Text 30358, 99 rader
Skriven 2015-08-29 18:03:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av MICHAEL LOO
Ärende: recipe picks
====================
-=> Quoting Michael Loo to Jim Weller <=-

 JW> most of this series will be from less familiar cuisines, novel,
 JW> obscure or just plain weird. Here's the first ...
 JW> Title: Manchurian Di San Xian
 JW> Northeastern Potato, Eggplant And Peppers

 ML> Sort of weird, but some Chinese eat potatoes

I didn't think it was weird so much as obscure. I am not familiar
with Manchurian cuisine, but I am learning ...

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: About Dongbei (Manchurian) Cuisine Pt 1
Categories: Chinese, Info
  Servings: 4

           Dongbei (Manchurian) Cuisine

Dongbei. in China's Northeast, better known as Manchuria, stretches
up toward Siberia from Beijing. It is bordered by Russia, Mongolia,
and Korea. The latter's influence in the kitchen is immediately
apparent at the start of every Dongbei meal. Along with Chinese tea
you'll find an abbreviated spin on Korean banchan placed on every
table. One dish contains crunchy, chili-tinged suan chao tu dou si,
a sour potato slaw of sorts, and the other is a lightly pickled
cabbage that calls to mind a sweeter, less intense version of
kimchi.

Unlike in other parts of China, wheat, rather than rice, is the
staple starch, so noodles, dumplings, and flatbreads play a big role
in everyday eating. Corn, ground into flour, makes its way into
rustic breads, too.

Dongbei cooking is hearty and meaty to bulk up against the cold. 

"Muslim lamb chop," or mu su lin yang cai. "Chop" is a delightful
misnomer. The dish is actually a rack of lamb ribs that's braised,
deep fried, and then encrusted in cumin, chili flakes, and white and
black sesame seeds. Cumin takes equal billing with the meat. A
veritable boatload of the fragrant spice encrusts the exterior.
Beyond that crust lies red-tinged meat and bone along with bits of
snow-white fat, all packed with wonderful lamb flavor. 

The Sweet and Sour Connection: Among Dongbei cooks, it's said that
you're nothing if you can't cook guo bao rou, fried pork cooked in a
sweet and sour sauce. A proper sweet and sour pork. Unlike its
bastardized American cousin, guo bao rou is not cloyingly sweet. It
consists of thin pork cutlets coated in potato starch batter,
usually fried twice, then tossed in a sauce made from rice vinegar,
rock sugar, ginger, and garlic. Forget all those sickly-sweet,
bright red sweet-sours you may have tasted in other Chinese
restaurants.

The dish can be traced to the early 20th century, when Zheng
Xingwen, a private chef for the Harbin government, stir-fried pork
in a hot wok, then poured on a thick, salty sauce so the meat
absorbed its flavors, giving the dish its original name, literally
"stir-fried pork in the wok." After some Russian guests found the
dish too heavy, he changed up the dish by introducing the now-iconic
sweet and sour sauce. The Russians were delighted, and today it's
often rendered on menus as pork in orange sauce. 

"chicken in orange flavor," or chen pí ji, fried and coated with hot
sugar syrup. Crunchy and sweet bits of chicken are interspersed with
fragrant dried orange peel and chilies.

Another American-Chinese classic, moo shoo pork, also has a Dongei
counterpart called chun bing he cai, or "spring pancake
combination." That combination includes strips of pork, egg, wood
ear mushrooms, chives, and other veggies. 

Harsh winters and relatively short growing seasons have made
pickling a common form of food preservation in Dongbei. Pickled
cabbage, or suan cai, is traditionally made by most households in
giant clay vats. 

It often goes into sha guo suan cai dun fen tiao, or sour cabbage
with rice noodles and pork belly. Sour, mellow, and hearty

Di san xian: Commonly rendered on English menus as "triple delight
vegetable," this trifecta of stir fried potatoes, hot green peppers,
and eggplant slicked in a slightly sweet soy sauce is a hearty
Dongbei classic that warms both palate and body. The name loosely
translates to "three delights from the earth." 

  From: Serious Eats 

MMMMM-------------------------------------------------


YK Jim

... I also learned after two wives - date them longer.

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