passport to eat

Squid Roe: It’s a Hard Life

I have rap lyrics running through my head as I’m thinking about squid roe… It’s a tough life for a squid egg. Snatched from the sea before life has even started, squid babies fulfill their destiny on a grill or in a frying pan. How do you want it How does it feel Growin up…

Sweet Potato Noodles and Winning

I opened up my spiralizer today and now I just can’t put it down. Who knew that spinning veggies through a grater could be so much fun? This evening I just wanted a quick bite and couldn’t be bothered to go out shopping. Actually, I wasn’t even hungry, but I wanted to churn something on…

Sunshine and Rainbows: A Soup that Brightens a Grey Day

I woke up this morning to the rain and grey and decided it was time to make rainbow soup. Actually, that sounds like it’s from Sesame Street… I woke up this morning to the rain and grey and decided to make zucchini soba. Does that sound classier? I made stock last week (out of pork…

Sweet Street Treats: A Bite of Adventure

I adore Flushing, Queens NY. The moment you come up from the train station you get the sensation that you might as well have just come off a flight. Most every sign advertising a restaurant, coffee shop or magazine store is written in Chinese characters. It’s a true place of discovery and of getting lost….

A Taco from A-Z: Alphabet City’s Zaragoza

I went to Zaragoza’s this afternoon to pick up a few Mexican ingredients. My friend Sam took me to this little deli in Alphabet City several years ago, and I haven’t been back since. I’m making tacos for dinner tonight and figured it could be fun to revisit this tiny bodega and see if it…

Raan Jay Fai, Do or Die

This evening I went back to Raan Jay Fai for maybe my sixth time. I came here for the first time about five years ago…and that was the beginning of my love story for Jay Fai. Jay means ‘sister’ in Thai-Chinese and Fai means mole, as in a beauty mark (not the subterranean mammal). Sister…

Thai Desserts: So Fun to Make, Even More Fun to Eat

Thai desserts have become my main heart throb, my raison d’être…after my lovely boyfriend of course! Every time I come to Bangkok now, I make a beeline straight to the back of Nahm’s kitchen. My good friends Pi Pat and Pi Ta welcome me back with squeals and semi-hugs (Thai’s don’t hug) and they ask…

In Brooklyn, a Jaunt Through the Caucases

Yesterday my friend Irena and I took the Q train to the Church stop in Brooklyn. We walked past many a bodega and a few grocery stores, and very little else. But we weren’t here for lotto tickets or discounted ground beef. We were on a way to Banya. We met our friend Vera in…

Wednesday Soba

Yellow oyster mushrooms, eggs from down the road, radish, scallion, shitake, tofu and seaweed…all over buckwheat noodles!

Growing Some Balls to Learn How to Cook Brain

You know when you really want to do something but don’t have the balls to do it? And then you do it and it’s like, why didn’t I do that earlier?? Last night I went to one of my favorite street vendors in my neighborhood, Khun Yu, and ordered a new dish I hadn’t tasted…

Tiger Thai Tattoo

I already have two Thai-style tattoos and have been wanting a third for several years. I’ve held off because I wanted one from a monk, but I was hesitant to just go to anyone. In Thailand tattoos, or sak yan, received from monks have mystical powers, magic of sorts, and protect the bearer of the…

My Favorite Lunch Spot in the Whole Wide World

I’m learning to read and write Thai, and let me tell you, it’s quite the challenge. I’m mainly inspired to learn because I really really really want to be able to talk with people (obvious). Specifically about food. Many of the street vendors here I’ve been visiting for years and we have a very…