KennethT

Going to germinate and plant a bunch of this this weekend... Fresh greens in a few weeks! The only problem is that I'm running out of space under the lights!!!

I've decided that I'm going to keep the old curry tree - I'm going to replant in a small cup and prune all of the branches off. Maybe it'll reset itself that way.

I don't know if it's a NYC code or if it varies by building. I know my building allows it for some apartments (those with a window in the kitchen also have an exhaust in the plans - but I've only seen the plans, not the apt) but most apartments in the building (whose kitchen does not have access to a window wall) must have a recirculating fan with carbon filter.

I actually wasn't thinking about making the push motor go faster - The pull motor creates negative pressure so that the push motor is more efficient - the air that it's pushing has less resistance. Loss of CFM isn't necessarily due to a fan's speed changing, it's because of the pressure created in the fan's path by resistance due to turbulence, etc. Like you said, the standard induction motors used don't change speed as the speed is determined by the line frequency - but the amount of air they move per revolution varies depending on the pressure behind it.

@liuzhou We need a drool button... Do you make the wrappers or are they easily available where you are?

I don't know if that's completely true, depending on the fan arrangement. I think if there are 2 fans in a push/pull arrangement (one at the hood pushing, and one at the final exhaust pulling) you might get more CFM since the extra fan will help compensate for the losses created by elbows/turbulence/etc. That's my theory - I have no proof...

Sorry - I didn't mean to say to get rid of the tops, I just meant that I separate them to make stir frying and eating easier. In our markets from tip of leaf to bottom of stem they can be 2 feet long which is hard to deal with.

@Kim Shook Thank you! I love those bowls... they're celadon - we got them at a celadon factory in Chiang Mai on our honeymoon about 15 years ago. Each one is hand carved, then glazed and fired at a ridiculously high temperature. We even got to tour the factory, and they even got my wife to sit at the potters wheel and get her hands dirty. She made a horrible piece (which was remade) but it was a fun experience. Back then, things were really cheap there, made even cheaper by a weak Thai Baht exchange rate. We carried a big box through at least 5 airports and nothing got damaged!

Yeah I do this with lots of different greens. One day I have to add chicken powder...

Or you could stir fry the Thai way - make a sauce of 1T oyster sauce, 1T fish sauce, and 1T light soy sauce and a little sugar. Stir fry in oil with garlic and chili briefly and add sauce. Or the Malay way with belacan, garlic, shallot and chili

No, I grow the rau ram. It grows so fast I could sell some to them! I haven't been down to Chinatown since they closed the 6 train on the weekend - I wouldn't want to walk all the way there and back! For the water spinach, I cut the leafy tops off and then cut the stems into 4" sections. Wash well - it can be sandy. Then spin dry. I typically stir fry it with garlic very briefly, assuming they were not harvested too old - they can get tough if they're too old.

Wow... these look great. What did you use for a wonton skin? Bought or made?

Nothing, I dare say nothing is better than rau ram smothered in chicken juices. CSO chicken thighs with salt/lime juice/black pepper dipping sauce.

Everything is better with a little MSG

@CeeCee I wish we had a wow button.... thanks for all this info - fascinating!

Yeah, I was talking about the Kesar mangos that I got from the Indian store near me... they were expensive but I thought not worth the price because they were so underwhelming. Decent texture but completely flavorless. It was a pale comparison to the stuff I'd get in Singapore/Thailand/Vietnam for peanuts... I haven't gotten it again.

This place opened recently. Quite tasty but I had read that it was spicy and it definitely wasn't. Even their chili paste was mild - good flavor though Stir fried celery. I have to make this at home. Quite tasty. Beef and chive mono Chicken thenthuk

I've bought some Indian mangoes in NYC before. I'm always disappointed by them - just like you say -stringy and the flavor nothing like what it should have been.

Steamed red snapper with ataulfo mango som tum. These mangoes looked ripe - they were softish, well colored but were definitely NOT ripe. The flesh was a little fibrous - I didn't even know this variety could be fibrous. Very disappointing but the dressing kind of made up for it. Steaming in the CSO

Simple pasta with shrimp, chili and garden basil

I ordered a replacement for the curry tree - I don't know why the first one is not doing so well but I decided to try one from Logees. Looks great so far - I have it in the corner of the tent, acclimating....

Yes, the 240V 3800W is the largest one. Although I don't know if I will go that high - I've been debating the 2600 or 3000W... the 3800W is about double the price of the 2600W and I don't know how often I would use that much power.

I'm looking at the same one - the 240V version... once our renovations are done, I'm going to pull the trigger.

I cut them up and salt them too (long before eating) and they're certainly better that way, but as you said, nothing is like a garden tomato - wherever your garden may be.

I leave them out all week and they do soften and get sweeter, but that's not really ripening. That's a form of rotting. Ripening only occurs on the plant - not only is there the accumulation of water and sugars, but other flavors develop as well in the later stages of ripening that don't happen on the counter.