Pork Chop Over Rice

I have a confession. I misled you. That last post about tea eggs...it was actually a teaser for this post right here. Although those marbled beauties are fine and dandy to eat alone, their real destiny is to play a supporting role in this plate of porky goodness.

When I was a teenager and lived with my parents in the Dallas suburbs, we used to go to this hole-in-the-wall Taiwanese cafe that served shaved ice, pork chop over rice, and a bunch of other Chinese street food that I don't particularly remember. I woke up one day about a month ago with a serious craving for those same fried pork chops from my days of yore. And instead of wandering over to Manhattan to find a place in Chinatown, somehow my squirrely brain went straight to the least logical resolution: I have to make it myself! This is the recipe I finally landed on (with some help from this amazing YouTube channel).

Chinese Tea Eggs

There are certain memories I have of my childhood that are more vivid than most. I remember my mom used to spend an entire day stewing an astronomical amount of food to eat that same night and many more nights to follow. It was usually things like seaweed, tofu, different parts of a pig (ear, tongue), and occasionally she would throw in a few hard boiled eggs and let them soak up all the flavors the previous occupants of the stewing liquid imparted.

Those eggs weren't the exact same thing as these tea eggs, they weren't delicately cracked to create a perfect marbled pattern (my mom is far too practical for that), and I don't actually think the stewing liquid she used had any tea in it, but the other aromatics were very similar. The first time I made tea eggs myself, the smell elicited an overwhelming feeling of childhood nostalgia. So even though they're not the exact same thing I ate growing up, they're pretty darn close.

Upstate New York

This past weekend I had the pleasure of learning from two of the most talented and knowledgeable food bloggers/stylists/wonder-women ever. Eva from Adventures in Cooking and Carey from Reclaiming Provincial generously hosted a food photography and styling workshop in Upstate New York that a small group of us were able to attend. Admittedly, I was really nervous before going since I only started my blog five short months ago and I still feel so new to all of this...also meeting new people gives me anxiety. But everyone was so open and friendly that my fears were quickly quelled. I met so many amazing people, learned so much, and ate until I thought I would burst.

Homemade Croissants

I think this is as far as I go. What else is left to do, left to master, after making homemade croissants? Have I peaked? Is it all downhill from here?

I jest of course, but these croissants. These croissants! So flaky, so buttery, so good. Three-years-ago me (you know, the one who was making hockey puck biscuits because she couldn't read directions) would have never thought that current me would ever successfully make croissants. I won't sugarcoat it though, they are a labor of love. They take an entire day to make, and that's if you start early in the morning. I find it more manageable to split the process over two days. The technique is fairly straightforward, you just need lots of time, a rolling pin, a ruler, and a heck of a lot of elbow grease.