nakji

Helen, they sound excellent. Thanks for the bump-up, it's reminder to bathe my precious with a little booze. The persimmons were a small proportion of the fruit I put in, so I'm hoping they won't be too noticeable.

Holy Shit! that is unbelievable, yet even worse is the recipe that follows: Velveeta Cheese Fudge. Should we file that under "Pestilence" or "Famine"?

What kind did you end up using?

I'm never short for ideas around here wither. I couldn't believe it when all those ingredients came my way this week, though - I knew it had to be Cradle of Flavor! Which reminds me, I really should get some of his cucumber carrot pickle going with my last bit of lemongrass.

Me too. Recently, it's come in handy with chestnuts, Thai basil, and a Sunday pork loin with an utter lack of inspiration.

Lovely! I had a plate of Malpeque oysters when I was in Charlottetown this past summer, and they are briny perfection. Who carries PEI oysters in Guelph - do you have a Sobeys?

I finally got round last weekend to getting to your recommended xiaolongbao spot at Jing De lu, Luckysticks. It's the first time I'd been in that corner of Suzhou, and I'm continually surprised how the down town seems to stretch on forever following the canals. We tried to order two baskets of xiaolongbao, but the noodle mistress basically said, "One is enough, are you crazy?", considering we'd also ordered a bowl of beef noodles and a few pickled mustard green baozi. What can I say, we were hungry. But yeah, I'm used to a smallish portion of xiaolong bao in a basket - usually three or four; this places gives eight, so that must be a liang? I realized there is a place very similar to this near my school where they specialize in "Wuxi xiaolongbao" and Sheng Jian Bao; I had a basket of the former at lunch on Friday, where they came in the more common portion of four to a basket; I feel like they were an eensy bit better with the wrappers; this may have been due to the fact that I got to the place on Jing De at 1:30 pm after the rush, whereas I was at the place next to my school sharpish at 11.30. Freshness is everything, I think, in a dumpling. I'd never really paid attention to the quantity of xiaolongbao places in Suzhou, but you're right - they're everywhere. As for the strange counter, could it be 棵? Sorry, I'm not sure of the character. My Chinese teacher said "ke" was a very Jiangsu/Shanghai way to order dumplings, but I have no independent back-up of this.

Another Cradle of Flavor meal tonight: every once in a while, various things orbit into my life, through some sort of culinary serendipity. Last Saturday, the western supermarket that I frequent for unsweetened yogurt and BSCB (they don't carry thighs) happened to be stocking fresh kaffir lime leaves. Surprised, I bought their whole supply, in the hopes that it will encourage them to order more, but with the suspicion it was a one-off stocking. Then, later this week, a trip to the Canadian Consulate in Shanghai found me at the City Market in the same building, where they had fresh galangal roots in the produce section - the first I'd seen it fresh since...longer than I care to admit. I had a bit of a conversation with a Chinese lady who wanted to know how to choose a fresh root and what to cook it with, to which I replied with a quick tutorial on the previous posts' green bean and tomato dish. We had good fun wandering over the store trying to find a can of coconut milk, as I didn't know what it was called in mandarin. Of course I bought some for myself, not knowing what I'd use it for, but figuring it was the sort of culinary ambergris that you don't just walk by on the beach of life. I had the vague idea of perhaps making a fresh Thai curry paste this weekend, when two more separate events happened. A friend happened to have some fresh, pasture-fed Chinese beef rib that he sold me - I so rarely have fresh beef that I snapped it up without even thinking. Then, later the same night, back in the Western supermarket to pick up some wine, I noticed they had fresh lemongrass stalks. (And: no kaffir lime leaves) Huh. I threw them into the basket along with a voignier. Then, then, over at another friend's house for dinner, he mentioned he'd ordered a half-kilo of Thai basil by mistake, thinking he was getting the sweet kind, and did I want it? Now, Jiangsu province has a vast array of produce available for purchase at any given time, but Southeast Asian ingredients like this are not thick on the ground. It was clear the Kitchen God was trying to send me a message and that message was RENDANG and possibly some other dish to use up the basil. This is the first time I've made a rendang, and Mr. Oseland's excellent instructions mentioned I'd want to have lots of time to get it right, so I had it on the stove at 12.30 pm. I cooked it until about 5.30 pm. Flavour paste, pre-blend: The mise: About an hour into cooking: The final plate: I thought of going out to our garden and pulling a banana leaf off our banana plant for presentation, but decided I'd freak the neighbours out too much. Lettuce sufficed. Yeah, it was excellent. My coconut milk never gave up much oil, though, confirming my suspicions that the Chinese coconut milk I'm using is not as rich as the Vietnamese stuff I used to get. The basil leaves presented more of a challenge. I decided to fry them, as Jaymes suggested, and use them to top Rohati's Crisp fried Potatoes with Chili Sambal, p. 221: Basically, the potatoes are fried like "chips", then the oil is drained and a chili-shallot sambal (in my case, red onions - no shallot love came my way this week) is sauteed and then used to coat the fried potatoes. I topped the dish with the crisp-fried thai basil, which I'd fried as I was doing the potatoes. I'd like to say there are leftovers, but there are not.

Mmm, not a fan of semi-cooked bacon or pancetta myself, either. How about strips of cooked bacon on the top, or even better, crisp crumbled bacon bits interspersed with the breadcrumbs in a crunchy top layer?

I'm jealous. I'm a long way from Italian cured meats. Mine too! What kind of eggs do you use? Regular supermarket ones?

One of my favourite simple Chinese dishes is egg and tomato. My husband's not a real big fan, so I usually reserve it for Saturday lunches when he's out, or when I'm ill and need some comfort food. A restaurant around the corner from me makes what I consider a gold standard version: the egg is in soft thready curds, gently wrapped around softly cooked tomato wedges. Both are covered in a light broth that binds them together and elevating it from scrambled eggs with tomato, perfect for spooning onto rice. I have tried to make this dish several times now, and keep ending up with scrambled eggs with tomato. I started out with Fuchsia Dunlop's recipe from "Sichuan Cookery", and got overcooked scrambled eggs with undercooked tomato. She calls for putting the eggs in first, making an omelet, then tossing in tomato in wedges, and cooking it together until the tomato has softened. My eggs stuck to the wok, then curdled, and my tomatoes remained hard. Also, it lacked any kind of soft sauce - because my tomatoes were undercooked, they didn't release enough water, I guess. Problem? I think my wok wasn't hot enough, which is why the eggs stuck. But putting the tomatoes in after seemed counter-intuitive. I asked a cooking buddy who is my guru of all things Chinese cooking on the ground here in Suzhou. He recommended a bit of hot chicken stock into the eggs right before they go into the pan. I also decided to cook the tomatoes first, as a separate step. Because I like a little garlic, I added a smashed clove to the pan first, in hot peanut oil. Then, I added the tomatoes and stir-fried them until they were slumped and soft at the edges. I took them out, added more peanut oil, then the eggs. When they were half set, I added back in the tomato, and a ladle full of chicken stock. I finished with some cilantro, instead of the traditional green onion, as that's what I had in the kitchen. I prefer the version with green onion. Nice, but the eggs are still a little curdled, and not gently thready and suspended in sauce like I'd like. Any experts out there willing to school me?

I don't have access to the Cook's Illustrated recipe, but based on this list, it seems like it would come out gloppy to me, Chris's experience notwithstanding. Don't beat yourself up, Grace. I really recommend you try Yan's recipe I linked to about, if you want something a little less...saucy.

I've actually got a pan of rendang on right now; a bit of serendipity brought a nice beef rib joint, galangal, and the Thai basil all into my happy possession from three different directions. if I don't do chicken with Thai basil tonight, I may fry up some pork, chilis, garlic, lime, fish sauce and basil leaves, to be wrapped up with lettuce. Sorry, Jaymes, YouTube won't load in China. Do I just make sure the leaves are well dried and fry in peanut or other oil? These would be gorgeous sprinkled over plain white rice...

I hardly ever see carrots at all in Jiangsu. Are they common in Cantonese cooking, or is their use another diaspora thing?

Yan-Kit So has a Hunanese recipe for Beef with Preserved Tangerine Peel that I have made successfully. Here's the recipe. I'm sure if you wanted to substitute chicken, it would work just as well.

A friend ordered a half kilo off of Taobao; hoping he was getting sweet basil. No love; it was Thai, and now I'm the proud owner. I'm going to make some chicken with Thai basil to use some of it up, but I'm wondering how to keep the rest of it. Ice cream is a no go, but I'm pretty sure I can get it past my husband again this week as spaghetti with Thai basil pesto. Any other suggestions for a longer term use? And should I just wrap it in paper towel and plastic to keep, or is it okay to make a pesto a few days before I'm going to use it?

Oh, heavens, there's a lot of debate on that. Which method do you favour? And do you have ready access to pancetta in Guelph?

I rarely taste sesame oil at all in Jiangsu, outside of my own kitchen - I can't speak for other provinces, though. I think I've had it drizzled over the odd cold dish here and there, but most things seem to use peanut oil. However, that could be a cost factor. Home kitchens might feel free to use it, where restaurants may find it too expensive to be, uh, splashing out on.

Actually, I don't use white misos, since I like to balance out the sweet that naturally occurs from the squash and give it a bit of smoky depth. I use regular or dark miso if I have it.

I made some squash last night and I used a recipe I came up with when I was in Japan. You can either steam the squash (for health) in chunks, or roast it tossed with sesame oil and salt. Then, when it's soft, mash it up adding a tablespoon of good miso, a tablespoon of butter, fresh ground pepper and a grating of fresh Parmesan to taste.

Ok, I pulled mine after a two-week steep and mixed it with a 1:1 simple sugar in equal proportions, as I'm not bothered too much about the alcohol content. I started with a lower proportion - about 6 oz of sugar syrup to 8 oz of infused vodka, but it tasted too "thin" to me. I added syrup until it felt right in body. It's smooth and drinkable right away, so big ups to using Stoli. It's chilling tonight, and coming with me to a friend's house for an Italian dinner tomorrow. I expect we'll finish the bottle.

eGullet Forums Hot on the Web Our U.K. & Ireland: Dining forum "hotted up" recently when member and food blogger Mrs. CC turned to the eGullet forums for tea and sympathy after a distressing call from chef Marcus Wareing. Turns out her blog post chronicling a recent disappointing meal was too critical for his liking; his resulting phone call was too cranky for her liking. Remember when we expected chefs to be temperamental? Sufficient buzz was created to earn eGullet mentions in an Eater round-up; a Slashfood feature, and a Guardian Word of Mouth Blog discussion; because, chefs vs. bloggers is a hot topic. With this kind of coverage, I guess we all win? More topics cooking in the forums (Where you're grilled, but never flamed!): We want our steel-cut Irish oats, and we want 'em waiting for us when we wake up! Wondering what you can -- and can't -- prepare in advance this holiday season? Member Matt Kayahara is firing up this week's eG Foodblog! Did you miss Prawncrackers's terrific eG Foodblog? Check it out here! Any tips for making almond flour? jimmynCR needs to know! Choosing ceramic grills: member Maher needs your input. And Keller begat Achatz, and Achatz begat .... A chef's family tree? weinoo wants to know what is the worst thing you've eaten today. Really. He does. Chris Amirault is trying to get caught up on Thanksgiving planning in the new decade. You? Proof positive that there's not just one circling the Earth: our Fruitcake Topic. jmolinari thinks flavored brines are pointless. You? Got some science to back that up, buddy?

There are two things to measure here; active preparation time, and cooking time. Some magazines and cookbooks do break down the actions separately, and give times for both prep and time spent on the burner or in the oven. Prep time is going to vary enormously depending on who is doing the cooking. I've gotten faster and faster over the years, but a beginner is going to take ages, as Lilija has pointed out. I'd like to think the cooking time is easier to measure and estimate, even given things like oven variations, bean freshness, and the like. I take issue with the "Guessing" in the title. Are cookbook writers "guessing" or are they trialing these recipes? I'd like to assume they are trial-running them, even if they are being optimistic and using expert chefs for the prep. Furthermore, anyone who has cooked even casually will know a recipe is only a starting point, not a fool-proof guarantee of success. There has to be some scope for the cook's own abilities; I'm not sure cookbook authors have any control over that. They should be aware of the ability level of their audience, however, and use that information accordingly when writing recipes.

Agreed. I feel like I can come up with my own stir-fry recipes, because she taught me the essential method of a stir-fry - what's happening in the pan, and when.

Congrats - it sounds amazing. Did you have it with white rice? I'm always tempted to serve it with garlic mashed potatoes. Fuchsia Dunlop suggests all sorts of add-ins in her recipe: whole garlic cloves and bits of lotus root come to mind. A dried red chili or two doesn't go amiss in the sauce, either.