As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.
I haven’t done one of these in a while….so, here we go….just a couple of “stuffs” we’ve been eating.
There’s a thing we used to do when I worked in a restaurant like over 4 decades ago. We used to boil potatoes, smash them, then fry. The exterior would be crisp; the interior creamy…so ono! So, what I’ve been doing the last couple of years is to get those baby potatoes from the market. I then score and put into the microwave. Once soft, I smash and brush with olive oil, smoked salt, fresh ground pepper, and granulated garlic, then put into the air fryer.
I did manage to take a photo of when I did this recently, using mini baby potatoes. The Missus loves them with eggs.
Roasted broccolini and roasted honeynut squash made for a nice lunch.
It’s getting to be Pozole time in our household. I should post my recipe one of these days….
With prices being so crazy, I’ve started making ramen at home these days. We like the Sun Noodle brand. I also liven it up with some truffle soy sauce and even add in some shiitake mushrooms. And….I always make sure my tamago is at least warm!
And on warmer days….I venture into “neba-neba” land.
Love that combo of tororo and natto…..
I really don’t take much photos of the food I make these days….but for some reason here’s some beans-collards-pancetta.
Which tasted really good on toast with microplaned Parmesan Reggiano.
And lastly….some lamb chops, with beans and Cous Cous…..
Several folks have been asking me if I still cook and stuffs….and yes I do; though it’s mostly about technique and doing stuff on the fly these days. Though I do have several recipes/”formulas” and I guess it’s past the time I should do posts on these.
Anyway, here’s an actual recipe that I created during Covid after working thru it several times. It’s become a favorite of the Missus’s coworkers (thus the trip to June Lake – which I did again this year to cook for them), our neighbor who is from the Islands, and several other folks. When I grill it at home, most of it is given away.
It’s a riff on classic flavors of my youth….like local kineteriyaki-char siu. It is kind of a pain in the butt to make; which is why I put off doing this for so long….I’m not sure folks would like to make this.
First off; the basic recipe is for about a pound-and-a-half of boneless/skinless chicken thighs. Second, I tenderize each piece of chicken with a mallet. Third, I portion out and divide the sauce…for marinating, basting, and on the side….cause people like to use it for all kines of stuffs.
The Missus likes it in salads….and also on grilled tofu, which I coat with olive oil and duck fat; then season with salt-pepper-soy sauce-five spice.
Most folks get something like this from me.
Anyway….dis’ not one tightwad recipe.
Also, it uses bottled hoisin sauce. Though it’s important to look at the ingredient list. For example.
Two Hoisin Sauces….made by the same company….turn the bottles around and check the ingredients.
I know, both get so much modified stuffs….but the one on the left uses Fermented Soybean Paste, which provides a deeper-richer flavor.
Anyway…..too much talkin’…..
Local Kine Char Siu Chicken – I usually make a double recipe of the sauce:
3/4 Cup Hoisin Sauce 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce – yes, I still use Aloha Shoyu 1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar 1/4 Cup Agave Syrup 3 Tb Ketchup 3 Tb Shaoxing Wine 2-3 Cloves Garlic – minced or grated 1 Tsp Ginger Juice 1/2 – 1 Tsp Five Spice 1 1/2 Pounds Boneless-Skinless Chicken Thighs
Trim excess fat and connective tissue off chicken thighs
Tenderize with a mallet until uniform in thickness.
In a bowl, mix together Soy Sauce, Dark Brown Sugar, Ketchup, Shaoxing. Combine.
Add Hoisin Sauce and half the Agave Syrup mix well.
Add Garlic, Five Spice, and Ginger Juice – combine.
Taste with the tip of a chopstick – add the rest of Agave Syrup if necessary. Add more Five Spice and adjust other ingredients to taste (i.e. more garlic).
Once sauce is combined divide into two half portions.
Use one half of the sauce to coat and marinate the chicken. Make sure to coat well.
Divide the other half of the sauce into two equal portions.
Marinate at least 6 hours or overnight.
Grill the chicken. I use hardwood charcoal for a layer of flavor. I also use oak wood chips in a foil packet for an additional layer of flavor.
Use half of the reserved sauce for final basting.
The other half of the reserved sauce is placed into containers for dipping, pouring, or whatever the person wants
I know, kind of a lot of work but folks seem to like it!
I don't know if you've noticed. Many times, when we're having Chinese food whether at a restaurant or for takeout, we don't order vegetables. The reason for this is that the Missus has a hard time spending maybe over $15 for stir fried veggies. On most occasions we'll have leftovers and then I'll go ahead and stir fry veggies at home. I still have a Big Kahuna, my second one since 2005, this one goes to 65,000 BTU and is great for wok stir fries.
Or, as in the case of the item below, I'll go ahead and roast something in the air fryer…..sometimes I'll do both at the same time as doing the stir fry can take less than 2 minutes!
Anyway, the latest item was something I just kinda made up. The Missus really likes Caulilini, which is known here as Chinese Cauliflower. It's the type of cauliflower She grew up eating in China. Also known as Baby Cauliflower, it features thin green stems, is a bit sweeter, the florets are more loosely arranged. The Missus grew up eating cauliflower stir fried with tomato. I thought I'd try something interesting, knowing that She enjoys the flavor of cumin in dishes like BOZi Ran Yang Rou (Cumin Lamb). I thought the P-Cresol-ish cumin would go nicely with cauliflower and it did.
Because the quantity of cauliflower varies, I'll just give you a photo of the ingredients (minus the cauliflower).
There's a certain sequence that I've been using for making this.
Air Fryer Cumin Cauliflower 1 – After rinsing, prepping, and draining the cauliflower pour a few tablespoons of avocado, or any other neutral oil into a mixing bowl. Add cauliflower and combine. 2 – Add Sichuan Peppercorn oil to coat and White Pepper 3 – Add Cumin, Chinese Five Spice, and Granulated Garlic – I used to use fresh shopped garlic but it burned too easy. Mix well. 4 – Taste to make sure the cumin flavor comes thru clearly 5 – Add about a tablespoon of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of chili crisp, I found that Lau Gan Ma works the best. 6 – Stir and mix well to coat. 7 – Taste and adjust seasonings and add smoked salt. 8 – Roast in 450° Air Fryer for 12-14 minutes.
The time the Missus said She wanted me to grill some Shishamo:
So, I went to grill some veggies and also some of my Local Kine Chashu Chicken for the Missus when She asked me to grill some Shishamo for Her. I thought this kind of strange, since we'd sometimes do it on the Konro, but She wanted it grilled….
So, I prepped some.
When I finished, I found out who it was actually for. Guess who got Shishamo?
I actually posted about it on Instagram and some folks found it funny…..
Pliny the Elder at Bay Hill Tavern:
Earlier in the week, the Missus wanted some tacos from the Tacos La Chorreada Truck. So JJ and I walked on over, placed my order and decided to head on over to Bay Hill Tavern for a cerveza until my tacos were ready.
I was given the "specials" menu to look over and was pleasantly surprised.
Man, they had Pliny the Elder on tap! When was the last time I had that?
My goodness….it was so good. I'm hoping they still have it the next time I visit. If you plan on dropping by specifically for a PtE, perhaps you may want to call first as I'm sure they'll soon run out – 619-326-8828.
Bay Hill Tavern 3010 Clairemont Drive San Diego, CA 92117 Current Hours: Mon – Thurs 11am – 9pm Friday 11am – 10pm Saturday 10am – 10pm Sunday 10am – 9pm
And finally……
My latest "ear worm":
I'm sure this might be before your time, but someone mentioned the late Wili Moku to me recently. He was the DJ I always listened to on KKUA in the 80's (before they became Public Radio – hey you rememba the Home Grown album?)
Juewei has become a semi-regular stop for us since they opened last November. What we’ve found is that they make the smoked chicken we enjoy on weekends, so we’ll drop by and pick one up ($17.99) with some side dishes.
Along with usually some quail eggs and yuba….in fact, the woman who runs the place just starts packing the yuba when I walk in the door!
And recently, we saw that they added a spicy braised beef….I dunno the name because the Missus orders it in Mandarin.
And of course the chicken.
Now, you may ask if we just eat everything as is…..well, sometimes. The yuba is a great side dish as is the beef. Though that chicken can be up to four meals. Here’s what we do.
We make baos with the meatier parts of the chicken and also with the beef. I have a microwave tortilla warmer pouch that I found does a good job of warming up the baos! I also will crisp up some of the skin in the air fryer for textural contrast.
For some reason, this winter – early spring we’ve been eating a lot of Zhou…which is what the Missus calls it. I have always called the dish using the Cantonese name; jook. The Missus had found the quite popular 20 minute congee recipes posted on Instagram and TikTok where you freeze the rinsed rice for 8 hours. After working thru the recipe a few times, I found an approach that we prefer. The porridge seems to come out a bit creamier and it only takes a couple of hours to freeze.
I rinse one-third cup of rice. I tend to prefer Koshihikari rice….yes, it’s a bit more expensive, but to me, based on the starch content worth using. Plus, we tend to use higher quality rice when cooking at home anyway. I then place the rice in a small metal mixing bowl and cover with one cup of water and freeze.
When I’m ready to make the porridge, I take out a donabe; a Japanese clay pot which I have. I place the metal mixing bowl on the stove and heat briefly to melt the edges of the ice. I then place the donabe on the stove, move the rice-ice and melted water into the donabe and add three more cups of water, heat, and bring to a simmer.
I then get my kitchen shears and slice the chicken carcass in half. I can make two portions of the porridge. I trim excess meat off the bones; usually from the thighs and drumstick…the breast and some of the thigh meat has already been used to make the baos we had previously. I chop the meat up into pieces. I separate the bones and place that in the porridge. While the Missus grew up eating plain boiled Zhou in QingDao, my mom used to make jook using turkey bones after Thanksgiving. Turkey Jook is very popular “back home”. Kathy from Onolicious Hawaii has a page and recipe on Turkey Jook here.
Because of flavor of the smoked chicken is quite strong, the flavor transfer is done fairly quickly. I then add in the meat, usually some green onions, white pepper.
The rice gets creamy in about 20 minutes, 30 minutes max.
The Missus likes some minced bitter greens along with the quail eggs in Hers. I like to add a little shoyu, yuba (of course), takana (pickled mustard greens), and kimchi garlic shoots, if I have them.
If there’s any chicken skin left; I’ll crisp up in the air fryer and top off the porridge with that.
Juewei has indeed become a regular stop for us because it provides us with additional options and ingredients for comfort food meals.
**** Juewei has closed
Juewei Food
4690 Convoy St. #103
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 11pm
Fri – Sat    11am – Midnight
Just a bunch of "little stuffs" for a pretty chilly Friday! Yes, I know, it's San Diego……
It's the Sukiyaki time of the year:
Yes, the Missus has been requesting Sukiyaki again. These days I use two grades of meat.
I use a basic sukiyaki grade – from Nijiya for cooking with the veggies and stuffs. It adds the requisite beefiness to the dish. And then I get about a quarter pound of prime or wagyu (when it's "Meat Day") for dipping.
I have a feeling I'll be making this again this weekend…..
Salad in December?:
Yep, the Missus said She wanted a salad…. But, of course it wasn't just a simple salad. After all the requested ingredients it looked like this.
Everything from roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes, boiled eggs, etc…..
And then I had to come up with an "appropriate" dressing. I settled on making a Bacon Vinaigrette.
So, the Missus has been wanting a version of this salad like four days in a row…….
Meat Jun?:
In my post on making Okra Kurogomae, I mentioned serving it with some Meat Jun I made. "FOY" Kimo emailed me asking me for a recipe. Well, I'm not it's ready for prime time. The biggest issue is finding the precise cut of meat I want. Both Zion and H Mart cuts their rib eye quite thin. Though I've made due with marinating the meat a specific way. As for the recipe; it's a cross between an old recipe from Wanda A. Adams wonderful cookbook, the Island Plate and of course, the Kathy has a version on Onolicioushawaii as well. With a couple of adjustments and personal touches as well.
It ain't the prettiest thing.
But our neighbor, who is originally from Manoa liked it as did the Missus, who specifically requested that I make this after having it twice during our last trip "back home". Strange thing, this stuff keeps ok and actually heats up well in the Air Fryer? Anyway, maybe I need to make this a couple more times, right?
Yep, so that's what's been cookin' here.
Hope everyone is keeping warm during our cold spell!
Hope you don't mind a quick and easy recipe for this Thursday!
A few months back, I noticed a new side dish at Nijiya; okra gomae. Knowing how much the Missus loves what the Japanese call "neba-neba"…that slimy-slippery stuff like natto…and okra. The Missus instantly enjoyed it. So, for the next couple of weeks, I'd get some when available.
But, you know how it goes….after getting this few times, the Missus started noticing how She would prefer this dish be made. More sesame flavor….not as sweet, etc. So, I was commissioned to create a version to Her taste.
I did mention not wanting to toast and grind sesame seeds. The Missus quickly came up with a solution to that. We had an unopened container of Black Sesame; the stuff you'd top desserts with in the cabinet.
Okay, we were off to the races. And this is what I've made a half dozen times since.
Not the prettiest dish in the world, huh?
Anyway, there were a couple of things I've noticed when trying to make this. First, younger, thinner okra works best. Second, the "sauce" can be a bit too thick, so I thin out the sauce with a neutral oil, like avocado oil as necessary. To get the right texture, I blanch the okra for a minute in boiling salt water, then stop the cooking by placing the okra into ice water. Doing this also brings out the nice green color of the okra and also makes it more "neba-neba".
I call it Kurogomae because I'm using the black sesame for this. Anyway, this recipe is to the Missus's taste, less sweet, more sesame flavor. It's easy to adjust.
Okra Kurogomae:
1/2 lb Okra – Younger/thinner preferred 1 Tb Kosher Salt 8 Cups water Ice water
Sauce 3 Tb Black Sesame Powder or 4 Tb Toasted Black Sesame Seeds Ground 2 Tsp Sugar 2 Tsp Soy Sauce 1 Tb Sesame Oil 1-2 Tb Avocado or other neutral oil (optional)
– Rinse off okra – Add kosher salt to water and bring to a boil – Add okra. Blanch for 1 minute – Drain and put okra into ice water to stop cooking – Once okra has cooled remove form ice water and dry
– Mix together sesame powder (or ground sesame), sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. – Check consistency. Add neutral flavored oil as needed to create an acceptable texture. – Taste and adjust.
– Slice okra into bite sized pieces – Mix sauce and okra together and chill for a half hour – Give the okra a mix before serving. Yes, it's going to be neba-neba, but that's one of the reasons you like this, right?
In the comments section of a recent post, "FOY" DerekR asked me what I've been cooking recently. I know that during Covid, I used to do many more cooking type posts. And to be honest, much of what I make these days are tried and true recipes that I've posted over the years. And to be perfectly honest, lot of what I cook just use techniques that I've picked up over the years.
For instance, these days you'll be hard pressed getting the Missus to order chicken katsu when dining out. It's got to be highly recommended for Her to try it. And the reason is totally my fault. You see, a few years ago, I mentioned having worked in a Drive In back home. We made chicken katsu a certain way….which wasn't super good. But, we also knew how to make it for us. And when we did, we never needed to use salt; the breading never peeled off, and the chicken breast was very tender.
And it was simply done by doing a quick brine and rinse on the chicken before breading. We also tenderized the chicken breast. I also added seasonings to the egg wash (shoyu) and ground black pepper to the panko.
It used come out very evenly fried. Though my version may not be as pretty since I pan fry it, sorta like schnitzel, not wanting to waste oil…I use Avocado Oil so it ain't cheap.
The combination of the brine, I also add a bit of granulated garlic, the shoyu in the egg wash, and the ground black pepper in the panko just adds layers of flavors.
You can see the shoyu in the egg wash above and the freshly ground black pepper in the panko below.
Now because of how I make this; I only usually make two breasts at a time; it ain't cheap since I have to make the brine everytime I make katsu, but the Missus said it's worth it.
The Brine:
4 cups cold water 1/4 cup Kosher Salt 1/4 tsp Granulated Garlic (optional)
Combine ingredients, whisk until salt is dissolved Brine tenderized breasts for 8-15 minutes (I usually brine while getting flour-panko-egg wash ready) Rinse chicken and dry well with paper towels; remember food safety is paramount – avoid cross contamination, I use disposable gloves, make sure to clean up well.
Make sure chicken is dry before doing the flour-egg wash-panko
For the egg wash; I usually use 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoon Kikkoman Shoyu.
It's funny how some simple steps I learned so long ago have reappeared!
So, there you go……
If you do try brining your chicken before making katsu; let me know how it turns out.
This one is interesting. The Missus wanted zaru soba…well, without the soba! Figure that one out? The Missus enjoys the Tsuyu, the daikon oroshi, wasabi, and grated ginger, but just does not like the flavor and texture of buckwheat noodles! Hmmm……so, funny thing how things just pop back up. A couple of years back, we had a tasting of GreeNoodles at Mitsuwa. The reason that we were interested was that the noodles were made with "Moroheiya", also known as Mulukhiyah, but really know to us as Molokhia, a green veggie we first encountered and enjoyed in Tunisia. Funny thing, we next saw Molokhia available for purchase at Nijiya of all places. I remember being told how healthy Molokhia is. But beyond that, we loved the slightly bitter-vegetal flavor. And the Missus enjoyed how those dried noodles tasted. Anyway, looking for an alternative to soba, I decided to get a couple of packages of GreeNoodle from Tokyo Central (aka Marukai). Of course I wasn't getting the stuff with those powdered soup packets (there's miso, tum yum, yakisoba, etc…). I was just getting a package of dried noodles – $1.99 each.
Supposedly a good amount of fiber, the noodles aren't fried, a good source of potassium, beta carotene, manganese, antioxidants, blah, blah, blah…..
The main thing is; would the Missus enjoy this? And guess what, She loves it! It's quite simple. I just boil for about 3 minutes, rinse, then put into ice water to chill, then drain. I serve it just like zaru soba. It's so refreshing!
I've made this five times over the last sweltering two weeks. I guess it's a fixture now. Though I can tell the Missus is getting tired of it because She's requested a "Ma Jiang Mian"; cold sesame noodle version. Go figure.
You know, with all the hot weather, I haven't been making anything really complex. Though, it's been quite interesting. This is another favorite of the Missus. It's based on a dish from our favorite Sichuan restaurant in Paris. So, I've made this like four times already.
Not sure it's worth a post though….
Still, I thought you might be interested in these Moroheiya Noodles; which have a better texture, taste, and is much more healthy than that instant ramen you're eating. Plus, I thought it interesting how this plant, which supposedly originated in Ancient Egypt, that we first tasted in Tunisia, and then saw for sale at Nijiya, can be found in noodle form!
We're recently back from yet another Road Trip and I needed to do my rounds this past weekend. Driving around Kearny Mesa I noticed a few new places.
Juewei Coming to Convoy:
I actually drove into Plaza del Sol on Convoy to see what was going on with China Max and noticed a new sign. Right next to Bonchon was this signage.
Whoa, could it actually be? We had been to Jue Wei Kitchen in San Gabriel for the duck neck, pig's feet, etc…….
So, just before typing this up I dropped by Eater San Diego and according to their post, it is true. Get ready for some spicy duck neck, pig ears, tripe, and all kinds of braised goodies!
4690 Convoy St #103 San Diego, CA 92111
SotBBQ Replacing Olleh Sushi:
While driving East on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, I noticed another new sign. This one for something called SotBBQ? This is in the plaza where the original location of Menya Ultra is located.
I really didn't want to work too hard at cooking and with the post 4th of July folks still crowding things….man, was the Little Italy Mercato packed. I couldn't find any parking at my usual spots and had to actually get metered parking!
Anyway, just to get a bit silly here, we had stuff from the farmers market; great tomatoes from Andrew at Indian Summer Farms, Fuerte Avocados from another stand. We had gotten a nice sourdough loaf from Erick Schat's Bakery in Bishop, perfect for sandwiches, and so forth…..
For a light lunch I made an Avocado – Tomato Toast, with lardons of bacon and feta…..
And for lunch yesterday, it was a Watermelon-Bacon-Feta Salad with tomato, basil, cilantro micro greens, and butter lettuce.
Our good friend "Alle" just got back from Mexico and had some great omiyagi for us. Among the goodies was some Chapulines. She told me they were from Mercado de San Juan and were among the best she's ever had. We had come to really enjoy chapulines during our time visiting Oaxaca and nothing here we've gotten here in the states compares.
In case you don't know what chapulines is, here's the Wikipedia page. It's basically roasted grasshopper and has a smoky, almost shrimpy flavor, with a crunchy texture.
Man, these were so good!
The Missus was really enjoying this with Her avocado toast or on eggs or with some Mezcal, but She wanted to have these for brunch.
So, we headed on over to Carnival Market and got some of the house made chicharron.
So, with the chopped chicharron and the chapulines….
With some of the house made tortilla chips, grape tomatoes, perfectly ripe avocado, salsa verde, salsa habanero, white onion, micro cilantro….you get the picture……some hipster chilaquiles.
But let's not forget what chapulines brings to this….
