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Duvel

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Posts posted by Duvel

  1. Japanese-y dinner …

     

    Edamame, bamboo shoots, salt-pickled cucumbers with katsuobushi, (unfortunately closed in the picture) bowls with oden with egg, tofu & daikon, spinach with sesame dressing, roasted miso corn, tuna tataki, karaage (from chicken breast imstead of thigh it was a spontaneous dinner from the fridges content), dried skate wings and (commercial) gyoza …


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    An icecold chuhai … 

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    And spaghetti with (commercial) uni butter - excellent …

     

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    An umaibo from the mancave for dessert (beef tongue flavor) …

     

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    Enjoyed while watching Nausicaä from Studio Ghibli …

     

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    No complaints 🤗
     

     

    • Like 13
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  2. 32 minutes ago, KennethT said:

    @Duvel I have very little biology knowledge (aka squishy stuff) so I was wondering - is it even possible for mold to grow on a piece of dried kombu?  I always thought that mold needed a certain amount of water to grow, but the dried kombu I have is like thin slices of wood and really brittle which makes me think that the water activity is very low. 


    Unlikely. Lack of moisture and salt content (especially on the surface) will not allow mold to grow. If moisture would be present, I would expect the natural sugars in the seeweed to allow fungal growth. Commercial packs of kombu will carry usually a desiccant to reduce moisture within the packaging even further, but I bought two packs of kombu last year during our Japan trip and none had desiccant of vacuum packaging. And none had mold. They had マンニット, though 😎

     


     

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  3. Out of curiosity - what sort of answer would you have accepted that would have changed your mind on your “unhealthy mold” ?

     

    A (factual) description of what is the white deposit ? 
     

    A “list of credentials” of someone who replies, e.g. PhD in biochemistry w/ a minor in toxicology, have used more kombu than others will ever buy in their whole life, years living in Japan, …

     

    Or just a confirmation of what you would have done anyway ?

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  4. They work as well aa any pipe wrench; stability depends on the compatibility of the “head” to whatever geometry your pan rim has. Scratches on your pan are to be expected (seasoning/coating will suffer). Better use towels instead: far better grip and multipurpose …

    • Like 1
  5. Three questions in order to be able to help you:

     

    1) Do you have to employ your bread machine (and whatever cycles it has) or are you willing to use other methods of kneading ?

     

    2) What cooking method are you envisioning - skillet, oven, grill ..?

     

    3) What will you do with said flatbread ? Make wraps, top with things like an open sandwich, mop up saucy dishes ..?

     

     

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  6. Sometimes you don’t feel like cooking,  and luckily some decent restaurant is nearby …

     

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    My highlights were the pigs foot with sea cucumber on crispy pig ear …

     

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    Palamos shrimp …

     

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    Duck in two ways …

     

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    And some chocolates to round things off …

     

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    But in reality the whole thing was decent. As were the wine pairing - some 20 well selected wines were sampled.

     

    As I told Mr. Roca on his round through the dining room: “No complaints” 🤗

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  7. Intermission

     

    This „… in China“ installment unfortunately follows the trend of the last posts in various other threads, focusing on the odd and - in my view - unsuited examples that show very little of the overall picture; something I would expect from a general topic title.

     

    Maybe to balance it out, some facts:

     

    Of course „China“ understands pizza. You can buy a Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza in over 1000 locations and while purists may argue that’s not the best pizza there is, it is a representative of what pizza is supposed to be in the western world. That it adapts to local markets is not a surprise; but showcasing the (for Western audiences) oddest additions to the pizza world as representative for the pizza in an entire country is more counting on the „wow“ effect of the reader not able to travel to China (or Japan, or Korea, or Thailand …) and misrepresents the information promised in the title of the thread. An informative and fact-based assessment on the state of the pizza market in China including some market history can be found here

     

    Adapting a product to the local market, taking the customer preferences into account is not something spectacularly weird - it is common sense. Given that cheese is not a popular food item, many Asian countries add mayonnaise, which - contrary to the pictures in the advertisements - is baked with the pizza and will result in puffy browned strips of egg yolk / fat, that substitute the cheese role / mouthfeel decently. Maybe just  „China“ but not the OP  gets that …

     

    Using fruit on pizza is not something to look down upon. We would celebrate fig, walnut and blue cheese varieties, no ? Or blood sausage & apple on a Flammkuchen. So singling this out as an odd feature of Chinese pizzas is more of a clickbait than a factual information. Almost all pizzas I had in 5 years living and working in China were salty and without fruit. 

     

    Neither is the use of different bases - including more softer, sweeter versions. Cake is a bit far fetched, but one can peruse Modernist Pizza to understand the scope of what bases, shapes and preparations can encompass before again taking one or two examples as the „… in China“ representations. 

     

    With that in mind I am looking forward to more informative & less „exaggerating odd things“ posts in this thread …

    • Like 7
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  8. 8 hours ago, rotuts said:

    BTW :  what are these antenna used for ?

     

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    II havent seen these in quite a while .

     

    probably not for getting Cooking Shows, as the Locals seem to have cooking down pat.


    Yeah … as @Ddanno said: terrestrial TV (and/or radio) reception. Unlikely to be useful anymore, but who knows ..!?

    • Like 1
  9. Having some friends over at dusk for pica pica & Flammkuchen

     

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    We started with the usual suspects: potato crisps, several types of olives, fuet (a small salami-type sausage), octopus mixed with furikake and some grilled sardines …

     

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    Then the Flammkuchen. Always tricky to work with a different oven, but I managed. Classic (creme fraiche, onions, bacon) in the making …

     

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    Followed by blood sausage, apple & crispy fried onion variety …

     

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    And finally soprassada (spicy spreadable sausage from Mallorca), walnuts, thyme & honey version …

     

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    All consumed with several bottles of Gewürztraminer we brought from Germany. All drunk, none pictured 🤭

     

    Not so regional, yet very tasty ice cream for dessert !

     

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    And - no complaints 

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  10. Went out to a casual place in town, on the main street. We sat outside and enjoyed a pitcher of very vermouth-forward sangria while watching the people strolling by  …

     

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    We ordered a few items. Grilled squid with chickpeas & pigs head.

     

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    Artichokes with foie gras filling …

     

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    Sampler of six croquettes (blue cheese, clams, squid with ink, wild mushrooms, bacalau and spinach with raisins and pine nuts). One was eaten before I could take the picture. They were so good, we ordered another plate …


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    Little one wanted tuna tataki …

     

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    A canelon with braised duck filling and duck liver sauce. Very good …

     

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    Instead of ordering dessert, too, we went for a nice walk on the beach and the had ice cream at the plaza. Mine was dulche de leche & leche merengada. Both excellent 🤗

     

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  11. 20 minutes ago, rotuts said:

    @Duvel

     

    is Ka-Va-Lan  Japanese ?

     

    googleing Kavalan turns up taiwanese Whisky .


    The origin of the whiskey itself is indeed Taiwanese … but the can (plus the whole whiskey highball in a can concept) comes from Japan 🤗

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  12. Had some childhood friends of DW over for pica pica … not the time to experiment. You want some stuff from the freezer section of the local supermarket for deep frying (ad libitum).

     

    I had my cooks treat beforehand …

     

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    Then croquettes (both iberian ham and bacalao), squid rings, bunyols (basically fried choux pastry with bacalao) and some toast with the liver from yesterday’s rabbit. Gazpacho. Olives, fuet & potato crisps not pictured …

     

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    Edamame & green salad for a good concience.

     

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    More of this fruity red.

     

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    Fun evening, a loooot of catching up and no complaints 🤗

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  13. When we are in Spain, I take over the shopping & the cooking. It just relaxes me and is my idea of a great holiday - surprisingly for the rest of the family, too. And there is a certain repertoire of dishes that my in-laws request whenever they visit us or we visit them. Out of these dishes today cornill amb setas (or braised rabbit with wild

    mushrooms - and actually meatballs).

     

    Brown a rabbit …

     

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    Burn off the hair of your forearm when adding the brandy to the fried onions & garlic …

     

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    Fresh champignons and dried death trumpets go in with a fruity white from the Somontano region…

     

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    After a good braise pile everything in a way that the hungriest guys take all the meatballs and I have a chance to get some rabbit when I arrive at the table some minutes later …

     

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    Served with bread, a mixed salad, (commercial and surprisingly good) gazpacho and some nice German white al fresco

     

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    No complaints 🤗

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  14. Today paëllas pasta-based cousin, the fideuà

     

    With rabbit, squid, mussels & some sausage. Great lunch before an even better siesta 🤗

     

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  15. We finally arrived at DWs hometown, just some 40 km north of Barcelona. They had the town festival that night - and I pretend it was just for our arrival 🤭

     

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    Having Toulousian sausage in our luggage as well as kitchen-ready beams both from Carcassonne, dinner was easily predictable: Cassoulet 🤗

     

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    Crust only broken three times, but with enough duck fat (courtesy of the purchased confit) to bring a small French village though a harsh winter. It was very, very well received by my in-laws and my family alike …

     

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    No complaints 
     

     

     

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  16. 9 hours ago, weinoo said:

    s your next stop Girona, or further south?  Are you all on the medieval tour?


    A little further south, near Arenys de Mar. We are at my in-laws, but I am sure we‘ll be daytripping to Girona as well one of these days …

    • Like 5
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