This melange of turmeric root, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, and chili would soon become the spice paste in our fish amok. The burnt-orange turmeric root is responsible for giving the amok its distinct creamy amber hue. But it also leaves…
Christmas (Guacamole) in Shanghai
It wouldn’t be Christmas without my (newly-dyed) hair being accidentally dipped into gluten-free très leches cake halfway through dinner. Wouldn’t it? This morning, faced with the prospect of cooking a Christmas dinner for 9 people, and no menu plan in…
Thoughts on Housekeeping
Writing on the internet is weird, isn’t it? On a purely fundamental level, these posts that I write are for myself – to de-stress, to preserve memories of my life in Shanghai for that time when I finally come home, and…
"Where is the Kombucha?" and other silly questions
A few days ago, I was asked the one question I haven’t been asked much since coming to Shanghai. Why did I come to China? Why am I 9,000 miles away from home, the people I love? (and most importantly from…
How do you say ‘kale’ in Chinese?
There’s someone intrinsically romantic about walking past the shimmering fountains and the glittering Hausmannian storefronts of Jingan in my pressed work Oxford shirt and slacks at dusk every night. Yesterday, I stopped by the fountain in front of the Gucci…
How not to cause an explosion, and other things about brewing ginger beer
Next time someone tells me home-brewing is easy, I won’t believe them. Home-brewing is hard. Really hard. I sort of want to gouge my eyes out at how hard it is. In theory, it seems like a breeze. Mix ginger, lemon…
Thoughts on the prune
I’m both enthralled and disgusted by the word prune. It’s one of those words that you want to have really dirty, secret sex with, and then never call again. Prune. Just saying it is making my face squish in a really…