Truly on the cusp of popularity in the United States, we saw that seaweed is not only an excellent and inexpensive source of nutrients, sustainable (it can grow several feet in a day!), but also helps in reversing the degradation of marine environment caused by coastal fish farming.  Myself, I’ve always known seaweed to be a good source of iodine, but never realized the amount of vitamins and proteins it contains. Even our moderator, Andrea Beaman, proclaimed a seaweed diet cured her goiter.

Among the culinary trendsetters attending the session were Hugue Dufour & Sarah Obraitis of M. Wells (and upcoming Dinette at PS1), and seafood enthusiasts, Kerry Heffernan of Southgate, Toni Robertson of Mandarin Oriental, Joe DiStefano of World’s Fare, Jamie Tiampo of Seefood Media and Kian Lam Kho of Redcook.net.

The host of the event, Korea Agro-Trade New York, announced their collaboration with the Culinary Institute of America on developing a recipe book using gim as an everyday ingredient – which will be published later this year. Chef Phillip Crispo, from the CIA, even provided us with a demo and tasting of delightful seaweed dishes. Ht truly took gim to a different direction – using it creatively in stuffed pork loin, spanokopita and tortellini. It made sense, since seaweed is a sea vegetable, which can easily substitute other ingredients such as spinach! My favorites were, surprisingly, the gim popcorn, gim ice cream and my goodness, the gim brittle in my goodie bag. I could not get enough of that!

And now, I leave you with one of the dishes served at the tasting, simple enough to make for yourself at home.

Gim-Dressed Popcorn
Courtesy of Fabulous and Flavorful Gim: A Collection of Korean Seaweed Recipes developed by Faculty Chefs from the Culinary Institute of America

Serves 6

Ingredients:

5 sheets gim (Korean dried seaweed)
4 oz / 113 g butter
2 Tbsp / 30 ml canola oil
2.8 oz / 79 g unpopped corn kernels

1. Place the gim in a spice grinder and grind until it is finely ground.

2. Place the ground gim and the butter in a small bowl or pot and melt, either in a microwave for 30 to 45 seconds or on the stovetop over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed sautoir over medium-high heat. Add the corn kernels and cover the pan with a lid. Gently shake the pan on the burner for the duration of the cooking time and listening for popping kernels to cease popping. Once the kernels stop popping, after 4 to 5 minutes, remove the foil and transfer the popcorn to a large mixing bowl.

4. Combine the gim butter with the popcorn and cover the bowl tightly with foil. Shake the bowl well to evenly coat the popcorn with the butter. Remove the foil, and serve.

This post was guest-written by Wendy Chan.

4 days until Christmas Eve.

3 more tickets left for the Woks & Lox dinner.

If you can’t join us for dinner, come to the nosh party – we’ve got plenty party tickets still up for grabs.

Just check out our menu (sponsored by our friends at TMI):

Dinner

Shiitake Ginger Matzoh Ball Soup
Garlic Dill Asian Pickles
Potato and Scallion Wonton Pierogies
Matzoh Encrusted Pan-Fried Tofu with General Tso’s Sauce
Ginger Sriracha Wok-Fried Bagel Strips
Sichuan Peppercorn Latkes
Kasha Varnishkes tossed in Scallion Oil
Roasted Vegetables with Chili and Sesame Soy

Dessert

Spring Roll Blintzes filled with Schmear and Chinese Jujubes
Sweet Red Bean Rugelach

Nosh Party Noshes

Potato and Scallion Wonton Pierogies
Ginger Sriracha Wok-Fried Bagel Strips
Sichuan Peppercorn Latkes
Spring Roll Blintzes filled with Schmear and Chinese Jujubes

And if that doesn’t get you excited enough, check out these wallets I made. We’ll be Chinese auctioning off a pair on Saturday!

Woks and Lox

Saturday, Dec 24th, Christmas Eve
Dinner: 5-7pm, ticket includes Nosh party
Nosh Party: 7-9pm
at The Queens Kickshaw (40-17 Broadway  Astoria)

You must buy tickets in advance through:
http://www.indiegogo.com/WoksandLox

Tickets to Dinner ($59), include Chichi Wang’s Jewish-Asian dinner mash-up from 5-7pm, 2 free drink tickets, and admission to the Nosh Party from 7-9pm.

Tickets to the Nosh Party ($28), include the Nosh Party from 7-9pm and 1 free drink ticket.

Tickets must be claimed by Friday, 12/23 @ midnight on IndieGoGo: http://www.indiegogo.com/WoksandLox
Official site: http://woksandlox.com/

I won’t lie, being a new kid in 7th grade was a trying time, and at times it really sucked a lot.  It took a while for me to adjust, but looking back at my childhood, I don’t regret it at all.  If anything, I’m grateful that I’ve had a chance to have grown up in a Jewish community and be immersed in Jewish culture, which I’ve found to have many similarities and connections to my Chinese upbringing.

Even in Los Angeles, we never had a Christmas tree at my house, and I probably never will. This Christmas Eve, I won’t be crying about my treeless apartment- the only tears I’ll be shedding will be tears of joy.  I’ll be celebrating the bond between Jews and Asians by co-hosting Woks and Lox at the Queens Kickshaw with my Jewish co-producer, Jeff Orlick, and we’d love for you to come too.

Of course any celebration, Jewish or Asian, can’t be without food and drink. So, our good friend and talented chef Chichi Wang will be preparing a sit-down dinner for 20 followed by a party of 40 more, complete with Sino-semitic noshes.

The fun doesn’t end there. Aside from dinner and noshes, we’ll have entertainment ranging from adaptations of Chinese wedding games to barmitzvah festivities and mah jong, as well as a Chinese auction with prizes donated by some of our favorite small businesses and companies.

Some of our prizes and giveaways include He’Brew, The Chosen Beer, Queens Historian Jack Eichenbaum‘s Tour along the 7 train, Fresh Ginger Ale by Bruce Cost, special Woks & Lox wallets from Hail the Right Brain made by yours truly, and Jeff will be giving away tickets to his infamous Midnight Street Food tour too.

That’s just the beginning – we’ll also have JoJu’s Modern Vietnamese, and many pizza giveaways from Louie’s Pizzeria in Elmhurst to Roebling Pizza in Williamsburg, in addition to tickets to Scott’s Pizza tour, and of course Jeff’s Real Pizza of New York iPhone app. More to come in a following post!

Last but not least, we’re doing it at one of our favorite places in our home borough of Queens,  The Queens Kickshaw.  We couldn’t do this without Kickshaw owners Ben Sandler and Jen Lim, two of our very first supporters of Woks & Lox and not-so-coincidentally also a Jewish and Asian duo, who have generously offered to host us and even be there personally to mix special drinks just for this special Christmas evening.

Christmas Eve is a tough date to make, but even if you can’t come, we don’t want you to feel left out – so we’re making holiday cards, money holders, and party t0-go packs from me and Jeff at Woks & Lox HQ (aka my apartment) – all for sale on IndieGoGo alongside the tickets to the event.  It’s going to be fun, and I hope you can be a part of it.  If you can’t, please help us to spread the word and make our Christmas wish come true.

WOKS & LOX
Saturday, Dec 24th, Christmas Eve
Dinner: 5-7pm (includes Nosh party)
Nosh Party: 7-9pm
at The Queens Kickshaw (40-17 Broadway, Astoria, Queens)

You must buy tickets in advance through:
http://www.indiegogo.com/WoksandLox

Just like there are plants blossoming in my garden right now (above), there are some equally exciting new developments figuratively in bloom here at World to Table that I thought I’d share with everyone.

First of all, I have a new job!  Well, it’s semi-new, since I started back in January, but it still feels exciting and new to me.  I am the Director of Digital Strategy (to translate that for you, I’m in charge of Social Media, Content and a dash of Marketing) at Gojee.com, a start-up that recommends curated recipes based on food you buy at the store.  To fully comprehend the Gojee experience and try it firsthand, you’ll have to wait just a little longer as we do some code-tweaking before we launch.  But basically, I now spend my days scouting awesome recipes with beautiful photos from some of my favorite recipe bloggers – amongst other things. Stay tuned for more developments.

Since my new job requires more of a time and mind commitment, I’ve decided to try my hand at writing shorter posts and sticking to a more frequent posting schedule – say goodbye to flowery long posts that I dread editing and say hello to pure, unadulterated, conversational posts.  In addition to that, I’m also committing myself to cover more cooking topics, so I can get awesome at helping to build a website and community for home cooks.  (Whoa, I just mentioned commitment two times in one paragraph- this must be a sign that I’m finally becoming a woman or something.)

Part of my new role at Gojee is to build and manage a community of people who not only love food but love cooking food at home.  In this process, I want to explore new ingredients and new ways to make cooking more fun.  Coming from someone who naturally thrives on going out and exploring new cuisines at restaurants, this will be a difficult challenge, but I am finally ready to accept.  After years of school and academics, I still find that the best way for me to learn is through trial and error.  What better way to transition into this new role than to take the reins and do more cooking myself?  In the past, I brought people together physically, through food events and productions, but this is it – I’m crossing into the digital realm.  I will now be able to bring people together and facilitate these experiences in a way that transcends physical limitations!

Most of all, I’d really love to hear from you, since it does get lonely here and sometimes it seems like I’m just talking to myself, or into a black hole.  You can find me here on worldtotable.com or on twitter and facebook – say hi, be my friend, keep in touch, and keep me motivated!

Season One

To our delight, the rooftop garden last year was a meeting place for buzzing bees, fluttering butterflies, vocal songbirds and, ahem, migrant workers – a colony of mail-order ladybugs that worked for food and board.  Since we’re in a mid-rise building in Long Island City with plenty of sun, seasoned gardening experts assured us that bees and butterflies can still grace our plants. The bountiful abundance of vegetables — beans, tomatoes, peas, zucchinis, cucumbers, radish, lettuce, eggplants, pepper, green onion and a host of other experimental fruits and herbs — throughout May to October last year pretty much exceeded our expectations. We had enough not just to indulge in “flower pot to cooking pot” dining, but also to share with others. Our little baskets of fresh-cut garden produce became a great diplomatic gesture to reach out to our new neighbors in the community.

Peas, lettuce, tomatoes, bitter gourd

Scallions and eggplant

Sungold tomatoes

Blueberries

Coleus

Plant sex, in action

Red lettuce

Zucchini

Ironically, the spacious backyards we had while living in the suburbs of California and New York did not yield nearly as much food or fun. Our yard was a source of frustration and costly maintenance – dealing with chauvinistic gardeners who habitually overbilled us for all types of “additional services” – from grass seeding, weeding, tree grooming and removal, lawn patching, grub-killing… Then we had to pay for all the supposed fertilization, replacement of sprinkler heads (knocked away by snow ploughs), not to mention weatherization.

We took the long growing season in Southern California for granted, and the 20-pound bags of fresh oranges for $5 from the weekend farmers market were not exactly an incentive to try growing edibles. While we did have some basil, cilantro and tomatoes, we focused more on fragrant species to perfume our yard. There were bushes of gardenias and sweet olives that rendered intoxicating aromas to welcome us home after a long day at work.

After moving from Los Angeles to a New York suburb a train ride away from Manhattan, our first attempt to grow produce and herbs was met with a rude awakening. Our vegetable patch was practically an all-you-can-eat salad bar for the neighborhood rabbits, deer, woodchucks and other cute but hungry animals. Our grueling work schedules, forced to accommodate to the Metro-North train times, made it difficult for us to devote time to our garden. We simply gave up planting vegetables and herbs and settled for amusement from the parade of animal visitors that dropped by.

Now that we have moved permanently to the city, we have actually become more inspired to make the most of our precious rooftop space. Lugging potting soil home was not exactly a breeze, and those planters are not cheap either. But we had this urge to maximize our outdoor space, and it’s still cheaper than our monthly payment to the gardener! This time around, we do not have any 4-legged animals dining on our salad bar. Frankly, I am still rejoicing about the liberation from our tyrant gardener. No mowing, blowing or sowing. Oh, and we have time saved from shorter commute.

Season Two

Armed with the experience from year one, realizing what worked and what did not (which included a couple of short-lived yet beautiful banana trees and some succulents), we attempted to launch our indoor seed nursery in mid-April. Apart from being caretaker for these seedlings, Veronica has become more vigilant, playing chastity police to adolescent herbs, snipping any buds to prevent them from bolting (unwanted pregnancies) for healthier edible foliage.

Emboldened by other rooftop growers’ success in growing taller trees in spite of the wind, we added a collection of new trees – Asian pear, peach, jujube, cherry, persimmon and some colorful Japanese maple. We also installed a ladybug house behind a pear tree, offering deluxe accommodation for our visiting ladybugs.

Our delicate, fern-like asparagus grew stronger and taller, and our strawberries came back to our surprise. Other perennials woke up in the spring and exuded charm and beauty with colorful blooms like never before, and our blueberry plants are promising a bountiful crop.

But it really bothered us that our healthy heirloom tomato plants have not been bearing fruits. Unlike our Asian pear trees (we bought 2 to cross pollinate), tomato plants self-pollinate, and do not need cross pollination. It’s perhaps time for some human intervention! The “no-sex please” only applies to our herbs, and we totally want our fruit plants to be sexually active and fertile.  Of course it is troubling that our bee population seems to be dwindling – and there seems to be no conclusive reason why. Let’s hope more bees will find their way to our rooftop soon.

After some research, we learned that we could use our electric toothbrush to perform pollination! Who knew – our Oral B toothbrush is a sex tool for our tomatoes!  Hallelujah! After watching a how-to video online, my husband was thrilled with the idea and volunteered to offer experimental artificial pollination for our under-sexed plants, giving them some serious vibrations.

The idea that we’re artificially inducing the fruiting process is a bit weird. But hey, we need tomatoes. We crave for those deliciously sweet vine-ripened brandywine black beauties that possess a depth of tomato flavor you can’t find in any aisle of the supermarket. So, fingers crossed for some signs of success.

Our lesson learned here is that there are times we need to be involved with the reproduction process. We just hope that our crop can still be classified as “organic.”

This tomato plant is just looking for love..

Lonely tomato flowers

Peas in a pod

Zucchini

Lettuce and snow peas

Peach and Asian pear trees

Yellow wax beans

For this recipe, which can be found in her newest cookbook, At Home with Annie, Annie took inspiration from the classic Italian dish porchetta. To prepare porchetta, you take a whole pig, gut it, de-bone it, stuff it with layers of meat, fat and skin then tie it up and roast it over an open fire.  Annie gives the Italian recipe a twist, filling her pig with 8 treasure rice instead, like in the famous Chinese dish “Hundred Treasure Duck”.  But before we get into the details, let’s say hi to Annie’s poodle Miss Muffin, who won best hairdo of the evening.

Ok, now back to the food. When we first arrived, a cutting board of Iberian and other Spanish varieties of ham from Annie’s recent trip to Barcelona was passed around along with other hors d’oeurves.  If you haven’t had Iberian ham before, it tastes similar to prosciutto but with a subtle nutty flavor that is not overpoweringly salty. Even though I knew a marathon of eating laid ahead of me, it was hard to tear away from this cutting board.

After munching, I snuck into the kitchen to see what was cooking, stepping in just as the pig was pulled out from the oven. Laid out on the pan, the golden swine sported little ear and tail covers made from tin foil to prevent them from burning to a crisp.

Since the pig is deboned, the task of cutting it doesn’t require too much force. Witness Annie as she plunges the knife into the pig:

After the pig was plated and the wine was poured, dinner commenced. Here’s the rundown:

Lobster bisque: rich and creamy, yet not too heavy, Annie’s bisque had a full flavor without being overpowered by cream — which unfortunately happens more often than not with lobster bisques.

Scampi linguine: Annie used large, fresh Italian prawns, which she deliberately left slightly undercooked, allowing for the sweet undertones of the shrimp to shine through. The scampi was served with al dente pasta and marinara sauce, and everything came together harmoniously.

And now, of course, the main attraction, what we’ve all been waiting for: the suckling pig stuffed with 8 treasure rice.

Annie’s 8 treasure rice is a mixture of glutinous rice, Chinese Jinhua ham, Chinese mushrooms, bamboo shoots, scallops, pearl barley, gingko nuts, lotus seeds, dry shrimp, spring onion, Chinese Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, sugar, and a dash of white pepper. Cooked inside the pork, the glutinous rice mixture was perfectly steamed and rich with flavor. The chewy texture played off the crispy skin and meat, all of which was then counterbalanced with a side of brussels sprouts, zucchini, and baby bok choy.

Since the Lins had already tried suckling pig version 1.0 not so long ago, Annie was nice enough to make an alternative entree: braised soy sauce short ribs.  The meat was tender, flaking off when you touched it with a fork, and the mashed potatoes were creamy and smooth.

To end the night on a sweet note, Annie made a simple Napoleon with mixed berries. I’ve always preferred lighter desserts with fruit over heavy, chocolate desserts (I usually pass on the ubiquitous molten chocolate cake).  To me, the Napoleon was just the right conclusion to the evening.

I end this post with a snapshot of my dad, eagerly diving into his plate of suckling pig. If you are brave enough to attempt Annie’s decadent pig dish (which is actually called “Roast Suckling Pig Extraordinaire” in her book) hop on over to Amazon.com and get a copy!

A few weeks ago, while I waited for Robyn and LeeAnne to arrive at the Underground Lobster Pound in Brooklyn (more informally known as Ben‘s apartment) Ben and I got to talking about food bloggers.  More specifically, Ben asked me why an overwhelming majority of food bloggers are: A. Asian and B. Female. Before I could give him an adequate answer, I had to think about it long and hard.  Fitting both those categories, I have often thought to myself, why do I love food so much? Why, after completing a liberal arts degree in fine arts and marketing, was I compelled to pursue a food-related career?

I think a major reason can be attributed to my upbringing. Simply put, I am the spawn of two food-obsessed parents.  Food has been an integral part of my life since I was old enough to chew.  Whenever we went out to restaurants, my mom brought along a small pocket-sized pair of scissors with her to cut up whatever she was eating into smaller bite-size pieces for my sister and me. It wasn’t long before we had to pick out tiny fish bones and peel shrimp on our own. From the moment we were weaned from baby formula, we were introduced to “adult food”.

Being exposed to many different types of food at an early age, which I suspect is the case in many Asian families, could be another underlying reason why I have developed an adventurous palette and an appreciation for so many different cuisines.  I still remember lunch time in elementary school: I enviously watched as my friends peeled open their Lunchables packs and stacked their circular ham and cheese slices between crackers.  Meanwhile, my mom had the nerve to pack me beef tongue sandwiches or multi-compartment lunch boxes filled with the contents from last night’s dinner with a side of rice, kept warm in my insulated Japanese lunchbox.  Many many beef tongue sandwiches later, I can now confidently say that my years of Lunchable-less elementary school meals were a blessing.

But for me, the real moment of truth came just before I was about to graduate.  Thoughts and anxieties raced through my mind, and the biggest unanswered question looming over my head was: what am I going to do now? I milled through memories of past jobs and internships, trying to recall what I took from these work experiences. What I immediately realized was that I couldn’t keep the memories of lunch from flooding my head.

As a studio intern at Kayrock Screenprinting, I was not paid a salary but fed lunch instead.  Hours of scrubbing down screens and performing other manual tasks would leave us all ravenous by lunchtime.  I have to credit Kristin, whose duty was to prepare lunch for everyone, for first introducing me to Tuscan kale and quinoa.  Many interns and employees were either vegan or vegetarian, which made the task of cooking lunch all the more challenging. Yet Kristin always managed to satiate everyone’s stomachs while staying within strict dietary restrictions. Her soba noodle salads were satisfying enough to put us all in a euphoric post-lunch haze.

When I was an archival intern at Joseph Kosuth‘s studio, the highlight of the day was also preparing lunch.  Between flipping through old copies of exhibition catalogs, scanning boxes and boxes of slides, and consuming countless cups of tea, we would enthusiastically discuss what to cook for lunch.  Sometimes it was spaghetti carbonara or Thai green curry.  Other days, when we lacked inspiration, we resorted to making elaborate sandwiches and salads, sometimes even treating ourselves to nearby restaurants.  As these vivid memories of lunches past reemerged,  I saw that all signs clearly pointed towards the same direction: food.

Aside from cultural influence and family upbringing, there is also some empirical evidence that might explain why Asian females make up such a high percentage of the food blogging community.  The term “supertaster” refers to a person who experiences the sense of taste with a greater intensity than the average person.  How is this possible?  A supertaster simply possesses an increased number of fungiform papillae, or taste buds, which thus enhances his or her sensitivity to taste — proof that biology can account for differences in taste.  According to studies (and Wikipedia), women have more tastebuds than men, and within the female demographic, Asians and Africans are statistically more likely to have those extra taste buds that qualify them as supertasters.

Since I’ve never been actually tested, whether or not I’m a confirmed supertaster is uncertain. But I’ve always sort of suspected that I have a heightened sensitivity to smell and taste, which may be a contributing reason why I enjoy food — because I taste it more intensely.  This leads me to ask a fundamental psychology question (a big one in “Intro to Psych”): Nature or nurture? Are Asian females more susceptible to becoming food bloggers due to environmental factors (nurture) or could this passion for food be traced back to genetics (nature)?

I’m curious to hear what people think about this phenomenon, and more specifically why others decided to take a similar path.  To fellow Asian female bloggers: why did you choose to start a blog?  What do you think influenced your love for food?  What do you hope to achieve through writing a food blog? And to those who are neither Asian nor female, what are your thoughts on this matter? Is this all just some weird coincidence? What did your moms pack you for lunch?

A few fellow Asian Female Food Bloggers: A Passion for Food, A Tiger in the Kitchen, Amy Blogs Chow, Bionic Bites, Chez Pim, Luxirare, Grab Your Fork, Just Hungry, Spatula Queen, Steamy Kitchen, Tamarind and Thyme, The Girl Who Ate Everything, Viet World Kitchen, Wandering Chopsticks, Wandering Eater

Pre-party prep action…

Cooking the Haitian riz dion dion and beef rendang short ribs simultaneously.

Chef Cedric flipping some ribs

Smoked wild salmon on a mini wheat pancake, dill and crème fraiche

Figs wrapped with speck

WORLDFOODS Beef rendang shortribs

Pickled watermelon rind

Haitian “riz dion dion” (wild mushroom rice with green peas)

Green papaya & watermelon salad with WORLDFOODS Coconut and Lime Dressing

WORLDFOODS Sweet Thai Chili and Kaffir Lime Pork Lemongrass Skewer

Chilled basil and lavender poached peaches

TWG Napoleon Tea Cookies

by Roboppy

Now for some party photos..

Hope and Sunjeong sipping on gazpacho

Ice cold Singha and Beerlao beer

An awesome trio of bartenders — Kenton, Cynthia, and Claire

by Roboppy

by Roboppy
Greg’s a big fan of the Geisha Blossom tea

Chris Johnson, Johan Svensson, Cedric Tovar

by Roboppy

by Roboppy