Soap

I bet many of us have seen that Dove commercial where they have a bunch of women used soap to wash a mirror, and  tell you that the residue left over is soap scum, and how Dove wont leave soap scum, therefore it should be the number one choice. Wonderful experiment isnt it? But wait. If every soap leaves soap scum and Dove doesnt, then how can Dove call itself soap? Such hypocrite!

That, and a few more of false advertising have been the biggest reason for me to stay away from drug store, and even department store hygiene and skin care products. Because I can help but reckon that the 7$ I pay for a bottle of face cleanser only buys me about 50 cent of product. The 6.5$ left over goes straight into marketing, advertising, and the beautiful actress who is the brand's spoke person. Is it worth it? No, not at all.

It's so sad that Marketing has driven people far away from common sense, and make us believe in what they have created. We are stripped down and blocked from the general knowledge that they dont want us to have, so that we are willing to pay big bucks for the full load of crab their company created. Really.  Almost every one ever use soap anymore because they think soap is not as clean, and it leaves soap scum behind. But would you rather you detergent on your face? Well, before you answer my question, reach for your favorite bottle of face cleanser and google the first 3 ingredients. Then come back and tell me what you think.

Soap is not at all a bad  thing to use. In event that you ask my opinion, of course. In fact, just decades before soap has been widely used among us. Making soap is a process of superfatting oils with lye to create surfactants, this can also be called soaponized. In "English", its just simple as you putting some oils into a lye mixture, cook it up. Then the mixture will solidify into the form of a soap bar. The bar then get put away to rest for at least 4 weeks, some times even 7-8 weeks so that the lye will get a chance to evaporate. Then whats left are oils and other ingredient that are gentle and easy on the skin. Decades ago, people even used animal fat to make soap. But that wasnt so hot because animal fat leaves behind way more residue than vegetable oils, and it doesnt smell very pleasant.

For more on soap making, check here  and here and here

The so called soap scum is the thin film that got left on  the surface when you use soap to cleanse. The harder your water, meaning the more metal particle included in your water, the thicker the film will be. Over time, it will get more visible, and people see it in their bath tub, shower doors, shower walls, etc... Thats why they call it soap scum. If you use well water, you have a high chance of getting soap scum when you use soap. Though, this problem is easily solved by using a shower filter, or water filter, which is rather inexpensive. Plus, soaking your tub with a solution of  1 cup of white vinegar to two gallon of water, and some light scrubbing will easily get rid of them. Vinegar is a great disinfectant too.

Coming back to soap products. Nowadays, more and more small business are open by people who have great interest in green living and protecting the earth. Its also happen that most of them are women. Because of that, they create products that are good for people to use and easy for Mother Earth to take in. Their products are make with care, and also inexpensive when you compare the ingredient with department store and high end brand.

Often, I buy all soap from those small company. I love the fact that they stand by their products and they give me the adequate attention that I deserve. To them, I am a friend and not a number. My questions get answer within 24 hrs, and most of the time I always get something extra in my order. Another reason I like to buy from them because I get to know what ingredients they are using and why they use them. I am happy that my products are not loaded with fillers, lab developed fragrant, and harmful preservatives. In fact, I am delighted to use product that are natural, and the wonderful smell of essential oils that they use.

Take a look at one of my favorite soap to use:

Chagrin's Valley Alovera Soap

This baby's ingredient list is listed as follows:  Soaponized oils of olive, organic coconut , alovera butter, and castor oil. Then they  top the soap with organic aloe vera juice, organic whole leaf aloe, essential oils of lemon, bergamot, lavender, and eucalytus, parsley flakes, organic corn starch as a thickener, and rosemary oil extract.

Those ingredients are skin friendly, healthy, and wholesome. Given that if you are allergic to any of them, please dont use the soap. But if not, you are treating your skin to a delightful experience when you shower. I have a friend who stayed for a short visit, and she still order from Chagrin when she gets back to Taiwan. She told me that one day she had a bad sunburn and she used this Alovera Soap. Its not magic or anything but it helped her a bunch with the burn. But dont take her or my word for it. Give it a try. Im sure you will like it.

Another place that I trust to buy soap from is Earth Alkemie. Li,  the owner has a vast knowledge on herbs, aromatherapy and skin care thanks to her M.A. in Biology. She is also very kind and helpful in helping people who just convert to using natural skin care.

Picture taken from Erth Alkemie website

You can also purchase cleansing products from BurtBee, Audrey Organic, or Dr. Bronner, etc. since they are widely available in stores now. Just make sure you pay attention to the ingredients. Also, just because something is organic or natural, doesnt mean that its all good. In fact, stay away from product that you know you are allergic too, and always do a batch test or buy sample sizes.
I hope this help you a little bit in choosing personal care products. If you have any questions dont hesitated to let me know.
** All pictures are taken from the seller's storefront. They are not taken by me. Because as soon as they get to me, they go straight to the bath room :D **

My people

Watching this on PBS right now. Its a surprise to me to see that Independent Lense would do a film about the Vietnamese population. Nonetheless, I enjoy it, in a way that, yes, my people deserve recognition.
 Its funny, my non-vietnamese friends would probably think that I hate Vietnamese. Because I complaint about them so much: how they never stay in line, how they never pick  up after themselves, how loudly they talk, how "stalking-ly" they are, how they always nag, blah blah blah. Being a Vietnamese myself, I understand my people' weakness, as well as strength. And the more I "hate" (not really tho), the more I love ( a lot). After all, they are - my - people.
I hope the Vietnamese community in New Orleans will revive and prosper. Watching their struggle makes me cry. Because I feel their pain, and because I am PROUD of them.
I love my people!

Vietnamese Street Food 101 - Fried Rice Cake

I still remember the first day I stepped foot in the U.S. But for the purpose of this blog, Im only gonna talk about what happened that morning. I was lucky enough that my host family loved me so much that they booked a hotel so that I can have some rest before heading back to their house (almost 2hrs drive away). Anyhoo, when we went down for breakfast, I barely ate. Not that I was still tired from the (almost) 35 hours travel (long story), but because I was so dreadful of the breakfast offered at the hotel. Everywhere I looked, I found sugar! Cheerios, cookies, donuts, corn flakes, etc. Sweet sweet sweet! No, not really, I might eat a cookie in the morning now, but at the time, I thought that was almost the end of the world (with some exaggeration) :D.  Well, for most Vietnamese, the best way to start a day is with some thing savory, almost like a big meal, so that you can fuel your day. We dont eat "desert", or even fruit. We eat solid dishes like rice, noodle soups, sandwiches. At least, thats what adults eat. What about kids/teenagers? Oohhh, ask me, Ill tell you.

Apple Salad Revisited

If you have not already found out, Southeast Asia cooking involves a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. Most of the time, our salad consist of raw fruits or vegetables, a type of protein, and a savory dressing. Weird? You may say so until you try it out, then you will be hooked. And you will never come back to that boring, full of fat vinaigrette  or french dressing again.
When I was in Vietnam, I used to love a salad dish that has green mango and beef jerky or dried shrimp as main ingredients. It has a very very creative name: "Mango salad" :D. The tangy taste of raw green mango just blends perfectly with the salty jerky. Of course they will add enough red hot chilly peppers to set your tongue on fire too. But you just can not stop eating it!
Ever since I moved to the U.S., its been very hard to find green mango in the market. Sometimes I would see one that I pays about $2 for, and still have to compromise with the fact that its not the green, crispy, sour-y, delightful mango that I always miss. But then I discover another wonderful substitute.This fruit lends my salad the tangy, green flavor that I wanted from a green mango, yet its economical and available everywhere.
Yup! The magic Granny Smith Apple saved the day! Dont trust me? Try it, and see for yourself.
Now, you have two options. You can go to a Thai restaurant and see if they offer Apple Salad. Thats where I first ate mine anyway. Or, better yet, take a look at my recipe and make your own. I promise you will love it. Ready?
For a two serving Apple Salad, you will need:

• About 5~6 small Granny Smith Apple
• A handful (about 10~12 count) of dried shrimp. Get this @ asian grocery store. But if you feel iffy about this particular ingredient, skip it. You can substitute with beef jerky,or grilled chicken/pork. 
• One clove of garlic (dressing)
• Half clove of shalot (dressing)
• 1~3 chilly pepper.Your mileage for heat may vary so please add chilly accordingly. You can also use chillie powder, but it will taste different.
• About half a lime ~ a whole lime, depend on how sour it is. 
• 2~4 teaspoon sugar or agave, to taste
• Couple teaspoon of fish sauce. Use salt if you are dreadful of fish sauce :)
•  Quarter of an onion and 1 whole  shallot
• Fried shallot and toasted peanut to garnish. This is optional.

Ready yet?
First, cleanse your apples, then proceed to cut them like the following pictures:

Discard the part with seeds.

Soak your cut apple into a solution of half a tsp of salt and vinegar/lemon/lime for about 10 mins so they remain clean white for awhile. Then drain, rinse with cold water, and let dry. You can put it in the refrigerator while you are making the dressing.
Lets move along!

Roughly chop your dried shrimp into large bit. Do the same if you use jerky.

Combine chopped shrimp, onion, and shallot in a large bowl for mixing

This is for your dressing

Mash the above ingredient in a mortar. Add a teaspoon of sugar when you are smashing. They will become gooey and dont fly around. 

When you are done smashing them, add in 3 more teaspoon of sugar, then add your lime juice. Mix well. Now, if you use fish sauce, add 3 teaspoon first, then taste. If its not salty enough, then add more, otherwise you should be good. However, if you decide to use salt, add only one teaspoon of salt then taste and adjust. You can always add but you can never take out, so build your way up slowly. Your dressing should be a  little tangy (from lime juice), sweet, and slightly salty.

You are almost done! The question is when you want to serve. I always mix my salad 10 minutes before serving so all the flavor are well combined. Usually I dont make just one dish, so I will make the salad, and then make a soup. By the time my soup is done, my salad is ready. Just make sure dont let the mixed salad sit for more than 1hr before serving, it will become too soggy. 10~25min should be good. Before you serve, make sure you taste it first, then adjust with salt, sugar, or more lemon depending on how you like it. Usually I dont need to adjust mine, but you never know :) You can choose to top it with fried shalot (buy from the market or make your own) and toasted peanut, too.

Voila!

Happy eating!

How to leave a comment? Làm sao để lại comment?

Có nhiều người chưa quen với Blogspot thì sẽ không quen với cách lưu comment ở đây. Tui thấy cái này hay ở chỗ là cho những người không có account comment. Nói thiệt chứ, nhiều khi muốn để lại lời chào, nhưng nghĩ đến chiện đăng kí account thì lại làm biếng. Hehe. Bà con không có account xin xem cách comment này, sẽ dễ dàng cho bạn hơn. Làm ơn đừng comment kiểu Anonymous, tui hẻm biết kiu làm sao. Cho cái tên hay cái nick là được mà.

If you would like to leave a comment on my blog, but you do not have a blogger account, please refer to the following instruction. It will let you leave a name, or a link (if you choose to) and your comment. I would be very happy to know that someone stopped over and say hi. Thanks!