"Food ways" is an expression that dates back to 1946. It refers to the eating habits and culinary practices of a people, region, or historical period. Food Ways Presented by Everyday Exotic Spices: Food finds for foodies and food lovers - curated content from around the web, sharing the ways we all like to enjoy our food! Food history, recipe sharing, and all things food-related. This foodie blog is aimed at newbie cooks or beginners. But everyone is welcome!
Happy Friday! (It's FoodieFriday!) Always searching for
like-minded food lovers and found people celebrating their “firsts”.
First food blog post. The first food article was accepted at a major site.
Etc. Here are their tweets. Interesting variation. French food;
Health / Energy Food tips; Asian food; Vegan recipes; and Food
Photography.
(NOTE: Shared posts were dated 2016. UPDATED LINKS 2024.)
A
few years back, I was having a spirited discussion with co-workers at
one of my temp jobs and the discussion turned to food preferences.
Mexican versus Chinese.
I
said: “I love Chinese food!”
My
co-worker's response was:
“No way! Chinese food doesn't have near
enough cheese for me!!”
I
laughed and thought to myself: 'Yep! She's right about that!'
But
why? ⍰ Why is there hardly any cheese in Chinese cuisine?
Did
some research. Here is the quick answer, according to Corinne Trang,
affectionately referred to by her many admirers as the “Asian Julia
Child”. She says: “In Asian food culture, you have thousands,
countless amounts of herbs and spices that we use at any given time.
So few of these spices go well with cheese.”*
Nevertheless,
there is a food trend going in the “fusion” direction and chefs
are experimenting with incorporating cheese into Asian recipes.
I seriously doubt that you can order a plate of kung pao chicken smothered with melted cheese. I didn't say the chefs had taken leave of their senses. 😋
The Blog: Cookbook author and teacher Diana Kuan writes about traditional and modern takes on Asian home cooking on her blog, Appetite for China. She has also recently launched an online shop called Plate and Pencil, with cute gifts like a "Dumplings Around the World" tote bag.
It's nearly impossible for any Westerners to remember the first time they tried cheese. From pizza to pasta to hunks eaten on their own, cheese's ubiquity in our diets means that we've been enjoying it since before we could eat most other solid foods. For Liu Yang, a cheesemaker in Beijing, the ...
Once upon a time when I was a newbie cook, I wanted so badly to cook Chinese food. But no matter what I did my food just did not have that authentic Chinese flavor. This was before TV cooking shows had become so pervasive.
Hormel Foods Corporation is an American food business that has been around since 1891. Me personally? I have been enjoying Hormel food products for over 50 years; mainly, its canned chili. I stumbled upon a product at my local grocery store and it changed everything!
They are all delicious! But my
favorite is the Classic Sauce. If these products are not on the
shelf of your local grocery store, you might be able to find them at
an Asian market in your area. If not they are sold via Amazon and
are reasonably priced.
There are plenty more House of Tsang® products. These are the ones I'm familiar with. I promise you! Use any of these sauces
in your recipes and it will taste just like you went out to eat at an
Asian restaurant.
One of my favorite Asian TV chefs is Ming Tsai. He had a restaurant called Blue Ginger, which sadly, closed in 2017, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. I never really thought about the name of his restaurant until I learned that there is a plant called “blue ginger”. It is not in the ginger root family but it looks like ginger; and its stems have beautiful blue flowers. So people call it “blue ginger”. If you accidentally put galangal or blue ginger in your recipe thinking it is ginger, you'll know as soon as you taste it that you made a mistake. Although, you might not mind the difference in the flavor.
This tropical plant is native to Indonesia and is a seasoning that adds flavor to numerous Southeastern Asian dishes. Blue ginger is used as a ornamental plant for home or garden; as well as a cooking ingredient. Also, like most herbs and spices, it has medicinal purposes.
(NOTE: Also called Thai ginger or Siamese ginger.)
Thanks to being active in various global social communities, I'm learning about all kinds of food like the “winter melon”. This is not a
produce that I am familiar with. Even when I checked to see if maybe
I knew it by a different name, it turns out I did not know the
alternative names either. I don't recall seeing this melon in my
local grocery store but it is probably in the produce section at an
Asian market. Nevertheless, now it's a food that I am curious to
try.
OK. Let me explain myself. I like
cucumbers and I like melons. But I say a cucumber is a vegetable and
anything called melon has to be a fruit. Right? WRONG!!
The Spruce Eats is my favorite GO TO
site for when I want to learn about anything food-related. They
published content titled “What Is a Winter Melon?” and it tells
you all about it.
The winter melon is a large vine
vegetable; a type of gourd and a distant cousin of the cucumber.
Commonly called ash gourd, wax gourd, white gourd, white pumpkin, and
Chinese watermelon. It is a native to parts of Southern Asia and used
in both Indian and Chinese cuisine.
You can cook it, but don't
over-cook it because it will become mushy. It pairs well with a lot
of different foods: watermelon, mushrooms, scallions, pork, chicken,
duck, and ham, seafood like shrimp and scallops. I love that it can
be cooked in soups and stews because soup is on my unofficial list of
Top 5 comfort foods.
Some sources say it can not be eaten
RAW.
Other sources say, add it to salads RAW
just like you would with a cucumber.
???????
Here are some additional food facts and
most of the sources seem to be in agreement.
“Chinese people believe winter melon
is a Yin food that can help our bodies to counter the summer heat and
humidity.” This soup dish is so popular they even serve it at
weddings.
A few of the health websites sing
praises about the health benefits of the winter melon. It's good for
digestion; promotes heart health; can detox your body; can improve
your vision; and more!
Even though many herbs and spices are now readily available in local grocery stores all around the world or can easily be purchased online, most of us don't know know the history of these marvelous cooking ingredients and which country is responsible for introducing these exciting flavors to the global community. Sharing a brief introduction to five (5) exotic spices:
1. Asafetida. This is an Asian spice made from the roots of certain species of Ferula. It is a gum-like spice with a very strong and unpleasant smell. Actually, the name of the spice has a Latin origin, which means “evil-smelling gum”. Asafetida is common in Indian vegetarian cuisine and is often the main ingredient in rice and bean dishes. Additionally, it has a wide range of medicinal properties and is beneficial for people with digestive disorders, high cholesterol, and/or nervous disorders. Asafetida is rich in minerals and nutrients, such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, and protein. Although most chefs and cooks rarely prepare a dish without onion and garlic, some people do not eat onion or garlic. Certain people are allergic to onions and for some people, garlic causes extreme heart burn. Asafetida is an ideal spice for those people. In fact, its smell is similar to both onion and garlic.
2. Dried Avocado Leaves. This spice (or herb) originated in Mexico. It is one of the most popular spices in Mexican cuisine. Avocado leaves have an aniseed fragrance; however, these dried leaves are odorless and have a pungent taste. Dried avocado leaves are added to bean or meat dishes. Regarding health benefits, they are useful for people who have kidney stones and hypertension. Noteworthy: Only certain varieties of avocado leaves are to be used in cooking or for medicinal purposes because some kinds of avocado leaves can contain toxic substances.
Avocado Leaves: A Secret Mexican Ingredientby Victoria ChallancinLove at First Bite. Like any motivated foodie, I almost made myself sick sampling, musing, and guessing what unknown ingredient I was tasting in what appeared to be an ordinary black bean dip.
3. Epazote. This is another essential spice used in Mexican cuisine. Its extraordinary (or strange) scent can be described as a combination of kerosene, mint, and citrus. Epazote is made from the leaves of Mexican herb called dysphania ambrosioides (aka "Mexican tea"). It is used with bean and meat dishes. Additionally, it can be used in soups.
4. Grains of Paradise. This delicious spice is an integral part of West African cuisine. It is obtained from a flower called Aframomum melegueta. Africans believed that this flower grew in Eden. Grains of paradise look like seeds and have jasmine, citrus, and hazelnut odor. It can be added to meat, fish, and potato dishes.
Ras El Hanout (4.0 Oz) By Zamouri Spices Ingredients include over 30 different herbs and spices, such as: Grains of Paradise, Lavender, turmeric, ajawan seeds, kalajeera, ginger, galangal, oris root, rose buds, monk's pepper, cinnamon and more!
5. Juniper Berries.Actually, juniper berries are more likely to be cones than berries. It has the smell of fir and is used for cooking meat dishes, especially stewed rabbit or beef. These “berries” grow on the juniper tree, are common throughout Europe, included in ancient Greek recipes, and have been found in the Egyptian pyramids. A wide range of German traditional dishes are cooked with juniper berries.
♦♦ Hope you enjoyed this intro.
About the writer: Melisa Marzett works for: bigpaperwriter.com. She does excellent research and can pen articles and supply blog publishers or website owners with quality content on almost any topic.
*
Looking
for foodie friends? Have fun finding and sharing food-related
content on Noise.Cash.
It's a global social community. The PLUS is that you can make
friends and earn Bitcoin Cash$.
As my way of celebrating Chinese New Year, I am sharing a quick profile of my 4 favorite Chinese TV chefs and couple of fun facts related to Chinese New Year. How do you know you love Chinese food?
When everywhere you go, you ask for directions to the best Chinese
restaurant. Not me. My late husband. But I wholly supported him in
his quest. No matter which city we visited or wherever we lived, we
looked for a Chinese restaurant. Once we found a good one, we were
loyal customers. Sometimes we would leave the kids, sneak out of the
house and go have lunch. Other times we would order take-out, go
pick up the food, and then enjoy dinner at home. On rare occasions
we actually got to sit down in a nice restaurant and enjoy a meal
together. In addition to dining out or enjoying
take-out, we loved watching cooking shows on television. Below are
four (4) of our favorite Chinese chefs.
- Martin Yan
- Ming Tsai
- Ching He Huang
- Kylie Kwong
Martin Yan ~ We loved his show because he would
always teach you one Chinese word and we liked to hear him say “If
Yan can cook, you can too!” He was very encouraging and got us to
try some Asian recipes at home. TV SHOWS: Yan Can Cook; Martin Yan's Hong Kong;
Martin Yan – Quick & Easy
Ming Tsai ~ Ming Tsai's parents sent him to a
cooking school in France. His television show combined the cuisines
from both the East and the West. I especially liked the episodes
where his parents were on the show cooking with him in the kitchen.
Even though he is a professional chef and owns restaurants and has
received awards, he still asks his mom for directions and cooking
tips. TV SHOWS: East Meets West; Simply Ming
Ching He Huang ~ She said that as a child, she was
taught how to cook by her grandmother. When she grew up, she went to
a school and received training to cook professionally. One of her
teachers praised her as being the best in the class and said he knew
when she left school, whatever she decided to do, she was going to be
successful. She had one TV show that aired from the UK, She was so
good that she was invited to have her own cooking show in the US as
well, in San Francisco, California. TV SHOWS: Chinese Food Made Easy; Easy Chinese
San Francisco
Kylie Kwong ~ This lady chef is also a food caterer.
Sometimes she shows how she prepares food to serve large crowds.
Other times she prepares a meal for a small group of guests in her
home. No matter what she cooks, it looks fabulous and your mouth
waters. TV SHOW: Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul
All of these chefs have published
cookbooks. As this is a global community I am not sure if these
shows are available worldwide. But if you get a chance, watch either
or all of these TV cooking shows listed above. If you love Chinese
food, you'll be delighted!
FUN FACTS:
Chinese New Year for 2021 will be February 12th. It is the Year of the Ox. (Source)
Seven (7) Typical foods eaten on Chinese New Year are: 1. Fish — an Increase in Prosperity; 2. Chinese Dumplings — Wealth; 3. Spring Rolls — Wealth; 4. Glutinous Rice Cake — a Higher Income or Position; 5. Sweet Rice Balls — Family Togetherness; 6. Longevity Noodles — Happiness and Longevity; 7. Good Fortune Fruit — Fullness and Wealth (usually tangerines, oranges, and pomeloes). Source)
Food blogger Candy Dorsey publishes her own blog and also food-related Wizzley pages (see widget below). Reblogging / sharing the link to her post about pork lo mein. It's a Chinese takeout dish for you to make at home. Not only is the dish delicious and easy to make but did you know that for the Chinese people, noodles are a “symbol of longevity”? Pork Lo Mein - Make Takeout at Home | The Desert Cook
♦ ♦ ♦
For those who celebrate, Chinese New Year, Candy also has a recipe for Chinese New Year Balls, which I'm sharing as well. The new year celebrations for 2020 have come and gone, but every year is a new year! Chinese New Year for 2021 will be February 12. Mark your calendars.
Always wishing you peace, prosperity, good health and a long and wonderful life!
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 2 tsp. baking powder dash of salt Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl stir together all wet ingredients. Add to flour mixture all at once and stir just till moistened. Heat about 2" of cooking oil in a deep pot.
Have a friend who is very active in several online communities and made a mental note to publish a blog post sharing many of her wonderful recipes that she publishes all over the Internet. Her collection is impressive. Maybe one day she will publish a cookbook! This is myShout Out to Peach Purple, fellow blogger and freelance writer. Mango is my favorite fruit and I love fried rice! Never thought to put them together. :)
Have you heard of Chicken Gumbo? I didn't know that this chicken recipe is a well known dish in USA since the 18th century. One of my Facefriend had recommended me to try out her Chicken Gumbo recipe which she had uploaded online. I found it a very exceptional exquisite recipe, all-in-1 chicken stew that ...
If you had ever tasted Cai Xin soup, you should get acquainted with his green leafy vegetable today because you are going to love it as much as I do! What is Cai Xin Mustard Greens is fondly known as "Cai Xin" among the Chinese community.
Chicken Rice which is locally known as "Ji Fan " or "Sau Ji Fan" is a very popular main course meal that consist of roast chicken with steamed chicken rice and slices of cucumbers. There are 2 types of Chicken Rice sold in the restaurant; mainly: - Roast chicken -Hainanese chicken ( white ...
I started to fall in love with dumplings since my childhood days. Mom used to homemade dumplings which were large, fulled of generous fillings and super delicious soup. She always added generous heaps of mixed minced pork and 2 large tiger prawns for the dumpling fillings.
When I was young, mom used to make delicious Chinese soup for every day meal which is clear, not thick or brothy at all. Most of her Chinese soup was light, clear and comforting that soothes anyone who was losing appetite or sick over mild illness ( fever, cough, diarrhea, etc).
I simply LOVE my mother's Rice Vermicelli Noodle Soup, compare to my mother-in-law's version. The soup itself is tasty , even though she had used Knorr Chicken Cube Stock and the additional fried chicken fillets, crab sticks, scrambled eggs and cooked white cabbages were just FANTASTIC !
