It was about 1.5kg which is a pretty normal size for a chicken.

Some of the chickens I've seen in America look like small turkeys. I can only imagine what they're pumping them with.

The finest antibiotics and growth hormones in the world!

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Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp tonight.

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Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp tonight.

Ha! It's such a shame that chickens have become flavourless protein. Aside from the awful conditions that most of those animals live in, it's meant chicken is viewed as not much more than cheap filler with the flavour being whatever you add to it. A quality bird is absolutely delicious.

Personally, whether I would have rice or not depends on what else is being served. Sure you generally feel fuller longer, but if there is a generous spread, I'd rather not take up space with rice. Or if I were about to be quite active. That said, if you prefer having rice, just let it be known. Giving some people the chance to fulfill a desire often leads to good results.

I strongly suspect that those prices are in Australian dollars; AU$1.36 = US$1.00.

Looks good and strangely enough has me craving for tandoori chicken for the coming dinner.

1 Australian dollar = close to 75 US cents (i.e., 3 US quarters) on average for the past 12 months. Not cheap in Australia has me wondering how much the same would cost upon flying into PLS nowadays to consume the equivalent.

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Tuesday night mapo tofu and an helles beer from the Costco beer advent calendar (day 12 I believe). Great combo.
Mapo tofu looks a bit strange with all the extra veggies, but be assured it’s still authentic in flavor with plenty of mala flavor from generous addition of Sichuan peppercorns.

A chicken in a supermarket costs AU$8-$9. You can safely assume that 95% of chickens are closer to that price point than $25.

Tandoori chicken is very good. Tandoori lamb cutlets win though, imo.

Turkey tacos - I made one almost like braslvr albeit no tomato and with a tomatillo salsa instead.
come on giants - bases loaded with one out

I still prefer my other ingredients but of course it’s all a winner.


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So true… my chicken thighs are huge. I actually only brine with salt & parsley, then roast with salt & pepper. Ace flavor.

fantastic! This was my thing last year and I’m cooking my luncheon almost daily and then supper 4-5 times a week. I won’t return to restaurants as much as pre-2020.

How do you do your peppercorns? I have zero luck. I first cook them on stove, then grind with a spoon. Zero tingle. I use the nyt recipe and the food is good yet no mala tingle. Sigh. How do you do it with the peppercorns?
do you have a recipe to share?

here’s the nyt screenshot of ingredients.

[removed screenshot of copyrighted and paid access material per https://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules#copyrighted]

This I gotta try at least once. I would not have thought to put a burger on a bagel, but in reality, I try to avoid bread as much as possible lately. I don't remember when I last had a bagel at any meal.

Shrimp quesadilla, sky, surf, and turf dip (fajita chicken, shrimp, and steak in cheese dip with flour tortillas and pick de Gallo): and a skinny margarita.

Try brining with beer and white wine. You can thank me later. ;)

I was kind of thinking the same thing, not at all how I'd describe an oyster. But it's also strange to me that my wife likes them raw and not cooked.

I had a very nice flounder fresh off the boat that day instead. We ended up getting a different appetizer, but I honestly can't remember what it was - possibly some kind of shrimp. There are no wrong choices when your dinner table is on the same dock where the restaurant's private fishing boat is moored.

Both? I've used beer for both beef and chicken, but never mixed with white wine. Equal parts with salt for a brine? I'm intrigued.

RE: Formal Chinese dinners/banquets

LOL...I've experienced the "no rice" thing many times too. I was fortunate enough to have learned a little and have been exposed to traditional Chinese (mostly Cantonese) culture at a very young age. And, if I recall, a banquet or feast for an honored guest is to enjoy food to its fullest where the joy of dining and the celebration of its great cuisine should be in complete convergence, and rice, meant to fill one's stomach quickly, would be a distraction from the 10 - 15 courses the Chef would have painstakingly prepared for his/her guests.

Moreover, not sure it's applicable now, but it was also impressed upon me that there's an etiquette where where one's chopsticks should never touch his/her lips during the feast, since each dish would be prepared in perfect bite size portions. Finally, at the end of the feast, some fried rice (southern China cuisine) or noodles (northern China) would be served where each person will have a token amount, to show homage and respect to the rice/noodle growers who have provided food for the country over the centuries.

Aside from these rare occasions, I suspect everyone in SE Asia enjoys rice/noodles with his/her meals daily. I know I sure do.

I would have enjoyed a fried rice or noodle ending - it was only occasional to get this. Again the worst was having no rice with the drunken live shrimp meal. Or rather, the meal that included drunken live shrimp.