KennethT

Not picky at all - completely accurate. Yes, I tried a few - awful.

Like you say, there is a huge cultural and culinary diversity in Singapore. But the Nyonya are more removed from India than the Singaporean Indian communities - the Nyonya are the product of Chinese men marrying Malaysian women back in the 1800s - but Malaysia itself (especially certain regions) has had Indian immigrants - which is where the Nyonya probably got their dried spice usage. Most Nyonya food doesn't rely on dried spices much, but some dishes that do - for instance, this one.

nothing worse than a pissing contest - especially from someone who hasn't even sampled the wares yet! Personally, with that kind of attitude, I'd make him a tuna fish sandwich and call it a day, but I understand that he's your son's friend and you're a great dad so you don't want to step on anyone's toes. With a guy like that (seemingly) I don't think anything you would do would make him change his mind. Besides, why wouldn't a white guy in KC make good bbq? KC is known for its bbq!!!

I had been growing turmeric for the leaves (hydroponically, indoors under artificial lighting) and it was going great but lately, it stopped putting out new leaves and the old leaves were turning brown. I was wondering what was going on - thinking there was possibly root rot or something so I pulled the plant out of the fabric pot and started to dry root it to see what was going on. Evidently, it's time for harvest!!!! All of this came from a single 3 inch long piece of organic turmeric that I got from my local Indian grocery store. I assume turmeric freezes well - especially since I always crush it into a paste anyway. So I'll freeze most of it and replant one of the ones with a lot of sprouting sites to get a new plant and start all over again.

I make my own Nyonya spice blend which has a lot of ingredients - I make a large batch, then portion into ziplock or vacuum bags and keep in the freezer. A year later, I can't tell it from the freshly made.

On a cold, rainy Sunday, there's nothing better than Indonesian Padang food. This is a padang classic - ayam goreng serundeng - fried chicken. This version simmers the chicken in a spice paste made from shallots, garlic, ginger, candlenuts, turmeric, coriander powder and a lot of galangal, and then shredded coconut. Once the chicken is done and tender, it's removed and the solids strained from the liquid. The chicken is then deep fried and once the chicken is done, the solids are deep fried to a golden brown and then drained. It's a lot of work but so worth it! Served with homemade sambal ijo - literally green sambal made from 3 different types of green chillies, garlic, shallots and green tomatoes.

We have been missing some Singaporean specialties, so.... Old lai huat style sambal grouper Quick pickled cucumber salad

Whenever I grind coriander seeds, I can never get them as fine as when I buy preground coriander powder. I assume the pros are using a burr grinder rather than a blender type grinder. What do you use? Also, when using things like cardamom, do you remove the seeds from the pods prior to grinding or do you use the whole thing?

@rotuts For that space, I have one word: carousel! Seriously, I would consider getting rid of all of the shelves and put in a multi-tiered lazy-susan / carousel, from floor to eye level... Just my $0.02

I don't think I've ever seen a grilled lobster served out of the shell before.

Good luck getting home!

What was the conch salad like? I think I've only had it in fritter form...

Looks like a nice little hideaway! I hope you enjoy.... although that must be the smallest snapper I've ever seen! But certainly enough for 1 person - most snappers are for 2.

As @liuzhou suggests above, there is also an Indonesian bay leaf, locally called Daun Salam (syzygium polyanthum) (daun is a word for leafy things), which is very commonly used in many Indonesian dishes and is quite different from any of the other leaves that we call bay leaves.

It makes a good mash with a lot of butter and a bit of creme fraiche. You can puree it in the blender and the texture comes out great. David Bouley would say that it was also good to add about a half teaspoon of Vitamin C powder while blending which keeps it from turning brown. Or, you could roast it like a restaurant in this post did (last photo of this post) in southern Iceland.