mmm-yoso – Page 326

Com Tam Thuan Kieu – San Diego

October 12, 2010 mmm-yoso Vietnamese Restaurants

*** This place is back to being Nhu Y

A couple of weeks ago, FOY (Friend of Yoso) "Yummy Yummy" told me that the folks from Song Huong had taken over the Nhu Y location. When I saw the new name of the place, I got a bit excited.

Yes, that's right….. Com Tam Thuan Kieu, the same name as the small chain of restaurants in Orange County and San Gabriel. I recently did a post on the Garden Grove location. Now I'm pretty sure that this restaurant isn't affiliated with those, and the menu pretty much confirms this……

It's the same menu as Nhu Y… in fact on this first visit the menus still said Nhu Y. In fact the only thing that had changed were the prices…. Still, perhaps I could still hope for some decent Cơm Tấm in San Diego.

Not much much different in decor following the hand-over either.

The Missus loves a good Tan Hu Ky – Fried Bean Curd Wrapped Shrimp Paste. So She went for the Bun Tan Hu Ky ($7):

The portion size was fairly generous, and the Missus enjoyed the flavor of the Tan Hu Ky. Since my dish hadn't arrived yet, She gave me a taste. The flavor of shrimp really came through. I do prefer the bean curd skin (aka Yuba) done a bit lighter and crisp.

Since this place is called Com Tam Thuan Kieu, of course I had to have the Com Tam Dac Biet.

Also known as Com Tam Bi Cha Tan Hu Ky Thit. This came with the usual bowl of broth, which was pretty weak. The Bi (shredded pork) was moist, but a bit short on flavor.

The Cha (steamed pork-egg "cake") was nice and moist, and I would have really enjoyed this, had it not been for the camphor-like background flavor.

I've already covered the Tan Hu Ky……

The grilled pork chop had a nice, not overly sweet nor salty flavor, if on the tough side. The Com Tam was moist, though it wasn't the most fragrant broken rice I've ever had. Overall, I thought this was decent.

A couple of weeks later I returned. There was one dish that I usually ordered at Nhu Y, the Bun Mam. I was wondering how the Bun Mam($8) fared since the change in ownership. By this time, the covers of the menus had been changed and now read Com Tam Thuan Kieu. For a minute I thought that perhaps the menu had changed, but no, only the covers of the menus were new…..the menu was still the same as Nhu Y.

I could smell the pungent bowl of Bun Mam before it hit the table, the strong smell of fermented fish arriving before the bowl. I had forgotten how much food this was. A large plate of veggies and herbs, another plate heaped with Bun.

The broth was as before, salty, slight sweetness, pungent, and spice, all converging in a bowl.

The bowl was loaded with eggplant, two slices of surprisingly unmuddy catfish, and of course there's the pork belly. Perhaps a bit on the tough side, but possessing some nice pork flavor.

Using up all the ingredients meant eating three bowls of Bun Mam….. a good amount of food for one.

Did I notice a difference since the change from Nhu Y? Not really…. I have a feeling that the same cooks are at work in the kitchen.

So perhaps the Com Tam is not Westminster level, but it's not bad. That Bun Mam is still my favorite version in San Diego…….

Com Tam Thuan Kieu
4712 El Cajon Blvd Ste A
San Diego, CA 92115

Road Trip: Fukagawa Soba & Udon – Gardena (Los Angeles), A breakfast from memory lane….

October 11, 2010 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, yoso-silly

With a tip of the hat to Jimmy Buffet:

"I took off for a weekend last month
Just to try and recall the whole year.
All of the faces and all of the places,
wonderin' where they all disappeared……."

Changes in Latitude, Changes in Atittude (1977).

The Missus told me that I needed a short respite, and if anyone would know, She would. This past weekend, the Missus had events planned with Her friends, so I thought I'd take a drive up to LA, and eat a bit, meet a good friend of mine, then meet even more friends of mine, and just basically wander around aimlessly….. I thought I'd start driving early and hit the Torrance Farmers Market, which I've written about several times before. But this time around, I left San Diego extra early, like 530 am early. I decided to grab breakfast…. a kind of special breakfast, at a restaurant called Fukagawa.

Fukagawa is located in the same plaza as Marukai Pacific Market, but is kind of hidden away in a corner. You'll first have to see the Fukagawa sign.

Then look down the hallway to find Fukagawa……

You may ask why a Soba & Udon (& Shabu Shabu) restaurant would be opening at 7am from Mondays to Saturdays?

I mean, the place doesn't look much different from a hundred, or even a thousand other Japanese restaurants…..

What makes Fukagawa rather unique in my mind is that they serve a "Japanese Breakfast". A simple, yet soulful combination of dishes and flavors that may seem a bit strange to many Westerners, but is very familiar to me, as something similar was my Mom's special breakfast that she made on occasion for us.

Something resembling "Combo B" was what we ate for those meals…. so of course it's what I ordered.

Just the smells brought back memories…….

The miso soup presented me with a bit of nostalgia as it had sliced onions in it. My grandparents and mother used to put onions in their miso soup….. but I don't recall having miso soup this way outside of home.

That's Natto (fermented soybeans) on the left, and Hiyakko Tofu (cold tofu) on the right.

Of course growing up, we didn't make things quite as fancy….no katsuobushi(shaved dried bonito) for our tofu, and no quail egg or even mustard (I don't think Mom would have enjoyed that) adorning the natto.

As for the natto….. my grandparents were from Fukushima-ken, and as long as I remember, whenever someone asked where my family was from in Japan and I answered "Fukushima", among the first things mentioned was, "oh, so you must eat a lot of natto, huh?" Actually, I really don't love natto, in fact, the Missus enjoys it much more than I do. But over time, I have eaten my share……

And is it just me, or does today's natto not smell quite as bad?

But for me, the most important item was this:

Lest you wonder why the heck I think a boiled egg is so important to me….. well, it's not a boiled egg.

And in spite of the recent Salmonella Egg recall and warnings, the dish would not be the same without this.

You add a little shoyu…..

Mix…..

Pour over hot rice (in all honesty, the rice should have been hotter) steal some green onions from my tofu, and mix…….

Creating a dish known as "tamago-meshi". One of the earliest (and few) memories I have of my grandparents, is my "Ji-chan" (grandfather) waking before dawn. Even though the plantation days were behind them; the plantation ways were still strong. Neither Grandparent spoke much English, and always had problems with my name. Ironically, they ended up calling me "Keiki" (which means "child" in Hawaiian). To this day I'm not sure if they actually knew what keiki meant, or of they just chose that word because it kinda sounded like my name, and was something they'd heard before. Anyway, my job was to climb the ricketty ladder up to papaya tree and pick two of the ripes papaya. My reward? My Grandmother would have a steaming bowl of rice, mix the raw egg with shoyu, pour the egg over the rice, top with green onions and mix……. tamago meshi. This in turn was topped with natto. I was also given half a papaya (to help me digest), and a cup of coffee (!!! I was maybe 7-8 years old) with tons of cream and sugar. A perfect breakfast for getting out there and working the fields…….

I really haven't had this in years, perhaps a decade (or two!), but it just seemed like the perfect thing to get this road trip started.

My friend, Akira, who I had dinner with later that evening, cracked up when I told him about my breakfast. Even though he lives in Torrance, he'd never heard of Fukagawa. And no, coming from Osaka, he's not much of a natto, or tamago-meshi fan. Still, he appreciated the fact that there was at least one place serving this in LA.

I do realize that this is something I can do at home. It may be a bit much for a weekday. But this just seemed like the right thing to start my short road trip.

I don't think younger people eat this much anymore. In fact, much like the next morning's breakfast (an upcoming post of course), everyone here was at least a decade older then me. And no one got the egg raw…….they all requested the egg over-easy……

The Japanese breakfast is available for lunch and dinner, though there's an upcharge of $1 for lunch, and $2 for dinner.

Fukagawa Soba & Udon
1630 W Redondo Beach Blvd.
Gardena, CA 90247

It’s called the revisits game – can you guess where? ***10/10/10 – It’s Homestyle Hawaiian/Pho King/Mien Trung

October 6, 2010 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch, Vietnamese Restaurants

I'm feeling a bit tired today, so I thought I'd minimize the writing and post mostly photos. So here are some revisits. I know I usually post the storefront before the food, but this time I'll post the food first, then at the end, I'll post the storefront. I've posted on these places maybe too many times, so if you've been reading for a couple of years, you'll recognize them right away.

So here goes…..

#1:

#2:

#3:

So, made your guesses?

All right then…. here are the restaurants.

The first place is:

That Loco Moco is from Homestyle Hawaiian.

That Hu Tieu Mi Kho can only be from….

That Pho King Restaurant! Sorry, I couldn't help with the childish humor…. in fact, I named the photos "more Pho King". OK, can I have just one more? The folks in the office enjoy…..whoa, almost did it again, they like….well…..oh geez…..you get the point! I was drinking my coffee one day, and I mentioned that we hadn't eaten here in a while. To which "MG" exclaimed loudly, "oh yes, I miss Pho King!" The expression on her face after saying that was classic…..she had that "I wish I could reach out and grab what I said and stuff it back into my mouth" look. I nearly snorted my coffee out of my nose…. and could only manage a weak…. "I think you'd better tell your husband." Such is the "Pho King effect". 'nuff said…..

And finally that bowl of Bun Bo Hue is from:

So how many of you got three out of three?

The Wrangler Family Barbecue – El Cajon

October 5, 2010 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, BBQ

**** The Wrangler Family Barbecue has closed

Late last year, I had another fun meal with our monthly "eating club". This time, Candice chose a spot she was interested in. The choice, The Wrangler Family Barbecue, located right off the I-8's El Cajon Boulevard exit. The Wrangler? I'd never heard of it! I was intrigue because Candice had been told of the place by a Professional Barbecue Judge… and I'd never heard of it? Personally, I thought some of what I had was so-so, except for one item, which I returned for in sandwich form a couple of weeks later. I didn't even bother taking a photo, as it looked pretty lonely and plain, and I snacked on it in the parking lot. Looking over, I realized I was parked next to what could possibly be the last Ford Granada still on the road……. which somehow just seemed perfect.

So now nearly a year later, on a whim, I decided to check out The Wrangler again…..

I was pretty sure that nothing would change at The Wrangler….. you see, the place has been around since 1965. And looking around the dining room, I was pretty sure that most of the customers on this day have probably been coming here since then. And that's the charm, to say that The Wrangler is "old school", from the western motif, to the wood paneling, the peg board menu, the partitioned plates, and the various animals staring at you hanging from the walls…..is an understatement.

Unlike other "old school themed" restaurants, who sells you nostalgia and not food, The Wrangler is a bit different.

Ordering is done at the front counter, it's also where you are handed your cafeteria tray of food.

Behind that counter, to tempt you lies an oak smoked hunk of beef, and the ham.

Only my initial visit to The Wrangler with my friends, I thought there were more misses than hits, but I decided to go for lucky (hopefully this time) #7 the Beef, Ham, and Rib Combo ($12.97). You get two sides and what is called (I assume very loosely) a roll and butter.

It's more like one of those par baked heat and eat buns.

Having tasted most of the sides during my first trip, I went with what I thought tasted best, the beans and coleslaw to accompany my protein-fest. The beans are serviceable, and the coleslaw is simple, but hits all the right buttons for me.

The ribs here are spareribs, and there's an honest to goodness smoke ring. Yes, the elusive (in San Diego) smoke ring. These aren't mushy, par baked or boiled baby backs that lies in, and depends on a heavily spiced sauce (which is a great spicy ketchup), flavored with, and finished over wood to give the facade of smoke (no need to name names, we know who you are). The first time, I thought the ribs were too dry, though it had a decent "bark". This time, not enough bark, but these pulled cleanly without falling to pieces and were very moist.

For something smoked with oak, I thought the overall flavor was mild as well.

I'm not a big fan of the sauce at The Wrangler.

Though it is served slightly warmed, the flavor of cloves just over-powers everything else. In this day of more highly seasoned sauces, this tastes kind of dated. Thankfully, the sauce is served appropriately on the side.

On my initial visit, I thought the beef to be tough, bland, and on the dry side.

This was confirmation.

The one item, that everyone thought was done well on our "eating club" visit, was the ham. It was what I came back for in the form of a sandwich….. a simple one, bun and bread.

There's something about this ham, resplendent in it's simplicity, which just gets to the point of what being a good ham is all about. It's not heavily cloved or glazed. It tastes, well, like good ham, and takes me back to a ham I had during a Christmas party in Columbus Georgia. The person whose home I was invited to had gone all out for the party. There was a ham smoked in his own smoker, and a first for me (this was waaay back in the mid-nineties) deep fried turkey. And as fabulous as the turkey was, it was the ham I enjoyed the most. It was wonderful between Wonder Bread the next day!

I ended up placing the slices of ham between the rolls and making my own sandwich of sorts…. and was perfectly happy.

After contemplating things a bit, I realize that The Wrangler is not a Barbecue destination, but a simple neighborhood barbecue joint, that makes an honest old school ham that I enjoy.

If you wanted to know what Candice thought about The Wrangler, you can read her article in CityBeat here.

The Wrangler Family Barbecue
901 El Cajon Blvd.
El Cajon, CA 92020

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant

October 4, 2010 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

Over a month ago, I mentioned that Hoai Hue Restaurant would be opening in the former Huynh Hoa Tuu location. A quick check down the street confirmed that they closed up their old shop, and had moved to larger and more pretty digs. Truth be told, I was going to miss having people look for Hung's Tattoo Parlor and the Alcoholics Anonymous to find the place……

And if the recent cold weather didn't put you in the mood for Bun Bo Hue or Bun Rieu……..

The pepto bismol pink interior has been repainted, and a few decorative items added, but "the bone structure" of the restaurant is the same.

The menu here reflects some regional differences in the names of a couple of dishes. For instance, what we usually call Bun Rieu is Bun Tom Cua. Still, there's no mistaking the freshness of the veggies that arrive in advance of your soup.

The brisk freshness of the herbs and greens, and the abundance of mint makes this one of two areas where Hoai Hue is superior to our favorite, Mien Trung.

The Missus's Bun RieuBun Tom Cua ($6.75) arrived first, looking quite nice.

The Missus went over Her key points with regards to Bun Rieu…. the correct style noodles were used, and was cooked perfectly. The flavor of the broth was milder than Mien Trung, could have used a bit more of a pungent-savory punch, and for what is a deal breaker for the Missus, it was served lukewarm. We prefer this style of soup to be very hot, to better soften the usual amount of herbs a vegetables one adds to Bun Rieu and Bun Bo Hue. The usual crab-seafood patty is replaced with what is almost a seafood ball. It has a bit too much "squeak", and wasn't as pleasurable as the soft and tender crab patty.

There are three different Bun Bo Hue on the menu here, the Bun Bo Hue, Bun Bo Hue Dac Biet, and what I ordered, Bun Tom Hoai Hue($7.50), which had the addition of the seafood "meatball".

The second thing that Hoai Hue does better then Mien Trung are most of the cuts of meat. The pork hock has nice flavor. I'm not a fan of the two different "meatballs" served in the soup; the afore mentioned seafood meatball, and the bland meatball that replaces the typical Cha Lua was also not a great addition in my opinion. The broth was milder then Mien Trung's version, and really didn't have that spice, along with a nice lemongrass kick. Less pungent meant the addition of Mam Tom as well. My soup was also barely over lukewarm, but the noodles were perfect in texture.

We did notice that the soups here have changed a bit over the years, and now looks a bit more refined. The young man running the place initially thought we were Vietnamese, and was surprised when we told him we weren't. Hoai Hue still makes a decent bowl, our favorite next to Mien Trung. And it sure has been great Bun Bo Hue weather recently! HoaiHueRest10

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Hangzhou: We arrive, but where’s West Lake?

October 3, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Hangzhou, Travel

We arrived at Xiaoshan International Airport with no real plan in mind. No hotel, no way from the airport, and against what we usually do, no maps. We were just going to wing it. The Missus found us a shuttle bus from the airport into Hangzhou, and while on the bus, the Missus spoke to the inevitable bus attendant, who also sold tours, and of course, had a large list of hotels. We were told of a decent low-mid range hotel, given her card, and told we would get a certain rate. Of course when we arrived at the front desk, the very, very, young woman, had no idea what we were talking about, and quoted us rates 30% more than what we were quoted. The Missus was now in Her element, this was a challenge, and of course She met the challenge head on…… and of course we got the rate we wanted.

The next mission; find West Lake. West Lake, Hangzhou's most famous, and popular tourist attraction shouldn't be hard to find, right? I mean the lake in the dead center of Hangzhou, so how hard would it be? Well, it ended up being more difficult than first thought. Starting at the hotel we were given a set of directions South. A couple of blocks down the street, we had an inkling that we weren;t headed in the right direction. So the Missus started asking around a bit. It appears that there's a bit of "tourist fatigue" in Hangzhou. After being ignored, and waved off, the Missus asked one of the women cleaning the streets….who had no clue! Finally, someone pointed us East. After a few more blocks, I had a feeling we were off track, and we started asking again. This time we were told to head West. When we came to a pedestrian street, head South, then West again on "Old Street". After a while, we finally found the pedestrian street in question.

The street looked new, and most of the shops were closed. There were several stops along the way that displayed excavation below the streets, and went into detail as to the different historic locations on the street.

Even though most of the shops were closed, the ones open were the shops selling the very popular Jinhua Ham.

This dry-cured ham has been produced in Jinhua, about a 2-3 hour drive from Hangzhou. The dry-cure process used for this ham was first documented around 713 A.D. In fact, in what amounts to a potentially volcanic, but humorous discussion, folks in China claim that along with pasta and tomatoes, Marco Polo brought the technique to salt, then dry-cure the legs of pigs back to Europe with him in the 13th Century! I'm staying away from that one……

Unfortunately, we ran out of time before tasting Jinhua Ham, but since you can get it everywhere in China, I'll not let another chance slip away.

A few blocks later, and we had arrived at Qinghefang Historical Cultural Street. Which seemed to me to be made up of tons of silk and souvenir shops. There was of course, the tourist entertainment thing going on. These folks were handing out fliers…..

Parallel to the pedestrian walkway is a street full of restaurants. Most of them seemed to have just about the same menu….Dong Po Rou and West Lake Fish.

I'm sure that the Muslim Chinese stand must be really good since the line went down the street.

But we just didn't feel like standing a long line.

So we opted for one of the many restaurants lining the street.

And here we had the first of many experiences with apathetic service. When you enter a restaurant that is manned by wholly by young people in China; chances are you'll receive little, if no service. Most times, the kids are not from the area, they are simply in that city to make money. With little incentive, and a pretty demanding audience, it's human nature to try to do the least amount possible for the most reward. I really don't blame them, but man what it took to get a simple pot of tea……

Even though the Missus and I were hungry, we didn't want anything too heavy. After spending the previous week and change in Beijing, QingDao, and Jinan, the combination of temperature (it really wasn't that hot) and humidity was getting to us. We decided on two seasonal vegetable dishes, we loved the wild mountain vegetable we ate in QingDao, so we looked forward to our dishes.

And so our dishes arrived. First the two vegetables.

Notice the difference between the two? Or perhaps no difference? Well, we couldn't taste the difference. And these were pretty dry as well. And when the Missus asked, we were assured that these were two different vegetables. I'm fairly sure however, that none of these two were "Crown Daisy", aka Shingiku, something that I'm familiar with….

The Missus also ordered the Stinky Tofu Hot Pot.

Oh my….. Oh my…. To me, this smelt like sewage. And placing a spoonful of this concoction in my mouth confirmed that it was. The Missus however, thought this was a wonderful savory ambrosia, and She wiped out the whole pot, along with our first bowl of rice on this trip. I've often mentioned that the Missus says: "If you can eat ChouDofu (smelly tofu) then it's no good." In this case She is 100% correct. Recently, during the course conversation with a good FOY (friend of yoso), the topic of Chou Dofu came up. This FOY, a frequent traveler to China, told me that she loves Chou Dofu, but her relatives in China won't let her eat it. The reason? Because, whether documented or not, or perhaps basing judgment on anecdotal data, she was told that restaurants and producers were using fecal matter to produce Chou Dofu. I could only nod in agreement…… I could understand where they "were coming from"…..

For some strange, or perhaps not so strange reason, I left the restaurant not very hungry at all. And we made our way back down Hefang Street.

We had still not found West Lake…….

Still, undeterred, we kept headed West. As I looked up on what I was later to learn is Wushan Hill.

And told the Missus, "that's interesting, I wonder what that is?" I heard a voice talking to the Missus……

To be continued……..

Saturday Stuffs: Manna Korean BBQ opening in San Diego? Yakitori Koubou set to open, and other stuffs….

October 2, 2010 mmm-yoso Sushi and Sashimi

Manna Korean BBQ opening in San Diego?

Talk about doing a double-take. I'm driving down Convoy when I see this sign:

Wow….. I hadn't heard a thing. For those who haven't heard of Manna in LA, it's a very popular AYCE (All you can eat) Korean BBQ restaurant, or more precisely restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Not known for the best quality meats, the prices when I visited were excellent. I'm still not sure if this restaurant is affiliated with the Los Angeles restaurants(maybe someone out there knows the answer?). And what's even more funny was, when I visited Manna, I was the only Asian in the joint……. so I don't know whether to be excited or not. After all, we have enough of those type of places in San Diego…..

But hey, at least there's some business activity in the area.

Yokohama Yakitori Koubou set to open:

While walking to Izakaya Sakura a couple of days ago, I noticed that the signs were up for Koubou. this morning while I drove by, I read a note in the window stating that they'll be opening on 10/07.

Hmmm….. is that it? I feel like I'm short-changing you with such a short post. So here are some photos from a recent meal at Sushi Yaro.

There, I feel better now……

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Road Trip: Dim Sum at Sea Harbour – Rosemead (Los Angeles)

September 28, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Today, stewing in my triple-digit-temperature sodden juices, I had the evil idea of doing a post on my latest bowl of Bun Bo Hue, or perhaps another Pho post. But just the thought of looking at a photo of a steaming bowl of Pho, was just a bit too much for me. So instead, let's just go directly to our current favorite Dim Sum Restaurant, Sea Harbour in Rosemead. When folks say they're going to LA, and want a recommendation for Dim Sum, I'll usually recommend Sea Harbour. Heck, when Ed from Yuma, wanted a couple of recommendations for Seafood Restaurants in LA, Sea Harbour was on that short list. And based on his post, Ed really enjoyed his meal at Sea Harbour. And if you needed another seal of approval, during our visit to Urasawa, Hiro-san himself told me that his favorite restaurant is Sea Harbour. Need I say more? You probably notice a dearth of posts on Dim Sum in San Diego…… that's mainly because the wild swings in quality and mixed experiences over the years have made us a bit "gun shy", after all, the usual layout of funds for a good dim sum meal, exceeds the risk associated with a good bowl of soup! Especially when the return on investment for dim sum in San Diego during the last few years have crashed faster than the stock market…..

On weekends there will usually always be a wait at Sea Harbour….. even if you arrive before the 1030 am opening, it's likely you'll be standing behind someone who got there even earlier than you. Still, if you get there before 11am, on a normal weekend, it's likely the wait won't be too long. Turnover is very quick here…..

Like Elite and Happy Harbour, Sea Harbour does Dim Sum the upscale "menu style". The check off list is quite large at about 130 items….

It's always quite an effort to decide on what to eat. As much as Siu Mai would seem a "no-brainer", a visit to Sea Harbour is something of a special meal for us, so I've yet to have that here. The standard Char Siu Bao, is usually persona non-grata during our Dim Sum meals, as the Missus hails from Shandong and Beijing, and the dough is much too sweet for Her tastes.

So we tend toward the dishes that are not quite the norm for a typical Dim Sum meal. On this day, things started off with the Baby Pak Choy with Ginko and Bean Curd Sheets:

This was almost an entree sized dish. The pak choy was prepared perfectly, still crunchy, not saturated. We both love bean curd sheets. The broth was a light, but tasty chicken stock. The only negative for us in this dish were the ginko nuts. They were very bitter. I have been using ginko nuts a lot recently, and immediately knew these were not prepared well, the texture was mushy, and the flavor unpleasant. Still, the pak choy was good, even as leftovers.

The Shrimp, Dry Scallop, and Chinese Celery Dumplings were excellent.

Over the years, I've resigned myself to either overly sticky, or brittle and ripped wrappers for steamed dumplings. These on the other hand were perfect; with just enough pull. The amount of Chinese Celery was just right, adding that wonderful palate cleansing effect. The size of the cut was good as well; you knew you were having Chinese Celery. The shrimp was flavorful; and even though we really couldn't make out a dried scallop umami, the proportion of the other ingredients was just right for our tastes. We really should be having more of the steamed dumplings at Sea Harbour.

Though it's really hard when you see stuff like Foie-Gras Minced Beef with Spinach on the menu.

I was surprised that you could really make out the flavor of goose liver in this. The spinach was good quality, and not bitter in the least. A rich, but good dish.

We were split on the Cheong Fun with Bittermelon and Chicken.

The Missus thought that while the bittermelon was perfectly cooked, it was much too bitter for Her. I on the other hand enjoyed this. We both thought that the sauce for the Cheong Fun had a good salty-sweet balance to it.

The biggest disappointment of the day were the French Style Goose Liver Won Ton.

Very bland won tons (where was the goose liver?), in an insipid broth. This dish was very disappointing, as both the won tons and the broth lacked flavor.

Second place for most disappointing dish was the Fish Cake with Corn and Peas.

Which also suffered from the blandness bugaboo. This one almost got me to request soy sauce and chili paste, which is not provided on each table like the typical Dim Sum Restaurant. I can understand the desire to have each customer taste the real flavor and quality of each item ordered. But man, this was fairly tasteless.

The Missus and I were split on the Pan Grilled Spinach Pork Bun.

The Missus thought these were too sweet (of course), and too light and fluffy (???). I thought the sweetness wasn't over-powering, and really enjoyed the shrimp in the Buns. I'd have these again, but don't think the Missus would allow me to order them.

As a whole, we really enjoyed this meal, and ended up with some leftovers. And even though we ordered several of the most expensive items on the Dim Sum menu, our bill came out to a tad over $40, much less then we had expected spending.

Leaving, we noticed the huge crowd waiting outside the restaurant, braving temperatures that were surely approaching a hundred degrees. It left me wondering if I'd be willing to wait in this heat. Perhaps not, but we still think of Sea Harbour as one of the better spots for Dim Sum.

I'm always attracted to the "Chicken in the parking lot" here, and am racking my brains to recall what this place was before Sea Harbour. Maybe you'll be able to tell me…..

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

Scenes from A Taste of Korea Harvest & Wine Festival

September 26, 2010 mmm-yoso Festivals & Events, Korean Restaurants

I'm sure you could tell from this post, that I was fascinated with the "Taste of Korea Harvest and Wine Festival". So yesterday, I parked in Old Town, and took the trolley down to the Gaslamp.

And got off at the Convention Center stop, which is but a few steps from the San Diego Wine & Culinary Center.

The event was combination of a wine tasting, cooking contest, and a celebration of Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival.

The schedule looked pretty jam packed, with the tasting of three wines, entertainment, food, and three culinary challenge matches.

Arriving early, I had a chance to chat briefly with Cathlyn Choi. Energetic, with a great sense of humor, Cathlyn managed doing several things at once, all while dressed in a formal Hanbok on one of the hottest days of the year!

There were three different wines featured during the event; first a Makkoli, a rice wine.

Which was quite refreshing. This wine is made by fermented rice and water, and looks very much like Nigori Sake. It is not quite as sweet, and the alcohol content in Makkoli is a bit lower than Nigori. In fact, I like this a bit more than Nigori Sake. It is easy to drink.

The second wine was a Bek Se Ju, made from glutinous rice flavored with ginseng and other herbs, this was quite medicinal, but ok overall. The last wine was a Bok Bun Ja, a raspberry wine that was a bit too sweet for my tastes. It was fun trying these out, and I think I'll be getting some Makkoli for the Missus one of these days.

Of course there was food……

My favorite item was the Dduk Boki which Cathlyn made, there was also food provided by some pretty familiar names……

There was also entertainment, which included a Gayaguem performance.

And a very enjoyable performance by Fairfax High School's Korean Drum Group.

Of course, I was most interested in the cooking contest. Even though the six Chefs competing aren't quite household names, by the end of the evening it was pretty obvious that they all had some cooking chops.

I snagged a seat at the table right behind the judges, the most well known to food folks might be Myung Sook Lee, who is most well known for Her appearance on the original Japanese version of Iron Chef. You can see a video of her match against Chen Kenichi in the "Liver Battle" here. Chef Lee, is also the Executive Chef of Soban Restaurant in Rancho Bernardo. She is also a force of nature, and was all over the place during the matches, often stepping behind the counter to sample and sniff sauces, give advice, and watch what the chefs were doing up close.

She also looked like one tough customer who could snap me in two over her knee should she so desire. Folks in San Diego would probably also recognize C S Keys.

My personal favorite judge was FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice Woo.

The rules of challenge itself was fun. Each of the six chefs picked a slip from a bag. A different traditional Korean Dish or food item was on each slip. The chefs were divided into twos with thirty minutes to make the dish. A basket of ingredients was provided for each chef. What was very entertaining was that several of the chefs had never seen nor eaten the dish assigned to them!

The first two up were Jean-Michel Gottlieb who owns Bella Catering and Phillip Soriano Sous Chef at the Marine Room.

So how's this for a challenge, Chef Jean-Michel was to make Japchae, but he had never even heard of the dish! Given the ingredients, Chef Jean-Michel made what looked like deconstructed Japchae, with all the ingredients prepared seperately. The two other Judges, Sookhee Jung, Food Columnist for The Korean Times and Ena Yu, Columnist for The Korea Daily, found his dish a fascinating take on Japchae.

Chef Phillip was to make BiBimBap, and by the look of his dish, it was quite apparent that he's had his share of BiBimBap as his version looked the most like the traditional dish.

The next pair up were Lance Roll, aka The Flavor Chef, who is quite a character. He had selected KimChi…… and had to pull that off in 30 minutes! Alongside Chef Roll was Pam Schwartz, CIA Graduate and Program Coodinator for Sur La Table.

Chef Pam used a handy dandy Vacu Vin Instant Marinator to get her selection of Bulgogi ready in fifteen minutes. She got positive nods from the Judges for her addition of Sesame leaves for wrapping the bulgogi.

Chef Lance, who had the task of making KimChi, used a quick saute with garlic and oter seasonings to get his Kimchi started. He also added bell peppers, utilized the freezer to bring everything to temp, and a creative presentation to complete his dish.

His dish was most surprising, as I got a taste of it. It was quite good, and tasted like good tsukemono! Pretty amazing for something made in 30 minutes! He really got the judges attention with his effort.

Next up were Chef Maria Sparks, co-owner of Cork and Platter, and Rene Fernandez. Chef Maria had Dak Galbi, and had no idea what that was! Still she was a very good sport, and seemed to have fun with the dish.

She added a very different ingredient to her chicken stir-fry……. Curry! Which drew some ooohs from the Korean women sitting on the table behind me.

In the end, the finished product was very tasty, and I really loved her presentation.

Chef Rene had Dduk Boki on his hands……

And I enjoyed his hearty, soulful version of this dish the most of what I was able to taste.

I'm not going to tell you who won…. since this is going to be televised, I'll ask Cathlyn if I can reveal the winner.

Though the event ran pretty long, I hope Cathlyn does this again…. and lets me know about it!

So I can let you all know about!

Purple Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Dressing

September 23, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

This was the purple cabbage dish we were served during the family dinner in Jinan. It really caught our attention, and it has become a pretty regular item at home. It is very simple, and can be put together in just a few minutes.

The dressing itself has basically five items, but everything comes through real well. The key item is using a good, pure sesame paste, which provides a wonderful savory – nutty flavor. The oil in the sesame paste also acts like an emulsifier. Chinese black vinegar and white sugar are the other two key components. The surprise is the addition of wasabi, which gives the dressing real zip. Everything is balanced out with some sea salt, and that's it.

I start with 3 tablespoons of well mixed sesame paste (remember to mix the sesame paste well, since the oil has usually separated in the bottle). I add an equal amount of white sugar, then 1/3 cup of Chinese Black Vinegar, and combine well. I taste and make adjustments to our taste(you may need to add sugar or vinegar), and suggest that you do the same. The "dressing" needs to be pourable. I then add some wasabi paste to taste, and finish up with sea salt. It's not the prettiest looking concoction.

I finely shred/slice half a head of purple cabbage. The Missus likes the cabbage sliced finely. In Jinan, the cabbage was blanched, but we've found that a fine slice does just fine.

I combine the cabbage with 3/4 of the dressing, mix well, and put in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, to let the flavors meld. After the short chill, I add about a handful of chopped cilantro leaves and 2-3 bunches of finely sliced scallions (green parts only). I mix, then adjust with more dressing if necessary and more salt. I add a sprinkle of sesame seed to top things off. This will keep for a day or two, (or maybe three) if refrigerated.

Easy, huh? I feel almost guilty doing an entire post on this, but it is quite good.

A couple of notes; I quarter the half of the cabbage I use and cut off the tough core. If you can't get good quality Chinese Black Vinegar, you can use Japanese Rice Vinegar, but cut the sugar in half before combining, then add more if necessary. We were told that finely julienned and blanched carrots are a good addition. I'm sure you can think of other good additions to this. We also had a version of this in Beijing, so stay tuned for that post.