Asian Foods

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I'm interested in the batter recipe...is it close to an egg foo yung batter?
There are okonomiyaki joints throughout Japan, just like pizza places here. Tables have a hot teppan gridle in the middle. Everyone gets a bowl of batter, an egg and small spatula. There's a communal tray of all sorts of ingredients. You crack the egg into the batter. Add whatever ingredients you like, mix it all together. Possible ingredients is a long list, but chopped cabbage is very common. Gridle it up just like a pancake. A list of toppings is long, too, but common are mayo, an A-1 like sauce, dried bonito flakes, pickled ginger, and herbs.

Asian markets might sell several brands of pre-mix, just add water & egg. As well as sauces.

Made from scratch, the batter contains 1 special ingredient. It makes the batter sort of glutinous, almost like very soft mozzarella, and the finished pancake is crunchy on the outside but quite wet on the inside.

okonomi yaki batter
1:1 sifted all purpose flour and dashi soup stock
pinch of baking powder and salt
grated yama imo (mountain potato), about 1 oz of it for 1 cup batter

When grated, the yama imo metamorphs into a funky, mucilaginous texture, not unlike a beaten raw egg. I'm not sure about a suitable substitute, maybe arrowroot flour, possibly liquefying a waxy potato.

It's simple, fast, fun to cook and eat.
 
Tom Kha--coconut chicken soup, with fish sauce, lemon, garlic and ginger. It is supposed to have lemon grass, cilantro and Thai basil, but I usually can't find those ingredients unless I grow them in the summer. Mine is not authentic, but it is good. And I sometimes use the same flavorings (coco milk, fish sauce, lemon juice and zest, grated ginger and garlic) with a base of stir fried chicken and/or shrimp, celery, water chestnuts, etc. served with jasmine rice. No recipe, I just play it by ear--or tongue, maybe I should say.
 
I can't pin it down to a single culture, but have been leaning heavily toward Thai. About 1/3 of the door shelf space in our fridge is devoted to Asian ingredients. Our pantry has a good selection as well.

I like making Thai curry pastes from scratch as the flavor is far superior to bottled/jared and you aren't just limited to red or green. The only ingedient that seems unavailable is kaffir lime leaves. I have found a suitable substitute in key lime leaves. Luckily I have a tree in my back yard. I understand that this type of lime is what is actually used in Mexican cuisine when lime is an ingredient.

Craig
 
There are okonomiyaki joints throughout Japan, just like pizza places here. Tables have a hot teppan gridle in the middle. Everyone gets a bowl of batter, an egg and small spatula. There's a communal tray of all sorts of ingredients. You crack the egg into the batter. Add whatever ingredients you like, mix it all together. Possible ingredients is a long list, but chopped cabbage is very common. Gridle it up just like a pancake. A list of toppings is long, too, but common are mayo, an A-1 like sauce, dried bonito flakes, pickled ginger, and herbs.

Asian markets might sell several brands of pre-mix, just add water & egg. As well as sauces.

Made from scratch, the batter contains 1 special ingredient. It makes the batter sort of glutinous, almost like very soft mozzarella, and the finished pancake is crunchy on the outside but quite wet on the inside.

okonomi yaki batter
1:1 sifted all purpose flour and dashi soup stock
pinch of baking powder and salt
grated yama imo (mountain potato), about 1 oz of it for 1 cup batter

When grated, the yama imo metamorphs into a funky, mucilaginous texture, not unlike a beaten raw egg. I'm not sure about a suitable substitute, maybe arrowroot flour, possibly liquefying a waxy potato.

It's simple, fast, fun to cook and eat.

Thanks...looks like a good vehicle for chopped ingredients. Copied and pasted along with addition ideas.
 
Okonomiyaki is one of my favorites from when I lived in Japan. The recipe I use doesn't use the Yama Imo mentioned above and I've really not noted much difference with what I make here and what I had in Japan. There are a few good recipes all over the web for Okonomiyaki, But I use the recipe at about.com's japanese food section.

-Damien
 
Oh man, I forgot about dim sum, especially pot stickers.:)

Craig
 
I will next try my hand at wontons for soup and for frying.

And I'd like to try making egg rolls after that.

All the Asian recipes I have tried so far have been keepers.
 
My asparagus and roasted red pepper makizushi fell apart, but it still tasted good. I used sesame oil and srirachi as a dipping sauce.
 
Won Ton soup
Fried rice
Sweet and sour chicken
Mongolian Beef
Sushi
Egg Rolls
Cream Cheese Puffs
Lo Main noodles
 
I'm blessed with friends that make great Asian food, and I've made some that could be called "good," but I have to admit that I've made only one Asian dish that I did not feel lacked "something." I think it could be because I am not well-versed in Asian seasonings and basic cooking techniques to figure what is missing or what needs tweaked. I've made really pretty maki, but it is missing something! I have no clue what it could be. Same with stir fry or fried rice! Missing something.

The only Asian dish that I have made that I was completely satisfied in how it turned out was the Sesame Noodles from Dragon Lady's Kitchen. I love Thai food, Japanese food, and Chinese food. I really miss a Cantonese place in my hometown that closed a few years back as it used more native ingredients than any other place I have found. (I cannot remember the last time I saw a dish with lotus root.)

Any how, I will freely admit to not being a good cook when it comes to Asian food, but I am willing to try to improve. Egg rolls....spring rolls....would be an okay place to start. (Yep...that is a hint!)

~Kathleen

 
I need assist with Wok cooking, I don't get it hot enough or something. I don't have the fine finesse of seasoning. I think that's why I'm focusing on the right tools and ingredients for the traditional Bento.
 
I will next try my hand at wontons for soup and for frying.

And I'd like to try making egg rolls after that.

All the Asian recipes I have tried so far have been keepers.

Personally I think eggrolls are the easiest thing to make. Especially if you are using ready made eggroll wraps/dough.
 
There are just too many to count! Southeast Asian, in its myriad forms; Chinese, in its myriad forms; Japanese, Korean, Indonesian .... I could go on. Unusual and different. Here the only Asian I can really get in my own small town is at a sushi bar, where the chef and his wife are ... gasp! Chinese. And he's great! It's like asking me my favorite book or author. Who can pick? Too much that is too good!
 
Charlie, I'll admit to confusing Near East with Middle East when it comes to cuisine. I assume by nes you mean Near East. Right off the top of my head, couscous and taboule, with chunks of lamb. Pistachios, dried fruit.

I never even attempt to be authentic anything, because you'll always be wrong!! I just do my versions of things. I try them all; given my regional limitations.

Traveling further afield, I do stir fries and soups that can vary from Southeast Asian through Korean, from kimchee through green curry soup. Nothing will ever be "authentic", and I don't even aim for it, just for that "influence". When I moved to the Midwest, no one in the area would have dreamed of eating sushi, and a neighbor who loved all Japanese and we threw a sushi party (using only cooked ingredients, at the time raw wouldn't have been safe, now we can get pretty good stuff).

In other words, I'll try it all. The biggest problem is buying ingredients, then not using them for years again. So ... if you need a pinch of this or a tsp of that, then you don't make it again for a year or three.....
 
I've rolled sushi and it was okay. I'd love to make eggrolls. My few attempts did not turn out well. I found that the flavor was always lacking and the eggrolls were too loose.

Could some of you share your eggroll recipes and advice? I'd love to try again.
 
I've rolled sushi and it was okay. I'd love to make eggrolls. My few attempts did not turn out well. I found that the flavor was always lacking and the eggrolls were too loose.

Could some of you share your eggroll recipes and advice? I'd love to try again.
For egg rolls I use my deep fryer but a dutch over and fry thermometer will work (possibly even better than a home kitchen grade fryer). You can punch up the flavor with things like ginger an fennel. I don't really have a recipe, but I usually use cabbage to bulk it out, and carrot for some color. One of these days I want to make duck mushroom spring rolls but that will have to be a special occasion. As for them being loose just try and roll a little tighter so there is not to much air in there. Don't give up it takes practice, but it is not to hard.
 
One trick to making egg rolls is to make sure your filling isn't too wet.
Otherwise the steam will explode the rolls when you fry them. Ick.
 
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