Stir-Fried Spinach with Fermented Red Tofu
Now, some of you read fermented tofu and freaked out. Don’t lie. Perhaps you’re thinking of that famously stinky stuff considered a Chinese delicacy, tofu that evokes Vincent Price, in another context, intoning about the funk of 40,000 thousand years. Am I right? The IK, she’s here to ease your…
Good Son-In-Law Eggs
According to the internet, Good Son-In-Law eggs translates to either Khai Luk Khoei or Kai Loog Keuy. If you happen to be Thai and I’ve gotten this wrong, forgive me–I speak no Thai. Whatever the correct name, my recipe for Good Son-In-Law Eggs doesn’t even come from a Thai cookbook….
In Search of Marinated Tofu
Apologies for the quiet Chez IK. About two weeks ago, whilst photographing for a post, I bent to retrieve my camera and dislocated my left knee, which refused to slip back into place. This caused a whopping case of bursitis. It got a little difficult to locomote. Also mildly painful. The above…
Stir-Fried Green Beans with Rice Cake
Stir-Fried Green Beans With Rice Cake is a compromise dish. Compromise because Mr. IK loves green beans while your hostess does not. She will, however, eat just about anything that’s been stir-fried. Now, I saw some of you flinch at the rice cake. Rice cakes are available at Asian markets,…
Caregiver’s Noodles
You’re wondering what these are. These thigmajigs, scmetchiks, whaddayacallits, are a crucial part of a wheelchair user’s day–that is, if the wheelchair user has a “swing-away” style footrest on his chair. The above objects are called endcaps. Their job is to hold wheelchair footrests in place while allowing them to…
The Bombay East Bay Vegetable Sandwich
If you want a recipe to fail, choose one you’ve been meaning to cook for at least a decade. Decide to cook it on a day when you aren’t home alone. A day when you must shop for ingredients before cooking. See chaos ensue. Of course you’ve chosen a recipe necessitating many…
Braised Oxtail
Michael Franti wrote a song called “Everyday Life Has Become A Health Risk.” No explanation necessary, right? — So, food. It feels insane to discuss food right now. The United States is collapsing and we’re talking about oxtail? Well, we still need to eat. And we must escape, if only…
Laksa with Chicken and Pumpkin
You would think we only eat pork or poultry around here, and if stats are any indication, some of you are getting bored by this. Then again, you may be distracted by larger events. Maybe your country is leaving the European Union…or perhaps your country is leaving civilized society entirely….
Kitchen Note: Holiday Prep. Ugly Cookies. Steamers.
As Christmas and Chanukah are but days off, the IK seriously doubts you want or need another recipe right now. If you’re doing the cooking, the menu is likely set. Or perhaps the food is being served to you. Either way, having consulted deeply with herself on the life-shattering question of…
Three-Cup Chicken
A few weeks ago the IK attended a literary event sponsored by the San Francisco Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier. There numerous Bay Area authors–and a few non-Bay Area folk–gathered to meet, greet, and share nibbles the authors had prepared from their cookbooks, conveniently for sale on nearby tables. Said event…










