nakji

Do you know? I'm sure I haven't picked up one of those books in twenty years. But I read and re-read them when I was young, and the food comes right to mind. I remember "The Long Winter" the clearest; I don't know why. I remember them grinding wheat in a coffee maker to make gruel, and when Pa told them to save their butter for bread because potatoes tasted best with a bit of salt. I always remember that when I put butter on a baked potato, and it makes me feel decadent. And when Ma put her handprint in their cornbread as the only seasoning. And Ma's beans going first at the church supper. I could go on...

What do you put in yours? I have tried a method where you're supposed to deep fry your potatoes and cauliflower separately before tossing them in an onion and spice mix; and another that calls for spices and onions simmered in ghee and then tossed over raw cauliflower and potato with a bit of tomato and some water to cook down. Both were internet generica recipes; neither impressed me much. I want the ne plus ultra aloo gobi recipe; one with melting cauliflower, creamy spicy potato; piquant spices with chili and ginger and crunchy coriander stems to set it off. No peas. I know how I want it to taste, but no idea how to get it there. Help?

Really? I see jiǔcài all the time at the street markets in Jiangsu - the dark green kind and the pale yellow kind. Aren't they commonly used in jiaozi making?

Does it have the recipe for Ma's green pumpkin pie?

My milk's not great, to be honest. I don't have a crockpot, so I used a pot on a low gas flame. My dal so creamy but with a toothsome bite after about two hours' cooking. I added butter, and a couple of tablespoons each of cream and yogurt. Very nice. I forgot all rules about cooking pulses and added both salt AND tomatoes at the beginning of cooking, to no detrimental effect. Why is bean cookery so fraught?

Here's my list from 2010: Almost done. No truffles, but truffle salt was the closest I got. Next year, I'm going to Europe. I swear. Done. I made fig jam. Yeeeeah...no. And again, no. An ongoing project. Working on basic pasta sauces with a friend. No McGee. I've got to actually buy one of his books. That would help. ***** In 2011, I will eat less meat. I will make more bread. Someone gave me a clay pot dutch oven for Christmas. I will learn to speak better Chinese, so I can talk more with the cooks I see. I will read McGee...this time. I swear.

Happy New Year to you, too! Looking forward to seeing what you've got cooking. What will you be making from the Laura Ingalls book? I remember growing up reading "Farmer Boy" and "The Long Winter" and her descriptions of food have stayed with me all these years.

I've always assumed lemongrass is available in the Southern provinces, but not around here, sadly. It sometimes appears in shops in Shanghai; if I see any, I'll try to root some. In curry, lemongrass is more of a supporting player, so substituting it here seems logical.

I think you'll love wherever you go. One thing I would suggest is that you try your hand at cooking while in Japan. I don't know what kind of accommodation you're looking at, but a hostel with kitchen facilities in a place like Kyoto would give you a chance to take advantage of the wonderful produce available at markets and shops there. When I eventually go back to Japan, I want to visit Kumamoto, to sample Kumamoto-style ramen at its source; and Hokkaido, for the same reason. Now that I think of it, a ramen tour of Japan is an excellent idea. If you're similarly interested but don't have the time or resources, I recommend the Ramen Museum in Yokohama.

No idea, but that certainly is an interesting picture. Is the pomelo dried out by the time the tea is ready?

Oh, that looks incredible. I can't get lemongrass at all, so I've given up making a lot of Vietnamese dishes entirely - but you've subbed lemon zest and kaffir lime leaves, you say? Oddly enough, I can get those. Is it a reasonable substitute?

Ok, I have my dal soaking now. Would you say when I cook them should I go with a 1:1 ratio of milk to water? And is it flat-leaf or curly-leaf parsley?

I have a little, although I didn't realize the notes would be public at first. I also have some recipes that I bookmarked in the beginning to go back and try that I haven't yet. My guess is right now, people are still only using it as an index, and not so much as an interactive site. I'd like to see more notes, too.

This year my husband and I "blind tested" Cokes from Japan, China, and Korea together. The finding: more clove flavour and sugar in Chinese Coke, less bubble. Japanese Coke and Korean Cokes seemed more carbonated, with Korean Coke seeming sweeter than Japanese. I've always assumed they tweaked the flavours somewhat to appeal to the national palate.

At the bottom of the page, across the left, there are some title links, starting with "About". The last title is "Report an Error". It brings up a message screen where you can contact them.

I have not had the soup. Please tell me more about the soup.

For reliably-kid friendly finger food - meatballs of some description? Maybe stuffed with cheese?

The leeks I used were negi - Japanese leeks. Her recipe calls for three "baby leeks or spring onions". I don't think she meant garlic chives - but in any case, mine were too strong. Next time I'll use spring onions instead or add the leeks earlier.

Well, also in his defense, it was in the instructions for his pie crust recipe. The recipe itself is for only one crust, which I didn't think was standard to begin with, but then - what do I know about pie? I think they should have meat inside them. The eight tablespoons is then doubled to sixteen in the recipe extension for a two crust pie. (Is a two-crust pie non-standard in the US?) He should have just called for a stick of butter to begin with, and let me Google that to find a rational measurement equivalency instead. I'll stick with Mr's Slater and Lepard in the future. Pun intended.

I used a thermometer to check the temperature. I think my popper popped early because I was roasting this in a tabletop oven, and it was about a centimetre away from the top element. I pulled the bird when the breast meat was done; let it rest and carved it off and held it in foil, then put the legs and thighs back into the oven to finish. I didn't have a bird centerpiece, but nobody complained.

What kind of noodles did you use, Chris?

I buy a new $10 non-stick pan every year. Does that count as low-cost? How about my $8 wok? I picked them out without the help of Paula Deen or Giada de Laurentiis, amazingly enough.

My words; not his. The Amazon product description says: His description of "low-cost" and my description of "low cost" may have a large variance, however.

I've switched almost entirely to using UK-based recipes for baking, since they seem to always give weight measurements. Nigel Slater and Dan Lepard at the Guardian cover most of my (admittedly humble) baking needs. Occasionally I'll go back to Dorie or Bittman and then get hacked off trying to translate ridiculous instructions like 16 tablespoons of butter (Bittman, I'm looking at you) into reasonably easy-to-measure amounts.

I'd eat that. What was the sauce?