Chinese Cousins

“This could get expensive…”

And that only began to describe the weekend I had. I was thinking about a trip to the nearest tapas bar. (For those of you who don’t know, a tapas bar is an entire Spanish neal made up of many small dishes, kind of like an entire meal of appetizers. Turns out, everyone else wanted the Chinese cousin.) Thankfully, the cost that Kim was referring to was in reference to our (what has become) weekly trek to Golden Wok. We almost didn’t end up there, because neither of the girls, at the time we were contemplating a lunch destination, were not hungry.

Eleyna: “But I just ate some cereal!”

Daddy: “Okay, so you won’t want to go to Golden Wok then?”

Eleyna: “Well, I am always hungry for Golden Wok!! That is like having 5 dollars then being told that since I have 5 dollars, I won’t want 5 more!!”

Ah, the perspective of the young. So, to Golden Wok we went, on a Sunday of all days… and the hub-bub that accompanied us into the restaurant was as reassuring as a warm comforter on a cold night. You KNOW that it is what you want to be surrounded by.

So, Dim Sum delights abound, and I only ordered 1 really weird thing (as Kim put it.) Unfortunately, because we lunched later in the day, they were starting to run out of product, and they were ending the trolley service. (Much to the girls’ relief, they were out of the chicken feet, jellyfish and tripe… both very good if you are into the exotic fare or chewing on rubber bands, as eating jellyfish seems to be like.) The dim sum fun is lost without the traditional trolley service.

The traditional way of doing it includes being seated at a table, and a card with various options with prices is placed on the table. The staff will walk by with carts containing steamers of delicious choices, and if one piques your interest, you simply have to ask for it and it is given to you. The server will then mark your card accordingly. You repeat the steps until full.

For me, it is amusing how we, despite our constant desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet, end up craving copious amounts of carbs and fatty proteins. With the glut of options available to us here in South Texas, (bacon and eggs, bean and cheese tacos, to name a few) we end up going in search of something different, like pork or shrimp balls, chicken or sweet beans surrounded by a skin of sweet, doughy goodness.

Dim sum, friends, dim sum…

As far as I am concerned, there is only one good place here in San Antonio, and I mention them ad nauseaum.

Obviously, any large city with a Chinatown offers the most options to fill this need, but the Bay Area has to have the best establishments with enough choices to keep EVERYONE happy.

One of my favorite San Francisco treats comes from a little place called the Wing Lee Bakery. It is a tiny little place where you order at the counter, after waiting in a long line, and your choices are placed on a little plastic tray, then you have to search for a place in the back to sit. This little place, with its limited seating, makes ordering your food to-go a smart idea, and go early, as they tend to run out of product by noon on the weekends. My most recent visit (which, sadly, was years ago,) was a pleasant experience, and their prices are very reasonable.

Right down the street is another restaurant called Good Luck Dim Sum. Their set up is similar to Wing Lee, in that you wait in line to order at a counter. The difference here, is that you get to check your selection on a slip of paper, somewhat like a sushi restaurant. If you order your food to go, it will be presented to you in a pink cake box. The prices are comparable, and the food does taste good.

Overall, when both restaurants have the full menu available, it is well worth the wait.

Call it a salute to gluttony.

Until next week, Good Eating, Friends…

Good Luck Dim Sum

736 Clement St

San Francisco, CA 94118

(415) 386-3388


Wing Lee Bakery

503 Clement St

San Francisco, CA 94118

(415) 668-9481

…

 
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Playing with Fire... (or at least WOKKING on it...)

WHOOSH!!! There is nothing more satisfying to me hearing the visceral roar of 90,000 btu's of gas powered flame leaping into the air and hitting the base of my carbon steel wok.  Or the sound of the sizzle that springs from the wok as I put the ingredients for the night's meal into the smoking (just barely) hot oil. Or the sound of forks (and chopsticks) hitting the plate, and mad slurping, munching, and chewing of crispy stir fried vegetables.  Or the satisfied belch that springs from my youngest daughter as she leans back in her chair after practically licking her plate clean.

Does anyone out there have a favorite restaurant in mind that utilizes open flame wok cooking?  For me, Golden Wok, Fire Wok, Fire Bowl Cafe and Pei Wei have the best and most consistent technique (although none of them could touch Chino's Cafe...)  My listing them, by the way, is by no means an advertiesment for these companies. 

For me, wok cooking is definitely my style of choice.  I have struggled (and failed) to cook a decent tasting stir fry dish, or good fried rice with a skillet, or even a float bottomed wok, and sadly, they never seem to come close to what the imagined final result is supposed to be.  The science behind it is basic, but the skill behind it is intricate.

Woks are the most versatile cooking implement out there.  I use woks most often for stir frying, but they can also be used many other ways, such as in steaming, deep frying, braising, stewing, smoking, or making soup. I use with my wok, a long handled chahn (spatula) or hoak (ladle). The long extensions of these utensils allowsme to work with the food without burning myself.

Classic woks are clearly identified by their distinctive shape - a wide mouth with a well rounded bottom.  (Remind you of anyone?)  There are some made and sold with a flat bottom, specifically for those who do not have gas stoves, or want to use them more in the frying capacity.  My favorite one is a carbon steel wok, 18" in diameter with a metal handle.  The one I use the most, however, is 14" wide, with a wooden handle.  I have learned through experience that this particular wok does not work well when trying to cook for the masses, as the wooden handle does not have the tensile strength to withstand as much action as a wok can be put through with nearly 2 pounds of food in it.  My wooden handled wok also presents a disadvantage as it has an additional handle (I guess for lifting) on the opposite side of the bowl.  This darned handle causes food to hit it and fly tangentally away from the rest of the portion, which adds to the mess that I create when cooking.

I am also challenged by conditions which we have no control over - I don't have a gas stove that belches fire at a rate that I need it to in order to best cook Chinese food - I have an electric range.  (I can already hear the gasps of horror, as many of you know that I am a HUGE proponent of gas cooking.)  Electric ranges simply do not provide enough heat at a fast enough rate to heat the sides of the wok, thus reducing the usable surface area with which to cook.

Successful wok cooks (like me, after 4 years of working on the mechanics) can turn and mix food with a flipping motion that tosses the food into the air over the wok.  This style of cooking means that the term "Stir Fry" is a bit of a misnomer, as the flipping of the food, while cool to watch, actually takes to food away from the hot 450 degree surface. 

Does "Flip Fry" sound good to you? Brings to mind much potential for a burger joint for the horizontally gifted crowd...

Teflon?  Who the heck uses teflon? You sure can't with Asian stir fry, as teflon scratches easily, and your complementary cooking utensils are metal ladles or spatulas... What were you thinking?!?!?

Basic Stir-Frying Tips (Best Practice)

Always start with a hot wok.  Hot.  Really.  Then add a small amount (1-3 tablespoons) of peanut oil, soy oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil. (Fresh chopped garlic and ginger can be added to the oil to flavor it, but must be quickly scooped out before burning or turning brown.) Add the first ingredient, usually sliced meat, and stir in the very hot oil until hot, then push it up the side to slow the amount of heat on the meat or cooking items. The meat may be returned to the oil and then flipped and pushed to the sides several times until the cooking is done. A well made wok will have ridged or dimpled edges to prevent the food items from sliding back down into the center of the wok.

Once cooked, scoop out the meat with a Chinese strainer (or any, really,) to a side plate then cook the next ingredient, usually vegetables, in the same manner. Strain out any excess cooking oil, and combine all your ingrediens, with sauces, seasonings, liquids, and corn starch slurry for thickening.  Continue stirring until your food has a nice glaze to it.   If done effectively, many portions can be cooked in a short period of time.

I usually try not to cook more than one serving, 2 at most, otherwise not all of the ingredients cook evenly or get hot enough.  I will also, when cooking for an army, as I am usually wont to do, pre-cook a lot of the meat, then cook the individual portions after having prepped all of the other ingredients.

Use extreme caution, when wok cooking over gas, to not allow water or juices to splatter over the sides of the wok when adding your ingredients.  This splatter could cause the hot oil to ignite and burn, which then could result in a charred, burnt oil taste. 

The visual effects are cool, but only if not actually cooking for someone.   I still enjoy going to Chinese restaurants that cook on display (interactive dining at its best) to watch the cooks do their thing.  Many Chinese restaurants have an open cooking line to enable their guests to see what is actually going on.  (Such transparency has become a staple of the dining experience now, as many restaurants battle to gain trust among people who have less and less disposable income to spend on dining out.)  I had actually dreamed of opening a restaurant on the Riverwalk here in San Antonio that had a glass frontage along the walkway for people to stand and watch the pyrotechnics, with master chefs hard at work.  Sadly, though, I have not yet won the lottery, so such dreams will have to be put on hold.

Until then, Good Eating...





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cooking, Martin Yan, Gordon Ramsey, Asian Stir Fry, Chino's Cafe, Chinese Food, Asian Stir Fry

Call Me Saucey... Part II (deux, dos, two)

It is funny to me how reflections on food can create such a palette of other thoughts, with ideas coming on a tangental whim.  Yet somehow, it always comes back to the originating source.  Yesterday's ponderings focused on Soy based sauces, yet that was not really the original direction I wanted to take.  I had really wanted to discuss my favorite sauce recipes that I had come up with for my restaurant, but my thoughts of food from here took me, in a mental dimension, to Golden Wok, where I salivated over some of their dishes, and mentally dissected their sauces and flavor profiles.

Strangely, I keep being drawn back to a previous work experience, where I worked with (managed, ran)  a restaurant concept that features a build-your-own bowl experience.  This restaurant offers 14 types of proteins, 12 seasonings, 30 veggies, 14 sauce selections, and 6 types of starches.  What stands out to me, every visit, and every bowl, is the dynamic flavor of the sauces that they offer.  Unfortunately, most of the sauces, to my taste, were either too sweet, or too salty.  (Their nutritional information reflects, on some of the sauces, nearly 50% or the DRV for sodium intake on 1-2 ounce serving.)  Their Honey Soy and Stir Fry sauce are very sweet, without much substance, and the Island Teriyaki tastes too much like a combination of Honey Soy with pineapple juice added to it.  The Khan's Barbeque was flavorful, and offered a bit of heat, but the Asian Chili should not have even been an offering, as I saw far too many people ruin their food due to not being prepared for the nuclear event that overportioning that sauce resulted in.  I ended up resorting to combining a couple of different sauces to come up with "the perfect sauce."  It was a combination of their 3G (a bold combination of Black Bean, Oyster and Hoisin Sauce), Dragon, and Asian Chili, which approximates (as closely as possible) the Kung Pao Sauce that I used to make in my restaurant.  (They do offer a Khan's Pao sauce, which they believe represents a variation of Kung Pao, but its flavor profile is too salty and bites back too much.)  Their Szechuan and Chili Garlic sauces are retail bottles from Minor's (a division of Nestle foods)  that can be purchased from any Asian Food Market.

Upon first glance, their Dragon Sauce seems like it will be a fiery sauce that will light your food on fire.  Sadly, that is not the case, as it is only a sweet chili sauce that does little more than sweet your food.  Their Dragon Sauce is one  that can be replicated easily, or purchased out of a bottle.  There are many brands and recipes available, with the most popular being that of Mae Ploy.  Sweet chili sauce is a versatile sauce which can be used in a variety of dishes, including chicken and seafood, and rarely, with beef or any other red meat.  It is also a favorite dipping sauce for Phillipino Lumpia, and goes well with Vegetarian Spring Rolls.

The 3 basic ingredients in my own no-frills zesty Sweet Chili Sauce, which was the base for my Kung Pao Sauce at Chino's Cafe were:

1. 
   
   Asian Chili Garlic sauce
   
   
2. 
   
   Sugar
   
   
3. 
   
   Vinegar.
   
   

Simply made, mix 1 part Asian Chili Garlic Sauce with 1 part Sugar and 2 parts Vinegar, and voila!! You have made yourself a delicious Sweet Chili Sauce. Blending even proportions of this sauce with Soy Sauce (especially the blend that I discussed in the previous entry) will create a PERFECT Kung Pao Sauce.  This quick home recipe will also be healthier than many of the store bought brands, as it does not have any of the preservatives or MSG that are often found in pre-packaged sauces.

My favorite recipe for Kung Pao Chicken (or shrimp) includes diced carrots, water chestnuts, celery, peanuts and my knock-'em-dead Kung Pao Sauce. 

• 
  
  2 pounds of chicken breast, sliced thinly into 1" x 2" strips, about 1/4" thick and marinated*
  
  
• 
  
  1 cup diced carrots. (The frozen variety is fine.)
  
  
• 
  
  1 cup sliced water chestnuts
  
  
• 
  
  1 cup sliced celery
  
  
• 
  
  1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts
  
  
• 
  
  **1/4 cup green onion heads (the white root part of green onion, cut into 1/4" pieces)
  
  
• 
  
  2 ounces Sweet Chili Sauce
  
  
• 
  
  2 ounces Soy Sauce Blend
  
  
• 
  
  1 ounce Corn Starch Slurry
  
  

Flash cook the chicken in 350 degree oil until it gains an even white color, stirring often to prevent burning.  Remove from oil and drain.  While Chicken is draining, heat about 2 ounces of oil in your wok.  When oil is hot, add chicken and all vegetables, stirring until all vegetables are evenly coated.  Add sauce, bring to boil, then add corn starch, stirring quickly until meat and vegetables have achieved a shiny glaze.  Toss in peanuts, and serve over rice.

Best Practice:  Add the peanuts absolutely last, after having cooked all the other ingredients, to prevent them from becoming soggy.

*Marinade is 1 cup corn starch, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon white pepper, 1 egg, 2 ounces of oil

**Green Onion Heads are optional.

A home made sauce, especially one that is very popular, is ALWAYS a better alternative to paying retail prices for any pre-packaged product.  That cost factor, with the added benefit of zero added preservatives or MSG creates the opportunity and ability to cook a Chinese Food meal quickly and cost effectively.  With the 2 base sauces that I have unveiled to date, you too CAN cook flavorful dishes in minutes.

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cooking, Martin Yan, Gordon Ramsey, Asian Stir Fry, Chino's Cafe, Chinese Food, Asian Stir Fry