My Mexiwaiian Chinerican Easter

I grew up in a culture in which every holiday or event is a reason to eat. Chinese New Year! Let's eat! Autumn Moon Festival! Eat mooncake! And in the olden days ... Your baby survived the first month! Host a banquet! I know many of you can relate. Our mostly Chinese but increasingly multi-culutural family continues to carry on the eating tradition but now with much more flavor.

If you are squeamish, I must warn you that there is a picture of a balut in here.  That is a cooked egg that contains a duck fetus inside. I'll let you know when it's coming up so you can choose to stop reading.


EASTER EVE LUNCH
Our family (on the Ng side) is a pack, including five dogs between us 3 sisters. When my little sister travels from LA to visit, one of our favorites things to do is to take a walk at Point Isabel, the best dog park ever.  But first, lunch!

T-Rex BBQ in Berkeley, CA.  Having all these dogs means we seek out restaurants with patios.  The one at T-Rex is pretty utilitarian but it works.  Duck Confit Hash with a very nicely poached egg.  Some day, I will devote a post to the mighty egg.

T-Rex BBQ has great sides including this multi-cheese Mac n Cheese.

EASTER EVE DINNER 
Saturday's drizzly, gray weather was perfect for "Dah Been Loh" or "For Wor" roughly translates to mean fire cauldron. It is so simple: raw ingredients, boiling pots of water (some use stock), various condiments, two sets of chopsticks for each person (don't eat with the chopsticks you use to grab raw meat), little baskets for cooking.

We pick up all the ingredients at 99 Ranch. Lamb and beef already thinly sliced can be found in the freezer section.  And our fave, little fish balls with roe inside!  Shrimp, fish, chicken, veggies, noodles.  The resulting broth, as you can imagine, is very tasty.

The Ng Family Dah Been Loh'ing!

EASTER SUNDAY BRUNCH

Easter Sunday is with Ross' family. It's just a big potluck followed by an Easter egg hunt for the "kids" some of whom are 16!! What's the age cut-off these days?

Usually I bake something desserty but I was simply to busy and Ross picked up the slack by making one of my favorite foods in the whole world: Pão de Queijo: Brasilian Cheese Balls made from tapioca (manioc) flour, oil, salt, and tons of cheese.

Rollin' rollin' rollin'. 

 

Pão de Queijo: I was first introduced to these cheese balls on my first trip to Brasil. They were everywhere. Made from manioc flour, they are chewy and cheesy inside.  Eating them hot is the best and you will want 20 of them.

My brother-in-law Greg (a mighty good cook) brings Kimchi Fried Rice. This is my comfort food on flavor steroids. The rice is the sticky short grain variety meaning it packs a powerful, relaxing carb punch. I've made his recipe before and I will tell you that it is not diet food. Butter. Spam. And most important ... kimchi chopped up, at least that has fiber.

 WARNING: If you are squeamish, you may want to stop here.  Or scroll down really fast.

Cousin Tina says to me ever so casually:  So, what is the best way to boil an egg?  Soft or hard, I ask?  She says, looking at her husband Cousin Craig for agreement, hmmm, probably hard-boil is the best.  A few of us chime in with our suggestions. 

Fast forward to an hour or so, there is a lot of commotion and people telling me to grab my camera. Apparently, she was boiling baluts!  There were purchased at Belmont Farmer's Market, a small suburb south of San Francisco. Who in the heck is buying baluts at a farmer's market?! My cousins.

A balut is a cooked egg that houses a duck fetus.  As you can see, there is the yolk. The consistency is smoother than a regular cooked duck yolk.  Also milder in flavor.  The pinkish, brownish thing is, if you've not figured out, the little duck.  The head is curved and tucked into the yolk.  It is like eating a very soft, tender, mild tasting piece of duck.  There are no bones because they have not developed.  If you can get over the grossness, I can see why this is a prized delicacy in some cultures. Some of you may have remembered my balut experience in Vietnam in 2009. This one is better.  (Thanks duck.)

Cousin Tina's Basil and Strawberry Goat Cheese Cheesecake.  Tyler Florence recipe?  Oh, I know what you're thinking.  Goaty pie. But it was really quite lovely.  The consistency was smooth. And strawberries and basil are a really nice pair.  I'm seeing the combo everywhere on menu.

I'm not sure where Cousin Christine is getting her recipes. Seriously, does this not look like it jumped off the pages of Reader's Digest or Woman's Day or some other magazine for aging middle-aged women?  Well, let me tell you this Chocolate Eclair Cake was AWESOME!! It tasted just like a chocolate eclair.  I might have to subscribe.

EASTER SUNDAY DINNER
For dinner, my family returns to the scene of Dah Been Loh but the table is now transformed into Mexican buffet!

My sister's boyfriend, Jimmy, marinated the carne asada and grilled it on the Q.  It is simple and delicious. I love the flavoring. My sister made the rice. I ask her to make it every time she visits because it is on par with Kimchi Fried Rice as far as comfort food is concerned.  The beans are cooked with bacon.  The bread comes from a taqueria in Albany and we make Tortas (Mexican Sandwiches) with all the fixins'.

Chile Verde made with Chicharrón (fried pork rinds).  Obviously, healthy eating was not our goal for the weekend.  My sister made this in the slow cooker.  An extravagant dish that goes very well with rice.

Is this beautiful?

My niece is really getting good at making Meyer Lemon Curd. Lemon Cupcakes!

I love hanging out with my family, hanging out, eating, laughing, catching up. Hope you had a great Holiday last weekend.  Mine was perfect.