Last Post: Final thoughts.

As my WISE project and summer draws to a end I was asked the question, If I could do WISE again would I? My answer is yes, I would do WISE over and make the experience even more worthwhile than it already is. The process of WISE and learning about East Asian food was long and often times difficult due to the trials I faced with maintaining my grades in other classes, issues in my personal life that carried on into my school days and even just trying to kick my bad habit of procrastination. These things however also gave me great insight into how much patients I actually have and I truly believe that without the help of Mrs.Harris I probably would have just given up and not even tried to finish. 

The other question I was asked was how did this affect your decisions for the future ( i.e: Moving to Seoul, South Korea,being an English teacher). This project has given me some insight as to what types of food I'll encounter but has not dissuaded me from moving. In fact it pretty much further solidified my desire to move. 

5/11/15

Last week there was AP exams here in the library so I didn't get to write but I was able to talk to Mrs.H about things like grocery shopping for the presentation/Art show and binding the book together. I am really uncertain about the presentation because I have no clue how to organize it or what to even talk about...I have been feeling like I was wasting my time and that I should have chosen a different project! That's pretty much all that I have to update about.

Update for 4/29/15

  On Monday, I put the first 31 page of my cookbook into one document on Google Docs and was able to finish typing up my interviews. I realized yesterday that I still have to type up my dedication and thank you page, and write up my request for a price chopper gift card so that I can but supplies. I am a little behind on my work because I haven't written the How to guide yet but I am progressing faster than I was last month. One of my biggest challenges with WISE is that I have a lot of ideas that change  come to me  or i try to take on more work than I can handle so I end up losing interest in what I'm doing due to stress. A lot of my ideas aren't possible due to time, budget constraints and lack of transportation. I have to say my biggest disappointment was that I couldn't learn under a trained Professional because I didn't have the money or a license to drive myself to Burlington. I feel like if I could have worked under someone it would have been immensely beneficial to my project and  I would've had more field experiences that I could blog about. I'm honestly feeling a little disheartened because I am not 100% happy with the work that I've done, I know I could've done a better job had I had more resources. Never the less, I am at least satisfied that the work I've done thus far isn't terrible.

My Spring Vacation 4/17-4/26

I left for New York at 6:30 on Friday the 17th, and sat on the Greyhound for 5 hours. While I was on the bus I couldn't help but think about all the work that awaited me while I was being idle with my family. I got to eat a lot of Chinese American food from this cute little restaurant called Hao Wei that was a few blocks from my moms apartment and her Boyfriend Aaron bought me a lot of Sushi. Nikki told me that I may be able to get a $25 Price chopper gift card if I write up a proposal and turn it in, this is awesome news because I've been worried about the cost of supplies.  So when I got back to Vermont, I went to Price Chopper with my grandmother and found that some of the ingredients that I need for my recipes were there. That being said, I still need to go to the 99 Market in Burlington next week so that I can get specific ingredients that I can't seem to find anywhere else, though i'm still not even sure that the Market has the supplies. Yesterday I began to mentally put my schedule together for the weeks leading up to my presentation. I plan to print out a master Cookbook and 5 mini versions for my presentation, then I am going to display my blog for the audience.

Journal update *4/15/15

Today I had a WISE meeting with the coordinators of The program and the rest of the participants. We went over what it takes to present our projecs. We were asked to reflect on the question "Why?". I knew immediately that I chose Wise because it gave me a way to choose what I wanted to learn and explore a medium. My older sister participated in the program and she enjoyed it a lot, so I decided to give it a try.My project is pretty personal to me because I wanted to be a chef when I was a little kid and my favorite type of  food is Chinese. Although my career goal has changed, my passion for cooking has not.

My Interview with the Qiu Yu Xu on 3/29/15

On Monday, I interviewed Qiu Yu Xu ( 坵⽟虛). Qiu Yu Xu is the daughter of the local Chinese restaurant owner, She was amazing and so nice to allow me to interview her during work hours. I got to learn a little more about her and the culture that she was raised in! It was a little hard to communicate but I enjoyed listening to her speak.  I am in the process of conducting another interview with another WISE student, who went to China and Vietnam last week. I am dying with curiosity about the things she did in these Countries!

Now back to my Interview with Qiu Yu, I started by asking her what the differences were between Southern and Northern Chinese food. The answer to that was, the South doesn’t put as much spice in their food and uses a lot more seafood. While in the North their food is spicy and has more meat and Wheat based meals, so things like Dumplings are more prevalent than in the south. Another difference that Qiu Yu pointed out was American Chinese versus authentic Chinese cuisine. The answer I got was actually really interesting, the biggest difference was the preparation of the food-American chinese consists of mostly fried food whereas authentic Chinese food is often steamed.

I began asking some questions about Qiu Yu’s favorite foods and her opinions about Chinese Cuisine.

1)WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE DISH FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD?

Qiu Yu: My favorite food is homemade Mochi!

2) IS THERE A DISH THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND TO OTHERS?

Qiu Yu: I would suggest Beef Bone Stew.

I am so grateful that I was able to interview Qiu Yu because it definitely changed my preconceived notion about whether or not the food in china was the same throughout the China!

4/9/15

This past week I have been setting up my Cookbook and putting together my annotated bibliography so I  haven't had time to transcribe the interviews that I did this week and last. Then on Monday, I had to go to the doctors so I wasn't able to get as much done as I wanted. On the other hand I was able to churn out a Table of Contents and organize the order of which the recipes are to be placed into the cookbook.

update for 4/2/15*

This week I have completed half of my annotated Bibliography, emailed my third interviewee and am going to start collecting recipes and making a table of contents for the book so that I can organize my book. I will also begin to put the book together over vacation so that I have time to focus on fundraising for the Art gallery in May. I officially chose what food I want to cook for that event, since I am Catering as part of my project. I must admit that even with all of the problems that I had at the beginning of my project, I am actually enjoying working with WISE! The ability to chose what I learn and has made an impact on how I navigate around problems. Though I still have a hard time keeping my blog updated because I never have anything I want to say and it feels foolish to ramble on about meaningless things. I now have internet at my house so I can update a little faster. I am hoping that in the coming weeks I have more meaningful things to talk about.

My hectic week! 3/24/15

Last week I was out of school sick with the flu so I wasn't able to do much writing but I did do a lot of thinking about what made Chinese and Korean Cuisine so unique. I came to the conclusion that it's spices that make them so special.  Chinese Food is more heavily seasoned and has a stronger flavor then Korean cuisine. Although Chinese food has an influence on Korean food, the difference is distinct with its coloring, and time consuming preparation. Korean's typically pride themselves on the presentation of their meals, so it can take day's to prepare for one meal. One big distinction between the two cuisines is the use of fermented vegetables in Korea.

My Cookbook Cover! 3/12/15

I was finally able to come up with a design for my cookbook and I love it! I had to take into account the fact that I am no longer adding Japan to my project and was able to incorporate my love for panda's into the Cover. It didn't take me very long to revise the cover so now I can focus on learning more about dining etiquette and finding Recipes for the cookbook.

3/10/15

I have been thinking for the past couple weeks about taking Japan out of my project so that I can fully devote my attention to Chinese and Korean Cuisine. This would be so beneficial because I know more about these two cuisines and I believe that they have a larger variety than Japanese food. So from now on I am limiting my research to China and Korea. I found a couple of PDF's for my research and I am going to schedule my interviews this week.

WISE Interview Questions! 3/5/15

Chinese Cuisine Interviews
Questions for the Natalie Jackson:
1) What are some differences between northern and southern Chinese dishes?
2) Do you have any favorite childhood dishes?
3) What is the difference between American Chinese and Authentic Chinese Cuisine?
4) Is there any particular dishes that you think are or should be more popular?
5) I know that there are many spices and flavors that go into Chinese food, but what one do you think best represents Chinese cuisine?

 Chinese Restaurant:
1) What are some differences between northern and southern Chinese dishes?
2) Do you have any favorite childhood dishes?
3) What is the difference between American Chinese and Authentic Chinese Cuisine?
4) Is there any particular dishes that you think are or should be more popular?
5) I know that there are many spices and flavors that go into Chinese food, but what one do you think best represents Chinese cuisine?

Korean Cuisine Interviews
Questions for Mrs.Ullrich:
1) Do you have a favorite dish from your childhood?
2) What are some common ingredients in Korean cuisine?
3) What is your favorite Korean dish to cook?
4) How do you incorporate Korean food into your household diet?

February Vacation Update: 2/23-2/27

One of the Korean food blogs that I follow (Maangachi) updated over the week with her recipes for Gimbap (김밥) and Tteokbokki and I thought that since it is on my menu I would post about some of the recipes. I also was able to make a playlist on youtube of all of the recipes on the sample menu that I made in December. I will insert a link for the playlist My next update will be about my interview questions.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2yxOxV2735PYY0BRdfSObT-rOUhfvddQ

My update for 2/21 & 2/22

Since it was vacation and I didn't have a proper device to use to post daily but I did however get to cook twice. I had to figure out meals to make for myself while my Grandmother was in New York so I made a Stir-fried Spicy Peanut butter chicken on Saturday and my own Sweet and Spicy Chicken both with a side of rice. These aren't quite the dishes that I had in mind for my project because they  are both recipes that I came up with last year, they are however Asian inspired. 

These are the recipes that I made for the two sauces.

1) Sweet and spicy sauce recipe

• 2 tsp of sugar
• 1 Tbs of soysauce
• 1/3 cup crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 Tbs Peanut oil

Combine the ingredients to make sweet and spicy sauce.

2) Spicy Peanut sauce

• 1/4 cup Peanut butter/crushed peanuts
• 2 tbs of hot sauce or crush chili pepper flakes
• 1 tsp of ground ginger
• 1/4 tbs of soy sauce
• 1/4 tbs of crushed garlic (optional)
• 1/3 cup water

Take the ingredients above and mix them together with the water. Themixture should have the consistancy of syrup. 

2/18/15

These last two weeks I've had to ponder how to circumvent the issues that I found with my plans and it's been nearly impossible to figure out what to write about for the journal.  Mrs.Harris and I began talking last Wednesday about different ideas regarding my project and how to overcome some of the obstacles that I've been facing since the beginning of the semester. We asked Mrs.Villeneuve about issues like transportation and finances, we then came to the conclusion that if it was too hard to actually cook that I should just make my cookbook and only cook for the art show in May. I will design and make the cookbook as my final project. There is a possibility that I will do a popcorn fundraiser to fund my expenses for Nikki's art show. On the other hand, it is becoming more inevitable that I'm transfer to another school so I'm uncertain as to whether I am even going to be able to finish my project and thats effecting my project greatly because I don't want to put in a insane amount of work just so that I don't finish the cookbook! However, I intend to continue working on my blog and interview questions as much as possible in these next month and a half.

On a happier note, the popcorn fundraiser idea was decided on because of its cost effective nature and the fact that we can sell a sandwich baggies full for 50¢ a bag. I hope to do different flavors like; Butter, cinnamon sugar, and cheese. This should cover some of the expenses for groceries and other necessities. Besides most people like gourmet popcorn and if it is cheap,available and healthy then it should sell fairly easy. I have to get permission from my adopted mom to use her popcorn machine so we save money on olive oil and from the school to sell on school grounds.

2/9/15

On Thursday I began my research and discovered several new things about the history and etiquette of Chinese cuisine. One interesting fact is that their main meal is called Zhŭshí and consists of Rice, noodles and steamed buns and their side dishes (Cài) are vegetables, meat and fish. Unlike in western cultures where meat and fish are the main meal and vegetables and starches are the side dishes. Each region of China has it's own flavoring and take on traditional dishes. There are approximately 20 different type of Chinese cuisines in China.  Another difference between the east and west is that meals are eaten family style and each diner is given their own individual bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks. I found this video on Chinese Etiquette from one of my favorite Youtuber "Off The Great Wall".

2/3/15

I wasn't able to post on Friday because I was at Districts all day. It is very inconvenient to not have access to internet at home because I can't type up my journals daily so I have to keep a catalog of what happens during my days and then type it up during my spare time. Today I will be researching The History of Chinese,Japanese and Korean food and taking notes so that I can get an idea of what techniques I will need to learn and also what the foods have in common. I will try to update on a regular basis so that I don't get behind or forget what I wanted to talk about
~Sayonara (さようなら)

1/27/15 *Update*

I learned that the Art show that I am catering is on May 23rd! I am so excited to cater for an art show because  I am an artist myself and I know how frustrating it is to be worried that my guests won't have food. On Monday, Mrs.Harris and I came up with a schedule and deadlines for my work and decided it may even be good for me to go to her house over vacations to practice the recipes that I've chosen. I am a little worried about the money piece of my project but I feel like I can come up with the money if I put my mind to it. It's frustrating to have to brain storm the ways to raise money for my project but I do understand that it is a necessary process that I need to overcome.

1/26/15 Menu Outline

Last Friday I offered to cater a art event that one of the other seniors in my school is hosting and I have a rough idea of what to serve. This event is the precursor to my presentation.  I am going to post a sampler of my menu  but it is not set in stone, so some of the ingredients and even the dishes themselves may be subject to change. Later I will also post the prices of the ingredients from Local stores and even some online stores. So here is the Menu that I anticipate using for both events.

MENU:Serving for 10

Level of difficulty for the dishes

(*)= Easy

(**)= Medium

(***)= Hard

Drink:

Haioreum Iced Green Tea(80 bags)-$7.99

Cantonese Dishes

Appetizer: Veggie Dumplings ( Zhēng cài Bāo)

Entre: Egg drop Soup (Dàn huā tāng)

Japanese Dishes

Appetizer: Squash Croquette (Kabocha Korokke)

Entre: Japanese Curry ( Nihon No Karē)

Korean Dishes

Appetizer: Kimbap (김밥)

Entre:  Spicy Rice Cakes (떡볶 이)

Dessert: Crown Choco Heim (대)= $ 6.49 ( 1 box)

1/21/15 Pot luck

I brought my pomegranate tea to the Potluck so that everyone could try it and Mr.Beste [the Gym teacher] LOVED it! He actually approached me later and said that he would like for me to make more and that he would pay me for it. I was really flattered and told him that it was simple to make the tea, all he needed was:
-2 large pomegranate's ( seeded and crushed with a pestle)
- 1 cup of sugar.
I noticed others liked the tea but didn't get as much of an enthusiastic response as I did from Beste. I also was able to ask Mrs.Ullrich if I could Interview her mother or one of her sisters to see if they would teach me about Korean food. I learned that Mrs.Nguyen made her own Kimchi (Spicy pickled cabbage).

Journal Entry 1/19/15

Today I tested my first recipe, I made a pomegranate tea ( Seoklyu-cha ) that I found on Maangachi's website. Maangachi is a Korean housewife, blogger and Youtube chef who teaches you how to make Korean food. During the process of making the tea I realized I didn't have a pestle to crush the pomegranate seeds with so I had to use a meat crusher and a blender to smooth it out so it came out with the consistency of jam..I was really disappointed with that. When I looked at the example picture I noticed a huge difference between the two tea's. I also ended up burning my right hand on the tea because I dropped the mug and all of the hot water began to spill on my hand which let to a 1st degree burn and the use of tons of Aloe vera to relieve the burning. I hope to retry this recipe in the future.

My Project Proposal 1/19/15

The Title of my WISE project is "My Culinary Adventures with East Asian Cuisine!".  My goal is to learn about and make foods from China,Japan, and Korea so that I can make a cookbook/blog.  I will be researching the History of East Asian Cuisine and using what I learn to help me execute my knowledge. The brunt of my project will be building my cookbook from my daily  journal entries and attempts at cooking. Some of the questions I will be focusing on are: What are the similarities between the countries foods? What are the differences?
This project will ultimately allow me to further my knowledge of East asian foods and will also allow me to expand my skills with cooking and writing. I plan to interview Chef's and home cooks  who have to knowledge and experience to guide me.