Canned or fresh? There is a world of difference between the two. After trying fresh water chestnuts, I can’t go back to using the canned stuff.
Yeah specifically referring to canned. Never tried fresh. I probably should one of these days, just to see.
Well crap! I’ve only ever thought of them as canned. Like I would never think of trying to use a “fresh” olive. But of course. How do you prepare them? How do you use them? I’m intrigued.
-xtien
I, too, have only had canned water chestnuts. I should add I’ve also only had canned bamboo shoots. What are we missing, taste wise?
If I can buy fresh bamboo shoots or water chestnuts, I’ve never seen them in the store. Our Asian store is pretty much exclusively dry / canned goods or frozen.
I peel off the outer skin and then slice them for use in stir fries.
My local Chinese grocery has the annoying habit of selling the water chestnuts only in bags. This means that I get more than I need for a meal, and I can’t pick through them and there are always some bad ones (mushy) in the bag. For the excess, I trim and prep them, and then put them in the freezer.
I have never used fresh bamboo. My understanding is they are toxic unless they’ve been properly prepared so I’ve just stayed with the canned stuff.
That makes complete sense. It’s kind of crazy that I’ve used these things but never thought about how they are processed, at all.
I am suddenly so interested! Thank you T_T!
-xtien
Fresh bamboo is amazing, and heads/tails over the canned ones. When we were first in the US, it was all canned. Later on, my dad would bring back fresh ones from China, and it was a major family feast when they were prepared and served. Now, I can walk into 99 Ranch market and get fresh ones, winter and/or spring shoots.
I dated a girl for a while who subsisted almost entirely on dehydrated mashed potatoes. With oven fries occasionally, for variety. It was a comfort thing. She was open to trying new dishes, but the potatoes had to be there.
The weird thing was that she was Cuban, which I still think should have militated against dehydrated mashed potatoes. But no.
There’s no shame in TV dinners. I often crave Salisbury steak TV dinners when I’m at the store. And even more so, I look longingly at the Banquet Fried Chicken in the frozen department. I’ve had neither in about a hundred years, but I crave them.
My girlfriend’s kid asked for popcorn the other night for dinner because he needed a comfort food. I mean the popcorn I make in the wok…which I love to do. And she has cereal for dinner on occasion as well.
TV dinners are perfectly legit from time to time.
-xtien
Dehydrated mashed potatoes are surprisingly not bad.
They always make me think “school hot lunch,” and then I’m tasting industrial canned green beans and that weird meatloaf … stuff.
Not only are they pretty good, I often use them to thicken stews and whatnot. Versatile.
My son is weird with food. Seasonings don’t bother him, I’ve raised him well, and his tolerance for spice is at least equal to that of his mothers, who has been a long term project much like @ArmandoPenblade’s partner.
He really loves his veggies and fruits too. Broccoli and carrots he eats easily. In fact if we have broccoli or squash he may want to eat nothing else. Not bad for a near 4 year old. But what he doesn’t like is most unprocessed meat. We think it’s a texture thing. But as often as not he will reject the bits of chicken or beef. Ham he is usually enthusiastic about. Pork, less so.
So anything with that stringy texture is almost something we have to force him to eat, to varying degrees of success. But, since he eats his fruits and veggies, I’ll take it.
I like to use them as a substitute for bread crumbs when making fried or oven baked chicken.
Oh, that’s an interesting idea. I occasionally have to cook gluten-free, and a “breaded” baked chicken would be a nice option.
I have the stuff to make this in the fridge right now :) Can you explain the whipped cream a bit more? “Cover lip” huh? Do they mean you smear a layer of it on top of the mac and cheese once it’s in a bowl? Why do recipes have such weird ass wording sometimes? :P