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Post by Lotus Eater on May 30, 2006 0:21:50 GMT 7
The last few days here have been glorious - we could clearly SEE the mountains around town. One of my Chinese teacher mates passed an exam he had been sweating on, so to celebrate both occasions we went to the revolving restaurant on the 20th floor of a local hotel. Could see out across to the mountains, and it was a buffet - so he could eat vegetarian and the rest of us could eat whatever we wanted.
Very expensive - 48Y each - but neither of the occurrences is all that common so it was good.
Walked home stopping to watch a bingle, people playing ferocious games of chess on the footpath, a guy having his chest hair shaved and then the excess bits blow dried away in a (real) hair dressers, past a row of 'pink hairdressers', chatting to a French violin maker on the way.
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Post by mermaid56 on May 31, 2006 6:12:17 GMT 7
Mr. Nobody
I get suan la tang in the states in a "Hunan" restaurant
In Beijing suan la tang is darkish in color, has a few slivered things in it and maybe a cube of tofu or two, usually also a scrambled egg flower, not "millions of ingredients" especially not carrots, different soup.
I pour the package stuff over noodles at home (you're supposed to add your own egg), I've never seen it over noodles elsewhere.
"Your" version sounds quite tasty.
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Post by joe on May 31, 2006 9:21:05 GMT 7
Oh, my aching ass!
The totally bestest hot and sour soups come from Thailand!
Good God, the Chinese put tomato and egg in their suan la tang! Tomato!!! Egg!?
In Bangkok I had a soup! A soup! Hot and sour! A soup you would slurp a mouthful and suck air afterward! It was good soup. I'd slurp a mouthful, suck air, and say, slurp, that's good soup!
Tom Yung Gung!
Lemon grass, chilli, chicken breast, noodles, lime, vinegar, other stuff, and a spoon. Did I mention chilli? A thousand chilli seeds waited at the bottom of the bowl! It was good soup!
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Post by Lotus Eater on May 31, 2006 11:46:14 GMT 7
Pidan doufu (one of my favourites), suan yi kuang gua, scrambled eggs with sauted potato slices.
And because Duanwu jie is officially the beginning of summer, on the way back from the restaurant I bought myself a hamigua iceblock.
Nice.
Duanwu jie kuaile!
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Post by Mr Nobody on May 31, 2006 15:55:16 GMT 7
Hamigua iceblock? Sounds nice. I will ask.
Yeah, tom yum kong is great, but I wouldn't call that a hot sour soup, not the kind I am looking for. Hmm. No tomato in the one I used to get, nor the recipe I had. I got the bloody recipe from a golden cirlce chinese cookbook pamphlet thing, exactly what I used to eat in Sydney. Now, can't find either. Hunan? Maybe. We have Hunan restaurants around here. Will ask Mrs N, she will know. Maybe she knows the soup, too, but usually I confuse her when I ask about food. Too many things too similar I guess, and too many with local variations.
Yeah, just asked. She said every area has a different variation, doesn't know which one I liked. Even local cities have variations down here, in Nanning. She didn't think it was directly linked to a particular area. Hmm.
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Post by Lotus Eater on May 31, 2006 23:20:52 GMT 7
Tonight was seafood hotpot in one of the posh restaurants in town - I was invited by a Chinese friend of mine who runs an organisation. Seated next to an English translator for the Bank of England!!
Have decided that eel is a bit slippery in taste.
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Post by acjade on Jun 3, 2006 13:50:03 GMT 7
Is that a Freudian slip LE?
Today I had a thin crepe thingie with egg and spring onions and sausage and some crispy substance which was rolled up. Nice texture and quite yummy but gave me horrendus heartburn. Must have eaten it too fast as I was on my way to another class.
Anyone know what these are called?
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Post by Dragonsaver on Jun 3, 2006 14:24:25 GMT 7
Mr. N I, like you, totally LOVE hot and sour soup.  I have eaten it all across Canada and for the most part they were very similar. The hottest was in Montreal at a Sichuan Restaurant. I had passable Hot and Sour soup in Xi'an 15 years ago. The restaurant in my building makes a fairly good Hot and Sour soup. Except the last time - they put a bunch of finely chopped up cilantro in it which I HATE.  Left the bowl of soup uneaten. Haven't gone back!!  In Canada, the Chinese grocery stores have started importing a package mix for Hot and Sour Soup. It actually is very very very good. I add tofu, thinly sliced chicken, black wood ear finely sliced, dried mushroom thinly sliced and sometimes white radish. Towards the end you add the beaten egg to get the thin egg strands. It is a brown coloured soup. Quite hot, spicy. If you want I could buy a packet for you in Canada and mail it to you when I come back.  |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 3, 2006 14:40:19 GMT 7
Thanks. That would be great.
If I can get the idea across to Mrs N she no doubt knows a local restaurant where she can find what I like - but the one she described sounded like dishwater - just a soup, no lumps in it, a bit of tofu floating in it. In Guilin, they have noodles in it apparently.
Still not sure it is the same. She brought some home, and it isn't the same stuff at all. Has sugar in it, and different floaty bits. Not bad, but not what I wanted. More like sour soup.
AJ, I know the thing you ate, I think. I like it too. Mrs N said it is an indian fried bread - not what I would have thought.
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Post by Dragonsaver on Jun 3, 2006 14:45:48 GMT 7
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Post by acjade on Jun 3, 2006 14:48:59 GMT 7
AJ, I know the thing you ate, I think. I like it too. Mrs N said it is an indian fried bread - not what I would have thought. Thanks Mr. Nobody. I would appreciate Mrs N finding out the Chinese name as I want to make this albeit in a different format. The texture is fantastic but I would like other combinations of foods to try as an avant guard experimental cooking exercise. Can think of a sweet version and a savoury one and a fairly bland one that I could cook for mum that doesn't send her cholestrol or blood sugar off the richter scale. |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 3, 2006 14:49:59 GMT 7
DS, thanks. Yeah. Now I remember. I was told that before, long ago, when I made it for some Chinese friends. I am sure that's right, sichuan. I will check the links, and show them to Mrs N, and maybe I will have solved the problem. Thanks.
Hmm. Will discuss it with Mrs N. She must have misunderstood my ranting armwaving babbling. Which is why she brought home the wrong soup. That happens a lot. Food is so hard to describe. She knows too many dishes, and I know insufficient Chinese.
AJ: yin4du4 pao1bin3
means 'hindu fried pancake' or some such.
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Post by acjade on Jun 3, 2006 14:51:45 GMT 7
She knows too many dishes, and I know insufficient Chinese. But it's the sum dim of differences that makes it interesting. Right? |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 3, 2006 14:56:17 GMT 7
Yep. I get to try so many things similar to what I like before I find it, that often I find something else I like better, or something new to like.
And yes, it goes for all areas of life. I am a lucky guy.
DS, I showed her the recipe, she knows the soup, said it is common. Says while she has been pregnant, she doesn't like this flavour, though. I am not a big chinese soup fan, so she hasn't ordered it for me. (I don't like watery soups, I like them with lots of stuff in them, more like a stew) She said, oh, it is called hot sour soup. I said, yes, that is what I said a week ago. Oh, I thought you mean blah blah. That also translates into hot (temperature not chilli) sour soup.
Apparently it is my fault. But we have solved the problem. Thanks.
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Post by acjade on Jun 3, 2006 14:59:44 GMT 7
Tres true. And a nice one.  |
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 3, 2006 15:07:18 GMT 7
(Blushes prettily)
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Post by acjade on Jun 3, 2006 15:19:22 GMT 7
Mei wenti. Look after the mummy of Little Nobody. Actually having just typed this we have to come up with a new nomenclature. I am NOT addressing your darling baby as Little Nobody. |
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Post by Lotus Eater on Jun 3, 2006 15:33:42 GMT 7
I think what you may be talking about is 'jianbing'. Made on a large hotplate, crepe mix poured over the hotplate, flipped, egg broken over it, sprinkled with bits and pieces you choose, plus level of hot sauce you want, then the crispy bread stuff (bit like a brown papadam), all rolled together into a semisquare??
I used to have these for breakfast if I could be bothered to get up early enough. Yummy.
They were made by a deaf couple who would come to the uni each day on their tricycle with burner, flat hotplate, food mixes etc. They had cooperation down to a fine art with the mixing, pouring, flipping, stirring stuff. After the first time they remembered exactly how much hot sauce and chili I wanted and were quick at whipping them up. And she would hop from foot to foot doing little dances while she cooked. Cost 1Y. The taste was worth it, plus the little dances and smiles made a good start to the day.
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Post by acjade on Jun 3, 2006 16:49:42 GMT 7
Maybe, LE. These are made on campus in the uni canteens. Variations depeding on which canteen. I think Mr. Nobody has hit the nail on the head.
It's the texture which attracts me and which I yearn to adapt. Both for ma and for fun.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Jun 3, 2006 20:26:33 GMT 7
Down here they are apparently called:
yin4du4 pao1bin3
means 'hindu fried pancake' or some such.
I think some parmesan would go well on it. Yum.
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Post by Lotus Eater on Jun 4, 2006 18:05:13 GMT 7
Today had my pidan doufu with kao ji rou (roast chicken - sort of like Mum used to cook it!!), but followed that with a pop into the food market. The seasonality of food in China is great. This is the season for stone fruits and lychees. As we wandered through the market we were given tastes of cherries, apricots, lychees, grapes.
Ended up buying the giant size lychees- a bit larger than a golf ball - plus a champagne melon, baby tomatoes, and some apples. My dinner tonight - fresh fruit straight from the orchard within the last 24 hours!
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Post by Dragonsaver on Jun 4, 2006 18:13:04 GMT 7
Tuna melt. Leftover garlic toast from dinner last night. Tuna, celery, onion, cream cheese, mayo. Cheddar cheese melted on the top. Done in my toaster oven. Condiments, Pickled beets and gherkins. mm-good.  |
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Post by George61 on Jun 4, 2006 19:26:27 GMT 7
Mushrooms, chicken breasts, tomatoes, spuds...all done slowly in the rice cooker. Tres Hao che!!
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Post by acjade on Jun 4, 2006 19:31:16 GMT 7
Leftovers tonight. Cold new season potatoes with cold chicken fillets marinated in mixed herbs and lemon juice a la Greek and apple cucumber and grape salad and fresh crusty bread.
And a glass of red.
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woza17
SuperDuperBarfly! 
Posts: 2,203
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Post by woza17 on Jun 4, 2006 20:23:47 GMT 7
Dinner tonight, saltine crackers and a can of beer. Nine hour day but I made a couple of tuna and salad french folls for me and my son for lunch between classes the Chinese staff were actually drooling over them as they ate their takeaway from their polystyrene containers.
In class today we weere talking about Italy and I asked the student if she liked Italian food? No. Have you ever had Italian food? No. Then how in the bloody hell do you know if you like it or don't like it?
Even the other students caught my frustration . I am so over the attitude of the Chinese towards their food.
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