Spike L

Hey Chris, welcome to eGullet! I don't think I'll be trying this recipe any time soon, but wanted to say that I absolutely love your channel. I haven't been on here in a while, but I think this is the PERFECT place for sharing this kind of stuff - if we can somehow dig some of the posters I remember from a few years back who really geek out on Chinese food (Dejah? hzrt8w? Prawncrackers?) I bet we'd get some really interesting discussions. In terms of food geekery, I will never forget when origamicrane made siu yuk with 8 different denaturing agents to find out what made the crispiest skin - so you should be right at home here!

The first thing I thought of when seeing "red chicken" was the kho (caramel) style dishes from Vietnam, which are similar to Chinese red-braised dishes but not always long-simmered. In this specific case, ga kho gung (caramel chicken w/ginger), which doesn't always turn out deep red when cooked at home, but I've definitely been to restaurants where whatever they've done has ensured that it's come out a really deep red.

This popped up in a few news sources when it was being Kickstarted: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scotfrank/solsource-cook-anything-under-the-sun Not sure what the equivalent BTU would be. But seems to take a different approach from the SunOven

I might be shooting in the dark here, but... maybe tapioca starch?

Arbutus has bar space too

The only one to mention THE most important tool. GOOD KNIVES!! ← I think that was implied within "good sharp cleaver".. no need for knives if you know how to use your cleaver

Tayyab's - Fieldgate St Gram Bangla - Brick Lane

Short drive out of Boulogne: http://www.lhostelleriedelariviere.fr/engl...la-riviere.html Stayed and ate there a few times a couple of years back, unless much has changed I had no complaints whatsoever, good food and good room

http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/11/...in-chicken.html

I've found a surprising source of good pizza to be Olive on Hoxton St... just opposite Bacchus. Thin bases, good topping... and oddly only £3 for the basic margherita. I'd be intrigued to see what others make of it

Soseki: http://www.soseki.co.uk/ Made it in for the soft opening: excellent cooking, and, if the service has improved (waitresses were still not familiar with dishes etc.), an amazing all round experience. Maybe a little bit pricey compared to other similar offerings, but definitely worth a look. Set menus at £45/£50 with optional wine pairings, also £25 "quick" menu and "western" menu which just looked a little bit strange...

Does anyone have some good recommendations of how to take good care of your pestle and mortar? I have a Thai granite one, and never know whether washing it with soap will affect the flavour of what I next pound. At the moment I just wash it out with warm water and my hand...

How about St John's? Their group menus look incredible and start at £30 per head...

Can anyone shed any light on the practicality of this setup? http://www.youtube.com/user/chefbalcer

Just out of curiosity, what is your issue with the name? Alimentum is simply Latin for "food".. Anyway, I'm planning to visit next time I return to Cambridge - however, some of my friends have checked it out and gave a very positive account of it. The lunchtime menu was described as excellent value, especially seeing as you could easily spend the same amount on three vastly inferior courses at the bunch of chain restaurants at the Cambridge Leisure Centre (Nandos, Bella Italia and the other two). I'm glad to hear that Cambridge finally has somewhere decent to eat