KennethT

Thanks... this makes a lot more sense to me...

ha! Hot dogs WITH charred skins! That's practically a death sentence!

I don't quite understand the statistics.... 'every additional 50 grams of processed meat eaten daily'... raises the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%. What happens if you don't eat it daily, but once in a while? Obviously the statistics can't be cumulative since people who have eaten a few slices of bacon 10 times in their lives would have a 100% chance, which is certainly not the case. Plus, it says "additional 50 grams" - additional to what? Zero? Is there a baseline amount that is risk-free?

I'm curious about one item in the list above - do they grow western broccoli, or is it chinese broccoli (gailan), or do they grow both?

Yes, the wings are actually called Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings on the menu. By the way, the laap I mentioned above is primarily made from offal...

I really enjoy pokpok, but to be fair, I don't go as often as I used to... I think the wings are good, but I usually prefer having the foods that remind me of being in northern thailand... some things I really enjoy there are: Kai Yang - this is the rotisserie chicken (they use poussin) - I especially like their tamarind dipping sauce - reminds me of having a great fried chicken in Bangkok Laap Meuang - this dish is very local to northern thailand and uses some very hard to come by herbs and spices. Very unique flavors. Gaeng Hung Lay - this is a northern pork curry that shows Burmese roots - palm sugar, ginger, tamarind Sai Ua - Chiang Mai sausage served with nam prik num, veggies for dipping... this tasted just like what I had in Chiang Mai... Kao Soi (gai) - their version is the closest I've had to what I remember in Chiang Mai... even though they make a veggie version, I think it's best with chicken as is traditional I'd also get a Pak Boong (stir fried morning glory) Sometimes they have a special fish - I like the salt grilled fish, served with kanom jeen (thin rice noodles), herbs and lettuce for wrapping. ETA: I find most of this goes best with sticky rice... and I enjoy their tamarind drinking vinegar

If you'll be at Booker and Dax, know that it's right next door to Momofuku Ssam Bar, which I think you'd find interesting as well... they're open pretty late - so, if you're hungry around the time you're getting drinks....

Thank you for sharing these!

Interesting. I knew it had a slight laxative effect on sdults (of course dependent on quantity) but I didn't realize that if affected children more profoundly. What I had read was that the body doesn't really break isomalt down, and instead, is treated like fiber and passes through. Also, like sugar, it is hygroscopic, so it tends to attract water into the colon, hence the laxative effect... That was my understanding of it, but could be completely wrong... Edit sp

I'm really curious as to your take on all of those on your list.. but I'm a bit worried about Cosme - there have been more reports lately of it going downhill from when I was there last. Sadly, I haven't been back in a while, so I can't reassess myself.

Another idea (but a bit harder to source) is to make a caramel from isomalt. It doesn't melt as easily as sugar, but will definitely melt and form a nice caramel. Once melted and caramelized, it performs similarly to sugar, but is not as sweet.

Does the hospital have a centrifuge?

I haven't used it in anything other than it's typical uses in Thai food - curries, som tam, etc.... with that being said, my first experience with the paste type made me think of maple sugar candies right away. It's not as sweet as cane sugar, but I don't have nearly enough sugar knowledge to guess with it will behave like sugar...

What about palm sugar? I get it in both disc and paste form.... would be great with some coconut cream if she likes those types of flavors

I don't know about that... I had a lot of discussion with the Ajinomoto US sales rep a few years ago, back when I was doing a lot of work with it, and he gave me the information I provided in the post above. He seemed pretty adamant that the GS had a higher bond strength than RM, even when dusted on the surface.

I don't know what GS stands for (Ajinomoto makes the transglutaminase, and they have many different versions for different applications) but it's not only for slurry applications, although that is one way it can be applied. It can also be applied just like RM, but it will have higher bond strength - it's good when bonding things that don't have tons of protein on the surface (like skin with some fat remaining), or if bonding things with a high water content - like seafoood. I used it to make shrimp noodles by pureeing the shrimp, adding the GS, then flattening to a thin sheet... later, I cut the sheet into fettucine widths.... and cooked SV.

I've done that before... I used the GS form of TG since it has a higher bonding strength. I removed the skin, cooked SV separately at 140F for 24 hours to soften, but not render the fat or shrink the skin. Then, I scraped the fat with the back of a knife, and attached the skin to the raw duck breast, and cooked SV, then briefly seared in a pan. Worked well, but a lot of effort.

Osmazome?

I asked this question a long time ago in the original sous vide thread... the answer I got from Douglas Baldwin was that at 82-83C for 10 hours, you can basically leave them in your refrigerator for 90 days, assuming your refrigerator is below 4degC. This is also assuming that the bag stays sealed (meaning it wasn't done in a ziplock bag). ETA: I also found this link: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144244-sous-vide-recipes-techniques-equipment-part-2/?p=1488909 ETA (again): I found the Douglas Baldwin response, and he actually said that if your refrigerator was very cold, at that time/temp combination, you could hold the duck indefinitely.... See: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145382-sous-vide-recipes-techniques-equipment-part-4/?p=1594516

I'm not 100% sure, but to me, it looks like a parrotfish... they are typically found in tropical, and subtropical shallow oceans, and according to Wikipedia (take that for what it may be), has the largest species diversity in the 'Indo-Pacific'.

Exactly - the purpose of the parchment is simply to aid in handling to keep the pretty presentation. But, the easiest way to do it would be to layer the potato slices on the parchment, then lay the fish on top of it so you don't have to flip it to get it in the pan.

Huiray, the kailan you posted on the other thread is very different from what we had in Singapore, although I have had the one you linked to... I used to grow it! I would commonly bring it to my local Chinese take out joint for them to add to a stir fry, and the first time, they looked at me like I was crazy - they had never seen it before.... the ones ubiquitous in S'pore were leafy, but didn't really have any stems to speak of. They almost looked like individual leaves of very large brussels sprouts, but with a different flavor and texture. ETA: I have never seen anything other than the standard mature kailan in Manhattan's chinatown... I don't go there very often (maybe once a month) but I still have never seen anything other than that there... not to say that something else doesn't show up from time to time. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to spend any significant time at Flushing's chinatown, so I can't answer about that. And also, unfortunately, I don't have enough free time to go there on a regular basis to look for produce... hopefully that will change one day...

Yes, a deep fryer would be fantastic! The torch I have is a searzall hose torch which produces a large 'swirl' flame. It makes a big flame, and I've never had an issue with torch taste. Plus, an added bonus is that the tank hangs from your belt and you can then use the torch at any angle, whether the canister is full or almost empty.

When I do long low temp cooks, I'll presear with the propane torch, rather than in a pan. I find it much easier to get into all the crevices with the torch, and I've never had a problem. Then again, I could have just gotten lucky and not had the spoilage bacteria present in the first place... we'll never know!

Was just there this afternoon, and in addition to the frozen ones they always have, they have fresh ones in the refrigerated case. There is a sign next to them that says they are 2 days from farm to the store...