HKDave

Further to this... Thermapen has a 1-yr warranty on thermometers and 6 months on probes, but don't warranty detachable oven probes because, in their words, "The probe will eventually burn out and need to be replaced as they can be damaged by moisture and excessive heat. However, the replacement probes are affordable." ($8, and their probes fit the Polder unit mentioned upthread).

I pre-soak with powdered dishwasher detergent (which seems logical; it's food stains, after all), then wash in hot as usual. Seems to work well enough (65 poly / 35 cotton blend). I've also tried bleach pre-soak with similar results. Neither has affected the embroidered logos.

Thermoworks, makers of the Thermapen, sell an almost-identical unit for $19, vs $25 from Polder. Cheaper replacement probes, too. http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_co...temp_timer.html All of these brands are getting their oven probe thermometers from the same few factories in China (like this one: http://www.fobinstruments.com/index.php ) and they all seem to be made as cheap as possible. I'd gladly pay a few bucks more for a more durable one but they don't seem to exist. Watch out for warranties... many probe thermometers die young, and some (like Maverick) only have a 90 day warranty. Polder won't even take returns; you've got to try your luck with the retailer. On pen thermometers, Thermapens have a great reputation and I wouldn't mind owning one, but I've found the widely-available Cooper DFP450W does the job for 1/2 the price. The response time is a second or two longer but it's still quite fast; we're talking 3-5 seconds instead of 2-3. Plus it's both Fahrenheit and Celsius; Thermapens are one or the other, not both. And it has a lifetime warranty, vs 1 year on Thermapen. And it fits in the shoulder pen pocket on most chef's whites, which the Thermapen doesn't. But it does lack the Thermapen's skinny probe. And about that lifetime warranty: the battery cover of my DFP450W broke a few months ago. I had bought the thing 3 or 4 years ago in another country and of course didn't keep a receipt. I contacted Cooper-Atkins head office in the US (which wasn't easy; they hide their e-mail address on their website so I resorted to fax) who put me in touch with a distributor here in Hong Kong, who delivered a replacement unit the next day; no charge, no questions. Not bad for a $35 product. I just noticed Thermoworks now has a similar unit even cheaper: http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt301.html

Try VCC butcher department ← Joe, I think that doesn't exist any more... VCC shut down their meat cutting program in 2002. The only meat cutting program still running in BC is at Thompson Rivers in Kamloops. Re leaf lard, I'd ask Dave at Windsor Meats.

Did a small dinner for 2 American friends who didn't realize that the real T'giving is a month earlier... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(Canada) My main objective was to keep it simple enough that I didn't have to spend much time in the kitchen when the guest were here, and it worked out pretty well. Only problem: limited turkey selection in HK. I ended up with the smallest one I could find, which was a 15lb monster. I have a small countertop oven. It was going to be a very tight fit. I ended up butchering the bird; the legs and bigger wing joints were confited a day ahead in a mix of goose fat and canola and re-heated in the oven on the day, and the breast was lightly salted, injected with a marinade (why brine when you can inject?) and roasted on mirepoix on the day, pulled at 155f and tented. The bones and wing tips went to the stock pot. Served the meat sliced and plattered. Worked very well, although I'll use a less-salty injectable marinade recipe next time. Served with bread salad (Zuni Cafe recipe) instead of stuffing, brussel sprouts (blanched and shocked ahead of time, Bouchon recipe with addition of Neiman Ranch bacon lardons; what isn't improved by adding bacon?), maple glazed carrots and apple/cranberry chutney. Dessert was some good store-bought vanilla ice cream with berries and warm homemade cookies. I made the dough ahead of time and fired the cookies at the last minute so people could smell the love baking while they were digesting the bird. Leftovers: I still had 2/3 of that big bird, and a bucket of stock... some of the stock ended in a roast pumpkin soup and the rest will be turned in a turkey/orzo/veg soup. Most of the leftover breast is in tonight's spinach, turkey and mushroom lasagne and the rest will find its way into sandwiches. The remaining confit will be good for a few more days.

I think your friend is telling the truth; it's sweet potato flour. Recipe, including advice on the best flour: http://www.makantime.com/mom7.htm Small oysters are essential. The best oyster omelette I've ever had used tiny Korean oysters.

Look at the bright side; at least you're not at the Harbour Plaza out in Tin Shui Wai in the New Territories! There are 4 Harbour Plazas here now but only one is actually on the harbour.

Great suggestion. I would try to. The beefball thing is in Tsim Sha Tsui Temporary Market (see earlier posts from aprilmei). ← Nope, it's the Hankow Road Temporary Market. I wonder if we saw each other; I've walked through there 3 times in the last 24 hours (I live one block away). Feel free to PM me if you're in the neighbourhood... Re insomniac's post, the CX flights from the west coast can arrive over the mainland or over Japan/Taiwan; they don't always fly the same route. And our smog isn't all the fault of 'across the border'. The HK gov't measures both 'general' (on the tops of tall buildings, or in the countryside) pollution and 'roadside' (where we really live) pollution. The roadside levels are invariably a lot higher, thanks to traffic and the 'wall effect' of new high buildings blocking air flow. Bottom line is that the air here is horrendous and gets worse every year. I love this place, but the air pollution will be what gets me to leave one day. It's not even really bad right now; when it's bad you can't even see across the harbour.

Just back from another Macau visit. Here's the latest: Il Teatro, Wynn Casino. Overlooks the dancing fountains, and is one of the few restaurants at the Wynn that's not inside the casino (which means you can take kids there; no under-18s allowed in Macau casinos). Good modern Italian cooking from a beautiful kitchen, and as long as you stay away from the big meat courses it's not absurdly expensive. But I didn't feel that the kitchen's skill level was up to the prices, and until it is, I doubt I'll be back often. We had a tuna appy that looked like something I might have plated with in the first week of culinary school. Excellent sommelier; he's Jenthew Yung, ex-Spoon HK. We hit Robuchon at the Lisboa again (see upthread) for lunch and this time was even better than last (and yes, aprilmei, we did the 4 course menu this time.) The amazing sorrel veloute is still on the menu, and there's now an incredible lightly-smoked foie terrine. Despite it being race week, the place was almost empty, which is a bit scary. And for the second time in a row, we weren't offered the sweets with our coffee, even though it's part of the menu. Maybe they could see that I was about to pop a button from the previous 2 hours at the table and though it would be dangerous if I ate more. It is hard to see how the old Lisboa is going to stay open; it increasingly looks like a dump compared to the new casinos. Club Militar has a great location - in the pink colonial building just opposite the Grand Lisboa - and a MOP108 lunch buffet that's one of the better deals in town. Soup, salads, a fish and a meat main, desserts. The a la carte menu looks good, too; I'll try that next visit. You'll hear plenty of Portuguese spoken at other tables; this is one of the last bastions of old expat Macau. Despite being a private club, the dining room is open to the public. Reservations are a must. I can see myself becoming a late-night regular at the Chinese noodle place overlooking the main casino floor at the staggeringly tacky Grand Lisboa. Inexpensive, never busy, really good mainland-style noodles and dumplings, all made in-house. Order bat bao cha and you get a kung-fu demonstration for something like MOP5; they've got one of those guys with the long-spout teapots who can really put on a show. The main casino bar in the Sands has got to be the cheapest place to drink in Macau, if not on Earth. MOP25 for almost everything on the bar menu, including Belgian beers and 12 year old whiskey. Cheesy dancers but a great house band at the moment. Visited the Venetian, and all I can say it that it's big. Absurdly big. And it's not even finished. There are a truly silly number of F+B outlets there and I'll probably get through life without trying very many of them. The place feels more like a giant shopping mall than a casino and has nothing to do with Macau; you could just as easily be in the one in Las Vegas if so many people weren't speaking Mandarin. I can't say that I liked it much but they don't build casinos to appeal to me; I just eat there. Some friends have opened a Brazilian churrasco place in there, complete with Brazilian chefs and carvers and charcoal grill, so I've got to give that a try. The Morton's in there has their traditional 5-7pm free beef fillet sandwich bar snackies. Outside the casinos, the current labour situation and massive rent hikes are killing small chef-owned restaurants in Macau. Places are literally closing their doors because they can't keep staff. The big casinos are hiring staff by the thousands and they have no problem getting permission to bring in as many foreign workers as they want; the little guys can't compete with casino wages on local hires and are getting buried by Macau's incompetent bureaucracy when they apply to import any staff, and these days are facing doubling or quadrupling of their rents when their leases come up. It's sad to see, and it's going to get worse. The taxi situation isn't getting any better. Learn the local bus routes (good luck) or plan your life around casino shuttle buses (to get from casino A to B, take casino A's bus to the ferry pier, and hop on casino B's bus there; it's often faster than waiting for a taxi at busy times of day). I heard that there's a new Macau cookbook in the works from the Council of Macau Communities (the Macanese diaspora organization) but so far nothing solid on that...

Pastry is TDMA's department; I'm a meat cook and don't have much of a sweet tooth. She did hit a few bakeries and sweet shops but usually ate the purchases before I had a chance to see them, let alone report on them. Smallworld, I think you're right about the transliteration of 'shina men'; it is probably noodles, not men. I can't read katakana, so I was going by what someone told me. Nice blog, btw.

Just got back to HK after 6 days in Tokyo, based in the Aoyama area. Many of these places have websites but they're often only in Japanese, so for more detailed addresses, hours and maps (which are pretty much essential for locating anything in Tokyo) check bento.com. Our visit was timed so we got in and out before Japan's new 'we're going to fingerprint all visiting foreigners' thing, which I find absurd and degrading, so I guess that's my last Japan visit. And a tasty one it was. Here goes: Katsu: Tried both Maisen (Aoyama) and Tonki (Meguro), which are generally said to be the #1 and #2 katsu places in Tokyo. Hmmm. Am I allowed to say I wasn't impressed and that I prefer the katsu at the restaurant across the street from me in HK? I guess I just did. They're very different styles. Maisen has an unusually thick layer of breading which I found overpowering, and while the pork was delicious, in my case it was undercooked. No English but they do have a photo menu. About Y1500 - Y3000 for a katsu set, and since one photo of katsu looks much like another, good luck figuring out what you're ordering. Credit cards. Tonki's breading is much more eggy (they use a flour-egg-flour-egg-flour-egg-Panko breading sequence) but it doesn't stick to the meat; you feel that the breading and pork are 2 completely unconnected things on the plate. The pork's not as tasty as Maisen but it is properly cooked. I loved the atmosphere around the downstairs katsu kitchen/bar at Tonki, especially watching the guy with the world's most heat-resistant fingers slice up all the katsu immediately after it comes out of the deep fryer. No English and no menu; when you come in a guy will ask you what you want. The 2 most common orders are 'rosa katsu' = loin = fattier, or 'hire (that's hee-ray) katsu' = fillet = leaner. Sit down and wait at the bench on the side, you will be called to the bar when your order is ready. Free refills of rice and cabbage. About Y1500 for a katsu set. Credit cards. Not easy to find. Take the west exit from Meguro Station, turn left and walk downhill along Meguro-dori for a minute. Turn left again just before the Gaia pachinko parlour. Tonki is 3 doors down with the sliding door and blue curtain (no English sign). Noodles: I only tried a few places. Umeiya (as recommended by Torakris) for a white miso/sesame/burnt onion raman Y650 plus gyoza Y250 for lunch. Good. No English and not many photos. I was unable to communicate enough to order their recommended shiso or garlic gyoza and just got plain ones, which were still very tasty (and were being made in-house, by hand). They have several locations, I was at the one on Aoyama-dori just south of the Kotto-dori intersection. My favorite was another chain called Shinamen ('Chinamen' transliterated) Hasigo. Several locations; were at the one just across the street from Ginza Line Tameike-Sanno Exit 7. No English, but the thing to order here is spicy dandan mein with daro=roast pork slices or paiko=breaded pork cutlet. They will make it more or less spicy if you can communicate that. They also have a cold deconstructed dandan called (I think) reimen that looked good. I was told they had gyoza but they didn't, at least at this location. No credit cards, about Y1100 for a bowl of dandan. Burgers: I make no apologies for going to Japan and eating hamburgers. I like burgers. No credit cards at any of these, I think. I had to try some of the local chains, so... MOS Burger. Hmmm. I had a chili cheeseburger and my companion, The Delectable Ms A, had an ebi-katsu burger. Mine was... well, not bad; the bland chili was helped by the jalapeno slices. TDMA's was pretty good, not that we've had any other ebi-katsu burgers to benchmark it against. We were at the location in Ryogoku, the sumo district, but they have about a zillion other locations. No English but lots of photos and very friendly staff. This was the cleanest fast food place I've been in on Earth. About Y350 for a burger. Next, Freshness Burger. Or more truthfully, Frozen Burger. And frozen fries. And microwave clam chowder. I had their standard Freshness Burger, which was (I think) a chili/tomato burger. It was ok but the best thing was that they had a selection of hot sauces, so mine tasted like Mexican hot sauce, which is a good thing. We were in the Harajuku location, so the staff were all kids with great hairdos and facial piercings whose mothers had told them that if they looked like that, they'd end up flipping burgers. What do you know, Mom was right. About Y350/burger, no English, many photos. Freshness just opened in HK so I guess I'll see what they're like here. Fujimama's is a very American place near the Harajuku end of Omotesando; they have a full English website with maps and menus etc here: http://www.fujimamas.com/ The staff all seemed to be from the Philippines so English wasn't a problem. TDMA had a swordfish burger, which she liked, and I had a cheeseburger. It was bloody in the middle, which is fine with me, and had a really nice chewy texture and was also well seasoned. Good burger, but for Y1500 it came with... nothing. No fries. I thought that was a bit bogus for the money. Best burger was Kua Aina; thanks again Torakris. Y1500 for a 1/3 lb bacon cheeseburger with a small portion of 'homemade' (no they're not; but they're good-quality frozen) fries, and a nice little salad, and a soda. The meat is less seasoned than I like but there's salt and pepper and ketchup and mustard on the table. Beautiful lettuce, tomato and onion garnish; no iceberg here. English menu. Many locations; I was at the one just across the street from Umeiya, above. Neighbourhood food: These are not places I'm suggesting are worth making a special trip to find, just places we went to because we were hungry and there they were. Our one buy-tokens-from-machine and eat-noodles-standing-up experience was at the noodle shop between Aoyama Bell Commons and the Gaienmae Metro station. It was, I'm sure, no different than any one of a zillion other similar places in Tokyo, but still nice and exotic for visiting gaijin. No English or photos, but a helpful cook and another customer were able to help us get the right tokens from the machine. About Y600 for soba (me) or udon (TDMA) with 3 tempura toppings, all of which tasted much more of deep fried batter than anything else. On our Kappabashi day, we smelled something good as we emerged from exit 3 of Tawaramachi Station. It turned out to be a small concrete-floored mom-and-pop (and grandpa; he mans the stall outside) shop that sold yakisoba. They also have onigiri and inari-sushi. That's it; 3 items on the menu. We sat down and Mom asked if we wanted yakisoba (at least that's what I think she asked), which we did. Y300. It was one of those places that's clearly been there forever and although the yakisoba was just ok, I loved the place and will certainly go back if I'm in the 'hood again. And I will be, because Kappabashi is well worth a repeat visit. It's cookware porn heaven. The shop under the big plastic chef is great. Expensive gaijin food: I was psyched for good pizza, something Hong Kong lacks. Pizzeria Sabatini came well recommended, but it was hands-down the worst meal we had in Japan. The pizza was simply awful. A (good) shared salad; one soggy, undercooked 30cm pizza that wasn't garnished as described but it hardly mattered because it was barely garnished at all; and a couple of beers: Y5000. Crap. Not remotely 'authentic' (HKDave knows pizza; he was chowing down on the real thing in Italy before our genuine Italian waiter was a tickle in his Daddy's underpants). Pizza Hut would have been better. Best meal of the trip was at Lauburu. This is a well-hidden, chef-owned, vaguely Basque restaurant. 24 seats; reservations essential. No English. The chalkboard menu is in Japanese or French, the latter of which worked for us. If you love pork, this is your place. If you're a vegan, umm, go home and make yourself a salad because there's not much for you here. House-made charcuterie, choucroute garni, cassoulet, pork confit, boudin noir; you get the picture. The highlight (which we didn't order, but over 50% of the tables did, and we will next visit) is their cote de porc, which is the porky equivalent of prime rib. I'd heard about the supposedly huge portions here but they're not that big. Apps around Y2000, mains Y3000. We dumped Y14500 on dinner for 2 with a bottle of French pear cider, and let me put it this way: we tried to book again for the next night (they were full). Credit cards. Tel 3498 1314, and you're not going to find it without directions, so here goes: Ginza Line, Omotesando Station. Take exit B1 and walk straight down Aoyama-dori. At the Max Mara store, turn left on to Kotto-dori and walk until Papa's Cafe (it's on the right hand side of the street). After Papa's, take the next right in to the lane, and then immediately take the next left into the even smaller dead-end lane that runs parallel to Kotto-dori. Lauburu is at the end of this lane. If you somehow end up at Roppongi-dori, you've gone too far. Edit: spelling

Thanks, Kristin! You're right, I'm not really looking for fancy places; no shortage of those here in HK, at equally surreal prices. I'll definitely try Kua Aina. And I saw the review of Umeiya on Bento.com, so on the basis of that and your husband's recommendation, I'll definitely add them to the list. BTW, the map link in your post doesn't seem to work, but no problem. I can find the place. I'm pretty well set now... I've also added Lauburu (the Basque pork place) to my list for a big gaijin night out. Now all I'm still looking for is nearby noodles etc for quick lunches... is Aoyama too classy to have any good raman/soba joints? I don't mind trekking slightly further afield.

Well, I've done all my foodie research for my upcoming week-long Tokyo trip based on the fact that I'd be staying in Shiodome, an area I've been to before and where I (sort-of) know my way around. But now I find at the last minute - I leave this weekend - that I won't be in Shiodome at all. I'll actually be spending the week in Aoyama, an area I've never been to and know nothing about. Does anyone have any quick restaurant recommendations for Aoyama or nearby? I'm primarily looking for smaller local places that do one thing well; noodle shops (especially soba, but also raman in general), gyoza or onigiri places, or even good hamburger joints. I don't mind walking some distance for a good meal. I'm also looking for a chanko restaurant that won't look horrified if just one gaijin+girlfriend shows up for dinner; I'm thinking about Waka in Roppongi for that because, well, it's owned by Wakanohana and it's closer than going to Ryogoku. Anyone tried it? Slightly off topic, I'm also looking for rock bars, because HKDave does not live by food alone. Sabatini Pizza (why is it you can't get decent pizza in Hong Kong?) and Maisen (katsu) are already on my list, and from what I can figure, are in the neighbourhood. Thanks in advance.

Chef Taryn is very good. There's lots of info and pricing on her website: http://www.savourychef.com/

Who is taking over at West?

The 'mashed potato football' sounds like pastis de bacalhau, which is pretty much as you describe but also contains salt cod. It's possible that Yan, who is (ahem) not a stickler for accuracy, skipped the salt cod for his TV audience. Macanese consider the dish one of their own, but it's basically Portuguese. I'd agree with aprilmei that Macanese food is largely based on Portuguese (or Portuguese empire; dishes like feijoada often appear on menus in Macau), with Chinese and other outside influences, rather than the other way around. The other outside influences came from the Portuguese empire's travels. They picked up things like chilies, potatoes and tomatoes in their American settlements, peanuts from Africa, spices from Goa, Malacca and Timor, and were largely responsible for introducing them to East Asia. It's hard to imagine, but the Indian, Thai and Sichuan cuisines didn't have chilies before the Portuguese arrived here. There are very few Macanese cookbooks. Jackson's "Taste of Macau" is available through Amazon in the US. An interesting book that shows the Portuguese culinary influence on the world in recipes is Hamilton's "Cuisines of Portuguese Encounters", but it's out of print. I've been to Macau a couple of times in the last month or so, and here's an update. Sadly, the Macau I knew and loved from as recently as a year ago is gone. The opening of several mega-casinos, most recently the Venetian, has transformed the sleepy backwater into a place where it can take over an hour to get through customs at the ferry terminal on any day of the week, and it can be totally impossible to find a taxi at times. The only good thing is that the current boom is so poorly planned that it seems likely that in a few years it will be followed by an equally spectacular bust. Robuchon at the Lisboa remains a very good deal for lunch, but ignore the menus on their website; they're totally out of date (although the prix fixe prices are correct). Reservations required. Huge wine list, and the best cheese board in this part of the world. The most incongruous thing about an elegant meal at Robuchon is running the gauntlet of very obvious prostitutes working the ground floor of the hotel on your way out. For those who want Portuguese/Macanese but are tired of Fernandos, or who just want air-con, tiny O Manel (mentioned upthread), or tiny A Petisqueira (tel 825354), both in the older part of Taipa, remain good alternatives, but reservations are needed at either. Fernando's now has an English menu. The last 3 times I've been to Fernando's they've been out of the clams, which as basically taken them off my list. O Manel does the clams better, anyway. Aurora at the Crown casino looks very promising and some local friends speak highly of it. I only had time for a drink there but liked what I saw in the open kitchen and on the menu. The staff told me they're slammed on weekends but weekdays are civilized. They're on the list for next visit. If you want to pretend Macau hasn't changed in 20 years, a slow lunch at the outdoor Nga Tim in Coloane Village is the real deal. The menu is semi-Cantonese but has all the usual Macanese favorites. Tel 882086. Inexpensive. Chan Chi Mei restaurant, on the same street, is run by the same people. Pizzeria Toscana, formerly across from the ferry terminal, is now hidden in the basement of a building in the Barra. Same not-bad, not-great Italian food. Tel 726637. There's a pretty decent Sichuan restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf, called Hero. Tel 728 807. I've tried them a couple of times at lunch and had no problem getting in without reservations. Oh, and all 6-digit Macau phone numbers now need a '28' prefix when dialing. edit: grammer...

"Angus" is close to meaningless as an indicator of beef quality. It's just marketing-speak. If they were claiming to use "Certified Angus Beef", that would be different. CAB is a recognized quality standard that's enforced by inspection. http://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/product/grades.php But saying you use "Angus" is like saying you use "beef". There's nothing about Angus that's automatically any better than generic, especially in burger.

Josh, where's this Hing Kee on Nathan Rd at? There's a place called Hing Kee on Temple St, but that's a clay pot rice place, I don't think they do typhoon shelter crab... and there's another old chili crab place on one of the side streets just north of Kowloon Park - Woosung St or Temple St or one of those - but I'm pretty sure it's not called Hing Kee.

Packets of frozen meat and mince sink in water and raw mince, added to water sinks so I'm pretty sure your burger mix will be denser than water. ← Just tried it with some vac-bagged frozen ground chuck here, and you're right, it sinks. Hmmm. That stuff was 15% fat, which floats; and frozen water certainly floats, so I guess the protein component of meat is so dense that it compensates for that. I learn something new every day.

weinoo, I think you're confusing fluid ounces (volume) with ounces (weight). Portion scoops measure volume. Here's a chart: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/portionscoopequivalent.htm Nancy is asking about 3oz weight. Because burger is less dense than water (or at least it should be!) it'll take a bigger scoop to get 3oz weight that it takes to get 3 fluid oz volume. Not sure exactly what size, though.

These fish 'confits' are more accurately described as 'oil-poached', but that doesn't sound as sexy on the menu. I use the technique often for salmon. I do it stovetop, because I find it's hard to keep an eye on things in the oven and most ovens can't stay cool enough for this. The oil temperature is critical; if you go much over 50c you'll start deep- frying, which you don't want. I've haven't found using a rack necessary. It shouldn't take 45min unless you have a very big slab (which will use a ton of oil).... for a couple of steak-sized pieces, 15-20min will do it. It is certainly possible to overcook it. If you see white coagulated protein oozing out, either you've let the oil get too hot and it's now overcooked on the outside and raw in the middle, or else you've just plan overcooked the whole thing. Even if a recipe calls for 100% evoo, I use 50/50 evoo/canola to keep the cost rational. Also use the smallest pan that fits the fish to avoid having to use so much oil. The flavour of the oil isn't significant, especially if you're adding pepper, fennel etc. I coffee-filter and refridge the oil after use, and use it for future fishy deep fry and confits.

There's a recent thread on this cut of beef here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=104771 If you click on the link in my post in that thread (here it is again: http://www.beeffoodservice.com/Cuts/Info.aspx?Code=42 ) it shows you how to turn it into sirloin steaks, and when you scroll down it also has a bunch of menu suggestions and recipes.

I've never made it, but if I understand correctly, making a traditional gochujang is pretty complicated. The first step is to make fermented soybean paste (doenjang) and that takes weeks and makes your house smell interesting. You could buy ready-made doenjang which would make this a lot easier. Then, for a basic gochujang, you would grind up the doenjang and blend in red pepper powder (gochu), salt, malt and rice powder. Most store-bought gochujang nowadays is made from wheat, malt or sugar, water and red pepper powder, with little or no doenjang. It's got perservatives and lasts for months with no problem in the fridge.

I've made fairly thick sauces from straight reduction of infused coconut milk poaching liquid before, but I'm having trouble imagining it in a mac and cheese. It's pretty rich.

Clarifying is the process of removing particulate matter (cloudiness) from a stock to make a clear consomme. It's outlined here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26540 No idea what "reclarify" would mean beyond maybe clarifying a second time, for instance if you made a mess of the raft on the first attempt?