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What Is This Kitchen Tool Gadget Thing?


CaliPoutine

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How about this?

gallery_52657_4505_428647.jpg

Could this be the gadget used by Asian cooks to "dock" pork skin?

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

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Could this be the gadget used by Asian cooks to "dock" pork skin?

CORRECT!!!! This Chinese torture instrument come kitchen gadget is used to pierce pork skin all over. Instead of scoring the skin it gives a lovely even crackling finish to roast pork belly.

Is the hinged gadget some kind of mini waffle mould?

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I have noticed that the holes on the hinged gadget are sharp inside - do you flip it over, stand it up and grate cheese?  A store-flat cheese grater?

Catherine

After you slice your Melba toast, you can flip it open and grate nutmeg with it!!

:biggrin:

"There are no mistakes in bread baking, only more bread crumbs"

*Bernard Clayton, Jr.

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Could this be the gadget used by Asian cooks to "dock" pork skin?

CORRECT!!!! This Chinese torture instrument come kitchen gadget is used to pierce pork skin all over. Instead of scoring the skin it gives a lovely even crackling finish to roast pork belly.

. . .

Are these home-made or can they be purchased in an Asian store? Do you have any idea what they are called (in English?).

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Are these home-made or can they be purchased in an Asian store?  Do you have any idea what they are called (in English?).

I have no idea what they're called in Chinese let alone English! In my house it's just called "that thingy you stab pork skin with". Bought mine from a Chinese store here in the Birmingham, they're not that uncommon really so you should be able to pick them up where you are.

If you are buying make sure the prongs are sharp and safely secured into the block as you need to use a bit of force to pierce the pork skin all over. My mum told me a story of someone who was using one of these and got carried away using it too quickly. A loose prong was left in the pork as they were pulling up and before they knew it on the way down - disaster!

Mine is fairly new and needs sharpening as it certainly doesn't work as well as the one my mother has.

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Are these home-made or can they be purchased in an Asian store?  Do you have any idea what they are called (in English?).

I have no idea what they're called in Chinese let alone English! In my house it's just called "that thingy you stab pork skin with". Bought mine from a Chinese store here in the Birmingham, they're not that uncommon really so you should be able to pick them up where you are.

If you are buying make sure the prongs are sharp and safely secured into the block as you need to use a bit of force to pierce the pork skin all over. My mum told me a story of someone who was using one of these and got carried away using it too quickly. A loose prong was left in the pork as they were pulling up and before they knew it on the way down - disaster!

Mine is fairly new and needs sharpening as it certainly doesn't work as well as the one my mother has.

Thanks! I will be on the lookout for one on my next trip to the Asian grocery store (which carries aisles of gadgets and cookware).

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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How about this?  It was in another topic also.

gallery_17399_60_68956.jpg

um...... a guide for slicing toasts in half for Melba toast??

Oh come on, you must have peeked at the original thread.......

The Melba Toast slicer is demonstrated here.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I have noticed that the holes on the hinged gadget are sharp inside - do you flip it over, stand it up and grate cheese?  A store-flat cheese grater?

Catherine

After you slice your Melba toast, you can flip it open and grate nutmeg with it!!

:biggrin:

Only if you want to lose some skin on your knuckles. The spines are much too large for grating nutmeg and it doesn't open far enough.

I use it quite often because it allows me to slice breads that contain nuts and seeds and even fruits and fairly moist-crumb breads into half-thickness slices.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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How about this?  It was in another topic also.

gallery_17399_60_68956.jpg

um...... a guide for slicing toasts in half for Melba toast??

Oh come on, you must have peeked at the original thread.......

The Melba Toast slicer is demonstrated here.

I plead Not Guilty to peeking.... although I must have seen it first time around I spose, because I was SO sure that is what *I* would do with this thing :laugh:

now I want one....... sigh

"There are no mistakes in bread baking, only more bread crumbs"

*Bernard Clayton, Jr.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Someone has "reinvented" the wheel, yet again...

Anyone for a "dial-a-peeler?"

In Sur-La-Table's "New Tools You'v Got To Have" email

received today....

And this masher won an award!

I have several antiques that are almost identical and have been around for over 100 years!

I wonder if the people handing out the awards ever look at existing designs that have been around for decades?

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Someone has "reinvented" the wheel, yet again...

Anyone for a "dial-a-peeler?"

In Sur-La-Table's "New Tools You'v Got To Have" email

received today....

. . .

Now that peeler is a really neat idea. I would definitely grab one if I saw it for sale locally. I am not much of an internet buyer so I am likely to wait a long, long time before it appears here in Canada! Thanks for sharing.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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