Champagne Life

Arthur's delicious ragu recipe

2014-01-13T21:37:00.001-08:00

Ingredients
1 onion chopped n pureed in food chopper
3 celery chopped n pureed in food chopper
2 large carrot chopped n pureed in food chopper
5 cloves of garlic chopped n pureed in food chopper
1 can tomato paste 6 oz
28 oz 1 can diced tomatoes
1 pound of ground lamb
1 pound beef
1 pound of mild Italian sausage Ralph's brand. This time art took it out of casing
3 cups dry red wine
A bunch of thyme tied with kitchen string
3 bay leaves
2 tbs butter
1 cup milk

Instruction

In a food processor, puree onion, carrots, celery, and garlic into a coarse paste. In a large pan over medium heat, coat pan with oil. Add the pureed veggies and season generously with salt. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat and cook until all the water has evaporated and they become nice and brown, stirring frequently, about 15 to 20 minutes. Be patient, this is where the big flavors develop.

Add the ground beef and season again generously with salt. BROWN THE BEEF! Brown food tastes good. Don't rush this step. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes.

After meat is browned, add 2 tbs of butter. Put in tomato paste for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 bottle of wine, cook until wine reduces. Add diced tomatoes. Add thyme n bay leaves. Cook for 4 hour. One hour before u serve it, add one cup of milk - even though Arthur did not add the milk last time.

Mix of anne burrell s pasta bolognese n other recipe by arthur

Japan trip June 2012

2013-08-25T18:18:00.001-07:00

Sushi for breakfast? sure..

Eric and Jeff accompanied us in Tokyo

amazing sushi restaurant.. I need to remember the name

Tsukiji fish market

Visiting the tuna auction section

Yummy yummy tuna

A really delicious mochi place! It is super fresh and only last for a few days

I got smart this time and took the card! I went here back in 2008 and could not remember the name before this trip

Paris and his thundershirt

2013-08-25T18:10:00.001-07:00

Paris hates his thundershirt. I can't tell if he is calmer because of the thundershirt or because he hates it so much. He refused to move when he is wearing it.

I'm sure this is how Paris feels:

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Scarpetta Beverly Hills

2013-08-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

I'm going through my old picture and uploading them now. This is back in 2012 for Scarpetta in Beverly Hills

Solely based on the duck and foie gras ravioli.. they only have it for dinner.. i was there for lunch and only want to try that.. they accommodate and have the chef made it for me.. i was there probably with one other customer.. the ravioli itself was a little rich and thick.. it was okay.. i probably wouldn't return to this restaurant again.. i believe it's $23 for the ravioli. The bread basket was amazing as well as the choices of butter, olive oil.. service was impeccable.. thus increasing the rating to 4 star from 3

Paris May 2013

2013-08-17T15:51:00.001-07:00

After St Remy de Provence, we took a TGV train from Avignon to Paris. We rented an airbnb apartment in the sixth arrondisement and met up with the owner's mom who showed us the apartment and passed us the key. The apartment is small but it is very near to Notredame, St Chapelle church in Ile St Louis, as well as the Louvre. They are all about 10-15 minutes walking from our place.

Street view from our building

Walking towards the Notredame

Went to the Louvre on our second day in Paris

I really love this Winged Victory statue from 2nd century BC from an unknown greek artist (better than Venus de Milo in my opinion)

Arthur's favorite painting in the Louvre. There are so many people in there it is hard to get a good shot

Another great painting of the coronation of Napoleon. Another painting depicting the same view is shown in Versailles (I believe it was in a different size)

Arthur and I also visit the Mummy/egyptian area in the Louvre.

With the spinx.

Another building by the Louvre area

Chilling by the fountain near the Louvre after much walking.

Arthur decided that Arc de Triomphe did not look far from champ elysees so we decided to walk to Arc de Triomphe - it is farr... especially we had walked from 6th arr, to Louvre then to champ elysees. There were 284 steps to go up to the top of Arc de Triomphe and there is no elevator. Yes that is 2-8-4 steps, which we did not know before taking the first step. When I look up the spiraled stairs, I'm about ready to plop down in the middle of the stairs and not move (I just calculated, we had walked 3.3 miles to get to one place to another, not counting the time we walked in the Louvre). Of course it is also a one-way up so there is no way to back down. We made it - we made it - and another 3 miles to walk home after that - in the rain.

Arthur underneath Arc de Triomphe

The view from Arc de Triomphe

On our third day we went to St Chapelle church in Ile St Louis, which is gorgeous!! I really love this glass work here compared to in any other church in Paris. It is outstanding. My picture really does not do justice.

Another glass window in St Chapelle

We also went to Notredame. A week after we went an old Parisian man shot himself right on the front stage inside Notredame. Security is lax in Notredame because they are open to church members who want to pray.

I believe this is a window panel from Notredame

Notredame

Gorgeous building on the bridge when we cross over from our apartment to Notredame. Why cant LA have more buildings like this one?

Centre Pompidou

Really enjoy this painting in Centre Pompidou

Dinner at Chez L'Ami Jean. My favorite restaurant in Paris. Ok some of the dishes are a tad salty, but the atmosphere, the waiters, the chef and some of the other dishes are outstanding!! I really love it. Note this restaurant is filled with English speaking people - but I would definitely return. Call ahead one month in advance to make reservation

Chez L'Ami Jean desserts plate. That eclair is amazing

Chez L'Ami Jean is near the Eiffel tower so after we stuffed ourselves with the amazing dishes, we went to walk to the Eiffel tower where they have lights on the tower and it looks gorgeous at night.

Our one of few pictures together posing in a frame in France.

Arthur's work

Some bridge I forgot the name, on our way back from Eiffel Tower to our apartment on 6th arr. That was a long walk!

A view from some neighborhood

I believe this is the building where they house many important figure's body/casket such as Victor Hugo and the likes

The marbled coffins of some famous French figures

We also went to a 'flea market' on the outer arr.

Versailles. Great for one time only. I really went and planned this trip like I planned going to the war since everyone (online) wrote that the lines are badly managed and there are thousands of people waiting to get on. Tips: make sure you get ticket before the day you plan to go to Versailles or else you will line up a few hours to buy the ticket and then a few more hours to get in. We arrived in Versailles at 8am I believe and the line opens up 30/45 mins after and we were no 5 in line.

So grand!

Halls of Mirror

What do you think if I have a livingroom decorated like this?

Garden in Versailles. On the weekends in the summer time, there are certain hours where they play music in the garden and turn on the fountains (only for 1 hour or so). They also needed a separate ticket when they have this musical fountain on but the line to get into the garden was not too long.

Versailles Garden

Somehow, the only picture I have of Musee D'Orsay

Le comptoir du Relais - where we had two meals there

Some cute bookstore that carry english books in Paris.

Went to a visit a very tiny flowers market in Ile St Louis

This is how foggy and rainy and cold it was the day we had out Eiffel Tower tour

We went to visit the Eiffel tower during the day time where I bought tickets online (see here) for it so I don't have to line up for hours. Remember to buy the tickets a few months in advance. I don't know if it is a smart idea or not. For one I did not have to line up for hours, but ! I couldn't predict the weather for the day I picked and so that day ended up to be very cold, windy and foggy. I was really shivering on top of the tower and we did not even go all the way up!

We get to check out the inside of the Eiffel Tower to see how the elevators work

Shivering on the second floor of Eiffel tower

Arthur's most favorite restaurant at Le Comptoir du Relais.

I believe this is the Louvre

We also went to Guy Savoy for a pre fix 110E lunch that includes appetizer main and dessert - which is good since they are a 3 michelin star restaurant. My appetizer was the truffle soup that Guy Savoy was famous for. It is heavenly, along with this mushroom pastry that almost steal the lime light away from the soup. My entree was just ok unfortunately. I have a special uni, some fish and mushroom, which is good but not great. My dessert is the Mille Fleur which is AH MA ZING! I went to Pierre Hermes and had their Mille Fluer but I have to say Guy Savoy's one is even better!!

Truffle soup Guy Savoy

Mushroom pastry so good... ugh i want to return just for this

My so so main course

Amazing Mille Fleur - Guy Savoy

Pierre Herme - I will be back one day for the Saint Honore!

Pierre Herme Mille Fleur

Forgot the name of the restaurant it's a beef bourguignon. Near Basicilica church

We went to a tiny restaurant called Les Papilles. Its good but not great.

In terms of dessert, did not get to try too many but I did love the croissant from Pierre Herme the most, along with their jasmine macaron - to die for! Had Laduree, which is good but Pierre Herme is at another level!

Pierre Herme's macarons. Definitely more exotic flavour combo. I will return for their jasmine macaron

France Trip in May 2013 - St Remy de Provence

2013-08-08T21:46:00.003-07:00

Arthur & I went to France in May for 11 days. It was a trip that Arthur had bought us for our one year anniversary (yay!) Both of us have never been to France and was keeping it for a special occasion. (OK maybe not in my case, I just never had a chance to go but I was dying to go to Paris - that's why I name my dog Paris). In any case we went to Southern France Provence area for 5 days and then Paris for 7 days. What a glorious glorious glorious vacation! We went to St Remy de Provence in the south and stayed there for five days:

St Remy de Provence is gorgeous! Look at that picture above of the olive trees in Saint Remy. St Remy is a famous place back in the hey dady that Van Gogh actually used to live there - and was institutionalized there as well. Now that I have been in St Remy, I can understand the paintings better, along with Van Gogh's famous iris painting. The blue is soo light blue, the green is an amazing gorgeous green.

This is the institution that Van Gogh was in

I'm sure the picture above is Van Gogh's inspiration:

We went to some villages around Provence, my favorite is Rousillon:

Love me some lavender! If only it is not so fragile and bulky, I would have bought a few of them for home!

Gorgeous... Smelled a little strong to my liking though - I know don't shoot me!

We also went to various different markets around Provence. This area is very famous for the farmers' market. It happens once a week in each village. We hit the markets in L'isle sur la Sorgue on Sunday as well as in St Remy on Wednesday, where we were staying in.

We bought one sausage and it was delicious. Definitely not something we can find here in LA

Pivoines.. Peonies

This is L'isle sur la sorgue - which I believe translate to Island by the river

Nougats..

Gigantic nougats

mm.. cheese...

The olives in France are fantastic. I never fancy them whenever I eat them in LA because they tend to taste very harsh and olive-y, but in France the flavor is very mild and soft. Yummy!

This is a cheese shop in St Remy , the cheese are very well decorated

L'isle sur la Sorgue

best crepes in France (granted I have only tried two places)

L'isle sur la Sorgue's farmers' market are known for antique furnitures. Sheep and horse in the living room?

Village des Bories - I didn't think it was that great

mm.. kinda forgot which one this is but I believe it is Les Baux de Provence

Les Baux de provence has a ruined castle at the top that we get to walk around at. It's gigantic, here is myself resting by the side wall and enjoying the picturesque view

Rousillon will have to be the best village we visited!

Senanque Abbey Vaucluse - unfortunately we were a few months early, here is what it will look like in July: (Yes those green bushes on the top picture are lavender, sigh.. next time)

Les Baux de provence - visiting the what once used to be a castle

Arles - it gives Arthur & I a headache.. it's like going to a nice small villages for a few days and then suddenly returning to a big city, dirty, traffic... Luckily we just went to visit some Roman ampitheatre to get away from the business

Paris with a bigger treat on his nose

2013-04-15T12:53:00.001-07:00

Ranunculus

2013-04-14T21:18:00.001-07:00

I got some ranunculus from the Mar Vista/Venice farmers market... $5 for 2 bunches

Balcony Garden!

2013-04-14T21:16:00.001-07:00

Love my sweet lavender plants! They smells the best!! Even the leaves smell like lavender. Some of the other lavender plants actually smell like turpentine! I'm serious, this is especially true for the Fern Leaf Lavender I have checked out Goldwin Creek Lavender - it does not smell as sweet as the sweet lavender. The French lavender was not as good either.

My mini garden include the dying basil plants on the left hand side, a new young sweet basil plants, my rosemary that is one year old but not really growing (sigh! at least it is alive!), italian parsley - they are really useful for any american/italian cookings, oregano, thyme, mint and super chillies and aloe vera! Can you imagine that aloe vera plant was like only 5" tall when I first got it, now it is like 25" long!

I got all my plants from Orchard Supply Hardware because they have a lifetime plant guarantee, even for a 4" herbs that cost $3. So if you kill the plants/herbs, you can bring it back to them with the receipt and ask for a refund/exchange. Yay! I have done it so many times say about 6 plants... :)

La Petite Creperie

2013-04-14T21:07:00.002-07:00

Nutella and Strawberry Crepe. It's buckwheat crepe so not too sweet, it is delicious! Topped with some hazelnuts too and the server/ maybe owner is french! They close early though, 2pm during weekdays and 3pm on weekends, at least according to Yelp!

La Petite Creperie

3809 Grand View Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90066

(310) 437-0226

http://www.lpcmarvista.com/

Chirashi sushi at Kaido

2013-04-14T21:04:00.002-07:00

Decent chirashi rice. Something like $16 for lunch.

Kaido

2834 Santa Monica Blvd

Santa Monica, CA 90404

Neighborhood: Santa Monica

(310) 828-7582

http://www.kaido.us/

Banana Crumb Muffins Recipe

2013-04-14T21:01:00.003-07:00

From here

This banana crumb muffins are delicious!! I have always tried to do banana bread before but these muffins are really moist! I will only use this recipe going forward, maybe I will try this recipe for a banana bread mold too.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ready In: 35 Minutes

Servings: 10

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 cup white sugar

1 LARGE egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

2/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla, ground cinnamon and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Superba Snack Bar in Venice

2013-04-14T16:42:00.001-07:00

Had a chance to go to Superba Snack Bar in Venice yesterday. Some of the dishes are really good and some are just okay.

The dish on top is the uni crab and wakame pasta. It's pretty good but it's not really mind blowing. The uni taste linger at the end of the bites but I don't really taste the uni while eating the wakame pasta and the crab because the lemon flavor was a little too strong. Would have loved to taste the uni more

This is the octopus dish, it was interesting but I probably would not have ordered it again.

The brussels sprouts and dashi broth is magnifique! I love this dish..

Didn't care much about this bucatini carbonara pasta

The charcuterrie was delicious! Especially the fish (I forgot what fish), the bacon and the porchetta.

Superba Snack Bar

533 Rose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90291

(310) 399-6400

http://superbasnackbar.com

Recipe for Kalio Chicken Curry / Ayam Kalio Padang

2013-04-05T18:16:00.003-07:00

From here

Ingredients:

2 pounds chicken thigh with skin and bone
lime and salt
1.5 teaspoon tumeric
3 pieces kaffir lime leaves
2 lemongrass, crushed/ I cut the center white parts so that the flavour will come out
1 inch galangal, crushed / I replaced with ginger
1 ball of about 0.5" size tamarind paste (found in Asian supermarket/ Simpang Asia in LA)
400 ml coconut milk canned - fresh is preferable but who can find that in LA?
Oil

Ingredients to be grinded:
10 red chili / I used dried red chili but next time may want to do 50-50% of dried and fresh
3/4 tbs coriander whole - use less if you use ground
2 big shallots ( The shallot has to be twice the proportion of garlic cloves
4 garlic cloves
1" ginger
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cummin
5 candlenut
sugar and chicken bouillon powder to taste. I put a pinch of sugar first that I increased to 1/8 tsp later on and about 1/8 tsp chicken bouillon

1. Squeeze lime into chicken and a little bit of salt and leave it for 15 minutes
2. Put oil into a pot and sauteed the grinded spices
3. Put in kaffir lime leaf, galangal, tied-up lemongrass and tamarind paste
4. Put in chicken and half of the coconut milk and cook until chicken is cooked - about 40 minutes for my case
5. Once you see that chicken is done (you can cut one up to make sure it is not pink), add in the ground tumeric. Start with 1/2 tsp and work your way up to 1 1/2 tsp, if you'd like

OK while I think the taste is delicious, I feel like it is missing something from the authentic Kalio chicken curry that I have had in Indonesia so I will have to play around with the recipe more to test it.

Green Tea Lattee

2013-03-31T16:43:00.001-07:00

Balconi Coffee, Sawtelle

Best Seafood Pasta

2013-03-31T16:42:00.001-07:00

Horrible lighting in this picture, but best seafood pasta in LA~

Toscana, Brentwood

Indonesian Chinese Mie Haka (Egg noodles)

2013-03-31T16:40:00.001-07:00

Borneo Kalimantan Restaurant

Japanese Udon with Shrimp and Mochi Tempura

2013-03-31T16:38:00.002-07:00

Oumi Sasaya, Torrance

Lion's Head Meatball

2013-03-31T16:33:00.001-07:00

Bought frozen from here

I would just then reheat it for about 40 minutes to 1 hour in a big pot along with cut up napa cabbage, a little bit of soy sauce and sesame oil... Yum.. I could eat this once a week

Shangri-La Hotel Singapore Black Pepper Crab - Healthy Style

2013-03-31T16:31:00.004-07:00

From here

Ingredients

1 kg (2.2 lbs) crab, cleaned and chopped into pieces
30 g (1 oz) black pepper, coarsely crushed
60 ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
100 g (2/3 cup) butter - I don't use this
100 g (2/3 cup) garlic, chopped
100 g (2/3 cup) shallots, chopped
60 ml (1/4 cup) oyster sauce
10 ml (2 tsp) light soya sauce
10 ml (2 tsp) dark soya sauce
20 ml (4 tsp) Chinese yellow wine
10 g (2 1/2 tsp) sugar or to taste
300 ml (1 1/4 cups) water
10 g (1 tbsp) cornstarch, or as necessary
sliced spring onions, sliced red chilli and chopped cilantro for garnish

Method

Saute black pepper over moderate heat, remove and set aside.

Add oil in heated wok; add garlic and shallots and stir fry till fragrant. Add crab, stir fry over high heat; add black pepper, de-glaze with Chinese yellow wine.

Add water, followed by oyster sauce, both soya sauces and sugar.

Lower heat, cover with lid and let braise over moderate heat until crab is cooked through.

Adjust seasonings, thicken with cornstarch, transfer to plate. Topped with garnish, serve immediately.

Stir Fry Veggies - Real Food Daily Kitchen recipe

2013-03-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

From this book

Claypot Chicken Rice Using Rice Cooker

2013-03-31T16:25:00.002-07:00

From here

Recipe: Claypot Chicken Rice without Claypot

Ingredients:

2 cups rice

1 skinless chicken breast & 2 chicken drumsticks

1 stalk scallion (chopped)

6 shitake mushrooms (soak in hot water for 30 minutes and cut into halves)

1 small piece salted fish (cut into small pieces) - I usually skip this because I don't have it ready at home

2 Chinese sausage (sliced) – optional

Seasoning for chicken:

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon chicken boullion powder

1/2 teaspoon corn starch

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

5 dashes white pepper powder

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine (or rice wine)

3 inches ginger (peel the skin and chop into thin strips)

Seasoning for rice:

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons cooking oil

1 pinch of salt

Method:

Chop the chicken breast and chicken drumsticks into pieces.

Add the chicken seasoning ,ginger and mix well. Marinate for an hour in the fridge.

Rinse and clean the rice in a rice cooker as if you are making steamed rice after the chicken is marinated for an hour.

Add the rice seasoning and cooking oil into the rice and start cooking the rice.

At the same time, heat up a wok with some cooking oil. Add in the chicken and shitake mushrooms.

Quickly stir-fry the chicken until half-cooked. Add in the chopped scallions. Dish out and set aside.

Deep fry the salted fish and set aside.

Add the chicken into the rice cooker when the rice is almost dry (about 7-8 minutes) and continue to cook till rice is completely cooked. I usually add the ginger into the rice cooker too because I love giner.

Leave the rice cooker on “Stay Warm” for 15 – 20 mintues before serving.

Top the chicken rice with fried salted fish and serve immediately

Roman Style Chicken - Recipe from Giada

2013-03-31T16:14:00.003-07:00

From here

Total Time: 1 hr 0 min

Prep 20 min

Cook 40 min

Yield: 6 servings

Level: Easy

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breast halves, with ribs

2 skinless chicken thighs, with bones

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1 teaspoon

1/4 cup olive oil

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

3 ounces prosciutto, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup white wine

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons capers

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Directions

Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a heavy, large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken until browned on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Keeping the same pan over medium heat, add the peppers and prosciutto and cook until the peppers have browned and the prosciutto is crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, wine, and herbs. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pan, add the stock, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes.

If serving immediately, add the capers and the parsley. Stir to combine and serve. If making ahead of time, transfer the chicken and sauce to a storage container, cool, and refrigerate. The next day, reheat the chicken to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the capers and the parsley and serve.

Per serving: Calories: 266; Total Fat 13 grams; Saturated Fat: 2 grams; Protein: 28 grams; Total carbohydrates: 8 grams; Sugar: 4 grams; Fiber 1.5 grams; Cholesterol: 76 milligrams; Sodium: 1,307 milligrams

My favorite vineyard in Los Olivos/ Santa Barbara

2013-03-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

Demetria Estate in Los Olivos

6701 Foxen Canyon Road

Los Olivos, CA 93441
805.686.2345

This is my most favorite vineyard in Los Olivos area. it's small, private, with live music on weekends and by appointment only. We brought our lunch and have a picnic on their table side tasting service. With a view like that..... who can beat it?

Loved their wines too! I am in love witht their chardonnay .. a little sweet but good.

Vegetarian Dan Dan Noodle Recipe

2013-03-10T15:19:00.002-07:00

From here

Vegetarian Dan Dan Noodles
Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

8 dried shiitake mushrooms
8 ounces smoked tofu, finely chopped
8 ounces dried Chinese egg noodles
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 scallions, white and green parts chopped
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon salt, or salt to taste
1 handful dry-roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Sauce:

1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon Chinese sesame paste or tahini
1 tablespoon Chinese black rice vinegar, or substitute good quality balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons chili oil (adjust according to your tolerance of spiciness)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper

Soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes, until softened. Drain the shiitakes and squeeze out the excess water. Finely chop them and set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the noodles according to package instructions. Drain the noodles, rinse under cold water, and drain again. Transfer the noodles to a serving dish.
Prepare the sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the water, soy sauce, sesame paste, vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, sugar, and Sichuan pepper. Pour half of the sauce over the noodles and toss so the sauce is evenly distributed. Set aside.
Heat a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the base and sides. Add the garlic, ginger, and scallion whites and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chopped mushrooms and smoked tofu and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt if desired. Add the chinese rice wine/dry sherry here.
Spoon the tofu and mushroom mixture over the noodles, sprinkle the chopped scallions greens and chopped peanuts on top, and serve.