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Q: What have you learned to cook here?
I may have posted this before...but.... whatever. So going to Jenny Lou's and such can drain your wallet. Plus, I wasn't happy with alot of the stuff. So, I started just making stuff on my own from scratch that I wanted. I bought a big oven that could fit two chickens in it and such as well. By the end of it, among other things, I learned to make.
- Bagels
- Pizza Dough
- Hollandaise sauce
- Crumpets
- Bolongense
- Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Apple crisp
Plus I learned to improvise on other things. I'd like to see Jane Housewife from Ohio cook a turkey in an oven the size od a microwave, or awesome ribs in a wok! When I discovered Dong Jiao market in beijign I was in Heaven. I could get so many fresh herbs to make Marina and such. All the ingredients are there, you just need to know how to combine them!
I'm a good cook and baker at home. In China I had to cook more simple meals. After complaining that my hotplate wasn't hot enough and the wok burnt everything, I was able to buy another hotplate and a good no-stick fry pan without getting too much of a lecture on my spending. At least then I could fry and boil something at the same time. I made chicken cordon blue with ham and real swiss cheese, GF didn't like it. She did like mashed potatoes, french toast, grilled cheese sandwiches and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Thank God for Skippy in China, my staple. Even if I had an oven I never saw spices or seasoing that I wanted like vanilla or cinnamon.
nevermind:
Wow man, my wife used to going batshit over western food. I guess the same way I would go over Chinese food being made at home...if she ever cook anything.
TedDBayer:
Even things like tomato sauce or paste I never found. I did find spagetti sauce from USA, it wasn't good and at 30Y a can, seemed like alot compared to home. The first meal I cooked was cabbage rolls, had to make tomato sauce from rock hard tomatoes, mashed potaoes, veggy and breaded fried chicken. It was tougher than shoe leather. I made potato-leak soup from the chicken, it was still tough. Must've been a 5000 year old chicken.
Scandinavian:
spaghetti sauce. it is easy to make with stuff you find in most supermarkets here. Olive oil, tomatoes and garlic takes you far in that game. Ask Google for a recipe that sounds like it will fit your taste. Apart from shopping ingredients you basically just need to put all in a pot and let it simmer for a while.
Vanguard, Carrefour etc. does have ketchup. there is a local brand that is actually pretty good, I have a bottle of Heinz in the fridge right now so I cannot tell you the name
981977405:
It is possible to order all of the major brands of tomato paste (Contadina, Hunt's, etc., etc.,) right off of taobao. As for the spaghetti sauces available here in China, most of them are made in the Philippines to local taste and are far, far from what we are used to.
I have honed my skills for chinese stir-fry and its pretty good usually. Its probably the easiest to shop for and cook where I am living (no decent import section close by).
But sometimes you just need some comfort food. So I got an oven and learned to make roast, shepherd's pie, pot pie, cornbread, baked chicken...
nevermind:
Oh...I learned the Shepherd's pie! I hated that stuff growing up, then I discovered it's just casue my Dad's is awful. As for the stir fry yeah, I learned how to make proper Chinese food, which is what I cook over in the old country. (Canada)
Hugh.G.Rection:
For an interesting twist to Shepherds pie try adding a few teaspoons of curry powder.
Gian Risotto....mmmmmmmhhhhhhhh........Gian is Chinese name for the animal, which is plentiful here in Liaoning. mmmmmm ......outstanding. Chinese sell it partially alive, in outside markets mostly. Anytime, you are in any outside market, just ask Chinese what is 'GIAN'.
I hold secre
t recipe for risotto.
