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Thanks for all the detailed information. I'll check out Ni Hoowa and try and stop by Pho 99. A friend of mine, Ha Nugyen, runs a pho shop here in Belleville and I like to try other people's pho and let him know how he stacks up.

It'd be $30 actually, I'm under 26.

Nothing in paticular. I'll be spending the whole day tomorrow in Buffalo and thought I'd take a look around, see what the US suppliers are bringing in compared to Canadian suppliers. For example, though I am happy with a Thai fish sauce made in the style of Vietnamese fish sauce, called "Three Crabs Brand" I hear US asian markets are more likely to have "real" Vietnamese fish sauce. All the fish sauce available in Ontario are from Thailand.

What I find confusing, is at Slowfood.com Canadian membership is a part of the Australia/New Zealand membership. One would think that if they were to lump Canadian membership in with another country it'd be with the US. $30 Euro for myself is a bit pricey, especially since a lot of its publications are mainly about Australia.

Does Buffalo have a Chinatown? And if so, where is it? Also, has anyone been to the following stores? If so, what did you think? A'Chau 2 Oriental Grocery 833 Niagara St. Buffalo Asian Market 594 Niagara St. Phu Thai Oriental Grocery Store 355 Connecticut St. Sungs Oriental Grocery & Gift Market 850 Niagara Falls Blvd.

Thank you everyone for your detailed responses; and you're right hzrt8w, sour dough starter also goes indefinately. So from now on, I shall keep mine and reuse it. One other question, since particles of what is being braised such as the meat, can come off, would it be a good idea to strain the braising liquid through muslin after each use? Or would that work against the effect you are trying to achieve by reusing the liquid? (EDITED for grammer.)

I am reading a book about the food and culinary techniques of China and I came to the section about Lushui Zhi, which is described as a "master sauce". The book details that it is a meat stock of chicken and pork (or chicken and veal) flavoured with soy sauce, shao xing, rock sugar, scallions, ginger, and star anise (sometimes adding other spices of the traditional five-spice powder). Okay, simple enough. Then it goes on to say that after it is used to braise one dish, it is then kept and reused to braise other dishes day after day, replenishing the spices as needed. My question is, how long can this procedure be maintained until the stock is no longer reusable? The book doesn't say. I'd be surprised to hear that it could be done indefinately. Does anyone here on eGullet have an ongoing Lushui Zhi? If so, how long has it been going for you? In case you're interested, the book is called "The Food of China" by Deh-Ta Hsiung. I have another book by him which is an encyclopedia of sorts covering most Asian ingredients, outlining their culinary use, storage, and how to determine freshness and/or quality. It's kind of like a field guide to Asian markets and food for non-Asians.

Basque cuisine is something to get me really excited about this restaurant. I'm curious, which workman had this info? The carpenter, plumber, or electrician?

I think stickly speaking the term "barbeque" is referring to cooking in slow heat in an oven. When you grill something over open fire, it should be called "grilled". A lot of people mis-labelled their dish. (e.g. "Come to my house to do some barbeque!", and they refer to grilling some hamburger patties on a home "BBQ" stove) ← Okay, but you can cook something slowly on a wood or charcoal fire (ribs are a great example). Has anyone tried making char siu on a charcoal or wood fire, and if so how did it stack up against the oven version?

What I find a little confusing, is everyone so far has referred to Char Siu as BBQ but no one has mentioned cooking it over a charcoal grill or a woodfire.

I wonder if this is a project by Chef Didier Leroy, a renowned French chef previously of The Fifth, Azalea and Auberge Gavroche.

When cutting up the pork, what dimensions have worked best for you? (edited for spelling)

Well the Cooke's Old World Shop (COWS) in Picton has a rival directly accross the street, Taste Your World (TYW). I went to both the other day. TYW has a smaller selection, and doesn't offer cheese and coffee beans like COWS, but the following items (that I bought) were not to be found at COWS in Picton. Fleur de Sel, Hawaiian sea salt, and dried porcini. Also, TYW carried some Asian products, not carried by COWS, but still not as good as local Asian grocers. At COWS I fortified my pantry with some more olive oil and 6 year old Balsamic vinegar. COWS also still has this copper bowl made in France for whisking egg whites. It's $150.00 so I have not bought it (yet), but damn it is tempting!

The only ingredient in LKK's marinade that is not listed in the "spice extract", but I wonder if this isn't just 5-spice powder and possibly MSG.

I have posted a recipe for home made Chinese BBQ pork a little while back. (Recipe here) ← What, exactly, is Chinese Marinade? One could easily make their own, has anyone tried it? EDIT: From Lee Kum Kee's site: Chinese Marinade Lee Kum Kee Chinese Marinade is a ready-to-use natural cooking sauce made from an exotic blend of selected Chinese spices. Use this marinade to poach chicken, goose or other meat dishes. Package Size : 14 fl oz, 24 fl oz Ingredients : Water, Sugar, Soy Sauce ( Water, Salt, Soybean, Wheat Flour ), Salt, Spice Extract, Caramel Color.

There also seems to be one in Mississauga.

In a jar. The brandname, I think, is Zamboanga, which is also the name of a Philippine peninsula. It is processed by the Cathay Pacific Multi-Commodities Corp. I already tried googling "Zamboanga" but nothing was found concerning a brand of shrimp paste.

What might that be, please? ← OOPS! I meant Philippine, not Indonesian. Anyway, it is just called "Shrimp Paste (normal)" and its ingridients include shrimp, salt, corn oil, vinegar, sugar, onion garlic, and good old sodium benzoate. And yes, that is "onion garlic", not "onion, garlic". The stuff is a bit chunky, brown like blachan, looser consistency than the purple shrimp paste in Chinese cooking, and has has a mild aroma of shrimp and garlic.

This is a staple in my house, and Dejah is right; it only stinks to non-converts. A Vietnamese friend of mine, who is a chef, refuses to use it in his home because of the smell, but I don't think it is that bad. Certainly not as bad as a durian. I find once it hits the hot pan or food, or is mixed into a marinade (and the jar lid is back on) the "smell" is gone. One thing I won't do is mix it as is into a bowl of cooked rice to flavour it, which is popular in places like Thailand. EDIT: If the smell is really too bad, there is a similar Indonesian condiment but I find that it has no flavour and is far too oily.

I tried Lucky Brand once and didn't like it. This may be interesting to note, a local Philipine grocer says Lucky Brand is his best seller (compared to Squid Brand), but a local Vietnamese grocer refuses to carry it and he carries more brands of fish sauce than you can shake an anchovie at.

Alright. Well I've been able to guarantee that weekend is free for me, so I am definately going.

So do we even know for sure that if we plan something he'll participate? If he's coming to a Chapters it sounds like a book signing. In Vancouver, it was more than just a book signing, wasn't it? You know, we could try and lure him to one of Toronto's finest sushi restaurants and see if we can get his support against the government's attempts at instituting those new regulations.

Thanks for both your replies, especially yours phaelon56. I acctually just printed out your reply and handed it to my wife.

I have talked my wife into getting my an espresso maker, or even an espresso and cappuccino maker, for Christmas. Can any one recommend any good brands or models? Not professional models, but something to be used at home by an enthusiast.

Really? Their website only lists locations in Peterborough, Kingston, Ottawa, Nepean, and Brockville. Doesn't matter though, Kingston is very close and I go their for music CDs even. (47,000 and Belleville cannot even produce a decent music store, why? ) I know there is one place here in Belleville called the Trent Valley Dist. Centre and is a "restaurant supply store" but all they really carry is paper towls, cheap aluminum bowls, the cheapest brand of Henckles knives, and squeeze bottles. Jayt90, thankfully I have knives taken care of. I have a set of Wustof classics. I am just looking for miscellanious stuff.