nakji

When I roast a chicken, I use Bittman's method, mainly because it doesn't ask very much of me. I don't brine, I don't baste, I don't truss. I put a chicken in a pan, start with an initial high temp, then put olive oil on the skin about 15 minutes after putting it in, and turn the heat down. No vegetables, no rack. My variation- I undercook the damn thigh meat. And eat it anyway. When the breast reaches whatever temperature Bittman suggests for the thighs - I can't remember offhand, as I always have to convert it to Celsius anyway - I pull it out. I let it rest, and off we go. Is it safe? I guess not. Is it juicy and delicious? Yes. Is it perfectly roasted? Who knows? But then, I'm not feeding a) guests b) children or c) pregnant women, so I feel comfortable dicing with death this way. Starting with a fat, nice chicken helps, and so does the smell of the bird roasting wafting through the house. Extra points if you don't eat anything all the while smelling the bird. Hunger makes the best sauce.

My co-workers report that this is a tea for weight-loss/lowering cholesterol. Consensus is that it should be just a certain kind of tea leaves, with nothing else added in, but that is not expert opinion.

So....pictures? That restaurant looks wonderful. I always wanted to try Kaiseki while I was in Japan, but was too intimidated by the experience. Please, expand on your dashi remark - how was it used - what kind of dishes did they make with it?

They certainly excerpted a lot from that book on Grub Street. Still, I'll probably end up reading it, since Bourdain's brand of vitriol is compelling. None of the material in the excerpt seems like new ground, I suppose: Alice Water is right, but annoying; Celebrity Chefs are dumb; Food writers can be self-involved and on the make; Sandra Lee is crazy; vegetarians make some people angry; the Food Network Sucks; Culinary School has a lot of caveats; but I imagine he'll find an audience for it. After all, it's not what he says, but how he says it. I'll be interested especially in what he has to say about David Chang.

Kitchen feat I will never again attempt: Cooking a Japanese meal in someone else's kitchen using their knives. Just not worth it. In my defense, I was on holiday and couldn't have brought my own knives with me. But still - I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I just assumed everyone had decent knives. The knife in question, available for my use: a paring knife. A dull paring knife.

Awesome! And thanks for coming in to offer closure for us. One of the things I've loved the most about living overseas is the way that you get to experience food in a different way. It makes you go back to the drawing board in many ways and learn to make things from scratch that you had only ever bought as convenience or pre-prepared foods. I've also hd to get really creative and learn to use what I have on hand, not necessarily what the recipe calls for. So I've gotten intimately acquainted with substitutions! Like, pretty much every veal recipe Marcella Hazan has ever written I've made - with pork. I live in Suzhou, China, and we too have an oddly large German population. From a food perspective though, it means we have access to some good beer, and at least one bakery churning out decent ryes and sourdough breads. I have also had the experience of having to deal with a sudden glut of something very exciting. One week when I found Greek yogurt, every meal we ate contained it - we used every bit up except a small spoon I used to start my own. Really, I don't think I ever could have learnt as much about food as I did without having had the experience of living in another country.

I feel incredibly lukewarm about taro too. Frying is probably the only way I'll enjoy them, so taro fritters may have to be where I go with these.

Thanks for your detailed reply! That gives me an excellent idea of which to choose. Real Fast Food sounds great, but I like pictures to help me get inspired about making something, so I might defer that one to a later purchase - although it sounds exactly about how I cook most of the time (for two; really quickly). I hadn't given Tender much thought, so I'll look it up on Amazon. Appetite sounds like I'd love it, but when you say his grill pan gets a lot of work - what is he grilling?

I got some taro in my CSA this week and I don't know what to do with it. I don't like sweet or slimy applications - dessert is out. I'm thinking either as chips or a curry - something with a lot of spice to drown out the blah-ness of it. Any suggestions?

Excellent advice. Lettuce arrives at my door once a week through my CSA - it's either red-leaf or something they call "lactuca", which, according to the internets is just a botanical name for lettuce in general. It doesn't look like any other lettuce I've ever eaten, but has very long, narrow leaves that are folded over on themselves and fitted into a plastic tray before being covered in plastic wrap. I usually bung that directly into the crisper on arriving home. I know I should take it out, wrap it up in paper and plastic. But I don't, frankly, because I'm lazy. (There is no health in me) Then, one or two days later I might get around to wanting to eat it. By then, it's not looking so great. It usually doesn't slime up, but it gets distinctly wilted. Sometimes I attempt to revive it by soaking it in cold water. I've seen a recipe somewhere - Jamie Oliver? That calls for grilling a whole head, then dressing it with olive oil and meon juice. The next time this happens, I may attempt to cook lettuce.

And I urge you to try this dish! I actually had some left over, and used it as a base for fried rice for breakfast the next day - I mashed up the beans and pork in the rice, and added an egg. It was fantastic.

A well-used wok is a happy wok! I went through a long, dry period this winter where I was mostly just making soups and braises, and my wok didn't get much use - no more than once a week. But I've taken to leaving it on my stovetop to remind me it's there, and I dug out my Revolutionary Cookbook to make some more dishes. Actually the patina on it has built up quite a bit compared to my original pictures from above, so I guess I should be quite proud of it.

Sounds like I can't go wrong! I made his mince pies for Christmas from a recipe on the Observer website, and they were so simple and easy. I'm interested - does he have a lot of vegetable-centric dishes, or is he more like Nigella - "Let's cook a crown roast, mmm won't that be lovely!" I like meat as much as the next person, but I don't have access to a wide range of cuts or kinds - we're talking no beef or fish. I'll be more specific with my request, I guess - I'm looking for recipes that feature heavily pastas, grains, and vegetables, and are meant to serve two people. Not a lot of roasting or baking. In this case, would you give the edge to Kitchen Diaries or Real Food?

Is there some way to...you know, save lettuce? Preserve it somehow? Can it be cooked? Or made into a soup? Or should I just invest in some rabbits? Because evidently I'm unable to simply stop buying lettuce.

My bag comes on Tuesdays - today I got: Please excuse the bad photo. Fresh Peas (!), lettuce, hothouse tomatoes, pickling cukes, two potatoes - hey, they're a vegetable in Asia, not a starch - a small green pumpkin, and taro. Obviously a lot of this is grown year-round in their hothouses and kept, eg. the potatoes. The peas immediately went towards tonight's dinner - pea risotto with some soft feta swirled in. I also made an excellent salad with the lettuce. The tomatoes and pumpkin I'll probably curry later in the week, but the taro - what to do with the taro? It's white inside, not purple. This is the second time they've given me taro, and I'm only mildly ashamed to say I threw that first pack out. Taro for me - I don't know, I've tried it lots, but I've never seen the charm. Give me a sweet potato any day.

Sorry. I blame tofu for its fast spoilage. Good lord, what else goes from sublime to slime in a day? We can't swan about buying fresh tofu exactly when we need it. Absolve yourself of this sin.

Yeah, by the third paper you're clear - it looks okay to me. If you want to be really sure, why not deep fry again the next time you use it and filter and check that oil? Just to be completely certain.

For the lemon balm - Could it be used to make a sugar syrup to infuse a pound cake? I had a friend who liked to make a cake like that, though I never attempted it myself.

Mustard? Hmm, I've never tried that. Mayo, yes. Mustard, no. What kind of mustard?

Oh, God, the lettuce, the lettuce. Why did you have to bring that up? How many an innocent, organic head has wilted at my neglect and inability to buy paper towel? The shame, the shame. Nevermind the cilantro.

You're worried about having metal dust in your food? So, I would heat the wok up on the stove, and take some oiled paper towel and run it around the inside with some tongs. If the paper remains clear, it should be okay, no? After a deep-fry, I'd think that you'd have a good strat on your re-seasoning. The other thing to check might be the oil that you used during the frying - have you drained and strained it? If it's clear, you should be okay.

I'm drinking Wu Yi Da Hong Pao and some more Hangzhou Long Jing - I'm trying to drink up my stores at the office, as we'll be moving to a new building soon.

I really enjoy reading Nigel Slater's pieces on the Guardian/Observer website. I'd like to pick up one or two of his books and wondering what people have and recommend? I'm leaning towards Real Fast Food, Real Food, or The Kitchen Diaries. Anyone have any of these?

Would it be worth getting this book if one didn't garden? I don't have the space for one, but almost all of the fruits and vegetables I eat are seasonal.

Thank you! Dry-fried beans are my husband's favourite dish - maybe if I tell him there's a recipe for it in her Sichuan book I'll be "allowed" to buy it. Hmm. I live in Suzhou, China, and right now, fresh favas are all over the place.