Random Funny Things My Kids Say - Part 34

Hi everyone! Have you missed me? I'm still not back but had to break blogging hiatus for another random kids day.

The girls have watched Coraline for the 10th time and were talking about the movie while I was driving to Krispy Kreme for an emergency donut run.

Oldest - So if the other mother kidnapped our parents what would you do?

Youngest - I would grab her arms and bite her really hard.

Angus - You can't! Her hands were made of metal and her arms are real skinny. You'd break your teeth!

Youngest - I would kick her in her butt!

Oldest - Um, hello! Monster, remember?

Angus - Well I would bring Daddy and a nose pin. And then I would aim Daddy's butt at the monster and put on my nose pin. Daddy would fart aaaaaaannnnnnnd. The. Monster. Would. DIEEEEEEEEE!!!! Dun dun dun.

Oldest - But Mom and Dad would be kidnapped by the monster!

Angus - Oh yeah! Well I would poop in my pants and then I would take off my poopy pants and throw it at the monster's face.

Youngest - YUCKY!

Oldest - You would be half naked!

Angus - Well, that way I could also fart as I run away. And. She. Would. DIE!!!!! Dun dun dun!!!

Oldest - You're disgusting.

Youngest - I have to poop now.

One of these days I've got to record them secretly. I can't really capture the true essence of how funny they are by words alone.

OK - now back to frantic, feverish revising!

Checking out...

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ME + SUMMER + REVISION = BAD BLOGGER

Summer is more than half over and my revisions aren't done. Since I took the summer off for this very reason, I am now kicking myself hard and vowing to focus myself. So that means, I gotta disappear for awhile.

I've not been around that much as it is, but now you may not see the little piggy at all for at least a month. If for some reason, piggy forgets and sneaks out into the blogosphere, please remind her that she will be turned into fried rind chips if she doesn't get her work done. Virtual kicks in the butt will be effective so don't let the piggy procrastinate.

School starts up at the end of August. I've got one more full month of summer to get it done! Wish me, and little piggy, luck! We're gonna need it!!!

Random Funny Things My Kids Say - Part 33

Angus and Youngest were goofing around the other day while Oldest just listened to them and shook her head. I came over and heard the following:

Youngest: Angussayzwhat?

Angus: What?

Hysterical laughter.

Angus: Youngestsayzwhat?

Youngest: What?

More hysterical laughter.

Me: What are you doing?

Angus (still laughing): Mommy said what...

Still laughing.

Me (thinking they are weird): You kids are doing it all wrong. You have to use an insult and then say what. Not your name!

Angus: huh?

Me: Like "Losersayzwhat?" And then say "What?"

Angus: Oh - LIke Stinkybuttsayz... (pauses with a curious look on her face)

Me: What?

Angus and Youngest shriek with laughter: Ha Ha! Mommy's a stinky butt!

Only then did I realize that this was an elaborate scheme just to get me to say "what." Clever girls. Oh they got me good.

Demon's Lexicon Author Sarah Rees Brennan

Interview with the lovely and tremendously talented Sarah Rees Brennan over at the Inkpot by the famous, amazing, frighteningly smart, and world class celebrity interviewer - ahem - yours truly. (preens for a moment) Seriously, I had a blast interviewing Sarah because she is sweet and funny and just a lovely human being! Plus her book kicks ass!



So do take a gander at the interview and then go get her book! You won't be disappointed with either! And if you are disappointed for some strange reason, then feel free to blame it all on Da Man. Everything is always his fault, you know...

And the Winners are...

This time Oldest demanded to handle the drawing. Since she loves this book, she felt it was only fitting that she picked the winners. We wrote all the names on little slips of paper which Oldest then folded into tiny squares. We had 2 drawings. The first drawing was a smaller group of entries for those people who had provided extra promotion for Grace's book. The prize for this drawing is Grace's book, a signed bookplate and a signed picture of Minli, the main character. Oldest put all the entries into a canvas bag and shook them hard. She then pulled out an entry and read out the name.

"Cindy Pon."

"Oh boy! I hope people don't think we rigged this drawing," I said.

"Why," Oldest asked.

"Because Cindy is a friend of mine."

"Well, that's who I pulled and that's who won!" Oldest said in a "don't argue with me manner."

"Yes, ma'am." I said.

We then put all the names for the second drawing in the empty canvas bag. Oldest shook it extra hard and for a very long time.

"All right, I think that's enough," I said.

Oldest reached in and pulled out another piece of paper and read:

"Cindy Pon -- hey did you put her name back in?" she accused.

"Well anyone who promotes the book gets to be in both drawings. That's the rules for the contest. Funny how you picked her for both, huh? She was clearly meant to win this book! But pick someone else since she already won."

Oldest shook it even harder this time and read the new entry:

"March to the Sea. What kind of name is March to the Sea anyway?"

"That's his blogger name, silly. Like mine is Ello"

"How are you going to send a prize to a person who you don't know their real name? That's sort of fishy to me..."

"Well I know his name and he will email me his address."

"Oh ok, well tell Cindy and March man congratulations from me since I chose them."

So congratulations, Cindy and March to the Sea from Oldest and me! Thank you everyone for participating in the contest! And a special thanks to Oldest for making sure it was a completely fair and amusing drawing.


PS - I couldn't help myself and I sent in my entry to Jason's fantastic writing contest. The contest is open til this Wednesday and there are great prizes! My entry is here. Please let me know what you think. I always love to hear all of your thoughts and comments!

Interview with Grace Lin

Hey guys! My interview with Grace Lin is posted over at the Enchanted Inkpot.

Please pop by over there and read about how Grace came up with her wonderful book and her illustrations.

Contest will run til this Friday and winners will be picked this weekend. So tune in on Monday to see who wins! Thanks everyone!

Contest is still on!

Don't forget to comment on the Contest post below! Or click here! Remember, I'm giving 2 copies of Grace's beautiful book along with signed bookplates and a signed copy of this picture:For all you writers out there, check out the Art of Pacing post I have up on the Enchanted Inkpot. Several awesome authors shared their tips on pacing for my post. It is definitely worth reading.

For everyone else, here is a commercial that always makes me laugh.

Introducing the Chinatown Film Project

This is the trailer for the the inaugural film exhibition of the Museum of Chinese in America. I stole it from the Angry Asian Man, where I get all the great Asian stuff. Ten of New York's most exciting filmmakers present their unique vision of the mysterious, elusive, vibrant, iconic community known as Chinatown. The MOCA gallery in NYC held it's Chinatown Film Project on July 1st, but it has an online component allowing people from different Chinatowns all over the world to upload a short video. Here's the website. It's a pretty awesome project and a great look into a different world.

The trailer is a little musical tribute to Chinatown. I hope you enjoy it.




Don't forget my contest for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Although I am still revising like crazy, I had to come out to celebrate the release of Grace Lin's wonderful new book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I wanted to let everyone know how much in love with this book I am. It is a book that begs to be read aloud to every child in the world. It's a book that is easy to love. And it is a book that is already raking in the accolades. It has just won the Parent's Choice Gold award and has a starred review from Booklist!

Minli, whose name means quick thinking, lives with her poor parents in the valley of the Fruitless Mountain. In the evenings, against her mother's wishes, her father tells her wonderful stories about the Old Man of the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. One day Minli spends one of her only 2 coins to buy a goldfish to bring the family good luck. Her mother is angered by the wasteful purchase and Minli feels sorry for what she has done and decides to seek out the Old Man of the Moon to help bring fortune to her family. Along the way, she befriends a dragon, a talking fish and other wonderful characters. The story is beautifully interwoven with Chinese folktales that add a wonderful element to the narrative.

Little, Brown has published a beautifully made book as well, with Grace's full paged and colored illustrations interspersed throughout the book as well as Grace's beautiful drawings opening each chapter. Grace is an amazing artist as well as writer. I've been a fan of her work since my girls brought home Dim Sum for Everyone from the library one day and moved on to Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat. Not only is she a multi-published author/illustrator, but she is also a fellow member of the Enchanted Inkpot community.

So if you are looking for a present for that favorite kid in your life, consider this gem of a book. It is aged 8 to 12, but my 5 year old adored me reading the book to her, and I loved reading it. And to celebrate Grace's release of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, I am having a small contest. This is a picture of Minli from the book. And I have a signed copy of this picture as a prize, along with 2 copies of Grace's book with signed bookplates. There are 2 ways to win. To win a copy of the book and a signed bookplate from Grace, all you have to do is leave me a comment. That's it. To win a copy of the picture signed by Grace and the book and signed bookplate, then all you have to do is post the contest on your own blog and link back to me in the comments here. That's it. If you don't have a blog, you can leave a comment about the contest on someone else's blog, link back to me and be entered. If you enter the contest for the picture and book, you will also automatically be entered in the other drawing so that doubles your chances.

Lastly, I will share with you two last things. I interviewed Grace for the Enchanted Inkpot and her interview will go up next week on July 8th. I thought I would share a little taste of the interview here:

Ello - How do you incorporate your illustrations with your story? What comes first? Do you envision your characters first or do they come up from your writing?

Grace - For me, the writing always comes first with any book. I usually can't draw anything until the story is finished.

However, the character of Minli did come from an image I did before I wrote Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. In late 2003, I did a cover illustration for Cricket Magazine of an Asian girl riding a flying red dragon. As I painted the image, the girl captivated me. I had painted her in traditional clothing, over an idealized Asian landscape. I imagined her full of delight on her ride in the sky, full of adventure and life. She was my first character idea for Minli. But as I wrote the story, she changed a bit and, of course, became more fleshed out with characteristics and personality. She also became younger. However, she still retained that same spirit of my original painting.

I became so attached to the Cricket cover image that it morphed into the logo for my website, and finally the cover for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

The last thing I have for you is the book trailer for Grace's lovely book.

So what are you waiting for? Enter my contest! Spread the word! This is one of the most beautiful books written for children's literature! Yes, I absolutely mean it. This is a book I wish I had read when I was little, but am so grateful to have shared with my children. And I thank Grace for sharing this book with the rest of us.

Random Funny Things My Kids Say - Part 32

I took the girls to the mall and wouldn't you know it, right as we started shopping, they all had to go to the bathroom. So I take them to the public bathroom and they do their business and everyone is out washing their hands.

A young lady walked out of a toilet stall and stands at a sink next to Angus. Only she doesn't wash her hands. She peered at her face in the mirror, smoothed her hair and then turned to walk away. Angus, who is a bit OCD, is so startled she cried out "That girl didn't wash her hands!"

Youngest immediately shrieked "YUCK!!!" which is ironic because we are always yelling at her to wash her own hands with soap when she pulls the trick of merely wetting them.

The woman hadn't gotten to the door yet and so she turned around and stomped back to the sink to wash her hands.

She glared at Angus and said "That's very rude, you know."

Angus, who has been taught not to be rude, is a bit taken aback. "I'm sorry," she said politely. "But you didn't wash your hands and that's not just rude, that's disgusting."

I'm just leaning against the wall watching the whole interaction as I tried to keep Youngest from running amok. The woman walked past me and said snidely, "You need to teach your daughter manners."

I just raised my eyebrows and said, "Looks to me like she was the one reminding you of yours."

She glared at me again and walked away. Angus looked at me with big sad puppy eyes. "I didn't mean to be rude," she said. "I thought maybe she forgot to wash her hands is all."

"That's ok, honey," I said. "You're not in trouble with me."

She looked relieved and then pulled a disgusted face. "Mommy, she was touching her face and hair all over with her pee pee hands!"

"YUCK!" Youngest shouts out again. "And what if she did number 2?"

So ladies be warned, wash your hands or hear the wrath of Angus and Youngest.

Missing Brain

Have you seen my brain? Here is an X-ray picture for identification purposes.

I appear to have misplaced it. Or maybe someone has stolen it. Or mistaken it for a cashew and eaten it. Whatever the case, I find myself brainless these days and it is making me quite tired. Apparently thinking is really hard to do without one. I think I'm due an upgrade. I would like one that doesn't have the erase memory function but includes long term retainment ability with an endless hold capacity. I'd also like to have a brain that tells me sweets is yucky and vegetables are delicious. Or one that has a working hunger On/Off switch cause mine has been defective since high school. I would like one that doesn't shrivel up and shift to the back of the head whenever I have to do a math problem and that doesn't make my eyes glaze over while reading a scholarly journal. While we are at it, can someone just go ahead and install a microchip in the brain with the full Encyclopedia Britannica set.

Due to my brainless state, I have been lying low. I'm still posting over at the Enchanted Inkpot, but the little bit of ability I have has been focused on my revisions. Which...........has..............been ..................... going............................... real......ly.................................. slow.

For the first conscious time I have marked my google reader, which was reading 1000+ and which I find very misleading because I could be at 10,000 + and all it would say is 1000+ which if you think about it is much more attainable then 10,000+ and yet how misleading of it to just say 1000+... Oi!!! Brainlessness causes massive buildup of gas in empty cavity which leads to brain farts. Sorry about that - anyhow - what I meant to say is that I was bad and deliberately marked my google reader because I was spazzing out and it made me feel better to put it to zero. And then some people who will not be named, kept insisting on posting every few minutes and bringing my counter up to over a 100 so I had to mark it all read again and step away from the computer cause I was all verclempt and all that crap. I also accidentally unfollowed a whole bunch of people and then frantically tried to follow everyone again - in full disclosure, I did the unfollowing over the course of the past couple of weeks. I'm not sure if I am following everyone I was following before. Since I was following nearly 200 blogs, there is a good chance that I missed someone. So blame the person who took my brain and just shoot me a nice email - or a bitchy one, I deserve it - and let me know I am not following you anymore. And my little piggy will hoof it over as fast as you can say......

What the hell was I just talking about anyway? Oh yeah, if any of you missed me, I'm afraid you will have to do without the little piggy for a little while longer. Brainlessness is contagious and I don't want to spread it around. So this is a public safety issue is alls I'm saying! I may be posting sporadically and visiting even less often as I try and finish off my revision. So stay away if you have to (sob) but please come back on July 1st because I have a real treat. Two copies with signed bookplates of Grace Lin's beautiful new middle grade novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

The book is out July 1st but I had the pleasure of reading it early. This beautiful folksy story based in China is absolutely brilliant and a book I've read out loud to my kids. And all 3 of them adore this book. I will also have a lovely little printed picture of the main character that is autographed by Grace Lin herself, as a prize. So please come back on the 1st. Hopefully I will have a new upgraded brain working for me by then.

Missing music

Still in crisis mode. This makes me mean and nasty. Time for posting and blog reading minimal. Trying desperately instead to maximize writing time which is difficult now that the kids are out of school - which makes me meaner and nastier. So I've been loading up all my old CDs onto my new ipod. But I am missing lots of CDs. In particular my Journey, Abba and Doobie Brothers Cds. Strangely enough, Da Man passionately despises these bands.

I suspect foul play. In retaliation I have purchased a particularly treacly song that I don't even like, "Oh Sherrie" by that famous mullet man Steve Perry, which Da Man has informed me is like someone ripping open his back and poking at his central nervous system with a cattle prod. Tonight, when he is sleeping, I shall inflict psychological torture by playing "Oh Sherrie" right next to his ear all night long. If I am feeling compassionate, I shall also mix in some "Dancing Queen" and "Mamma Mia." However, if I am feeling mean, I'll mix in Abba's "Fernando" instead, because I've actually seen him turn 3 shades of green when he hears it. And I shall do this every night until he coughs up my CDs or buys me new ones. Or I might just do it cause it is plain wicked fun. I wonder what kind of dreams he'll have?

Don't hate me cause I'm evil, fear me instead.

Funny Friday Commercial

This has been a seriously difficult week for the entire Oh clan. We just seem to be going from one crisis to another. So I'll just leave you with this Korean commercial that always cracks me up. Have a nice weekend!!

Conversation with Dad

My Dad called the other day and said, "So all my friends want to know when your book is coming out."

"Me too!" I replied.

"What's taking so long?" he asked.

"I'm revising again." Yes, the never ending revision process...

"Still?! What the heck takes so long? It takes you 10 years to write a book about Korea?"

sigh.

"You'd better hurry already, all my friend's are waiting to buy your book!"

"I'm working hard on it, really I am," I said, quite peevishly. It's not like I procrastinate by surfing the internet for obscure historical tidbits about issues completely unrelated to my book. No, I didn't just waste 2 hours today looking up who invented chewing gum even though it is highly unlikely, even in my fantasy world, that my characters would actually chew gum.

"Well work faster! They're gonna tell all their churches about your book. Do you know how many Korean churches there are in this country? Over 4,000! Do you know how many Korean Americans? Over 1.5 million!!! And they all will buy your book, not like those other Korean books that complain about how they hate their parents, hate being Korean, hate kim chee, ,etc etc."

(I love the way my Dad says etc. "Etacetehrah, etaceterah!")

"They don't want to buy complaining books about how it is so hard to grow up Korean American and garbage like that. They sick of it! But your book they want to buy! Ancient Korea! Myths and legends! Big Hit!" This speech took like 10 minutes because he tends to have lots of meaningful pauses as he talks.

"Ummm, Dad, you've never even read my book..."

"So what? I know it's good because I helped you!"

This is true, my Dad did an amazing amount of research for me. He even translated several Korean books for me because I am Korean illiterate.

"And do you know that there is a Korean Association in every state?" he asked.

"Don't worry Dad, I'm going to hire you to promote my book!"

"If it ever gets published," he said.

Grrrrrrr.

"How about you publish it in Korea? They would love it!" he continued.

"I am illiterate in Korean, remember?"

"It's ok, I'll translate it for you... but I'll have to charge you..."

"Sure, but how will I know that you didn't try and change my words around or something?"

"Then you would see my name instead of yours on the cover."

Oh yeah.

"And don't worry, I will only charge you 50% of gross!"

Sheesh. He drives a hard bargain.

So happy!!!!!!!!!!

How do I adore thee, Moonrat? Let me count the ways...

1. You always give out wise publishing advice.
2. You are always there to cheer me up and onward no matter how down I get.
3. You always make me laugh.
4. You always make me think.
5. You love to eat good food.
6. We get to eat good food... and lots of it.
7. You let Youngest use you as a horse, race car and jungle gym and pretended to enjoy it.
8. You let Angus tell you disgusting stories and laughed.
9. You talked to Oldest like a grown up and made her happy.
10. You got me the Catching Fire ARC!!!
11. You got me the Catching Fire ARC!!!
12. You got me the Catching Fire ARC!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is so good!!! It is so awesome!!!! I had to beat Da Man off of my ARC and then made the same mistake I made with the first one. As I crawled into bed at 1AM, I told myself I would just take a quick peek at the first chapter. Didn't go to sleep until almost 5 AM. Tired but extremely happy!

Funny thing my kids said - Youngest who is completely enamored with Moonie asked if we could keep her. Oldest said "No, but Moonie can keep Youngest instead."

Moonie, my friend, you are the best! And next time we are in town, we will gorge ourselves silly once again!

Ok - Must go beat Da Man again as I want to read Catching Fire a few more times!!!

Random Funny Things My Kids Say - Part 31

Angus - how do you say "bow" in Korean?

me - I don't know.

Angus - it says leebun. You didn't know that?

Me - What?

Angus - yeah, leebun.

Me looking at the picture of a present with a bow on top - Oh you mean ribbon!

Angus - Yeah the Korean word is leebun.

Me laughing - that's not a Korean word, that's the English word spoken with a Korean accent!

Angus - But it is in my homework! See!

She's right, the korean letters phonetically say leebun.

Angus - And look they have a tv here too! It's Tellavee! Oh I get it! They're cheating!

This is why she thinks speaking broken English with a Korean accent is speaking Korean!!

Hey it is time to do some new linky love!!! I want to update my blogroll with all the new and wonderful people I have met and who have been so awesome to come by and leave comments or just read my blog. I love you all! And I would like to share the love, but I need you guys to tell me it's ok to link to you. So can you drop me a comment and let me know if you would like to get linked up? Muchos gracias!

Last Asian Heritage Month Post

I'm as always a little late posting but I am getting this in on the last day of May so it is still officially Asian Heritage Month! My last informal poll showed me that people have really varied tastes, which is wonderful! Some people had distinct favorites while others talked more specifically of favorite dishes in each cuisine. So to commemorate the month, I'll end it with a whole smorgasbord of Asian food goodness.

I start off with a picture of a royal Korean feast. Yeah, this is not for peasants. You gotta be royalty to eat this good - or just have a lot of money. The one thing about eating a really good authentic Korean meal is the panchan - which means little side dishes. You can see an assortment of panchan on this table set for one. Yeah - this is a meal fit for a king. But for all the fame of Korea's ubiquitous barbecued meat dishes, here you see it is really all about the seafood. Sashimi plates on one end and marinated roe on the other. And lots and lots of marinated or pickled vegetables. There are also several dishes of Korea's world famous kimchee in various preparations.

Copyright by KaiChanVong via Creative Commons license

Next, we go to China and have some dim sum. Who doesn't like dim sum? My personal favorites are, Cha siu baau - Cantonese barbecue pork buns, and sesame balls. I can literally stuff my face silly on the stuff. Oldest wanted me to mention that her absolute favorite Chinese dish is Peking Duck. This reminded me of growing up in NY and my parents taking us to Chinatown once a month for our big family dinner. Luckily, my dad can read Chinese so we always ordered off the Chinese menu and not the watered down English menu.

Copyright by jasonlam via Creative Commons license

My Dad would order Cantonese Crab and snails in blackbean sauce. I can almost smell the fresh steamed crab in that amazing sauce. I can hear the loud crowded restaurant and the clanging of pots in the kitchen - the din of the diners and the people waiting on the long line out the door and up into the street. Ah memories. Ah drool slobbering down the side of my mouth and pooling into my crotch area making me look like I have peed myself.

Next time I'm up to see my folks, I think we gotta go back down memory lane so I can stop drooling.

Copyright by natmandu via Creative Commons license

Now let's fly to Vietnam, or for me at least, the Eden Center strip mall in Northern Virginia which is nowhere near as glamorous but where you can get the best Vietnamese food on the East Coast. Green papaya salad and baby clam rice hot pot are my go to faves. And for the best noodle soup in the world, I go to Pho 75 in Rockville for my Pho with eye of round steak and fatty brisket. A little bit of Srichacha sauce and I guarantee you that chicken soup has nothing on what I consider the best soup in the world.

Copyright by Allan Reyes via Creative Commons license

I have to say that the most underappreciated Asian cuisine has got to be Filipino food. People have no idea what they are missing. Our babysitter makes lumpia - Filipino egg rolls - that are so good that my kids shove 3 at a time in their mouths. Little piggies. Last time, she made 40 lumpia. Me and Da Man were sure there would be some when we got back. We were wrong.

I wish I could share with you a good picture of Filipino lechon, but every picture I found had the pig's head staring back at me, which made me feel very cannibalistic. So all I can tell you is that if you ever have the opportunity to be invited to a Filipino dinner where they are making lechon, you are one lucky SOB. You never had roast pork this good til you try it - with the skin. Pig never tasted so good. And if you want to see more Filipino delights, you have to check out Moonrat's post here.

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I saved one of my absolute favorites for last because anyone who knows me knows I go absolutely crazy for good Indian food. There is this amazing restaurant in Bethesda called Passage to India that makes me weep from Indian goodness. Their garlic naan with cilantro is so good I have nearly bitten Da Man's hand off when he tries to take the last piece. At any good Indian place, I love Chicken Vindaloo, Lamb Curry and Aloo Gobhi (potatoes and cauliflower - and the only way I will ever eat cauliflower and like it!). But what makes me swoon are the grilled lamb chops and their Baingan Bharta - roasted eggplants with stewed onions and tomatoes. So if you come to the DC area and want good Indian - think Bethesda... and give me a call!

I have not covered all the cuisines. I didn't even have time to cover Thai food or Malayasian food or Japanese food (although I did sushi last time so that's ok). But I have run out of time and I regretfully have to say goodbye to May and Asian Heritage month. I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I have! And remember to try out different types of cuisine and be a little adventurous with food. You never know what you might end up falling in love with.

And I know that I have not covered all the best of Asian food. So feel free to share with me a favorite of yours! Whoever makes me drool the most wins!

Sushi, sushi, sushi!

We interrupt this programming for a quick update - Author interview with Erica Kirov (aka Erica Orloff) by yours truly, is now posted at the Enchanted Inkpot! Please stop by here! Now back to regularly scheduled programming...

Once again my informal survey has wound up with surprising results. More people liked sushi than disliked it. However, even more people have never tried it.

How. Fascinating. I decided therefore, that we should talk a little bit about sushi.

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Sushi is beautiful and delicious. But like most things, you just gotta find what is right for you. For example, I know that mackerel and sea urchin make me hurl. So I avoid it. But I adore toro, yellowtail, flounder and red snapper. These tend to be milder flavored fish. I even like squid, sweet shrimp and octopus. Da Man can't eat octopus. It's a texture thing with him. He finds it rubbery and offensive. But I have to admit that I may have put him off octopus forever. Cause once when we went to my folks for dinner, my mom made boiled baby octopus with a hot and spicy dipping sauce. They look sort of like this but hers were whiter.

Copyright Kent Wang via Creative Commons License

When he stepped away to get a drink, I quickly picked up a baby octopus and bit half of its head off and left it in its decapitated state on his plate. When da man came back and saw the baby octopus with its brains staring back up into his face, his usually tanned complexion turned an eerie sickly color and he began to gag and ran to the bathroom. I laughed my ass off. Since then, the boy has not been able to eat octopus.

But I digress. Let's go back to sushi. It is interesting to note that the history of sushi began in China, as with most things Asian, and evolved centuries later in Japan. What we now call sushi is far different from its origins as a salted fish fermenting in rice process. The process was used to preserve fish and the rice was thrown away after the fish was removed. The Japanese evolved sushi by adding rice wine vinegar to the rice and eating it with the half raw fish. Now it is as much an artform as it is a cuisine. Beautiful platters of sushi and sashimi (raw fish without rice) are a feast for your eyes as well as your stomach.

In Japan, training to be a sushi chef is traditionally a very long and rigorous process. They must train as an apprentice under a sushi master for 10 years. A good shushi chef not only is a master of the delicate knife work needed to be a great sushi chef, but also is a creative artist. But in the states, it seems like anybody can call themselves a sushi chef. This is not a good thing.

To become a good sushi chef, you don't have to be Asian. Any nationality can excel at this art. But you do have to have good training. Unfortunately, while many places serve sushi, not every place has a good sushi chef, and this can ruin the experience for a novice sushi eater. For example, certain fish can be ruined by a poor knife job, leaving it a tasteless slab of goo. Also, a good sushi chef will never serve a piece of fish that is off. A bad one will. This can be the difference between enjoying your first experience with sushi or spending your night clinging to the rim of your toilet.

So to all of you out there who said you never had sushi or didn't like it, I say, "You do not like them, so you say. Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say."

But please don't go to any corner sushi spot. Make sure you get a good write up at your local food critic column or other reputable recommendation. Make sure you have a true sushi chef and not some fake sushi chef with a matchbox sushi chef diploma. And whatever you do DON'T buy the pre-packaged stuff at your local supermarket. Cause if you do, you might as well take a whole box of laxatives and call it a night.

Author Interview? Moi?

Earlier this month my good buddy, the lovely Aerin - who I refer to as Wonder Woman, interviewed me on her blog here. I forgot to link up to it because, well earlier this month I was a mess. But she did a lovely interview and I was proud.

Then I got an email from Tarie who has a wonderful blog called
Into the Wardrobe. She found me when she was researching Ingrid Law for an interview and came up on Oldest's interview. She checked out my website and my blog and we had some great email exchanges about Asian writers and Asian literature. So when she asked to interview me for Asian Heritage Month even though I wasn't a published author yet, I was very flattered.

And I gotta tell you, her blog is amazing! So please stop by and check out her awesome blog!

So I am feeling very special since I've been interviewed twice in one month. Special people don't have to cook dinner and clean the house, right?

Rice rice baby!

So in my highly unscientific and informal poll on the blog, twitter and facebook, with regards to the question "which starch would you choose - rice or noodles?" - Rice won by 3 votes out of 40. Pretty close I have to say. But since rice won, today, for Asian Heritage month, I shall share with you one of my favorite Korean rice dishes - Dulsot Bi Bim Pab. Which basically means mixed rice in a nuclearly hot stone pot.


So you can see that it is a very vegetably dish. There is rice on the bottom and it is topped with bean sprouts, pickled radish, marinated ferns, garlicky spinach and some lettuce. You don't see it but there is also delicious meat in the mix also. In this picture, the egg on top looks practically raw. This is unusual, but keep in mind that the stone dish that it is served in is so hot that the egg will cook immediately upon stirring. However, most places serve it with an over easy egg.

The stone dish is dangerously hot so whatever you do, don't touch it! The rice on the bottom crisps up with the heat of the pot. On the side, you will get a little dish of spicy red pepper paste that you can add to the mixture, at your discretion. As soon as you get your dish, you want to add the red pepper paste and mix everything up, making sure to lift up the rice from the bottom of the dish to get blended in. I've seen non-Koreans eat this unmixed, each part separately. Me and my big mouth always has to butt in and explain that bi bim means mix and show them how to mix it all up. Trust me, it is better that way!

So McKoala wanted some Asian recipes. Unfortunately, this is one of those dishes that is very difficult to recreate at home as the components are very time consuming. And unless you have an earthen stone dish in your house, it will be nearly impossible to get that lovely crisped rice effect so get thee to a Korean restaurant (preferably a good one! I took a friend to one in NY that I was sadly disappointed in so make sure to get good recommendations.)

Instead, for McKoala - I shall give you my shumai recipe. Here it is. You know how if you go to a Japanese restaurant you order shumai and you pay like $6.00 for 6 pieces of shumai? What a rip off! Wouldn't it be so much cheaper to eat at home? Absolutely. Here's my recipe. Get in your car, drive to your local Asian marketplace. Go to their frozen food section and find frozen shrimp shumai in packages of 24 for $4.99. Take home, heat in microwave and serve. For those of you who do not have an Asian marketplace near you - NO SHUMAI FOR YOU!

Ok - so are you getting the sense that I don't have lots of good recipes to share with you? Yeah, how sad is that. I realize that I cook more Italian food at home than Asian. But when we go out to eat, we eat more Asian. Unfortunately we go out to eat too much.

But because I hate to turn you away without any kind of recipe, I'll give you my Mother's grilled shrimp recipe. It is very easy. You want shrimp in their shells Throw them in a large ziploc bag and cover them with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and Korean Kochukaru (which is crushed red chili flakes). If you don't have the Korean version look for red chili flakes - I'm sure there is a similar spice you can use. This is all to taste so you can make it spicier or milder, up to you. Shake the bag until all the shrimp are coated in the mixture. I like my shrimp to have a nice coating of red, since they are shelled, you get the taste more from your fingers. Grill and serve.

My next Asian heritage month question is - Do you like sushi (and I don't mean California Rolls! I mean the real raw fish stuff)? If yes, what and why. If no, have you ever tried it?