zaskar

I used to use fresh herbs. But now I use dried, I find that is safer. I always store it in the fridge. With fresh herbs I used to notice a slight film at the bottom of the container, I haven't seen that with the dru herbs. Haven't had the problem with garlic olive oil. I heat the oli to about 220-250, five minutes or so, let it cool down then strain and put it in a ball container.

I've never seen it used, and my wife is Vietnamese. It could be a north south thing. Her parents are from the south, in Saigon. I know that Bun Cha, has a dipping sauce. It's pretty much just like Nuoc Cham, but it has something else in it I've been trying to find what it is. I was thinking that it could be Vietnamese Csramel Sauce, my Vietnamese Sister in-law seemed to agree. Maybe it's the coconut juice. I'll have to give that a try.

Does anyone know where I can purchase Chinese Ketchup, specifically the Lee Kum Kee brand? I've looked online not luck. E-mailed Lee Kum Kee, no response.Or maybe a comparable brand. I can't stand the "American ketchup" in Chinese dishes. I've been using tomato puree, recommend in a cookbook. Which works well, but I'd like to try using Chinese ketchup if possible. Jen Lin-Liu recommended it in her book Server the People. I don't use it in Sweet & Sour dishes, but some other dishes such as Sichuan Chile Prawns/Shrimp. I find it adds color and some thickness to the sauce more than flavor, at least the Tomato Puree does. I might go to NYC in a few weeks so I might try searching there in China-Town. Thanks.

I have the Vita Prep 3. I purchased an additional bowl with an ice blade, just for blending smoothies and ice drinks. It works great, I think it was around $100, for the pitcher, top, and ice blade.

So does anyone know when the last issue will be? I wonder if they will be refunding money, probably not.

I through it in a blender or a chopper and then I either freeze it in ice cube trays then put them in plastic back once frozen. I also sometimes vacumm seal it in a bag. For weekly use, I put it already chopped in a mason jar and mix in vodka and keep it in the freezer. I also do that w/ chopped garlic and giner (to make cooking quicker when needed).

I've gotten Malt syrup from the korean market here. I've also seen Korean malt syrup w/ the following ingrediants: Corn syrup, glucose, water. Malt syrup is made from barely. Maltose is used for peking duck, give it that shinny coat. I'll be going later this morning and could look and see what I can find there. LEt me know. -z

jmolinari, I'll have to try the caramel sauce in the nuoc cham. In the episode they took the ingredients, and dipped it into a bowl on nuoc cham on the side. My was who is originally from Saigon, pours the sauce over the bowl of noodles, meat and veggies. I guess that is more of a southern Vietnam thing. In Bobby Chin's vietnamese cookbook, he makes his caramel sauce with Palm Sugar. I wonder if that is what they use in Vietnam? I'm going to try making it with that next time I make some. I always use white sugar, water and fish sauce.

Thanks for the responses. I don't think it was caramel sauce in with it, it looked closer to Nuoc Cham, the caramel sauce would have made it dark, at least I would think so. I'll be going to Vietnam in June 2010, so I'll definitely have to try it out there. In the meantime I'll keep looking and researching.

I've been trying to find the difference between the two dishes. They seem very similar. My wife is Vietnamese, she always gets bun thit nuong or bun thit nuong cha gio (grilled pork with spring rolls). I saw No Reservations w/ Anthony Bourdain when he went to Vietnam and one of the dishes he got was Bun Cha. It seems very similar to Bun Thit Nuong. I know, at least I think I do, that it is a northern dish from Hanoi. The difference I noticed from the show is that you leave the dipping sauce in a bowl and dip your noodles, veggies, meat in the sauce and eat it that way. The way my wife eats Bun Thit Nuong is to pour the dipping sauce into the bowl and mix it all up and eat it that way. I also noticed that a difference with the dipping sauce is that it had papaya in it, I'm assuming green papaya. Other than that and the way it is eaten, I didn't see much of a difference between the two. Well, after some more research, couldn't find much on the web, I looked through my many Vietnamese cookbooks. I was able to find what I was looking for, whether it is or not I'm not sure. The cookbook is "Vietnamese Home Cooking" by Nguyen Thanh Van. In the book she has two dipping sauces, Nuoc Cham (sauce my wife uses) and Nuoc Cham Nem. Nuoc Cham Nem looks like the sauce that was used in the No Reservations episode. The difference between the two dipping sauces: Nuoc Cham Nem has: a little less garlic, rice vinegar instead of lime juice, shredded green papaya, and a little ground pepper. Does anyone know anything about this, am I on the right track? Thanks for any help anyone can provide. -z

I'll be traveling to Panaman for about five days in the beginning of July. Can anyone recommend any good cookbooks or dishes to try while I am there. I know nothing about the cuisine. Thanks. -z

Iwas thinking that. Although depending on who you talk to sometimes velveting is like planching or poaching. ← blanching not planching

Iwas thinking that. Although depending on who you talk to sometimes velveting is like planching or poaching.

Does anyone has a suggestion for a light fried "batter"? My wife had one at a Chinese restaurant in New Orleans when she used to live there. She said it was very light, it was a sweet and sour sauce (not the American style with ketchup and food coloring) with the pork lightly coated with a crust. I was thinking maybe it was egg whites with maybe cornstarch, no egg or flour. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Does anyone have a great recipe for doughnuts? I'm looking for something tried and true if possible. I hear there are good recipes for amish doughnuts. I know the amish doughnuts near us are one of the best. I've tried looking at amish books on amazon but can't tell is they have any doughnut recipes, I know one has a baked doughnut, but I'm looking for fried. Thanks, -z