Chinese meal - big help needed!!!!

[Wookey]

Why not just phone for a takeaway to be delivered shortly before they arrive?

Coz that is cheatin'!! And you don't get to heaven if you cheat.

I went to Wing Yip today, whit-di-do, how cool?? I got some chinese candles, and some tooth picks, and a bamboo steamer, and soem incense, and then I remembered I was there for the food!

The dim sum/dumplings selection was fab, so that's defo going in the meal, with a nice dipping sauce I shall make. Tempura veg is a good suggestion, as is the two woks idea. Will buy one during the week. If I have a deep fry wok, a stir fry wok, and a steamer, that should do for four people, innit?

Also, is mixed up fruit OK for afters? I'd like some of that coconut jelly to go with, but I couldn't see it at Wing Yip. Actually, I spent two hours looking very closely at products I still have no idea what they were...

There was lots of instant soups and stuff, but I want to make my own, I think the eggflower noodle soup from Ken Hom.

PS: Waggamama is Japanese (treated myself to lunch there before Wing Yip) but that's all good, the flavours are quite simliar.

 

[sheothebudworths]

What about the pork?!?

 

[rorymac]

Wrongun food
Dodgy vegetables !

 

[Wookey]

What about the pork?!?

Well, I asked about my main guest (who I don't know very well) and she doesn't like pork or shellfish! So I'll save that recipe for me and the man.

(Just occured to me, she wouldn't be Jewish would she??)

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Well, I asked about my main guest (who I don't know very well) and she doesn't like pork or shellfish! So I'll save that recipe for me and the man.

(Just occured to me, she wouldn't be Jewish would she??)

Could be muslim. Very similar dietary restrictions. Which means you won't be able to buy the ready made 'jiaozi' (pronounced: 'jow zuh'= dumplings) here in the as they invariably contain pork -- I know this 'cos I've checked all the Chinese supermarkets myself hunting for non-pork ones and found they don't have the wide selection over here that you get in China where I used to pick lamb and vegetable ones by the bag in the local supermarket. I miss my jiaozi.

You can, however -- and this is even more impressive -- make your own! You can buy the frozen dumpling wrappers -- little round flat pieces of rice pastry kind of stuff... don't know what they call them, but I managed to locate some buy describing them vaguely like that. You then can make your own fillings. Minced lamb with carrot and herb and seasonings, steam them and serve with soy sauce and you dip the dumplings in them before eating... Gawd, I feel so hungry now... There also used to be an egg something or other version, but the herbs/random chinese named green leaf vegetables that they were made with was quite bitter and I didn't really like them.

Mains... there's always duck and pancakes... yum yum yum... In the north of China, noodles are the traditional stable, more so than rice, and Mongolian-style hotpot is quite popular (Inner Mongolia is part of China), pre-prepare the raw ingredients and have a bit pot of boiling broth that you dip the food into to cook and then eat...

My all time favourite is gongbao jiding (kungpao chicken), but most of the Chinese restaurants in Manchester serve up some weird variation on the theme, the most (in fact the only) authentic version I've found in the whole of Manchester is at Red Chilli on Portland Street (the chef is actually from Beijing), but I haven't gotten around to asking him for the recipe yet.

Here's what looks like a fairly authentic recipe from the internet:

http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e2005/e200503/p83.htm (skip the MSG though)

NB: Real gongbao jiding does *not* contain any water chestnuts, carrots, mushrooms or any other random vegetable the chefs of Manchester Chinese restaurants have lying round their kitchens that they seem to chuck in (Red Chilli chef excepted).

Bon appetit!

Wash it all down with a few bottles of chilled Tsingtao beer: gan bei!

 

[Wookey]

Could be muslim. Very similar dietary restrictions. Which means you won't be able to buy the ready made 'jiaozi' (pronounced: 'jow zuh'= dumplings) here in the as they invariably contain pork -- I know this 'cos I've checked all the Chinese supermarkets myself hunting for non-pork ones and found they don't have the wide selection over here that you get in China where I used to pick lamb and vegetable ones by the bag in the local supermarket. I miss my jiaozi.

Shit. I just found a proper hexpert.

 

[Wookey]

Which means you won't be able to buy the ready made 'jiaozi' (pronounced: 'jow zuh'= dumplings) here in the as they invariably contain pork

Yup, I thought that. They all seemed to have pork in when I looked the other day following the dumpling suggestion on this thread.

I have all day Saturday to try, I guess. And if I fail, they can have a chippy tea!!

 

[Ms T]

My all time favourite is gongbao jiding (kungpao chicken), but most of the Chinese restaurants in Manchester serve up some weird variation on the theme, the most (in fact the only) authentic version I've found in the whole of Manchester is at Red Chilli on Portland Street (the chef is actually from Beijing), but I haven't gotten around to asking him for the recipe yet.

That's the restaurant I want to go to next time I'm in Manchester. Is it as good as the review in the Observer said it was?

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

wagamama is japanese, no? [/pedantic mode]

Well the word Wagamama is but it's run by a chinese guy and the food is not Japanese at all. Owes much more to chinese food.

Horrible place.