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Cold/cool and hot/warm. So basically two groups with a large difference between the two of them, but amongst themselves only a difference in degree. Some foods are "hot", some are "cold", some are neutral. The whole thing isn't very scientific by today's standards neither from a pathophysiological or a herbological perspective, nor from a purely philosophical viewpoint. Chinese people, save the poorest and weirdest, seek out modern medicine when they fall ill or are injured, but happily drink teas and tonics for health and long life, much the same as Westerners do.
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Aug 6, 2013 20:28
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Hollis posted:I washed the hell out of it and scrubbed scrubbed scrubbed. Then I seasoned it so that worked , here's my problem. My wok won't get hot enough , I just realized that my cover for my gas stove keeps the flame away, but when I set it directly on the burner it kind of wobbles. I was thinking do I need to get one of those wok rings? I read that taking the grill thing off and setting it on a smaller burner may work better but I am unsure. By "cover for my gas stove" and "taking the grill thing off" I take it to mean you are talking about the cast iron trivet/grate that sits on your stove and flat bottomed pans sit on? If so, I don't see how a wok ring would help much as with the trivet removed it's still going to be the same height away from the burner. I always thought wok rings were for holding proper round bottom woks up (rather than using flat bottomed woks). If you have a flat bottom wok, I really haven't heard of using a wok ring with it. I usedtocouldawoulda have a nice stove with 5 burners (inc central big wok burner) and a use a wok 
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Aug 7, 2013 14:39
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Does a carbon steel wok ever get that kind of non-stick seasoning that a cast iron skillet does? All the advice I've gotten is that I should season my wok with vegetable oil after each use and I've been doing that. But after almost a year with this drat thing I have pretty much no coating on the wok. I mean there's something there and I think it comes across in the flavor of the food I make but, not to discount that fact, I thought there was more to the purpose of seasoning a curved piece of metal. Also I hate my stupid loving round bottom, heavy bamboo handled wok. I'd like to be able to work with both hands instead of keeping my left hand on the wok handle while juggling ingredients with my right. I try to prepare as best I can, but I always seem to be wishing I had a third hand. I thought Uwajimaya would carry something better but all they have are smaller, also round bottom things, sometimes with non-stick coatings. I'd like to try something else but don't want to waste money doing it. Any suggestions? I have decent electric burners (far as they go, but I would love to be back on a gas stove) and think that a flat bottom wok that could balance without help would be amazing.
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Aug 10, 2013 05:29
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Inspector 34 posted:Does a carbon steel wok ever get that kind of non-stick seasoning that a cast iron skillet does? Yeah it should, but I don't know why yours doesn't. What I do is season the wok once when you get it by just wiping oil around it and leaving it on a hot stove for a while. Regular use should be seasoning the wok. What are you cooking in it? Foods high in acid will ruin the seasoning. Also soap. Don't clean it with soap. You probably know that already though.
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Aug 10, 2013 05:55
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Seasoning is more than just applying oil. You need you basically burn the oil on so that it plasticizes onto the surface of the wok. There is a video on the OP on how to season (edit: oh I guess it was removed by youtube, will replace it). Edit 2: seasoning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SesaUVFZ-M It is basically the same level of nonstick as a well seasoned cast iron skillet. It will never be as slippery as teflon, but teflon will never work on a high heat source because it will disintegrate at far lower temperatures. You just kinda need to be fast. You shouldn't need to keep a hand on the wok at all times so I don't know why you think you do. There's a certain air of not-giving-a-poo poo and being well practiced and cooking with intention that you need to have. Things will stick to a certain degree. You can't really stop to make sure every little piece is unstuck. Keep cooking along with the tempo and timing that you need and the stuck bits will slightly char and add a bit of "wok hei" character. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phu7ndFNRs8 Round bottom woks are ideal if you have a suitable heat source and a wok ring but a flat bottom, contrary to the super sperg notion, is just fine if it suits your heat source better. Electric range with a round bottom would be annoying to use. Absolutely avoid nonstick woks if you intend to do proper high heat stir frys, if you just want to saute Asian-esque foods in a wok-looking thing, then by all means get a nonstick. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Aug 10, 2013 |
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Aug 10, 2013 05:57
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Funny timing. I thought for about 6 months that my wok was properly seasoned, but really I just had a gross carbon steel pan covered in sticky oil residue and burnt food that wouldn't come off. I've got a flat bottom and an electric range, so (after I cleaned it up) a couple days ago I spent about an hour heating it on the grill on high, section by section, until I'd gotten the whole wok to turn dark from the heat, and applied a couple coats of grapeseed oil and bacon grease until it stopped smoking. I still don't know if I did it right, but when I was done making yakisoba the other night all it needed was a quick rinse and then to dry off. To get the effect on the electric range was hard, it doesn't get hot enough to heat the sides to seasoning temperature, so I had to stand there, holding the sides of the wok against the screaming red heating element for about two minutes each until the color turned dark. I added coats of oil repeatedly until I had heated the bottom of the pan so much that the paper towel I was applying bacon grease with caught fire, turned to ash, stuck to the pan, and set off the smoke alarm. I figured that was a good time to call it quits.
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Aug 10, 2013 06:34
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GrAviTy84 posted:You shouldn't need to keep a hand on the wok at all times so I don't know why you think you do. Well the main reason I keep a hand on it is that it's a round bottom with a stupid heavy handle, so if I let go it tips over. I guess I should get a ring for it, but at this point I think I'd rather just get a better wok. edit: I am a little bit versatile though. I sometimes hold the handle with my body in order to free up my hands. My girlfriend thinks I look like a lunatic, but at least I have a little more mobility. Inspector 34 fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Aug 10, 2013 |
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Aug 10, 2013 07:21
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bottles and cans posted:Funny timing. I thought for about 6 months that my wok was properly seasoned, but really I just had a gross carbon steel pan covered in sticky oil residue and burnt food that wouldn't come off. What do you think people are actually using in China? 
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Aug 10, 2013 08:39
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Hey I got a question. Someone Chinese is telling me that you have to boil your meat, then change the water to get the "dirty blood" out. She acted surprised that I don't do this to all my meat. Is there any reason why I shouldn't blow this off (other than that it kinda acts as a way to skim fat)?
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Aug 18, 2013 06:09
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You're fine. As a Chinese person, I will tell you that most of our beliefs about food are stupid.
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Aug 18, 2013 06:11
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Steve Yun posted:Hey I got a question. Someone Chinese is telling me that you have to boil your meat, then change the water to get the "dirty blood" out. She acted surprised that I don't do this to all my meat. Is there any reason why I shouldn't blow this off (other than that it kinda acts as a way to skim fat)? Where is she from in China? It has a huge range of cultural diversity that sadly most Chinese aren't really aware of beyond regional stereotypes. It's very Chinese of her to be surprised that not everyone does what she does. I've lived in a few different regions of China and I've never seen anyone do this. But yes blow this off.
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Aug 18, 2013 06:30
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Sounds like the "soak your meat in milk to get rid of the bad smell" thing Koreans have. No one seems to be aware that if your meat smells bad, it's rotten and don't eat it. 
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Aug 18, 2013 07:03
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Grand Fromage posted:Sounds like the "soak your meat in milk to get rid of the bad smell" thing Koreans have. No one seems to be aware that if your meat smells bad, it's rotten and don't eat it. Hah man, some of the weird conceptions about food Koreans have is just... a little insane.
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Aug 18, 2013 07:21
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She's ethnically Manchurian/someothermainlandchinese but her family is from Taiwan. This has nothing to do with cooking, but I love listening to Chinese regionals talk poo poo about other regions. So, I just asked my mom about boiling+dumping and she says Koreans do it too. My people are dumb too 
Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Aug 18, 2013 |
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Aug 18, 2013 07:40
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North Chinese tribes/pre-assimilation cultures had a variety of blood taboos. Maybe they shared it with Koreans? 
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Aug 18, 2013 08:33
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I haven't encountered the blood boiling thing in Korea, but they do boil the poo poo out of a lot of different proteins. Especially fish, oh god what Koreans do to fish is just tragic.
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Aug 18, 2013 10:03
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The only time the Chinese I know do this is when parboiling (which makes sense, I guess). Apparently there's a name for this, 汆.
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Aug 18, 2013 10:40
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Steve Yun posted:Hey I got a question. Someone Chinese is telling me that you have to boil your meat, then change the water to get the "dirty blood" out. She acted surprised that I don't do this to all my meat. Is there any reason why I shouldn't blow this off (other than that it kinda acts as a way to skim fat)? You're supposed to do this with pho meat and bones too. It keeps the broth clear from the floating coagulated proteins. I usually don't do it unless I'm trying to make something super fancy.
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Aug 18, 2013 14:59
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Staying in Chinatown, Manhattan for the week. Already wandering around to find some good food. Came across a place with words/names I didn't recognize at all and several Mao pictures posted all over the place. Figured a good place to start. I got a pork dish and a duck dish. The pork was very heavy on garlic and lots of bamboo that we don't get in my home state. It was okay. "Fuzhou Style". The duck was good to a degree, with cauliflower. What didn't work for me was the anise. Might run down the street again and grab some goodies from the bakery.
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Aug 18, 2013 23:01
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Steve Yun posted:Hey I got a question. Someone Chinese is telling me that you have to boil your meat, then change the water to get the "dirty blood" out. She acted surprised that I don't do this to all my meat. Is there any reason why I shouldn't blow this off (other than that it kinda acts as a way to skim fat)? When making chinese soup stock, blanching and tossing the early water is important to.. well, get the dirty blood out so that you get a good clear broth. It's explained well here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/04/the-food-lab-wonton-soup.html
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Aug 19, 2013 04:46
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j4on posted:When making chinese soup stock, blanching and tossing the early water is important to.. well, get the dirty blood out so that you get a good clear broth. I do that when making Taiwanese beef noodle soup. I find that it does lessen the amount of stuff that I have to skim from the broth.
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Aug 19, 2013 04:51
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Making broth yeah. He wasn't talking about that though, he was talking about boiling the meat before you cook it.
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Aug 19, 2013 04:54
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I recently moved into my own place for school and so had to get my own wok. I seasoned it and it turned nice and black and seems to work fine (I just made my first real meal with it), but I'm really itching to be able to use black vinegar to cook again and I'm told that it will ruin the patina. About how low long does it take/how many cooks do I need to do before I can start putting black vinegar in it? I'm contemplating cooking everything in the wok, and then depositing it into a different pan just to add the sauce and let it reduce, but I dunno how important the high temperature is for that last stage in the process. Any ideas for what's good to do until the wok's patina is solid enough for sauces with black vinegar in them? Edit: To give a bit of background I seasoned it with peanut oil and cooked some green onions and ginger, then cooked some onions and then afterward some bacon, letting the wok cool between each thing. Then I finally got to use it for real just now when I made some beef and bok choy in oyster sauce.
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Aug 21, 2013 00:15
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Generally speaking, you should be removing food from the wok as soon as it's done, and washing immediately after, since any amount of food left in it can damage the patina. In that case, you can probably add your acids as you finish cooking, and quickly remove the food, or remove the food and sauce it up afterward, and minimize damage that way. A little bit of vinegar is not going to ruin your freshly seasoned wok, though.
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Aug 21, 2013 04:57
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Good that you told me that, because lacking any real good glassware I had to serve from the wok itself for a while and it was a bitch to clean after because I had left food in it. I'll go ahead and try some vinegar in small amounts and not leave it in the wok very long.
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Aug 21, 2013 05:01
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I want to make rice porridge but I don't feel like stopping to buy bone-in chicken before I go home. Would this work with shredded-up pork loin instead or is it just too lean? My mom gave me 8 lbs of pork loin that I don't know what to do with.
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Aug 21, 2013 18:25
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hallo spacedog posted:I want to make rice porridge but I don't feel like stopping to buy bone-in chicken before I go home. Would this work with shredded-up pork loin instead or is it just too lean? My mom gave me 8 lbs of pork loin that I don't know what to do with. eh. Rice porridge works with whatever you want it to work with, but I do think pork loin is too lean. It'll be so dry if you cook it in the porridge. You should totally get a huge piece of pork belly, wrap it around that pork loin, sear it, and roast it with appropriate seasonings and potatoes.
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Aug 21, 2013 19:11
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squigadoo posted:eh. Rice porridge works with whatever you want it to work with, but I do think pork loin is too lean. It'll be so dry if you cook it in the porridge. I'm at a complete loss because I don't really like pork tenderloin the way it's usually made and I cook Japanese food 9 days out of 10, if not more, so I have no idea what on earth to do with it.
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Aug 21, 2013 20:25
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hallo spacedog posted:I'm at a complete loss because I don't really like pork tenderloin the way it's usually made and I cook Japanese food 9 days out of 10, if not more, so I have no idea what on earth to do with it. wat? Katsudon! I mean, that's really one of the only Japanese foods I know how to make. I worry this is moving into a slight derail, but I used to take a lot of pork loins, cut them into chops, and cook them in as many ways as I could before I got sick of it. re porridge: I like to make plain rice porridge and then eat it with strongly flavored things. I don't mix my bowl well, so I can alternate bites of super strong, mild, weak, plain with a pocket of strong salt... I love it like that. (I am so sorry. My fiancee told me that I talk and obsess over food the way some guys do about sex) Things to put in (along with soy sauce and white pepper, of course): fish filet: raw, thin slices of a nice white fish at the bottom of your bowl. Season with a bit white pepper, cooking wine, soy sauce, ginger/ginger powder, and sesame oil. Pour boiling hot porridge over it and let it sit. Eat when perfect. fermented black beans with salt fish. Ham. Like, coldcut ham. I used to love this as a kid. I'm not sure I would love it as much now, but hey! Fermented tofu. pork meatballs: ground pork, soy sauce, white pepper, cooking wine, ginger powder, black pepper. Mix, form into balls, cook in porridge. 1000 yr old eggs. ALL DAY. EVERY DAY. Then breathe on your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. If I'm lazy, I'll cook a drumstick or 2 in the porridge, strip the meat into the porridge, and have chicken porridge. Chashew. Roast duck. mmmm. I have to stop, I'm going a bit nuts. edited to say: cook the porridge plain, then eat something strong with it. It's so nice that way.
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Aug 21, 2013 21:02
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squigadoo posted:wat? Katsudon! I mean, that's really one of the only Japanese foods I know how to make. Yeah, I was just thinking about that. I do like katsudon and haven't made it in a while. That aside, I love Chinese style rice porridge too. Usually I do that same chicken method with thighs and legs and then shred the meat in, like you mentioned, with green onion, ginger, fried garlic, lap cheong, sesame oil, bacon, egg, or whatever else I have around. Maybe not the most traditional, but still very delicious. I was just hoping I could offload some of those pork loins somehow other than the normal roasting method. But now I just want porridge. Probably will have to stop and get some chicken for this anyway now!
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Aug 21, 2013 21:08
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So far in Chinatown I've had fish head soup, real loving legit beef in garlic sauce, and snails. Pretty drat good. Had some kind of thick fish rice soup today as well.
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Aug 23, 2013 03:08
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hallo spacedog posted:I want to make rice porridge but I don't feel like stopping to buy bone-in chicken before I go home. Would this work with shredded-up pork loin instead or is it just too lean? My mom gave me 8 lbs of pork loin that I don't know what to do with. For what it's worth, 皮蛋瘦肉粥 （pidanshourouzhou) is one of the most popular porridges in Beijing. Its just sliced pork loin with some chives, ginger, and preserved egg in a plain white rice porridge. Getting preserved egg in the states might be difficult, but the porridge isnt bad without the egg. just add more vegetables. Pork loin is one of the most popular cuts for cooking. Pork belly gets all the fame in this thread (rightfully so, it's delicious), but most dishes call for pork loin. It can be cut into slices across the grain 片(pian), or cut into small match sticks 丝 (si). This is stir fried with just about any vegetable you can buy, but some more famous dishes that stand out are Smells like fish meat 鱼香肉丝 (yuxiangrousi), moosho pork 木须肉(muxurou), and kungpao pork宫爆肉丁(gongbaorouding). I think this thread has recipies for all of those dishes. Aero737 fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Aug 23, 2013 |
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Aug 23, 2013 05:29
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Not too difficult to get perserved egg. Its easily findable in MS of all places.
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Aug 23, 2013 12:44
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My Hongkie friend says not to get 1000 year eggs that are made in China because he doesn't trust them to be free of unsafe chemicals. Inter-regional paranoia, or legit concern?
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Aug 23, 2013 18:54
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I know that lead is sometimes used in traditional preparations.
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Aug 23, 2013 20:56
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There have been a lot of food tainting issues in China. I would say it's paranoia, but somewhat reasonable paranoia.
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Aug 24, 2013 03:12
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Yeah, I have to say it's prevalent amongst the Chinese community in the US to avoid food products made in China. There are a few exceptions made widely such as Lao Gan Ma, because you can't get that manufactured elsewhere.
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Aug 24, 2013 13:28
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Aero737 posted:For what it's worth, 皮蛋瘦肉粥 （pidanshourouzhou) is one of the most popular porridges in Beijing. Its just sliced pork loin with some chives, ginger, and preserved egg in a plain white rice porridge. Thanks for this info, it's great help on thinking up ways to use all this pork.
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Aug 24, 2013 14:46
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Funfact: All the kung pao chicken in Sichuan (where the dish is most popular by a mile) changed to pork after some scares about the quality of chicken meat came out. Not even in China do they trust Chinese products.
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Aug 25, 2013 01:41
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Especially in China they don't trust Chinese products.
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Aug 25, 2013 02:21
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