Visiting the equator line at Intinan Museum in Quito, and a sumptious modern Ecuadorian meal at Somos

Today was our last full day in Quito before heading southwest to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, and our last stop on this trip before heading home. We got to have a bit of science education at the Museo de Sitio Intinan, which is actually situated almost exactly where the equator line is. Our admission included an interactive tour led in English by a guide. He discussed local indigenous cultures and old traditions (that are definitely not continuing on given how brutal they are…), explained the Coriolis Effect and how it influences everything that moves on the face of the earth, and also challenged us to a few activities, including balancing an egg (only a few people succeeded), keeping our feet straight on a single line with our eyes closed (here, we all failed. I tried to be as steady as I could, but alas, the earth’s rotation of course got to me, and I was even MORE off than I thought I’d be when I opened my eyes…), and tests of force on our arms. These all served as reminders to us that even when we think we are still, we are never, ever still: we live on a planet where we are constantly rotating.

We continued on after the visit to the equator line and enjoyed some local coffee, followed by a sumptuous lunch at the modern Ecuadorian restaurant Somos. It was so fancy that it even had a kids’ menu with very local touches, such as pasta with manaba cheese, a pizza option containing yucca sourdough, and a fruity, herby lemonade infused with local indigenous herbs. Kaia had the pasta deconstructed, and she ate all of the pasta, chicken, and sauce. She refused the cheese, though; she really does not seem interested in any cheese unless it’s stuck on a relatively plain pizza…

We started our meal with a complimentary tasting of canelazo, a panela (unrefined local cane sugar) drink that had multiple layers of flavor, including sweet, floral, and a bit of tart. I had the Amazonica beer, made with cassava, passion fruit, chonta fruit, and guayusa, while Chris had the Somos beer, a bitter style beer based on cacao husks. We had the lunch special options, which started with the corviche (green plantain and sal prietra patties filled with smoked Amazonian fish, served with slaw), and the ceviche tropical mestizo (local taxo fruit sauce with fish, cucumber, avocado, melon, served with green plantains. Our main courses were the raices del Amazonas, which was cassava puree, fried cassava, paiche fish battered in cassava flakes, chonta sango sauce, chili compote, and oregano oil; plus the chorizo ambateno — bean puree, pork belly, chistorra, avocado, tomato sauce, encurtido, potato, and egg. We ended with a banana cake served with a panela and coffee syrup, coffee butter, caramelized coffee, and banana and cacao nibs ice cream. They also gave us a last complimentary taste: three little freshly made brownie-style chocolates, which tasted particularly floraly like a lot of chocolate we’ve had in Peru and Ecuador thus far. Both starters were very fresh with lots of new flavors we were unfamiliar with. The paiche fish was definitely the highlight of the mains. And the banana cake was so unique — I doubt we’d ever have banana cake or bread served like that anywhere in the U.S. It tasted truly special and seemed very much a “modern Ecuadorian” fusion of flavors.

Somos itself was a beautiful restaurant with lots of natural light, plants, and murals inside, but what really tickled me were the bathroom signs. The women’s bathroom has a papaya hand painted on the door; the men’s bathroom door has a half-peeled banana. The papaya made me chuckle out loud.

The biodiversity of Ecuador is extremely high, and it was definitely on display here at Somos. This meal was definitely a highlight of our trip so far and how many other delicious plants (and animals!) we can eat in the world that we are not normally exposed to in the U.S. (or really, anywhere in the west).

Biodiversity of Ecuador

To be blunt, Ecuador is not considered one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. It’s unlikely in your top 20 or top 30. But after just a day and a half here, it kind of feels like by waiting this long to visit Ecuador that the joke is really on me. When most western tourists think of Ecuadorian tourism, they probably think of the Galapagos Islands. They’ll likely fly in and out of Guayaquil, the gateway to the Galapagos, do their swimming with the sea turtles, and then immediately leave. But outside of the Galapagos, Ecuador is renowned for its exceptional biodiversity, with a vast number of ecosystems, microclimates, and a ridiculously high number of endemic species. And it’s all due to its geographical location given that it’s right on the equator line, is on the ocean, and also includes parts of the Andean mountains and the Amazon rainforest. When I did a quick search for day trips outside of Quito ahead of this trip, I was astonished when I saw the number of results that came up for day trips, overnight, multi-day, and trips that would require a flight that spanned national parks, waterfalls, endless volcanos, cloud forests, the Amazon rainforest, and dry forest tours. I was completely mind-boggled and overwhelmed with the options, similar to day trips outside of Cusco. Except here, instead of thinking of which archaeological sites to visit, I was thinking about what natural wonder I wanted to prioritize visiting.

This morning, we headed up to take the teleferiqo cable car ride where surprisingly, it wasn’t just a a single viewing point we were taken to. We actually had multiple points where we could veer off and do our own hiking. I did not come prepared for that, as I wore nine-year-old flats that are near the end of their life. But the terrain was far more rugged than I imagined. Kaia yelped and whined many times when she felt it was too steep for her, and she had to coaxed endlessly to walk up and down rocky areas where she (ugh) slid a bit. The views were absolutely stunning: so many different shades of green surrounded us from so high up. We got to see endless mountains, a number of different volcanoes (for which we knew none of the names!), and lots of poofy marshmallow like clouds across the sky. Quito is technically at the equator line, but because we’re so high above sea level, the weather is quite mild here (mid 60s F). So we definitely had to wear more than our summer clothing in New York here.

When we came down, it was time for lunch. So we headed to the Mercado Central for a bowl of encebellado, or a mixed seafood soup, a bandesa plate of grilled fish, plantains, and rice, plus of course, fresh squeezed juice (maracuya). We made the acquaintance of a sweet fruit lady, who sold us a generous cup of husked goosberries, a cherimoya (maybe a third of the size of the ones in Lima!), and a yellow pitaya for just $3.50 USD. And as we walked towards the historic central district, we stumbled upon a tiny store front manned by one woman with a sign for “agua de cana” or “sugar cane juice.” she was running sugar canes through her machine multiple times to extract every last drop of juice. And she was also making other juices, such as jackfruit and orange. We got two cups — one cup of super ripe jackfruit juice blended with fresh cracked coconut juice, and one cup of sugar cane juice with a touch of fresh sour orange, for just $2.50. The sugar cane juice was very different here versus in the U.S., Australia, or Asia (where we primarily enjoy it). In Asia, it’s usually a deep green, almost golden color. Here, the sugar cane juice is much more on the brown side and almost seems caramelly in flavor. Both were a bargain and super refreshing. These tiny moments where we find little gems like this is always what makes our travel days so fun and interesting.

Exploring the Sacred Valley, Peru

Today, we went on a private day trip by car to the Sacred Valley and visited the Inca archaeological sites Pisaq, Moray, and Ollantaytambo, along with the Maras salt mines. Before we reached the Sacred Valley, though, the guide had us stop at a local alpaca and llama farm. While he said that the stop was for Kaia, I was actually also happy to see more local animals a bit more up close and personal. In addition to alpacas and llamas, we also saw alpaca and llama mixes, vicunas, huanacos, and Andean condors (who were rescued). I didn’t realize that alpacas and llamas actually mated, but I suppose this makes sense given that they are all from the camelid family and are mostly just of different sizes.

The four-legged animals were free to roam as they wished, but the Andean condors were in massive, tall cages; I was not expecting to see any birds of prey on this visit, but it is actually the part of this farm visit that surprised me the most. I’d never seen a bird with this large of a wing span in real life before. I’ve seen plenty of ostriches at zoos and even ostrich farms (I suppose ostriches are considered the largest living birds?), but there was really nothing like the experience of seeing an Andean condor up close in real life; I felt a bit spooked and backed up a little as it got close to me, even behind its cage. I could feel myself holding my breath as they moved around and seemed completely fine with us watching them. Andean condors are large birds of prey and feed on large, dead carcasses — the bigger, the better for them. With a wing span that be as wide as 3.3 meters / over 10.5 feet, to say they are massive feels like a bit of an understatement. There were three condors at the farm in the same large cage, and every time they spread their wings (many times!), I could feel myself shiver a little. I would not want to mess with a condor. And while I was freaked out a little by the sheer size of these birds of prey, Pookster was not fazed in the slightest. While she seemed bored of the alpacas and huanacos after a while, she was deeply interested in these large, graceful condors; Pookster wouldn’t take her eyes off them. She kept on trying to get closer and closer to them (as our guide advised that we have her back up because the condors could easily bite her fingers if we weren’t careful). She waved and smiled at them multiple times as though they were her friends. And to make it even cuter, Kaia kept repeating, “Hola!” in a soft, sweet voice to them.

I loved all the Inca sites we visited today, but if I had to pick a favorite (yeah, I know… it’s almost like picking a favorite child when you have multiple…), I’d definitely say it was Pisac. I am not completely sure why. It could be the bias because it was the very first site we visited in the Sacred Valley. But I think it’s mostly because I was so shocked at all well preserved and maintained it was. The complex was estimated to have been built around 1450. Our guide explained that when the Spanish came and conquered the Incas, the Incas had already preemptively abandoned Pisac, and so there was no real reason for the Spanish to obliterate the terraces, residences, guard posts, or religious rooms. Because you know… if people are still living there that you are conquering, you must not only kill them, but also destroy everything they have and reside in!

We asked our guide why there was no one walking around the terraced areas (which were originally built to help with irrigation and prevent flooding). He told us that originally when the sites opened, they allowed tourists to walk around them, but then they quickly realized that visitors were getting mad about other tourists being in their photos, so they ended up blocking off foot access to those areas completely!

In general, if I had to sum up themes across ancient civilizations/societies and the sites that we’ve visited across the world, I’d say they all have these in common:

  1. The killing and annihilation of people who are different than them – the affirmation of human hierarchy and racism/prejudice.
  2. Tax evasion – no one ever wants to pay taxes, and when they do, they want to pay as little as possible.
  3. Support structures for women and children – This is repeated throughout civilizations since the beginning of humankind. Unfortunately, this just isn’t the case for the United States of America, already seeing its decline in my lifetime.

History simply repeats itself when we either don’t take the time to learn it properly, or when we just choose not to understand it.

While at Ollantaytambo, we saw Macchu Picchu in the distance about 40 minutes driving time away. Our guide pointed it out to us. Of course, it would have taken far more than 40 minutes from that site to get there, plus the road conditions were so bumpy and tiring. I took a photo of the view in that direction as the sun started setting. Today as we looked out towards Macchu Picchu, that moment just kind of confirmed that I didn’t really feel like we missed out by not going to see it. Macchu Picchu will always be there if we want to return in the future when Kaia is older… and when we’re older. I love what we had the opportunity to see today in the Sacred Valley. While at Sacsayhuaman yesterday, we ran into a Canadian family of four with two kids, ages 5 and 9. They told us that they weren’t going to Macchu Picchu because they didn’t think their kids could handle it. Instead, they were spending three weeks across Peru — one week in Arequipa, one week in Cusco, and a week on the Peruvian coast. In Cusco, they would do a day trip to hike a different single site each day, and they felt very fulfilled and happy with this decision given their kids’ ages and their overall combined stamina. I think more people should see these other great Inca sites that are lesser hyped up because the beauty and culture behind them are just as rich.

We also got to try guinea pig today at the Peruvian/Inca buffet lunch during our day trip. In Andean cultures, guinea pig is considered a sacred animal, a symbol of good luck and prosperity. It’s considered an everyday food for many people in Ecuador and Peru. But alas, given Cusco gets many tourists, if you want to eat guinea pig, you have to commit to a whole guinea pig, which while it is not a large animal, the price tag is quite high even by Western standards, so it felt like a lot to spend on what would be so little food (guinea pigs are a lot of bone, not much meat). So while the buffet lunch was not an ideal or memorable meal on this trip for us, it was the perfect way to have a few bites of guinea pig to see what it was like. And well, it tasted like what I expected: chicken, or chicken breast to be more accurate given it was quite dry. There was a lot of bone and not much meat. It kind of reminded me of quail, rabbit, or frog: too many bones, cartilage, and work for the reward of itty bitty bits of meat.

Chifa – Peruvian Chinese food, and fusion food in general

The Chinese diaspora is massive. It’s almost as though it’s in the Chinese DNA to travel far and wide in search of greater opportunity and the hope for a better life for the next generation. And when they have traveled, they have influenced local cuisines in the places where they’ve immigrated to. When the Chinese immigrated to the United States, many in search of gold and fortune, they modified their food to suit the tastes of Americans, which typically meant that they added more sugar to their dishes, more fried elements, as well as a greater emphasis on meat. This resulted in dishes that cannot be found in mainland China, foods like crab rangoon (which I’d actually never heard of until I moved to the East Coast in 2004) and orange chicken. In Australia, the Chinese created dim sims, which are a steamed or (more popularly) fried dumpling with a thick, crispy skin, filled with meat and sometimes shredded vegetables. And in Peru, Chinese food became so popular that it even got its own category for the fusion Peruvian Chinese cuisine: “chifa,” which derives from “ni chi fan” or “have you eaten yet?” in the Mandarin Chinese language. I was eager to see what the hype was around chifa, and on our first full day in Lima, we popped into a Chinese restaurant in Lima Chinatown to try some of this out.

Dishes that are typically recommended when trying out chifa are arroz chaufa, or Chinese fried rice with a Peruvian twist of aji amarillo paste for subtle heat; lomo saltado, or stir fried beef, onions, and tomatoes, usually served with rice; tallarin saltado, or stir-fried noodles with a mix of protein and vegetables, with a similar chili sauce added. I was warned by several travel blogs that even the smallest sizes for chifa dishes can be massive, so I should order the smallest servings to prevent too much waste. I got two dishes: the house special arroz chaufa, and the pork/vegetable stir fried tallarin. And what ended up being a little funny was that the fried rice was exactly like a really good pork/seafood fried rice would be like in New York or anywhere else in the world. It had a really strong and delicious wok hei flavor, ample pork and shrimp, lots of egg and scallions and minced vegetables. But for us, there was no distinctive Peruvian flair to it. I didn’t detect any subtle heat or aji seasoning. It was tasty, but it didn’t seem like fusion to us. Then, there were the stir fried noodles I ordered, which were tasty, but again, they didn’t have anything that made them distinctively Peruvian Chinese. The pork and vegetables were cut up fatter and larger, but that was about it. Chris said he liked the food (but was sad at the amount we couldn’t finish given the portions could have easily fed a party double or even triple our size!), but he said he felt the meal was “wasted” because we didn’t taste or discover anything particularly new or really defining “chifa” here. I did exactly what I read to do — I looked for specific dish names and ordered accordingly. But alas, I wasn’t able to get the “chifa” flavor I was seeking. At least the slightly westernized Chinese food we did end up having was tasty, though lacking in Peruvian flavors as I’d hoped.

The next fusion food I was hoping to try while in Peru was Nikkei, or Peruvian Japanese food. Unfortunately, I felt a little disappointed once again. We tried a place that was recommended from a few lists I had combed through. I ordered several Japanese rolls from a list of mostly deep fried shrimp rolls. The sauces topping the rolls were like spicy mayo / avocado based sauces. But what I didn’t like was the use of cream cheese in one or two of the rolls. I just felt like that was overpowering the seafood and the overall flavor of the rolls, and it added a heaviness that I do not normally associate with nigiri/Japanese rolls. I get why cream cheese in rolls are popular, but I was over Philadelphia rolls (salmon and cream cheese rolls) back when I was a teen.

All cuisines are evolving. It’s hard to say that one dish is more “authentic” than another because cuisines evolve with time, changing tastes, immigration, and its people. But I’ve discovered that with any Japanese food, too much added fried or “crispy” stuff or cream cheese just detracts from the overall delicateness of the cuisine for me. I’m still open and willing to try any fusion cuisine; to date, my absolute favorite is most definitely Indian-Chinese, a la my favorite restaurant Tangra Masala!), but I guess these are versions that aren’t my favorite here.

Cherimoya / custard apple = one of my favorite fruits on earth, plus the best fish stew at Surquillo No. 1 Market

I was a teen when I had my first taste of a cherimoya. I was with my parents at a Vietnamese market in San Jose, and my mom found a good deal on some cherimoyas and got a couple. Cherimoyas are usually ridiculously expensive when you are able to find them ($15-25/lb, anyone?); they are really only at ethnic grocery stores during very specific seasons of the year. My mom cut it open for us and instructed us to remove the outer green skin and to eat the white flesh, spitting out the large black seeds inside. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was eating, but I knew I was in heaven at the very first bite. Cherimoya is commonly referred to as a custard apple in English, and the name is very apt, as the texture, when ripe, truly is like a rich, fruity, almost velvety custard. The taste is hard to describe, but it’s a very tropical flavor. It’s very similar to a mix of very sweet pineapple, papaya, kiwi, and strawberry. That’s a lot of different fruit to compare it to, but that’s because the flavor is extremely sweet and very complex!

So I got my ~$2 USD cherimoya that was about 3 pounds yesterday. We ate it this morning at breakfast, and Chris got so overwhelmed by how much fruit there was and felt so full after we ate it; I have no idea what he was referring to, though. I could have eaten the cherimoya all day long and been totally fine! Today, we went to Surquillo No. 1 and 2 Market, where en route, I picked up another large cherimoya for a tiny bit more money, plus a local Edward mango, a fresh lucuma, and some maracuya/passion fruit. I’ll be the fresh fruit lady at our hotel breakfast tomorrow morning, but I have no shame and instead, will proudly carry my market-purchased, freshly washed fruit onto the breakfast floor!

While I shopped for fruit, Chris took a look at the prepared food stalls and what the locals were eating. We were likely the only tourists in the market that morning and got a lot of friendly smiles. He got us a bowl of chupe de pescado for just a couple bucks after watching all these other people come and go, happily slurping their soups from this one teeny tiny little stall. “Chupe de pescado” literally means “fish stew.” It was quite a wonder to watch the little woman behind the counter prepare it, as the stock pots seemed to almost tower over her! She had a huge stock pot with just fish stock, and another large pot with all the actual fish meat, eggs, and other seasonings. For each bowl, she strained the stock of the fish bones, then added all the accompaniments to the chupe.

I am not sure what kind of fish was in that stew. I don’t know what else was in that thick soup other than shredded and cut up fish, eggs, and some herbs. But I do know that that was likely one of the very best and richest fish soups I’ve ever had the privilege of eating. The deep yellow soup looked like it was just full of fish collagen! The stalls that only sell one or two things are always my favorite places to eat at markets when we travel. If they can make a living just serving one or two things, those one or two things must be darn good. And this was!

Lima, people who “avoid” cities, cherimoya, and lucuma fruit

We’re spending the first few days of our South America trip in Lima. As we wandered through the city and explored the main square, Chinatown (Peru has a large Chinese population that has given birth to “chifa” or Peruvian Chinese food), and Pueblo Libre, I thought about all the people I’ve met over the years, mostly colleagues, customers, and friends of friends, who have explicitly stated that they “avoid cities” when traveling. Some of them have even said they “avoid cities like the plague” and “cannot stand them” when on vacation. All of them live in suburbs or rural areas; none live in major cities. I wonder, though, when this actually became acceptable to say? To me, when I hear someone say something like this, what I actually hear them saying is, “I avoid places where there is culture and diversity. I dislike places where I can discover new things and challenge assumptions I had about the world.” Because if you actually said those last two sentences in any setting, whether it’s at work, amongst friends/family, or even to total strangers on the street, you’d appear to be an ignorant asshole who is scared of anything you are unfamiliar with. But I generally think: meh. It’s their loss that they don’t even realize is a loss, not mine, and not my problem or my bone to pick.

I’ll be honest: Lima, Peru, is not on my list of “beautiful cities.” It has fancy and wealthy neighborhoods, working class neighborhoods, areas with lots of grittiness and grime. The traffic here is absolutely horrendous with cars running red lights here and there and endless close calls with cars almost hitting pedestrians. Lane lines? What for? Just drive where you want! And from everything I’ve read, the public transit system is an inefficient nightmare. But Lima is brimming with culture, with lots of different (and indigenous) languages spoken, historic squares and streets. I was excited when I found out it was cherimoya season in Peru, and I snagged a massive, nearly 3-lb cherimoya for just over $2 USD from a friendly street vendor, whose cart was almost overflowing with heaps of fat green custard apples. He gave us samples and even gave Kaia extra samples when he saw she enjoyed the fruit. At Antigua Taberna Queirolo, one of the oldest bars and restaurants in Lima, having been around since 1880, we got to try our first pisco sours of our Peru trip (classic and maracuya/passion fruit, both excellent), plus a half/half mix of arroz con leche (rice pudding) and mazzamora morada (Peruvian purple corn pudding flavored with warm spices, pineapple, and apple). And in the evening in Pueblo Libre, we stumbled upon a little family-owned cafe/bakery where they made chocolate lucuma cake and introduced us to lucuma blended into a smoothie with milk. Lucuma is a new fruit for us. It’s native to the Andean valleys, specifically around Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia, and is known as the “gold of the Incas.” Lucuma is round and green on the outside, and deep orange/golden yellow on the inside with an interesting starchy flesh almost like a sweet potato. The flavor is very interesting: it’s almost like a cross between a papaya, fig, and sweet potato. It goes perfectly blended with milk, and it’s a very popular fruit drink combination in Peru.

When traveling, I love visiting other cities. I love being able to see the countryside and rural areas. I love the mountains and the ocean. I love it all. But what I love most is discovering new things and new flavors (why would I travel to see the same stuff I see every day where I live?!). Lucuma wasn’t on my mental list of things to try here, but I really loved it, especially blended with milk. I will most definitely remember this fruit in the future and how unique it is.

Shaxian Snacks – Fuzhou food

Manhattan Chinatown is known for two large groups of ethnic Chinese people: the Fujianese (specifically those from Fuzhou, a city with many surrounding villages in Fujian province, and the Cantonese (my Chinese people). So many Fujianese immigrants came in the 1980s and 1990s to New York and created little communities around East Broadway in Manhattan Chinatown, as well as in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The area between Two Bridges in Manhattan Chinatown and Lower East Side is even considered “Little Fuzhou.”

Embarrassingly enough, even though I’ve been in New York City for over 17 years now, I haven’t really explored Little Fuzhou or Fuzhou cuisine very much. While I’ve eaten plenty of their dumplings and peanut/sesame noodles, I wasn’t sure what else to expect from their cuisine. But once Kaia started going to school in Manhattan Chinatown, I figured this was my opportunity to check out the Fuzhounese holes-in-the-wall in the ‘hood. One spot that stood out to me is called Shaxian Snacks on Grand.

Today, I ordered one of their lunch sets advertised on their menu. This consisted of a bowl of steaming hot, almost milky soup with a large handful of Shaxian bian rou, also known as Fuzhou style wontons. These are not the same at all in appearance, taste, or texture as the more famous Cantonese/Hong Kong style wontons. These are small, about bite or even half-bite-sized, and are really springy and bouncy in texture. The wonton skins are very slippery and almost translucent. I think there was just very bouncy pork inside. The soup was well flavored — it was most definitely made with pork bones and well seasoned, almost comforting in taste.

The second part of the lunch set was peanut sauce noodles, the Fuzhou way. These were also very slippery noodles, rice based, with a savory and slightly sweet sauce. The entire dish seemed so simple and humble but was really taken up a notch with the preserved, pickled minced vegetables that were sprinkled on top. Originally when I ordered it, I wondered if it would be too much food. But when I finished (all of it!), I realized that it was just enough and kept me feeling quite satisfied without feeling stuffed. And unbelievably, this was their special “combo meal” set, so it cost just $6.99, which is crazy and almost unbelievable given how much food I got, the high quality and really friendly service, plus the fact that we’re living in a high inflation period where most places are giving you less for more money!

Sichuan style cabbage, elevated with premium ingredients

Ever since I splurged on a number of premium Sichuanese Chinese ingredients on Mala Market, I’ve never looked back. Every single ingredient I’ve purchased that I’ve either tested or used in cooking has been really exceptional and quite worth the relatively higher price I paid for the items. This week, I’ve been busy clearing out the fridge in preparation for our two weeks away in South America. I picked up a small head of Napa cabbage and used half of it for my lion’s head meatball braise, but I still had another half head to use up. So, I decided to prepare the cabbage Sichuanese stir-fry style with lots of garlic, Baoning Sichuanese black vinegar, Zhongba soy sauce, and toasted Mala Market Sichuan red peppercorns. And I’ll be honest: while the Chinese historically have loved cabbage and consider it one of the best vegetables on earth, I…. think it’s just fine. It’s a good vegetable, but it’s not in my top five or even ten. Whenever I have the choice of pork and chive vs. pork and cabbage dumplings, 10 times out of 10, I will always choose pork and chive. But when the cabbage is prepared like this with these premium ingredients, this vegetable almost becomes good enough to be a standalone dish on its own. After I tasted a few bites of it after cooking it, I could totally imagine myself eating just this cabbage stir-fry with some rice. It was that good. Chris, who is not usually a cabbage fan and eats it begrudgingly at the beginning of his meal to get to the “better” foods, even admitted it was “very good.”

True passion in local desserts in Ditmars / Astoria

I half joke with a food-obsessed friend that if it weren’t for Kaia’s existence, most of my time outside of work would be spent thinking about what to eat, where to eat, and what I want to cook to eat next. This is not necessarily a total exaggeration: if you take a look at my Google Maps bookmarks lists, you can see that as of today, I have 672 bookmarked places I have either eaten at and enjoyed or would like to eat at (and have not been to) just in New York City across all five boroughs; some of that list is sprinkled with random independent bookstores, boutique shops, and houseware stores, but the vast majority is food. It seems like almost every day, I am adding yet another place I want to try to my list, whether it’s being recommended from someone on Instagram, Eater, The Infatuation, The New York Times, or a friend. Chris and I have a shared Melbourne, Australia, list of 299+ places. I also have created Google Maps lists for places we have visited (like Rhode Island or Guatemala) and will visit (Lima and Cusco, Peru). Each of those lists has at least 40 places bookmarked. No, we’re not planning to eat at 40-plus places in the several days we’ll be in each place. But hey, it’s good to have options depending on where exactly you are and what you are in the mood to eat.

Pastries by Anne is a dessert spot in Ditmars that I’ve had on my list for a while. It is owned by a Thai female chef who was educated at the Institute of Culinary Education and externed at Daniel. The main draw for me to come here was the Asian-flavored caneles. Anne has standard caneles available every day of the week, but on weekends, she chooses one special Asian-inspired flavor and adds it to her line-up of sweets. On the weekend we came, she had Assam (tea), and of course, I got one of these plus a standard one. She was actually at the counter, so we made some small talk. I asked if she had any other recommendations, and she steered me toward the pandan tiramisu, so I added that to my goodies and went on my merry way.

The Assam and regular caneles were insanely delicious, even when we had them about two days later. The texture and flavor were incredible; they were likely the best caneles I’ve had in New York City. the insides were custardy, almost spongy, caramel-like. The Assam tea flavor really sang! The only other caneles I’ve had that truly blew my mind were the ones we had in Bordeaux, France, the birthplace of the delicious canele, back in 2015, so it’s been a while since I really, truly was obsessed with a canele.

Unfortunately, I think I left the pandan tiramisu for too long. By the time I ate it later in the week, the mascarpone had already soured. This masked the pandan flavor completely, which was lost in the sourness. I was already messaging with Anne about how much I loved the caneles. She remembered me and checked in to see how I liked the pandan tiramisu. I was honest with her and told her it tasted sour, so I think something went wrong; maybe we didn’t keep it at the right temperature or eat it in time? Anne clearly felt bad; she apologized and said that anytime I could come out to Ditmars again, she’d remember me and give me a new cake. It was such a kind, generous offer. But given Ditmars is not too close to me, I couldn’t commit to when that next time would be.

The next thing I know, this morning, she posts on her Instagram that her storefront is CLOSING DOWN. She will be working as a consultant for premium airline catering, and so her kitchen will be open only for special orders, random drops, and pop-ups from the end of June onward. On the one hand, I was really happy for her as a small business to have a stable income stream and have her delicious flavors reach a broader audience. But on the other hand, I felt sad that I couldn’t just drop in whenever I wanted (selfish, I know. But when a girl needs her canele…). I messaged her to wish her well, and she said that her offer still stands: whenever I come out to Ditmars next, I can have the pandan tiramisu or any cake she offers on the house, and she’d definitely remember me and welcome me back. She said she was blessed to meet me and hoped we could keep in touch.

I was really floored. First, I already felt it was beyond generous for Anne to offer me a replacement cake, even if the error was on my side in not storing it properly or waiting too long to eat it. But then, she said I could have any cake, that she’d definitely remember me, and welcome me back anytime. She’s clearly a very talented and extremely humble and sweet person. She’s the small business owner you wish you could always, always support in any and all ways possible to ensure her success. How can you find fault in someone who is creative, talented, humble, and at the end of the day, just really wants you as her customer to love and savor what she is creating from the heart?

Kao fu (seitan) and shi zi tou (Lion’s Head meatballs)

I look back on my childhood dining-out experiences, and almost all the meals out with family were Cantonese Chinese family-style meals. We always went to a no-frills Cantonese spot in the neighborhood that my grandma or aunt liked, and given we were with my grandma, aunt, uncle, and three sons, we always had a large table with a big lazy Susan in the middle. The few times when we were taking out someone “special” (some random relative or family friend who “had money”) as a guest of honor, my aunt or uncle would choose a fancier Chinese place that was a bit more upscale. At these rare fancy meals, the dinner would always start with an assortment of small plates, cold dishes that consisted of a variety of flavors, textures, and heat levels. The one that consistently showed up that I remember with fondness was hong shao kao fu (braised Shanghainese style seitan). I never knew what the heck it was. All I knew was that it was sweet, salty, umami, and had a variety of fun textures. I remember the meaty shiitake mushrooms, the crunchy cloud ear mushrooms, and some strange, squishy, meaty sponge-like thing that was almost like tofu, but not quite. As an adult, I later learned that this was called “seitan,” also known as wheat gluten, and was a popular meat substitute and source of protein for vegetarians/Buddhists. I also liked the slight crunch from the peanuts that were braised in the same liquid/sauce.

I finally made this seitan dish for the first time last year and was surprised how straightforward and easy it was. From my memory, it’s likely the very first Shanghainese dish I was ever exposed to. The second Shanghainese dish I had that I liked, which I wasn’t exposed to until I was in college with my Chinese teacher and our classmates, was shi zi tou, or Lion’s Head Meatballs. These are not made with lion meat (um, endangered and exotic), but rather with fatty pork, lean pork, and water chestnuts for crunchy texture. I made both of these dishes today for a mini ode to my Shanghainese Chinese teacher for my first two years of college. She not only taught me Mandarin Chinese language and more Chinese culture, but she was also responsible for giving me exposure to Shanghainese/Jiangnan style Chinese food, which was severely lacking in San Francisco (and even if it was plentiful, it would have been highly unlikely my very biased Cantonese family would have wanted to patronize those places).

You could spend your entire life learning about and making different Chinese dishes and likely never stop your learning. I’m happy to keep making “new” dishes for our home to ensure that Kaia is exposed to an endless variety of foods.