Chinese Eats at Home (Part 4)

[liuzhou]

That said, most of the locals are looking for the piece of pork which is 95% fat, so I don't have a lot of problems finding what I want.

[jsager01]

liuzhou - yum, that sounds delicious. What cut of pork did you use?

Ah! Every time I post, I dread that question.

Butchers in China do not use the same cuts as those in western countries. In fact, it often seems that they just chop away at random. For this type of dish, I just look for a fresh looking, reasonably lean piece of meat. Something like this.

pork.jpg

It is absolutely true that butchers in China do not use the same cuts as those in western countries, just as butchers in UK do not use the same cuts as those in US, 'mainland' europe, etc, countries. For that matter, butchers in different regions in China do not offer the exact same cuts, although there are some commonalities.

what i find useful, in whatever country where they " they just chop away at random", is to ask the butcher for the specific application of the cut of meat that i am interested in or just curious about. It will be an amazing free lesson into the local cuisine, assuming you speak the local dialect/language, or have a local to interpret.

[liuzhou]

For that matter, butchers in different regions in China do not offer the exact same cut

Different butchers in the same market don't offer the same "cuts".

what i find useful, in whatever country where they " they just chop away at random", is to ask the butcher for the specific application of the cut of meat that i am interested in or just curious about. It will be an amazing free lesson into the local cuisine, assuming you speak the local dialect/language, or have a local to interpret.

Great idea. Which is unlikely to work here. The 'butcher' on duty in the market doesn't usually know or care. And if they do, they sure ain't going to be giving free cooking lessons in the market during a busy morning flogging their wares. Supermarket staff are even less likely to help.

And even then, I still often want to find a specific ingredient rather than pick up something at random, fun though that can be.

Yes, I speak the language.

Edited February 20, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[Prawncrackers]

This thread needs a bump up. One of my favourite Chinese meals recently. Steamed lemon sole with lap cheung and doong goo, chicken rice and some plain pak choy with oyster sauce. Ultimate comfort food!

[Jason Perlow]

Shrimp and Chicken Stir-Fry with Curry & Coconut Flavor / Eggplant and Zucchini. An improvised dish, we had a coconut tree harvested at our next door neighbors and we came into a windfall of coconut jelly/meat and coconut water. We processed up the coco meat/jelly/water and added it to a curry powder, and stir fried with the usual soy sauce. Was excellent.

Here is how it was plated, with Thai Red Rice.

Another Coconut Curry dish, this one a fried rice with BBQ chicken thigh meat and the leftover red rice.

[jsager01]

if you are interested in Chinese (as in China) cuisine, have a look.

http://tinyurl.com/cctv-doc

[liuzhou]

This series isn't at all bad.

There has been a glut of these food programs in China since the massive success of the "A Bite of China" (also available at the same link). "A Bite" is light years ahead of any of them. Series two is in production. I can't wait.

[liuzhou]

Prompted by your post, I just re-watched a couple of episodes ( I have them on DVD) and remember what irritated me about them. The narrator, although obviously a native English speaker, has this bizarre intonation where he stresses random words in sentences - often prepositions.

"The meat is put (long pause) IN (another pause) the wok."

His Chinese pronunciation is also awful. In the 'Spicy Food' episode, every time he mispronounces Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, I want to throw him in the wok!

(I'm quite peaceful, really!}

[patrickamory]

Just watched the spicy food episode. Interesting - I always thought that the truly spicy cuisine came from Hunan Province, whereas Sichuan chillis are milder and usually coupled with Sichuan peppercorns for the ma-la effect. None of that gets mentioned though.

Definitely some great wok and cleaver skills on display.

(I see why you're annoyed with his Chinese pronunciation liuzhou.)

[liuzhou]

Yes, I too was disappointed that they didn't mention Hunan. I lived there from 1996 -1999 and still miss the food. It is indeed often a lot spicier than Sichuan.

[Prawncrackers]

Consecutive Chinese dinners this week so thinking this thread could do with a bump!

First off, king crab in black bean sauce, with the leftover crab in fried rice with lap cheung. Broccoli and liver sausage with oyster sauce.

Golden sand cod cheeks, dry fried broccoli with lap yuk, mustard greens and salty duck egg.

[liuzhou]

Looks lovely. And thanks for reviving the thread.

Although I have contributed to the Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch and Supper threads, I now think they are a bad idea. The regional gets lost in the mêlée.

(P.S. I think I just imagined there was a Supper thread. Give them time.)

[Dejah]

It's been too long since I posted in this thread lah....

 

So, tonight's supper:

 

Dong Gwa tong: Wintermelon soup with pork

 

 

Ha mai suey choy fun see: dried shrimp, Chinese cabbage, mung bean thread

 

 

Stuffies: white mushrooms, Chinese mushrooms, sweet bell pepper all stuffed with ground pork, shrimp, waterchestnut mixture, pan seared and steamed with oyster sauce

 

 

 

[Prawncrackers]

Time this thread had a bump up!

 

First off a freezer clear up, had some gua bao and smoked eel in there so combined the two. The eel was gently fried and dressed in a black bean sauce then garnished with peanut brittle, pickled mustard greens and coriander. This was an amazingly intense snack.

 

ua

 

 

Two variations on Golden Sand shrimp 金沙蝦  

 

First with crispy Thai basil. Celtuce and pickles accompanying:

 

The second with sweetcorn, lemongrass and curry leaf for a more Singapore/Malaysian flavour. Similar accompaniment here:

 

I think I preferred the more focused flavour of the first. 金沙蝦  is one of my favourite dishes anyway and adding the basil improved it.  

Edited October 1, 2014 by Prawncrackers (log)

[liuzhou]

 

Time this thread had a bump up!

 

Totally agree. The Dinner thread kind of ruined it in a way.

 

However, sadly, I've never come across Thai basil (or any other kind), lemongrass or curry leaf in China.

One of China's many paradoxes. The majority eat everything except anything they haven't seen before.

[Smithy]

I'm glad you bumped it up. Thanks for the beautiful photos.

liuzhou, that's an interesting comment. Does that mean that, in your experience, regional Chinese cuisine remains strongly regional?

[liuzhou]

liuzhou, that's an interesting comment. Does that mean that, in your experience, regional Chinese cuisine remains strongly regional?

 

Very much so.

[Smithy]

Very much so.

Do you think that reflects a non-mobile society? In the U.S. for instance, people have been moving across country and bringing beloved traditions with them. These days it's nothing to find "Southern Barbecue" in central California, although its quality may be questionable. :-)

What about people moving into cities from the surrounding rural areas? Are there 'country' food traditions that remain behind, or is the regional cuisine fairly consistent in both urban and rural areas of that region?

[liuzhou]

There are restaurants from other regions of China, but they are a tiny minority.

As for home cooking, it tends to be very regional; very local. It seems to me to be one of the great contradictions of China that while they seem to eat everything but the table, most people are, in fact, quite conservative and reluctant to try anything they don't know. Of course, that is true in many places, not only China.

 

During the 15 days of the Spring Festival (starting Chinese New Year's Day), I am usually invited for dinner in various friend's homes. It is something I have become bored with. I can almost guarantee what will be served at each meal and each meal will be identical to the last.

 

Also, the city where I live is on the border of two distinct culinary regions - Cantonese to the south and Hunanese to the north. Local people tend to fall in to one or other camps and rarely cross over. 

As to the country/city question, yes there are traditions which are left behind. I have friends who are from the countryside and they are always telling me of the food they miss and can't find here. Also, I spend a lot of my time travelling in the countryside and frequently come across all sorts of things I didn't know existed. The income disparity among city dwellers and countryside dwellers also has an influence. 

 

This may change as China becomes more mobile. People are travelling a lot more. Although it isn't unusual to see travellers with huge bags of their home local food to sustain them in alien parts!

[Prawncrackers]

A couple of straightup Chinese dishes, no deviations or alterations, no fusion ingredients or techniques. First is Dongan chicken 東安雞

 

 

The next is Shandong style sweet and sour fish 山東甜酸魚. It's usually made with carp but I can't get decent carp here and red bream on the the day was so fresh.

 

[liuzhou]

Tonight, on a whim, I decided to do stir-fried pork with bitter melon (苦瓜肉片), with fermented black beans (豆豉) and green chilli. 

 

 

 

Nice, robust, warming flavours on a winter-is-coming evening.

[Dejah]

Liuzhou: Love bitter melon this way, especially on top of a plate of ho fun (rice noodles)!

 

Didn't have any tofu sheets, so I wrapped ground pork, shrimp, waterchestnut in wilted siu choy. Eaten with green beans stir-fried with fuyu.

 

 

 

 

 

[liuzhou]

 

Liuzhou: Love bitter melon this way, especially on top of a plate of ho fun (rice noodles)!

 

Yes. I like it over rice noodles, too, but this time went for rice.

 

This thread needs reviving!

[rotuts]

good idea, D.

[Prawncrackers]

Liuzhou: Love bitter melon this way, especially on top of a plate of ho fun (rice noodles)!

Didn't have any tofu sheets, so I wrapped ground pork, shrimp, waterchestnut in wilted siu choy. Eaten with green beans stir-fried with fuyu.

1Wonton1209.jpg

Plated Wontons1214.jpg

Cor! They look like lovely little lion head meatballs. Nicely done.