cybercat > wrote:

> It's not a real stir fry though I used a bottled stir fry sauce, but it is
> easy and good.

Bottled "stir-fry" sauce? <shiver>.

Just buy some oyster sauce, rice wine (not sake), and some chicken
base (for making chicken stock).

Black bean sauce, sesame oil, Kimlan soy sauce are optional, but
always good to have on hand.

-sw

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> cybercat > wrote:
>
>> It's not a real stir fry though I used a bottled stir fry sauce, but it
>> is
>> easy and good.
>
> Bottled "stir-fry" sauce? <shiver>.
>
> Just buy some oyster sauce, rice wine (not sake), and some chicken
> base (for making chicken stock).
>

No.

cybercat > wrote:

> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
> ...
>> cybercat > wrote:
>>
>>> It's not a real stir fry though I used a bottled stir fry sauce, but it
>>> is
>>> easy and good.
>>
>> Bottled "stir-fry" sauce? <shiver>.
>>
>> Just buy some oyster sauce, rice wine (not sake), and some chicken
>> base (for making chicken stock).
>
> No.

<sigh> You can lead a horse to hay, but you still can't make it
taste good.

-sw

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> cybercat > wrote:
>
>> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> cybercat > wrote:
>>>
>>>> It's not a real stir fry though I used a bottled stir fry sauce, but it
>>>> is
>>>> easy and good.
>>>
>>> Bottled "stir-fry" sauce? <shiver>.
>>>
>>> Just buy some oyster sauce, rice wine (not sake), and some chicken
>>> base (for making chicken stock).
>>
>> No.
>
> <sigh> You can lead a horse to hay, but you still can't make it
> taste good.
>
Word is I taste fabulous.

On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 21:25:28 GMT, "l, not -l" > wrote:

>"buy some oyster sauce"???? You don't make your own; I'm shocked?

I bet you make your own molassas, scrape yeast off the grapes for
bread, fresh butter churned from the cow and homemade peanut butter
from the peanut crop about to come in. And instead of using paper
doilies...you crochet your own. You are just TOO Martha! I wish I
had that much ambition.

"l, not -l" > wrote:

> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
> ...
>> cybercat > wrote:
>>
>>> It's not a real stir fry though I used a bottled stir fry sauce, but it
>>>
>>> is
>>> easy and good.
>>
>> Bottled "stir-fry" sauce? <shiver>.
>>
>> Just buy some oyster sauce, rice wine (not sake), and some chicken
>> base (for making chicken stock).
>>
> "buy some oyster sauce"???? You don't make your own; I'm shocked?

Why bother? It's like making your own ketchup - it never tastes as
good as the premium oyster sauces in the bottles. Even the article
where you plagiarized this recipe says that.

And they cost less, too.

> Will keep up to one week in the refrigerator.

And last much longer.

-sw

Sqwertz wrote:
>
> "l, not -l" > wrote:
>
> > "buy some oyster sauce"???? You don't make your own; I'm shocked?
>
> Why bother? It's like making your own ketchup - it never tastes as
> good as the premium oyster sauces in the bottles. Even the article
> where you plagiarized this recipe says that.

It's called sarcasm.

On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:28:28 -0700, Mark Thorson >
wrote:


>It's called sarcasm.

Didn't sound to like that to me either.

"l, not -l" wrote:
>
> On 3-Aug-2008, Billy <Hereiam@hotmaildotcom> wrote:
>
> > >It's called sarcasm.
> >
> > Didn't sound to like that to me either.
>
> I'll try to do better next time, so you can catch on.

No! No! Don't do that! It dilutes the sarcasm.

Sarcasm is best when it takes in a sucker or two.

"l, not -l" > wrote in message
...
>
> On 3-Aug-2008, Billy <Hereiam@hotmaildotcom> wrote:
>
>> >It's called sarcasm.
>>
>> Didn't sound to like that to me either.
>
> I'll try to do better next time, so you can catch on.
> --

*thnicker*

On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:49:38 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> cybercat > wrote:
>
>> It's not a real stir fry though I used a bottled stir fry sauce, but it is
>> easy and good.
>
> Bottled "stir-fry" sauce? <shiver>.
>
> Just buy some oyster sauce, rice wine (not sake), and some chicken
> base (for making chicken stock).
>
> Black bean sauce, sesame oil, Kimlan soy sauce are optional, but
> always good to have on hand.
>
> -sw

i just bought a bottle of kimlan soy sauce (they were out of pearl river
bridge), and was a little surprised to see sugar as the last item on the
ingredient list. isn't this rather unusual? (i haven't tasted it yet.)

your pal,
blake
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

blake murphy wrote:

> i just bought a bottle of kimlan soy sauce (they were out of pearl river
> bridge), and was a little surprised to see sugar as the last item on the
> ingredient list. isn't this rather unusual? (i haven't tasted it yet.)

Kimlan has at least 6-8 soy sauces. Whcih one is is - Pon Lai?

-sw

Sqwertz wrote:
> blake murphy wrote:
>
>> i just bought a bottle of kimlan soy sauce (they were out of pearl river
>> bridge), and was a little surprised to see sugar as the last item on the
>> ingredient list. isn't this rather unusual? (i haven't tasted it yet.)
>
> Kimlan has at least 6-8 soy sauces. Whcih one is is - Pon Lai?
>
> -sw
How does Kimlan soy sauce(s) compare to Pearl River Bridge?
I have never seen it in the Asian markets I frequent in the
NYC/NJ/Philly area.

On Aug 4, 10:43*am, George > wrote:
>
> How does Kimlan soy sauce(s) compare to Pearl River Bridge?
> I have never seen it in the Asian markets I frequent in the
> NYC/NJ/Philly area.

Kimlan is a very large Taiwanese food products company, claiming the
biggest soy sauce sales among Taiwan brands. Pearl River Bridge is a
very large company in Guangdong, which may be the biggest soy sauce
seller from China. Kikkoman has the equivalent position in Japan.
They all make "genuine" stuff, naturally fermented, as few additives
as possible, and they all taste good to a lot of people. You can find
all three in both the asian markets and the supermarkets here in
SoCal. Which you like best is up to your taste. Kikkoman has a lower-
sodium soy sauce that tastes, as far as I can tell, just like the
regular product. I don't know whether the others offer a lower sodium
version. I've been stuck on Pearl River Bridge for quite a while now
but I've used both the others in the past and may again in the
future. -aem

aem > wrote:

>Kimlan is a very large Taiwanese food products company, claiming the
>biggest soy sauce sales among Taiwan brands. Pearl River Bridge is a
>very large company in Guangdong, which may be the biggest soy sauce
>seller from China. Kikkoman has the equivalent position in Japan.
>They all make "genuine" stuff, naturally fermented, as few additives
>as possible, and they all taste good to a lot of people. You can find
>all three in both the asian markets and the supermarkets here in
>SoCal. Which you like best is up to your taste. Kikkoman has a lower-
>sodium soy sauce that tastes, as far as I can tell, just like the
>regular product. I don't know whether the others offer a lower sodium
>version. I've been stuck on Pearl River Bridge for quite a while now
>but I've used both the others in the past and may again in the
>future. -aem

Does anybody here brew their own soy sauce, or ferment their
own black bean sauce, or concoct their own oyster sauce from
oysters?

Just curious. It seems to me it's relatively difficult
to avoid bottled ingredients in Chinese food preparation,
relative to many other types of cuisines.

Steve

On Aug 4, 3:06*pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:

> Does anybody here brew their own soy sauce, or ferment their
> own black bean sauce, or concoct their own oyster sauce from
> oysters?

One of my Chinese uncles brewed his own soy sauce once. Took a
loooong time, he fussed over it a lot, and he was disappointed with
the result. Never tried again.

Black bean sauce is easy. I buy the fermented/preserved black beans,
dry in plastic bag in a cardboard cylinder package. When you want
black bean sauce you (optionally rinse them), chop them up with some
garlic and put them in your hot wok. Add soy, wine, water to taste.
Bottled black bean sauce is all "one note", whereas you can vary
whichever of the ingredients you like to your taste when you make your
own.

Apart from the joke in this thread, I don't know anyone who has made
their own oyster sauce.

> Just curious. *It seems to me it's relatively difficult
> to avoid bottled ingredients in Chinese food preparation,
> relative to many other types of cuisines.
>
I think that's an accurate observation. I've got a good array of
sauces and pastes and curds and oils that it would be quite difficult
to make. I think the current question is whether a bottled "stir fry
sauce" is necessarily good or bad, inferior or superior to making your
own up on the spot, because it probably doesn't contain anything you
don't have in the cupboard. I don't know of any reason to suppose
that the manufactured product is unbalanced in some way that wouldn't
taste good. What you can say is that by using a bottled blend you
give up control over the quantity and quality of each of the
components. How much that matters to any cook seems clearly to be a
personal decision. -aem

Steve Pope wrote:

> Does anybody here brew their own soy sauce, or ferment their
> own black bean sauce, or concoct their own oyster sauce from
> oysters?
>
> Just curious. It seems to me it's relatively difficult
> to avoid bottled ingredients in Chinese food preparation,
> relative to many other types of cuisines.
>
> Steve

My mother's mother had a shoyu factory in Hawaii during the 50's. She
was pretty industrious for a single mother of 11 kids! The family was
not rich so my guess is that the sauce can't be too hard to make or that
it requires a bunch of expensive equipment to produce.

There's another class of soy sauce that is made without a long
fermentation. If I recall correctly, this was developed after WWII by
the Aloha Shoyu company in Hawaii as a quick and cheap method for
producing the product. It's viewed as low class by food snobs. However,
a lot of folks prefer this to the fermented variety - probably because
they were raised on the stuff.

I have seen on TV how the Vietnamese make fish sauce. They layer salt
and whole, uncleaned fishes in a drum and let it sit for a while. The
clear, straw colored sauce is then drained from a spigot near the bottom
of the drum. So easy that you could try this at home. :-) I won't do
this myself nor would I want to peek into a drum filled with fermenting
fish!

Steve Pope > wrote:

> Does anybody here brew their own soy sauce, or ferment their
> own black bean sauce, or concoct their own oyster sauce from
> oysters?
>
> Just curious. It seems to me it's relatively difficult
> to avoid bottled ingredients in Chinese food preparation,
> relative to many other types of cuisines.

All Asian cooks rely on bottles sauces. They are also very
dedicated to one brand or another.

Most French cooks don't make their own butter or wine, either.

-sw

On Mon, 4 Aug 2008 22:06:07 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> aem > wrote:
>
>>Kimlan is a very large Taiwanese food products company, claiming the
>>biggest soy sauce sales among Taiwan brands. Pearl River Bridge is a
>>very large company in Guangdong, which may be the biggest soy sauce
>>seller from China. Kikkoman has the equivalent position in Japan.
>>They all make "genuine" stuff, naturally fermented, as few additives
>>as possible, and they all taste good to a lot of people. You can find
>>all three in both the asian markets and the supermarkets here in
>>SoCal. Which you like best is up to your taste. Kikkoman has a lower-
>>sodium soy sauce that tastes, as far as I can tell, just like the
>>regular product. I don't know whether the others offer a lower sodium
>>version. I've been stuck on Pearl River Bridge for quite a while now
>>but I've used both the others in the past and may again in the
>>future. -aem
>
> Does anybody here brew their own soy sauce, or ferment their
> own black bean sauce, or concoct their own oyster sauce from
> oysters?
>
> Just curious. It seems to me it's relatively difficult
> to avoid bottled ingredients in Chinese food preparation,
> relative to many other types of cuisines.
>
> Steve

i think when people here are talking about 'bottled' sauces, they're
talking about 'stir-fry sauce' or 'teriaki marinade' and the like, not the
constituent ingredients thereof. i suppose you could make your own
worcestershire, but nobody in their right mind would do so.

your pal,
blake

aem wrote:
> On Aug 4, 10:43 am, George > wrote:
>> How does Kimlan soy sauce(s) compare to Pearl River Bridge?
>> I have never seen it in the Asian markets I frequent in the
>> NYC/NJ/Philly area.
>
> Kimlan is a very large Taiwanese food products company, claiming the
> biggest soy sauce sales among Taiwan brands. Pearl River Bridge is a
> very large company in Guangdong, which may be the biggest soy sauce
> seller from China. Kikkoman has the equivalent position in Japan.
> They all make "genuine" stuff, naturally fermented, as few additives
> as possible, and they all taste good to a lot of people. You can find
> all three in both the asian markets and the supermarkets here in
> SoCal. Which you like best is up to your taste. Kikkoman has a lower-
> sodium soy sauce that tastes, as far as I can tell, just like the
> regular product. I don't know whether the others offer a lower sodium
> version. I've been stuck on Pearl River Bridge for quite a while now
> but I've used both the others in the past and may again in the
> future. -aem

Thanks, I wonder if the importers haven't brought it to the east coast yet?

My current favorite is Pearl River Bridge dark mushroom. I also have a
jug of Kikkoman for some Japanese dishes that taste better with it.

On Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:36:36 -0400, George wrote:
>
> My current favorite is Pearl River Bridge dark mushroom. I also have a
> jug of Kikkoman for some Japanese dishes that taste better with it.

what do you like to use the mushroom soy in, george?

your pal,
blake

"aem" > wrote in message
...
Kimlan is a very large Taiwanese food products company, claiming the
biggest soy sauce sales among Taiwan brands. Pearl River Bridge is a
very large company in Guangdong, which may be the biggest soy sauce
seller from China. Kikkoman has the equivalent position in Japan.
They all make "genuine" stuff, naturally fermented, as few additives
as possible, and they all taste good to a lot of people. You can find
all three in both the asian markets and the supermarkets here in
SoCal. Which you like best is up to your taste. Kikkoman has a lower-
sodium soy sauce that tastes, as far as I can tell, just like the
regular product. I don't know whether the others offer a lower sodium
version. I've been stuck on Pearl River Bridge for quite a while now
but I've used both the others in the past and may again in the
future. -aem

**Have you tried the Japanese tamari? There's some nice organic ones, in
fact every one I've seen has been organic, and they're normally wheat free
too, which is obviously handy for coeliacs. Not sure about the sodium
levels though.

On Aug 4, 5:48*pm, "Michael" >
wrote:

> **Have you tried the Japanese tamari? *There's some nice organic ones, in
> fact every one I've seen has been organic, and they're normally wheat free
> too, which is obviously handy for coeliacs. *Not sure about the sodium
> levels though.

Not for several years. I always thought it was too ...something ...
rich? ... for ordinary cooking. I liked to dunk some things in it
because it was very tasty. As I vaguely recall it is sort of the
ancestor of soy sauce. -aem

On Tue, 5 Aug 2008 10:48:19 +1000, Michael wrote:

> "aem" > wrote in message
> ...
> Kimlan is a very large Taiwanese food products company, claiming the
> biggest soy sauce sales among Taiwan brands. Pearl River Bridge is a
> very large company in Guangdong, which may be the biggest soy sauce
> seller from China. Kikkoman has the equivalent position in Japan.
> They all make "genuine" stuff, naturally fermented, as few additives
> as possible, and they all taste good to a lot of people. You can find
> all three in both the asian markets and the supermarkets here in
> SoCal. Which you like best is up to your taste. Kikkoman has a lower-
> sodium soy sauce that tastes, as far as I can tell, just like the
> regular product. I don't know whether the others offer a lower sodium
> version. I've been stuck on Pearl River Bridge for quite a while now
> but I've used both the others in the past and may again in the
> future. -aem
>
> **Have you tried the Japanese tamari? There's some nice organic ones, in
> fact every one I've seen has been organic, and they're normally wheat free
> too, which is obviously handy for coeliacs. Not sure about the sodium
> levels though.

the ones i've seen seem awfully expensive in terms of bang for the buck.

your pal,
blake

On Mon, 4 Aug 2008 14:52:22 -0700 (PDT), aem wrote:

> On Aug 4, 10:43*am, George > wrote:
>>
>> How does Kimlan soy sauce(s) compare to Pearl River Bridge?
>> I have never seen it in the Asian markets I frequent in the
>> NYC/NJ/Philly area.
>
> Kimlan is a very large Taiwanese food products company, claiming the
> biggest soy sauce sales among Taiwan brands. Pearl River Bridge is a
> very large company in Guangdong, which may be the biggest soy sauce
> seller from China. Kikkoman has the equivalent position in Japan.
> They all make "genuine" stuff, naturally fermented, as few additives
> as possible, and they all taste good to a lot of people. You can find
> all three in both the asian markets and the supermarkets here in
> SoCal. Which you like best is up to your taste. Kikkoman has a lower-
> sodium soy sauce that tastes, as far as I can tell, just like the
> regular product. I don't know whether the others offer a lower sodium
> version. I've been stuck on Pearl River Bridge for quite a while now
> but I've used both the others in the past and may again in the
> future. -aem

i saw a lower-sodium kimlan soy sauce at the asian market just the other
day.

i've been using pearl river bridge for a while now, too. i think it has a
slight edge over kikkoman (without getting into the weeds about japanese
vs. chinese styles), but kikkoman has the advantage of wider availability.

your pal,
blake

Sqwertz > wrote:

>Bottled "stir-fry" sauce? <shiver>.

>Just buy some oyster sauce

Okay, by what definition is (store-bought) oyster sauce
not an example of a "bottled stir-fry sauce"??

Steve

Steve Pope > wrote:

> Sqwertz > wrote:
>
>>Bottled "stir-fry" sauce? <shiver>.
>
>>Just buy some oyster sauce
>
> Okay, by what definition is (store-bought) oyster sauce
> not an example of a "bottled stir-fry sauce"??

Bottled stir-fry sauce is a generic name for an American
abomination. Like she said - "House of Tsang".

Ingredients: soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt, caramel
color), sherry wine, sugar, water, vinegar, modified cornstarch,
cottonseed oil, sesame seed oil, salt, dried garlic, hydrolyzed
wheat protein, dried onions, xanthan gum, natural ginger flavor,
disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate, less than 1/10th of 1%
sodium benzoate as a preservative.

That's not something you'd find being used in any respectable
household. It's like buying a refrigerated, microwavable hamburger
at 7-11.

-sw