mmm-yoso – Page 345

Oahu – Tanioka’s (Waipahu), Tamashiro Market, and Char Hung Sut (Honolulu)

May 30, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Honolulu, Oahu, Poke, Seafood, Travel

I think I need to start this post off with an apology….. to friends (especially you, Reid) and relatives I hadn't seen in almost a decade. Due to time constraints, I wasn't able to see but one of my good friends. I'll make sure to correct this the next time I'm "home", I promise.

There was one thing that I promise the Missus on every trip home. Every morning (when possible) She'll get Her "swimming session". Arriving in Honolulu mid-morning, we first headed to Her parents new home in Ewa Beach. The Missus and I then made a beeline straight to Ko'olina". And got one swim session "paid in full".

The Missus used to enjoy the beaches Ko'olina, but on this trip She didn't enjoy swimming here as much.

Being a "townie", I'm not an expert on food on the "West side", but a few jobs I've had included servicing accounts in Waipahu and Waianae. I will say this much, Ewa Beach sure has changed….. I used to service the PX located on Iroquois Point, and a good friend of mine used to live in "Old Ewa Beach town"…… man, I barely recognized anything. And the first thing the Missus wanted to eat was, what else, Poke. At first, I thought we should check out Poke Stop. But decided on a place that's been around for a good 30 years….. and it did seem that on this trip, I went kinda "old school" with my choices.

Tanioka's Seafood and Catering:

Tanioka's has always been pretty dependable, and this was no exception. The selection was good, the prices are a bit on the high side, but the quality is good.

The Missus told me on the flight over She "didn't want old fashioned Poke…..", so She was on the look-out for newer offerings. Being the old fuddy-duddy dude, I wanted stuff that was more traditional. So to compromise, we did a variety…..

Our favorite, by far was the "Dried Poke", made with dried fish. Due to yield, it was obviously the most expensive at $23.95/lb.

Savory and salty, with a nice chew, this was delicious.

Also a favorite of ours was the Pipikaula Poke. Pipikaula, for those that aren't familiar with it is seasoned and dry cured beef.

Mixed with onions and scallions which added some pungency, this was quite good.

I made sure to get some of that oldie, but goodie, Limu Poke.

Good quality fish, this could have used a bit more limu, but it was good.

Not quite at the same level was the Onion w/Limu Poke.

The quality of fish was not as good as the regular Limu Poke, and even the coating of shoyu (soy sauce) really couldn't help out.

The Missus got Her "new and different" Poke. This was called "Hot Alae Poke". And I really have to say it was pretty much none of the above. It wasn't very spicy, nor did it have a significant Alae (orange/red salt containing clay) saltiness.

It was very sweet though……. too sweet for our taste.

Three out of five was not bad, and Tanioka's pretty much delivered as usual.

Tanioka's Seafood and Catering
94-903 Farrington Hwy
Waipahu, HI 96797

The following morning, the Missus decided that She's prefer Ala Moana Beach for Her morning swim.

She's always enjoyed Ala Moana Beach in the morning before the crowds, and was glad that not much had changed. The Missus always enjoyed swimming alongside all the old-timers….. From that point on, "Ala's" was Her choice.

We stopped in Chinatown on our drives back to Ewa, picking up vegetables and other stuff. And on this morning, the day before leaving for Beijing, I went with another old and dependable choice:

Tamashiro Market:

Tamashiro Market has been my choice for fish for as long as I can remember. On this day we went with three different Poke.

The best was the Limu Poke with Inamona (Kukui nut):

This had a good amount of inamona, which caught the Missus off guard. It really didn't taste right at first. After sitting in the fridge for an hour, it tasted much better. I think the Poke needed some time for the flavors to meld.

We didn't care much for the other two Poke. The spicy Poke tasted a bit off, and the quality of fish didn't seem to be very good.

The "Korean style Poke with scallops" was again too sweet, and the fish also tasted a bit off. The Missus enjoyed the scallops though.

There were two things that came out of our Poke sampling. Number one, the Missus realized that perhaps "traditional" when it came to Poke was not a bad thing. Number two, I've been making Poke with the best quality fish I can find. I usually will drive to Los Angeles or order from Catalina Offshore to get my sushi quality fish….sometimes paying $29 a pound for good maguro. There's no way that Poke selling for under $10 a pound will use the same quality fish. Of course, I can never get the same quality Limu in LA……

Tamashiro Market
802 N King St
Honolulu, HI 96817

Speaking of "old school" and tried and true. Walking back to our car in Chinatown I told the Missus that I had one stop to make. As we walked up an almost empty North Pauahi Street, I stepped into the doorway below this sign.

Char Hung Sut:

**** After all these years Char Hung Sut has closed

The Missus had no clue…… I guess I'd never brought Her here. Puzzled, She stepped into the doorway, and "hit the brakes" with a look of surprise on Her face. Looking around at the folks kneading and folding dough, and doing other tasks, She asked me, "why did you enter through the kitchen?" I told Her "this is the shop, welcome to Char Hung Sut." I'm pretty sure that many folks have had the same reaction the first time they visited Char Hung Sut. You basically enter right into the kitchen here……check out Reid's post for some good photos.

Growing up, there were basically "two schools" of Manapua (what we call Charsiu Bao). It was either Libby Manapua Shop or Char Hung Sut (baked manapua from Royal Kitchen came later) . My relatives on the neighbor islands preferred Char Hung Sut.

I ordered a Charsiu Manapua, and two "pork hash" (what we call Siu Mai) for old time's sake.

The pork hash, though large, was very bland, tough, with some "hard bits".

A mere shadow of what I remembered…..

The Manapua was pretty much just as I recalled. The dough is not as sweet as other versions, and the filling, which is also not too sweet, was quite generous in portion size. It did seem that the pork filling was closer to a charsiu flavored, moist pork sung……

Due to leave for Beijing the next morning, I'd made up my mind that I would go with mostly golden oldies on my return to Oahu…..

Char Hung Sut
64 North Pauahi St
Honolulu, HI 96817

Where we’ve been…..

May 29, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Travel

I've always wondered why the Missus had never wanted to "visit home" as it were, and visit Her hometown(s) (QingDao and Beijing). Whenever I'd mention visiting China, She'd usually reply, "I don't think you'd be able to deal with China…. the crowds, the people, and all that." But a funny thing happened a bit over a year ago; the Missus's Fifth Aunt visited, for just a short while; and after they left, you could just tell that something had changed. At that point, I think that the Missus started to miss Her large family, and began wondering how Beijing and QingDao had changed over the last, almost two decades. Over the last year, a couple of events occurred that led to our making plans for a tirp to China. First, one of the Missus's cousins was getting married. Second, the timing was perfect for a family reunion of sorts. Third, the home where my MIL was born, and where the Missus was raised was scheduled to be razed. Progress had caught up with the Missus's old neighborhood. Last, but not least, the Missus's parents had purchased a new home in Ewa Beach, and was itching to have us visit.

And so we started making plans, which started at two weeks, and eventually blossomed into a whole month. In the end we ended up with a itinerary that looked like this; Oahu – Beijing – QingDao – Jinan – Hangzhou – Suzhou – Nanjing – Xi'an – Chengdu – Beijing – Oahu. We flew to Honolulu, then to Beijing, caught trains from Beijing to QingDao, then from QingDao to Jinan. In QingDao, we decided to fly on trips that would take over six hours via bus or train for several reasons, which I'll detail later. So we flew from Jinan to Hangzhou, did buses from Hangzhou to Suzhou and then onward to Nanjing. We then flew to Xi'an, then to Chengdu, finally flying back to Beijing. What struck me as being interesting is that we caught different airlines on each leg of our trip in China. Shandong airlines to Hangzhou, Shenzen Airlines to Xi'an, where I took this photo from the bus to the terminal. The plane may be new, but the garbage collection vehicle has been around a while.

We flew to Chengdu on China Eastern Airlines, and back to Beijing on Sichuan Airlines. Airlines are pretty convenient in China, as trains and buses are still the most used methods of long distance travel. Folks still can, and do show up at the airport and buy tickets for the next flight out without problem.

Many of the airports are quite nice, as is true in the case of the airports in Beijing (obviously upgraded for the 2008 Olympics), and Jinan.

Level of service and attitudes in the airport vary greatly. The double security check at the airport in Beijing was very, ummmm, ahem thorough. You do end up on a podium of sorts and have a go over with a metal detector, and your pockets, hems, waistline, and other areas checked by hand. I will say that the folks I dealt with were very professional and even friendly. The person who ran my ticket through the scanner at the security check, pointed up at the little camera and told me in English, "smile for the camera please", again probably due to training from the 2008 Olympics. Whereas, in Xi'an, perhaps due to tourist burn-out, I was pushed around a bit, and even yanked off the security check podium by my beltline.

As you can imagine, airline food varied greatly. My favorite was probably the Bi Bim Bap provided on Korean Airlines on our flight to and from Seoul (we flew HNL-Seoul-Beijing).

The Missus really enjoyed the tubes of Gochujang! I swear She's brush Her teeth with the stuff if She could!

The oddest item we had was a version of Rou Jia Mo (肉夹馍), a meat sandwich of sorts which is a specialty of Shaanxi Province. Nothing really odd about a pita sandwich, right? Except, that in the traditional style of Rou Jia M0, the meat was heavily seasoned with cumin….. I mean a lot of cumin. The smell of the cumin was obviously recycled into the A/C system. It wasn't too bad that everyone on the flight shared in the same smell, which got into your clothes. But once you got off the flight, folks would kinda steer clear of you…. a rarity in a country where personal space is basically nil. Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing……

The nicest bus station was in Hanzhou…..

Even though the ticket window looked a lot like the betting window at the racetrack.

The bus station in Suzhou was bit worn and old looking….

And let's not even talk about the restrooms……. though the woman selling toilet paper was doing good business. If traveling to China, remember to always have some TP in your pocket.

Being able to hold your breath for several minutes and being a good squatter is also a plus.

Speaking of squat, this woman, right after deciding to come to a complete stop to send a text message in the middle of a crosswalk at the airport for several minutes. Ignoring the honking horns of the drivers swerving around her, decided to just squat down and make herself comfortable right off the curb for about fifteen minutes.

I guess now's a good time for a photo of the Great Wall????

My apologies for not having much food in this post, but believe me when I say, there are a bunch coming up.

And maybe some interesting snacks as well……

Thanks for reading!

We’re back………but from where?

May 27, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Travel

Whew, that was a long trip for us…… but it was well worth it.

I guess you're wondering where we went? Of course, you know I'm not just going to blurt things out…. so let's see if you can identify where in the world we visited. I'll give you clues….. and you let me know. As always you can click on the photos to enlarge.

1 – We started and ended our trip here.

You'll instantly know where just by this photo.

Of course this iconic view gives it all away……

2 – Speaking of icons, this city, where we started and ended our trip to our real destination is full of them. Here are a few…….

Both old…..

And new…..

And we couldn't leave without trying an iconic dish.

3 – Our third destination is perhaps a bit harder. Especially if we started with this photo.

I'm thinking this might help…..

The seafood here is great….

And if you've been reading our blog long enough; this will give it away.

4 – We both wish we spent a bit more time, longer than just one night at our next stop. It is pretty difficult to figure out, even with what we were told is a classic dish for the city:

With the help of that wonderful tool, the Internet, you'll be able to figure out where based on this.

5 – Our next stop is difficult to figure out by just scenic photos alone.

So here's a classic dish from the area…..

6 – Next on the agenda was a wonderful city. Known for their beautiful gardens, we'd like to visit again.

Still can't figure it out? Try this dish……

7 – I really didn't know what to expect on our next stop. We both ended up enjoying one of the most tastefully done monuments on our trip.

We also enjoyed the South Gate here….

In spite of the rather conservative look, the city is not without color…..

Like many cities, this one is known for snacks and small dishes. Several restaurants have large "set" menus, where you can taste a good selection of items.

Here's one of the most well known dishes of this city.

8 – The next stop was a key hub on the Silk Road. And many of the dishes the city is known for reflects this. You take this bread…..

Break it into small pieces. It is covered in mutton, and mutton broth…..

Delici-yoso!!! The city also has a famed Muslim Quarter, where something is always cooking…..

Packed to the rafters during the evening, you can hit the street side stands, or restaurants like this….

For excellent Baozi….

Still can't figure it out? How about this?

This one makes it almost too easy…..

9 – You'll be able to figure out which province the next city is in just by the following two photos alone.

And this not so little fellow makes it obvious……

10 – I don't expect you folks to figure out our last unique destination. But thought I'd post a couple of photos, of this "smaller" (pop. 1,400,000) city for you.

So there you have it…….

I'd say that we didn't eat anything particularly exotic, but there were a few interesting items.

Amazingly, I ate like crazy (as you can see), but lost almost twelve pounds!

And as usual, the trip was not without some rather tense moments.

And I'm hoping that at least a few of my photos will look(I know, it's supposed to be smell – but I haven't figured out how to incorporate smell-o-vision yet) so good that "you'll want to get off your horse and eat".

I still need to regroup, so I'm hoping you'll be able to hang in there…..

For maybe a day or so? I'll provide all the answers then…….

Thanks so much for dropping by and reading!!!

It’s that time again……

April 20, 2010 mmm-yoso Blog

Man are we overdue for a vacation….. well a sort of vacation. Anyway, we're off in a couple of days.

We haven't made too many concrete plans. We're leaving that in other hands for some of this trip. I hope I'll have some yummy posts for you all.

As always, I'm leaving things in Cathy's care while we're gone.

Thanks for reading, and see you in a bit!

777 Noodle House revisted

April 19, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

Here are a few other dishes from 777 Noodle House. We've found ourself in the area a few times recently, and it turns out the Missus thinks the food here is a good value, and pretty tasty as well. So here's the rundown:

"Yummy Yummy's" sister, "Little K" recommended the fried rice. And one day the Missus ordered the Thai Style Seafood Fried Rice ($6.77):

Other then the scalded chilies and a few leaves of Thai Basil, this would pass for good "old school" fried rice. There's a nice smoky char, and a decent amount of shrimp, and some beef, which were a surprise because there was no beef in the photo. The beef wasn't that great, but the Missus enjoyed the fried rice. The portion was large enough for the Missus to have the left-overs topped with fried egg the next day. A few visits later, the Missus ordered it again:

I'm thinking that they were out of a few items on our previous visit since there was some squid and fishballs, and even more shrimp this time around. A lot more scrambled egg in this as well.

There are of course the Leek Cakes ($2.97), worth another mention:

On one visit, I ordered the Hủ Tiếu Bò Kho (Beef Stew with Rice Noodles – $5.77):

The noodles in this was the wider rice noodles, rather than the Hủ Tiếu in the Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang. Instead of the usual reddish color of the photos, this was kind of an almost unappetizing brown. The broth was actually quite good, well seasoned, with lots of star anise flavor. The beef was just so-so, and the tendon was decent, but not outstanding.

I had initially asked the Missus if She wanted a taste, since She was still waiting for Her fried rice to arrive. She looked at the bowl, and turned Her head in disgust, but unfortunately I insisted…… and though the Missus didn;t care for the meat, She drank almost all the broth! Leaving me pretty much with a "Kho" (dry) dish. Then something surprising happened. One of the young women, seeing most of my broth was gone, asked me if I wanted more soup! Shocked I think I mumbled, "yes, just a little bit more…." When the young lady went back to the kitchen, the gentleman working the counter passed by, and also asked me if I wanted more soup! So I guess this is the usual MO….. man was this very different from other soup shops. And sure enough, about two minutes later, the smiling young woman delivered my "soup"…… and it wasn't quite "just a little bit", but an entire bowl. And they didn't even charge me for it!

In order to respect their generosity, I made sure to finish everything, making sure the bowl looked licked clean. I left fat and happy, soup making "glop-glop" noises in my belly as I rolled to my car. Just this one gesture ensured that we'd return.

Once the Missus had the Wonton Egg Noodles ($4.77):

Nothing to write home about. The broth was milder than it looked, the wontons not bad.

On one trip the Missus, for some reason ordered the Shrimp Thai Red Curry ($5.77):

Which wasn't half bad, perhaps better than many Thai Restaurants in San Diego. There was no coconut milk or sugar overload in this one. Total eight shrimps made it a good value. Even though it was ordered at "spicy", this was pretty mild. The curry was kinda weak in the complex melding of flavors I expect from a curry.

Here's the Shrimp with Stir Fried Bun Loc ($6.77):

This dish was made with a type of rice noodle also called "Banh Bot Loc" bearing no relation to the pork and shrimp filled tapioca flour dumpling looking stuff I get from places like Mien Trung. Another generous portion of shrimp, and scrambled egg intertwined with bean sprouts and a thick rice noodle which was slightly gooey, and I didn't much care for. The noodles was served with a small bowl of Nuoc Mam Cham, which I found kinda strange, as the sweet flavor seemed to kill all the smokiness in the dish.

One dish I found pleasant was the Pig Intestine with Sour Vegetable ($5.77):

I would have preferred that the preserved vegetable be more sour and pickled in flavor, but there was quite a bit of well prepared earthy flavor intestine. One item that made this a bit different from other versions I've had, was the addition of a bit of spice, there were two or three sliced Thai chilies in the dish that really livened things up for me. It wasn't very spicy, just enough to tingle my tongue.

Here's the Egg Noodle Soup with Duck Leg ($4.77):

The broth was different this time around, featuring almost a seafood flavor. There was quite bit of egg noodles in the bowl though it's not my favorite type of egg noodle. The duck leg was decently fried, and adequate, especially for the price. The duck came with a little bowl of sweet soy, almost like you'd pour over steamed fish. I actually poured some of it into my soup, which was a positive addition.

While we were eating, the Missus and I noticed a pretty large party eating at one of the tables next to us. Even though they spoke Cantonese, She understood some of it. They must be regulars because they all requested a refill of soup, which came out promptly. And near the end of the meal, one of the women, who I think is the owner came out from the kitchen. They chatted for a while in Cantonese, which ended in a nice laugh. When the woman walked away, the Missus cracked up and told me, they just requested some watermelon……. say what! The audacity…. But wouldn't you know it; as we're paying our bill, out comes one of the young women…. with a large plate of sliced watermelon. You gotta love this place…… it may not be the best, but it's a good value, and the folks here are very nice…. almost too nice. And some of the dishes are pretty good to boot.

After all, there aren't many places where you can get noodle soup for under five bucks nowadays……

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Open Daily 8am – 9pm

Revisits: Luong Hai Ky, Noble Chef, and The Counter

April 18, 2010 mmm-yoso Burgers, Chinese Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Luong Hai Ky – Mira Mesa revisited:

While doing my Beef Sate Noodle Soup post, I decided to also include Luong Hai Ky. The bad thing was I couldn't for the life of me find Beef Sate Noodle soup on the menu. So while the Server hovered over me in the typical LHK manner, I asked about Beef Sate Noodle soup. Totally ignoring me, the guy pointed to a photo on the menu and said, "this, this is what you want, it is good…." It was a photo of Hủ Tiếu Mỹ Tho. I said, "yes, but I'm looking for Beef sate Noodle Soup". In return he replied, "no, this is good, I guarantee it is good….." It was late, I was tired, and I knew this guy was just trying to get rid of me, so I relented.

And here's the bowl of Hủ Tiếu Mỹ Tho:

This was okay, the noodles were cooked well, and there was a decent amount of char siu and pork in the bowl, along with shrimp. I still think the broth here is not nearly as flavorful as what was served at the now defunct Convoy location.

At seven bucks, I really didn't think it was a good value either.

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
10606 Camino Ruiz #2
San Diego, CA 92126

More from Noble Chef:

I also visited Noble Chef Chef for the Beef Sate Noodle Soup, but when I saw another customer having it, I decided to get the Seafood Sate Noodle Soup($5.55) instead.

This was a bit different when it comes to Sate Noodle soup. There wasn't a very spicy, nor pungent flavor…….the soup was slightly thick, but had an almost curry-like flavor So, if you like Curry Noodle soup….you might enjoy this. The egg noodles were a bit overcooked, and the fishcake and various meatballs were just passable.

We also recently had the Shrimp with XO Sauce Fried Rice, and it too tasted a bit odd, I'm wondering if the place has changed hands yet again. Here's another place that just hasn't been the same since Noble Chef changed hands.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111

A revisit to The Counter:

**** This location of The Counter has closed

The Missus wanted their Veggieburger, so I was most happy to oblige. And we headed up to Leucadia, and The Counter. This time the cheese was swiss and I had onion strings on my burger.

As much as I enjoyed the idea of putting onion strings on my burger in my previous post, I think it really detracted from the overall flavor of the burger. I think I'll go back to simple grilled onions next time. The burger was again a perfect medium, and I enjoyed it.

We also tried the Fried Dill Pickles:

The Missus thought these too salty, but I didn't think so. The pickles were nicely breaded and fried well. Personally, I'd enjoy thinner sliced pickles……. better crunch….

The Counter
1923 Calle Barcelona
Carlsbad CA 92009

One last thing……. I had the pleasure of spending a wonderful Saturday evening cooking. A few weeks back John, Peter, and Angela of Sandwich Emporium asked me if I'd like to help out with a Bentos and Sake dinner they were having as a benefit for the American Cancer Society. I was indeed flattered….. so last night, the twins, along with MrS, TammyC, and I spent an evening cooking and plating….

I was honored to be able to help put together the menu, and though my feet and back hurt like heck right now, it was a bunch of fun. It is a great cause, and it's nice to have friends who are willing to help out.

Alice updated….. A revised Chicken Alice Fried Chicken recipe

April 16, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I had actually started a post called "Goodbye Alice"…. I had finally used up the last bottle of Park's Brand Kimchee Sauce, and made my last batch of Chicken Alice Fried Chicken. If you're wondering who Chicken Alice is, and what's the big deal about her fried chicken, you can read the Honolulu Star Bulletin article from 2005 here. And if you'd like to read about how much I enjoyed Chicken Alice's Fried Chicken my original post is here. Well enough of that….. this is part of what I thought my last batch of Chicken Alice's chicken looked like:

There's a certain crispy-sticky texture that the batter has. Courtesy of this:

And over the years, whenever I had visitors who asked me what I wanted…. I'd say Park's Brand Kim Chee Sauce…. boy did I get some really interesting responses……. of all the things I'd want from home, it was a second rate Kim Chee base. Needing refrigeration, I knew it was a hassle getting this for me, so I decided to stop asking…… and so I thought I'd made my last batch.

Until, on a recent visit to Marukai Gardena, I spied this:

I couldn't believe my eyes…… after making sure that I wasn't suffering from some sort of dementia, I bought three bottles. You see, I'd been less than pleased with my last couple of batches…. I still enjoyed the chicken, but it tasted a bit dated. Personally, I think people enjoy bolder flavors nowadays, and this recipe was starting to be a bit….. well, "Chicken Alice a la King"…. a recipe from another generation. Now that I had a decent stock on hand, I decided to experiment a bit. Recently. I've been updating my mochiko, and other chicken recipes replacing flour with rice flour, which creates a lighter, sweeter, a slightly more crisp batter. So my first shot was replacing the flour in the recipe with rice flour:

Based on the amount of water in the recipe, I should have known better…… the batter was too thin, and didn't adhere well to the chicken. I think I could have done some neato-Korean voodoo-Kyochon-double frying, and perhaps have gotten a better results, but I love the crunchy batter. In the end, the changes were minor. I added sugar, because I enjoy a tad more sweetness. I upped the garlic to one entire bulb. I added a teaspoon of Korean Red Chili powder for more heat, and the biggest change, to lighten up, and give me some good crispness, I added baking powder. Nothing like a bit more leavening to get things crisp and light.

Compare it to the first photo, and you'll notice a much more crunchy batter. One real serious item…… adding sugar means that these babies will burn if not tended right. I did end up double frying. The Missus, who is suffering from PPTSS (Post Poultry Tramatic Stress Syndrome, as detailed in this post), ended up taking most of the chicken to work. And I heard it went over well.

Chicken Alice Fried Chicken revised
5 pounds chicken wings
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Batter:
1/2 cup Parks brand kim chee sauce
1 bulb galic minced
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons salt
2-1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Korean Red Pepper powder (optional)

Combine kim chee sauce, garlic, salt, sugar, baking powder, and flour. Add water gradually, enough to make a thick batter, about the consistency of pancake batter.

Add chicken pieces to batter, mix well and marinate in refrigerator overnight.

Heat oil to 350 degrees.Deep-fry chicken pieces until chicken rises to surface and is light brown. Remove and cool for five minutes return to oil and fry until coating is deep brown, and chicken pieces float.It's important to keep the oil at this temperature in order to assure the perfect crisp coating.

Our favorite take-out…. guess where?

April 15, 2010 mmm-yoso Thai Restaurants

This is an easy one……

There are a couple of reasons why this place is our go-to take-out joint. First, we (obviously) love the food. Second, the prices of almost everything we order is below $7.25. Third, it's on one of the alternate routes home. Fourth, our favorite dishes there hold up well on the 15-20 minute drive home. The place is rather small, so sometimes doing take-out works out better as well. It does help that the place serves one of my "last request" dishes. Without further ado……

Yep, it's Sab E Lee of course. I guess now that Koby has sold the place to the staff, they've gone ahead and called themselves "The Original" Sab E Lee. And though I've been doing most of my recent postings on Sab E Lee in Santee, and god knows we adore Koby. I thought I'd just dig out a few take-out photos cluttering my folders.

If you're a regular reader, you know my "last meal" dish is the Koi Soi, the raw beef salad.

I love the texture of the raw beef. And though it is not as refined as the version at Lotus of Siam (which is $6.70 more expensive), I just love the melding of flavors, the biting heat, the nuttiness of the roasted rice powder, pungent onions, scallions, and raw garlic slices, and biting into an occasional Thai chili! I know…yada-yada-yada….. just make sure you give me a spoonful before you pull the plug.

That's not say that any of the other dishes take a back seat. Whether it's the mild sourness of the Issan Sausage, with bits of pork skin adding a nice chew. Wrapped in a slice of cabbage with a peanut or two, or perhaps a chili or slice of raw garlic, and you've got a symphony of flavors.

Or the somewhat stinky, but so savory Salted Fish Fried Rice:

The Missus recently took a bunch of folks She works with to Sab E Lee. The coworkers weren't really familiar with Thai Food aside from Tom Yum and Pad Thai. When this dish arrived, folks pulled away from the plate…. once they tasted this, you couldn't get them away from the plate.

Well 'nuff said…. I'm sure all the SEL regulars have their favorite dishes…… I know of one one Food Blogger who can't get enough of this.

While building links, I just realized that this is my seventh post on SEL….. so maybe I should back off a bit.

But man, do I have tons of SEL photos.

And not only take-out either…..

OK, enough of that……

Most importantly, I'd like to know what your "go to" take-out places are, and why. Is it convenience? Prices perhaps? I'd really like to know…….

And in case you like to check out my other posts on Sab E Lee, you can find links on our "Rotation Page".

Honey Pig – A first look

April 13, 2010 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

*** Update: Honey Pig has closed and is now Old Village ***

So why have I posted a photo of Korean Meat Market, when my post is titled "Honey Pig?" Well, a couple of days ago, FOY "YY" informed me that the owner of KMM had taken over the Arirang House space, and opened a Korean BBQ. So of course, the Missus and I had to try it out.

It turns out that Frank, has renamed the place "Honey Pig", which I sorta recalled is the name of a Korean BBQ in Koreatown.

The interior looks pretty much the same; though the buffet area has been boarded up.

We walked in, and almost scared the daylights out of the nice young man busy waiting for food to come out of the kitchen. He regrouped quickly, and sat us at a table. As fast as lightning, even before ordering, dishes hit the table.

You could tell by what was brought out that this was a "Bossam" style Korean BBQ, as rice paper sheets and thin slices of radish, along with some really great tasting greens were quickly provided. In other words, you'll be wrapping your BBQ with rice paper and radish. Sesame Oil and Salt, along with raw garlic and sliced jalapenos were also provided.

There wasn't much panchan, only some great tasting tofu, and pretty bland radish.

A simple menu card was handed to me…….. just eleven meat items…..

Knowing that the owner runs a meat market, where I've purchased some pretty good quality beef before, I was expecting something good. And the menu clearly states that the beef here is "CAB", no not that CAB (and don't even think about Carne Asada Burrito), but Certified Angus Beef. As to whether he's able to make, or has hired someone who could do good Korean BBQ…. well that remained to be seen. The woman and two young men working the front of house were obviously a bit disorganized. After I placed my order with one of the young men, the other came over a few minutes later to take my order. After I explained to him that I'd placed my order, about two minutes later the woman came over to take our order. This made me a bit nervous….. but the young man who originally took my order assured me that my order had been placed. You can tell they were really trying hard, and need to work the kinks out.

First out was the CAB Chuck Flat Meat, something "YY" recommended ($11.99), which the woman brought out and immediately placed on the cast iron griddle.

Quite soft for chuck, just be sure not to overcook it….. rare is the way to go. On item that worked to our disadvantage was that the rice paper and daikon wrappers were placed in single bowls which meant much reaching over and passing around. Hopefully, in the future, they'll give each individual their own bowls of each. This was mildly beefy, and not bad.

We contemplated ordering the pork belly, but the Missus was just not in the mood for pork. So we went with the Bulgogi (portion for 2 – $15.99). All items on the menu are portioned to about .45 lbs. So three orders for two sound about right. Since the Bulgogi is a double portion things worked out right.

I think the marinade needs some tweaking as it is way too mild, but the meat was very tender.

As you can see, these aren't AYCE meatfests, but along with the greens, eating Bossam(wrapped in the rice paper and daikon) style, and the bowl of rice, we were pretty full. Total bill came out to about $30 for two.

Overall, I'd say a notch below Buga, but above places like Seoul BBQ, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. As we were eating, Frank happened by, and recognized me because I've shopped in his store a few times. I was told that they won't be doing a grand opening quite yet, since they are still working things out. He has minimized the panchan to keep prices low, though we were given refills, and were even offered more.

The meal was good enough that we'll return to see how things are progressing. Plus, since it's named Honey Pig, I'll have to try the pork…..

Honey Pig
4681 Convoy St Ste B
San Diego, CA 92111

Woodies, a revisit

April 12, 2010 mmm-yoso Hot Dogs, Sandwiches

*** Woodies is now Waldos

So…. we're sitting the car, deciding what the Missuswe want to eat. Sometimes it's tough…. I'll go thru five, ten, fifteen places…… and even though She'll say, "today's your day, pick what you want", every choice will be rejected. Finally, the Missus exclaimed, "I want a hot dog"….. WHAT….. and to top it off, "and maybe some chili-cheese fries." DOUBLE WHAT! The only thing I could come up with was tilting my head and asking the Missus, "hear that?" Of course She replied, "hear what?" "That…. I think hell's freezing over!" I don't recall the Missus wanting Chili-cheese fries since we lived in LA…. really. My first thought was our usual choice, Tommy's….. there was one a couple blocks from us in LA, and of course there's a location on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. A couple of problems, though… first, the San Diego location of Tommy's just doesn't taste right to me. Something seems to be missing. Secondly, just one whiff of the chili from Tommy's gives the Missus heartburn…..

So with some hesitance, I mentioned Woodies. It had been a while since I've been to Woodies. A long while. And in the past, the Missus hasn't really taken to the dogs, nor the fries…. But the Missus really seemed up for it. And I was interested as well, since I believe that Woodies has perhaps gone through at least one change of ownership since I last visited.

In terms of pricing, Woodies' prices have gone up maybe 25-50 cents in the last couple of years.

So the Missus decided to get….. A Jalapeno Dog, Chili-Cheese Fries, AND a Pastrami Sandwich! Yikes…. I decided to order a Diet Coke.

So without further ado. The Jalapeno Dog ($2.85):

Personally, I like the dog at Woodies, nice beefy flavor, and good "snap". The Jalapenos didn't really do well with this, a little bit too "green" tasting, and these weren't really pickled very well. We ended up discarding them. The bun is steamed, and fairly soft. The Missus was never a big fan of the dogs at Woodies, but I think time has changed Her opinion, as She really enjoyed this. Now if I can only stop Her from putting *gasp* ketchup on Her hot dogs……

Here's the Chili Cheese Fries ($4.95). I'd never had the CCFs at Woodies, so I was kinda surprised when I picked my order up.

Geeez, enough to get me to make an appointment with my cardiologist. They've changed how they season the fries here. It now has a bit more spice in the seasoning, which tastes pretty good. I like the thin cut fries…. heck, I like almost all fries. The chili, which I've always thought to be a bit generic on a dog, complemented the fries quite well. There was a bit too much cheese under that chili. We didn't finish this, but came close…….

And the final item the Missus ordered, the Pastrami Sandwich ($6):

I don't even know they bother with the bun on this one. I've never put the fing WoodiesR06 er on why I kinda enjoy this. It's really fatty, but not greasy. And sliced thin. The Missus figured it out right away; She said the chewy texture, and the flavor was almost "bacon-ish" (Her words). I can't quite compare it to bacon, but it does have a good chew. We both hated that it had too much mustard….I think we'll order it without the mustard next time, and bring our own deli mustard.

I'm not quite sure when that next time will be….. could be another three years for all I know. What I do know, is that all I had for dinner was a couple of radishes…..

Here's the address if you want a "Woodie" of your very own. (You know I had to make one Woodie remark, right?)

Woodies Chili Dogs
4250 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

I think it did the Missus good to get this outta Her system…

Of course, on Sunday, it was back to the "same old boring stuff…….."