KennethT

do you ever eat the leaves whole when they're fresh?

Thanks. Years ago, in Saigon, in one of the bushes of herbs provided at practically every meal, there was an herb I couldn't identify. When I asked someone, they just called it "wild herb". The leaves looked similar to the lemon verbena in @Paul Bacino's post above - they did have a slight lemony flavor that I really enjoyed. Over the years I've tried to identify it and think that maybe it was a young mango leaf, but I haven't seen one in person to really know.

Where do you get fresh lemon verbena? I don't think I've ever seen it before - I've always seen it dried. Are the leaves tough? Can you eat them without grinding them?

Just an update on the morning glory - as of this morning, I see some small roots already!

Attempting growing morning glory from the grocery store (actually a street vendor in Chinatown) Lemongrass rehab doing well - they were getting slightly root bound in the solo cups so now in the fabric bag.

I had COVID shot #5 yesterday and am still feeling slightly under the weather, so chicken soup to the rescue: Viet mien ga with some rau muong aka ong choy aka morning glory aka kangkung aka pak boong that was gifted to me yesterday.

My wife brought this home from Portugal: Other than the obvious (est straight from the can) what should I do with them?

I'm sorry your parents had to go through that, but glad they're on the mend. There were times looking at this thread that I almost wished I was anemic so I'd have a good excuse to eat all that stuff also!!!

I don't have steak very often, but yours has me drooling!

What made the potatoes Chinese style? Is that a sprig of rosemary?!?

Hydrogen peroxide will also get rid of it - although the stuff at the drug store has additives I wouldn't want to put in my mouth. But I think if you were to first try and clean out what you can with a bottle brush or something, then sterilize, then shake around with soap and water, then rinse with a few changes of water, I think you'd be set. Like @gfweb says, if it's algae, putting a towel over the tank will keep it from returning. If it's a mold or other bacteria, it won't help.

So short!!! It feels like it just started!

I wish I could...

Vietnamese Bún Gà Nướng

Glad to hear it. I'm happy to see you get something satisfying while you're recovering.

Was the vegetable soup good? I can't tell if there's sarcasm there or not...

Jeez... Of all things to put in dumplings!!!! They might as well filled them with moldy crickets.... To be sick and force fed corn... The horror....

Viet lemongrass chicken

Hope it's not too serious and you recover soon!

Definitely looking forward to more!

Sichuan style twice cooked mahi mahi And some kuih for dessert

Yikes! I hope it's not too serious and you're out of there soon!

Have you tried SV for them? I don't know about the skin, but short times work pretty well for very lean meats like that. But you can never go wrong with bacon!

As I know you are aware (but many on this board may not be), maybe not salt or pepper dispensers, but I can't count how many places in Asia I've seen have some form or combo of soy sauce, black vinegar, chopped chillis, chili oil, etc. Thai food (in Thailand) revolves around the several condiments one can add - fish sauce, chillies in vinegar, dried chilli powder, etc. I was once in a street food place in Hue that specialized in banh canh - which is a black pepper forward soup - and on the table were dishes of chopped chilli and a LARGE (half empty) dish of ground black pepper with a spoon for serving. One of the other diners there (a regular evidently as his discussion with the owner seemed like they knew each other) dumped a spoonful of finely ground black pepper without tasting.

What is meant by Durian ice mooncakes? The box said 100% durian - is it just frozen?