Tomato, Shrimp, and Egg

More common homestyle Chinese cooking learning from Chef A-Chi. The tomato is pre-deep fried as in the tomato shrimp. The key here is to make the egg, the tomato, and the shrimp all cling together. The egg and the shrimp can't be overdone either. All ingredients should be cooked to the point of "just" done. I think I did pretty well in that endeavor and the taste was divine. I had this with rice porrdige over the past weekend when I was feeling the threat of a cold.

Here's the video if you'd like the instructions. It's in Mandarin, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYU3Cskup8M

Quack, Quack

Here's a picture of the elusive duck blood that is keeping my home made renditions of Sichuan hot pot broth from hitting its full potential. I have no idea where to find this item in SF.

Hot Pot Imitation As High Flattery

Ever since our TW trip, I've been thinking about that wonderful ma la hot pot we had at Tao Ho Dien. While I don't have access to the duck blood to help out the broth, I've been experiementing with broth composition in trying to duplicate that experience at home. Aslo, I've been trying out Tao Ho Dien's method of only adding broth to scallions as dipping sauce method http://www.taihodien.com.tw/htm/02.htm. While I wouldn't say I'm quite there yet (damn lack of duck blood), this night's rendition was a pretty good showing. I started off with a store bought Sichuan broth base, added some other spices like crushed fennel seed, bay leaf, and marjoram to give it a bit more of an herbal taste.

Beef Break

Driving on I-5 is pretty mind numbing. Thank goodness for Harris Ranch. The always reliable and tasty break mid-trip. I had their version fo a french dip this time. The beef was, of course, outstanding and the au jus light and not too salty. All I can say is we need that bullet train between SF and LA. In the meantime, we have Harris Ranch to save us.

Muff On The Plane

I was in New Orleans for Sherri and AT's wedding in October. More food entries on that to come. I didn't get to Central Grocery but picked up this muffaleta for the plane ride home from John's Po'Boys. Pretty tasty.

Burmese House... No, Really In Someone's House

Wil and I went to LA in mid-November that was intended to be a food tour but was mostly a bust except for this meal due to the fires that raged in the Greater LA area that weekend. Wil's cousin took us to a really "underground" Burmese restaurant. When he said that only the insiders of the local Burmese community knew about the place, I just assumed that it was a small dive. Actually, it was someone's house that they've converted into a "restaurant." Basically it was the driveway or space infront of the kitchen that had an awning over with some plastic chairs and fold out tables. Basically, we could have been in an Third World country. The food was great and very authentic. I have no idea what each of these dishes are called or even what they are, but they were all very tasty. I think Wil needs to chime in.

Training by Chef A-Chi

Chef A-Chi is the head chef at my aunt's hotel in Taipei. He's been the chef for previous Presidents, etc. I've been watching his cooking shows on Youtube and man, has it made a difference in my Chinese cooking! Admittedly, my Chinese cooking skills have always been the the worst of my repertoire and I have been trying to gain technique in this genre. But it really is all about technique. And maybe fire power... but that's for another day. I made this wonderful whole shrimp in tomato sauce now a few times. It's deceptively easy, but so-oooo good.

1/2 lb of shrimp with head and shell intact
1 small to medium tomato
1 tablespoon of minced scallions
1 cup vegetable oil
Mirin
Salt
White Pepper

Take the tomato and score a cross on each end. Heat the oil in a small saucer. Then fry the tomato quickly. You can deep fry it ideally but that uses up too much oil, so I just angle the pot and dunk the tomato in. Then I flip the tomato around so all sides get fried. This seals in the juices and concentrates the taste of the tomato for some reason. After you remove the tomato, the skin peels off easily. Roughly chop the tomato. Heat a bit of the oil used for frying the tomato. Toss in the garlic and heat until fragrant. Add in the chopped tomato. Cook until the tomato liquifies a bit. Add the shrimp and a bit of mirin. Toss in the scallions. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir fry until shrimp turns pink (about 3-5 minutes) and voila!