Random Food Questions

[Serpentine]

The tail is grissly, bony and full of fat and ligaments and the like. Like ox tail and the like, 'cept bigger. Makes good soup though, I hear (my biology teacher had a recipe for kangaroo tail soup, but I never did get it off her...). As for best part... I'll be honest, I don't actually know which part of the 'roo I eat Huh... Never thought about that.
Raw kangaroo meat smells kinda odd. A bit... gamey, I guess. It's very easy to make it tough - you should generally cook it very quickly. This is, I believe, in large part due to the fact that it is extremely low in fat. As for the taste... I never know how to describe meat flavours... I would maybe put it as being the reddest of the red meat. I suppose maybe you could compare it to lamb, if it's an extra-lean cut cooked only rare. I love it with a macadamia crust or cumin. You can also get pre-marinated "mini roasts", which are delicious, though I find that every now and then one has a peculiar bitter taste.
As well as being low in fat, by the way, their feet have a very low impact on soil and plants (unlike hoofed animals like sheep and cattle that trample down soil and vegetation and muddy up waterways, ruining the land), eat "lower quality" food, and don't fart out masses of methane. They're generally good for everyone.

[Mystic Muse]

It doesn't look fully cooked because it isn't fully cooked.
Have you never even tried sunny-side up eggs?

I don't know. I eat something that looks vaguely like the egg in the middle of the picture but it has a white coating over it from oil to make sure the egg is cooked enough that it won't give the eater salmonella. the yolk isn't solid though and I generally eat it with toast if at all.

generally I eat either scrambled or hard boiled eggs.

[Serpentine]

If the egg's fresh, it's extremely unlikely to have any nasties. If it comes from anywhere, it'd be from the outside of the shell, which can be solved by washing it.

Never quite understood the fear of eggs

[Mystic Muse]

If the egg's fresh, it's extremely unlikely to have any nasties. If it comes from anywhere, it'd be from the outside of the shell, which can be solved by washing it.

Never quite understood the fear of eggs

It's just something my family does.

Kangaroo sounds like it'd taste kind of good.

[Occasional Sage]

Speaking of eggs, anybody else ever add milk to them? It makes them fluffier and adds flavor.

Sure. It's the only way to go.

What happens in cooking is that the protein chains in the eggs are being twisted and kinked, like taking a real metal chain and twisting it around and around into knots. The egg proteins become hard and tight.

With milk added, the protein chains are coated in fat, like adding a layer of plastic to the metal chain. When cooked, they can't twist as tightly, giving your eggs a lighter, fluffier texture.

The same technique works with meat, notably in the lovely Italian bolognese.

[KuReshtin]

here's the difference between haggis and a hot dog for me.

I don't know what's in a hot dog.

This was exactly my point.

[Amiel]

According to a Simpson's episode, it consisted of the following miscellaneous meats; rat, raccoon, pigeon?
Such an enjoyable selection, and quite palatable!

[Serpentine]

Pigeon is delicious P= I have one in my freezer, waiting for me to decide what to do with it and then get the motivation to do it...

[Amiel]

It calls to you for it to be roasted with vegetables, and topped with a nice gravy sauce. That or pan-fried or baked in flour. Tastes like awesome.

I've always wanted to try pigeon! :)
Have you had quail? Does it taste much like it?

Or sometimes, something as simple as some pan-fried salted belly pork with boiled potatos and onion gravy can be absolutely divine as well.

That does sound especially awesomesauce.

All this talk of food is making me especially hungry :(
Tea (dinner time) soon!

What does kangaroo meat taste like?

Chicken.

What is the best part of the kangaroo, the tail?

All of it; especially the eyes.

No, I kid, the best parts are those that can be made into fillets, steaks, minced meat and kanga bangas (kangaroo sausages).

This is kangaroo meat that is sold at the Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne

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[Serpentine]

I had it at a Chinese restaurant (best late-night snack EVAR) with some sort of... uh... Chinese-style sauce.

And I don't particularly like 'roo sausages... They're a bit too dry and/or plain or something. I'd try some seasoned ones, though.

[KuReshtin]

That does sound especially awesomesauce.

The problem with that dish is that I can't seem to find a good enough piece of salted pork (rimmat fläsk) in the UK. I've tried with regular bacon, but it's just not the same, I think mainly cause the slices of the salted pork to go with the potatos and onion gravy are thicker than regular bacon slices.

Once the salted pork has been pan fried, you fry up some chopped onions in the leftover fat from the pork to soften the onions up a bit, and then pour some regular flour on top and then add milk to make the sauce. Add further salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with boiled potatos.

Is preferrably eaten in the way of chopping the potatos down into small pieces and mixed up with the sauce to make kind of a creamy oniony potato mash.

[Yora]

I really shouldn't read this thread.

When you were talking about rotten fish, at least I didn't get hungry.

[Aedilred]

What's your problem?!

Heh.
My problem is that they are either firm and the skin is hard, however long they cook, or that they just turn to flavourless, unpalattable mush. "The" recipe? Is that the standard way to prepare eggplants for a dish?

There are two main problems with trying to cook aubergines (eggplants to you). The first is that they'll suck up as much oil as you put with them, and the second is that they're already full of water. Combine the two and you end up with a soggy, watery, largely inedible mess.

The trick is to "drain" them before you start cooking. Chop them up however you intend to cook/serve them (not too small, though- they'll just disintegrate) and sprinkle the inner flesh with salt. Leave them for about twenty minutes and a lot of the moisture will have been drawn to the surface. Dry them with kitchen paper or the like and you're ready to go.

You still have the problem that they'll suck up oil like nobody's business, so if you do want to shallow-fry them (they can be delicious done this way) be judicious with the amount of oil you use. You want just enough to give them a bit of flavour, but not so much that they re-absorb all the fluid they lost in the salting. A better option perhaps is to grill them (although a bit of oil sprinkled on top might not go amiss) or to stuff and bake them.

The best aubergines I've ever had were in China in a restaurant I'll never visit again. I have no idea what they did to them- none of my experiments have turned up anything close to them. There was a decent amount of garlic in there, though.

[Kurien]

Ooh, I have a question!

I have an ISP for my Hospitality Class that basically asks me to take a preexisting soup recipe and alter it to make it "my own". To do that, I must change 3 elements of the soup, such as switching out or adding an ingredient, changing the amounts of certain ingredients, and changing cooking time.

It's also going to be a competition for the best soup, so each student's soup will be judged and rated, and a winner will be decided on.

Can someone find a good recipe for Pho soup, a Vietamese noodly cuisine?

How should I cook the rice noodles before I serve them?

[Kneenibble]

*snip*

Thank you, sweetie, that was exactly the kind of information I wanted. As I thought, they go far beyond the "chop and apply heat" method of easier food plants. Now to wait until there are some decent ones in the markets to play with. I'm almost tempted to grow them this summer just because I love the way they look so much -- shape, colour, gloss.

What kind of an eggplant dish was it that you ate, that so enamoured you?

[RebelRogue]

On the topic of eggplants: there is much wisdom in Aedilred's post, so I'll just add one bit of advice.

Try frying them on a grilled pan (you don't use oil on those, so sogging up liquid will be no problem). The charring you get this way will IMO make them very delicious. Absolutely great for salads, pizza topping or of course moussaka.

[Quincunx]

Kurien: Viet World Kitchen is the recipe I used. Best of all for your purposes, the author has already done some substitutions for the ingredients some people can't access and written down their effect on the soup.

Kneenibble: Growing eggplant does one thing to your garden: when the potato beetles arrive, it ensures the tomatoes won't be eaten first. The plant is magnetic to beetles.

[Kurien]

Kurien: Viet World Kitchen is the recipe I used. Best of all for your purposes, the author has already done some substitutions for the ingredients some people can't access and written down their effect on the soup.

Thanks! I read it over, and I think the recipe is perfect! There's a few things I think I could change or add to make it my own.

The recipe calls for raw beef that will be cooked by pouring the hot broth over. I'm not sure if the judges will eat rare beef, so I decided to leave it out, and instead increase the amount of brisket during the making of the broth to 2.5 pounds. I think I will also add a few coriander seeds. How does that sound?

[Arakune]

This is most a drink-food interaction, but there are various wines for various types of food. What about beer? There is such distinction?

[arguskos]

This is most a drink-food interaction, but there are various wines for various types of food. What about beer? There is such distinction?

Yes, though I am not familiar enough to quote you them atm, sorry.

Truly there is nothing on earth that compares with the utter twistedness that is mankind.

I've had everything on that list. I mostly agree with it too. And yes, Kyuubi, it was that illegal cheese.

[Mystic Muse]

Yes, though I am not familiar enough to quote you them atm, sorry.


I've had everything on that list. I mostly agree with it too. And yes, Kyuubi, it was that illegal cheese.

I would have thought the fact that it was illegal would have tipped you off.......

Darnit I actually want to try escamoles now.

[arguskos]

I would have thought the fact that it was illegal would have tipped you off.......

Darnit I actually want to try escamoles now.

I never mentioned where I'd had it (nor will I). It was worth trying once though, in that everything is worth doing/trying one time, just to see how it was. Wasn't as bad as fresh brain though, gotta say. Also, it was probably a less enjoyable experience than live scorpions (that was odd, and I'm never having it again).