KennethT

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?

Is that green Hanukkah gelt?

I love culantro - but I commonly refer to it as they do in Thailand and other parts of SE Asia - Sawtooth herb. From what I am to understand (and could be completely wrong), culantro is the name for it in Mexico. I gather is is pronounced with a hard c - like koo-LAN-tro which would be how you would pronounce it in Spanish. I agree with you - I personally don't see that much connection to cilantro - although if I really stretch, I guess you could think it was a much more intense version of cilantro. I used to grow it as it's not easy to come by in the stores near me. I can get it in Chinatown or in Mexican markets. Unfortunately, I'm not nearly as lucky as you and can't get the crown/roots - here they usually snip the stems at the crown so the plant continues to grow and put out more. If I could, I'd get a few crowns and plant them. I've tried growing from seed, but it's notoriously difficult with a ridiculously long germination period. Once growing, it doesn't like a lot of light, similar to cilantro, but it is more heat tolerant before it bolts. What is interesting is that the texture of the leaves varies with light proportion. With the proper amount of light, the leaves and teeth (for lack of a better word) are nice and soft, but with too much light, the leaves can be much more tough and the teeth are REALLY sharp!!! Don't ask me how I know... hehe. One day soon I'm going to order a few plant starts (I just hate to pay all that cost for shipping) for some sawtooth and some other herbs that either only propagate via cuttings/division or are difficult to germinate.

Something similar happens in NYC - tons of people come in from the suburbs on the weekends, so many NYers go out for dinner either during the week or on Sunday. Most NYers want to avoid what is called teh Bridge & Tunnel crowd - as in people who don't live there. Personally, I appreciate the B&T as well as foreign tourists - we need their tax revenue!

As I'm sure @liuzhou has as well, I've spent a decent amount of time in SG - basically, EVERYONE speaks English. There is no language to learn because there are so many different cultures there - if you were to walk around getting snacks everywhere, you'd have to learn like 20 languages! Which is why they all speak English. More important that the actual words are where you plan to spend your limited time there! So much great food, so little time!

Wow!!! That is insane!

It's gonna get nice and steamy in there!

In my neighborhood, most of the hot dog carts are actually Middle Eastern carts that also do kebab, etc, so yes, those dogs are grilled. I haven't noticed a true dirty water dog carts in my neighborhood in a long time.

I definitely need to look into this!

Bitterness? I always think of it being a sour agent - less sour than lime juice and more fruity. It also withstands cooking while lime juice needs to be added at the end. Sour tamarind is very common in Peranakan food - it's practically in everything!

One of my wife's favorites - Sichuan style twice cooked mahi mahi

I always thought this to be a one pot meal type thing - how much cleanup is there?

Shouldn't Beverages have been called Rinse?

Like always, thanks for bringing us along! Just looking at your photos warmed me up....

Mapo tofu with ground elk and lots of Korean leeks (they're like a giant scallion). A little too much sauce (I needed enough liquid to cover the leeks and then they REALLY wilted) but still very flavorful.

Haven't made this is a while but it's one of my wife's favorite, for our anniversary. Yunnan Dai style elk with herbs (7 of them!)

Vietnamese roast chicken. Crispy skin and rau ram soaked in chicken juices! With quick pickled cucumber salad.

What is the fried ball-like thing next to the grouper?

I wound up buying a super cheap Vigor (Webstaurant brand) just to try it out. It was like $50 for a 8Qt stock pot - it's practically disposable, but I'm curious as to how it behaves - it should be fine for things like boiling water/cooking pasta.

@liamsauntGlad to see that your husband is feeling better!

Eric Ripert had a recipe for lemon confit in his book, A Return to Cooking. After reading it, I kept a jar of it in my cupboard for years - they were great to have on hand. I don't really do the kind of cooking that would benefit from it anymore, but if I did, I would definitely keep these around again.

Has anyone used Vollrath cookware? They are mostly geared toward pro use and there are some that are "optimized for use with Vollrath induction units", which I've been eyeing a high powered 240V unit lately....

I gave you a package of my curry powder - you can make it yourself!!!

Done! Thanks for the push.