Asia or bust…

(a culinary trek around the globe with a 4 year old foodie)

This week’s culinary travel pick was….Asia. Yes, I know there are many places within Asia that we could have explored, but when a 4 year old is doing the selecting, we get what we get.

We started our “travels” with a trip to the Asian District. There is a market there that is out of this world. Every time we go there I feel like an Andrew Zimmern roadie. The place is packed floor to ceiling with foreign delights and freakiness. Which only ads to the charm. You can select your own live fish which will then be beheaded right before your eyes, (we usually steer clear of this section). On our latest visit we found an item labeled “Ground Cucumber” – a giant, brown earth grub. Cucumber? Hmmm. The fresh produce is amazing, with so many choices at reasonable costs, it is hard to leave without some exotic perishable.

I bought a new bamboo steamer (for only $8.99) and ingredients to make fresh dim sum, peanut noodles, and array of other “staples” to have on hand. I am most excited to use the steamer. Dim Sum is one of my all time favorites.

We then went to the library and took out some books about Asia, and Kiki’s Delivery Service, a movie by Hayao Miyazaki  

One of the books we took out was The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale by Ying Chang Compestine which after reading, Isaac said “Wow mommy, that was a good book, I thought it was going to be lame”. Lame? Where did he pick up THAT word? At least he used it in the right context.

An astonishing fact about Asia: the majority of Muslims reside in South Asia instead of Middle East, which is essentially known for its Muslim population.

I did not know this. Did you?

The first thing we made was Sesame Peanut Noodles.

Ingredients

16 oz noodles (you can use spaghetti, linguine, or fresh wheat flour noodles – really any noodle of choice) I used fresh wheat flour noodles:

1 bunch of green onions

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves minced

2/3 cup all natural no sugar added peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup hot water

1 Tablespoon cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

1 teaspoon white sugar

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions on package.

Meanwhile, combine oil and onions in a skillet. Saute over medium heat until tender. Add ginger and garlic, cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes.

Mix in peanut butter, soy sauce, water, vinegar and  sugar. Remove from heat.

Toss noodles with sauce, and serve either hot or cold.

お食事をお楽しみ下さい

O shokuji o o tanoshimi kudasai