Kent Wang

No, about portions.

I think it could go well in a chili. How long does one of those 2.5 oz/70 g last? I want to enter a chili contest so need to make, say, 50 servings.

There's the old phrase "If 'if' was a fifth, then we'd all be drunk", to be said in reply to someone complaining that "if only...", etc. 1.75L bottles are called handles, because they often have a handle built into them. 1.75L are quite common in the US, but I think much less so elsewhere.

Any new updates? Currently I'm looking to go to Dram and Counting Room. Any others?

Their production values are very high, and most importantly they are very funny. This was the video that got me interested in them and I've since watched many more of their videos.

There's a Chaozhou restaurant in Shanghai, Howard's Kitchen, that I've been meaning to try, but at about $150 a head it's quite pricey, more than double what one would spend even at other very fancy Chinese restaurants. The review says it has a focus on fresh seafood, but I could spend that money at a sushi place. Anyway, those of you that know more about Chaozhou cuisine, convince me to go to this restaurant. What should I expect?

Now that I'm in China, I can get Havana Club but not Flor de Cana. Has anyone that's tasted these blind side-by-side have an opinion of which is better? I have the hunch that Americans may prefer Havana Club simply because of the difficulty of acquiring it, just like Mexican Coca-Cola, which was debunked in a blind tasting.

You can put ginger through an electric juicer, like the Philips HR1861 I have. All the gingerol is in the juice; the remaining pulp is bland. This is by far the easiest way to get a lot of ginger juice. With this method, I don't even see a need for syrups and ginger beer.

I'm just theorizing. I don't even have a grill or smoker!

That brisket does look good. If you love the bark so much, just as I do, have you tried cutting the brisket into smaller pieces so you'll have more bark?

I agree that salmon roe is better than caviar. I haven't had trout. Is it similar? There's also snail caviar that's recently been developed; that seems promising.

Excellent work. I use the king oyster mushroom a lot for stir-fries. They brown up real nicely. Wood ear and golden needle I like to put into kaofu (Shanghai wheat gluten dish).

The rum-infused raisins are a little strong, but infusing with vermouth (or wine, I suppose), both sweet and dry, is just right. Rum infused dried apricots are just right and quite tasty. I guess they're not absorbent as the raisins. I think dried fruits have a lot of potential for infusions. All those suggestions sound good. Even if you end up with sweet Pitu then all you need to do is add lime to make caipirinhas.

What are the major flavor differences between the pre-made curries and a fresh curry? Surely some ingredient flavors, say garlic and ginger, will degrade faster than others so it would make sense to add that back in when cooking fresh. I've tried a few Thai green curries that came in plastic tubs including Mae Ploy but find that they have a strange woody or piney flavor. Is that from the galangal? Maybe I just don't like it. I like the Mae Ploy red a lot.

I used to write for Fearless Critic Austin and can vouch for the reviews there. In addition to barbecue I think Nubian Queen Lola's is a must.

Something has come up and I may go this year. But in reading your report I'm wondering what makes Uncork'd special, versus just going to Vegas any other time of the year. Instead of paying $300 for the Master Series Dinner with Guy Savoy, why not just book at his restaurant some other time? Admittedly the instructional events are not of great value to me as I don't really cook that ambitiously anymore. For me, the top priority is just eating. Thanks in advance. Your comments will help me decide my travel plans.

I'm mulling a trip to Vegas for this, not this year, but perhaps next, or sometime in the future. I'm curious how you kept yourself occupied in between meals. If I were to go to Spain instead, I know I could keep myself well occupied in between meals. I have no interest in gambling.

I bought some gula melaka—palm sugar from Malacca—while I was in Malaysia. Syrups with that are absolutely amazing, very rich with a bitter, smokey finish like chocolate or coffee. Great for an Old Fashioned, but also excellent with rhum agricole. I tried some with Damoiseau blanc, and the spiciness of the rum pairs very well the gula—an interesting combination of East and West Indies. I wonder if palm sugars from other places like India are much different.

I recently made Myer's rum infusions with raisins and dried apricots. I bought these at the Muslim market in Shanghai. Absolutely delicious. A lot of the sugar is leeched out so you have a fairly sweet infusion. All you need to do is serve it chilled (shaken, stirred, or on rocks), no need to add anything else. The infusions can be repeated a few times—i.e. you can pour out all the rum, then add in more rum. The infused raisins and apricots are also quite tasty on their own. I've had a Philips HR1861 centrifugal juicer for a few months and that has been very useful for juicing and infusing. After I do a conventional infusion (say, pineapple), I can run the fruits through the juicer to extract more liquor (though this will be lower ABV as it will have more juice and plant matter). Then I take the pulp from the juicer and infuse it again. Since the pulp has massive surface area, after just a day or two the infusion is ready and I run it through the juicer again for more liquor. The remaining pulp I'll bake into cookies or cakes. I'm like a Native American with a buffalo.

Very useful for finding out about bars I've never heard—now I won't dread going to San Antonio. But perhaps not the ultimate authoritative guide on the best bars. Surely there will be some controversy about the New York bars?

That the mint flavor has been preserved for two months is quite incredible, and I don't think is possible with a regular infusion. I suppose all that nitrogen cavitation just extracts a great deal of the mint oil?

What do you think about the coverage on CNNgo? It has been surprisingly good for Shanghai. Two articles about hawker stalls: http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/eat/hawker-food-singapore-636748 http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/eat/mega-hawking-5-singapores-newest-hawker-food-spots-894902

If you go to Da Dong, I recommend the Jinbao Dasha location as you can see them roasting the ducks, and they carve the duck table-side. The location I also went to in Chaoyang they carve it in the kitchen and bring it out. Also ask for the duck soup. It's free; they make it out of the duck you just ate—well, not your duck but somebody else's duck from yesterday. Rather unscrupulous of them to not offer it unless asked though.

Has anyone used the $99 54Deg sous vide controller? It may be a good alternative to the SV Magic.

I didn't know that Israel has such diverse food from all over the world. I assume they're all Jews that have returned?