when james and first viewed the house we now live in, on a thursday evening last
spring, we just weren’t sure. the house was lovely –“we’re never going to get
it anyway” we said matter-of-factly after being outbid on numerous beauties
already. but the real hesitation was how far east this house was relative to the
neighborhoods we thought we’d live in. we never wanted to live in this ‘hood.
what was there to do? what did it have to offer? we started to walk to the
subway, past a hakka (chinese/indian) restaurant called “the danforth dragon”
that we both noticed on the way over. of course it grabbed our attention, we’re
big fans of the hakka legend, “frederick‘s”, in scarborough. “let’s eat here,
and if it’s good, we’ll make an offer on the house,” james said. i don’t know if
he was really kidding–it seemed as good a reason as any other to go through the
effort of what might be another hopeless attempt.
spring, we just weren’t sure. the house was lovely –“we’re never going to get
it anyway” we said matter-of-factly after being outbid on numerous beauties
already. but the real hesitation was how far east this house was relative to the
neighborhoods we thought we’d live in. we never wanted to live in this ‘hood.
what was there to do? what did it have to offer? we started to walk to the
subway, past a hakka (chinese/indian) restaurant called “the danforth dragon”
that we both noticed on the way over. of course it grabbed our attention, we’re
big fans of the hakka legend, “frederick‘s”, in scarborough. “let’s eat here,
and if it’s good, we’ll make an offer on the house,” james said. i don’t know if
he was really kidding–it seemed as good a reason as any other to go through the
effort of what might be another hopeless attempt.
we ordered danforth dragon’s
vegetarian dinner for two with chili paneer, pakoras and we didn’t care what
else because those were two of our faves. but what really blew me away was the
rice of all things. chili fried rice? it was almost a bad idea–there was no
reprieve at all, we could’t turn to the rice for a break from the chilies in
everything else. almost a bad idea, except it tasted so good and well, if
you don’t believe me yet, i’ll say it again, green chilies are just tasty
so the rice was gone in no time. and we bought the house on the
monday.
vegetarian dinner for two with chili paneer, pakoras and we didn’t care what
else because those were two of our faves. but what really blew me away was the
rice of all things. chili fried rice? it was almost a bad idea–there was no
reprieve at all, we could’t turn to the rice for a break from the chilies in
everything else. almost a bad idea, except it tasted so good and well, if
you don’t believe me yet, i’ll say it again, green chilies are just tasty
so the rice was gone in no time. and we bought the house on the
monday.
this is was my first
attempt at making a similar version in the kitchen of that house. easy as
previous versions i’ve shared. just oil added to a hot wok and allowed to heat
up well, into that sliced green chilies and scallions, and
after a minute, some day old rice. then a sprinkling of tamari once the rice is
fried. i ate this as i do any fried rice, in a deep bowl with chopsticks (very
un-hakka-like). i suggest serving this with very cold beer…if you dare to drink
anything at all that will swirl the heat from the chilies around in your
mouth!
attempt at making a similar version in the kitchen of that house. easy as
previous versions i’ve shared. just oil added to a hot wok and allowed to heat
up well, into that sliced green chilies and scallions, and
after a minute, some day old rice. then a sprinkling of tamari once the rice is
fried. i ate this as i do any fried rice, in a deep bowl with chopsticks (very
un-hakka-like). i suggest serving this with very cold beer…if you dare to drink
anything at all that will swirl the heat from the chilies around in your
mouth!