Jinmyo

Slices of rare lamb liver on a bed of caramelized onion topped with chopped smoked bacon; very rare lamb kidney with turnip puree and a drizzle of mint oil; slow braised lamb shoulder, pulled, mixed with mache and Dijon vinaigrette with rosemary and garlic crostini; pureed pea and mint soup with a roasted red pepper and chevre disc.

Brown rice has 2.5, white has 2.1. Hardly significant. When paired with the proteins in miso shiru, tofu, and shitake mushrooms both will become adequate.

Suzanne, if you whip the natto as per usual and then bury it in onigiri (rice balls) you wouldn't notice the gossamer threads of goodness. In miso shiru it is quite apparent. Unless you just drink the soup directly from the bowl in a few turns.

Andy, yes. And you could thank him for the caussoulet.

Great link, Andy. Thanks.

lizziee, I was just going to recommend natto with quail egg.

Bux, I think that you're right. I'll not eat anything from a steam table.

Jason, do you like tteokbokgi? There seems to be no standard transliteration system for Korean, so I'll describe: Cut strings of rice cake in a chile sauce with beef or fish cake. Wonderful stuff. Common street food sold from covered wagons.

Most kinds of bibimbap use regular, wide bowls. With the dolsot, the rice goes in hot and crisps up nicely through contact with the hot stone. You can get huge stone bowls and serve from them. That way you can pick up the bowl that you're eating from.

Certainly. To "bibim" is to "stir together" vegetable or meat toppings with boiled calrose rice ("bap"). There are innumberable varities of bibimbap but the most popular are perhaps those that use a dolsot or stone bowl which is heated on the burner until a few grains of rice dropped into it crackle. Fill the bowl about two thirds full of rice. Add kimchee, chopped scallion, deep fried tofu, some steamed greens or perhaps microgreens, some red chile powder or threads. Crack an egg on top or lay a very lightly fried egg atop. A sprinkle of gomasio is nice. You can mix gochujang chile paste into the vegetables or serve it on the side. Carefully lift the very hot bowl and put it on the tray it was purchased with. Now, bibim your bap. Panchan or side dishes such as manduk (gyoza), japchae (vegetables with cellophane noodles), kimbap (maki of various kinds), and a few other kinds of kimchee such as kkakdugi (diced daikon kimchee) go nicely.

Hm. There can be more to it than that, such as contacts. Some items have quotas on them because the supplier can only get so much. I have ongoing tussles with various folk around town for who gets the goods by getting to the guy first. Once the goods are got, tough luck until next week. And it never reaches the civilian public.

Cooking for 2 vs. cooking for 20. Or 60. Or 80. Or 300. One set of dishes vs. 40 or 50 items. "Oh, it's hot in here. Open a window." vs. the air is 130 F.

I make pestos from basil/pine nuts/ parmigiano reggiano; fennel, lemon, walnuts; whole lemon (rind and all) thyme; Chinese celery, peanuts, fermented tofu. You can do whatever you want. As long as it works.

I admire Trotter's efforts to educate civilians and the public not only about food but about what he calls "excellence". As I understand it, there are almost weekly school trips from high schools that 1) receive a great meal 2) a tour of the kitchen, wine cellar, studio room 3) and a lecture from Charlie, light gleaming off his glasses, hands clenching and slashing, about not wasting their youths but going for it, "striving for excellence". Scary stuff probably, but very well intentioned.

Um, except, um, that's not really pad thai.

Yes, you need one. At least. I have suribachi of varying sizes, a southeast Asian big guy, and some iron mortars for small quantities of spices. I'm generally against kitchen gadgets. This isn't like a gadget. It's like a knife. Pretty basic.

I agree about street vendors. I still remember a roasted turnip had from a vendor in a Beijing alley.

This is just in case Shaun Hill is reading. What Andy said. And thanks again for the Q&A.

Dave, thanks for the input.

Our Jamie just has to bring in some old Boy's Life trick to make it really pukkha. Ignore him. He'll go away. edit: To Cathy's response below: A pre-emptive: Eh.

ollie, welcome. I second what Cathy says. And stress the point of not trying to move the fish if it is sticking. And sure, stuff it, just making sure the stuff is not too wet.

The patented Bourdain Immune System Megabooster diet. As seen on TV. Order now. Good advice though. Especially about a full screen on return. Someone who works for me goes to China three or four times a year (and brings back flower mushrooms for the kitchen). She had the biggest worm you've ever seen. (Well, perhaps not Tony). And another time tiny flora lining her gut. She used to wait until she felt ill until going to the tropical specialist. Now it's the day following return. Another friend still can't shake a skin fungus that followed him back from Egypt four years ago.

Ttokbokgi (Korean rice cakes fried with chile bean-paste and Shanghai bok choy); grilled striploin, sliced sashimi thin with slivered scallion and daikon salad; wakame broth with one grilled sea scallop per bowl; gohan (Japanese white rice) with goamsio (toasted sesame salt).

A few days ago I had some leftover pot-au-feu. I incorporated it into a simple tomato sauce with lobster mushrooms and tossed some ziti with it. A parsley and spinach broth with poached eggs and croutons. A salad of white and fava beans with celery greens and roasted parsley roots, turnips, parsnips, celery (all cut into julliene first).

Very interesting, Liza. Thanks.