KennethT

While it was invented in the UK (I assume London), it has definitely been here in the US for a long time. So you'll definitely see US Indian cookbooks with it - but I imagine that the measurements wouldn't be in grams.

I made the sad face because it's sad that I can't get those prices here!

Yeah, I found that out the hard way - I was there a week or two ago and sucked it up and paid full price... Next time I'll head to Chinatown to check out what they've got. I haven't been to a Chinatown meat market in a long time.

Duck prices here are much more than chicken. I wish I could get cheap duck. The cheapest I can get is sometimes at a local farmer's market where a duck farmer has legs on sale - it's $5 for 2 relatively small legs - probably about 1-1/4 pounds total. That's when on sale. Duck breast is significantly more - liek $15-20 per pound. Whole duck is about $5 a pound but there is a lot of stuff you pay for on a whole bird that isn't used, or goes into stock, which while fantastic, $5 per pound for backs and other carcass is more than what I'd be happy to pay. I have never seen duck wings only. I wonder what happens to them since they sell breasts and legs individually?

@Duvel@TicTacIn the US (and other places maybe?), unless the packaging says "air chilled", the chicken is chilled post slaughter in a brine. If you ever see a video of a standard chicken processing plant, the chickens are transported from the slaughter/defeather area to further processing in a river of chilled brine. So, as the chicken cools, it also absorbs some of that brine, hence the disclaimer. Some of this brine weeps out while sitting on the grocery store shelf, hence the need for the diaper at the bottom of the package, but some stays in the meat. Personally, I go for air chilled chicken every time. Not only are there no additives, but there is also a much lower chance of contamination by bacteria since it hasn't been in a communal brine river with entrails, etc. But it's more expensive, and many people don't necessarily have the option of choice.

For those in the US, Wild Fork Foods currently has antibiotic free, air chilled wings for $3.18/lb... and if you want the stuff with up to 15% chicken broth/carrageenan/etc, it's like $2.28 per pound

In China, is it mandatory to have an ingredient list (verified by a 3rd party) on the label as it is in many countries in the West?

How was their po boy bread?

That sounds really good. Thank you!

My wife brings in COR oo from Fresh Direct all the time. I don't think she's ever tried the new harvest though - and I don't know if FD carries it.

An update on my curry leaf tree. It seems like it is much happier after my root trimming and agressive pruning. Lots of new growth buds happening!

This came in a little while ago from the south of France I'm excited to try this olive oil, but i have no idea what to do with the salt/herb de provence grinder. Many years ago I used herbs de provence a lot, but I've been out of the habit.

I'm sure @Duvel will do a fantastic job!

Thanks for this @Chris Hennes. I haven't been back to NO in what feels like forever - your trip is giving me the itch to get back there!

some things don't dissolve easily, so you could be there stirring for a while. When I mix hydroponic nutrients, I use a submersible pump in the reservoir to stir the water - makes life a lot easier - but that's for making 30 gallons. If I only did a liter or so, I'd use a magnetic stirrer.

If you want to dissolve stuff in it you do

That's awesome... Did you pack your gaiwan also?

I don't know if it's available in winter, but I find it hard to leave NO without getting a snowball, aka sno-ball, aka sno-bliz. The last time we were there, we enjoyed walking down Tchoupitoulas to Hansen's... lots of home-made syrups and flavors and great texture on their sno from their vintage snow machine.

We enjoyed Bayona when we were there, which like I said before, we a long time ago. Nice thing about NO is that if you don't finish your bottle of wine by the end of dinner, you can get the rest in to go cups so you can enjoy it while wandering around. Sitting at the table next to us was the band The Radiators, who evidently go there quite often when in town.

That's Cochon Butcher - an offshoot of Cochon.... this is what everyone's talking about I was there a long time ago also - it was one of the best meals we had there... but again, taht was a long time ago.

@Chris Hennes Me too....My wife and I used to go to NO every year around Easter weekend for a while, although we haven't done so in years. There's a lot of great food there - I'm excited to see where you go and how things have changed.

I've used zip lock freezer bags for years with no problems. You can squish the air out as you close the bag, or use the water displacement method leaving a corner of the bag open as you drop the bag into the water - the water squishes the air out the open corner - then seal the corner before it drops below the surface of the water.

I hadn't looked into whether it was labeled sushi grade or not. I guess you cooked it through rather than just seared?

How did you like WF's tuna? I haven't tried that yet. I really liked their mahi mahi.

I think it was Hong Li meat market on Mott between Hester and Grand. They not only had raw meats, but also a cooked meat section where you could get roast ducks, pork, etc. Edit - hmm, maybe not - maybe it's Deluxe Market on Elizabeth between Hester and Grand.