the underground rice paper market ...

when i was younger, my aunt or granparents would get these stacks of special rice paper. my cousins and i used to make this concoction of lime juice, lots of very very hot thai chili peppers and soy sauce. recently i was craving these things, it's odd, i know, but i had to have them. my cousin lan didn't know where to get them either so we turn to my aunt, di em (pronounced yee-ahm). anyhow i guess it's not as simple as rolling up to a store or something, telling them how many sheets you'd like and being on your way. nope. it seems these things are only produced in the back alleys and secret basements of the southern california underground (kidding). she calls someone, tells them how much she wants and then picks them up from their house. beelan noted that once these people die or move, my connection is going to be a tad screwed.

unlike normal rice paper (probably the white kind everyone is aware of), this kind is a bit tougher, you have to really wet it with warm water. it's a tad sweet, maybe slight sour/salty. it pairs well with the spicy sauce that it gets dipped in. i honestly have never ever seen it used for anything else, outside of my grandpa making ginormous egg, sausage burritos in the morning once in a while. i can't imagine an eggroll or springroll made of this stuff, a bit too tough. it's a funky, tasty snack, although my concoction this time comprised of a lot too many habanero's, but it is quite tasty. so i was lucky lately, on a trip to the west coast for work, my aunt delivered me some. i guess i should stock up.

two month old abby ...

i seem to love babies, here's 2months or so abby, such a little cutie and a great little subject ...

and some more ari ...

it's clearly been insane lately, finally had time to sit back down and blog some tonight. here's a few more of ari from a few weeks ago, such a little character.

ari, preview ...

annat had her baby (i.e. my first maternity shoot) about three months ago, went back to shoot little ari. here's a teaser, will be processing this weekend after travels.

the standard hotel, hollywood ...

last week, will be back next week, but the standard was an interesting hotel to stay at. comfy bed, obscure furnishings, bright bold colors, it was great ...







manual stitch ...


most interesting of thermostat dials ...

what i ate today ...

i flew into la on sunday and was fortunate enough to spend some time and meet up with some friends and family. first up was the vietnamese noodle bar in glendale. it's yet another one of these locales where there are no signs on the storefront, just a simple number, no other markings. weird la'ians.

ordered up the shrimp eggrolls, a shrimp crepe, and bun bo (almost dry noodle soup). food was fantastic! eggrolls were piping hot and delicious.



crepe was crispy and tasty although my mother would probably say they were not exactly flavorful therefore not authentic.



and the bun bo, well i was disappointed when they brought the bowl out, because in my younger years when my mother or grandmother made this dish, it always came out with this deep caramel golden/reddish brown color. this serving was pale, stark, grey-ish. aesthetics aside, it was absolutely delicious!!!



well, after lunch, i headed down to westminster to see my grandparents and cousins, of course to eat! this time it was at brodard restaurant. i ordered the usual vietnamese fare of: eggrolls, summer rolls:


a bowl of meatball (nem nuong) noodles:


as well as munching off many orders on the table of nem nuong spring rolls, which were absolutely delicious:


all in all, i pretty much spent the day eating, it was quite delicious and i would love to return back to both locations ...

andrew and michelle engaged ...

here's the slideshow set of andrew and michelle's engagement session last weekend ... click here for the slideshow ...

noise or no noise ...

while out in chicago this past weekend, shot andrew and michelle's engagement. two shots from it, cropped, processed in b&w, up'd contrast, darkened, vignetted. added noise to second picture, i love both shots, i cannot decide which one i like better, with or without the noise added. each has its own quality.

chicago self portrait ...

another day, another hotel. intercontinental, chicago. great bits and pieces in the hotel room, particularly the mirror ...

i am addicted to dumplings ...

i absolutely love chinese dumplings, the pork and chives ones. homemade ones though include a lot of bite in the habanero form.

pork dumplings/pot stickers
- 1lb ground pork
- scallions
- cilantro
- ginger
- 2 tbsp hot garlic chili paste
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1.5 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3/4 cup very finely chopped savoy cabbage
- 2 habaneros very finely chopped
- chopped chives
- pepper
- wonton wrappers (or make your own, takes too long though)

i actually find that putting all the ingredients into a food processor works best (not the wonton wrappers though) and mix. combine in order though, i usually put scallions, cilantro, habanero, ginger, garlic, and cabbage in first to get a properly sized fine chop, then add in the remaining ingredients.

find a comfy seat, with a small bowl of water and some wet paper towels. put about 3/4 tbsp of the mixture into a wonton wrapper and crimp. repeat. repeat about 100 times. when complete, i usually place them all on a tray and put into the freezer to zap them right away, so i can store them (of course leaving some aside to enjoy right away).

to cook, place 6-8 into a small frying pan on high heat. put about 1tbsp of vegetable oil (i use cook spray and a non-stick pan). fry for about 2-3 mins on each side, or until a big brown. add in enough water to fill bottom of pan and cover 1/3 up the dumpling. cover with a tight lid and do not remove lid for 3-4 mins. plate and server with dipping sauce below.



dipping sauce:
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup black vinegar
- 1 very finely chopped habanero
- 1tbsp garlic chili paste
- 1/4 cup lite soy sauce
- finely chopped chives, cilantro, and mint too
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce

combine. yeah, that's all, combine!