origamicrane

this is true... if you really want to make home made fish sauce you better like the smell of rotting fish!

Alexis is just scared of catching bird flu ... maybe he's chicken?

eerrr....... umm....... is it number 9?

a classic chinese preparation simply steamed them in the shell with a sprinkle of pre-soaked rice vermcelli on top and served with a spoonful or soya sauce mixed with chopped chilli, coriander and scallion. its lovely !! naturally be careful to not to over steam them!!! or if tehy are really fresh and wriggling raw!!!! razor clam sashimi soya and wasabi and a squirt of lemon!

anyone been to Angeles Sichaun Restaurant, 405 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 7QE I've heard good reports.

waterproof camera just give it a rinse:)

Hello This morning I’m still very tired and blurry eyed after having to wake up at 5am yesterday and then driving across town in the pouring rain to get to Billingsgate fish market. I haven’t been here in two years and last time I came it was the weekend before Xmas and that was like going to a rock concert that smelt of fish. Anyhoo I was meant to do this back in April but due to work constraints had to put it off. Originally I was planning to go on the £175 knife skills course but then a few weeks back I saw a Free introductory course into fishmongering. heck! it’s a lot cheaper then £175! so I thought I give it a try. Billingsgate Seafood Training School Free Introductory Course in Fishmongering. The official website is here http://seafoodtraining.org/ So woke up at 5am and arrived at Billingsgate at 6:15am you have no idea how hard that was for a 9-5 IT desk jockey But standing in the freezing October morning rain looking at Billingsgate I had a warm fussy feeling that I was back on familiar ground (I lived for 5 years in Limehouse on a road called Salmon Lane no less). So went into the market and went to the school located on the first floor there were half a dozen people there already, all looking far more awake then me, drinking tea and chatting about food (aren’t we always!). So after a quick coffee Charlie Caisey the course instructor came in and we went round the room and each gave our name, rank and serial number and reason for attending. Three of them were planning to become fishmongers, one was opening a fish retailing business dealing directly to the catering trade, one was a private caterer himself and one wanted to open a restaurant This course is primarily targeted at the potential fishmonger and not the caterer or the foodlover this is to quote Charlie a “bread and butter” introduction to fish mongering but they welcome anyone that is interested in the fish trade. We started off with a tour of the market so it’s on with the white coats. Charlie has worked a lifetime in the industry and to say that he is knowledgeable would be an understatement but the first lesson he thought us was that there is always something to learn. Over the next 2 hours Charlie guides us around the stalls as he goes he picks up some examples of fish shows us how to identify species, what to look out for, how to look for good quality fish, how the industry operates, how the market works, a little history about the firms that operate their, how to read the market and availability and therefore the price of fish, which firm specialise in what, how the antiquated porterage system works, how the number of species available on the market has grown from a few dozen to over 150 species, what fish would be acceptable for a caterer and what would be acceptable for a fish monger, to if possible AVOID going to the market on a Saturday morning! and loads of other good stuff !! Along the way we get the full flavour of the market noise, the hustle and bustle, the banter! The tooing and throing of porters as they constantly shouting at us to mind our feet. The swearing! Everyone there seems to know Charlie on a “Hi Charlie! you still alive?” basis!! To which Charlie replies with “I can’t afford to die yet!”. Yes! I am very much back in the East End! A Health and safety inspector calls out to Charlie and tells him he has something interesting to show us. He opens a box with a big red “C” sticker stuck on it and inside are 4 or 5 salmon. The salmon are not silvery and shiny like salmon normally are but more orange and green skinned and they have more pointed head. At first I thought it was bad salmon but then the inspector says it’s been impounded as it is mature salmon. Mature salmon is salmon that is in it breeding cycle and it is illegal to catch and sell as it endangers salmon stocks and he also said it didn’t taste as good. Charlie explains the role of the inspector within the market who constantly test and check the quality of fish being traded the legality of the species being traded and their powers of confiscation. The inspector said that the market was pretty well behaved and to some extent self regulated as if the stall owners find something irregular they would usually inform them. Half way through we stopped of at a stall selling smoked fish and the stall owner is kind enough to let use have a nibble on a piece of hot smoked salmon after a slight hesitation from the delegates we dive in and wow!! It’s lovely! Yes it thoroughly deserves to be called Salmon bacon! So round about now the market is clearing up and we head to the cafe for a rosey lee and bacon sarnie well it is 9am and we are in the East End. So back up to the training room and its blue aprons, boot covers and sharp knives time!. Into the demo room we go and Charlie proceeds to show us how to fillet a plaice. head off knife it down the back sweep other side ta daa! few minutes later by the way this is my handiwork ! Not Charlie’s! I’m confused I always thought flat fish was meant to be hard to fillet? But this was really easy! Well 4 plaice late its break time and time for another cup of cha! Over the last few hours we have formed an opinion of Charlie and as an ex-eastender I think its safe for me to say that he is a diamond geezer! Charlie is a lovely chap. All through the tour he answered all our questions, he’s friendly, animated, entertaining and informing. He is full of stories about his life and times at the market and listening to him you can’t but help smile. He’s one of those lucky people that enjoys what he does and he has been rewarded for his passion. He is a gentleman, but he says it like it is! and makes no apology for not being politically correct, hurrah!! So back to the training room and this time its whiting whiting whiting down spine cut to the other side other side fillet off Now this is Charlie’s work and not mine here’s my attempt not so good have filleted mackerel and trout before but whiting is a lot harder it is soft and my knife is very sharp that I am cutting through bones as I try to follow the line oh! Well! better get down to some pin boning. Well we had 2 Whitings each and my first attempt was better then my second! Well bugger! I’m Chinese! I eat my fish whole! Well that’s my excuse anyway So what did I learn from Charlie? 1. There is always something to learn 2. There was no real right way to fillet fish Everyone has there own style and it’s the end results that count, he told us a story of a fishmonger in a competition that filleted a shark of something using a butter knife! So to each their own. 3. The most important lesson he taught us was that “time is money” and “fish is money” get the most out of your fish! A few ounces wasted on each fish soon adds up and you can make each and every fish look gorgeous on your slab but if it takes you twice as long to serve customers it will hit you in the pocket. Well its 2pm and it’s the end of the course. We do a quick wash down of the work area and then we pack up our fish to take home! Yes! not only is the course free, they give you tea and coffee, 4 plaice and two whitings and that’s not all!! they also give you free sandwiches for lunch! A fish identification dvd and a knife skills video!! Wow! Guess there is such thing as a free lunch!! All they ask is for you to email or send them a feedback letter. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here and it a excellent course. Charlie is a lovely person and an excellent teacher. And the people that run the school are all really nice people too boot and not to mention generous. I would thoroughly recommend this course to anyone that’s is interested in the fish trade. Also wanted to add after this course you will have the confidence to have a go at fillettign and preparing a lot more fish and also probably more inclined to do your fish shopping at Billingsgate.

The Ritz?

Try Utsuwa no yakata Oriental City 399 Edgware Road, Colindale, London NW9 OJJ (020) 8201-3002 click click I've seen them have the lacquered wood bento boxs in there but i remeber them being pretty expensive

don't deny that, never have afterall everything that I say on egullet is purely an opinion. and everyone free to express theirs. But as I already said I will visit ping pong again if anyone interested in coming along and being a second reviewer let me know.

oh he hasn't got a clue on that his chilli crab isn't much cop either - last time i think he got beaten in a competition by some Italian bloke called Gino ← it's true!! its true!!! sob! sob! i got beaten by gino and i got kicked out in the first round of masterchef goes large and if you/I am really unlucky you gonna see me on the F-Word next month get beaten by Gordon Ramsey in a banoffee pie cook off

well what can you teach me about chinese food?

Context: I am a sushi monster! Sushi! Sushi! Give me sushi (a la cookie monster) I love sushi and one of the many things that I am called on a daily basis is Sushi Sam. Think I might have been Japanese in a previous life.. either that or a sea lion, well maybe a penguin..... ? Anyway a bunch of us headed out on a Tuesday evening to eat drink and be merry, the occasion was a friend's leaving do, the lucky git been seconded to Singapore for a few months. Restaurant: AKI 182 Gray's Inn Road London WC1X 8EW Telephone: 0207 837 9281 Closest tube Chancery Lane or Kings Cross Date & Time: Tuesday 11th October 2005 @ 7pm Cast: 4 guys, 3 girls, representing Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and yours truly. Decor: This place looks very authentic, wouldn't look amiss in Japan, me thinks I've not managed to make it to the land of the rising sun yet but some of my friends have and say this place is very, very authentic. It’s got lots of little lanterns hanging about, Japanese bric-a-brac lots of specials posted on the walls in Japanese and English. Loads of sake bottles at the end of the sushi counter and they are playing Japanese pop songs completing a wonderful "I'm no longer in London but in Japan" atmosphere. The place is small about a 25 seater but it’s quite spacious and not cramped at all. I think there is also a private room downstairs. Under the decor is what looks like a very old restaurant as we can see the wooden structural beams jutting through but it somehow adds to the charm. Menu: Very extensive covering all bases it seems. Good selection of sushi and sashimi kushiage and yakitori Noodles and gyoza Shabu shabu and sukiyaki A nice selection of vegetable dishes (Braised burdock, baked arum root and miso) A daily specials menu too. Nice list of about 20 sakes and also some red and white wines. We order: Wow! We ordered a lot of stuff! Edamame Assorted special sashimi platter Assorted tempura platter Assorted kushiage Baked aubergine and miso Razor clam sashimi Agetofu Sea urchin sashimi Grilled salmon steak Chicken toriage Deep fried octopus (Sorry! at this point in the meal I was having far too much fun to bother taking photos, but trust me the food looked good ) Grilled mackerel nigiri sushi California roll with a nice addition of shiso Futomaki Eel cucumber roll Special tamago roll Green tea ice cream Chestnut ice cream Drinks: 1 plum wine soda 2 sauvingnon blanc 4 bottles of cold sake - Yamadanishiki 2 flasks of hot sake - Ichinokura (I think can't remember ) 4 Asahi 3 bottle of Buxton still 3 lemon hi-ju (These were on the house as its was ladies night Monday and Tuesday) Total Bill: £330 this included 10% S.C Service: Excellent!! This has got to be the nicest Japanese restaurant I have been to in London. The waitresses were all smiley, chatty and friendly. They also had good English a rarity in Japanese restaurants in London. They were very helpful with selecting the sake I asked for a Junmai from around Nigatta and she selected two for us. You even get to choose your own sake cup from a selection. Naturally you should go for the largest cup Service was attentive and very efficient. As we were getting drunk we got a little more rowdy but the waitresses were still very good humoured and actually being very interactive, by the end of the night we were chatting all sorts of stuff with them. Like the restaurant is named after the owners nickname as his full name is meant to be really hard to pronounce so everyone ends up calling him Aki-san. Tomoko (or Motoko can’t remember) is lovely and told us she is off on holiday till November and while chatting to us she did a quick karaoke duet with one of my friends and taught us some Japanese like “I need to go to toilet”. The other waitress was actually from mainland china, she grew up in Kobe and spoke Japanese and mandarin, cool and the reason why I really like her is she actually recognised me from Chef v Britain hahaha!!! and she said she think I should have won! Well she'll get a nice big tip then! cheap thrill for me!!!! I’m famous beyotch! She asked if I wanted to go and cook up something in the kitchen and if I wasn't already half drunk and dangerous with a yanagi I think I would have Value/Quality/Quantity ratio: V.V. good! Sod it! This place is excellent! Everything they served us was bordering on or actually excellent but it was the service that stole the show! they really made an effort and are really charming. In nearly all other Japanese restaurants I have been to in London they are either very formal and polite (ie: matsuri, noto, chisou, sushi hiro, yumi) or very rushed (nobu, taro, ten ten tei, misato) or rude (sakura) . The only other place that I think is comparable is Cafe Japan in Golders Green. But Aki is better in terms or variety, atmosphere, service and price too. Aki in my mind is fighting for first place with Sushi Hiro!!! No joke! and I think Aki is actually winning!! Shock!!!! If you only want to eat sushi go to Sushi Hiro but if you want to eat more then sushi go to Aki! Complaints: None Nit picks: Toilets could do with a little renovating. Conclusion: Probably the best all round Japanese restaurant I have tried in London This has leaped frogged into my top 3 Japanese restaurant in London. I think the menu covers everything and the quality is all very good to excellent the scallop sashimi here is amazing! and the two surprise hits for me were the potato krokke and the deep fried octopus! everything was excellent the sake was yummy Not sure how long this place has been opened but I am shocked that no ones ever told me about it! all those wasted years eating at other Japanese restaurants! Damn I love this place!!

As opposed to menus from other restaurants and a camera? ← as well as

ok I will go again next weekend i will try the new branch and i will try to go with an open mind.

"calm down dear! it's only a commercial" man i hated that advert! to quote the manic street preachers "And if you tolerate this Then your children will be next". Isn't mediocre food expectations the true downfall of British cuisine? (British as in ALL it forms and variations) It's not the fact that the UK doesn't produce world beating produce but it the mass populace that have been weaned on low quality crap? School dinners anyone? Well I for one don't want to see the standards of Chinese food in the UK to be dragged back down. Chinese food over the last few decades has improved dramatically and the last thing I want to see is a chain come in and serve the same crap that chinatown was serving mid 1970's. Especially when that chain evidently has the financial backing to produce something better.

been once and heard numerous reviews from friends that have also visited. now if you are saying they have improved i be willing to give it another go. but next time i be going with my camera and the dim sum menus from royal china, golden palace and golden dragon to come pare like for like and quality and quantity

nope! not to me! but evidently it does to the people running ping pong that they felt the need to write to me and try to convince me otherwise. The thing thats really annoying about ping pong is that they evidently got the finances in place to invest in the design and locations so why! oh why! can't they invest some of that money into the F-ing food!!!! Their food I tried there wasn't awful but it just wasn't very good! they got so much potential to really bring good dim sum to the masses and yet they are happy to churn out the kinda crap thats just insulting to the cuisine. Its like owning a ferrari putting in normal unleaded and driving at 10mph in the slow lane!!!! what do they think they are doing!!! step it up!! you got the money too !!! so why aren't you !!! sorry if i'm getting a little passionate about this but i am Chinese and nothing I hate more then wasted potential!!

My guess is that restaurants use lots of pork fat. ← nah its not fat its teh preparation. if it good shrimp paste you have to smack the crap out of it like tenderisering a steak this gives it a much more springy and bouncey texture. although my friend makes a wicked pork and prawn toast 50/50 mix of minced pork and shrimp its really good

i've been to the Paris one too yeah the steak is a good steak and the sauce is intriguing but i was scratching my head too about how come its so popular. its not like its kobe beef or anything Wonder if you could do the same trick with another dishes?

a while back I wrote the following on the london-eating website anyway ping pong sent me an email via the london-eating website. In the email they said they were naturally dissappointed about my negative impression of the food and that they believed their food was good and that they had a lot to offer to chinese people and they backed this up with a photo of a large party of good looking chinese eating in ping pong. I responded by saying that they obviously spent a lot of money on the place but that they had to improve their food if they wanted to attract chinese customers. I added that many chinese would go and try them out just out of curiosity. But unless their food improved dramatically they would not recieve many returning chinese customers. I told them to do a customer count for the motnh and then see what percentage of their customers were indeed chinese. I also said that if they were confident that their food was good that as a member of the chinatown chinese chamber of commerce I'd be happy to arrange a blind tasting competition between them and a few of the restaurants in chinatown. I'm waiting with bated breath for their response. does ping pong have the courage of their convictions?

I wish unfortunately we're restricted to time also they are religious veggies so they worried they end up in hell. although i did have a friend that tricked a muslim friend to eat wonton! he liked it but I decided to excuse myself from their company permenantly in case of divine retribution.

Ok here's a toughie a friends wants a restaurant where they serve good meat and good vegetarian food? is such a restaurant possible??? located in London budget can be extortionate as long as the food is top notch. i thanks you all in advance

don't forget the steam oven

yep Neal street restaurant is quite good actually I like it. Ivy? tomorrow night? for dinner? good luck!! unless you happen to be rich and or famous Asia de cuba is pretty funky but maybe too close to the asian theme. Belgo? its always a safe and reliable place and always an interesting place to take visitors. Maggiores used to be excellent and has a very extensive wine list. Bank, Axis and Indigo are all pretty good too. really depends on what cuisine you want.