It’s rice bowl week 🍛
Mapo dofu and ground pork curry, plus the Hot Choccy of the Week (fresh mint).
Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week we begrudgingly eat Real Food, but also cookies. Check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
Clamshell of assorted cookies at Pasticceria Rocco
243 Bleecker St #4438, New York, NY 10014
I grew up in a small town in New Jersey where the primary landmark was a large Roman Catholic Church and our 90-year old neighbor grew all her own tomatoes, so Italian cookies with an American accent are very dear to my heart (although I never saw these in actual Italy when I went three years ago!). You know, the kind covered in rainbow sprinkles and filled with jam and dipped in chocolate. I have no idea what flavor rainbow sprinkles are, but they make all the difference. I got my first haircut in 8 months last weekend, and decided to take myself to Pasticceria Rocco, a very popular Italian Bakery in the West Village, afterwards for a little self-care date. I originally went in for cannoli, but I couldn’t resist the plastic clamshell takeout containers of assorted cookies. I’m very glad I gave in, because these were the best Italian cookies I’ve ever had – almost like an elevated version, very light and buttery and filled with lemon and almond flavors. I’ve been having one with my tea at night and one with my coffee in the morning each day as my own little way to get me through the week.
Semi-homemade mapo tofu at home
Here’s the sauce.
A friend of mine pointed out to me that my newsletter was 100% sweets last week, so I am writing about something savory to prove that I do eat actual meals, and not just cookies. It’s just that, as much as I love cooking and eating, a lot of my meals as a busy person who lives alone end up semi-homemade, and sometimes I feel embarrassed to mention this. This simple mapo tofu, however, was so tasty and easy it’s worth a shout-out, even if it isn’t from scratch. These Mabo Tofu sauce packets from House Foods are one of the best meal-starters you can find at most Asian groceries, right up there along with the S&B curry blocks. It’s pretty tasty just following the instructions on the back of the box, but to elevate it into a truly delicious meal, I like to fry chopped onion and ginger strips in hot oil, add the ground pork and cook until it’s very crispy and browned, then add the block of tofu. My secret ingredient is a sprinkle of chopped pickled mustard greens (zha cai), a handful of fresh thinly sliced scallions, and cilantro. Top it all off with La Yu chili oil and it’s better than takeout.
Ground pork curry bowl with fried egg at home
Based on Just One Cookbook.
Japanese curry rice is a classic winter comfort food, but if you don’t have time to slow-cook beef or stew chicken, you can use ground pork (or chicken, beef, veggie protein) to make a delicious rice bowl. I followed these basic principles for Keema Curry here, adding frozen peas to the mix because they make everything more comforting. The resulting curry is very rich, it’s more of a topping for rice than something you’d eat a whole bowl of, which makes it perfect for leftovers and bento boxes. You really need to top it off with a CRISPY (and I said CRISPY) fried egg for the maximum flavor synergy, and a dash of soy sauce. Fry that egg in a good glug of olive oil, and don’t skimp on the hot steamed rice.
Agrumes givrés at Frenchette
241 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013
I am going to be honest with you, I have no idea what either “agrumes” or “givrés” means. The menu described it as “grapefruit spoom” which I am pretty sure they made up just to troll me. The waiter looked at me, saw the confused look on my face, and tried to describe the dessert in many words until finally he gave up and said “basically it’s like an Orange Julius,” so I ordered it. I’ve never had an Orange Julius before but I always saw it at the mall growing up and wanted to try it. I am pretty sure this was nothing like an Orange Julius, which I believe is a creamsicle slushy in a large styrofoam cup, but it was absolutely delicious. I may present a very tough image but inside I am very simple and there is nothing on Earth that possibly makes me happy more quickly than being presented with a fancy ice-cream-like dessert in an actual sundae dish. Not only was the (essentially citrus sorbet) beautifully plated in a little metal sundae cup, it was tucked inside a sugared, hollowed out orange which my dining companion told me was definitely not edible, but he was wrong and I definitely ate it.
Hot Choccy of the Week: Fresh mint, dairy-free hot chocolate <3
At home.
This week’s Hot Choccy of the Week is dairy-free (if you don’t top it off with a mountain of whipped cream, like I did) and features fresh mint leaves, one of my favorite herbs of all time. Don’t be fooled by the fact that I used almond milk instead of whole milk; it’s extremely rich and thick and perhaps even more so because there isn’t dairy to thin out the chocolate. It’s a liquid dessert, perfect for sipping on when you’re working late. To make it, throw a sprig (4-5 leaves) of fresh mint into the bottom of a small saucepan. Pour in 8oz of vanilla almond milk, and whisk in a tablespoon of cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, and splash of vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and almost simmering. Turn the heat down, and stir in two tablespoons (1oz) of dark chocolate chips. Turn the heat off and stir until melted and smooth. Add a splash of maple syrup or agave nectar to taste. Pour into your cutest mug, and top off with a big mountain of coconut whipped cream. If I put on a little “coffee shop ambiance” from YouTube, it almost feels like I’m working in a cafe with my laptop.
Have a good long weekend,
Soph
P.S. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being a reader. Please support my writing by buying a paid subscription for yourself (or a friend!) so that I can continue to keep writing in the new year.