KennethT
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Posts posted by KennethT
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1 hour ago, liuzhou said:
The only one I've seen in Thailand is phak kat dong, their version of suancai. I don't remember neon though. Is that the one you mean? Vietnam also has their version - dưa cải chua.
I've never seen the salted version in Thailand or Vietnam, but it may be there.Yes, that's what I'm talking about - phak kat dong. It was never neon when I saw it in Thailand (or in Vietnam for that matter) but the only stuff I can find in the stores here is extremely neon.
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10 hours ago, Franci said:
Kids made dinner
wow - you've trained them really well!
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I can find Thai preserved mustard greens in my local Asian store - they're always a neon yellow/green color - although I've never seen that color anywhere in Asia. I'm curious if your locally packaged preserved mustard looks similarly or if it is an export thing that they add extra preservatives or something.
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4 minutes ago, shain said:
Beach-skipping day in North Pelion.
Beautiful beach #1. I don't feel like the pictures the manage to do it justice, one needs to be able and take in the entire vista.
Absolutely gorgeous... and that hotel balcony for breakfast is worth any price - even if the bed was made out of straw!
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15 minutes ago, weinoo said:
See above - too much barbecue?
This just shows the value of sarcasm on the internet... at least without something to make it exceedingly obvious - like a hehe or an emoji the kids like using nowadays... hehe...
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35 minutes ago, weinoo said:
I'm wondering how fish gets waterlogged, considering they tend to spend their whole lives - in water?
When they live in the water, they don't have any exposed flesh - skin is a moisture barrier.
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13 minutes ago, palo said:
Why?
I vacuum seal a number of my proteins and find defrosting in the sink or a bowl of water the most efficient and the product doesn't become water-logged.
p
They probably recommend it for concerns of bacterial growth and being very conservative. Reduced Oxygen Packaging has botulism concerns at temps over refrigerator temp. So, as the package is defrosting in the water bath, you have potential for the bacteria to grow on the warmer parts (the outside) while you're waiting for the inside to thaw. 15-20 minutes is fine, but you wouldn't want to let it sit for a few hours. And botulism toxin isn't destroyed by heat, so cooking it thoroughly post-defrost won't help.
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I've never used frozen fish (yet) either, and like @Margaret Pilgrim, in the past, I've always defrosted shrimp in a bowl of cold water and never had any problems. Part of me can't believe I've been putting in so much research into the best way to defrost the fish, but I think I'm doing it just because it's so expensive compared to fish I usually buy in the supermarket.
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8 minutes ago, Smithy said:
Here's my first test of the Wild Alaskan shipment. I thawed 3 packages of Coho Salmon. Each package was around 6 oz worth of fish. @rotuts, I took a picture of each piece on edge, so you could see that at the thickest they were around 1" thick. I think these must be from nearer the head, or at least not near the tail. Can you tell from these shots?
These fillets are glazed with salt water as the spot prawns were that @KennethT mentioned above. I took a cue from him and thawed the fish in salty water in the refrigerator. Was that useful or helpful? I don't know. The package instructions simply say to remove from the packaging and thaw under refrigeration. As it happened, I'd snapped the photos above when family called from out of town. We went out to dinner. The salmon were still icy in places the next morning, so the refrigerator thaw in salt water is indeed a slow and gentle method.
When I pulled the fillets out to start cooking the fish flesh was VERY soft, almost mealy. Was that because of the long, slow thaw and hold in salty water? Should I have simply left them in a covered dish without the water? I've noticed that texture with some salmon in the past. I don't remember whether it's been a particular variety of salmon. I'll ask Wild Alaskan and see what they have to say.
A normal person would use a familiar recipe and cooking method when testing a new supplier. I didn't do that. Salmon is my favorite fish, but it's one of my husband's least favorites, and I'm always looking for treatments that he too will like. Sear-roasted salmon fillets with lemon ginger butter, from The 150 Best American Recipes (2006) (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), was the choice this time. (Yes, I've had that book since it came out. No, I'd never tried this recipe before.) It turns out to be messy to make, unless one is cooking outside or has a really good range hood. You heat a film of oil to medium-high heat, place the fillets skin-side down and let them cook until browned on the bottom, then flip them and place in a preheated very hot oven for a few minutes. The smoke and grease spatter were bad. The good news is that the fish held up well. The "mealy" surface stayed with the fish, for the most part, and the fish firmed up as it cooked. The final result was flaky but not overcooked.
The real star of the recipe is the lemon ginger butter: minced ginger and chives, mixed with lemon juice and softened butter, dolloped on the fish. In our case it was also dolloped on the green beans and sopped up with his toast.
Was this salmon better than we could have gotten at the store? I don't know, but it was at least as good: beautifully frozen, very fresh tasting. I'll ask Wild Alaskan about the texture and the proper thawing method, and report back.
Interesting. I haven't thawed any fish yet - I think I'm going to do one set tonight - maybe the cod. They have a blog on their website, and one of the posts talks about how to thaw. They recommend taking the fish out of the vacuum bag and thawing on a rack in the refrigerator - that way, the fish won't be sitting in a puddle of salt water melted glaze. There's also a video showing a bunch of different defrosting methods. I think that I would only thaw in salt water if I wanted to do it in a hurry - then I would use salted cold tap water and leave it on the counter - possibly changing the water once it starts to feel really cold.
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Back to an old favorite tonight , Cafe Mogador. First time in a year and a half. We've gotten delivery but it's definitely not the same.
Fresh squeezed lemonade with mint
Various mezze to start - sauteed shrimp with a lot of garlic, homemade tabouli, and babaganoush - served with just baked pita.
2 lamb tagines - lamb charmoulla and lamb with preserved lemon and olives, served with their fantastic couscous.
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I'm no professional, but I've eaten the tops of the baby leeks I get in my local Hmart - htey're like big scallions.
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I used my first package of spot prawns yesterday. After all the hemming and hawing, I decided to do something with them that I've done with my normal shrimp supply, so better compare them. Singapore style bak kut teh - the healthy version (no pork ribs). I make my broth with a lot of pork bones, and then completely defat it. The stock is then infused with a lot of garlic and a special black peppercorn from Sarawak (Malaysia) which is not as strong as most other peppercorns and maybe has a fruitiness to it? Anyway, the spot prawns were fantastic - sweet, wonderful texture.
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3 minutes ago, BeeZee said:
My husband wanted to get sushi, since he hadn’t had any since pre-Covid. Unlike the nice plates that @KennethTgot the other day, we were served on paper plates. Apparently to deal with staffing issues they decided they could do without one of the dishwashers.😕
It's odd eating good food on disposable plates. Even though NYC has largely opened up, some restaurants are still serving the outdoor tables in the takeout containers, with disposable plates and cutlery.
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1 hour ago, gfweb said:
I have my first box coming on Weds. Prices are pretty good indeed.
We'll see.
I agree with @rotuts - please give us your thoughts!
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This place popped up on my facebook feed - has anyone tried them?
The quality and prices look too good to be true, and they ship with dry ice.
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@ShelbyI wanted to like and sad face simultaneously....
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2 hours ago, liuzhou said:
It happened again. I was sitting here working on something when my phone bleeped. A text message telling me my delivery had been deposited at the collection point two minutes from my home. What delivery? I have no outstanding deliveries due.
Anyway, I popped out and sure enough there was a box waiting for me. The description on the box read "绿木， 无糖 [1 件]", which means "Green tree, sugar-free [1 packet]. Well, that is helpful!Back home, I opened it, still wondering who was sending me suger-free trees and found ten little cakes labelled "木糖醇绿豆饼 (mù táng chún lǜ dòu bǐng)", which rather unromantically translates as "Xylitol Green Bean Cakes".
Xylitol is an artificial sweetener, I learn.
Still nothing ventured - I tried one. They are not particularly sweet (which, in my book, is a good thing).
They are 1½" / 2cm in diameter; an inch / 2.5 cm tall. The pastry shell is soft and slightly sticky. The mung bean filling is soft, flaky and again not sweet but not beanish, either.
All, in all, not bad! There are only four in the first picture, because I ate the other six before reaching for the camera - purely for research reasons, you understand.
I have tracked down who sent them. Thanks Han Rong!
They look a lot like bakpia - an Indonesian snack specific to Yogyakarta - they make them with a variety of fillings but the bean paste filling is the most popular.
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19 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:
Is there a comparably good east coast operation? I can get locally here in the bay area most of the fish that Wild Alaska supplies, but I want east coast or southeast coast fish. I'm suffering post partum depression since leaving Atlanta. I want redfish, grouper, Atlantic cod, blackfish, sea bass, etc. Wild gulf shrimp, excepted. The ones we get here in CA are the same as the ones we could buy in Atlanta, both very good. The cost in Atlanta was about 3 to 4 dollars cheaper per pound.
Many years ago, I used to buy wild gulf shrimp from somewhere on Florida's Gulf coast... unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the place, although I think I still have a large piece of grouper in my laydown freezer that may have their label on it. But doing a fast search for "gulf seafood shipping" brought up a whole bunch of options - none of which I have any personal experience with.... but worth a shot.
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1 hour ago, weinoo said:
And I think it can't hurt to brine them for 15-30 minutes or so. Sometimes, I'll even defrost in the bowl of cold, salted water in the fridge.
Evidently they've been glazed with seawater prior to freezing... but yes, I usually salt for 10-15 minutes before cooking...
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One last question - the prawns were individually frozen, glazed with sea water (which is supposed to be best for not altering them once defrosted). Typically, I but 2# bags of IQF shrimp, and I defrost whatever I'm about to use in a bowl with cool water, changing the water once it gets freezing cold. They defrost that way in about 15 minutes, if that. The company recommends defrosting them for like 10 hours in the refrigerator. Does it make a difference?
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36 minutes ago, Ann_T said:
are your spot prawns frozen with the heads on? If so you need to remove the heads before the prawns thaw. According to Walcan Seafoods there is an Enzyme that is released from the heads that turns the meat mushy. They suggest just running the heads under water just to slightly thaw and twisting them off. I do that and then let the tails thaw the rest of the way in the fridge.
Since I'm not a fan of the heads anyway, I always remove them from both live and frozen.
I don't like shrimp but I love Spot Prawns. Flavour and texture is totally different. Spot Prawns are sweeter and the texture is more similar lobster or Dungeness crab.
I like them a number of ways including grilled and served with pasta, Garlic Shrimp (Spanish Tapa), stuffed with Dungeness crab, Firecracker Prawns and tonight I plan to make
a Prawn Cocktail with grill prawns and Gazpacho .
https://thibeaultstable.com/2021/06/24/gazpacho-prawn-cocktail/
https://thibeaultstable.com/2012/05/27/prawn-etouffee/
https://thibeaultstable.com/2019/11/04/firecracker-prawns/
https://thibeaultstable.com/2021/02/28/spot-prawns-in-sweet-chili-sauce/
https://thibeaultstable.com/2020/07/25/spanish-tapa-garlic-prawns/
https://thibeaultstable.com/2011/05/07/baked-stuffed-prawns/
https://thibeaultstable.com/2009/05/19/shrimps-prawns-skewered-shrimp-with-lemon-pesto/
https://thibeaultstable.com/2021/03/08/more-of-our-tide-to-table-seafood/
Wow - that's quite a list... thanks! Yes, they were frozen heads off, so no worries there. I haven't gone through the list yet, but would you recommend any raw preparations or do you prefer them cooked?
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9 hours ago, Smithy said:
My first shipment from Wild Alaskan Company arrived today.
I am impressed with the packaging. The seafood was thoroughly frozen. The packaging is all recyclable or reusable. They are careful to warn about the dry ice in the plastic bags that lurks under the top lid: use gloves!
They also stress the ways the packaging can be reused or composted or recycled. I particularly like the idea of simply dissolving the insulation in water and using it on the garden.
The main attraction, of course, is the fish itself. Here's what arrived, all in lovely condition:
10 packages of Coho salmon; 2 packages of Pacific halibut; 4 packages of Pacific cod; 2 packages of Sockeye salmon. Each package contains enough fish for 2 people. Then there are 2 packages of those lovely-looking Spot prawns. Like others before me, I'll have to research a way to show them to best advantage. I think each prawn package could feed more than 2 people.
Will we keep it up? I don't know. It's a struggle to get my darling to eat fish except when it's battered and deep fried, or when it was flipping in the water only a couple of hours before. (In that case it needs pan frying.) This may be too much seafood for the two of us for one month. I also wonder about taking business away from our "local" fishermen who spend months in Alaska and then bring / ship their produce back here, to be sold in our local markets.
Regardless of whether we follow through on this subscription, I'm very impressed with the apparent quality of the product, and the thought that has gone into the program.
Mine came in in a similar fashion - the dry ice was fully intact. In fact, I left the dry ice in the box (after taking the fish out) and it was still mostly htere this morning too! How does one dispose of dry ice? I know that it will sublimate on its own, but that leaves my apartment filled with a blanket of CO2 on the floor (CO2 is heavier than air). I'd rather not open up the windows - first of all, the external windows are like 100 years old and I'm afraid if once I open it, I won't be able to close it (the building has plans to renovate them soon). Also, the apartment is well sealed - there's even a rubber gasket between the hallway door and frame. There is an exhaust in the kitchen and bath, but since very little makeup air can get in, that means you won't have a lot going into the exhaust.
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9 hours ago, Smithy said:
My first shipment from Wild Alaskan Company arrived today.
I am impressed with the packaging. The seafood was thoroughly frozen. The packaging is all recyclable or reusable. They are careful to warn about the dry ice in the plastic bags that lurks under the top lid: use gloves!
They also stress the ways the packaging can be reused or composted or recycled. I particularly like the idea of simply dissolving the insulation in water and using it on the garden.
The main attraction, of course, is the fish itself. Here's what arrived, all in lovely condition:
10 packages of Coho salmon; 2 packages of Pacific halibut; 4 packages of Pacific cod; 2 packages of Sockeye salmon. Each package contains enough fish for 2 people. Then there are 2 packages of those lovely-looking Spot prawns. Like others before me, I'll have to research a way to show them to best advantage. I think each prawn package could feed more than 2 people.
Will we keep it up? I don't know. It's a struggle to get my darling to eat fish except when it's battered and deep fried, or when it was flipping in the water only a couple of hours before. (In that case it needs pan frying.) This may be too much seafood for the two of us for one month. I also wonder about taking business away from our "local" fishermen who spend months in Alaska and then bring / ship their produce back here, to be sold in our local markets.
Regardless of whether we follow through on this subscription, I'm very impressed with the apparent quality of the product, and the thought that has gone into the program.
Hmm... Personally, I don't see how a 6oz portion of fish is enough for 2 people unless you have multiple courses (appetizers, desserts, etc.) For the two of us, I usually make about 3/4# of salmon to go along with rice or orzo, typically.
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51 minutes ago, weinoo said:
They seriously cook fast. I'm thinking, based on my most recent experiment, that poaching (at around 170℉) is the way to go. Sous vide too.
I was definitely going to do it SV. That was a given in my head. The question is what to do flavor-wise. I gather the coho is pretty mild, whereas the sockeye is quite strong, so that will play into it.
Buying fish/frozen fish, shellfish online
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
It looks likethe scallops were IQF - like shrimp usually are. Then they're just placed in a sealed bag - no vacuum.