Conference turris::cooks

    As a wild guess, I'd say dried, finely shredded/powdered prawn.
    
    Are you sure about the 'seaweed' being 'fried shredded cabbage'. The
    stuff I've had down south and in Scotland doesn't look like shredded
    cabbage.
    
    In any case, could you post a recipe for your acceptable substitute?
    Getting into London and china town is expensive for seaweed.
    
    Angus

    I thought it was finely shredded cabbage too, we tried it at home
    - the results were good but it wasn't as authentic.  I think it 
    needed the powder stuff mentionned before.  Is it ginger?
    
    julia

    it definitely is shredded cabbage because I can remember having an
    argument about it with someone in a chinese restaurant and we ended up
    asking the owner of the restaurant who confirmed it.
    
    The way I cook it is to finely shred any type of cabbage (tho' the dark
    green savoy type seems to be best ) and then stir fry it in small
    quantities in a very hot wok with some shredded ginger (a spoonful or
    so). It is important to cook it until it starts to go brown (i.e. just
    before it burns) otherwise it cooks but stays soggy.
    
    I then lay it on kitchen paper to drain some of the fat off.
    
    It is an interesting theory Angus about the powdered prawn. Presumably
    that is ground down dried prawns ?
    
    any more theories gratefully received 
    
    David 

>    so). It is important to cook it until it starts to go brown (i.e. just
    
    Interesting. The stuff I've had is quite definitely green. A rich dark
    green, not a hint of brown. I've always had fried seaweed as part of 
    "four happiness" i.e. Spring roll, Sesame prawn toast (delicious but 
    fattening), barbeque pork rib, and fried seaweed with brown powered stuff 
    on it.
     
>    It is an interesting theory Angus about the powdered prawn. Presumably
>    that is ground down dried prawns ?
    
    I seem to recall a mention of this stuff on Far flung Floyd, and they
    even showed someone making it; essentially grinding down prawns. I
    can't remember if they were dried before they were ground down or not. 
    I've seen this stuff, eaten it, but have not yet cooked or used it. The
    stuff usually comes as a brown brick. I have always assumed that this
    is what the powered brown stuff on the seaweed is.
    
    Angus

    Chinese Five Spice Powder, perhaps?

    	Can you describe the powder better? Have you tasted it by itself
    such that you could describe its taste? Crystalilzed ginger came to
    mind, but I've never seen it in a powdered form...

    This deep fried "seaweed" you mentioned; there is a szechuan dish
    which sounds like that, but it's not cabbage.  It's usually made with
    either the green of silver beet or other green leaved "stir-friable"
    vegetables.  These are washed, then dried thoroughly on kitchen towels,
    shredded as you said, and deep fried till crispy.
    
    Someone mentioned prawn paste in a brick block.  DON'T use that! :)
    It's blachan and definitely an acquired taste.  What's more, it's
    S.E.Asian as opposed to Chinese and definitely would NOT have been
    used with dim sum.  
    
    I can't be sure what "powder" you're talking about, but you can get
    powdered (actually finely shredded) prawns/fish/pork which is sometimes
    sprinkled onto dishes in the way you described.  These are not prepared
    at home but normally bought from Asian foodstores.  It does taste
    sweet.  Some dishes also have crab meat sprinkled over.. which has been
    finely chopped and also deep fried till crispy.
    
    Can you describe the taste further?
    
    Joyce
    

>    I can't be sure what "powder" you're talking about, but you can get
>    powdered (actually finely shredded) prawns/fish/pork which is sometimes
>    sprinkled onto dishes in the way you described.  These are not prepared
    
    This is the stuff I recall. Apart from restaurants I haven't seen it in
    its 'natural' form in years. Joyce, has it got a name?
    
    Angus

    re -1
    
    Hi Angus, yeah it's got a name alright :) The problem is, I only
    know it in my own dialect, which isn't commonly spoken, so not likely
    to be of help to you.  Nonetheless, in Teochew, the stuff you are
    looking for is called (phonetically spelt) Her-Who (for fish) or
    Bark-Who (for pork).  
    
    BUT... I *have* seen them sold in tins, labelled in English!!, as "Fish
    Floss" and "Pork Floss"  The Fish Floss is in fact a course powder. 
    The Pork floss is... kind of floss-like!  But can be put in a grinder if 
    you wish. 
    
    If you really get stuck locating some, let me know... my family run a
    Chinese restaurant in Croydon and can probably get you some or point
    you in the right direction. :)
    
    Good luck,
    Joyce
    

>    BUT... I *have* seen them sold in tins, labelled in English!!, as "Fish
>    Floss" and "Pork Floss"  The Fish Floss is in fact a course powder. 
>    The Pork floss is... kind of floss-like!  But can be put in a grinder if 
>    you wish.
    
    Ah-ah! The memory finally kicks in, Floss. I seem to recall (though the
    grey cells are very grey indeed) it came packed fairly tightly and
    needed a little fluffing up.                                 
    
    We could be getting warmer with the Fish Floss as the mystery brown
    powder on the 'seaweed'; though I'm still betting on prawn floss. 
    
>    If you really get stuck locating some, let me know... my family run a
>    Chinese restaurant in Croydon and can probably get you some or point
>    you in the right direction. :)
    
    Sounds good. I normally go to china town. While the deli opposite St
    Mary's is quite good (it has wild mushrooms! e.g. Porcini, Ceps etc at
    outrageous prices) its prices are still about double what I'd pay in 
    china town. However, the train fare into London is steep, and with the
    added excitement of dodging bombs. Still, I'm running low on Hoisin,
    and I could couple the trip with a raid on the Italian delis in
    London.
    
    Angus
    Tummy rumbles as lunchtime approaches.

    Joyce,
    if your family run a chinese restaurant then it might be worth asking
    them for a definitive answer (assuming they serve that).
    
    Interesting theory about fish floss. I am a bit too far from the London
    chinatown for that but the Manchester chinatown might have some I
    suppose.
    
    What is silver beet leaf (some sort of specialist vegatable ?)
    
    David

    I'm pretty sure the powder stuff you are talking about is ground up
    prawns.
    
    I have a jar of dried prawns (fairly small ones) at home which I got
    from a Thai supermarket in Putney,London SW15.
    
    I have ground them up myself in the past for use in Green Papaya salad
    and they are very good if a little salty (use sparingly).
    
    I have had seaweed in a resaturant in the manner you describe and i'm
    almost postive this is what it is!
    
    Steve.

    Hi David,
    
    I don't recall the other name for silver beet.. it has a white fleshy
    stem and green leaves and is very mild in flavour.  Not a Chinese green
    actually... I'll ask and see if anyone knows it's other name.
    
    Sorry, I should have been more specific; the family restaurant serves
    only S.E. Asian dishes.  Dim sum is too traditional chinese for their
    clientele.
    
    Steve, dried prawns/shrimps aren't often used in the manner you
    described.  We normally reconstitute them (by soaking) then cook them.
    One common use is to pound the soaked/drained prawns and fry the powder
    with blachan and hot chillies as a condiment.  It *would* be rather
    salty (and a bit too fishy?) if "uncooked" and just sprinkled on. 
    That's why I didn't think that was what Angus was talking about.  Also,
    many Chinese restaurants will serve their own form of dim sum as a
    "house" speciality, and it's hard to guess (via notes at any rate),
    what was used.
    
    I'll have to phone home this weekend anyway, I'll make a note to ask
    if they know what the mysterious powder is. :)
    
    regards,
    Joyce
    

Silver beet = Swiss Chard!!!

:)

    I think I have discovered the answer to my own question. According to
    Pat     Chapman in "the chinese restaurant cook book", the powder is
    "prawn powder"
    
    This is made by roasting equal quantities of dried prawns and pran
    shells in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes and then grinding the result
    down to a powder.
    
    David

... is often substituted for spinach here. I don't know  how different 
the tastes are.

~Sheridan~
:^)

    M&S or Waitrose (forget which) have this 'seaweed' (aka fried shredded 
    chinese cabbage) as part of thier ready to eat meals range. I do
    remember thinking it was very expensive.
    I only managed a quick look at the packet as my son was quite bored and
    attempting to liven up his life with destroying a display.
    
    Angus

�    M&S or Waitrose (forget which) have this 'seaweed' (aka fried shredded 
�    chinese cabbage) as part of thier ready to eat meals range. I do
�    remember thinking it was very expensive.
    
    The stuff in the local markets here in the US labelled as Chinese
    Cabbage is not seaweed.  It's Napa -- something similar to
    cabbage/lettuce.

    
    
    Well, kind of on this subject, does anyone have a recipe for Mooshi?
    

  .19  We have a directory in Note 5.  If you were to look there, you'd
       find that there's a topic already for Moo Shi.  It's 356.  Hope
       this helps.

  Diane (co-mod)