This is a movie I have made, both for fun and for your entertainment.
I have decided to call it "Chicken - Man's Best Friend". It is an attempt to portray the typical college student's yearning for food. The scenes are eclectic and extremely abstract - on purpose. I put together random clips of food items that could showcase hunger. The toaster popping up with no toast, empty dishes, and empty water bottle, and scrounging around at orange peels. It is simply a look into the battle to satisfy hunger.
I am very interested to see what you think of the film, and what you get from it. Enjoy!
*IMPORTANT - READ*
My blog postings are in reverse chronological order. Most of my prepared dishes took quite a bit of time - grocery shopping, preparation, actual cooking, consumption, and blog postings. When I ventured out into restaurants to look for food, my friends chose to take part in my project. They knew I wanted to go out and eat in order to talk about my experiences - what I saw, felt, and tasted.
I hope you enjoy this blog! I have put a lot of time and effort into the entire project!
*Click "Older Posts" at the very bottom of each page, on the bottom right, to go back to older posts
Ivan
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Fly Lice (?)
I like to call Fried Rice "Fly Lice". Why? Because, it is common of a Chinese person to speak like this. It is completely comical, however. I'm Chinese, in fact. This is why, I have attempted to make FRIED RICE!!!!!
I actually have experience in cooking fried rice. It all started with my Korean friend. His house was the hang-out spot, and when we got hungry my friend would make the best fried rice I have ever eaten. It usually consisted of onions, vegetables, spam, rice, egg, sesame seed oil, and a lot of cheese on top when it was finished. After that, we would top it all off with Sriracha hot sauce. What a great meal..
Since then, it has been one of my life-long goals to cook fried rice just as good as my friend did. I've tried numerous times, I'd say 20+. But now, I have created my own style of cooking fried rice. I used to imitate my friend's style. I used to observe what he did and why, and I copied it distinctly. However, due to a difference in ingredients I often produced different results, both visually and taste-wise.
My fried-rice consists of:
Half an onion
Minced garlic
Three eggs (scrambled)
Frozen vegetables, mixed
Whatever meat I have (spam, chicken, pork)
Old rice**
Soy sauce
Sesame Seed Oil (if I have it)
Lots of pepper
Garlic salt
Now, you can see how much preparation goes into making fried rice. However, the results are filling and admirable. **Why do we use old rice? We use old rice because cooking fried rice with older rice makes it crunchier, harder. Eating fried rice with soft rice just doesn't taste as good. Therefore, it is important to cook your rice the day beforehand, put it in the refrigerator, and let it harden.
The first step is to pour olive oil into the pan and let it heat up. First, cook your eggs - not completely - and pour it into a separate bowl when finished. Next, we will cook the frozen vegetables, meat, onions, and garlic all together. Cook until brown and soft - everything. Add the rice. Mix well. Pour sesame seed oil and soy sauce into mixture. Add eggs. Now, we will cook the entire thing in the saucepan for about 10 minutes. This is to ensure everything is coated well with sauce, and that the rice is hardened. Add pepper and garlic salt to taste.
The final result is delicious! It can usually serve up to two very hungry people.
I actually have experience in cooking fried rice. It all started with my Korean friend. His house was the hang-out spot, and when we got hungry my friend would make the best fried rice I have ever eaten. It usually consisted of onions, vegetables, spam, rice, egg, sesame seed oil, and a lot of cheese on top when it was finished. After that, we would top it all off with Sriracha hot sauce. What a great meal..
Since then, it has been one of my life-long goals to cook fried rice just as good as my friend did. I've tried numerous times, I'd say 20+. But now, I have created my own style of cooking fried rice. I used to imitate my friend's style. I used to observe what he did and why, and I copied it distinctly. However, due to a difference in ingredients I often produced different results, both visually and taste-wise.
My fried-rice consists of:
Half an onion
Minced garlic
Three eggs (scrambled)
Frozen vegetables, mixed
Whatever meat I have (spam, chicken, pork)
Old rice**
Soy sauce
Sesame Seed Oil (if I have it)
Lots of pepper
Garlic salt
Now, you can see how much preparation goes into making fried rice. However, the results are filling and admirable. **Why do we use old rice? We use old rice because cooking fried rice with older rice makes it crunchier, harder. Eating fried rice with soft rice just doesn't taste as good. Therefore, it is important to cook your rice the day beforehand, put it in the refrigerator, and let it harden.
The first step is to pour olive oil into the pan and let it heat up. First, cook your eggs - not completely - and pour it into a separate bowl when finished. Next, we will cook the frozen vegetables, meat, onions, and garlic all together. Cook until brown and soft - everything. Add the rice. Mix well. Pour sesame seed oil and soy sauce into mixture. Add eggs. Now, we will cook the entire thing in the saucepan for about 10 minutes. This is to ensure everything is coated well with sauce, and that the rice is hardened. Add pepper and garlic salt to taste.
The final result is delicious! It can usually serve up to two very hungry people.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
TACOS TAKOS TACOS
Today was my attempt at making home-made tacos. For the past few weeks I've had trouble deciding what to cook at home, so I figured tacos sounded easy and fun.
1 lb Ground Beef
Taco Meat Seasoning
Onions
Salsa
Flour Tortillas
Sour Cream (for fun and flavor)
Dice onions, prepare Ground Beef
Brown ground beef and onions
Add taco seasoning!!!!!!!
Heat up tortillas.
Final product!!! Added sour cream.
The whole process was fairly easy. The one pound of ground beef made enough food for two people. I double layered my tortillas just so it would be more structured, strong, and filling. I ended up eating four tacos total.
The taco seasoning was great! The only thing was, when all of the items in the saucepan were fully cooked, there was a CRAP-load of grease sitting there. It was and looked really disgusting.
The overall taste of the tacos tasted great!! It only took me..I'd say about 30 minutes to prepare and cook the whole thing. My roommate enjoyed it. Sorry for the horrible pictures, some are from my roommates phone and some are from my phone. The crappier ones are from my phone haha!
What I really liked about this meal was the relatively small clean-up. All I really had to wash was the cutting board, the pan, and the plate that I used to eat on. The meal was relatively cheap too. The ground beef was around $2.50, the seasoning around $3 (but it definitely lasts at least four meals), the onion was around a buck, and the sour cream was $2-ish (also lasts a couple of meals). Oh yeah, tortillas were probably the most expensive part, it was a little over $3, but it will last us maybe another taco meal or so, so it pays off in the end.
What I would wanna try next time is maybe putting chicken instead of beef? Chicken just seems healthier, leaner, more clean. I could just bake the chicken and tear the meat off the bones and put it in the tortillas. This sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, I'm sure we'll run out of tortillas before I get the chance to try it out, so maybe next time.
I actually finished watching Super-Size Me. I watched it at home on YouTube (they uploaded the film in its entirety). I will post about that tomorrow. I am posting a lot this week! It is the last week.
1 lb Ground Beef
Taco Meat Seasoning
Onions
Salsa
Flour Tortillas
Sour Cream (for fun and flavor)
Dice onions, prepare Ground Beef
Brown ground beef and onions
Add taco seasoning!!!!!!!
Heat up tortillas.
Final product!!! Added sour cream.
The whole process was fairly easy. The one pound of ground beef made enough food for two people. I double layered my tortillas just so it would be more structured, strong, and filling. I ended up eating four tacos total.
The taco seasoning was great! The only thing was, when all of the items in the saucepan were fully cooked, there was a CRAP-load of grease sitting there. It was and looked really disgusting.
The overall taste of the tacos tasted great!! It only took me..I'd say about 30 minutes to prepare and cook the whole thing. My roommate enjoyed it. Sorry for the horrible pictures, some are from my roommates phone and some are from my phone. The crappier ones are from my phone haha!
What I really liked about this meal was the relatively small clean-up. All I really had to wash was the cutting board, the pan, and the plate that I used to eat on. The meal was relatively cheap too. The ground beef was around $2.50, the seasoning around $3 (but it definitely lasts at least four meals), the onion was around a buck, and the sour cream was $2-ish (also lasts a couple of meals). Oh yeah, tortillas were probably the most expensive part, it was a little over $3, but it will last us maybe another taco meal or so, so it pays off in the end.
What I would wanna try next time is maybe putting chicken instead of beef? Chicken just seems healthier, leaner, more clean. I could just bake the chicken and tear the meat off the bones and put it in the tortillas. This sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, I'm sure we'll run out of tortillas before I get the chance to try it out, so maybe next time.
I actually finished watching Super-Size Me. I watched it at home on YouTube (they uploaded the film in its entirety). I will post about that tomorrow. I am posting a lot this week! It is the last week.
Venturing Into College-ness
Today was my journey into preparing a standard and typical meal of a college student. I'm fairly used to preparing more elaborate ones than this, however, I felt like it was important to experience why college students chose to dine so poorly, yet quickly.
I made my way to Stater Bros in an attempt to look for an instant meal that was filling and fast. As I walked around aimlessly looking for this, I stumbled upon Hamburger Helper. This looked enticing. All it required for me to buy was the box, and one lb of ground beef. Done.
The process was surprisingly simple, although it did require a measuring cup which I didn't have. The first step was to ground the beef and then drain the water out when fully cooked. This was simple. Next was to pour in 2 3/4 cups of milk, and 1/4 cup of hot water. I had to boil our tap water in a pot because we don't have a hot water dispenser. Next, I eyed the milk measurements. I think I poured way too much, but I would see if it would affect my dish in any way. Then I was to pour the sauce mix and uncooked pasta into the entire concoction. Heat to boil.
It took a really long time to boil, just cause I poured so much damn milk. It took like, 6 minutes I'd say? Next was to lower the fire and let simmer for 10 minutes. It kept burning at the bottom, so I made the fire extremely small.
The end result was extremely delicious! The sauce was a little too watery though, probably because of the excess milk. I would definitely make this meal again. It was quick and cheap. The ground beef was about $2.50 and the boxed Hamburger Helper was just 99c (on sale).
The whole cooking process took about..25 minutes. Quick meal!
I made my way to Stater Bros in an attempt to look for an instant meal that was filling and fast. As I walked around aimlessly looking for this, I stumbled upon Hamburger Helper. This looked enticing. All it required for me to buy was the box, and one lb of ground beef. Done.
The process was surprisingly simple, although it did require a measuring cup which I didn't have. The first step was to ground the beef and then drain the water out when fully cooked. This was simple. Next was to pour in 2 3/4 cups of milk, and 1/4 cup of hot water. I had to boil our tap water in a pot because we don't have a hot water dispenser. Next, I eyed the milk measurements. I think I poured way too much, but I would see if it would affect my dish in any way. Then I was to pour the sauce mix and uncooked pasta into the entire concoction. Heat to boil.
It took a really long time to boil, just cause I poured so much damn milk. It took like, 6 minutes I'd say? Next was to lower the fire and let simmer for 10 minutes. It kept burning at the bottom, so I made the fire extremely small.
The end result was extremely delicious! The sauce was a little too watery though, probably because of the excess milk. I would definitely make this meal again. It was quick and cheap. The ground beef was about $2.50 and the boxed Hamburger Helper was just 99c (on sale).
The whole cooking process took about..25 minutes. Quick meal!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Noodles and Poodles
I took a shot at a video blog this time around, just for fun! Hope you enjoy!
Mom and Sister
A cool talent I have :)
A lot of noodles!
The milk tea was super good!!!
K, the video blog didn't turn out too well. The sound isn't in sync with the video....fail.
Mom and Sister
A cool talent I have :)
A lot of noodles!
The milk tea was super good!!!
K, the video blog didn't turn out too well. The sound isn't in sync with the video....fail.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
A Trip to Uncle's Restaurant
Every Sunday morning my parents go out together to eat at my Uncle's restaurant (my dad's younger brother). There are two of them, one located in Rosemead and one in San Gabriel. Once in a while I'll go with them. I guess it could be comparable to Eat, Drink, Man, Woman and how we as a family have this brunch every Sunday morning. Some days I'll choose to take part, some days I won't. They usually go around 9am but I'm still sleeping, being the lazy person that I am.
Today my parents were busy with running errands, so my friends and I decided to take a trip to the Rosemead location and eat there. I was eating with three other friends. One of the three eats there occasionally, while I am familiar with the place naturally. The other two have never been and were both Korean. I thought it was going to be interesting to see if they liked the food or not. It is always difficult to get another Asian culture to enjoy the other. I think a lot of people like Chinese food though, so I hoped for the best.
The restaurant focuses on Taiwanese style noodles. They have a huge variety of noodle dishes. Today there was a special, "Curry Soup Noodles with Lamb". This has always been a favorite of mine, so I ordered it. The other three stuck with the first page of the menu, which was a chicken broth noodle soup with meat varieties. The place is usually packed on the weekends, but for some reason it wasn't that filled up today.
Our food conversation was typical. We did start talking about a hot sauce known as Sriracha though. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's cool too cause their factory is based in Rosemead (the city we were in). What a great sauce to accompany any type of food! I'm proud to be Asian cause of Sriracha haha. I kept turning around to the table behind me because there were 'non-Asians' enjoying the food. One of them was eating a dish called "Sate" which is a very, very spicy noodle dish. When you eat it you can just see all the red peppers in the dish. I like it, but a lot of the time I need a lot of water to drink after. The guy eating it wasn't even drinking water though, it was cool. I took a picture of their table, but I guess the guy saw me so he's looking at the camera.
One of my Korean friends didn't really enjoy it. He kept picking at the meat and said he didn't like the 'texture'. He finished all the noodles and a lot of the ligaments and random meat types were leftover. He liked the soup a lot though. The other Korean drove out from Hollywood, so he met with us when we finished eating already.
And here I am holding up my empty bowl and a cup of iced tea. It was good and I'm still full!
Today my parents were busy with running errands, so my friends and I decided to take a trip to the Rosemead location and eat there. I was eating with three other friends. One of the three eats there occasionally, while I am familiar with the place naturally. The other two have never been and were both Korean. I thought it was going to be interesting to see if they liked the food or not. It is always difficult to get another Asian culture to enjoy the other. I think a lot of people like Chinese food though, so I hoped for the best.
The restaurant focuses on Taiwanese style noodles. They have a huge variety of noodle dishes. Today there was a special, "Curry Soup Noodles with Lamb". This has always been a favorite of mine, so I ordered it. The other three stuck with the first page of the menu, which was a chicken broth noodle soup with meat varieties. The place is usually packed on the weekends, but for some reason it wasn't that filled up today.
Our food conversation was typical. We did start talking about a hot sauce known as Sriracha though. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's cool too cause their factory is based in Rosemead (the city we were in). What a great sauce to accompany any type of food! I'm proud to be Asian cause of Sriracha haha. I kept turning around to the table behind me because there were 'non-Asians' enjoying the food. One of them was eating a dish called "Sate" which is a very, very spicy noodle dish. When you eat it you can just see all the red peppers in the dish. I like it, but a lot of the time I need a lot of water to drink after. The guy eating it wasn't even drinking water though, it was cool. I took a picture of their table, but I guess the guy saw me so he's looking at the camera.
One of my Korean friends didn't really enjoy it. He kept picking at the meat and said he didn't like the 'texture'. He finished all the noodles and a lot of the ligaments and random meat types were leftover. He liked the soup a lot though. The other Korean drove out from Hollywood, so he met with us when we finished eating already.
And here I am holding up my empty bowl and a cup of iced tea. It was good and I'm still full!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
AYCE SUSHI
I had tried this sushi place out in Hacienda Heights called Katana Sushi with my family a while back. We had AYCE (All You Can Eat). It was delicious!
This is why I proposed to my friends we all go there and eat, grab a beer, and just have fun. I went with Edric, Devan, Howard, Chris, and Emily. We ordered tons of food. This was only my second time eating AYCE Sushi (I actually plan on going to Asahi Sushi in Riverside this Friday). I feel like AYCE Sushi is well worth $25. I mean, if you don't get AYCE and just eat sushi with the normal prices on the menu, you end up spending $20 anyway.
Our favorite was the Dynamite Roll, which is pictured above. It was SO good!
Just looking at these pictures makes me hungry for some more, even though I just ate a crapload! Everyone enjoyed the experience. Some were initially hesitant because of the price, but that blew over once they realized that it is important to eat with your friends once in a while. We all took time off our busy schedules to get together for this lunch.
If you ever have a chance to get out to this area, eat at Katana Sushi. It is between Hacienda Blvd and Colima Rd. Such a great place to dine, and the waitress is really nice! She really wanted that tip though...
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