Roli Roti Delivered!

Momo's first day at Paws Up Dog Care 

In early May, I received a doggie daycare request for a tiny Maltese puppy named Momo.  Momo means peach in Japanese. As soon as I saw the name, I knew there was some kind of Japanese connection. Momo's entire family came to the dog park to meet Cracus and me.  I learned that Cracus behaves better when he meets other dogs on mutual ground first. However, when I saw how small Momo was, I was a bit concerned.  Cracus is usually a bit rough and plays like a boy with whoever plays the same way.  He often plays with dogs who are either a little bigger or much bigger than he is. Momo looked like a little gentle girl. She rolled on her back with her belly exposed as soon as Cracus approached her.  I was worried that Cracus would be too rough. He also tends to grunt a lot when he is excited or just playing. Momo's mom, who is Japanese, didn't seem too concerned. Momo's dad, who has an European accent, was amused with the way Cracus walked on his hind legs. They were excited to talk to me about dogs since Momo is their first dog. Shortly after their visit, they confirmed Momo's daycare for the month of June. To my surprise, Momo plays just as wild as Cracus. Even though she is small, she is fast, fearless, and has even more energy than Cracus! I realized that Cracus has met his match on the first day Momo spent with us. Here is a short video clip of how crazy they played with each other!

Momo's dad has been dropping off and picking up Momo everyday.  One day he mentioned how Off the Grid was holding up the traffic so he couldn't pick up Momo sooner. We started chatting about how expensive food trucks are selling their food. It's almost as much as going to a restaurant. He asked me if I have heard of Roli Roti. Yes, of course!  I used to see Roli Roti all the time at farmers' markets!  He was pleased that I knew of his food truck. It has been a while since I visited a farmers' market but how can anyone forget the sight of a truck full of rotisserie chickens?  I remember how good it smelled. I was stoked to learn that Momo's dad is the owner of Roli Roti! Wow, suddenly I felt that I have met a celebrity!

Needless to say, he is a busy man. Momo ended up staying with us overnight a few times. He was going to pay me extra for all the late pickups and overnight stay, but I was more interested in tasting Roli Roti again after all these years. He brought me a chicken last week.  Tonight he brought me a big chunk of porchetta.  It suddenly felt like Thanksgiving. After taking a few photos, I cut off 1/3 of it to give to my next door neighbors. They have been mowing my front lawn ever since we moved in and helped us with all kinds of repairs. I will be sure to share any goodies with them. Tomorrow I will bring another 1/3 of it to my parents. There is still a lot of porchetta after cutting 2/3 off. I wonder if I could freeze some for later?

Smoke's Poutinerie

Someone told me about Smoke's Poutinerie in Downtown Berkeley a while back. Poutine is a Quebec classic consists of french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. At Smoke's, they have over 30 varieties of toppings in addition to the traditional cheese curds. They have grilled chicken, steak, bacon, scrambled eggs, pulled pork, Korean BBQ, with BBQ sauce, cheese sauce, chili, sour cream, Sriracha, etc., etc., the combination could be limitless, and you can even design your own. I love french fries and anything else that can possibly come with them.  Smoke's is right in my old hangout, but sadly it took me over a year to make it there. This is the sad part about growing up and having a job. You just don't have time to explore your own neighborhood anymore.

I made a special trip there today on President's Day since I have the day off from work. I got there 15 minutes before 11 o'clock, when they open. I was lucky to find parking right across the street from it. Since it was my first time there, I wanted to try the traditional poutine, which is called Traditional Veggie Poutine, with fries, rich brown vegetable gravy, and Quebec cheese curds.

While I waited for my poutine, I looked at their wall of poutine news. How exciting!  It reminded me of my trip to Middle Earth, when I took the time to explore each street and local eateries. 

I ordered a snack size poutine, but it is enough as a meal. The cheese and gravy are both great. The gravy has mushroom bits in it. Of course I love the fries. I hope to return and try other combinations.

Fallfest 2015

Volunteering for Fallfest has to be one of the best secrets of San Francisco. Where else can you volunteer a few hours for a great cause and get to sample some of the best appetizers from some of the Bay Area's top restaurants? For wine drinkers, you also get to sample wine. I just drink coffee and eat gelato. Gelateria Naia was there entire day passing out different flavors of gelato.

Look at all the mini cannoli!

In addition to food and drinks, there were cooking demos, live bands, silent auction, BBQ contest by different fire departments, Blue Angels flying by, and people watching. You know who go there to show off their dresses or their bodies. It's always fun to see some outrageous outfits.

Best sample dish!

Of all the small plates I sampled, I loved the roasted pork in a spicy middle eastern flavored sauce with potato salad the best (see photo above). It was a very generous portion, too. Most of restaurants gave less than half of this serving. It was so good that I had to go back for a second sample.

I also got to see Chef Tim Archuleta from Ichi Sushi doing a sashimi cutting demo. He made it look easy.

It was another perfect day volunteering and eating in San Francisco. I just loved it!

Sashimi cutting demo

Hey Ramen

Street View

I have a thing for ramen. Here I came all the way to New Zealand, and I have been looking for ramen just so I can compare it with ramen back home, ramen in Tokyo, ramen in Toranto, etc. I passed by a ramen shop on my last day in Auckland while going to the airport. I just wasn't hungry at the time, so I had to let it go. On my first day in Wellington, I passed by Hey Sushi  on the way to my hotel. I noticed its sign says "ramen." The place is mostly for take out (take away as they say in NZ). It has 5 stools and 2 small bars against the windows for people who want to dine in. I just wasn't sure, so I took a quick look and moved on. For the next 2 days, I walked all over town looking for ramen and all I found was udon. Udon just isn't the same, and I have no special feelings for it.

Shoyu ramen with chashu (sliced bbq pork)

Finally I went back to Hey Sushi and ordered a spicy beef ramen. I was pleasantly surprised. It's not tonkotsu ramen, but it was good.It came with many slices of beef, half a stewed egg, spinach, and a bunch of other toppings. I was so happy and couldn't believe I didn't go there earlier.

Spicy Beef Ramen

Today, it started to rain like a real winter day, which gave me the perfect excuse to have ramen again! I went back there after coming back from a long hike (tramp, they call it here). I ordered shoyu ramen with chashu (bbq pork) this time. It looked great! It came with so many slices of chashu not just 2 or 3. I also picked a combination of sushi as appetizers (not that I needed anything to make me hungrier). They were good, too! The prices are also very reasonable. If you go there after 4:30, you can get boxed combination sushi for $7 a box (closing sale). These pieces are much bigger and better than the ones St Pierre's Sushi. Before I left, I picked a $7 pre-boxed sushi so I can eat later as snack.

Large selection of sushi for you to choose and pack your own

Oh, I also like that it has a flat screen TV that constantly plays Japanese rock concerts. When I walked in today,  Mika Nakashima was performing Glamorous Sky. I love that song.

prepacked end of day sale - $7 a box

Top Three Things to Eat in New Zealand

Here are the 3 things any Middle Earth visitor should try. One is kiwi especially the golden ones. Green ones seem to be very common around the world, but I haven't noticed gold ones until recently.  I was able to get a box of 10 from New World Market for $1.99 when they were on sale. It even came with a little "kiwi" spoon, which I am keeping with me as a souvenir. The golden ones are less tart than the green ones. I like them a lot.

New Zealanders are very proud of their coffee. They have a popular coffee drink called "flat white" here. It's not latte, and it's not exactly cappuccino.  I had to look it up on Wikipedia, and it was developed in Australia and New Zealand in the 80's. I can get a small flat white from a 24-hour convenient store for $1, which is fully self service. This machine is amazing. It makes 9 different coffee drinks.

A small flat white and lemon coconut slice with cream on the side

Alternatively, You can go to one of the many independent coffee shops all over town and have someone prepare the coffee for you.  I stopped by The Coffee Club this morning to get a cup of flat white with some pastry on the side. Starbucks isn't too popular here, which is just fine by me.  Although you can definitely add sugar to your flat white, I find it so good that I just drink it straight. I found any dairy product to be excellent in this area, which makes total sense since it is their number one export earner.  I had some amazing New Zealand yogurt yesterday, too. 

Another thing to eat is a hamburger. A burger can cost anywhere from $5 to over $20 here depends on where you go. It might be cheaper at Burger King and McDonald's, but I wouldn't want to go to one of those places. Burger Fuel seems to be a good place to go as it features 100% grass fed New Zealand beef patties.  I went there today and had a Hamburgini (one of their smaller burgers) with kumara (sweet potato) fries.  They were great and cost only $11.80 for both.  I couldn't even finish the fries.

"Food Trend Predictions for 2011"

Macarons from Macaron Cafe in Manhattan

I just came across "Food Trend Predictions for 2011," and once again, some of my favorites from 2010 have made the list. The 10 trends predicted are listed below, and I have written at least 3 items from the list during the last few months.

Food Halls
Korean Cuisine 
Macarons
Meatless Mondays; Tofu Thursdays 
Foraging
Tiki Bar Cocktails
Pop-Up Cafés
Sweet Potatoes 
Urban Wineries
Pimentón de La Vera

Making kim chi for the first time

Korean Cuisine
My favorite cuisine has been Japanese for as long as I can remember; however, Korean cuisine has increasingly beat Japanese when I get one of those dining out cravings. In the past year, I have made kim chi, tofu stew, and Jap Chae (Korean glass noodles), all for the first time. Of course, Korean BBQ ribs (Gal-Bi) have been a regular item of my summer bar-be-ques for many years.

Macarons
I had some macarons during my visit with my best friend in Baltimore in September. You just can't help not to like macarons when you see their beautiful colors and perfectly round shapes. They also come in so many different flavors. You just want to try them all. During my visit, my best friend got some macarons from two different local bakeries. One of her friends stopped by with more macarons she just brought back from Macaron Cafe in Manhattan. I happened to be going to New York City after leaving Baltimore, so I headed straight over to Macaron Cafe to try more flavors. One of these days, I will attempt to make them in my kitchen. I will be sure to write about it when I do.

Meatless Mondays; Tofu Thursdays
As an urban farmer, who doesn't keep livestock, I don't consume a whole lot of meat since it is much more convenient just to eat what I have in my veggie patches. Meatless days are quite frequent, and I don't think much of it. I don't see why we need to eat so much meat and with every meal when there are so many other delicious and nutritional things to eat.

Foraging wild mushrooms

Foraging
For selfish reasons, I am hoping foraging isn't going to be a trend. I pretty much only forage for wild mushrooms. It requires some learning curve and networking to be able to do this, so I am not too worried about running out of wild mushrooms to forage due to competition.

Sweet Potatoes
I am delighted to see sweet potatoes made the list; however, I am skeptical how it will become a trend since Americans are just not that crazy about vegetables. I have always loved sweet potatoes - baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries, sweet potato pie, and sweet potato soup (a dessert soup from Taiwan). Sweet potatoes are featured in many favorite dishes in Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and other island nations, so sweet potatoes have always been a part of my regular diet. I wrote about the benefits of sweet potatoes and included a sweet potato gratin recipe in my Thanksgiving Festival at California Culinary Academy blog entry.

Whatever the trends are, I hope more people will steer away from processed food. Processed food tends to be high in fat, sodium, and calories. Besides, we shouldn't be eating food out of a cardboard box on a plastic tray. Something about it just seems so unnatural to me.

Dive! Living Off America's Waste

I spent my early childhood years in Asia. One of the very first things they teach you in Asia is not to waste food. Grown ups would tell little kids to finish all the food including every single grain of rice in their bowls. Why? Because every grain came from the hard work of farmers and shouldn't be wasted. Kids learn from an early age that food doesn't fall from sky. Everything we eat is the result of blood and sweet of farmers who work the land. Well, unless you go pick wild food that grow by itself.

When I first came to the Bay Area, I was shocked to see kids in school dumping their lunch into the garbage can. Why were they throwing away perfectly good food?! Didn't they know how much work it is involved to make that spaghetti and pizza? Didn't they know that chickens had to be killed in order for us to eat fried chicken? How could they just dump all that into garbage? As I got older, I became more accustomed to people throwing away food even though I do not agree and can't bring myself to do so. Some people think I have an "issue" with food because I eat leftover. A few guys that I went out on dates with thought I was starved as a kid. They thought maybe I was broke. I guess I enjoy my food much more than other girls on dates.

Later on I learned of food banks that hand out food to families that don't have enough money to buy food. I was confused again. I see food being thrown out everyday, so how could there be people without food to eat? Just last month, I saw a few articles on what Americans are putting in their garbage. It turned out a large part, 25%, of the garbage is food. By wasting food, Americans are also wasting energy - the energy that went into growing the food, processing it, packaging it and transporting it to the consumer and then to the landfill. I am well aware that some Americans simply feel it is within their rights (or blessings) to buy food and throw it away as they wish. I think that just means for the people who do care to work even harder. Here is an American who commented on one of the articles mentioned above:

"Mercurus (USA)

One of the blessings of Liberty is the right to dispose of personal property as you choose. What individuals do with their food is their business and no one elses. This article itself is a waste of time to read, and was a waste of energy to produce and publish. Merc"

Hopefully this Merc will never become poor and have no money to buy food. Perhaps only then, he will understand food doesn't always come easy for everybody. Base on his logic, he probably doesn't bother to read the recycle codes on plastic items or recycle electronic waste since they are his personal property.

A few years ago after I became involved with urban farming community, I started to feel less of an alien. Other urban farmers cherish food as much as I do, and it's not so much because we were broke or starved. We share the understanding of knowing where the food came from. Sometimes we work together in community gardens. We are not going to throw away the fruits and vegetables that we spent last five months growing. If a peach is bruised on one side, I can just cut that side off and put it in the compost pile. The compost will help the peach tree grow better. There is very little garbage around here.

Dive! will just be another one of the environmental documentaries, but it's something for the excessive Americans to think about how much we are throwing away while we complain about unemployment, lack of money, and shortage of food as a nation.

The Future of Food

I don't watch TV.  It didn't start out as a conscious decision.  I grew up watching TV, and my family embraced commercial free cable TV back in the early 80's.   Over the years, the price of watching cable TV increased insanely so I just decided not to pay for TV anymore. I have been using that time doing many other activities including this blog and the farm.

Tonight I decided to take a break from reading.  I thought I would watch something on Hulu.com.  I browsed through pages and pages of TV shows and nothing really piqued my interest.  Somehow I stopped at The Future of Food, a full length documentary.  I had no idea what the movie was about other than it's about food, and you know I love food.

I had people questioning me why I grow my own food when the supermarkets have everything, and it's so convenient to just buy whatever I need.  Some people even ask me why I make everything from scratch.   There are many reasons, and I normally give one or two short and more obvious reasons since it would take a while for me to talk about all the reasons I am doing this.   The Future of Food shows you why people like me are involved in and promoting urban farming.  When you start growing your own food, you become much less wasteful.  If more Americans are willing to spend a couple hours every other day growing a few vegetables either in their yards or patios, they will not need to go to the gym.  People will be healthier in general, and it's better for the environment. The benefits are countless.

Do you know that most of American farmers can't even save their own seeds? They are losing their family farms to big corporations.  It's heart breaking to hear how they are being screwed over and lose all their savings and respect. You can watch The Future of Food without commercial on its website.   Here's a 2-minute trailer: