NY eats: Chinatown

Believe it or not, I don't think I've ever been to New York's Chinatown before!
It shouldn't even be called a "town," given how spread out it is. What I saw: lots of old-fashioned characters, a woman selling zhong zi (sticky rice in bamboo leaves) on the street, and a lot of internet cafes. And restaurants, of course.

Honestly, I don't remember what the name of the restaurant we went to was called, but we ended up having some really tasty Shanghai eats. Just in case you're unclear, Shanghai food is known for being mild and sweet, with fresh vegetables and seafood. They are particularly known for their xiao long bao, or soup dumplings (Actually translated as "Little Dragon Dumplings"). I MISS THESE. You're meant to eat them on a spoon so that when you bite into the outside, hot, savory broth leaks out and you immediately slurp it, and the entire dumpling, into your mouth. Actually, the "soup" is actually a kind of gelatin, or basically solidified pork broth that melts when steamed. I suppose that makes it sound kind of unnappealing, but they're amazing. They also sometimes contain crab as well as pork.
We ordered pretty light food, and my favorite Shanghai dishes.
Tofu-vegetable soup-- Unfortunately, this was chicken soup! Not even broth... just a rich, golden soup that was VERY obviously chicken. I had one accidental sip.

A dish of fish in wine dregs-- the fish fillets were sweet, with a thick, gloopy sauce. I'm not sure if this is thick because of cornstarch or the fish itself, but this is a dish that I would have no idea how to make... because we don't have wine dregs (which seem to be similar to lees, or what is left over after fermentation). They contribute a unique flavor that I wouldn't be able to put my finger on if I didn't know they were there.

Soy beans with a kind of pickled greens and tofu skins-- I love this dish. It probably couldn't be any healthier. The tofu skins aren't fried either, but have the texture of rough, thin, noodles. Because the vegetables were pickled, it isn't bland either. I personally love soupy food, and all these dishes had a lot of sauce that was great spooned over rice.

They also ordered lamb with chestnuts-- apparently this was good, but not great.

AND OF COURSE, soup dumplings:

I'm jealous, since we only have one Shanghainese restaurant in our Chinatown, and it just so happens to be owned by the owner of the best Sichuanese restaurant, so I'm not sure how authentic this is. This, on the other hand, tasted just like what I ate in China (Beijing, not Shangai, but still).

Off to New York!

PHOTOS ADDED
Just thought I'd blog last night and this morning before heading off! I'll be gone till the 2nd, and hopefully eat some awesome food, see Equus (!!!!), hang out with relatives, see museums, and shop, of course.
My cousins came for lunch and we took them for dim sum at Ed's Potstickers, which has a different name now, but I don't remember what it is. Either way, it's probably the only Northern Chinese restaurant in Chicago, and is pretty authentic. We're regulars here, which is a nice feeling.
WE ORDERED SO MUCH FOOD! Most of it was meat, so fortunately, I didn't end up eating TOO much.
For the meat eaters we ordered:
Ed's famous potstickers, which are rolled up in a cigar shape
Shrimp dumplings-- I originally ordered these for myself, took a bite of one and realized that it was mainly pork. Didn't swallow it or anything, but a year or two ago I would have been really upset. Luckily, I'm not as fragile about that right now.

Wonton soup

Stir-fried lamb from Xinjiang province (Muslim region that uses cumin and eats flatbread)
Some kind of pork dish that turned out to be at room temperature
Scallion pancakes with sliced pork in the center
Shao bing, sesame bread, with more meat in the center

What I ate:
(or drank)-- fresh soymilk, which only my dad and I appreciate. It's so light and refreshing!
My favorite dish was a classic peasant dish of cornbread and fried fish. The fish weren't fried as in breaded-- they were just crispy, savory and delicious-- also probably the cheapest kind of fish you can get. I love the cornbread because the only ingredient is corn-- this is very, very authentic.

The weirdest tofu soup ever, but I loved it. The broth was cloudy and tasted a bit like soy milk, but also had undertones of sesame. It had little strips of fried tofu that soaked up the soup. Of course, it also had cilantro.
Vegetarian potstickers-- I'm not really a big fan of potstickers, esp. not vegetarian ones. I tried part of one, and it just had cabbage, carrots, and I don't know what else. I'd rather have the real thing.
Stir-fried sweet and sour cabbage with peppers-- this isn't really sweet and sour like Panda Express makes it. It's just full of vinegar and not too much cornstarch. The vegetables are crunchy and tangy, and I couldn't rave about this dish enough. I order it all the time in Beijing.

Last but not least, vegetarian shaobing (the sesame bread, remember?). Not bad considering you can't really get them in the U.S., but they were a little on the bland side, and not hot enough. Of course, I doubt they were made fresh, so I shouldn't complain.

All in all, I definitely recommend this restaurant, ESPECIALLY if you're a pork fanatic.

Last night I didn't end up going to that birthday party. Instead I went to a family gathering of my friend's-- the same one I hung out with on Wednesday. They're relatively religious (Jewish), so it was kind of like a big Shabbat dinner! They eat vegetarian (plus fish) like me, so the food spread was absolutely ideal. I was in heaven!!!!





There was challah (not homemade, but apparently it usually is!), and then the food appeared. Seriously, this spread had ALL of my favorite foods. Here's what there was:
Baked salmon wrapped in tinfoil
Brussel sprouts
A kind of not-quite kugel-- it was called a baked latke
Homemade apple sauce and sour cream
2 salads: one with chickpeas (dried and soaked, not canned) and those other big white beans, mushrooms, greens, sweet peas, and cherry tomatoes, the other with pears, avocado, and pecans.
I only had half a piece of salmon... I would have gone back for seconds, but nobody else did, so I just hung out. However, when I got home I was pretty hungry and had yogurt, grapenuts, and berries.
I definitely ate more than what was pictured.

Last night I was woken up at 4 by the LOUDEST thunder and BRIGHTEST lightning ever. I love thunderstorms, and just lay there listening to the sounds, but it did make me kind of tired. I was thinking of working out before we left for the airport, but decided against it-- I was really sleepy and there wasn't that much time, since our flight leaves at 11.
For breakfast, I had a really filling bowl of oatmeal... I accidentally dumped in half the bottle of vanilla and had to pour it off, but let's not talk about that.
1/3 cup oats, a little more than 1/2 a banana, 1/3 cup vanilla hemp milk, 1/3 cup water, applesauce, part of a crumbled oatmeal raisin cookie, a spoon of Greek yogurt, and peanut butter (plus spices and wheat germ).
Man, was this filling. Maybe it was that little bit of protein from the yogurt that did it?

Anyways, we have to leave soon and I have to finish packing my carry on. Hopefully I'll keep blogging in NY, but if not, I'll do one of those summary posts where I list the highlights.
Bye!

Classic comfort staples

This will be short because there are only a few more weeks before winter break and that means TONS of tests, papers, and projects!
Last night I made a yummy sundae with vanilla frozen yogurt, mango, half a banana, cinnamon, and a sprinkle of coconut. YUM.

Breakfast: went for 1/2 cup of oats because during the week, I need a more substantial breakfast: 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup of that weird maple flavored oat milk (i might have to throw this out...), 1/2 cup water, 1/2 banana, some blueberries, flax, and Greek yogurt.
Snack: I nibbled on carrots! It was nice to have this instead of a bar because my mid-morning hunger isn't so severe that I need something THAT calorie dense.

Lunch: I made a delicious wrap, although it got so flattened that it looked more like a sandwich. It had baby spinach, rapini, avocado, a Laughing Cow, and hummus. SO GOOD! Plus leftover broccoli and an apple.

It was practically a blizzard all day! I love snow, but that cancels out all possibilities of running outside. I decided to come home after school and try a different approach- save the homework for LAST, because then you really can't procrastinate. Right when I got home, I changed and went down to the workout room for some elliptical stuff. I did intervals today... 5 minutes warm up, 1 minute hard, 2 minutes easy for 25 minutes, then another 10 minutes of moderately paced training. Intervals definitely make things more interesting! I don't usually trust the calorie burn, but it was about 390 calories.
I went upstairs and had a snack of 1/2 cup cottage cheese, the other half of my banana, and 1/8 cup of grapenuts with cinnamon.

This definitely tided me over till dinner! I practiced an hour of piano and did some homework while my dad made the fastest dinner in the world.
THIS IS COMFORT FOOD TO ME. Pure Chinese homestyle cooking: scrambled eggs and tomatoes and stir-fried string beans.

The eggs, which I need to make sometime, are really simple: you scramble eggs in vegetable oil, then add garlic, ginger, salt, soy sauce, and tomatoes, and stir-fry it and then reduce the heat. The tomatoes burst and the whole thing becomes sweet and soupy-- in fact, many restaurants serve this as a sauce for noodles!
Seconds on eggs:

OH YUM YUM...
and I feel a dessert/fruit craving coming on.
Had hot chocolate, a pear, some grapes, and a small whole grain graham cracker square that tasted like cardboard.

NOTE THE AWESOME ROBOT MUG.

Good night!

AAA, camera is MIA

I'm telling myself that I'll find my camera, which was in my pencil case. Of course, the one day I can't find my camera case and decide to put my camera in my pencil case, I leave my pencil case at at school. It had better be in my locker... that's all I can say. so alas, today's post is picture-less for now.
Breakfast: VERY SWEET. In theory, dessert for breakfast. It fixed my sweet tooth, though!
2 pieces of banana bread with peanut butter, some berries, and a mug of hot chocolate (must get rid of all this milk!) with 2 tiny kosher marshmallows that just melted in.
I didn't have a snack between breakfast and lunch, but I ended up eating my snack (a Clif nectar bar) at lunch anyways, so I think I should probably still have a snack to keep my blood sugar up. the bar was good... like a Larabar, but less dense.
For lunch I had a great sandwich, although not very filling: pumpernickel-rye bread with avocado, a Laughing Cow, spinach, and sliced green apple.
on the side: a carrot and some grapes.
After school (it feels so nice not to have swim practice!) I took a long walk with my friend Becca, who goes to boarding school. When I got home I was pretty hungry, so I had cottage cheese with a chopped up pear, cinnamon, and a handful of Grapenuts.
My dad cooked a fast, satisfying dinner today... I definitely ate too much, but a lot of that was soup and fiber: he made soup noodles with tons of Chinese flat noodles, fresh mushrooms, pickled cabbage, Chinese greens, carrots, ginger, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and silken tofu. He also opened up a can of this Buddhist dish (Chinese canned food is surprisingly good!) that has seitan, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and quail eggs (I didn't eat the quail eggs).
And now I am so full...
Thanksgiving is so soon! It'll be weird with my mom gone, but my dad and I are planning something fun with his grad students.

Back in the swing of things

It felt so good to go back to my regular eating habits and have a day off from swimming.
Breakfast: two pieces of Fox and Obel pumpkin bread with pumpkin better, plus cottage cheese and greek yogurt mixed with honey, a mashed banana, strawberries, slivered almonds, cinnamon, and a sprinkle of Grapenuts. Why did the photo of my breakfast not turn up? I don't know. Maybe I forgot the photo, since it wasn't as pretty as my usual oatmeal.
At 10:15 I met Kath and Jenna at Panera, where I got a nonfat mocha...
the whole experience was unreal for me. At first I was afraid of the age difference, but I had a great time! It was so interesting for me to be able to talk to other food bloggers, and I definitely think that once swimming is over I'm going to try to start blogging on a daily basis. What I really want is an audience, and I want to become part of this great network where everybody is so nice to each other (God, that sounded cheesy, didn't it?).
Lunch: a salad made from leftover roasted vegetables and pears, raddichio, pine nuts, balsalmic, and maple syrup. Also a piece of toast with a Laughing Cow and some smoked trout, which I love. I let myself digest a little and had a lunch "dessert" of graham cracker sticks, microwaved Silk Light chocolate soy milk, and some dried apricots.
A little later, before I headed out to see my friend's Indian Dance performance, I had a snack of apple slices with PB and some Kashis to tide me over.
When I got home, my parents had already eaten, but there were leftovers for me. YUM, my dad's Chinese food: scrambled eggs and tomato, bok choy and tofu, and brown rice.
I'll probably eat a little something else before I go to bed. See, even on my off days, I shovel in food like a trash can (But hopefully one that has nicer garbage, like one at Whole Foods or something). I probably won't be blogging much this coming week because next weekend is Sectionals and I want to be getting a lot of sleep, but after swimming is over, like I said... the blogging begins.

Je ne cuisine pas trop souvent, mais je mange tout les temps

It's true that I just never seem to cook. I've gone through cooking obsession phases, but lately it seems like all I ever do is eat. Of course, this has to do with swimming too... We swam 2.7 miles yesterday and my mom and I went to a friendly neighborhood restaurants, where I had to order SECONDS on rice and vegetables at a restaurant with already big portions! I can feel myself bulking up, and I need to eat even when food might not be the most appealing, just because I need fuel.
Oh, and I just have to rejoice a bit: my 100 breast stroke time is a 1:24 so far!!!!!!
That being said, we certainly do eat tasty meals at home:
Stir-fried eggplant with carrots and a mysterious Chinese sauce that we get in China town, one of my dad's "everything" stir-fries with summer squash, carrots, soybeans, and peppers, plus brown rice.
Salad with those candied pecans, feta, and more of the white beets. The pasta Patrizia gave me with tuna, capers and roasted red peppers (could have been a lot more sauce to pasta-- we accidentally made too much), and roasted pear-squash-ginger soup with Greek yogurt and pumpkin seeds.

This amazing and simple fish dish, according to my mom: baked tilapia with herbs, potatoes and olive oil, with salad and leftover soup.
Once again, I LOVE ARTOPOLIS BAKERY'S VEGETARIAN MOUSSAKA? It's such an indulgence. We got their butternut squash soup, but it smelled so strongly of chicken stock that it might as well have been the pan juices of a freshly roasted chicken. Alas.
We tried to cook spaghetti squash, but there was a misunderstanding. From reading other peoples' blogs, I know that the easiest way is to first bake it, but according to Deborah Madison, you were supposed to scoop out the raw insides and drop them in boiling water, which proved impossible because the strands weren't long enough. It also made the squash really watery. It was still good, though. We ate it with tomato sauce, feta, stir-fried broccoli, and I had the tiniest bit of brown rice (the presentation is all nice because I microwaved it in the container and it retained that shape).
Dinner: The baked mushrooms and eggs that failed earlier (but only my mom had an egg, because I had eggs for lunch). This time the egg wasn't overcooked and the mushrooms were perfectly moist. The croutons absorbed their juice and the additional cooking liquid from the red wine and became spongy and flavorful. We also had corn on the cob and stir-fried beet greens, which were a bit too salty and too tough to eat the stems. You can also see some overripe farmer's market tomatoes that we had to use up. I also had a fresh veggie burger from Trader Joe's on the side: the ingredients list is actually really short: just tofu, vegetable oil, salt, and various vegetables. My plate looks really unappealing because the ketchup sprayed everywhere.