Trivial cooking note, mostly for my own reference

[solarbird]

Okay, so, a very quick note on cooking (preparing, really) the goyza in the yellow bag (Ling Ling, I think?) at Costco, to produce a better result:

I boil for the eight minutes directed (traditional method), but in browning i use only seasoned wok oil in the same pot instead of in a frying pan (different heat characteristics) over somewhat lower heat (takes longer). This produces a better (and more correct to my mind) browning/finishing of the wrapping.

Conveniently, it also requires cleaning one less dish. ^_^

Then instead of my previous method of pre-coating with sauce (with some heat, to get it to adhease) - which, btw, is not traditional - I got a different sauce at Uwajimaya to use as a dipping sauce, which is better than the included sauce in packets.

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Seasoned wok oil? Sesame, peanut, or....?

[solarbird]

Sesame, mostly. The dumb thing is that Sun Luck, maker of bottom-feeder junky "oriental" food, also actually makes a very tasty spiced wok oil. It's got a blue label and is creatively titled "seasoned wok oil." I grabbed it once when I was in a hurry and they were out of everything else, and was surprised to discover it was quite okay.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Other than that one lucky exception, what brands do you *like* when cooking Asian? One is curious...

[solarbird]

I shouldn't be quite that harsh on Sun Luck. They have a few other edible things too - seasoning packets, mostly - unlike, say, Kikkoman, which I mostly just won't buy. But the only thing of theirs I actively genuinely like enough not to look for better is their wok oil.

Um. Other brands. Right. Let's go to the kitchen! Obviously I don't make my own soy sauce; for that, Yamasa is the best by far. I make most of my own sauces so can't give much help otherwise. Shirakiku has been pretty reliable in a variety of areas (fresh udon, mirin, eda mame, furikake). I love U.F.O. noodle for quick bowl noodle. ^_^ This Takaokaya nori we have is pretty good. Nishiki for rice, I buy that in 20lb bags. Ebara (イバラ, not printed in English) for premade sukiyaki-ish sauce that I use for dipping goyza. ^_^ Bonito dashi stock ... is in kanji only so I can't read the brand. But it's made by Maruhachi Muramatsu of Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, has a bunch of English on it ("BONITO DASHI BAG" "NO MSG ADDED") so should be easy enough to find. Uncle Chen for Vietnamese chili paste, which I use a fairly small amount of in a lot of different things. My favourite instant miso so far is Hikari which is the only Romaji on the entire package ^_^ but Shinshy-ichi and Marukome are both also quite good. Oh, and S&B makes a pretty good curry sauce mix, look for とろけるカレーHOT.

That should be a good start. ^_^

[solarbird]

Actually I'm confusing - on the packets stuff - Sun Luck (not so good) and Sun Bird, which is still cheesy but has a few decent spice packets. Not good enough that I don't want to find better, but good enough until I do.

[flashfire.livejournal.com]

I like those best of any store-bought gyoza. I boil first then brown with a little oil on low so it doesn't burn, and I usually cook it on the three sides I can get it to stay put at.

I'd be interested in the dipping sauce you mention, even though I like theirs.

My favorite gyoza is at a teppanyaki place close to work. Very crispy and tasty. I hate it when they're mostly soggy instead.

[solarbird]

One of the key improvements of the way I describe above (as opposed to the old way) is that these come out crispy, rather than soft. Mine never came out soggy, but crispy? Not at all. Now they do.

[kissare.livejournal.com]

I'm interested in the dipping sauce too; I usually make my own with roughly 50% soy sauce and 50% rice vinegar, but am always looking for anything better (or even just different) to try.

[solarbird]

Right now I've been trying this stuff by Ebara (イバラ, not printed in English) called sukiyaki no tare (すきやきのたれ on the package). I talk more about this just above, in reply to technoshaman.