trillium

Potassium carbonate is a lot like baking soda. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, just a different salt (potassium instead of sodium). It gets used for color (yellow) texture and taste in things like mooncake pastry, noodles and wrappings. You can buy the liquid solution in almost any Asian grocery, and I think it goes by kan sui in Cantonese. It's different then lye water (but it's usually in the same section on the shelf). By Cantonese mien I meant the egg/wheat flour type that are cut thinner and flat, and are yellow. I think the most common cuts are for wonton mien (very thin), chow mien (thicker, more like spaghetti alla chitara) and lo mien (more like fettucine). They have a different texture then Hokkien mien (also yellow but round and very chewy) or the Shanghainese stuff without any eggs, or that stuff that gets sold for "Hong Kong" style chow mien. I'm thinking of trying soft (low protein flour), eggs (from my mum's chickens) and some potassium carbonate. The partner is also asking his step-mum for hints (she doesn't make them but might know some grannies that do). regards, trillium

Le Creuset. It's the stuff that is on their not non-stick black colored finishes for some frying pans, "woks", "tawas" grill pans and griddles. While the idea of seasoning an enamel is kind of anti-intuitive I can't think of a better way to say it. The finish starts out black and matte and with a slightly rough surface and ends up black and shiny and smooth. You can get it that way by applying a thin film of oil and putting it in a low oven a few times. I'm calling that seasoning. It goes away with harsh detergents or some seriously high heat over a long period of time. I thought it was raw cast iron, but they insist it's an enamel finish. I was just eyeing the Staub at Sur la Table the other day. Very pretty. regards, trillium

Great job! But one question.... What about black porcelain enamel finished cast iron pans? They develop a "seasoning" much faster then raw cast iron and are non-reactive. And they don't need the babying that the ivory enamel does, you can use them for high heat cooking. regards, trillium

Does the Lin book actually tell you how to make noodles or just how to cook them? We're gearing up to try and perfect Cantonese mein, I have a bottle of kan sui (I think it's just potassium carbonate) that we're going to play around with to get a nice firm texture, but a head start from a book would be great. regards, trillium

Instead of the raw egg we had brewer's yeast. 1 banana, yogurt, a dollop of frozen orange juice concentrate and brewer's yeast. It was um, interesting. I'll take a jackfruit or avacado smoothie any day. regards, trillium

I thought Wild Oats was bought out by Whole Foods a couple of years ago... anyway, it sounds like the same stuff. Cheap and easy, what's not to like? regards, trillium

Oh great. I have a large water bottle that I routine re-fill with the Alhambra water at the office. I thought I was being environmentally sensitive, but now I find I could be jeopardizing my health? Is there no winning?!? Buy yourself a pretty cheap Nalgene polycarbonate bottle to use for water. No leaching and dishwasher safe, which you want, cuz bugs from your mouth will take residence in your water bottle eventually. Polycarbonate rocks, favorite in lab, favorite at home. And please people, don't microwave stuff in plastics that aren't labelled "microwave safe" like yogurt, cottage cheese containers and their ilk. Not good for you. regards, trillium

That there are. A friend from Madras puts ajwain in his masala chai. One of the funniest moments ever was when he ordered a chai at a Starbucks and was corrected "no, you mean a chai tea latte". Um, yeah, and I'll skip the tea tea milk, but thanks. Not masala chai, but a friend from Venezuala by way of Paletstine drinks her tea with sage added to the brew. Everybody has a favorite. I like ordering from Upton Tea. regards, trillium

Sure. We started with raw duck eggs that we bought at the farmer's market. We heated up what looked like enough water and then added salt (we used bulk sea salt, you could do that or use kosher) until the solution wouldn't dissolve any more (if you're a chemist, you basically just make a supersaturated NaCl solution). Then we threw in a handful of ti kuan yin (this is optional) and let it cool. Then we filled up a jar with the eggs and poured the brine over them, we used one of those Italian jars with a gasket closure. Let it sit out at room temp for 2 weeks to a month in a dark cool place. If you wait a month then they're really salty and can't be eaten as is, but just used in cooking. I asked around because the whole room temp thing kinda freaked me out, and that's pretty much how you do it. The rule is that if you cook the eggs (you cook them like hard boiled eggs) and the yolk is broken when you open it up you don't eat that egg. regards, trillium

We buy the 365 stuff at Whole Foods. It's a mix of oak, maple and hickory, by-products of flooring and furniture making. I think it's $5 for 9 lbs. Something to keep in mind, it burns hotter (and goes faster) then the other stuff, when we did the switch a few years ago it took us a little while to get used to that. regards, trillium

I've been deprived. If we ever have a pdx egullet thingy you'll have to bring some and fill me in on the finer points of eating lmabm. It needs lots of olive oil, right? regards, trillium

Hi there and welcome. The easiest is to just put them in a container with a lid. We just did our first batch of salted duck eggs and added a bit of ti kuan yin leaves (oolong tea) to the brine because we were told that it helped make the yolks oilier. I don't know if this is really true, but they're delicious. To figure out how the site is organized you can click on above on egullet.com and that will take you to the front page for all of the discussion catagories. regards, trillium

I've been told by Italians (well, Sicilians anyway) that angel-hair pasta is only for soup, you break it up and toss it in. I noticed in Guiliano Hazan's book he makes that assertion too. Are there two camps of thought? I like tossing it with a simple tomato sauce on week nights when I can't wait for dinner to be ready, so I've been ignoring that "rule". regards, trillium

You might check out an Asian grocery that does their own butchering. They butcher really differently then western butchers and pork belly is a pretty common cut for them. It's usually in the display counter and might be cheaper then elsewhere. regards, trillium

River Run Farm (the grass fed beef people) actually will not be at this week's market. And I'm assuming that "lmabm" = lamb. I buy it from SuDan farms and it's fantastic. regards, trillium

I'm a barbarian. I shake the hell out of nearly everything. But I start with whole ice cubes (not crushed), and a lot of times the main booze is freezer cold, so I don't get that much more dilution. I love the frothy bits of ice crystals on the top. regards, trillium

Thanks for all your suggestions, I appreciate them. The only problem is that you're making me want some of this loot too, when I've been very happy with my minimalist approach until now! I think I'm going to stick with what's called the Boston shaker, it works really well for me and the point is to use it, not to have it sit there and look good...their apt. is really small and I remember all too well too many well-meaning and useless presents I just couldn't afford to keep out of sentimentality during my super tiny apartment years. I would very guiltily slink off to the Goodwill after xmas every year... Just in case, I don't find a nice vintage one, what exact models of the all metal/prefab shakers have people been happy with? The cocktail picks are a nice idea, but I just can't do platic cute stuff, I just can't. It would keep me awake at night, I'm sure. If I can find some of those stainless steel ones nighscotman mentioned, I'll go for them. regards, trillium

Ok, about this bruising business...I don't get it. What are we talking about? The actual chemical composition of the the stuff in your cocktail that isn't ethanol is changed? Or you just don't like the taste/dilution/viscosity of a drink that's been shaken for a long time? I'm not sure I'm buying the bruising thing, but I could be convinced with some decent evidence. And by evidence I don't mean that gin and other clear booze goes cloudy when it gets shaken vigorously and that means it's "bruised", ok? I use what I guess is called a Boston shaker. Big glass thing and bigger metal thing. It works really well for the two of us (maybe we're just lushes). I have ancestral silver plated shakers from each side of the family and I think I tried to use them once. What a nightmare...leaky, slippery, blech. Mr. Harrington, OTOH, believes that all metal is the best exactly because it conducts heat. I think what he said was something along the lines of you're done when it's too cold to hold. regards, trillium

That's the kind I have, except my glass is bigger then a pint glass and has cool Parisian scenes on it in red, yellow and black (but the people look Asian). I like it a lot, but I've never used the all metal kind, which do tend to look swanker. Perhaps, 1.5/.75 & 2/1 & .75/.5? Hey, that's a bit much, no? I have a 1.5/.75 and I just eyeball it for the rest or if it's something new or a drink that requires exactitude, I do conversions and use my measuring spoons. Hmmm...I'm used to doing conversions, but maybe it's not so easy for someone who isn't used to it. Good point. I found American Bar kind of dry and boring when I glanced through it. I haven't checked out Craft of the Cocktail yet, but why do you think American Bar is better? And the bar spoon works better then a cooking spoon how? (Dirty secret...I don't stir martinis, I shake the hell out of them...I love ice crystals in my drinks) Coctail picks is a good idea... Cocktail napkins, maybe. Do deals exist at Restoration Hardware? That's shocking. thanks for the hints trillium

My cousin is getting married and she's put a cocktail shaker and strainer, as well as some cocktail glasses, on her list. I thought it would be nice to go with the cocktail theme for her present. I was wondering what people consider useful. I have an old (circa mid 50's) cocktail shaker that consists of 1 big metal glass that fits over a glass um, glass, a strainer and a jigger/pony measure. The only other thing I really long for is a decent muddler, I've already broke a wooden spoon by using the handle as a muddler. Ok, and maybe a nice icepick to improve my twists. I was checking out those bar kits they sell, like this one and I'm not sure you really need all that stuff. Do people who have all of these things find them useful? I don't think I know anyone who really uses ice tongs. There apartment is pretty small, so I don't want to give them stuff that will just end up in the way. I was thinking of buying a cocktail shaker Probably new, I haven't run into a old one for a while, unless someone knows a nice place online to buy reasonably priced vintage shakers. I'm not sure if an all metal with a built in strainer is preferable to the 2 piece kind like I have. Any opinions? a strainer a jigger/pony meaure a muddler (and I can buy one for myself too!) a good book on cocktails I love Paul Harrington's book, but I'm not sure I'll be able to find it in time, since it's out of print, I was thinking of buying Dale Degroff's book instead. a couple of different bitters I was thinking of sending Fee Bros. orange and whatever else I can rustle up at our friendly state run shop a handheld citrus press one of my very favorite gadgets Can anyone think of any thing else that would be useful? I'd prefer not to mail glasses and bottles of stuff. regards, trillium

How warm is the ambient temp? It might need a little more time to get going... I don't know about the Wei chuan recipe, but I've been told you need to use more than 1 cake for a kilo of glutinous rice. My friend's mum using 4 -5 cakes / kilo. I'm sure there is variation though. Keep us updated! regards, trillium

Man, imaging clay pot rice with "Italian" sausage (it really isn't Italian but that's a different subject) is totally freaking me out. I think it would give me a lot of grief too. I wold be more apt to substitute some dark soya, bitter orange peel or chun pay (dried tangerine peel) and star anise, along with ground pork, if I felt the need to substitute. One thing I've found is that lap cheung (and it's relative, lap yuk) can really vary in sweetness. I refuse to use the kind that comes sealed in plastic, because it's invariably too damn sweet. If you can find the kind that is made and hung up by strings around a butcher area, you'll be a lot better off. We couldn't find that kind here in Portland, but when the partner was in Philly, thanks to some egulleteers, he found an Asian market that had them and bought a years supply to bring home. Another thing is that we always eat dishes with lap cheung in them with a condiment of red chopped chillies in dark soya. I don't think this is Cantonese, I'm guessing it's more Nonya, but it's a fantastic combination and the heat and fruitiness from the chillies complements the strong flavors from the lap cheung. I fantasize about making them myself, done the old fashioned way they sound really good. You're supposed to smoke them over lychee wood though, and I'm trying to figure out an acceptable substitute (plum, maybe?). regards, trillium

Umami is the 5th taste, following sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. MSG can trigger an umami "taste" but it's not the only thing that can. The actual receptors in your taste buds for all of these tastes are being worked out by scientists as we speak. MSG is a salt of sodium and glutamate. You may have a sensitivity to glutamate, which is rare but not unheard of, or you may have a sensitivity to sodium, which was probably also present in vast quantities if you added too much MSG along with soya sauce to your stir-fry. Many foods are totally filled with free glutamate, not just 'shrooms. Almost any food that has protein in it has glutamate and the more you age something, the more free glutamate you'll get (think steak, cheese, soya sauce etc). regards, trillium

Amaro follows wine. They are intricately intertwined in the universe. Maybe...maybe. But most of the amari discussion is done over in the other spirits and cocktails. We've had 3 threads so far... In San Francisco, one of the local drinks that started in North Beach (where the Italians settled) and spread throughout the city is a Picon Punch. It's basically just Amer Picon (an orange flavored bitters that tastes similar to Chinotto), a little grenadine and soda water on ice. The tradition is that if it's foggy you order it with a brandy floater (some bartenders just add it automatically when the weather is bad). I guess that Amer Picon is actually French, but when it was still distributed in the US the rumor was that SF accounted for half of it's US consumption. There are actually quite a few cocktails that use Amer Picon, but I think the Picon punch is the most common. I've seen it drunk mostly as an aperitivo in a meal setting, but it still gets referred to as an amaro. Culteral dilution? I bought lots of little tourist bottles of amari from the Sicilian towns we stayed in. I was surprised at how good and different from each other they were. When I ordered an amaro in a restaurant I was told the women my age didn't drink them, they were too strong. What's up with that? It's not like I'm a spring chicken or anything. regards, trillium

Mmm...bitters. Does anyone have any good references on the history of differences between bitters in a little bottle that you add to cocktails and the bitters (amari) that come in a big bottle that get mixed more rarely (with the exception of Amer Picon, I guess) but mostly get drunk straight? I'm sure they were related at one time or another. I've been browsing my Gentleman's Companion and haven't run into any of that sort of info, but I admit I get distracted by reading the quaintly racist bits about "chino house boys" and how well they mix drinks out loud to the resident Chinese dude. A funny story about orange bitters, as regular readers may know, Oregon is not the world's best place to be someone who appreciates a wide variety of booze. I was trying to track down Torani Amer, which is rumored to be a great replacement for Amer Picon, and I called the downtown state run booze store to see if they carried it. When I explained it was an orange bitters the response was no, we don't have it, but we do have Fee Bros. orange bitters. Nice, but not exactly what I was hoping for. Kyle Phillips has a recipe for making your own amaro, the sort intended to drink as a digestivo (beware of all the bots and cookies miningco likes to write to your hard drive). I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to, maybe this winter. Right now I'm busy making jam and gelati. regards, trillium