[Hiyayakko]

Your description of Hiyayakko reminded me of a cold tofu salad that I like. I know it isn't authentic, but it's very refreshing in hot weather. It's based on one the Too Hot Tamales made on the Food Network years ago. Is cilantro ever used in Japanese cooking?

Cold Tofu Salad

3 Tbl. rice vinegar

2 Tbl. Japanese soy sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 to 1 Tbl. toasted sesame seeds

2 to 8 Tbl. chopped cilantro

1 Tbl. grated ginger

1 to 2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 lb. tofu, drained on paper towels (I usually cut off a piece for miso soup at another meal, and use the rest for the salad )

Combine the dressing ingredients and set aside.

Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes and arrange on individual plates. Cover with the dressing and serve immediately.

[From Our Farmer and CSA]

Time for the Northeast to check in. I have a share of Honey Brook Organic Farm in Pennington, NJ, and I chose the option of picking up my produce at the farm itself. That way I can choose exactly what I want from the farmstand, plus every week I can pick certain crops from the fields. This week was the first harvest of the year, but not much was available yet. There were supposed to be Chandler strawberries, but they were "unavailable." So all I got was a bunch of herbs -- I chose thyme, but could have taken oregano or catnip instead. And I got 2 heads of lettuce -- red leaf lettuce and a head of green lettuce (don't know variety). Last year (my first) it started out slow like this, and I was disappointed. By the middle of summer I had more veggies than I knew what to do with!

[Dueling Blenders: Breville or Waring Pro]

Buy it from a store that'll take it back without a fuss if you don't like it. That way, you can try the Breville and find out if your misgivings are justified. It's worth paying a few dollars more to have the "full satisfaction guaranteed" option, I think.

[Foodie mag recipes]

Sunset. I've had more "keepers" from Sunset than from all the others combined.

[Soft Drinks with Splenda]

Vile stuff! Maybe I'm just used to aspartame by now, but I couldn't drink it.

[linen-lined proving baskets]

Rice flour works really well, almost like Teflon.

[Making yuba and tofu]

Thanks for the help. No tofu makers nearby (that I know of), so I'll see what's available at the new Hong Kong Supermarket. I'm sure they'll have Kikkoman soymilk. If I had more energy I'd make my own.

[Making yuba and tofu]

You want  soy milk that is richer than the regular soy milk for making tofu.

←

What is the name for that kind of soy milk?

[Restaurant Restrooms]

The bathroom at Sun Lok Kee...before it moved to Flushing

←

[Crispy Seaweed]

If you are interested in crsipy seaweed that is indeed a crispy thing from the sea, you might want to try Korean deepfried dashima (kombu).

←

Why stop now? Is that (hoping you say yes) something I can buy, or something I have to fry? I have a package of Korean-style seaweed (nori) that's seasoned with sesame oil and salt, and it's great. And no frying involved!

[Crispy Seaweed]

Well, I finally worked up the courage to make so-called crispy seaweed. I used the leaves of bok-choy, since the dish I was trying to duplicate had been very dark green, and I used baby bok-choy, in particular, because I thought the leaves would be more tender. I did as Dejah recommended: cigar-rolled and shredded, and then I cut the shreds into about 1" lengths. I heated corn oil and threw in a handful of leaves and it cooked very quickly. When it looked a little darker, I removed it and drained it on paper towels. Then I tried sprinkling it with sugar, sugar and almonds, sugar and salt, and just salt. Just salt was my favorite. At first it tasted cabbagey, but a few minutes later the cabbage taste was gone and it was very delicate and crisp and delightful!

But once is enough. Origamicrane is right -- it's a mess! It's difficult to dry the leaves. The frying makes a mess and smells and uses a lot of oil. Also, some batches came out too oily (probably oil had cooled off).

It was fun, though, just to be able to duplicate something so unusual. Thanks all, for your help.

-Mary

[Chinese Soup / Bo Tong]

Here's a recipe for Homemade Chicken Broth from The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young. It uses 10 cups water, which is probably more than you want. So you could just make half, or 2/3, to get the right amount. I haven't tried it, but it sounds easy and versatile.

[Best of the West]

I'm not sure what's available in Canada, but I always include some junk foods when I visit my son in England -- Cool Ranch Doritos, Chex Mix, popcorn still on the cob, etc. It's good for a laugh, and somehow it always disappears!

[Kaitenzushi]

It never crossed my mind that there are automated sushi machines such as this.

[British Indian Restaurants]

But I have vivid memories of cooking down loads of onions when I was cooking from the book years ago.

←

In this topic Jackal10 posted a recipe for an oniony curry base that sounds like the one you remember.

[Have you worked in a British Indian Restaurant?]

Curious, why is there no chance you'd make that one? As the book says, authentic vindaloos don't have to be hot...

←

Good point! The idea of vinegar in a curry just never sounded appealing. I don't know why -- I often use lemon juice. And I tried Raghavan Iyer's paneer made with vinegar, and it's great, so you're right, I should give it a try.

[Have you worked in a British Indian Restaurant?]

from what I can see, it called for 1/2 pint with the ginger & garlic, and 2 pints with the onion mixture; 6.25 cups

←

The original recipe calls for 2+3/4 pint (l litre + 570 ml) water, but I'm through with math for the day!

I strained the water out from the onion/garlic/ginger mixture

←

Nothing should be strained. The whole, sloppy mess is put in a blender (in batches) with the warning, "Absolute smoothness is essential." You're right, straining it would take out a lot of the flavor.

My fave Indian cookbook is "Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking" -- don't laugh

←

I won't laugh. I like it, too! I never read the part about vindaloos, though, since there's NO chance I'd make one. Thanks for finding that reference.

-Mary

[Have you worked in a British Indian Restaurant?]

This time, I did strain the onions, but it made the base sauce extremely thick

←

Mine wasn't that thick. I hate to keep bringing this up, but did you use British pints when measuring the water? The original recipe calls for 2+3/4 pints of water, which would be between 6.5 and 7 American cups. Mine had the texture (and similar color) of bad pea soup.

I've only had a vindaloo once because it was SO hot. I don't remember the taste through all that pain! But although vinegar was part of the original vindaloo, I've heard that British restaurants don't use it any more. Anybody know about this?

splattering is essential, and yes, it does make hell of a mess.

←

Not to mention the smell while making the base sauce. It lingers for days... and days...

[Have you worked in a British Indian Restaurant?]

very red, very tasty, and completely inauthentic - the perfect great British curry!

←

Well said! I'm sure many are wondering why we'd even want to duplicate the food of British Indian restaurants. But it can be a delight in itself, even if it isn't authentic.

-Mary

[saltines in ranch dressing recipe?]

I've seen that one, too, but I was afraid it would be a breeding ground for bacteria. If you like Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing from the envelope, try this one.

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

2 cups mayonnaise

2 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons dried onion flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Whisk ingredients together until smooth. Makes 1 quart. You may have to thin it down with a little water. Don't use milk to thin it down -- that changes the flavor.

I don't normally use dried garlic and parsley, but if you want it to taste like Hidden Valley, you have to use the same ingredients they do. Except for adding all the chemicals.

Usually I make only a fourth of the amount at a time so it'll be fresh.

-Mary

[Have you worked in a British Indian Restaurant?]

I thought the onions added some body to the sauce?...

Was the first recipe supposed to be fenugreek leaves also?...

I froze some left-over base sauce...

←

Hi, Grub, I've made this base sauce twice. I pureed it (in batches) in my blender. Then I put 2/3 cup portions in snack-size baggies, and put those all in a large freezer-weight plastic bag, and froze them. I made 2/3 cup portions because Kris Dhillon's recipes usually call for multiples of 1/4-pint of the sauce, and 1/4 of a British pint is 5 oz., which is about 2/3 American cup. It freezes very well.

Also, remember she uses rounded teaspoons in her measurements and 5 oz. cups.

The first time I followed the recipe exactly, and it made some nice curries. The second time I was lazy, and instead of pureeing the can of tomatoes, I used an 8 oz. can Hunt's tomato sauce. It did NOT turn out the same. Even the color of the final sauce was redder. So, I think that your changing the tomato could affect it. But how much difference it make in the final curry I wonder.

The fenugreek called for in all the curries is dried fenugreek leaves that have been ground in a spice/coffee grinder. I grind a whole box at a time and keep the powder in an old spice jar.

I've made that chicken curry, and my notes say "good but mild." I personally like more spice (not necessarily heat) in a curry. There's no law that says you can't throw in more spices!

Hope this helps a little. As you can see from my first message in this thread, there's something elusive about these curries that just escapes me.

-Mary

[Have you worked in a British Indian Restaurant?]

Look at "The Modern Indian Restaurant Cookbook" by Pat Chapman (ISBN 1-84358-134-5), or "The Curry Secret" by Kris Dhillon (ISBN 0-7160-2054-8).

whizz ginger and garlic with 1/2 pt water...

Put all in a large saucepan with 2 pts water... 3/4 pint base sauce

←

I just want to add that Kris Dhillon's book is from Britain, and I think a British pint is 2+1/2 American cups. Also, she says her spoon measurements are slightly rounded and the cup she uses is a 5 oz. teacup! This can get very confusing, especially in the frenzy of cooking , so it helps to go through her book and wrote down the conversions next to each recipe.

-Mary

[Have you worked in a British Indian Restaurant?]

Fenugreek is also great to stop Monteczuma's Curse. Just take a handful and swallow with water. My mum's home remedy. And it works.

←

The things you learn here! I think it might be wise to carry some on any trip, just in case.

In my many experiments in recreating favourite indian dishes I have found that seemingly unecessary amounts of oil are vital for getting the right taste and consistency - you can drain it off after

←

For my last curry, I did use a massive amount of oil -- close to a cup, I would guess. The scary part was that the amount floating to the top at the end was about a fourth of that.

In other words, you've lived in areas with mediocre Indian Food (Princeton, Chicago)

←

Oh, dear. What can I say?

[British Indian Restaurants]

Extensively discussed in http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=65832

←

Thanks jackal10. I started that thread, too, because I didn't know if most people read both forums. I guess you do!

[I think I have sinned...]

When my son was two, he happily ate a curry that was too hot for my husband and me! We're not Indian -- I was just experimenting with ethnic foods. That was 30 years ago, and my son still loves curries above all else. So it pays to start them young.