Hot Pot!

I love Chinese hot pot (huo guo). It's basically like fondue, but Chinese style. Growing up, my family would reserve this for special occasions like Chinese New Year. It's a time for everyone in the family to get-together. Now that the weather has become more cold, coming home to eat hot pot is definitely something that warms my stomach up (even if it's just for two people). It's like drinking chicken soup when you're sick. If my stomach would allow me to have it my way, I'd go for the spicy style (ma la). It's so good, but it totally burns my stomach up. I usually end up with a bad stomachache for a few days thereafter. But I still love it. It's a love and hate relationship.

My list of must haves for hotpot:

- thinly-sliced ribeye and pork
- frozen tofu (the texture becomes chewy when you freeze tofu)
- tofu skin (dou pi)
- enoki mushrooms
- napa cabbage
- pork meatballs (gong wan)
- slices of fish
- shrimp
- squid
- mung bean noodles (the wide kind)

My sauce:

- HOT sauce!!
- soy sauce
- vinegar
- Chinese bbq sauce (sha cha jiang)
- minced scallions
- coarsely chopped cilantro

Azuki Bean Mochiko Cupcakes

I had some leftover sweetened canned azuki bean paste in the fridge that I would hate to see go to waste, so I made some cupcakes- Asian style. Instead of regular flour, this was made with rice flour, specifically Mochiko flour. I can usually find this at our local Asian grocery stores. These cupcakes are like a blend of mochi and cupcakes made with regular flour in the mouth. They are a bit on the chewy side. The dallop of sweetened azuki bean paste in the center is bliss. I couldn't resist them when they were still warm... a few minutes out of the oven.

1/2 box of Mochiko rice flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup powder sugar
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
azuki bean paste

Mix the eggs, rice flour, oil, powder sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and baking powder together. Grease muffin pan. (I used aluminum cupcake liners and greased them. Avoid paper liners if you want to use any liners. Cupcakes will stick to the paper liners.) Fill each cup with 2/3 of batter, spoon in a dallop of azuki bean paste, then top with 1/3 of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Check to see if they're done with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, then they're done.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

My Love for Chocolate

Thanks to my bestfriend who knows my love for chocolate, I now have a new addition to my library: Scharffen Berger's The Essence of Chocolate.



It actually talked about how Scharffen Berger started. Reading it made me appreciate their products even more. I had some free time last week and experimented with one of their recipes: chocolate sorbet. The finished product was so smooth in the mouth that it tasted almost like a piece of frozen chocolate bar. The great thing was that it was fat-free. Yes, fat free. This will be my newest chocolate treat.

Bacchanalia

Recently I had a privilege to dine at Bacchanalia, a contemporary American restaurant in Atlanta. It was truly an experience I will not forget (next to Rome's Quinzi e Gabrieli).

The entire dining experience, from beginning to the end, was truly enjoyable. It's a four-course prix-fixe menu. The chef threw in a lot of complimentary items in between the courses, like soup, pastries, cookies. We even had a complimentary peach and buttermilk smoothie. Yes, buttermilk.

Everything they served was like a taste explosion in the mouth. I would have never thought of some of the pairings. The gingersnap cookie paired well with the peach buttermilk smoothie. Poached pears went well with my flan.

The timing of each course was perfect. We didn't have to wait too long nor did it feel like we were rushed. Portions were just right. We ate enough to savor each course without feeling stuffed. Service was excellent. Even though it was a dressy restaurant, it did not feel "stuffy" inside. The ambiance was on the casual, laid-back side.

I'd definitely try to hit this place again... maybe when I get a bonus. :)

1198 Howell Mill Road
Atlanta, Georgia
404.365.0410

New York Eats

There are no other cities like New York City in the US. I love its liveliness. Being out at three o'clock in the morning can seem like eight o'clock at night. It's a city with a lot of diversity as well. I had a great time eating my way through it a few weeks ago.

There seems to be a lot of Japanese presence in the restaurant scenes. Cafe Zaiya (18 E 41st St) near Grand Central is a great place for lunch or afternoon snack. They have all kinds of bento boxes, baked goods, rice balls, and even a Beard Papa stall inside. I was hooked on their rice balls, specifically the spicy tuna ones I went back right before flying out to get a big bag of goodies for the plane ride home. In order to keep the seaweed fresh and crisp, they package them so that the seaweed is in between these plastic sheets. If you go at the right time, these rice balls will still be warm. Delicious.

Men Kui Tei (60 W 56th St, between 5th & 6th Ave) is a tiny tiny ramen shop. Tonkotsu ramen has become my favorite since my recent visit to Seattle's Samurai Ramen. Theirs was not as tasty, but I am not complaining because there are no ramen shops I know of in Atlanta.

Pizzas from John's Pizzeria (278 Bleecker Street) were absolutely something to remember. New York style... thin crust with the right amount of sauce. They were nice to make mine without cheese without looking at me funny. Cheese makes me throw up. I guess it's a taste aversion thing... since as long as I can remember.

I made my round to Forty Carrots (Metro level at Bloomingdale's 1000 3rd Avenue) for their well-known frozen yogurt. It's on the sweet-side for me. I had coffee and chocolate flavors. Their small size was huge. Compared to the Korean yogurt chains, this is more on the sweet side but much better than TCBY, while Korean yogurt chains make frozen yogurt that are more tart. Nevertheless, Forty Carrots still is superior.