KennethT

Nice. How was cleanup after that? Did it make a lot of smoke? Did you happen to get a couple of shots of it in action?

That you know of! I'd be shocked if it wasn't used extensively at Wu's.

Canned tuna fish. I can't get past the smell and the fact that it reminds me of cat food, which I also can't stand the smell of! (the wet food)

Fascinating! I had no idea! Thanks!

Fascinating. I'm amazed that you have it in Denmark at all. I wonder if the cost is based on the small amount of supply? In SE Asia (and probably China too but I haven't seen it myself) insects in the local markets are REALLY cheap. Much cheaper than anything else that I saw in the same markets. Lots of times, they were already prepared - like deep fried and salted to be eaten as a snack. What was expensive was the ant larva in Northern Thailand, but that's because it's considered a delicacy and is difficult to obtain. I've never seen insects for consumption anywhere in the US. the only insects I've seen are usually in either pet stores for feeding snakes and other reptiles.

No, this is it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syzygium_polyanthum

That would make a lot of sense. But even if it was only invented in the early 1900s, it has been widely adopted in Asia. I've seen it widely used in every country I've visited. Maybe not in "traditional" recipes that aren't common anymore, but certainly in what people eat every day. As to why that didn't happen in Europe, I can't imagine.

Most places around the world (other than the US) call them prawns regardless of size. What we in the US would call prawns, I've seen overseas called scampi, even though, to those in the US, scampi is a preparation, not an ingredient. but then I've also seen langoustine called scampi also (not in the US) so who knows!

Sorry - I wasn't clear. I was saying that cookbooks in Asia (not written by western people) commonly have MSG as ingredients, but like you, I've never seen it used in a western cookbook - US or Europe. so I wasn't surprised that you've never seen it if you don't have any cookbooks from Asia.

That's not surprising. My Nyonya cookbook (I got from the NY Public Library but is from Singapore) has MSG in maybe 3/4 of the recipes.

When I go to Indonesia in July I'm looking to bring back an Indonesian bay plant - it's a different plant to Turkish or CA. I love it and so many dishes need it. It also gets really big, but with pruning it'll be fine. Also if you keep it in a container it will limit how big it gets.

Yeah, the Knorr stuff is REALLY salty. I much prefer the Lee Kum Kee Premium Boullion powder which is not very salty (it does have some salt and sugar) so it doesn't really factor into how much additional salt I add - or maybe it does and I factor it in with it subconsciously?

I do this for stir fried vegetables - I use a combo of salt, MSG and sugar. It's amazing that people can eat vegetables cooked any other way! Also - to make EVEN BETTER - add some chicken powder! I have some chicken powder that has no salt or MSG so I don't need to adjust my combo - I don't know exactly what it is, but I love it - makes basically everything better.

Vietnamese chicken on rau ram

I use it regularly as well. Don't need much.

Tokaj is known for its sweet wines. My wife was brought there to visit Oremus which is a sweet wine made by the same company that owns Vega Sicilia in Spain. https://www.temposvegasicilia.com/en/presentation/wineries/5/tokaj-oremus I have no idea what I'm going to do with either the sweet paprika or the chilli paste - I have literally zero experience with Hungarian food - eating or making. I'm open to any and all ideas!

Yes please!!!!

Kaya toast is tasty and there are lots of places to get it. My favorite place is the original location of Killiney's Kopitiam - unlike just about everyone else, they toast the bread over charcoal which is nice. But personally, I think the best breakfast there is the chicken curry with roti prata!

Sambal grouper with Chinese broccoli

My wife brought this back from Tokaji in Hungary: Too bad she couldn't bring back a bottle of Oremus!!

Over 20 years ago, they used to have an appetizer on their menu that was a shrimp ravioli (there were 3 of them) in a foie gras truffle sauce. The shrimp ravioli were basically just a vehicle for that sauce which was so good I had no shame in licking that plate clean so there wasn't a drop left over. Ridiculously delicious but was probably the sole reason my cholesterol shot up like 40 points. Years later I made it a few times for dinner parties - there's a lot of raw foie gras that blended in, and a lot of whole butter whisked in at the end!

Ha! Seriously, literally every store I've seen it in in the NYC area has it without the crowns. There have been times that I bought some with the express intent of planting. No matter what anyone online tells you, no matter how much rooting hormone you use, culantro ribs (without the crown) won't root.

This only works if the store's inventory has crowns not just leaf and a little bit of rib

Yes, here in the NY/NJ area it's quite expensive - but like just about every other herb or vegetable, in SE Asia, it's ridiculously cheap so it can definitely be used as a vegetable... Or like in southern Vietnam, part of a giant bush of multiple herbs that comes with so many different things.

I don't understand what I don't understand. Is it not called culantro in Mexico? Why do all the Mexican markets near me call it that? Or do you mean that it's not only called culantro in Mexico but other parts of latin america as well?