Week 14 - Seaweed

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I had sushi for lunch yesterday and it got the idea to try and make something with seaweed. While I've had it before in things like, well, sushi, I've never had it as a main part of a dish. There were many different kinds of seaweeds at the store and most of the packages were written entirely in some Asian language that I couldn't identify. I just grabbed a random package of sliced seaweed which may be the wakame variety, but maybe not.

Seaweed is super healthy and cheap. It is used in a large variety of foods, from soups to salads to sushi. It is high in fiber and has one of the highest nutrient to calorie ratios. It is filled with omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, iodine, thiamine and niacin. In the wakame variety, it has a compound called fucoxanthin. This compound has been shown in laboratory studies to increase the amount of the fat burning protein UCP1 in mice and has the potential to do the same in humans (although this hasn't been studies yet). It is also used for blood purification, intestinal strength, skin, hair, reproductive organs and menstrual regularity. To paraphrase, this is really good stuff.

I put the seaweed into a large bowl to rehydrate. Almost immediately it began expanding in volume. I made a dressing by combining 2/3 cup rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, a little peanut oil, 1 tablespoon of sugar, some salt and some hot pepper flakes and whisking. After about a half hour, I drained the seaweed and squeezed all of the excess water out. I then mixed the dressing in and plated a bit of it. Then I added some shrimp and salmon that I broiled with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder.

The verdict: It was actually really good! I should have cut the seaweed up a little smaller before mixing it with the dressing, but that wasn't a big deal. Plus, one $0.99 package made enough for 4 huge servings. I plan to buy more seaweed of different varieties and figure out new ways to use it. I would recommend you try it too.

Week 13 - Indian Bitter Melon

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I was looking for something sweet, possibly a fruit of some kind, but I wasn't impressed with the selection this week. Instead I saw this package of strange looking spikey green things labeled "White Cucumber" and had to buy it. I did a Google search to find recipes and I didn't find too many sites with white cucumber and the ones that I did, didn't have anything that looked like these. After further searching, I believe that these are Indian bitter melons.

Bitter melons are common in Asian cuisine, but it is also used for its medicinal properties. Apparently they help stimulate digestion, however they are also known to make heartburn and ulcers worse. There is also the promise that compounds found in these melons may help fight HIV.

I sliced the squash up and tried a piece. It was disgustingly bitter. I then soaked it in salt water to help reduce the bitterness like many websites recommended. After a day of soaking I tried a slice and it was still extremely bitter. The soaking did nothing. I fried them with red onion, garlic, soy sauce and hot Thai sesame oil and served them over rice. The verdict: They were still pretty bitter, but as I ate them it became more tolerable. The rice also helped dilute the bitterness somewhat. I probably wouldn't get these again. Try to ignore the dried out piece of chicken that I served next to this dish.

Week 12 - Baked Cuddlefish

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The baked cuddlefish crisps from Thailand looked like they might be tasty. To be classy, I poured a glass of chianti to go with my baked cuddlefish. I like squid and seafood and I like salty snacks so I figured that while a bit odd or different, it couldn't be all that bad. I was wrong. Way wrong. This was the most most god awful thing I think I've ever eaten. It had the flavor of a fish that's been rotting in a landfill on a hot New Jersey day. I had a very hard time even swallowing this. Every ounce of my being told me to spit it out in the trash. I wouldn't give this to the dog. Not all of the wine in California could make the taste go away. I honestly thought it wouldn't taste that bad.

The ingrediants list contains only five items: Cuddlefish 92%, Sugar 4%, Salt 2%, Chili 1% and Soy bean sauce 0.95% (I'm a little worried about the missing 0.05%). I did enjoy the packaging of this product, especially Squidy the mascot.

Week 11 - Peanuts Coffee Flavor Coated

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Again, I grabbed something quick that I didn't have to cook. These looked tasty and could possibly travel with me. Although I did eat them, I didn't get around to photographing them and writing about them here.

The taste of these is different than expected. I was expecting something very sweet. These however tasted more like espresso beans coated in peanut dust than the other way around. They really weren't sweet at all. Everyone else that I had try them thought the same thing. They weren't bad though once you got used to the unexpected flavor. It is actually nice not having everything super sweet. Since trying the ice cream which wasn't very sweet and now these, I'm beginning to wonder if the Asian palette doesn't enjoy things as sweet as the Americans. Perhaps the all the sugar and high fructose corn syrup packed into American foods has altered my perception of sweet. Or maybe I just happened to get some stuff that wasn't so sweet. I'll have to keep investigating.

One of the more interesting things about this product is the list of other flavors on the side of the can. It looks like there is chicken, shish kabob, shrimp, seaweed and some sort of seafood soup. Maybe in a few weeks, who knows.

Week 10 - Hello Panda Strawberry Cream Biscuits

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Sorry about the lack of updates. I've been in cold, far away countries for the last few weeks. Think Hoth, but with better skiing. (Sorry, I had to throw the nerd reference in there.) Anyway, I want to get caught up, so I picked up a few quick items. The first item is "Hello Panda Strawberry Cream Filled Biscuits". I actually bought these a few weeks ago figuring that I could eat them on the plane, but the prospect of eating and photographing Japanese cookies in a stuffed airplane seemed like a bad idea when the time came.

The box claims new sports printing, and they weren't lying. On each cookie was a panda playing some sort of game like tennis or soccer. The box shows a liquidy creamy strawberry center. The centers really not creamy or gooy in the slightest. They did taste pretty good though. These little things do make for a nice snack. Not too bad.

Week 9 - Silk Squash

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This is the first week that I bought something at the Asian market and I don't know what it is. The label at the Asian market said "Water Squash." When I Googled it, I couldn't find anything about it. After Googling around some more, I located sites that listed this as silk squash or Chinese okra. There's another squash that I saw in the market that is apparently the same plant called angled lufa. The angled lufa is long and has much more pronounced ridges. I'm not quite sure I understand what the difference is. I decided to treat whatever this thing is like a zucchini. This website has a lot of info on Asian squashes.

I sliced the squash up and I could smell a strong Earthy scent. I tried one of the raw slices and it tasted very Earthy, actually kind of like dirt. I sauteed the slices with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Fresh herbs would probably taste good as well, but I didn't have any.

The verdict: The Earthy flavor was still there after cooking, but it mellowed somewhat. The overall flavor was similar to zucchini. The skin was a bit tough, but not too bad. I might consider peeling it next time before cooking. If you want to try a new summer squash, I would recommend this one.

Week 8 - Pickled Green Mango

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Things have been kind of hectic lately and I totally blew it last week. To make up for it, I'm going to get two things this week. The first item bought is pickled green mangos. I love sweet ripe mangos and I like pickles a lot. I'm just not so sure about the combination. Green mangos are also more on the tart side, rather than sweet and are very firm as well.

Normally I would just grab one out of the jar and eat it like an animal, but I decided to be classy and slice one on a plate so it looks pretty for this blog.

The verdict: I'm not entirely sure what I think. It tasted like an unripe mango, with salt and vinegar, ie, exactly what you would expect a pickled green mango to taste like. I think I may have to eat more to acquire a taste for them. I think they would be better in smaller batches, like in a martini or on a sandwich or something rather than an entire slice by itself. I'll have to return to this post in the near future with an update.