Nanotech Tea = Insta-Purified Water

As a tea drinker (over coffee) I definitely appreciate a sip of good tea. I liked tea so much I thought of opening a tea shop, but that has come to fruition yet. In the meantime, I like reading about the history of tea. It has definitely been an important beverage to humanity over the years. The heating of water to brew tea definitely helped population growth, as the heating would kill harmful things in the water.

Nowadays, with our fancy modern technology, South African researchers have created a tea bag that purifies water. It works by using nanotech fibers to filter harmful contaminants. Meanwhile, carbon is activated inside the bag to kill bacteria.

The best part of all this is the bag costs only a half a cent. This cheap little tea bag may just save tons of lives for a few cents. Check out more information about here.

Food Trucks Go Gourmet

Skillet looks like an awesome food truck . . . too bad I'm in Honolulu and it is in Seattle.

It looks like that a lot of chefs are heading out of the restaurants and into the trucks. This NPR article talks about how a lot of fine dining chefs are setting up their own food trucks rather than a regular brick-and-mortar store.

I definitely am behind this all the way. Living here in Hawaii plate lunches from trucks are some of the best finds for eats. Then living and going to school in Philly I could not get enough of the crepe truck that parked near the gym at the UPenn campus. I know, crepes after gym equals awesome diet . . .

From a business perspective, I really think that this is a show of innovation and creativeness on the part of the chefs. The mobile food keeps costs down and the like or dislike is definitely felt more immediately. Therefore, there is a lot of creativity going on. Despite the higher prices compared to cheap food trucks, these gourmet ones are still more bang for your buck. Especially, for workers in office buildings who can afford the prices. They know where to get a restaurant meal without having to go to a restaurant. Plus it still comes out cheaper because the chef can offer a meal without all the costs associated with a restaurant.

Anyway, enough of my analysis, I’d also like to share these other finds for Honolulu food trucks.

Some Other Noteworthy Food Trucks

First up, is the Soul Patrol by Chef Sean Priester. Chef Sean used to work at Top of Waikiki before he set out on his own. Now he has his own restaurant, but still finds time to keep his soul food service on wheels. I myself have not tried his food, but several people have suggested it and Chef Sean definitely has a following. (Future Lunch Review!) From what I hear, best place for soul food on the island.

Next up, Shogunai Tacos. Never heard of it here on Honolulu? Well, that’s because it isn’t here yet. Shared to me by a Facebook post, I checked the link and it definitely sounds interesting and fun. I definitely think this will be a cool one to check out. I like Sapori and Moroccan food, and I think that Chef Kamal will bring some new flavors, which I think makes it a great concept.

Don’t Look at this Post While Eating

From CBS News. These guys will be visiting your digestive tract with your next can of mushrooms.

The FDA tries to strike a balance between the safety of the food supply and the reality that the collecting and packaging of food is an imperfect science, and that things will always find its way in. Still it doesn’t really comfort you knowing that rat hair, maggots, parasites, dirt, fecal matter, and even cigarette butts might be in your food.  The FDA feels that a small amounts of these things won’t hurt you, which may be the case, but it may slow your appetite.

You can thank CBS News for letting you know what may be in your food here.

Despite, the fact the FDA allows these small amounts of “uck” stuff into our foods I still can’t get into the Raw Foodists arguments that no regulation is a good thing and that we should have a “raw” food supply chain. For more on that subject check it out here.

McDonald’s Menu Items of the World

Surprise, surprise, I’m posting another infoodgraphic. Anyway, this one is pretty nifty if you love McDonald’s or need reasons to flee from eating there. So I found this image showing different menu items served at the various chains around the world.

Via: Medical Insurance

I don’t know, but some of those menu items sound tasty and I might be inclined to order them. I’m glad that Hawaii made it on this graphic with Spam McGriddle, but I’m surprised the Taro Pie didn’t make it on. Speaking of which, who likes the McDonald’s Taro Pie? It just doesn’t look appetizing to me. On the other hand, and may be it’s because I was subjugated to it early on (weak, child’s mind) I still like the Portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice.

Amusing Food Pics of the Moment

Isn’t the internet wonderful? We can share pointless and ridiculous pieces of information with each other so that we all may be entertained for 3.7 seconds . . . possibly more. Anyway, I was digging around and found these two amusing pictures to share with all of you.

After traveling around the world and visiting several dive Chinese restaurants I love reading the badly translated menus that you are given. Real Chicken? So I’m assuming the Pork, Shrimp, BBQ Pork, and Beef fried rice are all fake? So is the meatless fake as well? Does that mean there is actually meat in the meatless fried rice?

Anyway, still does not beat the time I was in Spain at a Chinese restaurant (don’t ask why I would eat Chinese food in Spain). What I think they had down was translate Chinese into Spanish and then English, so the word “meat” had become “flesh.” Flesh and broccoli? Check please.

Do you like it when they serve pommes frites in a cone? I do too. It is so classy (you can read that as snobby).  Anyway, this place has decided to kick it up a notch and serve bacon by the glass. Either that or they have decided to skip the pleasantries of sweetness offered by the Coldstone Creamery PB&C shake.  Either way I think it definitely spruces up the bacon, don’t you think?

It is like a bouquet of meat. I think florists should take note, “I love you with meat” could sell to guys who would like something to share with their loved ones.

Let Go My Lung, Mr. Pea

Grow your own vegetables and carry them with you!

The pea is the seed of the legume Pisum Satvium, and generally is grown, as Wikipedia describes:

as a cool season vegetable crop. The seeds may be planted as soon as the soil temperature reaches 10 °C (50 °F), with the plants growing best at temperatures of 13 to 18 °C (55 to 64 °F). They do not thrive in the summer heat of warmer temperate and lowland tropical climates but do grow well in cooler high altitude tropical areas. Many cultivars reach maturity about 60 days after planting. Generally, peas are to be grown outdoors during the winter, not in greenhouses. Peas grow best in slightly acidic, well-drained soils.

However, as this AP story indicates, the pea can also grow in a man’s lung . . . I’m not quite sure how a man’s lung compares to the description above, but isn’t that a scary thought? Vegetables can live off of you! We already knew with large predator animals that it is hunt or be hunted, but now we have to worry about un-pasteruized peas?

I can see a B-rated Sy-Fy movie about this Attack of the Killer Peas (incidentally, I loved Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and then the short-lived Saturday morning cartoon). They can hire M. Night Shyamalan to direct it.

Vitaminwater, “vitamin” Should Not to be Taken Literally

When they say "hydrate responsibly" do they mean drink plain water without their "vitamins"?

Who do you think said this “no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.”? At a quick glance you may assume that some health group is suing Coca-Cola, which owns and produces the brand, and telling them that if you looked at the nutritional value of their vitaminwater product no one could believe it was healthy. You’d be half right.

A non-profit public interest group is suing Coca-Cola on the grounds that the company’s vitaminwater products make unwarranted health claims. Basically, the vitamins in the water is sugar, and may be some more sugar, oh yeah and a vitamin supplement.

However, that above quote has come from Coca-Cola’s defense team. This has got to be one of the most idiotic defenses. They are basically saying all that advertisement and the use of the word “vitamin” in the product line is crap (kind of like their argument),

I think this is sometimes why I have no desire to be a trial lawyer because you have to come up with some “creative” argument just to throw a roadblock to the other side. Also you must have an odd mix of self-confidence and no-shame. Why? Because you have to be bold enough to make these asinine arguments (and you know how dumb they are when making them).

For more insight into this moronic argument check it out here.

Michelin Knows Food, and Now Knows Cheap

The first thing I learned about eating out from a Chinese mother, if it a place is crowded be patient and eat there. 3 hours of waiting must me Heaven in your mouth.

What does a tire company know about food? Well, that’s what I used to think, but this past March when I went to Hong Kong, my best friend, we decided our meals based on the Michelin Guide. Not one restaurant was bad. We loved them all!

Unfortunately, when you are only there for four days you don’t get to eat through the whole guide . . . though may be next time I will try.

Anyway, the Chicago Tribune pointed out something I missed in the guide. Tim Ho Wan (添好運). This place has become the cheapest eatery to be anointed with a star. The chefs at this place used to cook at the Four Seasons . . . it has to be good and when its cheaper, even so much the better!

I now find myself wanting to go back this year because if you have not been to Hong Kong and eaten at all the small awesome places they have you don’t know what you are missing.

By the way, I highly recommend getting the Michelin Guide for Hong Kong and Macao. It never led us astray.

Venn Pieagram Pic, Just Amuses Me

So I’m pretty into fusing disparate ideas to form new ones. Always a fan of fusion (even in anime). So when I ran across this picture of doing a Venn diagram of cherry and custard pies I had to re-post it.

I don’t even like pie, but  logic and pie together is a deadly force. So it got me thinking, is there room for geometry and pie? You bet!

Pie of Pi

Alright, I’m done amusing myself.

5 Things You Don’t Want to Think About, and 20 Things Waiters Don’t Want You To Know

Want to ruin a kid's day? Tell em what is in their Jello.

So today you get two lists of fairly interesting things. I like lists because it makes posting about them easier and someone else is using their memory space. Anyway, the first list is about 5 delicious foods with disgusting ingredients. I’m Cantonese, and we eat everything on the Earth with its back to the sun, so this stuff doesn’t really bother me, but it might ruin the food for you.

5 Delicious Foods with Gross (not really) Ingredients

1. Jello is made out of animal skin and bones. Basically, to get that gelatinous boing boing texture you need to boil down animal skin, bones, and connective tissue. Might make you think next time you are in the hospital and reach for that Jello cup as the least disgusting thing on your tray.

2. Sweetbreads are delicious. I’ve known what they are made of and I love them. They taste great. For those of you who don’t know, it is made from pancreas and thymus glands of a calf or lamb. Yep, Bambi never tasted so great. If you still think sweet breads is a type of loaf I wonder why you are even on my site.

3. Barboca, never had it. Supposedly, it is made out of cow face, which to me sounds delicious. I had cow cheek once at Bouchon in Vegas, if it is anything like that serve me up some of Bessie’s face.

4. Menudo, another thing I have never had, but being in Hawaii we have plenty of tripe stew. I don’t care for tripe, not because the taste, but more of the texture.

5. Worcestershire Sauce is made from anchovies. I’m kind of ambivalent about that fact. In general, I don’t care for small, salty fish. However, Worcestershire in Caesar dressing or a variety of other dressings, sauces, etc . . . is great. If we must sacrifice Nemo’s friends for that, then so be it.

20 Secrets Your Waiter Won’t Tell You

Thank goodness for Iphones and their tip calculator apps . . . even better having an accountant as a friend.

Don’t work in the food industry, but want to know what’s going on back there in the kitchen? Well, the link above gives some secrets about what’s going on with your food handlers. I’m not going to comment about it, it’s an interesting thing to read to gain perspective. The only thing I am going to comment on is tipping.

In general, I try to leave 15%  and understand waiters and servers work their butts. That being said, and may be it is because I’m on the other side, I don’t like feeling obligated to leave a tip. I don’t think it is something people are entitled to. I can say this because as an attorney we cannot collect funds from a client until we have earned it. I also hate that they pool their tips because sometimes one waiter is working hard and the other one is dogging it. Don’t cover for the other person’s flaws.

Anyway, I wouldn’t mind paying more money to a restaurant if waiters had higher wages like they do in Japan. In general, I enjoy that Japan has a great service culture and you are not expected to tip. I find this totally convenient to the customer, and that is what it is all about. You are in a service industry, you provide service, not cold meat or overcharged credit cards (btw, I highly suggest you don’t do that if you are a server and reading this post). That’s my rant on tipping, and no I’m not like Rachael Ray. I don’t leave like 52 cents, I round-up to the next dollar.