December 2010 – Page 2

Grand China in Yuma

December 14, 2010 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Interested in Chinese food in Yuma? Since Kirk and Cathy need some time off around the holidays, today ed (from Yuma) is posting about a new Chinese eatery in an old location.

Yuma Palace is now in this location; there is no buffet, but the food seems better than Yuma standard.

When I moved to Yuma full-time, about 10 years ago, the town had a lot of Chinese restaurants: Chef Lee's, China Boy, Gene's, Tai-San, Bamboo Garden, Fortune Cookie, Mandarin Palace, and Yummy Yummy. Today, every one of these restaurants is out of business, except my favorite, Yummy Yummy, a tiny Mexicali style Cantonese place that looks seedy and generally cooks simple Cantonese food well.

What's more, a number of huge buffets featuring allegedly "Chinese" food have also come and gone: The Hong Kong Buffet, The China Buffet, and two locations of Mr. Lu's. Even the largest fanciest Chinese restaurant in town, Mandarin Palace, became a buffet:

In 2008, with Chinese buffets collapsing left and right, Mandarin Palace decided to go back to preparing dinners off a menu, and I began taking pictures to do a post on it:

I was halfway through writing the post when Mandarin Palace became a full-time buffet again, and I lost interest and lost heart.

After being closed this summer, Mandarin Palace has been reincarnated with new ownership as Grand China:

It still has a full-time buffet with many of the usual suspects ($7.25 for lunch):

a nice selections of salads (I love asparagus salad and seaweed salad):
and some actually edible sushi rolls:
Most of the buffet items are pretty standard, but I was surprised to find a spicy hot cold baby octopus salad one lunchtime. Pepper flakes and diced fresh chilies packed a punch. The octopus chew contrasted well with the celery crunch:

Finding a take-out menu, I saw that the restaurant also cooked dishes to order, and I noticed that they served something called "Peking Duck," priced at $26.95. That sounded like the perfect thing for Tina's birthday, so I called a day in advance (as the menu advised) and showed up for dinner not sure what we were going to get.

The first thing to arrive at our table — not counting stiff cocktails from the bar — was an order of mixed vegetables, called Buddha's Delight on the menu ($8.50):

While not earth shattering, of course, the vegetables were well-prepared. All were crispy tender and the light sauce stayed in the background where it belonged.

The duck showed up on a platter surrounded by shrimp chips:
It came with little pancakes, a slightly sweet and savory duck sauce, and shredded scallions and celery:

We chuckled as we rolled up duck and complements in our Chinese tortillas. One taste, however, and we knew that we were not having burritos de pato.

While not exactly Peking duck, this was certainly the best roast duck I had ever eaten in Yuma — even counting the ones that I had driven back from San Diego. The flesh was moist and tender, and the skin was tasty if not crunchy crisp. Good ducky flavors, not overly gamy. Tina was delighted and surprised and has mentioned several times how much she enjoyed the dinner.

But before I felt I could do a post, I wanted to see if Grand China could prepare take out well as well. I ordered two of my old favorites from Mandarin Palace, so I could have a better comparison of this place and its predecessor.

Here's the shrimp and lobster sauce:

Overall I liked the dish. The numerous bamboo shoots pleased me, and they along with the water chestnuts provided a nice texture contrast to the softer peas and carrots. Diced Peapod accented the garden pea taste. The shrimp were well-prepared, still somewhat moist and fresh tasting. Not badly overcooked like so many other Chinese restaurant shrimp in Yuma. I was also impressed that the restaurant used some seafood stock in the preparation, giving the whole dish the flavor of the sea.

I also ordered Twice Cooked Pork, another favorite of mine:

Again I was pleased. Extensive chili flakes provided good spicy heat. I was also happy to find the dish was made with roast pork — since it is common in Yuma to use barbecued pork in this dish. The pork came with chopped American cabbage, peapods, mushrooms, and diced red and green peppers. I liked the mix of veggies, but they were slightly overcooked, just a bit softer than I prefer.

All in all, Grand China makes a worthy successor to Mandarin Palace. I like the convenience of the buffet, and they can prepare good Mandarin style Chinese food for American tastes.

Now let's hope they stay in business for a while.

Grand China, 350 E. 32nd St, Yuma, AZ 85364. 928-344-2805. Open daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Madison – Lao Laan-Xang (Williamson St location)

December 13, 2010 mmm-yoso Lao Restaurants, Madison, Wisconsin, Thai Restaurants, Travel

**** This location of Lao Laan-Xang has closed

One of the restaurants I had on my list from my previous visit to Madison was Lao Laan-Xang. Though it seems that many regard Lao Laan-Xang as a Thai Restaurant(and the sign does say Laotian Cuisine), the Owners are Lao, and there were more than few Lao style dishes on the menu…… and it had been a while since I've had good Lao food. Luckily, the weather had cleared by my last evening in Madison, and I was able to head down to the Williamson Street location of Lao Laan-Xang.

The tiny, but very warm and welcoming shop brought back memories of my first experience with Thai Food at the tiny Keo's on Kapahulu Boulevard back in the very early 80's. Keo's has of course gone to greater things, but my memories of that tiny but welcoming restaurant stay dear to my heart. This was before the great Thai food boom, and indeed I recall when I told one of my dates that we were going for "Thai Food", she asked me if "this was a chicken place?" (Thigh food, got it?) Which had me laughing the whole evening……. it was also on that very evening we saw a very petite woman with big hair and big…. ummm….well, anyway it turned out to be Dolly Parton. On another night, I spied Steve Perry from Journey having dinner there. And though this dining room would never reach the orchid filled heights of Keo's, there was something cozy that just reminded me of that place.

And amongst the Crab Rangoon, Fried Rice, and Curries, there were two of my favorite Lao dishes. The first was hard to find since it was under it's Thai name of Khao Tod Nam Som…. but there it was, what I call one of my "Death Row Dishes" – Nam Khao ($9.50):

Before I continue, let me apologize for the photos. It get's pretty dark on "The Willy" at night. This version of Nam Khao was not bad, but lacked the amount of crunchiness I enjoy. Also, it was less sour, lacking that fermented sourness I enjoy. Still this was ok, I've had worse, though it was miles behind the versions I've had at Aisa Cafe, Vientiane Restaurant in Garden Grove, and not even close to what I had in Vientiane…. as in Vientiane, Laos. It was also fairly pricey, about 30% more than what you'd pay in San Diego.

I also ordered the Mok Pa ($15.99), with some reservations, as the only decent version I had of this dish was at Vietiane in Garden Grove. But this was very good.

I had learned how to make this dish after taking a cooking class at Tamarind Cooking School in Luang Prabang, and loved the complex flavors so much that I've made this at home, though I end up steaming it rather than grilling it. This dish did not disappoint; the fish was wonderfully moist and tender, but not over-cooked, and did not have any muddy flavor at all. The flavor of dill was there, adding that refreshing clean taste without over-powering the dish. The lindering flavors of the herbs was excellent. The portion size was quite large, almost enough for two.

About the only thing not very good about the whole meal was the very low quality of the sticky rice. It was off-white and I bit into some terribly hard pieces of rice. i'm thinking it must be pretty hard to get good quality sticky rice in Madison.

I won't go into the bland steamed "gringo" vegetables, because heck, this happens everywhere in San Diego as well.

We received good service, our Server was friendly, and our waters were refilled. The food was quite good, so I'll surely be headed back here the next time I'm in Madison.

Lao Laan-Xang
1146 Williamson St
Madison, WI 53703

Convoy Yakitori Story Part 2 – Yokohama Yakitori Koubou

December 12, 2010 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Seeing that I'd spent so much time tracking the opening of Yakitori Koubou, I really don't know why it took me so long to visit the place. I finally got my act together, and along with FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice paid Koubou a visit.

The place looks pretty big from the outside, but much like Tsuruhashi next door, the place is relatively small with a bar area, and a few tables near the East wall.

The menu has the Yakitori "standards", but also a few other items which Yakyudori doesn't have.

We decided to order a couple of items for comparison and a few other things that caught our fancy.

As Dennis noted in his post on Koubou (please check it out here), a shot of milk is served before alcoholic beverages to help prevent the ravages of over-indulgence.

We started with an order of Torisenbei – basically chicken flavored chips/crackers.

These were surpringly low with regards to chicken flavor, and I felt were kind of oily.

Even though the Gyu-tan (Beef Tongue) seemed priced on the high side at almost four bucks a skewer….. we couldn't resist ordering them.

As I noted in previous posts, I like a thinner cut with a bit of charring around the edges. This was cut very thick, lacked flavor, and was on the tough side. I also found the flavor imparted from the Binchotan here to be a lot milder than at Yakyudori….. if you find Yakyudori's flavors to run too intense (which I do not) perhaps this will be more to your liking.

It would be crime if I didn't order the Kawa Ponzu – Chicken skin salad:

We started noticing something as this dish arrived…… the portion sizes seemed a bit larger than what I've grown accustomed to at Yakitori/Robatayaki places. The chicken skin was chopped into rather thick un-uniformed pieces, and not enough ponzu was used, making this dish pretty weak with regards to flavor.

The Buta-shiso was also a non-starter for us.

Even though it looked nice and moist, it was pretty dry and on the tough side.

The Tsukune was not bad.

As Dennis noted, the chicken is ground coarser at Koubou, versus the mousse like texture of the Tsukune at Yakyudori, not necessarily a bad thing. The tare here is still very mild, and I think the exterior could have been grilled a bit more to add another dimension of texture to this.

After this, we moved on to a couple of different menu items.

Our favorite of the night by far was the Nankotsu Piri Karaage (Spice deep fried chicken cartilage):

These were fried right….. good crunch on crunch action here along with mild spice and a touch of saltiness. I usually like a cartilage chopped into pieces a bit more substantial than these. There were times I felt I was eating deep fried chicken gizzards….. Good beer food.

Candice had seen Tendon Stew on the specials board…… 'nuff said.

Not much tendon….. mostly tough meat…..

I had high hopes for the Tebakara.

These lacked the crispness I enjoy in these type of wings. When dipped and served right away, there's usually a good amount of crackle still there, but not in this case. The weak tare was also in display here…… it obviously needs a bit more time to ripen.

When eating at a Yakitori place, I usually end my meal with something substantial…. Chazuke, Natto Gohan, and the like. We decided to check out the Natto Omelet.

The omelet itself was a fairly hefty affair. The egg was nice and fluffy, but sorely in need of some additional flavor because the natto sure didn't do it. Sure, the filling was natto-slimy, but the wonderful flavor of the natto was almost non-existent.

Since Koubou just opened a few months ago, I think I'll give them a pass on this one. Along with the tare, the cooking techniques and flavoring seems a bit "raw", so I'll try them in a couple of months to see if things improve.

Yokohama Yakitori Koubou
3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Madison – Sprecher’s Restaurant and Pub

December 10, 2010 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Beer, Madison, Wisconsin, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

*** Sprecher's has closed

In an email before my trip to Madison, Cathy reminded me to be careful, since it seemed that there was always something happening on every other trip we've taken….. Earthquake before our trip to Peru, riots before our trip to Thailand, and of course, having to fly through an eerie Mexico City Airport on the way back from Guatemala right when the 2009 Swine Flu Pandemic broke. Between those trips we visited Vietnam/Cambodia, I travelled to Madison, and of course our trip to China. So I guess I was due……..

It wasn't anything too bad, just the strongest storm ever recorded in the Midwest. The rain and 60-70mph winds discouraged me from driving, so we decided to stick close to the hotel. A couple of those restaurants on my list would just have to wait until next time. Still, I really didn't see myself going all the way to Madison and eating at Denny's. On my first evening in Madison, during my drive back to the hotel, I noticed a pretty busy looking restaurant/bar, and the folks exiting looked local, not like folks from all the hotels in the area. The name of the place was Sprecher's, which I later found out is the same as that of a very well known Milwaukee County Brewery of the same name. According to the story, Sprecher Brewery was founded by Randal Sprecher who is originally from….. California. Sprecher had a degree in oceanography, but was unable to pursue a career in that field due to a little problem…… he got seasick! Don't know if it's true, but it's a nice story.

After making our way from the freezing parking lot we entered the dining area which looked like a Bavarian themed Rock Bottom, or something of the sort. The menu really didn't thrill me much either with items like Thai Lettuce Wraps, Crab Cakes, Seared Tuna, and Cajun Pasta on the menu. Until I found a couple of items more befitting of a place called Sprecher's.

The beer list was a bit more interesting. And I noticed that "tasters" were offered at three for $4.50 and six for $9. So I thought I'd go for the six, after all, I had envisioned 2-3 ounce pours…. but what I received seemed to be much larger than that.

Our server, named Anna was a joy…. efficient and cheerful, I had her choose my six beers, which she had arranged for me, from light to dark. She had also taken the time to list each beer in order by hand. Anna told me that they used to have print-outs for folks ordering the sampler but stopped doing that a while ago, she thought I'd like to know and remember what I was drinking.

This is the El Rey, a very effervescent Mexican Ale. My favorite was the Abbey, slightly fruity, perhaps edging on the sweet, but I enjoyed it.

If you've read my previous posts on Madison, you'll have a pretty good idea of what I was having as a starter….. it's Deep Fried Cheese Curds ($7) of course!

As Fried Cheese Curds go, these were just ok. Not even close in flavor or texture to those at the Old Fashioned, but serviceable. More gooey and stringy then other versions I've had.

And just because I'm so predictable, of course I had the Sprecher's Brat with Beer Cheese Potatoes ($9):

This was just ok, and really tasted like concept brew pub food, being very corporate in presentation and flavor. The brat really didn't catch my attention, and it was covered with a load of flavors….whole grain mustard and sauerkraut I can take, but the caramelized onions with what seemed to be bacon was a bit much. I really couldn't taste much beeriness in the beer cheese potatoes, in fact it was pretty bland as a whole.

Perhaps in the end, the corporate chain-like food didn't impress me very much; but the service was excellent, the prices not bad, and I really enjoyed the company. It sure beat being out in the wind and the rain.

Sprecher's Restaurant & Pub
1265 John Q Hammons Road
Madison, WI 53717

Convoy Yakitori Story Part 1: Yakyudori Ramen & Yakitori

December 9, 2010 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

I'd gotten so many requests for a Yakyudori Yakitori post, but through pure laziness, I just kept collecting photos. Finally, I thought I'd better just go ahead and get it done. As a bonus, I was able to join my good FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice for a meal at Yokohama Yakitori Koubou….. after all, I'd been keeping track of the progress of the restaurant while it was being built. I had so many photos, that I first decided to keep it to about 40, but then, it just seemed so much, that I decided to make this into a two part post….so my apologies ahead of time, I'll try to keep the verbiage to a minimum.

Part 1 Yakyudori Ramen & Yakitori:

Yakyudori has really become quite popular, and with good reason, as many of the items are quite good. I've made it a habit of visiting on Sunday or Monday evenings….. recently they've starting serving Yakitori at 530, so finding the place this empty is quite a rarity.

I like the menu at Yakyudori, it has some variance from ramen, which I've covered before to Chazuke as a way of finishing your meal and filling up. The prices for Yakitori may seem high, but that's because everything is priced at a "two skewer" level. And even though it clearly states that there is a two skewer item minimum for each item ordered, it was made clear early on in my visits that you can order just a single skewer of any item.

A must try item whenever I see it on the menu is Kawa Ponzu. Sliced chicken skin topped with sliced green onions and ponzu sauce.

This version has a nice sprinkling of togarashi to add a mild hint of spice. The amount of ponzu is good, and the chicken skin is sliced into nice uniform thin strips. I enjoy this version.

One item I'm not a big fan of at Yakyudori is one of my favorite dishes; Chicken Karaage.

While I enjoy the mayo-shoyu provided; the two times I've tried the Chicken Karaage the flavor seemed too ginger heavy for my tastes. I also prefer the Karaage I eat in restaurants to be lighter and more crisp than the version here.

I know you're asking….well what about stuff from the Yakitori menu? First off, I appreciate the use of Binchotan, the fragrant, hot burning charcoal. So let's go down the list, beginning with Gyu-tan, beef tongue:

I prefer my beef tongue sliced a bit thinner, and charred around the edges. The first piece on the skewer was perfect, a crisp perimeter, chewy near the center, full of smokey bicho flavor. The other pieces were decent, but not as good as that first slice.

It seems that the latest "hot item" in produce this year is Shishito, something we've been eating as long as I can remember. Though my favorite way of eating Shishito is as tempura, with perhaps some matcha shio, I also enjoy it grilled.

I think these could have been grilled a bit longer. I do enjoy Yakyudori's "Tare", the shoyu-mirin based basting sauce used for Yakitori/Robatayaki. The version here is less sweet than many others I've had, but has some complexity.

One of my favorite items here is the Buta-Shiso:

Basically pork rolled around shiso. The times I've had this, I really enjoyed it. I could make out the mint-anise hints of the shiso, a problem with versions of this I've had elsewhere. The pork itself, betrayed its' "other white meat" heritage, and was fairly moist, and the smokey flavors of binchotan really does well with pork.

The Tsukune at Yakyudori is also excellent, if a bit on the rich side.

Instead of the usual course ground chicken meatball…… in this case the chicken has been worked into almost a mousse. The exterior, touched by the charcoal adds a crisp counter-point. Here you can really make out Yakyudori's Tare. At times, it does seem a bit too rich and filling for me, but is hard to resist.

Where Sasami (chicken breast) can be a downfall for many Yakitori shops, here it is moist and with a line of ume based sauce very light and tasty.

I love the combination of flavors presetned in the Gyu-Oroshi.

While it could be argued that the beef is lost under all of these flavors, I appreci ate the combination of textures.I also enjoy that the daikon is almost finely julienned rather than grated into pulp, this reduces the amount of astringency, while still adding a wonderful crunch. Ponzu, green onion, and daikon is a wonderful combination of flavors. And I believe that the beef toothsome yet not tough has had tare applied ot it, since I catch a bit of sweetness as well.

Of course, if you know me, chicken wings are a must.

And while there's a lot to appreciate about these simply seasoned and grilled wings……. they are stretched and splayed on the skewer maximizing surface area, thus ensuring a good amount of skin exposed to the charcoal. I enjoy the Tebashio at Izakaya Sakura, and think the Tebasaki at Raku more. The two times I've had these, the crispness of the skin left something to be desired, and there just wasn't enough salt for my tastes. Adding on salt after the grilling is done just won't do it for me either. For now, I'll just stick to making it at home on my own Hida Konro.

The simple Momo (Chicken Thigh) was fine.

Nice bincho flavor, decent salt, good chicken flavor.

The Asparagus Bacon……

Was nice, though I think the bacon could have been grilled a bit longer.

On every visit, I will usually get the Ninniku.

Or the entire head of roasted garlic…… This is roasted garlic, sweet, with a hint of bitterness because of the roasting style. I love this with a touch of salt. When I was a child, my mother used to pan fry cloves of garlic after doing a saute or pan frying meat. Though that garlic was much more bitter and hard; this brought back nice memories.

The Negima (Chicken thigh with green onion) wasn't bad.

But I thought it could have used a bit more time on the grill.

The Eringei (King Oyster Mushroom) was grilled well.

Coated with just a touch of the tare; I didn't think this was anything special either since I often grill King Oyster Mushrooms at home.

Whew, that's a bunch, huh? Actually it's just a part of all the photos I have from Yakyudori. Due to the length of the post, I'm going to stop after one last item. There is one thing I must have to finish up my Yakitori visits to Yakyudori; it the Natto Gohan – Natto Rice:

For some reason, the way Yakyudori prepares the natto, the combination of flavors used strikes a real note with me….. it brings me back "home".

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Rodeo Road Trip – NFR 2010, Las Vegas (Great breakfast at Egg Works)

December 7, 2010 Cathy Las Vegas, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is not only about food and meals, but how we got to find that food to enjoy those meals. Today, Cathy writes about her latest adventure.

So. It's time for my annual mini vacation to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Ms. T and I left early Sunday. Soon we were at State Line.

In another 30 minutes, we were at the hotel.
…with the beautiful decorated tree in the lobby...
the outdoor 'beach' pool area…

and very large exercise room, right next to a heated outdoor lap pool.
Which was an amenity we needed to use, after we hit the Buffet for dinner.

The next morning, we needed to get to the airport (to go to Customs and Border Protection for Trusted Traveler Program paperwork completion) and were looking for breakfast.
Egg Works. At the SouthEast Corner of the airport. (Sunset at Southeastern). Hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Seven television sets, free wifi, a coffee cup at every place setting. Breakfast and lunches. Owned by people who own The Egg and I (a restaurant I used to go to when growing up in Detroit-the first restaurant that sent us Birthday Club Cards, the first place my parents remember getting a thermal pot of coffee left at the table… a Midwestern chain which makes and serves Cincy Chili) That black egg face flips to become yellow and is a signal for any passing waitress that you would like their attention.
You get a choice of toast or home made banana nut muffin with your breakfast. The muffin comes out *hot* from the oven.
Pure, simple. real banana and more nuts than in this photo. Really good. People buy loaves To Go of this banana bread.
Ms. T ordered the chalkboard special Northern California Omelette ($9.25) Four eggs, chicken, broccoli and mushrooms, topped with a cheese-Hollandaise-like sauce. Fresh and filling and good. It came with a side of Works potatoes and the toast.

I ordered the Home Made Corned Beef Skillet ($9.95). Really meaty corned beef hash, made with green peppers and onions and potatoes, topped with two poached eggs. Excellent. If you are in Las Vegas, this is the place to have a very good sit down breakfast. There are three locations.
By 5 p.m., we were parked and ready to go inside to see the National Finals Rodeo- the World Series of Rodeos. The top 15 Cowboys in the world of each of seven events competeing for ten days in a row to determine the World Champions.

The women who control horses to race around three barrels as quickly as possible.

The men who control a horse and rope a steer in as little time as possible (three different events): Or the men who stay on a bucking animal for at least eight seconds.

Long Live Cowboys. Athletes.

The tenth and final day of NFR is this Saturday, the 11th. It is shown live and rerun on ESPN daily.

Egg Works 2490 East Sunset Road Las Vegas 89120, 9355 West Flamingo Las Vegas 89147
Egg &I 4533 West Sahara Las Vegas 89102 Website

Green Valley Ranch Resort Website

National Finals Rodeo Website

Road Trip: Lu Dumpling House – Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

December 6, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

We had passed Lu Dumpling House, the newest shop opened up by the folks who own Mama's Lu. The shop is just a couple of blocks from Mama's Lu, which we found to be a bit strange…… but reasoning would become clear in short form.

We noticed how tiny this shop was when we first entered……

But all was answered when the side door was opened, and we caught the fragrances and saw the small army of people making dumplings. this place was doing some pretty brisk take-out business, both in cooked and frozen items.

We aren't big fans of Mama's Lu Xiao Long Bao, so we went with other items this time around.

We started with the Shengjian Bao.

These looked good, and when cut in half the fragrance of the filling was nice…. but these never delivered. It was much too bready and the Missus thought the dough too sweet. The filling was tragically dry and in spite of the fragrance, very bland.

The Pork and Fennel (actually Dill) Jiaozi were much better.

Though I'm not a big fan of the wrappers….the dough seemed to be over-mixed and was on the tough side, I enjoyed the fillings for these Jiaozi. Dill fragrant, but not overpowered by the herb, the mixture had quite a bit of meat. The filling was very light, maybe not as light as the mousse like filling at Lucious Dumplings, but quite good. The Missus wished for more dill, but I thought the flavor well balanced.

The standard Pork and Napa Cabbage Jiaozi were also good.

Like the Pork and Fennel Dumplings, the ratio of meat to vegetable was quite high. The flavor was very mild, but very light.

I enjoyed the Shrimp, Pumpkin, and Pork Dumplings much more than the Missus did.

The flavor of the shrimp really came through in these, but the Missus thought the filling too sweet for Her tastes, and She prefers that the pumpkin not be mashed into a paste. Each dumpling had a whole small shrimp in them.

We both thought the way the dumplings were fried did not do them justice…… it almost seemed that not enough oil was used, giving the Jiaozi wrappers the texture like that of really cheap frozen gyoza, more gummy than crisp.

Having six Jiaozi per order was nice since you could order and try several different fillings. Don't let the $2.99 – $4.99 price fool you though. Getting a dozen could run you $7 or more.

In the end, we may be back since we both enjoyed the Pork and Fennel Dumplings. The fillings are nice and light, and the ratio of meat to vegetable is pretty high. Service is decent, and the women working on this day all mainly spoke English, making this a very unintimidating place to eat.

Lu Dumpling House
330 N Garfield Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Open: Mon-Sat 9 am – 6 pm
Closed on Sundays

Sunday Stuffs – Convoy Noodle House, Homestyle Hawaiian, and more…..

December 5, 2010 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Pho, Plate Lunch, Sushi and Sashimi, Vietnamese Restaurants

In case you’ve been wondering what’s been going on here…….. I’ve been having some problems with Internet access and such over the last couple of days. Luckily, as always, Cathy has been able to help me out. Because of the spotty access, it’s hard for me to do a “real” in depth post, since I usually just sit down and start typing things out. This one actually took three days off and on, fits and starts, blah, blah, blah……. It started thinking I could get things done on Friday for Saturday…then Saturday….and finally it’s Sunday. I hope to have everything back on course tomorrow…… So here goes, just a couple of real short items for this Sunday……

Even after all the new Pho shops have opened in the Clairemont/Kearney Mesa area, Convoy Noodle House still stands as my favorite overall in the area especially when it comes to the the broth, which has a more robust anise-clove-beef flavor.

After years of thinking I’d get some decent rare steak (even on the side), I’ve learned that the “tao of dry top round” is almost universal in San Diego, and stick with a brisket-tendon-flank combination.

I was a bit disappointed to that they told me they were out of Ngo Gai……. Still, in terms of flavor, this was as good as I’ve gotten in the area in a while.

**** Convoy Noodle House has closed

Convoy Noodle House
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Recently, I dropped by Homestyle Hawaiian…. and Mo told me to try one of the new “specials”….. the Roast Pork Loco Moco. ($8.95)

I’m not quite sure what to say other than…… this was an immense amount of food…. four large slices of roast pork, was enough for maybe three or four people in my opinion. The pork was moist, but I wished for more of the nicely flavored edges. This was too much of a good thing. I asked Mo if anyone had ever finished this, and he told me, “all the time!” You gotta remember that this has the equivalent of three scoops of rice (rice is hidden under the pork and gravy), and a scoop of Mac Salad. The gravy makes this version of the loco moco work, and it’s a very decent version….. still, I want to know who has actually finished this dish. Mo told me that he’s working on a loco moco “challenge”….. I can only imagine…..

Homestyle Hawaiian Island Style Food
7524 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Thanks so much for your patience……I’m hoping to have everything resolved soon….and I do realize that I need to finish up my China posts….after all I can’t let photos like this:

or even these…..

Go to waste, right?

Pupuseria Salvadoreña & Mexican Food (a re-visit)

December 4, 2010 Cathy Salvadoran Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

This is mmm-yoso!!! A food blog. Today, Cathy is writing about a meal she had. At a place she has written about already. Because she can. Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are out and about, doing other things.

Hi. I wrote about Salvadoreña almost a year and a half ago but had been coming here for years before I ever posted and have been here quite a few times since. I thought I'd do an update.
It's in the same location. Across from the El Cajon Harbor Freight Tools.
The interior, including the menu, has not changed.
The pupusas are made to order. You can hear the ladies in the back, slapping the dough just before cooking. The tomato sauce and curtido (Salvadoreañean Kimchee) are brought out to the table with the pupusas.
12:00-queso(cheese), 3:00-pollo (chicken), 6:00-papa(potato), 9:00- frijole(bean)

Here is a close up of the fresh curtido-you can see the finely sliced jalapeño at 3:00. The cabbage, mild onion and carrots are crispy and so fresh. It is lightly marinated and very complimentary to the pupusas.
We also got the Yuca Frita plate. A lightly battered and fried yuca – commonly called a cassava (it has potato flavor and texture; starchy)topped with some pieces of puerco (fried pork…carnita-like) and served with curtido, some sliced vegetables and a wedge of lime.

Oh. What I really meant by it hasn't changed- pupusas are still $1.75 each, the fried yuca plate is still $4.99. We shared a small Jamaica beverage, $1.75 and were asked if we wanted ice or not. I really appreciate consistency. You'll like it here. (The Mexican food is really good, with fresh made tortillas.)

Pupuseria Salvadoreña 1207 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619) 447-2501 Mon-Sat 9-9, Sun 10-9

How To- Peel a pomegranate, Cook bacon, Make kale chips and a sweet-ish snack

December 3, 2010 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. This episode will be hosted by Cathy. Because Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are not available to host.

Hi again. The Mister and I eat and cook at home, we don't always go out. I thought I would show you a few ways we work around the kitchen.
The humble pomegranate. In season now. You can purchase for about a dollar everywhere. It has a thick shell-like skin, membranes inside, which host a maze of juicy, flavorful seeds, called arils. The fruit/its juice is said to be a powerful antioxidant. However, the juice directly from the fruit stains clothes, furniture and your hands. To prevent this from happening,
get a large bowl or pot and fill it with water at least 3/4 of the way. So that you can put your hands in the water with the fruit and water won't overflow. Start to break the shell underwater(you can score it with a knife). Break the fruit up, without disturbing the arils/seeds. Start to peel the membrane away from the seeds, keeping the fruit-and your hands-
underwater the whole time. The seeds fall to the bottom. The membrane floats. It's physics. Remove shell/skin and membranes, drain and you have perfect pomegranate seeds! You eat the arils raw this way or make juice and strain the seed pulp out. Straining the fine seeds is much more work, and why you pay dearly for pomegranate juice items.

Bacon seems to be difficult for some people to cook. Really, it is simple and not messy. Line a cookie sheet-the kind with all sides raised- with a piece of foil and place pieces of raw bacon, not touching, on the foil. Bake in a 350° oven. If the bacon is thick, turn it after 20 minutes and bake about ten minutes more. If it is thin bacon, bake without turning for about 25 minutes.

You can see the bacon shrinks, but there is no spatter in the oven (or even onto the cookie sheet). Easy cleanup. (It is this foamy when you first take it out of the hot oven. Our parents told us that's how you know it is done cooking.) (These are the same pieces, which have been turned during cooking, in both photos)

The Farmer's Market Bag from Specialty Produce a few weeks ago was interesting. That yellow thing in the second photo is a citron, commonly called a Buddha's Hand. Yes, the bottom right corner of the second photo are purple potatoes. Everything in this bag was something we liked and could use to supplement our meals at home. Except it had been really hot and the kale (at the top in the 2nd photo) which I would normally use in a soup, was not going to happen, since we had had three days of temperatures hitting 100° out here. Kale is said to be an antioxidant and highly nutritious also, like the pomegranate. I decided to make kale chips.

I tore the kale into bite size pieces and placed in a bowl, topping it with olive oil,salt and pepper and tossing until all the kale was coated (that bunch in the photo made two batches- both for the bowl and for the cookie sheet). Place the pieces not touching on the cookie sheet.

I baked at 350° for 15-20 minutes, checking that the kale is crispy before removing.

I hope everyone is having a good day.

Oh. The Buddha's Hand was sliced (you can eat the pith and there is no juicy center) in about 1/4 inch pieces and boiled, on low heat, in 2 cups of water with 2 cups of sugar for about 2 hours until the liquid was almost gone. The pieces placed in a pan of sugar, coating on both sides and placed in the refrigerator. A tart and sweet snack treat!

I hope everyone is having a non-hectic month!