Titanium Spork - [Supplying]

(Spork of the gods.)

"Every mythic hero normally has an equally mythic weapon. Zeus had his thunderbolts. Thor had his hammer, Mjolnir. King Arthur had his Excalibur. Frodo and Bilbo had their Sting. Rhydderch Hael had his Dyrnwyn. King Kong had his bananas…you get the idea. It's time for you to join the ranks of the heroes and heroines of lore as you wield your own legendary weapon in your battle against a very powerful foe: hunger."

- ThinkGeek.com

(My own Hephaestus.)

With a description like that, you know I just had to have one. Luckily for me, my good friend, Mr. Big, thought so as well. I don't know what fiery mountain depths he forged it in, but I'm now the proud owner of a Snow Peak Titanium Spork. Look out, Thor. Watch your back, Zeus. Chubbypanda has joined your ranks. I hereby dub my spork "Sporky Coleslawfoe!"


(Japanese == Efficient)

Snow Peak has produced quality outdoor products for over 50 years. The Titanium Spork is part of their line of lightweight, durable dining equipment for extreme backpackers.


(Dishes beware!)

Since titanium is resistant to salt, corrosion, and metal fatigue, it's the perfect substance for the ultimate spork. Heck, they make jet engines, aircraft carriers, missiles, and tanks out of this stuff. What's the worst I can do to it?


(Powerful containment magics.)

It's like the first spork there ever was; raw, savage, primal, and noble. The spork against which all other sporks will forever be measured. The god-spork.


(Everything I dreamed it could be.)

At last, a spork large enough and strong enough to hold the perfect mouthful. Just wait until I get me some KFC coleslaw.

Available at ThinkGeek.com and a number of sports retailers.

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San Bei Ji (Three Cup Chicken/Basil Chicken) - [Cooking]

Suanne from Chow Times recently posted a great recipe for Hong Shao Ji (Red Cooked Chicken), a dish from the Fujian province of China made by braising chicken in an infused soy sauce broth. It reminded me of a similar dish, San Bei Ji (Three Cup Chicken/Basil Chicken), which is extremely popular in Taiwan. Since roughly 70% of Taiwanese, including myself, are ultimately descended from immigrants from the Fujian province, the two recipes use many of the same ingredients. San Bei Ji is a slow-braised fricassee also made using an infused soy sauce broth, which is reduced down to an unctuous gravy and served with the chicken. It's called "Three Cup Chicken" because the basic recipe requires a cup of soy sauce, a cup of rice wine, and a cup of sesame oil. It's sometimes translated as "Basil Chicken" since the Taiwanese version includes copious amounts of fresh Thai basil. My version of San Bei Ji takes the traditional recipe taught to me by my mother and cuts out a good amount of fat by combining it with some French cooking techniques usually used for dishes like Coq Au Vin. I've also added a few extra ingredients for added punch. The resulting San Bei Ji is full of flavor, but much healthier. I consider it Taiwanese Coq Au Vin.



Gear:

1 large wok or stainless steel saucepan (A wok is recommended.)
1 stainless steel Chinese ladle or spatula (Your preference.)
1 large, shallow container
1 long-handled strainer or "spider"


Ingredients:

3 lbs of chicken drumsticks (Preferably free-range organic.)

(First cup, soy sauce mix)
1/2 cups of soy sauce
1/4 cup of superior dark soy
1/4 cup of kecap manis

(Second cup)
1 cup of rice wine

(Third cup, reduced fat)
1/4 cup of sesame oil
3/4 cup of rice wine (additonal)

3 cups of all-purpose flour (For dredging.)
3 tbsp of Chinese five spice powder
6 cups of vegetable oil (For deep-frying.)
1 tbsp of vegetable oil (For cooking.)
3 heads of garlic
6 Thai bird chilies
A 4-inch piece of ginger root
6 green onion stalks
3 cups of Thai basil leaves


Prep work:



Thoroughly wash the green onions and Thai basil in cold, lightly salted water. Remove the Thai basil leaves from their stems. Discard the stems. Set the leaves aside.

Remove the roots and tips from the green onion stalks. Chop the stalks into 1-inch segments. Set aside with the Thai basil leaves.



Separate and peel the garlic cloves. Set aside.



Roughly chop the ginger root into 1/2-inch chunks. Finely chop the Thai bird chilies. Set aside.



Mix the flour and five spice powder together in the shallow container. Add the chicken drumsticks and toss until each piece of chicken is thoroughly coated. Shake the excess flour off of the drumsticks and set the drumsticks aside.


Instructions:



Using your wok, heat the 6 cups of vegetable oil. I don't actually use an oil thermometer, so I can't tell you the exact temperature of the oil. The heat setting I use is medium-high, and I let the oil heat for at least ten minutes. Faint wisps of smoke should come off of it. If you stick a wooden chopstick into the oil, small air bubbles should gather on the chopstick fairly quickly. You can also drop a small piece of bread into the oil, which should bubble rapidly. If the bread burns quickly, the oil is too hot. If it doesn't bubble rapidly, it's too cool.



In small batches, deep-fry the chicken and the garlic until light brown. Don't leave either ingredient in the oil too long. You're not trying to cook them, just get some nice caramelization. Strain each batch of chicken or garlic, then set aside.

If you don't like deep-frying, you can also heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large, non-stick pan and brown the chicken and garlic in small batches. I like the depth of flavor deep-frying gives. Plus, we're cutting 3/4 of a cup of sesame oil from the classic recipe. However, pan-browning the chicken and garlic is much healthier, and you'll still get most of the flavor.

Set the frying oil aside in an appropriate container to cool. Later, you can strain it and store it in an airtight vessel until the next time you need to fry something. Wipe your wok clean with a paper towel. Use chopsticks, the ladle, or a pair of tongs to hold and move the towel. Be safe.



Heat your wok on high heat for several minutes. You want the metal as hot as your stove can make it. I wouldn't recommend anything with plastic handles or a Teflon coat for this style of cooking. Add 1 tbsp of fresh vegetable oil and use the ladle to spread it around the bottom of your wok.

Once the oil starts smoking, add the ginger and chilies. Stir rapidly for a few seconds using the ladle, coating each piece with oil. Then add the 1/4 cup of sesame oil. Keep stirring the aromatics as the oil comes back up to temperature.

Once the oil begins bubbling rapidly, add the rice wine, soy sauce mixture, chicken, garlic, and enough of the water to just cover the chicken. Let the liquid come to a boil, then drop the heat to medium or medium-low and let it simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce thickens and reduces by half.



Gently fold in the green onions and Thai basil leaves. Let simmer for a five more minutes before removing the wok from the heat. The chicken should be falling-off-the-bone tender.



Best served with steamed rice or Chinese noodles. You'll probably end up with more sauce than you need, so freeze the leftover liquid and use for pasta at a later date.

Good eating!


-=Addendum 02/27/2007 at 1:09AM=-

I'm adding my simpler, classic San Bei Gi recipe to this post for my good buddy, Elmomonster. Please try them both out and decide which one you like best.

3 cloves of garlic, cleaned and minced
1 bunch of Thai Basil, stems removed
1 tbps of vegetable oil
1 cup of rice wine
1 cup of soy sauce
1 cup of sesame oil
1 chicken, chopped into one-inch pieces with bones

Heat the vegetable oil to smoking in the wok. Add the garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the rice wine, sesame oil, soy sauce, and chicken. Bring to a boil, then drop the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce reduces by at least half. Remove from heat, stir in the Thai basil leaves, and serve.

Good eating!

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Chinese New Year 2007 - [Crazies]

(Apologies for the picture quality. My camera doesn't play nicely with low light.)

Xing Nian Kuai Le! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

I love Chinese New Year. In my family, it was the one major celebration we had, rolling together Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Western New Year. It was a time of gathering and celebration. On super special years, we'd even fly back to Taiwan to celebrate with extended family and relatives.

Chinese New Year began as a festival in honor of surviving the previous year. As legend has it, a fierce beast named Nian (Year) would come out every twelve months to ravage the Chinese countryside. Its favorite food was humans, who had no real defense against it. However, Nian was frightened by bright colors, loud noises, and red things. So at the end of the twelve month cycle, the people would decorate liberally using the color red, set off fireworks, and make a lot of noise in order to scare the monster away. A great feast was then held to celebrate surviving monster for another year. The phrase for celebrating the New Year, Guo Nian, literally means being passed over by the year.



Since my parents had decided to spend Chinese New Year in Taiwan this year, and since my siblings were busy studying for exams, Cat and I were on our own. I whipped up a big spread for the two of us for Chinese New Years Eve on Saturday. I thought I'd share some of the foods and traditions of my family with you.

The Chinese New Year feast is typically prepared during the late afternoon. As the sun begins to set, the table is laid with all kinds of delicious and symbolic delicacies, and the doors and windows of the house are thrown open to welcome good fortune. The family assembles in front of the table, dressed in finery with at least one red item of clothing, since red frightens away demons and malicious spirits.



Before the food can be eaten, however, it needs to be offered to our ancestors. Three cups of rice wine are poured; one in remembrance of the past, one in thanks for the present, and one in hope for the future. Three special sticks of incense are lit to be used in prayer to our ancestors. As the smoke from the incense rises to Heaven, it carries with it our fond wishes for those who went before us, our thanks for their blessing and protection, and our request that they continue to watch over us and intervene for us in the court of the Emperor of Heaven.

Once the prayer is done, the incense is stuck upright in a bowl of rice and left to burn. Rice is used since it's the most important staple grain in Chinese culture, and must be provided as part of the offering. It is believed that the spirits of our ancestors have followed the smoke from the incense back to partake in the New Year feast spiritually. While the incense burns down, the family waits in respectful silence. This time is traditionally used for memories of dear, departed relatives, and for personal introspection. Once the incense is finished burning, the festivities begin!



We've always celebrated the New Year with either Luo Buo Gao (Daikon Cake) or Yu Tou Gao (Taro Cake). This year, I went with the Luo Buo Gao, which is a savory, steamed cake made using shredded daikon, rice flour, Chinese sausage, and Chinese dried shrimp. The cake is cut into squares and fried before serving to give is a nice, crisp surface. If there's a symbolic meaning to these cakes, I'm not aware of it. It's just a family tradition. This Luo Buo Gao was purchased at Kawaii Bakery, a Taiwanese bakery near my office in Huntington Beach, and was particularly tasty.



A whole chicken, including the head and feet, is always served. The chicken represents complete prosperity for the entire family, and can not be cut. I picked this Jiang You Ji (Soy Sauce Chicken) up from the Sam Woo in Irvine. It's one of my favorite dishes.



Another traditional must have on the New Year table is a whole fish, including the head and tail. The fish represents abundance with a play on words from the phrase Nian nian you yu (Abundance throughout the year). The words for "abundance" and "fish" sound the same, so it's believed that if you eat fish during the New Year, you'll experience abundance throughout the year. I like to use shisamo (Japanese gravid smelt), which I lightly brush with rice bran oil and broil in the oven. I sprinkle the fish with sea salt before plating.



Dumplings are always eaten during the New Year for two reasons; the act of wrapping them is seen as similar to wrapping up luck and the finished product resembles ancient Chinese gold ingots. I've always gone with store-bought, since wrapping dumplings without family, read as "without slave labor", takes too long. The yellow dumplings have egg wrappers around a ground beef filling. The white dumplings have wrappers made from cuttlefish skin surrounding a filling of cuttlefish paste.

My family has traditionally enjoyed our dumplings cooked in a Chinese hot pot. For my cooking broth, I used a homemade beef stock, the recipe of which I'll post at a later date. I also included some thinly sliced beef rib eye to round out the flavor and noodles (not shown) for long life.



Long leafy greens are eaten to wish long life for a person's parents. The leaves should not be cut, since that would symbolize cutting short your parents' lives. This year, I decided to use Thai basil. The leaves were plucked whole from the stems placed in the hot pot, adding additional depth to the broth.



I also purchased meatballs for my hot pot. Meatballs symbolize happy reunions for the whole family, and the hope that all family members will be able to meet again for the next New Year. This is another mainstay of my family's New Year's feast and particularly poignant for me, since my family was scattered this year.



Mushrooms are believed to help fulfill the good wishes of the diner, which is why I include them in my hot pot. My family usually gets enokitake mushrooms. This year, I bought giant shimeiji mushrooms because Cat thought they'd be fun to eat. They were, although they were really meaty. I also included limes to be used in flavoring the broth, and for the reasons listed in the next section.



Citrus fruits are always included in the meal, since it's believed that they bring luck. As with the oranges on my table, they'll often be provided in groupings of eight, since the Cantonese word for "eight" has the exact same sound as the word for "prosperity". The citrus fruits therefore represent luck and prosperity for the family, and are eaten near the end of the meal.



A traditional New Year dessert is the Nian Gao (Sticky Cake), which is a sweet, steamed cake made with rice flour. As with the daikon cake, the Nian Gao is sliced into blocks and fried to crisp the outside and soften the inside before eating. This one contained red dates, which symbolize early prosperity and all good things. I picked it up from the Champion Foods in Irvine. It had been made the night before, and was delightful.



Another traditional New Year dessert is Ba Bao Fan (Eight Treasures Rice), which is a sweet rice dish made with glutinous rice and topped with eight different symbolic delicacies. This store-bought one had a red date for early prosperity, candied tangerine peels for luck, candied coconut for togetherness, candied kumquats for gold, longans for many sons, lotus seeds for children, red bean paste for luck, and lychees for a strong family tree.



After the meal, tea is served and diners pick from a selection of candied snacks. The meal always ends with these sweets in the hopes that the family will have a sweet year. The snack trays are always store-bought, since making the snacks is a long, involved process.



But what about the evil monster? Well, fireworks aren't allowed in Irvine, so this was the best I could do. Take that, Nian!

I hope you all enjoyed reading about some of my family's traditional eats for the Chinese New Year. Once again, have a happy New Year!

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6ix Park Grill - Irvine, CA

(My posting frequency has dropped in the past few weeks since we started working six day weeks at the office. My average work day now lasts about 10-14 hours, so finding the motivation to do more than drop into bed when I get home is difficult. I'll try to pick up the pace a little, but no promises. "Crunch time" is a real motivation killer.)

It's an odd, but true, fact that although I dated a number of women before I met Cat, she was the first girlfriend with whom I ever celebrated Valentine's Day. She's a sweet, patient, and wonderful woman, and she makes me a very happy man. I'm constantly thankful to be with her after all these years, which I demonstrate by teasing her unmercifully. Did I mention that she's patient?

Our first Valentine's Day was a fiasco. My family was visiting and, in the chaos, I completely forgot about the holiday. It wasn't until I found a loving note from Cat on the windshield of my car that I remembered. After I saw my family off, I returned home to find a bouquet of irises that she'd bought for me. What did I have for her? Empty hands and a lame excuse. I still consider myself lucky that she didn't break up with me. I mentioned that she's patient, right?

I've learned many things since my "freshman" Valentine's Day, not the least of which has been how to treat a lady on this special occasion. Cat is not a demanding Valentine. She values the emotion the holiday is supposed to honor, not the trappings that normally surround it. Through the years, we've settled on a formula that works well for us. We exchange flowers and small gifts, then have a nice dinner out. This year, we chose the prix fixe Valentine's Day menu at 6ix Park Grill.



Nestled inside of the Hyatt Regency Irvine, 6ix Park Grill is home to Yves Fournier, a French chef with a strong focus on contemporary California cuisine and a pedigree that includes the Rockefeller Center's famed Rainbow Room in New York City. Chef Fournier's creations highlight the freshness and quality of his ingredients. His sophisticated preparations present each key component with breathtaking boldness. When you take a bite of one of his buffalo steaks, you know you're eating grass-fed American plains bovine. You can taste the primal goodness as each and every one of the raised bumps on your tongue shimmy with delight. The seasonings and sauces used are designed to elevate each star ingredient to new heights, not mask it in a wash of conflicting sensations. Chef Fournier's pride and joy is his applewood-fired oven/grill, which he uses for a majority of his dishes. The pure flavors of the food are further highlighted by the aromatic, smoky flavor of the wood, creating a result that never fails to captivate me.



Cat has always been very fond of the Snuffles line of Gund bears. Her very first baby toy was a dark brown Snuffles, and she's been collecting them ever since. As a surprise for this Valentine's Day, I bought a pair of white Snuffles bears and dropped them off at the restaurant a few hours early so that they'd be waiting for her at the table when we arrived.



As you can see, she absolutely hated this idea; so much so that she hugged her bear immediately. She later named it "Parsnip Clark". I named mine "Squash Veloute", for reasons that will become apparent later in this review.



Although the menu listed an Amuse Bouche, none was presented, which disappointed me. However, complimentary red roses and champagne Aperitifs were provided. The champagne was dry and quite palatable.



(When Cat and I order prix fixe menus, we usually choose different ones so we can taste each other's dishes. This night, though, we ended up wanting the exact same dishes. Please keep in mind that we got two of every dish you see below except the dessert.)

We started off with a First Course of Wood Grilled Shrimp and Humboldt Fog Crostini with pomegranate chili sauce and tomato jam. 6ix Park Grill is known for serving Pacific white shrimp a delicacy whose fine flesh and subtle sweetness often escape the average diner. The grilled white shrimp in this appetizer was sublime. The seasoning had permeated throughout the meat, with just enough saltiness to accentuate the white shrimp's natural flavor. The pomegranate chili sauce didn't have much of an impact, but I was already more than happy with my Pacific white shrimp.

Humboldt Fog is a mold-ripened goat cheese made in Humboldt County, California by Cypress Grove Chervre. Melted on top of the toasted crostini, it had a rich, complex flavor reminiscent of a cross between classic Chervre and Cambozola. However, the real star of the plate was the mildly sweet tomato jam, which was simply amazing when paired with the crostini. I had no idea tomatoes and sugar could taste so good. A big jar of that tomato jam and a baguette is now my dream dinner after a long day's work.



Our appetites thus awakened, we were more than ready for the Kuri Squash and Parsnip Veloute with crème fraiche that we'd selected as out Second Course. A generous helping of robust squash veloute shared a dish with an equally voluminous, yet softer parsnip veloute. This deliciously metaphoric medley created a palate pleasing, yin-yang harmony in our mouths. The poetic similarities between the soup and relationships were not lost on us, which was why we named our teddy bears "Parsnip Clark" and "Squash Veloute".



While we waited for the Third Course, we were served small plates of 6ix Park Grill's much touted artisan breads. The crisp, cheese-covered lavash on the right was pleasantly flavorful, although a little hard to chew. The crusty garlic focaccia on the left was airy and chewy, with soft cloves of roasted garlic baked right into the bread. Neither bread needed any butter, although I really wanted some more tomato jam.



For our Third Course, we selected the Coq au Vin with pearl onions, winter mushrooms, and a Burgundy wine sauce. Chef Yves Fournier's talent at contemporary California cuisine really shone through in this dish. Traditional coq au vin is a slowly braised dish made with chicken, salt pork, red wine, and mushrooms, and is typically served over egg noodles with generous helpings of the resulting gravy. Chef Fournier's version stepped away from the almost overpowering presence of wine in the classic coq au vin. Instead, half a small chicken was deboned, marinated, and roasted in his applewood-fired oven. The chicken was then glazed with a red wine reduction sauce and served on a bed of olive oil sautéed greens, winter mushrooms, and seasonal vegetables. All of the traditional flavor elements were present, but presented in an entirely new way that emphasized the natural flavors of each ingredient. Absolutely delicious.



Our Fourth Course was billed as Chocolate Mousse Napoleon with white chocolate ganache. What we received wasn't quite the same, but was just as good. The heart on the left was white chocolate ganache filled with a white chocolate mousse over vanilla genoise. The heart on the right was a layered berry napoleon with berry gelatin, berry cream, and berry mousse over berry genoise. The desserts were a little sweet for my taste, but Cat really enjoyed them. My favorite was the berry napoleon, with its different textures and berry flavors.



Sleepy after our feast and barely able to move, we sipped our complementary Digestifs silently and enjoyed just being with one another. It was a pleasant ending to a perfect evening.


6ix Park Grill - The clean, crisp flavors of contemporary California cuisine with a decidedly French twist. The portions are a good size, the ambience is inviting, the wait staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the food is excellent. The ROI for the Valentine's Day prix fixe was about average for a high-end restaurant, but not every place can offer value like Opus. I was quite satisfied.


Bill (prix fixe for two)

Prix Fixe - 150.00

Tax - 11.63
Tip - 30.00

Total - 191.63


Flavor: A-
Ambience: A
Service: A+
ROI: C

Overall: A-


6ix Park Grill
17900 Jamboree Rd
Irvine, CA 92614
1-949-225-6666
Website

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Five Things People Don't Know About Me - [Crazies]

Both Wandering Chopsticks and Ben & Suanne from Chow Times have tagged me for the "Five Things People Don't Know About You" meme that's been going around. Thank you guys for tagging me for this. It was a lot of fun.

Here goes:

(Guess which one I am.)

1. Certain readers have emailed me asking me if I'm Chinese or Japanese, since my blog icon is a samurai panda. I'm an American citizen, born and raised, but I'm ethnically Taiwanese-Chinese. I'm also a nine-year practitioner of the Kashima Shinto-Ryu and Katori Shinto-Ryu styles of Iaido, the modern day antecedent of Battoujutsu, which began as battle techniques centered around drawing and striking with the sword in one fluid movement. My current heavy work schedule, and the fact that the dojo I used to attend decided to switch sword schools after our sensei retired, has limited my ability to train in the past few years. However, I still run through kata at least once a week in our company's racquetball court. My brother drew the samurai panda picture on a whim a few years back. I liked it so much, I decided to use it as my blog icon.


(Friend and team mate, TC, and I at the Stanford Invitational in 1996.)

2. In high school, I was captain on the Speech & Debate team. As a result, I have a tendency to enjoy argument for argument's sake. I've been known to argue positions that I don't believe in simply for fun. I enjoy the battles of wits and the verbal repartee. This is a bad habit I've been trying to break for years.


(Even Cat's shadow is sexy.)

3. Before university, I only dated Asian girls. This wasn't by design, since there were a number of non-Asian girls I was attracted to. It just seemed to work out that way. Ironically, while attending the University of California, Irvine, which is known for its high percentage of Asian students, my girlfriends were all Caucasian. Since one of those girlfriends is now my lovely fiancée, Cat, I have no complaints.


4. I'm the first son of the first son, and the oldest of my generation in a very very large, extended family. Loosely translated, my Chinese name means "origin of the source", which pretty much tells you what my grandfather expects of me. My job is to have lots and lots of kids and lead the family after my grandfather and father. Since Cat and I aren't sure we want kids right now, this places quite a bit of pressure on us. However, I'm determined to avoid having a child for the wrong reasons.


(UCI's Humanities Instructional Building at night.)

5. My interest in food and food history was really ignited at UCI, when I had the opportunity to take a class on food history with Professor Yong Chen. A respected expert in food history and Asian American studies, Professor Chen ignited a lasting passion in me for all things food. If you're interested in Chinese-American history, I highly recommend his book, Chinese San Francisco, 1850-1943: A Trans-Pacific Community. It's a great read. I should note that Professor Chen and I became good friends while I was at UCI, and continue to maintain our relationship. As such, my opinion of his book may have been influenced by my respect for him.

Since a number of my blogger buddies, such as Kirk from mmm-yoso!!!, Elmomonster of Monster Munching, and Rasa Malaysia, have already been tagged, I thought I'd tag a few more of my favorite bloggers whom I would love to learn more about. If I'm not mistaken, I only get to tag five, otherwise I'd just tag everyone on my blogroll. I love you all!

1. Kathy of A Passion for Food - She's cute, smart, vivacious, and destined for great things in the world of corporate finance. What dark secrets lurk within her candy-coated shell of perkiness? The truth is out there.


2. KT of Gastronomy 101 - Litigating defender of the elderly by day, passionate food enthusiast and student of Oenology by night. I'm dying to read more about this sexy LA lawyer and food blogger. That is, assuming she doesn't hunt me down and kick my ass for this intro.


3. Henry of henrychan's Food Videos - Youtube sensation and food blogger extraordinaire, Henry isn't afraid to show the public his handsome face as he and his giggling camerawoman explore the tasty treats available in Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. Time to spill the beans, Henry. Your fans await!


4. Steen of Side Order of Ham - Delicious recipes with a quirky side of humor, Steen captivates me on a weekly basis with her homey and decadent dishes. I must know more.


5. Tokyoastrogirl of Tuna Toast - Her food is gorgeous, her writing is innocent and sweet, and her hubby plays in a band. This rockin' bombshell must have a tale or two to tell. Time to share, honey. Dish! Dish!

Thanks again to Wandering Chopsticks, Ben, and Suanne for tagging me. I had a blast. As a side note, I just ate three tubs of che from Banh Mi Che Cali and I'm incredibly wired, which should explain some of those intros. Darn you, Kathy!!!

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Fierce Food (Book Review) - [Reading]

(Pictures for this review taken with my Canon Rebel XTi.)

Four months ago, Eddie Lin of Deep End Dining turned me on to the then newly published book, Fierce Food: The Intrepid Diner's Guide to the Unusual, Exotic, and Downright Bizarre by Christa Weil. After reading Eddie's review, I picked up a copy from my local bookstore and tore through the entire book in one sitting; not because it was that good, but because it was that short. Cover to cover, reading Fierce Food only took me an hour.



This trade paperback is far from an intellectual feast, weighing in at slightly over two hundred, double-spaced pages. Formatted as a guide for the adventurous diner, Fierce Food presents each featured food in a short essay that briefly covers history, cultural significance, and flavor.

Although the articles are informative, the problem with Fierce Food lies in its brevity. Few of the chapters are longer than two pages, giving Ms. Weil little room to cover a topic in anything approaching satisfactory detail. In addition, the list of foodstuffs seems almost random in its selection, with little focus or theme. Botfly larvae and human placenta are mixed in with foie gras and coconuts. The result is a book that feels shallow and incomplete.



My biggest issue with Fierce Food is that it seems like nothing more than a Dummies version of Jerry Hopkins' definitive Extreme Cuisine, the book Tony Bourdain himself refers to for all of his experimental eating. Some of the chapters in Fierce Food seem to be summations of chapters presented in Extreme Cuisine, often with disturbing similarities between articles.

On the other hand, Fierce Food isn't a bad book. Ms. Weil's prose is entertaining and occasionally engaging. She does a fair job providing the casual reader with a sampler of the delights this genre has to offer. If you're trying to open someone's mind to sampling exotic foods, Fierce Food may be the book you've been looking for. Just don't be surprised if it leaves them wanting something more.



Bottom Line: The book's structure and brevity make Fierce Food a decent addition to your bathroom or coffee table. It's an excellent conversation starter and would probably be a fun gift. The $14US price tag is also quite affordable. However, keep in mind that for $22US, you can pick up the highly detailed Extreme Cuisine, which you're sure to find much more satisfying.

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Hemisphere North Lounge - Richmond, BC [Eating]

or...

I'm Not Dead (although it sure feels close)

(Pictures for this review taken with my Canon Powershot SD100.)

Halfway through another hellish work week. My body is worn and my spirit is sore. Deadlines abound. There aren't enough hours for all the tasks. At least the bruise on my jaw has started to fade. Took a softball to the chin last week. A punch is easier to duck, easier to see coming. There are telltale signs. Dipped shoulder, shifted feet. The eyes give it away. Can't tell when a grounder will pop up. Can't always get your mitt up in time. Just gotta roll with it. Try not to take it straight on.


(Beer nuts, 'cause I'm classy like that.)

Project management is like trying to catch a ground ball. Sometimes the ball slides into your hand, smooth as silk. Sometimes you miss it entirely. The shortstop is your backup. He'd better have your back. The gods help you if he doesn't.

The worst are the ones you can't catch; can't avoid. You gotta take that hit. Gotta take it for the team. Grope for the ball, scrabbling and fumbling. Fight through the pain. Get it in your hand. Get the throw off. Get it to first/second/third/home. Get it where it needs to go.

I'm on the company team. Cat wants me to quit. It's too easy to get hurt.


(White Chocolate Martini. Cherries are strong medicine.)

After a tough game you need to recharge. Gather together what shreds of comfort you can against the chill of an unforgiving night. Bless the hotel bar; nondescript, undemanding, unremarkable - anonymous. Time to lose yourself.


(Grilled "Prawns". They look like shrimp to me.)

Gotta eat something. Food is fuel. Your body needs to rebuild. Doesn't really matter what you order. It's not going to be good here. Just don't wanna be one of those guys. The quiet ones in the corners drinking with dark purpose. You’re not that far gone. You're just here to ruminate and regroup. Sip. Don't gulp. Eat. They never eat.


(Lumpia. Burnt, bloated, and burst.)

In a little while, you'll forget. In a little while, you'll feel better. In a little while, you'll remember. In a little while, you'll feel hungry. In a little while, you'll order more.

In a little while...

But for now, silence. Tomorrow is another game.


Bill (for one):

Just charge it to the room. It doesn't matter tonight.


Flavor: C
Ambience: A-
Service: B+
ROI: C-

Overall: B-


Hemisphere North Lounge
@ the Delta Vancouver Airport
3500 Cessna Drive
Richmond, BC
V7B 1C7
1-604-278-1241
1-877-814-7706
Hotel Website

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