tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19076390880320341492024-02-19T06:48:08.607-08:00Real Food, Real PhoAn anthropological chronicle of my adventures cooking (mostly) Viet food ways using healthy, sustainable choices and real foods (gluten-, dairy-, sugar-, soy-, corn-, and additive-free).Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-42999336004785871482017-09-25T09:54:00.002-07:002017-09-25T09:54:15.500-07:00Mac N Faux Cheezy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;">I made a mac 'n cheese that made VL say "I feel like I don't have any allergies." High praise.</span><div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For those who have "followed" this blog, you know I flirt with vegan recipes because they've come up with tasty dairy-free solutions, but in reality, we are much more paleoish because we eat meat and low to no grain. Anyways, my son--bless his lekkle heart-- is not allergic to dairy! So he can partake of that American childrearing staple of mac n'cheese. My daughter--bless her big heart-- is allergic to dairy--and no, it is not lactose intolerant people; there was projectile vomit involved and you think, I would have figured out the difference in the last 20 years, m'kay?--is always forlorn when she sees him partaking. And after almost 20 years of mostly dairy-free existence, I harbor a lot of dairy skepticism. </span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So I resolved to come up with a solution.</span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> A</span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">t Sprouts the other day, </span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I picked up Ancient Roots shell pasta-corn & quinoa-that came in a small box; we don't normally eat a lot of corn because me and the girl do not digest it well, even "organic" corn, hard to say if it's because of GMO or lingering glyphosate or the lack of <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/01/che-bap-hot-ngam-voi-nixtamal-tapioca.html" target="_blank">nixtamalization</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyways, I totally winged this one on the fly. I was inspired by reading this review of this <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/entry-637082" target="_blank"><span id="goog_1436119803"></span>taco stand in TJ<span id="goog_1436119804"></span></a> that uses eggs to emulsify the salsa into a silky texture. It's basically a <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/faux-cheezy-cake-gf-df-sf-vegan-paleo.html" target="_blank">cashew faux "cheeze"</a> + <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/06/pasta-carbonara-gfdf.html" target="_blank">carbonara</a> mashup. It is not vegan.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Ingredients:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>1/2 cup of soaked raw cashews (soaked for 2 hrs then drained & rinsed well, can be done the day before and stored refrigerated or frozen)</li>
<li>Um then I filled the pyrex cup it was in with water (and nuts still in there) to about 1/2 c or more mark</li>
<li>2 generous tsp of nutritional yeast</li>
<li>1 tsp+ of garlic powder</li>
<li>sprinkle+ onion powder</li>
<li>sea salt</li>
<li>Generous splashes of avocado oil (can also use olive oil/lard/bacon fat)</li>
<li>2 eggs</li>
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<li>GF pasta</li>
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Blend sauce ingredients until it is super duper smooth. I think I let it run for 2-3 min but not enough for it to warm in the vitamix. The eggs help with making the particulate mouth feel of the cashews be more silky and emulsified (i.e. won't separate). Taste it and season more as needed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and reserve some of the starchy water. Throw the drained pasta back into the pot and turn it on low heat. Then pour the sauce in and let it thicken while stirring, but try not to scramble the eggs. Use the pasta water to thin if it's too thick. (If I was more prepared, I would have used the pasta water to make the sauce in the first place.)<br /><br />I topped my serving with a whisper of ground ghost pepper. I'm going to be sad when that runs out.<br /><br />This made just enough for 4 bowls of mac. Next time I am doubling bc we barely had enough for VL's lunch tomorrow.</span></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-14428515876178508132017-07-16T18:37:00.001-07:002017-09-25T11:53:34.737-07:00Soaked and Brined Black Beans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>It's been a long time</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>I shouldn't have left you</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Without a dope read to munch to...</i></span></div>
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</span> <span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've been busy procreating, ukulele'ing, moving, homeschooling (briefly), volunteering, childraising, PTO'ing, adulting, and mom'ing for the last couple of years and this blog has taken a back burner. I've got almost 10 or so recipes sitting in my draft folder but they are still gathering virtual dust. Sigh.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But-- </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was struggling for a savory bean side dish for a communal burrito potluck for our annual campout. When/if I make beans, I go to animal fat for the flavor boost. Since our Holistic Moms chapter had Muslim families participating, I needed something halal so my go to lard and (Buddhist) duck fat were not going to make the cut. (And I didn't have time to run to the local halal butcher...)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then I remembered...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Beans, beans the magic fruit, the more you eat....</span></h4>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="https://draxe.com/kombu/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Kombu</a><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> which would give me a savory/umami boost as well as help </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/kombu-a-nutritional-powerhouse-from-the-sea/2013/01/29/aa4bb830-4ad4-11e2-a6a6-aabac85e8036_story.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">breakdown</a><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the indigestibles (toot-source) like oligosaccharides and phytic acid. I am not even going there with the soak-no soak debate. I know what my gut feels like. Which my family has now dubbed mom bombs. Soaking is just better for me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Along the way, I discovered <a href="https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5803-salty-soak-for-beans" target="_blank">brining for beans</a> and of course, I am a big <a href="https://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times/" target="_blank">pressure cooker</a> proponent. Because: from phrozen to </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Phở in under an hour is too damn easy. I upgraded to a <a href="http://amzn.to/2wS7AB6" target="_blank">Kuhn Duromatic 12 qt</a> when I birthed the big little because that's a lot more people to feed and I was tired of having to make two batches of p</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hở with the 6 qt because the bones take up half the pot. I still keep my <a href="http://amzn.to/2upx6Rl">6 qt Fissler</a> because I inherited it from my </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">bà ngoại | grandmother and it's handy for grains, side dishes, and small quantities.</span></div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I pre-date the Instant Pot so I don't have a review or a rave, but believe me I am eyeballing it. I only have to babysit the pressure cooker for less than an hour at most, but the prospect of set & forget it is very tempting because I am very forgetful...)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anyhow, I cobbled together a recipe from various ideas with Cuban inspiration. And it was like sooooooo good. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I got rave reviews and recipe requests from folks, so... here's the recipe, Samrana! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">( I made 2.5 lbs for 30+ people including littles </span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">which left me with maybe 1/4 of a pot leftover, this is a reduced quantity). </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Some ingredient notes: my kid doesn't like the tannic-ity of olive oil, so I mixed it with avocado oil. I used a little fresh garlic that I had on hand, but mainly I rely on powdered or dried/minced garlic because I have issues with digesting fresh garlic unless it is cooked AF. I wanna say I got the kombu powder from Frontier, but I think they don't carry it any longer. You can substitute dried kombu instead or omit it. Um, I eyeball quantities, so adjust to taste!</span></span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">We were camping there was no way to pretty stage beans.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>BRINE BEANS</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1 lb beans (I used organic black turtle beans)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3 tbs of sea salt</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4 qts water</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Soak 8 hrs to 24 hours. Drain beans.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ingredients</span></span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">EV olive oil + avocado oil</span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1 organic sweet onion, chopped</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1 tsp <a href="https://wholesale.frontiercoop.com/shop/d-m/frontier-organic-garlic-powder-1-lb/" target="_blank">organic garlic powder</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1 tsp kombu powder or 4 inch strip of </span><a href="https://wholesale.frontiercoop.com/shop/health-foods/emerald-cove-pacific-kombu/" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;" target="_blank">dried kombu</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">dash of Red Boat fish sauce</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1 tsp <a href="https://wholesale.frontiercoop.com/shop/a-c-2/simply-organic-cumin-seed-ground-231-oz/" target="_blank">organic cumin powder</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2 bay leaves</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2 qts water</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">chopped cilantro to garnish</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Splash a super generous amount of oil in the pressure cooker. Sauté the onions and garlic until translucent. Add kombu powder, fish sauce, cumin and bay leaves and sauté briefly until aromatic. Toss in the beans. Cover with water, lid it, and bring to a boil. Cook at <a href="https://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times/" target="_blank">pressure for 4 minutes</a> for soaked black beans (all other beans consult this <a href="https://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times/">chart</a> for cooking time). Turn off the stove. Let it depressurize naturally, approx 10 minutes. Taste, add salt or other seasonings as needed. Top with chopped cilantro.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">BOOM. DONE. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Really, that is it. I love <a href="http://amzn.to/2thqILU"><span id="goog_1174057938"></span>my pressure cooker<span id="goog_1174057939"></span></a>! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have NO idea how long this takes in an Instant Pot. I know that it would take 3-4 hours in a VitaClay and that is why hands down, my pressure cooker is my go to because I suffer from the inability to meal plan.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[<i>Full disclosure: I am now an Amazon Associate. Yes, I assimilated. All kidding aside, all <a href="http://www.salary.com/mom-paycheck/">my labor is unremunerated</a>. Both as a mom and as cook. Don't get me wrong, I like getting paid in gratitude and sticky kisses from the littles, but it would also be nice to be compensated even a pittance for the fraction of the work I do IRL. I've made enough to buy coffee from individual affiliate links so it really is a bit ridiculous. And alot of the links I have are not remunerated, like Frontier or articles, blogs, etc. So for what it is worth, for less than the price of a cup of coffee, you can support my labor which is vastly undervalued!</i>]</span></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-28148521043207523222015-04-16T13:42:00.002-07:002017-01-15T21:00:04.460-08:00Seaweed & miso soup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c;"><i>Since I am pregnant, I've been revisiting the pregnancy and postpartum soups in my repertoire.</i></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I was introduced to Miyeok Guk </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">미역국</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, a traditional Korean soup eaten on birthdays and postpartum, by my dear friends celebrating their birthdays and when I had my daughter. This is a deceptively simple, powerhouse medicinal soup! Seaweed is </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/superfood-seaweed-health-benefits_n_3786076.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">nutrient-dense superfood</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> packed with calcium, vitamins A, B-12, C, K, iodine, potassium, chlorophyll, soluble fiber, helps to regulate estrogen/estradiol, and on top of that it binds to heavy metals in the intestines and helps to leach them out of your system. Yay for seaweed! (And yes, I know<a href="http://www.enviroreporter.com/2012/04/japanese-seaweed-radiation-doubles/all/1" target="_blank"> Fukushima has altered the radiation content in the Pacific </a>and iodine which is abundant in <a href="http://newhope360.com/blog/fukushimas-impact-so-far-wash-seaweed-products" target="_blank">seaweed</a> binds to radiation. But I figure, it's all getting flushed out. Literally. Atlantic seaweed is harder to source and frankly, the US specialty companies that do so charge ridiculous prices. We do what we can and make compromises.)</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>There are dozens of varieties of edible seaweed. You should choose wakame (which I know is a transliteration of Japanese not Korean) or Miyeok (see, Korean). Though I have very rusty, phonetic reading ability in Hangul | Korean (courtesy of free language class at the Korean Cultural Center in LA way way back--did I mention I also got a BA in linguistics and had/have an affinity for languages?), I lack comprehension. So whenever I am in doubt, I look at the picture and make sure there is a bowl of soup on the label.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I start with Junghee's mom's recipe which she shared with my mom after I gave birth. I use other non-traditional nutrient-dense ingredients to amp up the nutritional profile. Miso adds probiotics (and if you really want to go the extra mile, add GMO-free organic natto for the Vitamin K2). </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I <a href="http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/1-food-women-should-avoid-processed-soy" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">stopped eating soybeans</a> some years ago because of the <a href="http://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/whole-soy-story" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">phyto-estrogens</a><a href="http://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/whole-soy-story" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> </a>(big deal for women of childbearing age) and the GMO issue. Every now and then I will make an exception for <a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/022630_soy_food_phytic_acid.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">organic, fermented soybeans</a>. So this is another one of my exceptional recipe for fermented soybeans. Read the labels for miso & natto carefully to make sure it's organic, GMO-free, MSG-free and is naturally fermented with koji cultures (rice or barley malt). </span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Natto has a very strong challenging flavor so you may want to omit if you don't like stinky ferments. </span></span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>You can use a bone broth base to have a more rich soup base and/or use fish sauce and dried bonito flakes (be sure it doesn't have MSG though!) If you are using shellfish, the juice from the shellfish will also enrich the soup base. My favorite is clams because they are high in iron and with the seaweed combine to make a blood building/fortifying soup that is perfect for moon cycles, pregnancy, postpartum, and post-surgery. This has been a great boost for me when I start feeling fatigued from the crazy things pregnancy does to one's body. I try to eat it at least once a week or so. When I am too busy to get fresh clams, I used canned. I know. Totally not as good, but way easier to store and </i></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>have on hand in the pantry. (note 1/15/2017 I've since discovered frozen clams at Whole Foods. Infinitely better than canned!)</i></span></span><br />
<i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is one of my daughter's favorite soups. Once when she was a toddler, she ate a huge adult sized portion of it. And then at bedtime she puked black-green goop all over the bed which I had the parental sixth sense ability to catch in my hands. Mostly. Good times.</span></span></span></i><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">~1 cup dried Miyeok/Wakame seaweed </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">toasted sesame oil</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">garlic (optional)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">sea salt</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">8 cups water or bone broth</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">cubed beef steak, whole cleaned clams (shell on), canned clams including juice (choose an additive-free one), shellfish, and/or cubed, organic/GMO-free soft tofu</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1-2 tbs of Red Boat fish sauce and/or bonito flakes (make sure it's additive-free)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2 tbs of organic, GMO-free miso to taste</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">organic, GMO-free </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">natto (optional)</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Directions</span></span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">1. Soak </span><span class="il">seaweed</span><span style="background-color: white;"> in water for 10 min in filtered water. Drain. Massage in sesame oil. Use kitchen shears and cut into bite sized pieces.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">2. Add sesame oil to pot and saute </span><span class="il">seaweed</span><span style="background-color: white;"> for 1 min. Add garlic (if u want) until it warms up. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c;">3. Add beef if using and sauté for a few minutes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c;">4. Add bone broth or water, fish sauce and/or bonito and bring to a low boil. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">5. Add shellfish if using and low boil until just cooked--the clams open up (~5 minutes).</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">6. Add tofu if using until it's hot.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c;">7. Turn off stove. Add 1-2 tbs miso and natto if using. Sea salt to taste. Serve.</span></span></div>
Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-27333303270506174422015-01-14T10:30:00.002-08:002015-01-18T12:48:31.410-08:00Multi-ethnic food craze<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last year during the Q&A after a <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/11/ancestral-foodways-reprise.html" target="_blank">university guest talk</a> I gave, one of the UMB students asked me about eating food from former colonizer countries. In addition to talking a little bit about power dynamics and contextualization/historicity, I tried to get at the idea that food and by extension, culture does not happen in hermetic vacuums. Food/Culture is dynamic and constantly changing based on local context (availability of ingredients), historical conditions. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We have only to look at one of the world's oldest diasporic communities of Chinese immigrants to see how Chinese cuisine varies by country Viet Chinese food is very different from Singaporean Chinese food is very different from Cuban Chinese food is very different from American Chinese food. These differences do not make the localized cuisines any more or less authentic (which itself is a rigid Western cultural construct rooted in the Cartesian logic of dominance that is NOT universal to all cultures btw), it just makes it different. And yet they are all united under this <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/11/longan-longing-for-durian-pho-food-porn.html" target="_blank"><span id="goog_1104989468"></span>imagined community rubric<span id="goog_1104989469"></span></a> of Chinese-ness.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At any rate, I came across this fantastic little piece about <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/04/in_los_angeles_multiethnic_food_culture_offers_a_taste_of_the_new_america.html" target="_blank">L.A. Food Culture</a> which really captures the fluidity in food-making in a multi-ethnic society. I think a little historicity about how this has been going for centuries, even millennia is in order (see reference to diasporic Chinese food) but otherwise a great little write up about contemporary multiethnic food.</span><br />
<a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/04/in_los_angeles_multiethnic_food_culture_offers_a_taste_of_the_new_america.html"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/04/in_los_angeles_multiethnic_food_culture_offers_a_taste_of_the_new_america.html</span></a></div>
Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-86079744605425547052015-01-13T10:38:00.004-08:002015-02-02T14:50:57.988-08:00Chả Lụa | Silky pork sausage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chả Lụa is </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">a classic & ubiquitous Viet sausage roll that is traditionally pounded into a silky paste, wrapped in banana leaves, and boiled. It's found in bánh mì | VN sandwiches, </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">bánh cuốn | rice rolls,</span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px;">among many other dishes. Like deli meat it can be eaten as a snack; one of my favorite ways to eat it is a mini-sandwich with </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/04/banh-day-brown-rice-mochi-recipe.html" target="_blank">bánh dầy | mochi</a>.</span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px;">Typical store-made </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Chả Lụa </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">has MSG/hydrolyzed wheat protein and potato-/wheat-/cornstarch (likely GMO) and they also wrap the roll with a final layer of plastic wrap or aluminum foil before boiling </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">or use nylon twine</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">--all of which release toxins/carcinogens when heated. So </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Chả Lụa</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> has been off my menu for several years now unless I've got my additive-busting supplements with me.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This was a team effort. My thoughtful husband made the first batch when I was enduring first trimester ravening hunger pangs. I made the next round.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like many of these traditional dishes that seem so challenging, I found that making </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Chả Lụa </span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">itself was not hard, but it required time investment in the wrapping & cooking. Because I like my modern tools, I used a food processor to render the meat and fat into a paste (similar to what one would do for meatballs). It only takes 10-15 minutes to get through 3 lbs. Easy peasy. We tried the grinder and it was double the work to then process the grind, so skip that step altogether. </span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first round, my husband tried the recipe from Bach Ngo's The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam; he wrapped with one layer of banana leaf and boiled the 3-4 rolls for 40 minutes. We ended up with a lot of waterlogged rolls. It was a good effort, but even without the waterlogging, </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">why add water to recipe and then starch to firm in the first place? Also it was not salty or flavorful enough but that could be the waterlogging issue</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">. The next time, </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I eyeballed Charles Phan's recipe and considered it too plain (only 2 tbs of fish sauce?!), pork belly too fatty and more headcheese-like with pork belly skin-on, which is a different and also delicious variety of </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Chả Lụa </span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> called </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">chả bì</span>. So </span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I fused some of the simplicity of Phan (added salt, no water, no starch, no additional refrigeration) with Ngo's recipe (more fish sauce, baby!), and per my usual modus operandi, we used higher quality ingredients. I believe the quality of the ingredients truly makes or breaks a recipe. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The trickiest part is wrapping it to make it waterproof. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We can source fresh banana leaves in the Bay Area at Latino/Caribbean markets or people's gardens, but typically I buy the frozen imported kind at the Viet or Latino markets. The banana leaves need to be rinsed and wiped down to remove any chalky residue. My mom recommends blanching the defrosted banana leaves in boiling water to make them more pliable, less likely to tear. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">[2/1/2015 note: Mom also says use banana leaves from Thailand, not the Philippines and to cut off the rib for pliability.]</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We are still working on wrapping technique; </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used double or triple banana leaf layers and wrapped it like a burrito (i.e. rolled and tucked in the ends which are held in place by twine). I only used a single criss cross which was't snug enough; I would recommend the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/video/dining/100000003073853/cooking-techniques-tying-a-roast.html" target="_blank">roast tying method</a>. I also went with Phan's steam cooking to reduce the waterlogging though I employed my pressure cooker to shortcut the time.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I picked up nice country ribs (butt) from Whole Foods; this is a flavorful fatty cut from sustainably raised pork and in the bulk pack (3 lbs+) it's a reasonably priced $4.99/lb comparable to what one would get buying direct from the farmer. If you must use conventionally-raised pork, my mom recommends soaking it with lemon juice and water overnight to "sweeten" the meat before marinading. The acidulation helps to break down the tough meat fibers from of chemically laden, stressed out pigs.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If the banana leaves are too much for you, I suppose one could substitute parchment paper though I have never tried it. Also, you can shape these into 1.5 inch balls (invest in a cookie scoop!) and make </span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thịt viên |</span></span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">meatballs. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Boil in water until cooked through before adding to soups, noodle dishes etc. Freeze the extras.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtZcDbl8uGzvxn3jyuzybfySX2LWkNeOGQezZdLT5kTniDF4EMWexZ_UWoi5bVDPY9diGgRTaGslPqcePTmx9dp73qGTn9YMYp97dtr7yO3fe4LXSycsTb0XsXj3QzlrRJ6OV9mT6sSKP/s1600/IMG_20141115_164957_880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtZcDbl8uGzvxn3jyuzybfySX2LWkNeOGQezZdLT5kTniDF4EMWexZ_UWoi5bVDPY9diGgRTaGslPqcePTmx9dp73qGTn9YMYp97dtr7yO3fe4LXSycsTb0XsXj3QzlrRJ6OV9mT6sSKP/s1600/IMG_20141115_164957_880.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Makes 3 rolls)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1.5 tsp unrefined sea salt (Celtic/grey or Himalayan/pink)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1.5 tsp fresh ground organic black pepper</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbs organic coconut palm sugar</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbs baking soda</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6 tbs Red Boat fish sauce</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 lbs sustainably raised pork </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">country ribs (butt), cut into 1.5 inch squares</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1-2 tbs of fish sauce</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1-2 packages of frozen banana leaves, cleaned, blanched, and wiped dry</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">kitchen twine (each strand should be 4-5 lengths of the roll)</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In a bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients together. Toss the cubed meat with the marinade. In the ideal world, marinade for 4 hours. </span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Working with small batches, use a food processor or a very high powered blender to make a fine meat paste (approx 3 minutes of processing) and reserve in a large bowl. Add any leftover marinade juices and mix in. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Work quickly to keep the paste cold. When it warms, the fat melts making it more difficult to roll.</span><br />
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</span> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsh5u1JIxDSYzmerssk0WpD3ThBikqSRlv-hWZhkSBQjMbFqfFWXwdsD5h1tAXaoi8ZKjlE9KIFnF4mMY6pC1Yi6R6pwOlB80RqILt2dkbTNK1kam-kKnZ1IMG-LrJDn66e_h9teJmBCnz/s1600/IMG_20141115_170212_950-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsh5u1JIxDSYzmerssk0WpD3ThBikqSRlv-hWZhkSBQjMbFqfFWXwdsD5h1tAXaoi8ZKjlE9KIFnF4mMY6pC1Yi6R6pwOlB80RqILt2dkbTNK1kam-kKnZ1IMG-LrJDn66e_h9teJmBCnz/s1600/IMG_20141115_170212_950-1.jpg" height="200" width="143" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lay out the banana leaves on a tray or cutting board. You will need 2-3 layers of leaves. Use 1/3 of the meat paste and shape into a cylindrical roll. Use a silicone pastry brush and brush with fish sauce. Roll snugly in the banana leaves, adding more leaves to patch any tears. Fold down the ends and tie with twine using the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/video/dining/100000003073853/cooking-techniques-tying-a-roast.html" target="_blank">roast method</a>.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Steam in a pressure cooker for 40-60 minutes. Steam in a regular pot for 1.5 hours or boil for 40 minutes. (If you make smaller rolls, it'll need less cooking time.) The interior should be cooked through--that greige meatball color. Some pink is okay if you are using sustainably raised meat.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Slice as needed. Store uneaten roll whole in banana leaves in an airtight container in the fridge. Extra rolls can be frozen, banana leaves & all. Steam in the banana leaves to reheat.</span></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-77253437830154132982014-11-25T11:09:00.000-08:002014-11-25T14:02:08.074-08:00Cold & Flu Buster (folk remedy)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's cold & flu season and in case you didn't know this about children--they are disease vectors. Moms don't get sick days so I can't afford to get sick. Since I don't use drugs, my arsenal of cold & flu remedies is essential; my three main tools are the lemon ginger infusion, the neti pot, and bone broth. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After my 2 week writing binge for my </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/11/ancestral-foodways-reprise.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">guest</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/11/longan-longing-for-durian-pho-food-porn.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">lectures</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> during which I neglected my family & household and stayed up late, I volunteered in my kid's class and of course, picked something up. I've been fighting it off for a week now but it's very mild because of the neti pot nasal saline rinse and this lemon ginger infusion.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got this lemon ginger infusion folk remedy from my mother-in-law one winter while suffering a dreadful cold. It's super easy to make and has helped me get over sinus infections, colds, strep throat, all without the use of pharmaceuticals. It falls under </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">thuốc nam which means folk remedies distinguished from thuốc bắc which means Chinese medicine. Raw honey hasn't been refined which means the healing properties have not been cooked out and the sugar has not been simplified to pure glucose.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_irrigation" target="_blank">ayurvedic neti pot</a> for sinus rinsing which is super effective in preventing, minimizing and clearing up nasal viruses & bacterial infections (i.e. sinus infections, colds & flus). As someone who has had near drowning encounters in the ocean, it didn't sound like something fun to me when I first heard about this, but I was won over because 1) you do not inhale the saline water (duh!); 2) you can breathe through your mouth at the same time as you are rinsing; and 3) it helped me with reducing my seasonal allergies (when I used to get them in my eating wheat & dairy days) and with shortening the length of illness from respiratory issues. The key is in getting the right proportion of un-iodized table salt to water (do NOT use sea salt!!! The minerals will irritate your sinuses) and the right water temperature (very important: use filtered water!!! you don't want to be shooting algae up into your sinuses. If you do not have access to filtered water, boil the water at least 5 minutes and allow to cool to the desired temperature). I use 1/4 tsp of salt to 1 cup of water which is enough for one nostril and the temp has to feel very warm but not too hot to my fingers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On to the remedy. </span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">COLD & FLU REMEDY</span></h2>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SZgfX4xV2_s/VHT7uH5eZfI/AAAAAAAAWpI/ZdwZMXNi0O4/s1600/IMG_20141125_135632_387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SZgfX4xV2_s/VHT7uH5eZfI/AAAAAAAAWpI/ZdwZMXNi0O4/s1600/IMG_20141125_135632_387.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You will need:</span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 quarts of filtered water</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 organic lemon</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 3-inch piece of organic ginger</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">organic raw honey or raw honey</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">optional sea salt (colored grey, pink, red, etc)</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fill up a pot with the water and get it started heating up. Wash & scrub the lemon to remove any dirt and residue. Slice it up and throw it in the pot of water. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remove as much ginger skin as possible, slice it up and toss in the pot.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Low boil for at least 10 minutes to extract all the Vitamin C and anti-inflammatory medicinal properties.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Discard the lemon; the ginger can be reused or not for another batch. Take a bite and see if it's still got some zing to it. Pour yourself a mugful and add honey to taste. My little twist on this remedy is rehydrating beverage or healthy "sports drink". (</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's right. Gatorade is basically the same electrolytes as sea salt, citrus, and sweetener; make it yourself without the synthetic minerals, flavors and food coloring.) This is great for when you've got a fever or have been vomiting and need to restore your electrolyte/mineral balance. </span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Drink as hot as possible for relief from respiratory illness. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D1907639088032034149%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D7725343783015413298%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dallposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dallposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dlink&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com%2Fgadgets%2Fproxy%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252F2.bp.blogspot.com%252F-SZgfX4xV2_s%252FVHT7uH5eZfI%252FAAAAAAAAWpI%252FZdwZMXNi0O4%252Fs1600%252FIMG_20141125_135632_387.jpg%26container%3Dblogger%26gadget%3Da%26rewriteMime%3Dimage%252F*&xm=h&xv=sa1.35&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 439px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 1071px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a></div>
Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-24819923851858479922014-11-21T10:32:00.007-08:002015-10-15T11:55:08.884-07:00Longan (Longing) for Durian: Phở & Food Porn in the Việt Diasporic Imagined Community<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.naturespride.eu/uploads/tx_npdata/Longan_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.naturespride.eu/uploads/tx_npdata/Longan_02.jpg" height="176" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Longan</i><br />
<i>image from NaturesPride.eu</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>This talk was originally given to Dr. Mitzi Uehara Carter's Asian Studies students at Florida International University, Miami earlier today. The brief overview of VN history that was handed out is at the very bottom or the post. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX7kwfE3cJQ" target="_blank">Michael Pollan talk on "How Cooking Can Change Your Life" </a>that was assigned as "Reading" for the class is also embedded below.</i></span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Longan (Longing) for Durian</span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Phở & Food Porn in the Việt Diasporic Imagined Community</i></span></h3>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hxcorp.com.vn/public/userupload/images/durian%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://hxcorp.com.vn/public/userupload/images/durian%20(1).jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Scent of Ripe Durian</i><br />
Source: <a href="http://hxcorp.com.vn/public/userupload/images/durian%20(1).jpg">durian (1).jpg</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks to <a href="http://asian.fiu.edu/faculty/" target="_blank">Dr. Mitzi</a> for the opportunity to talk about my personal experiences of war, diaspora and foodways</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; you bring out the academic in me, girl</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many, many thanks to my husband for keeping me from being too pedantic and boring the youths. (Really you should thank him too. I was gonna start with 15th Century Europe on the verge of colonization. He valiantly stopped me.)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">And gratitude as well goes to Chau "The Nguyenner" Nguyen for the punnish title, and Grace Chow, Chau Nguyen, DanTam Vu, aunty Brianne Pham, and Lea Duong for the photos. Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are mine own.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"></span></span></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">A quick note about terminology:</span></span></h4>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I use the word “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_porn" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">food porn</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” and its derivative "fruit porn," here playfully in its more popular use defined by literature professor </span><a href="http://cforster.com/2013/06/you-cant-eat-the-food-porn/" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chris Forster</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as “</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>collections of photographic images… photographic conventions and a sense of excess in order to solicit a mode of spectacular consumption, of consumption (of visual apprehension) as an end in itself.” I won't be getting </i></span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>into the experiential and voyeuristic pleasure aspect of food porn.</i></span></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I use Việt I refer to the ethnic identity, whereas when I use Việtnamese, I refer more to the national identity. Việt Kiều (VK) means overseas Việt people (diaspora) which necessarily implies a nation centered viewpoint (see </span><a href="http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/2151_reg_print.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Caroline Kiều-Linh Valverde</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for more on VK and transnationalization).</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phở is a beef noodle soup originally from the north that has come to symbolize the national dish of Việt Nam (VN). Phở’s </span><a href="http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2008/10/pho-by-chef-didier-corlou.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">origins are unclear</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; it seems to have originated from the Nam Dinh province in the North where my maternal family is from. There are speculations that it was influenced by the French.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></b>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">IMAGINED COMMUNITIES & THE VIET REFUGEE EXPERIENCE</span></span></h3>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many of you are on facebook, instagram, twitter, pinterest? </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">When your friends travel what kinds of pictures do they post to social media? </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are the most popular things to photograph in travel? Sights, food, fruit?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do you think this has to do with their identity as Americans?</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the Việt diaspora, souvenir photos of food, and especially fruit, proliferate. Before there was instagram or social media, there was film photography, calendars, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scent_of_Green_Papaya" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">movies</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://vietscape.com/travel/fruits/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">websites</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> dedicated to Việtnamese fruit and that’s not even getting into the developing </span></span><a href="http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/20140622/du-lich-trai-cay.aspx" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fruit</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://cholachcaimon.com/" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tourism</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> industry; there's even </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">even </span><a href="https://www.audiosparx.com/sa/summary/play.cfm/crumb.4/crumc.0/sound_iid.497399" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">pop</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> music songs referencing fruit but for the purposes of this talk, we'll stick to the visual medium</span><span style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I like to dub this "Việt Fruit Porn" (but don’t google that. Really. Don’t. Do. It.) This has everything to do with how food is a part of the larger narrative of identity. Nostalgia for foods and fruit in particular from back home is a neutral way to claim sentimental attachment to Việt Nam wi</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">thout engaging contentious political dynamics. Photos of fruit & fruit picking may have existed prior to 1975 (as you </span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">can see in the picture below on the right)</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but these existed in private collections and not in the public sphere where narratives of identity & belonging are negotiated--which defines the nature of diasporic fruit porn and imagined community.</span></span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK9NZUbMZxMpCce6aGvwk_PbFtlvSq1izcvzyNdX7NgW7tZs6n1SfUNh_3TWWsZylJxD4AEnvGHMcW9JJBGkjkQ3wWPeYG9hYztoFszj3xKLvO37Dkn6QRKj-sjN_RF-JrhDNMGbZ-hu8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+8.50.23+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK9NZUbMZxMpCce6aGvwk_PbFtlvSq1izcvzyNdX7NgW7tZs6n1SfUNh_3TWWsZylJxD4AEnvGHMcW9JJBGkjkQ3wWPeYG9hYztoFszj3xKLvO37Dkn6QRKj-sjN_RF-JrhDNMGbZ-hu8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+8.50.23+AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">Prior to the the lifting of the US trade embargo of VN, the 1980s-90s were a time period in the Việt community when liking anything about VN at the time could leave one vulnerable to accusations of supporting communism. Even second and third wave Việt refugees were suspiciously/skeptically regarded by the conservative elders for not immediately rejecting the communist government and becoming refugees in 1975. So expressing nostalgia and longing for food, and fruit in particular, was a safe way to remember Việt Nam and one's connection to it separate from its recent history--idealized and timeless.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to Australian anthropologist </span><a href="http://thewayweare.wikispaces.com/file/view/food+and+vietnamese+diaspora.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mandy Thompson</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">“Vietnam is often remembered nostalgically as a place of sensory pleasure where the food tastes not only more ‘authentic’ but qualitatively better. .. Homesickness is often expressed as a longing to taste certain foods, to smell the fruits in the market and the odours of cooking. … Food from Vietnam is remembered as part of a rich sensory world which is conjured up in multiple associations. .. Phở is sometimes remembered as the sensory essence of life in Vietnam.”</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thompson was speaking of Australian VK, this could easily apply to US VK as well.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">For this talk, I’ll be taking a look at </span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">why</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and how the Việt refugee diaspora reimagines its identity and its connection/disconnection to the VN National narrative of Imagined Community through food and my personal experiences. But first, I want to give some context for understanding why food is important to the way we understand ourselves.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">IMAGINED COMMUNITIES & FOOD</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">How many people have ever eaten hamburgers? Is there a special Miami way to have a hamburger? (Answer: <a href="http://www.hispanickitchen.com/profiles/blogs/frita-cubana-cuban-hamburger#.VG9y0YvEr8k" target="_blank">Cuban style</a> with peppers & spices in mixed in the patty.)</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUCtJR7eiU-8lGvJ2r0-hS8lffJVslDI_wRnqZ34n7aIhO_PerjwARp4pO4R9vbhwyn1R7IjU9YfRA4cGYcO6oUD_ozt39D6O6hGhIBVLsyBj5VyVUR4UbE4HqGETeKVc5N12Agp-I9JL2/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.00.19+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUCtJR7eiU-8lGvJ2r0-hS8lffJVslDI_wRnqZ34n7aIhO_PerjwARp4pO4R9vbhwyn1R7IjU9YfRA4cGYcO6oUD_ozt39D6O6hGhIBVLsyBj5VyVUR4UbE4HqGETeKVc5N12Agp-I9JL2/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.00.19+AM.png" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hamburgers represent classic American cuisine; they are made with ground beef patties and a bun and the optional condiments of mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard, beyond that there are many variations. There is no one standard for making hamburger; it can be grilled, broiled, fried. There are state and/or regional differences--in some parts of California, you can get burgers with guacamole & jalapeños. There may even be differences household to household about the seasoning spices used, ingredients, and the preparation. So potentially millions of individual ways to make and eat hamburgers. And yet, this singular idea of hamburger</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has become</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a hallmark of national American cuisine. If you look at an classic American cookbook, there will be at least one hamburger recipe; there may be a few variations, but it is all still considered</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a part of a American national cuisine identity that becomes an international metaphor. You could be vegan, but if you were traveling abroad and mentioned you’re from the US, someone somewhere is going to bring up hamburgers, “You’re American? I like hamburgers.” Whenever someone tells me I don’t look Việtnamese, I’m too big, too freckled, too whatever it is, I shrug and respond, “I’m American-born. I grew up on hamburgers.” That shorthand answer speaks on a lot of levels. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By now, you’ve read Benedict Anderson’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagined_communities" target="_blank">Imagined Communities</a>. Another anthropologist named <a href="http://mysite.du.edu/~lavita/anth-3135-feasting-13f/_docs/appadurai_how_to_make_a_national_cuisine.pdf" target="_blank">Arjun Appadura</a>i applied his theory to one of the most significant aspects of culture--food</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, food has been rooted in cultural identity for as long as humans could tell stories, but in the contemporary moment, food takes on a particular narrative about nationhood. What is cooked, who cooks it, how they cook, are all ways of reinforcing the imagined national identity, and gender & class as well. This is imagined community formed through the narrative of cuisine. Appadurai talks more specifically about cookbooks and the formation of a national cuisine, but I am broadly applying the concept to the way foods from a particular country are talked about (the discourse or narrative) in the public sphere. We tell ourselves a story about food and how it connects us to a particular national culture and identity. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a diaspora, where citizens physically leave the country for prolonged or permanent stays, this national identity of imagined community actually must transcend Nation-State borders too. I posit that </span></span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Việt</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> diasporic people reimagine their connection to their homeland and food becomes an integral part of how they do that.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">DIASPORIC IMAGINED COMMUNITIES & FOOD PORN </span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">(The moment you’ve been waiting for!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">There are so many traumatic ruptures and losses in the nature of war and the Refugee experience. In one (or more) fell swoops, one is uprooted from, even divested of one’s life, ancestry, livelihood, body integrity, home, homeland, nation, one's family and kin, community, one's social/experiential connection to history, cultural, & kinship connections, and in the resettlement(s) there can also loss of access to native food. For those who relocate across oceans and continents the gap is even more profound.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wVWolCiYFPnogF0yBZmJAdmKbUPz7htxRavfZbp0M88eIyJWkXsTPk1zzjODiZa1H27fM85jJGfKqRSYqmpxNFGc8rGZWcaUvVIF6cPC7VCKnM1L2MVs2qyLDZfUbgcFpFsN8pq69Pv1/s1600/Phamily+1974062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8wVWolCiYFPnogF0yBZmJAdmKbUPz7htxRavfZbp0M88eIyJWkXsTPk1zzjODiZa1H27fM85jJGfKqRSYqmpxNFGc8rGZWcaUvVIF6cPC7VCKnM1L2MVs2qyLDZfUbgcFpFsN8pq69Pv1/s1600/Phamily+1974062.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Phamily: Mom, my grandparents, aunties, uncles, bro & sis </i><br />
<i>Qui Nhon 1974 </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">I want to talk a little bit about my phamily’s personal experiences of war & refugee flows. My phamily first became refugees in 1954, when my maternal grandparents, oldest aunty & my mom who were both small children at the time, left the North to follow the Virgin Mary south (this actually turns out to have been a CIA disinformation campaign). The influx of mostly Catholic northerners to the south also marked the migration of phở from the north to the south where it soon became southernized as a sweeter, spicier and heavily garnished version. Phở stalls began to proliferate in South Việt Nam. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVSIyxU9mC_Rfvyq43WtUbdNKVT-g4O47tHVbM230pKkjMFIx54sSZxJaHuS1CtnCUPah68IdGUas1yOmwf6kCYe0NqX713r7fi7sSAcYQjsDYIgguhgV-Mde-59oe6Cn_J-CZBiIDQWmh/s1600/Nguyen+kids+in+Hawaii+restored.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVSIyxU9mC_Rfvyq43WtUbdNKVT-g4O47tHVbM230pKkjMFIx54sSZxJaHuS1CtnCUPah68IdGUas1yOmwf6kCYe0NqX713r7fi7sSAcYQjsDYIgguhgV-Mde-59oe6Cn_J-CZBiIDQWmh/s1600/Nguyen+kids+in+Hawaii+restored.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My aunty, Mom siblings & me </i><br />
<i>Honolulu 1975</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a quirk of fate, my entire maternal phamily became one of the first wave of Việtnamese refugees on April 23, 1975 not because of political connections, but through the sponsorship of my oldest aunty who had been married to a serviceman and had been residing in Honolulu since the early 70s. My grandparents, aunties & uncles who ranged in age from 4 to 21, my mom, dad, siblings, and me in utero ended up in Honolulu</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which represents paradise in the collective American imagination, though reality is more complicated. </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> My young phamily went from a traditional, conservative society in the midst of a war and tremendous social upheaval, from a country transforming from a colonizer/peasant economy to nascent capitalist development and urbanism, to a post-hippy US, a pan-Asian & Pacific Islander majority culture with its own complex history of colonization and immigration. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While its cliché to think of the American melting pot and cultural diversity in immigrant-rich regions of the USA today, Hawaii was exceptional in its historical A&PI immigrant density and the fusion that resulted. It was an interesting gateway for my refugee aunties & uncles to learn to become Americans and to negotiate their Việt/namese identity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">Refugee communities have to recreate new roots, sometimes new “ethnic enclaves,” and need to reimagine their identities as uprooted, diasporic former nationals of a non-existent state in the case of Viet refugees. With the dissolution of the South Việtnamese government and almost 20 year long US embargo of unified Việt Nam, Việtnamese-ness in an American context was complicated, political, and emotionally charged. Many Việt refugees left behind family and so there was never a sense of true closure, but access was limited. There were no travel visits between the two countries; no import or export of goods or food; phone calls were expensive (and no one had phones in their homes in VN, the state-owned phones were located at the post office); and letters were expected to be surveilled.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgL3rwFTyfSlq7gZ1hpvo89pZDQcZvn1Yp7nmLiVQibRKAqHeZ5NozoMhjOBRPbmrXMVHcEUZB497lMxVkHmBH11YFEGBmvdMiJLK_p07K7-vAfxttUtfC3CbYn7bgWffiPVqq8-gx_vd-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.09.05+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgL3rwFTyfSlq7gZ1hpvo89pZDQcZvn1Yp7nmLiVQibRKAqHeZ5NozoMhjOBRPbmrXMVHcEUZB497lMxVkHmBH11YFEGBmvdMiJLK_p07K7-vAfxttUtfC3CbYn7bgWffiPVqq8-gx_vd-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.09.05+AM.png" width="400" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">There was a very small, close-knit Việt refugee community that was resettled in Honolulu and community connections were marked with frequent get togethers; and food cooked by womenfolk was central to those gatherings. There were enough Asian markets that many dishes could be made quite similar to, though not identical to dishes made back in the homeland. When we relocated to San Diego in 1980, that changed; we went from an API-majority to black and white low-income neighborhoods, and later to Filipino & Mexican low-income neighborhoods. For families on food stamps in those early days, it was a food desert; there were no Việt markets to source ingredients and not very many Asian markets. Womenfolk sourced substitutes at the American, Mexican and in the rare Filipino markets (or at least the “ethnic” aisle in the supermarket). </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Canh chua | tamarind seafood soup was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank">made with celery instead of </a></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank">bạc hà</a></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank"> (taro stem or elephant ear)</a>; spinach was substituted in place of râu muống. Families wildcrafted or foraged for herbs in rivers and mountains that have by now been paved over for development. </span><br />
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">VIỆT </span></b><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana;">FRU</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">IT & </span></b></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PHỞ</span></h4>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also remember the first time a Việt grocery store opened in San Diego, my mom brought home a common snack in her youth, sea snails (you can call them escargot or periwinkles to be fancy). Việt produce and food products grown or produced in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia began to appear. Filipino patis | fish sauce was replaced by <a href="http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2011/05/red-boat-fish-sauce-nuoc-mam-nhi.htmlhttp://www.theravenouscouple.com/2011/05/red-boat-fish-sauce-nuoc-mam-nhi.html" target="_blank">Thai-produced, Việt language labeled </a></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2011/05/red-boat-fish-sauce-nuoc-mam-nhi.htmlhttp://www.theravenouscouple.com/2011/05/red-boat-fish-sauce-nuoc-mam-nhi.html" target="_blank">Nước Mấm | fish sauce</a></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">; canned or dried Southeast Asian fruits began to appear on the shelves trying to fulfill the demands of nostalgic longing. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1lEB4lkjnZktKZ1uOV04S1a-XTPHE7eOUwtf4IlHPXn0gEU3RsztjINILxcZ6o3Za5E_BF7loE7-W4pjy1K9CjHvP-nivjiKinQKyVxooZnVI3Nl3GihH9VC90uW3GsVJtgyqkGh7gSt/s1600/durian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1lEB4lkjnZktKZ1uOV04S1a-XTPHE7eOUwtf4IlHPXn0gEU3RsztjINILxcZ6o3Za5E_BF7loE7-W4pjy1K9CjHvP-nivjiKinQKyVxooZnVI3Nl3GihH9VC90uW3GsVJtgyqkGh7gSt/s1600/durian.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Time for Durian!</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fruit has to some extent figured prominently in Việt social, cultural, and spiritual life as everyday consumption and in offerings to the ancestors or deities. </span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sầu riêng</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> | durian known as the “The King of Fruits” was a particular fruit that was unobtainable, that couldn’t be captured in a can or dried, occupied a lot of longing and nostalgia. For the uninitiated, durian smells like week-old, decaying garbage left out on a scorching summer day (yeah...); the taste is akin to creamy, sweet, green onions. In the 80s, only the essence of durian was available in the form of flavored sweets, cookies and pastries imported from Thailand. In the 90s, the frozen flesh of Thai durians began to be imported, and then eventually, the entire frozen fruit.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCjN1fCc4NQC64OudgSmIRZ9dX6p4kH5ZjJV_b5M1AQVgEz9T66cldVde9mO3vC7voJNHC6mJO65lWb5VAimizpQAWkDu8bphXKxAL-IUIqar8j8Fa5AASNeafsmwBfufUomiHl0_WVcO/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.17.52+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCjN1fCc4NQC64OudgSmIRZ9dX6p4kH5ZjJV_b5M1AQVgEz9T66cldVde9mO3vC7voJNHC6mJO65lWb5VAimizpQAWkDu8bphXKxAL-IUIqar8j8Fa5AASNeafsmwBfufUomiHl0_WVcO/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.17.52+AM.png" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much of my introduction to Việt fruits came from cans or from the fruit my grandparents would sneak across the border from Tijuana: me | tamarindo (we ate this instead of popcorn when I watched E.T. for the first time in the movie theatre); </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mãng cầu</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> | guyabano, custard apple; ổi | guava; thanh long | pitaya, dragon fruit; mít | jacal, jackfruit; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">khế </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">| carambola, starfruit; mía | caña, sugar cane</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. (BTW the shared history of fruit and crops between Latin America and Southeast Asia owes a lot to the Columbian Exchange of the 16th Century). My grandparents actually grew a guava tree from seeds of these illicit guavas. I remember the year it bore fruit; it was a family event. It couldn’t have been more than a few guava, but it was divvied up and everyone got a slice and we ate it with salt & chile. The conversation that night was filled with so much nostalgia for Việt food and fruits and the memories of picking it. (</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over time, my grandparents’ garden became a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank">transported landscape</a>, a microcosm of what their garden had been in VN from these smuggled fruits--chickens, banana trees, guava, dragon fruit, custard apples, bitter melon, squash, and of course, herbs.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With access to Southeast Asian products in the early 80s, phở restaurants began to open at this time. Though phở was popularized in South VN in the mid-1950s via entrepreneurial phở stalls, it quickly became a part of the greater Việt culinary lexicon. US military personnel and journalists encountered southern style phở during the war. Transplanted to the US context, the phở restaurants in the US mostly featured the southern style of phở. In the US, Australia, Canada and other countries of the Việt diaspora, phở became </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> symbol of Việtnamese cuisine. </span><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PARTY LIKE ITS 1994</span></b></h3>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxprQwNRRbzGMt0vSWrakL_gpXdbu6_jsc4RsAP2THH8OB6qzU4zySXEeEN3Kgdtc4lB8J-0_7l2ZA7t2AeOg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the US trade embargo was brought to an end in 1994, besides family reunification and social & political transformation, food possibilities began to open. The first Việt Kiều to visit VN came back to the US with seeds and seedlings. (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While US Customs and the USDA may take a dim eye of “invasive species”; this is a part of the longer history of human migration and spread of seeds/crops dating to the ancient </span><a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520214743" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Asia-centered world system</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from 4000 BCE, the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13th century world system</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the Silk Road trade in the 15th Century and the Columbian Exchange in the 16th Century, and others argue possibly even further to </span><a href="http://www.jwsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/jwsr-v11n1-korotayev.pdf" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prehistoric</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> times. Ethnobotanist <a href="https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/247/I1547-3465-04-175.pdf?sequence=5" target="_blank">Dr. My Lien Thi Nguyen</a> is doing some interesting work on </span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">looking at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank">introduction of Viet plant foods</a> to Hawai'i.</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">) </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As trade opened, VK markets in the US began to stock the heretofore unobtainable Việt herbs like ngò gai | culantro, ngò om | </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">rice paddy herb</span><span style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank">b</a></span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank">ạ</a></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">c hà | </span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">taro</span></a><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank"> stem</a>, frozen fruits, and more recently, fresh fruits, and regional delicacies like cốm | pounded green rice and tương cự đà | fermented soy sauce with roasted rice powder. Durian began to be imported frozen and whole towards the late 90s. These delicacies spread quickly through the US diaspora.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">While the longing and nostalgia for Việt fruits and food had existed from the moment the diaspora was created, Việt fruit porn really began to proliferate in US public spaces in the 1990s. Again, remember this is after the internet, but before social media so these were in email forwards, in special interest forums, on websites, or actual physical photographs made on film and printed out and shared with friends and family manually, photos of fruit and in particular of the act of picking fruit.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhox129cIE3B2xBg-F95WQq0Cy9nUhgqvCTVBllItJ8qrkMaGJ6QQDA5Uqt_GhKrR1aOGQeA4K8x2APuShGiZbmHqBdwAFHqErGUv6M6aot6XGCgXgqB_vpqVBtFdO5u4-FQ2LXpNCEd13K/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.21.01+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhox129cIE3B2xBg-F95WQq0Cy9nUhgqvCTVBllItJ8qrkMaGJ6QQDA5Uqt_GhKrR1aOGQeA4K8x2APuShGiZbmHqBdwAFHqErGUv6M6aot6XGCgXgqB_vpqVBtFdO5u4-FQ2LXpNCEd13K/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.21.01+AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking over the ocean to VN, during the post-war period, public life was curtailed by austerity measures and State surveillance. After the experience of food shortages in the North through the wars, the amount of pleasure eating, eating outside the home, and protein dense meals throughout the country was limited (see </span><a href="http://thewayweare.wikispaces.com/file/view/food+and+vietnamese+diaspora.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thompson</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for examples). Even special occasions like weddings were marked by exhortations of frugality and modesty. With its uncertain origins and potential foreign influence, phở did not fit into the State narrative of asceticism, self-determination, and sovereignty. Food was not a significant part of the official State-sanctioned narrative of identity except as a precaution of scarcity. Any individual imaginings about food and the lack of it, were done in private and not through broad social means. Fruit and phở did not occupy the same place in the collective VN imagination as it did for VK.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Through the post-embargo transnational channels of the Việt Kiều diaspora (and Western media too) influencing culture in VN itself, phở has become the </span><a href="http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2008/10/pho-by-chef-didier-corlou.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">de facto national dish of Việt Nam</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and it is subject to more attention in </span><a href="http://www.khoahocphothong.com.vn/news/detail/4155/100-nam-pho-viet.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VN media</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as well as </span><a href="http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2008/10/pho-by-chef-didier-corlou.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">international seminars</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to determine its origin (why the European Commission to VN feel the need to address/resolve this is a whole nutha issue). If you google “Việt Nam national dish”, you will come up 1.3 million results, the vast majority of which are Western sources that will confidently claim phở as THE national dish. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Even the </span><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/searching-for-hanois-ultimate-pho-7419146/?no-ist" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Smithsonian</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sought phở</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food-real-pho.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> origins</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I myself tangle with the </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food-real-pho.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">speculative history of phở in my blog</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">).</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phở beats out </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/03/banh-chung-lunar-earth-cake.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bánh chưng</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> | a traditional lunar new year cake made of sticky rice, pork and mung beans wrapped in banana leaves and boiled. Bánh chưng is a several thousand year old dish with deep social, political, and spiritual significance that is universal for all ethnic Việt people. Bánh chưng is arguably</span><a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3773995?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21105241768833" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the more authentic choice</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> over Phở, a dish with only a 100 year history in the capital of Hanoi and a mere 60 year history in the southern half of the country, and with uncertain origins besides.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFwWR-TmQAqSIHq3d4wrjiJDK-9lAm60yfdst39M2DL_8oWcCDZvxq8jM-RYnwxQkC9DZqN6-4_XGz6sK1O27DA4u-uXsYZAfiOtbW8Y2rrdHeHB5FoTXehMj7shC_IM_L55bpZY6cG5j/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.23.43+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFwWR-TmQAqSIHq3d4wrjiJDK-9lAm60yfdst39M2DL_8oWcCDZvxq8jM-RYnwxQkC9DZqN6-4_XGz6sK1O27DA4u-uXsYZAfiOtbW8Y2rrdHeHB5FoTXehMj7shC_IM_L55bpZY6cG5j/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.23.43+AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the contemporary moment, phở has established itself as a transnational, unifying link of a Việtnamese homeogeneity despite contentious political history and is divested of regional, even diasporic variation. Keep in mind, there was no VN, no Nation-State prior to 1954</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. And yet, Hanoi poet </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vũ Quân Phương</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2008/10/pho-by-chef-didier-corlou.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">proclaimed</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in 2008 that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“t</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he most important thing is that </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>phở makes up half of Việtnamese national pride</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; the second half is the popular war. … </span><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phở is the soul of Vietnam</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and when I enjoy a </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bowl of phở</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I recall firstly, the flavors of my childhood" (my emphasis.) While not an entirely uncontroversial statement as it references the war from the VN victor’s perspective as the people’s wars of liberation from France & the US, it nevertheless echoes the earlier sentiment about </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">phở</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the VK diaspora at the beginning of this talk, that "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">phở</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the sensory essence of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Việt</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> life." Thus, </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vũ</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> reinforces the singularity of phở to the Việtnamese Imagined Community.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My bro Hoàng going<br />bananas for pineapples.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6u224VmGFGzaB6X4Ts6iF2CUdeUaZbo3f3eOppMhiMHKvoShK216yUbwlbGEGMgbbD_lkV7llnOj2NdFOLDDxICg7-hE-V-F0u80XnxMNhO4uO6RbI7Kr5MaHMm4fiLwSFHsQJckU2o3q/s1600/DSCF5704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6u224VmGFGzaB6X4Ts6iF2CUdeUaZbo3f3eOppMhiMHKvoShK216yUbwlbGEGMgbbD_lkV7llnOj2NdFOLDDxICg7-hE-V-F0u80XnxMNhO4uO6RbI7Kr5MaHMm4fiLwSFHsQJckU2o3q/s1600/DSCF5704.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My Cô 5 making </i><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">gỏ</span><span style="font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>i</i></span></i><i style="line-height: 1.15;"> mít non.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">Revisiting the significance of fruit, when I first visited VN in 2000 for fieldwork, my relatives in VN and in the US were quick to advise me about strategies for legally bringing Việt fruit back to the US; it must be frozen and seedless. I was instructed by my mother & aunties to bring back fruits that could not be obtained in the US at that time, like chôm chôm | rambutan and m</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ăng cụt | mangosteen</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Never mind that in an 18+ hour international flight, that frozen fruit is going to melt. (We didn’t even bother with durian as it is typically banned on public transportation.) By the time I made it to customs in LAX, I didn’t even have to be told to toss it. That’s right, I hauled 3 kilos of fruit halfway across the world and I tossed it when I got back. I wasn’t even trying to rationalize defrosting fruit for my dear mother who had been 25 years without tasting them to a bunch of grim, bureaucratic customs officers. I should also mention that during that visit, my relatives in VN also inveigled me, the American-born niece who they met for the first time, to eat durian, which I had heretofore disliked, to prove my Việtnamese-ness.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2005, when I became involved in co-writing and making a feature length independent film called </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1284992/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiều</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I inserted the motif of green mangos into the film based on my own childhood memories in Honolulu of picking & eating them with fish sauce & sugar with my siblings and also because of the prevalent narratives about fruit in the Việt diaspora.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Parade of anthropomorphic fruit floats, gigantic fruit offerings, and a fruit altar to the VN Nation-State made entirely out of fruit!</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fruit has become such a zeitgeist in the Việt Kiều narrative of attachment to an imagined, ahistoric/timeless, non-communist/-socialist, idealized past where warfare was non-existent, that this too has influenced the social, political, and economic positioning of fruit in VN. Fruit exports from VN now total </span><a href="http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/20140622/du-lich-trai-cay.aspx" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">US </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">$1 billion</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The State Department of Tourism has begun to sponsor and promote regional </span><a href="http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/20140601/le-hoi-trai-cay-nam-bo-2014-sac-mau-cay-trai-dat-phuong-nam.aspx" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fruit Festivals</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and newly emerging, (domestic and international) </span><a href="http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/20140622/du-lich-trai-cay.aspx" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fruit</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tourism (what we here call U-pick orchards) as private- and state-owned/-subsidized ways to develop the rural economy in the central and southern regions and to encourage seasonal tourism. In these narratives, fruit is divested of most contentious politics (though there are offerings to the altar of the socialist VN Nation-State) and harken to an imagined, idealized past of unified Vietnameseness. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we see a converging of both official State and diasporic Việt narratives of Imagined Community; Việtnamese-ness is no longer as politically problematic as long as it is framed around phở and fruit. Of course, the broader transnational economics of the VK diaspora also impact VN’s receptivity to promoting a unified Vietnamese narrative. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In </span><a href="http://www.vietnamembassy-tanzania.org/en/vnemb.vn/tinkhac/ns071224104310" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2013</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> alone, remittances from VK totalled $10.6 billion in cash, roughly estimated to be over 1/8 of VN's GDP. “IN </span><a href="http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/government/48801/a-warm-homecoming-for-viet-kieu.html" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2011</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, The Viet Kieu community ... invested $6 billion in 2,000 projects in Vietnam… and another $5 billion invested by the community in unannounced projects.” That's approximately $20 billion per year in cash, investment, and charity with remittances expected to grow 10-15% each year. This VK economic power led Chairman of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee </span><a href="http://en.baomoi.com/Info/Overseas-Vietnamese--important-source-of-nation/3/429787.epi" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nguyễn Thiện Nhân</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to declare, “Overseas Vietnamese are an important component and a source of internal strength for the nation” earlier this year, with considerable attention from the <a href="http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/government/48801/a-warm-homecoming-for-viet-kieu.html" target="_blank">VN government to court VK</a>. This is a tremendous transformation from the 1975 - <a href="http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/government/48801/a-warm-homecoming-for-viet-kieu.html" target="_blank">2004</a> period when Viet refugees were considered traitors to the VN nation-state. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A softening of political posturing and rhetoric on the part of the government has created more favorable relations with the VK diaspora. Even </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vehemently anti-communist elders</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> like <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/vietnam/vietnam_wardead-20050126.html" target="_blank">former South VN Vice President Nguyễn Cao Kỳ</a> can return to VN and assumably take private pictures of fruit & fruit-picking under the rubric of unified Vietnameseness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/" style="line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Real Food, Real Phở</a></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Homestretch now. I want to talk now about my blog</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and why I write it.</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For me, </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/10/real-pho-bo-recipe.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">phở</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was my entry point into serious Việt cooking and later into blogging. I grew up with phamily gatherings for Sunday brunch when my grandmother would make northern style phở. I f<a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food%E2%80%A6" target="_blank">irst tasted restaurant phở</a> as a college student when I returned home for vacation and had a craving. It was nothing like the phở I ate at home. Later, when I was in grad school, phở was a popular way amongst my circle of friends to recover from drinking alcohol and/or from a hangover. While I always went along, I was inevitably disappointed by the phở; part of it was regional taste preferences, part of it was the quality & fast food nature of it, but the other more significant part is there is no spice like nostalgia, and it wasn’t my grandmother’s phở. In making phở a commodity, the sacred domestic ritual of cooking, family, and togetherness was lost; there wasn’t a place for my ritual, nostalgia, and memory at the restaurant table. (It felt akin to having Thanksgiving dinner--or whatever feast rituals your culture/family celebrates--in a greasy spoon diner.) So I began to do what you should almost never do at a phở restaurant, I began to order anything but phở. (I mean do you go to a hamburger joint and ask for calamari?)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all the sighing and smacktalking I was doing, inevitably I had to practice what I preached. So I called my mom and asked how to make it, and I tried my hand at it. By this time, my grandmother was no longer capable of making phở and so her specific spice mix was not handed down. Over the last decade of making phở I have learned alot and developed my own spice mix and techniques. (My recipe is posted </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/10/real-pho-bo-recipe.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.) After my grandmother had a stroke and it was clear she was never going to cook again, I inherited her pressure cooker and boy, that really changed my relationship to phở making. I make it much more frequently now.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Four years back, I burned out because my intensive philosophy in life inherited from my dad was going down for the cause, dying for what I believed in; my adrenal glands (which are the master glands that control all the hormones you need to live) were not functioning optimally. I get deeper into the </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/11/ancestral-foodways-reprise.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">story of my healing journey</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> posted on my blog. Essentially I had to change my diet and lifestyle fundamentally and food became my medicine. I had a lot of food allergies and sensitivities, so I eliminated foods I was reacting to: wheat, dairy, refined sugar, soy, corn, and additives.</span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/TX7kwfE3cJQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Required "reading" for the talk</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Michael Pollan on "How Cooking Can Change Your Life"</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I eliminated wheat and dairy, I thought well, I’ll keep it easy and cook Vietnamese/Asian food following the food philosophy of "Eat what your ancestors ate" because my ancestors were not eating macaroni & cheese from a box. And you think of Asian food and you think of rice, not wheat. But then as I started reading the labels, I realized how much processing goes into modern Vietnamese food here in the US--not just MSG, but</span><a href="http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MSG in all its iterations</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (hydrolyzed wheat protein, "natural flavor", soy protein, etc), wheat derivatives, refined sugar, preservatives (not just the banned formaldehyde, but FDA approved preservatives), food coloring. This is not how my ancestors ate. So I had to find ingredients that were minimally processed. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljVotJQIOkexjd4K1vmbuZeOmYYSrXFjgRf5laxYIjGHkSTo5bGBXhBSYS0_sYEyk1PgxuwLgh3WNStO1O64uBd7TnD5a3rW9urV6U14VZcxmPQ9p8JAE_4BaPtzd6XEyedP3HcsuQDHb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.49.45+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljVotJQIOkexjd4K1vmbuZeOmYYSrXFjgRf5laxYIjGHkSTo5bGBXhBSYS0_sYEyk1PgxuwLgh3WNStO1O64uBd7TnD5a3rW9urV6U14VZcxmPQ9p8JAE_4BaPtzd6XEyedP3HcsuQDHb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.49.45+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">I had to learn how to truly make food from scratch using ancestral foodways that maximize nutrition, instead of shortcuts that come from modern living always being in a hurry and on the go, that can be counter-nutritive. I couldn’t find a single source for recipes/blogs that made Vietnamese food using whole ingredients and ancestral foodways. So that’s when I started blogging, to reclaim and sometimes remake ancestral food ways. Some ancestral foodways I saw my grandparents practice, other things I pieced together from blogs about homesteading or whole/real food cooking.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ALXyYsLwczrCrL81I-NaqkERi8lSvoNSNaHIkv-q19Ztmc3Pe1O4J_m-ZHm7NRyoamu4efbp6vWnNCRuLKJWgbeLmmyTCM_Aa-eNCCG-8potdi6a5azH4RsQgpaQSYkQLtJB-r5OxD0a/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.50.02+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ALXyYsLwczrCrL81I-NaqkERi8lSvoNSNaHIkv-q19Ztmc3Pe1O4J_m-ZHm7NRyoamu4efbp6vWnNCRuLKJWgbeLmmyTCM_Aa-eNCCG-8potdi6a5azH4RsQgpaQSYkQLtJB-r5OxD0a/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.50.02+AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the years, I've had to take my soul food familiars like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">phở </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and bring them back to the basics. In a way, I've decolonized my diet--I've eliminated the wheat and dairy of French influence, and the industrially processed, chemically laden ingredients and products of Japanese & American influence. I use organic, grass-fed beef bones, organic spices (when I can source them), dried rice noodles (I've yet to source or make brown rice noodles), herbs from my garden, mineral-rich grey sea salt, and</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/red-boat-nuoc-mam-rocks.html" target="_blank">real fish sauce</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The result is deeply satisfying, nutrient-dense, nourishing. It is not the sweet phở that most phở fans accustomed to the fare served up in phở restaurants across the US will be used to. It is not my bà ngoại's phở because there is no spice like nostalgia (and to be real, she loved her some MSG). This is</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/10/real-pho-bo-recipe.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phở</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Phở real.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX7kwfE3cJQ" target="_blank">soul of my cooking</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a love of food and family. For me, cooking Vietnamese food is the way I remember my grandparents who were self-sufficient, subsistence farmers before the wars and who, transplanted here to the US, had a subsistence garden no matter where they lived in the hood and carried on foodways and traditions of cooking from their upbringing. Cooking is how I honor their legacy, and make it meaningful and present for my daughter. There is a story in each meal, a rich history in the making of it, and quality in the eating of it. Taking the time to make something from scratch using ancestral foodways infuses the food with more flavor, more nutrients, more tradition, and more love.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbdk-R6D4N2R1ZypPIoN5X2ue-UWR01MPX0H4HMIJIB9UVA6DGs_pgnTDibS8MNFaVsAJ9l-BzTPYxDlx21R6Unb-8jLzQ4uU77YoYUIOpZbg17ifvV7odmzsQ7ZEN_6QLc2b4B-fSe7D/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.50.25+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbdk-R6D4N2R1ZypPIoN5X2ue-UWR01MPX0H4HMIJIB9UVA6DGs_pgnTDibS8MNFaVsAJ9l-BzTPYxDlx21R6Unb-8jLzQ4uU77YoYUIOpZbg17ifvV7odmzsQ7ZEN_6QLc2b4B-fSe7D/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-21+at+9.50.25+AM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Food is constantly evolving. I don’t claim to cook authentic as it was made 100 years ago by my great grandmother. There were adapted foodways that my grandparents practiced that I eschew, like food coloring, karo corn syrup or white rice flour in favor of more nutritious practices. The results are not like we are now used to eating; the appearance, colors, taste, texture are wildly different. And, I live here in the US, this is my context. I have a food processor and I use it. I</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/confessions-of-pho-natic.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eat kale with everything, sometimes even my phở</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I have a family to feed and I don’t always have all day to cook so I do make shortcuts, but I try not to compromise on nutrition. It’s been a learning process for me to challenge myself where I feel daunted (</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/03/banh-chung-lunar-earth-cake.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bánh Chưng</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! cooking a whole hog’s head!) and to reinvent or find new ways. So my blog is my take on ancestral food ways and LIVING for what I believe in.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MORE THOUGHTS AFTER THE FACT</span></span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was pen-less so I didn't take note of all the great questions and comments during the Q&A otherwise I would have posted a </span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">rough</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> transcript of them. However I do want to take another stab at answering the last question from the Q&A</span></span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> How is Vietnamese food different from other Asian food?</b></span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I rambled on quite a bit about the syncretic aspect of Vietnamese food--combining influences from what are now known as China (2000 years of invasion) & India (merchants), possibly Portuguese (Catholic missionaries), from the conquered Cham/Champa & </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Khmer/Cambodia </span></span>kingdoms (in what is now respectively Central and South VN), and even France (150 years of colonization) to the native Southeast Asian palate. But I forgot to say the basics about what makes Vietnamese cuisine unique (already I'm invoking imagined community narratives here!). The spices are very different from East Asian (defined as Chinese, Japanese, Korean) cooking. Fish sauce and other fermented shrimp are a common flavoring base as is coconut water or milk. There are a lot of fresh herbs (which have an aromatic flavor as well as <a href="http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropmap/indiana/crop/medicinal.html" target="_blank">medicinal functions</a>) like cilantro, thai basil, as well as others you wouldn't be as familiar with (some are mentioned above like culantro). Ginger, lemongrass, galangal are also other zesty flavors commonly found in Vietnamese cooking. Pork and seafood especially shellfish (not too surprising since a large part of VN is coastal) are very common. If you are familiar with other Southeast Asian cuisines, I would generalize that Vietnamese food is not as sweet as Thai food, not as pungent as Cambodian food (except maybe in the deep Mekong Delta where the influence is stronger), not as spicy as Thai or Laotian food. Now the assignment for this talk is to go find a Vietnamese restaurant and try it! Here's a </span><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/diepc/20-vietnamese-foods-you-really-should-be-trying-c8w4" style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">yummy list</a><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of things to try from buzzed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks to Mitzi's FIU Miami Asian Studies class for listening to and engaging </span></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.surfguru.com/CMSImages/6c/6ce8dbfc-f321-4e9a-85e2-6065df7edc38_390_302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.surfguru.com/CMSImages/6c/6ce8dbfc-f321-4e9a-85e2-6065df7edc38_390_302.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></span></i></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">with my talk. </span></i></span></span><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for telling me about </span><a href="http://www.hispanickitchen.com/profiles/blogs/frita-cubana-cuban-hamburger#.VG9y0YvEr8k" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Cuban style</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hamburgers; I must give it a try! </span></i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is fascinating to form this temporary, </span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">borg technology-enabled</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "imagined community" with y'all on the other side of the country to discuss diaspora, food, and contemporary social practices. While I'm no longer an academic or an anthropologist, I still love the analytic tools it provides for looking at a social phenomena (the WHAT) and thinking through </span></i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>the larger question of HOW and WHY </i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>people do something</i>. <i>I hope this gave you some food for thought about how imagined communities and how food plays out in your own lives. I mean, there's that Thanksgiving turkey or whatever special dishes your family serves; what are the imagined community narratives being enacted there? </i></span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Enjoy your day of Giving Thanks!</b></i><br />
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<i style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Ăn Ngon Lành</i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">|Eat Delectably!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Background Handout to the class</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>HISTORICAL CONTEXT-VIET NAM</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First Indochina War (</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">19 December 1946 until 1 August 1954)</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the late 19th Century, three kingdoms (what are now called Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam) were colonized by France and consolidated into IndoChina. Following the French approach to colonization “la mission civilatrice” (civilizing mission) the Viet language was romanized (with the alphabet instead of the system of Chinese-derived characters) and the native elites were educated under the French system. The native intellectuals embraced the European idea of the Nation-State and the ideals of the French Revolution and began to agitate alongside the already up in arms populace for independence for a newly imagined national community with borders that roughly fell along the boundaries of the pre-colonial Viet kingdom territory. This became full scale guerilla war for national liberation led by the Viet Minh, a coalition of varying political interests (including royalists, nationalists, and communists). During WWII, Japan temporarily invaded and overthrew the French; there isn’t time to get into it, but suffice to say, Japan was no better as a colonizer and 2 million Viet people died from deliberately created famine. At the end of WWII, France was back in power backed by the US.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1954, the Vietnamese anti-colonial independence movement succeeded in ousting France from power. This was the first time since the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) that a colonized people freed themselves from European colonization and was a watershed for independence movements all over Africa, South America, and Asia and marked the decline of colonization. France and the newly formed Nation-State of Viet Nam formed an agreement called The Geneva Accords where it was mutually agreed to 1) separation of the three sovereign territories into Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam; 2) temporarily divide Viet Nam in two zones run by the Viet Minh in the north (DRV) and Bao Dai, the former emperor as a figurehead, in the south (State of VN) with a demilitarized zone in between the two, 3) free movement of people between the zones for 300 days, and 4) hold democratic elections for a President for Viet Nam, among other provisions. The US refused to sign and so did the State of VN (</span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">South)</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Second Indochina war (1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975) </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">aka The American War in Viet Nam or the Vietnam War in the US</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emperor Bao Dai appointed Ngo Dinh Diem who was politically connected to the US as the Prime Minister of the south. Recognizing that Ho Chi Minh, the Communist leader of the Viet Minh, was so popular that he would easily win the election, the US decided to intervene militarily to support Prime Minister Diem and prevent the democratic elections from happening. Just over a week after the Geneva Accords, the US began a secret CIA propaganda war in North Viet Nam. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">US escalated its military involvement in the 1960s. US public opinion grew increasingly critical to the war and its rationale. The number of US fatalities combined with press coverage of the US military atrocities influenced the public to support withdrawal. In 1973, the US began the process of withdrawing its troops which finally concluded on April 30, 1975.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities. Estimates of the number of Vietnamese service members and civilians killed vary from 800,000 to 3.1 million. Some 200,000–300,000 Cambodians, 20,000–200,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U.S. service members also died in the conflict. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>VIETNAMESE REFUGEES</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">When it became clear that the US was withdrawing the final troops and embassy in 1975 and the country would reunify for the first time since 1887, many of the Viet people who were government officials, had worked for the South Vietnamese government or were involved in US base economy fled Viet Nam as the first wave of refugee exiles. Approximately 125,000 people fled at this time. They were processed at US military bases in Guam and the Philippines, then housed in temporary refugee camps in CA, AK, FL, and PN. They were resettled all over the US especially small towns to prevent ethnic enclaves from forming through sponsorship of local families solicited by newspaper ads. After a few years most Viet refugees resettled in California and Texas.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Second Wave of refugees fled in the time period 1978 to the early 1980s. This included people who had family in the south Vietnamese government or military, had been put into re-education camps (forced labor camps), and ethnic Chinese who were persecuted for their ethnicity (there was a border war going on with China around the same time). This wave is often referred to as the Boat People because they fled by fishing boat. An estimated 2 million people fled at this time though many lives were lost through non-seaworthy boats, storms, food shortages, and piracy. Many languished as stateless refugees in refugee camps (essentially prisons) in countries throughout the South China Sea (Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, etc). This wave was eventually resettled throughout the Western world. The last refugee camps in the Philippines were closed in 2009. And the last of the refugees in Thailand are being resettled in Canada as of 2014.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Third Wave of refugees (1980s until 2000) were permitted to leave Viet Nam under the auspices of the Orderly Departure program. They were often family members of previous refugees, Amer-Asians (abandoned children of US servicemen), and former political prisoners. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The US accepted 531,310 political refugees and asylum seekers between 1981-2000.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Suggested readings for those who are interested in learning more:</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For a brief overview of Viet history from prehistory to the 1975 see <a href="http://viettouch.com/hist">VietTouch.com/hist</a> </span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vietnam: An illustrated history by Shelton Woods</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Voices of Vietnamese Boat people by </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.25 !important;">Mary Terrell Cargill and </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.25 !important;">Jade Quang Huynh</span></span></li>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-50676843593886926882014-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:002015-01-13T08:54:11.825-08:00Ancestral Foodways reprise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was invited again by my talented friend Dr. Loan Dao to give a guest lecture to her Asian American studies class at U Mass Boston. I reprised my <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/04/ancestral-foodways-my-way.html" target="_blank">original talk back in April</a> with some new verbiage on </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: center;">phở</b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> and pictures.</span></span><br />
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">It's such a beautiful thing, this musical thing</span></i></div>
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">When I can do it my way and shootin' no blanks</span></i></i></div>
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I just refute what you think, a quite unusual thing</span></i></span></i></div>
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><i style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Yes it's a mutual thing 'cos it's the root of all things and we aims to be</span></i></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/uGaUGTmUvL0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ancestral Foodways: My way</span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My name is Leilani. I am Vietnamese American mother, childbirth educator & matrescence doula, and writer. There’s a lot of other things I do and am but that covers the main points. I’ll be talking to you today about my blog</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food-real-pho.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Real Food, Real Pho</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and why I write it.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbboNw4oI2g6QpPOfQw-4WADxorPCEXjXA2pkc46-rk57FOMaUwc1_Iu5_iHXfZfMMIAyetyYByfYCGR07k7VSmqMgHEh9jGHshNRZ1VQcpuiokd9eecxkb-hfaPZOrS2hVN-lmVrG1VQf/s1600/Nguyen+kids+in+Hawaii+restored.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbboNw4oI2g6QpPOfQw-4WADxorPCEXjXA2pkc46-rk57FOMaUwc1_Iu5_iHXfZfMMIAyetyYByfYCGR07k7VSmqMgHEh9jGHshNRZ1VQcpuiokd9eecxkb-hfaPZOrS2hVN-lmVrG1VQf/s320/Nguyen+kids+in+Hawaii+restored.jpg" width="307" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbboNw4oI2g6QpPOfQw-4WADxorPCEXjXA2pkc46-rk57FOMaUwc1_Iu5_iHXfZfMMIAyetyYByfYCGR07k7VSmqMgHEh9jGHshNRZ1VQcpuiokd9eecxkb-hfaPZOrS2hVN-lmVrG1VQf/s1600/Nguyen+kids+in+Hawaii+restored.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’m a second/third generation refugee. My maternal grandparents became refugees for the first time in 1954 leaving North Vietnam to settle in the Central region. My entire maternal side--grandparents, aunties, uncles--were sponsored as refugees in April 1975 by my eldest aunty who was married to a US serviceman and living in Honolulu. My mom was 8 mos pregnant with me at the time. I was born a few weeks after we arrived and we lived there for several years. My mom owned a mauna pua truck selling siau pau (pork buns), ice cream and candy; nowadays it’s what would be called a food truck and it would be trendy, but back then, it was grey market (not strictly legal) and the city eventually shut them down.</span><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My phamily eventually resettled in San Diego in the 80s because there was not a lot of work in Hawai'i. It's not paradise when you don't have prospects. My mom was a single working mom. We were on food stamps for a number of years. This was before there were any Vietnamese grocery stores so we ate a lot of american</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-bellatti/post_8129_b_5635285.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">processed food</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> because that is what you could get with food stamps--velveeta, powdered milk, processed food stuff (which means food altered in factories which destroys nutrients, especially the “whites"--white rice, white flour, white sugar). Even when there was fresh Vietnamese produce and ingredients to be had, american processed food became a regular part of our diet because single mom + three kids = not a lot of time to cook. We wanted to be like other kids and eat McDonald’s, spaghetti, pizza, soda. My</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mom’s cooking too was very fusion</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which is probably influenced by living in Hawai’i where there is a meld of culture and cuisines; we ate lettuce and greens in our spaghetti.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1epx6EX39ZPlEaOOABqZUwwQarg5kbWaT9jc1qvzV9g9FTgxF_dKAdF3RCV0Mzr3ZaYuT7og9pXsKmHwbidIHAhPX5s22XHsax2TMxL5-S5nOoKa0cfZ7YCtgsj9NEyCmLwhok8IdVIi/s1600/chuotchien.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm1epx6EX39ZPlEaOOABqZUwwQarg5kbWaT9jc1qvzV9g9FTgxF_dKAdF3RCV0Mzr3ZaYuT7og9pXsKmHwbidIHAhPX5s22XHsax2TMxL5-S5nOoKa0cfZ7YCtgsj9NEyCmLwhok8IdVIi/s320/chuotchien.jpg" width="240" /></span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I went to college, I double majored in Anthropology and Linguistics and this is when I first started cooking for myself. I later went on to an doctoral program in Anthropology where I focused on the culture of emerging modern society in Vietnam at a time when the market was opening up from state-owned enterprise to more international capital. As the years went by, I found myself focused more on community organizing where I lived and left academia to become a research analyst for almost a decade, serving grassroots organizations, indigenous groups all over the US, and for a low wage workers union.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For a long time, my philosophy in life was DIE for what I believe in, this was the value I inherited from my father, and it was killing me. I burned out. So I quit my job to be at home with my daughter and to learn how to LIVE for what I believe in.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">NUTRITION & EPIGENETICS</span></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A surprising fact is that</span><a href="http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/Articles-i-2011-07-07-88831.112114-sub-Malnourishment-affects-many-Americans.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">most of the American population</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A8162K8/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_46" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">malnourished</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and dehydrated</span><a href="http://www.anh-usa.org/americans-overfed-undernourished-2/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in spite of eating so much</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, because of what they are eating (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_pattern_diet#Standard_American_Diet" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Standard American Diet</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or "SAD") is nutritionally empty and/or depletes nutrients. I was no exception. I was malnourished which is weird to think since I was not underweight or starving if anything I was thick, but there were signs through food cravings which are a way of one's body telling one that one is need something (example: a craving for carbs/pastries is a really a craving for shortterm energy because you don’t have enough reserves of the long term energy like healthy fat & protein), other signs were the vertical ridges in my teeth & nails, all the health issues I was experiencing, but going back to childhood and fetal development, even my tongue tie, my inherited overbite and lower teeth crowding was an indication of at least</span><a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140429/ncomms4746/full/ncomms4746.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">three generations of malnutrition</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This widespread phenomenon of malnutrition that comes from eating large quantities of "food" instead of malnutrition from the absence of food as in a famine or poverty, is recent in human history. It's part of the industrialization of food production. After centuries of extractive agricultural practices or chemical contamination, the soil is depleted of minerals and nutrients. Food is being chemically altered if not genetically altered in factories. Vitamins and minerals that are destroyed in the processing are being added back synthetically in the form of vitamin fortification that is not bioavailable (easy for body to assimilate) and contributes to a toxic overload for our livers along with</span><a href="http://www.ewg.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">environmental toxins</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (cosmetics, household products). Processed food is essentially nutritionally empty. We’re not taught much about real nutrition. Popular culture references calories. Calories are meaningless; it’s the nutrients that matter and where they come from matters most.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.healingourchildren.org/Healing_Children_Images/teeth2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" src="http://www.healingourchildren.org/Healing_Children_Images/teeth2.jpg" height="320" width="249" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From Dr. Price's global dental research</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s this emerging branch of science now called</span><a href="http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/13-grandmas-experiences-leave-epigenetic-mark-on-your-genes" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">epigenetics</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and it looks at how environment </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(toxins, nutrition or malnutrition) can alter the</span><a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140429/ncomms4746/full/ncomms4746.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">expression of your genes</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. An example would be nutrition and dental formation. Dentists now commonly say that the teeth are the windows to health; signs of systemic disease all have correlating symptoms in dental health. There was a dentist named</span><a href="http://www.westonaprice.org/basics/principles-of-healthy-diets" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Weston Price</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at the turn of the 20th century who noticed increasing problems with cavities and bite and connected it to the rise of industrially processed food like white flour and sugar. He travelled all over the world and documented the introduction of processed food and its impact on dental health. In families where they ate native foods, the children had robust facial structure, straight teeth, few to no dental issues. In families where they ate processed foods, the children had smaller jaws, overbites/underbites, cavities. In other words, humans are evolutionarily programmed to have straight teeth that can fit into their jawbones. No animal species could survive if they didn’t have teeth that were functional. Dr. Price understood that nutrition was critical in bone formation and to optimal health. He developed a philosophy that can be paraphrased as “eating what your ancestors ate”. Nowadays, we have the understanding to say the malnutrition from processed foods affected the epigenetic expression of dental formation and it degenerates with each successive generation. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stress and psychological trauma is also something that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21883162" target="_blank">can be inherited</a> behaviorally and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21883162" target="_blank">epigenetically</a>. Stress affects the sympathetic system--the adrenal glands, hypothalamus, pituitary gland--which generates the fight, flight or freeze response. Stress also changes epigenetic expression and is passed on to the next generation in gene expression as well as behavior. Scientists have done research on the children of survivors of Nazi death camps on behavioral inheritance of PTSD and more recently on the epigenetics of</span><a href="http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/09/can-psychological-trauma-be-inherited/17901.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mice exposed to stress</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; stress/trauma affects the genes that are inherited by the next generation. Your parents' experiences and reactions to stress predisposes your own sympathetic system and depletes or inhibits your body’s absorption of nutrients. When you are stressed, your body is in survival mode, digestion goes to the back burner. So my family history means that I have 150 years (+/-) of colonization and war trauma coded in my DNA. It’s no surprise that my <a href="http://drlam.com/" target="_blank">adrenals</a> (adrenal glands make the master hormones that we need to survive) were worn out; so at my lowest, even though driving in traffic typically makes me anxious, I would experience near accidents and not feel anything. This wasn’t a zen response. I could feel a click like an ignition but nothing turned on. My fight, flight or freeze reaction was not happening. I didn’t get the burst of adrenaline to help me react to a situation and keep myself safe because my <a href="http://drlam.com/" target="_blank">adrenals were not functioning</a>. (This is actually becoming very common, if undiagnosed, in US society.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I burned out. I had developed systemic,</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_disease" style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">auto-immune issues</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, that’s when your body becomes so stressed out it attacks itself--for example, allergies, skin issues, diabetes, in extreme cases, cancer. My adrenals just about shut down, and I was pretty close to being bedridden. I had barely out enough energy to drag myself out of bed and sludge through my day. You ever watch Shaun of the Dead? It was the first zombie romantic comedy. The opening montage (minus the peppy music)? The working dead. That's what it felt like. Life was flat. All the ailments I had were </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-larry-dossey/the-mythology-of-science_b_412475.html"><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">beyond the scope of </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">conventional</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Western medicine</span></span></span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to heal; Western medicine is about suppressing the symptoms, not getting to the root causes (though Functional or Integrative Medicine is the exception, I didn't have access to Functional MDs with my insurance). I had to heal myself. And I did. A huge part of that healing process is FOOD. Food is my medicine. (I believe medicine is anything that heals your body, mind, and spirit/soul; this can be music, talk story, wisdom, plants, love, spiritual/ancestral connection, and food among others.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I considered myself a healthy eater up to that point. We ate mostly homemade cooking with a lot of white rice, fresh vegetables and meat at every meal, some processed food everyday; processed food is anything that did not recently come from the earth or an animal. We didn’t eat too differently from the way we were raised, lots of stir-fries. But the lifetime of stress, inherited stress from war/refugee trauma in prior generations, coffee/sugar dependence, and processed foods (donuts!) had depleted my body, weakened my organs & systems.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something had to change and that something was ME. No one else could tell me how/why. I was my own personal health investigator. Over the last 5 years, I tried a lot of holistic alternative medicine like naturopath, chiropractor, muscle testing, acupuncture, osteopath,</span><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23480-meditation-boosts-genes-that-promote-good-health.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yoga, breathwork & meditation</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, read a lot of articles and blogs, reset my circadian rhythm, and those all contributed, but food and more specifically nutrition is where I experienced the most changes.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9n0IlNKMEfja9X43aYxprl8Jj5CPg0xbGPLvW7grzDo0WGV87iAOjXUrMR_nMURb0JQB9TLOgcp-Ex-h17tAOQfywlYmv1prxCWKlYZAL9BTYvBceWZkYeVhDyYrUHz3a3Ru7R8aVNUUX/s1600/realfoodrealpho.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9n0IlNKMEfja9X43aYxprl8Jj5CPg0xbGPLvW7grzDo0WGV87iAOjXUrMR_nMURb0JQB9TLOgcp-Ex-h17tAOQfywlYmv1prxCWKlYZAL9BTYvBceWZkYeVhDyYrUHz3a3Ru7R8aVNUUX/s640/realfoodrealpho.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Instead of popping a multi-vitamin (which I had “allergic” rash reactions to but were really my liver being overloaded with toxins and passing into the blood stream triggering an histamine immune reaction), I had to replenish my nutrients from eating whole, real foods--food that recently came from the earth and from animals, not from a factory or a lab.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">HEALED and stronger than ever! <br />12 Mile hike in Desolation Wilderness<br />June 2014</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started off eliminating wheat and dairy, and my seasonal allergies went away. I went organic (no pesticides/poisons used in the food production and no genetically modified organisms/GMOs) and my skin, digestion, and hormones improved. I gave up alcohol, coffee and caffeine (oh this was hard, no more </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cà phê sữa đá</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!) and the migraines and vertigo stopped. I added healthy fats and my brain function and memory came back. I eliminated sugar and reduced grains, added more veggies, green smoothies, and my blood sugar stabilized and I lost a little weight and girth (really it's volume from inflammation more than weight). I drank more water</span><a href="http://www.ei-resource.org/articles/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-articles/nutritional-considerations-in-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">spiked with sea salt</span></a> (my adrenals need the minerals & electrolytes)<span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and my skin improved and I could sleep at night without waking up from hormonal surges feeling hot, dry & hungry. I eliminated <a href="http://www.ewg.org/research/ewg-s-dirty-dozen-guide-food-additives" target="_blank">additives</a> like MSG or preservatives that are neuro-toxic and my mood stabilized, my stress/anxiety levels normalized, the agitation & anger/irritability reduced and sleeping regularized. I added homemade fermented foods dense with natural probiotics like sauerkraut, pickled mustard greens, and the ridges in my nails have smoothed out. I stopped eating processed foods, I even gave up supposedly healthy organic processed foods, the organic blue tortilla chips, the organic gluten-free breads because they were just organic empty calories; I gave up most restaurant food because of the sugar and additives. There’s the saying you are what you eat. When I eat processed foods, conventionally grown meat, I get sick.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overall, my body was less inflammed which I can quantify by looking at my white bloo</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">d count which used to be through the roof and are now in the low end of normal. Along with the loving support of my family,</span><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23480-meditation-boosts-genes-that-promote-good-health.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yoga and deep breathing</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(which not only changes your brainwaves, but also affects epigenetic expression!), my creativity is re-emerging, and I feel whole again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">RECLAIMING ANCESTRAL FOODWAYS</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I eliminated wheat and dairy, I thought well, I’ll keep it easy and cook Vietnamese/Asian food following the food philosophy of "Eat what your ancestors ate" because my ancestors were not eating macaroni & cheese from a box. And you think of Asian food and you think of rice, not wheat. And then as I started reading the labels, I realized how much processing goes into modern Vietnamese food here in the US--not just MSG, but</span><a href="http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MSG in all its iterations</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (hydrolyzed wheat protein, "natural flavor", soy protein, etc), wheat derivatives, refined sugar, preservatives (not just banned formaldehyde, but FDA approved preservatives), food coloring. This is not how my ancestors ate. So I had to find ingredients that didn’t contain <a href="http://www.ewg.org/research/ewg-s-dirty-dozen-guide-food-additives" target="_blank">additives</a>, <a href="http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/real-reason-for-toxic-wheat-its-not-gluten/" target="_blank">wheat</a>, dairy, refined sugar, minimally processed. I had to decolonize my diet.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQko4QA3yOLo4G3dXa678eEAytSLvabS8cZfYG2UIffixJTntxVQPqFaPqQE8KFmQCgGk5Omqxo0HVThUj4ylPICNukk-oR8eVbr9DFlMg20EbwC3LcE5CxqP2U9omrZ42YW9p6_kdMp37/s1600/AncestralFoodwaysMyWay.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQko4QA3yOLo4G3dXa678eEAytSLvabS8cZfYG2UIffixJTntxVQPqFaPqQE8KFmQCgGk5Omqxo0HVThUj4ylPICNukk-oR8eVbr9DFlMg20EbwC3LcE5CxqP2U9omrZ42YW9p6_kdMp37/s640/AncestralFoodwaysMyWay.png" width="640" /></span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had to learn how to truly make food from scratch using ancestral foodways that maximize nutrition instead of shortcuts that comes from modern living always being in a hurry and on the go, that can be counter-nutritive. I couldn’t find a single source for recipes/blogs that made Vietnamese food using whole ingredients and ancestral foodways. Some ancestral foodways I saw my grandparents practice, other things I pieced together from blogs about homesteading or whole foods cooking. So that’s when I started blogging, to reclaim and sometimes remake ancestral food ways. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food-real-pho.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">REAL FOOD, REAL PHO</span></span></a></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I grew up eating my bà ngoại|maternal grandmother's <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food-real-pho.html">Northern-style phở</a> for brunch almost every Sunday. She would wake up as is customary, before the crack of dawn, and begin to simmer those bones for at least 5 hours. I had my first restaurant-made (Southern-style) phở when I was in my early 20s and was appalled. Phở became fast food. Sweetened with MSG, overly sharp with fish sauce, and served with the ubiquitous hoison and sriracha. In my hoity-toity opinion, hoison and sriracha mask the flavor of inferior broth--bones not simmered long enough to extract the minerals and beef essence. I'm not sure I even finished that first restaurant bowl.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In American phở restaurants, it has become the norm to be served a supersized portion and to abandon the dredges of watered down soupy MSG, muddied by hoison/sriracha, wilted herbs, and thickened by noodle detritus. In our Phamily, the custom was to serve a Viet-sized portion, and drink it to the last drop. ông ngoại was fond of telling me stories how they survived </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://doesnotapply.blogspot.com/2007/06/lessons-from-french.html" style="text-decoration: none;">the brutalities of French colonization</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and the atrocities of Japanese occupation and the indignities of American intervention. ông ngoại would give me the body counts of how many millions died under each regime. So I always licked my bowl clean.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over the years, I've had to take my soul food familiars and bring them back to the basics. In a way, I've decolonized my diet--I've eliminated the wheat and dairy of French influence, and the industrially processed, chemically laden ingredients and products of Japanese & American influence. I use organic, grass-fed beef bones, organic spices (when I can source them), dried rice noodles (I've yet to source or make brown rice noodles), herbs from my garden, mineral-rich grey sea salt, and </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/red-boat-nuoc-mam-rocks.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">real fish sauce</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The result is deeply satisfying, nutrient-dense, nourishing. It is not the sweet phở that most phở fans accustomed to the substandard fare served up in phở restaurants across the US will be used to. It is not my bà ngoại's phở because there is no spice like nostalgia, and alas she took her recipe when she crossed over (and to be real, she loved her some MSG). This is </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/10/real-pho-bo-recipe.html" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phở</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Phở real.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am not a professionally trained chef. Like some home cooks, I came to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX7kwfE3cJQ" target="_blank">cooking as a necessity</a> when I started living on my own in college. I learned by calling my mom on the phone, reading cookbooks, recipes and blogs, through tips from friends and strangers, learned through making mistakes. I cook for my family, I cook for me, for my community of friends. For me, it started with </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food-real-pho.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">phở</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which I grew up eating at family gatherings every Sunday. But I've experimented with all kinds of cuisines from American to Moroccan to Irish. I've rendered lard, made corned beef by fermenting organic grass-fed beef over a week; I've made pozole by growing, harvesting and</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/01/che-bap-hot-ngam-voi-nixtamal-tapioca.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nixtamalizing</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> maize (which is a process of alkalizing the kernels to release the nutrients similar to hominy) and stewing an</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/01/basic-pork-broth-recipe.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">entire hog's head</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (which is a very gnarly experience. The snout! The teeth! The eyeballs!). Somethings I've made better than others. A lot of things I've botched (brown rice bánh xèo hash, but I haven’t given up yet!). But more than expertise I’ve found what matters is the ingredients. Real food, sustainably grown, tastes better and is more nourishing. It can be costly, but there are</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-source.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">frugal strategies</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, like growing your own vegetables, joining buying coops and buying straight from the farmer (called</span><a href="http://www.localharvest.org/csa/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Community Supported Agriculture</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). Organic, grass-feed beef which can cost up to $25/lb at the store, costs $5/lb buying a sustainably-raised whole steer from a local farmer, and then paying the butcher. It's more expensive than conventionally raised cows, but I don't get boils from the antibiotics and growth hormones that they feed them (not to mention the stress hormones from their living conditions and manner of slaughter). It’s a damn sight cheaper than the thousands of dollars I was spending on health care, supplements, and short term fixes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">MY SOUL FOOD </span></span></h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Ong Ba Ngoai</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX7kwfE3cJQ" target="_blank">soul of my cooking</a> is a love of food and family. For me, cooking Vietnamese food is the way I remember my grandparents who were self-sufficient, subsistence farmers before the wars and who transplanted here to the US, had a subsistence garden no matter where they lived in the hood and carried on foodways and traditions of cooking from their upbringing. Cooking is how I honor their legacy, and make it meaningful and present for my daughter. There is a story in each meal, a rich history in the making of it, and quality in the eating of it. Taking the time to make something from scratch using ancestral food ways infuses the food with more flavor, more nutrients, more tradition, and more love.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vietnamese culture is some 4000 years old give or take. The cuisine is inflected with the rich cultural and historical influences from several millenia of globalization. The native palate (fish sauce,</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Sour-Salty-Sweet-Southeast/dp/1579651143" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hot/sour/salty/sweet</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">),</span><a href="http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_12/issue_16/science_01.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> coconuts from </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melanesia/Polynesia</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from antiquity, over two millenia of influence from countries of that are now called India & China, from the conquest and absorption of the Khmer and Champa kingdoms 400 years ago, Portuguese missionizing 16th c-18th c, and then, the less than 150 years of influence from French colonization, a blip of less than 2 decades of American war, more recently aspirations for korean modernity.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUPQ7oei8MMwaC0JrpgLPwPMmPx0Rg4lMJ7HWabYJ-SIAZMXNmgOU3_GOk__XUQuILflDZrhT4qxtUtQLy4QRhB01VYPS3I1ltxswlhPfGf1IEOUlk3NheD5BtPJgOuPn5pzImj2xF2cCQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-12+at+11.35.31+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUPQ7oei8MMwaC0JrpgLPwPMmPx0Rg4lMJ7HWabYJ-SIAZMXNmgOU3_GOk__XUQuILflDZrhT4qxtUtQLy4QRhB01VYPS3I1ltxswlhPfGf1IEOUlk3NheD5BtPJgOuPn5pzImj2xF2cCQ/s400/Screen+Shot+2014-11-12+at+11.35.31+AM.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeAxrH1G0HP8Mtvge27cN98labiPyYTxTB2VhCr9ykPqb3_Q8erwAVD-O9cH_AL1-ZF_oIAYdJ7peUC_8jPfbZM5KwkIN19CucsrYRiP1WmAOJr9_Px3OQNlrKAIX0K2HYPQa9Mtu8Nih/s1600/Desolation+Wilderness+June+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Food is constantly evolving. I don’t claim to cook authentic as it was made 100 years ago by my great grandmother. There were adapted foodways that my grandparents practiced that I eschew like food coloring, karo corn syrup or white rice flour in favor of more nutritious practices. The results are not like we are now used to eating; the appearance, colors, taste, texture are wildly different. And, I live here in the US, this is my context. I have a food processor and I use it. I</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/confessions-of-pho-natic.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eat kale with everything even my phở</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I have a family to feed and I don’t always have all day to cook so I do make shortcuts, but I try not to compromise on nutrition. It’s been a learning process for me to challenge myself where I feel daunted (</span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/03/banh-chung-lunar-earth-cake.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bánh Chưng</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! hog’s head!) and to reinvent or find new ways. So this blog is my take on ancestral food ways and LIVING for what I believe in.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My loves making sprouted brown rice sushi with smoked salmon and trout roe.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 26px;"><i>It's such a beautiful thing, t</i></span><i style="line-height: 26px;">his musical thing</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>When I can do it my way</i></span><br />
<i style="line-height: 1.15;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ain't shootin' no blanks</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>I just refute what you think</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>A quite unusual thing, </i><i style="line-height: 1.15;">Yes it's a mutual thing</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Cos it's the root of all things, and we end.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Healthier Eating Resources</b></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15;"><b>Michael Pollan "How Cooking Can Change Your Life"</b> a talk on the importance of cooking to health, community building, food systems, and the economy. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX7kwfE3cJQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX7kwfE3cJQ</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><b>EWG's Food Scores</b> A database of food items based on nutrition, ingredients and processing concerns. </span><a href="http://www.ewg.org/foodscores" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">http://www.ewg.org/foodscores</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>EWG's Guide to Pesticides in Produce</b> (aka "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen") There is certain produce that is safe to buy conventional/non-organic. <a href="http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/"><b>http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/</b></a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>EWG's Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Additives </b><a href="http://www.ewg.org/research/ewg-s-dirty-dozen-guide-food-additives">http://www.ewg.org/research/ewg-s-dirty-dozen-guide-food-additives</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>EWG's Guide to Seafood</b> (based on age & gender, health and takes into account sustainability & contamination!) http://www.ewg.org/research/ewgs-good-seafood-guide</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://localharvest.org/">LocalHarvest.org</a> </b>Find farmers, CSAs, Farmers' Market, Meat Processors, Wholesale, and Food coops near you!</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All the names/iterations of MSG </span></b><a href="http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html</span></a></span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you eat wheat, only eat organic wheat because of the glyphosates used in processing. <a href="http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/real-reason-for-toxic-wheat-its-not-gluten/">http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/real-reason-for-toxic-wheat-its-not-gluten/</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also see my<b> Real Food, Real Pho FAQs</b> for more resources! </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/04/faqs-frequently-asked-questions.html">http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/04/faqs-frequently-asked-questions.html</a></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Q & A from the class</b></span> (with some additional thoughtful thoughts)</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;"><b>How do you source additive-free Vietnamese ingredients?</b></span></span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">Partially answered above and I do a lot of label reading. I make choices that sometimes are not as fresh/more processed, but with less additives, like dried rice noodles versus "fresh" noodles that have preservatives & wheat starch. Other things I make from scratch or do substitutions.</span></i></span></blockquote>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>How can this be affordable and time manageable for urban areas, students or working professionals?</b></span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>There are different budget strategies including growing your own container garden, farmer's markets, buying in bulk, buying coops (that is, pooling your resources and leveraging your buying power with friends), local chapters of groups like Holistic Moms Network & Weston A Price Foundation that do buying coops. For example, I get a group of friends, family and community to pool together to buy <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/red-boat-nuoc-mam-rocks.html" target="_blank">Red Boat fish sauce</a> in bulk (typically 10 cases/120 bottles) to get a wholesale price (I contacted the owner personally and asked for this deal; small, local owners are more willing to negotiate deals with people in the community). I don't buy a whole hog by myself; I get my family, friends and community to go in with me to do shares of a quarter hog; whole hogs have a lower price point than quarter hogs. Then I drive 2 hours out of town to pick it up from the farmer's butcher who </i></span><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">will typically cut it down into standard cuts & family sized portions</i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>. Typically I have a coop fee that covers the cost of my gas, but not my time.</i></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>This is more or less how grocery coops got their start. A lot of college towns have grocery coops (like <a href="http://islavistafoodcoop.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Isla Vista Food Coop </a>in Santa Barbara, CA) that were started by students pooling their collective buying power to buy in bulk and pass on the savings to members. Costco is the corporate version of this. (</i></span><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://newdream.org/">Newdream.org</a> has helpful tips about starting coops/shared resources/collaborative communities. Boston has </span></i><a href="http://harvestcoop.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">harvestcoop.com</a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">, Dorchester's </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1678516309" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">dotcomm</span><b style="color: #006621; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">coop</b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://.wordpress.com/">.wordpress.com</a>; </span><a href="http://edibleboston.com/massachusetts-local-food-cooperative" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">edibleboston.com/massachusetts-local-food-cooperative</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">also search on </span><a href="http://localharvest,org" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">localharvest.org</a><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">).</span></i></blockquote>
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There are also CSAs (which are like a subscription to a specific farmer) that deliver mixed produce boxes to your door or drop near you (<a href="http://www.localharvest.org/csa/" target="_blank">find a CSA near you</a>). Here in California at least, there are emerging online CSA "markets" that act as the middlemen between consumer and multiple farmers and have a wider selection of produce & meat products and dairy products than a typical CSA (<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heritagefoodsusa.com%2F&ei=tgplVJj2Lc31iQKezYDQCw&usg=AFQjCNHh8WGe57DmDhW5_WAjPkwyiKdXDQ&sig2=CRyw2kH0cDYGfOBv-pcG0A&bvm=bv.79189006,d.cGE">Heritage Foods USA</a> is an example of a national one). You buy online and it is delivered to you. BTW if you don't have something like a CSA or food coop near you, I hope some of you are inspired to start your own business!</i></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Asian markets have Asian produce that is <b>not</b> certified organic (an expensive process), but tend to have been farmed without pesticides (which are expensive and Asian farmers operate on low margins); Asian market produce tends to be better quality and value than American supermarkets. Rinsing produce with salt and water or with vinegar and water is another way to slough off any preservative or chemical residues.</span></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The classic student stereotype is living off ramen. It's not that hard to make your own ramen nor is it that expensive. On the weekend, get a pig trotter or pork soup bones (if it's conventionally grown/non-organic then soak it in lemon juice & water overnight) and some pork shoulder/butt (tends to be cheapest cut) and make a <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/01/basic-pork-broth-recipe.html" target="_blank">basic pork broth</a>. You can add organic miso (fermented means lots of natural probiotics) if you like instead of soy sauce at the very end. The spices and ingredients can vary as you like. The broth & meat can then be frozen in jars or freezer bags in individual sized portions. Batch wash the Asian vegetables and store in a zip bag with a paper towel (to absorb any moisture). Then throughout the week, anytime you want ramen, reheat and add any frozen seafood (shrimp!), vegetables and noodles (I tend to go with rice noodles or Korean/Japanese sweet potato noodles or 100% buckwheat soba noodles though recently I've tried brown rice & quinoa spaghetti and it's not too bad.) It's ramen; it's still sorta "instant-ish" (will take less than 15 min to reheat & make noodles) and you made it yourself without additives (though check that the frozen shrimp does not have preservatives)! Feed your belly and your soul! I ate a lot of spaghetti in college. Making your own sauce is super easy and tasty. Use organic fresh or organic canned tomatoes. Simmer in a pot with olive oil, your choice of spices (typically garlic, onion, oregano, basil, thyme, sea salt & pepper), a spoonful of unrefined sugar (coconut palm, honey, etc), until its tender. Then mash it up or not. Add meat or not. Eat it over noodles. Freeze it in portion sizes.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A lot of my recipes include time saving tips because I am still a busy, small business owner, a writer, and a mom and I don't cook all day (this ain't the '50s, yo!). Some things like <span style="line-height: 20px; text-align: center;">phở are time consuming; while there are time saving strategies like using a pressure cooker or slow cooker, it still takes a lot of time. I've been cooking </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">phở for 10 years now even as a full-time working professional and without a pressure cooker; I did it on the weekends. I think of </span></span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">phở as a sacred ritual like Thanksgiving; it's an event to prepare it for my family & friends. It's not an everyday food. That said, you can freeze the broth and meat and have it anytime you want. The beauty of dried rice noodles is that they keep forever on the shelf! And if you don't have the herbs on hand, well </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/confessions-of-pho-natic.html" style="line-height: 20px;" target="_blank">I've been known</a><span style="line-height: 20px;"> to go without or make weird substitutions.</span></span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>When it comes to weekday meals, the freezer is your friend. (Sprouted) rice, sauces, cooked meats, many meals can be made in advance and then frozen in portion sizes. (Just don't freeze raw/cooked eggs or cooked fish because they taste awful defrosted.) Frozen shrimp makes for easy meals (like tôm kho or tôm rim | caramelized shrimp). I know dorm rooms may have no or small freezers but you can sometimes find mini chest freezers used on craigslist that are small enough for a dorm room and give you some valuable freezer real estate. It's a good investment if you are committed to eating well. I got a regular size upright freezer for $50 off CL. I don't actually have a microwave so we reheat stuff in the toaster oven or in a steamer pot.</i></span></blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/leilanis-goi-cuonvietnamese-spring.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">G</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">ỏ</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">i Cu</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">ố</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/leilanis-goi-cuonvietnamese-spring.html" target="_blank">n | Spring rolls</a> are actually not that hard or time consuming to make during the weekdays. Regular rice vermicelli takes less than 10 minutes to cook. When I'm in a hurry, I like to use </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;">Bánh Hỏi Tươi which is only soaked in hot water for a minute or two. I use whatever meat we have handy, usually leftovers and pre-washed salad mix. If we had a roast for dinner (it doesn't matter what cuisine), it's in the </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;">g</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">ỏ</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">i cu</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">ố</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">n the next day. I've had bulgogi and lao sausages & kimchi in my </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;">g</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">ỏ</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">i cu</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">ố</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">n.</span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>So I guess I'm saying meal planning or stocking your pantry are helpful strategies for busy people.</i></span> </blockquote>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">What about cuisine from colonizer countries like Japan or Frenchified Vietnamese food like the local bánh mì food truck?</span></b></span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I still eat Japanese food though not at the restaurants so much because of MSG/additives and wheat. We made sushi with <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/07/rice-rice-baby-sprouted-brown-rice.html" target="_blank">sprouted brown rice</a> a few weeks back (see the pix above of my daughter & husband) and that is one of my planned recipe posts. One of the great aspects of living in the urban US is the exposure to cuisines from all over the world. It's not the food that is inherently politically problematic, it's the history and the stripping of cultural context. I just learned this great saying from Khmer Girls in Action "Know History, Know Self. No History, No Self." We can carry that and still eat international cuisines; it adds context and depth to what we are eating.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>I get into the Francophilia in certain Vietnamese food circles a little bit here in this post <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food-real-pho.html" target="_blank">Real Food, Real Pho</a>. With any history of domination, there is a manufactured belief that the colonizer country is culturally and socially superior. The intelligentsia trained under the dominant regime internalize this dynamic and pass it on in through public education and popular culture (colonized minds! see Franz Fanon for more on this!!!). Here in the US, one very influential NY Times food critic, who went to VN once during the war, speculated in the 80s that maybe, just maybe pho was related to the French pot-au-feu; and folks have been repeating this bit of <a href="http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/63ite2/the-word---truthiness" target="_blank">truthiness</a> AS IF it was the truth ever since. Some Viet-American chefs use presumed French-iness to elevate Vietnamese cuisine as a high culture cuisine. I personally believe Viet cuisine can stand on its own without this because the valuation of what is high or low culture is meaningless.</i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>The next piece of this is the appropriation and marketing of Viet food by and for white people while being stripped of meaningful historical and cultural context </i></span><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(hello, <a href="http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2014/09/banh_shop_communist_star.php" target="_blank">Taco Bell's Bánh Mì fast food chain</a>!)</i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Big picture: food appropriation with this skewed power dynamic has been going on for at least 522 years. Columbus landed in the New World to find spices and ended up stealing seeds and some native people too (aka "the Columbian Exchange" and the beginnings of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade). From the New World came new foods to the the Old World (Europe, Asia & Africa) like maize/corn, tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco, chile peppers, chocolate. While the Old World brought bananas, pineapples, sugar cane, coffee, oranges to the New World in the form of exploitative plantations. It's hard to imagine what any modern cuisine would have looked like without the Columbian Exchange.</i></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>I talk a little more about some real life consequences of the appropriation of food and the stripping of their native foodways in my post about </i><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/01/che-bap-hot-ngam-voi-nixtamal-tapioca.html" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">chè bắp hột ngăm vôi | Nixtamal & tapioca pudding</a><i>. Here's an excerpt:</i></span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 20px;">While superfoods are great at introducing new foods to our omnivorous diets, they come with the serious problem of being stripped of their cultural <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodways" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span class="il">foodways</span></a> & context. When corn was globalized during the colonization era (aka "Enlightenment"), the cultural foodways of <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/how-to-make-hominy-corn-zebz1305znsp.aspx?PageId=2#ArticleContent" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">nixtamalization</a>--storing/cooking it with ash or slaked lime/calcium carbonate to unlock its nutritional value--were not brought with it, which means that untreated corn is largely indigestible. Hence when you eat whole corn kernels, the kernel is visible almost whole as the end product of digestion to put it politely (for the impolite, this means corn poop). </span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Nixtamalization. . . The alkaline steeping and wet milling of corn for table use remain distinctly American practices. Although corn has spread across the globe, the preparation of nixtamal and hominy has stayed in the Americas. <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/how-to-make-hominy-corn-zebz1305znsp.aspx?PageId=1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">"Beautiful Corn: America’s Original Grain from Seed to Plate," by Anthony Boutard</a></span></i></blockquote>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">W</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">hen maize was introduced as a new crop staple in Africa and Europe 500 years ago supplanting native grains and tubers, the eating of it caused widespread </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6357846" style="line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">pellagra</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">. While we'd think in this day and age, we'd have figured out that corn needs to be nixtamalized to be a nutritious staple grain, even still there is a "disease" called </span><a href="http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/12420280/kwashiorkor-nutritional-disease-children-associated-maize-diet" style="line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">kwashiokor</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"> in South Africa which only afflicts children who have weaned and eat mostly corn-based </span><span class="il" style="line-height: 20px;">food</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"> and low protein. It still befuddles me that the practice of alkalizing maize to make it digestible and nutritious has not been exported to countries where corn has become a staple and thereby prevent widespread famine and </span><a href="http://www.blatner.com/adam/consctransf/historyofmedicine/5-deficiencydiseases/5-deficdis.html" style="line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">nutritional deficiency</a> <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">rather than band aid solutions like niacin fortification after the fact.</span> </span></blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Little/local picture: For those of us here in the US where our cuisine is being coopted/appropriated, the consequences are not as fatal by any means. It does mean that we as a minority people are simultaneously exoticized/fictionalized and made invisible/seperated/excluded from our public cultural legacy which is a form of structural violence. In the best case scenario, the community can voice its displeasure (leverage!) and at least with the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/While%20superfoods%20are%20great%20at%20introducing%20new%20foods%20to%20our%20omnivorous%20diets,%20they%20come%20with%20the%20serious%20problem%20of%20being%20stripped%20of%20their%20cultural%20foodways%20&%20context.%20%20When%20corn%20was%20globalized%20during%20the%20colonization%20era%20(aka%20%22Enlightenment%22),%20the%20cultural%20foodways%20of%20nixtamalization--storing/cooking%20it%20with%20ash%20or%20slaked%20lime/calcium%20carbonate%20to%20unlock%20its%20nutritional%20value--were%20not%20brought%20with%20it,%20which%20means%20that%20untreated%20corn%20is%20largely%20indigestible.%20Hence%20when%20you%20eat%20whole%20corn%20kernels,%20the%20kernel%20is%20visible%20almost%20whole%20as%20the%20end%20product%20of%20digestion%20to%20put%20it%20politely%20(for%20the%20impolite,%20this%20means%20corn%20poop).%20%20%20Nixtamalization.%20.%20.%20The%20alkaline%20steeping%20and%20wet%20milling%20of%20corn%20for%20table%20use%20remain%20distinctly%20American%20practices.%20Although%20corn%20has%20spread%20across%20the%20globe,%20the%20preparation%20of%20nixtamal%20and%20hominy%20has%20stayed%20in%20the%20Americas.%20%20%22Beautiful%20Corn:%20America%E2%80%99s%20Original%20Grain%20from%20Seed%20to%20Plate,%22%20by%20Anthony%20Boutard" target="_blank">Taco Bell Bánh Mì chain</a> get them to be a little more sensitive to the community and remove the red star branding (duh!). In the other scenario, is boycotting or pressuring local small business owners (<a href="http://stuffboston.com/2010/11/15/5-courses-with-alison-fong-of-bon-me#.VGUoSoeiv8E" target="_blank">neither of whom are Vietnamese</a>, but they know of Vietnamese people) going to enlighten them or the public or get them to cease their operation? Not as likely. (Though never underestimate the power of Yelp reviews.) As Loan said, they are not marketing to Vietnamese people but to people who *want* Vietnamese Lite grub.</span></i> </blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So this is why we need independent institutions of our own. We can and should tell our own stories and make our own food! The question then becomes who is your base/market/audience? For whom are you cooking?</span></i> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>There's nothing inherently unethical about choosing to market to the mainstream rather than stay in an "ethnic enclave", but it's about making a conscious choice and a non-exclusionary one; also, not painting yourself in a corner of only making "authentic" cuisine which is a fictional notion. There is nothing inherently immoral or unethical about fusion food as long as we are transparent and conscious about our choices. After all, food is culture and is therefore dynamic and syncretic and has always been changing based on local context and historical events. The classic example is how Chinese diaspora food has spread all over the world and become very regionalized. Chinese food from Singapore is similar and yet different to Chinese food in the US.</i></span></blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Again, I hope some of you are inspired to start your own food business!</span></i></blockquote>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Isn't wheat- and dairy-free food boring or plain?</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Not necessarily. We're acculturated here in the US to eat wheat and dairy and it's hard to overcome that programming, but there is world of food out there that tastes flavorful without it. </i></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Really good advice I got from my friend <a href="http://danatranwellness.com/" target="_blank">Dana Tran</a> who is a wholistic health coach is that you have to focus on what you *can* eat (the positives), not on what you can't eat.</i></span> <i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And there's the spices used in cooking which imbues it with flavor. And if you think about it, when you are visiting VN, most of the food *is* wheat and dairy free and not processed. It's really here in the US that wheat derivatives are so ubiquitous.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The other thing is bio-individuality. Every individual has a different constitution and biochemical reaction to certain foods. I eat this way because I feel better. For me, given my personal history some of which I got into and other bits I haven't, I have learned what works for me and what doesn't, like MSG creates a metabolic reaction in me--both digestive and hormonal. For other folks like my husband, MSG is not going to make them react this way. (Though I have to say that I am not giving MSG a free pass. It is a neurotoxin and it so saturated in all American processed food that eventually a person will get overloaded especially as they age. If you eat a lot of processed food, your body will pay the price eventually and it may not be MSG-sensitivity but other neurological events or chronic disease (and it's not just the MSG but other additives and GMOs). This <a href="http://stuffboston.com/2010/11/15/5-courses-with-alison-fong-of-bon-me#.VGUoSoeiv8E" target="_blank">biochemist</a> makes the correlation between decades of medical research around glutamates/MSG and neuro-behavioral disorders and degenerative issues like schizophrenia, autism, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's. See her TEDx talks on youtube.)</span> </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I don't believe people should only eat what their ethnic cuisine is. Not everyone has to eat the way I eat with the same dietary restrictions (no wheat, dairy, soy, sugar, corn or additives). I didn't make the choices to exclude food categories based on whim or trends, but on how my body feels and reacts to food. I eat what makes me feel good and avoid what makes me feel ill.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>So each person has to figure out what works for them, and that changes all the time too as you age and enter new life stages. Now that I'm pregnant and my protein needs have increased to 40-50% of what I used to eat, I find I cannot meet my needs just through meat, seafood and eggs (legumes/plat-fodo sources of protein have never done it for me and I did try). I've started to incorporate goat milk cheese. Miraculously, during pregnancy, I am not lactose-intolerant and more importantly I am not reacting to the milk protein (casein) in goat milk products which is the hallmark or a true milk allergy or intolerance. Goat milk casein is more similar to human milk casein and typically easier to digest. (I still am <a href="http://www.tapintoheaven.com/2stuff/stufstest.shtml" target="_blank">testing</a> as reacting to the casein proteins in cow milk, raw cow milk, and sheep milk though). I've also had to increase my sprouted brown rice intake; whereas I used to have rice once a day at most, I now have to eat it 2-3 times a day.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I will say speaking from the middle ages (I'll be 40 next year) that regardless of whether you eat wheat or dairy (and <a href="http://westonaprice.org/" target="_blank">Weston Price Foundation</a> advocates only organic, sprouted <a href="http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/real-reason-for-toxic-wheat-its-not-gluten/" target="_blank">wheat</a> and raw/unpasteurized dairy), you should absolutely eat whole, real foods (organic/pesticide-free as much as possible) that have recently come from the earth or an animal. There are so many chronic diseases associated with refined/processed food--diabetes, cancer, dementia, obesity, among many, many others--and while those things may seem a little distant in your vital 20s, theses diseases are occurring far more frequently and at far younger ages in the American population. We are in an era where the average life expectancy in the US is actually decreasing and the quality of life as an elder is not optimal. You are what you eat and that effect is cumulative. It's never too late to make a change for better nutrition.</i></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>GMOs, Agent Orange, and Viet Nam</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Here is that issue I mentioned. I incorrectly stated that this affected rice; it is actually maize/corn, VN's 2nd major crop that is at issue. I should mention too that corn in VN has historically been "native corn" or heirloom corn that was originally imported in the 15-16th centuries. This will mark a shift to the yellow sweet corn that we are so used to seeing in US supermarkets.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2012/02/07/monsanto-agent-orange-creator-returns-vietnam"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">http://www.commondreams.org/news/2012/02/07/monsanto-agent-orange-creator-returns-vietnam</span></a></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">VN licenses GMOs <a href="http://www.thanhniennews.com/politics/its-official-vietnam-licenses-genetically-modified-organisms-30220.html">http://www.thanhniennews.com/politics/its-official-vietnam-licenses-genetically-modified-organisms-30220.html</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Info about glyphosate (Roundup) <a href="http://gmo-awareness.com/resources/glyphosate/">http://gmo-awareness.com/resources/glyphosate/</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24.99199867248535px;">Vietnam, US still in conflict over Agent Orange </span><a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/health/2011928849_apasvietnamusagentorange.html">http://seattletimes.com/html/health/2011928849_apasvietnamusagentorange.html</a></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>And yes, I will check out Blue Scholars!</i></span></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-56861925626246860012014-11-08T12:26:00.003-08:002014-11-08T12:56:01.423-08:00Cà Pháo Chua | Fermented firecracker eggplants<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ok, true confession: I'm totally backlogged on posts; I've got posts I've been working on for over a year in the queue and a lot of posts scattered about in the drafts pile. Recently, I've been working on two university guest lectures about this little ole blog o'mine for this month and well, I'm pregnant (yay!) and have had the blahs when it comes to cooking and eating food, so things have been moving even slower than usual.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm taking a break (aka procrastination) in order to post a quick fall fermenting recipe. At the Farmer's Market, I discovered the mother of all eggplant booths. Every cultivar of (Asian) eggplant was there in all its farm fresh glory. Seriously, like a dozen varieties. It inspired me to pick up a pound or so of cà pháo | firecracker eggplant (aka S. macrocarpon, gboma or African eggplant) to make pickles. Yes, this has entirely something to do with me being pregnant. I am not, however, eating them with ice cream, not even the dairy-free Coconut Bliss Salted Caramel. I was tempted to pick up some green Thai eggplants and make somlah machou | Khmer eggplant stew, but instead we picked up some of the purple Japanese eggplants by my daughter's request for roasting and making a Thai eggplant mash that I learned from my former sister-in-law.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVToAgZiX-AtSG1gQoO4Ifeq5WtLV2qDrkA38M1yc7CKxsJ2sHU_Df_wYddBfPXcZ321vm8blJ6WluTEY1AW6GSRbeUoCWIQfp3kXX7HBIOfiY32mVBu0LdrgnjYYebmtrvDb648OjaOyw/s1600/IMG_20141016_115456_994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVToAgZiX-AtSG1gQoO4Ifeq5WtLV2qDrkA38M1yc7CKxsJ2sHU_Df_wYddBfPXcZ321vm8blJ6WluTEY1AW6GSRbeUoCWIQfp3kXX7HBIOfiY32mVBu0LdrgnjYYebmtrvDb648OjaOyw/s1600/IMG_20141016_115456_994.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While I'm sure many varieties of eggplant can be pickled, these are the ones I'm most familiar with. They have a great crunch when pickled. I chose unblemished one-biters around the size of a large marble because I hate having residue on my lips especially with m<span style="cursor: pointer; white-space: nowrap;">ắm</span>. My girlfriend Tuyền makes a delicious <a ebatesserpprocessed="true" href="http://www.bepgiadinh.com/mam-ca-phao-chua-ngot-rd" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">Mắm cà pháo</a>--which are pickled firecracker eggplants with fermented shrimp or fish sauce (and yes, I've been cajoling her to write some guest posts because she is a slammin' cook. Dagnabit, just thinking about her reminds me of bagoong dip with fruit and now i have a craving and will just have to content myself with guava & chipotle salt)--but this time around I decided to keep it simple. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've gotten into the habit of making everything a little plainer because my daughter cannot tolerate spicy and I need way more sea salt in my diet than my husband so I made the simple brine version even though the odds are I will be the only one to eat them. I can always add the </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">m</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="cursor: pointer; white-space: nowrap;">ắm & chile before eating. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Next time I get to the Farmer's Market though, I'll give it a try because baby loves </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">m</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="cursor: pointer; white-space: nowrap;">ắm.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Typically cà pháo chua are eaten with a few days of pickling. To get the <a href="http://www.foodrenegade.com/3-biggest-fermenting-mistakes-youre-already-making/">full benefits of fermenting</a> and the probiotics, I will let them go for 28 days. (Come back in three weeks or so to see the pix of the end result.) A</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">nother common "cheat" to make pickled veggies is to use vinegar. While you get the sour, and instant gratification, you lose the beneficial probiotics and the unique fizzy/zingy tang of fermenting.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Unlike Western pickled eggplant recipes, these do not need to be blanched or cooked. If you are concerned about browning, you can drop the eggplants in a bowl of water, lemon juice and salt while you are cutting them up and let it soak for an hour or two. I'm lazy and any browning is negligible to me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You will also need a </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.5L Fido jar or 1 quart mason jar (see my </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/dua-cai-chuafermented-mustard-greens.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">previous discussion on fermenting jars</a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">) and a weight. I use a flat, landscaping river pebble that I bought from a rock store (yes, those exist) for $5.50 for 50 lbs that was left over from a kids' craft project (let me tell you, give kids a rock and some paint and they will go to <i>town</i>); I've sterilized the rock in boiling water. The weight keeps the veggies below the water line and therefore airtight. Veggies that are exposed to the air are more likely to mold thus botching your batch. I write the date of production on the jar with a grease pen or a sharpie because I will not remember a few weeks down the line when I made the damn thing. I suppose it would make more sense to write the "ready by date". Ah well.</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1-2 lbs of white cà pháo | firecracker eggplant (aka S. macrocarpon, gboma or African eggplant), cut in half </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(optional) dried shrimp or fish sauce</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(optional) fresh bird's eye chile peppers</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(optional) garlic & chile paste</span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 qt of water</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 tbs of celtic or himalayan sea salt (can use more for a saltier pickle, but no more than 2 tbs or you will bypass ferment to preserve)</span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dissolve salt in the water (can use lukewarm water but allow to cool before pouring over veggies.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pack the eggplants and any other ingredients into the jar. Pour the brine over to cover and weight it down. Let it sit for 28 days (though you can eat it along the way). Every few days you open the airlock to release gas; this helps it from spilling over especially if it's filled to the brim.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Making breakfast magic with some pasture-raised oxtail and organic spices...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I completely forgot to get any herbs or steak but it was delish nonetheless.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My real food, real </span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">phở</span> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">recipe over </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/10/real-pho-bo-recipe.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Social history of </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">phở over <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/04/real-food-real-pho.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;">Phở-natic confessions</span><span style="color: #333333;"> <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/confessions-of-pho-natic.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></h3>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-60112725853377860242014-08-01T14:40:00.000-07:002014-10-16T14:42:56.888-07:00Dijon Vinaigrette Coleslaw & Jamaican Jerk ribs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have never particularly liked coleslaw growing up. I really despised the one that we'd often get at KFC. I think it was the creamy-sweetness that turned me off. Maybe this is because Viet coleslaws are not creamy. At any rate, this all changed back in my wheat eating days when my good friend Tuyen introduced me to <a href="http://www.bakesalebetty.com/" target="_blank">Bakesale Betty</a>'s unholy fried chicken sandwich which was made with a vinaigrette-based coleslaw. It's damn good. I'd pick out all the onions because I was allergic to raw onions back then (the sulfur). But it opened up my culinary world to non-Viet, non-creamy coleslaws.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rSWBuZws30g?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's grilling weather so I picked up some nice country ribs (butt) from Whole Foods; this is a flavorful fatty cut from sustainably raised pork and in the bulk pack (3 lbs+) it's a reasonably priced $4.99/lb comparable to what one would get buying direct from the farmer. I used a Jamaican Jerk recipe from Bruce Aidell's Complete Book of Pork; I make it mild because my kid doesn't like spicy and we serve with organic habanero sauce on the side.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My favorite coleslaw recipe hands down is <a href="http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2008/11/jeremy-foxs-sav.html" target="_blank">Jeremy Fox's Apple Savoy Cabbage</a> which I make with organic fuji apples; for whatever reason, organic apples have been hard to come by this year. So sans apples, I had to do something different. I threw this coleslaw together because I happened to have a savoy cabbage in the fridge from a few weeks back. The coleslaw perfectly complemented the Jamaican Jerk ribs. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like savoy cabbage because it is thinner leaves which soften quicker meaning that you can eat it sooner, more digestible. I toss the shredded cabbage with grey sea salt similar to how one would prepare cabbage for fermenting (sauerkraut or kimchi). The salt begins to break down the tough cellulose in the cabbage, making it more digestible. I use the <a href="http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/do-it-yourself/2011/10/how-to-make-sauerkraut/" target="_blank">America's Test Kitchen method</a> of shredding (see which ensures you don't end up with large sections of rib.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I recently started using estate grown organic certified </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.casarosafarm.com/" target="_blank">olive oil direct from the farmer</a>, </span><a href="http://www.truthinoliveoil.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">because I boycott the mafia</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (also why I never ate at Phở Hoà chain even before I stopped eating at phở restaurants). The 2013 </span><a href="http://www.moonshadowgrove.com/products-oil.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Moonshadow Grove Mission Olive Oil</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> is very spicy so when my daughter is eating, I use mild tasting avocado oil.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two recipes below--Jerk ribs and dijon vinaigrette coleslaw.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBRwdkAXihH4kS7cYhEi04bQsKcaAYKnKvMESDtDz9LqSsMmZpv8_1Q9SB9SYONTElE57HAKowNSm5cdepciVCgSn0qhVLC5_ouzeJ3dGIKl4Nb0rw0UtDUXjNpSAU4uDUICXjzBprf78/s1600/IMG_20140705_150046_671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBRwdkAXihH4kS7cYhEi04bQsKcaAYKnKvMESDtDz9LqSsMmZpv8_1Q9SB9SYONTElE57HAKowNSm5cdepciVCgSn0qhVLC5_ouzeJ3dGIKl4Nb0rw0UtDUXjNpSAU4uDUICXjzBprf78/s1600/IMG_20140705_150046_671.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jerk Marinated Ribs </span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(adapted from Bruce Aidell's Complete Book of Pork)</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 dried ancho chile, deseeded</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 sweet onion, quartered</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 garlic cloves, peeled</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tbs ground allspice</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp Chinese five spice powder</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 tbs organic coconut palm sugar</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 tsp freshly ground black pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp dried thyme</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/4 cup lime juice</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/4 cup olive oil</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp ground nutmeg</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/4 tsp cinnamon</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp fennel</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp celtic sea salt</span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to form a paste. Slather it on the rubs. In the best case scenario, you would marinade this the night before. In my usual, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants scenario, I grill it when the grill is ready. ("I" being the royal "I" here as you see my husband is doing the actual grilling wearing the new apron I <a href="http://otterwax.com/" target="_blank">waxed</a> for him for Father's Day.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dijon Vinaigrette Coleslaw</span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4 servings</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/2 head of savoy cabbage (approx 1.5 lbs)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/2 tbs of grey sea salt</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/4 cup olive oil or avocado oil</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 tbs of organic raw apple cider vinegar (Trader Joe's, Azure Standard, or Bragg's are all excellent sources)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tbs of whole grain Dijon mustard (Trader Joe's has a nice one)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">freshly ground grains of paradise or black pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">pinch of grey sea salt</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXUJzqZ1hLIOWTeMUrOd1h5-Z5eyNObWqFYIiRXL_WfmCM2i26VCLQI1lPhefA2mdcbffgwiXP7dtaSY3hKW1zCm6hIrKWfWLmTFhm2L2vr-guqfQ0xqUv_zKyrQ3I48xEp3ZpV9X6hQA/s1600/IMG_20140705_141213_264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXUJzqZ1hLIOWTeMUrOd1h5-Z5eyNObWqFYIiRXL_WfmCM2i26VCLQI1lPhefA2mdcbffgwiXP7dtaSY3hKW1zCm6hIrKWfWLmTFhm2L2vr-guqfQ0xqUv_zKyrQ3I48xEp3ZpV9X6hQA/s1600/IMG_20140705_141213_264.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Quarter the head of cabbage. Cut and discard the core. Thinly slice the cabbage perpendicular to the center rib. Toss in a bowl with 1/2 tbs of grey sea salt. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mix together the remaining ingredients and toss over the shredded cabbage. Let sit at least 10-15 minutes prior to serving.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 33px;">Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!</span></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-88687597835908454862014-07-30T13:02:00.005-07:002014-08-28T12:45:39.228-07:00Rice, Rice, Baby! Sprouted brown rice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This post is for my friends Kyung Jin & Tina who inspired me to explain in the first place. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a blog post is worth a thousand more and you know I can talk your ear off, so this is efficiency at work for ya! Nary a klingon reference to be had. And its free! (Gotta love the new knowledge economy, unless of course one is an unpaid blogger... sigh.)</span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Organic brown rice</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(L to R) dried rice grain</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">; soaked overnight; soaked and sprouted</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">RICE, RICE BABY</span></span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rice is one of the fundamental staples of Asian diets from mythological times. P</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">aleoethnobotanists consider </span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Southeast Asia t</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">o be the </span><a href="http://www.sacredearth.com/ethnobotany/plantprofiles/rice.php" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">cradle of rice cultivation</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> back when "</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">continents known as Pangaea and Gondwanaland still existed."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">I grew up on bowls and bowls of fragrant white jasmine rice. White rice is machine milled removing the bran and the germ (rice DNA repository)</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, and has recently been vilified as being stripped and nutritionally empty, spiking the blood sugar with empty carbohydrates. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even more recently, all g</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">rain has become a fairly <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Sugar-Your-Killers/dp/031623480X" target="_blank">new nutritional controversy</a>. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> By eating the low-saturated fat </span><a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/022331_diet_food_standard_american.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Standard</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/01/standard-american-diet-sad-charts" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">American</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/paleo-vs-standard-american-diet/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Diet</a> (<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">SAD), American folks are eating more carbohydrates and refined grains in particular to compensate for the calories. The issue is that refined carbs (white flour, white rice, white sugar, well all sugar really) are a quick source of energy and quickly convert to sugar (glucose) in our bloodstream. Too much </span><a href="http://uctv.tv/shows/Sugar-The-Bitter-Truth-16717" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">sugar is the devil</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> (okay, not the devil but can be the root cause of a lot of chronic diseases). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gluten-free diets don't escape from this problem entirely either. The major mistake most folks make when switching from SAD to gluten-free is to swap out one highly refined grain-based carb (wheat) for another highly refined grain-based carb (rice, etc). Highly refined, high carbohydrate diets will (eventually) kill you no matter which kind of grain. Gluten-free works best when it is whole food, real food based.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Xena is HANGRY!</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>My kid calls her Xena the Lawyer Princess</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One of the major differences between the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_diet" target="_blank">Paleo</a>/<a href="http://marksdailyapple.com/" target="_blank">Primal</a> diets and <a href="http://www.westonapricefoundation.org/" target="_blank">Weston Price</a> (WAPF) is grain (the other differences as far as I can tell are saturated fat and dairy). Paleo diet excludes grain and WAPF promotes soaked and sprouted grains. As <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/06/womanifesto.html" target="_blank">I've stated before</a>, I'm not very interested in branding myself as an adherent to xyz nutritional diet and the territorial posturing that comes with it. I'm interested in what works for my body and for my family's health. On this issue, w</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">hile I share a certain affinity with the <a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/545380-difference-between-primal-and-paleo-diet/">Paleo/Primal diet</a>, I do still eat grains (and saturated fat) though we eat fairly low grain. I did an anti-inflammatory elimination diet for a year or so and then tried grain-free/paleo, but it exacerbated my blood sugar. When one is waking 2-3 times a night hungry (and not-pregnant) and spending one's waking hours being very </span><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hangry" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>hangry</i></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, that is one's body sending a very clear message. So on the issue of grain, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I personally lean towards WAPF and my ancestral roots.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"> </span></span> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At the turn of the 20th century, Dentist Weston Price conducted a global exploration of the impact of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-bellatti/post_8129_b_5635285.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living">processed foods</a> on dental health (malnutrition, cavities, dental & jaw malformation) and concluded that nutrition and health are intrinsically linked; dental issues are symptomatic of systemic health. Now, it's important to note he was looking at refined grains (white rice, bleached wheat, white sugar) of the industrial era vs traditional native foods (whole foods, <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/71/3/665.long">whole grains/starches</a>).</span></span> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span></span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span> <br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">GOT RICE?</span></h3>
<a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/06/womanifesto.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Previously I've mentioned</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, I believe the universalizing generalization of the "ancestral" nutritional diets ignores cultural/regional biome specificity & context. <a href="https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2012nl/jun/paleo2.htm">Not all cavemen/natives are alike</a>. <a href="http://women are responsible for" target="_blank">Biological anthropologists/archeologists/paleobotanists</a> (i.e. people who actually research paleothic human societies as a full-time living) indicate that plant-based foods--including grains/starches--comprise the majority of the calories in a hunter/gatherer ("starchivore") diet because the </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">women (gatherers) are more consistently successful</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Being an anthropologist by training if not by profession/trade, I decided to look into the </span><a href="http://www.drnguyenviet.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">archeology</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> of the ancestral Viet diet (in the Red River Delta).</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="http://www.drnguyenviet.com/?id=5&cat=1&cid=24" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">16,000-20,000BP</a> (<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hoabinh era) Hunter & Gatherer; limestone cave dwellers. Diet consists of mollusks, fish, nuts, berries, roots, fungi, vegetables, wild grains, mammals. The major protein </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 26.66666603088379px; text-align: justify;">snails, fruits or nuts were the source of daily nutrition needs of Hoabinhian</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 26.66666603088379px; text-align: justify;"> food strategy.</span></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.drnguyenviet.com/?id=5&cat=1&cid=24" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">6000 to 3000 BP</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> (</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">DaBut era) Transitional Hunter & Gatherer wood settlements on alluvial plains. Diet consists of bivalve shellfish, nuts, fruit</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 26.66666603088379px; text-indent: 48px;">;</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 26.66666603088379px; text-indent: 48px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 26.66666603088379px; text-indent: 48px;">first evidence for domestication of dog, pig and water buffalo (which are used for rice cultivation)</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.drnguyenviet.com/?id=5&cat=1&cid=34" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 26.66666603088379px; text-indent: 48px;" target="_blank">4000 years ago</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 26.66666603088379px; text-indent: 48px;"> Agrarian--transition to primarily rice cultivation </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Pre-industrialization. I haven't sourced records of this from Viet Nam yet, but Thailand is an interesting <a href="http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/thailand-land-of-the-coconut/" target="_blank">comparable case study</a>. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Siam-Mapped-History-Geo-Body-Nation/dp/0824819748" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Thailand wasn't colonized by the West</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and rural areas did not experience the industrial exploitation that we see in VN</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">. Modern machine mills producing polished white rice were not introduced until the 1950s and available mostly to the wealthy. Poor folks ate the more nutritious hand-milled rice which did not remove the bran or germ in its entirety.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">f one looks at the actual archeological research of the prehistoric era in Southeast Asia</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/125047?uid=3739560&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104015448201" target="_blank">r</a></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/125047?uid=3739560&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104015448201" target="_blank">ice does not lead to dental caries/cavities</a> in the same way that maize does. (I don't know when when hand-milling was introduced, suffice to presume that this is unrefined or at the most, partially milled rice)</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">The agricultural period has long been recognized to have been a very important period in human prehistory. Its timing and consequences, including the effects on human health, have been extensively researched. In recent decades, this has included the idea that there is a universal positive correlation between the adoption of agriculture based on a carbohydrate staple crop and dental caries prevalences. This is mainly based on evidence from America, where maize was the staple crop. On the basis of evidence from prehistoric skeletal samples from a series of prehistoric sites in Southeast Asia, this correlation does not appear to apply in areas of the world where the stale crop is rice. Although we have looked only at dental caries, we suggest caution be applied in the drawing of inferences about substance changes from dental health. Patterns reflecting the </span></i></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>adoption of one starchy staple are not necessarily applicable to all such crops. (<a href="http://jstor.org/discover/10.2307/125047?uid=3739560&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid%E2%80%A6" target="_blank">Source</a>)</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>I personally don't condone the B-word.</i></span></div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So brown rice is not the same beast as wheat or corn. That said, I don't presume to know whether brown rice is going to work for your body and health. You have to figure that out and you do you. For me and mine, organic brown rice is firmly entrenched in our ancestral and modern tradition.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've mentioned in my <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/04/ancestral-foodways-my-way.html" target="_blank">Ancestral Foodways</a> post the changes in my personal rice eating history:</span> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I went from eating white jasmine rice every day 1-2 times a day to eating brown rice, then organic brown rice every day to now eating organic brown rice maybe 2-3 times a week and soaking and sprouting the rice...</i></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Me and my beloved started eating brown rice maybe 7+ years ago to be healthier, but since brown rice still has t</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">he bran (and therefore all the fiber and nutrients),</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> it is a lot denser, chewier, and frankly, not as tasty to eat.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A few years back my husband who was primary cook when my daughter was a baby through toddlerhood noted that soaking the brown rice made a big difference in the taste, texture, edibility. So we started incorporating that into our cooking when we could remember. Rice is after all dried </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">for storage </span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">as a part of its harvest production, so soaking reconstitutes the grain and this should be considered a minimal step in the consumption of brown rice.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></span> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In the last few months, I've learned about <a href="http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/01/why-sprout.html" target="_blank">sprouting grains & nuts</a> and applied sprouting practices to rice:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">soaking</span> <span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sprouting ... 2-3 days to reduce the anti-nutrients like <a href="http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/living-with-phytic-acid/" target="_blank">phytic acid</a> which are inherent in all seeds and to leach out the </span></span><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/files/finalarsenicembargo91912.pdf" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">arsenic from soil contamination</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that is endemic to all arable land all over the world; seeds contain all the genetic information for new life, so they have innate self-defense in the form of anti-nutrients like </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">phytic</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> acid. Sprouting changes the rice from a seed to a plant and releasing its nutritional value. (<a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/04/ancestral-foodways-my-way.html" target="_blank">Ancestral Foodways</a>)</span></i></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Since<a href="http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2005/09/09/taste-and-texture/" target="_blank"> texture is a part of taste</a>, this means sprouted brown rice (aka germinated brown rice, <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">GABA</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> brown </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">rice--</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">for the amino acid </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">GABA</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> that is released by sprouting, or hatsuga genmai</span>) </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">tastes better, with a softer bite. Sprouted rice needs less water to cook than unsprouted rice. </span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sprouted rice is not as convenient as white rice. It takes planning and forethought, not something I can always spare. It is however hands down way more nutritious and definitely tastier than unsoaked, unsprouted brown rice. So a couple of weeks ago, I realized I can make a mega-batch and freeze it so I will always have sprouted rice on hand. (DUH!) Theoretically I suppose sprouted rice can be dehydrated (I have seen this being sold as a highly marked up product), but you'd have to soak the rice again to reconstitute the grain and I'm sure that takes several hours/overnight. You should probably save the sprouted rice in smaller portions. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For us, a family of three, I make ~3 cups which lasts us a several days. This method below therefore yields 3 batches of slightly more than 3 cups (because the rice expands).</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I use Lundberg Farms organic short grain brown rice which is about $1.14/lb from Costco. I love and prefer jasmine rice but it is too costly when organic. One can also find partially milled brown rice at many Asian markets, but despite the lessened production time, it costs way more than polished white rice! I know there's some backwards Smith-ian economic term to explain this. (BTW Lundberg organic rice has <a href="http://www.lundberg.com/info/Arsenic.aspx" target="_blank">lower arsenic content</a>. I </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">take <a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/031818_zeolites_detox.html" target="_blank">zeolite</a> and eat <a href="http://www.naturodoc.com/library/detox/Modifilan-about.htm" target="_blank">seaweed</a></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> to help reduce the heavy metal build up. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zraY8ps+L._SY450_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zraY8ps+L._SY450_.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Binchō-tan</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>*Also I just had an aha!-synapses-firing moment, you can add </b></span><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binch%C5%8Dtan" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">binchō-tan</a>--<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Japanese carbonized wood--while soaking and cooking the rice. The <a href="http://www.binchotan.com.au/?page_id=9" target="_blank">carbon in the binchō-tan</a> helps to filter chemicals and heavy metals, including arsenic, </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">that can effect the taste. I was recommended to use binchō-tan while cooking rice a few years back--possibly the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dae_Jang_Geum">Dae Jang Geum effect</a> </span><a href="http://www.viki.com/videos/170155v-jewel-in-the-palace-episode-6" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">(full episode)</a>--<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and I'm thinking the chemistry of why has to do with heavy metals. </span></b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Thanks to my friend Miho for introducing me to the use of binchō-tan in rice cooking a few years back.) </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do not substitute American charcoal; it is not the same thing.</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Binchō-tan can be obtained on the internet. I finally can use that kilo of binchō-tan I bought randomly at a now closed organic Chinese store in Milpitas and now I know what to ask for as a souvenir when friends go to Japan.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I use the traditional Asian method (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzixL7Ef-bI" target="_blank">ancient Oriental secret</a>) of water measurement for rice cooking--knuckles. Knuckles are great because well, they allow our fingers to bend and be prehensile. Almost everyone has one. And, it doesn't cost any money. W</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ith white rice, it's typically 1 knuckle of water above the rice; with unsprouted brown rice it's typically one and a half knuckles because the bran absorbs so much water; with partially milled rice, it's close to white rice; sprouted brown rice is less than half a knuckle. There is an element of guesstimation on this because everyone likes their rice texture different so you have to figure out what is your optimal texture/water. My mom likes it on the dry side; I take after my dad and like it on the mushy side. My husband likes it on the dry side, my daughter likes it on the soft, but not mushy side. Unlike <a href="http://www.viki.com/videos/170243v-jewel-in-the-palace-episode-23" target="_blank">Dae Jaeng Geum's mentor Lady Han</a> (<a href="http://www.viki.com/videos/170243v-jewel-in-the-palace-episode-23" target="_blank">full episode</a>), I haven't bothered to figure out how to make one pot of rice magically suit everyone</span><span style="color: #134f5c;">.<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> (Though I do notice with the VitaClay, the to layer is drier and the bottom mushier.)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One thing we noticed when eating real food, is that we need less because we are getting more nutrients from each bite. Serving size is approximately 1/2 cup per adult. I can get away with eating rice only once a day as long as one of my meals substitutes sweet potato/starchy tuber in its place (for whatever reason, organic potatoes don't work for me. They leave me hungry overnight).</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Organic brown rice grains, </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">note opaque germ on the left of each grain </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(L to R) dried rice grain</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">; soaked overnight; soaked and sprouted. You can't see scale so much (I think the soaked had started to dry out after being in the colander all day), but the soaked grain is 1/3rd larger than the dried grain.</span></span></td></tr>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">SOAKED & SPROUTED BROWN RICE</span></span></h2>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></h4>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">9 cups of organic, short grain brown rice</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A lot of water</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Day 1 SOAK</span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Soak 9 cups of organic brown rice in a container with plenty of filtered water overnight. The rice will absorb water so add enough to cover plus 4-6 cups. Leave on the counter in a warm spot, covered with a towel (to keep out light, dust and in my case, opportunist thirsty cat).</span></span> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span> </span> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivNXE_fWRjZk9SHknEegnswxUkJIDyYBMdMp0q-mz7npsDP4WB1-T13c24hiRK5QUGEJ_hKs4tUWb2k_MEWSzY1FgAsaq0d1GA74znxGu7GQ2ynbAReypamS1ixPlLeTKFKKyepAx1hp2W/s1600/IMG_20140715_154840_146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivNXE_fWRjZk9SHknEegnswxUkJIDyYBMdMp0q-mz7npsDP4WB1-T13c24hiRK5QUGEJ_hKs4tUWb2k_MEWSzY1FgAsaq0d1GA74znxGu7GQ2ynbAReypamS1ixPlLeTKFKKyepAx1hp2W/s1600/IMG_20140715_154840_146.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Day 2 rice grains reconstituted<br />
note the opaque germ</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Day 2 SPROUT</span></span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Drain the grains in a colander and rinse it with filtered water. You should notice that each grain is now expanded to a third bigger and there is an opaque area at one apex. This is the germ, where the genetic material of the seed is stored. Leave this on your kitchen counter for a day under a damp towel (I like flour sack cloth). Sometimes, by the end of the day, the rice will have already sprouted which is visible as a notch on the opaque end of the grain (germ). You can cook or freeze it at this point or allow it to sprout more.</span></span> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span> </span> <br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSo1Kc8QFgPCtJQ2PNCmCnorKIlKBNGfHf6h3aeP4WPF1FcT8yBEJBEa2gJTYXKo2U7yv9j0rKZ1UxJf8t-L7tA95OWLnTPDBpLqxDQhFsfSIEtaEzrVUNIKFI0IJFDlDKHilVAFiFJ21L/s1600/IMG_20140716_172908_757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSo1Kc8QFgPCtJQ2PNCmCnorKIlKBNGfHf6h3aeP4WPF1FcT8yBEJBEa2gJTYXKo2U7yv9j0rKZ1UxJf8t-L7tA95OWLnTPDBpLqxDQhFsfSIEtaEzrVUNIKFI0IJFDlDKHilVAFiFJ21L/s1600/IMG_20140716_172908_757.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Day 3 <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Snatch_(film)" target="_blank">Zee GERM-ans</a> have sprouted!</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Day 3 RICE & ROLL</span></span></h3>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rinse the grains with filtered water. You should notice a little notch or a tail where the germ is. Your rice is now ready to cook or store in the freezer!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rice that has been sprouted needs less water when cooking. Add rice to the pot and cover up to a half a knuckle of water above the rice line depending on your preference. You can also add a chunk of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binch%C5%8Dtan" target="_blank">binchō-tan</a> (Japanese carbonized wood) while cooking to filter heavy metals including arsenic from the water. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 33px;">Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgES9WekL6svdwjPbw92pesFoeGyKCAWVUOWGRZZ3b2Nvo1vnOFbu-1RI4ZTde5L6MS2wQi88yYyKj32EzouBVhWj2PaelCC3csMADh02I6uLRQ-1gCgI2uUAMW3LmsRWxTrOT6Z5Vzw7ZG/s1600/IMG_20140715_154705_087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgES9WekL6svdwjPbw92pesFoeGyKCAWVUOWGRZZ3b2Nvo1vnOFbu-1RI4ZTde5L6MS2wQi88yYyKj32EzouBVhWj2PaelCC3csMADh02I6uLRQ-1gCgI2uUAMW3LmsRWxTrOT6Z5Vzw7ZG/s1600/IMG_20140715_154705_087.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Sprouted rice in our VitaClay ready to cook. </span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is a little too much water.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZTahpAh3UwgPV9ewr3NclHwQELihrOt-x2ftaTkBJR41aT_LnmOUjOrGzhP3ND5N4dNHFXeGxdg6tBQV_j2c9MWoMn_iPiggtzWY9mq9D66ndaM_gr73giQ7Jd4-fRlnFAkHse_83V8qZ/s1600/IMG_20140722_185703_715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZTahpAh3UwgPV9ewr3NclHwQELihrOt-x2ftaTkBJR41aT_LnmOUjOrGzhP3ND5N4dNHFXeGxdg6tBQV_j2c9MWoMn_iPiggtzWY9mq9D66ndaM_gr73giQ7Jd4-fRlnFAkHse_83V8qZ/s1600/IMG_20140722_185703_715.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Cooked, sprouted brown rice (a little on the mushy side)</span></td></tr>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-79312021018469910542014-06-14T08:55:00.000-07:002014-06-14T09:16:15.364-07:00Pasta Carbonara (GF/DF)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I improv'd this meal at 4 o'clock when faced with dinner time and no real plan and diminishing food stock in fridge. I happened to have a half pound of Trader Joe's uncured, nitrate-free bacon ends & pieces from a while back that still smelled edible and a frozen brick of sustainably-raised ground beef as my base along with chopped kale that I had cooked for the morning's green smoothie. I set the beef chub to defrost in a tub of water then pulled out my trusty <a href="http://www.dairyfreeglutenfreekitchen.com/" target="_blank">America's Test Kitchen</a> for the recipe instructions. Pretty much only the ATK cookbooks (and the Asian ones) survived the GF/DF purge a few years back because they are hands down the best cookbooks ever.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I still had leftover raw macadamias in the pantry from when I made nut cheese for GF pizza and <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/faux-cheezy-cake-gf-df-sf-vegan-paleo.html" target="_blank">Faux Cheezy-cake</a>. This recipe uses the faux cheese method that I discovered in <a href="http://www.dairyfreeglutenfreekitchen.com/" target="_blank">The Dairy-Free & Gluten Free Kitchen</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Other ingredients that I sourced from TJ's besides the bacon: the pre-chopped organic kale, organic brown rice-quinoa pasta. I abhor brown rice pasta, but the addition of quinoa makes it a lot more palatable. TruRoots also makes a good brown rice-quinoa pasta that I've found at Costco.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Since the TJ's bacon is rather random pieces and a lot of fat, I added water as it was cooking to help render the fat without burning the bacon. I started off with 1 cup of water, then as it evaporated added more water until the fat was more rendered into edible sized pieces, then I allowed it to brown on both sides. This process left a lot to yummy bacon lard and a nice golden brown glaze on my All Clad skillet that I deglazed with balsamic vinegar since we didn't have any white wine on hand.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The timing on this matters. The macadamia-egg mix should be tossed on to the hot pan (heat off) when you are ready to serve. T & kid were on a walk visiting the neighboring mule & goats so I had to cover the pan at the third to last step and wait for them to get home. I had the pan back on low heat with just the pasta, kale & beef, and when they got home, I tossed the macadamia nut mix on.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is best served fresh. This recipe serves 4-6.</span><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients</span></h3>
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JTjOJxC37RqT0Ce24b0Z0-IYU9lRmBYrukWU7BdXl8nRQAAo6J0fWYl7FMFacgEx2g6RcT1wjhyoz0l1aq-uZLzMZRM7mbQyUm4p8Kn52yF0Z4R0cSlHJnmt5LU-kLORSrnpChR69Exf/s1600/IMG_20140613_192955_179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JTjOJxC37RqT0Ce24b0Z0-IYU9lRmBYrukWU7BdXl8nRQAAo6J0fWYl7FMFacgEx2g6RcT1wjhyoz0l1aq-uZLzMZRM7mbQyUm4p8Kn52yF0Z4R0cSlHJnmt5LU-kLORSrnpChR69Exf/s1600/IMG_20140613_192955_179.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 lb+ of uncured bacon</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 lb of ground beef (anti-biotic free)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">balsamic vinegar (in lieu of white wine)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">grey sea salt (aka Celtic salt)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">fresh ground organic grains of paradise (or black pepper)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 cup raw organic macadamias</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 organic eggs</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp organic onion flakes or powder</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp organic minced garlic powder</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">16 oz chopped cooked organic kale (steamed or boiled)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 package organic brown rice & quinoa pasta</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">optional organic chipotle powder</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Soak the raw macadamias in enough water to cover.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cook the kale by boiling or steaming it until cooked through for 10-15 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make the pasta according to instructions. Approx 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with hot water.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Turn oven to 150 degrees and set your oven-proof serving bowl in the oven to warm. Since I had a nice handmade Tunisian bowl that I was afraid of breaking, I left it at the lowest temperature setting and put the bowl in while the oven was still cold. Once it heated to 150, I turned the oven off and led the door closed to retain heat.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Drain the macadamias of most of the water leaving around 1/4 cup of water. Puree the macadamias with the eggs, garlic and onion and a spoonful of sea salt.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fry the bacon in a skillet until browned. Remove bacon and add ground beef, sea salt, pepper. Brown it until cooked through. Deglaze the pan with</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> balsamic vinegar. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cover with a lid and turn off the heat to retain the heat.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Add pasta and kale to the skillet. Pour the macadamia mixture over and toss until well coated. Cover with the lid. </span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Using a towel or potholders, remove the bowl from the oven. Pour the pasta int</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">o the bowl. Top with crispy bacon and more pepper. Toss and serve immediately.</span><br />
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-33879298509524830702014-06-12T09:13:00.000-07:002014-08-04T13:38:08.377-07:00"Mayonnaise Grilled Stew" Chicken Chowder (DF/GF)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sometimes my daughter watches TV shows on youtube or movies (we don't have cable or netflix. Yes we're one of <i>those </i>people) and makes a dinner request. One time it was for Elmo's "pocket food" which ended up being a variation of <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2013/05/leilanis-goi-cuonvietnamese-spring.html" target="_blank">goi cuon | spring rolls</a> and the "sushi" (brown rice and roasted seaweed) she theretofore was eating quite happily. The other day it was for Minnie's Stroney (minestrone, get it?). Yes, it's rampant commercialism influencing her choices. And sometimes, it's a useful tool for getting her to eat something she doesn't like for xyz reason but sometimes all it takes is a tweak in word choice for her to eat it. Like when she was 4.5 and refused to eat beans. I gave her red beans (aka kidney beans) and told her they were kidneys. Full stop. And she was happy to eat kidneys. After a few times I let her know that they were indeed kidney beans, not actually offal. Her request today was for Mayonnaise Grilled Stew her misheard take on Manny's Gorilla Stew in cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For whatever reason she dislikes zucchini and carrots but they and kale were the only appropriate veggies I had in the fridge and I happened to have shredded potatoes and sweet potatoes in the freezer, so my solution was to puree them which resulted in a thick and creamy soup. I've never done it before and really enjoyed the chowder-ness of it though the color was not pretty. It can also be kept whole.</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">avocado oil (olive oil or pasture raised lard)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">half an organic sweet onion sliced</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 organic carrots, sliced</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tbs oregano</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbs cumin powder</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 handfuls of grey sea salt</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6 chicken leg quarters cut into 4 pieces (to expose the marrow)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 organic zucchini sliced</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">12 oz of kale chopped</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 organic potatoes, shredded </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 sweet potatoes, shredded</span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sauté the onions & garlic in oil until fragrant. Add the carrots and sauté. Add the chicken leg quarters and cover with water. Add oregano, cumin, and sea salt. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken legs and set aside to cool. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Add the zucchini, kale, and root vegetables. Cook for 10 minutes or until cooked through. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shred chicken and add to the soup.</span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">Ăn Ngon Lành</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: center;">|Eat Delectably!</span></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-43221102599193366072014-06-01T15:20:00.000-07:002014-06-02T08:39:44.825-07:00xôi gạo nếp lứt nảy mầm | sprouted sticky brown rice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutinous_rice#Vietnamese" target="_blank">Xôi</a> (aka sweet rice, sticky rice, glutinous rice) is typically a dish for special occasions and breakfast. It can be eaten sweet or savory or sometimes both. There are many, many variations. For this recipe I will be giving two variations </i><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutinous_rice#Vietnamese" target="_blank">Xôi</a> | sweet-salty with coconut milk and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutinous_rice#Vietnamese" target="_blank">Xôi</a> Cúc | sweet-savory with mung beans.</i></span><br />
<i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I choose to sprout the grains & beans because doings so unlocks the anti-nutrients; grains & beans are after all seeds that contain all the genetic potential of the plant. Seeds have inherent self-defense in the form of anti-nutrients such as physic acid. Sprouting germinate the transformation from seed to plant and makes it more digestible. Start sprouting two days prior to the day you plan to cook. </span></span></i><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Soaking the whole grain/legume in water helps to reconstitute the grain and reduces cooking time.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I discard any water used with the rice because of the <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/files/finalarsenicembargo91912.pdf" target="_blank">issues with inorganic</a> <a href="http://www.wired.com/2012/09/arsenic-and-rice-yes-again/" target="_blank">arsenic</a> <a href="http://consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm" target="_blank">contamination</a>. I also use <a href="http://www.lundberg.com/info/Arsenic.aspx" target="_blank">organic rice</a> which has lower levels.</span></span></i><br />
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Using an unhulled or brown rice changes the texture of the xoi. There is a slight crunchiness and integrity to the grain that one doesn't get with unhulled rice. </span></i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutinous_rice#Vietnamese" target="_blank">Xôi</a> Cúc translates as chrysanthemum rice because if the bright yellow color of the hulled mung. Leaving the hull on will change the color to a yellow-green.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">XÔI </span></div>
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<li>2 cups brown glutinous rice</li>
<li>1 cup coconut milk</li>
<li>coconut palm sugar</li>
<li>grey sea salt</li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">XÔI CÚC</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 cups organic brown glutinous rice</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 cups unhulled organic mung beans</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 cups water</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3 cloves garlic</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4 shallots</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">coconut oil or pasture-raised lard</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">black pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">grey sea salt</span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Equipment:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bowls for </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">soaking/sprouting, immersion blender, skillet, steamer pot.</span><br />
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SPROUTING THE SEEDS</span> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><b>TWO DAYS PRIOR</b></i></span><br />
<b style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">REGULAR XÔI </b><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rinse the rice and then soak the rice in filtered water overnight in a dark place or covered with a dish towel.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>XÔI CÚC</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rinse mung bean. In a separate bowl, so</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ak the mung beans in filtered water overnight in a dark place.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>DAY BEFORE</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>REGULAR XÔI </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Drain the rice and discard the water. Do not reuse the water . Rinse and drain. Leave in a dark place.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">XÔI CÚC</b><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Drain the mung beans (water can be composted). Rinse and drain. Leave in a dark place or covered with a dish towel. Once it sprouts a tail, move them into the fridge.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">COOKING THE RICE & BEANS</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">REGULAR XÔI </b><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Put the rice in the steamer. If your steamer has big holes, cover the pot with parchment paper or banana leaves with small holes poked into it to allow the steam to circulate. Steam for 20 minutes then add coconut milk mixing well. Steam for an additional 10 minutes until the brown rice grain has a slightly al dente texture with a soft interior. Transfer to a serving bowl, add salt and sugar and mix well.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">XÔI CÚC</b><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cook the mung beans and water in a regular pot for 5 min until just cooked. Drain them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fry the garlic and shallots in lard or oil for a few seconds until fragrant, then add the mung beans. Add pepper and salt to taste.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mix together the rice and mung beans and put them in the steamer. If your steamer has big holes, cover the pot with parchment paper or banana leaves with small holes poked into it so the steam can circulate. Steam for 30 minutes until </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">until the brown rice grain has a slightly al dente texture with a soft interior. </span>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-4333354806177277662014-05-26T12:08:00.003-07:002015-01-13T11:29:13.398-08:00Sunny with a Chance of Sai Ua ໄສ້ອັ່ວ | Laotian sausages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Sai ua </i></span>ໄສ້ອັ່ວ <i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">| Laotian sausages </i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">have been a bbq staple for us for many happy years and we've introduced it to our friends and family. (I did a brisk interstate trade there for a while). Sai ua </i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">are also common to Northern Thailand (since nation-state borders are an artificial capitalist construct and cut across language and cultures). I am eternally grateful to Saysana for ordering this delicious dish at <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/champa-garden-oakland" target="_blank">Champa Garden</a>--and also for the gift of a nifty Laotian sticky rice steamer. </i><br />
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A few years back, I convinced the owner of <a href="http://www.vientianecafe.com/" target="_blank">Vientiane Cafe</a> to sell me the sausages frozen to grill at home and now they do a brisk sideline selling the sausages. Si</i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">nce we moved to Fremont, we rarely hit up Vientiane anymore, and though <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/green-champa-garden-fremont" target="_blank">Green Champa Garden</a> makes it, it's a smaller portion and I react to the MSG besides. You gotta get your sausage where you can.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/otherTopics/foods/gif&jpg/r12.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/otherTopics/foods/gif&jpg/r12.gif" height="268" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>I set myself the goal this year of using the slabs of pork belly from our annual pasture-raised organic hog buy. I used one slab for making <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/03/banh-chung-lunar-earth-cake.html" target="_blank">Bánh Chưng</a> and I've been meaning to make sai ua with the rest. </i></span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you must use conventionally-raised pork, my mom recommends soaking it with lemon juice and water overnight to "sweeten" the meat before marinading. The acidulation helps to break down the tough meat fibers from chemically laden, stressed out pigs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>The soft start to summer over Memorial Day Weekend provided the perfect opportunity to make some sai ua. </i></span></span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"> We kept the skin on which gave the sausage a great chewy/dense texture. </span></i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Since the pork belly is very <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/opinion/12kummer.html?_r=0" target="_blank">fat-rich</a> (and <a href="http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/nutrition/2013/05/14/why_lards_healthier_than_you_think.html" target="_blank">very healthy fat</a> I might add), we supplemented the pork belly with some boneless pork shoulder roast from our local Whole Foods Market. According to </i></span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><strong style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/otherTopics/foods/recipe12.htm" target="_blank">Phia Sing</a> (</strong><span style="color: #134f5c;">b. 1898, d. 1967)</span><span style="color: #134f5c;">, Royal Cook in the </span><strong style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/otherTopics/foods/palace.htm">Royal Palace at Luang Prabang</a>,</strong><span style="color: #134f5c;"> an ideal ratio would be 1:4 fat to meat; I got to 1:2 maybe 1:3 ratio and we were perfectly content with the result. </span></i><br />
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</span></i> <br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ezbssw11724?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used Phia Sing's recipe as the basis and added other Southeast Asian flavors that I've tasted at Champa and Vientiane--lemongrass, lime leaf, g</span></i><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">alangal. Galangal is a rhizome in the ginger family; it has a distinct zingy, pungent flavor almost mustardy/horseradish/wasabi-like. If you cannot source galangal, omit it. I buy the biggest tuber I can find and then freeze whatever I don't use. <a href="http://blogs.seattletimes.com/allyoucaneat/2014/07/01/renaming-kaffir-lime-leaves-hate-speech-doesnt-belong-in-the-produce-department/" target="_blank">Lime leaves</a> also have a distinct taste without substitute. If you cannot source them from a Southeast Asian market, you can occasionally find them dried in the spice aisle. Lucky for me, my MIL has a makrut lime tree. I harvest a bundle of leaves, wash & dry, and then freeze them. They keep well in the freezer (actually all the spices used in this recipe store well in the freezer). I completely forgot about the cilantro so it's not pictured but you should add it. Thai bird's eye chile peppers are the </span></i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>preferred chile to use; spiciness can vary by pod so you can pre-taste a chile and judge how many you'll need from there. Habañero is also another fine substitute, use sparingly. I think I used serranos (I always forget to label things I throw in the freezer and then am annoyed at myself). Use gloves when chopping any chiles and handling the spiced ground meat. I have had </i></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezbssw11724" target="_blank">Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad</a> experiences involving habañeros and contact lenses. Spare yourself the agony. I always make a separate no-spice version because my daughter doesn't eat spicy. You'll want to process that first before adding the chiles.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i> </i></span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I happen to have a meat grinder because I raw feed my critters (benefits: optimal health, sleek bodies, silky fur, low odor stools, no parasites) and I used to make my own grind pre-kid. The Northern Industrial meat grinder can take on chicken bones for whole prey feeding. If you don't have a meat grinder, you can use a food processor though be sure to keep the grind coarse. Though I do have a sausage stuffing attachment, I didn't bother to source casings from organic hog or not, so we ended up making sausage sliders. </i></span><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was going to wrap them in blanched banana leaves for grilling, but then it was faster to make patties than wrap 5 dozen links. I</i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">f you don't have equipment, you can use the old school method of chopping the meat into ever finer bits (as instructed in Phia Sing's recipe). </i> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i> </i></span> <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>If you are into ancestral food ways, you would grind the spices in a mortar and pestle. I don't know the science of why mortar & pestled food tastes better, but it just does. </i></span><i style="color: #134f5c;">Though I have a bit of a mortar and pestle collection going on (used to be five, I've downsized to the two my parents gave me--a volcanic rock molcajete and a Costa Rican mahogany one), </i><i style="color: #134f5c;">I was pressed for time so used a food processor.</i></span> <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had a fine sous chef for this recipe run which cut my production time (wish I took a pix! but my hands were busybusybusy); he cut the meats into smaller chunks, helped make patties and washed up a little bit. It always takes time to establish a rhythm and harmony with a kitchen partner. We've been together for over 15 years, married for 8, and partner well in the kitchen now. </span></span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span></span> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I cannot even tell you how excited I am about this recipe! It would be as if it rained breakfast food in a marvelous foodtopia.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Sai Ua ໄສ້ອັ່ວ | Laotian sausages</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Makes 5 dozen two oz. patties</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></h4>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrlIsiLh1TiA5pFVdqaEL9q41jvhIKmiH3VbIg7oJIf64vRvvWvKkPRZwrm-1y9ynEwg4dMXTKVPevcgkXScSbch6UddK-PA7RQIP41de2y1lwtXabtKxnV8nusJ7pSi40ZzItawqyxbZ/s1600/IMG_20140525_101152_509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrlIsiLh1TiA5pFVdqaEL9q41jvhIKmiH3VbIg7oJIf64vRvvWvKkPRZwrm-1y9ynEwg4dMXTKVPevcgkXScSbch6UddK-PA7RQIP41de2y1lwtXabtKxnV8nusJ7pSi40ZzItawqyxbZ/s1600/IMG_20140525_101152_509.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrlIsiLh1TiA5pFVdqaEL9q41jvhIKmiH3VbIg7oJIf64vRvvWvKkPRZwrm-1y9ynEwg4dMXTKVPevcgkXScSbch6UddK-PA7RQIP41de2y1lwtXabtKxnV8nusJ7pSi40ZzItawqyxbZ/s1600/IMG_20140525_101152_509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">3.5 - 4 </span><span style="color: #134f5c;">lbs of pork belly including skin</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 lbs of pork shoulder</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 shallots</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 garlic head</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 lemongrass stalks</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 inches of galangal </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 handfuls of makrut lime leaves</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 bunch of cilantro</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 handfuls of celtic/grey salt </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/2 cup+ of Red Boat fish sauce</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">chiles to taste</span></span></li>
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Spice paste</span></h3>
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</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Prep the spices for grinding or processing.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Chop off the top third of the lemon grass and the base of the bulb and compost. Using the dull edge of the knife, bruise the lemongrass to release the juices. Cut into three pieces lengthwise.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Peel garlic. You can do the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d3oc24fD-c" target="_blank">fancy chef 10 second way</a> or use the flat side of a knife to smash the cloves and then remove the skin.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Skin the galangal and cut into smaller chunks.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Throw all the spices and salt into the food processor. I found I didn't need additional liquid, but if you do need some to help with the processing, add fish sauce.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcdG5XcqhKIFOk52WMZ-zA5HSpHBQj2EZJsRwnpt1igaZlgXjP21IxWNbWulxoGj2pMkKNwSWknmRXQUo0lQ7xO0WbT96q-sblds7b5myrS_hfOrl9wqUvk1SgewFC0agaIYLeXMlhP3d/s1600/IMG_20140525_105213_619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sausage</span></h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcdG5XcqhKIFOk52WMZ-zA5HSpHBQj2EZJsRwnpt1igaZlgXjP21IxWNbWulxoGj2pMkKNwSWknmRXQUo0lQ7xO0WbT96q-sblds7b5myrS_hfOrl9wqUvk1SgewFC0agaIYLeXMlhP3d/s1600/IMG_20140525_105213_619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcdG5XcqhKIFOk52WMZ-zA5HSpHBQj2EZJsRwnpt1igaZlgXjP21IxWNbWulxoGj2pMkKNwSWknmRXQUo0lQ7xO0WbT96q-sblds7b5myrS_hfOrl9wqUvk1SgewFC0agaIYLeXMlhP3d/s1600/IMG_20140525_105213_619.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFmnkE3v5ZYdPDusGzs34EDbY4OHnTznslYZDkTuLGaJATfzGtKjMb1LyYh5E8g5RSkE2hW3nZR7bFrzDzQNH5lnfgk20LwiIgz0okpe81Hu5PIe0CrHoN3Dv1yK8NUVF43b-bYOzpPRc/s1600/IMG_20140525_110146_641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFmnkE3v5ZYdPDusGzs34EDbY4OHnTznslYZDkTuLGaJATfzGtKjMb1LyYh5E8g5RSkE2hW3nZR7bFrzDzQNH5lnfgk20LwiIgz0okpe81Hu5PIe0CrHoN3Dv1yK8NUVF43b-bYOzpPRc/s1600/IMG_20140525_110146_641.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cut the pork belly into thick strips if you are using a grinder, cubes if you are using a food processor. Cube the pork shoulder.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mix together the pork belly slices pork shoulder cubes and the spice paste. Add more fish sauce. In the ideal world, you would marinade this at least 2 hours and up to one day. I was in a bit of a hurry so I didn't marinade at all.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Meat Grinder: Use a coarse grinding plate. Put a mix of belly/meat into the hopper of the grinder. Reserve a high fat/skin piece of belly for to feed into the grinder last. This clears out all the meat bits and with a grinder there is a very small amount of wastage that doesn't grind, so I'd rather waste fat & skin then meat. Normally, I'd feed the leftover bit to the dog or cat, but since it had chile, I did not and had to throw it out. (I hate wasting like that! I suppose I could have chopped it and added it, but time was a factor.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Food processor: Fill the bowl with cubed belly & meat and pulse until coarsely ground.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once it's all ground, give it another mix to blend into the fat/skin, meat, and spices. Add additional fish sauce at this time.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Give the sausage a taste test at this time following these instructions from Phia Sing:</span> <br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Take a very small sample portion of the mixture, wrap it in pieces of banana leaf and grill it until cooked. Taste it and check the saltiness. (If this test is satisfactory you can proceed to make the sausages. If the taste of the grilled sample is not right, adjust the seasoning.)</i></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Line a roasting pan with</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> parchment paper or banana leaves. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Make balls and form into patties. I have a 2 oz cookie scoop that my sister gifted me that I use for baking (it's the exact amount of batter for a cupcake) and meat balling because it saves me time & energy. If you are storing these for later, separate the layers with </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">wax paper, parchment paper or banana leaves.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Broil for 10-15 minutes or grill.</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Serve with brown sticky rice (recipe forthcoming).</span> <span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="color: #134f5c; font-size: x-large;">Ăn Ngon Lành</i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;">|Eat Delectably!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Go Shorty! It's my husband's birthday, and I'm making him his favorite dessert cuz it's his birthday</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;">—</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">it's cheesecake. (Yes, in my mind that everything preceding the em dash really did come out as a rap.) Only, it's whole food, dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, no bake, mostly raw, vegan, paleo, full fat, and all kinds of yummy. </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I'm calling it <span style="font-size: x-large;">Faux Cheezy-cake</span>! </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>That's the anthem, Get your damn hands up!</i></span></div>
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Good times.</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjISjbHFmBhOqdmYZd0aMP5K8_tT_5jOYLTq1sq00pr8sWNi0BZnjP_2t0AkuUsPLxZM1IvhZ6KGMdowxdiOZ0MCYzRxjeioN1mpeH-LeotFoNL-30QL_zp3gNTWsU8zw73mOtk7jcsMEM6/s1600/IMG_20140521_191452_085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjISjbHFmBhOqdmYZd0aMP5K8_tT_5jOYLTq1sq00pr8sWNi0BZnjP_2t0AkuUsPLxZM1IvhZ6KGMdowxdiOZ0MCYzRxjeioN1mpeH-LeotFoNL-30QL_zp3gNTWsU8zw73mOtk7jcsMEM6/s1600/IMG_20140521_191452_085.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">lilikoi & apple caramel faux cheezy-cupcakes</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Everything looks better staged on our new table!<br />
Industrial rustic chic.</span></i></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RmRmenKsQlDKDn_6ftn3PaGQQoks8fZ3QZyFDygzMRtFOc1N5cf8wI0tco3k6FcIioVWFbLFi9klSVGBAHBMaxC-Ga0U1KPUbzHIxGTZMi9DmomLb4KXA6MxcWHpi1765mJE7_hge1Fo/s1600/IMG_20140521_191509_797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i></i></span></a><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span></i></span></i> <i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> This is another case of not being able to find the exact recipe I want/need to make my heart's desire. So I mashed up three very different recipes from three disparate though intersecting nutri-diets</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;">—</span><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2014/01/vanilla-coconut-cream-cheesecake-dairy.html" target="_blank">Weston Price</a> + <a href="http://www.thepaleomom.com/2014/03/lemon-cheese-cake.html" target="_blank">Paleo</a> + <a href="http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2014/5/16/dairy-free-blueberry-cheesecake" target="_blank">Raw/Vegan</a> ==> mine own Faux Cheezy-cake version. (I do want to give the <a href="http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2014/01/vanilla-coconut-cream-cheesecake-dairy.html" target="_blank">sour coconut cream</a> one a go though. Probiotics!)</span></i></span><br />
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</span><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5WFcLndnjSQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><i style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is also a case of lack of menu planning and some pantry raiding though </span></i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I did run out to Whole Foods to get raw macadamias (forgetting anything else besides)</i></span><i style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the crust, I used 1 cup soaked & sprouted pesticide-free almonds (soaked overnight and allowed to dry then rinsed daily for 2 days), 1 cup lightly salted & roasted cashews because that is what I had on hand though I would have preferred walnuts or pecans. Actually for this crust recipe, any nuts will do</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;">—</span><i style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">May I return to the beginning, </span><span style="background-color: white;">The light is dimming, and the dream is too, </span><span style="background-color: white;">The world and I, we are still waiting, </span><span style="background-color: white;">Still hesitating, </span><span style="background-color: white;">Any <strike>dream</strike> nut will do</span></span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;">—</span><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">though the nutritional optimum would be soaked/sprouted, raw nuts to reduce the anti-nutrients and encourage sprouting. </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Funnily enough, the crust is pretty much the same recipe as what we call "dookies" </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">in our household which are a healtheir/less processed version of Lara bars (aka pemmican/biltong/iron rations) which we started eating when we cut processed foods, wheat, dairy, sugar from our diets then had to give up when they (Lara bars) got bought out and started adding sweeteners and junk (brown rice syrup triggers major blood sugar/intolerant reactions in me).</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></i><br />
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</i></span> <i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've recently learned the difference between <a href="http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=newtip&dbid=31" target="_blank">true or ceylon cinnamon and cassia</a> (commonly called saigon cinnamon); here, I'm using fair trade, organic, <a href="https://wholesale.frontiercoop.com/product.html?I=19456" target="_blank">true ceylon cinnamon</a> and it is zingy as all get out! (I'm finding Indian spices to be zingier than the cultivars from Southeast Asia</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;">—</span><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">hey, that Spice Trade was for a reason, eh?). You can substitute cassia/saigon cinnamon and I will still be your friend.</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the filling, soaked raw nuts are the best. No roasted nuts, because you will get nut butter, not the creamy almost milky flavor ya need for faux cheese. I like raw macadamias because they only need to be soaked a few hours. Raw cashews can be substituted however they take 1-2 days of soaking.</span></i></span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If necessary, you can substitute 1 tbs of gelatin (which is made from animal collagen and therefore not vegan, if you care) for the agar (made from seaweed) or leave out. </span></i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i>The agar gelatinizes at around room temperature so it helps keep structure at temps where coconut oil would melt. Gelatin requires a lower temperature (i.e. refrigeration) to set. You can also omit agar/gelatin, but keep it refrigerated. Coconut oil has a melting point of 78 degrees F so it'll be very soft at room temperature (cf. butter & cream cheese have a melting point of 82.4 F.)</i></span></span></i><br />
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</span></i> <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">And because I'm lazy to make a new topping, I used what I had on hand--cocoa hazelnut spread (aka nutella-the-good-parts-version, <a href="http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/09/as-you-wish-little-known-facts-about-the-princess-bride-on-its-25th-anniversary" target="_blank">as you wish</a>! Recipe forthcoming), my special </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/vegan-lilikoi-butter-gfdfsf.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 26px;" target="_blank">lilikoi butter</a><i> </i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">and </span><a href="http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/fruit-juice-caramel-sauce/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 26px;" target="_blank">apple juice carame</a><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/fruit-juice-caramel-sauce/" style="line-height: 26px;" target="_blank">l</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Any fruit preserves or fresh fruit will do.</span></i> </span><br />
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</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just a note that <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/fruit-syrup-recipe-sugar-alternative.html" target="_blank">going sugar free</a> over a long period of time resets one's sweet tolerance. This is a very low sweet dessert which is perfect for me & mine. Not that my beloveds have a choice.</span></i>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Faux Cheezy-cake</span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Makes 13 cupcakes or one 8-inch pie</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>CRUST</b></span></span></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">2 cups nuts (unsalted best)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1/2 cup organic unsulfured apricots</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1 tbs <span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">organic extra virgin </span>coconut oil</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Pinch of himalayan sea</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">salt</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1/2 t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> ceylon </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">cinnamon</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>FILLING<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpd_l5FU-yItkr9Yt2uiCrmbBozV25RA38ZU_hHYvDFioc80hpWdsCmFvfZi5WpiARJzkguj56GsouRAVopYz1dL2fXEQM_-ysuEMOhlBel5tz0tjP0TCeomxaXGuL9sVw7fiNEcGvlDEH/s1600/IMG_20140522_092615_699.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpd_l5FU-yItkr9Yt2uiCrmbBozV25RA38ZU_hHYvDFioc80hpWdsCmFvfZi5WpiARJzkguj56GsouRAVopYz1dL2fXEQM_-ysuEMOhlBel5tz0tjP0TCeomxaXGuL9sVw7fiNEcGvlDEH/s1600/IMG_20140522_092615_699.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Agar powder<br />Can call all you want but there's no one home</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">And you're not gonna reach my telephone</span></i></span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">Out in the club and I'm sippin' that bub</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background-color: white;">And you're not gonna reach my telephone</span></i></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</b></span></span>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">2 cups </span><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">raw </span><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">macadamia nuts, soaked 2-4 hours</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 26px;">3/4 cup melted organic extra virgin coconut oil</span></span></span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">1/4 cup </span><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/fruit-syrup-recipe-sugar-alternative.html" style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">apricot syrup</a></span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">2 tsp vanilla</span></span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">6 tbsp lemon juice (~ 1 lemon)</span></span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">1 tsp agar powder dissolved in 1/4 c very very hot water</span></span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">pinch himalayan </span><span style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;">salt</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px;"><b>TOPPING OPTIONS</b></span></span>
</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 26px;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/vegan-lilikoi-butter-gfdfsf.html" target="_blank">Lilikoi butter</a></span></span></li>
<li><a href="http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/fruit-juice-caramel-sauce/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 26px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #134f5c;">Apple juice caramel</span></a></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cocoa hazelnut spread (recipe TBA)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/fruit-syrup-recipe-sugar-alternative.html" style="line-height: 26px; text-align: justify;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">apricot syrup</span></a></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fresh fruit plus 1 tsp agar powder, 1/2 cup boiling hot water & <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/fruit-syrup-recipe-sugar-alternative.html" target="_blank">sweetener of choice</a></span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you are using any refrigerated toppings, take it out of the fridge to let it come to room temperature.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuazeFByGvFR6CS0wj-H9nEWKu3xkZVri7UDLmE1aoL3HrTqeYCN-k9_0CgRnBxDrER0itMOanP9XAuWrsu9xuCm76-HpYljzOVDEz7nuhrf-MR3mG8Wkg6RWRXHY0kFbheBzfRataIBlR/s1600/IMG_20140521_152525_762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuazeFByGvFR6CS0wj-H9nEWKu3xkZVri7UDLmE1aoL3HrTqeYCN-k9_0CgRnBxDrER0itMOanP9XAuWrsu9xuCm76-HpYljzOVDEz7nuhrf-MR3mG8Wkg6RWRXHY0kFbheBzfRataIBlR/s1600/IMG_20140521_152525_762.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></span></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>CRUST</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Line a 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper OR use a cupcake pan lined with cupcake liners.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pulverize all the ingredients in a food processor until a coarse meal is formed. Press into the pan firmly until you have 1/4 inch depth cupcakes or 1/3-1/2 inch depth for springform.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Leftover crust mix can be shaped into balls or bars and stored in the fridge and eaten as you would eat granola bars/energy bars. (Dookies!)</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
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<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>FILLING</b></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or a blender. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Use a 2 oz cookie scoop to scoop it into the cupcake liners while it's still warm. </span>
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdLSkWjvXo1Wh4eMgHCE0eBTHN-FjIJaYkvi8ZJHkv9NtWEenTJcRcRAmlGmbY0nB6sswmpU_zK9RqgrZYPrgKp8D0ZKn3hsWDJMqa7WOFofjsqKkddKvHF7KBBAshakD_9rAysGjImEP/s1600/IMG_20140521_171628_214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdLSkWjvXo1Wh4eMgHCE0eBTHN-FjIJaYkvi8ZJHkv9NtWEenTJcRcRAmlGmbY0nB6sswmpU_zK9RqgrZYPrgKp8D0ZKn3hsWDJMqa7WOFofjsqKkddKvHF7KBBAshakD_9rAysGjImEP/s1600/IMG_20140521_171628_214.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
<b> TOPPING</b></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Use room temperature topping if you have something that is unmalleable at refrigerated temperatures. Coat the Faux Cheezy-cake or Faux Cheezy-cupcakes.</span> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">
</span> <span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you are using fresh fruit and want a glee to hold the fruit: mix 1-2 tsp agar powder in boiling hot water until dissolved. Add any sweetener. Layer the cake with the fruit then pour the agar syrup on top while it's still very warm.</span> </span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Refrigerate for 1 hour.</span>
</span></div>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: x-large;"><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ăn Ngon Lành</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">|Eat Delectably!</span></span></div>
<h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIiPLW3dSR-fMjO_mat6sIlKyxvbXSaZMtp8QDIa6JL_k57TuTxiVy3H9rJnK8BN1yLvRkYYhBSSfqjC8Glirk9cXlix-MzOyougpdA4_1ra2Y6umSJ2WH8aSe3P9H5QXreR3LV6K1Z-Kg/s1600/IMG_20140521_172034_825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIiPLW3dSR-fMjO_mat6sIlKyxvbXSaZMtp8QDIa6JL_k57TuTxiVy3H9rJnK8BN1yLvRkYYhBSSfqjC8Glirk9cXlix-MzOyougpdA4_1ra2Y6umSJ2WH8aSe3P9H5QXreR3LV6K1Z-Kg/s1600/IMG_20140521_172034_825.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Faux Cheezy-cake with apricot syrup</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Happy birthday Trung (and Đàn Tâm too)</span>!</div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-31679747677887267062014-05-11T07:00:00.000-07:002014-11-25T11:09:26.041-08:00Nước rau má | Yo Mama's pennywort juice (Gotu Kola)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h2>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Word to Yo Mutha</span></h2>
<span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Uống nước nhớ nguồn</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Drink water, remember the source</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bx2fLQRftr8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Ơn Nghĩa Sinh Thãnh by my favorite Viet singer Hoàng Lan</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In honor of Mother's Day, I'm posting a recipe for a beverage that your mother approved.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.botanyvn.com/cnt.asp?param=news&newsid=912&lg=en" target="_blank">Rau má</a> | "mother's herb"*--alias <i><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116297/" target="_blank">Centella asiatica</a>, </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centella_asiatica" target="_blank">pennywort</a>, <a href="http://www.ceyherbal.com/news/gotu-kola/" target="_blank">gotu kola</a>/<em style="background-color: white; line-height: 10.416666030883789px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.vaidyamishra.com/products/Mandukaparni-%252d-Learn-About-the-Ability-of-Gotu-Kola-to-Improve-Mental-Function.html" target="_blank">mandukaparni</a> </em>(Ayurvedic), </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">崩大碗 ("chipped big bowl" </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">TCM) </span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strike>not Lei Gong Teng/</strike></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><strike>雷公藤</strike> (important correction below)** </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> is a powerful </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116297/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">herbal cure-all</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> that has been called the "</span><a href="http://www.alandiashram.org/gurukula_blog/2012/03/gotu-kola-brahmi-an-ayurvedic-view.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">elixir of life</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">." (The many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centella_asiatica#Other_names" target="_blank">other names of pennywort</a> throughout Asia.)</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Apart from wound healing, the herb is recommended for the treatment of various skin conditions such as leprosy, lupus, varicose ulcers, eczema, psoriasis, diarrhoea, fever, amenorrhea, diseases of the female genitourinary tract and also for relieving anxiety and improving cognition. [<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116297/" target="_blank">Source</a>]</i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: start;"><i>"yo mama's so wise that Yoda calls her for advice"</i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Centella asiatica (rau m</i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: left;">á</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-size: x-small;">, pennywort, lei gong teng, gotu kola)</i></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOVt6cijx3iEHClaiZ_Y0rL73XMBNdLNzSvWgsL_oFLs668S81WvLjAVh8A-OZ4wcw0aMNia4qLamafIAAF3vM1cBKlLc5giCxFKNARDTPQv02GC9mZzYbE3csNJZsx8t1kWks95nDOQk/s640/IMG_20140502_190738_726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Influenced by <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=yCusL4oT3OoC&lpg=PA7&ots=xT9rbUsTzy&dq=humoral%20system%20medicine%20asian&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine</a>, in <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=H4BchmPNmXIC&lpg=PA112&ots=frsX6xUH5z&dq=humoral%20system%20medicine%20asian&pg=PA111#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">Viet</a> <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780824862473" target="_blank">folk medicine</a>--which is based on <a href="http://temperature.ling.su.se/index.php/Humoral_Systems" target="_blank">humoral theory</a>--the body is governed by <span style="font-style: italic;">gió </span></span><i>mát</i><span style="font-style: italic;"> (âm)</span><span style="background-color: white;">|cooling winds (</span>yin) and<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;">gió </span><span style="font-style: italic;">nóng (duơng)</span><span style="background-color: white;">|hot winds (yang) humors. In this folk medicine belief and practices, food is medicinal and is governed by these properties. If your body is suffering from too much yang-heat, you consume yin-cooling foods and drinks to balance yourself to </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">homeostasis</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/2008/02/nuoc-rau-ma-vietnamese-pennywort-juice.html" target="_blank">Nước rau má</a> is a popular juice made from a wetland medicinal herb native to Asia and is widely used in <a href="http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/gotu-kola" target="_blank">Ayurvedic</a>, <a href="http://alternativehealing.org/centella_asiatica.htm" target="_blank">Traditional Chinese Medicine</a> (TCM) and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18775771" target="_blank">South African</a>/<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116297/" target="_blank">Madagascar</a> healing modalities. It is considered a cooling drink in thuốc Nam | Viet folk medicine (versus thuốc Bắc or Chinese medicine). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Rich with </span><a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/489526-what-are-the-benefits-of-drinking-liquid-chlorophyll/" target="_blank">chlorophyll</a>, vitamins, and minerals, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">rau má </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">is </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">mild adaptogen, is mildly antibacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcerogenic, anxiolytic, a cerebral tonic, a circulatory stimulant, a diuretic, nervine and vulnerary. It's being researched as a potent anti-cancer medicine.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Active ingredients are asiaticoside (a triterpene glycoside) (triterpenoid), brahmoside and brahminoside (both saponin glycosides), madecassoside (a glycoside with strong anti-inflammatory properties), madecassic acid, thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, vitamin K, asparate, glutamate, serine, threonine, alanine, lysine, histidine, magnesium, calcium and sodium. ... </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">high concentration of thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and pyridoxine (vitamin B6). (<a href="http://www.anyvitamins.com/gotu-kola-info.htm" target="_blank">Source</a>)</span></span></blockquote>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/74OBaLLi3tY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Though I've drank it </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">throughout my life, I first</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> encountered its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kJx_lFVvhg" target="_blank">folk medicinal</a> purpose when I was doing ethnographic fieldwork in Vietnam in 2000. Between my daily </span>cà-phê sữa đá, <span style="line-height: 18px;">chronic dehydration, and the tropical heat, inevitably I started to experience a mild urinary tract infection considered </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-style: italic;">nóng | </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">hot-yang in the the <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780824862473" target="_blank">Viet folk system</a></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">. Though I had brought all purpose international travel antibiotics (this is back when antibiotics were given out like candy), I was reluctant to use them. My aunty (a real aunty, not the fictive kin that white anthropologists love to claim adopted them, not understanding that in kin-relational languages lacking a 2nd person pronoun like "YOU", if one is not kin, one doesn't exist; and since one can't not exist, one is assigned a kinship pronoun, not adopted. If one was really adopted, one would have family obligations like getting random phone calls every few weeks to fix this that and the other and to cook/buy/make/deliver this that and the other for such and such relation even when one lives 500 miles away. Not that<i> I </i>mind because I <i>adore</i> my phamily. Ahem)--So my aunty ran out to the market and returned with a bunch of </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">rau má. With one glass, the infection was gone.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The other week, as I was suffering from some "hot wind" (...) and the heat wave, my MIL picked up some </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">rau má</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> at Vietnamese market for me. The leaf is astringent tasting and the juice is not pleasant in and of itself. Typically this is served with a grip of sugar to counter the astringency. Since I am low to no suga</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">r, my MIL suggested coconut water as complementary cooling liquid.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lacking fancier juice extraction equipment I used my handy dandy Cuisinart immersion blender (bought on clearance from Sur le table) to pulverise it with some water and then used a nut bag to strain it. This left a little fine debris so next time I would use a cheesecloth instead. I </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">tried some as a straight shot. Regretted it. Gave some to my husband as a straight shot because I like to share the joy. Haha. Wish I took a photo of his face the moment it hit his tongue. Tried some with <a href="http://www.stannardfarm.com/" target="_blank">Stannard Farms</a> organic grade B maple syrup. Then I remembered I had some with some Trader Joe's coconut water which was a vast improvement. (I also have some fresh coconuts that I froze in the deep freeze--note: do not freeze coconuts ever again--but didn't have the patience to partially defrost them and macguyver a filtering system so that the semi cracked coconut didn't melt everywhere.) Then for the remainder, I just poured it into my daily, organic <a href="http://www.susunweed.com/How_to_make_Infusions.htm" target="_blank">herbal infusion</a> of red raspberry leaves, stinging nettle and red clover with a teaspoon of <a href="http://www.ei-resource.org/articles/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-articles/nutritional-considerations-in-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/" target="_blank">himalayan sea salt</a>. It's really quite uh, special. The things one gets used to... After lingering for a week and a half despite cranberry juice, bearberry/cranberry/mannose extract supplements up the wazoo (I haven't done antibiotics in over 14 yrs), my "hot wind" cleared up with 2 days of drinking r</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">au má.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span><span style="color: #134f5c;">I recommend using coconut water to blend the </span><span style="color: #134f5c;">rau má</span><span style="color: #134f5c;">, fresh if you can source the young coconuts or use your preferred brand of the bottled/boxed kind. The more coconut water you add, the more you dilute the astringency.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span><span style="color: #134f5c;">We've become so accustomed in our (post-) modern, consumer-driven society to consuming our nutrients in pill form as concentrated, isolated elements. This is not how our biological systems optimally function. It is best to get our nutrients from whole foods. Prepared correctly within its cultural context/foodways, medicinal herbs are an excellent way to obtain these nutrients. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">Before you run off and start adding this to your chia-goji-quinoa-dragon fruit-blue green algae-superfood smoothie, keep in mind: Like any medicinal plant, pennywort is best to drink in moderation and not on a ongoing, daily basis. There is <a href="http://www.empowher.com/media/reference/gotu-kola" target="_blank">conflicting</a> <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116297/" target="_blank">info</a> about using this herb during pregnancy and <a href="http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/heroic-herbs-for-new-moms.aspx#axzz31CBUkDop" target="_blank">breastfeeding</a> mostly because no one has officially studied its use in mothers (this is true of most herbal remedies even when folk medicinal practices do condone it during the childbearing year). Use your own common sense.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Straight up now tell me do you want to love me forever? Woah oh oh! Or are you just having fun?</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Word to the Mutha!</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Aaaaaaand... I couldn't resist Mr. T's rap about yo mama.</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">*I'm not clear on the etymological/<a href="http://www.cseashawaii.org/2009/04/vietnamese-ethnobotany/" target="_blank">ethnobotanical</a> origins of Rau má which translates as "mother's herb". Some Western herbalists purport that it aids in </span><a href="http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/heroic-herbs-for-new-moms.aspx#axzz31CBUkDop" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">breastfeeding</a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">. I haven't heard of any mother-specific uses in Viet folk medicine, but then I've never investigated it.</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">** I've been informed by a careful reader that <a href="http://nccam.nih.gov/health/tgvine" target="_blank">Lei Gong Gen | Thunder God Vine</a> is actually a different TCM plant </span></span></i><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>Tripterygium wilfordii that is mistakenly attributed as Pennywort and is toxic if not consumed properly. Thanks, Hai for catching that!</i></span></span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/pKIUz0r-9bg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Our phamily matriarch Aunty Len goes back to Hilo every year or so to visit her in-laws. She always comes back with the best treats--homemade pickled baby mangoes, chocolate macadamia nuts (macadamias are my favorite thing ever!), and lilikoi (passionfruit) for making butter. My daughter VL loveloveloves aunty Len's lilikoi butter. And then one day, I googled the recipe and realized it has dairy (1/2 lb of butter!) and refined sugar! Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Sigh.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I am finally getting around to making a dairy-free, refined sugar-free lilikoi butter. I used this <a href="http://vegansparkles.com/2012/05/31/toasted-banana-bread-with-passionfruit-butter/" target="_blank">vegan lilikoi butter recipe</a> but have substituted healthier, real food choices like unrefined sweetener and coconut cream concentrate. (I have a reaction to agave in all its forms likely do to chemical contamination in the production which means alas, tequila is no longer my friend. And agave syrup is not without its criticisms besides.)</span></i></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oKs7NHAO4nI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I just bought the <a href="http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/coconut_cream_concentrate.htm" target="_blank">Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Cream Concentrate</a> and I'm excited to give it a try. Previously <a href="http://www.artisanafoods.com/coconut/coconut-butter/" target="_blank">Artisana Organic Coconut Butter</a> has been a staple in our house. You can google all the benefits of coconut, but from my experience, having a spoonful (or more) of coconut butter a day helped to restore my brain function, stabilize my blood sugar, and boosted my immune system. I've just given the TT CCC a taste and it's more viscous, smoother and lighter than the Artisana. I'm presuming the difference is the production; TT is produced in the Philippines from perhaps fresh or fresher, whole coconut. Artisana is produced in Oakland I presume from dried whole coconut as it is a little denser (not a bad thing per se). Both are delicious!</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We don't eat very much GF bread, but I will have to crank out some <a href="http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-bread/" target="_blank">paleo bread</a> for the occasion. </span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoEPO0hfePQXodTB9V-XA_xy9FgN5PDCLBYFJc1N1Hc11cxQoj5eyCsJxtEHjOpw21sCCgptu2lSGnDoZFny0DuZQUAV6PcKIUACNjO4IIjqukuSkfuqi7XelIMi68ZJRi4XFDnT2Pnw6/s1600/IMG_20140722_195923_889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoEPO0hfePQXodTB9V-XA_xy9FgN5PDCLBYFJc1N1Hc11cxQoj5eyCsJxtEHjOpw21sCCgptu2lSGnDoZFny0DuZQUAV6PcKIUACNjO4IIjqukuSkfuqi7XelIMi68ZJRi4XFDnT2Pnw6/s1600/IMG_20140722_195923_889.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;">Previously I've made DF/SF </span></span><a href="http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/fruit-juice-caramel-sauce/" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;" target="_blank">apple juice caramel</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;"> (essentially apple butter with a sexier name) and I forgot how long it takes to reduce. I'm inclined against the lemon called for in the original recipe. Usually it is added to fruit preserves to retain the color against oxidation. Passionfruit is already so tart though that it pushes it even tarter which requires more sweetener to balance a</span></span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">nd still the tart lingers on your palate afterwards. I've taken it out of the recipe but in case you are concerned about the aesthetics, add 1-2 squeezes of lemon.</span></i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;"><i><br /></i></span><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;">Generally, sugar is added to the reduction process to carmelize and ergo thicken the preserves. If you are using raw honey, put it after the reduction to retain all the nutrients and keep it from being cooked. Apricot syrup can be added to the reduction as can palm sugar. We are fairly low sweet so you should taste and add more/less sweetener to your taste.</span></span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;">I'm very pleased with the way this came out, especially the texture of the TT CCC which is very creamy & silky. It's almost custard-like in consistency. In the future, I'm thinking this calls for a classic Hawaiian POG variation--passion fruit, orange and guava.</span></span></i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;">This recipe has also been posted on <a href="http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2014/6/2/coconut-cream-lilikoi-butter#comments" target="_blank">Tropical Traditions website</a>.</span></span></i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Y1bc3Tes1d15uehDbax7QEomhAXDkLmzQCycT5UhNJttP6bWG1Xa2x3USRbZJbuNxDMdScdsIAMYSXHrlad2-ljHYEIeVElXbGrLnIJX48wgTJCiiOAADkjaUN9uq7-MPanOE51fY-9g/s1600/IMG_20140502_090205_151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Y1bc3Tes1d15uehDbax7QEomhAXDkLmzQCycT5UhNJttP6bWG1Xa2x3USRbZJbuNxDMdScdsIAMYSXHrlad2-ljHYEIeVElXbGrLnIJX48wgTJCiiOAADkjaUN9uq7-MPanOE51fY-9g/s1600/IMG_20140502_090205_151.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Vegan Lilikoi Butter (GF/DF/SF)</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">makes 1.5 cups</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></h3>
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<li style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 3px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">18 oz lilikoi pulp*</span></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 3px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;">1 cup Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate (or substitute coconut butter)</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 3px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6+ tbsp raw honey, <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/fruit-syrup-recipe-sugar-alternative.html" target="_blank">apricot syrup</a>, or coconut/palm sugar*</span></span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhed0nunfViLNYSSwqDy8JZ1UIuutUdCd4wHnQPFB1Gm_zuRVfG5nZLX95Z3JyxwfmIcRoSwXCyN_52CYzhaSJ81F69bXkObCJjqWvb5IFO6SKU1twKwXuqbuieb77FnexQilL7yc1ngopD/s1600/IMG_20140502_104636_930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhed0nunfViLNYSSwqDy8JZ1UIuutUdCd4wHnQPFB1Gm_zuRVfG5nZLX95Z3JyxwfmIcRoSwXCyN_52CYzhaSJ81F69bXkObCJjqWvb5IFO6SKU1twKwXuqbuieb77FnexQilL7yc1ngopD/s1600/IMG_20140502_104636_930.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;">Simmer the lilikoi and apricot syrup or coconut/palm sugar in a small saucepan at the lowest heat setting until it is reduced by one-third to one-half (about 60 minutes depending on how hot your burner is). Turn off the burner. (A low boil would speed things up but I prefer a slow cook method. You could also use a slow cooker to achieve the same purpose, but mine is clay and absorbs flavors so its savory smelling).</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;">Stir in the CoCo Cream until dissolved. If the CCC is </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;">solidified, dip a metal 1/4 cup measure into hot water and then scoop. If using raw honey, add and mix.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;">Pour into sterilized half-pint jars. Refrigerate one jar to eat right away. Can the rest for later using the </span><a href="http://www.delish.com/recipes/cooking-recipes/how-to-water-bath-can" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 13px;" target="_blank">water bath method</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;"> or freeze it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 13px;">Best served at room temperature as the coconut cream will solidify in the fridge.</span></span>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13px;"><i>* I found this in the freezer section of Mi Pueblo; more likely to be found in Latino-Carribean markets or Japanese-Hawaiian markets. Give the package a quick rinse before opening to remove any residue, dirt, etc.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Sometimes we eat 12 organic chicken leg quarters a week. To make this go the mile, I roast the legs (</i><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/sesame-chicken.html" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">sesame chicken</a><i>) and shred the chicken while its still warm and pliable. I reserve the bones, cartilage, & parts of the skin for chicken broth in the freezer. My sister </i></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Uyên </i></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>recommends roasting the bones to deepen the flavor. This is another 30 minutes of prep/cook time so I've yet to try it out. </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My daughter requested "Minnie-strone" so I got the chicken bones out of the freezer and I soak/boiled some kidney beans, but then looking at our vegetables--bok choy & organic </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">bunashimeji </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">from a recent run to Ranch 99 (this is the VietAm grammatical noun-adjective transposition), organic kale & broccoli greens from our garden, and the <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/sesame-chicken.html" target="_blank">roast sesame chicken</a> leg quarters in the fridge... and well I started feeling more Asian than Italian and I started craving </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Miến Gà.</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Only, anytime I eat Mien I get very agitated and have an accelerated blood sugar/hunger pattern--maybe from processing or maybe it's the tapioca (thought: cornstarch is frequently a cheap substitute for tapioca so that might be the <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/corn-free-glutamate-free.html" target="_blank">trigger</a>)--still haven't figured it out. So I used what we had in the pantry--dangmyeon (</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Miến</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> khoai lang).</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyways, I used what we had in the pantry, garden, and fridge. Improv whatever mild green vegetables & ingredients you've got on hand.</span></i><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Basic Chicken broth</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></h3>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 lbs of organic chicken bones</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2.5 qts of filtered water</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 organic shallot</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3 organic garlic cloves</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 tsp of organic ginger powder</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2-3 handfuls of grey sea salt</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">generous splash of Red Boat fish sauce</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 splash of raw, organic apple cider vinegar*</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">optional carrot (sweetens broth)</span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Throw all the ingredients into your 5 QT dutch oven or stock pot. Put the lid on and let it low boil for 30 minutes. Alternately, throw it in the pressure cooker for 15 mins plus decompression time. Remove the chicken bones. (You can optionally freeze and <a href="http://www.traditional-foods.com/bone-broth/" target="_blank">reuse the bones</a> but I generally only use them once.) </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>*The ACV helps to acidulate the bones so they release their minerals.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Miến Gà</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> recipe</span></h2>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">chicken broth (no carrot)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">veggies: bok choy, </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">broccoli greens, </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">kale, etc.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1/2 c organic dried shitake mushrooms</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">7 oz (2 packages) organic bunashimeji (beech mushrooms)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">optional nấm mèo | wood ear fungus</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 bunches of dangmyeon (Korean sweet potato noodles)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">roasted sesame oil</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Red Boat fish sauce</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">shredded <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/sesame-chicken.html" target="_blank">roast chicken</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">cilantro</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">chile paste for condiment (Youzi XO sauce, etc)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you are making the broth from scratch, start making it first. Then start a pot of water boiling to make the noodles.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">If you are using dried mushrooms, reconstitute them in separate bowls with hot water.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, thoroughly wash & chop your greens. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">The traditional way of washing greens uses less water than letting the faucet run. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Fill a tub, bucket or large bowl with water and submerge the mustard greens to wash them. Plunge the greens up and down to get the water sloshing; </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">the dirt and sediment sink to the bottom.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"> Rub your thumbs across the inner stalks to remove any dirt. Remove the greens and c</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">ompost the water lightly rinsing any residue off the tub. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Repeat at least once more until clean.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i3kJCtSrMbU/U2O-wZFvwrI/AAAAAAAARQg/jHuPHx8_O_E/s1600/IMG_20140501_171453_846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i3kJCtSrMbU/U2O-wZFvwrI/AAAAAAAARQg/jHuPHx8_O_E/s1600/IMG_20140501_171453_846.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Once the water is boiling, cook noodles for 8-10 minutes until softened. Drain in a colander (you can compost the water) and rinse with cool water to remove extra starch. Pour 2-3 tbs of sesame oil over the noodles and toss thoroughly. You can also use your hands to massage it in. This keeps them from clumping/sticking.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Drain the mushrooms and squeeze out excess water. Slice shitake if necessary.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Remove any bones from the broth at this time. Add veggies, mushrooms, 1/4 cup sesame oil, a handful of salt, and a generous splash of Red Boat Fish sauce. Cover and cook for ~10 minutes until veggies are just cooked. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">In each soup bowl, add glass noodles, shredded chicken, and top off with veggies & broth. Garnish with cilantro and serve with chile paste.</span></span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Ăn Ngon Lành</i>|Eat Delectably!</span></span></span></i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pZlkByknfnM/U2O-5_JqvsI/AAAAAAAARTk/7vf9BEtSmFg/s1600/IMG_20140501_174944_372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pZlkByknfnM/U2O-5_JqvsI/AAAAAAAARTk/7vf9BEtSmFg/s1600/IMG_20140501_174944_372.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-69743236767918151332014-05-02T11:34:00.001-07:002014-08-06T09:10:14.664-07:00Sesame roast chicken<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I got this recipe from my MIL who got it from her ethnic Chinese-Vietnamese friend. I have tweaked it with a load of sea salt and to make it quick & easy. </i></span><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I don't even bother marinading. </i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I use leg quarters instead of butterflied whole chicken (culturally we prefer dark meat; it's more flavorful, fatty and nutritious. Only in the breast obsessed USA does one find <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enwU5jIXSlU" target="_blank">bioengineered, factory farmed chickens </a>who are so top heavy they can't walk or breed. </i><br />
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<i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I call this my "oven-fried chicken" recipe because when the fat renders it leaves the skin this perfect crispy texture while the meat remains moist and tender. My daughter and her dad love to eat the skin, the cartilage, the marrow, and some <a href="http://smithmeadows.com/farm/we-really-do-eat-the-bones/" target="_blank">bone</a>.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I make this almost weekly. <strike>And one of these days I will take some photos.</strike></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Variations include using <a href="http://www.truthinoliveoil.com/" target="_blank">real olive oil</a>, lard, or avocado oil and using various seasonings/herbs.</i></span><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUYscAsjQoq51oZkdckT7i-YTfYm2aor1pmDl26JliKGUxQEuvREuZ4_EufE0XjUh0hf9u7sBr0uMDhhF5s12TihBQV2tHhUx1ZN1XE3cjeFAkgZVQEbS9OLA8QxlFKuJXJecQQr0fSqtx/s1600/IMG_20140602_123737_540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUYscAsjQoq51oZkdckT7i-YTfYm2aor1pmDl26JliKGUxQEuvREuZ4_EufE0XjUh0hf9u7sBr0uMDhhF5s12TihBQV2tHhUx1ZN1XE3cjeFAkgZVQEbS9OLA8QxlFKuJXJecQQr0fSqtx/s1600/IMG_20140602_123737_540.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></h3>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6 organic chicken leg quarters (can use a butterflied whole chicken)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1/4 cup toasted sesame oil</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">lots of sea salt (can use white/bleached sea salt, or mineral-rich grey salt)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">optional organic garlic powder/minced</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Equipment:</span></h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">roasting pan with a rack</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">wide aluminum foil or parchment paper</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">baking dish</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">silicon marinade brush</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Preheat the oven to 470 degrees F. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Line a roasting pan with foil or parchment paper to catch the grease and insert the roasting rack. Pour in a 1-2 cups of water so there is a thin layer. This prevents any burning/smoking.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJSwTbbTUREZbN_IAMv2xshT4Mr5PugyJfcoBXeD7pmYtghxYPvU7j8vvGMGqaxcEL-QyH60yOqLjnzkyuBfmW1p37i96srTPMT-U0sy04QQBBdLoGi_OFOoe-f4yaG0UbVj3mBoqVgt8/s1600/IMG_20140527_113627_847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJSwTbbTUREZbN_IAMv2xshT4Mr5PugyJfcoBXeD7pmYtghxYPvU7j8vvGMGqaxcEL-QyH60yOqLjnzkyuBfmW1p37i96srTPMT-U0sy04QQBBdLoGi_OFOoe-f4yaG0UbVj3mBoqVgt8/s1600/IMG_20140527_113627_847.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fill a square baking dish with the sesame oil. Dip the leg quarter in the oil and coat any missing areas using a silicon marinade brush.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lay the leg on the rack and generously coat both sides with sea sal</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">t. The sea salt keeps the meat moist, helps render the fat/moisture for extra crispiness, and through baking osmosis it is pulled into the meat itself making the meat as flavorful as if it were brined. So use more sea salt than you think you will need. do not fear the sea salt. If it ends up being too much, you can just crack the salt crust off or take off the skin.</span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Add water to the roasting pan below the level of the rack to prevent burning/smoking. Roast for 40-50 minutes until the skin is crispy and rendered. If I am dealing with bigger legs, I will use the last 10-15 minutes to broil it. You can use the drippings for gravy/au jus if you like.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCilKOMZK5YHT70HgK3qvsbe6Agg8D2u_vlozKgRzPyFF-06syc3YOG4w_l_Wh45eWnM4HLxpdHrEW3S8Kns5V7DNqfYHC_ENLfyY1hR8pYlUPott_7WhJftKxublvszj5Y_72fvznSbxA/s1600/IMG_20140527_123027_514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCilKOMZK5YHT70HgK3qvsbe6Agg8D2u_vlozKgRzPyFF-06syc3YOG4w_l_Wh45eWnM4HLxpdHrEW3S8Kns5V7DNqfYHC_ENLfyY1hR8pYlUPott_7WhJftKxublvszj5Y_72fvznSbxA/s1600/IMG_20140527_123027_514.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Allow to cool and shred the chicken while it's still warm and pliable. Reserve the bones, cartilage, and fatty skin bits for broth/soup (<a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/basic-chicken-broth-mien-ga-glass.html" target="_blank">basic recipe here</a>). Shredded chicken can be used for stir-frys, soup, salads, wraps, spring rolls, etc. Done this way a chicken can be stretched for 3-4 meals making it actually efficient to buy organic chicken.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="font-size: x-large;">Ăn Ngon Lành</i><span style="font-size: large;">|Eat Delectably!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7HSMLsODV9C8HDCGNSOAP0FE1A5z0ya8T3Je7tVfxuNIRdwiuBLSPbVKWOysVa4wC7sg2ftZjILyyEU20qytxqGQWM1_j8GRPZiPjIxfzyQ-dK7Hs-gPsOI0Xja7OktBnJ4dZ1711godz/s1600/IMG_20140527_123502_864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7HSMLsODV9C8HDCGNSOAP0FE1A5z0ya8T3Je7tVfxuNIRdwiuBLSPbVKWOysVa4wC7sg2ftZjILyyEU20qytxqGQWM1_j8GRPZiPjIxfzyQ-dK7Hs-gPsOI0Xja7OktBnJ4dZ1711godz/s1600/IMG_20140527_123502_864.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-65301504958915258992014-05-02T10:07:00.002-07:002014-05-22T11:08:36.346-07:00Fruit syrup recipe (sugar alternative)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 20px;">After being completely sugar-free (including refined sugars, raw honey, & fruit) for almost a year to restore my blood sugar balance back in 2012, my palate has shifted and I have a very low tolerance to sweetness. Although I've reintroduced fruit, then raw honey/unrefined sweeteners, then rarely, some refined sugar, I find that I have a very low </i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="line-height: 20px;">threshold for sweetness and I cannot tolerate most refined sugars including all cane/beet, agave, sorbitol, erythritol, etc. and I just don't like stevia. Coconut palm sugar and palm sugar (non-coconut bearing species) is one of the only (minimally) refined sugars that I can tolerate because it </span></i></span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">does not spike my blood sugar in the way most refined sugars do.</span></i></span> <i style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span></i> <i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Back in March, I watched pediatric endocrinologist </span><span style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmC4Rm5cpOI" style="line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Dr. Robert Lustig's TED talk</a> </span>(20 min)<span style="line-height: 20px;"> where he lists the 56 names of sugar (his longer groundbreaking 90 min talk </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM" style="line-height: 20px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="line-height: 20px;">). While coconut palm sugar was not one of the named, it still is a minimally refined sugar produced in a manner similar to agave or even maple syrup. </span></span></span></i><br />
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The <iframe frameborder="0" height="288" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:arc:video:colbertnation.com:a8ebeb4b-4111-4478-9caa-3daf3ca0d60a" width="512"></iframe></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><b>The short attention span 5 minute version: Dr. Robert Lustig on <a href="http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/">The Colbert Report</a></b> </span></span></span></i></div>
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Coconut palm sugar has also been </span><a href="https://www.tropicaltraditions.com/coconut_palm_sugar.htm" style="color: #134f5c;" target="_blank">criticized</a><span style="color: #134f5c;"> as being "another agave syrup", not being a sustainable industry since any coconut palms used for sugar will not produce viable coconuts, and not traditional in the Philippines. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_sugar" style="color: #134f5c;" target="_blank">Other Southeast Asian countries</a><span style="color: #134f5c;"> do make </span><a href="http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/ingredients/palmsug.html" style="color: #134f5c;" target="_blank">use of coconut palm sugar</a><span style="color: #134f5c;">. I proceed with caution. Frankly I don't know enough about the industry. I use both </span></span></i><span style="font-family: pt-sans-1, pt-sans-2, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="http://vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/blog/2008/10/palm-sugar.html" target="_blank">đường thốt nốt</a> | </span></span><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">sago palm sugar and coconut palm sugar very infrequently and have created a very low glycemic index fruit syrup alternative. </span></span></i><br />
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<a href="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1798726/thumbs/o-SUGAR-900.jpg?1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1798726/thumbs/o-SUGAR-900.jpg?1" height="465" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span></i> <i style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In looking for a whole food, low glycemic alternative sweetener, I was inspired by the date syrup recipe in <a href="http://www.dairyfreeglutenfreekitchen.com/" target="_blank">The Dairy-Free & Gluten-Free Kitchen</a>. But in reviewing the actual <a href="http://thepaleodiet.com/fruits-and-sugars/" target="_blank">sugar content</a>, I noticed that dried dates are very high in sugar, as are my previous ingredient choice, dried figs. Dried apricots and dried prunes are much lower in sugar content by contrast. So I suggest a syrup of organic unsulfured dried apricots or organic additive-free prunes as a substitute. I've revised previous recipes that were made with fig to apricots or prunes.</span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIiPLW3dSR-fMjO_mat6sIlKyxvbXSaZMtp8QDIa6JL_k57TuTxiVy3H9rJnK8BN1yLvRkYYhBSSfqjC8Glirk9cXlix-MzOyougpdA4_1ra2Y6umSJ2WH8aSe3P9H5QXreR3LV6K1Z-Kg/s1600/IMG_20140521_172034_825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIiPLW3dSR-fMjO_mat6sIlKyxvbXSaZMtp8QDIa6JL_k57TuTxiVy3H9rJnK8BN1yLvRkYYhBSSfqjC8Glirk9cXlix-MzOyougpdA4_1ra2Y6umSJ2WH8aSe3P9H5QXreR3LV6K1Z-Kg/s1600/IMG_20140521_172034_825.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/05/faux-cheezy-cake-gf-df-sf-vegan-paleo.html" target="_blank">Faux Cheezy-cake</a> with apricot syrup topping</span></i></td></tr>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></span></h2>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">1.5 c hot water</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">1 cup organic unsulfured dried apricots or organic prunes</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">1 tsp lemon juice</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Blend water, dried apricots or prunes, 1 tsp lemon juice. Cool and store in an airtight glass container. </span></span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Keeps for 1 week in the fridge.</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Also, check out Sudney Mintz's groundbreaking social history of sugar, <a href="http://sidneymintz.net/sugar.php" target="_blank">Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History</a> which traces the rise of sugar from a precious royal commodity to a </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">working family's common staple.</span></i><br />
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<i style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Ăn Ngon Lành</i>|Eat Delectably!</span></span></span></i></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-34880099034201036532014-05-01T15:40:00.001-07:002014-11-08T12:16:28.019-08:00Dưa Cải Chua|Fermented mustard greens<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>We can pickle that!</b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IwwI29yQILfGLF84LaMrhn78O5dvrvl53MB6zkZE1rnaD2ySJWBu9DMMby2P-XwYjXS1H3Dc9JurLddERay7qA7fkkvyi0Wl24KUtqrY9ijE82jH7fFJc9EOdZQUCVTV6c9KKHUi-B9K/s1600/IMG_20140428_123117_967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IwwI29yQILfGLF84LaMrhn78O5dvrvl53MB6zkZE1rnaD2ySJWBu9DMMby2P-XwYjXS1H3Dc9JurLddERay7qA7fkkvyi0Wl24KUtqrY9ijE82jH7fFJc9EOdZQUCVTV6c9KKHUi-B9K/s1600/IMG_20140428_123117_967.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1.5L Kilner, Day 3</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I first learned how to make dưa </i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i>cải</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"> </span><i>chua | pickled mustard greens by calling up my mother a few years back. Her recipe though called for white vinegar and sugar which is not a true ferment dense with natural probiotics.</i></span><br />
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Wanting to have a fermented greens rich with probiotics, I turned to the internets. </i><i>I found this real foods <a href="http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/06/vietnamese-pickled-mustard-greens-cai-chua/" target="_blank">recipe from Garden Betty</a> and tweaked it to suit my tastes (northern so not spicy and despite being cured of my onion allergies, I still don't love the flavor of raw onions), and I use mineral-rich sea salt rather than bleached/processed pickling salt. I also don't use her baggy method of weighting since 1) <a href="http://greenhouseneutralfoundation.org/articles/2010/06/05/bpa-in-plastic-wrap-sandwich-bags-too/" target="_blank">chemicals in plastic such as BPA are endocrine disruptive toxins</a>, and 2) it's <a href="http://www.nourishingtreasures.com/index.php/2012/07/03/sauerkraut-survivor-final-report/" target="_blank">not sanitary</a>.</i></span><br />
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I get my mustard greens from the Asian market or the farmers market since we don't grow it (yet). Most Asian produce is pesticide-free and not GMO. </i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HylUtTWvbks/UoOqkpW1xKI/AAAAAAAAORk/kCDQ69uA6TU/s1600/13+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HylUtTWvbks/UoOqkpW1xKI/AAAAAAAAORk/kCDQ69uA6TU/s1600/13+-+1" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L to R: Fido 5L, Kilner 1.5L, Ball 2QT, Fido .5L, Ball 1QT</td></tr>
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<i>You can <a href="http://www.nourishingtreasures.com/index.php/2012/07/03/sauerkraut-survivor-final-report/" target="_blank">reuse any old jar or mason jar</a>, however ferments build up pressure as they release gas so you will have to open the lid daily to prevent an explosion. Salsa jars and kimchi/kimchee jars are better designed to deal with fermenting gases and are preferable to a mayo jar. If you've ever opened a kimchi jar to have it volcano erupt on you, your counter and your clothes, you will come to value an airlock; ferments are not a seductive odor. I've noticed with jars, the veggies are not airtight and therefore go sour faster. </i><i>If you are into acquiring ferment specific kitchen gadgetry, at the low end I </i></span><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">would recommend an Italian Fido jar that has a clamp which allows gases to release (self-burping) and is airtight </i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Kilner is another okay UK brand but it's not quite as airtight and it leaks more)</i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Now that canning is making a comeback, you can frequently find these airtight clamp jars at lower prices in Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Homegoods type discount stores. (Note: they must indicate they are for home preservation, not just storage or decorative use. The Ikea clamp ones are not airtight and not suitable for fermenting for example.) You can get Fido jars and extra gaskets (very important) inexpensively throughout <a href="http://www.crateandbarrel.com/fido-jars-with-clamp-lids/f33489" target="_blank">Crate & Barrel Outlet</a>. </i><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For the DIYers, you can <a href="http://www.nwedible.com/2012/07/how-to-turn-a-mason-jar-into-a-fermenting-crock.html" target="_blank">make your own airlock ferment jars</a> from mason jars; I've never tried this myself. This blogger c<a href="http://www.nourishingtreasures.com/index.php/2012/05/15/the-science-behind-sauerkraut-fermentation/" target="_blank">onducted a science experiment</a> to determine which was the best way to ferment.</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kfctGaxF-o8I-dntHgQdm_KBrHnh-6JzsBZ0H8uJ56IT6j8AO0KZifG4VPe6KdW00-jAqA30gSa6sd-6xk7Ss-dmTL4zS8AoXpkbRO-fxXLFb3GTPR_gIDrYEukR0qwaYZBJOzQ4suxu/s1600/IMG_20140501_121122_518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kfctGaxF-o8I-dntHgQdm_KBrHnh-6JzsBZ0H8uJ56IT6j8AO0KZifG4VPe6KdW00-jAqA30gSa6sd-6xk7Ss-dmTL4zS8AoXpkbRO-fxXLFb3GTPR_gIDrYEukR0qwaYZBJOzQ4suxu/s1600/IMG_20140501_121122_518.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5L Crock, weights, and búa<br />(SE Asian pestle)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>
<i>For those who ferment more frequently or consume more, at the high end, you can get an airtight fermenting crock (Fancypants store William Sonoma has this and so does my favorite Amish homesteading store Lehman's). I just got my first one, a Boleslawiec, I bought through an HMN member temporarily based in Poland. It has a water gutter to allow gases to escape and keeps air out. Crock weights I got from William Sonoma and the pestle I picked up at the Asian market sometime back. The ones specifically for fermenting are called sauerkraut cabbage crushers and I'm sure are more expensive.</i></span><br />
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<i>(FYI I am not affiliated with any of the aforementioned stores or companies. This is my personal opinion.)</i></span><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hJ_KRSbgzH1FzZuZbTIKt2MfY6Yfq8Lz9SDHBVdbJTBdzeeY5mrHo8WVhSWR7CMNRcYw9XxThP_rQDNwuqwRkJu8Jo80Vk74Zh7Voe7CL3eq2ZCGh-1fzU4pbVTbb9RT1_IsD8UjKU2x/s1600/IMG_20140427_110425_736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hJ_KRSbgzH1FzZuZbTIKt2MfY6Yfq8Lz9SDHBVdbJTBdzeeY5mrHo8WVhSWR7CMNRcYw9XxThP_rQDNwuqwRkJu8Jo80Vk74Zh7Voe7CL3eq2ZCGh-1fzU4pbVTbb9RT1_IsD8UjKU2x/s1600/IMG_20140427_110425_736.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></span></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">3.5 pounds mustard greens</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">2 tablespoons grey salt (or 1.5 tbs himalayan salt)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">plus hot water & 1 tbs grey salt for brine</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">Materials:</span></span></h3>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1.5L or 2 QT jar</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(optional) a wide mouth funnel</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">rock sterilized in boiling water</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">a pestle, cabbage crusher, your fist & forearm</span></span></li>
</ul>
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitm3VNnZXobQlzNYn0kRDHZ2mSNOovNhGoHu8paMBTqH_N2AkLUsDgULNnZAqZbI5NjogEsuEfCl7d2exvPpzIjm7-RTou3CS6y2-WZq_IUkbaSgauCSGmSzKjpr-hlXz6kUr8Yvc5h7IP/s1600/IMG_20131017_111816_096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitm3VNnZXobQlzNYn0kRDHZ2mSNOovNhGoHu8paMBTqH_N2AkLUsDgULNnZAqZbI5NjogEsuEfCl7d2exvPpzIjm7-RTou3CS6y2-WZq_IUkbaSgauCSGmSzKjpr-hlXz6kUr8Yvc5h7IP/s1600/IMG_20131017_111816_096.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></span></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">T</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">he traditional way of washing greens uses less water than letting the faucet run. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Fill a bucket or large bowl with water and submerge the mustard greens to wash them. Plunge the greens up and down to get the water sloshing; </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">the dirt and sediment sink to the bottom.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"> Rub your thumbs across the inner stalks to remove any dirt. Remove the greens and c</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">ompost the water lightly rinsing any residue off the bucket. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Repeat at least once more until clean.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTScaTLYPWR2I7olLTFwQd1kFcjD48AlGbTRlVaP2I7fWBOJSQLht5o8sTidR1sxnLr5P7iiG3X5GE0wOznHEzX0cTpuILfWKeNt-Of73cWH3GBBcr9ixsSMqBqukkDHc-eOqiximebSre/s1600/IMG_20131017_155205_536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTScaTLYPWR2I7olLTFwQd1kFcjD48AlGbTRlVaP2I7fWBOJSQLht5o8sTidR1sxnLr5P7iiG3X5GE0wOznHEzX0cTpuILfWKeNt-Of73cWH3GBBcr9ixsSMqBqukkDHc-eOqiximebSre/s1600/IMG_20131017_155205_536.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></span></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Drain the greens in a colander. In the ideal world, you would be patient enough to dry them either spread out in the sun or by air dry. Sometimes, I just salt them somewhat damp. In the future, I think I will use my food dehydrator to quickly dry the greens which along with salting helps the cellulose to contract making for a crunchier pickle.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Chop up the mustard greens and toss with 2 tbs of grey sea salt. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes so that the water can release. If you shortcut this and the greens don't have time to absorb the salt, the mustard greens will be mushy.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While the above two steps are taking place, prep your jar. With any container, I recommend pouring boiling water over the inside to kill off any mold spores or undesirable bacteria. </span><br />
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When the greens are ready (bright green, salt is dissolved), put the greens in the jar. Use your hands to handle the greens to colonize it with the good bacteria from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/magazine/say-hello-to-the-100-trillion-bacteria-that-make-up-your-microbiome.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">your own micro-biome</a> (that's not just love in your momma's cooking, it's her bacteria!) and build/boost/share your immunity. Pour the juices into the jar as well. If it's not enough to cover, make a brine of 1 tbs sea salt dissolved in 2 cups hot water and then cooled to a tepid temperature so you don't cook the greens or kill the good bacteria. You need to keep the greens below the waterline to avoid spoilage. Tamp it down (I use a <span style="text-align: center;">búa--a Southeast Asian wooden pestle that I picked up for a few bucks at the Asian market a few years back); you could also use your clean fist (rinsed clean, not soaped clean; don't kill off your friendly bacteria!).</span> Use a weight or a rock to keep the greens submerged.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Note the overflow froth<br />at the clamp of the Kilner.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also if the greens are full up to the top, place the jar in a rimmed dish to catch any liquid overflow as it burps. I always forget this step and the worst was when i made sauerkraut with purple cabbage. It looked like the Smoochy the Rhino got shanked in my pantry cabinet. (Death to Smoochy clip below.)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-5sA0u0o-QbEcJNuJb7Luk6LLV8p4dpfxzBucGdbfY6K4wBFTBsf2AEJju3YKuyH2fnpOuVUdYSlj3jcA__AdSUzh5Ih2_DvK0B7bA0aFtL1_GdIYYjrvC-Zzq46o5VkG-7uxhgTPNM4/s640/IMG_20140503_123905_246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-5sA0u0o-QbEcJNuJb7Luk6LLV8p4dpfxzBucGdbfY6K4wBFTBsf2AEJju3YKuyH2fnpOuVUdYSlj3jcA__AdSUzh5Ih2_DvK0B7bA0aFtL1_GdIYYjrvC-Zzq46o5VkG-7uxhgTPNM4/s640/IMG_20140503_123905_246.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhau4LxMz8FpkPASbXy1eC76di5DY8wzGkYVNdGvjx-b5Wk8IwLe_gND2RRYVK7krwEbx0HX8z161uVAUEpfT3U7ooURzlM7lImrsNkguHn1Ssy2TqjpsAJjnqaq-B3fRl7LQOnkkpyVBg7/s640/1399146202544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhau4LxMz8FpkPASbXy1eC76di5DY8wzGkYVNdGvjx-b5Wk8IwLe_gND2RRYVK7krwEbx0HX8z161uVAUEpfT3U7ooURzlM7lImrsNkguHn1Ssy2TqjpsAJjnqaq-B3fRl7LQOnkkpyVBg7/s640/1399146202544.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Store the fermenting greens in a cool place such as a cabinet. Check it every few days. If you smell <a href="http://www.foodrenegade.com/3-biggest-fermenting-mistakes-youre-already-making/" target="_blank">mold or it's discolored</a>, it must be dumped. So keep it airtight and the greens under the waterline! Also, open slowly, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBrWnvcZ25o&feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">contents under pressure</a>! Greens will be ready to eat in about a week, but <a href="http://www.foodrenegade.com/3-biggest-fermenting-mistakes-youre-already-making/" target="_blank">if left 4 weeks</a>, it will <a href="http://www.foodrenegade.com/3-biggest-fermenting-mistakes-youre-already-making/" target="_blank">continue to ferment</a> and develop optimal strains of probiotics. You can refrigerate after day 28 if you wish however the fermenting is complete (keep in mind fermenting is preserving so it should be shelf stable as long as it is airtight and below the water).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Dưa </i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i>cải</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"> </span><i>chua </i>is typically served with other pungent sweet-salty dishes like caramelized fish or caramelized pork.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In case you didn't know, the new sports drink is<a href="http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/chompions/201112/meet-new-energy-drink-pickle-juice" target="_blank"> pickle juice</a>. Like whaaat? </span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">H2O--check</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sodium--check</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Electrolytes--check </span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And if it's a real ferment (not made with white vinegar) then it's got probiotics. Great way to rehydrate. I think the ferment juice from </span><i style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">dưa </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i>cải</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>chua </i>would be... special.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">BONUS RECIPE</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dưa cải chua xào thịt | Pork & pickled mustard greens stirfry</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My stepdad also makes this great dish stir-frying it with<span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">thịt heo quay | BBQ pork or with fresh, tender pork. I'm not sure of the origins of this dish but it's not something you will find in a restaurant. This be some soul food. I think there's some Sinic influence as the only other time I've had it outside of my parents' home is at a Ngai Hoa funeral (subethnic Chinese in Vietnam) for my friend T</span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">uyền</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">'s father.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">I had a hankering for it the other day and stir fried it with some bacon because that is the pork I had on hand. This is probably a little on the salty side, but sea salt is </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">dịu or less harsh/salty than regular table salt. The fat complements the tangy, briny bite of the mustard greens. Pork works best, but you can use other meats but choose a fatty meat/cut like lamb. I suggest stir frying with pasture-raised <a href="http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/lard-the-new-health-food" target="_blank">lard</a> (<a href="http://www.weedemandreap.com/the-top-3-reasons-why-you-should-be-eating-lard/" target="_blank">yes, lard</a>) and a little bit of freshly ground black pepper. If you don't have lard, (untoasted) sesame oil or <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/dining/02Appe.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">coconut oil</a> would suit. If you like it spicy, add chile peppers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></h3>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">fermented mustard greens</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">pork or fatty meat</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">lard or neutral oil</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">fresh ground black pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">optional chile peppers</span></li>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sauté the pork with black pepper and chile in a skillet or wok until partially cooked. Add the pickled mustard greens and sauté until warmed. Serve warm over rice.</span></div>
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<i style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Ăn Ngon Lành</i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">|Eat Delectably!</span></div>
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automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-13t0Wa5DyeY%2FUzscpemfspI%2FAAAAAAAAP4w%2FlcyxZycS6SM%2Fs1600%2FIMG_20131017_111816_096.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitm3VNnZXobQlzNYn0kRDHZ2mSNOovNhGoHu8paMBTqH_N2AkLUsDgULNnZAqZbI5NjogEsuEfCl7d2exvPpzIjm7-RTou3CS6y2-WZq_IUkbaSgauCSGmSzKjpr-hlXz6kUr8Yvc5h7IP/s1600/IMG_20131017_111816_096.jpg" -->Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-3434227118784874462014-05-01T10:26:00.004-07:002014-05-02T11:14:57.831-07:00corn-free, glutamate-free<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Over the last couple of years in my journey to wellbeing, I've come to accept that <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/27/new-research-shows-poorly-understood-leaky-gut-syndrome-is-real-may-be-the-cause-of-several-diseases.html?utm_content=buffer2ab2d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">healing my body</a> doesn't mean I get to <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/what-we-eat-affects-everything/279922/" target="_blank">eat whatever I want</a>. When I eat crappy food, I feel like crap. Hence my avoidance of my main triggers--processed foods, wheat/gluten, <a href="http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/2-popular-foods-may-turn-immune-system-against-brain" target="_blank">dairy</a>, refined sugar, <a href="http://drclark.typepad.com/dr_david_clark/2011/09/coffee-and-gluten-sensitivity-surprising-news.html" target="_blank">caffeine</a>, and soy.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last month, I a</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ttended a talk for the<a href="http://holisticmoms.net/" target="_blank"> Holistic Moms Network </a>on "Additives & Mental Health" by biochemist <a href="http://www.unblindyourmind.org/" target="_blank">Dr. Katherine Reid</a>. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After reviewing 1 million research articles </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">correlating glutamate with a variety of chronic and auto-immune diseases</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, Dr. Reid concluded that Americans have an overabundance of glutamates in their diet primarily from processed foods; this isn't just MSG, but glutamates in all their <a href="http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html" target="_blank">secret iterations</a>. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I learned that </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">processed </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">proteins (includes meat, grains and legumes) release fre</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">e glutamates. So the dairy/wheat intolerance connection is that through processing (homogenization or milling), they both release free glutamates. This is the smoking gun for dietary intolerance.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was also surprised to learn that the popular "natural" preservative citric acid does not come from citrus but is </span><a href="http://www.livecornfree.com/2010/04/ingredients-derived-from-corn-what-to.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">chemically derived from corn</a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqq881lPN4gr9C-_D5hlMJF3i72FwUnQqXSfxV1sk9Oq2gb6p50qy9TZtS5JgMEvIkXRRnE4AUkCIhs26IfOicyzYZU0phlOsPV34Qsny5omuaItOobLETr-61JzSwXz_lCDSedKDe3p-9/s1600/IMG_20130907_150627_285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqq881lPN4gr9C-_D5hlMJF3i72FwUnQqXSfxV1sk9Oq2gb6p50qy9TZtS5JgMEvIkXRRnE4AUkCIhs26IfOicyzYZU0phlOsPV34Qsny5omuaItOobLETr-61JzSwXz_lCDSedKDe3p-9/s1600/IMG_20130907_150627_285.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That was the push I decided we needed to go corn-free again (I was briefly corn-free the year I got pregnant with my daughter). </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since we don't eat much in the way of processed foods, I assume it won't be too hard. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Our main corn intake comes in the form of non-GMO corn tortillas, organic tortilla chips, organic popcorn, and infrequently, <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/01/che-bap-hot-ngam-voi-nixtamal-tapioca.html" target="_blank">nixtamal made from homegrown native corn</a>. I've observed that eating homemade organic popcorn makes me irritable and bloated, most likely from the <a href="http://realfoodrealpho.blogspot.com/2014/01/che-bap-hot-ngam-voi-nixtamal-tapioca.html" target="_blank">indigestibility of non-alkalinized corn</a> but now I'm thinking glutamate connection.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've been trying to figure out why my daughter has been getting sick every 2-3 weeks this winter. In previous years, there was a clear correlation with wheat. Once we cut it out, her nighttime congestion cleared up. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My MIL bless her heart came over the other day with homemade bánh giò|tapioca dumplings wrapped in banana leaves and cơm gà|chicken & rice and sầu riêng|durian</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"> just as I cooking up a toothsome sweet potato, kale, and bacon frittata for lunch. My daughter will choose Vietnamese food over Western food and went for the </span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> bánh giò. She </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">only ate the chicken filling and left behind the outer dumpling so I ate it for her; </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I later found out was made from tapioca and cornstarch rather than the traditional rice & tapioca starch</span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. A short time later, I noticed a rash on my left inner elbow--miliary dermatitis but didn't pay much attention. By the evening I had a generalized rashiness in my bloodstream (an itch below the skin that cannot be scratched or localized), digestive upset and accelerated hunger despite eating meals. So I made the connection to the cornstarch (perhaps an anti-caking agent/dough conditioner or perhaps just the processing releasing glutamates). I drank some <a href="http://www.susunweed.com/How_to_make_Infusions.htm" target="_blank">nettle infusion</a> and took a probiotic. I experienced a relapse of symptoms in the night; I woke up at 3am hot & sweaty, hungry and digestively uncomfortable. This used to happen every night but had abated over the last few months when I upped my hydration and come to think, when I stopped relying on tortilla chips for snacking.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So there you have it. There is no magic test one can take, no owner's manual one can read to figure out what ails one. One has to overcome decades of socialization around ignoring one's body cues to relearn how to pay attention to the signals one's body sends in direct response to input (food, air/breath, water, sleep, environment).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And yet another thing to add to my dietary parameters/intolerance list (see masthead above).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i style="color: #073763; font-size: x-large;">Ăn Ngon Lành </i><span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;">| Eat Delectably!</span></span></div>
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Leilani ly-huong N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04705319001182559320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1907639088032034149.post-908146881112696982014-04-30T14:22:00.000-07:002015-04-27T21:46:50.554-07:00Chinook Salmon Poke<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5ONWH1XJtKmJlbYrpuvLf3QICO79HRsoo_hcHWyvfOZZruFhymDvayhM-WrAe479tyiw__3tbWgYcUG3bnGvz2FiFmxkHFIL9PLlCEArezBzfJvQVr89-rTXZD8gswwPKD0hA8c4od_j/s1600/1277251_10201578366435976_455205712_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></i></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><br />Though I was born in Hawai'i, I didn't have poke (Hawaiian raw fish, pronounce poh-kay) until I was an adult. By far the two best poke I've ever had was the Costco in Lihue (really!) and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicornia" target="_blank">sea asparagus</a> salmon poke at Overland Meat & Seafood in South Lake Tahoe. Makes me want to go forage in a salt marsh!</i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Local, wild sustainably caught<br />Chinook King salmon</i></span></td></tr>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">When my friend Lenore offered to coordinate a buying coop from a local sustainable fisherman last year, we went in for a whole Chinook King salmon which I filleted myself; i lucked out on getting 15 lbs of everyone else's scrap pieces which included bellies. The head, collar, and bones made for a nice canh chua (tamarind soup, recipe forthcoming). We reserved some of the fillet and the belly (toro) for poke. (Other scrap pieces went to the cats and they were sleek and silky for days!). </span></i><br />
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">I made poke for the first time last year and it's become my daughter's favorite food; she refuses to eat cooked salmon anymore, more's the shame, so now we cook all salmon rare. It's April and <a href="https://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/oceansalmon.asp" target="_blank">Chinook King salmon are back in season</a> which means BREAK IT DOWN: STOP, <b>POKE TIME</b>! </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As far as <a href="http://paleoleap.com/eat-this-seaweed/" target="_blank">seaweed</a> goes, I prefer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicornia" target="_blank">sea asparagus</a> (actually a sort of salt marsh succulent)--which can be eaten raw or blanched--and/or wakame. I happened to have hijiki on hand which works fine; the texture almost as crisp as salicornia, but the taste is a little more "earthy" than other seaweed. When I buy dried, I go by the picture and choose a seaweed that is in a salad or dry dish over soup seaweed.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Note that "<a href="http://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/myth-sushi-grade/" target="_blank">sushi grade</a>" is not a regulated designation. To avoid contamination, source only <a href="http://www.seafoodwatch.org/" target="_blank">fresh wild-caught or sustainably farmed fish</a> from a reputable, sustainable fishmonger and freeze at least 12 hours to kill bacteria and parasites. Thaw the salmon in the fridge for about 4 hours. Cut while it is still icy, but pliable. I've substituted other ocean fish like halibut or swordfish as well</span></i><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>.</i></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXk_T1BsfZgZ1ql-DlkeiN6MxqQ8ohf-T36GnyS9h-sb4VY3xQAUyNr4lbXXAKovkBw0thZXQDVCtQqk2REJoDSYkw91UGeNxyY_cqqM-nQArNkJBAk8wfZMXWrjpEudZQdp72oF54Vuhk/s1600/IMG_20140430_122057_561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXk_T1BsfZgZ1ql-DlkeiN6MxqQ8ohf-T36GnyS9h-sb4VY3xQAUyNr4lbXXAKovkBw0thZXQDVCtQqk2REJoDSYkw91UGeNxyY_cqqM-nQArNkJBAk8wfZMXWrjpEudZQdp72oF54Vuhk/s1600/IMG_20140430_122057_561.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>Ingredients & tools</i></span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I picked up fishbone tweezers from </span><a href="http://www.daisojapan.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Daiso</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> (The Japanese "yen" store where everything's $1.50) to pick out any pinbones And I eschew our expensive Chicago cutlery knives in favor of </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">my trusty Thai-made Kiwi knife (under $3 at the Asian market) which just stays sharper. Kiwi knives can be sharpened the old school way using the bottom of a ceramic bowl or with any knife sharpener. (Also, my aesthetic aspiration is one day, my bowls will all match.)</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients:</b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKTQf1Tf2J72ahkNejHTeBXqWtJv5qk4DN_YrTM9EDAarPN-p2pq7A01sLMhYJIbdZcq8K0lsPZ9YLmsLRCOQoCz7IOysH3KJrgwKcVpMr4qhl5AuTRufTyGIKjx5xRrqYsHkB-ojkP-6/s1600/IMG_20140430_123901_041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKTQf1Tf2J72ahkNejHTeBXqWtJv5qk4DN_YrTM9EDAarPN-p2pq7A01sLMhYJIbdZcq8K0lsPZ9YLmsLRCOQoCz7IOysH3KJrgwKcVpMr4qhl5AuTRufTyGIKjx5xRrqYsHkB-ojkP-6/s1600/IMG_20140430_123901_041.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>I like the briny pops of coarse grey salt</i></span>.</span></td></tr>
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<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 fillet of salmon (~1.5 lbs), semi-thawed</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 cup kelp (wakame/miyeok, hijiki,etc) or sea asparagus (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicornia" target="_blank">salicornia</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 large hass avocado</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3-4 tbs toasted sesame oil</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">splash of rice vinegar</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">coarse grey or celtic sea salt</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 tbs toasted unhulled sesame seeds</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">optional 1 tsp kombu powder</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">optional splash of gunmaijen sake</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">optional <a href="http://www.nymtc.com/news/newsletter/201205.pdf" target="_blank">kanzuri</a> paste (see comment below)*</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvsje-xK3_ckBm3ZraiIecWeTGtYiNy759VhorrLGntTJcOJDom7vMnuo3_5E7wqGXFSQ4qgjbMv2QHYTL-rXpNdtHJYjpr18mH8Wfo5gif0TnsnMHV-CbvQWnmWwbK579W6OJD-nJKyt/s1600/IMG_20140430_123616_383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If using dried seaweed, soak it for 30 minutes in room temperature water until reconstituted. If using fresh seaweed, rinse thoroughly.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvsje-xK3_ckBm3ZraiIecWeTGtYiNy759VhorrLGntTJcOJDom7vMnuo3_5E7wqGXFSQ4qgjbMv2QHYTL-rXpNdtHJYjpr18mH8Wfo5gif0TnsnMHV-CbvQWnmWwbK579W6OJD-nJKyt/s1600/IMG_20140430_123616_383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvsje-xK3_ckBm3ZraiIecWeTGtYiNy759VhorrLGntTJcOJDom7vMnuo3_5E7wqGXFSQ4qgjbMv2QHYTL-rXpNdtHJYjpr18mH8Wfo5gif0TnsnMHV-CbvQWnmWwbK579W6OJD-nJKyt/s1600/IMG_20140430_123616_383.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Use the tweezers to remove any pin bones. Remove any skin. I do this my laying the fillet skin side down. I slice down along any whitish tissue (on the left of the fillet pictured above) along the dorsal fin side removing it from the fillet without cutting through the skin. Then I slice horizontally as close to the skin as I can. Reserve the salmon skin. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cube the salmon into 1/2 inch squares and put into a bowl.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNH22IQrxjP7SoIVUEJAsOGqbciQYeLvzDEqJjyBSsEXjzbSHM5jGZ84d8lLjvC0UWIho_Ql4ObSmQZWCsqAkz9OS3M041sWJ3xaSUp_-WRD6yTedo-lZhvHFyheloQocGBev08f1AKH7/s1600/IMG_20130910_114655_127.jpg" height="200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="150" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">Chinook wakame poke for lunch!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Drain the seaweed in a colander, rinse, and squeeze out the water thoroughly. Add to the salmon bowl.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cube the avocado and add to the salmon bowl.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Add toasted sesame oil, kombu powder, and 2 tbs of grey sea salt and toss together until mixed. Cover with a plate and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just prior to serving, add sesame seeds and another 1-2 tbs of coarse grey salt to taste. Mix thoroughly.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Serve with kanzuri paste* as a condiment so folks can customize the heat factor. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7B6Vaj2OlZvb8N8GiK6wxLkAH5rzM4tCvDPloF_AyiDgNtMOFGNz9SW1ztWnVh_Q70IIMnaqCJ1Ilup3ZcgGaFB7wFJZSDzoEaswbsuKhS2D2ojbZEVTJsX6HkrJOkNl4A6aRf2OuaREc/s1600/IMG_20140430_185648_833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7B6Vaj2OlZvb8N8GiK6wxLkAH5rzM4tCvDPloF_AyiDgNtMOFGNz9SW1ztWnVh_Q70IIMnaqCJ1Ilup3ZcgGaFB7wFJZSDzoEaswbsuKhS2D2ojbZEVTJsX6HkrJOkNl4A6aRf2OuaREc/s1600/IMG_20140430_185648_833.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Poke can be served over salad. My daughter likes to roll them up in korean <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gim_(food)" target="_blank">toasted laver (kim)</a> with brown rice and eat them like little kimbap/sushi rolls.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The remaining salmon skin can be cut into strips and lightly brushed with sesame oil and fried til crispy. Sprinkle with sea salt and eat as you please.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: x-large;"><i style="text-align: left;">Ăn Ngon Lành </i><span style="text-align: left;">| Eat Delectably!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Pokemon slow jam</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>*Kanzuri (かんずり) is a fermented paste of red chili / chile pepper, rice malt (koji), yuzu and salt produced in Niigata, Japan. </i></span><span style="text-align: left;"><i>The peppers are harvested, salted and left to begin fermenting in the snow, then they are mixed with the other ingredients and aged for 3 years to produce the finished paste. It's difficult to find stateside and I haven't seen it online at all. </i><a href="http://www.marukai-market.com/" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Marukai Market</a><i> imports it. It's expensive and a little bit goes a long way. It adds a bright citrus and japanese pepper note to the dish. Yuzu paste is easier to source by contrast and would make an acceptable (very citrusy, not spicy) substitute. Or you can use your choice of chile pepper flakes. I favor Frontier organic chipotle powder myself, smoky is always a delicious note. </i></span></span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> I also use Organic Harvest Foods</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> chipotle habanero</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> hot sauce because I love chipotle.</span></i></span></div>
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