©iStockphoto.com/Juanmonino In a quick explainer on the difference between pancetta and bacon (bacon is smoked), Lynne Rossetto Kaspar gives this quick tip: "If your recipe is one of those pure-as-the-driven-snow Italian creations, and if pancetta is out of the question because of price or availability, there is a way to use bacon. Merely boil it for 2 to 3 minutes to get rid of much of the smoky taste."...
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Barbara Fisher of Tiger & Strawberries has an excellent post this week on fresh garlic, ginger and scallions, the three pillars of Chinese cooking: "It is a rare savory Chinese dish which does not contain at least two and very often three of these pillars of flavor in some form or another. When stir frying, these three intrepid aromatics are usually the very first ingredients to hit the hot wok where they bathe in the sizzling oil, flavoring it intensely, so that the ingredients which follow their lead are kissed by the scent and savor of ginger, garlic and scallion." She does a great job of explaining both why these ingredients are so important and how to cook with...
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Barbara Fisher of Tigers & Strawberries put together a really useful post for people who like to cook Chinese food at home, Staple Ingredients of the Chinese Pantry, in which she discusses her favorite brands, what qualities to look for when buying a particular item and how they're generally used in cooking. What I liked most about her list is that she gives you a short but concise summary of why each item should be a regular fixture in your kitchen. For example, we all know about soy sauce, sesame oil and dried noodles, but have you ever considered fermented black beans? They're "black soybeans which have been cooked, salted and fermented, often with slivers of ginger, and this treatment...
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