When it comes to spice tolerance, where do you fall?
I would say I am somewhere in the middle.
I’ve always been really impressed with people who have a really high spice tolerance because I absolutely do not. But I’ve also known people who have thought that ketchup is too spicy, and I can definitely tolerate hotter foods than that.
I have been known to order mild or no spice when we go out to for tofu soup or for hot pot.
Yes, I am that person.
But there are also certain foods that I will suck it up even though there are flames coming out my ears and tears going down my face, because they are just so good – Thai green curry, jalapeno poppers… Mmm. So good, so worth it.
What are the spicy foods that are worth it for you?
You know how when you feel like somebody is so far out of your league, that you don’t even bother having a crush on them, because why sign yourself up for the disappointment?
I was a freshman in college – a dance major.
He was a grad student getting his master’s degree in computer science, and we both auditioned for the same ballroom dance team.
Allegedly he noticed me on the very first day of auditions, but I was too busy helping everybody else learn the choreography to notice anybody at all.
But once we both made it onto the team, there he’d be everyday, standing in the corner, looking oh so cool with his sunglasses and his button down shirt.
Just standing there, watching, being too cool for everybody. …did I mention he’s my husband now?
Whenever I talk about my husband by name, people always think that I have kids.
Oh, it’s so funny your kid said that ha ha. No… that’s actually my husband.
And this is because my husband’s name is Son.
And yes, I’ve heard all the jokes, but it is a very common Vietnamese name.
And the entire time we’ve been together, we’ve always introduced ourselves to people as Alli-Son – we’re AlliSon! Allison, because that’s my name, and his name’s Son… and somehow people still manage to get it wrong.
They always want to get weird with his name – people call him “Soon”. People call him “Sawn”. No, it’s just “Son”.
And even with introducing ourselves as Alli-Son people can’t remember my name. Are you… Amber? …Ashley?
If you could have any superpower, which one would you choose?
Flying does seem like a lot of fun, but if I really had to choose just one, I would go for invisibility.
But I would be the most boring invisible person ever.
I wouldn’t be like creeping on people, because that’s just really not my style and I don’t want to see that anyways.
I wouldn’t be solving mysteries, or finding out state secrets or anything like that.
I would really just be experiencing life without any of the awkwardness.
I don’t have to worry about people judging me. I don’t have to worry about doing the wrong thing. I can just go places and experience things and observe the world without any of my social awkwardness causing problems.
What superpower would you go for?
This stir-fry was really tasty, but holy mother of red pepper flakes it ended up SO spicy. I always seem to forget just how spicy red pepper flakes are – they seem so innocuous! – and may have dumped far too much in.
I only had red cabbage instead of green, but I loved how colorful it ended up.
Overall, aside from the spice issues, I’d happily make this one again!
5 scallions, white and pale-green parts coarsely chopped, dark-green parts thinly sliced
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger (from a 1-inch knob)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, plus more for serving
Cooking Directions
Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add cabbage and cook, tossing often, until edges are browned, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, tossing often, until thickest parts of cabbage leaves are tender, about 4 minutes longer. Remove from heat and set skillet aside.
Place udon in a large heatproof bowl (or pot if you don’t have one) and cover with 6 cups boiling water. Let sit 1 minute, stirring to break up noodles, then drain in a colander. Transfer noodles back to bowl and toss with sesame oil. Transfer cabbage to bowl with noodles. Wipe out skillet.
Heat remaining 1 tbsp vegetable oil in same skillet over medium-high and add pork, breaking up and spreading across surface of pan with a spatula or tongs. Cook pork, undisturbed, until underside is brown, about 3 minutes. When pork is browned, break up meat into small bits. Cook, tossing, just until there’s no more pink, about 1 minute. Add chopped scallions (the pale parts), ginger, and red pepper. Continue to cook, tossing often, until scallions are softened and bottom of skillet has started to brown, about 1 minute. Add udon mixture, mirin, and soy sauce and cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are coated in sauce (be sure to scrape bottom of skillet to dissolve any browned bits), about 45 seconds. Remove from heat and fold in 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds and dark-green parts of scallions. Top with more sesame seeds before serving.
Does anyone else have this problem? I feel like you can never find the perfect pair of shoes for a trip because when you’re traveling, you’re walking so much more than you do in day-to-day life. So the shoes that work for everyday stuff don’t work for traveling.
Used to be, I wanted cute shoes because you know, we all want those cute travel photos.
I’ve given up on that. I’ve entirely given up on that.
These days, I just want shoes that will not make my feet cramp, will not give me blisters, will not make my calves cramp.
And do you realize how impossible that is?!
I’ve also discovered that apparently my feet are slightly different sizes, which has never bothered me in day-to-day stuff, but when it comes to finding shoes that won’t give you blisters, but then one shoe does and one shoe doesn’t because you can’t find the right fit… Yeah, it’s a challenge.
I always feel a little bit bad when people ask me about something that’s popular in pop culture, whether it’s about actors or a movie or some popular TV show.
Because chances are, I can guarantee I haven’t seen it.
And it’s not because I’m too good for pop culture, or anything like that.
It’s just I’ve kind of always my entire life been out of the loop.
I was the oldest child in the family of three kids, and so you know how parents can get overprotective with that first child. And I was not allowed to watch TV, except for, like, the Disney Channel. I wasn’t really allowed to see movies, or my parents had to vet them first. And so I just never really got into the habit.
And then these days, I don’t have cable, don’t have Netflix, don’t have time to watch movies. I am just permanently out of the loop.
So if you want to talk to me about pop culture, I’m sorry… I probably don’t know. ?
If I had to choose one thing to import from Japanese culture into American culture, it would be the konbini.
Konbini, or Japanese convenience stores – which, you think 7-11, and they do have 7-11 konbinis in Japan, but the difference is, in Japan, you can go to a 7-11, you can get a full meal. It will be a healthy meal. And if you choose sushi, you don’t have to worry that it’ll kill you.
But seriously, every time we go to Japan, which we’ve been three times already, we can easily live off of konbini.
We actually have because we were working from Japan one time and every day we would just go get a bunch of food from the konbini and bring it back to our place and work, but the onigiri, the egg salad sandwiches… oh my gosh, the egg salad sandwiches. All of the food in the konbini are just so good.
And you know, it’s saying something because Japan in general has amazing food and yet the konbinis stand out.
What are your favorite cozy things to do when it gets cold?
Here in LA, it’s finally getting to fall temperatures in the 50s and 40s. It’s breezy and cold and I am ready for all the cozy things.
I’ve been making so much soup this year. I’m bringing out the extra blankets, turning on the heater. I’ve got my fuzzy socks on.
So I want to know, what are your cozy things? What should I do? What should I bring into my life to make everything more cozy?
Because while yes, I am a California girl, which means I’m a total weather wimp, I do like it when it’s more cold than hot. But again, I’m in California so we don’t do cozy as well as the rest of you do so, I don’t know. What do you do that’s cozy?
This was another recipe that I, once again, expected to be tastier than it actually was. (Although, to be fair, I didn’t make the mint oil so maybe that makes a big difference?)
Did we enjoy how heartily healthy it was? Absolutely. Am I going to make it again? Probably not.
Will I ever stop getting burned by Bon Appetit recipes that look delicious on paper and in their perfectly-styled photos, but in reality are… just okay? Yes, but only often enough to keep me trying their recipes even though I’m mildly disappointed by them every 4 out of 5 times…
1/2 cup cranberry or navy beans, soaked overnight, drained
1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, drained
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 cup green lentils, rinsed
5 oz baby spinach (about 7 cups), chopped
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves with tender stems
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped dill
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
Assembly:
6 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1 large onion, very thinly sliced
1/3 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
1/4 cup buttermilk
kosher salt
2 tbsp dried ground mint
Cooking Directions
Heat oil in a large pot over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and soft, 6–8 minutes. Add garlic, cranberry beans, chickpeas, and turmeric and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add 8 cups cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are halfway cooked (they should still be very al dente), 25–35 minutes. Add lentils and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are creamy but still hold their shape, and lentils are tender, 25–35 minutes (the soup may look a bit thick, but don’t fret; the greens will release liquid when they’re added, thinning the soup out a bit).
Add spinach, cilantro, parsley, and dill and cook until greens are just wilted and have slightly darkened, 4–6 minutes. Stir in lemon juice; season with salt and pepper.
While soup is simmering, heat 3 Tbsp. oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until golden, 6–8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are slightly charred and crisp, 14–16 minutes; season with salt. Transfer onions to a plate; cover with foil to keep warm.
Meanwhile, mix yogurt and buttermilk in a small bowl; season with salt. (The mixture should have the consistency of heavy cream.)
Wipe out skillet and heat remaining 3 Tbsp. oil over medium. Add mint and cook, stirring often, until mint oil is fragrant and slightly darkened, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl or measuring cup.
Divide soup among bowls and pour yogurt mixture over soup. Drizzle mint oil over soup, then top with fried onions.
When I was a kid, I was part of a Girl Scout Troop. Every year, we’d go to a winter camp, where we’d go up to the snow and stay in cabins.
There was this big lodge where we would gather for meals, but we would also play games, play pool, stuff like that.
One year, my troop was in the lodge playing games, playing pool, you know, having fun, and my troop leader had brought her entire family that year. So my friend’s older brother, mom and dad, everybody was there.
Everyone else in our troop was playing games, obviously having fun… and there’s me, sitting under a table, just watching.
After a while, my friend’s older brother comes over and peeks under the table and is like… “Are you okay?”
“Oh, no, I’m fine. Everything’s fine. I’m just watching.”
“Er… can you smile for me? Are you having fun?”
He was seriously concerned about if I was having a good time or not, and I’m just over here being an introvert, being like “no, this is great. I just want to sit here and observe and not have to deal with people and I’m having the time of my life.”
He was so worried about me. Yeah… I’m an introvert.
This is one of those recipes that honestly looked a lot more interesting than it turned out. I think, from that bright yellow color, I just expected it to be more flavorful – my mind probably thought “curry”.
BUT we still easily scarfed it down, so I wouldn’t say it was truly a fail either.
The flavors definitely felt very Japanese in that subtle sort of way, so it wasn’t bad. But I recently saw another golden rice recipe from an actual Chinese source, and that one looks waaay more promising, so I may have to try that sometime when I end up with leftover sushi rice again.
5 tbsp vegetable oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
kosher salt
1 12-oz skinless, boneless salmon fillet, cut into 1″ pieces
a 1″ piece ginger, peeled, finely chopped
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
4 scallions, white and pale green parts finely chopped, dark green parts thinly sliced, separated
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
furikake (for serving)
Cooking Directions
Separate egg yolks from whites, placing yolks in a medium bowl and whites in a small bowl. Add rice to bowl with yolks and mix to break up any clumps and coat each grain with yolks (take your time with this as any clumps will cook together); set aside. Stir 2 Tbsp. oil into egg whites and season lightly with salt.
Heat a dry large nonstick skillet over high. Add egg white mixture and cook, pushing around constantly with chopsticks or a heatproof rubber spatula, until gently set, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate. Wipe out skillet if needed.
Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in same skillet over medium-high. Season fish with salt and cook, undisturbed, until golden brown underneath, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook just until lightly browned on the other side and opaque throughout, about 1 minute. Transfer to another plate. Wipe out skillet.
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in skillet over medium-high. Cook ginger, stirring, until very fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add onion and season with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until onion is translucent, about 1 minute (remove from heat if onion starts to go past golden brown). Add reserved rice mixture, sprinkle with sugar, and season with salt. Toss to combine, then cook, undisturbed, until rice is beginning to warm and crisp underneath, about 1 minute. Push some of the rice to the side to clear a few inches in skillet. Drizzle a bit of oil into the clearing. Add scallion white and pale green parts and garlic and cook, stirring, until just softened and fragrant, about 45 seconds. Toss into rice mixture and cook, tossing occasionally, until warmed through and rice is crisp and chewy, about 3 minutes. Return cooked egg whites to pan and cook, tossing and breaking up with spatula until distributed. Return salmon to pan and toss once to combine.
Divide among plates and top with furikake and scallion greens.
