Chicken Dishes All Over China

Dedicated to those who like to eat chicken.

江蘇 Jiangsu

• 蝦子二泉醉雞：Drunken chicken; simmer together with rice wine and shrimp roe
• 叫化童雞：Beggar's chick; you could be forgiven to see this in someplace else, after all, there's beggar everywhere
• 油雞：Oily hen; boiled hen top with sizzling hot oily soy sauce
  
• 清炖狼山雞：Double-boiled free range chicken
• 竹葉蒸雞：Steamed chicken with bamboo leaves from Yangzhou

遼寧 Liaoning

• 溝幫子燻雞：Smoked cockerel; first boil with herbal soup, then briefly smoke with sugar

吉林 Jilin

• 人參雞湯：Ginseng chicken soup; boil with what regarded as the King of all Chinese traditional herbal medicines: Jilin renshen (or ginseng in English)

浙江 Zhejiang

• 清湯越雞：Double-boiled cock: Shaoxing wine is used in the stock
• 糟雞：Wine-lees braised chicken; boiled chicken marinated with lees from the kegs of Shaoxing wine
• 醉雞：Drunken chicken; Shaoxing wine is used, again

甘肅 Gansu

• 百歲雞：Hundred-years-old chicken, or roasted chicken; so named because the creator wanted to have his store last one hundred years

安徽 Anhui

• 曹操雞：Cao Cao chick: honey the chick first, deep-fry it and then simmer with herbs for total tenderness

江西 Jiangxi

• 三杯雞："Three-cups" chick; a cup of rice wine, sesame oil and soy sauce each. The Taiwanese are very good with this chicken recipe too
• 瓷泥煨雞：Clay-baked chicken of Jingdezhen; the clay used is the same for the delicate porcelain wares produced here

山東 Shandong

• 德州扒雞：5-flavored boneless chicken; boned chicken hard-press, glaze with syrup and simmer with five different spices for over 6 hours
• 手撕雞：Hand-tore pullet; swiftness is the key in tearing the flesh otherwise the chicken will get all cold by the time it gets to the table
• 芝麻香雞：Poached chicken sporting sesame sauce
• 濟南肴雞：Boiled cock with spices and lacquered with red koji
  

河北 Hebei

• 蘆花雞："Reed flowers" hen; deep-fried hen garnished with Chinese ham, minced ginger and spring onions -- it's got nothing to do with reed flower by itself

內蒙古 Inner Mongolia

• 卓資山燻雞：Zhuozishan smoked hen; hen boil to half done, then smoke with woods and syrup

河南 Henan

• 桶子雞："Bucket" chick; soyed chick press to shape of bucket
  
• 道口燒雞：Daoko roast chick; honeyed chick fry till golden, simmer with spices and thick broth until dry
  

湖南 Hunan

• 東安雞：Dongan pullet; braise with vinegary and spicy sauce
• 麻辣子雞：Numbing, spicy chick; similar style can be found in Sichuanese cuisine too, but the latter chop into dices and buried under a sea of chili peppers
• 左宗棠雞：Zuo Zongtong chicken; one of the most famous 'overseas' Chinese dishes; the real deal in Hunan is a whole lot hotter

廣東 Guangdong

• 普寧豆醬雞：Puning bean sauce braised chicken; Puning is famed for her excellent bean sauce
• 白切雞：Poached chicken from Chingyuen
• 鹽焗雞：Salt-baked cock from Dongjiang
• 鮮奶雞：Milk-boiled hen from Chiuchow
• 檸檬雞：Lemon chicken nuggets; stir-fry and toss in lemon sauce
• 霸王雞："Tyrant" chicken; boiled chicken covered heavily with ginger & shallots dressing
• 太爺雞："Great-great grandfather" hen; soyed hen boil in hot oil and then smoke with tea leaves
• 五味雞：Five﹣flavored pullet; braise with five kinds of sauce
• 炸子雞：Crispy chick; a process called "skin-up" is done first in which the chick is masked by maltose syrup and vinegars, then the chick is fried twice -- first time in slow heat and second time rapidly for a crusty skin
• 風沙雞："Wind & Sand" chicken; similar to the crispy chick recipe but this one is marinated with fermented tofu sauce first and deep fry later, and served alike the style of "typhoon shelter" crab
• 糯米雞："Sticky rice" chicken; oh no, not the sticky rice in lotus leaf staple dim sum found in the teahouse, we're talking about a whole chicken with stir-fried sticky rice stuffed inside

雲南 Yunnan

• 汽鍋雞：Steam-pressed chicken
• 蟲草閹母雞：Double-boiled castrated pullet with vegetable caterpillar from the Wuding county. You may have heard of capon, this is the female version. They say the meat is more tender and juicer after the surgery -- a surreal specialty that can only be found in Yunnan

廣西 Guangxi

• 紙包雞：Paper-wrapped chicken; stew with the chicken sporting a paper wrap
  

海南 Hainan

• 文昌雞：Steamed chicken from Wenchang, so called the grand daddy of Hainan chicken
• 椰奶雞：Coconut juice-boiled chicken
• 椰蓉雞：Chicken baked with minced coconut

四川 Sichuan

• 辣子雞：Spicy chick from Chongqing
• 宮保雞：Kung Pao chicken dices
• 怪味雞：Spooky-flavored chicken; got its name because you can find all kinds of flavor in the chicken (a good one for inexperienced chefs)
• 棒棒雞："Bangbang" chicken -- chicken cooked and battered by drumsticks to puff
• 麻油雞：Sesame oil stewed chicken
• 口水雞：Spicy-sauced or, literally, "drooling" chicken; not the chicken but you who slobbers, or else we'd have the bird flu scare all over...
• 泉水雞：Chicken braised with spring water
• 白果燒雞：Braised pullet with ginkgo nuts in claypot, said to be invented by a well-known Taoist priest
• 大千雞：Daqian chicken nuggets invented by famous painter Zhang Daqian; stir-fried with chili soy beans sauce

陝西 Shaanxi

• 貴妃雞：Guifei or "Concubine" hen; so called because it's a recipe beloved by Yang Guifei
  
• 葫蘆雞：Calabash hen from Xi'an; hen bond to the shape of bottle gourd, steam for 2 hours and deep fry before serving

貴州 Guizhou

• 罐罐雞："Can-can" chicken, steam inside a claycan with heavy dosage of herbs

福建 Fujian

• 豉油雞：Soy-sauced chicken

Culinary Blogs

Hey,

I believe when it comes to food, there are always some recommendations you tend to get from friends. Word of mouth easily spread the great news of the great food in town. If you guys are looking for a place to eat, to drink or to celebrate a friend's birthday, check it out at some of the links that i have added.

“世界上什麼問題最大? 吃的問題最大!” ~毛澤東 "What is the biggest problem in this world? Eating is!" ~Mao Zedong

2007 Rugby World Cup

An old saying goes like this -- Football is a gentlemen's game played by hooligans; rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.

Looking back, i have little doubts about it. Though rugby may appear violent to some people, rugby actually is the most disciplined team sport in the world as far as i know. Team consists of 15 players, far more than football. Every players must play his role in the team. You attack and defend in unison. Unlike football, in which normally you attack with the forwards and defend with the defenders. Thus, making football a little less than a team game. Furthermore, i never heard of rugby is played by women as yet. This reaffirms the statement of gentlemen's game in a sense since football is also played by women now. But not rugby, not yet.


Still remember 2003 Rugby World Cup when England won the William Webb Ellis Cup (the Rugby World Cup). Jonny Wilkinson, the England flyhalf, was certainly the MVP of that year tournament. His ever accurate drop goals had scored so many points and certainly won the Rugby World Cup for England -- thank to his drop goal in the last minute of extra time against Australia in the final.

Of course, this year tournament will be held in France comes this September. Northern Hemisphere nations can certainly look forward to it. Though i still think Southern Hemisphere nations will win -- either New Zealand (All Blacks), Australia (Wallabies) or South Africa (Springboks).

Ole! Ole! Ole!

Movies

Watched a few movies recently.

1. The Illusionist (Meet Edward Norton.)
2. The Prestige (Chirstian Bale is impeccable here, recommended.)
3. Casino Royale (The reboot of entire 007 series. James Bond had just earned his licence to kill. Prepare to be dazzled.)
4. The Devil Wears Prada (Adapted from Lauren Weisberger's novel of the same name. How to say...superb! Just love it.)
5. Blood Diamond (Of Sierra Leone illegal diamond trades. Leonardo DiCaprio, huh?)

Mr Bear is Knockin'

Hey hey hey,

Mr Bear is finally comin', no? After some previous false alarms, this time Mr Bear had come for real. This time, he really made a big entry. Rest assured, he will stay for a while. I think the Bull had overstayed his welcome. It's time for him to leave and take a sabbatical rest. Although my flirtin' with the Bull was brief, it was still the best time of my life. Miss you. See you around when you are back next time, kay? So long. Don't over do yourself. Take good care. I would like to see a great healthy Bull that last longer distance ya.

When you go shopping with Mr Bear, people give you huge discount since his reputation precedes him. No questions asked. They just want to get rid of the stocks in their hands as quickly as possible. But the point is are we seeing the rock bottom price cut yet? I don't think so. For those whose investment horizon is short, better take profit or cut loss now.

Please welcome Mr Bear! Kinda miss you too. Hope to do some nice shopping with you.

國慶廣告短片帶來的啟示

最近，配合國家慶祝獨立50周年，國油推出2007年默迪卡廣告短片。這支看似平平無奇的短片，畫面下卻真真實實、毫不避諱地道出我國在建國50年來的最大困境。

鏡頭下的老人就如馬來西亞，已走到知天命之年一般，開始感到力不從心。老人的好友哈芝為了讓老人清還所欠下的債務，便提供種種材料、資源和便利給老人，希望老人能夠幫他打造一艘新船，來替代所要償還的債務。

然而，老人卻投機取巧地將破舊、廢棄船只的船身重新組裝，掩蓋破舊船身的腐蝕漏洞並重新上漆。一艘新船很快地就完成了，老人也順利讓船只首次出航。

可是，哈芝過後卻不再需要老人幫他打造的船。他將船只送給老人並豁免其債務。他希望老人能夠藉著出租船只賺錢維生，在經濟上獨立自主而不再仰賴他人的幫助。

鏡頭一轉，當老人走向其之前完成的船只時，卻發現那艘粗製濫造的船只開始在沉沒……

這支短片的故事讓人感到似曾相識。那位哈芝就好比我國獨立之前的殖民地政府，留下了種種資源、技術和發展給這片土地的主人，寄望接下來的領導人能夠好好地利用各種資源和優勢發展本身的經濟脈絡，不再依靠他國援助或被人支配。

在風雨中成長的馬來西亞，在建國初期確實取得穩定發展。然而，經歷50年來種種導致國家政局動蕩不安、經濟體系嚴重受創、行政體制弊病重重、種族藩籬日益加深等問題，馬來西亞這艘承載2600萬人口的船只如今亦然百孔千瘡。

結果，建國初期的社會契約面對嚴峻挑戰，各族人民之間相互猜疑程度日益嚴重，就連原本受到聯邦憲法所保障的宗教自由亦面對種種衝擊。究竟這艘觸了礁的船只還能航行多久、多遠？

掌舵人在導航國家的未來前途時迷失了方向。國家金融體系一蹶不振、經濟蛋糕分配不均、國家財庫近乎空蕩，種種問題顯示我國經濟正面臨高度危機。

掌舵人在發展經濟方面裹足不前，施展政策卻又舉棋不定，讓原本作為我國經濟發展火車頭的東方硅谷（Silicon Valley）─檳城，如今卻淪為北馬經濟發展走廊（NCER）的“西邊”，這是何等的諷刺！

故事中的船隻出現腐蝕漏洞，我國現今的硬體建設又何嘗不是如此？從今年4月迄今，我國公共交付系統出現各種紕漏：布城的聯邦政府部門建築出現水管爆裂、天 花板墜落醜聞；耗資2億7000萬令吉建竣的新法庭大廈出現裂縫；耗資1億令吉重新裝修的國會下議院會議廳發生漏水事件。

這尚未包括大大小小的豆腐渣工程！若將老人所打造的船只直接比喻為我國的公共交通系統，政府掌舵人在交通規劃方面的短視心態更是叫人不敢恭維。

對一個國家而言，50年歲月說短不短、說長不長。鄰國新加坡這個彈丸小國能在42年內迅速崛起成為區域金融中心，馬來西亞又怎樣呢？正當我們還在為擁有全球最高三甲建築物之一的國油雙峰塔自豪時，我們是否正被全球化的發展洪流所淘汰？

再過兩週，全民就要歡慶國家獨立50周年，但是馬來西亞究竟還能走多遙遠？我們今天所打造的船只，能否帶領我們航向明天的明天？ （星洲日報/6日譚•作者：林芮光•政治工作者•言論不代表本站立場‧2007.08.13）

Of Life and Investment - A Metaphor

Frustration set in when you realize your investment is not doing well. Much more so if the subject is your most fancied holding. What would you do in such a case?

Buying more or cutting loss? Well, i guess it depends greatly on the subject, no?

If the fundamentals remain unchanged, and you still have time and faith in it, why not holding on? This might turn out to be your tenbagger (*) in life.


(*) A term coined by Peter Lynch, a stock that gives you a return of ten folds.

Of Schumacher, Alonso, and Hamilton

The rivalry between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton had somehow turned into public row last weekend during Hungarian GP. Alonso was accused of delaying Hamilton at the "pit-gate" that denied Hamilton a final chance to make a flying lap at the dying seconds of qualifying round. The rest is the history. Alonso had been punished by FIA, started from few places back instead of pole position. McLaren team was rattled by this intense rivalry or shall i said, the in-fighting between their drivers.

I still remember when JK asked my opinion before the new F1 season starts. I said Hamilton is the driver to watch. Not because of what. Just because he reminds me of Tiger Woods. I see some resemblance between the two. They both started young at their games, achieving fame at early age too. So far, Hamilton had not let me down a single bit. Ain't a surprise if Hamilton wins this year F1 championship.

But the odds are against Hamilton. Because Alonso is the first driver in McLaren team. The team order clearly favored him very much. Driver to driver, i still see Alonso comes at the top between the two. At least, Alonso still has the fire and tricks that make him double world champion. The tricks i mean are all those little and dirty maneuvers that once made Michael Schumacher so famous of. Alonso will do whatever within his capabilities to win this year championship. Alonso is a wounded tiger at this moment. Ron Dennis, the McLaren boss also admitted both of them did not see eyes to eyes at this moment.

So far, Ferrari team had not displayed any competitiveness as yet. Hopefully, they will come into the picture later this season. If not, it will be a two-horse race between Alonso and Hamilton.

Petronas Ad - Merdeka 50 Tahun

Our nation is celebrating its 50 years of independence comes this 31 August. This year, Petronas ad on commemorating this big occasion is to portray an old sampan builder called Man who wanted to quit his job and become a security guard to repay Tuan Haji, another guy in the ad. Instead of letting Man quit his job, Tuan Haji asked Man to build a new sampan for him in lieu of the debt.

Man accepted the offer and started to build the sampan day in and day out, even in a rainy day. Finally, when he about to deliver his finished product, Tuan Haji brought an engine and mentioned to Man that the new sampan is a gift from him. Tuan Haji foresees the water transport will be in great demand in that area, so the new sampan will be a boon to Man.

Just when Man about to take his sampan to the water, he discovered that the sampan had already submerged in the water. Then, the Petronas tag line reads "Can what we build today take us into tomorrow?" Good question, isn't it?

The analogy is so simple. Just imagine Malaysia is that little sampan that Man had built. It had already submerged in the water! Way to go Petronas! At least you've got the guts to show us the real picture of Malaysia in the future.