nakji

I hunted for a week for this book in Hong Kong and it was sold out everywhere I looked...except for in the last bookstore on my list!! I've bought it, but I had to tuck it into luggage I left in a friend's apartment while I go on a backpacking trip, so I haven't had a good, proper page through it yet, to tab all the recipes I want to try. Lemon bars and chocolate chip cookies look like they'll be on the top of the list, though. Are there any good vegetable dishes that look good to try?

You can peel them and enjoy them raw - into a dip, or dipped into a chili powder-sugar-lime mix. Or slice them thinly and add them to any salad where you want a crunch - like a coleslaw. Or cube it finely and mix it into chicken or tuna salad.

I'm ashamed to say that I store most of my tea in the cello bag it comes in, butterfly-clipped shut, and shoved in my top drawer at work. In the morning I dump out the wet leaves out of the mug from the night before, rinse the cup, sprinkle in new leaves, and pour hot water on them, grand-pa style. So I'm not particularly fussy when it comes to tea storage.

I'm not sure how it stands up to other tea caddies, Richard, but it does the job for me. My tea turns over pretty quick, though. The inside has an inset lid under the top that is machined to fit snugly inside. When you fit it in, there's a nice amount of air resistance that you can feel, so I suspect there's a pretty good seal. I love my Vietnamese cups, too - the one with leaves on it has a crackle glaze and unusual maroon flowers that I particularly enjoy. I often make lemongrass tea for these cups.

Muffin pans - if you don't make muffins regularly. I couldn't find one to buy recently as I've been going through a muffin phase, so I just bought some sturdy foil muffin cups, set them on a cookie sheet at regular intervals, and used that to cook them. It worked out fine. It's possible, I suppose, that the metal sides of a dedicated tin help muffins to rise higher or something, but if you don't make muffins often, or if you have a small kitchen without a lot of storage space, I question the usefulness having a dedicated pan.

I made the pumpkin muffins over the weekend to help get me through a particularly difficult week at work - I also had a can of pumpkin puree in the cupboard I'd bought meaning to make a pie but never got around to. Anyway, I made them with a few tweaks, of course; I didn't have any nuts on hand, so I used all sunflower seeds, and I couldn't find sultanas, so I used raisins from Xinjiang, which are a kind of long and green. They're not very plump, but the have excellent flavour. The muffins won raves from my Chinese co-workers, who enjoyed the use of both cinnamon and ginger in a sweet cake, and loved them. Just to show that good food knows no borders.

Oddly enough for me, it's supermarket vegetables in Canada. I lost my taste for pretty much every pre-packaged food in the centre supermarket aisles after my first five years in Asia, when none of that was available to me. (Except for Skippy peanut butter; that's still ok.) But anyway, when I go back to Canada, what I find jarring is the really horrible, tasteless nature of vegetables like green onions or lettuce in the supermarket. It seems like Bunniculahas been at them. If I go to a farm stand or produce specialist like Pete's Frootique and get local products, I'm fine. But obviously, anything that's been trucked in from California or Mexico? I'd might as well be eating Styrofoam. I can really taste whether a vegetable is fresh or not now; I couldn't before.

Yes, I can confirm the Muji ice ball works a treat; no cracks, and it's not wet when you remove it from the mould. Neither my husband nor I are much into cocktails; I enjoy an occasional martini of course, but he likes his bourbon on the rocks. Or ball, as it is now. The ball lasts at least 45 minutes, and is a nice conversation piece at parties. It takes some planning to produce enough for a group of friends, though. We also have the Muji silicon diamond-shape ice moulds, but I think the diamonds melt too quick.

I've seen single-origin chocolate in various places, most memorably in Japan, where a popular brand, Meiji, made boxes of individual squares and bars in single origin. As I recall, there was Venezuelan bitter squares, and Costa Rica and Madagascar bars. I tried the Venezuelan and the Madagascar, and both tasted distinctly different, although I can't attribute it to terroir, really based on how much I know about chocolate. I'd love to hear what someone who has done some reading on the topic has to say.

I've seen those travel kits in China, too. I've always wondered what kind of tea emergency would require a mini-gaiwan travel set. Here are my daily pieces: On the left is my stainless steel tea caddy, which I use for genmaicha. Just behind that is a porcelain caddy with a rubber seal that I use for my tie guan yin. In the middle is my favourite cup, a rough pottery piece I got at a local art shop. Next to that is my white porcelain yunomi that matches my dishes. On the far right is another yunomi that a Japanese friend gave me - it's smaller, and lightly glazed with a lavender wash. In the front are two traditional Vietnamese cups, which hold a lot less. I use them for during lessons - when out Mandarin tutor comes to the house, we always set out tea. Here's my teapot: Nothing much fancy about it, which I like for daily use. The mesh insert will probably have to be replaced eventually, but other than that it works fine - no drips. I also use it brew my coffee in the morning (without the infuser). I just fit a coffee filter to the top and pour hot water in. It multi-tasks.

Excellent, I'll check that recipe out - I picked up a cauliflower at the market yesterday, so it's perfect timing. That milk trick sounds cool, but I rarely, if ever, have milk in the house. Ideally, I'd like to buy the salt-packed ones, since they sound like they're better quality, but since I can hardly ever find the little oil tinned ones, I doubt I'll be able to find those.

My teaware is far more pedestrian than the beautiful pieces in this topic. (Aside from my gaiwan, which I mainly like to look at) I use a plain white porcelain Muji teapot with inset mesh infuser for all of my teas - oolongs, mugichas, nokchas - the lot. I prefer drinking from a Japanese-style teacup (yunomi), and have a small collection - my every day ones, which are also from Muji and match my dishes, but a couple of handmade ones from local potters as well. They're good for warming up your hands this time of year. I also have two tea caddies - a stainless steel one for Japanese teas, and a porcelain one I bought from a housewares design shop in Shanghai. Neither are particularly traditional, but I do like the way they look on my kitchen counter!

I've finally managed to locate some (cheap, tinned) anchovies, so I can make my beloved "Pasta with mushrooms" sauce from Marcella Hazan. However, since they're tinned, I'll have to use the remaining fishes up fairly quickly - I've read through this topic and can see that they're versatile little fishies - any more ideas on how to use these? I don't make pizzas or salads very often, but I'm thinking of slipping a couple into a roasting chicken or similar.

When I'm planning a Japanese or Korean meal, with many small side dishes to go along with whatever main course were having, I like to try and balance textures, tastes, and ease of preparation. So for example - Korean - Ddalk Galbi (a spicy dish of chicken ribs sauteed with chili paste, green onions, and sweet potato) This is spicy, so I need side dishes that will work with that. I would make a cold cucumber soup with vinegar and a bit of chili for seasoning; a creamy salad, like a macaroni salad made with mayonnaise and fresh vegetables; and a kimchi, for salty-sourness and crunch - I prefer radish cube kimchi, although cabbage kimchi is fine as well. Japanese - Nikku Jyaga (a soy-and-sesame oil accented beef and potato stew) This is a relatively mild, rich dish, so I want something green, like cooked spinach dressed with ponzu or lemon, to cut through that. I don't need a protein, so I probably wouldn't include a tofu dish, but I would add a crunchy pickle of some sort - maybe pickled cucumbers with sesame seeds or daikon with yuzu zest.

Sometimes the dish itself is a blank canvas onto which people's personal flavour desires are drawn. I'm thinking especially of dishes like pho. When it's set down in front of you, it's a bowl of beef noodle soup. It's what you do to it after that elevates it to something crave-worthy. For example, mine always gets herbs,lime, and pickled garlic slices for a more acidic note. My husband always adds onions and bean sprouts because he doesn't want to correct the flavour, just the texture. My friend wouldn't consider eating it at all without two spoons of good, pho-house-made chili sauce. The original dish is just a jumping-off point, a beginning for deliciousness, that ecumenically allows for people of varying tastes to enjoy the same dish. Am I correct in thinking that a lot of good pasta recipes call for a drizzle of fine olive oil at the end, just before serving, as a seasoning?

I bought a roasting chicken last night, and will be attempting to make this dish. The dumplings I'm used to were steamed in a covered pot as well - maybe that's why I'm disinterested in them. I'll try baking mine to a crispy top, instead. Now - never having made this dish before, nor having grown up eating it (it was always beef stew and dumplings at my house), I didn't know the chicken was cooked especially for this dish - I'd assumed it was just a way to use up leftover roast chicken, which is how I'm planning to make mine later this week. Monday night; roast chicken; make the broth from the bones; Tuesday lunch, chicken sandwiches; Tuesday dinner, chicken and dumplings. I'm going to make a biscuit-crispy top with Chinese garlic chives baked in, for some extra flavour.

A little acid goes a long way in brightening up greens, that's for sure. A drop of Chinkiang vinegar is also a good addition to stir-fried greens. Like - tossed with pasta and olive oil? I was thinking some might stand up to that treatment. What's the general method for putting greens into a soup, though? Do they have to be fairly sturdy greens, or can more delicate ones be used as well?

Or you could just put them on paper/foil trays lined up, then bag or cover the tray. As long as you keep the trays flat on the way home, they should be ok. I've seen some dumpling makers dust their dumplings with a little cornstarch. This has the added benefit of creating that great dumpling crust in the pan when you make gyoza. With Lunar New Year coming up in early February, you could have a party to ring in the year of the Tiger.

I've been trying to think of new ways to incorporate greens into my diet, since fully half the produce market seems full of these, and I feel it's a shame to ignore them. I like to saute spinach with sesame oil and garlic. When I get my hands on fresh pea shoots, I put them into a nabe/hot pot with mushrooms and a spicy broth. I've never cooked mustard greens before, though, and I've been wondering what to do with those, water spinach and other exotic (to me) greens I have at my disposal. ETA: I'm particularly interested in soup or pasta ideas.

I imagine in families like the ones my parents grew up in - my mother had eight siblings; my father had five - the dumplings were there to stretch the dish. I grew up eating beef stew with dumpling, which I found wretched. But then, I think my mother was using a recipe straight out of the Purity cookbook, so I don't think a lot of allowance was being made for flavour. I'd be interested in trying some dumplings that have herbs in them. Does anyone use a recipe that calls for dried or fresh herbs in the dumplings?

I remember this; I paid 700 yen one week to get 250g of Danish butter because it's just something I couldn't do without. I'll eat less of it, but I won't switch to margarine - I just can't stand the taste. In China I buy imported butter. The cheapest is Westgold from New Zealand, at about 25 RMB or ~$3.60 USD for 250g. When I'm feeling flush, I buy Lurpak or President, at ~5.20 USD for 200g - I much prefer the taste of European butter. I assume that Australian and New Zealand dairy herds have significantly different diets, which affects the taste of the butter. Or the product is shipped poorly. Either way, I find the European butters nicer.

I really, really want to try the apple fritters - and the ice cream for that matter, but I don't have an ice cream maker, so that's probably out. Tell me more about the scallops.

Arctic char is a beautiful fish. My grandmother in Labrador has a regular supply, and always brings us one, wild caught and frozen, whenever she comes to visit. I like it best grilled, stuffed with sliced onions, wrapped up in foil.

A tablespoon of fresh ginger, sauteed in a neutral oil, to which you add a can of tomatoes and an equal measure of your favourite stock, simmer for about ten minutes, and whizz in the blender - it's a great, quick soup, especially to dress up the side of a cheese sandwich. Tomato soup and rilled cheese sandwiches has got to be my favourite rainy-day combination from when I was a kid, and I find the ginger makes it even more warming.

Gak! Hibernophobic? Is it a really a slur - considering it's the smallest amount of liquor you can buy in a go?