San Francisco: Day 1

Christmas in Fog City!

Mom and I thought it was about time we took Darian to San Fran so she can see where my brother and I were born and where my mom spent her first years in the US.  We tried for Darian's spring break but a series of mishaps (missing planes, phantom tickets--don't even get me started!) forced us to move our plans to Christmas instead.  We got in late Christmas Eve and we slept in on Christmas, rising just for a wonderfully greasy brunch at Han's Coffee Shop.  I got the Spicy Sausage Breakfast and Mom got the Short Stack.  I honestly don't know how they make such huge pancakes and manage to still cook them through and keep them so fluffy!  Darian puzzlingly got the Chicken Sandwich.  More adventurous eaters should definitely try their Korean specials like Bimbimbap or their Korean Pancakes.

We then proceeded to drive around the city to the beach, across the bridge and even to our old house, and also up and terrifyingly down the two steepest hills in San Fran.  We then capped off our first rainy day in Frisco at Bob's Steak and Chop House for a perfect Christmas dinner.

The Crab and Lobster Bisque and Salmon Platter with fresh bread

We started off with some Crab and Lobster Bisque and the Salmon Platter with a bit of the fresh bread.  I find it strange that the bread was not sourdough but maybe that is presumptuous of me?  Anyway, the bisque was wonderful, with perfect chucks of crab and lobster and not too sweet or salty as most bisques are.  The salmon platter was nothing special but was a good start to the Christmas dinner.  We also got some Cesar Salad that was wonderfully anchovy-ish, just the way I like it---so much so that we scarfed that baby down before we got a chance to take a picture.

Mom's Roast Duck with Baked Potato

Mom got the half Roasted Duck with Peppercorn Sauce and a side of Baked Potato.  The roasted duck was perfectly cooked, soft and juicy with a perfectly crisped skin but I did find it on the salty side.  The baked potato was surprisingly the star of Mom's dinner as it came with full condiments of sour cream, broccoli, bacon and cheese for you to personalize.  Darian couldn't stop stealing bites from Mom.

My Prime Rib and Sautéed Potatoes with Peppercorn Sauce and Creamed Corn

Darian and I shared the 12oz. Prime Ribeye, probably the best I've had but that's not saying much since I usually go for the filet mignon.  Either way, it was perfectly tender with such a great crust on it I was tempted to go into the kitchen and ask for grilling tips.  Darian, the potato enthusiast of the family, was not impressed by the Sautéed Potatoes with Peppercorn Sauce but I thought it was fine.  Good crust with a soft center and a nice oniony sauce.  The best part, however, was the Creamed Corn.  Sweet and creamy, I only wish I could steal the recipe for every time I had company over to impress them!

There was no time for dessert since we had to run to the screening of Les Miserables.  Totally worth it.  My mom and I were in tears by the end when the entire cast was singing the finale, Do You Hear the People Sing?  I mean, definitely a different experience from seeing it live and the storytelling seems rushed in a film format but still great, just don't expect the singing to be on par to theatre, but where the film falls short musically, it makes up in emotion.  Anne Hathaway is heartbreakingly the perfect Fantine and Hugh Jackman is great as well.  Amanda Seyfried seems to struggle with some of the high notes as Cosette and Russell Crowe lacks the deep richness of other Javerts but both were still good.  Highly recommended!

Ba Mee Moo Dang (บะหมี่หมูแดง)/Thai-Style Egg Noodles with Red BBQ Pork

With soup (left) and Dry with soup on the side (right).  Notice the condiment tray to the top right, a staple on every Thai table

In the early 1900's, a prime minister of Thailand asked everyone to invent new noodle dish. By that time, a lot of Chinese had immigrated to Thailand, and they all brought their background knowhow to cook a noodle dish adapted to the hot weather and the culture of Thailand.

This classic street food must have been invented by the Cantonese. The best BBQ Pork to this day is still in Hong Kong, but Cantonese people do not exactly eat it like this. You will find that only Thai people eat the BBQ pork like this, hot and spicy, salty and sweet and a bit sour! Everything is in one dish.  We Thais know how to balance every flavor out in one dish.

The yellow noodle shown, is a Cantonese style or more southern style egg noodle.  The northern Chinese style noodle would be white, big and round, more like the Japanese udon. One package of noodles usually comes in 4 rolls of noodles. It is very important to unroll them before boiling, otherwise it will stick together.  And do not open the package and leave the noodles out to dry up. If you are not using it right away, cover with moistened paper towel until use.  Certainly do not put them in the microwave.

When buying BBQ Pork it is best to buy the whole cut that is 1 or 2 lbs. then slice it at home.  Doing this, you will get a lot nicer cut and a lot more slices to have for guests.  And remember to ask for the pan juice. If you happened to have leftovers BBQ Pork, don't worry, you can make fried rice with it.  I usually buy a bit more and chopped whatever I think I would need for the noodle and the rest I would freeze for the next week.  Fried rice with BBQ Pork will be dinner the one day of the week that I want to be lazy or I have to go somewhere that I have very little time to cook.

- Daisy

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This is one of those dishes that just scream home and comfort to me.  My mom knows this is one of my favorite dishes and always has it ready when she knows I'm coming home, especially when I'm all frazzled from a hectic week.  And the fact that she always saves me a portion for lunch the next day just makes it even more awesome.  My brother and sister like the angel hair style egg noodles with soup, while I have my soup on the side and I prefer the fettuccine style egg noodles and I like mine dry so it's almost like pan fried noodles minus all the greasiness.  And the flavors are just so much more intensified without any soup to dilute it.  I love egg noodles, and this dish really is the best of our Chinese Thai heritage that our family is so proud of.

- Darin

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Ba Mee Moo Dang บะหมี่หมูแดง
Thai-Style Egg Noodles with Red BBQ Pork

Fish Meatballs.  Feel free to skip if you're not a seafood person.

For 4 servings

For the Soup:
1 Pork Bone, chopped
2-3 Carrots, peels and chopped into 2" pieces
16-18 cups water
2 1/2 Tbsp Salt
1 tsp Rock Sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp Soy sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp Fish sauce
1Tbsp Black Peppercorns
1 package Fish Meatballs

1) Fill a pot of with enough water just to cover the bones and let it boil for about 5 minutes.

2) Carefully take out the bones and pour out the water.  Rise out the pot and put back in the pork bones and add the carrots.

3) Pour in 18 cups filtered water and put on high heat. After it is boiling, cover and lower the heat.

4) Use a big spoon to skim out and discard all the foam that rises to surface.   Leave it to simmer for 2-3 hours, then use a strainer to take out the bones, carrots and peppercorn, leaving only the clear broth.

5) Add the salt, sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce and black peppercorns.

6) When ready to assemble the bowl, get the broth to a simmer and add in the fish meatballs to cook according to package directions.

For the Noodles:

Chinese Hand Strainers. Very handy.

1 12oz. package of Fresh Chinese Egg Noodles (Twin Marquis Brand is the most popular one you'll see.  I'd recommend either the fettuccine-like noodle or the angel hair-like noodle.  Stay away from the lo mein ones.)
1 tsp Vegetable Oil
Sesame Oil

1) Boil a pot of water and generously salt.  Add a the vegetable oil.  Blanch the bean sprouts now for 1 minute in the salted water if you are using.

2) Unroll the noodles and loosen them up.  Using a strainer in one hand and a pari fo chopsticks in another, boil the noodles while constantly stirring and lifting the noodle up and down in the strainer until noodle is done, about 2-3 minutes.

3) Put the finished noodles into a bowl and add a couple drops of sesame oil.

Fresh Chinese Egg Noodles.  This one is the angel hair style.

For the Bowl:
1 roll Fresh Chinese Noodles, boiled
1 lb BBQ Pork, sliced and warmed
1 lb Bean sprouts, blanched
1 bunch Green Onion
1 bunch Cilantro
Chinese Tian Jin Preserved Vegetable

1) Start with around a cup of bean sprouts, follow with the noodles, top with BBQ pork, then the green onion, cilantro, and preserved vegetable.

2) Pour the soup over everything and make sure to get a couple of fish meatballs in there.  It adds a slightly sweet briny-ness that is just wonderful.

3) If you are eating the dish dry, serve the soup on the side in a separate bowl and add the following to the noodles in addition to the pork, bean sprouts, green onion, cilantro and preserved vegetable:
2 tsp Sweet soy sauce
1 tsp Soy sauce
1 tsp Fish sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Chili Garlic Sauce (sambal oelek)

For the Condiments:
Asian people will always have some condiments on the table for each person to adjust the seasonings to their preference.  Below are some examples you can play with:
1) 1 Tbsp Chili garlic sauce + 3 Tbsp Apple cider
2) 1 Tbsp Jalapeño pepper, sliced + 3 Tbsp Apple cider
3) Red pepper flakes
4) Sugar
5) Fish sauce

From left to right: fish sauce, white mushroom soy sauce, condiment tray with pickled chili and sambal oelek, sweet soy sauce, fresh Chinese egg noodles (fettuccine style), preserved vegetable and sesame oil.

Pastrami Hash

Pastrami Hash with a Fried Egg

I love breakfast foods.  When I come home to visit for the weekend, I know that my sister and mother are eagerly anticipating the next morning when I whip up breakfast.  Usually its my buttermilk pancakes that I've customized to each of our likings.  I like mine with bananas cooked right in.  Darian likes hers with lots of chocolate chips.  My mom's will be bananas with a sprinkling of frozen blueberries as well as bananas for extra antioxidants.  Darson, when he is there, likes an both bananas and chocolate chips in the pancakes, as well as on top.  And we all like a lot of whipped cream.

Those are our sweet tooth mornings though, when we are all together and enjoying each other's companies.  On the lazy days when it's just me at my apartment and I happen to have some left over baby potatoes, its Pastrami Hash.  Yep, pastrami and NOT corned beef.  Although I will order corned beef hash when I'm out, at home I use pastrami.  Growing up in a Jewish community, I've learned to appreciate a good pastrami sandwich and honestly, corned beef kinda grosses me out when it's not in a hash form.

And this recipe is great for another reason, you don't have to have leftover roasted potatoes or boil any potatoes beforehand!  Being Asian, we rarely have potatoes for dinner and when we do, they're aren't ever any left over so this is perfect for when I just have a hankering for some breakfast hash.  Also, I find that when I use leftover potatoes, the potatoes get too mushy for my taste.  It's also great because it helps me use up any veggies that might be going bad soon.  So do what I do and customize it to what you have left in the fridge.  I've had it with broccoli and even spinach and its comes out great.  For some reason the white wine just makes all the veggies taste even better!

- Darin

Pastrami Hash

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Pastrami Hash

For 2 servings

4 Baby Potatoes or 1 regular potato, diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 Sweet Onion, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp dried Rosemary
4oz. Pastrami (the thicker cut, the better), diced
1 - 1 1/2 cups White Wine
2 Tbsp. Vegetable or Canola Oil
2 eggs

1) Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan to medium high and add the potatoes, peppers and onion once the pan is hot.  Season with pepper and salt and let all the veggies meld together and the potatoes get a bit crispy, about 5 mins.

2) Once the potatoes are a bit browned and crispy and the pepper and onions are soft, add in 1/2 cup of the white wine along with the thyme and rosemary and cover, letting the potatoes steam and cook.  About 7-10 mins.

3) When all the white wine has been absorbed, add the pastrami and garlic (with a bit more oil if necessary) and sauté everything together.  Let the pastrami brown.

4) Add another 1/4 cup of white wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and cover.  Lower the heat to medium.  We're trying to steam the potatoes to a soft, but not mushy texture.  About 5 mins.

6) In another frying pan, fry 2 eggs, sunny side up.  You want the yolk to still be runny.

7) Check the potatoes, if they are still not fork tender or a bit crunchy when you try them, add another 1/4 cup of white wine and cover for another 5 mins.  Season again if necessary.

8) Once the potatoes are done, add in another splash of white wine, scraping up any browned bits left in the pan.  Serve with an egg on top.  Enjoy!

Yum!

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup/PHỞ GÀ

Recently I have been sick for so long, so I thought, when people got sick or their children got sick what  kind of dinner which will easy to eat and you still feel that you are trying some new and authentic cuisine just like your family are out dating, right?

Vietnamese usually comes with a lot of vegetable. This recipe is so easy and so pungent, onion is to kill all the germs and virus, on top of that lime juice is vitamin C, will be the last to put in the bowl.

Since my friends are so hungry with Rice Noodle so much, I decided to made this dish for them. And boy! They cannot stop eating. I heard that the real Vietnamese they serve really big bowl. I mean REALLY BIG BOWL. May be x3 our size! So, if any could eat more than one, do not question yourself! You are fine!

- Daisy

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I hadn't tried Pho until very recently.  I grew up having delicious Thai noodle soups so I never felt the need to expand my noodle soup repertoire until maybe 3 years ago when the bahn mi craze hit NYC.  Suddenly there were Vietnamese restaurants popping up left and right.  And even then I was reluctant to try it.  I mostly stuck to the wonderful bahn mi sandwiches that were so great.  

Then the day came when I felt miserable but it was during midterms so I couldn't sulk off back to my mom's place for her to nurse me back to life like she usually did.  I was living on St. Marks then and was just down the street from Baoguette so I hauled my ass down and got some Pho.  At first I was skeptical of the basil and the abundance of lime.  Thai noodle soups usually didn't contain any basil and although we added lime, it is nothing near the amount most Viets put into their noodle soups.  

But then I tried it.  And it was awesome.  

I will always love my Thai noodle soups but the flavor profile of Pho is definitely out of this world.  The beef broth.  The lime.  The basil.  GLORIOUS.  The Vietnamese sausage that's on the menu at Baoguette is also crazy good with lots of mint.  

I'm a little sad I missed my mom making this, especially knowing how good her regular noodle soups are.  I'm sure this dish was fantastic, especially in light of all of this Hurricane business.  So jealous of my sister right now.

- Darin

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Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

PHỞ GÀ

For 4-5 Servings

For the Noodles and Broth:
3 1/2 Lbs Chicken, preferable Organic
3" Ginger
2 1/2 Tbsp Salt
3 Tbsp Rock Sugar (kinda hard to find if you don't have an Asian Super near you so just substitute equal amounts of sugar)
2 1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Large Yellow Onions, quartered
1 package of Dry Rice Noodle, soak in hot water for at least 20 mins before you're ready to eat.
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup Salt

The Spices:
1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 Tbsp Black Peppercorn
1 Tbsp Cumin Seeds
5 Star Anise
1 Whole Cinnamon Stick
7 Cloves

The Garnishes:
1 Onion, peeled and sliced very thin
1 Lb. Bean Sprouts, 3/4 to be blanched and leave 1/4 raw
4-5 Jalapeño Peppers, seeded and chopped
Lime Wedges
3 -5 Tbsp chopped Green Onion
2-4 Tbsp Cilantro, chopped
2 cups Thai Basil, leaves only
Thai Sriracha Sauce and Hoisin Sauce

1) Rub the chicken with salt and rinse well.

2) Cut out the thick oily yellow skin at the neck of the chicken and the bottom of the chicken (my mom means the butt).

3) Get a big pot of water boiling and boil the chicken for 3 minutes.  Make sure that there is enough water to completely submerge the chicken by an inch.

4) In the same pot, boil another 18-20 cups of water and put the chicken back in along the quartered onion and bring to a simmer (this means low and slow people!). At the same time toast the spices until it fragrant, about 7 minutes.  Add to the pot and continue simmer the broth until everything incorporates, about 45mins to an hour.

5) Take out the chicken and let it cool before slicing into pieces.  If you like some chicken in big pieces, like the drumstick, you may leave them individual.

6) Boil the noodles according to package directions, usually only 2 mins.  This process is much easier if you use a Chinese Colander and boil the noodles in single servings.  Make sure to have soaked the noodles in hot water for at least 20mins before.

7) In another pot, boiled water and add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and 1/4 cup salt.  Blanch the bean sprouts for 2 minutes, then the sliced onions for 2 minutes.

8) Assemble the dish.  Add in the noodles first and top with the blanched bean sprouts, chicken slices, onion, hoisin sauce and Sriracha sauce, cilantro and green onion, all to your liking.  Then pour in the broth and squeeze a wedge of lime over the entire dish.  Add the Thai basil, some fresh raw bean sprouts and jalapeño pepper.  Enjoy!

Moo Yang with Nam Jim Jaew (หมูย่าง น้ำจิ้มแจ่ว)/Thai BBQ Pork with Jaew Dipping Sauce

Moo Yang with Nam Jim Jaew is another food in Thailand that people consumed a lot. It is popular either big restaurant or street vendor. With the dipping sauce hot and sweet and sour, you will feel you want it more and more with your rice or you can steam some glutinous rice that will be make it more traditional. Good for on the go. Thai people eat it in the morning,too.

This Nam Jim Jaew น้ำจิ้มแจ่ว recipe is the best dipping sauce for all Thai BBQ food. Delicious with beef, pork, chicken and squid. I say this is a condiment or dipping sauce. Absolutely not a dressing or marinade!

Moo Yang with Nam Jim Jaew (หมูย่าง น้ำจิ้มแจ่ว) or Thai BBQ Pork with Jaew Dipping Sauce

There are some harder-to-find ingredients in this recipe that can be found in Asian Supermarkets, including the Tamarind Paste and Palm Sugar.

My mom told me that if we ever tried to roast the Thai Chili Pepper (Prik Kee Noo) ourselves, the smokey flavor would burn the house down. The smell of the smoke may be more than some people can stand. It is most suitable for all kinds of Thai salads like Yum, Laab, and Num Tok. Num Tok is another kind of spicy salad dish where you bring out a half cooked dish with some blood to be cooked in the dishware when served. How? With Thai Chili Pepper or Prik Kee Noo and lime juice. This is why in some dishes they do not throw away the lime after they squeeze the juice, they just put it back in the dish when it is ready to serve.

For the Ground Roasted Rice--yeah, this is another thing that we 20th century Thai (lazy) people, found a substitute for----I use Instant Grits. I always use one package for both my Laab and a little bit for my Num Jim Jaew and heat it on a low heat pan on the stove. Keep on stirring until it fragrant while you are working on something else. It will turn a bit brown in around 20-30 mins. Please put it very carefully into the Num Jim, because it will absorb all the juice and the Num Jim will get lumpy. Try to balance it out so you will have a nice and delicious (non-lumpy) dipping sauce.

Originally this recipe is made using Northern Thai Style Fish Sauce or Pla Ra, which is a fermented fish sauce made in Northern Thailand. This also means it might not have been pasteurized before selling to the market, unlike the regular fish sauce that we have seen in the supermarket. But also sometimes we can find a trust worthy Pla Ra from our relatives or usually people who knows where to find it.

- Daisy

The Ground Dried Thai Chili or Prik Kee Noo

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Moo Yang with Nam Jim Jaew (หมูย่าง น้ำจิ้มแจ่ว)

Thai BBQ Pork with Jaew Dipping Sauce

For the Nam Jim Jaew:

1 tsp Dried Ground Thai Chili or Prik Kee Noo (or you can use Smoky Mexican Red Chili)
1/4 cup Liquid Tamarind Paste
2 tsp Palm Sugar
1/2 Salt
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Tbsp Ground Roasted Rice
1/2 cup Coriander Stem or Pak Chee
1 Shallot, sliced
Coriander leaves

1) Combine and the ingredients and taste to your liking.

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For the Thai BBQ Pork:
2 lbs. Pork Neck/Shoulder, sliced into big pieces, about 1" thick

1/4 tsp Roasted and Grounded Coriander seeds
2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tsp Sea Salt
2 Tbsp Palm Sugar
1Tbsp Sweet Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Cilantro Root
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 cup Garlic
1 1/2 cups Coconut Milk

1) Wash and dry the pork.

2) Combine the rest of the ingredients together. 

3) Put the pork into the marinade piece by piece so the pork becomes completely immersed. Let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour to overnight.

4) Heat your grill pan to high and grill pork slices both sides.  Make sure not overcrowd. 

5)  Let it rest for 10mins and then cut each slice into bite sized pieces. 

6) Enjoy with Num Jim Jaew and some Sticky Rice!

Plum and Blue Cheese Gallette

This recipe has blue cheese in it so you know it's definitely not from my mom.  Most Thais do not like cheese and even less a stinky blue cheese like the one I'm using in this recipe.  My father and I are one of the few exceptions and as far as we're concerned, the stinkier, the better!

Cheese is something he and I really bond over while my mother, older brother and little sister look away in disgust.  It just really isn't their thing.  Some of the best memories I have with my father is when he takes the entire family out for brunch at the famous Cafe Lalo in the Upper West Side.  Yep, the very same one that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan filmed in for You've Got Mail.  It's the scene where they were supposed to meet for the first time and Tom Hanks' character realizes that he's been anonymously corresponding with the woman whose life he just ruined.  Queue the dramatic background music!

Anyways, whenever my dad takes us there for brunch, the two of us would pour over the cheese menu and pick a couple to try.  And the fact that the cheese plate comes with quince paste, fresh olive oil and rosemary toast and a tiny glass of fruit wine (raspberry was always my favorite) made it THAT much more awesome.  It was here that my dad taught me that fruit and cheese is a match made in heaven.

So this Plum and Blue Cheese Gallette goes out to you, Dad!

- Darin

Photo courtesy of Alan Hsu, who really needs to do all of our food photography from now, seeing as how my mom and I completely SUCK compared to him!  Thanks Alan!

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Plum and Blue Cheese Gallette

1 Pate Brisee (the best recipe I've tried is Elise's from Simply Recipes with one slight change.  I substitute the water with vodka, a neat trick from America's Test Kitchen!)
5-10 Plums (depending on the size of the plums and how thinly you manage to slice them.  I'd try for 1/2" but you can go up to 1" if you're feeling lazy but I wouldn't recommend any bigger than that)
2 tsp. Lemon Juice (if your Plums are tart/not very ripe like mine were, you can feel free to skip this)
1/3 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 cup Blue Cheese (you can go cheap for this)

1) Preheat the oven to 400F.  Take the pate brisee out of the fridge and let it sit for 5 mins to get to room temp.

2) In a large bowl, combine the plum slices and sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon.  GENTLY toss and let it macerate while you roll out your dough.

3) Roll out the dough into a 10" circle.  Feel free to be liberal with the flour as it will thicken the plum juice up into a nice sauce.

4) Starting from at least 1" in from the edge, arrange the plum slices in a circle, working from the outside in.

5) Gently fold over the edge of the dough over the first row of plums to create a nice rustic crust.

6)  Drizzle the macerated plum juice over the pie, just enough so that it will stay moist while baking, but not make the gallette soggy.  I know that is a really vague instruction but it will really depend on how ripe your plums are as the more ripe they are, the more juice there will be from macerating.

7)  Crumble the blue cheese over top followed by a sprinkle of sugar to finish.

8) Bake for 20 minutes (but start checking at 15).  Let it cool and enjoy!

London, Part II

Onward with the tour!

On the top of my list of food I HAD to have while in London was Fish and Chips.  Although A Salt & Battery in Greenwich Village is good, it was just missing something...British.  I'm not sure how to explain it but I think I've been spoiled ever since Jeanie Weanie took me to the local Chip Shop in Newcastle and introduced me to the best seafood I've ever had, let alone Fish and Chips.  And the fact that no one in America seems to understand what mushy peas are is also insanely frustrating.  So being my best friend, she researched Chip Shops around London to take me and came up with...

The Golden Hind

The Golden Hind, which has this incredible ambiance.  It is this old school posh neighborhood Chip Shop in Marylebone that is renowned for having amazingly fresh seafood.  I also loved that the shop has a board that shows all the previous owners and their ethnicities.  We got some classic fried cod, fish cakes, chips and of course, mushy peas for me!  The cod and fish cakes were a bit fishy but Jeanie Weanie didn't really taste it so I chalk it up to me always getting extra sensitive when I'm travelling.  Either way, the batter was great.  Just thick enough to have a great crunch but thin enough to gently envelop the cod instead of drowning it.   The chips were good as well but what really made my day were the mushy peas.  Simple I know but there is something awesome about getting something that simple right.  And don't you love the little condiment bowls?

Traffic Jam in a Jam Shop next to The Golden Hind.  HILARIOUS!

The next day Jeanie Weanie took me to one of the food meccas of London, Borough Market, their version of our Smorgasburg, although I'm sure Borough Market has been there forever and our Brooklyn Smorgasburg is still relatively new.  Anyways, we were on the hunt for more less traditional fare as we more than gorged ourselves on the Fish and Chips so I opted for Cafe Brood's famous Paella.

Cafe Brood's Paella Pan.  Delicioso, no?

Cafe Brood's Paella with Catalan Stew

The Paella was a tad under seasoned for my taste and the Catalan Stew refused to blow my mind as others have promised but the stew and the paella together in one bite was indeed delicioso.  Since the paella wasn't as flavorful as expected, the acidity and brightness of the stew really rounded out the rice without covering up the wonderful brininess of the seafood.  The real disappointment was the actual meatballs in the Catalan Stew, which I felt was too dry despite being cooked in the stew, and did not contribute much to the flavors of the dish as a whole.

Game Sandwich from The Guildable Manor.  YUM!

Jeanie Weanie felt like a nice sandwich so she popped over to the next stall and got a wonderful Game Sandwich from the Guildable Manor.  The sausage is made of wild boar and venison and combined with the cabbage, this sandwich is SPECTACULAR.  I love me some well made sandwiches and they did GOOD.  The sausage was grilled perfectly, baguette soft, cabbage tangy and crunchy and with their homemade sauce, this sandwich was easily one of the best offerings at the market.  Next time I think I'll go for their lamb sandwich.

My last night in London I had planned to go over to the Mandarin Kitchen to visit my uncle who runs the restaurant and to have their absolutely delectable Lobster Noodles as my last meal before I leave.  Funny sentiment since if I had to choose a last meal in life, this would be it.  These noodles are that good.  Thai dignitaries regularly stop by and the last time I was there the Thai prime minister was 2 tables away.  Now despite my strong feelings for this dish, I can tell you right now I still believe I am underselling it to you.  The heft of the noodle perfectly handles the gooey sauce and holds its own with the lobster, whose essence has gleefully penetrated the noodles and the absolutely delicious out of this world sauce.  ARG!  I am drooling everywhere just thinking about it!  But alas, it was not meant to be.  My uncle received word too late of my presence in London and we just missed each other.  Until my next trip then, my darling darling lobster noodles!

Heaven. (Courtesy of Christina About Town)

If you are in London I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you stop by--no, MAKE SURE you get these wonderful noodles.  They are worth every pence and trust me, this dish isn't cheap.  Although I didn't get to go, I found some photos from the blog Christina About Town, who echoed my sentiments about this absolutely SPECTACULAR dish.

Yum.

Kai Jeaw Moo Sub (ไข่เจียวหมูสับ)/Thai Egg Omelet with Ground Pork

Kai Jeaw Moo Sub (ไข่เจียวหมูสับ) or Thai Egg Omelet with Ground Pork.
Humble but absolutely delicious!

I'm really homesick.

With my mom still in Asia along with my little sister and my first year of law school starting, needless to say, I need a lot of comfort, especially since I just got back from Bangkok.  This concept of being homesick has always been a bit weird for me since I always felt like I had two homes when I was growing up: Bangkok, where I was raised until I was 9, and New York, where I moved to and consider the place where most of my growing up actually happened.  Of course, the family still went back to Thailand every summer and that is probably why I feel I developed this kind of dual life where I end up being homesick ALL the time; if not for Bangkok then for New York and vice versa.    Each life has it's own pace, it's own family and friends and especially it's own flavor.

It is this flavor that I have missed most.  The last two summers before this one I was unable to travel back for the annual migration back to Bangkok with the family since I got a job and apparently when you get a real job you can't just take off for a month to Asia.  Who knew?!  Certainly not my father who was baffled by this concept.  So since I quit my job to start law school this summer, I was able, in the span of 1 1/2 weeks, to experience some the flavors that I have been missing for the last 3 years.

Now that I am back, I've had intense withdrawal and have been wanting to cook some thai food but with the start of law school, renovating my bathroom, seeing my friends to deliver their requested presents and dealing with my terrible jet lag, I just haven't had time.  Not surprisingly when I told my mom, she asked why I couldn't just make Kai Jeaw?  Silly Darin, of course!  This thai omelet is probably the simplest thing to make and is the default comfort food for all Thai's across the globe.  Good thing my mom went through it with me before she left.  I can never get it as fluffy as her.

Perfect!  Homesickness cured!...Okay, maybe not cured, but it certainly helped!

- Darin

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"FRIED EGGS WITH GROUND PORK"  This is a very normal dish for Thai people.  Even if you are royal family or you are village people you love this dish and you get to eat it!  This is the dish that go with Thai SRIRACHA sauce or you may make you own NUM PRIK PLA sauce(Fish Sauce with Chili),  big plate of hot rice, then either you are using the best porcelain utensil or gold or using plastic utensil, it doesn't matter.

When my son was in college, this dish made him famous.  It is not a normal scrambled eggs but this KAI JAEW MOO SUB.  And he made it for all his Korean friends and of course, they loved it with SRIRACHA sauce.

When we went to visit grandpa in a very local village in China, which has no restaurant, we had to eat like a villager and grandpa told us that the best thing is to eat KAI JAEW MOO SUB.   Rice is hot and the dish is hot, at least is germ proof because everything is well done.
When we got sick and stay home.  We can make KAI JAEW MOO SUB together with CONGEE.
Now you will be asking what is CONGEE, right?  That will be our next project.  Please follow us for more when I get back! 

- Daisy

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Kai Jeaw Moo Sub (ไข่เจียวหมูสับ)

Thai Egg Omelet with Ground Pork

3 Eggs

1/8 lb Ground Pork

1 tbs Oyster Sauce

1/2 tbs White Soy Sauce (although regular will substitute just fine)

Good big pinch of ground white pepper (although regular will substitute just fine) 

Vegetable Oil

1) Oil your pan (it should cover the bottom of your pan by 1/4 inch) and turn the heat up to med-high.  You need this pan sizzling hot to make the eggs puff up.

2) Combine all the ingredients minus the oil and whisk with a fork like crazy (Fyi, the real masters use chopsticks for this.  Watching my Mom and Grandma do it is absolutely CRAZY!).  We are aiming for an insanely fluffy omelet so incorporating air is key. 

3) Check to make sure the pan is HOT, like you can only hold you hand over it for a couple of seconds hot.  Pour the eggs in and stand back, it gets a bit violent.  An apron is highly recommended for this one.

4) Once the egg is cooked through on the bottom and the top is only still a bit runny, slide your spatula under the egg, slowly drag it out a bit and flip.  Don't worry if this takes a couple of attempts.  Let the omelet cook for another minute.

5) Serve with a big heap of rice and lots of sriracha.  Make sure the sriracha is made in Thailand or my mom will hunt you down.  Seriously.

Makes one omelet.

London, Part I

I really don't understand any of this grumbling about how the English have terrible food.  Honestly, when I was studying abroad in London during the Winter/Spring of 2009, I was in food heaven.

Bangers and Mash? Pies? Fish and Chips? Victoria Sponge Cake? Mushy Peas?  Scones and Clotted Cream?  AMAZING!

Seriously, what in the world are the haters jabbering about?  I mean, I can kind of understand that argument 75 years ago, but now?  HELLZ NO!  Especially if you've taken a look at any of Jamie Oliver's or Nigella Lawson's cookbooks, I can't see how you can still say the English have terrible food.  But that is besides the point.  As much as I love traditional British fare, for this post I will (with the help of my best and oldest friend, Jeanie Weanie) reverse the misguided belief by showing you what else is offered in Merry Ol' London, especially some great ethnic food, perfect timing really with the London 2012 Olympics!

The first stop: Burger & Lobster, where they serve nothing but--yep, you guessed it--burgers and lobsters!  Okay, there are actually three things on the non-existent menu (and I say non-existent because there is really no physical menu): burgers, whole lobsters steamed or grilled and the lobster roll.  Since Jeanie Weanie went straight for the grilled lobster, I elected to try the lobster roll.  I have pretty high standards for a lobster roll since I used to live near Luke's Lobsters in the East Village and they have the whole seafood roll thing down to a science.

Steamed Lobster, Bloody Mary and Lobster Roll at Burger & Lobster!

The lobster roll that I got from Burger & Lobster was good.  Not great, but good.  My problem was that it was just too big and there was just too much butter, which made the entire experience a bit overwhelming, but the lobster was fresh--you could really taste it.  The fries were awesome though, and I'm a sucker for good fries.  Jeanie Weanie's grilled lobster was great since the lobster was fresh and the parsley butter sauce the lobster came with was OUT OF THIS WORLD.  Yea, it's just parsley, garlic, and melted butter, but I have a feeling if I tried to recreate it at home, it would still not be as good as how Burger & Lobster made it.  We, of course, washed the entire thing down with bloody marys that were the perfect drink for our seafood feast.  And I say feast because after neither of us could really walk without waddling--that's how much food they gave us.  It was £20 for each entree, which is a bit pricey, I'll admit, but it was absolutely worth it for what we got.

The second stop: Aladin, supposedly the best curry place on Brick Lane...but that claim has been made by ALL the curry houses on Brick Lane so it's to be taken with a grain of salt but this place was good.  Certainly better than all the Indian places I've tried in New York (sorry guys).  I absolutely fell in love with Indian food when I was studying abroad in London in 2009 and just haven't found anywhere in New York that could really compare.  Yes, I know all the Indian food I had in London is completely Anglocized but that doesn't really bother me one bit since it is DELICIOUS.

Our Indian feast at Aladin: Garlic Nan, Balti Lamb Kurma, Rice Pilau and Balti Chicken Tikka Bhuna

Jeanie Weanie and I went a little nuts with the ordering since we were both starving by the time we got to Brick Lane but you only live 9 times right?  Oh wait, that's a cat.  Nevermind.  Anyways, we started with papadoms and onion bhaji which were both good but pretty standard fare at all Indian places.  As much as they both tasted great, we were a tad distracted as we were really excited for our curries, Chicken Tikka Bhuna and Lamb Korma (or Kurma), made extra special as our waiter recommended we get both Balti-style.  Balti, according to the folks at Aladin, is "a unique concept of Kashmiri cuisine.  ..[where] traditional dishes are prepared and presented to the customer in a cast iron dish with natural spices and herbs."  Basically they are saying what is already awesome is kicked up another awesome notch (enough awesomeness for you in one sentence?).  We also ordered garlic nan and pilau rice and to be honest, what really rocked my socks was the pilau rice.  I'm not sure how well you can see in the picture but the pilau has sprinkles of different colored rice (red, yellow, green) that , combined with its incredible flavor (garlicky, soft, a bit sweet, a bit salty) just elevated it to one of my favorite side dishes EVER.  The curry itself was good as well but a bit one-dimensional for me, which is surprising since curry is usually a party of flavors in your mouth.  I actually preferred the fire red Balti Chicken Tikka Bhuna over the Balti Lamb Korma, which I felt was just overwhelmingly sweet, hiding much of the other wonderful spices that goes into the dish.   Either way, these two were the best Indian curries I've had easily in the past year so it nonetheless lifted my spirits.

Please check back for London Part II where I go to get some Fish and Chips and visit Borough Market for some awesome Paella!

Yum Pla Krob (ยําปลากรอบ)/Thai Crispy Fish Salad

Yum Pla Krob (ยําปลากรอบ) with all the fixins'

My grandma came to visit us this spring and before she left to go back to Bangkok, she made me her speciality dish, Yum Pla Krob (ยําปลากรอบ)!

Namprik Pao (น้ำพริกเผา) or Chilli Paste in Soybean Oil

Yum (ยํา) is a sort of Thai salad/marianade which consists of lime, palm sugar, fish sauce, thai chili, shallot and mint.  Yum can be made with almost any kind of meat with beef being the most popular.  My mom used to make a cuttlefish version which was always awesome, but the best is undoubtedly my grandma's yum with these crispy teeny tiny fish which is also extra special due to the addition of Namprik Pao (น้ำพริกเผา) or Chilli Paste in Soybean Oil.  We don't even attempt to make it without her, it's just not the same.  I'm not actually sure what kind of fish these are.  My mom says they might be anchovies but judging from the face she made, I really don't think she was confident in our classification either but they are delicious just the same.

Grandma makes this for me whenever she comes to visit us in New York, which has been more and more infrequent due to her age so I'm so happy to get this down now.

- Darin

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The little tiny fishies.

"Pla Lek Pla Noi"  Small dried anchovies has so many kinds.  If you go go to the Asian Supermarket you will find it from so many countries, too.  Try to find the Thai anchovies that has already fried or baked will even better.  But not the snack and already flavored kind. But if you cannot find it, it is fine to use from any country as long as it is small, almost like thread.  Use a fine coriander to rinse under running water and put in a paper towel to dry.  Change to another paper towel and put in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Heat a wok with a little of oil, keep stirring until it turns brown and crispy.

These "Pla Lek Pla Noi" usually I buy in Thailand when we visit any provinces near the sea.  And the beach usually the seafood is nice and they will have all kind of dried seafood for sale and of course, sweets.  Brings back my childhood again.  Certainly they are part of my children's memories too.

Every year,summertime is the time that I will take them back to visit Thailand.  And this year before we leave with my mom, my older daughter found out that we still have some little anchovies from Thailand.  She was so happy.  Grandma was the one who introduced her to them the first time.  I didn't make it for her because I leave it to grandma to make it for her someday.  It so easy and has no cooking, no sweating.  After finishing the dish my mom is always so proud that she is still can do something for her grandchildren to love.  Like many old people she suffers from loneliness and feel she is an old and useless lady.  I hope this trip has proved to her that that isn't the case. 

- Daisy

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Yum Pla Grob (ยําปลากรอบ)
Thai Crispy Fish Salad

For theYum:

1/3 cup Crispy Tiny Sea Fish
1 tbs Namprick Pao

2 tsp Fish Sauce

2 tsp Tamarind Paste

1/2 Lime

1 tbs Palm Sugar

The Fixins':
1/2 Shallot (Sliced)

1/4 cup Mint  (You can leave them whole)

1 Thai Chili (Sliced)
Toasted Peanuts (Optional)
Romaine Lettuce or Cabbage

1) You can either do it the harder/traditional way that my mom specified above with the wok or do what my grandma did which was throw the fish in an 350F oven for 10 minutes or until crispy.
2) While the fish is in the oven, make the yum by combining the Namprik Pao, fish sauce, tamarind paste, lime and palm sugar.  Taste and adjust to your liking.  Sprinkle with peanuts.
3) Get the fixins' ready
4) Add the now crispy fish into the yum sauce you made earlier and mix.  Taste and adjust again accordingly.
5) Assemble!  Break off a bite-size piece of lettuce or cabbage, spoon in some of the yum, top with a bit of shallot, mint and chili (only for the brave).  Stuff the entire thing into your mouth and enjoy the salty, sweet, tart, spicy and crunchiness of Yum Pla Grob (ยําปลากรอบ)!

The finished product.  The reason it is out of focus is because my mom took it.  Way to go Mom

Oreo Whoopie Pies

Oreo Whoopie Pies

A couple of days ago our extended family in Queens asked us to their summer BBQ.  Of course, this being Queens, it was less of a let's sit in our lawn chairs, grill lots of meat and enjoy the summer in our great backyard and more of a let's sit on the chairs from the kitchen, grill some meat and enjoy the summer on the driveway.  It was fun and delicious all the same though.

My mom and I elected to take care of dessert and we couldn't agree on what we wanted to make, so in true Daisy and Darin tradition, we each made our own. 

Now this is the one thing about me that makes my mom convinced I was supposed to be born either Italian or Mexican (my two other favorite cuisines after Thai) instead of Thai--I really dislike any dessert made with coconut milk.  I love fresh coconuts and coconut water and I love coconut milk based curries (now if I didn't like that, I REALLY wouldn't be able to call myself Thai), but something about desserts with coconut milk just rub me the wrong way.  Kind of like when people try to convince me that milk and alcohol could work (sorry the Dude).  Now you might be thinking, "Big deal!  Just eat other desserts that aren't made with coconut milk."  But you don't understand.  Literally 99% of Thai desserts include coconut milk, which basically leaves me with maybe 2 Thai desserts I can enjoy.  My mother, of course, loves all of these desserts, in particular the Pumpkin Custard, which is what she decided to make for the barbeque.  I would have nothing to do with it so I decided to make Oreo Whoopie Pies.

My Oreo Whoopie Pies are basically the homemade version of Oreo Cakesters, which I find completely brilliant aside from the fact that I feel they taste so artificial.   This batter puffs up so beautifully right after you add the buttermilk, I haven't been so excited to see anything bake!  It is also the buttermilk that keeps the pies so moist and fluffy that it's like biting into a puff of cloud.  Yes, these are so good, it makes me poetic.

One thing to note is that I am not a big icing person.  I pretty much stick to the 4:1 ratio of cake to icing.  Anymore and I my teeth hurt and I swear I get dizzy.  You can always figure out which piece of cake was mine because I will always leave an icing skeleton behind (you know, with all the cake gone and most the icing left in an "E" shape).  So feel free to double the recipe for the filling if you are a lover of icing.

Anyway, both my Oreo Whoopie Pies and Mom's Pumpkin Custard were huge hits at the barbeque, which of course made us both smile like complete idiots all the way home.  I managed to save some of my Oreo Whoopie Pies for my boss and intern for Monday.  Yum!

Here is my recipe for the Oreo Whoopie Pies adapted from the blog food is luv.  The mother has been busy packing as she's leaving for Bangkok tomorrow morning so she hasn't had time to sit down and write her post but the Pumpkin Custard recipe is coming!

- Darin

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OREO WHOOPIE PIES

HOMEMADE OREO CAKESTERS

For Oreo Whoopie Pie Batter:
3 1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Salt
2 cups Buttermilk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Butter at Room Temperature
2 cups Brown Sugar
2 Eggs

For the Vanilla Filling:
1/2 cup Butter
2 cups Powdered Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbs Milk (Whole is best but Skim will also suffice)

1) Preheat oven to 350F.

2) Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

3) In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside

4) Beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy then add the eggs until combined. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Be careful not over mix.

5) Use a 2" ice cream scoop to scoop out the batter onto a cookie sheet lined with either wax paper or silpat. Leave at least 1" between each mound.

6) Get a small bowl of room temperature water to wet your finger and smooth out each cake mound into a nice round top.

7) Bake in a 350F oven for 12mins. Let cool at least 15 minutes before frosting.

8) Cream the butter and sugar together until very well combined and fluffy.

9) Add the vanilla extract and milk and beat until the filling has loosen a bit.

10) Assemble. I used a 1" ice cream scoop to scoop in the filling which is the perfect amount for me. If you prefer more filling, I would double the filling recipe and use a 1.5" ice cream scoop.

Note: Be careful about stacking the pies together as they will stick. This is why wax paper is your best friend and is absolutely necessary if you need to stack these awesome little things for transportation.

Makes 30 Oreo Whoopie Pies.

Khao Mun Gai (ข้าวมันไก่)/Thai-Style Hainan Chicken

One of my most favorite Thai dishes!

Kao Mun Gai

Actually I think this dish is originally from Hainan, China but we Thais perfected it so it is Thai in my book.  The original version is called Hainan Chicken or Hainanese Chicken (for obvious reasons) and there are different variations throughout Asia.  I've tried the Taiwanese version and, honestly, it's a little bland for my taste but that might be because I've grown up eating the Thai version and we Thais like our food with a huge kick.  The difference, fyi, was in the sauce as far as I can tell.  That and the chicken was also a bit less oily which might sound healthier but just doesn't taste as good.  People have told me that the Singaporean version is supposed to be out of this world and is considered their national dish.  I've yet to try it but I'm hoping this summer when I go back to Thailand for the first time in 2 years, the fam and I will have a couple days to spare for a trip to Singapore and I can try for myself.  I will of course report back!

Anyways, back to the kickass Thai version of Hainan Chicken called Khao Mun Gai (ข้าวมันไก่), which literally translates to, "Chicken Oil Rice."  Okay, so not the most appetizing translation but trust me, this stuff is awesome, especially when you do the fried chicken version of this dish but that is for another post.  I have yet to make this myself but my mom has made it more than enough times for my brother and sister and I.

This dish isn't the easiest to try as a beginner but it is by no means overwhelming.  I think the thing that makes this recipe tricky is that you have to work with a whole chicken, which can be daunting to cooks who have never done so before, ie. me.  Yes, my mom spoiled me.  I have a childhood friend who can apparently make this dish like no other so I am determined to learn it as well so the next time I see him, I can actually look him in the eye and not shamefully avert my gaze.

- Darin

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Everyone in my family loves Khao Mun Kai, especially my son.  Every time he goes back to visit Thailand he asks everyone he knows where the best place for Khao Mun Kai is.  Of course, nowhere else will he get as big of a plate as Mommy's Khao Mun Kai.  And I know exactly just what my children like.  My son likes dark meat with a lot of rice, so he needs the bigger plate.  My older daughter likes white meat (of course, it would be still juicy) with a little bit more rice than she usually gets.  And my little one loves dark meat just like her brother and I will ask her to come get her own rice because now that she is getting into her moody teenager phase and sometimes her rice intake depends on her mood.  She might go for seconds or she will just take a lot at one time.  She is hard to predict.

When I make Khao Mun Kai usually I keep the broth that I boil the chicken in (the second boil) and serve it with the dish as most Thais do.  Ladle some into small pot (as you will not be able to finish it all at once, trust me) and add chopped wintermelon and boiled until soft. Salt and pepper to taste. Cilantro for garnish. This soup is a clear soup.  Everyone just take a small bowl to go with their Khao Mun Kai.

- Daisy

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KHAO MUN GAI (ข้าวมันไก่)

Thai-Style Hainan Chicken

HAI NAN ZHI

Serve 4 -6

Garnish:
1 English Cucumber, Quartered and Chilled
Sprigs of Cilantro

For the Chicken:
1 3-4 lbs. Chicken, preferably Bell &Evans (if frozen, must be totally defrosted)
1-2 slices of Galangal or Ginger
1 Scallion, 1” slices

1) Boil a pot of water. The pot will have to big enough so that water will just cover the chicken. Too much water will leach too much flavor out of the chicken.

2) Wash chicken thoroughly inside and out.

3) Cut out the tip of the wing and the bottom and anywhere that is too much fat. Just make sure not to overdo it because after the chicken is boiled, it will shrink and without a bit of fat, the meat will get too dry.

4) We will boil the chicken twice. The first boil is just basically scalding chicken to “detox” and clean it. Leave the whole chicken in the boiling water for 5 mins. Rinse it with clean water.

5) Using the same pot (just give it a quick rinse), bring the water to boil again. Put chicken in the pot and lower the heat so it is at a hard simmer instead of a rolling boil. Put the galangal and scallion in the pot and let it simmer for 20-25mins or until it’s done. Take the pot off the heat and let the chicken and broth cool.

6) If you see oil flowing on the surface, try to spoon it up in a bowl but do not throw it away as it can be used later. Try to spoon the oil up when it still hot. When it’s cooled it tends to stick to the spoon and makes the process much harder.

**TIP: If you love Chicken Liver Pate, keep the giblets!**

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For the Rice:
2 cups Thai Jasmine Rice
1 ½ cups Thai Long Grain Glutinous Rice
½ stick Butter (preferably organic)
1 Scallion (only the green part), 1” slices
½” knob Ginger, sliced
2 small cloves Garlic, smashed (unless you really like garlic then up it to 3 cloves)
1 14.5oz can Chicken Broth (preferably SWANSON 33% less sodium)

1) Wash the rice at least 3 times.

2) Heat butter in a pan, stir fry scallion, ginger and garlic until fragrant about 2 minutes

3) Put rice, the mixture and chicken broth in the electric rice cooker. If the water level is not to the number 3, just put water up to the level.

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For the Sauce:
3” knob Ginger (finely grated)
3 tbsp Sugar
⅛ tsp Salt
3 tbsp YEO’S (Fermented) Salted Soy Beans
2-3 Thai Chillies (sliced)
2 tsp Sweet Soy Sauce
2 tsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Water or Chicken Stock
3 tbsp Apple Cider or White Vinegar (preferably organic)

1) Combine all the ingredients together and stir until sugar dissolves. Adjust to your taste.

How to Carve the Chicken (didn't get pictures of my mom doing her things this time but will definitely add the next time!):

It is one of a know-how to serve. If you make it happen, it look nice, to eat this dish, you feel like heaven. If you can carve a Roast Chicken you can do this. It is just the same. You will need a bigger knife and a small knife.

1) Pour out all the juice from the chicken in a small bowl. Do not discard.

2) Find the joint of the two wings which attached to the body part and cut them out or you may fold and pull them out nicely.

3) Use your left hand to hold on to the chicken leg and fold gently to the back to find the joint which attached to the body, your right hand with a big knife cut down free separately. Do it both side and also with the drumsticks. Then scrap the meat from both legs and chopped into pieces.

4) For the breast of the chicken, cut the meat down one side of chicken breastbone with the tip of the knife , angle the knife, scrape and pull down along the breast. Chopped the meat into pieces. One side of the breast can be enough for 2 people.

5) Separate plate for the person who like dark meat and white meat.

Serve the chicken over rice with the cucumber slices on the side. Drizzle some (or a lot) sauce and enjoy!

Welcome!

Hi All!

So this is my mom (Daisy) and my (Darin) new project.  It will not only help us bond and become closer, but it will also force me to have to teach her computer stuff (which means lots of headaches, cranky calls and headbanging on my kitchen table since she is not too great with computers),  us to cook together--ie. I have to listen to her (which means lots of headaches, cranky shouting and headbanging on her kitchen table since I am very territorial in the kitchen, even if it is technically her kitchen), write together (which mean lots of headaches, cranky typing and headbanging on our respective computers) and eat together (which means me blaming her for making me fat immediately followed by me asking her to rub my tummy because I ate too much again).

Yep.  It will be tough.  But for some reason we feel the need to do it.  Which again reaffirms my belief that every human is innately masochistic.  Really.  Think about it.  See?  Told you so.

Despite that belief, I sincerely hope that you will enjoy our bog.  My mom has amassed a vast wealth of knowledge in Thai and Chinese cooking and I love cookies so we will both bring our talents to the table.  Obviously her more than me.  This is as much of me trying to absorb and document as much of that knowledge as possible as it is to share our recipes and love for food with all of you.  So we will both be learning!  It's okay, she's a really patient teacher.   Promise.

So off we go!

-Darin


I have to cook and cook better.  Why?

My son is a Giant. No, no.  Not in size.  But he is a good boy, who never bothers Mommy.  Just eats and gobbles anything and goes to sleep.  So I like to prepare ahead of time authentic meals for him.

My older daughter?  She is like a chef.  She has good taste.  Even a very simple ethnic dish can satisfy her but I have to make it well.

My little daughter?  Do not look down on her.  She is in training!  Her nose is very sharp!  Just walks into the house and is able to tell that I cooked chicken curry!

As for my mom, when I was young my father would always take us to try any new restaurants, and after that my mom would recreate the new dishes for us at home.  Now that my mom has grown old and cannot cook anymore, I hope I could try to write down all the recipes and tips that she still remembers because she is the second generation of Teo Chew (Chao-Chow) in Thailand.

As for me, I have lived here for a long time.  My memory has also gotten...complicated.  Some ingredients might not fit my children's taste or I cannot find specific ingredients in my area or I have to exchange/alternate for my own health.  These recipes have been  adapted to be my own recipe so everyone, please feel free to adjust to your tastes.  But what I have to say is try to use the ingredients made from the country that you are cooking.    For example, if cooking Curry, the red curry paste should be "made in Thailand".   If you are using curry paste that was made in Malaysia, the paste would be very hot and spicier than the one from from Thailand and so is not really authentic.

I hope this blog will help me collect all of my family's favorite recipes before my mom's or my own energy is gone and I hope this blog will introduce us to people who would love to share this food with us.  Some recipes will keep my chilhood memories alive and some recipe will keep me alive so can see my children's chilhood become alive again before my eyes.

- Daisy