theseahorse

A Japanese onion is a leek (or naganegi in Japanese). The only difference is that the Japanese harvest them earlier as they prefer them thin, so can taste a little sharper and more oniony. Just pick a thicker one and it will taste more leek like!

Absolute tommyrot, I'm afraid. Japanese onions and leeks are two totally different species. The Japanese onion is Allium fistulosum; the leek is Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L.) (sometimes referred to as Allium porrum). In fact, the leek is more closely related to elephant garlic than it is to the Japanese onion. The most obvious physical difference from a cook's point of view is that Japanese onions have a thick flower stalk running up the middle when they're quite small; this only develops in leeks when they're old.

Interesting, I was always told they're the same thing from my Japanese chef friends. Well I learn something every day.

But as a chef not a scientist, the two are basically the same and Japanese chefs in Europe generally use small leeks rather than Naganegi and in Asia, European chefs use what's called Japanese onions when needing leeks. If you find them too sharp just salt them first.

Edit.

Just took a look at the Japanese onions I bought from Tops yesterday and there is no flower stalk running through it and has the exact compostion as a leek. Maybe some of the Japanese onions sold here are actually leeks and like me, they thought they are the same thing?

You can get real leeks very easily now in Bangkok. Most Tops, Foodland, Villa, Gourmet Market and even Makro sell leeks. Just look around the organic section, they're usually about 30 baht for two medium sized leeks in Tops and about 80 baht a kilo in Makro.

Unfortunately, those things that look like leeks aren't - they're Japanese Onions (also called Japanese Long Onions). They have a sharper, more onion-y taste than true leeks.

A Japanese onion is a leek (or naganegi in Japanese). The only difference is that the Japanese harvest them earlier as they prefer them thin, so can taste a little sharper and more oniony. Just pick a thicker one and it will taste more leek like!

You can get real leeks very easily now in Bangkok. Most Tops, Foodland, Villa, Gourmet Market and even Makro sell leeks. Just look around the organic section, they're usually about 30 baht for two medium sized leeks in Tops and about 80 baht a kilo in Makro.

I've only ever seen Celeriac in Villa, it was very expensive though, about 250-300 baht/kg.

I've had an Accor Advantage card ever since I moved to Asia, and have loved the benifits you get at thousands of restaurants across Asia. I worked for Sofitel as a senior chef for a number of years back in Europe and had a staff benifits card that I made good use of back then. For me it's having a choice of so many good restaurants to choose from in places like Sofitels and Pullman hotels and I'm looking forward to both the Sofitel Sukhumvit and the 'So' opening and getting my 50% off, but I understand everyone has their own experiances and views on hotel chains and if you don't like Accor then thats your choice.

I do find it strange you are comparing the Four Seasons with The Landmark. If you're wanting somewhere to impress clients by being a known regular then surely there's no competition. You're comparing a world renouned five star hotel chain with err... the four star Landmark! The RR&B is nice but the Four Seasons is in a different league altogether.

You can buy these from Central too. I bought one a little while ago to use for home freezing as it was only 600 baht in the sale. The brand is Nesco.

I've used professional sous vide machines for years and although these little home versons are nothing like the real thing, they do do a better job than clingfilm and everything stays fresher much longer in the fridge/ freezer than normal. It does say on the instructions that you can only use thier own brand thin plastic bags, but the thin ones don't work very well and I only use the thicker professional bags now.

Also, don't expect to be able to cook 'Sous Vide' very well with theses machines, they only use a fan to suck the air out and don't create a vacum. I did try it out and done a salmon mii-cuit sous vide, but I ended up having to weigh the bags down as there was still air in them. It worked, but not as well as when using a professional machine.

I've never heard this before, but it would explain why most of the milk here tastes so bad. And why it doesn't go off!

But Ummm Milk isn't the only good milk here. There are a few that taste like real milk, ChokChai Milk and Dairy Home? (the one in the smaller bottles) all taste real too.

Like others are suggesting, I just use a paving stone, but if you're really wanting an actual pizza stone then they sell them in TruValue.

In Laos it's called Lao Lao, meaning Laos alcohol. In Thailand it's called Lao Khao (Rice Alcohol). It's the same thing just made in different countries. Yaa Dong is made from Lao Khao and has the addition of Chinese medicinal herbs and spices.

The bottles with a snake in are just a tourist gimmick, if you're wanting some for your friends - head to a touristy area. I'm sure you'll find some along Sukhumvit near Nana.

It's a terrible thing to advocate burning Bangkok and the result was a terrible thing, but the fact remains that people are angry, otherwise why would they do something as terrible as wanting to burn Bangkok. The government has to respond to that anger and cool things down. Every government in every country has faced these kinds of challenges and some have defused the situation with well reasoned approaches and other have let their city's burn.

This guy should be punished for his speech, but so too should the people who shut down the airport. The current government is responsible for addressing this situation. They and they alone are responsible for the red shirt gathering and the resulting damage. They are also responsible for what ever outcome of this election is because they are in power. They had a choice to deal with the demonstration which st - arted out peaceful. A good politician expects these kinds of challenges and knows history, knows how to fix things.

Any simpleton can say that the reds are wrong in their methods, but this government produced them. If they had addressed their issues with competence it would have never happened.

Only a fool would think that Yinluck was not associating with the red leadership. If the current government continues to address the problems than the reds will win and then we'll have a new set of problem.

Civil war is not a pretty sight. The damage lasts for decades. Only a fool

A good leader understands in times of conflict there are two sides and the only way forwrad is to comprimise and hope that both sides can be at least a little happier. If they just keep one side happy the other is going to revolt. The only way to have resolved the issues last year was through talks and and coming to a compromise, this how adults do things. During the talks last year an offer of a compomise was given and was turned down (from whoever was on the other end of that phone) if the Reds had have excepted the offer of an early election they could have walk away celebrating how they won the battle and true democracy was coming due to their efforts, no lose of face and no massacre. But it obviously wasn't about democracy was it or they would have excepted an offer of real democracy - an early election! A compromise to try and keep both sides happy.

The biggest mistake Abhisit made was to let it get so big. No other PM would have let them take over an area like that for so long, they would have sent in the troops much earlier.

Carrefourre have excellent own brand pates at very reasonable prices. Course country to fine fois gras, all at decent prices and high quality.

Carrefour had some great patés sadly Big C don't. Most Carrefours have already changed and all the good French stuff has gone. I'm not sure how long the Rama 4 store will still be a Carrefour, they're changing it slowly already and I'm guessing they'll be no more deliveries from France.

Tops have Waitrose Paté, which is ok but it's not cheap.

Ok back to confused. We were going out to a favourite eating spot in Ranong. SWMBO wanted to go to Tesco. (Rule #1 being do as the person doing most of the cooking says ) In the frozen fod section was Pengasius and it gave the Latin scientific name, and right along side it was "Pacific Dory". What is Pacific Dory?

It's the same thing, they sometimes call Pengasuis; Pacific Dory, Cream Dory or just Dory. It's possible that one of them was the freshwater variety and the other was the saltwater (well, slightly salty water) variety.

[theseahorse] i think you might have had the farmed pangasius as someone who lived in yorkshire and done a lot of fishing out of bridlington i know what fish out of the sea tastes like,i do buy pangasius-pangasius which is out of saltwater,i have only been able to get it at home fresh in the malls,yesterday 289kilo labled pacific dory fillet as it comes frozen it needs to be drained on kitch.towels

i just remembered what i used to do with farmed fish was to salt them overnight this could do the trick with the pangasius[dory fillets]sold in makro,when old creeps up on you,you start to forget things,o shit what was i talking about.

Thanks, maybe I'll look out for the saltwater variety pangasuis pangasius, I tried a few places in the past, normally labelled Dory, (but nothing like a John Dory) and they were definitley freshwater, with a very muddy flavour.

Remember, we're making burgers here, not grilled meatloaf.

There are a number of burger recipes out there calling for breadcrumbs, but that doesn't make them "proper". In older times, people added breadcrumbs to burgers in order to stretch the meat. Many of those recipes floating around today are derived from a pre-1950 (or so) recipe. Today, however, it is not considered "kosher", so to speak, to do so (adding breadcrumbs, that is).

Ground sirloin might be too lean for a burger - could end up falling apart on the grill and cook up dry (unless cooked on the rare side). You want 80-85% fat content for good cohesion and juiciness. Try some ground chuck.

Great to read this. Too many people seem to think you should use sirloin in a burger. Chuck is definitley the best cut to use. More flavour and the perfect amount of fat.

Sounds like you make a good burger Nana. :jap:

Google translate says pla nok gaew (ปลานกแก้ว)Sounds too convenient. I've seen them on the market though, do what I do and point "Taow arai/ e baht?"

555

I was going to say Pla Nok Gaew, but I doubt it's right. I normally do just point and say "taow rai?" too, but I'm trying to learn all the different fish names. I found a great list of fish names online that I use, but Parrotfish isn't on there.

Hi all love fish and chips and worked on fishing boats for years when i was younger as well.....

I grew up in a small fishing town in Swampscott Massachusetts USA of Swampscott Dory fame dory the boat not the fish, most if not all of the fish we landed was shipped day boat fresh to Logan Airport then onto England to be sold as fish and chips.. in the old days cod fish was the product then the cod got scarce and we started catching haddock which is very nice but now a days they catch strictly what we call dogfish i/e sand shark and that is what is sent to England now for fish and chips...

so enjoy your shark and chips lads..

In Thailand at the super market ive been buying the fresh dory fillets for making fish and chips not sure what type of fish it is i always thought it was dory cod or scrod tastes the same yummy....

Having grown up on the North Sea coast, all the 'chippes' sold only local fish, never anything from the next county, let alone another country. But maybe it's different inland. But what glassdude and a few other non-Brits seem to be getting confused with is that when you go to a 'chippie' you don't just order fish and chips you choose which fish you want. Generally it's a choice of Cod, Haddock, Plaice, Skate or Rock Eel (Dogfish/ Sand Shark), you pick which fish you want. I haven't been in the UK for a while now so I'm not sure about Rock Cobbler being on the menu as a Cod alternative, but I've had Pangasius a few times here and never been impressed. Personally both Pangasius and TubTim are two of the worse fish I've ever tasted and never buy them anymore.

But thanks Rudie, I like the idea of using Parrot fish, I may have to pick some up tomorrow and play around. Anyone know what Parrot fish is in Thai? It's not on my fish list.

hi boyce being a lover of bacon myself i love the smell when its cooking,i cure all my own and i find that the best tasteing comes from the belly i buy,my mother always used to tell me most of the flavour is in the fat,this is right what is a nice piece of beef if its got no fat on it same with a nice sirlion steak or a piece of pork,everyone that likes pork dripping with that jelly will know what i mean.back in the 50s and 60s i used to buy home cured bacon at the farmers market along with faggots,brawn,jelled veal and chickling,the bacon used to give off the most fab.smell and it only had a small amount of meat,that was from the belly,you would get a pan full of fat to fry the eggs in followed by the fried bread,i think that is why i had to have a double by pass 2007.well mrs meat is off to buy some belly and loin,i was given some mango wood so i am going to give smoking a go. good eating meatboy.

Although belly bacon is much easier to cure and yes, fat is flavour, I wouldn't agree with it being better. Most Brits see belly bacon, or streaky bacon as it's called in the UK as being the cheap, fatty option. In the UK and many parts of Europe a well cured loin, or Back bacon is the gourmet option.

Personally, I make bacon out of the loin which is just dry-cured and smoked (Brtish bacon doesn't have any herbs or spices in the cure) and I make Panchetta out of the belly (using a cure with Brown sugar, garlic, thyme, Juniper and black pepper) this is then aged for about 10- 15 days too. Sometimes I smoke it sometimes I don't. When mking a sandwich it has to be back bacon, but when cooking with bacon, whether I'm making a carbonara or a Amatriciana or what ever, then I want the extra fat and flavour from a Panchetta.

Boyce, I think it's time to throw away that cure mix you have and start again.

It will be cheaper in the US, all electrical equipment is. As someone else posted they're about 4,200 baht here ($140), but I don't think thats the 'plus' version.

I've had the WD TV Live for a couple of years now (bought in Singapore before they came out in Thailand) and have been very happy with it. Only problem was that after about 4 months the internet connection went and it was no longer 'Live'. As it was bought in Singapore and wasn't avaliable here I couldn't take it back. But as I never really used the online features it never really bothered me.

My only real complaint now is that they don't support MP4 video files and so much of my stuff now is on MP4. I'm now having to plug the computer in to the TV again all the time.

Looking at the Thai visa sponser InvadeIT's website - http://www.invadeit.co.th/category/media-players/ - there's no 'Plus' version, but the WD TV Live is 4,270 and the WD TV Live Hub is 7,990. You can sometimes find things a little cheaper than InvadeIT, but there's not normally much difference.

As NanaFoods says the reason it's grey is usually due to not having enough nitrite in the cure.

But even without nitrite it should still taste of bacon, you can make bacon with just salt but it just wouldn't have the appealing pink colour or keep quite as long. I've never done bacon in brine, I always dry-cure bacon, but I know mass produced bacon that's brine cured is injected with the brine as well as left to soak. Did you inject it first? Compared to dry-curing 3 days isn't very long to cure it properly, but this is the reason they inject it. How big was the peice of pork loin? When curing a ham in brine I always go by 1 day per kilo of meat, but obviously a ham is generally much thicker than a loin.

Can I ask why are you brine-curing rather than dry-curing? Most people who like to cure bacon at home dry-cure. Although it takes longer, I find it's actually easier and takes a lot less space in the fridge, and dry-cured bacon is so much nicer!

Dry-curing is simple. Its just 30g nitrite salt and 15g sugar per kilo of meat (plus herbs if you want too and add more sugar if you like a sweet cur). Rub the meat with the salt mix, place in a tray and cover. Turn each day until cured (8 days per inch). Wash off under a tap, dry with a cloth and leave uncovered in the fridge overnight. The next day slice a few rashers for breakfast.

When you write "nitrite salt", I'm assuming you mean what is also called Prague Powder #1. This is a mixture of 6.25% Sodium Nitrite

and 93.75% salt (Sodium Chloride). 30 grams of pure sodium nitrite per 1 kilo of meat in a cure could kill someone. This stuff can stop your heart. I'm sure you know this but someone new to curing might not.

Thanks. Yes, you're correct I do mean what is known in the US as Prague Powder #1. In Europe the pre mixed salt was always called Nitrite Salt or Nitrite Curing Salt, where as Sodium Nitrite was called.. er Sodium Nitrite. That's what I see here in Thailand too. I can see how that might confuse some people though, sorry.

Having just read through your comment again I just noticed the percentage of Nitrite in the American cure Prague Powder #1 is 6.75%. This is much stronger than the European cures. Nitrite Salt is only 0.6% Soduim Nitrite.

I don't mean Prague Powder or Soduim Nitrite, I do mean Nitrite salt as I originally put. If you use Prague Powder #1 it's only 2.5g per Kilo of meat and I'm guessing you need to add salt too.

As NanaFoods says the reason it's grey is usually due to not having enough nitrite in the cure.

But even without nitrite it should still taste of bacon, you can make bacon with just salt but it just wouldn't have the appealing pink colour or keep quite as long. I've never done bacon in brine, I always dry-cure bacon, but I know mass produced bacon that's brine cured is injected with the brine as well as left to soak. Did you inject it first? Compared to dry-curing 3 days isn't very long to cure it properly, but this is the reason they inject it. How big was the peice of pork loin? When curing a ham in brine I always go by 1 day per kilo of meat, but obviously a ham is generally much thicker than a loin.

Can I ask why are you brine-curing rather than dry-curing? Most people who like to cure bacon at home dry-cure. Although it takes longer, I find it's actually easier and takes a lot less space in the fridge, and dry-cured bacon is so much nicer!

Dry-curing is simple. Its just 30g nitrite salt and 15g sugar per kilo of meat (plus herbs if you want too and add more sugar if you like a sweet cur). Rub the meat with the salt mix, place in a tray and cover. Turn each day until cured (8 days per inch). Wash off under a tap, dry with a cloth and leave uncovered in the fridge overnight. The next day slice a few rashers for breakfast.

When you write "nitrite salt", I'm assuming you mean what is also called Prague Powder #1. This is a mixture of 6.25% Sodium Nitrite

and 93.75% salt (Sodium Chloride). 30 grams of pure sodium nitrite per 1 kilo of meat in a cure could kill someone. This stuff can stop your heart. I'm sure you know this but someone new to curing might not.

Thanks. Yes, you're correct I do mean what is known in the US as Prague Powder #1. In Europe the pre mixed salt was always called Nitrite Salt or Nitrite Curing Salt, where as Sodium Nitrite was called.. er Sodium Nitrite. That's what I see here in Thailand too. I can see how that might confuse some people though, sorry.

They have 5 shops across Thailand. The BK shop is at Phrakanong by the corner of Rama 4. There's a map on their website.

They have impoted vermicelli from Switzerland (dark, milk or white) for 535 baht/kg.

I'm not sure if Bangkok is the place to do it either. There's already a lot of very good bakers here.

When people say that it's hard to find good bread in Bangkok they obviously haven't been looking. There are lots of very good quality bakers in the city, you just need to pay a bit extra for the bread. You don't even need to go to thier shop as some even deliver. A decent loaf of bread here will be about 100- 150 baht, but a decent loaf of bread in the UK is at least 2.50p. Same same.

Anywhere in BK with a large farang population working nearby will already have an Au Bon Pain or similar. I have no doubt your artisan breads will be much nicer but with the rent in theses areas you'd have no choice but to either use mass produced bread (au bon pain) or charge so much to cover your costs that people wouldn't pay the price. This is why the numerous good quality bakers here are either part of a hotel or do a deliver service from a kitchen (with low rent) away from the busy areas.

Good luck with your venture though and make sure you let us know where you set up.

I also wet cure bacon. Mine too ends up grey after cooking. It does taste like bacon though.

To get the pink colour you must have Sodium Nitrate(Salt Peter).

I don't use this. It is basically an explosive. Also is is more leathal, cancer wise, than MSG.

It's actually Soduim Nitrite you need. Soduim Nitrate is used in cured meats that are left to age afterards as it is a slow release version of nitrite.

As I mentioned before it's not really needed, but it will give your bacon a good pink colour and helps preserve the meat so it lasts longer.

Yes, soduim nitrate/ potassium nitrate is used in gunpowder and large doses have been shown to be a carcenagenic, but when used properly you use such a small amount in curing meats it's not worth even thinking about (about 2g per kilo). You consume more potassium when eating spinach than you do with eating bacon. If you eat so much bacon that you need to worry about the salt peter in it you should be more worried about the fat and salt content in your diet. That will kill you long before a tiny amount of potassuim nitrite.

It is true that it's more 'leathal' than MSG. But this is probably due to MSG is relatively harmless natural product and potasuim nitrate is used in gunpowder. As food additives, both are harmless when used correctly and eaten in a balanced diet!

As NanaFoods says the reason it's grey is usually due to not having enough nitrite in the cure.

But even without nitrite it should still taste of bacon, you can make bacon with just salt but it just wouldn't have the appealing pink colour or keep quite as long. I've never done bacon in brine, I always dry-cure bacon, but I know mass produced bacon that's brine cured is injected with the brine as well as left to soak. Did you inject it first? Compared to dry-curing 3 days isn't very long to cure it properly, but this is the reason they inject it. How big was the peice of pork loin? When curing a ham in brine I always go by 1 day per kilo of meat, but obviously a ham is generally much thicker than a loin.

Can I ask why are you brine-curing rather than dry-curing? Most people who like to cure bacon at home dry-cure. Although it takes longer, I find it's actually easier and takes a lot less space in the fridge, and dry-cured bacon is so much nicer!

Dry-curing is simple. Its just 30g nitrite salt and 15g sugar per kilo of meat (plus herbs if you want too and add more sugar if you like a sweet cure). Rub the meat with the salt mix, place in a tray and cover. Turn each day until cured (8 days per inch). Wash off under a tap, dry with a cloth and leave uncovered in the fridge overnight. The next day slice a few rashers for breakfast.

Foodland sell some of the Lee Kum Kee brand Chinese sauces if it's easier for you to get to.

Makro in pattaya have all you need.

Does Makro Pattaya have rennet? Never been able to find any here in Bangkok and always get it sent over from the UK.