Text 5983, 126 rader
Skriven 2006-09-28 00:55:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DAVE SACERDOTE
Ärende: crusty Asians 324
=========================
 ML> I of course think that catfish tastes like algae and mud.
 DS> Farm raised?  You bet it does.

And why do people stand for this? I can see the chicken in
every pot slogan being a powerful incentive to battery farms
producing tasteless chickens, but when the product of the
fish farms produce fish that actually taste bad, that ought
to be a clue that something has gone wrong. I've found too
that tilapia doesn't taste anywhere near so good as it used
to. Farmed shellfish haven't been so bad (though wild really
are tastier), because running water is a given. But raising
fish in crowded stagnant conditions is sure to produce stagnant
tasting fish. One might as well be eating Soylent Green.

 ML> From what I've heard, O157:H7 produces two toxins, one heat
 ML> stable (in small quantities, so clinical insignificant) and
 ML> the other heat-destroyed (the one that makes people sick). The
 ML> latter toxin is apparently denatured at or below the temperature
 ML> that the bacteria are destroyed.
 DS> That's the info I was looking for.  

Apparently most O157:H7 makes just the heat-labile toxin.

 -=> Dave Sacerdote said to All <=-

 DS> Bajamar brand Octopus in Garlic Sauce
 DS> seasoned with salt. There was no spicy overtones, but there does
 DS> seem to be just a hint of smokiness (which I think may be a 
 DS> "phantom flavor" produced by a combination of the seafood 

As the cooking of this kind of product is done in vacuum,
unless there was one of the smoky-producing chemicals
listed on the label, it must have been a phantom flavor.

 DS> brininess and the garlic.) These chunks are much chewier than
 DS> the Goya offering as well, which is more in line with the 
 DS> nature of the product - octopus is notorious for it's 
 DS> resilient meat.

Yeah, that is one of its best known characteristics, but I
enjoy the texture. I thought that the Goya octopus was a
bit overtender, as though cooked for way too long.

 DS> I served this as an appetizer at my sister's place over 
 DS> the weekend.

Did your sister try any?

Halo-Halo
cat: dessert, Filipino
servings: 1

2 Tb kaong (sugar palm fruit in syrup)
- or 2 Tb nangka (jackfruit)
2 Tb macapuno (a kind of coconut)
2 Tb sweetened kidney beans
2 Tb sweetened garabanzos
2 Tb sweetened plantains
2 Tb ube or yam
2 Tb custard or creme caramel
2 Tb sweetened corn kernels
evaporated milk [in my experience: condensed milk]
crushed ice to fill glass
a scoop of ice cream on top

aka tropical fruit melange; ice dessert
similar to bingsu; ais kacang; shave ice

The original article doesn't tell you what to do with
the ingredients. What you do: put some of the solids (not
all of them unless you are a real glutton and have a
really large glass) in the bottom of a parfait glass.
Pack with crushed ice. Condensed milk to fill; top with
a scoop of vanilla, coconut, or purple yam ice cream.
Serve with a long spoon and maybe a straw.

Article (abridged) from Philippine Inquirer follows.

 Halo-halo (from "halo" = mix) is a favorite Filipino dessert
 or snack.It is basically a mixture of sweet preserved beans
 (red beans, chick peas), coconut meat (macapuno), jackfruit
 (langka), pounded dried rice (pinipig), sweet yam (ube),
 cream flan (leche flan), shreds of sweetened plantain (saba),
 filled with crushed ice, milk (or coconut milk) and topped
 with ice cream. The halo-halo basically is sweet, creamy,
 and a filling dessert.

 Below are ingredients that are "supposed" to fill your tall
 glass, giving your long spoon a tough time reaching. Check if 
 they have graced your taste buds during your halo-halo
 experiences.

 Shredded melon, macapuno, scooped star apple and cubed mango
 make the halo-halo a more exotic fare due to their seasonal
 availability. Beans such as black monggo and sweet garbanzos
 are added to the mix, squeezing in with broiled root crops
 such as diced or crushed camote and/or gabi [M's note: camote
 is a kind of sweet potato also known as batata; gabi is taro].
 Colored gelatin (in bright green, red, and yellow) made from
 agar-agar is reminiscent of colorful fiestas. To further
 sweeten the halo-halo, kaong [sugar palm fruit] and sago in
 syrup are used. Saba bananas and jackfruit (langka) that are
 mollified [mollified, I like that word] in syrup can be used.
 
 Traditionally, a handful of ice (literally speaking, crushed
 ice is deftly hand-picked and placed into your tall glass!)
 entombs the ingredients, making halo-halo-eating a somewhat
 challenging yet fulfilling endeavor! 
 
 About an inch of evaporated milk settles into your long
 glass. Though most of us are used to evaporated milk in our
 halo-halo, an older variation can be used to douse the icy
 treat - buko water [liquid from green coconuts].
 
 To crown the almost-ready concoction, roasted pinipig
 [toasted crushed rice] and ube [purple yam], or leche flan
 are placed atop the crushed ice. Nowadays, a scoop of ube
 ice cream gives us a more sumptuous alternative. 

Philippine Inquirer Internet Edition 4/15/99, with annotations



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