nakji

I've seen wax paper bags for sale here in China. I think they come from Australia? I don't make many sandwiches for lunch, lacking decent bread, but someone must be using them.

How did she undercook it? Was it braised? Blanched? You could do a "Back In The Pot Pork".

Rule of thumb: half a bag of De Cecco for two people. A whole bag for four.

Like a lot of members here, I'm always on the lookout for new ideas and recipes. We have more resources than ever - myself, I use food magazines; but I also follow blogs; sites like the New York Times and Guardian food pages - there's usually more out there than I can reasonably keep track of. I spent today going through my most recent pile of magazines snipping out interesting articles and recipes and putting them into a notebook and a file folder. But my fridge is covered with cue cards of internet recipes rewritten to be taken into the kitchen. I'm interested in hearing how people wrestle their resources into some semblance of referable notes?

Bear gall; I didn't know what it was when I was drinking it the first time.

We have a topic about using wax paper vs. parchment paper here, but no discussion of wax paper itself. I like to use it to wrap up herbs or ginger when I can't be bothered to wrestle with my plastic wrap roll. It's also nice to separate layers of cookies or baked goods when freezing. There's also something wonderful about wrapping a sandwich in it - the crinkling sound of the paper when you unwrap it is very satisfying. Any other favourite uses?

It was excellent. The whole thing got eaten up rather quickly - too quickly for me to snap a picture. The mix of salt-chili-sweet-spice was a good one.

Nothing like getting that fish sauce smell out, either. A steamer is an intriguing idea. I was thinking about getting a plastic basin or something, but a steamer would be more organic looking. To go with the decor of my kitchen: Early Street Noodle Stand.

Yes, I find galangal cooling, while ginger is warming.

This is a good point. I hardly refrigerate anything at all, except for in the summer.

We've tried desiccants and repeated cleanings; and even applications of fungicide; it doesn't matter. The quality of the building is not to code, shall we say - and Suzhou is built on water, so the damp is pervasive. The other (amusing) problem with the kitchen is that the counters aren't level - they're sunk in in some places, so putting something level on them causes tipping. Actually, now that I'm describing this, I wonder why I love the kitchen at all? It must be the view.

No; while they look alike, I find galangal has a pine-y flavour unlike that of ginger. That being said, I have rare and intermittent access to galangal. When I get it, I use it. If I don't have it, I leave it out; I don't sub in ginger. The only time I do is if I get a craving for Tom Ka Gai - and then I'll use it. It's a different dish with ginger, but it's still good.

I think spring rolls are a must, aren't they? My husband is going to Vietnam for Tet for another motorcycle trip. I'm staying in China for a while, then we're meeting up after the main holiday in Singapore. I've been toying, toying with the idea of throwing a full-on New Year's table for all my foreign friends stuck in town over the holidays. Barbara Tropp just got indexed over on EYB, so that would help me navigate the menu planning process. My plan B is to get invited over to a Chinese friend's place for a family meal.

It's the PEZ collection that's got me curious.

But does refrigeration actually harm eggs?

Oddly enough, salt. I always add a little salt, and butter if it's hanging about.

Yeah, that freaked me out when I moved to Asia. Eggs all over the place. Now I just leave them on the counter myself in the kitchen. Since my kitchen isn't heated I hardly even think about it in the winter. But imagine there must be some reason why we do refrigerate in the west.

That's an interesting point. I wonder how many people think critically about these ratings? Shanghai uses a system of smiley faces - A smile if they're compliant, a straight line face if they're average, and an angry face if they're not. The only places I've ever seen with smileys are Starbucks and McD's, which makes me right away suspect the system.

Gorgeous! Gratin a la mer! I want to talk the gratin layer. Obviously, cheese is excellent. Blether, you used Gruyere for that? And rarerollingobject, you used panko for you breadcrumbs, right? My potatoes dauphinois formed their own crunchy layer from the cream - was it Steingarten who said the miracle of dauphinois is how it manages to taste cheesy without the addition of any cheese? And ChrisTaylor, you mixed cheese in with your breadcrumbs - I'm a real fan of mixing up the breadcrumbs with something else. I just slid a pumpkin gratin in the oven - pumpkin slices tossed with cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Then, for the gratin layer, I took a page out of Jamie Oliver's book and topped it with a layer of "pangratto" - breadcrumbs, garlic, chili flakes, olive oil and an anchovy, whizzed in the blender. Not really "pangratto" since it won't be fried in the pan, but the flavours are there. I'm hoping it comes out well.

I often do that as a pasta sauce. Just chunks sauteed in olive oil, garlic, and dried chili flakes. I mush it down when the pasta's cooked, then toss it all together with a bit of pasta water. Seasoned with salt, Parmesan and a glug of good vinegar, it's the bee's knees.

I'm curious - what kind of improvements do you see - in taste, texture?

I used to pull everything off - the head, the tail, etc. But since no one else around me was, I felt awkward, and just started eating them whole. I wouldn't say I enjoy it, but I'm getting used to it.

Watching "Top Chef" recently has opened my eyes to how small many professional kitchens are, making me feel a lot better about the limited space I work in. However, I need some new "small-space" coping strategies in my new kitchen in China. Which, tragically, is even smaller than the one I had in Japan. The main problem: the cupboards are basically unusable due to dampness/mold problems. First, I've a counter-top rubbish bin for food prep that I empty out each evening. The space under my sinks is unusable, and there's not enough floor space to have a big bin going, so I've adopted the "garbage bowl" principle. It works. I also installed some of those bars from Ikea for spice storage. I've got a cupboard unit from Ikea as well for dry goods storage, which I've left against an indoor wall in my dining room. I've also got a counter-top rice bin near the range to keep my rices dry. However, I have a large collection of oil, sauces, and vinegars that won't fit in the fridge that have to be left on the counter, and I think they're driving my husband mad. How do I corral them? The oil jugs in particular are quite large - about 3l each.

And this is bad how for their business model? "People are using too much of our product, so we're going stop selling it?" I'm unconvinced.

I was just reading through my Saveur December issue when I came across the article "Home for the Holidays". One sentence caught my eye, Then, again, in the David Lebovitz "Baking" topic, a couple of people mention that some of the recipes get nicer over a couple of days. And of course, there's our Fruitcake topic, where everything ages gracefully. I'm not much of a baker, but I guess I'd always assumed most cookies, cakes, and pies were always best fresh baked. Now that I give it some thought, though, it makes sense that some flavours take time to develop. Cake hardly lasts long enough to age in my house, but it's nice to know if you had to make dessert a few days ahead. I can think of some things that DON'T seem to age well for me - like my meringue, which always seems to weep. But things that DO age well - what are your favourites?