Kent Wang

Eight treasure rice is mandatory in my family.

Sometimes porcelain spoons are too big for the occasion and the shape of the western spoon is preferred, in those cases I reach for a plastic disposable spoon instead of a metal one. Plastic is slightly less inert than porcelain but still much better than metal.

I find that metal spoons have an unpleasant taste, while porcelain is much more "taste inert". This is especially apparent when using the spoon to eat a soup as there is more mouth contact.

Why? I haven't been but it's very well-liked by many.

Chop up a thousand-year egg or two. Add tofu, soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix well. Any one else make this?

December 30, 2005 Austin Chronicle Sparkling Examples. It's that time of year again. by Wes Marshall Guide to sparkling white wines for New Years. "Champagne is the single most adaptable wine on the planet. Need the perfect aperitif? How about a wine with shellfish? Or how about something to frame the earthy aromas of truffles? Need a wine to blunt the fire from your favorite Thai or Indian cuisine? Perhaps a gentle companion for a delicate sashimi? Or the perfect wine for chocolate? Champagne even makes a hot dog taste better." Austin American-Statesman Koreana by Dale Rice Review of upscale restaurant offering Korean, Asian and sushi items. "When I dined at Koreana on a weeknight five years ago, the eatery was relatively busy. On a Saturday night this month, the restaurant was quiet, with only a handful of tables occupied.That's a shame. Koreana is as good now as it was then. " This thread is for food media DIGEST entries. If you want to discuss one of these news items, please start a separate discussion thread.

GM Steakhouse has closed. Austin Chronicle has an obituary.

Greek salad Greens: pre-made mix: baby lettuce, endive, arugula, mizuna, chard Extras: feta, marinated roasted tomatoes Vinaigrette: champagne vinegar, dijon mustard, shallot, EVOO Wine: Messina Hof (Bryan, TX) Chardonnay Private Reserve 2003

Me too. My mom always taught me to clean my plate.

Do good beers make you smell less? I'd like to do some experimentation but it's hard to perform experiments when you're soused.

I know that when people drink a lot of beer, they give off a distinct and unpleasant smell. It seems to be much more than just their breath, like the smell comes out from all over the bodies, presumably alcohol secreted through sweat. Is this smell restricted to beer, or just any alcoholic beverage?

Haha, OK, I was feeling lazy when I wrote that post. First course: Pure Luck herbed goat cheese, pumpkin compote, crackers. Compote was very impressive. Goat cheese, good, but there's not much craft to just pulling ready-made ingredients out a container. Second course: Mediterranean salad with mandarin-infused vinaigrette. I usually don't like citrus on my foods, but this was well executed. Third course: Smoked trout, beet and fingerling potato salad. Flat Creek pinot grigio. My favorite course of the meal. I had no idea beets and potatoes could taste this good. The wine was amazing too, I'll definitely buy a bottle or two when I visit Grapevine Market next time. Fourth course: Venison. I usually prefer medium but this was cooked to medium-rare and was really perfect. Fifth course: Vanilla bean creme brulee. Not particularly memorable, but creme brulee is creme brulee. What really struck me with this meal was how many times I was pleasantly surprised by something that I thought I would not like very much. This meal really expanded my culinary horizons. We had just gone to Wink the night before and had their five-course tasting menu, so it's hard to not compare that meal against this one. I found Wink to be totally unremarkable and not nearly as innovative as T'afia. With the bill being about $15-20 less a person at T'afia, it is clearly a much better value.

I sometimes keep a 1.75L of whatever liquor I'm drinking at the moment -- Crown Royal right now -- in the trunk of my car for convenience. Lately, I've been thinking that might not be the ideal environment. Is liquor more hardier than wine in terms of temperature tolerance?

I loved it. We had the ratafia flight and the tasting menu with wine. I really like the use of Texas ingredients, especially the wines.

In Austin: Best: Hudson's on the Bend. Worst: Wink. Well, not really the worst but certainly fell very short of expectations, both in terms of price and buzz and hype.

For pulled pork, Cuban-style, check out Habana.

I had the smoked seafood chowder when I went a few months ago. Didn't you find the broth to be way too thin to be a chowder? Everything else about the soup was great though.

From the Austin Chronicle Changes: Salt Lick New: Capitol Brasserie

Thinking about going to this place soon. Are reservations for parties of two difficult to get? Sorry for my lack of experience, in small-town Austin there is no restaurant that you cannot get a reservation the day of.

The imitation soy meats made by Buddhists in China are undoubtedly the best in the world. They are so good, I enjoy them just as much as the originals. Too bad it's very difficult to find them outside of China.

I believe Vespaio Enoteca is only open during the day. It shuts down and Vespaio is open for dinner. If you've never been to Vespaio at all, it's certainly worth a visit. See: Italian restaurant round-up. Yes, that is indeed the Quality Seafood. I also just posted a comprehensive review of the place.

Quality Seafood is a wholesaler, fishmonger, restaurant and oyster bar. I go there at least once a week. Next to Central Market, it is my favorite food destination in Austin. I'm on a first-name basis with most of the staff and the owner, Paul Huntsberger. I've organized two trips with the UT cooking club to Quality Seafood where we have dinner and then go on a brief tour of the place and learn a little about fishmongering. Wholesale Mr. Huntsberger tells me that the store derives most of their revenue from their wholesale operations. They move several thousand pounds of fish a week and supply many local restaurants. Speaking with some local chefs, I've learned that most rely upon Quality Seafood as a second-line distributor, that they can get fresher fish from other distributors but if orders fall through, they'll go to Quality Seafood. I don't mean to disparage the quality of their fish, as I'm sure there are many other factors that also come into play when it comes to choosing distributors. Eddie V's, a well-respected high-end seafood restaurant, for example, orders most of their fish from Quality Seafood. Retail The retail counter offers about half the selection that Central Market does but most items are about $2-3 per pound cheaper. They also offer a perpetual coupon on their website. My favorite is their sushi-grade Atlantic salmon ($7/lb), which I find, on the average, to be the freshest available from any retailer in Austin. In my experience, buying earlier in the day helps a lot. They also sell sushi-grade tuna (~$15/lb) and tuna chunks (~$8/lb). Restaurant The menu is Southern-style, things like po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried catfish. I've had nearly every dish they offer. By far, my favorite are the soups. The seafood gumbo is chock full of fish, scallops and shrimp; it easily has twice as much meat as any other gumbo I've ever had. The soup itself is also very thick and can be had without any rice, though rice is offered on the side. Though I haven't had gumbo in New Orleans, I'd have to say that this is the best gumbo I've ever had. The crawfish etoufee is my second favorite and similarly chock full of crawfish tails. My guess is that they're able to offer a pint of so much seafood for only $5.90 because they are wholesalers and can get even cheaper prices than other restaurants. There is also a large rotation of soups du jour. My favorites are the lobster bisque, seafood and artichoke cream soup, and crab and shrimp gumbo. As far as the dinner items go, like the fried items and blackened fish, they all present good value but are not particularly stand out. Everything is cooked to the proper doneness, not like would you might expect from non-seafood oriented restaurants. The shrimp and sealeg salads are also worthy of mention. Both are aggressively seasoned. The small shrimp is remarkably tender, not at all rubbery like so many other shrimp salads. Oyster Bar I was there in the summer when the bar was opened. Live Oak Pilzner on tap, lots of bar foods. A dozen oysters on the half shell are only $6.95 -- one of the lowest prices in the nation, as I have found. Calamari is the most tender in town, even higher-end restaurants like Vespaio can't always get the deep-frying time right; it also helps that each squid ring is a bit larger than average. The batter is unremarkable; Vespaio still has them beat on that front. All the other appetizers meet expectations. The only ones to be avoided are the Clam Strips and Crawfish Tails. The morsels are just too small and you end up eating mostly batter. Summary Any one of Quality Seafood's businesses is attractive enough for me to visit on its own, but when I can get a pint of Live Oak, a dozen oysters, soup, dinner and fish to take home under one roof, the combination is just too amazing to pass up!

Rudy Mikeska's in Taylor. For reference, Louie Mueller's, right across the street. The photos are fairly color-accurate. Compared to Louie Mueller's, the color is not as dark, and has less smoke flavor. I had Mikeska's brisket side-by-side with Mueller's and Mueller's is the clear winner. Mikeska's brisket was a lot more lean, but I'm willing to forgive that as cuts can vary a lot day-to-day, but Mueller's greater oak flavor proves that their technique is superior. Southside Market in Elgin. Very impressive. Brisket still not as smoky as Mueller's but the pork ribs were excellent. I think I finally understand Elgin sausage. It is a bit bland, but when it's properly cooked the sausages are so juicy there is more than enough flavor from the fat. The casing also has just the right amount of snap.

Central Market in Austin tells me that Honeycrisps are out of season now. What cultivar is the most similar to the Honeycrisp that is still in season? I value crispness and juiceness the most, then followed by flavor.

I use a tbsp of kosher salt in a half gallon of water. I slice up the fruit into individual bite-sized pieces and then soak it in the brine for about 15 minutes.