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

I have white lilly pastry flour. I'm thinking that is the same thing as White Lily self rising flour with out the baking powder. Does anyone know? My biscuits are also spreading out. I'm thinking either they are a little too we and not getting a clean cut with the biscuit cutter (I'm dipping the cutter in flour before each biscuit cut). Or maybe the butter has softened too much? Thanks. -z

I want to grind up my own five spice powder. Does anyone have an idea on the proportions of the spices? Thanks.

In December of 05 I went to Shanghai and Beijing and got dried peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. The peppercorns were really fresh compared to ones I had mailed from the UK. Get them at the open air markets there. They're incredibly cheap and fresh. I vacuumed sealed mine when I got back to the US. They are illegal here unless they are heat treated which kills their fragrance, just tell the custom people they're dried spices.

Re: "How authentic is that". How far back in Chinese history would you consider for being "authentic"? 20-30 years? 200 years? 2000 years? ←

I’m curious about the use of tomatoes in Chinese food, whether that be Ketchup, Tomato Sauce, Tomato Puree, etc. How authentic is this? I have many Chinese cookbooks, Wei-Chuan, Pei-Mei, and others that I bought in China (English/Chinese languages together) and a lot of them use ketchup in their recipes. Of course the obligatory “Sweet & Sour” has ketchup in it, except for some which don’t and use pineapple juice or haw flakes or something else. Also Sichuan prawns, prawns/shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce (with ketchup, hot bean paste). I hate the taste of ketchup in Chinese food, especially sweet and sour sauce. Which is why I don’t ever order it out, I haven’t in the last 5+ years (in a restaurant). I’ve had Sichuan Prawns that had no taste of ketchup in it but I know they used it. I was thinking they used something else like tomato puree or sauce. Does anybody have a suggestion of what to use in place of ketchup or not getting that ketchup flavor if it’s used. I do think they use way too much, especially when you see sweet and sour dishes that use 1/3 or ½ Cup ketchup.

I've had a couple of Kitchen Aid's, two to be exact. I sold the first one to my sister so I could get the 6QT model. I love it. I hd the screw come loose tht works the handle that makes the bowl go up and down. But I screwed it back in and it hasn't come out since. I even had it drop off of the counter onto a tile floor twice, and it still works! I wouldn't recommend Viking, maybe there small appliances are better than their ranges,bt the problems I've had with their ranges, I wouldn't recommend them. -z

Of all the knives I have, and I have a lot. I would have only the Global 8" Chef's knife if I had to keep oe. Their knives are great. They hold their sharpness for a long time.

This looks more like etuoffe to me, I never heard of a bisque being served with rice, exepet to thicken it with. Sounds good though!

Does anyone have a sugar-free simple syrup recipe to use as a flavoring in coffee or drinks? I was going to try making one using Splenda for baking, trying one with vanilla extra and one with a vanilla bean. I'm not too sure how the Splenda will disolve. I'd though I'd ask before I attempted and wasted anything. Any suggestions appreciated. thanks!

Fushia Dunlop just came out with a book on Hunan cuisne, the Revloutionary cookbook or something like that. She has 2 versions of general Tso's Chicken. One that is "authentic" and one that is "american/westernized". I had to order mine from the UK, since it's not released to the US until Feb '07