Few glimpse of Italy

It's been a week since I've been in Italy! Been to three cities, Venice, Bologna and Turin. I must say that traveling like this is quite tiring. Being able to see the different cultures from city to city and having the variety of food and how the flavors and techniques change is definitely well worth the sleep deprivation and the constant moving. Highlights so far! I've tasted...
*the best asparagus I've ever had in my life. One because it is in season, two, because it's local from the proprietor's own farm.
* the greatest balsamic vinegar I've ever had ranging from 30 year old- 100 year old! UNBELIEVABLE! The 100 year old balsamic is an opportunity of a lifetime on it's own! It brings a tear in my eye, and I am still amazed and touched through the work that has gone into producing and aging that 100 year old. Plus the generations of and heritage that shares this 100 year old vinegar!
*Fresh parm cheese! SO GOOD!
*Cutatello from the factory itself! Being in the cellar with all the cutatello's hanging, unbelievable!
* Best fresh pasta, lasagna in particular with bolognese sauce (ragu, as the italians call it) in Bologna of course! It was a 3 michelin star restaurant/hotel!

Here are some pics. I have limited access to internet. So I can't waste all my time yet. Waiting for internet that is cheaper or until I get home to NYC.









OH! I've been having Gelato everyday! I was tempted to have it twice yesterday, but the store closed by the time I got back to it! hahahahaha. oh wells!

10 months to go

I know I don't update this blog much. Let me tell you, it's been quite crazy here. I really shouldn't be blogging but studying or sleeping.

I have two group projects due (Psych and Marketing), Accounting test on Tuesday, Italian quiz on Tuesday, Psych Quiz on Tuesday and a History paper due Thursday along with the group projects! Can they pack it in anymore?! Oh yeah, Accounting Final next Tuesday too.

I really can not wait for Italy which is coming in about 2 or 3 weeks. Less than 10 months to go before I graduate! You're probably wondering why I have to take all these courses in culinary school. I am going for a hospitality management degree as my bachelor's here. That's what they offer.

So I've been thinking about life after graduation, started to look and investigate on the options out there (in the world). I am totally up for Asia, I believe I have mentioned this before. I've looked and a lot of jobs seems like I would need years of experience. Hmmmm... I always wondered how I can get this experience if people don't give others an opportunity to learn and grow. If I ever open up my own business, I will definitely give people the chance to learn and grow within the company/business, instead of requiring 3 or more years of experience right off the bat. I am also looking into a master's degree program that is connected with a Marriot Hotel in China(there is an informative meeting for this program tomorrow)! Get the theme here? I am pretty much in love with Asia and it's cuisine. Maybe it is because I'm Asian. Who knows?! (shrugs) so... "say a little prayer for me"(forever and ever... you stay in my hearrrrtt... music trailing off)

Since I haven't updated this blog. It is going to take me a while to post all the stuff that I've made and tried. So this is just a little glimpse of the past two months.





My friends and co R.A's decided to have an impromptu pot luck. I made the Hainan Chicken Rice with the sauce. It's from Hainan, China, but you really find it in Malaysian or Singaporean restaurants here in the states. I think it's because of the Chinese population in Malaysia and Singapore. Either way, it's delicious! Whatever is delicious is good enough for me! My friends made a mole beef and another one made some kind of peppered vegetables. I know odd combo of food! But when you cross between cultures, this is what you get! I love it!

Recipe will follow next time.

Soy Sauce Chicken with Rice

One of my beloved childhood favorites closed in January. I could not even make it back from school to have it one last time. I was seriously depressed or had some kind of anxiety going on when I found out till the a few days after the closing of the place. It's this restaurant called Southwind, located on Division St. in NYC. It's just something that gives me that homey feeling. It's sad to see a mom and pop restaurant closing, especially when you grew up with it.

One of my fave dishes from them is their soy sauce chicken over rice. I know you're thinking this is so simple. But I don't eat soy sauce chicken from anywhere else. This place only had it Tuesday, Thursday and on weekends. Almost everytime I went in on those even days, they would know what I would be ordering already. So after finding out that they were closing, I got a friend who got another friend's mom to snag the recipe. Somehow I think they might have left off an ingredient or two when they gave it to our friend's mom. The chicken came out a lighter in color than what they usually have. Next time I am going to try adding dark soy along with it.

Today I followed along with this...

.5 bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce
around .5 bottle of water or enough to cover the chicken.
4 star anise
4 tblspn of sugar, taste then add more if necessary
2 chicken breast, bone in and skin on

Boil the first 4 ingredients together, after it comes to a rolling boil add the chicken breast in skin side down. Reduce fire to a simmer, to slowly poach the chicken. When chicken is done, take it out and then reduce the liquid to make it thicker. Taste as you go after the chicken is basically cooked in the liquid. You might want to add more soy or sugar. After reducing the liquid, I tasted it again. The flavor was definitely there, a bit salty, when reducing the flavors become more concentrated. So I added a bit more sugar. Next time I will definitely replace some of the kikkoman with a darker soy. With everything said, it was still yummy, moist and tasted just like it!

Here are some pics.

Yes... I have been into brussel sprouts lately. I have gotten it 2-4 times within the past month. I'm on R.A duty this weekend, so there are going to be lots of cooking projects. Tomorrow I am showing my boss how to make wontons and I'm going to make some Almond Tea with Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls! = )

By the way, 342 more days till graduation, 70 more days till ITALIA!

CIAO!

Today was a good day!

An email was sent out to let the students know who got accepted to the Italy and Spain trips. So I am going to Italy in May! May will be a good month! I am very excited! I can picture myself eating gelati everyday more than once a day, and I already have a smile on my face. = ) Oh the pleasures in life! I can't wait to see how people make Balsamic vinegar, maybe I'll buy one that's been aged for years to come home and just dip bread into it... or have a little drip here and there onto my greens.

Anywhos! I have some projects of things that I've made the past few days...

To start off with.

Fishcake salad. The recipe is from a wonderful couple from Church. The hubs is from Burma. This is so yummy if you love FISHCAKE! It's spicy, salty, fishy, oniony and tart all at once. MMMMMMM! It's so light that it's wonderful anytime of the year but AWESOME for the summer.


















1 head of lettuce, shredded
1 pack of fishcake, quartered then sliced thinly
1.75 cup of veg oil + 2 T
1 onion, thinly slice, fried and save the oil to keep the onion with
2 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
lemon juice to taste
fish sauce to taste
red pepper flakes (asian) to taste

*when i say to taste, i just adjust it to how tart, spicy and salty i like it.

1. Fry the sliced onions in 1.75 cup oil, till golden brown or amber. take away from heat, it will continue to brown. Scoop up the onions into a separate container and wait till oil is cooled before putting it togther. (this could be prepared in advance).
2. Pan-Fry sliced fish cake in a 2 T oil, till crispy. Drain oil.
3. Shred the head of lettuce.
4. Mix the vinaigrette with the Tamarind concentrate, fresh lemon juice (I squeezed about 2 lemons), 2 dashes of fish sauce to start. Taste and adjust to your liking.
5. Drizzle the vinaigrette onto the lettuce and put about 2-3 tablespoons of fried onion along with a little bit of the oil, top with fried fish cake and sprinkle red pepper flakes. Toss at the table and serve. = )

Continuing on with today... I made soondooboo jigae and pajeon. I got the soondooboo recipe from http://www.maangchi.com/ and made some adjustments to it. So please go to her site, for the recipe. I tasted the broth after the pepper and fish sauce went in... it still lacked something... some flavor... the broth was still very bland and tasted like vegetable water. Going through my brain... maybe it's not "Korean"like but I didn't want to make it and have it not taste good and be disappointed and unsatisfied with my meal and effort, what should I do? What does it need?! UH HA! Umamaeeeeeeee.... (it's really spelled umami) I added a few splashes of soy sauce, some salt and a tiny bit more fish sauce. It was just as I remember only without the earthenware pot. Having that pot does make a difference I feel. My soup was not hot enough, so it was not as enjoyable, even after I microwaved it for 2 mins. I like it served bubbling hot! I like that burning sensation that comes with the stew in a restaurant. The only way I can have it continuously bubbling hot would be eating it in the kitchen while the pot is still going on the stove. Do I really want to risk looking like a barbarian in front of my residents? They would probably think that their R.A (me) just came out of a cave, who can't even be civilized enough to put it in a bowl and eat at a table? So.. civilized? uncivilized? civilized? uncivilized? Alright! Not today at least, maybe if I am desparate in the near future to make this again. Sure! I'll make sure I have pics to show how unlady like I am. Well... I'll put up the pajeon tomorrow or something. I should probably go do something called homework now.

Let the Countdown Begin!

So I started this blog on February 5th, 2009 to mark the count down to my graduation for the Culinary Institute of America a year from this date, which will be February 5th, 2010, if you haven't figured that one out yet. I've been thinking a lot about what I should do or will do after graduation. With economy this bad it's hard to look for a job even as a chef. You read that restaurants like Le Cirque, Nougatine and all these other places are offering some kind of deal to eat at their restaurant. 21 Club for the first time and the last ones to not require men to wear ties just to draw more business in.

(twirling my thumbs) What to do? What to do? I hope to either be in one of the following categories after graduation: personal chef, working for a magazine (research and development or food writing), behind the scenes of food network, work for Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations, move to Asia and find a job there or work for a catering company. I know this is a random assortment of opportunities and jobs, but I am interested in all. HEY! Who said I can't divide and conquer? Or divide and explore? ; 1 So this blog is going to be for me to practice some food writing... whether it be things that I make/experiment, things that I eat or try or just interesting articles on food and opportunities I will encounter within this next year.

We will see what this year will lead me to as I finish up my bachelors degree here at the Culinary Institute of America. It has taken me more than the average 4 years (let's say 9 years?, better late than never!) to figure out what I want to do and get this Bachelors Degree and even now I still don't exactly have something specific other than dealing with food.

My hopefully soon-to-be adventure (I know people usually say soon-to-be husband or whatever, this is just as importante to me!) would be going to Italy with my school for the Food and Wine Seminar. It is somewhat like a class here, it's very competitive to get in. There is an application process and the committee members review the applications, recommendation, essay, resume and GPA then they decide who is going and who is not! Let's hope that I will be going! I am quite excited!

So until this weekend when I am going to attempt to make some Korean cuisine... this is it for now! Hope you guys will embark on this countdown/journey/culinary adventure with me.... after all if you are my friend (or a random reader), hopefully we must have something in common... A big part of life and this blog is "for the love of food"!