Unaju, Anyone?

Unaju from Omakase

Say this about grilled eel [unagi kabayaki]: it’s one of those things I tend to reserve as either a treat on an exceptionally good day or a fortifying pick-me-up on the most horrific days.  On those days, I can always kick back and relax with a plate of eel and rice before me or suffocate my sorrows with an o-bento of the stuff.

So, when does the monstrous affair at the top of the post come in?

With four eel fillets atop a box – not a bowl – of rice, this baroque affair is referred to as an unaju, an unadon [unagi-don] on a much bigger scale.  For one thing, there’s more eel.  It’s served in a large box rather than a bowl and it’s quite a deep box and there’s quite a bit more rice involved.

This particular treat is from Omakase; it’s what I have when I know things are definitely going my way. 

Sweet-and-Sour Pork at Home

Homemade Sweet and Sour Pork

Sweet and sour pork has long been a favorite dish at our house, but our version of it is not the vividly orange-colored dish seen at so many Chinese [and faux Chinois] restaurants.  As a matter of fact, sweet and sour pork at our house is brown, but that’s because of the addition of soy sauce, brown sukang Iloko (cane vinegar from the northern provinces), and brown sugar.

The resulting flavors are not as nose-piercingly sharp as those in commercially-prepared dishes.  Instead, the play of sweet and sour is more subtle and palatable.  It definitely goes down a treat with rice, though. 

SybDive is Moving (Again!)

It’s been nearly two years since Sybdive first appeared here on WordPress. Unfortunately, given the fact that it’s getting to be increasingly difficult to post here (The WP 2.0 interface doesn’t seem to be compatible with either the office server or the net service we use at home.), I’ve decided to set up shop elsewhere.

So, please update your links to http://foodiegoddess.blogsome.com. Same SybDive goodness (and madness!) in an all-new location.

See you there!

Christmas Baking (Part One of Three): Gingerbread

Gingerbread is one of those things that people either love or hate.  Its fans say that it’s the whimsical shapes and the sweet spiciness keep them coming back for more, but its detractors claim not to see the whole point of it.  It was one of the first things I ever learned how to bake and baking gingerbread has become something of a tradition at our house whenever December rolls around.

Just so you all know…

…maybe I should just give up writing.  I mean, I was recently told I was a disappointingly mediocre writer.  That really hurt.  I’ve been writing professionally for fourteen years, blogging for about four, and have been doing both poetry and fiction for much longer than that.

I guess everyone hates me.  Maybe I should end it all – not just writing I mean, but everything else as well.