Grump, grump.

[marydell]

I have heartburn and my ouchies on my neck and head are ouchie.  And I was virtuous today and ate stir-fry for lunch/dinner, so I should not have heartburn wtf.  What is that white liquid they mix into the stir-fry at Stir Crazy (one of those we-wok-it-while-u-watch joints)? I'm going to say it's wheatmilk. Not that such a thing exists but something in the goddamn stir fry was definitely wheat or milk, or I wouldn't have heartburn because I ate nothing else today besides corn chips and diet coke, which I tolerate as if it was liquid antihisthamine. Grump, grump.

However, I have netflix waiting on the TeeVee with lovely Rupert Penry Jones in MI-5/Spooks, and I have some safely boring guacamole (no jalapeno in this brand, oddly) and more corn chips to keep me company along with it, so all shall be well.

Comments

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Brand? BRAND? ::faints::

[trinker.livejournal.com]

We'll just hope it's not one of the mayonnaise or sourcream laden type, shall we? (I'm okay when people label those "avocado dip" or something. It's just that (as I suspect you agree), guacamole is best made by hand, with nothing much more than smashed avocados, some chile (I like finely minced serrano), some salt, cilantro leaf, and lime. Fine minced onions or tomatoes are acceptable.)

[txanne.livejournal.com]

I use garlic instead of onions, and no capsicum (that's what pico de gallo is for). But yeah. Green paste in a tub is not what I'd call guacamole.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Hmm...do you mean no hot peppers, or are you borrowing Commonwealth verbiage for bell peppers? (I assume the former.) I occasionally put garlic paste in. (Handmade - rough salt, garlic, mortar and pestle.) But pico de gallo covers pretty much everything. (I call that "pico de gallo con aguacates", though. Avocados in that version are cubed. And sometimes with chopped radishes.)

Curses! I shall have to go poke the produce drawer.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

No hot stuff. Pico de gallo for me is the strictly canonical rojo-blanco-verde you get in Texas: tomato, onion, cilantro/jalapeño. I've never seen nor heard of radishes in either pico de gallo or guacamole. I don't think I'd like it at all.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Radishes do not normally go into pico de gallo, nor into guacamole. Whole radishes are Mexican, shredded radish salad is Salvadoran, but a happy fusion in my mother's household. (Stepdad's from Michoacan, been in the U.S. for nearly 30 years now.)

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Ladies, ladies, calm yourselves!

"Ingredients: Hass avocados, fresh onion, salt, fresh cilantro, garlic."

The other kind I get has basically the same list but includes jalapeno. No, I don't make it myself, but I bet you don't hand-assemble your own computers. Nature presents gifts not according to the book, or something like that.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Hass, even! And no preservatives. See, txanne, we can go harass some other deluded norteamerica~o.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

HALT! Guacamole Police!

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Someday you can make me some proper guacamole or other tasty food in your repertoire and I'll cook you something yummy from my own culinary heritage. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_boiled_dinner) *evil laugh*

(I descend from three of the worst food cultures on Earth, and actually can cook most of the staples, alas).

[trinker.livejournal.com]

I could always add Tapatio sauce, right? ;) Three worst? Scottish, perchance? I'd like to try haggis.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Irish, English, and Scottish. The Scottish part didn't come up in our family food so much, because it was a few generations back, but I assume it contributed to the ongoing malaise about food (and perhaps to some relatives' fondness for Scotch, which is UGH).

[trinker.livejournal.com]

We have friends in common who like (or even love) Scotch and single malts. I just can't do it. Tried, failed, no' likely to attempt it agin'.

I'm coming to the conclusion that there are ingredient-based cuisines, which are all about "do as little to the original ingredients as possible", and method-based cuisines, which are all "we have some master sauces and techniques, and the ingredients are just a canvas". The former do badly in translation, and are best enjoyed at their point of origin. I'd like to believe that Scottish is like that.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'd agree about the different types of cuisines--Italian being the most popular ingredient-focused one of the European cuisines, I guess. But I think the Scottish and Irish cuisines in particular are the product of having not a lot of resources, and making the best use of what's available, more than honoring ingredients particularly. There's not the variety or richness of local plants & critters to make interesting flavors, and so the flavors tend to come from organ meats and other sort of pungent unpleasant bits of animals.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

I agree with that -- as a descendant of Irish and Eastern European grandparents -- both Irish and Europeans were money-poor, and made do with what they had. There's a lot of beets, potatoes, and other root vegetables being used, along with chicken and fish; not so much pork or lamb or other meats. Lots of casseroles and pies, things that could be put up early and cook all day in the old fashioned version of a crock pot.

Irish cuisine has actually improved in the last 25 years, except when it comes to beef. They do lovely things with fish, and the Scottish smoked salmon sandwich that I just consumed was tasty.

I do like single malts, make my own avocado mash (no guacamole) and have had only one deep-fried candy bar in my life. ;-)

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Not just money-poor but flora-poor, I think...a lot of the really good complex cuisines also come from money-poor cultures, but in places where things grow better.

I'm actually fairly fond of Irish cuisine, but it's more of a sentimental fondness than a palate-based fondness.

[seawasp]

At least you refused the cultural gifts my ancestors the Vikings tried to press upon you -- like Lutefisk.

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

Cilantro is of the devil.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

My mother is one of the few people I know who've gone from "Cilantro is eeeevil. It tastes like sooooooaaaaap!" to being a total cilantro-fiend. As in, adding so much that even my Mexican stepdad looks at her funny.

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

I just *shuddered*. I like coriander just fine, but cilantro? No way. I have heard that it's possible to work one's way from disliking it to liking it, but that's not a road I wish to walk. :)

[seawasp]

I did it, because I found that I could taste ANOTHER taste behind the soapy, and that other taste was necessary for certain things I was cooking. Now I like it in certain things.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

It *should* be cornstarch slurry. Is it possible that they stir-fried some gluten in the same wok before your dish?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

This. Also, many traditionally brewed soy sauces contain wheat.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* Whoops, I forgot that.

Drat. I'm okay with policing for veg*n value, and my kosher-observant relatives have me trained in looking out for hidden meat or dairy, but I'm not up to speed on hidden gluten.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

A friend who has since moved to Florida requires gluten-free, dairy-free noms, with other sensitivities as well (Crohn's is a bitch). I got used to scouting.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Good point. I seem to be more sensitive than expected--small amounts of most of my no-nos aren't a problem usually. But this is a new one, and also I skipped my benadryl last night.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Cornstarch slurry! I'll have to learn about that, since I can have all the cornstarch I want, theoretically.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

It's the modern canonical thickener in East Asian cooking. Binds sauces, makes stuff glossy. Do Not Use With Milk. It does weird things.

Mix about a teaspoon of cornstarch with enough cold water to make it into a thin opaque liquid (more like colored water than school glue). Add about 2 minutes before the end of the cooking process, stir well to coat thoroughly. Will probably go lumpy when you reheat.

[cloudscudding.livejournal.com]

For a larger sauce that has a lot of liquid (2-3 cups), take 2 Tbsp cornstarch in a small bowl, add 2 Tbsp cold water and 1 Tbsp soy sauce, squish together with a fork until it is entirely blended in and watery, with no lumps.

Whisk into sauce and stir furiously for a couple of minutes over heat until it thickens.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

There are some stir-fry sauces that have wheat/gluten in them. I KNOW RIGHT?

[marydell.livejournal.com]

What is up with this cultural reliance on readily available food staples for making things? DAMN IT

White liquid?

[seawasp]

I would expect a cornstarch mixture to thicken stuff up. Water with cornstarch.