Sichuan ha)?

We tend to make our own pickled vegies and such at home because my parents have this thing against buying imported foods from Asia (they seem to think all products from China have illegal chemicals in it). What are the ingredients that are in this particular one you suggest?

What other 'healthy' foodies are good with congee?

[liuzhou]

Is Sichuan pickled vegies spicy

榨菜 Zha Cai (Mandarin); Zha Choy (Cantonese) is hot pickled mustard tuber.

The small bags of Fuling Zhacai from Chongqing which I buy also contain chile powder, MSG, Citric Acid and "spices".

On the rear of the bag, it helpfully tells me that the best way to eat it is to open the bag!

Edited September 23, 2007 by liuzhou (log)

[Dejah]

I like "real fresh" vegetables like gai lan and oyster sauce with my congee. And, Of course, Chinese cruellers!

You can add dried shredded pork as well - jook see, and lots of cilantro, green onions.

[Ce'nedra]

liuzhou: Interesting pack you've got there lol! A classic bag ahhaha!

Dejah: I like fresh vegies too but I just wonder if the taste goes well with my century egg congee hmm...

If I was to make pickled vegies, do you think the sour or salty kind is a better choice for congee?

What is commonly eaten with it anyway?

I'm just so used to eating congee by itself but if I have it for dinner, it's a totally different case. I need to feel 'complete' otherwise I won't be satisfied! Yeah I'm weird...

Edited September 23, 2007 by Ce'nedra (log)

[Dejah]

liuzhou: Interesting pack you've got there lol! A classic bag ahhaha!

Dejah: I like fresh vegies too but I just wonder if the taste goes well with my century egg congee hmm...

If I was to make pickled vegies, do you think the sour or salty kind is a better choice for congee?

What is commonly eaten with it anyway?

I'm just so used to eating congee by itself but if I have it for dinner, it's a totally different case. I need to feel 'complete' otherwise I won't be satisfied! Yeah I'm weird...

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The taste of gai lan and oyster sauce goes very well with congee and century egg. They add crunch and saltiness. I also like chili radish with my congee, again for the crunch, salt and spices. But, gai lan is more substantial if you want to make a bigger meal without devouring 3 or 4 large bowls.

As for pickled vegetables, I prefer the salty kind because congee is basically bland (the rice component) unless you add a lot of savory type ingredients: rehydrated dried scallops, oysters, etc) Somehow, sour doesn't seem right to me, but then, that might be the Toisanese/Cantonese influence.

For our family, like yesterday's brunch with friends, we had congee (made with leftover rib bones from siu yook) with Chinese crueller, siu mai, har gow, potstickers, and a stir-fried mixed vegetables lettuce wrap. I guess that's like having salad with a meal.

[Ce'nedra]

Dejah: Thank you! I think I'm settled on the gai lan thanks to you Well I could have pickled radish (the salty kind) on other days as well.

I will go with your Cantonese influence since the congee we make at home is of the Cantonese kind anyway There's no better congee than the century egg/pork (or chicken) kind in my personal opinion. It's sooo tasty and creamy and velvety smoooth! I'm thinking of flavouring mine with oyster sauce next time though so I wonder if the gai lan with oyster sauce stir fry is a bit of an overload...ehh, what the hell lol.

Mmm...Chinese cruellers...sooo good with congee....

What kind of peanuts to people normally eat with congee?

[His Nibs]

I usually get the fried, salted peanuts whenever I had congee in hong kong. A good accompaniment would be to blanching the gai lan and then drizzle the oyster sauce over it. The classic 蚝油芥榄。

[Ce'nedra]

Yep that's how my mum often cooks our vegies for dinner

As for the peanuts, that sounds so yummy but since it's fried, it would defeat the purpose of me trying to have a 'healthy' congee dinner so unfortunatley, I'd probably have to forgo that

Edited September 24, 2007 by Ce'nedra (log)

[hzrt8w]

I will go with your Cantonese influence since the congee we make at home is of the Cantonese kind anyway There's no better congee than the century egg/pork (or chicken) kind in my personal opinion.

.....

What kind of peanuts to people normally eat with congee?

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Remember that congee (jook) is a Cantonese specialty!

If you ever visit Hong Kong or Guangzhou, you will find a variety of congee being offered beside the staple beef, pork and century egg. Others include:

- pork liver

- "sampan style" (dried squid, pork skin, shrimp, a mix)

- pork blood

- pork stomach

- goose intestine

- fish filet

I know some of these ingredients don't sound too appealing to western cultures, but they are quite popular and loved in that region. I for one love pork blood in congee. Too bad very few Chinese restaurants in the US seem brave enough to offer it.

The peanuts that are fried and with salt sprinkled on top are indeed quite common as congee condiment.

Edited September 24, 2007 by hzrt8w (log)

[Ce'nedra]

I don't want to sound immature but I'm not one who can enjoy pork blood jelly (which I have tried before) and other random animal insides

My parents used to add pork blood into another form of congee that we make but that practice is long gone in our household (I don't think I miss it too ).

Plus, I don't think it's too good for you

The Cantonese style congees are the best kind in my personal opinion. They're the most comforting and with just the right amount of flavour

Interesting piece of information I found (whether it's reliable or not, again I'm not too sure so correct me if I'm wrong):

3,000 years ago, Congee was served only in the Imperial Court of the Tang Dynasty and was presented as a precious gift to the emperor's lords.

http://www.amoy.com/dimsum_body_e.html

[peony]

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone.

have a nice day.

[Ce'nedra]

Oh yes, happy Mid-Autumn Festival to you too (and everyone else)!

We (and almost the whole extended family) just went to visit my grandma -alot of chatting, tea drinking, moon cakes, fruits, etc

[Ce'nedra]

Here's my (very) simple 'grilled lemongrass Tiger prawns' -it may be sh*t easy but it's also really delicious I made this awhile back actually but since I only just joined eG, I'm still slowly posting my past meals lol.

I think this is more of a Vietnamese-inspired meal than Chinese (actually I think I must have made it from a Vietnamese cookbook? I don't remember...better check on that) but what the hell, it's Asian and yummyyyy!

[Dejah]

Ce'nedra: Beautiful looking shrimp!

No pictures, but Chinese forum's Venerable Uncle Ben Hong from New Brunswick was here tonight. He and two American buddies are in the area upland bird hunting. He warned me about their coming, but I wasn't sure exactly when!

Grandson is staying with us this week while his parents are in Las Vegas. Luckily, he requested joongzi for supper tonight, so I had pulled out a bag of 10 from the freezer. I was in the process of heating some up for supper when Ben called from a lake resort an hour away.

So, we introduced his American buddies to homemade joongzi, gai lan and oyster sauce, Chinese beef meatballs, AND MOONCAKE! For first-timers, his buddies licked the bamboo leaves clean! We drank "Go San Cha" with our meal.

[Ce'nedra]

Dejah thanks for your compliments

How did your new American buddies find the mooncake? LOL my dad's non-Asian friend thought the concept of an 'egg inside a cake' very strange hahhaha!

[Ce'nedra]

Made 'sweet tea-soaked eggs' (using mum's recipe) today -good and simple

[Ce'nedra]

Unfortunately I can't claim this as my own, but mum made a really delicious, warming Fish Congee

This isn't a recent meal though.

[hzrt8w]

Ce'nedra:

I think the brownish thing near the rim is some cut fried yao zha kwai. What is the brownish thing in the center? Fried shallot?

[Dejah]

Ce'nedra:

I think the brownish thing near the rim is some cut fried yao zha kwai.  What is the brownish thing in the center?  Fried shallot?

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Pickled chili garlic?

[Ce'nedra]

Nope, nothing pickled in the congee, hzrt8w is spot on

[liuzhou]

Dinner for two last night.

Salt and Pepper Prawns

Chicken with Yellow Hotbed Chives (韭黄)

Asparagus with Bacon

Edited October 3, 2007 by liuzhou (log)