HKDave

alecymoy, to answer your original question: I assume you're asking about English-language training. I'm not aware of anything being offered in China. The 2 places that I know do professional English-language training for Chinese cooking are in Singapore and Hong Kong. Singapore: http://www.at-sunrice.com/main_idx.html Hong Kong: http://cookforfun.shawguides.com/Chopstick...880521π=7&q=1 (the school doesn't have a webpage, e-mail the address shown on this page for some confusing handouts.) I haven't attended either and don't know much about them beyond what's on the net. Buyer beware. Insist on talking to a few past students before signing up... There is also a bilingual (English/Cantonese) program offered by VCC, a vocational college in Vancouver. I don't know about their Asian Culinary program, but I've sat in on some classes of their regular Culinary Arts program, and also cooked with some graduates, and was generally impressed. Details here: http://www.vcc.ca/programs/detail.cfm?WPGM...GM_PROGRAM_ID=8

The maximum safe holding time for Hollandaise is 2 hours. You should hold it warm, but under 140F or you'll get cooked eggs. In most kitchens this means beside or above the stove. It may need the occasional stir (or cling film on the surface) to avoid forming a skin. Bacteria thrive in egg sauces at warm temperatures, so don't mess with this. Two hours and it's in the garbage. If I'm making Hollandaise for those I love, it's 1/2 hour. A very good Hollandaise tutorial with photos, right out of the CIA Pro Chef textbook, can be found on the publisher's website here: http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subje...ise_method.html

I've seen Matfer stuff at Russell so I assume they could order it for you. And these guys in Ontario might have it: http://www.culinarycookware.com/catalog.asp?catid=2900

The CDC website, tons of info: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/food/index.htm especially here: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo...nfections_g.htm Lots of US Gov links here: http://www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/fsgpath.html From Canada: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/causee.shtml From Clemson, this one has the incubation times of a few of the more common types: http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC3620.htm

It sounds like you have fresh salmon roe, not (salted) ikura. If you want to salt it, which would allow you to keep it longer, method here: http://www.thesushibar.com/ssushi_facts.shtml#Ikura or here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_14702,00.html If you want to use it now, a simple pasta/cream/dill sauce would work fine. Or pile it on potato latkes or corncakes, with sour cream. Or mix in a potato and cucumber salad? Edited to add: I wish I had your problem.

I think the full sequence of restaurants there was: Massimo’s, Café Milano, Étoile, Zinfandel, a generic Greek place, Bis Moreno. I ate at that address a couple of times pre-Rare, but one meal - actually, one dish - stands out. It was years ago in the Etoile / Andre Durbach days. It was early evening, and the front of house was dead. We might have been the only guests. The dish was chicken liver, pancetta and sage. It was fantastic. If I were to identify one reason why I ended up going to culinary school and now chop veggies in other people's kitchens, it was that dish.

Diluted bleach sanitizing solutions should technically be used within 24 hours after they're mixed, although in the real world (restaurants) they are often used within a week or so. The cost of fresh solution is so small that I'd err on the side of caution. And I forgot to mention above: Always label sanitizing solution, and store it out of the food prep area. It looks just like water.

The rule for making a sanitizing solution using normal (6% sodium hypochlorite - check the label) bleach is: 1 Tablespoon bleach per gallon of water, or 1 teaspoon bleach per litre or quart of water. Use plain bleach, not any of the household kinds that have additives or fragrances. Bleach loses strength with age, so discard any that's been in the closet for years. I suggest using a mister to spray the sanitizer on rather than wiping it on, and after a few minutes rinse the sanitizer off with clean water.

I was at Kedah last week at the same time as Keith Talent, and I'd be slightly more negative... I thought the food was mediocre and the service (despite the fact that there were only a couple of tables occupied) absurdly slow. I won't bother trying it again.

← "Gritty". Is that supposed to be a good thing? Does it mean they won't clean the place very often, or what?

The dinner at Parkside was excellent. I'm not usually a tasting menu guy, but I'm glad I got talked into it this time. This was the 3rd or 4th time I've eaten there, and it's been consistantly great, both for food and service, every time. Fine ingredients, cleanly presented and perfectly prepared; no nonsense. I'm going to say the same thing I said last time I posted about Parkside: I wish I could cook like this. And Deborah, thanks for the blog. It's been a good week. And I have serious stove envy!

I'm pretty sure this is correct. Tam Nak Thai, as mentioned by Ms Ducky upthread, was the biggest for many years, then Royal Dragon took the record when they opened in 1991. Guinness wrote them up in 1992. I was working right across the street (on BangNa Trad, in the outskirts of Bangkok) when they opened and ate there several times. Their food was good, and was similar to the food at the other huge semi-outdoor Thai/Chinese restaurants on BangNa Trad and Srinakarin Road. The strangest of those was one that was right beside Royal Dragon, called (in Thai only - it didn't have an English sign) "Dairy Queen"! It was a big Thai seafood restaurant, and had nothing to do with the fast food chain. I think it's gone now.

I'm a luminary? I like... I'm going to start using that. 'Luminary' sounds so much classier than 'semi-employed aging prep cook'. Ass-kissing back at ya: the calibre of the students is high, too. Many folks have obviously been practicing their knife technique in the off season; and the plates that are coming out look very pro.

Your memory is correct, there's a White Spot at Park Royal.

Bird's beak knives are mostly used for carving tournee vegetables. Unless you're in culinary school or working prep in an old-school white-tablecloth restaurant, you won't need one. They're not a substitute for a regular paring knife. I agree with most of what's been said upthread. I personally use a 10" chef's, 4" paring and 9.5" offset slicer, all Victorinox (=Forschner). I'd never take a $100 knife to work. Expensive knives are for impressing guests at home, not for working prep. I've also used and liked the stamped-blade-and-molded-handle knives by Sanelli and Messermeister - Sanelli's handles are very nice, as is their santoku; and I like the shape of the blade on Messermeister's chefs knife. Any of these will do a fine job, and they're all cheap. There's one exception I'd make to the 'never buy a set of knives' rule: go to the bookstore of your local vocational college and check out the knife kit they sell for their culinary program. In most cases it will be one of the brands mentioned above, and the selection will usually be useful, and the price will be less than at a yuppie kitchen store. They'll often also sell individual knives.

The 'typhoon shelter' style supposedly came from floating sampan restaurants that used to be in Causeway Bay typhoon shelter. They're long gone (and the water is so polluted that it's hard to imagine eating there) but some restaurants in nearby Wanchai still do typhoon shelter style dishes. One of the best known is "Under the Bridge Chili Crab", which specializes in this dish. Details here: http://www.thestandard.com.hk/weekend_news...&d_str=20051203 I've also never had it with laap yuk; usually just chili, garlic and spring onion.

Are you talking about Q in Quarry Bay? I was their pastry chef when they opened. It's long gone - about two years ago it changed to Cafe Einstein and right now, they're closed because of renovations. I don't know if they're re-opening with a new name and concept or it will still be Cafe Einstein. ←

My favorite is still the Tijuana 'Washmobile' type, which is a carne asada torta, as described in my old post here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=35667 Wikipedia has a good list of basic torta types: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torta But they can contain almost anything. More modern ideas: http://www.restmex.com/recipes/0403torta.shtml

I don't know about that. It might seem odd to some people, but there are lots of Cantonese who have dim sum almost every single day. I don't care who you are, if you're having dim sum 3-4 days per week, you're going to get bored with the traditional selections sooner or later. ← It doesn't seem odd to me. I go yum cha at least a couple of times a week, always at the same place. The place I go to has a far more limited selection than the Metropole. And it's usually packed with other regulars, so I suspect I'm not the only one in Hong Kong who likes their dim sum to be traditional. Edit: spelling

jeanlim, I also heard about Q having moved, and I don't know their new location. If I find them, I'll PM you.

The Metropole is a traditional restaurant. People don't go there for new exciting dishes. You go there for well made, old-school, inexpensive dim sum. The same is largely true for dim sum elsewhere in Hong Kong. Dim sum is about drinking tea with family and friends, it's not much of a culinary showcase. A lot of dim sum is now coming from off-site kitchens and the quality is declining. There are a few places that do very good dim sum (my usual is in a private club, and most of the 5-star hotels have a good quality, but limited selection, of dim sum) but the big famous places, like Maxims and SuperStar, don't do it for me any more. There is a small restaurant in Happy Valley called 'Dim Sum' that also does a good job. But in general, dim sum is not an innovative meal in HK. If you want innovative dim sum, go to Vancouver - the real dim sum capital of the world.

Umm, let's get back to esvoboda's original question - "Are there any other kitchen knives made in China at this quality level or higher?" Cooks I've talked in HK to consider the Chan Chi Kee knives and cleavers the best of their type. I own and use one of theirs (their stainless 'duck slicer', which is a good all-around tool, basically similar in use to a santoku), and I like it, although I mainly use western-style knives. I also like that it costs the equivalent of US$10, in Hong Kong at Chan Chi Kee's store on Shanghai Street. There's a huge range of knife brands in China and I'm sure some must be as good as Chan Chi Kee, but none that I've tried so far were as good. For western or Japanese style knives made in China, several Euro brands now make their cheaper lines in China. They're generally not great, but the quality is improving rapidly. The most famous all 'made in China' brand is probably Furi, which makes a big deal about being designed in Australia but is 100% made in China. I'm not a big fan of their knives, but many are. http://www.furitechnics.com.au/

Ronnie is right. For a fish to be kosher it needs fins and scales, and the scales have to be easily removeable without tearing the skin. Details here http://www.kashrut.com/articles/fishfaq/ The fact that it's poached in milk doesn't matter. Fish are not considered 'meat', so they can be cooked with milk.

What seafood is actually native (or relatively close) to the area? ← These days, less and less. A combination of overfishing, habitat destruction and increasing pollution has made local seafood a rapidly declining commodity, and one that's not very good for you. I spend time on and around the Pearl River (the industrial sewer of the world's economy) and I routinely see local fishing boats working areas that would be laughably unsafe to swim in. Related BBC article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2276733.stm When I'm cooking in HK, I more often than not use imported seafood, and some high end (mostly western) restaurants now advertise that they do, too. And don't get me started on the air pollution. I agree with Ohba about avoiding the well known strip of seafood restaurants at Sok Kwu Wan. Overpriced, full of expat office parties, so-so food. Fun mainly if you're focussed on getting drunk, and the company is paying, and you've never been there before. The 'Rainbow' Restaurant group there has a free boat shuttle from Central and TST, and isn't any worse than any other restaurant there. In that some area, there is one half decent restaurant just a short walk away, in the next bay over (Mo Tat Wan), called Cococabana. It's sort of Mediterannean themed, and much quieter. Website here: http://toptables.com.hk/cococabana/mainpage.html Thanks for the report, Kent. Edit: spelling

Morton's wouldn't qualify as "Cheap!", even with the happy hour appys. I think mzungu's suggestion of the Irish Heather would be a good fit. I've seen them seat a few big groups (usually ESL schools) around 6pm, doesn't seem to be a problem. And you can drink if you want to, eat if you want to.