maryland blue crabs

how does a good weekend end up being a perfect weekend?

.......with these!!!!!

maryland blue crabs, native to the chesapeake bay area. 

they are some of the most tastiest crabs I ever had. small in size and a lot of work but it is so worth it-the meat is so tender and sweet!

in maryland, they steam their crabs which makes a difference in the flavor of the crab. when you boil crabs, the water adds weight and reduces the natural flavor of the crab. however, with maryland crabs, they steam it and enhance them with old bay seasoning. yum! my future mother-in-law (FMIL) steams them with a mixture of water, beer, and apple cider vinegar.

t and i get to eat these crabs every year from april to december (crab season) because they are caught right in the river that faces my FMIL and future father-in-law's (FFIL) river house. they built their dream house in southern maryland, on the banks of the potomac. the beautiful house was designed by my FMIL, an architect. it's a special place to the family, and i'm so lucky when i get to go there. 

we spent many weekends and special occasions at this idyllic place. we even helped t's family build some parts of the house (green roof and cabinets) so its a really special place for the entire family.

photo courtesy of maginniss + del ninno architects

winter 2014 with t and anna, chesapeake bay retriever, the state of maryland dog

winter 2014, evening dusk off the pier

summer 2014 with anna and maggie, the neighborhood dog

spring 2014, after a storm. sunset with mishka.

-mai

mishka rating:

maryland blue crabs= DELICIOUS!
i love when the family eats outside, and some crab meat and juice fall on the ground!

anthony bourdain, we have your cacio e pepe!

if i could have lunch with anyone in the world....i think it might be anthony bourdain.

i love him. i love his shows. i love his style.
when i grow up, i would love to take his job- travel around the world to write and host shows about food and culture! that would be my dream job.

on my dinner guest list, tony would surpass benedict cumberbatch, demetri martin, and even jeff goldblum. jeff goldblum, my first crush ever. *sigh.

the other night, t and i watched an episode of anthony bourdain's show, the layover. we watched the italian episode, and t was immediately inspired to recreate the cacio e pepe that anthony had in rome, italy.

cacio e pepe, cheese and pepper.

cacio e pepe is a roman dish. one of the oldest italian dishes.
very simple dish- if made right, it is very delicious. if not, it isn't anything worth writing about.

cacio e pepe also happens to be one of anthony bourdain's all-time favorite dish!

t did an excellent job with his version of cacio e pepe.

how can something this simple taste soooo delicious?! 

i took a bite:

"hm...wow, it tastes like a grown up mac and cheese"

i took another bite:

"...mmmm, so simple yet so delicious. mmmmm. why is this so good?"

so simple- spaghetti with just butter, cheese, and black pepper.
the combination of the right amount of butter and cheese really brought out the taste of the black pepper. in other dishes, black pepper is usually just a condiment that you add to enhance flavors of a dish. but with cacio e pepe, it felt like the black pepper took center stage so you could really appreciate its flavor.

cacio e pepe can not be taken lightly. it seems simple to make but there is technique to making it right.

i learned that there were three important keys to making a great cacio e pepe :

1. cook the spaghetti al dente (dont overcook or undercook the pasta) with salted boiled water.

2. dont put too much or too little butter. the butter has to be enough to coat the pasta, but not too much that it overpowers the pepper taste.

3. important to keep some of the pasta water, instead of draining all the water. the left over pasta water is what helps to really mix the ingredients together.

are you up for the challenge? try it sometime.

anthony bourdain, if you are reading this... come over for dinner anytime.
we have your cacio e pepe down! 

on another note, mishka has made a new friend today. 

cacio e pepe (for two)

ingredients:

200 g spaghetti (we specifically used spaghetti a la chitarra)

3 tbsp butter

black pepper to taste

half a cup of grated pecorino cheese

1. boil salted water and once boiling, cook spaghetti.

2. place butter in mixing bowl. butter should be left out so it is room temperature.

3. when spaghetti is al dente, drain pasta water but make sure to keep some water just to coat pasta.

4. place spaghetti into bowl with butter. mix. 

5. add pepper and cheese. mix.

6. serve and enjoy!

-mai

t does it again! i think t needs to enter a cooking contest! my new friend and i loved it!
anthony bourdain will not be disappointed! WOOF!

featured blogger: h's coffee cake

coffee cake for the coffee lovers... and tea lovers too!

this week's featured blogger is my coworker-friend, h.
she baked some coffee cake the other day and i asked her to share her wonderful recipe.

simple and delicious. serve with a nice cup of coffee...or tea!

coffee cake with cinnamon streusel
ingredients:
cinnamon streusel
-1/3 cup bisquick mix
-1/3 cup brown sugar
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-2 tablespoon butter

coffee cake
-2 cups bisquick mix
-2/3 cup milk
-2 tablespoon sugar
-1 egg

directions:
1. heat oven to 375 degrees. grease a cake pan. in small bowl, stir streusel ingredients until crumbly, set aside.

2. in bowl, mix coffee cake ingredients and spread in pan. sprinkle with streusel.

3. bake 18-22 min.

-mai & h

big hit at the office party! great for breakfast!

sushi is my comfort food- i miss home

i've always been independent. i moved away from home at the age of 17 and over the years, i've lived in various places. from california to new york city, and the gambia to western china.

near or far, wherever i moved to, no matter what.... i always found myself feeling like a part of my heart still remained at home.
kauai is where my heart remains. i grew up on this beautiful island in the middle of the pacific.
13 years since i first moved off of the island, i still feel myself dealing with waves of homesickness from time to time.

i miss my ohana. i miss my rock in the middle of the sea. i miss the lush mountains. i miss the beautiful flowers. i miss calling everyone "aunty" and "uncle."

i miss the beach. i miss the fresh papayas for breakfast. i even miss the annoying wild chickens that used to wake me up at 5 in the morning!

out of everything i miss about kauai, i especially miss my dad's sushi.

my dad's sushi deluxe platter.

my dad is a sushi chef. he owns and runs a restaurant on kauai. he takes pride in his sushi and has been doing this all his life. he left his home in hiroshima when he was just a teenager, to become an apprentice for a chef in osaka. miles away from his family, he studied the art of japanese kaiseki and learned how to make sushi. 

whenever i feel home sick, i try to comfort myself by eating sushi. of course, my dad's sushi will always be the best to me. nothing else out there can compare. 

tonight just to feel closer to home...

t and i went to our usual sushi place in arlington.

endo sushi is run by endo-san, a japanese man i have gotten to know over the years. i always greet and chat to him in japanese. i think he appreciates someone that speaks his mother tongue. 

he reminds me alot of my dad. 

endo-san is a hard worker just like my dad. both about the same age, and immigrated to the USA about the same time. endo san to washington dc, where he met his wife. my dad to hawaii, where he met my mom. endo-san also has a daughter, except she is a bit younger than me.  

t and i like going to endo sushi because of the service and the no-frill sushi they serve. the sushi isn't overpriced and it is delicious. we usually order ala carte sushi and enjoy them with a hot cup of ocha (green tea).

check out endo sushi in arlington and say "konichiwa" to endo-san.

...and if you do make a trip out to kauai, say hi to my dad at sushi katsu japanese restaurant.

-mai

mishka rating:

Endo-san and his team are sweet and so nice. The sushi is fresh and authentic. You know it's a good sushi place when they cook their own egg omelette for their sushi and the rice is not too firm, not too soft. 

the way to my heart is through my belly: pasta pomodoro

my fiance is back from a 3 week work trip! YAY!

that means:

1. i am no longer a single dog parent. 

*phew. taking care of mishka by myself was difficult enough! the first two weeks that he was gone, i had to dog-sit two other dogs! i was a one-person doggy day care!

2. my sheets will be folded and i no longer have to fold laundry!

t is italian and yes, stereotype...but he actually loves folding laundry. me? i hate folding laundry. so our relationship works out perfectly. i put the dirty clothes in the laundry machine, put some detergent, and press start. when it is finished, i transfer them into the dryer. when it dries, he takes it out, and WALA! he folds everything perfectly! pretty good deal for me.

the last 3 weeks, my clothes has been washed and folded but no where near perfection like how t does it. also, i can never fold fitted sheets by myself! fitted sheets are the worst! now that my fiance is back, we can finally fold our clean sheets and i can store them away. *phew.

3. i get to eat pasta again.

t loves pasta. i mean LOVES pasta. to be more specific, he LOOOOVVEESSS spaghetti. at home, we have a mai cabinet, which has some japanese snacks and a bag of rice. then next to the mai cabinet, we have a cabinet twice as large, filled with everything PASTA! yes, that is the T cabinet.

bags of penne, linguini, fusilli, orzo, and of course spaghetti.

he is a true italian and even makes his own homemade pasta! 

whenever he doesnt eat pasta, he gets a lil..... cranky (i love you, if you are reading this).

so we eat alot of pasta at home. a lot of delicious pasta meals because t is an amazing cook.

he knew that the way to my heart was first through my belly. on our first date, four years ago, he made some fresh home made pesto (i didnt even like pesto then!) but after that date, it was love at first dinner.

i'll share the pesto recipe on a different blog soon. in the meantime, i'm going to tease you and show you a picture of some pasta pomodoro he made the other night.

t taught me that you can make a delicious meal with just a few simple ingredients.

we got some san marzano tomatoes from trader joes and he made this simple yet delicious meal.

enjoy!

pasta pomodoro

ingredients:
spaghetti
grape tomatoes
salt
olive oil
dried red crushed peppers
fresh basil leaves
garlic

-bring water to boil and put some salt into water. cook spaghetti till al dente.

-sautee some chopped garlic and red crushed peppers with olive oil. cook till garlic is browned.

-toss in tomatoes and sautee. sprinkle some salt. add some fresh basil leaves. let cook for a minute.

-when spaghetti is al dente, drain and toss pasta into tomatoe mixture.

-serve with parmesan cheese.

-mai

mishka rating:

i LOVE when mai and t makes this dish!
when mai cuts the tomatoes, she always drops a tomato here and there. tomatoes are one of my favorite foods!

fact checking mission: the 3-ingredient cheesecake

my future father-in-law (FFIL) is the master of googling. he is always on his ipad, googling all sorts of things. if he could only bring one item with him to a deserted island, he would definitely bring his ipad. even before bringing pasta! (he is italian).
i'm not too sure what he did before ipads were invented.
he is always sharing some type of news or information over family dinners.

my role in the family is to be the fact checker. whenever my FFIL shares some type of crazy story, i immediately get on my phone and do a counter-google attack, fact-checking his stories.

one day at dinner, he starts to upload a video and asks me:

"have you heard about this? have you seen this video of the japanese lady making a cheesecake with only 3 ingredients?!"

me: ".........hmmmmm. only 3 ingredients? are you sure? hmmm....."

i skeptically watched the video, and googled about this japanese youtube sensation.

you can watch the youtube video here.

this past monday was his birthday and i HAD to make this japanese 3-ingredient cheesecake for him. i had to fact check this recipe to see if this was indeed really an edible thing, worth the hype.

t and i picked up some eggs, cream cheese, and white chocolate. (that's it!!! crazy right?!)

the entire recipe took us 30-40 min to make.

we were so amazed at the turnout.

my FFIL was right....this time. my fact checking mission revealed that the japanese 3-ingredient cheesecake recipe is worth the hype and is indeed a REAL PHENOMENON.

the cheesecake turned out so fluffy and moist. it was so light and the perfect amount of sweetness. we served the cheesecake with some fresh strawberries dressed in lemon curd.

wow. definitely recommend this. try it out! we used this recipe.

happy birthday, c, my soon-to-be FFIL!

lesson learned- don't attempt to stiffen egg whites with a vitamix blender.
doesn't work. use a hand held blender instead.

OMG! perfection. it turned out so fluffy, like a cloud.

served my fluffy cheesecake with lemon-cured strawberries.

-mai

mishka rating:

WHAT!?!! the japanese do it again! how did 3-ingredients make such a PERFECT cake!
WOOF! WOOF! 

food truck friday

yesterday was beautiful. DC was perfect- the humidity died down, and the winds picked up. it was a sunny beautiful day. not too hot.

my coworker and i decided to do a food truck lunch yesterday.

i normally go to my usual thai food truck, but one truck caught our eye.
it was the only truck with a long line at 11 am. decided! we immediately fell into line.

i started talking to the guy waiting in front of me:

"have you tried this truck before?"

"....no. but someone recommended it to me. they said i needed to try the indonesian food truck"

"oh cool. did they recommend any specific dish?"

"the chicken sate"

and so it was decided. 

i ordered the chicken sate plate and my coworker ordered the chicken curry.

eating with d is great. he is a former peace corps volunteer that served in senegal, so we have a lot of similar stories to share. we are also both adventurous eaters, so it was fitting that there was an indonesian food truck parked yesterday. we both never had indonesian food!

my chicken sate plate was so yummy! they were generous on the amount of skewers. the chicken was moist and grilled to perfection. the peanut sauce was great- it was the right amount of peanuts. not too sweet, not too salty. the dressing on the salad was perfect with the chicken. it was a vinegar based dressing that balanced the entire dish. the plate also came with two fried corn fritters. it was a really nice side dish. 

chicken sate platter. portions are huge!

my coworker's chicken curry was ok. it was edible but he said it was lacking something- lacking spice, ginger, and/or more coconut milk. after one bite, i agreed.

chicken curry.

i was happy that i copied the guy in front of us, and ordered the chicken sate. haha.

i guess lesson learned here: always order the signature dish. the truck is named sate for a reason. :)

mishka rating:

worth the wait. the chicken sate is worth the hype.

meh. my coworker wasn't a huge fan of the chicken curry. i only had a bite and thought it was ok, but i wouldn't order it again.

-mai

KUDOS to the awesome saturday fairies

the awesome saturday fairies made sure i had an awesome saturday today.
they sprinkled some fairy dust and WALA!

my cold is gone. i beat the germs! YES!
i had a good night sleep and woke up feeling rested. YES!
t comes home on monday. one more day! YES!
the panda at the national zoo gave birth! YES! (...panda births are really rare!!!)

after spending two weeks house-sitting/dog-sitting in clarendon, it was nice to be back home in my apartment. t and i like our little space. my small space is cozy and comforting for me. i think we will never end up in a big house, it just feels weird for us. we passed the litmus test in NYC (we lived in a shoebox apartment in brooklyn and managed to not kill each other!).

when i returned to my apartment, i was greeted with a lovely surprise. i love surprises (..who doesnt?!)
c and j left me a gift. they left a rosie the riveter card filled with a nice message, and a julia childs book! i can't wait to read it! i'm sure it will inspire some future blog entries. tbd.

SURPRISE. love love love.

i found a great find at the farmer's market this morning.

i scored the last of the celosia cristata, more commonly known as cockscomb. treat yo self!!!!
it is a really cool plant. the flowers look like they are made from velvet.
so this morning, before i even knew what this flower was called, mishka took a bite and ran to his "safe place" (aka crate) with a leaf in his mouth.
i tried chasing after him but failed to grab the leaf out of his mouth.

"oh mishka, you think this leaf is lettuce. it ain't lettuce, boy. it isn't edible. you are going to get sick. give it back."

well... after researching the plant, i found out that this plant is commonly grown throughout india and east africa for the purpose of consumption. the leaves are edible and apparently tastes like spinach!

"............" <------- me.
my dog is smarter than me.

mishka, you win this time.

#treatyoself flowers

t gets back on monday from a work trip, so i'm taking advantage of the one person meal. you know me, too lazy to cook for myself.

i prepped a quick dinner for myself. honey goat cheese, multi grain crackers, and mortadella = LOVE. treat yo self!!!
i love cheese and charcuterie platters. if i had to choose just one dish to eat for the rest of my life, i would choose charcuterie platters. salami, prosciutto, pate, etc. they all make me happy.

i normally don't drink but sometimes once in a rare blue moon... i crave a sip of wine. i got a bottle of albero spanish rosé at trader joes. it's not bad. treat yo self!!!

#treatyoself yummy dinner

the awesome saturday fairies didn't stop there.
apparently they felt that my saturday wasn't awesome enough, so they surprised me even further. 

netflix has a comedy special- demetri martin live! i LOooooooooooOVE demetri martin. 

demetri martin does not know that i exist but four years ago, our paths almost ALMOST crossed. 

t and i were living in NYC and we were at union square. we went to barnes and nobles to meet up with t's friend. we all sat at the cafe, and i got up to go check out some calendars on the other side of the store. when i got back, t and his friend were soooo excited:

"OMG. WE JUST MET DEMETRI MARTIN. HE WAS SOOOO COOL."

you should have seen the look on my face:

.....WHAT?!?!?! WHERE? WHERE? WHERE IS HE?!

.....he just left.

t and his friend had an actual conversation with demetri martin.
that 30 sec conversation could have been between me and demetri martin. instead, i was on the other side of the store browsing through baby animal calendars. MAI! COME ON. ugh... yes i was very upset and disappointed that night. i blame the stupid baby animal calendars!!!!!

anyways, back to my saturday night. as i type this blog, i am laughing watching demetri martin's stand up. you should watch it. it is hilarious. it's on netflix as a new feature. some of demetri's awesome randomness:

"my friend has a beach body"

"....like a seal"

"i got a L shaped sofa"

"....a lower case L"

"one place i don't want to be chased at..... in kenya"

i'll end you with one of demetri martin's quotes, quite fitting for the moment: 

 "Whenever I'm on my computer, I don't type 'lol'. I type 'lqtm' - laugh quietly to myself. It's more honest"  

- demetri martin

lqtm. today was a great day. thank you, awesome saturday fairies.

-mai

priorities

my night started with surfing the net for wedding dress inspirations.

my night ended with no wedding dress pictures saved on my laptop nor bookmarked.

.....instead, i saved these pictures of fabulous pomeranian treats for wedding favor ideas.

HA. priorities.

i-am-ridiculous.

OMG. i need this.

OMG. OMG. i need this too.

OMG. OMG. OMG. i need this three.

OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. i need this four. fluffy!

AHHHHHHH!!!!! 

i am not a crazy dog lady. in case, you were judging me.

btw, meanwhile... i look back and my real dog is doing this:

Chloe, the lab, is like WTH!! that's my bed!!!!

-mai

cure for the common cold: pho?

being sick really blows.
but what really really blows is being sick during a DC heat wave.

one of the worst feelings- feeling sweaty, achey, and congested, while stuck on a wmata metro car with no AC.

i crawled home after work, and immediately knew i had to get some pho to beat this cold of mine.

i called my FSIL (future sister-in-law) and met her in old town, alexandria at caphe banh mi.

we ordered summer rolls, bowls of pho, and boba drinks.

the pho was ok. i don't know if it didn't taste amazing because i am sick, or if it was just meh regardless of my cold. i ordered pho with rib eye and fatty brisket. my rib eye was good, but the fatty brisket was more like just fat. where was the brisket meat?!
my FSIL ordered pho with 2 orders of meatballs, but the meatballs were very scarce. there were only two in the entire bowl.

maybe i'm a strict critic when i am feeling under the weather. the food just didn't hit the spot.

our boba drinks were 60% ice and 40% drink. i liked my honeydew flavored boba but my FSIL wasn't a huge fan of the thai iced tea. for $5 a glass, i wished they put less ice and more boba drink.

the summer rolls were tasty, but again not amazing.

give me some sudafed and...good night.
btw- mishka is sick too. he got his benadryl and is passed out next to me.

my poor baby. he has allergies and open infected wounds on his back. gave him his pills and he is passed out.

-mai

pho was meh. fatty brisket was not brisket, just fat.

a night in the balkans

cool wallpaper, ambar.

we kicked off restaurant week with ambar, a restaurant specializing in balkan cuisine, located in eastern market.

c, j, and i kicked off the night with some refreshing drinks.

mojito and simply bliss- lemongrass, grapefruit, & lime infused gin.

then we dove right into our first of many courses.
we all chose to do the restaurant week deal, which was a four course tapas style meal for $35.

ambar at night was a very different experience than ambar by day.
this was my second time trying balkan cuisine at ambar. the first time was during a weekend for brunch. i have to say, this time the food at night was very very delicious. i wasn't super impressed by the brunch but the dinner selection was amazing.

favorites of the night:

i chose the cold octopus salad.

cold octopus salad. yum!

c chose kajmak tasting (sumadija- light cheese spread, spicy crab spread, and smoked salmon spread) with fried sourdough and baked bread).

kajmak tasting and refreshing balkan salad! i was inspired by the salad! time to make this at home!

j chose the drunken mussels.

drunken mussels with creamy sauce.

c, j, and i had a lovely night at ambar, talking about future travel plans and recapping the past few days. we unofficially decided that we were going to travel together to croatia someday. the balkan cuisine inspired our wanderlust. it was great to end c and j's DC trip with another delicious meal

i will miss the company of these two dear friends. safe flight back to LA, my friends. until next time! xoxo.

-mai

dishes below were absolutely delicious:
kajmak tasting
balkan salad
cold octopus salad
mushroom flatbread
slow cooked pork
seasme crusted salmon

dishes were ok. good but not amazing. not sure if i will order again:
chef's tasting spread (smoked trout spread, hummus with bread)
balkan kebab (pork and beef sausage)

not that great. def wouldn't order again:

capri (dessert with raspberries, vanilla pudding, almond crumble with raspberry sorbet)

three chocolates (chocolates with mascarpone and strawberry yogurt)