Posts Tagged ‘Vegan’

  1. Made in Jiānádà: Garlicky Chinese cucumber salad

    June 20, 2012 by MaryAnne

    Marinating the cucumber and garlickiness for half an hour in the fridge to make it super happy.

    Er, hello.

    It’s been a while. You may remember me as the person who used Xinjiang noodle dough to make pretty much everything.

    I’ve been, one might say, busy.

    I got a new job about two months ago. I can’t remember if I mentioned it. Academic director of a new start up school. Or, as I’d hoped to have on my business card, Queen of the Fire Spiders. Did I mention that the company that is in charge of this whole project is named Fire Spider? Yes. Hot, roaring, powerful and drops from the sky out of nowhere. Can’t get more auspicious than that. (more…)

    Category Made in Jianada, Spicy Things, Uncategorized | Tags: ,,,,,, | 15 Comments

  2. Dragon-Baiting Roasted Chili-Garlic Wonton Crisps

    February 17, 2012 by MaryAnne

    The darker ones are from the second batch, kept in 2 minutes longer as I was distracted by hanging laundry

    I spent most of last month under water in Thailand, thinking about what I’d do differently when back in Shanghai. Like Chinese New Year resolutions. I tend to have a lot of these big thinks when I’m in places where they can’t be implemented, then when I get back to where they could be implemented, I’ve either forgotten about my ideas or I’ve given up already.

    My under water thoughts were mostly about my sanity, my health, my creativity. I had plans to write more, to start running again, to eat more veggies. I was going to drink more herbal tea and drink less alcohol. I was going to go without sugar for a month. I was going to experiment with making my own sauerkraut, my own sour dough starter for bread. Did I mention the running?

    Yeah.

    No.

    So we got back about a week ago and I’ve barely left the flat. I bought a box of wine and have been living on cheddar and crackers for most of the week, lying in bed catching up on three weeks’ worth of internet reading. I haven’t seen the inside of my gym since, er, November?

    As a Tiger, I seem to not be able to take the year of the Dragon seriously, giving it the middle paw-pad with great insolence, refusing to participate.

    This really needs to stop. (more…)

    Category Baked Things, Improbable Things, Uncategorized | Tags: ,,,, | 13 Comments

  3. Easy Peasy Potato-Enhanced Chapatis!

    September 15, 2011 by MaryAnne

    And this is your breakfast. Omnomnom.

    Yesterday, in a frenzy of gym-avoidance cooking, I spent the afternoon assembling a rather impressive feast of dhal (in a wok), chicken Jalfrezi (in the slow cooker, using the last few inches of my most recent batch of home made yogurt) and  the last of our brown/wild rice (in the rice cooker).

    Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take any pictures and now all I have to show for it is a stack of plastic leftover containers in the fridge (thank you, Di Shui Dong, for  significantly reducing my Tupperware budget). Even though we are only two people, I made enough dhal and Jalfrezi to feed a dozen or so people for several days. I have a feeling I used to be a mess hall cook in a previous life. (more…)

    Category Baked Things, Improbable Things, Uncategorized | Tags: ,,,,,, | 3 Comments

  4. Disarmingly Practical Sino-Happy Chocolate Cake

    September 8, 2011 by MaryAnne

    You know it's a balanced breakfast because the baking tray hasn't tipped over

    Next Tuesday, I’m turning 37 so I decided to make myself a cake a week in advance, for my Thursday breakfast.  37 is a weird age to be turning because it holds absolutely no significance. It’s not a milestone. It contains no auspicious (or unlucky, for that matter) numbers. It’s kind of a beige tinted purgatory somewhere between being, say, 29 and 40, but definitely tilting toward the old end of the spectrum. I have a sneaking suspicion that I ought to be mature and sensible by now but that probably only applies to my natal time zone.

    I’m not sure if cake for breakfast is mature or sensible, but it’s irrelevant as I’m in China, 15 time zones away. (more…)

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    Category Baked Things, Sweet Things, Uncategorized | Tags: ,,,, | 1 Comment