BettyK

Sounds interesting. Could you give us a few more details? Do you just dump everything in the crockpot or do you start on the stove first? High or low setting? And any other tips you may have would be much appreciated.

No weights? Add me to the list of non-buyers. I didn't buy Sherry Yard's book for the same reason. CIA, wake up!

There was a recent thread on Desserts using canned fruit.

Yum. What time is dinner? I'll be right there.

I think you have to be pretty careful here. Customs seems to me to be pretty arbitrary and whereas I have had stuff delivered without additional costs, I have also been dinged badly! Once someone sent me a book as a gift, clearly marked as such and it cost me $20 in customs and brokerage fees - about the same as the cost of the book! So be wary - it's not cut and dried by any means. Agree with Anna...same thing happened to me for a used book. You just never know when you will get hit.

That's news to me. Could you point me to where your saw that?

Oh...you're one of THOSE people are you? No more advice for you!! Hey, more room for you to shop. You should be thankful.

Thank you all for your input. Very much appreciated. I'm thinking if we can combine our business purchases with groceries, it will probably be worth it. I hope Costco will let us in to just have a look. Anyone knows if they allow this? After we check the prices we'll decide if it's worth it or not. Anna N, we just bought a Foodsaver and love it. No more moldy cheese and freezer burns. I've heard the bags/rolls for the Foodsaver are cheaper at Costco? One more item to check out. Canadiancook, thanks for the warning. We avoid shopping during week-ends for that same reason. Our working schedule allows us to shop while most people are slaving away. BTW, we do our xmas shopping at least one month in advance then we can sit and relax and watch everybody else get stressed.

If so, what do you buy that's much cheaper than most grocery stores? We're considering a membership and I'm trying to justify it. So, please help me.

Thanks, Sam. Your help is greatly appreciated.

I understand that cast iron is best for steaks. But, what if I want to deglaze with wine to make a sauce? What kind of pan would you recommend for this application?

Gulab Jamun? They are full of milk.

Terrible news. Mint Aero has been discontinued.

Thank you all for your help. I think I definitely need to go to Thailand to taste the real thing. Anyone wants to organize a tour? I'm serious.

I could be wrong, but isn't David Thompson's 'Raat Nar Muu' or 'Rice Noodles and Pork with Thickened Gravy' (P. 566) same as Raad Na? I've never been to Thailand and I've never had Raad Na in a restaurant so I don't know too much about it. I'm still learning. I also found that David's recipe is very similar to Mai Pham's.

Scratch that. I just re-read David Thompson's book. He uses whole beans which have been fermented in brine which makes it rinseable, I think. Anyway, next time I will use what I have and will not rinse. Should work just fine. Thanks.

I just checked my fridge. I can't believe there was a jar of bean sauce hiding. Helenas, have you ever used this bean sauce? Was wondering how do you rinse it? Or do you?

Thanks, Helenas. Why didn't I think about Kasma earlier.

Of course, just like any other cuisine.

I don't know of any connection to Shanghai cuisine. Certainly "red-cooked" pork (which isn't really red, anyway) doesn't use red yeast rice. My only familiarity with it is in Cantonese charcuterie, and perhaps in the fermented doufu my wife sometimes put in her pao fan or puts out as a condiment. According to Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, "Chinese Kitchen", Red Cooked Pork Shoulder aka Jau Yai Tai Pong is "surely one of the foremost classics of Shanghai". There is red rice in her recipe. Authentic or not, I wouldn't know.

I don't think so. My great grand-parents were Fukienese and Hakka. My mam's red pork is a little different from the Shanghainese version. I don't think there's star anise and cinnamon but there's definitely soy sauce, dried shrimp, red rice and red wine.

That's right --- you were the first to come up with the 'red rice' idea. It never crossed my mind. Good for you! In my Von Walanetz ingredient book, they say that Annato seeds are the same as Achiote Seed, a rusty red seed from the tropical Annato tree. It says the seeds are primarily used for color -- but in their case it is the color 'yellow'. It is used in coloring butter, cheeses and such, and also to give rice a bright saffron color. I've seen the word in ingredients and now I realize what it is for. It's usually in Latin American food. Gary - I was looking up 'red rice' on 'google' and found more on its medicinal value than on its use in food. Also, its connection to 'myopathy' --- which is (as you said) more than I needed to know! LOL! Hey, it's my favorite pork dish and used to be my grandma's favorite too...so I should be able to smell this from far far away. True and I even have two little bags of this yellow powder sitting in my pantry but never used. I will have to check what were those red pellets are, next time I go to the Asian grocery store. I also did quite a bit of research on red rice on the internet but couldn't find any recipes...all medicinal. I found it quite interesting that they would pair red rice with pork belly. Comes with it's own medicine. Got to love that.

Yeah. At least I got the red rice part right. I'm wondering...is red rice same as annato seed? I went to the Asian grocery store the other day and saw those little red pellets that look just like red rice but it was labelled annato seed. I guess I should have asked while I was there.

I'm a little confused as there are so many bean pastes and sauces. Mai Pham's recipe calls for fermented whole soybeans (aka fermented yellow beans) and David Thompson's calls for yellow bean sauce. Is it the same? Would "Kun Chun Bean Sauce" be appropriate for this dish? Please help me get this straight.

Not at all. I understand you were referring to cheese slices and not julienning cheese. I meant to say that I don't know if cheese would work on the Benriner but then what do I know. Sorry I wasn't very clear.