Road Trip: Hunan Chilli King – San Gabriel (Los Angeles)

June 29, 2009 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

During our most recent road trip, after noshing at Qing Dao Bread Food, we decided to give the Missus' Dad's cuisine equal time. My FIL hails from Hunan, which explains the Missus's ability to eat some pretty spicy stuff. My MIL is also able to handle some pretty hot stuff, "tolerance by association" I guess. Our first thought was to drop by Tianjin Bistro, but on a whim the Missus decided that we should have lunch here.

The first thing I noticed when we entered was that a good number of the folks eating were fanning their mouths, an ominous sign, as was all the hissing noises of the folks sucking air through their teeth. One of the Servers is boisterous and outgoing, the other, quiet but very kind. The walls of the restaurant is lined with the ubiquitous colored strips of paper with the various specialties of the house written on them.

As we sat, a little dish of boiled peanuts, and some very briney Hunan Pao Cai (pickled vegetables) arrived at the table.

The pickles lived up to our standard of Hunan cuisine with unabashedly bold flavors. So we were a bit surprised at the very mild millet porridge that arrived at the same time. Having previous experience, we knew that this would provide the perfect prophylaxis for our upcoming meal.

So what to order? Chilli King is known for the Hunan Steamed Fish Head, but you need to order that in advance. So we just went with what caught our fancy.

The first item we went with Steamed Preserved Meat (La Wei He Zheng – $8.99), a classic steamed mixed smoke meat dish.

For me this was not smokey enough in flavor, way too salty, and the meat was mushy, and falling apart. It was nowhere close to the version at Hunan Seafood. The Missus enjoyed it though.

Of course as soon as I saw it, I had to have the Sauteed Lamb (Xiao Chao Yang Rou - $8.99):

The lamb was nice and gamey, the spice was pretty much on my "high side". I thought the ratio of lamb to cilantro was excellent. Do you noticed something? If you've ever noticed, at most Sichuan restaurants, all the chilies are deseeded. Notice all the chili seeds in this dish…..it kind of gives you a hint of the spice level.

Last up, comes the most interesting, and painful dish of the day. The Missus saw a dish on one of the papers flying over our head.

When the Missus ordered it "Big Spicy", the Server, obviously knowing by Her accent that the Missus wasn't from Hunan, told Her, "our medium spicy, is hotter than most BIG spicy". But of course we stuck to our guns. What had we ordered? Suan Do Jiao Chao La Ya ($8.99). This was basically Smoked Duck stir fried with Hunan Pickled Green Beans and Chilies. As she walked away, the woman turned and glanced at me with an "okay, it's your funeral" look.

For me this is an excellent example of the un-apologetically spicy Hunan dish. The smoked duck was nicely flavored. There were two types of chilies in this dish, salt-preserved chilies, and smaller red chilies. Again, check out all the chili seeds! The sour and briney pickled green beans actually heightened the burning sensation. I was okay after two bites….but after three I started sweating, not a big deal, that happens all the time. By my fourth and fifth bites my scalp was tingling, and my mouth felt like an open wound. And then I did it, I drank a cup of hot tea. It was like I poured alcohol on an open wound! Lesson learned, I made sure my tea had cooled off before consuming it. Strange thing was, I was caught up in a heat addiction death spiral. I was snapped out of this by the nice Server, who asked me if I was okay….which sounded strangely like the phrase "do you need CPR"……. As usual we had leftovers. That same evening, I heated this dish in the microwave. When I opened the door, the fumes hit me square in the face and I felt like I had been maced! It was even more spicy! I could only manage two bites, and for some reason my ears started ringing. The next day, I didn't even bother trying to eat the leftovers (loved the lamb though), I knew it would be too much for me. The Missus enjoyed it to the last…….

Of course, on every trip to the SGV, we have a story, so here's the one for this place. We were seated right next to the kitchen door and the counter. While we were eating a short gentleman walked into the restaurant. He was just one of those folks who just kinda makes you laugh. Short, square, animated expression, with his pants pulled up to his nipple line….. He came in and ordered one dish, and tried to pay with a credit card, and was told that there was a minimum purchase of $20 with a credit card. Suddenly, you could make out a few "ticks" and twitches. Faced with this, the man tried to persuade the ladies to let him use his credit card. The Missus kept giggling as he tried different strategies to get his way, trying among other things, flattery ("this is my wife's favorite place"), but was blocked on every end. Finally, he went with his last ace-in-the-hole, the pseudo-guilt trip, "We come here all the time. We live in Irvine, and today I came all the way here to pick up lunch for my wife!" This of course was met with the check-mate "so you come here all the time? Than why would you come all the way from Irvine with only six dollars?" Which of course, instantly insinuated laziness (couldn't go to the ATM), and stupidity (you eat here all the time, and you don't know that there's a $20 minimum for credit cards). Out-trumped the gentleman ordered another dish. Which started up the next discussion. He had ordered on dish "BIG SPICY", and the other "no spicy". Turns out that his wife loves spicy food, but he is unable to tolerate spice! The Missus was cracking up at the way he described the situation……. She told me this is more funny than those Chinese comedies She watches!

As we left the restaurant, I passed a young lady fanning her mouth and inhaling with a hissing noise. I gave her a knowing smile…….I felt (literally) both her pain…and pleasure.

Hunan Chilli King
524 East Valley Boulevard
San Gabriel, CA 91776

I definitely wanted something a bit soothing after this meal………

Sang Dao through Other Eyes

June 28, 2009 ed fromyuma Lao Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Welcome to mmm-yoso!!! — Kirk's foodblog. Sometimes he lets Cathy post here, and today he's letting ed (from Yuma) post about a meal that you may have read about once or twice already.

On my last trip to San Diego, America's finest city, I fortunately arrived on the same day that Kirk, Howie, and Candice were planning a visit to Sang Dao, a Lao/Thai restaurant recently relocated on to El Cajon Blvd. I managed to finagle an invitation to join them there.

Like many good dining spots run by recent immigrants, it is located in a somewhat dicey neighborhood, between a gold buyer and a payday advance place: I never expected to post about the meal, but it seems that I took the most photos. Anyway, thought some readers might enjoy looking at more pictures of the food. But be sure to read Kirk's account of the restaurant and Candice's too – to get expert opinions.

First, the raw beef salad: In this case, my picture is not especially good although it does show the wealth of greens that accompany the salad. I thought it tasted fine and liked the slight background bitter touch of bile. It was was not as beefy and, mercifully, not as overwhelmingly hot as the version at Sab-E-Lee (prepared Thai spicy for Kirk) which he and I had enjoyed around New Years.

Next we were served spicy offal soup (anybody remember the name?): This was really good. The broth was deeply savory and lit up with chile spices. I kept shoveling various organ meats into my mouth, chewing them up, swallowing them, and going back for more. Even when I had no idea what I was eating: One dish that I wanted in particular was whole fish — which I guess is kind of an obsession of mine. I thought that the tilapia arrived looking very pretty: The taste matched the look of the fish. The first flavor notes that hit my palate were touches of sweetness, but the sweetness was nicely balanced with citrus flavors. The sauce did not overwhelm the flavor of the fish. I was also impressed by the quality of the frying. Though the skin was crisp, this fish remained moist from head to tail: Next to arrive was the offal noodle soup: This soup was less enticing to any of us. The numerous slices of liver dominated the flavor of the bowl. I crave liverwurst sometimes, but this soup proved that I am not a true liver lover. The super soft noodles seemed OK, but added little. I would try a different noodle dish on a future visit.

My only other complaint about the meal - the sticky rice tasted a bit dried out.

Candice insisted we try a red curry shrimp dish that she had had before. I'm glad she did. As you can tell by the brownish color of the curry, the sauce had intense and complex flavors. It was so good I forgot to take a picture until almost the entire serving was gone:
I should probably add that I was the one who finished off the last of this wonderful curry.

The final item served was certainly one of the most impressive. It was a chopped long bean salad prepared with Lao spicing: In some ways, this resembles an extremely funky green papaya salad. Look at the color of the dressing. The pungent flavor of fish sauce (and/or fermented shrimp?) infused every bite of the salad. The diced chilies raised the spice level high. But even with all these other flavors, the intense green bean taste and green bean crunch stood out in every mouthful. A texture/taste treat. For me, this was an amazing and exciting dish. Nothing like it in Yuma!

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed more pictures. And I hope Kirk, or Howie, or Candice feel free to correct or add to this discussion. Compared to most Thai food, this seemed more in your face funky with more salty than sweet flavors. I, for one, appreciated the extensive menu (unlike Asia Cafe), which seems to invite return visits.

When the bill came, we were all amazed at the low cost for the all the food we'd eaten. No need to sell that wedding ring or borrow til payday to have dinner here.

Sang Dao Restaurant, 5421 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115, (619) 263-0914 :

Saturday Stuffs: Pho Thanh, Abe’s Burgers, and no more “Adovo”

June 27, 2009 mmm-yoso Blog

Just some photos for this evening…….

The old location of Cafe Zia on El Cajon Boulevard is becoming Pho Thanh:

I had visited several times when it was still Cafe Zia, and saw this unusual event…… a police car was cleaned in the car wash across the street which for some reason I found odd.

The old location of Santana's at 1525 Morena, will be something called "Abe's Burger's and Breakfast":

And if you read this post, you found the strange "Adovo" sign in National City:

Well, on a recent visit, someone had executed their spell-checking and the sign had been changed:

So all is good in the world………

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Guatemala: Tostadas in Flores

June 26, 2009 mmm-yoso Guatemala, Guatemalan Food, Travel

By the time we landed in San Pedro night had fallen. We caught a taxi to our hotel in Flores a few kilometers and across the causeway from San Pedro. Flores seemed tiny, but it was hard to tell because of darkness. After checking in at our hotel, we wandered out into the humidity to find something to eat. The air was thick with dust, and the roads were all dug up. We had to exercise caution when walking, falling into one of the trenches would not be a fun experience. Flores is not short of pasta, pizza, and Mexican restaurants. We were wondering what the locals ate……….it seemed that just about everything on this side of the causeway was set-up for the tourist trade. Until, we saw a huge crowd of locals lined up at a doorway. Curious, we queued up to see what was going on.

As we got near the front we finally saw what was being sold…….tostadas! They were selling like hotcakes. In fact, while the Missus was waiting in line, I observed one portly woman polish off eight tostadas, than push her way back to the front of the line for eight more!

We eventually made our way back to our room with six tostadas, 2 slices of cake, and 2 cups of Jamaica for 24 Quetzales! That would be less than three bucks.

We stacked 'em up, and crunched away! I enjoyed the tart and sweet Ensalada de Remolacha.

The carne had a kind of a "mystery meat" texture and flavor, but overall this was a filling meal….and the cheapest by far on this trip!

And that was a good thing, since we had to wake at 4am the next morning and be on our way to Tikal. It was hard falling asleep, since the Swine Flu story was starting to gain momentum……it was "gripe porcina" 24/7 on all the news networks. We were especially concerned since we had to fly through Mexico City during our return flight……

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings: The Challenge – A comparison of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings

June 24, 2009 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, yoso-silly

You can't attend a Filipino party in San Diego without them, those miniature deep fried limbs, full of MSG goodness. Pulling yourself away from the aluminum tray of Salt and Pepper chicken wings sometimes takes a Herculean display of will power. I had long contemplated doing a comparison of Salt and Pepper wings, and after all these years, with the help of Howie, who having done comparisons of everything from Carne Asada Burritos from 'Berto's to New York style Pizza to Fro-yo i n San Diego, is master of organizing such events, I finally managed to do a tasting.

For the tasting, I had an enthusiastic crew, who displayed no fear of the MSG bloat; Howie, Candice, Sarah, Jenne, Mr & Mrs Zompus, and Dennis. I had a list of five places, one of which was closed and had to be replaced by a last minute substitute due to sad and unfortunate circumstances.

The rules were simple, each person would try at least one drummette, and one wing. They would than rank each sample from first to fifth. The lowest total amount of points would be number one.

The results are startling, and I'm sure will be quite controversial. At the end, I'll list my picks which seemed to go totally against the trend. So without further ado.

#5 – Royal Mandarin:

Yes, the mecca of Salt and Pepper Chicken wings ended up dead last by a large margin. Some of the comments: "more like American fried chicken…." "rating of meh…." "underwhelming in flavor…." "overcooked…."

This one was a surprise, and I'm sure will raise eyebrows…..

Royal Mandarin Restaurant
1132 E. Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
(619) 477-4151

#4 – Golden Chopsticks:

Yep, the other popular Salt and Pepper Chicken wing joint finished second to last! "bland….." "soggy……" "not even spicy in the least…." "don't like the light color…."

Another big surprise!

Golden Chopsticks
1430 Plaza Blvd #E/22A-23A
National City, CA 91950
(619) 336-1888

3 – A & D Hawaiian BBQ – National City:

**** A&D Has closed

Another surprise. The darkhorse last minute replacement came in a respectable third, and missed second place by one point! Yikes! "most flavorful by far…." "thinner crust but better taste…."nice spice, lots of garlic, but too salty…." "right amount of spice…."

A&D Hawaiian BBQ
Grove Plaza Center
2220 Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950

2 – Panda Palace:

**** Panda Palace has closed

Well what do you know…another surprise. This one was all over the board with three fourth-place votes, and two first place votes. It managed second by one point.

The comments were the most entertaining of all the entries: "tastes like Panda Express smells…." "someone didn't change the oil after frying all that shrimp" "too sweet…" on one hand, "very flavorful…." "like the garlic and spice…" "not greasy…." on the other.

Panda Palace Chinese Restaurant
1105 E Plaza Blvd Ste D
National City, CA 91950
(619) 336-1725

#1 – Mandarin Chinese Restaurant:

The favorite overall by a whopping six points, and voted the best by four! Some of the comments; "lightest and crispy-est…" "good crunch, but meat a little dry…." "definitely the best, the only one I wanted seconds of…." "nice and light batter".

Mandarin Chinese Restaurant
945-A Otay Lakes Rd
Chula Vista, CA 91913
(619) 656-8080

So there you have it folks! Surprised? I sure was……

The gang did a great job going from this:

To this:

It's amazing what you can learn while chomping on wings with one another. For instance, Candice makes a mean Cucumber granita and Mango Sorbet which helped to keep our palates fresh, I never knew Librarians can sing so well, and there were moves attributed to the movie Flashdance that I don't recall….or umm…maybe I don't want to recall????

My thanks to everyone who participated!

Oh yes, how did I see things?

#1 – Royal Mandarin

#2 – Mandarin Restaurant

#3 – A & D

#4 - Golden Chopsticks

#5 – Panda Palace

Let the debates begin!!!!

Antigua: La Cuevita de los Urquizu

June 23, 2009 mmm-yoso Guatemala, Guatemalan Food, Travel

We had to make our way from Lake Atitlan toLa Aurora Airport in Guatemala City, and our flight to Flores. Initially, we made arrangements for a shuttle from Panajachel to Antigua, ending at La Aurora Airport. This would have been fine, the shuttle would take 2-3 hours to get to Antigua, drop off everyone, stop, make the rounds picking up other passengers, than head off to Guatemala City. After a short discussion, the Missus and I decided to be dropped off in Antigua, and have Mauricio, the wonderful shuttle driver who originally drove us from the airport to Antigua, drop us off. Lucky for us Mauricio was able to accommodate us. We also felt better giving such a nice dependable, independant operator like Mauricio our money. We also saw the benefit of having a 3 hour layover in Antigua to stretch our legs…..and eat of course!

Which leads us to La Cuevita de los Urquizu, located across the street from the Capuchin Nunnery on 2 Calle Oriente. This was an interesting part of town as there seemed to be some very well-to-do residences, instead of just the usual hotels and businesses. La Cuevita is pretty easy to find, you just look for the crowd…..

And all the bubbling pots…….

Like this wonderful looking Hilachas (shredded beef stew).

The hardest part is choosing what to eat! As these two gentleman illustrate. The older gentleman is a bit gruff, but always takes time to name every single item available. I can imagine how tiring that could be.

If you choose one of the "mains" you also got a tamal, and also select two of what seems an endless selection "sides"….argh, more choices! If you thought reading those humongous menus with over a hundred dishes was tough…try having all of this food within reach, but only being able to pick two! Once your selections have been made, one of the Servers will than carry your plate to the table of your choice.

There is also a large selection of other "comida tipico" such as pupusas, ceviches, platano frito, etc, etc…….

The Missus went with the Estofado de Cordero (lamb stew):

The Missus declared this to be much more flavorful than the version from La Fonda Calle Real.

For Her sides the Missus chose a simple sauteed greens and guacamole.

Having been underwhelmed with the Pepian at La Fonda, and at our hotel at Lake Atitlan, I decided to give the Pepian de Pollo one last try.

I'm glad I did, this was much better than the other two versions I ate. I was told that Pepian is like Guatemalan "curry", and this was like a nice mild curry; rich, with great body. The flavor was unmistakeably chicken, and there was some tomato tanginess, with a background garlic-nuttiness that I enjoyed.

I really enjoyed my sides, the Piloyada, red bean salad was nice and refreshing, and the Arroz great, because, well to tell you the truth, I was kinda missing rice!

The bland and waxy tamal didn't thrill me much.

And of course there was hand made tortillas, no meal would be complete without it!

You could hear the "pat-pat-pat" noises coming from behind these doors.

Everywhere we travel, we pick up at least food item we enjoy. In Guatemala and Honduras, it was the Encurtido, the pickled vegetables that will be provided, usually by request for tourists.

As usual, the "salsa picante" wasn't very picante, but in this very nice and tangy from the tomatillos used to make it.

I'm guessing the Missus loved Her Estofado de Cordero , what do you think?

By the time we finished our meal, every table was filled. Mostly with well to do locals, and Central American and European Tourists. The prices are pretty much out of the range of the local working folk at about $7 per person.

Overall a nice meal….

Upon our return to Antigua, we were searching for a place to eat. Feeling a bit "lazy" I mentioned La Cuevita. The Missus thought we should search out something else. Soon we passed a woman carrying a wonderful looking and smelling bowl of stew. The Missus inquired as to where the woman purchased her heavenly looking bowl. The woman simply said; "La Cuevita"……….

This time around the Missus decided on a plate of "salads" and a Pupusa de Queso y Chicharron (pork and cheese pupusa). Some of the items were pretty good, the Missus enjoys the guacamol in Guatemala, it is plain, but the avocados are rich and tasty. The Picado de Rabano (radish salad) was also refreshing and delicious. The rest of the stuff was very bland. The pork in the pupusa tasted kind of off, and it was on the greasy side.

Again we made sure to get the encurtido cebollas and salsa picante….and the very nice young man even understood what I requested!

I ordered that wonderful stew I saw the woman carrying.

My two sides were disappointing. After sampling versions in Atitlan and Flores, I had developed an affection for Ensalada Remolacha, the beet salad. This was a bland version, with the beets lacking sweetness, and without the refreshing tart and sour flavor that I had experienced before. It seems like Guatemalans love macaroni….I saw folks buying bags of it in Antigua's Supermercado. It was nothing special.

My stew, however was something special. It was hearty and rich, with a nice smokey flavor provided by chilies, and a nice tomato flavor in the background. Our Server was a friendly young man, and was very patient in dealing with our questions. Not knowing what I had selected, we were told it was "Subanik". I love having other folks write in my "black book", seeing their handwriting always takes me back. And so the young man wrote the name of the dish, and described it better than I could've. Subanik; 3 meats, "pollo res y cerdo", and to make sure I understood he wrote, "chiken, bif, and pork"……….I always crack a smile when I turn to that page!

The Missus also asked the young man if She could go upstairs and take some photos. There is a nice dining area which overlooks the street, as well as the courtyard.

I was told that there are some decent comedores around the city, all of which were much cheaper than La Cuevita. But La Cuevita allowed us a chance to try some "comida typico", typical dishes, and the Missus and I were more than happy with our meals there…… and of course I enjoyed my "chiken, bif, and pork"……….

La Cuevita de los Urquizu
2 Calle Oriente 9
Antigua, Guatemala

Two Gaijin (and Kirk) at Okan

June 22, 2009 ed fromyuma Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, What Cathy Eats!, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Back in April, ed had the chance to visit San Diego, and Kirk, Cathy, and he realized that we had the same evening free to get together for dinner. The main question was, where? If memories serve, Cathy and ed had the same thought: let's get Kirk to guide us through a meal at Okan.

In general, both ed and Cathy are intrepid explorers of restaurants. But we had read about multiple menus, nightly specials, unfamiliar dishes, and a generally Japanese speaking clientele. For ed at least, the option of going it alone seemed problematic; plus Kirk always knows the good stuff (which is why all of us read this blog).

The only downside to getting together for this meal is that it is harder to concentrate on the food when carrying on interesting conversations — often about great food from elsewhere. Therefore, you will hear from all three of us in this post.

The first dish that ed remembers was a bamboo shoot preparation:

That's shredded gobo root and carrot alongside the big crunchy chunks of bamboo shoot. The flavor, if memory serves, was focused and simple and good. The thick cut of the slices emphasizes the goodness of the shoots.

The first brought out were two dishes, one of bamboo, not pickled, just fresh cooked and chilled bamboo shoots. Pleasant and crunchy. The other dish was non-fried/raw (?) gobo. (Fried gobo will be in another dish further down in this post) Cathy liked both and thought they were refreshing and fresh tasting. She is inserting two bad photos to show portion sizes…sort of. She and ed didn't pull out their cameras at first. Kirk was amused when both of them started snapping away.

Next came eggplant stewed in miso (help, am I right?): Again the preparations seem very basic and simple. Although Kirk and Cathy liked the dish well enough, ed tends to prefer eggplant that is more heavily seasoned since it is so much like a flavor sponge.

Then came some stew with tofu and God knows what else: Hmmm. Cathy thinks it was pork and carrots or yam with kuro konnyaku(yam noodles?) and the tofu. Whatever. She thought it tasted like home. A home that made really good, fancy, deep flavored stew.

When the Gobo root salad appeared, it looked amazing: Of all the things we ate at night, and we ate a lot of things, this was for ed the most memorable and outstanding. Nonetheless, like virtually every other dish, this was extremely focused, direct, and simple. The shredded Gobo root was sweet and crunchy and addictive. The lightly dressed greens (mizuna???) underneath were provided a wonderful contrastive tang, added to different type of crunch, and made the plate truly beautiful.

When this huge salad was first served to us, ed thought there was no way that all three of us could ever finish it. However, throughout the meal, all of us would go back again and again for the salad, using it almost as a palate cleanser and refresher, like gari at a sushi bar.

It was a light, delicate, yet wonderfully flavored crunchy. It also was about ten inches tall in its initial presentation. Cathy could have eaten it all herself but then would not have had the ability to try so many of the other items Kirk had ordered.

Next came (I think) fried chicken skin. That says it all, doesn't it? (I have no memories of this, but it's hard to imagine chicken skin not tasting good):

Cathy could have eaten two dishes of chicken skin. By herself. If nobody was around.

Chicken wings arrived next: Again the preparation was simple and straightforward. Maybe too much so for ed's taste which has no doubt been corrupted by dozens of buffalo wings over the years.

Cathy could taste some sort of marinade for these wings. Not spicy but nice flavor. You know there was no sauce to add to anything, and nothing needed to have the flavor upped or changed for this entire meal.

Coming from the desert, ed insisted on some fish dish. What arrived was a sizable chunk of mackerel braised in soy sauce: ed found the fish to be rich and deeply flavored. For him, this was another hit.

Cathy liked it. Cathy liked everything. We forgot to take pictures of the sake! It was in the cutest little self chilling carafe. It was *really* good. The top one on the sake menu. Kirk said something about it not being able to be purchased in the States. Cathy does not remember details…on with the food.

While the restaurant is certainly not a sushi bar, the one raw seafood preparation that we were served was visually striking and unusual: The octopus slices were paperthin, and the contrast between them and the individual suckers was nice.

Cathy's first taste of sashimi included octopus. She had it on her 18th birthday at work. This was even better because of the presentation. The delicateness made her have to eat it slowly and concentrate on the flavor as well as textural contrast. Here is her photo, and you can see the sake glasses in the background.

The bacon wrapped asparagus again was a study in simplicity: ed's memory is that the bacon was not heavily smoked and the asparagus was still crunchy and fresh tasting.

The bacon was not bacon-y flavored at all and somehow brought out a sweetness in the asparagus. Cathy usually only buys the thinner fresh asparagus stalks and will continue to do so. Those fat ones have to be prepared differently. This is a perfect vegetable. This preparation-and presentation- was perfect.

Slices of grilled duck breast, complete with a tasty strip of duck fat (ummm-duck fat), showed up next: Again the focus was on showing off the quality ingredient and not masking or altering its flavor.

Cathy liked this one also. The duck was on top of grilled green onions which did not impart a flavor onto the duck, but if you ate the onion, the bit of duck grease flavored it just enough to make the simple grilled scallion's sweetness come through.

The well marbled slices of cold steak continued the presentation of rich meaty items: Again, the preparation was simple, allowing the beef itself to show off.

The meal ended with unagi prepared inside of tamago: At this point, ed's mouth was suffering from taste fatigue, and his brain was overloaded with food discussions and perhaps sake as well, so he doesn't remember much beyond a basic sweetness and a certain complexity of flavor.

All in all, all of us enjoyed the meal. The food, in retrospect, seems to ed to be much like a Japanese rock garden or a rural Shinto shrine – simple, focused, beautiful, and rustic. The restaurant repeatedly presents simple down-home preparations that show off the quality and flavors of the ingredients used. Kirk says that Okan means Mom's. Well, it certainly isn't ed's mom's cuisine. Nor did Cathy grow up with anything like this. It was wonderful- and Cathy was so glad to go out and socialize with "the guys" .

Links to Kirk's post on Okan are here and here

Everything Tastes Better in a Banh Mi, Right? Sunday Edition – Uni (Sea Urchin) and Egg Banh Mi

June 21, 2009 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Cooking, Sandwiches, yoso-silly

If you've read my previous post, you'll recall my testing the limits of that phrase. I can't recall who told me that, but it has stuck in my head. This'll be a short post….'cause you know that you should be spending time with Dad on this Father's Day, not checking out some silly "Everything Tastes Better in a Banh Mi" post!

The Banh Mi itself looks fairly innocuous.

I became a big fan of Banh Mi Trung (Egg Banh Mi) during our visit to Vietnam….and I still crave it from time to time. While looking through the recipes in Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook, I came across a recipe for "Scrambled Eggs with Sea Urchin in Lobster Sauce". It really wasn't the recipe that hit me, but the photo. Along the side of the dish, was a baguette! In the sometimes strange way that my mind works, I thought this to be a great idea. I've had a wonderful "Oeufs Brouillés aux Oursins" (scrambled eggs with sea urchin), and even "Oeufs Brouilles Au Caviar D'Oursin" (scrambled eggs with caviar and sea urchin) a couple of times. Uni, egg, and Banh Mi sounded just wonderful. So why not?

My objective was to not "kill" the wonderful, unique, and delicate flavor of the Uni. I wanted everything to be in harmony, yet not boring. I guess you'd call it "fusion" without "con-fusion".

The bread I picked up from Paris Bakery.

In homage to the Vietnamese Banh Mi Trung, I added some Maggi to the eggs, because as we all know, "Maggi makes everything taste better"! And some sea salt.

For texture, and to balance out the richness, I used the ubiquitous Vietnamese pickled radish and carrots. In addition, instead of cilantro, I added some Kaiware (daikon sprouts). I think a touch of mayo might have been nice, but pate would have killed the sandwich.

There's not much more except for some photos:

Wow, this was "killer", I was amazed at how good this was. The pickles cut the richness, the sprouts added a bit of "spice" and bite, the Maggi added a nice "umami", and you could still taste the wonderful "soul of the ocean"! Not a cheap Banh Mi, but man was it good!

So no Kimchi and Peanut Butter Banh Mi this time around. But the saying still runs true; everything tastes better in a Banh Mi!

Cumin Lamb – Zi Ran Yang Rou

June 20, 2009 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

*** I've got a bit of an update here. This is still one of my favorite things to make!

If you're familiar with my posts, you know that I'm unable to resist the temptation of ordering Cumin Lamb once I see it on the menu. Years ago, if you mentioned cumin and Chinese Food in the same sentence, I would have given you a puzzled look. That was of course, before spending those years living and eating in the San Gabriel Valley, and being exposed to the variety of regional Chinese food found in the area. Still, if one has a conversation about Chinese seasonings, I don't think cumin would come up in the conversation.

I find humor in the fact that the Missus loves this dish as well; She is not a big fan of the distinct "B. O." -ish smell of cumin. The dish itself is based on the dishes of the Uyghur people (Turkic) , most of whom live in Xinjiang, one of the Autonomous regions of China. The dish reflects the "big three seasonings" used in Xinjiang cuisine, salt, red chilies, and of course cumin (孜然). The recipe reflects the combination of three attempts at making this dish. All of which, with the help of the Big Kahuna, came out real well. Funny thing is, I didn't take photos of the last try, which came out the best. What I found is using garlic that's been minced along with slices, sliced onions, and cilantro do it for me. Also, in the last recipe, I used some dark soy which helped to add color, something my original version lacked. I used "shabu shabu" slices of lamb, which can be found at 99 Ranch Market and Zion Market. The best lamb I got was from 99 Ranch Market in San Gabriel, it was very gamey, which just made everything come together well. Make sure to toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan. Using high heat prevents the dish from coming too "watery".

This was so easy that it caused the Missus to exclaim; "you know, there's no reason for any restaurant to screw up this dish". As always, my recipe is just a basic outline, and I'm sure stuff like fresh chilies, and other ingredients will make this dish shine.

Cumin Lamb

2/3 – 3/4 lb lamb sliced into strips

Marinade:
1 Tb Shaoxing Wine
2 Tb Premium Light Soy Sauce
1 Tb Dark Soy Sauce
3 Tb Cumin toasted in a dry pan until fragrant
1/2 tsp Sea or Kosher Salt
1 clove garlic minced fine
red pepper flakes to taste

3-4 Tb Canola Oil
3-4 dried red chilies minus seeds
1/2 medium onion sliced
3 cloves garlic thinly sliced
Cilantro

– Combine lamb and marinade ingredients. Mix and set aside for 15 – 30 minutes
– Before heating wok, add onion slices to marinade and meat.
– Heat a wok over very high heat.
– Add oil and swirl. Add red chilies and briefly scald.
– Add garlic, stir quickly, than add meat. Stir fry over high heat.
– When lamb is cooked, remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Taste and adjust salt.

Asian Noodles revisited

June 18, 2009 mmm-yoso Filipino Restaurants

*** As of August 2011 Asian Noodles has closed

There's something about this place that keeps me coming back every six to eight months or so. It could be that I'm just a sucker for a good story, in this case the story of Ma Mon Luk(Asian Noodles claims to be "Home of the famous Ma Mon Luk Family"), the migrant from Canton who is credited with being the pioneer of Chinoy (Chinese – Filipino food) cuisine. You can read a bit more in my earlier post on Asian Noodle. I'm also fascinated by the Chinese Diaspora, and how the Chinese have influenced food wherever they have landed. Or perhaps, I'm just intrigued by the blending of flavors….. who knows, but I always return.

One thing I'll miss about Asian Noodles is the friendly "Liza" who would entice us off the sidewalk to eat. She passed on recently, much too early, we'll miss her.

On one of my visits, I finally took a photo of the giant woks in the cooking area.

This post will be on some of the "other items" here…….not just the Beef Mami or Siopao.

On one of my visits I tried the Seafood Mami, at ten bucks it was one of the more expensive items on the menu.

I really didn't enjoy this. As is the case about half the time here, the noodles were very mushy. The broth was bland, and the seafood of low quality. It's always bad when the best thing about a soup is the Napa Cabbage.

When I mentioned this to good FOY "MG", I was told that I had ordered badly, and that we'd needed to make a visit to Asian Noodles so she could set me straight. A few months later, the day finally arrived. As we had a seat, MG started kidding the shy and very nice young lady taking our order. She easily passed as Filipino to me, and even MG had been fooled at first. One one visit however, when MG started chatting in Tagalog with her, the truth was revealed……she is Thai! The young lady understands enough Tagalog to get by. I'm wondering how many folks think that she's a nice, young Filipino gal? The rule was no Mami, no Siopao, I've already had those dishes.

MG suggested I try the Beef Pares.

This classic "pair" (pare) is a simmered stewed beef served with garlic rice. I found that garlic rice might just be the way to go here, nicely browned fried rice, with a nice garlic flavor. The stewed beef was a palette of familiar flavors; soy sauce, star anise, sugar, and a touch of garlic.

The beef was fairly tender, the larger pieces were a touch on the dry side. I enjoyed the broth/gravy, it was like a good Chinese Beef Stew.

MG ordered the Tapsilog, and insisted that I try some of the Beef Tapa.

The exterior of the beef was crisp, the interior soft, and wonderful combination of textures. The flavor was an excellent combination of salty and sweet, which reminded me a bit of Mongolian Beef. It was different from most versions of Beef Tapa I've had.

We also ordered the "Special Pancit".

Basically a chow mein like dish. The noodles again were a bit too soft for my taste. The beef was fairly soft and moist, but this was just kinda plain to me. It showed no characteristics of being prepared in a wok.

For me garlic rice is the way to go here; and I'll probably be back for the Beef Tapa in a few months!

Asian Noodles
1430 E Plaza Blvd
National City, CA 91950
10am – 8pm Daily