bentos for my man

we experienced a lot of good food in japan, not least of all the lunch boxes that ranged from simple breakfasts to elaborate works of art to be consumed on the bullet train. there was so much care put into arranging each one and so many different flavours to choose from.. and (usually) very reasonably priced! this bento was about 1,270 yen (around $15 usd). the ones you can get at convenience stores for breakfast look a bit less exciting, but the price matches at 200-600 yen ($2.50-7.50 usd). ever since i can remember, people have been telling me that japan is a very expensive place to visit. but compared to copenhagen, most things are a bargain! we walked away from most of our meals with very reasonable receipts.


upon returning home, my husband announced that he would like to try bentos for his own lunch. although some wives would have rolled their eyes at the prospect of an added workload, i was stoked! his health has deteriorated during the year and i have been bugging him to let me pack a lunch he can take to work. normally he will eat a shawarma or sandwich from a shop nearby; not the healthiest or cheapest way to go about things. pictured above is the latest one i've made for him; (canned) tuna rolls, soy sauce packet, tofu patties and a bear-ful of tonkatsu sauce, potatoes and carrots cooked in indonesian soup, and a clementine.


after a week of bentos, what's the verdict? he loves it! the convenience of not having to worry about what to eat today or when is a good time to take a break to go buy it, coupled with the money saved makes it a no-brainer. plus it gets him to eat a couple more vegetables than he normally would, and eat more rice and less wheat. i pack a lunch for myself anyway, so it's not really so much extra work for me. the only problem is that he has a fridge but no microwave at work, so i have to plan a meal that will be enjoyable (and safe!) to eat cold. over the weekend i invested in the project by buying a 20kg bag of japanese rice.. for 400kr!! omg. my mom will probably scream when she reads this. japanese and korean products are not widely available (or inexpensive..) in copenhagen, so once my stock of items from 100 yen shops has run out, it will take a bit more creativity to blend elements of the danish madpakke with the japanese bento and korean doshirak.

relæ

whenever i read in the paper about how copenhagen is the culinary capital of europe or someone mentions how lucky i am to be living here, i am honestly annoyed. just look up the restaurants that are listed in such articles and you'll realize that not everyone can afford to indulge in gastronomic adventures every month, much less every week. i'm not saying that said restaurants do not serve good food; i've only been to a few of them. but to me, at least, a 'culinary capital' is somewhere that just about everyone has the opportunity and will to eat well. hong kong, san sebastian, and new york come to mind. i've been witness to many danes settling for rugbrød with cucumbers or some cold meat topping for lunch. i am not talking bad about rye bread, i enjoy it myself. but for lunch, every day of the week? no thanks.




my little brother finally came to visit me in copenhagen in the beginning of may. he is very enthusiastic about food, so this was the perfect chance for me to check out some of the places that are bringing attention to the city. of course noma, being the so-called 'best restaurant in the world,' was at the top of our list. but due to the short notice of my brother's visit, there was no chance we could get a table.. maybe next time. relæ is only about 10 minutes walk from our flat, located on the trendy street of jægersborggade. the area had a shady past with gunfire and drugs, but it has cleaned up well and is now home to hipster-friendly shops and restaurants. the thing about relæ is that despite the humble interior and reasonable prices, it has recently been crowned with a michelin star. the price of a four-course menu is 355 DKK ($60 USD), same with the vegetarian menu, and the supplementing wines. though it could be argued that it should be cheaper than the regular menu, how many michelin restaurants have you been to that cater to vegetarians?




the vegetarian menu started with thinly-sliced kohlrabi wrapped around cucumber and lemon balm and topped with roasted caraway seeds (see top photo). sadly, the most i can say about this dish was that it was interesting. i wasn't crazy about the texture of anything, nor the cucumber soup it was served in. however, it did whet our appetites; we polished off the perfect bread and olive oil that was presented earlier. the wine pairing was jacquere ’11, jacques maillet vin de savoie. the next course was leagues better; marabel potatoes cut into noodles, wrapped around pecorino and seaweed (hijiki?), and served in a cream with seaweed (wakame?). i never imagined potatoes in this way... this should be a huge inspiration of vegetarians everywhere.




the third dish was half a head of romaine lettuce (possibly poached?) topped with cured, shaved egg yolk and dotted with olives, served on top of a pool of stinging nettle sauce. i've never eaten anything like this before. the yolk reminded me a bit of salted duck egg, but with the texture of shredded cheese. it was actually a very salty dish, on the verge of being too salty. but the crisp white wine took that away with every sip; bouchat ’09 de guy blanchard, mâcon. my brother had the accompanying juice menu instead of wine, and i'm sorry to report that he didn't like them. they were not all sweet as he expected; in fact the first juice tasted very much like my cucumber soup. i'm not saying you shouldn't try it, but don't expect them all to be fruit juices. (;




when i first looked at the menu, i didn't know if we would be offered dessert at all or maybe we would have to order it separate from the menu. when the fourth course was presented to us, i realized that "sunchoke, malt, and bread" was our dessert. the sunchoke a.k.a. jerusalem artichoke was made into an ice cream and the peels were saved to become sweet roasted chips. little bits of bread were soaked in malt, creating an almost raisin-y taste and texture. this was a very pleasant, not-too-sweet dessert. i love sunchokes and we do use them from time to time at the soup kitchen, but i never would have imagined them in this way. the wine pairing was actually a cider; eric bordelet sidre tendre, normandie. it had just enough acidity to cut through the mild sweetness of dessert.

i don't want to hype this place too much but it really was very good, and not just for the price. service was on point and each dish was explained to us in english by the chefs. i'm still far from convinced that copenhagen is the culinary capital of anywhere except denmark, but if you're traveling through then this is good eats.

restaurant relæ
jægersborggade 41 
2200 københavn n 
+45 3696 6609

gapshida!

recently a series of fortunate (at least for me!) events brought me face to face with my food hero, maangchi! for some reason, i had no idea that she was planning to come to denmark in october for her global cooking show. in september, she contacted me to ask if i was still living in copenhagen and that she was looking forward to meeting me. of course i told her i was elated! but a few days later, the organizer for the copenhagen meetup could no longer participate and maangchi asked me if i could do it.

o_o

only my husband knows the sheer joy i was feeling when she asked me.


at first we had planned to meet at my apartment if there was less than 10 attendees or at a restaurant if there were more. eventually, the headcount grew to over 50... woah! kafa-x, the soup kitchen i volunteer at, graciously allowed us to use the building for the meet up event. because there were too many people to cook for, maangchi decided to make it a potluck, which was easier for us and also gave a good variety of great food. even still, we did a lot of work shopping around at chinatown market and torvehallerne and prepping the food afterwards. yes, there is a cooking video that will appear at some point, as i was able to find a cameraman (pictured above). he's a friend of mine who is hopefully now inspired to cook some korean food at home. (:


there was so much food! the table was totally packed with plates and bowls. maangchi and i made beef and radish soup and also a spicy pork stir fry. for my friend the cameraman, we made a vegan version with mushrooms instead of pork. among other things, people brought pickled tomatoes, broccoli soup, pumpkin soup, stir-fried chinese greens, frikadeller, kimchi (duh), kimbab, potato cakes, red cabbage salad, carrot salad, butternut squash and pear salad, and some lovely desserts. two guys even brought about 10 bottles of soju, wow! i don't even want to think about how much that cost here in copenhagen. D:


these three girls were a big surprise; they came all the way from sweden to meet maangchi! one of them even made some really good korean fried chicken. i was so impressed... i will definitely invite them to the next kimchi-making class. (:


the next day, maangchi invited me to her hotel room to have lunch. turns out that she had a little picnic stashed away in her luggage! with the little travel rice cooker, seaplant sheets, kimchi, dried anchovies, spicy dipping sauce, tiny shrimps, tiny dried fish, and squid, it was one of the best meals i've had in copenhagen in a long time. we wrapped everything up in the seaplant sheets and made a long kimbap roll. after lunch, i took maangchi for a classic tour of copenhagen. of course we had to see the little mermaid first, as she's advertised in every denmark travel brochure. then we walked by the old fortification of kastellet, the palace of the danish royal family, nyhavn, the pedestrian street, and then city hall. phew, that was a lot of walking! sorry, i didn't take any photos... i just wanted to relax and hang out with maangchi, haha! she posted some fun photos already.


by the time we got to city hall we had only eaten some ice cream in coffee (yes, you read that right!) and tea since lunch, so we decided to eat dinner at my favourite chinese place. that's right, we went to magasasa! we ordered some very spicy fish in a LOT of chili oil and the spicy crab, both off the sichuan menu. obviously we ate it with rice! it was so good after our long walk in the chilly weather and a great meal to see me off to hong kong. (:

the next day i didn't have time to see maangchi again as she had another engagement and i was busy packing for my own trip. at that point it hit me how privileged i was to have her all to myself for a whole day, haha! the more we talked, the more i realized we are the same 'species.' we'll probably meet again someday. after copenhagen, she continued her cooking adventure in australia, new zealand, singapore, indonesia, malaysia, and the philippines! safe trip, maangchi! ^^

american foodstuffs in copenhagen

i know i've already written a short guide to the city but i've been meeting a lot of homesick americans both online and in person lately and they all seem to be looking for similar things. i feel like i can help you guys out here! are you looking for:

beans
supermarket doesn't carry the sort of beans you're looking for? take a walk down nørrebrogade, where i recommend the best indian shop in town, dhadra, and grocers located between runddel and nørrebro station. you should also look around the reventlowsgade side of the central station, where i recommend afghan and kabul market. they have beans both dried and canned. yes, black beans too. (:

'exotic' fruit and veg
aubergine (thai, japanese, chinese, pea), banana leaf, banana peppers, bitter melon, bok choy, cassava, chipotles (only canned), fresh curry leaves, daikon radish, galangal, jackfruit (young is fresh in slices or canned, ripe is only canned), lemongrass, long bean, lotus root and leaf, mangosteen, okra, pandan leaf, sweet potato, tamarind, fresh turmeric, wolfberries. i have seen them all at one point or another in various green grocers, especially those by the central station. doesn't hurt to ask the shopkeeper if you can't find what you're looking for, they are usually quite nice people.

soy milk
it can get pretty expensive buying soy milk since it's always organic here! my favourite brand comes from aldi. it has no added sugar, getting its natural sweetness from fermented rice. not only is it the best-tasting, it's also the cheapest at 9,99kr per liter. however, because of the sweetness this may not be a milk substitute that you'd want to mix into your savoury dishes; i only use it for baking, tea and cereal.


peanut butter
in a pinch, you can find it at abigail's or any of the bigger supermarkets for 30+kr. but i suggest you keep an eye on the weekly circulars. usually i pick up 350g jars of organic peanut butter for 12-15kr when they're on sale at netto or rema1000. i know i get gawked at when i'm rolling up to the cash register with 5 jars of them, but don't ever try to separate me from my peanut butter if you value your limbs.

condensed soups
i know those of you who are searching for these are most likely going to use them in casseroles or as the base for another soup... right?! you're not going to just eat it plain! anyway, it's not in my place to judge... sometimes they go on sale (see above for shop circulars) but you can almost always find them at abigail's, along with betty crocker cake mixes and ciders.

canned pumpkin puree
though i highly recommend you roast and puree your own pumpkins, it's quite an undertaking and maybe you don't have time/room for it. i've heard larger superbest stores has an american section where you can find pumpkin puree but if you can't find it there, try abigail's.

mayonnaise
looking for a specific brand of mayo? miracle whip and best foods/hellmans can be found in superbrugsen, kvickly, and metro. the latter is a card-only warehouse sort of like costco or sam's club back in the states. you must be a business owner to get a card or grab a friend who has one. they also have a good selection of hard-to-find liquor (like palatable tequila) and they also have an in-store fishmonger and butcher. but again, try making your own at home; it's so much better!

booze
missing american beers? øl bar in nørrebro is a fan of serving up microbrews from across the pond. you could also try your luck at den tatoverede enke, but if you can't find a specific american brew, there's plenty of other amazing beers to choose from in that bar. for drinking at home, check out my favourite kihoskh. if you're longing for budweiser, stop reading my blog NOW. ):


cuts of meat
if you look in any supermarket here, there is normally a smaller variety of cuts (unless there's an in-store butcher) available than you may be used to in the states. but there are plenty of butchers around town that can help you out there. my favourite is the guldberg butcher, who only sells local, free-range meat and organic chickens. the chart above should also help you visually identify the parts you want. (:

dips
looking for a tub of sour cream and some onion and garlic powder to concoct your own dip for chips or veg? sour cream doesn't exist here but crème fraiche tastes almost the same, just a bit less sour. garlic powder i've been able to find in little bags at green grocers in nørrebro and vesterbro. onion powder has been spotted at superbrugsen.

coffee
copenhagen has both good beans and bad. you can find fairtrade coffee in almost any supermarket and you can get direct trade coffee freshly brewed at estate or coffee collective. but if you're looking for a seattle style dark roast, the only option i've been able to find is the lonely starbucks in the airport.

sodas
gotta get your root beer or cream soda fix? these flavours aren't very popular with the locals, but you can find them if you look. occasionally they go on sale (see circulars) or you might be able to find them in middle eastern or indian green grocers. dr. pepper has also been found at kihoskh, the best damn kiosk i've ever been to.



if you have looked and looked and simply cannot find what you're looking for, why not take a trip to malmø? you can either take a car over the toll bridge or get there faster by train. going by bus takes an hour but it's very cheap, especially if you take a day trip (dagstur) and even cheaper if you are 29 and under or 60 and over. groceries there will be a bit cheaper and swedish supermarkets ica and coop generally have more variety than their danish counterparts. still can't find it? try their bigger stores, ica maxi and coop extra. vegans and vegetarians, don't miss a trip to astrid och aporna; it has pretty much everything your widdle heart desires.

for other things, here are some websites that ship to denmark.

food from home - british and american food. chocolate chips!
iherb - vitamins, gluten-free baking goods, nut butters

this is just a food blog; for other tips on denmark, check out this page.

if there's something you're searching for or already found, feel free to write me in the comments and i can add it to the list or start a hunt for it. (:

torvehallerne

FINALLY. copenhagen has its own market hall; something that appears in almost every other major city in the world. århus has bazar vest, but the capital city has been missing one for ages. ever since i first saw that eyesore of a construction site on the way to nørreport station, i've been dreaming of the day it would open.


i managed to put it off for 2 days after opening before giving in to my anxiousness and braving the market. the first thing that i noticed was how ugly the exteriors looked. glass all around, turning the halls into humid greenhouses that would not be pleasant in the summer. tacky drawings of fruits and vegetables, the likes of which one might see on a coffee mug from a discount store. and it was so crowded that i couldn't really enjoy it for long.






however, the little i did see of the market drew mixed feelings from me. on the one hand, hall 1 was everything i had anticipated; fresh clear-eyed fish, lovely runny cheeses, spices, takeaways, biodynamic vegetables. the smells and sights took me back to the farmers markets of california, the fish market in venice, borough market in london. to be honest, it was hard to believe i was still in copenhagen.


hall 2 was mainly just stalls that already had established their brick-and-mortar shops somewhere else in the city. agnes cupcakes, for instance, has a location in the city center which is infamous for selling out of cupcakes quickly. coffee collective's shop in nørrebro doesn't offer much seating but you have a shot at a couple benches here at the market. while i can understand the reasoning behind this hall, it doesn't really interest me and is not what i think of when i hear the phrase "food market."


as a young market it has so much potential. the prices of raw ingredients like produce and meat were fair and hopefully this place will inspire copenhageners and tourists alike that food doesn't have to be just fuel. i'll definitely be back many times (once the crowds die down) to visit the fishmongers, the spice man, and now i know where to get a duck confit sandwich in copenhagen.



torvehallerne
frederiksborggade 21
1360 københavn k
tlf. 70 10 60 70

not-so-sankt hans aften

on june 23rd, denmark celebrates sankt hans aften; which is also known as midsummer or summer solstice. normally danes will flock to a big bonfire by a body of water to drink beer and eat sausages with snøbrød (bread cooked on a stick over a fire). the fire is supposed to symbolize burning a witch, as it's not nice to burn effigies anymore. but this year i wanted to avoid the crowds, especially after distortion; which has caused me to swear off beer for a while due to the stench of it mixed with urine for the entire week following the festival. luckily, my friend arranged a little grill party in her backyard which was pleasantly quiet and, well, undanish.


for this occasion, i chose to make one of the recipes that i learned in bali. the plan was to take a ghetto cooking class which would hopefully be taught by a mom (or even better, a grandma!) in her home with several other participants. but i didn't do enough research and my parents ended up treating me to a cooking class with the executive chef at the villa we stayed at in ubud. but a word of warning before you embark on this recipe: it's fairly labor-intensive! i got to my friend's apartment and was chopping, pureeing, cooking, and folding banana leaves from 5pm to nearly 7!! definitely not something you should take to a dinner party, no matter how casual it is. i felt sorry for my friends watching me fold each banana leaf while their tummies grumbled... ;_;

seafood spice paste
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: about 1 kg

400 g green chilies, seeded and sliced
3 small green birds eye chilies, seeded
225 g shallots, peeled and sliced
1 head of garlic, peeled
100 g ginger, peeled and sliced (are you seeing a pattern here?)
175 g fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced
125 g candlenuts
2 tbsp toasted belacan
2 tbsp crushed coriander seeds
200 g tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
150 ml vegetable oil
250 ml water
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
3 salam leaves (if you can't find them, just leave it out)
salt to taste

puree all the ingredients in a food processor or mortar except lemongrass, salam leaves, salt, and water. pour the paste into a heavy saucepan along with the remaining ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 1 hour or until the water has mostly evaporated and the paste is golden. let the paste cool completely before using it. you can save it for later by freezing it in an ice cube tray and afterwards putting the cubes into a freezer bag.

---

pesan be pasih (grilled fish in banana leaf)
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: serves 2 as a main, 4-6 as an appetizer

300 g fish filets, chopped into big bite-sized pieces
125 g seafood spice paste
1 medium-sized tomato, cut into thin wedges
salt and pepper to taste
4 salam leaves
8 sprigs lemon basil
banana leaf, cut into 4 squares about 15 cm
bamboo skewers (or chives/spring onions/something to tie the parcels)

season the fish with salt and pepper and add the seafood paste. place one salam leaf on the center of the banana leaf, top with a fourth of the marinated fish (but if it looks like too much, cut back a bit), 2 tomato slices, and 2 sprigs of lemon basil. fold one third of the banana leaf over the filling and roll up tightly, securing with a bamboo skewer. (alternatively, you can also use spring onions or some long greens to tie them like i did. just make sure the greens are wet so they don't burn, letting the parcel fall apart.) repeat until you've filled all 4 banana leaves. cover the parcels and let them marinate in a cool place for 30 minutes.

you can steam them for 7 minutes, grill them for 9 minutes, or bake them for 9 minutes at 180°C. just watch out that they don't get burned or overcooked or else they'll be dry as hell. serve with rice!

i think they turned out pretty well, despite my frazzled preparation and lack of salam leaves. i think they were enjoyed by my friends as well - there were no leftovers as i unfortunately underestimated the amount that the recipe would yield. luckily there were plenty of other delights to shove into our mouths; the host made many sticks of delicious chicken satay using a recipe from rasa malaysia accompanied by a fiery chili peanut sauce that i resorted to simply spooning over my rice. the only danish thing about our dinner was a few sausages on the grill... which we didn't mind, seeing as those weenies were seriously outnumbered. a latecomer brought her own marinated pork belly and cutlets to grill; after two pieces they just pushed me over the edge, i was so full! but there's always room for dessert, which was a strawberry coconut cake. and sangria. lots of sangria.

...uh, happy sankt hans aften! hope we do it this way again next year. ^^

chicken!

i'm not vegan. i'm not even vegetarian. but when it's not there, i never miss meat... except fish and chicken. and don't give me that crap that i would still be considered a "vegetarian." those people do not eat chicken. they also do not eat fish. stop putting that on your menu and labeling it as a "vegetarian dish." sorry about that rant, i'm sure i've mentioned it before but i keep seeing it! if i am annoyed by that, imagine how the vegetarians feel. fix it. *huff* anyway! /:',


roast chicken could easily be my last meal. i'm not sure what exactly makes me drool when i think of it, but i am almost always in the mood for a plate of it! recently, a friend of mine was ordering a bunch of chickens from hopballe; a mill which keeps free-range, GMO-free, almost CO2 neutral chickens here in denmark. i asked that she place an order for me so we could save on shipping, but my friend ended up giving it to me as a belated wedding gift. i wanted to treat this wonderful present as respectfully as possible; so rather than chopping it up and turning it into a burning thai curry or korean fried chicken, i decided on a subtle, simple roast.



i served it to my husband with this white wine. why have i been avoiding chardonnays for so long? this wine was fantastic with the chicken! not too dry and the mild sweetness cut through the salty skin and somewhat oily bits. this would be a great wine for bbqs as well, i imagine. as for the bird, the skin came out wonderfully crispy and the meat was incredibly moist. i should have used a flakier salt, though; it seemed a bit uneven. next time!



even the second and third days, the meat was still very moist. surprisingly i only ended up making one chicken sandwich, instead opting to use most of the leftovers in a vietnamese-style salad based on this recipe. i switched out the onions and mint for bell peppers and danish cucumber. the salad was very refreshing for the warm spring days that are finally hitting copenhagen. i almost want to roast another chicken right now, just to make this salad! this is definitely not the last time i'm getting one of these hopballe chickens. thanks, L! (:

nimb

this was my first time participating in copenhagen dining week, which is a part of the winter edition of copenhagen cooking. this program shows off the better side of danish cuisine, or at least what's on offer in most danish restaurants (i'll give you a hint; it starts with F and rhymes with "wrench"). i booked a ticket within the first few hours they were put on sale and luckily i nabbed one to nimb; one of the best restaurants in town, or at least one of them that doesn't have a michelin star. i deliberately chose a day that wasn't february 14, mainly because i hate valentine's day. (;


the starter was sugar salted salmon with vinaigrette of rapeseed oil and celery, horseradish, dill, pickled onions and cauliflower. it was delicious, but the surprise was that there was only the two slices of fish. i would have gladly given up one slice for some roasted vegetables or mash. though it was a buttery and complex salmon, i was getting pretty tired of it after the first piece and and halfway through the second piece it became a struggle. the little brown bits are toasted crumbs of rye bread, i think. they were good but almost too hard. it felt a bit like chewing pebbles. maybe i just have sensitive teeth. x:


the main was cooked in an open kitchen, where all of us diners could see and smell the action. grilled, smoked chicken from gråsten (hopefully not this graasten) with celeriac, jerusalem artichokes, brown butter and chives. the chicken was incredibly moist with a lovely smoke flavour. i'm weak in the knees for smoked food! i was happy to see the mash and the veg, but the ratio of meat to other stuff was still out of whack. the chicken piece was HUGE. american-sized, even! i couldn't finish it, even though it was delicious. i'm not very good at eating meals where a big hunk of meat is the star, but i guess the danes can dig it. the veg was cooked perfectly and that mash, oh that mash...


my favourite part is almost always dessert! white chocolate parfait with tarragon mousse, frozen and dried lingonberries, and licorice. no criticism for this one; it was so perfect. the frozen berries crunched in your mouth like popped rice. the tarragon was a bit strange to see on the menu but it added a nice colour balance to the plate and went surprisingly well with the other flavours. finally, the licorice came through just at the end as a mild aftertaste. creamy, sour, sweet; big and bold flavours. i used to be a big snob about only eating dark chocolate, but now i have moments where i actually crave white and milk chocolate. i could have eaten a whole bowl of this! P:

it was such a great evening at nimb. the special price for the week only made things better: 200 DKK ($36 USD) per person for 3 courses. never thought i'd say it, but that was a steal (for copenhagen standards)! i hope our next gourmet experience in denmark will be at noma. (:

the open-faced sandwich

though i've been living in denmark for over 2 years now, i have not tried one of the most well-known danish delicacies; smørrebrød, literally translated as 'buttered bread.' another thing i haven't tried is a hot dog from a wiener wagon, but that will take some time (if it happens at all).


one morning, the dane got it into his head that we should go out for smørrebrød for lunch. i was super hungry by that point so i agreed to it with a little hesitation. for breakfast i can eat almost anything, but meat-heavy dishes give me a bad start to the day. he decided on aamanns, a restaurant in the city that is well-known for putting a modern twist on classic open-faced sandwiches. the lunch menu isn't very big but everything is beautifully presented and there is a good meat-to-green ratio. the dane went with the daily special; roast beef with kale and tiny cubes of fried potatoes and horseradish cream, pork rillette with brussels sprouts and pomegranate arils, and soft-boiled egg with fried fat.


my selection of 3 types of fish was slightly lighter and just as pretty. you're supposed to butter the bread and delicately build the fish and other ingredients on top. well, that didn't really happen. but it was very delicious! much more inspiring and fresh than i ever imagined traditional danish cuisine to be. the first part of the platter i went for was the smoked salmon with apples, preserves, dill, and little bits of toasted rye bread. the other two were sadly types of fish that i couldn't remember but they tasted equally good. a white fish with savoy cabbage and a pan-fried fish with house-made tartar sauce. i usually hate tartar sauce but this one can decorate my fried fish any day. it was a little expensive for what it was, but it's a good experience that's worth at least one trip. (:



aamanns
øster farimagsgade 10
2100 københavn ø

a sanctuary

i've never been to china, so i can't talk about authenticity. but i've been to many a chinese restaurant recommended by chinese acquaintances in california and this is up to that standard. it is where i have had many a delicious family-style dinner with friends and soon-to-be friends. i've given and received many hugs inside and in front of this restaurant and we continue to arrange meet ups here (sometimes twice a week!). nothing on the menu has let me down, honestly. so imagine my surprise when i realized that i have never written about magasasa before!



if any danes stumble upon this bog, they will probably be thinking, "chinese food? not too crazy about it. it's so oily and everything is fried." well, maybe at the chinese restaurants YOU go to. in general, the tolerance to spice and, er, exotic textures is pretty low in this country. i admit that there is a certain grease factor to most of the dishes we order here, but i never get an MSG headache or feel sick after eating at magasasa (as i have experienced at another chinese place... but that's a story for another post).



melt-in-your-mouth aubergine and pork belly. one of my favourite parts of a meal is eating the rice that has soaked up all the sauces and flavours; and this was certainly no exception! the shrimp was spicy and the grilled peppers were great as usual. as soon as the rice pot on our table is empty, it is wordlessly snatched up and replaced with a steamy batch. service isn't all smiles and small talk, but it is very efficient. i accept this in asian restaurants, it happens everywhere.



there is a bit of a routine when we converge on this restaurant. someone always orders the grilled peppers. there is always a bag of asian groceries sitting under the table that someone has bought on the way. someone is asking what is not spicy. we all rant about being a stranger in a strange land... and of course we talk about other things too, right? when i am eating here with my friends, i feel like i am somewhere else; a sort of place between places. not china, not america, and certainly not denmark.

magasasa
istedgade 4
1650 københavn v

good service

in denmark, the minimum wage is a little over 100kr ($18 USD). while that is of course great for employees and the standard of living, it can make eating out a nightmare. sometimes servers think there is no reason to smile at customers or improve on service because they don't rely on tips; in fact tipping is uncommon in denmark. i have experienced my fair share of rude waiters and that extra 20 minutes of waiting for my food/drink/bill. but i won't say that this country is made up of bad restaurants with horrible service. on the contrary, last night was a shining example for me! a friend of mine invited me to a vegan dinner arranged by vegetar kontakt, a danish site for vegetarians and vegans.


seeing the seventeen of us seated around the table, i was expecting the worst. asian restaurants are not always known for their hospitality (i.e. korean servers ignoring non-korean guests) but this place went above and beyond to accommodate. lá lúa made a special vegan menu just for us and even made it all gluten-free for my friend, who has a sensitivity to it. i have never seen such service in denmark or at any vietnamese eatery i've been to! the food (and extra rice, yay!) kept coming and pitchers of water were left for us so no one went hungry or thirsty. and yet our server still came by once in a while to check on us and see how we liked it. they even let us take home doggy bags, which is pretty much unheard of in denmark!


the spring rolls and summer rolls were both wrapped in rice paper and served with sauces NOT containing fish sauce or wheat soy sauce. our server was happy to explain the ingredients to our meal when we asked again and again, just to make sure. the mango salad and the house-made tofu were a dream. they even brought in a special kind of dried tofu (badly pictured above) just for us. while i have to admit that not all of the dishes were the authentic vietnamese cuisine (stir-fried vegetables in soy sauce?) i remember from westminster and garden grove in california, it was all really good. the only one that really stood out like a sore thumb on our table was tofu in tomato sauce. but like i said, still good. and who knows, maybe it is super authentic; i've never been to vietnam so i can't really talk. at one point i realized that some my fellow diners were saying how spicy the stir-fried dried tofu was. i had barely noticed... but then again, it was a group of danes with a couple foreigners thrown in. the spice tolerance level here is pretty minimal, but that's understandable. i'm sure the restaurant can make much spicier and/or more authentic food; which is why i plan to go back soon! (:

lá lúa
frederikssundsvej 32
2400 københavn nv
38 19 63 63

UPDATE d. 23. januar:
i was just reminded today that we each paid 15kr for tap water served in a pitcher. that is the only bad thing i can say about the evening, though. no restaurant should charge for tap water!

thanks and two-hundred

yep, that's our mailbox. my husband took that photo. i sat inside the apartment all weekend, going out only to get the laundry. but it's not just the weather that's zapping my will to go out.

all this time my blog has been about food (and moving), with the occasional whine about missing california, but i think now it will take a slightly different turn. seeing as i'm being wrung through the system myself, i can't shut up about it. despite the fact that i am married to a danish man, work at a public hospital part-time, volunteer at a soup kitchen once a week, and speak danish at a conversational level, i am under threat of deportation. all this started because i turned in a form late. then it just snowballed. the problem right now is that i'm supposed to have a full-time job if i want to live here under a work permit (though i couldn't find it stated in the rules anywhere). ever since i was notified of the 'problem' with my work permit renewal, i haven't been allowed to work. yes, folks; it's been a month a half of me waiting by the phone and not bringing home any of the proverbial bacon. my boss is trying to work out a deal with immigration services though i don't know if there's any hope in that. if it doesn't go through, i'll have to go back to california and apply for residency based on marriage, which is looking equally, if not more insane. but this is my 200th post so i'm gonna end it on a happy note.


on thursday night i invited all my friends to the soup kitchen; not for a 20kr dinner but for a vegan-vegetarian and mostly gluten-free thanksgiving meal that would be cooked by us... for us. it snowed all day so some people bailed out due to sickness or just desire to stay at home under the covers. but with the eight of us it was so cozy and so nice. despite the fact that there was only one american present aside from me, i think it was a great celebration. good food with good friends. the lithuanian made the most amazing bean and bread salad, which we dubbed 'stuffing,' and the canadian presented his delicious homemade tofurkey and gravy. before eating, we all took a moment to say what we were thankful for, serious or not. most of us stated that we were thankful for the delicious food and company. this holiday didn't concentrate on discovery (or should i say theft) of land or killing of a bird. it was all in the name! unfortunately i was so stressed out about it that i forgot the camera (so you'll have to excuse the crappy phone photo) and potatoes! what is a vegetarian's thanksgiving without roasted potatoes, seriously? in any case, here's what i made:

• pumpkin pie with a nut crust
• miso-glazed aubergine (without miso for those with a gluten sensitivity)
• salad of roasted broccoli, chickpeas, and bell pepper
• brown rice served with my homemade kimchi and also roasted seaweed sheets

i have no idea why i was so stressed since i love cooking, and especially for friends. i guess it comes with the holiday. i always remember my mom each year looking so frazzled juggling the bird and stuffing and everything else! also it was my first time baking pumpkin pie from scratch, and seeing as how my last vegan, gluten-free baking attempt turned out far less than perfect, i can understand my anxiety. anyway it was a great night without meat or alcohol. it's nice to have one of those nights, especially in denmark. (:


what i am thankful for is my dear husband, all my friends and of course family who have supported me through this tough time in a strange land. the soup kitchen and countless afternoons in cafes for keeping me busy. my asian stinginess so that i could support myself in this time of 'unemployment.' my health. my bike. and last but not least, not having to deal with a kilo of dry-as-hell turkey leftovers for the next week! i ate the remaining vegetables quickly, one of the meals being thai-style pumpkin soup with somen noodles. VERY good. hope you had a good thanksgiving, fellow americans. and for the rest of you, count your blessings at least once in a while if you don't already. ^^

the immigrants are taking your cake and juice

if you read danish news (if you don't, i don't blame you), you'll know that something smells good at the post office. according to a political party here called dansk folkeparti (danish people's party), public hospitals and doctors' offices had to take the complimentary cake and 'juice' out of their waiting rooms because of immigrants. now, df has never been bosom buddies with the immigrant population, but this is a new low. they're blaming large foreign families for taking advantage of the free food and 'juice' in waiting rooms. i put the quotes because, more often than not, what's served is some sort of concentrate that loosely resembles juice (or at least it did at some point). as for cake, in the time i've worked at hillerød and frederiksberg hospital, i have never seen cake laid out for visitors. to say nothing of all the hospitals i've visited for job applications in the copenhagen area! fruit, yes. coffee and 'juice,' yes. but never any sweets to clog your arteries in the waiting room. the public hospital doesn't want to make MORE work for itself. private hospitals, however, i'm not so sure about. :P

a hospital director, named ib steen mikkelsen, was a little confused by the announcement: "everyone who has worked in the healthcare system knows that immigrants have more visitors than ethnic danish patients. but that doesn't need to be a negative thing; it just means that they get more visits, which is of course nice for the patient." as a sort of protest to dansk folkeparti, a couple facebook groups were made but the ideas were the same: send a citronmåne to df. a citronmåne is a lemony spongecake that you can find packaged in almost any supermarket. and now these cakes along with a couple hundred others are flooding this nationalistic political party's office. many of the packages came with sarcastic notes like "i have just heard about your terrible crisis and hereby send the closest thing to a cake i could find. take care of it, you never know when a muslim will come by and steal it with their long, black fingers!" i got a good laugh out of it. (:


though i support this sort of sweet, frosted protest, the cake pictured at the top has definitely not gone to dansk folkeparti. pia kjærsgaard will have to come by our apartment herself and have a little chat with me if she would like to try my preserved ginger drizzle cake. i made it, along with some tea sandwiches, for two friends of mine who are going back to england. i thought teatime would be nice, even though they are heading for the land of tea. i made it using ingredients from my friend R, and this is the first time i've even seen preserved ginger, black treacle, or golden syrup! the cake was fantastically moist and very gingery. and the top crust was just barely hardened, so that there was a slight satisfying crunch when we cut into it. a wonderful cake!

so for any dansk folkeparti members or supporters out there; if you want to eat my cakes, cookies, brownies, etc., you'll have to ask nicely and sit with me and my other non-danish friends. otherwise i hope you like packaged citronmåner. (;