There are two types of people in this world: those who go through bubble tea withdrawal every few days, and those who vehemently hate the drink. The latter will shudder at the chewiness of the tapioca pearls, and complain about how drinks should not be "lumpy". I have a hard time understanding this textural phobia, [...]
Tag Archives | Drinks
Homemade Horchata
When I was living in China, the kitchen was never without rice. Long grain, short grain, jasmine, or brown, a sack or bulk bin bag would slouch in the corner, just waiting to be cooked. I would steam it, fry it, or boil it to a pulp for congee. And one day, out of severe [...]
Vietnamese Avocado Shake
One of the things I like best about Vietnam is the café culture. And by café, I mean any collection of plastic stools on the sidewalk, set up by an entrepreneurial local who mixes drinks for her neighbors. At any time of the day, along the streets of Saigon, Hanoi, Hoi An, etc., the Vietnamese [...]
Umeshu – Japanese Plum Wine
The weather gods have been cruel to me. As some of you may know, I spent the last two weeks in New York and Boston; expecting normal late spring temperatures, I packed summer clothes and sandals, only to freeze the entire time. On the last day, as I rode the train to JFK for my [...]
Chinese Herbal Jelly
At first glance, anyone who didn’t grow up in an Asian culture might scrunch up her nose at herbal jelly. It’s black, it’s shiny, and it jiggles. But really, herbal jelly, or grass jelly, is like JELL-O, only naturally colored. Whole Foods is losing a big opportunity to market this as the next “it” health [...]
Pairing Wine with Chinese Food – Thoughts?
(Photo by Jing a Ling, CC) Whenever I buy a new bottle of wine to try, I instinctively think “Okay, anything but Chinese for dinner.” But really, why can’t my favorite alcohol and (one of) my favorite cuisines just play nice? In China and many parts of Asia, the de-facto alcohols are rice wines, beer, [...]
White Port, the Underrated Apéritif
One of the reasons I love visiting Macau is for the inexpensive wine. Yes, the food is wonderful, but wine is the only thing I get to tote back to mainland China and enjoy weeks (okay, days) later. The former Portuguese colony used to have no import taxes on Portuguese wines. Even now the import [...]
Absinthe Cranberry Frappe
Now that Christmas is over, it is imperative to start thinking of the future. Namely, New Year’s Eve. More specifically, drinks for New Year’s Eve. Absinthe has been in the news quite a bit in the past year, because it is now “legal” again in the US. This past spring, while researching a story on [...]
