What's For Dinner #72 - Wait, Summer Is Almost Over? Edition - August 2021

That’s a FABULOUS picture of the impending storm!

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I love chow fun as well but the problem is finding them here in the county where I live.
I had some last week, my son bought 2 kinds form THE NEW GRAND MART , the ones that are square shrimp flavored as well as the tubes ones . I prefer the square ones.

They were fresh, nice and tender, probably fresh from NY because prior to retiring, I would frequent this asian Supermarket on Fridays, that is when the fresh chow fun arrives from NY. So are the dried red colored bean curd which I love stir fried with anchovies and hot spices. I do not know what they are called but I could only find them in one store and one restaurant. They are like tokwa ( that is the old bean curd, firmer than extra firm bean curd that I use for making spring rolls. I love them stir fried with spring onions or chinese elbow chives and just tomatoes.

Just text a friend whose husband used to own the Chinese T=restaurant in Gaithersburg called HUNAN BEST. He retired and closed the restaurant down esp with Covid and te gh cost of help in Montgomery County. She says he is having a hard tine finding them,. He used to order them from a distributor.

I was really tempted to buy one of those square pans that you can make chow fun with but as I said, I had to give away that large actually carbon steel wok ( I stand corrected from my notes last time) bec of space and at my age, I wander if there will be an estate sale when I am gone?

With that large wok I suppose a final saute would have been nice but I never did.
Her his a recipe by Kenjihttps://www.seriouseats.com/dry-fried-chow-fun-with-chinese-broccoli-recipe I cannot eat red meat so I use chicken or shrimp when I do and I like to add mung bean sprouts stir frying them very briefly.

When you say hurdle, you mean that the ones that are often at the supermarket are stiff and stuck together?One way is to follow the technique in this recipe. Blanch them in boiling water for a minute or two (I find that a second or so is not enough. )
Then, take them out and shock them in cld acer, drain and they become easily separated. Use very hot peanut oil to dry fry them with.

We are not chefs and tossing t hem in the air is not possible. My son does that but he is lazy an does that only when . he is blistering his shishitso pepper when people are present. ( have you tried that? It is absolutley delicious)

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I’m wondering if the marinade is what is making the skin not crisp up? Or are you using the marinade just as a dipping sauce for after?

When I make it, I dry the breasts thoroughly, letting it sit in paper towels for about 5 minutes. After I score the fat, I season with salt and pepper and put it fat side down in a cold SS pan and let it sit undisturbed after coming up to heat for at least 6-7 minutes before lifting a corner with tongs and checking the doneness of the skin. This time, probably 95% of the fat was crisped up - there was still a bit of toothsomeness to it - the soft fat right against the skin was still there, but I mostly got the crisp.

And I only use the oven method because I don’t want the meaty side to be sitting in the duck fat as it cooks on that side. Maybe the skin gets crispier in the dry oven heat vs. just in the rendered duck fat on its own?

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Yard chard makes me laugh. I don’t know why, but it makes me think of a bird walking around your yard… Maybe because I’ve seen people refer to chickens as yard bird. Anyhow, did you briefly wilt your chard in the bacon fat or evoo? Looks like maybe yes. Is there any vinegar in there? Perhaps it was cold chard tossed with a hot dressing…?

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I think that is an INA recipe - she has something where she counter top marinates tomatoes in evoo garlic and herbs for 4 hrs and then tosses them with pasta. Great minds…

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No - I mean that fresh ho fun are only available in Chinatown, so I’d have to make a special trip there to get them. Then they don’t freeze well, amd need to be used up in a day or two.

That said, I have experimented with cheung fun before (here and here), so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that I would make my own at some point.

But there were a lot of pandemic projects last year and I’m taking a break… plus the chinese place around the corner from me makes decent beef chow fun :smiley:

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hah - no, see above, i can’t take credit - i did get it from Ina!
Although I think i give a nod to the Nora Epron recipe instead…

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Thank you!

Oh crap, now I’m singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider song again. I watched Heartburn with Meryl and Jack a couple of weeks ago. If memory serves she made spaghetti carbornara in the movie.

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i think you’re right.

Isn’t Nora Ephron a movie director? Or is she one of those Renaissance folk that do it all - movies, cookbooks, nightclub owner, Nike spokesmodel?

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Movies and books, for sure. Also journalism.

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Does yours have avocado in it?
Good idea @ChristinaM
Please share ideas for using it up!

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I wilt garlic slivers in Evoo, remove them snd add washed wet chard. Stir fry on high heat. Salt. Takes only a minute or two.

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That is reminding me of this. Is a braised pork leg usually the same as a pork shank? I often get confused about the names for the front and back leg parts.

Kimchi fried rice with bacon and a fried egg.

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The typical chinese pork shank that we cook for New year and for engagement parties is so good, the skin is kept on and it should readily fall off the bone and melt in your mouth. The gravy is thick ,simply DELICIOUS. Yes, you can eat it with rice and wok chow like the recipe below but another popular way of using it is with stir fry rice noodles , rehydrated mushroom which is cooked together in the braising stage and vegetables.
I have made it many times in the past but not for the last 12 years or so as my son does not like it. Although he loves lechon cooked with the skin ever so crispy, he asked me not to cook it as it is not healthy!

Growing up, there are always Chinese match maker who will say ’ IWANT TO EAT TI KAH " meaning they want to be matchmaker and if a successful match is made, they want to be rewarded with pork shank!!!
Canned pork shank is very popular and often given to the bride’s family by the groom, typically at least a dozen if not a whole case for the bride to distribute to their friends and relatives with fruits and rice cakes.
Here is a recipe .It is really really good

I think I found some canned ones also and posted it earlier today to Saregama when we had a convo about rice noodles etc. It is a brand by Narcissus. Look at my reply and the recipe for braise pork shank

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Leftovers of the Ina Garten fresh tomato pasta, with the BF’s extra added touches - a little antipasti, and a salad with my Green Goddess dressing. He put a little bacon in the pasta, and i made very garlicky garlic bread with a rosemary roll. We shall not be vampire prey tonight.

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Screen Shot 2021-08-11 at 6.46.45 PM
More print and frame!

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Peach slices in galantina
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Goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms
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Ratatouille with poached egg and lardo
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