Happy Mutants food topic

#2472

I am probably not the best example of someone who moderately eats miso.

That said, I rinse and/or scrub the turnips but do not peel them, then I soak the paper thin turnip slices in ice water (for maximum crunch and coldness).

Here’s the miso I love:

(“white” and sweeter, usu eaten in springtime)

(“red” and uh “heartier”?, usu eaten in winter)

(I have been eating miso for over half a century and I am kinda picky. Find a miso you like, and use that one. Don’t take my word for it! As with all fermented things, please do not subject them to high heat, or all the nice little friendly microbes there to help us be healthy will be killed. This is part of why I like it in salad dressings and dips, raw.)

Put a little (like the size of a green pea) bit of miso on each of the the drained cold sliced turnips. It helps if they are at least dry on the side that gets miso’d.

I have a friend who likes to put a bit of umeboshi paste on hers. It’s good too! My mouth is watering as I write this.

Goes nice with a beer (I am told), or kombucha.

Another Chinese who says “don’t take my word for it” is Aunt Dai in Montreal–her restaurant’s menu is so matter-of-fact, she reminds me of my Chinese aunties:

It’s a fun read.

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#2473

Made a batch of the white borscht from the Sunday NYT magazine a few weeks back-it’s nice. As written it’s a bit fussy, but the next batch will go faster.(actually only made a half-batch. I’m not sure why you would want 5 quarts of soup at a time.)
Since it uses a chunk of sourdough bread as a flavor/thickening agent I got a starter going and made bread, which is nice too.

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#2474

Thank you! I will make this as soon as I can find the turnips!

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#2475

Mine too now - that sounds wonderful!

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#2476

Continuing to use up our bounty of butternuts from the garden, this is a real treat:

We’ve ditched the pie approach, and instead pour it into little jelly jars and cook it in a Bain Marie at 350 F for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle some slivered almonds on top and get a delicious sweet breakfast or dessert. I find in the mornings I don’t want to make a lot of decisions, and having these little pre-portioned treats ready is a…well, treat. :slight_smile:

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#2477

That menu is amazing, both the writing and the food itself…

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#2478

The Internet’s Most Incredible Collection of Food History Has Been Saved.

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#2479

I recognize a lot of the more traditional items on the menu.

I don’t recognize some of the offerings that must be recent trends or “new” dishes somehow.

The owner’s voice, her style of writing, is very familiar in tone and delivery to me. I like it a lot. Pragmatic. Plain. Self-deprecating. Dry humor. Here’s her comment on the Orange Beef:

Owner’s words:
Comparing to our General Tao Chicken, this one is not THAT good.
Anyway, I am not big fan of North American Chinese food and it’s your call.

Anyone who has spent time in China, esp. in the big cities where haggling and making deals is akin to a minor bloodsport will appreciate what a breath of fresh air Auntie Dai truly is.

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#2480

Some of the dishes definitely look like they’ve been adapted for local palates, a lot of the ones she calls authentic look amazing, and the addition of lamb was something unexpected.

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#2481

Cooked up some lamb haleem, which seemed to showing up in multiple places on the internets for a while. First time out, this batch is too hot for me, but the flavor is good. I’ll just eat it with plenty of yogurt. Next time, probably a half batch. Mom won’t like it and even if I freeze some there is plenty.

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#2482

Northern Chinese cuisine, commonly.
And in Traditional Chinese Medicine, mutton is considered a “warming” food.

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#2483

Picked this up with the traditional from Grandma holiday moneys. I take pains every year to by something I very much do not need. Saturday is an all night skewer binge.

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#2484

I have used this charcoal in a small hibachi. Very hot and yet slow burning. It will last way beyond your grilling time in my experience. This photo was the next time I used the once smothered charcoal.

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#2485

Any advice on how much coal to put in? The Thaan website advises two layers, but I think they expect people to use the style of konro available from Korin which is a much deeper sort of box.

From the looks of it 2 layers stacked up like Lincoln Logs would put the charcoal nearly against the grate on mine. Maybe I’ll do a hot side and a cool side, as the interior of this thing is neatly divided.

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#2486

Depends.
Probably more is better for yakitori. I think the high heat quick cooking is essential. I smothered mine and used them twice.
I heard you can put burning charcoal carefully in water with tongs and then dry them out in the sun. Do not pour water directly on them. It will crack or melt your hibachi. Mine is made out of an un-fired mud and will fall apart if wet. I store it in a garbage bag.
Cheers!

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#2487

Yeah mine is apparently diatomaceous earth either compressed or mixed with clay and fired to some extent. But far from water proof, the manual says it’ll disintegrate if it gets rained on.

That’s apparently standard for these cheaper ones. They’re either similar clay materials or fairly thin ceramic. With the better ones being thick diatomaceous earth.

The pricy ones are built from bricks cut from solid diatomaceous rock, and still not cool with water. Or fire brick, or metal.

Fire Sense seems to be a smallish company importing fire pits and yard stuff from Asia, or having it made there. They seem to just be white labelling a standard grill you might find an an Asian grocer. Better price than most other options online, and I didn’t have to take an hour and forty five minute drive to the nearest Korean super market.

Yeah I ran the bar at a place that had a yakitori station out on the deck on weekends. Using binchotan and one of the pricey commercial konros from Korin.

It was standard at the end of the night. Believe they dried the stuff out in a low oven at the beginning of the next shift. That shit is expensive, so letting it burn down would waste whole dollars.

Supposedly works on all Asian briquettes as well, since they’re so dense they hold together when wet. I plan to try that out. Don’t need this thing to burn for five hours, and apparently you need to heat cycle it once before use.

I’ve been poking around these things since then, for an affordable way to play.

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#2488

I figured it would have been something northern, just picked up two racks for my SO’s birthday, we’ll be doing it continetal style, but I’ll look into some of those chinese recipes, though we’ll stick with lamb, mutton really neds to be slow cooked, and not everyone enjoys that strong lanolin flavor.

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#2489

I was thinking of this. Doesn’t melt, but will rust.

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#2490

Or maybe one of these:

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#2491

I’ve heard good things about the lodge, the folding ones are apparently great for camping but a often times a little restricted or flimsy for regular use. I’ve heard this is great for a folding one:

https://amazingribs.com/grill-tailgater/son-hibachi-combo-kit-review#:~:text=Son%20of%20Hibachi%20is%20two,and%20fold%20the%20trays%20up.

But it’s more of a folding 70’s American hibachi than a traditional east Asian style grill.

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