mmm-yoso – Page 327

Jinan: The Family Dinner

September 22, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Jinan, Memorable Meals, Travel

While we were being chauffeured around on our whirlwind tour of Jinan; the Missus's Foodie Uncle and Aunt were hard at work in the kitchen of the Missus's Grandmother's Sister. Well practiced hands were at work, creating dishes for a family dinner, moving with a well coordinated confidence that indicated a familiarity with the kitchen and the dishes that were being created.

There were a couple of dishes that were delightfully surprising; and one that brought back great memories for the Missus.

Everything started with Tofu with Xiang Chun Ya, a light coating of sesame oil adding a layer of flavor to the herbaceous Xiang Chun.

This started a parade of dishes……

I never got the name of this green vegetable…. fried in a light and crisp batter….it was so good!

The Xiang Chun Ya deep fried with a tempura like batter was amazingly good!

There were some really great dishes appearing out of the humble kitchen……

But there were two that were remarkably memorable for us.

I seem to pick up at least one dish from almost everywhere we travel. Something that becomes a fairly regular item in our household. This was such a dish. It looks very simple, and actually is, but the flavors are wonderful…..

Yes, it is purple cabbage. But the sauce used was fabulous; sesame paste, sugar, and black vinegar, hits on the savory-sweet-sour flavor profile. But it was the addition of one surprise ingredient that got my attention……. wasabi! I remember taking my first bite, and telling the Missus, "this is great….. but I swear there's wasabi in this." Which the Missus verified. In this case the cabbage is blanched; when we've been making it at home, we just slice the cabbage a bit thinner, and serve it raw. We had this dish at a restaurant in Beijing a bit later on, but this was a better, more complex version. Now that I've done this post, I can share the recipe in the near future.

The Missus reacquainted Herself with a dish that had faded from Her memory.

These cakes are made with glutinous corn meal, studded with dried dates, and steamed. Sweet and savory, it's like a moister-sweeter wo-wo tou. The fragrance is memorable, as is the density of these cakes. It was so filling I could only manage half a cake…… but no worries, the Missus finished Hers, and then put my remaining half away with no problem. The Missus later told me that these are even better the next day, when they are sliced, fried, and covered in sugar! I can only say that these were way better than anything resembling a wo-wo tou I've ever had.

There was something I learned in our time in QingDao and Jinan, it was the strength of family. You see, I was brought up in a single parent household, and my mother never did keep in really close contact with our relatives. Over the years I have come to treasure my good friends, they are like my family, and I have been blessed to know such wonderful people. But here, in a country six thousand miles away from home, the power of family was taught to me. Distance and time are just numbers, a strong sense of family supersedes all numbers……….

While sitting in the airport in Jinan, the Missus and I lamented the biggest mistake we made on this trip…..

Which was only spending one night in Jinan. We both wished that we had planned for more time. It's a mistake we won't make next time!

Pho-raging around Oceanside: I Love Pho and Mr Pho

September 20, 2010 mmm-yoso Pho, Vietnamese Restaurants

A couple of weeks ago, DavidD emailed me asking me why I'd do a post on Pho in Rancho Bernardo, and stop there…… explaining to me that there were several Pho shops in Oceanside. And he had a point, why shouldn't I grab some Pho in Oceanside…. even though the names of the restaurants were kinda cheesy, like "I Love Pho" and "Yummy Pho"….. I guess a simple name like "Pho Oceanside" just would not do. Well, it wasn't the most provocative name, but still, "Mr Pho?" I tried to keep a straight face when I entered the parking lot and saw the huge "I Love Pho" sign…. though to think about it; I do love Pho.

**** I Love Pho has closed

This fairly large shop was nicely decorated, and even had a faux ("Pho" ?) pond and bridge set-up at it's entrance.

The menu had all the basic items on it; Pho, Bun, and Com(rice). Knowing that this would not be the place serving decent "Tai" (rare steak), I went with the Well Done Steak, Flank, Tendon, Brisket, and Tripe ($5.75).

One look at the pitiful garnishes, and I knew that this wasn't going to be the place for me. And the broth proved me right, being fairly cloudy, and pretty weak with regards to any other flavor than sodium.

The flank was tender and had decent flavor. The same with the brisket. Which had obviously been simmered in something other than this broth.

The tripe was pretty tough, and there was only a tiny piece of tendon in the bowl. The clump of noodles was prepared decently, and not over cooked like many places.

And as a bonus, I got this piece of inedible cow…..

During my meal, I watched the very nice gentleman work the room, engaging all the customers with small talk. He seemed a really nice guy, but still, I don't think I can bring myself to walk across that "faux" pond and bridge for another bowl of Pho. Too bad, because I really wanted to like this place.

I Love Pho
3809 Plaza Drive
Oceanside, CA 92056

Make a U-turn, and head up and over the 78, and eventually you'll hit Oceanside Boulevard. The first Pho place I came across was Yummy Pho. Unfortunately, they weren't open yet. So I headed up Oceanside Boulevard until I came across Mr Pho.

Squeezed in between a taco shop and a Thai Restaurant, Mr Pho is the antithesis of I Love Pho, it is small, simply and spartanly decorated, and truly bare bones. The logo of "Mr Pho" features the caricature of a jolly smiling man with a chef's toque holding a bowl of with wisps of steam rising into the air. Don't bother looking for him among the employees, he ain't here…..it's all business. The typical Pho shop business model seemed in place here.

I placed the same order here, it was 25 cents cheaper.

When my plate of basil and bean sprouts arrived fresh and shining, I thought I'd take a chance. I asked if they had Ngo Gai (Saw leaf herb) which was met with a puzzled look…. I'm guessing I was just of the wrong nationality. Finally, the young man nodded "no" and walked off.

The broth here was more to my taste, with hints of anise and clove. It was a bit on the salty side, so I had to use a bit of lime to cut the salt. The broth was a bit richer than I Love Pho's version, though both were pretty low on oil.

The noodles were over-cooked and mushy, but the most of the meat was well prepared. The tripe was especially good on this day.

The only thing that I didn't care for was the tendon, which was too hard and tough.

Still, this wasn't a bad bowl, and if you don't mind the typical "A-B" (All business) model, you might get a decent bowl here.

Mr Pho Vietnamese Cuisine
4750 Oceanside Blvd
Oceanside, CA 92056

On the way back to the freeway, a shop caught my eye.

It looks like maybe Chamorro Food in Oceanside? Maybe I should get up here more often……..

Sagmani’s Restaurant – El Cajon

September 19, 2010 mmm-yoso Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

**** Sagmani’s is no longer

It had been while since I had a kebab, so I thought I’d head on down to El Cajon, home to the second largest Iraqi population in the US (next to Detroit). The mostly Chaldean Iraqi community has turned El Cajon’s Main Street into a parade of Halal meat shops, markets, and kebab shops, providing a kind of ethnic vibrance, albiet a very laid back vibe, to the street. My initial thought was to hit my favorite spot, Village Grill. I gave my good friend JohnL a call, but he was tied up with work, so I headed down to El Cajon solo. While driving, I decided to check out someplace I hadn’t been to. I drove past a restaurant I’d seen a few months earlier, but it had shut down, and was being replaced by “Nahrain Fish and Chicken Restaurant”, which was not yet opened. Then I recalled a place I saw during one of our visits to Athena Market….. the shop was behind the market, away from the main drag. It is called Sagmani’s Restaurant.

A few months back, I was talking to someone about all these Iraqi/Kebab Restaurants in El Cajon, and was taken aback when told, “I’d be afraid to go there….. I don’t think I’d be welcome.” I explained that my experiences, like what happened at Ali Baba were just the opposite of what she thought. Even though many of the men were fairly stoic, the women are warm and welcoming…. which turned out to be untrue based on this visit to Sagmani’s. I was greeted by a jolly gentleman, who smiled and said “welcome….have you had kebob before?” I answered in the positive, and looked over the menu, which like many of these restaurants is compact, but deceivingly varied, with tekka, kebabs, stews, kubba(kibbeh), and even grilled quail and cornish hens. Looking over the menu, I just couldn’t make up my mind….so the gentleman made it easy for me…..”I’ll make you one beef, and one chicken, and you can tell me which you like better…. how does that sound?” Well, it sounded just right to me.

The interior of Sagmani’s is much smaller than it appears from the outside, only a couple of four tops, and two large, almost communal tables. But based on the table-tops laying against the corner, I’m guessing that they can accommodate a pretty sizable crowd if necessary.

I had a seat, and the very nice, but quiet young lady brought me some water, and asked me if I’d like to have some tea. And soon enough I was brought some.

Here’s my Beef and Chicken Kabob:

Let’s work around the protein first…… I really liked the “turshi” aka pickle, which was the pickled tumeric cabbage, which was really good, not too sour, and full of flavor. The salad was your basic plain lettuce dressed with a bit of olive oil and vinegar. The rice was moist, and had a nice savory flavor, almost like some kind of stock was used to make it.

On to the Kabobs…….

I really couldn’t decided which I enjoyed more; the beef was fairly mellow, with just a touch of herbaceousness…. but man it was moist and tender. I could cut it easily with a fork. I loved that sumac was sprinkled liberally over the kabobs as that added even more flavor to them. On occasion, I’ve had a kabob that has what I call a “negative gamey flavor”, which is that slightly off flavor of meat that is starting to head South….. this tasted clean. The chicken had more flavor, and did well with the char. It was also moist, but as with chicken, it was not as tender as the beef. It did have good flavor, though!

The only major item I didn’t care for here was the bread.

Which were basically pita, and were pretty tough……..

I would like to mentioned the service, which I thought was wonderful. When the young lady saw me finish my water; she brought me an entire pitcher. I was checked on twice by the young lady, first to see if I wanted more bread; second to see if I wanted more tea. The gentleman came by to make sure I was enjoying my meal. I was surprised to find that I wasn’t charged for my tea….. the entire meal came out to $7, the price of a sandwich in most of San Diego……. And from the various signs, they’ve got a slew of deals going on, from 99 cent kabobs to Monday and Tuesday lunch specials….. there’s quite a bit of competition in the area.

So where do I place Sagmani’s compared with the other Iraqi Kabob shops in the area? I still think the bread at Ali Baba is the best, followed by Hammurabi. For protein, my favorite with regards to flavor is Village Grill(and they make the best okra stew). Still the kabobs here were the most tender I’ve had to date, and I thought the rice was very good. And I’ll go back, I’d like to chat with the really nice guy who made my kabobs…….

Sagmani’s Restaurant
478 West Douglas St
El Cajon, CA 92020

Iceberg Lettuce Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

September 18, 2010 mmm-yoso Recipes

Have I ever mentioned that I sometimes prefer cookbooks with no photos? You see, the Missus doesn't give cookbooks with little or no photos the time of day. But when She gets Her mitts on cookbooks with great photos, She'll get fixated on one, or more of the recipes, and request, nay demand that I attempt to make what was requested. Most of the time I'm able to pull off a reasonable facsimile of the dish…. but nothing sends chills down my spine when I see Her grabbing one of Thomas Keller's cookbooks. Lucky for me; this time around it was Ad Hoc at Home, and not the French Laundry Cookbook or Bouchon. I've made a couple of things from Ad Hoc at Home, and find that many of the recipes are very accessible. And if you want mighty fine fried chicken, check out the Buttermilk Fried Chicken recipe in the book.

The Missus has a strange affinity for Blue Cheese Dressing and Wedge Salads, so when She saw the photo of the iceberg lettuce slices….. it was all blue cheese dressing and iceberg lettuce salad all of the time. This time I didn't just jump up and run to the market grabbing the closest head of lettuce, which made the Missus kinda wonder why……. perhaps She envisioned that we'd fanned the flames of our love of food a bit too hard and it had gone out. But that wasn't really the reason, which I'll detail a bit later. About a week later, on a Sunday, when I grilled up a mess of veggies for the Missus to eat on sandwiches for the upcoming week, I made my dressing (actually the night before) and the Missus had Her salad.

You see the reason that the Missus didn't get instant salad was that I had something brewing up in the deep and mildly warm recesses of the mmm-yoso household. Looking over the Blue Cheese Dressing recipe in Ad Hoc, I noticed something that I thought would really make this dressing…… creme fraiche. So while the Missus was stewing, the creme fraiche was, well, fermenting.

The recipe for the dressing is pretty much the same as what's in the book. I omitted the flat leaf parsley, and adjusted the flavor for our taste. I could have made my own aioli, but decided on not messing with eggs right now. In his book, Thomas Keller uses his Buttermilk Dressing as the base for the Blue Cheese Dressing. We both loved the hint of mint in the dressing, it really worked well.

Blue Cheese Buttermilk Dressing

1 cup Best Foods mayonnaise
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1-2 tsp minced chives
1 tsp minced mint leaves
6 oz decent quality blue cheese (please, no prepackaged crumbles ok?)

– Put the mayo in a bowl and whisk in the buttermilk and creme fraiche.
– Add the rest of the ingredients except the blue cheese and mix well.
– Taste and adjust flavors.
– Crumble the blue cheese. It might be kind of sticky and messy, but that's ok.
– Stir in the blue cheese and whisk together. You can use the whisk to break down the Blue Cheese.

I'd say allow for the flavors to meld overnight. If the dressing is too thick, you can add in buttermilk to thin it out.

As for the salad……..

You'll notice those tomatoes don't look very pretty……. during my grilling session I cut two tomatoes into about 1 1/2 inch slices, rubbed them with garlic olive oil, seasoned with salt and oregano and grilled them up. Thomas Keller uses oven roasted tomatoes, but this was during the time when it pretty warm around here, and I just didn't feel like using the oven.

The missus prefers her bacon crisp, so I deviated from Thomas Keller's technique of rendering the fat off of the lardons without making the bacon too crisp.

Instead I used thick cut bacon from Seisel's.

The bread was interesting. I'd bought the usual double loaf of the routine roasted garlic La Brea Bakery loaves with the intent of making croutons, and using the rest for the Missus's sandwiches. Unfortunately, the Missus was adamant about NOT wanting croutons, or pretty much any bread near, or around Her salad. So to "fix Her wagon", I rubbed roasted garlic olive oil on some slices of bread and toasted them. When the slices were toasted, I drizzled Truffle Oil on them……. and of course the Missus couldn't resist that! Who could? Slices of avocado finished the salad, and we finished all the dressing in three days…….

And the veggies I roasted on the grill didn't last too long either…….

And in case you're feeling bad for me having to eat all this salad… don't.

Looks almost like fairly well marbled beef, doesn't it? When buying the bacon I had thoughts of making some thick cut pork chops with a spicy hoisin glaze…… when I saw these beautiful looking Eden Farms Berkshire (Kurobuta) Loin Chops, which made all the "other white meat" around them look positively pale and weak. These were delicious… and no, I didn't ruin them with any glaze; I just seasoned with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, and after giving them some nice color, I threw some soaked oak chips on the coals and covered the chops up for the last seven or so minutes……. man, these were good!

Jinan: Daming Lake Park and more beer in a bag…..

September 16, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Jinan, Travel

After a sumptuous banquet lunch, while Her Mother and Aunts socialized and rested, one of Her Jinan Uncles took us on what could only be termed as a whirlwind tour of Jinan. We made several stops, including Spring City Square.

Our favorite stop by far was Daming Lake Park (大明湖公园).

At the center of the huge park is Daming Lake, a natural lake formed by several springs. Jinan is often called the "City of Springs" due to the number of artesian springs in the city. The park has been expanded and renovated recently, and admission to the park is free.

There are numerous islands, pavilions, and temples, including the largest Taoist temple in Jinan.

There are also a number of gardens, which made one of the Missus's uncles exclaim, "you don't need to go to Suzhou, our gardens here are beautiful enough!"

After visiting Suzhou, I'm not quite sure I agree…. though the grounds of the park are quite scenic and beautiful.

Considering Jinan's size and population (over 6 million), I was fascinated when the Missus's Uncle pointed out the old city wall. Daming Lake is pretty much in the center of Jinan…. to think that Jinan was once this small….

On the way back to meet the family, we stopped at this shop to purchase some special Jinan Shaobing for the Missus's Mother and Aunts to take back to QingDao.

There were two types, sweet and savory….. The savory version tasted almost like Lavosh……

Along the way back, we also stopped for this……of course!

Jinan has its own local beer, Baotuquan, which the locals claim is much richer and better tasting than Tsingtao (of course again). Since the temperatures were hitting the mid-nineties, this made for a perfect stop.

When we asked if we could take photos, the woman running the stand gave us an approving nod, telling the Missus, "oh yes, it's free advertising!" The second time we heard this on our trip. I really enjoyed the straightforward wholesomeness of the folks in Shandong. They always seemed to have time for a good laugh.

After a nice mug of beer, we got some beer in a bag to go, and headed off to the Missus's Grandmother's Sister's place. We drove along, holding a bag of beer aloft in the car…….

If you've ever wondered what those nails pounded into the side of tables are for……. well, it's there to hang your bag of beer of course! And the Missus's Uncles are pros at pouring beer from a bag into a glass.

Baotuquan has its own unique flavor, a bit more like a lager, a bit more "hoppish" than Tsingtao.

We noticed that everyone in the family drank their beer from unrefrigerated bottles. When the Missus asked why, we were told that drinking beer cold was not healthy, it made one cough…. room temperature beer was more healthy!

While having our beer we could smell wonderful fragrances coming from the kitchen, the two "cooks" in the family were hard at work, and we were about to have a fantastic meal! Stay tuned for that post.

A milestone for mmm-yoso……

September 15, 2010 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

I was reminded of something when we returned from China at the end of May…… the day we returned to San Diego, mmm-yoso made five years. I'd usually do one of my Spam Musubi posts to celebrate, but this year it just didn't feel right. So I decided to wait, with another milestone in sight. So here it is, post 1,500……..

I'd like to refrain from a Ted Baxter "It all started at a 5000-watt radio station…." moment, but would like to thank you for visiting and reading!

It's been our pleasure to share our meals with you over the last couple of years; from the fancy….

To stuff we eat….. well on this past weekend for example…..

Or sometimes, things considered perhaps a bit unconventional by Western standards….

We've had the pleasure of sharing our travels with you….. whether domestically….

Or somewhere beyond our borders…..

Cathy, Ed from Yuma, Vicky, the Missus and I sincerely thank you for reading!

I hope we're able to provide at least a few more interesting food posts….

With some travel thrown in for good measure!

Pizzeria Bruno Napoletano

September 13, 2010 mmm-yoso Pizza

*** Pizzeria Bruno has closed

The Missus and I aren't real big pizza people…… the huge amount of cheese, and way too much bread that characterizes typical "American Pizza" is just too much for us. Even the New York style pizza we've had has been touch and go, and most times since it's just the Missus and I, a whole large pie is just out of the question, as are wrinkled reheated slices. So when FOY, Kayoko, keeper of Umamimart told me that I just had to try Bruno when we had lunch last month…. well, of course I just had to check them out.

When you first enter Bruno, the first thing you notice is "Bruno" the wood fired brick oven that occupies the back of the kitchen area.

Ovens like Bruno are capable of major heat, upwards of 900 degrees, which does magical things with well made dough……

And I was thrilled to order my first pizza, the Bufalina ($16), which consisted of Mozzarella di Bufala (Buffalo Mozzarella), Fresh Tomatoes, Basil, and drizzled with a very flavorful olive oil, which I enjoy because it isn't too over-the-top in fruitiness, and thus doesn't interfere with the rest of the flavors.

When the pizza hit the table, I was just entranced by the fragrances. There were the characteristics of a classic Neopolitan Pizza, raised edges, the dough of the body of the pizza no thicker than 1/8 inch. The texture of the charred edges was wonderful, with a nice pull. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of coloring on the body of the pizza, and this was borne out as I tried to separate a slice and move it to my plate….. the entire middle of the pie stayed on the pan, saturated. When I tried to lift it, everything just kinda sloughed off the pie. Still I loved the wonderful, pure flavors that came through. You could taste everything. I ended taking two slices home since I thought this would be right up the Missus's alley. When She opened the box, She said, "you gotta be kidding"….. until She caught a whiff of the olive oil and basil. She scarfed the entire thing up cold…… except for the center which had turned to mush….

And soon enough, we made our way back to Bruno. We ordered two pies, the Brunoverde ($14) – Fresh Mozzarella, Parmigiana Reggiano, Ricotta, and Arugula.

We both loved the combination of milky flavors lent by the cheese, which was cut by the wonderfully peppery arugula. This time the crust was just about there, wonderful char on the edges, the pie was soft, and foldable. I was once told that when you had true Neopolitan Pizza, you should be able to fold a slice in half, then half again without the crust breaking. This sure filled the bill.

To be honest, we thought the simple Marinara ($9) – tomato sauce, basil, garlic, and olive oil, displayed the best of Bruno. Things were placed in perfect proportion for us.

All the items were displayed at its best, the tomato sauce made this taste like "sunshine on a crust". Without a doubt, the crust on this was wonderful, soft and moist, the best of all the pies we've had a Bruno.

This is the Missus's favorite here…. She'll order it requesting an extra drizzle of the olive oil on it.

Some of the other Pizzas we've had at Bruno:

The Blanco ($15) – Mozzarella, gorgonzola, Garlic, Roasted Onion, Pancetta, and Arugula:

There was an amazing char on this pizza, great crust. I think this was a case of too much of a good thing. There was just too much going on, and the combination of pancetta and gorgonzola made this a bit on the salty side.

I did enjoy the Diavolo ($15), though. A pizza topped with Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Pepperroni, Garlic, and Goat Peppers.

I just love looking at my photo of this pizza. Even though they call this Diavolo (the Devil), this wasn't very spicy. The peppers listed are goat peppers, which I've always thought were in the Habanero Family, but perhaps I'm wrong since these were slightly spicy, with a mild sweet-fruitiness to them. The Missus picked them off the pizza to eat!

As you can tell, we've been coming here a lot recently. And though we believe that items such as the Bread Plate ($8):

Really don't show Bruno at it's best; the Missus enjoys the salads, and She craves that Pizza Marinara…..

And we've found that we enjoy sitting outside on Bruno's patio, sipping on Limonata, Aranciata, or a Stella Artois. Celebrating the end of another week.

Some notes: The service has always been friendly, though a bit spaced out on one visit. Parking out front will be by meter so either have some quarters handy, visit on Sunday, or park further up the street near Henry's.

Pizzeria Bruno
4207 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92105

Please read Kayokos post on Pizzeria Bruno here.

For more information about Neapolitan Pizza, you can check the site of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana.

Road Trip: Luscious Dumplings and Michelle’s Pancake House – San Gabriel (Los Angeles)

September 12, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

The Missus and I hadn't been back to the SGV quite as much as we desired since returning from China. A couple of weeks back, we finally had a chance, and we decided to check out a few places we hadn't been to. We started however, with a place we hadn't been to in quite a while:

Luscious Dumplings:

**** Luscious Dumplings has moved to Monrovia

Since we'd be checking out a place in the same strip mall, we decided on having some Jiaozi at Luscious Dumplings. Actually, I thought I'd posted on this place before but couldn't find a previous post. Luckily, I snapped a photo before we left…… check out the line! When we arrived, the place was empty, but it sure fills up quickly.

Luscious Dumplings is a small, bare bones operation, whose menu is presented on a half sheet of paper. You check off the items you want, and you're on your way. Within seconds a styrofoam cup of tea, and a small plate of marinated/pickled vegetable arrives.

On this day, after the Missus scarfed this up, totally against character, another little plate arrived at our table! Wow, great service, right? Well, not quite…. it seems that another table had requested more of the free appetizer, and it had been erroneously brought to us. Maybe it was our lucky day.

We had ordered two different dumplings, the first to arrive were the Chive, Pork, Egg, and Shrimp Dumplings(10 – $6.50):

These were excellent; the wrappers were almost pillowy, with just the right amount of pull. The filling was well put together as well. You could still taste the shrimp, and the pungency of the chive didn't over-power the rest of the ingredients.

Our order of Pork and Celery Dumplings arrived soon after:

The one outstanding characteristic of these dumplings were the lightness of the filling, so smooth and light, almost mousse-like. The Missus's Fifth Aunt, will often stir her Jiaozi filling for over an hour with chopsticks to attain the right consistency. The texture of these were pretty close. The flavor seemed a bit off to us. Celery is a wonderful foil for rich or gamey fillings, but here the flavor of ginger overwhelmed everything else. We couldn't even make out the celery in the dumpling.

Still, the dumplings here are well worth a visit. One thing I noticed, it seems that the prices here go up like clockwork, but these are worth $6.50.

Luscious Dumplings Inc
704 W. Las Tunas Dr.
San Gabriel, CA 91776

You can check out Wandering Chopstick's post on Luscious Dumplings here.

Right around the corner from Luscious Dumplings is a shop that FOY (Friend of Yoso) Andy thought might be an interesting shop to visit:

Michelle's Pancake House:

*** Michelle's Pancake House has closed

No, it's not the Chinese equivalent of IHOP or The Original Pancake House. The "Michelle" portion of the name is a direct phonetic interpretation of what seems to be the Owner's name. And this place specializes in "Dan Bing", Xiar Bing, and other dough preparations.

The dining area in the shop is about a third larger than Luscious Dumplings, which is not very large. We also noticed that the customers here seemed to be a bit older.

Much like China, there are a couple of communal tables, that folks share.

A little bowl of boiled peanuts, very mushy, and perhaps past their due date, arrived while we looked over the checklist and the menu.

We decided to start with the Egg, Shrimp, and Leek (chive) Dumplings (12 – $5.95):

Thte wrappers had that home made texture to them, and were perhaps a bit on the gummy side. The filling wasn't binded, so there was tendency for it to fall apart. We really couldn't taste the shrimp in these as well.

We also ordered two different Xiar Bing (stuffed breads). The first was the Radish, Thin Bean, and Shrimp ($6.95):

The dough was a pleasant surprise for us. The tops and bottoms were thin and crisp. It was a lot less oily than we had expected as well. The Xiar Bing were pretty filling, and I could only finish one.

The filling was interesting…. if you like daikon, you'll love these. I'm thinking that the thin beans in these must be really, really, thin….. like invisible thin. At least you could make out the faint flavor of dried shrimp even if you couldn't see it.

The second set were the Zucchini and Pork (8 – $5.95):

These were a bit smaller than the radish version, but felt pretty rich. The Missus didn't care for the strong "pork" flavor, but I thought it was fairly good.

The filling was moist, but the pork kinda tough and chewy. I'm pretty sure by the smell and flavor that pork butt/shoulder was used for these.

I had my doubts as to how these would hold up after taking them home; but they heated up fairly well in the toaster oven.

The Missus learned that the owners are from Longkou (龍口) in Shandong Province, an area well known for the production of cellophane noodles. We were interested enough that I think we'll visit this place again.

Michelle's Pancake House
706 W. Las Tunas Dr.
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Thanks for the recommendation Andy!

One thing the Missus and I really appreciate about restaurant like these in the SGV; the menus are small, and are focused on the items they do best. And we're not done yet…. there was one more stop on this road trip so stay tuned……

Saturday Stuffs

September 11, 2010 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

Just a couple of things for this Saturday…….

I recently heard that Seafood City in Chula Vista is moving to this location on East Orange right off the 805:

I believe it used to be and Albertson's ……

So what is going to happen with the Seafood City on 3rd Avenue???

Believe it or not, I heard it was going to become a 99 Ranch Market! Anyone else heard the same thing?

A Taste of Korea Harvest and Wine Festival:

Traditional Korean dishes and wine? It's something I'd never even thought about. But I am intrigued….. and if this sounds interesting to you, on September 25th, the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles will present A Taste of Korea Harvest and Wine Festival, hosted by San Diego's very own Cathlyn Choi. The event will be held at the San Diego Wine & Culinary Center on Harbor Drive. There will be a food and wine tasting starting at 2pm, and even more interesting, will be a "Korean Food Chef Challenge" at 4pm, which sounds like six chefs competing in an Iron Chef like contest, where Chefs are trying to create traditional Korean dishes in front of a panel of judges. Admission at $20 – $30 sounds very reasonable. You can find more information here.

Weeknight Grilling: Grilled Chicken and Potatoes with Spicy Cilantro-Garlic Sauce

September 9, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Honestly…. I guess I'm just not able to grill up pretty looking food on weeknights. Probably because my objective is to get the food to the table in less than an hour, clean up, and then have some time to do a post….. But I gotta say, it ain't easy being green.

And in fact, if you consider that I par boiled the potatoes the night before with the intent to throw them on the grill, perhaps this doesn't even qualify for one of my weeknight grilling posts.

The recipe itself, is based on what Rick Bayless calls his "chimichurri" in his latest book, Fiesta at Rick's. If you ever wanted a recipe for a gallon of Michelada, this is the book for you. In fact, I've kinda planted the seed in the minds of my friends….. just the fact that they are considering digging a pit in their Mom's backyard to do the recipe for a 30 pound lamb based on the recipe in the book…. well, you get the point. In his book, his "chimichurri" is used for a ceviche. I've posted on a more traditional Chimichurri before, but when Bayless mentioned that this was great on chicken; well, I had to just give it a try.

The actual sauce recipe didn't use any acid, which Rick Bayless added in later as part of his ceviche. And for the skin on, boneless chicken legs and the potatoes, I didn't use any acid. The recipe itself is a bit different from what's in the book, I usually use recipes as more of a guideline, and make adjustments for my taste preferences anyway. In this case, I cut down the flat leaf parsley, since I didn't care for an overwhelming chlorophyll taste. I also bumped up the garlic (of course) and the serrano chilies (of course again), and added a bunch of scallions to the whole mess for some additional punch. The sauce came out pretty thick, like a pesto, and smelled wonderful. And to tell you the truth, it isn't particularly spicy either……

So form the time I got my chimney starter going……

Spicy Cilantro-Garlic Sauce

16 cloves of garlic
5 serrano chilies
2 medium bunches cilantro, hard stems removed
1/2 of a small bunch flat leaf parsley, hard stem removed
1 bunch green onions
2/3 cup olive oil
2-3 Tb Sea Salt

– Roughly chop cilantro, parsley, serrano chilies, and green onions. (For less heat, remove the seeds and "veins" from the serranos before using)
– Place in a blender with garlic
– Slowly add olive oil while pulsing the blender.
– Scrape excess unblended ingredients off the sides of the blender, and then blend until fairly smooth.

This will make about two cups, more then enough for several uses.

For the chicken pieces, I put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of sauce on one side and lightly rubbed over the chicken. I then turned the chicken over and did the same. I put the chicken in the fridge for about 15 minutes to marinate, and prepped my potatoes. I had sliced two russet potatoes into 3/4 inch slices the night before and parboiled. I rinsed well, to remove excess starch, made sure they were nice and dry, and put them in the fridge. I took them out right before I got my charcoal started. I seasoned with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, rubbed with extra virgin olive oil, and split into two groups. Right before grilling, I tossed one group with red wine vinegar. The other group was grilled on one side, and after turning, I brushed on some of the sauce on the grilled side of the potato. After turning I repeated with the other side, making sure to grill the potatoes, without burning them. Of course I was grilling up the chicken as well.

It turned out to be pretty good.

Regular readers may recall that the Missus doesn't eat chicken anymore, so I also grilled up some eggplant, zucchini, and red peppers.

Toasted some ciabatta bread rubbed with garlic oil on the grill. I mixed about 1/2 cup of the sauce with a few squeezes of lime to add some acid, which the Missus used as a spread for sandwiches, which She loved. In fact, She had a couple of days worth of sandwiches.

A couple of days later, I repeated the sauce with lime, added a touch more salt, and a few turns of black pepper, and made a salad dressing.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, green leaf lettuce, a few sprigs of cilantro, and pepinos, made for a nice salad.

I'm always happy to find these recipes that can be used for multiple purposes……. it makes life so easy.