What are some things to consider when choosing a salt?

Question

What attributes are important when selecting salt for a dish?

Specifically where you would use sea salt, kosher salt or plain table salt?

I can often find sea salt (iodized and non-iodized) in places I cannot find kosher salt.

Answer

Most of the issues come down to the additives and the shape of the salt.

Some people find that iodized salt gives some off flavors, while sea salts will have regional differences in their mineral content that affects the flavor.

In my mind, the bigger issue is the shape of the salt:

• Kosher / flake salt : See Darin's comments for examples of some of the benefits.
• Pretzel salt : large crystals, gives a crunch when eating it.
• Popcorn & Pickling salt : fine crystals; will disolve in room-temp water and stick well to relatively dry items. Pickling salt is uniodized.
• Rock salt : good for salting paths and salting ice to bring down the temp when churning ice cream.

For general baking, or salting water for cooking, I tend to stick with cheap, old fashioned table salt, in part so I don't have to convert recipes. And I use iodized, because I don't eat out much, or eat much seafood or processed foods.

For general cooking, I tend to use kosher salt, mostly because I keep it in a container I can easily get a pinch of.

I've never bothered with most gourmet sea salts ... maybe I'm not using enough, but other than smoked salts, I don't really taste the difference.

Check more discussion of this question.

Cedar Planks - Reusable Vs. Disposable

Question

I want to buy some cedar planks for the first time to try some fun looking recipes. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with simple, disposable planks compared to the more expensive planks that claim to be reusable, e.g (Nature's Cuisine NC001 Large Cedar Oven Roasting Plank). Previous advice I've seen on cedar planks suggest you can only reuse them one or two times but I believe they were talking about the simplest planks, the ones you'd just buy at a hardware store.

Answer

The whole idea of using a cedar plank is to char the heck out of the bottom and produce lots of smoke and flavor. My roughly 1/4 inch planks are usually charred pretty well and I simply couldn't see using them a second time. At times, it seems that 1/8 inch or more of the bottom is gone.

If you find a good source for your planks, they should be pretty inexpensive so why push it? I found one of the best sources to be my supermarket right next to the fish counter. $3 - $4 / plank. Seems like a small price to pay when you are grilling a $30 piece of salmon on top of it.

Check more discussion of this question.

Can one tell the different sources of dashi by taste?

Question

Dashi can be made from several sources, including bonito, kombu and shiitake mushroom being the most common ones. (I've been to one Japanese resturant where their udon broth is made of white button mushroom.)

I understand that the main taste of dashi is umami (glutamic acid and inosinic acid). Aside from umami, is it possible to taste the difference? Would it be possible to teach someone to tell the source by tasting? Also, will the different sources cause different types of allergies?

For this question, let's suppose the dashi had been used as the broth for a plain Udon - no other ingredients, just the Udon and the dashi.

(I'm asking this question from the perspective of a diner, so maybe my question is not suitable for this site. If this is the case, I apologize and close this question.)

Thanks.

Answer

Sure, it's really not that difficult if you've actually tasted several kinds of dashi-jiru. It's more a matter of experience. There is decidedly a flavor to each category of dashi; it's not just "umami" or you would be able to get away with just throwing in a bunch of MSG into a bowl of water. But the flavor is mostly from aroma, like with other types of soup stock, since you haven't added any of the basic "tastes" other than the kombu and occasionally residual salt from the dried fish at the point the dashi is made.

At home, I often make a vegetarian one with kelp and porcini, sometimes with added cabbage; this the closest I've been able to come to the katsuo-dashi taste without actually using fish ingredients. It's a variation of a more standard Japanese kombu-dashi that's made with kombu and sometimes dried shiitake, but works for a broader range of dishes than the shiitake or minimalist kombu-dashi.

In practice, the main categories of dashi are these:

• Katsuo-dashi: Made with dried, cured skipjack tuna (aka bonito), and shaved. It has a slightly bitter taste. It is best made with the addition dried kombu. Tastes richer with either thicker shavings of katsuo-bushi or just-before-cooking shaving, when possible.
• Niboshi-dashi: Made with small dried whole fish (sometimes with heads removed, sometimes not, depending on the type of fish). Generally has a more pungent, richer flavor. There are several potential kinds of fish used and there was once substantial regional variation in this category, so the taste can vary quite a bit depending on the exact fish variety and how the fish was cured.
• Kombu-dashi: Made just with kombu, usually for adding a little bit of aroma and complexity to simple dishes, but rarely for soups, except for nabemono, where you'd typically have additional seafood or meats in the hot-pot. (I usually lump kombu-shiitake or kombu-porcini dashi in this category, but for no particular reason).
• Tori-dashi or gara-dashi: Made with chicken or other fowl bones. Except for fact that mirepoix isn't usually in the Japanese equivalent of this, so you won't have the celery base,
• Ton-kotsu-dashi, made with pork bones. Generally pretty hearty and full of fat.

Dashi is the analog to a soup stock, so it generally does not have added salt. Accordingly, you won't serve a straight dashi with an udon; you'd turn it into a broth, generally called "kakejiru". This will contain added salt, shoyu, and usually some combination of sugar, sake and/or mirin.

Before you put salt in it, you'll mostly "smell" a difference. After that, you can certainly at least distinguish between katsuo and kombu dashi, and with a little practice, you can distinguish between niboshi-dashi and katsuo-dashi. For me, the difference between katsuo-dashi and the instant "hon-dashi" is usually not subtle; the hon-dashi is a bit aggressive and harsh to my taste, but not everyone feels that way. (For what it's worth, I'm as close as practical to being a vegetarian for someone who regularly dines out in Japan). Tonkotsu-dashi and tori-dashi are somewhat rarely used in home cooking (though there are some exceptions in west Japan and Okinawa), but the taste difference is pretty obvious.

I actually tend to prefer niboshi-dashi over katsuo-dashi, but it depends on the type of fish. There's a dried sardine from Korea that I find a little harder to stomach when used in dashi.

I can't speak to allergies, but I suppose it's possible that different types of fish may cause some people to react differently. I suppose you'd have to ask an allergist.

Check more discussion of this question.

What to look for in a pot?

Question

What to look for in a pot. I'm supposing somebody that's just starting to live alone or a couple. Help me complete this list.

Size: small, but not too small. Maybe 2L or 3L.

Material: Stainless steel with a thick bottom. As you are going to buy only one pot to begin with, spend some extra money on quality.

Bottom: A thick bottom is a must on electric or ceramic stoves as they don't bend out of shape so easily. Also, a thick bottom is handy for slow cooking as the heat diffuses more evenly.

Handle: Same material, stainless steel. This is handy if you want to put the pot in the oven. Look at the fixture to the pot, it must be riveted on, with thick rivets.

Stove: if it's going to be induction - Glass, Ceramics, All Aluminum etc. are all out.

Price: Not too expensive. 20€ - 30€?

What am I forgetting?

Answer

Modifying your original terms:

Size: 2-3 quart/liter. I consider 2.5 quarts to be ideal.

Material: Two options: hard-anodized aluminum nonstick, OR stainless-steel interior/exterior. With stainless, it should have either an encapsulated aluminum disk base or a tri-ply construction (aluminum layered with stainless)

Bottom: Thick is good, and you absolutely must have aluminum here for conduction

Handle: stainless is good, as long as it stays relatively cool. The handle absolutely must be riveted on, with thick rivets. Screws, glue, or welded handles do not last long-term. Tack-welded handles are the bane of the restaurant I work for right now; we've had several handles snap off in the last year.

Additional things to look for:

Weight: HEAVY. You want fairly thick cookware for even heating, but most of that weight should be from thickness of the aluminum disk.

Design: A flared lip around the pot, to facilitate clean pouring.

Shape: I'm partial to shallow designs, which flare out at the top. Although it's nonstick and not stainless, I love my Calphalon Contemporary shallow 2.5 qt saucepan for it's extra-flared design. This lets it transmit heat more efficiently from the range, and allows it to safely hold a larger capacity of food. It also allows for faster and cleaner reduction of sauces.

Lid: TEMPERED GLASS with a handle on top, and a flange to help seal tightly on the pot/pan. Tempered glass is very durable and lets you see the progress of your cooking without releasing the steam. The handle also remains cool, so you don't burn yourself on it; this is the second problem I have with solid stainless lids on many premium cookware lines (All Clad, and most manufacturers' tri-ply products).

Check more discussion of this question.

Slow cooking without a slow cooker

Question

I frequently hear people telling me about how wonderful their slow cookers (AKA "crock pot") are. In many cases they're right - meat that tends to come out tough in normal cooking comes out very tender from a slow cooker.

But do I really need a slow cooker to pull this off? It seems like such a basic concept - simmer and/or steam at low heat. What's so special about these devices? For kitchens with very limited space, can a slow cooker be "synthesized" from other cooking implements, or is there really no substitute?

Answer

Your best bet would be a dutch oven on a low to medium low heat in the oven. You could use a regular pot in the oven, but you'd need to stir it regularly (maybe every hour) to stop everything from sticking to the sides and burning.

Check more discussion of this question.

The art of Sushi: using wasabi to kill parasites

Question

I've been to many sushi places and last night I went to a place that I've been to before (not that long ago either). When the sushi came, we noticed that it had wasabi spread on the rice, under the fish.

When we complained we were rudely told that the chef had been doing sushi for 30 years and wasabi is used to kill parasites in the fish.

This is believable since I know in some countries, red peppers are used in foods all the time for the same reason.

However, my understanding of sushi is that the chef is a craftsman who not only picks great fish, but also knows how to find and remove parasites.

My question is, is this normal? Is it proper for the Sushi chef to add wasabi to the sushi to help prevent parasites? If so, how come I've only encountered this practice once out of the many sushi places I've frequented?

Answer

This is perfectly normal, however, I find the common claim that "it is to prevent parasites" a bit dubious (I would think that it would have to be uniformly applied to the entire fish to have any measurable effect). The wasabi is really there to add flavor. In really high-end sushi restaurants in Japan, for example, it is relatively uncommon for the guest to be served a mound of grated wasabi. Instead, the chef applies the perfect amount of wasabi to each piece of sushi. Some chefs will not even serve soy sauce, instead individually brushing on the sauce on each piece. If wasabi is served separately from the fish, it is generally also considered bad form to mix it with the soy sauce (as is commonly done in the US).

Edit: To answer your question about why you've never seen this practice before, here are some possible explanations:

1. It takes more time/skill/effort to do it properly.
2. Many sushi restaurants in the US do not have properly trained sushi chefs. In fact, in most areas of the country with little or no Japanese population, don't be surprised if your sushi chef is a Salvadorian who learned from the Oaxacan who learned from the Korean owner of the restaurant. Not that there's anything wrong with that; one of my favorite sushi places is run by an Indonesian. Just keep in mind that the people making you your sushi may have never experienced the "real thing" themselves.
3. "Real," fresh wasabi is very rare and expensive. Most of the stuff that is used in the US is basically horseradish paste plus food coloring. Restaurants that can both procure and afford to use the real stuff will want to use it sparingly; they wouldn't want to waste it by putting a mound of it on each plate. Therefore, they might be more inclined to use the "proper" technique.

Check more discussion of this question.

How to rice potatoes

Question

I was wondering if anybody know a method to rice potatoes without them turning into mashed potatoes. When I do it to raw potatoes, they mush or just stay too crunchy and with cooked potatoes, just forget about it. What I am looking for is discrete, small bits of potato that will still have a pillowy mouth feel.

One avenue that I haven't tried yet is starting from mashed, but I can't figure out a way to segregate the bits so that they won't reform into mashed potatoes once a fork hits them.

Answer

What an interesting idea. Essentially you're looking to make rice out of potatoes, yes?

I can see a couple of options. You could make potato orzo (a small pasta that looks like rice) I suppose; googling recipes for potato pasta should point you in the right direction.

You could also, I think use the reverse spherification method. Make mash as you normally would, and then put it through a ricer into an alginate bath. This should preserve the individual 'grains'. You will need to have milk and/or cream in the mash to ensure there is enough calcium for the alginate to react with.

Check more discussion of this question.