May 17, 2018 Lunch –Amerasia Dinner – Stir Fried Deep Fried Salmon with Vegetables

May 17, 2018 Lunch –Amerasia  Dinner – Stir Fried Deep Fried Salmon with Vegetables

I started the day with a toasted 1/3 bagel smeared with cream cheese and layered with Lax and red onion slices and capers.  I decided to eat the PPI Salad from last night with its slices of tomato and cucumber with a mash of avocado, crumbled blue cheese, lettuce, and dressing.

At 9:00 Suzette drove us to the early voting office at 1500 Lima’s.  We were the first to vote today even though the voting office had opened at 8:00.  Go vote.  It is easy and quick.

A little after noon I picked up a book at the library and drove to Amerasia for lunch.  The owner and I have perfected my dining routine over the years. When alone I order two dim sun,  steamed buns and stuffed deep fried tofu.  Today soon after I sat down Hyangmi came by my table with the cart filled with the latest offerings, on which was a small plate with two Steamed buns filled with BBQ Pork mixed with sweet bean paste.  Hyangmi  asked, “What would you like?”, I asked for the plate of steamed buns and she asked, “Do you want the stuffed tofu?” To which, I answered, “Yes, please.”



This has been our routine for many years and will probably continue as long as we do.  Each plate is $3.90.

                      The steamed buns beside my plate of soy with a dab of red chili paste for dipping

                                       The stuffed deep fried tofu in wood ear and shitake broth


As usual, also, after the meal, Hyangmi brought me a plate of delectable twists of crisp deep fried
dusted heavily with powdered sugar.  I ate one or two small chips and and asked for a plastic bag and
took the rest home.  Here is a picture of the dessert twists.




I worked until 4:30. Then I cook a nap until 5:30 when Suzette arrived.

I had planned to cook the salmon filet and serve it with stir fried vegetables, by combining the PPI Fried Tofu and Mixed vegetables from my lunch at East Ocean with the stir fried vegetables from last night and slice an onion and add that.  Suzette had a slightly different idea and when she took on the cooking duties, we went with it.  She wanted to add the chard I had harvested from the garden on a
Sunday and some of the white beech mushrooms I had bought at Talin last week, so I cleaned and spun the chard, which refreshed it a bit and cut the tough ends off the mushrooms and placed the mushrooms in the bowl with the onion slices while Suzette diced the 1 lb.  salmon filet into 1 inch cubes.

The dish

Suzette filled the wok with peanut oil to a depth of about 1 inch and heated it until it was very hot.  She then deep fried the salmon cubes and put them aside (see picture).

She the removed most of the oil and stir fried the onion slices and beech mushrooms.  Then she added the previously cooked vegetable and finally added the chard and added back the salmon and covered the wok to steam the chard, while I made a seasoning sauce of lobster broth, 1 T. cornstarch, 1 T. of oyster sauce, about 1 ½ T. of Chinese Cooking wine, and 1 T. of mushroom soy.

When the chard had cooked for a minute, we added the seasoning sauce and Suzette folded it in.  The sauce thickened as it heated and we added a bit more lobster broth to thin the sauce to a creamy consistency.

The finished dish 

I poured Suzette the last of the 2016 Matua Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (Costco $7.99) and I poured the last of the 2016 Famille Perrin Reserve White from Cotes Du Rhone (Trader Joe’s $7.99)  for myself.

We watch some Rachel Maddow, and then the Stanley Cup playoff game four between Tampa Bay and Washington, which Tampa Bay won.

Then we watched the Royal Wedding preview on PBS with Willy, who came by to fetch his camping gear and  at 10:00 went to bed, although I stayed up to blog this edition.

As you can see the diet has taken a dramatic turn toward more protein and vegetables and fewer starches and simple carbohydrates.  For example, I threw out the PPI rice from my lunch at East Ocean and the only white flour I ate today was in my beloved steam bun wrappers.

Bon Appetit