tootallfortoques

Sometimes a brand name just grabs you.

A couple of questions: How far in advance can shiozuke be made? Should they only be made shortly before serving? Does anyone have any favorite recipes for tsukemono made with veggies commonly found in North America? Thanks!

They are banned, along with fugu, from import into Canada (I worked on the regulations years ago).

You'll have to hunt through the "Back Numbers" but Nipponia has a recipe per month, plus loads of articles on Japanese culture. Nipponia The portal that Nipponia resides on, Web Japan, also has lots of food links. You can find lots of them here.

Here's the corrected version of the link Kris was trying to provide http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia8/bon.html (Niponia moved to a different server). I like making nanban-zuke with smelts. I also use leftover (often intentionally) chicken that has been marinated in sake and shoyu for yakitori. The marinating (typically overnight) makes the chicken super-tender.

Shirasu oroshi Gyuniku no tataki Sunomono

Thanks!

I picked up a few packages of instant ochazuke. While they do have all the ingredients listed in English and French the instructions are only in Japanese, without any helpful pictograms. The brand is Shirakiku and there are three packets weighing 5.3 grams each. Does anyone know approximately how much water you mix with the packet? Thanks.

I go to Kaedeya Mart (210 Slater) and Kowloon Market (720 Somerset West). There is a Korean place on Bank I have yet to check out, and I haven't gotten to Green's Food on Rideau yet. I'm a bit spoiled because on trips to Washington D.C. I get to go to Loblaws-sized Asian grocery stores.

If you're the gardening type try Evergreen Seeds.

Spoke (wrote) too soon. Asia Foods SSI Co.

I've done a fair bit of checking and most of the sites I've come across DON'T ship to Canada. Is there something specific you're looking for? I might be able to find it here in Ottawa or on my next trip to Little Tokyo in L.A.

Have you been to Ichibei? It's probably my favorite restaurant in Ottawa, but after your assertion that there are NO good restaurants in town I feel like a tasteless food monkey. Can we come eat at your joint?

Okay, maybe I'll get pilloried for this, but ... I always bring back a kilo of Fondor. Knorr also makes a line called "Salat-krönung". If you don't have fresh herbs on hand they are fantastic. On my last trip I went into a store to get some but forgot to grab a basket. I had to carry about 30 packages up to the checkout. Knorr also makes "Kräuterlinge zum Streuen" a varaiety of herb mixes. They must use some kind of wicked preservative, because the seasoning is not dry, so they're great for putting on steamed veggies. If you can sneak it past Agriculture, bring some tinned Mettwurst. Fatty and oh so yummy.

Thanks, all! I depart tomorrow with your suggestions in hand.

Ah yes, the Vous. Playboy actually named the Vous one of America's top party bars. The substance on the floor was known affectionately as Vous Goo. Thinking back to my university days, I have to add one from my brief and ill-advised stay at Georgia Tech. Conveniently located close to the (formerly) third largest public housing prject in the country, Grumpy's was the place to be on Wednesday nights. They offered a "Bladder Bust" special where it was all you can drink (or steep discount, too many brain cells have died since then) until someone used the facilities. NOTE: I didn't say until someone urinated.

Las Rocas on 18th in D.C. Don't know if it still exists (I doubt it), but it was an infrequent haunt of mine in the late '80s. It had the requisite baño del infierno, and regular fights, stabbings, etc. It provided good source material for "scary D.C. stories" to tell people who believed everything they saw on the news.

The dishwasher thing really disgusted me. If that was punishment for Shecky the waiter, what did the regular two guys do? Oh yeah, Rocco told us, "they don't speak English". I know it's a crappy job, but it's a job, and indeed a very important one for a the life of a restuarant, and it was shitty for Rocco/NBC/AMEX/Coors/Mitsubishi to beliitle it (and those two guys) like that.

Watched it early (timeshifted broadcast from Calgary). Blech.

Is your "s" key tied to your Shift key? Or is this some post-traumatic, Rocco's StreSS induced thing? I'm glad you didn't go down the whole "Mama cried" road that those manipulative bastards were so trying to lead you down.

My wife and I are headed to L.A. in early October and would appreciate some restaurant suggestions. I'd really love some super sushi, but am open to anything else. We'll be staying in West Hollywood, but would be willing to drive too. Thanks!

If that's what he wants. If he wants to be rich and (in)famous, with his face plastered on magazine covers, he's doing everything right.

Preach, Brother Bourdain!

Where were the cameras then? Most of the time they make Laurent look like some cold-hearted Vichy commandant. Is he still working there? And has Rocco learned to pronounce his name?

The fact is that with the money that went into this restaurant/show (from the backers and producers), there is no reason staff should not have been getting paid. Was there something that put them so over budget that they couldn't afford ito pay the staff? Not from what we were shown. The issue that they presented was that they hadn't set up payroll, not that they didn't have the money (which is the case with many new places). If they had said, "Okay guys, our accountant is going to hand write all your checks, give us a day", it would have never made the show. The only reason we saw any of that was to plug AMEX (who they didn't have to use anyway, since they never said they didn't have the money). Beto summed it up: clunky.