i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
Sometimes I fall down the rabbit hole of making things traditionally in order to experience and understand the work and history that goes into food (and subsequently culture.) Mei gan cai kou rou (梅乾菜燜肉) is a dish my mom and grandma used to make–soft fatty …
Summer is when I break out my shaved ice machine, which is kind of cheating because my kids love this thing even though technically it’s literally cold water, so I could’ve made a smoothie too, but snow cone style it is. I use the syrup …
My kids love sushi. Actually, let me amend that. My kids are crazy about raw seafood and raw red meat–like ceviche, sushi, sashimi, carpaccio, tartar. Sometimes when I am too lazy to cook, I’ll set a pot of rice, grab some frozen salmon or frozen tuna which is usually in my freezer and throw together either poke bowls or chirashi with whatever I happen to have on hand. This is especially perfect for hot summers when we’re still not super sure what we want to eat in the heat.
The other day I got a lovely cute round bento from the local thrift shop, and decided to make this as a sort of breaking in ceremony.
The spicy mayo for spicy salmon (or tuna, or yellowtail) is super easy to throw together because chances are, you have everything on hand. You can easily make this not raw by using shrimp or lobster or crab, or vegetarian by using tofu. I like to serve it with seaweed squares so the kids can make their own little handrolls.
Everyone hates garlic mustard, generally. I know I wasn’t a big fan even after turning it into pesto because there really is only so much you can eat of it before you can’t. It’s considered a noxious and invasive weed, crowding out everything in it’s …
It’s kind of hard to explain the flavor of indian aster, Kalimeris indica, also known as Ma Lan Tou (馬蘭頭), herby and little cooling on the tongue, a hint of bitterness that you’re almost not quite certain is there, but refreshing and somewhat addictive. Most …
My parents had given me a huge bag of plums about two years ago that I had layered in syrup until all the liquids leeched out into a runny syrup, which I used for cooking anything that needed a bump of sweetness. From teriyaki sauces to jumpstarting my kimchi, it was used much like my gooseberry syrup. However, the amount of space the giant jar was taking up in my fridge and it was starting to ferment made me decide it was time to boil it down.
It took about two hours on a gentle simmer and almost a gallon of the sweet liquid turned into a quart of thick, golden, honey like syrup that I could now use by the spoonful. I loved it so much I vowed to do it again–only to find out my parents tree didn’t give plums this year (and neither did mine, due to the drought we had) but perhaps we will get to have it next year!
I keep frozen ahi tuna blocks in my freezer for hot days when I have no energy to turn on the stove. A simple carpaccio paired with some bread is always a hit with the family who like raw fish in all shapes and forms. …
Sometimes simple is best! When I have cured meats at home, like some pastrami my sister brought to me, I like to pretend I’m in a medieval fantasy game and make an old timey tavern spread. I’ll boil up some eggs (from the chickens of …
Chickweed is a common plant found in my garden, and it has a crisp, mild, and refreshing flavor, making it great for salads and sandwiches. The only problem tends to be that it’s a bit of a pain to collect. Early spring and fall is when they are most tender and leafy, since they become spindly and tough while in flower and seed.
Because it grows so readily but is not intrusive in the sense that it crowds other things out, I tend to leave it alone, just enjoying the knowledge that it is there if I need it.
Sometimes when I have a hankering for egg salad sando (from the chickens of course), but want to be a bit healthy, I collect some to throw in.
There really is no special recipe for this, rather it’s just a showcase of a fun green–Kewpie mayo, hardboiled eggs, salt, pepper, and milk bread. If you don’t have kewpie mayo, a little sugar in regular mayonnaise goes a long way.
To the surprise of both Adam and myself, the pond was built and the fish stocked! This has been in my dreams for a very long time but I was never able to fully realize it because I had very little confidence that I could …