felled by covid

Leading up to our Egypt trip, I was wildly paranoid - about catching covid so I wouldn't be able to go, about catching covid so I wouldn't be able to come back, about forgetting how to international travel again, about dropping dead in the oppressive desert heat, about feeling like an outsider in the group.

Only one of those things happened.

[Hint: dying in the oppressive desert heat.]

I didn't forget my passport, and I didn't get find out I got the covid until after I was home and showered and tucked into my own bed after two long weeks.

Lucky for me, I had a frozen focaccia from Michelle waiting to heal me. A favorite - Chinese sausage, leek, laoganma chili. I cut the slab into 8 thicc chunks and picked away at it for a full week. Often with a sauce cup of jalepeno balsamic + olive oil + sesame.

I supplemented this with pantry items.. and fresh romaine thanks to friends who look out for me *pleading face emoji*.

So into the dressing, I made it about three more times: grapefruit balsamic + ginger oil + everything bagel seasoning + salt.

The other staple to my meals was a large pot of rice (which I lightly burned the bottom of) and a large pot of beans (which I lightly burned the bottom of). Seasoned with pork panko.

And that's what I ate in rotation for 10 days until I could go out for dinners again.

First stop - this meaty spread at Good To Eat's brick and mortar...

...to which my body responded SO poorly. I came very close to calling 911 in a fit of gastrointestinal stress unlike anything I've experienced before. But I texted my residency friend instead.

My conclusion was that after a week or so of eating primarily rice and beans, my body didn't know what to do with all that pork.

When my tummy is questionably in distress, I just want rice.

Also I've never had a fantuan.

Also Taiwan Bento does Fantuan Fridays.

Also, having no previous benchmark for fantuans, this was a fucking delicious fantuan. I didn't expect that a mass of sticky rice could be so light and clean. I didn't expect that the youtiao would be insanely crispy that it shattered with every bite. It even had my favorite variety of pickled radish that I used to just eat bags of with bowls of plain white rice. The only outstanding question here is - why don't I make these at home all the time?

A pack of romaine from Costco comes with 5 (or 6?) little heads that are perfectly sized for one person per meal. I inspired myself to eat more salads by basically making a dan dan noodle sauce and dressing it on a head of sliced romaine when it was too hot to boil water for noodles (not that I even had noodles to boil). Actually so refreshing and so quick - just needed cucumbers.

To date, I have purchased no more romaine - but it's the thought that counts.

What ended up happening was that my craving for noodles grew three times that night. So as I was eating my bowl of dan dan lettuce, I found some wheat flour for noodles and made the most humble looking bowl of extra thick, crudely knife cut noodle soup. With salmon broth I found in the freezer, homemade chili oil reserves, egg, seaweed (the kind that goes with wontons), and pickled garlic. And a side of vinegary braised turnips with preserved veg.

I haven't spent a long quiet night in making dinner for myself since... last year?

Brought to you by covid 2022.