Chris Amirault

OK, here's my first crack at bibimbap. Here's the meez: And here's the presentation: Starting at 12 o'clock and going clockwise, it's daikon, seaweed, scallion, carrot, shiitake, spinach, scallion, beef, bean sprouts. Two fried eggs -- overdone so the yolks weren't completely runny, I'm sad to say -- and a dollop of gochujang in the middle. Black and regular sesame sprinkled on top. touaregsand, thx for the tips,which I'll use next time for sure. As for the neulongji, I put a tablespoon of peanut oil in a very hot nonstick skillet and put the cooked rice into that skillet for about five minutes, shaking to keep it from sticking. It created what I consider to be a good crust, but could've gone longer (I was afraid of burning it the first time around). We ate it with a big dish of homemade -- not by me -- napa kimchi. (I wanted to make what I can only describe as fresh cucumber kimchi from some kirbys I got at the store, but I don't have a recipe. Anyone??) Having said all of that: this is a damned amazing dish, truly a wonderful thing. There's something remarkable about the combination of textures, temperatures, and flavors. We scarfed ours down. I'm very eager to get feedback, but if we never change it this is going to become a household staple!

Paula, two questions. For those of us without a food saver, do you think that freezer ziplocks with all of the air pressed out of them might work decently? Also, how do you reheat your leftovers (presuming that there are any, of course!)?

I prefer to think of it as "6 yankees". This keeps me from getting riled for not being selected as the champion in this little battle. ← You'll always be number one in our hearts, MM!

Oooh, recipes would be most excellent. Can you give translations of the various dishes -- or is there a decent website that does that? I made the beef last night and it's in the fridge. Unfortunately, our twelve-day-old daughter conspired against a full-on Korean meal last night, so it's on for tonight. I'm now going to make the namuru (side dishes, yes?) for tonight's bibimbap. I'll take a few pictures so that I can get some constructive criticism. One thing I'm going to try is to use a non-stick skillet to fry the rice and then slip it into a large heated serving bowl for the namuru and eggs (since I don't have any dolsots). If anyone has any tricks for that, I'd appreciate it.

Over in the fried chicken cook-off, we're starting to debate the next dish. A few people (including me) have suggested pad thai. If you're interested, why don't you click on the link above and post your enthusiasm! You can also check out the other cook-offs by searching on "cook-off," if you'd like.

OK, folks, I think that it's time to start considering a new cook-off recipe. That doesn't mean, of course, that we shouldn't keep up the fried chicken discussions; I'm hoping someone will post on that fat question I have. As for next dishes, I've already gotten some interest in pad thai, which I think is a good one: conforms to the new region of the world requirement, has some basic elements of Thai cuisine, and can be tweaked pretty broadly depending on what's available to you (as long as you can get the noodles). What say y'all?

Oh, wait. I just reread this -- -- which makes me think that I should in fact slice them into shoelaces before sauteeing them. So: I think I'll do one pound that way.

Well, I'm not going to try that for a while! I think I'm going to start by making the dolsot bibimbap recipe that mamster provided on the bibimbap thread. I'm also going to use torakris's recipe for bulgogi marinade, with Jinmyo's revisions. And while I don't have the stone bowls, I think I'll be able to figure out a decent workaround of some sort. Meanwhile, I haven't been able to find an answer to the following question. I have two pounds of thinly sliced beef (rib eye, it says on the package), but I want to get those threads for the bibimbap. So should I slice the meat into threads (a) before marinating, (b) after marinating but before cooking, or (c ) after cooking? I'm going to start the marinade now, so I guess if the answer is (a) I screwed up!

And Providence misses you right back, Tony!

Fantastic again, Lucy. I particularly start breathing more deeply when I gaze upon your produce, cheese, and other shots from the food shops and stalls. That, more than anything, is what I most miss about being in France. There is a respect for foodstuffs that simply isn't found here in the US, even at most farmers' markets. It's wonderful to see while sitting here in New England, where the chill finally seems to be receding into the ground. Thanks for that.

Well, I finally made a huge batch last night: three chickens' worth of fried wonder. Or, at least the first batch was.... I did a buttermilk, hot sauce, onion, salt marinade -- worked fine. I made a spiced flour mixture with AP flour, some corn flour, and baking powder -- worked great. The oil was mostly Crisco shortening with as much bacon grease as I could save, heated in my biggest Le Creuset pot -- worked peachy. Due to several people suggesting that you serve the chicken immediately, I was shuttling just fried pieces to the six folks eating, each of whom wanted different pieces. The breasts (cut in half), wings, and thighs were coming out fine, and the drumsticks were a little underdone at the bone, but the crust on each was absolutely perfect. This combination I attribute not only to the items above but also to the temperature of the fat. I got it up slowly to 350 and then maintained it pretty consistently at 325ish as pieces came in and out. When I do my chicken nuggets, I aim for 350-375, but that was too hot for these bigger pieces on the bone. 325 seemed to hit the perfect balance for that first batch. So, I finished up, turned off the heat, and went in and ate. (We also had corn bread, some quick cucumber pickles, and the great cole slaw in How to Cook Everything, I'll add.) Delicious. Then I went back into the kitchen to cook the rest of the chicken and everything went to shite. When I turned the heat back up, the oil got way too hot very, very quickly; by the time I had turned back to the stove, it was at 375 and the brown bits were closer to black. Following that, it seemed impossible to find any middle ground with the fat: either it was way too hot or way too cold (down around 250-275). If I tried to turn it up, I also scortched the pieces, so that there would be one too dark spot on an otherwise nicely crisped piece. I just scanned through McGee and can't find anything about this, but I seem to remember somewhere (in Shirley Corriher?) a discussion about what happens when you reheat certain fats. Perhaps I'm just projecting my insecurities onto the grease , but if memory serves the fat becomes less stable the second and third time around. Is this true? Can it happen so quickly? Having said all of this: those first few pieces were heavenly, just heavenly. Adding the bacon grease was a great idea; you could detect that underpinning in each bite. Thanks for all the great tips, everyone!

I made fried chicken (finally) for the cook-off tonight, but tomorrow I'm looking forward to a simple bibimbap. Thanks, Jason, for the links, which I'll absorb tomorrow.

Just wanted to second this recommendation. Asiana is an astonishingly well-stocked store with very friendly and helpful owners. It's also about two minutes from downtown: take the Warren Ave exit on I-195 and take a left, and it's one block down on the left. For those that are interested, this store inspired me to start a Making Korean Food at Home thread.

Well, then, let's do it: the Cooking Korean Food at Home thread.

In the spirit of several other threads devoted to Thai and Vietnamese cooking at home, here's one for Korean cooking at home. I learned about Korean food in my college dorm house, with a roommate from Seoul who was hell-bent on eating well. That meant having bibimbap, bulgogi, chicken stew, and tons of kimchi on a regular basis. I've been unable to eat good Korean food for a while, not having found any good sources for Korean supplies here in Providence (where Southeast Asian foodstuffs line the shelves of most Asian shops). However, in the span of two days, we had our first dinner at Sun and Moon Korean Restaurant in East Providence RI and shopped at Asiana Foods across Warren Ave from S&M -- and I'm hooked again! I have a stash of homemade kimchi in the fridge, a big jar of kochuchang next to it, and some sliced up bulgogi beef in the freezer. I'm hoping to do a lot of Korean cooking over the next many months, and I hope y'all can help! Let me start with a basic question. When I have had bulgogi in the past, it has been fairly large pieces, but at Sun and Moon, the beef was basically julienned: longish but very thin strips, thinner than shoelaces. Is this the style to which most people are accustomed?

It's my understanding that you need to cool the chicken down after it's been killed -- or at least this is what the folks at Antonelli's have told me. I think that going immediately into a marinade while still warm might not be a good idea, but I don't know. Does anyone?

Thanks. Having discovered this store and a nearby Korean restaurant, I've rekindled my interest in Korean food, sparked by my college roommate from Seoul. Methinks an on-going Korean food at home thread might be in order....

That's beautiful! Is that bay leaf I see there?

Early this morning, during a sad little spring snow storm, I finally got out to buy some chickens. They are "spring chickens," a bit smaller than usual though not in the 2.5 lb range; I haven't cut them up yet, though, and they have everything still attached, so I think they'll be close. I bought the chickens at a live poultry shop here in Prodence that has been here for years. Here's the sign for Antonelli's Poultry: Antonelli's is on DePasquale Square in Federal Hill, the Italian(-American) section of town. Today was dreary, but on a nice spring day, when the fountain (out of frame on left) is flowing, this is a wonderful spot. The Antonelli's egg-shaped sign is on the right: Here's the store front, where they've been for decades: Inside, there's a cooler with poultry on ice. Years ago, the food stuffs were largely Italian; now, notice the chayote, limes, and other things that Latino/a shoppers want: Beyond that plastic curtain is the live poultry area, where there were capons, muscovy ducks, geese, rabbits, quail, and chicken. On the far right you can see one bird who is flapping away blurrily: This is the working area of the store, where the fowl are selected, weighed (in the foreground), killed, bled, defeathered, and cleaned. The whole process takes about five minutes from selection to bagging. This is the man who grabs the chickens out of the yellow box, breaks their necks, and then bleeds them in the cylinders on the right of the image: This shot shows most of the working area. In the foreground, the man is weighing the chickens on the scale; in the left background, someone is cutting up chicken into parts; on the right, the person cleans the chickens after they've been defeathered: While I left today with three spring chickens that I'm sure will be wonderful to eat, I have to say that I don't ever like going to Antonelli's, exactly. After all, it's hardly a pleasant experience, selecting things to die so you can eat them. Buying rabbit there is particularly difficult for me, for I find the killing of a furry little mammal for my meal more heart-wrenching than that of a chicken. But I do find the entire process somehow appropriate in a manner I can't quite explain. I've always felt that those who eat meat should be able to see that meat taken from a living animal, and appreciate it as such. Fergus Henderson writes about the respect a cook should show for an animal who died for your belly, and I think I agree. I don't do it often, but it feels like the right thing to do now and then. Having said that, I still needed a quick trip to Venda Ravioli (across the plaza) so that I could stand at the bar, my warm chickens in a bag, and drink a stiff double espresso toast. And, with that, I'm frying tomorrow night! edited to clarify a sentence or two -- ca

I'm resurrecting this thread in the hopes that we can chat a bit more about Korean rice (bap) dishes. We just learned about a fantastic Korean and Japanese store in East Providence (Asiana on Warren Ave) that stocks many things I had not been able to find, and I loaded up. But before I get out the kochuchang, I want to know what rice people use for Korean bap dishes. I bought a bag of new crop, medium grain Nishiki rice, thinking that'd work. What do you think?

This discussion about "peanut" prompted the thread at this link!

On a thread about labor snacks, a few of us have been writing about our kids and using food terms. For example, our Bebe, who arrived in the world at 5 lb 7 oz, has been called a "peanut" by just about everyone, and it is sticking (for now). It got me to thinking about what other food words people use for their children. We're also wondering whether or not those nicknames are used in other countries and cultures. So, please share your own food nicknames and any that you know from cultures other than your own!

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words. Of course, I'm bursting with happiness and pride. Your thoughts mean a lot to each of us.

This drives me nuts, too, here in the US. But I want to add that this (along with everything else we talk about on eGullet) is culturally relative. In Saudi Arabia, when my hosts would set a time for dinner at a restaurant, that could mean that they and others would arrive anywhere within a two- or three-hour time frame. Of course, restaurants in Riyadh know this, and we would have little snacks, nuts, Saudi coffee, etc. as we waited. This was also true for home meals. I once cooked a feast for twenty at someone's house, and decided to have primarily antipasti with a titanic bowl of putanesca at the end, since I didn't have to worry about serving things piping hot.... How to solve this problem, I dunno. Suggest they dine in Saudi Arabia?

The new Saveur, in an article on Sichuan street food, has a recipe for dan dan noodles.