January 2011 Cookbook of the Month: BREATH of a WOK

[smtucker]

Welcome to our January COTM: THE BREATH of a WOK

Please use this thread for review and discussion of recipes from BREATH of a WOK. Give us the name of the recipe along with the page number. Photos are welcomed.

The Chowhound Team has asked me to remind you that verbatim copying of recipes to the boards is a violation of the copyright of the original author. Posts with copied recipes will be removed.

[MelMM]

Mrs. Miu's Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews - p. 71

This was an easy stir-fry to make with ingredients I had on hand. Chicken thigh or breast meat (I used thigh) is marinated in Shao Hsing wine, vegetable oil, cornstarch, soy sauce, ginger juice, sugar and salt. While the meat sits, raw cashews are roasted in the oven.

Then it is time to cook. In the wok, some sliced ginger goes in first. A few seconds later, you scatter the chicken pieces in the wok, cook undisturbed for a minute, then stir-fry for a couple minutes. Carrots are not called for, but I decided to add some, thinly sliced, for more color. I added them just at the point where I started to stir-fry the chicken. Celery is the next item called for. It goes in, you stir-fry just a bit longer, then the dish is transferred to a platter and sprinkled with cashews.

This is one of those dishes that might be a bit too subtle for my taste. I was left wanting some heat, or some acidity, or something. There is some flavor from the ginger, but it wasn't quite enough to get me excited. I'm beginning to wonder if, on a subtle dish like this one, I wouldn't be better off using chicken breast, even though I usually prefer thigh. Not sure. Anyway, this was fine, but probably not something I would repeat.

I notice that in the picture in the book, it really looks like there are green bell peppers in the dish. And scallions too. Neither of which were called for, although red pepper was mentioned in the headnote as an optional ingredient.

[Gio]

Millie Chan's Chili Shrimp, Pg. 105

This was a tasty pleasant dish with subtle flavors from the aromatics involved. Curiously there's no garlic in the recipe but that probably helped to bring out the fresh briny flavor of the Florida Gulf pink shrimp I used. The "chili" comes from chili bean sauce, and a bit of red bell pepper. I included 2 tiny fresh Thai chilies.

The shrimp is brined for a half hour then stir-fried with some Shaoxing wine. This is taken off heat and shrimp is transferred to a plate. Minced ginger, chopped scallions, and the chilies are stir-fried, then a mixture of soy sauce, chili bean sauce and sugar is added. Return shrimp to wok, stir everything together. Garnish each serving with cilantro... I chopped it and topped each plate. That's all there is to it!

Left over Ho Fun noodles from Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice were reworked like fried rice and became the second dish. And, I just realized I didn't serve the daikon and carrot pickles as planned... (I think my brain must look like sliced lotus root at this point.)

[Breadcrumbs]

This shrimp sounds wonderful Gio. I hadn't noticed the absence of garlic but now you mention it, I'm surprised its not called for. Since my shrimp aren't anything special (Costco black tiger!) I'll likely add some garlic in so mr bc has a familiar flavour to latch onto.

I'm going to take a look for those pickles. I went through the book on Friday night and wrote out the recipes I wanted to make. I organized them by Appetizer, Side, Poultry, Beef etc. I don't recall those pickles at all.

[Gio]

Good Morning, BC... The pickle recipe is in "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen" by Andrea Nguyen... Here's my report:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/5538...

Strangely, we didn't really miss the garlic in the recipe although we love nothing better than a buttery, garlicky, seasoned breadcrumbs dish from Jacques Pepin's Essential book. On second thought it may be in his Fast Food My Way. And for a fleeting moment, believe me, I did consider adding it in. But then it wouldn't have been Ms Chan's recipe.

[Breadcrumbs]

Ahh, ok Gio, I'm glad I didn't miss it. I bought the smallest daikon I could find and it's massive - over 1lb! I'll take a look at your review, thanks for the link.

mr bc doesn't do well w any cuisine other than Italian for a sustained period so I do what I can to whet his appetite. He's a sucker for the aromas of garlic sizzling in a pan and I can usually count on him saying "what are you making? or that smells good" whenever I'm cooking and add garlic to the pan.

[Gio]

There's a restaurant in Provencetown MA on The Cape that blows the aroma of frying garlic and onions out into the street so passers-by can't help but smell and wander inside in search of the origin.... Thankfully the food is worth it.

[Breadcrumbs]

Sounds like an excellent marketing strategy Gio...I know mr bc wouldn't be able to resist!!

[TxnInMtl]

Cousin Sylvia's Drumsticks with Caramelized Onions - p. 161

I found some drumsticks languishing in the freezer and found this recipe on EYB to use them up without needing to pick up anything else. This recipe turned out great. My favorite part by far was the caramelized onions. I scaled down the drumstick portion, but kept everything else the same. If making the full recipe, I might use a larger onion because I can't imagine sharing 1 small onion between 4 people.

To make, garlic and ginger is stir-fried in a wok and then thinly sliced onion is added and cooked until light golden. I gave the onion just a bit of extra time. The onion is set aside and the drumsticks are added to pan-fry until browned and cooked through. Then the onions are added back in along with shredded scallions, oyster sauce and sesame oil and cooked until combined. My chicken wasn't quite done when I cut into it, so everything got added back for a couple of minutes. I think that helped the onions to have a little bit of extra time.

[sarahcooks]

Chiu Chow–Style Pork Spring Moon

The recipe is available online here:
http://asiasociety.org/lifestyle/food...

You soak a small amount of bean thread noodles in cold water for 15 minutes until softened. You put broth, rice wine, soy sauce, noodles and bean sprouts in the wok, bring to a boil and cook a couple minutes. You have to keep stirring it because the liquid isn't deep enough to submerge it all. You transfer it to a plate, clean the wok, and cook the ginger and ground pork, then dump the noodles back in and add two beaten eggs. This is vaguely reminiscent of pad thai, or a similar dish I like at a local Cambodian restaurant. I really liked it. But I love this kind of noodle and ground pork, so I was pretty sure I would. The amount it made was on the small side - unless you have pretty small appetites it's not really enough for two. I think I'll double the noodles next time. Nice quick, easy recipe, and the noodles are a nice change from the usual stir fry.

[walker]

I have not yet bought this cookbook. I need to buy a new bottle of soy sauce and I wonder what I should get? I live in San Francisco so I know there's a big selection. I remember that China Moon cookbook said to get Pearl River .. I used to have that brand.

[Breadcrumbs]

Hi Walker. My two favourite brands are Kikkoman and Kimlan. In my view, these have the most balanced flavours.

Not sure if you're interested but Costco sells a bulk size Kikkoman.

[smilingal]

I wish Costco would get the low sodium bulk size.

[JoanN]

My preference is for Pear River, especially the purple label premium light when I can find it. Kimlan’s Super Special Soy Sauce, which is about double the price of most soy sauces and isn’t easy to find, is superb. I use it mostly for dipping sauces and the like, not for cooking.

Just make sure that whatever soy sauce you buy is naturally brewed, meaning it has no added yeast. Most soy sauces that are will say so on the label.

[buttertart]

Regular Kimlan is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned. Pearl River I find a bit blunt in flavor.
(If you can lay hands on Evergreen sesame seed oil get it, it's wonderful.)

[JoanN]

Perhaps that's just what I like about Pearl River. ;-)

[buttertart]

The Chinese version of to each his own: ge you suo chang (each has its strong points). But do get the sesame oil if you're in the market for it, much nicer than Kadoya.
PS gotta try the Kimlan Super Special, hadn't noticed it. Also want the Gold Plum vintage vinegar.

[JoanN]

Making note of Evergreen sesame oil right now. Never did care much for Kadoya (at least, not once I discovered something better). My last few bottles have been Yu Quan brand. Do you know it? I've been enjoying that quite a bit.

[buttertart]

No I haven't, from the name it must be from the PRC - does it say where? I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks.

[JoanN]

The type on the bottle is awfully small, but I think it says it's from Chongqing. (I'd photograph it for you, but the label is so full of oil I don't think you could read it anyway.) Perhaps you can discern something from the Web site. http://cqyq.com/ Looks like a pretty big operation.

[buttertart]

Chongqing it is. Did you see the Martin Yan in Sichuan at the market (forget which city, maybe Chengdu?) in front of the stall with a kajillion pickles? Very interesting.

[walker]

Okay -- I went to 2 big Asian grocers (New May Way on Clement St and Ranch 99 in Daly City, CA)

Per advice here: I bought Pearl River - Purple Label
Gold Plum vinegar
Pagoda brand Shao Xing (that's what label said) rice wine -- (they had 3 bottles of Pagoda brand (among others) and I did not know which to choose so I bought the gold label one that was slightly more expensive.

Could not find Evergreen brand sesame oil.

Any opinions about the bottle of rice wine I chose?

[scoopG]

You did well.

[qianning]

Mary Chau's Shanghai Style Snow Cabbage and Edamame pg. 135

Made as direced except without the salt in the meat marinade, and no green pepper, and with a little less edamame (12 oz not 16 oz) and a little more snow cabbage (10 oz not 6 oz), only because those were the package sizes I could find.

This is two stage stir fry. First fry the soy beans, then remove from the wok. Stir fry some pork with shallots, add liquid in the form of rice wine, then add the snow cabbage, tou fu. Then add back the edamame, and some liquid, in this case soy sauce.

I loved this dish. I've had various forms of this dish many times in China, but never had a recipe for it, and this is a good one, it comes very true. The only thing I would change in the future would be eliminating the final soy sauce addition and replacing it with broth, the snow cabbage has plenty of salt and the dish doesn't need more for my taste. This is a great dish for either steamed rice, or as it is often served in China with breakfast congee. Last night it went well with the steamed rice, and the left-overs are slotted for Saturday morning's Chinese breakfast. Can't wait!

[buttertart]

I must make this, it's similar to one of my favorite Shanghainese dishes, mao dou with snow cabbage, doufu pi, and pork strips. Would you mind posting the ingredient amounts? Thanks.

[beetlebug]

4 oz lean pork butt (I used a boneless pork chop)
3 t shao xing wine
1 t cornstarch (I used 1/2 t potato flour)
2.5 t soy sauce
1/4 t salt
1 lb edamame
1/4 thinly diced shallots
1/2 cup green pepper (not needed)
2 pieces of dried tofu (about 8 oz but I would up the amount)
1 6.5 oz can preserved snow cabbage

Marinate matchstick pieces of pork with 1 t rice wine, cornstarch, 1/2 t soy and salt.

After you stir fry the pork, add the remaining rice wine to the pork. Then add the add the dried tofu, snow cabbage, etc. Add soy sauce and stir until done.

I also love this dish with tofu skin (bai ye). Or, no snow cabbage but with dried tofu and yellow chives. This is one of my favorite dishes in restaurants.

[buttertart]

Thanks very much. Nice. Except for the green pepper (oh why, oh why, not a Shanghainese thing). Which dried tofu? The sticks or the compressed?

[beetlebug]

I used the 5 spice dried tofu from a local maker (do fu gan). They came in squares and I cut it up into chunks. When I eat it out, I like it cut up into teeny tiny match sticks, but my knife skills aren't that mine.

[buttertart]

I hate to be tedious, but does the recipe call for the 5 spice? Plain is more what I'd be thinking.

[beetlebug]

It does call for 5 spice. But I think plain would work as well. My 5 spice isn't that heavily spiced. It's just right.

Any idea what fresh snow cabbage looks like? I wasn't that keen on the can that I bought. Unfortunately, I have two more of the same cans to use up.

[buttertart]

It's preserved in salt and is supposed to be pickle-y like that. You can rinse it to reduce the salt. http://www.agrohaitai.com/leafveg/lea...
I presume the red one is used, the Chinese name means "red in snow", apparently a hardy green that stays red even under snow.

[beetlebug]

I've had in restaurants, snow cabbage and pork noodle soup. The snow cabbage was fresher tasting and not as pickley as my can or as pickly as preserved radishes (za cai). I just need to find the right can brand. It is the red one (xue cai).

[buttertart]

Companion or Wei-Chuan maybe?

[qianning]

Fresh snow cabbage (雪里蕻) is pretty much never used fresh because it has a very strong bite, think of a strong radish taken to the nth degree, but you are right there are differing degrees of pickling, i think you might prefer the cryovaced/foil packed better than the canned, and if you get to a Kam Man they have some home pickled/fresh pickled snow cabbage in bins ( the bin in the one in Quincy it is right between the meat counter and the doufu cabinet) as well as "fresh" mei cai and "fresh" zha cai. The "fresh" is more likely to have the texture you are thinking of.

[buttertart]

You're absolutely right.

[beetlebug]

I didn't have as much success with this dish (see above post) but am going to play around with it.

[buttertart]

Except for the green pepper it's pretty much straight-up Shanghainese food as written, you might not care for the style.

[beetlebug]

I like Shanghainese food quite a bit. It's just that the proportions were way off with this dish. Too much edamame and it overwhelmed the dish. But, I'm glad to have the base recipe.

I agree with the green pepper. It added nothing and doesn't belong in this dish.

[qianning]

Re: beetlebug

Just by luck of the shopping cart I changed the proportions to 3/4 lb edamame and 10 oz snow cabbage (i.e. less edamame than called for and way more snow cabbage), and i really liked the way it came out in terms of balance between the two veggies.

re: buttertart

I used 5 spice dou fu gan, also from a local producer, and liked the added flavor it contributed. But doufu pi or unflavored doufu gan would all work in this dish, and I'm sure I've had it that way may times in China/Taiwan.

The two main things, i think, are to find a snow cabbage you like and a decent edamame (frozen the only choice at this time of year in NH), I used Trader Joe's shelled edamame and was pleasantly surprised by them. They were better than some I've bought in Chinese goceries in this area in the past.

re: BB & BT
We are all in agreement about the bell pepper. Maybe its ok in the type of dish that is covered in SFTTSE (not my cuppa), but for the better BOAW dishes the bell pepper is all wrong,IMHO. Anyway, it is easy enough to leave out.

[buttertart]

The more I read, the more I think I should have gotten Breath i/o the other. I had it from the library when it first came out and wasn't moved to buy it (not sure why, particularly). Must have another look at it.

[qianning]

There are a good (Subjective opion!!!) half dozen or more recipes in there, but you really have to hunt. The thing is, though, for me they are real keepers, because they tend to fall in that category of home dish that Chinese language cook books never cover because everyone is already supposed to know how to make them, and English language cookbooks skip over because they are too "exotic"....

[buttertart]

We've been saying that for years about the recipe for the doufu pi with mao dou, etc. You don't see recipes for it in any of my books, Chinese or English.
What are the other gems?

[qianning]

Well, with the caveats that one man's meat is another's potatoes, and that most of them are already reviewed above here's my list:

Have tried these and they are for me keepers: Florence Lin's Doufu with Cilantro Relish (pg 161), Smoked Stripe Bass (pg 157), Snow Cabbage with Edamame (pg 135), Uncle Lan's Pan-Fried Sea Bass (pg. 162), the latter with some tweaking.

Haven't tried these but have my eye on them (some have been reviewed by others above): Stir Fried Snap Peas with Fresh Water Chestnuts (pg 135), Tina Yao Lu's Shanghai Crabs and Rice Cakes (pg 182), Uncle Lang's Oyster Sauce Mushrooms (pg 187), Walter Kei's Roasted Sesame Spinach (pg 196).

There's also a stuffed doufu recipe that looked good if one likes stuffed doufu (I don't), and a slow fried chicken dish that I may also try, but can't remeber the page/name.

[The Dairy Queen]

Yes, gems please!

~TDQ

[scoopG]

Too bad Young did not address the issue of her over reliance on the use of bell peppers and carrots in her recipes while she was "online."

[buttertart]

Carrots aren't hu luobo for nothing after all.

[qianning]

i made this again with some significant changes from the first foray, so thought i'd post an update.

Changes were, 1) no pork (one of Young's suggestions) 2) used cryovac rather than canned snow cabbage 3) used fresh fava beans, not frozen edamame.

I still like this dish a lot. in many ways i like it even better without the meat, especially in this case as we were having it as an accopaniment to breakfast congee, and it is even better, i think at room temp, than hot from the wok. i also like the fresh favas at least as well as the frozen edamame in it, if i can ever get fresh edamame i will try it that way too. for me the sharper crisper cryovaced snow cabbage wasn't as nice as the canned, but for those who want more "snap" that would be the way to go.

[beetlebug]

Mary Chau's Shanghai Style Snow Cabbage and Edamame (pg. 135)

I love dried tofu and a variation of this dish (jiu huang xiang gan rou shi) is one of my favorite dishes to order in Chinese restaurants. This recipe was tasty enough but the proportions of ingredients are WAY off.

Slice pork butt into match sticks (I used a pork chop) and marinate it with Shao Hsing wine, cornstarch (I used potato), soy and salt. Stir fry a lb of shelled edamame until browned and then put them in a bowl. Stir fry shallots and the pork, and then add some more rice wine. Cover and then add dried tofu, diced green pepper (I used anaheim, but the pepper isn't needed and doesn't add anything, imo), and the edamame and stir fry for a minute. Add the canned snow cabbage and then add the soy sauce. Toss until everything is cooked.

First off, there were way too many edamame. Half a lb. would have been enough. The recipe has you use 8 oz of dried tofu. My package of 4 slices had 12 oz so I used all of them. This was about right. 8 oz wouldn't have been enough, especially if you used the full amount of edamame. I also upped the snow cabbage since I used half a large can of 10.5 oz drained (recipe calls for 6.5 oz drained).

If you make this, I would halve the amount of edamame to 1/2 lb., 12 oz of dried tofu and about 5 oz drained snow cabbage. The pork amount was fine and the green pepper added nothing to the dish.

[qianning]

Just saw this write up beetlebug. Don't know how I missed it this A.M.....the posts were all collapsed and i didn't bother to expand them, sorry.

[beetlebug]

Classic Steamed Fish Spring Moon (pg. 209)

This dish was spot on. I've made this many times, just never with a recipe. I used a large skillet, a silicon steamer and a pie plate to hold the fish. There were a couple of unnecessary steps but the fish dish is absolutely delicious.

Salt and then rinse the fish. Trim whole scallions so they fit on the bottom of your dish. Then, rest the fish on top of it. Place rounds of ginger and shredded ham on top of the fish. (So, when I make this dish on my own, I cut slivers of ginger and place them on the fish. I followed the recipe though and sliced rounds and placed the ham. There was no discernable ham flavor to the fish and it didn't really taste all that different from my own version).

Steam the fish until it's done. Then remove the ginger and ham off the dish (I would omit the ham next time) and pour off the excess liquid. Sprinkle chopped up scallions and sesame oil on fish (I would also add slivers of ginger). Meanwhile, heat up soy sauce, broth and sugar and in a separate dish, heat up vegetable oil. Pour the hot vegetable oil over the fish and you'll hear the skin crackle. Then, pour the broth over the fish.

It sounds more complicated than it is. The hot vegetable oil is a necessary component to the dish and it brings out the flavor of the fish and soy broth mixture. I really do think you can omit the ham from the initial steaming process.

But, this dish is really worth trying.

[karykat]

I've been following your reviews with my copy of BOAW.

Thought you might like to see this video by the author on stir-fried noodles that was in this week's NYTimes: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/0...

[graceyoung]

karykat: Unfortunately, they severely edited the video. Many of the steps that I showed are missing. There was originally a lot more detail.

[Gio]

Fried Rice with Ham, Egg and Scallions, Pg. 120

The second dish last night was this fried rice which was hearty and had a lovely texture. It's different than the Mai Pham Vietnamese fried rice which has been our "go-to" but this is a nice alternative.

Oil is swirled into a hot wok then minced garlic and chopped scalions are stir=fried for 10 seconds. Four cups of cooked rice are added along with peas. This is stir-fried for a few minutes breaking up the rice as usual. You make a well in the middle of the rice and add a bit of oil and a beaten egg, stirring to combine the egg with the rice. Smoked ham (I used pancetta), salt (omitted) and white pepper are added and all is stir-fried till heated through. Very good accompaniment to the Stir-Fried Pork with Mushrooms and Carrots. There's not a crumb left...testiment to the deliciousness of both dishes.

[Breadcrumbs]

Both dishes sound wonderful Gio, I'm sure we'll like them and have marked them on my to-do list. Interesting to read the technique of adding the egg in the rice dish. This is the method I'm accustomed to. An earlier rice dish I made from one of these books had you cook the egg first (like a pancake) then slice it for incorporation in the finished dish. When reviewing that recipe I'd comment on that being a new technique for me. I wonder if the methods are regional.

[qianning]

i'm not sure if the different egg methods are regional, but in our house Mr. qn always adds the eggs to a well in the rice, i always cook them first and add them back later. in asia i've had it done either way.

[Breadcrumbs]

Very interesting q! Thanks.

[Gio]

Stir-Fried Pork, Mushrooms and Carrots, Pg. 90

This was a very nice dish, a filling but mild stir-fry. I used boneless pork chops because they are easier to slice to size than an unwieldy piece of pork butt, for me anyway. They were nicely marbled too which added to the flavor.

After slicing in thin strips the meat is marinated in a combination of cornstarch, rice wine, sesame oil, and sugar...I omitted the salt. Shiitake mushrooms are rehydrated, Napa cabbage shtrdded, celery and carrots julienned. Bamboo shoote should have been thrown into the mix but I didn't have any.

First the pork is stir-fried in the usual way then removed to a plate. Minced garlic is fried till fragrant then all the vegetables,. including chopped scallions and the shiitakes which have been sliced, are stir-fried till cabbage and celery are wilted. Return the pork add white pepper and a little sugar and heat through. G loved it and declared it delicious.

[Breadcrumbs]

Sweet and Sour Chicken – p. 76

I had 2lbs of chicken in the fridge so decided on 2 chicken dishes tonight and this was one of them since I had all the other ingredients on hand. I’d passed by this on a couple of occasions as I don’t tend to like overly sweet dishes but on closer inspection saw that there was minimal sugar in this recipe (1tbsp plus 1 tsp) along w 2 tbsp of ketchup. Given the quantity of other ingredients in the sauce, I imagined this wouldn’t be too sweet at all and, I was right.

We really enjoyed this well-balanced dish. Chicken is marinated in garlic, soy, rice wine cornstarch, some of the sugar, salt and pepper. A separate sauce is prepared by mixing chicken broth, black soy, sesame oil, vinegar, ketchup, remaining sugar, soy, cornstarch and salt (which I omitted).

A red and green pepper are cubed and scallions are cut into 2 inch pieces.

Preparation begins in the usual manner, swirling oil in a hot wok then adding the chicken that sits undisturbed for a minute before stir-frying until browned on all sides but not cooked through. Chicken is transferred to a plate to make way for the veggies, which are quickly cooked along w the sauce before adding the chicken back in to cook through.

We enjoyed this dish quite a bit. The chicken was super-tender and the sauce itself was “soy forward” but balanced w the other ingredients.

Stir-Fried Snap Peas w Water Chestnuts – p. 135

I was able to find fresh water chestnuts in Chinatown so we were really looking forward to this dish. It didn’t disappoint and was quite tasty.

Water chestnuts and ginger are peeled and sliced. Peas are trimmed and a sauce is made by combining rice wine, salt, sugar, pepper and cold water. I omitted the salt since we were serving this w 2 soy-based dishes.

Oil is swirled in a hot wok before adding ginger slices which are stirred until fragrant. Peas and water chestnuts are then added and stirred for one minute before adding the sauce, which is cooked until thickened.

As you can see this comes together in no time. The finished dish is fresh, crunchy and delicious in its simplicity. I would have been satisfied with a big bowl of this alone for dinner. Really nice, the fresh water chestnuts are a must in my humble opinion. We’ll definitely have this again.

These two dishes were served along w the Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken – p. 140 in SFSE.

My review and photos of this dish are in the other COTM thread here if you’d like to take a look:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[Gio]

Walter Kei's Sweet and Sour Spareribs (Pg.?)

I forget the page number... But the ribs were quite tasty, as I recall.

Lean baby back pork spareribs, cut in single ribs are marinated in a mixture of salt, sugar, cornstarch , rice wine, soy sauce and olive oil for 1 hour. They are then dried before searing. A tablespoon of olive oil is swirled into a hot wok, the ribs are added and left to brown undisturbed for 5 minutes. Turn ribs over and fry for another 2-ish minutes. At that point add brown sugar, Chinkiang vinegar, and some water. That is brought to boil, ribs are turned meat side down, wok is covered, heat turned to low and all is simmered for about 1 1/2 hours. At the end a bit of butter, lime juice and zest were combined with the ribs.

In spite of the time element, this dish was very easy to prep and cook. The final dish was satisfying and very tasty. G loved the ribs. I thought they were tasty but chewy but I guess that's the way they're suppose to be afterall... There were enough lo mein noodles and vegetables left over from the previous night so I combined them, heated them through and that became our side dish. another good meal from BOAW...! Tonight is the 3 teacup chicken...

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh my gosh, that sounds so delicious!

~TDQ

[Gio]

Yes, they really were and the hit of lime was wonderful.

[JoanN]

Must try these and see how they compare to the Sweet and Sour Ribs in Revolutionary Chinese Cooking. I was going to do them the other evening for cocktail nibbles for company, but chickened out because I knew how good the RCC ones are. Too bad your report was just a couple of days too late for me. I actually like chewy ribs. "Falling of the bone" isn't necessarily a compliment in my book.

[Gio]

Oh gosh... sorry about that...! Rethinking this recipe, I have to include the fact that 1 1/2 lbs ribs are called for but we had 1.72 lbs - almost 1 3/4 lbs total so the initial marinade was skimpy since I didn't think to increase amounts. Also, at the end 1/3 cup of water is added to the wok along with the vinegar which I may decrease if I make them again. However, there is another sparerib recipe I want to try first: Good Fortune Sweet and Sour Spareribs from BOAW as well.

http://leitesculinaria.com/5717/recip...

[JoanN]

Don't know where Leite's Culinaria found that recipe for Good Fortune Sweet and Sour Spareribs, but it's not in Breath of a Wok. And when I Googled that title, Letite's Culinaria was the only reference, which is odd if the recipe came from some other book.

[The Dairy Queen]

How very strange. According to EYB, there is a recipe called Braised sweet and sour spareribs in The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. Maybe it's from there? I don't have a copy of that book, but, after all of the success I've had with Young's books this month, I might snag a copy of that one next time I'm in the mood to buy more books.

~TDQ

[Gio]

Aha... I don't have Breath in front of me, so I believed the Leite's reference...I don't like that. I wonder if the recipe may be in one of GY's previous books??
Anyway, I'm tsk-tsking.

[buttertart]

I have Wisdom, will look tonight if you like.

[Gio]

If you have the time and inclination, BT... I'd appreciate a search in Wisdom.
Also, perhaps your appraisal of the book too. TIA!

[buttertart]

I will, no problem whatsoever.
I've had the book for a long time and don't remember much about it, to tell the truth, so I'll have a longer ramble through it and see.

[JoanN]

I just noticed something. The Leite's Culinaria post is dated May 5, 2004, but Amazaon.com has the book’s publication date listed as August 24, 2004. I wonder if it’s possible that the recipe for Good Fortune Sweet and Sour Spareribs appeared in bound galleys that were sent out for review but for some reason never made it into the finished book. It just seems very odd to me that the recipe appears nowhere else online at all and it really isn’t the kind of mistake a site like Leite's Culinaria is apt to make.

[Breadcrumbs]

Its funny, if you look at Leite's just beneath the Good Fortune S&S Rib Recipe there's a link to the "Next Post" which coincidently is "Walter Kei's S&S Ribs . . . . which really is in BoaW.

I wonder if they just messed up on the reference for the first one and perhaps it's someone else's recipe? From what I've seen so far, GY doesn't use that much sugar in her personal recipes. I'm making her S&S chicken tonight and the "sweetness" is derived from the ketchup, no sugar at all.

Here's the link to the Walter Kei's recipe:

http://leitesculinaria.com/5812/recip...

[JoanN]

Yes, I noticed that. But this spare rib recipe even includes a quote from Ms. Young about the recipe. Kind of tough to do with with a recipe from an altogether different book and author.

[clamscasino]

Good Fortune Sweet and Sour Spareribs: page unknown, heck, evidently the book is unknown too! (Got the recipe off of Leite's Culinaria.)

Made these last night for the stupor bowl. Once again, an easy-peasy recipe loaded with excellent flavor. Obviously the recipe calls for spareribs, but I had baby backs. One starts by marinating the ribs, which are cut into individual pieces in sugar for 1/2 hour in a sauce-pan. The the excess liquid is drained off and a mixture of soy sauce(s), red wine vinegar, ketchup and rice wine is added along with some water. (I used sherry.) It all gets brought to a boil (covered), then turned down to simmer/braise for an hour. Mine took longer - I assume because baby-backs have more meat on them.

Ribs are removed to a platter and the fat gets skimmed from the sauce. I reduced the sauce a bit more because it seemed too runny. Pour sauce over ribs and serve. Don't forget the napkins!

"Good Fortune" is right! These were special.

[Gio]

Clams... These are on my list too but this recipe is not in Breath of a Wok. See the above discussion. I'm glad to hear they were a hit, though...

Here's my report of the Walter Kei spare ribs and then the ensuing discussion has comments about the Good Fortune recipe:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[clamscasino]

Gio, the Walter Kei recipe was the one I was after, based on your report. Your link above led me to this recipe also. Funny how Leite's Culinaria attributes it to BOAW. But the recipe was so good, I had to share.

[Gio]

Well, I'm very glad you did, because I'm definitely making them...on Your say so. LOL

[smtucker]

Ming Tsai's Mandarin Fried Rice, page 121
served with Martin Yan's Genghis Kan Beef, page 91

I will admit that I don't really like fried rice. Tonight I have to admit I don't like Chinese-American gloopy and sweet fried rice. Friday night with 6 people coming to dinner, we ordered a feast from the local Chinese place, and have lots of extra white rice. Hate to waste so I chose this recipe for tonight's meal.

Common start, oil and swirl. Then you add a beaten egg and make a pancake. When the bottom begins to brown, flip and cook for an additional 5 seconds. Remove to a cutting board and beg the other person in the room to cut into strips.

A little more oil, quick stir fry of the garlic and ginger, then add cubed Chinese sausage. Stir fry for about a minute, add scallions and the rice. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the rice is warmed. Finish with some soy sauce, and serve.

I reduced the amount of soy, and did not add the salt or pepper. We added more soy at the table. This was a light dish which we both enjoyed tremendously. I don't often have leftover rice, but will pull this out when I do.

[Breadcrumbs]

I have this on my list of "to try" dishes smtucker so its good to hear you enjoyed it. I picked up some Chinese sausage(for the first time) in Chinatown last week but can't read the packaging. If you have a moment, could you tell me a bit about what they taste like? Are they typically pork-based?

[smtucker]

My market had a huge selection. Most were pork, but there were a few that were beef. I chose sausages that had meat as the first ingredient, things like garlic, with a short list of fillers. It tasted like sausage, but denser than Western sausages. In fact, it had the texture of a confit, and tasted vaguely like a home-made jerky. The sausage that I purchased was not as fatty as others I have seen before, so it didn't release as much fat into the rice as I expect Ming Tsai expected. I hope that you like it too.

[Breadcrumbs]

Thanks smtucker. If I had to guess, I'm imagining that the ones I purchased will be similar to a dry salami in texture and, like yours, I don't expect they'll have a lot of fat to release. Good to know it tastes like sausage though, mr bc wasn't enthused when he saw I'd purchased these!! Now I'll just make the rice and see if he figures out what's in it!! Thanks again.

[smtucker]

I made my cubes smaller than directed since I could tell that they weren't going to "render." I liked the smaller size while eating.

[Breadcrumbs]

Perfect - I'll do the same, thanks!

[smtucker]

p.s. salami is a very good description of the sausage actually. better than my feeble attempts.

[The Dairy Queen]

Ooh, this fried rice sounds very appealing. And who doesn't have leftover rice from time to time?!

Thanks for posting about this.

~TDQ

[JoanN]

Ming Tsai’s Mandarin Fried Rice (page 121)

I no longer remember why I bought Chinese sausage. Maybe it was just because it appealed to me. But I came across it in my cabinet, did an EYB search, found this recipe, checked the COTM archives, saw smtucker’s review, and it was a go.

I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter, except that I, too, did not add salt. I just wasn’t sure what the size of the called-for sausage was supposed to be. I wish a weight had been given. Mine were very small (are they all?) so I used two of them.

Not sure I would have called this “light.” It seemed fairly hearty to me (maybe it was the extra sausage?) and I made a dinner out of it.

I thought it was excellent. Perhaps the best fried rice I’ve made so far. And from now on I will keep the sausage on hand since leftover rice seems to accumulate in my refrigerator.

[Breadcrumbs]

Oooh, this sounds scrumptious Joan and I have such fond memories of this book. Thanks for the reminder to pull it off the shelf and get wokking!! Lovely photo too!

[Gio]

Susanna Foo's Tofu, Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Pg. 143

Up front just let me say that we Loved this dish. It's a multi-vegetable melange with good seasoning and fresh flavors. I omitted some of the listed vegeatbles included others but did not exactly stick to the recommended amounts... simply chopped up what I had and tossed it all together with the seasonings. However I used only veggies, not the tofu. It was not stir-fried.

Here's what I chopped:
rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, jalapeño, eggplant, 1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 1 zucchini, mushrooms, 1 medium head cauliflower. This was an enormous amount of vegetables, so I spread it all into a large rimmed roasting sheet and tossed it with soy sauce, vodka, black vinegar, a bit of sugar, 3 T olive oil (per the recipe...!). Roasted at 450 for 40 minutes, stirring around at the half way mark, it was delicious.

I hope Ms Young will forgive me, but it really was a terrific complimenet to the oyster lo mein and Uncle Lang's pan-fried fish. Tonight it's on to the teacup chicken and a vegetable dish TBD. I plan to continue with these books through the week ending with Thursday's Chinese New Year's dinner.
Gung hay fat choy.

[greedygirl]

Hey Gio. Was it worth getting Breath of a Wok in your opinion. I must say I am sorely tempted.

[Gio]

Honestly, I really do think so. There are different "wokking" techniques in Breath that aren't in Sky's Edge for instance, which I have yet to try. There is much more information as well. I ordered Breath after the month started so I had a good 2 two weeks to cook from Edge exclusively and now that I've had a chance to cook from both books, I can see quite a wide range of Cantonese cooking. It definitely is different from Sichuan and Hunan food, though, and in the beginning I think we were forgetting that. Last night's dinner ( even though I changed up one of the dishes) proved that there is very good eating to be had from the recipes in Breath of a Wok.

ETA: I like her web site:
http://www.graceyoung.com/

[Breadcrumbs]

Susanna Foo’s Tofu, Eggplant, Mushrooms and Sun-Dried Tomatoes – p. 143

This recipe has been on my mind since I first spotted it in the book and Gio’s review above only served to heighten my desire to try it. Last night mc bc (aka mr tofu-hater) was attending a business function so it was the perfect occasion for me to pull out my wok and give this a stir. So glad I did because this dish was absolutely delightful, I loved it!

Tofu is placed on paper towel and set aside, presumably to express some of its water. Since I like my tofu on the dryer side, I placed it between sheets of paper towel and weighted it over a strainer to expedite the draining. When you’re ready to wok, tofu is cubed.

Further prep consists of chopping and slicing your vegetables and mixing a quick sauce of soy, sake or vodka (I used the latter), black vinegar and sugar. Young suggests sun-dried tomatoes, eggplant, button mushrooms, jalapenos, garlic, red bell pepper, zucchini and snap peas be used in addition to some fresh basil. Like Gio, I didn’t have all the suggested veggies on hand so I carried on undeterred with my own blend of king mushrooms, shitakes, 2 Chinese eggplants, sun-dried tomatoes, spring onions, garlic, red peppers and Thai bird peppers (3). I’m sure I had a much higher ratio of veggies to tofu than Young contemplates because they almost filled my wok!

Oil is swirled in hot wok per usual then garlic and hot peppers are added and stir-fried until fragrant. Sun-dried tomatoes and eggplant are added and heat is reduced to medium as eggplant cooks ‘til soft. At this point Young has you add the tofu and remaining veggies however since my veggies were so plentiful, I just added the tofu so I could be assured it had adequate wok space to brown and then I added in my remaining veggies which I stir-fried until they were cooked. Sauce is then stirred in to incorporate, dish is topped w basil and served.

I absolutely loved this dish. The sauce was well-balanced and seemed to enhance the caramelized flavours of the eggplant and sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes. I would definitely recommend the use of King mushrooms, I loved their meaty texture and it was a really nice compliment to the other textures in the dish. I didn’t miss the zucchini since I’d upped the content of eggplant however I can definitely imagine how sugar-snap peas would further enhance this already scrumptious dish. I can’t wait to try this again.

I’m ashamed to say there’s none left! I ate the leftovers for breakfast!! If you’re a fan of these ingredients, do try this recipe.

I've attached a photo. Unfortunately mr bc is usually my photographer so since he was out, I tried my best to capture this dish w my own camera.

[Breadcrumbs]

Stir-Fried Chicken with Shallots – p. 68

I wanted another protein to serve with the Beef Chow Fun and it needed to be super-quick. This dish fit the bill. It exceeded our expectations. Flavour exceeded effort three-fold!

Prep is minimal. Boneless, skinless chicken is cut into 1 inch cubes then marinated in soy, rice wine, sugar, cornstarch, salt and pepper. I pulled this together in a ziplock bag in the morning to save time at night.

A small bowl is used for a mash of fermented black beans (rinsed and drained), garlic, ginger, soy and sugar. 4 shallots are peeled and cut into garlic clove sized pieces and, scallions are chopped. That’s it, prep is done!

Cooking process is predictable. Oil is swirled in a hot wok at which time chicken meets pan for a quick sear prior to stir-frying. At this point everything except the scallions are stirred in until the chicken is cooked and the sauce thickens then the scallions join the party. Super-simple, totally tasty. This was a perfect, quick and delicious week-night dish that we’ll make again.

I served this w Beef Chow Fun which was also good. Here’s the link to my thoughts and photos:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[smilingal]

Breadcrumbs - fermented black beans - are these regular canned?
also is there a link to an actual recipe - AND your Beef Chow Fun looks absolutely divine and sooo authentic! I would appreciate that recipe as well.

[Breadcrumbs]

Hi smilingal, thanks! My fermented black beans came in a bag however I understand they are the same as the canned variety. Let me know if you'd like me to post a photo of the bag.
I did a quick search online and didn't find GY's recipes for either dish unfortunately.

[sarahcooks]

Has anyone made or considered making Liang Nian Xiu's Farm-Style Omelets (p 180)? It's a recipe I have looked at many times, wanting to jump into the page with the picture and stuff my face, but when I read the directions it just seems too technically challenging. Plus I'm worried my wok isn't non-stick enough yet.

[Breadcrumbs]

I looked at it sc but wondered about my ability to have any more than one omelet going at any given time. I decided to hold off on this and practice the technique by making simple mini-omelets in my wok for breakfast one weekend when I'm not pressed for time. I'd love to hear about it if you do give it a try. I too thought it looked delicious!

[JoanN]

Walter Kei’s Shanghai-Style Pork and Bean Sprouts (page 87)

Recipe calls for pork butt; I used boneless spareribs. The pork is slivered and marinated in rice wine, cornstarch, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and ground white pepper. That’s stir fried in the usual sear-it-first manner, then the sprouts and more rice wine and white pepper are added for stir-frying for about 1 to 2 minutes.

I appreciated it, but didn’t love it. And as you can see, it’s not exactly photo worthy—except maybe for a white party. Thinking that on the whole I’m just not a big fan of Shanghai-style food. I felt a little guilty adding salted chiles. What can I say. I liked it better that way.

[Gio]

Oh great. That's what we're making tomorrow night. Pork butt was used up on the past week-end so we're using boneless pork chops. My brain is overworking thinking of what I can add... but then it wouldn't be Walter Kei’s Shanghai-Style Pork and Bean Sprouts.

[Breadcrumbs]

It's interesting that the book describes this as a "peppery" dish yet only calls for 1/2 tsp of white pepper.

A couple of thinly sliced Thai Chilies might perk this up but keep the dish in line w the peppery theme. Alternatively, maybe some scallions would give this a flavour boost?

The only other thing that comes to mind is allowing for a longer marinade period to let the flavours develop in the pork.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes Gio.

[Gio]

Thanks, Breadcrumbs. I've been reviewing other Shanghai-style pork recipes and decided to increae the white pepper, marinate the meat for about 20 minutes, add minced garlic to the initial wok stir-fry since there's garlic in the marinade...then add 1 T chili garlic paste and garnish with a couple of thinly sliced scallions.
Then, there's always Sriracha.

[Breadcrumbs]

Your modifications sound great and seem to balance the desire to boost flavour w the desire to maintain the integrity of the dish. I like your idea of adding chili garlic paste. Looking forward to hearing about it later. Enjoy!

[greedygirl]

You guys are just addicted to chilli!

Instead of Sriracha, I really recommend the Chinese range of hot sauces with the grumpy looking grandma on the jar. I used some of what is merely called "hot sauce" on the label - it has broad beans as well as chilli and soybeans in it and is delicious.

[Breadcrumbs]

You're so right gg!! I travel w chili flakes in my purse! (no kidding). There's also a breakfast place we go to and they know me well because I bring my own hot sauce!

When I stayed in Chile the wait staff at the hotel restaurant referred to me as Señorita Caliente!!

[greedygirl]

Lol. I like chili too, but I also appreciate that some dishes are supposed to be subtle.

When I was last in Thailand, the ladies who ran the beach bungalows where we stayed were super-impressed with my chilli tolerance - for a Westerner! They kept increasing the amount of chilli in my som tam!

[JoanN]

Had the leftovers for lunch and the white pepper, even just a total of about 1/2 teaspoon, seemed much more pronounced to me. It would indeed have been described as "peppery." And I didn't add any kind of hot sauce or chiles to those leftovers. Not sure whether it was just my expectations that had changed, or whether sitting overnight accentuated the pepper. I'd be cautious about making too many adjustments before you taste it. Particularly in this instance, it's easy enough to make adjustments afterward.

[Gio]

Well, of course you're right about not making too drastic adaptations till the dish is tasted. Also, I have found that many dishes do indeed taste different the next day. So, taking into your suggestion and Greedygirl's recommendation into account I'll revise my additions and not include the chili sauce. However, I think I will increase the white pepper a tad and and marinate the meat longer than the recipe implies. I suspect the sriracha will make an appearance, though, since G has a diminished sense of smell which affects his taste buds...

[buttertart]

Shanghai food is not supposed to be spicy. My Chinese teacher in Taipei teased me about liking the spicy food (Sichuan and Hunan) best, saying my palate was too coarse to appreciate the subtle flavors of the milder cuisines (especially Jiangzhe - the food of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, where Suzhou, Shanghai, and Hangzhou are - and Guangdong - Cantonese). Having spent the better part of the following 30 years eating Jiangzhe food (due to husbandly preference) regularly I can definitely appreciate it, but am still a chili head! I really can't think of a single hot and spicy Shanghainese dish. Respectfully suggest the dishes should not be spiced up so you can taste the proper flavors.

[Gio]

Let me just say here, before I get my report together, that we did make the Shanghai pork and bean sprouts and the sweet and sour Napa cabbage without any additional tinkering and both dishes were wonderful. On the plate the food looked similar so in future I'll not use that combination again, but tastewise... Delicious. In the book's photograph of the pork dish the bean sprouts looked as if they were "tailed" and I thought of beetlebug who said her childhood chore was to de-tail the sprouts. Well, I didn't do that but they were sweet and succulent if not exactly picture perfect. The meat was tender and juicy. G went back for thirds so there's not a crumb left.

[Gio]

Walter Kei’s Shanghai-Style Pork and Bean Sprouts, Pg. 87

This turned out just fine. Don't know what I was worried about. I served it with Sweet and Sour Cabbage on pg. 146. JoanN has described the procedure so I'll simply tell what tweaking I did.

First I prepared the meat and marinade using boneless pork chops with a tiny bit of fat which I left on. I increased the garlic to 1 T, the soy and sesane oil to 1 t, included the 1 t salt.

While the meat was marinating I prepped and cooked the cabbage. That was just enough time for the meat to become flavored with the seasonings. The finished dish was delicious even though it didn't look like the photograph. It looked exactly like Joan's photo. But, no matter. There's none left.

[buttertart]

If you want to get really fancy you can top AND tail the bean sprouts. If you have a spare hour on your hands. They are very nice to eat this way but tedious to prepare.
I think that maybe some of the issues with the recipes may be from a skewing in preference toward spicier food and an attempt to impose that onto the recipes. Glad to hear that the untinkered-with recipes produced delicious food!

[smtucker]

In your honor, I started to tail the bean sprouts the other night, and stopped after about 4 minutes from sheer boredom! I am not a good Chinese girl, obviously. :-)

[buttertart]

Very fiddly. I only do it on state occasions.

[qianning]

it does seem that some of her simpler pork and chicken stir fries are a bit dull as written. Not sure why.

[qianning]

Uncle Lang's Pan-Fried Sea Bass pg. 162

Made per the directions, except I used Ocean Perch filets rather than Sea Bass.

Fish filets are marinated in a shaoxing, garlic, ginger scallion marinade, then pan fried quickly in a covered wok, fresh chilis are added, then a light stock/cornstarch sauce is made in the pan.

I have very mixed feelings about this recipe. On the one hand following the directions leads to perfectly cooked fish filets, but on the other hand the aromatics, especially the garlic, is completely under cooked.

I've re-read the recipe several times trying to figure out if the marinade for the fish should be scraped off before cooking, but since it doesn't say so, and since the marinade includes 3 TBS Minced garlic and some oil, I'm not sure how it could be done anyway. 3 TBS of undercooked garlic just overwhelmed the nice sweet fish filets. If I were to try this again, I would definitely use whole lightly crushed garlic cloves in the marinade, reserving them from the pan, and instead add fresh ginger slices and a garlic clove to the oil before adding the fish filets.

[Gio]

Uncle Lang's Pan-Fried Sea Bass, Pg. 162

This was the second of three dishes we made last night except we used fresh haddock. We followed the recipe exactly as written and as qianning describes above. The garlic did not seem undercooked to us but then I tend to belabor the mincing of garlic. I mean, Really tiny pieces. Sometimes I press garlic instead of mincing especially when using it raw, but not with this dish. For the fresh chili I used a whole chopped jalapeño. So.. I have to say we loved this, and it was delicious with the oyster lo mein. A great combination.

[qianning]

Gio, just curious, did you add all of the garlic from the marinade to the cooking pan? And, before or after the fish?

[Gio]

Good Morning, qianning,
When the fish was added to the wok everything that was in the bowl was included ...at the same time. I notice you mentioned "fish fillets" whereas I read the fish is to be cut crosswise into 1" pieces which is what I did.

[qianning]

Thanks for the info. "Fish filets" in the sense that the fish was off the bone, I then cut the filets as instructed, and for sure the fish cooked perfectly, however, the aromatics, especially the garlic, were undercooked to my taste, and there was a little too much of it for my taste (bearing in mind that I used perch, a very mild sweet fish, with bass it might have been more in proportion). Anyway, with a little tweaking, I could get this dish to taste the way I would want it to, and I do think the methodology for cooking the fish itself is excellent.

[qianning]

Went back and revisited this recipe, bearing in mind Gio's comments on "really tiny pieces" , and advice a good Chinese cook gave me years ago "fish needs ginger".

So grated a piece of ginger on a microplaner and added the grated ginger to the marinade in place of the original large slices of ginger, which definitely made it more soluable in the sauce, and since i didn't want a heavy garlic flavor, put a small clove of garlic whole but lightly pressed on the side of a knife in the marinade, and removed it before cooking, otherwise made as Young directs.

The results were just delightful. A quick easy & tasty way to cook fish for a Chinese meal.

[qianning]

Stir Fried Pork with Scallions pg. 81

Made per directions, except that I had pork loin rather than pork butt on hand, and so used that.

As others have commented this is a very simple stir fry, and the directions are clear and easy to execute. I was intrigued by the recipe because it does not call for : sweet bean past (tian mian jiang) , or oyster sauce, or vinegar, all of which are fairly common condiments in stir fries that pair pork slivers with onion/chive/scallion, but which can sometimes lead to a heavier flavor than I prefer. Anyway, this was an OK dish, but not one that I would make again soon. To my taste the proportion of meat to veg is too high (i.e more scallions less meat would be better), and the sauce a bit dull. I do think the reccommended butt would be a better cut to use, as the loin was too lean for the dish. I also think the dish would be much more interesting made with Chinese Chive or Yellow Chive or even onion slivers.

[MelMM]

Chicken with Garlic and Sugar Snaps - p 75

I was planning on making the cashew chicken from Sky's Edge, but changed my mind at the last minute and made this instead, as I had some extra snow peas to use up after making the shrimp recipe above. Once again, this one was done outdoors on the Big Kahuna, in the 16" iron wok.

In this recipe, pieces of chicken thigh meat are marinated, then minced garlic and the chicken go into the wok until half-cooked, then are transferred to a plate. Next the vegetables get cooked: the recipe calls for sugar snap peas, baby corn, bamboo shoots and carrots. I used snow peas instead of sugar snaps. Finally the chicken goes in and a sauce mixture of broth, soy sauce and salt is added.

This came out fine, but was a little bland for my taste. It also made a lot of food. I sometimes wish my 16" iron wok were just a bit larger, and this recipe really made me wish it. It was a bit more crowded than I like. How I wish I could find an 18" iron wok! The 22" steel wok that comes with the Big Kahuna is overkill, but a little more capacity would be nice for some dishes.

Probably won't make this again as written, just because it's pretty bland, and I have found other recipes in this book and the other one that I enjoyed more. I did like that there were enough vegetables in this dish to make it a meal when served with rice.

[The Dairy Queen]

Mel, are you using one of these? http://www.thefishinhole.com/index.cf...

WOW!

~TDQ

[MelMM]

Yup, that's it. I love the burner. But I am using it with a 16" iron wok instead of the 22" monster that came with it.

[The Dairy Queen]

That is so neat. Do you have outdoor stir-fry parties?

~TDQ

[MelMM]

Nope, not yet at least. Just cooking for me and Mr. MM, and the occasional guest. If I had enough people around, at least I could justify bringing out the 22" wok. Someday.

[kellycooks]

Eastman Outdoors does make an 18" wok: http://www.amazon.com/Eastman-Outdoor...

Once the three feet of snow disappears from my patio, I'm going to need one of those Big Kahunas. Thanks for the recommendation on it. Reading here is expensive. :-)

[MelMM]

Shrimp and Pine Nuts Shang Palace - p 114

I'd been making too much chicken out of these books, so I decided to find a shrimp recipe. This one intrigued me because of the inclusion of pine nuts. I used frozen grocery store shrimp, nothing spectacular, and cooked the stir fry outdoors in my cast iron wok on the Big Kahuna burner.

This recipe starts with giving the shrimp a brief swim in saltwater. Then drain and do it again. After that, the shrimp are dried off, and then marinated in egg white, cornstarch, sesame oil, salt and pepper.

A few slices of ginger are first added to the wok, then the shrimp are stir fried briefly then removed to a plate. Then snow peas, celery, and red bell pepper are added to the wok and stir fried. A sauce mixture of chicken broth, rice wine, sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch is added, and then the shrimp get added back to the wok. The finished dish is sprinkled with a little salt and the pine nuts, which have been toasted.

The headnotes states that at the Shang Palace restaurant, this is served in cups made of deep fried spring roll wrappers. But I just had it with rice. This was a delicate, but truly delicious stir fry. The saltwater swim definitely gave the shrimp a wonderful succulent texture. The sauce was subtle, but that turned out to be a good thing as it really let the flavor of the shrimp and vegetables shine. I also got to taste the benefits of my high-heat outdoor wok setup: the shrimp, while plump and juicy, had an almost smoky, grilled flavor, as did the veggies. To have that flavor coincide with the crisp-tender texture of the veggies and the juiciness of the shrimp was just exquisite. The pine nuts were an interesting touch, but not as prominent a flavor as I would have expected.

[The Dairy Queen]

Jean Yueh's Beef with Onions and Peppers, pg 94

As part of my new foodsaver experiment, I cut flank steak into matchsticks and sealed it, together with its marinade (soy sauce, sherry, black pepper, corn starch and oil), in a foodsaver bag, which I froze flat on a cookie sheet. This morning, I put it in the fridge to defrost. Cut onions, green and red bell pepper into matchsticks.

Heat wok, swirl in oil, stir fry beef. Remove beef. Stir fry onions, then add in pepper slivers and stir fry some more. Add back beef and swirl in a sauce of soy sauce, sugar (whoops! I forgot the sugar), sherry and corn starch. Stir it all together and serve.

I served it over soba noodles.

This was simple and surprisingly delicious. I have another batch of flank steak in the freezer, so we'll repeat this at least once more!

~TDQ

[Breadcrumbs]

Sounds scrumptious DQ, I'll add this to the list of dishes to try. Every time I see the food-savers at Costco I'm tempted. Just under $300 here though so the price seems steep to me. Glad to know you're putting it to good use though. I love slicing semi-thawed meat . . .. you can get it paper thin!

[The Dairy Queen]

She recommends that, actually, freezing the meat a little to make it easier to slice the beef.

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

Dang! I just realized I forgot to use my special julienning tool! I will have to remember to do that next time!

BC, I don't know, $300 sounds pretty steep to me, too. Mine was less than half that. You could probably do what I'm doing with just regular Ziplock freezer bags. True, you wouldn't get as tight a seal, but if your intention is just to prep and freeze over the weekend with the intention of using later that week or the next, you'd probably be fine. Just squeeze as much air out as you can.

~TDQ

[beetlebug]

Cousin Judy's Tofu with Black Bean Sauce (pg. 174)

Bland, bland, bland. I also had upped the amount of seasonings and it was bland. I think Young calls for too much liquid (1 cup of chicken broth) and it just dilutes the flavors. For the black beans, I smooshed the requisite 2 T of black beans in with minced garlic and ginger (more then called for) and added an additional 1 T of whole black beans. Instead of the ground turkey, I used ground pork, which initially I thought would be too much pork. But, the meat was really the only flavor.

What I should have done - added more salt to my tofu slices. Sauteed the ground pork with ground sichuan pepper and only used half the amount of chicken broth to go with my higher proportions of ginger, garlic and black beans.

I'm a tofu lover but have I said that this dish was bland?

[sarahcooks]

I made this before it was COTM and I don't remember thinking it was bland, but it was way way too salty for us. Isn't it funny how different things turn out following the same recipe? Maybe I didn't rinse my black beans well enough or something, but it was fairly flavorful. Unfortunately we didn't care for it. My husband especially disliked it - but he's not a fan of ground meat in asian food ::shrug:: It was just so soupy, and with the ground meat and the oil, it did not appeal to our admittedly western sensibilities. A shame, because I really wanted to branch out with a dish I knew wouldn't be familiar to us.

[Breadcrumbs]

Cousin Kathy’s Lion’s Head – p. 175

The notion of Chinese meatballs intrigued me and drew me to this dish. The book explains that this dish gets its name as Young’s cousin’s children think the meatballs resemble a lion’s head surrounded by a cabbage mane. Now, to speed the preparation time, I did make my meatballs much smaller than Young suggests but I can honestly say we didn’t see any Lion’s heads . . . not even squinting or after two glasses of wine!!

Dry shitake mushrooms are soaked ‘til soft then minced for use in the meatball mixture. ½ cup of the soaking liquid is reserved for later use in the sauce for this dish.

Meatballs are made by mixing ground pork with minced: water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and scallions along w cornstarch rice wine, soy, sugar salt (we skipped), pepper and, the minced shitake mushrooms. Young suggests that 4 meatballs be formed however, I made 8 to speed up the cooking time and, because I knew I wouldn’t want a ¼ lb meatball.

The sauce is made by mixing chicken broth, reserved mushroom liquid, rice wine, soy and sugar. This is set aside for later use along w a water/cornstarch mix.

First meatballs are browned on all sides in a hot wok then set aside. My mixture was fairly loose compared to my Italian meatballs however it did hold together w a little tlc in the wok. More oil is heated and sliced napa cabbage is added to the wok until it softens then the broth is added, boiled before adding the meatballs back in. Heat is reduced and meatballs simmer for 20 mins or until cooked through. Cabbage and meatballs are removed and cornstarch mixture is stirred in to remaining sauce that’s brought to a boil then the thickened mixture is poured over the meatballs and cabbage.

The meatballs were definitely flavourful and interesting in their varied textures. I particularly enjoyed the crunch that the water chestnuts provided. What I didn’t care for was the soggy, over-cooked cabbage. In my view the cabbage detracted from this dish and would have been far better if it was left out until plating. I think if the cabbage was shredded and heaped on a plate to be topped w the cooked meatballs and hot sauce, it would have been far better for our tastes. This would allow it to wilt slightly, w the warmth of the sauce being poured atop and, still retain its freshness and crunch.

I’m glad we tried this, it was good but I don’t think I’d make it again.

We served this w Hoisin Explosion Chicken from SFttSE. Here's the link to my thoughts and photos if you're interested:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[scoopG]

Uhmmmm....Lion's Head Meatballs are one of my favorites. The dish is much older than Young's cousin's children though! I've seen some versions that have a bit of tofu in them as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion%27s...

[Breadcrumbs]

Huh! Isn't that interesting!

Also interesting that the wiki photo shows the meatball in a soup. I couldn't help but feel that they'd be better suited to soup myself. Since we had leftovers I had that for lunch yesterday. Plain chicken broth w a little miso stirred in along w scallions and, a meatball. The soup was delicious. Fresh shredded napa cabbage would have been a great addition as well.

Thanks for sharing that link scoopG, very insightful.

[scoopG]

This prompted me to pop out and look at my local B&N. They had one copy of BoaW in stock but not "...Edge" Young says the lion's head meatballs are a favorite of Cathy's children - then goes on to explain the Chinese thinking behind the dish name etc...

[buttertart]

The best I ever had were almost as much water chestnut as they were pork and were served in a terrific consommé (gao tang, scoopG). This at a fantastic and innovative restaurant in Shanghai, Fu 1088. There are as many versions as there are cooks, pretty much.

[Breadcrumbs]

Sounds wonderful bt! I love these so much in the soup that I'm thinking I'll make them again. I just picked up some fresh water chestnuts in Chinatown so I'm keen to use them!

[buttertart]

Go for it! They are one of the best simmered Chinese dishes.

[chyakla]

I liked this dish--I do like well-cooked soft cabbage, so that was ok for me. I made lots of small meatballs, and they kind of fell apart by the end. We still liked the dish quite a bit. Not intensely spiced, but warms and rich and comforting.

[Breadcrumbs]

Kung Pao Chicken – p. 74

I’m surprised to be the first reviewing this recipe and I’m wondering if others saw something I didn’t here. We liked this dish but it wasn’t a knock-out.

Boneless, skinless chicken is marinated in a mixture of soy, rice wine, cornstarch and sugar. A sauce is made from chicken broth, vinegar, rice wine and soy sauce. Peanuts are roasted in the oven ‘til browned and, prep is all done.

Usual process of heating wok, swirl of oil then in this case, garlic, ginger and 2 dried red chilies (split down the centre) are heated ‘til fragrant. Seasoned meat is then added, allowed to sear for 1 minute then stir-fried until browned then removed and set aside while cubed red pepper sears and softens in wok. Chicken re-joins the wok along w the sauce then finally, the peanuts and some scallions.

Our main issue w this dish is for whatever reason, it just seemed to lack flavour and certainly, lacked the heat I’d expect from Kung Pao. I opened a fresh package of chilies from Penzey’s for this recipe so was reluctant to increase the quantity without knowing how much heat they’d yield, especially since they were split for the recipe. In hindsight, I’d have tripled the amount. The red bell peppers didn’t do anything for the dish either really, no heat for their sweetness to tame.

Dickson Hee’s Oyster Lo Mein – p. 124

I was looking for an alternative to rice tonight and since I had all ingredients on hand, thought I’d give this a try. This dish underwhelmed.

Noodles were cooked, drained, rinsed and mixed w a sauce of sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy and sugar. Oil is heated in your wok and garlic is stir-fried ‘til fragrant then noodles are tossed in. Scallions and the optional julienned were then tossed in before serving.

My noodles were fresh but even they couldn’t perk up the flavours of this dish. Just one note and, unfortunately that note was boring!! I wouldn’t recommend this dish (and that’s a first for me from these COTM’s).

We served these dishes w what turned out to be the star of tonight’s show, the Stir-Fried Lettuce w Garlic Chili - p. 195 SFSE. Review and photos here if you’re interested:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[LulusMom]

I think it is just as important to know what recipes don't work as it is to find out which ones do. So thanks for the reviews. Sorry it wasn't all you were hoping for though.

[Maggie19]

Do add Sichuan peppercorns to the Kung Pao and it all comes together - like it should.

[MelMM]

There is also a Kung Pao Chcken recipe in Sky's Edge, which I have made. It calls for 4-8 chiles, not split, but with the end snipped off. I use 8, and get a flavorful dish out of it. There are also some differences in the technique between the two recipes. I will report on this recipe in the thread for the other book.

[Gio]

Dickson Hee’s Oyster Lo Mein, Pg. 124

We made this last night as one part of a three dish BOAW dinner. Fresh lo mein noodles were cooked as Breadcrumbs describes above. I mixed the flavoring sauce before we cooked the noodles but, I increased the amounts of the soy sauce and sesame oil from 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon and the sugar from 1/4 t to 1/2 t; I used 3 T oyster sauce as called for. Also, I used toasted sesame oil instead of light. After a hefty tablespoon of garlic browned the noodles were tossed into the wok and stir fried for 3 minutes then removed from the heat. Shredded scallions and stripped carrots are tossed with the noodles.

We liked this dish. There was plenty of flavor from the oyster sauce and other seasonings. The other dishes were Uncle Lang's Pan-Fried Sea Bass pg. 162 and a riff on Susanna Foo's Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, pg. 149. All together a delectable evening meal..

[Maggie19]

Have used many, many, recipes from Grace's book. Uncle Kens BBQ spareribs-- a real hit with my friends.... Saturday, made fish in black bean sauce (used cod sliced into strips about 3/8ths ins wide and about 1 1/2 in long) .... along with red pepper, green onion, ginger, and 4 dried Thai peppers. Used (for the 1st time) Lee Kum Kee black bean garlic sauce . Served with white rice, it was really outstanding. As with any fish, be careful not to stir fry for more that about 2 minutes, then plate. Do veggies next until just about done, return to wok sliced fish for 1 minute, drizzle with sesame oil and serve.

[JoanN]

I'm not seeing a recipe in either book for Uncle Ken's BBQ spareribs. Did it perhaps come from somewhere else? Sounds like something I'd like to try.

[Maggie19]

I'm going by memory - don't have my book in front of me - Maybe I got the Uncle part wrong. It's the recipe that calls for first marinating the sliced ribs, searing the ribs, then adding balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and few other goodies, and braising for a few hours. Simple yet excellent. When I get home, I'll list the page # and the correct name....!

[JoanN]

Ah, yes. Walter Kei's Sweet and Sour Spareribs. I've made those and they're wonderful. In fact, just bought a bunch of spareribs to make again to serve to a bunch of friends who will be stopping by for drinks. Another definite keeper from these books.

ETA: My bad. Very (very!) similar recipe in Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty and that was the one I made recently. Now I'm conflicted. Do I make the Dunlop recipe again for friends or try the Young?

[Maggie19]

That's the one! At least I got the 'K' correct... Sometimes I'll use Chinese black vinegar instead of balsamic - for a taste twist.

[oakjoan]

Maggie19: I bought a bottle of black vinegar for the Dunlop COTMs and used it in her lamb polo dish. Thanks for reminding me of it. Since I have it I might as well use it.

Thanks for the tip about subbing it for balsamic, too.

[The Dairy Queen]

Funnily enough, I've always assumed balsamic is what Chinese home cooks substitute for black vinegar when they can't get it (and sherry when they can't get Shao Xing wine). So, I figure you're just "undoing" a substitution when you use black vinegar or Shao Xing wine instead of balsamic or sherry, respectively.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Black vinegar is sharper in taste than ordinary balsamic (have never lashed out on the good stuff) and I like it a whole lot better.

[LulusMom]

I like it a whole lot better too.

[buttertart]

To JoanN and any other NYers looking for unadulterated Shaoxing wine - the liquor store I mentioned on Walker is closer to Lafayette than Center (was by there yesterday). Big selection of Chinese liquors in the window (the scary stuff, like baijiu), I'm sure they'd have the wine.

[JoanN]

Great. Thanks. Making notes. Don't think I'll get down there this week. Maybe next. This will be at the top of my list.

[scoopG]

They do - two versions. Regular and an aged ten-year Pagoda brand version. They did offer this aged version (17 oz./500 ml) in a hand-painted porcelain jar and packed in a light wooden box. Comes with a little punch too at 15% alcohol!

[JoanN]

If I just ask for Shao Hsing wine for cooking will they know what I'm talking about?

[scoopG]

Just ask for Shao Hsing and the clerk should show you what he has.

This Shao Hsing sold in the NYC liquor stores is potable! So you can drink it or cook with it. (A popular drink in Taiwan is a glass of Shao Hsing with several dried, sour plums dropped in.)

The salty stuff sold at Kam Man is ONLY for cooking and of inferior quality.

[buttertart]

Suan mei...must get a bottle of the syrup for winter late-night hot drinks. It continues to amaze me that I didn't think about the Japanese factor in Taiwanese cuisine at the time (after all, it was only 35 years since the Japanese were kicked out that we were there). It apparently didn't register with the younger generation either, since my 20-something English student from Hsinchu tried to convince me that sushi was a Taiwanese invention.

[qianning]

You made my evening, what a laugh! Wasn't sushi "discovered" in Taichung county, that's sure where I found it!

[buttertart]

Nope, further north, it would seem!

[qianning]

you are right on all counts!

[BigSal]

Stir-Fried Pork with Scallions p. 81

Marinate pork butt in Shao Hsing, soy sauce, sesame oil, corn starch and white pepper. Cook 3 slices ginger and pork 1 minute to sear, stir-fry 1 minute and then add scallions (I used garlic chives aka nira in Japanese),salt and sugar and cook until pork is cooked through. This was extremely simple to make and the flavors were very nice. The pork had a subtle sweetness and touch of ginger and soy. We liked this enough to make again.

[Gio]

I'd like to make the Stir Fried Pork with Scallions but the book hasn't arrived yet. I found the following recipe on line but the amt of scallions is only six. I can see that the recipe was "adapted" but will someone tell me if the recipe amounts were simply decreased?
Or... should I just wait for the book. TIA.

[Breadcrumbs]

Gio its 6 scallions, halved lengthwise and cut into 2" pieces. They're added along w the salt and sugar (1/2 tsp ea) after the pork has browned and been stir-fried for 1 min

[Gio]

OK... many thanks BC...! And what an idiot I am... I forgot the link:
http://www.seasonednoob.com/stir-frie...

[Breadcrumbs]

No problem, I have the book in my briefcase today as I'm hoping to make it to Chinatown one day this week! Looking at your link:

no use of fish sauce in BoaW
Soy sauce type is not specified in BoaW (vs light in your link)
1 tbsp of vegetable oil has been omitted from link's ingredients list but is referenced in instructions.
BoaW calls for 3 slices of ginger (not "thin" slices)

In directions, essentially the same but Young calls for her usual method of letting meat sit undisturbed (to sear) before you stir-fry it.

Otherwise, looks like you're good to go!

[Gio]

A million thanks Breadcrumbs. I plan to make it tomorrow night with your notes..

[BigSal]

Sorry so late to respond. Here's recipe from BOAW. I hope you enjoy it!
http://tinyurl.com/4nty33y

[Gio]

Stir-Fried Pork with Scallions, On-line recipe as noted above.

Followed both the online recipe and Breadcrumbs advice and we absolutely Loved this dish. I did feel I wanted more sauce but as is - it was delicious. If the book ever arrives I'll make it again so I know what the heck I'm doing. Served with plain steamed green beans, and steamed jasmine rice. Very Very nice.

Thanks to Sally also.

[qianning]

Smoked Striped Bass (pg. 157)

Cooked per the instructions, except that I used a sea bream rather than a striped bass, and I used a paella pan not a wok.

A 1 1/2 lb whole fish is first steamed and then air dried for a short time then quickly smoked in a tea leaf and rice mixture.

The directions were excellent, except, does anyone know what tea is prefered for tea smoked flavors? I used pu-erh, and the resulting taste is lovely, but i wonder if the variety of tea leaf makes a big difference? Anyway, since pu-erh is a strong flavor, I used a scant not a full 1/4 c of tea.

This recipe intrigued me because it doesn't require using the oven for tea smoking and the sauce isn't sweetened. It was a good choice, the fish is succulent, nicely balanced in flavors, and just plain yummy. We ate some of it last night warm, but didn't finish the entire fish, so I'll report back later on how it tastes cold/room temperature. I used a sea bream, but I am sure it would work with a small striped bass or a similarly sized yellow croaker. Mr. QN liked it enough to take a picture:

[The Dairy Queen]

Neat! Just curious: why a paella pan instead of a wok?

~TDQ

[qianning]

Several reasons:

1) My wok has a round not a flat bottom.
2) My paella pan is flat bottomed and much wider than my wok.
3) I have a matching cover for the paella pan, but not for the wok.
4) I use the paella pan pretty much exclusively for seafood paella, steaming fish, sauteeing shellfish, so wasn't worried about "fishy" flavors penetrating the patina.

[The Dairy Queen]

Ah, very helpful, thank you. I'd be curious to hear if anyone has input re: different flavors of tea.

~TDQ

[scoopG]

Chinese tea? It gets very complicated quickly!

I’d say though most any tea will do!

China produces at least 140+ different teas. Most common are Pu Er, Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong and Jasmine.

Pu Er, named for the town in Yunnan where it originated, is unique because it goes through a double fermentation process. It is known for an earthy flavor.

Green Tea is probably the most common with a wide range of styles and prices. Black teas (called red tea by experts!) are what is most often served in Chinese restaurants in the USA (China Black Flowery Orange Pekoe.) Some Oolong tea leaves are cured in bamboo baskets over a charcoal fire and Jasmine teas are scented with the blossoms.

[scoopG]

That fish looks marvelous, qianning. As a moocher here - that Bagel+Bacon+Cabbage dish is luring me to spend some dough - how does Young have you "smoke" the dish exactly?

In Chinese restaurants there is usually one wok dedicated to smoking foods only. A very simple smoking technique is to add sugar to the bottom of a hot wok, place the food on top (on a wire rack) and then cover!

[qianning]

She has you line the interior of the wok and the interior of the cover with tin foil. You then make a tea leaf, sugar, hua jiao and rice dry mix and place it on the bottom of the pan, put the rack with the fish in the pan, bring the heat up to high, when a wisp of smoke appears, cover the wok, leave on high 2-4 minutes, turn off heat, rest for another 2-4 minutes.

I did it that way in the paella pan, and when all was said and done there was a little bit of browning on the edges of the pan itself, but not much. I would be worried about using a well seasoned wok to smoke foods on a regular basis as I'm sure at some point the smoking would flavor the wok. But once in a while, probably not a problem. That said since i wash the paella pan with soap (honestly I put in the dishwasher), and as it is pretty much a dedicated fish/seafood pan, I wasn't concerned about any possible "fishy" or "smoky" smells, so I would probably have chosen to use the paellla pan even if my wok had the right kind of lid.

[scoopG]

Thanks! I think there is a greater risk of the wok warping, then of catching any of the fish or smoke odors!

[qianning]

good point. i did exactly that to a wok many years ago in taiwan...i was using it as a dry oven to bake in....

[The Dairy Queen]

Danny Chan's Steamed Salmon with Lemon page 202

Quick and Easy -- a pound of salmon over which you pour soy sauce, salt, white pepper, scallion lengths, sliced ginger--and over which you then layer sliced lemon and steam for 8-10 minutes, then drizzle with sesame oil. I did this in a deep skillet so as not to ruin the patina of my wok. I asked my husband to swing by the market for a lemon on the way home, but that didn't work out, so, I just used lemon juice, but I had to wing it on proportions. I was surprised how salty the sauce was, so, I probably didn't use enough lemon. Also, I wasn't sure whether my salmon was supposed to have skin or not--it did, probably it shouldn't have.

I will definitely try this again. With lemon.

Served it over brown rice and with Hakka-Style Stir-Fried Shrimp and Vegetables from SFTTSE.

~TDQ

[sarahcooks]

Danny Chan's Steamed Salmon with Lemon

I finally managed to pick up a bamboo steamer and this was my first try at steaming in it. Very nice - I thought it was a bit on the bland side, but my husband really liked it. Also, I'd run out of sesame oil (horrors, I use it all the time) so there was a big missing flavor in my version. It was a bit overdone by 8 minutes, I should have kept a better eye on it. Still, not afraid of steaming fish anymore, though I do need to find something other than my wok to do it in because my seasoning did suffer a bit. Wish I had taken pictures of it ready to go in the steamer, it was so interesting seeing the fish covered with all the lemon and ginger and onions!

[qianning]

So I decided to get over my quasi-irrational disregard for American influenced Chinese food and see if there weren't at least a few dishes in BOTW that appealed. And indeed a close reading coughed up about a dozen dishes from this book that look interesting, two of which we had for dinner last night.

Ray Lee's Chicken and Choy Sum (pg. 76)
Cooked per the instructions excpet that I used thigh meat rather than breast.

Chicken pieces marinated in a soy egg white and shao xing marinade, then stir fried and sauced with a baby bok choy (choy sum) oyster sauce.

While Mr. QN thought this dish was just fine, I wasn't too taken with it. For one thing I found the choy sum a bit over cooked, a 30 second blanch, Young directs a full minute, would have been plenty. Also I found a full 1 minute undisturbed coooking of the chicken after adding it to the wok too long, 20-30 seconds would have been more than enough. Although white meat chicken is generally a dirty word in our house, I think that in some ways the stiff drier texture of breast meat might actually suit the dish better. Anyway, it was OK, but not a dish I'd make again soon.

Florence Lin's Tofu with Cilantro Relish (page 161)

Cooked per the directions, except I used sesame oil in the relish (not canola) and pan fried the doufu in peanut oil in a cast iron skillet.

Firm doufu pan fried in a little oil, then sauced in the pan with a soy ginger combination, plated and topped with a simple cilantro relish.

This was a real winner. It is a dish that really encompasses the best in home-style Chinese food, simple ingredients that offer contrasting flavors, textures and color. It was easy to prepare and the directions were flawless. I usually press, rather than salt, doufu before frying, but I followed the salting directions and was pleasantly surpried by the results, the doufu retained a creamy texture and results were not over salted even with the soy based suace. This one is a keeper, and will definitely go into the repetoire/standard rotation.

[The Dairy Queen]

Glad you decided to jump in, and how terrific that you found a winner!

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Could I be a moocher and ask amounts of ingredients in the doufu dish? That does sound good.

[JoanN]

Link here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=QDCf...

[buttertart]

Excellent, thanks very much. Wish Google Books worked with more books, tried to find a Malgieri recipe from "Chocolate" and was thwarted.

[chyakla]

I liked the tofu with cilantro very much also. It was too salty for my tastes (though perhaps ok considered as a relish), so next time I would salt the tofu less. Really nice, though.

[qianning]

I like it the best of any of these recipes so far. Have made it twice this month. I use Kosher salt, so that may have made a difference in the saltiness, also I use a Kim Lan Yi Ren Soy as my standard Chinese light soy sauce, which is less salty than many other soy sauces.

[chyakla]

I bet kosher salt does make a difference! I did like it that the tofu ended up with some saltiness/flavor from the salting; I would just use less next time (or maybe I will switch to kosher). I use a lower sodium soy sauce, too--I think San-J is the brand. I may be a bit sensitive to saltiness since we don't use a lot of it in our cooking.

I do think it's a really nice dish though, and I plan to make it again. I was really glad you posted about it because I don't know if it would have caught my eye otherwise. I also meant to try your sesame oil substitution, but I think I forgot!

[qianning]

Finding the right happy medium on saltiness for Chinese food to suit individual taste does take some experimentation . Probably the most frequent marginalia in my Chinese cookbooks is "too salty"!

Anyway, if you like sesame oil, do try it in the relish, it adds an extra dimension.

[chyakla]

I tried this again tonight. This time I used firm silken tofu, 2 boxes (about 24 oz total) and increased the other ingredients accordingly. Except the salt! I used 1/2 tsp salt total in the dish and it still tasted salty to me (but I would say in a good way this time). I used the sesame oil this time and liked that also. I should admit that my procedure was all wrong, though--I made this in a non-stick skillet. I'm sure this is a sacrilege of sorts, but I like sauteeing tofu this way. It is easy (though takes a while) to get a nice golden crust on the tofu without using very much oil. I really liked the contrast of the silken texture and the lightly chewy crust on this. And the cilantro & seasoning of course are still great.

[qianning]

are you adding salt to the cilantro relish? i don't have the recipe in front of me, but i know that as a matter of course i probably wouldn't add much if any salt to a fresh herb, and probably through habit didn't when i've made it. also sodium content in soy, even low-sodium, varies a lot.

[beetlebug]

Florence Lin's Tofu with Cilantro Relish (pg. 161)

Really liked this dish. It's a combo between a similar recipe from the green Gourmet cookbook and the tofu with shallots from the Flexitarian cookbook. Not much to add to the other reports other than I also added sesame oil to the cilantro relish. I didn't find that the browning of the tofu added all that much to the dish. I wonder, instead of the browning and basting, if one could lay the tofu pieces in a skillet, add the broth, heat to boil and then put it in the broiler for a few minutes. Then add the relish add the end. This is the technique from the Flex recipe. I may have to give it a try.

[qianning]

Your suggested method might well work, and may well be more to your taste, but it definitely would change the typical chinese home dish character ot the recipe. For me personally the glory of the dish as written, is that it really tasted like home cooked chinese food.

[BigSal]

Florence Lin's Tofu with Cilantro Relish p. 161

I finally got around to making this and I'm so glad I did! This hit the spot! I loved the freshness of the cilantro relish paired with the soy/ginger seasoned tofu.

Like qianning, I usually press my tofu, but the salting technique worked well. Thanks to qianning for suggesting the use of sesame oil in the relish. It adds quite a bit - I don't think it would be as good with a neutral oil.

[qianning]

So glad you liked this. This dish has stayed a total regular around here. It's my quickest answer to "There's tofu in the fridge that needs to be cooked, what am I going to do with it?"

[Breadcrumbs]

Liang Nian Xiu’s Snow Peas, Tomatoes, and Chilies – p. 132

I really liked the sound of this recipe when I first read through the ingredients and I was determined to make it despite the fact that Mr bc inadvertently picked up Sugar Snap Peas and totally forgot the pork belly. No worries, I had a little ground pork in the freezer so we plodded along regardless!

This is really, really quick and easy. The de-stringing of the peas is definitely the most time consuming step! Oil is added to a hot wok then pork, ginger, garlic, Thai bird chilies (doubled in our case) and salt (omitted) are stir-fried for 1 minute before the Snow Peas (or, in our case, SS Peas) are added and tossed around for a minute as well. Then some chopped tomato, sugar and salt are added and stir-fried together until your peas are tender. Ta-da, dinner is served!

I loved this, the SS peas were hot and crunchy and my Thai chilies added the perfect heat. The ground pork ended up working really well w the sugar and tomatoes. We really enjoyed this one and will definitely have it again.

I served this w Sichuan Pork w Peppers and Peanuts from SFttSE, my photos are posted on that COTM thread here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[Breadcrumbs]

Spicy Garlic Eggplant – p. 144

Originally I hadn’t intended to make this dish but when I saw Chinese eggplant during my trip to the market today, I couldn’t resist them and once home, I found this recipe. Hands down this is our new favorite way to prepare eggplant. Even Mr bc, who isn’t a fan of eggplant, said he really like this dish . . . in fact, he had no idea it was eggplant.

Eggplant is cut into matchsticks and steamed. A sauce of soy, vinegar, rice wine, sugar, salt (which I didn’t use) and chili flakes is stirred together and set aside. Oil is heated then garlic and ginger hit the pan and are stirred ‘til fragrant, at which time the steamed eggplant is added. It got a little sear in my ultra-hot pan and this was one of the things we really loved about it. 20 seconds later, the sauce is tossed in, then scallions and a drizzle of yummy sesame oil and you’re done. Wow. If you like eggplant . . . and even if you don’t, please give this a try, it really is yummy.

Served this w Minced Pork in Lettuce Cups and Chinese American Shrimp w Lobster Sauce from SFttSE.

Here’s the link to my photos and reviews of those recipes if you’re interested:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[Breadcrumbs]

oops, forgot the photos

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, those photos are very persuasive!

~TDQ

[smtucker]

Oh so good to hear. I have this recipe marked for the eggplant that I bought today.

[chyakla]

I'm SURE this would be even better if I had a wok, but even without one it was really good. I like any recipe that calls for 1/4 cup of ginger and 1/4 cup of garlic!

[smtucker]

Spicy Garlic Eggplant, page 144

This was an easy to make dish, and even Mr. I Don't Like Eggplant ate two helpings. [He puts this right up there with the Ottolenghi eggplant recipes which he also eats with pleasure.] Absolutely added to the favorites list.

Loved having the spicy component as ginger. Makes pairing this with other dishes easy. Served with Yan's Spicy Green Beans and Dunlop's Land of Plenty Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs.

[smtucker]

Stir-Fried Bok Choy, page 138

Served with Stir-Fried Pork and Chilies CCTI, page 90 and Stir-Fried Cilantro chili noodles with egg, page 266 SFtoSE. I have reported those dishes in their own threads.

This was a basic stir fry; the type of recipe you pull out because other items on the menu are complicated and you just want some green on the table.

[smtucker]

Stir-Fried Pork and Chilies CCTI, page 90

Served with Stir-Fried Bok Choy, page 138, and Stir-Fried Cilantro chili noodles with egg, page 266 SFtoSE. I have reported those dishes in their own threads.

Let me start with saying, this is FABULOUS! I started my day at the Asian market and purchased a ton of greenery, thai peppers, lotus root and a piece of pork butt cut into a flat slab.

You start by hydrating the cloud ears [which might be wood ears, who knows?] and they are like those kiddie bath toys. They went from being tiny shriveled black blobs into huge ear-looking fungus. Cut the meat into 2"x1/4"x1/4" matchsticks and marinate in cornstach rice wine, soy sauce and salt. In a separate bowl, mix chicken stock, Chinkiang vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch and salt. [I omitted the sesame oil.]

Thinly slice ginger and garlic, and have some chili bean sauce ready.

The cooking process begins as they all do. Heat the wok, swirl in the oil, and add the ginger/garlic and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Add the pork in a single layer, let sear for about 20 seconds, add the bean chili paste and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the babnoo shoots and cloud ears. Then stir in the cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil and don't let the mixture stop moving. Cook until the pork is cooked and the sauce is thickened slightly.

I have started using "Superior Dark Soy Sauce" instead of Kikkomen, and I like it much better. Far less salty, and less brash.

This will be made again, often and next time I will definately serve with rice instead of noodles. It was so satifisfying. I have no doubt that this would work equally well with chicken, not so sure about lamb or beef though.

[smtucker]

I can't believe no one else has tried this dish. Made it a second time at the INSISTENCE of my primary eater. And loved it just as much this time.

[Breadcrumbs]

It's on my list for next week smtucker, sounds wonderful. I need to get to my butcher for decent pork though as I refuse to buy the stuff at the supermarket here . . . . most fresh pork in our grocery stores is salted as a preservative. Can't wait to try it though.

[BigSal]

I have everything ready to go for Friday. I can't wait!

[smtucker]

Small caution. Husband LOVES the cloud ears, and ate a huge number of them last night with gusto. This morning I was told that he had extremely vivid dreams, sort of like the 60's, and his stomach was unsettled. I had warned him but since there was no effect the first time he ate them, he thought he was immune. HA!

[blue room]

Hmm.. looked up these fungi and read that the cloud ears are almost tasteless like tofu, but soak up surrounding flavors.. and then read that the wood ears lack the delicate flavor of cloud ears. No mention of the '60s !

[smtucker]

Oh, they absolutely have a flavor.... a flavor that I really love. Odd that your research said something different, isn't it?

[blue room]

This is what I saw:
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/...

I'm crazy for mushrooms, but pretty limited in what I've tasted so far--
won't hesitate to try them and see for myself.

[smtucker]

I find about.com to fairly mediocre.... In fact they contradict themselves in paragraph 4: "Although the two are often confused, wood ears are actually a distant relative of the cloud ear fungus. Larger and somewhat tougher, they lack the delicate taste of cloud ears."

If they have "no flavor", how can they have the "delicate taste?"

[buttertart]

I was fortunate to be given fresh, just picked cloud ears (and huge, gorgeous oyster mushrooms, yum yum +++) from the Taiwan National University agricultural research station, and they have a very mild taste but the most wonderful velvety surface texture. They really are a texture food rather than a taste food, their unique bite is valued in the cuisine.

[The Dairy Queen]

Interesting point, buttertart, about the importance in Chinese cuisine of "texture" foods vs. taste foods. I linked to a Ming Tsai interview that was on CNN earlier this week and he stressed the importance of texture foods, too. That was the first time that concept had sunk in for me about texture, even though we've done Chinese cuisine before on COTM.

I personally love all kinds of mushrooms for their earthy flavor, and also the way they sometimes act as sponges.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

I have read they have an effect on blood pressure (lowering it).
Mu er (wood ear) and yun er (cloud ear) are the same thing, as far as I've ever known - variation in name only.

[beetlebug]

Stir Fried Pork and Chilies (pg. 90)

I liked this very much but C loved it. He couldn't stop eating it. What I liked best was the textural differences between the bamboo shoots, the pork and cloud mushrooms. Not much to add other then I upped the amount of chili bean paste to 2T (2 t more then called for).

[BigSal]

I finally got around to making this and I am so glad I did! I really enjoyed the heat from the chili bean paste, the aroma of the sesame oil and the textural element the mushrooms brought to the dish (the bamboo shoots should have added more texture, but they were soft. I just purchased some frozen winter shoots, will see if they are any better). We ate this with jasmine rice which was great with the sauce. Thanks for pointing this one out smtucker.

[Breadcrumbs]

Stir-Fried Pork and Chilies CCTI – p. 90

We enjoyed this dish. smtucker did a wonderful job explaining how this all comes together so I won’t repeat here.

As always I omitted the salt because the recipe calls for soy sauce. If I were to make this dish again, I’d likely reduce the soy as we still found the saltiness of this to be a bit pervasive. I use Kikkoman soy and, a my chicken stock was salt-free. I also want to check the ingredients on the Lee Kum Kee Chili Bean Sauce as I wonder if that may be the culprit as I did increase the quantity of this ingredient as we prefer our dishes quite spicy.

This is the first dish I’ve made from the COTM’s that included the cloud ear mushrooms and we especially enjoyed the texture they added to this dish. They worked very well w the bamboo shoots.

When I first stirred the broth mixture into the wok I worried this dish was going to be a bit soupy but the sauce quickly thickens and clings nicely to the pork and vegetables.

We served this with Henry Hugh’s Lotus Root w Sugar Snaps which I’ll review below and, the Chinese Indian Chicken Manchurian from p. 142 of SFSE.

Henry Hugh’s Lotus Root w Sugar Snaps – p. 139

A nice blend of crispy, fresh, crunchy veggies dressed in a very mild sauce. The subtle sweetness that the Lotus Root adds to this dish is what really elevates it.

I was very excited to find beautiful lotus roots carefully packed in straw on my visit to Chinatown. I’ve enjoyed them when dining in restaurants but have never worked w them myself.

The Chinatown grocer was very helpful in instructing me to select an unblemished root with a creamy-pink hue. She also was quick to instruct me not to break root segments apart (for those not familiar, the lotus root looks a bit like a string of sausages!) Fortunately there was a good size piece already broken away from its mates and I was good to go! As instructed, I stored the root in the fridge until I needed it. To prepare, you simply treat it as you would a potato. Give it a good clean, trim, peel and slice. In this case Young instructs you to halve the root lengthways then cut into ¼” half-moon shaped slices. I elected to slice mine much thinner since I intended to skip the “blanching” step Young suggests in the book . . . more about that later.

To start, dry wood ear mushrooms are soaked for 30 minutes to soften then they’re drained. In my case, I actually squeezed them until they were fairly dry as I’ve worked w the in the past and much prefer them if they are not carrying too much water. This way they have capacity to absorb some of the sauce, and its flavours. I actually did this step in the morning to save time at night then I wrapped the mushrooms in a damp paper towel and placed that in a ziplock in the fridge. Tonight I just had to shred them.

This dish also calls for thinly sliced garlic, scallions, carrots, celery and, of course, Sugar Snap Peas. Young suggests that you begin your cooking process by blanching these vegetables in advance in a pan of boiling water. Well, as I’ve mentioned in the WFD thread, my Bosch dishwasher is on the fritz and I’m trying to avoid dirtying dishes at all costs so, I cut my veggies thinner and decided just to stir-fry them. I left the peas whole as we like them crunchy anyway.

A sauce is made by combining chicken broth, rice wine, oyster sauce, salt (which I omitted) and pepper.

Now you’re ready to go and, this dish comes together very quickly. Oil is heated and swirled then garlic and scallions are stir-fried for 5 seconds before adding your veggies. Once they’re almost done to your taste, the sauce is swirled in to heat through (approx 1 minute).

This dish is very basic but we appreciated its freshness and subtle flavours, a perfect accompaniment to two our two other spicy dishes.

Here’s a link to the Chinese Indian Chicken Manchurian from p. 142 of SFSE if you’d like to see my thoughts on that and photos:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[Breadcrumbs]

Oh, I forgot something! Why was I told not to break the lotus roots apart? Evidently it's bad luck. Either that or she was just a really smart grocer who'd devised a great way to sell more lotus roots!!

[smtucker]

I have been using "Premium Dark Soy Sauce" instead of the Kikkoman since about the third dish this month. I found the Kikkoman to be too salty, and brash. And yet, I have used this brand for years happily. Learning how to use all these bottles of elixirs in ways that please me has been quite the journey. Four years ago, I would not have been able to detect the differences between different soys or vinegars as clearly.

I find this all very exciting!

[graceyoung]

smtucker: Are you using the Kikkoman Organic soy sauce? I think the flavor is really clean and fresh and there are no additives. This product was not available when Breath was written but in the last 2 years I discovered it and have been loving it. It's a little hard to find sometimes. Whole Foods has it and many of the supermarkets in NYC's Chinatown carry it. I don't know where you are based.

[BigSal]

Virginia Yee’s Dry-Fried Sichuan String Beans p. 160

IStir-fry half of beans until they start to wrinkle. Transfer to plate and do the same with the remaining beans. I used long beans and ended up cutting them in half as they were a bit unwieldy in the wok. Next, stir-fry ginger and pork until no longer pink, add mixture of chicken broth, sugar and salt, then bring to boil, add beans and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Finish by adding, Chinkiang, sesame oil and chopped scallion.

This was my first go at making dry-fried green beans. We really liked this. I made this in advance (per the instructions) and the two of us kept sneaking bites as we walked by the table. This version definitely has a sweet taste to it (maybe too much for some), but the Chinkiang helps to balance it. I thought adding garlic and hot chiles might be an interesting addition to this too. I also noticed Dunlop’s version (which I have not made yet) calls for preserved vegetables, but no sugar, broth, or Chinkiang. I’ll have to try it to compare. Either way, any dish that has my husband eating his vegetables is a keeper.

Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with Water Chestnuts p. 135

Stir-fry sliced ginger to fragrant (my mise was a little disorganized and I accidentally used minced ginger), add sugar snap peas and sliced water chestnuts for 1 minute. Add mixture of Shao Hsing, salt, sugar, white pepper and water and cook until tender. Finish with sesame oil.
This was an ok dish. Nothing terribly good or bad about it, but am so glad I tried it because I have never tried a fresh water chestnut before. It is a little tedious to peel them (definitely not something for the work week), but the crunch was delightful and I was surprised by how sweet they were. Definitely a different animal from the canned water chestnuts I am used to.

Ginger and Scallion Oysters Lichee Garden p. 160

Boil shucked oysters 30 seconds and dry on a rack. Stir-fry thinly sliced and smashed ginger, add white part of scallions, then cook oysters (dusted in potato starch or cornstarch) a minute per side. Add rice wine and broth mixture and cook for 15 seconds, add green part of scallions and stir in mixture of oyster sauce, soy, sugar, sesame oil, potato starch and white pepper. Cook until sauce has thickened.

Simple to execute and a great way for me to get my pan-fried oyster fix with only 1 T of oil for the whole recipe. Flavors are good, a little on the sweet side. The sauce is nice with rice.

[The Dairy Queen]

Did you do all of these for one meal? Brava! How did you keep the dishes warm while you were preparing the others?

Also, where did you get the fresh water chestnuts, if I might ask?

~TDQ

[BigSal]

Yes, all for one meal. I'm trying to make the most of the time I have over the weekend to wok. I am really starting to see the patina develop. The dry-fried beans seemed to be a really good one to help develop it. I'm still a long way from JoanN and GG's patina, but I see improvement already. Wiping instead of cleaning between dishes was also a very helpful tip that helps the food come out faster. I also used Gio's suggestion of keeping the dishes warm in the oven under tented foil.

I got the water chestnuts from Shuang Hur. I just happed to see them by the long beans. I do not know how to pick out water chestnuts, but I purchased 14 and only 1 was rotten. I got lucky. The rest of the peeled ones are in water awaiting the next recipe.

[The Dairy Queen]

Excellent, thank you. Very impressive!

~TDQ

[JoanN]

Having a d'oh moment here. Not sure I ever thought about water chestnuts existing outside of cans. I never cared for them; thought they were added to recipes only for the texture. Perhaps it's time to rethink water chestnuts? I'll keep an eye out--now that I know to look someplace other than in the canned goods aisle. Looking forward to hearing what you do with the rest.

[BigSal]

These may not change your opinion of water chestnuts. I have always liked them- even the bland, canned ones. Love the crunchy texture. These were crunchier and noticeably sweet, but a pain to peel. Now, what to make.

[walker]

I always put them in my holiday stuffing. Yes, they are a big pain to peel...I think you need to pick out really firm ones. I have a ground chicken Asian patty recipe that calls for canned and I much prefer this with fresh when I can get them.

[Rubee]

In one recipe, she specifically mentions "If fresh water chestnuts are not available, substitute jicama or an Asian pear....canned water chestnuts are mealy and starchy and are not a good substitute".

[JoanN]

Ah-ha! Didn't see that. Feeling better about never having liked them, and really good to know about the jicama substitute. Never thought about it. Great idea. Thanks for pointing that out.

[buttertart]

If you have to buy them canned, the Wei-Chuan brand of whole ones is about the best.

[JoanN]

Managed to just avoid them so far. But now that I know they're available fresh, I'm eager to revisit them. Will keep your tip in mind, though. Thanks.

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, jicama is a good idea! Why didn't I ever think of that?!

~TDQ

[AGM_Cape_Cod]

I tried the Sugar Snap Peas with Water Chestnuts tonight. It was a subtler dish than we usually have since I am one for bold flavors. There is no point to making this without the fresh water chestnuts. I love fresh water chestnuts and put them in salad. Yes they are a pain to peel but they have a sweet nutty flavor which explains the name.

BTW when you buy fresh water chestnuts look for ones that are firm and have no soft spots. They should feel like a regular chestnut. I got mine at the C-Mart near South Station.

[smtucker]

Virginia Yee’s Dry-Fried Sichuan String Beans p. 160

I made these tonight to accompany the Ginghas Khan beef. I used haricot vert, but didn't have the full amount, so I prepped all the mise en place at 100%, made the beans using 1/3 and then started over with napa cabbage using up the remaining amounts.

We liked both versions, with a slight edge to the beans. This is one recipe that reducing the amount of oil didn't work. The pork stuck to the wok; my first "stickage."

Guess I have to make more popcorn to restore my patina.

[Gio]

Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with (Water Chestnuts), Pg. 135

My substitution last night for this recipe was plain ole white button mushrooms instead of water chestnuts, and the dish was terrific, if I do say so myself. Big Sal describes the ingredients and procedure in her January post. At the finish I used toasted sesame oil rather than the plain version. That may have augmented the flavor of the entire dish. Anyway, it went very well with a tasty roasted lemon chicken thigh dish from The Divertimenti Cookbook by Camilla Schneideman and steamed jasmine rice.

[JoanN]

Stir-Fried Garlic Lettuce (page 139)

I don’t believe this. I thought I was making the lettuce stir-fry Gio reported on here http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567... . I wasn’t. I ended up making another dish from another book. But if Gio hadn’t posted a positive review of that lettuce dish, I would never have made this one. And it would have been my loss.

This is basically a cooked salad. It’s Romaine hearts quickly stir-fried with rice wine, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and smashed garlic and topped with sesame oil. It’s essentially the ingredients I use all summer long, but they’re cooked. During the winter, when I’m just not in the mood for yet another cold, raw, salad, this is going to be it. What a great find. Thanks, Gio.

[The Dairy Queen]

Sounds delicious! Serendipity is a wonderful thing sometimes.

~TDQ

[Breadcrumbs]

Joan that sounds delicious and I bet the sesame oil is what really elevates it all, I can't wait to give this a try. Is that fish you served alongside?

[JoanN]

Yes. Just a very simple pan-fried flounder. Something I do often and serve with a lettuce salad. This is really the perfect alternative for cold weather. I have a feeling this is going to be as regular in the chillier months as a salad is in the warmer ones.

[oakjoan]

I agree about the warm salads in winter. I've been making Ottolenghi's broccolini and sesame salad warm almost every week this winter. It's simple - salad dressing is tahini paste, a bit of water, crushed garlic, peanut oil, cilantro leaves and toasted sesame seeds. He also adds nigella seeds but I didn't have any. I also tossed in a bit of sesame oil.

You cook some broccolini and string beans until crisp/tender and toss with dressing.

[Gio]

Doesn't that look scrumptious! I'm so in the mood for fish this coming week and that's a perfect combo in my mind. Thank You, Joan.

[beetlebug]

Stir-Fried Garlic Lettuce (page 139)

Nothing really to add to JoanN's report. It was really nice eating a warm salad with the rest of my stir fried dishes.

[JoanN]

Virginia Yee’s Beef Short Ribs with Scallions (page 187)

I’m conflicted about this recipe. Will someone else please make it and tell me what to think.

The recipe: toss 20 scallions in oil until “wilted and brown”. She says it should take 3 to 5 minutes. After 7 minutes mine were just beginning to wilt and just beginning to brown (they were big, fat, juicy scallions) but I was impatient and put them aside anyway. You then brown six beef short ribs (she says about 3 pounds; I must have had very small ones; my 6 were only about a pound and a half); add a mix of soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar; add back in the scallions; and cover and braise for 2 hours, uncovering and reducing the sauce for the last 10 minutes. Transfer the ribs and scallions to a platter and skim the fat from the sauce. I poured the sauce into a gravy separator and prayed. It would have been better, especially since the leftovers were so good (as with so many braises, perhaps even better) to have refrigerated the sauce long enough for the fat to congeal—even overnight. With the fat only partially removed this was a very rich dish.

Don’t get me wrong. It was really good. If I were grading on deliciousness alone, it would pass with flying colors. The meat was literally falling-off-the-bone tender. The sauce was far more flavorful than you would expect from just soy sauce, rice wine, and some sugar. And the scallions were so good I could almost imagine making them without making the short ribs. This would be a wonderful dish to come home to on a cold winter night.

Part of the problem, I guess, is that it didn’t meet my expectation of a dish to make today to eat tonight. It really would be better, I think, to make this a day ahead and that’s just not something I’m going to do for myself. On the other hand, this would be a perfect dish to make as part of a banquet for a large group for the same reason. And, good as it was, it’s probably only under those circumstances that I’d bother to make this again.

[clamscasino]

Well, I'm drooling.....those scallions look soooooo delicious!

Would love to be the one to try it next, but Mr. Clam is allergic to beef. Wonder how it would work with country style pork ribs....

[JoanN]

I don't recall ever having braised country style pork ribs. No idea at all whether or not it might work--or, whether the flavors would be compatible. Guess there's only one way to find out for sure. We'll be rooting for you. ;-)

[clamscasino]

There actually was a recipe in the Gourmet Today for an Asian inspired braised country pork rib recipe. It was good, but not stellar. Will definately try this one though.

[clamscasino]

Virginia Yee's Beef Short Ribs and scallions pg 187

Finally made this last night with the country style pork ribs. Forgot to pick up scallions at the store, but where I live, 20 scallions would be rather cost-prohibitive anyway. So I used one large onion instead.

It really does seem like magic how something with so few ingredients can come out so delicious. Guess that's just part of the beauty of braising.

The only thing to note here was that after the braising time was up, I had a lot of liquid. So I removed the ribs to a platter while I boiled down the liquid to the "3/4" cup. It took about 15 minutes to do that, and I couldn't stop myself from nibbling on them. Tossed them back in the pan to glaze and re-heat.

[graceyoung]

clamscasino: so glad you loved the recipe. It's so remarkable that with such few ingredients the final dish can have such depth of flavor.

[clamscasino]

Yes, it reinforces that adage: "cook like a peasant; eat like a gourmet." I was thinking as I made this: where's the garlic? where's the ginger? But in the end it was just perfect.

[buttertart]

I bet it'd be super - in China it would be likely to be pork in a dish like this, anyway.

[JoanN]

Might they do something like this with pork belly?

[buttertart]

Certainly, it's pretty much a basic red-cooked whatever recipe, except for the scallions which are unusual (but sound tasty).
I make pork chops in somewhat the same style, with dark soy, brown sugar, black vinegar, and water - brown the chops, brown a lot of sliced onions, put the chops back in the pan with the onions on top, pour over the liquids, cook until chops done and sauce reduced basically to a glaze. Say 1/4 c dark soy to 2 tb brown sugar and 2 tb black vinegar, , a tb of liquor, enough water to bring it to 3/4 cup. Shanghai-style pork chops cribbed from Helen (Joyce's daughter) Chen's Home Cooking.

[The Dairy Queen]

It all sounds delicious to me, your (Helen's) pork chops and what JoanN cooked from BoaW.

JoanN, I get what you're saying, though, that it's not something you'd do for yourself for everyday cooking. Suddenly I feel the need for a Chinese New Year party! HA!

~TDQ

[buttertart]

It really isn't an everyday dish, no. CNY party? A plan!

[scoopG]

These look wonderful! ummmmm...

[Maggie19]

Have made this recipe a few times. Takes time no doubt, and is messy...browning many thin sliced short ribs in the wok. I found that doubling the amount of scallions is needed. Once the ribs are browned in the wok and the scallions are wilted, I place everyhting into a baking dish, add the sauce, cover, place in the oven at 250 for about 3 hours....Needed the wok for another dish... The end product is a real knockout and well worth it. Probably the best beef short rib recipe I've tried.

[oakjoan]

JoanN: I'm glad you made this short rib recipe. Many times when I'm at the market I spy them and then see how much they are. I get really peeved and refuse to buy them. It's probably due to the fact that they, along with lots of other cuts that used to be cheap and frowned upon by many Americans, have become tres chic and expensive. When they're $6/lb and contain almost half bone, I start grumbling. It's the same with lamb shanks...now that they're much more expensive you're feeling you're paying for mostly bone.

Unfortunately, short ribs and lamb shank have always been great favorites of mine. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and shell out the bucks...especially since a friend of mine gave me her mother's recipe (Philippines) for short ribs. The sauce is made with peanut butter.

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, those Filipino short ribs already sound delicious!

~TDQ

[clamscasino]

Jean Yueh's Shanghai-Style Shrimp pg. 106

Well, my, my, isn't this easy and delicious! Minced garlic and scallions cut into 2 inch pieces are stir fried for 30 seconds. Then in go shrimp for 30 seconds, a swirl of sherry and then the soy-sauce/red wine vinegar mixture. Couple minutes later, sprinkle with sugar. And finally, drizzle with 1 tbsp sesame oil (optional). The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of sugar or "to taste." Seemed like a lot of sugar, and we ended up using 2 tbsp. Since the sesame oil is optional, and again, 1 tbsp seemed like quite a lot, we started and ended with a drizzle over the top. The Chowpup did the stri-frying ( a first for her in the wok) while I dumped/swirled stuff in. This made it all very easy and smoothe, and we actually had a lot of fun cooking together.

We also made, to go along with the shrimp:

Sweet and Sour Cabbage: pg. 146

Okay, so I didn't use cabbage. There was half a head of cauliflower that needed to be used up, so I "blanched" that in the microwave and then proceeded with the recipe, which, veggie-wise also contains carrots, scallions and minced ginger. The recipe follows the 3 step method: swirl oil in wok. Add ginger for 10 seconds, then veggies for a couple minutes. Swirl in soy-sauce/balsamic vinegar/sugar/etc. mixture (thank you Chowpup for doing the scavenger hunt in the pantry and all that measuring). Garnish with the minced scallions.

I was a bit worried about doing a "sweet and sour" thing, but really it was the ginger that came through and there was no cloying sweetness to it.

We were too eager to eat to take a picture.....and we had a terrific meal!

[Gio]

Oh I Loved reading that your Chowpup did so much measuring and cooking dinner. My children used to do that too. And, it Is fun. The family that cooks together stays together...

[clamscasino]

I think the Chowpup was very impressed with how quickly everything cooks, and how delicious the results were. And I could tell she was thinking "must take wok to college."

She's great at measuring, and understands the value of doing it properly. Now if I could only get her to chop onions....

[The Dairy Queen]

I almost did the sweet and sour cabbage last night because I was on the wrong page (I was in the wrong book, in fact.): I was actually trying to make the cabbage and bacon from SFTTSE. I finally realized I was in the wrong book when I was doing my mise en place and just couldn't figure out when I was supposed to put the bacon in!

I understand the eagerness to eat and forgo the photography. I don't want to lose my wok hay, assuming I'm achieving any. Besides, I am just so frantic when stir-frying, the time goes so fast. And there's no place for a camera because my mise en place is everywhere.

In fact, what I've been doing is my full mise on place. Then, when it's time to do the stir-fry, I call my husband in to read the steps to me while I cook--he tracks the timing and tells me what my next step is.

I admire those of you who have the presence of mind for photography. I'm not there yet.

~TDQ

[clamscasino]

The Chowpup actually thinks it's really dorky to photograph the food. It always comes with an eye-roll.

[The Dairy Queen]

It is, a little, but if it makes it enhances my COTM experience, I'm willing to be a dork.

~TDQ

[JoanN]

When I was visiting my grandsons in Guatemala last fall, I made few a BBQed pork roasts on the grill for a big family party. At one point I noticed the sixteen-year-old taking photos of the food with my camera. When I asked him about it, he said he was chronicling it all so I could post the photos on Chowhound. Ya just gotta start training them early!

[BigSal]

Sweet and Sour Cabbage- We made this tonight with napa cabbage. I felt the flavors were nicely balanced and the ginger comes through too. I did not slice the carrots as thinly as I could have, but will be more diligent next time.

[Gio]

Sweet and Sour Cabbage, Pg. 146

Made this last night to go with the Shanghai-style pork and bean sprouts. Not much more to say except it was one of the few times in my life I didn't tinker with the recipe and made it as written, although instead of using the scallions as a garnish I tossed them into the wok at the last minute just to take the "rawness" away. I used Napa cabbage but I think other vegetables can be used as well, just as Clams did. This is a recipe I'll be making again because it's a perfect side dish.

[smtucker]

Sweet and Sour Cabbage, Pg. 146

Made this tonight as a side for Chicken with Sichuan peppercorns. I used my vslicer on the smallest setting for the carrots, and used napa cabbage. I really loved this as a side dish. It was bright and flavorful, and was so easy to prep and cook.

[Breadcrumbs]

Tina Yao Lu’s Chicken with Spinach – p. 74

I took some liberties with this dish in the interest of timesaving. I used baby spinach instead of using the regular stuff and since it was very tender, I skipped the pre-cooking stage and simply added it in at the end once the broth has been incorporated into the stir-fry. I also used boxed chicken stock instead of homemade. That said, I don’t believe the final product suffered at all for my adaptations and it made for a satisfying dish that was quick and easy to pull together.

Cubed boneless, skinless chicken is marinated in a rice wine/soy/sugar/cornstarch mixture. Once the wok is heated, chopped garlic is given a quick stir around the oiled pan before the chicken mixture is added and, true to Young’s method, spread in a single layer around the wok. After a minute of undisturbed time, the chicken is then stir-fried until brown on all sides then transferred to a plate. A little more oil is added and then sliced, button mushrooms are cooked until softened. At which point the stock, white pepper and spinach are added and the stock is brought to a boil. A cornstarch slurry is added just prior to re-introducing the chicken to the pan. Once chicken has cooked through, you’re done!

The chicken was ridiculously tender and the mushrooms and spinach helped flavor the sauce. I was expecting the dish to be a bit bland based on the individual ingredients but somehow it comes together to make a very tasty dish that we’d be happy to have again.

I served this alongside Peppery Vegetarian Rice from SFTTSE and that review and photos are posted on the other COTM thread here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[scoopG]

Looks so yummy! Great photos.

[blue room]

Yes, I read the droplet post! I have the instructions that came with the pan, and all the online info of course, but I'm still waiting for the "...Sky's Edge" book to arrive.
I'll have just as much fun and angst as the rest of you, I'm sure, when I start the process.
Mine is a gas stove too, it has one "power burner", but it's regular Kenmore stove, nothing fancy.
I am sure it can get quite hot enough to scare me!

[blue room]

I have a brand new--I haven't washed it yet--14 inch Joyce Chen, about $25.
I understand I'll have to be patient. But are you all using the same oil to cook as to season?

[The Dairy Queen]

I think I have that same one. From Amazon? I use Canola for both cooking and seasoning.

~TDQ

[blue room]

Yes, that's probably the same --
I want to use peanut oil for cooking some things -- just cuz it's nice -- so seasoning with a different oil won't matter?

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh gosh, I can't imagine it would matter, but I'm the one with the blotchy only-five-uses-under-my-belt wok, so maybe someone else should weigh in. She says new woks are thirsty for oil. I figure any oil that I'd be willing to cook with would be acceptable for seasoning it.

I don't know if you saw my post in the thread where smtucker announced Grace Young as the winner for January, but my wok never reaches the point where a droplet or two of water evaporates in 1-2 seconds. It just gets hotter and hotter and still, a droplet of water hangs around for 6-8 seconds. (It just beads up and rolls around, which is kind of neat to watch, but not very helpful from cooking perspective.)

Young says on page 6 of SFTTSE that happens with some woks. Since you seem to have the same wok as mine, head's up. I have a gas stove and I'd say my wok is ready to go in about 30 seconds. She says that if the water droplet test won't work for your wok, you can tell if your wok is heated simply by holding your hand over the well and if you feel heat coming from it the way you might from a radiator, your wok is ready.

Your oil should sizzle, not smoke, when you swirl it in.

~TDQ

[JoanN]

When I first got my new wok I tried to use Crisco on it for seasoning as often as possible. That lasted maybe a month or two. I also cook with peanut oil so it's usually sitting on the counter already and it's what I now wipe the wok with after it's dry while it's still hot. I think you'll be fine with the peanut oil. I'm really not sure I achieved anything special using the Crisco.

[graceyoung]

blue room I'm sorry to be answering your question so late. Whatever oil you use for cooking should be the same oil you use for seasoning. The important point is it must be an oil with a high smoking point such as peanut, canola, grapeseed, or your favorite vegetable oil. Never use a low-smoking point oil like extra virgin olive oil or sesame oil.

[JoanN]

Martin Yan’s Mandarin Five-Flavored Boneless Pork Chops (page 188)

Run, don’t walk. And if you don’t have Breath of a Wok, you can find the recipe here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=QDCf...

Half-inch thick boneless chops are pounded lightly to tenderize them and are marinated for half an hour in soy sauce, dry sherry, cornstarch, and five-spice powder. The recipe specifically calls for dry sherry, not Shao Hsing, and I had an open bottle of Amontillado, so that’s what I used. The chops are seared; ginger, garlic, onion, celery, and chili are stirred in; then all is braised for 30 minutes in the reserved marinade plus a half cup of water.

I started salivating the minute I made the marinade and didn’t stop until I had had seconds. Four servings? I don’t think so. Not that I wasn’t full after one, mind you.

I followed the recipe, but probably (didn’t measure) doubled the garlic and ginger. And I used two, instead of one, minced Thai chilis—seeds and all. With these changes the recipe had a good amount of kick to it, but I suspect there would have been enough for most even without my emendations. She doesn’t say how to serve it, so I sliced the chop, put it on top of some brown rice, and poured some of the luscious sauce over it. Not sure what I’d do if I were serving this to company. How do you serve a whole pork chop to eat with chopsticks?

Looks like we’re on a roll here with Martin Yan. No question I’ll be doing this again. Quite often, I suspect.

[Gio]

So, do you think a Martin Yan book is the next big thing? I been wanting to try one of his books for a very long time. Especially after watching his shows...through the years.

[The Dairy Queen]

I always loved watching Martin Yan on PBS. His food always looked delicious to me and I liked that he genuinely seemed to be enjoying what he was doing. His humor is terribly corny, but I can live with that. Surprisingly, I've never tried any of his recipes.

I wonder which is his best book?

~TDQ

[smtucker]

I only own Martin Yan's China because it was an amazing deal at Costco one day. Everything I have made from the book [maybe 8 recipes] has been delicious.

http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Yans-Chi...

[The Dairy Queen]

That's a pretty solid endorsement. We might have to roll right into February with Martin Yan! I fear my husband might protest, but then again, he's always a good sport about eating whatever I serve him!

~TDQ

[smtucker]

My husband is really enjoying the change of cuisine. He was remarking over lunch that this is the time of year that is most difficult to get excited about food. Our local produce is gone, the Mediterranean flavors that he loves are hard to come by, and day in/day out of winter foods can get old. He is however, ready to have something that isn't "just a stir-fry" and I will do my best to change it up just a bit.

[JoanN]

Can't pretend I wasn't thinking exactly that. I've heard the name, but I've never seen his show and I'm not familiar with any of his books.

[Gio]

Tah Dah:

http://www.yancancook.com/mybio.htm

[JoanN]

Thanks for that, Gio. I'm a bit disappointed he doesn't have more recipes on his site. I'll have to Google around and see what I can see. Gotta say, though, that the Asian section of my cookbook shelves runneth over. I could be wrong, and I'm not even sure I want to know for sure, but I think I now have more Asian cookbooks than either Italian or French.

Martin Yan, here I come.

[Gio]

I don't have any of his books either. I did watch his early PBS shows and liked the way explained everything he was doing and why. Recently he had a few culinary travel shows which were better than others I've seen. His repartee is still corny but somehow endearing. I get the feeling he's a sweet man to talk to.

[scoopG]

I think because he wants you to purchase his cookbooks!

[JoanN]

No! Ya think? ;-)

ETA: A lot of cookbook authors publish recipes on their sites as a way of promoting their books. If I made a few recipes from his site and really liked them, I'd be more rather than less likely to buy one of his books.

[oakjoan]

Joan N: As one who lives across the SF Bay from Martin Yan (or at least he used to live in SF), and one who has seen him on local PBS stations for years, I can say that, if you can get over his irritating manner - waaaaay overly enthusiastic - his info and recipes are great. I always hate it when the TV chef keeps telling you how delicious this or that is.

[smtucker]

This is really off-topic, and yet on somehow. Did a bit of googling, and found these recipes which are actually Martin Yan's, not a cooks.com adaptation.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/martin-yans-wontons-in-hot-and-sour-sauce

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CHINESE+NEW+YEAR%3B+MARTIN+YAN+SHARES+A+%60FEAST'+OF+HIS+BEST+RECIPES.-a083602054

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/food_wine&id=6608740
(with video

)

http://www.sunkist.com/yancancook/asian-recipes/

http://chinese.food.com/recipe/martin-yans-lettuce-cups-87148

http://rasamalaysia.com/crispy-fried-chicken-recipe/

http://www.culinate.com/content/1682/Spicy+Beef+with+Tomato+and+Basil

Just for fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V37Pc4...

[JoanN]

Oh, my! That's terrific. Some good looking recipes there. Thanks!

[scoopG]

Yes thanks!

[blue room]

He was funny on the show. I think I once saw him carefully arrange shrimp on a platter one by one while explaining:
"Boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl..."

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, that second photo is especially appealing! And I love pork chops!

~TDQ

[smtucker]

The Chinese restaurant that I frequent cooks the pork chop and the rest of the dish. Then they use a cleaver to cut the chop into bit sized pieces, each with some bone still attached. Very easy to manage with chopsticks.

[The Dairy Queen]

JoanN, this recipe sounds so delicious I think I'm going to have to do it tonight. But, since my wok is so young, I don't think I'm ready to braise in it yet, plus, I have my eye on a bacon and cabbage dish in SFTTSE that I'm planning for tonight.

If you were to recommend alternative cookware for this dish, what might you suggest? I have a pretty large stainless steel skillet (probably an 11'' though I haven't measured it). I have a 12'' nonstick skillet. And I have a 6-quart Dutch oven.

Will the Dutch oven work you think?

Also, what do you think she means my saying to pound the pork in a "crisscross pattern"?

Thank you!

~TDQ

[JoanN]

I would choose the vessel by the size of your pork chops. If they will fit in the stainless skillet I think that would be fine. Have to admit I have very little experience with nonstick cookware; I use it for nothing but omelets. Will the chops brown in it? If so, that would work, too. I think the DO would be overkill. Oh, Do you have a cover for both skillets? The dish is covered while cooking. There's not a whole lot of sauce, no more than a cup. So that shouldn't be an issue either.

The light pounding is just to tenderize the chops. I used the back of the cleaver and just pounded in one direction, turned the chop a quarter circle, and pounded in the other direction. It's not something you see, so no need to try to make it even or pretty. Frankly, since I followed instructions, I'm not sure what the chops would have been like if I hadn't. Not significantly different, I suspect.

Hope you like it as much as I did. I'm trying hard not to think about the leftovers in the fridge or they'll become brunch.

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, did you end up getting the cleaver?

It sounds like my stainless steel skillet is the way to go on this one. I have one of those universal lids for it and the chops will brown in it (and probably won't in the nonstick skillet--good point.)

Thanks for the tips! I'll let you know how they turn out.

~TDQ

[JoanN]

I inherited a cleaver many years ago. It's neither sharp enough nor strong enough to cut through tough bones and I was giving thought to replacing it. Now that I've done more research, I'm not in such a big hurry. I may some day buy a dedicated meat cleaver, but it keeps slipping down the priority list.

[The Dairy Queen]

Well, if you have too many cleavers, that's less space and money for new cookbooks.

Okay, I know it's a departure from the recipe, but I've pounded my pork chops and have them marinating in the fridge before I go off to work.

I'm on a diet right now, and I am famished when I get home from work, so, I needed to find a way to speed this recipe up even a tiny bit.

I hope my pork chops don't soak up too much of the marinade, as she has you add water to it and do something with it next. We'll see tonight!

~TDQ

[dkennedy]

Oh you people are making me want to buy this book!!!!! I don't want to want to, but now I do.

In response to Dairy Queen's concern about not braising in a wok that hasn't been broken in, is that because you don't want to undo your seasoning???? If so, I have bad new for you. I have had my wok for years and I still undo the seasoning (to some extent) every time I braise. It's just the nature of the beast.

If you are adamant about not using the wok, I would try the Dutch oven, especially if it is a Le Creuset. it will give you good results for something like the pork chop recipe referenced above.

Getting back to my concern, do I really need this book? I do have a wok, and if truth be told, I have a wok burner too....and a lot of asian cookbooks but none that I cook out of very often. I use my wok fairly frequently, but usually for veggie side dishes, fajitas and it is great for deep frying. The main reason I bought the dedicated wok burner was for the BTUs, I make stock on a pretty regular basis on this burner. Oh what to do, what to do?

[JoanN]

@ dkennedy: I'm surprised to hear you say that you undo your seasoning whenever you braise. Below is a photo of my wok. I braised in it last night and did nothing to it other than my usual cleaning procedure. You'll see some splotchiness up on the sides, but that's not where the liquid was.

@ TDQ: That's the splotchiness I was talking about above (or wherever the hell it was I was talking about it). The bottom of the wok and about 2 inches up the sides are as slick as a satin prom dress. Above that, the seasoning is rough and uneven. But that demarcation line gets higher and higher the more I use it. And yours will too.

[BigSal]

JoanN,

For those of us with wok envy, how long did it take for you to develop that lovely patina and how often did you cook with it?

Sally

[The Dairy Queen]

Oooh, very nice. Is the splotchyness just in coloration, or is it textural, too?

~TDQ

[JoanN]

@ BigSal: I would say that it took about 9 months of very intermittent use to get the wok to look like that. I go through periods where I'll use the wok three maybe four times a week and then I won't use it at all for a month. All in all, not all that long; not all that much use.

@ TDQ: You can feel a very definite difference in texture from the smooth part to the splotchy part. But it used to be much worse than it is. It really does just keep getting better and better.

[The Dairy Queen]

Very reassuring. I think I'm just going to keep cooking and stop worrying about my wok's splotches, especially if I keep getting good results.

~TDQ

[BigSal]

That sounds very promising. Thank you. And due to my success with Martin Yan's beef dish, I have been inspired to try the pork chop recipe you reported on next.

[The Dairy Queen]

Yes, dkennedy, that's exactly my concern. I don't want to undo my seasoning. Somewhere Young says that she doesn't recommend you do any steaming or braising until your wok is really broken in. She also says that some people just have two woks: one for stir-frying, one for everything else.

Personally, I think it's fantastic that a wok can be so versatile, and I think that's part of the point of BOAW, but I personally acquired a wok so I can stir-fry, because I can't really do that with any other kitchen equipment. I think I own other cookware that will do an adequate job of braising and steaming. Not that there aren't exceptions, of course.

As far as do you need this book, a lot of the information about acquiring and caring for a wok is redundant. There are some pretty interesting essays in BOAW about her family's traditions, etc. but I'm not sure they are so amazing that you'd buy the book just for those. So, unless you really want access to both sets of recipes, it may not really be necessary to own both. I haven't tried enough of the recipes to be convinced yet, but maybe you can check it out of the library before you buy it?

But, if you're supposed to be cooking from your wok several times a week (to keep your wok properly seasoned) and there are only about 100 recipes in each of these books, it really isn't going to take you very long to exhaust the recipes, so, if you really like her recipes, then maybe you really do want both books.

~TDQ

[dkennedy]

TDQ - Thanks for your point of view. I have never heard that you need to use your wok 2-3 x week to keep it properly seasoned. Is that information from these two books? I would say I use mine 2-5 x per month at best. But my wok seems to be seasoned just fine. I am still undecided on whether to buy. I have 15 new cookbooks on my shelves these days, due to my bday, hannukah, and The Good Cook sales.

JoanN - my wok looks pretty much like yours. But, yes, I do notice a slight reduction in my black color after braising. I have a pretty huge kitchen but I do not have enough kitchen space for two woks, one exclusively dedicated to stir frying, so I will have to make due.

[The Dairy Queen]

Yeah, she says that somewhere in BOAW I think. I kind of paraphrased from memory; I probably should have said "optimally" seasoned rather than properly season. I'll see if I can find the specific reference later tonight. But, you know, just because daily or "several times a week" is optimal, if you're not having any issues with sticking 2-5x per month, then it's not an issue!

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

dkennedy, I forgot to look this up last night, but I found the reference in the "search this book" feature on Amazon. On page 45 of BOAW in the section "Recipes for Seasoning a Wok" she says, "Ideally, the wok should be used daily, or at least several times a week." But I can't tell (from the info I have in front of me at the moment) what that's in reference to, whether it's developing your patina or maintaining it.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Once it's patinated it can be stored without being used as long as it's kept very dry.

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, that's good to know. By the way, I think the reason my wok is looking mottled might be that I'm overscrubbing it. I'm using the textured side of one of these Jetz Scrubz sponges http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003..., which I didn't think was very harsh, but I realized last night when I thought I was scrubbing with it to remove stuck food, I was getting down the to silvery surface. :(.

I think I'm going to re-season it this weekend, and stop using the textured side of my sponge.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Don't scrub, you will take the coating off. It will look mottled for a while anyway. Mine (at least 28 yrs old) is completely black inside and out and was the first thing I put on my stove when we moved into the new place.

[The Dairy Queen]

I'm a slow-learner. I promise to stop scrubbing my wok.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Enjoy the process as well as the result!

[The Dairy Queen]

I'm getting more confident now. I was really afraid of the heat and the oil for my early attempts, but I feel pretty confident now. I don't even feel the need to turn the heat off anymore when I swirl in my oil. I'll be a pro by the end of the month!

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Absolutely.

[BigSal]

We made this for dinner tonight in a saute pan with a lid in an effort to protect the little patina I have on my new wok. Another great dish. The chops were succulent and the sauce was great, especially with the rice (jasmine). Two for two with the Martin Yan recipes.

[The Dairy Queen]

Martin Yan’s Mandarin Five-Flavored Boneless Pork Chops (page 188)

We tried this tonight and made all of JoanN's adjustments to double garlic, ginger and Thai chilies. Also, I accidentally used low sodium soy sauce (which I didn"t notice until my husband mentioned he thought the dish could use a little more salt--I ran out of soy sauce last night and just grabbed a new bottle from my pantry, not noticing it was low-sodium), and I used a shallot instead of an onion.

In order to speed tonight's dinner, I pounded the pork chops and prepared the marinade this morning and left them marinating in the fridge all day (instead of 30 mins per the recipe). I was worried that the pork chops would absorb too much of the marinade and there wouldn't be enough sauce, but that didn't appear to be a problem. AND I simmered them them in an 11.5'' stainless steel skillet instead of my wok because I didn't want to destroy the patina of my young wok. Served it over brown rice.

We enjoyed this, but I don't think we were quite as taken with it as JoanN was, although, maybe I just made too many adaptations. I definitely need to boot the low-sodium soy sauce, which was an unintentional substitution.

We agreed that we were both mostly craving the leftovers of the bacon and cabbage dish we made from SFTTSE last night and heated up and served alongside the pork chops and rice.

We have two pork chops left. I'm guessing they'll make an appearance at lunch tomorrow. :). Sadly, the bacon and cabbage is gone.

~TDQ

[JoanN]

Am I the only one who feels personally responsible when a dish they've raved about gets only so-so reviews from someone else who tried it? Thanks, BIgSal, for keeping me from thinking I might be losing it.

And on to the cabbage with bacon. How can I resist now? Especially when I have bacon in the freezer.

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, we still enjoyed it, and am thankful you pointed us to the recipe. Different cooks, different tastes, it's all okay. Plus, I made numerous departures from the recipes. Death by a thousand cuts, perhaps. But, still, it was a good dish!

~TDQ

[BigSal]

No, you are not alone. It is especially daunting when a long standing participant of COTM says they will try a recipe I posted. Gulp! Talk about pressure!

[The Dairy Queen]

I know. Now I'm nervous about the cabbage and bacon. All I can say is, do you really want a crave-worthy dish that includes 4 pieces of bacon (and bacon fat) in your fridge?

~TDQ

[LulusMom]

Me too. I think we all feel a little iffy when someone tries one we've raved about, and then (No, no ... please, no!) doesn't like it.

[beetlebug]

Martin Yan’s Mandarin Five-Flavored Boneless Pork Chops (page 188)

This was really delicious. Thanks to JoanN for pointing it out as I probably would have glazed right over it. I'm having a little harder time with BOW because of the type face and set up. Everything seems to blend together in my eyes.

Regardless, the pork was incredibly tender. And, browning and braising the chops really added color to the wok. Too bad I took a teeny tiny bit off with my beef and tomato dish (in the other thread).

One slight change - instead of a thai chile, I used a teaspoon of FD's salted chiles. I could have used a bit more. I also used 1t of 5 spice instead of the miniscule amount in the recipe. Also, I only had three chops that equaled a lb. I pounded them with a meat hammer. One of the chops was thicker and I could only get it to about an inch thick. No matter, it still stayed tender.

I left the chops resting in the sauce while I cooked up two more dishes. While I was cooking the third dish, I had C slice up the chops so it would be easier to eat. The meat and sauce were really tasty with white rice.

[The Dairy Queen]

Now a third glowing report. I'm beginning to worry I did something wrong. I liked this dish well enough to try again... maybe I'll discover a step or an ingredient I missed first time around?

~TDQ

[beetlebug]

I almost missed the part to add half a cup of water to the sauce after you marinate the pork chops. Also, I think upping the 5 spice, ginger, garlic and chiles also pop the flavor. I love FD's salted chiles so I try and use those if I don't have fresh hot chiles.

[The Dairy Queen]

I don't remember if I upped the 5 spice. I made a number of changes when I made the dish--maybe next time, I'll just follow the recipe very faithfully and see what happens.

~TDQ

[greedygirl]

Thanks to smtucker and Caitlin, who emailed me the recipe, I made these chops last night. Not much to add apart from we loved them. I also used Dunlop's salted chillis, and used shao tsing for the marinade because I assumed (possibly wrongly) that was Yan's anglicisation of the recipe, given that sherry is often the substitution for Chinese cooking wine. As I don't have a lid for either of my woks, I used a shallow Le Creuset to braise the chops and it worked fine. A very nice dish indeed, and a good way to get Mr GG to eat pork chops as he's not overly fond of them.

[JoanN]

I think this may be my favorite recipe from the two books. I've made it twice since I first posted about it above, once for company who asked when I would make it for them again. I never used to buy boneless pork chops. Didn't see the point. Now I find myself picking them up whenever they're on sale specifically so I'll have them on hand for this dish.

[The Dairy Queen]

Some of you who read the cookware board may recall I bought a food-saver with my Christmas money, hoping it would save me time and money. I finally got around to using it today. It's going to be a hectic week, with lots of snowfall expected (read: lots of extra time will need to be spent shoveling) and several week-night commitments.

I matchsticked some flank steak and marinated it for one of the recipes in BOAW and tossed it in the freezer, with the hope of defrosting it and stir-frying it later in the week. I also went ahead and took another shot at this Martin Yan Pork dish, pounding the pork chops and getting the marinade ready again, with the expectation of tossing this in the freezer for later this week.

I realized my first problem from my first attempt at this dish (because I almost made the same mistake) is I erroneously used Sherry Wine Vinegar instead of Sherry Wine.

Very embarrassing. I have high hopes for the second time around. I'll let you know, of course, how it goes!

~TDQ

[JoanN]

Very understandable mistake. Good thing you caught yourself from making it twice. Will be curious to hear if you like it any better.

I was eyeing an on-sale pork loin at Costco a few days ago with that recipe in mind, but ever since I got MY FoodSaver my freezer just seems to get more and more stuffed. I keep swearing, no more goes in until some comes out. That works almost as well as no more cookbooks until you cook at least one thing from each of the last three you bought. Oy vey.

[greedygirl]

Lol. It's EXACTLY the same in my house.

[The Dairy Queen]

I admit--I worry about doing the same thing--putting stuff in the freezer and then forgetting about it. I am trying to remind myself that this is my specific meal planning, not food hoarding!

~TDQ

[Karen_Schaffer]

I obsessively keep an inventory of what's in the freezer, posted on the door with a magnet and a pen for making updates. I mark off everything that goes into or comes out of the freezer. I include a brief description, the date, and the size if relevant (e.g., Beef, marinated flank steak, 8 oz, Jan 2011). I have separate categories for meats/seafood, vegetables, grains, already prepared foods, sweets, etc. Also, everything that goes in is carefully labeled, because I know just how quickly "I'm sure I'll remember what that is," morphs into "What in the world is this?!" Yeah, been there, done that.

Yes, it's an effort to keep it up, but it's totally worth it to me!

[The Dairy Queen]

I really aspire to that level of organization... I do okay, untll I find myself throwing food into the freezer, not because I planned to, but because plans change and I don't want whatever it is to spoil... And all of those CSA veggies that I get overwhelmed by...

~TDQ

[cstout]

Dairy Queen, I have been reading all these threads about stuff being put in the freezer & your replies tend to mirror my habits to a tee. I cannot seem to organize my freezer section at all. Have you come up with any good ideas lately or are you still feeding the freezer?

[smilingal]

i really like the way I have organized my new(er) fridge/freezer - bottom one drawer with a top sliding compartment in it. The bottom "bin" - came with one divider - we bought two additional dividers - now I have a narrow one for my nuts etc, then the widest one for misc., then a chicken compartment, and then a meat compartment.

The other stuff (littler things) get put in the top slide out drawer.

The dividers really helped with the organization.

[The Dairy Queen]

Hi cstout, I'm so sorry I haven't seen this post until now. In response to your question, with the new baby, I haven't been feeding my freezer lately, but I have been eating out of my freezer and it's been a lifesaver. What I was doing right around the start of the year that has turned out to be so helpful is freezing things in my foodsaver and being obsessive about making sure things freeze flat on a cookie sheet. Also, that they are properly labeled with the date, the contents, and even the page number of the recipe/name of cookbook where the cooking instructions are.

Once things are completely frozen flat, I "file" them in the freezer like files in a drawer. If you can find a separate section corner of your freezer for that, it works pretty well and you can be as chaotic as you want to be in the rest of the freezer. It's very easy to flip through your files to see what you have (if you can't bring yourself to make a list as Karen does). Or you can buy one of those collapsible cubes and file your items in that in the freezer. http://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-14-Inch...

With winter coming, I think I'm going to try to get someone to babysit for my little one one Saturday while I try to do a big batch of hearty freezer meals (enchiladas and lasagnes etc.) to be popped into the oven after work. I think I'm going to completely clear out the small freezer attached to my fridge for that, and for trays of baby food. I was reading this book on freezer meals and they were suggesting that, when preparing meals for the freezer, you line your pyrex/baking dish in foil, then layer your food in that. Once everything is frozen you can lift the foil "packet" out of the baking dish and you'll end up with a freezable "cube" of food you can later pop back into the baking dish when it's time to cook. I don't know how this will work, as I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds promising as an approach.

That's where I am right now. :). Not perfect, but with a system that kind of works...

~TDQ

[oakjoan]

JoanN:

I don't know if the Costco in your area carries the same stuff as my local one does, but out here we have a wonderful cut of pork that's like boneless spareribs (very meaty spareribs). I use them for stir-fry and all kinds of other stuff. They have a bit more fat than the usual pork loin. I find pork loin gets overly dry quickly and is easy to overcook.

[JoanN]

Yes, I've seen those and think I may even have bought them before. That's an excellent idea, to use them as a substitute for a cut such as shoulder in stir-fries where you're cutting the meat into bite-sized pieces. But the recipe I was referencing calls for whole, boneless, half-inch thick pork chops, and they don't cook for very long at all. It was that specific recipe I had in mind when I was thinking about buying the on-sale loin. You're certainly right, though, that those boneless spareribs would be a lot more practical to have on hand for most other pork stir-fries.

[The Dairy Queen]

OK, this Martin Yan Mandarian 5-Flavored Pork Chops is MUCH better if you use sherry wine, as the recipe calls for, instead of sherry wine vinegar as I did (by mistake) the first time around. I still didn't follow the recipe exactly. I pounded the pork chops and sealed them and their marinade in my foodsaver bags and stuck them in the freezer over the weekend. Then, one work morning this week, I pulled them out of the freezer before I left for work. Came home, diced up the celery and onions (I still used shallots--I still have too many leftover from my CSA) and then proceeded to cook the dish as per directions, except that I doubled the ginger, garlic, and Thai chile pepper.

Much better than my first attempt. Perhaps because these marinated longer than the recipe calls for, I don't think I needed the extra ginger, garlic or chile. Next time, I think I'll just go with the proportions as written.

I have another pair of marinating pork chops in the freezer waiting for another day! I'm looking forward to it.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

How do you like the Foodsaver? Which one did you get, again?

[The Dairy Queen]

I got this one because it takes up less space and I can keep it on my counter for easy access. http://www.foodsaver.com/Product.aspx... I have friends who have the more horizontal models and it takes too much room for them to have it out all the time. I doubt I'll use it very often if I have to "go get it" every time I need it.

I just used it for the first time this past weekend, but so far I've found it easy to use and easy to clean. (There's a tray that is supposed to be dishwasher safe, but I haven't needed to "wash it" that thoroughly yet. I just rinsed it out and it seems fine.)

I prepped (pounded+marinated) 2 recipes worth of Martin Yan's Mandarin 5-Flavor Pork Chops, sealed them, then froze them flat on a cookie sheet. I defrosted one set earlier this week as reported above and still have the other in the freezer. I also prepped one of Grace Young matchstick flank steak dish (can't remember off the top of my head which recipe it was) that I haven't defrosted yet, so, I don't know how that one has turned out.

But, I like the idea of cutting and marinating the meats in advance and freezing them very flat for quick defrosting for weeknights.

I also roasted two chickens this past weekend and froze (flat) some shredded chicken. Again, nice, flat profile for fast defrosting. I took one of those out of the freezer this morning and am planning to try a dish from One Big Table tonight.

I had some some mini Leibovitz Guiness ginger cupcakes in the freezer that I re-froze using my foodsaver. Even though they were already frozen and I used the "gentle" setting (or whatever it's called), it still smooshed the heck out of my first few batches of cupcakes. Clearly, I need to improve on my technique.

My only complaints so far about the foodsaver: the power cord is a little too short. I went through all of the wrap and bags that came with my foodsaver to freeze just what I described above. That included 2-3 failures (learning curve!) that I had to re-do, but I seem to go through the bags fast. And they don't seem to be super cheap.

I just orders some more bags, so, we'll see how I feel. But, I'm willing to incur some additional cost in order to make my weeknights easier and in order to waste less food.

Finally, I'm really surprised at how long it takes for something to really freeze flat. (That's not foodsaver's fault though.) I had to "pre-freeze" the Martin Yan pork chops before I could seal it with the foodsaver, otherwise, all of the marinade would have been vacuumed out. I put it in the deep freezer on a cookie sheet and it still wasn't 100% frozen solid, though it was close enough that I proceeded anyway.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Hmm. Thanks a million for the detailed analysis. I'm still on the fence about this appliance. I wonder too how long it's advisable to freeze marinated things since I would think garlic, etc could still oxidize and take on an off-flavor?

[The Dairy Queen]

Good question. I don't think either of the two Grace Young dishes I tried had ginger or garlic in the marinades--it was mostly vinegar and soy sauce and rice wine, etc.

I borrowed a copy of this book "Can I Freeze It?: How to Use the Most Versatile Appliance in Your Kitchen" by Susie Theodorou and in it she has some "basic stir-fry" marinades and (I think) includes an estimate of how long she thinks you can freeze things. I think most things are about a month. I'll have a look tonight and see what she says and if any of her marinades have garlic in them. (P.S. I haven't tried any of the recipes in this book: I just wanted to get ideas out of it.)

I'm not really trying to "stock up" quite as much as I'm just trying to do a little advance prep on weekends to make the weeknights go smoother, so I wouldn't want to let those pre-prepped stir-fries languish in the freezer too long anyway.

I'm resisting my urge to hoard. :).

~TDQ

[JoanN]

I've had my FoodSaver for about 6 months now and ended up getting rid of my toaster oven since I didn't have room for both and was using my FoodSaver more (much more!) often.

Regarding garlic: I have a tendency to mince or chop more than I'll need for the recipe I'm making. I vacuum the leftovers and they're ready next time I need minced garlic. Perhaps garlic does deteriorate in some way in a marinade even when vacuum packed, but I haven't noticed any deterioration in the minced garlic in my freezer. Of course, it's not there all that long; rarely more than a couple of weeks.

[buttertart]

Interesting, thanks. You have the horizontal model, I expect?

[The Dairy Queen]

Hers is an upright one similar to mine. I only know this because she posted about it on Cookware, which is what prompted me to buy mine!

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Aha, thanks!

[The Dairy Queen]

bt--I looked in that book I mentioned "Can I Freeze It?" and she does have sliced garlic and grated ginger in some of her stir-fry marinades. She suggests that you only freeze for about a month for optimal freshness and flavor.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

I thought as much, I froze some chicken with garlic once for longer than that and yuck, nasty fishy smell, had to throw it out.

[Caitlin McGrath]

One thing I liked about foodsaver bags was their relative strength, and the fact that they could be washed and reused, minus the bit you've snipped off, though obviously if you've stored raw, marinated meat, you would likely not want to. Tip for non-wet, messy meats (as in, I want to freeze this chicken I just bought): put the meat in regular ziplock-type bag, close it most of the way, press out the air, and put that bag in the foodsaver bag. That way, you're keeping most of the surface and juices of the raw meat away from the bag, making it easier to wash and reuse in a sanitary manner.

[The Dairy Queen]

Great idea! Thank you! And, yes, those bags seem really sturdy.

~TDQ

[Karen_Schaffer]

TDQ wrote "I had to "pre-freeze" the Martin Yan pork chops before I could seal it with the foodsaver, otherwise, all of the marinade would have been vacuumed out."

Aha! I wondered how you were doing that. I've done the trick of blocking moisture with some rolled up paper towel, but that's only good for moist foods, not truly wet ones.

And Caitlin, what a brilliant idea to double bag things! Hey, that would work for the marinated foods as well.

I find myself not using my FoodSaver much because it feels like there's so much wasted plastic. (It still gripes me that they insist on such a deep seam allowance.) Maybe I should get it out more.

[The Dairy Queen]

Yes, I love the idea of re-using! I'm definitely going to try it.

This is my first foodsaver, but according to the some of the reviews on Amazon, the "upright" foodsavers apparently require a bigger seam allowance than other models. I don't know if that's really true, but if you are concerned about that...

Tonight I'm going to try my matchstick beef stir fry recipe!

~TDQ

[Karen_Schaffer]

I actually have one of the 'old-fashioned' horizontal models, and I think even *that* requires a big seam allowance.

[greedygirl]

I'm probably being stupid (and I am definitely hungover) but I can't find the recipe in that link and woud like to make those chops!

[smtucker]

Works for me, so maybe you are being blocked by your IP address? If I can figure out your profile email address, I will send a screen shot.

[greedygirl]

I can see the page, but it is just info about and reviews of the book. No recipe that I can see.

[Breadcrumbs]

Me too gg! Glad I'm not alone! I don't even see a place on the page where a recipe would be.

[The Dairy Queen]

Florence Lin's Slow Stir-Fried Red Peppers, pg 143

This recipe could not be easier. 2 to 3 tbsp oil (I used Canola, about 1 1/2 tbsp), 2 red bell peppers sliced into 1-inch pieces, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt

Heat up wok, swirl 1 TBPS oil, add red b.p.s and stir fry on high 1 minute. Turn heat down to medium and/or low as you feel necessary and stir fry another 8-10 minutes until skin is puckery. Add in more oil if at any point you think you need it (I added another 1/2 TBSP). Turn heat back up to high and stir-fry another 1 minute. Add salt and sugar, serve.

Simple and pretty delicious. My husband thought it was too much of the same and wanted something else in there, scallions, or something, but I loved it exactly as is. Also, this recipe really is supposed to serve 4 as a side dish, but I divided it into 2 servings alongside roast beef sandwiches, so it wasn't meant to be served the way I served it.

No point in taking a photo, mine looked just like the pic in the book, except for the patina of my wok.

Speaking of the patina of my wok, I'm worried. It seems to be splotchy, which I was willing to accept as just part of peculiarities of my particular wok, but it's not smooth. She says a smooth interior is crucial. I think something from my first outing (when my wok was way too hot) maybe has stuck, so, I'm think I'm going to give my wok the salt scrub recommended by Ming Tsai.

~TDQ

[JoanN]

It's way, waaay, too early for you to be worried about the state of your wok. You've cooked in it how many times? Three? Four? Just keep using it and stop agonizing over it. A salt scrub certainly won't hurt if there is indeed food stuck to it, but some splotchiness early on is to be expected. I think my wok is beautifully seasoned (a year or two later). It's black, shiny, slick on the bottom. But even my wok is still a bit splotchy on the sides.

[The Dairy Queen]

Really? I'm feeling a little better now.

I've cooked from it 5 times now! There really isn't food stuck to it, that I can tell. It's just that the surface not only LOOKS splotchy (which I could live with), but it also feels splotchy. I was reading Face of a Wok in BOAW and she says the smoothness is what you're trying to achieve.

I worry that my inaugural stir fry where I burned the chilies might have left something stuck to the bottom. Also, I realize I've been drying my wok over high heat, instead of low.

So, do you think I should ignore the blotchiness and just keep cooking?

By the way, I have to say, I was a little afraid to buy a wok. I just didn't like the idea of cooking with so much oil over high heat. (And that whole thing about not wanting to purchase a bunch of specialized equipment). I'm still not sure where I'm going to store my wok (right now it lives on the stove or on top of the fridge, which displeases me), but I think I'm pretty much over my fear of oil and high heat. The flat bottomed wok feels very stable and the sides are so high that it feels completely safe to me because I don't worry that anything is going to splash or jump out and ignite. I wish my stove were a tiny bit lower, but, oh well, you can't have everything! I still don't think I'm up to deep frying in my wok, I use an electric deep-fryer for that because it has a nice thermostat and a breakaway cord, but then again, I just don't deep fry much anyway.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

I think there are pictures of woks at various stages of seasoning in "Stirfrying", aren't there? They do look gnarly for quite a while.

[graceyoung]

In Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge there's a photo on p 22-23 that shows 3 woks: newly seasoned, after 4 months, and after 2 years. Until you reach a year a carbon-steel will look adolescent and awkward. Just keep cooking in it and avoid acidic ingredients like vinegar or lots of tomatoes that will strip the wok of its patina. If you do cook with these ingredients the moment the dish is out remove the food from the wok. If you let it sit in the wok for even a few minutes the patina will be removed.

[The Dairy Queen]

GraceYoung--mine (carbon steel flat bottomed wok with helper handle) looks like the middle photo, perhaps because I've been making a lot of popcorn.

GraceYoung--I know this is probably a ridiculous question, but is the splotchy surface of my immature wok supposed to FEEL smooth to the touch? It doesn't. It feels splotchy. Does that mean it needs a facial? It looks a little textured too. I don't know how to know if it's burned food or patina. I'm sorry for not knowing this, but I'm afraid to scrub it off.

Also, I think I'm coming to the conclusion that I shouldn't be wokking on the highest heat setting on my gas stove, but that somewhere between 8 & 9 (out of 10) is where I should be... I don't know how many BTU's my stove has. It's just an ordinary Kenmore, but does that seem right to GraceYoung or anyone?

As always, thank you. These books are a hit at my house. Last night my husband declared that the dish was the best stir-fry I'd ever done for him. I think he has a short memory, but what I really think he meant is I'm getting better at it. And I am. He's enjoyed many of the other recipes from these books quite a bit, too.

~TDQ

[Gio]

I read recently (I wish I could remember where...a blog perhaps) that on a gas stove the smaller burner should be used instead of the larger really hot one. The heat is concentrated on the center of the wok instead of up and over the sides. G hasn't tried that yet but I wish he would. My 30 y/o wok's wooden handles are charred, though I know he does reduce the heat from time to time.

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, that is really interesting. I know exactly what you mean. I had been using the "big" burner at full heat, and lately have been turning it down a tad. But you're right, I could probably use the smaller burner at full heat. Seems so obvious, now that you've pointed it out. I will try that next time, thank you!

~TDQ

[Karen_Schaffer]

I'm using a small burner on my electric range, with a round-bottomed wok & ring, and I still think I'm overheating on high. So I'm confused when writers say that Western stoves can't achieve the high heat needed. How can you not achieve high heat yet also overheat?

[The Dairy Queen]

Strange, isn't it?

~TDQ

[graceyoung]

Karen_Shaffer Without seeing your set up it's hard for me to know. But I can't imagine putting a round-bottomed wok with a wok ring on the smallest burner on an electric range and getting sufficient heat. You'll know if your wok is hot enough by the sound when you're stir-frying. There should be a constant sizzle. It may not be crackling loud, but there should always be a hum. Do you get that stir-frying on your small burner?

[graceyoung]

It's been my experience that the larger burner is the best. I can't get enough heat with the smaller burner. If you have problems with your wooden handles charring, wrap them in aluminum foil. It's not attractive but it will prevent the wood from burning.

[Gio]

Oh... aluminum foil...! What a good idea. That's exactly what I'll do. Thank you. So, I guess we'll continue using the larger burner after all.

[graceyoung]

The wok doctor is in and is about to diagnose a wok she hasn't seen. Hmmmm....
I would say you should do the wok facial. It's a good treatment to give your wok every so often. It will give the wok a good cleaning and the oil will re-moisturize it so that you're not drying out the patina. And I guarantee you your wok will have a smoother feel but that also comes with time. The wok doctor is sensing that you're a little impatient with your wok's progress but every new wokker is. :)
If you have an ordinary Kenmore I would say your burner should be on 10. But if you're not comfortable stir-frying on such high heat I would lower it to where you're comfortable.
I'm really thrilled that your husband thinks you're cooking the best stir-fry. It gives me hope for my wok revolution!

[The Dairy Queen]

Thank you, wok doc! I think your diagnosis that I'm impatient is accurate. Impatience is core to my personality. I think I'll do the wok facial as you prescribe. I'll see if I can take a before and after photo, too!

Actually, I'm happy to allow the patina to develop over time, but what I'm most worried about is being too zealous in scrubbing it as I think I was early on.

I'll let you all know how the wok facial goes. Thanks again!

~TDQ

[graceyoung]

I'm a little alarmed to hear that you are zealous in scrubbing your wok. After cooking in my wok I always soak it in water while I'm eating. Then I use the sponge side of a Scotch Brite sponge (you know the ones that have a yellow sponge and a green scrubby side). Normally after a water soaking of about 30 minutes, the sponge wash takes off everything. I never have to zealously scrub my wok.
Anyway, let me know how the wok facial goes. I'm curious.

[The Dairy Queen]

Everyone else was alarmed that I was zealously scrubbing my wok, too, so I stopped. I was (and still am) soaking it in hot water while I ate, but afterwards I washed it using the textured side (with the criss-cross pattern) of one of these "jetscrubz"sponges because I didn't think it was that harsh, but I saw that I was getting down to the shiny carbon steel, so I stopped using the patterned side.

http://jetzscrubzusa.com/index.html

So, attached are my 1) before, 2) during, and 3) & 4) after photos of the Wok Facial Scrub on page 29 of SFTTSE.

Before I would describe the appearance as dry looking and the bottom of the wok looked mottled, but also "felt" mottled when I ran my hand across the surface. The salt scrub itself was kind of fun, though, you do (as the author warns) have to be very careful not to burn yourself. You can feel the heat coming through the layers of paper towel. You can see from the "during" photo that the salt looks almost like brown sugar by the end. The rubbing side of the paper towel was also a warm brown color. I did pay special attention to rubbing the areas that seemed to have the most texture "before."

After the wok facial scrub, the wok is still mottled looking, but it doesn't look quite as dry. And the texture feels very smooth, even though in the last photo it still looks like there's some residue when you look at the wok from an angle.

This is very easy to do and is probably much better for my wok than zealously scrubbing it with my textured sponge. Maybe it's something I'll try to do every couple of weeks or something.

Thank you!

~TDQ

[graceyoung]

TDQ I love looking at your wok facial photos. I think your wok looks much better and cleaner. I'm glad to hear you've stopped with the zealous scrubbing.
The wok doctor suggests you clean your wok after each use with the sponge wash and water. Every few weeks do the wok facial.

[The Dairy Queen]

Thank you very much for being so generous in sharing your insight with us! I am a much more confident wokker now, and we still have more than a week to go in wokking month!

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, what I notice when I turn my burner up to 10 is that suddenly all of the sauce adheres to the bottom of the wok and it feels like the food is sticking, too. That doesn't seem to happen when the heat is between 8 & 9. I'm using the "large" front burner on my gas Kenmore, not the small front burner. Again, 14'' carbon steel flat bottomed wok with helper handle.

The dish my husband loved so much from last night was Jean Yueh's Beef with Onions and Peppers. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

~TDQ

[graceyoung]

So it sounds like heat level 8-9 is the one for you. Honestly you've got to find the right fit for every wok and stove. There's no set formula.

[oakjoan]

RE: TDQ's Stir Fried Peppers: I wish I'd read down to your post before posting about Dunlop's stir-fried green/red/, etc. peppers! Now all I have to do is look it up in the book I have in the kitchen!

[graceyoung]

A new wok will look adolescent and splotchy for quite awhile. As JoanN says don't worry. There is a photo in SFSE p22-23 that shows the wok in 3 stages: newly seasoned, after 4 months of cooking, and a 2 year old-wok. What is Ming Tsai's salt scrub? Mine is on p29 of SFSE and uses a little salt and oil.

[The Dairy Queen]

Wonderful of you to drop in! I had just finished reading through the Breath of a Wok when I wrote that post--on page 56 of BOAW you mention Ming Tsai's approach to cleaning and seasoning the carbon steel woks in his restaurant with salt and a bamboo brush, but on that same page you also mention a salt method your cousin's husband taught you, presumably for home cooks. For whatever reason Ming Tsai's approach of scrubbing salt with a bamboo brush made an impression on me, the way you described it. I haven't tried it yet, though. But, I probably will try the method you describe in the sidebar on that same page as I am certain it is more appropriate for the home cook! But, now I'll have to compare it to the one on pg 29 of SFSE since you've brought it to my attention.

Thank you!

~TDQ

[graceyoung]

The Ming Tsai salt and bamboo brush is ONLY for a restaurant wok. You've got to remember that in a Chinese restaurant a wok is used to stir-fry 150 to 300 dishes a day. That means those woks have a tough patina that can take a bamboo brush. If you use a bamboo brush on a home wok you'll scratch the patina right off. In BoW I give a recipe for cleaning a sticky/rusty wok with salt but I like the salt/oil recipe for cleaning in Sky even better. If you only use salt as in BoW it cleans the wok but it also dries it out. The combo of salt and oil in Sky cleans the wok and relubricates the wok.

[JoanN]

What a great tip. I hadn't noticed the salt/oil combo in Sky. It's not often that I've used salt to clean my wok, but I have done it. Great to know there's a better way.

[Breadcrumbs]

Martin Yan’s Genghis Khan Beef – p. 91

Prep is very straightforward. A flank steak is cubed and marinated in a cornstarch, black and regular soy mixture. Meanwhile scallions and garlic are sliced and Thai bird chilies are stemmed. (Cue the sneezing!! Wow these were hot ones!) Wok is heated, a tbsp of oil added and then the meat is spread evenly in the wok ( a technique I’ve seen replicated in Young’s other recipes and which I’ve come to quite like). You let the meat sear away, undisturbed for 30 seconds then the fun begins. A quick stir-fry to brown all over then the meat is removed. In goes 1 ½ tsp more oil then the garlic and chilies get a quick sizzle ‘til fragrant (ooooh, what a lovely aroma!) Scallions, then beef join the chili-garlic mix along with a Sambal/Hoisin/Sesame oil mix for a final spin around the wok and, in less than 5 minutes after you started. . . . you’re done!! Did I mention how much I love this COTM!!!

Wow! We just loved this dish. I’ve never prepared flank steak in this manner in the past and was skeptical as to whether it would be tender with only 20 minutes of marinating. Typically I’d marinate overnight prior to grilling and slicing for service. Well, I needn’t have worried because those little cubes of beef were tender, juicy and had just the right amount of “pinkness” in the centre for our tastes. The sauce itself was gravy-like in appearance and had just the right amount of heat. So glad we tried this recipe, everyone loved it and I’ll be happy to add it to my collection of Chinese go-to recipes.

I served this with steamed Jasmine rice and, Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts with Chili Bean Sauce from p. 200 of BoaW. Review and photos of that recipe are here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7567...

[Rubee]

That looks and sounds delicous Breadcrumbs. I'm linking the recipe so I can make it later this month:
http://books.google.com/books?id=QDCf...

[blue room]

Beautiful perfect vegetables!

[sarahcooks]

That looks so good, I'll definitely have to try it!

[BigSal]

We made this for dinner tonight too and it was a hit! The sweet hoisin blended with the sambal, garlic and sesame oil make a luscious sauce. No question we will make this again.

[Breadcrumbs]

Thanks so much everyone! I'm really looking forward to re-visiting the books tonight, this time its chicken and rice dishes.

[The Dairy Queen]

We were going to try Martin Yan’s Genghis Khan Beef tomorrow night and Martin Yan's Mandarin Five-Flavored Boneless Pork Chops tonight, but when I realized it was going to take an hour of marinating and braising for the pork chops, I feared we might starve before dinner was done. So, we'll have that tomorrow night.

I had everything I needed to make the Genghis Khan Beef, except scallions. Well, I had scallions, but they were really far gone. So, unfortunately, I had to do without. But the beef was still astonishingly tender and delicious and we very much enjoyed this dish. My husband thought it needed something more, peanuts he thought, but I figure the missing "something more" was probably scallions.

We served this over brown rice and with a bacon and cabbage dish from SFTTSE which I will post about in the appropriate thread.

Quick, easy, definitely one I'd do again.

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

I haven't been feeling well (nothing serious, just a cold), so my husband is cooking dinner. He enjoyed Martin Yan’s Genghis Khan Beef so much that he's making it for dinner tonight!

~TDQ

[Breadcrumbs]

Sorry to hear you're under the weather DQ, I can certainly empathize as Mr bc & I have been battling colds for the past week . . . .naturally he's far more ill than I am though!! ; - )

Glad to hear the Beef was a hit at your house, we're definitely adding it to our rotation as well.

Bon Appetit! (not sure how to say that in Chinese!!! ; - )

[The Dairy Queen]

He called from the kitchen, "I make fun of your mise en place, but now I know why you do it!"

~TDQ