Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, an annual event celebrated by many East Asians which is based on a beautiful story:

(From Wikipedia) Houyi was an immortal, while Chang’e was a beautiful young girl, working in the Jade Emperor’s Palace as the attendant to the Queen Mother of the West (wife of the Jade Emperor), just before her marriage. One day, Houyi aroused the jealousy of the other immortals, who then slandered him before the Jade Emperor. Houyi and his wife, Chang’e, were subsequently banished from heaven, and forced to live by hunting on earth. He became a famous archer.

Now at this time, there were 10 suns, in the form of Three-legged birds, residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea; each day one of the sun birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe the ‘mother’ of the suns. One day, all 10 of the suns circled together, causing the earth to burn. Emperor Yao, the Emperor of China, commanded Houyi to shoot down all but one of the suns. Upon the completion of his task, the Emperor rewarded Houyi with a pill that granted eternal life, and advised him: “Make no haste to swallow this pill; first prepare yourself with prayer and fasting for a year”. Houyi took the pill home and hid it under a rafter, while he began healing his spirit. While Houyi was healing his spirit, Houyi was summoned again by the emperor. Chang’e, noticing a white beam of light beckoning from the rafters, discovered the pill, which she swallowed. Immediately, she found that she could fly. At that moment, Houyi returned home, and, realizing what had happened, began to reprimand her. Chang’e flew out the window into the sky.

With a bow in hand, Houyi sped after her, and the pursuit continued halfway across the heavens. Finally, Houyi had to return to the Earth because of the force of the wind. Chang’e reached the moon, and breathless, she coughed. Part of the pill fell out from her mouth. Now, the hare was already on the moon, and Chang’e commanded the animal to make another pill from it, so that she could return to earth to her husband.

As of today, the hare is still pounding herbs, trying to make the pill. As for Houyi, he built himself a palace in the sun as “Yang” (the male principle), with Chang’e as “Yin” (the female principle). Once a year, on the 15th day of the full moon, Houyi visits his wife. That is why, that night, the moon is full and beautiful.

The consequences of the festival is that many people eat mooncakes around this time, which Morgan and I gladly took part in - the intricately decorated cakes are DELICIOUS.

Mooncake

Morgan also made sushi and soba noodles today, which can be seen in the following set of pictures:

Crunchy dragon roll

A plate of sushi

Soba noodles

Over the past year or so, Morgan and I have accumulated a considerable collection of liquor, ranging from college party staples - vodka, rum, and tequila - to lesser-known liqueurs such as Chambord, Frangelico, and Midori. Along with attaining such a collection, we have honed our mixological skills as well, up to the point where we (Morgan at least) can mix common concoctions and invent unique yet delicious combinations of spirits with the same ease.

Liquor collection (click to enlarge)

This is the first post in the new Cocktails category, and in the future I will be posting some of the more delicious cocktails we have made - recipes, tastes, and reactions.

Here is a summary of our collection, arranged by shelf in the above image:

Top shelf (too high to reach, and as a result the lesser-used bottles): Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin, Smirnoff Green Apple Vodka, two empty bottles of wine

Middle shelf (our favorites): Porfidio Single-Cane Rum, Belvedere Citron Vodka, X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, Hpnotiq Liqueur, Midori Melon Liqueur, Effen Black Cherry/Vanilla Vodka, Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur, Chambord Liqueur Royale de France, Patron XO Coffee Liqueur

Bottom shelf (mixers, creams): DeKuyper’s Peachtree Schnapps, DeKuyper’s Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps, Malibu Mango Caribbean Rum, DeKuyper’s Triple Sec, Sauza Hornitos Tequila, DeKuyper’s Blue Curacao, a bunch of shot glasses, Amarula Fruit Cream, Courvoisier Cognac, Kahlua Coffee Liqueur, E&J VSOP Brandy, three bottles of wine

Not shown: 1.75 L bottle of Grey Goose Vodka - it is too big to fit on any shelf.

Stay tuned for updates!

There comes a time in one’s culinary growth when normal cooking tools just don’t cut it - when one has become so proficient at slicing, chopping and filleting that one needs something beyond regular stainless steel, Bed, Bath and Beyond or Walmart quality knives.

Although I definitely do not fit the above description at this point, Morgan might - and with our newfound lack of culinary instruments this year, I’ve purchased over the last couple months two amazing knives that have made cooking fun even for an ingredient-illiterate, wannabe chef like myself.

Shun knives

The knives are made by Shun Cutlery, a division of KAI Group, the same Japanese company that owns Kershaw Knives, Inc., who makes the majority of knives used by the US Military. The Japanese are known for the delicate slicing required for making such detail-heavy foods like sushi, and it is to no surprise then that they would create cutting instruments able to perform that task. Each Shun blade is forged in Seki City, Japan (a region once renowned for its samurai swords) from high carbon VG-10 Japanese steel, which can be polished to a razor sharp edge while being hard enough to keep the edge for a long time. Each side of the blade is then coated with 16 additional layers of VG-10, giving it a beautiful Damascus look and making it impervious to rust and the environment.

The arguably most important knife in any collection is the unspecialized blade used for general slicing, dicing and chopping - the chef’s knife. Featuring a long blade with a curved cutting edge, it can slice in a smooth pulling motion and chop by rocking back and forth on the cutting board. This was our only Shun knife for a period of about five months, and it has definitely served its purpose fantastically. Out of the box, the factory edge was razor sharp - I remember accidentally slicing off a fingernail while trying to use it the first time, feeling no resistance whatsoever and only realizing the fact when I began bleeding all over the cutting board. We have used the knife to cut both meat and vegetables, and it has exceeded our expectations in both.

However, one area in which the chef’s knife fell short was its smaller blade area - oftentimes while cooking, especially in Chinese cooking, it is useful to be able to chop or slice up some ingredient, and then carry it on top of the knife blade to the pan or wok. The Chinese cleaver, similar in look but having more functionality than the standard butcher’s cleaver, is especially suited for that purpose, and as a result has become as much a staple in Chinese cooking as rice. It is not uncommon to see Chinese families owning more than one of them, segregating them into the tasks of cutting raw meat or cutting vegetables. I purchased the 7 3/4″ Chinese cleaver from Shun in late August of this year, and thus far I have been amazed at how well it was constructed and how well it has performed. It is significantly heavier than the Shun chef’s knife, but maneuvering it in the air is almost effortless due to its perfect balance. Furthermore, its weight allows it to naturally slice straight through even the smallest foods, creating near-perfect cuts that would be hard to achieve even with the chef’s knife.

Shun knives

It is absolutely true that all knives are not created equal, and Shun has thus far proven its reputation as the best of the best. From their painstaking construction to their beautiful presentation, these knives are a tremendous addition to any chef’s arsenal, and it is my distinct pleasure that I have two of my own.

I had never eaten Phở until recently, but upon having it at a Vietnamese restaurant about two weeks ago I was hooked. In simple terms, it is a rice noodle soup, flavored with a unique combination of spices, green onion, cilantro, basil, and lime - an odd mixture at first glance, but unbelievably delicious once you actually try it.

Per recommendation by a Vietnamese woman we met at Far East, an Asian grocery store on campus, Morgan made her own version of Phở tonight - definitely as good as I remembered!

Phở

On our way back home today we stopped at World Harvest, an international foods store on 6th and University. Upon walking into the store, it felt like any other smaller grocery - aisles arranged in neat rows, stuffed full of oil, vinegar, tea, and much more. Only pausing briefly to glance at the olive oil, we headed towards the the center of the store, to our target: glass display cases full of cheese, made from everything from regular milk to sheep milk, and originating from France, Italy, Holland and all over the world. We tried several different types of cow, goat, and sheep milk cheese, and ended up buying three: Benning mild goat gouda from Holland, cave aged Gruyere from Switzerland, and an 18-month aged gouda (Old Amsterdam) from Holland.

Upon arriving home we set up a makeshift wine and cheese tasting, taking out three bottles of wine and our three pieces of cheese:

Three types of wine

Three types of cheese

Here’s my tasting notes for each wine:

• Williamette Valley Pinot Gris 2006 (W&S 93, WE 90): Fruity, medium body white wine with just a tiny bit of sweetness. We had this several days ago with salmon which was absolutely delicious. Although I prefer sweeter white wines (Riesling, Muscat) I am definitely buying more of this in the future.
• Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Riserva 2004 (WS 91): Fruity, slightly sweet, full bodied wine, smooth and crisp in taste with a long, delicious finish.
• Monte Antico Rosso 2004: Drier and more acidic than the Chianti, slightly fruity. Medium body. Started out tasting just okay, but it grows on you.

And for each type of cheese:

• Benning mild goat gouda: Has a very strong goat milk taste, which I don’t like very much but Morgan loves. Goes very well with the Chianti.
• Cave aged Gruyere: Its subtle yet complex taste is not overpowering, but you can tell it’s there. A review I found online says it best: “This cheese is like that boy your mother wants you to marry—safe, reliable, a little bit predictable. You know it’s always going to treat you right. You hold the idea of it in reserve like an extra ace tucked away. when you’ve been burned by flashier, sexier, more exciting cheeses—what a good idea brescianella seemed like at the time!—cave-aged Gruyere is there to pick you up the morning after. It doesn’t ask questions, doesn’t press its agenda, it’s just there, solid and dependable. It knows the tortoise always wins the race in the end.”
• Old Amsterdam aged gouda: Slightly salty and dry, with a distinct and strong gouda taste. My favorite out of the three.

Dinner on September 1st was a spicy linguine (made by Morgan) featuring several different types of seafood (mussels, clams, squid, and shrimp) in a fra diavolo sauce. We paired it with the 2004 Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Reserva, a full-bodied, fruity red wine with a long, smooth finish.

Seafood Linguine Fra Diavolo

2004 Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Reserva

It has been quite some time since I last featured a consistently updated journal on this site, but with the start of a new chapter of my life I feel that for the sake of self-reflection, I should start putting my thoughts and experiences in words. I hope that this journal will help bring an additional clarity to my life, allowing me to trace my steps towards a more concrete set of mental and physical goals.

At this point, I am working towards my Master’s Degree in Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Under the advisorship of Professor Rohit Bhargava, I am investigating the possible application of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to image, analyze, and quantify human skin. I will finish my MS by May 2009, after which I hope to matriculate at a prestigious MD or combined MD/PhD program, working towards a career as a practicing physician or a physician-scientist. I am as of yet undecided which path I want to take - my experiences working in healthcare in rural Tanzania have shown me the truly rewarding side of medicine, whereas my research background both at the University of Illinois and at Harvard Medical School have drawn me into the intellectually stimulating, exciting world of scientific research.

Beyond academics, I am currently involved with two jobs, both of which are teaching positions. I have been teaching high school competition math (usually AIME and USAMO) for Sabio Academy, a tutoring center headquartered in Glenview, IL, for three years. This past year I also began teaching the MCAT for ExamKrackers, a test prep company that specializes in medical school and law school admissions, in contrast to the giants Kaplan and Princeton Review which cover a much greater variety of disciplines.

Specifically, this journal will cover four major categories, as described below:

1. Career. I will post periodic updates on both my successes and failures as I venture through my aforementioned career path in medicine.
2. Bodybuilding. I have been weightlifting in bursts for the past several years, but I have never done so consistently enough to be able to track my progress over a long period of time. This school year, I hope to set and reach goals for both muscular strength and body fat percentage, and I will be keeping a workout and nutrition log to help me track my progress towards these goals.
3. Design. This website has been in existence in one form or another for over nine years, a product of my interest in programming and graphics design which has lasted at least that long. Although most of my web design work has recently been lower on my priority list, I am still working on a handful of projects, which upon completion will be posted here.
4. Sustenance. I have always been a fan of good food, and recently I have discovered my love of wine. Accordingly, I have decided to keep notes for myself about restaurants I have been to, exceptionally delicious meals I have eaten and notable wine I have tried.

From this point onwards, I hope to find the time to update this journal regularly, even if it is just a few minutes per day. I believe that continually writing about my life will help me understand both my triumphs and defeats, and with the help and support of my friends and family I am confident that eventually, I can change into a better, more capable person than I am now.

Here’s to a great year.