Cold outside – hot inside

17 Comments

1. joy says:

   19 February 2009 at 9:31 PM

   this would go well with some Chinese opera!
2. standing maryanna says:

   19 February 2009 at 9:47 PM

   I don’t have an iron-clad stomach. That hot pepper stuff would give me an ulcer for sure! :)
3. RichR says:

   19 February 2009 at 9:51 PM

   That’s light weight stuff. Try my favorite relish to accompany any steak:

   Sliced serrano peppers
   Sliced red onion
   Minced Garlic
   Put above ingredients in bowl according to size and proportion desired
   Add apple cider vinegar to cover veggies
   salt to taste

   Let sit in fridge 5 minutes before eating
4. Father Anthony Ho says:

   19 February 2009 at 10:44 PM

   So good to see you are getting more and more Chinese. With Chinese opera last night and Chinese hot pepper oil. Do you have a Chinese name yet? If not I should start thinking one for you and send it to you on Facebook. HaHa! God bless! [I actually do, one given to me by the Chinese ambassador to the Holy See two years ago at a banquet for the New Year. It was then slightly adjusted by some old Chinese priests. Quite the memory!]
5. Josephus muris saliensis says:

   20 February 2009 at 4:12 AM

   Surely the hot pepper oil is not in the Chapel, as the syntax implies?

   Buon apetito! Let’s feed it neat to the Tablet! Though of course we are grateful to them for airing certain topical issues to a wider public!
6. John Kusske says:

   20 February 2009 at 5:25 AM

   You’ve got the good stuff for your food for sure, but what were you spooning it up for? Jiaozi or baozi would be excellent, or of course noodles. And I like how it’s named “hot” oil, I didn’t know that the Chinese ever used the word to mean “spicy” the way we do in English–that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that.
7. Herbert says:

   20 February 2009 at 7:48 AM

   Nice stuff Fr.Z. I am a Filipino and I live in a province that like other Southeast Asian countries love to eat hot hot hot food. Our meals will never be complete without pepper.
8. Dr. Eric says:

   20 February 2009 at 8:00 AM

   Mr. Kusske,

   As I’m sure you know, the characters read:

   re la

   you | jiao

   hot spicy

   oil | pepper

   The question is, what does the line signify?

   The rest of the characters are too small to make out.

   So, does it read “spicy pepper hot oil”?

   But I agree that it is strange that re is used in reference to spiciness.
9. John Kusske says:

   20 February 2009 at 11:55 AM

   Dear Dr. Eric,

   Hmm, I guess one could read it left to right and up to down, but I was reading up to down then right to left: “la jiao re you”. That would tentatively result in “spicy pepper hot oil” as you propose. Seeing “re” used this way is strange to me, but maybe a result of influence from English into Chinese! Or maybe it’s meant to be eaten heated up…
10. Dove says:

    20 February 2009 at 12:53 PM

    Fr Z, I couldn’t sign on to Twitter without giving my full birthday, so I want to let you know that you should be able to get parchment paper at your local grocery store in the same area as the plastic wrap and tinfoil. Do you have essensia di mostarda or do you use coleman’s mustard?
11. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf says:

    20 February 2009 at 1:24 PM

    Here is a better photo of the label.

    I can assure you that this stuff is hot.

    
    
12. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf says:

    20 February 2009 at 1:26 PM

    Dove: Yes… parchment paper isn’t a strange item to me. I have some mustard from Penzy’s which should serve very well.
13. Dr. Eric says:

    20 February 2009 at 2:14 PM

    I think we need Fr. Anthony Ho to give us the best translation.
    That line between you and jiao is throwing me as whether to read it up->down->right->left or left->right->up->down.
14. Dan says:

    20 February 2009 at 2:17 PM

    Father,

    Do you think that the hotter Chinese prepared pepper sauce’s is more caliente than Mexican or Belizean sauces? [habenero based]
15. Dan says:

    20 February 2009 at 2:23 PM

    Father,
    Seeing that shot of your chapel reminds me of something.

    I am building a chapel on my property and among many other things, need pews.

    I would like to locate 6, six foot long wooden pews with kneelers attached.

    Would you happen to have any leads on this?
    Either church closings or companys.

    Thank you.
16. John Kusske says:

    20 February 2009 at 7:25 PM

    Another thought came to me looking at the now clearer image of the hot sauce–EAT THE BLACK, EAT THE RED! I hear the spicy food stimulates the appetite, and spicy oil makes anything taste better. (I even put it on ice cream once… As a joke!)
17. Dove says:

    21 February 2009 at 11:01 PM

    Fr Z, I got essencia di mostarda in Italy a few years ago. You have to get it in a pharmacia. It is very volatile and you buy a certain number of drops “gocce”. They may ask you what you are making and how many pounds of fruit you will use. (I bought mine in Mantua), but when you get it home if you don’t use it right away you don’t have any! But don’t test it by taking a big sniff!!!

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