Chinese Cooks I need to know what was in a sauce.

[MattBaggins]

I worked in a Chinese restaurant back in my college days and one food ingredient has escaped me. They used to make a simple dish with bacon, shrimp, and cauliflower flavored with a deep red yeasty wine paste they kept in the fridge.

I am thinking it was most likely wine lees but would like to know what to ask for at the local Asian market.

[bif]

1. Check in the cooking forum.

They know the answer to everything.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1157

[Gorp]

2. Something similar to this?

http://www.about-recipes.com/recipes/115196-chinese-red-sauce.html

As with any recipe, modification is at the chef's whims.

[MattBaggins]

3. No I believe I have found it

Fujian Red Wine Lees
http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2011/08/scarlet-rice-wine-of-northern-fujian.html

[Gorp]

4. Yeah, that does sound good. I'd have to make some of the ingredients myself.

I don't recall seeing some of them around here, but the paste sounds really good. I've tried making kimchi but failed miserably. It didn't ferment. I make wicked pickled eggs (grew up south of the Mason-Dixon). Some things just require a skill that can only be passed on from one generation to the next. Oriental components aren't in my lineage (well, genetically, but not passed-down knowledge). I amaze people with my cooking, but for sauces and pastes I go to the markets, except for pesto and salsa - we make our own.

That aside, for this given paste, what is the best application for vegetarian dishes? If I'm going to go to the trouble of making it I'd like to know how to use it! We don't do any kind of meat or seafood, but we do consume dairy and eggs. I make a mean fried rice and I'm well-known for my wok productions. I've rarely failed, but if I fail it's like a HASMAT situation. The dogs will still eat it.

[MattBaggins]

5. The two dishes I remember with this paste

were a chicken dish and the bacon/shrimp/cauliflower.

If you eat shrimp then leave out the bacon. This sauce might also work with tofu and other fish.

Google shows that this lees paste is a signature flavor in this region and is even used to cook snails and eels.

the stuff at the bottom of this site is what I ate... And it is delish
http://www.goingwithmygut.com/going_with_my_gut/2010/03/grandmas-ang-chow-foochow-red-rice-wine.html

[Gorp]

6. I used to love chicken, bacon and shrimp. They make me want to puke now.

But I LOVE cauliflower!!!

[MattBaggins]

7. For kimchee and fermented vegetables

Check out Sandor Katz on youtube or his website
http://www.wildfermentation.com/

[Gorp]

8. I make vegetarian kim bap (sort of like sushi). Kimchi is a good side for it.

It's the one area I'll allow some transgression. The red paste that's usually (not always) a component of kimchi includes brine shrimp. I've had it with and without and can't tell the difference in flavor. Cut sheets of kim (nori) are great for folding rice over kimchi and popping it in your mouth (with chopsticks of course).

I use all kinds of vegetables and mushrooms when I make kim bap. It's dangerous. I've made huge batches of it and lived off of it for days. Then again, I have the same problem with pickled beet eggs with pearl onions. I'm prone to binging. I think the worst binge I ever had was a three week "nothing but Capt'n Crunch" episode. I went through cases of the stuff. Then again, I was stoned 24x7 at the time.

I don't even like Capt'n Crunch anymore. I also don't smoke pot anymore.