KennethT

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.

I think it is specified in the Talmud to bake it soon after mixing so that it resembles what was made while leaving Egypt back then since, according my my Maxwell House Hagaddah, they didn't have time for it to rise. Prior to the leaving of Egypt, they had always eaten leavened bread of some kind - I'd assume some kind of leavened flat bread kind of like naan. So now, at Passover, we eat unleavened bread to symbolize what the Israelites had to eat while leaving Egypt since they didn't have time for it to rise. I'm just questioning the logic there - they had plenty of time for dough to sit around - they were walking in a caravan every day and most probably made camp at night to sleep. So I see no reason why they couldn't have either mixed the dough at night for it to leaven while they were sleeping, or mix it in the morning before packing up and have it rise during the travel time. In the heat of the day, I'd assume it would get quite a bit of lift in 12-14 hours or so of walking.

What I don't understand (and this is a bit OT) but why didn't they have more time for the dough to rise before baking? They had time enough to mix the dough - they could have done that while the caravan was getting ready to leave in the morning and then left the dough in baskets to ferment while they were moving. Then, when settled for the day, once the fire was built, they could bake the now leavened dough and save us in the future from eating cardboard once a year.

Technically, I don't know what's unhealthy about plain matzah - it's just flour, water and salt, baked within 14 minutes (that's from memory, don't quote me) of mixing. Plus, the cardboard-like texture ensures that you don't eat too much of it!

My cousin makes a fried matzoh every year for Passover that is fried in cottonseed oil then salted. It's 1000x better than plain, but still barely edible.

@BonVivantThanks so much for this. Your love for Japan is so evident from your photos and writings - you make me want to put it higher on my always lengthening destination list.

Try eating some cardboard packaging material. That's close enough.

<joke> these look a lot smaller than the ones on Arrakis </joke>

No - while one can make kuih (SE Asian snacks) at home, it's a lot of work so almost never done.

I'd assume it's daikon radish. Many times, they'll call it carrot cake in Singapore even though it has no carrots in it - so I wouldn't be surprised if they were radish rather than turnip.

This is my death row turnip cake.... deep fried, topped with fried dried shrimp with a spicy sambal dipping sauce...

You're not kidding! 2000 Margaux! 😍

Picked up some more Vietnamese green mango. This one is probably over 2 pounds. We got 10# which was 6 mangoes, some a bit smaller than this one.

Good luck with your surgery and I hope your recovery is fast!!

Have the lines gone back to normal now that the hordes have gone?

Yes, that was me - but even better is pears sauteed in butter with black pepper and tarragon, then add a bit of cognac and flambe.

These are good answers, all. I appreciate it. Out of curiosity though, can repeated refrying it extend the shelf life in the refrigerator indefinitely?

Thanks - I totally forgot about this, but I do it with other things. It also reminded me that I need to make more soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup) spice paste - it's a pain to make so I make a big batch and freeze just like this. Every time I want to make soup, I break off what I need - about 2 tablespoons worth. So this would actually be perfect for the sambal as well.

I've thought of this, but sometimes, I only want a tea spoon or two, so that would be a LOT of individually frozen portions!!! Especially if i was to make a few different sambal.

Typically, they're not. Standard sambals blend or crush in a mortar until it is a thick paste and the paste is fried, often with water added. So there will be some oil floating on top, but other than that is quite liquidy.

I've been thinking about making a few Indonesian sambals to keep in the refrigerator. Most sambals are a combination of shallots, chillis, shrimp paste, garlic, etc. fried in oil. The salt content is not that high, and there is usually no real acid component. So after cooking, I'd assume the shelf life in the refrigerator is about a week - similar to other cooked foods. My question is if I could extend the shelf life by refrying it every 5 days or so. Would recooking kill the spoilage bacteria and keep it from going bad?