adorablexplorer's posterous

I like having fun! Nothing better than good food and company! Traveling is good too.

Pork mania- New recipe!

I was watching Drive-ins, Diners and Dives and saw a pork steak recipe that I thought looked intriguing.  It has a semi-dry rub with CINNAMON.  I'm a very savory person, and usually think cinnamon as a sweet flavor with sugar, or chocolate (Mexican hot chocolate), etc.

What's in the semi-dry rub?  Here it goes, per the recipe from Paul's Coffee Shop:

  • Chopped onions
  • Chopped cilantro
  • Seasoning salt*
  • Pepper (McCormick's type)
  • Olive Oil
  • Granulated garlic
  • Cinnamon
  • Cumin**
  • Pork tenderloin cutlets***- thin sliced (1/2 inch?), not pork chops.  This is for a quick cook dinner.

*Seasoning salt- I didn't have any so recipe I found here:

  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar- omitted
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder- substituted with Onion seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder- substituted with garlic salt
  • 1/4 corn starch- omitted

**Cumin is an ingredient I added.  Might have to try without it next time since it's a overpowering spice.

***I didn't put a specific weight of how much to prepare, because this is a pretty easy recipe to make on the fly.  I cook for just me, so I bought a package of 1lb of cutlets.  I ate three cutlets out of six.  I plan on freezing the other three and having later as tacos maybe?

Disclaimer:

I didn't measure anything, just sprinkled everything onto the meat.  Use your judgement?  I went easy on the regular salt since I used garlic salt.  Garlic salt is not garlic powder.  Go easy on the salt if you're going to marinate for more than three hours- especially if you're going to marinate overnight.  My batch was on the salty side- but I tend to go heavy on the salt.  I'm working on it!

I also didn't add granulated garlic since there's garlic salt in the seasoning salt.  

I considered adding fresh minced garlic, however fresh garlic has a high sugar content so it would just burn when you cook the meat.

Now for the 'cooking:'

Mix all ingredients into a metal bowl.  Mix around and distribute onions around.  

Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for three to four hours.  You can marinate overnight, but a few hours does it.

Heat pan (I used my Le Creuset grill pan I bought myself for Christmas last year) to the point the meat sizzles when you put it on the pan.  I would say put the stove on medium high heat and wait a few minutes.  The point is you don't want to put the meat on a cold pan because, well, I don't know but you won't get the golden brown we're trying to achieve.  You don't want to burn the meat either so don't keep the flame too high.  It's also a pain to clean the pan if the meat burns.  A waste of food too.  Anyways...

I would say cook for three-five minutes on each side.  The best way to know one side is done is the meat's juices will start pooling on top pf the meat.  You will also see the profile of the meat cooking as well- the bottom half will start to look cooked.

Any onions that made it onto the pan WILL BURN.  Don't be alarmed.  This is why I suggest not putting fresh garlic in this recipe.  The onions will burn, but they aren't burned onto the meat so it's ok.

That's about it.  Not sure what else to say...

I had a side of quinoa.  I would've made a side of kale and mushrooms, but cooking for one person is tough and annoying so I kind of gave up on the vegetable side.  My mom would be disappointed, but I know better.  I'll eat more veggies over the next couple days to make up for it.

This recipe really is inspiring me to do more rubs since it's so easy.  I would add more cinnamon than you think is appropriate.  It smells AMAZING when you cook it.  Cinnamon is more for scent over flavor I think.  I had to grind mine so I only added one stick and it was coarsly ground and not finely ground.  

Sorry for the lengthy post!

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Enjoy!

Fireflies Day 2 & 3! Climbing!

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Hello!

Days two and three were a delight!

Day two recap:
Climbing, riding, lunch, riding and climbing and dinner.

We were riding in a pace line for a bit- you catch groups or they catch you and you hop on the end and catch the wonderful draft! I got pooped on by a bird- good luck right? The views were wonderful! The ocean breeze when you go down a long climb is so refreshing! So many smells again- strawberries and more eucalyptus!

Forgot to take a turn with my biking buddy and ended up doing an extra few miles- avoided a 14 grade hill though! Don't worry, we climbed plenty on the way to the intersection we met up with the folks who did go the right way.

Dinner was sponsored by Framestore and it was the most delicious lasagna and brownie I ever had! I had seconds for both!

There's a guy who brought wine for each night we're staying in CA- appropriate for each region we're in. He also is the biking DJ as in he plays reggae music all day on little speakers from an iPod. He's pretty awesome. I have a glass of wine with those guys after dinner as of day two.

Day 3: Climbing!

Intense climbing day! You can see some big climbs, but you can't see most because of the fog and clouds. It's odd, but sometimes you don't know if you're going up or down. It's funny that way.

We stopped at the top of the first climb coming out of the Big Sur Lodge and saw we climbed over the clouds/fog. Amazing! We descended into fog/clouds for a while before hitting another climb and the cycle repeated itself a few times. There was one specific climb that you saw while you were going down the last mile of one and it was daunting! It didn't turn out to be so bad though- really looked awful! Wish I took a picture but I'm not that coordinated yet on my bike!

After the last big climb, I hopped on the back of the line of four other guys and it was great! We were cruising for a while! Then the sea lions came up and I had to stop to see them. So cute!

The lunch stop was something I definitely needed but once I got back on my bike, kind of regretted since I wasn't cruising at 25+ mph anymore. The last 23 miles was quick enough, but the "fast, flat and tailwind" we were promised by Bryan, one of the founders for this ride, only fast was true. Some of the hills were not so little, and definitely had headwind the whole way! Learned people will say things to keep you going- he was a rider for the last 4 so he knows how it feels after a long day of climbing.

Upon arrival, I had a red stripe and it was delicious! Joined a foam rolling party and hung out for a bit. Upon taking a shower I passed out checking my newsfeed on Facebook. Long day! Feels good though!

Fireflies Day 1: San Francisco to Santa Cruz

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This is my second time trying to post this entry, so bear with the briefness!  I'll be better tomorrow!

Today we biked through the streets of Chinatown and down through the Sutro baths and Ocean Beach to 1 South, our host to take us to LA.  There are some amazing views going down 1- oceans, mountains, farms and fields.  The smells of eucalyptus and the ocean are very refreshing!

Today was a 90+ mile day.  Great to start off with, not so great in the last 40 miles.  Just after our lunch break, my back started seizing up.  This has never happened before, so I kept biking and eventually my the lower right side of my back started going numb.  I decided I'd try a gel, in case it was from not enough electrolytes- this was around 25 miles into the 40.  By mile 35, I was good to go again.  Never underestimate these pasty gels!  It's amazing!  Glad it wasn't a neurological issue!

Lunch in Pescadaro was nice- the road leading to it from 1 was fresh new pavement!  We even had an escort for part of it since it's a one way road at the moment!  Had a chicken club sandwich which really was a chicken sandwich.  I forgive them since they had free wifi and decent food.

Aside from my cramp, Penelope had a little boo boo too.  Her front brakes were rubbing against my rim a little- the wheel could still spin freely, it wasn't holding me back at all.  Our lovely support crew bought new cabling and a guy I met today (only after he fixed my bike) was kind enough to fix it for me!  A really great group of people to ride with- good company, can fix bikes (and willingly does so), support crew who really do help out (two founders, lady + our ot the founders' girl friends!).

Thanks for everyone's support!  It's really a great ride and we couldn't be here riding without you!  We have raised $130,000+ so far!

Fireflies 2012!

2012 has been an amazing year!  

New job (same office), new hobbies (Triathlons, long distance biking, cooking, photography (trying to find the time and niche- food photography?), new apartment (moved in with the girl I sit next to at work), meeting really talented individuals who inspire me to do more every day, moving around a set of golf clubs from one apartment to another, you know, the little things...

On Friday, I start a 550 mile ride from SF to LA with a group of advertising professionals dubbed 'The Fireflies.'  It's going to be quite the journey!  Amazing views, good company, physically challenging and raising awareness for cancer research to benefit The City of Hope.  

This year I started training for triathlons because I've always wanted to get into competing after graduating as a collegiate athlete, but also because it keeps the balance of working long hours and giving me another goal outside of work (becoming a post-production producer some time in the future!).  I realized I need to stay fit and healthy with my family history of being overweight and having low bone density- it's slightly daunting.

Why do this ride?  Well, outside of the goal of staying fit and giving myself a balance of work, play and exercise, I'm riding to find a cure for cancer.  I had the privilege of meeting my paternal grandfather and great grandfather.  Around the time I was in fourth grade, they both died of various forms of cancer.  I believe my grandfather died of bone AND prostate cancer.  I'm not entirely sure of what type of cancer my great grandfather died of, and was in his 90's.  Out of my friends, I'm one of very few who got to meet my great grandparents.  Some don't have living memories with their grandparents.  

Thank you to everyone supporting The Fireflies and The City of Hope!  We are very lucky to not only have the health to ride this event, but to have generous friends and family to support us emotionally and help raise awareness!  It's truly amazing!

I will be posting updated regularly during the ride to keep everyone up-to-date with our progress!

Thanks for your support!

My week in Japan. Awesome.

So instead of writing about every day of vacation.  Here are my highlights:

1.  Hanging out with family.  

In addition to seeing the people who normally come to family gatherings, I had the chance to meet up with family members I haven't seen in a while or never met.  

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I got to see my Great Uncle for the first time in 10 years.  He was pretty awesome, aside from the fact he said my cheeks were chubby.  I met a Great Aunt who made me a kimono I've never worn.  I met another Great Aunt I've never met before on my Dad's side who gives me hope to not gain weight in old age like her sister, my Grandmother.  We went out to dinner as a family in Tokyo a couple times- Mom, Dad, Brother and I- and it was fun.

2. Eating and drinking.  So much food involved in Japan.  Highlights:

- Sushi

- Blowfish hotpot in Kobe

- Soju with charred blowfish fins

- Yakkitori- things on skewers.  Ginko berries and yams were my favorite.

- Crab hotpot at a restaurant on top of the Dentsu building in Tokyo

- Random Japanese small plates in Nakano with family friends.

- Anything fried.  Katsu, Fried chicken, lots of fried meat.

- Chinese food at Oro in Kobe- Yes, I was in China the week before but it's different than common Chinese food.  Not nearly as delicious as the Sichuan Cathy took me to, but it will have to be.  My Dad wanted to eat.

- Soju with Soba noodle water.  So much better than it sounds- gets you drunk.

- Ramen

- Cold beer.  A lot of places have signs that tell people passing by how cold their beer is -2 Celcius.  Yum.

3. People in Kobe Vs. People in Tokyo

People stand on the right side of escalators in Kobe, but in Tokyo people stand on the left side of escalators.  Weird right?  

4. Tsukiji- Fish Market

This place is totally insane.  I thought I was going to get hit by one of those lift trucks.  Should have brought some rainboots and dirty clothes to fit in since wearing a pair of Asics Onizukas,skinny jeans and a short jacket with a scarf makes you stick out a lot.  The Tuna auction my Dad took me to was pretty awesome.  I had no idea what the auctioneer was saying, but people were buying Tuna.  There were some sellers from the US selling tuna there- North Carolina, Boston and New York.  A lot from Bali, Sri Lanka, China, etc.  Tuna from the States had the tail and heads removed for cheaper shipping.  My Dad said keeping the collar bone on keeps the fish flesh protected from aging.  

5. Japanese people LOVE Christmas.

6. 26 and not married

My maternal Grandmother told me to get married soon, to an American, Frenchman, whoever because she will forgive me.  I got a little mad when I heard this.  Why does she have to forgive me?  Oh well.  

Some guy I've never met before at Tsukiji told me I could have my pick of people in the office :::glance around:::, they're mostly in their 40's and balding and some of them were sitting pretty far away from their boss's desk, so I'd imagine they weren't doing too well in their careers.  This guy mentioned to three people who joined into conversation that I was single- I wanted to slap this man.

7. I love vacation!

Clean bathrooms, bed made everyday.  I had to bleach my bathroom before I showered when I got back.  I clearly need someone to clean my room on a weekly basis for me.  Maybe someday I'll hire a cleaning person...  Doubt it.  

I'll probably add more later, but for now this is it for Japan.

Unconventional things at the airport- Day 5

I was bored at the airport- no wifi- so I thought I'd take pictures and video of random things.

The packages I took pictures of are of vacuum-sealed packs of meat- Lamb leg and peking duck.  I'm not sure how I personally feel about vacuum-sealed meat.

The bathroom sign- spelling out the Chinese phonetically doesn't help me...

The ferret chasing the ball in the bowl- I don't think they swim well.  Why don't the vendors in Chinatown put them in water?

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Jumping ahead- Food in Shanghai- Day 6

OMG.  Sichuan food with my new friend Cathy (my friend Will introduced us this week) was AMAZING.  Copious amounts of food, and just amazing.  She took me to Yuxin Sichuan Dish- Will's go to restaurant in Shanghai outside of eating dumplings at Yuyuan Gardens.

So Cathy, like me, loves food.  Clearly we were meant to be.  She ordered a whole slew of foods:
- Cubes with red oil on top- Goose liver.  Tastes so much better than it sounds.  I really like my try things at least once rule- I don't miss out on good food.
- Pile of brown stuff with peanuts and peppers- Spareribs with a cumin.  Yum
- Big bowl with ladle- White fish (forgot what kind) with sichuan pepper corns and spice oil.  The fish was so tender it melted in your mouth.  So damn good.
- Long white sticks in red oil- These were rick sticks.  Not like mochi, more fragile.  The spicy stuff at the bottom of the bowl was so good- kind of like the spicy stuff they use at Xi'an's famous foods for the spicy noodles.
- Green stuff with black stuff- So this was a vegetable dish Cathy and I decided to get since, well, you need your vegetables.  On the menu it was called Asparagus with tiger paws.  In this scenario, tiger paws were a type of mushroom.  Simple dish- Cathy might have been a little disappointed this dish didn't have any spice.
- The noodle dishes from the dim sum menu- two different kind of noodles in spicy oil sauce.  It was good, but totally lived in the shadow of...
- Sea cucumber and abalone- Awesome.  I've had sea cucumber when I was little (clearly, it was an investment well spent since I remember how goof it was) and just remember loving the texture.  To have sea cucumber AND abalone on the same plate?  Heaven.
- The 5 balls with sesame seeds- in Japan we call them 'Goma dango', which means sesame balls.  They're a classic dim sum item.  They are fried balls of mochi with a sweet bean paste in the middle and white sesame seeds on the outside.  Love them.
- The two white balls in the bowl- mochi with a sweetened black sesame paste in the middle.  Come in a close second to the sesame balls.  Better portion control with these.

Needless to say, I definitely gained weight after last night's feast of kings.  Glad that I can lose the weight almost as quickly by running for an hour a day...

The portions were meant to be for 4+ people.  We barely put a dent in the spareribs.  I ate until the delicious fish dish started to have a compromised flavor of 'stop eating.'  It was an amazing meal- amazing company as well.  Cathy has an amazing story about her marriage- old school story- and the love for her is extraordinary.  That's for her to share though.  I'm glad to be privileged to have heard it.

On my way to Osaka now.  Very glad Shanghai Pudong airport has free wifi!  I guess I'll have to bring my other computer when I travel abroad now- Macbook airs do not have a cat5 port.  I'm very glad Posterous can post via e-mail!  I wouldn't have anything else to do at the airport otherwise!

Getting lost- Day 5

Skipping the last couple days worth of entries to capture one moment, one long moment that just occurred today. Got lost trying to find the hotel. Mind you, I found my way to People's Square and four of the restaurants in Lonely Planet, Shanghai Centre and through a closed department store to get outside.

My hotel is literally in front of Shanghai station. This station is HUGE. I walked around for 30 minutes then gave up and took a ¥18RMB ($2.3 USD) cab to the hotel. So embarrassing. It's raining at least... Just a note- no access to Facebook or Posterous. This posting is probably going to cost me $20.00 USD, not RMB :( no wifi either- this is the second hotel with a wired connection. I went to the one Starbucks in Shanghai without wifi. Doh!!! Hope everyone is well! This week has been an interesting week traveling by myself! Learning a lot about myself with several moments of enlightenment!

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Beijing- Day 2

Today (well, it's 6:43am, Monday morning now, since jet lag hasn't allowed me to sleep), I went to the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, a Silk Factory that made quilts and pillows, a street food fair, and Liqun Restaurant.  Quite the day I had!  

The Great Wall is by far just one of the most amazing places I've been, other than the fact there were thousands of people around me like in Time's Square.  It just kept going and going- like a dragon.  It was pretty spectacular.  The Chinese invented a lot of things- I think steep inclines and stairs may be a couple other inventions they should be credited.  The incline on certain parts of the wall are just ridiculous.  Honestly, I wanted to race all the people up with instincts coming back from college rowing practices :-).  I mean the portion we were on was clearly restored, but imagine building that wall?  Connecting the seven original provinces/states walls together to defend China from Mongolia- thanks to I believe the 1st Ming Emperor.  I got lucky with a cloudless sky and dry weather as I could see the mountains in the distance like depicted in Chinese paintings!

Honestly, what I saw of the Ming tombs wasn't impressive since we didn't go into the underground palace.  It was interesting to learn that everything in Emporor's order comes in odd numbers- like the number of animals on one's robes, etc.  The third Ming Emperor was the one who moved the tombs to outer Beijing where it would be surrounded with mountains- the Dragon mountains and Tiger mountains are two that are notable by their physical appearance.  There are 13 Emperors buried there- the 7th Emperor wasn't buried there due to complications of sibling rivalries.  The 6th Emperor as captured by Mongolians and the younger brother took over.  A year later, the 6th Emperor came back and this caused political chaos as Beijing had 2 Emperors.  Eventually the 7th one died and the Emperor, his brother, did not bury him in the tombs as he technically was not an Emperor.  Talk about sibling rivalries.

The silk factory was cool, but very had an 'in-your-face-buy-things' place.  Thought about buying pillows, but I'm ok with what I have.

After the silk factory, I was dropped off at the street food festival area.  There were vendors selling scorpians, squid, cocoons and anything on skewers really.  People were eating things out of bowls of soup, gelatinous things out of bowls, drinking fresh juices and etc.  So I decided I would try a clam thing that really caught my attention with its garlicky smell.  The white stuff is all garlic.  Looks a lot better than it was.  The clam tasted good with a little of the garlic on it.  

Next, I tried a bowl of 'noodles'- totally not noodles at all.  I saw people eating something noodle like out of a bowl with a lot of cilantro in it, so I ordered it and it was totally tripe.  I don't love the texture of tripe- it's sometimes a little sandy and it's kind of wrong how crunchy it is.  I finished it though.  There was a homeless man next to the trash can asking for people's food and made me feel bad about potentially throwing it out.

Seeing things on skewers and know I like chicken gizzard, thought I'd get some gizzard.  I go up to a vendor and point to what I thought was gizzard, but when they gave it to me, I'm pretty sure it was Mutton- 2 year old lamb.  Why?  It had a spicy cumin flavor to it.  I think the influence comes from Xi'an, where the spice road and silk road went through giving the region an influence with cumin and other spices from India and the East- don't quote me on this though.  This was awesome, way better than chicken gizzard.

The last thing I got was these long mochi type things in a miso-like spicy sauce.  It was a safe choice for sure.  I've had it before somewhere.  Yum.

I had the concierge at my hotel make me a reservation at Liqun Restaurant for 8:30 tonight.  I wanted to be able to take a nap, etc.  I got there in a cab that cost 14RMB- that's yes, about $2.5USD.  Wish cabs in the US were like that.  I guess the Chinese government is artificially keeping the currency low to keep trading costs low to people buying from China, and it's not great, but I can't complain about a $2.50 cab.  I went and they immediately served me my duck.  The picture of the plates of food is a before and after- I only got through one plate of meat sadly.  I ate until I really couldn't eat anymore.  Unfortunately, since the restaurant wasn't heated, the duck got cold very fast.  Still tasty, but I wish it was at least warm for another 10 minutes.  Duck dinner cost 270 RMB, which was about $44 USD.  Not bad since this is what you at least pay for a dinner out with friends. I'm on vacation!

The trip home was interesting, but I have to get ready to check out of the hotel!

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Beijing- Day 1

I left work at 1:00pm Friday, 11/11/11 (weird huh?), to get on a 13 hour flight to Beijing!  A child was crying at the gate and said child was crying for 70% of the 13 hour flight.  Very grateful for an iPod.  Poor parents with the colicky child.

Upon arriving, I was sore from trying to sleep in my 47B seat- yep, that's a middle seat.  The women next to me in the aisle was on her way to Bangkok with a few coworkers- per her arrival paperwork, she was 45, didn't look it at all!  The guy who had the window seat didn't get up once.  Good stuff.  Customs was a breeze and the airport was really nice.  I was met by the driver (yeah, I was one of those people with their names on a sign) and a tour guide after getting my baggage.  Pretty seamless considering I booked my trip through a series of e-mails with a company I didn't have references for.  So far, so good.

The guide 'Doris' that met me at the airport was from an area of China in the north closer to Japan- 10 hours by train from Beijing.  I couldn't get the exact name, but apparently it was ruled by Russians and Japanese people at some point in time.  The Russians named it one thing, and the Japanese named it town its current name.  The tour guide then told me 'I' named the city- made me think her town has had an interesting relationship with Japan.  As you could imagine, I didn't tell her my great grandfather was a general for Japan during the war against China.  My friend Will brought up a good point there are relationships politically that will always be strained and will be on the back of people's minds.  While she did not mean to say I named the city she was from, she meant my country did.  She also let out a little laugh, but I'm sure there was a political meaning to it as well.

I guess there are auto manufacturers and other companies that are running factories in the guide's town, and employing Chinese people in the area.  She said her cousin works in Japan for a Japanese company that eventually employed him in Japan.  I thought about the article in NY Times over the last couple years talking about Japanese companies providing visas to Chinese workers to come to China to offer them better jobs, to only have worse working conditions in Japanese plants.  Will mentioned here that there are so many people in China that any job is a job.  Working conditions can't be that bad in either country, but I have to point out I'm sure there is a little but of exploitation happening.

Per a recommendation by my friend Will (he spent a lot of time in China), I tried to go to LiQun to feast on the oldest Peking duck restaurant in all of Beijing.  I got there after walking almost 3 miles, but realized I needed a little more cash than I had.  I already had issues taking out money so I just told myself I'll go back tomorrow.  I wish I could upload pictures of the restaurant I took.  Mismatching chairs, really no frills kind of place.  I kind of imagine them keeping it this way even thought they rake in a lot of money.  Hope their duck is as good as they and Will say it is!

Instead of duck, I was trying to find a restaurant near the hotel.  Found one!  24 hour noodle joint that has things on the menu for 12 RMB- that's less than or equal to $2 USD- amazing!  It was actually pretty tasty.  Beef 'brisket' if you will, pickled green beans, peanuts, some green leafy vegetable and an awesome broth to add spicy stuff to.  Delicious!  You can't get this deal in Chinatown for sure.  Granted it was not a gourmet place, it was a place locals went to.  I was a little surprised to see the amount of garbage on the floor- apparently Chinese people throw trash on the floor and it's generally accepted?  Didn't really see that coming.

Will get to posting about Day two in a bit.  The internet is shotty here- Facebook can't be accessed through regular internet, and I'm not entirely sure about posting to posterous.  I'm trying to post via gmail so we'll see if it posts!  I've tried a few times now so this entry may come at couple days to a week late.

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