Kopp's Custard

By Lu

Butter Pecan - that is one scoop!

Who doesn't like ice cream? Very few. Pleasant happy thought will pop in most people's head when they hear the word "ice cream." What's not to like? It is something cold, creamy and rich, with familiar flavor/s that surely can get rid any malady or depression in an instant. Oh, yeah..ice cream is many people's best friend. The few people who don't like ice cream more than likely are the exception with specific taste and boundaries. In short, they're weird.

Thinking about ice cream made me think of my uncle Paul. He was the disciplinarian uncle. Most of us kids were afraid of him. Ri even aspired to be a cop when she was young so she would have a gun to shoot him. He would tell me if I didn't do such and such, he would lock me up in this little storage room under the stairs in my grandma's house. That little hole was dark and scary. I didn't want to be locked in there. However, no matter how mean my uncle Paul was, one childhood memory of him I still treasure to this day is when he bought us kids ice cream when the ice cream man passed my grandma's house.

My cousins, sisters, and I would go absolutely insane when we heard the ice cream man's horn tooting. The ice cream man didn't have a truck like the ice cream man here. He had a bicycle that has been improvised to include two freezer attachments as side cars. Ice cream "Woody" as we called it, as the ice cream's brand bore the Woody Woodpecker cartoon character as its mascot, was our favorite. There was also a rarer brand called "Campina" that I used to love. The ice-cream man had various different things in his freezer chests - some like the normal ice creams that current ice cream men would have today: vanilla ice cream covered with chocolate, the drumsticks, popsicles, and also some traditional Indonesia flavors such as coconut, mung beans (kacang ijo), etc. The drumsticks were the most expensive ones and we would be pushing our luck if we asked for one. However, my all time favorite was the regular scoopable ice cream that the ice cream man would scoop and put on a cone. They only had one flavor - Neapolitan.

I still buy Neapolitan ice cream to this day though I have learned of better ice cream flavors from the fun Cherry Garcia to Humphry Slocombe's prosciutto ice cream. I have gone through my friends' mockeries of my taste in ice cream too when I bought Neapolitan in the past. But, it still holds a special place in my heart and I thank my uncle Paul for all the scoops he bought me.

Well, me going off on a tangent there was to paint a picture of how ice cream could have a deep impact in one's life. Ice cream entered our life at a quite early age - perhaps since our toddler bodies were ready to digest milk who didn't come from mom. So, it is really not that strange that ice cream can hold a special place in one's heart.

People like ice cream so much, they developed different types of it. They developed the same concept of frozen churned cream from trying to obtain different textures and consistency to creating creative flavors, branching out using different base ingredients, and coming up with new forms. Regional types that were not so known also got discovered and made popular worldwide. Because of those efforts, now we're blessed with gelato, soft serve, frozen yogurt, dip n dots, and frozen custard. I remember several years back when gelato was so trendy. Now, it is the time of the frozen yogurt. Places like "Pink Berry" and "Red Mango" are popping out every where. Now, it is cool to eat frozen yogurt. Yet, despite the trends, I love my frozen custard too. Even though frozen custard is not as trendy as the other types of frozen dessert, it can hold its own place in the ice cream world.

Frozen Custard Machine spewing...

What is frozen custard? It is pretty much an ice cream; however, on top of cream and sugar, eggs were also added. Thus why the texture is super creamy because of it. Most of the homemade ice creams use eggs in the base, so people may not even realize it that they may be making custards if attempting to make ice cream at home. In the US, people make a big distinction of frozen custard and ice cream, especially in the Midwest. However, for most people around the world, custard or not, it is just ice cream.

However, not to me. Having lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, frozen custard is not just ice cream to me. Wisconsin is home to many frozen custard thriving businesses. One of the most famous ones that have made name for themselves with tons of franchises around is Culver's. But, what is the most awesome Wisconsin's frozen custard?

Kopp's!

If people want to argue about it being the best, it is open for discussion like everything else. However, to me, Kopp's never disappoints. When I was living in Milwaukee, I used to work about two minutes from a Kopp's Custard place and it was really hard not to stop there every day, if not for a scoop of custard, then a butter burger. Kopp's is a frozen custard like no other. They're super super good and creamy. They load it with so much flavoring ingredients like if it is a butter pecan, you can be assured you get pecans with almost every bite. When I had their strawberry cheesecake frozen custard, it was loaded with strawberry slices and chunks of New York cheesecake. It was divine!

Kopp's Location in N. Port Washington Rd, Glendale, WI

Kopp's Custard has been around forever and permanent fixture in Milwaukee. It is a sure stop for me every time I am in town and my friend, Helen, if she finds out I'm going to Milwaukee, she will make me buy her a quart or two. I do even know where you can get dry ice if you need it for transport. You can get dry ice at a Speedway Station on Green Bay Avenue - about 5 minutes from Kopp's Glendale location on North Port Washington Rd. They have a cool ass gigantic sign on this location. You can't miss it. If you're going to the other locations, sorry Charlie, I don't know where to get dry ice.

Besides, this location has the cool cow row in the back. I guess this is a testament of their commitment to dairy. It is a long row of white cows, and there's a black cow in the mix. It signifies something more than likely....lol. I go to the Glendale location exclusively because it is the closest one to my friend Heather's house. I really don't know much about the other locations but I'm sure they serve the same delicious frozen custard!

Monument of Cows in a row

They offer two flavors each day along with the every day vanilla and chocolate. They have some quite interesting flavors. Some of my favorites have been any of the cheesecake renditions, spumoni, red velvet cake, mint chocolate chips that's usually LOADED with chocolate chunks, and lastly, the drumstick. Imagine a cup of frozen custard with ice cream cone pieces with ribbons of chocolate and nuts. Mh..mh..mh.

Other than the two flavors of the day, they also have various sundaes and the famous peanut butter log. I'm not going to try to explain peanut butter log as I don't order it. But in short, it is a huge ice cream dessert. They also have food items such as the jumbo butter burger. I think their burger is yummy. Butter Burger is a Wisconsin style burger where the patty is cooked using butter, and at times they put a piece of butter on top of the patty and served in a buttered bun.

Every time I visit Heather in Milwaukee, I always try to stop at Kopp's. Heather and I can't count how many times we had gone to Kopp's together in the 12 years or so since we became friends. We never get bored. It may not be that big of a deal for her since she lives down the road from Kopp's but she knows I like it and she is usually pretty happy to oblige. The only unfortunate thing, I can't never count for my favorite flavor to be the flavor of the day when I would be in town. The last couple of times I was there lately, I didn't get the flavor I wanted. The flavors were mocha chips and caramel cashew one day. The next time I went were butter pecan and Sprecher Root Beer Float. I had hoped that I would get a colorful flavor so it would be pretty for pictures. Nope! No such luck. If you think about butter pecan, caramel cashew and mocha chips, all of those are very monotonous color of white or tan. Though they're not colorful, they tasted super delicious as always.

Heather, enjoying her mocha chip frozen custard

I definitely recommend you stopping at Kopp's if you ever in Milwaukee. However, do not fret if you don't think you'll make it there anytime soon. They actually ship their custard in the continental US. So save money on plane ticket and spend it on shipping instead.

This place is quite famous for their decadent frozen custards. VP Joe Biden made a stop when he was in Milwaukee, and I guess, then had an altercation with one of the employees there about taxes. Lol. It made news everywhere at the time, and I was laughing out loud about it because..gosh..he was at Kopp's! The VP of the United States of America wanted custard in Milwaukee just like me!

Anyway, I love Kopp's. Not so long ago, I helped my friend, CK's sister, Kellyn, made her first home made chocolate ice cream using her brand new ice cream maker. I didn't know anything about ice cream making; but it turned out fun and it tasted great. I am tempted to get me an ice cream maker too and make custard of my own. However, I want a lot of things in life and I can't get every single thing I desire. But, one good consolation is even though I may not get an ice cream machine or will not have enough time to make ice cream on my own all the time, I can always count on Kopp's for a serious fix of worth the calories frozen dessert.

If you didn't like Kopp's custard, yeah...sorry, you are one of those few weird people. But that's ok. We still love you :).

Oodles of Noodles, Bihun Goreng

By Lu

Bihun Goreng

As a person with Asian descent, it is really not all that shocking that I love noodles. Eating noodle is a big part of Asian culture. Almost every country in Asia has some types of noodles in their diet. Then, I can tell you that I love every single transformation of noodles within those various cultures. From the Phở of Vietnam, Pad Thai of Thailand, Cap Gae of Korea, traditional pulled Chinese noodle, Pancit Bihon of Philippines, Prawn Mee and Char Kway Teow of Malaysia, Udon, Soba, and Ramen of Japan, and lastly all the noodles of Indonesia.

However, we all know that noodles aren't limited to Asian cuisine. Thanks to Marco Polo, the Italian explorer that ventured to China and brought noodles to Italy, we are also blessed with the oodles of pastas of Italy. Geez - Italians expanded the pasta realm into a whole new dimension. There are so many different kinds, with different shapes, thickness, and fancy names. Can anyone tell me what type of pasta is Mafaldine or Orecchiette?

Mafaldine is a ribbon pasta with ruffled edge, and Orecchiette is a pasta that resembles an ear. The list continues. The fancier the Italian restaurant where you dine, the fancier the pasta name gets. You will probably won't find the familiar spaghetti, fettuccine, and lasagna in the menu of a high-end Italian eatery. Pappardelle (my favorite), Buccattini, or fussili will show up though.

Then, it goes to dumplings. Dumplings have the same notoriety as noodles in cultures around the world. From the yummy Spaetzle of Germany, the Bohemian Pierogi, Chinese Potstickers and Wontons, Korean's Kimchi Mandu, Japanese's Gyoza, mhmhmhmhm. These are all expansions of noodles.

What are noodles or pastas? They're basically food pieces with various shapes made from unleavened gluten with water, and sometimes with eggs. At least that is my definition. Then, after a series of processes of mixing, rolling out, and cutting into various shapes, it became something so delicious and fun to eat. The Italians make pasta using durum wheat, semolina, buckwheat, etc. The Asians make noodles from various starches from the regular wheat flour, potato flour, rice flour, and also bean flour. 

I can't say I'm a noodle expert, but I do know a lot from working with it, making it, cooking it, and stuffing my face with it.

Not so long ago, I invited some friends for a noodle dinner at my home. I served the typical Indonesian noodle called "Mie Ayam." I talked about this noodle before in my breakfast post since it is one of the most popular breakfast items back home. When I go home to Jakarta, it is also the first thing I will seek to eat as soon as my plane lands in Indonesian soil. Ri also talked about it on her Wonton post.

Mie Ayam is made using long strand flour noodles, boiled then seasoned with a little bit of oil (chicken infused oil, or my preference - pork fat), salt, pepper, and soy sauce. It is served with chicken topping, wontons or what Indonesian calls "Pangsit" which is dumplings filled with meats, some greens (usually Chinese Yu Choy/Cai Sim), Bean Sprouts (optional), and a side car of chicken broth.

My friends liked my Mie Ayam a lot but I prepared to make a lot of bowls of Mie Ayam. However, they were so full as I also made tons of other food. I was left with 2 packs of uncooked noodles, some wonton filling, and chicken topping. I ate Mie Ayam every day for almost the next two weeks after that dinner. Yes - I froze some of them as I didn't want to waste good food. However, when I finally ran out of chicken topping, I made more. I thought I would get so bored with it. Not even close! I had to gain a lot of weight eating oodles of noodles for two weeks straight. It was so good though. I took a picture to entice my friend, Peggy, of my dinner that night. Food war? Yep. She also made some last week and was in a hurry to eat it because she couldn't contain her craving, and didn't take picture. Tsk tsk tsk.

Other than Mie Ayam, my other favorite Indonesian noodle is Bihun Goreng. When my mom is in town or if I am home, I probably eat Bihun Goreng the most. Bihun is what we call noodles made from rice flour. Some other Asian cultures would refer to it as Mee Hun, or Mai fun. Bihun Goreng means Fried Bihun. In theory, it is really similar to a stir fry noodle. Actually it is not similar, it is stir fried noodle.

I am actually craving it today but too lazy  to cook it. So I am talking about it actually trying to gear myself up to make it. However, maybe I will entice you to make it. With the abundance of stir fry restaurants and make your own stir-fry, I am not going to give you the exact recipe to make Bihun Goreng, because frankly, there is none. But here is a little instruction, and go make it!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Bihun/Mee Hun
• 3 or 4 eggs, or as you want. If you want more eggs, then add more.
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5 stalks of green onions/scallions, cut about 1 inch in length/2.5 cm
• 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
• handful of shrimps, skinned and deveined, cut into chunks
• 4 or 5 beef or/and fish balls (optional), cut into chunks or smaller pieces.
• 5 chicken liver (optional), cut into chunks
• any other things you want to add: chinese sausage (lapchong), pork meat, squid strips, etc. Whatever.
• 5 to 6 stalks of Chinese Greens such as Bok Choy or Yu Choy, cut into 1.5 inch/3 cm in length with stalks, or as you much as you please.
• A couple of handfuls of bean sprouts
• Oil, Chicken Broth, Cooking Wine, Sweet Soy Sauce, and Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Salt and Pepper as needed.

Methods:

1. Put the dry rice noodle in a heat-resistant bowl, and pour boiling or really hot water onto the bowl. Let bihun sits in hot water until it softens.
2. Heat up oil in a wok. Mix eggs in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and beat slightly. Add eggs to hot wok, and make scrambled eggs. Set aside.
3. Re-heat oil in a wok. Sweat garlic until it is aromatic, then add the cut-up protein ingredients (chicken breast, shrimps, beef balls, etc). Season with salt and pepper as needed. Glaze with chinese cooking wine. Add a couple dash until meats sizzle. Then pour a dash of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sweet soy sauce for flavor and color. Once cooked, set aside.
4. De-glaze pan with chinese cooking wine and scrape all the browning bits from bottom of wok from the meats cooked previously. Add bihun.
5. Crank heat to high, and add a couple of ladles of chicken broth so that bihun will be cooked further and absorb all the liquid. Bihuns I found in the US are harder, and may need more liquid than the ones in Asia. Don't drown bihun in liquid as it will get too soft. Start with a little bit of liquid just so that the noodles are wet, then if it is still hard, you can add as needed.
6. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce as needed until bihun gets the brown coloring and flavor. I usually cook just with feel. However, if you want ratio, probably 1 or 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce is all you need, then you may have to double or triple that for the soy sauces. Do not add more salt as the soy sauce will be salty already.
7. Stir the seasoning so all the noodles get coated evenly with the sauces. Do not stir like you stir a martini however if you do not want broken pieces of noodles. If you want your noodles intact, use two spatulas, and toss noodles as you toss a salad.
8. Add the cooked meats, eggs, and the veggies (Greens, scallions and sprouts). 
9. Cook thoroughly until the soy sauce raw taste disappeared and you get a fried noodle taste.
10. Serve immediately.

Using two spatulas, toss the noodles

I like to serve it with a little side of pickled cucumbers or achar. All I do to make achar is I cut up some cucumber and add white vinegar to cover the cucumber, and then I sprinkle some sugar. Mix it up and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours before using. You can also be fancy by adding carrot cubes and chili padi or Thai chili. I know some foodies will frown on the white vinegar; however, this traditional Indonesian achar will taste funny if we use foofoo vinegars like the apple cider or red wine. Some stuff is just better kept as KISS, keep it simple stupid.

You really have to use your stir-fry instinct as I really can't tell you that 2 tablespoon of soy sauce will be enough, and 3 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce will be perfect. You have to just go for it, use your instinct, taste, analyze, adjust, taste again! This principle is one thing I learned from culinary school I know to be true. If you want to cook, you need to taste!!!

If you don't know what a sweet soy sauce is, go look on my older post by clicking here where I talked in details about the product on my Father's Day article. You can find all of the ingredients in most Asian grocery stores.

The hardest thing for me when going on diet is to give up this carb - noodle. It is one of my very best friends and it personifies life like no other. Life is a like a bowl of noodles. It is tangled, and we search at times where it starts and where it ends. But at the same time, throughout the journey, there are good things to taste and experience, unless you find a physical contaminant like a piece of plastic, and break your tooth. It happens once in awhile - but will it stop you for diving into another bowl of noodles? Of course not, because like life, it is worth the risk.

NYC: Beyond Food (Well...mostly)

By Crivenica

Some people have come to me with questions about New York City lately. Though, I would never claim myself to be an expert on NYC, I am happy to give first time NYC visitors some suggestions on what to do, what to see, and where to eat. So I thought to make it easy for everyone, I should just write a posting on NYC again that doesn’t just focus on food. 

It’s hard to only pick a few things to write because there are so many things to do and spots to visit in Manhattan alone. It is even harder when I had to pick fewer places for a day visit when my friend, Lily, came to NY for business.  We knew each other from Jakarta and I was so excited that I happened to be there during her short visit. I would've loved to take her to the museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met), the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) or the American Museum of Natural History, but visiting one museum alone would take a whole day. But then, I didn’t want to just take her to the well-known tourist sites like the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and Times Square. In the end, I think I managed to show Lily a mix of touristy sight-seeing with a tour to the more charming sides of Manhattan. And I hope to do so here, too. 

I’m sure most people know that NYC is a walking city. Though the streets are always full of cars and the subway trains full with people, you see people from all walks of life pounding the sidewalks every day. Sure, they take taxis if they’re in a hurry or the trains if their destinations are too far to cover by foot, but my husband always says, “If you're in a rush and it’s 10 blocks or less, you walk.” So, I’ve done a lot of walking here with him and not just walking, but New York pace walking, which is fast. Boy, was that first trip into the city with him gruesome! Hence, before I list down my suggestions, I would highly recommend anybody who’s planning to visit NYC to pack some really comfortable footwear.

Walking Along 5th Avenue

Lily & I at Rockefeller Center

I always love walking along 5th Ave because, after all, I am a girl and there are a lot of stores to check out, from the more affordable Banana Republic to the famous Saks Fifth Avenue. And when I took Lily there, she was not disappointed because she suddenly squealed in delight when she spotted the Louis Vuitton store at the corner of 5th Ave & 50th st. Obviously, my friend is a fan of the LV. And there are more well known brands along the avenue like Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Henri Bendel, Prada and Bergdorf Goodman. Even if I can’t afford to shop at most of these stores, it’s always nice to window shop. However, there is more to 5th Ave than just stores. There is the beautiful St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center, famous for its giant Christmas tree that is erected there every holiday season in December. If you’re in NYC during Christmas time, make sure that you walk up 5th Ave from Rockefeller Center to 60th st. to check out the spectacular holiday lights and decorations.

Central Park

The Lake, Central Park

Another favorite NY pass time for me is taking a walk through Central Park. It’s so famous, it hardly needs any explanation. All I can say is that I wish Jakarta had this big of a stretch of clean green area which we could enjoy. I’ve spent hours walking the path, passing the Central Park Zoo toward the Bethesda terrace & fountain and continue on all the way to the Great Lawn where a lot of New Yorkers can be found lying around under the sun all summer long. Lily and I had fun people watching and taking pictures at famous spots we had seen in movies, but I also love walking the lonely path, enjoying that little piece of nature in the middle of that concrete jungle. Just don’t walk around the park alone when it’s dark. 

The Green Market

Try stopping by Union Square on 17th st. at Broadway on a Saturday morning and you’ll see a throng of people browsing through fresh produce, fresh baked goods, meat, cheese, jams and apple ciders. The green market is an outdoor farmers market that takes place on one side of Union Square and ever since I first went there, it’s always packed with shoppers. I find it to be really cool that even when you live in a city like NYC, you can still buy local organic produce directly from farmers in tri-state area, which is why the green market was founded in 1976 in the first place. And though I don’t live in NYC, I still love going through the market and checking out the goods. Sometimes I would buy a cookie or some other baked good that looked especially delicious and eat it while hanging out at one of the park tables. Check it out on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Circle-Line Cruise

View of Manhattan skyline from Hudson River

I wouldn’t usually do something that obviously caters to tourists, but this cruise seems to be a good and relaxed way to see New York City and its surroundings from the water. Circle-Line offers several cruises from a 75-minute Liberty cruise to a 3-hour full island one. I’d say if you have the time, take the full 3-hour cruise and it will take you from the 42nd st. marina south toward the Statue of Liberty and then up the East River all the way around the north tip of Manhattan to go back down on the Hudson River. You will see the famous bridges connecting Manhattan to the rest of the NY boroughs like the Brooklyn bridge (often seen in movies, like ‘Sex in the City’) and other famous landmarks. By the way, I do not get paid to mention them :)

The High Line 

Flowers covered train tracks

I think the High Line is just way cool. Located on the west side of Manhattan from West 34th st. to Gansevoort st. between 10th and 11th avenues, the High Line is an old line of elevated freight train tracks that haven’t been used since the 1980s. However, a community non-profit group called Friends of the High Line in partnership with the City of New York turned it into a very cool elevated public park. The structure is very well maintained and you still can see the actual tracks among the boardwalk, wild flowers and plants. The High Line is a wonderful spot in the city for people to hang out and relax. You can see people reading, working on their computers or just sipping coffee on benches, chairs and lounges. Check it out by entering from the 30th st. entrance and walk down to 14th st. or Gansevoort st., then you can continue off the High Line and check out the very chic stores in the Meat Packing district.

The Village & Soho

Things can get a bit confusing when you walk down past 14th st. It is here where Manhattan's organized grid of streets and avenues begins to blend with the chaotic directions and named streets of Manhattan's old city.  I have gotten lost several times. However, there’s nothing alarming about getting lost in the Village. The West, Greenwich and East Villages are charming areas to walk around in. This part of NYC has many great local restaurants and charming unique shops. And as you keep walking down toward Soho (South of Houston st.), hit Prince st. and Broadway for a total New York shopping experience. 

Lombardi’s

You can’t visit New York city and not get some authentic New York pizza and what would be better than to get it at America’s first pizzeria? Lombardi’s was given its license in 1905 and it has continued to be the standard for some pretty freaking good pizza. I’ve never gone there without having to wait in line for a table, but the wait is always worth Lombardi’s pizza pie. They make their own mozzarella cheese and sweet Italian sausage (my favorite topping) that is just to die for. I will let the picture tell it all. Just a block away from the shops on Prince st., Lombardi’s is a perfect place to fuel up after a long day of walking and shopping. Just make sure you come early enough to get a table. Lombardi is located on 32 Spring st. on the corner of Spring and Mott.

There are tons of other places to check out in NYC, like the great shopping streets in the East Village, China Town, the small but very pretty Madison Square Park, Washington Square Park, Madison Avenue (where all the big name designers have their boutiques) and the uptown neighborhoods.  But if we get to all of them, this will be a book and I can’t say that I’m qualified to write it. Instead I hope some of my favorite spots will give those of you who are planning to visit NYC some ideas for a lovely trip.

Notes: Special thanks to Lily for some of her trip pictures. It was fun taking you around!

Food War

By Lu

Mh....how can you not salivate? Thanks, Liza!!

With the culinary competition theme dominating the prime time on television, needless to say, it was quite effortless for the idea to ransack people's minds. I was talking to a friend last night on my way home, that when we were young, we never really thought of cooking as a profession nor did we aspire to be a chef. Cooking was just a thing to do at home so you could eat. Nowadays, it's a different story. Celebrity chefs on TV and others with famed restaurants really changed the landscape of food service profession. Now, it is totally cool to be a chef and go to school to be one. Hey, you may end up on TV!

However, I do thoroughly enjoy watching the culinary competitions on TV. It started for me with the old Japanese Iron Chef. It was so damn cool when the chairman ate the pepper. The original Iron Chef was a tad corny, but it was also awesome watching these Japanese chefs with their crazy knife skills chopping away under time constraints. Then, it blossomed to Iron Chef America, The Next Iron Chef, Top Chef, Top Chef Master, Top Chef Just Desserts, Cup Cake War, Hell's Kitchen, Master Chef, Chopped....the list is endless.

There were some sayings about how TV sends subliminal messages, and I started to believe it now. I really do believe that I got my competitive sense in cooking because I watch these damn shows so much. At times when Top Chef was on, I couldn't wait for the week to get to Wednesday night already so I could watch the new episode. I was addicted and enthralled with the show.

Several months back, some of my childhood friends and I started a culinary competition unexpectedly and unplanned on facebook. At first, it was very casual and unassuming. Then, it became a full fledged food war!

What is food war? It started with  friends who love food - eating it, making it, and taking picture of it, just sharing some food pictures on facebook with no specific intention whatsoever. It was just a picture posted on facebook. But then, it snowballed. It wasn't just about posting pictures - it became sort of like a game between us. Now, we post pictures to tantalize the others and make them drool. But wait, we didn't stop there....at times, one was really successful in making the other wanting that food, the person on the other side had to make it to fulfill that craving, or going to get it if it's available close by. Mind you, the five players are all living in various countries. Chika and Ineke live in Singapore; Audrey and Liza live in Jakarta; then, Peggy in Auckland, New Zealand; and then me here in Chicago. It is not always easy to get a meat pie in Chicago after seeing the succulent dish on Peggy's wall, nor getting all the Indonesian delicacies that Audrey and Liza so heartlessly posted after devouring the food I could only imagine eating. Crap, even writing this, my mouth watered.

Yeah, you got the idea. This war, we don't use hand grenades for weapons. We use food and it can hurt like you wouldn't believe. Let me introduce you to my food war lords!!!

CAMP JAKARTA

Warlord Audrey ready to bang!

Audrey and Liza...mh.... they got me so hot at times I wanted to throw scones at them for retaliation. They hurt me, a lot. Oh, man. I mean, they live in my hometown and I crave Indonesian food like you wouldn't believe, even when I didn't try. I just crave it naturally every day of every week. Just looking at Audrey's food pictures daily just hurt so much. She's really mean. She would post all these great looking Indonesian dishes, and I had to comment on how good they looked and she tantalized me by saying .."when you come home to Jakarta, I'll take you here." Yeah, when can I come home?! Not today, and not tomorrow and I wanted the food right then! Grrr..... she makes me mad!

She also dabbles in the kitchen on top of eating out and scouring Jakarta's culinary spots. She gave me a recipe of Mapo Tofu that I tried and liked. Beware of this one! She's a multi-tasking food warrior!

Admiral Liza, with her fork and knife! Scary!

Liza always posts beautiful food pictures and they looked more than appetizing - captivating and salivating. However, she makes me laugh a lot from her crazy comments on the pictures. At times, the comment thread on one picture can be so long. Yeah, I know many of our friends complained that all threads and facebook news are dominated with our food war actions. Believe me, like any wars, it has a lot of bystander innocent casualties. We had a lot of those. Poor people. Liza is a big swimmer and because of that she earned a nickname "duyung" in Indonesian or mermaid. With this food war, we dubbed her weapon as the trident or yeah... fork! I wanted her to take a picture of herself with huge ass fork for this post, but apparently there was no fork big enough for her, so she was humble and used a regular fork. We always laugh at her when she commented on a fish dish and how it made her salivating. We would tease her and call her a cannibal eating her own kind. Though, really - fish do eat fish. They have no boundary! No means to an end for a full stomach! Did you see the raspberry cupcakes picture above? When Liza posted that, I swear, I reached for it! Damn screen!

Tofu and Egg Indonesian style by Audrey

Mouth-watering Gambas Ajillo by Liza. This was the start for me

 
CAMP AUCKLAND

Spy Peggy, hiding behind the camera

Peggy is the sole warrior of Camp Auckland and she specializes in coffee bombs. Oh, all her coffee pictures just wake me up in the morning. She's serious about her coffee though she tries to limit it to one cup a day. It also helps  that she's an accomplished photographer because a cup of coffee could look so much better in her pictures than perhaps how it tastes.

She likes to cook once in awhile but she never really took pictures of the foods she made. Instead, when she went out eating New Zealand's (NZ) delicacies like meat pies, then Mr. Nikon took action. She produced some great food shots! She always gives me tips too in taking pictures. I'm having a lot of fun with her not only with food war, but also with photography. One of her favorite things to do when she has a day off is to go to local cafe to enjoy a cup of coffee, a good breakfast, reading a book and maybe take a picture or two. I can always count on her for some incredible shots of breakfast items.

Breakfast with Peggy...

Peggy sent me Edmond's Cook Book, which is the classic cook book of NZ - sort of like the "Better Homes and Garden's Cook Book" in the US. She gave me a project all the way from Auckland to make some dishes that are NZ's. I have been perusing that book and I owe her one dish yet to make. I promised her though, so look forward to a recipe post taken from Edmond's soon!
However, even living on the edge of the earth, there's an Indonesian restaurant nearby. She posted some pictures of Indonesian dishes she ate at Warung Wardani in Auckland. The one that pierced my stomach literally was the Soto Betawi, an Indonesian beef soup with coconut milk base. I swore I was going to make it until I googled the recipe and it asked for so much spice mixture. I retreated and accepted defeat.

Meat Pies...ohhh God!!

CAMP SINGAPORE

War Goddess Chika and her 8 hands! Watch out!

These two ladies, Chika and Ineke,  are fierce competitors. Both of them are accomplished cooks and bakers and they weren't kidding around. They joined forces one time for Chika's daughter's birthday, and when I saw the spread of rice cakes served with Opor Ayam (chicken stew) and its fixing, the birthday cakes, and the muffins...I actually had to make my own dinner party. I was hurting, bad, looking at the rice cakes and the chicken stew. It was a typical Indonesian dish back home and how I missed it. But then, if I made it, I wanted it complete with all the fixings like rendang (beef stewed in spices and coconut milk), sambal ati (chicken liver cooked with chili and vegetables), etc. However, I couldn't eat all that on my own. I invited some of my friends who did  not complain about helping me eat it. But, you know it caused me a whole weekend of cooking because these things took a long time to make. I was happy though afterward.

Opor Ayam, Indonesian Stewed Chicken

Chika's Danish...what?!

Chocolate C4 on Major Ineke's hand!

Chika is always cooking for her family - her two beautiful children and our adjunct player, her husband, Dominic. Dom at times joined in the fun with his coffee pictures. Yep, he and Peggy could really have their own coffee war! Chika never claimed to be the food expert; however, she was just being humble. When she whipped out homemade Danish and Croissant pictures, I knew she was hiding her ammunition! Ambush!!

Ineke, came from a family who owned foodservice business. If I'm not mistaken, her family had a successful bakery back home in Jakarta. She's the master baker. Baking breads or decorating a cake with fondant seem so effortless to her. One day she posted pictures of these butter buns - I almost cried. I am a sucker for a fresh baked bread from the oven, and that picture looked so good I felt I could feel the steam. These two ladies are so fierce! Chika for awhile always posted a picture of a pastry for me to wake up to in the morning. She said it was my breakfast. Liza and I always laugh because we both said that our computer screens are so gross from all the licking we've done!

Yummo Butter Buns!!!! see that butter melting on the parchment?

CAMP CHICAGO

Lu, the culinary ninja!

I'm also a lone warrior here in Chicago. I mixed up my strategic attacks with some rockets of restaurant food pictures as well as home made retaliations. I think I was the one who suffered quite a bit and I actually tried hard to fulfill my craving by making the dish. Well, not all of them obviously. Like the Soto Betawi - I retreated gracefully and waved my white flag. Some others I could manage to make, I would certainly retaliate. I think I'm quite ruthless myself. Chika and the other warlords were quite tantalized with some American or Mexican dishes that aren't readily available at their neck of the woods. Dom was also salivated a bit looking at my duck and noodle pictures that I took at Ming Hin the other day.

What I gathered from all this food war-mongering is motivation to practice cooking and baking. It really gives me excuse to cook, take the weekend and go crazy cooking. I also use some of this hard work for materials for this blog. In our crazy lives, at times it is hard to find the motivation to add on to your already busy week. However, food war has been a great source of those little kicks in the behind for me. I always want to show the other players what I made or what I ate. I want to hear Chika telling me that what I made is looking really good and what's the recipe. I want Liza to tell me that she wants to stab the steak with her fork through the screen. I want to hear Peggy telling me "nice shot!"

Chocolate Chip Muffins, inspired by Chika

Carne Asada for payback..not so easy to find in Asia, huh?

See - this food war embodied 4 things I love. First, it gives me avenue to eat. Almost every day one of us complains that we gain weight from food pictures. How could it be? Hahaha..probably because we ended up going out so we could get new photos to post!

Second, it gives me excuse to cook. Yep, I already told you in the above paragraph how I look forward to the weekend and just cook my ass off.

Third, it gives me reason to practice my camera skills. These girls aren't only foodies, but they are also photographers. It is so awesome when I get compliment about the food, and also about the photographs. It's like a double whammy! I really don't want to post crappy photos as I'd get embarrassed. Therefore, I try my hardest to hone-in my photography skills. I am even taking a class this weekend for it. Don't tell me I am not invested in this.

Lastly, it gives me means to talk to my friends. I'm sure you probably remember me writing about some of these girls in my older posts. They're my friends for almost my whole entire childhood and also now in my adult life. It's so great to be able to talk to friends about whatever things in life, as well as doing something we are all passionate about.

Chika, Peggy, and I video skyped a couple of weeks ago and how fun it was! Peggy was sick so she was just chilling watching me making Indonesian Pastels (Curry Puffs/Empanada), and Chika making meatballs and Marinara sauce. It was fantastic!

At the end, food war is so much better than any other wars. It still has the competition, the ammunition, and the soldiers. However, though we have our competitive sides, we are just five kick-ass girls who found more friendship within our war. I'd like to apologize to some of our other friends who were bothered with our long comment threads...but hey, it's all for fun and I know some of you also enjoyed looking at the yummilicious pictures. This war is my kind of war.

MAKE FOOD, NOT WAR!

Special thanks to my girls: Peggy Muliadi, Debbie Maria a.k.a Chika, Liza Wibisono, Ineke Kristanto and Audrey Widyanata. Thanks for working with me in this project and took the awesome war poses! All photos are used with permissions. 


Thanks to Sonya Hira for taking my picture! I look ridiculous! Just like how I wanted it!