evoking asia

Oh brunch brunch wonderful brunch. New destination:

Best name… ever?

First off, un cafe.

Caffeine addiction is no good, and coffee is too hard on my tummy first thing in the morning. But a steaming black cup of joe after being in church, unfed, standing, and singing, is rather heavenly. And this was some kind of Italian dark roast mmm.

Okay, so the title- Asia. I did not actually eat brunch in Asia, but I did eat Epic Breakfast Buffet at our hotel in Bangkok.

I love buffets, especially breakfast buffets, and I especially loved this buffet because it catered to a huuuuuuuuge variety of international travelers, so we had the traditional American breakfasts (eggs, pancakes, etc.), Chinese breakfasts (steamed bun, congee), Japanese breakfasts (raw fish!) and, best of all, Swiss breakfast in the form of BIRCHER MUESLI! In. Love. I fell in love. The mysterious concoction involving some kind of oats, some kind of milk, and some kind of fruits, is magical.

So, when I saw it on Bread and Chocolate’s awe inspiring menu, I was all Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

And then this came, and our waitress literally laughed out loud at how my face lit up like a little kid on Christmas morning. But cmon, how adorable is that plate of cuteness?

I inhaled spoonful after spoonful of lovely fruity oaty milky lump. Mmm lovely lumps.

Here is the happy ending to the story- Bread and Chocolate is a bakery in addition to a cafe, and in their (beautiful!) display case was Muesli-to-go along with its INGREDIENT LIST!

I am ON IT!

My mama got latkes which were craaaaaazy good. Awesome texture, with fabulous freshness from parsley!

It was a great brunch at a cute, neighborhoody place that clearly had a lot of regulars. And it was delicious and spot-hitting but didn’t leave me in a food coma for the rest of the day.

Which meant energy for shopping!

Then I came home and refueled with an odd but tasty and leftovers-utilizing snack: roasted potatoes dipped in lupini bean hummus! Don’t knock it til ya try it, seriously!

So for dinner, I was still in leftovers-utilizing mode. Seeking a loving home for hardboiled eggs and watercress, I came up with recipes for soy sauce eggs and watercress in miso dressing. More Asia! Perfect!

Check this gorgeous soy sauce eggs:

I fell in love with soy sauce eggs in Taiwan- my stepmom’s mother (stepgrandmother!) made them one night and they are just a complete revelation. The proteiny rich eggs soak up the sweet-salty broth and taste like… awesome.

Admittedly, making them was creepy. It looks like witches brew! Some giant eyeballs (eggs) and a spider (star anise) in black liquid!

Oh and mannnnnnnnn that dressing on the watercress was awesome. Smokey, salty, sweet, sour, and tangy. Mmm mm.

Incidentally, the recipe makes a TON. I made like a third of it and it still made a bunch, so I ended up only using like a teaspoon of it (also steamed the greens instead of boiled- gotta minimize nutrient loss!)