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Monday, June 15, 2020

蜉蝣 Mayfly

年年此時皆外出遠遊探親訪友, 暑休兼暑修; 而今另番業障, 日日讀新聞往往焦慮難安.  Covid黑翼飛舞下, 族羣衝突警民對立, 各黨各派互挖坑讓對方跳… 人性的偏見與盲點深不見底, 頗厭世的躲書堆, 或專看動物頻道和溫暖勵志的酷男異想世界.  
Exhausted from reading news after news of injustice and judgement, all I wanted to do after hours was binge watching Queer Eye or Absurd Planet.  LOVE rules.  NATURE rules.  Home cooking also becomes a ritual of calmness.

入廚當參禪, 祭自家五臟廟.  水栽香草花園朝朝豐收, 變盡花樣泡茶擺盤蒸魚拌沙拉, LK先生狐疑:  天天嚐百草, 不會吃出後遺症吧?  植物界亦弱肉強食, 蒔蘿長最快最高然枝葉綿細, 只能聚攏如長頸鹿羣.  羅勒葉肥, 邊角隻手遮天, 薄荷與九層塔窮兇極惡, 黑幫火拼似的佔地盤.  怯生生的香芹兩雄相爭夾縫中, 竟也蜿蜒出一片天, 百里香則不太爭氣, 繼續冬眠. 
Have we gotten lost in the act of expression and forgot it is reform, not anarchy that could possibly lead to a glimpse of hope in whatever future might be?  Even the hydroponic herb garden at a quiet corner of my house displays the cruelty of survival.  The basil reaches out with its widest blade, an attempt to block the neighboring tower of dill from light.  The curly parsley stays low and serpentine, securing a tiny bit of haven between the two clashing titans, mint and Thai basil.  And poor thyme, it seems to have completely given up germination.   

餐桌前變妝派對, 幻想吃著飛機餐將遨翔遠方?!
For the past decade around mid June, the LK clan would have hopped on the plane for our summer vacation, rejuvenated in fresh sceneries, reunions with family and friends and nourished with scrumptious feasts.  Although this summer we must practice staycation, the daily harvest of homegrown herbs become our tickets to an exotic journey far, far away.  A culinary cosplay of inflight dining? 

重現胡志明市鮮香清雅的薄牛片河粉.
The herbaceous PHO.  If there’s any silver lining of the Covid cloud, it is that I have never felt more grateful of being alive and opening my eyes to the magic of ordinary.  Beauty is kindness within.

爽口的生春捲, 辣牛腱胡蘿蔔乾拌青豆檬粉, 甜點(這項名廚外帶)橘香法式米布丁.
Ever since I learned how to make fresh spring rolls in HCMC, I couldn’t get enough of and experimented with many odd ingredients... Hannibal rising?  Just kidding.  Continued to support small local business, the riz au lait from Dominique Crenn.  

生春捲當然現包風味最佳, 有時偷懶 一次多做, 隔夜賸捲油炸, 晶瑩酥香別有風味.  來杯冰滴越南咖啡, 對著斜陽夕照的午後, 有些忘卻人處矽谷, 彷彿水鄉渡假, 另類南柯夢.  
The wrapper does get a bit dry the next day but air frying the leftovers brings a tantalizing crunchiness.  Poured myself a caphe sua da and drifted in the bitter sweetness.  

六月緩緩解套, 敝公司分梯次恢復有限度辦公, 我暫定週回公司一天察看, 其餘時間WFH.  偶遇久違的同事, 雖戴著口罩, 看得出滿臉笑意, 恨不得能擁抱歡笑, 可見人乃羣居動物, 需要溫度.
Learned something new everyday, too.  Here came the Cold-Oven Roast Chicken recipe from Food52.  As usual I adapted it with whatever fresh ingredients and cookware handy at the moment.  The vivacious aromatics were like a watercolor sketch of spring.

野人獻曝, Food52讀了冷鍋烤雞食譜, 燒菜向來天馬行空, 手邊有啥食材器具, 便融會貫通自成一格.  這回兩吃:  香草奶油腴潤, 薑蔥清秀惹味, 爺們捧場狂掃而空.  簡單卻不單調, 大抵是平凡生活的神奇魅力. 
I made two sauces:  herb butter au jus and ginger scallion.  When one stares at banality with curiosity, magic happens :) 

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