takadi

As the 21st century chugs along, we find simple video sharing sites like youtube evolving into a massive social network of videos, sharing ideas, humor, stories, and things you would never find on TV. What I've noticed is the appearance of home chefs showing their skills and recipes for the entire world to see. The stark difference between these youtube chefs and the ones you often find on TV is the raw sense of reality and personalization. The low quality webcam recordings, the lack of flashy music and special effects, the one-on-one environmental settings, and the customized formats of their videos and editing, and the open comment section all provide a down to earth and personal connection with the cook and the viewers. No longer is the chef a untouchable entity but a teacher and a friend right in your very own kitchen. And without the pressures of ratings and TV spots, he or she has absolute freedom in his own domain. The sweet korean lady "Maangchi" shows you step by step how to make homemade kimchi. The wise-cracking Chef Jon of "foodwishes" shows you his very own version of steak au poivre or fried chicken. The giant teddy bear "jaybobed" teaches you homegrown cast iron cooked southern delicacies. The list goes on and on. The implications of youtube replacing television as we know it are already on its way, with major news stories breaking through youtube videos, soldiers communicating via vlog about their adventures in Iraq, and whole cultures and memes being formed virtually. And the greatest part about this literal media revolution is that it is almost entirely controlled by the people, for the people. It is truly American. Feel free to list your Youtube channel if you have one, but from my observations, egulleters are some of the most talented cooks I've ever seen. I would love to see users from egullet make their own Youtube video blog and show off their talents and personal flair

I feel the need to blog not really for publicity or attention but because I feel that I need to write down ideas or discoveries I have in my learning process of becoming a better cook. I have this compulsion to write down everything on Notepad but it's becoming a little disorganized. There will probably be the temptation of sell your blog's soul for attention, but food is such therapy in and of itself that merely writing about it will be satisfying for me All I am really concerned about is what type of digital camera I should purchase and how do design my blog

In this day and age, I find youtube is such a wonderful resource. There's a user named "chefbalcer" who has the best wok cooking videos, and his technique is pretty sharp. He even rigged his own ventilation system

Is 100 micron overkill for straining a regular stock? What about 400 micron? I have no clue how large a micron is in comparison

Here's the wikipedia definition of "wok hei" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wok_hei

Well according to Tim So would you have to go to a specialty hardware store?

So if I go Home Depot and ask for a bone saw, would they direct me to what I need?

You sound like my mother. I kind of see it like singing. You can always pursue opera, broadway, musicals, but alot of people see shimmering stars and American Idol. Of course it's kind of vain and shallow, but I'm only 21 so I can excuse myself for slight lack of maturity

I found a great post from chowhound.com about wok cookery http://www.chow.com/stories/10004 I wonder where in the world he gets a 170 K BTU burner . That's just monstrous

http://www.whitesoysauce.com/WSSStory.html I found this interesting. White soy sauce, made with a higher percentage of wheat, has a mellower flavor and lighter color They have a white soy sauce at earthy.com as well

Hmm, what's the point of introducing mold if it's killed in the brine? I would have thought that a certain strain would survive in the brine and help the fermentation process

The Johsen Shoyu definitely has a different flavor than any soy sauce I've ever tasted. It's quite toasty and has an almost malty coffee flavor

Sorry, just trying to deliver some irony. It's hard not to get offended with this sort of stuff, but I personally see the slow food movement as an inevitable thing. The whole regression of human health attributed to fast food diets is a pretty universal concept now in the Western world. I honestly feel this guy was merely just trying to be an asshole for the purpose of entertainment. As for elitism, you can't really deny that it happens to the best of us. The purpose of the article was to garner an elitist reaction from us, for the author to get what he wanted. Slow food is just a label for a facet of a general counter-movement against unhealthy, artificial, fast food. Getting defensive about such a label can be...well...elitist. It makes a simple direction to healthy habits into a cult, an ideology, a "revolution" of sorts. It can make it unpalatable to the regular joe who just wants his Big Mac right here and right now. The perception of elitism comes from the sense of exclusion. Drinking 100 dollar Bordeaux or buying only grass fed hormone free beef in and of itself isn't elitist, but the notion that "you're with us or against us" and that those who are in disagreement or indifferent to a certain ideology is not "getting it". And especially as a food enthusiast and a newbie to cooking in general, it's easy to run into those who snub their nose at you for not knowing the difference between margarine and butter. So slow food inherently isn't an elitist way of life, it's just that elitism can really be applied to every facet of life if you wanted to. All it really is closed-mindedness. Though I can understand the sentiments here, I personally think reacting to an article that is clearly nonsense and probably satirical will just push onlookers and newcomers to this new lifestyle away. I think counteracting humor with more humor is best. (think "Sideways")

I think there's more of a fear of onion ring alginate gels than water baths, and just the sense of increasing artificiality and "plastic-ness" with cooking. Some people will swear by a good ol' bare cast iron dutch oven and be threatened by that weird sounding sous vide. It's not just slow food, but just change in hard-set traditions and the therapeutic qualities of cooking as an art, not a science. This may seem like trivial issue to the foodie or professional, but to some casual cooks and old timers it's threatening

Do you guys also have a recommendation for what types of soy beans or flour should be used? Also, how much solid ingredients should be used in proportion to the water? I actually have an old bottle of unpasteurized soy sauce that I haven't opened yet, but is it possible to introduce the strain of yeast used in the production of this soy sauce into this new batch?

O woe is me, to utter the word that shalt daren't be spoketh! ELITIST? *gasp*

Being an egulleter for a year now and looking through the threads, some of the pictures and photos taken not only torture me with hunger and envy, but they absolutely take my breath away with their stunning quality, lighting, positioning, etc. I'm wondering if all of you food photo specialists would like to share your techniques. What type of camera do you have? What type of lens settings do you use? What are differing techniques between digital and film cameras? What type of lighting equipment do you use?

I wonder, is there a certain point in the fermentation process where it doesn't require anymore sun and you can just close off the container and leave it to ferment somewhere?

Joel Stein is a sarcastic little bastard but I suspect he might be a foodie from the interesting articles he tends to write. This article is part of a series from the cover theme of Time's 3/24 mag "10 ideas that are changing the world". http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/art...1721651,00.html When I think of the "scientific revolution" of cooking, I think of processed food, artificial flavors, thickeners preservatives...which is the very thing that the "slow food" movement is reacting against. But of course Joel took care of that at the end of his article Is food bound to lose its soul or just get an upgrade?

I think Fox is planning for a "rags to riches" routine for these guys, or so I hope the show goes that way. I've never seen such a horrible team of chefs ever.

Inigo, in what container do you ferment your soy sauce, and how often do you stir its contents? Do you have to cover the container at night or bring it inside? Or do you put a piece of glass on top of the container like canucklehead? That's a great blog btw. How did you learn all the nuances of soy sauce making? Btw here's a great link to traditionally made soy sauce. They extract the soy sauce by pressing down on the mixture with a bamboo strainer and siphoning out what seeps through at the top http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=271

I found this recipe. I might try it out later. Fresh Rice Sheets For Noodles Or Wrappers From: Southeast Asian Cooking by Jay Harlow Yield: 8 Sheets 1 cup rice flour 5 tbsp tapioca starch * 4 tbsp wheat starch * 1 tsp kosher salt 2 cups water; plus 2 tb water 5 tsp oil oil to grease pans Combine rice flour, tapioca starch, wheat starch, salt and water and stir until smooth. Strain batter through a fine strainer and stir in 5 teaspoons oil. Let batter rest 30 minutes. Lightly oil a baking sheet and two 8x8 inch or 9x9 inch square cake pans. Place a steaming rack in a wok and add water to just below rack. Bring to a boil and have additional boiling water ready to replenish steamer. Stir batter very well and pour enough into one of the cake pans to cover bottom, about 1/2 cup. Set pan on steaming rack, cover wok, and steam 5 minutes. Remove lid, being careful not to let condensed water drip on rice sheet. (A tea towel can be placed over pan before covering wok) Remove cake pan; cool in a sink or lager pan filled with 1/2 inch cold water. Meanwhile, fill and steam the other cake pan. Loosen the cooled rice sheet from the first pan and roll it out onto the oiled baking sheet. Turn over rice sheet to lightly oil both sides, then, transfer to a platter. Repeat cooking, cooling, and oiling steps with remaining batter. Stack rice sheets on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours before cutting into noodles or adding stuffings.

Oh god, I had so much trouble with their subscription cancellations as well. They charged me for six months on a free trial subscription.

I don't do these kind of stir fry indoors anymore, there's just way too much smoke. I bought a wok burner that packs quite alot of BTU's. I just put the contraption inside a grill stand and attached it to a propane tank. Some people sear their steaks on a regular pan and get good results, some prefer grilling on charcoal or broiling under gas. I think high heat cooking is just one facet of chinese cooking that is interesting and could yield good results if I explored it more. It just makes the dish a little more special I think.

I love Hell's Kitchen because I respect Ramsay, but this season feels like it's simply whoring itself out for ratings. Good ol' Fox at its best. That being said, it's a hell of alot better than most primetime TV these days.