No comment; 
My lunch was better than yours: Suki haeng, Thai Heng, Bangkok
Asian Food
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Cake Pop Bouquet and our 16th Anniversary together
This week, exactly 16 years ago, we met in a itty bitty coffee house. Todd was behind the counter serving espresso’s and Diane walked in thirsty for a mocha. We talked about food, art, camping, motorcycles and gardening. Todd whipped up a mocha and added a rum flavoring to Diane (for free). Diane blushed, loves free stuff, and drank the magic potion and was smitten throughout the evening.
That’s our love story in a nutshell and sixteen years later, that scene still exists. Every morning Todd is busy steaming espresso and Diane sits patiently thirsty at the barstool. We still talk about the same things and wonder how the past 16 years zipped by so quickly. Maybe it’s twitter. Then we look back at our photo albums and realize, uh, yeah, it’s been that long.
Baby Pic: Our 3rd date in 1996: Hiking!
Todd had a head of hair back then and Diane had much less wrinkles and love handles. But we’re still the same people when it comes to what brought us together from the very beginning.
We always get asked how and what we did to make it this long. That’s always a tough question to answer, but we summed up the best we can about making it this far (not in any particular order). Here is each of our perspectives on what has worked for the two of us:
Diane’s Story
First, let the other person sleep in. Sleep is important and if your partner wakes up cranky cause of lack of sleep, then the other partner is in trouble. Next, Coffee. Really great coffee in the morning helps.Think of the other person first and put him/her ahead of yourself. Some might call it sacrifice, but I certainly don’t consider it sacrifice in that sense. For me, it’s such a joy to think of what Todd would want to eat today, or what he would make him happy to make. The true joy for me is being able to be a part of what makes him happy doing. Be a great listener. Really listen to what your partner has to say, and be understanding to why they are feeling that way or thinking those things. Be empathetic and understanding, yet rational and kind when it’s your turn to talk. Remember that your love has feelings too. Make, create and do things together. The most incredible bonding experience can blossom if you make and create things together that you both love. I don’t mean in terms of a business per say, because money can make things complicated and take the fun out of it. Find something fun and beautiful that you both love and do together, often. Be a friend, a lover and a trusted confidant. It takes all three to make a relationship work.Todd’s Story
Say “Yes.” Even when the idea is insane and seems like nothing but trouble, supporting each others ideas and venturing out of our comfort zones has lead us down some amazing paths. Paths only possible because we supported the other’s crazy ideas.Fall in love again. As the years pass, it is easy to take each other for granted. Beyond looking at Diane as if we just met, I’ll ask myself what is it I love about her and why. The adorable big eyed, little sips she takes drinking water when super thirsty. The way she tries to pull me out of a funk when I’m cranky. That she plays the same song 50 times a week or that she loves 80's pop music (I didn’t even like it back then). The feel of the small of her back. That I know when everything else is chaos, I have her to depend on.Greet each other as if you haven’t seen another for a long time. I think we get this one from having dogs. You can be gone for an hour and they greet us at the door as if it has been weeks. There is nothing better than when one of us walks through the door chirping out “I’m home!” and puppies and people alike stop what they are doing and come up to greet and love.Love each others good qualities and accept their oddities. The longer you are with someone, the easier it is to be annoyed by them. The fresh romance has worn off and best behavior is put aside. Yours and theirs. But how your perceive their raw character is your choice. Be annoyed by the negative, or bathe in their spirit. You can laugh about their snoring or cringe in frustration.Forgive your own flaws. This one is hard for me, and something I am still consciously working on. We have long since known that the other is not perfect, and we love each other anyway. I think we love each others character even more for not being “the cat’s meow”. But within ourselves we still get disagreeable over our own personal flaws. Let it go. It is one thing to always try and improve one’s own character, it is another to suffer annoyance or aggravation over not being “as good as you can be.” Accept and love your own flaws. And if you want to change them think of positive ways to do it. But for yourself and your partner, love yourself so they can love you too.
Cake Pop Celebration! So to celebrate this week, we decided to make cake pops together for the very first time. Angie from Bakerella.com always inspired us with her wonderful cake pop creations and we finally decided to make it together on our special anniversary day.
But it took us a few tries. The first time was not the prettiest sight because our first batch looked like monster pops. Seriously, we made a mess and it took a few tries to finally get the cake ball to not blop back into the frosting. And when we finally succeeded in pulling out the cake pop still intact on the stick, the hardest part was timing the sprinkles to where they would stick on the frosting!
Our second attempt looked much better. yay! We don’t have a recipe to share because Angie has it written out so well on her website and we feel it’s best to learn it directly from the master.
So for the cake pop recipe, head over to Angie’s site. The only difference between her recipe and ours was that we used blue and yellow candy melts. To mellow out the color, we used white candy melts. We used 2 parts white and one part color.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Diane and Todd
Last month we shared our Life Recipe Video. Sums up how we feel!
Instagram: Culinary booty taken from Mae Hong Son
Instagram: Culinary booty taken from Mae Hong Son | Austin Bush Photography PortfoliosPeoplePlacesFoodExhibitionAbout MeBiographyContactMy Blog
$('ul#main_menu li.menu-item-1471').addClass('current_page_item');A blog about food in Thailand
and elsewhere.
Instagram: Culinary booty taken from Mae Hong SonPosted date: February 13, 2012No comment;
Wanna say something?
$('ul#main_menu li.menu-item-1471').addClass('current_page_item');A blog about food in Thailand
and elsewhere.
Instagram: Culinary booty taken from Mae Hong SonPosted date: February 13, 2012
No comment;
Wanna say something?
Name (required)
Email (required)
URL
Message (required)
Monday, February 20, 2012
Posted date: February 13, 2012 No comment;
No comment; 
I used to like this restaurant. Now eating there feels like committing some sort of cute murder.
Leftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine Sauce
Leftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine Sauce - Viet World Kitchenwindow.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init( { apiKey: 'a279adbe87e2b3c505e777af99a5260d', xfbml: true } );};( function() { var e = document.createElement( 'script' ); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; document.getElementById( 'fb-root' ).appendChild( e );} )();Viet World Kitchen Home Asian DumplingsRecipe IndexClasses+EventsFav SitesAbout MePermission+Credit Welcome! Join me to explore, create, and contribute to the culinary traditions of Vietnam and the rest of Asia.\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Best Asian Food Blogs\Viet World Kitchen\ "beef with miso, mustard and wine sauce")
Taste. My sauce was somewhat jam-like and dark purple – very pretty but it needed to further round out its flavors. To that end, I plopped a small walnut size amount of sour cream; Greek yogurt would work too or cream.Let things bubble and cook down for about 1 minute. Taste and keep adjusting things. I found that the sauce needed a little umami so I poured in the residual roast beef juices from the storage container and dashi by the tablespoon; you can use water or another kind of stock.What was interesting was that the sauce developed a wonderful savory-sweet-tart balance. I was afraid that the sour cream would dull the color of the sauce but it returned to a jewel tone, which must have been due to the miso and mirin. Once you arrive at a pleasant flavor finish, turn off the heat and serve. If you have to hold the sauce, it will quickly thicken so dilute it with a touch of dashi and reheat it. It turned out to be rather elastic.
Andrea Nguyen
Author & Teacher
Send a messagePrint + Digital Publications
Just featured in & reviewed by Martha Stewart Living, Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly and SF magazine!
Asian Tofu
Release date: Feb 28, 2012
Pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen
Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Asian Dumplings
Info on e-book w/ videos!
Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Asian Market Shopper
mobile app is here!
Available at iTunes store
new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 3, interval: 30000, width: 'auto', height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#8f1414', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#ffffff', color: '#756875', links: '#8f1414' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, behavior: 'all' }}).render().setUser('aqnguyen').start();Recent PostsLeftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine SauceThings My Husband and I Squabble OverCrisp Pot Sticker Duck Taco RecipeTofu Misozuke: Q & A with Dang Vu of Rau Om FoodsCurry Popcorn RecipeAsian Tofu Gets an “A” from SF MagBringing New Year Dumplings to Busy FamiliesAsian Souper Bowls (my Wall Street Journal article)Meatless Monday Tet MenuAsian Tofu in Martha Stewart Living!« Things My Husband and I Squabble Over |Main
February 15, 2012Leftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine Sauce
This is what we just had for dinner. It’s not a great photo but tells the story of how last Sunday’s tri-tip and potatoes got turned into something “new.” My husband and I don’t eat a ton of meat so what we cook actually gets used up in many other meals during the course of a week.
Tonight it was a matter of eating up the roast, which we’d simply rubbed with lots of kosher salt, pepper, and dried summer savory, seared it stove top and popped it in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes per pound for medium or medium-rare (aim for 125-135F and rest for 10 minutes). You can also rub soy sauce or fish sauce on the roast along with pepper and garlic to marvelous effect. As we were getting things ready for dinner, Rory said, “I wish there was some gravy.”
That’s how this little impromptu sauce started. I remembered a conversation I’d had with chef Douglas Keane of Cyrus in Healdsburg about the virtues of combining miso and mustard – something he’d picked up from a renowned chef in Kyoto. Years ago, I made a simple red wine sauce with lots of shallot and whole grain mustard from a Martha Stewart recipe. There was a tub of dashi stock in the fridge to serve as my stealth umami infusion. With all of that in mind, I made a quick savory-sweet-tart sauce for the beef. As with past posts on repurposing leftovers, this one is also about how I cook on the fly.
These are the ingredients I used for the sauce:
ButterShallotRed (aka) misoDry red wineMirinSour cream DashiMy approach was the following:
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat.Add 1 sliced medium shallot (1/4 cup) and cook it until the shallot is soft, fragrant, and picking up some golden brown edges.Rummage in the fridge for red (aka) miso, which has a stronger salty flavor profile than mellow yellow miso; red miso is sold at health food stores and Asian markets. Add a small walnut size amount to the skillet. (If you use yellow miso, you may want to try a dry white wine to match the flavor well.)Add roughly the same amount of whole grain mustard (we used Trader Joe’s brand) as miso to the skillet, then stir to combine. Cook to heat things up.Pour in enough dry red wine (we used a cabernet sauvignon that was somewhat leathery; the bottle was open) to allow the mixture to totally pool and bubble in the skillet. My estimate is about 3 to 4 tablespoons.Simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute, then add mirin (Japanese sweetened rice wine) to soften the tart and tannic edges. I add mirin in stages, counting 1 to 2 beats each time. I added mirin 4 times total to the skillet.To reheat the beef, I sliced it a good 1/4 inch thick and seared it just on one side to avoid drying out the slices. The tri-tip we got wasn’t overly marbled so I was concerned about accidentally making it chewy.
You could this little impromptu sauce with a beef steak or pork steak, or even a grilled chicken thigh. The flavor isn’t like a traditional western style wine reduction. It’s lighter but flavorful due to the use of miso, mirin, and dashi.
I’m sure that the next time I make this sauce, it’ll turn out different because of the circumstances. However, I’d apply the same cooking principles.
P.S. If you wonder about those potatoes, they are super easy and low-cal “Baker’s Wife Potatoes” from Essential Pepin, a stupendous new cookbook by a true master of food. I’d baked them in a large gratin dish and reheated them in small gratin dishes.
More ideas on leftovers:
Corn cakes and chile saucePanfried NoodlesBun rice noodle bowlsDumplings on the Fly: How to Create Your own FillingsPosted | Permalink | | TrackBackTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341ef22f53ef0167626daad1970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Leftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine Sauce:
Comments Leftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine Sauce
This is what we just had for dinner. It’s not a great photo but tells the story of how last Sunday’s tri-tip and potatoes got turned into something “new.” My husband and I don’t eat a ton of meat so what we cook actually gets used up in many other meals during the course of a week.
Tonight it was a matter of eating up the roast, which we’d simply rubbed with lots of kosher salt, pepper, and dried summer savory, seared it stove top and popped it in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes per pound for medium or medium-rare (aim for 125-135F and rest for 10 minutes). You can also rub soy sauce or fish sauce on the roast along with pepper and garlic to marvelous effect. As we were getting things ready for dinner, Rory said, “I wish there was some gravy.”
That’s how this little impromptu sauce started. I remembered a conversation I’d had with chef Douglas Keane of Cyrus in Healdsburg about the virtues of combining miso and mustard – something he’d picked up from a renowned chef in Kyoto. Years ago, I made a simple red wine sauce with lots of shallot and whole grain mustard from a Martha Stewart recipe. There was a tub of dashi stock in the fridge to serve as my stealth umami infusion. With all of that in mind, I made a quick savory-sweet-tart sauce for the beef. As with past posts on repurposing leftovers, this one is also about how I cook on the fly.
Be Connected
Get news via RSS or email 
Get updates in Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Events
Splendid Table Interview
Sat, 3/3/2012
Check your local NPR station for times. We're talking tofu.
Asian Tofu Book Talk
Tues, 3/6/2012, 7:30pm
A little tofu tasting too!
Bookshop Santa Cruz, CA
Asian Tofu Workshop
Tues, 3/13/2012, 6:30-9pm
Demo class w/ participation
Draeger’s San Mateo, CA
Asian Tofu Book Talk
Sat, 3/24/2012, 3-4pm
Celebrate spring: Think, talk & taste tofu!
Omnivore Books, SF, CA
Int'l Assoc. of Cul. Prof.
Thurs, Mar 29 - Tues, Apr 2
Annual Conference, NYC
Asian Tofu Workshop
Sun, 4/1/2012, 6pm-10pm
Hands-on class
Inst. of Culinary Ed, NY
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js'%3E%3C/script%3E"));COMSCORE.beacon({ c1: 2, c2: "6035669", c3: "", c4: "http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2012/02/beef-with-miso-mustard-and-wine-sauce.html", c5: "", c6: "", c15: ""});
Things My Husband and I Squabble Over
Things My Husband and I Squabble Over - Viet World Kitchenwindow.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init( { apiKey: 'a279adbe87e2b3c505e777af99a5260d', xfbml: true } );};( function() { var e = document.createElement( 'script' ); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; document.getElementById( 'fb-root' ).appendChild( e );} )();Viet World Kitchen Home Asian DumplingsRecipe IndexClasses+EventsFav SitesAbout MePermission+Credit Welcome! Join me to explore, create, and contribute to the culinary traditions of Vietnam and the rest of Asia.These hearts are from our first Valentine's Day. Rory cut a bunch out of red construction paper and taped all over his apartment. I just digitally refreshed them with text.
Andrea Nguyen
Author & Teacher
Send a messagePrint + Digital Publications
Just featured in & reviewed by Martha Stewart Living, Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly and SF magazine!
Asian Tofu
Release date: Feb 28, 2012
Pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen
Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Asian Dumplings
Info on e-book w/ videos!
Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Asian Market Shopper
mobile app is here!
Available at iTunes store
new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 3, interval: 30000, width: 'auto', height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#8f1414', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#ffffff', color: '#756875', links: '#8f1414' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, behavior: 'all' }}).render().setUser('aqnguyen').start();Recent PostsLeftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine SauceThings My Husband and I Squabble OverCrisp Pot Sticker Duck Taco RecipeTofu Misozuke: Q & A with Dang Vu of Rau Om FoodsCurry Popcorn RecipeAsian Tofu Gets an “A” from SF MagBringing New Year Dumplings to Busy FamiliesAsian Souper Bowls (my Wall Street Journal article)Meatless Monday Tet MenuAsian Tofu in Martha Stewart Living!« Crisp Pot Sticker Duck Taco Recipe |Main| Leftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine Sauce »
February 13, 2012Things My Husband and I Squabble OverDespite the fact we’re in the lovey-dovey Valentine’s Day zone, I woke up this morning thinking about the few things that my husband and I disagree about. We’ve been together since 1989 (!) so we’ve learned to compromise and meet each other midway on many issues. Actually, we don’t fight about much. Just little things like these:
Quibble or Squabble?
Rory and I are into words – I mean vocabulary terms. I mentioned the idea of this post to him soon after he opened his eyes today, and the first thing we discussed was: Do we quibble or squabble? I thought we quibbled and he said we squabbled. Whenever we spat over words, we let the dictionary decide the winner. In the process of hashing out things, we improve our vocabulary.
Turns out that quibbling is when you raise trivial objections or petty arguments for the sake of evading the truth or importance of an issue. Squabbling describes when you’re engaged in an argument about something trivial. Not wanting to be evasive or dishonest, I agreed that that we squabble, not quibble. “I love squabs,” he jokingly replied.
Loading the Dishwasher
Long before we had a dishwasher, several older couples told us, “We still fight over how to load the dishwasher.” We didn’t have a dishwasher until about nine years ago and didn’t know what they meant.
When we did graduate to using one, we sometimes found ourselves rearranging how each other loaded the dishes. What position ensures that the dishes get cleaned? Where should certain dishes be placed to avoid chipping? Is there an optimal place for chopsticks and rice bowls? We’d duke things out till we realized that if something didn’t get cleaned, we’d just hand wash it. Duh.
Folding the Laundry
When we were dating, Rory would sometimes come over to my apartment and help me do laundry. He was appalled at my folding skills. I sorted just fine but when it came to the final follow-through with neatly folding up each article of clothing, I was awful.
Rory, on the other hand, made the clothes look like they ought to be on display at Banana Republic! He never worked apparel retail but he certainly can switch careers, if ever needed. He even keeps his t-shirts neat in the dresser drawer.
We decided long ago that I’d have my own dresser drawer. That way, I can freely mess up my once-nicely-folded up stack of clothes. Rory took charge of doing the laundry after we started living together. (Hey, I cook!) Whenever he asks me to help with the folding, I only get to take care of my clothes.
Setting the Thermostat
It’s winter so every morning, Rory hops out of bed and runs into the hallway to increase the thermostat and warm the house up. By the time I start working out, the house is cozy. However, there’s a heater vent right above where I exercise, which means that I get hit with the occasional blast of hot air whenever the furnace comes on. The result is that I get overheated and cranky.
For a while I was sneaking by the thermostat to turn it down and then he’d get mad because it felt too cold to him. We had several spats over the temperature until we figured out this strategy: He initially cranks it up, and before I work out, I crank it down notch or two so the furnace doesn’t come on while I’m sweating. When I’m done, Rory turns it up to a comfy temperature. We are both happy.
Writing about these squabbles makes me realize how ridiculously petty they are. However, at the same time, I realize that we fundamentally agree that the dishes should be clean, our clothes should make us look neat, and we should feel warm. We may dicker on how to arrive at those points but we do figure out a way to get there together. I suppose that that’s what makes a relationship work.
Do you and your partner spar on little things? If you care to share, please do.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Permalink | | TrackBackTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341ef22f53ef0167624a786d970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Things My Husband and I Squabble Over:
Comments Things My Husband and I Squabble OverDespite the fact we’re in the lovey-dovey Valentine’s Day zone, I woke up this morning thinking about the few things that my husband and I disagree about. We’ve been together since 1989 (!) so we’ve learned to compromise and meet each other midway on many issues. Actually, we don’t fight about much. Just little things like these:
Quibble or Squabble?
Rory and I are into words – I mean vocabulary terms. I mentioned the idea of this post to him soon after he opened his eyes today, and the first thing we discussed was: Do we quibble or squabble? I thought we quibbled and he said we squabbled. Whenever we spat over words, we let the dictionary decide the winner. In the process of hashing out things, we improve our vocabulary.
Turns out that quibbling is when you raise trivial objections or petty arguments for the sake of evading the truth or importance of an issue. Squabbling describes when you’re engaged in an argument about something trivial. Not wanting to be evasive or dishonest, I agreed that that we squabble, not quibble. “I love squabs,” he jokingly replied.
Be Connected Get news via RSS or email Get updates in Facebook Follow me on Twitter
Events
Splendid Table Interview
Sat, 3/3/2012
Check your local NPR station for times. We're talking tofu.
Asian Tofu Book Talk
Tues, 3/6/2012, 7:30pm
A little tofu tasting too!
Bookshop Santa Cruz, CA
Asian Tofu Workshop
Tues, 3/13/2012, 6:30-9pm
Demo class w/ participation
Draeger’s San Mateo, CA
Asian Tofu Book Talk
Sat, 3/24/2012, 3-4pm
Celebrate spring: Think, talk & taste tofu!
Omnivore Books, SF, CA
Int'l Assoc. of Cul. Prof.
Thurs, Mar 29 - Tues, Apr 2
Annual Conference, NYC
Asian Tofu Workshop
Sun, 4/1/2012, 6pm-10pm
Hands-on class
Inst. of Culinary Ed, NY
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js'%3E%3C/script%3E"));COMSCORE.beacon({ c1: 2, c2: "6035669", c3: "", c4: "http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2012/02/things-my-husband-and-i-squabble-over.html", c5: "", c6: "", c15: ""});
Penang in Spotlight
Meeting Anthony Bourdain in PenangGreetings from Penang!
It’s been a month since I came back to Penang. Needless to say, I have been having too much fun, eating too much good food, and not blogging much at all. The first month of my vacation had been filled with festivities and much celebrations: Chinese New Year, short trips to KL and Singapore, visiting friends and family members, running (driving) around, including meeting Anthony Bourdain and the No Reservations crew, who were shooting in Penang!
One month later, I am finally settled into a more relaxed pace and I hope to share more Penang/travel-related photos and posts here with you.
First of all, Penang is definitely in spotlight now; it’s fast gaining international attention as a much-happening place and a must-visit island in Southeast Asia. As a result, Rasa Malaysia and the Penang Culinary Tour business my brother and I co-founded had been written up in two travel magazines recently—a very popular Filipino travel magazine Leisure + Adventure Travel as well as a Singapore’s NEXT Magazine (please click on the links to view the articles). Previously, we were featured on Budget Travel USA and SilkAir’s inflight magazine.
The highlight of Chinese New Year was the chap goh meh (15th day of Chinese New Year) and my elder brother CK Low got us some durian that were out-of-the-world delicious, creamy, aromatic, and finger-licking good. We made durian rice, served with salted coconut cream, and also bubur cha cha, our family rituals on chap goh meh.
Durian and Sticky Rice with Salted Coconut CreamWhenever I am in Penang, I love going to the local wet markets, the fresh fish/seafood/produce and the hustle and bustle mesmerize me.
I could never get fish as fresh as this in the United States, not mention about the species.
One of my favorite breakfast snacks: fried Chinese “hum chim peng” and “hua chee.” These are fresh-off-the-frying-wok and so delicious. I usually buy a few of these and eat them as I wander around the wet market.
While I don’t blog about everything I do or see here on Rasa Malaysia, I do share interesting pictures, food, and what I eat here via Twitter. If you are interested to follow my journey and adventure, please join me at Twitter @rasamalaysia.
var Scribol;if(typeof Scribol=='undefined'){Scribol={}; Scribol.frames=[];Scribol.site='http://scribol.com/';Scribol.is_preview=false;}Scribol.frames.push('775964');Margarita Recipe and The Magic Formula – Bitters
Call me suckered, hoodwinked, or duped. I believe in magic potions. A man hawking small bottles of potion, proclaiming outlandish results. Out of curiosity, I skeptically try the potion.
A few shakes in a cocktail. A cocktail I am very familiar with, but with a mere few dashes of this elixir it became something new. Better. Incredibly delicious.
Cocktail Bitters have been known to many much more savvy than I, but for me it is an exciting new world. A mystical potion which marries the ingredients of a cocktail together. Just about anytime I find a bar making exceptional cocktails, it is almost a guarantee that they have a beautiful stock of bitters frequently reached for behind the bar. Often times, there are bitters they are making themselves amongst the bottles.
My dawdling discovery of bitters magic powers recently came to fruition in the pages of a book. Not for the lack of signs trying to tell me the same thing. A reader commented about my use of triple sec in a margarita recipe, disapproving of it’s unctuous sweetness and mentioned it would be much better with some simple syrup and bitters instead. Diane comes home from photographing Bazaar, a hot restaurant in LA known for their exceptional cocktails (among other things), and she is all aflutter talking about their house made bitters.
Time after time, bitters have been under my nose, and yet I’ve passed right over their magic. We’ve even had several bottles of bitters in amongst our golden elixirs of alcohol, but they were almost never used. But all of these subtle and not so subtle hints have taking me along my current path. Ripening me for the moment I laid hands on the book Bitters by Brad Thomas Parsons.
Diane and I were meeting with the publishers of Ten Speed Press to discuss a project we were working on with them, and I spied the Bitters book on their shelf. They must have seen the twinkle in my eye, because the lovely ladies at Ten Speed handed us the book to take home as we concluded our meeting.
As much as I love cocktails, it is rare I get excited about a new book. I have my trusted resource on classic cocktails. Occasionally we’ll come across a beautiful book put out by an upstanding bar, and the drinks will be delicious and creative, yet I rarely make anything out of them. But this book has me excited. Beyond being a great read and resource, it is changing how I make cocktails.
We are in the process of making our own bitters, with the help of Parsons’ book, but there are already a great handful of exceptional bitters on the market. The process of bitters is month long, so until ours are ready, we’ve had fun playing with our purchased potions. Stomach a little uneasy? Some soda water a a few dashes of bitters may be the trick to settling your tummy.
Bitters for a cocktail is like the pepper and salt to a dish. Or the fish sauce to Vietnamese cuisine. By themselves it is a bit overpowering, but when added with the other ingredients they season it perfectly. Make two classic cocktails, one with bitters and one without and see which you like better. I can almost guarantee it will be the one with the bitters. For us, any cocktail I usually used triple sec in, I’ve now replaced that with a bit of simple syrup and a few dashes of orange bitters. Sidecars have never been so good.
Like most everything good in cocktails there is always folklore and mystery involved and bitters are no exception. It is part of the beauty. One legend which I’ve yet to try but is fun to share, is the no-fail cure to hiccups. Soak a sugar coated lemon wedge with Angostura bitters and take a bite. Hiccups will be gone.
Since our limes are going ape nuts right now, here’s a margarita recipe sans the triple sec and with bitters and simple syrup balancing the lime and tequila.
-Todd
*a basic simple syrup is simply a 1:1 ratio of sugar and water. One cup sugar dissolved in one cup of water. This can always be modified for preferred taste and experimentation, but this is a good starting point.
Print This Recipe
Margarita Recipe – restored to being a pre-triple sec classic
Note how the cocktail smells before you shake it. Soon you’ll recognize the scent of a well made margarita and will be able to make up a batch of them sole by scent. 1 1/2 oz Resposada or Anejo Tequila1 1/2 oz fresh Lime Juice1 oz Simple Syrup3 dashes Orange Bitterskosher salt or sea salt for the rimRub the rim of an old fashioned glass (or whatever glass you prefer) with an edge of a lime slice. Swirl the rim through a small pile of kosher or sea salt to salt the rim. Add one or two large cubes into the glass.Combine tequila, lime juice, simple syrup, and bitters in an ice filled shaker.Shake vigorously for 15 seconds, then strain into the salted glass. Serve or drink immediately and with leisure.
Kam Heong Clams (Golden Fragrant Clams)
Kam Heong Clams pictures (1 of 4)“Kam Heong” is a signature Malaysian stir-fry style that is renowned for the fragrance imparted during the cooking process, hence the Cantonese term “Kam Heong (??)”, which means “Golden Fragrance”. This one-of-a-kind style of stir-frying incorporates ingredients from Malay, Chinese, and Indian cooking to produce one of the most mouth-watering palate I have ever exposed my taste buds to. The main ingredients that give the “Kam Heong” dish its unique taste are fiery bird’s eye chilies, aromatic curry leaves, crispy bits of dried shrimp, savory curry powder and soy bean paste. Stir-frying these ingredients together yields a sauce that goes well with chicken, crab, squid, shrimp, pork and especially clams. Kam Heong Clams (????) or Kam Heong Lala (known in Malaysia) is one of the most popular hawker creations “Dai Pai Dong” (???) (Cantonese for “open-air food stall”). I have cooked plenty of styles in clam dishes, eg. Thai-style Hoy Lai Ped, Taiwanese-style Clams, Japanese-style Asari No Sakamushi, and Kam Heong Clams is by far my favorite recipe for clams.
Sometimes the most romantic setting for Valentine’s Day can be as simple as an exotic and seductive seafood dish and a bottle of wine. I am sure Kam Heong Clams is one of the dish to impress your loved one and hopefully you can make this in time for the special day, if not, any other day.
(Click Page 2 for the Kam Heong Clams Recipe (Golden Fragrant Clams)
Pages: 1 2var Scribol;if(typeof Scribol=='undefined'){Scribol={}; Scribol.frames=[];Scribol.site='http://scribol.com/';Scribol.is_preview=false;}Scribol.frames.push('775964');Sunday, February 19, 2012
Garlic Noodles
Garlic Noodles pictures (1 of 4)About four years ago, I shared my take on the Vietnamese-style garlic noodles made famous by the An family of Crustacean restaurant. Garlic noodles remain my favorite noodle dish all these years, and the recipe is the ones that I have always tried to perfect each time I make the noodles. That’s the fun of cooking—our cooking skills and techniques progress and improve over time, and a good recipe could become an excellent recipe with time if we continue to fine-tune it.
My favorite homemade version is the ones made with yellow noodles, or marketed as “Taiwanese noodles” or “??” in the United States. The noodles are, well, yellow as the name suggests, and they are very oily as each strand of the noodle is generously coated with oil. Yellow noodles are also commonly found in Malaysia and Singapore as they are used in many hawker food dishes.
After many attempts, I now have a garlic noodles recipe that involves a two-part cooking process. First, making the garlic sauce, and secondly, mixing the blanched noodles with the garlic sauce. I absolutely love this method as I can always make a batch of the garlic sauce and toss the noodles right before serving. This ensures that garlic noodles always taste fresh and delectable, and not soggy or cold. Also, if you are like me, who prefer a heavier and more garlicky taste, you can add some extra garlic sauce to taste.
You can eat the garlic noodles plain or serve it with my roasted crab recipe. One of these days, I will have to share my grilled prawn recipe to go with these sinfully luscious and delicious garlic noodles!
(Click Page 2 for the Garlic Noodles Recipe)
Pages: 1 2var Scribol;if(typeof Scribol=='undefined'){Scribol={}; Scribol.frames=[];Scribol.site='http://scribol.com/';Scribol.is_preview=false;}Scribol.frames.push('775964');Black Bean Chicken Wings
A couple of weeks ago, I had the hardest time finding chicken wings in supermarkets. It seemed that stores around here just couldn’t keep enough in stock for the Super Bowl. So I had to wait…and wait…until almost a week later, to make these black bean chicken wings that I had been craving.
We tend to think of chicken wings as appetizers, but they’re almost always served as entrees in Chinese homes. See, for example, the soy sauce chicken or Coca-Cola chicken wings I wrote about last year. (Coke may have only been in China for a few decades, but is already a popular cooking ingredient.) Black bean chicken wings is another popular dish, with a deep earthy flavor from either fermented black beans or jarred Chinese black bean sauce. The wings are first seared until golden on each side, then braised for 15 to 20 minutes in a covered wok or pan. I added a bit of cayenne pepper for a mild smokiness, but you can always double the portions for more of a kick.
So even though chicken wing fever has died down from a week ago, this still made a tasty meal for a cold, gray Saturday, when 20 minutes in front of the stove was just long enough to not interrupt a Netflix marathon.
_________________________________
Black Bean Chicken Wings
Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal
1 1/2 pounds chicken wings1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil1 scallion, chopped, plus extra chopped or shredded for garnish if desired1 teaspoon minced garlic1 teapoon minced ginger1 1/2 tablespoons fermented black beans, rinse and mashed with a spoon, or Chinese black bean sauce1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce1 cup chicken stock or water1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper1/4 teaspoon black pepperPat the chicken wings dry with paper towels. Remove and discard the wing tips. Separate the wings and drummettes if desired.Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the base. Carefully add the wings with tongs and and sear on one side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the wings and sear on the other side for another 1 to 2 minutes.Add the chopped scallions, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until just aromatic, about 20 seconds. Add the black bean sauce, soy sauce, chicken stock, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Cover with wok or pan with a lid and lower the heat to medium. Allow the chicken wings to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced to a sauce thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.Transfer the wings to a serving dish, garnish with scallions if desired, and serve._________________________________
Other Asian chicken wing recipes to try:
Tagged as: Chicken, Chinese, Recipes Issaya Siamese Club
Issaya Siamese club is the first domestic outlet serving Thai food of Bangkok-born chef, Ian Kittichai. As the story goes, Chef Ian started cooking as a child, selling food from a cart along the streets of Bangkok, before eventually going on to helm the Four Seasons Bangkok, and later, Kittichai, in New York City.
His most recent restaurant (Issaya) is housed in a charming 1920s-era villa that has been playfully designed by a Danish interior designer. There’s a small organic garden out back, lots of lounge-like cozy corners (the Siamese Club part) and in the evenings, lawn seating on comfy-looking cloth chairs.
The restaurant’s relatively short menu, referred to as the chef’s Childhood Menu, claims to be a collection of ‘Favourite dishes from Chef Ian’s Childhood’. A review in local listings mag BK mentioned that one of these dishes is Gaeng hung lay, the restaurant’s take on kaeng hang lay, a northern-style curry of pork belly. This might very well be the one Thai dish I’ve cooked and consumed more than any other, and I was curious to see how the restaurant did it:
Like the dishes that followed it, there seemed to be a distinct emphasis on presentation, and by Thai standards at least, serves were huge. The hang lay had the requisite pork belly and hints of dried spice, but these were nearly lost in the curry’s overwhelming richness and oiliness. Kaeng hang lay is indeed a rich and oily dish, but usually this is countered by the addition of a few tablespoons of tart tamarind extract, as well as acidic slivers of ginger and small cloves of garlic. Instead, Issaya’s version was served with a large chunk of taro and a couple slices of lotus root. These additions are novel (although in Mae Hong Son they do a dish called aloo hang lay, hang lay served with potatoes), yet did little to bring balance to the dish, and instead seemed to make it even heavier.
The waiter recommended the Chili glazed baby back ribs:
which arrived on a smoking Thai-style grill. They were smokey, crispy and tender, but despite Asian-inspired ingredients in the glaze, the dish had more in common with American-style barbecue than anything with origins in Southeast Asia. It was a satisfying — if somewhat out of place — dish, but was this really something from the chef’s childhood in Bangkok?
In an effort to counter the meatiness, we ordered banana blossom salad (pictured at the top of this post). I didn’t even recognise the dish when it arrived, which wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t also failed to recognise its flavours. The salad lacked that crucial intersection of astringency, sweetness, spiciness and coconut milk creaminess, and like the other dishes, seemed to be drowning in an overbearing sauce.
For dessert, we chose the restaurant’s take on khanom kho, a Thai sweet I’ve encountered previously in the southern Thai provinces of Songkhla and Pattani. The traditional version of the dish takes the form of tiny and almost impossibly light pillows of dough enveloping a crunchy core of sugarcane. Issaya’s version took the form of large and rather tough Japanese-style moji encasing sesame ice cream:
Again, the presentation was unique, and on the surface at least, the dish sort of resembled khanom kho, but given the wholesale lack of the original dish’s defining elements (delicacy, lightness, softness), why not just call it something else?
On a subsequent visit, I tried the restaurant’s street food set, which combined grilled chicken, papaya salad and sticky rice:
The grilled chicken took the form of skinless, boneless breast and/or thighs grilled and served in a marinade that combined lots of coconut milk and turmeric, but none of the spicy peppery, savoury flavours of coriander root, white pepper garlic or even salt — ingredients one would usually encounter in this dish. It seemed more like a clumsy stab at Malaysian food than any Thai street food I’d ever encountered. The papaya salad was unexceptional, and because the restaurant was out of sticky rice, I was given regular rice.
Both experiences were underwhelming, but perhaps the fault was in my ordering? On my first visit, and following the waiter’s suggestion, we ended up with three rather meaty and saucy dishes — hardly a balanced Thai meal. But after a second visit, I suspect that my ultimate mistake was in expecting Thai food. Given Chef Ian’s experience and success in the US, the emphasis on presentation, the huge serves, and the general meatiness and sauciness, I couldn’t help but wonder, Could Issaya Siamese Club be an example of a chef bringing Thai-American restaurant food to Bangkok?
Issaya Siamese Club
4 Th Sri Aksorn, Bangkok
02 672 9040
11:30am-3pm, 6pm-midnight
View Thai Eats in a larger map
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)