Chinese food

Gunna

I have half a bag of prawn in the freezer so have decided ot get some spring onions and make my favouriteshrimp/prawn egg foo yung mmmm can't wait.

misskool

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Misskool and siaoeh - no disrespect, but no criticism please. Kwai has gone to a lot of trouble. If you have good recipes post them - Kwai haas stuck his neck out - you do so too, post some recipes. I am sure if I was to post a recipe for Fish and chips or Shepherd's pie hundreds of people would be saying no you don't do it like that you do it like this!!

Apologies but I was pointing out what he's mentioned isn't actually correct.Of course, it's wonderful he's started the thread but not everything should be taken as gospel

Hot and sour soup is traditionally from the Szechuan province in China and made in a completely different style from his version.

When I make hot and sour soup, I use bbq pork (char siu) and prawns with rice vinegar and preserved turnip (the crunchy ones). I add tofu, vegetables and whatever else is lying around and season to my taste.

Tom yum soup is from Thailand and should be made with lots of fresh seafood, coriander, holy basil, galangal, lemongrass and seasoned with fish sauce and lime juice. I cook based on what I remember things taste like, hence why there aren't proper recipes.

misskool

siaoeh wrote: »

I'm not sure what kwai's numbers mean, though I only use the normal Kikoman soy sauce myself. its one of the few brands that are naturally brewed and not having E numbers and flavourings added to it. Look at the ingredients list and if you see anything other than water, soy beans, wheat and salt I would suggest you leave it. If its dark soy sauce you are looking for, which is thicker, darker in colour, slightly sweet and less salty then the ingredients should only say water, soy beans, sugar, salt and wheat. one example is the Pearl River Bridge superior dark soy sauce

Pearl River soy sauce I only ever use light soy sauce, very rarely only use dark soy sauces for stewing pork trotters or belly with ginger, vinegar and spices.

There's a really dark soy sauce from Indonesia called kecap manis which is absolutely lush in noodles

siaoeh

misskool wrote: »

Pearl River soy sauce I only ever use light soy sauce, very rarely only use dark soy sauces for stewing pork trotters or belly with ginger, vinegar and spices.

There's a really dark soy sauce from Indonesia called kecap manis which is absolutely lush in noodles

I love kecap manis!! dark sticky and sweet. its lovely in fried rice too, nasi goreng style or drizzled over just about anything.

dark soy sauce stewed pork trotters/belly with giner and vinegar... yum... I love those :T

pink_princess

You s have me intrigued about the numbers now.I ll be going for a stock up this weekend as im running low of a few things,i ll take a pen and write down the names and types of the soy sauces that go with the nimbers.That way perhaps you s can advise which is best in which meals.
I cook a lot of chinese and asian foods and would love to get better at them and more authentic (within budget of course:D).
If anybody knows indonesian food well,can i trouble you for a traditional bakso recipie.I ve tried to make it myself once and it was tasteless compared to the one i tried in a restaurant.
PP

Gunna

I have always used kikkoman as i like the flavour, if i need a dark soy sauce i wouldn't have a clue but now at least i know what ingredients "should" be in it and what are crap lol, thanks.

jonny2510

siaoeh wrote: »

I did mention in my post about satay that if anyone is interested in the proper Malaysian/Singaporean type satay recipe to let me know and I'll go and dig up the exact proportions of spices for the marinade.

Is this a spicy type dish you'd serve with rice? If so I'd certainly be really interested

Our local takeaway does a Chicken Satay that's really hot - I love it! Unfortunately I've tried Satay's at various other takeaways/restaurants, and no-where else tastes anything like it.

I'd love to be able to make it (or something similar) myself.

Also if anyone fancies posting a "traditional" recipe that is really spicy (the hotter the better) I'd also be very interested.

Many thanks in advance

kwaichi

A NOTE ABOUT SOY SAUCE

Growing up in a restaurant kitchen - one of the rules of the wok was to use light soy sauce for cooking at the start and to splash some dark soy sauce at to finish the dish before serving to add colour. As I couldn't read chinese and with the bottles available with no english text - I could tell which was which by doing a simple test. Simply turn the bottle upside down and back up again and the light soy will turn clear very quickly whilst the dark will stick to the glass/plastic. The brand used at the time and still the most popular amongst chinese chefs is the Pearl River Bridge superior soy sauce brand. In any of the recipes I post you can use the Pearl River Bridge light soy sauce during any marinading and cooking processes whilst finishing with the dark soy version at the end of recipes to taste. Dark soy is also the type you will find on tables for the customer to alter the taste. This is because dark soy is less salty and there is less margin to oversalt the flavour.

As an adult I have been lucky enough to have travelled the world - much of the time just to try out some of the best restaurants and their cuisine. Food is one of my biggest passions and the only reason why I have not opened up my own kitchen is because of the long hours involved and the detriment to life as a result. I have experienced this as a son of a chef and don't really want to repeat the cycle. Whereas my father and many other chefs have lost the passion for food, my interest has intensified and as a result I experiment a lot more and my palate has become more sensitive.

As well as a lot of fusion and western cuisine I still cook and reimagine Asian dishes and I now prefer the sweeter taste of well made Japanese soy sauce in my Asian cooking rather than the harsher and artificially salty taste of Chinese soy sauces like the Pearl River Bridge range (colouring and potentially carsonagenic chemicals are used in the process too as confirmed by the Food standards agency). The Japanese soy sauce I use are sweeter due to the addition of wheat and have a sherry like flavour due to the addition of alcohol as part of the fermentation process. The production is also far more sophisticated than the production of Chinese brands. This does also mean that they are a lot more expensive.

In many of the recipes I have posted I have been specific to which Kikoman soy sauce to buy. As the sauces are imported, they are all in Japanese and I don't have a Japanese keyboard and most of you can't read Japanese (I apologise if most of you can). There is only one more reference so that you can purchase the same soy sauce that I use and that is the Kikoman number.

Here's a reference for you about my favourite soy sauces:

Kikoman C00036 Reduced Soy Sauce (Gen-en Marudaizu Shoyu)
Kikoman C00039 Soy Sauce (Shoyu)
Kikoman C00044 Organic non alcoholic premium Soy Sauce (Tokusen Yuuki Shoyu)
Yamasa Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce (The whole bottle is in English)

I tend to use the Yamasa soy sauce only occasionally when I want a really strong salty & alcoholic flavour like when I'm cooking a salty fish dish.


There are other varieties of Soy Sauce too, here are a few off the top of my head:

Kecap Manis is a really thick and treacle like soy sauce due to the high content of palm sugar. I prefer not to use these at all as i wake up with a guaranteed headache the next day (maybe an allergy ).
Kicap Lemak is like Kecap Manis but with less sugar content
Shiro is a high wheat, low soybean soy sauce which makes it really sweet and great for sashimi (raw fish sushi without the rice). It's odd that most sushi restaurants here don't have this available. Keep it fridged after opening or it will go off pretty quickly.

kwaichi

A NOTE ABOUT FIRES IN THE KITCHEN

One thing that a lot of people experience when cooking with a hot wok and hot oil is a fire when using gas. It's very scary the first time you experience this but if you're prepared you'll be fine. Don't be put off by turning up the heat as it makes the dish. Unlike a deep fat fryer filled with hot oil, the amount of oil in a wok is relatively low and can easily be put out.

Fires breed because there is oxygen present to help it grow. All you have to do is simply starve it of air by throwing in something dryish and large enough to smother.

Here's a few ideas to keep at hand:
The next thing you are going to throw into the wok eg. noodles, cornstarch coated meat.
Some plain flour to dust.
Some plain boiled rice.

You can also move the oil around the pan to burn off the oil quicker.
If all else fails turn off the gas and keep a fire blanket nearby or a phone to call the fire brigade :rolleyes:.

Pretani

kwaichi, you truly are a star. Thanks so much:staradmin

I've heard that originally chicken feet were used to make gravy, is this true?

have you considered setting up a Chinese cookery school, I think you'd be a success?