Laksa

Good one jo-mel! We were talking about love letters

Ding! Ding! Ding! For making it to your 500th post, you win dinner for two at "Ah Hee's Claypot Chicken Rice" Restaurant (airfare not included). Ah Hee is the one with the apron. Well... maybe "restaurant" is stretching it a bit, but Ah Hee himself will come to your table and stir your chicken rice for you: For token Toisanese content, the chicken rice has nice salted fish in there!

Would love to read more about recent dining experiences at Aquavit. What's good, what should be avoided, etc. Considering going there for a birthday dinner next week.

Am I the only one who's a little disturbed by this photo? I mean, the photo right before it shows a set of knives... that includes a very ominous looking cleaver.

I'm very interested to find out more about this fried chicken, because I don't ever recall eating a Chinese-style fried chicken that has a batter. I wonder if I can find it in NYC? The one I'm familiar with is the crispy skin style that has been par-boiled in some kind of strong lo chap marinade, then hung to dry before deep-frying.

Oh boy, do I have egg (roll) on my face. That's the last time I relate any story my Fujianese friend tells me. And you know what? He comes across as such a paragon of innocence and virtue... *shake head* As penance, I shall now go to eat a boxful of stale love letters. And I won't even crisp them up in the oven first.

TP, some Fujianese guy told me the story, but he never explained it to me. Thank goodness I've finally found someone who can solve the "riddle". I await your reply with bated breath.

As the story goes, two brothers in Fujian province were both seeking the hand in marriage of the same fair maiden. The two brothers were called Da Niu and Da Xiang. As the courtship progressed, it became apparent that Da Niu had more success than his brother in this romantic pursuit, and people in the village began speculating about when the two would wed. Da Xiang, in a last, desperate effort, worked day and night on a plan to win over the maiden's heart. Being an excellent cookie/biscuit chef, Da Xiang devised a way to express his feelings by creating the sweetest and most delicious cookie ever known in China, and at the same time, get a message to the fair maiden. You see, by this time, she had stopped returning his phone calls. Da Xiang, in addition to being a great cookie chef, possessed a devious mind. He decided that the message he would write would expose his brother as a lazy layabout, a fact well known in their household, but one which Da Niu had expertly hidden from everyone else. If the fair maiden learnt how lazy his brother was, surely she would think twice about marrying him, thereby opening the door for Da Xiang to step in. With metalworking tools in hand, Da Xiang formed in perfect calligraphy onto a metal plate these words: 大牛比较懒 (da4 niu2 bi3 jiao4 lan3) which means, Da Niu is more lazy. After pausing for only a brief moment to admire his handiwork, Da Xiang immediately poured cookie batter onto the heated metal plate, thereby making the first incarnation of what we all know and enjoy today. As soon as the cookie was done, Da Xiang sent the family servant rushing to the fair maiden's house with the "love letter". The fair maiden's puzzlement at seeing the servant turned to pleasure when she realized what he had brought. In a cruel twist of fate, the fair maiden made the mistake of thinking that Da Niu had sent her the surprise snack. As her eyes took in the exquisite beauty of the characters on the cookie, and as bewilderment gave way to comprehension, a smile formed on her face. Even before her tastebuds had had the chance to succumb to the sublime sweetness of the cookie, she sent urgent word to Da Niu that they must get married at once! On hearing the news, Da Xiang was overwrought with grief. What had gone wrong with his plan? You see, the imprint of the calligraphy on the metal plate had reversed itself on the cookie! D'oh!

I hate to parrot what everyone has already said, but everything I've seen here is simply gorgeous chefzadi, I am quite prepared to agree with you... but I've never seen any photographs taken by Italian painters.

When it comes to keropok/kerupuk/krepek, the Indonesians have the Malaysians beat. From what I have seen in the sheer variety of flavor, shapes, sizes and an appetite for kerupuk at every meal (maybe generalizing a tad there), they have taken kerupuk to the next level. Untuk makanan utama, siang dan malem, mesti kerupuk ada sih!

Neen go? TP, are you getting a head start celebrating the year of the dog or....?

Shiewie, is emping difficult to find in Malaysia? I was looking for it all over, and managed only to find some already fried, probably years before I bought them. They were stale and strangely flavored. ( I am almost certain they sprinkled maggi mee (instant ramen) seasoning on them ). Now I have lost all faith in Malaysian emping. Emping is my all time favorite salty snack.... I'm so jealous.

Much as I try, I cannot stay away from this thread... buffalo wings blackened fish crab Rangoon Texas toast Philly cheese steak Reuben sandwich black-eyed peas ranch dressing sarsaparilla root beer coleslaw is today more American than Dutch, no?

I'd always thought that gyros was more closely associated with Greece...

After thinking really hard about it, I came up with three more dishes... Jambalaya, crawfish pie and filé gumbo.

Buffalo/bison; alligator; rattlesnake; rocky mountain oysters. Unique American interpretations of food: sausages need not be long nor be in a casing; tea == sweet iced tea.

Because something deep fried usually tastes better than if it weren't? Did the French contribute anything to Southern cooking?

What epitomizes American culture better than hamburger with fries, milk shake, and apple pie for dessert?

Two for two, Michael! Too good! Next!

You guys are good! That is heart-of-palm. Sago palm to be specific. That was too quick... do-over! Okay, what's this?

Okay, let me post one.... I hope this one isn't too easy. It may not look like it, but this is food:

Apparently, they're very much a delicacy in Iceland. The Icelandic people eat some unusual things, like sheep's head jelly and ram's testicles.

Arrrrhhhhhhhhh, Yetty... you killed my joke! (You must've beaten me to posting by seconds!)

Okay, gonna take a wild guess here.... it's a blue and white umbrella. I hear umbrellas are a good source of iron. Okay, another wild guess... rotten icelandic shark meat?

I hope you're not making fun of the way I speak. When I first saw cakwe, I thought it was a typo for cake!