![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Rummages
It takes two complete weeks of pain for me to get over Việt Nam and be back to my pre-Việt Nam normalcy. It didn't come easy though, not without some shitty trials and tribulations with the risk of loosing a precious gem. I was an emotional wreck -- it was like solving a puzzle with many missing pieces hidden under the couch and I have to try so hard searching for them. Anyway, life is back to normal and although I was a little torn, I have come to terms that everything happened for a reason or two.
With that being said, I experienced a weird feeling a few days ago. Apparently, I drove by my old apartment in South Hadley, and in one way or another, I kind of miss it. Well, it wasn't anything glamorous; it's located in a very desolated and rural town, and my upstairs neighbor was not anything helpful who happened to be a true arrogant Anglo supremacist who thinks that she is superior to other "colored" people on earth. And then there is more, the place is a total arctic zone in the winter in which I almost suffer from hypertension and heart attack every month when I received the gas/oil/heating bill. And then there was the small kitchen, large enough just to fit one person, a space of a tiny closet. Anyway, it was a typical shady and old apartment where I lived for about 9 months before I moved out. But if you asked me a few months ago if I were to miss it, I would absolutely shake my head and insist on a "no." However, now as I look back, the place has served the purpose for having a convenient commute to work, which was a five-minute walk and I do miss it. It's an oxymoronic feeling!
Moving on to food, it's been hard to have a "normal" appetite after the trip to Việt Nam (sorry, Việt Nam again!) Everything taste so bland and uninteresting so I have to started my own series of "food network" episodes of home cook meals. After a 40-minute trip to Springfield for two free-roaming chicken, Vietnamese fresh rau sống (herbs and vegetable), and then a breezy drive along the country road for other locally grown fresh produces. I ended up making several dishes over the weekend. As you can tell from the right, I bought a bunch of just-delivered asparagus at Atkins, an organic farm store on Route 116, and grilled (in the oven) with simply one table-spoon of butter and sprinkled with a pinch of black pepper and kosher salt (sea salt would give a better flavor). I don't own a real grill so the oven was my last resort. Nonetheless, the taste of fresh and organic asparagus was just over my head; it's crunchy and juicy at the same time. Actually I learned this simple recipe by watching one of Martha Stewart show' episodes a long time ago before she was indicted and being sent to jail for her crimes. Nonetheless, that woman is a true talented domestic engineer and I thought of her while using her recipe. Sorry, the asparagus was just for my own guilty pleasure; I will invite you the next time I re-produce this simple dish.
Are you salivating over this photo? It was chicken with ginger (gà kho gừng), so hot and sizzling in the making. This dish is simple and nostalgically home-stretched; my mother used to cook 3 or 4 chickens all at once in massive quantity (and no doubts, with exceptional quality) using her big and heavy wok. Then she divided the final creation into several tupperware' portions and stored them in the freezer for the conveniences of my (and my other siblings) school and work schedules when I was in college and living at home. The "manufactured" chickens at the regular American grocery stores do not make the cut but only free-roaming chickens give a better texture and flavor for you to scoff off with hot white rice and fresh vegetable, preferably those tiny and crunchy pickle cucumbers. The vegetable will give a flair balance to the fatty meat and the scent of ginger gives a subtle flavor as well. YUM!!! Whenever I prepare this dish, or any other Vietnamese dishes for that matter, I feel so "grown up" in a sense that I no longer needed my mother to cook for me and I am able to survive on my own with my cooking. I guess all those days of coercion has paid off in a big way!
Upon someone's request, I happily obliged to create a wonderful dinner (which extended to two nights) of Phở Gà (Chicken phở). The photo showed the beginning phase of a 4-hour cooking process just to get the right phở broth. I am very picky when it comes to getting the right flavor for the phở because if you miss out one step, or not paying careful attention, the broth will go down the drain. As you can tell, I am still gravitated towards being a perfectionist even though I have denounced such personal character awhile ago. Hey, it's not easy being a perfectionist; it's a tormented nature!
Anyway, going back to the phở broth, floating atop the water surface were daikon, onion, a bag of spices, and the whole free-roaming chicken, completely sanitized and viscerated. At the bottom of the deep cooking vessel, which are obscured by the chicken, are three pounds of chicken feet, heads and necks. This is hard-core home cooking because the vicious process was time-consuming, attention-seeking, and you must be very diligently patient. On top of that, the summer heat added a treacherous venture of cooking in a non-AC house and a little fan with no option for oscillation. Luckily, there are plenty of windows at my new apartment and the kitchen is quite spacious for me to move around. The painstaking, yet exhilarating, efforts was paid off. Last night, I invited one of my colleagues, who lives just a few blocks away, to come over for dinner. I served gỏi cuốn (spring rolls) and then the main entree was obviously Phở gà. The food was a conventional way to welcome interesting conversations!
I didn't take more photos of the actual dishes -- too busy preparing the table and living up to my reputation as a good host. But you guys will take my words for it, right?
With that being said, I experienced a weird feeling a few days ago. Apparently, I drove by my old apartment in South Hadley, and in one way or another, I kind of miss it. Well, it wasn't anything glamorous; it's located in a very desolated and rural town, and my upstairs neighbor was not anything helpful who happened to be a true arrogant Anglo supremacist who thinks that she is superior to other "colored" people on earth. And then there is more, the place is a total arctic zone in the winter in which I almost suffer from hypertension and heart attack every month when I received the gas/oil/heating bill. And then there was the small kitchen, large enough just to fit one person, a space of a tiny closet. Anyway, it was a typical shady and old apartment where I lived for about 9 months before I moved out. But if you asked me a few months ago if I were to miss it, I would absolutely shake my head and insist on a "no." However, now as I look back, the place has served the purpose for having a convenient commute to work, which was a five-minute walk and I do miss it. It's an oxymoronic feeling!Moving on to food, it's been hard to have a "normal" appetite after the trip to Việt Nam (sorry, Việt Nam again!) Everything taste so bland and uninteresting so I have to started my own series of "food network" episodes of home cook meals. After a 40-minute trip to Springfield for two free-roaming chicken, Vietnamese fresh rau sống (herbs and vegetable), and then a breezy drive along the country road for other locally grown fresh produces. I ended up making several dishes over the weekend. As you can tell from the right, I bought a bunch of just-delivered asparagus at Atkins, an organic farm store on Route 116, and grilled (in the oven) with simply one table-spoon of butter and sprinkled with a pinch of black pepper and kosher salt (sea salt would give a better flavor). I don't own a real grill so the oven was my last resort. Nonetheless, the taste of fresh and organic asparagus was just over my head; it's crunchy and juicy at the same time. Actually I learned this simple recipe by watching one of Martha Stewart show' episodes a long time ago before she was indicted and being sent to jail for her crimes. Nonetheless, that woman is a true talented domestic engineer and I thought of her while using her recipe. Sorry, the asparagus was just for my own guilty pleasure; I will invite you the next time I re-produce this simple dish. Are you salivating over this photo? It was chicken with ginger (gà kho gừng), so hot and sizzling in the making. This dish is simple and nostalgically home-stretched; my mother used to cook 3 or 4 chickens all at once in massive quantity (and no doubts, with exceptional quality) using her big and heavy wok. Then she divided the final creation into several tupperware' portions and stored them in the freezer for the conveniences of my (and my other siblings) school and work schedules when I was in college and living at home. The "manufactured" chickens at the regular American grocery stores do not make the cut but only free-roaming chickens give a better texture and flavor for you to scoff off with hot white rice and fresh vegetable, preferably those tiny and crunchy pickle cucumbers. The vegetable will give a flair balance to the fatty meat and the scent of ginger gives a subtle flavor as well. YUM!!! Whenever I prepare this dish, or any other Vietnamese dishes for that matter, I feel so "grown up" in a sense that I no longer needed my mother to cook for me and I am able to survive on my own with my cooking. I guess all those days of coercion has paid off in a big way! Upon someone's request, I happily obliged to create a wonderful dinner (which extended to two nights) of Phở Gà (Chicken phở). The photo showed the beginning phase of a 4-hour cooking process just to get the right phở broth. I am very picky when it comes to getting the right flavor for the phở because if you miss out one step, or not paying careful attention, the broth will go down the drain. As you can tell, I am still gravitated towards being a perfectionist even though I have denounced such personal character awhile ago. Hey, it's not easy being a perfectionist; it's a tormented nature!Anyway, going back to the phở broth, floating atop the water surface were daikon, onion, a bag of spices, and the whole free-roaming chicken, completely sanitized and viscerated. At the bottom of the deep cooking vessel, which are obscured by the chicken, are three pounds of chicken feet, heads and necks. This is hard-core home cooking because the vicious process was time-consuming, attention-seeking, and you must be very diligently patient. On top of that, the summer heat added a treacherous venture of cooking in a non-AC house and a little fan with no option for oscillation. Luckily, there are plenty of windows at my new apartment and the kitchen is quite spacious for me to move around. The painstaking, yet exhilarating, efforts was paid off. Last night, I invited one of my colleagues, who lives just a few blocks away, to come over for dinner. I served gỏi cuốn (spring rolls) and then the main entree was obviously Phở gà. The food was a conventional way to welcome interesting conversations!
I didn't take more photos of the actual dishes -- too busy preparing the table and living up to my reputation as a good host. But you guys will take my words for it, right?