The online Merriam Webster dictionary defines fusion cuisine as: “food prepared by using the techniques and ingredients of two or more ethnic or regional cuisines” Going by this definition, just about everything we cook or eat is fusion cuisine. Noodles came from China (yes, they did!),...
I’ve been in a pseudo state of déjà-vu since we returned to Seattle two months ago. Considering how long I’ve lived here (albeit off and on), I expected to ease into Seattle life as effortlessly as shimmying into a favorite pair of well-worn jeans. Everything I love...
My friend Yuki recoils at the mere mention of meat and fruit in tandem. I can still remember the times her face scrunched up into an origami of disgust at everything from sweet and sour pork to Hawaiian pizza. As for me, give me pork stewed...
Coronation chicken isn’t so well known in these parts (i.e. the U.S.) but in the U.K., this dish has a fabled history. A humble dish with a regal name, coronation chicken was invented by Rosemary Hume, the founder of Le Cordon Bleu, joining the ranks of...
There’s rice pudding and then there’s rice pudding. Or more precisely, my rice pudding: “my” being yours, mine, or Uncle Bob’s. Ask just about anyone and you’ll probably get an earful about a “secret” ingredient, or a tale inextricably linked to the memory of their childhood (or perhaps...
As I mentioned in New Beginnings Part I, I’m investing all my New Year mojo in yu sheng (Mandarin for "raw fish"), only my version uses tea-cured salmon which is technically still raw. Also called yee sang (in Cantonese), this "salad" is usually eaten in restaurants...
Chinese New Year is a celebration of new beginnings and many Chinese take the saying “out with the old, in with the new” very seriously. This year, the Year of the Dragon, is drumming up a little more hoo-ha--and will welcome quite a few more babies--than...
As un-American as it makes me sound, I never make chili con carne, or chili for short. In fact, I’ve probably eaten only 4 or 5 bowls of it in my lifetime. I know, I'm ashamed to say it. To me, chili refers to the red...
A very important person once said, “You can’t argue with taste.” This V.I.P. happens to be my dad. He'd make this declaration while pouring kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce, literally “sweet sauce”) over whatever food was on his plate, be it fried noodles (normal)...
