huiray

Phở chez huiray. Assembled deep dish w/ broth & a spoonful of the fat. The rice noodles were Fawm Xieng Khuang Bánh Phở [Dragonfly]. The fat was from the stock-making, separated off by the filtration of the finished stock through paper towels. Sliced Vidalia onions, scallions & coriander leaves also scattered on top. Components included tripe, oxtail meat, tendon, and shaved ribeye besides the noodles & etc. Plate of the herbs and add-ons. Lime, sliced SE Asian style; sawtooth coriander leaves (culantro); Thai basil; coriander leaves (cilantro); mung bean sprouts. Deep dish with assembled components before adding the broth &etc. More than any other component, the tendons were the star of the show this time round. These were the best ones I've had (and cooked) for a while. The journey there. (Not every stage is pictured. I've omitted pics of the finished stock and separated fat, and other stuff like the recovered fatty marrow, cartilage bits, shredded oxtail meat, sliced tripe etc.) The tripe was cooked separately from the rest of the stuff – in salted water w/ a good pour of fish sauce plus a few ladles of the stock and a dash of Shaohsing wine. The beef bones were given a "fei shui" (飛水) treatment (blanched in salted boiling water, then rinsed and washed under the tap). Scorched ginger & onions were essential components added to the stock, of course. Rock sugar, too. ETA: Oh, generous fish sauce too [Red Boat], duh. The tendons and oxtails went in with the stock and both were retrieved before the fire was switched off. The stock was held at a bare simmer for maybe 8-9 hours. After filtering through paper towels the stock was simmered a little while w/ more star anise and another dose of fish sauce (Red Boat stuff used throughout).

The article Shel_B linked to cites a NYT article from 2012 written by Francis Lam. Folks should read that one too, which has some commentary from some White chefs & from Lam not covered by the more lengthy EBE article; including a story about the struggles of "ethnic owner-chefs" (e.g. Saipin Chutima), not "just line cooks". Perhaps folks might think a little more about this. Here's the NYT article link, for convenience. (The NYT article has been posted here on eG before, but people may have either forgotten it or never read it)

A very nice meal at Raymonds. Thanks for sharing. I take it you meant nothing raw from the non-vegetable world. :-) After all, you had raw tomatoes and raw stuff in your salads and other things vegetable all along the way. :-D That's interesting, though – It suggests that you have never had a tartare of any kind; nor, say, nigirizushi or sashimi, for example. Would this be so? ETA: The divers scallop dish – was that cooked through?

Looks good. I know it more as Loh Bak or Lor Bak (with Ngoh Hiang as an alternative which I would have to blink a bit about before summoning the image of the dish)(Technically, Ngoh Hiang literally means "five fragrance", alluding to the five spice powder used; while Loh/Lor Bak means "stewed (or braised) meat") Have you done this with the more traditional (Penang Nyonya) thin narrow strips of loin pork rather than minced pork?

KFC vs Popeyes. "For entertainment purposes only". http://www.businessinsider.com/taste-test-kfc-popeyes-fried-chicken-fast-food-2016-9

Pork belly & pork spare ribs stewed w/ stuff. Eaten w/ "hand made" min sin (min6 sin3; misua) (手工麵線) (this one). Peanut oil, lightly crushed garlic cloves (lots), pork belly slices, pork baby back ribs, chillied fermented beancurd plus the liquids smooshed up w/ a little water. Red Thai chillies. Water to cover plus some, simmer, lid on. Sliced-up winter-type bamboo shoots, peeled daikon, small fresh thick-cap shiitake mushrooms. Simmer. Seasoning adjusted. ETA: Dried beancurd sheets (broken into smaller pieces) also went in during the simmering.

Both common sorrel types (green and variegated) and rarely French sorrel can be found on occasion in some of the Farmer's Markets in my parts. Both of the common sorrel types are also grown in rotation sometimes by the hydroponic operations around here (and in Chicago) and in the past I've seen (and got) hydroponic plants from one or two growers here, big fuzzy root balls and all. In some of the conventional Western supermarkets it can on rare occasion also be found, and/or available in those flattish plastic packs of herbs that come out of (usually) California.

Simple boiled fresh edamame [Farming Engineers], sprinkled w/ coarse sea salt. Holy basil from the deck, before further trimming & plucking. Chicken dark meat stir-fry; with peanut oil, garlic, red Thai chillies, (chicken), fish sauce [Red Boat], patty pan squashes, Vidalia onion, sugar, holy basil. Served w/ rice. Plus stir-fried ong choy.

OK, thanks for the reply. Yes, the "25 cent" packages would be bottom-of-the-line stuff, indeed. (Actually, even the cheapest - with a seasoning pack in it) would be somewhere between 60-ish and 90-ish cents.** :-) I would murmur, however, that there are various brands of "instant ramen" or "instant noodles" from Taiwan, SE Asia, Japan, Korea, and so on that are very good. Many of them are also not cheap - for example, the laksa la mian pack above (with one of the best la mian blocks I've had) would be around $4-$5 each if bought individually in some places. If you had the opportunity one day perhaps you might consider trying some of the better ones. But nevertheless it is good to read of your recipe for your own ramen noodles, thanks. I'm sure they are excellent. One day perhaps I might try it. Can your method be done in a blender on "low" or on "pulse"; or by hand? (ETA: Traditionally, la mian was done entirely by hand, and is still done so today. Pasta was, too, of course) **ETA2: Oh, wait, I remember years ago one could get packs of these instant ramen stuff (the low end stuff) from Western supermarkets in the USA for something like 4 or 5 packs to a dollar when they had special deals. Or even more for less money - but that was many, many years ago.

Have you had fresh Sun ramen, made in the USA? Or fresh ramen brought into the USA from Japan? Just curious. Yes, a lake in Inner Mongolia, according to the usual history of its origins as la mian. ;-)

Leftover top sirloin cap (t.s.c.). Sautéed French filet beans & pattypan squash. Wild rice [Bineshii] drizzled with t.s.c. juices.

A pasta bowl. Ripe tomatoes [Van Antwerp Farm] de-skinned, de-seeded; stewed w/ onions, celery, grated yellow carrots [Silverthorn Farm] gently sautéed/softened in EV olive oil [California Olive Ranch]; plus a sliced-up yellow Carmela sweet pepper [Silverthorn Farm]; fresh basil [my deck] towards the end; seasoning adjusted. With linguine [Rustichella d'Abruzzo] & leftover boiled & buttered small Kennebec [Silverthorn Farm] potatoes. Genovese basil [my deck] garnish. A couple slices (a half) of a Lambkin melon [Fields Farm Fresh].

Has she tried Klondike Rose? With the fingerlings, two that are probably easier to find (than Ozette) are Russian Banana and Rose Finn Apple, both of which are also firm, waxy, good tasting. There are others.

Top sirloin cap – salt & pepper; pan-seared; oven finished. Small Kennebec potatoes – simmered in salted water, tossed w/ Charentes Poitou butter & fresh parsley. Chiffonaded collard greens – sautéed in the pan residues after searing the beef. I cooked the larger end of the TSC (cut in half); the smaller end was kept for another day. Just out of the oven... Just after cutting...

Actually, that raises a more generalized question with me - do Chinese restaurants in Canada serve shell-on shrimp in places outside of those such as in Vancouver-Richmond or Markham/Richmond Hill (GTA) (for example, to largely Chinese customers) ? Um, they're good. OK, properly done ones would have a crispy shell that you eat, but you need to do it while it is still hot/pretty warm. The shells also help in "keeping in" the taste and sweetness of the flesh. They are often coated in some sort of seasoned flour mixture but are also simply tossed with some seasonings (sans flour) and deep-fried. However, those you show appear to have been dressed with some sort of sauce - so whatever was done to make them (still) "shatteringly crisp" under all that sauce is unclear. What about shrimp with shells AND HEADS all on? have you had those? Ot "Salt & Pepper Shrimp", with heads and shells on? Perhaps you might try those one day?

Sautéed purslane, in an Italianate manner, as a contorni, at Barbuto (Jonathan Waxman's place) in NYC years ago. It was both crunchy and succulent and, um, somewhat more than $0.00. I've eaten it on occasion elsewhere but have never cooked it myself.

Tomatoes stir-fried w/ eggs. (番茄炒蛋) Made with very ripe Japanese Black Trifele tomatoes which sort-of liquefied. White rice. Scallions. Wosun (萵筍) soup. Gelled chicken stock, water, oil, small fresh thick-cap shiitake mushrooms, trimmed sliced wosun (celtuce, lettuce stems), chopped-up wosun leaves.

Lunch at Kountry Kitchen in Indianapolis. A "half-and-half" sweet tea/lemonade. In a mason jar. "Cynful" Fries. With 'secret spice' and Ranch dressing. ETA: Meh. I thought the secret spice seemed like gussied-up bouillon powder, although I could be wrong. Fried Green Tomato w/ Remoulade sauce. I liked this. Fried chicken quarter, dark meat. With collard greens, fried okra, and fried cornbread. The cornbread wasn't great, to me anyway, and I abandoned much of it. The chicken was moist and tasty, coating decent & crispy. ETA: But just one piece...as the standard serving...? A view of the inside from my table. View of the outside. Location on Google Maps. ETA: Expensive for what the food was. I doubt I will return. I believe I far prefer another place several miles north of this one, and which I have reported on before.

Are SMALL Yukon Golds or similar or small red ones that inadequate? They are almost always available in 1-2 lb bags in most well-stocked supermarkets and cook up nicely waxy and firm, not at all powdery or mealy or fluffy – to my taste, anyway; and are even better (and waxier) after leaving them alone to cool and standing overnight. As KennethT says, fingerlings are also good ones to use as firm, waxy potatoes, some denser than others some a little "fluffier" than others. Speaking of which, I picked up more Ozette fingerlings just this morning from my local Farmers' Market (shown below). These are dense, excellent-tasting, nutty, creamy & waxy.

...and if you go to Wildwood you might as well go to Cape May. There are many nice places to eat there. I've mentioned some in the "South Jersey" dining thread. I've enjoyed Luke Palladino in Linwood in the past. (I used to go to Linwood fairly frequently in the past, when I lived in NJ, and head over to AC afterwards not infrequently) BTW you mean drive DOWN to AC from Philly, a straight SE-direction shot down the AC Expressway. P.s. The ACE is pretty heavy going on Saturday. I've also liked Dock's Oyster House before, but it may count as "fine dining" (and a chain, as well), something you mentioned you weren't too keen on. The Casino restaurants are decent by-and-large, but are not exactly the cheapest, of course. Why not pull up Googlemaps and just look for restaurants around the casinos/convention center - the likely-sounding ones can't be all bad. As mentioned above, various "ethnic" places are there too but perhaps you get enough of them in the GTA. Consider just strolling along the Boardwalk - you can get your saltwater taffy, and munch on subs and hoagies and other casual food; many of the places aren't bad at all! And you get to take in the Human Tapestry there. I've certainly enjoyed doing the same. But one or another of you & Co. might disapprove of such unrefined food? I assume you will be heading back to Philly and flying home to TO after the convention ends. Too bad. Going down to Cape May, noodling around, taking the ferry over to Lewes and driving down the DE shore and grazing and whatnot in the beach resorts all along the way (from Rehoboth Beach DE to Ocean City MD) is quite pleasant.

A ramen bowl. Dragonfly "Instant Noodles Artificial Hot & Sour Shrimp Flavor" added into a broth. The broth was made w/ shrimp shells fried w/ sliced ginger & peanut oil plus some Tom Yum paste [Por Kwan] then quenched w/ water and simmered for a while with more Tom Yum paste added in, then fishing out all solids; then just-barely cooking de-shelled de-veined wild American shrimps in it (and reserving the shrimps). Trimmed/washed ong choy (water morning glory) was blanched in the broth then reserved. The noodles and sauce packets etc went in, then sliced-up aburaage. Assembled/bowled with 3 halved hard-boiled eggs, chopped scallions, chopped coriander leaves, and deep-fried shallots. The noodle pack contents: The initial broth simmering:

@chefmd, have you had Table 21 at Volt, not far from you?

In an oblique way I am also reminded of thoughts that many folks who cook in the modern Western Farm-to-Table idiom have --- that something "fresh" (and picked from the garden or fished from the sea just a few minutes ago) is ALWAYS better. It is not so. I have mentioned before how dried or preserved ingredients are NOT necessarily poor substitutes for the spanking fresh ingredients, and that they often are ingredients in their own right, and that substituting the spanking fresh ingredient for the preserved ingredient DOES NOT WORK in many recipes which call for the preserved ingredient.** ** As just one example, if one tried using fresh squid or cuttlefish in certain Chinese-type soups where dried cuttlefish is called for, one would get a pretty repulsive soup, and those who have never used dried cuttlefish before but envision the soups as being made with fresh cuttlefish/squid ("fresh must be better") might be unable to comprehend why such a soup might be edible in their minds.

I wonder what it would be like if we could recreate the spices as would have been known in the 1930's, with their presumably processed-and-definitely-not-spanking-fresh profiles rather than use the corresponding ones from modern/current times.

But it must have referred to powdered, dried ginger from decades ago - unlike what we might find as a matter of course with regards to fresh ginger nowadays - and which presumably had a different taste profile... In this sense you don't need me to murmur that "powdered (who-knows-how-old) garlic" is quite different from fresh chopped smashed garlic.