SURPRISING PERSONAL DETAILS

This blog believes that some things should not be mentioned in public, and that the greatest social virtue a man can have is discretion. When you know something shocking about another person, do not trumpet it from the roof-tops. At cocktail parties, or office events, there are some subjects not to broach, and conversational gambits to not assay.
As they say, don't go there, girlfriend!

Or boyfriend. I do not judge.


Here are a few VERY definite no-nos:

"Did you know that she used to be a man?"

"Bobby's got the clap! Bobby's got the clap!"

"She's got strange tastes in men and dogs."

"You'll NEVER guess where that's been."

"Those two feature in steamy videos."

"And the secret ingredient is ..... "


See? These are all revelations that change the paradigm, or bend the boundaries of taste. And the information thus revealed is a private matter in any case. It is not yours to divulge.
If you said such things about yourself, people might look askance.
Why is he (or she) telling me this now?
Am I supposed to scream?


Time for a startling admission: I have dioscorea.

It's because of something several months ago.

Disturbingly, it is now growing again.

I got it in Chinatown.

Wai san yeuk.

淮山藥


DIOSCOREA OPPOSITA

The first time I hinted at it on this blog was a year and a half ago (in this post: Waai Saan), at which time I indicated that it was something to which I had not been exposed before. Since then, because of experimentation, I have become quite familiar with it.

It actually tastes rather nice, and young tubers need not be peeled, merely scrubbed with a bit with a vinegar before cooking to neutralize the oxalate crystals. The correct name of the plant often identified as dioscorea opposita is actually dioscorea polystachya, which minor detail does not concern us here. The Chinese name is 淮山 ('waai saan'), or 山藥 ('saan yeuk').

Good for the kidneys, lungs, liver.

Best in soups with meaty pork bones and fresh leafy vegetables.


There was a ten inch length of root lying on the kitchen counter from the last time several months ago. It looked dried, and I paid it no mind, figuring that as long as it wasn't moldy and no ants were trailing to and fro, it did not present a problem. At some point perhaps it would need to be thrown out.

Besides, it looked rather obscene, and I was waiting for my apartment mate to say something.

Last week I noticed a new development. A twenty inch long tendril, aiming for the window.


I admire the survival instinct, even though in the case of plants one cannot really call it such, so for the time being I've stuck it on a shelf next to the window, in a glass with a little water.
At some point I'll have to pot it.

I feel like I should buy some more tubers, to keep it company.

But if I did, I would probably just eat them.

Do NOT mention soup!

It can hear.



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