jschyun

LarryG- It says on the site which offerings are GMO. I scanned the list and only GMO selections were two of the papaya selections are GMO (SunUp and Rainbow varieties). Anyway, you can't get it if you're outside HI, and you need to also buy an educational session. There are good reasons for this. Frankly, the practice of offering GMO seeds to the public disturbs me, but that's another topic for another day. If you look at the order form, you'll see that it says "hybrid" for hybrid varieties. On inspection, it appears that most varieties being offered are just open-pollinated varieties. Also, if some variety says "strain", it's not a hybrid. It simply means that they've grown this particular variety and selected seed from plants with characteristics they like, and that if you grow this variety and save seeds, it will remain true to the parent. I think this is a really wonderful thing that the U of H is doing. I haven't seen these varieties offered anywhere else, and I believe I've looked at every garden catalog offered in the U.S. By the way, if you've eaten any form of soy products esp in the U.S., you've probably already ingested something that's been genetically modified. Soy is in places where you wouldn't expect. For instance, soy products are used in bread, ice cream, and candy to name a few. one gmo "fact sheet" I believe foods that are certified organic cannot be GMO at this point, but I'll have to doublecheck to see that this has not changed.

Thanks dude. Hehe, and just for the record, I'm a girl. For some reason, a lot of people think I'm a guy until they meet me. Weird. I did not request no tofu (I love tofu), but I don't recall getting any tofu in my dishes. How sad. I still have to try that new japanese tofu house that opened in Bev Hills (I just started a thread on it a little while ago)

Muffin, can you give us an idea of what the prices were like? Naturally my attention is drawn towards the Kobe beef and sushi pictures, but I would be interested in finding out what the temple food cost and what you think in terms of price versus value.

All's well that ends well.

that spring roll closeup is a work of art. wow, that filling does look exactly like mandu, but the golden brown spring roll wrapper makes it look more attractive than usual, somehow. thank god I don't live anywhere near you guys because I really need to lose some weight. thanks for sharing!

I like sashimi best, because I like eating it with hot rice. I learned that from my cousin whose food preferences tend to be very similar to mine. I like how the hot rice kind of warms up the fish so I can get more of the uh, bouquet. I'm not a big "roll" fan either, but I'll eat them anyway. Lately I've been eating a lot of California roll rounds because my SO likes them. I had a spider roll once or twice and I really like them, but if it's a choice between sashimi and some roll, I can't help but order sashimi. I hated ikura until I finally had some that was relatively fresh. I love uni, esp when it's sweet yet rich, like at Urasawa. Of course everyone loves toro. I love hamachi too. I love that deep orange wild salmon you can get in Vancouver. I recently learned that I love Kobe beef sushi. I really need to get a high-paying job. Oh man I'm hungry again.

Great pics. So jealous. *slobber*.

LA Times Food Section -- October 20, 2004 Viewing the LA Times website, www.latimes.com requires registration. You can log on with username "egulleteer" and password "lafood". Some content is in the premium section, called calendarlive.com, which requires an additional fee, but you can see the calendarlive stories below free, for one week. What a catch! -- Russ Parsons He says that right now, the commercial SoCal spiny lobster season is at its peak. "Spiny lobsters have a little firmer texture than Maine lobsters and a fuller, more complex flavor. And they are highly seasonal. The commercial harvest begins the first Wednesday of October, and though it lasts through mid-May, most of the catch occurs this month. " Time for a kitchen tuneup -- Donna Deane She tells you how to clean out, update your kitchen appliances/utensils/tools/etc, so you can get them ready for the holidays. From small seeds, inspiration -- Donna Deane Story about pine nuts. She gives examples of how to use them, from Middle Eastern dishes to Italian dishes. Too bad she didn't delve into Far East Asian ways of using them. Recipes All smoke and swagger? -- Leslie Brenner She's not very impressed with Bourdain's new cookbook. Some of the recipes she tries don't work; some border on the bizarre. "One dish did turn out OK: moules marinières. For once Bourdain gives us the traditional method. And guess what: It works. " Recipe for moules mariniere. Perfectionism, rethought -- David Shaw He's no longer the hands on chef that Shaw knew of old. He's older and lets other people do the cooking (only trusted chefs he's worked with before). Now he's opening L'Atelier Las Vegas, breaking into the U.S. market through the back door. He decided against New York after seeing what the critics did to Alain Ducasse. The Parker principle -- W.R. Tish "This weekend, in San Francisco and the Napa Valley, Robert M. Parker Jr. will be honored at a series of events marking the 25th anniversary of his influential newsletter, the Wine Advocate." It used to be useful to have the Parker 100 point scale around to figure out which were good ones. But now, it's getting cluttered and confusing and Tish concludes that people should stick with helpful wine shops to help choose. L.A. Times Hot List #1: "The Gourmet Cookbook by Ruth Reichl (editor) (Houghton Mifflin Co., $40) More than 1,000 recipes culled from the Conde Nast magazine's 60-year accumulation. " Wine of the Week -- S. Irene Virbila 2001 Château Montus Madiran: "This is the wine to drink with a juicy roast duck or magnificent fatty goose. It likes pork too, and grilled sausages or ribs. It needs some cooler weather and shouldn't be served too warm. Give it a slight chill so it has somewhere to go." about $33 --------------------------- Calendarlive Stories The power of three -- Emily Green She gives 3* to La Terza, Gino Angelini's restaurant. She liked the salumi plate, grilled cuttlefish, ravioli with grilled radicchio, slow-cooked pork shank, "everything from the rotisserie, grilled cuttlefish, cream tart with pine nuts, fruit fritters, sautéed rapini with chile." Great wines. Service is somewhat spotty.

Where do you guys thing Watercress's $19.95 early bird menu fits on the Chapeau-Clementine continuum? Middle? Better than Clementine? Worse than Chapeau? Vice versa? thx.

the nongshim shin ramen is really spicy and it doesn't really have that much of the seafood element like neoguri. Kimchi ramen is not as spicy though, and might have stuff in it like that spiral fish cake. actually this would be my guess.

shin ramen is also in a red pkg, but I forget if it has little fish cake things.

I have to say, I really like it cooked with soy sauce, sugar, and I forget exactly the proportions and such, until it's almost candied in a salty sweet syrup. I like lotus root this way too. Has anyone had this? Did I dream it? I haven't had this for a long time so maybe my memory is bad.

well, it's clear to me that this is not chapchae or dang myun related but definitely some type of ramen. I was confused because some of the thai ramen bowls have clear noodles, just like chapchae except thinner and that's what i thought you wanted. rereading the post makes it clearer to me. that spiral radish thingy actually sounds like it might be dessicated fish cake. I can't for the life of me remember which one of those things have fish cake and which not. Perhaps someone else can jump in.

I've also had some thai and vietnamese noodle cup things that fit chezcherie's description too. did it come with its own fork? I think only the thai ones do. Was it sour and spicy, or just spicy? What kind of stuff was floating in there? The sweet potato starch noodles (dang myun) that Jason talked about, are clear when dry and cook up clear too. If there was an orange-pinkish hue, and the noodles were dang myun or dang myun-like, the color was probably from the soup flavorings.

The L.A. Times did a whole slew of stories on Paso Robles this week. Check out the digest in the pinned section above, for story summaries, and a username and password to log into the site.

There's actually a pretty good restaurant chain in L.A./OC called Hwang Hae Do as well. It sounds very similar to the restaurant you're talking about, Jason, and heck may be the same chain. They feature yooksoo (beef soup), I think sooyuk as well (boiled beef) and barbecue, their wang mandu (huge potstickers) among other stuff. I haven't tried any of their barbecue stuff. My favorite is the mool naengmyun deal during this summer. $2.99 for the whole bowl of chewy buckwheat noodles, cold beef consomme and some of the usual toppings. Also, the $5.99 mool naengmyun and mandu special is pretty kickass as well.

Uh, Bastide is not the most expensive restaurant in L.A. I believe that honor goes to Urasawa at $250 a head.

Is that Galleria market crazy huge or what? I'm glad you found it. I don't think I provided good if any directions. Thanks for the pic! Now I'm hungry...

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue in Honolulu?

I think at the Korean market it's the tenderloin that is cut into very thin, round slices while frozen. My knowledge of meat cuts is hazy at best, since I'm not really that much of a meat eater, so don't quote me on that. I would think that you want as tender a steak as possible because the cooking time is very short. But I could be thinking wrong. For bulgogi, I actually found that I preferred the taste of meat that had been marinated for as little time as possible, contrary to many recipes. I quickly marinate then throw it onto the grill/fry pan on fairly high heat, so I get char, but rareish tenderness as well. Also, I still get the flavor of the marinade, but it hasn't affected the texture of the beef. --oh yeah, ribeye. That's what it was. Not tenderloin.

That's a good question. I don't own any dolsot bowls because of major space issues. But I recall someone telling me that the ones to get have a metal band on top, because they are prone to cracking from the extreme variations in temperature that these bowls go through. I'll ask around to see if anyone has any and what their experiences are. Sometimes though, expensive isn't necessarily better. Sometimes you just get ripped off. I would pick one that looked just like the restaurant version: thick stone, metal band around the top of the bowl. Hopefully it's not the most expensive one. But I haven't ever shopped for one, because there are so many decent restaurants here that I just can't justify the time.

LA Times Food Section -- October 13, 2004 Viewing the LA Times website, www.latimes.com requires registration, but you can log on with username "egulleteer" and password "lafood". Some content is in the premium section, called calendarlive.com, which requires an additional fee, but you can see the calendarlive stories below free, for one week. This week was all about Paso Robles. A Napa just waiting to happen -- Corie Brown "The nexus of organic farms, serious restaurants and up-and-coming wineries is transforming Paso Robles." Pour it while it's really fresh -- Emily Green Companion piece to the Corie Brown's Paso Robles story. "California farmers cultivate our taste for new-season olive oil." "It took California ranchers, such as Joeli Yaguda in Paso Robles, planting dozens of new olive groves, laying in shiny new presses and then getting new season oil to us in such a startlingly fresh state. This is now prompting a rethinking of how, when and why to use olive oil." With lifetimes of experience -- David Shaw "Tim SPEAR makes big, overpowering Syrahs that Robert Parker calls "prodigious," "revolutionary," "unctuously textured" and "pedal-to-the-metal, full-throttle" with high alcohol content (from 15% to 17% in most cases), in Paso Robles. Spear also believes in reincarnation and thinks he was a Burgundian vintner in a previous life and will be a Burgundian vintner in the next life, but due to global warming he thinks Syrahs will do better in Burgundy then. Limestone cowboys -- Jordan Mackay "Paso Robles' vintners are focused on Rhone-style blends and Syrahs" Why Paso Robles? "There were a lot of climates in California that would work, but we wanted limestone soils because that's what they have in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. " Wine of the Week -- S. Irene Virbila 2003 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyard: "From grapes grown on the steep slopes of Paso Robles' James Berry vineyard, the 2003 Copain Roussanne has a scent of honeysuckle and white peaches. It's beautifully balanced, with a lush texture and a taste of almonds and green olives, with a drop of lemon at the end. Drink it as an aperitif, or with smoked salmon or trout. It has the brawn to stand up to grilled prawns and other seafood, or a nice piece of halibut or sturgeon." about $30 A weekend jaunt to wine country -- Corie Brown Now that Paso Robles has been gentrified, there's stuff to do for tourists. She gives you a bunch of links to check out like www.pasowine.com, http://www.pasorobleschamber.com, and a host sites for B&B type places. A tasting of Rhône styles from Paso Robles -- Corie Brown A bunch of the Times food journalists sat down to a wine tasting of various wines from Paso Robles. "The panel's favorite was a white Rhône-style blend from Tablas Creek, which sells at the vineyard for $22." They also liked some red blends that included "Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and sometimes Counoise, (and were) were big, rich, spicy and likeable." They thought most of the Syrahs were too tannic, too alcoholic and "one-dimensional". Bottom of article has list of their favorites. ------------------ Calendarlive Stories Trattoria's farewell -- Leslee Komaiko Alto Palato is closing its doors. Starting Nov 7, all wines will be half price. Owner Daniel Terribili says to renovate would be cost-prohibitive and he wants to focus on his Sparks restaurant chain instead. "Christophe Bellanca has been named the new executive chef at L'Orangerie." Christian Shaffer of Chloe is opening a second restaurant called Avenue. "Umenohana, a restaurant specializing in tofu and yuba (soy-milk skin) dishes such as lobster and tofu steamed in bamboo leaf with spicy ponzu sauce, opened last night in Beverly Hills. Although part of a Japanese chain, Umenohana has none of the telltale signs of a typical chain restaurant. Instead, it's luxurious and serene, and filled with original Japanese art."

That's funny. I'm Korean American and all my Jewish friends call me fully certifiable.

just a generation or two ago, people all made their own kochujang and duenjang and kimchi and stuff like that at home. Nowadays I don't know anyone who makes their own kochujang or duenjang. It's really smelly to make. The last person I knew that made it was my grandma. Oh wait, I think my mom said her friend made it. Most people I know go to the store, buy gochujang and then doctor it up to suit their needs. The two brands that I know and like are Tehyangcho gochujang and Soonchang gochujang. I forget if the label is in english so if you can't find it, just ask someone for these two brands and they'll point it out to you. I'm sure any brand would be just fine though. Some people don't like sesame oil, so that's optional. I have never heard of putting mirin in kochujang until reading this thread. Some people like to have bibimbap with mixed grain rice which just means that other grains like barley, wild rice, some kinds of beans were steamed along with the rice. Also, For bibimbap, I take gochujang (red pepper paste) and mix with some vinegar (I like brown rice vinegar aka hyunmi shikcho) I also add a little sugar, the way some people do with spaghetti sauce. Unfortunately, I do this all to taste so I have no idea what the amounts are. I'll measure next time and get back to you. This is the most common way I know of doctoring the gochujang to go into bibimbap. The gochujang is then called "chojang" because it's been mixed with shikcho (vinegar). shikCHO + gochuJANG = chojang when i have more time later, I might go into what constitutes my favorite toppings. Most restaurants will not put in sesame oil into the gochujang. I see bottles that you are supposed to squeeze over your bibimbap to taste. I use very little.

Well, it was worth fantasizing about.