Pan

OK, I'm Googling "Sichuan peppercorn Latin name": Source: Chinese Medicinals asiacuisine.com "Spice Trail" Now, Googling under "prickly ash Latin name," I've found a site that seems authoritative on matters of botany: GardenWeb's HortiPlex Plant Database Species Record #: gw1042878 And there are links to information about various Zanthoxylum species and indeed other genuses beginning with the letter "Z" here: GardenBed.com Z index

Bux, in that case, I suppose it's good for all concerned that Ms. Burros is a temporary restaurant critic, not a long-term one.

Today, Suzanne F, Marlene, dumpling, my non-eGulleteer parents, and I had lunch at Amma. The brief version is that this is the best Indian meal I've had since I was in India in 1977. In addition, it was a lot of fun to meet Suvir, who spent a good deal of time talking with all of us, and we also enjoyed meeting Hemant Mathur and were well-served by the rest of the staff. We were started off with a freebee of Spinach Chaat, which actually was mostly mung bean sprouts, combined with tempura-like slices of spinach in a tangy sauce. It was great and I had never had anything like it in an Indian restaurant. The mung bean sprouts were delightfully earthy. I tried a little bit of Marlene's Bhel Puri, which was amazing! I've never had it as street food in Bombay, but the dish as I had it was a complex interplay of different textures, and also tasted great. My second course consisted of a large shrimp that was battered and cooked in a tandoor, a smaller piece of white-meat chicken that was also cooked in a tandoor with a different taste, and crisp okra with onions and so forth in a nicely tangy sauce with plenty of tamarind. This was also great. My third course included a lamb chop cooked perfectly - until medium or so (not overdone, as is typical of New York Indian restaurants) - with a yogurt sauce redolent of a delicious masala; small pieces of two different types of fish, one with coconut/cilantro/green chili sambhar on top and one that was accompanied by a red sauce that tasted of tomatoes, lemon juice, spices, and IIRC onion; pear chutney that had plenty of fennel seeds in it; and pilau with lamb and cauliflower. I also tried some of my mother's masala dosa, which had a good deal of hot-pepper bite and a delicious mix of spices, and was quite significantly superior to the good masala dosas I've often had at Madras Cafe, closer to home. For dessert, I ordered kulfi, which was a delicate white variety with pistachios and floated in an interesting citrus soup that had various spices in it, notably including saffron. My mother got the mango cheesecake, which was truly great and which I figure on ordering next time. I also got to try a bit of a 3-dessert tasting that Suzanne and Marlene ordered. Rose water panna cotta was delicious. The coconut/banana flan was fine. But the really unexpected and knockout thing was the chai pot de creme. I drank masala chai before the meal and had excellent salty lassi with the meal. Previous posts in this thread pointed to the subtlety of the spicing at Amma, and that is true in the sense that these master chefs combine their spices in delicious and fascinating ways, but do not be fooled: This is real Indian food and they do not skimp on the chili. And frankly, that made me happy. If my report is wrong in any particulars, I hope one of my delightful dining partners corrects it. It was a pleasure to meet Marlene and to see Suzanne and dumpling again (and of course my parents ). I'd also like to mention that the space itself is pleasant and the atmosphere is relaxed. I can't remember the last time I spent ~$60 on lunch, but I also can't remember the last time I got such good value for such an expense on a meal! I look forward to the next time!

Yeah, that picture of the crane or whatever at sundown (sunrise?) is pretty spectacular! Wonderful blog, Gerhard!

Please do dig up the references whenever you have time, thanks for posting that, and welcome to eGullet!

Kam Kuo closed about 2 months ago.

weinoo, I could see what you meant upon rereading tonight. I did a little shopping at the collosal Chinese grocery store on Kissena Blvd. today and paid careful attention to the green vegetables.

They do take reservations, though it's possible you still might wait. FWIW, the Chelsea branch is more crowded than the better Hell's Kitchen branch.

Yes, an excellent one, but they also had a bad attitude the one time I was there.

I thought that was fascinating. Did you ask your cousin how he felt you did in your search? And I know that alu means potato, but what does anda mean? I can't escape the thought of whether you'd like to do similar explorations of stalls in other cities like Kuala Lumpur, for example.

Gerhard, what's avo, in this phrase?

Felonius, thanks for your report. Most instructive.

Yes, evidently so. As I said, this is a question that had never occurred to me before, but it's interesting to know the answer.

Gerhard, I did get a response to the question of whether cooking with wine is haram. It is: Mufti Ebrahim Desai, who is South African (his madrasah [islamic religious school] is in Camperdown), is reported to me to have said the following: This response was given to the following question: So this seems pretty definitive. And to top it off, a couple of other people independently said that it is haram to cook with alcoholic beverages (one said it was also haram for Muslims to serve them, which is something I've heard before), while no-one claimed it was halal. By the way, a web link was given to Mufti Ebrahim's web site: www.islam.tc I was unable to find this particular Q&A there but have no reason to doubt that it was there.

Another beautiful article, Suzanne. You sell this book very effectively.

Mr. Cutlets, thanks for providing advice we can use and profit from.

Thanks, Jason. I recognize the Gai Lan (I've eaten it many times) and the Yu Choy Sum, but not the Choi Sum. I'll check 'em out at the Hong Kong Supermarket or that huge place in Flushing next time.

What's choi sum? Do you speak Chinese or just restaurant-Chinese, Jason? No, not everyone knows.

Sesame Chicken and Sesame Beef was another dish I used to like a lot. I remember getting it, for example, at the Sichuan or Hunan restaurant that used to take up the 2nd floor of the building between 109 and 110 Sts. and Broadway in Manhattan during the late 70s and early 80s. I haven't had it in a long time.

Pan; Dunno where you are New York. I think the highest price I can remember seeing for parmiggiano is $16.99/lb. Sure, that's closer to $20 than $10, but it's also the highest price I can remember seeing, and somehow $20 is a psychological barrier, I guess.

All the people working there including wait staff are men? That is very unusual. By contrast, at Restaurant Malaysia in Flushing, I think the only man working there is the guy who makes satay and such-like. I believe the wait staff and the cooks in the main kitchen are all women. A place called Ipoh definitely would figure to have a Malaysian connection. Ipoh is a Malaysian city with a big Chinese community that is justly renowned for its excellent food. Thanks for the report, weinoo.

My folks were a lot closer but that only made it easier and less expensive for me to call them; no way in Hell would I have wanted them or any other loved one to get close to me and catch my flu, and at a ~40-minute subway ride, they aren't nearly close enough to shop for me, if I had needed that. And while I didn't have my father or mother around to cook chicken soup for me, thank goodness, I had delivery! Sorry about your husband, bloviatrix.

I'm very intrigued! Does anyone know where these might be for sale in New York and whether there are any restaurants here serving anything with them?

You'd get fired as fast as they could throw you out the door!

A little pricey, but still less than $20. I'm used to paying over $10 for good quality parmiggiano, but not $20.