BREAKING NEWS: Locked In!

This just in... Brenda just tried to leave our office building and wasn't allowed. She came back upstairs and informed us that a policeman outside the door yelled at her to get back in the building and wouldn't let her leave. Huh? James went down to confirm her (rather ludicrous sounding) story and returned with a garbled tale of a cop guarding our door, conceding that he might be allowed to go if he departs in the other direction. Apparently some suspicious package was found nearby. Presumably Time-Warner has hit London or some unfortunate soul is wondering where he left his briefcase this afternoon.

Chinese New Year

My internet connection at home has been unreliable lately, so this post is late. These photos are from the Chinese New Year festivities in London on Sunday. This is in Trafalgar Square, where there were lots of people but there was not much going on. We milled around with the crowd for a while. I bought a paper dragon (see below) and we waited for things to start on the stage you see here. At noon, various nameless dignitaries took turns at the microphone, thanking sponsors and organizers to a crowd that wasn't much interested and couldn't really see or hear them anyway. Eventually a dragon made it out onto the stage, but we were so cold and hungry by then that we just left and headed up to Chinatown.


Severine (on the right) is in my Chinese class and is pictured here with a couple of her friends and my dragon. We met up with her friends (with the aid of mobile phones) in Trafalgar Square.


Here's the back side of Lord Nelson and a lost balloon from the festival.


We fought and squished and squeezed our way through Chinatown, miraculously staying together. My teacher told us tonight that there were 300,000 people there--the largest Chinese New Year celebration outside of China. We gave up any hopes of obtaining food in Chinatown. On the far side, though, we found this dragon (lion? I can never tell the difference). I don't know the significance, but it would dance its way down the street, stopping at all the Chinese restaurants. The owners would hang some Chinese cabbage over the door, which the dragon would then eat before moving on. Here, the dragon is struggling to get the cabbage above the door of this restaurant.

We tried a couple of Korean restaurants near Oxford Street, but they were all closed (many places close on Sundays here). We eventually went to a Chinese restaurant on Oxford Street, where I ordered (at least partially) in Chinese!

我学中文。

我很累因为我很忙。我学汉语， 可是我只会说一点儿汉语。 星期三晚上我喝啤酒。 星期四晚上我也喝啤酒。 我今天晚上写汉字。 天天早上我喝中国茶。 天天晚上我看书。

Batter-Dipped Tofu and Ginger Sauce

I got Kathi to dig this recipe out of one of her cookbooks for me. I love it. The fresh tofu that I get at Borough Market is so good though; it seems wrong to fry it. So I just eat my tofu fresh, but my Chinese markets have not had the dipping sauce that I like lately, so I made some ginger sauce this weekend instead.

Ginger Sauce

• 6 Tbsp. rice vinegar


• 6 Tbsp. sugar


• 3/4 c. plus 1 Tbsp. water


• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce


• 1 Tbsp. corn starch ("corn flour" here in the UK)


• 1 Tbsp. finely minced ginger root

In a small saucepan, place vinegar, sugar, 3/4 cup water, and soy sauce, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water; stir into sauce. Cook mixture, stirring until clear and thickened.

Remove pan from heat; stir in ginger.

Makes 1 cup.


Batter-Dipped Tofu

• 1 recipe Ginger Sauce (above)


• 1/2 pound firm tofu


• 1/2 c. unbleached flour


• 2 Tbsp. toasted wheat germ


• 1/2 tsp. thyme


• 1/4 tsp. each of: dill weed, garlic powder, paprika and black pepper


• 1 egg


• 1 Tbsp. milk


• 3 drops hot pepper sauce


• 2 Tbsp. safflower oil

Prepare Ginger Sauce.

While it is simmering, cut tofu into 1-inch squares about 1/4-inch thick. Set aside.

In a medium-size bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, and seasonings.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat egg. Add milk and hot pepper sauce.

In a large heavy skillet, heat oil. Piece by piece, dip tofu into flour, then in egg mixture, and again in flour. Saute until lightly browned, about 3 minutes on each side.

Serve warm, arranged on a platter with cocktail forks and a bowl of sauce for dipping. Surround platter with curly lettuce leaves or large sprigs of parsley.

4 to 6 servings