KennethT

I'm sure I could say the same for many of us here. So me also... but I'm going to stop counting!

Lemongrass chicken with home grown lemongrass and chillies. Cucumber salad

Yoko Cho. Oddly enough, it's an izakaya run by Thai people.... We got there early, but by the time we left, it was packed with young (20s?) Asian kids - NYU is right there. It was ok - but I think there are much better izakayas (albeit more expensive) that would be closer to you.

When we used to fly EVA Airlines to Asia (they're Taiwanese connecting through Taipei), before each movie on the seatback entertainment system, they would play a few advertisements, one was always for Ka-Va-Lan. It's hilarious how many times you can see someone gazing thoughtfully at a glass of whisky.

Went to a new izakaya in the neighborhood, now sitting in our dearly departed Hunan place.... Takoyaki Hamachi Gyoza Chicken thigh and meatball yakitori

For those with one of these rice cookers, does the cooker care if you unplug it for storage? A while ago, I was reading a manual and it made it seem like you had to set the clock every time it had power disconnected - which is fine if you leave it on the countertop and plugged in, but I don't have that much counter space and would unplug and store in between uses. And I really don't need a clock on my rice cooker - I would never put the rice/water in and have it turn itself on 7 hours later or whatever its intention was to have.

I ran into an interesting article talking about cultured meat - meat not made from traditional agriculture, but basically grown in a lab... I'm curious as to what people think about it. https://www.fastcompany.com/91380863/cultured-meat-lost-its-sizzle-but-its-finally-finding-a-place-in-the-food-world

Teochew style bak kut teh noodle soup with homemade pork broth, a lot of sweet slow cooked garlic, Sarawak peppercorns and wild caught Argentinian red shrimp. Bok choy briefly cooked in the broth.

I don't have a Zo, but I do manually soak both my jasmine and basmati rices for 10 minutes prior to a thorough washing.

It's the burnt hair which makes it special....

Headless fish head curry with mahi mahi.

Sambal grouper..... Cucumber salad

The verdict is in! The new CSO and turbo roast feature is fantastic. I used the same temperature/time setting as usual with the old CSO using the same type of fish cooked the same way. The fish in the new oven had a crisper crust but was still moist and juicy inside. Both my wife and I agreed that the fish was better this time than normal. I'm a believer!

Fan in the oven ceiling.

Yes, there are a few new features - air fry and turbo roast. Unlike the original CSO, there seems to be as large variable speed fan in the ceiling of the oven. The fan speed depends on the cooking mode - both air fry and turbo roast use the high speed fan, turbo roast uses steam while air fry does not. The door seal is the same as the original, although it's now on the unit rather than the door itself, and is not selective, however, I wonder if the vent at the back is selective - further investigation is necessary. I think I'm going to try the turbo roast mode for the grouper tonight and see how it goes.

Either for lunch or dinner, I plan to make some grouper. Typically, I pan fry it to get a crust, and then 10 minutes on convection bake at 350 to bring up to temp. Usually, this time in the oven winds up getting the crust a little soggy. What say ye about using the air fryer function as opposed to convection bake?

It does make the footprint smaller taking up less counter space - and I think it has a much more modern look - especially with the touchscreen as opposed to buttons... although that's just one more thing that might not last that long. Also, looking at the competitive countertop ovens, they all look similar, with the controls on top rather than the side.

It seems like the everything vent. When I run on convection bake, I feel a slight warm breeze coming out then too.

While in the Loire, I once had an aged crottin that I still dream about.

Very! So far.... especially since it's our only oven. We don't have a regular range or wall oven.

Worst comes to worst, you can open the box wherever it is left and take it in piece by piece. Or if you can pick up one edge, try to get an old towel under there and then you should be able to drag it.

Yes to both.

@Shelby Fake potato salad? Is that like fake plastic trees? <music reference/>

That is correct.

My parents grew blackberries, raspberries and blueberries - most years the birds and other fauna got the fruit long before we considered picking...