i heart ny

so excited to have my friend, juicy, visit me from nyc. she asked me what i wanted from nyc. i requested nyc bagels and a slice of ny pizza. she wasn't sure she could bring the pizza b/c of customs, but she did bring me two everything ny bagels!

i toasted it up and smeared on it a generous amount of philadelphia cream cheese. slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. mmmm...

and she brought me a mug that looks like a diner coffee mug! whenever i use it, i'll think of juicy and nyc.

i love pho

i've been searching for good pho (vietnamese noodles) ever since i got here. i was mentioned to my friend, juicy, that i've been craving good pho. she told me that she had a great recipe for chicken pho, and that she would make it for me! oooh....

when i picked up juicy from the airport, she was still fighting a cold. so after we got to my place, i had her sleep. but before she slept, i asked her for the recipe to make the broth.

so here goes:

Makes about 3 servings.
ingredients
1 large chicken
5 star anise
5 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 onion, halved
2 inch piece of ginger
1 tsp coriander seeds (or coriander powder)
cilantro stems
sugar
fish sauce
rice noodles
bean sprouts.

1. Place the chicken in a large pot and cover completely with water. Add all spices. Bring to boil. As it boils, skim off any scum residue. Lower heat to a med low and let simmer.
2. Char the ginger and the onion in your broiler. after it's charred, removed the blackened parts.
3. Once ginger and onion is ready, add to the broth.
4. Once meat is all cooked, remove from the chicken, and put the bones back into the broth. break up bones as much as possible.
5. Simmer on low for about an hour.
6. Add 1 tsp of sugar. Add more if you want.
7. Add 1 tbsp of fish sauce. Keep adding until it's the right saltiness.
8. Strain broth through a cheese cloth or very fine strainer.
9. Once broth is done, boil rice noodles for about 5 minutes.
10. Place desired amount of rice noodles in bowl. Add broth and chicken. Add cilantro (coriander leaves) and bean sprouts. Squeeze fresh lime over broth. Enjoy with sriracha sauce!

mmm.... bacon good

chips here are associated to what in the US we would all french fries. crisps are what we would know as potato chips. my housemate introduced me to walkers smoky bacon flavored crisps. in this multi-pack, they have smoky bacon, steak and onions and roast chicken. i didn't really care for the roast chicken, but i did enjoy the smoky bacon and the steak and onions. it really reminded me of steak as i bit into this crunchy thin crisp.

what's interesting is that they don't sell it in one big bag. a large bag has 6 smaller packs in it. is that better for portion control? i don't know because i usually eat two bags in one sitting.