Leaving the ethnic cooking to the ethnics

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Chief Longwind Of The North

If you prefer savory, rather than realy sweet tomato preperations, a pinh of baking soda wiĺl neutralise the acid. The acid also removes the strong alkyli taste of the baking soda, giving you a well ballanced flavor.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

This is what have been doing for some time. Sugar doesn't eliminate the problem, it masks it and adds a new flavor. I really dislike sweet tomato sauces so refuse to add sugar. If a sauce is too acidic, I add a pinch or two of baking soda and mix it in. All better.

[HeyItsSara]

I see we have 2 discussions going on at the same time!

[karadekoolaid]

"It’s interesting that some of the world’s foremost authorities on particular “ethnic” cuisines are themselves not of that ethnicity.
David Thompson is Australian but probably the world’s leading authority on Thai food.
Rick Bayless is American and Diana Kennedy is English but they are experts in Mexican Cuisine.
Fuschia Dunlop is also English but is a leading authority on the regional cuisines of China.
Americans Julia Child did French and Penelope Cassas did Spanish."

Spot on, jennyemma. When I was in Mexico City a couple of years back, I asked around for the best authentic Mexican cookbook. Everyone said "Diana Kennedy".
Around 15 years ago, I carved a niche for myself in Venezuela, cooking "authentic" Indian cuisine. No curries, authentic ingredients and dishes. I´m definitely no expert - far from it - but I did cook for the India Club in Caracas and for the Indian Ambassador. No negative comments from either!

[georgevan]

I may backtrack on that vow to stay away from ethnic cooking and try won ton soup because it sounds simple

[CharlieD]

Originally Posted by georgevan

I have tried cooking many ethnic dishes over the years and can count on the successful ones on probably 3 fingers. If I want ethnic food I will go to an ethnic restaurant. Anyone else come to that same conclusion?

I think you are looking at that in the wrong way. I say you have successfully learn how to cook few/several ethnics dishes, even though it was not a simple task.

[msmofet]

My favorite Chinese restaurant I had been going to since I was a child closed. That was my comfort food which saw me through 2 pregnancies when all I could keep down was pizza and Chinese food. Their bare, smooth BBQ rib bones helped my girls teeth. I miss that place. None of the other places have good Chinese food. So I learned how to make my own versions, and they are better than most of the offerings around here.


Here some of my dishes. BTW, I am from an Italian family.

[larry_stewart]

Originally Posted by msmofet

My favorite Chinese restaurant I had been going to since I was a child closed. That was my comfort food which saw me through 2 pregnancies when all I could keep down was pizza and Chinese food. Their bare, smooth BBQ rib bones helped my girls teeth. I miss that place. None of the other places have good Chinese food.

I feel your pain!
There was a Chinese place my wife and I went even before we were married ( 30+ years ago). We went there on a weakly basis, then moved away for a few years, came back, continued to go there. They closed, found another place that was almost as good, but a few years back, they closed. For me, it was the Vegetarian hot and sour soup. Unfortunately, I have found no restaurants that even come close, and my efforts have failed time and time again. I've almost accepted the fact that I will never taste it ( as I remembered it) again.

[GinnyPNW]

I'm still waiting for that address, Msmofet!! Looks divine! Those egg rolls....!!!!

[Cooking Goddess]

Originally Posted by msmofet

My favorite Chinese restaurant I had been going to since I was a child closed...

Originally Posted by larry_stewart

I feel your pain!
There was a Chinese place my wife and I went even before we were married ( 30+ years ago). We went there on a weakly basis, then moved away for a few years, came back, continued to go there. They closed, found another place that was almost as good, but a few years back, they closed...

Having a favorite restaurant close is like losing a family friend. AmIright or what?

[GinnyPNW]

Originally Posted by Cooking Goddess

Having a favorite restaurant close is like losing a family friend. AmIright or what?

Right!

[larry_stewart]

Originally Posted by Cooking Goddess

Having a favorite restaurant close is like losing a family friend. AmIright or what?

I agree 100%.
When I walked in, they knew exactly what I was going to order, an sometimes have the soup and appetizers on their way out while we were still ordering. Just knowing that I may never tasted certain dishes again drives me crazy. My wife went to pick up soup the last day they were open ( that is when we found out they were closing) she actually asked them if we could pay $$ for the recipe for the soup. They laughed jokingly, not realizing she was serious.

[taxlady]

Our favourite local Chinese resto closed early in the pandemic. They didn't have the best Chinese food, but they had good Chinese food. It was nice being recognized when we came in and having the wait staff happy to see us. My husband actually started going there from the time of their grand opening and had a card that gave him a 10% discount as one of their first customers. They had a good 30 year run. I hope the family that owned it and the staff are doing well now. I was very sad that they had to close.

[Just Cooking]

We lost good Chinese food when we moved from Cali to MO.
Nothing is the same here.

Not one place here serves a good Chow Mein. Crispy noodles are not heard of here. This is Lo Mein country and even that's not good here.

This town is known for its "Springfield Style Cashew Chicken". Its horrid.

Ross

[summer57]

Originally Posted by larry_stewart

For me, it was the Vegetarian hot and sour soup. Unfortunately, I have found no restaurants that even come close, and my efforts have failed time and time again. I've almost accepted the fact that I will never taste it ( as I remembered it) again.

I live in a mecca for Chinese/Asian restaurants, and love it, but also love to cook my own food.

Like you, I also love hot & sour soup and make it often. In fact, I have a batch in the fridge as I write this.
Here's my recipe - please adjust it to your taste, it won't make a difference if you leave out the pork.


Hot & Sour Soup
For the Broth (use your own vegetarian, chicken, or whatever broth you prefer)
Add these aromatics:
• 2-inch knob ginger, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
• 1 onion, split in half
• 6 scallions, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

For the Garnish:
• 1 ounce dried wood-ear mushrooms
• 1 ounce dried daylilies
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 6 ounces extra firm tofu, cut into thin matchsticks
• 6 ounces trimmed pork shoulder or loin, cut into 2-inch long slivers
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

To Serve:
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground white pepper (or more to taste)
• 1/4 cup Chinkiang vinegar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
• 1/4 cup picked fresh cilantro leaves
• Chili Crisp, chili oil, saracha, or sambal to make it as hot as your like

Directions:
For the Broth: Use your own vegetable broth, or chicken stock or water, about 1.5 quarts.
To whatever water/broth you use, add ginger, garlic, onion, and 6 scallions. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook for 1 hour. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a large pot. Discard solids. You should have about 1 1/2 quarts broth. If not, reduce to 1 1/2 quarts.
2 Combine 2 teaspoons cornstarch with 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl and mix with a fork. Add to broth. Add soy sauce and sesame oil. Bring to a boil, season to taste with salt and pepper, and keep warm.

For the Garnish: While broth simmers, place shiitake mushrooms, wood-ears and daylilies in separate bowls and cover with warm water. Let soak at least half an hour, I usually soak overnight. Drain carefully, then thinly slice wood-ears and cut daylilies crosswise into 2-inch pieces. I buy sliced woodier mushrooms, much easier to deal with. In the batch pictured, I added shredded carrots I already had in the fridge. Wanted to use them up.
When broth is ready, add sliced wood-ears, daylilies, tofu, and pork, if you’re using meat. Beat together egg with 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch. Bring broth to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, and slowly pour the egg into the broth in a thin steady stream. Let egg set for 15 seconds, then stir gently to incorporate. Season soup to taste with salt if necessary.
I personally don’t like egg in soup, so I leave it out.
The pictures Ive used here are some I took for a contents on another cooking forum. I actually won with this entry, if that makes a difference. As I said, I make this a lot and sometimes vary it, depending on what I have on hand.

[Cooking Goddess]

Originally Posted by Just Cooking

...Not one place here serves a good Chow Mein. Crispy noodles are not heard of here. This is Lo Mein country and even that's not good here...

You're getting me into my way-back machine! This brings up my memory of the Chinese grocery store a co-worker of mine introduced me to when I was single and worked downtown. Vee knew ALL the good food stores, and all the good food recipes. She took my hand as a twenty year old and led me down the path to Gourmetland. I learned about capers, and shallots, and how to make a proper pate (never did make one on my own). We would go to Sam Wah Yick Kee Co to buy all sorts of unique Chinese veggies and seasonings. And they would fry up their soft noodles to make crispy chow mein noodles right in their back room! The delicious smell! After I married, Himself and I would drive into downtown Cleveland to shop there on occasion. We bought a one-pound bag of (still warm) noodles one time before heading to my parents' house. Brought the half-pound bag of noodles into her house to take a taste - and went home with no noodles! We knew to buy three pounds after that - one for home, one for Mom, and one for snacking that day.

I went looking to see how one could make chow mein noodles at home. The first link has you frying small batches in a shallow CI pan. The second has you bake them in the oven. They look interesting. The version in the first link look exactly how I remember the noodles from Sam's. I might try this one day. Here are the links for you (and everyone else interested):

How to make Crispy Fried Noodles at home

Crispy Chow Mein Noodles

If anyone makes them before I do, please report back.

[Just Cooking]

Originally Posted by Cooking Goddess

I went looking to see how one could make chow mein noodles at home. The first link has you frying small batches in a shallow CI pan. The second has you bake them in the oven. They look interesting. The version in the first link look exactly how I remember the noodles from Sam's. I might try this one day. Here are the links for you (and everyone else interested):

How to make Crispy Fried Noodles at home

Crispy Chow Mein Noodles

If anyone makes them before I do, please report back.

Thank you, CG.

Two interesting methods. I have made them, much like the first method, except I have not used corn flour. I've never baked them but, I do like the idea of doing so and cutting out a lot of oil. I prefer them not too dry.

We do love crispy noodles.

Ross

[dragnlaw]

I've never made 'Crispy Noodles'. Not even one to buy them in the store. But then I'm not a big restaurant eater so haven't had the opportunity to try them much.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by dragnlaw

I've never made 'Crispy Noodles'. Not even one to buy them in the store. But then I'm not a big restaurant eater so haven't had the opportunity to try them much.

Have you ever reheated leftover, unsauced, pasta by frying it in a reasonable amount of oil or butter on a frying pan? Some of the noodles usually get crispy and it's actually pretty good. That was something my mum used to do, usually as a snack. My sister and I would bug her to try to make lots of it crispy.

[Cooking Goddess]

I've made a chicken soup that includes broken vermicelli fried up in a bit of oil before adding it to the soup. I actually found this recipe while searching for a way to use an excess of romaine lettuce in some way other than a salad. They actually now carry fideos pasta at Market Basket these days.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/...den-vermicelli

[pepperhead212]

summer57, That looks like a delicious hot and sour soup, as it has one of the essential ingredients in it (in addition to many others usually found in good ones) - Chenkiang Vinegar! This is why I almost never buy this from a restaurant - most don't use it, unless it's a better Chinese Restaurant.

I cook more ethnic foods than any, as anyone here can tell from things I write about! I have never been one to eat at restaurants too often, except when travelling, of course, or meeting at a gathering, too large to cook for! There used to be a Cajun restaurant that was one we often went to for many years, as everyone liked it, but it was sold out from under them, and nothing else like it was around, though I did learn how to cook some of those dishes later on.

In my early days, there were few ethnic restaurants around here, except for Italian. Even while growing up, there were not that many Chinese restaurants, and my parents had to drive 10 or 12 miles to one - now, they are as common as fast food or pizza joints. Chinese was my first ethnic "obsession", but I had to go to Chinatown in Philly for ingredients, though even there, there were only a few grocers, and only one had some of the least known ingredients. But I remember a friend of mine that wouldn't go in there with me, due to the smell - anyone that shops in these Asian places knows what I mean! Eventually I started taking trips up to NYC, every 8 or 9 months, to stock up on things - if you know where to look, there is a neighborhood of just about any ethnicity up there, and matching grocery stores (the only place I could get Mexican ingredients, among other things, back then), plus, that is where I bought about 80% of my kitchen toys, most dirt cheap. The end of the 80s I stopped making trips up there, because things started opening up in Philly, like SE Asian markets, and other ethnic markets to add to the Italian market! And eventually, many of those ingredients I could only find in NYC, were available in supermarkets, 4 times the size! And eventually, of course, anything was available online.

Thai food was my second obsession, and something happened early on that caused restaurant food to be totally unacceptable, at least around here - the importation of Mogul/Kaffir lime leaves was stopped, and these are an ingredient that is as essential to Thai cooking as chili peppers, or garlic! This made me have to grow one! I actually grew 2 (just in case), and 4 years later I sold one to some friends that started up a take out restaurant, with various Asian foods. It took a few years for the commercial growers to get the trees growing in this country, but eventually I started seeing them in markets occasionally, and eventually, all the time, though they didn't really look too good. Something similar happened with curry leaves, which I found out were in the citrus family, causing the same type of disease they were trying to keep out of our farmlands. They eventually got enough growing nationwide, to cover the demand, but I started growing my own, before that happened.

Cooking has always been a favorite pastime of mine, and I always want to have the necessary ingredients when making ethnic foods. And I am always looking to try/grow new ingredients!