prasantrin

That is one of the most annoying websites I have ever looked at, and to top it off, I can't even close the frickin' tab for it unless I close my entire browser. What's up with that? I do wish I could visit the store, though.

My grandfather still does it all year round.

About dinner at Blackbird, would there be any chance of having the option of non-alcoholic pairings? I'm a cheap drunk, and I doubt I could handle both the wine at dinner and cocktails at TVH, but I feel dinner would require something better than water (my usual choice of beverage).

Aha! I was wondering what happened to the beyond-the-teasers posts! I thought maybe I had misunderstood, but now I know...you were just being lazy! I have plenty o' time to kill at work for the next week, so I shall wait patiently (or no-so-patiently) for the rest of your posts!

For fries the only thing you can do is to ask for them unsalted. Pretty much everything else is made ahead, so unless you're lucky enough to get there when they've just run out of whatever you've ordered, you're going to get something that isn't as fresh. The shaka shaka chicken is very very popular right now, and sells out almost as soon as a batch is fried, at least in my area, so you could just order that all time! When I returned to Japan in 2004, everything at McD's was fresh when ordered. How I miss the "good ol' days".

For comparison's sake, I bit the bullet and went to McD's yesterday. Here's the filet-o-fish in Japan. No fancy box, but a slightly better-for-the-environment paper wrapper (supposedly recyclable, but I have my doubts), complete with the cell phone URL to get nutritional data (that part didn't make it into my picture). My bun is not only wrinkled, but pock-marked! And it's lopsided, too! Perhaps that is one of the traits of FoF around the world--they must be lopsided. The fish definitely wasn't fresh out of the fryer, unlike the very popular shaka shaka chicken I saw them pulling out. FWIW, I watched the guy making my FoF, and it wasn't lopsided when he put the top of the bun on. I think the fish slid around a bit when it got wrapped up. I liked it. It's pretty much the only thing I ever order at McD's, other than the apple pies (can I post my fried apple pie pics here, too? I think Holly needs to discuss the tragic loss of fried apple pies in North America...and the fried cherry pies, too).

To make you feel better, I just remembered that I did it twice--once with some char siu bao, and once with some bagels that I had brought to Japan all the way from Canada. So I was twice as stupid

Uhhh huh! My ticket is about 1/3 more expensive than I thought it would be, so I must really be desperate for some good HK food! And now I'm up at 3:30 am, compiling my list of what to eat where! I'll be there on Easter Sunday...I'm sure things won't be closed that day, and I may even score a family dim sum with my friend and her in-laws (important, because then I'll get to try more things ). But I may have to suffer through Easter services to join them...

The secret is to freeze them individually, then vacuum pack them. And yes, I speak from experience (except I think mine were really bad char siu bao, so it wasn't so bad they got hockey-pucked).

All you HK travellers are evil, evil people! I have now been forced to book a ticket to HK during spring break, so I can eat all those delicious-looking foods. EVIL!!

Steamed ones can have yeast, too. At least I've seen recipes for steamed ones with yeast, baking powder, or yeast and baking powder. I use junehl's recipe, and I love it. It uses baking powder, but I don't find it to be crumbly at all, but rather chewy. The chewiness might come from my crappy steaming job, though. As for colour, the amount of whiteness probably has more to do with the type of flour (bleached vs unbleached) than anything else.

Do you have any pictures of the specific type you're looking for? I'm having trouble imagining how the bao you're describing is any different from the bao I know of (which is not so uncommon).

My evil candy-sharing co-worker gifted me with a new (for me) bag of treats. ﾄﾞﾗｲ ﾌﾙｰﾂ ﾋｶﾗﾀﾞ (It might be ﾋﾟｶﾗﾀﾞ) mango and orange flavour. Man, these are good! They're like Pure, but softer and without the tartness. I'd hate to think that my beloved Pure has been replaced in my heart (and tummy), but that just may be the case! Now that I have seven days of relative freedom, I might have to go out and search for more snacks to write about!

I think I'm a tentative +1 for both. Is it OK if my +1 is a different +1 for each event? I'm trying to cram as many different +1s into my weekend as possible (assuming I get there), so no one feels left out. What can I say, I'm a friendly kind of girl...

My fish thing is top only. I've been using it lately, but I think I must still be putting too much water in the bottom (I checked, and mine says to put water in it). Sometimes I feel my fish is coming out more steamed than grilled. About your oven, if you haven't already purchased one, I found a restaurant supply shop that sells used equipment. It's called Tenpos, and they have them all over Japan. I found two used but new-looking ovens just like mine that were only Y40 000 each--that's less than half the regular price. Different stores will have different used equipment, of course, but it might be worth checking out if there's one near you. Lots of other great stuff there, used and new, and they sell to the public. They even ordered some stuff in for me, as they didn't have enough of what I wanted in stock.

Well, being one of those posters, I really was saying that carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli don't belong in Thai curry, but that was in a discussion about authenticity, so I could quibble about it.

I just read an article which reiterates the displeasure many Japanese chefs (even some who were awarded stars) have about the Michelin guide. Interestingly (to me), one chef pointed out that the guide goes somewhat against cultural norms "against bragging and putting others down." That same chef declined to be listed in the guide, as did a few others, the article points out.

Glad you like the mango Pure! So far, I've only seen the new KitKats at the Asna convenience store chain. They get a lot of new stuff first, it seems (they were the only place I ever found the strawberry Pure). The mikan kitkats were at Co-op, though, so those may be easier to find. eta: The tea KitKat tastes like royal milk tea, so if you like that, you'll like these. They're very creamy tasting. The whole set of goodies (tea kitkat on the left, gianduja on the right): The tea-flavoured kitkat. I think I only buy these because of the packaging--I think it's so beautifully done for a mass-market chocolate. The gianduja, by the way, was OK, but I didn't notice that much a difference between it and regular kitkat.

That's not neurotic, that's just the proper way to eat waffles! ← Of course, you must remember to put a bit of butter in each square as well! ← That's just what I was thinking!

Someone once offered me a recipe for tamarind chutney that included apple butter, but she never came through. It was to be used with samosas.

Three more new KitKats--Gianduja, Tea, and Mixed Fruit (from what I can tell from the picture on the bag, those fruits are peach, strawberry, and banana). The first two are part of the premium line, and are coated with milk chocolate, while the third is a bag of Little KitKats (the little balls) and is white chocolate. I bought one of each, and will eat the first two, but will probably give the mixed fruit ones to a co-worker (banana-flavoured kitkat?). More importantly, Pure has a new flavour of their sour gummies--mango!! They're really good. Grape is still my favourite, but I think the mango will be second and pink grapefruit will drop to third. I'm a little worried that the mango has replaced pink grapefruit as a flavour since the packaging colour is very similar. I'm sure I'll survive if it has, though! The strawberry ones were really good while they lasted, but they were for December/January only, I think. Another new chocolate I found was "Panky Chocolate". I admit, I only bought it because of the name. It seems to have grilled bread pieces in it...will post pictures of my goodies tomorrow--still no card reader at home.

and... Damn. That is my definition of my curries. Shallots, carrots, green beans, peas, some protein (chicken, shrimp, pork), coconut milk, thats how I've been making my curries. Served on rice. Oh my - am I beyond redeemtion? ← Dear Jamie Lee, Fear not. You can still call it curry or whatever you want. Just don't serve it to me or OnigiriFB and call it Thai curry.

There are a few recipes from Dorie Greenspan's latest book that use apple butter. I can't remember which ones off-hand, but the couple I've tried (that use apple butter) were very good. (All the recipes I've tried from that book have been very good.)

Did anyone in the Kanto area make it to the bento exhibition? It was all about the history of bento, but was only on for a limited time--I think it's either over, or it will be over by the end of this month. It was, maybe, sponsored by Ajinomoto.

I'm having dinner at MiFi's house. Ohhhhhhh those cheeses!