KennethT

What is the seasoning on the chicken?

I didn't realize that cake flour had corn starch added.... I don't think my typical cake flour has it... http://smartlabel.swansdown.com/product/4199979/ingredients?_gl=1*x3hyo*_ga*OTg1NzExODUxLjE3MTI4NTU1ODQ.*_ga_RZ14C79VEE*MTcxMjg1NTU4My4xLjEuMTcxMjg1NTYwNy4zNi4wLjA.

I use potato starch and corn starch interchangeably - mostly for coatings to be fried or for thickening stir fries or mapo tofu.

Yeah, the Thai mangoes are more than the Vietnamese ones. We usually prefer them green, so most probably as soon as possible. Depending on the stage when they were picked, even if you let it ripen fully on the counter, it will be a pale reflection of what it should be and would have been better to eat green. But if they were ripe enough on the tree, then I'd wait until they soften and the skin just starts to wrinkle.

Are those fish edible? They kinda look like plastic but maybe it's some kind of sculpted dough?

@blue_dolphinAre there any botulism concerns with the storage of the rinds in the oil?

We went out to Queens for an event, so we stopped off at a good Indonesian restaurant. Ayam bakar padang. Grilled chicken first stewed in a spice paste. Ikan balado - mackerel first fried then covered with a green chili sambal. Kangkung belacan - water spinach with chilis, shrimp paste, tomato, shallots etc.

Lately I've been on a Radiohead kick - mostly the older stuff.... OK Computer and The Bends.

I think it is specified in the Talmud to bake it soon after mixing so that it resembles what was made while leaving Egypt back then since, according my my Maxwell House Hagaddah, they didn't have time for it to rise. Prior to the leaving of Egypt, they had always eaten leavened bread of some kind - I'd assume some kind of leavened flat bread kind of like naan. So now, at Passover, we eat unleavened bread to symbolize what the Israelites had to eat while leaving Egypt since they didn't have time for it to rise. I'm just questioning the logic there - they had plenty of time for dough to sit around - they were walking in a caravan every day and most probably made camp at night to sleep. So I see no reason why they couldn't have either mixed the dough at night for it to leaven while they were sleeping, or mix it in the morning before packing up and have it rise during the travel time. In the heat of the day, I'd assume it would get quite a bit of lift in 12-14 hours or so of walking.

What I don't understand (and this is a bit OT) but why didn't they have more time for the dough to rise before baking? They had time enough to mix the dough - they could have done that while the caravan was getting ready to leave in the morning and then left the dough in baskets to ferment while they were moving. Then, when settled for the day, once the fire was built, they could bake the now leavened dough and save us in the future from eating cardboard once a year.

Technically, I don't know what's unhealthy about plain matzah - it's just flour, water and salt, baked within 14 minutes (that's from memory, don't quote me) of mixing. Plus, the cardboard-like texture ensures that you don't eat too much of it!

My cousin makes a fried matzoh every year for Passover that is fried in cottonseed oil then salted. It's 1000x better than plain, but still barely edible.

@BonVivantThanks so much for this. Your love for Japan is so evident from your photos and writings - you make me want to put it higher on my always lengthening destination list.

Try eating some cardboard packaging material. That's close enough.

<joke> these look a lot smaller than the ones on Arrakis </joke>