Yes, the Dutch fried onions are one of the less poisonous legacies from our colonising Indonesia; as are the excellent Koningsvogel sambals. I've been to the island Java quite a few times on month-long visits and I absolutely love the sambals they make fresh there. Store bought will never be that good but Koningsvogel is the best I've come upon.
As for Christmas. Our family was always very small and not that into official holidays. It's now just me and my sister and her son, and we live in different countries.
I always wish others to have the kind of holidays and special days they love the most but I prefer to ignore them. So I spent this Christmas home alone with the cat, doing everyday things - and that is my idea of a perfect holiday.
I hope all who read this will have had the Christmas they really wanted to have.
Jan -- sambal too? And, there is a type of mild-hot chili called a "Holland chili" that's used in the region.
You had a perfect holiday. It's liberating to spend a day doing what you truly want to do, with or without people. I bet your cat has plenty of human personality. Hugs...
Yes, the Koningsvogel is very good. They have many different types but for cooking their sambal badjak is my standard sambal.
(They also have an 'extra heet' = 'extra strong' version.)
The cat is a bit weird. He was feral for the first four months of his life, so I treated him accordingly: giving him a lot of space - but strangely that resulted in him really bonding with me. He's still very much a cat but close to dog like in his attachment.
Good to know about Koningsvogel. I wonder if it's available in the U.S. Like you, l like freshly made sambal so much more. In the US, we have "sambal oelek" made by a Chinese-Viet company but it's *nothing* like true sambal. Plus, there are so many kinds.
As for your cat, you treated him well so he's repaying you in many ways.
January 1 is your big(ger) holiday in Japan and I remember reading up on oden in your book. Thanks for sharing your recipe and insights. It's such a nice way to have a fun meal to kickstart the new year. Big hug from us from Cali.
I didn't know that you have a recipe for pate chaud in your cookbook. It's my favorite treat but I never have enough courage to make the puff pastry. Frozen puff pastry is hard to find, unless I go to supermarkets for expats.
Pate so the traditional way is kind of a gut bomb and you don't get a good enough ratio of filling to pastry. This shape comes a little one-biters and you can enjoy 1, 2, or 3 and not feel like you need a nap! The recipe in VDAD has a mushroom pate filling. There's a pork and cognac filling in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. My mom started making this shape eons ago. She's always made her own puff pastry. I don't have that patience.
Haha, I forgot about the gut bomb thing. The best pate chaud I had in Hanoi is from an old-school bakery called Hoan Boulangerie. Their filling to pastry is very good value for money. Both their pate and croissant are good, so no surprise about pate chaud.
My mom died right after thanksgiving in 2021 and she was almost 91 at the time. I can relate to how it changes the holidays for the family… May your dad’s memory be a blessing to you all.
The food looks amazing! I esp love the chestnut and shitake stuffing -- yum! This time of year, I stock up on Whole Foods' fried onions as they are gluten-free. My husband adds them to the top of his (savory) oatmeal all year long. Really delicious!
I was looking for WF fried onions but didn't see the usual display of them at my local WF. Your husband makes an Asian-y oatmeal porridge of sorts, with that fried onion topping. Love that.
What a wonderful family photo! With such a large family it’s great that you are all able to get together. I’m an only child, and my husband Steve has only one brother who only sporadically wants to be part of the family, so our gatherings are rather small. My mom is recovering from back surgery, so instead of her usual trip up to Oceanside we drove down to San Diego on Christmas Eve. We had fun dressing up celebrating at a very festive hotel, and I had chicken schnitzel for the first time. I also had to chuckle at how similar our mom’s red coats were.
Christmas Day we stayed home and had a “tostada bar” for dinner. Steve cooked up the TJ carne asada and made his grandfather’s salsa recipe (in the blender instead of the molcajete), my MIL brought refried beans and guac, and I made rice (which she loved, yay!) and cut up jicama and trimmed radishes. I actually have zero pix of my children, but I did take a pic of my plate of food. Priorities 😂
I also had to laugh when you mentioned spatchcocking a chicken. This morning I finished reading The Meth Lunches by Kim Foster (so interesting, especially to me because I studied sociology and criminology in college) and started reading The Wok by J. Kenji López-Alt. I kept pointing things out to Steve, including a spatchcock tutorial. He said, “Not only can I spatchcock a chicken, I can spatchcock a turkey. And you know things like the smoke point of different oils. If you put the two of us together, we’re pretty good cook.” 🤣
I hope your mom recovers from surgery swiftly with few complications, Emily. And what a nice way to have Christmas prepared and (cleaned up) by someone else.
A tostada bar is a fab serve yourself and save the cook trouble sort of holiday menu. Brilliant.
Steve is a keeper of a partner with you in the kitchen and in life. He spatchcocks, grills, you do the rest. It's all about division of labor.
Yes, the Dutch fried onions are one of the less poisonous legacies from our colonising Indonesia; as are the excellent Koningsvogel sambals. I've been to the island Java quite a few times on month-long visits and I absolutely love the sambals they make fresh there. Store bought will never be that good but Koningsvogel is the best I've come upon.
As for Christmas. Our family was always very small and not that into official holidays. It's now just me and my sister and her son, and we live in different countries.
I always wish others to have the kind of holidays and special days they love the most but I prefer to ignore them. So I spent this Christmas home alone with the cat, doing everyday things - and that is my idea of a perfect holiday.
I hope all who read this will have had the Christmas they really wanted to have.
Jan -- sambal too? And, there is a type of mild-hot chili called a "Holland chili" that's used in the region.
You had a perfect holiday. It's liberating to spend a day doing what you truly want to do, with or without people. I bet your cat has plenty of human personality. Hugs...
Yes, the Koningsvogel is very good. They have many different types but for cooking their sambal badjak is my standard sambal.
(They also have an 'extra heet' = 'extra strong' version.)
The cat is a bit weird. He was feral for the first four months of his life, so I treated him accordingly: giving him a lot of space - but strangely that resulted in him really bonding with me. He's still very much a cat but close to dog like in his attachment.
Good to know about Koningsvogel. I wonder if it's available in the U.S. Like you, l like freshly made sambal so much more. In the US, we have "sambal oelek" made by a Chinese-Viet company but it's *nothing* like true sambal. Plus, there are so many kinds.
As for your cat, you treated him well so he's repaying you in many ways.
Doing nothing is a type of activities though, and it's so liberating.
Getting ready to host Rena and her family here in Tokyo for an old-fashioned Oshogatsu (New Year). Lots of food from oden (fish sausage stew) https://tasteofculture.com/2021/01/12/oden-part-one-vegan-vegetarian-options/ and https://tasteofculture.com/2021/01/12/oden-part-two/ ... to osechi https://tasteofculture.com/2023/12/11/project-osechi-making/ best wishes for the year to come...
January 1 is your big(ger) holiday in Japan and I remember reading up on oden in your book. Thanks for sharing your recipe and insights. It's such a nice way to have a fun meal to kickstart the new year. Big hug from us from Cali.
Many thanks and the same to you and yours!
What a lovely family photo.
I didn't know that you have a recipe for pate chaud in your cookbook. It's my favorite treat but I never have enough courage to make the puff pastry. Frozen puff pastry is hard to find, unless I go to supermarkets for expats.
Pate so the traditional way is kind of a gut bomb and you don't get a good enough ratio of filling to pastry. This shape comes a little one-biters and you can enjoy 1, 2, or 3 and not feel like you need a nap! The recipe in VDAD has a mushroom pate filling. There's a pork and cognac filling in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. My mom started making this shape eons ago. She's always made her own puff pastry. I don't have that patience.
Happy holidays!
Haha, I forgot about the gut bomb thing. The best pate chaud I had in Hanoi is from an old-school bakery called Hoan Boulangerie. Their filling to pastry is very good value for money. Both their pate and croissant are good, so no surprise about pate chaud.
My mom died right after thanksgiving in 2021 and she was almost 91 at the time. I can relate to how it changes the holidays for the family… May your dad’s memory be a blessing to you all.
Pam, our parents lived long, good lives. They witnessed so much. Blessings to you and your family.
What a lovely family! Greetings and happy holidays from Ireland 🎄
Happy Jollidays to you Cecily! Thanks for being here.
The food looks amazing! I esp love the chestnut and shitake stuffing -- yum! This time of year, I stock up on Whole Foods' fried onions as they are gluten-free. My husband adds them to the top of his (savory) oatmeal all year long. Really delicious!
I was looking for WF fried onions but didn't see the usual display of them at my local WF. Your husband makes an Asian-y oatmeal porridge of sorts, with that fried onion topping. Love that.
I buy mine via Amazon Fresh. I buy a year's supply because they are seasonal, which is something I'd love to change. IMO, they are great year-round.
What a wonderful family photo! With such a large family it’s great that you are all able to get together. I’m an only child, and my husband Steve has only one brother who only sporadically wants to be part of the family, so our gatherings are rather small. My mom is recovering from back surgery, so instead of her usual trip up to Oceanside we drove down to San Diego on Christmas Eve. We had fun dressing up celebrating at a very festive hotel, and I had chicken schnitzel for the first time. I also had to chuckle at how similar our mom’s red coats were.
Christmas Day we stayed home and had a “tostada bar” for dinner. Steve cooked up the TJ carne asada and made his grandfather’s salsa recipe (in the blender instead of the molcajete), my MIL brought refried beans and guac, and I made rice (which she loved, yay!) and cut up jicama and trimmed radishes. I actually have zero pix of my children, but I did take a pic of my plate of food. Priorities 😂
I also had to laugh when you mentioned spatchcocking a chicken. This morning I finished reading The Meth Lunches by Kim Foster (so interesting, especially to me because I studied sociology and criminology in college) and started reading The Wok by J. Kenji López-Alt. I kept pointing things out to Steve, including a spatchcock tutorial. He said, “Not only can I spatchcock a chicken, I can spatchcock a turkey. And you know things like the smoke point of different oils. If you put the two of us together, we’re pretty good cook.” 🤣
I hope your mom recovers from surgery swiftly with few complications, Emily. And what a nice way to have Christmas prepared and (cleaned up) by someone else.
A tostada bar is a fab serve yourself and save the cook trouble sort of holiday menu. Brilliant.
Steve is a keeper of a partner with you in the kitchen and in life. He spatchcocks, grills, you do the rest. It's all about division of labor.
Beautiful family!