On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:00:16 -0500, ian wrote:

blake murphy wrote:
On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:03:25 -0500, ian wrote:

blake murphy wrote:
On Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:03:54 -0600, Steve Wertz
wrote:

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:45:36 GMT, blake murphy wrote:

since i just got a used copy 'the people's republic of china
cookbook,' and i know some folks here cook from it, i was wondering if
you have the name of a good brand of 'brown bean sauce.'
Koon Chun brand:
http://www.koonchun.com.hk/product_s...tml#seasoning2

The "Bean Sauce" has chunks in it, the "Ground Bean Sauce"
doesn't. Both are the same, just different textures. Several
"experts" recommend the bean sauces made from broad beans, but I
can't find any made with broad beans, just soy.

for that matter, since i'm going to store, how about hot bean and
sweet bean pastes?
I had a hell of a time finding a good, basic, unadulterated
Sichuan-style hot bean sauce. I finally settled on Kim Lan,
which I found at a Mexican grocer of all places. This one may be
a little harder to find.

Here's pictures of both. Also posted to alt.binaries.food under
title "Bean Sauces".

http://i16.tinypic.com/2qlflgz.jpg

-sw
koon chun i know i've seen, not sure about kim lau.

just for reference, what i've been using is szechuan brand, both hot
and sweet bean pastes, from taiwan, in little cans. my boy robert
delfs in 'the good food of szechuan' (1977) says to stay away from
these but i don't find them all that bad - but was curious as to what
others use.

thanks, steve.

your pal,
blake
Hi Bake -

I saw a copy of this book at a book sale yesterday, and was very
interested in it, but the copy was just too dirty to buy. Is it a good
book - should I be keeping a look out for it?

Funny coincidence to see it mentioned here the next day - I never heard
of it before.

Thanks,

Ian

i haven't yet cooked from mine. she (?) divides china into north,
east, southeast and southwest quadrants, and divides the recipes that
way also. i looked mostly at the szechuan stuff (southwest by her
taxonomy, and the spicing as given seems on the not-too-hot side (say
a tsp. vs. a tbl hot been paste, etc. the book does say 'adapted for
the american kitchen' not 'to the american taste,' so hard to say.
others here have recommended it though (i think).

i got mine, used, he

http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-Republic-China-Cookbook/dp/0394733800/ref=sr_1_1/102-1892494-4483316?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174241413&sr=1-1

for about five bucks, incl. shipping. no gravy stains that i can see.

your pal,
blake



Hi Blake -

I'm sorry, I just wasn't very clear. I was asking about the Robert Delfs
book 'the good food of szechuan' (1977).

I have the 'Peoples' book too, and have liked several recipes from it.

Thanks,

Ian

oh! well, let's just say that *my* copy is stained in several places.
i like it very much. i think when i bought it there weren't szechuan
joints on every corner, so it was very useful. there's a basic pork
with vegetables stir-fry recipe that i use all the time. dry-fried
beef with celery and carrots is very good too.

amazon has a few used copies also, at a good price:

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Food-Szechwan-Robert-Delfs/dp/0870112317/ref=sr_1_4/002-9824231-8583202?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174321869&sr=8-4

ian, i can't remember if you're in the united states or not, but you
could probably get someone to accommodate you.

it's definitely worth having.

your pal,
blake