The Middle East on ThingsAsian

This Month's Film: Lawrence of Arabia
Cuisine: Middle Eastern

ThingsAsian has expanded its destination list to include the Middle East, with articles on Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Cyprus, East Timor, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kasakstan, Kuwait, Kyrgystan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikisan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. All countries are searchable from the ThingsAsian main page. Here are links to three good articles on Middle Eastern destinations:

Turkish town evokes the refinements of the Ottoman empire

Foods of Iraq: Enshrined With A Long History

Brunei, a nation-state of emergency, luxury and fantasy

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

12:30 AM PDT Permalink |

Looking Ahead to Lawrence of Arabia and Creating a Middle Eastern Menu

This Month's Film: Lawrence of Arabia
Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Although I have already seen Lawrence of Arabia, my son Will has not. So I have it on my NetFlix list for an upcoming weekend. In the interim, I will be perusing my Middle Eastern cookbooks and browsing the Internet for recipe inspiration.

I love Middle Eastern food, and often enjoy a late lunch at my friend Michael Alimusa's Small World Restaurant in downtown Napa. I also enjoy making Middle Eastern dishes at home, even when I'm not preparing them for Chopstick Cinema. This will be my fourth Middle Eastern menu, and I'm looking forward to researching and tasting some new dishes.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

12:10 AM PDT Permalink |

Lawrence of Arabia

I remember as a child, my mother often spoke of Lawrence of Arabia with an excruciating groan, which prejudiced me against watching it for many years. However, I finally put those prejudices aside a few years ago and watched the 227-minute epic so that I might form my own opinions. After all, the cast includes Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guiness, Anthony Quinn, and Jose Ferrer. What's not to love? And I must say that, having seen it, I was so charmed and impressed that I've chosen Lawrence of Arabia as this month's feature film. Here's the NetFlix synopsis:

"Director David Lean's Oscar-winning epic tells the true-life story of warrior-poet T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole), who helped unite warring Arab tribes so they could strike back against the Turks in World War I. Lushly filmed and expertly acted, this timeless classic underscores the clash between cultures -- and within one man -- that changed the tide of war."

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

11:32 AM PDT Permalink |

Welcome to Chopstick Cinema for the Month of May

This Month's Film: Lawrence of Arabia
Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Every so often, I get a hankering for Middle Eastern food, so it must be about that time. To satisfy my cravings, I've chosen David Lean's sweeping epic Lawrence of Arabia as this month's film, and will create a rich and exotic menu of Middle Eastern dishes to go with it.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

12:33 AM PDT Permalink |

Farewell My Concubine Recipes and Photos

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

This unusual menu of Chinese dishes features Imperial Mushrooms, Tofu Delight, Lemon Blossom Soup, MaPo Tofu, Fiery Ginger Fish, Hot and Sour Cabbage and Forbidden Rice.

Here is a link to the Recipe & Photos.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

02:09 PM PDT Permalink |

Farewell My Concubine

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

Written by Lillian Lee and directed by Kaige Chen, Farewell My Concubine is a richly embroidered tapestry of Chinese history and culture that provides a context for a poignant triad in which the shifting interplay of psychodynamcis between the characters is the source of both pain and salvation.

Here is a link to the Film Review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

12:31 AM PDT Permalink |

My Extracurricular Films for the Month of April

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

Throughout each month, in addition to my Chopstick Cinema selection, I watch lots of other films. Unfortunately, this month, there were lots of disappointments with films that had generated high expectations:

No Country For Old Men - Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Tommy Lee Jones star in this dark mystery/thriller about a Texas cowboy who stumbles upon the scene of a drug deal gone terribly wrong and helps himself to a satchel full of money with a GPS tracking device hidden inside. He suddenly finds himself with a vicious serial killer close on his heels in search of the money, and Sheriff Tommy Lee Jones in hot pursuit of them both. Having read such high praise of this film, I had high expectations. And I love a good existential ending as much as the next guy, but how this dreadful excuse for a movie managed to sweep the Oscars is beyond me.

Nashville - Country music mixes with politics in this Oscar-winning Robert Altman classic, as an ensemble of musical talent converges on the title city to perform at a fundraiser for a controversial senate candidate. Amid political agendas and marital turmoil, this all-star cast manages to pull off some transcendent musical moments. And although it's painfully dated, and runs for an excruciating 180 minutes, it's worth watching, if only to see Keith Caradine sing I'm Easy.

Love in the Time of Cholera - Javier Bardem plays the lovelorn Florentino Ariza, who has been in love with Fermina Urbino for over fifty-two years. But circumstances imposed by her father and polite society dictated otherwise, so Fermina married the dashing doctor Juvenal Urbino, played by Benjamin Bratt. Although this film has its endearing and romantic qualities, it's yet another that came with high expectations but did not deliver. After nearly 53 years of anticipation, when the moment of consummation finally arrives, it's practically a non-event. Beautifully cast and filmed, but alas, a big letdown.

Lions for Lambs - With Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, this film comes with a high pedigree. But about a half-hour into it, I suddenly realized that it was a self-indulgent exercise in theoretical politics within the context of the Middle East conflict, and although it's only 92 minutes long, I just couldn't suffer through another hour of it. So I turned it off. My usual policy for most films is 'in for a penny, in for a pound' but in this case. I made an exception. Life is just too short...

Evening - Vanessa Redgrave plays Ann Lord, an aging blues singer in the last hours of her life. As sisters Nina and Constance (Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson) hover around their mother's deathbed trying to decipher her cryptic ramblings, the timeframe shifts back and forth between the past and the present, with Claire Danes playing a young debutante Ann, and Mamie Gummer as her best friend. In their youth, both fell in love with the same unattainable guy, and both their lives were ultimately riddled with regret. This is one of those films that's a little slow on the uptake, but once you get acquainted with the characters and the pace, it's a lovely tale.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

11:34 PM PDT Permalink |

Fresh Fruits with Chinese Rice Wine

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

For dessert after an Asian meal, I always like to serve a light fruit dish. This time, I had a few lychee fruits on hand, along with a perfectly ripe pear and a juicy naval orange. These I marinated with a little Chinese rice wine and a dash of five-spice powder. Light and lovely with a hint of spice.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

09:50 AM PDT Permalink |

Hot and Sour Cabbage

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

This easy dish made a nice complement to my Fiery Ginger Fish. It's a quick and simple stir-fry of finely shredded cabbage seasoned with ginger, rice vinegar, rice wine, soy sauce, dried chili flakes, and Szechuan peppercorns. It's important that the cooking time be kept to a minimum to maintain the texture of the cabbage. Once done, it makes a perfect plate liner for the main course.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with the 'Farewell My Concubine' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

07:06 PM PDT Permalink |

Forbidden Rice

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

In my travels on the Internet, I came across several articles about forbidden rice, and wanted to try it for myself. To my delight, our new Whole Foods market stocks it in their regular inventory, and as luck would have it, forbidden rice was on sale at two bags for six dollars. I followed the instructions on the package and cooked it in my electric rice cooker.

I was amazed at how black the grains of forbidden rice are, and even more surprised to discover that the rice isn't actually black, but rather a deep shade of purple that, once cooked, stains everything that comes into contact with it, including the cooking vessel and storage containers. I had originally planned to include the leftovers in a cold multi-grain salad, but I surmised that the forbidden rice would probably turn the whole thing purple. So, for my grain salad, I opted for wild rice instead.

However, I did serve the forbidden rice as a side dish on my chinese menu, and found it to be quite delicious, with an earthy, nutty flavor, and a popcorn-like fragrance similar to basmati when it's cooking. A tasty and unusual variation on a standard staple.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with the 'Farewell My Concubine' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

04:12 PM PDT Permalink |

MaPo Tofu

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

The first time I made a dish using black bean sauce that I purchased from an Asian market, it was so shockingly salty that it shriveled my tongue. So I threw away both the dish I'd prepared and the jar of bean sauce. But when I began researching Chinese recipes for 'Farewell My Concubine', I came across several for MaPo Tofu, and I wanted to give it a try, so I decided to give black bean sauce another try. This time, I bought a different brand called Dynasty, commonly available in the Aisan food section of my local market. Again, I found the sauce to be inordinately salty, but tolerably so.

To prepare the dish, I drained the tofu, cut it into triangles, and pan-fried them in sesame oil to a golden brown. Next I made a sauce of ground pork, garlic, ginger, scallions, soy sauce, black bean sauce, and chicken stock. Once the sauce was done, I served it with the golden tofu triangles. The result was a pleasantly rich and savory dish, albeit a little more salty that I usualy enjoy. But in this case, the dish was so delicious that I was willing to make an exception, and mitigated the effect by drinking lots of water afterwards.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with the 'Farewell My Concubine' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

04:01 PM PDT Permalink |

Fiery Ginger Fish

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

The sauce for this fish dish is a piquant combination of tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions, celery, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili flakes and lots of ginger. The fish itself I dredged lightly in flour and cornstarch and then pan-fried to a golden brown. Fiery delicious.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with the 'Farewell My Concubine' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

12:56 AM PDT Permalink |

Velvet Crab with Crispy Noodles

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

This dish was so creamy and crabby-delicious that it nearly knocked me off my feet. Its success, I think, is due to the fact that I added the minced garlic and finely sliced scallions directly to the cream without sauteeing them first. So both maintained their vibrant flavor. Also contributing to the quality of the dish was the half pound of dungeness crabmeat that I hand-picked from the shell. And amazingly, the only other ingredients I added to the dish were salt and white pepper, plus a little cornstarch for thickening.

When it came to the noodles, it took several tries to get them just right to serve as the 'chassis' for the Velvet Crab. I started with dried 'nests' of angel hair pasta prepared three different ways: deep fried dry, plain boiled, and finally, boiled and then pan-fried. The pan-fried version turned out to be the one with the texture and eye-appeal I wanted for the dish.

The wonderful thing about this dish is that at full size, it makes a nice light entrée. But if the pasta nests were composed a little smaller, they would make the perfect canape.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with the 'Farewell My Concubine' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

11:16 AM PDT Permalink |

Lemon Blossom Soup

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

I was hoping for a light, simple, lemony broth with minimal spices and garnishes. So I started with a batch of really good homemade chicken broth, added to it the juice of two lemons, and once it came to a boil, I removed it from the heat, stirred in a whole egg, and garnished it with a handful of finely chopped scallions. The result was everything I'd imagined...Light...Lemony...Delicate...Delicious!

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with the 'Farewell My Concubine' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

12:49 AM PDT Permalink |

Imperial Mushrooms

This Month's Film: Farewell My Concubine
Cuisine: Chinese

This appetizer is remarkably tasty and simple to prepare. The filling is a mixture of ground pork, minced shrimp, celery, garlic, and scallions, seasoned with Chinese rice wine, and oyster sauce. The mixture is then used to fill the mushroom caps, which I prepared two different ways. Half of them I steamed, the other half, I baked in the oven. Each cooking method produced a different result. The steamed mushrooms were lighter in both color and taste, while the oven-baked version were darker and richer in both flavor and color. Both were equally delicious, and the sauce is a combination of soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken stock with a little cornstarch to thicken.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with the 'Farewell My Concubine' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

04:07 PM PDT Permalink |