About Peng

The culmination of this food blog came about as a result of my lifelong love for the culinary excellence that exists in the world today.  Food  has literally defined many of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. Growing up as the child of immigrant parents, I vividly recall weekends when my mother would make such various dishes as Cambodian Pork Belly Rice Rolls (Nom N’sam Chrouk),  Kutieu (Chinese Noodle Soup) to more common western dishes such as Spaghetti and meat sauce or Carne Asada tortillas and tomatillo sauce.  Special occasions were always celebrated with food and not the in the traditional sense of cake for birthdays or sandwiches for a casual dinner party. Instead, food was meant to represent the comforts and celebrations of life. Weddings for my various uncles and aunts were 8 course meals. Even funerals saw grand roasted whole pig with stir-fries of a wide assortments.  Having family in the restaurant business and a father who worked part time as a short order cook only fueled my passion for food.  Some who know me will say that I love to overeat. I counter instead that I love to live and food is an expression of life. While it seems that I enjoy eating all things, by no means do I claim to be in the same light as the original man who has eaten everything, Jeffrey Steingarten.

Instead, in this food blog, you’ll see the enjoyment I have when a good meal is found. I’m not a professional eater (although I once had dreams of becoming one). I’m not a professional chef but do enjoy cooking the next great recipe. I’m just a simple man, whose palate is uniquely my own.

It’s  Peng’s Palate.

Here is a rundown of my basic palate:

Things I don’t like:

Apple Pie a la mode: Pies in general unless finely made with fresh berries and a perfect crust is one of the few desserts and foods I cannot stomach.  The gooey glaze that encompasss the slices of apple coupled with bland vanilla ice cream sickens me to my stomach.

Any type of dish or stir fry with bone-in meats: My mother will often make a chicken or beef spare rib stir fry with the bone in tact. Eating through the meet to find little shards of bone and marrow is not a way I’d like to spend my meal.

Indian food: I apologize Rachel, but growing up in a culture that has been influenced by Indian culture and food, it’s difficult to handle the full intensity of South Asian Cuisine. There are great dishes in this region but the spices and overwhelming flavor are a bit too much for one who is accustomed to a watering down of this region.

What I enjoy

The list is very extensive but I’ll single it out to a few items.

Southern Comfort Food: Nothing beats  a plate or bucket in my case of fresh fried chicken, a side of collard greens, slaw, and some sweet tea.  Followed up by some sweet corn bread and butter. Southern comfort food is the epitome of food being a cultural item with a rich history. Bacon or pork belly is included in this.

Pho or Hutieu (Noodle soup): The Asian equivalent of comfort food, a big bowl of broth filled to the brim with fresh rice noodles, cuts of various meats and a garden of garnishes acts as a breakfast, lunch, and dinner item in much of Asia. For most Asians, Fried Chicken and it’s regionality are equally comparable for Asians and Noodle Soup. Noodle houses across America can be found in places like LA, small burbs like South Jordan, Utah, and rich posh communities like Newport, Rhode Island.

Breakfast Food: Pancakes excluded, Breakfast was made to be a grand meal to start off the day full and energized.  For me, Breakfast involves protein. Oatmeal, Waffles, pastries, etc are all introductory courses into the advance placement meals of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and yes, steak.  A “man’s” meal is truly a breakfast meal. This doesn’t discount my love for egg beaters and spinach with melted mozzarella cheese.

Offal: In many cultures which do not have the luxury of domestication of livestock, a single animal is a precious commodity. Many cultures in Asia, Latin America and Africa have a fond appreciation for not just the exterior meats of animals but also the internal meats. If this sounds less than appetizing, common American dishes such as chicken gizzards, fried liver, and sweet breads (native to the midwest and the south) are considered Offal dishes. Pad Lo is a beef stew type dish that is unique to Southeast Asia which contains liver, kidneys, and intestine. The meats are thinly sliced and served with a piquant fish lime sauce with various vegetables for wrapping.

Sandwiches: If you were to list my favorite take out joints the list would include local places such as Moochies, Tony Caputos and Cafe Mi Thao. Not to be forgotten are franchises like Subway, Gandolphos (See my Gandolpho challenge), and Quizno. The idea of a sandwich is so special and profound. Meats and vegetable, placed between edible utensils.  It can be compact, 6 feet long, vegan, or bite-size. A sandwich is universal.

Mom’s cooking: Perhaps it’s what I call the “flavors of nostaglia” the recollection that anything your mom cooks is delicious, but anytime a woman, specifically an empowered, loving, and caring mother creates a meal, no matter what it is, it can be like ambrosia of the gods. Nothing ever beats mom’s cooking. Nothing.

Well that is just a brief (somewhat) background of my food tastes. It’s more complex than that and not as strange as some of the items may sound. Hopefully this provides you with a little “taste” of Peng’s Palate.

-Peng