nakji

We have a somewhat cranky topic about her "Good Appetite" column in the New York Times here. I'd be interested to see if her cookbook work is as good as Fat Guy attributes it to be there. Please post some pictures! Are her flavours interesting? Are the recipes easy?

Mango chutney and coriander chutney, maybe? Or a flavoured salt, like yuzu salt might be nice as well. What did you end up serving them with?

Reading this article in the New York Times on Hainanese Chicken Rice and other Singaporean treats got me to thinking about this. Malaysia and Singapore like to have at it concerning who makes this dish better, but hardly anyone is making a case that Hainan itself makes the best. (Or are they?) Are there many other dishes like this, where the imitation produced in another country has reached greater heights than its original incarnation? I'm thinking a case could be made for pizza in the U.S., but that this case would be highly controversial.

Most of the time I follow recipes. Other times I'm trying to recreate a dish I've eaten on my travels without any source recipes in English. Most of the the time it goes okay for me, since I can tweak and adjust as I go along. If I ever get happy with my results, and end up being successful with the dish, I am often foolish enough to make the dish for other people. Why foolish? Because they invariably ask me for a recipe. I usually just say something along the lines of, "Well, I've not written the method or ingredients down, but if you ever want to come over and cook with me, then I'd be happy to show you how." Only one person has ever taken me up on that offer. Right, so, I'm thinking that a lot of these dishes would be nice if I could write down, if only for my own satisfaction. But being the sort of person I am, I'd find it quite hard to provide recipes to people without feeling fully confident that they would work. Since I am a novice cook still in many areas, I know the tears and frustration that come with a failed attempt at a poorly written recipe. So for those of you who do write recipes regularly, how do you start the process? Where do you get your inspiration? How many times do you test a dish? What tricks do you use to make sure your measurements are accurate? What do you do with the leftovers? We've got some insightful topics on this matter in interviews with Society members Dorie Greenspan and Russ Parsons, as well as an interview with the Washington Post's Jeanne McManus, but I'm interested in what home cooks have to say.

I love a well-seasoned wok, even if it is threatening an endangered species! Bring on Mr. Crackers.

eGullet. org in The News We're waiting, despite delays and digressions, for this year's "Modernist Cuisine" by Society member Nathan Myhrvold (nathanm). It was going to be our holiday gift to ourselves. Just the excuse to finally get that Sous Vide Supreme we've been eying on Amazon. But yeah, now we're waiting for March. However; however- both the New York Times and the LA Times have done profiles on what's being called, by David Chang, no less, "the cookbook to end all cookbooks." Both articles, along with Dr. Myhrvold himself, credit the genesis of the book to a topic started here in our forums, a topic which you can read RIGHT NOW, while you sit at home, waiting for the six volume set to start shipping. What are you waiting for?

I picked up a bag of black dal at my local grocery and want to make dal makhani with it. We have a recipe here, but I'm wondering if anyone else makes this regularly, and what method you use? Do you soak for eight hours, then cook for several more hours? Or do you just cook without soaking the dal?

Thanks all. I do actually go to those stands, although usually for lunch. Grand Theft Dumpling is extremely tempting, but I couldn't deprive anyone of their hard-won breakfast. Just yesterday I discovered an incredible paratha bread stuffed with egg and spring onion stand. I asked at least three people what it was called, including the vendor, and everyone seemed bemused that I'd asked. The best answer came from one of my students: "It has many names. I can't give you just one." So she gave me none.

I did think they would be too hard...I didn't think of softening them, though. Without the glace lemon peel, I feel like I'm missing a bitter note.

How long do you recommend steaming the fruits for? And any reason to steam just some of the fruit rather than all? The kiwifruit already tastes and looks glace, but the dried pineapple and cranberries I'd like to plump up a bit.

His recipes are authentic and amazing. If you need a recipe to start with I recommend Asiah's Eggplant Curry. It's made with tamarind and coconut milk, and when he describes it as "candy" he's not kidding.

How many years do you think she aged her cakes? I went to the sweetmeats shop today on my way home from work and picked out about 2 kilo worth of dried fruits and nuts. I got dried kiwifruit, dried persimmon, dried pineapple, green raisins, and walnuts. I'm going to use craisins as well for tartness and colour, and lemon zest for a taste highlight. They also had dried figs and dried cherries amongst the dried fruits I could actually identify, but the figs would be too crunchy, I think, and the cherries were dried black - not so attractive. I like the idea of soaking the fruits in booze, and I've got some Cointreau that just might do the trick. I'd like to add in some light spice to the cake recipe as well. I'm thinking cardamon, but I'm not sure.

Yeah, there's hardly ever so much sugar in there that you'd describe it as sweet - it's more there to balance or bring out flavours as part of the seasoning. I'm curious to find out what this dish is!

I make that slaw quite often in the summertime! I like to add in shredded steamed chicken breast and some ground sesame seeds as a changeup from the more typical ground peanut garnish.

Was it spicy? Or was it soy based? Korean dishes don't tend to traditionally be sweetened much - where did he eat it? If it was at a Japanese/Korean place, it may involve mirin or sugar simmered with the soy. Two dishes I'm thinking of: dubu kimchi: kimchi and pork with sauteed with sesame oil and served over fresh slices of firm tofu. But no one would describe it as sweet, I think. The other one I'm not sure the name of, but might be what your friend is thinking of: finely chopped green onion mixed with an equal proportion of sesame seeds and Korean chili flakes, sprinkled over soft, fresh tofu, and topped with soy sauce and sesame oil. Again not sweet, but the addition of mirin or sugar to the soy would make it so.

One thing I've always envied about people who live in multicultural cities like New York is all of the options you have when exploring a new cuisine. You want to learn to cook Mexican food - no problem. Haitian? Sure. Moroccan? I'm sure there are dozens of shops that cater to that market. How do you ever make a choice? And do you ever feel overwhelmed by options? Never mind the dining out choices....

Sounds gorgeous! What, specifically, do you find the aging adds to the cake? Doesn't it just make it taste like booze? Or do you find other flavours develop? A co-worker noted that the season's first dried persimmons are out now, so I'm going to pick up a pack to go into my cake this year.

Not particularly. I just haven't been to the supermarket this week, and don't want to make a special trip to go get the paper. Sheer laziness.

When I get struck by meat hunger, I always go out for Korean. If you don't have access to decent steak, like I don't, it's the next best thing.

My in-laws have a glass cutting board that sits permanently on their counter, which I think they bought for its looks. The sound of a knife on it makes me cringe. Since I'm the only one who does much cooking there anymore, I always have to excavate a small plastic cutting board to use from the back of their cupboard. I have two large cutting boards; since I rarely have more than one of any implement in my kitchen, I guess I find them fairly important. I have a bamboo one for meat, and a big block one that curves over the counter edge from Ikea for everything else.I never cut in my hand; I'm way too clumsy.

A former style editor running a food magazine? Aside from his general magazine knowledge, I don't see the fit. But then, I don't read Bon Appetit much at all, as the few times I've picked it up I have found very little usable content for me in it. Considering what I have to pay for English-language magazines, I save my money for Saveur, which I much prefer. It's more related to the food I like to eat.

So the lettuce stayed stuck to the baozi, like a paper liner? Somehow I thought it would stay in the steamer. I wonder if I oiled the lettuce, would that allow the baozi to lift off? Because I think you're right about them getting soggy in the freezer. I'd love to see your pictures. I've never tried baked char siu, either - are they just prepared as normal and baked in the oven rather than steaming?

We had our last meal at a cheap and cheerful Dongbei place, whose name and location are completely absent in my notes. Perhaps someone will recognize it and help me out? They had six or seven kinds of dumplings on the menu, and we chose squash and egg, and pork with chive. I was hoping the squash would be the yellow pumpkin kind, but it turned out to be zucchini - rather bland for my taste. Braised chicken and mushroom with glass noodles. It was okay. The stand-out dish for me was the beef with cumin - tender sheets of beef and intense cumin and chili flavour made this almost curry-like. My friends were not as big fans, which left much of the dish to me. We also ordered a big salad basket - very reminiscent of the leaf plates you get in Korean barbecue restaurants. The dip was a chili-yellow bean sauce. We also ordered tofu sheets wrapped around more lettuce. I wasn't a big fan - the two things hardly seemed to relate to each other at all, but it seemed like a novel presentation that we wanted to give a try. It was really hard to get a white balance and take decent photos here because of the charming red lighting. I loved the lamps and the bright cotton prints all over the place - and so did everyone else, by the looks of it, as the place was jam-packed on two floors.

Char siu bao are my absolute favourite. There's a place around the corner that makes them with quite a lot of cassia in the filling, and I think they're the best ones I've ever tasted. Do char siu bao usually use baking powder as the leavening, or could you credibly make them with a yeast dough?

Ah, I just assumed. So, would jasmine rice work in some of these dishes? I have several varieties of rice available to me, but most of them are short grain. Thai jasmine rice is easy to get a hold of, though. Also, I think we now need a "Rice Variety" topic in our India forum. Hint, hint.