trillium

How on earth did I miss this thread? As some of you know, I posted pictures and such on making my first terrine a couple of years ago. You can see a very beautiful piece of caul fat in the photos, and home made cornichons too. Last year I made the same terrine, but the liver was fresh (not frozen) and only a couple of days old (well, out of the hog). That made all the difference in terms of crumbliness. We also have two dried salted hams hanging in our living room and kitchen. Guests are always taken aback by our rustic "decorations". We've managed to wait a year for them to age and we're going to cut into them this weekend. Since then, I've got my mits on the Jane Grigson book, and I've been anxiously awaiting my copy of "Charcuterie: Craft of Salting, Smoking, & Curing" from Jessica's Biscuit. It's driving me nuts because my credit card was charged over a week ago, but I think media mail is taking forever! This year, unfortunately, the liver from the hog we bought a half of didn't make it past the inspector, but there is another pig adventure afoot the day after Thanksgiving, where I will then be in possession of the liver, blood, and head. Yes, strange things to be excited about, but somehow I think you all will understand. The thing I'm wondering about is the idea of baking the terrines in glass jars that are then sealed and don't need to be refrigerated. Grigson mentions this as a common practice in France (the edition of my book is 1975). Does anyone still do that? The reason I ask is that this next pig venture is a communal one, and I don't have enough terrines for each family to have. I like the idea of doing it in jars, but I wonder how you can press them afterwards. regards, trillium

Just to add my 2 cents about ventilation and cooking vessels. We use our big burner to stir-fry outside, especially we are doing something really spicy or in a large quantity (like chow fun). For that, we have a big ass wok and those long spatulas that tire your arms out from all that tossing, tossing. But most nights during the rainy season we cook inside. We upgraded our exhaust to something that goes up to 400 cfm and bought a gas stove with a nice enough 20k burner (but not one of these "prosumer" ranges). We always use a flat pan even on this new stove. It works just fine, especially if you make sure to preheat very well. The thing that makes the biggest difference to me is that the screens for the exhaust fan are dishwasher safe, so you can plop them in the dishwasher every 2 weeks or monthly. Keeping them cleaner then I used to has made a huge difference in how well the grease and fumes are vented. Of course, there is always that fine distribution of oil all over the stove top and nearby counters to wash off...but that is just part of cooking/cleaning up for us. regards, trillium

Rojack and Rujak are the same thing. Lobak in terms of Singaporean (and I'm guessing M'sian) means a meat roll wrapped in bean curd skin and then deepfried (and according to TP, anything else the lobak vendor), but also means daikon or long turnip (like lobak ko, the savory cake, a derivative of which gets called carrot cake in Singapore). Er, hope that helps. regards, trillium

It's only because you are a haam sap lo! Laksa. Food porn, again. .. ← You said it, not me! I was thinking that too (but in a good way, really), especially in combination with the sig. I am loving these pictures, but they make me very hungry while I'm at work. And pineapples just don't taste the same in North America. regards, trillium

Actually, I could sorta see it on one of those banquet platters with the jellyfish. Couldn't you? Hmmm.... So, it's pig butchering week and I'm shortly going to be in possession of a couple of pig heads. I'm going to make headcheese or brawn with one of 'em, but I'd love to hear recipe/ideas for brains. It's the one thing I just haven't brought myself to try, I'm good at using all the other bits (tongue is my favorite). regards, trillium

For people who are interested, you can find a bitter almond substitute in Chinese grocery stores, in English they are usually labelled apricot or olive kernels. They look like squat little peeled almonds. If you would like the taste of your stone fruit pits without worries, you can always roast them to convert the toxin to something very harmless. I wonder how astringent the quince liqueur is? If it was astringent or tartish, I can see really liking it in the summer. If it ends up on the sweet side like my nocino did, it will just sit around forever, unappreciated. regards, trillium

The original Sichuan version usually has black beans in it. regards, trillium

Um, with fingers and papads (the little ones from Madras). But before I get to much cred, the papads were microwaved. We haven't mastered doing them on the gas burner and I didn't feel like frying. regards, trillium

What's the dish? They're hard to describe... kind of like a really bad-ass, chewyish-in-a-good-way clam with red blood. But small...and can be sandy. Super tasty fresh, I wasn't that impressed with the frozen ones, and leave them out of char kway teow now, since there is plenty of other stuff going on in it. regards, trillium

Here in Portland you can find them in the freezer section of our local Asian grocery store. I would guess the same would be true in Seattle. They're usually not labelled well, and sometimes are just in a ziploc bag. I know them as "see hum", I think that's Cantonese (or is it Hokkien), you can always ask someone if you don't recognize them by site. Have you had them before? The red blood shocked me the first time, I wasn't used to it in a bivalve. regards, trillium

Ok, I'll bite. What on earth would you consider a low-quality light American lager, if Bud Light is a high one? Isn't there a drink with beer and Amer Picon? regards, trillium

I made a medium fancy curd rice, no cucumber or carrot, but chopped chillies and cilantro and a tarka. You're right, it was delicious with the pickle. So delicious I just might make it again, since we still have a lot of pickle left! The combination of the curd rice, the oily, tart pickle and the papads was great. regards, trillium

Can you get here by tonight? Hee hee. We have no chivda, but we did buy an assortment of savories at Kamdar plaza. Curd rice it is, then. Luckily we have fantastic full-fat yogurt we buy straight from the dairy that makes it. regards, trillium

Do you mean curd rice, or just plain rice along with yogurt? That's sort of what I was thinking too, because I wanted to keep it simple. I just wondered if there are any classics with this sort of pickle. regards, trillium

We have a some fresh mango pickle that we brought back with us from Chicago. When we were in Chicago we ate it with the rest of the haul from Malabar Catering: avyial, long bean thoran, beef curry, fish in banana leaves, palappam and a besan/yogurt soupy stuff I would love to be reminded what it is called. We had to pass up the kerala style dal and the mutton curry since there were only four of us! Sigh. Oh, for Malayalam food in little old Portland, OR. So now I'm wondering what I should make to eat with the pickle that survived the trek home. I assume I've only got a few more days with it, since it's the fresh crunchy kind. Suggestions? thanks, trillium

We tend to be mostly purists at our house, Thai curry pastes are made from scratch, fried in coconut oil, and tucked in the freezer in portions, for later use. Rempah is made once a year and portioned out for the freezer. It gets used with modifications for nonya chicken curry, laksa lemak, sayur lodeh, soto ayam, sop kambing etc. Chilli sauces and sambals (XO, olek, sweet, ginger/vinegar, belecan and Thai roasted chilli sauce) get made and stashed in the freezer or fridge too. I remember we used to use Asian Home Gourmet a lot when the partner just moved here from Singapore, before he learned to cook his favorites. The laksa lemak isn't bad, nor is the satay sauce or the sayur lodeh packets. When you're homesick and don't know how to cook, they taste pretty good. I think they taste best when you've been away from home a long time. My mum likes those little packets of LKK mixes for Cantonese food, they're easy for her to just make dishes for one with. We do occasionally use Mae Ploy curry pastes in a pinch, but I always add little extra of this or that, especially for the green one, which loses the fresh herbal taste. As for Ma Po, I can't resist adding in my own two cents. It's one of those dishes from Sichuan that has spread to almost every corner of Asia and mutated in the process. The Japanese and Cantonese versions barely resemble the Sichuan original... which doesn't contain hoisin sauce or pork and does contain beef, chillies and Sichuan pepper! The Sichuan version is delicious, and I like the Cantonese version in it's own right, but I always find the Japanese one a little too sweet. regards, trillium

The one time I had it at a friend's house her mum cooked the herbal part without the chicken and then added the chicken later so it wouldn't over-cook. And she used a combo of wings and thighs to try and give it that oily texture. I think a stewing hen would even better, so it could cook in the herbs a long time. regards, trillium

Not really. Not like the medicinal Cantonese soups. Which is why I think it's hard for us to get the Cantonese herbal shops to make the packets. People usually eat it because they like the taste, at least the ones I know, but the herbs are supposed to be good for you. And the way I've learned about it is that it is sort of a meal in itself, with all the accutrements, and it started out as a breakfast dish. regards, trillium

I would never think to compare it with red cooked dishes, that's an interesting perspective. To my tongue it tastes very different. In fact, I must confess that I didn't like it the first time I had it, because of the medicinal taste. Over the years it's grown on me. I wrote about the Singaporean/Hokkien version we make in the Chinese forum a few years ago, here is the thread, it includes a recipe with the pinyin for the herbs. In Singapore, we get the packages made up for us at an herbal shop (where you can buy yeast for making rice wine too). Here in the US, we haven't had much luck with that, the guys always insist that sort of soup isn't good for you (too much heat) and sell us ching bo leung packages instead. Sigh. The store bought packages here in the US, are not that great. They don't have much herb, and mostly it's just black pepper and msg. regards, trillium

Maybe it's because I am such a heavy pourer, but for my holiday baking you can most certainly taste what sort of booze I've used. For my pecan tart I always use Maker's Mark and the pumpkin pie is made with brandy. The one year I used rum in the pumpkin pie instead of brandy everyone asked why it tasted different. It could be that it's more noticable because I do it starting with a pumpkin, eggs and cream, so it's a lighter, more custardy type thing, spiced with ceylon cinnamon and white pepper, but you can taste the flavors of the brandy (Jepson or RMS usually). If you are not a drinker, I'd suggest just buying the mini bottles for your recipes, that way you could experiment with what you liked and not worry about storage. regards, trillium

Very nicely put. I love regional differences, and it makes me sad they are disappearing in N. America. Would you say it was easier for a non-speaking tourist to find hawker dishes that are made the same way as grandparents did in Malaysia or Singapre? Not trying to cause trouble, just looking for another opinion. regards, trillium

Yup. It's sold at a much higher price. The most expensive I ever bought was from Taiwan, not China, and cost a whopping $11 USD (it was at New May Wah in SF). It was extra aged or something, the reader in the house couldn't read all the characters. The more normal non-salted kind runs about $6 here in Portland, while the salted kind is around $3. I used to hate cooking with the salted kind because it would mess me up... plus the non-salted kind tastes better (to me). regards, trillium

Which one were you searching for? regards, trillium

I know that when I lived in Chicago I could sometimes find the non-salted kind in the shops along Argyle. The thing is, sometimes in small shops they are out for a while until the next shipment comes. That's what happens to us with our favorite soya sauce. You might try asking the shop owner about it, and even bring the bottle into the store to help the conversation. regards, trillium

Ahhh the elusive roti. We've never been brave enough to bother with making them at home, and just wait until we're somewhere you can buy them from vendors, so I have no personal tips for you, but you might check out this post where I've typed out recipes for roti canai, parata and murtaba from a Malaysian cookbook we bought in Singapore. You might also check out Kasma's tips and recipe for roti. I haven't made it, but every other recipe of hers I've ever tried has come out just right. Maybe someone else will chime in with first-hand experience. I know at our favorite roti place the guy seems to use an awful lot of oil while frying, more then you might imagine. Good luck! trillium