การรับประทานอาหารที่ดี/Ăn uống tốt

I just love Chinese food. My favourite dish is number 27 - Clement Atlee

I would like to thank everyone who joined me today at An Chau Asian Market as part of the tour sponsored by Slow Food Buffalo Niagara International Institute of Buffalo. I hope everyone found the event informative and enjoyable. I know the owners of An Chau were thrilled to see so many new faces.
As promised, here are some helpful links to assist you in continuing your adventure in the wonderful world of Asian food. The following are some sites with helpful information about the various ingredients used in Asian cuisine:

China: http://www.china-family-adventure.com/chinese-food-ingredients.html
Japanese: http://www.savoryjapan.com/ingredients.html
Korea: http://www.maangchi.com/ingredients
Thai: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/
Vietnamese: http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/
Asian: http://www.ming.com/food-and-wine/ming.com-guide-to-asian-ingredients.htm
Asian: http://asiasociety.org/lifestyle/food-recipes/food

The reference books mentioned were:

Bruce Cost: Asian Ingredients: A Guide to the Foodstuffs of China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam
Ken Hom:Asian Ingredients: A Guide to the Foodstuffs of China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam

You can find a link to Andrea Ngyuen’s “Asian Market Shopper” app here.

My Buffalo rising article on fish sauce can be found here. My blog post on Red Boat fish sauce and a link to Andrea’s recipe for nuoc cham is here. And as an extra bonus, especially for those who bought a jar of tamarind chilli paste, I also give you a link to my recipe for really great Thai inspired dressing.
Thank you all again for coming, and remember life’s too short to eat bad food.

Soup For Your Soul(mate)

Tom Yum Goong is spelled many ways, too many to keep track of (Dtom yum Gkoong is Kasma Loha-unchit's variation on the spelling - I assume it is the most phonetically correct). But that doesn't matter because it is one my favorite soups on the planet.

To me soup is a nearly perfect food; nourishing, warming, comforting, and great for almost any occasion. The origin of the word restaurant is found in restaurer, to restore, originally a hearty, flavorful soup to restore ones vigor.

My favorite soups are usually those which are identified with a certain place on the map, and which in a way identify a culture – at least in my mind. They are simple peasant blends that are wonderful, though many can be gussied up like a tart for the big city folks. Minestrone for Italy; Barley Broth symbolizes Scotland; Avgolémono evokes Greece; Onion Soup Gratinée – France, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Oh, and don’t forget the special soup of my own ranks of chosen people: Good Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls! I haven’t yet tried Czernina, the Polish Duck Blood Soup, but I’d bet a well made one would do the same.

Tom Yum Goong is the perfect evocation of Thailand. I don’t think I can be accused of hyperbole to describe this national soup of Thailand as the perfect balance of hot, sour salty and sweet, just hot and intense enough to make one giggle with a pleasure.

That’s why I am married.

During the beginning of our official courtship (the unofficial part lasted 14 years) we ate a meal at a great local spot called Saigon Bangkok. We were there for the lunch specials, which include Tom Yum Gai - the variation with chicken instead of shrimp. The soup made us giggle so bad we could hardly talk. We were married not long after.

So, I make it a point to make Tom Yum Goong at least once a year. It warms our hearts and our souls. While I have made a pseudo Tom Yum with other, more readily available ingredients, the best results come from getting as close as you can to traditional. Being a whack job, what you see in the first photo is a pot of lemongrass that stays inside in winter and outside in summer. It started from a stalk I bought at Wegmans. I stuck the leftover one in water and it rooted. You can get Kaffir Lime Leaves fresh there at times, but I used dried, and bumped it up with some fresh lime zest.

I tend to start off treating this unusually, as more of a tisane than a soup - steeping the lemongrass and lime leaves to extract the flavors, then removing them ( yes, I know, educated eaters know not to eat them, but it's just easier).

So, then I float in the rest of the flavors, and at the last minute I add just enough shrimp for dinner a (reheated shrimp taste like erasers - I prefer to add more shrimp when reheating).

The result - delightful!!!