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It's really simple. I soak the cilantro in cold water for a bit and dry them off. Then lay them out of paper towers, roll it up, them place inside the vacuum bag. I don't have problems with crushing at all.

Those new Reynolds vacuum sealers work great for this! Before I had one my cilantro would turn black in a matter of days, but now it will last for weeks!

Thanks again, Peter!

That's Peter! You've been really helpful. BTW, would you happen to know of a good place for Derby Pie?

Great experiment! BTW, baking powder is pH balanced because it includes an acid along with the soda.

Great job! Wow, just incredible!

Aw, I'm disappointed!

I'll be driving by myself down to Louisville next Saturday, Feb 16, for a seminar. I plan to arrive around noon, stay overnight, and then leave the following afternoon, so that means 3-4 meals I need to plan. Any recommendations for a solo diner? I'm especially interested in sampling local specialties (hot browns, country ham, etc.) and would prefer cheap and casual--even takeout is fine. I haven't booked a hotel yet so any recommendations for that would be greatly appreciated, as well. The seminar is being held near the airport on Sat afternoon, but the rest of the time I'm on my own. Thanks

Congratulations! P.S. Still waiting to hear how that s/s pork w/ peanut butter was made.

I have the 7" one and I use it every day. Great value, IMO.

Anyone know of videos featuring Fu Pei Mei?

Interesting, is it a regional variation? I hope you can write down the recipes when all is said and done.

Ramen noodles! It's mindboggling how many varieties there are, even at my tiny Chinese market.

I don't normally make soup out of the liquid, but I do use it in things like sauces, for instance, in place of chicken broth.

Yes, it's the difference between 'boiling' and 'poaching.' You're cooking at two different temperatures. Recall that properly cooked chicken is normally done in the 160-170F range, but boiling water is at 212F (at sea level). If you boil the chicken you will be cooking the meat way past done, and you will be left something that is dry and flavorless.

Haha, no guest of honor since this was just a practice run. The bread casing cooks the chicken in a higher pressure environment, making it moist and tender. I only cooked it for 2 1/2 hours, but some other recipes have you cook for 3-4 hours, resulting in meat that literally falls off the bone.

Man, what an operation! I knew from your descriptions earlier that it was a big job, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Outstanding job! I look forward to your recipes.

I remember having a ginger creme brulee at Chinois in Santa Monica, CA.

I think it does help to make the same dish over and over until you get it right. Cooking is a skill and to do it well you have to practice.

Good luck! I've never had the chance to work in a commercial operation so if I lived out your way I would have definitely volunteered. How long does it take to shape 18,000 pieces of dim sum?

I've started hearing things about the GreenPan, which is supposed to have a PTFE-free nonstick coating. Has anyone tried this? The reviews I've seen are mixed--some people say it's the greatest thing while others were disappointed.

Getting ready for Chinese New Year, so I decided to test some new recipes. As some of you may remember, last year I made a crispy boneless stuffed chicken, which was a huge hit but WAY too time consuming for me to want to do it again unless I'm having VIPs over for dinner. So this year I thought I'd try a beggar's chicken. The recipe I used is adapted from one shared by Jo-mel some years back and is made using a bread dough crust instead of the traditional style made of clay. The end result is that the crust is completely edible. Here's the chicken just taken out of the oven Cutting open the crust and the inner lotus leaves reveals: Now for the chicken and the stuffing, made of pork, Tianjin preserved vegetable, and bamboo shoots. To serve, each person gets a few slices of chicken, some stuffing, and a bit of the crust. I think I didn't rinse the preserved vegetable well enough and so the stuffing was too salty. On the other hand the meat was perfectly seasoned and succulent. I used frozen bread dough for the crust-a bit bland, but tasted ok when eaten with some stuffing spooned on top. Overall, with a bit of minor tweaking, I think it's a winner.

I agree with bethpageblack. What you described, a bao with chopped chicken, hard boiled egg, char siu and laap cheung sounds like Dai Bao (the "big" bao). As made in Hong Kong, China. I haven't seen them offered in the USA for the 20 some years that I have been here. ← Interesting, I never knew that! Don't they sell them in the mom and pop places dim sum shops in SF Chinatown? There are still a handful of places that sell them in LA Chinatown. I should try making them myself. They don't seem too hard.

Is that supposed to be a Chinese style burrito? What about something like pizza in China? I wonder how lop cheung, black mushrooms, and bitter melon tastes on a slice of thin crust.