Will

I really enjoy Chez Panisse vegetables, which has some great vegetable (though not all vegetarian) recipes, as well as general advice on selecting vegetables. Kind of more in the "food porn" than "stuff I want to cook" category, at least for me, but I also enjoyed Great Chefs Cook Vegan, edited by Linda Long.

We have a Pro 600 and use it for kneading doughs (both stiffer and wetter) without problem.

I came up with this one a little while back: http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2010/02/cocktail-catcher-in-the-rye/ A whisky sour will work pretty well too. Either way, you may have to experiment with the amount of sweetener used, since the sourness of Sevilles can vary quite a bit. You can freeze the juice in ice cube blocks to use when they're out of season.

You can buy brown sticky rice already.

Could it be salted, kind of like xue li hong / xue cai?

I think that part of the problem (in China, at least) is that there's too much corruption for organic standards to really have teeth. When you talk to people there, many are concerned about pesticides / food safety. One thing that is interesting to note, though, is that there is still a lot of small scale farming in China, though I suspect this will continue to change with time. The size of the farm is another reason that certifying products as organically grown would be difficult. The last time I was in mainland China (in '07), people seemed to buy most of their produce (and meat, for that matter) at large markets, and everything was incredibly fresh. Even in a big city like Shanghai, you can see the small scale farms that grow a lot of this produce only a short distance outside the "city" -- just take a train ride somewhere else, and you'll see them everywhere. Going out to more rural areas, and things are even fresher and local-er. Not only the produce, but sometimes the chickens which are probably going to be someone's dinner are just running around next to the food stand. None of this is driven by some sort of desire to eat "local" or "organic" - I think it's a combination of how agriculture works there, and the fact that people seem to truly appreciate food and can taste the difference. While most Chinese are far from vegetarians, and often seem truly baffled by the concept of non-religious vegetarianism, they do tend to eat a lot of vegetables, and engage in some very non-trendy, but fairly complete "nose to tail" eating. I really enjoyed Fuchsia Dunlop's article about Dragon Well Manor in Hangzhou: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_dunlop Here in the US, I think it's partially a class issue, as well as a matter of background, not just a cultural issue. If you've grown up not knowing where your next meal will come from at all, I suspect you're not going to be quite as picky about whether something is local. Here in Southern California, I think you can see more of an upper middle class in some of the Chinese and Vietnamese enclaves, and with that, I suspect there will be more interest in organically certified products. Much of the produce catering to Chinese and SE Asian communities is already grown locally; I can't say how much of it is grown without pesticides (whether certified organic or not). And as others have said, I think there's already a somewhat seasonal focus in the cuisines of many of these cultures, if only because what's local and seasonal is what's available, tasty, and reasonably priced. More anecdotally, I will say that there's an organic Asian fusion restaurant here which has managed to not only survive but expand (to add an organic market) in an area which is not only heavily Chinese and Vietnamese in ethnic makeup, but which also has a lot of restaurants (and a lot of turnover). I think the food here is nothing to write home about, but the fact that it continues to exist says something to me. http://www.greenzonerestaurant.com/ You do see many of these groups insisting on free-range, organic, or "farm" poultry, but I think this has more to do with taste preference than a concern for animal welfare or food safety.

Not to cast aspersions on any particular vendor, but sometimes it's the tea that's the problem. I would try to find a rougui or two that lots of folks seem to agree is good. This will give you a bit of a baseline. Also, I find rougui, even good ones, a little tricky to brew. It can get a little astringent, I guess because it's usually fairly oxidized, and the leaves are often on the small side, which can cause problems for those of us who tend to over-pack (though that doesn't sound like what's happening here). If you can, I would also give bottled spring water a try, preferably a type with fairly low total dissolved solids. Remineralized R-O water is better than just plain R-O water, but I still find it a little rough. I don't think you need to let the water rest from a boil.... bring it to fish eyes or just barely to a rolling boil, and just let it rest til the water stops making noise (a few seconds). But how are you pouring? Try pouring slowly, in a very thin stream from 6+ inches up.

I have noticed this myself over the past few years - the difference is truly astounding. More burgers that are made out of grains, legumes, and vegetables, yet still hold their shape well and have a lot of flavor - nothing in common with either the bland 1970s style tasteless patties or generic frozen burgers made entirely of soy protein and flavorings. I've seen all sorts of interesting ingredients used, from firm dupuy lentils to beets. Hopefully the rumors are true that "vegetables are the new bacon".

Huh. K&L here had the Bulleit for $22, which I thought was a pretty good price. Only had a sip so far, but thought it was pretty nice.

Capital Culinarian has (in the current default configuration) 4x23k BTU/hr burners on a 30", 6x23k on a 36"; 30k would be nicer, but it's about the most powerful you can get on a home stove right now (they're clearly targeting Blue Star here). Blue Star can be configured for 22k burners on all slots, though this is not their default configuration. Even with the oven and all burners running, I think you're still Ok with a standard (1/2"?) residential gas line for up to a 36" range. With open burners, I think the issue of the size / shape of the area where the flame comes out isn't as significant as with sealed gas burners. I think there is some pressure from the regulating authorities to push for energy efficiency. Clearly you're unlikely to be running all the burners at full blast much, if any, of the time. But, with a gas stove, I really like the simplicity of having everything the same on each burner. And, since we only had space for a 30" in our current kitchen, I like having the flexibility of going from super low to super high on each of the 4 burners. With electric ranges, having different sized burners for different sized pans can be really useful. But I do find that it drives me crazy to have to deal with those wimpy burners on the rare occasions where I'm cooking a huge / complicated meal. I do like the idea of having induction burners which auto-sense the size of the pot.

Do you mean how does the taste of the brewed tea hold up, or do you mean, how long after brewing the first infusion can you continue to brew more infusions. Tea should definitely be consumed more or less immediately after brewing. For one thing, it will start to cool down once you've brewed it. This is one reason to use a small brewing vessel and a small cup -- the small cup will cool down to a drinkable temperature very quickly, and is a small enough quantity that you can consume it while it's still hot. However, it's usually reasonable to re-brew the same leaves for at least a couple of hours (or more, depending on the type of tea). Personally, I prefer to enjoy each separate infusion by itself (when I'm brewing for myself, this usually means using a brewing vessel in the range of 50-90ml), and a small tasting cup that's maybe 30-40ml. You will probably get somewhat different results by brewing a small amount of tea in a large pot for a long period of time, vs. brewing the same amount of tea in a smaller pot for multiple infusions and then mixing each infusion together. But you're going through a lot of work for probably not a ton of benefit. I think you're thinking about this a little too scientifically. In tea, there are no absolutes. Experiment, and see what works for you. If you can't tell the difference between two different ways of doing something, do whichever is more convenient. If you want to be a little more relaxed, you can drink out of the same cup that the leaves are sitting in, but top off the cup with hot water as it thins out. This method works well if you use much less tea leaf, and is more suited for so-called "cow" drinking (i.e., drinking to satisfy thirst, more than to savor each sip of tea). It's not necessarily "over" heating (and, keep in mind that the water temperature will start dropping fairly quickly). Each tea is different, and using hotter or cooler water will benefit some teas more than others. In addition, some people prefer the tastes which are brought out by using hotter or cooler water, but doesn't necessarily mean that using hotter water is "wrong". I would be wary of anyone who gives you a hard and fast rule ("oolongs should be brewed for X minutes with X grams of leaf in a pot of XX ml at 185 F"). Better quality teas will often tolerate higher temperatures or larger amounts of leaf more; likewise, if you know the limitations of a tea, you can maximize its positive qualities by backing off on some or all of the brewing parameters. With oolong tea especially, there's such a wide variety of processing parameters (for example, the levels of both oxidation and roast) as well. Oh... and maybe obvious, but pre-heat your teaware.

Our (gas) stove has about the highest output burners on the market as far as ranges approved for home use (23k open burner), and the burners can still get down to a very low flame (I think around 150 F)... even with a 1 or 2 qt pot, should be possible to do all but the most delicate work without a diffuser.

I've used both two tins and tin / glass, and I don't think there's a huge difference; just comes down to personal preference (I don't like the small cheater tins that you have to hold, but there are tins which will lock in place more or less in the same way as a pint glass). Either way, the Japanese tins from Cocktail Kingdom are great, and fairly reasonably priced, though they're still more than a $2.99 special from barproducts.com or a local restaurant supply store.

Still working through a ton of samples from various tea friends. Today was a somewhat oxidized, but only lightly roasted Anxi Tieguanyin. I didn't buy it, but it's this one. Afterwards, I had the last little bits of a very nice Best Tea House Dahongpao. Supposedly first generation (i.e., from direct clones of the mother bush, though I am always skeptical about these kinds of claims), but at any rate, it's nicer than their cheaper stuff. Also a bit lighter fire. Very nice tea.

Same. I find it too confusing (and, sometimes, limiting) when the burners are not all the same. And, as long as the burner has a wide range, there's no reason you need to have multiple sizes.

"Four Seasons" is the usual English translation of 'siji chun' (literally 'four seasons spring'). http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=sijichun It's a varietal / cultivar (common in, and possibly developed in, Taiwan) which is, IIRC, grown in multiple areas, and usually processed as an oolong. Currently, it's usually processed in a very light style, like a lot of the other balled oolongs produced in Taiwan. You could have sijichun from different geographic areas or grown at different altitudes.

Partly depends on cooking style (i.e., 'chao' vs. 'bao'). Commercial wok burners seem to range from about 60K-140K BTU/hr (natural gas) and 40K-120K (propane) at max flame, maybe a bit higher. However, the chamber design in a commercial wok range is somewhat different - the flame is directed straight up, but there's somewhat of a gap between the pan and the burner. And, the restaurant chefs using these burners have great ventilation and liquid cooling, and lots of practice / experience controlling both the pan and the heat. Also, different types of ranges will have different burner designs, either a jet that goes more or less directly straight up, or dual ring burners, with independent controls. If I'm not mistaken, the former is more common for northern style kitchens with slightly smaller, single handle 'bao' woks, and the latter more common for Cantonese style woks. You can do the 'bao' motion with a large Cantonese wok too, but from what I've been told, you kind of use the ring for leverage and do a kind of partial turn, rather than actually lift it up completely (which would be difficult or impossible). I would think that for home / backyard use, things on the lower side of these numbers would probably be fine for most folks, and in some cases, maybe a bit safer too. I would love to have a higher wok flame than I have now (I've got a Capital Culinarian, which at 23K BTU/hr open burner with a very heavy duty cast iron base, is about as good as it gets for an indoor wok burner), but I'd be a bit worried about stability and wind / ventilation with some of the outdoor products I've seen mentioned. I love the Town Food mobile wok cart, but $3k for something I'm not sure I'd use often seems a bit excessive. Anyone know of something in between these two extremes? I'd really like something that's very heavy duty and stable, and with a really heavy duty ring / chamber for the wok to sit in.

Honestly, the caliber of food at most vegetarian only places is not the same as that at the highest end non-vegetarian restaurants. It's no secret that if you want the very best vegetarian food possible, often your best choice is somewhere that is not vegetarian only. But I think it's important to bring it up the right way - call ahead of time, explain the situation, be specific about what you can and cannot eat, and ask if the restaurant can accommodate you or not. Interestingly, sometimes it's the places who agree but think it's a bit of a stretch who come up with the best things. I'm of course grateful to be accommodated in any event, but it's usually very obvious when the chef enjoys (and rises to) the challenge vs. when they're just throwing out something that technically meets the criteria. The very best chefs often can come up with something incredible, even with these sorts of limitations. And yes, occasional mistakes and / or cross-contamination are inevitable when you're eating food prepared in a kitchen that's not exclusively vegetarian, so people for whom absolute purity is important do need to stick to veg*n restaurants. And, like vegetarians, vegans, pescetarians or not, there are a lot of us, and many / most of us go out to eat with people who are not. While going to a fully vegetarian restaurant often isn't an option, restaurants which don't offer anything may end up losing business to restaurants which are more accommodating. In case anyone's interesting, here's a side-by-side of a vegan and standard tasting menu at Michael Cimarusti's Providence in Los Angeles. Despite being famous for his work with seafood, I've never been short of amazed at the vegetable dishes he comes up with. http://www.runawaysquirrels.com/2010/11/chefs-table-providence/

What drives me nuts is that Chang has been quoted recently raving about Shojin Ryori, the traditionally vegetarian Japanese temple food (true, some modern shojin places will use katsuo dashi, and few Japanese Buddhists are vegetarian in modern times, but historically, Shojin Ryori is pure vegetarian temple cuisine). I hear that vegetables are poised to become the new bacon, so seems funny that after being so anti-vegetarian for so long, he's jumping on the newest bandwagon. That said, I totally defend his right not to offer vegetarian options. As someone who frequently eats vegetarian and vegan meals at high-end restaurants, I'd rather have a place say "we can't accommodate you" than get served a bad meal. But honestly, I think his attitude on vegetarianism specifically (vs. accomodating every single special request, like removing olives or whatever) kind of feeds into that Anthony Bourdain macho "meat meat meat" attitude, and while I agree that a restaurant can't be all things to all people, sometimes, working within limitations can be very rewarding. I would rather support a chef who says "this isn't my thing, but I'm excited to give it a shot". Anyway, hopefully for him, Chang will continue to be lucky enough to turn away vegetarians and still run a successful business.

Yes - that's a good point - I'm not sure what the risk of extinction of shark species from shark finning is, but certainly it's higher than the risk of any domesticated food animal becoming extinct. And as China's middle class continues to grow, not to mention as the population of overseas Chinese in affluent countries grows, the demand for shark fin will most likely continue to grow if unchecked. That said, given the amount of sharks already caught as "bycatch" of conventional fishing, I'm wondering just how common the practice of finning really is (perhaps the type of shark is different?), and, more to the point, I wonder which of the two actually contributes more to extinction of various shark species. edit: This article seems to have some interesting information on the subject: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aqDhZV6UrWng especially:

I enjoyed Fuchsia Dunlop's pieces about it, though the BBC piece doesn't seem to be up anymore. Some basic points at: http://www.fuchsiadunlop.com/sharks-fin-encore/ I think it's a really tricky area - a lot of the reason it's so easy to bring up this sort of legislation is that a) Most folks in the US don't eat shark's fin soup, and it seems like something that "those people" eat b) It's a luxury item Obviously, fur and foie gras production certainly are cruel, but the reason that they're more widely protested than, say, the plight of egg-laying chickens or dairy cows, is because they're luxury items. People can feel all warm and fuzzy about how compassionate they are, and, at the same time, feel like an "average Joe". For a country like the US, where virtually everyone considers themself to be "middle class", there's not a lot of sympathy for luxury items. Similarly, eating dog and cat are seen as horrible (in US society) when eating pig or cow is generally not. This is not to say that shark fin consumption doesn't have some potential environmental issues, but meat production (in terms of raw numbers) is probably a greater threat to the environment (and causes more animal suffering) than shark finning ever will.

Came across this map on an old friend's site (http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html), and remembered this thread from yesterday. While it doesn't drill down into the more specific areas, maybe helps provide a little bit of context. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/AITAW/Plantations_sm.jpg

Still going through my current surplus of samples from 4-5 different tea friends. Today was an aged (1990s) and supposedly organically grown Tieguanyin from a HK shop (not sure which one). Smooth, though with a tiny bite that I didn't expect. It seems like it hasn't been re-roasted much, if at all; the original processing was traditional, but not heavy fire. Yesterday, a sample of a Menghai cake (not sure if it's 8582 or a custom production of Henry Trading Co), about 10 years old. This was interesting. Very smooth - even though the storage tastes pretty clean, it's very easy to drink for such a relatively young puer. Also a Muzha (area near Taibei) Tieguanyin. While I am usually not blown away by Muzha TGY, this one was nice, if a bit confusing.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h1-6T8BULg4/SQkRraQ8jCI/AAAAAAAAAAM/ENv6yZ8Vy6g/s1600-h/TAiwan+tea+map.jpg (via http://floatingleavestea.blogspot.com/2008/11/taiwan-tea-map.html) The Pinyin in this map is not exactly standard. All of the famous oolong producing areas are in a fairly compact area, as Fujian province (and Chaozhou, which is on the border between Fujian and Guangdong provinces) is right across the straight from Taiwan. See also: http://houdeblog.com/oldblog/comments.php?y=06&m=09&entry=entry060926-134051 This is especially interesting, since he's speculating that the North and South parts of Taiwan roughly tend to prefer the varietals which are common in the corresponding areas across the strait.

The good thing is no trans fats, pretty nice taste. However, if you read "Queen of Fats" and subscribe to its ideas about the proper balance between Omega-6 and Omega-3 EFAs, it's not so great (tropical oils, and most other oils that are fairly shelf stable, tend to have a high or infinite ration of Omega-6 to Omega-3). According to the book's author, having too much Omega-6 will make your body unable to absorb / benefit from the Omega-3s, so even though we need more 6 than 3, too high an imbalance causes problems. That said, I do use coconut oil some for baking, simply because I don't eat butter, and it works better than most of the other alternatives in terms of taste and texture.