Current Category: Far-East (9 entries)
Posted by Trudi on July 12, 2006
In Chinese, Wonton literally means “swallowing clouds”. This may have to do with its irregular shaped pasta skin. The filling is traditionally made of minced meat, diced shrimp and small bits of vegetable, typically onion although there are numerous variations in the filling and the proportion of meat/vegetable used also tends to vary depending on which part of the world you are in.
Wonton is similar to other filled pasta such as Italian ravioli, Jewish kreplach, Swabian maultaschen, Turkish manti, Korean mandu or Japanese gyoza. The deep fried variety of Wonton is more popular in America and Europe than in Asia. In Hong Kong, noodles in wonton soup is definitely the people’s choice in the local café.
One thing that distinguishes wonton from other filled pasta is its ultra thin lye-water pastry wrapper. The 4”x4” wrapper (shown at the back of this picture) adds the needed smoothness to the skin so that boiled wonton is easier swallowed than chewed. Many restaurants, however, substitutes the ultra thin wrapper with the larger and thicker spring roll wrapper which is less expensive and easier to use.
Posted by Trudi on July 11, 2006
Tofu (Bean Curd) has a wide variety of byproducts which are often used in Chinese cuisine. It is an indispensible ingredients in traditional Buddhist or Taoist vegetarian dishes. One of the popular byproducts is tofu skin (腐皮 in Chinese or Yuba in Japanese) (the brownish sheet shown in the front of the picture). When it is bunched up to stick form, it is known as “tofu bamboo” (腐竹). Due to their rubbery texture, tofu skin and tofu bamboo are used to imitate meat in vegetarian cuisine.
Although no one knows for sure when tofu was first consumed as a food item or where it was originated, its consumption began as early as in 2nd century BC in China based on established history.
Tofu has a high nutritional value and is considered a good source of nourishment. It is low in calories, contains beneficial amounts of iron (especially important for women of child bearing age) and has no cholesterol. Many of its varieties are also high in calcium and magnesium.
Tofu is relatively high in protein, about 10.7% for firm tofu and 5.3% for soft “silken” tofu with a neglible amount of fat.
Posted by Trudi on July 15, 2006
Chinese Parsely (Cilantro) must be one of the most hated and loved food herbs - there is no middle ground. It is widely used in Mexican, Caribbean and Asian cooking and has become popular in most metropolitan areas in the States. In S America and in SE Asia, it is used in everything from salsas and salads to burritos or meat dishes. It is indispensible in the Chinese steamed fish - a must-have dish in any upscale restaurants in southern China. In Thailand, they even stuff it into a Hamburger. Western Europe is probably the only place where Cilantro is generally not very well received.
The Chinese bellieve that Cilantro will increase potency and its usage was dated several thousands years’ ago. The book of Arabian nights which is over a thousand year” old also has a story about the aphrodisiac qualities of Cilantro. These notions may not hold any scientific ground but one thing for sure is that Cilantro does have a quality to stimulate the digestive system and is a proven appetite stimulant.
Posted by Trudi on July 24, 2006
There is quite a number of recipes for Drunken Chicken. The beer-can version seems to be a popular choice for BBQ. Although people in other parts of the world will tend to argue which brand of beer is best suited for the grilled bird, we do not have to bother ourselves with this on-going debate – there is only one choice in Ireland.
The real Drunken Chicken dish (also commonly called Drunken Empress Chicken 貴妃醉雞 or Drunken Poet Li Bo Chicken 太白醉雞 in Chinese Cuisine) has over a thousand years of history. It is made not with beer but with a special Chinese Shao Hsing Hua Tiao wine - a dry sherry would be a close modern day alternative if you cannot find Hua Tiao in your local supermarket (Shao Hsing Hua Tiao wine should be served warm similar to warm Japanese sake). For me, a warm bottle of Hua Tiao is as good as a bottle of Remy Martin LouisXIII. Do try it and it goes very well with any types of meat dishes. It uses broiler but not fryer chicken. In fact, grilled or fried chicken will spoil the main appeal of Drunken Chicken which is its transparent and crispy skin.
Being one of the few cold dishes in Chinese cuisine coupled with its romantic association with a drunken empress and one of the two most revered poets in Chinese history, Drunken Chicken should be a must-have in your next visit to a Chinese restaurant.
Posted by Trudi on July 25, 2006
‘Puff Tea’ or “White Hair Oolong” is one of the most highly rated tea in the world. It is mainly produced in Hsin Tzu County in the north western part of Taiwan.
A delicate beverage characterized by its fruity and floral aroma - a result of green leaf cicadas sucking on the tea leaves before they are harvested and fermented. As the infection only happens in a short period during the year, its harvest has to be well timed and handpicked. Supplies of top graded ‘White Hair Oolong” are limited.
The tea has a reputation lasting over a hundred years after it was first introduced to Europe. The Queen of England loved it so much that she named it “Oriental Beauty Tea”. And it has won numerous prizes ever since in all major food exhibitions around the world.
Posted by Trudi on July 25, 2006
Although this is not strictly about food, it is equally delicious.
Flickr API facilitates the use of a set of callable methods to make requests and to receive corresponding formatted responses from its fantanstic photo archive. There is a good number of open-source applications making use of the Flickr API to enhance our browsing experience.
The above thumbnails are made using phpFlickr - a wrapper for the API translating the Flickr response XML into some meaningful data.
There are some very useful documentation in Flickr Services and Yahoo’s UI library if you are interested to develop your own Flickr tool or you may try out some of the cool stuff in the 3rd party application list in Flickr.
We have made two simple pages for your enjoyment:
Posted by Trudi on August 17, 2006
Mantou and wheat noodles are the mainstay of the Northern Chinese diet (as compared to rice in the southern Chinese provinces). It is made with milled wheat flour has a soft and fluffy texture. Mantou is very similar to white bread and is typically eaten by dipping into condensed milk. Both steamed and deep-fried mantou are available in many Chinese resturants although the former seems to be more popular.
Mantou is also a common diet in Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan.
