nakji

Aim low; then overshoot. Culinary application of the Scotty Principle in action.

Oh, wow, it's like a "Where's Butter?" game. The best game of all. I think your chicken pot pie looks great, especially the filling. And since your gluten-free crust looks about twice as good as my regular crust ever comes out, I'd be justifiably proud if I were you.

Is that....SIXTEEN pounds of butter in your freezer? I am in awe.

Seriously? I thought I was the only person in the world who loathed sorting cutlery. Certainly my husband has intimated this to me on several occasions when I have carelessly put the spoon into the fork "nook" or vice versa. Things became easier when we switched to chopsticks on a semi-permanent basis.

Well, we battled our nabe for a full ninety minutes last night but it eventually won out. I used the chanko nabe base with enoki, shiitake, and bunai-shimeiji; pork meatballs; negi; napa cabbage, beef rolls; qing cai, tofu puffs, and finished with Chinese noodles. It seemed like there was still a full table of vegetables left when we couldn't eat any more. My husband brought out a good bottle of Hakkaisan Ginjo to accompany, and we had it in our seasonal snowman flask. Very nice for the onset of winter. Bring on nabe season!

Actually, I'm making it right now - I'm going to use your chanko nabe base. Sides are daikon quick pickled with lemon zest (in lieu of yuzu) and some soy; bean sprouts sauteed with mirin, Korean chili pepper and sesame oil; carrot kinpira, and edamame. Beer; sake.

I'm throwing a nabe party tonight, since winter has finally arrived. I've got all the vegetables and meats sorted, but what kind of side dishes should I be putting down for nibbles while we're waiting for the main ingredients to cook?

Yes, that's the method I use. Works a trick, and it's really fast.

I'm asking for a proper 12" or 14" saute pan; and I'd love a bread-baking book, but not sure which one yet. I haven't had any time this month to read up on what I should be asking for!

No doubt. I'd like you to say a little about Australian coffee nomenclature. I remember walking into a cafe on my first day in Sydney, excited after a couple of years in Asia to get a solid cup of coffee, only to be completely stymied by the names. Long white? Short black? And what's the difference between a long white and a latte? As for the macadamias, one of the things I enjoyed most about Australia was driving around the country roads, picking up produce off of stands on the end of people's driveways. I remember eating a cupfuls of macadamias with my husband in our '86 Toyota we picked up in King's Cross, giggling madly like we'd made out like criminals. I don't think we paid more than two dollars for them? Good times. Do you ever get out to wine country?

I think cumin is plenty authentic, although I've usually seen it paired with beef or lamb, as I pointed out.

Pizza Hut in Korea sure thinks so.

Really? Which ones? I'm frequently challenged by the pork cuts at my local market to figure out what I have and reproduce a recipe accordingly. I'd appreciate shots of your cuts and subsequent dishes. I was at my local wholesaler today, and they were selling sides of pigs whole...it'd be great to know how to break that down into primal cuts.

It's time again to be thinking about tourtiere. This year, I have sourced allspice. But I'm still thinking about using rabbit.

Do you ever go foraging for your own, David? My mother and I used to go blueberry picking together in Nova Scotia - she had some fun tales of growing up in Labrador and berry picking amongst the wildlife. One of the best picking grounds in my hometown was recently (to paraphrase our great Northern Songstress Joni Mitchell) paved over and they put up a parking lot (and a shopping centre) on it.

MMmm...belly. Chater's in Dartmouth keeps a wide variety of different meat cuts available for those "from away". It's my first stop whenever I get back in town and my Dad starts demanding I cook. Next time you get some, you should try "hong shao rou" or "twice-cooked pork". Both excellent dishes. Did you keep the skin on the belly, or take it off?

This time of year, I prepare them the night before in a pot on the stove. When they're done, I leave the lid off until they're cool, then pop it on before I go to bed. There's no heat in my kitchen, so it gets pretty cold in there, and I'm not bothered about having them in the fridge. In the morning, I add a splash of hot water from the kettle, and heat them up on the burner for about five minutes. It's a practical solution if you don't have a rice cooker or slow cooker, like me.

Thanks for providing the recipe! Sounds like something I'd love to make my husband for Christmas. I just want to say: Holla.

Winters in Hanoi are no treat. Everyone's in concrete buildings, there's no heat except for the coal brazier for cooking, or a re-purposed single air-con unit - and you've been driving around all day next to the lakes on a motorcycle. A hot bowl of soup is essential. I find it hard to believe no one in Vietnam was able to invent a bowl of noodle soup until the French came along. However, I have a rule: "Never get involved in a land war or a discussion of who invented something in Asia; never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line." It is unarguably an excellent restorative.

Actually, Saveur is the only food magazine I still get delivered (at an expense - around $12 CDN) in China. I like the sort of food they talk about, because it's usually the kind of food and ingredients I like to eat. For example, November's issue had a nice feature on nori I found instructive. I like that there are a lot of articles on food, but relatively few recipes for the size of the magazine. I don't get option paralysis.

Those look succulent....if you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for a plate of those?

Again because most of the diaspora is from the Southern provinces, which rely on their excellent fresh produce for flavour? Other regional Chinese food is fantastic too, I always seek it out when I make it into Shanghai. Yunnanese food has cheese but also uses a lot of South-east Asian ingredients; Dongbei is rich in stews, braises - real meat and potatoes stuff; Xinjiang is cumin, lamb, raisins, homemade yogurt...I could go on. Spices I can buy at the regular supermarket: cumin, fennel, dried whole chilis (two kinds), cassia bark powder and stick; star anise; dried gingerroot (and powdered); Chinese cardamons; those big black poddy things that look like nutmegs; white peppercorns; plus dried tangerine peel and so on.

Will we be seeing local barbecue? It's one of my life goals to travel through the U.S. South and eat all the regional barbecues.

Cumin seems to be a lot more common ingredient than carrots in Suzhou. It's often used with beef or lamb in Chinese cooking, am I right? My favourite Xinjiang place here uses it liberally on all its lamb dishes; I've also had an excellent beef with cumin in a Dongbei restaurant in Beijing. Ms. Dunlop provides a recipe for beef with cumin in Revolutionary Cuisine. Further to hzrt8w's explanation on jau yau/zou you, from Yan Kit-so's "Classic Chinese Cookbook":

Miso butterscotch? That sounds excellent! How is it done?