While searching for some recipes for a Memorial Day weekend cookout, i came across Hearth and Home, a blog that has quite a collection of recipes with photos! It predominantly features a mix of Chinese, Western and Singaporean/Indonesian/Malaysian dishes. I lump that last group together because I am not sophisticated enough to differentiate them. Besides, all restaurants I go to that offer cuisine from that region inevitably serves dishes from all three countries. Anyways, the reason this blog stood out is because it offers recipes for many favorite foods of mine, which I have not been able to locate in any Chinese cookbooks, including Wu Xi Spareribs and Polo Buns, which is more commonly referred to as Pineapple Buns.
For the longest time, I was also searching for a recipe for Pipa Tofu. The funny thing, I found it in a recipe book that I have owned for over 15 years. Except that it was titled Shrimp and Tofu Dumpling. Now, how am I supposed to realize that Shrimp and Tofu Dumpling is Pipa Tofu. That’s why I like cookbooks with both English and Chinese titles, as well as photos.
New York Times: An Export Boom Suddenly Facing a Quality Crisis. Hoping to investigate why melamine contaminated so much pet food, investigators from the Food and Drug Administration spent two weeks in China this month. [...] After United States investigators left, China issued a statement asking the United States not to punish other exporters of food ingredients for the misdeeds of a few rogue companies, and not to let this become a trade quarrel.
Somehow I am not convinced that only a few “rogue” companies were at fault. Nor was I convinced that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were the work of a few “rogue” soldiers. In both situations, the problem was that the culture and the environment permitted, and perhaps encouraged, such misdeeds to occur.
Now, what of this trade quarrel? The danger for all parties involved in the Chinese export trade isn’t a trade quarrel. Trade disputes are problems between nations that inevitably get resolved after protracted negotiations and political posturing. No, the real problem here is that not a quarrel with the U.S. government, but with the U.S. public. How do you resolve a quarrel with consumers who refuse to purchase your products? This is the type of situation that get ugly fast and not just for Chinese exporters.
How will American importers of Chinese products react? Knowing that the products you import are basically unregulated by the Chinese government, what steps must you take to ensure the safety of your own merchandise? Because all the dollars and cents you are saving by importing from China can vanish in a flash when your product sickens or kills someone. Punitive damages anyone?
Whenever I read any negative news articles about China, I don’t see a society too different from the one we celebrate in America. From a business, legal and political perspective, some analysts may contend that America and China are polar opposites. But, that is not the case. In fact, we are traveling along the same path. The difference is that China is a few steps behind. That’s all.
So, the latest episode involves the use of melamine by Chinese manufacturers in animal feed. That and the occasional mass food poisonings of humans that occur in China but do not garner as much press as when American dogs and cats get ill. Well, we’ll just have to wait for China’s Upton Sinclair to write a Chinese version of The Jungle.
I love the pearl milk tea at Fantasia Coffee & Tea. My favorite flavors are taro and red bean. However, a recent study may give pearl milk tea lovers some pause. While drinking tea can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, these benefits do not extend to drinkers of pearl milk tea, also known as tapioca milk tea or boba milk tea. As it turns out, when milk is added to tea, it cancels out the protective effect that tea drinking has against cardiovascular disease. Maybe next time I’ll ask them to hold the milk.
Los Angeles Times: California Rolls Drive Them to Distraction. Ever wonder whether the negi toro you ordered at that sushi place on Wilshire was the real deal? Well, the Japanese government does. Officials in Tokyo, concerned that diners around the globe are getting a less-than-genuine taste of their nation’s cuisine, are devising a sort of bureaucratic Zagat guide that will confer a stamp of authenticity on restaurants that meet the government’s standards.
Some bureaucrats with too much time on their hands? Actually, I’m a bit jealous. Some government worker will probably get to travel the world on the taxpayer’s dime trying out different restaurants. However, the true test of a restaurant isn’t whether it is authentic or not, but whether the food appeals enough to their clientele’s tastes. That’s why you won’t find “authentic” Chinese restaurants in some parts of America. If the customers want sweet and sour pork instead of braised chicken feet, you prepare the dishes that pays the bills. It’s that simple.
As much as I like “authentic” Chinese food, I’ll take orange chicken any day from Panda Express over stinky tofu at your local Chinese diner.
While searching for some recipes for a Memorial Day weekend cookout, i came across Hearth and Home, a blog that has quite a collection of recipes with photos! It predominantly features a mix of Chinese, Western and Singaporean/Indonesian/Malaysian dishes. I lump that last group together because I am not sophisticated enough to differentiate them. Besides, all restaurants I go to that offer cuisine from that region inevitably serves dishes from all three countries. Anyways, the reason this blog stood out is because it offers recipes for many favorite foods of mine, which I have not been able to locate in any Chinese cookbooks, including Wu Xi Spareribs and Polo Buns, which is more commonly referred to as Pineapple Buns.