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Bringing the world together

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Hey guys! Welcome to my new home! I’m so glad to see you guys following me over to WordPress! I noticed that a lot of bloggers had been making the transition from Blogger to WordPress. I decided to try it out for myself to see what all the hype is about, so yesterday out of sudden impulse, I found myself importing my blog over here.

So, what do you guys think of my new blog? Any comments, suggestions, or advice would be much appreciated!

I’m still trying to get the hang of WordPress and learn the knooks and crannies of it, so I’ll wait awhile before giving a comparison between Blogger and WordPress. Like I said before, I am a total dinosaur when it comes to technology so it’s gonna take me a while to get the hang of this. But so far, I’m loving the clean, professional, fresh layout, and the page tabs above! I’m thrilled to get to have a whole “About Me” section of my own, as y’all know I just love talking about myself. Also, check out the recipe tab! My own collection of ME-inspired recipes! How utterly…head-swelling. I’m all puffed up with pride over my new blog.

But…the best is yet to come! I am itching to share my two more fabulous versions of my soufflé-omelet and “Mix-it-up” bowl.

I love omelets, but after I discovered the gloriously fluffy variation of the plain omelet in the form of soufflé-omelets, I just can’t turn back. An ordinary omelet will no longer cut it for me. Ah, the happy pain of it! I just can’t get enough of these fat protein “pancakes”, so it’s a good thing there are so many different ways to make it special each time!

The first time I made this, it was spicy with a vegetarian curry filling. The second time round, I went all cheese-happy with four kinds of cheese and roasted butternut squash. Now this time round, I decided to go even crazier and make a sweet version of it.

Here’s what I did:

I ground together roasted almonds and almond milk together to make my own almond butter:

Then I chopped up half a Granny Smith apple and a banana, sprinkled them with cinnamon and heated them up in the microwave for 30 seconds:

In another bowl, I mixed together plain yogurt and blackcurrant preserves, then stuck them in the freezer to firm up:

I made the basic preps for the souffle-omelet with two whole separated eggs, except I mixed in a teaspoon sugar and cinnamon into my egg yolks. I whipped up the two egg whites until firm, then dumped them into my egg yolk mixture:

Very carefully blended them together…

And then spread them over a low-heat skillet to cook. Once slightly cooked on the bottom, I ladled on apples and the blackcurrant yogurt sauce on one side, bananas and almond butter on the other…

Then flipped half the omelet over to finish…

The grand finale: “Best of Both Worlds” soufflé-omelet

With a bit of the remaining blackcurrant sauce and a sprinkle of cocoa powder and cinnamon…

How was it? My response: ………………………………………………………………………

That’s me, speechless.

A picture speaks a thousand words, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…

Okay, I can’t resist saying something at this point. I absolutely loved the contrast between the tangy, cool freshness of the tart apples and yogurt-blackcurrant sauce and the warm, gooey, nutty sweetness of the bananas and almond butter. It was the best of both worlds in one plate, it was perfection, it was total mouth-gasm. Holy, freaking, burpilicious!

Who says you can’t have a balanced, healthy dessert for a main meal?

The tragic thing is, every meal, no matter how magnificent, must come to an end with the last bite…

But that’s not the end of it. Oh no, with my crazy ideas in the kitchen, you can be sure the next meal will be just as good, if not better! And I have to say (as modestly as I can) I think today’s version of my “Mix-it-up” bowl was quite ingenious. Here’s a sneak preview:

Fresh fruits, dried fruits, and nuts…What do you think of with that combination? If you called out “muesli”, give yourself a clap on the back! Today’s “Mix-it-up” bowl was inspired by the concept of muesli. Here’s the breakdown:

”Sunshine Muesli” Pilaf

The base:

1 cup cooked pearl barley, 1/4 cup black beans and 1/2 cup chopped roasted winter squash

The mix-ins: 1/2 chopped orange, 1 heaping tablespoon raisins

The dressing: juice from remaining orange, 1 tablespoon orange zest, dash of cinnamon and turmeric

The topping: big spoonful of desiccated coconut, chopped roasted almonds, dollop of homemade almond butter and sprinkle of dried parsley just for color

I was just going to name this “Muesli” Pilaf, but as I sat in front of this orange pilaf, breathing in the citrus fragrance and having a huge cheesy grin on my face, I just had to add the word “Sunshine” to it.

It sure put a sunshine into my taste buds!

I normally don’t like raisins, but it was a great addition to this dish, as it absorbed the orange juice dressing and plumped up nice and chewy.

And of course the perfect adornment is a good pile of almond butter. I know I always say the perfect way to top of meal is with a runny egg, but that would have been disgusting together with these flavors. Almond butter makes a nice substitution over here.

I dug into this bowl with great gusto…

What a delicious, breakfasty lunch!

I think it’s great fun to try something totally different from typical lunch concepts once in a while. Actually, in my opinion, we ought to have dessert and breakfast for every meal because, come on, what’s better than dessert and breakfast? You see restaurants boasting all-day breakfasts, but have you ever seen a restaurant bragging about its all-day lunches or dinners?

Okay, now I’m off to set up my “About Me” page, leaving you with this question: Can you name all the different fruits in my header? Those who can identify them all will win a shout-out in my next post!

Hello fellow bloggers

Who Am I?

A BIG FAT shout out to all you wonderful bloggers out there who left such sweet comments to my last post! Thank you so much for your uplifting and encouraging words. Each and every single one of them made me smile so much, by the end of the day I had a permanent ache in my cheeks!

Oh, and a BIG high-five to all of you other burpers out there! Glad I’m not the only one. Sure it may not be great social etiquette, but if I’m gonna be gassy, I’d rather it be out my mouth than out my ass, if you know what I mean. And for the others who just absolutely cannot burp, I am sorry. My condolences. I know how much you want to burp. But we can’t have it all.

I think it’s really becoming a habit. I always have a “Mix-it-up” bowl one day, then a soufflé-omelet the other. They are two very different dishes: the “Mix-it-up” bowl is fast and simple, while the soufflé-omelet is a tad bit more labor-intensive. But both are so incredibly good and perfect for using up leftovers, so I can’t help gravitating towards these two same basic concepts for my lunches.

Thus, following my Miso Pilaf the day before, of course I had to have another variation of my soufflé-omelet the next day. I had several things in the fridge I needed to clear up: cheddar cheese, beans, roasted winter squash, mango, pineapple, tomato. I decided to combine them all together to make some kind of Tropical/Mexican filling for the omelet. These are the ingredients that went into it:

Trop-Mex Filling

1 clove garlic
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup green bell peppers, chopped
1/3 cup black beans
1/3 cup roasted winter squash, chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
few spoonfuls of tomato sauce
some chopped mango
some chopped pineapple
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
spritz of juice from 1/2 small lime

First I sautéed the garlic and onion until fragrant and soft, then tossed in the tomato and bell peppers. As the tomato started to release its juices, I threw in the beans, winter squash, and cumin and stir-fried them for awhile. I dribbled in some tomato sauce as the mixture started looking kinda dry. Then I transferred the mixture into a bowl and stirred in the mango and pineapple and cilantro. Lastly, a squeeze of lime juice and ta-da~!

Lovely Trop-Mex filling, all ready to be stuffed into an omelet! The winter squash lost its shape in the heat and became some sort of paste that bound all the items together, which worked out perfect for me. I think this would also be really great as a dip.

I made the soufflé-omelet as usual, plopped in the filling, and added about 1/4 cup cheddar cheese. Mmm! What is an omelet without cheese? I can’t believe I used to only purchase fat-free processed cheese! *Shudder*

I think I have finally perfected the art of making a soufflé-omelet. The secret is to cook this over a really low temperature, covered so the bottom does not burn before the top can set. A broiler would work just as well, but I don’t have one, nor do I have an oven-proof skillet.

This was an awesome combination of flavors. I loved the sweet bursts of juices from the mango and pineapple with the smokiness of the cumin-flavored beans and winter squash. The cilantro and lime juice added the last final touch to really make all the flavors pop.

You want a hunk of that, don’t ya?

Come on, what’s stopping you? Grab a fork!

This was incredibly tasty, but I have to admit it paled in comparison to what I had for lunch today! As you know I eat out with family every Saturday, but this time an amusing little sister decided to join our weekly lunch date…Her treat! I remembered what she once told me: “I have quite a lot of money, but I don’t know where to use it! I live with my parents so I don’t have to pay for rent, living expenses, or groceries, so I’ve got quite a lot saved up! I feel kind of guilty having so much money though…” Well, never fear! I took it as my deed of charity of the day to help her spend some of that money 😉

We went to this place specializing in crepes called Out of the Pan. It was sort of an outdoor-indoor cafe, meaning the restaurant was right smack in open space in the middle of the shopping mall with no walls. Here’s a snapshot of how it looks like:

There’s a fountain next to it that sends refreshing bursts of water shooting up. The kitchen is also open for everyone to watch the cooks prepare their meals. Very cool.

My mouth started watering as I perused the menu:

There were so many tasty choices, my head was spinning! After lots of deep, serious consideration, I finally decided to order the Norwegian Salmon, which is described as: “Smoked Salmon with creamy pistachio cheese & Plantation chutney.” I ordered it wrapped in a whole wheat crepe, and it came out like this:

She ordered the Peking Duck wrapped in sun-dried tomato crepe:

“Roasted Duck with sambal olek, lychees, and sweet dark sauce.”

She ordered the Beef and Bell Peppers, also wrapped with sun-dried tomato crepe:

I’m not sure exactly what went in this, but it was basically marinated and roasted beef and bell peppers, with some kind of yogurt sauce.

She ordered Korean Pulled Pork BBQ in sun-dried tomato crepe:

”Pulled pork grilled in spicy Korean BBQ marinade and kimchi.”

I can’t believe this is the first time I tried crepes. They were so freaking delicious, I had to control myself from moaning with each bite. We all shared our dishes, but I still thought mine was the best. I love cheese, I love salmon, and I love pistachios, so what was there not to love about this?

The smoked salmon tasted fresh, and it was perfect with the creamy, slightly sweet yet tangy pistachio cheese.

We also ordered a side dish of potato salad, but I was too absorbed with my main dish:

I was stuffed after finishing this whole plate, but in a good, satisfying way. I love crepes in that they are so refreshing and light, yet so comfortably filling.

I wonder if I can find any good creperies in America? I’m sure there are many, I just have never heard of one yet. Any recommendations? Damn, if I just had the money, I would frequent this place so often I’d be chummies with all the staff here. But then, I probably can recreate this dish at home pretty easily. Hmmm…..

Q & A time again!

I’m sad, people! I only received one question this time…*Tear. But that’s okay, because I’m gonna make this into a weekly thing, so you can ask questions anytime! Here’s the solo reader-question of the day:

“When/why did you start doing mix it up bowls? How did you come up with the idea? Do you remember your first bowl? If so, what was it?”

My answer:

Great question, Lexi! I’m so glad you asked.

Like most of my other creations, I first thought up of “Mix-it-up” bowls starting from an ingredient I wanted to try: pearled barley. As most of you know I’m trying to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself with new ingredients, especially grains, which I have always avoided because of my fear of carbs.

Anyway, I used it as an interesting substitute for pasta in my Barley alla Carbonara, and after that I had tons of leftover barley! I had no idea how to use pearled barley in a dish, having never had tried it before except in soups. But I thought it was sort of like a plumped-up, chewier version of rice, so I began thinking of how I might use rice in my cooking. The result was my first ever “Mix-it-up” bowl, Beans-and-squash Barley Pilaf with Coconut.

It was so fast and easy and delicious, and I could see this as a solution to using up leftovers, perfect for one-person meals, and also great for busy cooks! I wanted to share this with others in a way so that they did not need to refer to a rigid recipe and can adjust it to their own personal taste, so I broke it down into simple components, making it open for all sorts of creative variations!

Of course, I became my own biggest fan and have been coming up with many different versions of this dish. I actually wrote out a whole list of ideas I want to try, and am ticking each one of as I go! So far, I have not had any disappointments. They were all fabulous in their own way!

I did make a few personal changes to my basic “Mix-it-up” bowl recipe, though. I liked the combination of barley, beans, and winter squash so much that they became my base component instead of just barley. But the sky’s the limit here, so you can use any of your favorite grain.

Enough with self-advertising. I would be so happy if you guys tried it out for yourself, and share your creation with me! I am always open to new ideas and suggestions. If I make it to 50 different variations of this “Mix-it-up” bowl, I’m gonna have to call for a celebration, so please help me make it happen!

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And now, my dear blogger-friends, I’m gonna leave you with this totally unrelated question of the day: What is your favorite TV show (excluding reality TV)?

Mine is: Gilmore Girls, woo-hoo!! Gotta love those mother-daugther fast and witty glibs and banters. But Gossip Girl, Ugly Betty, Lost, Heroes, and Grey’s Anatomy come a close second.

It’s the weekends, guys! Have a great relaxing, delicious weekend! And thanks once again for you lovely comments! You guys ROCK my SOCKS!

The Philosophy of Burbing

Food

What’s with all this “burping” mania? Why burp? How disgusting/funny/interesting/cool!

There is actually a very valid reason why I choose to use the word “burp.” As embarrassing as this is to confess, I am a huge burper. There. I’ve said it out loud. I burp louder and longer than any big, fat, beer-guzzling, ESPN-watching couch potato out there. I am known far and wide for my burping skills. In fact, when I left Singapore for America, my friends compiled a nice little farewell album for me, in which they all left a sweet message, and every single one of those messages included the sentence, “I will miss your burps!”

Yeah. Not my intelligence, my wittiness, or my absolute fabulosity, but my burps. I’m not exactly thrilled to be identified by my burps, but I’ve come to embrace it.

That said, I don’t burp out of my own will. Why would I ever want to be stuck with an image of social inappropriateness? They just slip out on their own. I blame my genes. Everyone on my dad’s side are burping champions. Seriously. My grandpa’s burping skills put my own to shame.

I remember the one time when I was about 12 and I was visiting Korea, and I was staying at my grandparents’ house. Before I go on, I’ll let you know that I have never been very close to my grandparents, as we lived half the continent away and could only visit once every two years at the most.

One morning, My grandma cooked a big pot of Korean miso soup for breakfast. That put a scowl in my face, because I hated miso soup. Actually, I hated any Asian food, but miso soup was just one of my least favorites, especially the stinky Korean kind. So I sat there picking at my rice and barely touching my bowl of miso soup.

But meanwhile, my grandpa was guzzling it down like it was a bowl of golden nectar from the gods. He slurped up each spoonful noisily, going “AHHH!” and “Mmmm!!” with every mouthful. The sight of him enjoying this simple bowl of miso soup so much made me suddenly crave for the same experience. What the hell is so great about miso? All of a sudden, I, too, wanted to enjoy my miso soup, so I decided to give it another chance.

I picked up my spoon and gave it a cautious taste. And you know what? It tasted magnificent. I don’t know if it was because of my grandpa’s influence or my grandma’s amazing cooking, but I finished every last drop of that miso soup, albeit with less moans of ecstasy than my grandpa.

And at the end of it, we both burped out loud in unison. My grandma shook her head in disgust, muttering, “Like grandfather, like granddaughter.” But my grandpa and I shared a secret smile, and at that moment I suddenly felt myself sharing a close kinship and bond with him.

Here’s the sad part of the story, though. My grandpa just passed away last year due to stomach cancer. Because at that time I was still severely underweight, I was unable to attend his funeral. I regret it so much and it weighs heavy in my heart that he died without seeing me fully recovered. Up until his very last breath, he worried for my health even while he himself was at his own death bed.

But I take comfort in the thought that he is now up there in heaven, rooting me on as I fight my way through recovery. Grandpa, this lunch today is in memory of you:

Miso Pilaf

The base: 1 cup cooked pearl barley

The mix-ins: 1/4 cup black beans, 1/2 cup chopped roasted winter squash, sliced crabmeat (imitation)

The dressing: miso paste mixed with water

The toppings: sprinkle of furikake (dehydrated seaweed and fish and sesame seeds) and a sunny-side egg

This is just another variation of my “Mix-it-up” bowl again, starting out by sautéing onions and garlic first, then dumping in the base and mix-ins, then the dressing, and finally ladling the mixture into a bowl with the toppings.

I have to say, no miso was ever as good as that bowl I had with my grandpa. I soon returned back to avoiding miso soups, but no longer harbored the same distaste I had for it before then.

This bowl of miso pilaf was warm, comforting, and satisfying. I kept the water to the bare minimum so that the broth was thicker and more gravy-like than normal liquidy miso soup.

It was simple, much less fancy than my other “Mix-it-up” bowl creations, but still very, very good. Highly recommended for any cold nights, or if in need of some major comforting.

Some awesome news today!

1. A friend tried out my “Mix-it-up” bowl! Hers was a Greek-Italian fusion, and these were her mix-ins: 1 cup cooked barley, splash of EVOO, 1/4 cup feta, Sicilian lentil pasta sauce, and kalamata olives. Gosh, that sounds so yummy! This is Kiki’s response to her “Mix-it-up” bowl creation: “Not attractive, but yumskies.” I beg to differ, Kiki, but yours looked amazing! Check out her blog for the delicious-looking picture!

2. And now, a huge standing ovation is in order for

JIAYING of Brownbread girl! She managed to identify

every single fruit in my header-banner! The correct answer was: kiwi, pear, dragonfruit, orange, and grapefruit! I’m pretty impressed, I must say! Great job, Jiaying!

3. I really liked the Q&A section last time, so I’m opening up to any more questions today! I might even make that every Thursday’s question of the day.

So, before you leave, guys, remember to ask me any questions you want! I promise to answer them!

Buai buai, and until next time!

P.S. Carrots and Cake is having a PURE BAR GIVEAWAY! I’ve always been a great fan of her blog, but now she’s given me all the more reason to love it even more! Go check out her blog for details!

Feeling like Spring

Food

Back in America, Panera used to be one of my favorite “restaurants.” I loved their “You-Pick-Two” deals, and the freshness of their bread, and the variety of their sandwiches. So I was very happy to find Singapore’s own version of Panera in the form of The Soup Spoon.

We met up for lunch again yesterday, and this time she wanted to eat at someplace other than our usual Shokudo, so we chose The Soup Spoon for lunch that day. The menu isn’t as extensive as Panera’s but all the choices were appealing enough. They also had a soup + half-sandwich deal like Panera.

I wasn’t feeling for soup, so I just got the full Tikka Chicken Wrap:

“Tandoori Chicken, Mango Chutney, Mint, Cucumber, Red Onion, Romaine Lettuce”

To tell you the truth, I never really liked wraps before…because I didn’t think they were “filling” enough. I’m a carb-fiend, so a flattened piece of dough did not appeal to me. But after my delicious experience with crepes and reading all about the different yummy-looking wraps you food-bloggers have made, I was suddenly craving for one myself.

And I’m glad I did, because this wrap was a-mazing. The chicken was marinated in a myriad of spices, and I absolutely loved the smoky, spicy sweetness of the mango chutney.

The coleslaw that came with this was also really good. It was fresh, vibrant, and crunchy, with a spicy after note that made my nostrils flare, in a good way. I stole all of her coleslaw as well. >___< She ordered the soup-and-sandwich combo. She got a bowl of Velvety Mushroom Stroganoff: …and half a Tuna Mayo Sandwich: “Tuna Mayo, Red Onion, Green Salad, Honey Mustard Mayo” All I can say about this sandwich is, we both agreed my Tikka Chicken wrap was much, much better. 🙂 The soup was very, very thick with lots of mushrooms and cream. It was aptly named, as each mouthful glided down my throat, chock-full of smooth, fresh mushrooms. As a mushroom-lover, I thought it was really very good, but she did not like it so much. She found it too thick and “stewy.” I gladly helped her with her portion, dipping pieces of my wrap into it. By the way, I was wrong. Wraps are really filling. I was stuffed after finishing mine, and couldn’t even help her finish her soup! I’m definitely going to try many more wraps in the future…Meanwhile, I better brainstorm on some great fillings! Speaking of brainstorming, I got to try out another one of my “Mix-it-up” bowl brainstorms for lunch today! This dish was really interesting because it was inspired by just one thing: GREEN. As many of you already know, I love funky green foods. So I’ve been meaning to make a green dish for quite some time now. I remember I once saw a picture of a bowl of green rice. Now you know I hate rice, but that picture made me want to lick the paper, so appealing was its greenness! But that was awhile ago and I had no idea what it was that made it green. Anyway, I did not really care if I made a dish totally different from that one in the picture so long as it looked as green as it. My first thought to recreate that greenness was pesto. But I couldn’t find any basil in my local grocery store, so I picked cilantro instead. Again, I was too lazy to consult to any recipe but just threw a whole bunch of ingredients together into the blender: Cilantro “Pesto” Sauce about 3/4 cup cilantro one heaping tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese one spoonful of pine nuts one stalk green onion, chopped one big garlic clove splash of vinegar splash of almond milk pinch of salt squeeze of lime juice I just combined and blended them all together until liquefied into a nice, thick puree. I then prepared my “Mix-it-up” bowl with these components: Green Pilaf The base: 1 cup cooked pearl barley, 1/4 cup black beans and 1/2 cup chopped roasted winter squash The mix-ins: 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper and shitake mushrooms The dressing: few tablespoons of chicken broth and a bit of lime juice The topping: tablespoonfuls of Parmesan cheese, the cilantro “pesto” sauce, and a soft-boiled egg What can I say? I’m a freaking genius. Everything worked well perfectly together. I did not need another special dressing other than a bit of chicken broth to moisten the grains, as I really wanted my green sauce to shine in this dish. The cilantro “pesto” sauce was an exploding firework of flavors. The cilantro in it was bright and popping with its fresh herby fragrance, the Parmesan cheese added a lovely tang and sharpness, and the pine nuts gave the sauce depth in richness and creaminess. I’m glad I decided to top this with a soft-boiled egg rather than my usual fried egg. Somehow it made this dish seem much more impressive, and the smoothness and plumpness of the boiled egg whites was a nice change, especially together with the sauce. And of course I couldn’t resist sprinkling even more Parmesan cheese on top. You just can’t have too much cheese. I think this dish is a great way to welcome spring. I actually ate this sweating like a horse in the sweltering Singapore weather, but each bite let me imagine the fresh budding grass of spring, the new fragrance of blooming plants and flowers in the air… It’s just too bad that I miss spring this year. 🙁 But on a happier note, I received more questions! These are kind of late (I asked for questions on the last, last post!), but I’m still really happy to answer all of them…So here’s another (tardy) round of… Q & A TIME! “I have a question for you…where is the link to the original soufflé omelet recipe? Those look so MARVELOUS and creative. I want to try it. I’m very lazy though…so a link would be great 🙂 It’s probably like 3 blog posts down on your page, huh? I know, I’m lazy. Whatever, I can’t feel my toe. Have some sympathy 😉 ” My answer: “YAY! I’m so excited you’re gonna try making souffle omelets! Here’s the link to the the first time I made it, where you will find the basic steps. Let me know if you have any more questions about it. Meanwhile, have fun, enjoy, and promise me you’ll let me know how you like it! I’ll give you a nice shout-out 😉 ” “So I have a question, – do you live in Singapore with your parents? Or do they reside elsewhere? Have you got any siblings? Okay, more than one question but hey 🙂 ” My answer: “Tsk, tsk. Greedy, my dear, greedy. Three questions altogether at once! But that’s okay, it gives me the chance to talk about myself some more, so thanks for asking! (Hee) My parents are not in Singapore right now, they’re back home in America, missing me like crazy. But I’ll be seeing them again in just a month when return back to the States. Meanwhile, I’m staying at families house. They’re family/church friends and have been the most marvelous hosts. And yes, I do have a sibling…a brother, two years younger than me. He has the complete opposite personality from me (he’s mild, gentle, patient, good-natured), which is good because he can tolerate my crazy temper. I used to bully him all the time when we were younger, but now he’s all grown up…into a handsome, well-built young man, so I find myself bullying those annoying, flirtatious girls around him instead to protect him! Here’s a picture of my lovely brother: bro I love him so much, especially since he’s been so understanding and patient with me through my ED days…” “If there was just ONE food you could eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?” My answer: "Whoa! That’s a toughie. I have too many foods I love! But if there is ONE food I just cannot live without, it will have to be oatmeal…Or sweet potato. Or pumpkin. Or eggs…GAH! This is impossible!!” “What’s pistachio cheese? Is it like pistachio-flavored cheese or a cheese-y substance made out of pistachios? Either way sounds yummy.” My answer: “For those of you confused out there, Emily is referring to the pistachio cheese I had in my Norwegian Salmon crepe I had here. I’m not so sure, but I am very sure it wasn’t something made out of pistachios only. It definitely had that tang of a brie or cream cheese, and wasn’t green or sweet enough to be made entirely out of pistachios. I’m guessing it’s some kind of really creamy, rich cheese blended with pistachios. Either way, it was freaking delicious and I wis h I knew the exact ingredients and measurements so that I can have it again and again. Anybody feel like experimenting for me?” —————————————————————————————– Okay, I’ve just polished off two tuna and cheese Mr Bean pancakes (which are also GREEN!!) and a purple sweet potato for a “snack”… and now I think a nice nap is much needed…just before I move on to dinner. Sleep…eat…sleep…poop…eat… You know, minus the mental issues, recovery from ED can be quite pleasurable… So I bid you adieu with this question of the day: What is your favorite type of sandwich bread? Wraps? Pitas? Wonder bread (God forbid)? Toasts? Rolls? Hamburger buns? Bagels? Baguette? Ciabatta? Mine is a good, crusty whole grain artisan bread, preferably pressed with those lovely grill marks…mmmmmm…Carbs……

Fighting Back

Who Am I?

Thank you, every one of you who left me a comment sharing my joy of new hair with me! I know it seems like a trivial, vanity thing, but it’s really sort of a sign for me that I am finally taking care of my body. So it means a lot to me to share this with you!

You know, anorexia is a horrible, treacherous disease. It sneaks up on you and wraps its arm around your shoulder like a friend at first, but then before you know it, it has opened up its jaws to swallow you up whole. The thing is, it would be so nice if that was the end of it. Instead, anorexia is like a crocodile. It doesn’t just rip you apart, it holds on to you with its deathly grip, stifling you, drowning you, starving you and leaving you to die a slow, painful death, then waiting until your body rots to a soft pulp before finally eating you up.

This is the worst thing about anorexia. You’re dying, but in a slow, dragged out process. You waste away, both mentally and physically, entrapped between the clutches of this inescapable illness, while you watch it rob every single thing away from you: your beauty, your social life, your hobbies, your personality, your integrity, your emotions, your happiness. Meanwhile, your family and friends can do nothing but gape at you in despair and quiet desperation.

Even now, as I am trying to recover from anorexia, I still have to fight off many of the old anorexic thoughts, fears, anxieties, and habits, which are seriously, in the eyes of a normal person, utterly stupid and ridiculous and unreasonable, but which are so physically painful and real to me. Some people say it never goes away, that even if you somehow manage to escape from its jaws, you still bear the scars for the rest of your life.

But I disagree. I believe complete healing is possible, for nothing is impossible for the Lord in whom I put my faith and trust. But I do know it is not to be overcome in one day, but a daily progress. Day by day, step by step, amidst both failures and victories, I know anorexia can be conquered. The worst thing to do is to disbelieve, to doubt and to despair and give up. Each day has enough troubles on its own, and I aim to live and enjoy each day to the best it can possibly be even in the process of this exhausting recovery.

And one of the ways to enjoy each day is…to eat good food, of course! Haha, sorry for dumping all that deadpan, weighty issues on you, but I just wanted to get this little itch off my chest. So far I’ve only been referring to my ED vaguely, but I think I should share a bit deeper occasionally as this blog is another tool for me to recover anorexia after all. So…ready for today’s delicious eats?

Today’s lunch should really be described with silence. Because I seriously thought I had died and gone to heaven, it was that good. The cause of today’s mouthgasm? Monte Cristo sandwich. Here’s how I prepared it:

I made a sandwich out of two slices of whole wheat bread, four slices of smoked ham, two slices of cheddar cheese, and a few slices of tomatoes. Then the part that makes it a Monte Cristo: I whipped together 1 whole egg, 1 egg white, 1/4 cup almond milk, drop of vanilla extract, cinnamon, dash of salt. Then I dunked the whole sandwich into this wet mixture and left it there to sit until it soaked up all the liquid. Then I heat up a skillet, sprayed it with PAM, and cooked up the sandwich until brown on both sides and smelling like heaven. With a drizzle of maple syrup:

Oh…my…freaking…God this was sososososososososososo good! Seriously, my eyes were popping and the syrup was dripping all over my shirt, but how could I be bothered when I shared the same fantastic smell as this amazing sandwich?

I loved how the bread soaked up the sweet syrup! I really love the play of the sweet and the savory…This had all the sweetness and comfort of french toast and pancakes, and also the substantiality and saltiness of a good ham and cheese sandwich.

Here’s the cross-section, for your drooling pleasure:

I was very sad when I reached the last yummy bite…

I also had a plate of celery, carrot, and cucumbers on the side to cleanse my mouth, with some homemade ketchup:

And for afternoon snack, another pair matched in heaven:

Mr. peanut pancake and Ms. cheese pancake got married, had their wedding in my mouth, and are now (a-hem) celebrating their matrimony in my stomach.

Oh, and I baked today! My Penang friend is leaving Thursday, so I baked pumpkin crumble bars for her:

Sweet salty and refreshing

Who Am I?

Did I mention that I had begun writing about my experience in anorexia? Well, reflecting back each memory, meditating on it, and writing it down have so far been incredibly therapeutic and beneficial to me. Especially since I am taking a step back to view each section of my ED struggle as part of a larger and broader context, I found myself…viewing things in a different perception, with deeper insight.

I don’t need to reiterate how awful and abhorrent eating disorder is. Anyone who takes a look at my sallow complexion, my jutting cheekbones, and my thinning, flat hair can tell how undesirable this disease is. And have you ever met a happy anorexic? That two words are an oxymoron in itself. Most likely you wouldn’t even really notice an anorexic person (unless she/he is really painfully emaciated) because she/he would have withdrawn herself from all social circles. You never almost see a smiling anorexic unless 1) She’s smiling for the camera, “say cheese~” or 2) She met her calorie restriction goals for the day. Hell, it was only until recently as I laughed out loud with my friends that it hit me that I had not laughed that freely for years. Strike that – I had not laughed for years, period.

Yes, anorexia is definitely loathsome, unattractive, and abominable. But you know what? If given the chance to change things, I would still opt to leave things the way they are now.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re starting into the screen, jaw dropped in aghast, thinking, Oh, no, poor her has finally lost it, all those excessive amount of eggs must have finally made her loony! But hear me out.

I believe nothing is coincidental. Everything happens for a reason, everything is under God’s control, and that there are many things which we humans with our third-dimension minds cannot ever understand in God’s grander scheme of plan. So yes, I do believe there is a reason why God let me go through all the struggles and pain of an eating disorder. For despite all the unpleasant consequences of it, it has also brought me tons of blessings. In a way, my eating disorder is a blessing in disguise. Let me just list out a few things I gained from ED:

I have gotten closer to God. I have realized how utterly weak and helpless I am without Him, and how much I need Him.
My relationship with my parents have gotten so much closer and intimate. I love them more than ever, and they understand and empathize me more.
I realized how incredibly loved and blessed I am. All the care and concern and love showered on me by my friends and family, their constant encouragements and comforts have touched me so much that I have totally changed the way I view my relationships.
I am unable to judge and look down on others now. I used to be arrogant and judgmental, but after realizing my own weaknesses and inabilities, I am no longer able to judge other for their own flaws and imperfections.
I have discovered the absolute importance of health. You can have an IQ of Einstein, but if you don’t have a healthy body to effectively use your brain and knowledge, what’s the use? God gave me responsibility over this body, and I tend to treat it well and make full use of its potential!
I used to be the most self-absorbed bitch. Okay, I can still be pretty selfish, but I am starting to care and commiserate with others more. In fact, I now have a life mission: to be healed completely from this mental disorder, and so be able to help many other people who went through similar struggles as me.

These are just a few of the many blessings I have received from my eating disorder. Yes, even with the worst situation, you can always find a few positive things out of it. You know why I love foods with the sweet and salty combination? Because if it’s just all sweet, it becomes sickening and saccharine after the first few bites, and if it’s just all salty, well, it’s just unbearable. But combine the two together, and you’ve got yourself the perfect blend…something interesting, something adventurous, something different, something satisfying. Same so with life.

I’m going all preachy again, but just wanted to suggest to you that no matter how bad your situation seems to be right now, as long as you are willing to search with a positive mind, you can always discover the silver lining in the stormy cloud. Remember that saying, What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger? So true.

Right. Have I bored you to tears yet? On to the lighter and tastier part of this post…The eats!

I’m so excited to share today’s lunch with you, because it’s the first time I cooked a meal with beans! I have always been wanting to give beans a try, given that it’s a nutrition powerhouse with complex carbohydrates and great protein. Plus, it’s dirt cheap! But for the most messed up reason, I was also quite reluctant because 1) ED thinks it’s too starchy and calorie-dense and 2) I felt pretty sure I would be disappointed with it. I’ve never been a bean-lover, so what makes me think I’ll like them now?

But for the sake of variety, and because I’ve been noticing in blogs how many people seem to enjoy beans, I bit back my hesitation and bought a small bag of dried black beans. I soaked them overnight and started brainstorming.

I didn’t want the familiar, usual bean dishes like black bean soup or bean salads. I wanted something a tad bit different, something that…well, spelled my name all over it. So of course I started playing around with ideas of breakfast…sweet…salty…By the next morning (today), I came up with: Black bean and Pumpkin Pancakes with Coconut.

I cooked the soaked overnight beans until tender, seasoned them with salt, then pureed half a cup of the cooked black beans with half a cup of pumpkin, some vanilla and cinnamon into a thick, creamy consistency. Then I added about a couple tablespoonfuls of whole beans to the puree, just for a mix of texture. I divided the mixture into two and rolled them into balls:

Then I flattened them into pancakes, and pan-fried them over a hot skillet until crispy on the outside. For the grand finale, a generous drizzle of maple syrup and showers of coconut snow:

Does that look amazing or what? The interplay of fragrances from the pumpkin, the cinnamon, the black beans, the syrup and the coconut…Oh glorious beans, how could I ever have doubted your brilliance? I am really liking beans now. I still have a lot of leftovers left though. Anyone have any suggestions on how to prepare them?

These pancakes were both sweet and savory and I loved the hidden crunch of the whole beans amidst the creamy pumpkin/black bean puree. The coconut added a whole new tropical depth to the dish.

Actually, these are not your average pancakes. There are no fluffiness or lightness in these cakes; in fact they are really dense and rich. Maybe more like a burger, but I’m calling them pancakes because that sounds more appealing to me. Hey, I created it, I name it. And I want them to be pancakes. So there.

I munched messily on my pancakes with a crunchy, refreshing side of carrots, cucumbers, and celery with a dollop of homemade ketchup:

Now, a couple of you asked why my cheese pancakes for afternoon snack were green. Well, they’ve always been green, but I guess you couldn’t see that because the exterior crust is nicely browned. But the batter is really green, because it’s flavored with pandan. Pandan is some sort of very frangrant plant used to flavor a lot of Southeast Asian dishes. Add that to your list of foods to try.

So here’s today’s afternoon snack:

And just to show you how the insides are green:

You can’t really taste the pandan that clearly, but I just love the fact that these pancakes are green. Green makes everything cooler. And these pancakes are certainly oh-so-cool.

Yay, long post finished. I enjoy writing each of my posts, but hope you have as much pleasure reading them as I do from writing them! And here’s today’s question of the day: Have you ever had something really bad happen to you, but later in reflection discover that there were some good to it too?

Flavored veggies

Food

Again, going with the “gourmet” theme, I am going to share two more “gourmet” lunches that I had yesterday and today. But first, yesterday’s breakfast, because it was different.

I usually always have a bowl of fruits and a bowl of oatmeal every morning. The mix-ins may be different; sometimes a granola bar, sometimes corn, sometimes pumpkin, sometimes peanut butter, sometimes yogurt. But that’s the standard breakfast I always have. No fuss, no hassle, no need for any planning. But I woke up 2 hours later than usual yesterday! I panicked, because I knew if I had the usual breakfast I would totally still be stuffed come lunchtime, and I have quite an OCD about eating schedules especially since I’m in ED-recovery weight-gain mode right now.

So I just mixed together something that would be light on my stomach: Pumpkin yogurt with mixed fruits.

Just plain yogurt mixed with pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, grapefruit, mangosteen, pineapple, apple, white nectarine, grapes, tangerine.. Light, fast, easy, nutritious, and oh-so-delicious. Why is pumpkin so good in everything?

Anyway, on to lunch. Since my breakfast was lighter than usual, I needed something more heavy on the calories for lunch. And I knew exactly what I wanted: a burger. But not the usual beef or chicken burger. My burger was a mixture of minced pork and tofu, adapted from my mother’s recipe for Korean pan-fried patties. This is super fast and easy!

Just mix together equal parts of minced pork and extra-firm tofu (make sure to squeeze out excess liquid from the tofu first), with minced ginger and garlic, salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture is too wet, add in some breadcrumbs until you are able to form firm patties with your hands. And then you can cook it however you want it! Roll it up into cabbage rolls and steam it, or dust with flour, coat with egg and panko, and deep-fry it into croquettes.

As for me, I made two variations from this pork/tofu mixture. I formed little golf ball-size patties, dusted it with flour, dipped it into a beaten egg, then pan-fried it into little nuggets. Here is the result:

For the other variation, I formed a giant burger patty, popped it into the fridge to firm up for a bit, then cooked it on a skillet until cooked through. Then I beat together two eggs with salt and pepper, and poured it over the burger and turned off the heat. The heat from the burger cooked the egg mixture to a lovely, soft, velvety consistency. And then, the grand finale: cream of mushroom sauce spooned on top. The creamy mushroom sauce is just basically some mushrooms and onions sautéed in 1/2 cup of homemade cream of mushroom soup I had made earlier the day before.

So I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, my “fancy” lunch: Pork-tofu burger in Egg bath with Creamy Mushroom Sauce~

Okay, this doesn’t look that appetizing, especially since all the colors are just different shades of brown. But I assure you,it was absolutely divine!

The burger was extremely soft and juicy, with the perfect ginger and garlic background. The egg was infused with the flavorful pork juice from the burger, and was steamed to lusciousness.

The sauce had a bold, meaty, mushroomy flavor, adding a depth of texture and intensity. Absolutely freaking amazing!

You want a bite, don’t ya? Come one, you know you want it!

On the side I also had a big salad. Man, I was stuffed after this!

But I’m even more excited to share today’s lunch with you, because I am aware that many of the bloggers in this community are vegetarians. Most of my meals are probably unappetizing to most of you because I consume so much animal products (mainly eggs, but still) so today’s lunch is a tribute to all you lovely vegetarians out there! (But it’s not vegan, sorry)

This was what was on the menu: Open-faced Broiled Cheese and Vegetable Sandwich. The fixings: Two types of cheese (herbed cheese spread and Parmesan), grilled eggplant, tomato, and marinated mushrooms and onions on whole-grain bread.

Basically, I just spread a liberal amount of herby cheese spread onto two slices of bread, topped it with grilled eggplant and tomato. Then I marinated mushrooms and onions in a mixture of soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, sake, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic, sautéed it in a skillet, piled it over the eggplant and tomato, topped it off with some Parmesan cheese, then popped them into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese and vegetables merged together in their delicious scents and flavors. Man, it smelled freaking incredible!

It was the first time I had a sandwich without some kind of animal product like ham or eggs, and I was bowled over by how incredibly flavorful the sandwich was. This tops all tuna/egg/ham and cheese/BLT/etc sandwiches! Definitely one of my favorite sandwiches from now on!

I also had some yogurt with those awesome sandwiches, the perfect end to the perfect lunch. Yum, yum. I can’t wait to make these again.

For afternoon snack, I had the usual sweet potatoes. And then dinner was something I had not had for awhile: Omelet with cheese and chicken hotdogs. Always good, always welcoming.

Well, that’s it for today. I kind of failed on the aesthetic part of my attempt to make “gourmet” food, but met my satisfaction taste-wise!

By the way, let me leave you with yet another question: Are you a vegetarian? If so, what kind, and what made you become one? And if you’re not, have you every considered becoming one?

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Oh the oats

Exploring

Went to Vivocity with my friend yesterday! YEA! Vivocity is one of the largest and newest mall in Singapore, and it is located right across Sentosa, and has a great view on the top floor…That being said, I have to admit that the real reason I wanted to go to Vivocity was because a friend told me I could get steel-cut oats at a supermarket called Naturally Marketplace there! I’ve been getting quite low on the supply of my Whole Foods steel-cut oats I brought all the way from America, and have been searching high and low throughout all the supermarkets in Singapore for these oats, but all they seem to sell are instant and quick-cooking types! BOOOO!! I like my oats as least refined as possible…What about you? Creamy vs. crunch when it comes to oats? I’ll take crunch any day.

That said, this is what I found to my delight in Naturally Marketplace!

Bob’s Red Mill organic steel-cut oats! Actually it’s so much more expensive than what I’d pay for in America, but money is no matter so long as I satisfy my oat fix. God, I sound like an oat druggie addict.

By the way, just wanted to also share this great brand of rolled oats I found in NTUC…

This was about the only old-fashioned oats I could find, and boy do I love it! It is much less refined than Quackers, because it takes a longer time to cook and the result is a gorgeous nutty bite and crunch that I absolutely love! I much prefer this brand to Quackers!

Check out the whole grains in the oatmeal cooked from these oats! Love love love it~

Lunch was again quite the usual…

Cooked spinach, omelette with 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites, onions and cheese, and a slice of PB and J toast!

I never seem to tire from this omelette…Sorry for the repetitious eating, but eggs and dairy are my main source for protein because I’m not much of a meat eater. The PB & J was delicious…The classic American sandwich; whoever first invented this combination is pure genius~

I didn’t really get the chance to pick up an afternoon snack as I was pretty busy (window) shopping, so I was mighty glad I packed a package of jackfruits with me on the way…

Yum! It’s been so long since I had jackfruit…It has a sweet honey fragrance, and is extremely cooling and sweet…The texture is rubbery and silky at the same time…Ah, can’t explain it, but you’ve got to try it out for yourself!

We had a very early dinner around 6:15 pm because she was hungry…I was sort of hungry too because of the lack of a substantial afternoon snack, so we headed to the food court. We circled the area twice wondering what to eat…and I’m embarrassed to say I got WANTON SOUP again!

Okay, I swear that I seriously considered getting something else…I wanted to get the sliced fish soup at first, but then Angeline said the fish looked anorexic, and then I looked elsewhere and the words FRESH SHRIMP DUMPLINGS caught my eye like a neon signboard in an empty dark street…How could I resist? I was glad I got the wanton soup, though, because the wantons really did taste fresh…

Check out the whole shrimp inside each precious dumpling! These dumplings were huge, and there was also some kind of minced pork paste together with the pink shrimp…The soup was also quite flavorful…I enjoyed each dumpling with a liberal amount of chili…Heh.

Now on to the best course of the day…Guess what I picked up on my way home? What is pungent and stinky to others, but orgasmically delightful to me? What is spiky and hideous on the outside but rich, pale and creamy on the inside? If you guessed durians, give yourself a round of applause!!

I bought 3 whole packets of these! Buy 2 get 1 free, so how could I resist? I inhaled two of the packets and brought the remainding home (I stunk up the train quite badly in the process), which was devoured by Wengang and Liwen (my hosts). Then at night I also ate 2 servings of oatmeal and also a disgusting amount of almonds and cashews. I think I just overdid myself today. My stomach is in some kind of shock. But durian makes it all worth it…muahahaha~

Trying new eggs

Exploring

I had quite an eggy day today! I had eggs steamed into a custard, eggs beaten into a flour batter, eggs fried into an omelet, and eggs pressed into tofu!

I had a great day today…Despite stuffing myself last night, I still got hungry for my breakfast! To tell you the truth I’d considered forgoing breakfast with just some fruits and yogurt, but when my stomach started growling I decided, Screw ED, I want a decent breakfast or I’ll be giving ED leeway to further restrictions during the day! So I had my usual bowl of oats, fruits, and yogurt…

Just couldn’t resist taking a pic of my fruit medley…A feast of colorful fruits: mango, dragonfruit, orange, pear, pineapple, apple…

And also a bowl of yogurt with chopped apples and cinnamon, yum~ This is my absolute favorite combination.

Lunch out today! I’d originally planned to eat at the food court, but she wanted to eat Japanese cuisine, so she took me to this Japanese restaurant. This was a really cool restaurant…each table had access to a conveyer belt totting all sorts of different sushi, and also a personal computer to order food!

Looks fun, doesn’t it? You just pick out what you want whenever you want…

I’m not much of a sushi fan because I hate rice, so I was glad that there were a lot of other options in the menu as well…and two dishes popped out to me most…The chawanmushi and the okonomiyaki! I’d always wanted to try chawanmushi (Japanese savory egg custard) and okonomiyaki after reading about them in some blogs, but could never find a Japanese restaurant that sold them in America. So these two dishes were on my “to-try” list in Singapore, so I was super glad to see them on the menu!

To tell you the truth, I’d been delaying trying out the okonomiyaki because…it incorporates three of my fear foods: refined flour, oil, full-fat mayonnaise. Okonomiyaki is basically Japanese pizza; it starts with a basic flour and yam batter to which all kinds of ingredients are added, and then pan-fried and topped with a drizzle of mayonnaise. Although I really wanted to order okonomiyaki, I took a long time deciding to finally order it because of this stupid ED fear. But then I told myself, what the hell are you doing? Why are you denying yourself what you want? When else are you going to have the chance to order this dish? When are you going to stop hiding in your comfort zone and try some challenging food for once? Challenge yourself today, or you’ll always be giving in to ED!

So that’s what I ordered. A chawanmushi and an okonomiyaki…

The chawanmushi was so good, like a savory custard! It came with a piece of shitake mushroom and a few slices of fish cakes, and was so smooth and creamy; it practically glided down my throat in sweet ecstasy…

And boy was I glad I ordered okonomiyaki because this was absolutely fabulous! Crunchy and crispy on the outside, while creamy and hot on the inside with little pieces of octopus and cabbage, topped with bonito flakes and complemented with that perfect tang of rich mayonnaise…I thoroughly enjoyed each and every bite of this perfect, dainty little Japanese pizza…One more fear food conquered, hooray!

AND another challenge…Took a bite from Jingwen’s cha soba! Noodles and pasta is still a huge fear food for me, though. I might sample it from a friend’s dish, but I doubt I still have the courage to order a whole dish of noodles for myself…But working towards it!

After lunch (which took almost 2 hours because we had a long talk and the waiter forgot our orders), we cruised around Street, got bored, so walked over to Raffles City and wandered around there. Honestly though, shopping can be quite boring and frustrating for me now because I am way too skinny to be able to buy any clothes that fit…Even the smallest size just hangs on my skeletal frame like a potato sack! I can’t wait to gain the weight and actually shop and buy something instead of just staring enviously at the clothes…

On the way home I picked up a packet of jackfruits again, and also munched on some pineapples which I cut up as soon as I got home.

Dinner was omelette and veggies again, but with something else added in for vareity sake…Egg tofu!

Haha, doesn’t my dish look like a smiling face, sort of? I marinated the sliced-up egg tofu with soysauce and black pepper, then pan-fried them on the frying pan so that the exterior is charred and crispy while the interior stays soft and creamy…Yum! So good especially dipped in some sweet chili sauce!

For my midnight snack I had 2 servings of steel-cut oats cooked with coffee and cocoa…I only remembered to take a picture of this at the last few remaining bites!

See the individual little pieces of oat groats? Great chewy texture! So wholesome and satisfying! Even though the resulting amount when cooked seems less than the oatmeal cooked with rolled oats, it took me longer to finish this bowl! Less refined, more substance, more satisfaction!

Really happy that I managed to try something new today, and am looking forward to trying that awesome okonomiyaki again someday!

Revisiting an oldie

Traveling

Remember when I said I would try okonomiyaki again? Well, who knew it would be so soon? My church small group and I convened at a Japanese restaurant for a dinner of sharing and testimonies. I was quite anxious about this gathering, because we would be having dinner earlier than my usual dinner time, and I’m used to eating rather light for dinner (because my stupid OCD demands that I need to have a large midnight snack or else!)…But I tried to remind myself that this gathering was not about food and I should focus my attention on the great company and conversations we’re going to share, not the amount of calories/fat/carbs is in a dish.

I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t freak out about the calories at all, but the anxiety was lessened as I really got in tune with the amazing conversations we shared together. Each of us shared our thanksgiving, and also our prayer topics. I really got to know and understand each and every one of them better, and marveled at how much God loves us and how He is always working in our lives no matter what our circumstances and problems.

That said, the food was awesome, too! I am totally in love with this restaurant! Why can’t Japanese restaurants in America be this cool? There were so many things, not just the usual sushi or sashimi dishes. There were different kinds of ramen, udon, soba, tempura, dons (rice bowls), steamboats, hot sizzling plates, side dishes, salads, curries, even Japanese-style pasta and pizzas!

I didn’t want a steamboat, because I knew that was just what ED wanted, something safe and easy to fill up on with all that soup. I don’t really care for sushi or sashimi because I can get that anywhere in America. I wasn’t really craving noodles. But what caught my eye was a tantalizing picture of okonomiyaki! I just had to get this dish again…And this time it would be a greater challenge because this is a full-size portion, not just an appetizer portion like the one I had at Sakae.

So I ordered the okonomiyaki, but without the sauce (too sweet) or mayo (ED won on this one)…

The really cool thing is that it comes on a sizzling hot plate with a flame underneath to keep it hot!

Check out the insides! It was perfectly crisp and crunchy like chips on the outside, while quite delightfully chewy and gooey on the inside with that creaminess of the egg and the starchiness from the flour and yam…

Also with lots of little bits of shrimps and octopus! How cute!

I was lacking vegetables so I also ordered a gobo salad…

Basically ice-burg lettuce, sliced gobo (some kind of crunchy root vegetable), and sliced almonds…It came drenched in some kind of wasabi-mayonnaise dressing, which worried me for a bit but I just ate it anyway…It was quite good! The hit from the wasabi was right on spot and made my nostrils flare! In a good way, of course.

Oh and I also had a bite out of my friend’s baked mayonnaise scallops…

What mayonnaise? It was just a lot of mozzarella cheese on top of sauteed scallops! Quite nice, though…

So ultimately we had a wonderful time, and I received a lot of grace from our meeting… We ended close to 12 am!!! Despite the higher calorific dinner, I still had my huge midnight oatmeal “binge” when I got home. Hee! Just love oats too much.

Oh, and a quick post on my lunch yesterday:

The leftover twice-baked potato, an egg-white omelette with green onions, and OTAH!! That orangey thingy you see there? It actually came like this…

It’s this absolutely delicious BBQ concoction I find only in SE Asia…It’s fish paste, grinded with some coconut milk and lots of fresh-ground spices, wrapped in banana leaves and grilled over an open flame! So freaking delicious!

So had a minor victory yesterday…It makes me so happy, even though it’s just simple baby steps…But as long as I’m headed towards the right direction of recovery, I know things will get better!