Sunday, September 21, 2003

• : I'm Hungry :
  Damn! Nafarious and her discussion of mayonaise and fried foods; and Takunishi talking about tomato sauce got me thinking too. Let's see, 5 cloves of garlic, sauted, with sweet Italian sausage; add diced onion and freen pepper, mushroom and olives, add two tins of whol tomatos, a wine glass of merlot and lots of Italian seasoning, some salt and pepper and bay leaves.... simmer for at least two hours. Serve with linguine. I love to eat... so let ask a question. If you died and went to heaven--or hell, depending on your perspective--and the proprietor of the joint told you to choose one cuisine to eat for the rest of eternity, what would it be? My candidates in no particular order:

  1. Japanese: Sushi, sushi, sushi. Need I say more? I also love tempura, although this is almost cheating since tempura really originated from Portuguese. But the source and relationship is now so vague that I guess we can call it "Japanese". I also love tofu, soba noodles and nimono (roots boiled?). I am not a fan of udon--usually too soft, with no "koshi" (al dente). And while I love yakizakana (grilled salted fish), I'm not sure if I could eat that with dried seaweed, miso soup, pickled radish EVERY morning for breakfast. I guess I'm too Americanized.
  2. Chinese: It uses all kinds of meats, seafood, vegetables. The range is wide: steamed fish and Peking duck on one side to gyoza and ramen on the other. I mean, really, what self-respecting Asian guy would disagree? Drink? Laochu is one of my favorites, along with Tsing Tao. For morning, the okayu (rice porridge) is rather tasty, and I can certainly live with daily afternoon dim sum. On the down-side, it could be too fattening. They use a lot of oil.
  3. Italian: I also love pasta--espepcially linguine and penne. Tomato sauce is a good source of lycopene. And I just plain love tomatoes. Like Chinese, it uses a wide range of meat and seafoods. And remember, Italian isn't only about pasta. Eggplant parmiagian (sp?) is wonderful. Italian antipasti, like hams, saugages, grilled and pickled vegetables, are incredibly delectable. And, of course, the king of football foods: Pizza! And don't hold the anchovies...
  4. American: Steak and potatoes, Big Mac and fries,  bacon and eggs and pancakes and biscuits and gravy. Can you spell: Haert atactk? Of course, pizza and gyoza are no slouches in the coronary attack department, but if I'm gonna go, how about a little pizzaz? Huh? I just notices... are these words--pizza and pizzaz--related?
  5. Thai: I love Thai curry, and the dishes. They are in variety similar to Chinese, except with a kick to it--although Shisen also has a kick to it--and "exotic" ingredients such as lemon grass and coconut milk. When I go eat Thai, I alway order their whole fish dish. Mmmm. And Padtai (sp?) to sate my pasta craving.
  6. Korean: Another winner. Many of the dishes are similar to Japanese--noodles, sushi, nabemono (soup/stew?)--but what separates Korean food would be their inclusion of MEAT. Korean BBQ? Man, is that good or what! Of course there is the cold noodles in summer and on of my all time favorites stone-bowl bibimbap (sp?). This has the namul (sp?) and raw egg on hot rice that is placed in a HOT stone or cast iron bowl. The top is cool, the inside is hot, and the rice that lines the bowl becomes crunchy/crispy! If ever there was a reason to introduce a Nobel prize for food, this would be it. And don't forget kimchee, particularly kakuteki (kimchee radish, gakdukki? I apologize to my Korean readers, I could never transliterate Korean). On the downside, Korean sushi is okay, and I certainly prefere Japanese takuan (pickled radish) and soba to the Korean version.
  7. Mexican: Almost forgot. The confort food I was raised on. Burritos? Get a Hollenbeck at Manuals. Tacos? An al-Pasteur at King Taco. Refried beans? I'm kinda glad most people don't eat it, cuz I usually eat it for them. And I could eat tamales all day long. Guacamole? Is there a person on this earth who doesn't like it? Unfortunately, while seafood dishes exist--fish tacos don't count--they are not eye popping.

  And the winner is.... Hmm, either Chinese or Italian, I think. Its hard to choose between the two. To be honest, of all the choices above, I think Japanese or Thai--although both good--would come in last. Ramen is Chinese, so is gyoza. Thai flavors explode in the mouth, so I could tire of this after a while. Japanese food--real Japanese food--is very subtle and for me can get boring at times--yes, I crave sushi and soba and tofu. But that's because I don't eat it everyday--remember, the deal is you have to eat one cuisine everyday for eternity. And yes, you read correctly, I don't think I could eat sushi everyday... Does this mean I have to turn in my degrees in Japanese?

  Ha! It's precisely this kind of post above--and probably the hurricane updates below--that convinced some to unsubscribe to my Xanga. Not that I blame them, of course. My entries tend to be long winded, and often devoid of content. As many of you know, there are a number of Xanga sites that are sexually explicit. Yes, I read them sometimes, 'cause they can be pretty funny; and while I might be a "sensei", I am not a prude. But I guess some people thought I would write some explicit things as well, since I have made a few comments on some of these sites. But I don't, so perhaps that is why they unsubscribed. Mostly, the reason why I don't write stuff like that is because I'm too old, and the things I did would be passé for most of you out there... No wait, that's not the real reason. It's because I don't want to offend anyone... Um, that's not really it either. I guess its just plain embarrasing since I am not really very anonymous on this site. Too many people know me. Now, if I had a truly anonymous site... hehehe...

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