A Note on Equipment

There are three pieces of equipment that seem to be continually mentioned in the recipes in this book. One is a spider, another is cooking tongs and the third is a ridged cast-iron grill pan.

The spider is an open wire scoop with a long handle, used for retrieving items from boiling liquid or fat. In my experience the best ones are available in Chinese supermarkets and consist of a bamboo handle with something that resembles a flattened pan scourer at the end. They do the job much more efficiently than the European equivalent, or, what is often suggested, a slotted spoon. They are cheap, but not particularly durable.