Amasian

Lingcod tempura with kiwi cucumber salsa

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:48:00 +0000

This weekend we had a burst of activity--we ventured out to the International District on foot, taking public transportation, with our 8.5 month old. Since Max decided to take an impromptu nap in the carrier, we had some time to kill--hey, if a baby gives you half an hour of leisure time, you take it, even if it does mean hauling around his 18 pound body on your torso.

The lingcod from Alaska at Uwajimaya looked especially fresh, and I remember it getting a pretty good rating on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch. (I have been known to eat shark fin soup, but I've since turned over a new leaf!) I thought it'd go well with some sort of fruity sauce, so we picked up some kiwis too. When we got home, we debated how we should make it--grilled? steamed? sauteed? Something that would keep in the moist juiciness without overdrying.

"I know, how about you do a tempura?" my husband asked. I responded with a shudder. Anyone who's ever done it knows that making tempura is very laborious and a big pain, especially with a baby still awake and curious to know everything that mommy is doing. But, I agreed that it would be damn delicious and we should break out the old Japanese cookbook and do it.

When you're making tempura, your technique can't be like you're just frying anything. It's essential to keep those little fluffy pillows of flour crisp and open in the end--otherwise you just get very plain fishsticks. So set everything up in advance, work very quickly and don't let your batter sit around!

Here's my recipe:
1 cup flour
1 cup ice water
1 egg yolk
A little salt

Once you have all your fish pieces cut and de-boned, set aside a cup of ice water, and let it chill. Meanwhile, clean your pan, lay out some paper towels and heat about 2 inches of light oil. (Don't use olive oil--it burns at high heat.) Separate your egg yolk, and mix with your ice water. Dump in your flour all at once, and here's the hard part--run a chopstick through to mix exactly once--no more. Add in a little salt.

Dip your fish in the batter quickly and gently lay into the oil. It should be hot enough so that it sizzles. Keep working in your pieces but don't over crowd your pan. Ideally you should only flip them once to avoid handling them too much. So flip after a minute or so, or when one side is light brown. When they're light brown all over, transfer to paper towels. Shake on some shichimi togarashi, a mixture of pepper, orange peel, sesame, seaweed and ginger. Yum!

For the salsa, combine 2 diced kiwis, 1/2 diced cucumber, chopped jalapenos (to taste) some salt and about 1 tbsp rice vinegar.

Bacon fried rice!

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:16:00 +0000

After spending a week with a couple of weeks with some pretty hard core vegan and vegetarian friends, I ended up with some leftover bacon after a particularly enthusiastic (not matched by said veg-heads) bacon breakfast. No problem, I thought, I'll just have it over white rice for a delicious carby, greasy snack!

After relaying this story to my sister we came up with a great recipe for bacon fried rice, influenced by her Hawaiian friend. Here it is!

Ingredients:
1 cup white rice
6 strips bacon, or as you like it
1/2 sweet white onion
1/4 cup soy sauce
6 tsp. sugar
1 can pineapple tidbits

If you don't have old white rice from last night's dinner, you can make a fresh batch. Cooking it in a rice cooker ensures optimal moisture balance--you don't want soggy rice.

Cut your strips of bacon into little pieces and put into your frying pan or wok. Let the grease melt into the pan a little bit. Put in diced onion and fry until soft.

Meanwhile, heat soy sauce on a little sauce pan, add sugar and stir until it's dissolved. Turn off and set aside.

Put your rice into the wok with bacon and onion and smush around with your spatula to break it up. When the rice is well-coated with bacon grease, add in the soy sauce mixture slowly, and stir until well mixed. Lastly, add your pineapple and cook until the bits are heated through.

You can also add scallions or cilantro at the end if you want some greenery.

And it's done! Greasy lips are happy lips.

Born to roll: spring roll eating competition

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:44:00 +0000

I recently partook in a spring roll eating competition for the Seattle Chinatown/International District Preservation and Development Association. Or, affectionately, SCID/PDA. Honestly I got roped into it at the last minute and I partly wanted to just represent women on the eating stage, as well as the International Examiner.

Let me just say...competitive eaters have skill. It is seriously hard to shove spring rolls, with crispy fried wrappers down your gullet un-chewed. I at least thought I had a leg up on Dino Rossi because he confessed to me in the green room that he hated cabbage. But alas, he beat me by 2. But at least he has some gas as a result of the competition. I comfortably made the rounds and topped off on chicken wings and fried rice.

Here's a pic of me with the rest of the competitors, Dow Constantine, King County Councilman (and running for King County Exec.) famed controversial "GOP" gubernatorial candidate, Paul Costant, books editor at The Stranger, Toby Crittenden of Washington Bus, Brock Huard, former Husky and Seahawk, James Sun, former contestant on The Apprentice and Uncle Bob Santos, "Mayor of the ID" (not pictured). Here's The Stranger's Paul Costant crowing on his victory.

And the video

Bento Mania

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:43:00 +0000

Check out these amazing bento creations on Flickr! I've never had the time or patience to construct miniature Pokemons or or Cooking Mamas out of egg omelettes, rice, nori and spam, but if you ever feel inclined, this is a great gallery to get some ideas!

Also, I recently had a discussion with a bunch of friends on their favorite ways to eat spam, and I was awed by the diversity of this meat! (By the way, did you know that the name spam comes from 'spiced ham'?) So, if you have any spam recipes you'd like to contribute, please let me know! I'm doing an informal collection.

Crocheted breasts--diverse inspiration!

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:28:00 +0000

Well, I've kept this news from you, but I'm currently 8 months pregnant! No, it wasn't a surprise, I've just been procrastinating on bringing in craftiness and cooking into the preggo theme. But, I recently gave my friend a crocheted mammary for her shower, and then started producing them for mass production for the art vending machine at The Hideout. They come in all sorts of colors and shapes, to represent the diversity of motherhood that gives food to us all. They can also be used as a comfy stand-in for those who have had a masectomy. Enjoy these pics of a decidedly medium tone. Amigurumi technique all the way. Please contact me if you'd like the pattern.

Everybody say MOO!

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:40:00 +0000

I was so excited to receive my new customized mini MOO business cards in the mail yesterday. You can choose from a number of cool graphic designers, who give you a number of different images in each pack! Or, upload your own design. And, at about $20 for 100 top-quality cards, the price is just as attractive as the work of their independent artists. This fish is from Kam Tan.

I plan on inserting mine into my crafty concoctions I've been selling in an art vending machine at our favorite hang out bar, The Hideout. That way people can bug me to make them more crocheted bacon and the like. I love them so much, my hubbie literally had to pry them out of my hand at night before going to bed.

Pick up a pack (and support the U.K. economy in protest of our own U.S. corrupt financial world...did I really just say that?) at www.moo.com

Rainbow mango noodle salad

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:54:00 +0000

This has become my favorite summer salad--it's super easy, and leaves you with that delightfully satisfied but not over-gorged feeling afterwards. Plus, it has almost all the colors in the rainbow, making it a crowd pleaser!

Serves: 6

Ingredients
Salad:
1/2 package fresh miki egg noodles (udon or rice noodles would work fine too)
1 large or 2 small ripe mangoes
2 red radishes, skin left on
1 carrot, peeled and julienned or scraped
A handful of cilantro
One quarter head of red cabbage
1 cup matchsticked cucumber
Approx. 2 cups deep fried tofu (you can get this in the tofu section of most Asian food stores)
1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, smashed

Dressing:
1/4 cup Tiparos fish sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup (scant) of brown sugar
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
Juice of half a lime
Chili oil to taste

Cook noodles until they are al dente, just a few minutes, strain and run cold water over them to cool them down. Finely chop all your ingredients, with mangoes cut into strips.

Dressing: mix together fish sauce and brown sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add oils and juice of lime and mix well until combined. If serving later, pour half the mixture over your ingredients and add the rest of your dressing later. If serving immediately, pour on all of your dressing. Top with peanuts last.

Jokes in the month of April

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:20:00 +0000

I'll let you judge whether this is a true "craft" or not, but I started a joke book in this cute little Yoshitomo Nara journal I got at MoMA last year (the Japanese artist who makes those delightfully evil but cute drawings and sculptures). Most of my jokes are nasty or offensive, but some are kid-friendly. A joke book is a great way to meet new people too. Pass around a journal at a party and have people write in their favorite, then read them aloud and guffaw inappropriately. Here's one that I recently received over email that I enjoyed:

On a chain of beautiful deserted islands in the middle of South Pacific, the following people are stranded:

Two Italian men and one Italian woman.

Two French men and one French woman.

Two German men and one German woman.

Two Greek men and one Greek woman.

Two British men and one British woman.

Two Bulgarian men and one Bulgarian woman.

Two Japanese men and one Japanese woman.

Two Chinese men and one Chinese woman.

Two Irish men and one Irish woman.

Two American men and one American woman.

One month later, on these absolutely stunning deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following things have occurred:

One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.

The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a ménage à trois.

The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of alternating visits with the German woman.

The two Greek men are sleeping together and the Greek woman is cooking and cleaning for them.

The two British men are waiting for someone to introduce them to the British woman.

The two Bulgarian men took one look at the Bulgarian woman and started swimming to another island.

The two Japanese have faxed Tokyo and are awaiting instructions.

The two Chinese men have set up a pharmacy, liquor store, restaurant, and laundry, and have gotten the woman pregnant in order to supply more employees for their stores.

The two Irish men divided the island into north and south and set up a distillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because it gets somewhat foggy after a few pints of coconut whisky. However, they're satisfied because the British aren't having any fun..

The two American men are contemplating suicide, because the American woman will not shut up and complains relentlessly about her body, the true nature of feminism, what the sun is doing to her skin, how she can do anything they can do, the necessity of fulfilment, the equal division of household chores, how sand and palm trees make her look fat, how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her nicer than they do, and how her relationship with her mother is the root cause of all her problems, and why didn't they bring a damn cell phone so they could call 911 and get them all rescued off this forsaken deserted island in the middle of freaking nowhere so she can get her nails done and go shopping

Healthy, Neat and Cheap

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:55:00 +0000

One year I had a new year's resolution that I was going to do everything I could to be healthy, neat and cheap. The antithesis of this resolution would be ordering an expensive pizza for delivery and leaving the pizza box in the sink for a week (which I did last week). But, I've recently discovered a way to resurrect this resolution from the dead! Green cleaners have always touted their non-toxic qualities, but they're often expensive and some, like Simple Green, aren't even all that "green." My co-worker's asthma always acts up when she uses it, which jives with reports that it contains a chemical that's an asthma inducer. Green cleaning is the way to go. Homemade cleaners with vinegar, baking soda, lemon, etc. get your house clean, are cheaper than the Whole Foods-bought stuff, and don't include those nasty chemicals that have been linked to asthma, infertility and small testicles (if you're a boy). So I bought a bottle of vinegar at my Asian grocery for only $.79! I've used it already in my sink, and I feel cleaner, healthier and cheaper (in a good way) already. Find out more about green cleaning, and how to host a green cleaning party (invite your grandma--she probably knows some great tricks too) at www.womenandenvironment.org/greenclean.

Joyeaux Noel

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:14:00 +0000

Restaurant in Paris' Chinatown

Well, I'm off to France for two weeks to spend the holidays at my husband's family's country cottage and Brittany, and then spending five glorious days in the city of lights. Much of my activity in the country will focus on fire gazing, cheeze tasting and rummikub playing, as well as playing tour guide to my parents, who will have to adjust to the culture shock of being in the land of no Chinese people. But, there are some culinary intersections between the French and Chinese--for example, a love of duck, fruit sauces, sweet pastries and fresh seafood. I'm racking my brain to think of more.

And of course, I plan on visiting the Chinatown in Paris for the first time. Having never been there, I did some investigating on Chowhound to see if it's worth it to scope out a good Asian meal there, or if I shouldn't squander my limited meals and stick to the food the French do best--their own. I got a mixed bag, so I'll report back on whether one of the world's culinary capitals can do Asian dishes justice without sacrificing spice, freshness and flavor. Until then, joyeaux noel!

Holidays = Cute, stupid toys!

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:58:00 +0000

With the holidays afoot I've been making amigurumi and felted stuffed animals and ornaments at a feverish pace! If you're looking for some ideas too, check out this book, Plush You! It's full of absurd, sordid and goofy animals and unidentifiable objects that will delight everyone on your list (well everyone that counts)! Get it on Amazon.

And check out the drumsticks on the Plush You blog!

Chilly apple? Put on a jacket!

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:05:00 +0000

Fall is here and in Washington state it means a plethora of fresh, local organic apples. So celebrate your apples by giving them protective covers that protect them from the germs and denting forces in your purse! I've made apple jackets using a simple circular crochet technique, (like starting an amigurumi project) which just involves making a chain of 5, joining to make a loop, and gradually increasing your work to meet the apple's widest part, then reducing again. I simply measure along as I go. Add a cute button, a felt leaf and you're all set!

Cranberry ginger Chutney

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:59:00 +0000

If you're thinking of a way to Asia-fy your Thanksgiving Day meal without quite turning to Peking Duck and chopsticks, consider this recipe! I've made this a couple of times now, and I really like how this combination of tart cranberries, sour vinegar and hot ginger and pepper! If you're buying frozen turkeys now that they're on sale, give it a try! Sorry again for the late post. :-)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries (about 3 cups)
1 large Bosc pear, peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

How to:
Stir sugar, cider, and vinegar in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chutney thickens, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl; cover and chill. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.) Makes about 3 cups.

Ghoulish lychee treats!

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:54:00 +0000

Ok, so I'm a bit late on this post, but I just had to share my favorite Halloween party treat: lychee eyeball salad! I discovered this one 4th of July as I was sharing my red, white and blue fruit salad with lychees, blueberries and strawberries, and blueberries started falling into the holes of my canned lychees. People started crying out in horror, the little soft fruits so resembled eyeballs. Wrong holiday, so I revived it for Halloween! Since blueberries are sometimes out of season on October 31 and you often have to get evil non-organic blueberries from New Zealand, I wound up using evil grapes from California for this year's batch. I put them on a bed of black cherry jello, which mimics the look of coagulated blood quite nicely.

Best ever peanut sauce

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:12:00 +0000

Peanut sauce can remain elusive to some--there are so many variations, some people claim they've never found exactly the right combination. Well, stop here, my friends. I've been using this peanut sauce recipe for years, and it's just the right combination of salty, sweet and spicy, although it does give you very garlicy breath afterwards. I just recently starting using real sichuan peppercorns in it, which leaves you with a slight tingly feeling in your mouth. If you don't like that feeling, just use your favorite hot chili pepper. This sauce can be used for hot pot (huo guo) or with noodle salad.

Sauce ingredients:
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns or peppers of your choice
3-4 garlic cloves
2 tsp. chopped ginger
4 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp tahini
1/3 cup strong black tea
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
4 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp wine vinegar
2 oz sugar
1 tsp chili oil

"Spring Wind" Noodles Recipe
Mix all sauce ingredients in a blender or with a handheld mixer. Chill.
Boil water, cook wheat, udon or egg noodles al dente. Sprinkle with sesame oil to prevent stickiness.
Add grated carrot, scallions, chopped cilantro, bean sprouts and cucumber. For extra protein, add some deep fried tofu or grilled chicken.

Order in the restaurant!

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:32:00 +0000

A 14-dish feast at my relatives' house in Shanghai. No rice necessary, mind you.

Sometimes I think Chinese restaurants are some of the most democratic of restaurants, I know, ironic given the motherland's political leanings. But Chinese restaurants will basically serve you anything you want, as long as you like it and want to pay for it. Unfortunately, this has led to the prevalence of very inauthentic, yet popular food. For example, if you want to pour soy sauce and vinegar all over your baozi, or ask for ice for your tea, they'll do it for you. If you ask the waiter at your French restaurant to serve your pate with ketchup squirted all over it, you can expect a few raised eyebrows.

Although proprietors at American Chinese restaurants may subscribe to the freedom-loving, make money style of doing business, the interests of the diner are more aligned with the socialist ideal. Because meals are eaten family style, the interests of other diners must be taken into account. When sitting down for a Chinese meal, people often instinctively delegate an "orderer," usually the person who has the most standing, and people expect that he/she will take care of their eating interests.

You may think I'm joking, but ordering is an art. I hate it when I eat out with a bunch of people who don't understand this, and end up with two noodle dishes, a rice dish and no soup. Or two chicken dishes (because they both sounded so good) and no seafood. It's not rocket science, but balance is key. The basic idea is you want to balance carbs, red meat, white meat, seafood, vegetables and soup. People who get a bit more nuanced say you should balance yin foods (like mushrooms, seaweed and duck) with yang foods (like chili peppers, ginger and chicken). The idea of taking other people's interests into account may be a new concept for some diners, since it may seem like a foreign concept to forego a favorite dish for the sake of the balance of the entire group. Which brings us back to the eternal debate between valuing the individual or society, or west vs. east.

Next time you're at a Chinese restaurant, try thinking about balancing the universe with your humble dinner, and harmonizing yin and yang in your stomach. You could try something new, just don't get all woo woo about it. ;-)

Who cut the fruit?

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:55:00 +0000

Consider me crazy, but I like to cut my fruit. Whenever anyone bites into an apple, pear or plum, I sort of wince because the act seems so barbaric. I'm also imagining all the painful little pieces of apple that get caught in my gums, festering until I can relieve them with a heroic piece of floss, and the juice squirts that often unintentionally end up in your neighbor's eye. Keep in mind that my theory is that Asians by and large cut their fruit into neat little shapes and portion out the pieces to friends and family (or sell in plastic bags and cups on the street), while Americans, with their strong, horse-like teeth, bite into fruit whole, perhaps as a habit of eating food while "on the go," while walking down the street, on the bus and at their desks.

I'd like to start a fruit-cutting movement. Fellow Asian Americans, next time you want to share some fruit with your co-workers, cut it up. Hopefully they'll notice how smoothly the fruit glides off their tongues, and will appreciate that you shared your apple with them at all. And if you're expecting guests from abroad, cut your fruit--I'm sure they'll appreciate the sentiment.

One can never have too many nonsensical tote bags

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 23:44:00 +0000

I love Engrish. It's often hard to remember the best nonsensical English found printed on goods sold in Asia, so why not have something unforgettably emblazoned on your tote bag, which, by the way, you can use to replace those pesky plastic bags that have been crowding the space under your sink? One of my favorite engrish phrases: Beautiful day. Birds feel at ease. What do you like? Which actually makes perfect grammatical sense, but is just so innocently random.

Mod Cloth offers these affordable bags, and a lot more. I like them. Read more hilarious engrish at www.engrish.com.

On a side note, I hope engrish.com's supply of good examples doesn't dry up with Beijing's recent attempts to stamp out poor english in the lead up to the 2008 Olympics. Read the story here.

Chinatown Coffee--An Acquired Taste

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:14:00 +0000

Well, I'm off to New York for a few days to visit my family and spend some time in Manhattan's Chinatown. I love the steamy, greasy delis, bakeries and noodle shops that abound there, and the hot, sweet coffee they serve. By now they should be selling a lot of mooncakes--I'll report back on that! These cups are such a witty reminder of those iconic Chinatown coffee cups, and now they're forever memorialized in porcelain, for those of the New York diaspora. Now that I live in Seattle, the land of coffee snobs, I'm looking forward to slurping down a cup of too-sweet, non-gourmet Chinatown coffee.

Fun with felt and fauna

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:45:00 +0000

And as if you didn't need another reason to learn Japanese, these felt patterns of cute woodland creatures are now available at reprodepot.com. I don't know how to felt, but I think some of the cutest figures are made out of the stuff. I did once try to felt an iPod case by showering with it every day, but that ended up in a lot of pink fluff getting stuck in my drain (and minor mate irritation). Shows what you get for trying to conserve water! Anyways, these kits come with felt, but you can also buy it affordably at fabric.com, in case you want to make a whole warren of bunnies, or a whole gang of squirrels. By the way, did you know that squirrels are solitary creatures, therefore there is no name for a group of squirrels? Amazing what you can find on the internet.

Pouch kit! Dictionary required.

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:23:00 +0000

You can make this cute pouch at home if you're willing to invest some time in wrestling with the Japanese instructions. But I think it'd be a good investment, since these would make great and affordable gifts in a pinch. It looks like you can use plain old cotton broadcloth for these (although barkcloth would probably make them a bit sturdier), in which case any of the fabrics on reprodepot would be great candidates. It looks like you don't need that much fabric to make one of these, so you could even use some of your fabric scraps, making this a very economical project. Of the list of supplies needed, the only one I don't have is an awl, and I'm embarrassed to say I don't really know what an awl is. Of course, the thing lends itself to 'awl' sorts of jokes. Sorry, y'awl probably don't want to hear that. Okay, I'll stop.

Riding the bunny wave

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:48:00 +0000

When choosing the image that goes on my desktop, I often choose something artsy, cute, and vaugely offensive. I'm not one for putting a big picture of my cute family up there (although I do keep those pics safely tucked away in a drawer. They somehow offer more satisfaction when they're encountered by surprise.). So the images by Kozyndan are perfect for me--and they also offer posters, coloring books and t-shirts through their website, Kozyndan.com.

Their artwork often depicts Japanese and American street scenes, animals doing strange things and extremely detailed panoramics that will give you a "where's Waldo" type experience, often throwing in walruses, record players and businessmen wearing schoolgirl outfits all in one chaotic scene. Some of these prints may come in strange sizes, so you might have to spend some dough with custom framing, but they are on the whole extremely affordable, at around $15 not including shipping.

All Look Same?

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 22:04:00 +0000

I've always loved taking the All Look Same test--determining from a roster of 20 faces, which are Chinese, Japanese and Koren. This test always forces people to put their money with their mouths are, when they proclaim, "I can always tell the difference between different Asian people!" Yeah, right. Just take the test, sucker! Now All Look Same has a test for food! I did much better on this test, although a couple tricked me, like this one. I got it wrong, but it does look mighty tasty. Does anyone know what this is, and how do I order it at a X restaurant? Sorry, to find out if it's Chinese, Japanese or Korean, you'll have to take the test.

Papayas--Live on Video!

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:00:00 +0000

When I lived on the east coast, I often despaired over not being able to find fresh green papaya regularly in the supermarket. Now that I'm in Seattle and they have bins of freshly grated green papaya at Southeast Asian grocery stores like Viet-Wah, it's easy to take this luxury for granted. Som Tam, or green papaya salad, is one of my favorite Thai foods--it's so light and simple, yet hard to duplicate the real thing. This site is great because it shows you videos in English for a lot of popular recipes. This video shows you how to grate a green papaya by hand, if you are more industrious than I am, and assemble the salad. It is tricky finding exactly the right grater for this, though. Trust me, I have a drawer full of graters that do everything but julienne into thin strips, the result of experimental shopping. And another thing, for this recipe you can increase or decrease the amount of shrimp paste you use, depending on how funky you like it. The increased funk factor makes it a bit more "Lao style," but if you aim to please everyone you may want to reduce the funkiness a little bit.

Salad Recipe: Green Papaya Salad
1-4 fresh Thai chilies
1 garlic cloves
3 cups shredded green papaya (watch video: Shredding Green Papaya)
1/2 cup sliced tomatoes
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon shrimp paste
3 tablespoons squeezed lime
1 tablespoon palm sugar (optional)
2 tablespoons dried shrimp (optional)

Using the Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set, crush chilies and garlic until they are separated. Add the rest of the ingredients in the mortar. Using the pestle to crush and a tablespoon to stir, mix all the ingredients in the mortar. When the sugar and shrimp paste are dissolved the papaya salad is ready to be served.

The Thai & Lao Food video shows the traditional method. Some Thai / Lao restaurants toss all the ingredients into a large bowl. In my opinion, for an authentic texture, the tomatoes need to be crushed in a Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set.

Crocheted Bacon: The Light Side and the Dark Side

noreply@blogger.com (sianwu) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:45:00 +0000

Well, I may be revealing myself as a total freak with this post, but I truly think bacon is a force--of love, joy, comfort, friendship and community. But like the Force, it has a light side and a dark side. The light side revels in indulgence without a care in the world! The dark side is of guilt, heart disease and zits. So that's why I created my crochet BLT with two different faces--a happy one and a dark one.

I love crocheting food. I love the utter uselessness of this object. Even stuffed animals are somewhat useful--you can cuddle them, playact or display them proudly in a glass case (for those QVC types, that is). This BLT just sits there, perfectly useless; the most you can do with it is mime eating it--which is rather fun.

Here's my pattern--for projects like this I usually use washable acrylic craft yarn, or whatever's laying around, with my trusty pink metal 2.75 mm crochet hook. For bacon, I used a rusty orangey brown color and a light beige for the fatty bits. Inserting the wire is optional, depending on your desire for bacon shape variability.

Bread (you'll need 4 of these):

ch22, sc for 3.5 inches.
After 3.5 inches, sc in first 11 st, turn work
dec 1, sc 9, dec 1, turn work
continue until you have five st left in your row.
sc all the way across, bind off.
insert hook in second set of 11 sc, repeat decreases as above, bind off.

Crust:

ch 4, sc in each row until it fits all the way around your bread, measure as you go.

Assemble:

Sew on eyes and stitch on mouth with embroidery thread and needle.
Line up two white halves, attach crust to one side of your bread.
Fill loosely with poly-fill
Attach other side of the bread.

Bacon:

ch 30, sc all the way across.
join darker color, repeat
join lighter color, repeat
join darker color, 2 dc in each st, bind off.
insert flower wire into the middle of each piece, so that you can form it in the shape you want.

Tomato:

ch 5, join to make a circle with sl st.
ch 2, 2 sc in each st
ch 2, yo, pull up 2 puffy stitches
pull through, ch 3, skip 2 st
yo, pull up 2 puffies
pull through, ch 3, sk 2, repeat until you reach your desired size, connect with sl st.

Lettuce:

ch 6, join with sl st.
sc in each st once around
2 sc in each st. once around
dc in each st. for 4 rings
2 dc in each st, repeat until desired size is reached, connect with sl st.