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branedotorg posted:I prefer Fuchsia Dunlop's Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China (but it's a memoir with recipes rather than a cook book, great for background) to Land Of Plenty but either are excellent. Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper is an entertaining read, if not a great book, but there are only a handful of recipes in it. Great pics in this thread, Gravity84. I saw you posting in the SF restaurants thread, and if you end up in the area, check out Sichuan Fusion in El Cerrito. It's really fantastic, even for non Sichuan dishes.
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Apr 6, 2011 08:20
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Ooooh that looks really really good. I love turnip cake. Do you have a good recipe for chee chong fun/rice rolls/whatever they're called?
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Apr 11, 2011 23:57
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I've had it made with just Chinese Sausage, which should be easy to find, and it's really good that way too.
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Apr 12, 2011 07:09
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The Macaroni posted:Resurrecting the soy sauce discussion from page 1: I made ma po tofu with Pearl River soy sauce, and my wife was like, "Nuh-uh, switch back to Kikkoman." It wasn't bad by any stretch, but we're so used to the bonus sweetness/alcohol taste of Kikkoman that the cleaner taste of Chinese soy sauce is weird to us. I'm a terrible person. I just found this brand called Ohsawa a few weeks ago at my local natural foods store. It's an organic soy sauce made in Japan and aged in cedar casks (two varieties, with wheat, or just soy) and it's far and away the best I've ever had. Nothing else I've tried comes close. It's a little bit more expensive, but I don't really go through soy sauce fast enough for it to be an issue. I'd personally recommend going with a Japanese brand over a Chinese one after a lot of the horror stories that have come out in recent years. I believe it was Pearl River (among others) that was being made with human hair, although I can't find the article online anymore. That said, the government has cracked down on this kind of thing since the tainted milk incident, so who knows, you're probably OK buying whatever. I certainly used to buy Pearl River Light Soy Sauce, and it works great for Chinese cooking.
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May 2, 2011 01:12
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That looks really really good. In the same vein, does anyone know what the hell to do with Chinese dried duck? There's a place right near the big parking garage in SF Chinatown where an old man makes Lap Cheung and a few other dried meats, and I really want to figure out something to do with his dried duck.
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May 2, 2011 18:16
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I had that cold sliced meat dish made with stomach lining and what I think was beef heart the other day (not really sure) and it's very good, even with strange meats. I might try and make it with less strange stuff so it moves more towards delicious and farther from adventurous.
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May 9, 2011 05:53
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feelz good man posted:Here to save this thread from the downward spiral of soy sauce argument douchebaggery is I made this tonight with some Chinese sausage thrown in as well, along with a stir fry of corn and sweet peppers, and some Sichuan dry-fried green beans. Very tasty. My Chinese bacon isn't nearly as good looking as yours is though - any brand recommendations, or am I going to have to make it myself?
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Aug 16, 2011 05:50
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I have about 1.5 lbs pork belly, rind on. What in the hell should I make with it? Already making Red Braised Pork, but I kind of wanted to split it up so as not to eat so much pork fat all in one meal.
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Sep 19, 2011 03:08
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It's actually a really good basic dish. But yeah, ultra basic. Novel, however, for the idea of eating potatoes on top of rice. Goes really well with spicy dishes. I've been making ma-po tofu a lot lately, and it's really good! I often omit the meat from Fuschia Dunlop's recipe, and tend to add some ya cai/sichuan preserved vegetable. I also use chongqing chilies, and pixian toban djan, which is actually made with fava beans and no soybeans (or so the label claims) and it's significantly better than other brands I've tried. Comes in a big bag full of paste. For anyone in the SF Bay Area, try making the recipe with Hodo's medium firm tofu. Yummy.
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Oct 26, 2011 21:21
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As someone who really likes Sichuan food, I like Sichuan pepper a lot, but like any other spice it needs to be used in moderation. It's a cool, unusual, tingly sensation. It's fun to drink iced water after having a lot of Sichuan pepper flavor, because it produces the sensation that the water is lightly carbonated. Orgasmic though? Huh? Weird.
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Dec 31, 2011 05:54
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totalnewbie posted:Hey, actually, anyone want to share your personal methodology for making hong shao rou (红烧肉)? I'm most interested in if/how you guys get a nice glaze on the meat. Make a really good caramel at the beginning and then reduce everything down to a really good caramel again at the end after you've finished braising.
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Jan 17, 2012 07:41
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I would also suggest toasting and then grinding. Mapo tofu is a good beginners Sichuan peppercorn dish, and so is Chongqing style chili chicken. I really didn't enjoy the sensation of Sichuan peppercorns at first, but I've grown to like them quite a lot.
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Feb 27, 2012 01:26
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sanosuke21 posted:What is the method used to cook the eggs that are in fried rice? I used to just crack an egg into the pan and stir it up with everything, but that didn't yield the chunks of egg that I love so much. Recently when making fried rice I'll scramble an egg with a touch of salt and pepper, then cook using a dab of sesame oil in the pan, set it aside, then add it to the fried rice as I add all my other ingredients. This is usually good but it just isn't exactly the way it is in chinese restaurants. I add the eggs towards the end, clearing a space in the pan and pouring in a beaten egg. You get bigger pieces in the final dish by having it be more cooked before you stir it into the rice. As far as flavor goes, while I haven't eaten at the restaurant you mentioned, your recipe looks a little weird to me. I've never added oyster sauce or rice vinegar or xiaoqing wine to fried rice, I just add soy sauce right at the end and that combined with the rice caramelizing in the hot pan gives a ton of flavor, with pretty much everything else coming from whatever you put in the fried rice. This is off topic, but I made pineapple fried rice the other day with some leftover veggies and pineapple and some bacon and it was absolutely incredible. It's a dish I'd never even consider ordering at a restaurant. Worth making at home, for sure.
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Mar 5, 2012 04:50
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A really tasty Cantonese (I think? Got it from a Cantonese/Toisan household) recipe is steamed eggplant topped with fried garlic, ginger, and green onion. You just steam some Chinese/Japanese eggplants that have been sliced into wedges about four inches long until they're very tender, then pour over a sauce of: even amounts of minced garlic and ginger, fried in a healthy amount of peanut oil until it's toasted a nice golden color, at which point you add a glug of light soy sauce and your green onions (chopped into small rounds). Briefly let this sizzle, then remove from the heat and pour over the steamed eggplant. Finish it by drizzling with a bit of sesame oil. I like to let the eggplant steam in my rice cooker while cooking rice. The finished dish tastes amazing, with the creamy eggplant offset by the savory crisped garlic and ginger. Really wonderful, and I've never seen it on any menu.
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Mar 26, 2012 01:48
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I will also recommend bitter melon with fermented black beans. I really like it stir fried with thinly sliced flank steak, corn starch, a little sugar, and some soy sauce garlic and ginger. Haven't had it in ages. Anyone have any good Chinese sweet soup recipes? In particular I'm interested in pureed nut soups that I've only had a handful of times, but it'd be neat to hear about anything at all.
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Mar 26, 2012 18:09
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gret posted:My favorite is mung bean soup: Thanks! I love this soup but had no idea how to make it. Simple as can be.
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Mar 31, 2012 05:32
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Shaoxing also keeps forever. I keep mine in the fridge, no idea if that makes it last longer, but I'm sure I'll end up using it all in cooking eventually.
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Apr 1, 2012 02:11
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^^^That looks really good!Charmmi posted:My inlaws make their own chili oil for their restaurant. Dad(inlaw) grinds up a pile of chili peppers and uses a giant wok full of oil. He has to do it after hours because it makes everyone's eyes water. Having been the guest of a Chinese family making shui jiao/sue gow you are making me want to go out and buy everything to make it right this minute. You also made me very hungry. Dumplings are the greatest. P.S. For anyone in the SF Bay Area, Kingdom of Dumpling on Taravel in the Sunset is pretty darn good and very cheap. Also just a couple blocks from Marco Polo gelato which has incredible durian, lychee, and other Southeast asian fruit flavors.
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Jul 10, 2012 03:06
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enuma elish posted:Kingdom of Dumpling is great. Tiny, yes, but truly great. Also I went to Shanghai Dumpling King on Balboa last night for dinner and that place is also really good, the spicy pork and chive dumplings were great. Oh, I might have to try that. This is a long shot, but can any of you recommend a Hong Kong dessert place? Preferably stuff involving fresh fruit and ices and jellies and coconut milk and whatnot.
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Jul 10, 2012 18:15
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Jeek posted:The problem of recommending a dessert place in Hong Kong is that there are far too many of them. Which district will you be staying in? Sorry I wasn't more clear, I meant a Hong Kong style dessert place in the SF Bay Area. That said, if you have some favorites in Hong Kong proper I'd love to hear about them, I'm sure I'll go back at some point.
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Jul 12, 2012 22:37
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GrAviTy84 posted:Golden Gate Bakery, specifically for their egg tarts are the first thing that comes to mind, but yeah, you can't go wrong with wandering and going to one with a long line out the front. Yeah, Golden Gate is the one everybody knows about and the dan tat are fantastic. Some of the other items are pretty good too. I've heard there are a couple non-bakery dessert places in the Richmond district that I've been meaning to check out, I guess I'll report back when I do.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:35
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The best lap cheung preparation is stir fried with garlic chives, yellow preferably. It's pretty great with scrambled eggs too.
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Sep 4, 2012 06:26
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down1nit posted:dairy It's not just dairy that isn't prevalent in most Chinese cuisine, it's also beef. It's kind of a chicken and egg question whether lactose intolerance is a product of not raising cattle or if it's the other way around. According to this article, cattle farming has exploded since 1949. Separately, here's a collection of statistics on lactose intolerance by region. In Hong Kong style bakeries you'll see cheese and corn buns, and there's also a ton of steamed milk custard places in Hong Kong (which strongly resembles tofu fa, sweet soft tofu). I've seen some pretty strange uses of cheese mixed with seafood over rice and whatnot as well, although in my experience it's always processed cheese food type stuff. Although it's probably changing rapidly, it seems like the Chinese look at fermented milk products in much the same way Westerners might look at balut or any of the variety meats that are popular in China. Gravity84, can you describe some Northern Chinese dishes involving milk? I'm not familiar with any, (unless you're talking about Tibetan yak's milk stuff) and I wasn't really able to find any by searching the web either. Sounds interesting, though. Also, fellow Oakland guys, favorite places in Chinatown?
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Sep 28, 2012 00:09
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Re: Sichuan... I made family-style tofu from Fuschia Dunlop's cookbook Land of Plenty tonight, and it was super easy and delicious. Chili bean paste stir fried in oil, then add garlic and ginger, stock/water and fried tofu (I bought agedashi tofu because I didn't feel like doing it myself tonight.). Add a little soy sauce and sugar to taste and some green onions and you're done. Recently I also made stir-fried potato strips, which are just finely julienned potatoes soaked in water to remove the starch and stir fried with peanut oil, sichuan peppercorns, dried chilies, salt, a little vinegar and soy sauce. Simple and tasty.
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Sep 29, 2012 05:59
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Black vinegar and soy sauce with (or without) a little ginger is good with just about anything. Particularly good with grilled peppers, eggplant, stir fried cabbage, dumplings... Most things, really.
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Oct 12, 2012 05:01
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Mach420 posted:In America, lo mein noodles are soft, stir fried noodles. They may be browned and a bit crispy on the outside, but are still kind of soft. Chow mein are generally accepted to be a bed of hard, crunchy, pretty much deep fried noodles with stuff poured on top of it. This definitely isn't the case here (SF Bay Area, lots of Cantonese). I was going to write up what these things are for me, in my individual experience, but instead... According to Wikipedia, quote:"Chow mein (Chinese: 炒麵, "fried noodles") is a Chinese term for a dish of stir-fried noodles, of which there are many varieties. Then, on the page for Lo Mein: quote:Lo mein (Chinese: 撈麵) is a Chinese dish with wheat flour noodles. It often contains vegetables and some type of meat or seafood, usually beef, chicken, pork, shrimp or wontons. If you click that link, you can see the Cantonese dish known as lo mein next to its American-Chinese counterpart. Unsurprisingly, they're completely different, with the American version using thick wheat noodles that to me resemble Shanghai style wheat noodles. As for the crispy noodle dish, it would appear that... (The following is from the page on chow mein, in the section about American-Chinese food.) quote:There are two main kinds of chow meins available on the market: 1) Steamed chow mein, and 2) Crispy chow mein, also known as Hong Kong style chow mein (see below). The steamed chow mein has a softer texture, while the latter is crisper and drier. Crispy chow mein uses fried, flat noodles, while soft chow mein uses long, rounded noodles.[1] When you described it, however, I thought of Hong Kong style crispy noodles, a menu mainstay in "authentic" Chinese places around here, which this food blog is calling shēng miŕn (生面). There's a Wikipedia page on those characters, spelled out in English from the Cantonese as saang mein with a picture that looks completely different, so who knows. I certainly don't know how to read Chinese, but perhaps someone who can will give us a more accurate picture of what the dish I know as Hong Kong crispy noodles is most commonly called in English or Chinese.
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Oct 15, 2012 03:59
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femcastra posted:Taro I like this soup that's made from taro, rock sugar, coconut milk, and tapioca. I think there's a little sesame oil in it too, it's been a while since I made it. You basically just cook it until it's a puree along with some water, then reduce to the desired consistency. It's also pretty darn good boiled and dipped in soy sauce and sesame oil.
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Oct 19, 2012 04:15
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I'll agree that it looks like Chinese mustard. Most restaurants around here blanch or steam if until it's cooked and then briefly toss it in hot oil with garlic, sometimes ginger. It's pretty delicious.
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Oct 24, 2012 19:57
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ashgromnies posted:I made this tonight -- big bags of gai lan for cheap at the grocery are really appealing. In my experience, yes, parboiling in salted wated removes some of the bitterness. I don't like oyster sauce, but that flavor pairs pretty well with bitter greens and it's standard to serve blanched gai lan with a side of oyster sauce at dim sum places.
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Nov 5, 2012 02:33
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I'll second that they aren't hard to make, at all. I'm sure you can find a video of the folding process on the web, and beyond that it's soaking the rice and your choice of ingredients.
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Jan 10, 2013 19:29
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This certainly wouldn't be traditional, but why not seed and roast whole canned tomatoes to get them as dry as possible?
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Feb 3, 2013 22:53
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I like them best in sweet sticky rice. They definitely have a strong flavor though. Make sure to soak them in water for a long time before using them, and then break them apart. I've heard of people soaking them in cooking wine as well.
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Feb 16, 2013 02:50
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NLJP posted:This sounds like a good thing to try them out with, thanks. Sorry, yeah. Until soft and falling apart. I just do everything in the kitchen by braille, I'm the wrong person to ask.
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Feb 16, 2013 03:34
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I really like the mapo tofu, the Dan Dan noodles, and the tiger something bell peppers. The potato slivers are great, if unusual. Really everything I've made from it has been delicious.
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Apr 2, 2013 00:32
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If you're going to do room temperature oils with garlic, read up on botulism and safety first.
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Apr 3, 2013 17:07
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Definitely a really cheap/strange spider for removing fried foods. Edit: OK, nevermind. Weird. AriTheDog fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 21, 2013 20:17
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You can approximate that effect by making sure they are extremely dry and not crowding your pan. Could even do the preliminary stir fry in batches, then combine with the toasted spices and pickled mustard tuber.
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Feb 12, 2014 00:45
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I know that some Chinese eat yogurt, and maple syrup with plain yogurt is very delicious. Actually, just make sweet soft tofu/dofu fa and use maple syrup instead of the more typical ginger sugar syrup.
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Feb 12, 2014 21:03
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Strange Quark posted:I checked with my parents, and they both said it was Kung Pao chicken. This is alao what I was going to guess. Sichuan food is the best.
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Mar 22, 2014 06:56
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Washing the rice is definitely the answer. Using standard jasmine rice, rinse several times until the water comes away clear. If you're doing that and measuring properly and you still have issues your rice cooker is the problem. Good luck!
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Apr 22, 2014 22:49
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