asian – Page 9 – morestomach

vietnamese pickled carrots + daikon

Published on August 20, 2013August 20, 2013 by Lan | MoreStomach11 Comments

if you know me at all
you know that i can’t make coffee
to save my life
or dw’s
i laugh when i think i
used to argue,
vehemently,
with nuria about my coffee making skills
to be fair, she’s a coffee
aficionado
i think she’s been drinking the
stuff since being weened
off the boob

anyway,
i’m not a fussy person
i don’t require a fancy contraption
to brew my cup
nor do i need the best
java
i’ve tried measuring the
amount of grounds to water,
it’s usually too strong,
still
and um. honestly
i’ve been going with the
is the coffee looking super
dark & sludgy? method

all this to tell you:
i’m capable of putting
crap in my body,
that i can consume
sub-par tasting stuff
like a champ
and that not everything i make
comes out golden
or perfect

when i started this space i
promised myself that i would show
the good stuff
the bad stuff
and the ok stuff
today it’s the ok stuff
pickled carrots & daikon
is yet another condiment
that’s added to banh mi
to vermicelli noodle bowls
to summer rolls
i made this for a catering
thing i did last month,
my first!,
i used it to accent
banh mi bruschetta

it came out ok
not the best
certainly, not the worst
just not right
which is ok
consumable
edible
thank goodness i only
have 3 more jars of the stuff left

again, i adapted this recipe.

vietnamese vermicelli noodle bowl

Published on August 15, 2013August 11, 2015 by Lan | MoreStomach24 Comments

dw & i participated in our
local neighborhood
trivia night recently
we summarily got our
asses kicked
never mind that we are
devoted Jeopardy viewers,
our collective knowledge of
randomosity be damned,
the floor was wiped
with our asses

for staunch introverts
it’s something short of a miracle
to get us out of the house
if it’s not an actual
gathering with dear friends,
or a private 1:1 meal,
but there we were,
admittedly on the fringe,
right at the edge of the crowd,
quietly observing other trivia-buffs
i suppose we could’ve
responded more warmly to others
who attempted conversation with us
(do you really think we should
name our team elephantitis??)
i could’ve been wittier
(i have nothing witty to say
between these parenthesis)
we could’ve mingled
gawd, we are so awkward!

in the end, we came in
second to last
i take comfort in knowing that we were
the lone 2 person team,
everyone else being 3+ or more,
one team totaling about A DOZEN

i also take comfort in knowing
that our illegal rooftop
herb garden has been fruitful
not having to rush home with store-bought
basil or mint
trimming the stems & dunking it
into water to stave off wilting
now i can just turn to dw to
harvest a handful
and 10 minutes later
our meal is all the better tasting
we can’t be victorious in everything we do
i’ll take a victory at home herbage
over trivia anytime

Vietnamese Vermicelli Noodle Bowl
{bun thit ga nuong}

for the marinade:
2.5 TBL fish sauce (use the red boat brand)
1.5 TBL sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 stalks of green scallions, diced
1 whole organic chicken, chopped up

for the dressing (nuoc mam cham):
3 TBL fish sauce
3 TBL rice vinegar
2 TBL sugar
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 TBL freshly squeezed lime juice
1 bird’s eye chili

mix all completely, can keep in clean jar in fridge for weeks.

extras & garnishes:
vermicelli noodles, cooked according to package instructions
cucumber, sliced
handful of washed & dried mint and basil leaves
pickled carrots/daikon (do chua)
crushed roasted peanuts
green scallions/onions chopped & mildly cooked in a bit of olive oil
spring rolls (which i always buy, ain’t nobody got time to make these from scratch)

treat this like a salad. in a bowl add in however much noodles and vegs you want. top with the grilled meat, garnish with green scallions oil and finish with the crushed peanuts. season with the dressing. you’re aiming for a sweet, sour, salty and spicy mix in your mouth.

other vermicelli noodle bowls:
angry asian creations – with grilled lamb
wandering chopsticks – with pork + shrimp

spicy cantaloupe salad

Published on July 22, 2013February 5, 2015 by Lan | MoreStomach30 Comments

summer has settled like
a treasured blanket over the city,
thick & sticky:
one moment the perfect combination of hot & bright
in instances suffocating but unwilling to shed
i love these days,
equal parts languid and invigorating

a few weeks ago dw planted a
tiny herb garden
on our roof,
under the massive loft window,
an urban garden that very much reminds
me of my gparents’ garden
only difference being that dw is the one who
tenderly feeds these plants
while i yell up from the bottom spiral stairs
inquiring about the general health
of the rosemary and basil and mint

in the ensuing days and weeks of
june & july i’ve wracked my brain for dishes
that could make use of these herbs
dishes that prior to the garden i seemed to make often
but never had enough fresh herbs for
and now that we have it in abundance,
i draw a blank on uses for them
it happens like that,
you know?

at the market recently i chatted with the
farmer’s daughter,
a girl who could eyeball the exact weight
of fresh produce,
and together we lamented over
how fleeting pea season was this year
sensing my possible weepiness
she thrust a cantaloupe under my nose
i don’t know about you but the aroma of
a ripe cantaloupe kinda reminds me of
rotting garbage sometimes
tell me i’m not the only one?

spicy cantaloupe salad
adapted from The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper & Sally Swift
i made this salad before, using a gava melon. both times were a delight, albeit a surprise for dw who was skeptical.

serves 4, or 2 really hungry people over a span of 2 days

1 good sized cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup chiffonaded fresh basil leaves
1 red chili, diced
3 TBL fresh lime juice
1 tsp fish sauce (i use Red Boat)
hearty pinch of sugar

in a bowl gently mix everything together. it’s all about taste, you may want it more sour or sweet or salty.

you can prep the fruit in advance and add the flavorings just before serving, or you can mix it all together and allow it to mingle for a few hours before consuming. either way, it’s delicious.

another salad take: crunchy celery salad

stir it up did a review of the recipe here.

cooking weekends did a take on this recipe here, using cilantro in lieu of basil.

coconut egg curry

Published on July 8, 2013July 6, 2015 by Lan | MoreStomach17 Comments

incidentally when i think of Indian food
i think of Ethiopia.
when we lived in addis ababa
there were only two restaurants
we frequented:
an italian cafe that boasted
the most impeccable service
and an Indian place
where i had my first ever taste of
goat.

Indian food also makes me think
of a Bangladeshi boy who used to leave
me love poems in my locker.
we always ran into him and his family
when we dined at the Indian joint.

since africa
(a place i still dream of)
my experience with Indian food
has been a love/hate battle.
the harmony between spices
and ingredients
perfectly balanced with
rice or
naan
but is just havoc on my system,
particularly if butter or cheese
plays heavily in the dish.

this dish, for me,
is a godsend
i love eggs,
in any form
and while it does play a
minor role against the heavy
punches of cardamon and even cinnamon
i am appeased
because hello
Indian food at home is the best

just a note,
i have attempted two different
recipes,
one from the beautiful Journey Kitchen
that was lovely
but the one i feature today is from playful cooking
which really satiated my cravings

also, the recipe calls for
unsweetened coconut flakes
yeah, i couldn’t find the unsweetened
stuff in my pantry
so sweetened went in
it wasn’t cloyingly saccharine
but i would imagine the
dish could do without the
added sugar

last,
just so you know,
again, we lived in Africa for just under
two years, i was only in
8th & 9th grade,
and always heavily chaperoned
on the rare occasions i would
venture out of the compound
i barely remember my time there,
i can only recall the
loveliness of the landscape
the cold climate living in Mt. Entoto‘s shadows
injera
the quiet dignity of ethiopians

crunchy celery salad

Published on June 14, 2013June 19, 2013 by Lan | MoreStomach7 Comments

it’s finally the weekend
i shouldn’t complain,
it was a short week for me.
we spent a long weekend in
Atlanta,
where we dodged raindrops
visited a big fish tank
and ate like royalty.

right now our abode
is a mess
(when is it not)
(i’m not much of a housekeeper)
there is laundry to be done
a kitchen light to be replaced
a bathroom needing cleaning
and a gutter to be fixed

instead, we’ll ignore all that
and focus on:
CSA pickups
a donut making morning
wedding invitation making
ice cream eating
movie watching
i just don’t know if we’ll have
enough time!

what are you doing this weekend?

in the meantime, i made this super quick
celery salad
that takes no time
at all.

crunchy celery salad
note: you will not use all the syrup/dressing. don’t feel like you have to.

bunch of celery, washed/cleaned and sliced on the diagonal
1 tiny or 1/4 of a large red onion, sliced thin
1 TBL sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup white wine (i used a pinot grigio, a reisling would be nice but any will do)
1/2 rice vinegar
3/4 cup sugar

fish sauce and lime juice, to taste (the fish sauce is only optional, omit if keeping vegan)
red chili

in a mixing bowl add in the celery + red onion slices, mix with a tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt. put bowl in fridge for a few hours.

meanwhile, in a saucepan add the white wine + rice vinegar and 3/4 cup of sugar. reduce down until it’s like a syrup. allow to cool. about 15 minutes.

pour syrup over celery and mix well. for taste, add in a tsp of the lime juice and fish sauce, adding more according to preference. add in the red chili if desired.

best to eat this salad day it’s made.