ASIAN INGREDIENT GLOSSARY - maybe more Asian food info

[alkapal]

This is a nice glossary with graphics or photos that pop up as you scroll over the name.

http://ediblyasian.info/

If you have any other food glossaries for Asian food, please add a link to this thread, if you don't mind. I thought that I had posted a glossary a while ago (perhaps of Indian ingredients), but couldn't find anything in my search on this Home Cooking board….

[alkapal]

here is a good "bun" primer (vietnamese rice noodles):

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2009/04/vietnamese-noodles-101-bun-rice-noodles.html#

i love the fresh rice noodles -- in all forms……

here is more info on the various fresh and dried rice noodles:

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/...

[alkapal]

english, HINDI, TAMIL, MALAY NAMES for veggies: http://www.tamilcube.com/res/indian_v...

similar lists for fruits, spices, herbs at same site….

[pine time]

Ladies finger: first time I told Mr. Pine I was making a dessert with ladies fingers, he visibly paled (hard for a south Indian), 'cause he thought was I getting too creative and making dessert with okra!

[qianning]

LOL!

[alkapal]

miso miso miso

http://www.justhungry.com/handbook/ju...

[alkapal]

glossary of asian veggies -- with their names in different languages. thanks to lucky fatima for the link.
http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/agriculture...

[pine time]

Love this, thanks! I ask Mr. Pine (Indian) what the Hindi name is for xyz and he looks at me blankly. Comes from having an aaya, I guess, who did all the cooking.

[alkapal]

this is slightly OT, but i thought you'd find it interesting. it is a description of how vietnamese soups bun bo hue and pho differ. there are photos and recipes, and some description of ingredients that i found helpful. http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/2008/06/bun-bo-hue-vietnamese-hue-style-beef.html

i liked this, too -- discussing some of the sauces: http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.c...

[qianning]

now i know why i always order bun bo hue and not pho....very diffrent flavor profiles....maybe someday i'll actually try making it myself....

[alkapal]

here is a recipe, qianning http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2011...

[qianning]

Thanks!

[Gio]

Strictly Thai glossary...
http://www.realthairecipes.com/glossary/

[alkapal]

whoa -- look at this google search return! LOL http://www.google.com/search?client=s...

[HillJ]

ha, pay dirt...even with a slight typo. Gotta love G.

[Gio]

Chinese pantry items with photos.

http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/...

[alkapal]

oh! good one, gio!

[alkapal]

OK, this is not a glossary of ingredients, but some dim sum terms: http://www.nierstrasz.org/Recipes/dim...

anyhow, i've been searching for the thai dish that is on a local thai menu --actually several. they spell it hae keun, but it may be spelled har kuen or har guen. it is the tofu skin wrapped around a minced shrimp and water chestnut mixture. (i think this may be similar to the thai app that someone was seeking on another thread -- the one with ground pork and shrimp). anyhow…i've been all over many asian recipe sites.

i HAVE figured out that the kuen (or guen) means "roll," and har ("hae") is shrimp. big deal…this info ain't getting me to many recipes for the item….

[qianning]

try the spelling "hae koon". here's one take on the recipe:

http://recipes.wuzzle.org/index.php/9...

In her book, Julie Brennan mentions that these are usually made with dried tofu skin that is rehydrated, cut into wrappers, stuffed and then steamed, but she opts for using spring roll wrappers 'cause it is easier.

Alos, there are plenty of minced shrimp/prawn & pork with water chestnut/jimcama recipes out there....Reall Thai, Cracking the Coconut & Thai Food each have a version, most of which look like they'd work as roll filling.

[alkapal]

thank you qianning and joan N, those are really helpful links and information. i know it seems a pretty generic kind of recipe with many variations, but it intrigued me. ;-). i've never worked with the dried tofu skins….

[JoanN]

How about "hae kün" (Prawn Rolls)? I see a Thai recipe by that name in Charmaine Solomon's The Complete Asian Cookbook that calls for chopped prawns wrapped in dried bean curd skin. No water chestnuts. In fact, no crunchy factor at all in the filling. But no reason it couldn't be added.

[qianning]

Take a look (you'll need to scoll ALL the way to the end) also at this link:

http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatinga...

The dish you are describing, I'm pretty sure, has its roots in the hokkien/nonya/oversas-Chinese cooking of Thailand and Malaysia, so so you might want to check out some of the Malaysian cookiing sites.

[qianning]

and for some background on this type of roll and a recipe of the Malaysian-Chinese version, take a look at this:

http://rasamalaysia.com/ngoh-hiang-re...

[JoanN]

Oh man! Do those sound spectacular. Thanks for finding it.

[alkapal]

yes, qianning is a really good sleuth and an avid, knowledgeable asian cook!

[qianning]

Blushing here, thank you both.

Meanwhile, I've never made these, but from restaurant & street stall experience, it all comes down to the right pork and the right frying....done well they are delish, done poorly, the definition of bad grease.

And FWIW, tofu skin is a quintessentially Fujianese/Hokkienese/Taiwanese ingredient. Seeing it in a recipe just screams Southeast China or the Overseas-Chinese who set off from there.

[thew]

kung, or gung is shrimp in thai.....

[alkapal]

okey dokey. what is it in chinese? as in, what does kung pao chicken mean?

[thew]

wiki sez:
Kung Pao chicken (宫保鸡丁, pinyin gōng bǎo jī dīng; also spelled Kung Bao chicken, Gung Po chicken or Kung Po chicken in English) is a classic dish in Sichuan cuisine, originating in the Sichuan Province of central-western China. Allegedly, the dish is named after Ding Baozhen (1820–1886), a late Qing Dynasty official. Born in Guizhou, Ding served as head of Shandong province and later as governor of Sichuan province. His title was Gōng Bǎo (宮保), or palatial guardian.[1] The name "Kung Pao" chicken is derived from this title.
During the Cultural Revolution, the dish was labeled as politically incorrect because of its association with Ding Baozhen. The dish was renamed "fast-fried chicken cubes" (hong bao ji ding) or "chicken cubes with seared chiles" (hu la ji ding) until its political rehabilitation in the 1980s.[2]

[HillJ]

http://www.asiarecipe.com/indgloss.html
The site can get a little wonky with pop ups but the information is solid.

[alkapal]

yes, HillJ, that is an excellent link. i had posted that before somewhere, but i'm so glad that you found it and posted it here. it is so far-ranging, too!