Tag: Asian

Vegan Ramen

Vegan Ramen

This summer amid the pandemic, my college-age daughter was stranded at home like many of her generation. An internship was not in the cards, so she kept busy with a small, online, used clothing business she created. Likewise, her friend from Brooklyn wanted to get 

Asian-Inspired Salad

Asian-Inspired Salad

Sometimes a simple salad will suffice. And this one, with its crunchy vegetables, sweet, nutty dressing, and firm-textured tofu, is good any day of the week. I usually make this salad within a day of visiting an Asian grocery store, where I can get perfectly 

Salt Baked Squid = Salt and Pepper Calamari

Salt Baked Squid = Salt and Pepper Calamari

My very favorite food in the whole wide world is shell-on, salt baked shrimp from the Chinese restaurant Lee How Fook in Philadelphia, where my family has been dining for decades. It is light, crisp, crunchy, and salty, with a slight peppery tang, perfect with 

Kids Will Be Kids – Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans

Kids Will Be Kids – Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans

Kids are not easy, even when they’re no longer kids. My children, currently 19 and 21, are home from college because of the coronavirus pandemic. At times they have reverted to their former selves circa ages 6 and 8. They bicker and fight with each 

Crispy Bits – Fried Tofu with Spicy-Sweet Dipping Sauce

Crispy Bits – Fried Tofu with Spicy-Sweet Dipping Sauce

Of all of the characteristics that make a morsel of food desirable, crispy bits reign supreme. I love the texture and flavor they bring to my dishes. Diners search it out in all kinds of foods, from the curliest, folded over potato chip in the 

Not Your College Stir Fry – Thai-Style Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry with Thai Basil

Not Your College Stir Fry – Thai-Style Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry with Thai Basil

In my junior and senior years in college, I was a member of a couple of different cooking groups. About four or five different people, each cooking one night a week. It provided a meal much healthier than the college cafeteria, saved time and money, 

A Little Bit of Spring and Summer Wrapped in a Winter Blanket – Larb Dumplings

A Little Bit of Spring and Summer Wrapped in a Winter Blanket – Larb Dumplings

I love eating larb in the spring and summer. The weather is just right for this Laotian meat salad, and it’s easy to make. It is light, refreshing, and healthy, wrapped in lettuce leaves, with tons of fresh herbs from the garden. It really is 

I Was a Chinese Food Snob – Pork Fried Rice

I Was a Chinese Food Snob – Pork Fried Rice

I come from a family of Chinese food snobs. We would never be caught at a strip mall take-out joint or a restaurant with hanging lanterns. In college, I would announce to friends with great authority that it was impossible to find truly authentic Chinese 

Tea Smoked Chicken

Tea Smoked Chicken

No matter the quality, children don’t always appreciate the foods their parents eat. That was certainly the case with my brothers and me, and some of the foods our father cooked. It was especially true of tea smoked chicken. As wisps of smoke from burning 

Larb

Larb

On a hot summer day like today, I want a dinner that I can cook quickly and without too much effort. But quick and easy doesn’t have to mean bland. That’s where larb comes in. Larb (laab, lob) is a Laotian and Thai ground meat