-
Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE
Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear. -
This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
-
STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.
Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.
Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!
Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.
Random food thoughts - Street edition
Abraxis
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2010
- Messages
- 1,887
- Reaction score
- 1,179
Maybe you can elaborate some more on why you think Cantonese is the best food in the world. Pretend its something by visvim.
I mean I think it is regarded as one of the strongest regions in China but besides preparation of seafood not sure why.
I mean I think it is regarded as one of the strongest regions in China but besides preparation of seafood not sure why.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2002
- Messages
- 57,684
- Reaction score
- 36,561
lol at Visvim.
I don't think that it's the "best food in the world". I mean, that is sort of a fun argument, but it's really a non-starter. I mean, do you compare cusines nationally, or regionally, by population centers, etc... just doing that type of categorization would take us into the abyss.
That said, the preparation of seafood is huge, I think that that alone gives it a huge headstart on the rest of China, and cannot be discounted. Otherwise, the cooking techniques are the most advanced and varied of the different regions in China, and most of the techniques that are elsewhere are also found in Cantonese cooking, preponderance of the wok notwithstanding, there are an abundance of fresh and varied ingredients, seafood and produce, especially, and in Hong Kong, there was a great deal of outside influence, which often makes for great inspiration. And unlike some other countries, the Cantonese have had access to the best cuts of meat, but instead of just focusing on those, they use those *and* everything else. It is a really large, prosperous, populous, region, in a country where social events are generally based around food. Hardly a surprise that it would have a really well developed cuisine.
I've been all over China, and I really don't think that any other regional cuisine really competes in the same league. There are good things everywhere, mind you, but the focus is much more narrow.
Abraxis
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2010
- Messages
- 1,887
- Reaction score
- 1,179
Agreed the "best" is a nebulous concept, but clearly there are reasons internally that make it make sense for you to make the claim even if jokingly. It's always interesting to hear what those are, especially when my opinion is the diametric opposite.
It's interesting to me to understand why people like things especially when I don't get it myself. Rarely, after the explanation I get it and then it's a win because I'm always looking for new things to appreciate.
Your point about ingredients and culture surrounding them makes sense. I think that's why California has an advantage. Yeah fundamentally I don't like Cantonese food since I dislike seafood and gristly weird animal bits/offal but I can understand the focus on quality and the benefits of being a large prosperous region with a focus on food.
Sichuan is my region for sure followed by probably Xi'an then Taiwanese food. I love numbling spice (ma la). I love how accessible dishes like spicy cold noodles are and mapo tofu. I pick up spicy cold noodles for parties a lot as a side dish and everyone is a fan even people who dislike spice, asian food or find the concept of cold noodles strange. Everyone is a fan.
I love Xi'an's noodle history and their other dishes are not shabby either. Taiwan... bunch of hodge podge of awesome stuff and they did a lot better job executing Chinese food than the places I visited when I was in China in the past... the quality of ingredients, health standards and quality control clearly impacted the quality of food I experienced. I'm sure its very different than when I went and even back then you can find places with great food... Shanghai was awesome even then (15 years ago).
It's interesting to me to understand why people like things especially when I don't get it myself. Rarely, after the explanation I get it and then it's a win because I'm always looking for new things to appreciate.
Your point about ingredients and culture surrounding them makes sense. I think that's why California has an advantage. Yeah fundamentally I don't like Cantonese food since I dislike seafood and gristly weird animal bits/offal but I can understand the focus on quality and the benefits of being a large prosperous region with a focus on food.
Sichuan is my region for sure followed by probably Xi'an then Taiwanese food. I love numbling spice (ma la). I love how accessible dishes like spicy cold noodles are and mapo tofu. I pick up spicy cold noodles for parties a lot as a side dish and everyone is a fan even people who dislike spice, asian food or find the concept of cold noodles strange. Everyone is a fan.
I love Xi'an's noodle history and their other dishes are not shabby either. Taiwan... bunch of hodge podge of awesome stuff and they did a lot better job executing Chinese food than the places I visited when I was in China in the past... the quality of ingredients, health standards and quality control clearly impacted the quality of food I experienced. I'm sure its very different than when I went and even back then you can find places with great food... Shanghai was awesome even then (15 years ago).
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2002
- Messages
- 57,684
- Reaction score
- 36,561
I love noodles, hot and cold. And I really like Shanghai's native cuisine (I mean, obviously modern Shanghai has every kind of Chinese food and more). Actually, could go to a Shanghai-nese noodle and dumpling house right now.
LonerMatt
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2012
- Messages
- 2,744
- Reaction score
- 1,525
I really like Xi'an food, too. There's a Uygyr restaurant in Melbourne that is absolutely great - it's like a weird combination of Turkish and Chinese. The noodles (fat, handrolled, chewey, thick as ****) are glorious, and the spice is ******* ace. Lamb on a skewer is so hard to pass up/beat, too. Lots of cumin, lots of chilli, right amount of fat dripping off - hell YES. There's also weird bread/pastry combinations that aren't in other regions of China I'm familiar with.
Sichuan I've found a bit hit and miss. Some dishes I've really enjoyed (Sichuan hot pot was great!!!!!!!), others I've not had great luck with (beef covered in chilli, literally flakes of chilli all over a slice of beef, was just too much). That being said, it's incredibly hard to find here - most of what I've had was in the mainland, but I'd love to try a lot more. The numbing really is unique and interesting.
Taiwanese food I found a tended towards being sweeter than expected overall (especially with seafood), but there were some truly, truly excellent dishes that I had there - fragrant pork rice, dumplings, and a whole bunch of stuff I can't remember the name of, only the taste. And, of course, bubble tea. Lots of noodle soup in Taiwan - I wish I could remember the names of what I ate.
I quite like Shanghai food - which, if I'm not mistaken, is quite abundant in Melbourne where I grew up. Noodles that are a bit oily, but so flavoursome. Xiao Long Bao, etc, etc, etc. It's probably what I think of when I think of Chinese food.
But really, best asian = Malaysian. Why choose cuisines when you can have all of them at once?
I'm visiting Turkey at the end of the year and am really looking forward to getting involved in that cuisine. I love gozleme, sujuck, borek, kebab and Turkish bread/bagel, so I'm hoping to keep discovering some cool things.
Today I tried making tea for the first time. It didn't go well. I used way too many loose leaves and it just tastes stupidly strong and bitter.
Sichuan I've found a bit hit and miss. Some dishes I've really enjoyed (Sichuan hot pot was great!!!!!!!), others I've not had great luck with (beef covered in chilli, literally flakes of chilli all over a slice of beef, was just too much). That being said, it's incredibly hard to find here - most of what I've had was in the mainland, but I'd love to try a lot more. The numbing really is unique and interesting.
Taiwanese food I found a tended towards being sweeter than expected overall (especially with seafood), but there were some truly, truly excellent dishes that I had there - fragrant pork rice, dumplings, and a whole bunch of stuff I can't remember the name of, only the taste. And, of course, bubble tea. Lots of noodle soup in Taiwan - I wish I could remember the names of what I ate.
I quite like Shanghai food - which, if I'm not mistaken, is quite abundant in Melbourne where I grew up. Noodles that are a bit oily, but so flavoursome. Xiao Long Bao, etc, etc, etc. It's probably what I think of when I think of Chinese food.
But really, best asian = Malaysian. Why choose cuisines when you can have all of them at once?
I'm visiting Turkey at the end of the year and am really looking forward to getting involved in that cuisine. I love gozleme, sujuck, borek, kebab and Turkish bread/bagel, so I'm hoping to keep discovering some cool things.
Today I tried making tea for the first time. It didn't go well. I used way too many loose leaves and it just tastes stupidly strong and bitter.
Last edited:
Distorbiant
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2012
- Messages
- 4,497
- Reaction score
- 3,244
Taiwan's most beloved restaurant:
indesertum
Stylish Dinosaur
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2007
- Messages
- 17,396
- Reaction score
- 3,888
More tea relative to water amount should cause under extraction not over extraction. Try brewing at cooler temperatures or for less time to get it less bitter.
More tea relative to water amount should cause under extraction not over extraction. Try brewing at cooler temperatures or for less time to get it less bitter.
g transistor
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2009
- Messages
- 6,577
- Reaction score
- 12,740
every week I try to make noodles at least once, starting broth from scratch. always takes forever but the end product is something that I enjoy and eat for days
from a few weeks ago, cruddy photo but whatever
dashi base with gochujang, simmered with oxtail, charred ginger and onion, a good amount of korean pepper, chinese fermented bean paste. super savory and full bodied with the right amount of spiciness. topped with green onions, kimchi, messed up soft boiled eggs (**** electric ranges), enoki mushrooms. had to use udon noodles because I couldn't find acceptable ramen noodles (Sun brand where are you)
last week made wonton noodle soup, before that made crunchy stone pot bibimbap rice vermicelli. I want to try my hand at ramen but until I find a good brand of noodles to use I don't even wanna take the effort to do so. Probs gonna start doing my rounds of Vietnamese noodles now that I'm low on Korean ingredients so maybe I will post pics and recipes of that
every week I try to make noodles at least once, starting broth from scratch. always takes forever but the end product is something that I enjoy and eat for days
from a few weeks ago, cruddy photo but whatever
dashi base with gochujang, simmered with oxtail, charred ginger and onion, a good amount of korean pepper, chinese fermented bean paste. super savory and full bodied with the right amount of spiciness. topped with green onions, kimchi, messed up soft boiled eggs (**** electric ranges), enoki mushrooms. had to use udon noodles because I couldn't find acceptable ramen noodles (Sun brand where are you)
last week made wonton noodle soup, before that made crunchy stone pot bibimbap rice vermicelli. I want to try my hand at ramen but until I find a good brand of noodles to use I don't even wanna take the effort to do so. Probs gonna start doing my rounds of Vietnamese noodles now that I'm low on Korean ingredients so maybe I will post pics and recipes of that
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2002
- Messages
- 57,684
- Reaction score
- 36,561
That looks really good. I would like to make my own noodles, but making pastry (as opposed to cooking) drives me crazy. My wife is a really good baker and generally good at making things like noodles though. Maybe I'll see if she'll "help" me.
LonerMatt
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2012
- Messages
- 2,744
- Reaction score
- 1,525
G trans, if I crowd fund you a plane ticket here will you cook for me?
LA Guy - I make a lot of my own pasta and pastry - it used to drive me nuts until I got shown a few tips, and learned a few tricks. I always make it by hand (mixing by hand), because I find it's much easier to ensure proper consistency, etc. I always re-fridgerate - this is perhaps the best thing I've picked up - makes it so much easier to roll, mould and manipulate.
For pasta 1.5 eggs for each cup of flour (and 1 cup of flour for each person) - when in doubt more egg. Add a bit of salt and olive oil until the mixture is like breadcrumbs, then about a tablespoon of water at a time until it's soft, moist, but not sticky. Knead adding flour, water or oil as necessary (I prefer to make it a bit wet, then knead in flour as I go).
LA Guy - I make a lot of my own pasta and pastry - it used to drive me nuts until I got shown a few tips, and learned a few tricks. I always make it by hand (mixing by hand), because I find it's much easier to ensure proper consistency, etc. I always re-fridgerate - this is perhaps the best thing I've picked up - makes it so much easier to roll, mould and manipulate.
For pasta 1.5 eggs for each cup of flour (and 1 cup of flour for each person) - when in doubt more egg. Add a bit of salt and olive oil until the mixture is like breadcrumbs, then about a tablespoon of water at a time until it's soft, moist, but not sticky. Knead adding flour, water or oil as necessary (I prefer to make it a bit wet, then knead in flour as I go).
Last edited:
g transistor
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2009
- Messages
- 6,577
- Reaction score
- 12,740
hah, I've dreamed of owning a noodle shop way into the future. maybe like a Vietnamese noodle place: pho, bun, mi. Every month do a different pop-up menu too featuring noodles from different parts of Asia. Possibilities are endless! Just think, your favorite pho place also serves a rotating menu of amazing Asian noodles too? At least, that's the place I wish existed because I would live there 
Two things have really upped my broth game for my noodles: using a dashi base for almost everything and heavily charring things like ginger and onion for long simmering. The dashi influence of course comes from Japan, but starting off with at least sea kelp (sometimes I don't use bonito flakes because it gets expensive) always adds a good balance to meaty broths. Plus, you can use every part of your ingredients. The base of my pork/shrimp wonton broth started off with sea kelp and shrimp heads and shells to even out the porkiness of my pork trotter broth. The charring thing I learned from cooking Viet noodles...makes the ginger and onion flavor so much better
Two things have really upped my broth game for my noodles: using a dashi base for almost everything and heavily charring things like ginger and onion for long simmering. The dashi influence of course comes from Japan, but starting off with at least sea kelp (sometimes I don't use bonito flakes because it gets expensive) always adds a good balance to meaty broths. Plus, you can use every part of your ingredients. The base of my pork/shrimp wonton broth started off with sea kelp and shrimp heads and shells to even out the porkiness of my pork trotter broth. The charring thing I learned from cooking Viet noodles...makes the ginger and onion flavor so much better
indesertum
Stylish Dinosaur
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2007
- Messages
- 17,396
- Reaction score
- 3,888
The charring thing is actually a french thing the viet took to heart
Last edited:
cyc wid it
Stylish Dinosaur
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2011
- Messages
- 12,492
- Reaction score
- 20,901
A lot of ramen places will do that/used fried onions and garlic too right? For shio ramen type broths. I have a ban xeo craving now.
Streetwear Featured products
-
Nicks Boots - Urban Logger® - 60th Anniversary Sale - $529 The Urban Logger® takes the best features of our serious work boots (lug sole, logger heel, brass hardware) and combines them with the heritage look of the Robert. - Horween Predator Orange 6oz - 6'' shaft - Brass hardware - V100 lug sole - Natural edge - Leather laces.
-
Adidas by SONG FOR THE MUTE - Shadowturf SFTM Sneakers - $140 Experience the cultural landscape through the eyes of the Australian fashion label Song for the Mute. These adidas shoes are a collaboration inspired by the sounds and soul of the city.
-
Blue Blue Japan - Haori cardigan in navy cotton washi paper mix Knits like these are far and few between, something we’re sure to look back on longingly in future seasons. An unlikely mix of yarns are bunched up and hatched over each other to make a rustic knitwork that’s uniquely chunky yet breezy.
Similar threads
Featured Sponsor
Forum Sponsors
- American Trench
- AMIDÉ HADELIN
- Archibald London
- The Armoury
- Arterton
- Besnard
- Canoe Club
- Capra Leather
- Carmina
- Cavour
- Crush Store
- De Bonne Facture
- Drinkwater's Cambridge
- Drop93
- eHABERDASHER
- Enzo Custom
- Epaulet
- Exquisite Trimmings
- Fils Unique
- Gentlemen's Footwear
- Giin
- Grant Stone
- House of Huntington
- IsuiT
- John Elliott
- Jonathan Abel
- Kent Wang
- Kirby Allison
- Larimars Clothing
- Lazy Sun
- LuxeSwap
- Luxire Custom Clothing
- Nicks Boots
- No Man Walks Alone
- Once a Day
- Passus shoes
- Proper Cloth
- SARTORIALE
- SEH Kelly
- Self Edge
- Shop the Finest
- Skoaktiebolaget
- Spier and MacKay
- Standard and Strange
- Bespoke Shoemaker Szuba
- Taylor Stitch
- TLB Mallorca
- UNI/FORM LA
- Vanda Fine Clothing
- Von Amper
- Wrong Weather
- Yeossal
- Zam Barrett