Tepee

So many interesting ideas for miso in this thread. This is one of the places I get my organic stuff. I'm running out of the red miso and am thinking of replenishing. What's the difference between the light yellow miso and the red one (next page)? I tried asking them but it drew a blank. Also, is there different methods for cooking hijiki, kombu and wakame? Or can they be used interchangeably? Right now, I have only bought the wakame and I only use it to sprinkle on rice gruel or use in fried rice. Tks.

May I ask what you're going to make from the agar-agar? Agar-agar is sold in either strips or powder in Msia. I suppose the strips (long strands) are quite similar to your sheet. You'll have to cut them into small strips (say 2, 3 inches long) and soak them for 10 minutes before using. Generally, you can get a firm jelly from 50g of agar-agar strips to 1 litre water. HTH! Edit: Kew tells me she makes a nice firm jelly from 25g-30g agar-agar with 1L-1.2L liquid. Um, I like mine hard, I guess.

There's a picture of some haw fruit on the packaging of the haw candies I just opened. Oh my goodness! I just noticed that the brand name is "Haw House"!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaaaaaah....I see. Thanks, Jack! Targeting to make my 1st sourdough bread on Saturday. Wish me all the best!

In addition to cooking, I find making bread, especially, therapeutic if you have to let off some steam. All the kneading and bashing and punching.............great release!

Glad to report that the starter is looking good now after 3 refreshments since my last post . I've a feeling I know what went wrong. I unwittingly almost did it in using flour which was not so fresh for the first feed. Last night, I opened a new bag of flour to refresh the starter, and voila, it started bubbling happily. <<Raising up hand to ask 2 questions>> When we do the turns (after the 2 hour or so rest), after each turn, is the dough left on the board to rest covered with cloth, or should it be transferred to a basket/bowl and covered? Since the board is floured each time, can the dough ever be over-floured? Forgive me if I'm not making sense.

Nope, fu yu isn't crunchy. Crunchy bits could be chopped up dried crystallised winter melon?

Definitely food porn, Yetty! I think I've the recipe somewhere.......will go dig later. Methinks the filling has some fermented bean curd (fu yu) and most definitely 5-spice powder.

Oh my, yes! Just the way I love it! We finished it within 24 hours. Somehow, cutting into dainty slices didn't help to stretch the cake.

Very comprehensive list of FAQs! Thank you very much. Jack kindly offered to send some more, but, I'm determined to resuscitate whatever I have on hand (for now....).

Tommy, have you checked out this eG posting how-to? There is also a bulk upload feature in imageGullet, very helpful in speeding things up. Have a wonderful trip!

I can't wait till you finish posting. I just want to reach out and give you the biggest kiss for showing the step-by-step of your glorious tiramisu tart and peanut butter pie...after such a long day at work. Mmmmmmmuah!

Thanks for your reply. But, did you start feeding #2 after you saw bubbles or did you just went ahead and fed it without any sight of bubbles? sign (and sigh) Desperate in Kuala Lumpur

Oh, ewhite77, how elated you must feel! Congrats! How long was the period of your 3-4 feedings? I received Jack's starter last Wednesday. It hasn't shown any sign of life yet . I'm really DYING to make my sourdough bread.

Haw flakes/chips is shan1 cha2 pian4 in mandarin pinyin. Sorry, my dinosaur of a computer can't download a chinese programme.

I your blog already! What are your working hours like? Too long, I know.

I haven't iced a stacked cake before. Ice first, stack later yes. Perhaps that method is used for tilted cakes? I use this 4"-wide scraper to smooth ice a cake.

After some sleuthing, I found that Foochow is the port city of the province of Fukien. To me, it's quite mind-boggling how, although related as such, the dialect of Foochow is so different from Fukien. Apparently, it's one of the most difficult dialects to learn. Yoohoooooo....Mr Foochow/Laksa....where are you?

Glad you're joining this cook-off, the pix did you in, right? ...I'll answer what I can. The noodle and pickle question, I'll leave to those who can answer you better coz they share the same grocers with you. Usually, a big dollop of chile paste is added for color and taste. If you can't find chile paste, you can use dry chile powder. On top of that, you can add fresh bird chiles for more oomph. Sliced fresh regular chiles can also be used. I'm glad the tamarind we get here are not sugarised! If you can't get that, use calamansi lime. If you can't get the lime, use lemon. My suggestion? Try very hard to find the tamarind pulp. Yup, rinse the extra firm tofu, drain dry. Cut into strips and fry. Correct on the bean sprouts. I also add chinese chives. Fry half the sprouts and chives and leave the other half to add right at the end. Save the bok choy for a chinese stirfry. Dry-fry or roast in oven the whole peanuts. Rub the skin off. Chop coarsely. You want to sprinkle them for garnish and taste/texture when you're done frying. Coconut milk? Which recipe are you using? I don't recall seeing coconut milk in pad thai.

About eating everything on the plate, with experience, you sort of know how much they can reasonably finish so I don't give them more than they can handle.

I've 3 girls and, yup, each of their tastes vary. I only allow them to be picky with only one or 2 food. DD#1 (11 yo) hates skin, so I've no problem with her removing all chicken skin or fish skin, etc. DD#2 (7 yo) can't take heat, not the slightest bit. She doesn't have to touch that dish, or I'll rinse off the gravy with water. DD#3 (3 plus) hates mushrooms. Not a problem. However, I'm lucky that all of them are comfortable with all kinds of food, whether eastern or western. Lunch is usually less fussy...they're tired from school, so it's sandwiches, rice gruel, salad or even instant noodles. However, it has to be different every day. I also plan my weekly dinner menu so that there's no repetition. They like to be surprised every day. If today we're having fish, the next day we have beef, then the next is chicken. I don't repeat the same fish or green vegetable during the week. Dessert 3 times a week because the other evenings, we have to rush for tuition or music classes. Try to find out why they hate a particular food. DD#1 used to hate chicken...I discovered she hated to remove the meat from the bones, so I try to give her pieces which are boneless. DD#2 gradually became a very slow eater, like she wasn't interested in food. Then we realized that since she had been losing her teeth (she's 7), it was tough for her to bite. I now make sure meat or vegetables for her are bite-size. All food must be finished. I'm a very firm mom. No leftovers, unless I cook more to freeze for a subsequent meal. One of my friends pasted a big picture of starving children on a wall to get across the message that they are lucky they have food on the table....so no wastage, please.

Rice flour

Chris, I soak the noodles for 20 minutes. Drain. Frying glass noodles is every bit as tricky as frying the pad thai noodles. I held a 1.5-foot long pair of wooden chopsticks in my left hand and the metal frying spatula in the other. Before that, I had made around 1.5 litres of stock from the prawn shells and added half of this to the noodles at the beginning. Do not allow the noodles to get too dry or they'll stick and lump together. Keep adding the stock as you cook.

Second question first: Why anyone would think of putting raisins...? You tell me...if Foochowans are as strange as their language (and we have a fine example right here)......sure your dessert is not called 'oh raisins' or something? First question second: When did the Teochew start to claim oh nee as their own? They had to rescue the poor dessert from too innovative western toppings...they changed it to the more politically correct gingko nuts. Having made such a brave move, I think they deserve the rights to oh nee, don't you? Third question: Has anyone tried it battered or deep-fried? Would love to, but can't decide whether I should stuff the gingko nuts (or raisins ) in.

Which is your favorite? I can send some to you.