I Love Philadelphia, I simply love that city, my 2nd most favourite city in the world (not counting Delhi) after London. There is something about this city.  It is a major metropolis, yet there’s a sense of place here you don’t always find in a big city and unlike other big cities in America, it is not overly impressed with it self.  The city does not come on to you, it does not get overwhelming and it does not consume you in itself.  This city like others has a character of its own, and a history that links it so closely to the United Kingdom ( perhaps another reason for me to love this city). I find the city very smooth;  of as my husband puts it in hindi (yahan bhasad kam hai) as in lack of  daily struggle ; or as another blogger puts it and I “ Philadelphia has a very settled energy. People come here to incubate ideas. We don’t have major disruptions.” I think that’s true. This is a good city in which to chill, kind of like Baltimore on steroids.”

The Italian Market (earlier click)

Philly Downtown 🙂

But the best thing about this city is the food scene, the Italian Market on the 8th street, the Chinatown on the 10th street and off course the Reading Terminal Market on the 12th. All in a radius of about a mile and a half and all serving the culinary world some of the freshest and finest ingredients. While the fresh produce of China town to satisfy the oriental pallet and then we have the Italian market to satisfy the the usual pasta pizza crave and as well as the choicest of meat deli and bakeries. Oh I just love the smell as you approach the 9th street, fills me with happiness.

My most favourite place

Last week we were in Philadelphia, though we moved out about 4 months ago, we still try an visit the city when ever we can it is only an hour’s drive from where we live.  We had a wonderful time, there was one thing I still had to do,  visit the Reading Terminal market, I had heard s much about this place but in the 2 years that I had lived there, it never really happened. Finally, there it was  the Reading Terminal Market, boy I Love this space. It is a food lover’s paradise. Everything, possibly everything you can ever imagine in terms of food and ingredients is available and the best part under one roof… Yes, you heard me right under one roof. You name it, they got it, cheese (the choicest), dairy, meat, sea food and it does not stop at that, this market has some of the best dinners. and eat in with such choices, that for me it was like a kid in a candy store.

Yes, I finally made it 🙂

Cheese Glorious Cheese

Fresh Produce

Spices 🙂

Candy Alert

Lunching on Chicken Souvlaki and Baklava

Finally, after all the shopping and eating, I released that it was Chinese New Year Week and we had done nothing to celebrate. The best way to celebrate any culture is through its food. So I decided to cook Chinese for dinner, only one catch, I had no Chinese ingredient, so a quick trip to the local Asian Grocery store on our way back and I was charged up to cook a New year’s dinner after a wonderful day out to one of my favourite cities.

I cooked Sesame Noodles and Shrimp Stir-fry to go with it.

Sesame Noodles is one of my favourite noodle recipe and I keep making it every so often, I have an earlier post of Sesame Noodles as well.  This recipe is a slight variation. I love the smell of Sesame Oil and chilly flakes, the flavour is simply addictive

Cook noodles until tender but still firm to bite. Drain noodles. Next In a large, non-stick wok, heat sesame oil. Add ginger, onions and garlic and pepper slices and stir 10 seconds.  Following, add teriyaki sauce, lime juice and chili sauce. Now simmer the sauce and mixture for about 30 seconds. Add noodles, peanuts and cilantro to wok and stir well. Finally, Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with chilly oil.

For the Shrimp stir fry:

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 pound uncooked large shrimp (20/25 count per pound), peeled and deveined

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1  onion, sliced (about 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and crushed (about 1 tablespoon)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 packet of chicken/ or seas-food broth, if not use warm water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1 green onion, sliced (about 2 tablespoons)

How:

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the shrimp and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until cooked through and then remove the shrimp from the  wok

Add the red bell pepper and yellow onion to the wok and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Now add the garlic, ginger root and crushed red pepper to the wok and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Return the shrimp to the wok. Stir in the concentrated broth, soy sauce, sugar and water and cook for 1 minute or until the mixture is hot. Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Sprinkle the shrimp mixture with the  green onion.