Weekend Shenanigans

In anticipation of a visitor next weekend (yay!) we exercised some restraint and only ate out once this weekend, spending a grand total of $17. But that doesn't mean we didn't eat well or have fun!

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon in a Zipcar with my friend C, grocery shopping at our favorite spots outside of SF and then coming home and making a lemon cake with the most incredible fresh lemon juice frosting imaginable. C made the sprinkles heart in an early nod to Valentine's Day. The cake was not all that I had hoped it would be, but the frosting was divine.

Sunday, J and I made a pot of stewed everything. It's a standard Chinese way to cook a lot of meat, tofu, and vegetables. Everything is slow cooked, pulled out of the sauce, cooled down, and sliced up and served with cilantro and green onions. A jumping point for the braise base is as follows, though there are as many variations as there are Chinese people. I myself don't ever follow this exactly.

• 1 knob ginger, sliced
• 1 tablespoon star anise
• 3 heaping tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder, or 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 cup rice wine
• 3 cups water

Bring al ingredients to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook tough meats first: a beef shank, tripe, etc. They'll need to cook for at least two hours, until you can easily pierce them all the way through with a chopstick. Pull them out of the liquid and set aside to cool. Using the same liquid, cook hard tofu or pressed tofu, large chunks of carrots or daikon, hard boiled eggs, large knots of seaweed, "tofu wheels" if you can find them, or whatever else you think will taste good in a soy sauce base. Drain when well cooked, and serve with a little of the sauce.