SIMPLE ASIAN RECIPES FOR GOOD EATING

[VeryAngry]

Two things I learned being a man

1) You must have pride in your roots, your origins
2) You need to know how to prepare food for yourself

Sure you may be feeling down. Yes, you may be feeling bitter and angry. But the truth is, Asians have a wealth of heritage, things that have fascinated outsiders for centuries. These outsiders are now bastardizing our traditions. We see it in greasy asian fast food joints and naff high street fashion. If we don't claim our culture for ourselves, if we don't live it, crass commercialism and cultural assimilation will reduce it to the lowest common denominator! I'm not being alarmist.

Modern folk have it a bit easier. In the old days when men had to hunt and fish, there were times when they had to travel days and weeks away from their homes in order to get food for their tribe. In such conditions, not only did they have to hunt, they had to know how to prepare food for storage and the journey home, and they had to cook for themselves. Today, we just buy our food. But think of the amount of control you exercise over what you put in your mouth, when you only buy your food. The finest ingredients? Low in fat? Quality low GI carbs? I DON'T THINK SO. You have to PAY through your nose to have such food prepared for you. You'll be shocked at how cheap it is to purchase your own food (from a wet market perhaps). All it needs is a little time and effort.

Combine the two, and you have the ultimate chick seducing weapon, guaranteed to raise her interest level. By cooking ethnic food, you'll be demonstrating class and sophistication and a hint of the exotic and mysterious!

So, let's post our ethnic recipes here. I'll start first with two entries.

[VeryAngry]

Steamed Fish with Lime Sauce (Calories 93, Fat 2g)

Ingredients:

1 red snapper (approximately 500g)
2.5 cm ginger, sliced thinly
1 stalk spring onion

Lime sauce:
3 chillies, chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon honey

Method:
a) Steam fish with ginger and spring onion until flesh is white, soft and flaky (cooked through, approx 10 mins, time may vary though)
b) Discard gingers and spring onion
c) Mix ingredients for lime sauce and pour over fish while still hot
d) Serve fish when hot. Voila!

Who needs all that greasy stuff anyway? French fries soaked in oil, impregnated with transfatty acids, toxifying your body. Here's meat cooked the healthy way: Steamed. All nutrients are left intact, but you must drink the soup. Complete your meal with brown rice and stir fried veggies.


Tom Yum Seafood Soup (appox 100 cals & 3g fat, but values vary with ingredients in group B)

Ingredients:
Group A
2 stalks lemongrass
1 cm blue ginger
5 lime leaves
1 tomato, wedged
3 chillies (make it the absolute hottest you can get), chopped
2 small onions, sliced
1 clove garlic
1 lime, squeezed

Group B
4 mussels
10 fish slices
4 prawns
1 squid
Half cup straw mushrooms
Chicken stock, 2 cubes

Method:
a) Boil chicken stock with 2 small bowls of water and ingredients from Group A.
b) Add salt and lime juice according to taste (in general, the less salt the better)
c) Put ingredients from group B and boil until cooked, serve hot (make sure the seafood is thoroughly cooked).

Tom Yum is a Thai dish. What you'd pay through your nose for in a Thai restaurant is now available at a fraction of the cost. And best of all? GUARANTEED NO MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE. The spiciness will make your girl randy.

[Dialectic]

Yo man, this is brilliant stuff. Lopan cooks for chicks all the time, and he WORKS that!

[vinh tha azn crazy]

it's called restaurant :)

[generaltojo]

Frito Pie

Ingredients:

3 C Fritos corn chips
æ C Onion, chopped
1 C Cheddar cheese, grated
2-? C Chili (your favorite -- homemade, canned, whatever)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350?F.

Spread 2 cups of Fritos in a baking dish. Sprinkle half the onion and half the cheese over the Fritos. Pour the chili over the onion and cheese. Sprinkle the remaining Fritos, onion and cheese over the chili.

Bake for 15 or 20 minutes and cheese is bubbly. Serve hot, with diced tomatoes and sour cream.

[ellencho]

I got an easy one, and it impresses people because it uses watercress which is sort of a hoity toity type salad green and it tastes good too.

Sauteed watercress
Two bundles of watercress, washed and stems trimmed
a Tb or two of veggie oil
1-2 Tb of oyster sauce (depending on how salty you like your watercress to be).

Put a wok or skillet on medium high heat, add oil, then add watercress.

It looks like a lot of watercress but this stuff wilts down really small. Add the oyster sauce and stir to coat. Serve immediately.

Ok, here's another one because I'm feeling generous. It's a little harder but still easy.

1 tsp cornstarch
1 Tb soy sauce
1/2 lb ground or shredded pork (depending on your textural prefs)
a block of extra firm tofu
oil
sriracha
2 Tb oyster sauce
1/4 c water
1/2 a bag of frozen peas
3 minced green onions

Mix soy sauce and cornstarch together. Add pork and stir to evenly distribute. Set aside.

Cut the block of tofu up into 1 inch cubes. Add oil to medium hot pan, then add pork mixture and cook till done. Add Oyster sauce, and enough sriracha for your liking. Stir to coat, add water. Then add the tofu cubes and let bubble for a couple minutes on medium low heat, covered. Remove lid, add the frozen peas and stir to heat up peas. Taste, and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. If it's too watery (it shouldn't be but you never know) then leave the lid off for a bit just to let the heat evaporate some of the liquid) When you're happy with the taste, top with the minced green onions. Eat with rice. mmm. tastes good.

Not bad for a first post huh?

[VeryAngry]

It was an excellent first post.

[Charlie]

how do you make good flied lice? Like restaurants do? I can never get it right. I use soy sauce, which probably ain't right.

[ellencho]

how do you make good flied lice? Like restaurants do? I can never get it right. I use soy sauce, which probably ain't right.
Oyster sauce is your friend Charlie. 1/4 cup oyster sauce mixed with a Tb of soy sauce. After you're done cooking all the ingredients - veggies, rice, meat, egg, whatever, add that oyster sauce/soy mixture and you're good to go.

[ABC in NYC]

Oyster sauce in fried rice???!!! Are you on crack??!!!

[ellencho]

Oyster sauce in fried rice???!!! Are you on crack??!!!
It's good, I've been doing it for years. I learned from a Chinese guy whose parents own a restaurant. Try it and get back to me. The amount I recommended is for use on ~6 cups of rice. Definitely cut down if you're using a little bit of rice.

The first time I ever made it was in their restaurant and they had these big hot industrial burners and it cooked really fast. Now I wish I had an industrial stove in my apt.

[ABC in NYC]

Yeah, I know what it's like. My dad was a chef and he owned a restaurant.

Still, oyster sauce in fried rice???!!!! Wouldn't that make it soggy and pastey?

I ONLY add a dash of pepper and mainly soy sauce and salt.

Yeah, I wish that I had a restaurant wok/stove too! It's fast! Shit is like, "Bang! Done!"

Notice that I am NOT giving out my recipes to the white boys who may be reading this. My recipes stay with the Lee's. However, if you want to learn how to make chicken cutlet parmigiana over pasta, I would gladly divulge my secrets. :D

Maybe I'll send you my recipes if I know that you're a REAL Asian. :wink:

[ellencho]

Yeah, I know what it's like. My dad was a chef and he owned a restaurant.

Still, oyster sauce in fried rice???!!!! Wouldn't that make it soggy and pastey?

I ONLY add a dash of pepper and mainly soy sauce and salt.

Yeah, I wish that I had a restaurant wok/stove too! It's fast! Shit is like, "Bang! Done!"

Notice that I am NOT giving out my recipes to the white boys who may be reading this. My recipes stay with the Lee's. However, if you want to learn how to make chicken cutlet parmigiana over pasta, I would gladly divulge my secrets. :D

Maybe I'll send you my recipes if I know that you're a REAL Asian. :wink:
Shit, I make my pasta fresh :wink: I got a pasta roller for my birthday last march and I've been having fun making all sorts of pasta. Egg pasta, spinach pasta, ravioli, tortellini. I only buy the dried pasta if I want something with shapes like rigatoni, or gemelli because I can't make that at home. Anyway, I've already got breading chicken cutlets down pat and I make a pretty good chicken parm myself. Cooking/baking is my hobby. However, I do appreciate the offer :D The one thing I always mess up is gnocchi.

But the thing about the oyster sauce is that it adds sort of a nice backgroundy depth of flavor to your fried rice. Considering how much rice, and meat, and veggies and stuff are in the dish, the oyster sauce is stretched out a lot so you don't end up with a sticky clumpy mess. It sounds scarier than it tastes and looks believe me.

How would I prove that I'm a real asian? Hmm... Ok here's one. When I get my food at an Asian restaurant I NEVER add soy sauce or any other type of sace to my white rice. EW!

[awong]

How would I prove that I'm a real asian? Hmm... Ok here's one. When I get my food at an Asian restaurant I NEVER add soy sauce or any other type of sace to my white rice. EW!
I don't know I have a habit of mixing the sauces with rice, execpt soy sauce, then again my family is wierd, I have a grandmother who puts soy sauce on cuban tamales.

[ellencho]

How would I prove that I'm a real asian? Hmm... Ok here's one. When I get my food at an Asian restaurant I NEVER add soy sauce or any other type of sace to my white rice. EW!
I don't know I have a habit of mixing the sauces with rice, execpt soy sauce, then again my family is wierd, I have a grandmother who puts soy sauce on cuban tamales.
It's one thing if it's an actual sauce from a dish, but something like duck sauce on rice is very unappetizing to me.

I've even been out with white folks who put duck sauce on their actual food, like let's say they get fried rice, they'll put duck sauce on it.

And I had a white friend who made me some sort of Teriyaki bbq type thing, and she added extra soy sauce to the Teriyaki sauce - damn girl, teriyaki already has soy in it. Might as well add a cup of salt to it too then!

[awong]

How would I prove that I'm a real asian? Hmm... Ok here's one. When I get my food at an Asian restaurant I NEVER add soy sauce or any other type of sace to my white rice. EW!
I don't know I have a habit of mixing the sauces with rice, execpt soy sauce, then again my family is wierd, I have a grandmother who puts soy sauce on cuban tamales.
It's one thing if it's an actual sauce from a dish, but something like duck sauce on rice is very unappetizing to me.

I've even been out with white folks who put duck sauce on their actual food, like let's say they get fried rice, they'll put duck sauce on it.
call me guilty then...I've had a thing with putting the steak sauce on rice when I eat steak...

[ellencho]

Are you a salty food fan by any chance?

[awong]

Are you a salty food fan by any chance?
Not really, I mean food needs it salt, I don't go looking for salt to put on my food like my siblings and if it is too salty I don't like it...like adding too much salt on my chicken soup, makes it really taste bad. I think I pefer salty foods though over really sweet foods though.

[ellencho]

Stop eating like a white person awong! :wink:

[awong]

Stop eating like a white person awong! :wink:
And dye your hair back to your original color!!!!!!
Oh yeah take off your contacts

:wink:

[ellencho]

There's a movie called "Waiting for Guffman" and there's a part when two couples are eating together at a CHinese restaurant. One of the couples are travel agents, and the other is a dentist and his wife. The travel agent couple suggests that they visit China and the other couple says that a friend travelled there and said the food wasn't as good over there, "because you can't get a sauce that's as thick and as sweet as you can here". Always cracks my shit up.

[ellencho]

Stop eating like a white person awong! :wink:
And dye your hair back to your original color!!!!!!
Oh yeah take off your contacts

:wink:
:oops: *whispers* but then they'll find out that I'm really asian! <-- that was a joke people, A JOKE!

[awong]

Stop eating like a white person awong! :wink:
And dye your hair back to your original color!!!!!!
Oh yeah take off your contacts

:wink:
:oops: *whispers* but then they'll find out that I'm really asian! <-- that was a joke people, A JOKE!
not if you had eyelid surgury :P


I need to find out some of those cuban-chinese food recipes, but I think they are my mom's creation of mixing the foods together. Well there is yuca and soy sauce, but I rather have it with garlic and olive oil. The food is really good too. Mashed planatans are good with soy sauce in it.

[ellencho]

http://turbomirage.phpwebhosting.com/pics/misc/homer_drool.gif
Mashed plantains...

[ABC in NYC]

BTW, "duck sauce" is a concoction totally invented for non-Asians by Asians. Probably because non-Asians like sweets so much.

Dudes, I've seen non-Asians put "duck sauce" on things like ribs to rice to their freaking tea!! I mean, tea??!!! WTF??!! That shit ain't "Sweet n Low"!! lol

Me? I guess that I also like salty things. I haven't had ice cream, candy, cookies, cake, or coffee in years! Probably the sweetest thing that I DO have on a somewhat regular basis is orange juice.

BTW, fortune cookies are another little gimmick targeted towards non-Asians.

[awong]

So is americanized asian food...
I heard kids in class saying how much they love it, even that chinese national girl in my class who told me I wasn't chinese likes that stuff. Like General tsaos is her favorite. I don't know what that is. Now that I think of it, I never really eat out chinese food in tampa, seems like there is only like 1 or 2 authentic restuarants in my area, the rest are the stuff that caters to whites, the ones that are authentic had less white people eating there for dim sum, and I saw more chinese families instead. I am guessing the authentic stuff is to grusome for some people...like a chicken head there or chicken foot, my friends thought i was wierd for eating some parts of animals.

[ABC in NYC]

I love tripe (cow's stomach lining), chicken feet, snails, and frogs! Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!

[blockthebox]

Hey Andrew,

Can you post some Cuban Chinese recipes please? Thanks in advance.

[awong]

Hey Andrew,

Can you post some Cuban Chinese recipes please? Thanks in advance.
I'll be asking my mom, it might take a while as she has been running errands all day, with my brother and sister's sports stuff

[aelward]

Kind of expensive but simple:

serves 2:

Ingredients:
cross section of sea bass (500g)
canola or olive oil - 3 tbsp
green onions, finely chopped
corn starch: enough to cover sea bass


Directions:
1. coat the sea bass in corn starch
2. Pan fry front and back and sides until brown
3. Put into an oven, wrapped in foil, at 400 degrees for 40 minutes
4. Fry green onions in oil, before the sea bass is finished
5. pour oil and green pepper over sea bass and serve

[ellencho]

Damn ael, that shit is classy!

[Charlie]

Alright, I tried making flied lice using oyster sauce like you guys suggested. That was it, the missing link ;) Thanks for the tip.

I need to get the amounts right though and it's still not quite up to restaurant standards. When you said 1/4c oyster sauce per 6 cups rice, is that 6 cups cooked or uncooked? How much salt? How about MSG? Vegetable oil or something else?

[ABC in NYC]

Charlie,

Whatever you do, however you're going to fuck this up.....DON'T put oyster sauce in your fried rice. lol Trust me on this one.

[redguard]

yea, only thing i put oyster sauce in is under the olive oil in my bowl when i eat hot pot (huo guo)

[Dialectic]

Actually, my family used to use oyster sauce for the chicken meat in the brown chicken soup with all the crazy black mushrooms. Apparently though there's some less than healthy shit in there, so my mom stopped using it several years back.

[Charlie]

No, the oyster sauce is good in fried rice. Ellencho was right. It must be what the pros use, you know to make "that special friend rice". Anyway, there's different types of fly lice..cantonese, taiwanese, japanese. The cantonese variation is probably the one that uses oyster sauce.

The sauce I use is called oyster "flavored" sauce, so maybe it doesn't have the unhealthy stuff in it.

[ABC in NYC]

Charlie,

No, the Cantonese version of fried rice DOESN'T use oyster sauce. Trust me. Maybe some salt and pepper or soy sauce. But, that's it.

Hmmmm, I should do some experimenting and try fish sauce.

[ABC in NYC]

BTW, I think that they are all "flavored" and unhealthy in large doses. But fuck it, if it tastes good, that's good enough for me. 8)

[ellencho]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it Charlie. It's 6 cups of cooked rice. I'm not sure how much that translates into in terms of uncooked rice though. Whenever I have leftover rice from dinner I freeze it and save it until it looks like I have enough for fried rice. It's an excellent way to get rid of leftover meat and veggies and rice.

Yes, I do use veggie oil, and a bit of pepper, but no msg at all.

I start out by preheating my biggest non-stick pan with a bit of oil in it at medium high heat, then pre-cooking all my veggies, meat, eggs, separately then putting them aside (add oil as you need it). After that I add more oil and add the rice, breaking up the clumps until most grains are individual. Make sure you keep everything moving to prevent sticking. Then add your oyster sauce/soy sauce mix along with your meat/veggie/eggs and stir to combine. Sometimes, depending on who I'm serving the rice to, I'll add a sprinkling of scallions to the top. My bf doesn't like raw scallions so I usually leave those out if he'll be eating with me, or I'll cook them until they've softened and lost their harshness.

ABC, try it once, it might not taste like what you're personally used to, but I still think it's good.

[ABC in NYC]

Ellen,

I'll give oyster sauce a shot. :(

It still doesn't sound right.

Damn, six cups of cooked rice???!!! Who are you cooking for?! A freaking banquet??!! lol

BTW, my dad was a chef. I watched him cook. He NEVER used oyster sauce in fried rice.

[ABC in NYC]

FYI, fuck the pan, use a wok.

[ellencho]

Alas, the burners on my stove make it difficult to use my wok :( I don't like the metal ring that came with my wok, I like my wok directly in the fire (like in restaurants). My bf bought me a flat bottomed wok because he felt sorry for me but it's a non-stick t-fal wok and I prefer a nice blackened seasoned wok. Sometimes I use the t-fal but it definitely does not work as well as a regular wok.

And yeah I know 6 cups is a lot. I don't see why you couldn't halve the recipe, but my bf eats like an ox so we usually don't have any leftovers.

[ABC in NYC]

Ellen,

Are you Korean?

To heck with the flat bottomed wok. Use a round bottomed one. Also, forget about non-stick.

Do it the real way. Iron. Make it nice and hot with oil.

[ABC in NYC]

You're gonna have to deal with the aluminum ring for now...unless you have a restaurant stove.

Speaking of which, who out there keeps it real by wrapping their entire kitchen in aluminum foil?

[ellencho]

Not only am I korean but I also foiled the crap out of my range top.

[ABC in NYC]

Ellen,

You're such a FOB, but it's good! :D

[awong]

Charlie,

No, the Cantonese version of fried rice DOESN'T use oyster sauce. Trust me. Maybe some salt and pepper or soy sauce. But, that's it.

Hmmmm, I should do some experimenting and try fish sauce.
Thats right, I don't ever recall my mom or her mother, and my cousin's dad ever using osyter sauce in their fried rice. I am cantonese also...

[ellencho]

Hee, that's the first time I've ever been called a fob, but admittedly, I am an old Korean grandma at heart.

[ABC in NYC]

My friends bought a house several years ago. REALLY nice starter house. Clean, MODERN EVERYTHING!!!

My gf at the time was like, "Okay, let's see if it's a real Chinese house." So we walked into their kitchen.

In the suped-up, modern kitchen, what did we see?

Everything was wrapped in foil. lol

[awong]

someone explain the foil thing to me

[ellencho]

someone explain the foil thing to me
I suppose this is an only asian thing, because I've only seen it in asian homes - Korean, Chinese, Japanese. Some of us don't like oil spatter to ruin our kitchen walls if they're near your stove so some people put up aluminum foil up over the walls that are behind the stove. Usually these same people will cover our range top surfaces with a layer of aluminum foil.

Some of the Japanese homes I've been actually have these three sided open aluminum screens around their ranges that are used to catch all the spatter. They think of everything in Japan.

[awong]

my mom uses newspapers instead, when she cooks, on the floor and on the wall. But she put tile on the wall facing the stove instead so it would be easier to clean. I haven't seen the newspaper there since the tile.
I am thinking, maybe my grandmother used that in Cuba. I think with the communists in Cuba, plus the embargo, it might it hard to get things like foil and paper was easier.
Plus newspaper is cheaper than buying lots of foil :P

[angi]

I've seen/done the foil on the burners (so you just throw the foil away when it gets dirty) but never on the wall!

[awong]

here is a picture of the stove, a bit messy, but oh well. Also notice, I drink Cuban beverages too. :P And my brother does not, yet he claims to be cuban.
http://dubs.unixprohost.com/albums/album42/DSCN0272.sized.jpg

[redguard]

Haha not one, but two, count 'em, two rice steamers for heavy duty cooking

[awong]

lol, with the two rice cookers, I don't know which one my mom uses to cook the rice with, its always a different one everytime. But she also shes one to cook corn with. The corn turns out to taste really good too.

[riceball]

Listen up. This is food knowledge from the riceball. I'm giving away all my cheap secrets.

Fly rice:

To break up sticky rice for fried rice, mix raw egg into the rice as it fries. The egg coats the grains and keeps them separate.

My crosscultural fusion recipe:

Kim Chee Tacos -- Take a cold corn tortilla and smear some cream cheese on it. Put a couple spoons of chopped up kim chee in there. Put it on an oiled griddle, and after it starts to get crispy, fold it up, and remove it from the heat Cool it a little before eating.

Deception blows away skill:

If you want to impress someone who's not Chinese, make ramen with those thin egg noodles. They'll be impressed at how much better it tastes than Top Ramen.

Fat is delicious:

If you make cookies, consider using cream instead of milk. It makes the cookies taste richer.

Research:

I've fed ong choy to people of several different races, and each time, they want more.

[VeryAngry]

This is great, guys.

I have a bunch of recipes on how to cook pig brains, hearts, and livers. Anybody interested? It's high in protein and vitamins.

[Yellow_Peril]

Jelly Cakes


1 cup boiling water
1 x 85 g (3 oz) packet strawberry or raspberry jelly crystals (jello)
3/4 cup cold water
125 g (4 oz) butter
1/2 cup caster (superfine) sugar
1 x egg
1 1/4 cups self-raising (self-rising) flour, sifted
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 1/2 cups desiccated coconut




Pour boiling water into a large heatproof jug. Sprinkle jelly crystals into jug, stir until crystals are dissolved, then stir in cold water. Pour jelly mixture into a large, shallow dish, about 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 in), cover and refrigerate for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until jelly is just starting to set. (It is important that the jelly is used at the right consistency; if it is too firm it will not stick to the cakes.)


Meanwhile, lightly grease 3 x 12-hole shallow patty-pan tins (1 1/2-tablespoon capacity) and preheat oven to 180 C (350 F). Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until just combined. Add flour, milk and vanilla and mix until smooth.


Spoon tablespoons of the mixture into prepared tins. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. They're ready when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove cakes from tins and transfer to a wire rack to cool.


Remove jelly from refrigerator and quickly roll a cake in the jelly, coating it evenly. Toss the jelly-covered cake in coconut until it's coated all over. Repeat with remaining cakes and arrange on a platter to serve.

[HurricaneSteve]

Question for y'all...the pro-Asian-American student organization at my college is going to throw together an Asian cookbook and I'd like to know if I can use some of your recipes. It will be going towards a good cause and I can add your names next to the food item to give you credit as well. If you're okay with that or object, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

[VeryAngry]

Ah shit, sorry for the late reply, I actually ignored this thread for a while because it's taken off beautifully.

I took my recipes from a magazine, which I didn't reveal, to preserve my anonymity. So there may be copyright issues about that.

[NtshiabLiDej]

Got the following from my ex-boyfriend a while back. Very simple to make.

Bahn Mi

2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil

1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped garlic

1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) 5-spice powder

1/2 tsp (2 mL) cayenne

1 tbsp (15 mL) soy sauce

2 tsp (10 mL) sugar

1/3 lb (150 g) ground pork

4 mini baguettes

1/3 lb (150 g) cooked pork butt or shoulder, thinly sliced

1/4 lb (115 g) Vietnamese pork sausage or headcheese or ham, thinly sliced

1/3 cup (80 mL) marinated daikon and carrots or marinated mixed Asian vegetables

1/3 English cucumber, seeded, cut into thin strips

8 sprigs fresh cilantro

1 serrano or jalapeno chile, thinly sliced on the diagonal

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over moderate heat. Add the garlic, 5-spice powder, cayenne, soy sauce and sugar and stir until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the ground pork and stir a few times. Reduce the heat and cook until the meat is done, about 3 to 4 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. Heat the baguette in a 300 F (150 C) oven so the outside is warm and crusty, about 5 minutes. Cut each baguette in half lengthwise without separating. Spread 2 to 3 tbsp (30 to 45 mL) of the ground pork mixture (including pan juices) on the bread. Add one-fourth of the pork slices and one-fourth of the pork sausage, making sure the meat is evenly spread on the bread.

3. Garnish the sandwich with marinated vegetables, cucumber, cilantro and chile along with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining baguettes.

[NtshiabLiDej]

This is great, guys.

I have a bunch of recipes on how to cook pig brains, hearts, and livers. Anybody interested? It's high in protein and vitamins.
Care to share?

I usually take the pigs' stomach, intestines, heart, tongue, and kidneys and cook them with whole chili pepper, cilantro, ginger, garlic, green onions and white onions and salt, pepper, oyster sauce and Sriracha hot sauce to taste. Sooooo delicious!

[poisenedrice]

Does anyone know how to make soon tofu? I had some at BCD Tofu House (http://www.bcdtofu.com/menu.asp) while in LA, and I've been obsessed with it ever since. Definitely the type of food that can get a guy through the freezing winters up here.

[redguard]

Does anyone know how to make soon tofu? I had some at BCD Tofu House (http://www.bcdtofu.com/menu.asp) while in LA, and I've been obsessed with it ever since. Definitely the type of food that can get a guy through the freezing winters up here.

That the same stuff as Ma La Dou Fu you talkin about? (Numbing Hot Tofu for any non-Chinese here)

[blockthebox]

Does anyone know how to make soon tofu? I had some at BCD Tofu House (http://www.bcdtofu.com/menu.asp) while in LA, and I've been obsessed with it ever since. Definitely the type of food that can get a guy through the freezing winters up here.

Yeah, that place is good. I don't know anyone who actually makes soon tofu at home. I've had my mom's and, quite frankly, it's awful. I think it's because she doesn't use MSG or meat/seafood.

Anyway, your best bet is to find a Korean restaurant in your area. Shouldn't be too hard since we're EVERYWHERE - where there's a Korean, you'll find (1) a church and (2) a restaurant.

[DPC]

Does anyone know how to make soon tofu? I had some at BCD Tofu House (http://www.bcdtofu.com/menu.asp) while in LA, and I've been obsessed with it ever since. Definitely the type of food that can get a guy through the freezing winters up here.

Yeah, that place is good. I don't know anyone who actually makes soon tofu at home. I've had my mom's and, quite frankly, it's awful. I think it's because she doesn't use MSG or meat/seafood.

Anyway, your best bet is to find a Korean restaurant in your area. Shouldn't be too hard since we're EVERYWHERE - where there's a Korean, you'll find (1) a church and (2) a restaurant.

Everywhere, i thought he lived in Minnesota or something. Ain't gonna find no BCD Tofu house over there, maybe he oughtta try dl'ing the recipe n' making it himself. that could have adverse effects though... good luck poisonedrice!

[blockthebox]

Everywhere, i thought he lived in Minnesota or something. Ain't gonna find no BCD Tofu house over there, maybe he oughtta try dl'ing the recipe n' making it himself. that could have adverse effects though... good luck poisonedrice!

Dude, I never said there'd be a BCD Tofu or anything even comparable, but I just did a quick Google search and there are even Korean restaurants in places like Bumblefuck, West Virginia.

[poisenedrice]

Does anyone know how to make soon tofu? I had some at BCD Tofu House (http://www.bcdtofu.com/menu.asp) while in LA, and I've been obsessed with it ever since. Definitely the type of food that can get a guy through the freezing winters up here.

Yeah, that place is good. I don't know anyone who actually makes soon tofu at home. I've had my mom's and, quite frankly, it's awful. I think it's because she doesn't use MSG or meat/seafood.

Anyway, your best bet is to find a Korean restaurant in your area. Shouldn't be too hard since we're EVERYWHERE - where there's a Korean, you'll find (1) a church and (2) a restaurant.

Dammit, only Koreans up here are adoptees. Now I tried making some based off a recipe I found via Google on Monday, but it... sucked. Dammit, can't a chinaman get his soon tofu?!

Thanks for the suggestion though, block.

[Dialectic]

Where there's a Chinese you'll find (1) a restaurant and (2) a sweatshop (possibly combined with a welfare scam).

[vsoy]

The way I make mapo (soon) tofu in college and graduate school is like this:

1 lb of ground beef or turkey
1 container of tofu (Nori non-refridgeration is a god send for people living in BFE)
Sambal Oelek(vietnamese chili sauce, the one with the rooster logo is good) to your taste

Brown meat in skillet, drain oil. Add tofu, mashing it up as you mix. Start off with 1-2 tbsp of the chili sauce and mix and taste. If it's not red/hot enough, add more. Serve with a lot of rice. Not the most imaginative, but easy on the wallet and much healthier than those nasty, salty mapo mixes you see in the stores.

A good compliment is sweet and sour cucumber salad to cool down your palate.
1 peeled,seeded, sliced cucumber
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vinegar
Dissolve sugar and vinegar. Add cucumber to dressing. Best results if marinated in fridge for a while, esp overnight.

[Dialectic]

Whassup vsoy., welcome to the 44s, glad to have you aboard! Thank you for posting this delicious-sounding recipe (I love mapo tofu), and we look forward to hearing more from you.

And now a bit about us.

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[ellencho]

So this is something my mom used to make for us when we were little. Oddly enough, all four of us kids are grown up now, so she really has no reason to make it to eat it alone, but if one of our dogs is sick, she'll actually buy a chicken and make this for him or her. Either way, it's really good and it's really easy, and I just got my first digital camera today so I hope you enjoy my recipe. also, I apologize in advance for the ginormous photos - I haven't figured out picture size editing yet.

Easy steamed chicken - serves four

One chicken, a big one, like 5 lbs
8 scallions - 6 cut into large pieces, 2 cut into small rings
half a head of garlic, peeled, then smashed
about 3 inches worth of ginger, peeled and sliced into quarter inch pieces
some cooked sticky rice - something starchy and glutinous
sesame oil
salt and pepper

So take care of your aromatics first:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/aromatics.jpg

Clean out your chicken, and salt and pepper it generously both inside and outside.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/nakedchicken.jpg

Then go ahead and add your aromatics to the inside cavity of your chicken. If not everything fits inside the bird then that's cool. Stuff it loosely, you don't want to pack it in, it'll affect the bird's cooking time.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/stuffedchicken.jpg

Once you've got that done, put it in a steamer filled with 2-3 inches of boiling water and sprinkle the remaining aromatics around the bird, lower the heat to medium low. Save the scallions cut up into rings for later.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/chickeninsteamer.jpg

Not that you care, but this is the snack I ate whilst waiting for my chicken to cook. It was sweet and juicy. This is definitely a good citrus season IMO.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/orangeslices.jpg

After the chicken has steamed for an hour, turn off the heat and let it rest for 15 minutes before removing it onto a serving platter. You can tell that the chicken is cooked if you pierce the skin and clear liquid, not pink liquid runs from the bird.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/cookedchickenMAR18.jpg

If you're worried about ingesting too much chicken fat, skim some of the chicken fat off the top of the liquid in the pan. If not, leave it in, I won't tell anyone :) Add 2-3 cups of sticky cooked rice, depending on how many people you're feeding. Let the rice and broth come to a simmer until the rice has released its starch and begins to thicken up the broth. Sprinkle the remaining scallions in. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/jukMAR18.jpg

You can eat the chicken with your hands, tearing off pieces from the bird and dipping them into a little little bit of salt and pepper mixed together. The porridge that you just made (juk) is best served steaming hot with a good drizzle of sesame oil on top. Unfortunately the boyfriend and I are such gluttonous pigs that we didn't manage to snap a photo of a bowl of porridge.

[toml]

^^^ OMG that looks SO GOOD!

[da Tao]

Hot damn, ellen, that looks so tasty it is making me cry. :cry: You see, I couldn't quite find fresh chicken like that where I am. I will definitely make a note of it when I have the chance though!

And I'd love to learn how to make your Thai fish broth and the moon cakes! I ddin't know regular civilians made moon cakes! I thought it was one of those things that only Chinese bakeries made!!!
I am afraid I can't take any credit for those recipes! The Thai Fish Broth came from a book, titled "How to Cook" - which I find very useful because it takes you through the skills like boiling, frying, simmering etc. Unfortunately my younger brother took it to school with him and never told me! I was searching for the thing for like half a year! That punk! Any how... The basic ingredients are salmon, shrimps, coconut milk, vegetable broth, vegetables good for simmering (peas pods and bamboo shoots) and assorted thai spices. I can tell you WHAT i remember off my head - not much... or you can take a rain check!

As for mooncakes, I have to say that I was rather proud of myself. (Read: "come on ladies! I can make mooncakes!" :P ) My grandfather was very active not too long ago - digging gardens, uprooting trees, making pottery and baking stuff. He has three sets of books in chinese (traditional), one of them contains the recipe for mooncake... FROM THE GROUND UP.

That was good because I couldn't find a single bleeding can of lotus seed paste in Silicon Valley! I didn't sleep that night, and made the paste myself. When I was done with my mooncakes with double yolk, I was one happy man. Sigh. Anyhow, the crust is fairly standard mix - the hardest thing for an amateur to control were thickness of the crust and cooking time.

pps da tao, can you make custard mooncake? if so, can you post the recipe?
:!: :?:
Custard mooncakes... hmm... Can't say that I have heard of them - are they good? Where can you get them? Is it the same kind of custard as the custard buns for dim sum? I suppose it is the same recipe though... one for the crust and one for the custard.

[Makulita]

I can't remember and I'm lazy but someone said something about eating kim chee pizza.


...And that sounded super good - therefore....anyone have any idea on how to make it though?

[ellencho]

^ I doubt it's really all that complicated. Couldn't you just take strips of kimchee and add them to your pizza before you put it in the oven?

[awong]

hey its ellen's new camera in action!

[ellencho]

Yeah it's actually quite exciting and I seem to want to document every single second of my day, even the really mundane stuff. I had to stop myself from taking pics while planting my scallion seeds out on the balcony. We're having bobboli pizzas tonight, think it's worth documenting? :roll: Because you never know, that bobboli recipe is so durn complicated - spread sauce on crust, add cheese, stick in preheated oven. Let cool, eat. Wow my head is already spinning :wink:

[Bizarre_Female]

How would I prove that I'm a real asian? Hmm... Ok here's one. When I get my food at an Asian restaurant I NEVER add soy sauce or any other type of sace to my white rice. EW! LOL I will never understand why nonasians put soy sauce on EVERYTHING esp rice..yuck.

[Bizarre_Female]

someone explain the foil thing to me
I suppose this is an only asian thing, because I've only seen it in asian homes - Korean, Chinese, Japanese. Some of us don't like oil spatter to ruin our kitchen walls if they're near your stove so some people put up aluminum foil up over the walls that are behind the stove. Usually these same people will cover our range top surfaces with a layer of aluminum foil.

Some of the Japanese homes I've been actually have these three sided open aluminum screens around their ranges that are used to catch all the spatter. They think of everything in Japan.

Hey, a lot of SE Asians do the same thing. LOL I did it at my last apartment but I was too lazy and didn't do it for my new place.

[Bizarre_Female]

how do you make good flied lice? Like restaurants do? I can never get it right. I use soy sauce, which probably ain't right.

It also depends on what kind of rice you use, I've noticed. I'm just not sure which ones are better for cooking fried rice.

My mom uses oyster sauce in her fried rice too and it tastes fine.

[maogirl]

Custard mooncakes... hmm... Can't say that I have heard of them - are they good? Where can you get them? Is it the same kind of custard as the custard buns for dim sum? I suppose it is the same recipe though... one for the crust and one for the custard.

oh man, you mean this hasn't hit the US yet??? damn! you guys are slow! :lol: this is like, so 5 years ago!

it's like a mooncake but with really thick mochi (or something like it) skin. and inside is the same type of custard as the lai wong bao (i think those are the custard buns that you're talking about). oh...so good...

they were invented by tai pan bakery, supposedly, but everyone carries them now. they're also called snow mooncake, but not to be confused with the ice cream mooncakes (also very tasty).

hey, there's nothign wrong wtih putting soy sauce on rice! :( one of my favourite comfort foods is rice with fried chinese spam, fried egg and soy sauce. maybe it's a hk thing.

as for fried rice, it's usually better to fry day-old rice. you also have to be unafraid to use a ton of oil. you also need an old-fashioned, heavy wok, not those non-stick ones.

ellen, go ahead and document...your pics are nice! they look like they should be on the cover of gourmet magazine. i documented my first try at cooking cow brains and my pics grossed a lot of my friends out.

[ellencho]

Funny we're talking about fried rice, that's what's for dinner tonight since I've got so many odds and ends leftover from the week. I haven't decided on dessert yet. I might bake, I might not, we'll see. Either way, I'll definitely take pics.

Ooh I want to see the cow brains pics! If you still have them you should post them. Admittedly I'm not really a big fan of organ meat but I love good food pics.

[toml]

Speaking of fried rice, the stuff that I eat in Taiwan is totally different than anything that I've ever tasted before. (And even in Taiwan, only a few places can make it taste as good).

I'm not sure if it's the combo of msg and other spices, but from what I hear, it's because the heat they use is really, really hot.

[ellencho]

Yeah toml, restaurant have industrial ranges, what we use at home is chicken shit in comparison,

Anyway, here's what we had for dinner tonight - Fried rice and a sort of modified strawberry shortcake.

The first pic is sort of blurry, sorry about that, I must have been really hungry. I used leftovers mostly - mushrooms, peas, snow peas, scallions, fried tofu, broccoli, eggs, pork, shrimp.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/done20MAR05.jpg

This pic is better but still a little blurry. I just took some strawberries, cut them up, added a bit of sugar and let it mascerate for about an hour, which brought their juices out and made them all glisteny. I then sliced up some pound cake, and added the berries in between each slice and garnished with whipped cream.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/dessert20MAR05.jpg

[vsoy]

You know ellen, after living in apartments with electric stoves (which I hated with a passion) I am still not used to my gas stove even though it's been about 2 years. I have to put the gas on medium because I'm not used to the high setting and end up burning stuff. When I'm real hungry I have to remind myself to crank it up.

Strawberries with sugar, yumyum. I don't know how you do it making dinner and dessert. I'm so slow in the kitchen that I don't have time to make dessert or I'm too tired to make something nice. I end up making something ahead of time.

[Bizarre_Female]

Ellen, that looks soooo good. Gosh..if only I were as motivated to cook good food. I'm so lazy!

[vsoy]

As for mooncakes, I have to say that I was rather proud of myself. (Read: "come on ladies! I can make mooncakes!" :P ) My grandfather was very active not too long ago - digging gardens, uprooting trees, making pottery and baking stuff. He has three sets of books in chinese (traditional), one of them contains the recipe for mooncake... FROM THE GROUND UP.

That was good because I couldn't find a single bleeding can of lotus seed paste in Silicon Valley! I didn't sleep that night, and made the paste myself. When I was done with my mooncakes with double yolk, I was one happy man. Sigh. Anyhow, the crust is fairly standard mix - the hardest thing for an amateur to control were thickness of the crust and cooking time.

From what I understand, the bakeries make mooncakes MONTHS ahead of time but there is so much fat in them, they are practically preserved, not to mention those little silica baggies. But in your opinion, does fresh taste better/different? About how long did it take from start to finish and would you say it was worth it to make it youself? My mom has been freezing mooncakes for me and giving them to me when I visit. The quality has not been affected, though I do have some now that I have no idea how long they've been frozen. Dessert for this week!

[maogirl]

Funny we're talking about fried rice, that's what's for dinner tonight since I've got so many odds and ends leftover from the week. I haven't decided on dessert yet. I might bake, I might not, we'll see. Either way, I'll definitely take pics.

Ooh I want to see the cow brains pics! If you still have them you should post them. Admittedly I'm not really a big fan of organ meat but I love good food pics.


oh, i'll look for them and post them up...i started taking pics from when the brains were still brainy-looking and when i sliced them up into little cauliflower thingies and finally when i fried them in flour. they were pretty tasty (anyone eat pigeon brains? tastes just like that) but the texture was really strange, kind of like pudding.

ellen, i must say, i'm surprised to see that you use what looks like a normal frying pan! :lol: i always pictured you as having an industrial sized wok.

[ellencho]

ellen, i must say, i'm surprised to see that you use what looks like a normal frying pan! Laughing i always pictured you as having an industrial sized wok.
I had a carbon-steel restaurant quality wok at one point, and being the overly trusting person that I am, lent it out to someone who conveniently moved away and never returned it. Oddly enough, Pat's father found out and bought me the T-Fal that you see in the pic. It was a nice gesture on his part so I'm more than happy to use it. It's a fine pan, I put it through a lot of high heat abuse and it's been good to me so far.

[da Tao]

From what I understand, the bakeries make mooncakes MONTHS ahead of time but there is so much fat in them, they are practically preserved, not to mention those little silica baggies. But in your opinion, does fresh taste better/different? About how long did it take from start to finish and would you say it was worth it to make it youself?

Yeah, the lard is awesome. I couldn't use up all my lotus seed paste, so it sat in a tub in the fridge for like MONTHS. I occasionally microwave a bit of it and just eat the paste... other than burning my tongue, it didn't hurt me.

Anyhow... warm mooncakes are definitely a rare thing (not that you can't go and microwave it yourself) I THINK fresh is better because you can go for a higher level of crust texture and whatnots. Sadly, my skills were not high enough to give you a definitive answer.

I think it is good that you can customize your mooncake, though I will never understand why people would like to put ham and almonds in theirs... As for how long it took... the pissoff part is finding the lotus seed paste, which I failed to do. I would say... 6 hours to make the paste: de-shell, boil, chop, fry (but I made too much) 1.5 hours for the pie crust and 2 hours for the baking? It was rather a long time ago...

[Taliesin Stormheller]

Chickpeas A La Stormheller

People say that this is not an orthodox Chinese recipe but we're all Asian American here and we presumably like multiculturalism.

8 oz dried chickpeas
1 8oz can tomato paste
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 stick celery
1 pinch cardamom
1 tiny bit parsley (of course the Chinese subspecies)
1 big onion
1/2 bell pepper
2 garlic cloves
Some oil for stir frying
1 tomato

Soak your chickpeas overnight with a pinch of baking soda and salt to taste.
Dice all ingredients into dingzi, except for the spices and chick peas. If you are on here you know the drill. Get your wok or saucepan (if you are a twinkie). Heat up some oil. Start simmering the chickpeas in the other pot at the same time. Chiang guo with garlic and oil (that means add finely chopped small amounts of garlic to the hot oil and stir fry very quickly until the scent comes out), then stir fry the onion and bell pepper. Then add the tomato and stir fry it all until everything's fully cooked. Transfer the chickpeas with liquid from their pot into the wok. Stir (well, it wouldn't be frying at this point since you're working with liquid) and add tomato paste, then stir some more. Add the spices, except for the parsley(if you're cooking with that) and stir. When it's all done, turn off the heat and transfer your food to a big serving bowl. Eat with plain rice, mantou or French/Italian bread if you aren't cultural enough or live in a place where the first two are not available.
I made some today and it tastes really good, although it is not spicy enough.
Serves 2-3 if you are a True Azn who likes to eat or 4-6 if you're an anorexic twinkie.

[vsoy]

That recipe sounds really yummy TS, almost reminds me of a Spanish flair with the tomato sauce. I would think cous cous would also taste very good with it too. As much as I love chickpea recipes (hummus, falafel), I am banned from ingesting delicious dishes like yours because it is really indigestable for me and I get the worse fart. I've tried rinsing the peas after soaking which is supposed to help but I am still a walking stinkbomb. With the exception of one brand of falafel mix, I've been fortunate not to have these problems with hummus and falfels.

[ellencho]

Oh I know how to cure the fart thing. It's dependent on how you cook your beans. Instead of soaking them overnight and then cooking, what I do is bring my beans to a boil. And then take them off the heat and the let them sit for an hour. After that I drain the water and rinse the beans off, and cook them another 20 minutes or so. Then they're ready to use.

[vsoy]

Yippee! I'll try your method Ellen.
'Course if it doesn't work...I'm going have to go to your house and stink up the place :lol:

[Taliesin Stormheller]

Try Beano. There's a reason it's called Beano :P

[da Tao]

da Tao's Grilled Ghetto Chinese-Canadian Chicken

All Righty... this is not a proven recipe... in fact, I am trying it right now for the first time. If anything, at least it teaches people what NOT to do.

Begin by preheating your oven to something around 250C.

Marinate:
3 scallions / green onion
~1 shot of soya sauce
~3 shots of Chinese cooking rice wine
~tsp of red hot pepper powder
~1/2 tsp of salt
~1 tsp of maple-syrup
~2 tsp of cooking oil

The symbol "~" means approximate... it is because I just randomly sprinkle the stuff together until it feels right.

How to make / use marinate:
Chop up scallions. mix everything to gather in a large, shallow bowl. Take your whole chicken (1.1kg) and start rubbing the marinate inside and out the fowl the same way Micheal Jackson rubs.... eh. Nevermind... Just marinate. Right now I have the thing out in room temp and it has been sitting for about... 20mins.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/laugordo/chicken_a.jpg

Well, I haven't decided what I am going to do next... probably wrap everything in tin foil and stick it in the oven. I will write more as I go on.

And before anyone ask why I didn't try ellen's feel good chicken recipe... it is because I don't have a metal strainer... and my pot is making da Tao's Random Vegetable Soup.

Though I have this odd sense that ellen is reading this and shaking her head... "no, no, no... that's all wrong! Get out of the kitchen with your hands up!" :D

Well... we will see!

[ellencho]

I was totally with you until I saw maple syrup. And then I thought maybe I read it wrong, so I checked it again. Yep, he said maple syrup.

From the looks of the amounts of maple syrup used compared to the soy sauce, it might not have that much of an affect on the sweetness of the dish. Let us know how long you marinated it for. Eee! Can't wait to find out how it went. I'm crossing my fingers for you!

[da Tao]

I was totally with you until I saw maple syrup. And then I thought maybe I read it wrong, so I checked it again. Yep, he said maple syrup.

From the looks of the amounts of maple syrup used compared to the soy sauce, it might not have that much of an affect on the sweetness of the dish. Let us know how long you marinated it for. Eee! Can't wait to find out how it went. I'm crossing my fingers for you!

Well... it wouldn't be Canadian without the maple syrup now... It works nicely with pork chops if I stab it a lot and rub it in.

So back on topic of the Chicken... I think it is ready now. I marinated it for about 90mins in the fridge, turning it around every now and then and rubbing it in some more. And now I THINK the chicken has been in the middle rack of the oven for 2hrs? I dunno, I just wait until the colour is right.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/laugordo/chicken_b.jpg

I have to say that it smells quite good.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/laugordo/chicken_c.jpg

Sigh... it is now 1AM where I am... what am going to do with the rest?

[vsoy]

(Picture of Cooked chicken in oven... TBP)

I have to say that it smells quite good.

(Picture of Cooked chicken out of oven... TBP)

Sigh... it is now 1AM where I am... what am going to do with the rest?

Gaaahh! You're killing me.

I would think the maple syrup might give the chicken a nice brown color, crispy skin. More is betta :D

[da Tao]

(Picture of Cooked chicken in oven... TBP)

I have to say that it smells quite good.

(Picture of Cooked chicken out of oven... TBP)

Sigh... it is now 1AM where I am... what am going to do with the rest?

Gaaahh! You're killing me.

I would think the maple syrup might give the chicken a nice brown color, crispy skin. More is betta :D

Sorry for the teasing, vsoy, but I just finished eating half of that chicken! Besides... I thought women enjoy some mounting tension. :wink:

Ok... so the verdict.

It worked out all right, could use much more flavour. Basically, I needed to add more soya sauce and maple syrup in tendem and marinate it longer. The pepper powder didn't make any sort of presence. The only thing that made it into the meat is a bit of alcohol... so that was a bit imbalanced. I should get myself a syringe from work and inject the sauce into the meat.

I did save the drippings though as you can see from the pictures... and that is pretty good for dipping. The maple syrup showed up a bit there... but overall I don't think syrup permeates well in non-pierced chicken.

The skin is nice and brown, but it wasn't crunchy... partly because of the foil beneath to force soak chicken with the juices. Some skin are thin and tough-ish like a fabric, others thick and can be bitten through.

Here is the pic of what it looks like inside.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/laugordo/chicken_d.jpg

The chicken itself was never frozen, but not being from HK or China, it lacks that "Chicken Flavor". There must be a gene for that.

Final Rating: 6/10 - Better than a thrown together meal, but it won't impress your girlfriend. (Which would be something like 7.5)

[ellencho]

Well it looked pretty good to me, especially for someone who just winged it (hehe, bad pun). Just out of curiosity, why did you use the foil? Do you not own a roasting pan or baking dish?

And if you want good crispy skin, you'll probably want to dry the skin of your bird as much as possible, and to roast it breast side up, and allow the breast skin to become crisp, and then you'll end up with crisp skin on the legs as well.

I was wondering, what was the texture of the meat? Was it moist or dry? I'm asking because 250C at 2 hours is quite a long time in the oven for such a little bird.

[da Tao]

Well it looked pretty good to me, especially for someone who just winged it (hehe, bad pun). Just out of curiosity, why did you use the foil? Do you not own a roasting pan or baking dish?

And if you want good crispy skin, you'll probably want to dry the skin of your bird as much as possible, and to roast it breast side up, and allow the breast skin to become crisp, and then you'll end up with crisp skin on the legs as well.

I was wondering, what was the texture of the meat? Was it moist or dry? I'm asking because 250C at 2 hours is quite a long time in the oven for such a little bird.

Thanks for the compliments and the tips! :D To answer your question... I thought I had a conventional heating element oven... so I took the tray out... and when I realized it was an convection oven... I put it back in, all the way at the bottom to catch dripping. The foil is just something thinner and catching the liquids.

The meat was moist and warm! :P The reason was that I didn't know what temperature I will need to start, so I preheated it to 250C knowing that I will take too long to fiddle around with the chicken inside with the door open. I think I actually made it ran at 180C for 90mins and the last 30mins at 250C. Oh yeah, and I also opened the door and rotated the bird half way.

As I took the picture, I thought of the caption: "Even 3K would approve of this white meat inside an AF!" HAHAHAHA :lol: Or who was it that had the hardest line against AF/WM? I am not too sure.

Well, the real reason I cooked this is because it is two days before the "eat by" date... and that I didn't have a "real" dinner for a while now. :cry:

[vsoy]

I was "shivering with an-ti-ci-PA-tion" with the result of your canadian chicken recipe :wink:

It really was food porn with all those pics of the raw chicken and the insides!?! I was :oops:

Maybe you can put chopped up canadian bacon inside for rice stuffing to make it double chinese canadian! But then you have to cook it at a higher temp or longer and I don't know if I can handle that.

[ellencho]

Maybe brining or a longer marinating time will help the flavor of your bird. Brines are relatively easy, and marinating is somewhat like brining because you're soaking the bird in a salty/sugary solution. Maybe if you try to marinate your bird overnight? And use more of everything - but definitely try to up your concentration of soy and sugar. Perhaps even smash up a couple of cloves of garlic along with your scallions. And I think to up the spiciness smash a couple of those teeny thai chili peppers up into your marinade.

[ellencho]

So daTao you totally inspired me to try something new myself. Flounder filets were on sale at the market today so I bought some, and then used the contents of my fridge to make something simple and steamed (again).

I mixed equal parts of soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine. I then added a bunch of julienned ginger and scallions and topped that with a bunch of pepper.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/pluspepper20APR05.jpg

To that I added the fish. And as an after-thought I added some sesame oil.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/plusfish20APR05.jpg

I let that all sit for about 10 minutes and then put the fish into a steamer over boiling simmering water until the fish turned opaque, close to 5 minutes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/steamingfish20APR05.jpg

After that I tasted some of the fish and noticed it was rather bland. So I took about 2 parts sesame oil, one part soy sauce, one part cooking wine, and one part chili sauce and mixed it up and poured it over the fish. That made a world of difference.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/saucedflounder20APR05.jpg

Next time I try this I think I might actually steam the fish atop a bed of ginger and scallions so that the flavor might impart itself in the fish better than what I made tonight. It was pretty good for a first try but I think I'd prefer a stronger ginger/scallion flavor.

[da Tao]

I was "shivering with an-ti-ci-PA-tion" with the result of your canadian chicken recipe :wink:

It really was food porn with all those pics of the raw chicken and the insides!?! I was :oops:

Maybe you can put chopped up canadian bacon inside for rice stuffing to make it double chinese canadian! But then you have to cook it at a higher temp or longer and I don't know if I can handle that.

That's a great idea! I will try it next time a whole chicken is at 1/2 price for sure - though if it really makes you shiver, warm and moist with anticipation, I am sure it is worth it even if its 2x the market price. 8) I will even add more rawness and inside shots next time.

Dang, ellen, that some nice fish you have there, but I am too unworthy to be your inspiration! *bow in reverance* :D I especially like how you didn't juilenne the ginger too small to be picked off. I like the taste, but I still have the gag reaction when I bite into a piece of ginger left from childhood.

One more thing, how would you rate that dish out of ten? And we seemed to have stopped with the tagging... :oops:

BTW: what do you mean by brining? and how is it different from just marinating?

[ellencho]

I think I'd give my flounder dish a 7 or so. It's not the best dish in the world, it definitely needs some sort of tweaking, but I'm not displeased with the result either. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be open to nearly anything.

Brining is when you take a piece of meat (an entire chicken, a pork chop, turkey, shrimp) and you submerge it in some sort of salt and/or sugar solution. I hope I'm explaining this correctly, but from what I understand, water on the inside of the meat isn't salty so via osmosis the meat and the salted water balance itself out until the meat and the salted water solution contains the same concentration of salt/sugar. One does not normally brine something long enough to make it all THAT salty, usually you'll leave a chicken in a brine solution for 2-3 hours tops. A turkey might be left in overnight, or 1hr/lb of bird. Sometimes I even throw an orange and a lemon into the brine mix, and some dried herbs.

Think about it, if you were to just roast a chicken without salt it would taste bland and flat. This way, you're not only salting the outside of the bird but you're salting the inside of it too.

Here's an easy brine recipe for a chicken roasted at high heat:
1/2 gallon water (~2L for you)
1/4 c table salt
1/4 c sugar
Brine your bird for one hour per lb (I guess 2 hours per kilo).
Give it a good rinsing.
Roast as you usually do.

[ellencho]

So on the very first page of this thread, I posted a recipe for a tofu/pork stirfry. Here I have the pics to accompany it.

Here's what you'll need
1 Tb Soy sauce
1 Tb Chinese cooking wine (optional)
1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tb oyster sauce
2 Tb sriracha
1/2 lb pork, sliced or shredded
1 Tb oil - canola or veggie
a block of tofu cut into cubes
1/4 cup water
half a pack of peas
scallions (optional)

Here's what I did:
Pork, soy, wine and cornstarch together.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/seasoningpork26APR05.jpg

Mix to combine.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/seasonedpork26APR05.jpg

Heat oil over medium high flame. Add marinated pork, cook through.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/brownmeat26APR05.jpg

Add tofu, oyster sauce, and sriracha, stir to coat.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/almostthere26APR05.jpg

Then add 1/4 cup water.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/closer26APR05.jpg

Put lid over pan, and allow to simmer on low for 10 minutes. Then remove top, add peas and raise heat to medium and stir till peas are heated through.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/addpeas26APR05.jpg

Yay it's done! I usually add some scallions to mine, but I was plum out this time. Bad Korean BAD!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/alldone26APR05.jpg

[ellencho]

Tonight's dinner was char siu and stir fried gai lan bitches.

Here's the recipe for the char siu
5 Tb light soy
3 Tb dk soy
5 Tb maltose
2 Tb white sugar
4 Tb Chinese cooking wine
4 Tb hoisin
1 tsp five spice powder
a couple drops of red food color
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0790.jpg

a couple lbs of pork shoulder, cut into manageable hunks (separated at the seams and trimmed of excess fat).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0793.jpg

Mix everything except the pork shoulder in a small pot, simmer on low for 5 minutes. Allow to cool to room temp.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0792.jpg

Add marinade to pork, refrigerate overnight. Turning the meat the next morning.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0794.jpg

Preheat your oven up to 425 degrees (~220 C). Set up a metal pan halfway full of water with a rack on top.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0805.jpg

Don't throw away your marinade. Remove pork from marinade, and place pork on rack and leave for 15 minutes. Take marinade and simmer again for 10 minutes in a small pot. After the first 15 minutes, turn pork over and baste. Let roast another 15 minutes, then flip meat again, and allow another 15 minutes of roasting. You will have roasted approximately 45 minutes by now. Depending on the size and thickness of your hunks of pork they might be done now, they might not be.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0806.jpg

Once you're sure your meat is ready, let it rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before cutting it into thin slices, against the grain.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0810.jpg

And I almost forgot, here's a pic of the gai lan. Ooh exciting!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0808.jpg

[ellencho]

Ok last night we had shu mai. Homemade of course because you know I don't fuck around.

It's ever so easy, it just takes a bit of prep.

This is what you need
~1 lb of fatty pork - shoulder/boneless country ribs
~1 lb of shrimp, deshelled and deveined (you can use less if you like)
a small pack of shiitake mushrooms, de-stemmed and cubed into little pieces
a large egg
1 tb soy sauce
1 tb sesame oil
1/2 tb mirin
1/2 tb rice wine vinegar
salt and pepper
a pack of dumpling skins

Here are the seasonings
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0847.jpg

This pic is to show how small I cubed my mushrooms
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0845.jpg

You can either buy your pork pre-ground or grind it yourself in a food processor. I ground up my own pork in the food processor along with the shrimp and an egg and then add it to the chopped mushroom, and then mix in the seasonings. If you don't have a food processor, do your best to chop up the pork and the shrimp into as little teeny pieces as possible. It's easier to cut the pork when it's partially frozen.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0848.jpg

So I'll be the first to admit, I don't make the prettiest shu mai in the world. I don't have the patience to make teeny little pleats around something that is going to be eaten in a bite or two so this is my super easy way of shaping them.

First put about a tb onto the center of a skin.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0850.jpg

Gather up the ends with your two hands
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0853.jpg

Use a loose fist to shape your shu mai and use your bottom hand to flatten the bottom
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0855.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0849.jpg

Once they're all done, place a steaming rack sprayed with a bit of nonstick cooking spray over about an inch of simmering water and place shu mai atop. Cover, and let steam on low for 8 minutes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0857.jpg

Continue at this until all your shu mai are done.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_0859.jpg

If you want a dipping sauce, mix one part sesame oil, soy sauce, cooking wine, two parts sriracha and a dash of rice wine vinegar. Enjoy.

[Dialectic]

Ok last night we had shu mai. Homemade of course because you know I don't fuck around.

Hahaha! Ah, you're awesome :D

Also, I had NO idea how xiao mai were made until now. The Koreans are takin' over our food!! :P

[toml]

Wow!

[ellencho]

Ok last night we had shu mai. Homemade of course because you know I don't fuck around.

Hahaha! Ah, you're awesome :D

Also, I had NO idea how xiao mai were made until now. The Koreans are takin' over our food!! :P
Koreans like any sort of filling stuffed in any sort of wrappers. If I understand correctly, there are a couple dumpling/mandu shops in Koreatown in NYC and a shitload in Korea (of course).

[vsoy]

We had a departmental potluck today and I made my interpretation of Vietnamese salad rolls. I was missing the usual ingredients that are used in these rolls like Thai basil and a plainer dipping sauce. Some Vietnamese out there is shaking his/her head but these rolls are still light and tasty. So here we go:

The ingredients:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/saladroll_ingredients.jpg
Cooked rice vermicelli noodles, home made char siu (using ellenchoís recipe) cut into thin strips, rice sheets, parsley from the garden. Thai basil or some kind of lettuce like red leaf would have been better, but all I had was parsley. The shrimp (peeled, deveined) was boiled in boiling water for 1 minute, drained and cut in half along the vein axis.

The dry rice sheet looks like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/rice_sheet_dry.jpg

I was absolutely mystified how these rice sheets became these translucent sheets until my momís cousin showed me how it was all done. You can drizzle water on a sheet on a plate and sort of rub the water around until the sheet is hydrated but thatís too fussy for me. I run some water on a sheet briefly then tip to drain in the sink. Wait a minute or two and suddenly the sheet goes from hard opaque to a supple translucent sheet similar to steamed cabbage leaf.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/wetting_ricepaper.jpg

Putting it all together:
I like putting the shrimp down first then the greens because youíll be able to see them clearly through the rice sheet and the red and green colors look appetizing. A slice of charsiu pork goes on top of the greens. Roast pork will do nicely also. Some vermicelli noodles on top of everything. I found picking some up and arranging them like coiled rope so that the strands are parallel to each other makes it much easier to eat.

Shrimp:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/shrimp_saladroll.jpg

The rest of assembled materials excluding noodles. Alright, I had 2 Thai basil leaves, that was all I could pick from the garden!:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/assemble_saladroll.jpg
I should have taken a shot of the noodles...


The hydrated rice sheet is a friggín nightmare, prone to tears and rips. Take your time and try not to rush or stress out because youíll just end up ripping them up more. I find dry/damp fingers (from handling the ingredients) has given me the best results for handling the sheets. Roll them up like a burrito, peeling the sides off the plate if they are sticking. I like to fold the sides to the middle when the shrimps are on the bottom of the roll. This way, there are fewer layers of rice sheet to obscure your shrimp. Also, when you start assembling a roll, hydrate a new sheet. By the time youíre done rolling, the new sheet is ready.
Starting the roll:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/start_rolling_saladroll.jpg
Folding the sides to the middle:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/halfrolled_saladroll.jpg
Finished roll:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/rolledup_saladroll.jpg

Since these are for pot luck, I cut them in half so more people can have a taste. Usually I just eat them like a taquito. Dipping sauce was plain old hoisin sauce. Usually I like to add some rooster chili sauce, some grated carrot or chopped up peanuts to the hoisin sauce.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/saladrolls_finished.jpg
Pretty!!


To transport, I had damp paper towels lining the pan and in between layers and on top to keep things hydrated. These things dry out and stick to everything. They donít refridgerate very well, theyíre best a room temperature that day. Itís not a problem because they go pretty quick and Iíll always make the supreme sacrifice and eat up all the torn up, left behind rolls.

[ellencho]

Perhaps my opinion doesn't count because I'm not Vietnamese but shit, I'd eat that whole tray if you left it out in front of me! Those two teeny basil leaves are too cute all by themselves in the colander with the noodles.

I sometimes mix it up a bit with my summer rolls and I'll use a pork recipe that D posted a while ago that uses carmelized sugar and shallots as a marinade. Either way, they're really easy and you're right, they go fast.

How did the char siu turn out btw? I can't tell if you used loin or shoulder. My new favorite thing to do with char siu these days is add it to my bowl of ramen and let the hot soup warm it through.

[vsoy]

It was a frigg'n nightmare finding maltose, but your recipe was easy and well worth it. Drove half an hour to the one store on Sunday morning that I knew had to have it and they moved! Ended up going to a store that ought to be condemned (where I had once gotten maggot- infested rice on sale) and got my maltose.

We ended up cooking it on the grill and it was juicy and tender. It wanted to burn, burn burn, but we were able to minimize too much charring. The tender juiciness was kind of trippy for me because I always associated charsiu with a firm texture. After refridgeration, the texture was similar to store bought. The flavor had nuances similar to store bought, but it was unique and different and very, very good. Had to beat the husband off of it so he'd stop picking at it. I got 15 lbs of pork shoulder at Costco and made about 5 lbs of it.

It was absolutely divine in fried rice. I was going to use it to top rice vermicelli noodles with chopped peanuts, arugula and fish sauce, but the 5lbs I made is all gone :P Time to make more! My favorite ghetto treatment of charsiu is to make a peanut butter and charsiu sandwich on either a hearty wheat/whole grain bread or steamed white bun. So good, lots of protein. Then's there's nothing like charsiu with rice porridge and the bits of char stuff jazzing up the plain rice with smokiness.

[cattygurl]

LOOK TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY HOMEBREW STORES IN YOUR AREA. MALTOSE IS COMMON HOMEBREW INGREDIENT AND HOMEBREW STORE FREQUENTLY CARRY MALTOSE FOR A GOOD PRICE :D

ooops I wrote in all caps. GAH. forgive me!

[ellencho]

Ok so I promised a kimbap (or ghimbap) tutorial for all of you to see the benefits of having leftover banchan. You have to prepare stuff a couple hours in advance before you start rolling but it's easy and worth it. Kimbap, or ghimbap, basically translates to seaweed rice. It's really popular in Korea and can be filled with anything you like.

Here's what you'll need:
*start with 2 cups of uncooked short grain rice, and cook it how you usually do
*2Tb rice vinegar + 2 Tb sugar + 1/2Tb salt, microwaved for 45 seconds
Pour hot vinegar over your hot rice and distribute evenly. Let sit until cooled, takes a couple hours
*a pack of seaweed (nori/ghim - depending on your ancestry hehe) don't get the seasoned kind (btw, it's not actually seaweed, it's made from algae)
*any type of fillings you like - leftover banchan, leftover bulgogi, spam, egg, nearly anything works
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1633.jpg

Now have a little bowl of water nearby and use it to dip your fingers in so it's easier to spread an even and thin layer of rice over your sheet of nori/ghim.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1634.jpg

Add some of the filling to the lower third of the ghim. Don't add too much you'll have trouble rolling it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1637.jpg

Now, gather up the bottom of the rolling mat and bring the bottom up to the top third of the ghim.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1646.jpg

Use both hands to press the fillings firmly up against the ghim. Don't press to hard or you'll make everything ooze out the sides.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1647.jpg

Roll up the rest of the roll and use the mat for support.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1648.jpg

There you go.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1649.jpg

Cut the roll up into however many pieces in whatever thickness you like. You can cover them up with plastic wrap if you're not ready to serve immediately, but they're best eaten within 24 hrs.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1640.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/ellencho/IMG_1650.jpg

[inferno]

Use both hands to press ... firmly ... Don't press to hard or you'll make everything ooze out ...
Are those your hands in the pics, ellen?

[ellencho]

Use both hands to press ... firmly ... Don't press to hard or you'll make everything ooze out ...
Are those your hands in the pics, ellen?
Yes, those pudgy paws are mine, and NO I do not do private parties unless you're a roll of ghim and rice.

[vsoy]

*burp*
I just tried made some kimbap/sushi using ellen's tutorial this afternoon, and I am stuffed from eating all the rejects! And there were a lot of rejects :wink:

I had a lot of problems with rolling up, part of it had to do with using a towel instead of a bamboo mat. The biggest problem was looseness in the center of the roll. If I was able to get a nice clean cut, some of the stuffing tend to fall out unless I was quick to make the slice plop down. The other problem was with the ends not sticking to the roll. I didn't put rice at the end of the seaweed sheet and I tried moistening it with a little water, pressing down and cutting with the sheet end on the bottom of the roll. Not sure what to do for the future, any suggestions?

I was able to figure out getting a cleaner cut. I started off cutting the roll on a plate with a wet, serrated bread knife but ran into problems cutting the seaweed on the bottom of the roll, mangling the roll and eating quite a few of the malformed slices. The serrated knife was pretty good at getting the cut started.

I was starting to get rather full and switched to using a wet boning knife on a cutting board and got much better cleaner cuts though getting started was at times difficult.

Well, here are the "good ones". I put red pepper, fried egg, shredded fried pork, hot dogs cut into quarters, julienned carrots marinated in sweet pickle juice in these rolls. Hot dogs has to be the weirdest thing I've ever put in sushi/kimbap but it tasted good this time.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/vsoy/bimkap.jpg

[ellencho]

Firstly, I'm so pleased that you followed my tutorial - the ones you pictured look good! And secondly, hotdogs in kimbap is DELICIOUS!

If you attempt this again in the future maybe you'll want to pick up a bamboo mat at the asian store because it really makes a big difference. The towel is a good substitute in a pinch, but maybe even a not-too-thick magazine covered in plastic wrap would be a better one because it is more rigid than the towel. I think that might have contributed to the looseness of the centers of your rolls.

I cut my rolls with a regular chef's knife, serrated will do fine too. I make sure it's really sharp and I remember to wet the blade of my knife with a damp towel before cutting.

About how far to put the rice, I leave about a 1/4 inch border of seaweed and don't really have any problems with adhesion at all. Maybe this is another issue that can be solved with a mat? They're cheap, like a dollar each or something like that.

Anyway, I hope my suggestions are helpful and that your next attempt goes easier for you. But seriously, the hotdogs really bring me back, my mom used to make us kids our own kimbap with hotdogs, eggs, and takuan (a pickled japanese yellow radish).

[rabidbonobo]

here's one.

you can buy pad thai noodles at most n. american supermarkets. The key is to soak them in water for a few minutes before you fry them. Otherwise, the noodles will be hard after you fry them. I used eggplant, garlic, onion, tofu and hot peppers. Feel free to use whatever ingrediants you think will be yummy.
http://www.geocities.com/johnjk.geo/food/padthai01.jpg
frying the garlic in oil
http://www.geocities.com/johnjk.geo/food/padthai02.jpg
hot peppers. yes, you can see the korean.
http://www.geocities.com/johnjk.geo/food/padthai03.jpg
after frying the garlic for a sec, I added the cut eggplant and the onions. After a few minutes of frying, I added the pad thai noodles. You need a generous amount of oil to fry the noodles. Cook until tender. And some water if the noodles stick together or are hard. I added soy sauce and a pinch of salt after that. Next, I added tofu and the hot peppers.
http://www.geocities.com/johnjk.geo/food/padthai04.jpg
vietnamese/thai chili sauce goes well with it. yum. i'm hungry now.
http://www.geocities.com/johnjk.geo/food/padthai05.jpg

[ellencho]

Nice tutorial. How hot were the peppers? I'm just curious because these days I don't really buy those long peppers anymore because they taste more like green bell peppers than hot peppers. Same with jalapenos. They've either become more tame, or my mouth has lost its ability to feel capsaicin.

[rabidbonobo]

they were pretty hot...luckily, they were bought at a thai grocery that sold other asian foods, so they were the spicy kind.

maybe you're not getting a hot enough pepper...or maybe you're one of those people that eat hot peppers and are totally fine :shock:

if i eat a hot enough pepper, i cry. :cry:

[ellencho]

So yes, wonton soup might sound daunting but it's easy. Before I get started, I want to apologize in advance for the blurriness of some of the photos. When I took the pictures, I wasn't wearing my glasses so when I looked at the previews on my camera I assumed that everything came out ok.

For xmas I got a cookbook by Eileen Yin Fei Lo called The Chinese Kitchen: Recipes, Techniques, Ingredients, History, and Memories from America's Leading Authority on Chinese Cooking (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688158269/sr=1-1/qid=1137293542/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6038659-5035911?%5Fencoding=UTF8) from my best friend and I fricking love it. Basically the recipe I'm about to show you is from her book and is well worth the time and effort.

Making your own broth is completely optional. You can always buy prepackaged chicken broth, but just so you know, what you get in your local US or Canadian supermarket is going to be suited to western cooking rather than Asian cooking.

So let's start with the broth:
a bunch of chicken carcasses or chicken parts (wings or thighs) - about 4 lbs, parboiled at a hard boil for 2 minutes then rinsed
1/2 packed cup of cilantro
1/4 cup of wolfberries
2 onions, peeled and quartered
1/4 tsp white peppercorns
6 garlic cloves
1/4 lb of fresh ginger, cut into three pieces
a half bunch of scallions, cut into thirds
enough water to cover
salt
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0829.jpg

Be sure to parboil those chicken parts or else you'll end up with an ugly scummy bitter tasting broth. THis is a picture of the scum leftover from parboiling the chicken. You wouldn't want to eat that would you?
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0831.jpg

If you don't have a pressure cooker, bring to a boil and then simmer for a couple of hours until the chicken falls apart easily. Then strain and defat and then add extra salt to season. If, like me, you received a pressure cooker for xmas, an hour and a half on a medium setting is plenty of time.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0832.jpg

For the wonton filling:
1 lb of ground pork
1/4-1/3 lb of ground shrimp
4 scallions, finely minced
1/2 Tb of minced garlic
1 Tb of Chinese white rice wine
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tb oyster sauce
a pinch of pepper
2 1/2 Tb cornstarch
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0833.jpg

Mix all of these ingredients together and let sit for 4 hours at room temp, or overnight in the fridge.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0834.jpg

Ok, ready to make wontons. All you need is your filling, a pack of wonton skins (circles or squares, doesn't matter), a little bowl of water, and a big tray. If you want to make your own wonton skins please do so!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0835.jpg

This is how I make them - first I add 1 Tb of filling to the center of a skin. Then I dip my finger into the water and streak a bit of water along the top two edges of the skin and fold it over into a triangle, being careful to create a good seal. Then I gently take the two equal ends of the dumpling and fold them in towards eachother, using a drop of water to keep the two ends together.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0836.jpg

Keep going until you've finished all of your filling.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0837.jpg

In a pot of boiling water with a couple drizzles of oil in it, drop a couple wontons at a time, giving a stir now and then to make sure they're not sticking. They shouldn't take too long to cook. Usually when they're done they float up to the top of the pot.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0838.jpg

Transfer the cooked dumplings into a couple cups of your chicken broth that you've been keeping at a simmer.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0839.jpg

Serve with a sprinkling of minced scallion. Serves 6-8 very hungry people. 8-10 as an appetizer.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/wontonsoup/IMG_0841.jpg

[vsoy]

Looks delic ellen! The kitties in the bowl look like they're eating wontons :P
I never knew what the English word for wolfberries until now. Learn something new everyday.

[cattygurl]

OMFG! OMFG!

*hugs ellen hard!*

*I love you! I love you!*

Where did you get the wolfberries? I've seen wolfberry extract at my old acupuncturists' office, but never the actual thing. What do they look like? Do you mind taking a pic of the package and posting it?

[ellencho]

I got the wolfberries at a Vietnamese supermarket near me. They were fairly inexpensive, 2.50 for that 12 oz box you see in the picture. I've also heard you can get them at some health food stores, but I suppose you should call in advance. Either way, I'd be willing to send you some of what I have because I don't use them very often anyway.

[vsoy]

I would imagine 99 Ranch would have wolfberries in the the dried food/spice section. They're about the size of pinenuts and pretty cool red orange color. My mom sometimes rehydrates them with some hot water and throws them in when she's frying up some green leafy veggies, making a very visually appealing dish.

[ellencho]

At the very least, there is normally one piece of essential banchan at your table at every meal, and that's kimchi. Banchan is a general term for any sort of side dish you eat with your meal. It can be something served warm or hot, but normally banchan is something served cold or at room temperature. Banchan comes in many different flavors, textures, and forms.

One of my favorite banchan dishes is jangjorim. When we were younger, and my mom was feeling too tired to cook, we used to each get a big bowl of steaming hot rice, a bunch of shredded up jangjorim, some butter, a raw egg and some furikake and that was our dinner.

Jangjorim is normally made from beef, but it's perfectly fine to substitute pork in it's place. If you use beef, definitely go with a thicker cut of flank steak. Brisket is ok, but it might be too fatty. But if you don't mind fatty, or for something richer, go with one of the more flavorful and tougher cuts of pork like country ribs or shoulder. The beef or pork is braised in a seasoned soy sauce liquid until it becomes tender. It's quite a salty dish, I wouldn't recommend eating it on it's own unless you're having a serious salt jones.

Anyway, here's the recipe. It's dead easy and near impossible to fuck up.

Jangjorim

What you need:
A pot with a lid
a couple lbs of flank steak or pork (2-3), cut into 2 inch hunks
2 cups soy sauce
2 cups water
2 generous tsps sugar
a bunch of garlic cloves, peeled
about 4 inches of ginger, hacked up into pieces
a bunch of hot peppers (not pictured, and optional)
more water for parboiling the meat
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0861.jpg

First thing you do is parboil the meat to draw all the excess blood out. Cut up the meat into hunks and add enough water to the pot to cover.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0864.jpg

Let it come to a hard boil for 3 minutes. The second pics is of all the scum that will come off your meat. Then clean and rinse off your meat under cold running water.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0866.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0868.jpg

While you're waiting for the meat to boil, in another pot add your soy sauce, water, ginger, garlic, peppers, and sugar and bring to a simmer.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0867.jpg

Add clean meat to braising liquid and cover. Let simmer on low for 2 hours.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0869.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0870.jpg

Hooray! Jangjorim!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0874.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/jangjorim/IMG_0876.jpg

[blockthebox]

Awesome! Wow, that is pretty simple. Do you have a recipe for kalbi jjeem? That's one of my favorite dishes, but I can't seem to get my mom's recipe right. Also, do you get your nails manicured? Your cuticles look very healthy.

[ellencho]

Awesome! Wow, that is pretty simple. Do you have a recipe for kalbi jjeem? That's one of my favorite dishes, but I can't seem to get my mom's recipe right. Also, do you get your nails manicured? Your cuticles look very healthy.
I do have a kalbi jjim recipe and mine is beyond easy. It's practically the same as the jangjorim. The only thing I change is that I dillute the soy sauce more, and add a bit more sugar, and then halfway through the cooking I add some mu. If you want to tell me what your mom's recipe is maybe I can help you figure out how to make it the way you like.

Oh and thanks for noticing the cuticles :) I get my nails done twice a month. That's actually a pic of my good hand. I'm in the midst of house hunting and so I've begun biting my nails again and my right hand's nails are a wreck.

[blockthebox]

Ok, so I decided to have a convo with my mom about the kalbi jjim. Her recipe is as follows: Boil out the kalbi in water and vinegar and cut off the extra fat. Then cook the kalbi in water, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, black pepper, sesame oil and onion. When it's almost done, throw in another onion, carrots and leeks.

We discussed and it seems that where I fucked up is (1) not using any sugar (2) using too much gan jang and (3) not de-fatting it enough. I also don't use carrots and I have an aversion to taking too much fat away from things since fat is what gives food a pleasant mouth feel. Also, I don't add any potatoes or mu because I don't want it to soak up all the sauce which I like to pour over rice. This is the way I like kalbi jjim: Not too sweet + meat falls off easily + good sauce to pour over rice. What do you think?

[DijabutiA]

You made jangjorim for me? :oops:


Well on second thought, you call your self Korean? WHERES the garlic at!??! :lol: I guess its just how you took the pictures... I'm use to seeing the stuff still marinating in the soy sauce with a lot of garlic, before you eat it. Tastes great over rice, because the rice soaks it up. I suggest using low sodium soy sauce though. Goes great with some seaweed. I've never had pork style though, didnt know people did that.

Thanks though, that was awesome!

[kimtae]

We discussed and it seems that where I fucked up is (1) not using any sugar Try cutting the sugar in half and adding in a grated Asian pear.

[ellencho]

You made jangjorim for me? :oops:


Well on second thought, you call your self Korean? WHERES the garlic at!??! :lol: I guess its just how you took the pictures... I'm use to seeing the stuff still marinating in the soy sauce with a lot of garlic, before you eat it. Tastes great over rice, because the rice soaks it up. I suggest using low sodium soy sauce though. Goes great with some seaweed. I've never had pork style though, didnt know people did that.

Thanks though, that was awesome!
Aw bitch bitch bitch. I put in 10 cloves of garlic thank you. That's the last time I do a tutorial for you. :P But you're probably right, I usually throw in an entire bulb and I ended up using about half a bulb this time. I have no idea why.

And for BTB, definitely trim off as much fat as you can. Short ribs are fucking fatty to begin with, and during the cooking process a lot of fat is released, along with gelatin which is plenty in giving your kalbi jjim that mouth feel you're looking for. I've never personally used beh in my kalbi jjim before, but I can't see how it would hurt. Another thing that helps a lot is before you add your meat to the pot, make your sauce first. Taste it, and see if you like it. If it's too soy saucey or too sweet, then you can adjust before you begin braising.

[blockthebox]

Thanks for the tips, guys. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, so I might make it this week.

[ellencho]

I'm not sure how many non-Koreans will be familiar with this but I made gyaehran jjim. Basically it's a steamed egg custard with tofu, fermented shrimp, scallions, and sesame oil in it. It's really easy to make, and if you can't find the fermented shrimp it's not the end of the world.

What you will need:
3 eggs
1 heaping Tb of preserved shrimp
1/2 block of soft tofu
3 scallions, finely minced
1/2 Tb sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/gyaerhanjjim/IMG_1068.jpg

Start by mashing up the tofu, shrimp and salt in a medium sized, ceramic bowl. Get most of the chunks out to the best of your ability.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/gyaerhanjjim/IMG_1071.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a120/foxandpoo/gyaerhanjjim/IMG_1073.jpg