There are a handful of signature salads that I enjoy eating when I dine out, and the Chinois chicken salad is one such salad. A few years ago, I met my BFF (best friend forever), aka, Auntie S, at Wolfgang Puck’s Chinois Cafe in South Coast Plaza. She shared with me that she really enjoys their chicken salad so I decided to give it a try. I’m a huge fan of Asian inspired chicken salad, but I am p-i-c-k-y! There are very few Asian...
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L.A. Stuff While I lived in Los Angeles, I used to go to King’s games maybe once a year or once every two years. I’ve never been a huge fan of ice hockey but the times I attended King’s games I always had a great time. The games were always fast paced, action packed, and there’s nothing like the sounds of blades cutting across the ice. Although I didn’t follow much of the King’s season, I did pay attention...
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There’s nothing more traditional in Japanese cuisine than cold tofu simply garnished with sliced green onions, katsuobushi (dried shaved bonito) and fresh grated ginger. This is exactly how my Mom served hiyayakko (cold tofu) to us all the years my brother and I were growing up. (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) Hiyayakko often made an appearance at dinner as an accompaniment to a meal of grilled fish, steamed rice, miso shiru (soup), and...
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There are only a few more weeks of school left. Last week, we attended Big Onechan’s (“Nene” or Bebe E’s big sis) high school swim banquet, marking the end of the season and the approach of summer. The girl’s swim program at Nene’s school is small (there are more boys than girls that swim), so at the beginning of the season some of the freshmen were moved to junior varsity or varsity. When she announced to us...
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Growing up, one of my favorite vegetable dishes was yaki nasu, or grilled Japanese eggplant, simply served with shoyu and garnished with katsuo bushi and fresh grated ginger. (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) Most kids don’t like eggplant, and I might be deemed weird, but growing-up, I loved most all vegetables with the exception of the “forbidden three”: brussels sprouts, bell peppers and bitter melon. My favorite was eggplant,...
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One of the great things about living in Southern California is that we have a number of Japanese take-out bento restaurants that are within our reach. On Saturday morning we woke up and decided to take a quick trip to the beach and pick-up bento at a Japanese take-out restaurant that we like to visit occasionally, Betoss. Every month they usually have a special on a different bento, or Japanese lunch box. Our favorite is the $4.99 chicken...
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At a Memorial Day BBQ a few years ago, I was asked if I knew the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. While somewhat uncertain of my answer, I replied (with conviction) that Memorial Day was a day to honor military men and women who died while serving their country, whereas Veteran’s Day celebrated living military veterans for their past service to our country. After being “quizzed” at that BBQ a few years...
Read MoreMy husband makes three types of Chinese soup when any of us are sick. One of them is Chinese Winter Melon Soup or tung qwa soup, which I’ve shared in the past, the second is Moqua Soup or Fuzzy Melon Soup (post forthcoming), and the third, which is my absolute favorite, is Wonton Soup. While it seems seasonally inappropriate to share a hot soup recipe amidst our warmer and sunny Southern California weather, last week when I was feeling...
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