blake murphy wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:00:16 -0500, ian > wrote:
>
>> blake murphy wrote:
>>> On Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:03:25 -0500, ian > wrote:
>>>
>>>> blake murphy wrote:
>>>>> On Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:03:54 -0600, Steve Wertz
>>>>> > wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:45:36 GMT, blake murphy wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> since i just got a used copy 'the people's republic of china
>>>>>>> cookbook,' and i know some folks here cook from it, i was wondering if
>>>>>>> you have the name of a good brand of 'brown bean sauce.'
>>>>>> Koon Chun brand:
>>>>>> http://www.koonchun.com.hk/product_s...tml#seasoning2
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The "Bean Sauce" has chunks in it, the "Ground Bean Sauce"
>>>>>> doesn't. Both are the same, just different textures. Several
>>>>>> "experts" recommend the bean sauces made from broad beans, but I
>>>>>> can't find any made with broad beans, just soy.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> for that matter, since i'm going to store, how about hot bean and
>>>>>>> sweet bean pastes?
>>>>>> I had a hell of a time finding a good, basic, unadulterated
>>>>>> Sichuan-style hot bean sauce. I finally settled on Kim Lan,
>>>>>> which I found at a Mexican grocer of all places. This one may be
>>>>>> a little harder to find.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here's pictures of both. Also posted to alt.binaries.food under
>>>>>> title "Bean Sauces".
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://i16.tinypic.com/2qlflgz.jpg
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -sw
>>>>> koon chun i know i've seen, not sure about kim lau.
>>>>>
>>>>> just for reference, what i've been using is szechuan brand, both hot
>>>>> and sweet bean pastes, from taiwan, in little cans. my boy robert
>>>>> delfs in 'the good food of szechuan' (1977) says to stay away from
>>>>> these but i don't find them all that bad - but was curious as to what
>>>>> others use.
>>>>>
>>>>> thanks, steve.
>>>>>
>>>>> your pal,
>>>>> blake
>>>> Hi Bake -
>>>>
>>>> I saw a copy of this book at a book sale yesterday, and was very
>>>> interested in it, but the copy was just too dirty to buy. Is it a good
>>>> book - should I be keeping a look out for it?
>>>>
>>>> Funny coincidence to see it mentioned here the next day - I never heard
>>>> of it before.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Ian
>>> i haven't yet cooked from mine. she (?) divides china into north,
>>> east, southeast and southwest quadrants, and divides the recipes that
>>> way also. i looked mostly at the szechuan stuff (southwest by her
>>> taxonomy, and the spicing as given seems on the not-too-hot side (say
>>> a tsp. vs. a tbl hot been paste, etc. the book does say 'adapted for
>>> the american kitchen' not 'to the american taste,' so hard to say.
>>> others here have recommended it though (i think).
>>>
>>> i got mine, used, he
>>>
>>> <http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-Republic-China-Cookbook/dp/0394733800/ref=sr_1_1/102-1892494-4483316?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174241413&sr=1-1>
>>>
>>> for about five bucks, incl. shipping. no gravy stains that i can see.
>>>
>>> your pal,
>>> blake
>>>
>>>
>> Hi Blake -
>>
>> I'm sorry, I just wasn't very clear. I was asking about the Robert Delfs
>> book 'the good food of szechuan' (1977).
>>
>> I have the 'Peoples' book too, and have liked several recipes from it.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Ian
>
> oh! well, let's just say that *my* copy is stained in several places.
> i like it very much. i think when i bought it there weren't szechuan
> joints on every corner, so it was very useful. there's a basic pork
> with vegetables stir-fry recipe that i use all the time. dry-fried
> beef with celery and carrots is very good too.
>
> amazon has a few used copies also, at a good price:
>
> <http://www.amazon.com/Good-Food-Szechwan-Robert-Delfs/dp/0870112317/ref=sr_1_4/002-9824231-8583202?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174321869&sr=8-4>
>
> ian, i can't remember if you're in the united states or not, but you
> could probably get someone to accommodate you.
>
> it's definitely worth having.
>
> your pal,
> blake

Thanks Blake - yes, I am in the US, so AMZ.com is an option. The price
is right, so I will go ahead and get a copy.
A couple of stains would have been ok, but the copy I saw had been used
a lot, and it was just very close to being trash!

Thanks for the info.

Ian