Japanese style Chinese food

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

nikuman are Chinese steamed buns, the niku (meat) is usually pork. They are a very popular snack here in Japan.

picture:

http://www.imuraya.co.jp/annai/jigyo/kaon/nikuman.jpg

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Bao is the Chinese name. It's my absolute most favorite thing to get in dim sum restaurants, and I pick up a few of the baked kind when I go to the local Pan Asian market.

[Hiroyuki]

In Kansai (area including Osaka and Kyoto), nikuman are called butaman (buta = pig).

[AmyDaniel]

Bao is the Chinese name. It's my absolute most favorite thing to get in dim sum restaurants, and I pick up a few of the baked kind when I go to the local Pan Asian market.

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Yes yes yes yes! My mother (Malaysian) taught us about bao (which we also called pau or pao, can't remember), and I was so surprised to see them in Japan when visiting my friends' families in Yokohama and Tokyo! Each day during that week we'd walk back to my friend's home in Tokyo - the metro station was located right next to an AM PM, and no matter how much I had eaten during the day, I would buy pau to eat while walking.

The little stands in Yokohama's Chinatown made the most incredible pau. They were so satisfying...just the right proportion of dough to filling. Ah, I could go back to Yokohama for one (um, many, many) of those!

Amy

[montrachet]

You should try the Butaman in Osaka. There are many places that make them but the most accessible one is a chain of stores called "Horai 555" and can be found in many locations including inside ShinOsaka Station.

Years ago I thought they were the best but nowadays the competition is very strong to put out good product.

I prefer savoury over sweet so no Anman for me.

[Phish]

Is the recipe any different for the bread for nikuman compared to normal bread because it is steamed rather than baked?

[torakris]

A couple of years ago I started seeing these things called gyouza-man (餃子まん) popping up everywhere. they are basically the same steamed bun but filled instead with a typical gyouza filling. Though I have seen small (couple bite sized) ones most of the ones I have seen for sale at stands are big about 6 + inches in length, like this:

http://www.kira-co.com/newshouhinn.html

I tried one at a zoo (or some place like that) a couple years back but wasn't impressed enough to try it again...

[torakris]

Is the recipe any different for the bread for nikuman compared to normal bread because it is steamed rather than baked?

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yes it is a little different, here is a recipe (in English):

http://www.jhg.co.jp/recipes/nikuman.html

[helenjp]

different chicken soup bases I think I used to use the type in a round glass jar, but recently I buy packets and empty them into old jars, so I don't have pack around to check. The difference between "tori-gara suupu no moto" and Knorr etc. is the absence of MSG (if you hunt around, that is). The flavor is much milder, and I find it much more versatile.

[sizzleteeth]

the almond cordial is called annindofu and is also referred to in English as almond jelly, the good stuff is really good!

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You have me interested in trying this now!!!

I need help with translation though, is annindofu the same as アンニンドフ ?

At least phonetically?

Or am I way off?

{edit}

Or is it more commonly written in Kanji - 杏仁豆腐 ?

Or niether?

I need to know what to look for in the market!!

{another edit}

This version with mandarin looks delicious!!

http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/gourmet/images/photo/E030604.jpg

Hmm. Can I make it myself? Any recipes?

Edited March 8, 2005 by sizzleteeth (log)

[Hiroyuki]

the almond cordial is called annindofu and is also referred to in English as almond jelly, the good stuff is really good!

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I need help with translation though, is annindofu the same as アンニンドフ ?

Or is it more commonly written in Kanji - 杏仁豆腐 ?

Hmm. Can I make it myself? Any recipes?

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アンニンドウフ, with an ウ (u)

Annindofu is usually written as 杏仁豆腐, as you say.

杏 means apricot, and 杏仁 means dry apricot seed. 豆腐 means tofu (soy bean curd).

(Does anyone know how to pronounce 杏仁豆腐 in Chinese??)

Making annindofu is easy if you use almond extract.

http://kurashi.hi-ho.ne.jp/diet/cooking/re.../recipe289.html

(Japanese only)

(I can't find a recipe written in English.)

Recipes vary greatly, however, ranging from the ones that call for dried apricot seeds, the ones that use annindofu mix, to the simple ones such as the one I provided a link to.

And, there are largely two types of annindofu, hard type and creamy type. Which one would you prefer?

[sizzleteeth]

アンニンドウフ, with an ウ (u)

Annindofu is usually written as 杏仁豆腐, as you say.

杏 means apricot, and 杏仁 means dry apricot seed.  豆腐 means tofu (soy bean curd).

Making annindofu is easy if you use almond extract.

http://kurashi.hi-ho.ne.jp/diet/cooking/re.../recipe289.html

(Japanese only)

And, there are largely two types of annindofu, hard type and creamy type.  Which one would you prefer?

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Hmm probably in between but leaning toward creamy - sounds a bit like Flan.

Some parts of this recipe I can't translate but I get the point - it's basically milk, sugar and some type of gelling agent and a little almond extract. I found a few others in Japanese as well.

I'm glad my Mac supports English and Japanese Characters at the same time else figuring some of this stuff out would be near impossible.

I am sooooo making Annindofu this weekend!!!

Since the first character is "Apricot" - I'll make it with an "Apricot Sauce" - maybe some sliced almonds, a bit of golden raisin paste - possibly some lavender. We'll see how it goes.

I'll probably use Agar instead of gelatin since it sets up so fast at basically room temperature - no chilling necessary - I bet if I heated the milk to around 180 degrees like I would for ice cream - it would turn out much creamier.

I'll experiment. Like you did with cornbread.

Thanks as always Hiroyuki!!

Edited March 11, 2005 by sizzleteeth (log)

[Hiroyuki]

I feel stupid again. I should have searched for almond jelly.

There are a lot of recipes out there, such as:

http://users.rcn.com/sue.interport/food/almjelly.html

http://www.asiafood.org/recipe_list_link.cfm?recipeid=196

Anyway, enjoy your weekend!

[torakris]

It isn't the best picture but in upper left corner that is a bowl of annindofu, creamy style.

I prefer the creamy and this one was particularly good...

by the way, both of my daughters have the anzu (apricot) character 杏　in their names.

Mia 未衣杏

Julia 珠理杏

Edited March 10, 2005 by torakris (log)

[torakris]

Last night was Chinese night.

I prepared two dishes that are very popular in Japan, they are popular in restaurants, at home and as prepared foods from the supermarket.

pork liver stir-fried with nira (garlic chives) and moyashi (bean sprouts).

the pork liver was sold frozen, already cooked and in the sauce. All i had to do was heat it up and add the vegetables.

Kurage (jellyfish) and cucumber salad

this jellyfish was also sold already seasoned in the fish case at the supermarket.

[torakris]

Another popular Chinese dish in Japan is Ban Ban Ji (sometimes called Ban Ban or Bang Bang Chicken in English). I did a quick version a couple nights ago, unfortunately I didn't realize until after I started making it that I had only 1 tablespoon of sesame paste left so I ended up using peanut butter. It was more like a Gado Gado salad but good nonetheless.

[Ce'nedra]

That looks delicious torakris! How did you make it?

[raji]

Hey guys -

Thought I'd let you know that we have a really good wafuu-chuuka right here in NY - and now I'm friends with the chef - I even played witness for his wedding!

http://www.saburiny.com/

which is run by a protege of Chin Kenichi - of Ryouri no tetsujin fame - is he still considered a "celebrity chef" in Japan?

Anyway, would love to know what you guys thought of the menu and maybe it gives you some ideas...

[Hiroyuki]

Hey guys -

Thought I'd let you know that we have a really good wafuu-chuuka right here in NY -  and now I'm friends with the chef - I even played witness for his wedding!

http://www.saburiny.com/

which is run by a protege of Chin Kenichi - of Ryouri no tetsujin fame - is he still considered a "celebrity chef" in Japan?

Anyway, would love to know what you guys thought of the menu and maybe it gives you some ideas...

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Thanks for the link, raji. I have just checked all the items on the menu. I've been impressed by Yuba Harumaki, Ika KariKari Salad, and Unagi(!) Ishiyaki Don among others. They really are Sino-Japanese fusion dishes. So, what do YOU think of their dishes??

I did some googling and found that the (female?) owner is from Takarazuka and is a beauty!

Chen Kenichi a celerbiry chef? Hmmm.......... He is well known, of course, but Iron Chef was a TV show after all.