Ginger Sesame Chicken

This dish is a cold weather staple in our family. I'm reminded to make it because mom facebooked that she made it during the recent snow storm. Mom calls it sesame chicken - I added the "ginger" so that it wouldn't be confused with the deep fried sweet sticky concoction that one gets at a Chinese take-out joint. Mom gets her chicken from the Chinese butcher - a whole chicken hacked into little pieces. While the pieces are great and the bones lend a rich flavor to the sauce, one always had to be careful not to stick themselves with a chicken shard. Verdict? M says, "Wow, honey, this is delicious!"

Ginger Sesame Chicken
- Around 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 thumb of ginger, sliced
- 1 lb of chicken (I used boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat) cut into 1 inch by 1 inch pieces
- 3/4 cup of rice wine

Dry chicken and sprinkle with some kosher salt. In a pot for braising, add enough sesame oil to coat the bottom. When hot, add ginger and saute until flavor is released. Be careful because sesame oil burns easily. Add chicken (may have to be in batches) and brown. When chicken is browned, turn up heat and add rice wine. Let alcohol cook off, add equal amount of water (add wine and water until meat is just covered). Lower heat to a simmer and cook covered for at least 30 minutes. Salt to taste and add a dash of white pepper. Serve over somen noodles.

DC Favorites...So Far...

It's been about 6 months so I thought I'd jot down a few of my favorite things about DC.

Activities:
- Cooking Class @ L'Academie de Cuisine
- Hiking at the plethora of parks/ nature centers
- Pole Class @ Chic Physique Fitness/ Balance Sport & Fitness
- Rock climbing @ Earth Treks

Food:
- Bethesda: Black Salt, Sushi @ Hinata, French Macaroons @ Cocoa, Georgetown Cupcake***
- DC: Dancing Crab***, Marina***, Hank's Oyster Bar, Rasika (Indian), Dukem (ethiopian)***
- Frederick: Volt (Top Chef Fame!)
- Rockville: Big Saigon Vietnamese, Taiwanese brunch @ Joe's Noodle House, Fractured Prune doughnuts***, Urban BBQ, emerald tofu dish and hot and sour soup @ Vegetable Garden, Lebanese Taverna, Roast duck/ pork @ Maxim, Hwaro (to try for Korean BBQ), The Vyne (to try)
- Riverdale: bulgogi bibimbop, fresh doughnuts and orange-aid at the farmer's market
- Silver Spring: Dimsum at Oriental East

Museums:
- National Arboretum
- National Building Museum: great for kids
- National Gallery of American Art and National Portrait Gallery
- National Gallery of Art: Calder Exhibit
- Natural History Museum (IMAX: Wild Ocean 3D)
- National Museum of American History: Julia Child's kitchen, Dorothy's ruby red slippers
- National Zoo: pandas
- The Phillips Collection: "Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens"
- The Textile Museum: Contemporary Japanese Fashion
- U.S. Botanic Garden

Neighborhoods:
- Frederick, MD
- Friendship Heights, MD
- Old Town Alexandria, VA

Tour:
- Segway tour of DC

Stinks so Good

I really miss my mom's cooking. I decided to try her braised sour bamboo and spare ribs. So, you know how cheese stinks but tastes so good - addictively good? M, opens up the fridge and was like, "what reeks?!" Mind you, the sour bamboo (bamboo pickled in salt) is vacuum packed. They still stink. But, braised with pork spare ribs and eaten over rice, it's all worth it. And LOADED with fiber.

Braised Sour Bamboo and Spare Ribs
- Half pound of pork spare ribs
- 1 bag sour bamboo (yes, mom, they are made in Taiwan)
- 1 garlic clove, crushed

Wash bamboo thoroughly and cut into 2 inch pieces. In pot with cover, heat some canola oil and when hot, add garlic. When garlic flavor has released, add spare ribs and brown. Add bamboo, water to barely cover and braise for at least 1 hour (mine are going on 4 hours). Salt to taste. Enjoy over white rice.