A bus tour of northern Alaska gave the chance to enjoy two very good meals at Yukon River Camp, lunch on the way up and dinner on teh way back. This establishment is located on the Yukon River along the Dalton Highway that runs along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. This map dates from the early days of the highway and shows the stops along the way.
Alaska receives a great many Chinese visitors, which is reflected in the menu even in this remote region. My salmon bahn mi was excellent. Our guide explained that the salmon probably didn't come from the river next to us; salmon populations have gone down. But it was still excellent.
I topped off lunch with a piece of cherry pie and ice cream. Great fruit, very nice crust.
My dinner was this excellent salmon noodle soup. The camp has an excellent selection of high-quality Chinese sauces. I used some siracha sauce, toasted sesame oil, and some wonderfully umami-filled soy sauce.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...




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