How to make a blogger happy

Wheeeeeeee!!!! I’m a very happy blogger today! I’ve got tons of pictures to share, and I am filled to the brim with good food and great fun!

First of all, can I say how much I love New York City? Yes, it’s dirty and creepy. Yes, it’s got a permanent stink and the traffic crawls along like a limp frog. Yes, the people are rather unfriendly and sulky.

But I adore the warm bustle and never-ending hum of the city, the busy pedestrians of assorted ethnicity marching across in all directions, the absolute contempt for traffic stoplights, the efficient public transportation, the many eclectic hole-in-the-wall restaurants and shops…It is quite an exciting city! It’s the kind of place in which you wish you never needed to sleep, because there is just that much going on.

At my blogger meet-up with Karena from Run, Eat, Repeat and Rebecca from All Vegged Out, Karena recommended visiting the Chelsea Market. Chelsea market is an indoor food-shopping mall, and home of many Food Network offices. It’s also where Iron Chef America and Emeril Live was shot! How freaking cool is that? Of course I had to make a trip there!
At first glance, I was surprised by how run-down the building looked. But as I got closer I realized that was just the design of the building…It was designed to be artistic, hip, and urbane.
Welcome to the Chelsea Market!
Inside, I was amazed and entranced by the interior decorations. It was so unique and interesting. Glossy, yet not tacky at all.
It has got that historic industrial look and feel, if you know what I mean.
There was even a small fountain, and people threw pennies and dimes into the pool for good luck:
Seriously, I was like a kid in Candyland. My tongue was hanging out with eagerness and I sprinted from one place to the other, eyes wide with wonder. First place I hit was Eleni’s, a bakery that sells hand-painted art cookies and cupcakes:
This one was my favorite:
How adorable! But pricey for $2.50 each!

We also checked out the Fat Witch Bakery, but they wouldn’t let us snap pictures, so I stole a sample brownie out:
Moist, rich, ooh la la-decadent!

And check this out:
A burger? No, it’s a cake!

Next I stopped by Amy’s Bread:
I couldn’t resist buying something:

A mini-loaf of whole wheat walnut bread, and two semolina-fennel rolls.

The Lobster Place:
And Buon Italia, the source for all things Italian!
Sweet little fruit-shaped marzipans…
Of course I zoomed into the gnocchi section!
 $2.35 for a package of spinach-potato gnocchi…Score!
I really wanted this kooky-shaped pasta, but the price was way too high…:-(
And a GIANT tub of Nutella! I took a shot of this just for our very own Nutella Queen, Debbie!

We also hit by Sarabeth’s Kitchen:
Only $1? I couldn’t resist buying this jar of cranberry relish for future sandwiches…
And look at this cute little baby pineapple I found at the Manhattan Fruit Exchange!
After all this touring of food, we got really, really hungry. There were also a few restaurants in Chelsea Market that boasted really scrumptious menus, but we already had a place in mind…
Ever heard of Ippudo? Apparently it’s got the best ramen in New York, so we decided to pay it a visit to see what the fuss is all about.
I was immediately impressed by the chic decorations:
But not so the dim yellowish lighting. Boooo for photography!! I think every restaurant should fix their lighting with food bloggers in mind, don’t you agree?
We started off with an appetizer which Jane treated:
 Hirata buns, which is a pillowy white steamed bun filled with mayo, spicy chicken, and lettuce.
 The bun was so soft and spongy and delicious! But I didn’t care much for the chicken inside…who leaves the rubbery skin on? Urgh, I can’t stand the pimply chicken skin unless it’s fried.

Jane ordered the miso ramen:
 Soy bean paste ramen noodles soup, the “originial tonkatsu” based soup with sliced berkshire pork, minced pork, cabbage and scallions
I ordered the shoyu ramen:
 Soy sauce flavored ramen noodles soup, a combination of chicken and tonkatsu soup, with slice of bershire pork, naruto, egg, cabbage, and scallions
The best way to eat it? First sip a spoonful of the rich, meaty, greasy broth…
And then pinch a bunch of springy ramen noodles with your chopsticks and sluuuuurrrrp it up! Ramen is one dish in which you are required to make a lot of noise! So, slurp slurp slurp!
Jane was too polite to slurp though…I was like a pig next to her, slurping with gusto while she daintily ladled her noodles into her spoon and nibbled.
But seriously. BEST NOODLE SOUP ever!!! I’ve never tried ramen so I’m not to judge, but if there is a better ramen than this, you bet I’ll be there faster than Sonic the Hedgehog!
I didn’t care much for the pork slices, though. It was just way too…porky and meaty and stinky, if you know what I mean.
Aaaaah…I am so contented right now, I can’t seem to wipe the silly beam off my face. Amazing food, great company, new adventures and experiences in a cool city…this is life!

Can you believe just half a year ago I locked myself in my own house, refusing to venture out except to exercise all my non-existent “fat” away, scared shitless of new adventures and challenges? I am so freaking glad I have finally popped out of my ED bubble.

And yes, I call it a bubble…because when you’re in that bubble, you are a delicate little thing, and just to reach through that thin watery wall seems to be the end of the world. Trapped in that bubble, the world outside seems so scary and skewed. But really, all it takes is one giant leap out, and that bubble will pop you free. I used to think it was impossible, but now I realize that it really is not such a big deal. One pop is all it takes! So reach out and grab for your future and life!

Question of the day: Do you make a lot of noise when you eat? I ask because being Korean, I slurp and chew and munch louder than a cow. But I know it’s not really polite in western cultures, though it is actually welcomed in Korea!

P.S. There will be a NY blogger meet-up on Thursday, 7pm at Green Pea. It’s at 435 5th Ave, between 38th & 39th Street. I’m announcing it now because a few of you have asked. Anybody is welcome!

When ED bites, bite a sandwich back

Thank you, every one of you who left me a comment sharing my joy of new hair with me! I know it seems like a trivial, vanity thing, but it’s really sort of a sign for me that I am finally taking care of my body. So it means a lot to me to share this with you!

You know, anorexia is a horrible, treacherous disease. It sneaks up on you and wraps its arm around your shoulder like a friend at first, but then before you know it, it has opened up its jaws to swallow you up whole. The thing is, it would be so nice if that was the end of it. Instead, anorexia is like a crocodile. It doesn’t just rip you apart, it holds on to you with its deathly grip, stifling you, drowning you, starving you and leaving you to die a slow, painful death, then waiting until your body rots to a soft pulp before finally eating you up.

This is the worst thing about anorexia. You’re dying, but in a slow, dragged out process. You waste away, both mentally and physically, entrapped between the clutches of this inescapable illness, while you watch it rob every single thing away from you: your beauty, your social life, your hobbies, your personality, your integrity, your emotions, your happiness. Meanwhile, your family and friends can do nothing but gape at you in despair and quiet desperation.

Even now, as I am trying to recover from anorexia, I still have to fight off many of the old anorexic thoughts, fears, anxieties, and habits, which are seriously, in the eyes of a normal person, utterly stupid and ridiculous and unreasonable, but which are so physically painful and real to me. Some people say it never goes away, that even if you somehow manage to escape from its jaws, you still bear the scars for the rest of your life.

But I disagree. I believe complete healing is possible, for nothing is impossible for the Lord in whom I put my faith and trust. But I do know it is not to be overcome in one day, but a daily progress. Day by day, step by step, amidst both failures and victories, I know anorexia can be conquered. The worst thing to do is to disbelieve, to doubt and to despair and give up. Each day has enough troubles on its own, and I aim to live and enjoy each day to the best it can possibly be even in the process of this exhausting recovery.

And one of the ways to enjoy each day is…to eat good food, of course! Haha, sorry for dumping all that deadpan, weighty issues on you, but I just wanted to get this little itch off my chest. So far I’ve only been referring to my ED vaguely, but I think I should share a bit deeper occasionally as this blog is another tool for me to recover anorexia after all. So…ready for today’s delicious eats?

Today’s lunch should really be described with silence. Because I seriously thought I had died and gone to heaven, it was that good. The cause of today’s mouthgasm? Monte Cristo sandwich. Here’s how I prepared it:

I made a sandwich out of two slices of whole wheat bread, four slices of smoked ham, two slices of cheddar cheese, and a few slices of tomatoes. Then the part that makes it a Monte Cristo: I whipped together 1 whole egg, 1 egg white, 1/4 cup almond milk, drop of vanilla extract, cinnamon, dash of salt. Then I dunked the whole sandwich into this wet mixture and left it there to sit until it soaked up all the liquid. Then I heat up a skillet, sprayed it with PAM, and cooked up the sandwich until brown on both sides and smelling like heaven. With a drizzle of maple syrup:

Oh…my…freaking…God this was sososososososososososo good! Seriously, my eyes were popping and the syrup was dripping all over my shirt, but how could I be bothered when I shared the same fantastic smell as this amazing sandwich?

I loved how the bread soaked up the sweet syrup! I really love the play of the sweet and the savory…This had all the sweetness and comfort of french toast and pancakes, and also the substantiality and saltiness of a good ham and cheese sandwich.

Here’s the cross-section, for your drooling pleasure:

I was very sad when I reached the last yummy bite…

I also had a plate of celery, carrot, and cucumbers on the side to cleanse my mouth, with some homemade ketchup:

And for afternoon snack, another pair matched in heaven:

Mr. peanut pancake and Ms. cheese pancake got married, had their wedding in my mouth, and are now (a-hem) celebrating their matrimony in my stomach.

Oh, and I baked today! My Penang friend Kristine is leaving Thursday, so I baked pumpkin crumble bars for her:

Gonna bring it to Discipleship Training tomorrow. Hope she likes it! ^___^

Well, it’s Monday, the start of another fresh new week. Hope everyone has a great beginning to this new week! Here’s today’s question of the day: What is your favorite flavor combination? Sweet and spicy? Sweet and sour? Sour and bitter? Mine is sweet and salty, in things like peanut butter pancakes, oatmeal with syrup, sweet potato fries…and of course that Monte Cristo sandwich I had for lunch today! Mmmmmm….

Porky for dessert

Yes, you read the title right. Pork…dessert-style! No need to freak out, I did not go all iron chef and whip up pork ice-cream or something. But this pork dish I created yesterday for lunch was altogether innovative, decadent, and oh-so-chocolaty enough to make me feel like I was indulging in some sinful dessert.

Yup, that’s right. Chocolate. Oh, no, don’t give me that disgusted look before you hear me out (or read me out, either way)! Please, give this dish a chance with an open mind and an anticipative stomach, and I promise you, you will be equally bowled over by this meal as I was.

Remember when I was asking for pork recipes? The previous attempt on cooking pork was quite a success, even without a recipe, and I was encouraged enough to just wing it again and slap something together with the leftover piece of pork tenderloin…and came up with…

Mocha-Coated Pork with Raspberry Sauce:

Look at that! Just look at that! You can almost imagine it to be a slice of rich dark chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. And the idea was just so simple and easy! I just mixed together some cocoa powder, cinnamon, ground coffee, and black pepper, then rubbed it all over the pork tenderloin. I let it sit for a while to absorb all the flavors, and then pan-seared it on a skillet over high heat, and then finished it off in the oven. Meanwhile, I just warmed up some raspberry preserves with a spritz of lemon juice. You want to let the meat sit for a while before cutting to keep the juices in (something I learned from watching Food Network. Who says TV can’t be educational?).

I had this chocolaty pork steak with some roasted baby potatoes and a sunny-side egg.

Let me tell you how. freaking. phenomenal. it was. The cocoa-coffee-cinnamon coating was thick and luscious and velvety, and did a great job sealing in all the juice of the pork inside. The raspberry sauce was the perfect complement to play in the sweet vs. savory. It wasn’t overly sweet, but sweet enough to round off the rich bitterness of the cocoa, even leaving a bit of a pleasant tang with its slight fruity sourness.

I am definitely making this over and over again. Who can resist chocolate for lunch? I urge you all, dear fellow food bloggers, to give this dish a try! For those vegetarians out there, I’m pretty sure you can create the same sensational dish with meatless “meats” or tofu. If you ever give this a try, please let me know! (Whether you love or hate it)

So yesterday’s lunch was a huge success, but sadly, today’s lunch was…to put it mildly, horrible. I had pork again, but this time it wasn’t prepared by me. There is this food stall selling rice and different mixed dishes nearby where I am staying, and each time I passed by I would eye the different dishes with curiosity. They’re the non-fancy, home-cooked style food that Singapore eat at home, and quite different from those typical Chinese dishes you’d find in a restaurant. Well, today I decided to try one of the dishes. I though, hey, I’m in Singapore, so I should try what normal Singaporeans would cook on a typical day at home. So I ordered this:

I don’t even know what it’s called. It’s a dense, steamed patty made up of ground pork with some gingery-garlicky flavor. And it was absolutely disgusting.

Let’s take another look at it, cross-section:

You see those white little things? I thought they were onions, or water chestnuts or something. Not so. When I put a huge bite into my mouth, all I tasted was incredibly meaty (not in a good way) pork…and fat. And tendons. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

Basically, this patty was made out of ground cheap pork scraps! Barely half of this was actual meat. Most of it were unidentifiable bits from parts of a pig that I don’t even want to know about.

I tried to finish it, I really did. But I could only manage half of it before I thought I would hurl. So I put it aside, and had a few more of these baked pumpkin:

…and a bowl of yogurt with tangerine, not pictured.

I was quite sad about my disaster lunch, but at least the baked pumpkin was super-sweet and delicious!

For afternoon snack I had sweet ham sandwiches again:

Both had two slices of smoked ham and a slice a cheddar cheese, but one had a base of strawberry jam, the other applesauce. I think I like strawberry jam better.

Love that cheesiness!

So that’s the little adventure I had today. And to keep me amused, I’d like to leave you all with this question: What was the most disgusting thing you had ever eaten?

Have a great rest of the week, dear bloggers, and hope you avoid all disastrous meals!

Say Chee~se!

I’ve been having a different breakfast these past couple of days, due to waking up late. I knew my normal breakfast of oatmeal and fruits would ruin my appetite for lunch, so I’ve just been choosing something light and easily digestible: A heaping bowl of plain yogurt with all kinds of fruits mixed in with tons of cinnamon.

The fruits: grapefruit, grapes, apples, pineapples, pear, tangerine with another bowl of refreshing, thirst-quenching watermelon on the side (unpictured). I’m actually starting to favor this giant bowl of yogurt, because it really revitalizes me and cools me down after my daily morning walk. Plus, by the time lunch rolls around I’m perfectly hungry again.

Anyway, I had cheese in my mind yesterday. I was really craving some stringy, melted cheese…the kind that you can twirl around your fork and stretch it out and slurp it down still hot and gooey in your mouth. Specifically: mozzarella cheese.

But I was also really craving some kind of bold, intense flavor, which mozzarella, unfortunately, cannot satisfy with its milder flavor. Then I remembered the marinated mushrooms and onions I made for my Veggie and Cheese Open-faced Sandwich a few days ago, and decided they would go perfectly with mozzarella cheese!

I basically went through the same procedure as for the sandwich: I skillet-grilled some sliced eggplants, layered them onto a baking dish, then topped them off with fresh tomato slices. Meanwhile, I marinated some shitake mushrooms and onions in the world’s best marinade: soy sauce, cider vinegar, sake, tons of ginger and garlic, sweetener, and black pepper. I sautéed them until soft and (orgasmically) fragrant, then dumped them all over the eggplants and tomatoes. And then the finale: Handfuls of mozzarella cheese and spoonfuls of Parmesan cheese as well!

It smelled awesome in the oven and I was practically swooning in its heavenly scents! BUT when it came out of the oven:

What the hell? It looked like a frightful black mess. Like some overcooked lasagna. Like some dish a kid poured ink all over. Like baked cat’s poop! I was quite disappointed, as I was expecting a brilliant dish with the paleness of the melted cheese, but I guess I left it in the oven too long and the cheese cooked to a crispier brown color. Also, I think the marinade from the mushrooms and onions soaked through and dyed the whole thing black.

Still, it tasted fantastic!! The bold flavors were just popping in my mouth, and the cheese, though crispier than I would have liked, still had enough chewiness and stringiness in them

But guess what? What pleased me the most was not its glorious taste, but the fact that I overstepped my comfort zone, and challenged myself by using full-fat cheese. And not just a miserable sprinkle, but two large handfuls! I didn’t even care to measure!

YAY! This is why I’m calling this the Victory Vegetable and Cheese Bake. Yeah, yeah, I know, not the most original name…can you think of something better?

After lunch, I met up with my friend from Penang again to watch Bride Wars! You guys were right, it was really good! I’d rate it an 8.5/10 (I’m a tough critic). It was hilarious and fun, but I think the ending was rushed and too predictable.

Okay, on to today’s eats!

I tried a new fish I’d never had before today. It’s called toman fish (snakehead) and can only be found in Southeast Asia. It was on sale at the supermarket, so I grabbed it, but then when I got home I had no idea how to cook it! I’d never tasted this fish before, so I wasn’t sure about what kind of flavors would suit it. I decided to just wing it and coat it with lots of grated Parmesan cheese and Italian herbs, and salt and pepper of course. I then pan-fried it until cooked through and fragrant. The result:

I was totally clapping myself over the back for my lucky choice of going with Parmesan cheese and pan-fry. The cheese formed this delicious crispy crust all around the fish, and also helped retained all the moisture of the fish. I usually don’t like white fish because it’s less oily and dries out easily, but this one was perfectly tender and moist and flaky! Ah, cheese! How can you ever go wrong with cheese?

I enjoyed this Parmesan-crusted snakehead with a bowl of sunny-side up oats and cooked cabbage.

I love savory oats as much as the sweet kind, especially with a runny yolk seeping through it! The oats were especially flavorful, because I cooked it with some homemade cream of mushroom soup! Have you ever tried savory oats before? I’m open to new ideas and suggestions!

Oh and guess what I had for my afternoon snack? If you said sweet potatoes, sigh, you know me so well…But I added an old friend as well! Welcome my old snack buddy, Jollibean peanut pancake!

This is just like a peanut butter sandwich, except instead of regular sandwich bread, the peanut butter is encased between thick spongy pancake! Aaaah~ I really missed my peanut pancake.

You might have noticed most of my meals, be it lunch or dinner or snacks, are usually of a breakfast theme. It’s not intentional, but I guess I just love breakfast so much that I unconsciously incorporate them into most of my meals! Which is you favorite meal and why?

Don’t judge a food by its color

 

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Despite being a trite, overused saying, there is a reason why its so timeworn and repeated. The appearance is just a superior image that has little to do with what it really is like. But still, not true when it comes to food.

Aesthetic pleasure is everything in food. The brighter and cleaner the colors of produce, the fresher and more nutritious it is. A final sprinkle of fresh herbs over a plate of pasta makes a whole lot of difference. Overcooked, blanched veggies taste and feel as bad as it looks. Burnt food turns into an unpleasant black. The more colorful the dish, the more appetizing it becomes to us. Nobody feels hungry looking at a bowl of grey mush.

s into an unpleasant black. The more colorful the dish, the more appetizing it becomes to us. Nobody feels hungry looking at a bowl of grey mush.

I myself judge my food by its appearance many times, especially the colors. My veggies? The greener the better. I love the contrast of the yellow yolk against the whites, my tongue salivates at the glorious sight of  different gorgeous colors of fruits, and my hand automatically reaches for any (naturally) funky-colored food like purple potatoes and blue corn and red spinach. And guess what? Usually these good-looking, colorful food do taste a whole lot better, if only because we believe it to be. Indeed, we eat with our eyes as much as our tongue and taste.

 

That was what determined my choice for lunch yesterday: color. I went to eat at a Japanese restaurant called Pasta de Waraku with my friend Jingwen. Skimming down the long menu, my eyes immediately got drawn to a picture of Tofu in Squid-Ink Sauce. It was a deep charcoal black, and was such a striking contrast against the paleness of the tofu! A thick, black sauce of squid ink? I was extremely curious as to what it would taste like, and took little hesitation to order that dish, despite the fact that I don’t really like tofu.

I was so excited when the waiter finally placed this dish before me!

But alas! This was the rare moments in which choosing food by appearance failed me. I was quite disappointed with it. No, it was not bad, it was actually quite okay with a THICK layer of mozzarella cheese on top, but I had expected a big bold flavor to match its big bold color.

To my disappointment, the flavor was pretty mild, and all I could taste was the cheese, lots and lots of cheese.

Seriously, there was even more cheese than the tofu itself! Since tofu is also pretty bland, the whole dish was just bland to me. I don’t know what squid ink is supposed to taste like, but there was a bit of seaweedy flavor which I can only guess is from the squid ink.

Jingwen ordered the Neopolitan:

Looks nice, but yawn.How boring! Just your basic spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Well, at least I had a visually appealing and tasty dinner last night:

Eggplasta pudding, thy have never failed me so. Aaaw.

I tried something different with potatoes for lunch today: Skillet smashed potatoes with onions and garlic!

I just boiled some baby gold potatoes, then heated them up over a high-heat skillet with onions and garlic, smashed them up a bit, then popped the whole thing into the oven to roast and get crispier. This is the result:

With wrinkly hotdogs and a fried egg! Your basic British breakfast fry-up! (Except the wrinkly part. I swear the hotdogs were all nice and puffed up at first, and then deflated like a pricked balloon when I left it to cool a bit with the egg. Anybody know why?)

I just love roasted/baked potatoes, especially if it gets a tiny bit burnt and has that crispy skin!

Here’s a delicious forkful of potato and yolk:

I also had a bowl of yogurt with grapefruit.

Since we’re on the topic of colors today, don’t you love that reddish color against the white creaminess of the yogurt? God’s creation sure is wonderful and miraculous!

Alright, enjoy your new week everyone, and let me leave you with this question: What is your favorite funky food color? Mine is green! Green cookies, green cakes, green cake, green pancakes, anything green that isn’t supposed to be hooks my interest! I blame it on my fascination with green tea and leafy green vegetables! Somehow green just seems so…healthful and refreshing!

Tasty brown goop and Flavorful veggies

Again, going with the “gourmet” theme, I am going to share two more “gourmet” lunches that I had yesterday and today. But first, yesterday’s breakfast, because it was different.

I usually always have a bowl of fruits and a bowl of oatmeal every morning. The mix-ins may be different; sometimes a granola bar, sometimes corn, sometimes pumpkin, sometimes peanut butter, sometimes yogurt. But that’s the standard breakfast I always have. No fuss, no hassle, no need for any planning. But I woke up 2 hours later than usual yesterday! I panicked, because I knew if I had the usual breakfast I would totally still be stuffed come lunchtime, and I have quite an OCD about eating schedules especially since I’m in ED-recovery weight-gain mode right now.

So I just mixed together something that would be light on my stomach: Pumpkin yogurt with mixed fruits.

Just plain yogurt mixed with pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, grapefruit, mangosteen, pineapple, apple, white nectarine, grapes, tangerine.. Light, fast, easy, nutritious, and oh-so-delicious. Why is pumpkin so good in everything?

Anyway, on to lunch. Since my breakfast was lighter than usual, I needed something more heavy on the calories for lunch. And I knew exactly what I wanted: a burger. But not the usual beef or chicken burger. My burger was a mixture of minced pork and tofu, adapted from my mother’s recipe for Korean pan-fried patties. This is super fast and easy!

Just mix together equal parts of minced pork and extra-firm tofu (make sure to squeeze out excess liquid from the tofu first), with minced ginger and garlic, salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture is too wet, add in some breadcrumbs until you are able to form firm patties with your hands. And then you can cook it however you want it! Roll it up into cabbage rolls and steam it, or dust with flour, coat with egg and panko, and deep-fry it into croquettes.

As for me, I made two variations from this pork/tofu mixture. I formed little golf ball-size patties, dusted it with flour, dipped it into a beaten egg, then pan-fried it into little nuggets. Here is the result:

For the other variation, I formed a giant burger patty, popped it into the fridge to firm up for a bit, then cooked it on a skillet until cooked through. Then I beat together two eggs with salt and pepper, and poured it over the burger and turned off the heat. The heat from the burger cooked the egg mixture to a lovely, soft, velvety consistency. And then, the grand finale: cream of mushroom sauce spooned on top. The creamy mushroom sauce is just basically some mushrooms and onions sautéed in 1/2 cup of homemade cream of mushroom soup I had made earlier the day before.

So I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, my “fancy” lunch: Pork-tofu burger in Egg bath with Creamy Mushroom Sauce~

Okay, this doesn’t look that appetizing, especially since all the colors are just different shades of brown. But I assure you,it was absolutely divine!

The burger was extremely soft and juicy, with the perfect ginger and garlic background. The egg was infused with the flavorful pork juice from the burger, and was steamed to lusciousness.

The sauce had a bold, meaty, mushroomy flavor, adding a depth of texture and intensity. Absolutely freaking amazing!

You want a bite, don’t ya? Come one, you know you want it!

On the side I also had a big salad. Man, I was stuffed after this!

But I’m even more excited to share today’s lunch with you, because I am aware that many of the bloggers in this community are vegetarians. Most of my meals are probably unappetizing to most of you because I consume so much animal products (mainly eggs, but still) so today’s lunch is a tribute to all you lovely vegetarians out there! (But it’s not vegan, sorry)

This was what was on the menu: Open-faced Broiled Cheese and Vegetable Sandwich. The fixings: Two types of cheese (herbed cheese spread and Parmesan), grilled eggplant, tomato, and marinated mushrooms and onions on whole-grain bread.

Basically, I just spread a liberal amount of herby cheese spread onto two slices of bread, topped it with grilled eggplant and tomato. Then I marinated mushrooms and onions in a mixture of soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, sake, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic, sautéed it in a skillet, piled it over the eggplant and tomato, topped it off with some Parmesan cheese, then popped them into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese and vegetables merged together in their delicious scents and flavors. Man, it smelled freaking incredible!

It was the first time I had a sandwich without some kind of animal product like ham or eggs, and I was bowled over by how incredibly flavorful the sandwich was. This tops all tuna/egg/ham and cheese/BLT/etc sandwiches! Definitely one of my favorite sandwiches from now on!

I also had some yogurt with those awesome sandwiches, the perfect end to the perfect lunch. Yum, yum. I can’t wait to make these again.

For afternoon snack, I had the usual sweet potatoes. And then dinner was something I had not had for awhile: Omelet with cheese and chicken hotdogs. Always good, always welcoming.

Well, that’s it for today. I kind of failed on the aesthetic part of my attempt to make “gourmet” food, but met my satisfaction taste-wise!

By the way, let me leave you with yet another question: Are you a vegetarian? If so, what kind, and what made you become one? And if you’re not, have you every considered becoming one?

Hope you all have a great weekend!

P.S. By the way, my URL is now: http://burpandslurp.blogspot.com

“Gourmet” by name and taste

You don’t need to be a terrific chef with a showy culinary degree to enjoy gourmet meals at home. Whoops, strike that, make that “gourmet” because it isn’t really. It just sounds and looks gourmet, and that’s good enough for me and my stingy wallet.

I love my fish, especially fatty, flavorful fish like salmon and mackerel. But have you ever managed to find a decent fish entree outside in restaurants that doesn’t exceed at least $12~$14? Yup, fish is expensive, unless breaded and deep-fried into fish and chips, but then I can guarantee you that those “fish” are 50% deep-fried batter and the quality of the fish they use is questionable, especially since fresh fish don’t deep-fry as well as…not-so-fresh fish.

Fortunately, with just a tiny bit of time and effort, you can create this costly meal in your own kitchen for up to 1/6 of the price you pay in restaurants! Tag it with a snazzy name, and you’ve got yourself a “gourmet” meal fit to impress your friends and family!

So let me introduce you to the gourmet lunch I had yesterday: Pan-seared Salmon with Creamy Wasabi Sauce, Garlicky Greens, and Winter Squash Fries.

How nifty and sophisticated does that sound? *^_________^* And it took barely any effort! This is what I did:

I rubbed some salt, pepper, and Italian herbs onto a nice piece of salmon, pan-seared it on a skillet with a spritz of lime juice to keep it from going to dry. While the salmon was cooking, I whipped together some yogurt, finely chopped red onions, wasabi paste, lime juice, salt, pepper, herbs, and sugar. Meanwhile, I cooked up some greens with garlic, and had some slices of winter squash roasting up in the oven. The end result:

Mmm, mmm, glorious. Total time in preparation: 20 minutes. Total money spent: Approximately SGD$4.00, which is about US $2.80. Sweet deal, huh?

The sauce I just spooned over the salmon on the plate, and the coolness of the yogurt and the kick from the wasabi really shot the whole salmon up several notches.

Okay, these are not the most appetizing-looking winter squash fries, since it’s partially burnt, but believe it or not I like it that way. Call me crazy, but I absolutely love that burnt, charred taste.

The greens were just well, vegetables with a nice garlicky flavor. Simple, yet very tasty.

I also had a bowl of yogurt with red dragonfruit (more about this delicious glorious fruit later), apples, and white peach:

So lunch was quite high-class. Dinner was the opposite. Pastor Vincent invited me and a few other deacons over to his house for a steamboat dinner.

For those of you who don’t know what steamboat is, it’s an ultra-casual gathering around a huge simmering pot of soup with all kinds of different ingredients to cook in it. It’s a fun event where all rules of hygiene and double-dipping are tossed out and you gleefully share each other’s saliva and stuff yourself to your heart’s content.

These are just some of the ingredients we used for the steamboat:

Chicken, pork belly, beef liver, various fish cakes, imitation crabmeat, hotdogs, tofu, mushrooms, cabbage, prawns, meatballs…Am I missing anything?

Oh yeah…My favorite….Eggs…in the form of little quail eggs! Yippee~

To tell you the truth, steamboat can be quite bland, and I really don’t enjoy the food that much unless with tons of soy sauce and chili oil, but steamboat is all about the social time. You have tons of fun joking and talking and sharing this one big pot of boiling food and forcing each other to eat “more, more!”

Today’s food was less spectacular. But the fruits I had along with my usual breakfast sure was! Check this out:

Red Dragonfruit! How pretty! It’s just the color of pure glimming ruby…And so incredibly sweet and delicious!

My fruit bowl: red dragonfruit, grapefruit, tangerine, white nectarine, apple, pineapple, mangosteen. Yummy fruits galore!

After breakfast for some reason I was incredibly sleepy! So I took a 2 and a half hour nap! When I woke up it was already time for lunch and I had no appetite whatsoever. I even wanted to skip lunch, as breakfast was still sitting heavy in my stomach.

But I knew I had to eat, so I just turned to the food I knew that never fails to stimulate my appetite: eggs and oatmeal. So for lunch today I had scrambled eggs with red onion and Parmesan cheese, and a nice warm bowl of pumpkin oats using my leftover steel-cut oats.

By the first few bites, my appetite had returned and I chowed down each bite with gusto. It’s strange how sometimes no matter how bad your appetite is, when you actually get some food inside you, your appetite gets stimulated and suddenly you’re hungry all over again.

Especially if it’s eggs and oatmeal! They have never ever failed me yet!

On that note, what are some of YOUR choice of food when you lack an appetite? What are the foods that never fail to return your appetite?

Stared down by Four Golden Eyes

Yes, I ate a bit too much eggs today again…Four whole eggs, plus 3 extra egg whites, to be exact. Both lunch and dinner featured two gleaming perfect egg yolks, eyeing me steel-fully and accusingly. But I refused to let food make me feel guilty. I gulped down each four of them in one mouthful. Yum.

In my defense, it’s Chinese New Year here is Singapore now, and that is a big event here, equivalent to Christmas in America, so all the stores were closed. There were limited supply in the refrigerator, save the basics like eggs, cheese,some veggies…So I had to make-do with what I had in the fridge.

I think I totally sleep-walked last night! I definitely went to sleep last night on my bed but this morning I woke up on the sofa! What happened? I’m guessing on my way back from my night trip to the bathroom, I must have just flopped over the sofa instead of going back to my room. But anyway, since I was not in my room, I did not get woken up by my alarm clock, so woke up 2 whole hours later than I meant to!

I still had Chinese New Year service to go to this morning, so breakfast was really really rushed. I just threw together whatever fruits I had into a big bowl of yogurt:

The fruits: grapefruit, tangerine, apple, white nectarine, white peach. I would have layered this thing and made it look prettier if I had the time…

When I got back home I was quite hungry, but decided to have lunch at my usual time instead. So to satiate my growling stomach for a while, I ate another whole juicy white peach and a mangosteen (sorry, no pic!)

The extra fruits actually kept me pretty satisfied until lunchtime. For lunch I was really craving sandwiches…unfortunately I didn’t have any deli turkey or meats…I hate how all the deli meats they sell in the regular grocery stores here in Singapore are all full of preservatives…and most of them don’t even have the nutrition facts and ingredients list! Too suspicious…and the color is way too pink and bright to look natural. Ee-yuck. It angers me how you can’t even get a decent slice of meat without having to worry about artificial coloring and weird chemicals and preservatives and what-not.

But anyway, I just decided on an egg, cheese, and tomato sandwich instead. I made two open-faced ones:

You know what would have gone perfect with these? A bowl of warm, thick and creamy pumpkin soup! Too bad I finished it…I’ve gotta make another batch soon!

I had my sandwiches with some mini chicken hotdogs…

And in lieu of soup, I used the liquid from the broken yolks to moisten my bread crusts…

Here’s a bite, with the bread that mopped up the yolk! Per-fect~

After lunch, I went for a short stroll outside, then finished up a book I was reading. Then had some sweet potatoes for snack:

And then dinner:

Eggplasta pudding, this time with more cheese spread on the side.

I’m so glad to see that many of you have responded to my question on the previous post about 3 things you would like to do before you die! It’s great to have some goals and expectations in mind, as it helps keep us focused and motivated. I loved reading your answers, and send all well wishes to you that you may accomplish these goals!

Heartened by your positive responses, I would like to leave you all another question: What are 3 activities (art, sports, music, etc) you would love to excel in if only you had the time/talent/money?

My answer:

1. Figure-skating
2. Hip-hop dancing

3. Martial arts: EE-YAAAH! Jackie Chan wanna-be!

Make fun food

 

I just love cooking. Coming up with different ideas, combining food in new creative ways, taking a risk and relishing the delicious results…But of course I’m no chef, and I take the most delight out of the most simplistic meals made out of basic, cheap ingredients, but I try to “play” with them, turning these ordinary items into a dish that is fun and innovative. I also love to recreate dishes I loved in a restaurant and putting my own touch into it at home and making them more nutritious.

Take yesterday’s lunch, for example. I was really craving eggs. Big surprise, huh? But I decided to do something new with eggs, so came up with the idea to fix up a simple egg salad. But instead of just the usual mayo, I whipped up a mix of cucumber-chive cheese spread, plain yogurt, mayo, and parsley, seasoned the whole thing with salt and pepper.

But I didn’t feel like having this on some dry toast. So I baked a purple potato to go with it. So lunch ended up being three bowls of stuff: one of cooked veggies (not pictured), another of the egg salad, and the last the potato and some chicken cocktail hotdogs:

I really like having many bowls in front of me rather than just one whole pot. I like being able to mix things up to my own taste, so that every forkful of bite is different. One bite would be just of the baked potato. Another just of the egg salad to cool the tongue and stir up my appetite with its garlicky, cheesy kick. Another with both potato and egg salad. And another with the hotdog, and so on and so on. It’s so much more fun this way!

Here’s a bite of all three: egg, potato, hotdog!

And another with just the egg salad and hotdog…

But then there are time when you just need a fixed, repertory meal, especially on days when you are on the go and don’t want to fuss too much over what to eat. I had discipleship training meeting yesterday night, and on days like this I always usually have the same stress-free meal: veggies, yogurt with fruit, and sweet potatoes.

That way, I can be sure I won’t waste any time planning, can prepare everything beforehand, and at the same time be sure that I’m hitting all my food groups and getting all the required nutrients. 

I had a bit more leisure to try something new for lunch today. For some reason I thought back about something I had eaten the first day I arrived in Singapore: century egg congee. I remembered ordering it with anticipation, only to be disappointed at how stingy the congee was with the century egg, and how it was just mostly plain white rice gruel with barely enough seasoning to make it edible.

 

So I decided to make my own century egg congee today for lunch, but of course fix it the way I want: more century eggs, lots of good seasoning, and more nutritious and filling!

Instead of plain white rice, I used rye flakes for the extra protein and fiber and chewy texture. I also used chicken broth to cook up my rye flakes, with a drop of soy sauce. And then the condiments:

Two big-ass century eggs, lots of fresh cilantro, and a side of cooked veggies.

I put everything in separate bowls and added the condiments into my rye “congee” bit by bit as I ate.

Yum! So much better, so much more satisfying, so much more nutritious than any other century egg congee you’ll find outside!

By the way, century eggs aren’t really a hundred years old. Who can wait that long? This is what wikipedia defines century eggs: Century egg, also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, and thousand-year-old egg, is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice straw for several weeks to several months… After the process is completed, the yolk becomes a dark green, cream-like substance with a strong odor of sulphur and ammonia, while the white becomes a dark brown, transparent jelly with little flavour or taste.

If you’ve never had century eggs, I highly recommend you to put it in your “to-try” list. It’s simply one of the things your should definitely try some time in your lifetime before you die (along with durian, mangosteen, jackfruit, squid…) Sure, you may probably be weirded out by its unique flavor and texture, but what’s the fun of life if there isn’t a teeny bit of excitement and adventure?

So on that note, let me leave you with a question: What are three things that you want to try before you die? (don’t have to be food, can be anything!)

My answer:

1. Complete a marathon
2. Eat and enjoy a 7-course (or 8! or 9! or 10!) fine-dining meal at a high-class restaurant
3. Perform in a musical

Take a Chance with Me

Wow, lots of great responses to my “egg addiction” question…Thanks, guys! I agree, I shouldn’t be too concerned about eating too many eggs at least for now since I’m currently a weight-gainer, and need all the protein I can get! And there must be a reason why my body is craving it, right? I definitely need all the protein, fats, iron, and B vitamins I can get from eggs.

But I’m just concerned that maybe it’s just my ED getting too comfortable with one single food…Urgh, I hate fretting about what’s ED and not, it just makes me so confused and frustrated, not to mention feel like a freak.

Anyway I’ve decided that I will eat what I want, but try to come up with different methods and incorporate new dishes as much as I can…starting from today!

Breakfast was a strange but delicious combo: Oats, cooked with corn extract and liberal amounts of cinnamon, topped with corn kernels and a dab of strawberry preserves.

Before you freak out, this was actually really delicious! Who knew cinnamon and sweet corn goes so well together? And that last touch of strawberry preserves really gave the whole bowl an extra oomph with its sweet-sour taste and gentle coolness since it came right out from the fridge. You know what? I suspect a slice of cheese placed on top of this corn-oats mixture and left to melt for a bit would make another terrific combo. Next time…

I still have a lot of the spicy tomato-sardine spread left from yesterday, so was pressured to have leftovers today. But I didn’t want to have the same thing as yesterday on a toast, so instead of the bread as a base, I chose potato.

I first baked a purple potato in the oven, then scooped out the flesh, filled the potato half-way with the sardine spread, then cracked an egg on top, and finally returned the whole thing into the oven to bake until the egg was set.

Another innovative way to eat sardines! And I got my egg-fix! I am in love with this “potato boat” experiments. You’ll probably be seeing this idea recycled over and over again!

Before you lecture me on wasting food, no I did not throw away the potato flesh! I hate wasting food! I dumped the potato flesh into another bowl, and mashed it up with some cucumber-chive cheese spread, some parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.

This was so much fun to eat! This was how I enjoyed this meal: I scooped out the yolk and spread it on top of the mashed potatoes.

For each delicious bite, I would scoop up a forkful of mashed potatoes, dig that fork into the sardines, and put the potato-sardine mixture into my mouth. Can I just say…freaking delicious yum~

I think I hit all senses for the tongue here. There’s the spice and sweetness from the sardines, the tanginess from the cheese, the potatoes as the starchy base, the umami factor from the egg yolk…My tongue was having a party!

On the side I also had a bowl of cooked cabbage and a bowl of yogurt with apples and cinnamon (unpictured):

After lunch I went to the library to borrow some books, and lugged home two cookbooks as well! I’m hoping to find some new interesting recipes I can try as I browse through them. Anyone have any good cookbooks to recommend?

When I got home, I was actually quite a bit hungry for my mid-afternoon snack! I had about 400 gm of baked sweet potatoes. Weighed them this time, just to have an idea about how much I’m consuming, and I think I might have been overestimating my calories all along! But I usually refrain from weighing my food because that can become an obsessive ED thing…But then I might just overestimate my calories. What do you guys think? To weigh or not to weigh? Any advice or suggestions (especially if you’re a recovering anorexic as well) would be much appreciated!

Okay, on to dinner…You’re probably rolling your eyes and thinking, I’ll bet she had eggs again. Well, you’re right. But in my defense, I tried something new with it as well!

I’ve come across baked tofu in many other blogs, and got interested to try it out myself. Now to be honest, I don’t like tofu very much. First of all, I think it tastes bland. Second, I don’t like that slippery soft texture. Third, my mother always used to nag at me for refusing to eat tofu, so in a weird rebellious way my aversion to it increased.

But after viewing all these raves about baked tofu, I decided to challenge my prejudice against tofu and give it another chance. I used Gliding Calm’s Tofu recipe as a base guideline to make the marinade: Basically (without really measuring) I just mixed together soy sauce, sake (Japanese rice wine), a packet of Splenda, minced garlic, and TONS of ginger! I coated my tofu slices with the marinade, then followed Gliding Calm’s instruction and baked them in a 400 degree (225 degree Celsius) oven for about 40 minutes.

I was quite apprehensive as to how it would turn out, but the minute the heavenly fragrance of it hit my nostrils, I started salivating and got pretty excited to try it!

So here’s my dinner from above:

Cooked broccoli and cauliflower, some baked pumpkin skins, an omelette with cheese, mushrooms, green bell pepper and onions, and the baked tofu!

So…the verdict? Freaking holy yum! The tofu was soooo flavorful! The ginger and sake really made the difference! And because it was baked in the oven, it lost that soft wiggly texture that I hate, but got quite nice and chewy. Ooh lala~ I’m so glad I gave tofu a chance! And so overjoyed that I stepped out of my comfort zone, and tried something new! YAY! Another new nutritious food added to my list!

I’m humming that tune from Mamma Mia right now called Take a Chance with me…