bahn mi picinic

You gotta love the french influence combined with vietnamese ingredients. My latest food creation, the bahn mi sandwich. Broken down into three parts this ingenious combination of slaw, meat (tofu in this case) resting between a crunchy baguette.
Jullienne carrots, dichon and zuccini.
In a sauce pan boil a ration of 2 : 1 water and distilled vinegar and sugar to taste. Let cool and add the slaw and set aside for a 30 minutes. In a pan i sauteed tofu with a black bean chili sauce and fresh ginger garlic and sweet onions. Cut the baguette to desired length. Mayo is optional. Lay thinly sliced cucumber on bottom slice of bread. Next lay a generous amount of the tofu or meat. Top the tofu with the slaw and top ot off with fresh cilantro and enjoy!
My mom gave us a new picinic basket we packled the sandwiches and some soup in. With the dogs and the basket we headed out to Briones Regional Park for a nice picinic and hike with our pups.
With leftover slaw I did my own mixing of cultures and made a pulled por bahn mi for my Monday work lunch, this is a highly recommended mix.
Check out the pictures and Merry Christmas!

popuphood recap

POPUPHOOD was so RAD! Thanks to everyone who came out to support local makers and new business owners. The new shops are truly amazing. Keep your ears open as the CoffeeBike and El Taco Bike are planning a popup brunch soon. The Chrome Van came out and was slinging shoes for $25. I also met a 63 year old cyclist who regullarly tours to Denver on his bike, he looks like hes 25. I ran out of both roasts and got some really good reveiws and interest about roasting at home. I think I actually inspired some people. Anyway if you live in or around Oaklnd, go downtown and check out the new shops on 9th and Webster. I heart OAKLAND! Oh and Jean Chuan even stopped by for a cup and a photo op haha!

popuphood

It was about two years ago when I was invited to the "Super popup shop". Now it's a whole pop up hood! I was honored to be invited by the coolest bike shop in the Bay Area. Sam and Mackay asked me to bring the CoffeeBike for the grand opening of their new shop. I didn't realize how big this was going to be, for me and all of Oakland. Click or copy and paste on this link for a really inspiring documentary for Fridays happenings. http://vimeo.com/m/33187820
Come by Friday night and support local business and the coffee bike.

shroom hunting

last year i was fortunate to get some foraging for mushrooms at a friends cabin in South Lake Tahoe. He has been foraging near his cabin for a few years now and was able share some experience and knowledge of some of these delectable micro organisms.

we were able to find some king bollets and some oysters, and some more psychedelic mushrooms .
The king was amazing in the morning, we cleaned em up and and cooked them with some eggs and cheese. The oysters I brought home and made a nice mushroom sandwich.

MEGA MEGA MEGA

Southern Exposure's Annual Art Auction 2011 MEGA MEGA MEGA
I was honored to have been asked back to participate on SOEX's auction planning committee once again. The gallery is so fun and is run by a charming bunch of ladies. This year I had the the task of topping my E.T. photo booth. So due to the theme this year I chose to build a money grab air booth. It was really fun to figure out the engineering of such a project. Despite its DIY look I think it was a complete success. It was rad seeing people of all ages participate in the booth. We had some wonderful prizes to win in the booth donated to SOEX from the Academy of Sciences, Delfina and we even gave away some lottery scratchers.

The art was simply amazing and generated some awesome energy during the live auction. Some of my favorites are in the video above. Kelsey Nicholson, Nathan Lynch, Jason Jagel, Amy Casey, Gina Tuzzi. Check out more at SOEX.org for more info and check out their flickr for more photos of the event.

If you know anyone who needs a air booth for their next event, party or fundraiser please contact me at thrownaked@hotmail.com. I believe renting one from anywhere else will run $500 to $1000 I will give a sweet deal!

success mouth watering pork

thanks for everyone coming to help eat all that pork. the skin was crispy and salty, the meat delicious and juicy. And yes cooked through. we uncovered the pig around 6pm, leaving it cooked for around 8 hours.

the meat was tender enough to pull apart with our hands. taking apart an animal with your bare hands was satisfying and nostalgic. along with a can of bud-light all i need was a bottle of whiskey to finish it off.

a great question was raised during the feast. what is with the fruit in the bigs mouth?

upon further research i haven't found a conclusive answer. the first was something about letting intestinal gases release while it's cook, another that it was just aesthetic. but my favorite was an explanation of how with out the fruit the pig's mouth looked as if it were giving a grimace instead of a smile.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOU!

pig roast oakland style

it has been awhile since iv'e roasted a pig. but thanks to Sou's birthday the chance has risin yet again. i grew up roasting pigs and goats in cucamonga ca my father and uncles butchered the animals in our backyard. stepping into Sou's east oakland home i was reminded of all the fun it was growing up hella asian.

it's also rad to see Sou's little nephew getting in the mixed and being exposed to the carnage of cooking whole animals.

how does one roast a pig? fairly simple.

1. get friends to dig a big hole

2. get a pig 80lbs will cost about 100$ or so

3. banana leaves

4. bamboo shoots

5. lava rocks or river rock

6. hardwood and charcoal. walnut is best for the meat

7. pre heat rocks

8.stuff rocks into pig

9. cover pig with leaves and wrap with chicken wire

10. set pig on coals

11. cover pigs with wet burlap sacs or wet sheets

12. cover with dirt.

13. drink beers and wait

Sou went to an A's day game. And i moved a couch and made a two pizzas.

stay tuned for photos of the finished product!

sipping session SOEX

Thank you SOEX, Hannah Strange and Jess Strange. The show was amazing everyone really made some amazing hooch. The Coffee Bike sold out of coffee! Thanks for supporting me and my roasting.

I was really happy to provide the non-alcoholic drink for the evening and help warm up people coming in from the rain. I met some really amazing people with some great stories.

Can't wait for this years auction!

sipping session group show at SOEX

Heading over the other side of the bay for a show at SOEX gallery in the mission.

Come and enjoy a evening with some of the bay area's finest beverage artists including me.

http://soex.org/Event/299.html