Ethiopian Food 衣索比亞菜

Enjoying Ethiopian food is one of the pleasures in DC area. 

Because of a great population of Ethiopians, 

there are many flavorful and decent Ethiopian restaurants around. 

可能衣索比亞是在台灣人心中最有名的非洲國家, 可能台灣媒體總報導著衣索比亞居民的生活物資極其匱乏, 可能電視上總不停放送著要捐款給挨餓的衣索比亞孩子的廣告, 也可能是每幾個有愛心的台灣人就有一人認領個素未謀面的衣索比亞孩子, 只為改善她們的生活一點點。所以來美國以前, 總覺得衣索比亞是個遍地飢荒的地方, 很難想像他們料理的味道, 更難想像, 這樣的味道出現在乾淨明亮的餐廳裡, 伴隨著輕快的異國音樂...

再說, 這家衣索比亞餐廳的菜, 不但有炒高麗菜, 雪裡紅, 還有炒羊肉, 雞腿和滷蛋, 讓人不喜愛都難... 如果不是遵循傳統用手吃飯, 還差點以為自己在一家有台灣味的餐廳裡呢! :)

from Warka Ethiopian Restaurant (275 Sunset Park Dr, Herson, VA 20170)

Pan-Fried White Pomfret - 第一次煎魚就上手

Finally I made it to pan-fry a whole fish for the very first time. 

Although this kind of cooking style is very common in every Taiwanese or Asian family, it's difficult for me though. Since I don't like to deal with the whole fish, doing "Pan-Fried" takes time and is needed to be patient, and not to mention it's not easy to make the fish presentable while pan-frying a fish with skin, you can imagine how I see this as a new milestone in my cooking life tracing back to two years ago I started to cook.  

New Orleans - Beignet & Café au lait @ Café Du Monde 紐奧良-法式雙胞胎&咖啡歐蕾

Believe it or not! This French doughnut is one of the most famous food in the City of New Orleans. You can't say you've visited New Orleans without stopping by having a cup of Café au lait and some Beignets(French doughnut). Although it does look and taste like 雙胞胎(Horse Hooves) in Taiwan, everything is completely different with unique atmosphere while you are having them.

Honey Pig the Korean BBQ @ Centreville, VA 韓式烤肉

Korean BBQ has been one of our favorite food since we came to the states because Korean food is always keeping authentic flavor of their own but not trying to cater to American's taste. I think that's why Korean food is always so popular among Asian people in the states. :)

Korean people in the states are also hard-working. When you are hungry at midnight, there're always Korean BBQ stores opening 24 hours everyday. Isn't it amazing? :)

Although every country in Asia has different flavor of BBQ, There are still many things Asian countries share with each other. On Northeastern Asia, such as China, Taiwan, Japan or Korean, people are used to grill thin-sliced pork or beef with sweet garlic soy sauce or something like that. The key ingredient of the sauce might be slightly different between countries. Therefore, it's still easy to find a lot in common.

However, each culture has something special with on doubt. For example, Korean people tend to wrap sliced meat, sauce and Kimchi with lettuces. They also enjoy putting rice on the top of the grill at the end and make fried rice with the leftover gravy. So delicious!!! 

***For more information about this Korean BBQ restaurant, please visit: Honey Pig

糖心滷蛋

做了很多次, 終於成功一半的糖心滷蛋...

雖然食譜上寫得很詳細, 要煮多久以及浸泡多久...
但可能是因為每個人的瓦斯爐火候不同吧!!
之前做的時候, 不是蛋白還沒熟, 就是蛋黃太熟了...
沒有想像中容易成功呢~

跟一般滷蛋的不同:
1) 蛋黃呈現金黃色, 看起來較為美觀
2) 蛋黃吃起來較微軟嫩爽口
3) 並非在滷汁裡熬煮, 而是用浸泡的方式讓但的表面裹上滷汁, 因此吃起來味道較有層次感


參考食譜: http://blog.yam.com/homeeconomics/article/601413
(我做的蛋黃還是沒有老師的晶瑩剔透...>"<)

Filipino Noodles - Pancit Canton

One of the most delicious noodles I have ever had...

Related recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/pancit-canton-25121

(The one I used was from a cooking studio and is not able to go public.)

Rice Dumpling for Dragon Boat Festival 端午節的味道 - 外婆的粽子(南部粽)

My grandma is always the one who is in charge of making rice dumplings for the whole family. I have been having the grandma-made rice dumplings since I was capable of eating. It's a very simple flavor, but will indeed stay with everyone forever. 

I have been missing the flavor since I was aware the festival was coming and I am still so away from home. I called my grandma and asked for the recipe. I was so excited like getting some secret thing.  Although the recipe is rough without exact measurement, it's still good enough as a guide for me to learn how to make them by myself. 

I'm so glad it turned out pretty and yummy!! Love you~ grandma!!

The rice dumplings from Southern Taiwan are a little bit different from the ones from Northern Taiwan. The major difference is the way of preparing sweet rice. We from Southern Taiwan wrapped the sweet rice with the leaves before they get cooked and boiled them for 3 hours which makes the rice dumpling have abundant flavor of the leaves.

For more information about "Rice Dumpling":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zongzi

Thai Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango 泰式甜糯米飯

I learned this lovely dessert from a professional chef. She is from Singapore and is really good at many different Asian Cuisines. I especially love her way of treating vegetables and fruit, which gives the dishes more fresh flavors.


For more information about how to prepare "Thai Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango":
http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaidesserts/r/mangoricepuddin.htm

Welcome to Lobster lover's paradise - Boston 龍蝦愛好者的天堂(波士頓)

How often in your life time you can see so many lobsters at a time? 

Oh...wait... You don't even need to deal with the shells yourself. It's heaven, isn't it?

魷魚羹

感覺以前也沒特別愛吃魷魚羹,

就連美味的土魠魚羹在我心裡也只是"理所當然"的食物...

(所謂理所當然的意思就是: 食物就是應該是這個味道阿!! 有特別好吃嗎? )

想不到出國久了,
自己隨意亂煮的羹湯加上魷魚羹...

竟然也讓自己有流淚的衝動~ 我怎麼了?!




使用食譜: Carol自在生活 - 土魠魚羹 (把土魠魚換成魷魚羹就可以囉!!)

Sweet Potato Rolls 地瓜球

One of my favorite snacks we can find at the night markets in Taiwan. 

We were making them to share on the Chinese New Year party although they are not that kinds of things you can find when celebrating New Years since they are something "unofficial" and "informal" and should have stayed on the street. Now that we are far away from our own countries, and we kind of missed them soooooo much... No one would even care when and where to eat them.

We started from raw sweet potato...

Here came the shape of them... 

People were crazy and drooling about them....

See.... I'm telling the truth.....

They were gone in no time....

Taiwanese Spring Roll Party 潤餅捲Party

When I was little, we had this family party every year after cleaning the graveyards of our ancestors. All the family got together to enjoy the spring rolls after the hard work and cheer for how nice it is that we are family. It has been a while for me not being involved in this family reunion. But our Taiwanese friends here just made it happen. :)

1) We started with making dough. Normally we didn't make dough ourselves when we were in Taiwan, but here we couldn't find the place to buy it. It was a blast to play with dough though.

2) Then we wrapped whatever you liked with powered peanuts. Everything was cut into long-narrow strips.

3) Here came a Taiwanese Spring Roll...

Panna Cotta with Mango dressing

One of my favorite desserts. 

Never thought of I was gonna make it myself one day. :) 

So proud of myself at this moment!
Thanks a lot for the great recipe from my loved friend.

Historic Crab House @ Baltimore

Moving from Chicago to Ashburn is never easy for us, but one of the best things is we are allowed to enjoy fresh seafood all the time with inexpensive price.

This was a prestigious historic crab house and it was the last day they opened. They were gonna close the door for good. How sad but it was nice to taste it at the last minute. Thanks to your loved friend's nice suggestion!! :)

Whole Foods Market - Organic Grocery

Exploring grocery stores is one of my favorites when arriving somewhere new since things in the grocery stores present what people need in their daily life and explain how they live. It's probably one of the best ways to learn a new culture.

I'm a big fan of Whole Foods Market although it only presents part of American's living. It's probably because all the foods in the store look fresh and taste delicious no matter they are cooked or uncooked, freshly grown or canned, ice cream or beverages. I felt lucky that we had one close by in the very beginning we arrived in the states.

I used to enjoying walking down the street to the lovely place to explore what they've had in the store since everything was quite new and different to me. It was also a very nice place for me to get to know the names of American foods. Every time I went there, I tried to get something I had never seen or tasted and it was as if I got to learn something new. That made me felt I was improving and progressing.

Something I had always enjoyed was to be welcomed by those beautiful flowers. What usually happened was I couldn't help stopping in front of the flowers and admiring them "for a while". They were pretty and always made my day.

I didn't know many of the vegetables but enjoyed the scene they were presenting on the shelf. Most of the time I imagined how they taste and dreamed of someday I was gonna learn how to prepare those vegetables I hadn't known yet.

Even the ice creams are looking colorful and healthy. :)

Farewell Party for our new friends @ Ashburn, VA

Isn't it kind of weird to say goodbye to new friends? Since you know they are leaving, the best strategy is probably not to be too closer to them, so you can stay away from heartbreaking. However, sometimes you can't control the fate. Before we moved to Janelia Farm, we googled this research institute and the neighborhoods nearby, we found a very nice blog with thorough information about where to do grocery, eat and hang around...etc.. This informative blog did save us a bunch of time and made us get familiar to this new place easier. Although we didn't know the blogger in the very beginning, it was like we had already known him for a long time when we read his blog because we knew him from the bottom of his heart which was presented through the words he wrote. And I always believe that's why people like to write: you never know when and how exactly to influence someone at some point.

Through the blog, we not only got to know the blogger, a young scientist who is heading to Oxford for his first post doctoral job, and his wife, but also got to know a nice couple which are not only good scientists, but also fantastic cookers. There is no doubt that we benefit from it a lot!!! :)

It was indeed the best Taiwanese meal we had ever had while we are in the states. No restaurant is able to offer dishes as authentic and delicious as the foods we had at that night. Every dish was perfect and we enjoyed every bite. For some of them, I hadn't had them for so long, and they just reminded me of home. Such an unforgettable moment we had together!!

胡椒餅

佛跳牆

Further information: http://sueweilin.blogspot.com/

My favorite Dim Sum place in Chicago - MingHin 名軒港式飲茶

Although they don't have the carts to show you every small plate, everything they offer is just delightful, luscious, toothsome and elegant. If you happen to live in Chicagoland, you must give it a shot. 

"Dim Sum"(點心) means snacks in Chinese. That's why most of the Dim Sum places don't offer it at dinnertime. It would be difficult for a night person like us to have a nice Dim Sum meal since you may not able to make it to go there before 3pm because you won't be able to wake up by 2:30pm during the weekend due to staying up late the night before. So... one of the most important reasons the restaurant just became our favorite is because they offer "night Dim Sum" everyday after 9pm till 2am which allows us to go on Friday night after my husband came back from work or weekend night after a concert or a play we enjoyed in the city of Chicago.

Stir-fried lobster with ground pork and garlic 避風塘炒龍蝦 @ Chinatown, Philadelphia

Lobsters can be very expensive, so we have to enjoy every bite of it once we get to have one. However, in Philly's Chinatown you can easily get one with only $12.99. How pretty the price is!! It's unlikely to imagine how luxury you could actually feel before you see the lobster dish in front of you.

Every single bite was just full of our mouth. And there were more than 12 bites for this delicious and juicy lobster. Too bad we are not living nearby.

蟹黃豆腐煲 Crab Roe with Tofu

This is one of my favorite dishes. There is a small restaurant near my home in Tainan, and it offers this super delicious dish that I can't help thinking of it all the time since I have been far away for so long. Every time I got back to my sweet home, I wouldn't forget to go have it!! Now, I am so excited to learn how to do it myself, and it turned out tasting far more yummy than I can expect.

I was also surprised to learn that the "Crab Roes" are actually made by fried ground carrots. When I prepared the dish, nothing like roes or eggs should be added...not to mention "Crab Roes". Amazing!!

Spaghetti Bolognese 義大利肉醬麵

I don't think I can cook, so I've rarely cooked for people other than my hubby since his is the only person who is obligated to finish the dishes I prepare and can't complain at all. The Spaghetti Bolognese is probably the only thing I can serve to my friends without stress. Although it's far way from an authentic "Spaghetti Bolognese", it just fits our appetite perfectly. :) 

在美國住了一段時間以後, 因為覺得外面的東西合味口的不多再加上經濟因素考量, 常常需要自己下廚, 久而久之會有自己好像真的會做菜的錯覺!! 其實真的只是錯覺 XD

我想, 要稱得上會做一道菜, 同樣的味道至少要連續成功三次才算吧!! 但我通常是第一次做時, 出奇地好吃, 想再做一次的時候~ 就驚覺怎麼差那麼多阿~~~ (這就是不會做菜的象徵吧!!) 坦白說, 這也使得我一直以來都覺得蠻挫折的!!

但這道義大利肉醬麵例外, 可說是少數我可以重複三次以上味道不變的料理~ :) 雖然不道地(美國人說的: Not authentic), 但卻是我心目中最好吃的義大利肉醬麵的樣子!! (大概是因為外面的肉醬麵偏重於醬, 而我的肉醬麵偏重於"肉"吧!!) 順帶一提, 我是用豬絞肉而不是傳統用的牛絞肉, 反而比較合胃口的樣子! :)