jecho's Profile
I bought it, now what - "chinese" ingredients
Ken Lo's book, Chinese Vegetarian Cooking has a lot of recipes utilizing this pickle and also Sichuan Zha Tsai. I picked it up at the library and didn't think it would be good but there are a lot of good recipes in it.
I have tons of ripe persimmons and no clue what to do.
Persimmon Sorbet - Plain pulp sieved or not with simple syrup or not and with spices like cardamom or cinamin or not and with cream or not. Lots of variations with this but everybody
who has eaten the persimmons when they are at the super soft stage of ripeness agrees that they are very sweet.
tips for getting started with fried rice
Short grain rice can be used as long as appropriately dried. I like to leave it uncovered in the fridge to allow it to dry faster. The other method of under cooking slightly or adding less water is another way to have "drier" rice.
Another method to decrease the starch is to coat the granules of rice with egg. This doesn't make the dish classicly fried rice but is called golden rice since it imparts to the rice a yellow color.
Pre frying the eggs or doing it while the rice is cooking is a matter of preference. I noticed in most of the hawker stalls that the eggs will be cracked into the dish and cooked so that yellow and white streaks are present. Gives the dish a little more variance in mouth feel and flavor since the albumin cooks and tastes differently than the yolk.
Salt and pepper has always been the major seasoning with the use of dark soy as mainly a colorant. I noticed that in Taiwan most of the fried rice dishes were flavored with light soy and salt. The Canto/American joints in the US use the darker soy to color the dishes. Classicly fried rice entails just the rice and egg and maybe scallions and getting the wok hay to flavor it also.
Variations on flavoring go from fish sauce, soy sauce, curry powder, chilis, scallions, leeks, dried fish, gravies, kimchee, etc. Whatever goes. Its like garbage pizza. Whatever's leftover in the fridge. But sometimes too much embellishment ruins this classic dish and less is more since really the rice is the star of this dish.
Chinese Table Etiquette Question
Being Chinese, it may be that I'm used to more lax table manners in my family as opposed to ipsedixit and yes Sam, you are right, the host does pick out the best pieces to give to the guest of honor but barring that, heaping portions still bespeak of generosity.
WSJ: "Why Chinese Food Isn't Hip"
The OC used to have an attempt at upscale chinese with Stix. This was an American (ie non chinese) run corporate restaurant. The original incarnation did have Chinese chefs working in a glass enclosed kitchen with servers accommodating the well healed Newport and OC crowd. The other (which I might be crucified for) is PF Chang. Its corporate, its attempt at upscale with a wine list and bar and expensive chinese food in small portions.
Having eaten in these places in the mid 80s and early 90's, I can't help but think that I could have gotten better and cheaper , a half hours drive north.
The Ramen King and I, by Andy Raskin
Just got done with it last night. Got it the same day and couldn't put it down. Loved the sushi references as well as the food manga titles. But what I really liked was how Mr. Raskin managed to bring humility and humaness to the difficulties that he worked through. A very good read.
"Suan Tsai"or "Tzai Tsai" Chinese pickled condiment
The Chowhound Team split this tangent from the Los Angeles board. If you'd like to find Chinese beef rolls in the greater L.A. area, please go here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/637980#4959334
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I love the beef roll at 101 Noodle express but I love the condiment green cilantro and pepper mix equally. Does anyone know how to make that? It seems to be the stems of the cilantro with some of the leaves and diced green onion and green peppers in an oil base. I don't remember tasting salt with it but I do remember that the condiment had a wonderful savoriness to it. Would appreciate any suggestions.
Chinese Table Etiquette Question
When we vacationed in Japan, our tour guide compared differences in Japanese and Chinese dining etiquette. One of the things he said was a huge no no was to use your chopsticks and pickup something and deliver it to your neighbors dish. It was strictly a no touch zone. Whereas, Chinese dining, your host will pile on food with their own chop sticks.
