Weekend: 4th of July.
Day: July 6, 2008.
Note: Not food related - scroll further down for food...delicious food ^_^
The other day I bought my very first filing drawer. It's a rooollllling file drawer and I'm quite proud of it. The drawer takes up a good third of my room, which is already a very tiny 8' by 10'. I have exactly enough space for a twin bed, one filing drawer and not much else. At least I have a street facing window!
Between lunch and dinner last Sunday I spent all afternoon organizing - how wonderful it feels! I bought hanging file folders and now life is clean from top to bottom...in alphabetical order! I'm a sucker for good organization (though the messy state of my bedroom may suggest otherwise). I like to place things in boxes and document everything, everything in my planner. A obsession with proper documentation explains why I'm an accoutant - everything should be organized and easily accounted for. Traceable is the key word.
I haven't been blogging as frequently because time ran away from me. Time runs away when one becomes messy. Messy in the kitchen, messy at work, messy attire, etc. It starts off as a little mess, oh I'll take care of this tomorrow. Pretty soon tomorrow turns into next week, then next month and then you realized you're six weeks behind in everything. I got pretty messy. It was a good kind messy, but messy nonetheless.
What is the point? Is this making sense?
No point, no sense, none at all. Just lots of rambling. (Scroll down for food photos). Life got soooo messy that I woke up one morning and instantly thought: MUST ORGANIZE.
Hence the rolling file drawer - it's the best investment I've made in years.
Shann help me put it together (thanks Shann! :). And now that my life is organized and clean, I can get back to a steady blogging schedule...because that too, is part of good organization.
Pork and Shrimp Dumplings
Don and I had breakfast at Chinatown Brasserie on Sunday. I dim sum, or rather, yum cha, in Hawai'i at least once or twice a week. My favourite spot back home is Tai Pan, where standard plates run $1.95. Yum cha is the same price, maybe a bit more, in LA. But here in NYC, a typical yum cha place like Dim Sum Go Go sets you back $4 a plate. I thought that was a bit ridiculous till I learned of Chinatown Brasserie where $8 is the norm!
My goodness, that is crazy.
Some argue that the quality of the dishes at Chinatown Brasserie justify the prices. Others, like myself, have been rasised on perfectly delcious $1.95 dim sum - to even think of $8 dim sum is sufficient to induce a heart attack.
Crispy Taro Root Shrimp
We had quite a few dishes that morning, and I must admit they were pretty tasty. Okay, maybe even more than tasty. Pricey nonetheless! The most memorable dish was an adorable quartet of "Crispy Taro Root Shrimp" - a reinterpretation of the classic wu gok. Here, the minced pork filling is replaced with shrimp, and the mashed taro significantly is more delicate than what I am familiar with. The crisp exterior - greaseless and effortless flaky.
Tempura Shrimp Stuffed Green Chilies
We were in a deep fried mood that morning (as usual), and rounded out the set with Tempura Shrimp Stuffed Green Chilies. The lightly battered tubes of hollowed chilies with shrimp were served with a soy based sauce while the Fried Oysters were paired with a sweet & sour sauce.
Fried Oysters with Sweet & Sour Sauce
I'm not convinced that oysters and sweet & sour sauce makes an ideal combination, but those oysters were aiyah, sooo delicious! Fried oysters rank high on a mental food-I-often-crave list and would eat it everyday of my life if both health and money were negligible factors.
Turnip Cake with Ham and XO Sauce
Turnip Cakes were less special - I'm biased to my grandmother's homemade version. And the Pork & Shrimp Dumplings were lovely, but nothing you can't come across at a good Chinese restaurant. All dumplings should be at least this good.
Rice Noodle Rolls with Shrimp
Steamed Rice Noodles with Shrimp were a subtle, but well appreciated nod to attention to quality of food. The supple white noodles had just the right pull, a slight chew, breaking with smooth ease into warm tunnels of sweet shrimp.
E-Fu Noodles
By the time the E-Fu Noodles showed up we were rather full, but managed to eat half the dish. A clean fresh take on a common Chinese dish, quality was evidenced in both preparation (light on the oil, plain in a good way), and ingredients (a simple and solid selection of seasonal vegetables).
Chocolate Fortune Cookies
And of course, because this is $8 dim sum you're eating, they don't give you just plain fortune cookies, but chocolate ones ;)
Chinatown Brasserie
380 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 533-7000
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