I've seen unfrozen dead lobsters being sold at a discount here a couple years back. Would you buy these lobster tails and crab claws? Btw are these stone crab claws?

https://preview.redd.it/877myaifswzd1.png?width=1515&format=png&auto=webp&s=c0098b314a3714718f6b8f73eb8c74cffdaea24a

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Not only is good hotpot base getting expensive, it just doesn't taste as good as fresh homemade ones. Plus, I prefer the ability to play around and make things geared more for my palate than commercially produced stuff. I use a yuanyang two-sided pot, and it took about a third of the recipe to make the soup base have a strong enough taste. This one was used about ten hours after I made the base, it solidifies more as it slowly cools and ends up looking like the pre-packaged stuff. We eat hotpot probably twice a week during the summer, and four times a week during the colder months, and my spice-loving daughters agree this is the best mala base, even better than places like Haidilao, Little Sheep, or Xiabu Xiabu.

This recipe was based on the one found at Yi's Sichuan Kitchen. I recommend her blog and youtube channel if you like Sichuan foods.

I can NOT eat American Chinese food without copious amounts of hot oil and every restaurant around me is very stingy with it.

I’m not looking for chili crisp but the hot oil that I can get on the side at most Chinese restaurants.

Is this something that is made in house? It seems to be nearly identical at every place I’ve been but I can’t find it at any Asian grocery store.

Any recipes or insight is greatly appreciated.

Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Garlic

Hotpot has always been a favourite of mine and with the slew of both home grown (Singapore) and Chinese hotpot chains opening in here over the past decade, it has become a very competitive landscape.

This is great for consumers as you can find fantastic high quality hotpot in the city state of Singapore.

My current FOTM is 小龙坎 aka Shoo Loong Kan or Xiao3 Long2 Kan1 in Hanyu pinyin.

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Wasn't able to post an image for some reason.

I understand it's a hot seasoning that's supposed to be used with things like Hot pot and the like, I read everything on it. My local Asian market is staffed by Koreans who don't read any Chinese and don't put any translation labels on the packaging. Apparently my Chinese is lapsing because I don't understand what the actual culinary name of the seasoning is supposed to be. The other idea that I thought it might be would be dipping chilies but those from what I understand are without the additional spices that this has.

I love baking, and the past few years I’ve been baking about 6 or 7 recipes to put in each box. I’ve saved a few recipes I love, but I’m looking for more, I got bored with most of them. If you have any ideas for what I could add, please lmk! They can be savory pastries/treats, I’m into that as well, balance.

The Chinese herbalist I see recently recommended I try red date + wolf berry tea, and there are plenty of Chinese and other Asian markets near me living in Chicago, but I’m wondering if anyone has a specific brand of these dried fruits they could recommend. I’ve known my herbalist for literally my entire life so I contemplated asking her to take some money and buy me some she thinks are good but she’s an older woman and I felt too embarrassed/burdensome.

I know these types of dried fruits are usually sold in larger quantities so I want to make sure I’m buying ones that are good quality, and I’m not familiar enough yet with Chinese ingredients to be able to tell by the outside of the package. I prefer to buy them in a store as opposed to online bc I don’t feel confident buying any food online for the most part unless it’s from a website I’m familiar with.

So when I was in elementary school one of my classmates mates would have this little snack in her back for snack time and she would sometimes share with me. It was like a little sponge cake with creme in the middle and came inside of sliver package with blue ridges. She would usually have a vanilla or banana flavor. My description of this package may be off because I shared snacks with her when I was 7 and now I’m 25. I’ve been look for this snack since and have not been able to find it anywhere. I’ve been to h marts all over my city with no luck. (I didn’t know hmart was a Korean grocery store at first) if you know what I’m talking about or know the official name of the snack I’d be soooooooooo grateful as it was one of my favorite snacks and I’ve been craving it for all these years.

Damn

Help

Its thick and sticky almost like gravy but stickier and I can't put my finger on the flavor. Does it go with the egg foo yung or

Apologies for the photo.