Back in Beijing. Final day here. We are heading for Osaka very soon. The kid won’t stop crying. She wants to stay in China. It was quite the adventure. Here are some pics I forgot to share.
The second week we were here, we were invited to a birthday party. There were no presents or games. It was just purely focused on food. Everyone had a great time.
Thes were all the items that arrived to the table later. Roughly clockwise: scallion pancakes, shredded chicken, dough drop soup (the vessel holds significance), chive dumplings, mala beef, 5 mushroom stri fry, sweet lotus root, Chinese Korean glass noodles, beltfish, another fish (this last one tasted just like American Chinese food.)
They asked me, “Just like American cake, right?” I told them many Chinese Americans I know go out of their way to get a cake like this from a Chinese bakery.
All in all, on of the most memorable meals of my life.
I hadn’t seen this brand before, the jam is really delicious! And you’re so lucky- the only thing better than fresh figs off the tree are free fresh figs!
A few years ago we were staying with some friends on a farm in Alabama. We arrived just as their figs were ripening. One fig tree was right next to the kitchen door. You could just open the door and pick some figs. I can’t eat figs anymore, because no other fig has ever tasted anywhere near as good.
What a fantastic dinner! Jealous of your culinary travels.
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meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
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You’ve probably had Davina products and not known. I first became aware of them when working at a natural foods store 20 years ago. The olives at the $$$ olive bar were all bulk packaged Davina products. Eventually* we started to carry retail sized offerings from them. Their fruit spreads and tapenades are often found with the specialty foods near the wine and cheese section of the grocery.
*Not sure if they were initially just a bulk provider or if they had always provided retail options too.
Dinner last night: a few aperol spritz & bruschetta with two of our buddies, one of whom stayed for the meal, which was grilled sardines & COTC.
The bruschetta was lovely; as for the sardines, I would’ve liked more char and crispier skin. Too fishy for my man, so I won’t be making those again any time soon
Yes, the first thing that hit us was how expensive everything is here. Just one subway trip is more than our average daily expenditure in Beijing.
Actually the first impression we had was on ANA Airlines on the way here. It was the best airline food I ever had. Super simple, but I thought that was better than trying to inject flavor and failing. Fish was cooked perfectly, rice was good, veggies steamed well.
We settled in late. Hardly anything was open in this part of Osaka. So we had to walk around quite a bit to get dinner. Now, I have impossible expectations for Japan. I’ve dreamed of visiting since I was a child. The homes and alleyways looked just as I imagined. But getting Halal-friendly food was hard, even though I had phrases translated by real people beforehand. We finally found someone happy to go back and forth with us to figure it out. Dinner ended up being vegetarian cold noodles and rice with kimchi.
Well i must have had their olives at some point…! I’m such a sucker for a good olive bar. I would always scoop extra of the olive-y oil from the bins and then use it for my salad dressing
Made a batch of cucumber corn red onion salad which I definitely ate straight from the mixing bowl with some peppery salt mix. Wished i had some cilantro.
Also made a batch of Lazy Tofu, aka drain, slice and add some soyaki. And the last bit of red onion because i am very into onions lately. Straight from the tupperware.
Very fancy over here tonight!
Kombucha a la carte
weekend in Stinson Beach was a fab time. Weather was gorgeous (compared to SF which was high-50s and foggy all weekend), food was great, company even better. I made the Peruvian chicken and aji verde for the gang, and the causa Limeña, with shrimp because fresh crab meat was nowhere to be found. the causas turned out so good, i was so pleased. i had purchased the rings just last week and they worked perfectly. We also had grilled corn on the cob slathered with a spicy mayo and cotija, salad of tomatoes, avocado and palmito (hearts of palm), and freshly made ceviche. Aji verde went on everything! Someone made alfajores, and I made pisco sours… many other libations were on deck, including the best Sancerre I’ve ever had, and I found out where to get it! oh happy day…
Hangover breakfast on Sunday was a collaboration with all the leftovers from the night before and the host making a fantastic red enchilada sauce with a hoppy beer that blew me away, for chilaquiles. Aji verde too, of course.
And then when i got home, the BF took some of the leftover chicken, potato from the causa (there was a ton), the enchilada sauce, and aji verde, and made us dinner, with some fried cotija.
Tonight was more of TJs shaved beef, this time in taco form, with a little Pato sauce, scallions, cilantro, purple cabbage, jalapenos, radishes, avocado, cotija, crema and hot sauce (the latter two after i took the pic.) Fresh corn on the cob with butter and Tajin.
