All posts by Nate

Nate is the Techie / Barbecue-y half of the House of Annie team. Born in Hawaii, his favorite hobby is surfing...WEB surfing that is. Visit my Google+ Profile
Bakes, Fruit, Japanese

Evolution of Dessert: Sake-Poached Asian Pears with Ume and Li Hing Sauce

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What was I thinking?!

Sake-Poached Asian Pears with Ume and Li Hing Sauce

sake-poached asian pears with ume and li hing sauce

It all started when one of my friends emailed me the link to the Pear Recipe Challenge at Santana Row. Basically, people enter a recipe using pears, and 5 of them would be chosen to present their recipes before a panel of judges (one of the judges is going to be FoodGal, Carolyn Jung) at the Pear Festival at Santana Row on October 19. The winner would get a cookbook, a restaurant gift card, a shopping spree, and their name in lights, (well, okay, their name on the SR website…close enough). It got me thinking because I recalled seeing this amazing picture of a poached pear in "Working the Plate" by Christopher Styler and wanting to do a poached pear myself.

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Bay Area

California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco)

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Last week, we visited the newly reopened California Academy of Sciences, located inside Golden Gate Park in the beautiful City by the Bay, San Francisco. The museum had been closed for years while they rebuilt it from the ground up to be one of the most amazing facilities in the world. We had taken the kids to the Steinhart Aquarium when it was temporarily located in downtown San Francisco, and I was looking forward to its grand reopening to experience it more fully. So when I saw FoodGal Carolyn Jung’s post about her sneak-peak into the Academy before the doors opened, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we went as well.

Once inside, we immediately went down to the under-water level of the Steinhart Aquarium. There, you are greeted with an expansive viewing room of the deepest live coral exhibit in the world, the Philippine Reef Tank. Diver Dave Chan was in the water, answering questions from the audience.

Diver Dave Chan in the Philippine Reef Tank at the California Academy of Sciences

Diver Dave Chan in the Philippine Reef Tank at the California Academy of Sciences

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Fish, Indonesian

Ikan Pepes – Indonesian Spiced Fish

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When fresh fish and Southeast Asian spices meet, the results are outstanding!

Ikan Pepes:  Indonesian Spiced Fish

Ikan Pepes - Indonesian Spiced Fish in Banana Leaf

When I first visited Malaysia, one of the many dishes that stuck out in my mind was Ikan Bakar – a fresh skate wing that was marinated in a spice paste, wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled. The sweet and spicy chili paste, coupled with the smokiness of the singed banana leaf, permeated the tender flesh of the skate.  Everytime we go back, I look forward to having this dish.

Here in the Bay Area, we were introduced to Bay Leaf Indonesian Restaurant in Sunnyvale.  They have a dish similar to the grilled skate wing called ikan pepes.  Ikan simply means “fish”.  Pepes is the type of cooking process used: wrap in banana leaf, steam until cooked through, then finish off on the grill.  Ever since having ikan pepes at Bay Leaf, I’ve been meaning to do this dish at home.
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