Laksa

I do now. Is there an entrance to Nemo's from the parking lot or do I need to enter from the street?

I wanted to go, but couldn't find a place to park.

I don't think there's a "normal" amount of salt that works for everyone. 90% of the restaurants I've been in the U.S. produce food that tastes too salty to me. 90% of off the shelf processed food tastes too salty to me. E.g. national bread, wraps, potato chips (with some exceptions), canned soup, salsa, ham, sausages, pancakes and chocolate cake. I get low sodium versions whenever I can.

Why that's such an unusual opnion for Cantonese to have! ← LOL! I'd say that attitude is more specifically Hong Kong-ese. Mr. Leung - your last picture - what is superior broth? There's liquid in those balls when you bite into them?

What does pomelo pith taste like? It's been a while since I've had pomelo but I seem to recall that anything other than the pulp of the pomelo tasted bitter. Sometimes even the pulp was slightly bitter. Is the purpose of soaking to temper the bitterness? I can't help wondering if eating the pith started at a time when there was little else to eat.

Mr. Leung, it looks like you're having a very good vacation. I'm enjoying your pics. Double-boild papaya looks interesting. I'm suprised the papaya is still intact after cooking. Is that dessert served hot or cold?

To me, Char Kway Teow without belachan (dried shrimp paste) is not CKT. It's stir-fried hor fun. I suppose using fish sauce like SG- suggests nudges you in the right direction, but if you live in any major metropolitan city (I take it you're not in Malaysia or Singapore), you should be able to find good belachan without much difficulty.

That's a beautiful array of chiles. On top of all the fresh and ground chiles, Mark used two whole habaneros? I gotta say WOW! Can you give us a run down of all the chiles - I think I see jalapenos, cayennes and a chipotle but I can't be sure. Would be interested in the recipe if you care to share.

Maybe it is meant to be paired with a mild seven cigarette?

Okay, I can see how some of those flavors might find a market - I've tried garlic ice cream - not as bad as it sounds. But.... what's the deal with non-food flavorings in ice cream? Silk ice cream? I'll pass - but will wait patiently for the easy-iron cotton-blend flavor. Deep sea water sounds intriguing. I can totally understand why they went with that instead of shallow sea water. Finding crude oil on your ice-cream is probably where it stops being funny.

Brian, I'm a fairly new New Jersey resident, so I'm still finding out about all the places. Where on Rt 27 are all the Chinese stuff?

It certainly is. We took out from there last night. Pretty decent food. The two dishes we ordered -- twice cooked pork and triple delight - are standard A.C. fare but they were pretty well executed - less gloppy and sugary than other examples I've tried. To celebrate their grand opening, they gave us a free soup.

I took a look at their menu and it's all over the map. A restaurant called "Shanghai Cafe" that serves Sushi, Thai and American Chinese food with a few Shanghainese dishes scattered here and there. They're trying to be everything Asian to everyone not Asian in a neighborhood that probably doesn't have much direct competition. Alarm bells are ringing. American Chinese can be had all over North Jersey for cheaper.

Just make sure you eat that durian before it starts to turn. I'd hate to see you lose your tempoyak-virginity too - a much less pleasant experience.

Thanks Beebs. I wonder where those fresh ones are improted from. I've been told by a store here in the Northeast that they've gotten some from Hawaii, but even those were frozen. I have seen "defrosted" durian in Manhattan Chinatown, but never fresh. Thai durians are available year round. When I visited Malaysia in September of this year, the durian season was coming to a close. I seem to recall that there's a second season that starts around December. I think the seasons are stretching and seem to be more flexible nowadays. Maybe the Malaysian farmers have been talking to the Thais.

Where can you buy fresh durian in Vancouver? I need names, addresses, please. Where are they from?

Depends on what you mean by "scratch". If you do not wish to use the factory packaged herbs, you could go to your neighborhood Chinese herbalist who has good knowledge of BKT and ask him to put together a "house-blend" packet for you. For this to be a reasonable proposition, you probably have to be in Malaysia or Singapore. After it's done cooking, have fun fishing out all the inedible bits of roots and berries from the soup. If you want to take it further, you could go forage for the roots yourself, and dry them etc... but I have not heard of anyone doing that.

Interesting blog... I enjoy your BBQ posts. There's a KC style BBQ restaurant near where I live (Northern NJ) that has some great food. Despite having dined numerous times at the restaurant, I still have no inkling of what Kansas City is like. So I'm enjoying the armchair travel. I have a question to which no amount of googling was able to produce a satisfactory answer - what is the association between Kancas City and royalty? Why do so many things have the word "Royal" in their names?

I really have no idea what part of the cow that is. I took a look at their takeout menu and the appetizer Eric had is indeed listed as "beef". If I were to guess, it almost looks like the gristly part of chuck-eye steak.

I'm gonna say that's probably sliced beef tendon. Beef tendon has a mild flavor that's only faintly reminiscent of an animal, so it needs help from a tasty sauce. I like it for its texture.

We live just around the corner from Chengdu1, so we've had a few takeouts from there. The food has for the most part been pretty good. The venison (or was it lamb?) dish in a spicy hot oil sauce, with dried chili peppers was the most memorable one for me. Their liberal application of chilis/hot oil in their spicy dishes is pretty ballsy for northern NJ. I applaud them for featuring a healthy selection of organ meats on their menus. But I do wonder how long those items will remain there. Looking at China Chalet's menu on the whole, I wouldn't have thought of them as a Sichuan restaurant. However, the foold there is also top quality. My wife and I were guessing either Beijing influenced or Taiwanese or maybe "Chinese eclectic"? Not Cantonese like Noodle Chu - that much I'm sure. andrewhwest: could you have gotten a special "Chengdu" treatment at China Chalet because your wife made it know to the chef where she was from?

Basmati and Jasmine, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G First comes loves Then comes marriage Then comes ... Jasmati rice, of course. I wonder if anyone has tried it?

If you like Indian food, Tadka in downtown Secaucus is not a bad place for lunch. They do a buffet lunch weekdays, but you can also order out - two choices: a vegetarian or a "non-vegetarian" lunch box. There used to be more dining options in the Mill Creek Mall's food court (where stop 'n' shop is) in Harmon Meadows. The Chinese place in the food court is a standout among all the fast food franchises. What's on the steam tables is standard American Chinese, but IMHO done fairly well (for AC). If don't like what's there, you can always order something off the menu and they prepare it fairly quickly. I find the a la carte items more to my taste. There was a Greek place right next to them that did a killer gyro but alas they're no longer there. The mall is also slowly dying. I order from Chipotle fairly often, but have yet to try Cheeseburger in Paradise. Around the same area, among the usual chain restaurants - Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Chili's, Houlihan's, Uno, etc - there's also a Japanese place that does fairly decent bento boxes - nothing to write home about. I find their chicken a tad dry. If you're willing to go out a little further, one of my favorites is a Korean/Japanese place in East Rutherford called Kayasan. Most of what I've tried has been excellent, and they lay out the full banchan for lunch. They don't hold back on the spice either. I ordered once from the "Japanese" side of the menu - a pork bento box, IIRC - but was disappointed. Nowadays, I stick mostly to the Korean dishes.

A young couple's car broke down on their wedding night in a remote part of the country. They found an inn nearby and tried to get a room. "I'm sorry, but we have no vacancies," the innkeeper said. "It's late at night, our car broke down, and we're on our honeymoon. Could you please take another look?" "Well... I do have a room with a double bunk bed, but there's already guest in there. He's a regular, and I'm sure he won't mind sharing the room if you don't." Feeling desperate, the young couple decided to take it. They got to the room and was greeted by a friendly enough fellow. "The innkeeper called and said you'll be coming. Well, as long as you don't cause a ruckus, I s'pose there's no harm sharing. I have bad knees so you'll have to take the top bunk." After the lights went out, the newly-wed husband understandably started to feel frisky. However, the wife demurred. "I am big on talking during love-making, honey," the wife explained, " and I just can't do it in the presence of a stranger." "I know what we can do", the husband said. "Let's communicate in code. Whenever I do something you like, say 'tomato' and whenever you do it, I'll say 'lettuce'". The wife agreed and they started to make love as quietly as they can. The chants of "lettuce - tomato" started as a soft whisper but grew louder and louder. "Lettuce" "Tomato" "Lettuce" "Tomato" "LETTUCE!" "TOMATO!" At this point, the guy in the bottom bunk woke with a start. It was clear from his voice that he was annoyed: "HEY YOU TWO! Quit making salad up there! You're spilling mayonnaise all over me!"

I swear, most of the time, I can tell beef from pork. It was all that sauce that threw me!