mongo_jones

jschyun will back me up here: the korean seafood places on the redondo beach pier are amazing. get the crab and sashimi, and watch bloated corpses of seagulls float past the lines of amateur fishermen while you eat.

What else can it be used for? Just curious... drying underwear?

stuffing okra and finishing the dish in less than 20 minutes? is such a thing possible? merchant is allegedly a fabulous cook--can you describe his approach a little more bhelpuri? what's the other quarter?

since some political stuff is being mentioned here i thought i'd ask this nit-picky question: isn't it the anniversary of the founding of the israel state not its independence? also, forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere: has a new hybrid israeli cuisine emerged which incorporates the foods and flavors of not just western european jews but also those coming from parts russian, indian and spanish?

thank you varmint. i am beginning to think that if something has not been discussed on egullet it doesn't exist.

a grater that works well for ginger and is easy to clean? if you've found one of these things what more can you live for?

that's a good point episure--i should try wasabi with palak. hardcore bengalis may have very fixed ideas about their food anyway--the thought of substituting something japanese for something bengali may just seem like blasphemy.

Specify, how many ml.? Doc, stop drinking beer, come up to the real stuff. 3 pints of wonderful local microbrewery beer. episure-dada, the single-malt is an expensive hobby for us humanities ph.d's. but don't knock beer. i didn't have a true appreciation of it until i encountered the american microbrewery tradition. one of the beers at the brewpub i've been going to--the annapurna amber--would be great with most north indian curries.

anyone buy the eggwave? the home jerky maker? we should have an entire thread on "as seen on television" kitchen gadgets.

if you're cooking bombay duck or jackfruit it might...

bengalis also eat spinach dishes with a divine mustard sauce called "kashondi". american condiment mustard isn't anything like it in texture (and not as sharp either) but try it with alu palak.

if it is anything like dijon you could improvise a bengali mustard fish dish with it. use it in place of mustard paste.

i would like to learn how to make an omlette do the quadruple somersault when i flip it.

are these israeli dishes per se, jason? or just general middle-eastern dishes? or do the israeli takes on them differ markedly from other regional versions?

yes, i can only use wooden spatulas made in india. the american ones don't sit comfortably in my hand and are often too thick. there's a business opportunity here somewhere.

why you should not cook an overly-elaborate meal after drinking 3 beers in 60 minutes: i made 4 dishes for dinner last night. one of them was an alur-dom with peas. when we sat down to eat my wife asked why it had come out so bland this time--i thought about it and said that it might have something to do with the fact that i hadn't cooked it with any spices or salt--just a garlic-ginger-tomato-onion paste.

episure, how patriotic of you to spare our desi ducks and only go after the ones who disrespect national boundaries. maybe throw some cloves and cinnamon in the pot next time? or bring some pre-made crumbled crispily sauteed onions? mongo

You're kidding. Really? Where???? Really the same, completely flat, with the angled edge? I haven't seen a new one like that in at least 10 years. Lots of things that came close, but no actual cigar. I'm with you in terms of the wooden spatula. The only one that I like to use is one I "borrowed" from a former employer about 15 years ago. Mrs JPW brought 2 into the marriage (one of the many reasons I said yes!), but I hate them. They're just not quite right. I love the thinness of the end of mine, and the overall slight curve that makes it easier to use it to flip things and scrape down pot sides. I don't know what I will do when it gives up the ghost. Guard it well! are wooden spatulas really so uncommon in the u.s? in india they are a fact of life--and i have a few dozen in my kitchen drawers. perhaps this is yet more proof of the ancient civilizational wisdom of the indians--or perhaps sign that we came a little later to the age of plastics...

ziplock bags. buy whole chicken--cut it up yourself--save backs, wings etc. for stock in ziplock freezer bags. also good for storing spices. maybe i should think about one of those vacuum thingies for freezer meat and fish. how much do they run?

i could be wrong but i think malayalis might eat duck. east-bengalis too. i'll ask my grandmother if you like.

so, i returned to southern sun this evening for drinks with another colleague. i sampled a number of their selections and settled upon three beers for the evening: the coreshot pale ale, the galloping goose steam, and the annapurna amber (again, since i'd liked it so much the first time out). i usually like to drink only one beer for a session but figured i needed to diversify if i wanted to move on to any other breweries! both the pale ale and the steam were very, very good--and i'd recommend them to first time visitors. i sampled their i.p.a as well--it was good but a little too hoppy for me. i had asked the bartender if their ipa was very hoppy, and he'd said he didn't think it was--but this is a college town, and the bartender was barely 21, so i don't know what that means; it is entirely possible that i am too much of a hop-wimp. (he did tell me though that they essentially have the exact same selection as their older sibling mountain su.) so far the annapurna amber is my favorite. i wish i could go to these place with people like brooks, rich, paul, susan, and others of you here who really know beer much better than i do. like i said earlier, i think i have a very good instinctive beer palate but i'd love to have a true expert explain some of the differences that i perceive to me. perhaps someday we can have an egullet beer forum summit in boulder!

you tip for take-out? (as opposed to delivery) i've actually only done take-out maybe twice in my life, and each time i was told by non-cheapskate american friends that they might leave a couple of bucks (regardless of bill) but even that was generous for the service of basically putting your food in a bag and waiting for you to come pick it up.

how do you figure tips at buffets? at dim sum?

for people wondering about the avery brewing company and if their beers are available in your area: http://www.averybrewing.com/avery/Home

i don't know if you were asking me paul but i am in boulder, colorado where the microbrewery to beer-belly ratio is quite high. the best porters i've had are in bars here. they have that mix of bitter-ness and sweetness you mention. the ones i'd tried in los angeles (where i lived before) tended to be much more on the bitter side. i take it the more bitter porters are closer to the traditional. i'll try the mass-market porters you mention--any thoughts on their particular characteristics? your own porter sounds very good--where is your brewery located?