prasantrin

You don't need cheesecloth, but sticky rice (the Thai glutinous rice) is really better if soak the rice and steam it (with the liquid) to get the right texture. Kasma Loha-Unchit has a nice recipe on her website.

Is the doggie bill limited to dogs, or are cats allowed, as well? My cat is very well-behaved, and unless she pooped in her carrier, people would barely notice her!

Bumping this back up. I finally found some Canadian bacon (at a whopping Y1400 for 200g--that's about US$28/lb, I think) and am itching for some eggs benedict tomorrow. I've been reading about making it, and I'm all prepared, but what about keeping it? How well does hollandaise sauce keep in the fridge, and for how many days if any? Does it freeze well? I think I know the answer to the last one, but I may as well ask!

I would be one of those for whom $50 is significant, although I would be willing to sacrifice just for the experience. But a more significant detail, for me, would be the number of courses. As someone with IBS, I would never be able to finish a Tour without suffering great discomfort and pain. A 12-course option, however, might be do-able with just minor discomfort. To eliminate the 12-course might prevent me from ever having an Alinea experience, more so than the additional $50 would. I'm sure some of those who chose the Tasting menu might have done so for similar reasons--not everyone's stomach's can accommodate the Tour.

In Japan I think it's a fall/winter fruit. I think kinkan is just a type of kumquat, so you use whatever kumquats you can get.

I'm late, as usual, but I once had a kinkan stuffed with ikura at a kaiseki place. The kinkan was hollowed out so just the rind remained. It was meant to be eaten in one bite, and it was delicious! If you ever have too much ikura again, and can get kinkan, too, I would highly recommend it!

I eat nothing cooked that comes out of my kitchen. It's just too hot and humid to cook (central air in homes does not exist in Japan), so anything I might have to make myself just doesn't get made. That being said, as long as the restaurant is air conditioned, I'll eat anything!!!

This isn't a restaurant recommedation, but I had the best apple fritters somewhere in Portland. It was a take-out doughnut place, but I can't remember the name. Perhaps a local can help out? If you have a car available, and just need a snack, I would highly recommend them. They were soooooooooo good I think I ate 3!

I went back this morning and I saw that it was the adzuki ones. Why the hell would they put those in a bag? If it were a regular pack, I might consider trying them, but who wants to get stuck with a huge bag of them? I still haven't tried them. And late last week, I saw that the bread shop at my school had matcha McVitie's again! I'm so happy!!! But they've been selling out quickly! Last week they had 3 full boxes, and by Monday they had 1/2 a box. Today they had a new box out. I'm a little worried, and I feel like I should stock up!

I like mayonnaise with my hot dogs! But only if the bun has been toasted and buttered. I like ketchup with that, too. (Am I digging my grave even deeper with each admission?) One of the worst things for me is serving samosas with ketchup. Tamarind or cilantro chutney, sure! But ketchup????

I wonder if spraying new jackets with Scotchguard would help prevent the stains or make them easier to wash out. You'd probably have to reapply after each washing if it worked at all.

I don't think you sounded negative, at all! It's pretty usual for Ikea stores to be crowded when they first open, and knowing Japan as I do, I can imagine just how crowded and out of control it might have been! But as with everything here, the crowds will lessen once the new-ness wears off. On the other hand, it could be like Costco which is still as busy as it was shortly after it first opened. You just have to know when to go in order to miss the crowds (usually first thing in the morning, or during the week an hour or so before they close).

Do you use soap? I'm still not using soap, but I use a Mukka-specific sponge. But I'm a little wary of not using soap, because of the milk residue

I say go for it! I still love my Mukka, though I don't use it as much as I used to (apparently I'm very sensitive to caffeine). One can never have too much kitchen equipment, after all, and imagine the electricity you'll save by not having to use the microwave to heat up your milk! edited to fix my crappy quoting

How about those little plastic refillable (I say "refillable" because they can be refilled, though usually people throw them away after one use) soy sauce bottles that you get with bentos? If you live near a Japanese supermarket (or Chinese, or maybe even Korean), you might be able to find them. They usually don't hold more than 15-30 mL. While not the ones I'm referring to, Torakris posted this picture in the Bento thread over in the Japanese forum. Of course you'd get the smaller, plainer ones... edited for bad editing.

bump! Has anyone been there, yet? I'm dying for a report, and I'm hoping someon finds Daim Cake (torte?) there!

I make my own! Whenever I make poached chicken I remove the skin before poaching, and save it for fried chicken skin. I usually bread mine in corn starch, and sprinkle with salt. Some of my mother's former clients (she was an employment counsellor for immigrant women) used to bring her bags of chicken skin from the chicken-processing plant they worked it. Those were the days! About the KFC thing, how different is it from donburi? Sounds very similar, to me, and people usually love donburi!!

While not exactly occuring in a restaurant (and some may argue about the use of the word "restaurant" in this case), but I have many embarrassing stories involving my mother and the drive-through at McDonald's. On a Sunday night coming home from church, we went through the drive-through at McD's. Way back then, menu items like Filet-o-fish and the McChicken were fried to order, and of course we had to order one of those. The line-up was long, and by the time we got to the window our order was still not ready. My mother was told, "It will be a few minutes for your (whatever it was). Please park ahead and we'll bring it out to you when it's ready." To this my mother replied, in a very combative way, "Why? Why can't I just wait here?" as I slouched down in the front seat, hoping no one I knew was working that night. That doesn't seem so bad in print, but when I was a teenager, it was pretty much the most embarrassing thing on earth. But then there was the time, at the McD's drive-through again, that we ordered fries. After receiving our order and driving on, my mother looked in the bag and noticed the pitiful serving of fries. She parked, marched into the restaurant, dumped the half-filled bag of fries on the counter, and said, "Does this look like a large order of fries to you?" I'm sure I could think of more embarrassing stories--mostly involving my mother. And she wonders why I overtip! (I don't...I usually only tip 15-20%, but for her it's overtipping.)

Is that the one that goes with the quiche? I didn't quite cut the butter up as much as I should have for that recipe, either (my other too-big-butter-pieces crust is Wendy Debord's all butter crust), so I ended up with a huge puddle of melted butter in the oven. Luckily my Japanese oven comes with a little revolving tray to put the food on, so no harm was done to oven surfaces! I think I'm going to have to go with your recipe for butter tart squares for now. It's just too hot to make pie crusts right now. Butter turns to mush in a matter of minutes! And I just need that little taste to satisfy my craving!

How many regular muffin tin-sized tarts does this make? 12? You gotta good crust recipe to go with it? I have some frozen pie crust dough in my freezer right now (about a 9" pie worth), but I didn't cut the butter finely enough, so it probably won't be quite right for a butter tart.

Did they wear the same shirt on purpose? Mmmmm. I love cassave cake! If you like cassava cake, you might try bibingka, too, if you haven't already. It's one of my other weaknesses. Looks like a great time with great food! I'm so jealous!

For your rubber and icing spatulas, if they have holes at the ends of the handles, can you loop plastic electric ties in them? They're quite sturdy, and should stand up to hot dishwashers. They're cheap, and they come in a multitude of colours so the entire kitchen could colour-code their spatulas! edited for typos

Royal Dragon Restaurant in Bangkok is supposed to be the biggest--more than 5000 seats.

I'm not sure, and I don't want to get my (or anyone else's) hopes up, but I think I saw Matcha Kit Kat Minis the other day at my local Lawson's!! The bag looked like it was plain matcha, rather than the matcha adzuki version. I was in a bit of a rush so I couldn't look more carefully, but I'm going to check it out again. I'm trying not to get too excited over this!

Especially on Sundays! Saturdays and Sundays are the worst for waits! But weekdays are usually not so bad. I once went at 10-ish on a Monday and the place only had a few people. But weekends are their busiest times, so you definitely have to get there early for those. I've heard different things about Hell's Kitchen--both good and bad. It's been on my list of "Places to Try" forever, but I always end up back at Al's. I'm a creature of habit, what can I say?