Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

"'Shred your scallions.' How do you shred scallions? Oh, it's a knife thing I've never done before. Well, I'll just be careful and...."

Trying to get Jenn's Great Reset off and running despite all the stuff going on this year. Getting the streams back up and running are happening soon. Comics streams this week on Discord, eventually. Need to get started on the scripts.

I'm trying to get my creative butt off the floor, I just keep getting knocked back down....

This Week's Meals (1/4): Tangy Spicy Shrimp

This meal kind of has a story behind it. Heck even the making of this meal has a funny story behind it.

Right off the bat - I LOVE SHRIMP. De-vein and boil the heck out of it, and I'll eat it all day long. So when I order Chinese food, and something has shrimp in it, if I'm in the mood, I'll pick it up.

My main years in Austin were 2001-2006, and again 2014-2015. During those years, my main source of Chinese food was Super China - Austin and one of the appetizers I love love LOVED was "Tangy Spicy Shrimp." Oddly, I've never seen this offered anywhere else. After leaving Austin, I found my local Chinese place, Twin Dragon Chinese Restaraunt, pretty darned good but they didn't have it either.

Over the years, I've tried to make my own version, or look online for a recipe (I found stuff that seemed close, but when I got it, it wasn't). One seemed VERY close, but it was served cold, and mine wasn't cold, so I never made it.

Finally, I just got fed up and decided to go to the source. I actually called up Austin Super China and decided to ask them what the heck it was. I wasn't expecting an answer, honestly, but I just called in and laid it out on the line "I loved your Tangy Spicy Shrimp, but I live in Seattle now, and no one out here has it. Do you know if it goes by another name, or if you know the name in Chinese?" And the guy on the other end says "It's sometimes called Cold Shrimp." I asked if he had a recipe, and of course they said they couldn't give that out, which I was fine with. I had another name I could look online for....

..."cold shrimp." That reminds me that I saw a recipe for "Tangy Spicy Shrimp" served cold. What if THAT'S actually it? So I tried to remember the search terms for the recipe, and found it! From the New York Times of all things, in 1975! https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/29/archives/three-specialties-from-chef-wang.html

So, I decided to give it a try. And when I calculated the nutritional info, the recipe he gave was pretty miniscule, making barely one serving of what I'd want out of a meal. So I scaled it up to five meals, which lead to some ridiculous measurement.

Scaled up, I needed five cups of chopped scallions. I bought three bundles of scallions, which was about 21 scallions. That made only three cups. Holy cow. A third of a cup of garlic chili paste AND Hot Oil. And 7 1/2 tablespoons of sesame oil.

Except it wasn't 7 1/2 tablespoons of sesame oil. It was TEASPOONS. But when I saw "5 tablespoons garlic chili paste" and hot oil, 7 1/2 tablespoons of sesame oil didn't sound ridiculous.

That said, even with FAR too much sesame oil, it still tastes good, and is far far FAR closer to what Austin Super China had as Tangy Spicy Shrimp. I'm not gonna call it just yet, but instead, I'll make it again with the right amount of sesame oil, since I think more of the garlic chili paste flavor will come through, which was the main flavor in Austin Super China's Tangy Spicy Shrimp.

# Tangy Spicy Shrimp

The New York Times
1.0 servings

0.5 pound raw shrimp
1.0 cup scallions (finely chopped)
1.0 clove garlic (minced)
1.0 teaspoon fresh red chili pepper (finely chopped)
1.0 teaspoon fresh ginger (finely chopped)
1.0 teaspoon dry sherry
salt
0.5 teaspoon ground white pepper
1.0 teaspoon five spices powder
1.0 tablespoon garlic chili paste
1.0 tablespoon hot oil
1.5 teaspoons sesame oil

1 - Shell and devein the shrimp. If the shrimp are large, cut them in half.
2 - Bring enough water to cover the shrimp to the boil.
3 - Add the shrimp and cook about one minute.
4 - Drain the shrimp and run under cold running water.
5 - Pat the shrimp dry. Refrigerate.
6 - Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the shrimp. Serve cold.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Watched a good deal of the new Urusei Yatsura series today with the girls. "My" Lum is the later 80s early 90s version of Lum with the fuller hair and more angular face.

But after watching the new series, I think the new lum is my fave Lum design. <3

How old was this chicken, KFC?

Oh no. Oh no no no.

Dinner with the fam.

The patient at the hospital recovering.

I AM IN THIS EPISODE AND I DON'T LIKE IT

Tonight's TNG was Future Imperfect. I really LOVE the combadges used in the "Future" here. I wish they'd used them more.

THERE I DID IT I NAMED IT JENNFLIX

So after the Fdisk->Format->Reinstall of Linux Mint, my copy for Gourmand/Gourmet Recipe Manager broke. It still opens, but I can't calculate nutritional info which I need for my diabetes. I'd also rather not switch over to Windows 11 just to calculate my nutritional information, so....

I like to visit the Centro Stontro Storico in the Municipinicipio.

Well. Let's dig in, shall we?

Radio New Zealand coming in strong enough to sound like it's next door. They're talking about the effects of typhoon flooding on farms from the typhoon that just hit there.

Happy Valentines Day

My Valentine (me) got me (also me) some nice chocolates for Valentine's Day.

Reseasoning panic #4

I went ahead and removed the comal from the water/vinegar soak, washed it to an inch of its life to make sure all the vinegar is washed off, and it's now reseasoning in the oven.

I've made the problem a billion times worse. I had small little orange patches of rust. Now the whole thing is orange. I'm only reseasoning it to seal the comal to keep it from rusting any further.

Once I get a job, I'm going to have someone profressionally restore it, and then put it away for good. I rarely use it as it is, (I make tortillas maybe once a year because I'm diabetic) and frankly, it's better I just have a cheapie non-stick griddle for stuff like that.

I just hope I didn't ruin it.

Reseasoning Panic #2 - The water-vinegar bath seems to be making the rust problem WORSE. It's definitely more orange now, and the rust patina isn't coming off.

Beginning to think I need to give this to someone to fix and then just put it away where I won't ruin it. I don't want to be the one who ruins an heirloom.

Reseasoning panic #1. The rust removal gel wasn't a gel when I opened it. This wouldn't have been a problem if I'd found this out BEFORE I SCRUBBED clean the comal. And I didn't want to reseason it with the rust patches. But I couldn't just LEAVE it.

Found another de-rusting technique using water and vinegar, so the comal is soaking in that right now. Hopefully that will do the trick.

If not, I'll just reseason it with the patches and try again next year with de-rusting gel. And this time CHECK the gel before I start.