dougery

Boy, Bellingham, have any of you ever visited the Archer in Bham? It's a non smoking pub, their food is good, but my god... their beer selection is out of this world. They have these Japanese Hef's that are out of this world. Great atmosphere too, it's in a brick building and you head down a stair case exactly like in "Cheers". It is THE place for beer (I guess you need something to do if you go to WWU).

The lo bak gau (please pardon my earlier misspelling) I almost always have is steamed then pan fried. It is really crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. I'm sure it is exactly as you described but fried in addition. Is frying these a normal practice?

One thing I almost forgot. If you plan on doing a lot of camping BUY A FOOD DEHYDRATOR and dehydrate your own produce. Dehydrated food can empty the pocketbook fast. It is a worthy investment.

Wongste, so... what is your mom's recipe? You can't just hang that line out there and cut me off like that. I'm salivating at the moment.

you crack me up!

First off, try this link. REI has an annual camp cooking contest and they post a bunch of winning recipes. I'm actually going to test these out on some unsuspecting guests at home and see what they think. http://www.rei.com/stores/cooking.html?cm_re=hb*hb6*cook It sounds like you wont have space to carry this but if you do, this little gem can bake wonders out in the woods. http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDis...vcat=REI_SEARCH MSR dragonfly stove is probably one of the best. It can boil water like nothing else and offers great flame control for outdoor gourmet cooking. http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDis...vcat=REI_SEARCH http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDis...vcat=REI_SEARCH Don't forget a water purification system! Definitely bring some cooking oil and spices (these can help save some otherwise awful dishes). I use old 35mm film canisters to carry my spices in. I usually bring a lot of freez dried but I also bring some perishables. The first couple of days I utilize the perishibles then the rest of the trip use the freez dried (dried shitake mushrooms, olive oil, pasta, garlic, you get the idea). By the way, ketchup works wonders out in the woods. Hope this helps a little.

A bit of a cultural detour but I found lumpia wrappers to be the lightest and crispiest wrappers. Definitely a good alternative if you are looking to experiment. Also for desert you can wrap banana's in this, fry them, then serve with a carmelized brown sugar/butter combo (my wife's dad is the best at making these). Good stuff!

Well, since we have all of these great Chinese chefs available, does anyone have a good recipe for Law Bock Gow? There is a place in Seattle called King Cafe which serves mediocre dim-sum but their law bock gow is the best. It's always really fresh and tender. I'll give anyone my right kidney and spleen to boot if they have a good recipe.

Well tighe, you just made me want to visit this place all the more! ; ) Do you two enjoy Red Mill? I usually don't order burgers with chicken in them but I have to admit, the chicken club is pretty damned good!

I have never had a burger at the Roanoke Inn. What kind would you compare these to?

I truly love this forum. You folks are THE best.

If dissatisfied with the service I think that a quality establishment would be more than happy to waive the gratuity if they were approached in an intelligent and civilized manner. It is also our right as a patrons to NOT GO to any restaurant that charges gratuity on the bill in the first place. If you knowingly go to a restaurant that charges gratuity and don't like the fact that they do, then you should either discuss this charge with the staff prior to service or go somewhere else. Personally, I think large groups tend to undertip the service staff at restaurants thus I think that a service charge is reasonable.

I would definitely include gratuity for large parties no matter what. Too many large parties collect funds from every individual and the server almost always gets stiffed. I think that fine print on the bottom back of the menu and also on the bill are appropriate.

Jeannie, They are both soy based but that is the extent of the similarities, Natto is fermented soy beans and end up looking like slimy beans (which I love by the way) and the foo yu is tofu which is fermented and packed in a solution. Tastes and textures are totally different. Does that answer your question?

Wow, I never realized that this tofu was so popular and versatile. Has anyone ever used this in any type of soup? I'll have to try all of your suggestions (but I decided to toss my old tofu with white specks).

About a year ago my wife and I were shopping at a grocery store we both had never visited before. After filling my cart, I noticed that a lane had just opened. I quickly headed over to the vacant lane and started to unload my cart. Since the store was busy, people started lining up behind us almost immediately. While unloading my cart of groceries, I noticed evil looks and muted words coming from the cashier and everyone in line. Then my wife tapped me on my shoulder and pointed out a sign which I had overlooked, "8 items or less"... I felt sooooo very bad. I started to apologize to everyone, but half of the folks looked at me with a "whatever" type of look. My god, I had turned into one of "them", I had committed the cardinal sin of grocery shopping, I had crossed over to the dark side and will forever be scarred by this horrendous mistake. My family will carry this badge of dishonor for generations to come. Can all of you forgive me?

The other topic on Chopsticks covered this but my superstition is sticking chopsticks straight down into your rice. I once did this when I was small in front of my aunts and cousins visiting from Japan. Needless to say, they were mortified and my mother got so mad! I later found out that chopsticks were placed in food like this to "feed the spirits of the dead" as my mother said. To this day if I see anyone sticking their chopsticks straight into their food (like TV antenna's) I get really irritated.

That's exactly it! Congee eh? that sounds good. Do you know that lifespan of this product? The jars I have left have little white specks appearing in the water (it doesn't look too promising).

When I was a kid, my friend slipped some earthworms into his sister's canned spaghetti. Is this on topic or just twisted?

It sounds like you just did : )

I bought about 5 jars of fermented tofu (packed in chili, salt, sesame oil). I have been using this to exclusively marinade chicken in and then coat it with Panko and fry it. I really haven't used it much beyond that. Does anyone have any traditional chinese dishes which utilizes this tofu? Because of the salt content I'm sure it has quite a shelf life but does anyone know how long it would be safe for? Thanks

Fat Guy, Do you have any experience with the Tojiro dp knives at Korin? I'm interested in hearing about the perfomance of this knife.

God I'm hungry

Plain uncooked dry pasta (Mission brand I think). Pie dough (butter and flour) I was not on a low carb diet!

Great links! Thanks! I used to dislike ramen as a child (probably because it was Top Ramen), but when I was in my teens, my mother started working at Uwajimaya's asian grocery and would bring home fresh ramen noodles all of the time. I guess I learned to love ramen (watching Tampopo didn't hurt either).