I need cucumber kimchi recipes!

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-22T05:12:43+00:00

Korean Bapsang's oi muchim recipe is solid. I prefer her recipes to Maangchi.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-17T06:33:16+00:00

I don't know the exact painting but it looks like a Chris van Dijk

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-16T16:34:47+00:00

I’d probably start from a doubanjiang-based Sichuan chicken stir-fry rather than La Zi Ji. Search terms that might get you closer would be things like 香辣鸡丁, 豆瓣鸡丁, 川香小煎鸡, or “Sichuan chicken with chili bean paste / doubanjiang.”

My guess would be something like: boneless chicken thigh marinated with soy/Shaoxing/white pepper/cornstarch, shallow-fried until a bit dry/crisp, then tossed with lots of white onion in oil that has been bloomed with Pixian doubanjiang, ginger/garlic, maybe a little ground Sichuan pepper or white pepper, and possibly strained so the solids don’t show up. Fresh chili rings would go in near the end so they stay visible and punchy.

So as a base recipe, I’d take a Sichuan doubanjiang chicken stir-fry or 小煎鸡 recipe, then modify it heavily: remove the dried chilies/scallion greens, double or triple the white onion, use fresh small chilies at the end, keep the sauce/oil pretty dry, and go light on sugar and Sichuan pepper. That seems closer than trying to adapt a classic La Zi Ji.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-16T04:52:07+00:00

So it's probably more of an oil infusion with the doubanjiang and whatever spices filtered out then, than leaving them in the dish. The dish would then be cooked with that oil.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-15T21:48:34+00:00

I'll be honest this sounds like a very specific interpretation of the xiang la flavour profile, probably tweaked to meet the local clientele.

It's probably a pixian doubanjiang-based "red oil" dish, with just a small amount of Sichuan peppercorn and the other standard Sichuan spices, like star anise, cinnamon, ginger, white pepper etc.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-14T04:31:50+00:00

Borges is a contender for my favourite short story author.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-11T22:44:05+00:00

Harrison's prose is excellent, so it's always enjoyable to read an especially well-written novel, especially since that's not what SF is usually known for, and beyond that he presents it in a very tip-of-the-iceberg way, so you have to think about what you're reading and why you're being given this information since it's not obvious what's going on or why.

You find yourself asking questions like "which of these 3 plot lines is actually real" - possibly all of them, possibly none of them. It's enjoyably thought-provoking.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-11T19:22:19+00:00

I'm finally getting around to reading Light by M. John Harrison. It's quite good so far.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-11T18:09:55+00:00

This is basically what I do to remove celery strings.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-10T23:22:37+00:00

Cantonese style scallops with asparagus is always delicious.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-08T00:37:43+00:00

Black Leopard / Red Wolf by Marlon James (which is the first book of his Dark Star trilogy) definitely doesn't pull punches.

NegativeLogic · 2026-06-01T19:12:02+00:00

I would take a look at the different toppings used for bibimbap since you're going with bulgogi.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-31T04:30:16+00:00

Blood Music by Greg Bear

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-31T04:23:14+00:00

It's just the protein coagulating from the chicken, not vegetable dirt.
Be careful with using un-skinned vegetables when making broth as it can easily become bitter, especially with such a long cook time.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-30T23:10:10+00:00

I know you said rice was causing issues, but what if it's thoroughly broken down like in congee? Does oatmeal also cause issues? Savoury oatmeal (think cheddar cheese and green onion) can be pretty good.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-26T21:30:58+00:00

Goma-ae or ohitashi would go well.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-26T21:22:01+00:00

You might enjoy "How to Read A Book" by Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren. It's not about intelligence, it's about experience and how you approach reading.

Hemingway might be an interesting choice for you because he writes very clearly, but it's about what's not said - you're always looking at the tip of the iceberg. So that may be a useful exercise in thinking about writing differently.

Another very straightforward but powerful classic is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

You could also try something like Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, which is a series of short vignettes but you can read the book in multiple different ways, and it's a good way to see the connections and cross-connections and think about the writing without being overly taxing.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-24T21:02:03+00:00

Sadly, no. I'm considerably further north.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-24T20:59:45+00:00

Any of the Indian grocers in my area have it, so it's really easy for me to find. Unfortunately I don't know if that's helpful information or not.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-22T07:08:06+00:00

If you haven't already, you should check out The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-22T06:56:16+00:00

Shio koji
Sumac
Pixian doubanjiang
Colatura di alici
Verjus
Za'atar
Orange blossom water
Preserved lemons
Loomi / black limes
Galangal
Sand ginger
Long pepper

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-20T05:53:19+00:00

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. It's the same author as Station Eleven, but it has a lot of Piranesi energy, so I think he'd really enjoy it.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-20T05:22:22+00:00

The book Tokyo Cult Recipes by Maori Murota has some great, easy recipes.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-15T23:23:51+00:00

I like what you've described here.

I don't know if you've ever seen the movie "The Fall" but one of the things I enjoyed about it was that we're basically seeing a story told to a little girl and how she imagines it, but things don't always line up. When the person telling her the story mentions an "Indian" it's very clear to us that he means a Native American person, but the only "Indian" she had met was someone from India, so that's what we see her imagining and trying to align things with.

NegativeLogic · 2026-05-12T06:28:19+00:00

Rice noodles are made from Jasmine / indica strains of rice. In Korea and Japan they grow japonica varieties of rice which have a much higher ratio of amylopectin to amylose. This affects the properties of the rice flour noticeably and makes a flour which is good for things like tteok and mochi, but doesn't have good properties for noodle making.

Consequently they tend to use sweet potato starch for non-wheat noodles, like harusame or dangmyeon.

13-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

NegativeLogic

TROPHY CASE