KennethT

A spider... something like https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwit1tHZkeHyAhWKnLMKHb64ASIYABAFGgJxbg&sig=AOD64_1bRlVOr0BeK0NhfssfkMNUdggM0Q&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwiYy8LZkeHyAhVFhuAKHavtCX4Q9aACegQIARBC&adurl=

Before I moved to a new apartment, I would cook pasta in my All-Clad LTD pot with stainless interior. Even when the water became cloudy from the starch, it was still easy to see the pasta (let's say a penne shape) against the stainless background to fish it out with a spider. The new apartment has no gas service (to the entire building) and I'm now cooking on induction, so the LTD pot is out. And being that I'd rather not spend more money right now (I will eventually get a proper induction compatible stainless pot), for now, I'm boiling the pasta in a Le Creuset enameled cast iron dutch oven. I have no complaints about the boiling - the induction gets that water to a boil in the amount of time that I'd still be able to bathe in the gas heated pot, but since the enameled interior is a cream type color, it's practically impossible to see an errant few pieces of pasta swimming around unless they're right near the surface. Any ideas, other than "just get a new pot already!"?

This is fascinating. How I would love that system!!!

@weinoo I have a drawer in the new fridge (actually it's an old fridge in the new apartment) that has a drawer with a lever where you can adjust temperature - colder to warmer. I've kept ripe mangoes in there (in the warmer setting) very successfully for a couple weeks (until they were all eaten). My crisper drawers also have a lever which you can use to adjust humidity.

I've kept cilantro for 2 weeks using the flower vase method - about an inch of water in the bottom of a short glass and the plastic grocery bag loosely draped over the top. The only issue is that you have to change the water every couple of days and make sure that none of the leaves find their way into the water. The stems are a lot hardier than the leaves are. You can definitely freeze the stems - I do it all the time. I also have frozen thai chilies - it's fine for most things that I'm just going to turn into paste later.

Thanks so much for this!

Hmmm. I remember it looking more like a disk - but it was like 12 years ago so I don't trust my memory. But I do remember it shaving the whole top surface of the canister rather than a chopping action of a blender.

Do you give the tree any fertilizer in the spring? My parents used to have a few old fruit trees (maybe not ancient). If we didn't fertilize, they'd barely fruit if at all. If we did it was like an explosion.

Yes, Kalustyan's did renovate - they expanded into the space next door - it's positively spacious now. @weinooI've walked past those other spice places an uncountable number of times, and every time I thought that I would go in there to check it out but never have since I was always pressed for time. I wouldn't be surprised if their spices were fresher, but Kalustyan's does have a ton of turnover for a lot of its main products (other stuff probably sits there forever but they have it for the sake of completeness). I'd also imagine that the places next door have better prices - there's always the Kalustyan's Premium. I've never been to (nor have I even heard of) Dual.. I'll have to check it out.

I also frequent Kalustyan's. For so long I was spoiled living on a few blocks away - close enough that I never kept an eye on my spices since if I ever ran out, I could just hop down the street and be back in 20 minutes. Now I live a bit further away so I've got to be more careful, but it's still not all that far.

I had a friend who had a pacojet in his home. He would use it for pureed soups. Yes, he also had a vitamix for the same task, but he liked to play. If you wanted to make a squash soup, for example, you could just cook chunks of squash in the stock, then deep freeze just like that. Then you pacotize the portions you want and just heat. His biggest complaint about the pacojet was the time it takes to get something cold enough to pacotize which is hard to do in a standard household freezer. But, @Kerry Beal and @JoNorvelleWalker, it would be great for people who have blast freezers! @Anna NThe pacojet my friend had wasn't like a blender blade, it was more like a microplane disk that would continually scrape the top layer off of the frozen container - it made very fine shavings. That's why the liquid had to be frozen to a ridiculously cold temperature because if it was any warmer, it would gum up the blade.

here, a common osmanthus dish I see in dim sum restaurants is glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame, floating in osmanthus syrup. My wife and I love black sesame anything and while the osmanthus syrup is usually not that sweet (which is good), it's not necessarily something I'd order if it didn't have the black sesame.

What did you think of the frozen ramen noodles?

Is that iceberg lettuce or some kind of Chinese variety? I think this was discussed sometime in the past but I can't find it - do Chinese people eat salads? Other than what I believe was raw Celtuce tops in a salad in a donkey meat restaurant in Beijing or a smacked cucumber salad, I don't recall hearing about too many. If not, what would Chinese people typically do with that lettuce, stir fry it?

But the plural of thesaurus?

ah! I had originally thought there might have been uses that specifically called for the dried version... In the past, in the pre-tree days, I used to freeze what I didn't use right away after purchase - I thought they froze well. I'm curious as to why you would freeze some and dry others.

It's crazy how different your photos are to what I remember. I was there for lunch in March 2006 and I remember a lot of dark wood around and a charcoal brazier brought to each table. When you got to the table, there was a laminated sheet of paper lying there saying (in English) that there was only 1 dish and the price. I'm sure we were on the 2nd floor by the window (unless they have a third floor?) as I distinctly remember our cyclo driver (we took one to get there as a novelty) waving and shouting to us from the street below "yoo hoo!!!! I wait for you!!!!". It still cracks us up.

What do you do with the dried curry leaves? I've only used them fresh

Do you get the SE Asian type of garlic where you are? The type with the really small cloves?

If that type of lunch is typical, no wonder everyone needs a siesta aftwards!!! ha!

I wouldn't say no - I really have no idea. Unfortunately, I'm not friendly with anyone in the NYC Chinese community and have never been invited to a hot pot in someone's home But now that I think about it, I definitely see a lot of thinly sliced meats (mostly beef) in the refrigerated case at my local Korean (and other Asian) store and also in my local Japanese grocery (labeled typically for Sukiyaki or Shabu Shabu, which is a form of hot pot). I haven't been in a true Chinese grocery or meat market in a long time since Chinatown is more of a schlep than either of the other stores, both of which are around the corner from me.

I've never seen them in stores in my Chinatown here - not that they may not be tucked away somewhere, but I've never come across them. I also haven't specifically looked for them though, but I don't know how many people are making hot pot at home here.

Braising in water won't make the meat watery, but the meat will leach flavor into the braising liquid. You're basically making a stock with your braise.

I think I threw up a bit in my mouth just now...

In stores in Chinatown here, I've never noticed any rice that's not either Jasmine or sticky... I've never seen a "plain white rice" - unless you're in a normal grocery store and they have a domestic rice. I didn't know it existed in China!