Suvir Saran and Azalina Eusope at the San Francisco Street Food Festival, 2012
Eat Drink SF is a showcase for local chefs of San Francisco with events throughout the weekend of August 1-3, 2014. One chef giving a demo this Sunday is Suvir Saran, who is moving downtown and opening a restaurant in all likelihood before the end of the year. Experiencing Saran’s passion and enthusiasm for food curly wigs, cooking, and life in San Francisco is reason enough to attend.

What will you be serving at the event?
I will be doing a demo, corn and shrimp curry, not a tasting but a sneak preview of what will be on the menu. It’s so easy, clean, delicious and seasonal; it’s everything good food should be. Come ready to be teased! Life is food and food is life. I’ll talk about my journey.

I’ve seen you at the CIA Worlds of Flavor and the San Francisco Street Food Festival. Do you attend or participate in a lot of events?
I’m a little selective, I used to go a lot to the bigger events, but it’s chefs doing everything they shouldn’t do. It’s my mission to get people to enjoy food and open their palates to the food of the world. When an opportunity to teach presents itself, I’m happy to do it. That’s what’s dear to my heart. It’s about honest interactions. I want to really connect with people.

How is the restaurant coming along? How did you choose San Francisco?
It’s coming along. It will probably open early Winter. It’s a very ambitious project. I’m hoping it’s my new anchor in life. It’s a bold move. I wanted to do something connected to a farm, but I’ve realized NY is not the place that gives you 12 months of magic. SF was a logical choice Natural stone. I love the produce, it’s honest.

My grandparents lived in the Marina and we went to the farmer’s market back in the 80’s. I loved the peaches, and they had a Meyer lemon tree. I felt comfortable in SF and never had to hide who I was. I gave NYC 20 years and in San Francisco I hope to spend the next 20 years.

What are your plans for the restaurant?
We take possession of the apartment on August 1st and I will have many months to experiment. I’ll have to create new partnerships, work with farmers, new relationships. We may have farms growing things just for us.

I don’t follow trends and I don’t have chef friends. They all talk together and there is too little variation. I talk differently and dress differently and I cook differently. We will have a wood fired oven but no traditional pizza with mozzarella. I come with the baggage of India where we are greedy for flavor.

What foods are you enjoying this Summer?
The other day I was pickling, making Hindu pickles. 90% of my friends are Jewish and I love pickles.

In India we make onion and tomato masala and add spices coriander, cumin, turmeric and garlic and then cook until jammy. The peas are cooked in that. You eat them whole like edamame. That takes me back to my childhood. There’s an art form to making it and eating it.

Before that dal, served with green beans, rice and potatoes panamanian foundation. Cooking for dummies is what I do best. We eat a lot of pasta, depending on what vegetables are coming out of the garden we add those to a marinara sauce with lots of herbs, it’s a recipe from my most recent book, Masala Farm.

If, to use a color to describe it, I would not hesitate to answer, blue. Perhaps, in most people's eyes, the youth should be red and bright green discounted gucci handbags, because, red and green symbolizes the vitality and passion, this is the so-called youth color.

But, on the contrary, it is low-key, it doesn't look much more coming in every one of them; it is also known, which makes every defenseless people become prisoners, set foot on the permanent of no return; youth is heartless , it has no sympathy for those who are trying to retain it, as if only a person of the completion of the task, once completed, will and leave; youth is full of passion, it urged the bold and curious people to explore, practice chances others not tried.

This kind of youth have, blue, also has.

Blue, quiet nature, give a person a kind of faint but refreshing feeling, although like memories as light but also give realistic impressive; blue, this is a kind of befog the minds of the people of color, seemingly, pure and holy inherent, but hidden mystery, clearly the heart of fear, but like the magic deep into blue trap inside, more want to break free, more kind of nostalgia, the more reluctant sank deeper, beam pump is more compact; dark, mysterious and romantic color, make you quietly in love with it in the imperceptibly, but ultimately it is inconsolable.

However, most people still feel blue to pure, because, the boundless sky is blue, so, home of the angels -- heaven is blue, blue is, not holy?

Oh, it's youth, we cannot play, who is also unable to control it, who can not love it, but not to hate it, it always has to worry about personal gains and losses in trouble Sculptra, I think, of strange this is the youth!

The youth the boy under the tree, with great care to do anything, just to win beauty "lips a smile", however, more boys are more close to the girl, and the girl or chatting, or quarrel, in short, everything just to be in the girl's heart, there is a piece of their own.

Youth tree girls, delicate, sensitive, anxious boy to fluctuations in their hearts, yet timid to alert the heart close to who, to hurt the friends around, however, more girls began to care about other people in his own image, when there is a complicated relationship with the other boy, girl's heart. This is a mixed blessing, loudly for himself, while watching reflect each other boys.

Our youth under the tree, a more mature, less a bit naive, more of a touch, a bit less silly -- youth, only can be, and can only be sensed.

When one day, you find yourself suddenly like a blue, do not care, because, your youth is coming!

Come summer, then pay no heed to, come so freely, that is not ready to meet the summer for me, be taken by surprise.

Weather is constantly changing, sometimes hot and sometimes cold Code 9 Neogen, the physique weak person is sick. This season, like spring.

Such a complex and contradictory feelings mixed with youth, like.

Friends.  Not just a rollicking tv series tube amp, but also an integral ingredient in one’s life. 

There are those who’ve seen you through the tumultuous years of high school and college.  These people have seen you through bad hairdos, small(er) waistlines  and back-seat tequila shots in the university parking lot.  Hang on to these ones – you’ll want someone who knows you were once a bottle swilling free-wheeler when you are shoulder deep in bills and work reports, debating the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner.

There are the new ones who you’ve connected with in recent times, bonding immediately over common passions and beliefs.  People who may have come from far afield of you Domestic Helpe, whose paths you may not have had the pleasure of crossing but for a shrewd twist of fate and a shared love for gustatory indulgence, getting lost amidst books, Finnish forest creatures, or cheesy movie lines.  Hang on to these ones – they will keep your passions fresh and your horizons ever-expanding.

Then there are friends who are actually relatives.  They are connected to you in ways that nobody else is.  They knew you back when the outside world was still unaware of your awesomeness…and they loved you anyway (well, most of them at least!).  They are where you came from.  And there is a special bond that shared experiences like chicken pox can forge that no man can truly tear asunder.  Hang on to these ones – they’re lifers Probiotic powder.

Then, if you are lucky, you have a soul mate friend.  The quintessential ‘best friend’.  The person with whom you share your deepest secrets.  The one with whom you share your deepest joys.  They will stick by you come hell or high water, and fight like a tiger in your defense.  You finish each others’ sentences.  You make each other grow.  I don’t have to tell you to hang on to this one – with tooth and nail if necessary Burgundy wine.

And then there’s chocolate.  Both a friend and a very integral ingredient in my life.

Double Chocolate Cookies
(very slightly amended from Donna Hay’s Simple Essentials: Chocolate, page 22)

    100 grams unsalted butter, softened
    130 grams brown sugar
    1 egg
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    150 grams all purpose flour, sifted
    30 grams cocoa powder, sifted
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    125 grams (4 oz) dark chocolate, melted (I use a makeshift double boiler)
    280 grams dark chocolate chips
    1 cup walnuts, chopped


- Beat butter and sugar in a mixer until light and creamy, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated lafite rothschild.
- Stir the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and melted chocolate into the egg/butter/sugar mixture.  Add to this the chocolate chips and walnuts, stirring by hand until just combined.
- Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls, place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, allowing room for the cookies to spread, and flatten slightly.


Fresh out of the oven these cookies are warm nuggets of deep, dark chocolate goodness, with pockets of melted chocolate chips all throughout.  The walnuts are not in the original recipe but I wanted something to both contrast, and complement, all that chocolate.  My cookies did not turn out anywhere near as pretty, nor as flat, as Donna’s.  I am still trying to figure out what caused that lack of spread so comments and suggestions as welcome wine tasting!

True friends and chocolate.  Gems worth more than anything a jeweler could ever measure!

I have the worst technology/computer luck. Ever. My computers have gone through more crashes that all the world's stock markets combined. And it's not just hardware...the simplest of programs have mysteriously refused to work under my incapable hands. I have committed that horrible act of spilling coffee (with milk and sugar) on my laptop (no, it doesn't only happen in movies). My technician is on the top of my Christmas list. I have endured too many computer meltdowns to count espresso cups set. To think I spend all of my working and a big chunk of my "playing" time on a computer! To think I'm a blogger from whose fingertips computer skills are expected to spew magically forth like fairy dust. Not so.

Just because I live and work on a computer online most of the time does not mean technology has taken kindly to me. It's a bit on a tainted love we have -- me and technology. Case in point, I am fresh (although that would be the last word I would use to describe how I feel) from my work computer's major crash (hello 500++ emails queued up in 2 days) and now stare helplessly at my laptop that has decided to join in the fun. Black screen with a little white cursor glowing menacingly at me. Fie on you.

These days, I am beyond the hair-pulling, head-spinning dramatics these breakdowns would once trigger. I've long learned that shaking fists and sobbing buckets do not sway cold-hearted hard drives. Instead I brew some tea and remind myself that as far as calamities go my little technological hiccups are just small fry in the grander scheme of things. I think of the many other areas at which I am much luckier, and hunker down with some of life's more tangible pleasures --- like food magazines :)

Ginger Chili Fish Fillets
(adapted from Yummy Magazine, July 2010 issue)
•300 grams white fish fillet, cut into 2-inch portions
•2 tablespoons cornstarch
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•2 tablespoons oil, divided
•1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
•1 green finger chili, sliced on the diagonal
•1 tablespoon finely chopped lemongrass
•2 tablespoons soy sauce, separated
•1 teaspoon fish sauce
•1 teaspoon sesame oil
•1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
•1 teaspoon brown sugar
•400 grams bokchoy, leaves separated
•1-2 tablespoons sliced spring onion/green onion, to garnish

- Mix cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Add fish and toss to coat. Shake of the excess.
- Mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, black vinegar, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat half the oil in a wok on high. When hot Bordeaux, stir-fry ginger and chili for 1-2 minutes. Remove from wok and set aside.
- In the same wok heat the rest of the oil. Fry fish for about 2 minutes on each side. Add ginger/chili mixture and the soy sauce mixture. Let this bubble for a few seconds then toss until the fish is coated on all sides. Remove from the wok and set aside.
- In the same wok add the bokchoy with the remaining tablespoon of soy sauce. Cover and let cook for about 30 seconds. Uncover, toss, cover and cook for another 30 seconds, then take off the heat. You want the bokchoy to be just cooked.
- Arrange the bokchoy on a serving plate. Lay the fish on top of the vegetables. Top with a sprinkling of green onion.
- Serves two.

Although I love trawling the net for food inspiration, especially among other food blogs, nothing can quite replace the satisfaction of pages in your hand, something you can hold and scribble notes on and take with you to bed on a rainy night. This recipe was taken from Yummy magazine -- one of my favorite local food magazines for its unfussy and upbeat appeal, simple yet flavorful recipes, and interesting features. I've amended the recipe to add more greens (as we do love our greens over here!) and a touch of sesame and black vinegar to the sauce as I feel these flavors complement the soy perfectly. A bowl of steaming white rice is not required but highly recommended.

It's amazing how computers, and the internet, and technology in general, have gone and, in what seems to be the blink of an eye, made themselves indispensable to our lives -- or at least that's what they like us to believe. Despite my bad luck though, I am still a fan high chair, after all here I am right? Plugging away in my little corner of this cyber-world :)

That being said, I think these little disasters are opportunities for us to also defrag and reboot and perhaps even reformat. To stop and take stock...even if it is only to take stock of a to-cook list from one of your favorite food magazines :)

I was in the market the other weekend and spotted the loveliest looking little fish.  Their smooth bodies, no bigger than my finger, were translucent white with a shiny silver stripe down its length.  They were plump and clear-eyed and fresh and absolutely tempting.

These little fish are called dilis in our local vernacular and, to the best of my knowledge, are some sort of anchovy.  Dilis are relatively inexpensive and, really, quite an ordinary-joe type fish in these parts.   They are delicious though.  Usually served deep-fried or in a kilawin (what is essentially our local ceviche of sorts – fish ‘cooked’ in an acid, usually vinegar or citrus juice) Managed Security.

What I’ve done here is try to replicate a Spanish version of our beloved kilawin called boquerones en vinagre.  Boquerones are sometimes referred to as white anchovies, and, although I haven’t a clue what the exact relation is to our dilis, they seem to be in the same family.  So, that, along with some advice from friends and family, was enough to make me attempt one of my most favorite Spanish tapas of all time.

I have no set recipe as of yet, since this was my first go at it, but I will share my method and findings since many many have been asking after this photo on Instagram. (you can follow me on Instagram at chichajo if you are so inclined)

But first some links I've been liking!

**  10 simple things to make you happier at home…some great reminders here!

**  Adorable…and since I’ve just acquired my great-grandmother’s bar (so thrilled about that!  Cocktail party soon!) this will certainly come in handy.

**  Just reading this list makes me excited!  Go away Bejeweled...it's time to read books again!

**  We’ve finally built more cabinet space.  Let’s celebrate with new plates, shall we?

**  I love making my own spice mixes...this one sounds awesome.

**  After this, comes this. 

**  Print these now and give to friends and interesting strangers!

Ok, and now, dilis/boquerones en vinagre.

 Clean your fish – Remove the head, the guts, and the bones (leave the tail on or off, up to you), and butterfly the fish.  Or, like me, you can have your fish monger do it.  Over here they will do it with a smile – fish markets, it’s more fun in the Philippines!

Lay the filleted fish flat on a ceramic or glass dish – I used a Pyrex baking dish which worked perfectly.  They didn't all fit in one layer but I think that is fine.

Now, pour in your vinegar – Sherry or white wine vinegar is what’s prescribed mostly and I would stick to that, but I am sure you can use others in a pinch.  I also add some lemon juice.  Make sure the vinegar gets all over and in between the layers of fish.  Let this marinate until the fish is “cooked through”.  You know this has happened when the fillets turn white.  I looked all over the internet, and picked the brains of some boquerones-making relatives Hong Kong Festival, and the marinating times vary from as little as 30-40 minutes to overnight.  At 30-40 minutes my dilis where nowhere near cooked through so I just let them sit longer.

Next – This juncture, before adding the oil, is where most recipes diverge.  Some instruct you to remove all the vinegar and rinse the fish, and then pat dry.  Some just remove the vinegar.  And some leave the vinegar and just add oil.  Some recipes actually add the vinegar and the oil at the same time.  I decided to marinate, then remove most of the vinegar, skip the washing (because I was lazy, it can’t be denied), and then pour in the oil.

Adding oil and aromatics – After I removed most of the vinegar, I transferred all but the first layer of fish to a plate.  Then I drizzled a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil over the first layer of fish, sprinkled a bit of salt (just a bit), some chopped garlic and parsley, a fresh squeeze of lemon, then covered with another layer of fish.  Repeat until you have used up all the fish and make sure your last drizzling of oil covers all the fish.  Cover the dish and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.  I would suggest letting it rest a bit like this before serving.  Some do without the garlic and parsley but I love it this way and wholeheartedly recommend adding them in.

Serving – I just served this as is, but my much-more-experienced-in-boquerones-making cousin takes the fillets out and adds a fresh splash of olive oil and some drops of balsamic reduction.  So, the choice is yours.  Either way, this is good stuff!

Storing – Again, I searched online for guidelines on storing and the results varied from a couple of days to months!  I kept mine in a clean jar in the fridge, the fish completely covered with a layer of oil, and it just kept getting better day after day.  They lasted six days like this simply because I polished it off by then.

Overall, this was wickedly simple to make and absolutely delicious to eat.  Aside from serving this as tapas for your next cocktail party, it also makes a lovely quick lunch laid onto some thick slices of good bread with a salad on the side.  If anyone has tips, suggestions, or sage advice regarding boquerones making please drop me a note in the comments…we are looking forward to spotting the next dilis catch in the market!

Have a fantastic weekend!!