Kent Wang

I love jowl bacon as well. So this sounds like a miniature bacon and eggs thing? You could also try quail egg, raw or poached half-cooked and cracked on top.

Very good question. And considering that Chinese restaurants often have menus offering up to ten times as many dishes what Western restaurants offer, how do they minimize spoilage?

I love abdicake. I also sometimes charcute as a verb. Ex: Shall we go to the cheesemonger or the deli? I think I'd rather charcute.

From Webster's Word of the Day: concinnity \kun-SIH-nuh-tee\ noun : harmony or elegance of design especially of literary style in adaptation of parts to a whole or to each other Example sentence: Julia maintains that no modern play can rival the concinnity of the classical Greek tragedies. Did you know? The Romans apparently found perfect harmony in a well-mixed drink. The cocktail in question was a beverage they called "cinnus," and so agreeably concordant did they find it that its name apparently inspired the formation of "concinnare," a verb meaning "to place fitly together." "Concinnare" gave rise to "concinnus," meaning "skillfully put together," which in turn fermented into "concinnitas." English speakers added the word to our mix in the 1500s as "concinnity."

Try a "deviled" avocado with crab meat. This is really decadent, especially considering the size. Dropped an egg yolk into the avocado and baked. The textures complement well. What I've noticed, though, is that avocado doesn't change much when cooked whole. You have to break it up into much smaller chunks and then it'll become softer when cooked.

Enhooch: To convert into alcohol. Coined by mbrowley. Ex: I'm going to enhooch these guavas in rum. Charcutie: An attractive connoisseur of charcuterie. Ex: As I sit at my table slowly enjoying a slice of salami my thoughts turn to whether I will ever find a charcutie with whom I can share my love for cured meats.

How's my cured salmon? Wrapped some up with avocado. The textures complement very well.

I believe each duck egg has more than 100% of your daily recommend cholesterol. Bitter melon stuffed with ground pork, scallions, garlic and sriracha.

Does marbling in pork matter as much as it does for beef? Why is there no USDA grading system? I got lucky and found a great cut of loin from a Berkshire at Central Market today. Is this considered pretty good?

How much does all this extra care cost for the consumer? How much does loin, tenderloin, etc. cost? What kind of beer do you buy for the porkers? Reject/defective beer? And the most important question: How much does this impact the flavor? Can we see a slice of loin or ham to see the marbling? That ginger color is charming, certainly one of the prettier hogs I've seen.

A lovely pork loin I bought from Full Quiver Farms, confited for over three hours.

Well, no but let me know when you're going to start popping eyeballs so I can leave the room... ← We got a thread about fish eyes.

I think it's pretty cool and want to try it. I don't find it cruel.

Growing up in a Chinese household I've never rejected a food because the texture was weird. Only because I didn't like the flavor, like with pickles, anise or olives (since then I've overcome all these impediments). Westerners, though, seem to often reject foods like pudding and tapioca on the basis of texture. Has anyone else noticed this divide? Have you heard of any Asian rejecting foods on account of texture?

Not really a purpose-built bar, but I cleared out a couple of cabinets in my kitchen to store my bottles. All the bottles have been accumulated in only one year. The little overflow cabinet to the left is for some extra Scotches. My backup bottles.

I have some photos from my visit to Guilin, Yunnan, Kunming and Lijiang. I can't remember the names of any of the restaurants but hopefully the photos will give you an idea on what to order.

How heavyhanded is the FDA (or isn't it the USDA?) about having reasonable portion sizes?

It is not breaded, the edges are very thin and crisp. No salt and pepper -- I'm not sure what that would be like. Do you mean that you want the whole thing including the center totally crispy? That's definitely not the case at First Chinese and I'm not sure if that would even be possible considering how thick the intestines are. I do think overall, they did a good job frying to the proper doneness. T&S also has pork intestine stuffed with ground shrimp. It was good when I had it a year ago but I don't remember the details.

My recent favorite dishes from First Chinese BBQ: "Special sausage". This is really pork intestine. Their are two preparations, the "crispy" one is deep-fried. Pork blood and Chinese chives. I don't think anyone else offers this in town.

I wonder how often this happens to professional chefs? They often handle hot foods and a burnt tongue can seriously cripple one's tasting abilities.

Some of the contact from restaurant staff can be just a friendly gesture but anything gift more than a $100 value is tantamount to bribery, and I'm not sure bloggers are as ethically stalwart as professional writers. Professional writers have not only their reputations but their paychecks at stake. Most bloggers don't get paid anything and may be tempted to view the bribe as righteous payment for their years of hard work.

Virgina Wood of the Austin Chronicle identifies some of her favorite dishes -- and which to avoid.

Chon Som to have grand opening. From Rob Balon. Woodland is opening. From Austin Chronicle. Opal Divine's new location. From Austin Chronicle.

I've been going to The Peacock very often now. They know how to make an Old Fashioned, Sidecar and Negroni. Are there any other bars in town that even approach the Peacock in cocktailistry?

A common Chinese preparation is to braise it with soy sauce, cooking wine, Sichuan pepper, star anise and whatever other spices you want to add. Can extended cooking result in softer, less crispy cartilage? A peeve of mine is hard cartilage.