a simple chinese home meal

i go to my cousins' house for, in cousin daisy's words, 'a simple meal at home.' check this out. two dishes out of an eight pound snow flower fish - which americans call, i think, ring cod. braised fish head with shittake and bean curd bamboo. and steamed fish tail. by the way, our american friends would wonder, what happens with the fish body? well, according to our chinese taste, that part of the fish is a little too fibrous. so as i savor the creamy fish cheek and buttery fish tail i realize this works out perfectly in the global village. americans love fillets. chinese love head and tail. everybody is happy and nothing goes to waste. fantastic. another by the way is this. for me the yummiest part of the braised head dish is...bean curd bamboo. they soak up the essence of the dish. so i quietly chopstick one piece after another into my mouth. unfortunately midway thru the meal cousin tommy announces, wow, this bean curd bamboo is the best part of the dish. so there goes my monopoly. an opportunity for me to learn to share.

the veggi dish stir fry chinese summer squash with dried scallop and green onion sounds and looks simple. it is actually not easy to pull off. either squash gets overcooked or scallop is tough and chewy. here, the biased cut squash pieces look refreshingly misty jade green and crispy. scallop is tender. the unique briny oceany aroma of dried scallop is not overbearing. the gentle squashy flavor shines through beautifully. needless to say i am the one to clean out the dish.

the classic steamed chicken with ginger sauce is fabulous although i forget to leave room for it what with the fish head and all that.

o yes, the soup. tah-dah. american ginseng and black bamboo silk chicken. i down two big bowls. not so much because of the highly acclaimed nutritional and medicinal values of these two ingredients. but because it's simply heavenly flavorful.

while i am preoccupied with cleaning out fish bones cousin kar wai tells us about his work. he is doing amazing things in human rights. really helping people, touching their lives, one at a time. and he does it in such a sweet and gentle way with quiet dedication. we are so proud of him.

speaking of pride, our real dessert, while spooning out lemon sorbet and vanilla ice cream, is a power point presentation from byron, our twelve year old nephew. he dedicated spring break to create a power point on a renaissance painter. his dad says, i could not have done what you do when i was your age and it's not because of technology. true. the little big guy has obviously put in a lot of work and thought into it. he presents it with poise and clarity. now, that's hope we can believe in. bravo, byron.

as i type this a box of giant, aromatic mangoes sit in the coolest part of the house. somehow i think cousin daisy has read me blogging about digging mango out of compost bin and she decides if i love mango that much i deserve some more. i agree.

really, there's nothing like having great food that are prepared with so much love and enjoying them with people i love. the food, i promise you, really taste that much more deliiiiish.

jewish touch in chinese-american thanksgiving

the day after thanksgiving i begin to dig into the bird. or, more accurately, the fifteen pound bird that my cousin tommy and his family prepared and is now sitting in pieces in bags in my fridge. what happens is there are so much fantastic food at the thanksgiving table that i only manage to have a couple of mouthfuls of the sage-buttered crispy, golden brown skin and juicy breast. actually i really wanted to gobble up the fabulous corn bread stuffing that my nephew byron made and the yummy cranberry sauce that my fifth-grader niece agnes whipped up. they are so good that i can just slurp them down on their own.

anyway, i cannot do justice to it all if i don't pay tribute to the outstanding starters. hmmm. where do i begin? how about this one? 'sweetie in a blanket.' agnes pitted a date, inserted an almond into the hole, wrapped bacon around it and secured it with a toothpick. she did it probably twenty-four times, at least. how about a hand for her patience and stamina? yay, agnes. meanwhile her dad has prepared two dips. check this out. a puree of fennel and roasted garlic. caper, raisin salsa. really. i had to summon all the spiritual force that i have accumulated for eighteen years not to go crazy on them. actually it's more that i was looking ahead, anticipating the crabs, turkey, and all that were to come, and trying to save some space in the belly for them. what next? mashed potatoes. byron suggested adding lox. together with chives, they transformed the homely, humble mashed potato into a golden, lush mound. not to mention hwubby was deeply moved because he was brought up on lox and bagel every sunday growing up. so lox has a special place in his heart. and belly. so there you have it. a jewish touch in thanksgiving.

i still haven't got to the turkey. to be continued.