nakji

For CHinese, I rely heavily on Fuschia Dunlop's Revolutionary Cuisine and I picked up Sichuan Cookery recently. They're not wholly about stir-frying, but of course those kinds of dishes are heavily represented. I learnt a lot about stir-fry technique from Yan Kit-so Essentials of Chinese Cuisine, where by reading through her recipes, you can get a sense of the order of stir-frying, and how to treat the ingredients. I rarely use any of her recipes exactly, but I often freestyle off of them, using the ingredients I have to hand.

I do! But it's nothing special - just a tin of good tomatoes, simmered for ten minutes in a pool of light olive oil, to which I've added a little fresh smashed ginger at the beginning. When the oil turns orange, I add an equal portion of stock; simmer it for another five, then whizz it in the blender (even easier if you have an immersion stick blender). Salt and pepper to taste. It makes two servings. Marcella Hazan's Pasta e Ceci soup is quite decadent to have alongside a sandwich, if you leave out the "pasta" part when you're making it - I often do and rarely miss it.

Did you use Chinese celery or western celery? I can't stand most celery in supermarkets in Canada, but the thin kind sold here is lovely. It's not thready at all, and it has a concentrated celery flavour. What kind of cucumbers did you use? Japanese or Kirby cucumbers would provide better flavour than "English" cucumbers, if you have access to them this time of year. To be honest, not a lot of Grace Young's recipes look that inspiring to me. BUT, that being said, are you only serving these dishes alone with rice? Because a dish like that might shine in a meal where you're serving a soup, a spicy dish, a braise, and maybe a pickle alongside. It's more of a counterpoint dish, isn't it? For two people, that's too much, but when I stir-fry dinner I always have a separate green or other veg and a pickle on the table as well, so I can take advantage of the contrasts. A plainer dish like that I'd pair with a spicy daikon pickle and maybe a soft vegetable? Braised pumpkin, say. There are always leftovers, but they get bunged into a Lock n' lock for lunch.

Chili! How did I forget chili?

I use warm sg rice all the time to fry rice, simply because it's more convenient for me to do it that way. I had no idea it was preferable. I could guess because it's harder to break up chunks of cold sg rice due to starch, but there's no doubt other reasons.

Rookie. It's not a good night in my kitchen unless I've almost taken off a fingertip, I imagine a mandoline would make that even more likely to happen. What's the green veg in with the carrot?

Mmm, we have topics on a lot of these dishes, too. 1. Shepherd's/cottage pie 2. Baked ham with gratin potatoes 3. Nikkujyaga 4. Chinese-style hotpot ( as opposed to Lancashire) 5. lasagne 6. any kind of risotto 7. tonkotsu ramen 8. pudding with custard 9. beans on toast 10. tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich Special shout-out to a breakfast on a snowy morning: fresh brewed coffee and a warm cinnamon buns. Anything with steam rising off, really.

Thanks, Will. I've really noticed it's almost impossible to get a hold of this kind of oolong in Suzhou. I was, however, able to find a (quite pricey) "shui xian" toasted oolong from the Song Fang desk in City Super. It's exactly what I was looking for, and I'll no doubt pick some more up next time I'm in Shanghai, despite the price. If I'm after a bit of adventure, it'd be fun to hit a tea mall, though.

That's very helpful info. My first cake was somewhat undercooked at the weekend, but I didn't want to risk overcooking them, so I pulled them all out after they passed a toothpick test.

That book was my friend in Japan! Have you tried any other recipes out of it that you enjoyed? I am a big fan of her pickled lotus root.

The author was interviewed on CBC's As It Happens on their November 5th program, as well.

No basement I'm afraid, I'm in a second floor flat. I've left them on a cool counter, and have wrapped two in bourbon cheesecloth and one in Cointreau cheesecloth. We'll see how they fare. I don't want to shut them away in a cupboard, because that's how things seem to mold around here.

Does the book only contain recipes for stir-fried dishes? That looks like some fine cleaver work on the carrots and peppers.

Me too. Maybe we need to start a rolled pork belly topic, and get Prawn to school us in the finer points? Thanks again for a great glimpse into your routine, and I think it's safe to say you're welcome to come cook dinner at any of our house...well, pretty much anytime you like.

I bought a bottle of Advocaat (Warninks) for the first time this week, and am using it to make "eggnog" for myself: two parts Advocaat; one part spiced rum, milk, ice and nutmeg to top. I'm intrigued by using it to top bread pudding - how?

I've used them as well, and third your recommendation. Last summer when I was in Toronto, I stopped by and bought huge bags of dried chiles. Now they're all still in the bottom of my freezer drawer, waiting for me to use them. This whole neighbourhood is wonderful if you're a cook, as there are many shops and mini markets specializing in different cuisines from around the world. I was so excited to find fresh turmeric in one of them.

Great. I have enough cheesecloth left in my stocks to do this, and I'll use some bourbon to keep them moist. I'll post some progress pictures later.

I finally made the time to bake these on Saturday. I had the fruits steamed and soaking since Thursday? Wednesday? I can't remember. The recipe was built off of Jeffrey Steingarten's white fruitcake, which I found at Bon Appegeek. I made some small adjustments, however. I added two tablespoons only of lemon extract (actually, a bit of the lemoncello I've got brewing), plus the zest of one lemon. I also split the pound of sugar into a half pound white sugar and a half pound brown sugar. This was for practical reasons, as I couldn't find granulated white at my supermarket, so I was stuck with only the half pound I'd had on hand. I also added one teaspoon of ground green cardamon. The fruit was a quarter pound dried steamed pineapple soaked in bourbon; a quarter pound of dried cranberries soaked in Cointreau; a quarter pound of dried kiwi, and some dried persimmons to make up the weight. To that, I added a pound of green Xinjiang raisins, and a pound of fresh toasted walnut halves, broken up. It yielded four cakes. I took one immediately to a group of friends as we got together Saturday afternoon at a local teashop. The chef whipped up a jug of custard for us on the fly, and we had it still warm from the oven. Everyone kept protesting, "But I don't like fruitcake", as they used the crumbs to mop up the custard. I wouldn't use the persimmon again, as they tasted very dusty. Now I have three left, and I need to figure out how to keep them until Christmas. I don't want to add too much booze, as I think it will overwhelm the flavour. Everything in Suzhou moulds, including my walls and clothes if left in one place for too long, so I need to store creatively. I'd put them in my fridge, but it's a typical Asian fridge size, and I don't want to give up the real estate if I don't have to. Any suggestions?

I was walking by our local chestnut roaster Thursday evening, and couldn't resist picking up a pound. Before being able to eat them, I was called off to something else, so I ended up with a bag of peeled roasted chestnuts. Then I thought, "Well, I'll make a chicken on the weekend with some chestnuts stuffing; no worries." Only when I got to my market, they had all the fresh ingredients for a Thai curry, and moments like that cannot be wasted. So now I still have these chestnuts, and really, today is going to be their last workable day, I feel. Chestnut soup does not appeal. Can I put them into a sugar syrup, or is it too late once they've been roasted?

I've seen squid-flavoured crispy balls with peanuts inside, but never just gqilled squid brushed with peanut butter. Korean-American fusion? I don't know, it sounds kind of good. But I can see wanting it to be more of like a satay sauce.

Oh...that's a thing of beauty. Am I right in guessing that their mushy peas are fresh made? And Beef dripping! Is there a noticeable beefy flavour to the fish? I would think it would taste rather like a bit of fish fried in a Yorkshire pudding...

It could well be. And I don't have the receipt to check, I'm afraid. Next time I get one, I'll post a picture. I haven't made anything out of this book for well over a month, I've been so busy I've barely been cooking at home at all. I'd like to tackle one of the noodle dishes, though. Has anyone tried one?

I'm not a fan of citrus pith myself, which is why I'm using zest - and I see your recipe includes cardamon. But for me, the booze is one of the nicest parts. Well, that and the marzipan layer.

I was organized enough to cut up my fruit the other night in preparation for making my cakes this weekend. I steamed the cranberries, and they're now soaking in Cointreau. I also steamed the pineapple slices, which were quite caramelised and almost even smoky. I'm soaking them in a bit of bourbon. I've got sliced kiwis and Xinjiang sultanas for green, plus fresh walnut halves. They were quite expensive, even for China - 50 RMB for 500g. I'm going to add some lemon zest, and I'd also like to add some cardamon - but black or green, do you think?

Right, I'm doing up a pork belly roll like that up for Christmas. How do you get your crackling so glorious? Did you jack the heat up at the end, or did you keep it at 170 C for the whole time?