Australia Day

Things I imagined Australia Day to involve:
- Lots of Knifey-Spoony, you know, to test if you're Australian
- Drinking beer and BBQ
- Going to the beach to wrestle crocodiles

Things I imagine Independence Day to involve if we renamed it America Day:
- Fuck Yeah!
- Drinking beer and BBQ
- Shooting things

At least some things are familiar here.

Should I be proud or offended?

As heard on a 'please hold' phone message for Bing Lee, read in a very Aussie accent:

Our Chinese heritage means everything is negotiable...

Confusing. Or perhaps Confucian?

Multi-Meal, Part 3: Stir Fry

OK, quick post because it's getting late. Perfect because this is such an easy meal idea, and because you already have a lot of the necessary stuff for this recipe.

Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

Dice:
- Carrot
- Red Bell Pepper (what Aussies call Capsicum. Don't ask)
- Zucchini
- Broccoli

Stir fry all that in some vegetable oil with some minced garlic.

Then, here's the Multi-Meal part, put in about a 1/2 cup of the chicken stock and cook until most of the liquid boils off, leaving just a thickened sauce.

Stir in some of the leftover chicken. Top with some toasted pine nuts if you like.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Super easy and super tasty because of the awesome chicken stock you made previously. Pair with some rice.

Please take the time to read this.

I don't know what good this will do, but I felt like I had to share.

I don't know Bill Zeller. I've never met him. The only way I would have heard about the whole thing was because he worked as an intern on my friend's team in NYC last summer. Just read this.

Story. His note.

Please. If you are even contemplating anything like this, there is help. +1-800-784-2433. Please.

Multi-Meal, Part 2: Chicken Stock

Why make chicken stock from scratch? It is relatively cheap to buy. But I have never bought stock that tastes as good as something made from scratch, and while making stock takes some time, it is actually quite easy.

Chop:

- carrot

- some onion (to make it especially Asian, I used some green onion as well as half a red onion)

- celery (these top three ingredients are your core aromatics to many recipes, minus the Asian)

Add:

- rosemary if you like

- some bay leaves

- salt & pepper

- the bones and skin (remove skin for less fatty stock) from last time.

Cover everything in just enough water so nothing is left sticking out of the saucepan. Don't let it boil (I suck at this), but instead just let it simmer for up to an hour or so. Seasoning as you go. Stock is great because you can season as you go, and even add water when if you over-season.

I took this photo 17 times trying to get the right lighting.

Store in fridge for use soon, or freeze for later use.

It doesn't look too appetizing in a photo, but trust me, it's delicious!

Now to think about what to make with it. It's a bit too hot for Chicken Soup.

Australification*

(*new word. I'm coining it right now.)

So after 8 months in Australia (to the day today), I feel my myself becoming Australified. Maybe it's the fact this country is so far removed from the rest of the world. Maybe because it's isolated as a Western, English speaking country but geographically located closer to South East Asia. Maybe it's because it is +16 hours (during Summer) to East Coast US time. Whatever the reason, things move at a different pace here and I am finding myself more and more caught up in the flow.

Some observations of this phenomenon:

• Not getting internet memes: What is this? Is this what the kids are into nowadays?
• Accepting high prices: Things are often 50-100% more expensive here, given the parity of the AUD to USD. When I first got here, I had sticker shock. Now it's more like sticker 'meh'.
• Being out of the loop: Other than sports, I have no idea what is happening in the news nowadays. Don't know when/if Jerry Brown got sworn in (did he even win?). Didn't know about Ke$ha's new album (it's amazeballs, by the way). And I'm still confused why everyone is talking about snow days, ski trips, and blizzards in the middle of summer.
  

Multi-Meal, Part 1: Chicken Salad

The next phase of my Beer Can Chicken Multi-Meal was what to do will all the leftover chicken meat (despite assumptions to the contrary, I can no longer consume a whole chicken). This recipe, which I found and adapted from an online source, has been previously described as "The Best Chicken Salad Ev4r!!1!". To the point the originator of that description refused a cooking challenge for fear that the secret ingredient would be chicken, and this dish would best whatever she had to offer*. But I digress.

1. Remove the skin from chicken, save skin for later.
2. Remove all meat from bones, save bones for later. You probably won't need all the meat for this recipe, depends on how much you want to make. I prefer white meat for chicken salad as I find dark meat tastier**, so you can also save that for later.
3. Chop up chicken meat, does not have to be too regular or fine.
4. Finely chop half a red onion (the online recipes say celery, but celery tastes like ass).
5. Chop up some stalks of green onion (this gives the chicken salad some Asian-ness).
6. Brown some flaked almonds in olive oil (really, this is true for all recipes that use nuts: toasting in a bit of olive oil makes them better. Always).
7. Other ingredients:

• Mayo (if in Australia, use "whole egg mayonnaise". The other stuff is the work of Satan).
• Dried cranberry (very key ingredient).
• Salt & Pepper
• Paprika

Combine well. Cover and let sit in fridge for at least one hour.

Note, I never rarely list any amounts next to ingredients. This is just what I do. The same with cooking times, you're trying to achieve a personal preference with varying intensities of flavors (e.g. Australian onions may not taste the same as American) so season and mix ingredients to taste, don't worry about exact measurements. This is probably also why I don't bake, because I can't season mid-process.

I then brushed some ciabatta bread with some olive oil and toasted it in the oven before spreading salad on.

Food porn!

All told, about a 30 min recipe for a damn fine sandwich.

*We were all drunk when this was said. Clearly this is not true; she is a much better cook than I. Also, who would select a secret ingredient of chicken?

**Get your head out of the gutter.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

This article (not sure if it's still available behind the WSJ paywall) suggests a new way to explain why Asian kids are often over-achievers. It claims that Asian parents expect so much from their progeny because they do not believe in their limitations or fear for their psyche. It's an interesting approach to take.

In comparison, I was extremely fortunate. While my parents pushed me to achieve, I was still given the chance to pursue my own interests; I got to play sports and was given the choice to give up on the violin.

Not sure what kind of Asian dad I will be though. Probably this kind.

The Multi-Meal, Part 0

I enjoy cooking. While discussing this recently with a friend, the subject of cooking in my situation (i.e. bitter and alone), came up. What is a good way to cook for one? One way is something I like to call (and I'm coining the term now), the Multi-Meal. It's something that you make, but then instead of eating the same leftovers repeatedly until you're done (or sick of it), you can take the leftovers and turn them into several different things with ease. One of my all-time favorite Multi-Meals is Beer Can Chicken.

Because the beer evaporates through the chicken as it's cooking, the meat remains moist and tender (very unlikely to overcook, as opposed to many other chicken recipes), as well as becoming beer flavored.

All that is required is:
- One chicken
- One can of beer (can, not bottle)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Olive Oil

I chose Kilkenny because I like the taste (by itself and in the chicken), and also because it's one of the few beers I could find in Australia that came in a can.

Wash the outside and inside of the chicken (be sure to remove the gizzards as they can sometimes make the surrounding meat gray and unappetizing) and pat dry. Then rub with olive oil and rub in salt and pepper generously. Use your hands.

Begrudgingly drink 2/3 of the beer. Punch holes at the top of the can and insert upright into cavity of the chicken.


Put in 350F (175C) oven until internal temperature of thickest part of the breast reaches 180F (85C).

Pro-Tip: Never cook by the just prescribed times in recipes; you're going for done-ness, which varies with ovens and portions.


I also made some Potatoes Au Gratin (post for another time) and some steamed broccoli.

Pro-Tip: Easiest way to steam broccoli, covered casserole dish, 1/4 cup of water, salt, then microwave until bright green and tender, ~2min.

Not a bad meal for a single dude. Best part, since the Kilkenny came in a four pack, still beer for me!

Next installment of the Multi-Meal, "Best Chicken Salad Ev4r!!1!"

Engineers are socially retarded.

So I went to a dinner for students of a computer science camp for high schoolers, hosted at a local university. Nominally to give them some interaction with people "in the industry"*. Imagine a room full of 15 to 17-year old computer geeks. But not your regular, run of the mill geek, but ones geeky enough to be sent to computer camp during their summer vacation.

Had I stopped talking, I was afraid the entire room might be sucked into a black hole of awkward. Was it the nerdiness? Being that age? Perhaps just the collective reinforcement being around so many others like yourself. Like a concentrated vacuum where normal social skills should have been.

It reminded me so much of myself and my own adolescence. Ah, the memories! The worst part? I actually made up an excuse to duck out of the conversation, because I couldn't stand the awkwardness.

(*The porn business. I quite my IT job months ago.)

New Year, New Adventures

Wow, there's been a lot of stuff to catch everyone up on. Since I'm tired and it's a lot to cover, I'm going to my favorite lazy tactic, the bullet point post!

- Went to Cairns (pronounced CANNS. Why? because it's Australia.) with M and B for the New Year's break. It was very humid, but not that hot. About 85F. Cairns is a very small town. Definitely a different vibe than Sydney. It's touristy, but not too touristy. Great to have spent my first summer New Years with familiar people in a faraway land.

Pro-tip: Don't trust any of the hotels, car rentals, or booking agencies if you call them. We found better deals and even availability online when the staff answering the phones said there was none.

- We then went on a boat for two days out at the Great Barrier Reef. It was amazing. I describe it as swimming through a screen saver. These are the types of seascapes you see in TV and in movies, but it was right there in front of me. I cannot begin to describe how awesome it was. Check out the pictures! There was one moment during a night dive when B jumped into a frenzy of sharks (that's what it's called, look it up). You didn't need to be certified as you could go on guided dives if you were a n00b, like myself. Mostly it was just about remembering to breathe with all the cool stuff going around me.

Pro-tip: Go for two days, one night. It gives you more time to snorkel and dive, in more places. And if you go with Reef Encounter(who are awesome, beaty dubs). You can do a night dive, even with no prior diving experience, although I was too chicken to do so.

Like an alien world down there.

I like turtles.

Not the night dive (too dark for photos), just other sharks we were swimming with.

- Afterwards, we headed up to Port Douglas to just relax and sleep on the beach. Not much swimming in Queensland this time of year, unless you like getting stung by Box Jellyfish (the deadliest creature on Earth). Port Douglas (or Port Doo-Glass) is even smaller than Cairns. I'm not a big fan.

Port Doo-Glass

Wallabies just chilling in a field by the road. Plotting their violent overthrow of the human race.

So, that's one more place crossed off my list of To Do's in Australia. Next up are Kakadu and Uluru. Who's coming with me?

News About My Future Wife

I told you it wouldn't last.

Yes!

New Year's Goal, 2011 Edition

I normally don't make New Year's resolutions. I find them too abstract to follow through on, as in, if I make a resolution for an entire year, how do I find the motivation to start? I prefer my actions to be focused on right now; what can I do right now to get to where I want to be? More like a purpose for doing something, anything.

However, while talking to my two favorite World Travelers this past New Year's Eve in Cairns (post and pics forthcoming), I got suckered into making a "goal" for 2011. What is something each of us would do that would be an accomplishment and something to hang our hat on forever? It was encouraged to be as outlandish as possible, nothing routine or everyday.

After hearing some really good ideas for what my friends were planning to do, I just pulled something completely out of the blue (READ: my ass). It's been something I have dabbled in previously, but to my previous point of never following through on anything, I decided this would be the year I did something about it.

My goal for 2011: play the bass in a band, in some kind of official performance, somewhere. A gig, if you will. Should be interesting as I haven't touched my guitar in six months.

Updates on this to come.