Monday, January 18, 2016

Bruce Munro in Scottsdale

Thousands of CDs...

More Bruce Munro

This time at the Phoenix Botanical Garden.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Red Dragon Chinese Fire Truck, pt. 2

Prep is everything. The actual cooking takes minutes, so get your mise together. Check out the flame on that thing. 


And this is why it's not approved for indoor use. 


Karen was brave enough to take pictures. From a distance. The column is impressive. 


She also bought me the Lucky Peach cookbook, which does a great job laying out all the Shaoxing wine and Chinkiang vinegar and Sichuan peppercorns available only at the Asian grocery where no one speaks English. Worth it. 



Friday, January 15, 2016

Red Dragon Chinese Fire Truck, pt. 1

We stayed home, but it was an awesome Xmas. J-than got me a 100,000 BTU, propane-powered wok ring. Not approved for indoor use. 


So it became a project. One tank, one red cart, a couple of zip ties, and a whole lot of assembly later...


...with a trip to True Value for a dowel for the handle, 'cuz you don't want to touch this thing when it's blazing...


...and you've got yourself a mighty fine, self-contained food toy. 


Why is this important? Because residential kitchen stoves, even the good ones, get nowhere near hot enough to deliver wok hay, that distinctive hot iron taste that makes take-out so good. Thanks, J-than!

More later when I fire it up tonight.