KennethT

Where did you get them from? I've gotten them from kalustyan's and they've been pretty good, but I really don't have much to compare them with since I don't think I've bought them from anywhere else.

Piment d'Espelette if you've got it!!!

I ran out of my homemade curry pastes a long time ago, so one of the priorities this weekend was to rectify that. I was planning to do a few different ones, but I only managed to make pork stock, some Bak Kut Teh and this Nyonya coconut-less chicken curry, called Ayam Buah Keluak. Of course, I can't get any buah keluak here (they're a type of Indonesian/Malaysian nut sometimes called "black diamonds") but I will try to find some when I'm in Malaysia next winter. So this is the buah keluak-less curry:

That's better than converting for the jokes.

@DuvelWhat was the agenda?

It was perfectly ok. The rice was a bit mushy and gluey, but the fish was decent. It was from Ennju - we had never had it from there, and I read an Eater article a few weeks ago listing them as one of the best of the more affordable sushi places in Manhattan. Also, it turns out that they're closing at the end of June. But, personally, I feel like the quality of sushi at Kanoyama is much better and only slightly more expensive ($25 vs $22 for a similar set) but also includes a salad and miso soup whereas the Ennju included nothing.

2nd Seder take out sushi

The only time I had heard that Jews were "God's chosen people" was from a Catholic priest. Never in my 5 years of Hebrew school...

My herb farm (especially the mint) is starting to get out of control again... so bun lemongrass shrimp. 5 herbs in the bun (3 from the garden) and my lemongrass in the marinade...

I have a philosophical question - one I have thought about for years. Why is there the restriction on leaven or leavening of dough (which is inactive time, very easy to do in a bag or pot while roaming the desert) but it's ok to have a Pesach dinner with brisket and other foods that need to be cooked for long periods of time? And one thing I thought about today as I was in Chinatown was how easy it would be for my wife and I to keep the Pesach since we barely eat bread or leavened products anyway. If rice is ok for the Sephardim, it's fine for my Ashkenazi butt! So between rice, rice noodles and potatoes, I am set for like 5 months of Pesach. Ha! Is it sacreligious to have Panang curry after reading the Hagaddah? Chag Sameach everyone!

And yes, the amount of light makes a big difference to many plants - for years, when I grew sawtooth coriander, my leaves were tough and the saw teeth were really sharp. Then I greatly decreased the amount of light it got and now the leaves are nice and tender, the way they should be.

Do you know if they're deprived of light completely, or just grown using a very little bit of light?

I think the milder flavor also works better with the mild flavored rice rolls - the green would probably be completely overpowering.

A light lunch while shopping in Chinatown prepping for a weekend of cooking... Marinated pork with chives Shrimp with chives - the shrimp were perfect as was the texture of both rice rolls I also really liked them using the yellow Chinese chives - more tender than their green cousins which goes with the rice roll texture.

OK - so you can't tease us with all those photos without a length description of each!!!!!

What did you think of the pandan/palm sugar drink? To me, pandan always tastes like rice in my head. Not that that is a bad thing - but usually I've had it mixed with other flavors - like in a kueh or something.

OK - that makes sense. It is sticky rice, not jasmine rice.

By Thai rice, do you mean jasmine or glutinous (sticky) rice? I cook sticky rice in the CSO in a similar way - soak it, wash and then I spread it on a tamis, and steam at 210 for 15 minutes, then use change it to keep warm at like 150 or so for another 15. Comes out perfect every time. I can't imagine cooking jasmine rice this way though...

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

I am positively drooling. Thank you so much for posting this. I wish I had access to fresh peppercorns. I have frozen fingerroot which is pretty good, but the brined peppercorns are 1 step up from flavorless.

It is in the soy sauce group - but it's very different. I can't really describe the flavor - it's a lot of umami, but it goes well with the Thai trinity of stir fry sauces: oyster sauce/fish sauce/GM sauce. I definitely wouldn't put it in anything I would consume raw - I feel like it gains something when it's been cooked through. I think it's like the liquid equivalent of MSG - you use it when you use salt, but it's different. Also, you don't use very much - just a few dashes... it can quickly overwhelm and that's just yuck.

In the summer it's not bad at all and quite green. Mid to upper 50's? Great hiking weather and so many incredible things to see. It will be cold when we do our glacier walk though.

I've been using it more and more - it's great in SE Asian style stir fries or marinades.

We're going to Iceland in the summer, but that will be in a different topic...

Haven't made this in a while, Vietnamese (un)grilled chicked on a bed of rau ram (laksa leaf). Cooked in the CSO hybrid style: 10 minutes steam bake at 425 in the lowest rack position, then move the rack up and 500 degree broil for 2.5 minutes, then 1/4 counterclockwise turn, then repeat until all the way around. Skin came out amazing and the chicken was fantastic - one of my best chicken thighs yet in the CSO. Didn't hurt that it was marinating (combination of lemongrass, garlic, shallot, fish sauce, black pepper and some Golden Mountain sauce) since Thursday night and spent about 24 hours uncovered to dry out the skin.