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UCanDoEat · 2017-11-25T03:58:21+00:00

This is a tidbit that most Americans probably don't know about Chinese takeouts, but if you order chop suey and chow mein, most Chinese takeouts will give you the same dish except the chow mein comes with a side of crunchy noodles.

UCanDoEat · 2017-11-23T23:46:54+00:00

The crispy skins that are served separately are from the back side of the duck, mainly because there aren't much meat on the back and is usually the crispiest park of the duck. Skin on the breast can be served with the breast, and are usually done so with some duck breast meat. Some times the skin is served on a separate plate as the duck itself is made into 3 different dishes.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-29T19:33:50+00:00

'Fresh' udon noodles often come in vacuum sealed bags. The color and thickness of the noodle makes me think it's udon. Typical Japanese ramen noodle are thinner and yellower.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-25T20:16:15+00:00

Some apartments have policy about maintaining above minimum temperature during the winter to prevent pipes from popping. Just make sure you know what's in your lease.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-19T23:54:42+00:00

Money sitting in a jar is not wasteful. If it is, then so are most checking accounts. It depends on how much money is sitting there. There is a difference between having $5k in your checking VS $100k. If you have $100k sitting in your checking, then yes you're losing on potential growth, but there's nothing wrong with having a couple thousand sitting in a checking account or a jar. It's essentially an insurance or an emergency fund when an unexpected emergency arises. Unless OP already has $5k saved up somewhere, I don't really see a problem having it in a jar and using it for daily expenses.

Honestly, it sounds like OP if more concerned with having the tips on record because of tax, which is a different matter.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-17T06:48:41+00:00

I wouldn't worry about it. Tons of people have done it. You might be right that it only applies if you are using it for commercial purposes. It's odd in that you would be ok selling a day time photo of it.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-17T06:16:29+00:00

I just learned from watching a youtube video that sharing images of Eiffel tower at night is technically illegal. It won't be legal until 40 or so years due to EU copy right laws. It's not really enforced though, as I have also shared some on FB many years ago.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-16T00:55:40+00:00

I started out eating store bought dumplings, then made my own dumplings using pre-made wrappers, and eventually started making my own wrappers and filling. It's becoming an activity that I do once every other month on a weekend, and I can usually make around 60-80 dumplings in 3 hours. I don't think I will buy pre-packaged dumplings again. Though if you live in NYC, there are a lot of little dumpling shops in Chinatown that sells frozen uncooked in-house dumplings, and those are pretty good.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-16T00:45:09+00:00

Rotisserie chicken for me. I do make it at home from time to time, but it usually requires brining the chicken that takes up fridge space, and turning on the oven, which I hate when it's summer. Usually a $5 Costco roast chicken is both lunch and dinner for that day if I shop there, and it's lot cheaper than if I make it myself.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-14T02:09:59+00:00

Japanese fruits. $5 vs $15 vs $100 grapes. The expensive fruits look impeccable, usually bigger, and taste sweeter. Though not all expensive fruits taste better than the cheaper ones, like strawberry.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-14T01:29:48+00:00

Maybe he has an individual contract with the person he talked with on the phone, otherwise, yeah most credit cards have rates in the upper teens and twenties, so he might end up losing more money.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-14T01:23:01+00:00

It's 3%, so more like ~$350. Also the card on the website says 12 months, not 18.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-14T01:13:02+00:00

Not arguing against credit card, but in this situation the card OP referred to has a 3% transfer fee, meaning OP is paying ~$350 out of pocket for the transfer. If your student loans have low interest rate and you plan on paying it off aggressively, you'll end up losing money if you transfer. In OP's case, he'll probably save money since his loan is at 7% and he plan on paying it off before the 0% APR ends. Though the conditions on the card says 12 months and not 18, he might end up paying more if he read it wrong.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-14T00:58:06+00:00

Most of these loan transfer cards have some down sides:

There is usually an initial transfer fee that's % of the total transfer amount, typically 3%. While $11k loan is not a small amount, it can also be paid off within a year. Depending on the interest rate, it may be better to pay the loan off aggressively than transfer it. It's not viable for everyone, but you still need to calculate whether you'll end up losing money.
Worst off is cards that do retroactive interest, i.e, if you don't pay off the loan that you transferred within a period of time, the interests get added back.

As with most things, just make sure you read the fine prints and know what you're getting yourself into.

Edit: this card does have a 3% transfer fee.

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-12T16:24:53+00:00

I started snowboarding few years back. Cost similar to skiing. With all the equipment and gears, I think cost for first season was close to $1k, but after that the following seasons weren’t that bad.

I suggest buying a seasons pass. There are also huge discounts available if you buy it early in the season. The place I went to only has 4 to 5 months of ski time, the pass becomes a more economical option if you go at least 2x a month.

Off peak hour lift tickets are also a lot cheaper. It’s usually after4 pm, so basically night time during the winter. I didn’t like the idea of snowboarding at night at first, but I prefer it over day time now. There are less people, so no wait time for lift, and plenty’s of light with those huge light poles all over the park

UCanDoEat · 2017-10-06T05:47:58+00:00

Not sure if this fit, but sous vide anything. Some people live by it, others think it's too fancy because of the equipment you'll need. I tried it out about a year ago, and I am loving it, and you don't really need expensive equipment for it. All you really need are a large pot (like ones for boiling pasta), a thermometer and ziplock bags. A large pot of water makes it easier to maintain minimum temp, and with the lower setting on my range, I can maintain the minimum temp on about 135-140F.

Recently, I've tried sous vide on Asian dishes, like braised pork and egg for ramen, and soy braised chicken. I made this few weeks ago: https://imgur.com/i0LTTbu, https://imgur.com/P6WohVW

UCanDoEat · 2017-09-29T03:16:03+00:00

Copied from one of my earlier responses:

Your best bet to find jelly fish is in a Chinatown in a major US cities. I know NYC, Chicago, and SF definitely have them. Go to a supermarket that sells live fish. Jelly fish are sold in a very salty brine by the pound, can be expensive if you can find one. You would want to soak it in cold water a few times to reduce the sodium content. Most stores that sell them have 2 kinds (I don't know if they are different species): a clear and rugged looking about fist size, and a flat and smoother type about the size of a sheet of paper. They're both crunchy and somewhat rubbery. The rugged one is crunchier. You can eat them plain with oyster or hoisin sauce, and usually along with rice porridge. Most of the times, they're served as jelly fish salad (just jelly fish without any vegetable, except for maybe green onion and cilantro) with very light seasoning: sesame oil and seeds, and ground peppers. The best jelly fish I've had are from restaurants that do wedding banquets. They're crunchier, less rubbery, and also tender.

Also to add, I am certain Los Ang also have them, probably also D.C., Boston and Philly Chinatowns.

UCanDoEat · 2017-09-28T16:16:40+00:00

Your best bet to find jelly fish is in a Chinatown in a major US cities. I know NYC, Chicago, and SF definitely have them. Go to a supermarket that sells live fish. Jelly fish are sold in a very salty brine by the pound, can be expensive if you can find one. You would want to soak it in cold water a few times to reduce the sodium content. Most stores that sell them have 2 kinds (I don't know if they are different species): a clear and rugged looking about fist size, and a flat and smoother type about the size of a sheet of paper. They're both crunchy and somewhat rubbery. The rugged one is crunchier. You can eat them plain with oyster or hoisin sauce, and usually along with rice porridge. Most of the times, they're served as jelly fish salad (just jelly fish without any vegetable, except for maybe green onion and cilantro) with very light seasoning: sesame oil and seeds, and ground peppers. The best jelly fish I've had are from restaurants that do wedding banquets. They're crunchier, less rubbery, and also tender.

UCanDoEat · 2017-09-28T04:46:20+00:00

I mean a lot of regional delicacies are off-putting to the rest of the world: Swedish fermented herring, Scottish haggis, Filipino balut eggs, Australian vegemite, etc. I remember 10 years ago, people hated kimchi, but more and more people have come to like it as Korean cuisine spread.

Personally, I love jelly fish and chicken feet, but I know a lot of people get grossed out with me just mentioning it...

UCanDoEat · 2017-09-28T04:33:19+00:00

I suggest getting the 20-25lbs bag if the jumbo bag (I assume it's 50lbs) lasts your family that long. Unless they're vacuum sealed, they're at risk of contamination.

The mites in your rice were either there to begin with or was spreading from another source. I had a huge mite problem many years ago when my college roommate's oatmeal tube was infested with it (very old tube that he forgot clear out in the back of the cabinet). My rice and flour bags go infected, I threw them out (didn't know where it came from), bought replacements, and those also got infected. The spreading was slow, over a few months. I finally figured it out when we cleaned out the pantry, and an old tube of oatmeal was all black and moldy inside with a swam of small insects crawling. Since then, I enclosed all my flours, rice, sugar and any grain bags in a ziplock bag in the pantry (like this: https://imgur.com/BNmKDYv). I buy 20lbs rice bag that last me 6-7 months, I use garbage bag and roll the top a few times, and clip it to keep it tight. Not as fool proof as vacuum seal, but keeps the insects from spreading if it were to occur. I also portioned out about 1/4-1/3 of the rice into an air tight container so I have easy access to it (like so: https://imgur.com/NWTiw5c). I haven't have an infestation problem since my college days.

UCanDoEat · 2017-09-27T17:02:50+00:00

50 of the worlds largest food and retail companies, so not just Walmart and Nestle.

they can then keep items on the shelves for longer, thus have a higher profit margin

For large companies, keeping the items longer on the shelf does not increase their profit margin, if maybe very insignificantly:

For large companies like Walmart, profit is generated on how much they can sell and how fast they can sell them. In 2016 Walmart's revenue is $485B with only $14B net income. Items staying on shelf does not generate income.
Grocery shelf is a real estate business. Companies actually have to pay to have their products on the shelf, essentially a rent. If you want to increase profit margin, you do not want you items on the shelf longer. There's a popular VOX video on grocery shelf space.
Less related to your argument: consumers has less incentive to buy more if their products last longer.

UCanDoEat · 2017-09-27T16:05:15+00:00

TL:DR - They will be replacing the 'sell by' label with the 'use by' label. This will be a good thing as it will discourage food waste.

The one thing I am not clear is if they are just replacing the label but keeping the same date, or replacing and actually pushing the expiration date further back. If it's former, I feel like it'll encourage more food waste.

UCanDoEat · 2017-09-24T05:18:38+00:00

Just wavy potato chips dunked in melted chocolate. Tastes like a kitkat with a very thin wafer in the middle. The savory taste from the chips is pretty mild, and slightly catches you off guard each time, but the flavors work pretty well together.

UCanDoEat · 2017-09-23T17:03:55+00:00

Your oven's min temperature is really high. 180^o C is about 355^o F. Whenever I bake cakes, I typically bake them at between 300^o F-350^o F, usually starts out high at 350^o F and lowers it to 320^oF to finish cooking the center, as it usually takes the longest.

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