mmm-yoso – Page 312

Nam An Vietnamese Restaurant – A first look

August 7, 2011 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

*** Nam An has closed

I'm not sure why; but for some reason I'd been drawn to the "coming soon" sign in Plaza del Sol for some time. I really have no explanation for it……..but something told me that this place wasn't going to be your typical Pho or Mi joint. A couple of weeks ago, I'd heard about a place opening on Convoy that made their own Banh Pho from scratch and thought "well that's nice…….". Visions of great possibilities doused by poorly a executed concept, a la Mignon Pho came to mind, so I tempered my expectations a bit. Still, it seemed like eons before I saw the Grand Opening sign for Nam An.

Unfortunately, I'd already eaten lunch and was headed to Chicago/Madison the next day. And things had been kinda "blah" for me foodwise since we returned from vacation. This time the blahs seemed to be hanging on a bit longer than usual….so I wasn't really too excited about another Pho shop in the area. Until…….. I received a text from "Yummy Yummy" about eating at Nam An. In the text she mentioned one specific dish. This got me pretty excited about coming back…..

It would be a while until I was able to free up some time for a visit to Nam An. My timing, however would be quite fortuitous. This past week, Ballast Point Brewery had a special tasting for International IPA Day, so with PeterL and his lovely wife, Ange in tow we attended the tasting. Feeling a bit peckish afterwards, I suggested hitting up Nam An…..

We arrived to fairly empty restaurant and were handed some menus….. I really wasn't looking for Pho, Com Tam, or Com Chien… where the heck was the "good stuff"? And then it arrived, the drinks menu…. but it's not the beer and soju that grabbed my attention, it was this:

And there it was……. Seeing Vietnamese dishes that I'd never had in San Diego before….. Peter was pretty shocked as well.

And so we started off…. the Surf Clam Salad ($6.50):

This was the spiciest dish of the evening….it had some kick. I loved the watercress, though I don't think Peter and Angela were quite as fond of it. There was a bit left at the end of dinner, so I took it home to the Missus, a fan of watercress, who just loved it.

About this time we had our first encounter with the very friendly and gracious Carolyn, whom I believe is one of the owners. She explained that the "appetizer" menu is only available from Thursdays to Saturdays, since she has to go to LA and Orange County to source what she needs. Thus, the menu changes every week, and they run out of items…. So no Muc Don Thit, stuffed squid…bummer.

The Deep Fried Calamari was very tender and fried well, but no consolation.

Next was the dish I'd been looking forward too Be Thui ($9), rare, almost raw veal, dusted with roasted rice powder.

Since this is veal, it's quite toothsome and the rice powder gives it a somewhat nutty flavor. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoy it. I've usually had it served with Tuong Cu Da, a fermented bean and soy sauce with ginger. This one was served with a sauce made with Mam Tom….very pungent and heady, but also with a touch of fruity sweetness to it. On a later visit, the Missus asked Carolyn what gave this sauce the fruity edge. Carolyn was happy to oblige, and told the Missus it was pineapple. Good dish…..

The Sea Snail Green Mango Salad ($6) was delicious….. man these snails must have been humongous.

The snails were fairly tender, with a mildly buttery texture like large abalone. The green mango added a bit of a "tannic" – puckery feel to the dish, Rau Rama anise-pepper-bitter-mintiness.

Rare Steak Marinated in Lemon, called Bo Tai Chanh ($4.50).

Wonderfully tender rare filet mignon slight "cooked" by the acid in a fish sauce-lemon juice based sauce. Onions added a bit of bite to the dish, chilies a mild heat, the rau ram gave it a nice herbaceousness. Personally, I'd like this even more "rare", but it is quite good. If it sound scarey to you, and it shouldn't, think of this as being similar to Thai Beef Salads.

The Bloody Clams in Tu Xuyen Sauce ($10) is a favorite of mine.

The clams are small and have decent flavor, opening them are sometimes rather ponderous….but that sauce. I told Carolyn that I could lick the plate….she told me "no, there's no licking the plate here, I'll give you more sauce!" I believe the base of this Nuoc Mau, the basic Vietnamese Caramel Sauce, there's fish sauce, and also I believe garlic in these. It is a messy, sticky dish, that gives true meaning to "finger licking good"! You'll need to wash your hands afterwards, but it is well worth it.

Seeing how much Peter, Ange, and I were enjoying our meal, Carolyn gave us some Oc Cha, some wonderfully flavored snail based "sausage". The snails added a nice toothsome sweetness to go with the smokey flavor of the leaves it was steamed in.

We left quite satisfied, this is well prepared Vietnamese "beer food". After being married for a while I have a good idea of the Missus's taste preferences, so I made sure to bring Her for a visit "stat". She loved the food and I think we have a new restaurant for our rotation. Carolyn told us that she "wants to serve good food with great ingredients." She would rather not have an item on the menu than serve a subpar dish. As the night wore on, I noticed that younger folk were bringing in their parents and grandparents…..a very good sign.

This led me to ask Peter a question…..his Mom is a fantastic cook. I asked Peter if he'd bring his Mom, also a pretty finicky eater here. Without hesitation he said, "yes, of course….." I think that says quite a lot.

And I still haven't gotten around to the Pho yet, have I?

Nam An Vietnamese Restaurant
4690 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Currently, the "bar" menu is only available Thursday thru Saturday.

Breakfast at the Stadium Club

August 5, 2011 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch

A couple of weeks ago I had to drop my car off for servicing in the Mission Gorge area. Usually, I'll take the shuttle to work or home after getting squared away. For some reason, I decided to wait for my car….. one problem, though, there didn't seem much to do at 7am on a Saturday morning. Most everyone headed off to Starbuck's or to walk the aisles at Home Depot. I decided to wander around a bit and look for some breakfast. Now all of the Taco Shops seemed to be open, but for some reason a divey looking place on the corner of Fairmount and Twain. I was surprised that the parking lot was full……

Now I wasn't quite sure about the place…….especially since the sign says they open at 6am! Geeez, this was obviously a bar…..but open at 6am! I mean we have the Silver Spigot and Champs(I have an interesting story about my one visit there) in our neighborhood, but at least they don't open until the more genteel hour of (ahem, ahem) 8 am…..

But the faded sign did say, or I believed said "Breakfast Sat & Sun 7am". And the place did seem, well, oddly charming….

And what the heck, who knows, maybe I'd want to get in a game of "Bumper Poo"!

So what the heck….. I walked into the somewhat musty smelling, dimly lit, "Bar and Grill" (definite emphasis on bar here). Man, the place was pretty busy, most everyone was closer to fifty (or at least looked that way) than twenty, so I should right at home. Everyone seemed either to be getting an "early start" or having a liquid breakfast…..

On the promising side, there was a woman grating potatoes for hash browns at the smallish kitchen area to the right of the bar. She was very friendly, I believe her name was Linda. Of course after asking my name, I had to put up with Star Trek jokes for the rest of my meal, but other than that I was left alone to have my $5 breakfast in peace………

Five bucks got you toast, two eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon…….. you really can't complain about that, can you? I've had much worse……

The atmosphere is perhaps not as colorful as Lucky's, but as everyone else seemed like regulars, I had a real "fly on the wall" experience…….and folks were telling some pretty colorful stories. There were two older men, both in walkers who would slowly make their way out the side door every couple of minutes to get their tobacco fix. The whole experience was strangely relaxing in a way for me…….I'm not sure why. And for the price of a latte, I got breakfast. I may never go back, and it's not everyone's cup of tea…. but on this early Saturday morning it just seemed right…..plus you sure won't hear what I heard in Starbucks!!!!

Stadium Club
6065 Fairmount Ave
San Diego, CA 92120

Open Daily at 6am
Breakfast Saturday and Sundays 7am – 12noon

Selcuk: Isa Bey Mosque and dinner from Ejder

August 2, 2011 mmm-yoso Selcuk, Turkey, Turkish Food

After grabbing more than our share of food form the Saturday Market in Selcuk we had a well earned nap. Waking later in the afternoon, we headed down the hill to Isa Bey Camii (Mosque) built around 1375, it is one of he few remaining Anatolian Beylik structures.

The Mosque was almost completely destroyed by earthquakes, but after serious refurbishing reopened in 1975. As it is a functioning mosque we approached it respectfully….

I walked up the steep and worn stairs and took a few photos of the courtyard.

Soon enough the call to prayer began, and we decided to leave the mosque to the faithful……. plus, I was getting hungry.

We walked up then back down the hill to the center of town, which is a pedestrian only area…..

Lest you think this a tourist only area, you'd be wrong….this is literally the center of town, and this was where all the older men hung out, drinking tea and coffee, playing backgammon, reading the paper, talking politics and what not……..

After looking around a bit, we decided on a restaurant called Ejder. The owner was very friendly and when the Missus requested a selection of mezes, was happy to oblige.

Seating in the public dining area across the restaurant we were soon joined by some very eager guests.

Can you see the remnants of the aqueduct in the background?

I went with, what else, the Adana Kebab (12 TRY – $9):

The kebab was very moist…. in fact almost all the kebabs we had in Turkey was way more tender and moist than most of what we get here in the states. This one was slightly gamey but not very spicy. The rice was too wet for my tastes. The grilled peppers were wonderful…..the char brought out some sweetness and some were a very sneaky hot.

The Missus's selection of mezes were pretty good, especially the red pepper dolomar (stuffed pepper).

The ezme was too watery and mild in flavor, I liked the beets, but the missus thought they were too sour.

Overall, this was a satisfying meal, the food was far from bland and put me in a good mood. The very friendly owner who came over to check on us several times also made for a pleasant meal. I even gave the cats some of my adana kebab….. I was a bit worried that the spices would be bad for them, but they seemed to love it!

We returned to the hotel full and happy, and had a wonderful night of sleep. We woke early the next morning and headed down the street past the parked tractors……

And caught our train to the airport in Izmir. Of course, no one in Turkey can even think of going a morning without simit (sesame bread), thus the vendor who got the train at one stop walking thru the cars selling bread, then got off a couple of towns later.

Selcuk and the surroundings sure had charm……

But it was time to move on to our next stop……

Stay tuned….

Thanks for reading!

Manic Monday COMC: Izakaya Sakura and Tsuruhashi

August 1, 2011 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants

Mostly COMC (Clearing out the memory card) this Monday. I've posted on these places many, many times, so I guess there's not much else to say!

Izakaya Sakura:

I don't think we've quite as many posts on Izakaya Sakura as my fellow food blogger Dennis, but we've done more than our share over the years. Anyway, here's a few more…….

Tako Wasabi:

The Uni – Ikura Don, a special they have every so often:

Perhaps too much of a good thing?

One night I had to get the Oxtail Soup:

Perhaps a tad small for $6.45. This is a pretty deceptive bowl…. it had some kick. There were jalapenos in the broth….and some pretty spicy tiny orange bits that tasted strangely like Habanero….

A favorite of mine, the Gyokai Natto Don ($12), not really on the menu, but you can order it anytime……..

You can get it sans rice as a side dish for $6.45. There always seems to be a decent amount of fish in this, usually hamachi, maguro, hirame, and ika.

Of course there is the Ten Don ($12):

Make sure to request extra donburi tsuyu as it tends toward the dry side.

Last but not least, the Soft Shell Crab Tempura the Missus just had to have…..

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

Tsuruhashi:

Another place I've posted on a couple of times. I mentioned how much I enjoyed the Yukke in my last post on Tsuruhashi. But I found something nice that doesn't have to be put on the grill, and makes for a satisying but light snack or meal:

Yep, it's a rice bowl, but what type of protein tops the bowl?

Here have another look.

It's the Yukke Bi Bim Bap…… a new favorite of ours. Doesn't that raw rib eye look like maguro?

Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ
3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

Chicago: Franks N’ Dawgs

July 31, 2011 mmm-yoso Chicago, Hot Dogs, Travel

**** Franks N' Dawgs has closed

On my last visit to Chicago, I had an inkling of going to another sausage joint after Hot Dougs. But I was so stuffed (and in major need of a shower) after eating my Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage and Duck Fat fries, that there was just no room left…..

So this time Franks n' Dawgs went to the front of the line. Picking up my rental at O'Hare, I made a beeline for the Lincoln Park area and Franks n' Dawgs. Really, after hitting up Hot Doug's, how could I not check out the creations of Franks n' Dawgs….. featuring sausages like the China Town Duck ("Chinese 5 spice duck sausage, pickled lotus roots, scallion radish slaw & Mae Ploy chili sauce"), Truffle Mac 'n' Cheese Dog ("Bratwurst sausage, truffle mac ‘n’ cheese with parmesan, brioche bread crumbs & thyme"), Black Sheep ("Toasted black pepper lamb sausage, black pepper oyster sauce, buttermilk vinaigrette, macerated figs, red onions & basil"), and Triple Truffle Fries? The menu will either have you drooling, or scratching your head in wonder ( The "FU" – "Marinated tofu with grilled eggplant relish, caramelized portabellas, Italian salsa verde & chèvre").

Things didn't start out real well for me…..there's a door on the street side, and a note saying to go through the alleyway for an entrance. But there I stood like a dummy trying to figure out how I'm supposed to get in, until I regained my English comprehension skills (at least temporarily) and finally read the sign. I had a game plan with "target sausages" that I wanted to try, but for some reason that all went out the window when I walked up to the counter and read the part of the menu that said "Iron Dawg Competition". Over a period two well known chefs create a "dawg", competing on the basis of sales. If I recall correctly, whomever has the most sales survives and goes on to the next round against another challenger. So I went with one of each…..not cheap since each sausage costs almost ten bucks! This little shop does some major business, and was pretty full, but nothing like the masses at Hot Dougs.

There was one part of my visit that really cracked me up. The really friendly guy behind the counter told me to "pick your photo from the Wall of Shame"……. there are photos with a wooden backing and a strip of velcro on the back. You attach these to your table instead of numbers so the young lady in the dining area can bring you your order. It seemed like all the good ones (like Nick Nolte's mug shot) were taken. The young man, seeing that I was having a problem choosing, told me, "too bad these aren't ready yet, these would be easy choices", and held up photos of Casey Anthony and one we can call "the Weiner". In the end, I chose this famous mugshot:

The first sausage to arrive for this little piggy was This Little Piggy ($9.50):

This looked a bit overwrought with butter pickled red onions, though the remoulade added a nice bit of rich "tang" to the whole thing. The salt and vinegar chip crusted oysters tasted somewhat fishy and seemed out of place on the sausage. I loved the lobster style rolls, they just seemed perfect……richly toasted on all sides and able to stand up to these fairly rich sausages. The sausage, a garlic pork sausage seemed pretty mundane sans all the garnishes and sauce, I loved the casing which had nice snap, but the sausage itself was pretty tough.

I preferred the "Boar'n to be Wild" ($9.95):

This was a wild boar sausage topped with fried onions (it's called tempura onions, but they looked plain fried to me), pieces of fried sweet potatoes and yellow peppers. I could make out the flavor of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, and Thai basil. This sausage was more tender and reminded me of a milder Thai or Lao sausage. It wasn't bad, but not great.

I was quite full after this meal, there's a good amount of richness in these sausages. I did regret getting side tracked and not ordering what I had planned. So I'll have to make sure to revisit in the future…. after all I just gotta get those Triple Truffle Fries, right?

Franks n' Dawgs
1863 N Clybourn Ave
Chicago, IL 60614

Sunday Stuffs: Yakyudori in Hillcrest is now Raku, Mrs Rice is now Thai, and other stuff

July 24, 2011 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Yakyudori in Hillcrest Closed:

FOY (Friend of Yoso) "Yummy Yummy" sent me a text almost two weeks ago telling me that Yakyudori in Hillcrest had closed. About a week later I read the same on SD Urban. Since I was in the area earlier this week….and hey, I must've won the lottery because I scored a parking space right in front of the former Yakyudori. Signage is up for a place called Raku Japanese Tapas:

And no, I don't think this place has anything to do with Aburiya Raku.

3739 6th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Mrs Rice is now Dusit Thai Cuisine:

Now when did that happen? I ate at Golden City one week and it's Mrs Rice….I come back the next and it's just what we need in this area…..another Thai Restaurant…of course we can always use a good Thai Restaurant, so we'll see….

5375 Kearney Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

What does this have to do with San Diego (well, kinda)?

I try to catch Ken Kramer's About San Diego on PBS when I remember and have some time. Certain shows have fascinating tidbits….. and at then end of one of his segments he started mentioning famous folks from…..Valley Center. And one of the names he mentioned (nope it wasn't Bill Murray) was Betty Crocker….. well kinda Betty Crocker as the name is a brand name. Agnes White Tizard, a Home Economist who created and tested recipes for the Crosby Washburn Company, and was the voice of Betty Crocker on radio shows starting in 1924. Though we now know Valley Center for Valley View Casino and on this blog, places that Cathy posts about…. I thought it was fascinating to to know that Betty Crocker (kinda-sorta) lived in Valley Center!

And finally…

Do you think Sammy really likes Frosty Paws Bites???

You know….I've been tempted to eat this way on more than one occasion……

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Breakfast at Bay Park Fish Company

July 23, 2011 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch

*** As noted in the comments below Bay Park Fish is no longer serving breakfast.

Recently, when dropping by to pick up some ham hocks at Seisel's I happened to notice a sign in front of Bay Park Fish Company that mentioned breakfast was now being served from 7am to 11 on weekends. A couple of weeks later; the Missus actually got up early enough for us to drive down the hill to have breakfast there. The menu has the standard breakfast fare…the two eggs, meat, potatoes, and toast, but this is Bay Park Fish, right?

The Missus decided to go all out and ordered the Lobster Omelet, at $16, it was the most expensive item on the menu. Seeing that they put cheddar in it….the Missus believes in a light hand when cheesing up shellfish, She ordered it easy on the cheese.

It comes with toast….the Missus ordered wheat, but they gave Her white, and some breakfast potatoes that were on the dry side…. good thing the Missus likes them that way.

There was a decent, but not large amount of what looked like lobster claw meat in the omelet.

The flavor was fine, though what little cheddar they put in there still overpowered the mild lobster flavor. The eggs were nice and fluffy. Personally, not worth $16 in my book.

On the other hand, I thought my smoked fish bagel was worth the six bucks…….

The Missus enjoys the smoked fish from Bay Park, so I shorted myself and saved a couple of slices of the fish for Her. The capers and onions go together well adding some acid, cutting the smokiness of the fish. I wish they'd use better bagels, which were too "bready" for me…….. still, if they'd added some thinly sliced tomatoes (and since I'm making requests perhaps some cucumber?), this would have been a (very) poor man's version of a wonderful smoked sturgeon bagel I had in Boston.

I'm sure if we go to Bay Park Fish for breakfast again; this is what the Missus will order…… And it's good to know that there are some breakfast options in our neck of the woods.

Bay Park Fish Company
4121 Ashton St
San Diego, CA 92110

Breakfast served from 7-11am Saturdays and Sundays only.

Xi’an: Tong Sheng Xiang (同盛祥)

July 20, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Travel, Xi'an

Our next stop after Nanjing was the city of Xi'an… and boy was I excited! With over 3,000 years of recorded history, along with being the beginning of the Silk Road headed west and of course the Terracotta Army, Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. And by coincidence we visited three (along with Nanjing and Beijing) of the four on this trip. Also by coincidence, our visit to Xi'an last year was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road….. this year we visited Istanbul (Constantinople) the western end of the Silk Road! What didn't make me so excited was watching this guy smoking a cigarette on the runway in Xi'an….. guys do love smoking in China.

We caught the bus from the airport to a hotel downtown, then a cab to our hotel, the Ibis Hotel near the South Gate of the city walls. Lucky for us, the Missus's Mother had a classmate who had moved to Xi'an right after college. She provided us with great info and recommendations, and one of them was Ibis Hotel, which was one of the nicer hotels we stayed at all trip….it looked new….

And once past the plumes of cigarette smoke in the lobby, the rooms looked sparkling clean……though it reminded us of a Ikea showroom. The best thing? The price at about $17 a night!

There was even a "portable" police station right outside the hotel!

After dropping off our bags we took off for our lunch destination. Xi'an is known for it's Muslim Quarter and the abundance of lamb and mutton dishes. The first thing I wanted to try was Yang Rou Pao Mo….. and we were given a recommendation of Tong Sheng Xiang. Lao Sun Jia is probably more well known, but we went with the local's recommendation.

The restaurant is easy to find…… we walked (it seemed much longer than we thought) to the mall right across from the Bell Tower, which is strangely trapped on what looks like a traffic island.

What made most of our trips much longer were the underground passages across intersections….. you go down the stairs and end up in "Grand Central" with six or sometimes eight different ways to go! We'd always choose the wrong way and end up directly across the street from our destination. After a couple of tries we managed to end up on the correct side of the street. Like many other places we dined at on our trip, Tong Sheng Xiang was a multi-level restaurant.

You enter on the south end of the building, go up a flight of stairs lined with photos of folks I assume are VIPs until you enter the dining area. It looked pretty fancy for a place selling mutton in broth with unleavened pancakes…..

We ordered a couple of other dishes with the Yang Rou Pao Mo. I really enjoyed the Jellied Mutton:

Like a good head cheese, cut with the Black Vinegar and soy sauce.

The Missus didn't care for the Mung Bean Noodles.

Too much sesame paste for Her.

On this trip, if we saw Baihe (lily bulb) on the menu, we'd order it for sure.

Baihe with Gingko is one of our standard dishes nowadays……

As for the Yang Rou Pao Mo…. if you've never had it before it's quite an interesting dish. First a plate of pretty hefty discs of unleavened bread is placed on the table…..

Along with a large bowl……

Your job is to break the bread up into bite sized pieces….. it was pretty tough going at first since the bread is very dense. How much bread? Well, I guess that depends on your appetite…..I saw a young man break up almost the whole plate! Considering how heavy this stuff was, I could only imagine how that would weigh you down after eating….

Bowls of chili paste, cilantro, and some really yummy pickled garlic is placed on the table….

And my bowl was whisked away…..leaving me wondering what evil deeds were being performed on my pieces of crumbled bread.

The bowl returned….. the bread had been covered with a thick broth, almost like gravy, the scent of mutton so thick I could cut through it. Some fatty slices of mutton, toothsome, but oh so deliciously gamey had been placed on the top.

Can you tell that I really enjoyed this?

Hearty and substantial, this would keep you going for a while after a hard day's ride on the Silk Road. Of course I hadn't travelled to Xi'an on camel, but I could imagine, right?

The Missus got a kick out of what came back after we paid our check. We were given change in what She said was "old style money". Pretty neat, huh? Old currency after eating a rustic meal in a historic city at the end of an ancient trade route……

Sichuan Liang Mian (Sichuan Cold Noodles)

July 19, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Well, I finally went and did it….. I made Sichuan Cold Noodles at home. I'm not quite sure why I never made this at home…..perhaps it's because I love the version at Ba Ren so much, or maybe I could never find noodles that I thought were worthy… or maybe I was just too darned lazy???

I had really never intended to make Sichuan Cold Noodles….. but like all extreme actions, there was a triggering event. In this case it was Santouka's limited time Hiyashi Tan Tan Mian offering back in June. I had read Dennis's wonderful post on it…. the boiled egg looked so lovely that I left my mind open to trying it out. But when I arrived at the Mitsuwa food court and looked at the folks eating the stuff, I changed my mind. I'm not a big fan of Hiyashi Tan Tan Mian, heck, I've rarely found Dan Dan Mian (担担面) that I consider edible. At that instant, I changed my mind and decided to have the Hiyashi Chuka instead…. until I reached the counter and the very perky young lady told me that I should have the Tan Tan Mian…it was only for a few more days…and they "only make 20 bowls a day!" So I relented and ordered it………

And was severely underwhelmed….. as always, I enjoyed the noodles (this was a pretty small serving), but this was pretty bland and had hardly any spice. The egg looked like one-third of an boiled egg, and I actually placed the yolk back in the white since it was on other side of the bowl. And for some reason, paying over nine bucks for this tiny bowl got to me……. The Missus took a bite and told me, "come on…. really? You paid nine bucks for this? Lettuce and a tablespoon of some kinda meat, with some shredded daikon and carrots? You are a sucker….." I guess the ridicule kinda got me wound up as well…… I guess Japanese Tan Tan Mian is just not my thing.

At that moment I decided that I'd go home and make Sichuan Liang Mian. I had a package of Sun Noodle Cold Udon in the fridge…. I like the noodles… I usually through away the other stuff that comes with it. So long you don't over cook it, the noodles have a nice al dente stretch and pull to them.

Sichuan Cold Noodle Sauce:

1 Tb sesame paste (use a pure sesame paste – like the brand I use for my Purple Cabbage slaw)
1 Tb dark soy sauce
1 Tb light soy sauce
2-3 Tb Chinkiang vinegar
1 Tb white sugar
5-6 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp ground Sichuan Peppercorn
1 Tb sesame oil
Multiple heat sources…… I used what I had around the house:

Some red chilies, ground red chilies, sambal olek, and home made chili oil.

Mix it up, and adjust to your taste…..I ended up adding more vinegar and the Missus thought it could use even more. I dumped the sauce on the noodle, added some sliced cucumber, cilantro, and scallions…….

Actually, if you got some ground pork and preserved vegetable, mixed with some chilies, dumped it into a hot wok with peanut oil, then added a couple of splashes of light soy sauce to this you'd probably have a close approximation of Dan Dan Mian.

Anyway, this stuff is easy to make…. I've made it a couple times since. Once we had a nice meal….. I made the Missus some Karei Karaage and had some smoked duck legs I had in the fridge…..

The Missus told me that sometimes it's "fun getting you all riled up….." Well, I guess this time it was pretty tasty as well.

Selcuk: Lunch from the Saturday Market

July 17, 2011 mmm-yoso Selcuk, Travel, Turkey

We returned from Ephesus hot and tired. A quick shower revived us and we decided to grab some lunch. We'd heard that there's a large market held behind the bus station…. and this being Selcuk, nothing is very far away. We decided to do some "self-catering" and check out the market. We were both quite surprised at the size of the market…. starting from the household goods sold on the streets approaching the market…..

To what seemed like acres of cheese, olive, and fruit stands………

We'd noticed children dressed up in all sorts of costumes…. after asking around we were told it was Children's Day.

You not only had piles of fruit and vegetables to keep your attention…….

But had to heed what was above you as well……..

The somewhat elaborate make-up of various booths made me think about the amount of work it took to set-up, then take apart these booths every Saturday.

We'd covered maybe a third of the place before stopping and deciding to start getting stuff for lunch, otherwise we'd be walking around all day. Of course, this was when all the sampling started. Every olive and cheese stand we stopped at gave us samples….we could have filled up just by mooching! We ended up getting three types of cheese, including a really tasty Cecil/Tel Peyniri, basically string cheese.

Most of the places would try to sell us a kilo and we'd have to tell them that we just wanted a "little bit". So they'd give us the smallest amount that would work for them. In the case of olives….. well, we'd be eating the olives for a couple of days. One of the cheese stands told us "no pay, this is my gift to you!" Which was very nice and typical of the folks in Turkey. I ended up insisting on giving him a couple of Lira…..

We purchased a loaf of bread from this little shop……

Man that was a pretty big loaf; we'd also be eating that for a couple of days as well!

We'd decided to head across the street to the park and have our lunch. Along the way we noticed that outside one of the shops there were a group of women working hard making lavas and selling various items. The Missus immediately headed to the shop watching and wandering around, to the amusement of the women.

This seemed to possibly be the equivalent of a bake sale perhaps? Of course, you'd never get anything like this at your typical bake sale here in the US.

And the kicker was that the park had tea service! A young man walked from a nearby kiosk taking orders for tea. A few minutes later you'd have a nice cup of tea for .5 TRY, about 30 cents.

We enjoyed the sunshine and had a little picnic of sorts…. it was a wonderful end to a great day. And of course there was a nap afterwards to top things off.