August 2012

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Meteors and other wild things

Saturday, August 18, 2012 in Katie Botkin | 1 comment

The dead fawn. Photo by Katie Botkin.

A Letter from Katie Botkin in Idaho:

Ever since I’ve been little, I’ve watched the Perseids in August. This last weekend, I drove up to my parent’s property out on the edge of the country — quite literally, I’ve walked the six miles to Canada from their house — where there were no city lights, not even a glimmer of them. When it got dark, we spread out blankets over a tarp and looked for shooting stars. My niece, 26 months old, snuggled with her parents until it was time for her to go to sleep. She didn’t want to go inside, and as they carried her, she let out a sob: “Goodnight, stars.”

As I lay out there in the yard, now relatively alone, I started wondering if the cougar was nearby.

A couple of weeks ago, my 18-year-old brother was out for a walk with a girl. They had meandered down to the pond and started up a hill when Isaiah spotted a dead fawn. And then another. And then a doe. And then, out of the corner of his eye amidst this carnage, Isaiah saw the cougar.

The girl let out a scream, turned, and ran. Note: this is not what you are supposed to do when you spot a lethal cat. Isaiah knew this, but he wasn’t going to let this girl go running away alone, like in some bad horror movie. So he ran after her. She fell down. He pulled her up and they kept going. They made it to the house and the cougar had not eaten them.

Cougars are not a rarity out there on the edge of the world. For a couple of summers when I was home from college, I used to go over to a neighbor’s, an older woman who had spent time in France, for pastries and French conversation. I took a shortcut through the woods. My dad made me carry a large handgun, just in case. I thought at the time that it was an ironic situation. Tea in delicate cups and a handgun for the cougars and the bears. Because of course there were bears, too. You didn’t see them so much, just the remnants they left in the apple orchard.

When it was day, several of us set out to see the site of the cougar’s kills. The deer had decayed, half-eaten, mummifying in the sun. We paused over one of the fawns. Poor little thing, it didn’t look very big. My niece stared down at it for awhile and then asked her parents: “I eat it?”

Her parents bit their lips to keep from laughing at her. “No, that’s not for eating,” they said. We walked back up to the house and ate chicken grilled over apple and mesquite wood instead.

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Japanese-style fritters at Bakudanyaki

Saturday, August 18, 2012 in Canada, Richmond

Takoyaki at Bakudanyaki in Richmond, BC

Takoyaki at the Richmond Night Market. Photos by David Lansing.

Back to the Richmond Night Market where Mijune took me to the Daikichi Bakudanyaki stall. These guys specialize in giant takoyaki balls. Takoyaki us a ball-shaped dumpling (or fritter) and is usually sold in Japan at yatais, which are small, mobile food stalls (the word literally means “shop stand”).

They say the first guy to make takoyaki came from Osaka and they’re still considered something of a regional specialty there (you can find them in Tokyo, just not as easily; in Osaka they’re everywhere).

Daikichi Bakudanyaki at the Richmond Night Market.

Daikichi Bakudanyaki at the Richmond Night Market.

So here’s how you make a takoyaki: You make a sort of pancake batter from rice flour and wheat flour and cook it in a special mold and then stuff it with squid or octopus (originally in Osaka it was just octopus) and then maybe some cabbage, pickled ginger, rice, and green onion. At Bakudanyaki, they also put a quail egg in it, which is kind of interesting.

So the inside of the takoyaki is pretty much the same. What differentiates one takoyaki from another is the sauce that goes on top. Each yatai vendor will usually make his own sauces and they can be as creative as the cook. At Bakudanyaki you had your choice of curry, chili mayo, wasabi mayo, original, and the special of the day was pizza. I don’t know why you’d want to put a pizza flavoring on your seafood fish ball, but there you go.

Mijune and I ordered several different takoyaki balls just so we could taste the different flavor toppings. I’m not a big curry guy so that definitely wasn’t my favorite. I liked the original, though I’m not sure what was in that. But my favorite was the wasabi. The cream sauce really cut the bite of the wasabi so it didn’t blast your mouth but definitely added a little kick to savory innards of the takoyaki ball. Good stuff.

Here’s a short video I took of them explaining what takoyaki is and how they make them.

Richmond Night Market on Urbanspoon

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What is bubble tea?

Friday, August 17, 2012 in Canada, Richmond | 1 comment

Bubble tea at Zephyr Tea House Cafe in Richmond, BC

Bubble tea at Zephyr Tea House Cafe in Richmond, BC.

Yesterday I wrote about having lunch with Mijune at the Zephyr Tea House Café, this Taiwanese-style bubble tea place in Richmond. Several people wrote me and asked: What the hell is bubble tea?

Good question.

Here’s what a place called the Bubble Tea Café says: “Bubble tea is a drink made from a blend of tea and natural flavors served over sweet and chewy pearls. These pearls are also known as ‘bobas’ and are made from tapioca starch and taste faintly like caramel-flavored Jell-O.”

I don’t know. That doesn’t sound too appetizing, does it? Tapioca starch that tastes like caramel-flavored Jell-O? Yuck.

Wikipedia says bubble tea is “a Taiwanese tea drink that originated from tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan during the 1980s. Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit (or fruit syrup) and/or milk. Ice-blended versions of the drinks, similar to slushies, are also available, usually in fruit flavors.”

Mijune says there’s a real dilemma in finding the best bubble tea places in Richmond (and there are dozens and dozens of them). At places like Zephyr Tea House Café, the drinks are made with house brewed black and green teas, “but they have a very limited amount of fresh milk and fresh fruit flavors. It’s such a double standard.”

Yet she acknowledges that at true Asian places powdered milk and powdered fruit flavors are “expected and normal. And some drinks just work better and at times even taste better with the artificial powders.”

But you never know until you try them. To read more about her thoughts on bubble teas (and the Zephyr Tea House Café) check out her blog here.

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At Zephyr, Mijune orders for two

Thursday, August 16, 2012 in Canada, Richmond

Zephyr Tea House, Richmond, BC

The food awaits my arrival at Zephyr Tea House Cafe. Photo by David Lansing.

I might have mentioned that Mijune doesn’t bother to listen to me when it comes to deciding where to go eat or even what to order. I could take this one of two ways: outrage or with a shrug. I prefer the latter.

Yesterday she told me to meet her at Zephyr Tea House Café for lunch. Which was fine with me since it’s just down the street from my hotel. She also tells me to be there promptly at 12:30. “Don’t be late!”

So exactly at 12:32, I walk into Zephyr. And there’s Mijune sitting at a table with at least half a dozen dishes in front of her.

“You’re late,” she says. “I ordered without you.”

As if she was going to let me order in the first place.

Zephyr is like this hip Taiwanese bubble tea place. Bubble tea places are to Taiwan what Starbucks is to Seattle.

I don’t think Zephyr is really known as a lunch place. It’s more like the place you go to late at night when you’ve got the munchies (they’re one of the rare places in Richmond that stay open until 1am on weekends).

So what did Mijune order for us? The Taiwanese-style popcorn chicken, of course, and the braised pork on rice, prawns with pineapple, shredded pork with bamboo shoots, and a Taiwanese sausage with noodle soup.

You know, just a couple of dishes to stave off the hunger pains.

The popcorn chicken was kind of addicting, but I hated myself for liking it since it reminded me of a slightly-less spicy version of KFC’s popcorn chicken (which is also addictive if some of the worst processed junk food out there). The other dishes were okay. Not great, but okay.

What was more interesting to me were the drink choices. There were like over 30 bubble teas and another 30 frappes. Mijune watched me agonize over the menu. Matcha green tea frappe or almond milk bubble tea? Green mango mint? Lychee peach?

“Bring him the matcha ice cream frappe,” Mijune told the waitress.

When I gave her the stink eye she said, “What? It’s the house specialty. You’ll love it.”

And I did.
Zephyr Tea House Cafe (??) on Urbanspoon

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My lunch with Julia Child

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

A couple of years before Julia Childs passed away, I was invited to join her at a luncheon hosted by my friend Zov Karamardian, who is the chef/owner of Zov’s in Southern California, to celebrate her 90th birthday. It was a relatively small event–maybe 20 of us–and for some reason, I was seated next to Julia, though there were many more illustrious guests at the table. Here’s what I remember: Dean Koontz, the celebrated author, stood up just as the first course was served and began to make a very sincere if rather long-winded speech in tribute to Julia. We all sat patiently at the table with our hands folded in our laps. Except for Julia. Who, five or six minutes into the tribute, leaned her large beefy head towards me and whispered, “This could go on forever…I’m going to eat!” And while Mr. Koontz continued to walk us through Julia’s illustrious history, the object of his adulation ignored him completely and dug into her grilled shrimp with mint and cilantro pesto. Mr. Koontz was still droning on when Julia pushed her empty starter plate to the side and looked around the room trying to get the attention of the waiter to pour her a second glass of wine.

Ah, Julia.

According to a lovely story in the Los Angeles Times, Julia Child, who would have been 100 years old today, was the single most searched for term on Google this morning. I love that. I’m not sure she would have. It’s not that she would have disliked it; I just don’t think she would have cared one way or another. It would have been like having to go to a luncheon in your honor and then sit there while your food got cold while people talked about you. For Julia, it was always about the food. “Cooking, cooking, keep on cooking. This is the way to live.” Bon appetit, Julia.

 

 

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