huiray

Various meals. Soup. Short-cut pork spare ribs, some chicken stock (oil, garlic too), snow fungus, angled loofah, cellophane noodles. Thinly-sliced beef sirloin roughly hand-shredded, pan-fried w/ shallots, standard mushrooms, hot long green chillies, a lot of coriander leaves, fresh lime juice, Bulldog sauce, plus a little of this and that. Eaten w/ 1) wild rice [bineshii] and 2) angel hair pasta [De Cecco]. Turmeric chicken wings. Steamed eggs. Garlic stir-fried pull mustard. White rice. Pork & shrimp wontons and wonton noodles (both commercial) in chicken broth w/ sliced negi.

Here's what a well-regarded poster on another forum had to say about Suppaniga and his reporting his Thai relatives' comments regarding Nahm. He and his family all are quite serious and experienced about the food they eat.

Various recent meals and dishes, not necessarily in sequence. Chicken curry, in a quasi-Southern Indian style. Provided a couple of meals plus some snacks. Accompaniments for the rice platters were blanched romaine in one case and valor beans in another. Kangkong belacan w/ har mai. White rice. Pan-browned & lightly scrambled soft tofu w/ stuff. Linguine [Ferrara] w/ tomato-butter-onion sauce, Pecorino Romano. Blanched Brassica rapa var. parachinensis dressed w/ EV olive oil & sea salt & black pepper. Pickled mustard soup w/ pork spare ribs & belly pork, & pickled plums & etc. With soba noodles. Soup. Beef balls [Venus] w/ big-leaf tong ho, fresh wood-ear fungus, snow fungus, garlic, chicken stock. Fried rice w/ scallions, eggs, Thai basil. Pickled cucumbers, scallions, Korean radish, sesame seeds. "Stirfried Kimchi Noodles" [Paldo] augmented w/ more baechu kimchi [commercial], soft tofu chunks, scallions, eggs poached in situ. Corned beef, dolmades, marinated mushrooms, Kalamata olives [all commercial], chopped romaine heart leaves, country-style Dijon mustard. Slice of an apple-type pie [Rene's Bakery].

I have not yet read your cookbook - but regarding cashews and coffee...was/is it clear that you do NOT require the whole cashew fruit (apple & nut & all) or whole raw coffee bean (as found on coffee bushes in Colombia and elsewhere)? Whole raw unshelled peanuts would be easier to get in the USA but the others would NOT be. Perhaps that is what that editor had in mind? I presume that the chart you put together clarified that "cashews" meant the stuff (salted or unsalted) one finds in groceries and supermarkets and pharmacies and corner stores; and that "coffee" means the stuff you find in cans in supermarkets or any other bodega; or is it maybe the stuff (whole roasted beans?) found in specialty coffee shops - which tend to be found in metropolitan areas and/or places with large populations of gourmets...while here is the Google map answer image for "whole roasted coffee new york city specialty coffee shops".** Just wondering. ** When I lived and worked in NJ years ago, in the Metropolitan NYC area, I would be hard-pressed to find good fresh roasted coffee in my area of NJ. I routinely drove into NYC to pick up pounds of the stuff (for my own use and for the "coffee pot" made at work to which my colleagues contributed money) from McNulty's on Christopher St. And all this in one of the most cosmopolitan areas of the USA. ETA: Perhaps the notion of your traipsing into the wilderness to forage stuff (such as those cattails you pictured earlier on this thread) may have also affected this person's thought processes. PS: Then there's also related stuff like the "foraging" of stuff by Portland sous-chefs in fenced-off backyards...(like in this article)...which got a lot of negative attention a year ago. :-) ETA2: I may be wrong, but I doubt it would be easy to forage for cashews and coffee in the USA...as opposed to simply buying the PROCESSED and PREPARED products of the raw materials, imported from other places, from grocery stores. ;-)

What would your "spice level" be? Does it refer to heat/Scoville units, or does it refer to savoriness as spices would normally deliver? What does "spice-wise" refer to? Scoville units? Savoriness? Complexity of flavors? Oher-than-Western-ess?

Look, I did not deny that Doug has this "relationship" with Katsuji. Rather, I expressed my opinion of it. Note also that I am not requiring nor suggesting that Doug actually change his relationship with Katsuji, nor that my thoughts about it should be acted upon by the parties concerned.

Uh, reading other forums and one's ideas of a relationship do not depend on each other. One should remember that the eG discussion on TC (and other shows) here involves different opinions.

Soup. Oil, lightly crushed garlic cloves, chicken stock, water, Hon-Dashi flakes [Ajinomoto], fresh wood-ear fungus, fish balls [Venus], soft tofu chunks [House Foods], trimmed Thai basil at the end; served w/ chopped scallions scattered in. ETA: I had a second bowl of it too.

If that is a lovable relationship in your books then we have different conceptions of what is a healthy vs a sick "lovable relationship". Sorry, constantly "poking, poking" and verbal diarrhea and constant teasing/verbal take-downs is NOT a desirable relationship to me but an abusive one.

Continuing in this discussion, the "red-stained" all-lean pork loin or whatever that is often seen in many NA "Chinese" restaurants and, um, "lower quality" SE Asian restaurants/food stalls are regarded as poor quality char-siu. Notwithstanding North American preferences for lean, fat-free pork. In most Chinese/SE Asian (Chinese community) markets, completely lean pork (or almost fat-free pork cuts) is one of the hardest things to sell, as many folks simply shun it, and is therefore also cheaper than the cuts which have fat interleaved with the lean.

Yes. And also why it is often also said that the best char-siu (by Cantonese/Southern Chinese folks) is the stuff that is "poon fei sau" meaning "half fat half lean".

With regards to char-siu: It needs to have a significant amount of FAT in the cuts used to make it, and they need to be caramelized to some extent for lusciousness. Largely fat-free/mainly lean pork cuts for char-siu are simply not desirable in my books. My understanding is that large swaths of the Cantonese eating public also tend to think this way.

The returning eliminated cheftestants for selection as sous-chefs in previous seasons were indeed for the finals (or the final rounds), which typically took place months after the initial rounds, with all the cheftestants having returned home in the interim - so it certainly is to be expected that some did not make it back for one reason or another. The current season is still showing episodes being filmed consecutively, I believe - none of them have "gone home" yet, all were still being sequestered (I would imagine) including for the episode just shown with that selection of George as the challenger for Katie in the "sudden death" QF cook-off. Amongst other things, no-one's physical appearance has changed in the episodes proper as aired - so far as I can tell. (The "Talking Heads" are a different matter) If the preceding is correct, then Michael P. would have remained behind in the "sequestration apartment/wherever" while the others participated? Yes, Michael P. did talk about being in over his head and being given to panic attacks in the separate "exit interview" video posted on the website after the episode itself had been aired on TV. Perhaps that *did* also figure in as to why he is missing from that panel or why he declined to participate. Who knows, except the parties involved, true. (In that context maybe the producers also had flashbacks of the Seth Caro on-air meltdown over his melted sorbet followed by his freakout over paper cups (and removal from the show) in TC Just Desserts? Just speculating.)

Various stuff. Carrots & leafy celery in chicken stock w/ chicken fat. Fried rice w/ celery stems, eggs scrambled in situ, and using leftover "Chicken Rice" rice (from here; scroll down). Yu choi sum blanched in chicken stock/broth. Slice of Bête Noir and a rasberry-sugar-covered chocolate truffle from Rene's Bakery. Soup. Big-leaf tong ho & straw mushrooms (canned); in a broth made from (already salted) gingery chicken & mushroom stock diluted down a bit, some rice bran oil (in addition to the chicken fat already present), lightly crushed garlic cloves, generous ground white pepper, a few good dashes of jozo mirin, a splash of fish sauce. Sliced beef stir-fried (peanut oil) w/ lots of chopped smashed garlic & sliced bittergourd. A dash of fish sauce & a bit of sea salt. White rice (basmati). Leftover broth (with the straw mushrooms & tong ho, from above) w/ chopped scallions.

Yes. As opposed to what folks on eG or CH or wherever might prefer. The article simply reported what the readership downloaded. ETA: Some of the recipes look quite nice, actually. I might make some of them myself. "Boring and Tired"? Not really, IMO. They seem to be quite serviceable recipes, things that folks in the general populace might like, not necessarily stuff that exalted personages might prefer.

Various meals. Pasta w/ sauce. Sauce: EV olive oil, onions, celery, tomatoes, fennel bulb, tomato ketchup [Heinz: "Simply Heinz"], salt, vinegar. No. 1: on angel hair [De Cecco], w/ sautéed cabbage. No. 2: on linguine [Rustichella d'Abruzzo], w/ sautéed brussels sprouts. Chicken rice. Poached whole chicken w/ scallions, ginger, salt, seasoning. Rice cooked w/ sautéed garlic & ginger, plus the poaching stock. Watercress wilted in some of the poaching stock. Scallion-ginger sauce. Lingham's Hot Sauce. "Singapore Laksa La Mian" [Prima Taste] w/ water spinach (kangkong, ong choy), mung bean sprouts, daun laksa (rau răm), tau pok, poached chicken.

I wonder if anyone (else) noticed that Michael Patlazhan was missing from the cast of "previously eliminated cheftestants" in both the Quick Fire "Sudden Death" panel as well as the Last Chance Kitchen contests proper. I wonder what happened.** **He did diss Tom Colicchio fairly strongly and basically told him to get lost when he was dismissed at the end of the EC in episode 1 - I wonder if that had an, um, impact on being tossed out of LCK, or if he removed himself and was permitted to do so.

Try not to get too much of residual "latex" from the skin/stems (if a fairly fresh fruit) on your skin or clothes. Some blackening and sticking may occur. :-) I used to help my mother in cutting open these fruits (called "nangka" in Malay) after harvesting them from the tree in the side yard of my family home. Less frequently, we also had fruits from the chempedak tree right besides it. You should check out that one too, if you ever find it. Chempedak is more fibrous, but more fragrant (when properly ripe) while nangka is less fibrous and more "bouncy" in texture with a less complex aroma. The "tongues" encapsulating the nangka fruitlets (so to speak) within the fruit) are often also edible, especially in larger and riper ones, the sign that they are is that these "tongues" are also orange-ish in color. Other than eating them as-is, one could also (after deseeding them - a single, large, seed within each "fruitlet") dip them in a batter and deep-fry them - similarly to pisang goreng. BTW the nangka shown in this episode looked just a tad over-ripe to me...where the fruitlets seemed to be beginning to be slimy; but the images from Gregory's "dissection" of the fruit may be misleading. (Over-ripe nangka? Here?)

Early dinner. • Garlic chicken thighs.¶ • Stir-fried baby bok choy. • White rice (basmati). ¶ Rice bran oil, a few cloves of garlic, partly-halved large shallots, chicken thighs; sautéed on both sides briefly. About 2 heads worth of garlic (cloves separated but skin left on) added, plus dark soy sauce [Yuet Heung Yuen], sang chau soy sauce [Kimlan], spash of fish sauce [Red Boat], ryori-shu [Morita], some water. Simmered (covered) till done.

I am very pleased that George Pagonis is back in the contest proper. I am still of the opinion that he got shafted in episode 1. Sorry, Katie, but your time was up, and George showed he can cook - both in the cook-off and in the EC. Katsuji continues to be a jerk. How many times is Gregory going to cook a curry with coconut milk? Doug with another well-deserved win. Using the same "basket" as Adam, who had difficulty "getting beyond" the slight skew of Richard Blais' market basket, but which Doug was also subjected to and worked with successfully. I thought Melissa was as worthy of getting the chop (yet another salad?) as Adam or Mei (RARE lamb...really RARE lamb...). The diners liked Adam's dish - but, again, the show demonstrates that what other people other than the judges think is of no importance AT ALL.** Well, LCK shows that Adam *and* Katie still have a chance. Good for them. Props to Rebecca for a good showing in LCK. ** a.k.a. "Who Wants To Cook For Tom Colicchio & Friends" ETA: Oh, Padma, that was a cheap, cheap obnoxious juvenile high-school prank that you pulled. And Tom, that was a power-play typical of bullies that you pulled. Richard Blais was gracious in how he handled both insults.

Some recent meals. At various times in the afternoon/night. -------------------------------------------- • Fried rice. Chopped smashed garlic, oil, ground chuck [Goose the Market], farm eggs, 2-day-old rice, chopped scallions, sea salt. • Chinese kale (kai-lan). Blanched in oiled boiling water, drizzled w/ ponzu sauce [Otafuku] & ground white pepper. • Pickled Persian cucumbers, Korean radish, scallions, white roasted sesame seeds [JFC]. -------------------------------------------- • Tofu w/ ginger, hoisin sauce, okonomi sauce, chilli sauce, etc (from here) with more scallions & sliced tau pok [Nature’s Soy]. Eaten w/ min6 sin3 (Fuzhou-type wheat noodles) [Hung Ming] • Small broccoli (a form of kale) florets stir-fried w/ garlic & salt. --------------------------------------------- • Lettuce stems (a.k.a. celtuce, a.k.a. wosun, a.k.a. A-choy stems, a.k.a. asparagus lettuce) de-skinned & trimmed, stir-fried w/ sliced beef, garlic, and dashes of this-and-that. • Wild rice [Bineshii]. --------------------------------------------- • Pork, shrimp & snow pea sprout dumplings (shui kow) [Wei Chuan], in a soup made from chicken stock simmered w/ some oil, dried Chinese mushrooms & stems, and “stock fish” (small dried anchovies) [鴻昌隆 brand]. The mushroom caps were retrieved and added to the bowl of soup. • Tender baby kale, *briefly* wilted in barely oiled water (using the water used to cook the dumplings, therefore slightly alkaline) then added to the bowl of soup. --------------------------------------------- • The night’s version of a simple tomato sauce (cut-up yellow onion, EV olive oil, cut-up leafy celery, broken up de-skinned tomatoes [Funny Bone Farm at IWFM], sea salt, cooked at a bare simmer (half-covered) for 45 min-1h). Served over bucatini [Garofalo]. Pecorino Romano, parsley. • Hot capicola slices [Goose the Market].

Yesterday's meals. ---------------------- Earlier in the day: • Pan-fried fish cakes [commercial] (Southern Chinese style, w/ peas and shredded carrots in the cake); with julienned Taiwanese cabbage (raw) drizzled w/ Bulldog sauce & Lingham's Hot Sauce. • Medjool dates, Old Kentucky Tomme cheese, Kokoborrego "Gilead" cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (going clockwise); and slices of Greek Cristopsomo bread [Muddy Fork Farm & Bakery]. --------------------- Later in the day/night: • Peanut oil, julienned ginger, ground chuck [from Goose the Market], hoisin sauce [Lee Kum Kee], okonomi sauce [Otafuku], chilli sauce [Laoganma], cubed firm tofu [House Foods], trimmed scallions. • White rice (basmati) [Tilda].

Leftover Taiwanese cabbage in chicken stock soup, augmented w/ more seasonings & water, baby kale, Benton's Kentucky Farmers' Ham slices; then with "special grade" min6 sin3 (Fuzhou type skinny wheat noodles, very thin type) and cellophane noodles; a couple of hard-boiled eggs & chopped scallions. The tender baby kale went in fairly late, in fact; otherwise they would have turned into mush.

Yet Gregory still *had* to pipe up (without being asked by the Judges) at JT two episodes ago saying how HE would have never allowed Aaron's dish to be made if Aaron had been on his team, blah blah. Of course TC is a game show. If everyone has dropped the pretense, then Gregory's piping up would count as sheer grandstanding and hypocrisy on his part. Adam, on the other hand, in that episode told the truth - consistent with the notion of the whole thing being a game. Aaron pegged Katsuji correctly from the beginning.

• Duck fat rendered in the pan, sliced shallots, trimmed fresh duck livers¶ with the marinade as well, cut-up de-seeded hot long green chillies. Al dente linguine [Rustichella d'Abruzzo] added & tossed in the pan. • Soup; Taiwanese cabbage in chicken stock. ¶ Trimmed livers [Goose the Market] were marinated w/ Bulldog sauce (Japanese Worcestershire sauce), salt, pepper, hon-mirin [Takara], bit of fish sauce [Red Boat], light soy sauce [Kimlan], freshly ground white pepper.