This is my new favorite thing.
It's my top secret discovery that I'm keeping to myself so don't tell anyone. Making it causes me to feel like a genuine chef when I'm actually just a regular guy. But now the things that chefs do, things that even Japanese chefs do are much less a mystery. I'm all, I know what you're doing back there, Mr. Japanese chef guy. I know what's in all those bottles. I know what they do, how they combine. I know what those Japanese words mean.
I served this only once and the guy that was here for lunch will eat anything. The weird thing about it is each individual ingredient is so uninspiring, actually not that great tasting alone, but when combined the result is extraordinary and it's so fast. It comes together nearly instantly.The guy that I showed it to went, "Wow." And then when we ate it, "Wow! Wow! Wow!"
"Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow."
That't a pretty good reaction, I'd say.
I've never given cabbage its due.
That's because I didn't know about Napa cabbage. I only knew about the green kind and the purple, and frankly, those are not inspiring. They have the advantage of lasting f-o-r-e-v-e-r in the refrigerator, nearly indestructible. And the thick white part of Napa is delicious. It's watery. Not at all what you expect. This half Napa was in the refrigerator so long it started to turn. I pulled off the outer leaves that were deteriorated and trimmed off the inner side, and the whole of the remainder was good as new. Those clever Chinese hit this one out of the park. I wonder why it's not an American gardiner's favorite. Because it should be right up there with tomatoes and jalapeños.
Speaking of gardens, I planted a white eggplant to put with the flowers and it's turned out to be one of my favorite plants. It's tall, like a Christmas tree, works very well in a pot with other plants, and has a single white fruit in its center. If there were bees around here then there'd be more eggplants because it flowered but they went un-pollinated. Maybe I could do that myself with a brush. I've never cooked one of these white eggplants. It looks like an actual egg.
Can you see it? It's like an egg inside a fiddle-leaf fig.
I imagine it'd do better in full sun. This is shaded by a larger planter. And the whole thing is in shade half the day. Then when the sun hits BLAM full on.
You should see the whole thing. It's spectacular, for a simple terrace garden. People around here regard me as Mr. Horticulturist but I actually don't know what I'm doing.
These were a month ago. It's even more dense now. The vines have crawled up and entangled the baskets on the railing, unifying the four baskets into one composition. Now they're all blooming. I'll have to take updated pictures. These don't do it today's justice, but the whole thing is fun all along. It's exciting to watch it fill out and come together. And each time I think what I'll do differently next time.
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