June 2011
2 posts
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Baked Plums with Blueberries and Mascarpone
I first fell in love with poetry when I was in middle school. I chuckled at William Carlos Williams’ silly-sounding name, but I loved his simple and tangible words even more. The first time I read his “This Is Just to Say” aloud, I could feel the cold deliciousness of his icebox plums rolling across my tongue with the lines I spoke.
Ever since, I’ve viewed plums...
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Eggless Kahlua Coffee Mousse
For some people, impulse buys tend to be candy, magazines, and other paraphernalia by the checkout counter. Me? My impulse decided to buy me a can of condensed milk at the supermarket this week.
There’s something decidedly summery about condensed milk to me. Come June, I looked forward to drenching strawberries in a big fat bowl of it when I was young. This time around, I wanted something...
May 2011
8 posts
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Xiao long bao (soup dumplings) + dinner in Taipei
I’m currently visiting Taipei, Taiwan, where my parents live.
Anyone who knows their food in Asia will tell you that steamed xiao long bao (小籠包), otherwise known as soup dumplings, is a must-try. Whether you’re in Taiwan, Hong Kong, or China, this dish is loved by all locals alike.
But not all xiao long baos are made equal. Ding Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), a Michelin-starred chain with many...
6 tags
Brussels sprouts braised w/ bacon and apple
Bacon makes everything better…even brussels sprouts.
I found this recipe in The Bacon Cookbook during my recent bacon frenzy and really loved how beautifully all its flavors came together. For those of you who aren’t usually fans of bitter veggies, the apple does a great job of balancing out the mini cabbages. And I know bacon speaks for itself, but I wanted to sing praises for how...
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Gourmet Doughnuts from Zac Young @ Flex Mussels
A comfort food over two centuries old, doughnuts evoke chains America supposedly runs on more than they evoke upscale dining. But if someone’s going to glam up these globs of fried dough as gourmet sweets, it’ll be Zac Young, the dessert-loving pastry chef who proclaimed he couldn’t do anything without a deep fryer and edible glitter.
This disco dust diva might have caught...
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Asparagus and mushroom tarts
Do you know someone with a deathly fear of mushrooms?
I don’t understand the aversion at all. A few of my friends make claims about mushiness and tastelessness, but I passionately beg to differ. Mushrooms soak up so much flavor and make deliciously juicy mouthfuls. Unless you like bland and dry, what’s not to love?
In the midst of all my dessert-making a few weeks ago, I decided I...
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Bacon peanut butter truffles
There aren’t many ingredients I love more than bacon, so it’s not a huge surprise that I turned to The Bacon Cookbook for my next culinary project. Though I was looking for dinner dishes more than dessert, as someone who loves sweet-and-savory concoctions, I couldn’t resist some bacon peanut butter truffles.
These did turn out a little messier than I’d prefer. Part of...
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Epic stolen laptop recovery: What went down →
I’m sure everyone’s heard of this epic stolen laptop recovery via Twitter by now. For those who are curious about what went down, here’s a summary and chronological compilation of key tweets in a easy-to-read format.
My fave part: “A thoughtful(?) spambot offers Sean a chance to win an iPad to replace his laptop.”
A tweeter who was on scene also wrote his own...
April 2011
3 posts
10 tags
Restaurant Owner Jason Wang Feels the Heat at... →
Recently, I got the chance to interview the co-owner of Xi’an Famous Foods, a hot new Chinese noodle restaurant in NYC, for Mochi Magazine. My story focused on what working in the food industry is really like and what it takes to run your own restaurant, but I just wanted to gush about the actual noodles here on Tumblr too.
The liang pi cold skin dish above ($4) is what made Xi’an...
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Lunchytime love: Asian meatballs
Ground pork, scallions, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, salt, pepper
You know it’s a good day when I bother with making actual meatballs out of this recipe (instead of mashing everything up in a bowl—which is still delicious).
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March 2011
3 posts
1 tag
I miss the ocean
Nothing quite compares to the feeling of being small but knowing that you’re a part of something much bigger. Needless to say, I’m itching to get out of the city a little..!
4 tags
Buttery garlic & sage tilapia pasta
Cook time: 20 mins Serving: 1 (about a quarter-pound of tilapia)
Boil water and cook spaghetti according to instructions. Once you get the pasta into the pot, you have about 10 minutes to…
Mix 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 tsp sage, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp salt on a plate or wide bowl (I like using a soup plate. Seriously.)
Dredge the tilapia fillet in the mixture. For extra...
4 tags
Starbucks rocky road cake pop
I was feeling way too sleepy for the middle of the afternoon today, so I decided to nip out to Starbucks and take advantage of their 40th birthday celebration. Between 2 and 5pm today and tomorrow, they’re giving out one of their new Petites treats with any coffee order. After much contemplation (if you eat with me IRL you’ll know just how much) I settled on trying a rocky road cake...
February 2011
2 posts
5 tags
Inspiring travel videos from EF
LOVE.
That sums up how I feel about EF’s Live the Language campaign. You can see what the Modcloth blog says below—but really, you only need to know three things. It’s beautiful cinematography, it’s wonderful typography, and this one is about PARIS. With a super cute ending to boot.
Can’t wait to be there in person with Mary and Harold in May!
Modcloth:
Who...
me-you-venue-deactivated2012072 asked: what do you do that allows you to travel so much?!
January 2011
5 posts
4 tags
Bacon fried rice
1 cup jasmine rice, 2 stalks scallion, 2 eggs, 7 slices bacon, 15 baby carrots
steam rice
fry bacon, set aside and cool bacon
fry carrots in bacon fat until soft
add scallion and bacon, broken into pieces
add eggs, beaten, and stir
drain some bacon fat
add, mix, and fry rice
6 tags
Hana Twinpeak teppanyaki in Taipei
I was recently at Hana Twinpeak teppanyaki for a special occasion in Taipei. Like I’ve said, there’s a lot of great Japanese in Taipei, from low end to high end. When you’re in the mood for something fancy pants, this place never disappoints — and since it’s teppanyaki, you’re really getting a dinner and a show.
This is where the magic happens. I would...
4 tags
“We pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded. We are permitted merely...”
– Milan Kundera, Laughable Loves
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December 2010
7 posts
5 tags
Happy holidays from Taipei!
So unbelievably busy these days, but I wanted to share some beautiful lights we found by the riverfront in Danshuei last night. In a year where I didn’t have Thanksgiving, it finally finally finally feels like the holidays. Merry Christmas, everyone!
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To my loves
In honor of my 60th post on this blog, I’m dedicating this to my loves.
The most important people in the world are the ones who sharpen your vision and bring clarity to your life. That’s you.
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Watch“So You Want to Be a Journalist” — Who else wants to write for the New York Times?
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Up at 5am...
because of mosquitoes. This is why everyone needs one of these:
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Fun decor (and afternoon tea) at Afternoon Tea
Yesterday, I met up for afternoon with two of my high school friends at a chainstore cafe called…Afternoon Tea. Apparently, it’s quite popular (this one was in one of the Mitsukoshi department stores) and I can see why. The interior is certainly designed, with that part-whimsical, part-modern, part-feminine look that’s popular in the city these days. Add thoughtful service, and...
8 tags
Beautiful letterpress prints from Candyvore →
This is what I love about tumblr. Despite the infuriating blackouts as of late, the tumblr staff always makes great suggestions for who to follow.
As someone who always itches to touch the really bumpy paintings in nice museums, I’m a huge fan of letterpress anything. So I’m loving the lovely gradient and details of this print, from the latest blogger that the tumblr staff’s...
November 2010
5 posts
4 tags
Recipe: Homemade REAL hot chocolate
Today, I ended up with four extra bars of milk chocolate — it’s a long story. I didn’t want it to go to waste, but I didn’t have any baking soda or powder (!) and the thought of eating four chocolate bars as is made me feel pretty icky. My friends were of no help and neither were most Google results, although this chocolate bath idea seemed…interesting.
Luckily, I...
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Happy Thanksgiving!
There are so many things I love about Thanksgiving—the just-nippy-enough weather, the people I couldn’t live without, the holiday cheer, the excuse to start blasting Christmas music without (much) shame.
Above all, of course, there’s the food.
My stomach and I are truly saddened that we won’t be gathering in New York this year, but I thought I’d share the...
6 tags
Shih Dong traditional Chinese market
The plan was to stop by for a mere five minutes, but even before I step under the bright lights beyond the inner doors, it starts. Like the layers of an onion, what was first one big buzz begins to peel away and disentangle in pieces. First the clattering of shopping cart wheels gives away a shopper’s location, then the crinkle of plastic bags signify a successful sale and bargain. Spinning strips...
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October 2010
22 posts
8 tags
Mei Kung: Thai (and Vietnamese) food in Taipei
There are very few things geekier than meeting up with internet friends when you’re finally in the same city. But if food’s involved, you usually can’t go wrong. Especially when the friend you’re meeting is the blogger behind A Hungry Girl’s Guide to Taipei.
It all started when I whined about my cupcake craving and the lack of the delightful dessert on Twitter...
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What does home mean to you?
I think home is a feeling and not a place. Because I’ve gone somewhere for the first time many times and imagined myself easily being there all along. And now that I’m where I grew up, I’m somehow feeling more homesick than ever.
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Dinner at Taipei Main Station...and a new toy!
Okay, Taipei Main Station is no NYC Grand Central. Where Grand Central’s…grand halls always leave me inspired, Taipei Main Station’s hectic MRT (subway) transfer platform usually makes me feel like I’m having an aneurysm.
But once you get away from the crazy, there’s a shiny food court on the second floor of the train terminal that’s actually quite...
6 tags
Asian cream roll cakes
Chocolate roll cake with cherries from Escargot
One dessert I always enjoy in Asia is cream roll cake. Unlike jelly rolls, the filling of these cakes are less frosting-like and instead have a more moussey texture. It’s sort of like a buche de noel (yule log) without all the extra icing on the outside.
In Taiwan, my family is particularly fond of the ones from Escargot bakery. Their cakes...
8 tags
Sausage fruit, sea-inspired lights, world's...
It’s occurred to me that, these days, when I’m not busy doing what I came back to Taipei to do, I’m more or less sitting on my butt sending my friends cool links to interesting things I see on the web. Just to give you an idea of how many awesome things I come across, I did a quick count of the travel RSS feeds in my Google Reader: 30. I’ve started to wonder, though, if...
2 tags
Duck confit taco? Yes, please! →
To me, duck is like bacon: Unconditionally edible. No matter where it is, how it’s prepared, and what else goes with it. Now, I only have Mexican when the occasional mood strikes, but for some inexplicable reason, this duck confit taco really, really intrigues me. Anyone else?
(photo: foodgal.com)
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When a guy does something wrong vs. when a girl...
Someone recently reminded me of one of the favorite things I came across on the interwebz this summer. Like they say, there’s truth in all comedy. And this particular one, in my humble opinion, is the way the world should be ;)
It's the smallest things that make the biggest...
Jean-Dominique Bauby, The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly:
Other letters simply relate the small events that punctuate the passage of time: roses picked at dusk, the laziness of a rainy Sunday, a child crying himself to sleep. Capturing the moment, these small slices of life, these small gusts of happiness, move me more deeply than the rest. A couple of lines or eight pages, a Middle Eastern stamp...
