huiray

Recent lunches. ------------------------- • Leftover beef, veal, celery meatballs in beef stock; with misua (min sin; Fuzhou flour vermicelli) [sun Kee]. • Napa cabbage Kimchi [commercial] ------------------------ • Chicken broth w/ carrots & celery. Pic of the gnarly carrots that went into it: (yes, that is a glass of J&B on ice) ------------------------ • Cantonese-style steamed striped/large mouth bass. (swimming around in a tank until not so long ago before it hit my pan) • Stir-fried young bok choy, w/ smashed garlic. • White rice (Basmati).

Breakfast at JT's, Indy: Steak & Eggs with hash browns "casserole", biscuit, the usual stuff. p.s. Yes, I *do* eat eggs for b'fast and on occasion eat stuff that more conventional folks might think of as de rigeur for Western breakfast. p.p.s. That was a pat of herbed butter on the steak - hardly enough, I thought.

A few recent dinners. --------------------------- • Spaghetti [Garofalo] w/ tomato sauce (fresh tomatoes, butter, salt) & grated parmesan. --------------------------- • Clams w/ linguine [De Cecco]; w/ (parsley, chilli flakes, garlic, sauvignon blanc (Chilean), sea salt, etc) • Apricot preserves crostata [Piccoli Dolci] --------------------------- • Beef, veal & celery meatballs; w/ various other seasonings - in beef & sautéed garlic stock; w/ chopped curly kale & banh pho noodles. --------------------------- • Beef slices stir-fried w/ trimmed Thai basil, chopped hot long green chillies, garlic, sea salt. • Sliced large button mushrooms, trimmed fresh maitake mushrooms, sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms sautéed w/ julienned ginger & sea salt, dressed w/ chopped scallions. • White rice.

Asia Mart yesterday: • Garlic • Roasted blachen (shrimp paste; Belacan; Blachan) [North South Pte Ltd, Malaysia] • Pickled Cabbage Flavor Instant Vermicelli, family pack [白家] • Mushroom Vegetable Noodles [Little Cook] • Abalone/Chicken Bowl Noodle [Noodle King] • Wonton Flavor Bowl Noodle [Noodle King] • Fresh Littleneck clams • Striped/Big Mouth Bass (live; killed & gutted there) • Palm sugar nuggets (in container) [Caravelle] • Pearl Green Tea [Asian Taste] • Ryori-shu [Morita] • Rice vinegar [Marukan] • Somen noodles (wheat flour thin noodles) [MiZuki International, Japan] • Fine & White Plain Noodle (wheat flour thin noodles) [Kam Fen] • Bamboo shoots (packaged,not tinned) [Dragonfly] • Pork, Cabbage & Mushroom dumplings (sui kow) [Prime Food] • Scallions/Green Onions 6 bunches @ 3/$1 • Coriander leaves/Cilantro 3 bunches @ 3/$1 • Chinese chives • Small bok choy • Bitter melon • fresh lotus roots • Seng Choy (red-streaked edible amaranth) • Long hot green peppers/chillies • Fresh Chinese mushrooms (far koo variety) • Fresh King Oyster mushrooms • Gai Lan • Shallots (2.25 kilo mesh bag @ $8.59

Top Chef NOLA Ep 8 Recaps: http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/11/top-chef-season-11-episode-8-recap.html http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/gris-gris-boucherie-ya-ya http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/team-top-chef/top-chef-goes-to-hog-heaven Hip tang is the new mumbo-jumbo term. Saloosha tells Justin to suck a dick. Well, IMO I don't blame Justin for getting annoyed at people commandeering his wood stove/grill without any compunctions at all then getting huffy when he glares at them after he had specifically set up the stove himself (it seemed he was one of the few who knew how to do it, too) and had requested that people respect his cooking space. Sad to see Louis go. Even though everyone's dishes were thought to be good overall and the judges were nit-picking to select the losers, Louis' dismissal did fly in the face of his pork being judged well-cooked (in a pork contest) and diners at the boucherie were going for seconds of Louis' dish (and therefore also must have liked the popcorn in it) - but obviously the judges don't think much of the preferences of people who eat the food that they (chefs, as a group, including their esteemed selves) cook for folks who would pay money for their food in normal circumstances. ;-) :-) Louis has a chance still, though. In LCK he gets back his TC jacket, which Janine has to finally surrender to him. Good run, Janine. ------------------------------- Top Chef NOLA Ep 9 Recaps: Restaurant Wars. http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/top-chef-season-11-episode-9-recap.html http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/fin-found-floundering http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/what-danny-meyer-taught-gail-simmons Restaurant Found was truly a clusterfuck. That was pretty bad. I was slightly surprised at first; but on reconsideration it could not have been a good thing for that group (Green Team) of strong clashing egos and chefs with decided ways of doing things to be on the same team and expect them to get on well together. Drawing up a menu first right at the start would have helped too, I agree. Rosie the Riveter (Sara) I think did deserve to go home in the end - I tend to subscribe to the opinion that she directly made things worse in the kitchen by her (lack of) FOH performance and ticketing chaos - seemingly (at least in part) from her not properly instructing the servers in the first place, not giving an actual ticket to the kitchen for the judges' tables, etc (although Justin was a little rigid in requiring one); and Colicchio at JT also said that he thought she caused a lot of the turmoil in the kitchen. Justin's dish was bad, but so was hers...and so she went. Restaurant Fin was a surprise to me too - it really went well, and everyone worked well together but Travis (FOH) and Nicholas (EC) were both especial pleasures to watch in the execution of their duties. Well deserved win. Sara fails to dislodge Louis from his command of LCK. ----------------------------- Top Chef NOLA Ep 10 Recaps: http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/top-chef-season-11-episode-10-recap.html http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/what-danny-meyer-taught-gail-simmons?page=0,0 Good additional commentary in both recaps, I thought. Of course, Acheson nevertheless does not skimp on the drollness in his recap. A studmuffin (so drools Stephanie) is in the house. A fair bit of emoting in this one - especially from the male chefs, which was nice to see in a way. Nicholas almost loses his composure but puts out the winning dish. I'd like to sample that. (Hmm, curious...the recipe is not up on the Bravo website. In fact, none of Nicholas Elmi's recipes are there.) Not much else to say on this one - all the dishes were thought to be good or at least decent with nothing particularly negative about them. Still, biscuits with raw centers was probably correctly called out as the most egregious error. Bye, Travis - just when you were hitting your stride and getting over your earlier excessive cockiness too. In LCK (using some ingredients common to E Asian cuisine) Travis put out a great "Asian" dish but Louis Maldonado holds on to his TC jacket - just barely - with (retrospective) help from his Korean wife who taught him a lot about stuff from that part of the world (and BTW, Travis, which he - Louis - did not talk about incessantly).

Recent lunches. ------------------------ • Onion rings, Purple Peruvian & Red Thumb fingerlings, Leberkäse, farm eggs. All pan-fried. • Spinach & Wong Nga Pak salad; oil & vinegar & black pepper. ------------------------ • Stew. Meaty country-style pork ribs, farm carrots, yellow onions, leeks, Carola potatoes, whole cloves, stick cinnamon, water, sea salt. ------------------------ • Vegetable/"Vegetarian" buns [The Chinese food stall/eatery (天津小吃; "Tianjin Snacks") in Saraga International Market].¶ • Glutinous rice w/ Chinese mushrooms & pork bits wrapped in lotus leaf [commercial]. ¶"Vegetarian" in the loose sense (see relevant thread in the China sub-forum) - this has dried prawns (har mai) in the filling. ------------------------- • Soup. Fish tofu [from Thailand; distributor: CF Trading], tong ho (garland chrysanthemum, large-leafed variety), wong nga pak (Napa cabbage), large standard white mushrooms, garlic, chicken stock. • Capellini [De Cecco], tomato sauce [fresh tomatoes, butter, salt], Parmigiano Reggiano.

Saturday 2013-1207: Indy Winter Farmers' Market (various vendors): Miniature cauliflowers (heaped-form, common-form), winter-type stout spinach, farm eggs, leaf celery, Cherriette radishes, Shunkyo radishes, apricot-preserves latticed-crostata, "Epi" 'wheat-branch' loaf, tomatoes, yellow & red carrots. Saraga International Market: Two whole small red groupers, a dozen littleneck clams, Thai basil, Garland chrysanthemum 'Tiger Leaf' variety (broad leaf type), lemons, limes, Thai chilli peppers, a pomelo, standard white button mushrooms, maitake mushrooms (Japanese, imported), whole tamarind pods (Thai), Napa cabbage kimchi.

Anna N, You are very generous in your comments. I thank you. I believe you have quite splendid breakfasts in any case, nevertheless, and I find pleasure in seeing what you got to for the daily a.m. meal.

Several breakfasts from recent days. -------------------------- Early breakfast • Fried rice: with chopped bone-in chicker leg quarters, Western celery, eggs, garlic, scallions, salt. --------------------------- Breakfast • Pork & cabbage dumplings [Prime Food], poached farm eggs, skinny wonton noodles in chicken stock, leaf celery wilted in the chicken stock, chopped scallions topping. ----------------------------- Early breakfast • Marinated Alaskan cod fillets steamed in the marinade w/ fresh Chinese mushrooms & sliced scallions. • White rice. ------------------------------- Late breakfast/Brunch • “Ho Fan Abalone Chicken Soup Flavored” (鮑魚鷄味湯河) [sau Tao] (this one) with sliced char-siu (Chinese BBQ pork), seafood & cabbage dumplings [Prime Food], and tong ho (茼蒿; edible chrysanthemum; Chrysanthemum coronarium; a.k.a. garland chrysanthemum) just barely wilted in oiled boiling/hot water.

Several lunches from recent days. ------------------------- • Pan-fried marinated tuna steaks. • Cappelini tossed w/ sautéed garlic & parsley. • Fresh Chinese mushrooms, oyster mushrooms & white beech mushrooms; stir-fried w/ scallions & ginger. -------------------------- • Kale in chicken broth. • Steamed mini cauliflowers (salted, dusted w/ pepper, drizzled w/ oil). • Broiled marinated hamachi kama (collar cut of Japanese Amberjack). • White rice (Basmati). ---------------------------- • Sour-Hot Flavor Vermicelli (酸辣粉絲) [Lam Sheng Kee (林生記); 正宗四川小吃]; augmented w/ sliced Debreziner sausage, a few splashes of Chinkiang vinegar (鎮江香醋) [Jiangsu Hengshun] (I dumped the vinegar pack that came w/ the noodles) plus chopped raw wong nga pak (Napa cabbage) and chopped scallions added in at the end. ----------------------------- • Spanakopita [Grecian Market (stall), Indy City Market]; with scallions on the side. • Coarse Braunschweiger, Ring Liverwurst [both from Claus’ German Sausage and Meats]; with celery, mini croccantini, crusty baguette [Goose the Market]. ----------------------------- • Leftover stir-fried shrimp (from the previous night’s dinner) w/ extra thin Fuzhou flour vermicelli (mee sua) [sun Kee]. ------------------------------ • Leftover Harm Choy Tong. • Sliced fresh Merguez sausages [smoking Goose, via Goose the Market] mixed w/ dried chilli flakes then sautéed in olive oil w/ lots of sliced garlic (Music), some of the rendered (red-colored) fat poured off; sautéed w/ halved shallots, trimmed broccoli rabe then enough water to create sauce. Tossed w/ al dente spaghetti [Garofalo].

Various recent dinners. ------------------------ Dinner • More of the rice congee from breakfast, dressed w/ fried shallots, chopped scallions; plus a bit of Himalayan salt. • Broccoli florets & romaine lettuce heart, blanched in oiled boiling water. Drained, dressed w/ oyster sauce [LKK] & ground white pepper. ------------------------ Late dinner • Japanese amberjack (hamachi) fillets; marinated w/ a little Shaohsing wine, oil, rice wine, sea salt, mirin; then steamed in the marinade w/ sliced scallions & ginger. • Pea shoots stir-fried w/ garlic. • White rice (Basmati). --------------------------- Late dinner • Short-cut pork spare ribs steamed w/ garlic black bean paste [LKK], julienned ginger, sliced long hot green chillies (deseeded); dressed w/ chopped scallions. • Stir-fried Taiwan bok choy. • White rice. ---------------------------- Dinner • Babi Assam (Pork in Tamarind) – after the recipe on pg 39 of “Irene’s Peranakan Recipes”. • Trimmed Chinese long beans (Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis) stir-fried w/ garlic. • White rice. ------------------------------ Early dinner • Fuzzy melon (mo qua; Yale Cantonese mou4 gwa1; 毛瓜) (a.k.a. chit qua; Yale Cantonese jit3 gwa1, 節瓜) a.k.a. Hairy Gourd. De-skinned, sliced into large chunks. In short-cut pork spare ribs stock/soup w/ sautéed garlic, plus cellophane noodles (fun see; 粉絲) [Long Kow] towards the end of the cooking time. --------------------------------- Late dinner • Stir-fried shrimp.¶ • Harm Choy Tong (salty/sour Mustard soup) w/ chicken legs, tomatoes, ginger, salt, a bit of extra rice vinegar. • White rice. ¶Wild American shrimp marinated w/ salt & sugar, then stir-fried with sliced garlic & vegetable oil till just barely cooked. Reserved. Sliced de-seeded hot long green chillies, sliced shallots, more sliced garlic tossed in the pan residues (plus more oil) for a minute or two; then a mixture of hoisin sauce [LKK], Shaohsing wine [Gold Plum], “Aged Kimlan Soy Sauce”, Worcestershire sauce [bull Dog], tomato ketchup [Heinz “Just Heinz”], dash of sweet mirin, fresh ground black pepper, vegetable oil, bit of sesame oil [Dragonfly], and I forget if anything else went into it…added in and the mixture stirred around on high heat for a minute or two. The reserved shrimp were added back in and the mixture tossed around very briefly and served immediately. What you see on the plate pictured is just a portion of the whole shebang, with minimal sauce spooned onto the dish. More sauce from the pan got dumped on the rice after the photo. ;-) ------------------------------------- Dinner • Pan-fried sockeye salmon fillet, de-skinned. • Salmon skin chips. • Fresh shiitake mushrooms sautéed w/ garlic & parsley.

Cardamom is an amazing spice: used by Scandinavians in baked goods, used in Indian curries. Hmm, maybe I'll try a little cardamom next time I'm cooking chicken. ...and by "cardamom" you mean...what, exactly? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_cardamom https://www.google.com/search?q=%E8%8D%89%E6%9E%9C&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Indy Winter Farmers' Market: Small head of curly kale, two long leeks, stout-stemmed quasi-"winter" spinach, fresh shiitake mushrooms. Claus' German Sausage & Meats: Coarse Braunschweiger, Ring Liverwurst, a slice of Leberkäse. Goose the Market: nice crusty baguette. The Fresh Market: (Broad Ripple, Indy) Alaskan cod (wild), Cook Inlet sockeye salmon (wild), large shell-on American shrimp (wild), Gorgonzola Dolcelatte, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, mini-slice La Panzanella Croccantini, whole grain Lavasch crackers, shelled walnut halves, broccoli rabe, Italian parsley. Nicole-Taylor's Pasta and Market: Fresh wide tagliatelle, fresh spaghettini.

Shelby - ground pork is hard to find? I suppose that must be so in your area, for it is one of the easiest things for me to get, both in the conventional Western-style supermarkets and the Chinese/"Asian" groceries around me. Your meal(s) looks nice!

Of course that is not necessary. Your tribute to Charlie Trotter was lovely and I would have been happy to have written it myself, except that I would have left out one sentence, the one that begins "He was a true pioneer..." for reasons that are alluded to in my previous post. Charlie Trotter was a great man and chef and he did do a lot to place Chicago firmly on the culinary map, and I regret that he is no longer with us. I'm sure he had also nominated many a chef for the Jean Banchet Awards, Chicago's version of the Beard Awards.

So little rice? I would need at least five times as much, or more. Have you tried double-steaming black chicken in broth/water (which becomes broth) w/ various Chinese herbs?

.......Steve, that appears to be a ralatively small cauliflower. Can you share time and temp for the SV step? Have previously attempted a whole cauliflower SV and it certainly needed much longer or a higher temperature. Thank you. The cauliflower was relatively small. I took my largest pouch (12" x 12") to the grocery store to be sure I selected one that would fit. I cooked the eggplant for about 40 minutes at a temp between 175-185. I used a stockpot over a gas burner since I felt the cauliflower wouldn't be very temp sensitive and used a plate to keep it submerged. After it was cooked it was held in the hot water until it was time to broil. I going to try this again on Thanksgiving and go for more caramelization. Have either of you had access to mini-cauliflowers like these? ;-) [i got these from a certain grower at my local Farmers' Market]

Trotter did indeed do great things for Chicago/Chicagoland in the culinary world but he was not the first to bring Chicagoland to national or international culinary prominence. It has been said that that person was Jean Banchet, at his Le Francais in Wheeling, IL (northern suburb of Chicago) http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19811015&id=5QAtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Fc4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1421,3478078 http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2013/11/25/in-memoriam-jason-cevallos-jean-banchet

Cook County Medical Examiner has released his decision that he died from a stroke caused by his high blood pressure, and that there is no evidence that travel, drugs or alcohol was involved. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-medical-examiner-chef-charlie-trotter-died-of-a-stroke-20131125,0,6266117.story http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2013/11/25/charlie-trotter-died-of-a-stroke-medical-examiner-says.php

Porthos, you still have local asparagus where you are? That's fantastic! (Where are you located, exactly?)

Friday-Saturday grocery shopping this week: Goose the Market Fresh hamachi, certified from Japan. I got a slab from the collar end, so I also have hamachi kama to play with. Fresh tuna, Sri Lankan, from the invoice the Asst. Mgr. showed me. Probably bigeye tuna. Debreziner sausages, straight out of the pack they got in that day from Stiglmeier in Wheeling IL. Shagbark oatmeal cookie, from H2O Sushi. This sort-of disappeared pretty quickly... ;-) Broad Ripple Farmers' Market Silverthorn Farm: Baby leeks, miscellaneous gnarly yellow & purple carrots. Funny Bone Farm: Standard orange carrots. Norman Mullet Farm: Leaf celery. Asia Mart Snow fungus (Tremella fuciformis) [Domega brand], Yow Char Kwai (fried crullers), dark soy sauce (老抽王) [Yuet Heung Yuen], spiced sunflower seeds, Ponzu sauce [Kikkoman], seafood & cabbage dumplings [Prime Food], preserved mustard stems (榨菜) [Da Xing brand], preserved mustard (Fukien-type) (梅菜), spicy preserved pot herb (雪菜), short-cut (across the bone) pork spare ribs, stewing chicken (frozen), coriander leaves (3 bunches @ $1), green onion/scallions (9 bunches @ 3 bunches/$1), fuzzy squash (mou kwa), long hot green chilli peppers, skinny wonton noodles, edible chrysanthemum leaves (dong ho), lemon grass, bitter melon, Chinese long beans, pea tips, Taiwan bok choy, fresh Chinese mushrooms (far koo variety), fresh oyster mushrooms, fresh "seafood mushrooms", Fuzhou vermicelli (min sin/mee sua) [sun Kee & Lam Sheng Kee brands], calamansi juice drinks (1 case) [Gina].

Various soups from recent months... Slow-simmered chicken broth w/ or w/o chicken in the ladled-out soup, but usually w/ the chicken skin (with the fat, of course! :-) ) and w/ the veggies (and others added in) [there is also some overlap w/ the "soupy noodles" category below]: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-8?p=1925162#entry1925162 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-10?p=1928104#entry1928104 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-14?p=1938785#entry1938785 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-12?p=1925777#entry1925777 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-12?p=1927242#entry1927242 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-15?p=1935057#entry1935057 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-15?p=1938783#entry1938783 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/page-6?p=1936859#entry1936859 Soupy noodles in various formulations. I enjoy this kind of common (and almost quintessential) E/SE Asian foodstuff - noodles in some sort of broth. Pho, of course, would be an example of this genre of "soup" that is well-known to USAmericans and others around the world. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-9?p=1926268#entry1926268 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-13?p=1936125#entry1936125 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-14?p=1937639#entry1937639 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-14?p=1938639#entry1938639 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-12?p=1925164#entry1925164 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-15?p=1935057#entry1935057 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-17?p=1942406#entry1942406 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/page-11?p=1939312#entry1939312 (scroll down) Of course, I also often make soupy "instant ramen/noodles" gussied up with this-and-that. Shamelessly. ;-) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-11?p=1930020#entry1930020 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-13?p=1936861#entry1936861 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-15?p=1940797#entry1940797 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-15?p=1941136#entry1941136 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-15?p=1942411#entry1942411 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-16?p=1942770#entry1942770 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-12?p=1925164#entry1925164 (scroll down) More iterations of lotus root soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-9?p=1926303#entry1926303 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-12?p=1925164#entry1925164 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-14?p=1930692#entry1930692 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-15?p=1933370#entry1933370 (scroll down) Winter melon soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-10?p=1928104#entry1928104 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-13?p=1928105#entry1928105 (scroll down) Leek & potato soup. Chunky style. In general I prefer pieces of stuff in my soups - I don't feel "soup" needs to be homogenized into a smooth liquid as is common (but, sure, not universal) in European/Western cuisine. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-11?p=1930668#entry1930668 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-15?p=1941136#entry1941136 (scroll down) Angled loofah soup, w/ various other stuff in it. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-12?p=1930679#entry1930679 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-13?p=1928105#entry1928105 (scroll down) Corn & malunggay leaves soup. A Filipino-type soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-12?p=1931853#entry1931853 Bak Kut Teh. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-12?p=1933024#entry1933024 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144211-breakfast-2013/page-15?p=1942411#entry1942411 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/page-5?p=1936272#entry1936272 Pork belly & vegetables soup: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-12?p=1925164#entry1925164 Cucumber soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-12?p=1925777#entry1925777 (scroll down) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-13?p=1928105#entry1928105 (scroll down) Pea soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-13?p=1928105#entry1928105 (scroll down) Tomato soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-14?p=1929704#entry1929704 http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/page-3?p=1935063#entry1935063 Collard greens soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-14?p=1931306#entry1931306 Chinese rose wine & shrimp soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-15?p=1937648#entry1937648 (scroll down) Beef shin & vegetables soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-16?p=1940789#entry1940789 Chinese mushroom, snow fungus & lily bud soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-17?p=1942406#entry1942406 Choy Kon Tong (dehydrated cole/dehydrated Bok Choy soup) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-17?p=1943119#entry1943119 Harm Choy Tong (sour/pickled/salted mustard soup) http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/page-3?p=1935063#entry1935063 (scroll down) Opo squash soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/page-11?p=1939312#entry1939312 Watercress soup. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/page-14?p=1940897#entry1940897

Lunch yesterday: • Choy Kon Tong (菜乾湯; Yale Cantonese choi3 gon1 tong1); using beef short ribs (bone-in), lots of garlic, dried "bok choy kon" ["Super" brand] (hard ends broken off then the rest soaked for a while in warm/cool water before adding to the simmering soup), lam jou (big, sort-of smoked dried Chinese jujubes), rehydrated far koo (Chinese flower-patterned-cap mushrooms), a couple of dried salted cuttlefish, sea salt to taste. Cooked the day before, left at RT to meld in taste. • Smoked kielbasa [Claus' German Sausage & Meats], barrel sauerkraut [Kühne] (this one), jarred whole button mushrooms (drained), bay leaves, sufficient water, sea salt, splash of rice vinegar. From dinner the night before.

Lunch yesterday: • Choy Kon Tong (菜乾湯; Yale Cantonese choi3 gon1 tong1); using beef short ribs (bone-in), lots of garlic, dried "bok choy kon" ["Super" brand] (hard ends broken off then the rest soaked for a while in warm/cool water before adding to the simmering soup), lam jou (big, sort-of smoked dried Chinese jujubes), rehydrated far koo (Chinese flower-patterned-cap mushrooms), a couple of dried salted cuttlefish, sea salt to taste. Cooked the day before, left at RT to meld in taste. • Smoked kielbasa [Claus' German Sausage & Meats], barrel sauerkraut [Kühne] (this one), jarred whole button mushrooms (drained), bay leaves, sufficient water, sea salt, splash of rice vinegar. From dinner the night before.

A late breakfast today: Rice congee, w/ sautéed finely sliced ginger, sliced pork belly, sliced preserved mustard stems (榨菜; Yale Cantonese ja3 choi3; "Zha cai"), basmati rice, sea salt + Himalayan salt; then when served, w/ chopped scallions & Tianjin preserved vegetable (天津冬菜; Yale Cantonese tin1 jeun1 dung1 choi3). Nice pork belly skin w/ the desired soft, gelatinous, oozy texture. ;-) The ginger is sautéed in vegetable oil till slightly browning; the sliced pork belly added, tossed around for a bit; water added (about 5-6 cups : ½ cup eventual water to raw rice), brought to a boil, heat reduced, covered, and simmered for about ½ hr. The ja3 choi3 [Fuling Zha Cai Wujiang Brand], rinsed briefly w/ water, was then added, simmering continued for another ½ hr; raw rice [Royal brand basmati] added, the mixture stirred while re-achieving a boil again, heat re-lowered to a simmer, covered. A bit of water added, and heat was shut off (about an hr later) after the consistency and desired "fracturing/splitting" of the rice grains had been achieved. Ladled out, dressed w/ chopped scallions and dung1 choi3.