prasantrin

I think he was referring to your pictures, since it was you that he quoted directly. But your fish does look more like the threadfin fish I've seen pictures of. Mine has a pointier snout than the threadfin I've seen. If anyone wants to do further research, threadfin is also called "ikan kurau" in Malay, and "koduva meen" in Tamil. And to Ce'nedra, as mentioned earlier, any salted fish will probably be fine for your recipe. I hope you show us pictures of it after you make it. My food mantra #2 is "anything with salted fish is good!" (#1 is "anything fried is good!)

Are you looking specifically for a "tried and true" recipe, or just a recipe that looks good? Many recipes can be found by searching for "arborio rice pudding". Most of the recipes I've seen, though, say not to prepare it in advance (maybe the starches make it too thick and gloopy if allowed to sit?), so it might not be the best choice for the seniors, unless you don't mind preparing it right before serving. Another option would be arancini, which you could prepare in advance, and perhaps bake it instead of fry it? But that wouldn't help with dessert.

Here are more pictures of a whole salted thread fin that we bought in Thailand a few years ago (and smuggled it into Japan). I'm actually not sure it's thread fin, but someone who saw the picture said it was.

Thanks. I quite liked the looks of it, and it's a tilt head. Wonder if they sell them in Japan.

A friend of mine did a research project on milk many many years ago, and since then, she has refused to drink it. It's true that soy milk like Silk sucks, but there are some much better (and more healthful) brands out there. And why can't soy milk be better for you, or at least as good for you, as regular milk? Last I heard, cow's milk was really intended for, and most beneficial to, well, other cows.

Yesterday, I was determined to make spanakopita the easy way. I tried very hard to remember to buy a ceramic knife, so I could cut through the layers of phyllo easily, and I did! I was so proud of myself. Then I got home and remembered that I had forgotten to buy spinach. Oops. So tonight, I just finished my spanakopita the easy way. I only made 1/4 the quantity of the original proportions ChefCrash posted, and since he mentioned his sister used less butter for savoury applications, I only used about 250g butter. It looked like too much, but now I'm thinking it might not have been enough. The layers don't look quite as nice as ChefCrash's baklava looked. If I had my camera here (it's at work), I'd take a picture. I sure hope it tastes good, but I won't be able to find out until tomorrow. It's too late to eat for me, so it will be tomorrow's lunch! Pics--should I have used more butter? More filling? Still haven't tried it.

I liked that, too. It made me wish I had a large enough oven to do something like that. Does anyone know what kind of stand mixer Blumenthal is using? I like the way it looks, plus it has a tilt-head, which I prefer.

prasantrin - I'm not sure why your bao has brown specks on them, could be the flour is my best guess. I normally use all purpose flour. I used all-purpose, sort of. I can't get all-purpose in Japan, so I use half cake flour (8% protein) and half bread flour (12% protein) which approximates the protein content of all-purpose, I think... As for it being dense and not smooth, I have two guesses: 1) In my original recipe, I forgot to mention that after you mixed the dough together, I let it sit for about 20-30 minutes to relax the gluten. That could be one of the reasons why your baos are dense. Ah...I was wondering if I should let it rest, but I was in such a hurry to eat some, that I decided not to bother! I'll let it rest next time. I think resting it would also have helped with the water problem I had. At first, the dough seemed a bit dry, so I added about 1T water. It seemed fine at first, but then it started becoming too wet, so I had to add more flour. I think if I had let it rest, I wouldn't have had to add any additional liquid at all. 2) The heat of the steamer is crucial here. When I made my last batch, the first few that I had steamed, I didn't turn the heat up high enough, and they came out dense and kind of flat. I had to turn the fire on high, to get a lot of maximum heat, that was when my baos really got really fluffy and white. And for the filling, I never use hoisin sauce, just oyster sauce, cornstarch slurry, soy sauce, and fresh green onions to finish it off. I love fresh green onions in it, it brings such a fresh flavor to the buns. MMM. Oh and I add some red food coloring to the sauce because I like the red color of the filling, it always makes it look so good. My steamer was for the most part quite hot, but because my steamer insert is so small, I had to put it over a small pot and it dried out a couple of times. Oops. I'll be more careful next time, or maybe I'll just buy a larger steamer, so I can use my large pot! I kind of liked the hoisin sauce in the filling. I like my filling a bit sweet, and the hoisin added just a touch more sweetness to the whole thing. I really like the redness food colouring adds, too, but I didn't have any. There's something very homey about red char siu bao. Rona: Did your dough have sugar in it? It may be scorched sugar if it is not incorporated well. This is only a wild guess tho'. Another possibility maybe the condensation that has dripped back onto the baos. My steamer is stainless steel, so I stretch a tea towel between the baos and the lid. Hmmm...it did have sugar in it. I wonder if I should dissolve the sugar in the milk first. That might help. As for smoothness, I use my Kitchen-Aid mixer with the dough hook. My scratch recipe also uses baking powder. After mixing for 15 minutes, I let the dough rest for 15, then mix again for 10 minutes before forming baos and steaming. As June mentioned, that will relax the gluten for a smoother surface. But I don't have a mixer! It's just me and my two hands. I do have a food processor, though, so maybe I'll try using it to make the dough next time. They look delicious tho! I have some filling already made and in the freezer, so I guess I'll have to make baos again. Have you tried the chicken, Chinese mushrooms, onion and lapcheung in oyster sauce filling? I also make baos with curry chicken. I really loved my bao, and I ate my last one today! I want to make more, but I promised my mother I would wait until she gets here, so we can make it together (actually, knowing her, I'll be making them by myself, and she'll just be watching and eating!). When she's here, I'm going to do a yeast dough and a baking powder dough, and do a taste test. I'm also going to be more adventurous and try other fillings! I'm going to try the one you suggested, without the lapcheung. I only really like lapcheung fried and eaten on a bed of rice with a sunny-side up (or over easy) egg! Any other filling suggestions? In Japan the kind with minced pork (no sauce, just like a meatball, sort of) is the most common, so I'm avoiding that one. I made a couple with sloppy joe filling (to use up my extra dough), and they were actually pretty good! But now I need more ideas! Pulled pork, maybe?? My quotations went all wonky! Don't know what happened, but I redid it so my replies to junehl are in red, and replies to Dejah are in blue. And I just realized I'm getting a little too bao-fixated for the general dinner topic, so if someone wants to move me back to the bao cook-off, I won't be offended!

Thanks! Looking at the recipe, did you find it too sweet at all? I'm wondering if I should cut down on the sugar in the pie--maybe 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup. Normally, I'd think it would be OK, but the sugar in the streusel topping plus in the chocolate-covered toffee bars might put it over the top for me.

I have to admit that I like canned mushrooms. I mean, I wouldn't make them the main ingredient and focus of a dish that I was serving to anyone, but I do keep them in the cabinet. ← I kind of like them, too, but mostly because they don't taste like button mushrooms. They're much less fungus-y tasting (I hate button mushrooms). But I still don't buy them.

Can I use Japanese quinces to make membrillo? I think Helen mentioned in one of blogs once that karin were different from western quinces in some way, so they couldn't be used to make the same kinds of things. We have one or two karin trees at work, and I'd love to make some membrillo for my mother before she arrives in December. If I can't make membrillo, is there anything tasty that's non-alcoholic that I can make with them?

Does she love it even more than her grandmother's homemade mac&cheese? Microwave popcorn is another one I don't understand. It takes so little time/energy to make it on the stovetop, and it tastes better, too! Plus you don't get that awful smell permeating your house or office. Sure it's convenient, but what else other than convenience does it have to offer? Then again, burnt popcorn made on the stovetop doesn't smell very good, either!

Not about value at all ... it is easy to pack in a lunch box, to take on a picnic, etc etc ... ← I was being facetious... I actually do buy small bags of chips, because they are my waterloo and should I buy a large bag, I'd finish it in no time at all (as witnessed last week with a Costco-sized bag of Kettle Chips ). But were I not to have a potato chip addiction, I probably would buy larger bags and portion them out in plastic containers. I'm trying to be a good earthling by reducing the amount of garbage I produce. I really do want to know why people buy stuff like Kraft Dinner (aka Kraft Macaroni and Cheese). It's horrible!

Sometimes avocados are expensive (Y200 each right now), and not in good shape. In those cases, I can see how premade guacamole might be preferable. I want to know why people would buy the little bags of potato chips when the big bags are so much of a better value...

And where's the recipe for that pie?????? That's a fine looking pie, and I really need some!!

Holy crow! Magus is a cutie! Thanks annarborfoodie, for that pic! But my favourite picture is this one Not just because the burger looks awesome, but because of that clenched hand in the background. My first thought was that it was clenched with excitement...like "Hurry up and take the picture! I want my d*** burger!" Then I realized it might have been a bit cold that day...

FYI, if you're in the Kansai area and wanting Kosher salt, Kobe Grocers has exactly 2 large boxes of Kosher salt--the one in the dark blue box with a picture of a girl on the front. I can't remember the brand. I didn't see a price, though.

The Winnipeg Free Press just had an article on making flavoured vinegars, but check it out soon because they sometimes remove their articles fairly quickly.

Cool! Off to the freezer they go!

Do they freeze well enough to use as one would use never-frozen-garlic? I always have trouble with rotting garlic, since I can never use up an entire head before it goes bad (and I have to buy garlic in bags of three heads!). If it works, I'm freezing mine!

You could still make your own by sprinkling chopped peanuts onto peanut butter. I like the crunchy ones packed with peanuts, and would actually like more peanuts in them, if possible!

I just did a search, and it's available at the Winnipeg Public Library! But only in French...

There was a topic here on eGullet about the safety of infused oils. Do a search for "flavored oil" or "infusing oils" or "infused oils" or something like that and you'll find it. It isn't something you should do without investigating the proper precautions, as botulism is a serious risk.

Plumbers and electricians (for example) usually have some post-secondary technical training, and many of them certainly make more money than I do (I'm a teacher). FOH may have post-secondary education, but it is not likely that education that will help them in their jobs.

If you think that was bad, you should have seen her in action at a Chinese restaurant! I was terribly embarrassed to be associated with her, and I felt horrible for our hostess. And it was here that I learned she eats shrimp (no shells), but not lobster or crab, no duck, no weird vegetables..... And although she eats savoury things with crusts, she won't eat quiche. Or eggs that are a little wet (like softly scrambled or sunny-side up eggs). I think pudding is out, too...