In Praise of the Asian Market

Today, I realized a minor dream I've had to make bubble tea, homemade.  Luckily, I had an unsuspecting group of young, eager snack-takers this afternoon at our Creative Writing "Club" at school.

I should have taken photos of what turned out to be an overly complicated and messy set-up (typical me!), but I'll have to get the finished product photographed next time.  Suffice it to say there were many Mason jars and an empty sour cream container of various teas, homemade blueberry syrup, homemade pineapple syrup, syrup-preserved tapioca balls, a drippy can of condensed milk, and a slowly melting bag of ice.  Luckily, I did manage to include the huge customary straws and clear cups so we could see the pretty tapioca pearls at the bottom.  My students loved it despite mixed reviews on the flavor and texture of tapioca pearls. I felt like a genius, even though I suppose the Asians invented bubble tea.  My choice was pineapple syrup in the Tazo mint tea.  Genius.

Anyway, running to the store for the tapioca and giant straws ($6.99!!!) reminded me that I have been wanting to honor our little Asian market 'round the corner.

Apparently, it has not always been our little Asian market 'round the corner.  According to my friend Deva, who has been Chinese American her whole life, and from Tucson or Marana during much of her life, G&L Imports used to be one of the largest, most respected Asian markets in town.  I read somewhere else that it is one of the oldest. Now, times are a bit slower I suppose.  It shares an aging strip-mall with Desert Pet (another store I really like) and a martial arts studio.  The Hong Kong Dim Sum advertised outside is nowhere to be seen, but if you need your nails done there must be at least 20 different Asian nail studios advertised with simple white fliers stapled up outside the front doors.

Inside, G&L is an adventure.  I don't consider myself extremely adventurous culinarily, but if I was there would be plenty to work with here.  The Asian servingware, cooking utensils and kitsch is fun to shop, also.  You never know what will be in-stock or out-of-stock.  Finally, after months of peeking in, I scored myself some Asian soup spoons.

Although it smells a bit funky and the refrigerators never really feel quite cold enough, the discriminating shopper can find some good produce deals:  Shallots for $.99/lb (if you can handle a few moldy ones in the mix), pre-peeled garlic for a good price, fresh scallions, cilantro, limes, lemongrass, ginger, etc. at good prices and with good quality.  I always pause to peruse the various types of greens available, with at least three varieties of bok-choy and many other choys which I'd like to try someday (I was told by the proprietor that "choy" means "vegetable")  They also have great prices on various chiles and those little baby eggplants and that kind of thing.  Occasionally the produce is not the best quality, but most of the popular items are very fresh.

And then, of course, there is an entire aisle of rice, and an entire aisle (and then some) of noodle products.  I certainly would not know what to do with 90% of what they sell, but I have been happy with everything I have ventured to buy there.  The baby bok choy has become a staple of my pho and other dishes, and I enjoy my little adventures into new flavors at G&L.

G&L Imports   4828 E. 22nd Street, Tucson, Arizona

Tweetworthy

it's neat to tweet
re: the kale chips
not the chocolate chips
that i eat

Big Lagoon Blackberry Balsamic Vinaigrette with Blackberry Heaven Salad

Dylan or Misty took a great photo of the salad...

After a week of picking blackberries like a delighted child, this is the salad and dressing that I made along with my brother and sister-in-law, to take to the rehearsal dinner for my brother Jeff's wedding.  It's tongs-ful of late summer coastal heaven. As with most of my recipes, we made it first and determined amounts afterward.  You can measure if you want to, but you'll probably want to taste and adjust for sweet/ salty/ acid afterward.

  

Salad: 
Greens (we had probably two or three gallons of torn, farmers-market fresh greens)
1-2 firm pears, sliced fairly thinly
1/2 c. toasted walnuts chopped into large pieces
1 1/2 c. heirloom cherry-sized tomatoes
3 c. blackberries, whole
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (goat cheese would be good, too)

Nasturtium flowers (7-8) and 2 c.greens (large greens torn)
Cilantro flowers (for garnish)

Vinaigrette: 
2/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 large shallots, chopped roughly
2 tsp. dijon or whole-grain mustard
2-3 c. blackberry puree w/ seeds strained out
2 tbsp honey or sugar
2/3 c. olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

Place shallots and vinegar together into blender first, and then add other ingredients.  Blend until smooth.  Taste and adjust salt/ pepper/ sweet/ acid.  Makes about a liter of dressing, just enough to fill a leftover wine bottle from the week's festivities.  My 6 year-old daughter made the custom label.  Isn't it awesome?  That's her imaginative rendition of the bride and groom.  Such a little artiste.

Happy Wedding, Jeff and Natalynne!

Butternut Squash Soup

One of my weapons for the soup coup.

As always, amounts are approximate and variable.

1 huge butternut squash (3 lb?  More?)

1 1/2 med onion

6 cloves garlic

2 carrots

5 ribs celery

1 1/2 qt. homemade vegetable stock (just because that's how much I had)

3 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

grated nutmeg (fresh)

dried ginger (1/2 tsp?)

dried thyme leaves (1/2 tsp?)

dried sage (1 tsp?)

dried marjoram (1/2 tsp?)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp brown sugar

olive oil

salt

pepper

I started the pot with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and the garlic cloves, whole (crushed would work, too.) 

Chopped and threw in the onions, carrots, celery and let them sautee as I added each ingredient.

Added salt and a little pepper.

Poured the vegetable stock over it.  

Added the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and other herbs/spices.

Chopped and added the butternut squash (peeled first, and cleaned out the seeds & membrane w/ large spoon.  Chopped about 1" cubes more or less)
Added enough water to cover

Added the brown sugar, more salt and a little more pepper (don't go too crazy with the black pepper).

Let it cook for close to an hour.

Removed cinnamon stick and bay leaves.

Used the immersion blender to mix it up.  Left a few chunks.

Served with a little drizzle of olive oil.

Probably a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream, or some sharp cheese might go well on top, too.

Soup Coup

"A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting."

       Abraham Maslow

I am staging a soup coup.

I am going to take over the world with soup.

Jesus Christ has a mythic and metaphorical corner on the loaves and fishes market, but my vehicle will be soup.

Here's why soup will conquer evil and create world peace:

1. Soup is good food.

It tastes good.  It is nutritious.  With soup, you can have all four food groups in one pot.  Unless you are making cheese soup or a fancy-schmancy cream soup, it's probably pretty lean, too.

2. Soup is diplomatic.

It's hard to shove yourself away from the table in rage when you are eating soup.  You have to take care.  Unlike steak, grilled cheese or Chocodiles, you can't shove soup in your mouth and chew angrily. And you can't yell at anyone through a mouth full of soup, so you must listen.  First I talk and you eat and listen.  Then I'll eat and you talk and I'll listen.

Soup is disarming, which you already know if you've ever read the children's story Stone Soup.

3. Soup is loving.

A big pot of soup is meant to share. Feed your friends soup and see what happens.  My friend Heather makes her Love Soup if she loves you.  I've decided I'm making vegetarian pho when I want to show my students or friends I care. I hope you have or had a mother who made you homemade soup when you were sick or sad.

And soup leads to bread.  Sharing soup and bread is nourishing for friendships, for our children and for our own souls.

Soup can even be seductive.  If my man makes me soup, he is likely to get some appreciation from me at some point in the future.  He has only done this... maybe twice in our marriage.  But it was hot.  Sometimes I fantasize about him making me soup.  It's a lovely dream.

4.  Soup reduces waste.

Soup reduces food waste. America wastes anywhere from 40-50% of our food supply. Make stock from leftovers stashed in your freezer.  Show a bit of restraint, though (asparagus trimmings aren't good in pho broth, I discovered.)  As a rule, I don't go shopping for many soups I make unless it is a special occasion. Mostly I make soup when I have a bunch of scraps saved up in the freezer and some other veggies to use up.  Here's a recent article on food waste, an issue which seems to be getting some needed press lately.

Fresh produce doesn't come individually wrapped.  Homemade stock doesn't come in shelf-stable packaging. Soup can take advantage of seasonal, local produce. Soup reduces other kinds of waste as well.

5. Soup resists hierarchies and hegemony.

Nothing is more egalitarian than soup.  I suppose there are gourmet soups that are not, but most soups (and definitely the ones I make) are pretty basic food.  I hardly even use wine in them.  The basic flavors are onions, celery, carrots, bay, salt, pepper, garlic... for almost every soup. Nothing fancy, intimidating, holier-than-thou.  I sometimes use a prepared stock, but more and more I don't even do that.  Homemade soup, even gazpacho, rarely gives anyone any attitude.

Canned soups and prepared soup mixes are at the grocery store, but you don't need them to have plentiful and tasty soup.  You just need a little bit of time and practice.  Soup will take down corporate America. Soup is subversive.

6. Soup will be there in a recession.  

Schools may go without librarians and copy paper. Potholes may not be filled. But you can always find something with which to make soup.

7. Soup is forgiving.

It's hard to mess up soup too terribly.  Oversalting is probably the toughest problem, but then just add more water or some potatoes.

8. Soup will simplify your life.

A huge pot of soup, if you don't feed it to your friends, will store easily in fridge and freezer.  It freezes well in old yogurt containers, and heats up easily at work.  You can make a big pot of soup and enjoy it for several meals. And most soup recipes are low-maintenance:  chopping, seasoning and waiting.

9. Soup is meditation. 

Whether chopping vegetables or focusing on your soup spoon as it nears your mouth, soup slows you down, gives you time to think.  To work in the present, process the past, or plan the future.

"Beautiful soup, so rich and green

Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup! 
Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish
Game, or any other dish? 
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth of beautiful soup?"

Lewis Carroll, ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Review of Mo's Bacon Bar: A Small Adventure in Chocolate

After a long exchange on Facebook which somehow ended up being about bacon and peanut butter sandwiches, and made reference to a photo a friend had posted which featured a well-endowed woman wearing a bra made of bacon, someone mentioned chocolate covered bacon, and then my friend Rebecca mentioned a candy bar called Mo's Bacon Bar which she had seen at whole foods.

She surprised me with one a couple of months later, and I have been holding onto it for a couple of weeks, intrigued, but allowing it to find its moment.

I have picked up the tiny oblong box several times now to read the packaging.  Produced by Vosges Haut Chocolat, it is a 45% cocoa bar, which features applewood smoked bacon and alderwood smoked salt.  The rationale for the bar is captured on the back of the box:  "Inspired by my love of savory and sweet, a royal coupling of bacon and chocolate.  Discover why everything is better with bacon."  Signed, Katrina.  I noticed that the entire bar is only .5 oz.  The box provides no nutritional information at all, so I am assuming it is zero Weight Watcher points, or maybe two at the most. 

Today, after the kids' swim lessons and making lunch, the bacon bar found its moment.  I was poking around in the kitchen and making a second cup of coffee, and there it was.  I had the points available, and I decided to eat it.  I pulled the foil packet out of the box, and the bar was even smaller than I had anticipated, about half the size of a playing card or maybe a bit bigger.  I had trouble getting the foil open and ultimately used scissors so that I wouldn't melt or squoosh the chocolate.   I noticed that stamped on the foil was "Mini Bacon Candy Bar."  So there must be other sizes.  When I pulled the chocolate out of the package it was even smaller than it appeared inside the foil.  I was okay with this because I just wanted a small taste, not to blow my WW day.

I broke the end off the bar and could see a bacon bit nestled in the chocolate-- it simply looked like a nut.  I could smell the bacon before the milk chocolate even entered my mouth.  The candy bar lived up to its packaging.  I bit down to see if the bacon crunched.  It did a little bit, and then became chewy.  But what I noticed more was the superior quality of the milk chocolate-- smooth and rich.  And the bits of bacon, and, I believe, grains of salt really did give the sensation of a sweet mouthful of chocolate with tiny hit after tiny hit of salt that just kept coming.  The surprise for me was how well the smokiness of the bacon complemented the chocolate, and after the chocolate melted away, the bacon bits became chewy and fun to contemplate.

If the bar had been any bigger, it would have become overwhelming quickly.  That half-ounce was just the perfect bite to enjoy the concept.

Thanks Rebecca!