July 9, 2021 Lunch - Crab in Lobster Sauce. Dinner - PPI Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables and Roast Duck

 July 9, 2021 Lunch - Crab in Lobster Sauce. Dinner - PPI Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables and Roast Duck

We walked over a mile again today and this time it was without pain for me.

I took two sugar pills on the walk and nothing for breakfast.  It seems like my usual voracious appetite has diminished.

I worked with Rahim on a project most of the day, first together until 9:30 and then remotely.

 After Rahim left I checked on Stage 13 of the Tour de France and discovered to my delight that Mark Cavendish had won the stage for his fourth stage win this Tour and his 34the stage win, tying Eddie Merckx’ all time record of 34 stage wins.  

I then boiled a cup of rice for lunch and dinner.

At 1:30 I decided to cook lunch.  My idea was to convert the PPI crab and Corn and Ham soup into a Crab in Lobster Sauce dish by adding Cornstarch and more egg to the soup to thicken it into a sauce.  Since the dish usually includes ground pork I added about 2 oz. of Jimmie Dean sausage and 1/2 minced shallot to replace the unavailable green onion to the soup I was heating in my wok. 

When the soup started boiling and the sausage appeared to be cooked, I added a seasoning sauce of cornstarch, a whisked egg , water and Chinese Cooking Wine.  After I cooked the mixture for several minutes it began to thicken although there were still puddles of liquid at the edges.

I spooned a pile of rice onto a plate and added the crab dish. The rice absorbed most of the remaining liquid and the texture and flavor were  very good.  It was not Chinese restaurant perfect, but getting pretty close.  I still need to learn how to combine the broth, Egg clouds, and cornstarch into solution, but close was good enough for lunch today.

I watched the Market close while I ate lunch.  Today was a strong recovery day in the market with most analysts saying they think the market will go higher in the second 1/2 of the year.  The Market and my portfolio hit all time highs today. My portfolio made up yesterday’s loss and then some to gain .0135%.

I worked until after 5:00.  I invited Willy to join us for dinner.  He said he had a party to attend at 7:30 so I suggested he come at 6:30 and eat the leftover Teriyaki Salmon and garlic eggplant dish we made last night with some rice that he could heat at any time, so he would not need to wait for us to cook.

This turned out to be a good idea because Suzette did not arrive until 6:15 and was still drinking a cocktail when Willy arrived around 6:30.

We talked for a while.  Willy told us about the dissatisfaction of his workmates with the mandated return full time to the office after working remotely for the last year. 

He spooned some rice into a Pyrex baking dish, covered it with Saran and reheated it with the leftover Teriyaki Salmon Garlic Eggplant.

Suzette and I reheated the Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables and Roast Duck and joined Willy.

Suzette and I agreed this was the best duck we had ever eaten at East Ocean.  The new owners make a great roast duck.

After dinner Willy left to attend his party and we split the Cheese cake left from my birthday party with several fresh strawberries.

We watched several episodes of Lupin to the conclusion of the story.

I later had what I think was a lactose intolerant reaction that kept me awake until 1:30, during which time I typed the notes from: the book club’s last month’s book, Behind the Beautiful Forever.

Bon Appetit