takadi

Anything with potassium sorbate has a very distinct flavor (or rather, a sensation). It has a tingly numbing sensation.

AHH I've been looking for this everywhere!! Beef chow fun is my all time favorite dish. I remember eating some at China Garden (back when they were amazing) it was so full of that "wok hei" everyone talks about (of course back then I didn't know what wok hei was). Everytime I make it though, the noodles are very very gooey and mushy. Perhaps it's because I buy my noodles refrigerated. I can't find ANY place near my area that has fresh noodles. I've been trying to look for a way to actually make homemade chow fun noodles (ho fun), but I can't find any recipe!! I bought rice, tapioca, and potato starch just in case, but if I could make my own noodles, I would be set for life!

I've heard people add all sorts of stuff to their pho. For instance, the peanut worm, spuncules, sipuncula, etc. also called "ruoi" in vietnamese is added to the pho for flavor. Cardamom, called "thao qua" is a very common ingredient, though it isn't necessary. All I did was take every recipe I found and combined them together.

I posted this in the Kitchen consumer section but I figured this thread was a more practical place to put it. Hand-hammered vs. machine made... I read here and there that hand-hammered woks last longer and are structurally more durable. Other than this claim and the authenticity of the hand-hammered wok, is there really any difference? I have a hand hammered wok and a machine made one. The hand hammered one doesn't have those lines made by the machine, and it's noticeably lighter and thinner. The machine made one I have is heavy gauge and very thick and is alot heavier. It was also more expensive. Would it be a better investment with the heavy gauge or the lighter hand-hammered? EDIT I just realized that my wok (pow wok) which claims to be hand hammered might not even be handhammered at all. It's thin and flexible and has no indentations, and I highly doubt hand hammered woks are like this. I bought this at the Wok Shop, which I heard good things about, but I'm starting to think they cheated me. EDIT 2 Scratch that, I actually emailed the wok shop about this and got a personal email back from Tane Chan. She proclaimed that the woks I had gotten WERE hand hammered, but had less defined ping marks. She actually embarked on a two year journey search for hand hammered woks with more defined ping marks and found one from Guangdong. I feel much better now.

I read here and there that hand-hammered woks last longer and are structurally more durable. Other than this claim and the authenticity of the hand-hammered wok, is there really any difference?

What is polished cast iron? This stuff (from Wagner's unfortunately vestigial web site). It's cast iron where the interior of the pan has been machined so that it is smooth instead of rough. Does polished cast iron make any difference in perfomance or seasoning strength? Or does it just look really pretty?

It's been a while since anyone has posted in this thread, but I need a express a concern. I bought a "pow" or bejing wok from www.wokshop.com. It was pretty expensive compared to the other woks, and I didn't notice any indentation marks from the actual hand hammering. I bought the book "breath of wok" that shows actual hand hammered woks and you see the small indentations all around the wok. I bought the hand hammered pow wok mostly as a collector's item, but I felt like I was being cheated in some way, like I was sent a machine pressed wok instead. Now that I look on the site again, they are selling ACTUAL hand hammered woks that they got exclusively from the the guangdong province. The picture advertisements look like actual handhammered ones I saw in the "breath of wok". Now I really feel cheated. Eh just a silly rant... EDIT Scratch that, I actually emailed the wok shop about this and got a personal email back from Tane Chan. She proclaimed that the woks I had gotten WERE hand hammered, but had less defined ping marks. She actually embarked on a two year journey search for hand hammered woks with more defined ping marks and found one from Guangdong. I feel much better now.

Alot of people order pad thai or curry when eating Thai food, but the first thing I order is pad see ew, which is basically beef chow fun thai style. The first time I had it, my girlfriend ordered it and I ordered pad thai. I tasted it and it's been my regular dish since. I could never figure out how to make it good, it always ends up either really soggy with sauce or burnt. I can never get that sweet eggy savory flavor the that restaurants get.

What's so good about copper that makes them good for sauteeing or frying? I thought cast iron would be a better job for that.

I'm not sure if this topic was already posted, but there's that whole debate on whether local or organic foods actually make any difference in taste, nutrition, etc. They even did a Time Magazine front page on this issue. There's that whole thing that local consumes less resources for transport, arrives fresher, and has more trustworthy sources. Then there's organic with their lack of pesticides, hormones, claims for more nutrition, etc. Then they say the standards for real organic aren't very regulated or defined, and that local produce are often limited in selection and supply and grown in the exact same way as commercially grown produce. Any thoughts?

ahhh why are all the good stuff in California? I have to order everything online when it comes to equipment for Asian food.

Thanks, I actually went ahead and bought the wok burner from www.outdoorstirfry.com. I bought the cheapest one on there, which claims to have 50K BTU. I figured I'm not experienced enough to handle the expensive super high BTU monsters yet. But once I save up enough money, I'll get my jet engine burner one way or another.

I've been told only good pho can come from the streets and restaurants. Home-cooking simply does not work, mostly because equipment and time. I love restaurant pho except for two things: the broth isn't rich enough, and most of all, THE MSG. Everytime I eat pho, afterwards, I feel like I haven't drank for days, I start feeling numb and dizzy, and I get headaches. But there's just that flavor of good pho that I can't describe. Is it the star anise? The cinnamon? The beef bones? The ginger? The onion? I researched on the internet, and found many many recipes, all with different ingredients and amounts. So I decided to take all of those ingredients and average them out together. I also took different methods and combined them. The resulting recipe looked like this: 6-7 lbs beef knuckle/bones 3-6 lbs oxtail 2-3 lbs back/short rib bones 1-2 lbs beef neck 1-2 lbs brisket/flank 4-7 anise pods 3 cinnamon sticks or 6 cassia chunks 4-6 whole cloves** 2-3 cardamom pods 1-2 tbsp fennel** 2-3 tbsp coriander seeds 2-3 bay leaves 1 tbsp black peppercorn 1-2 large chunk of rock candy 2 tbsp salt quarter cup-4 tbsp fish sauce 2-3 large onion 6-7 inches ginger 1 large parsnips* if using 3/4 daikon, use only one carrot or parsnip or half of each. 3/4 large daikon* 1 large carrot* -soak bones over night -trim fat from meat and bones and discard -place oxtail, ribmeat/neckmeat, flank, and bones in pot and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 3-5 minutes and let simmer for 10 minutes -remove bones and meat and rinse. -add to pot meat and bones and bring to boil -let scum rise -poke hole in scum to observe broth; when scum ceases to rise, begin skimming -add two more quarts of water and bring to another boil -skim some more -bring down to simmer and remove oxtail, flank, and ribmeat; leave a quarter to half of oxtails and add some fish sauce and sugar -simmer for at least 3-4 hours OR simmer overnight and remove bones in the morning -meanwhile, toast one half of spices. Mix together spices again, and then ground one half of spices. put ground spices in cheesecloth bag/fine sieve teaball and whole spices in large teaball -dry roast onion and ginger under broiler or on a skillet or over gas stove; remove black parts -place oxtail, rib/neck, flank in pot -if using cardamom, crack cardamom and steep in broth for 30-45 minutes prior to adding other spices and remove once fragrant -simmer for an hour -place onion, ginger, and spices in pot -simmer for 15-30 min -remove oxtail, flank, and ribmeat/neckmeat when tender (keep in broth longer if still tough); take off meat and soak in cold water. Slice flank into thin strips. Reserve meat for later and return bones to pot -simmer for 15-30 min -simmer for 1 more hour -taste broth; add back onion or spices if flavor is lacking -strain broth with cheesecloth and remove fat -take vegetables, onion, ginger and at least 3-4 egg whites and shells and grind coarsely in blender -take broth and let cool to room temperature -mix in egg white mixture -increase to simmering temperature while stirring constantly -stop stirring when coagulation starts -allow an egg white raft to form and poke a hole in the middle to allow bubbles to escape -remove raft after 30 minutes -move to rinsed pot and bring to a boil and then let simmer -add fish sauce, salt, sugar, and pepper to taste There were things I changed during cooking. I left the bones to simmer for three extra hours because I thought the stock was a little thin. A recipe that's very rough around the edges, but I actually tried it out. And they were right: this was extremely labor intensive and time consuming. The whole kitchen including me was covered in beef fat and particles. There were many things I noticed about the resulting liquid It did not smell like the pho I ate in restaurants. It smelled overwhelmingly like star anise and carrots, which was not something I planned for. I noticed that when I was roasting the ginger and onion and crushing up the spices, I had that EXACT same smell of pho from restaurants on my hands. I had no clue why it wasn't present at the end of the cooking. Perhaps the aromatics had evaporated away because I boiled it too long. I also noticed that the stock was very lacking in flavor. It tasted like slightly beefy water. So I added a VERY large amount of fish sauce until it tasted okay. Then the taste test arrived. I prepared some noodles, cut up some of the beef from the stock and cut up some rare beef. I chopped scallions and cilantro and basil. I prepared the bowl and poured in the hot stock. Topped it off with some pepper. The results? It was actually pretty good...but it wasn't good enough. It wasn't something I would consider absolutely delicious, and it definitely did NOT taste like the restaurant styles. First off, I noticed that it just tasted like regular beef broth with a hint of fishiness. In fact, I didn't really think it was beefy at all. I didn't detect my of the ginger, onion, spices. The broth almost tasted like a blander vegetable broth my grandmother made a while back. And I think if it weren't for the generous amounts of fish sauce I added, the broth would have been unpalatable. However, on the contrary, the soup was VERY rich. It was so unbelievably thick. Afterwards, my hands were actually sticky from the gelatin. And the spoon was glued onto the bowl. Wow. And when I refrigerated it, the stock became a stiff block of Jello. I keep hearing that more bones equal more flavor, but I'm seriously starting to doubt that. I'm starting to think that the gelatin and the richness of the stock actually is muddling up the flavors of the aromatics. Perhaps I am using poor quality ingredients. I bought the beef bones from an asian grocery store. It came in a bag and I didn't really find much marrow content in the bones. However the bones were VERY heavy in cartilage and fat. Perhaps I should buy bones with more meat and marrow. Maybe next time, I'll add more ginger and onion, add less bones and more meat, and leave out the toasting of the spices.

I might be a unique case, but I usually hold the belief that rustic, simple, old-school equipment usually works best and that any modern advancements made are not necessary. It's not that I wouldn't buy a Le Creuset, but I would only buy it if I truly need it. Call me a minimalist or a pragmatist. I would rather buy cheap good quality equipment that can get around some of its obstacles using common sense, skill and technique, rather than expensive equipment that does everything for me. And as the good Alton Brown would say: "I just love a multi-tasker" I actually cooked something for the first time in my Lodge dutch oven. I made some baked beans, and I didn't notice any weird iron flavor. Maybe because it wasn't very acidic but still. People say long braising times especially with acidic liquid in bare cast iron is bad, but is it really that bad? I have a feeling all the precaution is exaggerated, but if anyone has experience on this, feel free to tell me. I noticed that some people mention a special type of enamel coating called matte enamel, which is very very strong and acts almost like cast iron itself in that you can actually season it. It sounds good, but I'm wondering if anyone has any details such as its performance compared to the regular enamel and bare cast iron. So I believe in buying minimal equipment at a minimal price to do maximum jobs. Would I really be required to buy a Le creuset to cook something like Coq au Vin? Let me reword the question. A hundred years ago, did they cook Coq au Vin in regular cast iron? Or did they use something else besides cast iron?

Wow, this only embodies my dream of what I want to do when I grow a little older. Too bad though, probably in a generation all of the natural landscapes and traditions will be replaced by westernization.

lol, i'm kind of off topic (just joined), but I was actually faced with the decision of whether to buy a lodge dutch oven or wait to buy a le creuset. I mean, Le creuset appears to be superior in every way, but at 150 dollars extra! I'm thinking, you also can't abuse Le creuset as much because of the enamel coating, and plus because it so expensive. Plus, I keep hearing that if the seasoning is hardcore enough, bare cast iron can take any type of cooking regardless. So I went ahead and bought the Lodge dutch oven, but after reading this thread, I'm beginning to become unsure again. So Le Creuset makes a better fond, roux, acidic braise, tomato sauce, plus it's pretty and cleans well. But 200+ dollars? What's a impoverished college student to do

Hello everybody! I am completely new to this forum and came here because...surprise...I like food. Food is my porn, and when I get hungry, I start clicking away. So one day I was craving curry, and I miraculously ran into this site. Alas, now comes the barrage of questions that I've been holding in for so long... I guess I really got into the whole cooking thing my freshman year of college. Cafeteria food didn't really do it for me, so one of the first things from home I began to crave was Vietnamese noodle soup, or Pho. After a destroyed kitchen and several burns, my cooking subsided until finally I thought "Pho...noodles...beef chow fun...mmm" and shortly embarked on my journey again. So here's how it went: During my internet surfing time, I found that chinese food in generally is better in a wok. I went out and bought myself a cheapie non-stick wok. Then I find out that non-stick is BAD. I go out and buy a nice carbon-steel round bottom. Turns out round bottom and flat stove don't really mix. I go out and buy a carbon steel flat bottom. Then it turns out home stoves aren't good for chinese food! I wanted that beef chow fun realll bad, but there were so many questions, so much confusion... Is a wok any better than a skillet? What material is best for a wok? Is a wok truly as all purpose as it's said to be? How high should the heat be? How hot is too hot? What stove should I get? Charcoal or propane? I am generally really confused and still hungry, and I have 6 different types of woks sitting in my basement waiting for their day. So to start off on my journey, I start off with one question at a time, the first one being: What is the perfect wok stove/burner? The cheapest, the hottest, the most efficient, the most portable, the BEST wok stove there is. So I found many many burners and stoves out there. Charcoal- http://www.venta5.com/pinovations/pv06_qbstove.html This thing is beautiful. The problem is it's ONLY available in the Philippines. Volcano stoves These things cost 100 dollars a pop. But they are portable, can turn into a grill, and can use 300 lbs of charcoal a year for two meals a day. Joy Charcoal stove - http://photos.the-protagonist.net/fil_nego...expo_2006/stove According to a site, it won international recognition, and "has a regulator to adjust heat from low, medium to high. It, too, has a barbecue pit option and a handle". It too is only available in the Philippines. Propane - http://www.outdoorstirfry.com/ Cheapest wok burner is about $40 and burns at about 50K BTU. Most expensive ones are at least 200 dollars and burns at about 160K BTU. Big Kahuna wok burner The cheapest one I saw was about $66 with free shipping. It burns around 65K BTU Bayou Classic SQ54 High Pressure Jambalaya Burner Supposedly burns at 65K BTU and is even cheaper than Big Kahuna at $40. However, dimensions say it's 17 inches in diameter, which is way too large for a small wok. http://www.kingkooker.com/boiling.php We have the king kooker jet burner brands. They burn hot at about 100K BTU, but they are around $60-70, don't come with legs, and they questionably may or may not hold a wok. http://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/single_propane_burner.htm Then we have the Bayou classic high pressure/jet burners which burn at the least a HUGE 185K BTU's. AND they are dirt cheap. EVERYTHING that I wanted...except these bad boys don't hold a wok! The last set of stoves seem to be my ideal stove except for that ONE problem that it doesn't hold woks. I COULD buy one and maybe carve a hole in the middle. Now people might think "anything hotter than 50K BTU will vaporize your food!" Whydo Hong Kong cooks have stoves that pump out over 200K!? Now figuring that that largest wok I have is 14 inches, now I figure I'd rather have a burner with the widest range of temperatures, with the highest setting being very very hot. That way, if it's too hot, I can easily turn it down. Until then, the long arduous journey continues On the next episode, we attempt to find the only set of cookware you'll ever need!