_john

Which Chinese ingredients are soaked in water before use and for how long? Some people have told me to soak black beans, other people do not soak them. Do you use the liquid from soaking dried scallops or other ingredients when cooking?

Hey looks pretty good! I think you went the right direction by seasoning with the oven because you don't have a wok burner yet. If you had a wok burner and were able to season the wok outside the burner method is preferable for the exact reasons you mentioned. I'm not sure what your research has found but I like season with the burner method each time I cook with a new wok for about a month or so. What I like to do is cook things that I know will not stick (no noodles, eggs, or sauces that include starch e.g. corn starch) and when I am done cooking I plate the dish, use the wok brush to remove any bits of food, then use a paper towel to get the surface as clean as possible, return the wok to the burner and season it once, let it cool slighlty and use a paper towl to apply a very thin layer of oil for storage. My theory is that by keeping the wok hot for a long time while cooking, not cooling it off too much by using water to clean it, and immediately seasoning it on high heat you maximize the oil's ability to penetrate into the metal's "open pores". This is something I have heard mentioned in several sources. I think a well seasoned wok can be cleaned with mild soapy water with no problem, but with a young wok I prefer cleansing by fire I hope you saved the rest of that pork fat for further cooking and seasoning

I've thought about making natto but I am afraid that I would end up culturing the wrong type of bacteria. How easy is it to make natto?

Cabbage and bacon stir/fry? That sounds good to me. Got a recipe? ← -3 or 4 strips bacon, or an equal amount of cubed block bacon -1/4 head cabbage -1/2tbs each minced garlic and ginger -(as much as you like) old lady sauce -a splash of shao hsing wine -1 pinch salt cut the cabbage into 1 1/2 inch squares and the bacon in 1 1/2 inch lengths. add the bacon to a very hot wok and allow some of the fat to render. Once about 1/2tbs of bacon fat renders remove the bacon and add the garlic and ginger and then immediately the cabbage. cook the cabbage for about a minute and then splash with the shao hsing and add a pinch of salt. add the bacon back in and cook until the shao hsing has evaporated. add old lady sauce in the last 30 seconds of cooking. notes: thicker bacon is better. You are not trying to fry the bacon to a crisp, it will still be floppy. cabbage should maintain some firmness. you can substitute red pepper flake for old lady sauce.

I've had the aloe and I have to say ... it's good! But I don't think it really tastes like aloe. The one I ate had chunks of aloe in it too. very interesting.

They were almost definitely raw. I'm guessing these were "negi" which is like a cross between a green onion and a leek. It is more like an overgrown green onion in that it does not have distinct layers like a leek. These are added raw as a finishing touch in many dishes. There has to be a source on the east coast, hopefully someone more knowledgeable of that area can help you. ← Ramps?!? u.e. ← They are not ramps. They are less fibrous than green onions, and have a milder flavor. I know someone on here is a horticulturist who specialize in japan, maybe they can clear this up.

They were almost definitely raw. I'm guessing these were "negi" which is like a cross between a green onion and a leek. It is more like an overgrown green onion in that it does not have distinct layers like a leek. These are added raw as a finishing touch in many dishes. There has to be a source on the east coast, hopefully someone more knowledgeable of that area can help you.

Actually that's pretty close. I am not sure if this brand has an English name. They probably have but I can't recall what it is. The Chinese brand name is "lau gan ma" [Mandarin], which means "old honorable mother". I like this brand too at first, until I could taste it that they put a lot of MSG in it. ← Now I don't feel so bad for calling it old lady sauce, I think I will continue to call it that. I was 20 years old when I first tried this sauce so I think it is fair to call it old lady sauce. I also noticed the MSG but I am one of those people who doesn't hate MSG. I like the fact that it includes the chili seeds, sichuan peppercorns, and preserved garlic and beans. one of my favorite dishes to make with this sauce is cabbage and bacon stir fry, yum yum.

I have used bacon fat in the past. I think making your own lard would be fun and maybe have more flavor. The lard you can buy in the store is refined and has almost no flavor. I think there is a wok seasoning recipe in the breath of the wok cookbook. Pork fat and chinese chives. Make sure to burn off any oil or coating used to protect the wok really well before beginning.

Both my green onion kimchi and bitter melon kimchi were fine for about a week but then they became watery. Because I make small batches I usually do not follow a recipe, I just follow the kimchi "procedure". This has reminded me of a second question. Which kimchis do you use fermented fish products in? I have seen small fermented shrimp used in regular cabbage kimchi, but not in others. Other recipes I have seen call for "fish sauce". I have never used these ingredients in my kimchis and they have tasted fine.

I call this "old lady sauce" because of the picture of the old lady on the bottle. The type that also includes fermented beans is AMAZING. It has so much flavor. I use as the only thing added when I make super quick stir frys. It covers the sweet, hot, umami, and salty all with one item. I was so happy when I found this in Japan after using it in the states for years. what is its real name?

I agree animal fat is far superior to vegetable oils for wok seasoning.

This is one of my favorite things about kimchi too. kimchi and bbanchan are wonderfully creative things. Radish leaf kimchi is especially delicious. I will be posting some new experiments soon ... with fruit! The goya kimchi is coming along well, the flavor is very nice, bitter, hot, sweet. I would like some advice from other people who make kimchi at home. My kimchis seem to become more and more watery as they ferment. This seems to dilute the flavor but also spreads the lactic acid flavor. Other kimchis I have had have not been nearly as watery. Am I adding too much salt?

I like the looks of that Masahiro Hankotsu, how is it to work with and what do you use it for?

I bought some natto packed in straw today. When I got home I opened up the straw and was very disappointed to find regular natto protected by plastic, with a little packet of sauce, not touching the straw at all. Has anyone had real natto fermented in straw? I think it would add an interesting aroma to the natto and I want to try it, no luck this time.

this is drool worthy: Cajun Cookware Large Natural Gas Multi-Jet Burner 200,000BTU

I looked up several recipes and saw what they had in common. Then I followed one that had directions for removing slime. I think I just boiled them too long, I don't have a lot of experience cooking satoimo. I think I need to try someone else's satoimo nikkorogashi before I will be able to make it well. I had left overs for lunch today and they were even better the second day. Do you eat satoimo nikkorogashi as a side dish? Can you use it as an ingredient in other dishes?.

I tried another gimmick item last night. When I saw it on the menu I had to try it. ゴーヤチューハイ　Goya Chu-Hi ! It was really good, only slightly sweet, and had good goya flavor. It was not very strong though .

I went back to the okinawan restaurant last night and had a good meal. Dinner and a drink for 1000yen! This is 豚あんかけ丼 buta ankake-don Pork with thick sauce over rice. And what could that green drink in the background be?何でしょう？ ... It's chuhai made from a famous okinawan item ... That's right ゴーヤチュハイ！　Goya Chuhai! The goya chuhai was really good actually. I asked him how they made it and he showed my pitcher of "goya juice", and their chuhai machine. It was all really tasty, and cheap too! note: chuhai is a category of mixed drinks made with Japanese shochu alcohol. They are usually sweet and carbonated and usually fruit flavored. This one was bitter melon flavored.

Hey John, I'm pretty sure your cleaver is from the same maker as mine Chan Chee Kee and quite possibly model# KF1303 depending on the measurements of yours. The black part is the unfinished portion of the blade from forging and is not a "seasoning" in the traditional sense of the word. The style is called kuro-uchi. CCK knives are very good knives and you were smart to buy one. I wish there was a local shop I could get more from. Yours looks well loved. ← That is the exact knife! thanks octaveman. The kanji on the blade 桑刀 are exactly the same as the ones on that site. It used to look like that too, many years ago. I think this knife is imitated by other manufactures, I hefted and mock chopped with many knives that day that were very similar. This one really does have a great feel to it, and holds a great edge.

That custom knife looks very nice. The bolster style looks very similar to my favored chef's knife. Care to share a little about the process of having a custom knife made? I'm interested. The dimensions of the cleaver are. 8.5cm x 20cm ~(3"x8"), I consider it small in relation to large knives I have seen Chinese chefs use, such as Chen Kenichi. Octaveman: that is one hell of a collection! jo-mel: ImageGullet 2.0, a new way to manage images, info on how to post pictures.

I made satoimo nikkorogashi last night. My satoimo started to split a little bit as they cooked, is this normal? How far are you supposed to reduce the liquid? Even if I made a few mistakes making it this time they were really tasty and I have a bunch left over. Great easy dish!

Just as I love to peak in people's fridges and cupboards to see what they have I also love to peak in a fellow chef's knife roll or a fellow home chef's knife drawer. There are countless threads with knives as the topic but I wanted to create a thread you could show the knives you actually keep with you and use. And I am guessing I am not the only one with a few stories about how I got my knives and their various virtues. I'll go first: From top to bottom: -Damasquinados Suarez almost 8" chef's knife I bought this in Toledo, Spain at a famous sword factory with ancient roots. I love this knife, it is just the right weight and shape for my hand. I've had it since high school. -Carmichael Cutlery produce knife, carbon steel. This is the best paring/boning knife I have ever used. It's light blue handle is textured and fits in the hand much better than small paring knife handles. It is designed for trimming produce in the field. I stole this one from my grandpa's knife drawer. -Lamson Sharp bread knife This is a great knife for crusty artisnal breads. The offset handle makes it so easy to use. I have probably made 3 million crostinis with this knife. -Messermeister fish filet knife This is an extremely flexible filet knife that makes prepping salmon and other large fish a breeze. This one gets a lot of use here in Japan. -Chinese vegetable cleaver This is a run of the mill carbon steel Chinese vegetable cleaver. It is lighter and not as tall as a general use cleaver. This is my favorite knife for veg. prep, it is very sharp and easy to handle. I spent about 5 hours in china town one day looking for a cleaver and this is what I came up with. note: that's not rust, it's "seasoning" so it doesn't rust. These are the other items in my knife roll: -deer antler steel -microplane grater -Y peeler -combination whet stone -The best spatula in the world the Traex 709-Spatula -a shard of Arkansas stone -fish tweezers

With walnuts? In Japan? Sounds like hodo kwaja, Korean walnut cake. Does it look like this? If so, you have to tell me where you've seen them! They are one of my all-time favourite sweets, but I've never been able to find them outside of Toronto. ← I have had kwaja before, I really like them as well. These were not made with the typical kwaja mould, they were made with what looked like a takoyaki mould but on closer inspection the round molds were a little oblong. They were essentially kasutera balls with walnuts. I wouldn't be surprised if this was an attempt to adapt to the korean tastes in the area because I most often see them at tsuruhashi station in osaka which has the biggest korean open market in Japan, I think. I could probably find a kwaja mould if you are interested. I will also be in Seoul for a few weeks pretty soon on a convoluted visa run / food tourism and am writing a list of things I should get whole over there.

something killing the yeast? what kind of water are you using? and what kind of salt?