I'd Like to Order Kung Pao Chicken Smothered with Melted Cheese! (Yuk!)

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.  😋

But what do you think of this "adaptation"?

Do you like Chinese food with or without cheese?

* * *

*Quote Source:

Kuo, Stephanie. "The Real Reason There's No Cheese In Asian Cuisine." CheeseRank : Your Go To Guide for All Things Cheese. N.p., 28 July 2014. Web. 15 June 2017. (NOTE: Links to an archived copy.)

It Turns Out, There is Such a Thing as Chinese Cheese

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.

Discovering Cheese in One of the Most Unsuspecting Places

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 ...

Related or Similar articles

• Canadian inventor of the Hawaiian pizza dies, leaving behind a fruity and cheesy legacy that divides the world(telegraph.co.uk)

  ---

• The Struggles of Writing About Chinese Food as a Chinese Person(metafilter.com)

  ---

• The Transformative Fungus That Powers Japanese Cuisine(theatlantic.com)

  ---

  
  

♦ ♦ ♦

Recipe Sharing for Barbecue Lovers

There are two particular foods that I know most people all around the world enjoy. Pizza and barbecue!! A couple of these wonderful recipes came to me via eMail. If you're vegan or vegetarian, no worries. Threw in a recipe for you too! I love recipe sharing. Let me know if you try them or if you've already tried them! If you want to share other recipes, feel free!

Content first appeared at ForumCoin.com, July 27, 2017.

How to Throw a Korean Barbecue Party at Home https://t.co/N7mvJFzHkD via @flipboard #partyfood #foodies #barbecue #foodanddrink #fooddlovers #recipes #recipesharing

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) July 27, 2019

Filipino BBQ – Pork Skewers (https://t.co/fdrHSxPh1M) via @flipboard #partyfood #foodies #barbecue #foodanddrink #fooddlovers #recipes #recipesharing pic.twitter.com/CIV7aSRn5J

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) July 28, 2019

?: @nomnompaleo
・・・
Umami Roast Chicken •#ThermoWorks #thermapen #chicken#poultry #wings #chickenbreast#chickenwings #smoke #smoker #smoked#bbq #barbecue #barbeque #food #foodie#meat #protein #paleo #glutenfree#temperature #digitalthermometer#co… https://t.co/yUMsDgiNOq pic.twitter.com/oNrjC72pkl

— ThermoWorks (@Thermapen) October 5, 2018

Want some well-seasoned protein? Here's an easy recipe for 5-Spiced Pork Ribs made in your slow-cooker. https://t.co/1IEpcopU0s pic.twitter.com/9JKtaqraQ1

— Melissa Joulwan (@meljoulwan) April 5, 2019

(ad) Grilled Garlic Shrimp Po'Boys made with @BTBouillon Roasted Garlic Base and served on a grilled roll. A perfect weekend lunch - get the recipe now! ?

BTB ? https://t.co/RMaUhE6E5a

Recipe ? https://t.co/fEpH43SWSz#BTBGrillingRecipes #IC #recipes #grilling #BBQ

— Scrappy Geek (@Scrappy_Geek) July 26, 2019

*

*

What Kind of Broth Do You Use in Your Ramen Noodles?

Ramen noodle, the instant noodle that the whole world now loves to eat, was invented by Momofuku Ando (1910 - 2007), a Taiwanese-Japanese inventor in Japan. It was first marketed in 1958 by his company, Nissin. Incredible! I can't remember exactly when I started eating Ramen noodles. I think it was in the 90s. I could get 5 packages for a dollar at the grocery store. I could eat a package every day. That's 20 cents for a meal. Why not?

At first I just followed the package directions and ate them that way. Later on I learned you could add meats, vegetables, eggs, etc. and come up with all kinds of recipe variations.

My favorite addition to Ramen noodles is cabbage; preferably bok choy; and also mushrooms. My daughter likes to add a bolied egg to the broth.

The broth! That's another thing I like about eating Ramen noodles. I prefer chicken broth. My daughter likes beef broth. This recipe makes a broth out of black tea and ginger. Interesting. I never even thought to change the broth flavor ... UNTIL NOW!

RamenRecipe (Made with Black Tea + Ginger Broth!) - Fit Foodie Finds

Herbs and Spices: There is Ginger and Then There is Blue Ginger

Spice Spotlight: Blue Ginger or Galangal 

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.)

REFERENCES:

PropagatingBlue Ginger: Tips On Growing Blue Ginger Plants

Top6 Galangal Nutrition facts and Health benefits

What’sthe Difference Between Galangal and Ginger? | Kitchn

(The Kitchn article shares recipes that use galangal and recipes that use ginger.)

* * *

Galangal is available on Amazon in Grocery and Gourmet.

World Cuisine: Exotic Vegetables: Winter Melon

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. 

Image credit:  Amazon.com

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.

Chinese Winter Melon Soup Recipe ~ TheSpruce Eats

Winter melon can also be used to make drinks. There are recipes for Winter Melon Tea and Bubble Tea Latte. Sounds interesting.

18 of the Absolute Best Winter MelonRecipes to Try This Year - Backyard Boss  

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!

9 Surprising Benefits of Winter Melon |Organic Facts

FINAL LINK SHARE:

Figured there had to be a candy recipe.  Petha / Winter Melon soft Candy !!! | Shailja's Kitchen [ Meals & Memories Are Made Here ] 

Edible Art Of Japanese Style Kawaii Cooking

It’s really no big surprise that people like kawaii.
 It’s loaded with cuteness!  😊

When my high schooler was a middle schooler, she enjoyed this cartoon program called Phineas and Ferb about two young boys who are geniuses and always cook up some unbelievable event for each episode.  The favorite line in the show is when someone usually asks them: “Aren’t you are little young to be doing this?” (“This” whatever the this is that they’re doing that kids should not be able to do.); and they always respond:  “Yes.  Yes we are!”   :)




Well there was one episode where they were trying to overcome an “alien monster” and just didn’t know what “weapon” they could use.  Finally Phineas figured it out and it wasn’t anything he and his friend could build themselves.  However one of their friends did possess it.  Their friend’s weapon was “cuteness”.

Are you familiar with Kawaii Cooking?

Kawaii is the Japanese word for “cute”.

I describe this cooking style in 2 words: adorable cuteness!

It's a Japanese way of preparing food that is aimed at making kids happy to eat their food. It is edible art! Per Wikipedia: “Generally delicate and tiny items are called "kawaii" in Japanese; miniature food is created with the Japanese miniature-art techniques of recent decades.”

Learn more about the technique and try some recipes:

• ‘Kawaii’Cooking – Japan’s newest, hottest, and tiniest food trend |six-two by Contiki  
• Too cute to eat: Kawaii baking trend and recipes 
• KawaiiRecipes | Tastemade 

Cute Food – Adorable Bento Box, Edible Art Of Kawaii Cooking

Make A Bento Box Lunch!

Raye gardens organically, harvests rainwater, strives to eat locally, and honors the gods from her home in the Pacific Northwest. Bento boxes are fast becoming popular as a modern Western lunchtime option. These small meals offer lots of variety and can be created from very healthy ingredients.

* * *

Image credit: Bear buns ~ Ridiculously adorable pull-apart bear shaped milk bread rolls. Cute and kawaii Japanese style food art. Creative idea for food art for kids top view. Photo taken on: June 02nd, 2016  © Photographer: Santusya | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Looking for the recipe for those pull apart bears?

 

Related articles, posts or other links

• Youtube channel Make Food. Eat Food. will inspire you with creations based on Asian cuisine(en.rocketnews24.com)

  ---

• Phineas and Ferb Creators Have a New Disney XD Animated Series Coming with 'Weird Al' Yankovic & Ming-Na Wen(themarysue.com)

  ---

• The Cuter Side of Things(casluvschloe.wordpress.com)

  ---

 * * *
Sushezi Sushi Made Easy

***

EES shares recipes, cooking tips and all things foodie!

Everyday Exotic Spices

Foodie Friday : Name Your Favorite Instant Noodle

The world will always love, honor, and remember Momofuku Ando (1910 - 2007). He's the man who invented the Ramen instant noodle.

Fascinating food history:

Instant noodles were first marketed in 1958.

Cup of noodles didn't come along until 1971.

My not so fascinating life history facts:

♦ I was born in 1955. Can't remember when I started eating the instant noodles, but it must have been after the year 2000 and it must have been because one of my daughters who love all things Asian was eating them. I know I didn't eat them during my childhood, during my years at the University of Miami (the 70s), during the first 25 years of my marriage (2001 is when my last child was born). I did the grocery shopping most of the time and my husband shopped every now and then. So it had to be one of my kids that introduced this food into our home. Can't recall. Just know that instant noodles got added to our grocery list one day and we've been eating them ever since.

Said all that to say this.

♦ When it comes to the selection of Ramen noodles at the local grocery stores, there isn't really a vast range of products to choose from. Pretty much it's the popular name brand of the instant ones in the cup or the ones in the little package. That particular food is so cheap you don't need to buy the “generic brand” to save money. That was the inventor's purposeful good intention. He wanted a food that was super cheap that could feed the masses. (Gleaned that food fact from a documentary I watched on TV, several years back.)

*

Who would have thought that someone could publish a blog with nothing but reviews of Ramen noodles?

The blog is called … what else? The Ramen Rater.

* * *

When I first saw it, I thought:

Oh come on!! How many packaged instant noodles can there possibly be for you to rate them?

Uuuhhh … try 2000+.

Seriously. His Tumblr blogs posts go back to 2012 but the guy's reviews go back to date back to 2002!! TheRamenRater.com

(Maybe that was also the year I started eating them. (O.o) (???))

NOTE:  This content was updated and published at Read.Cash.

* * Additional Fun Links:

What are some of your favorite ways of serving Ramen style noodles?

Momofuku Ando : From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

♦ ♦ ♦
Fun Foodie Links:
The Evolution of Tea
29 Asian Noodle Recipes You'll Want to Slurp Up Immediately

Previous #FoodieFriday posts? YAPAS (Yet Another Post About Spinach)  Immune-boosting Smoothie ~ Order at Starbucks  Recipes | Desserts | Pineapple Stuffing and More!  Japan’s 10 weirdest ice cream flavors  The Right Blend of Spices for Cajun Food Lovers  Indian Food: Hot n Spicy Samosas (Reblog)  Candied Jalapeño Peppers  Chinese New Year Recipes and Dishes  Pesto Around the World  Experiencing the Joy of Salsa   Spice Spotlight: Cinnamon  It's Flipping Foodie Friday!  Raw Coconut Fig Slice (Reblog)  Winter Salad Binging  Banana Brownies - Back for Seconds  Cool Foodies and Food Lovers Celebrating Their “Firsts” on Twitter

Recipe Sharing: Chinese Pork Pies (Guest Post)

The Chinese do such wonderful things with pork.  Like Chinese Pork Pies.  Here's the recipe.  

INGREDIENTS

400g pork sausages, casings removed

4 spring onions (shallots), thinly sliced

2 teaspoons Chang‘s Pure Sesame Oil

1 1/2 teaspoons ground star anise

125ml (1/2 cup) warm water

50g lard or butter

300g (2 cups) cake, biscuit & pastry plain flour (see note)

1 tablespoon warm water, extra (optional)

1 egg, lightly whisked

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Tomato chutney, to serve

Watercress sprigs, to serve

METHOD

Step 1

Place the sausage meat, spring onion, sesame oil and star anise in a bowl. Use your hands to knead until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.

Step 2

Stir the water and lard or butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes or until the lard or butter melts. Place the flour in a food processor. Season with salt. Add the water mixture and process until the mixture comes together, adding the extra water if necessary. Transfer to a clean surface and quickly knead until smooth.

Step 3

Preheat oven to 180oC. Divide the pastry into 2 portions, one slightly larger than the other. Roll out the larger portion until 2-3mm thick. Use an 11.5cm round pastry cutter to cut 6 discs from the pastry. Line six 80ml (1/3 cup) muffin pans with the discs. Divide the sausage mixture among the lined pans, pushing the mixture into the side of each pan. Roll out the remaining pastry until 2-3mm thick, re-rolling the excess pastry if necessary. Use a 9.5cm cutter to cut six discs from the pastry. Place the discs on top of the pork mixture and crimp the edges to seal.

Step 4

Bake the pies for 30 minutes or until they start to brown. Transfer to a baking tray. Brush the tops with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool. Serve with the chutney and watercress sprigs.

* * * If You Liked This Recipe, You Might Also Like:

Chinese pork meatballs in broth

Chinese pork skewers

Chinese pork sliders 

My Favorite Chinese TV Chefs

Growing up in my day (the 50s, 60s, and 70s) there were hardly any TV programs with cooks and chefs that taught you how to be a kitchen diva. But nowadays there are television networks wholly devoted to the topic of cooking techniques, sharing recipes and food diversity or world cuisine. Cooking shows are also all over YouTube. My husband searches for cooking videos. But I liked watching the public broadcast channels (like PBS) or the cooking channels on cable TV such as FoodNetwork.

These are my four favorite Chinese chefs.

1. Martin Yan
2. Ming Tsai
3. Ching He Huang
4. Kylie Kwong

Ever heard of them or watched their shows?

* * *

#1 Martin Yan (“Remember! If Yan can cook, you can too!”)

“Back before the rise of the food-TV contests, the artificially heightened drama, the cult of the celebrity chef—there was a guy on PBS, armed with a wok, a cleaver, and a good sense of humor, just showing people how to cook.”https://t.co/lKSn5cPe4X

— epicurious (@epicurious) August 24, 2019

#2 Ming Tsai (in his early days with his mom)

The 10 Dishes That Made My Career: Ming Tsai ~ https://t.co/a8obQlSnEK via @flipboard ~ #favorites #favoriteTVchefs #cooksandchefs #Chinesechefs #Asianchefs #TVchefs #MingTsai #foodandcooking #cookingshows #foodanddrink #foodies #foodlovers

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) August 31, 2019

#3 Ching He Huang (She attended school but it is said she is self-taught.)  She was such a good chef they invited her to come to America to do a TV show. ~ “Easy Chinese San Francisco” with Ching He Huang

Cooking Chinese with Ching He Huang and Amoy sauces | Eat Cook Explore ~ https://t.co/91bO4nEGj7 via @flipboard ~ #favorites #favoriteTVchefs #cooksandchefs #Chinesechefs #Asianchefs #TVchefs #ChingHeHuang #foodandcooking #cookingshows #foodanddrink #foodies #foodlovers

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) August 31, 2019

#4 Kylie Kwong (She’s a popular Australian-Chinese chef)

Kylie Kwong recipes | Gourmet Traveller ~ https://t.co/AK80JzNC0J ~ Image is No 2 of 14: XO fried rice ~ #favorites #favoriteTVchefs #cooksandchefs #Chinesechefs #Asianchefs #TVchefs #KylieKwong #foodandcooking #cookingshows #foodanddrink #foodies #foodlovers pic.twitter.com/wznbjHSOCZ

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) August 31, 2019

Sri Lanka Ethnic Cuisine by Melisa Marzett (Guest Post)

Sri Lanka national cuisine is based on plant products:  rice, corn, peas, lentils, and other beans.  Also, all sorts of flour made out of pulse crops and vegetables are an integral part of the local cuisine.

Spice shop in Kandy Market, Sri Lanka By McKay Savage [CC BY 2.0],

Rice is the basis of many of the national dishes in Sri Lanka. It is spiced with curry, seasoning and other local ingredients here, with seafood and fruits, coconut flakes and vegetables.  The combinations, at first sight, are unbelievable!


Traditionally, the food is prepared in either handmade crockery-ware or metallic crockery over an open fire. There are a lot of seasoning and sauces in traditional Sri Lankan cuisine, which is why it is practically impossible to define its unique taste. Curry is the most popular seasoning. But there is also, a hot sauce antiaris made of fruits with seasonings, red hot sauce masala, miti kiri dry coconut milk, cut thin mix of onion and salt, dry fish, red pepper and lemon lunumiris, a ginger hand in syrup and other exotic seasonings are common.


The Ceylonese (Sri Lankans in Singapore) consume a huge number of fruits and greens. They make salads out of different fresh vegetables and fruits or just some greens using traditional tomatoes, pepper, onion, bamboo runoffs and a various exotic assortment, including some special tree leaves, banana palm flower, and algae. Meat is not consumed much due to the cows to being considered holy animals. Instead, they eat a lot of and a variety of seafood.


Sri Lanka courses:

• Roti, which is a rice cake, a daily course in Sri Lanka
• Appa, which is rice-flour and coconut milk pancakes. They look like typical pancakes but whiter and more transparent.
• Indi appa, which is rice pasta made of rice flour of course.
• Pitta, which is boiled steamed rice-coconut mix in bamboo handle.
• Kiribath, which is pink rice, boiled in coconut milk.

Tea is the main drink in Sri Lanka. But fruit juice and coconut milk are preferred drinks as well. As for the local alcohol, it is better for a traveler not to become familiar with it. Alcoholic beverages are available but there is basically no purification procedure for making the local alcohol so most Europeans or westerners may not appreciate the taste. As for the local Lion beer, it is brewed in accordance with classic recipes. It is not expensive and some who drink it say it's very delicious.

About the author: Melisa Marzett whose current activity is writing for Pure writing company always welcome a new writing challenge. She is passionate about writing, which is why what comes out is interesting to read.

Related articles

• National Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month: What to Eat Right Now
• Natural Aphrodisiacs: Spicy sexual life is a reality! by Melisa Marzett (Guest Post)
• Five Exotic Spices by Melisa Marzett (Guest Post)