tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84030439535057816092024-03-18T19:58:42.897-07:00Epicurious DebOne woman's neverending search for the next best mealDebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-31189837300822679902014-10-30T21:02:00.001-07:002014-10-30T21:02:12.920-07:00Singapore - 9 months in
Every place I live and travel indelibly leaves a mark on me - most noticeably, on my tastebuds. Living in Japan ruined sushi and ramen for me anywhere outside its borders, living in HK made me appreciate Cantonese cuisine as one of the finest in the world. I have to admit, I was dubious about Singapore. I didn't really get what Singaporean food was about. But after 9 months, I have definitely Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-81509130307888837492013-07-12T00:01:00.002-07:002013-07-12T00:07:43.703-07:00Pico de gallo
Pico de gallo, or salsa fresca, is a staple in my kitchen - especially since we moved to Hong Kong where good Mexican food was severely lacking until very recently. The one decent place in Hong Kong for Mexican food is Brickhouse, but a single taco will set you back US$7 for a tiny taco that would cost $1-2 in San Francisco - that's after you wait an hour for a table. I love good food - Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-65457173325994123802013-07-11T23:33:00.001-07:002013-07-11T23:33:41.966-07:00Cafe 69
Everything about this casual restaurant off the main road in Bophut reminds you you are in Thailand - from the name, to the kitschy disco decor that wouldn't work anywhere else except the land of the thousand smiles, to the owner/chef Vivian who is a man but appears to moonlight as a ladyboy based on a photo on the restaurant wall, but most of all - the fresh, delicious, authentic Thai food.
Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-74885062290484431922013-07-11T07:59:00.001-07:002013-07-11T17:39:14.758-07:00H Bistro at Hansar Samui
I wasn't expecting world-class European cuisine in Koh Samui, so was happily surprised when we ended up at H Bistro at the suggestion of a friend with a trustworthy palate. The food at H Bistro is excellent - and not just by tropical island standards - the creative, well-presented dishes here are on par with what you'd find at high end restaurants in major cities. Except that the food here Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-24202945700404216612013-06-22T00:56:00.003-07:002013-06-22T01:39:54.462-07:00Sushi Sase
My husband wanted to go to Japan for a last-minute weekend trip but I talked him out of it. I didn't want to spend half the weekend in transit, even if it did mean eating amazing food for the rest of the weekend - crazy as it sounds, all I wanted to do was sleep in, do laundry and get some R&R right in our own home. To make it up to him, I decided to surprise him - if we couldn't go to TokyoDebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com1Hollywood Road, Hong Kong22.2855012 114.1484894000000222.2855012 114.14848940000002 22.2855012 114.14848940000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-73199913042991111952013-06-22T00:26:00.001-07:002013-06-22T00:29:25.413-07:00Kyubey Ginza - A perfect meal
For most of my life, I used to categorize rainbow rolls and dragon rolls and California rolls together with nigiri - that is, eponymously with the term "sushi." I've since become a sushi purist after living in Japan, so that when I refer to sushi, I mean only nigiri sushi - vinegar-marinated sushi rice topped with fresh raw fish. Gunkan maki, the type of sushi wrapped with nori (Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan35.6707504 139.7694671000000435.6578509 139.74929710000004 35.683649900000006 139.78963710000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-31756319039955706062013-02-06T07:42:00.002-08:002013-02-06T07:46:06.293-08:00Roan Kikunoi
One of the perks of living in Hong Kong is the opportunity to travel - Hong Kong International Airport is fantastically well-connected to hundreds of international locations, and getting in and out of the airport is the easiest I've experienced the world over. Also, it helps that the husband works for an airline, which offers some travel perks.
This past weekend, we did a weekend trip to Kyoto,Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com2Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan35.0116363 135.7680293999999334.5959053 135.12258239999994 35.4273673 136.41347639999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-56774294484347562592012-11-04T07:23:00.002-08:002012-11-04T07:53:21.676-08:00Cilantro corn rice (and thoughts on food critiques)
I've become that person. A person I hoped growing up I'd never become: an ajumma. Ajumma in Korean means "married woman" or "middle-aged woman" - and like many Korean words, is perfectly fine when used in certain contexts and carries a negative connotation when used in others.
When I think of the word ajumma, I think of opinionated middle-aged Korean women who tell you what's up, even if Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-31073740695301811042012-11-03T03:54:00.003-07:002012-11-03T19:49:49.346-07:00Ginger molasses cookies
I've probably baked these cookies more than any other item in my life. While studying at Starbucks in law school about 10 years ago(!), I came across a chewy ginger cookie in the pastry case. I'd never had a ginger cookie before, save for a stale ginger snap offered by a classmate in elementary school which had basically turned me off of the entire institution. But the cookie behind the glass Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-29538146957241638972012-11-02T23:39:00.003-07:002012-11-02T23:42:28.828-07:00Cerveceria Catalana - a perfect meal
To me, there's no place in the world that encapsulates joie de vivre as much as Barcelona. It's a city that doesn't start to wake up until 10 am, enjoys a long leisurely lunch followed by a nice afternoon siesta, then really starts to come alive after 6 pm. It's a city where wine is literally cheaper than water, where jamon refers to fresh slices of rich, salty Serrano or Iberico ham cut Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0Barcelona, Province of Barcelona, Spain41.387917 2.169918741.292614 2.0119902 41.48322 2.3278472000000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-51935363215854923512012-10-29T22:52:00.000-07:002012-10-29T23:20:14.979-07:00Black truffle croutons
I used to throw away the remains of day-old baguettes, until I discovered that they are a perfect vehicle for bread pudding (although my favorite bread pudding is made with fresh toasted challah). But bread pudding, while wonderful in its dense, homey deliciousness, isn't something you can make every time you have leftover bread, unless you happen to have a couple marathon runners in the Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com1Hong Kong22.396428 114.10949722.161534500000002 113.79364000000001 22.6313215 114.425354tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-78697367528190305092012-10-29T20:34:00.000-07:002012-10-29T20:38:45.249-07:00Oolaa
October and November are my favorite months in Hong Kong. In October, the humidity dissipates and the weather starts to cool down. If you're lucky, some evenings, the air can even smell fresh. In Central no less! But November is when Hong Kong truly becomes lovely. It's the month during which you should plan to have every meal al fresco and enjoy long, leisurely hikes. The weather is sunny but Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0Hong Kong22.396428 114.10949722.161534500000002 113.79364000000001 22.6313215 114.425354tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-56438781453470256172012-10-27T22:29:00.002-07:002012-10-29T00:17:32.669-07:00Earl Grey TeacakeWhen I was growing up, my public school in San Leandro, California had a monthly Scholastic book club - basically, Scholastic's ingenious method of door-to-door sales aimed at kids. I'd come home with a colorful pamphlet with pictures and summaries of that month's featured books, and beg my mom to let me order a couple. Although my parents loved reading themselves, having discovered the public Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-22832652830951504412012-10-21T06:37:00.001-07:002012-10-21T09:14:54.006-07:00Pumpkin chocolate bread (and the story of love at first bite)
Back in 2005, when I was sort of a young hippie dreamer (well, let's be honest here - as young hippie a dreamer as a junior corporate lawyer can be), I came across an empty store for lease in Berkeley while I was grabbing coffee at the original Peet's Coffee on the corner of Vine and Walnut Streets. It was inside a sunny little square that included Peet's, a charming lettepress/stationery shop Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-5424438830341482012-10-20T09:33:00.002-07:002012-10-20T09:37:19.257-07:00Blue Butcher
I walk by Blue Butcher several times a week but only finally got around to trying it tonight. I'm not exactly sure how we even ended up there - when we left the house this evening for dinner, the plan was to head to Life Cafe, an organic vegetarian restaurant in Soho. Instead, we somehow ended up at Blue Butcher, one of the most carnivorous restaurants in the city. I'm glad we did though, Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-66737614570431416502012-10-20T09:07:00.002-07:002012-10-21T02:24:26.005-07:00Txistorra with fagioli beans and bell pepper
The first time I tried txistorra was in Valencia at Casa MontaƱa, a fantastic tapa bar near the beach. It was presented simply on a white plate, fried in hard cider. Txistorra is a cured sausage from the Basque country, seasoned with garlic and paprika. It's fantastic for frying and serving with eggs for breakfast or as a tapa. Because it's rather fatty and salty, I like to fry txistorra withDebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-51193291650512708532012-10-18T09:12:00.002-07:002012-10-18T09:13:20.973-07:00Andong Jjim Dak
This here is Andong Jjim Dak, which literally means steamed chicken from Andong (a region in Korea). It is absolutely delicious. I suspect that MSG might have something to do with that, but frankly, I'm beyond caring. Why does everyone hate MSG so much anyway? Yes, I know it's artificial. And maybe it's "cheating" on flavor. But let me put this out there: Japan has some of the most Michelin Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-71384411179936077662012-10-18T08:49:00.002-07:002012-10-18T09:55:37.352-07:00Spaghetti with bottarga
I recently watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations where he travels to Sardinia and eats a plate of spaghetti with bottarga. The way he waxed poetic about it immediately made me a bit obsessed with trying the dish. Luckily, just a week later I was assigned to review Nicholini's by Asia Tatler, where spaghetti with bottarga was on the menu. Nicholini's version included a Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-10709911262490554112012-10-18T08:18:00.001-07:002012-10-18T08:51:46.678-07:00Stewed prunes. Really.
I realize that this picture isn't going to convince anyone that the much-maligned prune can be delicious, but if you could taste it, I think you'd love it. I'm reading a food memoir (I love that there's a genre of books called food memoirs!) called A Homemade Life, which I came across when I was reading the blog of the author of My Berlin Kitchen, another food memoir.
The recipes in A Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-14607128574551608362012-10-16T08:29:00.001-07:002012-10-18T08:52:07.394-07:00Gazpacho, a taste of summer in Spain
I fell in love with Spain from the moment I arrived in Barcelona the first time, back in 2006. Since then, I've tried to visit at least once a year - my trips always include a new part of Spain I haven't been to previously, but also always include at least a couple days in Barcelona, my happiest place on earth. This past summer, my annual pilgrimage to Spain included a drive down to, then back Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-17234435842292721532012-10-15T19:00:00.003-07:002012-10-15T19:00:44.733-07:00I'm baaaack
I know there's probably no one who checks this blog anymore, but I'm back. Since I last wrote over a year ago, I've been quite busy - getting engaged, changing day jobs, getting married, moving...
I've been in Hong Kong for over 2 years now and I feel like I'm just really starting to get it. It's a crazy, chaotic, wonderful, exasperating, local, international city, and at the end of the day, I Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-87741780923786198422011-08-07T00:21:00.000-07:002011-08-07T00:38:04.205-07:00KamalayaHello world, it's been a long time. My day job had me keeping some insane hours in the past few months, including a lot of transpacific travel. After a particularly bad month, I took a much-needed week off and treated myself to a detox retreat at Kamalaya in Koh Samui. While it's a tad pricey (ok, maybe a little more than a tad), especially for Thailand, it was exactly the rest, relaxation and Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-66026852036661356982011-03-01T07:41:00.000-08:002011-03-01T08:18:15.217-08:00The PawnBrunch at The Pawn isn't for the faint of heart, literally. The delicious fare at this wonderfully cozy, modern British gastropub is a cardiologist's nightmare: heavy on fatty meats, butter and other saturated fats. But don't let that keep you away, because you'd be missing out on some of the best brunch fare in Hong Kong. On a recent visit, I had an absolutely delicious (and artery-clogging) Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-32036494960818853862011-01-10T03:36:00.001-08:002011-01-10T03:59:23.246-08:00Posto PubblicoI've been to Posto Pubblico three times now - twice for dinner and once for lunch (the photos below are from lunch). I thoroughly enjoyed my first two visits during dinner; not so much my most recent visit during lunch.During my first two visits, the caprese salad was amazingly fresh and delicious, the antipasti platter was sublime and the pastas perfectly al dente. I don't know if they use a Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8403043953505781609.post-7572017378639899902011-01-06T17:36:00.000-08:002011-01-06T18:01:07.879-08:00Father's OfficeI'm not a fan of food nazis - chefs that tell you exactly how you have to eat your food (I'm of the camp that believes that "you like it the way you like it" - who's to tell me or anybody else that there's only one right way to eat something??). So even though friends in LA had been telling me for awhile that I had to try the burger at Father's Office, I put it off for a long time. Why? It went Debhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098047659656216771noreply@blogger.com2