June 2005 – Page 2

Hogetsu Bakery

June 19, 2005 mmm-yoso Bakery, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers

I’m almost sure that 99.9% of the people in San Diego or Chula Vista have never heard of this place.

Located in another one of those non-descript strip malls strung throughout Chula Vista, Hogetsu Bakery makes excellent Manju and Mochi, and also sells Castella and other Japanese goodies.

A friendly, Family run operation, Hogetsu has been in business since 1983. So I’m still amazed that only 1 person that I’ve spoken to has ever heard of this place! Many people I know still drive to Los Angeles to get their Manju, or just buy them from Nijiya or Mitsuwa.

The prices are reasonable ranging from $.95 and up. And there are many varieties available. I purchased a small box of goodies ($9.00).

It’s amazing when you bite into a “fresh” Habutai; usually somewhat chewy, this one is softer, more delicate. It’s almost strange being used to store bought manju how different this was.

So there’s really no need to drive to Los Angeles for mochi anymore. It’s just down the street in Chula Vista.

Hogetsu Bakery
1210 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Open Tues-Sat 10am-6pm

(619) 422-6677

One quick post-script – For fellow Chowhounds, Hogetsu Bakery is located in the same mall as the infamous Kaga Zushi…..

Kabul Market – Chapli & Kabobs

June 18, 2005 mmm-yoso Afghan, Markets & Grocers

*** Update – Kabul Market has closed.

For dinner last night we dropped by another place on our regular rotation; Kabul Market.

Within the market is the House of Kabob a nice little gem on Convoy St. in the Clairemont Mesa area. Here you’ll find some very tasty and reasonably priced Afghan food. In all honesty, I have no idea what Afghan food is. But I can truly say the food here is tasty. Today we had the Chapli Kabob (below) and the Chicken Kabob plate.

From what I can tell Chapli is basically (local standards) a Afghan Hamburger Steak very liberally flavored with various herbs and spices. It served with a green salad with a very tangy and tasty yogurt (again I’m guessing) dressing, rice pilaf seasoned with Sumac, Afghan Bread (Naan??), and a Chatni. All for $5.99!!!! Now I had no idea what Sumac is but here’s a good description of it, we now have it at home it’s an excellent additions to dressings, but like furikake’ also really good on a nice bowl of rice! (Sorry, but I’m ready to “bust-out” the Chaw-wan at the earliest sign of starch!)

The Chicken Kabob is also really good, and today it was in fine form! Soooo tasty, spicy, a little tangy, a little herbaceous.

Now service may be a little slow, but this is a Mom and Pop operation. So place your order, and shop around the market. All meat are prepared in accordance with The House of Halal, and there are many pastries, herbs, and other provisions available.

Kabul Market
4425 Convoy Street, San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 514-8682

Uh-oh…Food Coma…….

Bronx Pizza

June 17, 2005 mmm-yoso Pizza

Speaking of Pizza…. I had a scheduled lunch "trip" canceled because of illness. Because of all of the discussions about pizza going on elsewhere; OnoKineGrindz to be exact, guess what I wanted??? Pizza, of course.

Now if you live or work anywhere around the Hillcrest area, or San Diego for that matter, the only pizza is "Bronx". Alot has been written about Bronx Pizza, so I won't delve into too much detail. Bronx makes New York style pizza (duh!), that would be thin crust, and uses bottled water, and whole milk mozzarella. The recipe is supposedly 30 years old – all I know is that it's one really good pizza. Delici-yoso!

Bronx can be quite a scene, at lunch time the line can stretch out down the street, and there's almost no parking to be had, except for three metered spaces out front. Park in the next door lot at your own risk.

The best deal is two slices and a soda for $6.00, the slices are almost better than a whole pie. Heated in a brick oven you get a nice crispy, yet slightly chewy crust. The guy up front takes your order "Wadda ya want", you order he slides the slices into the oven, and you go and sit. Now this guy is something else; he knows what everybody orders. He'll be calling out "pepperoni, mushroom and pepperoni" or "whitestone" (BTW, that's ricotta, ask him if it's feta, and see what the reaction will be), try and grab someone else's slices and you'll be in for a fight! The place is decorated in what I call late 20th Century punch-drunk; it's small, dark, with photo's of boxers and boxing posters on the wall. Seems that Matt the owner used to be a boxer.

Today I had slices of Mushroom-pepperoni and Sausage – Meatball – Pepperoni. Both piping hot, with perfect sauce, great cheese. After the bite I did the "New York Fold" taught to me by a guy from Jersey; good to the last bite!

To get a good idea of the great sense of humor the Guys from Bronx have, all you need to do is read the FAQ on the Bronx Pizza Website.

Bronx Pizza
111 Washington St.
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 291-3341
Sun-Thurs 11:00am to 10:00pm
Fri-Sat 11:00am to 12:00am

yoso silly: Now Make Pizza”Like Dad Used to Make”

June 17, 2005 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

I thought this was really funny. A series of comments on Reid’s great blog:Onokinegrindz regarding a long standing pizza place back home in Honolulu (Magoo’s), started taking us on a looooong trip down memory lane. There were discussion about various (now long-gone) pizza joints, an ice cream parlor, eventually leading us to Appian Way pizza. If no remembers the Appian Way Pizza Kit, it was sort of like the Macaroni and Cheese kit for pizza, a package of dough mix and a can of sauce – just add water!!!

Now this is the regular crust kit, but funny thing is I don’t remember any other variation on this.

To make this even funnier, Appian Way Pizza is available through Amazon; Appian Way Pizza Kit. I love the "Features" where it says "Create your own pizzaria style pizza at home"!!!! Now last time I remember pizzaria is spelled pizzeria…. What made me depressed is the "Just like Dad used to make!", I guess that really starts to date us……so if you remember making this….well fill in the blanks. Also, it costs $33, but it seems to be for a case of 12, so if you buy this you can make your authentic pizzeria style pizza in your own home!

BTW, I don’t recall the pizza made with this stuff as being really that bad. But I thought, I’d give everyone a couple of laughs!

Osaka Kitchen – like Night and Day

June 15, 2005 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

*** Osaka Kitchen has closed yet again.

*** Osaka Kitchen has reopened in the same location. A post can be found ~~here.~~

*** Osaka Kitchen has closed and has been replaced by (another) Sushi Deli location……

Ever been to a restaurant who's character is vastly divergent from day (lunch) to night (dinner?). Osaka Kitchen is one of those restaurants. Located in a very nondescript strip mall next to a Mexican Restaurant and around the corner from Denny's on Kearney Villa Rd, all you see is the sign JAPANESE FOOD, with the little yellow sign Osaka Kitchen next to it. Blink and you've driven right past it.

Having heard some nice remarks about the City-Style Japanese Food and Izakaya Type dishes at Osaka Kitchen we decided to give it a try. The first thing you notice about the restaurant is how small the dining area really is. 6 plain tables lined up along the window area and a small eating bar area with 6-7 chairs is all it is; the place looks alot larger from the outside. We arrived at 530pm on the dot and were seated and handed an 8 page menu – one side in Japanese, the other in English. The first two pages listed 51 items from Uni-Pasta(???) to Noodle Soups to Combination Plates ranging from $6.50 – $19.00. On another page is the drink menu with a decent selection of sakes such a Otokoyama and Kikusui, Shochu, Beer, Wine, and soft drinks.

The last page was the most interesting (click to enlarge) this listed the Izakaya type items. We ordered the Japanese Meatloaf with Demiglace ($9.00) and Ten Don ($7.50), both meals came with a salad and miso soup. The salad was just iceberg lettuce with some shredded carrots and cabbage, and worst of all, lying on top of the salad was a dressing that had the distinct taste of the "Miracle Whip" of Japanese food, Kewpie Mayo, not among my favorite things. The miso soup on the other hand was superb and probably among the best I've had served as a "side" with this type of meal. I usually will not consume the miso soup that's served as part of a lunch or dinner, it's usually watered down, or even worse that instant stuff – yuck! In many instances the miso soup will have "stuff" added, most of it to hide the terrible quality. But this miso soup was great, not too thick (believe it or not I once had miso soup so thick it was like a bisque), not watered down, with nice oceany overtones. Very simply served with a few tiny pieces of tofu and kelp, delici-yoso! The Ten-Don arrived first, again, very plain, no garnishes, just 3 pieces of shrimp over rice covered with tempura sauce. The shrimp was totally saturated, but that's the way the Missus likes it! (She even requested extra sauce). Though the batter basically fell of the shrimp, it was perfectly cooked! Soft and tender, not rubbery and overcooked as is often the case. The tempura sauce was too mild and not sweet enough for our tastes.

The "Meatloaf" arrived on a plate along with a bowl of rice, smashed potato salad, and it had garnishes! Two pieces of red & green bell pepper and a piece of steamed broccoli. The salad was flat, lacking any real flavor. The Meatloaf was actually more of a hamburger steak lying in demiglace. The Meatloaf was cooked perfectly and had a nice taste along when mixed with the demi. This was nice and tasty, but not worth $9.00 in my mind. Still, this was interesting and worth another try. The clientele were mostly Japanese speaking and the restaurant was starting to fill up as we left.

Today I went for lunch, and thought I'd entered a different restaurant! First of all the menu was about 1 sheet of paper with 30 or so items, most of them teriyaki chicken, teriyaki beef, and "bowls". The clientele was totally different, most of the customers looked like they worked nearby! Looks like this little restaurant has found it's niche for lunch as well as dinner with quick bowls and teriyaki combination plates for lunch. I ordered the Chicken Katsu Curry ($6.25) and a side order of the miso soup ($.85). The Curry came with the green salad (mayo-time!) which I didn't really touch and a drink, and I chose the really good tea that they make here! The curry was simply (get the common thread) served over Chicken Katsu, with a good amount of rice! At least twice the amount of rice I had with the Meatloaf for dinner, enough to make an Ex-Pat Kama'aina happy! The Katsu was cooked and seasoned perfectly, with a nice texture, the curry was alot darker than I'm used to, even for Japanese Curry, and a little too sweet for my tastes, though I liked the "heat", there were only a few pieces of meat in the curry and nothing else – again simplicity! Happily the miso soup was every bit as good as the one I had for dinner!

I'll probably be back again, especially if I find someone brave enough to try Miso Tongue with me! Osaka Kitchen serves well prepared and cooked food, served without embellishment. Though the portions (for dinner at least) are rather small for the prices charged, and some of the flavors were not to my taste, I think this place is worth a try.

Osaka Kitchen
5447 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 467-0722

yoso-greedy: Camerons Stovetop Smoker

June 14, 2005 mmm-yoso Cooking, Stuff

I had a parcel meeting me at the door this evening, turned out to be a delivery from Amazon; my Camerons Stovetop Smoker that I ordered 2 weeks ago:

This is the handy dandy kitchen gadget that is often seen on Emeril and other shows – it was on sale for $34.99 at Amazon, with free shipping I thought why not. Not much in the box, just the smoker, a drip tray, and a wire rack, oh wait; it’s the New and Improved Non-stick wire rack!…..got to make sure I got this right! Also, included were four little containers labeled, Alder, Cherry, Mesquite, etc…. So I open the Alder, and there lay a little pile of sawdust, smelled like sawdust, felt like sawdust, I didn’t taste it, but I’m sure it was going to taste like sawdust. Where was the magic? This is going to give us the "succulent flavors of wood smoking"? There’s no way that this is going to work! By this time my OCD kicked in and I just HAD to make something, anything. So we jumped in the car and sped off to Costco to buy some salmon (no sense in using anything too expensive).

Back home, salmon in hand, I trimmed off both end cuts and seasoned the middle piece with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I placed a little pile of "Alder" (at least that’s what the container said) sawdust in the middle of the smoker base (sort of like I was going to try and start a fire with two sticks – my confidence was waning). Covered the drip pan with aluminum foil and placed that over the "wood chips" (in the most loose definition of the word chips!), and set the wire rack on top of the drip pan, covered and was ready to roll! I turned on the burner, set the smoker on top, than opened up the instruction book! Hey, I’m a guy, what can I say…… I noticed a bit of smoke leaking out so wrapped some foil around it, and caught a whiff, and damn if it didn’t smell like real "smoking smoke"! Well now that I had the little "Cooking Guide" opened, I realized my first mistake; I should have left the cover of the smoker two-thirds of the way open until wisps of smoke appear, than cover the smoker. Uh-oh, I missed the "wisps" step, would this ruin the salmon?….No Salmon Salad! No Salmon Gravy!, Salmon Hash! No Salmon Ala King! Ooops sorry too much Christmas Story….

After about 25 minutes later I checked on the salmon, and it looked a sort of "gloppy", so I replaced the cover and left for about 7 minutes more. At this point the salmon was starting to flake(sort of like me…..how appropriate), so I decided this was enough and removed it from the heat. At this point the salmon still had sort of a poached look:

So I tasted a piece, damn if it didn’t taste pretty darn good! So it’s smoked salmon and bagels tomorrow! Visions of smoked corn, smoked clams, smoked duck, and smoked tri-tip danced in my head!

So I guess this piece of equipment is pretty "idiot proof", it seems that if you (unlike me, but it still turned out) follow instructions this is pretty fool proof. Easy and fast. The only things that I need to do next time is to season a little more generously and follow the instructions for starting the cooking process.

So what did I do with the rest of the salmon? I just did a "quick and dirty" togarashi rub and seared and fried under high heat:

A-Chau Vietnamese

June 13, 2005 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

A-Chau a little Vietnamese “deli” located on the corner of El Cajon Blvd and Menlo Ave, has a very unique distinction.

A-Chau sells the only Banh Mi that can fill me up! And even though I know this I keep on buying spring rolls, egg rolls, or something else to complete the meal.

I guess I’m unable to deal with the reality that an “oinker” like me can fill up with a sandwich that costs $2.50! I’ve had many a Banh Mi in my time, but this unassuming sandwich can, for some reason make me feel stuffed. Trying to deal with emasculation via a char-broiled pork sandwich is not an easy thing. I usually end up giving the spring rolls or egg rolls away….to this day I haven’t tasted the spring rolls. I’ve tried to understand how this happens. What I have noticed is that the bread that A-Chau uses is not as crusty as the usual roll, being a bit softer and doughy, so those who believe that it’s the baguette that makes the Banh Mi may not enjoy this sandwich. In addition the pork is a bit richer than in most Banh Mi’s I’ve had, so I definitely couldn’t eat this every day. There is a very liberal amount of hot green chili’s in these sandwiches, those who are sensitive to this should probably ask to not have them. As far as the Banh Mi is concerned it’s pretty good, not the best I’ve had, mainly because the veggies are a bit tasteless and the bread somewhat doughy, but the pork makes up for that.

There are quite a few dishes available, hot table and vermicelli dishes, as well as pre-packaged snacks. 3-4 tables adorn the interior of the restaurant, though it’s very apparent that most of the business is a very brisk take-out. The parking lot can be an adventure due to the fact that there are just a few spaces that two restaurants and a Vietnamese Market share. The clientele is varied and the menu English friendly, and the service is efficient and fast. Most sandwiches range from $2.25 – $2.75. As for me I still haven’t made it past the Char-Broiled Pork sandwich (Thit Nuong) , though I’ll keep trying!

A-Chau
4644 El Cajon Blvd Ste 111
San Diego, CA 92115

Five Favorite Cookbooks Meme

June 12, 2005 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking

Tag I’m it! Reid from Ono Kine Grindz has "tagged" me for this meme, he originally got tagged by Stephanie fromda*xiang and so on….. Being really new at this I must say I’m truly humbled…..

So here goes:

1. Total number of (cook) books I’ve owned:

At last count +/- 50 or so.

2. Last cookbook(s) I bought:

I’m waiting for my latest Amazon delivery, so those don’t count. So it’s Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop. A really super book.

3. Last food book(s) I read:

Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop, I’ve really developed an appreciation for Sichuan food, and this book is really a treasure trove of information.

Chinese Food Finder by Carl Chu, not just a listing of restaurants, but Carl also gives a listing of dishes representative of the specific type of cuisine.

4. Five (plus 2) cookbooks that mean a lot to me:

This is really tough, so I decided to list my favorite cookbooks that I use on a regular basis.

Chinese Cook Book Volume I by Fu Pei Mei. Known as the Julia Child of Chinese Cooking, Fu Pei Mei was a respected and almost deified Taiwanese cooking instructor who had her own cooking show in Taiwan. Her Chinese Cook Book Vol I is probably the most accessible. Fu Pei Mei passed away from cancer on Sept 16th, 2004, and had a great long career for someone who only learned to cook after she got married. Easy basic Chinese recipes!

50th Anniversary Best of our favorite Recipes 1946 – 1996 by The Maui Association for Family and Community Education. OK, no laughs, but since I can’t up and call Mom when I have a question, I just reference this. This is a compilation from various community cookbooks over a 50 year period. I’ve never, ever been able to copy a recipe "ver batim" and have it come out right – probably explains why I can’t bake! So I look for references and guidance in my cookbooks.

The Legacy of the Japanese in Hawaii: Cuisine by The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. Good source for "local style" Japanese recipes. For example, if you want to make Nishime, or other Japanese – Hawaiian type dishes it’s really hard to find a good recipe source.

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. Alright, time to come clean, I don’t actually own this cookbook, but have borrowed it from the local Public Library at least 8 times (not including renewals). Great comprehensive source of basic recipes, and now my guilt has resulted in my purchasing this from Amazon, so will actually have my own copy in a week or so.

The Way to Cook by Julia Child. I’ve been without my Joy of Cooking for over a decade so this fills the spot – my "Bible" of cooking.

Plus 2:

The Choy of Cooking by Sam Choy. Very easy down to Earth Pacific Rim. Made me understand what a great place Hawaii is with regards to food.

The Food of Paradise by Rachel Lauden. More of a well researched study in Food Anthropology than cookbook. Well researched and very informative, if you wonder why we eat what we eat in Hawaii, this really explains alot.

5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?

I’m really too new at this for me to fill this out, but I’ll try to give you a few:

Sarah at The Delicious Life

Jo (yes, Jo) at Truly Thankful

Elmo at Monster Munching

Pat at Eating LA

Whew, this has been more work than I thought it would be. But finally, my really most important "cookbook" is one where I’ve never tried any recipes:

After my Mom passed on in 1996 I found this "cookbook" with hand written recipes. There were many loose sheets, some of which were recipes written before I was born. Some were full of info from my Mother’s life before "me", we never talked much about these "things" in our household, but I found this so interesting:

Mom worked as a Housekeeper on Kauai and had written and collected some of the families favorite recipes. Who knows, the meatloaf looks really good I might try that soon!

Hillcrest Farmer’s Market

June 12, 2005 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Sandwiches

Well the June gloom is in bloom – very pun-ny! But I was up early this Sunday morning so I thought I’d head up to the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market. I got there right at nine and got a primo parking spot, close to the sign:

Most of the food booths were still setting up so I wandered around. And checked out the crafts and other booths. Talked to the guy in the Baba’s Hummus factory booth, I’d noticed that they’ve closed their store on Convoy, but he assured me that business is fine and they’ve decided to close the restaurant side of the business, but the Hummus factory is still going strong. Also sampled some salsa and other items.

I had my marching orders, so I made sure to get a half dozen Noah Bedoah cookies from CJ’s. I’m assuming that they must really be good, I really don’t get a chance to eat them – they are off-limits in our household. We once had to hunt down CJ’s shop in Point Loma during the middle of a Noah Bedoah attack. According to the gang at CJ’s the name of the cookie comes from a recipe in an old cookbook.

Seems like Rainier Cherries are the hot item today, people are buying them by the bagful. Alot of people also lining up at the crepe stand. At the Wright’s Poultry stand there’s a sign saying Copper River Salmon $17/lb hmmmmm…sounds kinda scarey to me. I usually try to get most of my chicken from Wright’s – free range and hormone free.

Around that time I got the scent of grilling meat, and I knew that the Kabob Guy was ready and in action:

The Kabob stand has got to be the best smelling in the whole Farmer’s Market! So I ordered and paid for my Beef Kabob sandwich ($5.00), walked on over to my car, sat on the bumper and carefully maneuvered my way through the sandwich – ground beef with a nice touch of herbs and spices, some hot sauce and Tzatziki, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pepperocini on a grilled pita, no need for lunch after eating this. It doesn’t get much better than this! The only problem is that you need about 10 napkins!

Seems like the weather was keeping alot of people away. This made for a relaxing morning at the Farmer’s Market. Though fairly small compared to say, my favorite, the Torrance Farmer’s Market, there’s a good variety of produce, flowers, food, and other goods. Also a very good place for people watching.

San Diego Hillcrest CFM
In the DMV Parking Lot at Lincoln and Normal
Most Sundays, 9A-1P Rain or Shine

Time for a nap!

St. Spyridon’s Greek Festival

June 11, 2005 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events, Greek Food

*** Posts on the 2006 festival can be found here, 2007 here.

This Festival is on our "must do" list every year. Though we missed last year, we’d gone to the previous three and always enjoyed the pastries, the food, the pastries, the friendly people, the pastries, and most of all, the pastries!

This year there was a bit of "June Gloom", but that didn’t hinder us at all. This festival has got to be one of the most organized! Everything from parking to traffic control, to adequate eating space is accounted for. This year there’s even an informational pamphlet listing the different foods and program schedule. Admission is just $2 – though we had a flyer for a dollar off admission, but decided not to use it! We think that this festival is worth every penny we spend here!

As you enter the front of the Church, the pastries immediately draw you in:

That’s Thiples staring at you – it’s just the beginning of this wonderful gauntlet. The tempting looking Kataifi at the right is a must buy. We ended up getting 3 Baklava, 2 Kataifi, 2 Saragli, 1 Kourambiethes, and 2 Galaktoboureko, and still got out spending less than twenty bucks(actually $16.50)! All pastries are priced from $1.50 to $2.50. The Saragli, which is like a rolled Baklava is the unanimous favorite.

There’s a large dining room serving items ala carte, such as Grilled Lamb Chops, Moussaka, Manestra, and Pastitsio, among others. But our favorite are the outdoor booths, for this reason:

It’s fun, the sun, the smells, the leg of lamb!!!! You can watch these guys working hard to keep up, as well as check out the leg of lamb roasting.

The booth next to the grill is selling Spanakopita, Tyropita, Dolmathes, but most importantly the leg of lamb plate:

The lamb was very well seasoned and very tender, and went well with the bread, feta cheese and Kalamata olives. Basically you break off a bit of bread spread some feta on it, place the olive (pit it first) and a slice of lamb on it – Delici-yoso! Repeat as necessary, until unable to move. The Leg of Lamb plate goes for $6.00. What would a Greek festival be with out Gyros? The Gyros booth sells a Gyros sandwich served on warm pita with Tzatziki, onions, and tomatoes:

Though the Gyros was pretty good, it really could not stand up to the leg of lamb. Too little Gyro meat really held this back. Directly across from the Gyros booth is the Saganaki booth. The Saganaki is a Greek Cheese that is served on pita bread – in this case during the cooking process some liquor is added and lit!

The Saganaki had a great "gooey" texture and was fun to eat. Though a bit on the salty side, this was really tasty ($5.00). After checking out the deli and other booths we decided to go home and hibernate.

But not before getting the leg of lamb plate to go along with some Dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves).

This is St. Spyridon’s 36th annual Greek Festival and it seems to get better every year.