These friendly, sweet vegetables just go together. Fresh with a splash of Asian inspired dressing, it's crisp and sooths the summer heat I'm guessing these would go great with these Scallion Pancakes and just about anything grilled. Give it a try. ASIAN PEA ...
One of my most favourite places to explore is any neighbourhood China Town. Bustling with people, new aromas, and spilling produce, this exciting area of most major cities is a feast for the eyes. Here in Toronto, tucked a few blocks over from the mainland China Town is a small but wonderful Japanese store. After refilling my wasabi prescription, I gaze along the long aisles of offerings. Included are various teas, Hello Kitty Pocky sticks, every shade of miso, enoki mushrooms and of course, noodles. Wheat, rice, green tea, tofu, ramen, udon and soba noodle varieties ready for any dish the Far East has ever created. How elated was I to discover that soba is the name for buckwheat in Japanese? For those of you who weren't sure, like me, buckwheat is neither a grass or related to the wheat family. It's a flowering plant which produces the seeds for great things like pillows and yes, buckwheat flour. Asian noodle soup has to be in my top list of most amazing meals. The simplicity of them makes them satisfying and perfect. The noodles and broth create a host bowl for just about any combination imaginable.
Back when I was younger and maybe a little more daring, dinners at home were sure tear jerkers. My room mate and I at the time would frequently bring home or make our own sushi. In fact, it was our equivalent to most other twenty something's macaroni and cheese. About a bottle of sake later, the games would begin.... Starting with a fleck, then working up to a gob, we would up each other's wasabi intake. For those unfamiliar with the powers of the great green Japanese horseradish, wasabi most closely resembles a spicy hot mustard sensation. Serving our sushi with it's typical Wasabi-joyu, soy sauce combination for dipping, we embraced the festivities, upping the ante with the additional blob atop the sushi itself. You see, when wasabi is a even a little over loaded, the sensation is nothing like the burning tongue of a pepper. Starting with a tingle, it continues, flurrying up your nasal passage, stopping only at the bottom of your eye, usually finishing with a tear and a jolt of adrenaline. Watching someone suffer is not only entertaining, but addictive, which, I suppose is why we did it. As juvenile foodies, I'm sure there is much more mischief we could have been getting ourselves into. But oh, it hurt so good.
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