Kent Wang

If you're cooking, then you're gonna be eventually putting that food into a plate or bowl, right? I just use those plates first as spoon rests while I'm cooking, and when I'm done I serve on the plates.

The OXO mini has metric units on it.

I don't think it's common in Chinese cuisine. The only dish I can think of is my mother's recipe for spring rolls.

Fantastic! I'm doing the entire country over a month in July. Please keep us posted about what you liked and didn't like. Do you think a trip to wine country is worthwhile? You'd have to rent a car, I think.

Apothecary has quite a few house-made items, and ones that use Chinese ingredients, like Chinese traditional medicine ingredients in their house bitters. I wouldn't say any of those are amazing, but it is something different that you couldn't find elsewhere.

Apothecary has been open in Beijing for a while. They just opened in Shanghai and I can attest it is very good. Let's say 70% as good as Cure, Alembic, Death & Co., etc. In Shanghai, there's also The Alchemist which does molecular. Unfortunately the drinks are lackluster. I wanted to post a review of this place as the concept is pretty interesting, but it's hard to do so without a copy of the menu. I might go back and photograph it myself. For the Japanese-style of cocktail bar, there is Constellation. I personally don't like this style nearly as much as the American one. Lots of blue curacao drinks but at least still several good classics. But if you only have like three nights in Shanghai, just go to Apothecary every night and don't bother with the rest. Send me a message if you're in Shanghai and want to get some drinks.

Do you put the egg in cracked or still in the shell?

I wonder if any of these methods (rolling, nuking, freezing) affects the flavor, in particular freezing. Those of you saying that you get more juice, how are you juicing? Squeezing by hand, clamp juicer, or reamer?

I've had a Philips HR1861 for about a month now and love it. Easy to use, easy to clean, performs well. A local juice shop chain, I Love Juice, uses it. It only cost around $120 here, making it a lot cheaper than the Champion. I've been putting entire fruits like honeydew melons in, not removing the skin or seeds, and the juice turns out fine. But should I worry that maybe the seeds and other hard stuff are putting excessive wear on the machine? I still might get the Champion later. Do you think you could put a sugar cane stalk through it? Here in China lots of hand-crank (some even motorized) presses for sugar cane.

I've been living here for eight months now and have been to a few restaurants. If you're visiting, send me a PM and I'd love to get a meal. A few thoughts on Chinese restaurants: Many of them are huge with huge menus so it's hard to rate them. Much of it depends on what you order. Overall though, most Chinese restaurants here are much better than even the best in America—if you order the right things. A short primer on Shanghai: Shanghai cuisine Soup dumplings - Jia Jia Tang Bao, has a few locations, but I always go to the one by People's Square. Lin Long Fang is the more upscale version. My recommendations (in order): basic pork dumpling, pork with crab roe, pork with egg. The pure crab roe is really decadent, but not hugely better than the one mixed with pork. Do not go to Nanxiang Dumpling at the City God Temple, which is very famous. Criminally wretched dumplings. An affront, an insult—don't get me started. Fried dumplings (sheng jian bao) - Yang's Fried Dumplings. Several locations. One across the street from Jia Jia near People's Square. A good day can be had by going to either of these for breakfast, then museums at People's Square (Shanghai Museum, Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art), then lunch at the other dumpling place. Fu 1088 - Very well executed Shanghai cuisine, but avoid the questionable modern/fusion dishes. ¥300 per person minimum, but you can hit this if you get a pot of tea and nothing extravagantly priced. Reservation required. Lang Yi Fang - Concise menu, well executed. Several locations. The one inside the Super Brand Mall has a view of the Bund, which you can try to reserve in advance. Next to the Oriental Pearl Tower, and the other skyscrapers. Other Chinese cuisines Hubei - Lotus. 641 Changning Lu. Decent wine menu, which makes it maybe the best, reasonably priced wine menu at Chinese restaurant I've ever seen. Sichuan - Yu Xin Chuan Cai. Get the bullfrog. Friday Muslim market Foreign cuisines Benjia - Best Korean I've ever had. The Pudong one is probably more convenient to access than the Minhang one. Bukhara - Best Indian I've ever had. Amazing tandoori items. Far west near Hongqiao. A good pitstop if you're heading to the Hongqiao train station or airport. Kagen - Japanese all you can eat, all you can drink (good sake) teppanyaki for ¥240. Toriyasu - Yakitori Food Fusion - Malaysian. Decent wine menu. Dolce Vita - Pretty good Italian pizza. Kaiba - Belgian beer bar. Erin: I went to that Bulgarian restaurant and was less impressed.

I'm curious about the nap. Do you have cots in the restaurant for them to sleep on, or do they go home?

Washington Post article. Excerpt: More than a decade ago, Buffalo Trace went into the Missouri Ozarks to hand-select 96 trees. Those trees were split in half, then made into staves for 192 barrels, each tweaked according to numerous variables. Half of the barrels were air-dried for six months and half for 12 months. Some of the barrels were charred very dark, and some were charred lighter. Some barrels were filled with wheat-recipe bourbon, others were filled with rye-recipe bourbon; some of the contents was 105-proof, some was 125-proof.

I want to see how those gigantic 1000 seat, 100 menu item Chinese kitchens are run.

There are now good cocktail bars in China. Apothecary in Shanghai and Beijing, and one or two others in Shanghai. These are more in the US style, as opposed to the Japanese. One of the biggest problems is that a lot of products are not imported here. A single bar is not going to be able to import anything. You will need to work with what's available, so you'll be able to make Manhattans (with bourbon, not rye) and martinis, and other classics but you won't be able to venture beyond that. Of course, that would still make a pretty decent bar. I would also work with a Filipino local to open the bar that can navigate the bureaucracy and handle contractors and employees.

I use light-weight plastic cutting boards so you can lift them easily to the stove.

Those are oranges? They look rather yellow. You don't have problems with birds trying to eat the fruits when they're small? My parents have been having that problem.

I make an infusion in rum. Slice into small bits, add rum to cover in a container in the fridge, leave for two weeks. Ginger probably won't work as it loses its spiciness very quickly. This sounds completely crazy. Does it actually have a noodley texture?

Do you still put in a lot of hours, or is it more of a 40 hour week?

This is really a whole different world of cuisine that I know little about—and right here in North America! Have you been to Israel? Are the Passover food traditions any different there?

I have that OXO and it works decently, except the paint has chipped off in the juicing area. Not sure where it went, into my juice or just rubbed off in the dishwasher. I'd get the enameled ones like the Amco next time.

Ah, thanks. Do you know which beer it was going into? I would guess the Belgian style ones, like Brooklyn Local 2.

Do you think renting a car is essential? It seems so with your trip to the smaller towns, but I was thinking of doing San Sebastian, Bilbao, Pamplona, and the bigger cities of course.

Common metal fine mesh strainer. It works just fine for the syrups I'm making.

Mr. Wondrich: What was that demerara from Mauritius that johnder was raving about a few months ago?

Thanks so much for this. I'm doing a three-week tour of the entire country of Spain. Many of the places you mentioned I probably make it to, but I think we'll do San Sebastian at the least. Can I ask why you chose to go to all these small towns in the north?