l a z y

we've been traveling a lot and i just can't seem to get any blogging done. will post some photos soon, but spent a couple of weeks in india for a wedding and got to hang out with some great friends. then went to china for a story and spent a few days in beijing with some more great friends. and then to singapore for a few days and got to see some of my favorite people again (thanks d & p!). and that's all in the past three months.

i have some great recipes to share, including one for caramel popcorn and another for indian milk tea (which go together really well, especially if you want a sugar fix), but i haven't had time to put them up yet. for some reason all i want to do right now is sit on the couch and watch the olympics...

my korean grandmother

i was just reading an entry from Kimchi Mamas about stories told by korean grandmothers. i loved hearing the stories from my grandmother's life.

she lived through the japanese occupation of korea, the korean war and the division of korean into two separate countries. when she was born, there was no electricity in her home and most of the people around her were making a living off the land. by the time she died, korea had become the 13th largest economy in the world. she saw her youngest son move to america, marry an american and have four american children. despite all the modernization around her, she still retained her belief in animism. she went to a traditional name-giver when each of us was born and gave the names to my father to give to us. i wish i could have known her better and spent more time with her.

down south again

the funny thing is, i had to go down to southern thailand again this week. i am covering for my good friend A (as her boyfriend N calls her on his blog) who is a tv correspondent for channel news asia. what was supposed to be a quiet two weeks was totally crazy. one word -- Nargis. will post about burma and the frustration of "reporting" on a story without any access to the country it involves soon, too.

this time i felt completely safe in the south because i was on a press trip and the Thai government and military were involved. so we had a convoy of soldiers escorting us (will post pictures soon!) and two machine guns on our bus (not kidding, and they were just sitting there on the dashboard). we stayed at the C.S. Pattani again, but because there was a roundtable discussion about creating peace in the south, there were scores of soldiers guarding the place. i even got to hang out in the outdoor cafe drinking pulled tea and eating roti again.

the trip was very interesting, and i got to ride in a blackhawk helicopter, which was... so freakin' cool i can't get over it. will post links to the stories once i've finished them!

down south

as part my book research for the upcoming Moon Thailand, john and i recently went down to thailand’s lower southern provinces to spend a few days. since i arrived in this part of the world a few years ago, i had been really curious about the pattani region (comprised of yala, pattani and narathiwat provinces) but hadn’t had the opportunity to visit.

the three provinces are predominantly malay muslim and have long been the seat of separatist movements. violence has reached extreme levels recently, with more than 3,000 killed in the past four years. in a region the size of connecticut, with only 1.6 million people, that is a significant number. complicating the matter, the victims have been muslim and buddhist, teachers and monks, rubber plantation workers and government officials. no groups have ever taken credit for the violence, nor has anyone really articulated the ends sought by such ugly means.

two of my colleagues at the paper got to go on frequent reporting trips down there. sometimes, when i was assigned yet another bird flu story that required i hike up to a random province in the middle of the country or a tsunami recovery story that required i go to the andaman coast yet again, i would shoot the guys a hateful stare, wondering why i wasn’t a war zone reporter. am i not tough enough? is it because i’m a girl?

well, they were probably shooting me hateful looks, too. my beats at the paper were wonderful, and you can’t really complain about having to fly down to phuket to visit some of the world’s most beautiful beaches, even if you are reporting on heartbreaking tragedy while you are there (well, unless it’s christmas day, for the first anniversary of the tsunami, which was probably among the bleakest moments of my life).

anyway, angle as i might, i never did get sent down to the south, and so although john was doing the writing for this chapter of the book, i was happy to tag along as the assistant researcher. we took a quick flight from bangkok to hat yai and spend a night there, got a rental car and started driving south. though there are small airports in the deep south, there are no longer any flights from bangkok, assuming it’s a security risk, but seems to further alienate the area from the rest of the country.

you’ll have to read the chapter when the book comes out (especially john’s nicely written travelogue, a narrative of our road trip) but i’ll tell you for now that the region was everything we expected it to be – muslim dominated, charming small seaside towns, friendly people and a significant military presence.

when we started the trip we were apprehensive, standing firm in our belief that it is a region that should not be casually visited. by the time we were finished, we thought differently – it’s not that dangerous, right? what harm can come in a region where you can’t throw a stone without hitting a soldier with a machine gun (though not advisable)? plus it’s a rare opportunity to see a part of the world few other outsiders spend any time in, and violence and danger are an unavoidable reality wherever you go. after we returned, we revisited the issue, and in the book sternly advise that people do not go to the south. why? we learned that the hotel café we had been sitting at on the previous wednesday was bombed two days afterwards, killing two people and injuring more than ten. it was one of those vicious bombings that are all too common lately – the first, small bomb goes off inside, and everybody rushes out, where another, bigger bomb is waiting for them.

i have enough friends reporting or working in war zones to avoid patting myself on the back for “narrowly” escaping casualty. the risks i take are too small, and the ends i am seeking perhaps not noble enough.

other two-word phrases ending in bag

it's been a while, eh?

i've been really busy, i promise. steeping in my manuscript, brewing up story ideas, traveling around the world, doing my real job, etc. etc. etc.

but this fantastic article from the New York Times has stirred me to action. now, don't get me wrong. i love art, and i love africa, and i LOVE tea. but stories like this make my blood boil.

So New Yorkers are encouraged to come and donate used tea bags (assuming they were kept any around in meaningful numbers, perhaps try scrounging around at the pantry in the office) at the Whole Foods store at 95 East Houston Street in the Bowery on Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in an event sponsored by Good Earth Teas.

Normally, donated tea bags must be dried (and preferably have the leaves removed). But for this event, the tea bags can be wet, said Jodee Hetzer, the American representative for the project.

fantastic. hundreds of new yorkers can assuage their guilt over their undoubtedly enormous carbon foot prints and generally selfish behavior by what donating their used, WET tea bags to help artists in africa! and they can drop them off at Whole Foods. maybe they'll take taxis to make sure they get there in time. no doubt Ms. Hetzer will see plenty of bags.

japanamania

i came across my first muji shop in london years ago and since then i haven't been able to get enough. cool clothing, bath products and pens and pencils, all in the same place and all with that distinct, clean, simple muji style. it's heaven. i could browse the aisles for hours (although i confess i start to feel like a messier and more disorganized version of my perfect self when i'm finished). i recently discovered that the muji shops in singapore sell muji food products, too. and not just tea beverages in cool pet plastic containers and wasabi peas, but also baking mixes. brownies, pizza, focaccia, and even those chocolate yule logs with holly branches (huh???). but the funny thing is, the packages are really small. there's supposed to be a pan inside the box, too.
when i make the mix i'll post the results. for now the package sits on the shelf as a sort of kitchen curio.

what i'm eating

the best chicken recipe i've ever found

yup, it's that simple. i came across a recipe for korean chicken on aromacookery.com, a great food blog from singapore. i was dying for korean food but, since it was already 5 p.m., couldn't make anything that required a long marinade time. i found the aroma recipe (which says to marinate overnight but in fact it's not necessary).

interesting.

i'd never used gochujang as a marinade, but i thought i'd experiment with it a bit. wow. it looks a lot spicier than it is. it's mostly just savory and tasty. delicious. despite being bright red, gochujang is actually quite a mild chili paste (well, compared to chili pastes in thailand). it's one of the staple ingredients in korean cooking, so you should be able to find it in any korean food store. or find it here.

the panel of experts (consisting of a lone man named john whose primary household duty is food taster) says this is one of the five best things i've ever made. bear in mind that's not necessarily saying much, but it is really good. and easy.


korean spicy grilled chicken

1 pound boneless chicken breast, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
4 crushed garlic cloves
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 cup gochujang
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup water

mix gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar together in a bowl or large plastic bag. add garlic, onions and chicken and mix well to coat chicken and onions with paste.
marinate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
heat coals or fire up your grill (or turn on your toaster oven or broiler, you can even make this in a frying pan!). grill chicken till done. DO NOT DISCARD MARINADE.
while chicken is grilling put the remaining marinade with onions into a sauce pan and add 1/2 cup of water. cook till the onions are soft and the liquid has boiled. serve onion chutney with chicken.