June 2010 – mmm-yoso

QingDao: Pi Chai Yuan again…. and it’s May Day…..

June 30, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, QingDao, Travel

The Missus had noticed that cousin Long Hui's son really, really enjoyed the Guotie (pot stickers) at the previous nights' banquet. At that moment, the Missus decided that we needed to take him to Pi Chai Yuan Food Street for breakfast…. even though we had the wedding banquet for lunch, and dinner at Sixth Aunt's scheduled. When we had visited Pi Chai Yuan, we noticed that the Guotie shop was doing some major business. Since we needed to pick up my suit, which Fourth Aunt had gotten made for me, we decided to meet Long Hui at their hotel. It was a good walk, which made us feel better about the amount of food we knew we'd be consuming that day. As is typical for this family, Fourth Aunt had thought ahead, and realized that I'd probably need a decent dress shirt for the suit and got me one. Like I said before….. I love this family!

After picking up the suit, we headed to Pi Chai Yuan, which was on the way back to our hotel. Being fairly early in the morning, it wasn't as crowded as our previous visit.

But the pot sticker shop was doing some pretty good business.

We did manage to find one table, and the Missus ran into the shop to order for us….. Meanwhile Long Hui took off…… only to return with four bowls of Liang Fen.

I really enjoyed this, a bit of chili, a nice bracing sourness……. as I was putting the second bite into my mouth, Long Hui scampered off….. And returned a minute later with these!

Yes, it is what you think….. a potato sliced on a rotating peeler which is skewered and deep fried. Potato chips on a stick… the coup de grâce is a line of ketchup strategically squirted…. not a single chip is missed. Long Hui's son hated the Liang Fen, but loved these. It seems like the younger generations enjoy more westernized flavors, potato chips, ice cream, and chocolate comes to mind. The Liang Fen didn't go to waste though, as Long Hui said She hadn't had that in perhaps two decades…….

The Missus returned to the table with a plate of Guotie with two different fillings. If I recall, a pork version, and a three treasures version. I've read articles online which have mentioned QingDao Guotie as one of the premier snacks in the city.

Do you think Long Hui's son enjoyed them????

Yes, even the skin dissolving heat didn't deter the young man! The Missus had also gotten bowls of porridge for us.

This was rice with a small amount of red bean for color and added flavor. The Missus placed the bowl on the table and went to order some Lu Baozi from a shop down the alley. This of course, prompted Long Hui to stand up, and walk on over to the stand across from us…..

And grab us some grilled chicken necks…….

I thought the necks were delicious. Salty, mildly spicy, with a hint of sweet and cumin, gnawing on these were almost therapeutic…… it made you forget about everything, and let your mind wander, happily munching your way through meat, connective tissue, and cartilage. You know, I often joke about the Missus's love of sunflower seeds and chicken feet, and how the "return on investment" is really low. But I think I get it now.

Meanwhile, the Missus had returned, looked at us, and shook Her head. Long Hui told the Missus something which made Her start laughing….. it was a phrase I'd heard before. This time I asked the Missus what Her cousin had said. And the very non-poetic translation is something like this; "aaaah, we're middle aged, we should resign ourselves to our fate and enjoy ourselves."

Meanwhile, the Missus had finished Her bowl of porridge, and while I was distracted by my chicken neck (that does sound wrong, doesn't it?), finished mine as well. It seems that one of the dishes the Missus really reconnected with during our trip were the various porridges. She enjoyed these so much, She stood up and decided to order another for Her. I grabbed Her arm, and whispered, "please be quick, who knows what your cousin will get when you're gone…. I'm expecting the whole roasted pig any minute now!" And of course LH got up, and soon arrived with something that I found surprising……

These looked just like Takoyaki……. and were even topped with Katsuobushi (bonito flakes), and the mayonnaise was even Kewpie, or a very similar facsimile. It was, however, not very good, very gummy….. and like I expected, contained no Tako.

Long Hui and her son had also discovered the Haw vendor right next to us by this time, and ordered a couple of Haw drinks, and some Haw Jelly, which the young man thought was delicious.

By now the Missus had returned for Her porridge, and was wandering what happened to Her Lu Bao…… She had ordered it from a place down the alley, and wasn't sure that we'd ever get it. As She stood up, a young man met Her with the plate of Lu Bao.

These are sort of Shandong's version of Shengjian Bao. I really liked the crisp bottom, and the filling of the one I had…. pork and vegetable was very good. But by this time we'd extended ourselves beyond our limit.

There was something I picked up on during this meal…. it was how happy both the Missus and Her cousin were with how the young man took to the Guotie and Haw Jelly. The Missus summed it up for me later: "most of the generation after us do not enjoy the traditional foods, so it was very rewarding to see that he enjoyed them. It gives me hope that items like the haw jelly won't disappear and become a thing of the past." On the topic of things of the past. While doing a bit of research, or should I say trying to track down what little there is in English on Pi Chai Yuan, I found out that QingDao's old food street (i.e. Pi Chai Yuan) had been condemned and was set for demolition, when it was saved due to public outcry. If you want to see what it looked like before renovation, there's a photo here.

I didn't mention this earlier in the post, but today was May first, the May Day Holiday. And as we arrived back at out hotel, I recalled something I'd been told earlier…… if you want affirmation that China is the most populous country in the world, visit any large city during a holiday. I was astounded at the mass of humanity we walked into…….

If you were to click on the photo above to enlarge, in the background you'll see the long line of folks walking on Zhan Qiao Pier. I've read that the population of China is 1.3 billion +…. I think that "+" was walking down Zhan Qiao Pier on this morning!

What seemed even more strange…. and perhaps a bit funny to me were the folks walking down the stairway and on the walkway around Number 6 Bathing Beach….

Many of them seemed to just follow the person in front of them, with nary a look to the ocean, they'd make a loop and walk right back up the stairs…..

I didn't have too much time to contemplate this, as a a few minutes after I took this photo, a mini-van weaved through traffic, and picked us up for the "wedding banquet"……..

Stir Fried Bittermelon first with Lily Bulb (Baihe), then with Ginko Nuts (Bai Guo)

June 29, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I've never been a big fan of bittermelon. Our neighbors growing up were Okinawan, so every so often there would be Goya Chanpuru, basically an egg – tofu – bittermelon, and pork (and sometimes Spam) stir fry of sorts. I still had never developed a taste for it. Same with the Missus……

But a funny thing happened on this trip, we had bittermelon several times, and kind of enjoyed it. I'll pass on dipping it in honey, though. So naturally, after arriving back home, we've been cooking with it.

This post is more about my bittermelon education, rather than a bunch of recipes. As you see in the photo above, in my first few attempts, I did the usual cross slicing of the bittermelon, and using a spoon removed the pith, where most of the bitterness is retained. I used to two different tricks to remove excess bitterness….. the first was salting the bittermelon, then letting it sit for 20 minutes or so before rinsing and stir-frying. The second was the blanch method, which is what Ba Ren uses, as you can tell by this photo of their stir-fried bittermelon (which is pretty good, BTW).

It was still a bit too bitter for us, however. That's when the Missus decided that we should "shave" the bittermelon. Doing so would minimize the amount of pith and for our tastes, gave us the right amount of bitterness.

I found that you really didn't need to salt the bittermelon for very long when shaving. Just ten minutes or so, enough time for me to prep my other ingredients (save one). Not to delve too deeply into the "Qi" of food, but bittermelon is considered cooling, thus folks are advised to eat it during the summer. I thought I'd balance things out a bit by adding a few "warm" and "hot" ingredients to the dish. Namely Red Bell Peppers, onion, and blanched garlic. For me this was a natural combination, the sweetness of the red bell peppers and blanched garlic offset the bitterness. There were a couple of items we had in China that seemed to complement bittermelon for our tastes. One of them was Baihe – Lily Bulb. After tasting the sweet-oniony-mildly starchy flavor of fresh Baihe, we ordered it whenever we saw it on the menu. I also loved the onion like flavor that finished with a good bit of starchiness…… onion flavored potatoes…. talk about my dream vegetable.

Unfortunately, fresh lily bulb is hard to come by in these parts. I did find dried lily bulbs (i.e. dragon teeth), which I've had in soups, and wondered how these would fare in a stir-fry.

I made sure to rinse these well, three or four times, I then poured mildly boiling water over the bulbs and covered with a plate for about 10-15 minutes until the bulbs had softened. Getting back to the Qi of food, Lily Bulbs are also considered a major "Yin" food. It is also often used to clear up dry cough, sore throat, insomnia, and restlessness.

A quick stir-fry in the Big Kahuna, with a simple seasoning of good quality sea salt resulted in this:

The bittermelon combined with red bell pepper and blanched garlic was fabulous. It's too bad that the dried lily bulb just didn't work out too well. It is not nearly as full-flavored as the fresh stuff, and the texture is too starchy, lacking that bit of onion-like crunch.

Another item we had with bittermelon were ginko nuts. I won't go into the supposed h StirFriedBittermelon09 ealth benefits of ginko nuts in this post, as they range from asthma and skin ailments to gonorrhea….. And like the lily bulbs, fresh ginko nuts are hard to come by. And when available (Nijiya and Mitsuwa has them once in a while), they are quite expensive. So we decided to go with the canned stuff…. which also needs a quick rinse, since the smell can be pretty off-putting. We also thought the addition of sweet onion would add another nice layer of flavor, along with some "Yang" to balance the "Yin".

A quick, and I mean quick stir-fry over 55,000 BTU's produced this:

Which is what I've been making, sometimes three times a week.

Along with that dish in the background (a recipe is forthcoming), this was one of the several dishes we had in China that we "brought back" with us. I guess I've changed my opinion of bittermelon!

I realize I forgot to list the health benefits of bittermelon, which is a pretty long list. Bittermelon is supposed to help digestion, constipation, promote liver health, and more recently some studies have indicated that bittermelon may be helpful in treating HIV. There are debates as to whether it is quinine that makes bittermelon bitter. Many cultures do use bittermelon both prophylactically, and to treat malaria.

I'm not sure about all that…. so can I just say that I(now) like eating the stuff?

Costa Brava from a Different Perspective

June 28, 2010 ed fromyuma Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog in which Kirk, Cathy, and others post about meals they have eaten in San Diego and elsewhere. Today, ed (from Yuma) wants to tell you folks about a recent meal in Pacific Beach.

Last April, Tina and I were both excited to read Kirk's post about a tapas restaurant in Pacific Beach. Like Kirk, Tina owns at least one tapas cookbook, and like me, she has rarely eaten at a tapas restaurant. In fact, my memory of my last visit to a tapas restaurant in San Diego includes no details about the food because I was so focused on the cockroach that crawled over the wall behind my dining companions. So for both of us Costa Brava would be a largely new experience.

As we looked at the menu, we were faced with a lot of choices; there must have been 40 different tapa (small plate) options as well as entrées etc.. To make it worse, I had forgotten to reread Kirk's post, so we were basically on our own.

On top of that, the wine list presented a bewildering number of Spanish wine choices. Since we were planning on focusing on seafood and vegetarian items, we wanted a white wine, but the list easily contained 20-30 Spanish white wines. With some help from our pleasant server, we decided upon a reasonably priced ($32) Vionta Albarino from the Rias Baixas region of Galicia:

I appreciated that he recommended this bottle and did not try to upsell us on other more expensive Albarinos from the list. What's more, the wine had a delightful fruity and flowery nose, apple and lemon tones in the mouth, and a long dry finish. In a way, it was the anti-Chardonnay — no oak and no buttery malolactic fermentation. It paired remarkably well with the tapas that we chose.

We gave our server a list of eight small plates that we wanted to try, including the only item I remembered from Kirk's post, the fried anchovies. When the server gave us the Spanish equivalent of "you no like" to that one item, we acquiesced and ordered the shrimp instead. After all, there was no need for me to discuss something that Kirk had already pictured and described.

The first item placed in front of us was the Esparragos alioli, cold white asparagus in olive oil accompanied by a garlic mayonnaise:

Although I had always wondered what the point of white asparagus was, Tina had fond memories of eating this vegetable in Europe. The simple presentation here showed it off very well. Lacking green flavor notes, this was the perfect essence of asparagus. The soft cool texture was also notable. The garlic mayonnaise certainly complexified the taste, but it really wasn't necessary.

The championes ajillo arrived next:

Wow! These mushrooms were standard supermarket 'shrooms, but the sautéed mushrooms had soaked up the flavors of their garlic and sherry wine sauce. Flecks of red chili added a slight hint of fire in the background. Unlike Kirk's experience with this dish, neither Tina nor I could detect any sour flavors. Our only regret was that we allowed the busser to clear off the plate before we got to soak up all of the sauce with the bread.

Which reminds me that we were provided (at no charge, since we were not there for happy hour) with mini loaves of fairly standard white bread. Good but not extraordinary:

We had a more complex reaction to the next small dish — the gambas ajiollo:

At first glance, this tapa looked like shrimp drowned in an orange colored olive oil, so I forked out one of the little crustaceans and popped it into my mouth. My initial response was "meh." While exhibiting no off tastes, the shrimp had been cooked thoroughly — the fresh and juicy shrimpiness that I love was AWOL. However, after I squirted the small bowl with the juice of a lemon wedge and Tina stirred the shrimp and coated each one with the oil spiced with garlic and a dried red (yellow?) chile, we both thought the flavor improved. And as the server had promised, these shellfish married perfectly with the wine.

The next item to hit our table, papatatas bravas, was a complete winner. The picante paprika aioli gave the whole dish a spicy richness and depth of flavor:

Yet this flavorful mayonnaise was only part of the story. As you can see in this next picture, the chunks of potatoes had been roasted before they were sauced, so each bite presented a range of textures, from crispy caramelized outsides to light fluffy centers. The potato flavors were enhanced, not covered up, by the rich and spicy sauce:

I was reminded, eating that wonderful potato dish, that it was in many ways emblematic of Spanish history. After all, Spaniards introduced both potatoes and chilies to the European world, and the papatatas bravas integrates these New World items into European cuisine.

The next two items we were served also reflected Spain's rich maritime past. The first was empanidillas atun — little tuna empanadas:

These days, we forget that the original center of tuna fishing was the Mediterranean. Back then, huge schools of tuna heading eastward would enter that inland sea via the Straits of Gibraltar and fill the boats of fisherfolk from Andalusia to Istanbul. At Costa Brava, each of these crunchy little packets contained tuna accented with green olive flavors — a truly Spanish version of a fried wonton or crispy ravioli:

The croquetas bacalao similarly contrasted exterior and interior and likewise showed off the deep frying skills of the kitchen:

The main ingredient and dominant flavor in these little crispy balls is rehydrated and desalinated dried salt cod. The restaurant's version is perfect, as you taste fish, not salt. And the texture of the interior is like creamy cod-flavored mashed potatoes. This dish is also a reminder of the 15th and 16th centuries when Basques from Spain discovered the Grand Banks off North America and supplied Friday fare for tables across Europe. In those days, bacalao was an inexpensive staple; nowadays, it is a delicacy shown here at its best:

Our waiter then brought pulpo gallego — small rounds of octopus, flavored Galician style with olive oil and Spanish paprika. This was perhaps our favorite tapa from the entire meal. The pulpo was incredibly tender and full of octopus flavor. Far better than most tako at sushi bars:

Our meal concluded with the classic tortilla de chorizo. No, we did not finish our dinner with a chorizo taco. In Spain and Argentina, a tortilla is a substantial egg and potato dish, much denser than a classic omelette. The plentiful chunks of Spanish chorizo added the extra taste of a dried sausage intensely flavored with spicy paprika. Although lacking the cheesy richness of some tortillas I've had, the dish at Costa Brava was attractive, well balanced, and a good conclusion to the meal:

Overall we were impressed with our dinner. While none of the dishes was cutting edge or innovative, we were pleased with the presentation of several classic tapas. And our server was helpful and friendly — even if he talked us out of Kirk and the Missus' favorite dish. The wine list offered a huge and diverse selection of appropriate Spanish choices fairly priced. The remodeled old house with several different rooms and an inviting patio provided an excellent ambience. Even though they allowed Tina and I to dine there, many tables were full of young and stylish PBistas. What's more, we were impressed at the way the kitchen had taken our request for eight different tapas and organized them into a dinner, presenting them in an arrangement that made sense to our mouths and our stomachs. We will be back.

Costa Brava, 1653 Garnet Ave, San Diego, CA 92109, 858-273-1218

Mission Hills Farmer’s Market

June 26, 2010 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market

Yesterday afternoon my phone rang, well actually buzzed, pulsed, or whatever or however you describe the noises phones make nowadays. Nothing special really, it beeps, burps, and buzzes many times during the work day. But this time it was one of my favorite FOYs (Friends of Yoso), Karyn, who wanted to remind me that the Mission Hills Farmers Market's maiden voyage was today. Bless her heart, Karyn is so thoughtful, she puts up with a lot…. to get to the point, Karyn has pet guinea pigs, and well, I love Cuy, just not in the way Karyn loves them(they are delicious!!). So there's always the stray Cuy joke when we're kidding around. Even though I had seen the signs, I'd totally forgotten…..

The Mission Hills Farmer's Market takes place on Falcon Street, Fridays from 3pm to 7pm. For me, it's the perfect stop on the drive home.

It's not a very large Farmer's Market, at least right now, though I suppose that should it become popular, it'll occupy much more than the single block stretch it does right now…..

I kinda like the way it is right now….. sans all the crafts vendors, and it's a bit too early for the food folks. But there're lots of samples.

And most of all, there were several of "our favorites" present!

We love Sadie Rose Baking Company.

And the Missus is fond of CJ's.

Mainly for the Noah Bedoah's…..

Brandt Beef is also present.

Along with a good variety of produce vendors.

I'm really hoping this Farmer's Market does really well. It will be a regular Friday-on-the-way-home-from-work stop for me.

Mission Hill Farmer's Market

Falcon Street

Fridays from 3 pm to 7pm.

Here's what I picked up this week……

Those are mung beans in the foreground, not quite sprouts, but getting there, cost me 75 cents from the Sungrown stand. Yes, there are microgreens available, but I want semi-sprouted mung bean sprouts…. and the young man manning the booth was kind enough to instruct me on how to get these to the "age" I wanted them.

In our mind, there were definite winna's, and not so winna's among the bounty:

For us, the Malted Brown Bread from Sadie Rose was just great….. I was munching on the ends while making a nice pot of tea(Laoshan Tea) for us. I love the mild chew, along with the complex, and almost molasses-like sweet hints in the bread. The not so winna….. the Noah Bedoahs….. I did notice that they were darker then I remembered. The first thing the Missus did was break a cookie in half… it was not as crumbly. The shortbread flavor was lacking. There seemed to be the addition of chocolate chips to the piece of chocolate in the middle of the cookie. It was less sweet than we recalled. We used to drive out to Voltaire to get these, but it seems like they've changed the recipe???? Still, Sadie Rose…….. we'll be there every week!

QingDao: The original family home and banquet #3

June 24, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, QingDao, Travel

After stuffing myself on the fantastic mantou at the Pig's Feet Banquet, I climbed back on board the mini bus with the Missus's family. The Missus whispered to me…. "we're going home". Meaning a visit to the original family home, the building where my MIL was born, and where the Missus was raised.

The house, or I should say building is located on a side street in the older part of QingDao. In its heyday, it was the tallest building on the street at three stories, and the Missus's family occupied the entire compound. Then came the Chinese Revolution, and with the victory of PLA the concept of private ownership of land evaporated. But that is a story for another day. Eventually, the family was given back a portion (the second floor) of the home, where the Missus's Fourth Aunt now lives.

The Missus was quick to point out various landmarks to me. Like where the family used to hang sausages to dry in the winter. A number of times I heard Her say, "it all used to seem so big……"

As with multi-generational homes, there are many stories, and the Missus told me a couple about…. well, chickens. The family once raised chickens in this spot.

Of course, there was a purpose to raising said fowl….. it was to end up on the dinner table. One day, a chicken was selected to meet its maker, and the Missus's Grandfather set out to dispatch the bird. The details are lost to the sands of time, but the gist of it was that Grandpa's blow to decapitate the chicken was not true, and said bird only suffered a "flesh wound" to the neck. This bird was obviously no "dumb duck" and and made the only move it could have…… you get the picture, right?

This is usually where I lose the Missus to the giggles…… something about Her Grandfather chasing the bleeding chicken around the courtyard. And then there's the one about the large, beautiful chicken Sixth Uncle bought the family when he was still courting the Missus's Sixth Aunt. Somehow the chicken ended up eating a bar of soap and dying…… "chicken noodle soap anyone?"

China is growing in leaps and bounds, and prime neighborhoods like this aren't spared. The whole block is set to be razed in the near future. So I'm glad the Missus and my MIL had a chance to visit their "home" for one last time.

After taking photos of each family member stepping out the doorway, we walked up the street and boarded the minibus which dropped us off in the central shopping district where Sixth Uncle helped us to find gifts for our friends back home. This was followed with a walk to our next banquet, which happened to be in the hotel right next to where we were staying….. the Oceanwide Elite Hotel.

As folks trickled in, I managed to take some photos; like this one of the Missus and cousin Long Hui checking out the view:

While waiting for us to get our act together and get our gifts, the girl cousins each chose a piece of costume jewelry. When everyone was together, we started taking photos, and this is one of my favorites.

On very rare occasions I take a photo that will transcend any written description, this is one of them.

It was a nice setting……

Ready for another banquet?

Just hang on for a minute……… before eating there was a sort of ceremony that needed to take place. You see the Missus's Grandparents had six daughters, and there are twelve symbols in the Chinese Zodiac. When the family had found out that everyone would be gathering together they wanted to do something special. The Missus's Sixth Uncle is the artistic one in the family, and his daughter, the youngest cousin, has been the recipient of those artistic genes, becoming an art teacher. Together they took the lead in designing beautiful commemorative tokens, twelve in all.

Through a formula that took in year of birth, generation, a limit of two per daughter's family, a recipient of each one was determined. And guess what? I was the only one born in the Year of the Tiger. Beautiful, isn't it? And very special since this my Ben Ming Nian (Zodiac Year of Birth 本命年)

Ready for the food?

The Missus enjoyed the green peppers with preserved duck eggs.

I realized that I just can't get enough jellied pork.

Right before taking this photo, I noticed a little hand dart out and grab one……

They learn about good food early on in this family……

Cousin Long Hui's son just couldn't get enough of the QingDao Guotie…..

Like I said…. I can't get enough of Jellied Pork…..

Sorry about the bad photo…. this was sea cucumber in broth…..

This was one of our favorites, a melt in your mouth, mildly cumin-ny flavored lamb, over a mildly spicy silken tofu.

This is another favorite of ours. Can you guess what it is?

Those were shredded mushrooms, which were deep-fried. Earthy and savory, they were delicious!

No meal would be complete without a whole fish.

And a noodle soup tops things off (except for the fruit plate, of course):

I'm stuffed just looking at the photos……

Meanwhile, the Missus and Long Hui were planning our next meal. Since Long Hui's son enjoyed the Guotie so much, we decided to pay a visit to Pi Chai Yuan before our next banquet. Suddenly energized, they also decided to go shopping after dinner! I was bushed, and decided to head back to the room and hibernate. I did manage to take a photo of the Oceanwide Elite Hotel.

Leave it to this family to start planning the next meal before the last one was finished! Stay tuned…..

In case you want to check out my previous ChingDao posts:

Post 1 – Lunch and Dinner at Fifth Aunt's

Post 2 – Morning in QingDao, Tianhou Temple, and Zhongshan Park

Post 3 – Our first visit to Pi Chai Yuan, and Banquet #1

Post 4 – St. Michael's Catholic Church and Banquet #2

Dinners with Friends – Revisits to Mariscos Los Koras and Halmouny (Hal Mu Ni), and some well wishes for Ed from Yuma….

June 23, 2010 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

I don't know if you can tell, but I've been in a bit of an "eating rutt" since returning from China, where every meal, good or bad, was at the least interesting. Since returning from our trip, I've been cooking at home a lot. Whenever I get into these dips, I can always count on my friends to help lift me up. And having a monthly "eating club" consisting of Candice, Howie, and Jenne, is a sure remedy. This month, Howie was in the mood for Mariscos, so it was……

Mariscos Los Koras:

**** Mariscos Los Koras is now Mariscos Altata

I've posted on Mariscos Los Koras before, this Nayarit styled seafood restaurant lies right off the I-805 Martket Street exit, sort of standing all by its lonesome. I'm fairly certain the very nice lady working here didn't quite know what to make of us. She did find out something fairly quickly…. we like to eat, as after placing our order, she moved the four of us to a larger table.

Howie wanted to taste the Aguachile, so we started with that.

The citrus cooked shrimp came out in a large molcajete, which I could barely budge. This place tends to make some pretty bracing cocteles, and this was no exception…. it was quite sour, but wasn't very spicy.

I've always wanted to try the Sarandeado (Grilled whole fish) at Los Koras, so what better chance than on this day, with Howie on hand?

The flavor of smoky mesquite permeated the fish, which I think was a bit under-cooked. It was moist though. Unfortunately, the largest fish on hand on this day was 1 1/2 pounds, and Howie can do that solo…..

Of course it comes with all the fixins', salsa, tortillas(which were refilled a coupla times), and beans…… beans that we all found quite good, very tasty, better tasting than beans should be….

Until Candice said, "I know why….. I just bit on a piece of pork."

A couple of years…. well sheesh, now nearly five years ago, I visited Ed in Yuma. And the one item I clearly remembered were the empanadas from Mariscos El Nayarita. So of course I couldn't help but get a couple of orders of Nayarit style Shrimp Empanadas, right?

These weren't bad, but were a far cry from those empanadas. While those were light… you could eat them by the dozen, and crisp, these were almost flakey, and filling as heck. One was more then enough.

Funny thing was, the item everyone enjoyed the best was the one item I didn't take a photo of. Mainly because you can see it on my previous post. It was the Filete Los Koras, that green sauce is fantastic. The flavors emanating from that sauce…….

Sharing food, laughter, and stories amongst friends is always a great time. Of course, a couple of Micheladas, that beer-lime juice-chili concoction, sure helps as well!

Mariscos Los Koras
4297 Market St
San Diego, CA 92102

Halmouny (Hal Mu Ni) with Ed from Yuma:

A couple of weeks back, Ed from Yuma rode into town. We managed to grab a bite at Halmouny. I broke out the camera, even though I've posted on the place a couple of times already. The new shop looks pretty nice, much better than the modified fast-food look of the previous location one door down.

Funny thing, I always thought Kabul Market was pretty large, but looking at the space since Halmouny took over, it really looks pretty small. Must be all the dividers.

The panchan were all the usual suspects, but done pretty well. Our favorites (gamja jorim) were refilled…..

Knowing what a pork lover Ed is, I ordered the Gul Bossam – steamed pork to be wrapped, in this case, with cabbage leaves.

I've had this a couple of times here, and I gotta say, this was best so far. On occasion the pork has tasted flat and bland. Today, it was mildy sweet, and, can I say it? Actually tasted like fatty pork. A nice dab of bean paste and some radish and oyster, wrapped up in the napa cabbage leaf, this was pretty darn good. There were several moments when Ed was pretty close to doing the "delici-yoso dance".

The Galbi Jjim was a different story.

This was totally different from what we had before. In fact, check out the photos in my previous post and compare. On the good side, the meat on the thick beef ribs were tender, and of course that egg…. well say no more. This dish lacked the tangy-beany savory flavor of the previous versions, and wasn't nearly as spicy. Which led me to believe that either some of the cooking staff or the recipe has been changed.

The service was friendly as usual, and I think Ed even revisited after this meal, and enjoyed himself. I'm thinking of checking this place out again soon…. i'm wondering how many of the other dishes have changed?

Halmouny
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

We'd like to send out get well soon wishes to Ed from Yuma:

Unfortunately, Ed from Yuma is out of action for a bit. He was working on a post for us when the accident occurred which makes me feel kinda bad…..

Rushing to finish a post, Ed's arm broke….

Damn, tripped up by a Dangling Participle…. those always get you! Seriously, Ed got tripped up in "some computer cords" and fell hard, resulting in a broken arm. Ouch! The good news is Ed is alright, and he did let me know that modern medicine is a wonderful thing. I'm also sure that Tina is taking good care of him. Lucky for Ed that it is his left, non-eating arm, otherwise he'd be sharing a bowl with Lucy.

We wish you a speedy and successful recovery Ed! Take it easy my friend.

What's the deal with the broken arms here…. a couple of years back Cathy breaks her arm, and now Ed. Wait a minute…. that means I'm next…. I think I'll go out and prophylactically get a full body cast…..

Thai Garden Restaurant (I think) next to Muang Lao Market #1

June 22, 2010 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants

**** Thai Garden Restaurant has closed

On a recent weekend morning, I was driving near Market and 47th, and decided to see what was up on the corner of Imperial and Market. That corner has housed a number of markets and small restaurants over the years with one thing in common; they were all Lao. Back in 2006, it was Vientiane Food to Go, a couple of years later Imperial Thai Cuisine. As I drove to that corner, I noticed that the place had been painted, and now housed a restaurant called Thai Garden, I think.

First thing I noticed as I entered was that even though the lay-out was the same, things looked bright and clean. A fresh coat of paint, some new tile, clean stainless, and paintings will do that to a place.

The menu consists of a couple of dishes written in English on a greaseboard. Like many of these places, I'm sure they make much more than this. The woman working behind the counter next to the greaseboard was hard at work. Directly opposite another woman was working in the "hot kitchen".

The lady behind the counter was friendly, if a bit cautious at first. But when I started asking about various dishes, and where she was from in Laos, she began to open up a bit.

Surprising her, I ordered the Beef Larb. "You know it is raw….." I assured her that enjoyed the stuff. "You like bitter….." To which I said, yes. This meant that in the true Lao style, beef bile was being added to the dish. "How spicy?" To which I replied, "Thai spicy is ok, but Lao spicy is too much." Which made her smile. "Sticky rice?" "Oh, yes, yes….."

And in a few minutes, a plate of Beef Larb appeared at my table.

Topped with mint leaves, and accompanied by really good long beans and fresh cucumber, this was not beginner's larb. The raw beef and tripe had been swimming in heady and heavy, salty fermented fish sauce and paste, which launched an immediate pungent attack. It was pretty salty, but not very spicy. I even munched on the chilies with minimal effect. There was a good amount of puckery bitterness courtesy of beef bile. The mint helped add another dimension to the dish. Looks light, but it's a pretty substantial dish.

Along with the sticky rice…….

This was very satisfying…….

The woman was rather pleased with my efforts, and brought me a plate, say "you try, you try, we make this here….." And proceeded to deliver a sausage to me.

This was pretty good sausage, not overly sour, with a good balanced flavor. The flavor of lemon grass and garlic came through well, and unlike the larb, it wasn't overly salty. The filling was perhaps a bit too dense, and the fat content too low, but I still enjoyed it. In fact, I bought a couple to go.

As I was leaving, the woman told me, "next time, order Khao Piak (Lao Rice Noodle Soup), not on menu, but it is very good." Which is how I usually start finding out and eating the "good stuff". I'll be back, and I hope this place does better then the previous couple of restaurants.

I'll say this much; it sure has been cleaned up.

Thai Garden Restaurant
110 47th St
San Diego, CA 92102

QingDao: St. Michael’s Catholic Church and Banquet #2

June 21, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, QingDao, Travel

On our second morning in QingDao we took a morning stroll up Zhejiang Lu. You can't really miss the twin spires and crosses of St. Michael's Catholic Church.

The Cathedral has quite a history, and you can read in this Wikipedia post. Over the last century, QingDao has been under the control of Germany (1898 – 1914), Japan (1914 – 1922), the Republic of China (1922 – 1938), back to Japan (1938 – 1945), the KMT (1945 – 1949) which allowed QingDao to serve as the headquarters of the Western Pacific Fleet. On June 2, 1949 the Red Army marched into QingDao.

The Cathedral itself was completed in 1934 by the Divine World Missionaries. The Mission Hall, built in 1902, and still standing, actually preceded the Cathedral.

Boy, the stories that hall could tell. During the Cultural Revolution, the Church was defaced, and the crosses, a landmark in a QingDao before all of the high-rises, were removed. You can read an eyewitness account here. According to Lonely Planet's China Guide, the crosses were saved by local Catholics and buried. In 2005 workmen found the crosses while repairing water pipes nearby.

Going past the Cathedral, we walked over to the hotel where The Missus's Second Aunt and two of Her cousins were staying. Waiting for us was a minibus, the destination? A visit to the Missus's Grandparent's grave site to pay respects. The Missus's Grandmother had a huge part in raising the Missus and Her older cousins, so this was an especially emotional moment for them. Their Grandmother was the Matriarch, of a Matriarchal family. The Missus Grandparent's had six daughters, those daughters had six daughters and one son…… so it's the women who shine brightest in this family….

One quick note about the drive to the cemetery and back. No sooner had the bus left the hotel, then the snacks were broken out, tomatoes (treated as a fruit in China), cucumbers, dried dates, you name it! God forbid anyone go hungry between breakfast and the banquet lunch that awaited us.

The Missus's Great Grandfather's family was from Liuting, the area near QingDao airport. According to the Missus's Aunts, this area has been known for pig trotter's, i.e. pig's feet, since the Qing Dynasty. So I guess that it was appropriate that we stopped for lunch in the area. According to the Missus's, Her Sixth Aunt took several trips to the area to search out the best pig's feet banquet. And the winner was……..

Liuting Fu Sheng Hotel. According to this "wiki", Fu Sheng pig trotter's are made from a secret recipe passed down for over 100 years. Sixth Aunt sure knows how to pick'em!

I had mentioned how nice it was to have the family together to the Missus. The Missus had responded with, "we're not complete yet, Yu Yu is not here yet. When she arrives, we'll be complete." It just so happens that Liuting is where the airport is located, and Yu Yu, Fifth Aunt's daughter had just arrived from Shanghai and met us here. Now the circle was completed.

And yes, there was nice gelatinous pig's feet, which I enjoyed……

But if that wasn't your thing……. maybe pig's tail would do the trick. A bit more chewy and crunchy, but perhaps with a bit more "wildness". The Missus preferred tail to trotters…..

And if this wasn't enough, there was crisp, and well flavored fried pork skin……

The fried skin, a sliver or two of scallion, a bit of the plum sauce, all wrapped in a paper thin crepe-like pancake…… As you can tell, this ain't "the other white meat".

And all is right in the world. And yet, beyond this pigfest, was something surprising. An item we both really enjoyed….. it was the giant Mantou (steamed bread), which looked strangely like a derriere.

The bread was slightly but not unpleasantly chewy, moist, with a good springiness and graced the table with a wonderful aroma. There was a slight sweetness that I noticed while chewing. I remember telling the Missus that this put mantou into a totally different light, and I'm going to have problems finding anything this good back home.

I didn't know until this hit the table that Tofu Lees, what I grew up calling "Okara" is big in Shandong cuisine, where it is called "Xiao Doufu".

And of course, it seemed that no meal in QingDao is complete without…..clams of course.

Other then the Ga La (clams)……

And the Jellyfish.

Most of the dishes focused on "mountain" ingredients. Including Vacation 2010 01 864 a savory and earthy mushroom soup.

One thing I noticed quite early on in our trip was the amount of raw vegetables that were being eaten. I'd always been told that Chinese didn't eat raw vegetables… one of the reasons being, that eating too many raw vegetables "cool" down and weaken your digestive system, etc, etc, etc…. The Missus told me that folks seem to be eating much more raw vegetables these days.

Cousin Yang Yi, Third Aunt's daughter, the one whose wedding celebration we had come for, got my attention. She pointed to the table……. she had noticed that I missed taking a photo of one of the dishes!

I loved this family……..

While lunch was winding down, Yu Yu guided me down the steps and into the shop in the lobby of the hotel so I could check out the mantou, and other stuff……

Soon enough we were off to our next destination…. and then dinner, which was to be another banquet!

Sunday Stuffs (from China edition): Guai Wei Can Dou (strange flavor broad beans 怪味蚕豆), Cumin Powder and an addition to “everything tastes better” in a Banh Mi, and other stuff……

June 20, 2010 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Cooking, yoso-silly

Call me strange….. flavored:

No, those aren't some turds laid on our dining room table by some strange insect…… it's my tri-weekly ration of Guai Wei Can Dou – strange flavored broad beans (or horse beans, or fava beans). For me this stuff is addicting…. the Missus has to lock these away.

On our first day in Nanjing, the Missus rushed to a snack vendor when She saw this……

I had a taste, and it was love at first bite! Guai Wei (strange flavor), is a flavoring unique to Sichuan province. This "strange flavor" is a combination of sweet-spicy-salty, and most of all, courtesy of a good amount of Sichuan Peppercorns; numbing. This version isn't like the package versions we had, it's also a bit chewy and sticky. I think the Missus bought a kilo (or two), and we had these during the rest of our trip.

So naturally, when we hit Chengdu, we went snack shopping. The Missus bought several varieties, two of each, one for us, and one for Her Dad.

So far, we've opened the first and third packages….. I prefer this one.

Of course, we've yet to open this package. While sharing a sample with friends of my MIL, I was asked what made this taste so good…… my reply, "I think it's the crack they add in at the end."

Even though I've seen some pseudo versions of these at the market, they don't look particularly enticing, so I think it'll be a sad day when this is gone. On the bright side, Fuchsia Dunlop has a recipe for Strange Flavor Peanuts in her book Land of Plenty. We may just have to try it out.

Ground Cumin from Sichuan:

To say this package of ground cumin is very fragrant is to say…. well…. let's put it this way: even when wrapped in plastic wrap, given its own ziploc bag, and riding solo in its own pocket…. at no time did I ever say to myself "hmmm, I wonder where that package of ground cumin is???" So naturally one of the first things I made when we got home was my Cumin Lamb (Zi Ran Yang Rou). Man, it came out so good that I've made it three times since.

So the Missus and I were having a light lunch at Cale Baguette Express, and while looking at my Banh Mi…..

And you know I always say "everything tastes better in a Banh Mi", right? So if it's good enough for Uni and Eggs, it'll be good enough for Cumin Lamb…..

So I went back in and bought one of their Baguettes ($1.25). I sauteed some red bell peppers and onions with minced garlic, cumin, soy sauce, and salt, which added sweetness and a mild crunch. I topped it off with cilantro leaves and sriracha. I gotta say, this was pretty darn good. Next up, cumin lamb tacos anyone????

More fun to come:

Along with all the wonderful tea, we brought back quite a few "gifts", like these wonderful dried mushrooms. A post on the dish I made with these is coming up.

And the wonderful, intensely fragrant 5-spice from QingDao.

Among other things……

It's going to be a fun couple of months….

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

QingDao: Our first visit to Pi Chai Yuan and Banquet #1

June 17, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, QingDao, Travel

After our visit to Zhongshan Park, we caught a bus back to Downtown QingDao. The Missus's Fifth Aunt had recommended we check out Pi Chai Yuan, a revamped food street located in downtown.

Basically an alleyway that cuts across a block on Zhongshan Lu, with another perpendicular alleyway bisecting it. Pi Chai Yuan hosts a number of small eateries.

Here you can find shops selling QingDao specialties like QingDao Guotie(pot sitckers), Lu Bao, and stands like this one selling……

One of the Missus's (and Her Mom's) favorite things…… Haw (Chinese Hawthorne 山楂) Jelly….

A taste of the Missus's childhood…. we came back on later visits to buy the "homemade" and a good half-dozen of those in packages suitable for bringing back to the states. The funny thing was, there seemed to be a cut-off age-wise as to who enjoys this and who doesn't. The Missus's younger cousins really don't like the stuff…… but those around the Missus' age love it.

The Guotie shop was doing some major business…… we'd be hitting that place on a future visit for sure.

While the Missus was buying up all the Haw in sight, I wandered into one of the courtyards, and watched this show for a spell….

And while there were many temptations, we knew there was a banquet on the horizon (actually four banquets in three days!), and had already decided to return when we could, we were looking for something filling yet light. So this shop seemed to fill the bill.

This little shop specialized in Won Ton Soup, with prices ranging from 5RMB for Veggie, Pork, or Three Treasures Won Ton Soup (that's about 75 cents), 6 RMB for Shrimp Won Ton Soup, and a whopping 7 RMB (about a buck) for Squid Qon Ton Soup!

As with all of these places….. you pay first!

While waiting the Missus ran out and got some Yang Rou Chuan (2 RMB each), since She saw the look in my eye when I passed the stand…..

Sorry to say, that even though these were well spiced, they lacked salt, weren't very gamey, and were quite tough.

Our Won Ton Soup however, was pretty easy to take.

The broth is mild and light, but there were a dozen won tons in each of our bowls…..

More than enough to fill us up.

All told, our lunch came out to 14 RMB, about two bucks……

As we walked out back to the street…….

We made plans to return, which we managed to do twice more during our stay in QingDao.

Soon enough, it was back to the street, and on yet another bus…. this time to meet the Missus's youngest cousin in QingDao's "new city", full of wide streets, huge hotels and resorts, business buildings, and skyscrapers….

And of course…. constant construction.

The Missus and Her cousin were headed to… where else, the mall, of course! After a shopping excursion, the three of us headed back to our hotel room, and after a short break, walked the couple of kilometers to the Hotel where the Missus's Second Aunt, and two cousins were staying. After a brief reunion at the hotel, we headed off to the banquet location, across the street.

Just a brief word on crossing the street in China, 1) Pedestrian's do not have the right of way, 2) Vehicles do not yield when making a right turn, 3) Now I know why Chinese like poker so much….. crossing the street, or driving itself seems to be a battle…….. whomever has the most nerve will win. 4) In the US, we try to minimize risk…. in China they seem to play the odds! Like Fifth Uncle said, "you look six ways, and listen eight". Apparently, Second Aunt was a bit worried that I may have problems crossing the street….. so walking of the curb, she grabbed my arm to make sure I made it ok! You gotta love family……

I smiled as I walked to the banquet room in the rear of the restaurant. No matter which country you live in……. you'll know this was a Chinese Restaurant.

As folks poured in the atmosphere got quite festive….. photos, laughter, conversation. We were seated in the traditional manner….. the older generation on one table, the younger on the other. The Missus is the oldest of cousins, though the next is only a month younger. I liked cousin "LH" from the first time I met her…. she has a carefree spirit, a great sense of humor, with a touch of outrageousness that is contagious. LH told the Missus that she enjoyed taking photos with me since, I'm "very slimming"…. Whenever she saw me taking photos of her, she would wave me over, telling me, "yes or no, yes or no…." Meaning she had first right of refusal on any photo I took….. I'd let her look at the photo, and if she approved ("yes") I'd move on… if not ("no"), the photo was deleted.

Now on to the food. First off, I only got shots of fourteen courses…. later on, I'd have help, everyone would make sure that I got my photos of the food! LH, "I dare not touch the food until 柯克 (my name in Chinese according to youngest cousin) takes his photo!" he-he-he……

You have to understand that we had four banquets in three days! If I went over every dish…. well, if you thought my three part post on Urasawa was long! I'll just go over the dishes we found the most delicious and/or interesting. Other then that, it's mostly photos.

Check out the papaya stuffed with almond jelly in the background…..

The braised bean curd was quite flavorful.

Who doesn't love deep fried pork chops…..

Check out the minced meat to be folded into the pancakes……

It was a delicious combination of sweet soy flavored pork belly mixed with this……

In Chinese this is called "Hai Chang" (海肠), literally "sea intestine" according to this site, it's also called "sea earthworm". My friends in Hawaii used to call it a "living poop shoot", a pest who messed up crab nets, here it's what's for dinner. It did add a nice slightly crunchy counter-point to the tender braised pork. As to taste, I'm not sure I could make out anything beyond the sweet-salty-porky flavor.

These "lamb pockets" were also delicious…….

Youngest cousin clapped her hands in joy when the Durian Pastry arrived.

Everyone got an individual dish with a quail egg and sea cucumber. This was the only steamed rice I had in QingDao, Beijing, or Jinan.

Surprisingly, I didn't miss rice at all…..

Man, this was some meal! But beyond the food, I was so delighted in the smooth and effortless way in which I was invited into this family…… The Missus had always said that folks "up North" are "straight-forward, but also friendly, generous, and fun." And She couldn't have been more correct. We rolled on out, and even though folks wanted to us to catch a cab, we decided to bus it back to the hotel, and in what would become a tradition, take a after dinner stroll to help us digest, both the meal and the moments we shared during the day.