A pictorial guide to Chinese cooking ingredients

[sheetz]

I just ran across another Chinese ingredient of which I have no idea what it is and I cannot find anything online???

What is "starched shrimp meat"?

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Wouldn't that just be getting some shrimp and mixing it with a bit of cornstarch?

[v. gautam]

Re: pork surimi, meat with fat homogenized [emulsified] with crushed ice in a food processor will make a base [the same process used to create texture for hot dogs, a pork, beef, turkey or chicken surimi]. Then you may choose to add quantities of flour and seasonings to your desire. You may experiment with egg white powder, which will give stuctural strength the sheets but they may toughen the mixture if above a certain proportion.

Next comes the tricky part, of forming sheets about which I have no idea. I would guess chilling, and rolling out and shaping these: perhaps with a sushi mat and silicone baking sheet? Would they be steamed after this step or dry cooked or pan cooked with a water-oil spray?

One would suppose the initial amount and types of fat [liquid crystal/membrane structure] of the initial mixture, plus the matrix stucture of the emulsion with regard to its fluidity and protein mix, and beginning and end temperatures while grinding [much like temperature control while mixing bread dough in industrial machines] would have some effects on the final results.

I have no experience of Yan-pi; am merely re-constructing a logical chain, if that is of any help to you.

[dmreed]

Re: pork surimi, meat with fat homogenized [emulsified] with crushed ice in a food processor will make a base [the same process used to create texture for hot dogs, a pork, beef, turkey or chicken surimi]. Then you may choose to add quantities of flour and seasonings to your desire. You may experiment with egg white powder, which will give stuctural strength the sheets but they may toughen the mixture if above a certain proportion.

Next comes the tricky part, of forming sheets about which I have no idea. I would guess chilling, and rolling out and shaping these: perhaps with a sushi mat and silicone baking sheet? Would they be steamed after this step or dry cooked or pan cooked with a water-oil spray?

One would suppose the initial amount and types of fat [liquid crystal/membrane structure] of the initial mixture, plus the matrix stucture of the emulsion with regard to its fluidity and protein mix, and beginning and end temperatures while grinding [much like temperature control while mixing bread dough in industrial machines] would have some effects on the final results.

I have no experience of  Yan-pi; am merely re-constructing a logical chain, if that is of any help to you.

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thanks for the details, much appreciated!

[dmreed]

another maybe unknown ingredient back in the early days???

in "Chinese Cookery in the Home Kitchen" editted by Jessie Louise Nolton copyrighted 1911 (available for free download), she describes Chinese Potatoes (yes, potatoes!) as:

"A small Chinese vegetable which is the root or tuber of a water plant. The flavor is similar to sugar cane when raw. The chief charm about this vegetable when used in the different foods is, that it retains its crispness when cooked, and furnishes a distinctly delicate addition to any dish in which it enters.

"Chinese potatoes should be peeled and sliced thin. Their keeping qualities are not as good as of ordinary potatoes and they do not retain their flavor for a great length of time."

this sounds like water chestnuts to me!

BTW the book is an interesting read and is very heavy on various versions of "Chop Sooy"!

[liuzhou]

"Chinese Cookery in the Home Kitchen" editted by Jessie Louise Nolton copyrighted 1911 (available for free download)

and the link is here.

[dmreed]

"Chinese Cookery in the Home Kitchen" editted by Jessie Louise Nolton copyrighted 1911 (available for free download)

and the link is here.

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thanks, I should have provided the link :>(

[udscbt]

Hello,

I would like to make Yan-Kit So/Martin's "Red-in-Snow Soup with Pork" but I have not found the main ingredient. It would help probably if I knew how "red-in-snow" is written in Chinese. Can someone help me? If I can't find it, is there a substitute, for example can I use Sichuan preserved vegetable?

Thanks for any help.

[udscbt]

Hello,

And yet another ingredient question prompted by the same book, Jacqueline M. Newman's "Cooking From China's Fujian Province" as dmreed's question.

There are a number of recipes (14 in the index) which refer to "rice wine lees". It is apparently a key ingredient in Fujian cooking but it is new to me.

Has anybody used this in his/her cooking? What does it add to a dish: color surely but what about taste or texture? How does one find this ingredient? What is it called in Chinese?

Thanks for any help.

Edited August 19, 2009 by udscbt (log)

[v. gautam]

I believe red-in-snow may be a type of radish or crucifer. Red wine lees question is answered in the fu-ru/fermented bean curd thread.

[Ben Hong]

"Red in snow" is indeed made from a cruciferous plant, ie: a cabbage type similar to bok choy. It can usually be found in cans, preserved and pickled, and chopped up.

A huge nod to V. Gautam, again.

[dmreed]

Re: pork surimi, meat with fat homogenized [emulsified] with crushed ice in a food processor will make a base [the same process used to create texture for hot dogs, a pork, beef, turkey or chicken surimi]. Then you may choose to add quantities of flour and seasonings to your desire. You may experiment with egg white powder, which will give stuctural strength the sheets but they may toughen the mixture if above a certain proportion.

Next comes the tricky part, of forming sheets about which I have no idea. I would guess chilling, and rolling out and shaping these: perhaps with a sushi mat and silicone baking sheet? Would they be steamed after this step or dry cooked or pan cooked with a water-oil spray?

One would suppose the initial amount and types of fat [liquid crystal/membrane structure] of the initial mixture, plus the matrix stucture of the emulsion with regard to its fluidity and protein mix, and beginning and end temperatures while grinding [much like temperature control while mixing bread dough in industrial machines] would have some effects on the final results.

I have no experience of  Yan-pi; am merely re-constructing a logical chain, if that is of any help to you.

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thanks for the details, much appreciated!

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I am still looking for actual recipes for "swallow skin" or for references in books or for online mail-order sources...as usual, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Liveitloud]

Thanks for this thread it has answered several questions I have about products. Has anyone cooked with bulldog sauce? I think it's called tankatsu. I make a noodle dish that finishes with this sauce and it's flavors are so deep and beautiful.

[prasantrin]

Tonkatsu sauce is Japanese, not Chinese.

[OliverB]

this thread is probably going to be one of the most useful things to me on eGullet, if not the internet! Thanks for starting this, we just got a new Ranch 99 and a Fish something or other is going to open up soon. I find myself in front of 35787 different kinds of (insert name)sauces and have no clue what to get - usually just buy the more expensive stuff hoping it's "better", so this is going to be really really helpful!

Thanks!

Oliver

[David A. Goldfarb]

An interesting new ingredient I found recently at the Asian market is Roxy 100% Cold Pressed Pure Peanut Oil, which I looked for and didn't find on the distributor's website, www.roxytrading.com, so perhaps it is a new product for them. It doesn't say that it is made elsewhere, so it is possible that it is manufactured in the US. I actually bought it about a week ago and opened the bottle this evening to discover the very vivid and pleasant aroma of PEANUTS, which seems absent from the peanut oil one gets at the supermarket. I think it was around $13 for a 64 oz. plastic bottle.

[dmreed]

While reading "Mary Sia's Chinese Cookbook" I came across 2 ingredients with which I am not familiar:

1) Yu Loo - a strong tasting fish extract (I think this is just fish sauce)

2) Green Plum Sauce - used with any meat dish, just as Westerners use mango chutney.

what is the Chinese name(s) for green plum sauce?

She also mentions 2 ways to prepare canned abalone:

1) cover unopened can with water and bring to a boil, simmer for 4 hours making sure can is always covered with water; remove, coll,open can, save juice.

2) remove abalones from can and cut each in two;put abalones in pressure cooker with juice and 1 cup water; cook 20 minutes at 15pounds pressure.

Has anyone here used either method? Are these good ways to prepare caned abalone?

[sunflower]

Just joined today and have read this forum for sometime. Great to meet you guys finally. If you have followed the BBC messageboard and read my blog http://sunflower-recipes.blogspot.com/ you probably know who I am.

Anyway to answer the dmreed questions #91:

1) Yu Loo is fish sauce identical to Thai fish sauce.

2) Green plum sauce is called 青梅酱 (ching mei jiang) in Chinese. It is made with small green sour plums similar to greengage plum. I am not sure you can find Chinese green plums outside China, Taiwan and maybe Japan/ Korea.

Regarding the method to prepare canned abalone,

1) Step 1. This is absolutely unnecessary, canned abalone is already fully cooked and tenderised.

2) Do not pressure cook canned abalone this will make it tough like leather.

*slow simmering or pressure cooking only applies to dried abalones.

All you need to do is just open the can and slice very thin. Eat as it is (I will eat it straight from the can) or briefly stir fry with oyster sauce, good chicken broth and Chinese cooking wine. Abalone with sea cucumber and shitake mushroom is a classic Cantonese dish. To serve, line the dish with a bed of steamed Chinese green and lay the stir fry abalone on top.

[dmreed]

thanks...info much appreciated.

always learning something new!

[dmreed]

there are Chinese names for flavors and tastes such as TEEM for SWEET, SEEN for SOUR, HEONG for pan-flavor or WOK HAY, etc.

using soy sauce and other fermented soy products, I know the Chinese are aware of the Japanese flavor called UMAMI but what is the Chinese name for this flavor?

[liuzhou]

Umami is referred to as 鲜味/鮮味 xiān wèi in Mandarin.

[dmreed]

thanks, greatly appreciated...do you have a literal translation of xiān wèi?

how about the Cantonese name?

BTW I am starting a Taste/Flavor page on my site:

http://dmreed.com/food-cooking-tastes_and_flavors.html

this thread although not as active as it once was continues to be a great source of information!

[liuzhou]

The literal translation is not particularly helpful (as so often in Chinese!)

It means something like "tasty taste".

Sorry, I don't know Cantonese.

[dmreed]

thanks...but it is interesting!

[hzrt8w]

there are Chinese names for flavors and tastes such as TEEM for SWEET, SEEN for SOUR, HEONG for pan-flavor or WOK HAY, etc.

Chinese characters:

TEEM for SWEET: 甜

SEEN for SOUR: 酸

HEONG for pan-flavor: 香 (I think this is what you were referring to)

WOK HAY: 鑊氣

(I bought a hand-writing Chinese input device. Entering Chinese characters is much easier now. )

- 阿梁

Edited March 8, 2010 by hzrt8w (log)

[dmreed]

there are Chinese names for flavors and tastes such as TEEM for SWEET, SEEN for SOUR, HEONG for pan-flavor or WOK HAY, etc.

Chinese characters:

TEEM for SWEET: 甜

SEEN for SOUR: 酸

HEONG for pan-flavor: 香 (I think this is what you were referring to)

WOK HAY: 鑊氣

(I bought a hand-writing Chinese input device. Entering Chinese characters is much easier now. )

- 阿梁

thanks...are the above Mandarin, Cantonese??? Really nice to see you are still here!!!!!!

how about the remaining flavors:

HOM like salt

FOO from very slightly bitter to very bitter

TOM like rice or the "baked" flavor of bread

LOT like in mustard or chili peppers

GUM cool, acrid-sweet like citrus peel