Sesame & Soy Dressing

Well look who is still around.

First of all, sorry for the unannounced hiatus (AGAIN). And sorry for me still being on it. Meaning: There still won’t be any new posts for at least two months. Before I will tell you the reason for that, I feel  like explaining a little why I haven’t been blogging for so long. I’ll keep it short, I promise.

It all comes down to one factor: time. The same thing that had me going on hiatus the first time.

I am a University student. I work part time. I’ve sometimes worked for days, even weeks, in other cities. If you cannot cut down on your duties, you have to on your hobbies. And that’s what blogging is to me: A dear, yet time consuming hobby. As other bloggers – foodbloggers in particular – know, you can’t just sit down, type a few paragraphs, press send and BOOYA. All done. It’s an active, creative, social and beautiful process. The writing, the cooking, the photography, the inspiration seeking.

So, with no time on hand, what did I do? A clean (temporary) cut. No emails checking, no reading of other blogs, no  contact with the blogosphere what-so-ever. In fact, this is the first time I have checked my OWN blog since MONTHS. I am a bit of a perfectionist and not being able to keep my blog running feels like a huge personal failure. So this complete negligence was necessary for me to make it less painful.

YADDA YADDA YADDA. More words that I wanted to write, already. So why back now and gone again for at least two months? Easy. The main reason I needed to work so hard and much: I am going on a two month trip to East and Southeast Asia! Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand (in that order), to be precise. Most of the first month is going to be dedicated to Korea, as I will enroll in a “Summer School” at a University in Daejon.

I am THRILLED! If you want to know what is going on with me there, I have created a Twitter account where I will write about the whole experience: 

https://twitter.com/TobiasTwoCents

What will be on there? I don’t know yet. Probably something about sights, trips, culture and food.  Possibly just me moaning about the heat and mosquito bites.

Anyway. My trip starts on TOMORROW with a one week stay in Seoul and you cannot imagine how excited I am! Will I be alone? No. Two dear friends of mine - K and C – will accompany me. Two girls. Lucky me, right?

I will continue blogging. Eventually. Hopefully wiser, with a lax attitude and with the pace I can afford. :)

Now comes another surprise: A recipe! This one has been sitting on my desk for ages. The first pictures I took turned out horrible. And these new ones are months old by now already. But the dressing to this salad is so finger- and plate licking good, I am so happy to finally be able to share it with you! It obviously is inspired by Asian/Oriental cuisine, without any specific country of origin. It is from a phase where I was obsessed with roasted sesame.  This dressing. Is. Amazing. No seriously. Every time I went to the Asian grocery shop, I came back with the ingredients for this exact salad. I have always served it exactly the way shown here, but I am sure some shredded carrots and cabbage would be great additions, too. Or just simple iceberg lettuce. 

Sesame & Soy Dressing (Kai-Lan & Mungo Bean Sprout Salad)

• 1 Clove of garlic (maybe a half more if you like it extra garlicky)
• 2 tsps. roasted sesame seeds
• 6 tbsps.  Thai sweet soy sauce (the syrupy kind. The brand I use is Thai and is called “Healthy Boy”)
• 2 tsps. chili flakes (or to taste)
• 2 tbsps. rice vinegare
• 2 tbsps. light sesame oil
• Extra roasted sesame seeds for garnish

• 300g Kai-Lan
• 250g mungo bean sprouts

 

1. Wash and dry kai-lan and sprouts
2. Cut the stems of the kai-lan (and the less pretty leaves) into thin slices. Leave the leaves longer.
3. For the dressing
4. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.

 
Salad presentation:

1. On a plate or in a bowl, arrange longer leaves in a half circle.
2. Combine stem slices and mungo bean sprouts, toss with dressing, leaving a bit aside.
3. Place salad mixure in the centre of bowl/plate.
4. Drizzle with remaining dressing
5. Sprinkle with remaining sesame seeds.

And off I go. See you soon and lots of love. :)