All AppetiteForChina

Chicken Lollipops

dianakuan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:50:36 +0000

Despite my pledge to eat healthier, I'm still on an Indian-Chinese food kick this week. Following up my fried Gobi Manchurian, I decided to make fried chicken lollipops. A good excuse would be that this is a handy appetizer to know in case I ever host a last-minute party.

Since chicken is one of two meats that are popular in India (the other being lamb), it's not surprising that cooks would get creative with a little drumstick. All you need is a paring knife to cut the tendons and scrape down the meat so the meat forms a nice round ball at the end. And the end result is wings that are much less messy to eat, especially when you're dealing with the hazards of a spicy, sticky sauce.

I first made lollipops way back in culinary school in my hors d'œuvre module. My chef-instructor hinted that this was his original idea, and that he deserved credit if we were to ever offer them on our own restaurant menus. I was impressed, until later when I began to see these not only in Indian-Chinese restaurants but also on the Food Network. So much for original ideas. At least you can rest assured that this is a better lollipop method than jamming chicken nuggets on popsicle sticks.

Dining Out: Fava Beans with Yunnan Goat Cheese, and Overly Hip Restrooms

dianakuan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:06:44 +0000

I was hesitant to visit a restaurant owned by a Taiwanese pop star. In the US, celebrity-backed ventures are usually failures with seriously bad food. It didn't help that one online reviewer mentioned that the décor was "over the top."

"Really?" I asked my friend, who usually prefers threadbare restaurants where one can feast like a king for next to nothing. He insisted we try, because it was listed on his Beijing map.

I guess Taiwanese celebs know their food better than their American counterparts. We ended up having a pretty good meal of mostly Yunnan and Guizhou food. One dish I liked in particular were fava beans with Yunnan goat cheese. I had mentioned Yunnan goat cheese before, from a restaurant I have come to despise because of the horribly rude (even for Beijing) service.

Rǔbǐng (乳饼) is the only Chinese cheese I know of that is widely known and popular, at least in China. It's delicious when pan-fried, with a sprinkle of sugar or salt and pepper on top. In the fava bean dish, it was steamed and dressed with a mellow rice wine sauce. Simple, and a great rice accompaniment.

Chinese Almond Cookies

dianakuan — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:42:36 +0000

Note to self: Never bake cookies before breakfast, especially if you are starving.

Yesterday, faced with the prospect of no milk accompaniment for cornflakes, I decided to hold out until lunch. I wanted to try out a recipe for almond cookies and told myself I would only eat 1 or 2, then fix myself a sensible lunch. However, hunger and gluttony got the best of me, and I ended up wolfing down eight.

You live, you learn.

My father used to own a Cantonese bakery and he would make these enormous, 5-inch wide crisp almond cookies with an egg-y sheen. I wanted more manageable-sized cookies, so I tried a recipe out of Chinatown: Sweet Sour Spicy Salty, a book I borrowed from the school I teach at. A recipe from the book I tried before was a dud, but fortunately this one turned out fine, giving me crisp and buttery textured cookies.

The only alteration I made was adding a half cup of ground almonds for a more nutty flavor. Although next time methinks I should replace the all-purpose flour with almond flour from Carrefour's enormous flour selection. (Or cashew flour, or even goji flour. Ah, Carrefour. What unusual flour don't you have?)

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Other cookie recipes to try:

Gobi Manchurian - Indian-Chinese Cauliflower Fritters

dianakuan — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:23:34 +0000

I was first introduced to Indian Chinese food a few years ago in Hong Kong, at a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui whose name now escapes me. My first thought was, "This is Chinese food?" My second thought was, "How ironic." The cuisine of China, brought over to India by Chinese immigrants many generations ago and given an Indian make-over, is now in the 21st century being brought to a special administrative region of China by Indian immigrants.

Chinese food developed in India the way it does around the world: by immigrants using techniques from home to cook their new world ingredients. They begin by feeding themselves, then perhaps open a restaurant to earn a living, thus adapting the food even more to suit local palettes.

Indian-Chinese cuisine incorporates not only Chinese ingredients like soy sauce and and ginger, but also cumin, turmeric, and hot chilis. Neither beef nor pork, the de facto meat of China, are used, because of India's large Hindu and Muslim populations. That leaves chicken, lamb, and vegetables as the mainstays.

Tomato Egg Drop Soup

dianakuan — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:42:47 +0000

Life is slowly returning to normal. With the Olympics in town, I couldn't not be surrounded by sports fever. I attended 11 events in total, mostly through friends of friends with last minute tickets. Conversations around me all centered around tickets: who has them, who's willing to sell them, and why the heck they're all "sold out" but the venues are still half empty. The past two weeks have been fun, but also exhausting...too many early morning events, crowds galore, hour-long waits for security check, bad stadium food, and late night carousing (the last, though, was no fault of the Games themselves.)

I'm continuing with the healthy recipes to combat the massive amounts of fried food I have been eating. Last week I posted Sichuan-Style Snow Peas, a light stir-fry. Today's tomato egg drop soup is even healthier if you consider the lack of cooking oil. It's also incredibly simple, which no special technique other than the swirling in of the egg whites to create the egg strands. Just pour slowly and stir at the same time.

Related recipe:
Seaweed Egg Drop Soup

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Tomato Egg Drop Soup

Serves 4

Technical Difficulties

dianakuan — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:01:48 +0000

As of yesterday the site has been experiencing technical difficulties with older content. I apologize for the inconvenience...trust me, there is nobody more frustrated by this and pulling out more hair (figuratively) than I am. Hopefully, the content has not been lost and will be restored soon.

If you are looking for a recipe or other information that is currently unavailable, please feel free to email me.

More Scorpion Love from Portland's KGW

dianakuan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:42:50 +0000

Okay, maybe "love" is an overstatement.

Not long after I filmed the Donghuamen Night Market segment with CBS (but before it aired), I was contacted by KGW, Portland's NBC affiliate. Stephanie Stricklen, the correspondent, wanted to shoot an odd street food story for the Portland area, and of course, I obliged. (According to an online pole, viewers had insisted she try scorpion.) She was also excited to learn that Jacob is an ex-Oregonian, and thus his appearance in the segment.

This KWG clip which aired on August 19th shows both the Donghuamen Night Market and the slightly less tourisy Wangfujing Snack Street.

Sichuan-Style Snow Peas

dianakuan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:05:56 +0000

I'll start off by saying that I have greatly enjoyed the Games here in Beijing. But I do have a gripe that is shared by many other people.

While the events have been fun, the food inside every venue leaves much to be desired. Or should I say, the lack of food. I know that it's common at many sporting and entertainment venues to restrict bringing in food, but it's also common to have food available for purchase. But no. Hot dogs and sausage links listed on the the menu at every venue are almost always "sold out." Sandwiches are nonexistent. The only things available are usually popcorn, Snickers, ice cream, and Tsingtao beer, which is what I have been mainly subsisting on. (You would think that with McDonald's as a corporate sponsor, we could at least get some ultra-hydrogenated fries and sad cheeseburgers.) Granted, everything is reasonably priced, but when you're on the verge of starvation in the middle of a 4-hour event, you would gladly overpay for a dinky club sandwich or frankfurter.

Fork Toppings for Chopsticks

dianakuan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:56:45 +0000

"Would you like a fork topping to go with your chopsticks?" asked the Swiss waiter.

Leave it to the Swiss to think of inventive alternatives to standard cutlery sets. Jacob and I ate with another friend at the Swiss House last week, one of the few Olympic houses open to the public. On the table when we sat down were fork heads and chopsticks to attach them to.

Nevermind that none of the food on the menu, including fois gras terrine, charcuterie, and spätzle, is typically eaten with chopsticks. They seem to be out simply as chinoiserie, a tiny homage to the host country, perhaps. (Like the orange rice paddy hats some Dutch fans are wearing at their Holland House, except less likely to be misconstrued.) But the novelty kept us amused and snapping photos for the first part of the evening.

Eating Weird Stuff for CBS: Photos and Tasting Notes

dianakuan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:41:27 +0000

I always thought that if I ever tried eating bugs, it would be on a dare, for a ton of money. Then last weekend I found myself at the Donghuamen Night Market with a CBS crew, trying centipedes, silkworms, and other odd critters for a CBS Early Edition segment. (More photos following the video.)

You can also see the video on CBS's site.)