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You and me both, but--more than likely--most of the folks who are raving about their favorite "Chinese" food LOVE all of that gloppy sauce. Ergo... what they think is authentic Chinese food is anything but.
I really like those authentic Long Beans that you photographed. That is one of my favorite dishes.
You and me both, but--more than likely--most of the folks who are raving about their favorite "Chinese" food LOVE all of that gloppy sauce. Ergo... what they think is authentic Chinese food is anything but.
I really like those authentic Long Beans that you photographed. That is one of my favorite dishes.
My daughter might know how to make them. I'll ask her about that.
My daughter might know how to make them. I'll ask her about that.
I have actually made them myself, when I was able to get Long Beans. I much prefer Long Beans to the green beans/string beans that you find in most supermarkets. Whenever I am finally able to get back to an Asian market, I look forward to being able to buy Long Beans again.
I have actually made them myself, when I was able to get Long Beans. I much prefer Long Beans to the green beans/string beans that you find in most supermarkets. Whenever I am finally able to get back to an Asian market, I look forward to being able to buy Long Beans again.
I've made them at home a few times too. The best batch was with some white long beans I got in Chinatown. Tried it with green beans and string beans but it wasn't as good.
I have actually made them myself, when I was able to get Long Beans. I much prefer Long Beans to the green beans/string beans that you find in most supermarkets. Whenever I am finally able to get back to an Asian market, I look forward to being able to buy Long Beans again.
Yes, they use vegetables that aren't always accessible to us. There's one my dd loved when she lived in China. It was sort of spinach-like, but it had a long, thin, hollow stem, and the translation of its name is "empty green vegetable". Chinese seems to be very literal. Shanghai means city on the ocean. Beijing means the capital. Chengdu means used to be a capital. Rough translations here, of course.
There are some variation of mapo tofu since there are different regional interpretations of it. But to be authentic it has to have some spiciness to it or else why would it be called "ma-po" which stands for "spicy wife."
Mapo Tofu means "Spicy, wife Made Tofu."
It has to have sichuan peppercorns and cumin seeds. If all it has is just red chilli peppers and black pepper then it's not authentic. It must also use black bean sauce.
I've had Japanese, Korean, Cantonese, and even Taiwanese interpretations of it and they all have their different take.
For example Japanese always tasted sweeter as they used more more fermented soybean paste.
Koreans use extra-soft tofu and sweeter than the original as well.
The authentic sichuan mapo tofu actually calls for slightly firm tofu blocks not soft tofu.
Don't forget about loads of gloppy sauce, unlike authentic Chinese food. A friend, who used to own a Chinese restaurant, had to remind his chef that "Gweilo like a LOT of gloppy sauce".
I like to say that Chinese takeout is 50 different sauces over the same meats!
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