Little Miss Piggy. Were that a nickname of mine, it would be entirely fitting. I have, after all, already been given the nickname of "Noodle," which refers to my love of Asian cuisine. But my love-bordering-on-obsession doesn't just stop with Asian food, I love ALL foods. The grosser and more obscure, the better and more fun to experience. It's not as if I ever had a choice in the matter; what is the one thing the Chinese and the Jews have in common? They EAT. ALOT. Jews with their hot pastrami sandwiches on rye bread and the Chinese with their Peking roast duck. I got the best of both worlds, and then some, by growing up in Singapore. "The best of all possible worlds." And since those days of weekend dim sum and weeknight tofu that my mom convinced us to eat by telling us that we would have skin like Snow White's if we ate it, I have not stopped pigging out. My roommate and I have been known to sit in the kitchen devouring raw cookie dough and spoonfuls of vanilla frosting. Are you getting the picture that eating for me is not just a matter of survival but one of life's most pleasurable past times?
Speaking of pleasurable past times, I did something very out of character today: I talked myself out of going to ballet class. Ballet class is not just something I do to ensure I'm at my dancing peak for auditions, but it is the most satisfying form of creativity at this challenging time when I am not working on a show contract. I work 10 hour shifts 4 days a week, and in my 3 days off, I am either auditioning or going to ballet class or fitting in both with perhaps a jazz class on the side if I have some extra time. But, today, after an audition, I had an hour and a half before class and as I was walking towards the studio, I found myself finding reasons to justify not going. I love to take class, but there are days when I'm tired from a long weekend of high volume retail that I have to give myself an extra push to go. I feel really really REALLY guilty if I don't take class because I convince myself that, if I don't go, I'll dance badly at my next audition, or the 4 huge slices of Swiss roll I ate the night before will show up on my stomach. I know, this is the mind of someone who is a little off-center, but it keeps me in that studio striving for the best. So my having missed class today can only mean one thing: I am well and truly POOPED. I just want to curl up under my duvet and drink tea and read my book and write a little and gossip with friends on Facebook and EAT. Good Lord, do I want to eat. Eating on a tight budget is not ideal for someone with a love-bordering-on-obsession of food. Must be the weather; being what my mom refers to as a "tropical baby," walking in the rain, cold, and wind for about 2 hours on an average day because I'd rather walk than take public transport (it's that off-center thing again) has knackered me out. I'm only teeny and slight. Or, could be in the stars? Mercury is currently Retrograde (...off-center?). Or, could it possibly be that my notion of myself as a Super-Human is a big, fat delusion? Maybe...just maybe...let's change the subject.
As soon as I decided to forgo class, this little piggy went and pigged out in a great food hall that opened up in Little Korea just before the new year. I discovered it when I went to have a bite in a great restaurant, Kunjip. Kunjip was packed, so I walked two doors down, and there was this new Korean food hall that I'd never seen before. The space was completely void of customers, and looking around at the 5 or 6 different stalls, I was apprehensive of how good the food would be. But, I was starving, and very pleased to see that one of the stalls was serving my Korean go-to dish, spicy oxbone soup with vegetables. To my delight, it was absolutely delicious, cheaper than in a restaurant, and took just minutes to be ready. What a find! I was so excited and made a mental bookmark that I had to return soon. I next got the opportunity to return about a week ago, and from one stall ordered Soondae (Korean blood sausage) and 3 Onigiri (Japanese rice balls) with different fillings: spicy tuna, salty fish, and vegetables. The salty fish were those tiny dried fish used alot in Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine, and that particular Onigiri was my favourite. They also have Umeboshi (salty plum) Onigiri, which I love, but unfortunately it was not available when I was there. I took home a couple of Korean deserts which I'd never seen before and some pickled radish and green beans, all of which were delicious. I still have the green beans and radish, and the blood sausage was such a huge portion, that I was eating it for 3 more days.
I entered the food hall today telling myself that I was just going to get some Onigiri as I recently did a big grocery shop and have banned myself from spending more money on food. HOWEVER. There were even more desserts -- purple cakes, green cakes, multi coloured cakes, and buckets of kimchi. Literally, huge buckets of kimchi. Jeez Louise, what was I gonna do??? Well, I'll tell you what I did: bought 3 Onigiri, 2 desserts, and 2 side dishes. Little Miss Piggy! I told you! The Onigiri didn't make it onto the subway -- I devoured them without breathing. When I got home, I warmed up the two side dishes (a beef stew with shisto peppers, and vegetarian congee) and had myself a mini-feast. While writing this blog, I ate one of the desserts, a steamed white rice cake, and will have the second one, a glutinous rice cake filled with different bean pastes, later. The desserts are so colourful, they almost look inedible. There is a purple cake (made with purple potato), an algae-green cake (made with asteraceae, a type of plant), a multi-coloured cake (probably made with lots of food colouring!) and so much more! Speaking of so much more, there is a Red Mango for frozen yogurt (and a random phone shop??) inside the space, AND I noticed as I walked past Pinkberry 4 doors away that they are now serving lychee with lime frozen yogurt! Foodie heaven.
What I haven't stated yet is that the main reason I wanted to write this entry is because I want to get spread the word about this little engine that could, called, simply, Food Gallery 32 (11 West 32nd St. between 5th and Bway). It is never that busy when I have been inside, and I would love to see it packed because it is fun, unique, very decently priced, and has such awesome stuff. Go check it out! I'll join you! Or I might cry wee wee wee all the way home!
copyright (c) 2010-2011 Celia Mei Rubin
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