tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49923071253332112942024-03-13T02:42:23.335-04:00chow with chowon food and eating foodchowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-57977880783081825952015-04-28T00:00:00.000-04:002015-04-29T11:36:57.371-04:00Oyster shucking for the uninitiatedIf you think about all the food you eat that is alive and raw when you actually eat it, maybe the live fish sushi in exotic China comes to mind. In fact, oysters are very much alive when you eat them raw (or cooked alive... one should never eat dead oysters).
I was once a beginner shucker. And after a bit of practice and a couple of minor injuries, I now consider myself an intermediate shucker, chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-47990048426093336782014-06-05T14:24:00.001-04:002015-05-20T18:58:12.094-04:00Water spinach: the illicitly delicious vegetableIn this neck of the woods, water spinach (ong choy, tong choy 蕹菜 in Canto) is pretty expensive, running usually about $5/lb, which is probably why local Thai digs sell tiny plates of stir-fried kangkung for $15 (not naming names because it will incite certain backlash).
IMHO, water spinach best served hot, salty and spicy.
Ipomea aquatica is officially a Federal Noxious Weed in the US, chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-56319573395867417902013-11-22T16:07:00.000-05:002013-11-22T16:07:45.730-05:00Easy and quick way to get your pomegranate fix and take out your frustrations'Tis the season for one of the most tasty fruits ever: pomegranates. Pomegranates are to the fruit world what we might call auto-cockblockers: they're so difficult to peel and extract the fruit that it's like they purposefully evolved that way... hard-to-get, yet strangely making them more enticing, attractive... clever, but not more clever than us!
Thankfully, there is the Internets, and thoughchowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-83985155027809956032013-08-02T16:07:00.003-04:002013-08-29T08:23:24.428-04:00Making sorbet mountains out of strawberry molehills (now with basil)Outside of Quebec City in Canada lies a mysteriously beautiful little island that poops out the best strawberries this side of the planet that are not genetically engineered; it is called l'Île d'Orléans (Island of Orleans).
My cousin, RayRay, and my brother, Subordinate Chow along with Minimai picked a mounded box of fresh strawberries from l'Île Orléans and only ate five from the box cause chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-87273780308240959882013-07-01T22:10:00.002-04:002013-07-01T22:10:23.933-04:00Witches' brew the conclusion: straight dope on palo azulFrançois M, the photographer of the palo azul blue witch tea I posted back here brought to my attention that he figured out by flicking his lights on and off that the blue was a type of fluorescence.
(Frankly, after the first tasting, I'm not sure why François and Lin made more of that tea, especially if it tasted like butt the first time...)
Serendipitously, François found that the blue colourchowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-7758169567675457552013-03-31T14:56:00.000-04:002013-04-01T15:12:28.322-04:00Easter bunny face egg surprise endingI picked these egg molds up in Tokyo, at Tokyu Hands, also known as the best store in the world. They came in handy for making Easter-themed gobbledygook.
[Bunny and teddy bear face egg moulds (yudetama gokko)]
Basically, take some boiled chicken eggs, peel them while they're warm and then plop them in these kawaii-shaped molds called yudetama gokko, which is Japanese for "make your food chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-12991214056411265102013-02-21T16:03:00.001-05:002013-02-21T16:03:49.295-05:00Superstitious sesame balls for Year of the SnakeThis past February 10, we celebrated Chinese New Year, the age-old holiday that brings families and friends together, highlighted by bringing out the most superstitious traits of Chinese people around the world.
For instance, one is not to do any of the following on or during the New Year grace period:
Sweep your house.
Wash or cut your hair.
Cry (which is the chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-85028594245053720772013-01-10T00:28:00.000-05:002013-01-10T00:28:21.180-05:00'Dangerous' shortcut pressure-cooked pulled porkA new year and a new resolution! This year, I resolve to experiment with more dangerous techniques that endanger my safety and those around me, but make my food even more delicious. The Mayans were wrong and now, to reap the benefits!
Wimps, such as Gabe who constantly asks me how to cook stuff, however, are scared of kitchen implements that actually facilitate food preparation for busy chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-40943398289904415482012-11-06T14:28:00.000-05:002012-11-07T14:29:27.510-05:00Shiitake mushrooms are not all the sameIf there was a contest, I vote Montreal's Chinatown(s) to be the worst Chinatown in North America. For a city this size, Montreal's Asian quarters are sad, especially for the sizeable East Asian population. The Asian supermarkets are overpriced, variety stinks and quality is meh, at best.
Take for example, the sorry state of shiitake mushroom selection in this city.
This is what you get at the chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-26671361329630476742012-08-15T12:46:00.001-04:002012-08-15T12:46:04.027-04:00BBQ explorations: in a grilled octopus's gardenMy next-door neighbours are hyper-friendly, cacophonous Greeks (five of the 60 000+ of them in our fine city). They literally have barbecued-something eight days a week and as result, they're also experts at adding that fresh charcoal-barbecue smell to my laundry-line wash.
However, they always seem to cook the same meats and though their grillades taste chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-85245937987786297452012-07-31T22:00:00.000-04:002012-08-01T00:19:12.190-04:00Egg tart review: Les Châteaux bakery(I thought I had done this before, but it turns out I'm going senile.)
This will be the first in my series of egg tart reviews. As a self-professed egg-tart-aholic, I attribute some of my girth to my love of egg-tarts, and the rest of it, I blame my mother.
I start off with a review of a Portuguese egg tart (i.e. not a Canto-style plain egg tart, daan-taat 蛋撻). Portuguese egg tarts (chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-61149007448657178472012-07-22T14:08:00.001-04:002012-07-22T14:08:06.359-04:00When life gives you basil, make lemonadeLemon and basil are two flavours that, like Oscar and Felix, Balki and Larry, Harold and Kumar, stick to each other's craw, but complement each other despite their differences.
After all, lemon (c. limon) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) sing together on pasta, quinoa, chicken, vinaigrette, AND one can even grow lemon basil – even Mother Nature knew that the felicitous pair of chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-26988000550091507122012-06-22T13:06:00.003-04:002012-06-22T13:06:56.316-04:00BBQ explorations: Sicilian potato pizzaMy friend Benny, il Siciliano tells me of a Sicilian pizza that they call pizza bianca con patate (literally "white pizza with potatoes") and how it's one of the best pizzas ever.
And after much rebuffing and then ACTUALLY eating one, I kind of have to agree.
It is, after all, ludicrous to think that putting more carbohydrates on top of baked dough would be delicious. It is like buttering one'schowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-8483494871121975112012-05-31T15:15:00.000-04:002012-06-01T15:17:05.143-04:00Try this: Chocolate from Newfoundland & Labrador (also called Chocolateland, Canada's 10th province)Some of you might know me as being curmudgeonly, sourfaced, and the resident naysayer (I love these terms of endearment).
However, when you get chocolate gifts like these, directly from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador by the Newfoundland Chocolate Company, one can't help but melt over the adorable hand-drawn depictions of Canadian maritime streetscapes.
I mean, just look at them... chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-3983884188234380642012-05-08T13:49:00.001-04:002012-05-08T13:49:55.215-04:00Garlic ginger onion sauce for Chow's (lame-looking) Hainan-style chicken and riceThe best thing in the world is Hainan chicken rice (海南雞飯, sometimes called Hainan oily chicken rice by ignorant translators).
It's not the best thing in the world because of the poached fresh and flavourful chicken with an inverted mound of steamed chicken-infused rice... It is the best thing in the world because of the accompanying dipping sauces.
[Ugly platter of Hainan chicken rice chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-74890962154050791582012-04-24T17:00:00.000-04:002012-05-09T20:44:06.057-04:00Witch's brew: blue tea that might cause hallucinationsNow, I'm no stranger to tea, but this one called Palo Azul (literally "blue stick") that my friends in the Neths found in Guatemala piqued my interest, mainly because it makes you poop money was obtained through a mysterious tea witch and also turned blue when prepared.
[Palo azul prepared for consumption. No fancy filters used! Photo by François M.]
I asked them about this chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-80835194963466281942012-03-24T13:53:00.002-04:002012-03-24T13:53:23.312-04:00Fun with bacon craftsIdeal for a casserole/savoury pie topper or camping blanket, try weaving bacon.
[A bacon weave, soon to be the next girl scout achievement badge.]
(Inspired by craftster.)chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-27921905170527141632012-03-18T21:32:00.000-04:002012-03-18T21:32:49.237-04:00Phyllo fanatics' fresh fixationSometimes, the very thought of phyllo pastries (made of phyllo dough, filo, phyllo pastry leaves, börek, pâte phyllo, etc) makes my arteries preemptively clog up, or my blood pressure spike.
Often in Greek and Middle Eastern traditions, each fine layer of fragile dough is slathered with melted butter or oil to make them crispy, often resulting in rich, flaky, rich and deliciously chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-70595696411498627882012-02-27T16:15:00.005-05:002012-03-18T15:08:58.941-04:00Hanging out with my pal Char SiuEveryone who knows Char Siu knows that there's no fooling around when it comes to barbecue. Steve Raichlen doesn't hold a candle to char siu (sorry, Mr. Raichlen).
Char siu, or Chinese barbecue pork 叉燒 (literally "fork roast" but can also mean "stabbing burn"*) is scientifically proven to be everyone's second favourite meat, and is eaten year-round, in steamed buns (bao&chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-64403646013824938492012-01-23T18:13:00.000-05:002012-03-18T15:09:16.462-04:00Deep-fried Lunar New Year treats: Crispy Sesame Flower aka Dragon CloacaIt's that time of year again, where old and young Asian kinfolk bring together their bickering over a family supper table. Yes, it is Chinese New Year today.
Aside from the traditional gut-busting home-cooked Chinese gastronomy the eve, there is also no shortage of Chinese tradi-superstitions, to which I don't really adhere; here's a shortlist of some CNY buffoonery:
Cleaning your house on chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-72405301705260730482012-01-17T14:47:00.001-05:002012-03-18T15:09:38.434-04:00Tourtière abberation by ChowWhatever I'm going to write now about tourtière will probably receive some eyebrow-raising and some harsh poo-pooing from any bonne dame de région* but maybe not...!
This is a tale of the birth of a French-Canadian meat pie that was born out of wedlock and raised with love; this is the Chow tourtière made from pork, potatoes and chicken hearts.
[Diminutive version of the meat pie designedchowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-54061367314618892852011-12-24T15:58:00.004-05:002012-03-18T15:09:50.749-04:00Holiday cheer: butter up your days with shortbread biscuits
Cookies (or biscuits as they're called on the other side of the pond) are one of the reasons why Xmas was invented. Forget the religious business – Xmas is a vehicle for consumption of alcohol butter.
[Single batch of petticoat-shaped cookies.]
Full of buttery goodness, shortbread is originally a Scottish blessing made of pretty much just butter, oatmeal flour and sugar. Nowadays, one chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-30092191878284806002011-11-28T10:43:00.000-05:002011-11-30T15:18:32.385-05:00Try this: Hagelslag – the serious chocolate sprinklesHagelslag, according to the Dutch, is the reason bread was invented*. Bread, you see, is the vehicle for conveying hagelslag, chocolate sprinkles for grown-ups (though they do make kid versions).
It's ideal for people who want to relive the youth they never got to experience because their moms were scatterbrained anti-sugar fascists!
[Box of assorted hagelslag. The best is the original one and chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-6035703350258553432011-11-24T23:37:00.000-05:002012-03-18T15:30:02.989-04:00Baked bread so good, you can hide stuff inSometimes when you least expect it, you can learn something. In this case, I learned something revolutionary from the talented local photographer, Mr. Simoneau when I went to help him dispose of bodies learn desktop publishing crap – I learned that you can make [expletive]ly fantastic bread with very little kneading and patience.
Let's call it Fancy Bread for Lazy People.
I was in chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992307125333211294.post-16076286406514741572011-10-18T13:30:00.000-04:002012-03-18T15:30:29.309-04:00The Roast of Tomato McPomodoro, esq.Who doesn't love tomatoes (aside for those who are deathly allergic to them)? With over 7500 varieties, these chubby little red a55holes really seem to have latched onto our culinary apron strings* and permeated our digestible landscape like someone passing bad gas in an elevator, except it lasting 500 years.
Sometimes, I don't love them because 1) like rabbits, they multiply in such chowwithchowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03804212726090774166noreply@blogger.com0