SuzySushi

It's a delightful log of rice, assorted vegetables including Korean-style pickled radish, etc. rolled up in a sheet of kim aka dried laver. I would love to have Touaregsand's version, hint, hint. ← Hehe, log, I never thought of it as a log but until you cut it, it sure is a log. It's similar to a Japanese futo maki, but it has slightly different ingredients in it, depending on who makes it. You can normally find them premade over at Korean markets, usually with some sort of seasoned beef, pickled veggies, spinach, egg. My mom uses kimbap as a way to use leftovers in our house, and oftentime will substitute spam for the beef. ← Huh! I'm going to have to look for it next time I'm by a Korean market. I never realized that the filling was different than Japanese futomaki! (Note to self: time to ask for it at my local Korean-run take-out sushi place. Won't they be surprised by this haole!)

What a waste!!! Save/freeze the sauces. Use the green one with chicken or shrimp (stir-fry and add to the sauce; reheat gently, or heat the sauce and serve over grilled chicken or shrimp). Use the massaman one with beef (stir-fry or with steak). Or, the simplest thing, just cook some rice and eat with the sauce!

I have a standard electric range. I use the front left burner most often because that's the largest/high heat one. Front right burner next most-often. Back right burner mostly for simmering. Back left burner least often because I rarely have all four burners going at once (no room for the pans!) and it acts as a vent for the oven. The electric coils are plug-in so can be easily replaced if they wear out. I've already replaced the burner pan on the front left burner once (that's in 1-1/2 years of use!) and it's due for replacement again.

Hmmmnnn... I've been using Kokuho Rose rice for 20+ years! I cook it the old-fashioned way, in a regular saucepan (which might be a factor, too.)

Most of the Japanese-style rice sold in the USA is grown in California. California has been producing Japanese-style rice since the times of the Gold Rush! Most of the rice grown in California is the medium-grain Japonica cultivar, as opposed to the long-grain Indica cultivar. Calrose is a type of Japonica rice that was developed by the University of California-Davis in the 1950s. Botan, Kokuho Rose, Nishiki, Shirakiku, etc. are brands of rice. Koshikari rice is a "superpremium" Japonica rice that costs more than standard premium brands -- some brands are grown in California; some are imported from Japan. Tamanishiki and Tamaki Gold are several brands of koshikari rice. "Musenmai" means the rice doesn't need to be washed before cooking. (In the old days, rice was coated with talc during processing, and needed to be washed before cooking. In the 1950s-1960s, when people realized that talc could contain asbestos, rice mills substituted cornstarch, but the rice still needed washing to remove the excess starch. New musenmai rice is processed using tapioca, which apparently doesn't stick to the milled rice.) You can read up more about the different varieties of rice at: RICE 101 BTW, my favorite rice is the premium Kokuho Rose True Koda Varietal (pink label), which I wash before cooking. (There is also lower-grade blue-label Kokuho Rose Calrose rice.) I tried several brands of superpremium rice and was not impressed by the difference in flavor or texture.

Dried mushrooms, I mostly use shiitake. Sometimes I give them a quick rinse to discard surface grit, but I don't change the soaking water. I usually save the soaking water to use in the recipe, and strain it through a paper coffee filter -- which takes only a few seconds -- to get out any sand.

← what AK said these are from The French Laundry cookbook. we used egg cartons to shape. The goat cheese mousse is a blend of fresh chevre, cream, parsley, s&p. You can make larger parm bowls by using a small non stick pan like for omelets. Then once the parm starts to brown turn them out over a bowl. Use them for salads, yum!!! Or leave them flat and serve them on salad or with soup ← Egg cartons!!! What a neat trick!!!

Actually, Sichuan peppercorns aren't banned any more, as long as they're treated to destroy any possible citrus canker first. (I'm still working off the stash I have from before the ban, so I don't know if there's any difference in flavor!)

I'd save the EVOO for dishes where the flavor will make a difference. As bigbear said, EVOO has a lower smoking point than more refined olive oils. I once burned a pan irreparably by using EVOO to try to create a "Mediterranean stir-fry." For frying, it needs to be mixed with other oils.

"Prickly ash" is correct... in English! Both Szechuan/Sichuan peppercorns and Japanese sansho are from related plants that are sometimes called prickly ash because of their thorns. See the authorative reference, Gernot Katzer's Spice Page.

Looks and sounds fabulous! What lucky dinner guests! So tell me... how did you shape the Parmesan crisps (before or after baking)?

I seem to remember reading that stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods haven't opened in Hawaii because of the high cost of shipping food here... Though that doesn't seem to have fazed Costco and Sam's Club!

I'm with you on missing Taste!!! I don't dine out all that much, so I miss being exposed to some of the current food fads in restaurants... but what's with the "woodburning oven pizza" on flat crusts that have the texture of a cardboard cracker??? Pizza is supposed to be made with bread dough, folks!

There's also Yasuko-San's Home Cooking, in Japanese and English. I used to have a link to Emiko Kaminuma's Cooking Time (an Asahi TV broadcast), with recipes for Japanese, Chinese, and Western dishes, but they redid the website. The English link is broken and I can't find the Japanese link. Kristin???

My favorite way to prepare catfish/basa (fillets) is fried with a cornmeal crust. Dip fillets in flour, egg, then cornmeal. Shallow-fry over medium heat until the cornmeal is crusty & golden brown and the fish is cooked through. (If it's not done inside by the time the crust is formed, you can finish it in the oven or the microwave for a few moments.) Drain and serve with lots of lemon. You can season the cornmeal coating with salt & pepper, chopped herbs, cayenne, and/or parmesan cheese as desired.

OH! My usual method is to eat one of each flavor, at random!

Thanks! Coming from you, I'll accept that as the highest compliment!

← Are you sure it's not just vanilla?

Mint Sauce with Raspberry Vinegar Serves 4 1 cup fresh mint leaves, minced 2 tablespoons sugar 1-1/2 tablespoons boiling water 1/4 cup raspberry vinegar Combine mint and sugar in a small bowl. Add boiling water and stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in vinegar. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Serve with roast lamb. Or make mint chutney or mint jelly, or dry some mint for future use.

Oh, yes. I forgot: Bagels at Lox of Bagels (I think that's the name of the bakery) on Sand Island Access Road. My husband picked up a baker's dozen this morning. Smoked salmon at Costco. Middle Eastern products and grains at Down to Earth and Kokua Market. I still haven't checked out the kosher/Jewish/Israeli food mart on Dillingham & King.

Haven't seen any of the prime meats here.... yet. Donut peaches were at Safeway the other day (but not ripe yet... it's too early in the season for good peaches).

Finally got to make Cantonese Chow Mein for the Cook-Off. Here are pix. I usually mix the noodles in with the meat and veggies, but serving the meat and veggies over the noodles worked out well this time as my husband is on a diet and weighing & measuring his food portions by type. I used fresh yakisoba noodles, which I fried as a flat pancake in a skillet. Topping was char shu (storebought), choi sum, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and what the stores here sell as "chop suey mix" (mostly bean sprouts with bits of carrots and other vegetables thrown in -- a little watercress, cabbage, etc. No scallion greens this time, which surprised me -- I would have bought scallions had I known). I stir-fried the veggies with garlic, added the char shu, oyster sauce, and a dash of sesame oil at the end.

I do shop all over town!!! Most of my staples come from Foodland or Safeway. We can *sometimes* get the local branch to stock products we want by speaking to the managers. We shop Daiei and Marukai for Asian (mostly Japanese) foods, 99 Ranch for Chinese foods, the Asian Market on Beretania for Southeast Asian foods, and Chinatown whenever we're nearby. Bread, we buy at St. Germain, Foodland (LaBrea Bakery), Safeway (Safeway Select Artisan breads), and the Gros Bonnet Culinary Academy on Beretania (Friday mornings only -- call first). Safeway in Manoa has a fairly good selection of cheese, as does Fujioka's wine shop in Market City Shopping Center. Duck Lee, a Chinese take-out shop in Market City also has the best char shu in town! Produce, I get wherever it looks good, and I shop the farmers' markets and City Open Markets whenever I can. Fish, Daiei or Tamashiro's on North King Street in Kalihi. Meat, I buy mostly at Costco. Have I left anything out??

You got it!

We just saw (last night, on DVD) a weird Korean film called 301/302. Anyone else see this one? It's a mystery/black comedy about two women who are food-obsessed -- in opposite ways, one is a gourmand, the other anorexic/bulemic -- who live next door to each other in ultramodern apartments.