Susan G

I thought this topic was going to be ironic: "White tea" was what hot water was called in China when famine halted production from the tea plantations!

Oohh, the tapas list: (incomplete, as I was drinking more than usual that night, and some crucial details escape me): Grilled octopus - small ones: blackened tentacles, chewy centers. Nothing but olive oil and meat - outstanding. Manchego cheese and fig jam, with a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar and slivered almonds. Lovely plating, very nice pairing with the red wine we were all imbibing! Several pieces of seared tuna rolled in golden sesame seeds. This was my favorite: The nutty crunch of the seeds paired perfectly with the smoothness of the seafood. Barbequed spareribs. Harder and sweeter than I expected, and required more nibbling.......but that was part of the fun! And........the rest is a blur. I remember we had eight plates among three people, and I walked out of there feeling very full and very happy...........but the finer points evade me. Cynthia? Other than the music glitch at the door, I would go again........and soon!

Hear, hear to the ginger marmalade! I prefer Dundee's, but I'll eat any I can find. My grandmother used to start her day with a cup of coffee, and a slice of salt-rising bread with ginger marmalade - oh heavenly combination of aromas!

Cubed in 1" blocks, slow roasted with rosemary and black pepper. Duck fat.....yummm. Never tried it for this roast - sounds heavenly!

Cravings would be the wrong word for my monthly food desires. It's suddenly/awfully urgent obsessions. Potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce. Chocolate eclairs. (Three in a row is best). Prosciutto wrapped around sesame breadsticks. Peking duck. Citrus fruits. And a shock collar for my husband if he so much as looks at me cross-eyed!

It's, "I say I'm discerning/ *you* say I'm picky"...........tomato, tomahto! Maybe it's like this: Discerning people shop for themselves, picky people ask other people to cater to them.

I bet that's bai jiu! (Literally, "white liquor") Hoo yeah - suck that stuff down with some stinking tofu and some 100 year old eggs, and you've got yourself a stink party! Not to get off-topic: My favorite movie theater in Nanjing, PRC, where you could rent tickets to red velvet sofas on the mezanine, freqently had small gatherings of young men getting absolutely pissed on bai jiu during the movie. I doubt they had to smuggle it in, and between the aroma and the ensuing behavior, the rest of the patrons didn't much care for it.

Or a rice pudding for dessert, with a little freshly grated nutmeg. I love that there's a Non-Chew Cookbook! What enlightened times we live in! Toothless or dysphagic, yet with an expectation of being gastronomicly engaged! How humane!

Sea urchin. I've tried it twice in sushi form, and each time as I put it into my mouth, I break out in a cold sweat and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I suspect I'm working on an allergic reaction here.......I've never had this instinctual aversion response to anything else.

Here in Albuquerque, which has a thriving Vietnamese population (meaning, many Asian grocery stores!) pho is served with purple basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, lime wedges and - this may be our regional twist on things - sliced jalepeno peppers! Hoisin sauce and chili sauce are in squeeze bottles on the table, nam pla available on request.

I've never heard of it, but I'm wondering if you mean crabs with chysanthemum tea as a beverage on the side, or crabs steamed in the tea?

I think what you're looking for is called Red-Cooked Pork. The following is a recipe form Cooking Light, November 1999. "2lbs boneless pork loin roast 1/2 c. dry red wine, divided 2T. sugar 1c. chopped onion 2T. minced fresh ginger 4 garlic cloved, minced 1/2c. soy sauce 7 whole scallions 6 star anise 1c. water (garnish: 3T chopped scallions) Trim the fat from the pork. Cut pork into 2" pieces. Combine 1/4c. wine with the sugar in a large Dutch oven, and cook until sugar melt s and mixutre slightly thickens. Add the pork, onion, ginger and garlic, and cook 5 mintes, browning the pork on all sides. Add the remaining wine, soy sauce, whole scallions, and star anise. Bring mixture toa boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 75 minutes, until the pork shreds easily with a fork. Spoon over rice and serve with chopped scallions." Although the recipe doesn't mention it, you may want to try using a drop or two of red food coloring for that restaurant-quality ruby color you liked so much. If I recall correctly, this dish was reputed to be Chairman Mao's favorite - and his wife nagged at him to eat more vegetables and fewer fatty dishes. (Like this one). If this isn't the flavor you remember, try searching for recipes for Twice-Cooked Pork, which is also sometimes colored red in restaurants. Happy eating!

Again, no idea what part of the County is good for you, but when we lived there, Yorktown Seafood in Yorktown Heights, NY was excellent. (914) 245-3474. Wide variety, helpful counter staff, and lovely fish.

I really like the sushi at Taka Sushi on San Pedro at Kathryn.......while the constant TV presence does nothing for me, the fish is jewel-toned and lovingly prepared. The owner/chef, Ike, is a wizened old man who radiates benevolence. Outstanding seaweed salad.

Kosher salt is, I think, the salt of choice: Iodized salt halts the fermentation process.

I second the Rescue Remedy solution........and I also suggest making a big pot of large pearl tapioca.......heavy hand with the vanilla (almond flavoring too if you're feeling like something exotic) and add a can of mandarin oranges. Eat warm. Nothing lik Grandma used to make, and oh so comforting. Slides down easily on an upset tummy. So sorry about your breakup.

I put dried apricots into tea loaves with pecans or walnuts.

When I was a teenager and going through extreme growth spurts, I used to crave a bowl of pineapple chunks and unflavored yogurt. I ate it every day after school. In fact, I ate so much of it for so long, my step-father was convinved it was an anti-helminth remedy! In rural New York, maple syrup is commonly eaten on johnnycake (and as a sweetener for strawberry shortcake)........maybe the Japanese developer for corn dogs spent too much time in Rochester or Syracuse?

What I've always found memorable about the Pecos Cafe and Grill is the way people's forks freeze halfway to their mouths when they hear the chef yelling (again) at his staff. Hard to feed the soul when the tummy is getting upset. I do takeout instead. Also, it's a minimum of 30 minutes from downtown Santa Fe to Pecos - which is a beautiful trip, but I'd go in the morning or afternoon for Frankie's Coffeeshop, or in the evening for Renate's.

The red coloring might have come from using chili oil exclusively as a spiciness agent, rather than using la-jiang (chili paste, which usually has garlic and other peppers in it as well..) My receipe call not only for a goodly amount of cornstarch, but also an egg white to be mixed in it the last minute, as the pot is at full boil: it gives an interesting visual je ne sais quois, and it adds to the thickening.

Tomatos are New World fruits; I learned somewhere that it was the Chinese laborers building the American transcontinental railway in the 1880's who developed ketchup.

When I ate KFC in Nanjing, (I was very homesick), I thought the breading was different too: Some sweeter flour combination? Red pepper flakes? I couldn't quite get my tastebuds around it......

When I was there in '94 there was a Uigherville the length of a hutong near the Beijing Shoudou ShiFan Daxue (BJ Capital Normal (or teachers) University). Excellent roast mutton with cumin, and the best flatbread I've ever had! The muslims there had green or hazel eyes - they sold the juiciest currents!

When it's cold and windy I make a huge pot of hot and sour soup, heavy on the mushrooms, and add any leftover pork for the extra flavor! (And a generous splash of shaoxing wine!)