mmm-yoso – Page 331

QingDao: Beer Street and the Tsingtao Brewery

July 10, 2010 mmm-yoso China, QingDao, Travel

*** I'm doing this post kinda out of chronological order. I hope you don't mind.

I've hit the same point in my conversations numerous times over the last week. When talking about our vacation, I'll mention QingDao, and get blank stares…… until I say the little phrase, "you know, QingDao, where the beer comes from." Which will, without fail, illicit an immediate look of recognition, "oooooh, yes, the beer, Tsingtao beer!" Without a doubt, the city of QingDao and it's beer are inseparable. So it's only natural, that along with "Wine Street" and "Cultural Street", there should be "Beer Street".

And yes, Beer Street is touristy, full of pubs and shops…. and of course the inevitable"public square".

Which I thought was kinda neat…….. and I really want one of these benches for my backyard. Why not the front? Well, I wouldn't want to give the neighbors the wrong image of me……. you understand, right?

I figure this place must be hopping in August, when QingDao hosts it's International Beer Festival, the largest of it's kind in Asia.

Beyond all the pubs beckoning you in, there actually is a location of Tsingtao Brewery on Beer Street.

I love the mural on the wall of the brewery which outlines the beer making process.

If you are so inclined, you can visit the Beer Museum (50 yuan), and get free beer at the end of your visit. You can find all things Tsingtao here….

I was really only after two things….. one of them was swag for my friends back home.

The other could be found in the cavernous beer garden.

After getting some "authentic" Tsingtao gear, from the source, I wanted to try the Tsingtao Dark Lager. The Missus and I shared a mug, it was fairly frothy, light-bodied for a dark beer, with mild coffee-chocolate hints.

This beer garden is also where the tours of the beer museum terminate, and you can get your free brew. And of course, folks are going to make sure they get their money's worth! I'd heard that there's no minimum drinking age in China, and this was confirmation…..

And that young lady sipping the brew looked all of 11-12 years old! You gotta love China…….

Revisits: The Original Sab E Lee and Sab E Lee Santee

July 8, 2010 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

There wasn’t too much we missed in the way of food while in China. We did miss Ba Ren, which I’ll explain in a later post, but as a whole, there was nothing we really craved until back on Oahu….. which is about when we started mentioning Sab E Lee (now called The Original Sab E Lee), and Sab E Lee 2 (aka just plain Sab E Lee, or Sab E Lee Santee).

The Original Sab E Lee:

**** This location of Sab-E-Lee has closed

Unfortunately, for folks looking for some really great new stuff….. we’ve been here so many times that we tend to stick with our favorites. One of mine, is the Spicy Raw Beef Salad, aka Koi Soi or Koi Nua. Since Kobe sold the place off, some of the newer folks will ask me how spicy I want things, which is usually an ‘8’ or ‘9’ on the heat scale. One strange thing, not eating here in 6 weeks or so must’ve thrown off my tolerance. Man did this get me sweating…..

The Missus’s favorite is the Salted Fish Fried Rice.

I was once asked by someone to describe the smell of the salted preserved fish…… the only thing that came to mind was having the person imagine what “fish cheese” would smell like. A briney, pungent, savory scent, which really gets our (maybe not you) stomach rumbling. Along with the scent of wok’d rice, it may not be appropriate for work, but it sure tastes darn good, if perhaps on the salty side.

Ok, I said mostly photos……

The Grilled Duck Larb:

The Bamboo Shoot Salad:

The Issan Sausage:

All of which I’ve covered in many posts from back in August of 2008 until now. You can find all the links on our “rotation” page.

Here’s something that I haven’t posted on before; the Beef Tendon Soup.

This is one of those cases where citrus enhances the heat, pegging it up a few notches. The soup is chocked full of tendon and meat cuts, with some tripe and other offal thrown in for good measure. I’d recommending sharing this with a few people as it can get rather tedious eating the whole darn bowl yourself. A small bowl or two is just perfect.

The Original Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

Sab E Lee 2:

**** This location of Sab E Lee has closed

I gotta say, even though we don’t get ’round these parts very often, Kobe always treats us like friends. Many of the dishes are closer to Bangkok style Thai, but the Issan dishes still pack enough of a punch.

So here are the photos, starting with the Plaa Shrimp, a quickly seared shrimp salad, with a familiar, bracing, yet refreshing fish sauce based dressing. Just as good as the first time we had it.

Here’s the Spicy Raw Beef salad for comparison.

Even at a ‘9’ level, not nearly as spicy as the Linda Vista location. Much more roasted rice powder is used, adding a nice level of nuttiness. I believe this dish has gotten better over time. So which do I enjoy more…. it like asking me to pick my favorite “mutt”…. Sammy or Frankie…. I love them both, but differently.

Speaking of better over time….. on this visit, the Garlic Rice was positively addicting.

The Thai Basil is more finely chopped, which means the flavor is spread throughout the rice. More pepper is used, and even more garlic……

Sab E Lee has consolidated the Pinecone Fish (seen here) and the Three Flavor Fish (seen here), into one dish featuring both sauces on the side, which I think was an excellent decision.

Light and crunchy panko crusted exterior, gives way to moist and tender white meat. It has been perfectly fried every time we’ve had this style of fish at SEL. This was the dish the Missus was missing. We really need to get out here more often!

Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071

Our previous posts on SEL2 can be found here and here. And some chicken here.

Cathy’s post can be found here.

QingDao: The Wedding Banquet

July 6, 2010 mmm-yoso China, QingDao

Man was the traffic bad on May Day in QingDao! Arriving in the "New City" area, amongst the huge hotels, it seemed as if everyone was attempting to get married on the same day. There were at least three weddings going on simultaneously in the hotel where our banquet took place. In actuality Third Aunt's Daughter had gotten married earlier in the year, but the families planned a banquet to celebrate the marriage, and bring both Third Aunt and Third Uncle's families together. The Missus explained this to me when I noted how calm and laid back Her cousin and her husband were.

There was a big "to-do" happening in the parking lot when we arrived….. it must have been big… because, there was Mickey, and Minnie, and other strange creatures dancing to "It's a Small World", with confetti flying in the air….. welcome to my nightmare……

M & M met a couple as their limo drove up to the front of the hotel…….

Needless to say, it was quite surreal…….

And then the Drum Team starting pounding away! A day before, we saw a group of middle-aged women, most looking like they were in their mid-fifties dressed up in bright red uniforms. We both had no idea what this was…. I jokingly asked Her if it was a "sewing circle". Turns out it was one of these drum teams. A Senior Citizen Drum Team, Mickey and Minnie and "friends" dancing the parking lot to "It's a Small World". Now I've seen it all…….

I turned and walked into the relative peace and serenity of the banquet area. This was a very nice and tasteful set-up.

I enjoyed that every setting had a different dessert….

It made for some interesting bartering and collecting of desserts.

This bottle said "white wine", but it was fire-water.

All bases were covered, even if no one in the family smoked……

I mentioned at the end of the post on the last banquet, that the Missus and Long Hui went shopping. The scheming dual decided to buy each Aunt a jacket, and before the festivities started, each was presented with them. It was a fun moment as each Aunt tried on their jackets. I thought the choice of the jacket for the Missus's Fourth Aunt fit, and looked great. Fourth Aunt was the one who coordinated the making of my suit so when I first arrived, I made sure to show her how well it fit, along with the dress shirt she picked for me. She looked, and in English said: "beautiful….." which made both of us start laughing. So now it was my turn, swooping up behind her as she tried on here jacket, I couldn't resist telling her, "beautiful!"

Of course everyone wants to see the food, right? By this time, my penchant for taking photos of food was pretty well known. Even the bride and groom pointed out the dishes I missed! You have to love this family……

The salt cured duck was quite good.

This version of cold stewed chicken was like Dezhou Pa Ji, and it was also moist and tasty.

This sea cucumber in broth was very tender.

Yes, it's whole abalone, sweet and tender…. and those strands? That's shark fin……

The Missus loves ginko nuts, so this was one of her favorite dishes.

This is a pretty well known Jiaodong Ban Dau dish – Four Joy Lion's Head.

Crabmeat with broccoli…..

And as crescendo, not one……

but two whole fish…….

And yes, there was rice, fried rice, and mantou. But it was strangely served with condensed milk, like it was a dessert of sorts.

Third Aunt's daughter, and her new husband are just the nicest couple. Both calm and very laidback, they really seem to know what the concept of family was all about. When the Missus left China this cousin was only nine years old, so She was proud and happy to see that's she has become such a grounded and accomplished individual. Most of all, they are good people. The Missus told me a story about how hard-working Third Aunt's daughter is. When she was younger, she was an accomplished ping-pong player, good enough to compete internationally. She would practice so hard and long that she couldn't make it up the stairs at night. That says a lot about character. And her husband is a great guy as well. Even at a banquet thrown for them, he is right there, helping out, he just seems to effortlessly fit right in with the family.

Tabe times two…. Tabe Grill and the Tabe BBQ truck

July 5, 2010 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Food Trucks

**** Tabe is no longer in business.

I'll be the first to admit that I've mixed feelings about the proliferation of "mobile cuisine". Part of me loves the concept, after all I grew up eating from "lunch wagons", many of which served up good grinds for cheap. And of course, there are the various taco trucks around San Diego that I enjoy. On the other hand I'm not sure that I share the sometimes cult like hyperbole surrounding mobile cuisine. Over a year ago, I made a trek out to the "OC", stood in line for two hours, for two tacos with barely any meat, drenched in sauce that destroyed some already lousy tortillas. It could be that kalbi and bulgogi tacos weren't new to me…. I recall Alan Wong serving up the stuff years ago, and I've been making bulgogi and teriyaki tacos at home. It could be that fact that I just don't have the patience, nor intestinal fortitude to stand in line for any reason, and being forced to do so just made me expect more and more. I do love the concept, and truly admire Kogi's innovative use of social media to create excitement and demand. But for me it was a case where the "Emperor had no clothes". Unfortunately, my camera at that time really didn't take anything worthwhile, so I never did a post. Leap forward a year and a half, and a group of food trucks…. of course they call themselves purveyors of "mobile gourmet cuisine", have now popped up. Along with the various emails in my inbox, there is, the by now standard arsenal of tweets, facebook pages, and so forth. I did manage to try both Tabe and Kalbiq one the same day. Unfortunately, later that day I received the dreaded "card read error" when trying to upload my photos, I had used the cheapo 4GB SD card I got free with my camera, instead of my usual SD cards and paid for it. Maybe posts on food trucks just weren't in the cards for me. I didn't find the food particularly great at the Tabe or the Kalbiq truck…. actually, I thought the food from the Kalbiq truck was just not very good. Plus, there were already a large number of posts from Dennis and Kirbie on these trucks, and I really didn't think I had much more to offer.

Then a funny thing happened…. I decided to take my car for a carwash.

Now I wouldn't blame you if you started scratching your head asking yourself what a carwash has to do with Tabe. I went to pay for my carwash, went to walk out to wait for my car, when I saw this.

Call me gobsmacked……

I walked up to the window, and spoke to the nice young man, whose name is Todd, and asked if this was the same "Tabe"…. to which he replied "yes". By now I figured it must be fate….. some other power was telling me that I needed to give Tabe's tacos another shot. I ordered the same two tacos I had eaten at the truck, and an order of fries, which I had never tried.

First up, the BBQ Beef (aka Kalbi-ish) taco.

When I had these before, they were tough, and over sauced with a way too sweet glaze. These were not bad. The meat was fairly tender, and it wasn't drenched in sauce.The "salsa" worked well with this, and I thought the addition of tsukemono as one of the toppings was a plus.

The Spicy Pork, which in my opinion isn't very spicy, was way too sweet for my taste.

One real quick note……. I'm not a big fan of topping savory dishes with fruit, it might be your thing, but it's just something I'm not fond of. I found the pork to be a bit too mushy, and there was so much going on here, like a con-fusion-ny Daeji Bulgogi, that I ended up not enjoying this too much.

All of those taste notes are just personal preferences. But I don't think you can get away from the lousy tortillas, which are cardboard like, and end up falling to pieces. I've eaten at taco trucks selling fish tacos for a buck, and their tortillas are superior to these. Maybe the crew at Tabe believes the tortilla doesn't really matter; but I think at $2.76 a taco they can do better.

The last item I had ordered were the Five Spice Fries ($1.38). I really didn't know how these fries would taste…… after all, I thought they were really going to use five-spice on the fries. But at first whiff, I (happily) knew they didn't.

I really enjoyed these, they were crisp, with a nice black pepper flavor, and even a hint of sweetness(?). But most of all, these were touched with one of my favorite spices….. cumin, which really tasted good. Go figure….

Overall, that BBQ Beef taco was pretty good, and I really enjoyed those fries. Plus my car was nice and clean…… so I did leave Happy Car Wash, fairly happy, or at the least content.

About a week later, I was in the Little Italy area, and lo' and behold, it was the Tabe BBQ truck. After my last visit, I decided to stop and grab some tacos.

I passed on the pork this time around, and went with the BBQ Beef and a Fish Taco.

Egads, fruit again, this time topping the fish taco. It is easy enough to remove…….

Like Dennis, I found the fish portion to be on the small side. It was pretty much lost in all the produce. I pulled out a piece of the fish and ate it…. tastewise it was pretty good. Just too little fish for too much taco…..

I wanted to try the beef yet again.

I found these to be decently tender, but like my first visit, the glaze just made it too sweet for my taste. I think next time, I'll tell them to forgo that extra shot of sauce I believe they add at the end.

Yes, you heard it right…. they'll be a next time. Mainly because of this:

When I walked up to the truck, "Todd" recognized me. We chatted briefly, and I mentioned that I really enjoyed his fries. My two tacos strangely arrived in a large styrofoam container, instead of those little "boats"…. Todd had included some fries for me…. because I enjoyed them so much. I've often said that I understand the difference between "favorite" and "best". Your favorite (fill in the blanks) may not be the one you consider to be the best, and I respect that. There are other factors that make your favorite burger joint/bar/sushi bar/pizza palace, that number one place on your list. And right now, I can easily say Tabe is my favorite Gourmet Taco Truck.

Tabe Grill
3690 Murphy Canyon Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Tabe BBQ Truck – various locations

QingDao: An abundance of seafood

July 4, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Markets & Grocers, QingDao, Seafood, Travel

I was looking through my QingDao photos, and noticed just how many of them were of tanks of seafood.

Walking around QingDao you just can't avoid the tanks and buckets of seafood. This one is at one end of Pi Chai Yuan, downtown QingDao's food street:

Every large restaurant has tanks of live fish and seafood. Some of which are very large.

The smaller restaurants, like those near to QingDao Bay have tubs of seafood out for potential customers to check out.

There's quite a variety…. want razor clams? No problem.

The Missus did tell me that it's not quite like when She was growing up. She has told me stories of mantis shrimp being sold from giant piles on the street. I was told that there's a greater variety available nowadays.

Locals are very discerning, which is why, for example, you'll always see the crab displayed this way where the locals shop.

The females are much more desirable, since there's the possibility that they'll be carrying eggs. The odds become better during the fall, though there are those who can tell by just one look.

I had wanted to call this post "水果海" but the Missus told me that no one would understand the term "fruits of the sea" in Mandarin. I will say that the waters around QingDao is without a doubt fruitful, it is shellfish heaven. Which takes me back to a quote in my first post on our visit to QingDao, where I was told "Oh, man, you're going to love the seafood…. you're going to looooove the seafood!"

That's all for today………

I hope everyone is having a great Fourth of July long weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And grab us some grilled chicken necks…….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

June 29, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mission Hills Farmer’s Market

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

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

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

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

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

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

We love Sadie Rose Baking Company.

And the Missus is fond of CJ's.

Mainly for the Noah Bedoah's…..

Brandt Beef is also present.

Along with a good variety of produce vendors.

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

Mission Hill Farmer's Market

Falcon Street

Fridays from 3 pm to 7pm.

Here's what I picked up this week……

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

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

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

QingDao: The original family home and banquet #3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was a nice setting……

Ready for another banquet?

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

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

Ready for the food?

The Missus enjoyed the green peppers with preserved duck eggs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No meal would be complete without a whole fish.

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

I'm stuffed just looking at the photos……

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

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

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

Post 1 – Lunch and Dinner at Fifth Aunt's

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mariscos Los Koras:

**** Mariscos Los Koras is now Mariscos Altata

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mariscos Los Koras
4297 Market St
San Diego, CA 92102

Halmouny (Hal Mu Ni) with Ed from Yuma:

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

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

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

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

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

The Galbi Jjim was a different story.

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

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

Halmouny
4425 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

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

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

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

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

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

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