Text 16318, 121 rader
Skriven 2008-11-11 20:59:56 av Nancy Backus (1:3634/12.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Carol Shenkenberger
Ärende: Congee/Juk!
===================
-=> Quoting Carol Shenkenberger to Nancy Backus on 11-10-08 19:59 <=-

 CS> (on Thai stock)
 >  CS> Just curious but what is the base?  If it's meat based, would it be
 >  CS> fish?  In thailand I encountered both fish and pork broths mostly.
 >  CS> Being spoiled by good dashi, I found the pork broth ones deeper and
 >  CS> richly well done.
 > I'll have to check.  Thought I had one here, but I guess I don't, so
 > I'll check it out next time I go to the store... if I remember.  ;)

 CS> Like me eventually you will. 

Yup.  Eventually... ;)

 CS> Like I got the rooster sauce at last.
 CS> Same family of flavor but hotter than my korean stuff.  I cut it with
 CS> other things to bring it down.  Often russian dressing but ketchup will
 CS> do in a pinch. 

One learns (or figures out) substitutions as needed.  ;)  It seems
strange, considering most people's ideas about the heat of korean food,
to have you mention something being hotter than korean...  except that,
I do know better, having had the chance to have a wide variety of korean
food...  :)  There's a wide range of heat there, just as in many other
cuisines... and I've enjoyed just about all that I've tried there, too.

 >  >  CS> On ginger
 >  CS> It's easy to grow inside in a pot if that is a problem.
 > Ok, instructions, pretty please...??  :)  I keep buying little pieces of
 > ginger root, and then having them dry up on me before I get to use
 > them...  one reason the jar of slivered ginger in brine was so
 > appealing.  (G)  Maybe having it available growing here would be about
 > as convenient...  ;)

 CS> Sure!   Easiest is to let a knob grow little green bits.  Makes it
 CS> easy to tell topside.  Put this in hot (not boiling, but hand warm as

I'll look for one at the store that's growing the little green bits...
usually lately by the next time I look at my little chunk it's already
all wrinkled up.

 CS> you might want at the upper end for washing) and let that soak
 CS> overnight.  Then use a good potting soil and a planter about 12 inches
 CS> across and at least 8 deep.  Put it so the little green bits barely
 CS> show.  Water to well damp in a container that drains (I sprinkle in the
 CS> sink and let it 'pee' then put it back where it came from).  Water very
 CS> little in winter as it goes dormant. 

So the best time to start it would be spring or summer?

 CS> You'll start getting little sucker rhizomes in 2 months and the greens
 CS> are wonderfully gingery too.   They get to be 10 inches to 2 feet if
 CS> you do not prune the growth back and are reallyeasy to grow inside. 

So, one wants to prune the greens back and toss them into things, like
the (Japanese) congee...??  ;)  Are they too gingery to be used by
themselves as a veggie?

 CS> Set by a window and they are happy.
 CS> They do not like cold though so set them back a bit from the window in
 CS> your climate.  They prefer 85F and above but will grow nicely at lower
 CS> temps indoors.

So the best time to get them started probably would be summer or so...
get them established before time to go dormant...

 >  CS> MSG is fine unless you are MSG sensitive.  Fortunately we arent so we
 >  CS> can safely ignore it.
 > I'm sometimes mildly sensitive to it... so I tend to avoid just on
 > general principles... I figure that way when I unavoidably get a bit of
 > it it'll have less of an effect.  ;>

 CS> Dunno, might go the other way!  Like chiles arent all that hot if you
 CS> eat them all the time but pack a whollup if you just occasionally
 CS> indulge. 

Chiles are never a problem here... but then we're always having
SOMEthing hot&spicy here, if only the pickled ginger with sushi...  (G) 
But with the MSG, it's the bigger amounts of it that usually trigger
something for me... and/or getting too steady a stream of little bits of
it... so I'm generally safer staying away from it.

(snagging bits for rice porridge)
 > Once in a while there's enough chilli or casserole-type stuff for a
 > quick lunch that gets leftover, but not the individual ingredient things
 > that one would save to toss into things.  I can see where that could be
 > a useful habit to cultivate.  :)

 CS> It is actually, but dibbles of chili etc dont get used;-)  Some of the

'Zactly... (G)

 CS> extra dibbles get tossed as i didnt find a use for them but more often
 CS> than not, they end up in something else.  Something you wouldnt think
 CS> of adding them to unless they were handy and right there saying 'eat
 CS> me'. 

Which of course, is more likely to happen too, when one is making stuff
regularly from scratch, or semi-scratch...  MY dibbles would almost have
to be tossed into the freezer to have them still edible by the time I
was doing up something they might be useful to toss into... :)  This
echo's been a (mostly) good influence on me though... getting those
cooking thoughts cookin' again...  (G)

 CS> Hehehe same overall theme, just a different treatment is all.  I've
 CS> had many a good congee that was just rice, coconut milk, ginger, and
 CS> beef. 

Yum.  :)   As long as there is rice, liquid and ginger, it passes for
me...  (G)   Now, to find an inexpensive simple (way of making a)
substitute for the crullers to serve with the soup...  we don't usually
have the makings for fried dough type things here at home... the best I
found to go with my home-made (generally rather hearty, being made with
brown rice) congee are the Father Sam whole wheat pitas...  not really a
substitute in kind, though...

ttyl     neb

... I'm just a peripheral visionary.

 * Origin:  (1:3634/12)