blog of matt siu

I had a craving for fries when I saw a picture of roast beef, salmon and fries. It looks so good. With my cholesterol, I was advised to not eat too much carbohydrates. So I thought, let's try making the world's healthiest fries. That means homemade and oven baked. The next day, I asked my wife, WY, to pick up some russet potatoes (the type with the dark brown skin that feels a little like sandpaper). The following week, I decided to give it a go. I am now watching my school age son enjoying them with some ketchup while watching his favorite cartoon on a Sunday afternoon. Now he is licking up the ketchup... This imagery is not too different from the McCain's super fries commercial that aired in the 90s. It featured a cute kid with thick glasses eating fries while quietly focused on what seems like a really good  book. "For the strong silent type"... the voice over guy would say in a deep voice.  Let's rewind two hours. I found myself cutting up pota...

Last August was supposed to be my boy's last day at daycare. Because of Covid, my wife, WY and I decided to keep him there a little while longer. A little while turned into 7 months. With the raising numbers of this third wave (approx 4800 today), we want to keep him home, period. So today is his last day. This daycare center has done nothing short of an exceptional job raising my boy (shout out to director A. and her crew!). We met wonderful educators, parents and kids that taught us so much about ourselves. So many emotions right now. It feels like my 4 year old is graduating from university. First and foremost, I am proud of my boy. He has developed into a mature young boy for his age. He know alot about being kind, generous and empathetic. Like the time when he hands a tissue paper to A. who misses her mom. He still says sorry way too much but that's our fault for being too Canadian. A few parents come to us asking if we are E's parents. They tell us their kid talk abou...

Yesterday, I reminisce through all my photos of 2015 - both food related and others - I saw at least half a dozen photos of my everyday cooking that really looked quite good. They were dishes   prepared after a hard day at work and often too tired to tell anyone about them. Yet I have the good intuition to grab my phone to shoot a photograph or two to save for a rainy day. Well, today is that rainy day. Here are some dishes I made in 2015 that I am really quite proud of. Chicken Marsala with Cherry tomatoes and asparagus My recipe was inspired by Gordon Ramsay's Chicken Marsala (here's a  video ). Instead of chicory, I used cherry tomatoes and asparagus. The chicken breast is juicy on the inside and almost crunchy on the outside. Pan Seared Scallops with Crunchy Apple Salad There's a wonderful little gem of a grocery store near work called Garden Foods that sells fantastic quality scallops. Whenever scallops are on sale, which is often, that means...

The movie was a solid B+. It successfully blended in old characters like the beloved Han Solo. It also nicely weaved the storyline from the "old" films to set itself up for a new chapter. Okay, that was the good. What I thought was lacking was Heart. It didn't strike a chord to me emotionally as did in Return of the Sith. During the final fight of Anikin and Obi Wan fought to their death ( link ), it literally brought tears to my eyes. Why you ask? It was the devastating pain which stem from a master's disappointment when a student is lost. I didn't quite get the reaction from the Force Awakens. Was it worth the $18 after-tax money and 3 hours of my time? Absolutely. It was Hollywood entertainment at its best. Because of all the hype and nothing less than a cultural phenomenon, you should see it. That was my synopsis, here's some of my sentiments and some deranged thoughts about this experience. It is exhilarating to watch a STAR WARS film on the s...

I read recently that everyone should have some disruption in their lives (Selling is Human - thanks  +Felix Wong   for the book) once in a while. A small disruption may be visiting a friend at work. Larger disruption may be to visit a foreign country. The idea is to get a jolt of the unfamiliar. It's a good way to get our of our rut. My wife and I just came back from a wonderful trip to France. Aside from being just plain fun, this trip developed some pretty darn insightful perspectives. Allow me to share these insights with y'all and maybe, just maybe, you will start to think just a little differently. That's my goal. Canal St. Martin - where local Parisians relax with friends and a bottle of wine  Why is the Canadian/ American culture generally more fast-paced and French is much more laid-back? It's no secret that the Canadian culture (especially in larger cities) is more fast-pace then places such as France. On this trip, I wanted to learn a bit about the Fr...

In today's world filled with hi-tech devices and a "Go-Go-Go!" mentality, we are as stressful as ever. When stressed, our ability to control and overcome fear is marginalized considerably. Fear is really quite the controversial emotion. We need this emotion to prevent us from doing potentially harmful things like putting our head in an alligator's mouth. Yet too much fear prevents us from doing anything meaningful at all. Susan Jeffers's Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway is a gem. This self-help classic offers pragmatic ways to deal with the topic of fear. Allow me to share with you a few of my favorite lessons. 1) What do you supposed is the biggest fear of all? Susan declares that the biggest fear that each of us faces is ... wait for it (imagine Barney from How i met your mother)... the fear that we can't handle whatever life brings . "What? That's it", you may ask, "What about heavy stuff like death, cancer, terrorist attack" Give i...

I spent 3 hours making bread yesterday. Of all the things I can do on a perfectly good December Sunday afternoon, I made bread. Actually, I made Parker House rolls from the Foodnetwork and one of my favorite chefs, Bobby Flay. Those warm and cotton-like treats with a hint of sweetness. It matter less the variety of bread but the making of the bread. I am addicted. I am infatuated with bread making (ooo... sounds dirty). Let me explain. From yesterday's batch: crusty on the outside, soft inside. A few months ago, I finally mustered up the courage to attempt making something with yeast and flour. Yes, yeast. The dreaded bacteria-like substance perceived as being alive and could make or break your pastry dreams. Since the shit-show (pardon my French) 3 years ago when I tried making pasta, I've had a phobia of dough or similar substances. The recovery was slow but sure. Last year, on a trip to South Cali, my good friend showed me how to proof bread and knead dough. But most i...

Every Christmas, a bunch of us get together and do a Secret Santa event on steroids (AKA gift exchange). We fire up our creative juices just to one-up each other on giving the most sought after and original gift under $20. Last year, I won that honor. Here's how it happened.  I was watching a Jaime Oliver episode when he hosted a spontaneous Supper Club in New York City. He created a post about a free dinner (he accepts donations to charities) at a NYC apartment tomorrow night on his social network page. Naturally, the responses flooded in. He selected 20 people to join him while he cook a great meal for them. "How cool would that be to cook for people you know (and even some you don't) and enjoy an evening of socializing and fine food", I dreamed. Then, all of a sudden (light-bulb on, ding!), I realize I can kill two birds with one stone. What if, for this year's Secret Santa gift, I design a coupon for a three course gourmet meal for two. Just like that, the S...

You have no idea... You have no idea how incredibly badly I want to make this dish (how could you if I haven't told you). And now that I made it, I want to tell the world about it. Every time I watch a celebrity chef create this dish on TV, the little voice in my head says (with echoing effects) "man, I really need to make this". It's absolutely unreal. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the sympathy of seafood that by itself already escalates a dish. Or maybe it's the beautiful combination of herbs. Most of all, I think it's because of the simple fact that rice is being made with flavour. Wow! Flavoured rice. What a radical concept. Yes, us Chinese, though have dishes such as chicken rice or the like, don't usually make rice with a ginormous amount of ingredients. I am a rice fanatic. I love those tiny white grains. And the Paella just takes it the next level. Here's my story. I wasn't going to write about it because it was not done...