HKDave

CAB is definitely not the only premium program graded by the Feds. The USDA grades almost 30 premium beef programs in addition to CAB. Here's a list with links to the specs for each: http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/certprog/certbeef.htm And the poster with 20 years in the biz who said above that CAB isn't an official certification - well, it actually is. USDA spec for CAB here: http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/certprog/beef/cab.htm But this is all just noise. Listen to your boy from Hong Kong here. You want good beef? I'll talk in US grades so you know what I'm saying. When you're buying cut beef, you can usually see what you're getting. Slow down, trust your eyes. People spend more time selecting tomatoes than selecting steaks that cost 10x as much. - Don't pay attention to all this premium branding unless you just want to spend more for the same thing. Most premium grades are selected from somewhere in Choice and better. Just buy plain USDA Choice (or Prime if you can afford it) for anything being served rare to medium, and forchissakes cook it properly. For well done, it doesn't matter - those folks like eating rubber. Serve them the cheapest crap. For braising or ground (other than tartare or rare burgers, if you still serve them) or tenderised meat, it doesn't matter. Save your money and buy supermarket generic. - Learn to recognize good fat marbling when you see it! This is the key. Marbling is what it's all about for tenderness, now that almost nobody dry ages beef. Within Choice there's a lot of variety in marbling. You can get Choice meat that's far better marbled than the 'premium' brands if you know what to look for. - Find and regularly patronize a good butcher (or supplier, if you're in the biz). There are still a few out there. And if he still does dry aging, marry him (or her). Yeah, there's more to it than this. But you can't go wrong by selecting well-marbled cuts from USDA Choice or better, and it'll cost you less than the premium brands. It's worth noting that the very best steakhouses (Peter Luger comes to mind) send their own buyers to the wholesalers and select meat by eye rather than by grade - although I think Luger are selecting from Prime sides. Edit: Luger, not Lugar.... link here: http://www.peterluger.com/ourstory.html

Are the Hong Kong chefs innovative, or any more innovative than any other Chinese chefs? I don't think Hong Kong dim sum is especially creative. I go for dim sum 2 or 3 times a week, and it's good here, but it's better (and costs 1/3 the price) in places like Vancouver. The staggering costs of restaurant rent and imported ingredients means there's less value and innovation going onto your plate. Many famous HK restuarants don't even make their own dim sum anymore, it's coming chilled from central kitchens (see: most of the Maxim's group restaurants). In an increasing number of cases they simply suck compared to a decent restaurant in the Chinese diaspora. Hong Kong chefs don't get the recognition - or pay - they deserve. It's not an environment that encourages innovation. If you want great, innovative Cantonese food, go to Vancouver. Hong Kong has been getting less 'International' for 7 years, although we still can kick Shanghai's butt - for a while.

Most Chinese-style chili oil is made with dried chilies, not fresh. About 1/3 cup finely chopped dried chili to 1c canola or soybean oil, simmer, cool. The chilies will all sink to the bottom. Keeps for months. There are often some additional flavours added - for example, in Chiu Chow style oil, there's also a little garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil (or seeds), salt and sugar. If you use fresh chiles, I would strain them out after a day or so unless you're using the oil fairly soon. The oil lasts longer that way. No need to do this with dried. Re the heat of Thai chilies vs dried Sichuan - if you're talking about fresh Thai 'prik kee noo' chilies - the little mouse poop shaped ones - I'd say they're slightly milder than dried Sichuan. But it's a moot comparison because they're not used the same way in cooking. In any case, neither are close to habaneros. If you want hotter Thai food, request your dishes be made with more more prik kee noo, or else ask for a side bowl of the fresh chopped chilies. If your restaurant is only using dried chili instead of fresh, change restaurants. In Thailand it's not uncommon to spec the number of chilies you want in a dish, especially for dishes where the chiles used are raw like yam woon sen (beanthread noodle salad). The Thai words for 'very hot' are 'pet maaak'.

Bleudauvergne, this is great stuff, thanks! And we're only on Day 2....

You're not really getting conflicting advice. You're hearing from people who have been/there done/that with the grinding thing, and from people who have no idea what they are talking about. Go look at the thread on sharpening with waterstones, started by this guy rbm who appears in this thread, and ask yourself, does this guy have a clue? Yeah, I think so! I think the conflicting advice you're getting is from people that expect the tip of a chef's knife to have the classic shape, vs people that know a lot about grinding metal. Both groups might be right. If you follow the advice above and work from the back, leaving the sides and blade intact as much as possible, you'll end up with a more dropped tip shape. It would be a useable knife, but it's not the shape your knife was. Maybe this new shape will work for you, but if you have classic French knife technique and/or you use this knife for any fine work, I bet you'll end up getting a new knife. There's a reason that chef's knives look like they do. The alternative would be to take the blade back far enough so that you could get the original shape back. That means working from all sides, and would result in a shorter blade. I do think that would remove enough metal to affect the balance, but I defer to the metal-grinders expertise on that. Anyway, nothing to lose - give the repair a try, use the 'fixed' knife for a shift, and tell us if it worked. Have you killed the perp yet? I think we all agree on that point.

I assume you mean 10", not 10'.... You need a new knife. Depending on how far down the tip snapped off, a custom knifemaker may be able to grind and polish the tip smooth again. But there's no way to add to the tip, so you can't get the former shape back, and you won't be able to use the tip for fine work. And the cost of having this done will be about the same as a new knife. Plus the balance will be off because the blade is now lighter. Again, a knifemaker could remove some weight from the pommel to compensate for this, but it's just not worth it. It's new knife time. Find out who did this and kill them, obviously.

Fat Guy, on this we shall agree to disagree....

A good baguette is all about freshness, not ethnic origin. I'm about as far away from both the US and France as you can get, but in my building, there's a local Chinese-staffed bakery that does excellent baguettes. The 'secret', as best I can tell, is that they bake them 3 times a day, and I know the times they come out of the oven, and make sure I buy and eat them while they're still warm. They're not any good after even 1/2 day. Bread stales very fast here. I can also buy cheap, nasty perservative-rich supermarket baguettes here that are every bit as bad as the worst you can buy in the US.....

I don't see presumptuousness as being the issue. For me, it's more just a question of politeness. Most US restaurants manage to function without 'the question', especially once you get outside places like NYC and Las Vegas, or outside 3-ring-binder franchises. The question is a way to manipulate the customer. I simply prefer to frequent places that don't do that, and that allow their food and service to speak for themselves.

I find the 'do you need change' question offensive and don't frequent places that ask it. I am a heavy tipper, but if I wanted the waitron to keep the change, I'd say so. I only ever get asked this question in the US, by the way. If a restaurant tried this in Asia or Europe (or Canada or Mexico, for that matter), they would be considered staggeringly rude. As far as it being asked to save the staff's time, that's nonsense. The question is asked to increase the tip take. Most customers are somehow intimidated in situations like this and it's easier (especially in front of a date or whatever) to tell the server keep it, plus you're more likely to get a better tip if they don't have time to do the math. You get a better average tip take with 'the question' than by always bringing the change. That's the main reason it's done. Actually, I just thought of one place here in Hong Kong that asks it - a US-franchise bar whose staff make a lot of money ripping off US Navy sailors on shore leave who are too drunk to realize that they've just tipped heavily on top of a 15% service charge. They only ask when the sailors are in town.

Pan fried chicken. Done it many times, tried all the recipes, read all the threads, love it. But as often as not, I make a complete mess of it. And even when it works, it's still not as good as KFC. A couple weeks ago I had 2 (cast iron) pans of chicken going at the same time. One came out well, the other sucked. Exact same everything in both pans. Drives me crazy. But I continue..... and the first person that suggests I check my oil temperature gets a fat lip. Oh yeah, I also can't do pastry to save my life. But I don't even try to do that kind of stuff. - Hong Kong Dave

There are racks and racks of condiments in my mise, but if I had to pick one favorite, it would be Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce. No Tab*sco in this house. I think some people are getting confused here between 'condiment' and 'ingredient'

Don Julio is fine, fine tequila. A friend brought us a bottle from California, and it changed my idea of what tequila should taste like forever. No mixing needed for this one, we were just sipping it from liqueur glasses... - Hong Kong Dave

Britvic India Tonic is the best I've found. Nice flavour, contains quinine, not too sweet, no HFCS. Made in UK, available in Europe and here in Hong Kong, but not sure if you can get it in the USA. It comes in one-drink size cans, rather than cola-size cans - perfect for mixing. Makes a bigger difference in the taste of a G+T than the choice of gin. http://www.britvic.com/britvic/home - Hong Kong Dave

Made the Cooks Illustrated meatloaf recipe last week (that's the bacon-wrapped one) and have been eating it with in German rye sandwiches with Dijon mustard, those crispy Danish fried onions and homemade (of course) coleslaw. Works for me....

I also use a cast iron deep skillet, and use long grain white rice. Everyone says 2 parts stock to 1 part rice, with a can of tomatoes in there adding more liquid. But I usually find I have to add a cup or so more stock at the end. Excellent info about making jambalaya on Chuck Tagget's amazing Gumbopages: http://www.gumbopages.com/recipe-page.html - click on The Basics. I recommend Chuck's recipe as a good starting point. - Hong Kong Dave

Please don't tell anyone.... instant raman. With cheese or sour cream, and the MSG-rich flavour packet sprinkled on top. Ready in minutes. Luckily, the delectable Ms A also likes this glop, except she puts lime pickle on hers instead of the MSG packet. - Hong Kong Dave

What is 'spiciest' may be a matter of what you're used to - an exotic spicy dish probably has more impact than the spicy food Mom used to make. It would be hard for me to pick a spiciest. I routinely eat (oh yeah, and work - my boss will probably read this) in Korea, Thailand, China, Vietnam and now India. I consider many local foods here spicy, but not over the top explosive. But I've had a few dishes at 'Cajun' (note the quotes) restuarants in North America that were so hot that I - who used to eat raw Thai chilies - found them totally inedible. If I based my judgement solely on that, I'd say Cajun food is the spiciest, which I think we would all agree it's not. By contast, the few Sichuan meals I've had in the US were relatively bland, nothing like Sichuan food in China. I can't see anyone saying Sichuan food is the hottest based on the USA version. I agree with the earlier comments about what the Brits have done to Indian food in general, and vindaloo - originally a fairly subtle dish - in particular. Generic 'Indian' food is now served inedibly hot to drunken soccer fans all over the world. It's a great way to get rid of any dodgy meat in the kitchen. And they never notice that the staff are actually Bangladeshi or Pakistani. The hottest dish I've ever eaten was a Jamacian jerk chicken in a homemade habanero sauce. It was delicious, but at the same time so hot that my brain seemed to disconnect for several seconds after I put it in my mouth. I am now very, very careful around habaneros. - Hong Kong Dave

Blanching is done in Chinese cooking for cleaning and/or par-cooking. Meat was (and is, in much of the world) traditionally bought fresh-killed and not necessarily refrigerated. Blanching removes any dirt, bone fragments, and surface blood, and par-cooking means your wok timings are shorter. If your meat's clean, your recipe doesn't need par-cooking and you aren't making a clear stock, then I wouldn't bother with blanching. Browning is different - the purpose is to make a crust on the outside so that that the meat doesn't fall part in braising, or else just for the delicious beefy flavour. In most spicy beef noodle soups I've had here in China, the meat wasn't browned, just braised, but you could get a good result either way. Never tried the spice packets, but easy to do this without. Brisket vs chuck - if your brisket has a nice thick fat cap, I'd use the brisket, sliced so each piece has a little fat. If the brisket has no fat, I'd use chuck, cubed. Gotta be some fat for flavour. Yum. - Hong Kong Dave

Pancotto - Italian bread soup: http://www.e-rcps.com/pasta/rcp/soup/bread_soup.shtml or in meatloaf (the Cook's Illustrated recipe): http://home.att.net/~jserdmann2/MeatLoaf.html or slice, grill lightly, rub w/garlic, and make bruscetta... - Hong Kong Dave

And now the above CI meatloaf recipe link is also dead - here's a new working one: http://home.att.net/~jserdmann2/MeatLoaf.html I cooked this last weekend, been eating it in sandwiches for a week (dark bread, w/coleslaw - yum).

'Angus' now is meaningless as an indicator of beef quality, but 'Certified Angus Beef' (CAB) does have meaning. Details here: http://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/product/grades.html That site is for American grades, but CAB have similar programs in Canada and Australia, and the quality is comperable. I can really start babbling when it comes to beef grades and quality, but to avoid repetition, I've got a few longish posts on this topic in here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=5600&hl= There's no substitute for making friends with your butcher. Even the guys behind the counter in the supermarket - if you're lucky enough to have a supermarket that still has a real meat counter - can help you get the good stuff once you get to know them. - Hong Kong Dave

2 informal, kid-friendly quality pasta choices: - not far from your hotel, a good choice would be Da Pasta Bar (www.dapastabar.com). While 'serious' foodies might look down on it, the pasta and sauces there are very good. - a 15 minute drive to 631 Commerical Drive would get you to Vancouver's oldest Italian restaurant, Nick's Spaghetti House. This is a traditional 'red sauce' Italian-American place with huge portions of, again, quite good quality pasta. Perfect for carb loading. No reservations, often a lineup. If you want more 'authentic' Italian style pasta in a more formal setting, the various Umberto restaurants are always reliable - go to www.umberto.com and scroll down the page to get to the restaurant links. Reservations recommended at all of them. I'll defer on the 'BC experience' and panini places to someone with more recent Vancouver experience than me. Personally, for lunch in Vancouver I'd go for dim sum rather than panini. Vancouver has some of the best dim sum on Earth, and that's coming from someone from Hong Kong. Re good espresso, you won't have any problem finding it everywhere. Vancouver is a great city for coffee. About half of Vancouver is employed making coffee for the other half. - Hong Kong Dave

I had a look for that past freezing herbs thread without success... I've tried freezing sage and rosemary without oil before, but found they quickly went black. It could be that the stuff I'm working with here isn't as fresh as from your garden. Most western herbs here are flown in from Australia, so at best they're picked a few days ago. The only locally grown herb seems to be parsley, but that I just buy fresh - it's available year round - at the insane price of about US 50 cents for less than 1 ounce! I'd love to be able to plant a herb garden but we're on the 27th floor, facing North, with another building about 3 feet away. I agree on freezing ginger - it keeps forever that way. I keep it in a ziploc with the air pressed out, and don't even get much freezer burn.

Another method for preserving leafy herbs like basil is to chop them up with a little olive oil, then freeze. The oil helps herbs retain their colour and flavour, and you don't have to dry them first this way. Plus chopped they take up less space in my tiny freezer. In Canada I used to buy a couple of big garbage bags full of basil from a grower at very low prices when it was in season, give it a quick chop in a food processor with the oil, freeze in ice cube trays, then wrap the cubes in plastic and ziploc. Fresh basil year round for cheap... just unwrap a cube when needed. But in Hong Kong fresh basil costs about the same as crack, so we've got the plant on the windowsill, and it just gets used for insalata caprese and other dishes that really need it fresh. I've converted to rocket, instead of basil, for my pestos - it's great! - Hong Kong Dave