Mangosteen, rocks, and trying new things

Who doesn’t enjoy catching up with friends? The distance and time apart means they have had a chance to learn things from different circle of friends and environment. When we meet again, we always have something new and interesting to share. When E. came into town, I was introduced to so many new things it made me wonder how often these knowledge sharing sessions happen and whether we all need to take up travelling around the world so all of our friends benefit from our knowledge.

It started out with fried mantou (Chinese pastry) with condensed milk [link with a pic here]. Both items are familiar to me but the combo wasn’t. If you’re curious about this item, take a look at Sunway’s menu next time you’re in Flushing [link to yelp]. I also recommend pairing vanilla ice cream with hong kong style coffee tea. Take spoonful of the coffee and pour it onto the ice cream. Awesome.

Along with all the sweets, E. told me wonderful stories of his rock-climbing experiences. His tales opened me to a new world of adventures out there, although it didn’t prompt me to take action. This must be one of these things that people enjoy hearing and observing, but never participating, such as parachuting and eating weird things.

At work on the same day, a colleague of mine shared a few words of wisdom from a leadership conference. The key message was to raise daughters with confidence and allowing them to take risks in order to set them up for future success as leaders. While I originally declined the invitation to go rock climbing (too far, I’m too tired, I don’t know how to do it, etc, etc), I realized that I really ought to use this as an opportunity to explore something new and to challenge myself (fyi I have no upper body strength and not sure if I ever managed to do even one pull-up in my life.

I convinced myself to show up at Brooklyn Boulder after work and tried out both bouldering (no harness) and top roping (with harness and robes and a very high course). The key to this activity is keeping my arms/fingers active and using my legs to pull myself up. Physically preparing myself is difficult, mentally I also have to be persistent and to have good amount of will-power and patience. At first I could not finish a course due to muscle exhaustion and my inability to follow the colored stickers/leads. Eventually toward the end of our session, I told myself there is no giving up and that I’m going to finish the course. Apparently this mental pep-talk did the job and I even began to enjoy the challenge. Will my success lead me to future courses/practice sessions? probably. Will it inspire me to climb actual rocks? I’m not sure I’m that hardcore yet. 

After rock climbing, we ended up getting a slice of NY pizza and saying hello to E.’s grandmother, who is in her 80s and in great health. I liked chatting with people who are wiser and more experienced with life. I also tried a mangosteen for the first time, which has a sour and sweet taste that is not quite like anything else. E. said he got it out of nostalgia for southeast Asia.

Another friend of mine said the same thing about dragonfruit. It’s interesting how food leaves lasting impressions like nothing else.

I also learned there are people out there who eat baozi (steamed buns) with sauce just like I would with dumplings. Call me conservative or very particular, I just know what I like.

After giving E. some of my own recommendations for Sasquatch festival, I realize at least in the realm of music, I am still quite active with new bands and new sounds. I hope to continue learning and trying new things in the journey ahead.

Beer & Cheese

J. moved to a new apt earlier this summer (see move in entry) and finally got a chance to throw an apt-warming party. It was also an official party to celebrate Beatles Rock Band.

The game was awesome, but I'm not here to give a lengthy review. Before we got to the main celebration, J. and I created a little platter to get started:
-Garlic Hummus (with a generous shake of the paprika bottle)
-Tam Tams [see company entry] (they are crackers, of course you need crackers with cheese!)
-Fuji, Gala, and Roma apple slices (I happened to have 3 different apples, yay)
-Brie cheese (the runny kind)
-Drink of choice was Brooklyn Brewery's Oktoberfest

After watching Ratatouille (the animated movie about a gourmet rat), I've been very keen to try different food combinations. When J. suggested that we do a beer&cheese, I figured apples would go well with the beer and cheese. Since it is currently autumn, the prime season for apples, and also the season for oktoberfest beer, the combination idea came quite naturally. When I tried it, I put a bit of brie on the cracker, and then a slice of apple. Take the whole thing and eat. Then sip a bit of beer, and wait for the magic to happen. Our guest recommended apples with hummus. The salty garlic paprika hummus actually goes quite well with the crisp sweet apples.

According to the Brooklyn Brewery webpage, the original Brooklyn Lager can be paired with Aged Cheddar. IPA with Asian food. and Oktoberfest with roasted food. I guess everyone can get creative when it comes to pairing beer with food.

Home Remedies - Lemon and Honey

Everyone has his or her cold and sore throat remedies passed down from mom or a relative. Some westerners like Chinese cures. Some Chinese cures just don't work for me (not even psychologically). I'd take chicken noodle soup over strangely sweet herbal tea any day.

Since people I know have been feeling under the weather lately, I've also been trying to stay healthy. In this entry I will share my favorite cold and sore throat remedy involving honey and lemon. Whether they work or not, they're tasty treats!

Remedy One: Honey Lemon "Tea"
1. Pour hot water into mug
2. Take out seeds from a lemon slice, squeeze juice, then drop the lemon slice in the water
3. Add honey. Stir and serve
This remedy not only smells good and tastes good, it's also packed with vitamin C and nutrients. You can of course make a mug of real tea before dunking the lemon and honey inside. I sometimes just like it plain so I taste the lemon and honey more.

Remedy Two: Mango Lemon Nectar

My newly discovered recipe. Since I had a lot of mango sitting around and did not feel like making crepes (recipe link), I thought, "why not make a smoothie or something out of it with my blender?" Since I also happened to have a lemon in my fridge and a bag of Bee Folks honey dust [from their site: Honey Dust is honey, virgin cane sugar, and virgin molasses crystallized together] from Bob, I thought I'd use them to add some vitamin boost and sweetness. This is good even if you're not suffering from a cold and/or sore throat.

//Ingredients
-1 mango
-Juice of 1/3 or 1/2 lemon, depending on size
-1/4 cup or water, or more, depending on whether you want more coarse or smooth
-1 tablespoon or more of honey dust (you can substitute with sugar or whatever sweetner you wish)
//Directions
1. Peel and slice mango, discard pit and peel
2. Roll the lemon back and forth on your counter under your palm before you slice it. This will bring out the juice easier. *Tip from food network, it really works!* Squeeze juice of 1/3 of a lemon, discard lemon slice
3. Place mango, water, lemon juice, and honey dust (or sugar) into blender
4. Chop, puree, then liquefy. Play with the settings as you see fit.
5. Consume immediately or you can chill it before serving.
You really can't beat mango and lemon, two of my favorites.

Remedy Three: Chilled Lemon Slices

1. Slice a lemon, remove seeds
2. Pour a tablespoon (eye it) of sugar on each slice. If you want to put sugar underneath the slice as well, go on ahead.
3. Cover and chill in fridge
4. Serve after 15 min or more, eat it like an orange slice. The sugar will be absorbed into the lemon and the flesh part is sweet and sour.
You can of course use honey or sweetener of your choice as well. Honey just doesn't get absorbed well, which gets kind of annoying. This is not really a remedy, but I suppose lemons and sugar can't hurt!

Party Foods 2007 New Year Eve Edition

B. and I had a little gathering we held on New Year's Eve for a group of 5. Although it was rather time-consuming, especially the shopping and preparation bit, I had a great time. Where I have photos and recipes, I'll post it. For other foods I'll just describe them. For all the inpiring host/hostesses, get started early! Also, ditch the apron when the food is done so you can dress to impress!

Appetizers

//Prosciutto-Wrapped Stuffed Olives / This probably took the longest since we had to cut the cheese, stuff the olive, then wrap and toothpick. Fun activity though, when you have some time. We really could have started early and just chill them in the fridge. We used colorful toothpicks and green olives since the deli we went to did not have pitted black olives. We used a parmigino-reggiano cheese for ours.
source: Costco 2007 recipe book. linked here. Some other recipes in this entry are from the book as well.

//Bob's signature Bruschetta / Made from toasted Semolina bread, with a tomato/basil/olive oil dip. Red onion pieces optional. So simple and yummy that I request it every time at B's parties. Make sure to get the best French bread/other bread you can get, on the day of the party. Also don't cheap out on tomatoes since the best ones taste so much better. Grow your basil if you can, or buy fresh basil. Chop tomatos and basil, toss in olive oil. You can rub raw garlic on freshly toasted bread too but it's not required.

Salad

//Mediterranean Salad with orange and olive/ We made this sald once before, but I never posted the recipe or photo. Finally a photo! The dressing is made from scratch. You blend a few pitted green olives, orange juice, lemon juice, and grounded almond. The salad calls for red lettuce and spinach, but you can use any salad greens that you like. We had a mixed green bunch. Then just arrange the lemon and orange wedges with olives. A note about the wedges, I always cut cross-sectionally once in half, then cut each half in thirds. This way they achieve the most aesthetically pleasing result.

Sides

//Rosemary Potatoes (recipe link) /We used red potatoes and dried rosemary because we could not find fresh rosemary. Basically you mix olive oil with salt, pepper, and rosemary in a bowl, then dip potato wedges and mix well. Then bake at 425F for 30 min. or so. Depending on the sizes of your wedges and the oven, you may have to bake more to get them to golden brown and tender. The rosemary is so strong that your kitchen will smell like it. Not a bad thing at all, mind you.
//Mini-Quiches (recipe link) /Since veggies are optional, you can go light or heavy on them as you need to. I went with jalapeno slices, mushroom pieces, and chopped green onions. For cheese I used shredded Cheddar. You have to eat them while hot.Later in the week I recreated taste of the quiche with scrambled eggs with the ingredients I used. Basically, everything except the sausages I used for quiche. The result was amazing as well. Although I may have gone a little heavy on the jalapenos. Spicy!

Dessert

//assorted ice cream and shortbread / Bob made the shortbread from a recipe book. It was great with the ice cream we had in the fridge.
//yummy Chinese pastries from Fay Da Bakery / I always loved Chinese pastries and Wendy brought over a bunch! Some of my favs. are the sticky rice ones with sesame or red bean inside, and of course, the large almond cookie!

Drinks

//Grape Ginger Ale /I had cherry and raspberry ginger ale before, but not grape. I love flavored ginger ale since they're sweet without sticking to your teeth like coke does. Still, I would have loved to have some bubbly too.
//Cabernet Sauvignon/ it was a very low alcohol content bottle that S. brought over. How thoughtful of her! I thought it went very well with our foods, especially the cheese that E. brought over, and of couse, our stuffed olives.

After dinner drink

//Godiva hot cocao / heat milk but not to boil, add 2 spoonful or so of hot cocao powder. Mix and serve! So good!

blackberry yogurt parfait

a delicious snack or breakfast

ingredients
-2 cups of yogurt.
-cheerios, or granola, cereal of your choice
-spoonful of honey, to taste
-almonds, or other nut of choice
-a handful of blackberries

directions
1. scoop yogurt out of cups, leave out the nasty fruit on the bottom. Plain yogurt works perfectly for this. but atlas, I did not have plain yogurt at the time. For presentation sake, don't smudge the glass with yogurt.
2. place cheerios/cereal/granola on top. make sure they don't sink into the yogurt
3. swirl some honey on top
4. finish with blackberries
5. You can eat it by mixing or by layers. or both.

note
This parfait is dedicated to A., a friend who is currently abroad. I wish her the best. She was rather obsessed with yogurt parfaits, and can you blame her? I thought my creation was even better than the caf where she gets hers from. the reason? the caf really skims on the yogurt and puts double the amount of granola that I would have liked. With my own parfait, I can add more yogurt and less granola. More fruit too. Yay! Oh yea, I didn't have a prettier glass container. and I didn't have any cherries or mint leaves for garnish. Clearly I need to invest in more glassware so I can present tastier photos.

side note about yogurt
Fage yogurt with honey is heavenly. I suggest you all look hard in your local supermarkets/grocery stores. If you can't find it, I'll personally take you and buy them in NYC. God I love NYC for having yogurt that tastes half-way decent. I miss those Shanghai days where I had a yogurt daily. Asian yogurts taste so much better, I don't care what other people here say.

Dragonfruit

Outside photo:











Inside photo:











Mad expensive but so worth it! The seeds are similar to seeds outside a strawberry. They're edible!

Tribute to Longan

One of the reasons I prefer southern China to northern China is the differences in cuisine. Sichuan, Hunan, and Cantonese are my favorites and all are in the south. Another key is the availability of fresh (tropical) fruits in the south. I can't imagine living without durian, pineapple, coconut, oranges, kiwis, longan, etc. Globalization does make things easier to obtain, but you've not lived until you bought fresh longans in season.

I bought some fresh longans (龙眼) today. They were very expensive but definitely worth every penny. If you've never tried them before, I recommend them over lychee because too many lychees may leave your mouth rather sore. Supposedly if you leave lychees in salt water it'll make the side effects less severe. I tried it and it didn't work. So I will always favor longans more.

How to eat them, you ask? The fastest way is to wash them in water so you get rid of the dirt on the shells. Then take one and gently bite into it, crack the shell in two, and eat the inside flesh. Practice makes perfect. It's easier to perfect than cracking sunflower seeds (I still can't do that).

Playing with Food Part 1: Grapefruit and Pear Salad

I guess I shouldn't call it a "salad" as much as a "fruit arrangement". Anyhow, simple simple recipe that looks good and taste good, too. Unless you hate grapefruit, I suppose.

Ingredients
-1 red grapefruit
-1 pear (I used Yali, you can use whatever kind of pear you like)
-1 lime (for juice and garnish)
-pieces of walnuts (optional, you can use whatever nut you like. I imagine sliced almonds are great, too)

Preparation
1. In order to prepare grapefruit, I consulted this video for sectioning fruit. It took some time and I wonder if it'd be faster if I just pealed the white membrane myself. Basically, the idea is to have the pink flesh part for salad, without the bitter membrane skin part.
2. Peel pear and cube. You may slice a few for garnish.
3. Squeeze lime as needed and mix juice with grapefruit and pear.
4. Arrange salad in plate.
5. Arrange lime, pear slices, and walnuts for effect.

Notes
I probably could have used a sweeter dressing, maybe add a bit of sugar to some grapefruit and lime juice and spread it on top. An alternative would be to use some honey. I like the crunchiness of the pear cubes coupled with the sweet and soft grapefruit sections. The color of this salad is amazing, with translucent white pears and pink juicy grapefruit.

Lotus Lily Bulb Rice Congee (Info)
Cook like you would regular congee, but add lotus seeds with the rice before you cook it. I used dried lotus seeds which can be purchased at most Asian food supermarkets. If you prefer yours softer, soak them for a few hours before cooking. As for lily bulbs, they are bulbs of lily flowers, I believe. I found mine from an Asian food supermarket as well. There are usually two kinds: fresh and dried. The fresh kind is probably aired from Asia somewhere, they are usually in airtight packages. The dried ones obviously need some soaking before cooking. I had fresh ones, so I just washed it and peeled it into various layers. Then added them into the congee when it is nearly ready. I used a timed rice cooker which has a Congee mode as well. When the timer had 2 min. to go, I added the lily bulb layers. I think you can eat the lily bulb raw, so if you rather do that, add them after you scoop some congee into your bowl. The finished rice congee is very pretty, with white lotus seeds and transparent layers of lily bulbs.