Simple pleasures

After a great spinning class, I made myself a piping hot bowl of homemade comfort. Ground pork porridge (aka congee) with scallions, garlic and fried shallots. YUM! A perfect end to the day, without compromising my good workout! :D I'll consider making this more often. As a child, porridge was always seen as a meal taken when I'm sick. But as I get older, my appreciation for a good piping hot bowl of porridge is greatly appreciated!

The secret - use old rice! And I like to season the meat before cooking and throw in the rice after the meat is half cooked so the juices will soak into the porridge, rendering it tasty! :) And my favourite toppings? Scallion and a must-have, deep fried onions straight from the motherland!

Healthy and happy me! :D

Gong Hey Fatt Choy!

We rang in the Year of the Ox with a Feast! Thanks to my aunt & grandmother who were with us this festive season. All the dishes have significance - everything had to be in tact. You wouldn't be believe how difficult it is to find a decent whole chicken with head & legs! I guess most North Americans don't like to look at their food whole. The menu of the night included:

Sweet & Sour Pork

Shitake Mushrooms

A whole Hainanese style chicken

Our family traditional "zai" (vegetable stew)

Braised pork knuckle

Spicy prawns

Sticky rice

Steamed fish

*BURP*

Happy Chinese New Year!

Lunch before school

While back in Vancouver, I shopped at my neighbourhood asian grocery store and found that this childhood fave of mine was on promotion: 10 packets for $3! So I promptly picked some up to bring home to NYC. Its hard to find here and I don't often venture to Chinatown. As a result, many of the asian goodies I purchase are Japanese rather than Chinese because there's a small Japanese convenience store within walking distance from my apartment.

Today for lunch, I decided to make an old favourite of mine: Fried Mee Goreng. Although not 100% authentic - my home-cooked, student version serves as a quick, tasty meal before I head off to class. YUM!