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Cooking

  • I always look forward to Sohla El-Waylly’s tips on cooking. She is a master in culinary arts. She’s got legendary wit and has great perspectives on cooking. Sohla studied at CIA, previously had a show on Bon Appetite, went solo with her own show and now has a show on NYTimes Cooking.

    To be brief, she’s incredible. Buy her books.

    This all brings me to her Cooking 101 segment on NYTimes Cooking, on how to make perfect eggs every time. Eggs are the building block for so many recipes. It’s a unique protein that has been used in cooking for a millennia. To achieve perfection here requires some knowledge of chemistry, tame temperature on the skillet and understanding timing. All of these skills can inform your cooking in other recipes since eggs are such a crucial component in many dishes.

  • I came across this excellent post on how to season a wok on Reddit. A classic Reddit post (that appears to have been cross-posted from TikTok). As is internet tradition, one of the top commenters was confused by the wok range and let us all know. A threaded conversation ensued. The last comment from a Redditor in particular shared a delightful video from Chef Wang that explains a bit about how ranges operate. Obviously, it get’s blazingly hot. So, it’s absolutely essential there’s running water on (or nearby) wok ranges:

    > i don’t understand both the seasoning process and the setup of this kitchen

    >> The wok burners produce a tremendous amount of heat required for proper wok cooking, the water cools the cooktop top, but the cooktop also contains a drain so the wok can be cleaned quickly (water is used only to maintain the wok seasoning), as well quick as access to water to use in cooking.

    >>> As explained and demonstrated by chef Wang here on what happens if you don’t have the flowing water: https://youtu.be/uTSsXQ-9bnQ

  • I’ve always been intrigued by specialized instruments and devices. Some items that first come to mind are Post Hole Diggers, SoloWheels, Garlic Choppers or even the Ninm It’s OK Bluetooth Cassette Player.

    This one is no different. It serves a very unique purpose. Toasting a single slice of bread to a niche specification preferred by Japanese markets. I’m talking about the Mitsubishi Electric TO-ST1-T.

    Akio Kon/Bloomberg

    Reed Stevenson for Bloomberg:

    There’s nothing more enchanting than the perfect slice of toast, says Kaori Kajita, founder of the Japan Butter Toast Association, which sounds half-baked but actually exists. “You can’t help but be elated.”

    It helps that bread in Japan is tailored for toast. Called shoku pan, Japanese-style square bread has been around for years (think of a high-quality version of Wonder Bread). The toaster boom has its origins in the desire to have soft, chewy bread that tastes and feels like it came out of a baker’s oven, Kajita says.

    I can relate. Nothing is better than fresh bread from the baker (well okay, Mr.s Baird’s Bread beats em all but I digress).

    Japan is full of specialties, traditions, and politeness the rest of the world often doesn’t understand. This toaster slots into that cultural framework easily. Let’s face it, toasters (and now, more than even smart ovens) are temperamental and frequently too complicated. I’m not in love with the price tag, but personally, I find the TO-ST1 a refreshingly simple device I can get behind.

  • Photo from Unsplash

    Time flies doesn’t it? It was just yesterday everyone was talking about Beyond Meat’s deep-friend nugget and boneless wing test in Georgia. Before we dive into the news, let’s do a head-count. As of writing, here’s an up-to-date compilation of all the fast-food restaurant chains with plant-based items on their menus (for sale, or in test markets):

    • KFC, The Imposter (not a typo), a U.K. chicken burger
    • Little Caesars, Supreme Pizza (spicy-sweet sausage)
    • Qdoba, Qdoba Impossible Bowl or Qdoba Impossible Taco
    • Burger King, Impossible Whopper
    • Carl’s Jr., Beyond Famous Star
    • Del Taco, Beyond Taco
    • Dunkin’, Beyond Sausage Breakfast Sandwich
    • Red Robin, Impossible Burger
    • TGI Fridays, Beyond Burger 
    • White Castle, Impossible Slider

    Derrick Bryson Taylor for The Times writes:

    For weeks, a debate over where to get the best chicken sandwich has waged between Popeyes, Chick-fil-A and the chicken-eating public at large. But KFC, another chicken giant with a global reach, is working on its own agenda: a plant-based “chicken” that proved so popular in a sales test that it sold out in a single day.

    “It’s confusing, but it’s also delicious,” read a tweet from KFC on Monday announcing the sale of Beyond Fried Chicken, created with the help of the company Beyond Meat, at a single location in Atlanta. In about five hours on Tuesday, a KFC representative said, the restaurant sold as many plant-based boneless wings and nuggets as it would sell of its popular popcorn chicken in an entire week. (A “Kentucky Fried Miracle,” the company declared.)

    In 24 hours, the test market sold out. This is simply put, delicious news for everyone.

  • From GrubStreet:

    On what would have been his 63rd birthday, people across the food world and beyond are coming together to remember author and TV host Anthony Bourdain’s life on Bourdain Day, created in memory of the late chef by his friends, chefs Eric Ripert and José Andrés.

    So far, people like CNN host Christiane Amanpour, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, Washington Post writer Tim Carman, The Wire producer David Simon, chefs Daniel Boulud and Dominique Ansel, chef Ludo Lefebvre’s tween daughter, Rêve, and even Waffle House, which Bourdain visited in an episode of his show Parts Unknown,are sharing tributes. Much of it is, unsurprisingly, tinged with sadness and a sense of great and intense loss, but there’s also a sense of hope — that if we all learn to live as Bourdain did, we’ll be honoring him as well as ourselves. Read the tributes below and check back for further posts as they continue to roll in throughout the day.

    Bourdain was a fucking national treasure. A tour de force. A bit stubborn — a bit rough. Something I can really get behind. He was loving and compassionate. He was one of the most empathetic creative persons I’ve ever followed. He was too good for us. While he left us too soon, we’re a better planet, having known his words, his myths, his loves and his thoughts.

    After Bourdain and President Obama sat down at Bun Cha Huong Lien for an episode of Parts Unknown, the restaurant owners permanently enshrined the table in plexiglass:

    When Bourdain was alive, the glass-case immortalizes both men. The vacant table was an amazing monument to a beautiful moment (if you’ve never seen the scene, watch and read about it here). Now, with Bourdain departed, it takes on a different meaning. He will forever be missed.