Seitch

I cannot visually imagine what this dish is. Is it still called "jai"? "Jai", which simply means a vegetarian dish, is typically a mixed stir-fry like what sheetz had or some wheat gluten or pressed tofu cooked with some sauces. ← Yes, it is still called jai, but gon (hard G)=dry jai. There is no sauce. Maybe it's a Toisanese or local dish. Ben: Any ideas? ← This dish you're describing is just the mixing of most of the dishes served for the very first meal you eat on CNY. It's called jai because one of the ingredients is the vegetarian shrimp chip type fried jai. The only time we have it is later in the day on CNY, like at lunch or dinner. The morning meal consists of some these dishes (each one is it's own dish): lam see - stir fried just by itself and a little sugar dow see - stir fried just by itself and a little sugar soybeans - stir fried just by itself arrowhead corms - boiled in salted water and briefly stir fried but leaving the shoots intact tofu slices - browned on both sides with a little salt yau choy - stir fried with a little salt fun see - cooked with maybe a little celery fat choy in broth vegetarian freshly fried jai A very austere meal to start the year with. Other than this one meal a year, one never cooks and eats lam see, dow see, or soybeans by themselves. So immediately afterwards, on that same day for lunch, those ingredients are mixed up with the fried jai and soybeans and eaten with lettuce. Oh, it occurred to me that the reason you say "dry jai" is because the jai used in this dish is of the dried type.

I'm sure how universal that is, Mandarin speakers I've spoken to in California pronounce jook as joe and they know what it is. But you're right, xi fan is also used.

You can use the blender to grind the sesame seeds. I seem to remember someone else using a blender, and they had enough water in with the seeds so that it ended up like a thick black smoothie. Then you can adjust the thickness when you cook it. The rice flour would be the thickening agent - nor mai fun, I think. I'm sure peony would be able to elaborate on this. ← If you're going to take the trouble of blending the sesame seeds you might as well soak some long grain rice overnight and blending that with the sesame seeds and water. Using rice flour may make it too goopy.

Oh Oh! GIRD YOUR LOINS, ERGO SUM YOUR COGITAS', DRAW YOUR LINE IN THE SAND. The storms of another semantic war is gathering. Does porridge have to be made only with oatmeal? Do we not call jook rice porridge? When my mother fed me savoury oatmeal porridge did she not call it mak pei jook? ← Well for us mak pei is mak pei and jook is jook.

The question is: is this oatmeal portridge still considered "jook"? ← I'd have to say that the answer to that is, no. It's savory oatmeal. Jook has to be made from rice.

Different stones have different chemical structures. Limestone is calcium carbonate and more reactive, especially to anything acid. If you ever go to an old cemetery, compare the marble monuments to the granite ones after many years of exposure to acid rain. Also, different stones will react differently to being repeatedly heated and cooled. I would stick with quarry tiles or a bona fide baking stone, which are likely silica- or clay-based (I think) and therefore non-reactive. ← Thanks for the info Iguana.

I don't know, that's why I'm asking. If bread were to etch limestone, wouldn't it also etch these other stones people are using?

I'm not positive about travertine, but I seem to recall that it's more porous than something like quarry stone. Is it glazed or sealed in any way? You definitely want to avoid anything with a coating on it, as you can't be sure if the coating is food safe or not. ← It's not glazed or sealed. Just polished. Hardly any filling as well. It's pretty much solid limestone.

Does the stone have to be of a certain type? I have some left over travertine 18"X18" and I think one of those would fit in the oven, so could I use that?

Carbon bearings are used because when fit to a tightly machined part, the carbon wears a bit and dry lubes the interface. You can vary forming the powder but a carbon part will still wear. My guess is that it is expected that the user will never use a hard implement to scoop the rice. A more practical, lower cost material would be teflon coated steel. The carbon pot is very cool but gimmicky.

Yeah, but even solid graphite will shatter if dropped or handled roughly. I've seen it used for high termperature molds for ceramic substrates and even that stuff, which is very hard, would come off on your fingers if you handled it a lot. I can't see using it as a rice pot. Maybe if it was a part of a composite structure.

Not sure if this answers your question, but the Japanese Mitsubishi site indicates that the pot is coated with five layers of a teflon+(proprietary) titanium/mica+carbon coating. ← Seitch, I'm not sure, their related webpage simply says, "Carbon material (purity: 99.9%). The four photos on the page show how the pot is made: 1. Carbon material, baked. 2. Rough cutting 3. Cutting 4. Coating sanrensho, thanks for your detailed comments. Edited to add: The above link does not work. Try this one: http://store.yahoo.co.jp/8686-network/yh-nj-ws10.html ← Thanks Hiroyuki, I can't read Japanese so I'll have to rely on yours and Sorensho's translations. Sounds like a nice pot. I'd buy one.

Not sure if this answers your question, but the Japanese Mitsubishi site indicates that the pot is coated with five layers of a teflon+(proprietary) titanium/mica+carbon coating. ← I see, it's a ceramic coating with teflon and carbon. Thanks for the info.

That's pretty interesting but isn't carbon, or graphite too soft to use for a rice pot? Besides, it'd smear and contaminate any rice touching it. Maybe carbon loaded plastic?

Well... this is one root vegetable that I am not too fond of since I was a kid. My father used to make it every now and then. Stir-fried with beef (slices), typically. When I eat it, the strong after taste in my mouth often makes me a little dizzy. My wife loves it though. Maybe this is a Toisanese affection? I would cook it and leave >90% to her to consume. ← It does have a strong, smack you in the head kind of vegetal flavor. I especially thought so when I was a kid. I wouldn't go out of the way to eat this but I don't avoid it. I think we usually cook it with nam yu, sugar and pork. Not necessary the dried, cured pork belly but we use that sometimes too. Other times maybe with salt, sugar and celery.

The ratio I'd use is probably somewhere between 1.5:1:1 and 1:1:1 of black beans, ginger and garlic. Try different ratios until you find one you like.

Black beans, ginger and garlic are the only way my family makes black bean sauce. The sugar used is not a lot. Maybe just a half teaspoon at most.

I would stick with just soy sauce and oyster sauce for the meat, maybe some white pepper like you had. But I think the black bean paste would taste better with some ginger. Having only black beans and garlic is too one dimensional. Some mashed ginger will help and a little bit of sugar.

American sweet potatoes are orange and tend to be more watery and softer in texture. The satsumaimo have a drier, very smooth and fine starchy texture. They're also sweeter as well.

Don't stop eating it, SheenaGreena! You won't get a cancer from it unless you have a truckload of it at once. Besides, almost all of the carcinogen contained in bracken, Ptaquiloside, will be decomposed in the aku-nuki (harshness removal) process. from here ← Hmmmm...ok, but then what accounts for the higher incidence of stomach cancer amongst populations that eat fern bracken?

Ivory or elephant bone. Square on top, tapering very slightly to cylindrical on bottom, but not pointy. They're not too heavy as metal ones tend to be and they feel comfortable if they hit the teeth. Some plastic ones do approximate the weight and feel well.

I haven't seen them on sale in California but I do know that they are considered an invasive species. Apparently they've take up residence in the California Delta area and are causing damage to the dikes due to their burrowing habits. However, it's illegal to catch and sell them.

I enjoy her show. While her recipies may not be traditional, it's interesting to see old recipes with a new spin.

Another thing to note about the noodles is to try and purchase the freshly made ones with no preservatives. They're usually sold near the checkout counter of shops in Chinatown and are typically made that day for consumption that day. The package consists of a white foam tray with the noodles piled on top and sealed with plastic wrap. The texture is softer with, of course, no preservative taste.

I agree with the other posters, saan choi, literally slime vegetable.