Happy Laos-Thai-Cambodian New Years!

Last week was New Years for the "dark" Asians. They do it up BIG with tents of food, music, clothing, etc etc. Everybody goes to a temple for celebration. All you need is a canopy and a seat and a table and you're set to sell. Most of the items weren't expensive. Sausages about 5 for $3 and HUGE chicken wings $2 for one. Not bad. I've always had Thai food and people always say Laos food is very similar. They are similar yet very different. It's hard to explain. They still use the same main ingredients like lemon grass, fish sauce, basil, lime and galangal which is closely related to ginger. One thing you will always get at every vendor is sticky rice. Sticky rice to a Laotian is like Naan to an Indian or Injera to an Ethiopian or Italian Bread to an Italian. They eat sticky rice with almost everything and they eat it with they fingers! Oh how I wish I had a big bowl of Laap (chopped up meat with fish sauce and lime juice and red onion and some other stuff) in front of me to eat right now as I write this...too bad I don't. But at least you get to see the pictures!

The very first tent that caught my eye was this tent that had this machine where they were feeding this plant through it. I immediately got in line to see what they were doing. Turns out they were extracting FRESH SUGAR CANE. I've only had fresh sugar cane to chew on at a kid but to see it as a drink was amazing. It was sweet and refreshing at the same time. I wish I had more with me right now!

Next I was taken to this tent where these 3 ladies were flipping little caps and cakes. They were QUICK. Pretty much they cook these little half balls of cake and when it's almost done they take 2 and stick them together to make one big ball. Coconut Cake they called it. Very mellow, just enough coconut to taste but not to overpower. This would be an awesome dessert. 

As we walk and eat I spotted from the corner of my eye this huge box of green liquid with what appears to be mangoes inside of it. From what I could taste and see they were unripened mangoes in salt water. The salt water is supposed to draw out the moisture of the mango making it hard and crunchy. Well, it was a success. The mango wasn't that unripe and it was served with this spicy salt to bring out some flavor of the mango. Every bite I took was a little sweet, salty, spicy and crunchy. Great for a hot day.

For the rest of the day we feasted on Chicken Feet, some Laap, giant chicken wings, rice cakes wrapped in banana leaf, and red bean sticky rice. What a great way to bring in the new year!

Upcoming Blogs:

- Risotto

- How to break down a bird

- Salt

bien manger

-cwis

Restaurant Eve

Thursday night I had a wonderful experience at a restaurant that one of my culinary school classmates works at. Restaurant Eve, located in Old Town Alexandria, delivers fresh and local ingredients. My friends and I had their 7 course tasting menu with 2 bottles of white. Quite delicious if I do say so myself. Serving women first, serving from the right side, changing silverware before each course, filling our glasses before they were empty, these are all qualities of the superb service we experienced last night. Everything was AWESOME except for a few "I wish this was a little bit more of this" etc etc...but overall the experience was great. Ok I'm going to stop talking, here are the pictures...

Palate Teasers

Starting Top Left Clockwise 

Venison Terrine, Rabbit Live Mousse, Deviled Quail Egg

Amuse Bouche

Lobster Tempura w/ Mustard Green Pesto

Intermezzo (Palate Cleanser)

Strawberry Sorbet w/ Lemon Grass and Champagne Gelée

Appetizer

Shimaaji (Japanese Horse Fish) w/ Compressed Orange

Carrot-Citrus Purée and Candied Ginger

Hawaiian Hearts of Palm w/ Mint Julep Purée and Pea Tendrils

Dober Sole w/ Spinach Pasta

Butter Poached Lobster w/ Heirloom Carrots

Ginger and Micro Cilantro

Pan Fried Sweetbread w/ Preserved Meyer Lemon Risotto

Fresh Garbanzo Beans and Veal Glace
(my favorite)

Venison Loin w/ Potato Gnocchi, Poached Morels and Ramp Cream

Cheese

Bayley Hazen w/ Pecan Pie and Nutmeg Cream

PreDesert

Profiterole w/ Coffee Pastry Cream

Desert
(I don't remember)

Petite Fours

From the Top

Macaroon w/ White chocolate Nougatines in the Center

Key Lime Pie

Homemade Marshmellow

Just like how mama used to make it.

This blog's menu:

Seared Pork Loin

Ginger Cabbage

Steamed White Rice

I remember the days of when my mom would cook pork chops at least twice a month and every time it would be the same but ALWAYS delicious. All she did was marinate it in SOY SAUCE. Maybe this is why I love soy sauce and fish sauce so much because my mom used them in EVERYTHING. She would marinate it with soy sauce and a little bit of garlic (at least from what I remember). 

I tried to replicate what my mom makes all the time because there's no sense in changing something that is already good. But when I was food shopping pork loins were on sale so of course I had to jump on that. Pork loin is almost like the Filet Mignon of the pig. It has little fat in it and you can eat it RARE. Yes I said it, you can eat pork loin Rare, Medium Rare, Medium, etc etc. 

Making this meal was simple and fast. First I marinated the pork loin with a little soy sauce and chopped garlic. As that marinates I worked on my cabbage. I grabbed a small piece of ginger about as wide as my thumb and as long as my middle finger. Peel it, cut it into small chunks, and toss it in a small pot with cold water and bring it up to a boil. Now for the cabbage, you can cut the cabbage anyway you want. Big, small, julienne, dice...whatever you want. I cut the cabbage in 4, took out the core and just rough chopped it into big pieces (I like big pieces of cabbage). I only used half cabbage for 2 people. When the water comes up to a boil throw in about a tablespoon of kosher salt. You want to put the salt in after it boils because putting the salt in while the water's cold will cause the water to take longer to boil. Well it doesn't really matter when you put in the salt but I'm used to that because when I'm at work I'm always pressed for time. So saving every little second counts. So back to the cabbage...toss in the cabbage after the salt and make sure everything has been submerged under water. Don't worry some of the cabbage will float up to the surface, that's ok. Just as long as everything has been touched by water. Once the cabbage is in the water let the water come up to a boil and bring the fire down to low heat and let it simmer.

Now that the cabbage is cooking you can start searing your pork. Get the pan hot and toss in a little bit of oil. I recommend a neutral oil such as canola or vegetable oil. Using olive oil or sesame oil or any kind of strong flavored oil can taste weird with the soy sauce and plus...my mom always used vegetable oil. Depending on how thick the pork is and what temperature you want your pork at, adjust your heat so it doesn't burn before cooking the inside if you want a medium well or well done pork. But if you do that, I want you stop reading now. JUST KIDDING. My 2 pieces were about an inch thick and I always cook my pork loin rare. So I get that pan hot and toss my pork on without touching the high heat. I seared about 2 min on one side and 2 min on the other side and then I'm done.

Before you cook ANYTHING, make sure you have rice cooking. That's going to take the longest to cook. You'd know that if you were Asian. 

As soon as my pork was done, my cabbage was done as well. My pork was nicely seared while the juices were locked inside that delicious rare center and my cabbage was nice and tender with a hint of ginger. If my mom knew I had a blog and saw this I think she'd be proud. LOVE YOU MOM!

This is definitely a dish that is quick, easy, and CHEAP. Enjoy!

bien manger

-cwis