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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 8, 2019 15:35:20 GMT -5
When I use kale (which is not often), I usually steam it.
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Post by Phaedrus on Oct 8, 2019 19:55:02 GMT -5
It has a very strong iodone-y flavor. It was a turn off at first but it had become a nice treat. No one should hire you in Marketing. LOL! Good thing I'm not in marketing.
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Post by volleyguy on Oct 8, 2019 20:10:11 GMT -5
Baby kale is great in salads because it's milder and more tender, much like baby spinach vs spinach.
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Post by ironhammer on Oct 8, 2019 22:18:18 GMT -5
Baby kale is great in salads because it's milder and more tender, much like baby spinach vs spinach. I hate kale. I much rather prefer other vegetables.
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Post by Phaedrus on Oct 9, 2019 14:10:28 GMT -5
I used to make fun of western vegetarian cuisine, saying that all people can figure out is to cook the living daylights out of any vegetables but either cooking it with hamhocks, cheese, or butter for flavor. The Chinese usually tries to stir fry it with garlic or with preserved tofu to get more flavor and much less cooking time in order to preserve the fresh taste.
But when it comes to kale and collard greens, cooking the crap out of it is the only way to go.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 9, 2019 14:15:31 GMT -5
Are the fish cakes (Chinese, Korean, Japanese) similar to hot dog in that they taste great but you don't necessarily want to know how they made them?
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 9, 2019 15:11:42 GMT -5
Hot sauce As a kid, Tabasco used to be my hot sauce of choice, mostly because I didn't know any better. Then, Cholula. Only in the 2000s, I discovered Sriracha. Now, my favorite is:
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 10, 2019 0:33:40 GMT -5
Huy Fong has a huge sriracha empire these days. I'm not sure if it's still a problem, but they had a lot of issues for a while with their plant using so many spices that the neighbors complained they were effectively getting pepper-sprayed 24/7.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 10, 2019 0:36:21 GMT -5
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Post by XAsstCoach on Oct 10, 2019 1:52:46 GMT -5
Come to think of it, I was caught by surprise when I saw Sriracha listed as an American import in one of the grocery stores. Thought it was a careless mistake...oops!
If you want spicy pepper, go for Hunan or Sichuan dish...the real deal. Not the girly American edition of Hunan and Sichuan dish. There is a dish called preserved egg with pepper at a local Hunan restaurant here and it is so spicy that it burns at both ends. But it is good! I usually eat 2-3 bites before leaving the rest for the doggy bag.
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Post by Phaedrus on Oct 10, 2019 7:46:31 GMT -5
Come to think of it, I was caught by surprise when I saw Sriracha listed as an American import in one of the grocery stores. Thought it was a careless mistake...oops! If you want spicy pepper, go for Hunan or Sichuan dish...the real deal. Not the girly American edition of Hunan and Sichuan dish. There is a dish called preserved egg with pepper at a local Hunan restaurant here and it is so spicy that it burns at both ends. But it is good! I usually eat 2-3 bites before leaving the rest for the doggy bag. Sichuan peppers is the key. By the way if you have not read this book you should. Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China www.amazon.com/dp/0393332888/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_iFYNDb33ZDET4
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 10, 2019 21:29:31 GMT -5
BTW, I have just now ordered a kale pizza. Yes, really.
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Post by XAsstCoach on Oct 10, 2019 21:57:21 GMT -5
Speaking of pizza, finally found a restaurant that makes a half decent pepperoni pizza. Chain is called Pizza Marzano in Shanghai, in England its called Pizza Express. Actually, their pizza has always been decent but now they let me make some changes. For example, I now can add more mozzarella cheese to their pepperoni pizza, and I can ask them to make it with the thicker crust. Voila...almost like a US pizza now. They, of course, could not come close to a slice of New York pizza at all.
Now, I'm in the mood for some Peking Duck pizza. Made with hoison sauce instead of tomato sauce, garnished with scallion and cheese...mmmmm, yum! Honestly, Pizza Hut's Peking Duck pizza is better because of the thicker crust.
Speaking of Pizza Hut, ones in China blows the US stores away. More variety pizza, offers escargot in garlic butter/sauce as an appetizer. Also have this deep fried breaded shrimp with some local spice that is quite awesome when consumed hot. Can order steak too.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 10, 2019 23:00:20 GMT -5
I have eaten at Pizza Express in London.
Hoisin sauce would be good on pizza.
It would not be hard to "blow away" Pizza Hut. IMO, just about any pizza is better than Pizza Hut. (I guess unless you like LOTS of sugar in your pizza sauce.) The cheapest way to make any food "taste good" is to add sugar and salt to it, and Pizza Hut goes that route.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 10, 2019 23:26:29 GMT -5
The kale pizza was OK. Too much salt for my taste, though. I knew "sea salt" was on the ingredient list, so I should have ordered it without. Or maybe just less.
Salt is the "secret" ingredient chefs use to boost flavor in almost everything. It's the main reason why many people think restaurant food is so much more flavorful than homemade. But a small percentage of people are "super-tasters" for salt, a group that seems to include me. At one cooking class I went to, the teacher was demonstrating this by adding a bunch of salt to something and then asking people whether it tasted "salty" or not. I was the only one who said it tasted salty. To me it tasted salty AF, but apparently everybody else was just fine with it.
It's not that I don't like salt. I do, sometimes. (Though I never add it to food on the table, and use it sparingly in recipes.) But I taste it as a separate flavor in quantities many people don't.
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