prasantrin

Did you use whole wheat pastry flour or regular whole wheat flour? I read the comments, and not a one (though I only looked at 4 out of 7 pages of comments) complained about dryness or lack of chocolate flavour. I suspect the problem was in execution rather than the recipe, itself. If you're looking for "rich" and "decadent", I'd be looking for recipes that call for almond flour. Lower glycemic than recipes using all-purpose flour, though really, very few cake recipes out there are healthful. So you're sort of fooling yourself into thinking you can make a cake that is. If you want a moist cake that uses whole wheat flour, you're going to have to up the fat content--hardly making it more healthful.

And it was pretty darn yummy too! Almost enough to make one want to change teams. It's the people who eat raw beaver that you have to worry about!

I don't know about the HK branch, but matcha is included in the meal at the Tokyo branch. Water, however, was extra (and quite a hefty extra considering it's just water).

In my line of work, that has a very very different meaning ....

You'll have to do a google search for places in your area (or her area if she does not live near you) that provide that service. No one here even knows what country you live in--how can we recommend a place to you?

to further press for an osaka side-trip, one of the most interesting food-related things I did in Japan was to make instant ramen from scratch at the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. You'd need a Japanese person to go along with you, but it was really quite fun. Sake factory tours are also interesting. the last one I did was set up by a former student (at her family's sake factory), but there are probably others that are open to the public. Again, talk to your concierge if you have one. Along with sake, whiskey factory tours are quite fun, too.

Furthermore, May is not really the best time for unagi, but if you really want some, try to get wild unagi. Obana or Nodaiwa might have some, but it's not as common as it used to be. You may not be able to find any, and don't bother if you can't get wild. (well, i'd still bother because I love unaju, but if you're looking for the "best", then don't bother if you can't get wild) Maybe ask your concierge to recommend a place. There is actually at least one michelin-starred yakitori place. So if you're looking for foods that are not likely to be michelin-ed, skip yakitori. chow.com is one of the few boards with a comparatively active Japan board. Do a search first and narrow down your selections before asking any questions (if you do). They get tired of answering the same things over and over again. craploads of okonomiyaki places out there. My favourite is actually in Kobe, not Tokyo. If you're after okonomiyaki, at least take a side trip to Osaka (or kobe). You'll get better okonomiyaki there.

Tonki has never been the best tonkatsu. It's good, but certainly not the best. Even a chain like Katsukura is as good if not (at times) better than Tonki. Most tonkatsu is at the very least good, but if you can try Butagumi if you're interested in better cuts of pork. That's really all that makes the difference between excellent tonkatsu and good tonkatsu.

I suspect a cake mix would suit your needs just fine. Your teacher might appreciate it, anyway.

Stop "dieting". Eat smaller portions and less "crappy" food. I have a hard time understanding why North Americans insist on dieting. There are many cultures in this world that eat far tastier food than the average American / Canadian yet the people of that culture are generally healthy and not overweight. Japan, Thailand, China, Korea, France, Italy ... From my experience, I know I can follow a typical Japanese diet (which does not mean eating Japanese food exclusively, but as a person in Japan eats) in Japanese portion sizes and lose weight (every time I returned to Japan, I would lose 10 pounds and maintain that loss through my stay).

Lee Valley carries them.

My guess is that you've never lived in, or been a part of, a culture where people are far more direct and are much less concerned about covering up the obvious. "Fat" isn't an insult in all cultures (words have different connotations in different languages). And like I said, I'd rather expend my energies over things that are more important to me. Mountain. Molehill. At least in my world.

Like I said, it's only an insult if you perceive it as such, otherwise it's merely a statement of fact. Clearly those three women were insulted by it, so for that they were owed an apology. Had they been refused service because of their size (ethnicity, gender, religion, etc.), it would have been a far more egregious offense. And as someone who has experienced both types of offenses (slurs as well as actions) because of her ethnicity, I'd rather save my anger/indignation/self-righteousness for the latter type rather than the former. It's all about frame of reference, I suppose.

But what if you got labeled this way? http://www.huffingto..._n_1146266.html I'm still not either of those, and those are not words in the language of either of my immediate forebears. In one of the languages of my immediate forebears, those words don't even exist. I would with Emily_R but take it further by saying that being overweight (not just as a woman, but as a person) "is inextricably tied to judgment and public shaming." But you are only shamed if you allow yourself to be shamed. "Fat" is only a bad word if you interpret it as such. It only has a negative judgment if you allow it to have one. So if you think being fat is a bad thing, and if you perpetuate those inferences, then yes, what Jeff wrote on the bill was wrong. However, I do not agree that referring to people by physical characteristics is wrong. Perhaps on a restaurant bill, there should have been other less controversial ways of describing the table (such as table numbers, but it's possible this particular restaurant didn't use table numbers), but in life in general, I challenge anyone to go throughout a week without having to describe a person (at least once) by using physical characteristics of any kind. There is nothing wrong with it unless you happen to be one of the people described by George Carlin in his definition of euphemisms. Then you'll find everything wrong with it.

Well, if you count places like the bars at the Cheesecake Factory and the like, then there are at least a few. Bubba Gump, Hooter's, etc. etc. They're not cocktail bars, but they are restaurants with bars that serve cocktails.

If the receipt had said "brunettes" would it have been as bad? What if it had said "obese women" or "corpulent women"? Both are more neutral terms rather than the (usually perceived as) more judgmental "fat". What if it had said "Hispanic women"? Yeah, it's not nice being called fat, and I'm fat (or at least chubby), so I know. But here's the thing--I am fat. Should I be angry that someone describes me as I am? (I'm also SE Asian, so if someone were to describe me as "that Asian chick" I probably wouldn't be insulted. If someone called me a "chink", I would be offended because it's an established racial slur, and also because I am not Chinese.)

Using fish sauce in non-Asian dishes is hardly groundbreaking. At the very least, it can be used in pretty much anything where anchovies are used (some recipes for caesar salad, for example). Along the same lines, and I've suggested this before, nuoc cham is an excellent condiment for rib roast or grilled steak.

I'm in Canada and I have easy access to stores which sell it. LMK.

Just an fyi, in my experience, the LKK in the bottle can be used as is, but some of the jarred ones (I thought I saw a post of one with a blue and yellow label--that's the one we use--but I must have imagined it) taste better when cooked with a little oil. Don't know about the one liuzhou posted, but that's just been my experience.

Maybe since you need to get rid of the tickets, you could cover the $10 transfer fee as a gesture to whomever purchases them.

I suspect the Winnipeg version of the Heartland Gathering is likely a pipe dream (unless you want to organize it)! If you come for the workshop we can probably make sure you get lots of nice food and wine. The idea it may happen is more along the lines of a delusion than a pipe dream, methinks, unless an eG staffer wants to organize it. But, Tri2Cook, I'd be happy to plan a weekend of eating with you if you find your way here. (Plymouth gin is still $26 here.)

You really should have some of the tiny dried salted shrimp in there, or at least some shrimp paste. It makes a big difference, and it's likely one of the ingredients that falls under the "spices" category. Really.

I know most people love halo halo, but it's something I've never taken to. I actually just eat the ice and evaporated milk when I have it! My favourites are sans rival, silvanas (the old-school kind), and macapuno pandan. I think silvanas might be more like a snack, but for my purposes, they're dessert! Is cassava cake a dessert or a snack? I love cassava cake, too. Those are my favourite Filipino desserts/dessert-like snacks. I do have to say that Filipinos do Western-style cakes very very well. I'd much rather eat a piece of chocolate cake from a good-quality bakery in the Philippines than a similar dessert from a Canadian/American bakery. It will usually be much better quality. Can we talk about the perfect ensaimada and pan de sal next?

Look for Teochew (Chaozhou, Chiuchow, etc.) chili sauce recipes, sometimes called sha cha (sa cha) sauce. Similar to this Cantonese one http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.ca/2009/11/cantonese-chili-oil.html

http://etherwork.net/ejmtph/recipes/vinartertainfo.html has more information of vinarterta and its links to Denmark/Norway/etc.