Big Joe the Pro

'Scuse me if it's been mentioned but I believe that I read in the 'New York Times' today that Trader Joe's is owned by the Aldi company. I don't know why I was surprised by that but I was. I always liked Aldi, not many around (or at least there didn't used to be) but a decent store. I've only been to Trader's a few times, it's not my kind of place but I respect them. This is the Aldi article, I believe you can click thru for free? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/business/30aldi.html?scp=1&sq=aldi&st=cse

I was reading this web page the other day; http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2006/04/inside-kitchena/ that was mentioned in another thread and came across something interesting. Apparently you can call KA and hold the phone up to a working mixer and they can diagnose the problem for you. Of course, if it's overheated and has shut down there's not much to listen to. Anyway, I'd get on the phone to them and see what they can do? I've had a Kenwood Chef Premiere (their smallest [cheapest] 'full-size' mixer) for about six months now and am pretty happy with it. It kneads together my wet sponges and dry stuff well (about six cups of flour total and corresponding amounts of water), it was always a pain to do that by hand. I've no 'older, better models' to compare it to.

Perhaps he's miffed because Alinea didn't comp him and/or follow his guidelines on his last visit?

This reminds me of early mornings (or late nights) at a large chain in the St. Louis area. The computer system was always busy at that time doing the calculations on the 'take' of the previous day so they would put a basket of marking pens near the door. It was on the honor system, you were expected to write the price onto everything. I'm a pretty honorable guy but my handwriting is a little shaky. I'd been to the chain owners house, delivering a pair of shoes, he looked pretty comfortable.

This is a really interesting topic, it takes me back to my Grandma's kitchen and that's a good (and hot and busy) place to be. I'd like to throw a few cents into the pool here if I may: First-of-all; I'm a little jealous of some of the stuff you guys are pulling out of the drawers. There's not alot of kitchen stuff like that here in China as, I'm sure you are probably aware, even cutting edge chefs here use very simple and rudimentary tools. Admirable as that is it doesn't make for kitchen antique hunting (of course there's another kind of heaven for antiques here but it's not so interesting or affordable for me). I could be wrong about that as well, will have to research it. Perhaps I should start scouring the markets looking for Ming Dynasty jade spoon holders? It would probably be fake, ha ha. Secondly and with all due respect and admiration; when does a kitchen dodad become frivolous, where's the line? A couple things are on my mind here; when I go back to the States for a visit I always make a beeline to the kitchen supply joints and last time I saw something that was really over-the-top in my opinion; a small set of tweezers with plastic tips to help retrieve coffee filters from a stack. I mean come on, I think it would take longer to find the things than to actually use them to advantage. Also, I'm thinking of the Frugal Gourmet's (Jeff whats-his-name?) advice that you shouldn't have anything in your kitchen that only has one purpose. Perhaps he's not the most quoteable person of late but it made an impression on me years ago when I saw it on PBS. Anyway, I'm just saying thanks for the interesting topic and looking for some debate. Also looking forward to some more weird gadgets!

I just bought a name-brand carton of the eggs here in Metro in Beijing. I like to buy my normal eggs there too as it's the only place in Beijing that I've found that refrigerates their eggs. Anyway, the carton had an expiration date on it and if memory serves (I don't feel like getting up and going to the fridge right now) it was about six months after the date of manufacture. Hope that helps.

Sorry but I'm a bit aghast at the thought of going to National Parks and eating at restaurants. No room in the car for a cooler, a little Coleman burner and a picnic blanket? If not (and/or if there are open flame restrictions) I'd think a big bag of apples, some sardines and crackers and a jar of pickles would be preferable to those restaurants and fast food joints. Maybe I've been out of the States too long but those are the first things I throw in the car when going on the road. It's nice to stop in a rest area and cook some jazzed up instant noodles for lunch if nothing else.

When do you think Mike Isabella was so gracious with regard to Marcel? Are you referring to his comments at Judges' Table or, subsequently, in the bar as shown at the beginning of the next episode? Personally, and speaking only for myself, "gracious" is not a word I would associate with Mike. IMO, *TRE* was very diplomatic and gracious regarding Marcel after his departure. Yeah, Mike is pretty obnoxious. I'd surely have a hard time getting along with him BUT I do value people who will criticize you to your face rather than snipe behind your back. Swiping an idea? It's difficult to justify while sitting in front of a computer, typing at my leisure but imagine the pressure that they're under. I'd have to say that Richard shouldn't have shown it to him just like Richard probably shouldn't be helping his competitors as much as he has been. That being said; I'm not a chef (although I have worn the whites in my college days) and I'd hate to come across as Team Mike here. 'Nuff said.

Happy to hear you like it. The books are ok but, like I said, they're not cheap (RMB 80 each*) and the English isn't completely polished (although it's a pretty good job). The water measurements in the soup book seem way off (3/4 of a cup of water for a soup with no stock or any other liquid?!?) and the Guo Ta Dou Fu (tofu coated with egg) recipe drives me spare, for example. I had to have my wife go thru that one and translate the Chinese (and am doing my own, better, easier and tasier one now anyway). The books seem to contain recipes that they think foreigners would like. There's a not a lot of heat and one (perhaps several) of them even requires an oven. * = If memory serves there are only fifty recipes in each book, one side of the page is a photo (which isn't always an exact rendition of the recipe) the other side the recipe in Chinese and English. The descriptions at the bottom of the recipe are usually funny. 'The dish is shiny and delicious' for example. They're printed on laminated paper which is nice (and is surely one reason for the high cost), I can put them next to the stove and stir-fry away and just wipe them off with a towel when I'm done. Oh, since I'm going on about the subject I might as well add that the 'Family Banquet' book doesn't seem to have any new recipes, they're all contained within the other eight books of the series. Also, some of the books mention a tenth book about how to do carving but I've never seen it for sale. Perhaps the English was too convoluted? A pity as I bought a box of carving tools (US $5) but have no idea as to how to use them. Would probably just wind up cutting myself, I'm pretty good about that!

That's funny. It's worth watching just for Padma in my opinion. Maybe they could start a cooking contest show with some of her and her model friends in bikinis. Picking up cooking tips wouldn't be such a priority then! I should be a producer, whatdayathink?

Oh, I forgot to mention; there's a (rather expensive) series of cookbooks put out here in China called "Learn How to Cook Chinese Dishes" and they have a web site. The recipes of 75% of seven of the nine books in the series are online, including 'Rice and Flour Food' which is the one with the dumpling recipes. This is the site: http://www.china.org.cn/english/food/26593.htm I'm not vouching for the recipes, I have the books and some of the English definitely needs better editing, but it's worth taking a look and comparing to others in my opinion.

Squares. Of course. Noted. They sell specially-sized paper (with holes!) to fit into the bamboo steamers for that purpose. They're not cheap but cutting parchment paper into squares sounds pretty tedious. There's a hotel supply place here in Beijing that sells them, you could probably find them somewhere in the provinces. The hotel supply place's HQ is in Shanghai, this is their web site: http://www.heconline.com.cn/. There's not an English-speaker in the huge place and they come across as not particularly caring about foreigners or providing a decent service (or both) but they stock a lot of stuff of acceptable quality at reasonable prices. Personally, I have one of those metal pot steamers and use cheesecloth. Our nanny washes the cheesecloth afterwards and reuses it. I would probably just buy the inserts (and have been tempted to many times but I know it would just rub her sense of frugalitarianism completely the wrong way).

Having watched Anthony Bourdain's process for selecting a 'local' to go around with him in the Phillipines in 'No Reservations', I came to the conclusion that Jimmy Fallon chose Carla for her zany personality, but I'm sure that the Chicken Pot Pie was good too. Did anyone notice a couple episodes ago that Antonia complimented Mike for teaching her a new technique, but they didn't actually show the technique? That kinda irks me. Maybe it was obvious (I figured it out pretty quick so it must be) that he taught her how to do gnocci with a fork (for those times you don't have a gnocci board around) but I wish they would concentrate on the food and cooking techniques more than the drama and back-biting comments. Speaking of which, I really have to hand it to Mike; he was very gracious regarding his comments post-Marcel getting the ax (when he easily and justifiably could have torn him a new one). I would think that that's the key being on a show like this; always being diplomatic because you have no control over your sound bites.

I use this for red cooked pork. Soak it in warm water till softened, about 30 - 40 mins. Give it a good rinse, it might contain a bit of sand. Cut off any hard stalky bits (I forgot to do this once - it made for very interesting eating). Chop up and throw in braised or stewed dishes. I think mei gan cai is a type of mustard. I've never had it in the fried green bean dish, it's usually zha cai (pickeled mustard?) that's used, as Will mentions. There's a restaurant chain here in Beijing that uses what I've been told is 'mei gan cai' in their 'gan bien dou jiao' (dry-fried string beans) dish and so I've been trying to replicate it. Like I said, I've tried everything I know of to make this stuff palatable without success: putting it in a covered, vented small bowl with some water and nuking it for a minute pouring boiling water over it and letting it sit boiling it for a minute or two and letting it sit The stuff I have (extrememly dark brown, very dry and in small pieces) looks very different from the greenish strands in Wikipedia. Guess I need to hunt up a different source.

I've been watching the show since the outset (season 1) and was also shocked that Tre was eliminated, particularly since Chef Tom had several times gone out of his way in the past to praise Tre since he was eliminated in his original season. Thought Mike was a goner for sure.

The best recipe for steamed dumplings I have is from the book 'Serve the People' by Jen Liu-Liu (I think that's her name). The book is an account of her coming to China around the turn of the millenium and learning how to cook Chinese food. It's got a couple dozen recipes in it. It's a good book kind of in a Jan Wong (author of 'Red China Blues', my favorite book about China) style. Ms. Jen also started a cooking school for foreigners here in Beijing (Black Sesame Kitchen) and is/was a contributor to the 'New York Times'. If you're trying to replicate Chinese restaurant tastes, don't forget the Maggi Chicken Powder and a heck-of-a-lot of salt! Hope that helps, Joe

Yeah, I usually get our nanny to do the beans if she's not busy with the baby! She does it a lot quicker and better than I do and with a lot less moaning and groaning as well! The strings don' t bother me but my wife will pull them out of her mouth while eating so... I'd also like to suggest a Kenwood/Delonghi peeler bowl. I don't own one but recently got one of their mixers and some other attachments am quite impressed with what it's done so far. I'm typing this on the phone while watching the little one sleep but if memory serves I have Kenwood KMC 510 which you can see on their UK web site. It's the smallest full-sized mixer they make and it's big enough for what I need (ATK rustic loaves and meat grinding mostly) You could also engage an intern? That's what Cook's Illustrated does!

I've been trying to use 'Mei Gan Cai' (a type of dried mustard) lately in 'Gan Bian Dou Jiao' (fried string beans) without much success. I've tried everything but the food processor to get this stuff soft enough to eat. Anyone have any pointers? Maybe I just need a different brand. This is the Wikipedia link for 'Mei Gan Cai'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigan_cai

There was an excellent article in the "New York Times" about six months or so back about a new star being groomed for the Food Network. Some well-connected, young and thin female, about as far from Emeril as you could find on Earth. I tried to search for it but I don't have much luck with their search engine. Anyway, basically the article just said what we already know; cooking is only a small part of it. It's more of an entertainment/lifestyle thing (pardon me, I'm not getting any more articulate in English by living in China). The woman being groomed had about as much cooking experience as your average university student (which is to say not much) but she was attractive and had poise on the camera or some such thing. I mentioned that she was well-connected, right? While we're on the subject here I'd like to rant a bit about the differences between the U.K. and U.S. versions of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. The U.S. producers must have a very low opinion of the average intelligence of U.S. viewers is all I can think. It's painful to watch the U.S. version. I've never seen Oprah and nothing against her or her success but does every show on TV have to be targeted at the same audience?

His latest book, "Martin Yan's China" looks pretty good. I've leafed through a signed copy he left at a cooking school here in Beijing. It's a little top heavy on photos but apparently that's what the general public prefers these days? This is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Yans-China-Yan/dp/0811863964/rUTF8&qid=1296455262&sref=sr_1_1?ie==8-1 Has anyone seen the show? I have to download stuff on this side of the sink and I've never seen it available. Awesome knife skills I don't even attempt to replicate. I value my fingers too much. Looking at Amazon, he's got quite a body of work built up over the years. Keep on choppin' Martin!

My recently purchased Kenwood mixer! Had been coveting one for quite some time.

Ok, thanks for the replies. I got it a awhile back and and really happy with it so far. It's the smallest (aka cheapest, gotta consider that here as there's a hefty import tax) full-sized* mixer that they make but it kneads up the biggest breads that I bake (America's Test Kitchen's Country Loaf and Deli-style Rye) with ease. Scored some really cool attachments too. Haven't had time to use them all yet but all seem to be very solid and of the highest quality. One problem; part of the blender rotor base was chipped off (at the factory apparently as the part wasn't in the pristine box). There's a very helpful woman at the store (Metro) here who's been helping me to get a replacement. Anyway, a very useful and professional addition to my home kitchen. * = I use the word 'full-sized' as they seem to sell smaller units that look more like hand-held mixers on solid bases. I've not actually seen these units for sale here.

Here in Beijing boiled dumplings seem to be traditional

Just a quick thanks, you guys helped me a lot. I haven't had time to completely experiment with your suggestions (we only eat a loaf or two a week) but am looking forward to it. Cheers - Joe

So what the heck is this this? The interior is radishy so that's my guess. It started to develop those slashes after a few days in the fridge. Please forgive if it's a no-brainer, I'm kinda new to cooking and picked it up in Asia, maybe this is a common thing in the bins at Wal-Mart in the States?