Foodjianese

Food is not my life but it makes me feel alive.

I was born in Fujian, in southeast China, and somehow got dragged onto a plane to New York at the turn of my teenage years. (Thanks mom!)

I inhaled 3 plates of roast pork and cabbage on rice after sneaking my way out of summer tutoring school (I'm Asian) during lunchtime to gorge on Indian Mee Goreng and Indian pancakes when I was in junior high, so there is no doubt that I LOVE to eat.

Cooking, on the other hand, is a recent obsession. I generally do not rely on recipes except for baking because I feel constrained by the scientific preciseness of most recipes. I like to improvise. The lingering taste of a sweet and spicy lamb tagine from a recent restaurant meal prompts me to turn on my stove. The smell of sweet cardamom and rose water gracefully peeking their way out of an Indian bakery seduces me to invite them to my kitchen.

Ok, enough about me, let's cook, eat, and share, which is what food is all about.

Text Easy Breezy Meal

Gnocchi in Creamy Lobster Ricotta Sauce

There are nights when I come home exhausted to my core but the hungry beast in me still want something tasty, quick. Leftovers to the rescue! I’m the “variety type” so I rarely eat the same meal more than once within a short period of time. Privileged anyone? I know, I know. However, I never throw out perfectly edible leftovers. That would be wasteful and besides, leftovers challenge me to be inventive and creative!
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#gnocchi #lobster #ricotta #cream sauce #red pepper
Text 2
Notes Lovin’ My Roots

Fujianese Sweet Mashed Taro

1 Christmas, 2 New Year’s, and 1,224 hours of procrastination later, I am back. I got dangerously comfortable with not updating the blog. The holidays were a ready excuse but the real reason is that I was afraid to write, afraid of unable to write an interesting post. I know it sounds silly but this procrastinating perfectionist ghost of mine has always haunted me. Luckily, somewhere along reading other food blogs and feeling lazy and unproductive I decided it was time to return to the blog. So what if it’s not perfect. It’s a learning process, right?
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#Taro #Mashed #Fujian #Chinese #Dessert
Text Got Shot by Christmas

Although my family has lived in the States for almost two decades by way of China, we are still “f.o.b.” - fresh off the boat - when it comes to celebrating Christmas. I don’t remember the last time my parents gave me a Christmas present. As someone who is unfamiliar with the family gathering/reunion aspect of Christmas, I find the whole Christmas “spirit” dominated by commercialism and mass consumerism all the more alien, to say the least. On the other hand, the holidays make baking an imperative - I love it. Not that I ever need a reason to bake.

“Krismeggs” Cranberry Rice Krispies Treats

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#Rice Krispies #Banana Bread #Pine Nut #Date #Coconut #Muffin
Text The Spell of the Macaron

My recent trip to Paris incited another food obsession - macarons. I dragged my friend Ari all over Paris, from one patisserie to another, in my quest to find the best… I just couldn’t get enough of ‘em.

Macaron is a French wafer pastry sandwich made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar, and sugar. Nowadays, macaron flavors range from the usual suspects like vanilla and chocolate, to the exotic oddities like wasabi and ume (Japanese plum). In New York, macarons grace the counters of Bouchon, La Maison du Chocolat, Almondine, Madeleine Patisserie, etc. I have not tried any of them, yet. However, I was enticed by Will Cotton’s latest exhibit at Partners and Spade on Great Jones Street near Bowery, and had to get a piece of the pie, or macaron.
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#Macaron #Will Cotton #France #Pastry #Partners and Spade
Text Dear Kabocha, I <3 You

Five Spice Braised Beef and Kabocha, Gnocchi in Chestnut Butter Sauce, and Sauteed Shimeji Mushrooms.

I love all things squash. Squash in general is such a versatile and complimentary ingredient. Its mild flavor and malleable texture make it a great choice to use in desserts like pies, muffins, Chinese dessert soups, and soufflés, as well as savories such as fritters and tempuras, raviolis, and stews, etc. I must admit, I do have a favorite in the squash family - kabocha.

Kabocha is a type of Japanese winter squash. It is also known as “Japanese pumpkin” because of its similarity in appearance to pumpkin but more stout, like a boule. The skin is typically deep green or golden. It encompasses the flavors of pumpkin, chestnut and sweet potato. Its smooth texture is similar to that of russet potato.
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#Kabocha #Pumpkin #Beef #Chestnut #Fall #Pasta #Stew
Text The Pig and the Egg

CHINESE SALTED EGG AND GRILLED PORK SALAD

I found a bag of about a dozen brown eggs sitting on my desk at work yesterday. They were from my coworker Mr. Fang. Instead of the homemade cookies and banana breads that coworkers exchange at “regular” offices, we share homemade white-wine marinated chicken feet, pickled radish, and of course salted chicken eggs.
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#Pork #Salad #Egg #Chinese
Text Pork the juice, please.

Grilled Pork Chops, Berry Confit, Baked Pistachio-crusted Potato Balls

Many of my cooking inspirations come from- leftovers. A jug of tart cherry juice with only 1 cup remaining has been sitting lonesomely in my fridge for quite some time. I finally decided to give it some love with my other love- p.o.r.k.
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#Pork #Cherry #Potato #Confit #Nuts
Text You can never Ba(h)n Mi

Roasted Lamb Bahn Mi.

I had some leftover pickled cucumber and lamb in my fridge and fresh cilantro from my CSA, and so it was decided: bahn mi time!
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#Bahn mi #baguette #cucumber #lamb #peanut #sandwich #Vietnam
Text Roasted S.E. Asian-Style Lamb Chops

I used to be intimidated by meat. The process of handling meat, cleaning the pink wet cutting board, preparing the marinade was a nuisance to me. For as recent as a few months ago, I only cooked with vegetable. Vegetables were easy. There are no dripping juices. You just have to cut them and sautee, roast, grill, etc. But thanks to the cooking class at the French Culinary Institute , I now have a pretty intimate affair with meat…

I loooove lamb. But once in a while, the gamey taste of lamb distracts me. So I chose to use fish sauce and ginger to marinade the lamb chops. Using ginger as a flavor suppressor/ enhancer in lamb seems pretty common, but fish sauce? To be honest, I did not have a logical reason for adding the fish sauce. I had it in my pantry and just thought to myself, “Why not?”
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#asian #fish sauce #ginger #roasted #lamb
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What’s for lunch? A heaping plate of fresh wild yellowtail sashimi! It is moments like this that I love my job.

#yellowtail, #hamachi #buri