The perfect summer lunch

I love noodles. In the winter, there is nothing I enjoy more than a steamy bowl of pho+? or ramen. And in the summer, there are few things that can be as refreshing as a bowl of ice-cold chilled noodles. The Koreans and the Japanese both have well-developed cold soup noodles, and I love both of them very, very much. I find myself indulging in either the Korean Mul Neng Myun or some rendition of cold Japanese noodles on a weekly basis every summer.

I admit - these cold noodles are not for everyone. The Mogurin, one of the most advanced Asian food converts, is not a big fan of cold noodles. It reminds him of worms, and despite my many attempts at breaking down his resistance, he still prefers his noodles warm. But I swear - cold noodles on a steamy hot afternoon, sitting outside on a sunny day with a pre-chilled bowl filled with ice and noodles - that's a savory summer treat like no other!


Although there are many, many types of Japanese noodles, I find myself making udon most frequently. That's partly due to my mother sending me what appeared to be a life time supply eight years ago. Yes, EIGHT years ago. I am still using the same box of dried noodles. Thankfully, my stock is starting to dwindle down and I might be able to justify purchasing non-udon noodles soon...

I make my cold udon by cooking it in hot water until desired softness - for me, this is firm. I like my noodles chewy, whether it is udon, ramen, or neng myun (one of the reasons I love neng myun so much is because of its firmness). The key step in enjoying any kind of udon is in the post-cooking step. One must wash the hell off of it - scrub it like dirty laundry (sans soap, of course). Udon has a lot of excess gluten that needs to be washed off for its true beauty to come out. This process is necessary even when I am making warm udon. In that case, I have another pot of boiling water, which I blanch the udon in after the scrubbing. For cold udon, I just drop the noodles into a pre-chilled bowl filled with ice water.


I make the dashi while the water for the noodles is in progress. It's just a simple dipping soup with bonito broth, and mirin, soy sauce. I chill this in the freezer in the dishware I am serving it in while the noodles cook. By the time the whole process is done, a perfectly chilled dashi is ready for dipping!

Cool, refreshing, easy, and deeply satisfying, a bowl of cold udon is PERFECT for an outdoor summer lunch on a lazy weekend!

Break that fast!

I always eat breakfast - even if it makes me late to work. Like today. I've been having serious motivational issues and find myself sleeping in past 8:30 AM regularly these days. Gone are the days I woke up at 6:30 AM to eat breakfast and head to the gym before getting to work at 9 AM.

The problem with getting to work late is that I get out of work late. And then the next day, I make excuses to get into work late again, since I was at work late the day before. Is this what it means to be in a rut????

Anyway, here's a picture of my breakfast from last Friday.


I ended up not getting to work until 10 AM or so that day, but boy, was it satisfying to start my day off with INSTANT YAKISOBA, supplemented with yummy greens. It so does not look like breakfast in the Western sense, but Asian people eat all sorts of strange things in the morning. We've traditionally treat it like any other meal and less like some of the Western sweet snack meal. Things are changing in Japan, and the Western breakfast is getting more and more popular, but the traditional breakfast will always have a place in Japan, I'm sure. I can ascertain because despite my love for donuts and waffles, done deep, I'm a yakisoba-in-the-morning kinda girl!

Yeh, I'm going back to my roots and enjoying instant noodles for breakfast!

Gray Hair? Eat Sesame!

The Papa Bear has been complaining about the increasing gray in his hair for almost as long as I've known him. Does it look more gray these days? Maybe. I think he can style his hair to expose of hide more of his gray, which makes it tricky to know for sure how much gray hair he really has...

Since I'd read recently in my Cooking Papa comic that sesame has active ingredients that combat graying, I decided to incorporate sesame into our dinners as much as I can. I really like the toasty aroma and subtle sweetness of sesame seeds, and I find sesame to be one of the most versatile ingredients that can be dressed up or down, mixed into savory or sweet dishes, in Eastern or Western cooking.

As you might recall, I added sesame into my sweet pastry dough, which was a definite winner. And I recently made a salmon dish with a sesame crust.


I mixed the sesame seeds with garlic and honey and brushed it over the salmon before grilling it in my fish roaster (a strong contender for my Top Utensibility spot for Sam's meme). I know, I know - sesame crusted salmon - so typical, so uncreative... But you know what? I think the sesame magic worked and the Papa's gray hair patches are smaller than they used to be!

IMBB: Onsen Tamago - Hot Spring Eggs

IMBB is a perfect excuse to cook something fun on a Sunday. This month's theme, Eggs, hosted by Seattle Bon Vivant, is extremely versatile with lots of room for creativity. I briefly toyed with the idea of showcasing baluts, but then decided that was some what too advanced for the general readership... Instead, I went with a more regular egg dish - at least in Japan.

Onsen Tamago, which literally translates to Hot Spring Eggs, is a breakfast staple at any hot spring spas in Japan. Usually served with rice and other assortments of savory breakfast trimming like dried fish, onsen tamago holds a special place in my heart. It reminds me of those lazy family vacations at hot springs when I was a child. Its slippery and condensed egg yolk flavor send me back to my childhood when I marveled at the mystery of the egg yolk being hardened before the egg white...


Yes, the yolk in onsen tamago is firmer than the egg white. This is accomplished by cooking the egg (in its shell, of course) at a relatively low temperature for a long time. Originally, these eggs were cooked in hot springs, where the temperature is naturally much lower than boiling. They were served rather exclusively at hot springs, where water at the optimal temperature for making onsen tamago was readily available.

I made these on the stove by keeping the water at a constant 155F by monitoring the temperature and adding cold water or hot water as necessary. I have to admit - it was a huge pain in the butt. I cooked the eggs for 20 min, which apparently wasn't quite long enough and the yolk was a bit too runny to be perfectly cooked onsen tamago. Next time, I'll cook it in the rice cooker for 90 min, which seems to be the recommended method in many Japanese recipe sites...


But what really matters is that I had fun cooking again, which was something I haven't felt in a while. When I cracked the eggs and slid the contents out into the bowl, my heart jumped with excitement as I saw the entire egg slide out of the shell in one big swooping motion. With elegance and grace, the egg glided out of the shell. I really felt like I was working with the ingredients, despite its extremely simple preparation.

I made some chilled bonito dashi with mirin and soy sauce, which I also used to eat cold udon noodles (which is material for another post...), and floated the eggs in it to serve it in a very traditional style. The chilled noodles is not a traditional accompaniment for onsen tamago at all, but the combination made for a perfect summer lunch. The yolk was heated through and retained warmth despite the quick chilling. The chunks of solid texture in the yolk blended in with the luscious creaminess of the yolk.

I'll probably do things differently next time, but for a first time try, it wasn't too bad. The dichotomy of the simplicity of the method and the extreme care and attention it required to maintain that simplicity reminded me what Japanese cooking was really all about - which is more than anything a complicated dish could do for me right now... In the difficulty of simplicity, I found a moment of calm quiet.

PS: Thank you, Papa Bear, for helping me with the onsen tamago!

What is 'reasonably priced'?

Since I am not really all that excited about food right now, I figured I'd do some philosophical meandering on the cost of food.

I recently bought a bottle of Moet White Star from a hotel bar for 5 times the price I would have paid at Trader Joe's. A little surprised, I told the guy at the bar, "Wow, that's quite a mark-up for White Star!" and he replied to me, "That's the restaurant business!" Under any other circumstances, I wouldn't have bought it, but it was a celebration - I succumbed. After all, it was my fault for not getting my act together to bring one myself and just pay the corkage fee... Was that 'reasonably priced' for the convenience of being able to buy cold, chilled sparkling wine? Was it 'reasonably priced' for a one-the-spot celebratory toast? I guess so...

On another occasion, I found myself spending a whole lot more than I expected to at a sushi restaurant a few weeks back. It was again, a celebration, and I was taking some friends out to dinner. I thought dinner was good, but I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary - except for the price! The cost performance was so unreasonable that night and it affected my impression of the meal! I mean, we had a great time and nothing was wrong with the food - it was as good as it usually is - but it just didn't feel 'reasonably priced'. It was a celebration, but it didn't quite feel like we got our money's worth in 'celebratory feeling'. I felt like for the same price, I would have had a much more spectacular meal at a French restaurant in the City...

So, what is 'reasonably priced'? To me, I guess it's not about how much things actually cost, but it's more about cost performance. I want to feel like I can't get something better for the same price...

By the way, this only applies to food. If it's anything else - like clothes or shoes or anything inedible - 'reasonably priced' is anything that's at basement prices!! A girl's gotta have her priorities straight!

The Cook Next Door

OK, this is going to look a little lame, since I was tagged as a stand-in by email and not by a post on Sam's blog... I swear, I am not making this up - Sam really did tag me, and I am not forcing myself into this meme...

Anyway, here it is along with a random picture of something yummy from Tanto... It looks like takoyaki, but I am fairly certain it is not. This picture was taken so long ago, I don't remember what it was. If anyone can remind me what it is, I'll send you a postcard of your favorite food picture from my blog...



What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?
I used to make brownies on my own all the time as a child. I started making them to take to school for a boy I had a crush on in third grade or so. Brownies were special in Japan at the time, since they hadn't made it to the mainstream yet. Because I could read English recipes, my repertoire was more extensive than a regular Japanese baker at the time...

Who had the most influence on your cooking?
My sister and Yamaoka-san of Oishinbo. My sister is a true gourmet with a seriously discerning tongue. I am afraid to cook for her. Yamaoka-san is the (fictional) newspaper reporter who is building the Ultimate Menu of all things delicious in Japan. His father, Kaibara Sensei, is known as the 'Gourmet of the Century', who also sternly raised Yamaoka-san to be very discerning and knowledgeable about epicurean delights. Yamaoka-san resents his extreme training and doesn't get along so well with his father. Coincidentally, his father is building the Supreme Menu of all things delicious in Japan, and they have gourmet competitions to see who can create the better tasting dish with a certain theme. This comic series is thought to have given the producers at Fuji TV the idea behind Iron Chef...

Do you have an old photo as 'evidence' of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?
Unfortunately, in the only picture I have of myself when I was a child, I am feeding fish, not feeding on fish.

Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?
Cooking for my sister. I feel like Yamaoka-san infront of his father...

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest let down?
So many gadgets I love in my kitchen! I'm Japanese, I can't help it. I love my 3-cup max rice cooker, which my friend once called the Cadillac of Rice Cookers. It's the perfect size for me, since I usually cook only 1-2 cups. If you cook 1-2 cups in a ten cup rice cooker, it won't be as good as mine, I guarantee! My electric cordless kettle is pure pleasure, and my recent addition, a milk warmer/frother, makes wonderful frothy hot milk to mix with honey, caramel, or chocolate syrup. I also love my pink Kitchen-aid stand-up mixer for when I need to makmeringuege. And life wouldn't be the same without my shabu shabu electric hot pot or my DeLongi grill I use for roasting fish outside. Let downs? I don't have a whole lot, since I only buy what I will use. I had a taiyaki pan I didn't know what to do with, but it found a very happy home recently...

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!
Hmmmmmmm. I can't think of any! I'm creative with ingredients, but whatever I make, most people like it - like nuoc mam with cherries, Indian pickled mangoes in tomato sauce, and deep-fried strawberry ricotta cheese.

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don't want to live without?
Three? That's so hard. Sake (I don't have to drink it, I just need it to cook with), mushrooms, and hormone and antibiotic free beef.

Any question you missed in this meme, that you would have loved to answer? Well then, feel free to add one!

The quickies section:
Your favorite ice-cream...
I'm not too crazy about ice cream most of the time... I used to LOVE orange sherbert at Baskin Robins in Nagoya, Japan - the one on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's house. This is not ice cream, but I am addicted to chocolate covered frozen bananas right now...
You will probably never eat...
Inago. Grandpa Ji-chan loved these guys. They are not for me. I'll eat puffer fish epididymus any day over inago.
Your own signature dish...
Hmmm. Quick East-Meets-West dishes whipped up within 30 min from any collection of ingredients... Does that count? Or sushi.
A common ingredient you just can't bring yourself to stomach...
Ginko seeds. They are common in Asian cooking, but boy, the texture and the smell of them make me cringe.

And now, I am supposed to choose three people who will hopefully participate. Hmmmm. I'm really tempted to send it to my sister, but her blog is not about food... I've been so busy with work, I don't know who's been tagged already and who hasn't... How about Carpel Fish from A Banana in Australia, Fatemeh of Gastronomie, and - this is a chance one - my favorite Japanese Bay Area blogger? He'll probably say no, but heck, it doesn't hurt to ask, right????

I'll keep you posted who says yes...

Eater's Block...

I'm suffering from a mild case of eater's block. I feel a general disinterest in food and in eating. These symptoms of eater's block infect me periodically, and they usually go away after a few weeks. I guess I can only take so much epicurean debauchery before debauchery becomes exhausting...

A few evenings ago, I made a cherry-mint chutney to beat the blues.

At first I was grilling the halibut to just have with quinoa and lemon juice, but that just seemed too boring for me to motivate myself to eat. So, with a few handfuls of fresh cherries from the Farmer's Market and a bundle of mint from my massively overgrown mint planter box, I made a cherry-mint chutney.

It had cherries, nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce - lots of umami- mmmmm!), sherry vinegar, red wine, molasses, and mint in it, I think. It was refreshing and appetizing with just the right balance of salty-sweetness to go with the firmness of the halibut.

And then the next night, I had a frozen banana for dinner, when my eater's block resurged, making it hard for me to have two good dinners in a row...

Happy Father's Day!

I have many fathers in my life, but I was terribly unmotivated this weekend and didn't do very much of anything to honor any of my fathers... I feel terrible about it...

The Papa in MA is one of the most loving fathers I know, and I see a lot of him in the Mogurin. My own father is indeed an interesting person, who, I must say, I'm not so sure how well I know. He seems simple, but I don't know if he really is as simple as he wants us all to believe. The most famous Papa on this blog, though, is the Papa Bear.

The Papa Bear has taught me many things, sometimes intentionally by testing my patience. He, as with many other dads, never ceases to embarrass his daughter by being so... ...eclectic. There are so many examples of the Papa Bear's strange ways, I can't even begin to list them all - like saving Anne's left over grilled fish skin to eat later... EWE!

As I near the beginning of my third decade, I have flashbacks of my teenage years, as I find myself rebelling against the Papa Bear and his conservative ways. He admonishes me for my reckless ways, like forbidding me from working at the Vietnamese coffee shops when I told him I wanted to go work at one to improve my Vietnamese. If I go out late at night with my girl friends, he stays awake, sleepless with distraught, just in case 'something happens' to the Baby Bear.

The Papa Bear is the Papa Bear, and with protective paws, he tries his best to keep his cubs safe. I hope my sister cubs know how much he really tries and when the teenage years strike, that they too will be able to see through their frustrations and rebellions that the Papa Bear is the Papa Bear because he really cares...


So this Father's Day, to show him my appreciation, I gave the Papa Bear the only strawberry that my strawberry plant has produced. I started the plant from a twiggy-looking thing in February, and with the same patience and love the Papa Bear showers his cubs with, I brought the plant to a bloom. The flower then turned into a beautiful red berry. I snipped the berry for the Papa Bear and presented it as his Father's Day gift. He then quartered it to share the single berry with his three cubs... which was probably a good thing, since that berry was ooooooh-boy-tart. Ops. I tried.


I then cooked a breakfast of French toast with a recipe I learned from Anne. Dipped in pancake batter instead of a egg-milk coating, these were dense and powerful French Toast slices. I added some sesame seeds to the batter for their medicinal qualities of preventing gray hair. Grilled and topped with strawberries from the Farmer's Market, kinako sugar powder, and whipped cream, I tried to pack my appreciation and my most sincere respect for all the hard work parenting really is - especially with a often cranky, moody, spoiled-rotten Baby Bear like me!

Happy Father's Day!

SHF: Summer-y Left-Over Tart

I'm feeling a little run down and unimaginative these days... Let's see how (un)imaginative I can be with this month's Sugar High Friday, hosted by Life in Flow, a fellow biologist with an interest in the culinary arts...

Today, I'm attempting to make a tart with all the left over goods around the kitchen. I have a mango that is as ripe as the Papa Bear (gracefully aged) and oranges rescued after one of its fellow residents in the bag succumbed to a serious case of mold. I also have a jar of soy bean jam from Kyoto begging to be finished off... I think a jello-y orange-mango terrine (like at Payard) would be nice in a soy jam-sesame crust for a summer-themed tart...

I found out that tarts and pies are different only by the pans used. I don't have a tart pan. And I don't want to buy a tart pan. So... I am going to use Trader Joe's Creme Brulee container, which will give me a straight edge crust (ha! a crust that doesn't drink or do drugs!) instead of a slanted crust, which should qualify this creation as a tart.

OK, so the crust. I like the sweet tart crust we used to use at the bakery at Weaver Street Market in NC, so I found a basic sweet tart crust recipe here and will be modifying as such:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/8 cup sesame
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1/8 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup soy bean jam (estimated, I just added the water into the jar...)
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup water

1. Mix flour, sesame, and salt
2. Cut in butter
3. Mix jam, yolk, and water, slowly add to flour mixture
4. Roll out and freeze, ~ 1hr
5. Fit dough into mold
6. Bake, 400F 10 min

MANGO:
1. Slice mangos and layer on top of baked shells, brush on honey
2. Layer on top of baked shell
3. Bake 400F 10 min

ORANGE:
1. Squeeze 1/2 cup worth of orange juice
2. Add 1/2 tbs of gelatin and let stand 10 min
3. Boil, cool to egg white consistency, and pour over mangos
4. Cool pie -oh, I mean, tart - in the frige overnight.

Serve tart with fresh mint:



This turned out so well and very much like the Payard terrine that I went back to take another picture. The mango-orange combination and the consisitency was right on target.



The mint really added a herb-y freshness. The sesame in the crust made an equally bold statement, which I enjoyed very much. I think from now on, I will add sesame to all my pie crusts with sesame-compatible innards. I didn't taste the soy jam much, but there wasn't a whole lot left in the jar.

Over all, a pretty decent spur of the moment creation, esp. considering I started it last night at 10:30 PM... but not good enough to drag me out of this unimaginative, tired feeling... I'm usually a very positive spirit, but lately, I can't seem to shake that feeling of 'blah'.

What I really need is a good weekend. I had a rough week, including news of my proposal getting rejected from funding - it was a REALLY good idea, so I am sad about it. Luckily, my boss thinks it's a good enough idea to find alternate funding sources for it, but it still makes me blah. Coming back to CA from the East Coast always makes me a little bit homesick for the familiarity for where I grew up - the East Coast is so very different from CA and I miss the landscape, the architecture, the people, the attitude... and most of all, my friends. I'm just feeling blah these days - which upon reflection is really for no major reason. I think I just need a good, fun weekend.

Anyone have any great ideas for a blow-out fun weekend to beat the blues?

What I learned from Gary Danko

Several weeks ago, the Papa and I ventured into SF for a nice dinner at Gary Danko. I'm really not much of a foodie - in the sense that I don't know that many restaurants, don't keep in touch with which restaurant has who cooking at it, or haven't been to too many revered spots. Gary Danko was my first visit to an SF restaurant that gets a whole lot of hype.

Over all, my impression was good. The service was absolutely wonderful and pleasant. The food was all very good, although nothing I ate was so memorable that several weeks later, I am enamored by it. Since I usually prefer smaller kitchens where I can taste the spirit of the cook in the food, these bigger establishments with what feels like a ton of cooks working together sort of dilutes the impression of the food. I couldn't see/taste the cook behind the food...

But I did learn a few things there. The first and foremost was the importance of plating. Each plate was exquisitely plated and visually appetizing. The dish was plated with the elements of a perfect photograph. In my high school photo class, I was taught that each shot should be broken into nine squares with three empty, three full, and three in between usage. The plates at Gary Danko fit right into these squares. And it made a very big difference in the enjoyment of food.

I also learned that fruits go well in sauces (although the Vietnamese have also taught me this already before in their mam nem - more on that later). And that a parting gift of a muffin makes customers remember the evening well into the next day and beyond.


They gave us a pineapple muffin in a Gary Danko wrapper. The muffin itself wasn't particularly memorable either, but the gesture was. It put a smile on my face a few days later as I sat outside and enjoyed my muffin for breakfast.

Thank you for dinner, Papa! May The Baby Bear's Education in SF Fine Dining continue...

It's WAR.

No photos today. My heart is beating viciously with hatred, my skin red with anger. I've been trespassed and disrespected. And now, my mind is full of plans and strategies on how to destroy my enemy.

The most vile of enemies - ants.

These dreadful insects have launched an attack on a massive scale. I'm considering full-on genocide as retaliation.

I'm a cleanliness-freak, and having outdoor creatures wandering around in my holy kitchen is so terribly disturbing - so disturbing that I would consider spraying Raid all over the place. Yes, the irony. In an attempt to get insects out of my kitchen, I'm almost willing to spray poison. But almost is the key word here. Almost.

I'm considering my options and plotting my revenge carefully. I think a whole lot of bleach and slow death are in order. They messed with the wrong gal.

OK, it's time for me to take action. God speed.

King of Izakaya: Tanto

When I was talking to my sister last Monday in NYC (wow, was that really just LAST Monday?), we discovered how Canadians really seem to have an affinity for Izakayas. Izakaya, which literally translates to 'Stay Drink Store', is the Japanese equivalent of a pub or a sports bar (sans sports). Apparently, there are multiple izakayas in many of the Canadian cities with a quality and quantity representation that far exceeds US cities of equivalent size. The Uchipu's Canadian husband also has a high affinity for izakayas, and she thinks Canadians are more prone to enjoying any kind of food made to match beer. And match beer it does. Izakaya food does not go with wine. It goes with beer and it's excellent with sake.


In the Bay Area, we are fortunate to have two wonderful izakaya establishments (several if you count the Saratoga Tanto and Sunnyvale Tanto as separate establishments) in the South Bay - Saizo and Tanto. Although Saizo and Tanto are equally delicious, they have slightly different styles and strengths. Since Saizo was started by someone who used to cook at Tanto, I will be honoring Tanto today as my very first izakaya post.


It's actually surprising that I haven't done an izakaya post yet, since I love izakaya food very much - so much that I pretty much exclusively frequented izakayas on my first year and a half in the Bay Area, refusing to explore much of any other cuisine until I got my fill of izakaya dishs. But to tell you the truth, ever since I quit drinking, izakayas just haven't been the same. These dishes are really made to complement sake and beer, and in the absence of these drinks to wash it down with, the flavors are often too salty or too oily for me these days...


Still, I consider Tanto to be one of the best examples of how versatile Japanese cooking is. Tanto's food could very well be served in one of the posh izakayas in Japan, where college students and young professionals congregate and meet up for after-work drinks. Tanto's food has enough variety to please the middle-aged businessmen, more crudely known as 'oyaji'. There are more traditional plates, like grilled whole fish, along side adventurous interpretations of classics - such as this lotus tempura stuffed with shrimp paste.


It's easy for dinner bills at Tanto to be a bit on the expensive side, but a meal around $35-40 per person with a few beers included can be done. Making good use of rich dishes is a technique long cultivated in Japan by college students who want to dine on the dime. Tanto offers a number of cheesy dishes with various vegetable bases. These are great for filling up while keeping the costs under control. Although Tanto also has an impressive selection of fried dishes, these tend to be smaller portions and don't really contribute to the overall full-ness effect as much.


We, Japanese, like to finish our meals with carbonhydrates, and Tanto's grilled rice balls (yaki onigiri) is one of my top recommendations for this purpose. Crunchy on the outisde and soft on the inside, topped with my favorite, ikura, this dish ranks very high on my 'Best of the Bay' list, even in my post-drinking present stage...

...Sometimes, only sometimes, I do miss those rowdy drunken evenings full of the synergistic enjoyment of alcohol and food!

Congrats, Nic and Gwyn!

I'm on my flight back to Oakland, and I can't be happier. These past few weeks have been absolutely brutal on my body!!!!! Compared to when I flew out to WV, I am doing a lot better. Some sniffles left...

Yesterday, Nic and Gwyn were married in a beautiful ceremony in the historic Hotel Morgan. The dining room there is gorgeous with elegance and sophistication. The stage and wooden dancing area in the front was cleared for the actually ceremony, and Gwyn's brother, Charlie, conducted a tender ceremony for his big sis. The ceremony was followed by a three-course meal, which concluded with what was definitely THE best wedding cake I have ever had.


Gwyn's mother spent 6 hours baking all four cakes - one 14', two 10', and one 8' cakes with a wonderfully tasty almond base. It was moist and rich without being overly buttery. I had the honor of helping her with the cake by poking toothpicks in all four cakes to mark where she should halve them and by slathering the strawberry jam in the middle.

Gwyn's brother Garrett and their mother picked flowers and strawberries, and the Mogurin and Jana shipped blueberries in from NC. The mother of the bride, in amazing bravo, iced and decorated the cake the morning of the wedding, which meant a very long day that started at 5 AM for her.


It all paid off, since the cake was absolutely beautiful and delicious. The sweetness of the cake itself matched perfectly with the berries and the icing. The icing really complemented the berries and the cake layer very well and united the berries with the cake. See that strawberry jam in the middle? That was my handy work!! Don't worry, I made sure to wash my hands religiously as I was working on the cake to avoid a public health crisis...


The best part about their wedding was how Nic, Gwyn, and the two families added that personal touch to each component of the whole affair. From the ceremony being conducted by Charlie to the caligraphy on the invitations, each family member contributed so much to make the event as special as it could be. And the expression on Nic's face when he saw Gwyn for the first time at the wedding ceremony was so full of love, it made me tear up. Actually, I'm getting a little biit teary-eyed writing about it!!!!

At the end of the evening, with joyous exhaustion settling in on all of us, we saw the bride and groom off to their honeymoon suite. And then I dragged my sniffling self to bed, but not before the painstaking process of taking apart my bridesmaids' bun - consisting of 48 hair pins and more hair products in my hair than I've ever had in my life combined... and a scar on my scalp to prove I endured that hair-style for 14 hrs!

PS:
Congrats, Nic and Gwyn, on your beautiful day, celebrating the love you share! Thanks for letting me be a part of your special moments!

And the answer is...

It's been a long day and it's not over yet! I got up this morning at 4 AM again, traveling back to the East coast, and arrived in Pittsburg 1.5 hrs ago. I've been hanging out at the airport, waiting for Nic who is stuck in traffic en route from Morgantown. Poor guy said she's moved about 2 mi in 30 min! Now, that rivals Bay Area traffic, and definitely not the best way to spend 30 min two days before his wedding!

My throat feels a little bit better today, thanks to the 25,000% RDA of Vitamin C I've been chewing non-stop since Wednesday. I swear by the Vitamin C boost trick for conquering colds quickly...

I'm so glad to see so many guesses on yesterday's challenge to identify the fish from one picture! The fish was... HALIBUT! We have a winner!!!!!! Gal in USA got it right!! Amazing - how did you know???? I'm impressed!

This was the dish recommended by the Uchipu when we went out to dinner on Monday night, during my surprise visit to her place. And when I say surprise, I mean 'surprise' - so much so that it was unanticipated even for me! Once the Uchipu rescued me from Laguardia, we dropped our bags off at her apartment and strolled down to Baru.

Baru is a relatively new addition to her Astoria neighborhood. With fancy lounge-style seating and patio dining areas, this place is way hip for Astoria. And the food there was just as good as any of the hipster places in Manhattan and San Francisco.


To start, we ordered half a dozen Kumamotos, two each of two other non-memorable oysters, and two more of the Long Island Clams to make a dozen-piece mollusk plate from the raw bar. The Kumamotos were juicy and sweet with a delicate scent of the ocean. We both really enjoyed the Long Island clams - apparently a local favorite which was no where to be seen when I was in Long Island! They were chewy without being rubbery, flavorful without overpowering, with a hint of sweetness to go with the briny juices.


We continued the mollusk theme and enjoyed the octopus salad. I was a little bit taken back to see pineapples in the salad, but the combination of octopus and pineapple was unexpectedly perfect. The textures played out an interesting contrast and the sweetness of the pineapple was a welcome contrast to the bitterness of the greens. I immensely enjoyed this salad, since I hadn't seen a salad that wasn't swimming in oil in a long, long time.


Then, came our main dishes, and these were just as satisfying as the appetizers. The Uchipu's halibut was cooked to the right temperature with the flesh flaking while retaining moisture inside. Dressed with a squeezed lemon and dabbed with a little bit of the accompanying mayonnaise sauce, this dish was light and flavorful at the same time.


I had a gigantic serving of bouillabaise. Before I went to Paris, this is exactly what I thought of when I thought of bouillabaise too - a tomato-based soupy stew with lots of seafood. The one I had in Paris didn't have a hint of tomato in it and was a spice-filled stew that made me think more of a curry than a tomato soup. Authenticity aside, the bouillabaise at Baru was excellent. It nourished my spirits and warmed me up from the inside. The tomato soup had embraced all of the juicy goodness of the seafood, while the seafood all took on a nice refreshing coating of tomato-infused umami. This bouillabaisse had close to thirty mussels and clams jam packed into the clay pot, along with some shrimp and fish. My favorite? Long Island Clams! They were, again, full of flavor with just the right texture. It's really the texture that got me - mmmmmm. I can feel my teeth sinking into it as I reminisce about it! Incidentally, this bouillabaise came with a humongous serving of linguini in a light tomato sauce. I'm not kidding about this side dish being huge - this plate of pasta alone could've been someone's dinner!!! It was really tasty with al dente pasta, but boy, it was so much food, I couldn't finish the linguini!

After we stuffed our faces, my sister and I had a nice stroll back to her place, where she continued to do her thing astonishingly until 4 AM, allowing me to sleep in her bed until it was time for me to get up to go to the airport. We had a very lovely evening, and the surprise stay in New York turned to be a blessing.

But I have to say... three days of waking up at 4 AM in one week makes for a very tired Alice...

PS:
I did make it to Morgantown and am now sitting in the Hotel Morgan's Business Center. It's been a long day, so I'm heading to the shower and then to bed... I will try to post one more time this weekend, although I'm not sure when. And of course, when I get back to the Bay Area, there will be a nice big post about the home-made wedding cake, made by the Mother of the Bride herself!!! Stay tuned!

Seriously addicted...

You know I'm seriously addicted to this blogging thing when I am taking time out of my precious sleep hours to post today. I have to get up at 3:45 AM for yet another 6 AM flight and I am still feeling sick like a dog. My throat is so raw, I can almost see the red, swollen epithelium in my mind. My nose is so clogged I can't smell or taste much of anything. Makes it hard to have a WED moment... If you don't know what I mean, try Googling WED in the search bar to the right...

But whining gets me no where. Sleep does. So with that, I'll share you one picture from my dinner with my sister.



If you can guess what fish this is from this picture, you will have my most sincere respect for the rest of my life.

I'll be doing a more detailed report very soon about that dinner - either tomorrow or Monday. My blogging for the rest of the week really depends on my Wi-Fi situation in WV... And when I come back, look forward to some exciting wedding pictures of beautiful Gwyn and her lovely Nic!

Sick in bed...

Short post today, since I came down with a nasty virus... All this traveling is rough on my body...

I was going to post about my dinner last night, but I think I'll just share you some more ice cream pictures. Ice cream sounds so good right now because my throat is all messed up with swollen lymph nodes and lots of pain. Sniff.


I went to Fenton's a while back with the Papa and the Halflings. The Halflings said they wanted sugar cones when the Papa was ordering, but when they got their ice cream, neither of them wanted the sugar cones! The Papa ended up with another sugar cone on top of the double cone you see here...


I'm a vanilla kind of girl. Vanilla with swirled caramel would be so perfect right now.

OK, my head ache is getting worse, my throat is more sore by the minute, so I'm going back to bed...

One more night in NY...

Guess what? I'm not home yet. I'm spending the night over at my sister's place instead of on the airplane... A lightening storm hit town RIGHT at the hour my flight was supposed to take off, shutting down Lagardia Airport for the night.

I am lucky enough to have a loving sister in town who heard of my troubles and whisked me away from the airport. Less fortunate is a friendly Eric I met while waiting for my sister - he is going to be spending the night in Lagardia at the Delta terminal with gouging vendors selling 1 liter bottles of water for $5 and no food besides frozen yogurt (which is probably the same price as a nice burger dinner in the Bay Area)...

I ended up having an absolutely lovely evening with my sister. The two of us alone haven't had dinner or time like in this in AGES. She's sitting right next to me, doing her thing, with me working on my blog. It's just like when we were kids!

I'll tell you more about my dinner tomorrow, since the DSL wires here are too tricky to hook up to my laptop to upload the pictures. Besides, I'd already planned for the topic of today's post to be my Saturday night epicurean debauchery in Manhattan!

On Saturday, my sister and her husband, David, rescued me from the scientific intensity that was the Conference and we had dinner at Rosa Mexicano in Manhattan. Billed as 'upscale, authentic Mexican cuisine', it was definitely interesting and different. I'm really trying to learn more about Mexican food and how to enjoy it, but I get easily overwhelmed by all the melted cheese and the richness in the sauces...

What hit the spot for me was our second dessert locale. After a somewhat disappointing flan at Los Mexicano (it just wasn't the flan I've come to love - Natalia, a technical staff who used to work at my graduate school lab, made the BEST flan - I always order flan in anticipation of one that can match Natalia's...), the Uchipu took me to just the right place for an evening escape.

Payard has a dining room and a bar/tea section. The tea section is right next to the bar with small tables and metal chairs, and surrounded by pastry cases, it is a slice of Paris in Manhattan - or at least the Japanese girl's vision of Paris.


Since all the small tables were full, the three of us sat at the bar and each of us ordered our second dessert courses. I got a dessert from the dining room - an wonderfully refreshing Citrus-Elderflower Soup with Grapefruit Terrine and Lemon Sorbet. This summer treat totally cooled me off inside and out - all the heat from the scientific intensity of the Conference was dissipated with each bite. The cool, naturally sweet juices melted my stress away. The intriguing grapefruit terrine turned out to be bits of grapefruit held together with thick, juicy jello. No hints of overbearing sweetness or richness was present in this dish.


Miki had a glass of champagne, which would have been my preferred dessert of choice before my Reform. David got a plate of the Payard specialty chocolates. These are a work of art with intricate flavors encapsulated in fine dark chocolate. A few pieces are sufficient to satisfy even the strongest of chocolate cravings - a true test of chocolate, if you ask me!

Although I was looking forward to coming home and waking up to my routine breakfast of the Papa bread and yogurt, my extended night in NY has been a surprise blessing. Spending time with my sister like this is precious, since we are always traveling together when we see each other and rarely in our own relaxed environment together. Thank you, Thunder Storm and Uchipu!

Banh mi on my mind...

I get to go home tomorrow!!!! I can't wait to get back to eating healthful, real food rather than this lame-o pseudo-cafeteria processed food, overladen with cheap oils and tasteless, over-greased vegetables!

The last two days were SO much better than the first day and a half. I met some very cool people and found out about some cutting edge technology that I would absolutely love to incorporate into my work. That's always exciting. So, I guess I still have some scientific fire left in me after all!

But I am SOOOOOO ready to go home. What I would give for one of these right now!!

These banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches from my favorite shop in the South Bay, Huong Lan. I've told you about banh mi before, so I won't go into the details here except to say that I really, really love the fresh, crusty bread and the wonderful crunch and flavors of the pickled vegetables. I usually get the fried fishcake sandwich from Huong Lan, which has a contrasting softness to the crunch of the bread and the vegetables. Very simple - and it is this simplicity that I (and my stomach) appreciate so much.


On my flight back to CA tomorrow, I'll write about my lovely Saturday evening escape with my sister and her husband in NYC. Just to give you a sneak preview, I had two desserts from two different eateries! And I have a box of yummy macaroons to bring back with me to CA for tea time with Anne and the Papa!

My scientific ennui...

I'm not quite sure what happened, but somewhere along the line, I lost the passion for science. I see all these people here at the Conference who literally live for this stuff. The sessions at this conference go from 9 AM to 11 PM, with approximately 2 hr breaks each for lunch and dinner. It's pretty brutal to me, but not for these people! They are SO passionate about science and their work, they can go on all day and all night long!

I seem to remember a long, long time ago, as a green graduate student I also felt that way. Magically, these people here have been able to maintain their passion for 20, 30 yrs, working tirelessly to further their understanding of intricate molecular pathways with what appears to be single-minded focus. I still enjoy my job and find human biology absolutely intriguing, but to tell you the truth, I have many other interests...

I've always been flighty - my kindergarten teacher told my mother that I was an excellent student only when I was introduced to new material. After a few repeated exposures, I was no longer paying any attention to the lesson, doing my own thing and causing trouble. I guess I haven't changed much.

Despite all my bitching and complaining about how this conference is going, it has been a productive time for me with three new possible collaborations, a newly discovered joy for running/exercising (my preferred way to spend my lunch break over discussion MORE science with other people here), and a possible weight-loss benefit from the lack of acceptable food choices. I'll have to get on the scale at the gym when I get back to CA to confirm that last one, though.


In fact, I've been so hungry today that I was daydreaming about ice cream during one of the sessions. I couldn't stop thinking about Maple View Farm ice cream. Maple View Farm is a NC treasure - their milk, bottled in re-used glass jars, is smooth and flavorful with no hints of that stale smell packaged milk often has. It reminds me of the milk I grew up with in Japan, when the milk man still brought glass jars to my grandparents' house. I got so used to having Maple View Farm's milk in NC that I couldn't get myself to drink the packaged grocery store milk when I first moved to CA. I still don't drink glasses of milk in CA like I used to in NC and prefer to consume milk via the Papa Yogurt.


Just a few days ago, I was in ice cream heaven in Chapel Hill, feasting on smooth, flavorful, airy yet rich ice cream served at the perfect temperature - cold without being hard, melting only in your mouth and not on your shirt. Maple View Farm opened a new shop right in town, and although I miss going out to their farm in the country, the convenience of getting Maple View Farm ice cream any night of the week is great! Open 'til 10 PM, this ice cream store is going to do some MAD business this summer!

With that thought, it looks like I'll have to go back to conferencing...

PS: I wish I had a large family so I could order a 'whole' beef. Would I get the whole cow????

Day Two of Conferencing

Oh, boy. My brain is T.I.R.E.D. Between the conference and the grant proposal (due tomorrow), I've been overwhelmed, overworked, and exhausted. I tried to think of one more 'over' word, but I couldn't think of anything.

I'm posting my non-food pictures from my last trip to Japan today, because I am not feeling very passionate about food right now... The Conference Food has taken a toll on me after four meals... I still have a horrifying ten meals to go...


The food here has been largely disappointing. Every meal is buffet-style with food soaked in their sauces for too long, inevitably escaping that temperature when food is really good. I realize they are trying hard to please us. I really do. The dining servies provide a wonderful variety with at least three meat selections per meal. The problem is that none of those selections are particularly healthful and their vegetarian selection is...salad. And even then, the salad greens are shiny with oil, over-greased beyond my range of acceptably healthful or tasty. Sigh.


To compensate for my dissatisfaction with the meals here, I went for a run today. I know, this sounds a little bit wierd, but I often eat or exercise. For example, the choice for an evening activity is usually between going out to dinner or going to the gym. I'm not exactly sure what the reasoning behind my thinking is, but it works. If I can't find anything good to eat, I up the exercise quota and it keeps me happy. Maybe this trip will help me lose some of the weight I gained back last month while I was frantically working on my grant proposal.


These pictures are from a tea house in the gardens next to the Hikone Castle in Japan. Hikone Castle's claim to fame is that the original architecture is preserved in the Tenshukaku (which is what we all think of when we hear 'castle') as you see below. The Tenshukaku is more like a fortress than anything and the living quarters are in a separate section within the grounds.


We had a lovely break at the tea shop with matcha green tea and a sweet treat, looking out the terrace by the pond. The red umbrella signals the presence of a rest stop, and on a glorious Spring day, it was truly a beautiful sight. A break like that is what I need right now...

Congrats, Dr. Gwyn!

Graduations are bittersweet. Moving onto new places to test out the knowledge and skills one acquired in school is exciting, but leaving the places and people who shared all those memories and experiences behind is sad. Of course we all try to keep in touch, but the reality is that those days from school will be forever gone and being a phone call away comes to a closure with graduation.

Yesterday, my dear friend, Gwyn, defended her dissertation and finished all her requirements for graduating with a Ph. D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gwyn and I became close friends when we met in 1999 as fellow graduate students. We have had many nights of fun and goofiness, and she was a fellow ninja in the notorious Halloween festivities in 2000. She was also the only other girl in our entourage when a bunch of us headed to Japan in 2001. Gwyn and I have visited each other frequently, especially after the Mogurin moved back to NC. Gwyn will now be moving out of Chapel Hill and heading to Washington D.C. to start her post-doc this summer. Our days of cruising around Chapel Hill together is coming to an end, and as happy as I am for her new life, I am a little bit sad that changes are inevitable.


Gwyn's dissertation defense was the reason for my brief visit to NC this week, and she excelled in presenting a clear, interesting story behind her work from these past several years. She did a great job generating an exciting discussion among the members on her thesis committee, and she was rewarded with a much deserved degree on the spot. To celebrate, the Mogurin and I joined her family, including Fiance Nic, and another friend, Jana, for dinner at one of our favorite restaurant, Panzanella, in Carrboro, NC.


Panzanella is one of the few spots in the area to have very nice outdoor seating. Despite the glorious, if not humid, summer evenings in NC, there are few restaurants with outdoor seating in Chapel Hill and its neighboring town, Carrboro. Panzanella is a wonderful place to enjoy a meal outside, especially at this time of the year before the summer heat and himidity really kicks in. The other neat thing about Panzanella is that it is a co-op owned and operated restaurant; the same co-op that runs the environmentally and socially conscious Weaver Street Market owns Panzanella, providing hormone and antibiotic free meats and local produce for their Italian-inspired menu. The Mogurin and I are big fans of Weaver Street Market, and as a co-op member, I worked in the pastry bakery there for a few years while I was in graduate school. Making the desserts that were served at Panzanella during my time with the Weaver Street Market bakery is a great source of pride for me when I look back at my accomplishments in NC, rivaling some of the work I did in science!


The four of us have had many wonderful meals at Panzanella, and last night was no exception. From appetizers to main courses, we enjoyed our meal and the company very much. I had a lovely skirt steak with a corn and potato hash. My steak was done just right with enough tenderness and juiciness without being bloody. Nic was less fortunate and had an unusually rare portion, but smiled and moved on, as Nic is so very good at doing.


The Mogurin and the Dad had pork chops; they sat at my end of the table along with Garrett - hence, the pictures! The sweet scent of the pork marinade permeated the air, and the rainbow chards looked very pretty, adding a nice dash of color to the plate. Both the Dad and the Mogurin cleaned their plates quickly!


The Mom and Garrett enjoyed the Vegetarian Strussel you see here. Eleven-year old Garrett sat next to me and was a perfect gentleman during the entire meal. Even more impressive was his performance at his big sister's defense – which I suspect was a total bore for him... But he sat there patiently, admiring his sister as she gave her seminar!

We then went over to a jazz club where Gwyn's thesis advisor organized a lovely get-together over drinks and hors d'oeuvres. He even played the piano for us! And best of all, Gwyn was smiling all night long!