phage

Whoo, it's been at least six years since I wrote on this thread. I find that sundaeguk is a lot commoner in the Western USA than it was back then. Try Pine Tree House (Sonamu jip) in Sacramento, JangSooJang in Salt Lake City, or New Seoul Garden in Beaverton, Oregon. But, alas, no Korean food where I live - a Korean restaurant one county over recently disappeared - but they only served dishes like bulgogi and galbi, nothing at all that might challenge the palates of the Republicans that live in this area. Well, perhaps another Korean restaurant will appear ephemerally nearby, and I'll be able to eat happily if briefly before they switch to teriyaki or return to the void.

I just bought some Crema Mexicana yesterday. It was, to my surprise, bitter... I haven't tried this before and wonder, is it supposed to be like that? It is several days past the pull-date - does this stuff turn bitter when it goes off, rather than just rot or sour. Other than the bitterness it doesn't seem bad.... Has anyone here actually had their cream go bitter? -- phage

Or Orpin Sedum. Dollamul: http://wiki.galbijim.com/Dollamul

A friend gave me a pot of buchu (Korean chives) a few years ago and in it there was also a tiny stem of something, roots broken off. It was dollamul. I planted it and it grew. And grew and grew. This tiny stem now has progeny scattered from Central California to Seattle and points between. Later in the season it (whatever I don't pick and eat) will be covered with small yellow flowers. A lot of succulents are poisonous but this one is good, pretty much the whole plant can be eaten unless it has gotten too tough at the base.

Cooking dinner today I both burned myself and stabbed myself. Neither very serious. Usually this doesn't happen - it's been a while since I sliced myself good.

In Papua-New Guinea years ago I found canned rice in the store. Sound terrible, though in a place where folks cooked by throwing their food onto the fire, maybe not so unreasonable..... Also, some of the newfangled waters - flavoring and Vitamin-C added, oxygen, whatever, all very expensive (though in attractive bottles.)

Got a good juicer at a yard sale a while back and haven't used it much - now I have bought a big bag of carrots and have been making juice from them. There's lots of carrot pulp left over - seems like it should be good for more than compost. So far I've tried two things: little fried carrot cakes (mixing pulp with glutenous rice flour and seasonings and frying it.) This seems to have potential.... Soup: with the carrot okara as a major ingredient. Anyone have more ideas on how to use this? Also wondering if this stuff has much nutritional value.

It took about a month. I enjoy the tea. I put it in my middle category, which is teas I'll finish every leaf of but not reorder, which is good because it's sold out and not available anymore. This was my second time ordering from them. I had ordered something like 4 darjeelings and this was my favorite, so I ordered another batch. It's a 2007 Sungma China Classic. The description of the 2008 Sungma Delight in the link I posted has some similarity. Mine is very buttery and somewhat sweet but I wouldn't describe it as sugary or limey. Mine is also somewhat green when infused. The other teas I ordered from them tasted a little stale--as though the month of travel didn't do them any good, but for some reason this one came through fine both times. I like it best cold-brewed. It brings out what I call the over-tones, though I don't think that's an official tea term.

Thanks for your reply and in advance for your research. I did some more myself and came up with a similar idea--that there are 2 types of bushes--the indigenous Indian variety and those imported from China. I'm guessing the China-hybrid is a hybrid of both or two Chinese varieties?

The exact tea has been sold out but here is a link to a page of theirs that describes similar teas among others. http://www.thunderbolttea.com/pages/first_flush_darjeeling_tea.html

I have a tea from Thunderbolttea that is described as a Darjeeling china or china grade tea. I thought all tea from Darjeeling was originally from china. Does this mean it's an oolong tea or what?

But, no, it's not an allergy or reaction to MSG. I have an allergy to wheat. And it's not just with Chinese food. With a lot of food I can tell just by looking at it whether to avoid it. Or by feeling it, in the case of SE Asian noodles. They must think it very strange when I go into an Asian food shop and squeeze the packages of prepared soup - but those with wheat are hard and those made from rice are springy! This is more reliable than reading the labels - I've found some of these Thai or Vietnamese soups give the main noodle ingredient as "flour", but in French it says something like "farine de riz." Back to the topic - I'm just wanting to know if: A. Some ingredient(s) commonly used for flavor has large amounts of wheat, and what would it be? B. Do they often use wheat flour for thickening (this considering that most Chinese restaurants are Cantonese, plus the odd Hunan, Sichuan, etc...) C. And what can I (in a practical sense) ask them to omit or substitute. Some restaurants are worse than others regarding their use of wheat. Unfortunately in my part of the country, they are the ones with the best Chinese food....

I am allergic to wheat. (I'm not a celiac - not allergic to gluten, just to wheat.) A little soy sauce usually doesn't bother me all that much - but some Chinese restaurants seem just to have a lot of stuff that gives me an unexpectedly intense bad reaction. So, here are my questions: 1. What makes some Chinese dishes so dark? 2. Do Chinese restaurants in North America sometimes thicken their food with wheat flour instead of corn starch? 3. What can I ask them to omit in cooking dishes? I'm not talking about food that's clearly wheaty - like much dim sum, egg foo yung, chow mein noodles. It's the stuff that is mainly vegs. and meat, with various kinds of sauces. --Phage

I've begin to notice this in the past year or two - before that the fermented tofu seemed "normal" - good or less good, but all within a spectrum. Recently the stuff seems to be strange. Wish we had a government that was willing to analyze this stuff, and see what is really in it. One brand particularly, was marked way down, was quite flavorful (lots of MSG, perhaps?) but left me feeling slightly poisoned. The brand I've found that seems (so far) to be dependably consistent is AFC - comes with a red and white label - the lid says AFC in a oval, all in red. It's made by Koon Yick Foods Co. in Shenzhen. I'm not saying its the best in the world - but it's not bad - and it has been reliable. I've got this in several Asian stores on the West Coast of the U.S. I'd been trying different brands, looking for something extra good or interesting, but too many disappointments - I'll stick with AFC I guess, unless someone can convince me otherwise....

I agree. That also goes to creatures like crab and shrimp... creatures that feed on dead marine bodies. ← hummmmmm...I guess you also cannot eat fresh stream/lake trout, free range chickens, free range pork, etc., etc. BTW most creatures eat other creatures/plants which in a chain eventually get back to dead creatures/plants. however, I fully support your attitude...it allows the rest of us to enjoy the many gifts of nature as edible delights. another thought...how well filtered is the water you drink? is it from lake, stream or reservoir sources? if so, think of all the crap which falls to the bottom before you get it! ← Well, I'm not really serious about the lobster being inedible - it's more that I see that there are many folks who'd eat lobster (with all its ugliness and unsavoury eating habits) at the drop of a hat, but wouldn't think of eating something that they are not familiar with even though it may be less weird or disgusting.