beXnlog

Diametrical

My mom and sister are visiting. They eat quite differently so mealtimes have been difficult. Satisfying one of them usually means the other is left hungry. For instance:

My mom likes: Chinese food, Italian food, meat, seafood, corn
My mom hates: Americanized Chinese food, sandwiches, anything hot & spicy, any cuisine she's never had before

My sister likes: organic produce, cheese, apples, tofu, whole grains, avocados
My sister doesn't eat: meat, refined grains, too many carbohydrates, too much fruit, anything with added sugar

Saturday: Our first meal together was at Dim Sum House so luckily everyone was happy; my mom loves their pan-fried noodles and my sister enjoyed fried tofu with vegetables. They also offer brown rice but she didn't get any. Meanwhile, be and i gorged on assorted dim sum greatness.

Sunday: My sister was really hungry so i suggested Angelica Kitchen. A lot of people think it's the best vegetarian restaurant in New York but i think it's overrated. Sure, they use 95% organic produce and ingredients, it's nutritious & healthy and accommodating to vegans, macrobiotics, hypoglycemics, low-cholesterol and low-fat eaters, BUT the chefs need to improve how they prepare the food. For example, the "wee dragon bowls" that be and my mom ordered were essentially a plate with a scoop of brown rice in the middle, surrounded by mounds of plain, steamed vegetables and some plain raw tofu, with brown gravy to pour on top. If this isn't the epitome of American vegetarian food, i don't know what is. However, on a good note the walnut-lentil pate is really quite tasty, and my sandwich was surprisingly good. Of course, my mom HATED dinner.

Monday: My mom decided she wanted to cook dinner: the mushrooms were left to soak all day in my giant metal bowl, tofu slabs were left to press out as much water as possible, vegetables were washed, peeled, cut and parboiled; and jasmine rice was prepared in a pot on the stove. The pressed tofu was then pan fried in my big cast iron skillet, stir fried with the vegetables, and held together with a cornstarch-based brown sauce. There is just something amazingly perfect with my mom's fried tofu. It's texture is nicely chewy on the outside while soft on the inside. Even with scallions and soy sauce it's so yummy. One day when i make the perfect panful, i'll finally be awesome.

Tuesday: Since my mom was out on Long Island with the cousins, my sister and i went to have vegetarian Thai at Pukk in the East Village. be and i ate there a few weeks ago but tonight's meal was even tastier! We started with 2 appetizers: the portabella skewers were 4 large mushroom pieces on 2 sticks, grilled with minced garlic and a peppery, smokey marinade, served with a side salad in a light, chile-infused dressing; the stuffed tofu was 2 deep fried tofu triangles filled with carrot and cucumber shreds, doused in a slightly sweet, peanutty sauce - both were so excellent, we couldn't decide which was better! My sister ordered the green curry with fake chicken and brown rice for the main, while i got my usual pad Thai. D loved the green curry so much she claimed it was the best she ever had! To drink, i ordered Thai iced tea; their version is made with soymilk and isn't as sweet as other restaurants. D ordered plain soymilk, which was really beany like Chinese soymilk but without the crazy sugar. So good, we'll be going back later this week!

Meanwhile, my mom had 2 Chinese feasts on LI with lobster, shrimp, roasted meats and noodles. I guess today was a good food day for everyone. Even our lunch of Pret a Manger sandwiches was tasty; their lentil soup is awesome! Let's see how the rest of the week goes.

posted by beXn @ 12:03 AM