Birthday (pity) party
It was hard not to think about my original birthday plans: gallivanting around Japan, ryokan stay with private onsen and kaiseki meal, dinner at 3 Michelin-starred Narisawa, and general vacation bliss. I know there’s a lot to be grateful for, but yesterday was one day where it was hard not to think about all that could have been. But yesterday, I helped teach a baking class with Noah’s classmates/our neighbors! We made apple hand pies though I forgot to take pictures. And at some point I bawled my eyes out laughing at dogs doing cute things on Instagram.
Noah must have felt sorry for me; he made me ramen for my birthday. 30+hrs of stock making through the night, chashu, noodles, all made with his bare hands. Except a pasta maker and I helped with the noodles. Same recipe I used last week. I’m sure it was as good as anything Japan could have offered us :)
Noah made this ramen!
Though it never got opaque and creamy in a real tonkotsu style, the broth was so luxurious, and we were both surprised by how much it tasted like both pork and chicken.
I’m realizing that I was pretty overzealous with how much blog-worthy cooking I’d do during this period. In the days BQ, I’d often spend at least one whole day off “meal-prepping” for the week, making a themed menu that allowed us to mix and match and eat a meal that felt new day. I went through a lot of recipes! Many I would have loved to share, some I’d want to caution against. These days though, it’s hard to find the motivation, when all I have is time to cook.
A month or so ago, my coworker gifted me with 3 Moroccan themed books, since I was super into the flavors of the region at the time. I had looked forward to digging into them “someday when I had more time” hahahahaha. It would have been perfect, if only the rare moments of inspiration weren’t so fleeting. By the time I thumb through a book for recipes and make a list, I’m already overwhelmed by the idea of cooking all this food, and worse yet, being stuck with eating the same thing for several days. These days, food is the only thing that helps break the monotony, and I don’t crave anything but the familiar Asian flavors that bring me comfort. And hot hot soup.
Some of the things I made this week:
Dalgona coffee, the eye-catching Tiktok meme coffee recipe. It took a few minutes whip to stiff peaks even with an electric whisk (I used the whisk that attaches to my immersion blender), it must take forever by hand. But I was surprised by how good it tastes because instant coffee is usually terrible. This reminded me of a frappe, but less cloyingly sweet.
Korean street-style egg sandwiches, hard times style. Home-made white sandwich fluffy bread, kale instead of cabbage, chinese sausage instead of ham, but with ketchup, sugar and a slice of cheese. Surprisingly needed more sugar than I let myself put on (not as much as the video).
Next day, I made Noah a grilled cheese (w/ leftover bossam pork loin), and a quick tomato bisque. Nothing to report. Just used up the loaf of bread, and warm soup is always comforting.
Freezer hanger steak, frozen corn and old tomatoes in a quick salsa, and cilantro-lime rice. We only had Trader Joe’s yuzu hot sauce, so I used some of that too (would not recommend the sauce or using it for this meal). The next night, I used the steak in chapaguri, and I am not proud of how much high-sodium nutrient-less noodles we ate that night.
While the ramen stock was bubbling away, I made a quick cauliflower soup for dinner and threw in some kale. Both this and the tomato soup were made possible by Better Than Bouillon chicken stock paste. I’d never make these types of soups if it was just vegetables boiled in water, and no way I’d use any good painstakingly made stock for it either. And instead of leaving a leftover carton of stock in the fridge until I have to throw it out or take up a bunch of space in the pantry, I just use the paste as a cheat for some body. It’s low effort for the amount of reward, taste good, can’t complain.
Lastly, while the cauliflower was bubbling away, I did a test of the recipe we chose for the bake-along class the following day. And ate the results for dessert.
Maybe I’ll review the bread recipe, even though I didn’t take any pictures.
The one thing that is still making the days fly by is how painstaking long the translation process gets. A ten minute stretch of video, when it feels like it’s going smoothly, makes an hour go by in the blink of an eye. Plus, I’m learning lots about the references I’ve glazed over a million times. I never realized how often Qiong Yao quoted Confucius, and through all the research I am confirming how useless it all is for understanding the whole show. But it’s fun, and I’m brushing up on lots of Chinese.
We’ve got some failure of pizza dough in the fridge right now, and tonight we ate pizza. Maybe tomorrow some cheesy bread? And I also really want to make the inkigayo sandwiches but I’d have to make bread for that again….