Time to explore some of the myriad Asian Fruits. Fortunately, they fall into two categories as far as most Westerners are concerned: The devils you know and the devils you don’t! That’s not to say that all Asian Fruits are bitter, smelly or hard to eat. But some of them definitely are … different!Read More →
We’ve touched on the Asian tradition of pickling in our discussion about Kimchi in a previous post and it’s time to continue that talk with a look at two ubiquitous Asian ingredients that are also commonly pickled. One is the Asian Cucumber. The other is the famous, gargantuan Daikon Radish…Read More →
We’ve only just scratched the surface of the Real Asian Ingredient realm… The more you look, the more you discover there is to see! And I’m happy to report that my e-mail box has been bursting with suggestions for further ingredient exposés. Today, we’ll tackle just one ingredient, but it’s a big one…Read More →
We recently ran down some familiar ‘Chinese Food’ ingredients that actually entered the cuisine when it came to North America, as early as the mid-late 19th century. Now, we’ll flip the coin and look at some classic Real Chinese ingredients western cooks often overlook…Read More →
By now, if you follow this journal regularly, you’ll have read about a number of exotic cuisines from around the world which each has its own signature Spice Blend. In North Africa, they’re Ras al Hanouts. In India, they’re Masalas. But they all have two Spices in common…Read More →
Okay… Cue Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy in the background and settle in for a tale about how the Chinese folks who came to Canada to build the Canadian Pacific Railroad in the late 19th century triggered the creation of a whole new tradition – ‘Canadian Chinese’!Read More →
We’ve all heard of ‘Curry’ and most of us have tasted one version or another of this classic spicy, saucy Indian dish. Actually, ‘Curry’ is more of a style than a specific recipe. In fact, there are probably as many ‘Curry’ recipes as there are cooks who make it. And where you eat your Curry is just as important!Read More →
I get this question fairly often: What’s the difference between Szechuan and Hunan cuisine? They’re both from China and they’re both hot and spicy. So, what’s to choose between them? Turns out, quite a bit! Therefore, we hereby offer our Field Guide to two of China’s most exotic cuisines…Read More →