Gung Hay Faat Choy

Sometimes you get more than you expect. Like this for instance, a double yolk egg.

Here's wishing all of you a metaphoric double yolk egg or two during the Year of the Earth Ox.

Closing Out the Year...

with food, of course.

As many of my Los Angeles friends know, I love Chinese New Year's Eve.

I used to gather folks for a sit down dinner at my old apartment and feast on the foods of my childhood.

Unfortunately, last year I was very preoccupied with wedding stuff. This year, I haven't figured out where to go for all my lovely ingredients yet.

So Danno and I closed out the year with a "small" feast. The only thing I made this year was the stir-fried Chinese cabbage. I opted out of making the Oyster Delight that requires an intriguing amount of prep time, the soup with sea veggies, and the mysterious bulbous root vegetable who name in English I have never known but always sparks a debate at the table.

But we did have the steamed chicken with ginger/scallion sauce, roast duck, and roast pork--and Jasmine tea. It was nice.

So the house is clean..well, as clean as one can get it with three furry creatures who shed running around.

Good bye, Year of the Earth Rat. Hello, Year of the Earth Ox.

The Year of Drinking Chocolately

Oh, my dear readers, forgive my lack of posting. Maybe it will be my Chinese New Year's resolution to post more frequently. It will be the Year of the Ox (they're hard workers, right?) as of tomorrow...but let me catch you up on some of the food happenings of yesterdays.

On December 31st, my good friend and bridesmaid, Steph, came to town. Our entertainment was, of course, eating, drinking (hot bevies), and laughing. We didn't hit Voodoo Doughnuts where there are such concoctions as the NyQuil (yeah, y'know, as in "sniffling, sneezing, coughing...") doughnut and the Triple Chocolate Penetration (choco doughnut, choco glaze, with cocoa puffs). But we didn't miss it.

Check it out. There is actually a place that serves drinking chocolate...not to be confused with hot chocolate (or cocoa). Cacao has two location in SW Portland. We went to the one just south of Burnside on 13th Ave.

Cacao refers to both the cocoa tree and the seed from which cocoa, cocoa butter, and chocolate is made. So it seems aptly name. The difference between hot chocolate and drinking chocolate, is freakin' deliciousness...and richness. Hot chocolate is combined with higher percentage of regular milk while the drinking chocolate is with cream, and sometimes infused with spices. I will never go back now.

Steph and I shared the cinnamon infused drinking chocolate and the special spicy dark drinking chocolate. I love dark chocolate and that spicy kick at the end just sent me over the top. Let me tell you, you really don't need much. It's rich. Each serving was about 2 oz. and we were sufficiently satisfied.

Cacao also sells fine chocolates from around the world and from artisans in Portland, too. At the time, I was more interested in drinking it than eating it. I think I'm still a little spoiled from my trip to Europe where I tasted those delicious morsels straight from the charming chocolatiers in Belgium and Frances. Oh man.

But if you can't get yourself to France or Belgium, have a sat at the chocolate bar here in Portland. If you like such things, it will blow you away or send you to bliss town.

Cacao DrinkChocolate
414 SW 13th Ave.
or at the
Heathman Hotel
712 SW Salmon St.
Portland, OR

SPAM is Delicious

I don't care what any of you say. I love Spam. Always have...and it's making a comeback.

According to a recent New York Times article, sales of this canned food is rising. Hormel won't disclose by how much but they did indicate it's by double digits. Factory employees are working double shifts and are only getting Thanksgiving and Christmas off in order to keep up with the demand.

Because it is vacuum-sealed in the can and does not require refrigeration, Spam can last for years. That's its appeal during "hard times". It's relatively cheap meat that lasts forever. We used to eat it a lot, scrambled in eggs for breakfast. It was satisfyingly salty.

Hawaiians love it so much they have an annual festival dedicated to it, Spam Jam. C'mon, I hear they even make sculptures out of this potted pork product. I know, it's a bit unbelievable that I've never gone before. It's even on Oahu, where I often go when vacationing in Hawaii. But alas, not yet...possibly someday.

So it seems that Hawaiians aren't the only Americans packing this long-lasting treasure in their pantries. Sales of other processed items like macaroni and cheese, Jell-o, and Velveeta are also rising steadily. It is a sign of the times...tough economic times.

I will however, leave you with this, my favorite way to eat Spam:

Spam musubi (or as one of my mainland friends called it when he had some at my birthday party many moons ago--"Spam-shi", as in Spam sushi). It's really not sushi since the rice isn't vinegared.

Basically it's salted rice with a slice of Spam (fried or not fried--fried is better) wrapped in seaweed (to hold it together). You can get fancier and add teriyaki sauce, egg, and/or furikake seasoning.

Anyway you make it, I love it. Spam forever! Literally.

Circle of Life

It's been a tough week. Last week Dan's Grandmother Florence died and today my Uncle Ted passed away. I don't know what this has to do with food but life and death have been on my mind lately...maybe it's always on my mind. For both Florence and Ted their bodies gave out or gave in, depending on how you look at it. I never met Dan's grandmother. She wasn't able to come out for the wedding but she sent a nice card.

As for Uncle Ted, well, he didn't talk much and he had a special talent for leaving a house without notice. He was a diabetic who loved dessert and a seafood lover allergic to shrimp. As a kid, I remember him always coming by to drop off a whole fish, usually a bass or catfish--like every week or so. It would usually still be flapping around when he handed it to my mom. That man really loved to fish.

He always drove a truck too. I remember hopping into the back with a bunch of my cousins on one of those Sunday afternoons and driving around town. This was before seat belt laws. Yeah, it's amazing what we used to do in the 70's. I think we'd go on the freeway that way, too.

Somehow at every family function, one of us would always ask, "Hey, did Uncle Ted leave already?" Some of us would look around and one person would always know, "Yeah, he left a couple hours ago."

Uncle Ted, you didn't say much but you always let me tease you. And even in your final departure, you leave us quietly and without fuss. I will miss you.

The Minute You Settle...

Dan and I went to Gold Garden Seafood Restaurant on 82nd Ave (just north of Powell) the other day. It's been snowing so we rode the bus to a tire shop to get the "required" chains for our Prius whose front end slides around when braking in snow. It was mere blocks from one our fave Chinese restaurants.

There are two places "in town" that are well known to serve tasty Chinese food. One is Wongs King which I've already written about and the other is Gold Garden. Both get high marks for deliciousness. GG is more affordable and reminds me of some of those places I used to go in downtown Stockton when I was a kid.

There's always this hint of cigarette smoke from the attached bar, I think. The food is always served promptly and we always have a good time. GG seems like it's seen it's hey-day a decade or so before. It's dining room is large and it's menu is substantial.

This time D and I munched down on "Triple Delight in Tangy Sauce" and "Pork Mustard Green with Salted Egg Soup". Yeah, you won't find that at Panda Express. The delightful pork, beef, and shrimp were smothered in a spicy, sweet, sour sauce that blended well with the rice. The soup, well, reminded me of home. My mom used to salt her own eggs back in the day.

What does that mean, you ask? Well, she'd mix a salt water brine, place a bunch of eggs in a large jar, then pour in the brine until full and cap. Anyway, it would sit for months and the yolk would firm and darken. It was delicious then as was that soup.

What I love best is they always have roast duck and a side of roast pork hanging in the case for take out. Memories...

At the end of the meal, we get our fortune cookies, of course. Mine reads:

"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get less than you settled for."

This stupid fortune almost made me cry in the restaurant. Well, I guess it wasn't so stupid. So, don't settle, people. Live it.

If you get a chance and you like authentic Chinese food try:

Gold Garden Seafood Restaurant
3016 SE 82nd Ave
Portland, OR 97266
(503) 777-3399

They have $6.50 weekday specials and they give large portions. A good place to dine out during a recession.

Melamine Milk, Not Just in Asia

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday ordered spot checks on baby food with meat and poultry, and such perennial kid favorites as breaded chicken nuggets, hot dogs and sausages, packaged meatballs and pizza snacks. The foods were singled out for limited, random tests because they may contain milk-based ingredients that have been linked to contamination in foods and candies manufactured with milk from China." Seattle Times
article by Susan Kelleher.

Apparently the melamine in dairy scare isn't just on the other side of the Pacific.

"Recently, the agency acknowledged that trace amounts of melamine and related chemicals were found in two infant formulas manufactured in the United States. It could not explain how the contamination occurred, but insisted the formulas are safe.

Melamine is a nitrogen-based chemical widely used in plastics manufacturing. It entered the milk supply in China earlier this year when some dairy manufacturers added it to diluted milk to artificially inflate protein levels for testing. The chemical and its analogs also turned up in animal feed.

Consumed in sufficient quantities, melamine can lead to kidney failure or even death. The FDA has established what it says are safe levels of the chemical."

I'll keep you posted with updates. But I'm thinking that fresh and local is looking more and more appetizing. Bye, bye, Dino Nuggets.