jook cook welcomes the year of the ox!

happy chinese new year everyone! lots of fun things in the next few weeks to bring in the new year. more about those later. but first! jook!

yesterday we had a jook cook off at diana's house. ohhh man what a throw down! my opponent - dave. master of all things flavorwave. his culinary genius is astounding - evident by his knowledge of seasonings, meats, and his dedication to pastrami. (a brick of pastrami was carefully walked across the brooklyn bridge because of a transportation strike and flown all the way back to california. yeah...hardcore. it was pastrami from katz deli. i really need to try it sometime.) i learned that i was using ginger that was too young and about the differences in flavor depending on which part of the ginger root you use.

mine was the traditional cantonese style pei dan and pork jook. I used the special pot in which you bring it to a boil for 15 min and then transfer it to another case to slow cook. pork was marinated in soy sauce, salt and a little white pepper. added very thin slices of ginger to the jook. also brought some spicy scallops and green onions to put on top. dave made an abalone jook made with chicken stock. he was supposed to make the jook taiwan style with previously cooked rice. however diana misunderstood a text message and there was no premade rice. haha. btw the lack of cooked rice then started a poll to decipher said text message. i remained impartial.

jen made awesome snickerdoodles which we topped with vanilla ice cream right outta the oven. dave also made some mackerel in the flavorwave oven seasoned with salt and chili. all yummm.

was a fun evening full of good food and great chat...helped along by wine and vodka tonics. haha. i fell asleep before 11.

pics to follow