<snip>
> I always put the lard in - unfortunately the partner is a cancer
> researcher, and went to some lecture last week, and now is complaining
> about the lard, the ikan bilis, and the dried shrimp.
>
> What to do? Next time cook, better don't tell what I put in, lah!

As a certain TV show puts it.... "Die, Die must try!"

> Bought some nice lap cheong at the Thai store, can try to make char kway
> teow - maybe not fully authentic, but missing the taste, so can try only.

I assume you're using a domestic gas stove & not a proper hawker wok burner,
fry the lupcheong first to release oil, then add in pork lard if using.

(Kway Teow noodles if using the dried Thai or Vietnamese ones, soak in
warm/hot water to rehydrate until soft, then drain & leave for a while to
totally drain off, you might want to pour a little veg. oil to prevent them
from sticking & also a dash or 2 of light soya sauce for a marbled effect
but mainly to get the taste in. Leave to get cool or cold & totally dry!!!
but ready for frying)

Your wok should be very hot now with all the flavoured oils smelling great,
grab a handful & throw in the kway teow & char like there's no tomorrow,
next do everything you see & replicate since you were a kid, standing &
ogling at the CharKwayTeow man & i promise you, it'll be as good but not
better than what you had as a child, you can never better anything from
childhood memories.

This technique works & solves any problems from using a domestic stove to
make CKT because, the kwayteow noodles are already cooked & partly
flavoured, the wok frying only sears it & gives it a nice wok flavour, all
that is left is your skill at replicating the correct ingredients to go in
to flavour it like minced garlic, thick black sauce, egg etc. & finishing
off the dish. This part is fairly simple as it's just adding what you want &
that i leave to you. One further point, do one portion at a time on a home
stove, the heat's not strong enough to do a big job lot like uncles does in
the hawker centres or kopi taims.

DC.

mroo philpott-smythe wrote:

> Dan Logcher > wrote in news:41BF65C1.1090804
>
>>>Or is raw seafood (excepting oysters, of course) an Asian thing?
>>>
>
>>Hell no.. but I was a kid then and didn't know about it. I love raw
>>oysters. Can't get enough sushi either.
>>
>
> Me either. Although, having that highly developed Southeast Asian taste
> for hot food, I mix the entire lump of wasabi with a few drops of soy
> sauce and get funny looks from all the waitstaff.


Yeah, that's considered rude to make a paste from the wasabi.
What you can do is pickup small clumps of wasabi with your chopsticks
and then pickup the sushi. That way you're not making it obvious.


> I knew I had crossed some kind of line when the Mexican busboy looked at
> my wasabi mixture, said "Whoo!" and walked off laughing to himself!


I've seen people ask for extra wasabi and make a paste.. or just paste it
on top of the sushi. Yags!!! I like hot food too, but sushi has very
subtle flavors that are missed when overpowered with too much wasabi.

But hey, if you enjoy it do it.. just try not to make a specticle of it.

> sq "And imagine my delight in finding that the best sushi place in town
> also serves amazing selection of raw oysters!"


That's a plus. I've only seen oysters at one sushi bar, and they made
gunkan shooters with them. Not bad.. but they weren't great oysters to
start with..

--
Dan

mroo philpott-smythe wrote:

> Dan Logcher > wrote in news:41BF65C1.1090804
>
>>>Or is raw seafood (excepting oysters, of course) an Asian thing?
>>>
>
>>Hell no.. but I was a kid then and didn't know about it. I love raw
>>oysters. Can't get enough sushi either.
>>
>
> Me either. Although, having that highly developed Southeast Asian taste
> for hot food, I mix the entire lump of wasabi with a few drops of soy
> sauce and get funny looks from all the waitstaff.


Yeah, that's considered rude to make a paste from the wasabi.
What you can do is pickup small clumps of wasabi with your chopsticks
and then pickup the sushi. That way you're not making it obvious.


> I knew I had crossed some kind of line when the Mexican busboy looked at
> my wasabi mixture, said "Whoo!" and walked off laughing to himself!


I've seen people ask for extra wasabi and make a paste.. or just paste it
on top of the sushi. Yags!!! I like hot food too, but sushi has very
subtle flavors that are missed when overpowered with too much wasabi.

But hey, if you enjoy it do it.. just try not to make a specticle of it.

> sq "And imagine my delight in finding that the best sushi place in town
> also serves amazing selection of raw oysters!"


That's a plus. I've only seen oysters at one sushi bar, and they made
gunkan shooters with them. Not bad.. but they weren't great oysters to
start with..

--
Dan

"DC." <not@home> wrote in :

> <snip>


> True... but forget Gurney drive, it's over priced & we had the best
> food in smaller local places. While in Georgetown, try the sunday
> morning dimsums served in the kopi tiams in the Chinatown area. Good
> old fashion style handmade dumplings & buns, none of that factory made
> uniformed buns, these ones are all hand made & some are out of shaped
> or have extra special fillings. The atmosphere is good as well, like
> back in the 60's... just make sure to wear decent shoes & bring lots
> of tissues or wipes. Oh... the smell of the drains is like the 60's as
> well ! Don't forget to try some Penang Nonya food, we went to a place
> called Mama's, in a converted residential house... i think Mama still
> lives upstairs & again, it feels like you're having dinner in
> someone's house.


If you can't smell the longkang how can the experience be authentic?
Thanks for the good advice. I'm olady writing down Mama's.



> ps. the E&O is still there, refurbished & smart attire only, a bit
> like Raffles

I stayed there briefly more than two decades ago, when it was a little
bit rundown, in an elegant kind of way. If so smart, maybe I got to go
elsewhere lah.


> but we stayed in CheongFattTze mansion, a stone's throw
> away... it was a good experience but if you are superstitious & afraid
> of 'kwee' or ghosts, maybe just a 1 hour tour will do you. We didn't
> encounter any 'kwee' except the Angmor ones...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Alamak you, laugh until can die, lei!

> & we found the place
> totally fascinating & felt like royalty living in a place like that.

When I was a kid, we used to take the train up to Penang and stay at the
government rest houses with the mosquito nets and the starched white
sheets and the big ceiling fans. Maybe CheongFattTze mansion will remind
me of those happy times (and stealing the neighbour's jambu batu from the
tree).

Thanks for all the good advice and the laughs, DC!

sq

"DC." <not@home> wrote in :

> <snip>
>> BKT:
>> I think Mrs. Lee's cookbook got dat recipe. I go see. If not, can ask
>> you recipe or not?


> Mine is from Mrs Leong's cookbook, then i change a liitle here, a
> little there to suit my own taste. This is how cooking should be, i
> never follow a recipe straight from the book, after all, i doubt Mrs
> Leong or Mrs Lee would give all their secrets away would they? So i
> recommend you do the same, like i say... i don't like mine to be too
> herbal in smell & taste & alter mine to the way i like.

How true. Now you got me thinking ...


> Mmm.... BKT
> for lunch, dinner & breakfast! get healthy before the Xmas splurge!

Last time I was in Singapore, I went to a BKT place in Whampoa. My friend
told me that's where all the gangsters go late at night to makan.
Gangsters know all the best places.

> &
> after Xmas.... Turkey & gammon FENG & Devil! then the next round of
> healthy eating before CNY 2005 & life goes on & on & on....

Who's making the Feng? Boy, I miss Devil Curry. Someday I'll tell you my
Devil Curry story too.

This coming weekend I am cooking an Indian vegetarian meal for six.
Includes a couple of regional specialities and a few of my own
specialities. Got my chop.

I'll be thinking of you as we eat! Good cooking, as someone else on this
NG says, and as a fellow Yeow Kwee, Good Eating, too!

sq

"DC." <not@home> wrote in :

> <snip>

[cutTheLapCheong]


Instructions saved, thanks DC!

> Your wok should be very hot now with all the flavoured oils smelling
> great, grab a handful & throw in the kway teow & char like there's no
> tomorrow, next do everything you see & replicate since you were a kid,
> standing & ogling at the CharKwayTeow man & i promise you, it'll be as
> good but not better than what you had as a child, you can never better
> anything from childhood memories.

How true!

> This technique works & solves any problems from using a domestic stove
> to make CKT because, the kwayteow noodles are already cooked & partly
> flavoured, the wok frying only sears it & gives it a nice wok flavour,
> all that is left is your skill at replicating the correct ingredients
> to go in to flavour it like minced garlic, thick black sauce, egg etc.
> & finishing off the dish. This part is fairly simple as it's just
> adding what you want & that i leave to you. One further point, do one
> portion at a time on a home stove, the heat's not strong enough to do
> a big job lot like uncles does in the hawker centres or kopi taims.

Plus my stove is one hopeless kind. Next year we are remodelling the
kitchen and I want to buy a professional gas stove. Any recommendations?

sq, "And thanks so much for all the advice"

<snip>
> If you can't smell the longkang how can the experience be authentic?
> Thanks for the good advice. I'm olady writing down Mama's.

Even better if the longkang has small fishes & guppies swimming in them,
that's even more authentic & 'ulu'. I was told that there's 3 Nonya
restaurants in Georgetown & that Mama's was the one to go to. It's where the
locals go to & we found that to be true. Mama's 31-D, Abu Siti Lane (Jalan
Abu Siti if you're a local or need to ask the taxi driver) It's about
10-15mins from central Georgetown & 5mins from the sheraton hotel. It's
closed on Mondays.

> I stayed there briefly more than two decades ago, when it was a little
> bit rundown, in an elegant kind of way. If so smart, maybe I got to go
> elsewhere lah.

The whole area where the E&O is, is slowly being redeveloped. There's even a
refurbished old townhouse opposite that's now a arts & craft mall for
tourists. So you can imagine what's it going to be like when ou get there.

> When I was a kid, we used to take the train up to Penang and stay at the
> government rest houses with the mosquito nets and the starched white
> sheets and the big ceiling fans. Maybe CheongFattTze mansion will remind
> me of those happy times (and stealing the neighbour's jambu batu from the
> tree).

CHT mansion will be more regal i'm afraid.. it was after all the favourite
home of mr CFT, the last mandarin of China & one of the wealthiest Chinese
at that time. It's kind of like a musuem but you can stay there. Do a search
on the web for it or have a look at the movies Indochine or Anna & the King,
parts of it were filmed in there. I can't recommend it enough, it was fun &
more to the point, historically very informative for people like us, the
displaced ones.

DC.

<snip>
> Who's making the Feng? Boy, I miss Devil Curry. Someday I'll tell you my
> Devil Curry story too.

Me of course... but i might trade recipes with my Macau eurasian friend, she
has a different Feng & Devil curry recipes, more HK Cantonese style where
roast duck, char siu etc. are added. Or if i get my godmother's Feng recipe
in time, it'll be a real Malacca styled Feng, apparently she uses spare
parts & that's very different.

enjoy your Indian meal this weekend.

DC.

> Plus my stove is one hopeless kind. Next year we are remodelling the
> kitchen and I want to buy a professional gas stove. Any recommendations?

I don't know what you have in mind, but i've gone... how you say, 'balek
kampong' & am having 2 kitchens or i should say 2 cooking areas. One inside
(normal western kitchen) & one 'Asian' kitchen outside when the weather is
better or conducive to outdoor cooking (i.e. not snowing, gale force winds
blowing or Siberian weather) here in London. My outside cooking area is
simple, a place to put my table so i can rest my hawker style wok burner.
Have all the prep done inside & bring out the stuff to cook. My upstairs
neighbours won't complain so much then as it won't be that stinko. I'm
basically having all my cooking outside like in the days of grandma &
aunties, many moons ago. I believe this is known as the Perenakan kitchen.
It'll be in full swing again in the summer & i can have all my chillis &
spices growing near by. For the wok burner... go to Sia Huat on Temple St.
in Chinatown. Ask for Albert Ng & tell him the guy from London who goes to
his shop every year & buys something stupid to bring back to London
recommended you & don't forget (or PaiSay) to ask for a discount. They have
a few wok burners to choose from. I bought a big ring a few years ago that
uses normal domestic pressured LPG gas, the blue coloured tanks. I use this
for slow cooking outside like for curries, rendangs, soups, stews, laksa
etc. This year i went back & bought a proper wok burner. It's small in size
but it uses high pressure LPG gas, the ones the hawkers use. Make sure it
says 'tank gas' & not piped gas or else you'll have to fit it on mains high
pressure gas like those in the restaurants. For this, i use a high pressured
LPG regulator & it has a special screw thread as opposed to the twist & clip
ones the normal tanks use. You'll also need to use a high pressured hose for
it. It sounds complicated & dangerous but everyone in SE Asia uses them so
it's pretty safe as long as you follow the safety measures. I can now cook
like the hawkers but have to change my cooking methods & techniques after
years of using a domestic stove that doesn't give such a big flame. oh...
the price, $28 for the big ring & $32 for the high pressure wok burner,
that's after the discount! peanuts if you're counting in US$ or £.

Once you get use to using this, you won't regret it... if i were your
boyflen, i would think about shooting that deer & have venison TzeChar on
your menu next summer ; )

DC.

ps. check to make sure you have similar gas tanks in the States before
lugging one or 2 wok burners back. I think you do because i watch King of
the Hill & if Hank Hill says so... i believe him. LMAO.

"DC." <not@home> wrote in :

>> Plus my stove is one hopeless kind. Next year we are remodelling the
>> kitchen and I want to buy a professional gas stove. Any
>> recommendations?

> I don't know what you have in mind, but i've gone... how you say,
> 'balek kampong' & am having 2 kitchens or i should say 2 cooking
> areas. One inside (normal western kitchen) & one 'Asian' kitchen
> outside when the weather is better or conducive to outdoor cooking
> (i.e. not snowing, gale force winds blowing or Siberian weather) here
> in London.

[snip description]

Wah lao, you ah, got fan club or not, ah?

Thanks very much, that is top notch advice.

> Once you get use to using this, you won't regret it... if i were your
> boyflen, i would think about shooting that deer & have venison TzeChar
> on your menu next summer ; )

Hau le, I'll tell him. %^) I'll report back on the quality - after eating
my roses for ten years the bugger must be as sweet as sugar by now.


> ps. check to make sure you have similar gas tanks in the States before
> lugging one or 2 wok burners back. I think you do because i watch King
> of the Hill & if Hank Hill says so... i believe him. LMAO.

%^D

Are you a professional chef? I'm just blown away!

sq

"DC." <not@home> wrote in :

>> Plus my stove is one hopeless kind. Next year we are remodelling the
>> kitchen and I want to buy a professional gas stove. Any
>> recommendations?

> I don't know what you have in mind, but i've gone... how you say,
> 'balek kampong' & am having 2 kitchens or i should say 2 cooking
> areas. One inside (normal western kitchen) & one 'Asian' kitchen
> outside when the weather is better or conducive to outdoor cooking
> (i.e. not snowing, gale force winds blowing or Siberian weather) here
> in London.

[snip description]

Wah lao, you ah, got fan club or not, ah?

Thanks very much, that is top notch advice.

> Once you get use to using this, you won't regret it... if i were your
> boyflen, i would think about shooting that deer & have venison TzeChar
> on your menu next summer ; )

Hau le, I'll tell him. %^) I'll report back on the quality - after eating
my roses for ten years the bugger must be as sweet as sugar by now.


> ps. check to make sure you have similar gas tanks in the States before
> lugging one or 2 wok burners back. I think you do because i watch King
> of the Hill & if Hank Hill says so... i believe him. LMAO.

%^D

Are you a professional chef? I'm just blown away!

sq

"DC." <not@home> wrote in :

> <snip>
>> Who's making the Feng? Boy, I miss Devil Curry. Someday I'll tell you
>> my Devil Curry story too.

> Me of course... but i might trade recipes with my Macau eurasian
> friend, she has a different Feng & Devil curry recipes, more HK
> Cantonese style where roast duck, char siu etc. are added. Or if i get
> my godmother's Feng recipe in time, it'll be a real Malacca styled
> Feng, apparently she uses spare parts & that's very different.

My dad used to call them spare parts ahso.

sq: Dad, I'm home, what's for dinner?
Dad: Spare parts and rice.
sq: Cheh! Do'wan to eat olady.
Dad: No choice. Dudok your bontot and makan your nasi.

> enjoy your Indian meal this weekend.

Thanks, DC.

Let me know if you get your cookbook published - if there's Feng and
Devil Curry recipes, I want to chop one.

sq

"DC." <not@home> wrote in :

> <snip>

>> If you can't smell the longkang how can the experience be authentic?
>> Thanks for the good advice. I'm olady writing down Mama's.

> Even better if the longkang has small fishes & guppies swimming in
> them, that's even more authentic & 'ulu'.

I was an 'ulu' kid, lah, every monsoon hanging the shoes around the neck
and climbing into the longkang to catch those poor little swimming things
and slipping them down my classmates' shirts.

But I don't do that any more. %^D

[snip]

> CHT mansion will be more regal i'm afraid.. it was after all the
> favourite home of mr CFT, the last mandarin of China & one of the
> wealthiest Chinese at that time. It's kind of like a musuem but you
> can stay there. Do a search on the web for it or have a look at the
> movies Indochine or Anna & the King, parts of it were filmed in there.
> I can't recommend it enough, it was fun & more to the point,
> historically very informative for people like us, the displaced ones.


Thank you. Chinese history is one of my obsessions, a vast subject with
so much to know.

sq, who has nearly forgotten to read and write from not using the
language all the time

<snip>
> Let me know if you get your cookbook published - if there's Feng and
> Devil Curry recipes, I want to chop one.

Published?.... i don't think so, it's just a hobby between friends etc. i
'publish' most of my recipes here or in other NGs when people ask for
recipes & advice, maybe one day i'll do a trawl of everything i've written
on google & give that to a publisher, that'll be an easy job. If you want
Feng & Devil recipes, let me know after Xmas, i would have made mine then
based on whatever recipes i use at that time, like i say, i have a few to
choose from & a few more arriving, then i can go into the finer details &
which i think works best etc.

DC.

<snip>
> Let me know if you get your cookbook published - if there's Feng and
> Devil Curry recipes, I want to chop one.

Published?.... i don't think so, it's just a hobby between friends etc. i
'publish' most of my recipes here or in other NGs when people ask for
recipes & advice, maybe one day i'll do a trawl of everything i've written
on google & give that to a publisher, that'll be an easy job. If you want
Feng & Devil recipes, let me know after Xmas, i would have made mine then
based on whatever recipes i use at that time, like i say, i have a few to
choose from & a few more arriving, then i can go into the finer details &
which i think works best etc.

DC.

"DC." <not@home> wrote in :

> <snip>
>> Let me know if you get your cookbook published - if there's Feng and
>> Devil Curry recipes, I want to chop one.
>
> Published?.... i don't think so, it's just a hobby between friends
> etc. i 'publish' most of my recipes here or in other NGs when people
> ask for recipes & advice, maybe one day i'll do a trawl of everything
> i've written on google & give that to a publisher, that'll be an easy
> job. If you want Feng & Devil recipes, let me know after Xmas, i would
> have made mine then based on whatever recipes i use at that time, like
> i say, i have a few to choose from & a few more arriving, then i can
> go into the finer details & which i think works best etc.


OK, can I sign up now? %^)

sq