Hearts to you! 

If you’re of the mind that a Valentine’s Day celebration — held on Feb. 14 or thereabouts — absolutely must include red wine and chocolate, I’m with you.

We’d be good friends. Let’s do this.

Everything in moderation, right?

But just saying, I’d be happy with a good Judice’s burger with and chips. Or a fudge malt from Dairy Queen. Gumbo is always good.

But Valentine’s, like relationships, is about compromise. Pizza would be my sweetheart’s pick.

Also — just saying — I hope that if that’s the way the night goes, he knows about the obligatory wine and chocolate thing.

Year of the Pig

Tet made me head to Port Arthur’s Vietnamese markets to stock up on spices. I was there a day before the dragon dancers and focused on fresh vegetables including eggplant and mini bok choy.

I looked up how to make egg drop soup the right way. It turns out the translation is “flower” so you don’t really drop in that egg and swirl it in the soup pot. You crack it into a bowl first and then swirl and pour it in to the bigger pot. A bit of cornstarch makes it thick and a tad of turmeric gives it the golden color.

The Tet season also inspired me to cook a pot of rice flavored with all the fish powder I had in the pantry. After all, the new year is a time to make way for the “new.”

 Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie with a heart for exploring new flavors. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com