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| It WASN'T like this. |
We're back from our trip. I loved Hong Kong. LOVED. Much more than expected. As I mentioned before, no one in Hong Kong cooks because home kitchens are tiny and restaurants so plentiful, excellent, and cheap. Honestly, it didn't seem like such a bad way to live. If I could walk down the street for crispy roast goose instead of roasting my own chicken? I'd never turn on the oven again.
But I don't think there's a roast goose to be had in this entire county. The closest restaurant to our house: Taco Bell. And it's not that close.
I made lentil and red pepper soup from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook last night because I was feeling so half-hearted about the domestic arts and the recipe looked really easy. It was really easy and it was really unexciting, as is usually the case with lentil soup. But the oranges with rosemary honey from the same book were even easier than the soup and they were improbably spectacular.
I don't generally gush over simple fruit desserts as I don't think a piece of fresh, seasonal fruit makes the perfect dessert. I think it makes a really disappointing dessert. These oranges, however, are delicious and rich, which is mysterious because they contain no rich ingredients. Don't skip the rosemary; I think the rosemary is what gives that curious illusion of richness.
Zuni Cafe's oranges with rosemary honey
1/4 cup honey
4 teaspoons water
leaves from a small sprig of rosemary, bruised with the back of a knife
4 oranges
1. In a very small saucepan or a large metal measuring cup combine the honey, water, and rosemary. Over low heat, simmer until melted. Watch closely so the syrup doesn't boil over. When it is runny, turn off heat and let it steep until you are ready to use it, at least 20 minutes.
2. Cut the bottoms and tops from the oranges, just enough to expose the juicy flesh. To quote Judy Rodgers: "Set the fruit on end and use a paring knife to carve away the skin and pith in a series of smooth arc-like strokes from top to bottom, rotating the orange a little with each stroke. (Most of us misjudge and miss a little pith on the first go-round, but this is easy to trim once you've removed the bulky skin.")
3. Slice the oranges thinly -- less than 1/4 inch thick -- and lay them on 4 serving plates. Drizzle with the honey. Serves 4.
11 comments:
I love it when you tell us about things that are improbably great like those oranges. so much more exciting than the things that are obviously delicious. like the beggar's pasta, which i still have not ever made, but nonetheless crave about once a week. and like hong kong now tht i think of it! i wouldn't have ever thought it would be someplace i'd want to go, and now i want to.
A bunch of my husband's pilot friends are moving to Hong Kong for jobs with FedEx. You did a better job of selling it than my husband did. If he had tried your tack, we might have been joining them there.
I hear you. I dream about being back in Korea all the time--noone cooks there either. I too am seriously disappointed when someone sets a fruit platter in front of me and calls it dessert. I'd rather have more wine.
Amen to fruit as a sad dessert!
Also, my family loves your book, we've bought three copies!
I loved Hong Kong and so want to go back and spend more time there. Thanks for taking me back through your adventures!
Don't you think you would tire of spicy crab eventually? The exotic eventually becomes the mundane, I think. But, never having to cook again sounds wonderful. It is so much fun to cook when you only choose to do so! I actually love a well-prepared fruit dish with fruit that is perfectly ripe, so I guess I am boring in all respects!
I agree about the fruit. Being a pastry chef, I actually feel a little insulted when Alice Waters touts a perfect pear as the ideal fall dessert. (And then, to top it off, she snarfs up all the best "perfect pears" from the farmers before the likes of me can get any.)
However, a case could be made for the sumo fruit being good enough to eat plain for dessert. Have you tried this thing? It's astonishing. It may only be available in Southern California. You should go to great lengths to try it, even if I have to mail you one. They have a very short season--and we're in the middle of it.
A piece of fruit is a sweet snack to get me through the day without inhaling a bag of candy, or something to eat if I'm trying to keep my mind off dessert. Fruit can be a component of dessert, but it would never occur to me to call a piece of fruit dessert. Never.
If you're looking for a good read, let me recommend the Yellowthread Street series by William Marshall. It centers around the (mis)adventures of the detectives in a police station in pre-Communist sign-over Hong Kong. They are off-the-wall, funny and weird. A lot of their appeal lies in the fact that Hong Kong is as much a character in these stories as any of the humans. These may be just what you need for your Hong Kong fix.
I'm with you re: Hong Kong (and John LeCarre).
Any time you want to try to simulate the experience in SF I am a game and eager partner. Looking forward to seeing you Monday and hearing more about hand pulled noodles and char sui bao - Hilary
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook.....we call her 'pill tilda' for all the instructions, but that being said, her 'Brasato' is our go to pot roast - a even dish my 5& 7 yo have requested for their bdays. Also, the Pasta with Tuna Confit, Balsamic onion marmelade, and dish of leeks, potatoes and white fish are all wonderful! And have become staples here. I guess we'll be trying the honeyed oranges tonight. Thanks for the heads up, the description of HK(good idea to retread Smiley's People) and YOUR delightful and useful book.
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