Copypasta: Steamy Kitchen’s Steak Salting Experiment

Here’s a tip: thaw some meat in the fridge. Even if you don’t have any idea what to do with it. It forces you to figure out how to cook  it.

I mean look at this meat. Would you throw that away?

I know it’s nothing compared to what’s in the states, but this is the good stuff.

Tasty New Zealand beef. It’s what’s for dinner… Tonight anyways.

By the time it had thawed, I STILL hadn’t figured anything out.

Quickly thinking about anything I had been reading about steaks, I remembered an article from Steamy Kitchen’s Blog.

Knowing I was starting out with a less than “Gucci” steak this post really caught my attention.






So reading through the article, the miracle promised, is to come from salt. You liberally salt the meat. I agree with the use of Kosher/Seas salt instead of table salt. I disagree that I read “liberally” before I saw the chart with amount of  salt for your size of meat…

This is my take on a liberal salting. After I had this thing salted and resting, I saw the chart towards the bottom of the post that says to use only 1/2 tsp per side if it is less than 1” thick.. Oh Shi- I think the little pile of salt on the bottom left of the meat is 1/2 tsp.. Ok, you should not use this much salt. My bad. I will totally read through the post next time. Also, nowhere in the post does it say to rub the salt in…OOPS! Maybe in addition to reading the article on something I have NO experience in, I should follow the instructions properly…

The pictures in the post were very helpful to me. I too understand the difficulties of drawing with a touchpad.. but I could understand it and make it through with out scratching my head, so job well done I say!

Basically, salt makes meat soft. Read the post if you want more detail.

After it has finished resting wash it off very well and dry it even better. Very DRY!! Otherwise you would be steaming the meat. Besides making your meat soft, salt pulls water out of meat, so when you rinse it you pull water back into it (more or less). If you don’t dry it thoroughly, you will end up steaming your now soggy shi**y piece of meat.

Another tip. Don’t mistake salted butter for unsalted butter. I cooked this steak and the asparagus together in a pan with butter. So a “salt rub” (totally not on purpose) plus salted butter (aaagh!) <> good steak. The asparagus was PERFECTLY seasoned. Delicious! The meat was just too salty to be good.

  Really, it wasn’t terrible, but next time, I will pay attention and read. When you royally mess up a recipe, you will never make that mistake again.. It actually looked pretty good too.

My newest vice… Black Coffee in a Baggie!

 

Yes, it’s arrived. The time has come when I desire something more than just plain water. This deep, dark blob of coffee in a little sack, or as I call it, “Ice Coffee, baw sai nom, baw sai nam tahn.”

 

I still haven’t figured out why togo drinks are given in plastic baggies. Someone theorized that it makes it easier to carry when riding the motorbike. If anyone has any other theories, please feel free to share them with me.

 

The flavor of this coffee reminds me of a nice, smooth dark beer. Most good dark beers have hints of chocolate, coffee, and molasses.

 

 

I finally found someone to take a photo of me doing something instead of me on the food all the time. I know I am a bit on the fuzzy side but doesn’t that just complete my nerd look? I mean, honestly, I have my thumb drive on my neck (With the Harry Potter movies and my blogging tools..) the polo, and the big glasses. Wait, where’s my pocket protector? Pshh! Didn’t you know the thumb drive is the new pocket protector?!

 

Getting back to the coffee itself, I never thought I would enjoy the taste of completely black coffee. This stuff is as black as it gets. I haven’t mentioned it before, but I gave up sugar in drinks after a meditation retreat in Ukraine. We weren’t allowed any sugar in our drinks or food and the same for salt. Somehow the salt kept making it to out table each meal, but that sugar was never to be found. By the end of the week, I had no need of it in my green tea. When I came back, I think my taste buds were having this new revelation; I was tasting things in a way I hadn’t considered before.

View Larger Map

 

The place I get my Coffee is a small restaurant called Just for Fun.. It is just to the south of That Dam, across the street from the wine house. I will feature them soon. I want to include their kitchen this time, so I am getting to know the owner.

Please bear with me while I am sorting out the map feature.

The Cinnamon Lounge, AKA I Got What I Deserved

I've been very excited to eat at the restaurant featured here today, The Cinnamon Lounge.


Back when I first arrived in Laos, I stayed in a hotel and while some people get fancy company vehicles, I walked everywhere.


Now, the Internet is terrible at communicating tone, so let me clarify.


I honestly enjoy walking! I get to find all of the hidden gems that you just can't get to with a car. Even if you could, those in cars often miss the corner treats and deals (steals?) that I love the most. Clear enough for ya?


I seem to have steered far away from actually talking about this restaurant. Let me get us back to where we should be.


Along the main road, right next to a French restaurant, (La something maybe. It's always La something..) sits this creative looking little food place. I'd walk by this place nearly everyday. When I'd notice it, I'd either be not hungry or too busy to stop and look.


I wonder if other people overlook this place as much as I have?


Well, I've made it here, so now what?


I go in and am welcomed by an expat employee (manager/owner?) , which is normally a good sign.


I sit down, and right in the middle of the table is a nice full cup of cinnamon. I think it would have been a great addition to the ambiance if it had been fresher. The cinnamon oil (and smell) had dried up a long time ago.


The menu was pretty all over the place. There is no theme that I could identify, (unless that was the idea) but if the food is good, I can forgive. (I know absolutely zero about menu themes. That is best left to professionals.)


The dishes ranged from Sri Lankan and Thai, to Mexican and Spanish (wait, what?!) with nice sounding names. (Deviled Chicken in the Sri Lankan side HAD to be tried)


I hadn't had Mexican or Spanish food in a while and decided to look at what could be had from that corner of the world. (Yes, I know that I am contemplating Mexican food at a Lao restaurant...) Unsurprisingly, the dishes were nearly identical; burrito and enchiladas or similar in both the Mexican and Spanish side. The only difference I could gather (from the menu) was the order that the ingredients were listed in...


As it would all be pretty much the same, I decided to enlist the aid of our expat host to determine which order of ingredients would make a better dish. A quick sideways glance returned to us with an uneasy, "Enchilada." The deviled chicken from the Sri Lankan side would also make an appearance.


After a bit of a wait, our food arrived. As you can see, my enchilada was very nice to look at. I can't say the same for the deviled chicken. It looked, "OK."


The flavor is where, as I mentioned in the title, I get what I deserve.


I did not enjoy the enchilada. I ate a few more bites than I probably should have, given my distaste for it, but I was crazy hungry! To be honest, the smell reminded me of an unclean person, and the taste was just all wrong. Spices were mixed together all willy nilly and was more in the style of Indian than Mexican. Not in a good way...


The deviled chicken, to me, was not quite right either. I can't put my finger on it, but it was just off. (I learned my lesson from the enchilada, "If it smells bad and tastes bad, don't keep eating to figure out what the bad taste is.")


I will point out, the staff was EXTREMELY attentive, but that could have been because I was at the only occupied table, on a Sunday. (Places usually close pretty early here, even earlier on Sundays)


This is my first review of a restaurant where I didn't find anything I liked. Having never written a negative review, I wasn't too sure how to approach this.


Better to tell the truth and leave room for improvement, than to smooth over the bad and lead people in blindly. That'll do.


Yes, this was a negative review. I did not enjoy the food here. I WILL be returning to the restaurant. I love returning when everything is perfect and the food is wonderful. However, it would be totally unfair to the restaurant and to myself (readers too) to just give it a bad review and never return.


The menu was quite extensive, and there will be plenty of opportunities to try many of the other dishes. Maybe something a little more close to home, Thai perhaps?


Let me bottom line this. I went to a restaurant in Laos, and requested Mexican food prepared by locals. I ASKED for and got what I deserved.

Rashmis… AGAIN. I LOVE this place!!!!

So, I’ve taken a mini-break from blogging. A lot of things have been going on. Good things!! I started working. Between the new job and classes, there has been little time for blogging. It has also been getting harder and harder to find good lighting.

 

There is one restaurant that I am guaranteed to find the best natural diffused lighting ever. If you read the title, then you already know which restaurant I am talking about… It’s RASHMIS!!

 

I have never had bad food here. The service is impeccable, the food delicious, and my water glass, always full.

 

Every time I eat here, I try something new. I have never been let down.

 

Above is naan bread with mint and cottage cheese. MMMM! Even more delicious than it sounds.

 

This dish is called triple fried rice. My goal was to determine how it could be “triple-fried.” Here’s what I’ve come up with: 1. Fried Rice 2. The chicken inside was lightly battered and fried 3. I think it’s the egg on top. It’s not a traditional fried egg, but it was technically fried, so I’m goin with it.

 

Yes, there is rice under there. It was some of the best fried rice I’ve ever had.

 

mmm! Daal.

I love how this shot illustrates how good the lighting is here.

Also, this daal was DELICIOUS!!

Delicious Fried Fish @ Kop Chai Deu Restaurant

OH. WOW!!

 

When I was a kid, I never liked fish. Detested really. I never knew why.

 

Recently, I have developed a great taste for fish and other seafood, thanks in large part to a great food friend of mine. Thanks!

 

If I were to rate fish, this would definitely be on my top five.

 

It is fried, but not heavily battered like you would see on the the deep south… (Fried catfish, anyone?) It doesn’t even seem like it has been battered, more like a yummy crisp crust.

 

It sits on a bed of fried seaweed (Nori?) and roasted (Or fried) lemongrass. Again, wow, just Wow!

 

Spray the lime juice all over and it’s just FABULOUS!

Blue Bananas

MMM!! This Bar/Restaurant is located on Sansenthai, across from the LaoParis Hotel.

 

I went to lunch here for nearly a week straight. Yes, the food is that good! This is the only photo that really turned out well enough to post. All that means is that I have to go for another week!!

 

I’d heard that this was a popular locale with expats, and I know if expats frequent a place, it must be good.

 

I ate a really delicious chicken biryani. In my opinion, some artistic license has been taken with the dish, but not in a bad way.

 

Differing from other biryanis, this dish had some sort of hard gel cubes (if anyone knows a more fitting name, please tell me), crispy onion strips, and came with a very thin mint and yogurt sauce. Lots of turmeric was used, making this look like some sort of cheesy rice dish.

 

Now, I know I didn’t set it up well, the flavor of this dish was just YUM!

 

Why would I come back, really, if the food was bad? (Ok, don’t answer that…)

Candied Goodies Galore!!

 
Walking around in search of lunch, I found a woman selling some candied foods from a cart.

I walked past it thinking I should eat before buying sweets. In retrospect I should have eaten first then doubled back for some of these.

I asked the lady for about a fist sized portion of the pink ones. By ask, I of course mean pointed at the candy, then at my fist.

She grumbled something I couldn’t have any hope of understanding and proceeded to fill the bag with pink candies. After it was mostly full she started to fill it with the other colors and varieties available.

I ended up getting about a quart or two worth of candies for ₭5000 or about 60 US cents.

The pink stuff is candied coconut! The green and white are also candied coconut, but the pink and green ones have a delicate extra flavor I can’t quite identify.

The yellow one in the middle is candied galangal. Candied galangal and candied ginger taste relatively the same but galangal is still a bit stronger. In a good way.

There were three others she put in my bag that I have yet to identify. I have this sneaking suspicion that one is durian.

I know the colors seem unreal, but they are real and accurate. People who know my camera, know that it captures honest, excellent colors.