Making Radish Cake

Radish cake is one of those dishes that Chinese people almost always order when they are having dim sum. That and "har gow" (shrimp dumpling) and shu mai (pork dumpling) are pretty common. While it's easy to find plenty of dumplings in the freezer section of any Asian market, radish cake (or "turnip cake") is something that has to be made from scratch. There are plenty of recipes online, such as this one (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turnip-Cake-Law-Bock-Gow-100779), but they look like they take a ridiculous amount of time to make. So, the Poor Student has created a video to make the whole process easier. There are other videos on youtube that show you how to make radish cake, so check those out too, in case you want a second opinion...

Basically, you need 2 cups rice flour, 1.5 cups water, 6 shitake mushrooms, around 3 lbs daikon (Japanese radish), and 2 Chinese sausages (or other kind of sausage). Other things you can add are scallions and dried shrimp. The base of the recipe is rice flour, water, and radish. All of the other stuff is just for adding flavour. To make the process easier, you can use a grater to grate the daikon or a food processor (instead of dicing the daikon with a knife). Chop or process everything, cook the daikon with the flavouring ingredients, mix the water with the rice flour, and throw it all together in a loaf pan. Steam it for an hour. Cool it for several hours, slice it, and pan fry it. While you're waiting for it to cook, go do your homework and set an alarm to tell you when to do the next step. The recipe is time consuming mainly because of the time it takes to cook the daikon, steam it, and cool it. The rest of the steps are pretty quick.

Making this dish is like making polenta but perhaps with a bit more chopping involved. It's kinda time consuming but one batch will yield about 10 large slices, which can be stored in the fridge until you're ready to fry one up.

Asian Markets - a poor student's friend

In most large cities, there is at least one large Asian market that has a huge variety of products that you won't find at the other supermarkets, where anything that's remotely "ethnic" is premium priced. At the Asian markets, you can save a lot of money and have the opportunity to try new foods. In Boston area, there are plenty of stores with products from all over the world. There's an Indian store named "Shalimar" in Cambridge, a Korean store (forgot the name) near MIT, and Hong Kong Supermarket (formerly "Super 88") in Allston. At HK supermarket, you will find more than just Chinese products. They have Japanese curry and a small selection of Korean and other Japanese products. Their produce and meat sections are probably a lot more diverse and perhaps exotic than what you'd see in an American supermarket.

The fun part about going to HK supermarket is that they also have a food court attached to it, called "Super 88 Connection". I also noticed that they have a new Japanese restaurant there that serves rice (curry rice and "don") and ramen dishes but no sushi. The food court includes a Thai place, a Korean booth, an Indian booth, and a variety of Chinese booths. Dim sum chef has a pretty good selection of dim sum and they have pictures of the dishes on their menu, in case you don't know what they look like. They cook everything fresh, so you might have to wait about 5 to 10 minutes for your food. Fresh is good. Kantin is the place that has the roasted animals hanging in the window. Their menu is pretty long and has every Hong Kong style and Chinese-American style dish that you can imagine. That's the place I go to when I am very hungry.

Here is a selection of things I bought on a recent trip to HK supermarket:

1. Yeo's soy milk is made with Canadian soybeans. It comes in sweetened and unsweetened versions. The sweetened one can be a little too sweet so the unsweetened one can be used to make your drink less sweet by mixing it 50-50. The regular price is $1.29 for a 1 L box and goes on sale for about $1 now and then. It definitely tastes different from the stuff made by Silk or 8th Continent.

Yeo's soymilk - made with Canadian soybeans!

2. Shrimp flavored chips. These come in regular and wasabi flavors. Since they're baked, they're a little healthier than potato chips.

Wasabi flavored shrimp chips

3. Braised beef and wonton noodle soup (from Kantin, Super 88 Connection). If you get this to go, they will give you the soup part in one container and the rest of it in another container. This is so the noodles don't get too soggy and mushy by the time you get home. This is an awesome dish. Look for the booth with the roasted ducks hanging in the window. If you're coming from the supermarket, turn left after you go through the door that connects the supermarket to the food court. The booth is on the left.

Deconstructed Braised Beef and Wonton Noodle Soup

Braised Beef and Wonton Noodle Soup

Chinatown snacks - part 3 (Black rice noodles)

If you go to C-Mart in Boston's Chinatown, the noodle selection is quite impressive. Besides the fact that they have fresh rice noodles and various types of fresh wheat flour-based noodles in the refrigerated section, they have a wall of dried noodles. As I scanned the wall for something unique, I found a package of black rice noodles. Unlike the Italian black pasta, which is just regular pasta colored with squid ink, the Asian version is just made with black rice (and no ink). The lack of a dye means that it won't turn your broth too dark if you want to make a noodle soup with it. Here is the package of the dried pasta:

Only $1.79 - there are 5 bundles in each package.

I'm not sure why there's a picture of regular soba noodles, which are made of buckwheat, on the package. Whatever.

And here it is after it has been cooked in the broth:

The broth was just water, a chicken bouillon cube, tofu cubes, duck chunks, and mild miso.

The taste is unique and a little different from regular white rice noodles. It's pleasant and a really cool alternative to other types of noodles. Try it!

Chinese snacks - Part two (Roast Duck)

Half a roast duck from Chinatown, Boston. Only $9!

While most people might not classify roast duck as a "snack," it can be. In Chinatown, look for the windows with various roasted animals hanging in the window and you'll probably find a great deal. For only $9 at most places there, you can get half a duck, roasted and chopped up into bite-size pieces with some sauce to go. With that half duck, a whole bunch of things can be prepared at home.

1. First, get the meaty breast pieces and have those as a snack or main dish with your meal. When you get home, it's probably going to be hard to resist having a piece or two as soon as you open the box and get a whiff of the roasted duck aroma. Or, if you would like to make appetizers, cut up some of the meat and use it with scallions or other vegetables for wonton appetizers (see my blog post, "Wonton wrappers - not only for wontons!"

If you ask for the duck in Chinese, they might give you the head
and all the internal organs! Otherwise, they'll probably assume that
you won't appreciate those parts.

2. Then, there are going to be some bony parts, like the neck and rib section of the duck. In the picture above, there's a head and a bony piece on the left. Keep those because you can use those to make a tasty duck broth. Just boil the bones in some water with some scallions and whatever you'd like to add. Take the bones out and strain it if you think there are still some pieces of bones in there. The skin is tasty so leave that in there.  For a more fancy version, check out eHow. Here are some dishes you can make with duck broth:

• Add noodles and vegetables to the broth to make a noodle soup dish.
• Use the broth as a base for dumpling (or other) soup. Whatever you would make with chicken broth, you could probably make with duck broth.
• Braise vegetables with the broth.
• Use the broth to make polenta.
• Instead of using water, use the broth to make rice.

The head and internal organs, ready to store in the freezer.

For more inspiration, here are some websites that feature duck broth:

The Japanese Food Report

Chowhound

Triple Eatery - Jamaica Plain

This is the first in a series of good places to eat in Jamaica Plain. I had a Buy With Me deal for Seamless Web (which is pretty cool, by the way) and decided to try Triple Eatery because it looked like the better choice for Chinese food. With 132 regular items, 4 "Health Diet" items, and 26 House specials, you're sure to find something that will satisfy everyone in the house.

I ordered the Triple Delight House Special ($9.50), small Spicy Hot & Sour soup ($1.95), Fried baby shrimp ($5.25), and spicy Szechuan dumplings in hot oil ($4.25). The only reason I got so much was because the Buy With Me deal was for $20 worth of food. The only item I would not order again is the shrimp, just because I was expecting a lighter batter. They were tasty but not my kind of thing. On the upside, the shrimp came with a creamy sauce that could be used on a sandwich (e.g. a Reuben). The soup had a kind of spiciness that strengthened as I ate it. At first, I thought it was quite tame but eventually, I imagined that it could slap your sinuses around if you had a cold or stuffy nose. The dumplings were actually a larger portion than I had expected for the price. They were tasty and would be good in a noodle soup too. The highlight was the house special, which was the most expensive but also the largest portion. It had shrimp, beef, chicken, and veggies in a tasty sauce. That dish alone was enough for at least two people (or maybe one big football player). If you make your own rice and order a couple of house specials, that's enough food to feed at least four people (who are not football players).

So, if you have a group of people and need a lot of tasty food for about $5 to $10/person, try Triple Eatery. The video below is a brief scooter ride along Hyde Park Avenue and Cummings Highway to Triple Eatery. Enjoy!

Shrimp, House Special, Hot & Sour Soup, and Szechuan dumplings

I've ordered from Triple Eatery many times...

Happy Family - beef, pork, shrimp, chicken, and veggies

Eggplant in garlic sauce (left) and family style tofu (right)

Family style bean curd

broccoli with garlic sauce

Fried chicken

Fried chicken with shrimp fried rice

Dip the scallion pancake in the hot & sour soup!

Scallion pancake cut up for you 

Scallion pancake and hot & sour soup

Hunan shrimp lunch special includes soup