Fort Outpost - February 2024

Fort Outpost February 2024

Veterans Day:

Fort Band & Cheer March

www.sites.google.com/fort-outpost

Also in this issue: Telltale Games District Programs of Choice Gender Neutral Bathrooms

contributors.

Isaac Dennett - Editor in Chief

advisor.

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading this article. I’m Isaac, I’m a junior. I like to draw, write, read, and play videogames. I also code, golf, and swim!

from the

Christian Golden - Associate Editor

Jennifer Fay

“Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.” ~Sydney J. Harris

A

s the next election approaches, it is important to keep in mind that our unique and different perspectives are what make us stronger as a whole.

The media tends to put extreme views and negative information out into the mainstream to sway the public one way or another.

This disinformation should not be interpreted as the view of individuals who may or may not identify with a particular political party or candidate.

As in most cases, assuming you know things or categorizing folks only lends our bias a hand. The only way to get to the heart of someone’s opinions is to engage

in an honest open dialogue where you listen to understand rather than waiting to rebuke what a person has shared.

We may have a difference in opinion but as humans we have far more in common than politics. Agree to disagree. give grace and remember we will all coexist together for much longer than this election lasts.

All of this is a moot point, however, unless you get registered to vote if you’re eligible. Please do so today!

Go Fort Trappers!

I’m half black and half Japanese. I enjoy doing sports, especially track and I like being able to do new things.

Amy Nguyen - Assignment Editor Hi! I’m Amy. My favorite color is purple and my favorite artist is Beabadobee.

Tjay Barhitte - Writer Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Tjay. I like to play video games, drawing, sleeping, taking walks, watching shows/movies, talking to friends, bowling, listening to music and much more.

Isabel Laib - Writer I’m a sophomore, I enjoy writing for fun, watching tv, and playing video games. I only speak English, but I’m planning to learn spanish.

Cristina Martin - Writer I am a junior. I like garlic bread and my cat. I am very passionate about women’s rights.

Jacob Owen - Writer

Jennifer Fay

Hello! I’m a junior at Fort and Clark!

Advisor - Journalism Club

I have rats and I enjoy doing art in different mediums.

02

inside this

issue.

social. let’s get

February 2024

Bowling team headed to state!

Choice Programs

03.

On Friday, January 26th, seven girls from the bowling team traveled to Longview to compete at the 2A District Bowling Tournament. Through a true team effort, they qualified for the State Bowling Tournament as a team!

Students in Vancouver Public Schools have several choices available to them for special programs at different buildings.

Fort Scholarships Every year, plenty of scholarships go unawarded because students simply don’t know about them.

Please congratulate the following students on their accomplishments and wish them well as they will represent Fort at the State Tournament in Tukwila!

• Danika Iosty • Lacey McHan (placed 8th individually) • Lillyian Peschka (placed 13th individually) • Annabelle Wiley • Taryn Albrecht • Caitlyn Lack • Melaniah Broom

07.

Culinary students get cookin’

Telltale Games

08.

You probably know some Telltale’s biggest games, but you’ve probably never heard the story of how the company rose, fell, and rose again.

Our Culinary Arts students competed in the Skills USA Washington, SW regional Culinary Arts competition, which was held at our Clark College over the weekend.

Our FVHS Program of Choice student champions: • 1st place Marcy Navarrete • 2nd place Alex Lona • 3rd place Silas Scrivner

Lunar Recipes This issue features three fantastic Asian recipes to help you celebrate the start of the Year of the Dragon.

11.

Our Culinary Arts students also participated in the Job Skills Demonstration.

Skills USA Regional champions: • 2nd place Kaylee Richman • 4th place Jared Saucedo-Cedillo

Rest

the of the stories.

03. Student Polls 06. VSAA Lottery 10. Children’s March 11. Gender Neutral Bathrooms 16. Adventure Photo Contest

Keep in touch . twitter.com/ fvhs_cis

03

facebook.com/ fortcis

google.com/ fortcis

pinterest.com/ fortcis

PROGRAMS OF CHOICE Diving deep into the programs of choice of the Vancouver School District.

By Isaac Dennett

V

ancouver School District’s programs of choice are great. Or are they? They allow students to specialize in things they enjoy, and take a different approach to school. Programs like High Cap, Dual Language, ITech, and VSAA are specialized programs. What are they good at, and what are their shortcomings?

These programs of choice are good at letting students excel and getting them excited about something. It gives them things to do during the day that they will find enjoyable.

Programs like High Cap, meaning High Capacity, are for students who, according to this article from the school district are students “who perform at advanced academic levels when compared to their peers of the same age, in the same school, and who share similar experiences.” The High Cap program engages these students by bringing in more real-life applications and giving them more challenging tasks. In an interview with a former highcapacity teacher, they said this; “The high cap program is good at giving students who excel but don’t fit into a typical high school classroom.”

The same goes for other programs of choice. If a student’s family decides that they should enroll in the Dual Language program, they are given the opportunity to learn Spanish or Mandarin from elementary through high school. Something known in science, and stated in this article, says “It is much easier to learn a second language when you are young”. This is true and allows students to get ahead in their lives by already knowing a second language. This program teaches students to take the AVANT test, allows them to get a Seal of Biliteracy on their high school transcript/diploma + high school language credits, and also allows them to get college credits through AP classes.

The last two big programs are VSAA and ITech. VSAA allows students to participate in the arts, like dance, music, visual art, literary art, and more. Itech allows students to specialize in STEM-based subjects. It allows students to do theatre for the public and participate in robotics competitions. These programs are different as they have their own separate middle and high school schools, and the STEM/ITech program now has an elementary school.

These programs have their strengths, after all, they keep students interested and engaged with their work with topics they enjoy or add extra options in

04

addition to a standard education. But, where do these programs tend to fail?

First, specialized programs like High Cap and Dual Langauge aren’t executed well in terms of helping students with social/emotional problems.

Many times, High-Cap students are just left to figure out themselves because they are amazing students who don’t need any help. High-Cap students can often have emotional issues, high amounts of perfectionism, and more. Also, in the dual language program and High Cap, the same group of students are kept together for long periods of time, years in a row. Several dual language students are together in Elementary through Middle school, leading to social groups that are very stagnant, and leave large social issues for these students. If a student starts getting bullied in elementary school, often they will be bullied into their middle school. In an interview with former and current dual language students, they often said they felt like things never really changed. You had the same friends you’ve had since elementary school, and the same people were made fun of since elementary school. If you had a bad experience, everyone would make fun of it forever.

This is a massive issue. There needs to be less segregation from the main group of students and special program students because there aren’t enough students for it to be good socially. High Cap students may suffer from disproportionate amounts of female students and students of color as well.

Students in the dual language program may go off to high school with large social problems due to them always having the same people for so long.

Second, (I kind of touched on this earlier) special programs can have a disproportionate amount of female students/ students of color. This has obvious issues, as it means students who do fall into that may be underrepresented and under more pressure. This can cause them to be more stressed, and potentially leave the program if the pressure tends to amount to too much.

Third, separating students can be unfair. ITech boasts a 100% graduation rate. How? They only accept students who are currently showing marks of a good student. This is great, but it leaves problems for the schools that they are pulling the students from. In an interview with a teacher from Discovery, they say this; “I think the… concept of Itech is a kind of great idea. Having a STEM school can set students up for great success in the rest of their lives. But it can leave schools like ours without students who do very well and are leaders, making it harder to build like a, school community.” By pulling the greatest from schools you leave them without the greatest, leading to an incomplete student community. It takes out the students with no behavioral issues and only leaves students with behavioral issues behind. Also, the lottery map is unfair. 25 Students from Columbia River/Skyview boundaries, but 22 for Fort and Bay combined, even though more students go there? It makes no sense. It is not proportionate at all.

To wrap this all up, these specialized programs offer extremely unique and great opportunities allowing students to pursue their passions and interests. The programs provide massive benefits. However, these programs may fall short in addressing students’ social and emotional needs, and the long-term grouping of students just creates a small area where unhealthy social situations can form. So, overall, these programs are great, but you have to weigh the pros and cons.

05

SAA has a new lottery system for applications that is advertised as randomized. From the VSAA website, “Our selection process for all programs of choice has a designated number of openings based on the student’s neighborhood school’s population size and factors of that school community”. Compared to past years, where there were required recommendations, interviews, and portfolios. The application process included submitting portfolios of your artwork, having an interview with the people involved in the application process, and having your education history inspected.

VSAA LOTTERY

V

The inner workings of the lottery system at VSAA.

By Cristina Martin

The lottery program has gained some attraction as well as unfairness. A lottery program gives more economically disadvantaged students a chance to be considered. Before the program, it was less accessible for students with this background to have full-blown portfolios, take paid classes to advance their skill sets, and receive strong, reliable recommendations. The lottery program can eliminate some of that unfairness. On the other hand, students who have put in lots of dedication and hard work, taken classes and have created thorough portfolios have the same chance as another student who is applying because there is no basis of what is required to apply. This system eliminated being able to “pay your way” to a better chance. This might satisfy parents, who might be biased to a random-selection, rather than the top “most deserving” students being admitted.

While this can raise some red flags for future applicants.

There are aspects of a luck based application program that seem unfair, though is it possible to have a completely randomized selection? Do students who say they’ve had multiple past behavioral issues get drawn or do they get rejected for such reasons? Do students with a lower than standard application get admitted as well? Some ethical problems arise with the new system as well leads people to question the legitimacy of the whole process. A lot of questions are left unanswered for me personally, even on their website.

The description of the lottery doesn’t give much inside information, just a brief explanation. It still leaves questions unanswered. To wrap this all up, these specialized programs offer extremely unique and great opportunities allowing students to pursue their passions and interests. The programs provide massive benefits. However, these programs may fall short in addressing students’ social and emotional needs.

The long-term grouping of students just creates a small area where unhealthy social situations can form. So, overall, these programs are great, but you definitely have to weigh the pros and cons.

06

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FORT STUDENTS

by Christian Golden ollege is expensive, and everyone knows that. But, not many people try to fix it. College expenses could be why a student chooses not to enroll in college, however, many students don’t use scholarships to cover the costs. While in most cases it is impossible to cover all the costs of college, many people can get support in paying the enormous costs. These can be done by signing up with websites or doing certain tasks that are specified by the company giving the scholarships.

are available to Fort students are given through programs related to the school. These programs can be things like FAFSA, which can support many students based on their financial situation. These are other scholarships that can come from the colleges of choice themselves. These scholarships can be for academics, athletics, or for financial aid. But, these scholarships are only available for the students enrolled in the school.

C

An easy way to find and sign up for scholarships is by joining TRIO since they will not only tutor and support you with classes but also help with dealing with financial aid or scholarships. They can find scholarships that fit your lifestyle without having to search through hundreds of different scholarship pages.

Countless scholarship opportunities are available online to students who take the time to do it. Scholarships like these are usually from organizations or foundations that will give students scholarships if the students align with the group and approve of the essay. The benefits can range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands. The signup process for scholarships like these can be painfully slow and will require a lot of effort however for the possibility of getting what can be considered free money, it’s worth it.

If you are a senior and interested in FAFSA, this is the VANSD link for it: https://vansd.org/money-for-yourfuture/

The other types of scholarships that 07

TELLTALE SIGN OF FUN “These game series adapt to the choices you make. The story is tailored by how you play.”

STORY BY ISABEL LAIB

E

veryone knows what a choose-your-own-adventure book is. They’re a loved product of both childhood and adulthood. What if that fun could be put onto a silver screen? That is what the game developers known as Telltale Games do, and they do it well. Telltale Games has partnered with many different Intellectual Properties (IPs), from Minecraft to Batman, to create stories held up as some of the best versions of those characters.

How it started: Telltale’s first game was a poker game made to test the company’s game system to prepare for bigger and better games. The next games developed were “Bone,” based on a comic series, and various Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) themed games. However, that isn’t where Telltale is today, and hardly where it’ll go in the future.

08

The stepping stones to current times: The company started acquiring bigger IPs, such as Back to the Future and Jurassic Park. The Jurassic Park game they made was the next logical step to where their games are today, ditching the normal adventure game formats and adding quick time events and choices that had a timer, which are now the main selling points of Telltale games to this day.

Jurassic Park: The Game, and Back to the Future: The Game were their first big successes, marking the year they were released (along with a CSI episodic adventure game) the most successful year yet.

Stepping into current times: Telltale then partnered with The Walking Dead to release one of their best games yet. The first season of The Walking Dead: a Telltale series was the first main game holding the same structure they have now. The Walking Dead sported a game style that lacked puzzles and focused on dialogue options and Quick Time Events (QTEs) to give the player a nearly cinematic experience. This game also evolved to have in-game choices matter, affecting how characters may see the player and what they’d be willing to do for them later in the game. For better or for worse. The player can even indirectly (or directly) kill off beloved characters. Or unbeloved characters, for the less fortunate.

While The Walking Dead was growing, Telltale had gotten rights for the Fables comics. These rights led to what’s heralded as one of, if not, their best game yet: The Wolf Among Us. This game followed The Walking Dead’s game structure, with even more differences in effects due to choices, such as rallying the whole town against the manipulative Crooked Man which can fail if you were not kind to the townspeople. Your choices matter immensely in this story.

The next big game made by Telltale was Minecraft Story Mode, season one, also known as MCSM. Telltale was partnered with Mojang for this epic story that featured a completely original protagonist: Jesse. Season two was released two years after season one’s first release date and introduced a game mechanic seen only in MCSM season two: building. Minecraft Story Mode season one currently has the most episodes per season, with nine fantastic adventures with amazing voice actors.

In 2016, a year after MCSM season one, DC contacted Telltale for a Batman game. Batman: The Telltale series. This game focused more on QTEs and showed the player how these new versions of Batman’s villains were created as the player leads Harvey Dent down a dangerous path, with no way of stopping it. Only the player Bruce Wayne can decide how two-faced Two-Face can become. In the second game released a few years later, the player crafts the Joker into a friend or foe, starting from a blank slate never seen before in the Joker.

Many other games were created, such as Guardians of the Galaxy: The Video Game, Tales from the Borderlands, and Game of Thrones: a game series, though many of these are delisted and lost to time, at least for the time being.

The closure of Telltale: Risks stopped being taken, and the CEO was running the company into the ground and the developers were scrambling to finish The Walking Dead’s final season. The company had grown then had been cut suddenly as the new CEO tried to get the company back on track. On September 21, 2018, the mass closure was announced. Most people were let go, with a few being kept on to finish up work on an MCSM cross-over with Netflix. The announcement came as a shock to everyone, even employees, who only had thirty minutes to leave the building. Voice recordings for The Walking Dead's final season were cut short as everyone was led out. Eventually, a few helping hands helped bring the final few episodes to the players before the company was deemed dead for good, killing future projects, such as the Wolf Among Us 2, Game of Thrones season 2, and an untitled Stranger Things game, were shelved or scrapped.

Most games were lost. Some, like the Batman games, were sold to other companies, but others, like Minecraft Story Mode, were delisted as the rights shifted back to their creators. It is extremely hard to play these lost games, some stuck just to the few discs out in the world. Even then most games, even the ones transferred to new companies, have experienced some form or another of glitches. Commissioner Gordon’s infamous “cigarette smoke” is a great example of this. Though most of the games are still playable, they’re hard to find and expensive. Fans of the games mourned and reminisced as prices on eBay shot up for discs and Steam codes.

Current time: Then something amazing happened. In 2019, another company bought up Telltale assets and brought the company back to life. Most of the rights they once had were lost though, such as The Walking Dead and Stranger Things. The only rights they still hold as of right now are any Telltale original properties, Batman, and the Wolf Among Us. Rights to Minecraft Story Mode, Guardians of the Galaxy, and many other properties haven’t been regained so their games haven’t been added back to the stores, which is unfortunate.

They released a new game in 2023 called The Expanse, which received excellent reviews. It was also announced that The Wolf Among Us 2 is back in the production line and is currently slated for a 2024 release. It seems Telltale has made almost a full bounce back and continues to do what they’re good at. Hopefully, they can keep their head above water and bring more of everyone’s favorite TV shows and comics to life, letting us make our own choices.

09

Trapper 4 Trapper

The Children’s March Assembly

BY Christian Golden

Not too long ago, we had MLK Day on January 15th and in respect we had an assembly to celebrate it (the snow delayed the assembly).

Many students got to see the movie about the Children’s March Assembly. The Children’s March was one of many nonviolent protests but what made it so special was how it was mostly children and the amount was astounding. On the first day of the protest, More than 1,000 students went to the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, and protested against being treated differently because of being a person of color.

During the days-long protests, around 2,000 children were arrested and jailed. Many more children protested resulting in the number of children overwhelming the Birmingham Police. Even after being sprayed with powerful water hoses and getting attacked by dogs, the protest stayed strong and the black people of Birmingham got what they wanted. Hearing about the protest, John F. Kennedy demanded a resolution with the city leaders of Birmingham and King. In the end, Birmingham was freed from the immense segregation and racism that existed for many decades.

We had this assembly as a way to remember the actions of the people in the Civil Rights Movement. As it was the day of MLK recently we remembered the late Martin Luther King, but it was also a day to remember the nonviolent acts of all people who worked together to get equal rights. King was a man who wanted civil rights for all people and wanted to end the discrimination present all across America. He changed America through his peaceful protests and speeches, most notably his “I Have a Dream” speech and Mongomery Bus Boycott along with Rosa Parks. The Civil Rights movement had many important members other than King like Rosa Parks or Malcolm X however King was able to bring change peacefully through his ability to connect with millions of people through his speeches and actions.

I think that having more assemblies like this with light but informative information is a good way for everyone to get to learn more about new things and I hope we get more like it.

10

GENDER-NEUTRAL BATHROOM

By Crisitina Martin: Is the 500 Wing gender-neutral bathroom beneficial?

T

he Gender-Neutral bathroom in the 500’s wing, also known as the GNC (gender nonconforming) bathroom has had some concerns regarding safety, effectiveness, and designation. It is a bathroom that has replaced the previous women’s restroom, this is thought to be done because it has more stalls than the men’s bathroom.

In a recent survey sent out to the student body of Fort Vancouver High School questions included were regarding how safe you feel on a level from 1 to 5, depending on your assigned birth gender. As well as questions that are based on student opinion and how they perceive the gender-neutral bathroom and who it is designated for, it also includes recommendations on what would make the bathroom more efficient.

all-identifying students safety can become an issue.

The first question on the survey that was sent out was if you feel the 500’s GNC bathroom is designated for female students rather than for all students. 54.3% of students answered either yes or somewhat (25.9% yes, 28.4% somewhat). This is more than half of the total percentage, while only 22.4% of students responded no. The designation of the restroom is felt to be more to female students than for all, the data shows. While this isn’t the intent of the restroom, it is the result. This can be determined by multiple factors, including that the restroom had replaced a women’s restroom, and that it is next to a men’s restroom. These factors tie into the fact that all of the other student bathroom pairs have a female and male restroom either next to each other or in the same wing (200’s wing, 100’s student store area, 300’s wing).

Not only does the designation aspect impact the effectiveness negatively,

While only a fraction of the student population had taken this survey (115~), the data still stands.

While the bathroom has taken up one of the women’s restrooms, leaving one less comfortable and possibly safe bathroom for femaleidentifying students. The bathroom has some issues to start with, the privacy aspect. The gaps in stalls in all of the public restrooms eliminate the feeling of privacy, but since the gender-neutral bathroom is for

11

it also seems as if when students were fighting for a comfortable restroom with their gender identity; the response from the school was a sign slapped onto the previous womens-designated restroom to make students happy.

Another aspect of the lack of effectiveness is how safe students feel in the GNC restroom. There were two questions regarding this in the survey, the first is for assigned female at birth students (disregarding gender identity) that includes a linear scale of questions that goes from 1; being not safe at all to 5; completely safe in the GNS restroom. Out of 94 respondents, 13 say they feel completely safe in the GNC restroom, while 81 students say they do not feel completely safe.

While 19 students chose a 4 on the linear scale, and 23 chose a 3 on the linear scale, the school’s goal should be for all students to feel completely safe. 22 students out of the 94 responses chose 1 on the linear scale,

meaning they feel little to no safety at all in the GNC restroom. This data shouldn’t be shocking, as a female at birth student myself there have been multiple occasions that led me to not feel completely safe in the restroom.

Other students have expressed the same concerns and experiences as me. A later question in the survey has responses surrounding these incidents.

The next question in this survey included another linear scale based on how safe you feel in the GNC bathroom but for assigned male at-birth students. Out of 34 respondents, 8 feel completely safe, while 26 respondents don’t.

2 students who responded chose 4 on the linear scale, 7 chose 3 on the scale, and 8 chose 2 on the scale.

The remaining 9 students chose not safe at all or very unsafe. This data reflects the still very large number of respondents not feeling complete safety. This recurrence for both male and female assigned at birth students

12

to not use the restroom, making more of a need for a multi-stall GNC restroom open for all identifying students.

shows a trend of unsafety. These feelings of unsafety and a lack of privacy from students, in something as important and private as going to the restroom, should be addressed.

The next question in the survey is whether having a multiple-stalled GNC restroom is effective. 63.4% of students had responded no, 26.8% of students responded yes, and the rest of the respondents stated something other than yes or no. A multi-stall gender-neutral bathroom is needed for not only such diverse schools but also schools with an array of gender-identifying students, like Fort Vancouver High School. While a multiple-stalled gender-neutral bathroom has the potential to be effective and is agreed upon by most students, ours in its current state is not accomplishing that. While there are 3 single-stall gender-neutral restrooms open for students, all three with a lockable door, problems including how long students take in the 3 bathrooms can cause students

The last question in the survey is a question on what they would do to make the GNC restroom more effective. Some answers are already known suggestions such as having stalls that go all the way down and don’t have such large gaps. These are already commonly used in many public bathrooms all around the world. The gaps and height of the stalls leave another concern with safety. Other options include ensuring the locks are working to increase the feeling of privacy and having more administrators routinely check, as well as making it a locked/check-in system. 72.6% of respondents chose the option to ensure locks are working on each stall at all times. The second most popular answer was to have the stalls go all the way down and have smaller/no gaps with 62.4%. Both of these answers are popular because they help ensure safety and privacy, which should both be goals for the school and its students.

There is also an option to share your own opinion. Some responses include some students sharing how uncomfortable they were in the stalls. An example is this anonymous student saying; “All stalls should go down rather than have gaps. I’ve been looked at through the gaps by males before through the gaps. I hate it and I know others do as well, which is why most refrain from using the bathroom because a lack of privacy. Also increasing the stall height. Anybody over six foot can just peek in.”. I completely agree with this response.

The privacy aspect is shocking, due to how non-private the bathroom can be.

Just walking into the bathroom at an angle you can see through the gaps and see students with their pants down.

13

Recipes For Lunar New Year February 10, 2024 is Lunar New Year, the year of the Dragon; celebrated in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Every year it starts on a different day since it follows the cycles of the moon. Every year there is a new animal based on Chinese zodiacs which is made up of 12 animals: ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Every country has different traditions on Lunar New Year, families get together and eat and play games together, children receive red envelopes from their elders which contain money in it.

Singaporean Chicken Curry

Directions

Ingredients

1.

Brine the chicken overnight in a glass container with 1 tablespoon salt and 2 cups of water. Cover with a lid to prevent spills.

2.

On the day of cooking, start by blending the ingredients to make the spice paste/rempah. Add a few tablespoons of water to create a smooth paste.

3.

Heat up the oil in a heavy cast iron pot. Fry the spices for about 1 minute.

4.

Add the lemongrass and curry powder and fry until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes

5.

Add the spice paste/rempah and fry until the paste darkens, about 10 minutes.

6.

Drain the chicken before adding them to the pot. Stir to cover the chicken in the spice paste and fry for another 10 minutes

7.

Once the paste has darkened, indicating that the onions and garlic are cooked, add 3 cups of water (or more as needed). Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes stirring periodically to ensure that the paste does not burn at the bottom.

8.

Next add the parboiled potatoes. Bring the heat down to medium or medium low. Cover and cook for another 1020 minutes, stirring periodically.

9.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, add chicken stock cubes, fish sauce, coconut cream, salt and sugar to taste. Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes.

FOR THE CURRY • 1/4 cup coconut oil (it’s better for you! avoid using canola or vegetable oil!)

• 3 tablespoons curry powder • 1kg chicken drumsticks, brined in 1 tablespoon salt • 3 stalks lemongrass, white part only, smashed • 3 cups water, or more as needed • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt • 2 teaspoons sugar • 1kg potatoes, skinned, quartered and parboiled (see notes) • 400ml coconut cream, adjust according to personal preference • 2 tablespoons fish sauce, or more to taste • 1–2 cubes chicken stock FOR THE SPICE PASTE • 650 grams small red onions or shallots (about 6), peeled & roughly quartered • 12 cloves garlic • 2 knobs ginger • 1 tablespoon, bottled pre-minced galangal (see notes) • 3–6 red chillies, sliced (deseed if preferred) • 10–15 dried chillies, rehydrated (adjust according to preferred spice level) • 5 candlenuts WHOLE SPICES • 5 cardamoms • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds • handful of curry leaves (optional) • 1 piece 4-inch cinnamon stick • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds • 3 star anise • 10 cloves

10. At some point, you may start to see that the curry has split and there is a layer of oil at the surface of the curry (the Malays call this “pecah minyak”). This is a good sign!

Don’t remove it unless you are particularly health conscious. I don’t use much oil in my recipe so you needn’t worry too much about removing any excess.

11. Taste test and add more salt or fish sauce if needed.

12. Serve over hot rice with fresh cucumbers on the side

14

by AMY NGUYEN Pork Dumplings

Roasted Lamb Chops with Brown Sugar-Rum Glaze

Ingredients

Ingredients Lamb Chops

FOR THE DOUGH • 2 cups all-purpose flour • ⅛teaspoon kosher salt • ¾cup lukewarm water • 1 egg white

•

and scaled by a fishmonger

FOR THE FILLING • 1 pound ground pork • 2 tablespoons sherry • 1 tablespoon grated ginger • 2 teaspoons soy sauce • ½teaspoon kosher salt • 2 ounces finely chopped garlic chives

2.

3.

•

Salt and pepper

•

2 tablespoons Chinese sweet wine or dry sherry

•

2 tablespoons soy sauce

•

2 tablespoons grated ginger

•

3 garlic cloves, minced

•

1 tablespoon chile bean paste, available in a Chinese grocery

•

1 teaspoon sesame oil, more for dressing

•

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

•

2 bunches scallions, cut in 3-inch lengths

•

1 bunch cilantro

Directions

Directions 1.

2 whole fish, like black sea bass or red snapper, about 1½ pounds each, gutted

To begin the dough, put the flour and salt in a large bowl. Use your fingers to stir in the water and egg white, until the dough comes together as a shaggy ball. Move the dough to a flour-dusted work surface, and knead it, dusting with more flour to keep it from sticking, until it is smooth to the touch, with no cracks or pockets of flour. Cover the dough, and let it rest at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

Knead the dough about 10 times, or until it forms a firm ball as smooth as satin. Use a dough scraper or a flour-dusted knife to cut it into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a log, and cut it into 6 equal pieces (for a total of 24 small pieces). Flatten the pieces with your hands, and roll each one into a 3-to-4-inch round wrapper. As you work, cover the dough with a lightly moistened towel to keep it from drying out.

To prepare the filling, place the ingredients in a mixing bowl, and use your hands to combine them until they are well blended. Place a rounded tablespoon of the filling at the center of each wrapper, and gently squeeze the edges shut. As you work, push out any air bubbles and fix any tears. When ready to eat, bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil the dumplings 6 at a time, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until they float to the surface and the wrappers turn puffy and translucent. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

15

1.

Rinse fish with cold water, pat dry and season inside and out with salt and pepper.

Place both fish on a heatproof platter or shallow baking dish. (Dish must be slightly smaller than the inside dimensions of the steamer.)

2.

Whisk together sweet wine, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chili bean paste and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Pour over fish and let marinate, turning once, for 30 minutes.

3.

Set up a steamer with 3 inches of water in the bottom, then set rack 1 inch over water. Bring water to a rapid boil. Place fish, still on a platter with marinade, on a rack and cover with a lid. (If using a bamboo steamer, cover top with a dish towel to retain steam.) Steam fish for 10 to 12 minutes, until just done. Flesh should look opaque, and there should be no pink at the bone when probed gently with a paring knife. Carefully remove the platter from the steamer.

4.

Meanwhile, place a skillet or wok over high heat and add vegetable oil. When oil looks hazy, add scallions and toss to coat. Sprinkle lightly with salt and stir-fry until slightly charred, about 2 minutes.

5.

To serve, scatter scallions over fish and top liberally with cilantro sprigs. (To make a tastier cilantro garnish, dress sprigs lightly with sesame oil and salt.) Using 2 forks, serve top filet from carcass. Remove and discard skeleton to reveal lower filet. Give each diner some fish, scallions and cilantro. Spoon pan juices over each serving.

adventure photography

2023-24

Adventure Photography

Sports, Travel, Outdoors, etc.

Deadline

Friday, May 31st 2024

Contact

Dean Dickinon dean.dickinson@vansd.org

photography

contest 16