Kent Wang

I went back to Lola's again. Fried pork chop was superb. She is truly a whiz at frying. The big difference between her style and traditional Southern frying is that there is very little batter, it appears to be just dredged in flour seasoned with spices and salt. This may be more in the cajun style. I also had the gumbo which is all land animal: shredded chicken, sausage. The roux is quite thick but light-colored. Her gumbo is pretty good by Austin standards but Quality Seafood still has the best gumbo that I've had in town. The po-boys are gigantic and a superb value. The chicken in the fried chicken po-boy is highly seasoned and very juicy. Of the sides, the onion rings and yams are the best. Hoover's has better yams, but theirs is less traditional with lots of cinnamon. The mac and cheese is mediocre, tasting not much different than Kraft. Hoover's also produces a better version of this. The iced tea is the sweetest I've had in town. This may be considered more traditional as a lot of people in the South like their iced tea really sweet -- I don't. Service takes a little longer than most places -- after all, she's the only chef and waitress. Dishes also won't come out all at once. The dining room gets pretty greasy from the deep fryer; after leaving, your hair and clothes will smell like fried chicken so plan to take a shower afterwards.

Thanks for posting this. I am now enjoying a delicious poached egg.

Sounds good enough for me, I want one! Looks like there are Daisos opening in the US, the largest one in the Bay Area.

I have two pictorial recipes for duck gizzard, which you can easily substitute with chicken gizzards. Salt-pressed duck gizzard Duck gizzard stir-fried with bamboo and soy beans

Isn't that also a Tailspin? I wonder which is the proper name.

Central Texas style barbecue can't even be found in Houston and Dallas, so I would be very excited if it was duplicated in New York. When I move to China -- and have come into a bunch of money -- I want to hire one of the employees of a Central Texas bbq joint and have him set up a new restaurant there from scratch.

Asia Cafe. 26 May 2007. Zhong dumplings. Great as always. Pork viscera with spicy sauce. "Viscera" is intestine. Interesting treatment here, the intestines were salted and lightly stir-fried so that they have a bit of crisp texture and a small burst of saltiness. Home style sea cucumber. Generous portions of tender sea cucumber with ground pork and bean sprouts in a mildly spicy sauce. Most sea cucumber dishes are very bland and sea cucumber is nearly tasteless so the spicy sauce was a good treatment. Another terrific meal at Asia Cafe and I still have many more interesting dishes to try!

Cream cheese is the worst offender. I went to a sushi restaurant in McAllen, Texas near the Mexican border. More than half the rolls on the menu, of which there were over fifty total -- mostly simple permutations of each other -- had cream cheese in them! I wonder if sushi in Mexico is equally bad, or if the love for cream cheese is a Tex-Mex preference.

Eje, any luck with the second ice tray? Anyone else have any leads on where to purchase effective ice cube -- or sphere, rather -- trays?

May 31, 2007 Austin Chronicle Place of Honor. Twelve rounds between Hiroko Shimbo and Tyson Cole. By Mick Vann. 12 course meal at Uchi with acclaimed Japanese food writer. "When all was said and done, Hiroko was very impressed with what we had been prepared and served by Tyson and his team. "I appreciate his culinary talent and his respect for the ingredients. A lot of our dinner wasn't Japanese in the classic sense, but it was based on Japanese training, used the freshest seasonal ingredients like the Japanese do, and had clean flavors in the Japanese way. His meticulous and careful attention to create beautiful presentation is astonishing. I am really glad that I got to experience Tyson's food." Austin American-Statesman Cole's Uchi remains as creative as ever. By Dale Rice. "It's that sense of surprise and adventure — from first bite to last at Uchi — that makes this restaurant such an intriguing place. It remains one of the very best dining experiences in Central Texas."

For those wondering, I used AddAll.com to find that Amazon has several copies for around $6-12. AddAll couldn't find any of the Wondrich edition for less than $100 though.

Is the original (1956) Esquire Drinks completely different from the Wondrich version? The original can be hand for less than $10, is it worth getting at that price?

How much do tax rates vary from state to state?

I had this in Shanghai at a mundane Sichuan-style restaurant.

My first paella. Seafood and chorizo.

Meal at parent's house. Cold noodles with any number of condiments. My dad just put a little ground pork, asparagus and shrimp on his. I went really overboard and added sliced cucumber, sliced omelet skins and way more ground pork.

Oops, baking soda, sodium bicarbonate. I have edited the post. They're still quite meaty, but cooked to a point where the meat separates from the bone and can be completely removed without difficulty. The marrow cannot be sucked out. While I like very tender ribs, my mother has always prepared this dish to this moderate level of tenderness. If the meat were falling-off tender then it would also be difficult to handle with chopsticks.

The starch that I use is tapioca starch, though one can also use corn starch. Yes, the marinating with the vinegar and baking soda makes it quite tender. 30 minutes has always been sufficient for me, but you can always experiment with different braising times.

Pictorial Recipe Sweet and sour pork ribs This is not the sweet and sour style that you see in American Chinese restaurants with the unnaturally bright orange sauce. This is the traditional sweet and sour style from Shanghai that uses rice vinegar which produces a rich brown color. Serving Suggestion: 3 - 4 Ingredients: - 2 lb pork ribs - rice vinegar - sugar - soy sauce - Chinese cooking wine - starch - baking soda You will need pork ribs that are sliced about an inch wide, which may be difficult to find outside of an Asian supermarket. You could use bigger unsliced cuts but you won't be able to eat the ribs with just chopsticks -- and using one's hands would be barbaric. Slice between each rib. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, starch, baking soda. Mix well, marinate overnight. Grease pan. Brown the pork ribs on high heat. This pan is a little crowded; a wok may do a better job. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar. Don't be shy with the sugar, you'll need about half a cup. Add water to submerge. Turn heat down to medium, cover and braise for 30 minutes. Done!

Eat-My-Heart-Out on Flickr suggested just baking the spring rolls instead of frying. I tried it and liked it. The skin doesn't brown as much but it does get quite crisp. I think I still prefer frying for most situations as the oil is tasty, but baking is easier, less messy and healthier.

I usually use the above method suggested by APPS411 but this sounds great. Have you ever had it served this way in China, or did you adapt this recipe on your own?

Sounds like my parents had it easy compared to a lot of people, I think the big difference being that they were in a big city like Shanghai. They were never close to starvation and I believe ate more rice than sweet potatoes. Then there are the ration coupons for everything from sugar, eggs, rice to oil. And everybody would trade certain coupons for other ones with their friends depending on their needs. I believe good workers would be rewarded with extra coupons from their (state) employers. I think there was also often a great deal of waiting in line to cash in your coupons, on the scale of hours.

I once went a buffet with a dog in training and it was remarkable how well-behaved it was as it guided its owner around all the food. It was a collie, pretty tall, and all the food was at about its eye level, yet it was not tempted.

I think you need some sort of high pressure machine that will press them together, not possible at home.

Because it's free, I wonder if there's an incentive for employees to pig out and therefore gain a bunch of weight.