Any takers?


A quick lesson in Vietnamese. Me: a tree fruit also know as Tamarind. Me can either be sweet, or sour. The sweet kind makes a great snack as is. The sour kind is used in cooking to make anything from canh chua to soda Me (Tamarind soda). You can find sour tamarind at most Asian grocery stores in the spice section. It comes compressed in block, dark brown in color.

All Purpose Tamarind Paste/Syrup:
-200g sour tamarind
-300g water
-400-500g sugar
-1 tsp salt
-chili peppers (optional)

What to Do:
Boil together tamarind and water, let mixture sit for at least 1 hour (better if overnight). Strain tamarind in a sieve (press with a rubber spatula or a spoon to extract the pulp, throw away the outer seed coverings). Mix together tamarind pulp, sugar and salt, bring mixture to a boil and simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally.

Uses:
Me Ngào Đường (Sugared Tamarind): A sugary sour and spicy snack. Favored by young students in Vietnam. Heck! I live in America and I like it too. *Mouth watering* Serve as is with toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top and a tooth pick to eat with.
Soda Me (Tamarind Soda): 2 tsp tamarind paste + 1 cup club soda mixed together, top with crushed peanuts.
Canh Chua: Omit tamarind soup base and replace it with tamarind paste. As with savory dishes, you can eyeball the amount and give the dish a taste taste and adjust before serving.
Nước Mắm Me: Omit lime juice and sugar, replace with tamarind paste.

Stepping off the Traditional Road.....
Tamarind Cosmo: Use your favorite Cosmo recipe and replace cranberry juice and lime with 1 tsp tamarind paste.

This is a "5 year plan" that I recently did for one of my classes. I've always been the type of person that takes life a one day at a time and thus I don't put much thought into what the future holds in 5 or 10 years. After a few weeks (I had all quarter to do this) of deep thinking, of looking into what I'm passionate about and how/what I want to do with my life; here's what I came up with...don't laugh!

The “Big Picture”
I’ve dedicated my 20s to exploring the world and enjoying the freedom of being able to wake up everyday and do whatever I feel like doing. I don’t plan to settle down until I’m at least 30. In five years I’ll be 27, which means if according to plan, I still have 3 more years to do random things. So my five year plan is more like a 7 ½ - 8 year plan. By the time I’m 29-30 I would like to own my own bakery/school.

I’ve always wanted to be a teacher since I was in first grade. Their ability to inspire and guide the future is amazing! I wanted to do just that. However, about two years ago while visiting a few of my former teachers I discovered that because of standardized testing; teaching is not what I used to be. Sadly, becoming a fulltime, hardcore teacher is out of the picture but there’s still a little desire deep down inside of me to teach something.

Baking is the drug that I’ve been passionately addicted to ever since second grade. It was the week before Christmas break and Mrs. Jolly taught the class to make sugar cookies. Mamma Mia! I’ve been hooked ever since.

Whatever you’ve received a lot of, you should give back. I feel very fortunate to have the privilege to live in a society that embraces individuality, uniqueness and freedom. I grew up in a loving family, and we always had food, clothes and shelter. I had wonderful teachers who always encouraged me to do my best; to never be good at something but be great at it. My aspiration is to give all of this back to less fortunate children in third world countries. Children are the future and if we want the future to change then we must take the initiative to educate the future. Teach them to not be afraid to question authority, to believe in themselves, embrace their individuality, be compassionate towards others, be open-minded to change and always have passion for what they do.

Back to my bakery/school thing... My plan is to eventually open a bakery and I’m going to call it Moi Passion La Vie or Passion for short. It’s going to be a European bakery with Asian flavors; the best of both worlds. Instead of hiring chefs, I’ll hire pastry students so I can teach them a thing or two while working for me and hopefully be able to inspire them to reach for the stars, the same way my teachers have inspired me. All of the profits will go towards building orphanages and schools for children in third world countries. With anytime left over I’ll teach a class on something, do fire dancing, acting, tailoring, wedding flowers; all of the stuff I’ve been doing…all on the side, to keep life interesting.

My rough, very rough 5 year plan:
1^st year:
Take fire dancing lessons, work somewhere, probably a small bakeshop just for the experience.

2^nd year:
Travel the world.

3^rd year:
Learn to swim and then go to Hawaii, Florida or Mexico to swim with dolphins.

4^th year:
Try to get a job doing pastries in a hotel, save some money. Try sky diving.

5^thyear:
Start a catering business, with the money saved. Build up reputation, save more money. Meet my true love.

6^th-8^th year:
Open Moi Passion La Vie with money saved. Try to turn a profit within 1 ½ years of opening Passion. Use profits to fund schools for orphans in third world countries. Get married and adopt my first child by the time I’m 35. Write a book? Teach something?

I know I’m going to run into countless obstacles and a few things are probably not going to turn out as planned. But I’d rather do something and have it blow up in my face then to not do it and have to go through live wondering what if. Nothing is impossible when you’re fueled by passion.

Sounds good? Am I too ambitious?

How has Vietnamese food changed after the fall of Saigon in 1975?

This question constantly comes up whenever I think of Vietnamese food. I've always believed that in order to excel in something you need to dig deep into that subject's roots; in order to understand what conditions caused it evolved into what it is now.

Born in Seattle, 10 years after the war ended, I grew up eating Vietnamese food with a hint of Seattle. During my trip to Vietnam last summer, I discovered a version of Vietnamese food that I had never tasted before. What now? What's going on? Was the Vietnamese food I was familiar with not "authentic"? Curious as to what was happening I was provoked and determined to figure out how things came to be.

Common sense…in order to survive we must eat. How well we eat depends on such variables as food availability, the economy, and our desire or goal for eating. There are those of us who live to eat and then there are those who eat to live. Where am I going with this?

Prior to the fall of Saigon in 1975, South Vietnam which was free from Communist rule; was one of the most advanced nations of Southeast Asia if not the world. There is a Vietnamese saying “Ăn no mặc ấm”, literally translated, Eat to be full, wear clothes to be warm. This describes the most basic requirements of mankind for survival. There is similar saying, “Ăn ngon mặc đẹp” (literally translated, eat delicious food, wear beautiful clothes), which describes how the basic requirements are transformed via luxury. Frankly, with a small amount of money in one’s pockets, one’s goal or desire for eating would probably be for energy to survive. Eating to make you full does not mean the food needs to taste good, likewise eating good food doesn’t exactly mean it has to make you full.

After the fall of Saigon, the nearly half of the citizens of South Vietnam left to flee communist rule. In the remaining half, a majority were either sent to “reeducation camps” or kicked out of there house and sent to kinh tế mới or “new economy”. The nation’s food supply dwindled. Instead of eating rice, people were forced to eat a mix of rice and barley or mung beans, simply because there wasn’t enough rice/food to go around and people needed to eat what they can to survive. As for the economy, everyone had to exchange their money. By exchange, every family had to put their money in the bank and the bank gave them a flat amount of $200 regardless of how much they put in. With only $200 dollars, and a family to feed, cloth, and shelter in a new unstable communist economy, eating delicious food is most likely out of the picture. Piggybacking on that, hundreds of thousands left Vietnam in the years to follow either by foot or boat. These people were usually wealthy, since they had to pay a hefty amount to escape. Thus, those who ate delicious food and wore beautiful clothes took the food culture of a prosperous nation with them.

With that said, after the fall of Saigon a new food culture began to sprout. However, under the harsh conditions at the time, food needed to be good and cheap and filling. So how do you do that? Well….let’s take Pho for an example, instead of making a good broth with 2kg of bones for 10 bowls of Pho, the way it used to be. Now only 200g is used to make 20 bowls of Pho, with the help of MSG…costumers won’t know the difference. To make it filling and cheap dầu cháo quẩy is added. And there you have it, MSG Pho with Dầu Cháo Quẩy << st="on">Vietnam are actually eating, if you don’t believe me take a trip there and see for yourself!

The flavor profile has also changed. For example bo kho and curry, while I tasted these two dishes during my visit I noticed that they tasted alike and I could hardly tell the difference. Bo Kho originated in China and was brought into Vietnam via Chinese colonization. Curry was introduced to Vietnam from India via trade merchants. With the new food culture in Vietnam Bo kho the old fashion way is pretty much nonexistent in Vietnam, because… in order to survive it needs to survive economically. Bo kho made the way it was prior to 1975 is just not marketable. On the other hand, in Vietnamese communities outside of Vietnam (or at least in Seattle), the concoction of bo kho and curry just won’t sell. these two dishes are merged into one; gaining one at the expense of two.

If you’re thinking Vietnamese food culture prior to 1975 is only available in Vietnamese communities outside of Vietnam…you’re only ¾ right. The thing is during the early years of Vietnamese refugee settlement foreign countries, Vietnamese food ingredients were just not available as it is today. Thus, people had to improvise and do the best with what they had. For example, in states like WA where ngo gai is expensive, it is simply omitted from Pho…it was just a condiment anyways not harm done. Instead of making bánh bò with cơm rượu (fermented rice) it is made with yeast. Although there are a few changes, these changes are small and they have little effect on the overall flavor, and integrity of the dish. Hence, Vietnamese food prior to 1975 is still very much apparent Vietnamese communities outside of Vietnam. As for what’s considered authentic and what’s not? I’ll let you be the judge. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…or should I say Deliciousness is in the tongue of the taster.

Dear Readers,

I was meaning to publish recent comments that were left by Visitors but accidentally clicked on the reject button instead of publish. Thus, if you posted a comment in the last week or two and don't see...please repost (if you want to).

While we're on the subject of comments....you've probably noticed that I usually ignore comments that are left by 'anonymous' posters. Reason being, I don't see why I should spend my time answering someone who doesn't even care enough to leave me their name! Why should I? I don't owe them anything...some people need to learn some manners.

Play with your food!

Let's Do This!!!!

http://www6.earthhourus.org/

I've been tagged by Do What I Like

Five facts about Me:

....I'm going to let my visitors decide what they would like to know about me. So here's your chance! Post your questions about me as a comment below and I will answer the first 5.

First Question:
Oh goody... I get to post a question... Let´s see.. Hmm... oh yes, i have one. How come I no longer see u in NK?! :)
>>The truth is I don't like you! Just kidding! ;P I've just been busy 'adjusting' to things. As you probably know, I recently graduated, traveled, then started culinary school. But everything is finally falling into its place, I'll be back in NK soon. :)

Question 2:
How old am I?
>>old enough.....:D I'm 22.

Question 3:
Who has been eating all the good stuff that you've been churning out?
>>They go to family and friends and sometimes...the trash can.

Question 4:
Do you ever consider become a TV chef or open your own catering business/ restaurants? Food network is dumped with French and Intalian cusine, and their food is not as attractive (to me) as ones you bring to the table.
>>Me? a TV chef? Honestly, I can't say that I haven't thought about it. BUT I think the chances are pretty low. Mainly because my philosophy/style in the kitchen is very low key, low profile. It seems like America is thirsty for seeing Vietnamese food or "Asian" food (whatever that is) as something that's sacred, complex and mystical. I have yet to see any Vietnamese cookbook written in english that isn't cashing in on that thirst by sugar coating and glorifying everything. I just can't do that and since I can't do that. I probably won't sell very well thus probably will never make it onto TV...which is fine for me since my passion is to be in the kitchen anyways. ;)

Question 5:
where do you get the original recipe from? What the average attempts for the food?
>>I get recipes the same way people have been getting for thousands of years. I learn from my elders, most of my recipes start out as ones passed down to me from my family, and family friends. I discovered cooking has become a lost art and most people are more than happy to pass down a traditional family recipe just for the sake of keeping it alive. It usually takes me about 2 tries (but sometimes up to 20) to get satisfactory results from a recipe.

The Meme rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Five bloggers I would like to tag:
Yochana's Cake Delight
Food Lover's Journey
Foodcrazee
play-play in the kitchen
precious moments

I was given this from Edith and Jadepearl. Thanks for thinking of me! I am truly honored.

Friendship is always worth more if you pass it on, thus, I would like to to pass this ball on to:

Lily's Wai Sek Hong
East meets West
Pusiva's Culinary Studio
The Budding Cook
Zu's Kitchen
Yochana's Cake Delight

Cheers!

For the Cake:
-100g unsalted butter
-170g sugar
-150g cake flour
-3 eggs (150g)
-120g milk
-1 tsp baking powder

*Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, add eggs 1 at a time, add milk. Sift in flour and baking powder, fold together. Bake at 350'f for about 30-35 mins.

Icing:
-400g whipping cream
-1 tbs powdered sugar
-1 1/2 tsp whipped cream stabilizer

*Whip cream and stabilizer in a bowl until soft peaks, add sugar and whip until stiff peaks.

Raspberry Filling:
-raspberry
-sugar

*simmer raspberries and sugar (to taste) in a sauce pan until mixture reduces to 3/4 its original volume.

The Fun Part:
Level the cake and cut into layers, add filling, frost, and cover with coconut.

I’ve been meaning to post this for quite awhile. It’s my research project that I did close to a year ago for my drama 476 class. If you’re a frequent visitor you probably already know that I'm a recent graduate of UW, majoring in Drama. Instead of writing a boring paper, I decided to go with the creative project option. So here it is, my creative research project on Phil Gotanda and his works…for your pleasure :D.


Method:
1) Over double-boiler mix together cheese, milk and butter until homogenized, cool and add egg yolks
2) Fold flour until cheese mixture.
3) Beat egg whites until frothy, add cream of tartar and salt and beat till soft peaks. Add sugar and beat till stiff peaks.
4) Fold egg whites into cheese and flour mixture.
5) Bake in a preheated over at 350’f until golden.
6) When the cake is cooked, remove from oven immediately bang it on a hard surface (it’ll make the cake easier to remove later). Then invert the cake to cool. Remove the cake from the cake pan when it is completely cool.



Chang, Lia. "Philip Gotanda Revealed." Asian Connections. 17 Nov. 2002. Feb.-Mar. 2007 <http://www.asianconnections.com/a/?article_id=36>.

An interview with Gotanda about his motivation for his plays and how much improvement has in American society regarding the status and stereotypes associated with Asian Americans. Gotanda feels America has over forward, and uses the example that the term oriental as proof. However, he still much more room for improvement.

Gotanda, Philip Kan. Ballad of Yachiyo. New York: Theater Communications Group, 1997.

This moving play is Gotanda’s based on the story of Gotanda’s aunt, Yachiyo. Gotanda explains in the introduction that the story is part fiction and part non-fiction as his family considered Yachiyo’s past an embarrassment to the family and thus never talked about.

Gotanda, Philip Kan. Fish Head Soup and Other Plays. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991.

This collection of plays includes Fish Head Soup, Yankee Dawg You Die, The Wash and A Song for a Nisei Fisherman. There is decent introduction that reveals Gotanda’s style and his inspiration for writing the plays.

Philip Kan Gotanda Official Site. 2005. Feb.-Mar. 2007
<http://www.philipkangotanda.com/index.shtml>.

Phil Gotanda’s official site. It has a short bio on him but his up coming projects. However, the site hasn’t been updated since 2005 so some of the information is not so useful.

Rich, Frank. "2 Asians and Hollywood's Bias." The New York Times. 15 May 1989. Feb.-Mar. 2007 <http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html>.

A review of Yankee Dawg You Die. Rich praises the play especially the ending when past (Vincent) and future (Bradley) work together and learn from each other.

Sommer, Elyse. "Ballad of Yachiyo, A Curtainup Review." Curtain Up. 1997. Feb.-Mar. 2007 <http://www.curtainup.com/ballad.htm>.

A theater review of Ballard of Yachiyo. Sommer applauds Gotanda’s style of writing and ability to tie together past and present.

Food is everywhere! My first stop while in Malaysia's Chinatown was this jerky stand. These goodies are made from ground meat + spices, flattened, dried and then grilled. They are absolutely to die for!




Next up....Satay, another must eat to add to the list for anyone visiting M'asia. Your choice of chicken or beef, deliciously prepared and served with fresh slices of cucumber, onions and their dipping sauce. They're a bit greasy, probably from coconut milk but who cares!?! They're too good to pass.








What is this? I dunno, but it tastes good. It's cendol in a bright pink, sweet, milky liquid. I know what you're thinking...yes, it does look like Pepto Bismol.

I have this thing for bright colors and instead of shying away from eating brightly colored foods I actually go after them. This drink caught my eye and I just had to have a taste. I has a unique pleasant flavor....  Perfect for a hot day and to wash down the satay and jerky.