Fusion Food, Melody-Style

This morning I’d settled on making rice pudding using arborio rice for lunch, but come the end of my morning class, I decided something more savory and lunch-like was a better idea. Rather than attempting to transform my remaining arborio into a sugar-laden confection, I went for my take on fusion cuisine: teriyaki risotto. To be perfectly honest, I can think of no better food combination than Japanese and Italian, and this risotto totally proved me right.

A lovely little Asian soup bowl brimming with risottoNormally risotto is made with some kind of broth or wine or combination of the two as the liquid, but I decided to use teriyaki sauce diluted in water instead. Sautée the rice in some unsalted butter until it’s clear except for the little center pearl of white, and then begin the tedious process of gradually adding the simmering liquid until you get that delectable creamy-saucy texture that defines a perfect risotto. Once all the liquid was added and absorbed, I stirred in some heated mixed baby string beans and carrots, a little extra teriyaki sauce, and a light drizzle of sesame oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt, and voilà! a fantastic lunch for two (my sister shared it with me, and confirmed the risotto was “OMG SO GOOD” ;)).

Mmm…morsels of creamy ricy veggie goodness…Unfortunately my camera is being highly uncooperative lately and refuses to take anything but blurry photos of my food. 😛 Hopefully it’ll shape up over the course of tonight and tomorrow so I can legibly photo-document what should be a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner prepared by yours truly! I’m the chef for this year’s family feast for the first time, and I hope to create the best ever meal we’ve had for the holiday. 😀

On another food-related note for the day, one of my Chinese suitemates has a bowl full of tapioca in the fridge, and every time I’ve gone in it to get something the past few days, it’s made me crave bubble tea. Naturally, this necessitated a stop at the Kelly Tea and Coffee House on the way back to my room from my last class today. 😉 Looking over their menu of bubble tea flavors for the day–strawberry, sweet tea, and taro–I was immediately drawn to that last flavor scrawled in lavender marker on the menu board. Through my recent research of Asian desserts I’d come across the mention of taro several times, and it definitely piqued my curiosity, what with the enthusiasm people so frequently possessed when talking about it.

Happy beads of tapioca swimming in sweet, delicious taro-ness!After a very short mental debate between strawberry and taro, I chose to go with the unusually-purple drink over the cotton-candy-pink option. I most definitely was not regretting that choice after the first sip, and I subsequently added “something made with real taro” to my mental list of Unusual Foods to Try. ;D I’m definitely a fan of bubble tea–the novelty of slippery beads of tapioca mixed in with sips of a sweet, fruity- or tea-flavored beverage is just too much! Yum! :yum

And now I need to get more of this darned art history paper written and plan out the timing for all the things I’m cooking for Thanksgiving dinner. I’m determined for it to be a blazing success! Well, hopefully not blazing in the LITERAL sense… 😕