I really like fried chinese crullers, so far really just eating them
plain.
I've heard that they make a good breakfast in combination with soy
milk and seasonings, but so far the most definitive set of
instructions I've seen was in a gardenweb.com post which has since
dissappeared (that's one advantage of usenet, posts don't arbitrarily
"time out" at a sysadmin's whim). At the time, I had the strong
impression that the person who wrote the instructions was making it up
as she went along - pulling it out of an orifice, so to speak.
(Someone on the web site asked about how to prepare cruller w/
soymilk, and the respondent started off with words to this effect: "I
don't really know what you're talking about, but I'm guessing it goes
something like this...")

So, anyone with info on "what to do", ie. how to work the magic
combination of cruller and soymilk, and what if any additional
seasonings to add and when, please speak up! :-)

Best - krnntp

"KR" wrote in message
om...
I really like fried chinese crullers, so far really just eating them
plain.


I call them yóu tiáo, even in English. I don't even know what a "cruller"
is. Sounds like they live in a stream or something.


I've heard that they make a good breakfast in combination with soy
milk and seasonings, but so far the most definitive set of
instructions I've seen was in a gardenweb.com post which has since
dissappeared (that's one advantage of usenet, posts don't arbitrarily
"time out" at a sysadmin's whim). At the time, I had the strong
impression that the person who wrote the instructions was making it up
as she went along - pulling it out of an orifice, so to speak.
(Someone on the web site asked about how to prepare cruller w/
soymilk, and the respondent started off with words to this effect: "I
don't really know what you're talking about, but I'm guessing it goes
something like this...")

So, anyone with info on "what to do", ie. how to work the magic
combination of cruller and soymilk, and what if any additional
seasonings to add and when, please speak up! :-)


Yan-Kit So has a recipe for it in her _Classic Food of China_.

She says make soy milk as usual, except use a bit less water when blending
it with the soaked beans (2 cups water to 1 cup soaked beans) to get a
thicker soy milk. Then simply season with salt, soy sauce, chopped dried
shrimp, rice vinegar, chopped scallions and hot chili oil. (For each cup of
milk, use 1/8 tsp salt, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp chopped
dried shrimp, and 1 tsp chopped scallions.) She doesn't mention you tiao,
so I'm not sure if those seasonings are the perfect match, but it sounds
good!

You tiao are great with zhou (rice congee) too, btw.

Peter

"KR" wrote in message
om...
I really like fried chinese crullers, so far really just eating them
plain.


I call them yóu tiáo, even in English. I don't even know what a "cruller"
is. Sounds like they live in a stream or something.


I've heard that they make a good breakfast in combination with soy
milk and seasonings, but so far the most definitive set of
instructions I've seen was in a gardenweb.com post which has since
dissappeared (that's one advantage of usenet, posts don't arbitrarily
"time out" at a sysadmin's whim). At the time, I had the strong
impression that the person who wrote the instructions was making it up
as she went along - pulling it out of an orifice, so to speak.
(Someone on the web site asked about how to prepare cruller w/
soymilk, and the respondent started off with words to this effect: "I
don't really know what you're talking about, but I'm guessing it goes
something like this...")

So, anyone with info on "what to do", ie. how to work the magic
combination of cruller and soymilk, and what if any additional
seasonings to add and when, please speak up! :-)


Yan-Kit So has a recipe for it in her _Classic Food of China_.

She says make soy milk as usual, except use a bit less water when blending
it with the soaked beans (2 cups water to 1 cup soaked beans) to get a
thicker soy milk. Then simply season with salt, soy sauce, chopped dried
shrimp, rice vinegar, chopped scallions and hot chili oil. (For each cup of
milk, use 1/8 tsp salt, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp chopped
dried shrimp, and 1 tsp chopped scallions.) She doesn't mention you tiao,
so I'm not sure if those seasonings are the perfect match, but it sounds
good!

You tiao are great with zhou (rice congee) too, btw.

Peter

Hi krnntp,

I don't understand either... i assume you mean eating ready fried
crullers/YaoCharKwai with soya milk & seasonings? well i've never heard of
it eaten like that before. But i guess to each his/her own. Traditionally
crullers/YaoCharKwai are eaten with congee/Jook/rice porridge etc. or even
cut up & put into salads(rojak) in Malaysia, or as a filling in Chinese
dimsum (cheongfun) etc.

If on the other hand you meant making crullers/YaoCharKwai using soya milk &
seasoning etc.. i guess it might work. It'll be replacing water with soya
milk in the dough mixture etc. But i seem to recall a posting here by a
regular (steve maybe? or someone else) a few years ago warning that eating
too much of it ain't good as it contains some 'metallic based mineral' used
as the rising agent or something in the dough. I only eat it occasionally.

Hmmm... eating crullers/YaoCharKwai + soya milk.. doesn't that sound like
rice crispies & milk kind of meal ; ) maybe that's what she was reffering
too. Ohh... hang on, OK krnntp, this isn't going to help but when we're in
Spain, we always like going out to the street corners looking for the old
Churros vendor. This is Spain's version of deep fried dough stick snack &
usually eaten at breakfast. OK first of all it's a little smaller &
sometimes it's shaped like... a horse shoe but with the 2 ends brought
together. After frying, it is either sprinkle over with sugar or you dunk it
into 'artificially' thicken hot chocolate. I don't know what they do to the
chocolate but it's extremely thick, maybe they add flour or cornflour etc. I
don't really like it so we just dunk it in our coffee like many others. Hope
this helps... or not. By the way.. in Spain, people drink something called
Horchata made from tiger nuts/chufas & is very similar to soya milk. Do a
google search on Churros & Horchata if you want to find out more.

DC.



"KR" wrote in message
om...
I really like fried chinese crullers, so far really just eating them
plain.
I've heard that they make a good breakfast in combination with soy
milk and seasonings, but so far the most definitive set of
instructions I've seen was in a gardenweb.com post which has since
dissappeared (that's one advantage of usenet, posts don't arbitrarily
"time out" at a sysadmin's whim). At the time, I had the strong
impression that the person who wrote the instructions was making it up
as she went along - pulling it out of an orifice, so to speak.
(Someone on the web site asked about how to prepare cruller w/
soymilk, and the respondent started off with words to this effect: "I
don't really know what you're talking about, but I'm guessing it goes
something like this...")

So, anyone with info on "what to do", ie. how to work the magic
combination of cruller and soymilk, and what if any additional
seasonings to add and when, please speak up! :-)

Best - krnntp

"DC." wrote in message
...
Hi krnntp,

I don't understand either... i assume you mean eating ready fried
crullers/YaoCharKwai with soya milk & seasonings? well i've never heard of
it eaten like that before. But i guess to each his/her own.


You tiao are eaten with savory soy milk, though. I didn't mention it
because I haven't personally seen it, but I've heard of it. It's a Northern
thing, I believe. I recall my sis mentioning it. Also, my Taiwanese
Wei-Chuan cookbook, _Chinese Snacks_, includes it, now that I looked. It
has a picture too. It says:

Place the cripsy Chinese crullers [crullers!], dried shrimp, Sichuan pickled
mustard greens, green onions, coriander, pork sung [drid pork floss],
vinegar, chili oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt in medium size bowl.
Pour the boil [sic] soybean milk injto the bowl and serve.

Peter

PS. I need to find another Taiwanese (or PRC) girlfriend again--it'd make
things so much more easier... Wouldn't have to call my sis to ask about such
things.

"DC." wrote in message
...
Hi krnntp,

I don't understand either... i assume you mean eating ready fried
crullers/YaoCharKwai with soya milk & seasonings? well i've never heard of
it eaten like that before. But i guess to each his/her own.


You tiao are eaten with savory soy milk, though. I didn't mention it
because I haven't personally seen it, but I've heard of it. It's a Northern
thing, I believe. I recall my sis mentioning it. Also, my Taiwanese
Wei-Chuan cookbook, _Chinese Snacks_, includes it, now that I looked. It
has a picture too. It says:

Place the cripsy Chinese crullers [crullers!], dried shrimp, Sichuan pickled
mustard greens, green onions, coriander, pork sung [drid pork floss],
vinegar, chili oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt in medium size bowl.
Pour the boil [sic] soybean milk injto the bowl and serve.

Peter

PS. I need to find another Taiwanese (or PRC) girlfriend again--it'd make
things so much more easier... Wouldn't have to call my sis to ask about such
things.

thanks Peter, i never knew about You-tiao(mandarin for crullers) being eaten
like you say... Ah Hell, i'm a southern boy from the backwaters... what do i
know LOL. I second that about getting youself a Tawainese girlfriend or
maybe someone from Shanghai, i hear they have even better cuisine there!
Funny thing though... i've always associated soya milk to be sweet & even a
dessert as in TaoFuFa(Cantonese) or DouFuHwa(Mandarin) but having it savoury
with chilli oil etc... hmmm, i might have to go try it as i've got some pork
floss to get rid off. Thanks Pete!

DC.



"Peter Dy" wrote in message
m...

"DC." wrote in message
...
Hi krnntp,

I don't understand either... i assume you mean eating ready fried
crullers/YaoCharKwai with soya milk & seasonings? well i've never heard
of
it eaten like that before. But i guess to each his/her own.


You tiao are eaten with savory soy milk, though. I didn't mention it
because I haven't personally seen it, but I've heard of it. It's a
Northern
thing, I believe. I recall my sis mentioning it. Also, my Taiwanese
Wei-Chuan cookbook, _Chinese Snacks_, includes it, now that I looked. It
has a picture too. It says:

Place the cripsy Chinese crullers [crullers!], dried shrimp, Sichuan
pickled
mustard greens, green onions, coriander, pork sung [drid pork floss],
vinegar, chili oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt in medium size bowl.
Pour the boil [sic] soybean milk injto the bowl and serve.

Peter

PS. I need to find another Taiwanese (or PRC) girlfriend again--it'd make
things so much more easier... Wouldn't have to call my sis to ask about
such
things.

Here's a recipe one of my fellow NG'ers from the UK Chinese food found -
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/blrecipe215.htm

hope this helps... & thanks for highlighting this interesting dish.

DC.



"KR" wrote in message
om...
I really like fried chinese crullers, so far really just eating them
plain.
I've heard that they make a good breakfast in combination with soy
milk and seasonings, but so far the most definitive set of
instructions I've seen was in a gardenweb.com post which has since
dissappeared (that's one advantage of usenet, posts don't arbitrarily
"time out" at a sysadmin's whim). At the time, I had the strong
impression that the person who wrote the instructions was making it up
as she went along - pulling it out of an orifice, so to speak.
(Someone on the web site asked about how to prepare cruller w/
soymilk, and the respondent started off with words to this effect: "I
don't really know what you're talking about, but I'm guessing it goes
something like this...")

So, anyone with info on "what to do", ie. how to work the magic
combination of cruller and soymilk, and what if any additional
seasonings to add and when, please speak up! :-)

Best - krnntp

Here's a recipe one of my fellow NG'ers from the UK Chinese food found -
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/blrecipe215.htm

hope this helps... & thanks for highlighting this interesting dish.

DC.



"KR" wrote in message
om...
I really like fried chinese crullers, so far really just eating them
plain.
I've heard that they make a good breakfast in combination with soy
milk and seasonings, but so far the most definitive set of
instructions I've seen was in a gardenweb.com post which has since
dissappeared (that's one advantage of usenet, posts don't arbitrarily
"time out" at a sysadmin's whim). At the time, I had the strong
impression that the person who wrote the instructions was making it up
as she went along - pulling it out of an orifice, so to speak.
(Someone on the web site asked about how to prepare cruller w/
soymilk, and the respondent started off with words to this effect: "I
don't really know what you're talking about, but I'm guessing it goes
something like this...")

So, anyone with info on "what to do", ie. how to work the magic
combination of cruller and soymilk, and what if any additional
seasonings to add and when, please speak up! :-)

Best - krnntp

"DC." wrote in message
...
OK krnntp, this isn't going to help but when we're in
Spain, we always like going out to the street corners looking for the old
Churros vendor. This is Spain's version of deep fried dough stick snack &
usually eaten at breakfast. OK first of all it's a little smaller &
sometimes it's shaped like... a horse shoe but with the 2 ends brought
together. After frying, it is either sprinkle over with sugar or you dunk
it
into 'artificially' thicken hot chocolate. I don't know what they do to
the
chocolate but it's extremely thick, maybe they add flour or cornflour etc.
I
don't really like it so we just dunk it in our coffee like many others.
Hope
this helps... or not. By the way.. in Spain, people drink something called
Horchata made from tiger nuts/chufas & is very similar to soya milk. Do a
google search on Churros & Horchata if you want to find out more.


Mexicans also eat churros, so I'm guessing KR knows about them from Mexican
places here in the States. (Although, in Cleveland? Have things changed
there? Are there more paisanos in Cuyahoga County now? I know there are a
lot more Koreans and Indians.)

Mexicans also drink horchata, and I'm actually sorta surprised to hear that
Spaniards drink it too. What are "tiger nuts," by the way? In Mexico, they
are water-based drinks thickened slightly with ground rice or nuts. In
Oaxaca, there is a vast repertoire of various horchatas--it's almost an art
form, flavored with all kinds of fruits and nuts. You are right
though--plain horchata is a lot like soya milk.

As for the thick hot chocolate. I've never been to Spain, so I don't know
how it is done there. But in the Bikol province of the Philippines, for
breakfast and as snacks, we dip binutong (glutinous rice seasoned with
coconut milk and steamed in a banana leaf wrapper) into thick hot chocolate.
The chocolate is prepared with freshly-roasted cacao beans that are ground
and mixed up with water and sugar (or at least that is how it used to be
made). We got this, of course, from the Mexicans, as that is where
chocolate comes from. It's really only in Oaxaca that that ancient
chocolate culture can still be seen in Mexico--we can buy Mexican chocolate
in the US, but not Oaxacan chocolate. They grind roasted cacao beans with
sugar, cinammon, and almonds. They then heat that up with water and froth
it up with a wooden frother called a molinillo. The interesting thing is
that this was how hot chocolate was drunk in Spain, in Italy, in France--
all over Europe--until the invention of cacao powder, in the early 1800s, I
believe. So, in other words, the French were also roasting cacao beans,
grinding them, and then frothing them up with lots of different spices in a
chocolatière with a molinillo. Here's a really beautiful set of molinillo
and chocolatière that I just found on the web.

http://www.artsmia.org/modernism/ima...ool.cfm?oid=55

The Oaxacan hot chocolate is not as thick as that in the Philippines--not
sure why. In that way, I guess the Philippines is more like Spain. But
it's not due to any thickening agents--I brought home several kilos of
Oaxacan chocolate and if I wanted, I could easily make a wonderful, thick
brew by just adding less water. I think it is because we are not dealing
with cacao powder, but with freshly ground beans that include the beans'
natural oils and fats.

I took a photo of some of the chocolate mills in Oaxaca. I'll try to post it
now for you, DC, over on alt.food.binaries.

Peter

"DC." wrote in message
...
OK krnntp, this isn't going to help but when we're in
Spain, we always like going out to the street corners looking for the old
Churros vendor. This is Spain's version of deep fried dough stick snack &
usually eaten at breakfast. OK first of all it's a little smaller &
sometimes it's shaped like... a horse shoe but with the 2 ends brought
together. After frying, it is either sprinkle over with sugar or you dunk
it
into 'artificially' thicken hot chocolate. I don't know what they do to
the
chocolate but it's extremely thick, maybe they add flour or cornflour etc.
I
don't really like it so we just dunk it in our coffee like many others.
Hope
this helps... or not. By the way.. in Spain, people drink something called
Horchata made from tiger nuts/chufas & is very similar to soya milk. Do a
google search on Churros & Horchata if you want to find out more.


Mexicans also eat churros, so I'm guessing KR knows about them from Mexican
places here in the States. (Although, in Cleveland? Have things changed
there? Are there more paisanos in Cuyahoga County now? I know there are a
lot more Koreans and Indians.)

Mexicans also drink horchata, and I'm actually sorta surprised to hear that
Spaniards drink it too. What are "tiger nuts," by the way? In Mexico, they
are water-based drinks thickened slightly with ground rice or nuts. In
Oaxaca, there is a vast repertoire of various horchatas--it's almost an art
form, flavored with all kinds of fruits and nuts. You are right
though--plain horchata is a lot like soya milk.

As for the thick hot chocolate. I've never been to Spain, so I don't know
how it is done there. But in the Bikol province of the Philippines, for
breakfast and as snacks, we dip binutong (glutinous rice seasoned with
coconut milk and steamed in a banana leaf wrapper) into thick hot chocolate.
The chocolate is prepared with freshly-roasted cacao beans that are ground
and mixed up with water and sugar (or at least that is how it used to be
made). We got this, of course, from the Mexicans, as that is where
chocolate comes from. It's really only in Oaxaca that that ancient
chocolate culture can still be seen in Mexico--we can buy Mexican chocolate
in the US, but not Oaxacan chocolate. They grind roasted cacao beans with
sugar, cinammon, and almonds. They then heat that up with water and froth
it up with a wooden frother called a molinillo. The interesting thing is
that this was how hot chocolate was drunk in Spain, in Italy, in France--
all over Europe--until the invention of cacao powder, in the early 1800s, I
believe. So, in other words, the French were also roasting cacao beans,
grinding them, and then frothing them up with lots of different spices in a
chocolatière with a molinillo. Here's a really beautiful set of molinillo
and chocolatière that I just found on the web.

http://www.artsmia.org/modernism/ima...ool.cfm?oid=55

The Oaxacan hot chocolate is not as thick as that in the Philippines--not
sure why. In that way, I guess the Philippines is more like Spain. But
it's not due to any thickening agents--I brought home several kilos of
Oaxacan chocolate and if I wanted, I could easily make a wonderful, thick
brew by just adding less water. I think it is because we are not dealing
with cacao powder, but with freshly ground beans that include the beans'
natural oils and fats.

I took a photo of some of the chocolate mills in Oaxaca. I'll try to post it
now for you, DC, over on alt.food.binaries.

Peter

Hi Peter,

I believe the Horchata in Mehico & that part of the world were introduced by
the Spaniards. In Southern Spain & the agricultural region of Valencia is
where you'll find tiger nuts or chufas. It's a traditional drink but not
many people drink it these days, you'll see it in fairgrounds or at the kids
stands at fiestas next to the Helados/Ice cream etc. but generally people &
kids buy all the new healthy diet stuff like yogurt etc. I even had a
Spanish woman asking me about soya milk etc. saying how great & healthy it
is etc. I said what about Horchata... she said it's some kind of old drink
that they use to drink in the old days when they couldn't get milk etc. Then
i told her how similar the 2 were & that maybe she should look into it. I
also hear that the Mexicans use rice, almonds & other stuff to substitute
for tigernuts in their Horchata & i've always wondered why no one grows
tigernuts there or in the states for horchata?

As for the thick hot chocolate. I've never been to Spain, so I don't know
how it is done there. But in the Bikol province of the Philippines, for
breakfast and as snacks, we dip binutong (glutinous rice seasoned with
coconut milk and steamed in a banana leaf wrapper) into thick hot
chocolate.
The chocolate is prepared with freshly-roasted cacao beans that are ground
and mixed up with water and sugar (or at least that is how it used to be
made).
snip

Peter, maybe a trip to the 'old country' Spain is needed. I've never thought
of Spain as a old colonial power but as a popular tourist destinations for
many in Europe but my recent trips there, i've been seeing links to many
places & countries far & wide. One of my trips to Seville, we spent a
leisurely sunday morning drinking coffee opposite the cathedral & did a bit
of people watching as families came out of church/sunday service. I saw an
elderly man wearing a natural white linen short sleeve shirt, very similar
if not the same as the ones you would wear in the Philipines when you turn
up for sunday mass or at any official gathering, what are they called? my
friend Junior's dad wears them. This gentleman must be from the 'old' family
as people were gathering around him & paid respect to him etc. & from the
guidebook i was reading, there were still families with huge houses &
cortijos inherited from colonial days when Seville was a major trading city
& ships would come up the river with goods from all over, Latin America to
the Philipines. Later we travelled to Cadiz & stayed in the old port city &
saw numerous links to the New World.

snip
The interesting thing is
that this was how hot chocolate was drunk in Spain, in Italy, in France--
all over Europe--until the invention of cacao powder, in the early 1800s,
I
believe.
snip
grinding them, and then frothing them up with lots of different spices in
a
chocolatière with a molinillo. Here's a really beautiful set of molinillo
and chocolatière that I just found on the web.
http://www.artsmia.org/modernism/ima...ool.cfm?oid=55
snip

Yep... another old world/new world connection it seems. Heeheee... if you
ever come over to Europe, you'll see a few more old/new world connections!

The Oaxacan hot chocolate is not as thick as that in the Philippines--not
sure why. In that way, I guess the Philippines is more like Spain.

From my history lesson as a kid, i do recall the Spaniards
brought/introduced Cocoa to SE Asia & probably the rest of the world.

I think it is because we are not dealing
with cacao powder, but with freshly ground beans that include the beans'
natural oils and fats.

Hahaaaa... i have an intersting story to tell you, my bro' has one of them
Italian coffee machines that has the bean hopper, grinder & water all in,
you just need to press the button & prime the steaming arm etc. Well in
parts of SE Asia like Malaysia through to Indonesia, local coffee beans are
roasted with butter to achieve a realy tasty flavour but this leaves the
beans covered in oily butter residue. He decided to use local beans instead
of the imported Italian ones etc. & the machine clogged up because of the
oils! You see, local coffee is boiled in a pot & a old muslin sock is used
to strain it. No machines & it's all done by hand. The result is a really
fragrant brew with a slighty oily film on the surface from the butter. I was
told one Italian expat living there threw out her Italian coffee & drank
local coffee everyday! Heeheee. It's highly addictive.

DC.

Well I grow up in Hong Kong and I know about the Northern
Chinese/Taiwanese you-tiao + siu-bang (salty cakes) + soy milk
breakfast. (Maybe because my mom lived in Shanghai for a while.) It
can be served with plain, sweet, or savoury (with pickles and chili
oil) soy milk, you would dip the you-tiao into the soy milk before
biting into it. The method with the siu-bang is (to me) a little
strange, you open up the flat crispy cake and stuff the you-tiao into
it, making a kind of sandwich, which you then dip and eat.

Cruller is a name for a fried cake, and here in North American a kind
of doughnut (donut) so it's sweet. So I wouldn't call you-taio
"mandarin for crullers".

"Tippi" wrote in message
om...
Well I grow up in Hong Kong and I know about the Northern
Chinese/Taiwanese you-tiao + siu-bang (salty cakes) + soy milk
breakfast. (Maybe because my mom lived in Shanghai for a while.) It
can be served with plain, sweet, or savoury (with pickles and chili
oil) soy milk, you would dip the you-tiao into the soy milk before
biting into it. The method with the siu-bang is (to me) a little
strange, you open up the flat crispy cake and stuff the you-tiao into
it, making a kind of sandwich, which you then dip and eat.


Thanks, Tippi. Informative post, as usual from you!

What are siu-bang, though?

Peter

"Tippi" wrote in message
om...
Well I grow up in Hong Kong and I know about the Northern
Chinese/Taiwanese you-tiao + siu-bang (salty cakes) + soy milk
breakfast. (Maybe because my mom lived in Shanghai for a while.) It
can be served with plain, sweet, or savoury (with pickles and chili
oil) soy milk, you would dip the you-tiao into the soy milk before
biting into it. The method with the siu-bang is (to me) a little
strange, you open up the flat crispy cake and stuff the you-tiao into
it, making a kind of sandwich, which you then dip and eat.


Thanks, Tippi. Informative post, as usual from you!

What are siu-bang, though?

Peter