Tawn Makes Pineapple Fried Rice

Posted on 31 May 2012 by christao408

The evening after Andy and Sugi’s wedding, the newlyweds were off at a family dinner so Tawn and I invited Andy W and Kenny over to our condo for dinner. Sugi’s family had sent us home the night before with a pair of very ripe Maui Gold pineapples, so Tawn offered to make pineapple fried rice.

Chef Tawn busy in the kitchen. We had to buy a few items such as the raisins, the pack of which I carried with me back to Kansas City to leave with my sister’s family, since the friend we’re staying with in San Francisco doesn’t like raisins.

Dinner started with a fresh mango and pineapple smoothie. Healthy treat to whet the appetite.

Filling the hollowed-out pineapple with the fried rice. The top shell is placed over the rice and then it is baked in the over until fragrant.

A short video of Tawn removing the top of the pineapple!

The finished product! It was really tasty.

For dessert: green tea ice cream.

Maui Memories

Posted on 30 May 2012 by christao408

Some more photos from our week in Maui.

View from our condo’s lanai (balcony) in Kihei on the south side of Maui. This is on the northern end of town looking south.

From the deck on the building’s roof looking north towards the neck of Maui.

Tawn watches the sunset from the beautifully manicured lawn.

Sunset over the west part of Maui on our second evening there. You can just see the windmills that line the ridge of the mountain.

Andy and Sugi – The Wedding

Posted on 28 May 2012 by christao408

Last Sunday fellow Xangan Andy was married to Sugi at the King Kamehameha Country Club on Maui. I shared one picture a few days ago, but let me share a few more for my family and friends who know the couple.

Beautiful view of the wedding site, which offered a sweeping vista from one end of the Maui neck to the other.

The flower girl (Sugi’s niece Taylor) and ring bearer (Andy’s nephew Cayden) needed a little encouragement.

The bride is escorted by her father, Mike. As soon as she started down the aisle, tears started flowing. And lest you think that Andy is some tough guy, he started crying, too.

Sugi and Andy exchange rings. A Shinto priest from the temple close to Sugi’s family’s house in Pa’ia performed the ceremony.

Sealing the deal with a kiss. The flower girl, Taylor, is barefoot because she said her shoes hurt her feet.

The newlywed couple walk down the aisle.

The bride’s sister and matron of honor, Jessica, escorted by the groom’s best man Travis. The flower girl is Taylor, Jessica’s three-year old daughter.

The bride’s mother and father. Beautiful Japanese-themed dress and cloak!

The bride and her nearly 95-year old grandfather, who was the hit of the party.

The couple immediately after the ceremony!

Tawn poses with the flower girl while she still had her sandals on!

Andy W (obscured by request), Kenny, me, Tawn, Sugi, Andy, Fei, and Travis. Fei and Travis went to high school in Omaha with Andy.

The groom and bride address the guests. I was the emcee for the event and, with only a short while to practice, had to introduce all the out of town guests and family members!

The beautiful wedding cake. They went for a small cake because the main desserts were pie including my favorite macadamia nut cream pie!

Tawn and I pose with one of the cutest children at the wedding, Chinasa. The friend of Sugi’s college roommate, Chinasa was this perfectly calm one-year old who didn’t mind everybody holding her. No fussing, no crying. But she kept a poker face the whole time and was slow to smile!

It was a beautiful wedding – one of the nicest I’ve been to – and we were really glad we made the effort to fly over to be a part of it. Congratulations to Andy and Sugi and may you have many happy years together!

Rehearsal Dinner on Maui

Posted on 25 May 2012 by christao408

It is our last evening on Maui. I’m a bit bloody, bruised, and battered from kayaking in the ocean in the cove outside Sugi’s aunt’s house. More about that soon. Nonetheless, it has been a lovely trip and I’d like to share some pictures with you.

We arrived in Maui last Thursday. Andy and Sugi’s wedding was Sunday afternoon and in lieu of a rehearsal dinner on Saturday, Sugi’s family invited the out of town guests to their oceanfront home in Pa’ia, on the north shore of the island.

The family compound, which is where Sugi’s grandfather Ohata originally had his medical clinic and home, faces onto Pa’ia Bay with a view of Kahalui and the ‘Ioa Valley in the distance. Pardon my clumsy stitching in the above photo. At least, you have an idea of how spectacular the view from their backyard is.

There were at least thirty guests from out of town. With Sugi’s more immediate local family members, the crowd was close to fifty. One of the first orders of business was to rehearse the wedding ceremony, which the celebrants did on the lawn.

While everyone practiced, I shot some pictures, including this cute three-year old who is the daughter of Andy and Sugi’s friend Linda, who was also the wedding’s photographer. June, being the daughter of a photographer, was ready to strike a pose on request.

The sun was still strong at this point in the afternoon – going on 6:00 – so Tawn was seeking whatever shade he could find.

After the rehearsal, the tiki torches were lit and the luau began. Above, Tawn poses with the bride and groom to be, Sugi and Andy. To their left are another pair of Xanga friends, Andy (ungrandvoyage) on the far left and Kenny (kenpcho) second from the left. Andy has always kept his identity hidden on Xanga (sound familiar, Matt?) so he asks that we obscure his face when posting pictures that include him. Tawn and I have met Kenny a few times before but this was our first time meeting Andy.

Several adorable children running around. In addition to the photogenic June (center) we have Sugi’s niece Taylor on the left and Andy’s nephew Cayden on the right. I enjoy watching children interact, especially young children as they can so easily play together and so easily ignore each other.

Another shot of the children, who were helping Sugi’s youngest niece, Malia (in the yellow outfit), as she wobbled around the yard.

We also met Sugi’s college roommate Amaka and her adorable baby Chinasa. Chinasa was so cute because she was totally willing to be held by one stranger after another without fuss, but she looked at each one of us with this poker face, as if she was trying to size us up without revealing her feelings.

As the sun set over west Maui, the photographer has Sugi and Andy pose for some photos. While the sunset was subdued that evening, the pictures turned out well and – most importantly – we had a very Hawaiian welcome that made all of the guests feel very much a part of the family.

Congratulations to Andy and Sugi

Posted on 21 May 2012 by christao408

Aloha from Maui! Yesterday we attended the wedding of Andy (known on Xanga as yang1815) and Sugi. More on that later but for now, we wish them a long and happy life together!

Flying to SFO

Posted on 18 May 2012 by christao408

This blog is always a bit delayed. We’re actually already in Maui and have been in San Francisco for the last week – and yet I am still writing about things that happened last month in Bangkok! Anyhow, our flight over on EVA Airways, a Taiwanese airline, was smooth.

Our airplane in San Francisco after our arrival. Temperatures were cold and breezy, as only a San Francisco summer can be!

Flight over – “Elite” class, which is EVA’s premium economy cabin. Airfare is higher this summer than when I traveled over this past December. Nonetheless, I’m at an age (and height) where a little extra space makes the trip much more enjoyable.

While EVA’s food is generally good, this flight’s food was exceptional. Out of Bangkok, I had a Penang curry beef dinner with a duck pate over salad, fruit, and ice cream for dessert.

Closer look at the beef curry – instead of small pieces it was a petite steak. Very flavorful.

Strawberry ice cream, complete with little strawberry seeds. Of course, it arrived frozen so solid that I had to wait ten minutes to be able to make even the slightest dent in it!

Tawn on the air train to the car rental facility in SFO. Because we arrived in the early evening, there was no wait at immigration and customs. We breezed through immigration in less than three minutes and the bags started arriving within fifteen minutes of getting off the plane. In fact, we were in the rental car driving away from the airport within an hour of landing. Pretty impressive!

Cold Jasmine Rice in Hot Weather

Posted on 16 May 2012 by christao408

Thailand’s hot season, which felt hotter than normal this year but according to the weather service was not, is just winding up. One of the few positives to the hot season is that many restaurants serve a seasonal specialty known as khao chae (ข้าวแช่). Tawn and I joined a few friends to sample this delicacy.

We dined at Lai Rote, a old-timey restaurant located on Sukhumvit Soi 39 across from Samitivej Hospital. It is a traditional Central Thai restaurant and its name means “many flavors.”

Making khao chae is a three-day process. The rice is parboiled, which leaves it with a “toothier” texture than is typical for jasmine rice. It is then soaked with jasmine petals in a container that has lit jasmine candles floating in it. The delicate floral flavor permeates the rice. Finally, the rice is served in ice water, a cool treat during hot season.

The side dishses are the real attraction, though. They vary depending on the house’s specialties but what you see above is pretty typical. It includes (working clockwise) elaborately carved green mangoes, cucumbers, grachai (fingerroot), hua hom yat sai (fried stuffed red onion), prik yuan sod sai (young banana peppers stuffed with pork and wrapped in a crispy, eggy shroud), muu wan (sweet dried shredded beef), plaa wan (sweet dried shredded fish), pad hua chai po (thin strands of dried pickled radishes stir-fried with egg), and luk kapi pad (fried fermented shrimp paste balls).

Unlike most Thai food, the khao chae side dishes are quite bland and not spicy at all. It derives from so-called “palace cuisine,” the types of elaborate food traditionally served in the Thai royal palace. In addition to the khao chae, we ordered some other dishes:

khao tang na tang – Fried rice cracker with a minced pork and peanut topping.

khanom pang na gung – little toasts with shrimp pate and sesame seeds served with plum sauce.

yam tua pluu – a spicy salad of wing beans and toasted shallots with a peanut and roasted chili dressing.

For dessert, I had a less-common dish called khao maow grob. It features grains known as meang lak (hydrated lemon basil seeds) served with syrup and crushed ice, topped with toasted rice grains coated with palm sugar.

Here’s a close up of the palm sugar coated toasted rice grains. Just like very crunch Rice Krispies. One of the more interesting Thai desserts I’ve had.

The meal was a refreshing break from our hot weather. Thankfully, by the time I’ve gotten around to writing this, rainy season has started to arrive and the heat is breaking.

On the Ice in Bangkok

Posted on 14 May 2012 by christao408

Near the end of school break (which runs from March to mid-May in Thailand), Tawn’s cousin Pheung got it into her mind that I would be a good person to teach her son Mark to ice skate. I guess the logic was that since I come from a country that has snow and ice, I must be well-suited for such instruction. Of course, I come from sunny California, but that didn’t stop me from agreeing to a skating date.

There are several ice rinks in Bangkok, the newest of which is a regulation size rink called Sub Zero at Central Plaza Rama 9. We showed up for the mid-afternoon session, which runs for two hours. While I’ve probably skated no more than a half-dozen times in my life, I knew enough to explain to Mark and Tawn that you need to keep your legs close together and your feet parallel to the floor. Sadly, that was the sum total of my ice skating knowledge.

Mark was pretty insistent on getting up without any help each time he fell. It took him a while to learn that you can’t get up from your butt without turning over onto your knees first. Otherwise, your feet just keep sliding out from under you!

We had a fun few hours going in circles, although by the end my feet hurt. I guess if I do this only once every half-dozen years or so, that’s okay.

Deep Fried Sous Vide Bacon Dinner

Posted on 9 May 2012 by christao408

My friend Nat prepares the most fantastic dinners. A few weeks ago he bounced an idea off me: sous vide unsliced bacon and then deep fry it. Before I knew it, a date was set and a dozen guests invited.

The Preparation

Nat was at the market and they had a whole, uncut bacon – smoked pork belly. He bought it, certain that it would make an interesting sous vide main course. Sous vide cooking is a technique where the food is vacuum sealed in plastic bags which are then cooked in a water bath for long periods at a relatively low temperature.

Not certain how long would be ideal, he ran a test batch with three bags, pulling a bag out every 24 hours to check the texture. Seventy-two hours was perfect.

After pulling the bags from the water bath, they were plunged into an ice bath to halt the cooking. Once cooled, the slabs of bacon were removed from the bags and patted dry with towels.

The final step, to ensure a nice, crisp exterior, was to deep fry the pieces of bacon for a few minutes.

The end result, a soft, silk chunk of bacon with a crispy exterior. The day before dinner, Nat asked my suggestions for a sauce. I suggested a lychee sauce since it was lychee season and the astringency of lychee would cut through the richness of the bacon. What I received for my suggestion was the assignment to cook the sauce!

Once I arrived, I started turning fresh, seeded lychees through a food mill in order to extract all the juice. This was cooked in a pot with chicken stock and chopped onions and allowed to cook for an hour before I seasoned and thickened the sauce.

A nice rocket and tomato salad was prepared to garnish the dish. Bitter greens in a vinaigrette would contrast with the rich bacon and sweet/tart lychee sauce.

One item was sitting on the counter, waiting to be turned into amuse bouche – appetizers. Do you recognize these?

Poaching on the stove is a dish of tiger prawn quenelles, made by taking a choux paste (same one you use for cream puffs) and mixing it with finely ground, raw prawn meat and seasonings.

The Dinner

As usual at Nat’s house, dinner brought together a wide variety of guests, people with different backgrounds, occupations, and interests – all of whom share an appreciation for good food.

Charming salt and pepper shakers.

Amuse bouche: escargot in garlic crust. Very tasty!

Soup course: chilled leek and lemongrass soup. The lemongrass was very subtle, just sneaking up into your nose when each sip of soup was already swallowed.

The tiger prawn quenelles served with a prawn roe sauce and steamed asparagus. Very light texture with rich flavor.

Palate cleanser: mojito sherbet.

Main course: Deep fried sous vide bacon with lychee sauce served with a rocket salad with soy vinaigrette. Alas, the plate was a little cool and my sauce thickened a bit too much by the time I took this picture. Nonetheless, the meat was very tender and the sauce’s flavors worked nicely with it. Of course, the serving could have been a third this size and we would have been fine!

Linda and I pose for a picture mid-dinner, only to discover a moment later that Cha had inserted himself into the shot!

For dessert, sticky toffee pudding with a toffee sauce and homemade yamazaki ice cream. Decadent!

Baking Pumpkin Bars for Eighty

Posted on 6 May 2012 by christao408

Recently, a friend was cooking at a dinner for eighty people, one of these social events where everyone pitches in to help cover the costs of the food. Being from the panhandle of Florida, she was preparing a Cajun-inspired menu and asked if I would help with the dessert. While I was originally going to make sweet potato pie, plans morphed and we ended up with pumpkin bars, which turned out nicely nonetheless.

Sweet potato pie would have been much more authentic for a Cajun dessert but local sweet potatoes are very small and the larger imported sweet potatoes are ridiculously expensive. I opted instead for pumpkins, which are plentiful and much less expensive. Scaling up from a recipe that serves maybe 16 people, I wasn’t sure just how much pumpkin I needed, so bought six.

After cutting them, steaming them, and peeling and mashing the flesh, I had a lot of pumpkin puree. In fact, it was about half again what I ended up needing. That’s okay – you can freeze pumpkin puree.

Instead of a usual pie crust, I decided on a recipe that used shortbread. Shortbread is not only easier to make than pie crust, it also adds a different dimension to the texture – providing a crispier base versus a tender and flaky one.

Instead of pies, which would be more difficult to transport, I opted for four large aluminum trays that came with plastic covers. I spread the shortbread dough on the bottom and then baked it for about 15 minutes until it started firming up and tanning.

The filling was pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cream, egg yolks, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger powder, and cloves. I whipped egg whites in a separate bowl and folded them into the mixture, creating a lighter texture.

The filling baked in about thirty minutes. After cooling to room temperature, I put the four trays in my refrigerator and carried them to the event the next afternoon. A little chilling helps film up the pumpkin pie and makes it much easier to cut and serve.

The end product, shown from a smaller test batch I did two days before. This version didn’t have the egg whites whipped separately, so the filling isn’t as tall as in the final version. Still just as tasty, though!

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

Monthly Archives: May 2012