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I picked up a pound of Chinese watercress that I hope to wok stir-fry Thai style, a favorite. Peanut oil and garlic are the two other ingredients I plan to use. Does anyone know what other ingredients should be included? In the version I have tasted, there is not much fish sauce taste, but can anything be cooked in Thailand without fish sauce? Edited: Did I forget to mention soy sauce? Probably not too much.

So, indian style. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a wok. Have prepared the next few ingredients that go into the oil for the tarka. Particularly something fresh, like green chillies or even a dried red chilli will do in a pinch. Heat the oil to smoking point, almost! Add the mustard seeds, they will start popping immediately. Yes. Sizzle. Snap. Turn down the heat. Add the other ingredients (powdered ones) in quick succession. Watch like a hawk. Powders burn fast. Add the chilli/fresh ingredient which will take away a lot of the heat because of it's size/green-ness. I've tried to do the have medium hot oil, toss the seeds in, wait until they pop approach but it just ain't what mama taught me. So I doit with the drama. Try it. You'll see what I mean. jhlurie, the mustard seeds are being used to season the oil they are popped in. Also, the heat, like with many other spices, releases an aroma that is wonderful.

It was loved by all! Unfortunately I was cooking in somebody else's kitchen so I wasn't able to do everything I'd like. For instance sauteeing the chicken thighs before adding to the curry and his wok was his biggest pot/pan which was just barely big enough for everything. So far I've preferred my 12" skillet for these curries and although his wok was cast iron, I wasn't getting even heating. I added thighs, straw mushrooms, onions and taters and they worked rather well together. This was the first time I added palm sugar and tamarind (no substitutes prior) and I really like how they rounded out the flavor of the red curry. I'm beginning to think why when I used green curry that this was the problem; I didn't taste the curry, only the heat. It wasn't that the green curry was bad, just boring. I've also been adding lemongrass, is this inauthentic and why the hell is it so chewy? Did I have an inferior product?

That's just a stove. Its not a ton a and a half of iron and insulation, warm and purring, always on and ready to cook or snuggle up to. Four oven Aga, plus the new Aga Extension, giving six ovens, two hotplates/griddles, plus two burners, wok burner and stock-pot burner. Four ovens at preset temperatures, including very hot and one at 75, perfect for the new extended cooking, another conventional oven and an oven/broiler. Indestructable. Any fuel you like, including coal. Aga Ranges

I've laid out a few kitchens, both restaurant and demestic, so I will weigh in here.You need to think how it will be used, and the number you cook for. Restaurant stuff is often inappropriate if you are cooking for two, not two hundred. Pre-requisite: Enough space. Mine is a former double garage. You wan to be able not only to cook in company, but also to eat and entertain in there. Good layout. The stove/fridge/sink triangle is important, but also think about how it will be used. For example for serious dinners you might want, as restaurant style, a layout with the equivalent of a pass, and a seperate wash-up area. I have seperate sinks in the laundry room joining the kitchen to achieve this. >Appliances: The best range? (FatGuy likes DCS), broiler, oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc Ovens: Retaurant stoves are a bad idea, unless you are also going to put in restaurant level ventilation. The give out too much heat, and are overkill for just cooking for two. I *love* my 4 oven AGA, which is the centre of home. Supplement it with a gas wok-burner and two-burner stovetop, one witha low burner for a stock-pot. Also microwave/grill/oven combo. Others I know swear by a steamer. Luxury would be a wood-burning pizza/bread oven in the kitchen as well, but just outside with the smoker and BBQ pit is OK. Refrigerator: Any that is big enough. I miss my restaurant walk-in, but for a normal houshold that would be silly. Two big friges (with icemaker) is OK, prefeably ones with seperate temperature zones. You might want a smaller expense frige under the countertop in the cooking area, then then main storage can be further away, for example in the laundry area, or handy for unloading when you return form the market. Dishwasher: It is a mystery to me why domestic dishwashers are so much slower than restaurant ones. However buy two, then you can load dirty dishs into one, while using clean dishes from the other. A wall plate-rack is also good. Garbage disposal unit: great invention. At least two sinks. Pot-wash spray arm in one. Freezer: small-under counter locally, big freezer(s) elsewhere. >Other fixtures: Style of cabinets, faucets, pantries, closets, lighting, ventilation, countertop material, floor material I'm a great believer in natural materials. Wood (American white Oak) for the cabinets, properly made. Solid wood, not veneer or just doors on a fibreboard carcass. Not built-in kitchens (e.g Smallbone) are a good idea and more flexible, where each piece is a seperate piece of stand-alone furniture, but designed to work together. That way the dresser, for example, can become (or maybe already is) a family heirloom. Similarly tables, cupboards etc. I had a local joiner make up the units to my specification, with doors that fit in the frame, not just plonked on the front. Most commercial kitchen units use standard inserts anyway so you can buy the wire shelves, corner turntables etc that you need. Piano hinges are a good idea, and stop the doors warping. Lots of cupboards and storage space. Pull-out larder shelves, accessible from both sides are good. Glass fronted cupboards so you can see where things are. Avoid stainless steel. It may look good, but its hell to keep clean and shows every fingerprint, especially if matt finished. No contest for countertop material. It must be granite. Use one inch thick material supported by ply, two inches if money no object, but I prefer the look of the thinner top. Round edged. Cheaper then plastic, and more robust. Entirely inert - doesn't scratch, etch or stain. It will keep its good looks forever, and is easy to clean and maintain. You can put hot frying pans down on it without a worry, or cigarette or cigar butts still alight. Marble etches and stains, wood discolours and needs regular maintenance. Only disadvantage is that you might want to use a plastic chopping board to protect your knife edge - the granite will blunt knife edges quickly if you chop on it, but then you would naturally use a chopping board anyways. Why kitchen vendors still persist in selling surfaces that are manifestly not fit for purpose is beyond me. Lighting: Task oriented downlighting. Incandescent strips under the cupboards Ventialtion: Serious cooker-hood externally vented. Air conditioning, again with a vent option, would be good. Floor: Again no contest, natural lino, continous sealed and up the wall to skirting board level. . Easy to clean, you can swill it down, and naturally anti-bacterial. Unlike vinyl, the colour goes all the way through, so wears better. Tile, including quarry tiles, or marble or stone are hard underfoot, can be slipppery and hell to clean. dirt gets into the grouting, that is hard to shift. Keep the tiles on the wall. Wall: Tiled in the working areas. Gloss or other washable paint elsewhere. Avoid brilliant white - off white is easier to live with. Layout: Location of the cabinets/faucets/pantries, island (where and shape?), height of countertop, overall design Layout will depend on use and the shape of the building. Units come standard heights, widths and depths. Here they are 600mm deep, 300 or 600mm wide and 900mm high. Make sure you can either move them or get underneath (removable foot panel) for cleaning. Think where mice or other nasties might nest or get access. I dislike fixed island units - I find them isolating and inflexible. Theyare a solid barrier betwen you and your guests, and the thing you want is always on the other side. However you need a moveable table/butchers block or whatever so you can turn round from the stove and have a surface to put something on. I have a large farmhouse table down the centre of my kitchen (pine, scrubbed every week), and everyone sits round it, and we eat most meals there, read the papers etc. Extras: warmers, extra refrigerators, extra faucets, etc Mixer. Small professional one if you are a serious baker. Food processor (get a small commercial one. DOmestic ones don't stand up to much) Pan-shelves in grabbing distance Hanging for spoons, sieves,strainers etc about the stove Oven themometers/digtal probe thermoters Toaster Radio/TV/Hi-fi system Phone Pinboard Wine storage (probably seperate) Breakfast component area: teapot, tea, coffee etc easy to grab when half awake Bookshelves. Hope this helps. .

The only thing I would really want to add to my kitchen if I had the room was a dedicated wok burner, and perhaps a REAL salamander, although our Garland's infrared broiler does a pretty good job.

Thanks for the info, Skchai! Just as you said, it is the increased surface area that makes the difference, as well as the gentle curve with no corners. I'm not that great with Japanese so I couldn't follow all the technical stuff so well, but I think that curve allows a very high but consistant and controlled heat on the bottom of the wok, and the increase surface area where the sauce meets the air allows even cooling on top. As to why this makes a curry sauce with a deeper flavour and softer meat, I have no idea! But I will be trying it out soon. Amoung the other tests they performed was a boiling-over test. They timed how long it took a pot of boiling water and noodles to boil over (something that ALWAYS happens to me) compared with a wok of boiling water. The pot boiled over very quickly, but the wok never did. Pretty cool. (I forget to test this myself last night when I made soba though. Maybe next time.) As well as not boiling over, water heated in a wok will reach the boil faster than in a regular pot. They cooked a complete meal in the wok: glazed carrots, 'gratin' potatoes, steak and carmelized bananas. The virtue of using a wok only is that it's supposed to save time, reduce the amount of gas used, and be easy to clean. (They didn't mention maintenance though- should you keep the wok well-oiled like you're supposed to? If so, won't the pasta or veggies boiled in it get all greasy?) Kristin, sorry about the link. Try the Gatten page, at the bottom they have the last four episodes. The wok one was added most recently, May 15th. http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/

Since there is no clear-cut category called "curry" in Indian cuisine, it's hard to comment on whether this is so, but in general dishes with gravy can be cooked in a variety of equipment, including karahi/karhai but also degchi (pot) or tava (teppan?). A karhai tends to be somewhat deeper that a wok and is similar to what is often called a "balti" in Britain. From a taste point of view I'm not sure why it'd make a difference, except for surface area and pre-sauteing of the meat (which doesn't occur in traditional Indian curry). Did the NHK folks say what made it more tender? Regarding strange Japanese curry, I believe (but this may be wishful thinking) that the Coco Ichibanyas here in Honolulu carry SPAM curry. . .

Fresh lobster is available at the D&W chain of groceries. Unless, of course, you know of a better supplier here! Maybe I should try the Jasper White method with the Rick Bayless recipe that I mentioned earlier. However, the link that Huevos del Toro provided certainly looks like I could pull it off in the Weber smoker. At this point, I'm fairly convinced that if I want to do "Asian-style" smoked lobster that I should use my wok. But I don't want to sound like the "shoddy workman who always blames his inferior tools." I'm still wavering but I think Mexican-style grilled lobster is the plan for this Saturday.

I saw on a TV show last night (NHK's 'Gatten'- the show is recapped here for those who can read/view Japanese characters: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2003q2.../20030514.html) that making curry in a wok instead of a pot is better. Apparently the wok is almost identical to the pot used by Indians to cook curry sauce, called a 'kahrai' (spelling?). They did a taste test and also used some lab equipment to test the tenderness of the meat, and it was 'proven' that the wok curry tasted better. I'll be using a wok next time I make curry for sure!

More than likely that Chinese smoked lobster wasn't smoked in the fashion you're about to. I've seen Ming Tsai use his wok to tea smoke. After low-heat steaming the duck legs (in this case) for an hour to an hour and a half, he puts a one cup each mixture of rice, sugar and tea leaves on foil in the wok and puts the heat on medium. After the mixture starts to smolder, he reduces the heat to low and puts a bamboo steamer over the mixture. Put in the the legs and then place a wet towel around the base of the steamer and smoke for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and smoke for another 15 minutes. He probably lowers the temperature at some point but that's the basic method. As for the bullet, I've never smoked lobster but I do know it's a delicate meat and it would be really easy to overcook it. If I were to try it, I'd go half an hour at 200F.

Good Morning Suvir Guess what? Pesarattu / Pakodi is my breakfast for today. Please do not envy, as a saying when some one else envys while you are eating and you do not share, you are bound to get stomach ache. As much as I love food, I love to share it as well. Unfortunately you are far to reach. Just couple of things you need before you start. 1) Wet Blender (Sumeet or National or traditional stone grinder). 2) Heavy Bottom cast iron skillet or non-stick teflon pan and or a wok. You can make couple of things with these lentils. a) Pesarattu, b)M.L.A Pesarattu c) Pakodi Your sister is absolutely right. Soak over night green lentils (Moong dal) with skin on. In the morning, blend it in a wet grinder with a piece of ginger, cumin seeds and few green chilies. Blend it coarsely if you are making pakodi / pakoda with no water added at all. To this mixture add very little salt and finely chopped spanish onion and mix very well, using your hand as a whisk. No Bi-carb is neccessary. Heat oil in a wok and deep fry by pouring into very small balls / fritters with a tea spoon. Once they turn to crispy golden brown fritters remove from oil and serve. For pesarattu blend these soaked lentils with ginger, pinch of salt and green chilies to a smoother batter by adding a little bit of water to form a pouring consistancy of Dosa. Chop some onions and mix with cumin seeds and set aside. Heat the non-stick pan and place a cup of batter in the center of the pan. Slowly start at the center spreading like a pancake . Spread in some chopped onion and cumin, sprinkle a Tea spoon of oil. Once the edges start getting crisp fold in half, remove and serve at once. Tips: Batter has to be no more than an hour old or two at most. Leave the batter a little coarse. Never turn the pesarattu on the otherside. Cannot be served warm or cold. No fermentation is required. Blender to pan to plate. M.L.A Pesarattu (Member of Legislative assembly) (the rich) This pesarattu is made with ghee and served with upma in the center and a little larger in size. The right chutney pesarattu is allam pachadi (Ginger chutney )

aurora, click me. it should work. oh man, i forgot that i had an egg roll from Wok. the only reason was that everything else was closed, and after 37 beers, i needed *something*. oh, and, i got Kia's (from Trading Spaces) autograph. pretty cool.

What was up with the crabcakes? Ubiquitous. Seems that's the only idea a lot of stands could come up with. They must stand up well to pre-cooking and long warmer times. I did have one from SB, and it was good, though the chips were WAAAAYYY too salty. The Ecuadoran shrimp ceviche (+mojitos) at Alma de Cuba was also a hit in my book (and, like Tommy, I could, errr, enjoy the fashion show w/runway-side seating. Coolest creation: Davio's cheesesteak springrolls. They really worked! Forgettable crab rangoon from Wok. Godawful yellowfin salad hoagie from Opus 251 -- the bread was the texture of rubber. Potstickers from Audrey Claire/Twenty Manning were pretty good. I got the same feeling about the LBF pastry table and skipped it. When's Miel opening the Rittenhouse Square outpost, I mean inpost?

Between Wolf and DCS the major difference is price -- an equivalent DCS model is a lot cheaper that a Wolf but provides almost all the functionality. A top-of-the-line KitchenAid is not going to be as powerful as either the Wolf or the DCS. The KitchenAid Architect-series range in say a 30" size will give you two burners at 6,000 BTU/hr (not particularly useful), one at 12,500 (good), and one at 14,000 (better). A DCS in the same size has 5 burners, with the four weakest burners running at 16,000 each and the center burner running at 17,500, which is good enough to do pretty much anything except serious wok cookery (there is no residential range that can really power a wok the way a Chinese-restaurant burner does). A four-burner Wolf (which is now part of Sub Zero on the residential side, I think) also has 16,000 on the burners. These higher numbers aren't just useful when you want to sear a steak; they also make a big difference when you're just boiling a big pot of water. There are differences in construction as well. The KitchenAid looks and feels like a residential stove, whereas the DCS and Wolf units have more of a commercial feel in terms of sturdiness and controls. They're not real restaurant stoves, but they're decent substitutes.

When my cousin got married, I gifted her and her new hubby with a fondue set (they had registered for), a couple of inexpensive fondue cookbooks, and a bottle of Chasselas, the perfect wine for cheese fondue. This is also do-able with a bread machine, slow cooker, pasta maker, wok, etc. Makes for a nice gift that shows the giver put some thought into it, and also gives the newlyweds an excuse to have company over and show off their new kitchen toys. Your original idea is also very nice. The Penzey's "Wedding Box" is a great present, that I've both received and given. I really love the Julia Child Way to Cook. You can't ever go wrong with Julia! And I always turn to my vintage Joy of Cooking. Good heavens - there's an illustration on how to skin a squirrel in there! Yes - it will answer vurtually any question anyone might ever have! And Jaymes' idea, is of course pure genius. What a nice way to welcome someone into your family!

Not fair comparing steamed and baked buns. They are different and if you prefer steamed buns, a baked bun will be disappointing. I ilke both. What's really unfortunate was Mayor Giuliani's attention to the "quality of life" in NYC. It was under his adminsitration that the carts selling wonderful steamed pork and cabbage buns were eliminated from the cityscape. The buns were sold directly from a flat bottomed wok and had a crust on the bottom. The rest of the dough was steamed. Two of these were less expensive than a half slice of pizza and a much better lunch on the run. It's taken me years to withdraw from the craving and I'm not sure I wouldn't overdose if I ran across a cart today. Once in response to an earlier lamentation of those steamed bun carts, Eddie posted [on the thread you should have found ]: Pai tsai ro bao - Large fried meat and vegetable (celery cabbage) buns - a Shanghai thing - have been sold at a storefront on Catherine St. for many years. A few years ago the shop, called Li Chugn, moved to a new Catherine St location (just off Chatham Sq.). This all female staffed business is the NYC precursor to the whole generation of 5-for-a-dollar fried dumpling shops (and to your Canal St vendor) that have sprouted up over the last 2 years. They have an excellent product when freshly cooked. Check it out. Eddie bought me one once. It didn't have the crusty bottom I like and truth to tell, I was already stuffed from lunch to fully appreciate it or the scallion pancake, but they were good enough to call me back to the shop. The next time I was there they didn't have any around, no one spoke English and I bought some other dough things that were less good, but interesting. It's a hit and miss thing, but worth the trouble. Unfortunately they don't even have a counter at which to eat anything and it's a few blocks to the nearest park. By the time I reach the park, anything I've bought is gone.

Given your list of ingredients here's how I would do it. The wine and most of the cornstarch is used to marinate the chicken which you then velvet and set aside. The ginger is stir-fryed, then water is added with the soy sauce and sugar and simmered. The chicken and the previously blanched broccoli is returned to the wok. Stir in some cornstarch slurry to thicken slightly. When seconds from done drizzle on the sesame oil. Personally I'd add some garlic with the ginger and use chicken stock instead of water. PJ

Put all of the ingredients together in a bowl, wisk vigorously together and set aside. Wok fried the meat and vegetables to your liking then pour a fair amount of your liquid over it. The heat will cause the cornstarch to thicken the sauce to a glaze. Continue to stir fry on a slightly lower temp to cook the cornstarch's offensive texture out and boom...it's real simple.

This is our favourite way to cook pork belly. 1. Cut pork belly into 0.5mm slices. Season with s&p +/- cooking wine. 2. Heat a wok. No need to add oil as oil from pork is sufficient. 3. When wok is hot, add the pork. Keep stirring until the meat cooks and the fatty part becomes crispy. At the final stage, more salt may be added. Tastes like bacon, and is great with plain rice or congee.

I did this again last weekend. Used an 8qt stock pot instead of the wok. I figured that I'd have better temperature stability. The first batch, I got the temp up to 300 and put in the wings. Quick drop to 250, and stabilized there. Not good. I put the lid on the pot (although I think I read you're not supposed to do that when deep frying), and got the temp up to the 350-380 range. That's a good sizzle. The next batch I started at 380. There was a much smaller drop, and a much faster recovery. I'm still not a fan of Franks hot sauce.

Although I don't have a recipe for Off the Hook Green Beans, I do have their recipe for their famous Sichuan Green Beans, courtesy of Best Places Seattle Cookbook by Kathy Casey, Cynthia C. Nims, and Sasquatch publishing copyright 2001 (w/ their permission to post it on eG). A cut and paste from a year ago on the cooking forum... Wild Ginger's Sichuan Green Beans At Wild Ginger, the green beans are first deep-fried and then stir-fried with the remaining ingredients, using 2 separate woks. If you have only 1 wok, use a saucepan for deep-frying. Simpler yet, stir-fry the green beans in the wok until they begin to turn brown and blister, then continue as directed. The double-whammy technique of deep-frying and stir-frying produces the best, most flavorful results, however. Note that the green beans must be fully dry before adding them to the hot oil for frying. If any water is clinging to the beans, they'll sputter violently when added to the oil. You'll want to rinse the preserved vegetable under cold running water before using, to wash away excess salt. Sichuan preserved vegetable is available in Asian markets and on well-stocked grocery shelves. Peanut or canola oil, for frying 2 T soy sauce 2 t rice wine vinegar 1 t sesame oil 1 t sugar 1 lb. tender green beans, trimmed & thoroughly dried 2 T minced lean pork 1 T minced Sichuan preserved vegetables 1 t dried red pepper flakes POUR THE OIL to a depth of 2-3 inches into a large, deep, heavy saucepan & heat over medium-high heat to 400 F degrees (the oil should come no more than halfway up the sides of the pan). WHILE THE OIL IS HEATING, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar in small bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved & set aside. WHEN THE OIL IS HOT, fry the green beans, in small batches, until lightly browned & blistered, 1-1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to paper towels to drain. Allow the oil to reheat as needed between batches. HEAT A WOK over high heat until very hot, then add 1 T oil (it will begin smoking right away). Add the pork, preserved vegetable, and red pepper flakes & stir-fry for 10 seconds. The pepper flakes will give off peppery fumes, so be prepared with an exhaust fan or nearby open window. Add the soy sauce mixture & heat, stirring, for about 15 seconds, being careful not to burn the sugar. Add the green beans & toss until most of the liquid is reduced & absorbed by the beans, about 30 seconds. TRANSFER THE BEANS to a warmed platter & serve. edit: Ben, you'll note, there is pork in this recipe.

Fish Dumplings in Turmeric Sauce 2 lbs. cod or tilefish fillets (ask for heads and bones to make the 4 cups stock) 1 small onion, quartered 3 cloves garlic, sliced 2 tsp ground cumin 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper 1 egg salt and pepper 1 c matzoh meal oil for deep frying 4 c fish stock 2 T lemon juice 1/2 tsp turmeric 3 T tomato paste Italian parsley for garnish Cut fish into 1" cubes. Process until smooth in food processor along with onion, garlic, cumin, cayenne, egg, salt and pepper. Add matzoh meal and process until incorporated. Shape fish mixture into plump ovals about 3" long. Heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees in deep fryer, saucepan or wok. Fry fish rolls until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Bring stock to boil in 1 or 2 large saucepans, add lemon juice, turmeric and tomato paste. Bring to slow simmer. Drop drained fish rolls into simmering broth and cook slowly, uncovered. Rolls should be single layer. Simmer until broth has reduced and thickened, about 40 minutes. Serve warm, garnished with parsley Keywords: Main Dish, Fish, Passover ( RG344 )

Your question seems to assume that there would be value in a French chef doing that. Where would the value be to a French chef and why would that be valuable to people who patronize French restraurants? I mean, why didn't you ask if there were any French chefs who have mastered Chinese wok cooking?

Don't use a deep fryer, use your wok, and make sure you have an oil pot with a colander suspended over it right next to it before starting. The reason you shouldn't use your fryer is that when you velvet egg white and cornstarch marinated food, the pieces tend to stick together, especially if the oil a is a little bit too hot. One of the essential parts of the process is to swirl or stir the food in the oil immediately after putting it there. Your goal is to separate the pieces from one another quickly so that they cook evenly. The deep fryer complicates this needlessly. The wok is made for it and it seems a simple and natural thing to do. As far as extra calories go I don't think so. Why? Well both techniques call for cooking the protein in oil. When you velvet food you remove it from the wok and clean out the pan before saucing. You will need to add about 1T of oil back into the pan in order to sauce the food. If you were to stir-fry that same protein you'd need about 2-3 tablespoons of oil in the wok and that would most likely be incorporated into the sauce. There is typically more oil in the final product of a stir-fried dish than in a velveted one.