His Nibs

On the tip of wetting the paper, I would use the base liquid that you infuse in rather than water. Water might 'crash' out some of the water insoluble organic materials.

Seeing that most french presses are just pyrex beakers with a strainer and handle, Ikea has one for relatively cheap compared with bodum and other brand names (like half the price of a comparable bodum).

Highland Park 12 has slightly overtaken Macallan 10 as my current favorite. I prefer some smoke and peat in the whiskies but Islay malts are like drinking liquid smoke

You know you are rated expert in drinking french press coffee when you instinctively know when to stop drinking to avoid the sludge. You think to yourself, "SELF! Is it worth it to have a mouthful of mud just for a little more coffee?" And you wisely put the cup down.

I usually get the fried, salted peanuts whenever I had congee in hong kong. A good accompaniment would be to blanching the gai lan and then drizzle the oyster sauce over it. The classic 蚝油芥榄。

Seeing as the mooncake festival is fast approaching, I was wondering about making some ping pei mooncake myself. Anyway, I was thinking about flavors to incorporate into the skin and was hoping that maybe... just maybe I can add coffee to it. Now my question would be whether to make the coffee and add to the flour mixture as the liquid component or use instant coffee powder as a flavor additive ala matcha powder.

It takes some years for the seasoning to take place. One word of advice is to brew the same type of tea in a particular pot. Oolongs are usually recommended.

Don't think upton teas ship internationally (or at least only to canada) I second the chinatown option if you are into chinese teas. Tian Ren (天仁) or Tian Fu (天福) is a pretty good chain for purchasing teas. Hopefully you have these stalls down under (as they are sprouting all over the place in the states and even china).

Hmm... quick stir fry with lots of garlic and minced pork. Man.. i can eat this veggie all the time. It's also good in making a quick soup. Boil up some water with ginger slices and about 20-30 dried anchovies (or use a knorr anchovy cube). Add the veggies and dish up when the veggies are done.

Actually for singapore, you can find wet markets in almost all the HDB estates. The big ones are of course those at chinatown, tekka as well as geyland serai. But if you are just visiting and not purchasing, I would suggest going to the one closest to your hotel if you are pressed for time. Oh.. don't forget to partake in the local offerings in the always ajoining hawker centre. If you are going to chinatown, I would suggest the Hill Street Char Kway Teow and the Nasi Briyani at Tekka (go for the one with the longest line).

Yay! Tepee to the rescue! Can we also rehydrate them by placing them between moist towels? I think that was what my mom used to do when she hand made the ngoh hiang!

Quick question regarding bivalves (eg clams and mussels). Do people still purge them? Reason for asking was I bought a bag of live mussels from costco and went on to do a mussels in saffron dish. The mussels were gritty and thus distracted from the enjoyment of the meal. I believe they were farmed mussels and thus did not purge them.

You can also use them as a wrapper for various stuffed items. Spiced meat rolls or 五香 are quite popular.

nice mac knives! No sane male of chinese descent will be caught by the lack of LKK sauces (especially the black bean with garlic)! Great Blog!

Nightsoil = human waste (the best form of organic fertilizer! e.coli poisoning notwithstanding.) All in all... we chinese (counting all minority groups also) eat some really wierd stuff.