A Stranger in a Strange Land

I’ll just let the pictures do the talking … and yes, this is the third time I’m putting my char siew on display.

I’m going to start giving them names … meet Huey, Dewey and Louie.

OK, I know the whole argument about bottled water being ridiculous, what with water from the tap being almost free and all, but this takes the cake.

it’s supposed to make you feel less hungry, increase metabolism, and block carbohydrate absorption if you drink a bottle four times a day, a half-hour before you eat

If you drink ANY kind of water a half hour before you eat I guarantee you will feel less hungry. What they add in there to do the rest of the stuff they claim is beyond me.

If anyone I know buys this, I’m gonna sock them in the head. Hard.

(From Gizmodo)

Note to self:

DO NOT use month old noodles when trying to cook hokkien mee. It tastes weird.

At least I won’t have to worry about being constipated tomorrow.

- The Eternal Optimist

Note to self:

When cooking curry, make just enough to go round, or make sure that the leftovers don’t sit around in the fridge for 4 days. Because coconut milk does not improve with time.

And when eating said leftovers refrain from trying to finish every last drop just because you don’t want to waste food. It’s ok to throw away a little bit of 4-day-old curry.

Note to stomach:

I’m sorry. 

I used to love watching the Food Network here in the US, but over the past few years they (in my opinion) have gone quite steadily downhill. They have become a travel channel almost. Showing food around the US and people doing Italian/French/Southern cooking (while grinning stupidly) are about the only shows that they produce now.

Oh wait, they have those weight loss cooking shows now too. Calorie Commando? Ergh. Iron Chef is the only saving grace besides Mario and he comes on so early it’s like they’re trying to keep him a secret …  and don’t get me started on Emeril.

I’ve been watching Ramsey’s Kitchen Nighmares recently over on BBC America, and it blows anything the Food Network produces away. Gordan Ramsey’s brilliant, just brilliant and I’m now a big fan. I don’t think it’s supposed to be a cooking show per se but in the course of showing us how Ramsey saves restaurants I’ve learnt so much about what goes on behind the kitchen scenes.

Maybe it’s the producers in the US though, they got Ramsey over here doing something called Hell’s Kitchen and it makes him look like a ranting loony when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

But it’s still better that 90% of the crap that’s on Food TV now.

Just about a perfect Saturday. Woke up late and walked to the international food fair on 9th Ave. Saw this when we passed 34th St.

There was a fearsome amount of people there, but all spread out over 20 blocks.

The old folks were so cute! I had to wait till they weren’t looking at me to take this picture.

It was a relief to get away from the crowd after awhile, we walked by this sign on the way home:

And just had to do this:

Curry puff maker making curry puffs for a snack before dinner.

Like I said, just about a perfect Saturday in the city.

Friday continued with what was argubly the best meal I have had in years.

The original plan was to meet Su outside the restaurant at 5.30 so that we could get one of the tables that they reserve for walk-ins. I got there 15 minutes early and found out that they had started service at 5 pm instead. I call Su and she’s about 3 blocks away. Once she finds out that we might miss the chance to get a table she starts running. My first view was her sprinting like a champ down Waverly Pl. I should have gotten a picture.

Anyway we get a table relatively quickly and sit down with our bottle of wine. They start us out with a complimentary dish called an amuse bouche (A French culinary tradition meaning “amusement for the mouth,” these small, delightful bites, or mini-appetizers, are meant to whet the palate before the meal begins or cleanse it between courses).

Anyway this was a chickpea bruschetta. Very good and it just whetted my appetite for what was yet to come.

 We looked over the menu for what seemed like forever. The server was extremely helpful and helped to point out some flaws in our initial choices (we had pastas that would have been too similar in taste and texture). I had the grilled octopus with ‘bortolli marinara" and spicy lemoncello vinaigrette to start …

… and Su had the Warm Lamb’s Tongue Vinaigrette with morels and 3-minute egg (the BEST dish of the night bar none)

The 2 appetizers actually paired really well together. I’m not that good at describing tastes and textures but eating one and switching to the other actually enhanced the taste of both.

Onwards to the main courses. We only had pasta as Su felt that the best dishes she had ever had were mostly pastas. As per our server Jim suggested we had the mildest one first and the strongest tasting one last.

The first pasta was a lambs brain ‘francobolli’ with lemon and sage, basically a ravoli. The picture came out really dark but I didn’t want to disturb the tables around us. Really mild tasting and soft in texture.

Next we had the stinging nettle tagliatelle with spring peas and home-made pancetta. It was really good but the least favourite of the three pastas we had (for me at least). Slightly too salty but the pasta was excellent and the pancetta was really cripsy round the edges. The sweetness of the peas helped to offset the saltiness of the meat.

Last came the black spaghetti with rock shrimp chorizo and green chiles. It was probably one too many but we were committed by then. The pasta was again cooked PERFECTLY and it was a good spicy end to the meal. Oh, and the shrimp were so fresh they literally popped in my mouth. I believe the black colour came from squid ink.

After all that I was a round groaning ball. Couldn’t even eat the free biscuits that came with the bill. The food and wine came up to $75 per person. I guess I considered it my brithday treat to myself. We left and walked by the Washington Arch and I just had to stop and take a picture.

 We were so full that we decided to walk to eighty (80) blocks back to Su’s place. I just had to laugh when I passed by this in Times Square:

 Guess I’ll see you soon, Applebees. *shudder*

Indian food always makes me gassy.

So guess what I had for dinner?

All-you-can-eat Indian food.

I’m still farting 5 hours after dinner.

Which led me to googling for ‘farting’:

The Farting Nuns

The Farting Dot

The Definitive Guide to Farting

The George Bush Farting Doll 

Famous Japanese Farting Woman (Those crazy Japs again)

A Farting Love Letter

Remote Controlled Farting Teddy Bear 

Mysterious sound in sea said to be farting fish

Yay to farting! (If you’re the farter, not the fartee)

A mother visiting from China likes to do something for boilermakers. She chooses to make steamed bun for those fans, rather than plot a piece of garden to sell the fruits and vegetables.
If you are one of those fans and specially love the home-made healthy foods, please call 496-xxxx about further details.

I am tongue-tied for once.

(10 hours later)

OK, even after re-reading it I still find it weird. I mean, she’s visiting from China and she wants to make pau (steamed buns) for everyone? And she was considering to ‘plot a piece of garden to sell the fruits and vegetables’??

How long is she visiting for? And how healthy are paus anyway? And why does she want to make money while she’s here?

I’ve half a mind to reply to this ad and see if I actually get any good eats. 

Prima Deli Rendang … this was so easy to make and tasted so good!

Finished rendang

Lo Hei on Chap Goh Mei … hey that rhymes.

Messy eating by yours truly. I look much better in pictures when they come out blurry.