last kid's class at triad

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king. -Tolkien

Esquire Breakfast

Esquire's March 2009 issue features the most important meal of the day, breakfast. I was asked to provide a dish that I eat for breakfast. Mine is the pulled baby-back benedict.

Irish Brown Bread

In memoriam of Mary Blake

I baked you this bread.

The lives you have touched will be nourished for generations.

Beau-tea (茶)

the following link is a ny times slideshow done by Chang W. Lee  which captures life inside a hangzhou tea house beautifully.  the slideshow, more importantly, helps to convey the significance of tea in chinese culture.

ny times slideshow

it is important to source really good green tea to understand its true appeal.  green tea should be loose, not in tea bags, and green, not brownish, greenish, greyish.

in chinese households, tea is often served in mugs where the hot water is poured over the loose tea leaves and allowed to steep for a few minutes.  the chinese will often refer to drinking tea as "eating" tea as you will invariably be eating some of the loose floating tea leaves.

Happy New Year and 吃 苦

Happy New Year to All!!!

The holidays are a challenging time for us in the hospitality biz.  It is without a doubt our busiest time of the year.  A recurring Chinese phrase "chi ku" (吃 苦) or "eating bitter" kept popping into my head as the week went on.  Eating bitter is a metaphor for suffering.  In Chinese Yin/Yang theory, you can't taste the sweet unless you know what bitter tastes like.  Fatigue starts to take over as the holiday season progresses, yet somehow it is okay, as we are often left with a heartfelt thank you from our guests who recognize and appreciate the week's daunting challenge.  

Thanks to our guests, during the holidays, we are fortunate to get a taste of bitter and sweet at the same time.    

Amuse Bouche- Shrimp Shot

Foie Gras and Moulard Duck with Cranberry and Rosemary

Paige and Luen banging out Black Forest cakes.  Not easy, thank you!

Breakfast of Champions

粥

Chinese breakfast called congee or jook. I had various jooks for over 2o days while in China. Classically the condiments are served on the side and the rice is more soupy than mine. In this jook, I have used fermented tofu, pork sung, pickled cabbage, thousand year old duck egg, scallions and a fish broth.

Taiji on Expert Village

Tai Chi: Choke Defense -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

I was fortunate to be the crash test dummy for Sifu Rich Marantz when he was making taiji videos with Expert Village. Cool to see the martial applications of taiji; it's not just for health.