Day 38 - Hot and Sour Soup with Wood Ears and Napa Cabbage, Pineapple-Cashew-Quinoa Stir-Fry, and The Green Tea

Remember how Ryan and Judith were going to come over for dinner? Sadly, Judith got sick and had to cancel, so it's just Ryan and me and our Chinese-y cookie feast!

Hot and Sour Soup with Wood Ears and Napa Cabbage

I don't think I've ever tried to make a hot and sour soup. I&T are right in proclaiming the non-authenticity of this recipe. It doesn't deliver that authentic Chinese result, but it's in the ballpark.

First thing I want to talk about is dried wood ear mushrooms. I found these at Kalustyans. If you don't know about Kalustyans, you need to check it out immediately. It's a great place to find whatever ethnic foodstuffs are eluding you, and lucky for me, it's a 10 minute walk from my apartment.

The bag of mushrooms I bought was an ounce worth, twice what the recipe called for, but it seemed like such a small amount when I portioned out half an ounce that I decided to throw the whole bag in. I mean, when am I going to use dried wood ear mushrooms again, right? Cut to a gigantic mound of rehydrated mushrooms! I left them in, but beware the amazing, expanding wood ear mushroom.

Next thing I want to talk about is hot chile oil. They don't call it hot for nothin'. And I&T wanted me to put in 3 teaspoons! (Now, why did they say 3 teaspoons instead of 1 tablespoon?) I knew that 3t was going to render the soup inedible for me, so I put in 2, and it was still crazy, over-the-top spicy hot! Three would have meant bleeding esophagus. We managed to eat it anyway, noticing that the cooler the soup got temperature-wise, the less the chili heat bothered us. Hmm....
 
The final thing I want to mention is white pepper, which this recipe includes. Am I the only one who thinks that ground white pepper smells yucky? I don't even know what word to use to describe the smell... sulphur? Body odor? Stinky feet? Do I have a bad batch of white pepper or is this a thing?

Overall, I thought the soup could have used more Sour, but I guess I&T decided to focus on nailing the Hot part. What's nice about this soup is the heavy tofu presence, as well as the other vegetables floating about. I liked it, but I don't think I ever need to make it again.

SFO: 9

(One point off for tofu-o-phobics.)


Pineapple-Cashew-Quinoa Stir-Fry

Yes yes yes! This is the best of vegan food right here!

Everything about this dish was amazing! The pineapple juice-cooked quinoa tastes incredible, and then when stir-fried together with all the other little treasures? Forget about it! Again, my quinoa took waaay longer than they say, but no biggie. I made it the night before.

There is something missing in the instructions of this recipe - I&T never tell us when to add the cashews back in. My guess is that they'd want us to do it pretty late, so I put them in just before I took it off the heat.

This is a hole-in-one! What a great dish to bring to a pot-luck! Four thumbs up! And it smells great, too! (see picture)

SFO: 10

(If you need to introduce a non-believer to quinoa, this would be the perfect vehicle.)

The Green Tea

Here's the ice cream sandwich combining Terry's Favorite Almond Cookie and Green Tea Ice Cream.

I'm happy to say, it works. It didn't change my life, but I was happy to eat it. As was Ryan. (He also ate an Open Sesame, so clearly these ice cream sandwiches are totally working for him.)

SFO: 9

(One point off for the general muddiness of Green Tea Ice Cream.)