Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Roselle Lim

Quote by Roselle Lim

“A steaming bowl of conpoy and mustard-green congee revived my senses. Pungent cilantro leaves and golden-fried minced garlic accented the surface of the rice porridge. I dipped my wide ceramic spoon into it and tested the consistency. The rice grains had popped enough to form a silky, creamy texture. The hint of white pepper created a perfectly balanced song on my tongue.”

Quote by Roselle Lim

Book:Celestial Banquet
Create image

Work

Celestial Banquet

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Roselle Lim

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Roselle Lim. more

You May Also Like

“The plate features seared sea serpent with poached meadow flower breams." The acidic bath method had worked. The flesh of the sea serpent had transformed yet again and changed to a very iron-rich deep red. The taste was reminiscent of fatty tuna, with a stronger metallic edge. I'd set the filets in shallow clay bowls and bathed them in a marinade made of coriander, minced ginger, chilies, kalamansi, and my signature soy sauce. I'd toasted black sesame seeds and combined them with crushed pink peppercorns as a rub--- the crust to create a contrast for the tender, almost jellied meat underneath. On the side, I added the poached filets of meadow flower breams in a rich golden sauce with singing carp caviar.”

SeafoodSeasoningsAsian FoodSea Serpent
Book:Celestial Banquet
Create image

“After charring the thousand dragon's tea to ash, I steeped it with a silkie chicken, dried cloud's ear mushrooms, scallions, and cured, salted fish. Making a few adjustments, I added in some pungent star anise, purple scallions, scorpion chilis, and black garlic. As if I were a witch, I concocted the most powerful brew--- a potent broth to steam the rice, a punch to the tongue and teeth.”

CookingSeasoningsAsian Food
Book:Celestial Banquet
Create image

“I am not even an atheist so much as an antitheist; I not only maintain that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but I hold that the influence of churches and the effect of religious belief, is positively harmful. Reviewing the false claims of religion I do not wish, as some sentimental materialists affect to wish, that they were true. I do not envy believers their faith. I am relieved to think that the whole story is a sinister fairy tale; life would be miserable if what the faithful affirmed was actually true.... There may be people who wish to live their lives under cradle-to-grave divine supervision, a permanent surveillance and monitoring. But I cannot imagine anything more horrible or grotesque.”

ReligionAtheism
Author:Christopher Hitchens
Create image

“We also ate most of our meals together, and our different likes and dislikes had somehow morphed into the perfect Thai smorgasbord for four: Trish and Dean liked the nut tofu (a waste of space involving bland firm tofu stir-fried with triple-colored bell peppers, tomato, onion, and a scant handful of cashews), while Ian and I were crazy for the tamarind shrimp (a sumptuous melding of tiger shrimp, ginger, garlic, chili, and green onion tossed in a tangy tamarind sauce and topped with crispy fried shallots). Dean and I enjoyed the spicy eggplant (the heaps of fresh Thai basil totally made it), while Trish and Ian usually went for the curry beef. (I'm not a fan.) We all shared in the perfectly balanced salty, sweet, spicy, and sour green mango salad and deep-fried honey bananas for dessert when we were stoned.”

SeasoningsUmamiComparisonsThai FoodDouble Dating
Book:Off Menu
Create image

“The owner saw the way I ate and refilled my bowl without asking: the stew was rich with saffron and oil, and green anise, and orange. It's a cheap dish to make in Marseille: rockfish costs almost nothing. Mussels, too, are cheap, and squid, and the rock crabs that cost so much in elegant Paris restaurants are vermin here, good for nothing but stew. Food has a strange way of leaving home as a beggar and coming back a rich man, so the things we used to forage for free-- wild greens, razor clams, wild garlic, herbs, shellfish, rock crabs, even snails-- have been made into elegant dishes by chefs attempting to pique the jaded palates of those who lack nothing.”

SeafoodSeasoningsFrench FoodBouillabaisse
Book:Vianne
Create image

“Fresh, peeled carrots stand out in orange spirals against the crisp, sliced cucumbers. Juicy slithers of mango are tucked in between the flaky crab meat, the entire bowl liberally drizzled with a creamy umami dressing, made just the Sayuri taught him when they first began dating. He whisked Japanese mayonnaise made from golden yolks with salty soy sauce and rice wine vinegar for a tart, sharp kick. Then he added a dash of spicy sauce for a little heat, and sprinkled the dressing with panko breadcrumbs for a crunchy bite.”

SaladJapaneseSeasoningsCondimentsKani
Book:Greedy
Create image

“Elijah had roasted duck confit legs in toasted, ground coriander, cumin, and chili; he'd paired it with a strawberry and pink peppercorn gastrique sauce drizzled overtop and dotted on the platter. He'd baked walnut, ramp, and queso fresco financiers in small round molds and topped each of them with a strawberry flower. He'd colored more of his homemade queso fresco---one of Penelope's recipes---with beet powder, which he'd molded into spheres, dotted with nigella seeds, and topped with strawberry stems to approximate the look of strawberries while adding a creamy element to the dish. To punctuate the strawberry-patch appearance further and add another contrast, he'd scattered pickled half-ripe strawberry cubes, more strawberry blossoms, and tiny, fragrant yellow and red alpine strawberries across the plate. Shards of sumptuous, crispy duck skin finished the plate.”

ThemeStrawberriesSeasoningsFood Preparation
Book:My Fine Fellow
Create image

“This is an item used in Chinese cuisine. It's made from the same beans you use to make Chinese vermicelli, but it's been formed into a thin sheet instead of into noodles. Because it's tasteless and odorless in itself, we're obviously meant to focus on the mouthfeel, enjoying the firmness with our teeth and the silkiness with our tongues. As far as the taste goes, the important thing is the dressing... Hmm... the dashi is perfect, and the balance of flavors is well done too. There's vinegar in it, but the strength of the vinegar has been skillfully toned down.”

TransparentSeasoningsSense Of TasteAsian FoodThin SlicingCellophane
Book:Japanese Cuisine
Create image

“We were as hungry as hunters after a day of stalking prey. The word for Belinda's chicken, we agreed, was also epic, the meat deeply flavored, the rice flecked with tiny sour-sweet jewel-red barberries, and mined with woody spices you had to pluck out---cinnamon sticks, cloves, and black cardamom pods as big and wrinkled as prunes. "This could be the best thing I have ever eaten," said Jennie. "It's right up there," I said. "The food writer agrees!" Jennie said. "Did you hear that, Belinda?" "I just followed the recipe," said Belinda. "Anybody could make it." Not true. Not everybody used quality organic chicken, high-grade extra-long basmati rice, hard-to-find black cardamom pods. The parsley and cilantro from Belinda's own garden were more flavorful than supermarket varieties. And Belinda had the great cook's touch; her onions were expertly caramelized, her chicken well browned, her rice cooked to the right tooth... No, not everyone could make this.”

SpicesSeasoningsChickenToothsome
Book:Search
Create image