Chinese New Year is coming up Feb. 1. While we are busy getting the house cleaned up, buying ingredients to make traditional snacks and cooking a feast for family, making almond cookies as gifts is another way to celebrate. Classic almond cookies, round and golden like coins, symbolize good fortune. They are more popular during […]
Chinese cuisine
Posted inEat + Drink
The Soup Doctor
Fall is quietly approaching and chilly days are not too far away. It’s the season to nourish our bodies, as my mom used to say. She would make special seasonal soups to prevent us from getting colds and to keep us healthy. She would spend hours in the kitchen making a pot of soup with […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Tomato and Egg Stir-fry
When my editor suggested I write about the tomato and egg stir-fry dish I’d posted on social media, I thought, “There aren’t any unique stories (or secrets) behind this iconic dish.” Although this is a dish that’s popular across China, it’s simple and almost too plain to talk about. Then I thought about how life […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Wrapping Up Zongzi
Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) are a classic treat to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival for Chinese all over the world. This festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and when I was growing up in China, I always looked forward to it. There was so much preparation for making the dumplings […]
Posted inNews
NCJ Preview: Vaccinations and Spicy Noodles
What’s with these empty vaccination appointments? With cases spiking once again, public health officials are trying new strategies to get shots in arms. We’re also sharing a recipe for heating things up with cold sesame-peanut noodles. Hit subscribe to get weekly updates on stories from around the county. Related Stories
Posted inEat + Drink
Feeding My Nostalgia with a Bowl of Sesame Noodles
Rice is a staple for most Southern Chinese, whereas mian (flour products) is a staple for northerners. Being from the south, I was not accustomed to flour noodles growing up; we only had mung bean noodles and rice noodles occasionally. After I moved to the U.S., I discovered all kinds of noodle dishes from mild […]
Posted inArts + Scene
After the Feast, Congee
Editor’s note: If you you went full turkey yesterday and find yourself still recovering from a run with the tryptophan dragon, longing for a piece of that same feeling but wary of where it will take you, fret not. There’s a balance to be found. In this piece originally published in 2017, Journal arts and […]
Posted inNews
NCJ Preview: Early Prison Releases, Socially Distant Hikes and Lao Dishes on the Menu
This week we’re taking a tour around the county with photographer Mark Larson, who’s turned socially distant hiking into a mission. We’re also looking at how Public Health and parole staff are handling the logistics and health concerns regarding early release for state prisoners. And if you’ve been waiting for Lao food to show up […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Hunan Restaurant’s Chinese and Lao Revival
Back in January, Ronnie Worasen was walking through the empty kitchen of Hunan Restaurant (2912 E St., Eureka), rattling off the changes he was planning, from painting the dining room to updating the menu. Behind him, his father John Worasen was shaking a blackened wok over a flame, testing out the dishes they’d be serving […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Gathering Chestnuts in Late Fall
Although it was late autumn, the afternoon sun was still hot in Willow Creek. I brought my friends along to McIntosh Farm for our first chestnut gathering. Since we had no experience with the spiny husks, we only brought latex gloves. Luckily our host provided us some thick garden gloves. Stomping, pulling, picking and avoiding […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Chinese Lamb Stew
As the remaining sunlight shone through my kitchen widow, I was busy cleaning the wild chanterelle and porcini mushrooms I had just received. I love fall — the crisp air, the harvest joy and the anticipation of upcoming holidays. Lamb is my favorite meat to make during fall: lamb stew, lamb and chive dumplings, lamb […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Lunch and Legacy at Chin’s
On a Monday afternoon, Mary Chin sits in the back corner booth of Chin’s Café, her coiffed silver hair bright against the orange vinyl. It’s been two weeks since her husband Ben Chin died on May 20 at the age of 97. Beside her sit her sons Ben Chin Jr. and Don Chin. Mary’s niece […]