We wanted to recreate a Vietnamese dish that we loved to eat back when we were living in San Jose: chả lụa or Vietnamese steamed pork roll. This tasty sausage is usually sliced thinly and served alongside favorites like bánh cuốn or inside banh mì sandwiches. It’s been a while since we had it, so we decided to try making it ourselves.
Waldorf salad is one of my favorite salads. I like its combination of sweet, savory and tangy flavors, and crisp and bursty textures. We took a winning Waldorf salad recipe and stood it up on its head.
When we were brainstorming ideas for the Royal Selangor Jellyriffic Challenge, Annie suggested making a Waldorf salad in jelly form. As she described it to me, at first I was skeptical. But the more the idea turned over in my head, the more I warmed up to it. Plus, I love puns: standing the Waldorf salad up turns it into a “Tall-dorf” salad 😛 ! So I agreed that we should do it.
I don’t think I’ve ever been as nervous as I was that day.
I had been fiddling with the ring in my pocket all day, and here I was, finally, in line at Waiola Shave Ice waiting to give my order.
“What’ll you have?”
“Two large cones with ice cream. Li hing and Melona flavors,” I rattled off the order just like I had many times before. “Oh, and, uh, can you put this on top of one of the ice creams, underneath the shave ice?” My hand was shaking as I gave him the ring, sealed inside a tiny plastic ziploc baggie. “I’m going to propose to my girlfriend today.”
Third time’s a charm, they say. They also say that it takes a woman’s touch. I’d say both had something to do with today’s jelly:
From the beginning of this Jellyriffic challenge, I’ve been trying to make a mango jelly that incorporated chunks of real mango in it. It’s mango season here in Kuching (among other fruits), and there is an abundance of sweet, ripe mangoes to be had. So I wanted to use some of the fresh local fruits in our jellies, like the Dragonfruit Agar-Agar that we made at the beginning.