Cooking – Page 14

Saturday Stuffs: What going on with the old Zion Marketplace (U Mart?), where Voltero’s is moving to. Blue Korea House? I hadn’t even noticed. how I pack for 3 weeks of travel and a Xiang Chun Ya update.

July 13, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Pizza, Travel

Here's a far ranging edition of Saturday Stuffs for you.

U Mart? What's U Mart?:

I had been wondering what was happening with the old Zion Marketplace site. I don't recall seeing some of the old food court shops in the new Zion and thought perhaps they were hold-outs? So imagine my surprise when I drove past that location and saw this:

No, there weren't any businesses in the empty shell of a location, but what was U Mart? After calling around a bit, the best info I could find was that the folks behind First Korean Market will be running this place. Not sure why "U Mart" for a Korean Market….but I guess "K Mart" is already taken, right?

4611 Mercury St
San Diego, CA 92111
Between Engineer Rd and Dagget St

Where Voltero's is popping up:

Not sure if you folks have noticed, but that strip mall on Balboa where Einstein Bagels used to be is going to become a Chipotle and a Five Guys. I was wondering what happened to Voltero's? I did a post on the cheeseseals there, during my cheesesteak round-up that started in 2010. Voltero's is pretty much your generic neighborhood pizza joint, nothing amazing, but they had a pretty loyal following, and if I recall were owned by local folks.

So I was fairly pleased to see this sign when I ate at Szechuan Chef.

4344 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

It's now Blue Korea House:

Did you even notice?

Haven't been here in over a decade, as I didn't care for the food. An acquaintance of mine used to call this "Baegin-gyp", 'nuff said.

Anyone eat here since the change?

4620 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

What I wear for three weeks of travel:

"David" emailed me about my comment on only taking about 6-7 kilos in a carry-on for over three weeks of travel. He asked how much did I really pack….well, other than what I wore, that was it. If we didn't have a couple of more formal dinners, I'd have lost the two dress shirts. I was actually going to take a jacket, but didn't in the end. I use Eagle Creek packing cubes and a packing folder. I went for it and actually used a $30 Campmor Essential Carry-On, which weighs about half a pound. The packing folder gave the rather floppy bag structure and I had no problems with the bag, nor laundry either. What about wrinkles? A spritz from a spray bottle, a good shake, and a steamy bathroom does wonders…irons are perfectly fine as well of course. I did end up buying a "hoodie" from H&M, which are everywhere in Europe for about 10 Euros.

I'm now sold on One Bag Travel….until I have to go home or visit relatives…you know, the "gifts" thing, right?

The Missus favorite new "pet" – Xiang Chun Ya:

One of the dishes the missed most by the Missus is eggs with shoots from the Xiang Chun Ya, the Chinese Toon tree. This was one of Her favorites growing up and was one of the first things She wanted to eat when we visited QingDao.

We finally got a plant this year….thank "SL"! Sadly, SH left the tree in her hot car that day and it looked dead. But, after transplanting and some TLC, shoots are coming out which has the Missus going nuts…..you see, it's the tender shoots of this plant which are used for scrambled eggs:

The Missus has told me that She's going to pick these shoots already and buy some eggs…I said, "based on the size of these, it better be quail eggs….."

I also told Da Boyz that they aren't Her favorites anymore….they've been replaced by a tree!

Seriously, it's about time we actually used the space in the backyard to grow some stuff.

Anyway, I hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Eggplant with Tamarind Sauce

July 9, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Call me crazy….it was pretty hot and humid today. I really didn't feel like going out of the house. So what did I do? I stir-fried. What the heck was I thinking?

Anyway, I used basically the same technique as my Spicy Chinese-style Eggplant, but went for more of a Thai inspired dish. In other words, totally lost for ideas, I found stuff around the kitchen and went for it…….

Two types of chilies and chili paste brings the heat. Palm sugar, white sugar, and the red bell peppers add sweet. Soy Sauce and Fish Sauce add the umami saltiness. Garlic and onions add depth of flavor. The kaffir lime leaves and cilantro give this a definite Southeast Asian touch. And the sour and tangy tamarind paste tops it off. I'm looking at this as a nice starting point and will add to the recipe in the future……

It turned out rather well. I actually measured stuff out initially as I made things. There are three acts to this play…..

Eggplant with Tamarind Sauce:

First the Tamarind Sauce:
4 Tb tamarind pulp or concentrate
2-3 Tb palm sugar
2 Tb premium soy sauce
3 Tb fish sauce
2 Tb sambal olek

– Combine all ingredients and let sit

Then prep everything you'll need for parts 1 & 2 below:

Part 1:
2-3 medium sized Chinese Eggplant cut into 1/3 inch dice
3 dried red chilies seeded
Dash of white pepper
2 Tb White sugar
2 Tb Shaoxing Wine
2-3 Tb premium soy sauce
3 Tb canola or grapeseed oil

Part 2:
1/2 large red bell pepper diced
1/2 medium onion diced
5 kaffir lime leaves thinly sliced
4-6 Thai Chilies Sliced
6 cloves of garlic minced
2 Tb canola or grapeseed oil
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro

– In a hot wok heat first 3 tb of oil add dried chilies to scald
– Add eggplant, white pepper, and sugar, and stir fry
– Add Shaoxing and stir fry
– When eggplant starts to dry out, add soy sauce to moisten a tablespoon at a time
– When the eggplant has browned and is cooked through, remove to a plate and start Part2

– Allow wok to come back up to temperature and add oil
– Quickly add kaffir lime leaves and Thai Chilies, stir fry until fragrant, about 10-15 seconds
– Add red bell pepper and stir fry to coat and let soften slightly
– Add garlic and stir fry. Do not allow garlic to burn
– Add onion and stir fry
– Return eggplant back to wok and combine well.
– Add sauce, combine, bring up to temp, and remove from heat
– Add the chopped cilantro, saving a few tablespoons for garnish

Looks like a lot, but things go pretty quickly. In fact, I even made some chili-garlic shrimp as well. Didn't even use the Big Kahuna.

Interesting thing was…..that I felt a lot less sluggish after making this….dunno why….

So, did you cook at home today?

King Clip? Yes, King Clip, two ways…….

July 7, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes, Seafood, yoso-silly

When not travelling, I'm totally a creature of habit….or as the Missus puts it, "boring". Of course She's the one who doesn't like to go shopping in places where She doesn't know the lay-out. Anyway, on most Saturdays you'll find me at Catalina Offshore. I'm there buying shrimp to keep us stocked, some fish to smoke for the Missus' lunch during the week, and maybe a thing or two for the weekend. Over time I've had the pleasure of chatting with Tommy Gomes whose title is Director of Public Relations and Marketing, but is much, much, more than that……those who know him can attest to the fact that he's quite a character, he also has quite a story, and a fisherman's sense of humor.

On days like this past Saturday, when he's done giving me a hard time, he asked me a simple question; "are you cooking this weekend?" And pointed me to this….. King Clip? I believe that I've eaten a good deal of seafood in my life, but this was a new one. He explained, "really fresh, firm, good fat, large flake…. Don't screw around with it." As I mentioned before, when Tommy makes a recommendation I'm all in. So I got about 1.75 pounds of it.

Catalina Offshore Products
5202 Lovelock St
San Diego, CA 92110

Still, I went home wondering what the heck is King Clip? So after looking it up, I discovered that it's a type of Cusk Eel and is called Kingklip in South Africa.

Whenever I get some type of fish I haven't tried before, I do something rather simple. We've had an abundance of basil growing in our makeshift garden this year, so the Missus made a almond and pumpkin seed, oven dried tomato pesto. I seasoned the fish with simply sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and just a tiny bit of crushed oregano.

We had it with a simple arugula salad. Man this was some moist and tender fish. There's a bit of sweetness to it as well. The flakes are large and the flavor mild….oh, and the Missus loved it.

I had a bit left and decided to try something more "Asian" for dinner. I did the typical Shaoxing – ginger juice – white pepper Chinese style marinade. Seasoned with sea salt and five spice from QingDao and dusted one side with potato starch. Served up with my basic dressing for Purple Cabbage Slaw, this was very nice.

This fish would probably be very nice steamed. The firmness of the fish would allow for use in stews and even some braising, but I think you might lose the benefit of the fresh and sweet flavor.

Heck, if you see this at Catalina, just don't bother buying it……..I'll take care of that, ok?

Oh, and I need to send thanks out to "YY", I made the Bo Luc Lac her dad prepared. It came out nice! Thanks so much!

I was going to make this on the Big Kahuna, but we ran out of propane, so did it on the stovetop.

Hope everyone had a great Independence Day weekend!

Recently Consumed – influenced by our trip edition

July 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking

First off, Happy 4th to everyone!

Here's another collection of stuffs we've been eating at home over the last couple of weeks, starting with today's lunch.

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The Missus has to go back to work soon, so I asked Her what She wanted. It was an easy one, teri-beef, wrapped in lettuce, with green onions, thinly sliced raw garlic, red onions, tomato, sorta ssam style.

She also wanted grilled brussle sprouts and some peppers. I decided to grill up the rest of our chicken wings seasoned with peri-peri chili powder. A nice and easy Fourth of July lunch.

As always, our travels inspire and influence our cooking. The Missus loved the hearty and simple food in Portugal. Simple items, like this black pork grilled over hardwood charcoal, with a "sauce" of vinegar, garlic, and olive oil, stayed with us. This version is from Ze Manel dos Ossos in Coimbra.

And these very tasty potatoes at a fantastic seafood grill joint called Tito 2 in Matosinhos, right outside of Porto.

We ate so much pork that we renamed Portugal, "Pork-y'all". Pork has a stigma here in the states and much of what is sold is called the "other white meat". I don't eat that stuff…….I look for nice tasty and fatty pork, like Berkshire. The Missus never used to eat pork, but after Portugal things have changed. I told Her that the pork I make, the stuff I eat and She doesn't is actually good stuff. It's all about not making a pig of yourself (pun intended). The portions are reasonable, .25 – .3 pounds per person.

So after returning I pan fried a Berkshire Pork Rib Chop seasoned with Maldon Sea Salt, flavored with that three ingredient "sauce".

Along with those potatoes. A single chop seasoned well was more than enough for the two of us. Turns out that the Missus preferred the chop sliced, pounded flat, seasoned, then grilled.

See those mushrooms in the back there? That's another influence. We had mushrooms served that way a couple of times, like this example from Botequim da Mouraria in Evora.

These were always full of mushroom flavor. So I came home wondering how these were made…..it seems so very simple and it was.

These are usually grilled. I use creminis. I place them gill side down on the grill under direct heat. Once it browns I turn them over. As the cap side gets wrinkled, I carefully move the mushrooms to the indirect side of the grill….carefully because liquid starts accumulating in the naturally formed cup of the gill side.

Season with salt and that all purpose mixture of garlic, vinegar, and olive oil. Be careful not to spill that mushroom flavored juice.

The same theme was followed for subsequent meals…….

This version featured a version of the classic Maltese Fava Bean Dip called Bigilla.

Here's a version with an easy over egg on it…..kind of over the top, collards sauteed in bacon fat topped with lardons of bacon, halibut pan seared in bacon fat, and an egg fried in duck fat.

And the requisite drippy egg photo……

Speaking of Malta….we were surprised at how well we ate in Malta. We hadn't heard much about the food. I really enjoyed the tuna sandwiches in Malta….yes…tuna sandwiches, like this one from Cafe Cordina in Valletta.

The traditional breads are fantastic. I had an even better tuna sandwich at a tiny coffee shop off the main street in Valletta. All the older locals seemed to be having breakfast there, it was one of my favorite meals on the island. Here's a version the Missus made for me.

I'd say the Missus did a great job. don't you think?

That pretty dish of quail eggs and linguica is also from Botequim da Mouraria in Evora.

It was a wonderful dish which copied a couple of times in our apartment in Porto with linguica from the local Pingo Doce supermarket.

We've made this after returning from our trip as well. They key is to fry the eggs in the rendered fat of the sausage. We're still looking for good linguica here in San Diego.

So there you go, everywhere we travel we learn something and add something to our cooking repertoire.

I'm wondering if the Missus will let me try this at home?

The Missus Yakyudori obsession

July 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, Japanese Restaurants, yoso-silly

One of the side benefits about doing this blog for so long is that I get to document things, how our eating has changed over time, ditto with my cooking, our travels, and so forth. One of the really fun and interesting items I've been to post about over the years are the Missus's food feet-ishes umm, obsessions, some of which are narrowly focus on a single item, sometimes from a single place, or perhaps a dish with a common "mechanical" function, many of have been documented here in detail.

And just as many times, the Missus has "sworn off" things after finding out what the ingredients are, or perhaps how something is made. The longest running "item that shall not pass my lips" was chicken and turkey. Folks have asked for the cause of this. All I have for you is a video of this commercial:

Which somehow traumatized the Missus so much that She refused to eat chicken or turkey (except on vacation). The Missus was very good at keeping Her word as I've noted several times. This, other than the Asian Pear overload (a story for a different day) has been the longest running "I shall not eat"……starting in November of 2009, as I mention here. It only ended a bit over a week ago, though with strict conditions….I do believe turkey is still not welcomed, though.

So, what ended the historic and epic chicken prohibition? It was victory by Binchotan as duly noted in this recent post. It seems that those bincho-tainted wings won Her over….so in essence we've grilled in that manner 5 times over the last two weeks. Always with something interesting; in this case "Kamo", duck breast.

And with chicken wings of course. During one of our sessions, the Missus mentioned how good the wings were, probably among the best She could recall. Instead of showing restraint, I made the mistake of saying that our grilled wings were not as good as Yakyudori's. Thus began the interrogation. All that was missing was the bright light blasting into my face, the water dripping into my eye, and maybe a dentist drill. "Just what makes Yakyudori's wings better!", "Well, it's decent quality wings, second joint only, heavily seasoned with good quality salt, but the main thing is how the wings were skewered." "Well……." Showing no will-power I instantly spilled the beans: "The wings are skewered in such a way to stretch the skin, maximizing surface area. The bones are separated making it easy to pull out without burning your fingers." Yes, such is life in the mmm-yoso household, an entire conversation about stretching chicken wing skin…….what happened to us?

Suddenly, Yakyudori went from a shop the Missus wasn't interested in, to one we just had to go to…..as in the next evening. And of course we had those wings…….

And of course I was right………..it was better than what we made at home.

My gloating was short lived however, as the Missus directed me to Marukai on the way home. You guessed it. To pick up chicken wings.

The next evening, as the Missus prepped Herself for wing surgery, I got the other stuff ready. Lit the binchotan and prepared the shishito peppers, shiitake mushrooms, okra, and some pork "toro"…..

25 minutes had passed and the charcoal was white and hot when the Missus finally finished Her 6 wings. I gotta say, She did a great job.

She basked in the glory of Her wings…..

With a side order of gloating thrown in, "Ha, after 15 years, I finally got a cooking point over you! Fifteen years!"

I gotta admit, these were pretty darn good, and I told Her so. Immediately, the Chinese daughter came out, "hmmm, the bones don't break away as easy as Yakyudori…maybe the skin can be stretched a bit more…."

Remember our drooling "friend" from our previous post? He was back again.

The Missus said he reminds Her of this character from the old series Home Improvement.

As dinner was finishing up, I told the Missus what a good, albeit rather long job She had done. She absently told me, "I don't really remember how I did that……."

She had already moved on, mentioning how much She enjoyed the Tsukune at Yakyudori.

Oh-oh, another obsession coming up?

Stay tuned…….

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Comfort Food: Teri Beef Sandwiches

June 27, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes, yoso-silly

A few weekends ago I got what I thought was an interesting request from the Missus. She wanted Teri-Beef…….. Man, what a blast from the past for me! I love teri-beef sandwiches. So while She went with the strange low carb teri-beef in lettuce cups…I just did mine the way I like it.

I've gotten pretty good at actually grilling the soft #2 thin cut rib eye on my Weber. Man was this a blast from the past……it made me long for the Teri Beef King at Jolly Roger Drive-In. The one we used to go to was next to the graveyard near Kahala Mall, it's now a Zippy's. We used talk about how Waialae Drive-In was haunted because it was next to the graveyard and we were told that part of the parking lot was built over half the cemetery….supposedly the movie would go upside down at midnight and there was a faceless woman ghost that haunted the women's restroom……I heard that the ghost moved on to the Kahala Theatre's after the drive-in closed??!??

Anyway, this is basically my "Fourth Grade Teri-Beef" with some grown-up touches. So easy……

Teri-Beef:

1 cup Aloha/Yamasa Shoyu
3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/3 cup mirin
2-3 Tb grated/minced garlic
2 tsp ginger juice
3-4 bunches green onion, white part only chopped

– Mix all ingredients until sugar is totally dissolved.
– Taste and adjust
– You should be able to get 1 1/2 – 2 pounds of meat with this
– I separate all the meat slices and mix well with the sauce before putting into a ziploc
– Marinate for at least 6 hours and no more than 14-16…it will get real salty
– Grill or panfry

Man……..this makes me miss "home"……

Tell me, where is/was your favorite teri-beef sandwich?

And here's a total blast form the past…..anybody remember Hana Chicken?

My goodness……I'm getting majorly old…..before you know it, I'm going to blabbing about Yum Yum Tree!

Thanks for letting me reminisce!

Grill Break!

June 19, 2013 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking, yoso-silly

The weather's been so nice here the last couple of days. I hope you don't mind if I break up the week and take a grill break. We busted out the konro grill and the binchotan and like we do every so often decided to grill up some stuff. It takes some time and we take our time and savor the process and the flavor.

Last night it was Pork Toro, basically pork collar…..

Chicken wings, shishamo…….with a nice salad.

The Missus enjoyed it so much, that She wanted to do it again this evening….so we did.

More chicken wings, Berkshire pork belly, shrimp, shishito peppers……

There's something almost cathartic about the process…it makes us slow down, appreciate. It's simple, bincho imparts such great flavor that all you need is some good quality salt, pepper, and maybe some Shichimi Togarashi.

The smell is intoxicating…..as you can tell by our "neighbor" spying on us.

Looking for a possible "sample"…..

Of course Frankie was waiting for his share……

So pardon me while I take a mid-week charred animal flesh break.

We'll be back tomorrow!

Thanks for dropping by!

Recently Consumed and it’s that Time Again!

May 16, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, yoso-silly

So here's some stuffs that I made recently……..

A cumin and five spice crusted halibut…with that Purple Cabbage Slaw.

A Garlic Shrimp Po' Boy.

This one went to the reject pile. It was totally "ma-la" – numbing hot. But the Missus rejected it because it wasn't "red" enough. So it's back to the drawing board with the Chili Oil Won Tons.

Still, it was really spicy….

I still get embarrassed when the Missus requests "spicy tuna". So I sheepishly submit this Spicy Ahi Salad.

If you decide to make this, don't forget the tobiko and the avocado. I served this on mizuna, which added a nice mildly bitter counter-point to the dish.

And finally……..

Tommy from Catalina Offshore recommended some fresh sardines, which had just come in that morning. The timing of which is excellent. It's that time again. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the Missus and I will be on our way to our next destination(s). So where are we going? Well, the photo leaves a clue.

I'll try to post once in a while while we're gone, but until then, everything is in the fine hands of Cathy!

Thanks for reading!

Guai Wei Yu – Strange Flavor Fish (怪味鱼)

May 4, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

In keeping with the Missus' wish to never have the same fish dish for more than two or three times (there are exceptions of course) I have to keep coming up with various preparations, most of which include some kind of sauce. I'll readily admit that sometimes my answer to the Missus's, "why don't you make something good for a change" can be a hard sell. This one is a good example. I've been missing Chinese flavors, so looking at the nice piece of halibut, I thought why not guai-wei, also known as "strange flavor", but probably even more well known as the flavoring for a popular Sichuan dish called "Bang Bang Chicken"……bang bang ji si. It's basically a combination of "fish flavored" (yu xiang – 鱼香), sesame paste, and Sichuan Peppercorns.

To the Missus this seemed like heresy, She had never heard of such a preparation using fish….but I've made guai wei ji si in the days when the Missus used to eat chicken. Still, She really doubted that I could pull this off………

In the end, She loved it….well, She loved the sauce. You talk about the classic suan-tian-ku-la-xian, the sour-sweet-bitter-spicy-salty metaphor for a flavorful, yet balanced dish the Chinese use.

The fish was prepared in typical Chinese fashion. The basic marinade step for the fish is simple:

2 Tb Shaoxing Wine
2 Tb Grated Ginger
White Pepper

Combine and let fish sit for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile the strange flavor sauce:

3 Tb Chinese sesame paste, mixed well
1 tsp sesame oil
2-3 Tb Chili Oil
1 tsp ground, toasted Sichuan Peppercorns
2 Tb Premium Light Soy Sauce
1 Tb sugar
Salt to taste
water or peanut oil to thin out the sauce

– Combine the first 6 ingredients, mixing well until the sugar is dissolved
– Add oil or water if the sauce is too thick
– Taste and adjust flavors, add salt if desired

I then dust the fish with potato starch and pan fry. Spoon on the sauce, garnish with scallions, cilantro, sesame seeds and some really spicy red chilies.

Drizzle with more chili oil.

I served this with Jinan style purple cabbage slaw on some mizuna.

I lived to cook another day………

Smacked Cucumbers – Pai Huang Gua (派黄瓜)

May 3, 2013 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

It's really feeling like record heat isn't it? For some reason, I enjoy dishes like this, called Smacked Cucumber because you smack the cucumbers with the flat of a cleaver a couple of times before cutting. The sauce is that wonderful combination of sour-salty-sweet-spicy-numbing that I find refreshing.

Fuchsia Dunlop has a nice version in her latest book, Every Grain of Rice. I enjoy a bit more of everything, but the recipe in the book is a nice place to start. Even though it might not seem so; the version I made this evening has 6 cloves of garlic, which I grated into a paste. Because there's so much flavor, you may not notice just how much garlic is in this until after your meal…..garlic breath, the gift that keeps on giving. I also cut down on the normal 1:1 ratio of sugar to vinegar because the Missus enjoys this less sweet.

You can cut the cucumber whichever way you choose, either into quarters or use rolling cuts….I just do whichever I feel like. This is more than enough sauce for a pound of cucumbers….I just tend to like more sauce, which you can actually save and use for another batch.

Smacked Cucumbers – Pai Huang Gua:

1 pound Persian or Japanese Cucumbers
1 Tb salt
4 tsp Chinkiang Black Vinegar
2 tsp Sugar
2 Tb Chili Oil
4 tsp Premium Soy Sauce
1 tsp ground toasted Sichuan Peppercorns
2-6 cloves garlic minced

– Smack cucumbers with the flat of a cleaver to loosen and tenderize the flesh
– Slice/chop cucumbers as desired, salt and let rest for 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator (I like this chilled)
– Meanwhile combine the last six ingredients until sugar dissolves. Taste and adjust flavoring.
– Drain cucumbers and pour sauce over and mix. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.
– Eat!

There you go……