Jinmyo

What's the 411 on those teas? I thought I was reasonably tea-literate, but have never heard of ancien tea. I am assuming that this is legit 85 yrs (not like 1000 yr eggs). Where do you get them? How are they aged - in large lots? in bricks? Seriously curious, A. (The tea bug bit when I discovered there was something called 'Monkey-picked tea' ...and it was good!) These are Chinese teas, varities of Pu-er, from Yunnan province. I believe that they were aged in bricks although we received them in caddies. They were a gift from someone travelling in Yunnan. Thee was also a stone urn of spring water that came with them. I think such teas would be available from some of the TenRen shops but have no real expertisde in this area.

Thanks, tissue!

Rice slices (tteok).

Certainly konnyaku is very good at absorbing flavours. But I have never been able to find anything it could contribute to a dish except bulk.

Anna, her current call-in live program is certainly an improvement over her previous series.

I've used pomegranite molasses. But not for about two years. I'll have to check and see if it's still lurking somewhere and chuck it.

Steve, Cushing told people doing a call-in that mirin (sweet cooking wine) is rice vinegar (su). Yes, the FN Canada site is quite well done. There are some interviews with St. Mario and Vic Chanko (A Bourdain) that I've posted about before.

Christine Cushing.

Sounds nice, Yossarian. Welcome to eGullet. Gohan (Japanese rice) with toasted nori sheets. Beef and shoyu consomme. Shrimp shu mai. Roasted "king mushrooms" from Yunnan in chile oil with pressed tofu. Steamed gai lan (Chinese broccoli) with baby Shanghai bok choy with fermented tofu.

Karylou, give 'em as gifts to rubes who'll be impressed.

Suzanne, an excellent report. Sigh. Porcini.

Curries.

Elyse, welcome to eGullet. May the Bacon God bless and keep you.

Kristin, I warm some dashi and whisk it into some miso (usually shiro -white). Then additional flavours such as citrus or chiles or crushed ginger will really depend upon the other dishes of the meal as a whole.

HB, Southeast Asian food, while its own sphere, has much that can inform Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cuisines. Indian as well. The emphasis on fresh herbaceous flavour profiles for example. And certainly bringing in Southeast Asian heat to supplement the range of chiles is a good thing.

What are they called in Mandarin and Cantonese, Ed?

An excellent point, Steve. Just as the question of whether cuisine is art or craft generally falls towards craft, restaurant criticism is a journeyman's craft. The criticism is written for pay about how much one would pay to eat a particular place. There is little room for art because the consumers of the criticism only pay for it to find out how much they have to pay to "eat out".

Yeah, like that movie. Gad, that was scary, NSM. Lou, re iced tea. That's pretty scary too. Re cilantro:

Nah, tamari is just aged shoyu without wheat. It's good.

Tenderloin is about soft mouthfeel. Eat silken tofu then. Which is good. But for pork I want loinchops or a pulled shoulder for flavour. For beef, a ribeye steak or prime rib or nasty chuck stuff to do a daube.

Mebbe they just gestate over time then.

NSM, what are the dark, frog egg bits?

Really, lou? Sounds good.