Akiko

I'm sorry if I'm just adding to the "he said, she said" but for anyone in NY who likes Chinese food, if you haven't been, you should try these restaurants: In NY Congee House, does excellent congee and banquet type dishes Shanghai Gourmet can't be beat for their soupy dumplings (in my opinion) as well as several other Shanghainese dishes. NY Noodletown's salt and pepper soft shell crab along is pretty amazing Ping's is wonderful And if you like exquisite presentation and delicious food (although very westernized chinese), Mr K's will fit the bill. And at the other end, there is this dive called Dragon Gate... with wonderful dishes In London I haven't been to Hakkasan yet, but I've been to Royal China, Hunan, and those two dim sum places in Chinatown... golden phoenix and what's the other one? And they haven't compared to the ones that I frequented in New York.... Although I'd love to be taught differently.

Thank you Bond Girl, that's very interesting! Jon, what's steam boat? Does anyone know if the Chinatown in London celebrates Chinese NY with special menus and parades as well as those firecracker things everywhere?

If you get really fresh soft ones, you can deep fry them, they turn into little football shaped puffs... I add them last to a stir fry with oyster sauce and chilis... YUM! But the Korean standard of Duk bokki (spelling is probably very wrong) is always good too... try stir frying with bulgogi meat, green onions and a generous dollup of gochuchang (also spelled very wrong) and another generous dollup of sugar... YUM YUM YUM.

There is this recipe for sweet and sour chicken wings that a lot of Hawaiian- Japanese people make. It's pretty good in its original form - chicken wings battered in egg and corn starch and then deep fried and then you pour the sauce (pineapple juice, ketchup, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, salt) over the things and bake them. So you get these kind of candied wings... But then I had wings at Hooters (yes, I have to admit, I'm rather fond of that place) and I loved the way that they came out crispy crunchy even though they were sauced... how do they do that? And then I got the idea that I could IMPROVE this recipe that has been handed down from generation of hawaiian asians to the next.. I have... changed the batter to panko and corn starch.... double dipped the things... and every try has turned out more disgusting than the last. How do you think Hooters does it? Crunchy crispy batter fried wings...that are sauced and aren't soggy?

NOT GAH! Yummy, its all about the texture. Have you ever seen the Konyaku Batake jelly candies? They sell them in all kinds of flavors (peach, apple, muscat grape) and you put them in the refrigerator and you slurp them into your mouth and chew chew chew.... kind of a cross between a gummy bear and a popsicle! but better texture than either of those things. However, I must admit, the Chicago Yaohan (Mitsuwa now) stopped selling them because someone swallowed one whole and choked to death on it..... but that doesn't stop people from eating mochi either!

Hey guys, I missed this thread as I've been on holiday but you can't imagine how excited I got about the trip to billingsgate... I had images of tsukiji market in London dancing in my head... and then was crestfallen to read about the reality... The fishmonger in the main area of borough market does EXCELLENT sushi quality salmon... and sometimes has very good sushi quality yellowfin tuna... various sushi quality tunas show up. Other than that, I would also visit Arigato on Brewer street, I plan to order a New Year's plate of sushi from them later this month... I'm hoping for good quality as I always see other Japanese people taking away from there. Has anyone been to Zuma yet?

Thanks guys! We had a few glasses last night, and will endeavor to finish the bottle this afternoon at lunch (oh, what a hardship). The port is excellent... Tony, you are very correct. If this bottle is a good example, 1970 was an amazing year. And Gavin, our bottle is pitch black, and maybe the label faded but that is basically black too! You have to squint and hold it into the light to discern what it says. It's almost as if they put black typeface on a black background.

As part of his Christmas present, my husband and I bought my father in law a bottle of Feurheerd's 1970 port... now, Chris and I know next to nothing about port but his father likes the occasional glass and our wine-guy insisted that this bottle was really something special. So, we've properly had the thing standing for a few days and have decanted it being very careful not to let the sediment in... our question is, how long do we have to drink it, now that it is decanted? HELP, or the three of us are going to endeavor to finish the whole bottle off tonight... along with copious amounts of champagne to toast the new year in!

Tokaris, A while back you posted about your peanut sauce... which I printed out and saved for the opportune meal to make it with. I made it the other night. Thank you, YUM! YUM! YUM!, we drizzled it into the table salad rolls, on our sticky rice, I was tempted to spoon it directly into my mouth. Yesterday night I made Pad Thai just to be able to drizzle more of it on there... and tonight I will drizzle it on more sticky rice and my pork chops!

Try La Pizzeria, it was good, napolitean - ish style (crust wasn't quite as bubbly, but wonderful none the less). And relatively inexpensive 8 to 11 pounds depending on the type. The pizza we had was done with dolce latte, rocket, parma ham... YUM! That dolce latte was very good on pizza... but they had all the standards of quattro stagione, quattro formaggi, etc. mmm, mmm As a native Chicagoan, transplanted to New York, and recently relocated to London... I miss my pizza pie.

I'm sure pizza has been discussed in this forum before but has anyone ever been to La Pizzeria on Sydney street? It's in a little complex that is part of Chelsea Farmers Market? We were plodding along King's Road doing Christmas shopping (unfruitful shopping) and ended up feeling very hungry and stumbled into this little area with an organic food store, gift shop thing, italian wines, and cigar shop. In the center is a place called La Pizzeria, their pizza is very good. The best I've had yet in London (although I haven't had very much). Excellent quality of ingredients, lovely crust, and delicious chili oil if you like that sort of thing (had an extra flavour in orange zest added to it). Has anyone else been? And can anyone tell me if there is actually a farmers market that is held here? I saw no signs of it. Akiko

Jaymes, I thought you said your sweet potato recipe has marshmallows on top? I'm actually looking for a recipe for this. And would love any suggestions. Last year my family had a meal at trio in evanston, IL (grant aschatz who was the sous at French Laundry is the chef there and is absolutely incredible). As one of the sides there was a very simple sweet potato puree topped with marshmallow that had been melted, with butter I guess, and then whipped? And swirled on top of the potato, popped into the oven to brown. It was delicious. Anyone have suggestions on how to recreate? Akiko

Gherkins!!! And Dill Pickles!!!! And An excellent selection of mustard As Well As An even better selection of salts

If you visit the spice shop at borough market (I really like them, they are very knowledgeable and wonderful) I must warn you. If he tries to get you to taste his szechwan peppercorns.. DON'T DO IT. I was all excited thinking he had really good ones because he insisted we put one in our mouth and so we did. And they were good ones, which meant it started out very florally and then a little spicy, and then very sour and more sour and hundred times more sour... my mouth was salivating like crazy, I was practically drooling. I had to go get some cheese to douse what was going on in my mouth!

Thank you! Charlene, the kelly bronze turkeys from the website look like they are only available for December 20th.... maybe they are stockpiling for Christmas... Miss J. I called, they have an entire range of turkeys! So I'm going to pick up a 10 pounder and am crossing my fingers about it fitting into the oven... I'm convinced our oven is smaller than what is typical. My calphalon large roasting pan that I have always used to roast in... won't fit in it. If it doesn't fit.... I'm going to have to spatchcock the thing and hope it fit in flat... if that doesn't work... can I cut the thing in half??? Or would I need a saw for that? Maybe I'm just crazy. Wow, those Kelly Bronzes are expensive. Miss J, there is a risotto dish that I've been dieing to try involving pistachios and dolce latte..... so I'm going to serve small portions of that for a starter and then sides of brussel sprouts with bacon, cranbery sauce with orange and mint, mixed salad with apples, pears, some blue cheese in a mustard dressing, a bread pudding stuffing with leeks, and I might try to recreate this thing we ate at Trio's in chicago last year... The chef of Trio is Grant Aschatz who was the sous chef at French Laundry. He did this incredible thing that sounds, a take on something that is almost "trailer trashy" type food.... sweet potato with marshmallows. It was so good that both my husband and my brother in law insisted that it was their favorite part of the meal.... better than the black truffle ravioli that burst in your mouth like a xiao lom bao (soupy dumpling!).. It was in small ramikins... the sweet potato had been pureed with butter and some spices and then topped with marshmallows that must have been melted with butter and swirled on top, popped back into the oven to brown (kind of like a meringue top).... it was really yummy. Do you make Thanksgiving dinner here?

So I'm back asking my crazy questions again. My husband and I have realized that in order to have a "thanksgiving" dinner with his side of the family (they came to America last year at Thanksgiving and loved it, they insist we do one here) and still go back to America to celebrate thanksgiving with my side of the family, we have to do it this weekend. Does anyone know where I can get fresh turkey at this late notice? I called Northfield farms to see if they could bring one for me this Saturday to Borough market but they said that couldn't... Am I going to have to roast something else? OH! And any leads for a shop that sells canned pumpkin puree and good ready made pie crust for making pies would be helpful. Thank you!

Does anyone have anything to say about Andrew Edmunds? I keep hearing about it when I ask people about restaurants that serve good food in a romantic atmosphere....

Jinmyo you are amazing I'm actually excited to go home now and play with my ham! Simon, I love that recipe... and i'm sorry but I think it would make a great appetizer on crostini (carbs equaling death aside!) yeah!... I'm actually looking forward to dinner! Akiko

So.... I had the insane desire to roast a ham (gammon for all you englishmen and women out there... I know, I almost cried at the butcher's because I was so frustrated in trying to get them to give me what I was asking for... no not cured ham slices, no.. not ham hocks...) And I asked for a five or six pound bone in ham... and they didn't have a bone in ham, but I bought the six pounder anyways without thinking just how much meat that was going to provide our two person household with... So on evening one we roasted the ham with a brown sugar, dijon mustard crust, garlic, and basted with maple syrup... roasted potatoes on the side On evening two I braised the ham in coca cola, coated it with a breadcrumb, brown sugar, mustard powder, and garlic crumb coating and broiled it to turn the outside crusty... ate that with salad On evening three we had black bean soup with ham sandwiches.. I'm just about hammed out and we have at least two more nights of eating this stuff... any creative suggestions????

I am going to be the voice of dissention here... We deep fried a turkey a few years ago and although it was good, it was no better than the brined turkeys that get roasted at high heat (near the end to crisp the skin... also helps if you slather it with some goose fat under and over the skin!). I have never had a more nerve wracking experience... maybe if we had a smaller turkey it wouldn't have been so stressful, but if you are like most American families and your turkey is around 10 or more pounds... You don't realize until you do it just how much oil is involved or how heavy that turkey is when you have to handle it in an awkward manner and once that oil gets hot you wonder just what you will do if it accidentally tips over, or splashes onto the open flame, and believe me I was about to have a heart attack putting the turkey in that oil and taking it out. This was all compounded by the fact that my three year old niece kept coming into the kitchen and skipping around... giving me more heart attacks. It was a nightmare. I believe in going to great lengths to get great dishes but never again will I do this. It wasn't worth it. I'm convinced its just a gimmick. You can get better results with other methods.

Has anyone seen any food markets there? Food products you can get in Amsterdam that you don't see anywhere else? I'll be there soon on an in and out sort of trip and would hate to miss something special...

Thomas, How horrible! Especially after having to go home being able to smell the delicious food... I might have cried! And all for a smoke I am the person who cannot wait to get home and finishes all her mcdonald's fries before the commute is over. I also, love an occasional cigarette (most enjoyed when sitting over drinks or coffee with girlfriends) and this has been highly discouraged by my husband. I would be in a great deal of trouble if I ever lit up in the flat... which is why I have been so overjoyed that our new one has a balcony! Han Kang is a great central find for reliable korean... thanks,

OOOH, My lovely husband just bought "Thai Food" by david thompson for me. Sigh, I had so wanted to start reading a book that is un food related.. I'm feeling a little unbalanced lately as ALL MY (non work related) READING since June has been cookbooks or food writing. And that book is going to take some time to get through! But there is no way I'm going to put it aside and read something else first! Have any of you read White Oleander? It's being made into a movie with Michelle Pfeiffer but I can't imagine that they could possibly do justice to the book. It is engrossing, I couldn't put it down (maybe more of a woman's read than a bloke's)

Thomas, Chris and I went for lunch at han kang today. You are right, it is solid dependable versions of classic Korean dishes. Not amazing but good korean food at reasonable prices. We had spicy beef soups, chap chae (vermicelli noodles with shredded beef and veggies), and bibimbap. Loved the pan chan of kim chie and spicy potatoes. Why is it that these dependable basic dishes can vary so much from place to place? Han Kang's bibimbap and chap chae were good but lacked that "wow" this is so flavourful sensation that those dishes can have. I wonder what secret ingredient or ingredients make the difference between good and mindblowingly great.

So, Is one of the four of you going to be responsible for the photodocumentation of this event? Since those of us here can't snag ringside seats, I'd love to see how this meal turns out!