KennethT

I don't know about the whole reverse shoplifting thing.. I wonder if the store would have an issue that it might be tampered with? Even if the seal is intact, if I was the store owner, I'd be hesitant to allow that. But, if you don't want to waste it, you could always bring it to a soup kitchen or food pantry - usually they get pretty vanilla type stuff, so maybe they'd be happy to see it?

I have this brand also, but for some reason, I still can't get my mapo tofu to taste like my favorite (now defunct because of fire) Sichuan restaurant... it's close, but there is some kind of flavor that is a little off, and I think it's coming from this ingredient. I found this one in a supermarket in Manhattan's Chinatown... but they had a few brands - I think I'll try another after I finally make it through this one.

I wish there was a "fingers crossed" button...

The salmon was marinated in a combo of soy sauce, sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), oyster sauce and fish sauce. SV'd in 115degF bath to a core temp of 102F according to sous vide dash, then torched. The salmon winds up rare practically from edge to edge (give or take a few mm) to where it just flakes perfectly... then torched. The marinade varies, but the method is my go to... I think I've forgotten how to do it any other way!

Haven't cooked in a while.... Salmon with cucumber som tum

While I'm a little hesitant to recommend this, just because I love it and there can already be a wait for a table, I'd look into Cafe Mogador in the East Village - St. Marks between 1st and Ave A. They are known for their Moroccan specialties - I'm addicted to their lamb tagine with couscous - I'm particularly fond of the charmoulla, but my wife always gets the saffron sauce... they have lots of mezze like hummus, an awesome smoky baba ghanoush, tabouli, etc which I'd imagine are vegan, though I'm not really sure since I've never asked. They also have non-Moroccan stuff duck confit, hanger steak, etc. for those who don't want Moroccan... I've brought tons of people here and everyone has always loved it. They've been around forever and have always been busy. Another option not far from there would be Somtom Der... their fried chicken thigh is amazing, but they're also known for their papaya salads (hence the name). I imagine they'd be able to make things without the dried shrimp or fish sauce - many thai places run by Thai people (as is Somtom Der) should have no problem making certain dishes vegan, like @eugenep said.

Wow. I had heard about the end of the fuel subsidies but not about the following strikes and shortages. What happens if the strikes go on longer than people's food stocks? Do lots of people have weeks worth of food in the freezer like you do? What I don't understand about the strikes is that it seems that the people hurt the worst by them (everyone running out of food) have nothing to do with the cause of the strikes.

Is that a whole jamon?

Yes, thank you very much for allowing us to come along!

Yep. Forget about the last time I got them (in Indonesia) it was less than $1 per kilo! At the $10/lb I would get a couple and savor them if they were really high quality, but that price for terrible quality is just crazy. I imagine that the fruit buyer for the supermarket has never had the real deal before and had no idea what he was buying, but figured that it's a luxury item that would sell in NYC that they could make a log of $ on.

To be honest, even having dragon fruit where it is grown locally, it doesn't really have any taste. But, it should be very juicy and refreshing. In Vietnam, they commonly make a paste out of salt, lime juice and chili

That's usually a good thing to follow, but mangosteens are tropical fruit, which would never be local to NY. If they looked even moderately in the range of decent, I would have sampled a few as a test, but I could tell these would be terrible, no purchase required. I feel bad for people who have never tried a good one who are curious to try it, spend $10 per pound only to have them be lousy.

I saw these in a local NYC supermarket today: I didn't buy any - not only were they tiny (much smaller than I've seen anywhere in Asia) but they were hard as rocks... Never a good sign.

I also find boiling water with baking soda for about 30 minutes (or boiling water with vinegar for that matter) does a great job of cleaning just about everything off of stainless steel - I'd imagine it would do just as well for enameled cast iron.

Were the potatoes and lamb cooked at the same time, or do you have more than 1 CSO in your kitchen?