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The clip show . When a TV series wants to indulge in some onanistic nostalgia, they will often churn out an episode of greatest hits. You start to watch, and you say to yourself, "God, have they completely run out of ideas? They're just dialling this in - I've seen this a million times", and you grab the remote to change the channel pronto. But then you find yourself sinking back onto the sofa, as you think, "I don't think I've seen this one", or "That was funnier than I remember", and you give in and let the past wash over you. This is a long-winded way of saying here's some stuff from my blog archives but for a very specific reason -I’ve been nominated by fellow blogger Gourmet Traveller to participate in Tripbase’s “My 7 Links" project . Her blog is beautiful by the way - go take a look. The stated goal of Tripbase’s project is "to unite bloggers in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned (yes, I know ) a...

Japanese beer brand Kirin has launched a pop-up yatai aka street food stand with Yasuhiro Mineno (ex head chef of Nobu) and Shinya Ikeda, joint owners and Head Chef of London’s fabled Yashin Sushi restaurant. Kirin Ichiban is being dished up with a menu of kushiage and other snacks to offer Londoners a taste of what will be served at the Yashin founders' full-blown kushiage restaurant set to launch in 2012 (learn more about my beloved kushiage here ). The Kirin Ichiban Yatai is around for just one week from 3-8 August in the open-air Dray Walk gallery near Brick Lane and is serving up a selection of the traditional Japanese pankoed and deep-fried skewer snacks. The short menu offers three sticks for £5, six plus edamame for £10, or nine plus ice cream for £15, with a free bottle of Kirin Ichiban for every diner who has booked online. Kirin Ichiban is a beer made by the unique “Ichiban Shibori" Process which translates as “first press”. Bottles of Kirin are £3 & a pint ...

This is why I love Japan. Stuff like this. SWITL (which stands for Special World Idea Technology Revolution - the Japanese transpose Ls and Rs) is described by its makers Furukawa Kiko as: "a hand-held type of the SWITL for moving soft objects without collapsing their shape. It is a Robots hand for handling soft and jelly like objects which loose shape when gripped, cannot be gripped, or cannot be touched, etc. Objects like Mayonnaise and Ketchup can be picked up without changing their shape and moved to a different location while retaining the shape". There isn't much other information about how it works (though someone has had a stab at how on Quora here ), so right now let's go with MAGIC . The main application I can think of for this is in bakeries, and indeed a test video on Furukawa Kiko's site shows this in action. Each hand-held unit is priced at 70,000 yen , which is just under £600, and they're looking for distributors now. I am tempted. Boy, am...

Scotch egg! Scotch egg! How I love thee! For the uninitiated, Oliver Thring gives good background on what a Scotch egg is and where it came from. This is not a Scotch egg . The formula for what makes a good Scotch egg is very simple: Soft-Boiled Egg + Seasoned Meat + Breadcrumb + Deep-Frying --> Heaven in a Sphere A far cry from those supermarket horrors comprising hard, greying eggs rattling around in a case of pappy sausagemeat and moist crumb, never mind what Wikipedia says, a Scotch egg should be warm and cossetting, with meat that yields and a yolk that dribbles. So I am delighted to announce that I'll be one of a distinguished panel of judges at the Scotch Egg Challenge on Tuesday 9th August Tuesday 20th September (postponed due to the troubles in London ) at that marvellous pub called The Ship in Wandsworth to decide who makes the best Scotch Egg. Open to professionals, pubs and restaurants alike, if you'd like to enter or want more details,...

How I hope the new Doki will look - this shop is actually in Tokyo LATEST on Doki-watch - after a brief sojourn at Pacific Plaza, the not very successful successor to Oriental City, it seems Doki the beloved Japanese tableware shop is moving to Harrow Weald in August. Tetote Factory , its sister bakery, will also re-open in South Ealing next month. Doki will also be at HyperJapan - a massive event celebrating all things Japanese from today till Sunday at Olympia Two, London. HyperJapan's site tells us : "Doki was established in 1978 as Masyu Artware, and was then re-named Utsuwa-no-Yakata, before becoming Doki as it is known today.The Doki shop is moving now to a new premises in Harrow Weald in August. At HYPER JAPAN 2011 it will be presenting a selection of ceramics and pottery imported directly from Japan. Doki is written as 土器 in Japanese kanji characters, and means earthenware. It is the term used to describe ancient Japanese earthenware, and Doki today provides people ...

As mentioned in my Som Tam post , you can get yourself a taste of Thailand at Senses of Thailand , a celebration of Thai food and culture in Selfridges, London until 30th July. The promotion is backed by the Royal Thai Embassy, Thai Trade Centre, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, so it's got an official seal of approval, and over the fortnight, we've been told to expect expert cooking demos, tastings, modern and traditional Thai dance performances and puppet shows. More excitingly as far as I'm concerned are the Thai street food carts which are selling authentic snacks, including Som Tam (the free samples they were giving out weren't quite spicy enough for my liking), and Mieng Kham from the restaurant Patara . Mieng kham are fantasticly addictive wrapped betel leaves stuffed with nuts, dried shrimp, chillis and shallots - my video above shows how they are made. Again, they're giving out free samples as well as selling do-it-yourself takeaway packs, so do try...