Best of Both Worlds

People are often surprised to find out that I'm a fob (or more accurately, a "yap," according to urban dictionary). I may not fit the stereotype, but catch me in person, and I'll gladly roll up my left sleeve and show you my mark of proof. It's too bad that society has put such a stigma on this status. I love being a fob- after all, my palate is all the more rich today because of it :).

For one thing, while my classmates grew up on Goldfish, animal crackers, and string cheese, I had all that plus the joys of dried squid, shrimp chips, and Pocky. When everyone else brought in pb&j sandwiches day after day, I could switch it up with "fuzzy pork" (rousong) between my slices of Wonder bread. Double the options, double the good times! And even now, when the fob within demands to be fed, a bowl of my mom's za jiang mien can bring me from the Alamo to the streets of Taiwan.

Za Jiang Mien

by la madre and yours truly

(**Note: because this is a home recipe, all the ingredient measurements are rough at best. follow your taste buds and adjust accordingly!)

*3/4 lb ground turkey (i prefer 93/7) or ground pork (for the less health conscious purists)

*3-4 pieces dried tofu (tofu gan), chopped

*1 cup of mushrooms, diced (Shitake preferred, but regular mushrooms at your local grocery store works as well)

*2 TBS ground bean sauce (do ban jiang)

*2 TBS sweet bean sauce (tian mian jiang)

*2 TBS oil

*2 tsp sugar

*1/3 cup water

1. Heat oil in deep pan on medium high heat.

2. Add turkey or pork to pan, breaking up any clumps so that the meat pieces are about the same size. Stir and cook until no pink is seen.

3. Next, add both sauces and sugar. Stir sauce combination evenly into the meat. Add some of the water (about 1/4 cup). Simmer for few minutes.

4. Add mushrooms and tofu. Mix well. Simmer for few minutes. If consistency of sauce is too thick, add more water bit by bit. Be careful not to over-dilute, since the mushrooms also will produce liquid as they cook.

5. Serve over noodles with chilled pickled cucumber (recipe below).

Pickled Cucumber

family recipe (again, rough measurements)

*1 large cucumber or 2 smaller ones, seeds removed, diced

*1 tsp salt

*1.5 tsp sugar

*1.5 TBS rice vinegar

*1 piece of garlic, roughly crushed

1. Mix cucumber with salt and sugar, making sure all pieces are well coated.

2. Add vinegar. Mix evenly.

3. Throw in garlic.

4. Refrigerate for at least 1 hr.

tangy flavor nicely complements

ah, a taste of childhood.