Asian Food Lab

Asian Food Lab I teach people how to make delicious vegetables with less planning and clean up.

The best looking piece of ginger I’ve found in a long time. Not local to Provence, but only travelled a wee distance fr...
08/21/2021

The best looking piece of ginger I’ve found in a long time. Not local to Provence, but only travelled a wee distance from Spain.

What makes it a good one? It has a large ‘trunk’ with only a few nodules. This makes it easier to peel and prep as you’re not dealing with a bunch of little pieces. It’s easier to get consistent pieces, whether it’s slices, slivers, or mince when you start from a chunk off a beauty like this one.

The skin is also very smooth - no wrinkles, black spots, or mold on it.

What shall I make with it?
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Today’s morning trip to the Provençal market: artichoke turmeric spread, sundried tomatoes, marinated garlic w/herbs, be...
08/20/2021

Today’s morning trip to the Provençal market: artichoke turmeric spread, sundried tomatoes, marinated garlic w/herbs, berries, and the most perfect radishes that I’ve ever seen.
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☀️ #ｔｇｉｆ

Somehow having a pastry every morning in France seems less unhealthy than it does back home 🤷🏻‍♀️. In fact, the breakfa...
08/18/2021

Somehow having a pastry every morning in France seems less unhealthy than it does back home 🤷🏻‍♀️. In fact, the breakfast table seems a little off without at least a few. Another glorious breakfast thanks to the Provençal market. Perfectly ripe figs, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and pears. A baguette that has a thin, crispy crust, but a soft chewy center - no roof-of-mouth cuts at this table.
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I found my way to a place where I don’t need to carry a scarf, umbrella, and jacket in my bag during the summer. Also, ...
08/08/2021

I found my way to a place where I don’t need to carry a scarf, umbrella, and jacket in my bag during the summer. Also, the morning light is beautiful here ☀️
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How I made 3 vegetable dishes tonight with only one pot to clean. Braised cabbage with leeks and shiitake mushrooms.New...
07/20/2021

How I made 3 vegetable dishes tonight with only one pot to clean.

Braised cabbage with leeks and shiitake mushrooms.
New potatoes (cooked in a foil packet)
Cucumber salad
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What is this ball of fire in the sky?! The sun does reach the UK, sometimes 😎. ----- ☀️
07/17/2021

What is this ball of fire in the sky?! The sun does reach the UK, sometimes 😎.
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☀️

Today’s mostly-plants breakfast @ the cottage. A decade ago, I stopped thinking of breakfast as ‘breakfast’, and starte...
07/15/2021

Today’s mostly-plants breakfast @ the cottage. A decade ago, I stopped thinking of breakfast as ‘breakfast’, and started treating it like any other meal or snack in the day. I stopped limiting myself to common Western breakfast foods, and this meant I could easily add vegetables to breakfast. I don’t typically serve raw vegetables for brekkie, as Chinese wisdom gives a thumbs down to straight-up raw foods. Grandma and mom would be aghast if they knew I served them first thing in the day. (Warm food is easier to digest.)

If we were at home I may have served some fermented pickles instead, but in my kitchen away from home, raw veggies were the right compromise this morning.

Fried rice accompanies the veg and fruit, and is a pretty amazing breakfast food that keeps bellies full when doing a day of physical activities (i.e. when entertaining kids on vacation). I added some bacon from a local farm that raises a rare-breed of pig, a couple of local farm eggs, and some chopped scallions.

Pro-tip: If you want to experience the ultimate non-Western breakfast, have a bowl of noodle soup first thing in the morning.

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Summer is here! This is our cottage for a short getaway. We will be resting, exploring, eating (always), and cooking (...
07/14/2021

Summer is here! This is our cottage for a short getaway. We will be resting, exploring, eating (always), and cooking (sometimes).

Cooking on vacation teaches us the power of constraints. The daily cooking routine can be overwhelming - so many choices and decisions to make. The mental fatigue can be more exhausting than the meal preparation itself.

When you’re not in your home kitchen, you’re constrained by the equipment of the self-catered accommodation (this is a clever British? classification that I recently learned ... and love), the local ingredients, and the empty pantry.

Although this can be frustrating, it’s an opportunity to learn what you truly need in the kitchen to prepare a decent meal. I pack a travel kit of my essentials, and I enjoy exploring local markets for ingredients.

More to come in future posts and stories of what I cook on vacation and stash in my travel kit. Also, maybe a little tour of my kitchen-away-from-home.

My 9 year old’s harvest today. I usually stir-fry everything, but these ones will be devoured raw 🥬.------------ ...
07/10/2021

My 9 year old’s harvest today. I usually stir-fry everything, but these ones will be devoured raw 🥬.
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Today’s lunchbox. taught me how to make the japchae noodles and my notes from our lesson do not have specific measurem...
06/18/2021

Today’s lunchbox. taught me how to make the japchae noodles and my notes from our lesson do not have specific measurements. This is how you know it’s authentic: “add a bit of this and then a a few splashes of that.”
I will attempt to create a more specific recipe to share one day, but today it was fun to just pour things straight from the bottle.
Pictured here: japchae, sweet potato with miso-ginger sauce, and stir-fry cabbage. All veggies from farm box.
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