Laksa

Word! There's no way Ruby Tuesday is better than TGIF. No freakin' way.

Nongshim Shin Ramyun was my go-to spicy instant ramen in college. It's more spicy than a lot of South East Asian instant noodles. Each packet is large enough that I don't need to cook two at a time to satisfy my hunger, like what I do with SE Asian stuff. I usually have to boil the crap out of the packet noodles for close to 8 minutes -- an eternity in instant ramen cookery -- to get the get them soft enough to my liking. So I wonder what texture you will get from the ramen when you just pour hot water into the cup. Pretty chewy noodles? Shin Ramyun is also the only instant ramen whose every last drop of soup I will happily suck down. Even with the knowledge gained from past experience, that for the next two hours, I will need to drink three gallons of water to quench the thirst that inevitably follows.

Thanks for a wonderful blog Rachel. I second the method of thawing in cold water too. Much faster than the fridge, supposedly safer than leaving it out on the counter, and it won't cook the edges like defrosting in a microwave can. I like to roast chicken on a chicken roasting stand. The chicken sits vertically on the stand and with enough melted butter brushed on the skin, it browns nicely and evenly on all sides. There is a little pan at the bottom that collects all the juices, which help to steam the chicken from the inside and keep it moist as it roasts. The downside is that you can't put anything in the cavity. But I find that herbs, garlic or lemon in the cavity add only a faint, delicate flavor, and I prefer my roast chicken flavor to be much more upfront, and would favor a stronger sauce to go with the chicken, or a stronger marinade. Someone wrote something about "letting it all hang out". Now I can't get the Van Morrison song Jackie Wilson said out of my head!

When I was at the grocery store on the weekend, I came across these soy sauces that are made out to look like Pearl River Bridge sauces from maybe 10 years ago. I apologize for the very poor quality pictures as they were taken with my mobile phone. Years ago, PRB sauce bottles were taller than they are now, and had a long narrow neck that bulges a little. The fake sauces still use these kinds of bottles. This is the light soy made by Pearl Gold Bridge. This is their dark soy. On the bottom right corner, you can see the entire bottle, which has a characteristic shape. Partly obscured in the bottom left corner is the new-style PRB bottle. Here's another soy rip-off: Nowadays, only an unobservant shopper would mistake the fake stuff for genuine PRB with its shiny, holographic labels. Maybe the fake stuff have acquired a following of their own?

I think Pearl River Bridge is the most common mass market brand of Chinese soya sauce. I use their "gold label" superior and their dark. I dislike their mushroom. I remember my mum using it maybe 25 years ago for a long time, but she later on switched to a locally made one (local to where she lives). I've seen numerous "imitation" Pearl River Bridge sauces too, which are rather amusing. The labels on the imitation bottles are made up to look almost identical to the original, except for a small detail. It turns soy sauce shopping into a game of "spot the difference".

Yes, that makes sense to me. Bear in mind that the mango seed is a flattish oval disk. You need to be aware which way it is aligned to make the best cuts. You can usually guage from the shape of the mango how the seed lines up. The tail of the mango usually tapers off into a point that is curved in one direction. If you imagine a line extending out from the pointy ass of the mango, and then imagine a plane that cuts through the mango along its length parallel to this line, the seed is aligned inside the mango along this plane. You should cut into the mango more or less parallel to this plane, arcing out to allow for the curve of the seed to get the thickest possible slice. Trust me, it's a lot easier than it sounds! If you're worried about wastage, you can always eat the flesh still left on the seed like you would corn on the cob.

Kudos to you for having the guts to try so many new recipes. It's not something I have the courage to do. Especially if it's a dish I've never tasted before. I would be at a complete loss as to what to aim for. Papayas come in all sizes, from about the size of a large mango to as big as a small watermelon. Is that an American recipe? Papayas I've seen here are usually about the size of a cantaloupe or slightly smaller.

I need to voice how I feel about the nominations. I am completely puzzled why they took Lee How Fook off the list.

Can I ask what the green sauce is, in the small ramekin next to the onion?

I'm soooo glad I'm not the only one. Rachel, I blithely bargain on being baffled by your blog.

I've never had Malt-o-Meal so forgive me if my questions sound silly. Is your glass of diet Coke foaming naturally or is some of that Malt-o-Meal? Diet Coke and Malt-o-Meal... could you tell us more about this combination? Am I the only one to find this... uhm... different?

At the store, you'll probably find two varieties of kaya, one a green, pandan flavored one, and an orange colored (not flavored with orange) one. I prefer the green variety that comes in a jar. I'll eat the orange one (typically comes in a can, made by Yeo's) in a pinch, but I find the taste of egg a little overpowering.

One of my Cantonese friends once told me that whenever someone in the house is coming down with a cold, or sprained an ankle, or even if something much less dire happens -- oh, I don't know, mui mui had a nightmare? -- that is sufficient reason to bo tong yum -- cook up a big pot of soup. Any excuse will do, really. Some of my favorite Cantonese soups are the sweet dessert ones, actually. Anything with lotus seeds or barley.

That's unforgivable. I don't know how you can sleep at night

Susan, do you object to these dishes because they don't adhere to tradition or because they don't taste good? I think modifying traditional recipes to come up with new ones is a good thing. Some of the best Chinese cooking that I've had are very non-traditional.

Ah, Fruit Chan... wasn't he the director of Durian Durian? Probably couldn't have been anyone else.

The English that appears on Japanese packaging -- I mean the frivolous kind, not cooking instructions or ingredients -- can be rather amusing. For example: Are you chic enough to enjoy Cream de Pie? Sorry for the diversion from a very nice blog.

Does haam ha look a little like this sauce? I made that with Malaysian cincalok, sliced shallots, onion and chillies. I wonder if haam ha is the same as cincalok. You may be able to see some black dots in the image, which are actually the eyes of the little shrimps.

This has to be the most challenging first step of any recipe I have encountered:

I've had a similar dish in Malaysia and Singapore. I always assumed that it was a version of Lobster Thermidor, so I'm guessing it was parmesan.

aprilmei, would you like to tell us how you really feel?

You really need the larger image to see the dishes well. Here's the link to the 1024x768 image: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/intera...wall_mice33.jpg Hey, I didn't know they served Malaysian kueh in Imperial China, which is what dish #6 clearly is. Dish #9 in the middle looks like sharks fin, #5 is steamed fish of some sort, could it be carp? #2 is a plate of dumplings made to look like goldfish. Would be interested to find out the poetic names for these dishes too. The drink they're having looks more like brandy to me, straight up. It looks more brandy-colored in the glass that's closest to the photographer. Could also be very strong Chinese tea, but why serve it in those glasses? And... the pink color looks so unnatural. What did they use for food coloring in Imperial China?

They refunded full price by the pound. Only problem is that after all the worms have crawled out of the fish, it was much lighter.

Does anyone know what ill-effects one might experience after eating fish with worms? Whether rare pork is safe or not has been discussed here.

If you care to share, I would be interested to know.