Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Amergin
Jan 29, 2013

THE SOUND A WET FART MAKES

emotive posted:

Do people generally reserve light and dark soy for cooking, and keep an all purpose like Kikkoman for dipping sauces, etc.?

Seems like Fuschia Dunlop pushes tamari quite a bit.

We normally used medium (regular) and light soy sauces for cooking, but my mother-in-law uses mostly dark soy sauce to get a better depth of flavor, using light/medium soy sauce only to dilute it if necessary. I like her results so I'm trying to use the dark more. This isn't including sweetened soy sauce, mushroom soy sauce or seafood soy sauce.

Also, Lee Kum Kee. It's available almost anywhere. Don't bother with Kikkoman. I've never tried Tamari.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Archenteron
Nov 3, 2006

:marc:
I feel like this has been asked before but I can't find it right now, on my phone.

I've got a buddy who's in China right now visiting his wife's family (I think somewhere near Canton). Is there anything good/interesting I should ask if he'll grab for me to bring back that I couldn't get at a nice Asian food market here in the States?

hakimashou
Jul 15, 2002
Upset Trowel

Archenteron posted:

I feel like this has been asked before but I can't find it right now, on my phone.

I've got a buddy who's in China right now visiting his wife's family (I think somewhere near Canton). Is there anything good/interesting I should ask if he'll grab for me to bring back that I couldn't get at a nice Asian food market here in the States?

dried scallops

caberham
Mar 18, 2009

by Smythe
Grimey Drawer
The CPB is supposedly to be tough on food but from the few times I have been to the States they seem to be undermanned and not care as much about Taxes and Duties.

Lots of Chinatowns do sell dried scallops but yeah you can get some in the South. There's also dried sausages and liver sausages like lap cheong.

As for specialty sauses, get some dried olives like these

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a21m2.1.0.0&id=10075852671 (the label says Hong Kong but you can't find any in Hong Kong and have to go to China)

It's a good general savoury sauce like XO sauce, not spicy and has that hint of pesto taste to it. Great for stir frying your light meats like Pork and Fish

Rurutia
Jun 11, 2009
That olive poo poo is my favorite.

In general getting good alternative brands of stuff you can get here is my go to. There are a ton of zhejiang black vinegar brands which I prefer to the two brands we get here. Talk to the locals and find out what they use.

Grand Fromage
Jan 30, 2006

L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?


Probably a better variety of Shaoxing wine too.

Ailumao
Nov 4, 2004

Stuff like sichuan peppercorn are also outrageously cheap here by comparison, but I'm not sure how that falls when you go through customs.

Also lao gan ma/angry lady sauce is equally cheap, and there are 1 jillion varieties in China compared to the 1~2 most asian markets in elsewhere carry.

venus de lmao
Apr 30, 2007

Call me "pixeltits"

Magna Kaser posted:

Stuff like sichuan peppercorn are also outrageously cheap here by comparison, but I'm not sure how that falls when you go through customs.

Also lao gan ma/angry lady sauce is equally cheap, and there are 1 jillion varieties in China compared to the 1~2 most asian markets in elsewhere carry.

Do you mean the different sauces made by the company, or the zillion and one knockoff brands?

Jose
Jul 24, 2007

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer

Magna Kaser posted:

Stuff like sichuan peppercorn are also outrageously cheap here by comparison, but I'm not sure how that falls when you go through customs.

Also lao gan ma/angry lady sauce is equally cheap, and there are 1 jillion varieties in China compared to the 1~2 most asian markets in elsewhere carry.

watching chinese people going through australian customs with loads of stuff they shouldn't is surprisingly entertaining tv

Ailumao
Nov 4, 2004

Bertrand Hustle posted:

Do you mean the different sauces made by the company, or the zillion and one knockoff brands?

The same company, there's just different versions of it.

caberham
Mar 18, 2009

by Smythe
Grimey Drawer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtfUAiWO-9Q

This video is so bullshit. Raw fruits and Veg, ok I can see why. But Spanish ham? Salami? Candy? Oh don't even think about bringing in nice Cheese from Europe.

gently caress Customs and immigration.

Grand Fromage
Jan 30, 2006

L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?


I'm white and a citizen so I've never had US customs check my stuff. I even started opening my bag once and the guy just told me to stop and waved me through.

hakimashou
Jul 15, 2002
Upset Trowel

Grand Fromage posted:

I'm white and a citizen so I've never had US customs check my stuff. I even started opening my bag once and the guy just told me to stop and waved me through.

:same:

There Bias Two
Jan 13, 2009
I'm not a good person

Grand Fromage posted:

I'm white and a citizen so I've never had US customs check my stuff. I even started opening my bag once and the guy just told me to stop and waved me through.

You probably don't even have to bother shoving the cocaine up your bum anymore.

breadshaped
Apr 1, 2010


Soiled Meat
I'm really sick of my electric hob. It just isn't hot enough for stir frys :(

Can anyone recommend a powerful portable gas powered burner for woks?

Remulak
Jun 8, 2001
I can't count to four.
Yams Fan

Bedshaped posted:

I'm really sick of my electric hob. It just isn't hot enough for stir frys :(

Can anyone recommend a powerful portable gas powered burner for woks?

I've been told Induction is the way to go but I've never tried it.

emotive
Dec 26, 2006

Bedshaped posted:

I'm really sick of my electric hob. It just isn't hot enough for stir frys :(

Can anyone recommend a powerful portable gas powered burner for woks?

Kenji recommends wok cooking in small batches on western stoves. It's worked well for me thus far on my old electric stove.

toplitzin
Jun 13, 2003


Bedshaped posted:

I'm really sick of my electric hob. It just isn't hot enough for stir frys :(

Can anyone recommend a powerful portable gas powered burner for woks?

https://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-SP10-High-Pressure-Outdoor/dp/B000291GBQ/

VERTiG0
Jul 11, 2001

go move over bro
I've had great success with a glass-top electric stove and a wok by cooking in batches, as mentioned above. My stove can get that thing hot as fuuuck.

I would kill for one of those Breville Control Freak induction cooktops like Kenji uses though, but $1800 USD is, well, gently caress-you money for something like that.

marshalljim
Mar 6, 2013

yospos
That $50 Bayou Classic will poo poo all over Kenji's $1800 induction cooktop for stir frying.

Bald Stalin
Jul 11, 2004

Our posts

marshalljim posted:

That $50 Bayou Classic will poo poo all over Kenji's $1800 induction cooktop for stir frying.

Kenji's can be used indoors though. Safely*.

breadshaped
Apr 1, 2010


Soiled Meat
I've heard butane is much safer over propane for indoors.

And they both seem to have similar burn temps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_burner#Flame_temperatures_of_common_gases_and_fuels

Adult Sword Owner
Jun 19, 2011

u deserve diploma for sublime comedy expertise

Bedshaped posted:

I've heard butane is much safer over propane for indoors.

And they both seem to have similar burn temps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_burner#Flame_temperatures_of_common_gases_and_fuels

I believe those small portable stoves use butane and are made for indoors with a fan.

ookuwagata
Aug 26, 2007

I love you this much!

caberham posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtfUAiWO-9Q

This video is so bullshit. Raw fruits and Veg, ok I can see why. But Spanish ham? Salami? Candy? Oh don't even think about bringing in nice Cheese from Europe.

gently caress Customs and immigration.

Cheese is actually fine in most cases, actually. As long as it's not ricotta, quark or any other liquid cheese, or certain Indian cheese based desserts like canned gulab jamun or rasgulla. Spanish ham and Italian salami requires certificates regarding the origin and processing of the product, basically that it's not from areas affected with the two viruses of economic importance; swine vesicular disease and classic swine fever. Anywhere else it's basically banned, because the early 2000 outbreak of hoof and mouth in the UK was caused by feeding improperly treated swill contaminated with likely bones from either improperly treated international garbage, or smuggled cured meat, given the strain of FMD, probably from South or Southeast Asia.

That being said, enforcement is not consistent across all ports, partly because it isn't a high priority, plus staffing is getting worse by the year because of attrition. And now Donnie has cut off any new hires for agriculture, probably the only position in CBP where hiring is frozen.

Make no mistake the ban's primarily rooted in protecting American financial interests; basically to allow the U.S. to continue to be able to sell a lot of meat overseas by maintaining "disease-free" status for anything other countries could quarantine for. UN trade rules doesn't allow complete bans on agricultural products for anything less than disease quarantine rules. And a lot of other countries are eager to ban American agricultural goods because the agriculture industry is extremely aggressive in pushing into other countries, and then flooding the market full of cheap food, especially meat. Not a lot of countries have the space and cheap feed prices the US has, which are required to produce cheap meat at volume.

EVG
Dec 17, 2005

If I Saw It, Here's How It Happened.
What do I use this stuff for?

Ailumao
Nov 4, 2004

EVG posted:

What do I use this stuff for?



It's thick soy sauce and it's taiwanese as gently caress. When I was there it was a fairly common condiment for just putting on stuff.

It's usually just soy sauce mixed with some sort of starch like glutinous rice to make it thick. But on the bottle it's called 油膏 when normally it's referred to as 酱油膏 so that might be some weird thing I've never heard of.

Ailumao fucked around with this message at 08:37 on Feb 24, 2017

Pookah
Aug 21, 2008

🪶Caw🪶





I just got a bottle of Sichuan pepper oil/Prickly oil and and looking for a couple of chicken recipes to try it out with. I have been looking around but most recipes assume you'll be using whole sichuan peppercorns so I'm not sure about the quantity of oil to use or when it should be added. I have a pretty well stocked supply of sauces and condiments, and an asian market nearby so I'm open to trying pretty much anything.

lol internet.
Sep 4, 2007
the internet makes you stupid
Probably gonna get my head chewed off for this but anyone try using a ceramic non stick wok?

I know it's garbage compared to a steel wok but I have a regular electric stove.

totalnewbie
Nov 13, 2005

I was born and raised in China, lived in Japan, and now hold a US passport.

I am wrong in every way, all the damn time.

Ask me about my tattoos.
Just get a stainless one if you really don't want to get a carbon steel one. It'll still be better than the ceramic nonstick.

emotive
Dec 26, 2006

lol internet. posted:

Probably gonna get my head chewed off for this but anyone try using a ceramic non stick wok?

I know it's garbage compared to a steel wok but I have a regular electric stove.

I have a cast iron wok from Ikea that works well on my electric stove.


(not my picture)

lol internet.
Sep 4, 2007
the internet makes you stupid

totalnewbie posted:

Just get a stainless one if you really don't want to get a carbon steel one. It'll still be better than the ceramic nonstick.

emotive posted:

I have a cast iron wok from Ikea that works well on my electric stove.




I'm kind of lazy to season it.

Arglebargle III
Feb 21, 2006

Ceramic has been working okay for me. I don't make any claims to authenticity but I do cook Chinese fairly often.

Arcturas
Mar 30, 2011

Honesty, if you are feeling too lazy to season and just have an electric top, use a standard skillet or whatever. The advantages of a wok are: you can handle very, very high heat, you can fuss with temperature by pushing stuff up the sides, it is fairly nonstick once seasoned, you can control temperature because it is thin and responds to burner temp changes quickly, and you can toss and mix ingredients easily due to its shape. Once you go to an electric stove, you lose the high heat and temperature response advantages. You also lose the shape (pushing stuff and mixing) advantages because you need to keep contact with the burner. And the nonstick advantage is gone if you don't want to season it. So like, just use whatever normal on or skillet you have to do the stir fry and accept that it won't have the wok hei taste but will still be good.

Arglebargle III
Feb 21, 2006

I have found you can emulate the wok style by just heating the crap out of your pan, using batches and, unintuitively, not stirring.

Rurutia
Jun 11, 2009
Are you guys sure....? I've never gotten any wok hei without a wok. I've used triply and cast iron when I don't care enough to bring out the wok. I have an electric glass top.

Remulak
Jun 8, 2001
I can't count to four.
Yams Fan
My current house came with an ancient ugly yellow electric coil stove. That thing got so hot that the oil in the wok would catch fire.

I replaced it, but drat that thing could drive a flat bottom wok.

vanity slug
Jul 20, 2010

Rurutia posted:

Are you guys sure....? I've never gotten any wok hei without a wok. I've used triply and cast iron when I don't care enough to bring out the wok. I have an electric glass top.

how exactly are you getting wok hei without an open flame? that's kind of a crucial part

Rurutia
Jun 11, 2009
You just need very high heat? Not necessarily open flame. It's certainly not the same as on open flame but there is a distinctively different layer of flavor than when I cook on a flat pan.

Adult Sword Owner
Jun 19, 2011

u deserve diploma for sublime comedy expertise
Uh isn't wok hei achieved by tossing though an open flame?

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Bald Stalin
Jul 11, 2004

Our posts

Rurutia posted:

You just need very high heat? Not necessarily open flame. It's certainly not the same as on open flame but there is a distinctively different layer of flavor than when I cook on a flat pan.

I'm interested to hear how you think the shape of a vessel influences the flavor in this case.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply