Reddit reviews MIU France Large Stainless Steel Slotted Turner, 3 by 11-Inch

Poor ass anime fan's guide to cooking dish 6

This episode is absolutely golden. Just know that I can write three separate posts for what's been covered today

Lesson 6: I mean, Nikumi appears. You know what it is

Let's talk about veggies. (I'm too poor to talk about good meat. I'll leave that to others) There's only one rule that matters here: Quality and Freshness are all that matter. Price usually follows anyway.

No hyperbole, fresh veggies in season may be a poor cook's favorite ingredient. The amount of great flavor, matched with the great texture, is incredible. Which is why it makes sense that Isshiki and Polar Star have their own farm to ensure ABSOLUTE quality. Plus, good veggies are cheaper. (wut? but that's for later)

Plants have an optimal lifecycle, which means there's a point in time in the year when the best ones are harvested. This is more or less the natural season for veggies and fruits. This is why apples taste the best in the fall, sweet onions are best in spring, and summer corn is bae.

But then, especially in the USA, you can find all these veggies year round. What's that mean? These are mostly subpar ones unnaturally made to be harvested off season, and often aren't as good. Or they are shipped halfway across the world where the season is different, compromising on quality. Oh and both of these sound like a lot of effort right? Yeah that's right, off season veggies are often MORE EXPENSIVE for inferior quality. Talk about a garbage deal...

This all ties in to Isshiki's mackerel dish with the theme of "spring". Timely dishes aren't just nice thematically, they literally taste best in that season and provide a quality you can't match any other time in the year.

Let's talk "local", and "regional specialties". Remember that freshness and quality are all that matter. Local is usually a great way to provide that, since shipping is quick and cheap. Similarly, say Peru may have the best potatoes in the world (baseless rumor), but if you live in Idaho, buying anything but your regional specialty would be idiocy.

But then why didn't I use those as my main rule? That's because they are imperfect guidelines unlike my rule. There are a lot of "local" hacks who sell subpar product at three times the price. Don't get fooled by those. Further, some imports just do things so well, they break the rules, like mangos or papayas.

This is getting really long so let me finish by returning to the grand narrative: How to become a badass cook. Great ingredients shift with the season, mostly with their prices. Buy amazing cheap produce and shift your cooking style accordingly. It takes a bit of effort, but you'll absolutely blow away pretentious recipe drones, AND spend a quarter of the cost.

Ingredients of the day:

shoutout to last lesson: "don needs more impact, that means fat". damn right

Garlic

A very powerful fresh spice/ingredient, it offers a different flavor roasted or unroasted. Goes super well with Beef and pork. Often overused, especially roasted tho so watch out. Matches well with other flavors, which is why Megumi can mix it with honey, miso, and sake without making it overcomplicated. Can be used powdered, but please buy fresh. It isn't that expensive and makes all the difference in the world.

Ginger

Another powerful fresh spice, it adds a sting to foods. Very neutral, pickled ginger is used to reset your mouth in sushi places. Aroma and freshness are paramount, so when buying break it in half at the store and smell the cut. If it doesn't figuratively blow your clothes off, it's almost not worth buying. Goes amazingly well with pork. Also as a top garnish

Skill/Gear of the day: Poking the pot/pan, the non chopstick edition

So I've already said that chopsticks are like the best tools of all time to manipulate stuff in the pan, but some people can't use them. To those people I'd say go learn, but here are some alternatives.

Wooden paddle: Great thing to stir stuff around, and sometimes scrape things off the bottom of pans. Don't worry about burning it, since it's just wood. Extra fiber man.

Silicone paddle/spatula: A very modern tool, great for getting the last bit of sauce out of bowls or pans. Can melt tho, so be careful with heat. Also soft, which is great for some things, bad for others. Which is why you have the wooden one too.

metal turner: Flexy metal thing, it's great for shoving under stuck steak or chops to get them off pans. Great for stainless or iron, don't use on alu or nonstick.

Most of these are redundant. Just buy one you like best, or maybe two.

Poor Ass recipe of the day DON TIME BITCHES

Presentation of the day: symmetry

When you have many repeating elements in your food, try to organize them in some kind of symmetry or pattern if you can. The don already linked would look like ass if the steaks were just jumbled on.

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Tell me what improvements I can make to this guide! I hope that by episode 10 I won't be seeing any more cereal comments in these rewatches!

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I'm a huge fan of what are called fish spatulas, but really are great for everything. They're incredibly flexible, very thin, come in several different sizes.

This is my go-to size, but I have a larger and a smaller one as well.

http://www.amazon.com/MIU-France-Stainless-Slotted-11-Inch/dp/B000GGTYC8

I've played around with different utensils for a long time, but the most perfect spatula for cast iron is one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/MIU-France-Stainless-Slotted-11-Inch/dp/B000GGTYC8

They're very inexpensive new, but if you can find an old one in good condition that's even better.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000GGTYC8/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I highly recommend this.

I found one of these in the back of a kitchen drawer recently (I have NO idea where it came from), and I absolutely love it. It is slender enough to handle delicate things like pancakes or slipping under fried eggs, but it is tough enough to handle all the meats.