Dinner 2016 (Part 4)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

3 hours ago, kayb said:

I have had coconut curry with mango, but this did not have it. I thought about fresh pineapple, as I had some; but no fruit in this one. It was ultra-simple curry -- onion, garlic, a plentiful portion of Thai red curry paste, and coconut milk.

 

On 4/30/2016 at 8:09 PM, huiray said:

Oh Chien chez huiray, today's version. Served with green cabbage & Lingham's Hot Sauce.

Medium-hot pan, peanut oil, batter**, beaten duck eggs, oysters, dash of fish sauce, chopped scallions.

** mixture of rice flour, tapioca starch, water, white pepper, salt, fish sauce.

 

 

Fascinating. Must try this.

 

I was intrigued by @huiray's dish too, kayb. It reminds me of "Hangtown Fry" which supposedly, and it sounds very believable to me, was introduced in California here in the USA in the 1850's. I think there were a lot of Chinese immigrants in that area working as cooks and also building the railroads. The story about the history of this dish in our country agrees with the one in my old copy of "The Joy of Cooking". I just love it when there is a story behind a recipe, although some of them are hotly contested.

 

Also interestingly, the word chien translates from the French to English as "dog". That raised an eyebrow, but I was unable to find a Chinese translation for chien to English. If huiray would care to chime in with a literal translation for "Oh Chien", which means "oyster omelet" in Chinese, that would only add to the fun of the history of this dish.

[liuzhou]

18 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Also interestingly, the word chien translates from the French to English as "dog". That raised an eyebrow, but I was unable to find a Chinese translation for chien to English. If huiray would care to chime in with a literal translation for "Oh Chien", which means "oyster omelet" in Chinese, that would only add to the fun of the history of this dish.

 

'Oh Chien' is the Hokkien dialect rendition of 蚵煎. The first character means 'oyster' and the second means 'fried', So, something like 'oyster fry'. In Mandarin Chinese it is 'é jiān'. There is no direct mention of omelet.

 

Or dogs!

Edited May 2, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I was ashamed to post this in weinoo's "How Many Meals From One Roast Chicken?" thread.  However I finally finished off my Griggstown Farm poussin.

 

I rather wish I owned a smaller Zojirushi.  A go of rice at one sitting is a prodigious amount for any average sedentary old woman who is not a samurai.  Nonetheless with enough wine almost anything is possible.  Served with broccoli florets from my most recent thepurplecarrot.com kit.

 

For those counting at home, this would have made roast chicken meal ten.

 

Jo, of course you know that leftover rice can be saved in the fridge for fried rice for subsequent meals.

 

I made planned over rice the night before last for just this purpose. I'm working through a chicken too, so it was to be chix fried rice with peppers, eggs, onions, mushrooms and peppers.

 

Then a leak developed in POSTI (my Piece of Shit to Infinity dishwasher) again that made it necessary to turn off all hot water supply to the kitchen. I washed the few dishes by boiling water on the stove and we had takeout from McDonald's because we're broke as usual. I've been washing dishes by hand for about a month by hand, because it just wasn't worth it to ask for help from the overlords. 

 

I'm going to be forced to call the landlord tomorrow to get any functionality in the kitchen. The last time I called them for maintenance on a broken furnace on a cold winter day, they fined me. I'm really not looking forward to it at all, but at this point, I really have no choice. I think it's a check valve in the dishwasher that failed that is supposed to turn the water off when POSTI does, but it leaked internally at first slowly, and when I turned it on, then quickly off to get it to pump itself out, it began to leak quickly enough that I can't turn on hot water long enough to do dishes, unless I want another external leak flowing into the kitchen. So no choice.

 

At this point my dinner and kitchen life is POSTI, and I hope to report back with much better news soon. 

 

TftC

[Shelby]

It was downright cold yesterday.  I hadn't made chicken noodle soup for a long time so that's what we had.  With toasted cheese sandwiches.

 

 

[huiray]

12 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Also interestingly, the word chien translates from the French to English as "dog". That raised an eyebrow, but I was unable to find a Chinese translation for chien to English. If huiray would care to chime in with a literal translation for "Oh Chien", which means "oyster omelet" in Chinese, that would only add to the fun of the history of this dish.

 

12 hours ago, liuzhou said:

'Oh Chien' is the Hokkien dialect rendition of 蚵煎. The first character means 'oyster' and the second means 'fried', So, something like 'oyster fry'. In Mandarin Chinese it is 'é jiān'. There is no direct mention of omelet.

 

Crepes, yes, the term is as Liuzhou described. Thanks, Liuzhou. 

 

(N.B. the ideogram "蚵" is the commonly used character in Hokkien (see the wiki article Liuzhou linked to) for oyster. The standard Chinese character is "蠔" (traditional) or "蚝" (simplified) for oyster.)

That it is an "omelet" is not directly stated but when one says "oh chien" in Malaysia or Singapore it is understood to be a fried oyster omelet/omelette. There are many variations with each hawker and each household seemingly having their own version, although there are two basic styles (crispy or slightly gooey) and the essential components need to be there for it to be called "oh chien". I believe "oh chien" also tends to suggest a Penang variation (or a Penang Hokkien derivation) whereas "or chien" tends to suggest a Singaporean variation (or a Singaporean Hokkien derivation) but usually both terms/pronunciations are mutually understood as the same dish.

 

ETA: @Thanks for the Crepes and @kayb, take a look too at this old post on eGullet. Liuzhou also posted about other oyster preps in Chinese cuisine as did other posters. This poster/post on that same thread/topic also referred to oysters as a CNY dish - apropos to what I reported having in my "Opening the Year" meal here on eG recently.

Edited May 2, 2016 by huiray
Additional comments (log)

[huiray]

Sorry to hear about your kitchen troubles, Crepes. Hope to read of your cooking exploits again soon.

[huiray]

Made shrimp wontons with most of the rest of the rock shrimp I got the other day.

 

In process.

Shrimp tossed w/ finely chopped scallions (white parts only), grated ginger w/ the juices, bit of Shaohsing wine, some Maldon salt, some sugar, some cornstarch, fresh ground white pepper, bit of rice bran oil. Made wontons using Hong Kong style (relatively thin) square wonton wrappers [Twin Marquis].

 

Made soup/broth – chicken & shrimp stock diluted w/ water, some oil added, simmered w. small dried "stock fish" (see below) & dried thick-cap Chinese mushrooms plus saved stems for maybe 3/4 hour; seasoning adjusted. Filtered, mushroom caps retrieved & sliced.

 

The dried "stock fish".

 

Wontons cooked simply in simmering water.

Chiffonaded young collard greens simmered w/ the sliced mushroom caps in the broth, then bowled w/ the cooked wontons & garnished w/ chopped scallions.

 

Wonton wrappers cut into strips then deep-fried eaten alongside.

 

Leftover wontons cooked for a subsequent meal, augmented w/ "Chinese Spinach & Pork Wontons" [Prime Food] & bowled w/ leftover broth/soup & collard greens sans mushrooms. Added in a bundle of "Shrimp Noodles" [Sun Kee] (see below) and topped it all with more scallions, green parts.

 

The shrimp noodles.

These are hand-made ("手工製作"), non-fried ("非油炸") (air-dried instead) Cantonese type shrimp noodles (廣東蝦子麵). Declared to be "health (=healthy) noodles", heh. ("健康麵") Cooked by simply simmering in water using chopsticks to gently ease apart the bundle as it softens.

Do not overcook - this one will fall apart/turn to mush if done so. (Listed ingredients are but four - flour, egg powder, shrimp, water.)

[Sparren]

Grilled flank with strawberries mushrooms, jalapeno, lime, etc.

[BonVivant]

Hardly any real cooking today. I think the steamed asparagus brought out the minerally dry and softly floral flavours of this otherwise standard Riesling.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

12 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Jo, of course you know that leftover rice can be saved in the fridge for fried rice for subsequent meals.

 

Unlike some leftovers, I don't refrigerate cooked rice for food safety reasons.  The rice cooker will hold the rice in eatable condition for about 24 hours, but I can't always face it the next day.

[mgaretz]

2 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Unlike some leftovers, I don't refrigerate cooked rice for food safety reasons.  The rice cooker will hold the rice in eatable condition for about 24 hours, but I can't always face it the next day.

 

I vacuum pack and freeze my leftover rice in single meal portions.  You can then reheat in the microwave but cutting off a corner or boil in water.

[mm84321]

Lobster, asparagus and morels

 

[huiray]

Cheese & charcuterie plate.

From bottom-left going clockwise: Pâté de Campagne [Smoking Goose; "limited edition" batch], EWE CALF to be KIDding cheese [Hook's Cheese; scroll down the webpage], the last piece** of Salame Cotto [Smoking Goose], Lomo (basically a Lomo Embuchado) [Smoking Goose], Fromager d'Affinois Truffes [Fromagerie Guilloteau]. All from Goose the Market.

Plus raw local asparagus, sweet yellow mini-peppers, Francese bread [Amelia's].

 

** I gobbled up the rest of the half-pound I got just the other day with ripped-off pieces of bread, heh. Can't remember why I left one piece.

Edited May 3, 2016 by huiray
Spelling (log)

[ElsieD]

Shredded pork stir fry with sweet bean sauce, rice and cucumber marinated in seasoned rice vinegar.  The pork recipe came from The Woks of Life website and oh my, was it ever good.

[HungryChris]

It was my intention to buy a steak (for Deb) and a few lamb chops (for me, as Deb does not like lamb), but instead I spotted this pork tenderloin on sale:

 

 

I decided to do a pork tenderloin, Mojo, citrus garlic skewer with veggies on jasmine rice with TJ's red curry.  Here are the skewers after being cut  into large

sea scallop sized pieces and marinated in mojo for 2 hours:

 

 

I cooked the skewers on the grill while I cooked the peppers and onions in a wok and jasmine rice in the instant pot. When the rice and skewers were ready, the pork

from the skewers were added to the veggies along with the red curry sauce in the wok, then served up. I would have liked a little more heat, but will tweak that  next time.

 

 

HC

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[Norm Matthews]

I got an email from King Arthur this morning with a lot of ideas for things to do with sourdough starter. I decided to try Onion and Bay loaf and headed to the store for some white whole wheat flour.  While I was there I went to the meat counter to see what looked good to go with the bread for dinner tonight.  They had a chuck roast that was a good size for two people so that decided the rest the meal. We also had a tossed salad and on a whim I picked up a pineapple upside down cake.

[robirdstx]

I thought I had pulled out a portion of pork tenderloin to thaw for a stir-fry but ended up with pork loin chops instead. Oh well, change of menu!

 

Pan-Seared Pork Chops In Wine Sauce

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

You guys and gals are killing me as usual! I won't mention my dinner, because it is unmentionable.  I am not starving, and for that I am very grateful. It's hard on one hand and good on the other to look at all of the beautiful food here and imagine I'm a guest at any of your tables.

 

The good news is that we will have money coming in tomorrow, and if my husband has forgotten my birthday, as seems to be the case, I will be going out to eat somewhere nice on my emergency fund even if I have to walk.  I did receive some cards today, which he carried inside, so unless he's completely clueless, he probably does know, but hasn't mentioned it.

 

I also called the landlord for maintenance on the dishwasher and the oven, so cooking might resume soon at chez TftC.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

12 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Unlike some leftovers, I don't refrigerate cooked rice for food safety reasons.  The rice cooker will hold the rice in eatable condition for about 24 hours, but I can't always face it the next day.

 

Fried rice needs to be made from cold leftover rice. All restaurants make it that way, as well as anyone who makes it at home that knows what they are doing. It passes food safety requirements for local Health Departments as long as the rice is cooled quickly and promptly refrigerated, then reheated to hot, food safe serving temps. I am a stickler for hygiene in the kitchen, often served fried rice, and have never made anyone sick from anything I cooked.

 

I know there is a health risk from rice being left at room temp for too long or even stored at fridge temps for too long. I do not let that keep me from enjoying fried rice as long as I prepared it, or it was prepared to order by a restaurant. I do pass it up on a buffet, which may or may not be a breeding ground for Bacillus cereus.

[rarerollingobject]

Homemade eomuk/odeng; Korean fishcakes made with pounded fish, squid and prawns. 

 

Fried, cooled, and then sliced up and sautéed with gochujang chilli paste, honey, sour plum strip, sesame oil, carrot, green onions and green chilli.

 

[scubadoo97]

That looks absolutely delicious

[Anna N]

 

Pan roasted chicken thighs with mushrooms and tomatoes over orzo.

[weinoo]

 

Long Island scallops with Oregon morels.

[Shelby]

SV bbq pork sandwiches on homemade buns with fries and baked beans made in the Instant Pot.

 

[ddelima]

Great pictures everyone. So much inspiration! Here are some of my favorite meals in the last few weeks.

 

Beef stroganoff

 

Roast chicken and roasted butternut squash and red onions by Ottolenghi

 

Brazilian seafood moqueca

 

NY strip steak, asparagus and potato gratin

 

Open lamb kibbeh by Ottolenghi

 

Polenta con salciccia, salsa di pomodoro e gremolata

 

Grilled top sirloin cap, my favorite steak cut

 

Japanese mushroom hot pot, from the book by Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat

 

Yakitori

 

Codfish with lemon, butter and caper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2016 by Xilimmns (log)