C. sapidus

This the product (a few days old now, so fresher when bought). H-Mart labels it "Taiwan basil" but it appears identical to what is usually labeled "Thai basil" around here.

Leftover red cabbage with creamy scrambled eggs. Long red, jalapeno, and bird chiles for heat. Fermented black beans and fish sauce for salt/umami. Onion, cilantro, and Asian basil for aroma. Mexican crema and feta cheese for richness. Apologies for the not-great cell phone pic.

Making the best of a fairly empty fridge: stir-fried red cabbage with shrimp and fennel seeds, plus cumin seed, sesame seed, sliced onion, and cayenne, finished with lemon juice and garam masala.

Hongos con crema with chile Poblano rajas, shallot, garlic, sliced jalapeno, crushed tomato, and Mexican oregano. Served on corn tortillas.

Char siu chicken fried rice with leftover sweet potatoes, roasted chile Poblano, onion, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, long red chiles, bird chiles, cilantro, and an egg.

Chicken char siu, daikon and carrot quick pickle, leftover tamarind-molasses glazed sweet potatoes, and leftover turmeric rice. Chicken was good, but pork is better. Microwave died so I had to heat up leftovers in a saucepan. How primitive.

^ Agreed. I think all of our winter return trips from the west coast have been scheduled around weather.

Great pics! Yes, lots of ferric oxides in "red beds" deposited during the Triassic because all of the continents were mushed together into the supercontinent Pangea, creating vast deserts. I only know this because we live on a Triassic shale, as I am vividly reminded every time I try to dig a hole in the ground. 😬

Even though younger son has moved away, two of his friends came over for dinner. One is from Pakistan and both enjoy flavorful foods, so it is always fun to cook for them. Grilled five-spice chicken, slashed and marinated with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, turmeric, Chinese five-spice powder, salt, sugar, oil, and toasted/ground star anise. Soy-lime dipping sauce with bird chiles and garlic pulverized with sugar in the mortar. Mrs. C made sweet potatoes in the air fryer with a tamarind and molasses glaze. Cucumber salad and turmeric rice to go with. Sadly, I only snapped a phone pic of the chicken.

Roasted chile Poblano tacos with chorizo, potato, white onion, spinach, and crema. Seasoning included garlic, thyme, Mexican oregano, and cilantro. Served with sliced radish. Frijoles refritos with chorizo, white onion, garlic, and canned black beans.

Yes Route 66 / I-40 has a ton of musical references. When we drive that part of the country, road signs trigger songs including 'Get Your Kicks on Route 66' (you could probably navigate without GPS via that song, "from Chicago to LA") and Little Feat's 'Willin' ("I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonapah"). That first picture is gorgeous, too.

Bay scallops, shrimp and yard-long beans with chiles, fermented black beans, and basil. Separately seared and removed long beans, shrimp, and scallops. Stir-fried garlic, ginger, fermented black beans, bird chiles, and Asian basil leaves. Added scallops, shrimp, long beans, oyster sauce, and cornstarch slurry, and stirred until thickened. Finished with more Asian basil. Good stuff. Jasmine rice and cucumbers to go with.

Thanks! Forgot to mention that I did add cumin and black pepper. Maybe it needed more. Sounds like we are thinking along the same lines.

Yam and eggs 😉 Cubed and boiled sweet potato in salted water. Slowly sauteed onion, chorizo, garlic, and several long red chiles. Finished with an egg, cilantro, and feta cheese. Not bad, but it needed something.

Chipotle shrimp and chorizo tacos, with sliced radish, cucumber and radish relish, and cilantro. Sauce was chipotle in adobo, roasted garlic, tomato paste, black pepper, and cinnamon, whizzed up in the Preethi, fried with white onion and chorizo, and finished with Mexican oregano, a little fish sauce, a pinch of sugar, and a dash of half-and-half. Good stuff - lately I have been a fan of radish with tacos.

Clean out the fridge breakfast: chorizo, leftover mustard greens, long red chiles, onion, cumin, and a roasted chile Poblano, finished with Thai basil, Mexican oregano, avocado, and an over easy egg.

On a Delaware road trip so I dined on takeout seafood. Softshell crab tacos! A first for me - I usually see soft shell crab sandwiches as fair food. Hush puppies and coleslaw to go with Crab cake sandwich: not bad, but deficient on big hunks of lump crab meat.

Seared tuna with a tomatillo, chipotle, and avocado sauce. Stir-fried mustard greens with garlic and oyster sauce. These were intended as components of two different meals, but sometimes stuff happens. Marinade was roasted tomatillo and garlic salsa with chipotles, sugar, and salt. Diced avocado was mixed in to make the creamy, tangy, spicy, and smoky salsa. Tuna was grilled over charcoal to medium rare (probably closer to medium on the thinner pictured piece).

Friend who is an adventurous eater came over for dinner. She knew I was making a Vietnamese stew so she brought a baguette, which was perfect for sopping up the sauce. Thit bo kho (beef stew with star anise and basil): Start by making annatto-flavored oil, then fry shallots and garlic and sear cubed beef chuck roast. Mix in boiling chicken stock, bruised lemongrass, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Simmer until beef is nearly tender, and then add sliced carrots. Toast and grind star anise, and then fry with garlic, shallots, long red chiles, and curry powder in annatto oil. When beef and carrots are done, mix this in, along with thinly-sliced onion, cilantro, and Asian basil. Tasted amazing. Cucumber salad and the baguette to go with.

Visiting younger son in Indianapolis, we checked out a new (to him) grocery store and picked up ingredients for tacos. He works long hours so we made plenty for leftovers. Store had house-made chicken chorizo sausages and sirloin steak taco meat. We added onions, garlic, jalapeños, diced zucchini, spinach, cilantro, cumin, and black pepper. Served with a choice of cucumber quick pickle, fresh mango, pico de gallo, feta cheese, minced jalapeños, and minced white onion. Also sautéed mushrooms with garlic and soy sauce (not pictured), one of younger son’s favorites.

Riff on Parsi scrambled eggs with bay scallops: sautee onion, jalapeno, garlic, and ginger in ghee. Mix in chopped cilantro and mint, add scallops and partly cook, and then finish with eggs beaten with milk. I meant to add some soft feta but oh well. Cukes on the side.

Scrambled eggs with leftover pork loin, flavored with three kinds of chiles (jalapeno, long red, and roasted Poblano), shallots, garlic, cumin seed, scallions, Thai basil, and feta in brine (which melted into the eggs).

Brown-fried diced onion with long red chiles, cayenne, cumin, and black pepper. Separately seared diced zucchini with S&P. Mixed everything together with a Poblano chile (roasted, peeled and diced). Finished with Thai basil, cilantro, and feta in brine. Not nearly as festive as @Duvel's lunch, but it hit the spot.

Fried rice with diced zucchini, leftover Chiang Mai pork larb, Thai basil, and a scrambled egg.

Preethi is an Indian mixer-grinder with blades rather than granite wheels. They are much burlier than a typical blender, however. I used to kill blenders within a year or so, mostly making Mexican dried chile sauces. In contrast, my first Preethi lasted about 20 years, and I often use it several times a week. Since the company is based in India, the default models are designed for 220V. They do make 110V versions for the US market, however. The version I have is 550W. I hope that helps.