pseudo pizza

Latest cooking inspiration occurred when stumbling upon salami with no nitrates or msg at Whole Foods. Was also thinking about the panchetta and potato pizza I had at Zero Zero with Michelle back in SF. So here's my version with brown rice tortilla (trying to cut out wheat), fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce seasoned to taste, uncured salami, grape tomatoes, fingerling potatoes which adds texture, then more sauce. This is the third try and it came out great! Just be generous with the sauce. Since it's a tortilla, you get a bit of crunch on the edges but the middle is very soft. Fine with me, I fold it up and eat NY style! The tortilla is more of a vehicle to get all the toppings into my mouth anyhow!

Thit Heo Nuong

I was craving Vietnamese pork chops the other day which reminded me that I'd been wanting to make some myself... so I did and they turned out pretty well.

I tried a recipe that called for caramelizing the sugar first but the heat was too high so I burnt the sugar. I wasn't trying to clean out a burnt pot twice so I tried a different recipe.

I didn't have lemongrass or a grill so I did without and popped it into the oven. Yum! Definitely keeping this recipe.

Side note: when a recipe calls for anything more then a pinch of freshly ground black pepper, get a real pepper grinder that twists! None of this squeeze or push action unless you want to work out your forearms! Damn pepperball.

Momofuku Fried Chicken

Way too much money that I don't really have was spent on food this weekend.  But I'm thankful to be out of scholarary confinement so I can actually enjoy having meals with friends again. Just need to limit myself.

Momofuku has certainly made a name for itself these days. I've been lucky enough to have had the bo saam at the Momofuku Saam Bar a couple years back so I was happy when Saki invited me to yet another of their culinary experiences that requires a reservation. This time it was the fried chicken, half Southern style and half Korean style. The later wasn't quite as spicy as some of my fellow diners would have liked but it worked for me. I actually like the flavors better then the buttermilk and the way it was fried reminded me of the Chinese fried chicken drumlets I had when I was younger. The ones where they push the meat up forming a drumlet popsicle. Can't beat the convenience of the built in handle!

Anyhow, I was completely amazed at how moist the white meat was. It was moistest white meat I think I've ever had. The mu shu pancakes, I could've done without. They were much too tough and dry. I ended up tearing off bits of it to use as my own personal sauce trays for the four different sauces. Eric snapped a picture so hopefully he'll put it up somewhere. Wasn't sure what to do with the carrots and radishes so I munched on them between bites of chicken. A few of us indulged in the ultimate... lettuce wraps filled with fried chicken skin. So good but oh so bad.

Don't like the flash but was too excited to eat to bother retaking this shot.

We also had the bok choy, fingerling potatoes, and snap peas. The first two were my favorites. The bok choy with a savory pork broth and cipollini and the potatoes with bacon, poached egg and scallions... mmm. Can't go wrong with bacon.

Having said all that though, I still think the bo saam is the better dish. Tender pork you can pull off the bone topped with raw oyster and a variety of sauces... mmm. I'll definitely go back for that again. I'm sure I can find 7-9 others who will want to partake in the porky goodness.

Chinese fried chicken

I was craving fried chicken from my favorite spot back home, San Tung. Since that's a 6 hour flight away I decided to attempt to make something close to it.

Shandong cuisine is one of eight cuisines that make up Chinese food. Cantonese food from the southern part of China is what I believe most are familiar with. I tend to like northern (Shanghainese and Shandong) food better but that may be because I have it less often.

Anyhow, on to the chicken... I started out flouring the diced chicken (flour, salt, pepper, corn starch). I like the diced version better as oppose to wings... more batter and sauce per bite haha.

Boiled the sauce (garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, chili flakes and added a bit of mirin) and reduced it to a sticky consistency. Mmm...

Fried the diced chicken, twice for crispiness. Frying is a mess! Feels like grease is floating around the apartment.

Mixed with the sauce.

Best eaten with rice and some scallions. Yum!

I gotta work on the batter and the retaining the moisture of the chicken but not bad for my first try. Quite happy with the sauce. Now to make some herbal soup of offset the fried goodness.

Ssam

Being that work moved to a new location, you bet we're checkin out the lunch spots nearby. Today we tried Dosirak. My co-worker picked up the menu so I haven't visited the place but I was very pleasantly surprised to find several ssam's on the menu, a Korean veggie wrap with bits of meat of your choice. Most in NYC know of the bo ssam from Momofuku Ssam Bar. Via Saki, I was lucky enough to try the $180 dish a while back (see post) with 7 others I believe. The bo ssam feeds 6-10 people and must be reserved in advance to enjoy it's party of flavors.

While Dosirak's ssam didn't come with as many sauces, rice, or even the raw oyster, it's still totally worth the $13 (I got chicken). I even had enough left over for dinner. The chicken was tender and cooked just right with onions. And I couldn't get enough of the earthy goodness of the ssamjang sauce. It's even inspired me to make my own to use as dip or salad dressing. When I get a chance to go to the Korean market, I'll try this recipe out.

The ssam is a mess to eat but so worth it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am very thankful for my life, family and friends. I'm also very blessed to have great souls in my life. Those who have been the unconditional and unwavering cheerleaders through the varous chapters in my life. Those who understand and support me and my aspirations. For that I am beyond grateful. In the words of one, let's rock this!

Onto the food... The plan was candied yams and pumpkin pie. But after speaking with Jacklyn, who made a good point that candied yams though traditional aren't such a popular item, I opted for a savory version of sweet potatoes. I'm glad I did. Both the roasted sweet potatoes as well as the pumpkin pie were a hit. There was only one slice of the pumpkin pie left and there were two other pies on the table!

I really wish I took photos of our spread because it was insane... lobster bisque, jumbo shrimp, turkey, ham, pulled pork, roast beef, asparagus, mashed potatoes, corn, and the roasted sweet potatoes. For dessert, pecan pie, apple pie, the pumpkin pie, strawberries with melted chocolate, grapes, cherries, oranges.

The pumpkin pie was done just in time so I didn't get a chance to take a photo before I left the house. It looks like a pumpkin pie should except I topped it with sliced pecans.

I combined two recipies I found online for roasted sweet potatoes. The result: roasted sweet potatoes with garlic oil, salt, pepper, and fried sage leaves.

These gigantic sweet potatoes...

required some banging on the cutting board to cut haha.

Though not quite visually appetizing, the wrinkly-ness means the sweet potatoes are done. I added the fried sage leaves later to maintain crispiness.

I like therefore I make

For me, that applies toward food as well as design.
Periodically, I get into cooking phases. I've even attempted to hand make noodles before.
Recently, I've been cooking to procrastinate haha. Here's what I've whipped up.

Poke - inspired by my recent Hawaii trip. Used salmon since the tuna at the store didn't look so fresh.

Inari, tofu pocket stuffed with sushi rice. Finally found tofu pockets that don't have msg. I used to make this in college, minus the seaweed.

Vegetarian pho using my slow cooker. Thanks Joyce for the recipe! Look at all them onions. My apartment smelled like onions and star anise for days!

Aloha love - Day 3 & 4

(Day 1 & 2)

Quick and dirty breakfast. We were up way too early, not much is open and the wait for Eggs and Things was longer then we had time for.

Interesting architecture. Do you think the architect was inspired by pineapples?

Paradise - nature is amazing. It's a wonder how these palm trees stand so tall on such skinny trunks.

Helena's - rejected. Who closes Sat-Mon? Apparently they do.

Ended up eating at Donburiya Dondon. I should've ordered an udon or saimen. Apparently the texture of the udon is similar to Jimbo's.

Kansai Yamato - fresh handmade mochi, so soft they feel like they'll fall apart between your fingers.

The beautiful wedding at the Halekulani

Yummy salad with prosciutto wrapped nectarines.

Octopus tartare - good but a bit too chewy.

Double the lobster please. One of the lobsters was supposed to be a steak. So Kelly, who can't eat lobster, got my steak and I got her lobster. Worked out well, I think. Ha.

Creamy coconut mousse in a chocolate "coconut" shell, mango tart, passion fruit/mango sorbet. The sorbet and mousse were so flavorful. Friandise was also served. I had an amazing chewy coconut cookie. And... there was also coffee wedding cake.

My last meal on the island. Pork and garlic shrimp at the International Market with Masy before some quality time with her family and the little one, who I finally got to meet on this trip. My heart melts. She is adorable.

My last glimpse of beautiful, sunny, warm Waikiki before I leave. I couldn't get over how vivid and bright the colors all around were. I really miss this. Next time I want to get more then just an hour or so at the beach, take surf lessons, ride ATVs and motorcycle/scooters around the island, and of course hit all the food places I didn't get to this time. Hawaii, til we meet again, I got some poke, furekaki mix, and masubis to make.

Aloha love - Day 1 & 2

It was a tough decision but I'm glad I went to my girl's wedding in Hawaii a couple weeks back. I forgot how beautiful it is there. It was such a great relaxing time with good friends and good food. Sometimes I let my stomach get the best of me. Thanks to Michelle, Bryan, Lisa, and Carrey for letting me crash and come on the foodie ride around the island.
My 1st meal after I arrived Thursday night was at Kaka'ako Kitchen. I had Furikake Tempura Catfish with Ponzu Sauce. Seriously good and I'm not a big cooked fish fan. Fried with flavors of sesame and seaweed. Fresh and tender. I definitely recommend it.

Breakfast at Liliha Bakery the next morning. Large hot cake with Portuguese sausage. Buttery fluffy goodness and savory tender sausage. Tried the butter roll as well. So good but you're essentially eating a stick of butter!

Malasadas - it was ok. Unfortunately I didn't get to try Leonard's malasadas. Liliha's coco puffs are supposed to be the thing to get.

Takoyaki from Shirokiya (Japanese Market) - soft and surprisingly light, not doughy. You can spend an afternoon just eating everything here. Freshly made tempura and fried chicken and many other Japanese goodies.

Six types of ahi poke at the Foodland at the Ala Moana Shopping Center. Good but would be better if it wasn't made out of frozen ahi.

Waikiki beach

Rehearsal Dinner - Paradise Cove Luau. Activities, buffet dinner, and show. I think this is my 3rd time there haha but 2nd time for wedding festivities and 2nd time seeing the show.

Buffet - fish with macadamia nut sauce, fried chicken, lomi lomi, pasta salads. The aroma of fried chicken taunted us for probably a good hour before we got to eat. Unfortunately the chicken was cold by the time we got to it.

Dessert - haupia, banana cake, pineapple. The fruit on the island is so good! I definitely should've had more.

The Chief - double the fire

Okonomiyaki from scratch

I ran out of okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza/pancake) mix a while back and I haven't been able to find one without msg again. My Japanese classmate told me I didn't need it and to just grate some nagaimo (Japanese yam) which you can get at Asian markets.
This is aparently what happens to the nagaimo when you grate it. It is bubbly and gooey all on it's own. Lovely.

I used this recipe for the batter with substitutes. I chose not to make dashi from scratch this time so I used water, soy and mirin instead. Fried up some panko since I didn't have tenkasu (fried bits of dough), and used ginger, rice vinegar, salt in place of beni shouga (red pickled ginger).

Made the okonomiyaki sauce as well with this recipe and topped the okonomiyaki with bonito flakes. The texture of the grated nagaimo scared me but the okonomiyaki actually tasted pretty good. The texture was nice and smooth on the inside with a hint of the ginger and the sweet tang from the sauce.

Next I want to try making a yakisoba sauce since it's one of my favorite noodle dishes but the packages in the store always have msg. My ultimate goal is to learn to make my favorite noodle soup broths. I got udon down (a basic dashi). Now there's pho and ramen, but I know these are way more difficult.

Shanghai flavor

I tried the last of the top Shanghainese restaurants in Chinatown on Sunday. The top, in no particular order, being Joe's Shanghai, Shanghai Kitchen, Shanghai Cafe, and Green Bo. I met up Frank, who I hadn't seen in about five years, and his friends at Shanghai Cafe. This was the last leg of their NY food tour which consisted of a schedule I've only dreamed of, six restaurants a day including two dinners! I've secretly wanted to do something similar but was too embarrassed to see if anyone would be down but now you know. Hit me up if you're ever down! For real, for real.

Now, on to the food. Shanghai Cafe and Joe's Shanghai's xiao long bao (soup dumplings) come to a bit of a tie. I say this because it depends on what you like. Neither of them hit all three criteria, thin "skin" (wrapper), plentiful and flavorful soup, and tender meat. Joe's Shanghai has the thin wrapper and soup down. Shanghai Cafe has plentiful soup and better meat texture, though I may like the flavor of the soup at Joe's better. I'll have to try it again.

As far as the other food goes, I think Shanghai Kitchen has Shanghai Cafe and definitely Joe's Shanghai beat. Joe's Shanghai is extremely greasy. It's been so long since I've been to Green Bo so I can't comment on that. None of them though beat my all time favorite Fountain Court in SF which is unfortunately closed. How I miss that place.

After Shanghai Cafe we went to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for some unique flavors, including durian a.k.a stinky fruit haha. They were out of the egg custard flavor and the mango papaya so I opted for the lychee and others had the black sesame which tasted spot on.

Frank's friend also had Milkis (Korean carbonated milk drink) so we tried it. Not sure about the "Fantiastic Feeling" but if anyone cared for a drink version of Hi-Chews (Japanese fruit gummy), there you have it.

Shake Shackin it

It's been a while since I posted a full food review. I finally tried Shake Shack last night with Michelle who is in town for business, just four hours after our linner at Red Bamboo. Gotta love when my foodie friends are in town. (Sorry, the photos are a bit blurry.)
The tables were mostly filled when we got there and it was just after 9pm! Luckily the line wasn't bad. This shot was taken just before we left.

Impatiently waiting for the buzzer to go off haha.

'Shroom burger - chrisp fried portabello...

... sandwiched around muenster and cheddar cheese which is why the patty was so thick! The egg bun was so soft and chewy, the batter had a nuttiness to it, the portabello wasn't overpowering, the cheese was nice and gooey, all combined with just a bit of sauce... mmm. I still hold a special place for In-and-Out animal style though but this is good too. Yes, In and Out is a chain but it's seriously good. It's a different type of burger though. Michelle says Shake Shack's burger has a home made quality to it. Probably due to the bun. The bun is that good. The staff is refreshingly friendly as well.
Michelle had the Shack Burger and we shared fries and each had a lemonade. The fries were ok. I'm sure the cheese fries would've been better. The lemonade was a bit too tart for me.

Tuesday's frozen custard for September: Red Velvet - the custard was so good. Happy dance worthy. But the red velvet could've been a bit better, more moist but I wonder if that may be due to possibly being in the fridge premixed with the custard. Then again, I have been spoiled with some pretty damn good red velvet cake.

Shake Shack has done some pretty good branding. I really like their website which is simple, clean and to the point but fun! I also like the set of icons developed for the different food items. Especially the squiggly for the lettuce in the burger. It makes the icon.