BiBim Christmas

I spent my first Christmas in Seattle yesterday. It didn’t really feel like Christmas–I didn’t see my family or have a Christmas tree. It didn’t snow here. On Christmas Eve, instead of eating Indian food and going to the movies with my mom and Matthew, I had a Christmas ham with a friend from work and went home to watch The Santa Clause with Ben. On Christmas Day, instead of waking up early to open gifts with my mom, then going over to my dad’s house to open more, my day started late. Ben and I slept in–he more than I–and started our day slowly with thick mochas and pot brownies.

Before Ben awoke, I made a veggie-filled frittata to counterbalance our omnipresent chocolate future. I modified a recipe for an Asian-style frittata from the Moosewood cookbook I bought at Goodwill. Now you can follow the recipe without even buying the cookbook! Stay tuned… there are sure to be many Moosewood recipes to come.

Asian-Style Frittata

• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 cup broccoli, diced
• 1 cup asparagus, chopped
• 1 cup carrot, chopped
• 1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 large eggs
• 1 packet soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Saute the shallot and garlic in 2 tbs oil in a large skillet on medium heat. At the same time, fill a medium pot half-full with water and heat to boil. Once the water is boiling, put it in the chopped asparagus and carrot and boil for 2 minutes. After boiling, drain the asparagus and carrot and add them to the frying shallot and garlic. Add the broccoli and tomato as well. Add oil as needed. Stir occasionally.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs with soy sauce and ginger. When the vegetables are crisp-tender, pour the eggs over them and cook on low heat, covered, for 6 minutes or until the eggs are set.

My frittata was delicious. The eggs were well-flavored and the whole dish was perfectly seasoned. The veggies were cooked but still retained their crispness and the whole dish had a pleasing texture. The frittata was filling and satisfying to eat, and very healthy as well!

However, it definitely wasn’t perfect. I ended up only having three eggs to work with so my frittata was quite thin and not all my veggies were covered in egg. It would have been thicker with four, and I think I could have even used five with the amount of veggies I included. It’s probably good to remember to use an egg for each cup of vegetables in a frittata. Instead of being able to serve a crisp stable slice, my frittata kind of fell apart into a mush, so I had to serve a pile of eggy veggies. Luckily, that didn’t take away from the taste at all!

Beyond not having enough eggs, I did deviate from the Moosewood recipe in other ways. Their recipe called for a cup each of broccoli, mushroom and bell pepper, but I used the vegetables I had. And their recipe actually included a sauce as well, but I didn’t have any of the ingredients except soy sauce so I skipped it. (Want to know how to make the sauce? Buy the cookbook! I can’t give everything away.)

So Ben and I enjoyed our frittata and the mochas and brownies that came after. We opened stockings from Ben’s mom and exchanged gifts with each other. I got Ben mixed holiday nuts in their shells, a nutcracker and a meat thermometer. He got me a scratch-off U.S. map to document our travels, a Wayside School book, some great fine-point markers in a great array of colors, ginger-flavored Altoids…and more!

We finally oozed out of the apartment at about 2:30 and headed to the Olympic Sculpture Park. It’s a fun walk along the water to get there and a great place to poke around outside. I guess a lot of other people had the same idea because it was actually crowded! We stayed for a few minutes up at a lookout point near the colored glass where we had a great 360-degree view of the city and the water, then moved on.

We wandered around Belltown until we ended up at the 5 Point Cafe for a late lunch. I had seen on the Stranger website that it was open on Christmas, so Ben and I finally got to try it for the first time. We’ve been excited to check out the 5 Point because they are open 24/7-365 and they serve booze. That’s a hot commodity in a place like Seattle where everything seems to close so early and not open at all on weekends.

It was very crowded when we walked in, but a booth had just opened up and was being cleared off with no one waiting for it. We slid in. I had been craving a fried egg sandwich on our walk over and ended up ordering a burger with a beet, a fried egg, and bacon on top. Ben got a burger stuffed with cheese, and we got french fries, onion rings and a Rainier to share.

We were both so satisfied. The burger was delicious and well-cooked, the bacon was thick, the egg juicy, and the beet melted in my mouth. The burgers both came with a smear of aioli and I added copious amounts of ketchup, mustard, and Tapatío hot sauce; I like things saucy. Just yum. I can’t wait to go back.

After the 5 Point, Ben and I wandered over to the Queen Anne SIFF Cinema to see Les Misérables. Though I wasn’t exactly in the mood to see a 2 1/2 hour very sad musical on Christmas, it was amazing. I was moved. Ben and I cried the whole time. I also squirmed in my seat with impatience and was very glad to get up and walk out of there when the movie was over.

We were hungry again and had planned on walking over to the International District to find some Asian food after the movie, but it was almost 10:00 and Ben worried all the restaurants would be closed. I was hungry and didn’t want to go home. I wanted to continue stretching my legs and walking in the mild cool night. So we did. Ben pushed a man in a wheelchair up a hill. A homeless person pretended to recommend a restaurant a few blocks away then tried to trade his advice for cash. I offered him a dollar and he tried to get more, so I walked away with it.

And then, when we were sure everything in Seattle would be closed forever, we found Tig, a Korean tapas bar in Pioneer Square. Korean music videos were being projected on a white sheet. They had food, they had booze, they were open. They even had Sapporo on tap! The menu was a mystery so we ordered four things that sounded vaguely familiar. We got gyoza, which Ben knew were dumplings, BiBim noodle, Tig fried rice, and a kimchi hot pot.

Everything was amazing! The dumplings had a delicious meat filling and a crispy fried exterior. I loved the sauce drizzled over the top and wished I had more. The fried rice was a little plain but had amazing bits of pork in it, and was served with a delectable slaw. The BiBim noodle was cold little noodles (think vermicelli) heaped with a spicy red sauce and served with lettuce and cucumber. The BiBim sauce and toppings were delicious when mixed with the fried rice! Finally, the kimchi hot pot was a soup with an elegantly flavored, slightly spicy broth, warm biting kimchi, and soft tofu. I thought the soup was so amazing and the hot broth was a great end to my meal.

I ate much more than I should have and was very full for our walk home. Back at the apartment, we watched Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas and a couple holiday episodes of South Park, at the end of which I fell asleep on the couch. If this is Christmas in Seattle, I ain’t complaining.