kangarool

I don't know the answer to your question about what's "right" or authentic consistency in its place of origin, but I do know what I like... as beautifully creamy and rich as possible. So, yes, those tending toward a bit of "soupiness" are my preference, authentic or otherwise. There’s some elusive point in the process, or some ingredient, or something that makes a spectacular risotto, while all the rest is just boiled rice. The best way to describe it is that the ‘creamy liquid’ is not just its consistency, creamy, but also intensely flavoured. Seafood generally imparts the most flavour, for me... And I've never found that elusive ‘something’ when making it at home. I’ve never been able to quite match the best risotto I’ve had in good restaurants, never quite got it to that top level at home, no matter which rice I use, no matter which pan i use, no matter how good a stock I've made, no matter how much butter I do or don’t add. Having said that, I rarely find it done really well, except in v. nice restaurants, and even then it’s still a gamble. I had a tragic (and tragically expensive) one a few nights ago, that was full of overcooked duck and some sickly-sweet orange reduction… awful. Wish I knew the secret of the best ones…

Thanks guys, those are some great suggestions. It makes me comfortable that I'll essentially have the same quality in the fish that I'd have, if I were able to use it immediately. That was my main concern, that buying it 'too early' would be all for nought by the time I got it home. Now i just need to find some fresh wasabi rather than the tube, not sure how easy it will be to find. BTW torakris, I made your Nikujyaga from the eGCI this weekend, it worked out spectacularly! Well, actually, I turned it into a gyudon (are the two synonymous?), just with beef and onions, and it worked out perfectly... just needed some oshinko to accompany it (which I'm going to go visit its forum now to learn how to make them). thanks again/kanga

I've searched the Japan forum for this topic and didn't see it, so apologies if I'm retreading old ground. I'm just wondering what's the best way, and what time constraints are there, to keeping a nice slab of sashimi-grade tuna as fresh as possible? More specifically: I'm lucky enough to have a spectacular fresh fish market on my way to work from home. Most stalls offer beautiful looking tuna (and all other basic sashimi fishes). It opens very early, and finishes around midday. So, I can't get the tuna on the way home, to make sushi or sashimi at home like i want to. If I were to pick it up early in the morning, will it stay essentially good enough by dinnertime? If so, should I just chuck it in the fridge at work? Is there a better way, maybe icing it down until i take it home? Would the same storage details apply to all sashimi fishes? I'm under no illusions it will be as perfect as when i bought it, but then again, it obviously was stored for a little while at least, on the way to the market itself. Thanks for any advice and tips you can provide, everyone.

I'm surprised that Roo isn't more prevalent than it actually is... I reckon that if you put a beautifully prepared steak down in front of my father, told him it was a nice cut of beef, he wouldn't bat an eye. To me, the only absolute when it comes to kangaroo is that it be cooked/served quite rare. My suspicion w/r/t its lack of prevalence is simply to do with its cultural/iconic status... and the cute little furry personality. Lots of people find it a bit hard to swallow once they're told they've just stuck a fork in Skippy! - kanga

Stevea, I’m sure it’s the quality of the packaged noodles getting in the way, not your ability to set the cooking time on your microwave! Depending on how keen you are, you could attempt to make them yourself. I’ve never attempted it, so I don’t know how tricky or possibly even impossible to make at home, but it sounds as if you’re close to the noodle breaking point! There’s a thread on eGullet forums that delves into do-it-yourself-noodling, Cooking Fresh Rice Noodles Shiewie even linked a recipe and technique to make your own, which doesn’t appear to require any overly-exotic ingredients or techniques. Shiewie seems the font of wisdom on these topics, so she may be able to point you to other resources, Google doesn’t return a plethora of Fresh Rice Noodle Making recipes, to my surprise. As for the Thai restaurant visits, my bet is that they’re either making their own noodles each day or week, in which case they might be happy to sell you a pound or two for a buck or two, for you to take home and cook yourself. And, never having been to Portland, I don’t know, but surely it’s geography and history means there’s a Chinatown or at least predominantly Asian area of town of some size? If so, you’ll almost certainly find some Asian grocers or shops, and in at least a couple of these you’re almost sure to find boxes of variously-sized rice noodles and rice noodle sheets. There are few things in life I love more than a big bowl of fresh rice noodles cooked in almost any manner, so best of luck on the hunt.

I remember reading in The Age it was simply ratings driven. Apparently, almost literally NO ONE in aussie watched the thing. It was up against some other killer, like the hemi-quarter-semi-finals of Australian Idull or something. Frankly, as someone who was so completely looking forward to it, I actually found it pretty boring too... but surely it didn't help that Jamie basically did the same thing for the three months previous? It just felt far too similar to hold up, at least judging from the one episode they aired. And Jamie invaded Australian TV and media years ago, so his was far more of known entity. Rocco, despite years of hype and fame in New York and the States, is a complete and utter unknown to the average Australian punter. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about food shows on Australian TV, there's been a pretty reasonable surge over the past six months. Best of all, as a transplanted New Yorker, I'm now getting Bourdain's Cooks Tour (on Discovery, on Foxtel, Saturday arvos) AND IRON CHEF!!!! on SBS. In the same month! That's food TV bliss.

Maybe this extension of Buddha's original question could help kickstart the thread. Can anyone help me with the following quest: I'm in the very early stages of planning a 10 day or 2 week trip to Shanghai and surrounds. Like all my travel, I'm basically going there to eat. I'm not really terribly interested in fine dining while there. Street food/daily life/local flavour and character is more my interest. I suppose the equivalent is, if I went to New York, I'd hit Jane's Corner Bistro for a burger, rather than Jean Georges (quite possibly even if I had the money! Well... OK, i'd go to both) Are there any spots I should definitely seek out, not miss? Any local 'institutions' to track down?

Ondine, or anyone on this board, do you have a favourite recipe for the sauce for Saar (also called Char?) Hor Fun? Living in Melbourne, and working in Footscray, I'm lucky to have literally dozens of Chinese, Vietnamese and other Asian shops, bakeries and noodlemakers all around, so the fresh noodles are easy to come by. But I’ve yet to find a recipe for the beautiful eggy gravy in seafood hor fun. I’ve gotten very close just replicating by taste. After I give the noodles a quick wokking with a bit of soy, I’ll take them out, cook a bit of seafood and veggies, then add a sauce of chicken stock, a bit more soy, white pepper, cornflour/corn starch and after that’s cooked and thickened, a bunch of minced garlic at the end, so that it doesn’t cook too much. And the beaten egg… but I’m unsure when to add. I’m guessing also at the very end, so that it doesn’t cook too long and stays somewhat ‘liquid’ for want of a better word. Like I said, it’s close, but something’s missing… anyone suggest anything? And Steve, on the noodles, it still sounds as if they’re not getting a proper ‘breakdown’ in the hot water. I always found the packaged rice noodles far more rubbery than fresh, as if they’d been ‘preserved’ somehow, or reconstituted at best. All I can suggest is, rather than hot tap water or microwave, try dunking them in rolling boiling water for a minute or two at least. I reckon that the frying part of fresh noodles is to coat them in flavour, not really change their texture substantially. So, if they’re not soft and supple and slippery before they go in the wok, they’re not going to be when they come out. You may want to experiment with different noodle-softening techniques, and dispense with the rest of the dish until you’re happy with your noodles. BTW, I’ve found this book, Noodle, by Terry Durack helpful in noodle technique and description, plus lots of good recipes (but not for saar hor fun!) Good luck mate

This topic and all the posts, has sparked a realisation on an aspect of my culinary preferences and indeed, an ongoing passion in my life, that I’d never before really noticed or considered; Growing up in Wichita, Kansas, U S of A, is very likely the single most diametrically opposed spot on the world’s map from China –certainly culturally, if not geographically. Yet, only now have I realised that the love I have – culinary lust, at times, even – for Chinese and Asian foods and culture may well have been spawned by those garish, bland and weirdly-packaged-two-cans-taped-together-veggies-in-one-beef-gravy-in-the-other, yes you guessed it La Choy (or was it Chung King) "Beef" "Chow" "Mein". Yeah, I ATE the hamburgers. The Spaghetti. The Jello "Salad." The fried chicken. The chicken fried steak (d’oh!). But what I always wanted to have was the Chow Mein! Initially, just the stuff out of the (well, both) can(s) – but it grew from there. I remember once, there was a little tipped-on Recipe Booklet, so you could throw your very own "Chinese Party" (featuring, of course, La Choy – or was it Chung King? – products in each and every item – can’t remember what product they tried to push when it came to Drinks). Anyway, one La Choy thing led to another, and pretty soon, I was pressing Mom for a wok, like the Recipe Booklet suggested. She got me one, and soon I was stir-frying pretty much anything that I imagined might be "chinese." In time, I discovered Chinese restaurants, cookbooks, Chinatown, and travel to Asia. Silly story, but it is interesting to reflect on how one crappy tin of "Chow Mein" may have been the origin of a passion that I’d later investigate, experiment with, and travel widely for – even if I’d now never dream of unwrapping tape between the two cans, let alone consume the contents. Anyone and everyone who enjoys, loves, craves, cooks and cares about good food surely has their own version of The Spark, painful as it may be to admit. Thanks Eddie, and everyone, for the occasion to contemplate. (Note to La Choy or Chung King Corporation, if you still exist: permission denied to use this anecdote for claims of authenticity, inspiration or any other promotional means.)

Thanks for the posts Shiewie, heaps new stuff to track down! This seems a good chance to ask something I’ve been wondering: Here in Melbourne, in a few Malaysian lunch spots, I always go for what they call "Ipoh Style Noodles." It seems to be pretty much the same as Hor Fun, with the beautiful slippery rice noodles, seafood and egg gravy. But is there something special about the Ipoh part of the name that would make it different? I don’t remember the dish jumping out at me during a short trip to Ipoh and Cameron Highlands… maybe it’s just an Aussie/Malaysian thing? Also, is Char Kuey Teow found with equal ease all over Malaysia? Or do you only find it so prevalently in Penang? As you may have gleaned, I love nothing more than a big fat heaping steaming bowl of big fat slippery rice noodles.

Could very well be wrong, but I would tend to agree with FG's last few posts ... that any correlation of Fast Food's dominance over the past 40 years, with the appreciation for and availability of good (ie fresh, locally grown) food over the same time, is, yes, related in time, but likely not in cause. But I'd concede that my comments were far too sweeping -- that if there's "bad food" in the world, that BK, McD and the rest are singularly responsible for it. Still... surely they haven't helped.

That was about my children. I suggest you read what was posted again, because I don't think you got the point. Re: the figs, I was referring more to Tommy’s reply to casting@philacast.com, posted Oct 6 2003, 12:29 PM: Casting: but I've yet to not be able to find a market, buy some bread, a piece of cheese, a hunk of salami and some fruit. That'll do for lunch or dinner. Hjshorter: (But we don’t all have) the desire to unload both kids from their carseats and into the stroller, then back again once lunch is purchased, then steer said stroller while balancing a bag or two and drinks. When I'm out running errands it's nice to be able to get a sandwich without leaving the car, especially when it's raining Tommy: yeah, not to mention kids just love a baguette, some figs, and a bit of salami for lunch. The only point I was trying to make in this regard was, maybe kids don’t have a taste for "a baguette, some figs, and a bit of salami for lunch" is BECAUSE the massively dominant choices for food inculcated upon them at nearly every turn for the past several decades are overwhelmingly sugary cereals, drinks, and fatty salty "happy" meals. So while I don’t disagree with either your or Tommy’s remark; I’m simply trying to point out that the humour in his remark may have a not-so-funny root cause. Admittedly, my point is very much a question, not a fact.

I’ve only now gotten to the last post on this topic. I started reading about 3 days ago. I might have gotten here sooner, were it not for having to wade through the bizarre and deeply annoying posts by the Snoop Dog Wannabe - whups, ‘shizzle diz dizzle, inc.’ I meant. Anyway. Let me quickly add my voice and opinion to the original, fascinating topic: • RB, BK, CC, et. al. There’s no question as to whether he was wrong or is a sellout and a hypocrite – he made a choice that confirms, in fact, defines that he is. Whatever. That’s life. But easy money comes at a cost, and I believe Chef’s Collaborative should articulate a stand one way or the other: "no thanks Rick, you’re not the ‘one of us’ you said you were." Or, "we agree with his point, the Chef’s Collaborative firmly believes the the Burger King Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich is indeed a step in the right direction." And while that may be a harsh choice, at least he’ll understand that the easy money he made comes at a heavy price. I also have no doubt that his letters and interviews are undoubtedly spin. And even though I don’t live in Chicago, have never and probably will never go to his restaurant or to Burger King, it does affect me: 1) He’s promoting and advocating mediocrity in food and cooking. That affects me. For those who agree with this Step In the Right Direction, I ask you to answer, in all honesty: do you really believe this promotion is truly a step toward his "dream" of Burger King Venison Sandwiches with a side of Taro Chips and a nice glass of Zinfandel? I’ll pay you TRIPLE his BK payout if it happens in the next 15 years. I’ll take just 10% of the payout if it doesn’t. Any takers? 2) It also affects me personally: I have a young daughter who I want to have learn and appreciate the value of good quality food, and the pleasure to be had by cooking. By seeking to promote the mediocrity and easy options provided by Burger King, he’s trying to help, just a little bit, make BK and its ilk even MORE entrenched, not less. That is unconscionable action by anyone who cares about good food, but nauseatingly so, given his calibre and profile. Whomever posted the funny "Great, my kids would just love some figs bread and salami for lunch" actually proves the point… the people who create, promote and patronise BK and the rest have altered the world’s appreciation of taste downward, because the creators/promoters make more money by doing so, and the 4-hour-television-watching patrons perpetuate it. I know there will always be Burger King. I know it will never really get any better than cheap and mediocre. I know gajillions of people will always go there, and actually enjoy it. But, on the original topic, Rick and BK, there’s no question: his actions are not helping, they’re hurting. Now. One more related thing: I could be owing a lot of people triple Rick’s payout: MCDONALD'S REPORTS SURGING SALES CEO Is Lovin' It October 22, 2003 CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- McDonald's Corp. today reported strong performance for the third quarter and the nine months ended Sept. 30. The world's largest fast-food marketer reported net income rose 12% to $547.4 billion. Sales at stores open 13 months or more surged 9.5% in the U.S. during the quarter, driven by sales of premium salads (emphasis mine), "McGriddle" breakfast sandwiches and items from the chain's dollar menu. http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=39006 Is it possible? Could that 4-hour-television-watching patron actually learn to prefer something "good" over something "bad" or mediocre? Or is it the old Salad Bar Guilt-Relieving Hypocrisy (load your 'salad' with bacon, deep fried ‘croutons’, fat dressing, etc), whereby McDs has created the ultimate marketing gimmick: give people a healthy "out", the salad, and they’ll pay for both the salad ("I’m bein’ healthy!) AND the 4 Big Macs they eat afterward? That's it. Whew. Talk about 3 days to get through something. Whups, just one more thing: each and every post of a picture of the sandwich in question is missing … did BK come down hard on eGullet or something? Just curious. Living in Australia, there's no Step In The Right Direction Sandwich on the menus to try.

howdy everyone. Not to take the topic too off-topic, but, do any of you rice-noodle lovers have a good recipe for seafood hor fun? The noodles and seafood bit are obviously just what they are, but I'd love to replicate the yummy sauce/gravy ... the ones I like are usually lightly coloured but strongly flavoured, and thickened a bit with, i presume, cornflour/cornstarch. All the recipes I've googled for don't really seem right. thanks to anyone with any information/kanga