http://redcook.net Adventures from a Chinese Home Kitchen Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:27:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://redcook.net/2012/02/17/zhajiang-mian-a-meat-sauce-taste-test/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=zhajiang-mian-a-meat-sauce-taste-test http://redcook.net/2012/02/17/zhajiang-mian-a-meat-sauce-taste-test/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:51:14 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1207 Go to a Japanese noodle shop or a casual Korean restaurant and you’ll find two noodle dishes with very similar names: Jajangmyeon and Jajamen. Not unlike spaghetti Bolognese they consist of a bed of noodles topped with a brown ground meat sauce often accompanied by julienned cucumbers. Few people though realize that this dish originated in China. Known as Zhajiang Mian (炸醬麵) in Mandarin it is a classic snack food from the Beijing region.]]> http://redcook.net/2012/02/17/zhajiang-mian-a-meat-sauce-taste-test/feed/ 3 http://redcook.net/2012/01/31/a-lobster-feast-fit-to-welcome-the-dragon-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-lobster-feast-fit-to-welcome-the-dragon-year http://redcook.net/2012/01/31/a-lobster-feast-fit-to-welcome-the-dragon-year/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:21:33 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1186 Juggling consulting work at Lotus Blue and other freelance consulting gigs, I almost neglected my own family’s reunion dinner for Chinese New Year. But since we were entering the Chinese zodiac’s dragon year it would have been improper not to have a grand celebration to welcome it. Among the flurry of my activities I staged a sumptuous Dragon Chinese New Year banquet for a small group of family and friends.]]> http://redcook.net/2012/01/31/a-lobster-feast-fit-to-welcome-the-dragon-year/feed/ 7 http://redcook.net/2012/01/24/breaking-bread-with-barry-the-berry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=breaking-bread-with-barry-the-berry http://redcook.net/2012/01/24/breaking-bread-with-barry-the-berry/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:13:41 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1180 Precariously balancing an overly full tray of pineapple shrimp fried rice I got off the elevator and entered a high ceiling open space loft in the Soho district of New York City. Workstations with flickering screens were everywhere, and a meeting room hides behind walls rising half way up to the ceiling. In another open space I saw the original painting of Barry the berry on a horse back looking out onto a valley, which is the same picture attached to the about page of gojee.com. Although I have no idea what is the significance of this picture I knew this had to be the right place. I was in one of the communal office spaces of the New York City’s many technology startups. It was the home of the team behind gojee.com, a recipe search site with thousands of recipe listings from the best food bloggers.]]> http://redcook.net/2012/01/24/breaking-bread-with-barry-the-berry/feed/ 4 http://redcook.net/2012/01/11/project-yunnan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=project-yunnan http://redcook.net/2012/01/11/project-yunnan/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:15:35 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1167 What happens when the cooking of China collides with that of Burma, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam? The result is a fresh cuisine full of bold and explosive flavors. This is precisely what you’ll find in the cooking of Yunnan province of southwestern China. I’ve been researching and developing recipes from this region during the last three months. Indeed I took a trip to Yunnan in November last year to get a better understanding of the region’s foodways. Why the sudden interest in this cuisine? I’m glad you asked. I have great news to tell you about my involvement in the imminent opening of a Yunnan restaurant in Tribeca.]]> http://redcook.net/2012/01/11/project-yunnan/feed/ 13 http://redcook.net/2011/12/31/turkey-another-way/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=turkey-another-way http://redcook.net/2011/12/31/turkey-another-way/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:17:02 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1160 During Christmas, or Thanksgiving for that matter, many Chinese immigrant families like mine face a dilemma. Should we serve turkey or just simply make a Chinese meal? Turkey has always been an iconic American foods that the Chinese never embraced. Jeff Yang wrote in a Wall Street Journal blog post that his family serves both the big bird and “a long buffet line” of other Chinese dishes. This seems to be the most common solution for satisfying both the family’s preference for Chinese food and our desire to assimilate into the American culinary tradition.]]> http://redcook.net/2011/12/31/turkey-another-way/feed/ 4 http://redcook.net/2011/12/23/imperial-duck-for-christmas-dinner/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=imperial-duck-for-christmas-dinner http://redcook.net/2011/12/23/imperial-duck-for-christmas-dinner/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:53:12 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1147 When you think of a traditional Victorian English Christmas what comes to mind? The most likely images are Scrooge, Father Christmas, Christmas tree, snow and the Christmas goose. This traditional bird shows up in virtually every depiction of a Victorian Christmas dinner. The most common recipes call for onion and apple dressing and spit-roasting over a wood fire. During the nineteenth century, while Queen Victoria was supping on her goose, in the Chinese Qing imperial palace half way around the world one of the most beloved dishes was a stuffed duck dish known as Eight Treasures Hulu Duck. It was an elegant, sumptuous dish made from a deboned duck filled with glutinous rice and studded with eight other ingredients. It would have been a perfect Christmas bird for the Qing Dynasty’s ambassador to Victoria’s Court.]]> http://redcook.net/2011/12/23/imperial-duck-for-christmas-dinner/feed/ 2 http://redcook.net/2011/11/01/no-bones-about-it/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-bones-about-it http://redcook.net/2011/11/01/no-bones-about-it/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:23:26 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1134 “Why don’t they remove the bones before they serve the fish?” is a common question I hear from friends whenever we go to Chinese restaurants. In fact on one occasion after finishing a steamed striped bass at a popular Cantonese seafood restaurant in Chinatown a fellow diner jested that the remains of our dish looked like Felix the Cat had swallowed the fish whole and pulled out a completely cleaned skeleton with just the head and tail left on. So why do the Chinese like to keep the bones in the dishes they cook? ]]> http://redcook.net/2011/11/01/no-bones-about-it/feed/ 18 http://redcook.net/2011/08/31/maine-lobster-without-butter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=maine-lobster-without-butter http://redcook.net/2011/08/31/maine-lobster-without-butter/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:16:54 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1124 On a misty dreary Sunday morning in September of 1971 soon after I arrived in Boston for my university study, a few college friends and I drove up to Kittery Point, Maine. It took us about an hour to drive there and it was barely noon when we climbed down a short set of steps from the parking lot to the Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier. The weather didn’t dampen my anticipation for my very first experience eating Maine lobster. We each ordered a one and a half pound lobster and feasted in our ponchos at the picnic table under a tent. The cost: seven dollars for each of our lobsters. That was an exorbitant price for a casual meal then.]]> http://redcook.net/2011/08/31/maine-lobster-without-butter/feed/ 4 http://redcook.net/2011/07/19/dumpster-diving-for-radish-greens/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dumpster-diving-for-radish-greens http://redcook.net/2011/07/19/dumpster-diving-for-radish-greens/#comments Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:46:25 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1114 Now that farmers’ market season is in full swing we are spoiled by an abundance of fresh produce. Lettuces, summer squashes and radishes cram the stalls of just about every green market. Sold in a variety of rainbow colors, radishes are especially plentiful, and they’re almost always sold with their greens attached. Most Americans, however, routinely ask the vendors to cut off the greens or they discard them at home. It’s unfortunate because these greens are delicious and nutritious. In northeastern China the slightly peppery leaves are used in many different ways, including in stir-fries, salads and steamed buns.]]> http://redcook.net/2011/07/19/dumpster-diving-for-radish-greens/feed/ 14 http://redcook.net/2011/06/21/red-cooked-pork-revisited/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=red-cooked-pork-revisited http://redcook.net/2011/06/21/red-cooked-pork-revisited/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:41:51 +0000 Kian Lam Kho http://redcook.net/?p=1106 A month ago Sabino from Baltimore submitted a comment on the Red Cooked Pork Redux post. It was a comment like I have never seen before. Not only was it voluminous it was also very insightful. He asked detailed questions on cooking and serving red cooked pork. I’m gratified that my readers are actually making authentic Chinese food and are sharing their experiences along the way. I feel compelled to devote an entire post to address the issues brought up in his comments. So here I am writing my third post on the subject of red cooked pork. ]]> http://redcook.net/2011/06/21/red-cooked-pork-revisited/feed/ 10