blake wrote:

>> * Steak with black-bean butter sauce
>
> i'm having a little trouble visualizing this last item. could you
> elaborate a little?

The sauce starts out by grinding fermented black beans with garlic and hot
chiles, then running in a food processor or blender to make a smooth paste.
That paste is heated in a skillet until fragrant, then cold butter is
whisked in to make a glossy sauce. Just before serving, chopped cilantro is
added.

The steaks are bone-in ribeyes which will be grilled over charcoal. Chinese
have a distaste for whole steaks on a plate; they consider it butchery to
cut up meat at the table. If I wanted to enter fully into the spirit of the
occasion I'd cut the meat off the bone and then into cubes, but Lin and I
have no such cultural inhibitions, so the steaks will be served whole, with
a little sauce on top and the rest of the sauce on the side.

Bob