China's best BLT and other extravagant claims

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Since I'm in China I usually eat Chinese style, complete with rice bowl and chopsticks. But every now and then I get a definite hankering for one or another old favorite from back in the US. Earlier this week I succumbed to an illicit desire for a BLT sandwich (bacon, lettuce and tomato.) You know by now how much I hate to brag, but it turned out exceptionally well. Let me show you how to do it, here in your new China home, instead of spending a pile of Dollars or Yuan on a plane ticket back west. 

 

First buy some mantou 馒头。I know, I know, you would prefer a crusty San Francisco sourdough or a chewy loaf of deli rye from Brooklyn or Bronx. These steamed buns are not quite the same, but they will do in a pinch. I buy them at my local wet market where they typically go faster than hotcakes and consequently are always extremely fresh. That's important since they don't age well. This seller boasts a baking technique that originated long ago in Shandong. (Please click the photos to enlarge them.)

 

           

 

They start them over a large cauldron of simmering water outside the open-front stall. Don't think I've ever seen a taller stack of steamer baskets 蒸笼; ladder required for access. These metal baskets have holes in the bottom so steam goes up through all of them. An athletic young guy clambers up and down the stack re-arranging them and moving some over for immediate sale when they are done. It's a bewildering process; don't know how he keeps it straight in his mind.

 

Several kinds are available, some made with corn meal 玉米面 and others made from whole wheat 全麦。Some are folded back on themselves several times, look almost braided, and are studded with sesame seeds 芝麻。These are called 花卷 hua juan. I buy some of each. They are still warm when I get them. The sign says: "Buy three, get one free." 

 

I usually go for supermarket sliced bacon instead of wrestling with a slab of the real stuff, 腊肉 la rou, which requires a higher degree of dedication. I would not presume to tell you how to cook bacon in the privacy of your own home, but I usually start it in a small amount of water to render and remove some of the fat. 

 

     

 

 

The last part of the bacon ritual lets it get crisp in the pan over low flame when the water has boiled off. The photo above shows a 花卷 on the left and a standard 馒头 on the right. 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

If you feel the call to go whole hog, buy a slab of 腊肉 and knock yourself out. I've done it a few times and it yields good results. Also, you can slice it thicker than you can find in the supermarket. Here's where I buy it when struck with the urge to do it the old fashioned way. 47 Yuan per kilo 千克。

 

     

 

 

While I'm at the neighborhood wet market 菜市场, I pick up some lettuce 生菜. Though many varieties of leaf lettuce are available, I don't think I've ever seen tight round heads of iceberg 球生菜 for sale locally. The one I generally go for is a flavorful variety of Romaine. If the lettuce doesn't look nice, I make my sandwich with fresh spinach. Yes, don't remind me. That's not how they do it at Sal's Diner. As I rounded the corner with green leafy vegetables in hand, I saw a small boy walking a reluctant crawfish on a leash. 小龙虾

 

     

 

 

Arguably the most important ingredient of all is the top-shelf, partly vine-ripened tomato 番茄。I was excited to find these last time just by pure dumb luck. Tasted a wedge right on the spot and then bought a large bag full. The sign says they are local 本地 and grown out of doors 露天。The 正宗 is for emphasis, kind of like saying "genuine" -- pronounced "gen-you-wine," with emphasis on the last syllable. These develop more flavor than the ones grown in large plastic tents 塑料大棚。But I cannot claim any credit for discovering these on my own. I watched a local chef buy a bunch of them first even though they cost more than the ordinary ones. 

 

     

 

 

Once home, I washed the lettuce well and dried it by rolling it gently in a towel. 

 

     

 

 

Sliced a couple of tomatoes and salted them on both sides. Thinly sliced part of a big red Bermuda onion  洋葱。 Sliced the mantou 馒头 as well. 

 

     

 

 

 

Spread a bit of mayonaise on the bread and put it together. (Mayo and Mustard available at Carrefour or WalMart.) Eat these "open face" Danish style, lettuce on top. Otherwise it gets too thick for anyone except a crocodile to handle. Uncork a bottle of white wine or pop a beer. 

 

     

 

 

Who said you can't have all the comforts of home right here in the Middle Kingdom? Well, you almost can. 

[Michaelyus]

馒头 not toasted? 

 

Reminds me of the "How to eat:" article series.

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When the 馒头 is real fresh, still warm and right from the baker, I eat it as is. If I'm using it on day two, I toast it. Since I don't have a toaster or oven, I use a flat bottom non-stick saute pan 平地不粘锅 with a small amount of olive oil. One could use butter just as well, but I don't usually have it on hand. 

                                                                                                             

That's a good article you linked to, @Michaelyus. I had not read it before. Thanks! 

 

[somethingfunny]

4 hours ago, abcdefg said:

I would not presume to tell you how to cook bacon in the privacy of your own home, but I usually start it in a small amount of water to render and remove some of the fat. 

 

I've never fried bacon like this.  Do you wait for the water to evaporate, or do you boil it for a while and then tip it away to start the frying proper?

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Quote

I've never fried bacon like this.

 

@somethingfunny -- 

I let the water boil away, then allow the frying proper to finish it up and make it crispy. Use medium to low heat throughout. The last part goes very fast. To be truthful, it doesn't really matter much for thin-sliced bacon like I was using today. But if it is thick cut, "county-style" like I prefer to use, it's essential. It keeps the meat from scorching before it gets fully cooked. Also doesn't splatter as much. At the end, I pour off the fat into a jar; keep it in the fridge for later use. 

[somethingfunny]

I'll give it a try.  I don't like thick-cut bacon too much as it tends to be either too chewy or too dry, or both.

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8 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

I'll give it a try. 

 

If nothing else, it for sure reduces splatter. In the US I have a circular fine mesh "splatter-guard lid" I can put on the skillet while the bacon is cooking. Here I don't have one, so reducing splatter by other means becomes that much more important. 

 

The bacon seller from whom I often buy cured meat is the one who told me the water trick. When I buy a thick slab of it from him, I must hand slice it at home with a butcher knife. The results are pieces which are thick and somewhat uneven. This method lets the meat cook without drying out or burning. 

 

[somethingfunny]

Is there a difference between frying cured meat and non-cured meat?  I assume you wouldn't necessarily need to fry the cured version?  We get a lot of smoked bacon here, but you still need to fry that.

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18 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

Is there a difference between frying cured meat and non-cured meat?  I assume you wouldn't necessarily need to fry the cured version?  We get a lot of smoked bacon here, but you still need to fry that.

 

As far as I am aware, one must cook cured Chinese pork before serving. You might not have to cook it as long as if had not been cured. Bacon definitely needs to be boiled or fried, in part to get rid of some of the fat. One exception to that rule would be a very thin slice of air-cured ham 宣威火腿 that has been hung a long time.

 

The same doesn't hold true for beef: air cured beef jerky 牛肉干吧 can be eaten as is. You frequently see people on trains slowly munching sticks of it. But 火腿 and 牛肉干吧 are still usually sliced thin and cooked because it improves their texture, makes them easier to chew. 

 

A major practical advantage of cured meats, be they pork, beef, duck or fish is that they can be safely stored a long time without refrigeration. Months is not uncommon. I've been in countryside farmhouses where they are made by hand in winter hang from the ceiling until late spring or summer. The cook just washes off a piece before using (it gets dusty.) Sausage 腊肠 is handled the same way. 

 

One "raw cured ham" tradition I like a lot is the famous Italian creation, prosciutto and melon. It could be made with 火腿 on 哈密瓜 and I've done it. But it's not popular here for whatever reasons.