Because of our upcoming travel to Japan to see my family, Rob and I have been watching a lot of videos posted on YouTube for “Studying” purposes.
He encountered a video about Omurice – and he was so fascinated about this simple Japanese family-style dish.
So, I decided to make them as a dinner one night so he will be able to actually taste them –> Outcome = Rob is in LOVE <3
These are the ones with thinly baked like crapes for egg cover, instead of creamy volcano style ones. Inside is a traditional Chicken Rice – but I just used small pieces of hot dogs instead, with a lot of veggies.
I think we missed Thanksgiving last year sick with covid. We thought it best to stay home an not infect others. So we ventured down to Havasu this year where we had a turkey, dressing, spuds, and gravy waiting. Tomoko made a creamy onion/pea casserole. We also have to have lots of pie.
Even though we hardly ever leave the house anymore, a virus of some kind snuck past the mandatory masks into the household. Nothing major, but to be safe it is best not to infect others and have the traditional thanksgiving with others. So we made a small dinner here on the BBQ.
There were a number of Hmong immigrants in MN / WI in the 80s. They were the hill people of Cambodia/Laos/Thailand. My college roommate had to sneak out of the country through a trail of land mines to get out. His uncle brought over the family one at a time, taught them the language and a job in the family business. They were good hard working people who knew the dangers of socialism. They were not welfare queens.
Anyway, there were a large number of Vietnamese restaurants up north that were really Hmong style cooking. Vietnamese restaurants now are all about the pho. I have been having trouble finding really good Vietnamese food in Vegas much less traditional Hmong style I grew up with.
Luckily, I have a secret weapon named Tomoko. I showed her pictures of what I was looking for and she snooped through a number of recipes on line. Bingo. 5 out of 5 stars on the first attempt. These have wrappers that blister like the Chinese version (not Thai) and have glass noodles, pork, carrot, shrimp, and other goodies inside. The Hmong also have a weird fish sauce for dipping unlike the standard sweet and sour commonly served.
Hamburger buns get dry and moldy. English muffins work well, but we never have them around. Low carb diets tell you to just to throw it all on a plate but that gets sad after a while. There are some low carb (5g) high fiber tortillas that fold to make a nice home made hot pocket. Butterball turkey burgers are good (No JennyO) or beef or black bean burgers or salmon. Add sliced jicama for crunch or pickles or whatever. They stay warm a lot longer than a bread bun too.
Lazy Man Wellington
Low Carb Burger Solution. Tortilla Surprise. Fun way to serve burgers.
Grill
1 1/3 Patty (beef/turkey/salmon)
2 slice cheese
1 glug condiment
1 each tortilla, 10" (low carb)
Grill up a circular patty of whatever
Cover with cheese because everything is better with cheese
Add small dollop of condiments
Add to center of tortilla
Wrap like a crunch wrap supreme at Taco Bell. 6 folds.
Put on grill for a minute, flip for another minute, flip again and again.
If you thought cold-brew coffee was the definition of delayed gratification, you need to grow your own tea. When I was in Coleman prison in Florida, the pharmacist Jude introduced me to lemongrass tea. He had bushes of it at his house. He would cut off a large handful each morning and put it in a thermos of boiling water. In a few hours he would open the thermos and the room would smell devine. The most amazing tea I have ever had.
Go to your local asian grocery store to get large lemongrass stalks with as much root ball as possible.
Soak in water and put in peat moss – keep moist. Let the sun do it’s thing.
Wait….
Cut off 10 or so blades of grass, coil them up inside a thermos and fill with boiling water.
Let it steep for an hour or so.
If you are in a hurry you can boil them on a burner until you see it change color.