Dim Sum and Hong Kong Supermarket

It requires a trip to the Westbank of New Orleans, but today I discovered a foodie mecca, and it involves really good Dim Sum. Chef Shing Kwun Lam of Hong Kong prepares traditional, cart style dim sum at Panda King of Terrytown from 11-3 on Saturdays and Sundays. Servers parade through the restaurant pushing carts full of steaming dumplings and savory dishes. Dim Sum or "piece of heart" originated in the teahouses of the Guandong Province in Cantonese southern China. Most dishes emphasize fresh flavors and are steamed instead of fried with sauces that play a delicate balance of soy, vinegar, wine and sugar.

I would love to tell you exactly what I ate, but there were no menus on the table nor can I find one anywhere on the Internet. Some of dishes we sampled or contemplated sampling included shark fin dumplings; shrimp dumplings; shumai; ground rice sheets loosely wrapped around shrimp, served with one of those amazing salty sweet sauces; shrimp with green peppers; Japanese eggplant stuffed with shrimp; Rice noodle rolls filled with shrimp and pork; Baked and Steamed buns filled with hoisin sweetened pork; Peking Duck; Singapore Noodles; Pan-Fried Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage, Egg and Scallion; Pan-Fried Turnip Cake with Chinese Sausage; Fried Taro with pork filling; steamed Chinese broccoli drizzled with a thick soy sauce; deep fried salty pork; egg custard tartlets; Jalapenos stuffed with ground shrimp; Sticky rice with sausage, wrapped in a lotus leaf; fried calamari tossed with hot peppers; duck feet simmered in soy and star anise; chicken feet coated in fire red pepper sauce.

After you have indulged at Panda King, stroll next door to the Hong Kong Supermarket. The produce section is reminiscent of one of my most favorite foodie stops, Dekalb Farmers Market. I immediately located many ingredients, that until now, I have had to rely on the Internet for when preparing my favorite Asian dishes. From the produce section you walk directly into the tilapia and catfish, live swimming in the tanks, then onto the butcher, with the largest section of meat and poultry that I have ever experienced. I'm going back this week for one of the whole ducks, any suggestions for preparation? I'm thinking Peking duck. From the meat section you enter the extensive bakery, then onto the Banh Mi (Vietnamese poboy) counter, and finally a counter that contains cooked suckling pig, chickens, quail and Cornish hens. Within these outer aisles lies every hard to find dry good you can imagine, as well as a fun housewares section. I can't wait to use the ten porcelain Japanese soup spoons that I purchased for 69 cents a piece in an authentic bowl of Tom Kha now that I have a source for fresh galangal root and kaffir lime leaves.

Panda King fine dining is located at 925 Behrman Highway Gretna, LA 70056.

Briarhill Farms Quail

I experimented with a new protein this week, and was pleasantly surprised with the results. I purchased four quail from Joe and Jack Dobie of Briarhill Farms. I had never prepared quail before and my Internet search proved less than inspiring, this is what i put together from the ingredients I had in my pantry.
Most of the recipes i found soaked the quail in cream, some baked them whole in the cream and some in the skillet. The quail I purchased were already cut up the back so I put mine in the skillet.

Ingredients *
4 quail (cut up the back)
3 TBSP panko
1 scallion
5 pieces of bacon
3 TBSP olive oil
2 stalks of celery
3 cloves garlic
1 box of shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup port wine
2 TBSP cinnamon apple jelly
3 cups cream
small handful chopped parsley
*I did not measure, measurements listed are a best guess, follow the instructions more than the measurements.

Cut whole quail up the back, salt and pepper them and then soak in cream, parsley and a couple of tablespoons of cinnamon apple jelly. I used parsley and cinnamon apple jelly, because that is what I had on hand. I found a recipe that soaked the quail in cream and guava jelly so i thought the apple jelly would work for sweetness and i found another recipe that used nutmeg so I thought that the cinnamon might work as well, but substitute with what you have in your pantry. I soaked the quail for 4 hours although I would have liked for at least six and maybe as long as eight.

Remove quail from the cream (reserve cream mixture), blot with paper towels and dust lightly with panko the breast side of the quail.(I was going to use flour, but somehow I was out, so use flour if you prefer)

Cut bacon into lardons and cook in a large deep skillet. Remove cooked bacon with a slotted spoon. Cook scallions, garlic and celery in rendered bacon fat, remove vegetables with a slotted spoon add a tablespoon or two of olive oil, to remaining bacon grease. Place quail in skillet breast side down, brown quail, turn over and add cream from soaking quail, shitake mushrooms cut in large strips, port wine, cooked bacon and vegetables, this mixture should almost cover the quail, if it is short add more cream. cover and cook quail at least 25 minutes on low.
Serve quail over your favorite brown or black rice and spoon sauce over.



Cook's Disclosure: The recipes that I include on this blog are created by a housewife with a passion for food. I am not a professional chef. I welcome suggestions on ways to improve these recipes or better ways to prepare the food all together. I feel that I become a better cook with each meal I prepare and I hope that through this blog I can learn from others experiences in the kitchen as well, so... please, let me know what you think!