|
Post by Printehr on Apr 14, 2008 21:39:34 GMT -5
Ah yes, the infamous Chor Bakh... the only D'ni food we have a real lead on. The Book of Ti'ana mentions Aitrus being served Chor Bakh and Ikah Nijuehts, one of which was a meat filled roll. Now, it was never explicitly stated which one it was, but the fan community has to the best of my knowledge defined Chor Bakh as the rolls and left Ikah Nijuehts an unidentified recipe. A while back a fan posted a homemade recipe here. While I've yet to try making it myself yet, I think with a little bit of tweaking it could be perfect. The main thing I want to fix is the roll itself- that recipe calls for Pillsbury crescent rolls. The perfectionist in me wants to adapt this for homemade dough. Below are a few recipes for homemade dinner rolls... any thoughts? www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_18350,00.html www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,164,144180-248203,00.html www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1754,128177-241198,00.html www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,184,149172-245203,00.html
|
|
|
Post by soniclight on Apr 25, 2008 20:10:14 GMT -5
I'm not sure about the dinner rolls, but there is a thought as to something similar to the Chor Bakh in real life (at least to me). I'm really into Asian cuisine and every time I read about the Chor Bakh in the Book of Ti'ana I think of the pork buns and vegetable buns. It sounds like the same basic concept (A roll of dough in a semi circular form with meat in the middle or fruit pastes etc), so what if you tracked down the recipe for those? You might have a premade recipe for Chor Bakh already! Hope I helped! Andrew
|
|
|
Post by ryuutenshi on Apr 26, 2008 11:28:07 GMT -5
I'm not sure about the dinner rolls, but there is a thought as to something similar to the Chor Bakh in real life (at least to me). I'm really into Asian cuisine and every time I read about the Chor Bakh in the Book of Ti'ana I think of the pork buns and vegetable buns. It sounds like the same basic concept (A roll of dough in a semi circular form with meat in the middle or fruit pastes etc), so what if you tracked down the recipe for those? You might have a premade recipe for Chor Bakh already! Hope I helped! Andrew See, I've actually had those meat buns (bought off the streets of Kyoto no less!) but I don't feel they're what Chor Bakh should be. The dough is very gooey, whereas I see Chor Bakh being somewhat flakey. Really I think we should try philo or some other thin Greek pasty instead of pilsbury...
|
|
|
Post by Printehr on Apr 26, 2008 16:22:13 GMT -5
Welcome to the Guild, Soniclight! Hope to see you stick around and help us uncover some of the D'ni's culinary secrets! ;D
I too am an Asian food nut (really only Chinese; not to say I don't like Japanese or Thai etc., its just that traditional Chinese food is the only field in which I have any real knowledge), and I think you're referring to bao. If so, Ryuu's right: they're rather doughy. This is because they're not baked, they're steam-cooked.
They do however look like how I envision chor bakh to look like. I suppose if you bake it rather than steam-cook it, and use a different meat (the original fan recipe suggests lamb, and for some reason I can't really explain I think that's more "D'ni" than chicken or pork), it could be an excellent recreation of the original D'ni recipe.
Ryuu, this is where you and me part ways (a shame, too, cause up to now we've had near-identical opinions on D'ni food!). Rather than flaky and thin, I see it as the opposite- chewy and filling, just like the meat encased in it. If one cared to get exotic with it, you could add spices to the dough so that the end result tasted even more unique.
|
|
|
Post by soniclight on Apr 26, 2008 23:17:44 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome I hope to be able to help out. I can cook pretty well, I just don't cook often (no motivation), but I want to do some more cooking and why not start off with unique recipes, right? Anyway, I never tried them baked (I am one with my bamboo steamer), so I couldn't say if they would have a different consistency or not, something to test out. As for the lamb from the original recipe; I think the creator just wanted to make something that was less common in day-to-day use. Beef or pork might be the most convenient to use (price and availability), but lamb is something that is used a little more sparingly due to the normally ridiculous prices and slim availability. My room mate and I use lamb a lot because we've been finding some great prices, so it's not really unique in my household, but I digress. And finally, the outside "shell". I think this, like the meat, would be a personal preference. Whenever I think of it, I think of my pork and vegetable buns. Always have. Probably always will. But I can also see something a little crispier, maybe not philo, but maybe a little more solid than the pork buns. I might try out baking some of the ones I have in the freezer, see how they turn out. They might, in fact, be what we need to get this recipe closer to reality. I'll let you know what I find!
|
|
|
Post by Printehr on Apr 27, 2008 17:34:30 GMT -5
I completely agree with you on how lamb is only one possibility for the meat filling: the D'ni didn't get their food from the Surface, and its probable that they used an animal that's not even found on Earth. So anything we use to stand in for it is an approximation. Beef, pork, chicken, lamb- it's all good. That said, I think I'll make my first batch with lamb, cause it feels more D'ni to me than pork or beef. ;D The whole Middle Eastern vibe D'ni culture's got going on has probably got something to do with it. Here's are two recipes for baked bao buns, if anyone's curious to try one. The filling in the recipe is a Chinese one for barbecued pork, so just replace that with the meat filling recipe from the original Chor Bakh recipe, replacing lamb with whatever meat you like best. www.recipeland.com/recipe/1183/visualrecipes.com/recipe-details/recipe_id/264/Baked-Char-Siu-Bao----Buns-With-Minced-BBQ-Pork/It'll be a little while before I can try this, but when I do I was also considering baking spices into the dough- real subtly, almost too little to taste. I'm not sure how it'll turn out though, so it's strictly experimental until I finish it and make adjustments accordingly.
|
|
|
Post by soniclight on Apr 27, 2008 19:35:46 GMT -5
Cumin! For the dough I mean, it definitely has the Middle Eastern flare. And it tastes awesome anyway...and nutmeg...spices on the brain...
|
|
|
Post by Printehr on Apr 28, 2008 11:26:18 GMT -5
Can anyone else think of something to add to/change about this recipe, to keep it from being "too Chinese" or "too Middle Eastern"? And while we're doing that, let's engage in rampant speculation about ihkhah nihjuhehts. It's the "nihjuhehts" part that gets me... its so close to the English "nuggets" that I can't help but think of chicken fingers. Any more plausible theories on what they might be? And is nihjuhehts an English plural of nihjuheht, or is it a singular food ending in -ts?
|
|
|
Post by soniclight on Apr 28, 2008 13:46:36 GMT -5
Wait...what is ihkhah nihjuhehts and where did you find them? I'm not familiar with the term and I'm hoping it's not from Book of Ti'ana because I have a lot of other books to read and don't need an excuse to reread it
|
|
|
Post by ryuutenshi on Apr 28, 2008 15:05:36 GMT -5
A friend of mine suggested that it might be a wrap of some kind. I really don't know though. It does seem like finger food.
And yes, it's in the Book of Ti'ana, I'm pretty sure, but it's in like chapter 1. the first time you meet Aitrus or some such.
Speaking of wraps, I've been tossing about an idea concerning the Maintainers and Gahreesen.
|
|
|
Post by Printehr on Apr 28, 2008 15:10:29 GMT -5
The Maintainers were mummies?
|
|
|
Post by ryuutenshi on Apr 28, 2008 15:31:36 GMT -5
The Maintainers were mummies? Hahaha, no. I meant something small, convinent, portable, and nutritious.
|
|
|
Post by soniclight on Apr 28, 2008 17:30:24 GMT -5
That makes sense. They'd need a day trip item, or maybe even an MRE. You know, those military food kits that had a sealed packet of some meat with sauce (like a pork with bbq sauce) and some sort of desert, and they had a small package with salt, pepper, a wet wipe, a mint. It all got packed up in a single convenient package. I know that's more presentation than contents, but I can imagine the Maintainers using something like that. And yes, it's in the Book of Ti'ana, I'm pretty sure, but it's in like chapter 1. the first time you meet Aitrus or some such. *grumbles* I don't remember that. While I love the books, I read them a LOT, and wanted to take some time for them to refresh before I read them again.
|
|
|
Post by Printehr on Apr 29, 2008 11:31:35 GMT -5
I like the idea of Maintainer wraps. I have difficulty seeing the D'ni using foil packets, but they could have easily used cloth or even boxing it.
Ryuu, what kind of wrap are you thinking of? Pita or tortilla? And what contents would the contents be like?
|
|
|
Post by ryuutenshi on May 1, 2008 21:44:45 GMT -5
I like the idea of Maintainer wraps. I have difficulty seeing the D'ni using foil packets, but they could have easily used cloth or even boxing it. Ryuu, what kind of wrap are you thinking of? Pita or tortilla? And what contents would the contents be like? I was actually thinking like a tortilla. Pita always falls apart too fast. And REAL pita (the good, fresh-baked stuff) isn't really as travel-friendly as you'd think (it goes stale REAL fast.) The contents would have to be nutritious, easy to digest, but at the same time pretty tasty. My initial idea was actually involving cedar plank salmon filling, along with some sort of cilantro sauce and then some sort of vegetables, simply because that's what the landscape makes me think of *laughs*.
|
|