No longer updating, but hope you enjoy the recipes!
Unfortunately, I got too busy to go back to blogging, after I was forced to take a break from it in 2015 because of tendonitis.
But you can still follow my cooking, eating, and travels on instagram: (@spontaneoustomato)
Christmas Tamales with Chicken & Poblanos
I like having yearly traditions. Especially when they involve food.
Every year around mid-December, my parents host a gigantic winter solstice party. The party is kind of a brunch and partly a potluck, but no small portion of the potluck offerings are due to my sister spending about three solid days in the kitchen beforehand, baking several types of quiches, mini tarts, cakes, and breads. The day before (and day of) the party, everyone in my family goes all out, cleaning the house and moving around the furniture, simmering cloves in apple cider, making winter fruit salads, assembling trays of pita/hummus/feta/olives/tomatoes, baking cheese in phyllo dough, lighting candles, and distributing bowls of chocolate kisses and pistachios around the house.
It’s a lot of work but even more reward. (And I’m not just talking about all the cheese, crackers, and brownies that are leftover to snack on for the rest of the week.) Sharing food with people you love makes it worth it. But it’s more than that, too; there is something wonderful, wintery, and refreshingly old-fashioned about putting your life on hold for hours, or even days, to take on a massive cooking project with family or friends. You put on some good music, and you settle in to the work. Maybe your feet or back will be sore by the end of the day, but your kitchen will be wrapped in the lingering warmth from the oven, and your home will smell good, and you will have an amazing sense of accomplishment– one you couldn’t get just from spending the day at work or answering e-mails. You’ve not only created a feast, you’ve made memories, too.
Tom Kha Gai Soup and Ginger Coconut Rice
Tom Kha Gai soup is far and away my favorite appetizery dish to order in a Thai restaurant (often as an entrée).
I like it better than Tom Yum soup because of the richness of the coconut milk. And I like it better than other milky soups because the coconut milk is not too creamy or overpowering; it is perfectly balanced by the sour hints of lemon grass and lime leaves, and the zing of chilies.
The first time I ever made Tom Kha Gai* at home, I pulled the recipe out of a Thai cookbook, and was remarkably happy with the results. So I’ve been sticking to that recipe– with only a few little tweaks– ever since. This time, I was flipping through that same cookbook marveling at how I should really try out more of its recipes,** when I stumbled across one for “Ginger-Infused Toasted Coconut Jasmine Rice,” and thought, “I want to make that… right now!” (Good thing I always keep dried shredded coconut and fresh ginger in the house!)
Travel Photos: International Food with a Japanese Twist
I have often asserted that everything tastes better in Japan. Even Italian food.
I stand by my claim that it is rare to encounter a meal at a Japanese restaurant that is mediocre, let alone unsatisfactory. The portions may be small, but they usually range from satisfying to spectacular.
I might, though, want to amend my statement to say that many things also taste a bit different in Japan. Restaurants often advertise items on their menus as Itaria-fuu (Italian style) or Tai-fuu (Thai style), but I suspect what they really mean is Nihon-fuu Itaria-ryouri (Japanese-style Italian food) or Nihon-fuu Tai-ryouri (Japanese-style Thai food).
Japanese-style Spaghetti, with mushrooms, seaweed, and shiso.
Continue Reading: Travel Photos: International Food with a Japanese Twist…
Kale Curry with Homemade Paneer
Spinach or kale? That’s often the question. This web comic ode to kale says it all, although don’t get me wrong, I love spinach, too. But when a friend visited me recently and taught me how to MAKE PANEER (!?!!), I just had to cook up some saag/palak paneer (mustard leaf or spinach curry) right away, but I didn’t have enough spinach in the house. I did, however, have a brand new curly leafy bundle of kale in the fridge…
So I postponed my plans to make kale chips, and commenced the largest revision to my tried-and-true saag paneer recipe since 2007 (mainly because I like to give kale about 10 minutes of cooking in liquid, whereas spinach seems to take only seconds, especially if you use frozen chopped spinach that’s already been cooked). And my kale saag paneer curry turned out Wonderfully.
Travel Photos: Kyoto Tofu and Takamatsu Udon
Every city in Japan has one (or several) meibutsu: a famous food product or dish that has been grown, or produced, or perfected in that region. Okayama, where I used to live, is known for its white peaches and muscat grapes, Kanazawa for its snow crab, Fukuoka and Sapporo are each famous for (different types of) ramen, and Hiroshima and Osaka are each famous for (different types of) okonomiyaki.
And just as United Statesians might not necessarily flock to New England just for the clam chowder, or to New Orleans just for the gumbo, but will still surely try to sample a bit of each while they’re in town, meibutsu are often seen as a nearly essential aspect of tourism and travel.
And of souvenir buying! The Japanese omiyage industry thrives on a traveler’s sense of obligation to return home (and to the workplace), with a box of individually-wrapped rice crackers or cookies or mochi or pudding cups– usually some type of meibutsu depending on the region visited. Enough to share with nearly every single acquaintance not lucky enough to have accompanied the lucky traveler. My guess is that edible souvenirs probably outnumber inedible souvenirs in Japan by at least 3 to 1.
Tofu salad at a Yudofu restaurant, Kyoto
But back to the edibles…
This trip, I went out of my way at least once in pursuit of a meal. Kagawa prefecture (on the island of Shikoku) is famous for a type of udon (thick wheat noodles) called Sanuki. I went to Takamatsu city, in Kagawa, for an afternoon just to walk around, explore a bit, and eat some udon.
Continue Reading: Travel Photos: Kyoto Tofu and Takamatsu Udon…
Crêpes with Homemade Applesauce
Almost everything I have in my kitchen (besides the odd thrift store purchase), I owe to my sisters.
My younger sister used to work at a gift/cookware store where she got discounts on dishes and kitchen gadgets, and my two older sisters have ordered many beautiful dishes to be delivered to my doorstep since I moved to California. Their birthday present for me this year was an electric crêpe griddle (inspired, I think, by this post about all the crêpes I ate in Paris), and it has already gotten more use than I ever would have expected. Not only are crêpes easy to make, but they are, of course, super versatile.
spontaneous tomato 
