Posted on 04/11/2016 11:15:10 AM PDT by TigerClaws
Poke your head into the kitchen of any Chinese restaurant and you’ll find it full of Mexicans.
My favorite pizza joint is run by a Chinese immigrant family.
I can sympathize I developed a sea food alergy a few years ago. What form of ginger do you use? I’ve never gotten the hang of the stuff. It is either great or tastes like soap.
also, a lot of cuisines are tailored to local tastes — I’ve lived in the US, Hong Kong, India, UK and Poland and Chinese food in each place is quite unique and different from Chinese food in other places.
You could have a "chicken tikka masala" -- which was invented in the UK. And I strongly suspect all those "Balti" dishes were invented in the UK as well as a Punjabi once told me that balti means bucket....
but the English have given some culinary masterpieces -- shepherd's pie, fish and chips (with salt and vinegar), a real fry-up or a butty sandwich :), followed by spotted dick
“I hate fusion foods” Why? I sort of love it. Hate is something I reserve for more serious things than food.
The secret to any soup is to add ingredients at the right time. A lot of people just toss everything in at once and there are ingredients that end up becoming goo.
I typically use the (I think) French style of preparing a roux with usually olive oil, garlic, onions, and the spices.... hot oil can help release the flavors of dry spices but it’s easy to burn this in the process and has to be tended carefully. Like your wife I pre-cook the meat. I love the marrow and so I guess that’s what she’s going after. Chicken however gets tasteless and tough if you cook it too long so I use pre-packed chicken broth and add the chicken already cooked or mostly cooked.
No one has mentioned lamb or goat. Both are excellent meats for soup.
The starch - I use either potatoes (Irish here), noodles (I prefer egg noodles like for Jewish food), or rice. Rice can be either the short kind which I toss into the roux and then add the broth or long rice (the most common) which I sometimes cook separately since oils and seasonings can toughen it.
It sounds complicated but it isn’t. It’s a good way to clean out the vegetable drawer in your fridge. I just started a diet so no more of this type of soup for a while but by next winter I’ll start in again.
I always add heat to my soups, fresh habaneros are my favorite. And my soups are usually better the second or third day.
Another English culinary masterpiece: all the foods made for afternoon tea. Very delicious. Since I have lots of English and Scottish ancestry, I could open a tea shop specializing in afternoon tea without worrying about the moronic goons at NPR coming to shame me or shut me down.
Most of the time, I use just a pinch of powdered ginger from a jar we bought when I was about 7. A little goes a long way.
On occasion I’ll use a slice of fresh ginger, but again, a little goes a long way.
I’ve noticed a lot of spices taste better if they’re sautéed in oil for a minute or two first. Both fresh and dried spices, although the dried ones you have to be careful they don’t burn.
Food is like religion to an Italian. You do not mess with it. Quality is paramount. I cannot explain the mindset, it just is.
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