Today, the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was inaugurated for his second term.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administers the oath of office to President Barack Obama during the Inaugural swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)
Today marks Day 5 of eating no meat whatsoever! Just a quick update on how the “meatless” thing is working out.
My first New Year’s resolution of 2013 was to “Eat vegetarian… most of the time,” directly referring to my weekday vegetarian diet I’d be adopting to (1) eat healthier, (2) help the animals, and to (3) help the environment—the first one is truly the most important one to me, I just get to add in #2 and #3 for fun.
I started my weekday vegetarian diet on January 1, 2013 with the support of my mom, who also took up the vegetarian diet with me. I only went in knowing one thing for sure: I wouldn’t be eating meat from Monday–Friday.
The weird part is what I discovered from my five-day (and counting) journey!
#1 – Adapt and Expand
Not eating meat made me look towards other foods to fill the void, many of which I would’ve never tried! The funny thing is that I never considered myself a veggie lover—in fact, I was the opposite! I preferred chicken over chickpeas any day. But now, I’ve tried so many new foods! From eggplant to mushrooms to soy meats and cheeses! (No one in their right mind would eat chicken-less chicken unless they were vegetarian.) Continue reading
Who doesn’t love sushi?
I ate my last meal in New York at Morimoto — a Japanese restaurant on 10th Avenue. I definitely didn’t want to leave New York City without having great sushi, and luckily, Morimoto delivered.
Our meal began with the toro tartare.
Our waitress served us the raw, chopped toro, topped with domestic caviar, in a large bowl filled with ice. Inside the bowl was a tray filled with dashes of sauces — wasabi, sour cream, nori paste, chopped chives, guacamole, and rice crackers — and a cup of dashi soy. To eat the tartare, you use the metal spatula-like spoon to scoop out toro, add condiments, and dip in the dashi soy.
The toro tartare tasted delicious! It’s one of those foods that I’ll want again if I go to New York, but not all the time — it costs $31 on the lunch menu. It’s definitely worth the price for a non-local, though.
Maki and nigiri sushi were next on the lunch agenda.
The shrimp tempura roll, spicy salmon roll, and sake (salmon) nigiri created a triumvirate of flavor, headed by the sake nigiri.
The sake nigiri was absolutely phenomenal! The salmon practically melted in my mouth. The chef’s inclusion of wasabi in between the slice of cool, raw salmon and the sweet sushi rice made the sushi taste ten times better. In Japan, the sushi chef lightly smears a small bit of wasabi in between the fish and the rice, as wasabi should not be mixed in the soy sauce, which is commonly done in the West.
Taking a short break from sushi, I feasted into the crispy rock shrimp tempura.
The rock shrimp tempura had both a green chile and a wasabi sauce. Our waitress gave a ranch dip along with the rock shrimp tempura, which added a cooling dimension to the spicy shrimp. Honestly, I think I should have started with the shrimp, as it’s quite filling. Plus, its hot properties clash with the coolness of the sushi I just ate.
I ended the meal with two more maki rolls.
The spicy tuna roll and California roll were calm and somewhat “safe” endings to the meal.
The standout roll was definitely the California roll. What made it stand apart, especially from other California rolls, was the use of real snow crab meat — very different from the usual imitation crab found in most sushi restaurants and grocery stores.
I definitely recommend trying out Morimoto if you visit New York. Would I go back to Morimoto if I take another trip to the Big Apple? Possibly, but probably not. I won’t lie — Morimoto is ridiculously pricy, even for lunch. Is the food worth it? I’d say yes, but it’s not the place for someone on a budget (unless you want to leave hungry and underfed). I’d say try it once, then decide to return if you think it’s worth it. Just watch how much you’re ordering.
I’m not much of a dessert person, but I have a special place in my heart for a certain French sweet… namely the macaron. (Not the coconut macaroon, the extra “o” makes a huge difference.)
It’s no secret that I love macarons; I think this is even my second post about the French confection. My love affair with macarons started a few years ago in Paris at Ladurée, which is famous for its luxury cakes and pastries, as well as inventing the “double-decker” macaron (its current form).
When we visited New York, one of the places on our list to visit was Ladurée’s only North American location on Madison Avenue. (Another Ladurée is supposed to open in SoHo in the near future.) Note: As of April 2014, the SoHo location is open.
The clocks have turned and the calendars have changed as everyone around the world celebrates the arrival of January 1, 2013. A new year signals many things: a new chapter, a new story, a new adventure, a new self.
Like many people, I have my list of New Year’s resolutions prepared:
This week’s photo challenge from the Daily Post was to pick the best photos to tell the story of your year. Looking back, I actually had a pretty eventful year, starting with the birth of Kuya’s Notebook in January (Chinese New Year) and ending with a white Christmas with lots in between!
The photos below are a quick glance at what my 2012 was like. What was your year like? Continue reading
This is my brother Jude, and it’s a miracle he’s here today.
My brother, Jude, was a sickly child, constantly being taken out of school for medical reasons — what we believed was asthma. Jude going to kindergarten was such a huge moment — the two of us would be at the same school, he’d actually be going to school, and I’d be able to see him there every day.
Seventh grade was the first year I tried to stay extremely optimistic for the future. I started writing in a journal I bought, making sure to include even the mundane details of the first days of school. As I was rereading it, something caught my eye — Jude had a stomachache one morning, and we were almost late to school.
It was August 19, 2010, Jude’s fourth day of kindergarten and my fourth day of seventh grade. He cried for so long that day about losing a game in his gym class. He screamed about how they cheated him and how unfair the game was, as we told him that “it was just a game” and that it wasn’t worth crying over.
His cheeks were bright red, which I thought was my mom’s lipstick. Later that night, we found out he had a 105 degree fever, and we brought him to the emergency room. I’ll never forget the flashing lights of the ambulance that whisked my only brother away from the emergency room to the large hospital, Children’s Medical Center, in downtown Dallas.
The next morning, my friend A-’s dad brought me to the hospital to see Jude. I kept my sunglasses on for the ride home, trying to hide the tears.
When I made it home, I started packing up my things to take with me back to my friend’s house. My journal was exactly where I left it. I opened it, turned it to the next blank page, and wrote three words.
“Jude has leukemia.” Continue reading
Note: Mesa Grill’s New York location is closed. As of posting, the only open locations are in Las Vegas and the Bahamas
On Day Two in New York, the lunch destination was Mesa Grill, one of Bobby Flay’s restaurants.
I’m from Texas, land of beef and all things meat. I was actually quite surprised that a restaurant owned by a man well-known for grilling (and Mexican food, which is something else I’m used to) excited me.
There are a few things that made my time at Mesa Grill very significant in my New York journey — first, Mesa Grill was the only restaurant where we, rather my mom, actually ordered from the Restaurant Week menu (which took place between July 16 through August 10, 2012). Second, Mesa Grill had the best service out of any restaurant I went to in New York. I’ll never forget the wonderful waiter we had — he was so personal and friendly, it was great!
On the restaurant week menu was a spicy salmon tartare as an appetizer, wild striped bass as the entrée, and a vanilla bean custard for dessert. I ordered the Mesa Burger — which had the usual lettuce, tomato, and cheese, but also included grilled Vidalia onion, horseradish mustard, and Southwestern fries.
Back when I was younger, Naruto used to play on Cartoon Network. Every Monday and Tuesday night, I’d watch the show, obsessed with the ninjas’ many powers. I think Naruto started my ninja phase — the show made being a ninja look so fun! I think I hit my ninja peak in second or third grade, with my Halloween costume being a ninja for two years in a row.
Naruto, a twelve-year-old ninja and star of the show, had one recurring obsession: ramen. Especially in the earlier episodes, Naruto would be taken to a ramen-ya very frequently by one of his ninja instructors. I’d watch them sit in the ramen shop, slurping down their ramen as Naruto would keep going on about how good it tasted.
Whenever I saw them do that on TV, I’d suddenly want to have ramen too. I had no idea what ramen tasted like — was it salty? Sweet? Did it taste like udon noodles, or was it closer to a chicken noodle soup? By seventh grade, I was buying instant ramen from a Japanese specialty store. The ramen helped my reputation as the kid who brings foreign (i.e. non-American) lunches all the time. Even though I was eating “ramen,” it didn’t feel the same. Continue reading
“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to EATING.”
http://instagram.com/p/P5gNs-H1IC/
Back on September 22, ten food trucks rolled into the Dallas suburbs as a part of the first annual Haute Wheels Food Truck Fest. I am a big fan of food — in case the foodie trip to New York didn’t make you realize that — so naturally I showed up at the hour it opened. My best friend since preschool, Alessia, came with me and we tackled the food trucks together! Thanks for joining me in my goal to eat at all ten food trucks, even if that didn’t work out for obvious reasons!
Alessia didn’t actually join me until I hit Good Karma Kitchen, although she and her parents ended up eating at most of the same trucks, and our families went back to Coolhaus for a group dessert.
The Ten Food Trucks:
* indicates that I ate here Continue reading
Kuya's Notebook 