Thursday

Sunday's Post

Tonight, my Dad and I shared a bowl of yaka mee (yaka mein for all you sticklers).  Growing up, yaka mee was my chicken soup.  I didn't have it very often, despite how easy it was to make, but when I did it reminded me from where I came.  It brought me back home.  

Some things can bring it back immediately.  Some things bring me right back to the house where I was raised in northwest D.C.  Small things.  The smell of popcorn made on the stove, the trumpet solo on Sunday Morning, walnuts in the shell with a nutcracker..... and yaka mee. 

I can see my Dad right now, digging on a bowl for breakfast while catching up on EastEnders.  For those of you who knew my Dad, you know how positively hilarious that last part is...

So in the last few days, I've felt like my Dad has been right next to me.  Little things tipped me off to his visit.  Super interesting excursions at work that he would have loved (mini CSI episode with Kari Bruwelheide, forensic anthropologist), special songs that randomly play on Pandora... back to back.... to back, and running into Jose Andres outside of PAUL (right?) in Penn Quarter.  I can't properly explain it, but I feel like I wasn't the only one on the couch last night watching Murder on the Orient Express.

Anyway, tonight I took a trip back home, but in my very own kitchen in Bloomingdale.  I didn't have all the traditional ingredients, but I made it work and it was delicious.  Even more so with the Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce added at the end.  The telltale sign my Dad was right there.  Hot sauce is so much more his thing.

Miss you, Daddy.  Happy Father's Day.


Tonight I used chicken stock where I should have used beef and pork where I should have used brisket.  Apparently.  That's the way some do it, but I suppose we mellowed it out up here.  When I grew up, in place of the pork was chicken.  Oh, and did I mention I used soba noodles instead of traditional spaghetti, but you get where I'm going, right? 

Slice grilled pork into thin fillets and chop scallion for garnish.  Prepare spaghetti pasta in salted water and hard boil an egg.  Place pasta, pork, scallions and egg in a bowl and cover with chicken broth.  Add a bit of soy sauce and hot chili sauce.  

Enjoy

The Deal:
Calories: 304; Fat: 13g; Protein: 29g; Carbs: 16g