Profile

Christine Tsai

I love taking pictures of food. I love eating food. I love traveling to find food. I love food.

  • Website
  • Location: New York
  • Favorite foods: Fried chicken, shrimp dumplings, tomato mozzarella basil sandwiches, all kinds of pasta, clams, Japanese-style cakes

How Do You Pay the Bill at Restaurants?

I consider myself lucky to have only experienced this kind of situation once, when my $23 dinner turned into a $100 bill... Otherwise, if my friends and I are not sharing everything, we usually just pass the bill around, add up what we ordered and split the tax and tip evenly. We used this system once at a brunch with 7 people and remarkably we came in at 7 cents above the expected total with a 20% tip thrown in.

@smsingram - your comment reminded me of a time when I was meeting up with friends in Tokyo about 10 years ago - everyone was at different stages of their careers. When the bill arrived, I was surprised when my friend working at JPMorgan said he'd pay for over half the bill. Several people were still students and he wanted to minimize the damage for them. Some people might think this is condescending but I thought it was generous....

This Week at Serious Eats World Headquarters

woH I did not recognize Kenji at first!! And yessss finally you replaced that sad tasting table in the kitchen!

Welcome Our New Editors!

Yay - congratulations everyone! What an awesome team :D

12 Brussels Sprout Dishes We Love in NYC

AHH... those sprouts at Ma Peche were amazing... couldn't stop thinking about them for days!

First Look: Talde, 'Top Chef' Dale Talde's New Brooklyn Restaurant

oh... i really want that wonton noodle soup with that runny egg...

Check Out Our Game Day Page!

@Texas Monkey - what browser are you using? It's viewable on our end...

Video: Everything I Ate In South Korea and Japan in 1 Minute 28 Seconds

Love this video!!

Poor snow monkey!

Site Improvements: Faster Slideshows

@guycooking - We actually replaced the search engine with Google a few months ago so our search results should be much better. Have you tried it recently?

Top 10 Cake Posts of 2011

Oh yeah, I remember that.... that *was* a fun day....

Site Improvements: Faster Slideshows

@everyone - We've made changes now to open the slideshows in a new window so your browser history is maintained in the original window. You can find a button in the slideshow to close the window and return to the original window.

As for navigation through browser buttons, comments, and other issues, we are still investigating.

@jcruz - if you add "mobile" to the URL of the article (not the slideshow), you should see the mobile version of the article which includes the slideshow.

@Littauer - Which browser are you using that sends the slideshows into an endless loop?

ATTENTION all you beautiful foodie-type people: pumpkin muffins

I just made these last weekend for my boyfriend who loves all things pumpkin, and he scarfed them down. I followed this recipe and put the whole can of pumpkin in and the muffins were super moist. (The recipe was adapted from a Gourmet magazine recipe from 2006)

http://muffintop.wordpress.com/2006/11/03/pumpkin-muffins/

Taste Test: We Find the Best Bread for Stuffing

Hey, my favorites were ranked first and last. What does that say about my tastebuds? They be confused.

Ultra-Crispy Roast Potatoes

That drool-inducing photo has been taunting me all week and I finally made them this morning. Best. roasted. potatoes. ever.

Candy a Day: Goldenberg's Peanut Chews

@all - glad to see the Peanut Chew love! @shermanhelms - That's exactly what I thought, too, until I spotted them in their original wrapper at Economy Candy. Even though the new wrappers are pretty terrible, give the red guy a chance - you won't regret it.

Introducing The Pig Mac, a Big Mac with Crispy Pig Skin

I don't care about the Big Mac part but I want that pig skin!

Why Don't Americans Eat More Chestnuts Year-Round?

I love chestnuts, but I have to say if the only chestnuts I ever tasted were the roasted ones from the streets of NYC, I'm not sure I'd be fond of them either. They're usually hit-or-miss - sometimes large, rubbery, dry lumps that make your mouth feel pasty. But the ones in Japan are completely different. They're small, very sweet and a lot more tender. And they come with a handy little plastic tool you can use to quickly break through the skin of the nut and peel.

My mom also makes a killer chestnut stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving every year. It involves boiling chestnuts and is pretty labor intensive but it's delicious - sweet and savory in all the right ways. (don't have the recipe now but can post it later)

Video: How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds

I like how he just smashes that head of garlic with his hand... looks like a good way to let off some steam....

SE Staff Picks: Fall Comfort Foods We Love Eating

@nuffiewompi - thanks for the tip - I just looked at the recipe and it looks amazing! I just need to find some of that amaretti.....

Serious Eats' Site Slowdown

@DavidPD et al

It's hard for us to troubleshoot each individual's experience because we've tested on all browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer) on Mac and Windows and we don't experience a lag. We also used page speed tools to see where the lags are but we're not seeing lags so they don't inform us of the problems you may be experiencing.

As for the ads, as Kenji said, the site is not designed to load the content after the ads - they load as the content loads.

If you are experiencing problems, the first thing I would recommend is clearing your browser cache. Then, if you haven't tried other browsers, please also test another browser to see if you see the same slow loading times. Sometimes browser updates will result in slow loading times - IE9, for example, is known to cause some sites to crash. You may also have add-ons in your browser that increase slow loading time.

If you're using Firefox 6.0.2., you can watch this thread on Mozilla - someone just posted that the browser freezes for 20-30 seconds.

And if you really want to get into the nitty gritty of what's happening in your browser, you can install Google Page Speed for Firefox or Chrome to find out where the site hangs while loading.

Where are the comments?

@jcruz - are you still having trouble viewing comments? Could you email us at support@seriouseats.com and tell us what exactly happens when you click the '+' sign in the Comments section? Please also let us know which iPhone you are using.

SE Print Jumbled Up

@samiamb and @google, can you send a screenshot of what you are seeing to support@seriouseats.com? Please also tell us what browser and OS you are using and we'll troubleshoot from there.

am i stupid

@13tracker - Are you still having trouble seeing the main page? If so, can you email us at support@seriouseats.com and tell us what browser and OS you are using?

Off the Grid: San Francisco's Expanding Mobile Food Market

Unfortunately Chairman Bao wasn't there last week - they had vehicle issues... but next time, I'm making a beeline towards their truck!

Where are the comments?

The comments should now be appearing on the post - thanks for your patience!

San Francisco: Pal's Takeaway for Awesome Artisanal Sandwiches From...a Liquor Store?

@Kenji - Sorry I didn't mention it to you.... I mentioned it during the book research activity last year and suggested the SF contributor check it out for Sandwich a Day but should have told you directly that YOU MUST TRY IT. But I'm really glad they got their own dedicated post! Next time I will tell you! The other really great sandwich place I tried was Naked Lunch. They also are only open a few hours a day and the menu changes daily except for their duck proscuitto and foie gras sandwich. The best thing I had there was a roasted pork sandwich with grilled peaches that sold out in an hour... luckily got the last one. next time you should check it out - it's near Giordano's.

Dinner Tonight: Chicken Cutlets with Creamy Parmesan Dressing

In this recipe I tackled chicken breast with a little help from Tyler Florence's latest cookbook Family Meal. In order to coax as much flavor out of the breast while keeping it as juicy as possible, he relies on a meat mallet and a classic bread-crumb coating: The mallet ensures the breasts are uniformly thick so that they're cooked evenly all the way through, and the flour, egg, and panko bread crumb coating help create a golden crust. More

The Occasional Vegetarian's Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, and Apple with Candied Walnuts

These Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, and Apple with Candied Walnuts were created by Carmen Quagliata, chef of New York's fantastically Greenmarket-centric Union Square Cafe for The Occasional Vegetarian. Instead of enriching the cabbage-y sprouts with salty, porky flavors, this recipe pairs their slight bitterness with chunks of sweet winter apples, butternut squash, crunchy candied walnuts, and maple syrup. More

Wake and Bake: Apple Cinnamon Quick Bread

Taking home an absurd amount of apples always seems to be the unintended byproduct of going apple picking. It's incredible, really, how my family never anticipates the bags of apples we'll have after a trip to the orchard. After a leisurely day of strolling through the trees, stopping for some cider and doughnuts, and picking an apple here or there, we're suddenly lugging ten pounds of fruit to our car. That's when the recipe scheming begins, though we know perfectly well just what crisps, cakes, muffins, and strudels we want to make to use up our bounty. More

Cookie Monster: Toffee Chunk Cookies

Instead of chocolate chips, I used chunks of Hershey's Skor, a chocolate covered toffee bar, for these cookies. The pieces of chocolate-covered toffee add much more than plain old chips. The toffee tastes of caramel, butter, and a hint of salt. I particularly like how the milk chocolate around the toffee begins to melt while the interior of the chunk stays nice and crunchy. More

The Food Lab: How to Make Scallion Pancakes

When I first learned how scallion pancakes are made, I was floored. Whoah, ancient Chinese secret! was what ran through my head. It took me several years to realize that conceptually, the method is almost identical to that of making puff pastry, croissants, or any number of laminated pastries, which makes scallion pancakes a perfect subject for exploring in this week's Food Lab. More

Double Peanut Popcorn

This recipe is perfect for popcorn you've just popped yourself, either with a hot-air popper, the stovetop, or an electric one that uses oil. You can even pop the microwavable kind (make sure it's plain and unsalted) then dress it... More

Nordstrom's Tomato Basil Soup

This is what my wife asked me to accomplish: a) Recreate the tomato soup from Nordstrom, and b) don't mess it up. In case you're not familiar with this soup, it's rather famous, ranked regularly on lists of Best Tomato Soup Ever, enjoying something of a cult following for those who love tomato soup. More

Tippler's Taxonomy: A Guide To Cocktail Categories

Almost from the moment the first drops of liquor dripped from the end of a still, humans have been mixing these potent spirits with wines, fruits and other substances in pursuit of bibulous glory—or simply a tasty tipple, depending on your priorities. Over the centuries, many different styles of mixed drinks have emerged; some have faded, some have evolved, and some have endured for generations. Here is a guide to the major categories of cocktails. More

Cook the Book: Kashmiri Chicken

Anjum Anand is on a crusade to change the way we look at Indian food. Her mission is to familiarize Western cooks with ingredients and techniques as well as lightening up classic dishes to make for a more healthful eating experience. This Kashmiri Chicken from her recently released Anjum's New Indian does both by creating a simple to put together dish that relies on an array of spices and vegetables for flavor instead of fat. More

Cider Doughnuts

After a filling Hannukah meal, no matter how much I've eaten, I always want some dessert at the end. Sadly, I never took to sufganyot, the Sephardic jelly-filled doughnuts traditionally served during the holiday, but I've always, always had a soft spot for homemade doughnuts, especially the apple cider kind. More

Leon's Favorite Chocolate Cake: The Chocolate Cake You Can Eat for Breakfast

The lovely thing about this cake is it's chocolatey—especially if you use a really good, flavorful chocolate—but not too heavy or sweet. It's baked in a tube or bundt pan, which I always consider to be the unassuming Casual Wear of cakedom; and it requires no sugary glaze or frosting. It's a cake that could fit on a dessert plate with whipped cream, or just as easily on a tea tray for an afternoon snack. Or, if you're me, for breakfast. More

Chicago: State Street Pizza Company

Someday we will live in a world where all pizzas are delicious, cheap, and conveniently located. Until then, pizzerias will prioritize which they want to emphasize. State Street Pizza Company has location down pat and the prices are certainly reasonable. Sadly, when it comes to deliciousness, there's a long way to go. More

Happy Hanukkah! Recipes to Celebrate

Tonight at sundown Hanukkah begins, which means a whole lot of latkes will be fried in the next week. Ed hosted his latke-frying party for family last weekend (right after Thanksgiving, now that's impressive). The sizzling oil represents the oil used to light the menorah. Fried food lovers: this is your favorite Jewish holiday. Just beware of your hair and coats—they might be latke-scented for a bit. Here is a roundup of our favorite recipes, including some non-deep-fried foods like brisket and homemade chocolate gelt. More