The Fighting Fundamental Forums

My wife started out selling sticky rice (rice and several other ingredients wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed) to a restaurant. Below is a Yelp review of that sticky rice.  She has since started to make other meals the way she thinks they should be made, instead of the way they were making them.  I'm proud to say that every meal she has made for the restaurant was so much more successful than what they originally served, she's now in charge of those recipes and introducing new foods to the menu.  So now she works there every day.  

I guarantee people from all around will go there just for her hot and sour soup once she starts making it there (she hasn't introduced her version yet). It is to die for. It's not very hot, and not very sour, which I'd normally say would be a bad thing.  But it is the best hot and soup I've EVER had, and I've had some great versions at great restaurants.  

The only down side to this is that she's gone very early in the morning, and she naps most of the night, so I rarely get to spend time with her anymore.


From the yelp review: 5.0 star rating 4/21/2016 (no, I'm not the owner, so he's not talking about my wife)

First, I am from Hong Kong, so I am excited that finally HK food is available!  And it really is HK style. I spoke Cantonese with the sweet cashier, she is actually the owner's wife, it turns out it is a family business, the best kind of service.

I tried the 鹹粽子. That's sticky rice wrap. Inside has 7 ingredients. It is a delicacy hard to find. They did a good job! I will come back just for that!

The place is small, mostly for take out. It is very clean. Restroom sparkle clean.

They said this is Soft Opening with testing menu so I will go back when they really open in May to try more. This is my comfort food!!

congratulations........ that is awesome.......   ....... i love home cooked authentic chinese food... it;s one of the few things i don;t try to cook very often coz i am not that good at it.....   .... ...

but hey... on the bright you could go into the restaurant with her to help.... and brush up on your chinese cooking skills.... 

(05-04-2016, 11:15 PM)aleshanee Wrote: [ -> ]congratulations........ that is awesome.......   ....... i love home cooked authentic chinese food... it;s one of the few things i don;t try to cook very often coz i am not that good at it.....   .... ...

but hey... on the bright you could go into the restaurant with her to help.... and brush up on your chinese cooking skills.... 

I wish I could, but we couldn't survive on her income.  We barely survive on mine AND hers together, and this summer I'll be racking up some large bills, as I mentioned to you in an email (not sharing it here).  I'd love to open a family Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean restaurant (she makes all 3 styles so well).  But it's just not possible unless God does a miracle.

I do have to (well I don't HAVE to) take a little credit here.  I taught her the secret to making great Vietnamese Pho soup, great Kimchi, and great Hot and Sour Soup.  Once she had those tips, though, she took them to a whole 'nother level, way beyond what I did.

(05-04-2016, 11:25 PM)The Rogue Tomato Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-04-2016, 11:15 PM)aleshanee Wrote: [ -> ]congratulations........ that is awesome.......   ....... i love home cooked authentic chinese food... it;s one of the few things i don;t try to cook very often coz i am not that good at it.....   .... ...

but hey... on the bright you could go into the restaurant with her to help.... and brush up on your chinese cooking skills.... 

I wish I could, but we couldn't survive on her income.  We barely survive on mine AND hers together, and this summer I'll be racking up some large bills, as I mentioned to you in an email (not sharing it here).  I'd love to open a family Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean restaurant (she makes all 3 styles so well).  But it's just not possible unless God does a miracle.

I do have to (well I don't HAVE to) take a little credit here.  I taught her the secret to making great Vietnamese Pho soup, great Kimchi, and great Hot and Sour Soup.  Once she had those tips, though, she took them to a whole 'nother level, way beyond what I did.

that;s pretty awesome too...... i know the basics of how to make all those things ..... but compared to the quality of what;s available here ... literally on every street corner.. my own vietnamese..korean and chinese food is kinda lackluster.... ....so we just walk to the street corner.....   .... which is kinda what we are doing tonight and making it an early dinner......  we have to pack up and head into the rainforest this evening..... won;t be back until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest..... .... and i;ll be praying for you that God does perform a miracle...... 

Well done. I love Hong Kong and especially the food - in particular the little fish cakes.

Even the Ruth's Chris is better than any I've tried in the US. I just wish they'd give up on the shark's fin thing.

But you are right. The food that you can get anywhere in Hong Kong is worth the price getting there, and getting more of it in the West can only be a good thing. My own attempts at dim sum can only be classed as uninspiring, however.

Sounds so good!

She is such an amazing chef, and it doesn't matter what style the food is. She watches me make Mexican bean soup, chili, spaghetti carbonara -- it doesn't matter what it is, and then she makes it and it's better than mine. I think the only things left that I make better than she does is beef stew, roast leg of lamb, and roast turkey with stuffing. And the only reason my beef stew is still better is because I made it in a slow cooker, which we don't have anymore. So she uses a pressure cooker to cook the beef and then makes the stew. You don't get as good a blend of flavors that way.

The secret ingredient I added to her hot and sour soup is tamarind (packaged, not juice). It makes a huge difference. The rest of her recipe is hers, and it's almost nothing like what you get in a restaurant.

The secrets to Pho is to use beef bones with marrow for the stock, and you have to scorch onions and ginger (and then peel the burned skin off the ginger) before you boil them in the stock. The latter is no real secret - it's common knowledge among Vietnamese cooks. But she didn't know about it. Select the spices you like (there are several but most combos include cinnamon and star anise or fennel), put them in a cloth bag, and put the bag in the stock while it cooks. When the broth is done, you pour it over soft noodles and very thinly sliced raw beef. The hot broth cooks both. (I also like pre-cooked beef tendon in there.) And if you want real Pho, get plenty of bean sprouts, cilantro, Thai basil, lime, green onions, sliced Jalapeno or other hot peppers and optionally Hoisin sauce and Sriracha to add to it after it's done. It's my favorite soup.