May 2006 – mmm-yoso

Royal Spices Thai Cuisine

May 31, 2006 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

**** This location of Royal Spices has closed

A few weeks ago Howie from A Foodies Eye View sent me an email, telling me about a new Thai Restaurant that opened up on Sports Arena Boulevard, right next to the L & L Drive In. So a few weeks back, the Missus and I decided to drop in for lunch. In retrospect, this might have been a bad idea, since we had just returned from a nice meal at Yai Restaurant in Thai Town.

Though the exterior is rather plain, and the dining furniture pedestrian, much care has been taken with the restaurant decor.

We were seated, and a thought entered my head. I inquired if this restaurant was in any way affiliated with the other 3 "Spices Thai" restaurants in the San Diego area. I think this was a bad move; I got an immediate "No, we are not" response, along with a rather displeased frown. We did find out that the Royal Spices had only been opened for 2 weeks at the time of this visit.

We looked over the sizable menu, and quickly noticed that along with the run-of-the-mill, you pick the meat, you pick the sauce/preparation type dishes, there a few interesting items.

We placed our order and some soup arrived:

A thin broth with the faint flavors of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, and a few other items. No big deal really.

The Missus went with the "lunch special" of Red Curry with Battered Fish Fillet($9.95):

I did enjoy the 5 "mini-scoops" of rice, quite and interesting presentation. I won't go into the mediocre green salad, vegetable egg roll, or curry wonton. I'll just say, "why bother?" Now to the main course, there were two "half fillets" of battered white fish. Unfortunately, the fish had not been fried properly, it was dry, and the batter flaked off.

Having returned from Yai, where the medium heat was in your face, and pretty hot, we ordered the curry medium. It was probably the mildest medium heat I've ever tasted. The curry was disappointing, watery and runny, with an overly sweet taste. The julienned vegetables were cooked perfectly, though I wish that more then two little Thai Basil leaves were used for flavoring.

I ordered a dish from the "Chef's Special" portion of the menu; the Spices Thai Jerky(Beef – $12.95):

The presentation was again very "pretty". This dish came with slices of beef that had been lightly marinated, and though on the tough side, was fairly decent. It was nothing like previous versions of Thai Jerky that I've had; instead of the rich and pungent "jerky", this seemed almost like a "tweener", between Thai Jerky, and the Beef in Yum Nua. The beef could probably have used more assertive seasoning, and maybe a good amount of toasted rice powder to keep it interesting. The sauce provided, something called "Royal Sauce" was pretty good; a tart, tangy, and mildly sweet, chutney like preparation, it was the best item on the plate, and brought the beef up a level. The sticky rice was too moist. The dish also came with a Papaya Salad:

Though prepared well; the salad was in dire need of a "pungent" component. It was very, very mild, and too sweet and dry. More fish sauce, shredded dry shrimp, or some other fishy pungent flavor along with more "heat" would probably have made this a decent papaya salad.

The service on this visit, though a bit on the fawning side, was very friendly(after the initial Spices Thai faux pa). And I thought that perhaps the restaurant was still trying to find itself, and a few items had potential. So I recently dropped by for another lunch. And was seated immediately. Different crew this time, though still very nice. I decided to avoid any of the lunch specials and was in the mood for some noodles, so I decided on the Pad Woon Sen(glass noodles) with Roasted Duck($11.95). Ordering my Pad Woon Sen was quite interesting. I asked for the "Pad Woon Sen with Roasted Duck", now in the menu it's called "Jelly Noodles". So the Gal goes, "okay, jelly noodles with roasted duck". So I nod in agreement and go, "yes, the Pad Woon Sen, with roasted duck." So she responds with, "Got it, jelly noodles with roasted duck." I guess I'm not allowed to call it Pad Woon Sen……..

The ~~Pad Woon~~, ummm, Jelly Noodles arrived in a few minutes, piping hot. One the positive side, there was a pretty large amount of duck, probably the most I've had in a noodle dish, very tender and without bones. On the negative side, the duck was very mildly flavored. The dish was also on the oily side. Now I'm used to dishes where oil is used in generous amounts, but in most cases that dish doesn't taste oily; this did. I don't know if it was the large amount of duck, but there was alot of oil in the bottom of the plate.

The dish also featured a generous amount of vegetables, egg, and straw mushrooms. I wish this dish, along with the others eaten were more aggressively flavored. I was told that garlic was used in this dish, but couldn't taste it, nor much of any other "seasoning", including soy/fish sauce, or black pepper which is sometimes used to flavor this dish. But then again, that could be the difference between Pad Woon Sen and Jelly Noodles?

On this visit, service was again very nice, except I wasn't allowed to order Pad Woon Sen. Royal Spices Thai shows some promise, but I think they need to live up to the "spices" portion of their name. There are some interesting dishes on the menu like Royal Andaman Salad (Yum seafood). Prices range from $7.95 – $11.95 for lunch "specials", and from $8.95 to $14.95 for dinner entrees.

Royal Spices Thai Cuisine
3145 Sports Arena Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92110

Hours:
Sunday – Thursday 11am-10pm
Friday – Saturday 11am-11pm

5 Days of Feasting Day 3 – Road Trip, Sushi Komasa (LA)

May 30, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sushi and Sashimi

**** Sushi Komasa has closed

After two pretty good meals at China Max and Izakaya Sakura, the Missus decided that she still wanted some sushi from Her favorite little restaurant in Little Tokyo, Sushi Komasa. My original post on Sushi Komasa was done way back on May 27th of last year. As a matter of fact, it was my second post. Since much is still the same, I'll try to spare you most of the details.

One of the really good things about Sushi Komasa is the late closing time of 11pm. A word of caution though, we've found that an 11pm closing time means an 11pm closing time. On many occasions the last seating will take place at about 1020pm or so, after which the closed sign will be posted, and "Komasa" will be "turned off".

We usually get the same ol', same ol' thing at Komasa, and are absolutely content. The Missus loves the Albacore, and usually gets the Albacore Sashimi($12):

Tonight the Albacore was among the best I've had here. So very moist, and meaty. Most delici-yoso!!! The Missus kept looking at the slices of Albacore going, "look at how juicy it is, look at how moist it is". Geeez, sometimes I just can't take Her anywhere!

Komasa also dishes up consistently good Ankimo, though not on the menu, it is usually available.

Tonight's version was oh so very rich and creamy, and the ponzu and cucumbers helped to cut the richness.

Of course we get a variety of Nigiri sushi(most priced around $3.80). Let's see, on this evening we had 4 orders Albacore(for who else???), 2 order Hamachi(yellowtail), 2 orders Maguro(tuna), 2 orders Hirame(flounder), and 1 order Tai(snapper). As we hand over our sushi order, we usually get, the "I think this is too much", comment. To which our response is, "don't worry, we're hungry"………. And we've never failed to finish everything, except the oshibori(the hot towel), of course.

The Hamachi at Komasa is usually very good, and tonight was no exception. The Tai was also very good. I'd say the Maguro was decent to good, though a little lower in grade then usual. The Hirame was a bit on the dry side. I usually enjoy my nigiri sushi with just the barest touch of soy sauce, so I can truly appreciate(or not) the texture and flavors. According to the Missus, the Albacore nigiri was every bit as good as the Sashimi. Why order more Albacore you may ask? The Missus enjoys the rice, grated ginger, and green onions on the nigiri, and heck it's (one of) Her night(s).

I'm not much of a "roll" person, but the Missus enjoys the Soft-Shell Crab roll at Komasa($8):

Quite filling and rich, and full of contrasting textures. I ate one piece and was stuffed.

We left Komasa satisfied, until our next visit, which will probably be quite soon. Komasa serves up good sushi at decent prices, we demolished everything, and our bill came out to about $70. Though I really love the Sashimi at Sushi Gen, I prefer the Nigiri Sushi at Komasa. Sushi Komasa also seems to be getting much more popular with Los Angeles Food Bloggers, recently Pam from Daily Gluttony also visited Sushi Komasa, as did Jeni from Oishii Eats, please check out their posts.

Sushi Komasa
352 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA
213-680-1792

Open Tuesday-Sunday 530pm – 11pm

Tomorrow it's back to San Diego!!

Mandarin Garden

May 29, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Xiao Long Bao

**** Mandarin Garden has closed

Right off of Mira Mesa Boulevard, and hidden away in a strip mall, is Mandarin Garden. Located in the interior of the mall, you'll never find it unless you're looking for it, or stumble across it while eating at maybe L&L Drive In.

In this location, and if doing a very cursory review of the menu, you'd think that Mandarin Garden is just a run-of-the-mill American-Chinese restaurant, with items like Egg Foo Young, Beef and Broccoli, and Chicken Chop Suey on the extensive 200+ item menu. The beyond the red doors lies a few surprises. Mandarin Garden has more then a few special Shanghainese specialties, and also features a special Saturday and Sunday lunch menu. So after putting our frozen Xiao Long Bao from SDCCI on ice, we decided to drop in on Mandarin Garden for "brunch", from 1130am to 230pm.

Now I understand Mandarin Garden has only been in this location for three years; but the decor screams 70's Chinese, so I'm thinking this must've been another Chinese restaurant before then, right? The lighting in Mandarin Garden is pretty dim, so please excuse the PWTSDS(Posts Where The Sun Don't Shine) quality photos.

We started off with a classic Shanghainese appetizer off the regular menu; Smoked Fish($6.95):

For those who've never had this; the fish isn't really smoked; it's first marinated, then deep fried, then marinated again, for a smokey color. The seasonings also give the fish a slightly smokey flavor. This example was fine, perhaps a bit heavy on the sugar and five spice which over-powered any soy or ginger flavor. The Missus also thought that the type of fish chosen was too "boney"; which left you so busy picking bones out, that distracted you from the flavor of the fish. Still at most Shanghainese restaurants it's either Smoked Fish or Wine Chicken to start.

Off of the weekend menu we chose Boiled Wonton in Hot Sauce($4.95):

Well what to say……The Wontons were fine, except the skin were on the "gummy" side. The sauce was really sad, too sweet, and not spicy in the least.

We also ordered the Niu Rou(stewed beef) Shao-Bing, one of the items written in Chinese(eighth item written only in Chinese – $4.95), I apologize for the photos, I just couldn't get it right:

There was nothing wrong with the taste of the Shao Bing(a toasted layered bread), it was crisp, and had a nice flavor; nor the marinated and shredded beef, which had a sweet, soy and five spice flavor. The only problem was with proportion; too much bread for too little meat. The bread overshadowed the meat filling.

Of course what would a visit be without Xiao Long Bao($5.45):

As the ginger-black vinegar sauce was placed at the table, I could hardly contain myself. But I must say, I was very disappointed. If you look at the photo above you'll notice, all the soup had leaked out of the "soup" dumplings during cooking, leaving just the meatball behind. So I had soupless, soup dumplings. This says that our dumplings were done very haphazardly, and with very little concern for us, the customer! I mean, I made my frozen Xiao Long Bao, and none of them burst……….

The last item we got was the Flakey Turnip Strip "Cake"($2.95), off of the Chinese only menu (fifth item down):

After the massacred Xiao Long Bao, I really was ready for a major let-down. But these little pastries made the visit worthwhile. Crisp and flaky pastry, crunchy strips of turnip, with strips of onion-ny, sweet-bitter-salty filling, made these most delici-yoso!

To think, the cheapest item we ordered was the best!

Even though our meal was a "mixed-bag", I wouldn't give up on Mandarin Garden. Among the Kung Pao Chicken, and Beef Chop Suey, are items like Lion's Head, and according to Candice Woo, the Smoked Duck is divine. Stephanie, who recommended the frozen Xiao Long Bao from SDCCI, also enjoys Mandarin Garden. I don't think we'll make a special trip to Mira Mesa, since we have Shanghai City, but I wouldn't discount Mandarin Garden.

Mandarin Garden
8242 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
858-566-4720

mmm-yoso!!! Is a Year Old!

May 27, 2006 mmm-yoso Blog

Well, I’m actually a day late…..still operating on "Hawaiian Time", I guess. So what to do to celebrate? I don’t really have a sweet tooth, so no slice of cake with a candle for me…….but I did find a substitute:

I hope that I’ll be able to remove the melted candle wax from the Nori, as I do plan to eat this.

Seriously, 175 different restaurants, 30 or so Markets and Bakeries, 295 posts, and 4900 or so comments later, and all I can say is wow….. I honestly never thought anyone would actually read this stuff. When we started, the Missus and I thought that doing a food blog would be a good way of recording where we ate, what we ate, and information on various restaurants, mainly for our own use. Over time mmm-yoso!!! has sort of developed a life of it’s own; and I don’t quite know how to explain it. So rather than attempt to explain it, all I’d like to say is:

Thanks to all of you for visiting and commenting, for all the kind Emails and recommendations, for always bringing a smile to my face, and most importantly, sharing that most precious of all resources with me, your time!

We send all of you our most delici-yoso regards! And thanks for visiting!

It’s Fry-day – Japanese Style Stuffed Lotus Root & Spicy Garlic Chicken

May 26, 2006 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Well TGIF – Thank God it’s Fry-day, literally. The Missus was craving some fried food, and decided on a Japanese style stuffed lotus root dish. Not wanting to waste a rare fried food opportunity, and any oil, I decided to make some Spicy Garlic Chicken, which I haven’t made in over a decade.

Sometimes 4 cups of rice ain’t enough for me!

Japanese Style Stuffed Lotus Root

This recipe is based on the one from a book called Recipes of Japanese Cooking, and just recently translated into English. You may be able to find it in various Japanese Bookstores.

1-1 1/2 Lb Lotus Root
1/2 Lb Shrimp, cleaned,peeled, and deveined.
1-2 Stalks Green Onion Green Parts only sliced thin
2" Piece of Ginger Grated
1 Tsp Sake
1 Tb Katakuriko (Japanese Potato Starch)
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sake
10-12 Shiso Leaves(also known as Perilla, or Beefsteak plant leaves), rinsed clean.
1 Sheet Nori cut into 1/3" strips
1/2 Cup Flour
Salt
Oil for Deep Frying
2-3 Tb White Vinegar in 4 Cups water
Lemon

1 – Peel the lotus root and slice into 1/8" pieces, then slice pieces into "half-moons". Soak Lotus Root in vinegar-water for 5 minutes. This will remove any bitterness from the lotus root.Remove from water, drain, and dry.

2 – Place shrimp, green onion, ginger, sake, katakuriko, and 1/2 tsp salt into the bowl of a food processor and grind until a ball of "paste" is formed.

3 – Slice shiso leaves in half.

4 – Pair the lotus root slices. Place a shiso leaf on on half of the sliced lotus root, add shrimp paste, and place other half of the lotus root on top, creating a "sandwich". Wrap the sandwich with the strip of nori.

5 – Dust the lotus root with Flour, and deep fry in 350 degree oil. When the sandwich floats, and the bubbling lessens, remove from oil and drain.

6 – Slice lemon into wedges and serve with Stuffed Lotus Root.

Spicy Garlic Chicken

I don’t remember when or where I got the original recipe. I’ve made several changes to it over the years.

3-4 Lbs Boneless Chicken Thighs, cut into cubes, wedges, strips, or whatever shape you desire.
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
Black Pepper
2 Tb Granulated Garlic
1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Cornstarch
1 Tsp Baking Powder

Sauce:
1/2 Cup Soy sauce
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Mirin
1 Tb Red Pepper Flakes
2 Whole Heads of Garlic Minced
1 Tsp Black Pepper
2 Stalks Green Onion Minced
2 Tb Cilantro Minced

1 – Coat chicken with soy sauce and season with pepper and granulated garlic.

2 – Mix together flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Add chicken, mix well, and refrigerate overnight.

3 – Combine together first six sauce ingredients in a small pot, over medium heat. Stir together until the sugar is dissolved, and alcohol from mirin is burned off. Remove from heat and add green onion and cilantro. Set aside to cool.

4 – Heat oil to 350 degrees and fry chicken pieces. When the chicken is done, drain quickly, and dip/dredge chicken in the sauce, and remove.

5 – Eat with plenty of rice!

Just another thing to love about ~~Fry~~, ummm Fridays! Have a great weekend!

5 Days of Feasting, Day 2 – China Max

May 25, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

After a satisfying visit to Izakaya Sakura, the Missus decided on China Max for Her second day of feasting. And a China Max post is somewhat appropriate, since my very first post on May 26th of last year was on a visit to China Max with Ed from Yuma.

We arrived at China Max at about 530 pm, and the restaurant was fairly empty. Funny thing, I don’t know if anyone else who has visited China Max has noticed this, but we’ve noticed on several visits that Asians are seated on the North side of the restaurant. Non-Asians are seated on the South side, and if your party has children in them, they will seat you in the back corner.

Could just be me, but we’ve noticed this seating "pattern" a few times, and always get a chuckle out of it.

The main reason we came to China Max was to order the Peking Duck (2 courses $32). The duck is served "cart style". So Mr Duck is wheeled out on a cart, by two servers.

One of the Servers gets busy carving the duck.

Making sure to slice off some of the crisp, rich skin, along with just a touch of meat.

The other server is charged with placing a dab of Hoisin Sauce, a slice of cucumber, and two slices of skin between two "buns".

There are a total of eight of these wonderful little "sandwiches" all told.

The duck skin were crisp and rich, the hoisin added sweetness, and the cucumber slice helped cleanse the palate. Not the best Peking Duck I’ve ever had, but good by San Diego standards. Also, the Missus had an interesting moment with one of the Servers, which I’ll go into later.

We also ordered the Pan Fried Noodle with Assorted Seafood($14.95):

As with any type of mildly flavored Guangdong/Hong Kong Seafood style dish, the key is the quality and freshness of the ingredients, combined with cooking technique. So how did this fare? Well the noodles were perfectly crisp, not oily, and the texture changed with every bite. The scallops and shrimp were cooked to tender sweet perfection. The calamari was on the tough side, and the fish tasted too "muddy". I did manage to finish all of the noodles if that means anything!

The Missus ordered one Her favorites Stewed Lamb with Dry Bean Curd Stick($15):

There was quite a bit more lamb then I’m used to seeing in similar dishes. The flavoring was much to heavy-handed for me, and on the "medicinal" side. However, the Missus thought this clay-pot dish was very good, and loved it, even though the "Yang" food kept Her up and hyper all night.

Here’s part 2 of the duck, minced duck in lettuce cups:

Minced duck is stir fried and placed in lettuce cups, with a bit of Hoisin sauce. We noticed that the usual water chestnut, seemed to be replaced with sweeter Jicama. The Missus usually enjoys the lettuce cups more then the buns and this was no exception.

I know I’ve done too many posts on China Max, with everything from the late night menu to the Dim Sum. This one will be the last for a while, but I thought it’ll be nice to do a "one year after" post.

China Max
4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

I mentioned an "interesting moment" a bit earlier, so let me expand. As the Server was carving our duck, the Missus whispered to me, "Ask Her for the duck bone". My response, straight from the "conservative Asian Guy manual" was, "What, no way, that sounds cheap and embarrassing!" So the Missus requested the bone Herself. At which point the demeanor of our previously serious and stoic Server brightened. Her response? "Oooh, you know the best part, huh?" And suddenly there was a moment of bonding….exchanging of recipes and such. And before we left, Mr Duck, or what was left of him as brought to our table, in a plastic bag, placed in a plain paper bag. After all, we wouldn’t want to share the duck bone secrets of the "Chinese Sisterhood", right?

So Mr. Duck was placed in a pot, covered by water, seasoned with star anise, ginger, the white portions of green onions, white pepper, and soy sauce. We simmered for about 2 hours, added tofu and bean thread…and this is what we got.

So easy, it’s "duck soup", right?

Chef Tony

May 24, 2006 mmm-yoso Greek Food, Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

*** Update – thanks to StR, who commented below, Chef Tony is currently closed, and will reopen in a months in a different location. A brief update can be found here, at the bottom of the post.

Way back in August of last year I received an email from Christina recommending Chef Tony Mediterranean and Lebanese Cuisine, so I added Chef Tony to my "list". But for one reason or another we just never quite made it to Chef Tony. Then last week "Keith" left a comment also recommending Chef Tony, so this time I really had to make sure to pay the restaurant a visit. An opportunity arose this past Tuesday. We were headed out to Viejas for a concert, and thought a nice detour to the College area, and a visit to Chef Tony was in order.

Chef Tony is located next to an AM/PM, and fronting a mostly unoccupied strip mall on El Cajon Boulevard. It seems that Chef Tony had been perhaps a pizza joint in a previous life. We were greeted by the dignified, though perhaps vertically challenged fellow at the door. Chef Tony, perhaps?

We arrived at about 530pm, and the restaurant was empty except for a family finishing up dinner.

After a brief wait we placed our order.

The Missus ordered the Lamb Kabob Plate($10.95):

Two skewers of Lamb,on a bed of nondescript rice, some nicely flavored hummus, and a fresh Greek salad with the typical vinaigrette dressing. Nothing really outstanding, except the lamb. The lamb was not just fork tender, but "plastic fork" tender:

And though the lamb was just mildly marinated and seasoned, it was grilled to perfection, with just the right amount of charring. We could have done with a bit more "muttony" flavor, but still, the texture and tenderness was right on.

I opted for the Shawarma Combo Plate($9.95):

Strips of marinated and nicely charbroiled beef and chicken, we both thought the beef had more flavor then the chicken. Though I enjoyed the hummus, and everything else that came with the plate, it’s the "white stuff" that made the dish. That "white stuff" is delici-yoso garlic paste, very garlicky, and yet without the bitter bite of garlic. It’s as if the "soul" of garlic had been captured. You do understand that I love garlic, right?

Two large warm pitas were also provided for sandwiching our meats and slathering with garlic paste.

We also ordered a half dozen Falafel($3.75):

These were only garbanzo bean falafel, with no fava beans. You can tell by the color, and flavor. Made fresh and brought sizzling to the table. I thought these falafel were fair, since they were small in size, I thought there was too much "crust", and the interior wasn’t quite as smooth as I enjoy. The falafel were also a bit on the oily side, and when we finished there was a small pool of oil at the bottom of the bowl.

In a nutshell, if you enjoy the gritty crust of the falafel, you’ll enjoy these. Personally, I enjoy the balance the crunchy exterior, along with sufficient amount of slightly creamy "filling". Still not bad for the price, and you know these haven’t been lying around or put into some drawer stored for later.

We enjoyed Chef Tony, and I think we’ll be in whenever we’re in the neighborhood. As we were leaving, the place started to fill up, and the smell of Shawarma(and garlic) filled the air.

Notes on Chef Tony: This is a small Family operation, so one thing it’s not, is "fast food". Think of it as very casual, leisurely dining if you eat in. The menu consists of a good variety from appetizers like Dolma($3.95) and Falafel (1/2 dozen $3.75-1 dozen $6.75), to salads (small greek salad $2.95-large$4.95), reasonable priced sandwiches from $3.75(Lebni) to $4.95 (Beef Shawarma), to various entrees ($6.50 – $10.95). Oh, and you can buy a "large" order of Garlic Paste(Toum) for $3.50.

Thanks for the recommendation Christina and Keith!

Chef Tony
6311 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Here’s where I show my "age". Guess what concert we went to? I’m allowed one "old-fogey" concert a year and this year it was Blondie(good – Debra Harry’s voice sounded really good), and The "New" Cars(bleh, except for Elliot Easton). As great a musician and songwriter Todd Rundgren is, he’s no replacement for Ric Ocasek. And though Kasim Sultan and Prairie Prince sound like a great rhythm section, they sounded a bit out of synch…..I kept waiting for a "train wreck" especially on Shake It Up, where the tempo would constantly speed up, and Elliot Easton would have to "reign it in".

Of course we kept singing "One way, or another, I’m going to get you, I’m going to get you, get you, get you…." All the way home.

Tan Ky Mi Gia – Mira Mesa

May 22, 2006 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Tan Ky Mi Gia has closed

While on a recent shopping excursion to Lucky Seafood Supermarket, I decided to have a bite at Tan Ky Mi Gia, a Vietnamese-Chinese noodle and soup restaurant that had opened recently.

The generic, and simple interior was well lit and clean. Even though it was a bit on the early side(930 am), the restaurant was fairly busy.

As soon as I sat a middle aged Gentleman handed me a menu, and stood there, and waited, and waited…..making me feel rather uncomfortable. A quick thought went through my mind. Maybe I shouldn't even open the menu, I should just place my hand on top of it, roll my eyes back, and make moaning noises, "ommmm, ommmm", and then order something I'm sure a restaurant like this would have. But looking at the Gentleman's stoic stare, I just had the feeling he really wouldn't find anything funny with the "psychic ordering" routine. So after a moment I ordered the Won Ton Egg Noodle Soup($5.00). My soup arrived within 5 minutes.

The broth was light, halfway between the very clear broth at Minh Ky, and the darker richer broth at Luong Hai Ky. It was quite salty, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was MSG in it. There was a good amount of green onion floating around, and a few thin slices of dry and tasteless Char Siu. Also in the soup were six won tons, of the dense meatball with a slice of shrimp variety. The won tons were on the bland side, though it could be that the broth was so salty, most other tastes were cancelled out.

There was a good amount of perfectly crunchy, al' dente egg noodles in the soup.

Other then the noodles there wasn't much to make me return. I'd rather have the "loaded" Won Ton soup at Minh Ky, though the broth there is too light. Or the rich, darker broth, at Luong Hai Ky, though I understand that the Owner has passed on, and the restaurant is under new ownership. Since the area has quite a few restaurants, I think I'll let someone else make the next visit.

Notes: The prices at Tan Ky MI Gia range from about $4.75 for Wonton Soup, to $7.00 for Shrimp Chow Fun/Chow Mein. Most dishes are under $6, and the service, while not very friendly is efficient.

Tan Ky Mi Gia
9330 Mira Mesa Blvd #A
San Diego, CA 92126

“Wokking” the Wok

May 21, 2006 mmm-yoso Stuff, yoso-silly

My poor old wok had seen better days. The bottom had developed a dip, and portions have "peeling", and the poor fellow was pretty much ready to be retired. I think alot of the damage was due to a poor job of seasoning and care, on my part. When I got the wok as a gift a dozen or so years ago, I had no idea of what wok care, or seasoning consisted of. I had decided to get a new wok last year, but hadn't really made any effort to purchase one. Then I read a post on Barbara's blog; Tigers and Strawberries, that was a post on Asian Kitchen Equipment Essentials. In that post she mentions that The Wok Shop in San Francisco does Internet and mail order. The Wok Shop has always been one of my favorite places to visit, when in San Francisco, and I've bought a few knives, and other items. But I've always hesitated on purchasing a wok, and putting it in my luggage. But now, here was my chance. So I ended up ordering 2 woks from The Wok Shop. I placed my order on Tuesday, and by Saturday my woks had arrived!

I purchased a 14 inch Carbon Steel Wok($16.95), with a rounded bottom, and a 14 inch Cast Iron Wok ($14.95) imported from China. I decided to start with the Carbon Steel Wok. Grace Young's excellent book The Breath of a Wok, has several wok seasoning methods. One of the methods included in the book is Tane Chan's oven method. Tane Chan also happens to be the owner of the The Wok Shop, and sent me email wok seasoning instructions along with my order confirmation. So I decided to use that method.

"The wok is carbon steel and has to be seasoned to prevent it from rusting. The seasoning process is relatively easy to do. Just wash and dry your wok thoroughly. Coat lightly, interior and exterior with cooking oil. Bake in hot oven, 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Place in oven upside down. Remove from oven, let cool to touch and scour wok with an abrasive pad.
Scour the "seasoning" or patina away…like you want the wok back to its original finish. Wash, dry, coat and bake again…same process. Do this 4 times. After the 4th baking, you will not be able to scour the seasoning away…and that is the result you want."

The result?

The Wok had achieved a dark, golden, lacquer like finish. I don't quite know if it's perfect or not, but it seems to have worked. After cooling, I did the typical "pungent" post seasoning cooking. Using about 1 tablespoon of oil, I stir fried ginger and green onions until somewhat charred, making sure to "hit" all of the cooking surface. I cleaned my wok using the basic instructions from The Breath of the Wok. After this session, the wok had started to blacken.

Looks like I'm on my way……. Next we'll see how the wok holds up to the 50,000 BTU Big Kahuna.

Now the shipping for my woks had come to $13, almost the price of a wok. But I didn't mind, since I expect to have these woks for a long time. But I guess The Wok Shop felt bad about this, and included a few items with my woks.

I thought the back scratcher was a nice touch, the Missus was immediately drawn to it. A skimmer was also included, and I also received an email telling me that The Wok Shop was including the skimmer. The last sentence of that paragraph cracked me up:

"This skimmer is durable and will last a long, long, time. Dishwasher safe and boilable! (fyi…great for cat litter too!)"

I'm hoping they aren't expecting the skimmer to do "double-duty" after doing the cat litter thing……

The Wok Shop, fast service, they sound like good people, and they have a sense of humor too!

The Xiao Long Bao Search

May 20, 2006 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

After laboring through making Xiao Long Bao, we decided to stick with eating them in restaurants, or purchasing them frozen. The problem was trying to find decent frozen XLB. On a recent trip to Rowland Heights, we visited one of our favorite snack shops, Yi-Mei Deli.

We used to live a block away and I still love the steamed buns and other snacks, and breakfast items at Yi-Mei Deli. So on this trip we bought frozen Xiao Long Bao (50 for $16). And when we made a batch, this is what they looked like.

They were very disappointing. The meatball, didn’t taste right, and there was very little "soup" in the dumplings. Also, most of the dumplings leaked, and the soup ended up in the steaming liquid. Not good eats. We’ll still be visiting Yi-Mei when in Rowland Heights, but definitely won’t be buying the frozen XLB from them.

Yi Mei Deli
18414 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

After that experience I pretty much thought that we’d just be having them at Shanghai City, or on my visits to San Gabriel, and Mei Long Village, or some other restaurant. I recently received an Email from Stephanie, who recommended a source for frozen Xiao Long Bao in San Diego. And so here we were……..

Or were we? Where was the Xiao Long Bao in this generic office building in Sorrento Valley? Stephanie told me the place to find was the San Diego China Center & Chinese Institute.

We took the elevator up to the third floor, and walked to the only open door. It was quite obvious, that this was the right place.

We arrived at 11am which I guess is when various "classes" were getting out. Children, and sometimes whole families were entering and exiting the office. We could hear the music from a piano in the background; there were some obvious "oopsies" so I’m guessing there were some lessons going on. A studious and serious Young Lady walked past me, holding a violin case and music stand, walking right behind her mother. Yes, I’m guessing that we’d found the right place.

The Missus walked up to the table, and spoke to the Lady in Mandarin. Another lady walked into the "lounge" and opened up a freezer, and brought us a bag of Xiao Long Bao. I gave her $12(for 50), and viola, we had our Xiao Long Bao. It seems that the SDCCCI purchases frozen Xiao Long Bao, Jiaozhi, and other items from a source in Los Angeles for resale here in San Diego. You can view an entire list(it’s in Chinese), here.

So last night I made the XLB. I noticed that these XLB were really round, and "tight".

After steaming for 12 minutes, I tried them out using a mixture if Chiangkiang Vinegar and julienned ginger. Only 2 of the XLB had burst, the rest had expanded and were fine. The meatball was nice and tasty, and there was a decent amount of soup in the dumpling. These were even a bit better then some XLB I’ve had in restaurants.

So thanks to Stephanie, looks like we’ve found a source for Xiao Long Bao in San Diego. Thanks for making my weekend Stephanie.

Some notes on SDCCCI: It’s fairly hard to find, located next to a Storage Facility, and no obvious sign except for the building address. The selection is quite large, we’ll probably just stick with the XLB since the Missus can make most of the other items. The hours for selling frozen food is between 430pm – 630pm Monday thru Friday and from 1000am – 200pm Saturday.

San Diego China Center & Chinese Institute
10505 Sorrento Valley Road, Suite #390
San Diego, CA 92121