I have a bone to pick with someone. And that someone’s name is September. I want to know, September, why you made the previous 28 days days go by so quickly. I also want to find out how you snuck the Mid-Autumn Festival in on the 12th. I think I’ll call you Stealthy September from now on.

My cousin Cathy, who has a better relationship with September than I do timing-wise, gave me a box of these Snowy Mooncakes. I thought I couldn’t love her more after bringing her daughter Olivia, The Candy Sniffer Extraordinaire, into my life. But now I love her as much as I love, well, these mooncakes. (Okay, maybe a little bit more.) This Snowy tin came with seven small mooncakes and one big mooncake in assorted, intriguing flavors. The tin also included a pamphlet that explained Maxim’s, the famous Hong Kong-based food company and maker of these mooncakes.

If you look closely, you’ll see some wetness inside the packaging for this Sago Cream with Mango & Pomelo mooncake. This was because, aside from September being stealthy, the month also finally felt like summer in my city. We had many glorious days of hot temperatures, like the day I snapped photos of these mooncakes in front of an open window, when it was 80-something degrees Fahrenheit outside.

I had to photograph this mooncake based on its name alone—Chunky Chestnut. Does it not sound like a cool fall color…for your hair?!

And this, this is for you, Lian—Green Tea with Red Bean & Yam. I was especially curious about how this mooncake would taste and look on the inside, and thought you might be, too. Fun tidbit: A friend in Hong Kong said that when these Snowy Mooncakes were first available there, a few years ago, people lined up to buy them. So I said to this friend, “Ooohhh, like what people did here, when the first Krispy Kreme just opened.” Hong Kong citizens have mooncakes, and we have donuts! Also, I think this is the first year Snowy mooncakes have been available in my city.

Yes, I did have to pat, pat, pat the small amount of water atop the first character on the left. That character means ice or frozen. The character beneath it is skin. Then in the second row, the two characters (top to bottom) spell Maxim’s.

Okay, so we have ice or frozen, plus skin. Ummm…

Oh, oh, oh!

I kind of get it, now. This mooncake’s inside texture was similar to ice cream, but it didn’t melt in my mouth. And mmmmm, the inside and outside mochi-like ‘skin’ were soft and smooth and delicious! As for the sago cream, mango, and pomelo flavors…they were difficult to discern, but it didn’t really matter what flavors this entire tin of mooncakes were, because all of them were yummy!

Yes, even this Green Tea with Red Bean & Yam mooncake. I’m not usually a big fan of green tea as a flavoring in anything other than tea, but when it’s subtle like it was in this treat, green tea can be delightful.

And now I can’t believe…

I have to wait until next September to enjoy these mooncakes again! So Stealthy September, maybe you aren’t so bad after all.

Complimentary Edamame! I like these boiled soybeans sprinkled with salt so much that I would’ve ordered them anyway. (To eat Edamame, you move the soybeans along one end of the pod to the other, scraping the soybeans into your mouth. You then get a mouthful of the tender and plain-tasting soybeans, and salt from the pods. Feel healthy and guilty at the same time!)

Crispy Calamari with sweet chili lime sauce. I would’ve preferred a lighter batter coating and more tender calamari. Is it a fine balance to achieve?

Do tentacles FREAK YOU OUT like they do for me? I gave this to my dining companion because he’s a boy and well, you know, he eats pretty much anything. Just sayin’.

I stick to tubers…which don’t really sound much more appetizing than tentacles, eh?

A mixed-greens salad with a light, creamy dressing. For the love of Martha Stewart, I need to make a plea for salads: Please use fresh greens—no brown edges or spots! And simple dressings can be good. Basically, don’t treat side salads like an afterthought, but as a worthy complement to the main item.

Presenting…the 007! Sadly, Roger Moore (you know, when he was young and dashing) was nowhere in sight.

We had to ‘settle’ for spicy tuna, avocado, and cucumber wrapped with salmon, lime, cilantro, shishito pepper, and jalapeno.

From top to bottom, we have shishito pepper, jalapeno, lime, and salmon.

Oh, what do we have here? A fallen piece of salmon! Don’t worry; I rescued it with my chopsticks and mouth.

And this, you call this sushi?!

Yes, the Moonraker roll, to be exact, containing spicy yellowtail, cucumber, and cilantro. And topped with a seared spicy snow crab mix and black tobiko. Then finished with a jalapeno-citrus sauce, truffle oil, and green onions. This was my favorite roll of the night.

Sushi-roll ends kind of fascinate me. Whereas the inner pieces look proper and contained, the end ones appear unruly. When I see end pieces, I usually wonder, “Can I fit the whole piece in my mouth?” Then three seconds later it’s, “Yes, yes I can.” (One cousin calls me Refined Lady, while I call her Delicate Flower. Yeah, we’re not foolin’ anyone.)

This is the Bad Boy Roll. Ladies, would y’all like a piece of this, wink.

This roll has barbecued eel, avocado, cream cheese, and snow crab, then it’s topped with spicy mayonnaise and teriyaki sauce.

The roll is also fried in tempura batter, which totally ruined my nonexistent diet.

Perphaps a more familiar sight, a I Forgot What Awesomely Silly Name It Has Roll. So let’s just focus on its ingredients, shall we? Salmon, avocado, and cucumber.

And roe!!! Now I have another burning question—do the fish eggs make you squeal with excitement or disgust?

I know that these days, school supplies have changed. They come in more colors, shapes, sizes, brands, uses, etc.

And school supplies can be edible.

Before I reveal that magic trick, let me show you the outer workings of it. See the colorful paper? They hide…something.

Unwrap the paper and what do you see?

A chocolate treat inside for me! (So…a good poet I am not.)

Hey! This chocolate crayon looks like the waxy ones in my beloved Crayola box.

But it sure doesn’t taste like ‘em. (You may recall that I tasted chalk when I was younger. Um, I may have nibbled part of a crayon, too. My memory’s a bit fuzzy with denial.) This crayon is yummy, milk chocolate yummy!

You know these Japanese chocolate crayons wouldn’t be complete without some little mysterious message in the language.

And oh my goodness, now I remember another school supply favorite of mine: stickers!

Wait, maybe they weren’t on my official schools-supplies list. But like my grocery list nowadays, I didn’t do very well sticking to lists then, either.

We meet for a meal every few months. The last time was at a Malaysian Restaurant, where we ordered Roti Canai with a curry dipping sauce. This type of bread is similar to Naan but flaky.

As a lot of good curries do, this one had potatoes.

Chicken Satay, one of my favorite items at this restaurant and barbecues.

Sorry to all the non-meat eaters out there, but sometimes you just gotta have some tender, tasty meat.

A rich peanut sauce perfect for slathering over the chicken and really, a bunch of other meats as well.

Chow Kueh Teow, rice noodles with shrimp, fried eggs, green onions, and bean sprouts.

Pineapple Fried Rice with fresh pineapples, shrimp, and pork sung.

This was flavored with a yellow spice, I’m unsure which one. Can anyone guess? It may be a spice used in Indian cooking.

Fresh pineapple, yum! Hey, if you can put it on pizza, why not in fried rice?!

A dessert of coconut milk and sweet potatoes. I make this frequently at home because it’s 1) relatively easy and 2) packs a lot of natural flavors—just stew various sweet potatoes, yams, or squashes in coconut milk and water.

Looking at the menu, I thought this dish might be a red beans one. But nope, my eyes and taste buds told me it was a dark-colored rice finished with coconut milk. Not bad.

One of The Sunshines is planning to move back to her home continent next year. I’m already feeling sad about this, but take some comfort in the memories of our shared meals and the thought that we can have a meal on her turf…

Why is it that, when you want kids to wake up, they don’t? And you want them to sleep—like now!—they won’t? I found myself wishing for the first thing recently with Olivia and her twin siblings. So I found something to keep me occupied while they napped.

Yan Yan. It’s you and me, finally.

But I cannot keep you to myself, oh no.

Your charming bits and pieces must be shared, like your ‘fun lines’. SEAL LOVES TO SUN TAN. Word.

Hey, a third of a Pocky-tasting biscuit stick and the cream disappeared! How did that happen?

Olivia’s neighbor, Nate, and her snacking on some Yan Yans after she and her siblings finally woke up.

Partial video transcript:

Me: What did you say?

Nate: Chocolate is gooder.

Me: Gooder than what?

Nate: This one.

Me: Ehhhhh, what flavor is that one?

Nate: Ummm………whipped cream!

* Olivia is really into dinosaurs right now, as you may have noticed in the video. Not only was she wearing a dinosaur T-shirt, she also had a dinosaur sticker on her left Crocs and a dinosaur tattoo on her hand. Her mom is hoping she doesn’t want to grow up to be a dinosaur.

I love it when kids do my bidding. There’s just something so, so satisfying about it. Here Olivia is following my orders to dip the Yan Yan biscuit sticks into separate strawberry and chocolate creams. (We were paused on a sidewalk, on our way to meet her mom at the finish line of a 20-something-mile marathon. I came prepared with bribes for Olivia and her siblings. Don’t judge.)

So I went to a Japanese-style ramen place recently, to see how the ‘pros’ do it. It was my first visit to such a restaurant. Here’s a jar of sesame seeds, one of the available add-ons.

And crushed chili to add some heat.

For yet another flavor and texture contrast, there was pickled ginger.

This bottle contained chili pepper and black sesame seeds.

My friend’s Miso Ramen. Sapporo-style ramen with a slice of pork, bean sprouts, green onions, corn, and pat of butter in a miso/chicken broth. Um, did you get that amazing addition?! Let me run it by you again: a pat of butter!!! This just proves that ramen, like fried rice, can have just about anything in it.

My friend chose ‘medium’ for his level of noodle firmness.

He put this whole spoonful into his mouth. Such a boy.

And my bowl, Tonkotsu Ramen! A slice of pork, green onions, and black mushrooms (kikurage).

This meat was porkalicious. So tender. Where are two more pieces when you want them?

The black mushrooms (kikurage) again. Hmmm, this tasted like Dried Wood Ear Mushrooms to me, something I’ve never really liked eating. Maybe they were the same?

And this broth, oh this broth. It was something I didn’t feel guilty sipping because of its tasty unhealthyness. Rich and pork-y. I got my noodles firm.

This Japanese-Style Ramen won’t be a replacement for my favorite type of soup noodles to have out, Pho, but it’ll definitely be on my list of ways to not torture myself.

I searched. I sniffed. I searched and sniffed. All the while asking myself, as I walked from one candy display to the next, “What do I get my favorite candy sniffer who’s turning four?” I got Olivia this. Because not only is it candy and in green, her favorite color, but it’s also a Thomas the Tank Engine candy. Olivia is a girl of many obsessions. Must be why I adore her so much.

Meet Thomas. He’s a tank engine. In fact, he’s Thomas the Tank Engine. (I know you missed my eloquent way with words, admit it.)

And these, what are these?!

And you, who are you? Where’s a Thomas and Friends expert when you need her?! Oh yeah, in preschool with her future fiancé (which is a whole ‘nother story).

Hey, I know you! Aren’t you Gordon?

But you, who are you and what are you doing scaring big kids like me?

Oops, I think the engine in the previous photo is Percy, one of Olivia’s favorite one. Please don’t be offended that I insulted him, my dear Candy Sniffer Extraordinaire—I’ll buy you more candy soon, okay?

Maybe not this one again, though. I wasn’t too fond of this candy’s shape, color, and texture, all of which reminded me of aspirin. Nor did I care for its similar taste to Alka-Seltzer.

* For those still with me, I thank you from the bottom of my food-loving heart. I know I’ve been a bad, bad blogger. A bad, bad, busy blogger. I’ve been doing less Asian-grocery shopping and Asian-restaurant eating the past couple of months because of work. Yes, a boring but true answer. Work that includes some nights and weekends, like the recent weekend where my company was a convention exhibitor. This may not be a big deal to some, but it’s notable for me because I’d somehow escaped attending conventions so far in my adult working life. Anyway, I was surrounded by flair, colorful flair, worn by hundreds of mothers. The flair, the colorful flair, was kind of awesome.

Hellooooo! ¡Hola! Ni hao? I know I’ve been a bad, bad blogger. But I’ve hopefully been doing good, good things. I got another job working after work and on the weekends, for a small but growing company that’s affecting futures of kids…kids like Olivia, my one-and-only Candy Sniffer Extraordinaire.

Speaking of that nearly four-year-old candy addict, she was who instantly sprang to mind when I sniffed these candies. They smelled fruity!

So I thought about Olivia and I was reminded of The Flintstones. (If you’re still questioning the method to my mind’s madness, please stop. Because I don’t know the answer.)

When I saw these colorful candies being sold for $18.80 per pound at a Taiwanese bulk-foods store while visiting a Richmond, B.C. mall, I imagined Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble snacking on their M&Ms-like chocolate goodness.

These Fun Stone Chocolates are going into Olivia’s Easter basket from Auntie Cindy, nevermind that she pretty much only knows me as the girl who brings her candy a lot. Add candy-briber to my list of transgressions, please.

Sometimes, as we sip our tea…

and admire the plate designs…

we wonder. It might be something like, “How will the food taste dipped in this ginger mustard sauce?”

Or, “I taste sesame in the dressing…and miso?”

But we’re soon distracted from our inner questions and ramblings…

because of the live show in front of us.

The live show that is Teppanyaki, a Japanese way of cooking food on an iron griddle. From shrimp, zucchini, and white onions in the above and previous photos, to…

fried rice, Teppanyaki can comprise all sorts of foods.

I don’t know what Benihana puts in their fried rice, but it’s dang tasty. (More on this in a bit.)

As the fried rice is cooking, the first half of my entree is served.

Perfectly juicy shrimp, made even tastier with the ginger mustard dipping sauce.

Our chef is busy, always busy, flipping zucchini here and…

tossing white onions there.

And stopping the griddle action to serve the very flavorful fried rice.

Someone at our shared ‘table’ ordered chicken, another Teppanyaki choice.

My other one was Vegetable Yakisoba.

With sesame seeds-sprinkled cabbage and button mushrooms.

My friend’s New York strip steak…

cooked medium-well with…

button mushrooms and zucchini.

And back to my dish with shrimp dipped in…oh goodness, I’ve forgotten what this forgettable sauce is. You see, I much preferred the ginger mustard one. I should ask, “I wonder how it’s made?” but what I really want to know is, “Does Benihana sell it?”

Oh my gosh! It’s that…

that…

That Hairy Thing!

Covered in hair and sugar granules and who knows what else.

That Hairy Thing is strange-looking on the inside, too. I recognize seeds, which confirms my suspicions—That Hairy Thing is actually tamarind, *gasp!*.

This post was inspired by and dedicated to reader Chau, my resident Vietnam expert. She clarified in my Vietnamese Bulk Market post that this snack is similar to sweet and sour tamarind, but a little more sour. And that the hairy fiber is ground glycyrrhiza (cam thao in Vietnamese) that comes from the dried root of this plant. Chau also said That Hairy Thing’s Vietnamese name is O Mai Cam Thao. I agree with Chau that this snack has a mild licorice taste…which is easily overpowered other flavors—sweetness from the abundant sugar crystals, and sweet and sour from the core tamarind. As small as it is in size, one piece of O Mai Cam Thao packs a huge flavor punch. The texture is hard, with the sugar dissolving as you chew. But the hairy fibers have to be literally scraped from your teeth and swallowed down.

The store employee told me they get this snack, “tamarind,” he had simply described it, from California. It’s $12 a pound, and an interesting Asian Aisle snacking experience, for sure.

Watch O Mai Cam Thao being made here, here, and here, albeit with Craisins.

Thank you Chau, for your sharing your knowledge! I do love and appreciate it when y’all do.

And one final act of dramatics before I say bye, for now—I LOVE this small Vietnamese bowl with intentional cracks I bought at a local Asian market. I keep wanting and wanting to add to my small collection…