New Rice Cooker

A man kills his wife and gets sentenced to only 12 years in prison. Another man went on a killing spree and killed three Asian. He didn’t even get on the death row. Two punks teased a tiger and got both the tiger and their friend killed. Now they get to live and collect $900,000 settlement from the San Francisco Zoo. Recently, I am disgusted by these so-called justices. I don’t know what laws made all these happening. But I do smell these laws stink. Perhaps because I am not a lawyer, so I cannot make sense in any of these cases. On the other hand, I am glad that San Francisco now has the toughest regulation in the nation about recycling, although I think it’s not tough enough. People should not have to be pushed by law to be environmental conscious. Everybody can do it. If in a month, I can generate less than 1 pound of trash that goes to the landfill (the rest goes to recycle bin or compost bin), so can everybody else, if they give it a try. I hope we can continue to enjoy the beauty of this great city and some part of this planet many years to come, only if we can control the wackos and the environment. I hope the sunset is always as pretty as tonight. After five years, my old rice cooker shows its fatigue. I am sad to say goodbye to it, because Eric bought it for me. There are many fond memories and plenty rice associated with this rice cooker. After some search, I bought a new one—Sanyo ECJ-F50S. So far, I love it! It cooks much better rice than the old one, especially when I mix the brown rice and black rice. The new rice cooker gives me even more motivation to cook a meal tonight. After swimming, I went to a fish shop on Mission and 24th Street. I bought some salmon bellies which are loaded with fatty fish oil. With just a little bit oil in the pan, topped with a few pine nuts, those fish bellies turned golden and they are delicious. I also bought a giant fish head and added some tofu and hairy cucumber (毛瓜). They turned into a big pot of soup. The texture of the fish head reminds me of turtle soup. I totally failed on making some sheet jelly (粉皮), because I made the starch mix too thin. So the salad didn’t have sheet jelly as I originally planned. It was still very good with cucumber, red chili peppers, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, and woodear. Oh, of course, I also cooked the fluffy mixed rice using my new rice cooker. I am proud that tonight’s dinner contains few issues raised by a documentary called "Food, Inc." that opens this weekend. Food, Inc. If indeed "you are what you eat," American people are in deep trouble. Based on Eric Schlosser‘s book "Fast Food Nation", director Robert Kenner‘s new documentary "Food, Inc." (USA 2008 | 94 min.) paints a grim picture about what Americans are putting in their mouths. It reveals lots information that food industry definitely does not want consumers to know. In fact, many people probably prefer not to know, because they might go to bed hungry after watching this film. The film peels away the layers of packaging wrapped around the foods we put on the table. It traces back to the root where the foods are coming from. It illustrates how the foods reach the shelves in grocery stores. It criticizes how the food industry puts profit ahead of public health, environmental impact, and workers’ wellbeing. It shows how vulnerable our food resources have become. It predicts disastrous health consequences in the generations to come. Apparently, the fast moving life style in our modern society has transformed how we eat and what we eat. Not only animals grow faster, consumers also spend less time on preparing food, if they cook at all. When most Americans are not eating at fast food joints, they are probably eating processed food controlled by very few giant multi-national corporations. If you are familiar with the information presented in this documentary, the film makes you more disturbed and terrified. If you have not given much thought about what are in the food you put into your mouth everyday, this film is an entertaining and informative eye opener. If you are on the other side of the fence rooting with the food industry, it is unlikely this film makes you change your mind. It’s pretty clear that the film tells one-sided story, because the filmmakers simply cannot get any interview from major food industry players. However, even the film is not as balanced as it wants to be, it tells a story that needs to be known by the American public. We need to buy local and buy organic. We need to eat less meat and more food in their original forms versus processed versions. We simply need to cook more—food not only will taste better, but also might save our lives instead of killing us. "Food, Inc." opens on Friday, June 12 at Landmark‘s Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco. Special Appearance: Eric Schlosser, co-producer of the film and the author of "Fast Food Nation" will be in person on Saturday, June 13 at 4:50 & 7:30pm screenings.