Cooking tips and wonderful flavour combinations

[mistersloane]

I can't eat peanuts, so can't compare with that one...all I can say is the black bean one is killer. There's a FD recipe with pork belly and leeks and that Laoganma in, that is divine.

I went to See Woo yesterday. Mildly disappointing because I couldn't find the Dan Dan Seasoning/pixian bean paste, only a paste that was 25 % broad beans that only came in 1kg (!) jars. Gonna order the Dan Dan by mail order, I think.

Picked up some garlic chives though, and my kitchen is already reeling. Pungent doesn't begin to describe them...

It means I get to quote Luka again and say "I eat the peanut!"

Hurrah.

I'll keep an eye out for the pixian bean paste, I haven't got that one.

 

[baboon2004]

And huzzah.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/546309
"OK I went back to HK Supermarket on Hester today and to my surprise, I found multiple varieties of Pixian doubanjiang. It's not where you would expect, in the Japanese products aisle across from the refrigerator case (4 I think). There were 3 brands, all from Pixian, and all made with fava beans rather than soy."

From some guy in New York. That's ridiculous, can barely get one brand here!

 

[Mr. Tea]

Can you get different kinds or grades of pickled ginger? Because I had an otherwise pretty good all-you-can-eat meal yesterday in an East Asian restaurant* and while I usually love the stuff, theirs was bare rank. Maybe it was just off - I suppose just because it's pickled doesn't mean it doesn't have a shelf life.


*you know, one of those places that does sushi/sashimi but also wonton soup, a few Thai things etc.

 

[viktorvaughn]

This chilli pickles is delicious..use sparingly as it's composed of 70% naga chillies. I got a jar for 2 quid in whitechapel.

 

[Mr. Tea]

This chilli pickles is delicious..use sparingly as it's composed of 70% naga chillies. I got a jar for 2 quid in whitechapel.

I love that stuff, used to buy it on Roman Road. They do another (IMO) even nicer one, slightly less insanely hot but really minty and tomato-y, kind of like a turbo-charged salsa.

 

[baboon2004]

Sichuan pepper in a plain-ish tomato sauce for pasta. Works surprisingly well (put it in there because I'm putting it in anything and everything at the moment, so trial and error rather than inspiration). Cumin seeds very good too in it too.

 

[baboon2004]

There's a great little Chinese supermarket on Whymark Avenue near Turnpike Lane. Loads of stuff you wouldn't expect from a relatively small shop. Keep it going if you live in north-east London and can't be arsed to go to Chinatown every time you need ingredients. They stock 30% broad bean Sichuan chili paste, among many other things.

 

[Slothrop]

Another request for suggestions.

The veggie is away for the week. At the same time, the courgettes and green beans in the garden are going ballistic. Can anyone suggest some dishes that will a) use lots of courgettes and/or grean beans and b) get me my meat / fish fix?

Edit: would help if they work as cooking-for-one, as well, so not a joint of beef stuffed with green beans or anything like that...

 

[baboon2004]

http://feedingthedragon.com/blog/2012/1/15/fried-sichuan-szechuan-green-beans-recipe.html This looks good (not tried it yet), and I'm sure you can add minced pork in to it too

 

[Slothrop]

That looks good. Actually, I might have to look through the meaty bits of Every Grain of Rice when I get home...

 

[baboon2004]

basically i got the you-can-add-minced-pork-to-anything from FD....

 

[baboon2004]

Foods You Would Have Never Foreseen Yourself Becoming A Crazed Evangelist For #1 - smoked tofu.

 

[mistersloane]

Foods You Would Have Never Foreseen Yourself Becoming A Crazed Evangelist For #1 - smoked tofu.

What did you use it with? I want more tofu in my life again.

 

[baboon2004]

What did you use it with? I want more tofu in my life again.

With celery most often - kind of a Fuchsia Dunlop recipe with Laoganma black bean sauce (a little bit), Sichuan peppercorns and some soy/tamari. Pretty simple (maybe ginger too actually), but the tofu and celery work really well together.

I'm sure there're some salads with smoked tofu too - it's very good uncooked.

 

[blacktulip]

Girlfriend now in her second fine-dining establishment, and its the best I've eaten in.

Though she's turned her back on the gizmos to some extent (in favour of an almost fetishistic obsession with local, organic, and foraged produce served simply with a keen er... tongue for flavour), I still get to hear about all kinds of kitchen craziness.

Like this:

 

[slowtrain]

smoked tofu in a rice paper roll is pretty banging

 

[Slothrop]

Foods You Would Have Never Foreseen Yourself Becoming A Crazed Evangelist For #1 - smoked tofu.

I might have to get involved with some of this...

 

[baboon2004]

i've only found it at Waitrose so far (one of the things at waitrose that's pretty good value tho), though probably only cos I've not been able to decipher which one it is at chinese supermarkets.

will have to try the rice paper roll soon.... and get hold of some fermented tofu, which i've not tried yet. meant to bear some taste relation to blue cheese, apparently

 

[luka]

ive never seen smoked tofu in an asian supermarket but its been a supermarket staple for at least ten years. i think cauldron do it dont they? you can get it at morrissons and all the rest. its nice. i like smoked things.

 

[luka]

zhao introduced me to the fermented stuff here. it is similiar to blue cheese. a little goes a long way.