C. sapidus

Thanks, Teepee! Yes, the rice was not cooked in the soup, but added at the table.

Katie: No problem - you should have a PM in your inbox. Enjoy!

Shaya: Wow, another incredible dinner! Sorry to hear that you are afflicted with the cilantro = soap gene, though. We made Tai Bai chicken (Tai Bai ji – from Land of Plenty); Napa cabbage and shrimp soup (canh cai kim chi nau tom – from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen); and jasmine rice. More information about the chicken on Chinese eats at home (post #775 – click), and the soup on Vietnamese food (post #249 – click)

If I didn’t come here for the food, it would be worth visiting this thread for the fascinating cultural and linguistic insights. Tonight we made Tai Bai chicken (Tai Bai ji), from Land of Plenty. This had tingly Sichuan peppercorn ma; plenty of la from the dried chilies, pickled Thai chilies, and chile paste; rich flavor from a cup of chicken stock reduced to its essence; and nutty fragrant Sesame oil. The absolutely delicious flavors lingered pleasantly after the last mouthful, like a guest that can’t bear to leave a good dinner party. Served with Napa cabbage and shrimp soup (canh cai kin chi nau tom) and jasmine rice.

Napa cabbage and shrimp soup (canh cai kim chi nau tom), from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. This simple soup packed a lot of flavor. The soup base was sauteed onions and dried shrimp, seasoned with salt, fish sauce, and white pepper, and garnished with scallions. Rice was a nice addition, and the boys loved the soup. Very WW-friendly, too. Served with Tai Bai chicken (Tai Bai ji) and jasmine rice.

Dianne: Your shrimp in spicy tamarind sauce looks good (in an upside-down sort of way ) - how did it taste? [ulterior motive - I am also starting to work my way through Into the Vietnamese Kitchen].

Lonnie: Yes, Trung Nguyen coffee is a remarkable bargain. Today’s breakfast: omelet with a filling of sauteed chilies, shallots, garlic, cilantro, and sweet-salty ketjap manis. Fuji apple and buttered whole-wheat English muffin. I’m narrowing down on my favorite omelet fillings, and this is getting close for a non-cheese, non-meat omelet.

Percy: Thanks! That batch of coffee was from Starbucks, but this morning we received two Trung Nguyen coffees: Passiona (naturally low-caffeine, but unfortunately only available pre-ground); and Legendee (whole-bean). We made Passiona coffee in the special filter this afternoon – it was excellent with sweetened condensed milk. My wife loved the coffee black – its chocolate and caramel flavors gave the coffee a natural sweetness. Filters are often available at Asian markets, or you can order them from Trung Nguyen Coffee Online (click) in Massachusetts. Aluminum filters are $2.50 USD, and stainless steel filters are $4.00 USD, a remarkable bargain IMO.

Abra: Wow, that all looks so good. Friends spend a month in Georgia, and came back raving about the food and wine. Did you have any Georgian wine with your feast? Special shout-outs:

I debated where to post this – coffee or breakfast – but this was this morning's breakfast. Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk (ca phe sua nong): Dripping through the special filter: Finished dripping: Mixing the coffee and SCM: Mmm - ready to drink (with a few extra coffee chunks, 'cuz of the blade grinder):

Hmm, you notice the smaller skillet without the potholder thingie? That's because potholder thingies on small skillets catch fire (or at least smolder in a threatening manner) when used on a gas stove. Bring back asbestos potholders?

I’m not very good at describing flavors, but galangal seems to have more of a woody or muddy flavor compared with the clean, sharp flavor of ginger. If you find frozen galangal, thaw it and use it like fresh galangal. I have heard that dried galangal loses a lot of flavor. You can mail order fresh galangal from Temple of Thai (click) in New York. Until I found a local source, I frequently substituted ginger for galangal in Thai curries. The taste is different, but the end result can still be very good. YMMV, especially if galangal is dominant flavor in the dish.

Mmm, that looks delicious, Shaya. Did you use a particular recipe? ETA: better to reply on the Thai cooking at home thread. My bad.

Rachel - I cannot take credit for the skillets. The small one was a present from my MIL, and came with several decades of seasoning. The other, a recent addition, was seasoned by the good folks at Lodge. Why thank you - you are too kind. Ah Leung's mapo tofu is definitely on my to-do list, and please thank Carol for her questions and excellent suggestions for future stir-fries. Definitely - but probably after a few days of spaghetti with pre-formed meatballs and jarred sauce (one of the boys favorite dinners, by the way).

I wish to thank everyone for their kind comments, thoughtful questions, and for making this a very enjoyable week. I would be gravely remiss if I did not thank my family for their support. The boys were very tolerant about this rather odd endeavor. Particular thanks and appreciation to Mrs. Crab. She had lots of great ideas, took many of the pictures, and bore without complaint extra shopping, clean-up, and parenting duties while I resized pictures and tapped away at the keyboard. Thanks a bunch, hon! Thank you for sharing this week with our family, and visiting Frederick . . . . . . where there are angels in the architecture . . . . . . and the sun sets over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Goodbye! Edited to add the pictures that I meant to add in the first place.

nice way to end the blog. i have a bottle of elk run ice wine downstairs that a friend gave me several years ago that i've never opened. i should get to that one of these days... edited to say thanks for doing this! good fun. ← Thank you - everyone helped make it quite enjoyable.

Thank you!

The boys eat in the school cafeteria, and they seem to like the cafeteria food (I did too, at their age). I have not heard them complain about not having enough time, but they usually wolf down their food pretty quickly. Younger son goes through lunch money twice as fast as older son – we still haven’t figured that out. Mrs. Crab and da boyz have been very, very good sports. Edited to elaborate.

Thank you, Pam. WW has had some influence - we use a lot less coconut milk than before, for example. For the most part, we are still making the same food. Mrs. C fills up on veggies (which typically have zero points) and adjusts portion sizes on the points-rich dishes.

Oh, I hope so! Um, I was just following the recipe. Is it unusual to "blanch" the tofu? Using both sounds like a great idea - I'll try that next time. You are quite welcome!

Thank you very much, alana. I'll have lots of ideas for the next mapo dofu session.

Thank you, Kay. I have heard of the Carriage Inn, but never had the pleasure of a visit. Yes, the shopping options have greatly improved in the past few years. We will see about the wall to wall houses. When my parents moved to Silver Spring in the late 1950s, it was considered "out in the country." My father told me that Piney Branch Road, now a major thoroughfare, was still a dirt road.

Awesome! Do tell how you like the chicken. Who knew cucumbers would be the star of the blog.

Yes, a very nice person kindly sent that to me. I thought you might notice the chilies. Thanks, Susan. We would not change many things about the kitchen, although we have been very unhappy with the Whirlpool dishwasher - two service calls in the first year, and it does a lousy job of getting dishes clean. We were very happy with our last Whirlpool, so maybe we just got a lemon. I once read that if you get 80% of what you wanted after a kitchen renovation, you did a pretty good job. It is a Black & Decker with one long slot. We are happy with it, but we don't use a toaster that much. This was the first time we had it out in several months.

Thank you very much!