Chris Amirault

So asparbroc is something of an onomatopoeia: you breathe (aspar), you puke (BROC!), and then... silence. Great marketing team behind this vegetable all around, really.

This is fascinating to me. We have a Racilio Silvia and I've become the house asshole because I get pissed if I see the machine's been left on. Somewhere, I got the impression that leaving it on was bad for the machine. Specifically, my limited mechanical understanding makes me worry that there would be significant pressure build-up in the machine over time. I will gladly eat crow in order to have the machine on all day -- and the timer idea is ingenious. So, this is all to say: You can really leave it on all day?

I'm trying to make lop yuk at home following Ben's directions above and the procedures in Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn's Charcuterie. I'd really appreciate any input over in that thread (click here for the post about it).

Looks great, melicob -- and welcome to eGullet! I am in day four of my fresh bacon curing: good liquid, not yet firm. Feeling good about it. This thread has gotten me to thinking about making lop yuk or Chinese bacon. Here's a thread devoted to the subject, and here's a recipe for Naw Mai Fon by Russell Wong. If you have never had real lop yuk, I can attest to the transformative effects of this ingredient, particularly when it's home-cured. The photo above depicts lop yuk that was made by the mother of the owners of my favorite Chinese foodstuffs store, but she doesn't make it that often. I've not been able to find out how she makes it with any precision, and the instructions I've seen are less detailed than I would like (being the rather anxious curer that I happen to be). Ratios, man, I need ratios. As a starting point, I'm taking Ben Hong's useful thoughts on the matter from the above thread: I'm posting it here because I think that I might be able, with your help, to adapt some of the techniques from Charcuterie using these ingredients to make it myself, since it's basically a fresh bacon. I've also PMed Ben in case he can remember a bit more about the technique and proportions. Here are some of my questions: How can I measure the salinity (is that a word? the saltiness, I mean) of the soy and salt? Can I, or is this hit-and-miss-and-try-again cooking? Ben lists rum; I have procured a very nice bottle of shaoxing wine, which I'm assuming is a good substitute. But in Charcuterie there are no spirits. What role does the hooch play? Ben lists saltpetre. I'm assuming I can substitute pink salt in the appropriate ratio from the book for whatever weight of meat I have. Right? My purveyor's grandmother only cures when the weather is cool and dry, and she does it outdoors to take advantage of the wind -- which sounds just like Ben's "airy, cool dry, place." What temperature does "cool" mean? In the book, it sounds like I don't want to get above 75F, which won't be a problem indoors or out here. So should I be hanging this outside? In the cool basement with a fan? Both and compare? I would really appreciate any input. I'm hoping to get this going in the next few days and document it here. In closing, I'll add that I wish there were some recipes for Asian sausages (especially lop cheung) and cured meats in the book, Michael. Any reason why there aren't?

Clams and sausage are classic Portuguese plate pals.

Nice writing, Jennifer, as usual! Saugy's are great and are widely available at supermarkets, even the big boys like Shaw's and Stop n Shop. And you're right that a solid brown mustard is all they need.

Or what about one of those "Shrimps Ah in Season, Ayup!" sorts of things. Play on the accent and availability -- make the "limited time" be the selling point: they're fresh, plentiful, cheap, delicious. Man, we could market these things....

The eG Conversation with Sara Moulton is now closed to additional questions and responses from members. There's one exception: If you would like to say thanks, please do so on this thread. Sara will be back one last time to make her final contributions to those threads.

Folks, today (Friday 27 January) is the final day of our rollicking conversation with Sara Moulton. Please post your questions here no later than 2:00 pm EST; after that time, we will close the conversation to any new posts.

I think that Harold McGee has debunked this one: he advocates washing mushrooms just before cooking, I believe.

Chinese salted preserved plums.

It's probably a great way to compare the taste of them, actually, Sandy. Even if it is somehow a tad bit... yucky.

Them heads're filled with fat, yes? What about pressing them and collecting all that shrimp schmaltz?

Chef Koo, I don't think that anyone has suggested this -- apologies if I missed it -- but the solution to your dilemma exists on the shelves of your local hooch purveyor. There are at least two liquor stores near my house where I can go to taste whisk(e)ys, and I only know of those because I frequent them. For example, the best scotch store in RI, Town Wine and Spirits, has at least a dozen bottles open at any time so that customers can come in a try a wee dram. Find a high-end liquor store with a good whisk(e)y selection and give 'em a call. I'll bet they'd be happy to set you up with a few tastes to get you started. And, probably, hooked. As for the ones I'd urge you to try, I'd say finding an Islay single malt (like Laphroaig), a sherry cask single malt (like Macallan), a solid Irish (I'm partial to Old Bushmills), a blend (Johnny Walker Black, say), a bourbon (Maker's Mark)... and avoid the Canadian stuff entirely. But, hey, one man's ceiling is another man's floor, eh?

So, Johnny, forgive my ignorance, but it would seem that, based on this, the fishermen and -women are basically fucked? As someone who tries to buy these beauties whenever the season's on (and the grandson of a Gloucesterman), I find this remarkably depressing -- particularly given the frozen crap that gets $10-15/lb around here.

These knishes look amazing, Pam -- and very different from the dense knishes I got to know on the lower east side of NYC. (For the denizens, I'm thinking of Jonah Schimmel.) Those tended to be significantly less laminated, I think, if at all; I'd bet that there was one dough layer, instead of many, creating a far more dense version. The fried knishes at Katz's would break plexiglas. Are we talking about two different knish traditions? Or, as you seem to imply here, is it a quality issue? edited to clarify who fried and who didn't -- Yonah only bakes, according to the website -- CA

I can't make the comparison but it makes sense. There is so much more surface area for the bacon, yes? So there'd be more moisture given off. I think.

YES!!

Or whether they'll be able to get away with charging $6.99 for fresh Maine shrimp down east.

Here's those two books at Amazon with eGullet-friendly links: <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=egulletcom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=038519577X&=1&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=egulletcom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0517705761&=1&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Had the pho bo last night. Does anyone know if the bo is pronounced like the pho? Fuh buh or fuh boh? Anyway, however it's pronounced, it was fantastic, served with cilantro, culantro, Thai basil, bean sprouts, sliced onion, lime, sliced chili peppers, sriracha, and paper thin eye of round. Here's the eye of round, frozen pretty solid, getting sliced up: Nice 'n' thin: My mom's bowl: I'll also add that precooking the dry rice noodles and then dousing them with cold water to stop the cooking requires the extra step -- which I didn't do last night -- of reheating the noodles with very hot water. Otherwise, when you pour your wonderful pho stock into the bowl, the stock cools off drastically bc of the cold noodles.

What do you mean by "chopper"?

First curing project: I just put 4 lb of pork belly into the fridge to cure using the basic curing mixture and a fistful of cracked pepper. I'll check back in in seven-ten days.

Hendrix at Fillmore East and down with Ad-Rock? You are now, officially, the coolest food celeb ever.

Sara, you've movingly chronicled your relationship to Julia elsewhere in this conversation. Surely there are others to whom you owe a debt of gratitude, either from personal contact or professional trailblazing. Do you have any other mentors who have inspired you? What did they do -- or do they still do -- that is so important?