Cold Front

Chinese Bean Thread Salad

It seems as though Thanksgiving was rushed and now we’re officially allowed to turn on the Christmas Machine! Not that I hate Christmas…just not as thrilling as when we were young parents…wrapping presents late on the night of Christmas Eve, rushing to get one more stocking stuffer or batteries, the giggles or joyous looks of our children on Christmas morning, that is the sort of thing I am nostalgic about. Now that I’m older and wiser I’m telling my husband lately that All I want for Christmas is you in a singing format. However I’m not going to deny him the joy of giving. Ooh ! I love surprises!

I don’t want a lot for Christmas, There is just one thing I need… make my wish come true…

After consuming an alarming volume of rich food last week. I made a refreshing light salad which I can prepare in flash (not really). I love the kick from  doubanjiang, a spicy fermented paste and the nice acidity of the dressing. Omit a few ingredients and this could serve as vegan as well as gluten free.

Ingredients and instruction for 4 servings

• White toasted sesame seeds 1 Tablespoon
• Black toasted sesame seeds 1 Tablespoon
• Sesame Oil 1 Tablespoon
• Soy sauce or tamari soy sauce for gluten free dish 1 Tablespoon
• Rice vinegar 1 Tablespoon
• Oyster sauce 1/2 Tablespoon
• Doubanjiang (豆板醤) 1/2 teaspoon
• Crown daisy (春菊) 2-3 stems. Wash well. cut off tough ends of stem.
• Bacon 3 strips.
• Bean thread 1 bundle or 30g
• Pine nuts 3-4 Tablespoons lightly toasted.

1. Make dressing first: Combine both sesame seeds*, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and oyster sauce in large bowl. Taste the dressing and adjust to your taste. Chill in refrigerator until needed.
   * If the sesame seeds are not toasted, toast in a non-stick pan for 1-2 minutes, move the sesame seeds rapidly so as to not burn it.
2. Ready an ice bath in a large bowl. Boil Crown Daisy for 20 seconds and immediately immerse in prepared icy water. Gently squeeze  to remove water then pat dry with a paper towel and roughly chop. Set aside. Note: Fresh crown daisy is quite bitter in my opinion though there is option of not boiling it for a more crunchy bite, just wash well and dry. Cut off hard end.
   
3. Place bacon on top of a layer of 2-3 paper towels. Cover with 1 sheet of paper towel and microwave for 2 to 2-1/2 minutes on high till crispy. Cut up in half inch strips.Set aside.
   
4. Prepare very hot water in a bowl and soak bean threads for 8 minutes or so to soften. Drain well and cut in a  tic-tock grid. Set aside.
5. Toast pine nuts till golden.
   
6. Whisk chilled dressing with fork to mix well. Add Crown Daisy, bacon, toasted pine nuts and bean thread and toss the ingredients until well coated with dressing.

Vegan spinach version – No need to boil spinach.Omit bacon and oyster sauce (I used ketchup in its place).

See isn’t that easy?

Different looks - I had lotus roots. I deep fried it for garnish. Pushed the salad in the round mold then I made a slit for place to lotus roots to go in.
 

We ended up going to ‘Higgins’ for Thanksgiving. Although we did not have a reservation, the host escorted us to the bar/lounge area right away. We had same five course Thanksgiving meal as the main restaurant just at the counter. Well, that was different. We had a nice chat with people sitting next to us.

Pumpkin bisque was excellent.So was everything else. We just couldn’t eat another bite so we took our dessert home. We passed on the traditional pumpkin pie and Apple pie and instead selected Hazelnut cheese cake and double chocolate cake.

We parked our car front of Samurai, I mean Portland Art Museum – Samurai exhibit is on right now. Cool, Right?

Driving a rural road and saw this corn field. Looks like the stalks are bowing down for coming of Winter General (冬将軍). Day’s low temperature in mid 20’s is awfully cold for Portland.

Wishing you a nice cozy, warm, hot chocolate kind of day!