We were driving home from LA after a week of backpacking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. As we often do in LA, we stopped in China Town on our way home. Generally we pick up some dim sum items to take home, like custards and sesame balls filled with red bean paste. This time however Jacob, my husband, suggested we bring home a duck and invite our neighbors over for dinner!
So there we were, traveling home with the duck in the cooler and eight hours to plan out our meal. We decided on Taro rolls (using the recipe from the Polynesian Cultural Center http://www.polynesia.com/taro-rolls.html) – thankfully I still had some frozen Poi; fried rice using some frozen pork we had and a dessert of custards.
To prepare for our meal took a few different grocery store trips, a norm for us. We hit Trader Joe’s first for the staples and then made two trips to our neighborhood Korean market (two trips because we forgot the Hoisen sauce – a must!)
I was in charge of the Taro rolls. They are made using fresh Poi, made from a Taro root. Poi is not the easiest thing to make, so I was happy to still have some frozen!
Jacob, my imaginative chef of a husband who does not need recipes, created amazing fried rice – made even better by using eggs fresh from our chickens.
The custards, using a recipe we found on the internet tasted just like the ones we brought home from China Town. But here is a note – remember to grease the custard pans, I was scrubbing those things for days!
Our neighbors (and friends) brought Sake to compliment the meal.
In all it was a success, a wonderful meal with dear friends bringing together a main dish that traveled a couple hundred miles.