Sesame oil is extracted from sesame seeds and comes in two varieties.
Light-colored nutty sesame oil is popular in Southern India and works in salad dressings or as a frying oil with a high smoke point. Dark toasted sesame oil is pungent in flavor and frequently used in Asian dishes. A few drops add dramatic flavor to marinades, soups, noodle dishes, dressings and other preparations.
Sesame oil can also be used to lubricate the skin, as it penetrates quickly. Sesame seeds are one of the most ancient crops cultivated for oil.
What is rice wine and how is it different from rice wine vinegar?
What is rice wine and how is it different from rice wine vinegar?
Rice wine is sweet cooking or drinking wine made from fermented rice, such as Chinese Shaoxing and Japanese mirin and sake.
Made from fermented rice -- or in some cases, the dregs of rice wine -- Chinese and Japanese rice "wine" vinegars have a milder, sweeter taste than Western-made vinegars. Even those rice vinegars made from rice may be labeled "rice wine vinegar." Just remember to look for the word "vinegar" when telling rice wine and rice vinegar apart.
Chinese rice vinegar includes the pale variety used in sweet-and-sour dishes; red vinegar made from red yeast rice; and the smoky black vinegar popular in Southern China and used as a condiment. Japanese rice vinegar is pale yellow and is used to flavor sushi rice (with the addition of salt and sugar) and salads. Koreans and Indians also make and use rice wine vinegar.
How to make Thai cucumber salad
How to make Thai cucumber salad
Looking for something different to bring to a summer cookout? Well, look no further. Try bringing this Thai cucumber salad. To make it, just follow the directions outlined in this video by Handmade TV.
Side by side, they might fool you: cucumbers and zucchinis share the same dark green skin, pale seedy flesh, and long cylindrical shape. To the touch, however, these near-twins are not the same: cucumbers are cold and waxy, while zucchinis are rough and dry.
The two vegetables also perform very differently when cooked. Cucumbers wilt but maintain a slight crunch when heated. Zucchinis soften, sweeten and brown on the stove top or in the oven. Eaten raw, cucumbers are juicy, cool and crisp. Raw zucchini is heartier, a little sweet and a little bitter. As a general rule, we prefer cucumbers raw and zucchini cooked. (There are many exceptions to this rule.)
While you can’t replace one with the other, zucchinis and cucumbers do complement one another. Slice two cucumbers, two zucchinis and one sweet onion, and soak them all in rice vinegar for at least an hour in the refrigerator. Serve as a cooling side dish alongside something spicy or layer a few slices on top of a burger or sandwich.
Recipe: Cucumber, Carrot And Radish Salad With Creamy Avocado Dressing (Cookthink)
Recipe: Couscous With Raisins, Zucchini and Feta (Cookthink)
Reference: How to seed a cucumber (Cookthink)
Reference: What is raita? (Cookthink)
The Scoville scale measures the hotness of a pepper.
A "Scoville Unit" is actually a measure of capsaicin, the chemical that makes a hot pepper hot. Most capsaicin is found in the ribs and seeds of a pepper, which is why seeding a pepper makes it's heat less potent.
You might have noticed a Scoville rating on your bottle of hot sauce. Original Tabasco has a rating of 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units. The hottest readily available peppers, Scotch Bonnet and habaneros, share a rating of 100,000–350,000. India's Bhut Jolokia pepper is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest known pepper. It measures 1,000,000 heat units. (Pepper spray weapons hit 5,300,000 units.)
The rating of a bell pepper? Zero -- no heat from this pepper.
Reference: Habanero vs. serrano vs. jalapeño
Reference: How to dice a jalapeño
Reference: Help! I ate a hot pepper!
(image courtey of wikipedia)
