Shrimp

Shrimp Wontons & a Colombian Wedding

April 10, 2015 // Posted in Appetizers, Drinks I Drank, Food I Ate, Food I Made, Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes, Travel

April 10, 2015 | Posted in [post_category]

Shrimp Wontons with Coconut Tom Yum Sauce

This January, I dedicated a post to a fallen foodie friend in which I mentioned I still dream about her. Last weekend while I sat reclined in my bed against my fluffy pillows, I found satisfaction in knowing I finally finished posting a new recipe for Shrimp Wontons with Coconut Tom Yum Sauce. My former LA roommate, fellow Bruin, & friend Gabriela sat next to me in her pajamas, looking through New York’s live SnapChats. It was Gaby’s first time in Boston & we were planning our next foodie destinations. Without a story to write, I decided to put off writing a blog to accompany the recipe, hit the lights, & went to bed. I dreamt that Gaby & I were riding the MBTA throughout Boston except the T was an outdoors roller coaster. When we got off at our destination, we were greeted by Kim, my friend who passed away more than a year ago. It took me a moment to register that she’s no longer with us, which meant I was dreaming so I quickly hugged her & we were off on some adventures at what seemed like a strange amusement park. I awoke to a foggy recollection of the warmth of her embrace, the smoothness of her skin, & the echo of her laughter in my head.

These shrimp wontons are special because they were inspired by 7 Seas Restaurant, which hosted one of Kim’s memorials. I ate a lot of things that day I can’t remember, but those wontons were unforgettable & it made me wish Kim could still be around to taste it. Josh, Vy, & I inhaled this place of delicious shrimp wontons, but I was determined to remake the recipe. 7 Seas is now closed, but if I can revive one thing about that place, it’s those wontons. This recipe is also dedicated to Annie Kim Pham, who loved her shellfish, wontons, & cheese. It’s funny that even after her passing, we still find ourselves meeting at places with good food. Although she couldn’t be there physically with us, we were there because of her. I wish the circumstances of trying these wontons for the first time were different though.

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The Big Eatsy

February 22, 2015 // Posted in Drinks I Drank, Food I Ate, Ma Belle Vie, Photo Journal, Travel

February 22, 2015 | Posted in [post_category]

This Ma Belle Vie is a little different from others because I’m combining it with Georgina’s A Day in the Life Linkup. Well, to be honest, it’s really not that different. I captured photos from morning until night, however I couldn’t exactly document what happened after we returned to the hotel because that Hand Grenade knocked me out. I hadn’t felt that horrible in a long time, so lesson learned: don’t take on an entire Hand Grenade if you can barely handle more than 5 shots of hard liquor.

On February 19th, Josh attended the 56th Annual Convention of the International Studies held in New Orleans & flew me out for our 2 Year Anniversary. It was my first time in Louisiana & also my first time in New Orleans aka The Big Easy. This city has experienced a lot of tragedy & hardship in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina drowned 80% of the city, due to a major engineering mishap: the levees designed to protect the city against major hurricanes failed. Thousands of people were displaced, lost their homes, lives, businesses, & many were trapped in their own homes when the waters rushed in. Since then, the city has slowly, but surely recuperated. Tourism is very much alive & Mardi Gras is still a much celebrated event. Our trip to NOLA was a week after Mardi Gras, so most of the city still looked like the day after a frat party, but I chose not to photograph the trash. I don’t want to depict the city’s disheveled appearance, hoping to highlight the wonderful mixing of various cultures, food, & architecture. New Orleans is appropriately named America’s most unique city & while it might be a far cry from Paris, Amsterdam, London, or Bern, it is still such a worthy visit. There is no other city in all of the US like it & the culture & food is phenomenal. It’s a perfect blend of Southern comfort, Caribbean & Spanish flavors, & most notably, French influence. NOLA is a pescetarian’s dream come true: seafood for days. It’s also a great hub for meat eaters & veggie lovers alike.

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Sensational Summer Yummies

August 3, 2014 // Posted in Appetizers, Drinks I Drank, Food I Ate, Food I Made, Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes, Travel

August 3, 2014 | Posted in [post_category]

Let’s welcome August with a noteworthy appetizer recipe & some other foodie pictures! I’m completely behind on editing & uploading all the pictures I have on my SD cards, so one of these days there’ll just be a post with a bunch of pictures & guess what? YOU’RE GONNA ENJOY IT…maybe. So, let’s talk about my new recipe that I obnoxiously named “Sensational”. Look, I can feel your eyeballs rolling out of your orbital fossa, but bear with me – the catchier the title, the more likely someone will check out the recipe. What makes this recipe so sensational? KEWPIE MAYO, duh, obvi, like srsly how is dat even a q?? In all seriousness doe, the combination of Kewpie mayonnaise, sesame oil, masago, & imitation crabmeat really bakes well atop New Zealand green mussels. The umami is strong with this one & I think that if you love shellfish, this is a great recipe for you to try out. It’s actually not too expensive to make given that you have sesame oil, ponzu sauce, sesame seeds, & Kewpie already. Who would have that already? People who love to make Japanese food, gosh. If you love Japanese food, invest in those ingredients; you’ll find that they are used in many recipes.

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A Small Taste of Asia

April 3, 2014 // Posted in Appetizers, Food I Ate, Food I Made, Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes

April 3, 2014 | Posted in [post_category]

Kitayama’s Amberjack Nigiri

Phew! After intensively studying for the MCAT for the past few months, it’s finally over & I can finally move onwards with my life. I felt as though studying for this dreaded standardized test was equivalent to pausing everything I really wanted to do & not so much a step closer to getting to where I need to be for my career. It’s not as though I’ve lost interest or passion in a career in the health field – the MCAT has just been a pesky splinter in-between my toes. I put nearly everything else on pause while I focused all my brain power into pushing through the pain & plucking out that minuscule fragment causing my misfortune.

To numb the pain a bit with ice, Josh & I had dinner at Kitayama, a beautiful Japanese restaurant with a crew of friendly staff including gorgeous servers–hollah at my girl Vy–, nice hosts, & entertaining sushi chefs. We ordered the omakase, which grants the chefs liberty to be creative with the fish they had. It’s always a wonderful experience to see what new mouthwatering dishes sushi chefs come up with right in front of you. Having been able to consume such wonderful meals in the past few weeks, I decided to compile a post of mouthwatering Asian dishes from various countries–realistically, I just posted three, but whatever just go with it.

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Tom Yum Shrimp & Shiitake Crostini

February 9, 2014 // Posted in Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes

February 9, 2014 | Posted in [post_category]

Tom Yum Shrimp & Shiitake Crostini

This recipe came to life when I was trying to figure out what else I could do with this leftover shrimp mixture I had after I made shrimp wontons. With about a nearly whole French baguette left near my fruit bowl, I figured you can’t really mess up anything on toasted sliced bread so I might as well give it a go. This recipe is easy to do, not time consuming, & let’s be honest, anything tom yum is delicious. Let me reiterate the fact that the tom yum will make your tum go yum. Yes, I just made a tom yum rhyme. It’s my blog, I can rhyme if I want to. In all seriousness, this crostini is amazing. My dad approves of this message, so you just definitely know it’s legit.

This crostini is the perfect appetizer for a dinner party or just for fancy snacktimes for homemakers. Reheating them in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds on the high will warm them right up, leaving the crunchiness intact, given that you toasted it correctly. If for some reason the crunchiness gets dampened–because you can’t toast crostini correctly–you have two options: 1. imagine that it’s crunchy or 2. put it in the toaster oven for a minute on “toast”.