@akrennmair now I’m going to have to try brewing an 8° Czech pale lager. My 10° is just about to start lagering so I will know how that turned out after 42 or so days.
Starting a thread on the different types of tofu and how to cook them. (Some of these are vegan, some are not. In Chinese cooking, tofu is not a vegan protein):
Egg tofu
This is one of my fave tofus. It isn't vegan. It's made with soy beans AND eggs. It has a eggy taste that egg lovers will love; but that goes way entirely when it's panfried lightly.
@skinnylatte been watching this thread all day. Had amazing DouHua in Iilan, Taiwan last week. I remember a place in Singapore in Gaylang that was really good but it has been many many years since I’ve been to that shop.
Of course, had a few rounds of different styles of chodofu last week too.
No mention of Japanese goma dofu yet?
And Japanese misozuke fermented tofu is a great variation from all the various Chinese fermented tofu.
@skinnylatte I’ve had Japanese fermented tofu (dofuru) that was so like cheese that we had them with red wine. One of them was with grated yuzu and yet again a completely different taste experience. These were from Kyushu.
I have not had the chance to explore Korean variations of tofu but there must be many.
I don’t understand people who are like ‘what’s the point of decaf / nonalcoholic beer’
I feel like the point of those is, people who really like those food groups (coffee! Beer!) but can’t have the other thing (caffeine! Alcohol!) for health reasons, who will choose to consume like black coffee and hazy IPA ‘without the point’, solely for the taste, is the point :)
@skinnylatte no kidding. My wife cannot handle caffeine. One regular coffee in the morning and she can’t sleep that night. I get decaf green coffee beans and roast them at home. The flat whites I make for her are better than average normal coffees outside. Decaf beans go stale very quickly so roasting small amounts and using quickly makes all the difference.
Non-alcohol beer can be fantastic and it is getting better all the time. Massively growing segment and happily so.
@akrennmair definitely understand and agree with that. I don’t bother brewing NZ pale ale / IPA. Massive choice and quality for those, not to mention two award winning brewers 10 minutes from my house, and shelves full of those beers at the local grocery store.
@akrennmair I see White Labs will release dry WLP860. Lately my favorite lager yeast, and what I’m going to use in my next Vienna Lager. If I can get in dry form in NZ then I will switch to that instead of harvesting and managing liquid yeast.
I still have a love/hate relationship with WLP800, recently using WLP802 instead. Tempted to switch to Mangrove Jack M84 for my Czech beers and just be done with liquid yeasts for those also.
Only remaining - WLP810 for Anchor Steam. Maybe will try M54
@akrennmair that is concerning about your experiences with Mangrove Jacks. We also now have a local liquid yeast producer here in New Zealand, Froth Technologies. Just brewed a Czech Pale Lager with their Bohemian yeast, Budvar strain evidently, and it is approaching 30 days of lagering so I will be giving it a taste. Local, fresh and supporting a Kiwi business so if this brew turns out well I may use their yeast. They also have a German Lager yeast that I should try.
Apparently Cookie’s breed of dogs was bred to sleep on beds with kings (hence their name), which means she has a strong preference for all the soft things, together
Harvested my Wakatu hops today. Just enough for whirlpool in a Helles later this week. My Riwaka are way more productive and I should be able to pick these end of the week or on the weekend. Those will go into a Czech Pale Lager next week.
Both bines are first year but I bought more mature rhizomes so they took off like crazy. End of this coming winter I will dig and split the rhizomes a bit to get more bines next year.
@akrennmair Yes these are earlier than I expected. Was rubbing cones this morning and a few days ago. The Wakatu seem ready, and my fingers are sticky after picking them. The Riwaka aren’t ready yet. I’m also paranoid about the weather as last year I lost all my Smooth Cone hops to a cyclone. They were just about ready to pick, then after the cyclone all wind whipped and brown. Those aren’t ready yet this year. Climate up here north of Auckland is also a bit different from Nelson as you mention.
@akrennmair I get a Columbia Popayan decaf bean for my wife that I roast at home. It is as good as the other beans I use myself, and it is way better than what she can get outside at a cafe. I think a big problem is that the decaf at cafes are not fresh.
I was interested in going to the John Coltrane church in San Francisco coz I thought it would be fun, but after watching a video about them I’m concerned they are actually a cult. Everything is a damned cult here
@skinnylatte I went once when I lived in the Bay Area, probably late 90s, and they were, I think, over somewhere near Fillmore and Gough. It was an amazing, very moving experience. Don’t know anything about it being cultish.
@skinnylatte That does make sense and I can imagine it must be uncomfortable to be exposed to such in any form. As a Lutheran I kinda just go with the flow. Never intended to join their church but very respectfully attended a service and enjoyed the waves of Coltrane washing over me.
I usually do my yoga to A Love Supreme. When I was a kid I’m sure the pastor would have frowned some on yoga as some cultish thing and probably wouldn’t have understood Coltrane.
On Sunday, I received the news that my younger brother James Gurney passed away unexpectedly at the age of 27. James was immensely fun. The consummate performer - he loved people and he loved life. He also struggled with addiction and I am immensely proud of the fact that he had been in recovery and had made peace with himself and those around him. I wish I could have told him that before. Seems appropriate that today is All Souls when we remember those who have departed. Rest in Peace, Brother.
@seanbala Sean, my condolences. I also lost my younger brother too soon, and he also struggled with addiction. For us it was expected, but at the same time unexpected because you always hope for them to turn the corner, then you accept that somehow they’ve found peace.