Last night, I made some excellent Asian meat balls with broccoli and Canton noodles. Super simple, but very delicious.
Here's the recipe:
Asian-Inspired Meatballs and Spaghetti
Makes 24 small meatballs
Meatball Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
- 1/2 cup panko
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 egg
- Safflower oil
- 1 package soba noodles
- Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 – 2 teaspoons of sriracha (depends on how spicy you like it)
- Directions:
- In a saucepan, over low heat, add the brown sugar, white wine and soy sauce. Stir and cook just until the sugar melts; about 2 minutes. Add the ginger and sriracha; stir and continue to simmer over very low heat, for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add all of the meatball ingredients except the safflower oil and soba noodles. Using your hands, mix well. Form the mixture into meatballs. I like them to be on the smaller size, but do whatever makes you happy.
- In a shallow frying pan, add about a 1/4 inch of safflower oil; heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add the meatballs a few at a time. Brown each side. Remove to a paper towel. Repeat the process.
- Once all the meatballs are browned, wipe out the frying pan with a paper towel (do not rinse or wash), and put the meatball back into the pan. Pour the sauce over the top, and let simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Right before serving, cook the noodles according to the package direction. Drain. Toss with a teaspoon of safflower oil to prevent noodles from sticking.
- Add the meatballs to the noodles. If the sauce is a bit thin, raise the heat and cook down a bit until it is thick. Pour over the noodles, gently toss. Serve. Eat.
Our friends Bieke, Brian, Katina, and Leonard came to visit us last week. It really renewed my outlook on Nice. I am still ready to leave this place, but it was nice to find out where some of the good food is and see some familiar faces.
That being said, France just isn't right for us in the long term. We really enjoy good food, living healthy, and working hard. And the French just aren't about those things. They like finding ways to not work and live off the government. They are way too proud of their failing country and are not open to being a real participant in the world. They are stuck on thinking that they are the best and are missing the fact that they really aren't and are actually pretty inferior to America.
And this is a lot coming from me, previously a very open America hater. Living here has really made me appreciate where I come from. France claims to have the most efficient workers. They get more done in less time. This may be true of the business people working in places like Paris, but the majority of the French people simply hardly work and live off the government. Local store owners close their shops whenever they please and nothing is about contributing to the economy or serving people.
It's a very selfish, misguided way of living. Sure, when I have a real job I would love to sit down on a week day once a week and have some wine with lunch. But I don't want to do that every day. And I don't want to be part of a culture where people show up at the pub at 8:30 in the morning to start drinking and don't have to worry about paying for groceries because the government will take care of it. I don't want to stand in line at the store behind the nicest dressed, put together French guy I've ever seen who is using food stamps to purchase groceries.
These people, as a whole, are extremely delusional and actually believe in their superiority in all things cultural, culinary, fashionable, etc. That's funny because if you come here, it's actually hard to find those things in high quality. What's even more hilarious is their simultaneous hate of America and their shameless consumption of American pop culture. There is some major dissonance here. It just doesn't add up.
Don't get me wrong. France is a totally nice place to live for a while and explore. It's beautiful. The wine and cheese are amazing and cheap. It's so close to many other cool places, like Italy, Spain, Germany, and England. But when you notice and care about the state of the economy and character of the people like we do, your brain will reach near explosion at least once, daily.
For example, we took the train to Grasse the other day and saw some political posters by the train station. Sarkozy, of course, was amongst them. One of the candidates used anti-capitalism to sell himself. It said something along the lines of, "We are going to fix this mess that capitalism has caused." Ummm....you guys better check the facts on that because I'm pretty sure your socialist government has gotten you where you are now. You know, all the people not working and mooching instead?
And being forced to watch people shamelessly litter. They have no sense of their effect of the environment. The other day, I was studying at my desk and looked down to the street to see someone in their car unwrapping a pack of cigarettes and nonchalantly throwing their trash out the window. This is not uncommon. It happens all the time. A woman eating a snack while walking and just dropping the box on the ground instead of finding a trash can. And when I see someone actually clean up after their dog, I have to fight the urge to exclaim in an excitement and give them a giant hug.
I AM having fun here. I mean, it's the French Riviera. And if you have the money to really do the French thing, I am sure it's amazing. But I have had to work really hard on changing the way I react to things. I try to not get angry or too annoyed and just remember that it's the French way. I am also glad that I know that France isn't the place you see in movies. I'm glad I know the truth and I am excited about my new found appreciation for where I come from. I am a hard working, capitalism-loving, contributing American and I am so very proud of that.
