Red Cook

That’s Alkaline Zongzi You’re Smelling

Kian Lam Kho — Fri, 31 May 2013 04:24:23 +0000

About two years ago two neighbors of ours separately stopped us in the corridor and wondered if we had a good time smoking pot in our apartment the night before. I was initially perplexed and rather indignant by the insinuation. Then I realized the odor they smelled through our door was in fact from boiling zongzi, which I was preparing for the annual Duanwu Festival, commonly called the Dragon Boat Festival in the West. The concoction of bamboo leaves, meat and spices has an odor very similar to marijuana smoke, or so I’ve been told.

The post That’s Alkaline Zongzi You’re Smelling appeared first on Red Cook.

Spring into Spring Bamboo Shoots

Kian Lam Kho — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:22:21 +0000

A Chinese children fable called “Spring Bamboo Shoot and the Pebbles” (春筍與亂石) tells a story of a spring bamboo shoot aspiring to burst through the soil, but is halted by a group of pebbles above him. He politely asks the pebbles to let him through but to no avail. With shear determination he pushes through between the pebbles and grows out of the soil. The pebbles are so impressed that they start celebrating him as a superstar. I’m actually not quite sure what the moral of the story is. But “success through determination” is so typically Chinese and very tiger-mom like. Regardless of the moral though, the story does tell of how bamboo shoots surge forth every spring to produce one of the most delicately delicious ingredients in Chinese cooking.

The post Spring into Spring Bamboo Shoots appeared first on Red Cook.

My Father’s Island Paradise

Kian Lam Kho — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:24:19 +0000

Across a very narrow strait from the downtown waterfront of Xiamen (廈門) sits the island of Gulangyu (鼓浪嶼), a hilly outcrop smaller than Central Park in New York City and dotted with colonial-era European style buildings. Warren and I took the short five-minute ferry ride to this island last month while we were in Xiamen. Gulangyu occupies a very special place in my heart because my father spent his formative years there attending the Anglo-Chinese Middle School in the 1930’s.

The post My Father’s Island Paradise appeared first on Red Cook.

The Enduring Flavors of Jinjiang

Kian Lam Kho — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:34:54 +0000

Growing up in Singapore I often chatted with my grandfather about Jinjiang (晉江), our ancestral hometown in Fujian (福建) province of China. The stories he told painted a picture of a fishing village with a thriving commercial center where our ancestors lived and worked as merchants and traders. So imagine my surprise when I learned that Jinjiang is now a city with a population of one million. Still a busy fishing port, Jinjiang has become the largest center of underwear and swimsuit production in all of China, and by extension the whole world. That is the product of economic liberalization over the last three decades. But what interested me the most was investigating the local foodways. Would I be able to find the comfort foods of my youth in Jinjiang? Would the different kinds of flavored rice, fish balls, angel hair noodles and fresh spring rolls be the same?

The post The Enduring Flavors of Jinjiang appeared first on Red Cook.

Exploring My Roots in China’s Fujian Province

Kian Lam Kho — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:00:46 +0000

Two weeks ago Warren and I left Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport bound for Xiamen (廈門), a major southern port city of Fujian (福建) province where my ancestors are from. The first thing I noticed onboard our Xiamen Airlines airplane was that the pre-flight announcement was in the Southern Min (閩南) dialect that I spoke with my grandparents. During my travels in China over the last decade I've never heard any local dialects used in such official announcements. So this was surprising to me since China’s central government pretty much dictates people's life including the language used for official or business purposes. I knew then that I was about to witness a very different independent minded part of China. This spirit probably helps explain their unique culture and cooking customs as well.

The post Exploring My Roots in China’s Fujian Province appeared first on Red Cook.

Beijing Cuisine Beyond Peking Duck

Kian Lam Kho — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:34:36 +0000

Mention Beijing cuisine and Peking duck immediately comes to mind. It conjures the image of sumptuous palace fare and complex cooking techniques. This dish is considered the ultimate of Chinese cooking wisdom and knowhow. Perfectly roasted duck with a lacquer-like glaze covering the skin is the definitive Beijing delicacy prized by connoisseurs. But one would be hard pressed to find another dish from Beijing cuisine that stands out like the duck.

The post Beijing Cuisine Beyond Peking Duck appeared first on Red Cook.

A Love Affair with Pan-Fried Noodles

Kian Lam Kho — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 01:58:24 +0000

My family is originally from the coastal Chinese province of Fujian. Traditionally our noodles are cooked in soup, boiled unadorned except for seasonings, or stir-fried in a wok with a thin sauce. When I was about ten years old my family went to a Cantonese dim sum house in Singapore, which at that time was an exotic excursion for a family accustomed to mostly eating Fujianese food. We were served a pan-fried noodles dish of delicious seafood vegetable sauce dripping all over thin golden brown crispy noodles. That was the beginning of my life long love affair with Hong Kong pan-fried noodles.

The post A Love Affair with Pan-Fried Noodles appeared first on Red Cook.

We Have a Winner!

Kian Lam Kho — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 05:51:38 +0000

As promised I have randomly selected a winner, or rather Warren did, for Diana Kaun’s new book The Chinese Takeout Cookbook. The winner is “gryhndldy.” Let me congratulate “gryhndldy” and I will be contacting you for your mailing information. Diana’s book is a wonderful collection of classic Chinese takeout recipes that you can reproduce at home. Diana’s recipes are easy to follow and use ingredients readily available in your local markets. For those who did not win the book go out and buy a copy. Make takeout Chinese food you can enjoy while controlling the quality of the ingredients, and not worrying about whether your neighborhood restaurant slipped in some MSG unannounced.

The post We Have a Winner! appeared first on Red Cook.

Strengthen Your Kidneys with Mountain Yam and Fox Nuts

Kian Lam Kho — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:38:38 +0000

For millenniums the Chinese prepared their meals with the express purpose of maintaining a healthy constitution. In fact the earliest texts of Chinese cookery read more like a pharmacologist’s guide than recipe book. It is not surprising that this practice has become a formalized discipline known as food therapy, and making herbal soup one of its best-developed aspects.

The post Strengthen Your Kidneys with Mountain Yam and Fox Nuts appeared first on Red Cook.

Diana Kuan’s General Tso’s Chicken and the American Admiral

Kian Lam Kho — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:05:32 +0000

In 1953 Admiral Arthur W. Radford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Taiwan for talks with President Chiang Kai-Shek. The presidential palace chef, Peng Chang-Kuei (彭長貴), was asked to create a banquet to entertain the illustrious guest. After planning some traditional Hunan dishes, he decided to create a few new dishes for the menu. One of them was General Tso’s Chicken. Thus the world’s most famous Chinese dish was born.

The post Diana Kuan’s General Tso’s Chicken and the American Admiral appeared first on Red Cook.