Burma Superstar!
Guys, I am super excited about presenting to you my dinner from tonight. It’s almost embarrassing how giddy I am (blame it on reaching “fat happy cat” mode).
But first, let’s get my boring lunch out of the way.
It’s been super windy lately, and I think some winds have even been knocking down trees and causing power outages around the Bay Area.
During Chinese today, I was suddenly hit with these massive cramps and tummy aches, so I went to Walgreens to pick up some prescriptions, various groceries, and ergh… feminine products.
I also decided that I was going to be a massive frump today, and walk around in yoga pants and Ugg knock-off boots. (If anyone has put those babies on, it’s like walking around with giant marshmallows on your feet.)
I promise you, all of these things are connected.
Anyway, so I’m skipping along back home with my hands full of groceries, when suddenly, one of those huge gusts of wind knock me off balance, cause me trip over my clunky feet, and yes, send my huge box of tampons flying into some cute guy’s face.
My bad.
And windy weather + cramps + emotional trauma = soup.
My usual brothy mix with tomato, poached egg, napa cabbage, peas, and some dried seaweed. And it hits the spot every single time.
Fast forward to me actually showing up to my last math class, and me guiltily skipping my last econ class… and getting picked up by my awesome friend Eric (from Chinese class) for dinner!
Eric is one of those super quiet, reserved, genius, well-mannered, and well-dressed guys. When he told me he was from Burma, I immediately got excited and told him about the time I went to Burma Superstar with C’s family and a few other friends.
Obviously, we were meant to be friends because E then suggested that we go together sometime. And you know I freaked out.
And when I got picked up, I basically found out that he’s like secretly Burmese royalty or something aka upper echelon of Burmese society aka me spending the entire dinner with my jaw permanently dropped and asking a kajillion different questions about his life.
It’s always the quiet kids who end up being super cool. *grumbles*
Oh right, food.
We were both starving so before we even sat down, we ordered the vegetarian samosas.
These babies were uh-maaazing.
I wanted to eat like 5 more and maybe stick a few in my purse for snacking later. You know, squirrel-style.
And then, the dish that Burma Superstar is famous for (it even got featured on the Food Network!): the Tea Leaf salad!
They bring it out all nice and pretty, with diced tomatoes, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dehydrated garlic, jalapeno peppers, and some crispy thing I can’t remember. The brown pile on top are the fermented tea leaves.
This all sounds really unappetizing, but I have fantasies about this salad. It’s seriously the bomb-diggity. No salad can beat it.
The server mixes it all up for you table-side while everyone oohs and aaahs (or if you’re Eric, go on a running monologue of what tea leaves are also eaten with in Burma).
And you’re left with a stunner of a salad. It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. The flavors all meld together perfectly, and the textures are absolutely indescribable. It’s like partly crunchy, partly chewy, partly tangy, partly savory, party fisgjirghrog ahhh soooo good!!!
(My mouth is drooling so much right now and I’m not even hungry.)
Eric ordered a beef noodle soup, which looked really good but I couldn’t steal a bite because it has meat. So sad.
Look at that baby, though. Oh man.
And another reason why I’m convinced Eric is meant to be my foodie friend - all I did was mention that the coconut rice had gotten good reviews on Yelp, and he flagged down a server to bring us some.
I’m never going back to plain rice again.
They cook jasmine rice in coconut milk and top it off with fried onion bits and basically, I was attacked with this insane desire to bury my face in that bowl and use it as a pillow.
Dessert? One black rice pudding, please! The warm rice was just slightly sweet, which I found perfect, and topped with sliced almonds, sesame seeds, and vanilla ice cream.
I have officially decided that all I need to keep me happy is food. Food and my kittypie.
Engage *fat happy cat* mode.
