KennethT

Yeah, this is similar to the Thai prep I talked about.

Also, what was its storage temperature? If your meat drawer is close to freezing, what is the temperature of the area where the pork belly was stored?

Sorry - I don't understand the first line "to your cook!!". Does this mean that you would definitely cook them (as opposed to having them raw) or something else?

I've seen lots of posts where some fortunate people with regular access to spot prawns use them in lots of different dishes, but I couldn't find a post dedicated to them. I've got a pound of spot prawns arriving today from Wild Alaskan Seafood - flash frozen on the boat, then shipped with dry ice. I've made lots of shrimp dishes over the years, but I don't think I've ever had spot prawns - and since my access to them is quite limited, I want to make the most out of them. So one question is - has anyone eaten them raw? One thing I was considering was a Thai preparation which is raw prawn briefly marinated in lime, garlic, fish sauce and a little bit of chilli. I normally wouldn't make a raw shrimp dish from grocery store shrimp since I don't know how fresh they are, but since these are frozen on the boat directly after being caught, I think it would be safe. But since I don't know how delicate of a flavor the spot prawns have, I don't know whether this prep would be too overpowering. The Wild Alaskan co sent a recipe with the email - they simply saute the prawns in olive oil (in their shell) and serve with a pasta with olive oil and lemon. Ideas?

My box is out for delivery. In it are 4 coho salmon, 2 sockeye salmon, 2 halibut and 4 cod... plus the pound of spot prawns. Now I've got to research what to do with the coho and sockeye salmon - I've never made them before. And the spot prawns too!

Have you used cast iron? I reheat store bought premade tortillas similar to how I'd make fresh ones and it works pretty well. I even get a good amount of puffing!

I've heard that for a long time, but I wonder about it. I often hear that the best sushi places use super fresh fish, but I've had discussions with Yasuda that say otherwise - from what I was able to glean, many of the fish you have in top sushi places is aged on purpose. And certainly the fish that is not local (tuna/yellowtail) are frozen on the boats and are never "fresh". I imagine that Kanoyama is either bringing in whole tuna or large pieces of it because, from time to time, I see large pieces of backbone on some tables as an appetizer.

@Shelby I think this is a great idea. I think that even if the rice originally was fantastic, I wouldn't have high hopes for it after traveling 1500 miles. I just don't think it travels well unless you keep it hot. All this talk got me really in the mood for sushi, so as I was driving past Kanoyama (I pass them by on the way home from work) I took a quick look... I was even willing to sit outdoors (in the shade) when it's still 85degF outside, but they're closed on Monday

https://kanoyama.com/ I'm not usually a fan of ordering in expensive sushi because it loses quite a bit in transit - even 20 minutes... If the rice is warm, it heats up the fish and the rice cools. Or, they have to use cold rice, which always sucks.

I find that the quality of the rice makes a huge difference. In the old apartment, the best sushi place we could get delivery from (that wasn't an omakase place for $$$) was barely tolerable - either they used too much vinegar or too sweet, and it was always slightly gummy. Now we have a great place that's a couple blocks away so we're back on the horse...

Are lemons widely available in your area? I imagine they'd have to be imported. I always found it funny when traveling in SE Asia when sometimes I would be asked if I wanted lemon, but what came was lime. I chalk it up to a translation issue. I've never seen an actual lemon in SE Asia - other than maybe an Italian restaurant or something like that in the city.

That's really sad. We've always gone to the OG Blue Ribbon Sushi in Soho. Their rice has always been really good - I think the rice is equally as important as the fish. The best rice I've ever had was always at Sushi Yasuda. We used to sit at the sushi bar in front of Yasuda-san and he would always say that, to him, the rice is the most important part of the sushi. He talked about when he was in Japan, he spent years as an apprentice - just making rice.

That's the problem with uni - it comes in a huge tray that is definitely not meant for 1 or two people! I once got one of those trays when we had a dinner party and I made a pasta with sea urchin sauce - like Le Bernardin or Marea. Expensive but delicious. When we go to Blue Ribbon, we usually get a Hokkaido uni (it's similar to the regular uni most of which comes from CA (I think) but a little brinier) in a handroll as dessert! I want that uni-ness lingering in my sinuses for as long as possible!

@liuzhou This is a bit off topic, but can you tell me how lychee is properly pronounced? I've always thought it was lee-chee, but I've heard many others call it 'ligh-chee'.

Nice - Blue Ribbon is really good and not stupid expensive like some sushi places are in NY nowadays. Where was the uni from? I love getting the Hokkaido uni. I haven't been there in over a year and a half because I don't think they have an outdoor dining setup. Once I feel comfortable enough and decide to take the plunge and eat indoors, Blue Ribbon Sushi will be one of the first stops. I can't wait to get their raw sweet shrimp, which comes with a 2nd course of the deep fried head.

I don't think MoP is necessary - just something non-metallic as it can react with the caviar. I know you're never supposed to use silver - I don't know whether stainless steel is ok. Since we don't have any MoP spoons, we'll use either plastic spoons (classy) or maybe a porcelain soup spoon. As for the champagne, I know exactly what do to with that. Definitely not ice cold, and served in a wine glass, rather than a flute - it brings out the aromas so much better.

That story is fantastic... really moving. It does remind me of stories I've heard from my parents who traveled to the USSR many years ago - probably around the 70s? I'm not quite sure, but it was uncommon for Americans to travel there for tourism and while they were there, they had a mandatory guide that would meet them every morning and not leave them until back in their hotel at night. They were only allowed to go to approved places and approved restaurants. From what I remember, in general, the food was not very good, with the exception of water glasses filled with caviar at practically every meal that they would just eat with a spoon like you would ice cream.

hmmmm.... while I don't drink very often, Krug is maybe my favorite champagne so I think it's worth my once in a while!

Recently we received this extremely generous gift: The onion jam will go with some pate of some kind, that's a given. But I haven't had access to this much caviar, ever. Any ideas of good ways to use it?

Also note how they cut the meat for the satay - this is very common - rather than long flat strips like we commonly see in the US, it's small chunks - maybe 3/4" in diameter by 1" long threaded on the skewer. Makes for a juicier bite and easier to eat with chopsticks - you can use the chopsticks to slide each piece off the skewer onto the plate. Or you can do it like this place did in Indonesia... this is goat (kambing) satay - it arrived already taken off of the skewer. They use like a thick, sweet soy sauce with chilli for dipping rather than a curry:

me too!!!! Chicken's got nuttin' on that mutton!

Enablers, all of you!!! Just ordered a wild combo box... should arrive by the 25th...

One of my favorite types of satay are what you would find in Singapore... Most of the satay hawkers are muslim, so there is usually no pork but instead mutton, duck, chicken and beef are common. The marinade is a bit spicy, and the dipping suace is usually some type of curry with a bit of shrimp paste and coconut milk but it's no nearly as thick as yours - I could drink it like a soup!

I use fresh turmeric in some Nyonya curries as part of the rempah - usually about a 1-2" piece.

Holy crap! How does one take off the anodized aluminum? It's not a coating, you'd actually have to sand off the plating!