"One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it."
- Master Oogway
Po might just be the laziest, clumsiest panda in the Valley of Peace, but he secretly dreams of becoming a kung fu legend. When the villainous snow leopard Tai Lung threatens Po's homeland, the hapless panda is chosen to fulfil an ancient prophecy and defend the Valley from attack. Training under Master Shifu, Po embarks on an epic high-kicking adventure as he sets out to thwart Tai Lung's evil plans.
Foodie Moovies turns 3 this month! and in celebration I'm going to showcase the movie that started it all, Kung Fu Panda! In the beginning Foodie Moovies started of with a movie I had no interest in watching, pizza and popcorn. 3 years later it has evolved to a night the whole family looks forward too. Thank you all for sticking it out with me. If you want to read more about how it all started, check out the About page. The following menu is not specified to a specific movie, this menu can go with 1, 2 or 3
THE MENU
Panda Rice Balls, Liquid Ch'i, Dragon Warrior Noodles and Mochi Dumplings
Panda Rice Balls
Aren't these adorable! My kids loved them and they were very easy to make, however you will have to purchase a 3D baby rice mold set. I decided to purchase it because my kids love any and all rice balls so I will definitely be using it again. They look small but are actually a lot of rice. I only needed to make 2-3 pandas per kid and they almost didn't want to eat them because of how adorable they are! Check out the video at eatsamazing for step by step directions on how to make these.
NOTE: Serve these with some snow peas or broccoli and a teriyaki sauce for dipping.
Liquid Ch'i
In traditional Chinese culture, qi or ch'i is believed to be a vital force forming part of any living entity. Qi translates literally as "air" and figuratively as "material energy", "life force", or "energy flow". Qi is the central underlying principle in Chinese traditional medicine and in Chinese martial arts. Kung Fu Panda 3 is all about ch'i and in the movie it was represented by a very bright green Jade stone, carved to look like the characters likeness. I was trying to look for a drink that also had this beautiful bright green color. I came across a green apple soda (delicious by the way) made by the company Jones. This soda is so bright it looks hazardous! but that's also what makes it look so cool. You can find these at any grocery store and are usually in the refrigerator section.
Dragon Warrior Noodles
Po's dad (Mr. Ping) owns a noodle shop, in the 2nd movie he rebranded to take advantage of his son's new found fame but regardless which movie the noodles are the same, beef broth and noodles. I researched and bought a lot of noodles and ramen broth to try and find one that I could recommend to taste as close as possible as the real thing but to be honest it was those 99cent ramen packs that my kids and I found tasted the best. Obviously going to a ramen shop is ideal and that's usually where you'll find the best tasting Ramen but for a super easy, super cheap option you can't go wrong with Maruchan.
Mochi Dumplings
I know what your thinking, how could I create this menu without those dumplings that Po loved so much. I was torn between dumplings and ramen for the main course but I figured out how to keep them both, mochi! This delicious dessert at least the vanilla flavor looks a lot like dumpligs! trust me your kids will love them. My favorite are the Trader Joe's brand and just in case your thinking, "Isn't mochi Japaneese?" Actually, mochi itself is a traditional Japanese food, Mantou finds it's roots in China. Eventually, it made its way across the East China Sea and Japan made it their own. The mochi dough in manju is often flavored while the center is traditionally a sweet bean filling. The flavors and history of mochi go way back!
I found this on mymochi.com:
"Making the ice cream experience portable with new flavors and a new delivery process is incredible, but it doesn’t compare to the rich history that the sweet rice dough itself has. Next time you’re biting into Mochi Ice Cream, think to yourself that you’re biting into a little bit of history. That sweet rice dough has been around since the year 794, maybe even before that. It was just in the last one hundred years that My/Mo revolutionized it by making it an innovative new way to eat ice cream."
Q&A with the kids
1. Why should you never judge a book by it's cover?
2. What does your chi look like? What kind of stone is it? what color is it?
3. What is your spirit animal? Why?