Weekend social 04/05/2012
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2:00 pm, May 4th, 2012 - 24 comments
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Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever.
No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?
24 comments on “Weekend social 04/05/2012 ”
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Friday night cooking conundrum:
Lately I have been distracted by Thai “river noodles” since having them at a night market. In a recipe for Pad See Ew I have, it calls for light and dark soy sauce.
What is the reason for using both?
It also calls for added sugar. If I used sweet soy sauce in place of all above, would I get the same flavours? Or should I bite the bullet and spent the extra $3 and get some light s/sauce.
Next point:
Which chinese/asian vegetable of the broccoli type is the one that tastes both of broccoli and mustard. Not over-poweringly mustard, the taste when you eat it goes… broccoli, broccoli, mustard MUSTARD, broccoli.
Haven’t heard of that one (ie a mustard tasting broccoli) unless it is the flower heads of mustard greens, which I love and get at the weekend markets here in Wellington. Yans, the chinese supermarkets in Wellington and Lower Hutt, also stock mustard greens when they are in season.
The leaves of mustard greens are bright green and have a mustard bite provided you eat them raw or just quickly wilted in stir-frys. The more they are cooked, the less mustard taste. Far more nutrients in them than iceberg lettuce and most other “greens”. Also very easy and quick to grow. Kings Seeds have the seeds for various types of mustard greens which can be ordered online.
Dueto and Uturn, I have been growing common garden bock choi for years, it grows really fast from seed, and it pays to use it all fast as it goes to seed the moment a warm zephyr goes n
by. Given half a chance it will seed and you dont have to plant any more, just pick the “weeds”.
I have some of that growing now. Agree about it not liking any change in temperature. Earlier this year I went through several sowings that all bolted before the plants got past 10cm high. Now it’s colder they are stable again.
I asked my wife, who is from the south of Thailand, and she said, ‘Yup, you need the light and dark soy sauce and the sugar. The dark is for colour, the light is for saltiness, and the sugar should be to your taste.’
โชคดี (Choke dee)
Ah, the inside scoop! Thanks very much.
Chinese broccoli is what you’re looking for, Gai Lohn, Guy Lohn, Chinese kale looks like Brocolli but smaller and looser.
As for the soy be careful as sweet soys like Kecap manis are incredibly sweet so you get better control and can use less refined sugar if you add your own.
Soy quality varies hugely so see how you go, suggest Tamari or Shoyu as high grade choices in the dark end.
Thanks. How can I tell which Gai Lohn is the right Gai Lohn? Just had what I thought looked right, one with white flowers that had the broccoli taste, but none of the mustard. The place I shop has several varieties all named with combinations of the words Kai, Gai, Laan, Choy or Lohn. Some have yellow flowers.
I guess for ten bucks I could buy the lot and find out.
kindle or kobo?
Kindle. Just becuase I have one and it is great.
Don’t really know anything about Kobo but I can promise you won’t be disappointed with a kindle
My Kobo took a knock and died unexpectedly (the screen permanently froze) – it was one of the release models, so quality has probably improved since then. I am a bigger fan of the epub format, though. But if you want to buy new ebooks, Amazon makes it quick and easy.
My sister has a Kobo and is happy with it. Can’t offer any more useful info than that, though.
Android Pad that allows you to read any and all ebooks?
Just need to get Calibre which is a free download and its the easiest thing in the world to put any ebook on any device
Won’t work with copy protected ebooks like those bought from Amazon but you would still be able to read them on an Android pad with Kindle for Android installed on it. I would assume the same would hold true for Kobo.
Actually Calibre strips off the DRM 😛
It’s just you’ve got to do some research first on how to deal with any plugin updates that are causing problems.
And as always:
http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/ebooks-formats-drm-and-you-%E2%80%94-a-guide-for-the-perplexed/
It is pretty good.
Depends on price, Amazon subsidises the kindle, so even the add free version is pretty cheap.
iPad with the free kindle app. Brilliant.
My buddies are out on a duck slaughtering expedition, they wont get any. All the ducks are in the pond at Avalon, a Chch mate tells me that they are floating beak to beak on the Avon. I really enjoy a roasted duck but I must say I wont miss it if nobody gets enough to gift me one.
There is a town boundary sign on either side of the Waikato River on the edge of Hamilton. At this time of the year the ducks swim on the town side, by the hundred, right up to but not past the sign. Clearly they know that you can’t discharge a gun in town. Clever ducks!
Ah, that explains the huge flock I disturbed in the paddock today! Was wondering what they were up to.
Probably holding a United Union of Ducks Annual Meeting. UUDAM. Have seen the same sort of gatherings of sheerwaters in the Marlborough Sounds. UUSAM. But strikes are not an option.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-raspberry-pi-review
I want one :O
If only for making a barebones media centre.
Would be nice if it had SATA ports + RAID as well for building a low power, cheap as chips, data server.