Friday, August 31, 2007
Technique: Heating Up Those Frozen Chinese Steamed Buns
It's a long headline for what might seem to be a silly topic, but I greatly enjoy the great Chinese savory pastries - if that's really the right word. I like them fried, roasted, and steamed, and it's the latter that you'll find frozen in Asian markets and some supermarkets.
Ah, but how to cook them? You can set up a steamer, with cabbage leaves on the bottom to keep the buns from sticking badly, but that takes time. Put one into a microwave and you will likely dry it out, transforming the delightfully spongy encasement into a petrified remnant suitable for display cases and archeologists.
However, after years of dealing with these, I finally came across the secret on one - and only one - package. Now, this only works with the steamed buns whose centers are cooked. If you have something that is supposed to be boiled, then you're out of luck, because the centers are going to be raw.
Put the bun on a paper blate or other microwaveable surface. Take a little bit of water and rub it over the top of the bun. You don't want puddles, just a damp sheen. Turn on the microwave for a minute or two, depending on the strength of your oven. (Start with one and see if the bun feels hot on all sides.) Presto, you are done.
Ah, but how to cook them? You can set up a steamer, with cabbage leaves on the bottom to keep the buns from sticking badly, but that takes time. Put one into a microwave and you will likely dry it out, transforming the delightfully spongy encasement into a petrified remnant suitable for display cases and archeologists.
However, after years of dealing with these, I finally came across the secret on one - and only one - package. Now, this only works with the steamed buns whose centers are cooked. If you have something that is supposed to be boiled, then you're out of luck, because the centers are going to be raw.
Put the bun on a paper blate or other microwaveable surface. Take a little bit of water and rub it over the top of the bun. You don't want puddles, just a damp sheen. Turn on the microwave for a minute or two, depending on the strength of your oven. (Start with one and see if the bun feels hot on all sides.) Presto, you are done.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Review: Wanchai Ferry Chinese Dinner Kits
I ran across these dinner kits in a press release and asked for some review samples. Apparently they've been available for years in Hong Kong and seem to be the Chinese equivalent - in underlying concept, at least - of Hamburger Helper. However, these are better and made by General Mills, so I'm assuming that the ingredient control is better than in China, where food quality problems have been rampant.
As I write this, my family just finished sampling the Cashew Chicken and Sweet & Sour Chicken versions. The consensus (except for my teenage daughter, who didn't care for the sweet and sour) was that they rate about a 6 out of 10 for something you'd cook at home, but 10 out of 10 compared to bad Chinese take-out. (That is a problem out here in rural western Massachusetts, where good Asian restaurants are a bit harder to find than in and around Boston.)
The kits all follow a similar approach: you cut up the chicken (or pork or shrimp or tofu, at least according to the sweet & sour box) and coat it in the seasoned corn starch that comes in a packet. You heat 2 TBS. vegetable oil in a pan, cook the protein, add a packet of sauce with half a cup of hot water, add an accent ingredient such as the nuts or a mix of pineapple and water chestnuts, and then let it simmer for a couple of minutes. You've presumably already started the jasmine rice, as suggested by the directions, which means your entree is ready.
A few peccadilloes. They say use a non-stick pan over medium heat. Having tried two of the regular variety, I'd endorse that suggestion, or use a bit more oil (maybe 3 TBS.) and high heat so the chicken doesn't bond to the pan surface. Then turn the heat back down to medium. Otherwise, it took about the 30 minutes the package claimed. They say that this will serve up to 6 people, the "up to" being the operative phrase. I'd say closer to four, or make sure you serve something in addition. The retail price is $4.79. When you add the pound of boneless skinned chicken breast (I boned and skinned a couple we had on hand), you're looking at maybe $8 for the dish. But you don't have to drive or wait until the delivery person drops off a once-hot dinner.
If you want to try one of these, go to this web site and print out a dollar off coupon while it is available.
As I write this, my family just finished sampling the Cashew Chicken and Sweet & Sour Chicken versions. The consensus (except for my teenage daughter, who didn't care for the sweet and sour) was that they rate about a 6 out of 10 for something you'd cook at home, but 10 out of 10 compared to bad Chinese take-out. (That is a problem out here in rural western Massachusetts, where good Asian restaurants are a bit harder to find than in and around Boston.)
The kits all follow a similar approach: you cut up the chicken (or pork or shrimp or tofu, at least according to the sweet & sour box) and coat it in the seasoned corn starch that comes in a packet. You heat 2 TBS. vegetable oil in a pan, cook the protein, add a packet of sauce with half a cup of hot water, add an accent ingredient such as the nuts or a mix of pineapple and water chestnuts, and then let it simmer for a couple of minutes. You've presumably already started the jasmine rice, as suggested by the directions, which means your entree is ready.
A few peccadilloes. They say use a non-stick pan over medium heat. Having tried two of the regular variety, I'd endorse that suggestion, or use a bit more oil (maybe 3 TBS.) and high heat so the chicken doesn't bond to the pan surface. Then turn the heat back down to medium. Otherwise, it took about the 30 minutes the package claimed. They say that this will serve up to 6 people, the "up to" being the operative phrase. I'd say closer to four, or make sure you serve something in addition. The retail price is $4.79. When you add the pound of boneless skinned chicken breast (I boned and skinned a couple we had on hand), you're looking at maybe $8 for the dish. But you don't have to drive or wait until the delivery person drops off a once-hot dinner.
If you want to try one of these, go to this web site and print out a dollar off coupon while it is available.
Labels: Chinese, dinner, General Mills, kit, Wanchai Ferry
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
China's Former Food, Drug Head Sentenced to Death
Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of China's food and drug administration from 1998 to mid-2005, was removed from the position. The reason? Bribery and corruption. And on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to the charges, he was given a death sentence.
Before writing this off as Chinese indifference to the individual and having an unbalanced view of justice, realize that this situation with bad products hitting the market has been serious. For all the problems the U.S. has seen with Chinese food imports and deadly pet food, it's nothing compared with the deaths that China has experienced as the result of bad antibiotics and drugs. Then a key ingredient in antifreeze appeared in cough syrup and tooth paste shipped to Central and South America, with 100 dying last year in Panama alone, according to the New York Times account. (However, USA Today puts the number at 51, once again showing the collective objective accuracy that is the United States press.)
Zheng got richer to the tune of $832,000 ($850,000, according to the Times), not that it will do him any good now. China is under huge pressure to reform its safety record. According to USA Today, "Zheng's sentence requires review by a higher court and approval by China's highest judicial panel before he can be executed."
It could be that this is window dressing, as USA Today reports:
Before writing this off as Chinese indifference to the individual and having an unbalanced view of justice, realize that this situation with bad products hitting the market has been serious. For all the problems the U.S. has seen with Chinese food imports and deadly pet food, it's nothing compared with the deaths that China has experienced as the result of bad antibiotics and drugs. Then a key ingredient in antifreeze appeared in cough syrup and tooth paste shipped to Central and South America, with 100 dying last year in Panama alone, according to the New York Times account. (However, USA Today puts the number at 51, once again showing the collective objective accuracy that is the United States press.)
Zheng got richer to the tune of $832,000 ($850,000, according to the Times), not that it will do him any good now. China is under huge pressure to reform its safety record. According to USA Today, "Zheng's sentence requires review by a higher court and approval by China's highest judicial panel before he can be executed."
It could be that this is window dressing, as USA Today reports:
Qiu Feng, an independent scholar and columnist for China Newsweek magazine, wrote on the website Southcn.com that Zheng's sentence would do little to end deeply entrenched graft.There's also a problem of counterfeit food that the papers and some other accounts mention in passing. Counterfeiting of products is an enormous problem, and one of the big categories is in food, particularly packaged Asian foods. Those simply won't be touched by improved official inspections because, by definition, counterfeit products are outside the official manufacturing and inspection systems. The deaths and injuries we've seen will likely to continue until counterfeiting itself is reduced, separately from increasing regulation.
Labels: Asian, China, Chinese, counterfeit, food safety, government
