New York

So J went out of town and, as usual, I steamed some crabs. It's really not the same when you are sitting there eating crabs by yourself, though admittedly, no one comments on the huge mess if they aren't there to see it. Plus, if I didn't gorge myself on crabs a few times a year, what would I use for the base for my gumbo? Yes, it's true that we would probably just have crab legs more often, but that's besides the point.

We headed up north for a wedding at the end of September (yes, I said I was behind in my posting). Before heading out for the wedding though, my mom and dad cooked dinner:

Dad's chicken: I think there is a formal name for this chicken, but I'm not sure what it is. It's one of my dad's specialties. Chicken cooked with dark soy, scallions, and peppercorns. It's rich and salty and a little sweet. Maybe it's the soy.

My mom has always liked to joke that my dad only knows five or six dishes. When I was growing up, it was grilled meat on a stick. It's funny to think about now, because I think it was just thinly sliced flank steak, marinated the way we normally would for any Chinese dish, strung up on a bamboo skewer, and then grilled. It's funny how taste memory works. I think I can remember how this tastes. The cornstarch always gave it a different texture, a smoothness you don't normally get with grilled meat. I've asked for the recipe before but my dad always writes it off the way my mother used to. Oh, it's just this and that. How much? "Whatever looks right." I guess it's also funny that I explain measurements in the same way for these dishes. J's grandmother says the same thing while she makes her buttermilk biscuits.

Before I get in trouble for only stating my dad knows two dishes, there are more, including his fabulous pepper sauce that makes everything taste better. I provided a recipe for it in one of my very first blog posts. I need to make a new batch.

Sauteed gai lan: Chinese broccoli is always good. My gai lan actually never turns out as well as my mother's does. Maybe she sneaks in some chicken broth when I'm not looking, but I don't think she does. We never have gai lan at home except when I'm making dumplings and then I'll cook the gai lan for a minute in the dumpling cooking water to give it some flavor. Then I'll top it with sook yauw, cooked oil, usually from a deep fry batch.

Steamed flounder, Hong Kong style, with ginger and scallion: Mmmmm, one of my favorites, steamed fish. I could probably have this every week and be happy. Flounder, admittedly, is my second favorite fish for this dish. My favorite is buffalo carp, which is a firm-fleshed and sweet. Buffalo carp are also enormous which usually means that you have to deal with a lot of fish in your freezer. This wouldn't be a problem if people liked it, but it turns out that only I really like it. My parents aren't big fans, for instance, and J doesn't like it. Oh well, what's a girl to do? It's still good with flounder, of course.

My mother only buys big flounders and then portions it out. This is so that the fins are huge. Are they called fins? The stuff on the sides where all the little bones are and the stuff in between them is gelatinous. It's the best part. My and my mom's favorites. Most of you reading this are probably horrified. My sister is horrified. She doesn't like anything to do with bones. So I'm still learning. Next time, I'll buy the big flounder, too.

I remember when I was living in Paris. I was desperate for some Chinese food. I found the Chinatown, far in the southern corner of Paris. Who can remember if it was east or west anymore, but I remember that it took forever to get there. When I finally ended up at the fish counter, I saw that they had my swimming buffalo carp. I was so ecstatic. And then I realized that I had only two options: French and Cantonese. I ended up with a pretty big fish (once they kill it for you, you have to take the whole thing) and I dragged it home and stuffed it into our fridge/freezer, which was only slightly bigger than the fridge I had in my dorm when I was a freshman at Georgia Tech. By the time my roommate got home, I forgot about it until she opened the fridge and screamed. Ha, it still makes me giggle.

Shrimp with lobster sauce: Despite its simplicity, I still cannot make this dish, so I'm always happy that my mom still makes it for me. I've been eating this dish every since I was little. Maybe it just reminds me of home. I could tell you how simple it is to make, but you would never believe me anyway. And then you would be disappointed to hear there is no lobster in it. Everyone always is.

Hung yeurng daufu: This was my favorite dessert growing up. It's basically almond jelly made with agar agar, then cubed up, and mixed with fruit cocktail. But it was always one of those things that got you funny looks in the cafeteria because you brought some in a tupperware. I suppose I'm scarred by a lot of these funny looks. I clearly remember the commentary I got when I brought dried seaweed snacks. Maybe that's why my snack drawer at work is full of dried fruit and nuts. Well, and seaweed is really not filling at all.

The wedding was in Old Saybrook which is on the Connecticut coast. While I'm sure you're excited to hear, the wedding was beautiful, the bride was stunning, and we only knew one person at the whole thing, who I'm happy to say was sitting next to us at dinner. The hors d'oeuvres had all the usuals including pork dumplings, potato pancakes, some not-so-appetizing lobster croquettes. But the real coup was when I discovered... the seafood room. This was a very Japanese family, so it's not surprising that there was a raw bar. An open raw bar. I do believe J and I stood in that room for an hour, stuffing ourselves with raw Duxberry oysters. They were continuously shucked by two staff, who I'm sure were thrilled to spend their entire night opening oysters and clams. I also tried some raw clams which were good for what they were, but I'm still an oyster girl. Dinner itself was a banquet affair. I think I ordered some crab-stuffed shrimp which was good for mass preparation. I don't remember much else about that. (Sorry, L, if you are reading this.)

Before we left Old Saybrook, we went to the Terra Mar Grille for brunch. We were told that this is considered to be the best brunch buffet in New England. I was pretty impressed. Among the things we had were: smoked salmon, eggs benedict, braised sea bass, prime rib, sausages, tenderloin with mushrooms, pork, waffles, and an excellent bread pudding.

On the way back from Old Saybrook, we stopped in New Haven at Frank Pepe's (157 Wooster Street). The line to eat there was pretty long, as it apparently always is. We got a cheese pie for us (pictured), and then grabbed two pies for my sister, one of which is Pepe's famous clam pizza. We opened the cheese pie and ate it standing from the hood of the car. The clam I tried later after we delivered it. It was pretty damn tasty. I can't say I've ever had a clam pizza like that.

My parents decided to take us to Imperial Palace (136-13 37th Ave, Flushing) for some "crab rice". I wasn't really sure what this was, but I love crab and I like rice and my parents said it was pretty damn good so I was up for it.

One cannot live on crabs alone, or so they say. We ordered some salt and pepper scallops which were ... interesting. I would say they were overcoated and the frying made the dish too heavy. I've never really had a Chinese scallop dish that I thought was very good.




This dish is called gwut heurg leung lay kuw. Basically, they take the fillets and cook them like usual. Then they take the bones and deep fry them so they are all crispy and good. Here they actually battered the bones first, so they were not as good as I've had it, but it was still an enjoyable dish.



And here we have the crab rice, which I think is two dungeness crabs, mixed up and steamed with rice and scallions. For any crab or rice lover, this is a great dish.

More to come... our trip to Prune. I'm tired of posting, so I'll adjourn until tomorrow.