sanrensho

Thanks for the recipe, Neil. Just wait 'til all those eGulleters return home from work. You can expect another flood of recipe requests tonight.

You definitely do not need molds to do the traditional triangle shape. Just wet your hands, salt a little and form away with your filling in the center. This graphic shows the technique.

From a baking standpoint, I don't see why there would be a problem making the cake ahead of time.

Yes, no need for a double broiler. Just pay attention and keep whisking all the time once it starts to thicken.

I hope you take the time to post pictures of your new bakery when it opens. I'm sure others would also be interested.

Well, maybe it's due to what the market will bear. In other words, certain markets may be less picky about quality and price points my govern quality of materials/production. Not an excuse, but just an explanation. I don't really know about Meiji's position regarding Japanese or Chinese-made products for the Canadian market. It could be that they (or their importer) officially endorse their Japanese-made products for Canada, but turn a blind eye to importing of their products from China.

Were the products you had intended for the Chinese/overseas market (not for Japan)? If so, it wouldn't really surprise me if the quality/flavor were different. It is very common to tailor chocolate snacks, for instance, to local tastes. Kit Kat is another example where the chocolate formulation is different from country to country.

Are you sure they're deep fried? It doesn't matter, but you could make a simple hot pot in chicken consomme/stock or other stock. Throw in whatever vegetables/protein you have. For example, tofu, meat, poultry, scallions, carrots, napa cabbage, bean sprouts, rice vermicelli noodles (these cook quickly so add at the end), etc. Ladle into bowls with a little of the broth and your favorite condiment such as a chilli sauce or even just a little fish sauce. Enjoy with a bowl of rice.

Unfortunately, I don't have that option since moving back to Canada. It's a good thing I didn't discover my passion for pastry while I was living in Tokyo, because I was already waddling around like a penguin by the time I moved away. There are, like myself. However, I don't think anyone can afford my hourly rate.

Wow. Thanks for posting this. Now to decide which recipe to make...

If you're not in a hurry, you could also pose both your questions to RLB herself, via her blog.

It's very obvious in the 2nd photo here. I also have a (Japanese) cookbook on Thai and Vietnamese street food, and it shows the same contrast of white coconut milk against red oil. OnigiriFB's explanation makes the most sense to me. I just don't see how you could keep the coconut milk white without adding (some) right at the end. I wonder if there are flavour-related reasons for this, such as contrasting the flavour of the unsullied coconut milk against the stewed soup base? Either way, I'll try it next week. OnigiriFB, thanks for the tips, the one about dousing the heat with a lot of rice is a good one. Also, I've always thought that the Thai way of using spoons and forks was very intuitive and efficient.

Made khao soi today, as detailed in the Khao Soi Battle thread. Wonderful stuff. This will be a regular dish for us. Our 7-year old was even stealing bits of food from my bowl (the kids had padh si yeuw), and the 4-year old also had a few bites without complaint. This was a pleasant surprise as I didn't think they could handle the heat.

Another weird question for OnigiriFB and Austin. This is purely an aesthetic issue, but the photos of khao soi that I've seen show a remarkable contrast between the red oil and the white of the coconut milk. (I realize that the red oil comes from the oil separation that occurs when boiling the coconut milk with the paste.) I doubt this matters from a taste perspective, but how do they get the coconut milk to stay so white? Is it by holding back some of the coconut milk and adding it at the very last minute? Or is to do with using fresh (?) coconut milk?

Thanks for your comments. This is getting slightly off track, but do Thai families use certain "tricks" to dial down the heat for kids? For instance, I know that Korean kids will dip their kim chi in water to lower the heat level. I'm sure that Thai kids are probably trained early on to deal with the heat, but do they every doctor the dishes for kids? Aside from the obvious things like leaving out chilis, would they water down a curry or add in some sugar?

First of all, thanks to OnigiriFB and Austin for starting this thread. We made khao soi for the first time and it was a great success. I'd always been turned off by the deep-fried noodles (I'm not a fan of deep-frying), so we just left it out. We used rice noodles, even though I know this is not the norm. I will definitely be making this again. Interestingly, my 7-year old daughter is begging me to make khao soi again! (I had made a separate dish of padh si yeuw for the kids.) This is a great breakthrough as Thai curries have until now been beyond her tolerance for heat. Our 4-year old was even eating some of the noodles and chicken. I've got some questions about the recipe: 1. The recipe I used calls for equal amounts coconut milk to chicken stock. I've also seen a lot of other khao soi recipes that call for chicken stock (instead of water). Is it normal to use water in Thailand? 2. What is the typical heat level for this dish in Thailand (referring to the basic broth)? Less heat than a typical green or red curry? TIA

It's sold as broccolini in our parts. I prefer it to regular broccoli and often buy it when I don't have access to gai lan (Chinese broccoli). Not expensive and carried by one of our large grocery chains (Save-On Foods).

I think it's a personal preference issue. I prefer to spit out the seeds as the seed to juice ratio is a little high. The seeds are certainly edible, but whether it is worth it is up to your personal preference. I love the juice, but not the seeds.

I'm only too well aware of that, having lived there for 6 years. I believe Badiane was referring to whether you could buy the rice "buns" as a wholesale/commercial item. I am not aware of any such product.

I doubt it's a commercial product as I don't recall seeing them in Japan. If anything, the rice burgers are closer to yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls) than rice cakes.

That looks interesting. How was the flavour of the daikon and the persimmon itself?

Or you could frost them and no one will be the wiser.

Wow...inspiring stuff. Are those bavarian top layers for the carrot pineapple cake and strawberry pistachio cake? I would also love to see a close-up of the chocolate cake with the inlaid tile-like finish.

About $5 a pop when I saw it at Angel Seafoods during the New Year's sale. The scent of fresh yuzu is unmatched though.

I made basmati rice today in the rice cooker, paying attention to the details. 2 cups (standard US cup=250 ml) washed, rinsed until clear and soaked for 45 minutes in 3-1/4 cups water. Cooked on standard white rice setting. Rice came out "perfectly" according to your preferences, not sticky/starchy at all and the grains easily "fell apart" when plated.