2012 CNY Eve Dinner

媽媽蛋糕 MaMa Cake

Fast Sticky Rice Balls in Red Bean Soup

Nothing is better than a bowl of sweet hot red bean soup in a winter night  - wait, red bean soup with sticky rice balls is better!

I used to think it takes a long time to make these sticky rice balls - you have to make the dough, be careful about the measurements, knead it, cut to equal size portions, then carefully form them to perfect little balls. But really, sticky rice balls are not that complicated. Just mix your sticky rice flour with warm water (60~80 degree celsius, doesn't have to be exact), form it into a dough ball you can manipulate by hand, then start to pinch off pieces into boiling water. The trick is after the dough piece are cooked (float to the top means they are done), fish them out and  mix in a spoon full of (brown) sugar. The sugar will suck out the excess water in the dough pieces and gives them a chewy/gummy texture.

See, doesn't that look good? With a pressure cooker cooking the sweet red bean soup is easy too. Soak the beans for an hour or so (activate/germinate the bean so it is more nutritious - so they say), then put one part beans and two parts water in the pressure cooker. After you bring the pressure up, cook for additional 15 minutes (20 minutes if you prefer extra soft). Open the lid you will find the beans just cooked enough the skin is broken. There is not much liquid right now so add additional water for the soup and bring just to boiling point, add sugar and a small pinch of salt, then turn off the heat (if you cook longer the beans will bump and damage each other).  This method will ensure each bean stays round so give you the nice texture. Compare to the traditional way - soak the beans overnight and carefully watch the bean when cook on the stove for hours - pressure cookers sure saves you a lot of time.

Other Stuff I Made in the Past Couple Monthes

Nothing exciting, just stuff I made when I was eating by myself.

Mash potato baked with aged cheddar - just because I bought a potato ricer from Value Village

Instant noodle with marinated pork hog and egg - I told you, nothing exciting.

Natto, rice, and watercress soup - natto is good for heart, watercress soup also thins your blood, lower blood pressure.

Green Onion Pancake

Not sure why I decided to make some green onion pancake, maybe I was craving for something doughy. But it was a weird decision considering I still have some store bought frozen ones in the freezer. Anyway, it was an educational experience. Apparently it makes a difference between using room temperature water vs. boiling water to make your dough. Flour absorbs more liquid when it is hot, so for things to be pan fried, it is better to use a dough with higher water content, hence a dough made from boiling water. For items to be steamed or boiled, there are plenty or water in the cooking process so you don't need more liquid in your dough, so room temperature dough would suffice. As for ice cold dough...which I've heard of, not sure why you would do that.

Doesn't look too bad in the pictures, but it really was not a great success. I added too much oil with the green onion, so it made it difficult to roll and shape the the dough. And only after I went to bed last night, I remembered I forgot to put some oil in the dough, so the pancakes turned out a bit tougher than I liked. Well, you learn.

Vegas Trip - Food?

Speaking of Vegas we would also think of the endless buffet... but I only went to one! So sad... But the Buffet at Wynn is pretty good.

Unfortunately for lunch buffet you don't get much seafood, so really for $23.95 it was a bit disappointing.

But you can tell everything are actaully complicated dish. The pulled-pork corn bread burger is really my favorite.

And of course, desserts, oh the desserts.

At Vegas the group of people I went with are not really foodies, so most of the time we ate something quick and simple (too many Earl of Sandwich's sandwich). One super fancy restaurant we went to is Todd English's Olives at the Bellagio. The restaurant faces right at the fountain so every 15 minutes you can see the fountain show blasting in front of you. I ordered the white fish (?) and it was pan fried with crispy skin and seasoned very nicely, my brother ordered the duck two ways (grilled breast and duck confit in crepe), but breast came with large chunk of fat attached and the confit was salty in soggy crepe. Unfortunately the restaurant is really dimly lit, so none of my iPhone 3G photos turned out... I need to upgrade my phone to one with a flash light?

Random shot of bread shaped like turtle and crocodile...

Wolfgang Puck's Cut in the Palazzo... I was just walking by.

Wolfgang Puck's Pizzeria and Cucina in the Crystal... just admiring the decor.

World famous Pink's Hot Dog by Planet Hollywood... but I didn't get to try it.

Yellowtail at the Bellagio, I've "heard" the food is good, good selection of sake and plum wine.

Yeah... sorry, not much of a foodie tour in Vegas for me...

Vegas Trip - Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon

We joined a tour with Grand-Adventures, for $150 you get a fully guided walking tour, breakfast (McDonalds) and lunch (Arbie's) included. It pretty much takes a whole day because the drive to Grand Canyon, passing through Hoover Dam, is about 5 hours and the drive back is 4 hours. So it helps that you have a tour guide/driver that is dedicated for a small group less than 15 people (thanks Alfonzo!).

 At first I thought the whole drive in is like this - desert rocks and sand, no buildings and maybe just one car following you on the damn straight highway.

But eventually you do see lots of rock formations (not sand dunes... I was a bit disappointed...), and once-in a while a peek of the Colorado River.

But actually once you get to high enough elevation, there are plenty of bushes and eventually evergreen trees. The highway is actually quite busy - Grand Canyon tourists from Vegas like us, and lots of huge trucks transporting goods to Vegas and across the States.

 So here it is, the Hoover Dam. One of the largest human achievement at the time. Over 130 people died for building the dam. There is a sad legend because the last worker died during the construction was the son of the first worker died. The dam generates the electricity for all the Vegas lights, and also all the way to Las Angeles. Apparantly after 9-11 the US government have received intelligence that terrorists plan to blow up Hoover Dam, so all traffic to the dam most pass an inspection point, and a new highway was built to divert traffic away from the site.

 The back of the dam is where you can appreciate how big of an achievement building the dam is. Not easy to see from my photos, but the impressive depth of the dam was over 220 meters. People who are afraid of height should stick to the other side of the concret wall.

 So after 4 more hours of driving we arrived at the Grand Canyon.Yeah... it is huge, billions of years of grans of sand forms into rocks and river carving into the earth. But for some reason I didn't get that OMG moment of "Oh, I am just a speck of nothing compare to the earth~". Some people said seeing the Grand Canyon is a life changing experience? Sorry, didn't happen to me.

 This photo is just to show that b/millions of years ago, the Grand Canyon is really beneath the sea. The rock exposed on the top of the Canyon are rocks made from coral reef.

 We joined the sunset tour, so we get to see the sun set over the canyon. It was really quite a view, and we were lucky that the cloud formation that day was just very unusual. But the temperature drops so suddently after the sunset, so we did not willing to stick around for the 3 hour walking tour promised by the guide.

Overall a great experience, you get so much information about the town of Vegas and all the history of the Nevada and Arizona out of the tour guide. Alfonzo is very experience that he points out all the great view points and even takes great pictures for individual and the group. So if you can sit through the 10 hour car ride then it is definitely worth it.

Vegas Trip - Iconic Vegas

Speaking of Vegas you can't not think of all the gigantic casino hotels, which really is amazing how much money people are willing to throw into a desert - not just the people who built the hotels invested millions and billions of dollars, but also tourists and gamblers who got hypnotized by the shiny neon lights, just bring their hard earned cash to a poker table and lose them before you can say "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas". But damn, the hotels sure are pretty.

So starting from the south of the strip, the Welcom to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. Apparently it is easily missed since people would tried to avoid the traffic and not drive through the very south point of the strip. But this sign, designed and built more than 50 years ago, is one of the remaining "old" things you would see in Vegas. Being such a heavily invested town, poeple tend to focus on anything new and shiny. So these old treasures tend to disappear one by one as the time goes by.

 Ever wondered what is at the back of the sign? Here it is...

 The Luxor -  the black pyramid with a beam of light shooting straight into the sky. I asked if you actually live in the gigantic sphinx, and the answer is no.

 Going inside Luxor you realize the pyramid is really hotel rooms. But apparently Luxor is not popular among Asian tourists - no superstitious Asians would want to live in tomb.

 The Excalibur - looks all fairytale-like from the outside, but I've heard inside is just like any other casino. I asked if you really actually get to live in one of the towers, and the answer is no.

 New York New York - pretty amazing that I can actually recognize some of the buildings here but I`ve never been to the real New York (probably recognize them from all the movies and games). The roller coaster is a big attraction. And no, you can't live in the Statue of Liberty.

 The MGM Grand, gigantic golden lion. One of the most expensive (and secret) villa is housed somewhere on the gounds of the MGM Grand. For $50,000 a night you get a secret entrance that lead you into a villa that would made you forget that you are actually in Vegas.

 The not-so-white white tigers of MGM - sleeping, and not very lady-like.

 Coca-Cola and the M&M stores - who knew you need two entire 5-story building for those products.

 Harley-Davidson Cafe, compare to other building and signs this is actually pretty discreet.

 The Bellagio and the fountain show. the entire hotel looks like it is built on water because of the huge pool in the front - how can you really think you are in the middle of a desert?

 Inside Bellagio it is a winter wonderland theme - very classy.

 The Paris, a ride up the tower costs $16, but I believe the vew is better from the outside.

 Caesars Palace with Celine Dion being its huge selling point.

 Inside Caesar Palace (Forum Shop shopping mall), the place is decorated with huge stone statues of half naked ladies.

 The Flamingo - Donny and Marie!

 The Harrahs - very playful carnival theme, but you can tell it really is an older casino, so the people who hangs out there have a different vibe too...

 The Venetian and Palazzo. I am really sad that for some hotels I only have photos of them during day-time, because the Venetian and Palazzo really looks so much better at night.

 The indoor (really, that is not real sky) gondola. But how can you really get into the mood? You know you are in Vegas and not Venice! Such a novelty.

 Inside the Venetian is filled with grand ceiling paintings and gold on everything - quite mesmerizing.

 There is a small waterfall inside the Venetian, very pretty autumn decore - falling leaves, fall harvest, and things like that.

 The also very new and shiny Wynn and Encore Hotels.

Inside Wynn is a fantasy garden theme (again, look much better at night). Good venue for weddings if you can afford to rent a whole section of the hotel.

 The Fashion Show Mall - or as people call it, the Cheap Mall since it is the only place on the strip not filled with high end brands like LV, Gucci, Prada but it has common brands like Macy's, Abercombie, Zara etc. - my kinda place.

 Further away from the Strip is the Old Vegas. I have to say it is actually quite a scary place because it feels quite run down, and the dealers there are all retirement aged, well I should say, more experienced. Definitely not somewhere young people hang out. But I am glad to come because the classic Las Vegas icons are here. The Cowboy sign is so classic, but I think his hand is broken...

 The Cowgirl sign... hmm...... ignore the "Girls! Girls! Girls!" ads that runs beneath it.