Duvel

Not for a German - the sauce defines the Schnitzel

I am afraid that recipe is far from what you'd consider okonomiyaki. I'll post a proper recipe tomorrow. Batter is flour, grated yam, eggs and dashi; you can substitute grated daikon for the grated yam, and in desperate times I used grated potato with no major issues. You will need instant dashi - is that available to you ? I assume okonomiyaki tare (sauce) is not easy to find for you as well. Do you have access to Worcestershire sauce ? It's a bit late, but I'll check my recipes tomorrow, but I think you can whip up a decent substitute. Everything else should be available...

Cold day, so some comfort food was requested: Okonomiyaki, two ways. The one pictures with shrimps, egg and sweetcorn; its half-twin with bacon, cheese and fried egg. Half topped with Katsuoboshi and Aonori, the other one left naked as the moving Katsuoboshi flakes freak my four year-old out. At the end satisfying for all ...

Hope dies last ... (together with the non-smokers and vegetarians)

@liuzhou Nice dinner ... any detail on the Tofu dish ?

I could translate, but the video doesn't have sound in any of my laptops ...

@ProfessionalHobbit says "pork shoulder", but looks quite like pork collar (neck) to me ...

Pizza night (one day early, as I need to travel tomorrow): the usual poolish, bulk ferment and direct baking on the bottom of the oven applied. Topping of the day was broccoli and bacon (as voted by my four year-old), followed by mushroom and salami and bacon, mushroom and olive (which I liked the best, even though three topping were a bit much for my Asperger's). I ran out of beer, so whiskey & coke was in order. Guess what - pizza seems to be very forgiving on its alcoholic accompaniment...

"Kommste vonne Schicht, wat schönres jibt es nicht wie Currywurst" ...

They impart their flavor onto the dish. I remember having a wonderful rendition of la zi ji in Chengdu two years ago. Piled on a large earthenware plate copious amounts of fried dried chili, sichuan pepper and the occasional star anise, mixed with the same amount of perfectly smooth black marble spheres. You had to dig in that black and bright red pile, topped with green spring onions slivers, to find the little morsels of deep fried chicken, soaked in the aromatic oil from the above mentioned flavourings. Truly memorable ...

I am not a psychiatrist, but I think there is a deep - and unfounded - aversion to all things offal in many people. You are not alone Sure, kidney and tripe can taste very "distinct", but so do cheeses, fermented seafood and a plethora of other items. I admit I do mostly enjoy offal for its variety of textures, and there are items that I do not like at all tastewise. But given that having these food only on few occasions and usually in very special settings (see above, my MIL cooking callos for me or me making rabbit stew on a very relaxed day and enjoying liver, heart and kidneys on toast with a glass of wine while cooking) made me learn to enjoy them a lot. And seeing a neon sign announcing offal in the middle of a freezing Tokyo night, already imbibed with some Sake, makes for a very happy evening ... (and if you make the trip over to Japan, I'll share it with you)

I arrived at Tokyo just before 23.00h for essentially half a day stay and one meeting in the morning. Figuring that there would be no Japanese food for me the next day (except for the lounge) I headed out at midnight directly after arriving at the hotel. Luckily, a couple of blocks down the road there was an amusement quarter, still filled with drunken salary men. Fighting my way through the "massage" offers and bouncers for the various night clubs, I saw a pink neon sign in a side alley announcing "Motsuyaki" (grilled intestines). The place was full of very happy salary men enjoying the food, so I decided to join them. The menu was extensive and I opted for poached beef tongue with yuzu-kushu, medium-rare grilled chicken livers, horse meat sashimi and "ham kotsu", or sweet ham schnitzels. With all you can eat raw cabbage and copious amounts of draft beer a truly fine meal ... And afterwards, the famous "one cup" sake (from the convenience store, of course), cooled on the remaining ice from Mondays blizzard. Downtown Tokyo at 1.40h in the morning ... no place I'd rather be

Sunday night is pizza night. Today with 12h poolish, 2h bulk ferment Korean soft wheat flour dough. 70% hydration. 250 oC, air circulation, baked directly on the bottom of the oven. Combinations included mushroom and salami, bacon and olive (pictured) and mushroom and bacon. The pictured combination won this time, but my four year-old is very difficult to predict Crumb shot just because ...

That is because it's a KFC "idea" ? Or because the combination is odd ? I had crawfish etouffee over fried chicken last month in Baton Rouge and I liked it, so I don't find the concept too horrendous...

That's more clear, thank you For me, I like to start out with new ingredients in their "classic" environment - so I am more of traditionalist. First time I cooked a veal shank, I made Ossobuco with Risotto Milanese. After a couple of successful runs I moved to alternative preparations, sides and now it is a protein I feel confident to prepare and happy to combine in any fashion I deem fit (or rather have to based on what is available at home / the store). That being said I feel that there are a lot of "time tested" combinations that work and that I appreciate. Not for their authenticity or because theres a rule in place, but because they are just combining well. And more often than not I go for them than randomly putting items together.

Could be my lousy English skills, but at least I don't get it ...

Not necessarily. More often that not salt firms up the meat ...

For the meat I wouldn't be sure, but the stock is probably very "grandmother chicken" rich ...

Freshly killed, locally raised chickens are principally available and very much appreciated by the local customers. Whether they are used in an average (or cheap local) restaurant is a different story. Again, it's a matter of price. A "local" chicken on a wet market goes for 25-30 HKD or more per pound (not in HK island, of course). A frozen Sadia chicken from Brazil is available for less than 15 HKD/pound. A plate of HCR goes for 40 HKD and up, featuring breast of leg. I think economics render it tricky to use fresh chickens. Let me investigate ...

Hmm ... I can get very nice Hainanese chicken rice (texture- and flavour wise) here in HK. At very low prices. I very much doubt that these places source high quality chickens to begin with. I agree that starting with the best possible raw material vastly enhances your chances to end up with a great dish, but I also believe that technique and experience can compensate for that.

@hainanchicken: Soooo ... it seems you moved on to soy sauce chicken. Have you managed to perfect your chicken rice ? Care to share the results ? Thanks !

"Velveting" usually refers to cooking premarinated meat at low temperatures (120-140 oC) in oil, both preserving the moisture of the meat and fixing its shape.

I doubt that. As stated by @liuzhou and me above: the bird is cooked as a whole, with skin intact. Marinating or treating the surface with any tenderising agent does not apply - it is purely a matter of cooking and cooling that creates the texture ...

Actually, if you add a hardened glass tabletop onto the box, you have a dining table ...

I would contest the "velveting". Soy sauce chicken (breast) is cooked as a whole, not in slices, so both marinate penetration and short velveting times do not apply. It is - by all standards - a regular poaching process. I agree on the textural part. 140 F is "undercooked" count compared what the OP asks for. The classical process starts at higher temperatures, so at least the outside of the breast will have a firmer texture. @hainanchicken I would run a series of SV temperatures to find the texture you like. I also think that rapid chilling is detrimental to the texture and it will pronounce any "stringyness", so a slower cooling would enhance the uniform structure you are looking for ... Please let us know your findings !