KennethT

Here (at least in every store in NY that I've seen) the bin that holds shallots contains a mix of your original photo and the Spruce Eats one. And you have to feel all of them up to find ones that aren't too old....

They look exactly like what they call shallots here.

Penang Nyonya chicken Kapitan curry

While Lay's is an American brand, I don't think I'd find Lemon Chicken flavored potato chips (crisps) anywhere here, other than in Chinatown and it's been imported from overseas!

I've added extra grease filtration to my over-burner vent. Because I live in a relatively small apartment with the kitchen open to the rest of the space, I really wanted to minimize the aerosolized grease that not only smells for days but eventually leaves a sticky residue everywhere. So first, I upgraded my vent to a 600CFM model which can suck up any smoke faster than it can be made by the food. It is much stronger than a standard kitchen vent which is usually around 250CMF. Does it make a lot of noise? Sure it does, but I only turn it up when doing something that would make a lot of smoke like high heat stir frying which doesn't take a lot of time. The next step depends on whether or not your kitchen vent vents outside or is recirculating. If it vents outside, that's all you need to do - get the air out as fast as possible. I have no access to an outside vent so mine is recirculating. So here I've had to take some extra steps. If you remove the original grease filter from the vent (mine are baffles, but many use the coarse steel wool type) you will see the fan motor inside the vent housing. I add a couple layers of steel wool grease filter to both intake sides of the fan. If your fan is a long barrel type rather than a short/squat version, you might only have 1 intake to the fan. So that's the secondary grease filter. After months of use, you see plenty of grease buildup on this secondary filter - which would have been in your air and deposited on anything in its path. Finally, I put a tightly woven cloth bag over the vent exhaust - make sure it fits tightly to the exhaust pipe. This catches the last little bit. After all this, will you still have the lingering aroma of cooked beef? Somewhat, as some aroma particles are tiny and fit through the pores of most things. Sort of like when you presmoke some food and then put in a plastic bag and cook sous vide, the bath water will smell like smoke afterwards as some of the aroma particles are so small they go through the pores of the plastic bag. But, you won't have to clean grease from your cupboard doors or, in my case, my TV, couch, piano, walls and everywhere else!

Yes, I always thought it was interesting that corn tortillas had no added fat while flour tortillas are traditionally made with lard. I guess if there was no fat in the flour tortilla it would turn out like matzah!

I'd assume it was the fat as well.

What is the seasoning on the chicken?

I didn't realize that cake flour had corn starch added.... I don't think my typical cake flour has it... http://smartlabel.swansdown.com/product/4199979/ingredients?_gl=1*x3hyo*_ga*OTg1NzExODUxLjE3MTI4NTU1ODQ.*_ga_RZ14C79VEE*MTcxMjg1NTU4My4xLjEuMTcxMjg1NTYwNy4zNi4wLjA.

I use potato starch and corn starch interchangeably - mostly for coatings to be fried or for thickening stir fries or mapo tofu.

Yeah, the Thai mangoes are more than the Vietnamese ones. We usually prefer them green, so most probably as soon as possible. Depending on the stage when they were picked, even if you let it ripen fully on the counter, it will be a pale reflection of what it should be and would have been better to eat green. But if they were ripe enough on the tree, then I'd wait until they soften and the skin just starts to wrinkle.

Are those fish edible? They kinda look like plastic but maybe it's some kind of sculpted dough?

@blue_dolphinAre there any botulism concerns with the storage of the rinds in the oil?

We went out to Queens for an event, so we stopped off at a good Indonesian restaurant. Ayam bakar padang. Grilled chicken first stewed in a spice paste. Ikan balado - mackerel first fried then covered with a green chili sambal. Kangkung belacan - water spinach with chilis, shrimp paste, tomato, shallots etc.

Lately I've been on a Radiohead kick - mostly the older stuff.... OK Computer and The Bends.