Read recipe headlines or captions and you might think cooking has turned into a version of Name That Tune. Take any dish, let’s say a salad in this case. Can’t you just see it, opponents stand across from each other on a cardboard cut out game show set, sizing each other up, looking for tells. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly practically plays in the background.
“Jim, I can make that salad in 7 ingredients,” says Contestant #1.
“I can make it in 5,” replies Contestant #2.
#1 rocks from left foot to right to left again. “Uhhh, Jim, I can make it in 3.”
Sensing uncertainty, #2 points, “Make that salad.”
Alright, let’s do it. Easy peasy Sesame Sugar Snap Peas.
The last few summers we've made an annual trip up to Tofino, situated on the edge of Vancouver Island, about a 4 hour drive from Victoria, BC. It's a great surf spot for Wolf, it's got great hiking and beaches and a concentration of restaurants in Tofino-town. The timing of this year's trip didn't let us (well, at least me) sign off completely, so it ended up being a working vacation. Still great to get away. As it turns out, even after several visits there are plenty of new discoveries still to be made in Tofino.
Last week I posted a one-off with a photo of some char siu chicken legs we had in Kauai. I don't know what the secret to char siu is aside from the red food coloring, but I'm determined to crack it. I went to Uwajimaya yesterday to check out the jarred and packet marinades and see what was in those, but the plan was to make the marinade myself. So, while some Chowhounders said there's no way a restaurant uses ketchup and hoisin, an old recipe in the Honolulu Star Bulletin said different.
, I immediately thought, I'll just start at page one and cook my way through...but then I caught sight of the coffee-chipotle brisket...which bakes in the oven for 6 hours and then is slathered in coffee-chipotle barbecue sauce. I mean, does it get better than that? I'll go back to the beginning another time.
