China Food Myths

[liuzhou]

The sweet and sour squirrel fish above is also sometimes called 糖醋菊花鱼 (táng cù jú huā yú) or Sweet & Sour Chrysanthemum Fish.

[liuzhou]

Back in this post, I mentioned mustard sauce as served in American Chinese cuisine being unknown here and, in fact, never having seen such a thing. I wrote:

 

On 2/10/2021 at 2:29 PM, liuzhou said:

China's largest on-line shopping site Taobao doesn't list it. (They do have imported Dijon, whole grain mustard, American mustard etc at import prices - but nothing Chinese).

 

@Tropicalseniorsaid:
 

Quote

working in the restaurant business myself, if I wanted to know what something was or how it was made I always asked. The least they can do is tell you no. The answer really surprised me. The red stuff came right out of a ketchup bottle (no, I didn't know what ketchup tastes like, I never eat it), and the hot Chinese mustard was plain old Coleman's mustard powder mixed with water.

 

 

A couple of days ago, I was searching for something else and came across this. I had to order it, purely out of amusement. It arrived yesterday evening.

 

 

I love the lame attempt to mimic Coleman's iconic packaging. The mustard inside looks like it should, but I haven't tasted it yet. Will report back.

 

 

 

Edited October 23 by liuzhou (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

Just out of curiosity, how is Char Siu typically served in China? I haven't been in a Chinese restaurant in the US for years but many used to serve it sliced with ketchup, mustard and sesame seeds. I've never seen it served that way in any other country. It is used strictly as an ingredient in other dishes.

[KennethT]

41 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Just out of curiosity, how is Char Siu typically served in China? I haven't been in a Chinese restaurant in the US for years but many used to serve it sliced with ketchup, mustard and sesame seeds. I've never seen it served that way in any other country. It is used strictly as an ingredient in other dishes.

I don't know about the rest of China, but in Hong Kong it's typically served with a thin, slightly sweet soy based sauce.  I thought I had done a food blog of Hong Kong but I can't find it right now... but in this post there's a good example if you scroll midway down the post.

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Just out of curiosity, how is Char Siu typically served in China? I haven't been in a Chinese restaurant in the US for years but many used to serve it sliced with ketchup, mustard and sesame seeds. I've never seen it served that way in any other country. It is used strictly as an ingredient in other dishes.

 

On the mainland, many ways. It is used in bao (buns), in fried rice, as an appetiser with dips as @KennethTdescribes, in soups, noodle dishes, ...

[KennethT]

11 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

On the mainland, many ways. It is used in bao (buns), in fried rice, as an appetiser with dips as @KennethTdescribes, in soups, noodle dishes, ...

@Tropicalsenior Yes, the same as above in HK too.  I just misunderstood your question as to how it was served with just the meat, like as an appetizer.  But the cooked meat is incorporated into a bunch of things in HK - steamed and baked buns, in fried rice, noodle soups, etc.  Also, served over white rice for a complete lunch.