Comments on: Well Dressed Pork, Tofu and Gai Lan

By: Harry

Harry — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 00:13:50 +0000

Well it turned out pretty good, texture-wise and it tasted pretty good except for a bitterness that I couldn’t figure out. I forgot to add the vinegar…could that have been it? I didn’t have the Chiangking vinegar but had some Rice Vinegar. I had planned to use it instead.

I ended up using boneless chicken thighs, chopped up into 1/2″ cubes. I was too lazy to go get some pork. Everything else was as per your recipe.

One thing is that I really need to work on my timings. When you have a really really hot wok, I think many newbies make the mistake of rushing the adding of ingredients before they are called for.

Still the chicken and onions and the gai lan was beautiful… The texture was just like at the restaurants.

Thanks for the recipe. I’m going to try it again in a couple of days.

One question I have for you concerning the oyster sauce and bean sauce combo… Is less more? Meaning does more of both lead to the bitter taste I experienced?

By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 16:44:35 +0000

I have never seen it round–how cool!

Good luck–let me know how the recipe turns out!

FWIW–for those who read my comment above about how to stir fry extra firm tofu–when I say dredge it in cornmeal, what I mean is cornstarch! A totally different product. Cornmeal would make your stirfry gritty–not at all tasty.

By: Harry

Harry — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:56:25 +0000

Hi Barbara,

I found the tofu but it was not in the whole blocks as you have it. It came in little rounds sort of like thick pepperoni.

I’m going to try your recipe tonite!!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 03:16:35 +0000

It is Chinese, Harry.

I wish I could help you find it–it is one of my favorite versions of tofu. I doubt that anyone mail orders it because it has to be refrigerated.

Otherwise, I would mail you some myself–but I wouldn’t want it to go bad on its way to you.

By: Harry

Harry — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 00:33:08 +0000

Thanks for the picture. I have another question. Is this exclusively a chinese item?

I ask because I have been to three oriental food stores here in Jacksonville and none of them have heard of it. I showed them the printout of the picture and they just shook their heads.

The stores I frequent seem to be oriented towards a particular cuisine, though they carry some stuff used in others. Eg: a store that seems to be “Korean” but has some thai and some chinese items.

I wish I could find one that was exclusively Chinese…