I already know what one of the dishes will be - it's what I call 'Kung Po
Chicken' - because that's what the Chinese restaurant we used to get it from
called it - basically chicken chunks fried in a cornflour batter with a
hot/spicy sweet 'n sour sauce over them. Usually, I'd do Ginger Beef with
it, but one of the guests hates ginger, so I'm looking for something else
that will contrast with the chicken, and yet not be a stir-fry as such (stir
fries are 'weekday' food to me - I want something that's more complicated
and 'special').

Matters are slightly complicated by the fact that my DH dislikes most
seafood, though he'll eat squid. So, I'm looking for a beef, pork or squid
(he dislikes lamb too, fussy bugger!) main course that would contrast with a
fried dish - forgot to mention that I'm probably going to do that duck with
pancakes thing as well (crispy duck with spring onions and cucumber, wrapped
in pancakes, with a choice of hoisin or plum sauce). Oh, and fried rice,
prawn crackers, fortune cookies etc. to enhance the restaurant-like
experience! (Though not trying to do anything pretentious, just fun!)

No terribly exotic ingredients, please, as they're probably not easily found
around here (Ireland, the west of). There'll be 4 of us for a casual dinner
sometime next weekend. I don't mind spending the whole day in the kitchen,
if that's what it takes - that's my idea of heaven!

Any suggestions much appreciated. TIA! I just seem to be having a mental
block once you take ginger out of the equation.

Jo


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My only thought is this. Since ginger and garlic are such a part of
Chinese food, and the enormous effort it takes to entertain, why not
prepare something easy like roast and vegetables or BBQ where there is a
lot of prep work and you can enjoy your company as well and not sweat
likes and dislikes of family and guests.


Darkginger wrote:

I already know what one of the dishes will be - it's what I call 'Kung Po
Chicken' - because that's what the Chinese restaurant we used to get it from
called it - basically chicken chunks fried in a cornflour batter with a
hot/spicy sweet 'n sour sauce over them. Usually, I'd do Ginger Beef with
it, but one of the guests hates ginger, so I'm looking for something else
that will contrast with the chicken, and yet not be a stir-fry as such (stir
fries are 'weekday' food to me - I want something that's more complicated
and 'special').

Matters are slightly complicated by the fact that my DH dislikes most
seafood, though he'll eat squid. So, I'm looking for a beef, pork or squid
(he dislikes lamb too, fussy bugger!) main course that would contrast with a
fried dish - forgot to mention that I'm probably going to do that duck with
pancakes thing as well (crispy duck with spring onions and cucumber, wrapped
in pancakes, with a choice of hoisin or plum sauce). Oh, and fried rice,
prawn crackers, fortune cookies etc. to enhance the restaurant-like
experience! (Though not trying to do anything pretentious, just fun!)

No terribly exotic ingredients, please, as they're probably not easily found
around here (Ireland, the west of). There'll be 4 of us for a casual dinner
sometime next weekend. I don't mind spending the whole day in the kitchen,
if that's what it takes - that's my idea of heaven!

Any suggestions much appreciated. TIA! I just seem to be having a mental
block once you take ginger out of the equation.

Jo

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"occupant" wrote in message
...
My only thought is this. Since ginger and garlic are such a part of
Chinese food, and the enormous effort it takes to entertain, why not
prepare something easy like roast and vegetables or BBQ where there is a
lot of prep work and you can enjoy your company as well and not sweat
likes and dislikes of family and guests.

Garlic's OK, it's just ginger that isn't - and I don't mind the effort - we
just want Chinese this time (I've done Indian, Mexican, Italian and roasts
already!)

Jo


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Jo wrote:

I already know what one of the dishes will be - it's what I call 'Kung Po
Chicken' - because that's what the Chinese restaurant we used to get it
from called it - basically chicken chunks fried in a cornflour batter with
a hot/spicy sweet 'n sour sauce over them. Usually, I'd do Ginger Beef
with
it, but one of the guests hates ginger, so I'm looking for something else
that will contrast with the chicken, and yet not be a stir-fry as such
(stir fries are 'weekday' food to me - I want something that's more
complicated and 'special').

Matters are slightly complicated by the fact that my DH dislikes most
seafood, though he'll eat squid. So, I'm looking for a beef, pork or squid
(he dislikes lamb too, fussy bugger!) main course that would contrast with
a fried dish - forgot to mention that I'm probably going to do that duck
with pancakes thing as well (crispy duck with spring onions and cucumber,
wrapped in pancakes, with a choice of hoisin or plum sauce). Oh, and fried
rice, prawn crackers, fortune cookies etc. to enhance the restaurant-like
experience! (Though not trying to do anything pretentious, just fun!)

Okay, to summarize:

- no chicken (since it would be redundant)
- no seafood
- no ginger
- no stir-fry

With those restrictions in mind, here are some suggestions:

Red-cooked beef or pork
Chinese barbecued pork -- or steamed buns with barbecued pork inside
Grilled skewered beef or pork with dipping sauces
Ma Po Tofu (if YOU can get Szechuan peppercorns!)
Chile squid soup


Bob

"Darkginger" wrote in message
...

Any suggestions much appreciated. TIA! I just seem to be having a mental
block once you take ginger out of the equation.



If you can get Szechuan peppercorns, try spicy salt squid (can also be done
with shrimp if you want to provide variety for your guests--do some in
shrimp and some in squid so your husband can still eat it). Here's a recipe
for the spicy salt mixture.

http://www.chinesefood-recipes.com/c...mix_recipe.php

I think the squid (or shimp) is usually lighly breaded (I would dredge in
cornstarch) and deep-fried so it's sort of like calamari. Then you can
serve the spicy salt as a dipping salt, or sprinkle over the squid/shimp and
mix well.

Here's a full recipe but for shrimp. You could use squid instead, though.
http://www.chefdoctor.co.uk/recipe.asp?ID=73

I would also second the suggestion for Chinese-style barbeque pork. If
you're doing the duck anyway, you can make the pork and some bao along with
the pancakes and serve it with hoisin and a spring onion so the guests can
roll/wrap their own.

rona
--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"Darkginger" wrote in
:

(he dislikes lamb too, fussy bugger!)

The lamb could be replaced with any of his drothers.
This is not a spicy Dish but does taste good.

Other ideas available at
http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/chinese/

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Lamb In A Hot Garlic Sauce

none

1/2 lb spinach or any leafy green; vegetable-snow pea pods
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 lb lean lamb, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic,finely chopped
freshly ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon nuoc mam sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Optional Garnish
fresh sprigs of mint and/or
cilantro to garnish

Hot garlic Sauce in this case means the sauce is warm hot(from being
cooked) not spicy hot(from peppers).


Blanch the greens in boiling water for 1 minute.
Drain and place on a serving dish.
Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the lamb until nearly cooked.
This should not take more than 2 minutes.
Add the garlic, pepper, sugar, Nuoc Mam sauce, and oyster sauce and
stir-fry until the lamb is completely cooked and tender.
Pour the lamb and sauce over the greens.
Garnish with mint and/or cilantro.

Yield: 2 servings


** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.66 **



--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

Thanks to all who responded - the news is that the meal has been postponed
for a couple of weeks due to a visitng mother in law (not mine!), so I have
a bit longer to make up my mind. I'm very tempted by the squid in spiced
salt 'n pepper, cos I also remembered my other thing I do when I'm trying to
impress with Chinese - it's pork ribs boiled (argh, I know) in soy sauce,
pineapple juice, star anise, honey and some chilli powder until all the
liquid evaporates and you're left with a gloriously sticky sauce.

So - we have King Po Chicken, crispy duck with pancakes, pork ribs, spicy
squid and probably crispy seaweed with crushed cashews too (just cos I like
it). Special fried rice, prawn crackers and fortune cookies complete the the
meal, plus an exotic fruit plate (mangoes, lychees, pineapple and whatever
else is in the greengrocer's at the time).

If you can see anything glaringly wrong with the above - please let me know
some time in the next two weeks!

Thanks again for the help to date!

Jo


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.714 / Virus Database: 470 - Release Date: 02/07/04

Thanks to all who responded - the news is that the meal has been postponed
for a couple of weeks due to a visitng mother in law (not mine!), so I have
a bit longer to make up my mind. I'm very tempted by the squid in spiced
salt 'n pepper, cos I also remembered my other thing I do when I'm trying to
impress with Chinese - it's pork ribs boiled (argh, I know) in soy sauce,
pineapple juice, star anise, honey and some chilli powder until all the
liquid evaporates and you're left with a gloriously sticky sauce.

So - we have King Po Chicken, crispy duck with pancakes, pork ribs, spicy
squid and probably crispy seaweed with crushed cashews too (just cos I like
it). Special fried rice, prawn crackers and fortune cookies complete the the
meal, plus an exotic fruit plate (mangoes, lychees, pineapple and whatever
else is in the greengrocer's at the time).

If you can see anything glaringly wrong with the above - please let me know
some time in the next two weeks!

Thanks again for the help to date!

Jo


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.714 / Virus Database: 470 - Release Date: 02/07/04