Interesting Ingredients From Chinatown Markets

[Elissa]

I've taken to wandring up and down the ailes in Chinese supermarkets, lost. What for instance do you do with dried lotus seeds?

[tonkichi]

Make a sweet soup of course. Boil with some rock sugar and dried longans until the lotus seed is soft. Delicious hot or cold.

[Elissa]

wonderful thanks. i'll try. what about dried seahorses?

[tonkichi]

wonderful thanks. i'll try. what about dried seahorses?

hmm, never cooked or eaten seahorse before. thought it was an endangered animal?

[chaste_nosferatu]

My friends' wives use the seeds, not as food, but as a facial treatment. They grind the seeds into powder and then make a masque for their faces, it bleaches them. Here in China, the whiter the face, the better. They were amused when asked if they were a food item, at least around here (NE China) doesn't seem they are.

[tissue]

Make a sweet soup of course. Boil with some rock sugar and dried longans until the lotus seed is soft. Delicious hot or cold.

Add some white/clear wood ears to this and have it as a cold dessert.

[trillium]

Make a sweet paste with lotus seeds, rock sugar and pandan. Use to fill mooncakes.

regards,

trillium

[Elissa]

tonight, buying rock sugar for lotus seed soup, i also found:

tianjin preserved vegetable in a ceramic jar. ingredients: tianjin cabbage, garlic, salt.

instant natural jelly fish in a package with seasoning packages included. "Suggested to enjoy them alone or accompany with BBQ pork and roast duck"

mustard greens (i presume) in a foil package. "refined potherb mustard with the bulb of fritillary." bulb of fritillary?

your suggestions (toss or prepare thus) much appreciated.

and while you're at it: the lotus seeds are cooking with rock sugar and longans. they do not smell good but are spitting our their sprouts...

Edited May 22, 2003 by lissome (log)

[tonkichi]

and while you're at it: the lotus seeds are cooking with rock sugar and longans. they do not smell good but are spitting our their sprouts...

erm, you mean the little bud inside the lotus seed. that is meant to be discarded, anyway it tastes bitter- you need to split the seeds to get to them first. hope this helps.

oh, in case you haven't "peel" the brown skin off, that needs to go too.

Edited May 22, 2003 by tonkichi (log)

[hzrt8w]

A few days ago I went out to have lunch with some coworkers. They wanted to go to Safeway and pick up some sandwiches. I did not want any sandwich. What else do they have? Then I saw some Chinese take-out entrees such as sweet and sour pork (what else? ), chow mein, beef with broccoli, etc.. I really didn't think much of these Chinese food take-outs typically. But between a cold-cut sandwich and a hot entree, I would rather have the latter.

I proceeded to order some potstickers, and didn't have any high expectation. But... they surprised me! The taste was actually pretty good! It was the only Chinese food item I tried that day. If I am dragged to have lunch inside the Safeway market next time, I might try their other Chinese take-out items.

My FIL used to work as a cook for the local Reiley's market before he retired. He was hired to cook these Chinese take-out items for the market. Whether he was given a wok to cook, I don't know.

Has any of you tried Chinese food take-outs inside American super markets? What are your impressions? Any pleasant surprises?

Edited October 14, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[rasamalaysia]

I haven't seen any Chinese take-out foods in the supermarkets here. Do they look fresh? I have seen many Japanese sushi and bento boxes, but they look stale.

[annachan]

My mom actually enjoys the bbq pork at our local Albertson's.

[SuzySushi]

Strange as it may seem -- or maybe not! (given the large Asian-American population in Hawaii) -- very few supermarkets on Oahu have Chinese fast-food available for takeout (although every supermarket has a sizeable "Oriental foods" aisle with Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Thai, and some Vietnamese ingredients).

In fact, about the only places I can think of offhand that do this are the food courts at Ranch 99 (the Taiwanese-owned supermarket chain) and Don Quijote (the Japanese-owned chain that used to be Daiei). The restaurants are owned and operated independently (or as franchises).

[...tm...]

I can't say that I've tried any supermarket Chinese food, but it is my impression that it is de rigeur in the states these days. Even the Iowa owned spermarket Hy-Vee has a Chinese takeout.

I think people of my generation think of this supermarket-style Chinese, sushi and taqueria-style Mexican well within the bounds of "American" food.

After all, pizza and pasta have been part of the lexicon since before I was born, but I have been lead to believe from friends and relatives who are over 80 that Italian was once a rarer and more "ethnic" cuisine.

I can't really picture what they ate before all the cuisines I've just mentioned. Boiled cabbage 24/7?

[Dejah]

I have seen Chinese food displayed in bowls in the deli section of our major supermarket chains: Safeway. Superstore, Sobey, Co-Op. The visual effect is so terrible that I couldn't make myself spend money on them. Give me a cold sandwich anytime to tie me over until I get home!

I'm sure the food must come frozen then thawed for the display.

The sushi is good. It is made by a local restaurant with an established reputation. I have tried them as a quick pick up lunch for myself or my daughter. They are delivered twice a day to the store.

On another note about places that "serve" Asian food when they shouldn't, I checked out our university's cafeteria the other day. They listed chicken chow mein as one of the specials. One look and I wondered what was the the fridge and freezer that they were trying to get rid of! It was grey with bits of green and what looked to be crispy store bought noodles stirred in. I wanted to jump over the counter and make the "cook" go out into the dining room to apologize to everyone for serving such slop.

[JasonZ]

Ah Leung, I can't comment on West Coast grocery food, but the Shaw's and Stop & Shop in Boston have acceptable sushi and potstickers. On an irregular basis, I've seen chicken chow mein, but I haven't seen more complex chinese dishes, e.g., sesame Chicken, orange Chicken, General Tso's chicken.

I wonder if with the spread of sous vide systems, the chains will start pre-cooking and prepping high-quality, authentic cuisine for rapid prep to the consumer .. or even to sell with final warming at home ...

Regards,

Jason

[hzrt8w]

I realize that 99 Ranch Market sells hot Chinese food entrees. I had tried some and they were not bad. Not as good as the ones in restaurants but quite decent. But that seems to be expected because 99 Ranch is an Asian super market after all.

I didn't expect to find potstickers in the American chained super markets. And Safeway surprised me. They did a pretty job at that too.

And too bad there isn't any 99 Ranch Market in the Sacramento area...

Edited October 16, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[aznsailorboi]

The local chinese market that I go to have quite a selection of live seafood both freshwater and saltwater. I want to try some of them but I dont know how to prepare it. like the soft-shell turtle, hard shelled turtle, giant conch, crabs, geoduck clams, quahog clams, rice paddy snails, periwinkles, whelks, and a whole variety of live fish in the tanks. the ones that im most interested in is probably the giant conch, and the turtles. i've had turtle soup with chinese herbs before at a family friend's house in the philippines who's also of chinese descent. It was very good, but I cant even remember how it tastes like now.

[v. gautam]

I hate to be a jerk, but turtles are among the most endangered animals today. And, it is precisely this global trade in them as food that is the single greatest cause for concern.

Please forgive me for bringing this issue up. Imeant no personal direspect. Just a few days ago, though, i did see a very disturbing news feature, (perhaps on the Discovery channel, addressing this very topic: turtles and the international trade in them wreaking havoc on these slow-maturing beings.)

As a devout Buddhist, you especially will understand the plight of these beings and reflect on your bodhisattva vow to intervene in their sufferings.

Respectfully,

gautam

[BRM]

Is he talking about sea turtles (in which case I agree...they are highly endangered) or land turtles. I'm not aware that the land variety are endangered. I'm also not aware that they are eaten. But I stand ready to be proven wrong on both counts.

[annachan]

I don't think the soft or hard shell turtles mentioned here are sea turtles. As far as I know, those turtles are farm raised. The some other items mentioned, such as conch, are from the sea.

Either way, I don't eat turtles because I used to have them as pets. The same reason I don't eat rabbit.

[hzrt8w]

... soft-shell turtle, hard shelled turtle, giant conch, crabs, geoduck clams, quahog clams, rice paddy snails, periwinkles, whelks, and a whole variety of live fish in the tanks. ...

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for giant conch and geoduck clams, the best Cantonese style is cutting them into very thin slices, then "white boiled" and eat with the diluted light soy sauce + chili as a dip.

the turtle in question i think sounds like farm-raised turtles, not wild-catched.

[peony]

this is a Chinese forum, and Chinese eat all things on earth...

it will be hard for Chinese like me to post without offending anyone of the food I eat...so shd I refrain from posting strange n exotic food then ?

[hzrt8w]

it will be hard for Chinese like me to post without offending anyone of the food I eat...so shd I refrain from posting strange n exotic food then ?

←

i don't think there is any issue with posting about eating strange or exotic animals. we even have postings about eating dogs. the concern from some of the participants are on "endangered species". if you are not eating Great White Sharks, you are okay.

[aznsailorboi]

These turtles are farm raised so they aren't the endangered kind. I would imagine that if they are endangered, then they wouldnt be appearing at all in several live fish stores (about 4 of them right across from each other, talk about pure competition ) in plain view, and If that was the case I'm sure the officials from the World Wildlife Federation would be on in already like white on rice.

Gautam, as for being a devout Buddhist, I do understand where you are coming from. The Sangha that I belong to allows us to eat meat from animals, but at the same time we make sure to follow proper steps to help lead its soul to be reincarnated in the heavenly realms by performing the "Liberation Rebirth Mudra", proper visualization, and reciting the "Manjushri Rebirth Mantra"/ "Om, ah-bei-la-hum, kan-cha-la, so-ha" seven times. The purpose of this practice is to first liberate the soul of the animal from all its suffering in this world enabling it to be reincarnated as a being in the upper realms, after clearing its karma then you visualize it being welcomed by Manjushri in the heavenly realm. Then after the visualization, recitation of the Mantra. as a word of warning, this practice would not be valid unless you have been empowered by your Guru, and this practice have to be transmitted by a Guru, master or a nun for proper effectiveness.

Honestly I don't think I'm jeopardizing my boddhisattva vows and karma by eating a turtle, specially a farm raised turtle, since its main purpose in life to be raised in a farm for consumption, they have fulfilled their destiny. same with chicken, pigs, cows fish and other living creatures which we consume to survive. I hope this would explain why I don't see it wrong to eat meat from animals.

Edited January 5, 2007 by aznsailorboi (log)