Dad was gone. As his last wish, he got cremated. He didn't have many people that knew him. He was with us, but at the same time alone. LITO tried taking him out to Chinatown to meet some people. I was not aware, mom told me later. He got kidnapped by Lito. Both like two teenagers escaping to meet their secret girlfriends, left looking forward to catching news from the Asian world. They went to the Chinese bakery, restaurants and some hardware stores. Dad had that friendly touch, always with a confident smile, strong shake hand, look in the eye, and voila a new friend. He loved to go directly to the kitchen at the restaurant he went to - a bit embarrassing to tell you the truth.
He instantly made friends in the kitchen. Weird trade Dad had that I never understood. Up to now. I guess everyone have their own way of making friends.
Problem was that once contact was made, it was going to be hard to have Dad out of the kitchen. That was his territory. That's how Dad learned to cook. I remember looking at Dad amazed how he cooked. I thought he was a type of hero, one of those than special powers and made friends with fire.
His specialty- stir fry. Not too much oil. No fats. Sauté vegetables. Lito still misses him the time Dad taught Lito how to make wanton soup. He made the wontons with one hand, while using the other hand to mix the stuffing with ground chicken snd pork, otherwise the mix will get dried and the wontons won't get dried. He carefully picked - and made sure, every wonton had a big piece of shiitake mushroom. The smell of sesame oil invaded the air, mixed with the smell of the chicken broth prepared with some Napa cabbage snd some pieces of ginger. Super clear broth, was one of the key point for a great wontons soup.
Finally, after putting the requested (and needed) amount of filling and shiitake mushroom, Dad proceeded to close and seal them tight. Perfectly folded snd rounded, Dad's wontons looked little hats aligned on a potato flour dusted tray, to prevent them from sticking.
The wontons patiently waited until their time came to join the rest of the battalion joining forces fight that great beast called hunger.
Once the wontons were cooked, they were carefully put to rest on top of the golden Chinese noodles. Then a couple of ladles lifted up s good amount of shiitake mushrooms, chicken breast strips and Napa Cabbage, served to join forces with Dad's wontons. Finally, s dash of sesame oil and a handful of chopped green onions as garnish. To top it off, 5 quick dashes if sesame oil and freshly cracked pepper to compliment that wonderful soup dish Dad specialized when talking to his cook friends when making friends in the kitchen.
Yummy soup!