Pok Pok

My fam and I usually don't try out new restaurants. We stick with the tried-and-true... which usually translates into dim sum. Not that dim sum isn't good, I love dim sum and Portland dim sum >>> Seattle dim sum, but we are not an adventurous family. Which made today even more fun and enjoyable. Today my parents and I ventured to Pok Pok, a highly-rated, hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant in an area of Portland we probably have never been to. I heard about Pok Pok last spring; a few friends and I had planned on trying it out, but were shocked and turned away by a 2 hour dinner wait. So this time around, I was prepared. Went for lunch rather than dinner, went on weekday instead of a weekend, went at a time past the usual lunch hour, AND called ahead to get an estimate on the wait. Even with all that forethought, we still had to sit in the outdoor patio (with outdoor heaters surrounding us). I took a glance inside at the indoor seating, and there were not more than 10 tables each seating 2-4 people, so be warned, Pok Pok is tiny and busy all the time!

Onto the food! Pok Pok isn't your usual Thai restaurant. The dishes are all quite unique, and different from what I have ordered at Thai places in the past. Rather than the build-your-own dish with choices of curry or noodles, chicken or beef, spiciness scale of 1 to 5 stars, Pok Pok has a limited menu. Each dish was accompanied by a short blurb, describing the contents of the dish and what inspired the chef to create the dish. We ordered the Pok Pok Special, Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, Khao Soi Kai, and Pomegranate Drinking Vinegar as a beverage. Our waiter was quite helpful; since it was our first time at Pok Pok, he described the most popular items (Fish Sauce Wings) and original items on the menu (the Pok Pok Special). Most of the items on the menu are "shared" items, enough for several people. I especially liked how our waiter was friendly, without pressuring us to order more dishes or beverages. He even told us that because of the fast turnaround time from ordering to serving the dish, we could order more food if needed to later.

The Fish Sauce Wings were simply delicious... and spicy! We tried the spicy version, where the wings was rolled with a chili-type sauce. Being a spice-wimp as usual, I could only finish one wing. It's the kind of spicy where at first you don't think it's so bad, but it just gets hotter and hotter! I will order the non-spicy version next time, which comes with the spicy sauce on the side for the more daring among us. But my dad liked it (typical, he loves spicy), and I did too until my mouth start burning up! Besides spicy, the wings also had a perfect sweet and salty yin yang blend going on.

Pok Pok became famous due to its roasted game hen and papaya salad. The Pok Pok Special serves up its 2 signature dishes, half a game hen and papaya salad on the side. The salad was a bit puny, it looked like it could be finished off in a couple of bites. The game hen was really good, and it comes with 2 dipping sauces. One sauce was more spicy and salty, and the other a bit sweeter. The game hen almost reminded of Peking duck, with the crispy outside skin... yummy! I would get the game hen, and perhaps pass on the salad next time.

Khao Soi Kai is a coconut curry noodle soup. The soup came with delicate noodles, big pieces of chicken, and wontons on top. I loved the soup base, sweet due to the coconut infusion. It was a much needed rest for my taste buds after all the spice from the other dishes! The noodles were special, it almost seemed like hand-pulled noodles, with a slight chewiness to them.

The Pomegranate Drinking Vinegar combined fruit vinegar with soda. It wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds! It was plenty sweet with added sugar, but you could still taste the sourness of the vinegar. There were also other fruit flavors for the drinking vinegars (apple, Asian pear, lychee, etc.), but we couldn't taste the pomegranate too distinctly. Good to try, but I'm not sure if I would spend the $4 for it next time.

We had a lot of fun, despite having to sit outside on a winter day in Portland. Pok Pok is very chill, not formal at all. It was enjoyable to try new foods (Pok Pok isn't your average Thai restaurant!). The prices were reasonable, for the three of us we spent $48, including tip. I highly recommend Pok Pok next time you're in the Portland area... if you can put up with the wait time! I'm sad that I don't have pictures to post, since I didn't bring my camera... but that opens the door for a next visit!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Fellowship and Crab Cakes

Had some wonderful fellowship with my darling sisters in Christ tonight! I guess I must be getting old to be saying this... but fellowship is truly a wonderful thing! I was reminded how amazing God works, by how He surrounds us with a true support system when we need it most.

I'll share a mini-miracle that happened in my life today: recently, God has placed a burden to pray for revival among the young people in my heart and He has allowed me chances to pray... well, everywhere. I've especially been learning to use my 20-25 minutes on the bus in the morning to pray (instead of idly staring out the window and wishing the bus moved faster!). It's slowly becoming a habit, to pray when I have a spare moment. But, I digress. This morning, I had an idea to re-begin the sisters' meetings we had last year. While I have been praying for revival alone, I hope to share my burden and diligently pray with others. As the Lord promises, when 2 or 3 gather, He will be among them. Yet, I didn't want to be pushy and force my ideas on others (as I often do in the past), so I asked God to allow someone else to initiate if this idea was from Him. Praise the Lord, by the evening I had my confirmation. One sister brought up the very idea of meeting together with some sisters for fellowship. When I shared my prayer burden, she had the same thought and prayer. How amazing God is!

I think it's important to document God's work in our lives, no matter how small. Because, we (especially me) have such short-term memories. The miracles God works in our lives and when God feels so real quickly fades away with the doldrum of school, work, repeat. Also, I call God's work in my life "mini miracles" not to cheapen or downgrade it, but because I know God is possible of much greater work than just events in my life. God is an Able God.


Lastly, because this is a still a FOOD blog at heart... I made crab cakes for the first time tonight. While not perfect, they were quite good, in a rich and fatty way. I didn't have a couple of the ingredients in the recipe, and was too lazy to go out and buy them tonight. Made do with what I had, but wonder what the product would've tasted like if I had followed the recipe exactly. Below is the original recipe:

Crab Cakes

4 lbs. crabmeat
1 egg
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/8 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 c. saltine crackers, crushed (can substitute with Ritz crackers)
1 c. mayonnaise
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Combine crabmeat, egg, lemon zest, Old Bay Seasoning, basil, crackers, and mayonnaise in a bowl. 
2. Form mixture into 5 oz patties. Chill before cooking.
3. Heat oil in skillet. Saute crab cakes for 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. 

Tips: I did not have Old Bay Seasoning, and experimented with some garlic salt, black pepper, chili powder, and onion powder... and my crab cakes turned out a bit too salty. I would invest in the Old Bay Seasoning, it's fairly cheap, next time around. Also, you can broil the crab cakes in the oven, instead of frying on the stovetop. I broiled my crab cakes for about 15 minutes, and they slightly charred on the bottoms. I would stick with 5 minutes per side, until golden brown. 

Multi-Tasking Away

I told my mom today I belong to the "multi-tasking generation." I can't seem to do just one thing at a time. Right now it's watching the Ravens vs. Steelers (go ravens!) game while listening to Youtube clips (was introduced to kurthugoschneider and now can't stop watching his music videos) and intermittently blogging. The problem with multi-tasking is I can't seem to slow down my brain even when I want to sometimes. After my midterm Friday, I was so wired that I couldn't sleep on the entire bus ride from Seattle to Portland. No caffeine needed. My brain oo busy thinking about next steps and plans and to-do lists.

$3.25 Fork

This past Thursday I was at work heating up my lunch (leftover Chipotle) when I realized I did not have a fork. (Yes, I know, a burrito usually is hands-on food, but reheated tortilla wraps are too soft to be held properly.) I usually bring a ziplock bag of plastic disposable utensils with me in my backpack, but failed to do so today. The nearest cafe only had forks upon request, and I was too embarrassed/shy to ask for a fork while holding a container of leftovers. Ended up buying a cup of soup just to get a fork. Fortunately, I absolutely fell in love with tomato basil soup. Fresh tomato chunks in a creamy base. Yummy! It inspired me to make my own sometime! 

New Year, New Recipes

If you know me, you know that I absolutely love planning. Planning get-togethers, planning vacations, planning what to eat for the next week, planning my grocery shopping trip. Sometimes, I think I even get more joy and fulfillment out of the planning stage than actually doing it... Here's the next 5 recipes I want to try: (and drop me a line if you want to eat it with me!)

1. Homemade Granola Bars: I am a converted granola bar fan. I love it for it's easy inclusion into my multi-tasking, on-the-go life... essential for those mornings when I don't have time for breakfast!
2. Baked Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
3. Fudge Truffle Cheesecake. This was the disclaimer on the recipe: "Truffle-like chocolate cheesecake in a chocolate cookie crust. If this does not drive your mate wild, keep the recipe and replace him or her."
4. Apple Pie by Grandma Ople: This recipe has like a gazillion adoring reviews on Allrecipes.com... which means something must be right!
5. Teriyaki Chicken: carryover from my last "five upcoming dishes" challenge. 

Hmm, the predominance of dessert recipes was not planned. I guess I'm just a baker at heart!

As the Deer

verse three:
I want You more than gold or silver,
Only You can satisfy.
You alone are the real joy Giver,
And the apple of my eye.

You alone are my strength and my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship thee


This was an encouraging song led tonight at Bible study. Timely reminder that only God can satisfy every longing and every need. I had never known the story behind the lyrics until today. The fruit of a broken heart mended by God and meditation on Psalms 42:1.

Pictures Up

Pictures of food are finally up! I've updated a few of the past posts to show the food pics. Apparently, I like to upload my pictures all at once.

Other random pictures: 

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

Red Meat- all Ben. 

Christmas Eve Dinner
(perfectly done steak with sides of mashed potatoes
in steak juice and roasted cauliflower)
A team effort between Ben and Lydia

The Marvel of the Slow Cooker

I cannot believe it took me this long to discover The Slow Cooker. It probably is one of my favorite kitchen tools already! It churns out good food without you inputting lots of time! Definitely win-win! (Favorite quote from Letters to Juliet... anyone recognize it?)

I found the perfect slow cooker recipe weeks ago, but have been too busy/lazy/too-much-leftovers-in-fridge to make it until today. Today was perfect, since my first class began at 11:30 (and I finished at 12:30!). Before class, I opened up a few cans, chopped up an onion and a few cloves of garlic, and then dumped (not an elegant word, but pretty much described the process) everything into the crock pot. And that's it! When I got home in the afternoon, lunch was waiting! Plus, Ben just said I have "some serious talent in cooking" while chowing down on the soup. My life is complete!



Chicken Tortilla Soup in a Slow Cooker

2 frozen chicken breasts (I used Costco frozen chicken breasts- so they were pretty large)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce (I used green enchilada sauce)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 can (4 oz) chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1/2 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cup frozen corn

Sour cream
Avocado, sliced
Lime juice

Directions: 

1. Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, garlic, and corn into slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, then add chili pepper, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on high setting for 3-4 hours (or low setting for 6-8 hours). 
2. After 3-4 hours, remove chicken breasts. Roughly shred chicken breasts. (I simply cut into chunks.) Toss shredded chicken back into slow cooker. 
3. Garnish soup with dollop of sour cream, avocado slices, and lime juice to taste. Serve with tortilla chips, if desired.