nakji

I bought some a few weeks ago when they first came into season here, and prepared a recipe from Fuschia Dunlop's "Revolutionary Chine Cookbook" (which I highly recommend). They're not something I've seen on regular menus in China, but at my local restaurant, when they were in season, I saw plates of them going out of the kitchen in similar preparations.

I caught one Guy Fieri show on the Food Network when I was in Canada last. He went to restaurants and watched them make really big plates of food? He seemed obnoxious, but the show was at least related to food. He, however, made none of his own food during the show, nor showed anyone how to make food like what was being shown. It was basically just: here's how a restaurant makes 800 litres of red sauce. Interesting to some, I guess - not to me. But you know - food related, so you could justify it being on the "Food" network, I suppose. But something called the "Cooking" channel, you would think would focus on "Cooking". Does Mr. Fieri have a show that does that? Shows I would be interested in seeing on a so-called "Cooking" channel: Shows that demonstrate regional cooking: North African; regional Indian; Thai; regional French; regional Chinese; Japanese home cooking; etc. How people in those countries shop, learn how to cook, plan and prepare meals. Shows that demonstrate how to organize/manage a home kitchen, including keeping/maintaining inventory; planning weekly/monthly shopping; assessing kitchen equipment; planning and preparing celebratory meals; canning and preserving, etc. Seasonal cooking - through a year, cooking locally a plus. But you know, in a challenging area. Like Maine, or somewhere with a winter. Shows that assess cookbooks: ie, this week we're cooking with:"..." Shows that solely test cooking equipment. Shows on packed lunches. Shows on cooking for picky eaters/allergies/dealing with other limitations. BUDGET cooking. Shows that show you how to create your own recipes. Does this "Cooking" channel have programs that serve these areas?

Sounds good! But the eggs I have have already been boiled, so I should have posted that I'd received the boiled kind, sorry. I didn't know you could get salted raw ones. This rules out the custard and stir-frying them. Would they go well crumbled over stir-fried leafy greens, you think?

I received a box of salted duck eggs from my principal as part of our Dragonboat festival gifts. How should I use them? Someone suggested in a congee, but we're not big congee fans in my house. One of my other co-workers suggested in a salad with tomatoes, which I might try. Any other ideas?

If you do them in rice vinegar, and nice trick once you've pulled them out would be to toss them in a little crushed raw garlic and sesame oil. Even better: add a drizzle of good Chingkiang vinegar. Very, very nice with rice or similar.

I'll be in Busan next weekend. Any recommendations for fish?

I cooked mine all the way through, too, since they were made with supermarket ground pork.

Mine were cakey all the way round, probably due to my flour. Just the way I like them! I'm down to my last one. I haven't used this book as much as I'd hoped I would, mainly due to the lack of availability of many of the ingredients for me. I'm thinking of taking it home to Canada over the summer and leaving it with my parents, who have more access to things like fennel, cranberries, "tri-tips" and so on. If I do, though, this cookie recipe is getting copied out and left here.

So...is it meant to be more of a restaurant-type space, or does it encourage stopping in and getting these dishes for takeaway? It seems a bit like a take on an up-market Japanese department store food hall, but with more focus/ability on being able to eat there.

I couldn't get the thought of "banh mi" burgers out of my head, so I made these for dinner tonight: All-pork patty with ground pepper, salt and msg for seasoning. Topped with a quick pickle of bean sprouts, carrot and red onion. Dressed with home-made chili sauce (sri racha would work if you have it), hoisin, and Kewpie mayonnaise. Bulk "ranch" dressing would be more streets-of-Hanoi-authentic, but I didn't have any. Cilantro to top. Crusty french roll. Seriously, seriously good. The only flaw is that my pork was from Australia, and too dry. Next time I'll get some fresh shoulder minced for me at the market. I'll be making these again this summer.

I've just made the cookies, and they worked out great for me as well. I always have to make all sorts of adjustments when I bake, because the flour I use is different from American AP flour, and my eggs are a lot smaller. I usually start with a smaller proportion of flour than called for in most recipes, and then slowly add in more until I think the texture looks right. In this case, I started with only two cups flour; mixed, then felt it was safe to go up to the 2 1/3 cups called for. It must be a pretty forgiving recipe. The texture of my cookies came out exactly how I like it: a little cakey with a soft-ish centre; not greasy at all. And they mixed together so easily. If only I could get my hands on Valrhona chocolate.

That is one fine tasting mold, then. Really excellent. Is the pork braised with the 梅菜, or is it braised another way then fried with it at the end? After the tea and dumplings we put our trust in the GPS and plotted a course to Huang Shan to meet up with our friend for lunch. I couldn't resist snapping these pictures at one of our re-fuelling stops: That's right, those hams are drying on the side of a SINOPEC:

One of the best meals I had this year was in Macau, influenced by Portuguese cuisine. I've never had any "real" Portuguese food, but I'd like to try it - especially if there are any shops selling pasteis de nata. Libretto sounds like it'll really appeal to my husband, who enjoys a nice Napoli-style pizza. Lots of options: no wonder our friends call their neighbourhood "hipster central".

I tried another recipe last night - Beef and Lettuce salad. I've been getting a delivery of organic vegetables from a local farm for a couple of months, and I keep getting something that the invoice calls "lactuca", which is a non-specific way of saying lettuce. Only it doesn't look like any lettuce I've ever had. Anyway, I asked my coworkers, and they said it's called "you mei cai". I'm wondering if it's not what the author's refer to as "stem lettuce" in their notes on ingredients? I'd never heard of stem lettuce before, but I think this may match their description. I used the you mei cai instead of the romaine they called for, and I also added some handfuls of cilantro that came in the same vegetable delivery that needed using up. It was an okay dish, but I think I would make it again increasing the amount of soy and vinegar called for up from the 1 tbsp. each to make for a stronger dressing. I did enjoy the contrasting textures of the salad, but the flavour of the dressing was just to bland for me. Fortunately, I served it with "fish-flavoured eggplants", which provided a spicy contrast.

Wait - are they both the same temperature when you do this?

I have a whole loaf of bread that went stale due to poor storage technique. Rather than bin the whole thing, which would result in a lot of angry self-judgment, I'd like to do something with it. My immediate thoughts are a bread salad like panzanella, or a soup like gazpacho, although good tomatoes are not out here yet. I was trying to amuse myself with listing all the other uses for stale bread. I thought of: Bread pudding bread crumbs croutons What other uses do you find for stale bread?

Mmm, Cuban cuisine sounds interesting. Do you know if it's near Ossington at Dundas?

Sounds like you're going to some pretty authentic restaurants, Kent. The metal dishes and chopsticks are de rigueur. Zenkimchi, do you remember the great Korea-China kimchi trade war of 2005, when Chinese kimchi was found to have parasite eggs in it? Everyone got worried about the restaurant kimchi! Not sure how many people actually stopped eating it, though. My favourite restaurant in Sinchon, in Seoul, the adjumma made her own kimchi, and would only serve her own kimchi - the aged kind. It was awesome.

I don't know why, but soy sauce jumped into my head - like the Japanese cold tofu dish, with the soy and bonito topping? It would have the same cold-salty-creamy profile, I think.

Thanks! My husband went to uni at Ryerson, so we've definitely got trips to Kensington and St. Laurence scheduled, as they're two of his favourite places in Toronto. Kensington so I can fill my friends' cupboards with the best goodies from the one of the Chinese groceries there, and St. Laurence for raw milk cheese. And to visit the meat. Very interested in the Perth-based cheese, too. I have fond memories of driving up to my friend's cottage in Apsley and stopping in Perth for curd.

Mum's copy has long since lost its cover, and is perforated through in many places where recipes from the newspaper or Canadian Living were stapled. And never used. My Dad bought it for my Mum, hoping she'd learn to cook after they got married. The story of the fried frozen steak and boiled tea is part of my family's kitchen lore, passed down like Nanny-in-England's Tea Pot From Singapore (Always ALL CAPS for that teapot - which Mum never bothered to use) and Nanny-in-Labrador's cast iron dutch oven. (Pretty much in constant use) Mum's more interested in cooking now than she was when I was a kid and flipped "Purity" open for the first time to learn to be as good a cook as my Dad. My first stab at creating my own dish was tossing white sauce and dried basil with sliced chicken breast and penne pasta, covering it with Dad's good Gloucester in individual au gratin dishes; serving it with a wedge of lemon. Very cool for a twelve-year-old.

Nothing says appetizing like cooking with a trough! I suppose because of the large quantities of sauce that needed to be sieved for the sort of cooking they were doing, this was the original set-up? I guess, then it evolved, much like the sauce, later. It would have been pretty grim, though, to be the poor kitchen apprentice set to sauce-sieving duty with a tablecloth and a trough.

Diet Coke: I've never hacked that, either, more than adding a lime. Hmm. Maybe some fresh ginger would hide its horrible sweetener taste?

Thanks for the great suggestions; sorry I'm so clueless on Toronto geography; I'll consult Google Maps. I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running since Toronto's such a great eating city. Actually, the Black Hoof looks like it might be a great place to treat our hosts to dinner, not only for the food, but based on a running "pig" joke we have with them. Does their menu change frequently? Wanda's Pie in the Sky also looks the ticket. Pie. All pho suggestions look ace, it'll probably come down to geography which one we go to. We can get really good pho in Shanghai, but I have no upward limit to my pho consumption really. I see that you note in your blog that the pho at Linh is a fresh noodle - does that mean it's a raw noodle, not a dried one? This is very important to me in a real bowl of pho. Sounds excellent as well. I'd love to hit a Farmer's market, too, but we'll be there from a Sunday to a Wednesday.

"White Sauce" was the first thing I learnt to make in the kitchen. I believe it was a recipe out of Mum's "Purity" cookbook, and memory escapes me what it was called there. I have always called it bechamel, so I suspect it was called that there also. When I make it to enrich soup like cauliflower or broccoli, I always use half chicken stock, half milk - all this time thinking I was a radical.