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Happy New Year everyone!
It's time once again to take a look at the most popular articles, recipes, and
forum threads from the previous year.
Traditionally, the start of
a New Year is also a time for reflection and making resolutions. With respect to the Chinese cuisine site,
it's a time for exploring how I can make the site better meet the needs of
my readers. My resolution for this year is to add information that I think
is lacking in a few areas. Specifically, I want to finish up my series of
articles on Chinese regional cuisines, and provide more information on different
cooking techniques - look for an article on steaming in early February.
If there is anything you
would like to see added to the site, please send me an email.
I welcome your feedback. In the meantime, here are the most popular
features on my site for 2001:
Most Popular Articles
- Fried
Rice Classic
This article covering the 2000 Chen Fu Ji Fried Rice Competition comes complete with recipes and photos of the
winning entries. The judging panel included celebrity chef Martin Yan.
- Before
You Buy a Wok
What you need to know before purchasing your first wok, from size to basic design.
- How
Do You Drop? - Secrets of Making Egg Drop Soup
A fun article exploring the age-old question: how do Chinese cooks create
those perfect, silken threads in Egg Drop Soup? Includes tips from
myself and readers, along with recipes for Egg Drop soup and variations such
as West Lake Beef Soup.
- Tropical
Fruit Photo Quiz
Can you name the fruits I sampled during a summer visit to the Asian
market?
- About
Bok Choy
Recipes, cooking tips, and lots of information about this popular, versatile
Asian vegetable. Includes photographs.
Most Popular Net Links Pages
- Dim
Sum
All my dim sum resources are here, including an article exploring the dim
sum phenomenon, and lots of recipes.
- Party
Appetizers -
Asian- inspired appetizers, both traditional and western. You'll find everything
here from Gow Gees and Gyoza to Crab Rangoon and the
ever-popular water chestnut wrapped in bacon.
- Noodles
-
This includes an article with photographs of different types of noodles,
information on preparation and cooking times, and recipes.
- Szechuan
Style Cuisine
- Recipes that typify Szechuan regional cooking, including
Szechuan Beef, Bang Bang Chicken, and Twice Cooked Pork.
- Holidays
- Looks at traditional Chinese holidays such as the Mooncake Festival, and
how Asians celebrate non-Asian holidays such as Christmas. Includes a calendar
of traditional Chinese holidays.
Most Popular Pages Elsewhere on my Site
- Rice
Revitalizers -
Tips to help you prepare rice that is light and fluffy. Includes basic
step by step instructions for cooking regular long grain rice and jasmine
scented rice.
- Photo
Gallery -
A growing file of photographs of everything related to Chinese Cuisine, from
ingredients to cooking equipment. Includes photo instructions on making
coconut milk, folding wontons, and sharpening a cleaver.
- Asian Culinary Glossary
of Ingredients and Cooking Terms
-
An ever-growing
resource that defines the various ingredients and terms used in Asian
cooking. I've added a list of alternative words to make shopping in an Asian
supermarket a little easier.
- Egg
roll Energizers
- Tips for preparing egg rolls that are neither too dry or too soggy.
- Restaurants
- Thanks to your emails, this index of restaurants personally recommended by
readers grew quite a bit in the past year.
- Top
30 Recipes -
Find out which recipes were the most popular each week.
Most Popular Forum Threads
- Diets
and Chinese Food
Readers share their experiences incorporating Chinese food into a diet
plan.
- Soy
Sauce - Just Soy Sauce
Readers respond to a request for information on the different types of soy
sauce - dark, light, mushroom, etc.
- What's
the Big Deal About Crab Rangoon?
This query led to a discussion about the origins of crab rangoon (it's not
an authentic Chinese dish) along with recipes and cooking tips.
- Fried
Ricer Flavor
Several readers offer tips on how to re-create the fried rice flavor found
in restaurant dishes.
- TOUBANJIANG
and TENMENJIANG
What do they mean?
- Chicken
Kneecaps
What part of the chicken are they made from?
Most Popular Recipes from my Recipe File
- Chicken
Chow Mein -
This popular dish knocked Kung Pao Chicken - the winner for 1999 and 2000 -
out of the number one spot.
- Yangchow
(Yangzhou) Fried Rice
- A colorful dish - fried rice flecked with bits of ham and vegetables.
- Steamed
Buns
A
basic recipe that can be used to make Chau Siu Bao (Steamed buns with pork)
- Beef
with Broccoli
A popular restaurant dish - beef and broccoli cooked in a flavorful sauce
that includes oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar.
- Kung
Pao Chicken
The popular deep-fry dish with chilies and peanuts dropped to the number
five spot.
Most
Interesting email question
Last
year I used this section to highlight the most commonly asked email
question. However, there really was no one common question this
year. Instead, reader emails covered a wide range of topics -
everything from Char Siu Bao dough to Norwegian salmon! Below is an
interesting email I received from Waldy, in response to my article on Crispy
Rice:
"Hi!
I found your story on crispy rice to be intriguing, especially so because we
Puerto Ricans ( in particular the children) have been enjoying crispy rice
for God knows how long. However, we prefer to call it by the Spanish
word "pegau" or "pegow" (I am not sure of the spelling.)
In any event,
the word means "stuck." We take this bottom stuck rice and
dole it out to the kids who often douse it with liberal amounts of red bean
sauce. This practice may have had its roots in poverty, where nothing
goes to
waste, but it is now enjoyed by all regardless of economic
status."
Gung Hay
Fat Choy! (Happy New Year!)
**New to the Chinese Cuisine Site? You'll find a complete guide to help you
find your way around here.
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