The 7 Nachos You'll Eat in Heaven

Nachos is one of my all-time favorite foods. It makes me think of happy memories at Ice Palace (the only ice skating rink in Hawaii), sporting events and college bars. I decided to have a nachos themed dinner party where everyone could make whatever nachos they liked. There were no rules except one: you have to be able to eat it with your hands. 

Some stayed true to the classics and some ventured into foreign territory. If I died and went to heaven, I'd be super content eating all of these:

Homemade Pok Pok Dinner, Take 1

I remember my first and only experience eating at Pok Pok in Brooklyn. It was a pleasant departure from the modern, house music-playing Thai restaurants in NYC. Portland Chef Andy Ricker of Pok Pok cooks really flavorful and extremely spicy dishes not typically found on Thai menus, so when he published his Pok Pok cookbook last year, I couldn't wait to try some of the recipes at home.

I documented our Pok Pok NY dinner destruction on November 23, 2012

My friend Katie, who writes an awesome food blog, also bought the Pok Pok cookbook so we decided to cook our first recipes from the book together. We selected three of the simpler recipes that didn't require too much advance preparation:

• Isaan-Style Forest Mushroom Salad (Het Paa Naam Tok)
• Stir-fried Chicken with Hot Basil (Kai Kaphrao Khai Dao)
• Sticky Rice with Mango and Salty-Sweet Coconut Cream (Khao Niaw Mamuang)

The only ingredient I had to prepare the day before was the toasted sticky rice powder (Khao Khua) for the salad, which took four hours to toast. We were able to purchase majority of the ingredients from Bangkok Center Grocery in Chinatown and a regular supermarket; however, we had major issues finding hot or holy Thai basil, to the point, we ended up buying Thai basil off a Thai restaurant in Williamsburg.

Chopping the fresh vegetables and chilies was most of the work, as the cooking time was very quick.

Upon Katie's discretion, we cut the amount of fresh and dried thai chilies in the stir fry by half, and it was still really, really mouth numbingly spicy.

My roommate and resident bartender Ben made a Malaysian-inspired cocktail, Teh C Pang, which has layered palm sugar, tea and rum.

WE GOT BASIL! Sean and Peter skated to the only Thai restaurant (of the three in our neighborhood) that agreed to sell us basil.

With the exception of my undercooked sticky rice in the dessert, I think our first Pok Pok attempt was a success. Next time, I'm trying the Vietnamese Fish-Sauce Wings!

When My Brothers Come to Town

Last weekend, Zack and his girlfriend Mariah traveled from Boston and Zadrian from Hawaii to visit me. Being the eldest, it's tough for me to live so far from my siblings, so when they do visit, I go into crazy-older-sister-mode making sure it's a fun time. One of my brothers is vegetarian and the other is underage, so the combination always leads to some interesting adventures outside of my typical routine. If only Zoe was also here, the Huang clan would be complete. Nonetheless, spending time with Zack and Zadrian was a nice break from the usual grind. 

Just some of what we did:

1. Homemade dinner of Dumac & Cheese, Fried Okra, Avocado-massaged Kale Salad and Mussels

2. Ai Wei Wei exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum

3. Frozen Yogurt from Culture in Park Slope

4. The hippest pizza at Roberta's in Bushwick

Will the NY Islanders Move to Brooklyn Hipster-fy Hockey?

For years, I've been telling everyone how hockey will become a widely popular sport and receive the attention it deserves on network television and in the media, mainly because I wanted more friends to watch games with me (...). Although football and basketball fans still outnumber hockey by a stretch, a recent article states that the NHL is selling out more arenas than the NBA this season. Yes those numbers might be skewed by the NBA's performance, but there are other signs that hockey might be growing in popularity; for one, I've been seeing occasional San Jose Sharks photos in my Facebook and Instagram feeds from unsuspecting west coast hockey fans, and two, Apple decided to include the LA Kings in their newest iPad Air commercial.

Apple approves of ice hockey.

But the true tipping point of my hockey popularity theory will be its adoption by hipsters. In 2011, I sensed the hipster hockey trend as the NHL and Versus' (now owned by NBC) aggressively marketed to hipsters in Williamsburg. Now, with the impending 2015 move of the New York Islanders to Barclays Center in Brooklyn--the hipster-fying of hockey is inevitable. Who wants to bet Pharrell will be sporting a throwback hockey jersey at the 2016 Grammys?

Will Hipsters ruin hockey?
The thought crossed my mind this Monday when I attended an Islanders/Bruins game at the current Nassau Coliseum venue out in Long Island. Stepping inside the Islanders arena was like stepping back into time, as if the arena hasn't changed since the 80s. Of all the NHL hockey games I've attended, this was the first time that prior to the game there was a moment of silence for an original season ticket holder who recently passed away. That and the rowdy Islanders fan section felt pleasantly intimate.

Sean and I are smiling because the Bruins won 6-3

Will the history, family-like atmosphere and camaraderie disappear at Barclays? I hope not. The move has received mixed feelings by Islanders fans, but my hope is the move will inject energy into the franchise while still preserving all its quirks and traditions (like those Ice Girls!).  In many ways, hipsters and hockey is a destined combination--eclectic warmup music from techno to country, beards and swearing. I have high hopes that Brooklyn, NY Islanders fans and hipsters can make it work.

Brooklyn Thanksgiving, Fourth Time's the Charm

The last three Thanksgivings at my Brooklyn apartment have been great, but this year was definitely the best. Why? Well, 1) I've become increasingly fond of cooking and any occasion to have a day off to cook sounds spectacular, 2) my high school friends Jared and Kristen have since moved to New York and would be joining Thanksgiving this year, and 3) most importantly, I decided we would all eat on a real table (read: throw an expensive table cloth over our beer pong table)! With age comes class and apparently more red wine. I feel so fortunate to be able to spend Thanksgiving with friends, especially with friends and a husband who are amazing cooks and put so much effort, love and heavy cream into their food.

Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of Celery Root Soup, Butternut Squash Salad, Pepper and Lemon Curd Roast Chicken, Holiday Brisket, Chicken Liver Sausage Prune Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Carrots, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and the most amazing Pumpkin Pie. Thank you Jason, Jared, Kristen and Sean for cooking a kick ass meal.

Some things don't change, pre-dinner pickers. Guess who's guilty...