Ginger Fried Rice (Spice Market-like)

One of my favorite restaurant in NYC is the Spice Market. (Click here for the Spice Market website)
This is one of the restaurants which is owned by the famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. He is a french chef but this restaurant features South Asian flavors. I also love the interior of the restaurant. 

I love everything I tried here but one of my favorite is their "Ginger Fried Rice". Very simple dish but the best fried rice I ever had. If you are interested in how it looks, click here for the photo I took when I went to the restaurant. 

So the other day, I tried to make this my favorite ginger fried rice at home. A while back, I bought this book from Jean Georges Vongerichten just because I wanted to have the recipe for this ginger fried rice. I actually never made this so this was the first time using this book. 

I also added some lemon glass since I had them in my fridge. This is how it came out. 

Was my ginger fired rice as good as Jean-Georges?? Well, not really. It was not bad but it was not the same. I guess he is famous for a good reason. It is definitely better at the restaurant. You know, sometimes you eat something at a restaurant and think "Well, I think I can make this better." This dish is definitely not one of those dishes. 

You have to go there to enjoy this wonderful dish. If you ever have a chance to go to NYC, I recommend going to the Spice Market and trying this Ginger Fried Rice! 

The Spice Market is close to Chelsea Market which is another place I like in Manhattan. They have many different food stores and you can have a wonderful brownie from Fat Witch Bakery! 

So after I had my ginger fried rice, I crave the Spice Market's ginger fried rice even more!!!! 

Cherry Tomato and Mini Zucchini Pasta

This is a super easy and yummy pasta which my mother-in-law makes for us. Since we love it so much, I started to make this one quite often also.

This is quick and easy and vegetarian. Perfect summer pasta when tomato and zucchini are at its peak!!

Normally, I use red cherry tomato and regular zucchini but this time I had yellow cherry tomato and mini zucchini so I used those.

Here is how I made it.

Cherry Tomato and Zucchini Pasta

Ingredients:
Spaghetti     about 1lb
Cherry Tomato  about 20
Mini Zucchini   about 6
Garlic                 3 cloves
salt and pepper   for taste
red chili pepper    (optional)
Freshly Grated Parmesan cheese  for taste
Olive Oil      about 3 table spoons

1. First cut the tomatoes into hald and zucchini into a bite size pieces. Chop garlic.

2. Start boiling pasta in salt water.

3. In frying pan, add olive oil and heat up. Add zucchini and saute.

4. When zucchini start to get some color, add tomatoes.

5. When tomatoes started to get soft, add some salt and pepper.

6. Then add garlic. (Don't let the garlic burn)

7. At this point, your pasta should be ready to drain. Drain and add pasta to the pan and mix well. If needed, add some pasta water or olive oil.

8. plate pasta and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I love this pasta. Hope you like it too!!

Trip to Japan

Sorry I haven't updated my blog for a while. I was in SF area for about a week and then in Japan for about 6 weeks.

It was great to see many of my friends in California. Two of my friends who now live in Europe are back in California for vacation while I was there so I was lucky to see them also.

And, Japan was fantastic. I really enjoyed spending time with my family and friends. My parents and my sister enjoyed having us, especially my son.

He is learning a lot and while he was in Japan, he learned a lot of Japanese. He only speaks Japanese now.

I enjoyed food in Japan and my mom cooked for me every day. My parents looked after my son everyday and I was very spoiled. Now, I am back to my normal life. I have to say good bye to my spoiled life. I really enjoyed it. My parents really enjoyed having their grandson with them everyday.

I admire their patience and willing to play with him everyday, all day and actually enjoying it. It made me happy to see them happy. My son made them laugh so much everyday. They told me that the house is empty and quiet and they are sad after we left.

I am glad that I was able to stay there for a while. It went by so fast and I was really sad to leave but I appreciate my husband for letting me go there for such a long time with my son.

Everybody is happy and I am very happy.

Now, I have to get back to my normal life. I am looking forward to cooking again!