A Morning Filled With Shameless Self Promotion

John at Archy challenges me to a food meme:

Chad Orzel has a food meme up on his blog. This is the usual list style meme where you bold the items that you have experienced.

1. Venison (deer and elk) Many times. The best was a white tail from upstate New York
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare At a friend's. Diana commented, sotto voce, "But when is he going to cook the hamburger?"
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht This is getting a bad rap. Proper Borsht is good!
10. Baba ghanoush. Once Dorothy made a huge pile of french fries. I thought I had entered a fantasy dream world and swiped a hand full. Acwkk Phuooey!!!! They were eggplant, not potatoes. Put me off egg plant for most of my life.
11. Calamari Squid in Japanese is tako which is pronounced like taco. Now picture the result when an American with little Japanese visits a Japanese with more, but not a lot more, English and is asked if he would like some tako? Ever try to chew an art gum eraser?
12. Pho But I have had Yaki Soba which is similar
13. PB&J sandwich Though I prefer my PB with butter, mayo & lettuce. This disgusts non-aficionados for some reason.
14. Aloo gobi Sounds good!(video recipe)
15. Hot dog from a street cart In New York and Tokyo. Talk about diverse experiences!
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes By the front steps of the Kettering Science building at Antioch were a pair of cherry trees. The fruit was beyond tart. Even beyond sour. My house mate, Ernie, a chem major, turned them into wine which he laid down for a year. The result was exquisite -- potent, thick, dry with a fine finish -- just glorious.
19. Steamed pork buns See here and here.
20. Pistachio ice cream And root beer ice cream.
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries August in Michigan: Long, hot summer days tempered by a stand of trees textured by dapples of sunlight illuminating the low bush blueberries. Here in Washington we have wild Himalayan blackberries, so Melissa grew up browsing wild berries as I did.
23. Foie gras Poor goose.
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters When Eleanor visits she insists on visiting the oyster bar at the Rexville Store.
29. Baklava Diana & I made it for our wedding cake.
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl Homemade in both cases, and in a restaurant, and from the grocers
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar Ah, Romeo Et Juliettos! Damn the Cuban embargo!
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail As soup and braised with veg.
41. Curried goat The closest I get to goats is goat soap.
42. Whole insects Chocolate covered ants and fried grasshoppers
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk See No 41.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more Alas, no.
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut And what was all the fuss about?
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi Ah, Japanese pickles ...
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine Since that, loosely, is Irish Whiskey. But if limited to "Whiskey in the jar" then, alas, no.
60. Carob chips Yyecccch.
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads Hmmmmm. Why can't we get them any more?
63. Kaolin As Kaopectate. Fortunately medical science has moved on.
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis Talk about good! Diana will even consent to nibble a bit if a Scot in a kilt plies her with a wee dram before offering while pipes skirl.
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette Only the commercial chip which surely doesn't count.
71. Gazpacho Great antidote for a hot day.
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant Only because Michelin didn't try to rate them
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam see here.
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox One time was for the cast party of my production of Herb Gardner's "A Thousand Clowns" on Adak Alaska. Local fisherman provided the smoked salmon for our "lox" A kind Navy pilot picked up several dozen bagels on his lay over in San Francisco. But, of course, the quintessential Long Island experience is a lazy Sunday morning nosh of bagels, cream cheese, and Nova with olives and thin slices of red onion and tomato or
what have you while you plow, in a dilatory way, through the Sunday Times.
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake Rattler. Fresh caught in the San Bernardino Mountains on a sultry spring day. Sautèd in rancid safflower oil. Can't say about the snake but definitely do not recommend the oil.

(I echo John:)

That's 59; not very impressive. Items not on the original list, but that I think I deserve credit for:

101. Moose
102. Retsina Both the Greek variety and some of Ernie's Home brewed mead which got decanted into a small pine cask which mysteriously appeared one day in our house. The mead turned quite resinous.
103. Ćevapčići Much to Cotunix's disgust.
104. Postum
105. Fried halibut cheeks
106. Cracklin
107. Chapattis
108. Home brewed wine or mead Ernie made wonderful mead. Me, not so much.
109. Sour Dough Bread from my own wild capture starter
110. Three year old Mince Meat. See here.
111. Dark Fruit Cake See here.
112. Raw Chicken Breast See here
113. Pisco A Peruvian Brandy. Not so good as Fundador in my insufficient opinion, though highly prized in South America.
114. Kasutera A steamed, rather than baked, sponge cake (scroll down) made in Macao, Hong Kong and Japan since the Portuguese arrived in the sixteenth century. As Dorothy would say: very easy to eat.

What belongs on your list?

--ml

Chinese New Years IV

Chinese New Year
Part 1
Part II
Part III

In the late 90's I visited Uwajimaya's in Seattle (the old store) to re-supply for Chinese New Year's.In the produce section I saw a huddle of old woman turning over a pile of vegetables that looked like shallots crossed with a wrinkly mushroom. The sign overhead announced that these were "water potatoes." Inquiry informed me that these were the starchy roots of an aquatic plant which were a local delicacy in those parts of Guangdong where it grows in the streams and lakes. It is crunchier than a potato but more starchy than a water chestnut. We managed to sprout one and grow a handsome reedish plant. But mostly we ate them. Here is the menu for our Chinese New Year party in 2003.

Dum Luk's pot rack

Longevity Noodles

Cook a pound of noodles. Chop a quarter cup of scallions and slice several radishes. Sliver a third of a pound of salmon with a half pound of calamari. Place some of each in a bowl. Add heated Chicken stock.

These are a traditional wish for a long life. the bowl is supposed to be placed in the guest's hand as soon as they arrive -- get settled for the visit.A dozen or so people were invited so adjust the quantities accordingly. The bowl should be small. The noodles few, and the meat and vegetables less than the broth which would be about a half cup per serving. The hot stock cooks the fish or any other meat or fowl you prefer provided it is cut small and thin.

Spring Rolls

Bone a chicken breast and matchstick the meat. Thinly slice some bok choy , separating the leaves from the stalks. Matchstick three scallions. Peel and matchstick two water potatoes. Rinse a quarter cup each of sliced bamboo shoots and bean sprouts. Smash two or three ginger root slices with cleaver.
Heat oil in wok. Add ginger. Stir. Add chicken. Stir fry. Add garlic and a teaspoon of hoisin sauce. Stir. Set aside. Clean wok if needed. Heat more oil. Add vegetables. Mix all and thicken with a tablespoon of cornstarch or drain as you fill the wraps. Deep fry.

Deep frying does not require fancy equipment. If myou already have a wok put the oil in that and fry away. A modest cast iron stew pot is the preference of the French. Mainly you want a pan whose sides are tall enough to catch the majority of the spatters. A slotted spoon or long handled strainer is a great tool for removing food from the oil. A thermometer is a good idea. I set up two trays. One is lined with parchment and holds the food before frying. The second is large enough to contain a half sheet cookie rack. I line this with paper towels and set all in the oven at 'warm' or 'hold'. This receives the cooked food. Double frying is essential for French fries, but is also useful for do ahead cooking. Get your spring rolls all but done and set aside. Then a quick immersion makes them hot for guests. Spring rolls are around four inches long and so are usually served cut in three pieces. The cool dim sum way to do this is with a scissors.

Lamb Mai

Coarsely grind a pound of lamb with an onion. Finely dice two water potatoes, two tablespoons of red bell pepper. Strip and finely chop the leaves from a half dozen stalks of Chinese celery and Italian parsley. Finely slice the celery stalks.
Heat oil in a wok. Add the meat and onion mixture. Stir fry til meat is browned. Add a teaspoon of garlic and a tablespoon of oyster sauce. Stir. Add a tablespoon each of curry powder and sesame seeds. Add celery seeds. Add the vegetables except the leaves. Mix two teaspoons of corn starch in a little water. Add to wok. Stir. Add leaves, stir and remove from heat.
Using round sui mai wrappers form open topped dumplings using a teaspoon of filling each and place in oiled bamboo steamer baskets.
Steam a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes.

If you do the steaming a day before, or the morning of your party there will be less fuss at the party. You can mix the steamed stuff so that each basket contains some of each and just set ovor boiling water for about fivwe minutes to heat through and serve in the baskets. If you don't have baskets, do the same with the serving plates. Use a round lid to seal in the steam and line it with a paper towel to keep from flooding the plate with condensate.

Cha Siu Bao

Filling: Dice a pound of Cha Siu (barbecued pork) fine. Dice leek tops very fine. Combine with a half cup of Chee Hou Sauce. (a spicy hoisin sauce)
Dough: Combine two and a half cups of warm water with a like amount of flour. Add sourdough starter. (Or yeast) Set sponge to rise.
Add three cups of flour, a quarter cup of sugar and a teaspoon of salt. Mix and knead to a soft dough. Add more flour if needed. Let rise.
Cut the dough into twenty four pieces. Roll each piece out to a circle about 4" in diameter that is thicker in the middle than at the edges. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center and stretch the sides over it and pinch together to completely enclose the filling. Place this seam side down on a three inch square of parchment paper and place in steamer. Let rise a half hour. Steam for 15 minutes or until done. Pinch the dough lightly. If it relaxes it is not done. Fine cold, but easy to reheat just by steaming again for five minutes or so. You can bake these instead. I think steamed is much better. That possibly is another spring roll question, i.e.: how you had it first is the best way.

Pressed Duck

Quarter a duck. Steam two hours using the bowl in a pot method. When cool enough to handle, remove bones. Continue to cool duck under a weighted plank.
Place duck on top of a cup of water chestnut flour and steam thirty minutes.
Deep fry 'til golden. Reassemble quarters and chop into bite size diamonds.
Without disarranging, move the duck to a bed of chopped lettuce.

Sauce:

Soak a cup each of dried apricots and prunes in boiling water with two star anise overnight.
Drain. Matchstick a half cup of scallions. Lightly stir fry a half cup of almond slivers. Add the scallions and stir fry briefly. Set aside. In a sauce pan bring one half cup of rice vinegar, one half cup of sugar, and a cup of plum sauce to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Add the fruit. Two tablespoons Dum Luk's sauce, a tablespoon of pickled ginger, and some celery seed. Simmer until thick. Add the scallions and nuts. Pour over duck.

This is not the recipe Kam Lan's used. There are many varieties of this dish. The easiest way to quarter the duck is to buy it frozen and ask the meat cutter to run it through his band saw twice.

Turnip Cake

Peel and grate one and a half pounds of daikon. Put in a sauce pan with a tablespoon of peanut oil, a tablespoon of sugar, pepper and two and a quarter cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for fifteen minutes or until the daikon is tender.
Dice two Chinese sausage (lap xuong), and a half cup of shrimp. Chop three scallions — about half a cup — and some Italian parsley. Mix a half cup of corn starch in water.
Stir fry the meat. Add scallions. Add a teaspoon of rice vinegar and sugar. Add some mirin and soy sauce.
Add the parsley and corn starch to the daikon. Stir into the meat. Mix well and pour into an oiled square cake pan. Cover with foil. Steam one hour.

Rhoda Yee's recipe calls for cake flour as a thickener which she says has no substitute. Maybe so. But cake flour was not a common ingredient in south China when this cake, or pudding, was developed. Nor was corn starch as in this recipe. This year I used rice flour with good results. The water chestnut flour used in the pressed duck is also possible though harder to find. Taro starch, tapioca starch, and arrowroot are also in the running, though I haven't tried them. The quantity required will vary according to the thickening power. Also this year I did not pre-cook the turnips. They were grated and quickly stir fried in oil for about two minutes. For Chinese sausage substitute ham. I have always used fresh shrimp rather than dried because it is easier to come by. Add a cup of reconstituted shitakes chopped fine.

Kasutera

Line a covered round casserole with parchment paper. Separate four eggs. Beat whites stiff. Beat yolks light. Add 1 cup of sugar.
Add 1 tablespoon water and a teaspoon vanilla. Add 1 cup flour and a half teaspoon baking powder. Fold in egg whites and pour into casserole. Cover. Steam 30 to 35 minutes.

In the 1600's the Portuguese began infiltrating South East Asia. Like all soldiers and sailors every where they longed for home and the comforts of familiar food. In particular they longed for sponge cake made with many eggs and baked to golden exquisiteness. But there were few bake ovens in the orient. There was little wood to waste heating ovens. Instead they steamed. A grand compromise was struck and Kasutera was the result. In Japan it is packaged in wooden boxes and sold as a gift in the railway stations.

Almond Cookies

Set oven to 350° f. Grind ten almonds fine. Cream 1 cup lard with 1 cup sugar. Add one egg and one teaspoon almond extract. Add two and a half cups flour, one and a half teaspoons baking powder and a pinch of salt. Form into a roll about two inches in diameter and cut into thirty six slices. Press a whole almond into the center of each cookie. Bake about fifteen minutes until golden. Var.: Brush tops with egg yolk mixed with a tablespoon of water.

These are the classics. Do use the lard as it gives them a light, crisp texture not to be found with other fats.

This series has not even brushed the surface of the possibilities for Chinese New Years. Once you try Dim Sum, you will find reason enough to make it throughout the year.
-- ml
tags: Feast of Holidays, Chinese New Year, dim sum