Will

Yup - looks like that's the one (orecchiette is mentioned as an alternative in the book, apparently). The one downside is that, for something that ends up coming across as a "one pot" meal, it does involve a bit of work. I also really like another cavalo nero / lacinato kale recipe of hers, as served at A.O.C.: http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fow-sos28-2009jan28,0,3039776.story When done properly, the texture is a bit chewy, while still being tender. If you blanch the greens too long, it may end up being too soft.

While I don't own the book, "Orecchiette w/ Braised Kale & Cauliflower" is a favorite in our house. I'm vegetarian, so we leave out the anchovies. It sounds simple, but each element (the currants, the nuts, the chili) really adds something. I plumped the currants in vinegar before adding to the dish this time, and I liked the result.

Panuchos?

I haven't done extensive direct comparison, but in my experience, cooler water seems to give a better flavor and a more even texture to the rehydrated mushrooms, and I think less of the flavor seems to be released into the water. Also, it will depend on the size, etc., but even with fairly hot water, soaking for only 20-30 minutes doesn't seem to hydrate the mushrooms enough for me -- the middle is generally still too tough -- might be Ok, depending on how the mushrooms will be further cooked. My in-laws soak in cool water, but just to make sure they're not weird, I did an informal survey of a few (5 so far) ethnic Chinese about what they or their parents do. Some of them are from Mainland China; others from Taiwan, HK, or SE Asia. Most said they soak in cool or room temperature water, with longer soaking times (from 2-3 hours to overnight), unless they're in a hurry. So, regardless of the reason, I don't think this is an uncommon practice.

Regarding the comments in the first post about soaking dried Chinese mushrooms in hot water, my understanding has always been that you get better results for many types of mushroom with a long soak in cool water, rather than a short soak in hot water. With shitakes, I'll sometimes cheat and soak for a couple hours in warmer water, but normally, I try to soak stem-down for 8+ hours in room temperature water. This is what I usually do for most other dried stuff used in Chinese cooking too (mian lun, fu zhu, etc.). What do other folks do?

Cooking King Oyster mushrooms too long can actually make them quite tough. The trick is to cook them just enough, but not more. They should definitely have some chew, but shouldn't be overly tough. They are good lightly braised, and served on top of baby bai cai or other green veg. They can work well stir-fried or pan-fried. They will always have that slightly chewy texture, though. My mother-in-law uses cubes of them mixed in with cubes of wheat gluten when she makes vegetarian gongbao "chicken".

Most restaurant supply stores sell bare alumnium skillets, which are generally well made and heavy duty, if not especially fancy.

Perfect timing - I was just going to post about this. 花菇 (huāgū), 白花菇 (báihuāgū), and 冬菇 (dōnggū) (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiitake#Taxonomy_and_naming) still fall into the category of xianggu / shitake. Huagu are what we usually keep around for using with Chinese cooking; I think they are a bit nicer than the smooth textured style you find in most Western markets (also available here fresh, though dried are most appropriate for many applications). The dried ones come in various sizes and grades. The top has a texture with a kind of flower pattern, which I'm sure is why they're called 花菇.

How often do you use the pans? Carbon steel seasons faster than cast iron, but doesn't always hold the seasoning as well. I would just keep using it, as much as possible. I rarely bother to do lengthy seasoning in the oven - just rub some oil on, wipe it off as much as I can, then heat the pan for a few minutes. When stuff sticks, try using kosher salt or a salt-oil mixture to scrub it, rather than boiling water in it. And, try keeping a dedicated egg pan that you don't use water on at all. I don't know if it helps the seasoning, but I like to heat the pan while full of kosher salt and kind of occasionally move the salt around until it turns grey. Then re-season briefly on the stovetop. I can cook fried eggs, even occasionally over-easy eggs, in carbon steel without sticking, but I have never had much luck getting scrambled eggs not to stick, either in carbon steel or stainless steel. I think having the eggs closer to room temperature is helpful for cooking any type of eggs on carbon steel without sticking.

The Chinese also eat morels, usually available dried (羊肚菌; yangdu jun, or 'sheep inetestine mushroom). http://www.danielwinkler.com/morels_of_the_tibetan_plateau.htm Even here, Chinese herb stores carry them. The Wuyishan area in northern Fujian province, famous for its tea, also has a lot of local wild mushroom varieties. I don't have any names / pictures, but I had some cooked up fresh while I was there, and they also sell a lot of dried ones.

With Chinese food, having the right ingredients, and knowing some of the basic methods / techniques tends to be a big part of it... obviously, this is easier if you live in an area where the right types of produce and the right sauces, etc. are available. Eating good examples is also important, so that you know what you like, and what kind of flavors to look for. I would suggest starting small, and choosing one or two Chinese cuisines to focus on specifically. And, try to make one or two dishes often until you're comfortable with them. I used to be really intimidated to make Chinese food for my (now) wife when we were first dating, and even more so to cook for my in-laws, but now I'm more confident with it [i definitely do rely on recipes a lot, though]. I do agree that there are a lot of similarities between Italian and Chinese food... every area and every small town having its own specialty, very strict ideas about how certain things should (or shouldn't) be combined, a general cultural interest in food and eating, and so on. In my limited experience, Chinese people also seem to like eating Italian food more than a lot of other Western food, so perhaps your in-laws are just as happy to eat your home cooking. Does your husband cook Chinese food at home? Do your in-laws cook when they visit? Since they probably don't cook from recipes either, learning from them might be a good way to learn how to cook some things. And, just having the right tools and ingredients around may inspire them to cook more. Using recipes will probably also help you get used to the ingredients and techniques, and will help you learn to balance a sauce correctly. Seconding Fuchsia Dunlop's books, both her memoir and her cookbooks (her upcoming one will probably be ideal, since it's a bit more general in focus than her first two). I think she does present some good general information about how to appreciate the food, different types of knife cuts, different sauces, etc. Of course, tomato and eggs (which you mentioned above) is a perfect Chinese dish that doesn't really need a recipe. Same for some other homestyle recipes like potato strips. You need to know the method, but not really a recipe.

I boil the eggs (I've heard if you slightly undercook them, the whites will take the color better), crack well, making sure that the membrane around the egg is broken, then simmer in the spice mixture. Using mostly, or entirely, dark soy sauce will help to give good color without too much salt or too much soy sauce taste. I'm still playing around with proportions, but my rough method is as follows (loosely based on http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=186510): 10 eggs 20-30g tea (black tea is probably best, though I usually use heavy-roasted Tieguanyin) ~ 1 tsp black peppercorns (you could add some Sichuan peppercorns also if you have some) 2 Tbsp kosher salt 4 Tbsp (or moe) dark soy sauce 2 pieces star anise, broken up (optional) 1 heaping tsp 5 spice (or use the individual spices separately) 1 stick cassia bark or Vietnamese cinnamon Chinese style dried tangerine peel (optional) Bring eggs to a boil, let sit, covered, for 10+ minutes. Cool eggs in cold water, and crack shells (well) with the back of a spoon. Add cold water to cover and spices and simmer for a couple of hours. Let cool, place in container with marinade for another 24 hours before draining.

I think it's Ok, same as it's Ok for children to have no food choice in families that feed their kids on nachos and TV dinners. Given all of the health issues facing youth in our country, more vegan kids would probably not be a bad thing. As with just about everything else in life, parents have a right to impose their values on their kids, until they're old enough to earn their own money or move out of the house. However, it is obviously important for the parents of children to look after their children's nutritional needs, and not feed them on a diet of apple juice and Boca burgers. While that's true for adults too, kids have some specific nutritional needs that aren't as much of an issue for an adult, especially a formerly omnivorous one. If a child has a serious allergy or sensitivity that makes eating a healthy vegetarian diet difficult, I would hope that most parents would take a less hard-line approach. On top of any possible health and nutrition issues, there are obviously some social issues that would be potentially problematic (what to do when the class is eating birthday cake, or the kids are with friends / relatives who are going to take them to McDonald's) -- these issues aren't confined to vegan children, but the issue is slightly different than with someone who has, say, a serious food allergy. There's also the risk of putting them off veganism for life by making them feel deprived. So, I think a certain amount of flexibility is probably a good idea. On the personal side of things, I'm a vegetarian, mostly vegan, married to an omnivore. We eat mostly vegetarian at home, but when we go out, we try to go to places which have both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. I think the experience of being with an omnivore definitely makes it harder to put things in super black and white moral terms, and has made me think a lot more about food and ethics. If we have kids, it's pretty much established that they'll eat kind of the way we do, but it will be an interesting thing to negotiate.

I don't think that your solution is very practical, and even if people would accept it, unlikely to be able to satisfy our world's enormous (and growing) demand for / consumption of meat. On a related issue (less directed towards the OP) -- those who bring up more-humane animal agriculture, based on pastured animals, which would certainly be better than the current situation in terms of both health and animal welfare -- well, even if Michael Pollan becomes president of the world tomorrow, and even if US consumers were more adventurous eaters, I don't think there is enough meat to sustain the current world demand, let alone future demand, from pastured livestock and wild game only. It's true that some land is not suitable for agriculture and is suitable for animals to graze on, however, that land wouldn't be enough to feed a growing planet. Further, under such a system, unless meat were rationed and priced artificially low, many more people wouldn't be able to afford to eat meat at all. The fact of the matter, though is that, no matter how much some of us might like for it to go away, industrial agriculture and "factory farming" of animals are here for the foreseeable future. Whether or not you advocate a vegetarian or vegan diet, I think that anyone who is interested in seeing a more sustainable, humane, and environmentally friendly world needs to advocate a great reduction in meat consumption. So, you don't want to be vegan anymore... fine, but let's agree to agree that our world needs a drastic reduction in consumption of both meat and of processed foods. Further, we (vegans and vegetarians) aren't hurting anyone by eating less meat, and in fact, are making more meat available for the rest of you. Some kind of so-called "paleo" style diet featuring lots of meat (from the sources you mention or otherwise) is not going to feed the entire planet, especially considering the growing affluence, and meat consumption, of much of the developing world. I think it's clear that most folks in the US and many other Western countries aren't particularly interested in eating wild game -- in fact, even of the foods that people eat, the vast majority of people eat only certain parts of the animal, culinary trends towards "whole-animal" eating notwithstanding, and there is not much interest in meat that is gamey tasting, or comes from sources which people aren't used to (road-kill). As you correctly observe, most people want to get their meat in nice packages at the supermarket. Maybe your solution is one that works for you, but I don't think it's one that's going to be palatable or practical for most, and neither is it going to feed the whole world. A lot of people are vegetarian or vegan because they don't want to kill animals, and because they know they couldn't kill and butcher an animal. That is certainly how I became vegetarian, almost 20 years ago. Speaking for myself, I would not want to ask someone to hunt or kill on my behalf. While I can understand that hunting may, in some ways, be preferable to industrial animal "agriculture", that doesn't mean I approve of it or wish to benefit from it. We can split hairs over what humans are meant to eat, or what is the ideal diet, but it's clearly been proven that most humans can live happily and healthily without animal products, and even the medical mainstream accepts this as fact. Vegetarian diets don't have to feature mass-produced fake meat based on soy. There are lots of healthy and nutritious things to eat based on vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Despite all meat eaters' griping about this, I rarely notice people who are vegetarian hassling non-veg*ns about their eating habits. Newly converted vegetarians, in their zeal, may be a bit annoying in this regard, but then, so are those who are newly converted to meat-eating (case in point). In my experience, this more often tends to go the other way (i.e., people hassling vegetarians about their food choices without provocation). It's good to see that your self-righteousness hasn't totally vanished, though...

Search for Man Tou. Also, they're meant to be bland and taste like wonder bread so don't worry if they end up like that. You might want to ask what kind of bread / buns she's talking about. Could also be yin si juan, or also filled baozi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_si_juan The yinsijuan are probably not super easy to make at home, but can be found at Chinese markets if you're near one (they're really good deep-fried!).

I think it's supposed to help remove the manufacturing grease. I'm not sure it would be helpful for general purpose cleaning, though.

Can't speak to Thai places, but I believe Chinese places will use baking soda as a tenderizer.

As I understand it, lecithin is an emulsifier, not a dough conditioner or preservative. Using egg or egg white in certain types of bread (sandwich loaf, sweet breads), probably serves much the same function. Probably the main reason not to add preservatives etc. is simply because one of the joys of baking bread is eating it while fresh (and with confidence that it's not full of chemicals). It's also possible to freeze fresh bread if you're worried about not using it quickly enough. Some flours do contain a little bit of ascorbic acid. It seems there must be at least some market for this, becaues King Arthur sells a general purpose "enhancer" (emulsifier, dough conditioner / stabilizer): http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/cake-enhancer-10-oz By the way, using natural leavening will extend the life of baked bread quite a bit. If you're interested in the specific functions of common additives, you could take a look here: http://microsour.com/dough_additives.html

If you're willing to consider a vegetarian restaurant, you might try Kajitsu if they have any reservations open still. Two Michelin starred shojin ryori (Japanese temple cuisine). We were here recently, and it was excellent.

I can peel a clove of garlic in about 2 seconds. Chop off the end, smash, or gently press, depending on the desired result, with the flat of a knife blade. Mincing finely, of course, is a different story, but given that we're talking about peeled (vs. pre-minced garlic).... I just don't see how anyone uses enough garlic at home to need pre-peeled garlic. Even if you need a whole lot at once, the method shown in the Saveur video should be fast enough. If I'm using garlic for a number of different dishes within a 3 hour period, I will often mince a lot at once and keep it under some oil for convenience.

I've never been to Xi'An Famous Foods, nor do I know which style of noodles from there you're trying to make, but I have been to a Shaanxi (i.e., 陕西, not 山西) place here in California. I believe the "hand-torn" or "hand-ripped" or "belt" noodles are made differently from normal pulled noodles, so you may want to look around for a description of how to make this style if that's the style you're going for. Notice how these are actually stretched one at a time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi%C3%A1ngbi%C3%A1ng_noodles (it's about 2:50 in; the embedded link doesn't seem to start at the right time) Keep in mind also that the 'liang pi' (the chewy noodles served with sesame sauce and chili oil) at Shaanxi places are not pulled at all, and in many cases aren't even made with wheat flour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liang_pi This explains some of the other considerations, and discusses how some types of noodles use an alkaline additive and others don't (Shaanxi noodles do): http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2011/05/art-of-hand-pulled-noodles-noodle.html As they explain, the exact "twirling" time may depend on the weather and humidity, and it's this type of thing that takes a while to develop a sense for - just as with making bread. I can give you the perfect bread or noodle recipe, but it's insane to imagine that you will get the same results as someone experienced, even if you have the same raw ingredients and the same method. If you see a novice trying to pull noodles even with properly made dough, they will probably have problems with noodles breaking or not stretching properly (as seen in the video linked to at tinyurbankitchen.com, as well as in the Chinese TV video above). So while the dough and flour are important, I believe that the experience handling the dough, as well as the experience needed to make small adjustments as needed, are the most important things. One of the big things to take away from this, and other demos, is that the first round of twirling the entire batch of dough is part of the kneading process, and not the noodle pulling itself. Some of the demos don't show this part. After you do that part, you then break off a little piece and begin pulling noodles from that.

I think it has more to do with practice and "know-how" vs. recipes. The basic dough / method is very simple, and even taking different types of flour into account, isn't that complicated. Most of the folks pulling noodles in restaurants (and even some home cooks) do it often enough to get it down, and they make it look easy in the videos because they've had a lot of experience and / or an apprenticeship. So, especially without the benefit of hands-on training, it's going to take quite a bit of practice and experimentation before you can successfully pull it off at home. As mentioned before, I definitely don't claim to be able to hand-pull noodles, but I don't think it's out of the reach of someone who has the patience / determination. However, quite good results can be had by making hand-rolled noodles (shou gan mian; 手擀面).

I got my Hoppin' John and greens fix at a friend's place this year. I made two batches of a Fujianese New Years specialty... fried wontons in the shape of a goldon ingot --- traditional, but a new one for me (described here): http://egullet.org/p1855612 With the lunar New Year so early this year, I'm getting ready for more New Years food in just a few weeks.

I am usually too obsessive in the opposite direction -- I like to do things the slow way, even when it ends up taking forever. I almost always peel / core / seed tomatoes (which doesn't take that long, by the way), and I rarely use the food processor. I will peel peppers when appropriate as well, though I find it a bit of a hassle. I've definitely been known to use canned Thai curry paste (I've made my own in a mortar and pestle once or twice, and it was a lot of work, plus the end result wasn't as good as some of the canned pastes). I make my own stocks sometimes (especially for things like paella and risotto), but if I don't have any of my own stock (fresh or frozen), I do occasionally use packaged stock.

A few thoughts: 1) You want a pretty stiff dough. For most kinds of handmade noodles, but especially for hand-pulled noodles, I think you want an alkaline solution to give the noodles some "stretch", as well as a chewier consistency. Some of the recipes on youtube may not mention this, but I really think that this is likely to be important. Mugwort ash (penghui) is one traditional way to provide this, but the most commonly available solution will probably be jianshui (kansui in Japanese); the bottle will probably say "Lye Water", and will be either potassium carbonate (possibly buffered with sodium bicarbonate), or sodium hydroxide. If you can't find it locally, you can probably order some online, or you could try mixing food grade lye with water. With a recent batch of noodles (we didn't pull them; just cut them), we used about 1 tsp of lye water for ~ 2 C flour; I think you'd want to use a bit more than that. I have made pretty stiff doughs in our Kitchen Aid (a lift-up Pro 600); however, my wife usually kneads noodle dough by hand. You don't actually need to knead it as long as you would for, say, bread. I've heard of adding in the "lye water" after kneading, but most recipes suggest just mixing it with the water used for noodle making. Even if it doesn't help with pulling, the alkaline solution will make the taste and texture better. You could try 2:1 flour:warm water as a starting point, or even slightly stiffer than that, (with a tsp or two of salt and a tsp or two of lye water). 2) Rest the dough in the fridge for some time before pulling. At least half an hour, but ideally 2-3 hours. 3) I think this video shows the pulling method pretty well. It's in Mandarin, but most of the process is easy to understand just from watching the video. I believe the alkaline solution in this is borax or some other powdered product. Personally, I'd suggest rolling out the dough and making hand cut noodles first. These will also taste good, and will be a lot easier to make. We haven't tried making pulled noodles at home, though I'd like to experiment with it sometime. I think flours with hard wheat are preferred; I've seen different recommendations as to whether you should use pastry / cake flour or higher gluten bread flour, but it makes sense to me that there should probably be at least some bread flour in the mix.