Shiitake Mushrooms in Lulu's Special Sauce!

This dish came about, because my mom had a grilled mushroom dish at a Japanese restaurant one time. She brought home some fresh mushrooms to experiment with. I decided to ask her what it tasted like. She told me that it was salty, sweet, and it had garlic. So, from her description I came up with this recipe! We usually use the dried ones in soups/porridge/sauteed with bamboo. I think the dried ones are a lot more flavorful, and are meatier. The fresh ones are a little more similar in taste to crimini mushrooms, but softer.

Here goes the directions:

1. Wash your mushrooms, clean off excess dirt.

2. Dry off your mushrooms. I placed them on one side of a CLEAN kitchen towel, let air dry.

3. I folded over the other side of the towel, over the mushrooms to soak off any excess water. You can use another towel to dry if you used more mushrooms than me.Let it dry for 30-60 minutes.

4. While the mushrooms are drying, it's time to start the sauce! In the measuring cup is about 1/2 cup of light soy sauce, 1/4 cup of rice wine. In the spoons starting from front to back: finely minced ginger, brown sugar, heaping spoonful of garlic, and add a little sesame seed oil. (Make sure to mince the ginger very finely. Ginger is very spicy if you bite into a large piece, so try and cut it up as small as possible.)

5. Mix all the above ingredients together, and whisk to dissolve sugar.

6. Now put the mushrooms into a large bowl, and pour the sauce over the mushrooms. Mix it very well so that the sauce will get into the gills of the mushroom.

7. Heat up a large non-stick pan with a little oil. Put the mushrooms in gill side up. Making sure that each mushroom is touching the pan. I had too many mushrooms to fit the pan, so I cooked them in 2 separate batches.

8. After you have them all in the pan, put a lid on it for about 3-5 minutes. Some juices may come out from cooking the mushrooms. Now is the point to start flipping the mushrooms over.

 9. After you flip them, cover the pan again. Cook it uncovered, so that the juices will evaporate.  It should look like the picture below when it's ready!

10. Dish it up!

11. Now this is a very important step! I actually poured all the sauce in with the mushrooms when I cooked the second batch. But you can do it this way too.

Pour the extra sauce into the pan, and let it simmer down. The sugar in the sauce will caramelize, and thicken the sauce a little bit. After you simmer down the sauce, pour it over the mushrooms. The sauce is amazing to eat with the mushrooms and rice!!!

Hugs and Kisses <3
Lulu

Mid-Autumn Festival

 Moon Cakes
Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. From what I understand is Chinese and Vietnamese people celebrate this holiday. At night time we go outside, and look at the moon. There are 2 stories to how this festival came about. I only remember this story by how my family told it to me. I did kinda wiki it to brush up on some facts, so I can try to make this as correct as possible according to my family's story. As far as the folklore version goes it changes from family to family.

 Our family buys these treats around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Although there are some people who make their own. Moon cakes are pretty labor intensive, and hard to create a thin crust(my mom told me that the moon cakes taste better that way?) There are a lot of different kinds: some with meat, or with double yolks inside. I like mostly all of the flavors, but my favorites are the kind with the yolk inside, lotus seed, and Chinese date. The Chinese date is super flavorful! It tastes smokey, rich, sweet, and nothing at all like normal dates. You have to try it to understand!

Chinese Date Moon Cake

Lotus Seed with Pine Nuts Moon Cake

The inside! Left to Right: Date, Lotus Seed Moon Cake

The box! There's red bean, oolong tea, lotus seed, chinese date, date/lotus seed, chestnut, and mung bean.

I just love all the details on the moon cakes! I'm in love with just designs/patterns in general, but I have a soft spot for Asian stuff. First, they wrap a dough around the bean paste. Then they press the dough wrapped pastry into a wooden mold. After that they take it out of the mold and bake it multiple times. It also looks like there is an egg wash on these too. The pastry, to me always tastes a little dry(it's supposed to taste that way?), but it's still soft. It's kinda like a unsweetened, very dense soft cookie...almost like a bread. In Taiwan, there are bakeries that make some modern twists with these moon cakes. Some add mochi inside, use rice flour in the dough, and add chocolate inside.

Below, are the stories that are told to children during the Mid-Autumn Festival!

The Emperor and Chang Eu

A long time ago there were 10 suns on earth. So one day a goddess came to the emperor and asked him to shoot down 9 suns. After the emperor shot down the 9 suns; the goddess gave him 3 magical pills. She told him that he's was only allowed to take one pill. The emperor's wife's name was Chang Eu. She had heard that the emperor was awarded with the magical pills, and stole them from her husband. Chang Eu had always wished to live forever. So, she took all three pills, and wished for an eternal life. All of the sudden Chang Eu started floating higher, and higher until she reached the moon. It is said that there is an outline of her, and a rabbit on the moon.

Notes:

• I think I remember my grandpa telling me that the emperor had to go back each time to the goddess, to ask if it was still too hot!

•  When I went to Chinese School, one of our assignments was to write an essay about...what would we do? if we were awarded with 3 magical pills. I think, I said I wished that there were no homeless people or something like that. So what would you do?

The Mongols and the Chinese

During the Yuan dynasty, a part of China was taken over by the Mongols. During the Mongols reign, they took away metal items, or scrap materials that could be used as weapons. The Chinese were under constant watch. They weren't allowed to communicate with each other, or even write letters to each other. So then one day the villagers baked these pastries called moon cakes. They went around to each house passing them out. But there was something special about these moon cakes. When the villagers opened them up to eat, there was a note inside giving the details on overthrowing the Mongols. The villagers all got together on that day and overthrew the Mongols. The end!

Thanks for reading!!! This post was important to me, as an ABC(American Born Chinese) I want to remember the traditions, and holidays that my ancestors have celebrated. I want to try and  hold on to as much of my heritage as possible. So when it comes my time to be a mom or aunt I will be able to teach them about our history, and to be knowledgeable in general. I enjoy learning about history, different cultures. So please share any special holidays or traditions in your home!

Hugs and Kisses <3
Lulu

Annoyed with Andrew Zimmern

Before I even get started into this big mess...please read Andrew Zimmern's article.


http://andrewzimmern.com/content/bourdain-deen-bruni-redzepi%E2%80%A6and-why-it-matters

When I first read this article I was livid....that Zimmern had this point of view, and would just flat out and say it, when he himself fits into the category of being overweight. I just feel that if he came about the article with more understanding instead of sounding so judgmental, and elitist than he would've not had so many people on his case. Basically you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

My whole point is, if he decides that he wants to be a new promoter for healthy eating/being green, he should show us instead of sounding like such a jerk. I would've expected Anthony Bourdain to write up that article. From watching No Reservations the viewers can understand that he's a certain type of personality. Of course Anthony Bourdain is freaken amazing, but at the same time you know that he probably doesn't take shit from anyone...because he's made a name for himself. Everyone can guess that he's a big drinker, chain smoker, and has a mouth that spews out cuss words every few seconds. But we know that about him, and yet we still watch/listen to his shows because people respect him regardless. In the food industry all head chef's are like that. If you work the line, and mess up you get called out. A perfect example is Gordon Ramsay.

One of the reasons that I enjoyed watching Bizarre Foods was because he seemed like a nicer food critic/chef. Basically a show that you would allow your children to watch, because unlike Bourdain, and Ramsay...Zimmern seemed a lot more homely and personable. Most chefs are overweight...why? because they have a love for food! Why is America fat? Because America loves food. I'm not saying that America is fat from eating from eating pate, and pig feet. But everyone has their poison whether it be cheetos to cow tongue, both are high in fat.

Everyone knows that there is an obesity problem in America, but its time to find a resolution instead of pointing fingers to chefs that don't exactly make the healthiest foods. Michelle Obama, and Jaime Oliver are perfect examples, having their own campaign to eat more fresh fruits and veggies. Changing the cafeteria lunches for kids in school. These people will go a lot further than just writing articles and getting their fans riled up about the topic. There are a few really healthy restaurants around my area like:

• The Wheel of Life
• Korean Tofu houses
• Taco Loco
• The Cyclery
• Flame Broiler (if you have a tight budget)
• Native Foods
• Gypsy Den

So shouldn't we be commending the families and corporations that open up restaurants that promote healthy eating? instead of focusing on the bad stuff? Sure restaurants usually use quite a lot more oil than we use at home. Which is why people shouldn't eat out too often.  If Andrew Zimmern decides that he has such a drive to promote healthy eating... he has the means to open a restaurant that only serves organic and healthy items.  Or maybe Zimmern should admit to the fact that it's ok to eat unhealthy...in moderation. Actions speak louder than words...Yes I found these picture on his Bizarre Foods website.

Is Chinese Take Out healthy?

Ohh! what about processed meats with fat?

I just had to add this one....Basically 2 days after posting his Paula Deen is the devil article, he decides to post a photo of his son eating some kind of fair food sandwich, which undoubtedly contains trans fat and tons of grease.

I'm not going to sit here and lie, I admit it I have a problem with food. If I didn't why else would I be fat? But to say that I'm fat because all I eat is junk is kinda wack. Of course, I'm the girl that will reach for the ice cream when I go through a break up. Just because I'm fat doesn't mean that I don't eat veggies. Food is a type of addiction...the worst kind I think. Why because if you're fat most people will judge you just because of the way you look. Walking down the street, would you have an easier time spotting the alcoholic or the fat girl? Right? everyone has their own issues, people should be more understanding of others. I'm working on me...but I can only do it one day at a time. I know that I'm unhealthy sometimes...We all live in the same world...but why is there so much hate? Anyways....I'm tired....I could keep talking until I die about this stuff...feel free to respond if you want....

Hugs and Kisses <3

Lulu