Dim Sum for Lunch

04/22/2012

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At the Shanghai Boat Show, I really worked up an appetite. Wandering around all of the booths (an area easily the size of two football fields), attempting to convince people (in Chinese) that the Sun Tracker pontoon boat is the best boat ever made, trying on life vests for TV advertisements, kayaking in a blow-up pool, and wearing out the smile muscles in my face being a boat model all made for some pretty full days. 

Each day when we broke for lunch, we headed to a traditional cafeteria-style dim sum restaurant around the corner for some authentic Cantonese food. Prepare to have your mouth water . . . 
Oh, no! The dreaded chicken feet!
Here's the thing about chicken feet. They don't taste "footy" or anything like that--they taste like chicken. Just with more joint-y, bony parts than meat. So I guess I don't really get the appeal; why not just eat a nice juicy drumstick instead? 

Would I eat them again? Sure, why not. But I won't go out of my way to order them. I'll have the cold-dressed jellyfish instead. 
(Just kidding! I won't have anything on this menu! I have to draw the line somewhere, people!)
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Paleo Lunch: Egg Foo Yung

01/13/2012

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Yesterday I basically ate leftover pork stir-fry at every meal. Sue me.

Today I began my day with a delicious smoothie, made with a banana, some frozen mango chunks, pure orange-carrot juice, and about a tablespoon of almond butter. The almond butter lends a nuttiness to the smoothie (and of course some protein) that tastes odd at first but grows on you. Or at least it grew on me . . .

Post-smoothie, I headed up to the gym for a workout class. It wasn't Crossfit (I'm trying to save a couple bucks here and there until I start my job), but it was a great class and I'm sure I will feel the burn tomorrow. Instead of going out for lunch, like I probably would on a typical Friday, I came home and cooked myself some Egg Foo Yung. To be honest, I've only eaten the dish once in a Chinese restaurant (in Chesterfield, not Beijing), but it sounded like a way to mix it up with eggs and let's be honest, I'm pretty much always down for Asian fare.

Recipe for Paleo Egg Foo Yung
Loosely Adapted from this Paleo blog
Makes 2-3 servings (about 6 cakes).

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2/3 cup Napa cabbage, thinly chopped
1 carrot, shredded
2 green onions, sliced
2 tsp coconut flour
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice
Salt and pepper, to taste
Coconut oil

In a medium saucepan, heat some coconut oil on medium-high heat. Add cabbage, carrots, and onion, and sautee until cabbage has cooked down, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, spices, and coconut flour until well-combined. Stir in the vegetables. In the same skillet, heat more coconut oil and fry the batter up like pancakes, in 1-2 tbsp mounds. Be sure that your heat is not up too high--you don't want to have scorched edges and runny middles! (I would never make that kind of mistake. Obviously.)

I dried mine on paper towels to remove some excess oil before I ate them. The original recipe includes dicing up some leftover meat of some kind, like chicken or shrimp. That would have been good, but I didn't have anything on hand. And even though this is a Paleo diet, I'm trying not to eat meat at every single meal. It just feels weird.
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