jawbone

Consistently rated best: Pho Hung (in Chinatown, on Spadina at Dundas, approximately). Also very good (but more of a "fast-food approach"): Ginger (Yonge, just south of Bloor).

I loved the article. I, too, have a container fetish. I currently have around 50 glass jars with hinged lids and rubber seals (my fav brand is Fido). They range in size from 1/2 L to 4 L and hold everything from baking soda to basmati rice. I have a gap between the top of my cupboards and the ceiling that nicely holds 25 kinds of rice and assorted legumes in 11/2 L jars. Really quite pretty. (My bloody appartment doesn't have any windows in the kitchen so my precious staples are not being degraded by sunlight).

I currently have a magnetic rack on the wall. If I had the drawer space I would put the magnetic rack on the bottom of the drawer dedicated just to knives. What I like about magnetic racks is that the blades are visible (unlike most blocks, where you have to ID knives by handle or placement). I, like Oraklet, worry about possible damage to edges -- I am always careful to put knives on the magnet spine first and then slowly roll it so the flat edge makes contact. But still I worry (what if someone uses the rack and doesn't follow this oh so vital procedure?).

Cook's did do a tasting a year or two ago. My magazines are at home so I don't have details but I believe the winning soy sauce was Eden Traditionally Brewed Tamari. They tasted the sauces both raw and cooked and found that sauces that tasted good in one state didn't necessarily taste good in the other. They found that sauces that had been aged the longest were generally best. And their winning selection wasn't the cheapest but isn't exactly expensive either. That's all I can remember.

I've made pho a couple times from scratch. It turned out well but ended up being about as expensive to make as to buy (it's hard to find inexpensive oxtails). And a whole lot more trouble (I live across the street from a pho joint). One ingredient I haven't seen mentioned yet is fish sauce. Also, the recipes that I have consulted all called for the onion and ginger to be charred either over a flame or on an extremely hot dry pan. I haven't tried making the broth without these steps so I don't know what difference it would make omitting them. One other problem with making it at home is that I don't have any vietnamese coriander growing in my herb pot -- getting some (and thai basil) requires a trek to Chinatown. But I do love pho bo...

I buy premium brands of jasmine at the local Asian market and have never felt the need to wash it (I have tried several times but it didn't seem to make much difference). I do find, however, that unwashed rice stickes together more when bringing it to a boil before covering it -- a few stirs takes care of that. I guess washing it just doesn't seem to be worth the effort. I think fluffiness is more a property of the right water/rice ratio (i.e. too much water makes it soggy and therefore not fluffy). Also, Matt mentioned letting it stand uncovered for 10 minutes. I think that might cool it down more than I want and could lead to the top layer of rice getting a bit "crusty." I do leave the rice to stand for 10 minutes but covered. I suppose if one was worried about steam one could just put kitchen towel over the pot and then cover it again -- the towel would absorb the steam but the potential problems mentioned above would be avoided. I think washing Basmati is more important, primarily because it often has a dusty, stored-in-canvas-bag-too-long taste/smell that washing takes care of (I have found this even with premium Derha Dun brands).

Thanks Ed! I am going to try your method. I think my method was something I had read that was intended as instructions for seasoning cast iron. It never occured to me that the different materials required different seasoning techniques (I wonder why -- will mentioning the word "metallurgy" prompt some responses? ) Jonathan

I gave my wok one last try last night on a fried rice dish and it worked quite well. This was probably my 12th time using the wok and the last several times I have noticed the blackened/seasoned area growing a bit (it now extends an inch or two up the sides). I live in a small apartment and my kitchen has no range hood, window or exhaust system of any type so my seasoning attempts have probably been more timid than they should have been. (my method: get the wok good and hot, put in a few tablespoons of oil and few teaspoons of salt and rub like crazy -- I should probably repeat this more than once or twice but by that point my wife and I are choking on the smoke I have done this 5 or 6 times altogether now.) I guess I will be patient and give it a few more tries.

I have a very cheap work, one that is very thin (it's actually a bit bendable). I have seasoned it many times but still have terrible problems with food sticking and burning. Would a non-stick skillet solve my problems without compromising flavour? Will a non-stick surface appreciably diminish the "wok-seared taste"? or inhibit the Maillard reaction? I use my wok for dishes like pad thai. I cook on an electric range.

Add 150 for me (I bought my first cookbook 3 years ago, when I got married). Nearly every week brings another cookbook (does God put them in my path?) and another threat to my marriage

I bought a package of dried green peppercorns but have since been unable to find a single recipe that calls for them. Is there anything I can do with them besides put them in a clear acrylic pepper grinder for that oh-so-gourmet look. Will soaking them in vinegar make them like the brined ones?

Yes, thanks for the recipe — I came across it yesterday afternoon while racking my brain for supper ideas. I happened to have on hand everything called for (except the bamboo shoots, which I don't particularly like anyways). It was quick, easy and —most importantly — delicious! It is now part of my weeknight arsenal.

A good idea, yes. A good business idea, not likely. Few Canadian magazines are profitable, even big name ones like Saturday Night and Elm St. can't break even. On a positive note, magazines like Toronto Life have generally good food writing (on restaurants, chefs, trends etc.).

You're kidding, right? There are no Canadian food magazines to speak of. Just the food sections of magazines like Canadian Living, Elm St. etc. President's Choice used to put out a half-decent magazine put it is no more. A Canadian food magazine? 'Tis greatly to be wished for.

With blade geometry as complicated as that you might want to get a knife honing guide (also from Lee Valley, or elsewhere, around $10) that clamps onto the back of the knife. It allows you to maintain a consistent angle while sharpening. You might also want to try marking the area you wish to sharpen with a felt marker -- as you sharpen the felt marker will come off and you will be able to see exactly where you have removed metal (i.e. if your angles are correct).

Japanese knives should never be sharpened with a steel -- they are made of a high-carbon steel that is too brittle to handle that sort of treatment. The best way to sharpen them is on a Japanese waterstone ($20 or more from LeeValley.com). Waterstones come in grits ranging from very coarse (200, used for shaping severely damaged blades) to super fine (8000, used for polishing the edge of fine woodworking tools). The best grit for kitchen use is around 1000 -- it gives a very sharp edge but is coarse enough that the edge has some "tooth" to it (enabling it to cut like a saw). If your attempts to sharpen it have left scratch marks there is a good chance you are using too coarse of a stone. It is also important to sharpen only the bevelled side of the knife -- the flat side can be laid flat on the stone to remove the burr that forms from sharpening the bevel. The website mentioned does have some good info but can make things more complicated than they need to be.