Today we are featuring Joy of Joylicious! Living in Dallas, Texas and showing her passion for food, cooking and photography, Joy shares recipes with her readers that are from all around the world. She makes healthy food with quality ingredients that you can tell have the one main ingredient that makes all food fantastic, love of cooking!
MiK: What made you become so passionate about food and want to blog about it?
Joy: I remember baking my first cake when I was 5, and I haven’t left the kitchen since. I always believe it’s the simple pleasures in life that leads to happiness, food being one of them. I decided to begin a blog as a way to share my love for cooking and having my readers become aware of the importance of healthy eating, using quality ingredients and of course realizing the different ways how food brings people together.
MiK: You say you’re a self-taught or “mother-taught” cook. Do you think learning to cook this way has helped you keep an open mind about different types of food and make you more willing to experiment with new ingredients?
Joy: Oh absolutely! Especially having a Chinese mother as my teacher, I started eating strange animal parts, mysterious sea creatures, and various different types of vegetables as early as I can remember. I am experimenting with new ingredients all the time, that’s the beauty of food — the endless possibilities.
MiK: Recently you were able to go to Shanghai. What kind of differences in food and cooking did you find there compared to Texas, and America in general?
Joy: Ironically, I noticed the use of better quality ingredients in Shanghai. Many of the vegetables and meats in Shanghai are grown by local farmers and all the animals are farm raised without the use of antibiotics. The meat especially tasted different in China, it was so tender and flavorful — it made me realize I could never be a vegetarian if I lived here. I also loved the street food, every morning I practically RAN to the Sheng Jian Bao vendor and then went a few stores over to get fresh soy milk. It was beautiful.
MiK: When looking through your recipes, there are a quite a few different types of cuisines featured there. Which is your favorite?
Joy: My favorite would have to be Chinese. I promise I am not being biased! I love the different flavor combinations in Chinese food – sweet, spicy, and savory, bold or delicate — and how it can appeal to a variety of eating habits ranging from vegetarian, gluten-free, sugar-free and of course the average omnivore.
MiK: You’ve done quite a few restaurant reviews, can you share one of the most memorable places with us and why?
Joy: Uchi, a Japanese restaurant in Austin, TX gave me one of the most memorable meals of my life! The food presentation was phenomenal, with much attention to artistry and detail and the cozy cottage setting, sets this restaurant above any other’s I’ve been to. But more importantly the use of quality ingredients and the creative flavor combinations that make your palate sing and dance is what makes this place unforgettable — Tyson Cole is a culinary genius.
MiK: On your blog you have a list of Cooking Tips. What are one or two of your favorite/most useful tips that you could share with us?
Joy: “Selecting quality produce is crucial to cooking. A rotten fruit/vegetable is never a tasty thing! When picking fruit, always go with aroma, lack of bruises, and bright in color.” Always pick good quality ingredients — organic meats, produce that’s in season — that way, those flavors are able to stand alone, all you need to really add would be salt, pepper and some type of herb.
“To save money on food cost, freeze any ingredients you do not use within 1-2 days. You can microwave to defrost items or thaw them in the refrigerator overnight.” My mother taught me this one. You can practically freeze anything, meats, vegetables, herbs, stock, you name it. It not only saves you money, but time too!
MiK: If you were a dish, what would you be? If you were an ingredient, what would you be?
Joy: This is a tough question seeing that I like to eat everything, but if I really had to be a dish I’d be an Herb Roasted Chicken (organic of course) — it’s simplicity at it’s best and is relatable to everyone, which is what I’m about — simple but beautiful. If I were to be an ingredient I’d be a pineapple — I’m wacky and adventurous, rough around the edges but deep inside I am sweet as can be (most of the time) .
Thank you to Joy for such a wonderful interview! If you’d like to share Joy’s enthusiasm for food, see beautiful photos that make your mouth water and check out her recipes go to http://joylicious.net/ .
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