The Taste of Tea

We watched The Taste of Tea by Katsuhito Ishii last night. Lauren found it on Netflix and brought it to watch. I absolutely loved this movie. It was a refreshingly different story of a family set in rural Japan. I didn't know there was such a thing as rural Japan. This movie had the feel of a fairy tale, lush and serene with an undercurrent of nature that was ancient, but still vibrant - complete with a haunted forest. The pervasive sounds of birds, wind, rain and crickets felt very right. I forgot how much I loved real rain, the type that suddenly comes and goes; not the heavy fog that passes for rain here.

The story was a slice of time in the life of a family of eccentric, creative, good people. Though never spoken, you could tell there was love and support, but not smothering. Each of the members of the family was living in their own interesting world, with different dreams, ambitions and obstacles. It is hard not to identify with these people and get caught up in the flow of their life.

It is important to brew a nice pot of tea before sitting down with this movie. Definitely a feel-good movie.

Soba Noodles with Pea Sprouts

I seem to be on a streak of inspired cooking. It happens like that, I don't really understand it. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

This weekend we went to the grocery store on 8th and Clement Street again. I was craving bitter melon after last weekend. We had a wonderful bitter melon, tofu and egg dish last night, but I can only write about one thing tonight so I'll do the pea sprouts.

We found these bigger-than-basketball-size plastic bags stuffed with really fresh pea sprouts. They also had fresh turmeric, which was a new one for me.

3 servings soba noodles
1/2 basketball size bag of pea spouts, washed
1 sq inch fresh turmeric, diced
2 sq inch fresh ginger, diced
2/3 head of garlic sliced very thin
1/4 cp tamarind sauce
2 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp honey
1 package grape tomatoes, halved
2 serrano peppers, diced

I stir-fried half the bag with minced fresh turmeric, ginger and very thin slices of garlic in some olive and toasted sesame oil. I added soy sauce for liquid. I removed the sprouts after a few minutes and reduced the liquid remaining after adding some hoisin sauce (wanted oyster sauce, but didn't have any), red wine vinegar and a dab of honey.

While all this was going on, we boiled udon noodles about 5 min, drained and rinsed to cool. When the reduced sauce was about right, I tossed the noodles in the skillet to absorb the sauce; poured them into a large serving bowl; arranged the pea sprouts on top; then added sliced grape tomatoes and diced serrano chilies.

It doesn't get much better than this.

Discovering Bitter Melon

We happened to be on Clement St. earlier this week and stopped at one of the big Chinese markets. I picked up 2 vegetables to try, a bitter melon and a silk gourd which was not a silk gourd, but that is another meal.


I spent a few minutes on internet looking for recipe ideas but started getting hungry so I went with a variation of one of the simple dishes. Next time I'm going to try some of the tasty looking dishes on the Hare Krsna website. Come for the chanting - stay for the food.

After trying a few more methods of cooking bitter melon, I believe this is my favorite. The spices work really well with the bitter flavor and the potatoes provide a comforting backdrop to the pungent bite of the squash. The last coking I doubled this recipe (3 medium bitter melons & 4 yukon gold potatoes) and 3 people consumed the entire pan.

Potato and Bitter Melon Hash Browns
This is somewhat reminiscent of the potato and onion hash browns typically served with eggs. In fact this would be really good with eggs.

1 bitter melon (made about 2 cups diced)
fingerling potatoes (also about 2 cups diced)
2 Tbs ghee
turmeric
salt
asafoetida
1 Tbs mustard seeds
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
red chili powder
1.5 square inch of ginger finely diced
sliced jalapeño peppers

Slice and dice the bitter melon into 1/2" cubes Remove the seeds from the bitter melon when you slice it. I toasted the seeds and thought they were good. I've also left the seeds in when they were young and moderately tender. If the squash is more mature and there is a bit of red around he seeds, remove the seeds and the center pulp. Put the bitter melon into a glass bowl and toss with turmeric and salt. Let it sit while you clean and dice the potatoes.

Heat the ghee in a skillet, add the mustard seeds, ginger and curry leaves. They will sputter and pop if the oil is hot enough. Add the bitter melon and potatoes, sprinkle with a pinch of asafoetida, cover and cook on fairly hight heat. While cooking, turn the veggies to brown on their sides, scraping the skillet as you go. The combination of frying on the bottom and steaming should cook the potatoes and bitter melon till they are tender and nicely browned. Sprinkle with red chili powder about 5 minutes before the dish is finished.

We served this with assorted papadum and chutneys and wished we had eggs.