This next to last recipe for 1000-Year Eggs might be my favorite way to prepare them. It is savory, spicy, and hot, and the Thai basil lends a wonderful lightness to both the pork and the eggs for a winning dish. This recipe also lightly fries half of the Thai basil for a delicious, crunchy herbal topping that one encounters in lots of dishes from … Read more
Dr. Seuss’ Sam-I-Am would smile at the sight of these green eggs. Century Eggs, or 1,000-Year Eggs, are classics in their own right, not a riff on a timeless children’s book. You won’t find them in Sam-I-Am’s house, box, car, tree or train, but these eggs appear in a rice porridge, or congee, that is enjoyed throughout Asia. The eggs in this congee are indeed … Read more
It’s almost durian season again, so a post both extolling and denouncing the flavorful, pungent fruit seemed like a great idea. The British Naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace noted in describing the sight, smell and taste of a durian: “The five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the edible part, … Read more
Before sunrise, pots bubble on the gas stove of a small kitchen lit only by a few oil lamps. The kitchen smells of burning oil, lime and cumin as a small lizard darts across the floor. Outside, the steady patter of the morning rain is broken by the sound of bare feet softly padding up the damp, concrete path. A young, bald man stops at … Read more