the sauces - proof of my sad inability to absorb chinese

apparently, the many years i spent in Chinese school on friday nights didn't amount to much.  neither did the years of Chinese i took in high school and college.  somehow, none of it stuck.  i can barely read a lick of it.  

it's not usually a huge problem at the grocery store since i shop by sight and brand recognition.  but it's sort of an issue when a certain brand sauce isn't carried at the store.  

this is what can ensue:

on phone with mom

me: what do you put into zha jian mien?

mom: you need tian mien jiang (awful pinyin alert)

me: is that the one in the small, blue tin can?

mom: yes, that's the one, just look for the can.

me: looking and looking.  mom, there's no blue can.  

mom: well, look for something that says tian mien jiang

me: looking and looking.  mom, nothing says that.

mom: okay, well it's a kind of bean sauce.

me: reading labels.  is it black bean sauce?

mom: no

me: hot bean sauce?

mom: no

me: bean chili sauce?

mom: no

me: getting desperate.  ground bean sauce?

mom: maybe, i don't know.  starting to think of all the money and hours wasted at chinese school.  why didn't she retain anything?

me: well, it has sugar and no chilis.  i'll just get this one.

mom: okay, let me know how it tastes.

hi mom, 

thank you for talking me through the "sauce" aisle on the phone while i was at the asian supermarket.  

here are the sauces i bought. since the one the blue can wasn't available.

and thanks for telling me which noodles to buy.  i hope i got the right ones.

love,

your eldest daughter

is. he. crazy?!?!

some people have questioned the sanity of hubby. i admit, i am one of those people.

this morning, for instance, the thought crossed my mind in a haze resembling something like, “mmm, crazy hubby, emph, early, cough, snore." it was early morning, maybe 5:30am, and he was already up and about.

see, there's something special about hubby.

hubby voluntarily wrenches himself up at dawn so that he can go do something he doesn't like - swim.

he's at the pool about 4 times a week to work on his freestyle technique.

why?

hubby's a triathlete.

and not just any triathlete.

hubby's a long-distance triathlete.

hubby's a kick-ass long-distance triathlete.

this means he's dedicated (obsessive), determined (stubborn), and organized (about training).

i love that he is all those things and more. and that's probably why i allow myself to be dragged out of bed in the early morning on race days. i'm also his photographer. i'm not that good, but my photography services are free. what else am i going to do at the race? these things take hours!

last weekend was the Sandman Triathlon in Aptos, CA at Seacliff State Beach. Sandman's not a long-distance tri. it's a sprint. and so hubby actually worked about again that afternoon.

swim, bike, run.

hubby coming out of the swim. working on getting that wetsuit off.

hubby coming down a large hill at the end of the bike. love the alien helmut. oops, sorry, i mean aerodynamic.

hubby starting the run on the sand. cool remnants of a ship in the background.

the apres-race photo. he's happy with his time.

crazy hubby.

Zha Jian Mien! how's my pin yin?

last week, i had a craving for zha jian mien. so i drove to milpitas and got some takeout and it sort of satisfied the craving.

except the noodles were dripping in oil. and it felt like a rock in my stomach.

then, the next day, userealbutter posted her own zha jian mien. and i thought, why can't i just make my own?

well, the immediate answers were:

1. you don't have the ingredients

2. it's so cheap to buy in milpitas

3. you've never made it before

but really, they're just lame excuses.

1. i can BUY the ingredients, duh

2. even if it's cheap, it's still not good

3. it's never stopped me before!

note: i used ground turkey because the ground pork at the store looked too fatty. turkey's not traditional, i know, but my sister suggested it and my mom agreed, so i went with it.

cook the turkey or pork in the pan with some minced garlic. some recipes call for minced ginger too. i don't like ginger and so there's none in mine. plus, my mom didn't say to put in ginger. so there.

here's the very light colored pork (aka. turkey).

add all the sauces (soy sauce, hot chili garlic sauce, bean sauce, hoisin sauce) and the tofu. not plain tofu. marinated tofu. or do fu gan (there's that weird pinyin again).

zha jian mien. mien is chinese for noodles. so take this meat sauce and spoon it over some noodles. since this is a shanghainese dish, use shanghainese noodles. just a note: in my asian grocery store, shanghainese noodles came in three noodles size/shapes. i chose the medium one. not too skinny, not too thick.

add some julienned cucumber and some bean sprouts for some cool, crunchy goodness.

mmmm, craving satisfied.

oh boy, this is going to be hard . . . i did not measure

Zha Jian Mien

1 tsp canola oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 lb ground pork (traditional) or turkey (healthy version)

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp hot chilic garlic sauce

2 tbsp bean sauce

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

1/4 to 1/3 cup diced do fu gan (marinated tofu)

shanghainese noodles (enough for two)

handful julienned cucumber

handful bean sprouts

start pot of water for noodles.

heat oil in pan. when heated, toss in garlic and ground meat. brown the meat.

add noodles to water.

add sauces and do fu gan to meat. stir until combined.

drain noodles. top noodles with meat sauce, cucumber and sprouts. dig in!

GMAT practice question

if x = writer of this blog, then does x = what the !?@#* appropriately express the emotions being felt?

1) an e-mail was sent out by x's workplace that the calendar that details which 22 days will be furloughed over the next 11 months will not be released

2) x was informed earlier this week of the 2 furlough days for this month - the first furlough day = aug 10th (only one week's official notice)

please choose from one of the following answers:

a) Statement 1 alone is SUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

b) Statement 2 alone is SUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

c) Statement 1 and 2 together are SUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

d) Either Statement 1 or 2 are SUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

e) Statement 1 and 2 are INSUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

Answer: D - Either Statement 1 or 2 is enough to determine that x is in fact thinking "what the bleep are you people thinking?!?!"

it's not bad enough that we will have furlough days, oh no, they can't even tell us until a week before when that day is going to be. lovely, bleepin' lovely.

one of the last little nutellas

when i went to italy with the fam, we stayed at hotels that had breakfast buffets in the morning. these buffets had little containers of nutella.

italian nutella is different than american nutella.

it is more delicious.

more hazelnutty (that's a word, look it up! okay, don't look it up, but it's still a word).

so every morning, my sister and i took a handful of little nutella containers back to our room with us and packed it away in our luggage.

i came home with about 9 or 10 little nutellas.

they are almost all gone now.

sniffle.

boston, here i come! (in october 2010)

a huge congratulations to A and S on their recent engagement!

i especially loved the way that A announced it as well:

phone rings as i'm driving home from grocery shopping. earplugs/headset thing plugged into phone, just gotta stick it in my ear. phone ringing. keep eyes on road. phone ringing. one hand on wheel. phone ringing. no time to check who it is. answer phone.

me: hello?

A: hi!

me: ohmigod! hi A! (just a note, i did not call her A, i called her by her full name). how are you?

A: i'm good. you sounded surprised.

me: oh well (blushing in my car), i'm driving.

A: oh, okay. so i was wondering if you'd like to be my bridesmaid?

me: OHMIGOD!!! OF COURSE! (trying to maintain control of car) (squealing and high-pitched inaudible congratulations ensue).

A and S - i am so happy for the both of you! your wedding will be wonderful, and i am honored to be asked to be a part of it.

warm quinoa and barley salad

this can be a great side dish or main dish.  i used it as a main dish recently, mostly because when it came down to it - i didn't have any more time to make something else for dinner (well, i baked some chicken for hubby).  this is a wonderfully refreshing, delicious and simple dish.  and it's quite easy to customize too - no dried cranberries?  no problem!  toss in some raisins if you want.  no walnuts?  toast up some almonds!  but the roasted beets . . . i think they're pretty imperative to the dish.

golden beets, pre-roasting.  i love how they look.  round. bulbous.  what a strange word.  b-u-l-b-o-u-s.  bulbous.  

roast beets in 400 degree oven.  while they're roasting, cook the quinoa and barley.  measurements?  umm . . . sorry, i did this dish mainly visually.  but i'll try.  about 1/2 cup quinoa and 1/2 cup barley.  cooked it in a rice-cooker with 1 cup water.   it'll take about 40 min, perfect timing since the beets take about 45 min.

beets roasted and peeled.  naked beets.  on an odd side note - hubby and i went to a comedy show last friday night with friends L and C.  long story short, the comedian (hilarious, btw, absolutely loved her!), Jackie Kashian, described her husband as her "naked friend."  hehe.  naked beets.  naked friend.  okay, the only connection is the word naked.  moving on . . .

dice the cooked roasted beets - i used just two.  fluff the quinoa and barley like you would couscous, with a fork.  add about the rice vinegar and honey.  toss.  add salt and black pepper.  add the dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, chopped arugula.  mix and you're ready to eat!

Warm Quinoa and Barley Salad

1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 cup barley

1 cup water

2 medium golden beets

3 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp honey (warmed to help mixing)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped arugula

roast beets in 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.  while it's roasting, cook quinoa and barley in the water, about 40 minutes in rice cooker.

cool and peel beets under cold water.  dice beets.

fluff quinoa and barley with a fork.

add beets.

add vinegar and honey, mix.

add salt and pepper and mix.

add walnuts, dried cranberries, chopped arugula and mix.

get a bowl and eat!