Pai Men Miyake

I don't even think I need to explain what's going on here at Pai Men Miyake, located at 188 State Street in Portland, Maine--the photos really say it all. 

Featured here are two must haves while dining at Pai Men Miyake--pork buns and ramen. The pork buns come with braised pork belly with gouchujang mayo and pepper relish nestled between two perfect pillowey buns. It is like a fluffy dough cloud with pork belly inside--what could be better? 

All the ramen is plentiful with pork belly as well. I believe what we're looking at here is the Tonkotsu-Shoyu Ramen (pork broth with soy egg, ginger root, mushrooms, scallion, pork belly, and nori) and the Miso Ramen (pork, chicken, and fish broth topped with pork belly, soy-marinated egg, scallion, and nori).

For some reason I associate eating Japanese ramen on rainy days. Escaping into Pai Men Miyake from a rainy Portland afternoon and slurping up noodles and pork broth sounds pretty ideal right now. If you find yourself in Portland craving authentic ramen or just need a pork bun fix, this is a great place to satisfy your desire. Enjoy!

Ginger Tea

We all know that getting sick sucks. Being sniffly, coughy, or nauseous is no fun. But what does this have to do with food?

Ginger.

It’s my favorite cure all home remedy. Sometimes you need to reach for the cold medicine, but ginger can also be a big help on the road to feeling better. Ginger has been used as a medicine for different ailments for centuries, but I primarily turn to it for the common cold (or when I’m cooking Chinese food). Some claim that it’s an “antiviral” food, but I don’t really know if it has been scientifically proven to help with colds. And I don’t really care because I know that it works! Ginger is also known to curb nausea, so if you’ve got a stomach bug it could be helpful as well.
 
Whenever I feel like I’m getting sick I make up a batch of homemade ginger tea. You can buy ginger in pill form at the store or premade ginger teabags, but I prefer to take it back to the basics and make ginger tea from scratch. And what’s better when you’re sick than a warm cup of tea?

First you start off with ginger root. I like to make a big batch of tea and save some in the fridge, so I usually get a lot of ginger. Peel the ginger with a sharp knife and cut it into chunks.

 

 

Then place the pieces of ginger in a pot and fill it with water. Bring the pot to a boil and allow the ginger to seep into the water for at least fifteen minutes. Sometimes I let it go longer if I want to make a particularly potent batch. When the water begins the change color you know the ginger is starting to work some of its magic.

 

And that's pretty much it--just ladle out a cupful when you think the tea is ready. Some people like to add a little lemon and honey, which can also be helpful to soothe a sore throat. I prefer it straight up, but that’s just me being hard core as usual. I love the spiciness of the ginger and there’s something about such an intense flavor that just makes me feel like I’m doing something healthy for myself.

I realize that this post is not exactly overflowing with scientific evidence and that some will say that consuming ginger to prevent or remedy the common cold is an old wives’ tale, but from my own experience I’ve found it to work very well. Of course, there’s shame in turning to the pharmacy in a time of need, but many people prefer to try home remedies first. Even if the ginger tea can’t make you completely better, the warmth and spiciness of it still makes you feel good when you’re ill. Stay healthy and be well!

Song of the Week: Tea for Two

Just tea for two, and two for tea...

Taste of Thai

If you’re looking for some tasty Thai food in Ithaca, I recommend checking out Taste of Thai. Located on the Ithaca Commons, Taste of Thai offers a variety of delicious Thai dishes.

To start off I ordered a Thai iced tea. These drinks are one of my weaknesses, and they are the perfect accompaniment to spicy Thai dishes. The sweet tea and the creamy milk cool down the palate, getting you ready for the next bite.

Lara and I decided to share a couple appetizers and an entrée. First up was Poh Pia Tod—Thai spring rolls. They had a nice, crispy exterior and were filled with vegetables and glass noodles. They came with a sweet chili dipping sauce.

We also shared Yum Nua—a spicy beef salad with grilled slices of flank steak with onion, cucumber, and tomato in a spicy lime dressing. Taste of Thai has a spiciness rating from one to five on any spicy dishes. Lara said her limit was a two, based off her former experiences with their curry dishes. But the two for the beef salad was still pretty mild—both of us could have gone spicier, but we still enjoyed the salad.

For the entrée we went for a classic Pad Thai. It was served with thin rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, chives, and bean sprouts. We added a nice squeeze of lime and some crushed peanuts and devoured this tasty noodle dish.

Taste of Thai was a wonderful dining experience. For great Thai food in Ithaca, it’s definitely worth a visit.

Quote of the Week: Cup of Tea

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."

--C. S. Lewis

Tower of Cosmic Reflections

On another day that I spent on my own exploring Portland I hit up the Lan Su Chinese Garden and the Tower of Cosmic Reflections in Chinatown. That's right--a teahouse called the Tower of Cosmic Reflections. How could I resist a place like that?


The garden was beautiful. It was exquisitely authentic and evoked the same feelings of the Chinese gardens I visited in Beijing and Sichuan province when I lived in China for a summer. There were beautiful walkways, bridges, pavilions, and lovely landscaping. A tranquil pond offered a reflection of the impressive yet welcoming architecture, and soft green plants made me forget that I was surrounded by an urban environment. The only difference from China? There were way more white people and barely any Chinese people. So it goes...

The tea house was located right in the garden. I ordered an old growth tea called Banzhang Zhuan Cha, which was served in a ceremonial style.


In addition to the tea I ordered some baozi (steamed buns). I used to grab baozi for breakfast on my way to class at the Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu. They are typically a thick steamed bun filled with a meat or vegetable stuffing. I usually opt for the pork filling, but the Tower of Cosmic Reflections only served baozi stuffed with a vegetable and mushroom filling. They also cost about ten times as much as the baozi in China, but that can be expected. They were still very tasty.


The baozi were on the lighter side as far as baozi go, which is what I prefer. Sometimes the bun is so thick that it weighs heavy and makes it so there's not much room for the filling. These ones were more thin and came with a little oil and sesame seeds. The filling was made of shredded and cooked green vegetables with small pieces of mushrooms. The dipping sauce seemed to be composed of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and black and white sesame seeds.


A light cucumber salad in rice wine vinegar accompanied the steamed buns and was topped with more sesame seeds. The salad was also topped with little red goji berries. They offered a nice sweetness against the vinegary sauce.


Because the tea was served in a ceremonial style, there was a very specific process that needed to be followed. It began with the server giving a description of the tea. She held it out for me to view and to smell the earthy pieces of brick tea. I could smell the forest, the dirt, the past.

Next the clay pot was filled with hot water and also had water poured over it to purify the vessel and warm it up. Then the water was emptied from the clay pot and the tea was placed inside. Hot water was poured into the pot and the tea was left alone to infuse.


After a few minutes the tea was poured from the pot into another vessel. From that vessel, a small amount of the tea was poured into a tall smelling cup.




The drinking cup was then placed on top of the smelling cup.


Next the drinking and smelling cups were turned upside down (this step was a bit precarious!).


The smelling cup was lifted out of the drinking cup. With every new pour I breathed in the subtle earthy scents that wafted out of the smelling cup.


Now the tea was ready for drinking. It was sipped in small doses out of the delicate drinking cup, each taste a new and refreshing experience.


The various infusions of the tea were rather light in color--a honey brown in the pot and almost golden green in the little drinking cup. The tea was foresty and earthy. It tasted like it was solidly rooted in the earth and yet exhibited the freedom of the sky.

I spent about two hours in the Tower of Cosmic Reflections, sipping my tea and appropriately reflecting on cosmic matters. What brought me to this very moment in time? How did universal occurrences align to bring me right here, right now? It was truly a matter of intuition that brought me to Portland. It started with a dream, turned to a two-second text message--reaching out to see if my communication would be answered. And it was. Then a simple invitation. A flash of realization that, yes, I needed to be there. But even though cosmically the opportunity arose I still needed to take action. Curiosity led to searches for flights, a look at finances, and a desire to fulfill my passion for pursuing new adventures.

And isn't that what it's about? Not just paying attention to signs but then acting on them? I could have let the notion go--float away as a possibility. But instead I turned that possibility into my reality, and the universe was pleased.

I've been filled recently with a sense of calm excitation, an eagerness to pursue various aspects of life but without the sense of rushing. It's like I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing at every moment. The flavors of the tea and the whole ceremonial process of preparing and drinking the tea reminded me of that sense of rightness that has recently permeated my life. The tea was light--it was not looking to overpower and yet it still had a nice intensity. It spoke clearly without shouting.

I stopped to appreciate the scent of each cup before I took the first sip. I allowed the flavors to waft over me, awakening the senses as the traditional tea with deep roots in the past of an ancient country so far away infused my being with its delicateness.

Like many traditional practices, this style of drinking tea promotes mindfulness. Each step in the process was permeated with purpose and simplicity. The action of each step could be pared down to just one verb…

Look.
Smell.
Purify.
Warm.
Pour.
Infuse.
Pour.
Pour.
Pour.
Smell.
Sip.
Taste.

Similar to meditation there was an aspect to focus on at all times. Rather than focusing on breathing or on a mantra as with meditation, here the focus shifted and yet helped the mind to remain present throughout the whole ceremonial process. Each sip woke up the mind again, reminding me to stay present as it interacted with the body, creating sensations through taste and tea and water.

As with so much in Portland, I felt at home in the Tower of Cosmic Reflections. It was easy and comfortable, and all was right with in the world and the universe...

Song of the Week: Around the World in a Tea Daze

If You Could Have a ____ with Anyone, Who Would it Be?

Last night while I neared the end of Anthony Bourdain’s The Nasty Bits I began to ponder what it would be like to meet him. I would be walking down the streets of New York City with no particular destination in mind, and then he would appear—just standing on the sidewalk. “Tony!” I would call out as though we were old friends, running up to him to introduce himself. He would look to me and smile. After becoming enamored by my charming personality he would of course accept my offer to grab a pint at some local dive. I would select something like Guinness—rich, dark and smooth, savoring every sip as we chatted about life, traveling, and food. Because if there’s anyone I’d like to have a beer with, it’s Anthony Bourdain.

So this whole fantasy got me thinking—well, yes, I’d like to sit down and have a beer with Bourdain, but what if it was a cup of tea? a glass of wine? a mug of coffee? a taste of sake? a classic cocktail? And that got my mind and stomach rolling in a whole new direction.

Let’s start with tea. First, I think I need to break this down into two varieties—green and black. Both types of tea evoke different experiences and hence different ideal companions. 

Green tea I associate with Asia and Buddhism, and therefore my childhood. When I was in third grade my teacher had the class select the three people, alive or dead, who we wanted to meet—Buddha was definitely on my list, so let’s leave him there with our beverage of choice as green tea. Or if he’s not available I’ll go with Isabella Stewart Gardener, so long as we drink the tea during one her wacky Japanese tea ceremonies in Boston during the Gilded Age.

For black tea it’s George Orwell all the way. Ever since I read his essay “A Nice Cup of Tea” I’ve always associated Orwell with this drink. We would sit in and English garden and follow his eleven points for making the perfect cup, carrying on a nice chat about whatever someone like Orwell likes to talk about.

Wine is also an easy choice—Ernest Hemingway. Hem and me would sit in the heat of a Spanish summer and quaff red wine from wine skins with abandon. It would be very The Sun Also Rises, sans the whole impotency thing.

F. Scott Fitzgerald should be on this list somewhere, but what would we drink? Probably anything.

My cocktail of choice is a martini made with Bombay Sapphire gin served slightly dry, straight up, and with olives. There’s only one companion for a drink like that—Humphrey Bogart. Well, either Bogie or Blair Waldorf, depending on the topic of conversation and whether or not fictional characters are allowed.

For sake I’d like to be in beautiful Kyoto with Iron Chef Morimoto. We might not be able to communicate much, but we would sip on our Japanese rice wine as he prepared clean and fresh traditional sushi.

Then there’s coffee, but I just can’t seem to decide…There’s no individual who particularly screams coffee for me right now, so I’ll have to keep pondering that one.

We’ve all got those people in the world we’d like to meet, but under what circumstances and over what drinks? The people on the list don’t have to be ones you admire the most or even find particularly interesting—they should just be the people you feel most suited to consume a particular beverage with. So, if you could sit down and have a ____ with anyone, who would it be?

Song of the Week: Think About Your Troubles

Happy Birthday Tara! Pour yourself a cup of tea and think about the bubbles...