Another successful cocktail experiment….The most difficult part is extracting pluot juice from overripe, squishy pluots. Wear food prep gloves, squeeze the pulp into a blender, then blend and strain for the juice. I have toned down the tequila to juice ratio lately. Now that I have been making cocktail so often, its better to be measured about the level of Read More
I was introduced to Vietnamese food after coming to the United States. I don’t recall seeing a Vietnamese restaurant growing up in Singapore. In California however, we see Vietnamese restaurants in many cities. Phở is the trademark of Vietnamese food, but whenever I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, I will always go for the dry rice noodles with Vietnamese Egg Read More
Hanna likes to buy big bags of frozen vegetables from Costco. She’d scoop portions out from the freezer and microwave them for lunch, she seems to enjoy it a lot 🤔. I am not a fan of frozen vegetables, but as long as she takes care of her lunch and she is happy, I am happy. Its been more than Read More
I’ve planned for a homemade Peking Duck for months with lots of research resulting in the purchase of a vertical roasting rack. I was totally convinced that a vertical rack is what will produce a perfect roast duck. I came close, very close. Alas, I dropped the duck on the floor when I took it out of the oven! Sigh! Read More
The mixologist in me has been very busy lately dreaming up of different twists to the margarita recipe. How about replacing the lime juice with fresh pineapple juice?! As pineapple varies in tartness and sweetness, adjust the lime juice and syrup as appropriate. I typically start with less lime juice and syrup than what the recipe calls for, and adjust Read More
We signed up for a wine and food pairing experience at Williamson Wines in Healdsburg this summer. One of the memorable dishes I tried there was a simple corn salad with truffle cheese salt. The taste of truffle really shines through in this refreshing salad. This is a very simple dish, and if you have the grill on standby, fire Read More
The first time I tried Tamarind Margarita is at Reposado in Palo Alto. Tamarind is known as assam (a Malay word) in South East Asia, and it is mostly used in dishes such as assam fish, assam laksa, and assam prawns. Its acidic and I love assam dishes, especially when used in Nonya cooking. But assam magarita? I’ve never heard Read More
Updated Sep 21st, 2020 We hosted Ramesh and Vibhav for a backyard lunch on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. A get-together with friends and family in 2020 is unusual to say the least. A clear sky with clean (good enough) air is also unusual in California after a disastrous summer of fire storms. We are ready to put summer and 2020 Read More
I wanted to create a sambal fish recipe for a while but had no luck with the white fishes I tried. The halibut and tilapi both tasted flat and failed the wow factor test. I picked up a package of BBQ salmon from Trader Joes last weekend. Its probably worth a try with a pink fish? WoW! The result is Read More
Fulfilling the last request for family labor day get-together: Chilli Crab. I don’t have the guts to kill live crabs, so I bought cooked king crab legs from Costco instead. Preparing this dish really only involved cooking the sauce and tossing the cooked crab in the sauce. I saved the drippings from steaming lobster and added chicken broth to use Read More
