Leland Wong's Mariposa Roast Pork Recipe

Sadly mariposa is now only a memory. They had the best roast pork.  

Mariposa has been closed for over six years. New Lun Ting cafe has roast pork but nothing compared to the lightly seared taste of Mariposa's roast pork. Here's what I came up with in an attempt to replicate Mariposa Roast Pork

Boneless Pork Shoulder; about five lbs. of boneless pork shoulder. (with bone will do also)

Seasoning; stab it briskly with a fork for the seasonings to penetrate the pork liberally sprinkle with salt, granulated garlic, pepper and vegetable seasoning. Give it a good rub. Let it sit overnight or at least six hours in the refrigerator. Allow pork to return to room temperature after taking it out of the fridge. Lightly coat with olive oil. 

Sear; searing gives it a nice outer layer to lock in the flavors of the pork. you can sear the meat on all side in a hot frying pan or in a oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, flipping it over and another 15 minutes on the other side. 

Roast; 375 degrees. Flipping it over every 20 minutes or so. It'll take about 90 minutes to two hours depending...I use a thermometer till it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. 

Rest; take it out of the oven when it reaches 165 degrees. Allow for it to rest about fifteen minutes before slicing. 

Gravy; saute chopped onions and garlic in a sauce pan. Separate as much of the fat as you can and scrape the pan drippings into the sauce pan. Heat up the drippings. in a separate bowl mix pillsbury gravy mix powder with about two cups of water and mix well. Slowly add into the sauce pan with drippings while stirring. A few drops of dark soy sauce for coloring. 

Enjoy life.

Hi! It's Me Again!

My circadian is really out of whack right now.  I go to sleep at noon and sleep all the way to 6pm.  The OL gives me hell for it.

I got a new CPAP machine about six months ago.  The ResMed Auto Sense.  I just got another mask for it.  The nasal pillow mask. It has an app that via wifi enters my sleep data onto this app.  I can pull up my sleep data online to see how I'm doing.  The mask leaks on me.  I get sleepy during the day which maybe an indication that I'm not getting a sound sleep.

Photography?  I'm still doing it.  Only as an art.  Street photography decisive moment stuff.  So sad I never made substantial money from photography.  I was once a dreamer like what Henry Woon said about himself.  Dreaming of being a good photographer.  A passion and love for photography.

Photography;  I've given you the best years of my life.

What’s in my bag

Yes I keep forgetting this blog exists!

That is because I have like five other blogs which I started for the hell of it.  Who keeps blogs nowadays?  Especially with social media.  There’s so much going on!

Let’s see... let me figure out how to post a photo...

Today I went to 行山 for the 清明 festival.  My two daughters went with me.  The son have moved to Seattle.  The OL is at work.  We got the flowers at Trader Joe’s.  

This year marks the fortieth year since my father passed away.  It’s been sixteen years since my mother passed away.

Not a day goes by where I don’t think of them.  And grateful for their accomplishments in their lives.

This is my 契爺 , godfather.  He passed away when I was like eight or nine.  Like many Chinese men in America in the 1950’s when I was growing up, they lived their lives as single men and living in SRO apartment I recall on Montgomery Street by Pacific Avenue.  

He took us as his godson’s.  I remember him as a really nice man and brought and treated us to many things and places.  He was not a rich man but I think he may have willed all his money to us when he passed away.  My parents took care of his burial and I’m sure a promise of tending to his grave after he was long gone.  My parents always visited his grave during Qing Ming.  Here I am carrying on the tradition.

Hope my kids will also carry on the tradition.

---

This is me doing my tiger fork form in Chinatown back in 1985.  Thirty four years ago.  I was thirty two years old.  BM.  Did things began going downhill AM?  That came two years later.    

It became harder to find the time to practice.  The kids came. The OL gave me hell taking time to go perform for the sifu.  And of course with less practice my form get worst.  I was really hoping my son would get into it in order for me to keep up the practice.  But you know the saying...  you can only lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

My arthritic knee doesn’t help neither.  I feel I still have a bit of qi though.

---

Table number 8 at San Wo is not at a good location... it is right by the toilet.  It’s like if someone takes a dump, then opens the door afterwards to come out, it’s  like P U!  Too bad... the number eight is a very lucky number in Chinese.  It’s synonymous with prosperity.  I used to enjoy sitting at table number eight at the old Sam Wo.

Here I am at the old Sam Wo probably seven years ago sitting by table number eight.  Notice the eight is upside down.  Upside down in Chinese 倒，which is synonymous with arrive 到。  prosperity has arrived!  Get it?

Well... at the new Sam Wo I told Julie to make sure the 8 is upside down.  Which she did.  But some nosey tourist flipped back upright.  and it’s been that way ever since.

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hello...gotta remember this blog.

it's under my lelandwongphoto@gmail.com

Hi all!  are you coming to the Galileo Hall of Merit induction dinner?  It's a couple of days from now.  I just did a search of the other ten inductees.  About three are posthumous inductions...meaning they are no longer around.  As for me I'm alive and fine...well...as fine as it's gonna get with some conditions.  At first I did not think much about being inducted into the Galileo Hall of Merit.  In fact I was nominated last year and I turned it down.  This year they nominated me again and kicked me in.

I shouldn't take this lightly...I mean to be recognized by my high school, a center of higher education for my achievements in life.  Hmmm....what are my achievements?  I'm not rich or anything.  I'm a struggling artist and turning sixty-five.  I still have to look for work.  So I can't say I'm a successful artist held up as an example for our youths to look up to as a role model.

I have stayed true to my art nevertheless.  In the past 47 years since graduating from Galileo I have accomplished a lot of things.  Did I become rich from it?  No.  So I guess the selection committee did not go by how fat my wallet is.

Nevertheless I will graciously accept this award.  Is there an actual hall?  And my name appears on a brass plaque mounted to the wall?  I don't think so.

My First Time Making Lamb Dumlings

I am trying to do an entry using my new iPhone7 for the first time.

I made dumplings using lamb meat with cumin for the first time.

Now to figure out how to load photos here...

Damn can't upload photos here... 

Sapo ~ Suavecito ~

Ten best foods for my situation

http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/making-healthy-food-choices/diabetes-superfoods.html

Signing off for 2015

 

It's been a pretty rough year.  

No business.  Hardly any business.

With on demand inkjet tshirt printing there is less of a demand for screen printing.

Photography.  Hardly any business.  It's gotten to a point where I only do street photography for fun.

The city is under siege by the homeless 

Photos from the Golden Spike anniversary two years ago

 

This was at the Chinese Arch a few miles from the Golden Spike park.  It was previously called the Chinamen's Arch until 2009 when the local OCA had the Utah National Park change the name

 

A poem by Richard Chang composed while walking to the Chinese Arch.

 

 At the two locomotives replicas.

 

  

 that night at a hosted party...sorry forgot their name.

 

Salt Lake City resident Margaret Yee, (center) a descendent of a railroad worker

1770 photographer

I actually applied for a job...I have not held a job for 24 years!  I was surprised they actually selected me to test for this job.  When I got to the test site I found there were like 200 other applicants lined up for this test.

 I was up all night chasing out this bum that's been sleeping in our circuit breaker room.  Called the police and all.  

Jacked myself up with coffee.  Hoping to get a ride from my daughter to find her sound asleep... I just took the 19 Polk bus to the test site. 

About 200 applicants taking this test!  How many jobs are there for this position? 

About a third of the people lined up were "old" meaning mid-age and up.  There were some of the most finest local photographers.  Some familiar faces.  All without enough work to stay self employed and ready to trade it in for a straight conventional eight to five job.  Taking orders from a supervisor.  Putting up with workplace politics, gossip, snitching, etc.

It's the same with me.  I kind of fell out of the wedding photography biz.  Portrait business was never significant and I don't have a regular studio space.  I hardly get hired to photograph events or anything.  The t-shirt printing business have pretty much came to a standstill.  The graphics and illustration business was never significant.  Even selling artwork is tough.

Putting the kids through college and then having this lawsuit on me by my brother has drained my savings.  

While many of my friends are now retiring or already retired... Here I am looking for a job at 63.  How sad.   But nevertheless I need money to pay my bills and expenses.  And to deal with this lawsuit.  I will not have a place to live if I don't deal with it.

The test was tough.  A lot about how to handle over 100 year old nitrate based negatives.  About 20% of the test I WAG'd it... Wild Ass Guessed it.  I doubt if I will get this job.  

If I do get this job it won't be easy too.  If I get projects going I'll be burning the candle at both ends.

The latest edition of screenprinting magazine

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20151201/index.php#/1

New Year's Day

Only about 30 minutes into the new year.

 Caught this guy blowing his nose without tissue.

Some images lately

The ol is on a throwing rampage.

Worker taking a break outside of Big Dish in Chinatown Oakland.

It's 7am.

Porkchop house on Christmas evening.

Christmas was busy for Porkchop House.  

City workers got the day off for Christmas.

 Super cool door latch in the restroom at Porkchop house.

My Christmas dinner courtesy of Suey Sing Tong at Porkchop House.

White People Love Chinatown

White people love SF Chinatown.  Everyone from the well heeled gentries to the young hipsters to the tourist to the homeless and mentally challenged.

This black tour guide hates Chinatown though.  

http://youtu.be/wesK3quatYE

Seems like the Chinese have abandoned Chinatown.  There are less and less Chinese living in Chinatown nowadays.  The are more and more Chinese enclaves all over the city and Bay Area.  Space is expensive and cramped in Chinatown.  New immigrants find our Chinatown old and distasteful compared to the mega malls throughout Asia nowadays.  

But perfect for gentries and hipsters whom can just walk to the financial district to work.  Not owning a car in the city saves a lot of money too.

The coming of the Central Subway to Chinatown will drastically change the whole character of the neighborhood too.  Jacking up land value, jacking up rents.  The future of San Francisco's Chinatown as a community is bleak.

Mou jahk ung

http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5MTMyMDAxNA==&mid=200243453&idx=1&sn=d30f575d82d9f69fd7373b0d43189c95&scene=1&from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0#rd

Utopia dragons

 It's been more than a week since I touched this nine dragon mural at utopia cafe in Chinatown.

I've been having to deal with taxes, accounting and the goddamn lawsuit.

Tonight I keylined dragon #4, #5 and #6. 

I'm gonna redo #7 a bit.  I don't like the left claw and body.  Gotta make that neck skinnier too.

In the meantime they're getting antsy at chsa about my mural there.  I need four hours straight of penciling in the image using the digital projector.

I've been a bit under the weather.  With the changing of the season, I had a sore throat the last few days and it was really difficult swallowing.  I've been really exhausted too.

Progress tonight

It's been more than ten days since I've last touched this mural.  Here's my progress tonight. I added keylines to dragons #2, #3 and #4.

Time To Move On.

 

My residence at CHSA is coming to an end at the end of this year for sure.  It's been a good two years.  It was good exposure to be a part of the museum.  Can't say if it got my any sales or commissions though.  But it was good that a Chinatown organization was at least supportive of my art and photography.  Through the residence I was able to showcase my art and photography to the community.  It has been my experience that Chinatown as a community has not been supportive of local Chinatown artists.  

Now I have to look for another studio space.  I may have to look to moving to pier 70.  But I must say...it's pretty spooky out there at night, given my habit of working into the night.  Then there's the plumbing out there.  There's no plumbing and the restroom is a portapottie.  There is no real building structure neither.  Everything was just nailed together.  Because it's prime development land, the place may get sold at anytime and I'm out of there in no time.  

If I have to move I most likely will not be able set up my screenprinting operation wherever the family will move.  Which means I will have to most likely give away my t-shirt screen printing operation.

I am seriously considering getting a job as a taxi driver.   With my luck, I will fall asleep at the wheel......

dragon mural at utopia cafe

I am working on a mural with nine dragons at the utopia cafe.  It's been taking me so long because I can only go in from 9pm and on.  Nice part is they let me stay there by myself and let myself out.  Bad part is I'm only getting paid $1,500 for the project.  Bad part is I'm am to do a mural at CHSA also.  Bad part is I'm going through a force partition lawsuit by the brother and I'm worried about what will happen to the house I live in.  Where I am to live from here on.  What will happen to all my belongings and the though of having to throw away a lot of the things.

Could Exercise Make Your Diabetes Worse? or Short Burst Training to Lowe...

would doing tit sin keun a few times a day help?