Jason Perlow

If you don't have a korean market or butcher near you, use sliced ribeye, the same stuff that is used for -GOOD- cheesesteaks. Sliced Ribeye is SLIGHTLY different than the actual korean ribeye cut, but for the most part its pretty much the same. You might get a better cut of meat from a Korean butcher. I actually use Bulgogi meat for cheesesteaks since we have a lot of korean markets around here.

I'm interested in places that specialize in something and excel exceedingly well at it -- could be dump/shacky type place or a restaurant specializing in a particular dish. Could be any particular food or drink item. Any ethnicity. Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Morris County, you name it.

Well, there is "home style" bulgogi and there is "restaurant" style bulgogi. I agree that in a restaurant, a grill table with cast iron grates and a coal-fueled fire will produce the most optimal results for Korean BBQ. But at home, a cast iron skillet or a grill pan produces the best results -- and i say this as a fully certified adopted Korean American now that I am the godparent to a korean child, having to refer to her grandparents as Halmeoni and Halboedji and having to complement grandmother on the aesthetic merits of her HanBok . Those stupid things you put over your burner don't do much other than get burned and become a bitch to clean. Other than getting good cuts of meat from a Korean butcher, the secret to home Bulgogi and Galbi nirvana is home-made marinade, anyways.

Calbee makes great stuff. I recently bought a few different flavors of their "Grill -A- Corn" which are basically like crunchy cheeze doodles, except that instead of cheese dust they have various seasonings on them, like "spicy" or "BBQ"

Its in a weird spot in the industrial part of town near Queen Anne road, next to the train tracks in back of a large hardware store, across the street from the post office.

I hate to say this, but the best apparatus for cooking bulgogi is a Lodge cast iron pan.

Its a new restaurant in Teaneck, "The Pasta Factory". Other than the mozzarella I would say everything else about the place was really good. Attractive space, attentive staff, really good fresh pasta, great bread, excellent salads.

I would imagine the practice of using bacterial-produced rennin is not at all in common use or is in use at all for making Kosher cheese, though. Its probably one those iffy things that local rabbinates have not signed off on yet.

Received the following communique from USHG:

Rachel and I had lunch at a very nice, hip Kosher italian restaurant in NJ today, one that focuses on fresh pasta and its in-house made fresh mozzarella. While we were very happy with the quality of the pasta, we have to say we were underwhelmed by homemade kosher mozzarella. It just didnt taste or feel right. As I understand it, Kosher mozzarella differs from regular whole milk mozzarella which is made in the traditional fashion by substituting the beef rennet used for coagulation with non-animal enzyme. With the mozzarella I have had on pizzas in kosher pizza restaurants, this usually results in a cheese that melts in a goopy, plasticy and oily fashion and it does not yeild the same results as say something like a low-moisture mozzarella like a Polly-O would. The fresh kosher mozzarella I had today in an insalata caprese did not taste like milk, and it had a slippery/rubbery kind of texture when sliced as opposed to the stringiness/sponginess and roughness that a good fresh mozzarella is supposed to have. Is it possible to make a good fresh mozzarella kosher? Is there something else about the process of making it that I don't understand? You tell me.

I'm starting to beleive this is a grand conspiracy by Ruhlman, Bourdain and his co-author to make bookoo bucks by having a "banned" book. 'Fess up Chanko!

King Yum, while excellent in terms of representing Chinese American food, is not a serious representative of regional chinese cuisine. Nevertheless I am surprised it didn't make it either.

I am amazed that Baumgarts (!!!) , Silver Pond (ok, they do a really good Dim Sum and are a respectable Hong Kong place) and Ivangie Tea House in Ridgewood (never been), is up for the running for NJ -- and China 46 is not there. EDIT: China 46 might not have made the 3 year mark. It probably comes in right under 3 years.

Actually, I'm really looking forward to when Sophie Glickstein from Great Neck or Stella Esposito from Astoria calls in asking where to go with her other septegenarian girlfriends for pre-theatre 5PM prix fixe. That should be amusing.

Thai restaurants use the same jarred sauces sold at markets. Some things just have to be commercially made as Thai food is reliant on a lot of condiment type things. However, as with curries, where the better ones use freshly made curry paste as opposed to a product like Mae Ploy (which I like) The better pad thais I have had however, used made from scratch sauces.

Its amazing bacon, though. I did it from them once a couple of years ago. But in order to save money on shipping I had them ship me 13 different bacons all at once as opposed to getting a monthly shipment. We ended up eating it out of the freezer.

A lot of commercial Pad Thai sauces have liquid tamarind or tamarind paste in it. Some even use ketchup. This is not to say all of those sauces are bad, there is one particular brand I really like, Por Kwan, has a nice balance of sweetness and spicyness, but it does give the noodles that characteristic orange color. It is better when Thai restaurants make their sauce mix from scratch, though.

With little Hamtaros too. How cute. Its too bad Hamtaro is vermin and must be destroyed at all costs.

Personally I find Pad Thai to be the least interesting of the Thai noodle dishes, at least how most restaurants serve it. I'm partial to Pa Kee Maow, Pad Siew and Lard Na myself. I like Pad Thai when its made with cellophane noodles and has a lot of heat to it -- like Wondee's does in Hackensack. Overly sweetened Pad Thai is not my thing.

Goya brand sodas are excellent, as are their nectars. Their Coco Goya is a must for making Pina Coladas. They also make great frozen food products as well, I particularly like their empanadas and meat-stuffed potato croquette-like things. The Mojo Crillolo is a big hit around this house too. Can't forget Adobo seasoning either.

Theirs, my original title was nowhere near as catchy.

I wouldn't go that far. The New Jersey section is pretty much completely independent from the rest of the newspaper and they march to the beat of their own drummer.

When I lived in Israel in 1990, I used to drink "Malt Star" which is the non-alcoholic version of Gold Star beer produced by Tempo Industries who is a Heineken licensee. I'm not sure if it is easy to find in the US though. http://www.tempo.co.il/outer/?iid=11

Post a new topic, but I dont think there is a need to pin it.

great idea, please do