Real Kato Blog: Chinese Cooking

I need products. Oh, that's what wedding registries are for, right?

So, anyone want some leftover boiled vegetables in a vaguely Asian-tasting sauce? I've got plenty. I'm finally starting to realize that I do not have the proper tools for cooking Chinese food.

Item number one that I need: a bamboo steamer. I've been trying to steam things in pots and pans for way too long, including vegetables, rice buns (manju is the Japanese word for these) and dumplings (gyoza). The things always end up getting boiled.

Item number two that I need: a hand-hammered wok. A big one. It needs to be made of iron and it needs to be big. Again, with ordinary pans, whenever I try to stir-fry stuff, it ends up simmering in its own juices and it gets more boiled than fried.

About ten years ago, I used to see infomercials for hand-hammered woks, and I came this close to buying one... but back then I had an aversion to infomercial products, especially because they required you to use the telephone. I knew that calling a mail-order company would get me on all sorts of junk telephone calling lists. (This was back before the days of the Do Not Call list and Anonymous Caller Rejection.)

Item number three that I need: a collection of bad Chinese cooking puns. It just wouldn't seem like I'm doing it right otherwise. "Hey, let's go for a wok!"

Permalink 4 Comment

Posted by Ken in: food

Comments

Comment #1 from Crouching Hamster (Guest)
2006 Mar 31 - 6:44 pm : #

Hey! Can you put some of these odd items on your wedding gift registry? I bet folks near Chinatown in SF or NY could help you out!

Comment #2 from Crouching Hamster (Guest)
2006 Mar 31 - 6:45 pm : #

Duh. I just read the "teaser."

Comment #3 from sweatpantsmom (Guest)
2006 Apr 1 - 5:08 pm : #

I would head to the nearest restaurant supply for the best quality. Someone gave me a 'Joyce Chen' wok as a gift years ago and the thing fell apart after a few months.

Also, if you have a Japanese market near you (Mitsuwa? Marukai?) you could blow a couple of paychecks there just buying sauces...

Sorry. All out of puns at the moment.

Comment #4 from Phil (Guest)
2006 Apr 4 - 12:32 am : #

I hope you get the steamer soon. At Lantern last year, I sampled a friend's steamed grouper in black bean sauce. OMFG. So good.

One pun from Wayne and Garth (but not Yan): "Cream of Sum Yung Gai".

Pardon my vulgarity, but I still snicker every time I think of it.

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