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Posted

Jeeze, the way that our respective backgrounds have such similarities, are you sure you're not the "moi-moi" I didn't think I had. :cool:  :smile:

Ok! who was fooling around?? :angry::rolleyes::laugh::laugh:

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

Posted
Hubby does enjoy my mom's home cooking with the exception of haum yee, fooyee, haum ha and bitter melon (which happens to still be my favorite comfort food items).

Please give some English translations or descriptions of some of these things. I love Chinese food but don't know all the Chinese names for things.

And please keep posting!

Michael aka "Pan"

 

Posted
Please give some English translations or descriptions of some of these things. I love Chinese food but don't know all the Chinese names for things.

Sure.

haum yee [Cantonese] = salted fish

fooyee [Cantonese] = fermented bean curd

haum ha [Cantonese] = salty shrimp paste

bitter melon = melons that taste bitter! :smile:

and

haum dan [Cantonese] = salted duck egg

pei dan [Cantonese] = century egg (400 year egg?)

nam yee [Cantonese] = fermented bean curd (red)

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
Posted

Thanks, hzrt8w!

Just one question: Is haum ha basically the same as what's called Belacan in Malay and Terasi in Indonesian - Black, very strong-smelling shrimp paste that's a good ingredient in moderation?

Michael aka "Pan"

 

Posted
Thanks, hzrt8w!

Just one question: Is haum ha basically the same as what's called Belacan in Malay and Terasi in Indonesian - Black, very strong-smelling shrimp paste that's a good ingredient in moderation?

Chinese ham ha is pinkish/lavender colour. . . so deceptive! :laugh:

And yes, very strong smelling, a good ingredient in moderation. Hubby says it reminds him of chicken manure, the ammonia smell. They used to raise chickens on the farm and guess what his job was. :wink: He likes ham ha though.

I like to spoon it on top of leftover fatty siew yuk then steamed. My grandma used to make it with pork fat that's been deep fried.

My s-i-l uses it for a dipping sauce.

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

Posted

Does haam ha look a little like this sauce?

i11435.jpg

I made that with Malaysian cincalok, sliced shallots, onion and chillies. I wonder if haam ha is the same as cincalok. You may be able to see some black dots in the image, which are actually the eyes of the little shrimps.

Posted
Just one question: Is haum ha basically the same as what's called Belacan in Malay and Terasi in Indonesian - Black, very strong-smelling shrimp paste that's a good ingredient in moderation?

I was gonna say Belacan in my posting but I couldn't spell it. They are very similar but differ in forms. I have not used Belacan before but had read/heard about it in many South-East Asian cookbooks and cooking shows. I believe it is dry, hard and square in form. (isn't that right?) The Chinese shrimp paste is wet, soft, jelly-like, and is sold in a small jar. They probably taste very similar. Whenever I make Thai/Vietnamese/Malaysian dishes, I just use Chinese shrimp paste instead of buying Belacan.

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
Posted (edited)
Does haam ha look a little like this sauce?

I made that with Malaysian cincalok, sliced shallots, onion and chillies.  I wonder if haam ha is the same as cincalok.  You may be able to see some black dots in the image, which are actually the eyes of the little shrimps.

In Chinese shrimp paste, the (already) tiny shrimps are grounded to almost powder like. While the dark shrimp eyes may add color to the mixture, they can no longer be distinguished individually.

Edited by hzrt8w (log)
W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
Posted
Sure.

haum yee [Cantonese] = salted fish

fooyee [Cantonese] = fermented bean curd

haum ha [Cantonese] = salty shrimp paste

bitter melon = melons that taste bitter!  :smile:

and

haum dan [Cantonese] = salted duck egg

pei dan [Cantonese] = century egg (400 year egg?)

nam yee [Cantonese] = fermented bean curd (red)

haha, how about chinese characters for those of us who are cantonese challenged? (although from these descriptions, I can kind of guess what's being referred to...)

Posted

Belacan/Terasi/Trasi, mmmm

I've seen bright red terasi, but somehow I can't bring myself to trust it, yet.

The people of Ambon, Maluku (Moluccu Islands) make something similar to ham ha, which they call bakasang.

gallery_11814_148_1097074791.jpg

That is what I get to make sambal for dipping fresh vegetables in. hzrt8w. you are correct, the terasi is dry and crumbly hard. The leftover sambal, if there is any, is great for making nasi goreng/fried rice.

Yetty CintaS

I am spaghetttti

Posted

Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody.

So Soba are you going to elaborate on the chicken feet? I'm waiting....

Dejah, regarding haum ha with fatty pork. That is my all-time favorite dish in the world. It's my secret love that I NEVER get anymore because my mom no longer makes it because she doesn't want to offend my sil's sensibilities. I guess I'll have to learn to make it myself when dh is working night shift.

Since I never paid attention to my mom when she made this dish, what cut of pork should I use?

Posted

okay, the chicken feet soup story

I was fourteen or fifteen at the time and we were living in suburbia, New Jersey. I remember this episode because it was the first time I had even thought of something like chicken feet as food.

Mom cooked it in a soup with medicinal Chinese herbs. It certainly *smelled* good. But eating it was a different story. Talk about not much meat and stringy cartilage on lots and lots of bones.

It was a complete disaster. We ended up tossing the pot of soup out and having something else for dinner.

Fast forward seventeen or so years later and I was at a dim sum event in NYC Chinatown (it may have even an event organized by me through eGullet, I can't remember) and I saw chicken feet with black bean sauce and bitter melon on the table. It was okay as far as I'm concerned.

There's very little about Chinese food that I won't eat or gives me pause....although some of the pics in Ellen's Beijing installment of her Mongolia foodblog qualify as candidates. Those chicken embryos, for one.... :shock::shock::shock::blink::shock:

btw, for the record, I am Filipino/Chinese -- being of Chinese ancestry, and born in the Philippines. However, the generational difference in my family is such that sometimes my Mom and her generation see me as ABC.

Soba

Posted

There's very little about Chinese food that I won't eat or gives me pause....although some of the pics in Ellen's Beijing installment of her Mongolia foodblog qualify as candidates.  Those chicken embryos, for one....  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :blink:  :shock:

The ultimate challenge would be the dumplings made by Bai Ling in the new Fruit Chan movie "Dumplings." :wink:

Posted
The ultimate challenge would be the dumplings made by Bai Ling in the new Fruit Chan movie "Dumplings."  :wink:

Ah, Fruit Chan... wasn't he the director of Durian Durian? Probably couldn't have been anyone else. :smile:

Posted

Haum ha is not like cincalok or belecan or trassi or kapi. It is in the same family of fermented shrimp products, but the paste is a lavendar-grey color, with emphasis on lavendar, and it's thicker then cincalok and thinner then belecan/trassi or kapi. It also tastes different, not so complex as a nice belecan or kapi, and not that milky floral aromatic tastes of a good cincalok....but I've only had the cheap ones, I'll bet there are better versions to be had.

regards,

trillium

Posted

Since I never paid attention to my mom when she made this dish, what cut of pork should I use?

When I have had access to Chinese crispy pork, siew yuk, I like to save the fatty parts and some skin, now more chewy than crispy. Put that on the bottom of the dish and top with ham ha and steam.

Or, you can do as Ben suggested...pork belly. . . or fresh bacon cut. You need the fat to make it great! See!? Emerill isn't the first to expound on the wonders of pork fat. :raz:

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

Posted (edited)
Haum ha is not like cincalok or belecan or trassi or kapi.  It is in the same family of fermented shrimp products, but the paste is a lavendar-grey color, with emphasis on lavendar, and it's thicker then cincalok and thinner then belecan/trassi or kapi.  It also tastes different, not so complex as a nice belecan or kapi, and not that milky floral aromatic tastes of a good cincalok....but I've only had the cheap ones, I'll bet there are better versions to be had.

regards,

trillium

The bakasang I mentioned before sounds like it looks and tastes just like your description of haum ha.

Edited by spaghetttti (log)

Yetty CintaS

I am spaghetttti

Posted

Just got back from Winnipeg. Met up with our son who was filming in Europe as part of a living history documentary about WW II Lancaster Bomber crews. He hasn't had Chinese food for 3 weeks, so the first thing he wanted was dim sum. He said he was in withdrawl from the Chinese component of his bi-racial make-up! :laugh::laugh: His fav. this time was deep fried glutinous rice balls filled with savory pork. Before he moved to northern Ontario for his job, he spent some time learning to cook traditional Chinese food...like gai gok fan, beef and rice, fried rice, ham jiu and pork...There is no Chinese restaurant in Red Lake! :sad:

I have been reading my Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. If I weren't so selfish, I'd give him the book. :hmmm:

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
Dejah, regarding haum ha with fatty pork. That is my all-time favorite dish in the world. It's my secret love that I NEVER get anymore because my mom no longer makes it because she doesn't want to offend my sil's sensibilities. I guess I'll have to learn to make it myself when dh is working night shift.

Since I never paid attention to my mom when she made this dish, what cut of pork should I use?

TotallyNutz and Dejah:

My wife and I are not big on fatty pork. But making this dish is fairly simple. You can pick the cut you like: pork leg, pork shoulder, or in our case we like lean pork loin.

Recipe for Steamed Pork with shrimp paste (huam ha)

Ingridients:

- 1 lb of pork, sliced (1/4 inch thick)

- 2 tsp of shrimp paste (haum ha)

- 3 tsp of sesame oil

- 2 tsp of light soy sauce

- 1 tsp ground white pepper

- 2 tsp of corn starch

- 2 tsp of XaoShing cooking wine

- 1 inch of ginger, grated or shredded

Method:

Just combine all the ingridients in a mixing bowl. Transfer them to a shallow dish. Put in a steamer, steam for 15 to 20 minutes. (Note: The shrimp paste is already salty. There is no need to add salt in making this dish.)

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
Posted
That is what I get to make sambal for dipping fresh vegetables in.  hzrt8w. you are correct, the terasi is dry and crumbly hard.

Thank you, Yetty.

All these pictures you posted are so beautiful! Are you a professional photographer?

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
Posted
haha, how about chinese characters for those of us who are cantonese challenged? (although from these descriptions, I can kind of guess what's being referred to...)

Sure.

haum yee [Cantonese] = salted fish = 咸鱼 = Xian2 Yu2 [Mandarin]

fooyee [Cantonese] = fermented bean curd = 腐乳 = Fu3 Ru3 [Mandarin]

haum ha [Cantonese] = salty shrimp paste = 咸虾 = Xian2 Xia1 [Mandarin]

haum dan [Cantonese] = salted duck egg = 咸蛋 = Xian2 Dan4 [Mandarin]

pei dan [Cantonese] = century egg (400 year egg?) = 皮蛋 = Pi2 Dan4 [Mandarin]

nam yee [Cantonese] = fermented bean curd (red) = 南乳 = Nan2 Ru3 [Mandarin]

Anything else I can do for you? You want Toisanese translation? (Ask Dejah or Ben...) :raz: Shanghainese? (Ask Gary) :laugh:

W.K. Leung ("Ah Leung") aka "hzrt8w"
Posted

re-hzrt 's recipe for haum ha...I've never heard of sesame oil with this. :huh:

Asked my mom tonight and it was new to her. Is that HK style? I will try it next time!

Mom used to take pork fat, deep fry it until crisp THEN steam it with haum ha. That was "pre- cholestral" days. :laugh::laugh:

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

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