Year of the Ox, Cont...

Roasted quail with shrimp chips and lemon.

Sesame lamb with onions and peppers (the green one scorched the back of my mouth).

Braised abalone, shiitake mushrooms and bok choy.

Fried tofu, snap peas, water chestnuts and carrots (my Uncle Alfred's favorite dish).

Honey walnut shrimp with broccoli.

As promised, the pics from my Chinese New Year feast (non-meat eaters may want to shield their eyes). Sorry, I can't remember the name of the restaurant but it's across the street from Sweet n Tart Cafe in Flushing. Some of my hungry relatives got their hands on the food before I could get a picture of it. Hence, the sparse roasted quail dish up top. The lamb was surprisingly non-gamey. Best of all, we requested the chefs not to use MSG, so no dizzy nausea at the end of a full meal. Ho bao!

Year of the Ox

It's the Year of the Ox! For all those who follow the Lunar New Year calendar, this past Monday was probably a night of nine-course suppers, rowdy family gatherings and ingestion of free-flowing amounts of booze.

This year has been a tumultuous one, especially with the recent economic crisis leaving hundreds of thousands unemployed and recent graduates scampering for jobs (yours truly included). On a more upbeat note, the swearing-in of our new President, Barack Obama, has lifted spirits from a black hole gloom that has shadowed the Bush administration over the past eight years. Of course, it remains to be seen whether Obama can fulfill all the promises he made, but he's off to a positive start. However, this blog isn’t about Obama. Or politics, for that matter (unless it involves food and drink).

Today represents my very first Heiwa Peas blog post. Why the name "Heiwa Peas"? Well, heiwa means "peace" in Japanese, and peace is a homonym for the English word "peas" -- so consider it a play on words, combining an abstract ideal (peace) with a more concrete reality (peas = food). More importantly, this is a food blog meant to describe and illustrate all the savory edibles that tickle my palate, emphasizing cultural diversity and risk-taking in matters of the stomach. Although I don't claim to cure world hunger, my hope is to spread peace and multicultural understanding through gastronomy. One post at a time. It might seem simplistic, but everyone's got to eat.

Let the sunshine in!

(Pictures to come, once my blog stops flashing me the "Error" message.)