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The No-Brainer Coleslaw

5/30/2013

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Growing up in a small town where the "town center" is basically a grid of five vertical streets with six streets cutting across, I remember when Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its doors here. Prior to that, we had at best, Chicken Delight, a lesser known franchise for fried chicken. And no, McDonald's was at least ten years away from setting up shop because the building it occupied had yet to even exist.

Back in the early eighties, all our birthday celebrations were dinner prepared by my mother, depending on whose birthday it was, with all the birthday kid's favourite dishes. The week before our birthdays, my mother would ask for our wish-list, not for presents, but what we'd like to have for our birthday dinner. Can you imagine what happens when you have six children? My mum sure has a wide repertoire of dishes off her fingertips!

But for my birthday that year, my parents decided to take all of us out for dinner. Where else but the Kentucky Fried Chicken in town. So it was really BIG DEAL for me - I think I was turning eight. So off we went - wide-eyed and all - getting excited at the slightest details. It was nothing like the KFC we know today for back then, disposable wares were considered luxurious. So we still had our chicken, coleslaw and whipped potato all served in plastic plates and bowls, with stainless steel cutlery.

The fried chicken was so-so. My mum could easily make the same with a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken powder. It was the coleslaw and whipped potato that caught my attention. How could someone make vegetables so creamy and delicious? Vegetable dishes at home had always been stir-fried or cooked in curry gravy. I'd never knew that vegetables can be so creamy yet non-spicy. And that bowl of potato covered in brown sauce, why can't they use larger scoops?

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Quicktime Cucumber Salad

10/15/2010

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Can't get any easier
This salad makes a sweet countermelody to the Japanese beef curry from an earlier post. It must be one of the simplest salads in the world since it only requires cutting up some cucumbers and red onion before adding a mix of Japanese rice vinegar, sugar and sesame oil.
 
And while we're dealing with cucumbers, I'd like to share this thing I do with it. I don't have a legitimate explanation for it but my mother and her mother did this all the time so I'm just keeping the tradition. Cut an inch off the head of the cucumber and rub both parts against each other. You will see some white substance (pulp?) emerging as a result. Apparently doing this gets rid of the bitter taste in cucumbers and yes, it is true.

Anyway let's get back to the salad: it is pretty intuitive but here's a rough guide if you're trying it for the first time.

Ingredients:
3 cucumbers, quartered length-wise, deseeded, cut in 1/2-inch chunks
1 red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white fine sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
(Optional) 1 tablespoon lightly toasted sesame and/or torn-up sheet of Nori seaweed

1. Toss the cucumbers, red onion, rice vinegar, sugar and sesame oil in a glass bowl.
2. Sprinkle with toasted sesame and the Nori seaweed to add more texture to the salad.

When it comes to balance of taste, it's all about individual preferences. The above should not make you cringe, though.
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    briefly

    JL and S grew up in France and Malaysia respectively. They met while living in Singapore, stayed a year in the USA (Cambridge, MA) then the south of France, Malaysia, and are back again in the USA (New York, NY). 

    frenchinos at home is where we share some of our stories with friends, much like the living room, dine-in kitchen, or the timber-deck balcony which we've always wanted to have, which sounds most impossible where we live now. 

    Welcome and we're happy to have you here :)

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