MARCH COOKBOOK OF MONTH: Fuchsia Dunlop
MARCH COOKBOOK OF THE MONTH (Trumpets sound) Both Fuchsia Dunlop Books
Start hoarding black vinegar and salted chilis....Cookbooks of the Month for March are REVOLUTIONARY CHINESE and LAND OF PLENTY by Fuchsia Dunlop.
I hope that MMRuth or anyone else who's got the time and interest, will post some internet threads. I know there are several recipes if you search for "UKFood and Dunlop". She also works for the BBC and they probably have recipes.
I've decided that, rather than have a huge number of separate threads, and since both books have almost identical chapter names, I'm only going to post a combo thread for each chapter The title will just be (for example) Fuchsia Dunlop - March Cookbook of the Month Appetizers. So folks will post for either book in the chapter threads.
Noodles, Dumplings and Other Street Treats
Appetizers
Meat
Poultry
Fish
Vegetables and Bean Curd
Stocks and Soup
Sweet Dishes
Hot Pot
Revolutionary Chinese has an extra chapter, Preserves and Stocks, and I'm making a separate thread for that.
Let's get going!!!
oakjoan
Feb 29, 2008 11:31PM
Thank you, oakjoan, I think this is going to be so fun. Here are the links to the chapter threads oakjoan has set up:
Noodles, Dumplings and Other Street Treats http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494662#3448883
Appetizers http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494661#3448880
Meat http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494663#3448884
Poultry (and eggs) http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494664#3448887
Fish http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494665
Vegetables and Bean Curd http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494666#3448890
Stocks and Soup
Sweet Dishes http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494668
Hot Pot - http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494846
Preserves and Stocks (Revolutionary Chinese only) http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494667#3448895
[EDITED BY THE CHOWHOUND TEAM TO ADD A LINK].
Post-mortem discussion
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/50388...
~TDQ
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We've added a link to The Dairy Queen's post to include the Post-Mortem Discussion thread , which you can find here: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/50388...
Thank you!
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Here are the links Gio sent me yesterday:
"Following is the list of Fuchsia Dunlop's recipes I have garnered from various web sites. On a few of the pages you will have to scroll down a bit to find what you want. There are multiple recipes on some pages, however all the recipes I found are listed here. I have included an online conversion chart since many measurements are in metric."
Spring Rolls
Spring Rolls with Three Silken Threads (San Si Chun Juan)
http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/cookbook/spring_rolls.html
Bean Curd
Pock-marked Mother Chen's Bean Curd
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/food/recipe30.shtml
Peng's Home-Style Bean Curd
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/572914
Noodles
Sichuanese Dan Dan Noodles (Dan Dan Mian
)http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/516692
Rice
Eight Treasure Black Rice Porridge
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/574457
Pork
Slow-Braised Pork (Babi Pongtay
)http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/515562
Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork (Mao Shi Hong Shao Rou
)http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7603457
Mind Blowing Fish-Fragrant Pork Slivers (Yu Xiang Rou Si
)http://moveablefeast.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/mindblowing-fish-fragrant-pork-slivers-yu-xiang-rou-si/
Flowering Chives with Smoky Bacon
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/514760
Stir-fried Bacon with Bamboo Shoot
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/517239
Beef
Beef with Cumin
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/590595
Fried Beef Slivers
http://www.kitchenchick.com/2006/04/sichuan_land_of.html
Lamb
Lamb Pilaf (Polo
)http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/516585
Poultry
Kung Pao Chicken
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/597657
General Tso's Chicken (Dunlop'sTaiwanese version
)http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/magazine/04food.t.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Dong'an Chicken (Dong An Zi Ji
)http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/cookbook/dongan_chicken.html
Shrimp
Fragrant and Hot Tiger Prawns
http://rachelsbite.blogspot.com/2007/03/fragrant-and-hot-tiger-prawns.html
Kung Pao Shrimp
http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2007/07/kung-pao-shrimp.html
Fisherman's Shrimp with Chinese Chives (Yu Jia Chao Xia Qiu
)http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/cookbook/fisherman_shrimp.html
Vegetables
Dry-Fried Green Beans (Gan Bian Si Ji Dou)
http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipes/cookbook/green_beans.html
Fried Cucumber with Purple Perilla (zi su jian huang gua
)http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/side_friedcucumber.shtml
Dessert
Eight Treasure Wok Pudding - Ba Bao Guo Zheng
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/514480
On Line Conversion Chart:
http://www.onlineconversion.com/cooki...
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The following Conversion Chart may be better than one above:
http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/...
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I think I have most, if not all of the links available from the net. I hope people will feel free to add others if found. Thank you MM for posting the list!
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FYI - I substituted the two tinyurls for the actual ones - since I'd read somewhere that those don't work after awhile?
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Thanks MM.. I didn't know that.
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And to add even more thanks: Thanks for Gio and MMR for the links.
As I have previously posted, the link for Lamb Polo (pilaf) contains an actual video of Fuchsia withstanding the bland stupidity of the host of the program on which she is a guest. And I cannot praise the Polo dish enough - fab.
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Hunan Beef With Cumin (US) - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/dining/141drex.html
Red Cooked Beef with Turnips - http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/01/28/book-review-land-of-plenty/
Tofu and Eggs - http://www.recipezaar.com/279586
Home Made Hunan Salted Chilis - http://www.recipezaar.com/282754
Velveted Fish - http://www.recipezaar.com/280874
Smacked Cucumbers - http://www.recipezaar.com/260377
Sounding Radish Slivers (Xiang Luo Bu Si) - http://www.recipezaar.com/260317
Pan Fried Cucumbers - http://www.recipezaar.com/260314
Authentic Black Bean Chicken - http://www.recipezaar.com/260313
Xiao Sun Zi Chao Rou Mo (Slender Bamboo Shoots With Ground Pork) - http://www.recipezaar.com/260315
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US version of Kung Pao Chicken:
http://www.leitesculinaria.com/recipe...
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I picked up my "Land of Plenty" from the library yesterdy and have to say I am a bit overwhelmed. There is a ton of background material, but I am still a bit confused about ingredients.
First - dark soy sauce. Anyone know how this compares to Thai dark soy sauce (very sweet molasses flavor). I am allergic to wheat, so can't use the Pearl River brand.
Peppers - I think I figured this one out, but when she refers to whole sichuan pepper that means whole peppercorns, but when it is Sichuan chilis than it is a hot chili. I have a bunch of arbol chilis and Indian hot red chilis - OK to sub?
That is all for now. I am excited to try the recipes, since I can never eat Chinese out.
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jsaimd, Chinese typically use the dark soy sauce for color, and the light soy sauce for flavor. It is no big whoop to substitute regular soy sauce (or Kikkoman or Kikkoman Light etc) if you can't find the Chinese light/dark ones.
OK to substitute one chili for another in my book.
Think of her wonderful recipes as a general guide - if you like it more sweet, then add more sugar. If you don't like to use too much salt, then add less of it. I cooked in an authentic Chinese restaurant for 4 years and the first thing I learned from Lao Li was, "there are no recipes." Everything is done to taste, smell and sight.
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scoopG, thank you for that insight.
Another question: When she doesn't specify "dark" or "light" soy sauce, and just says "soy sauce" (I think I noticed a recipe in there where she didn't specify, though, I'm not now sure which one) what is the default?
Also, I've noticed in some of the BBC recipes she refers to "groundnut oil"--I think that's peanut oil, right?
Finally, is it okay to use cornstarch instead of potato flour?
Thank you!
~TDQ
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Ah, I've answered part of my own question--on pg 64 of LOP, Dunlop says that you can use cornstarch instead of potato flour, but that you need about 50% more cornstarch.
~TDQ
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TDQ, Just regular old soy sauce or you can experiment with a variation of the light and regular if you like! Potato flour is also called potato starch. Is it available there in one those Chinese markets around 28th and Nicollet? Of course there are more around the TC metro area I'm sure. I find it is better than cornstarch - lighter. (Or maybe I've been using too much cornstarch all these years!)
Not sure what she means by groundnut flour. I always use peanut oil anyways.
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Okay, yes, I went back to Shuang Hur today and got the potato starch. Oddly enough, I wasn't able to find any mushrooms there except fresh oyster mushrooms. We asked three different people where they were and they just referred us to someone else. I think it helps if you call it fungus, but, still, in the end, I concluded they just don't have a lot of mushrooms. Perhaps Southeast Asian cuisine (which forms the base of the Twin Cities Asian Community) doesn't use a lot of mushrooms? We ended up buying Wood Ear mushrooms (at Lunds, a local high-end grocer) instead of "Cloud Ear" mushrooms, but now I see the warning on page 58 of LOP that you should avoid buying these mushrooms as they don't have a lot of flavor. :(. So, I'm still on the search for "cloud ear."
Anyway, thank you and Caitlin for the additional insights on the soy sauce and "groundnut oil" aka peanut oil.
~TDQ
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Your'e welcome TDQ. Lunds! What a store. Love their potato salad BTW. :) Cloud Ear is black - bought dry and when re-constituted in water it softens up. Very light, almost rubbery in texture. I would not worry about the mushrooms myself. I made her "Steamed Bacon with Mushrooms" from her Hunan book and found that the use of 4-5 exotic mushrooms was a bit too much - remade it with regular white and cremini mushrooms and it was more tasty. Oyster mushrooms almost look like bean sprouts - thin with a a bit of a head on their tip.
I am gone for the next week with no access (I think) so I hope I don't miss much!
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I bought Chinese mushrooms in Chinatown today - couldn't figure it out myself, ended up with the following, with the help of an employee:
Cloud Ears - Auricula - I bought "compressed auricula" (Yu Yee Brand)
Silver Ear Fungus - "White Jello" - dried (no brand name in English, packed for Golden Gate Supply company)
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I wonder if this might help:
"Cloud Ears (Auricularia Polytricha) are ruffle-edged, thin, Black Mushrooms. Cloud Ears are similar in appearance to Wood Ear except Wood Ear are black with a brownish - tan inner color, whereas Cloud Ear Mushrooms are black with a slightly lighter shade of black as their inner color. Cloud Ears have a more delicate, mild flavor and are much smaller in size than Wood Ear. Cloud Ear Mushrooms reconstitute to a puffy like, soft, firm, smooth texture and delicate flavor."
ETA: I think scoopG is right in saying not to worry too much about the difference between cloud ears and wood ears. My copies of Dunlop are still in transit, but I have a couple of Szechuan cookbooks that say they can be used interchangeably. I'd never even heard of cloud ear mushrooms before and always used wood ear. Perhaps I didn't know what I was missing, but recipes using wood ears always seemed just fine to me.
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Thanks - wasn't worried about it - just wanted to pass on what they were called at the store! Learning more everyday here. Now, if I could figure out what to substitute for Chinese Chives - for the shrimp dish I want to make tonight!!...
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I know this is very late for your dinner tonight, but Chinese chives are similar, if not exactly like, garlic chives. I've had them growing in my garden for years. They have a flat leaf rather than round like the chives most people are familiar with.... and bloom with a white flower head in August. They are milder in flavor than garlic and regular chives. Gosh I wish I could send you some....But they're dormant now here in the northeast.
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Thanks - I ended up making a noodle recipe with the shrimp, which called for bok choy, which I had. I'll save the other recipe for when I find some of the garlic chives.
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Yesterday I saw bundles of Chinese flat chives *and* garlic chives (with the buds) at most of those green grocer carts around Canal St. Everybody with bok choy had them, and they are at every Asian grocery store I went to that had fresh greens.
It must be the season somewhere! I'd never noticed them before, but since I was looking at the Dunlop book . . .
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Thanks - will check it out next weekend then. I didn't do any exploring beyond stocking up on the pantry items.
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Clouds ear is rubbery, sort of. Nice crunch to them. You'd recognize them in Hot and Sour soup if done the way I was taught...and yes earthy flavor, but wonderful not overpowering at all.
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Yes, I have a couple of recipes in regular rotation that use this fungus and have been buying it for years. I've just never seen it sold as "cloud ears" before, only as wood ears. Maybe I just wasn't paying careful enough attention to the package.
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OMG so easy to confuse the two! Really not enough of a difference in them to search one out over the other, IMO. I would miss it though (either one) if it were not in my Hot and Sour soup!
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Those wood ears provide a nice textural element in Vietnamese Spring Rolls...you reconstitute them and slice up before use
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Groundnut oil=peanut oil. Groundnut is the British tem, hence the usage on the BBC site.
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Really helpful info about the soy sauce (and the rest). And thanks to everyone for all the links. You're all so helpful and kind!
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I posted a topic on the General Chowhounding Topics board requesting recommendations for online sources for Chinese spices and ingredients since I, and probably others, do not live in a major city.
In the Sichuan book, Fuchsia offers 4 online sources, two of which are inactive, one she says has limited selection of Chinese, and the other is http://adrianascaravan.com/
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I have no experience with any of the online sellers, but googling one of the very specific ingredients led to a few places that look promising
http://www.asiafoods.com/Yang_Jiang_Preserved_Beans_P398C11.cfm?UserID=1940630&jsessionid=6c3031f65710675263e7
http://www.veryasia.com/104211.html
and the Asia Society's http://www.asiafood.org/
even amazon.com has some chinese ingredients
http://www.amazon.com/Pearl-River-Bri...
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MM Ruth, I posted on general chowhound topics for sources as you suggested and there are NO responses.
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Thanks for the links - here's a few more all from the same page
http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/food/fuchsia_dunlop.html
has
Gong Bao chicken with peanuts - gong bao ji ding
Chicken with chillies - la zi ji
Mapo Tofu, aka Pock-marked Mother Chen's beancurd - ma po dou fu
'Glassy' steamed dumplings - bo li shao mai
also came across a year old thread here - beetlebug doing a report on Land Of Plenty
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/373035
good discussion on ingredients, and fish and mapo tofu
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I'm wondering if the links should have their separate Thread....
let me know, pls. TIA
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Well, since they are here...
: )
I like them here with the links to the indiv threads so I can just bookmark one for longterm reference
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OK - thank you for the reply!!
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I agree - I know in the past we've had a separate links/picks & pans etc. thread, but I'm fine with using this main for for general discussions, especially since it is "stickied" at the top of the board for the month. I did some perusing of the book this morning and feel a bit overwhelmed with ingredients I'm not so familiar with. May try to do an trip to Chinatown tomorrow to stock up a bit!
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I agree! This topic will remain sticky for the whole month and will, therefore, be easily accessed.
Re: ingredients....I bought black vinegar for the Lamb Polo and have only used it twice - both time for Lamb Polo. It was pretty cheap, so I didn't mind, and I figure it'll last for a long time. Otherwise, I would certainly try the dish with regular (unflavored with tarragon, etc.) vinegar and would imagine it'd still be great.
I count myself lucky to be living in Oakland, with a thriving Chinatown within a mile of my house and SF just across the Bay.
I also figure that so many Chinese folks live in the US that there's a huge number of ingredients available now that weren't around 10 or even 5 years ago.
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Then you would know Sam Yick's in Chinatown-they got to have it all!
Terrific market!
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I have two questions, please. Are dried chili flakes the same as the pepper flakes you might find on the table at a pizza parlor? If not, please educate me.
Also, are salted black beans the same as fermented? I went to an Asian grocery and they didn't know what I was talking about when I asked for fermented but led me to a package labeled "salted black beans".
Thanks very much.
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Hi Fern, I hope so, because that's what they led me to when I asked for "fermented black beans, too." On page 54 of LOP Dunlop says that "salt, wine, and ginger are added, with, perhaps a little chile and other spices." However, what I bought lists "black beans and salt" as the only ingredients. Oh dear, I hope I didn't get the wrong thing.
~TDQ
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"Salted black beans" and "fermented black beans" are just two different names for the same product. You both did good!
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Oh, hooray! Thanks, TDQ and Joan. I am really looking forward to putting these ingredients to use.
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the shopping really is the hardest part here...
I just got back from the Hong Kong Market in Sunset Park Brooklyn, and I had such a hard time locating the black beans that I neglected to look for szchuan peppercorns...
I think I was at the wrong regional market. They have a ton of Indonesian and SE Asian products at the HK Market. I didn't see any of the bags of salted beans.
Anyway, I now have a jar of Fermented Black Bean (fermented black beans, soysauce, sugar) Made in Taiwan
and Broad Bean Sauce (broad bean, wheat flour, water, sugar, salt, msg)
Made in China
No luck with the Pixian Chili Bean Paste. I have some Korean chilli-soybean paste that I might sub if I don't find something else. I just started a thread about the topic http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494828
I'm trying Kam Man on Canal St next week...shopping suggestions welcome.
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I've posted this on Manhattan - http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494830
I've been to Chinatown many times on my DiPalo's expeditions, but other than poking around Chinese stores and noting the many unfamiliar to me ingredients, have never shopped there.
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The link below shows the Pixian Chili Bean Paste that I have been using for the last couple of years. Lately I have not been able to find it though and have had to use a different brand.
http://www.chuanpi.com/Product/GB/pro...
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Terrific, thank you for the reassurance!
~TDQ
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