This makes my tummy happy.

Is it possible to be an “authenticity nazi” in the States and survive? How does one not die of hunger while avoiding Crab Rangoons, California Rolls, and syrupy-sweet Tom Yum Goong? The Japanese Agriculture Ministry has plans to crack down on “fake” Japanese restaurants worldwide. Will having sushi police mean better food?

True Confessions of a Porn Addict

How was I to resist the nude, baby-soft cheeks of a voluptuous Alphonso mango, fleshy and ripe with honeyed nectar? Or the briny lips of an oyster’s folds, freshly shucked and sweetly yielding? Gentle reader, I could not help myself.

The heart, the soul, and the stomach.

Anywhere people congregate en masse for sustenance is the heart and soul of a place, and when it involves food, it’s the “stomach” too. At 7 am, the frenetic energy of an Asian wet market can leave you bewitched, breathless, and bewildered…

Why you should always molest your fruit (and other squishy things).

You don’t expect little old ladies to have their hands all over the fruit display in supermarkets. But there they are, squeezing the stone fruit so vigorously, you know the pretty purple plums are going to bruise. So why doesn’t the store manager say something? What’s going on in the power dynamics over there? Get the scoop!

A United Nations Thanksgiving

What do international students do at Thanksgiving? We call home to ask mom how to cook turkey and pumpkin pie, which leads to particularly unique renditions of these Thanksgiving stalwarts…

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Photograph from rose_khansg on Flickr

Exploding chestnuts, Japanese belly wrappers, and a “fiery restorative.”

How to keep warm when Jack Frost hates you.

 

 

May I have the “Choice Aromatic Lion Butt” translated, please?

We’ve all done it. Laughed hysterically at half-baked English translations on menus, street signs, packaging, and the like. The seafood special of “fried rice with crap” doesn’t sound terribly appetizing, and you and your buds can’t wait to patronize the Gentlemen’s Club that boasts “special cocktail for ladies with nuts.” Yet, would you rather there be no translation?