Tiki Food Recipes - Tiki Drinks and Food

PG Professor G Member the Tiki Wastelands Joined: Sep 03, 2011 Posts: 346	PG Professor G Posted posted on Sat, Dec 24, 2011 3:05 PM After working on Rumaki, the ultimate PolyPop Luau starter, I thought I’d switch gears and do some experiments on what should be the official brunch dish for the Big Tiki Morning After. Chow Dun was one of the first items I noticed on a ‘60‘s Don the Beachcomber’s menu. I don't find a mention of it in any of my old Chinese/Cantonese cookbooks or on any of the reputable-ish websites I glanced at. The Beachbum has a Chow Dun recipe in Taboo Table, but, unusually, no anecdotes about its development. In case you’ve not read it, you may define Chow Dun thusly: scrambled eggs with stuff in them. I’ve searched in current Chinese cookbooks and some contemporary to the Beachcomber and I’ve looked online, but I can’t find Chow Dun; what I do find is Chow Fun, a wide noodle dish that often contains scrambled eggs. Could it be that that’s where the dish arose? The theory is plausible because, while the symbols for items are generally consistent among Chinese dialects, the pronunciation of those words can vary wildly; Donn Beach may have just seen a dish, heard a word and run with it from there. If, as seems likely, I’m completely wrong, I’d love to know the real story. It beats me (like a scrambled egg) but maybe Chow Fun was in some way a starting point. Chow Dun, however, is my starting point. It’s a bit like a soft scramble version of Egg Fu Yung, but better because it doesn’t have the chewy egg-jerky hide that you have to flay from of nine out of ten E.F.Y. I do like the sauce element of Egg Fu Yung, though, so I’m going to honor its Cantonese/Indonesian roots with a Fish Sauce Gravy. The Don the Beachcomber Chow Dun recipe calls for green peas, but you will not catch me using those disgusting little green sacks of mush (Yes, I’ve had fresh and fresh frozen and they’re slightly less gross, I’ll grant you, but still very, very nasty.). The menu gives shrimp, pork and chicken options, the first two of which would be delicious, but I want something a bit more brunch-y. What I’m going to do is start with a recipe for Crabmeat Stirred Eggs (scrambled eggs with stuff in them) from Gloria Bley Miller’s 1966 1000 Recipe Chinese Cookbook, then add a few texture elements and the Fish Sauce Gravy. I use a fast shrimp stock in the gravy which I make by simmering shrimp shells from a pound or more of shrimp, and a little bit of onion, carrot and celery in enough water to cover the solids for about twenty minutes before straining. I make it any time I have shrimp around (it’ll freeze for storage). If you don’t choose to do that, use delicious tap water and double up on the fish sauce. Stirred Eggs w/ Crabmeat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil 2 green onions, sliced thin 8 oz. crabmeat, picked 4 oz. water chestnuts, rinsed and slivered 1 tsp sesame oil 4-6 eggs, beaten with 1 Tbsp water 1/2 tsp salt Heat oil on medium. Stir-fry green onions, water chestnuts and crabmeat for two minutes. Remove the crab mixture from the skillet. Add the sesame oil, eggs and salt. As the first layer sets, draw it toward the center of the pan. Fold the crab mixture into the eggs, reserving some lumps to display on top of the dish, stirring until you have a soft scramble. Serve immediately with steamed rice (if you wish) and Fish Sauce Gravy. Fish Sauce Gravy 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil 2 Tbsp Garlic, minced 2 Tbsp Shallots, minced t.t. Thai Chili, minced 2 stalks fresh Lemongrass, cut into 2’’ lengths and smashed 1 tsp Madras Curry Powder 2 Cups Fast Shrimp Stock 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce 2 tsp cornstarch 2 tsp cold water Sweat the garlic, shallots, chili and lemongrass in a sauce pan on medium heat. Stir in the curry powder and allow it to toast for about twenty seconds before adding the shrimp stock and fish sauce. If you were disobedient and didn’t make the shrimp stock, use water and double the fish sauce. Turn the heat up and simmer for twenty minutes. Meanwhile, make a slurry of the cornstarch and water. Remove the lemongrass stalks. Strain the stock and return the liquid to the pan and bring it to the boil. Add the cornstarch slurry, stirring constantly until the sauce has thickened. Remove it from the heat. Serve it warm. As I was heating the pot for the gravy, my eyes lit upon a chunk of Canadian bacon, so I minced it and added it to the sauce. I recommend it. I found an avocado and used it as a garnish. I recommend that, too. The timbale format for the dish worked best out of several plating styles because it facilitated a mixing of the elements, which, you may be sure, I recommend.

After working on Rumaki, the ultimate PolyPop Luau starter, I thought I’d switch gears and do some experiments on what should be the official brunch dish for the Big Tiki Morning After. Chow Dun was one of the first items I noticed on a ‘60‘s Don the Beachcomber’s menu. I don't find a mention of it in any of my old Chinese/Cantonese cookbooks or on any of the reputable-ish websites I glanced at. The Beachbum has a Chow Dun recipe in Taboo Table, but, unusually, no anecdotes about its development. In case you’ve not read it, you may define Chow Dun thusly: scrambled eggs with stuff in them.

I’ve searched in current Chinese cookbooks and some contemporary to the Beachcomber and I’ve looked online, but I can’t find Chow Dun; what I do find is Chow Fun, a wide noodle dish that often contains scrambled eggs. Could it be that that’s where the dish arose? The theory is plausible because, while the symbols for items are generally consistent among Chinese dialects, the pronunciation of those words can vary wildly; Donn Beach may have just seen a dish, heard a word and run with it from there. If, as seems likely, I’m completely wrong, I’d love to know the real story. It beats me (like a scrambled egg) but maybe Chow Fun was in some way a starting point.

Chow Dun, however, is my starting point. It’s a bit like a soft scramble version of Egg Fu Yung, but better because it doesn’t have the chewy egg-jerky hide that you have to flay from of nine out of ten E.F.Y. I do like the sauce element of Egg Fu Yung, though, so I’m going to honor its Cantonese/Indonesian roots with a Fish Sauce Gravy.

The Don the Beachcomber Chow Dun recipe calls for green peas, but you will not catch me using those disgusting little green sacks of mush (Yes, I’ve had fresh and fresh frozen and they’re slightly less gross, I’ll grant you, but still very, very nasty.). The menu gives shrimp, pork and chicken options, the first two of which would be delicious, but I want something a bit more brunch-y. What I’m going to do is start with a recipe for Crabmeat Stirred Eggs (scrambled eggs with stuff in them) from Gloria Bley Miller’s 1966 1000 Recipe Chinese Cookbook, then add a few texture elements and the Fish Sauce Gravy. I use a fast shrimp stock in the gravy which I make by simmering shrimp shells from a pound or more of shrimp, and a little bit of onion, carrot and celery in enough water to cover the solids for about twenty minutes before straining. I make it any time I have shrimp around (it’ll freeze for storage). If you don’t choose to do that, use delicious tap water and double up on the fish sauce.

Stirred Eggs w/ Crabmeat
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 green onions, sliced thin
8 oz. crabmeat, picked
4 oz. water chestnuts, rinsed and slivered
1 tsp sesame oil
4-6 eggs, beaten with 1 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt

Heat oil on medium. Stir-fry green onions, water chestnuts and crabmeat for two minutes. Remove the crab mixture from the skillet.

Add the sesame oil, eggs and salt. As the first layer sets, draw it toward the center of the pan. Fold the crab mixture into the eggs, reserving some lumps to display on top of the dish, stirring until you have a soft scramble.

Serve immediately with steamed rice (if you wish) and Fish Sauce Gravy.

Fish Sauce Gravy
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 Tbsp Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Shallots, minced
t.t. Thai Chili, minced
2 stalks fresh Lemongrass, cut into 2’’ lengths and smashed
1 tsp Madras Curry Powder
2 Cups Fast Shrimp Stock
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp cold water

Sweat the garlic, shallots, chili and lemongrass in a sauce pan on medium heat.

Stir in the curry powder and allow it to toast for about twenty seconds before adding the shrimp stock and fish sauce. If you were disobedient and didn’t make the shrimp stock, use water and double the fish sauce.

Turn the heat up and simmer for twenty minutes. Meanwhile, make a slurry of the cornstarch and water.

Remove the lemongrass stalks.

Strain the stock and return the liquid to the pan and bring it to the boil. Add the cornstarch slurry, stirring constantly until the sauce has thickened. Remove it from the heat.

Serve it warm.

As I was heating the pot for the gravy, my eyes lit upon a chunk of Canadian bacon, so I minced it and added it to the sauce. I recommend it. I found an avocado and used it as a garnish. I recommend that, too. The timbale format for the dish worked best out of several plating styles because it facilitated a mixing of the elements, which, you may be sure, I recommend.

Post #618573 by Professor G on Sat, Dec 24, 2011 3:05 PM