Hmm, Sesame

I love sesame paste, a simple food of two ingredients: ground sesame and sugar. The sesame oil provides the consistency similar to peanut butter, only grittier. It has nice aroma, fine texture, and, of course, the simple sweetness. Chinese use sesame paste mainly as the filling. That sweet dumpling made with sticky rice flour as shell and sesame paste inside is my must-order whenever on the menu. It is most popular during the lantern festival following the Chinese New Year. The broth base is frequently fortified with fermented rice. That reaches the pinnacle of all comfort foods. It lifts my spirit whenever I thought of a steaming bowl of that heavenly aroma and great, yet simple, taste.

DingTaiFeng has on its menu the sesame bun. The steamer serves two of them always too hot to hold. I always perform this juggling act to break the bun into halves to reveal the shining black filling and the wonderful sesame fragrance. Sinking the teeth into the pillow-like bun is such a joy, particularly after a nice meal at this exquisite restaurant.

Some regional restaurant has sesame porridge on the menu. It is basically a bowl of thick black goo, deceivingly hot. Chinese believe in the medicinal effects of sesame . Ingesting sesame can generally give you more energy, particularly good for those having anemia, liver or kidney problems, generally not energetic, with circulation challenges, or in need of Viagra once in a while.

A friend brought me this little jar of sesame paste from Taiwan recently. The new president MA Ying-Jeou and his family frequent from the shop in HsinChu. The celebrity status clearly boosted the novelty. Honestly, I never had sesame paste in a jar before. It looks just like a peanut butter jar. Hmm…

So I lightly toasted a piece of bread and spread the paste thick and nice. The warm bread teased out the fragrance and I made a mess of myself devouring the whole thing in 3 seconds, accompanied by a nice cup of cold yogurt. Such content!

The only thing wrong with the whole experience is the presentation of that strangely tar’ed toast. I wonder how Chinese this food is. I will think of this deep subject with another piece of toast.

我爱芝麻馅。基本上就是芝麻加糖。芝麻的油让它看来像花生酱，只是带点沙的口感。香，有口感，简单的甜味。汤圆中是最常见的芝麻馅，如果加酒酿，简直是“舒服”食物中的典型。想到它 — 一碗热腾腾的酒酿汤圆，又香又甜 — 就身心轻松,精神愉快。

鼎泰丰有卖芝麻大包，一屉两个，烫的拿不住。我两手轮着拿，分成两半，黑亮亮的馅，香气扑来。一家好餐厅，一顿好菜后，一口咬下枕头般的包子，太美了。

有些餐厅有芝麻糊，基本上一碗烫口黑黑的酱糊。中医说芝麻“滋养肝肾、润燥滑肠、乌须黑发等功效，久食还能益寿延年”。

朋友带了罐芝麻酱，可是新总统马英九家的最爱。罐子看来像花生酱，这要怎么吃呢？我烤了片土司，厚厚的上层酱。新烤好的土司正好带出芝麻香。配着酸奶，三两口吃下。舒坦!

只是卖相不雅，黑糊糊的一片，不像中国东西。再来一片，边吃边好好想这问题。