The meow mix edition

I just yap about some things I ate.

Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, it’s a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Read past posts here, and please follow my Instagram, @fivethingsiate, where you can find photos of this week’s recommendations.

Ina Garten’s Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies at home

Recipe here.

It must be hard to be Ina Garten, because she’s never released a single miss in her entire life. I would probably crack under that pressure, but then again I am not living in the Hamptons surrounded by my friends. Her baked goods are consistently top-notch, and this latest recipe I tried, for oatmeal chunk cookies, was no exception. These are the single best oatmeal cookies I’ve made in my entire life, full stop. I omitted cranberries and I used a bag of Guittard super cookie chips I had stashed in the freezer, which I highly recommend. (More on that below.) They bake up beautifully caramel-brown, with a lacy, crispy edge, and a chewy center. Add this to your holiday cookie baking list, stat.

Guittard Super Cookie Chips at Whole Foods

Here’s what it looks like.

So remember when I told you I bought a bag of these in August? And that I’d let you know if I got around to baking with them? Well, three months later, I have! I forgot who told me to buy these chocolate chips (I think it was on Instagram? So if it was you, can you let me know?), but they’re seriously life changing. Chocolate chips is not quite the right word, they’re more like medallions, and they’re so much more than chips. Personally I HATE the texture of chopped chocolate bars in chocolate chip cookies, or those chunks or morsels you can get. But, these disc shaped medallions are absolute perfection. The reason I hate chunks, morsels, or chopped chocolate bars is that I detest shards in cookies. This is chocolate, not broken glass.  48% chocolate is the perfect blend of sweet and milky, so it’s also a great snacking chocolate.

Cardamom coffee syrup at home

Recipe

Cardamom is expensive but boy is she worth it. Especially if you use it to make cardamom syrup for your coffee and tea. Cardamom in lattes is an absolute game changer. To make the syrup, simply bring ½ cup white sugar and ½ cup water to a simmer in a pot with a tablespoon of crushed green cardamom pods. Stir until sugar dissolves. I didn’t bother to drain the syrup because I figured the pods would still release favor as it sat in the fridge, but next time I might after letting it steep overnight, because it was annoying to filter out by the spoonful. A spoonful of homemade cardamom syrup goes perfectly swirled into a shot of espresso, a latte, or a cafe au lait (my drink of choice). 

Savory Special Tofu Pudding at Fong On

81 Division St, New York, NY 10002

Haters will say the tofu pudding at Fong On (which blew up in popularity after being featured on the NY Times) is overpriced. At $9 for a small, they are probably right, but it’s a small price for me to pay for my exact cravings to be satisfied. The savory special – soft fresh tofu topped with dried shrimp, fried onions, hot sauce, and fresh green scallions – is my idea of a perfect light meal on a crisp fall day. If you’ve never had fresh soft tofu before, bear in mind that this is nothing like the square bricks you might get at Trader Joe’s. So silky and tender, it tastes like steamed eggs or a savory custard, and is so light and fresh there’s barely any bean-y taste. The perfect antidote to daylight savings day.

Steamed rice cake, ginger flavor, at Fong On

81 Division St, New York, NY 10002

If you’ve never had traditional Chinese rice cakes (white sugar sponge cake) before, please be warned they’re nothing like mochi. Instead, the sweet cakes have a spongy, fluffy texture. It’s not for everyone, especially if you’re used to Western cake. For $7, you get a small takeout box packed to the brim with rice cakes at Fong On, which is both overpriced compared to its neighbors (46 Mott Street Bakery is a more traditional favorite), and a good deal if it weren’t in Chinatown. Personally, I don’t love steamed rice cake, as I prefer mochi or sponge cakes (my favorite!) and I found the ginger flavor to be true to its name very gingery, but too distracting for me. You’re probably better off at another bakery for a bargain, and sticking to the tofu pudding here.

XOXO,
Soph

P.S. Thanksgiving is coming up! Pls send me your pie recipes.. I’m still trying to chose mine!!