From "Essentials of the Chinese Kitchen": ASIAN COLESLAW WITH TANGY RICE VINEGAR DRESSING Serves 8 Ingredients 4 cups shredded Napa cabbage 1/2 cup shredded carrot 2 stalks bok choy, with leaves 1/2 - 2 cups mung bean sprouts 2 tsp vegetable oil 1/4 cup rice vinegar 3/4 tsp sesame seed oil Garnish (optional): 2 tsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves, or as desired 1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds Directions Wash the vegetables and drain thoroughly. Shred the cabbage and carrots. Separate the bok choy stalks and leaves. Cut the stalks diagonally and cut the leaves straight across. Toss the shredded cabbage, carrots, bok choy and mung bean sprouts in a large bowl. Set aside. Stir the oil into the rice vinegar. Stir in the sesame seed oil. Place the dressing in the bottom of a bowl, add the vegetables and toss again. Add the cilantro, if using, and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top. MU SHU PORK Serves 6 Ingredients 2 oz dried lily buds 4 to 6 medium cloud ears (mushrooms) 4 medium dried black mushrooms For the Filling: 2-1/2 Tbs vegetable oil (preferably peanut oil) 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger 1/2 lb boneless lean pork, cut into VERY thin slices, 1-inch long by 1/4-inch wide 4 cups finely shredded cabbage, (about 1/2 pound) 1 small carrot, cut into 1-inch slivers 2 stalks green onions(including tops), cut into 1-inch slivers 1/2 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth) 2 Tbs soy sauce 1 Tbs dry sherry or mirin 1-1/2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water For assembling the dish: 16 mu shu pancakes (or very thin flour tortillas) 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce Directions Soak lily buds, cloud ears and mushrooms separately in enough warm water to cover, for 30 minutes; drain. Cut off hard, knobby end of lily buds. Cut off and discard mushroom stems; thinly slice caps. Set lily buds, cloud ears, and mushrooms aside. Place a wok or wide frying pan with a nonstick finish over medium-high heat until hot. Add 1-1/2 teaspoons of the oil, swirling to coat sides. Pour in half the eggs, tilting pan to coat bottom evenly. Cook just until eggs are set and feel dry on top. Remove from pan and let cool slightly while cooking remaining eggs. Cut into thin 1-inch-long strips and set aside. Place pan over high heat until hot. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil, swirling to coat sides. Add garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add pork; stir-fry for about 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Add lily buds, cloud ears, mushrooms, cabbage, carrot, green onions, and broth. Cook and toss for 2 minutes. Stir in soy sauce, sherry, and sesame oil; mix well. Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens. Toss in egg strips and mix well. Meanwhile, place pancakes in a heatproof dish. Set dish in a steamer or on a rack in a wok. Cover and steam over boiling water for 5 minutes or until heated through. To serve, spread a small amount of hoisin sauce on each pancake. Place about 3 tablespoons of meat-vegetable mixture in center of pancake. Wrap like a burrito or diaper. Serve warm. CABBAGE ROLLS Serves 4 Ingredients 8 large Napa cabbage leaves 3/4 lb ground pork 4 medium shiitake mushrooms 1/2 medium onion 1 medium carrot 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups chicken broth 1 Tbs soy sauce Directions Wash cabbage leaves and steam or boil them to just soften. Mince shiitake mushrooms, carrot, and onion. Mix ground pork, shiitake, carrot, and onion in a bowl. Add salt and mix further. Divide the pork mixture into 8 portions. Put one portion of pork mixture on a cabbage leaf and roll it. Put chicken broth and soy sauce in a deep pan and place cabbage rolls in the pan. Simmer the cabbage rolls on low heat until meat is cooked. MU SHU VEGETABLES Makes 6 servings Ingredients 3 Tbs soy sauce 2 Tbs dry sherry or sweet rice wine 2 tsp cornstarch 1-1/2 Tbs minced fresh ginger 3 cloves garlic, minced 1-1/2 tsp sesame oil 1 Tbs vegetable oil 3 medium leeks, washed and cut into 2-inch slivers 3 medium carrots, peeled and julienned 1 cup thinly sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms 1 small head Napa or Savoy cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups) 2 cups mung bean sprouts, rinsed and drained 8 ounces firm tofu, drained and cut into 2-1/2 X 1/4-inch strips 12 8-inch flour tortillas (thinnest possible), warmed* 3/4 cup finely chopped honey roasted peanuts (optional) Directions Prepare Peanut Sauce (as below); set aside. Combine soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, ginger, garlic and sesame oil in small bowl until smooth; set aside. Heat wok over medium-high heat 1 minute or until hot. Drizzle oil into wok and heat 30 seconds. Add leeks, carrots and mushrooms; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add cabbage; stir-fry 3 minutes or until just tender. Add bean sprouts and tofu; stir-fry 1 minute or until hot. Stir soy sauce mixture; add to wok. Cook and stir 1 minute or until sauce is thickened. If desired, spread each tortilla with about 1 teaspoon Peanut Sauce (recipe follows). Or, to be authentic, use Hoisin sauce. Spoon 1/2 cup vegetable mixture onto bottom half of each tortilla Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon peanuts (optional). Fold bottom edge of tortilla over filling; fold in side edges. Roll up to completely enclose filling. Or, spoon 1/2 cup vegetable mixture onto one half of tortilla. Fold bottom edge over filling. Fold in one side edge. Serve with extra Peanut Sauce. Peanut Sauce Makes 2/3 cup Ingredients 3 Tbs sugar 3 Tbs dry sherry or sweet rice wine 3 Tbs light soy sauce 3 Tbs water 2 tsp white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter Directions Combine all ingredients except peanut butter in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute or until sugar melts. Stir in peanut butter until smooth; cool to room temperature. CHINESE CABBAGE AND MUSHROOMS Serves 4 Ingredients 1 lb Chinese cabbage, cut into 1 x 2-inch pieces 3 whole dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in 1/2 cup hot water, drained and sliced (save the mushroom water) 4 Tbs peanut oil 1/2 tsp salt 2 Tbs soy sauce 1 tsp sugar Directions Heat the wok, add the oil and the salt. Add the mushrooms and toss for one minute. Add the Chinese cabbage and stir fry for two minutes. Add the soy sauce, sugar and the mushroom water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes over moderate heat. There should be very little liquid left. If there is too much, boil over high heat until the liquid is reduced. Joe

Dr. Besser's advice really only works for surface arsenic. If the arsenic is the inorganic type drawn up from soil or groundwater contamination, rinsing will NOT work very well. In fact, Consumer Reports recommends cooking 1 cup of rice in 6 cups of water, and pouring off the excess! Rinsing very well, and cooking the rice in extra water and dumping the excess (which unfortunately puts it right back into the environment one way or another), removes at most, about 30% of the arsenic. Things that can help: Sulfur helps eliminate arsenic from the body, so eat foods high in sulfur, such as eggs, beans, legumes and garlic. Eat plenty of fiber every day. Garlic, pectin, selenium, L-Cysteine and L-Methionine, Vitamin C, and Superoxide dismutase (SOD) are all good detoxifiers. Be sure to read up on recommended allowances; some of these are mildly toxic in very large quantities. Have a hair analysis done if you suspect arsenic toxicity. Here is a link that might be useful: Boston NPR: 5 Things You Need To Know About Arsenic In Rice

Do you have a t&t trick for tender squid? I've tried soaking in milk. A lemony marinade... tender but overpowering citrus. Wanted to make an insalada misto (sp) a few weeks ago. It was good since the other seafood was not soaked in the lemon dressing, just tossed at the end before serving. Then i read this... "...as a general rule, cook squid for less than a minute or more than 20 minutes." Maybe searing or grilling. No more squid this year but would love a better way for next summer. (no sous viddy here, just the wood fired cookstove : ) Used for bait here so would like to share a great non-fried seafood salad. One minute in boiling water first? Here is a link that might be useful: tender squid

I like mine a little different than a lot of people. First, I do not want it shredded. Not looking for fried coleslaw, I want fried cabbage. Take a head of cabbage, remove the outer leaves that are often tough/bad, core it and rough chop it to about 1"-1.5" or even upward of 2". It shrinks and wilts while cooking so this leaves a good sized chunk to eat so it's not like eating spaghetti. Give it a 10-15 min soak in some water with quite a bit of vinegar in it. This helps kill the metallic taste that cabbage often has. Cook some bacon, as much as you want. Get it done but not too crisp, although if some gets a little crisp I keep it as a garnish if I don't eat it while cooking. Dice an onion (I don't like large chunks of onion, saute slightly in the bacon fat. I add sausage and it can be a breakfast sausage cooked with the bacon but I usually cook it separately to control the grease. I used to just use Jimmy Dean but lately it's nowhere as lean as it used to be, that stuff has become greasy but still tastes pretty good. The other option is a good smoked sausage sliced into "coins" and browned well. You can use the smoked sausage with the breakfast sausage or one or the other. Your pick. In the hot bacon fat with the slightly sautéed onion, add the well drained cabbage. Cook off some of the moisture, then add the meat. Season with celery seed, pepper, Louisiana Hot Sauce, Worcestershire sauce and I use a mixed seasoning with very low salt or no salt in it since the bacon and bacon fat usually has plenty of salt. If you need more salt you can add it later. When I've needed it later I usually use celery salt or a BBQ spice but that's rare for me. Some chopped celery sautéed with it is optional. I don't cook the celery too much, I like a bit of a crunch. Also optional are chopped green onion and diced Roma tomatoes. I find the onion redundant but usually like the tomato if I have some. My friend likes some honey added to hers, but I am not a fan of sweet vegetables or sweetened meat. (Insert your gutter minded thoughts here) Not everything needs sugar to taste good to me. It sounds more complicated than it really is. And you can cook it as much or little as you prefer.