yoso-silly – Page 38

What I Did for My Summer Vacation……

June 18, 2006 mmm-yoso Travel, yoso-silly

Did you ever have to stand in front of class during your first week back in school, and have to do a report on, "What I during my Summer vacation?" I dreaded this, most of the time it was summer school, and not much of anything else. So when my classmates were going to Disneyland and whatnot, I really had nothing to report on. As I got older, the kids were going to Japan, or doing exciting things during summer….but I was doing something like working or picking pineapples on Lanai! But this summer, I went on a nice short trip….but I’m not telling you right away. I just got home, so I’ll try to complete my previous post, and start doing my vacation posts.

So where did I go? Well these "guys" aren’t talking…but may give you some clues:

Maybe this guy can help you:

The city has something to do with these:

I’ll throw in a food pic, just so I can still feel I’m doing a food blog.

I know I’ve made it much too easy for you all…….

Did you happen to catch mmm-yoso….

June 4, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

I think this is a hoot. About 2 weeks ago, I started noticing referrals from FoodandWine.com, which I thought was kind of odd. Well after checking out the Food and Wine site, I noticed an entry under the "Blog Watch" portion, and there it was……….

A link to my bozo attempt at Seasoning my Wok of all things.

Don’t know how long the link will be there, but I thought it was pretty cool. And somewhat ironic, since Howie noted, that this was from the site of "the magazine that caused the whole cheese sandwich uproar."

I kinda mulled over whether to post this or not….but what the heck, I’m kind of tickled!

Of course if they really wanted some in depth info, they should’ve done a link to Barbara’s post in Tigers and Strawberries on Asian Kitchen Essentials.

“Wokking” the Wok

May 21, 2006 mmm-yoso Stuff, yoso-silly

My poor old wok had seen better days. The bottom had developed a dip, and portions have "peeling", and the poor fellow was pretty much ready to be retired. I think alot of the damage was due to a poor job of seasoning and care, on my part. When I got the wok as a gift a dozen or so years ago, I had no idea of what wok care, or seasoning consisted of. I had decided to get a new wok last year, but hadn't really made any effort to purchase one. Then I read a post on Barbara's blog; Tigers and Strawberries, that was a post on Asian Kitchen Equipment Essentials. In that post she mentions that The Wok Shop in San Francisco does Internet and mail order. The Wok Shop has always been one of my favorite places to visit, when in San Francisco, and I've bought a few knives, and other items. But I've always hesitated on purchasing a wok, and putting it in my luggage. But now, here was my chance. So I ended up ordering 2 woks from The Wok Shop. I placed my order on Tuesday, and by Saturday my woks had arrived!

I purchased a 14 inch Carbon Steel Wok($16.95), with a rounded bottom, and a 14 inch Cast Iron Wok ($14.95) imported from China. I decided to start with the Carbon Steel Wok. Grace Young's excellent book The Breath of a Wok, has several wok seasoning methods. One of the methods included in the book is Tane Chan's oven method. Tane Chan also happens to be the owner of the The Wok Shop, and sent me email wok seasoning instructions along with my order confirmation. So I decided to use that method.

"The wok is carbon steel and has to be seasoned to prevent it from rusting. The seasoning process is relatively easy to do. Just wash and dry your wok thoroughly. Coat lightly, interior and exterior with cooking oil. Bake in hot oven, 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Place in oven upside down. Remove from oven, let cool to touch and scour wok with an abrasive pad.
Scour the "seasoning" or patina away…like you want the wok back to its original finish. Wash, dry, coat and bake again…same process. Do this 4 times. After the 4th baking, you will not be able to scour the seasoning away…and that is the result you want."

The result?

The Wok had achieved a dark, golden, lacquer like finish. I don't quite know if it's perfect or not, but it seems to have worked. After cooling, I did the typical "pungent" post seasoning cooking. Using about 1 tablespoon of oil, I stir fried ginger and green onions until somewhat charred, making sure to "hit" all of the cooking surface. I cleaned my wok using the basic instructions from The Breath of the Wok. After this session, the wok had started to blacken.

Looks like I'm on my way……. Next we'll see how the wok holds up to the 50,000 BTU Big Kahuna.

Now the shipping for my woks had come to $13, almost the price of a wok. But I didn't mind, since I expect to have these woks for a long time. But I guess The Wok Shop felt bad about this, and included a few items with my woks.

I thought the back scratcher was a nice touch, the Missus was immediately drawn to it. A skimmer was also included, and I also received an email telling me that The Wok Shop was including the skimmer. The last sentence of that paragraph cracked me up:

"This skimmer is durable and will last a long, long, time. Dishwasher safe and boilable! (fyi…great for cat litter too!)"

I'm hoping they aren't expecting the skimmer to do "double-duty" after doing the cat litter thing……

The Wok Shop, fast service, they sound like good people, and they have a sense of humor too!

Yoso-silly – The Comment of the Week(And it’s only Monday)

May 1, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Since I started this blog in May of last year. I’ve noticed that as "hits" increase, so do the "flame" emails(some of which I can’t even bring myself to post), the spam, or spam-like comments, and the various trollish comments.

Here’s an interesting comment of my post on Porkyland:

"Doesnt it seem funny that these reviews came rapid fire one after another….. As if an internal person was writing them back to back. Porkyland is ok, but I doubt San Diegans are hammering away at their keyboards over it. Stop using such obvious marketing strategies. They make you look desperate."

Hmmmmm, this was so very interesting that I wanted to make sure to post it.

I mean it’s a masterpiece, isn’t it? A touch of cynicism, sarcasm, even a bit of high-handed condescending attitude……

Most people that know me; and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several of you, understand that I’m a pretty plain-spoken, no-nonsense, and overall, a pretty straight forward individual. So naturally, this oh-so-eloquent and intelligent comment left me in awe!

This individual(troll? trollette?) named "Michelle", worked so hard to sound intelligent, superior, and basically "high-mucka-mucka", that She, He, or It, forgot that one can prepost in Typepad. Also, what the heck is "an internal person", I guess it’s the opposite of "an external person"? Sorry, I’m really not that great at pseudo-existentialistic jargon. "Michelle" also underestimates Our ablility to try new restaurants, new food, old restaurants, and find grocers and restaurants scattered all over San Diego, and points beyond. tsk-tsk….

"Stop using such obvious marketing strategies." So what am I marketing, specifically? Now this one really hurt; I go out of my way to Not put advertising on my blog(except for Amazon, cause I use it all the time). I pay my way completely, and I also pay $149 a year to Typepad, for the sheer pleasure of doing this. I’d still do it, if no one ever read it but the Missus and Myself. I also, never, ever, call my entries "reviews", though many do define it as such. It’s just a "food blog", and will always be such. Sort of a "what we ate for breakfast/lunch/dinner" thing. If anything qualifies as the veritable Pete Wells "cheese sandwich" it’s mmm-yoso!!! And I think most of you "get it."

You know, in the end, I’m not the one who sounds desperate(for attention). Perhaps it’s a cry for help?

Thanks for indulging me(yet again), but I thought this comment was so very funny!

The Mystery “Huo Guo” Contest

April 26, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

*** Here’s the five winners:

1 – Liver Bomb
2 – Becky
3 – Calvin
4 – Happy
5 – Robert

I’ll get you GC’s out next week.

Oh, what’s the restaurant – believe it or not it’s Ba Ren. A report is upcoming.

I’ve been getting into the habit of posting "incomplete" entries recently, which is just totally unacceptable by my standards, and for this I humbly apologize. In order to "teach myself a lesson", I though I’d do a little contest.

Someone emailed me recently after our visit to Kingswood, lamenting the fact that there was no decent "Huo Guo"(Hot Pot) in San Diego. Well, we think that you can get a good Yue Yang Guo in San Diego, and here’s the proof:

So where is this from? Well, that’s the fun part…..you tell me! The first 5 unique(1 IP address per) persons to Email(not comment – but Email) me the restaurant here in San Diego that serves up this herbaceous Hot Pot, will get their choice of a $5(US) Starbucks or Peet’s gift card. (Don’t shoot me DCCF, ok – I needed something I could mail anybody)

So just email me your guess and preference of Starbucks or Peet’s card, and if you are one of the first 5 correct guesses, I’ll send you a reply email asking for a name and mailing address(so no bogus Email addresses this time). Easy enough, right?

Bonus points for you(just points…) if you know what that is above. And here’s some supporting photographic evidence.

I’ll reveal the restaurant tomorrow, along with the 5 winners(I’ll use your "handle", in case you’re shy…..).

Good Luck!!!

Yoso-Silly – LA Roadtrip: Hong Kong Fishball House and a Very Special Dish

April 15, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, yoso-silly

*** You know……tastes change; and I now find this stuff kinda bland, who'd have thunk???

We just got back from LA, so I thought I'd do a short post. Elmo from Monster Munching mentioned a very special dish during the course of a comment on my post last Saturday.

The special place that sells this dish is the Hong Kong Fishball House, and is covered in detail on Monster Munching.

HK Fishball House specializes in very, very, reasonably priced(usually under 3 bucks) soups and other snacks. But there was a special snack that the Missus just had to try…….

How could you resist the temptation of Fried Pork Rectum, and only $2.25! So while I waited for my frozen Xiao Long Bao from Yi-Mei Deli, the Missus waited for Her Fried Rectum from the Fishball House – why does that sound so wrong? It didn't help any, when the Gentleman frying what is actually Pork Large Intestine told the Missus, "Oooh, this smells so good!!!"

So what did it look like?

Nicely fried and seasoned with salt and green onions.

So how did it taste?

I think it's an appropriately named dish…….after all the large intestine is attached to the?????

The initial taste was a fairly pleasant sweet and salty flavor, with a crisp and "spongy" texture. But as you kept chewing the hard to describe, very earthy and strong "intestine" flavor came through, along with a slightly unpleasant aftertaste that lasts for a pretty long time. The intestine also left my mouth with what felt like a slimy film. Definitely an acquired taste, and I don't think I've been exposed enough to similar flavors to appreciate it. I'll stick with the fried calamari!

Hong Kong Fishball House
18414 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Much Mahalo, Ed…ummm I mean Gracias!

April 5, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Friends are great aren’t they? Rhetorically speaking, of course. The infamous Ed from Yuma is in town getting His San Diego food fix this week, and he was nice enough to pack us His very own Yuma care package. And man, was it some kind of care package!

In the filled ice chest were 4 packages of tortillas:

This is not the run of the mill stuff but the "good stuff" made in Mexico! I asked Ed what I was going to do with the leftover tortillas, and His reply, "well that’s why they have tortilla chips!" Duh…… Ed also gave us a Tortillero, a tortilla warmer, to keep those tortillas warm and moist before eating. There was also 4 tubs of salsa, including an super-spicy salsa roja, though the Missus enjoyed the chunky salsa roja the best!

Also included was a couple of pounds of Pork Adobada:

And some marinated chicken:

Now we’ve had some major rain and thunderstorms, but with this sitting in front of me I had to take my chances, and got the charcoal started.

The pork cooked very quickly, and the scent of "chili" permeated the air. I must admit that the bright red color of the chicken kind of threw me in the beginning, but then again, I eat Char Siu don’t I?

While I was grilling, the Missus was busy heating up the tortillas. The only problem with that was, She was eating a one tortilla for each one that made into the tortillero!

We did manage to beat the rain, and finally a made a "few" tacos, with some minced sweet onions and cilantro for garnish.

The Pollo (chicken) had more flavor, a nice chili-salty flavor.

The adobada was much milder, and the Missus stated that she could’ve used some lime. But the meat was very tender(I could strip them by hand), and went very well with the tangy Salsa Verde(green salsa made from tomatillo’s):

Soooo delici-yoso!!! If anyone has questions, I’m sure that Ed can answer them! Thanks for indulging me, I’ll be back with another restaurant tomorrow. Right now, I’m slowly sinking into a food induced coma……..

Thanks again Ed!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

March 17, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Whew, it’s been a long week, and I’ve been under the weather a bit. I’ll try to catch up next week. But this is about as close as I’ll get to Saint Patrick’s goodies tonight!

It’s probably for the best. St Patrick’s is probably the worst day to get a decent pint, with all of the crowds, and this year the rain as well. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I’m not prepared to do some celebrating at home!

Yes, I know that Tetley’s really doesn’t qualify, but it’s one of the few beers that the Missus thinks even tastes decent. I also need to apologize to Howie from A Foodie’s Eye View. I’d meant to link the St. Patrick’s Day Recipes blog entry from his Recipe Search Engine. Su-Mi-Ma-Sen Howie-san; still I think anytime’s a good time for a Boxty, right?

Best wishes for a Happy and Safe Saint Paddy’s Day!

Update on Vientiane, Dao Son, and Other Mid-Week Odds and Ends

March 15, 2006 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Lao Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants, yoso-silly

*** Vientianne has since closed….

Just a quick "hump day" post. I created a post on March 6th, about a visit I made to Vientiane Food to Go a few weeks back. A few days ago, the Missus had a craving for the "Fried Rice" (The Lady there called it "Nem") she had eaten there. So I drove down to 47th and Imperial to find the take-out window in Lao Plaza had a "For Lease" sign on it. But luckily, the snack and noodle soup counter next door had taken over the business, and Papaya Salad and sticky rice were still available. Whew!

I ended up trying the Beef Laab:

Fairly tender slices of beef along with tripe, in a surprisingly mild fish-lime sauce. I really was shocked at the mildness of the dish, even when I ate a few hot peppers.

I also managed to get the rice the Missus wanted along with some very good perfectly fried pork rinds. The rinds were cut into thin strips, and almost looked like calamari. They hadn’t the slightest bit of greasiness to them, and were "light"(in relative terms) and crunchy. Delici-yoso!!!

So 2 orders Beef Laab, Fried Rice, Pork Rinds, and Container of Sticky Rice – $15. I did ask where the Woman who formerly ran the "take-out window" had gone to, and was told that business was slow, so she decided to get a regular job. Bummer. Though I didn’t try the papaya salad, both the sticky rice and the fried rice tasted perfectly fine, and so there probably is just the minimum amount of change if any.

Here’s a few photos of a recent visit to Dao Son. I had the Chicken Katsu Curry($5.50):

Very thin, but spicy curry. Flavor was more like a Thai curry then the sweeter Japanese Curry. Katsu was a bit over-fried making the crust rather hard, but the overall flavor of the dish was good.

And two dishes that were on included in my previous post. The Red Chicken($5.99):

Chicken a bit too dry this time around, but oh man that sauce………

Fried Catfish with Eggplant($6.99):

I don’t know why this dish hasn’t been added to the regular menu. It’s always been on the "grease board menu".

Some odds and ends:

I read about the 5lb 7oz mango from the Big Island that made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. You can read the article here.

And from the la.food blogging site, a post about Tommy’s Ultimate Fan Free Combo Meal contest. Yep, that is the word "free"….

If you wonder what the ‘Butter Side Down School of Science’ is, you can find out here. Not really about food…I think????

Since it’s close to that time of the year, here’s Colleen’s version of "Silence of the Peeps."

And finally, you can help name Pam’s from Daily Gluttony‘s Baby "Brother".

Oh, one more last thing, please check out the Website of a Movie I’m really looking forward to seeing. I know it’s not really about food, I really was trying to figure how to tie in a link to it, but just gave up…. Looks like a really funny film!

Hope the week is going well for everyone!

Industrial Espionage? Hsu’s Szechwan, and a Case of “Photus Interruptus”

February 18, 2006 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, yoso-silly

*** Hsu’s has since sailed off into the sunset.

Hsu’s Szechwan on the corner of Clairemont Mesa Blvd and Ruffin Road, was the scene of one of my more "interesting" encounters since I’ve been doing this Food Blogging thing. I’d been to Hsu’s once or twice before, but never had the Mongolian BBQ, so a few months back I paid Hsu’s a visit for lunch.

I’m a big fan of decent Mongolian BBQ, where you can grab some really nice thinly sliced meat, pile on fresh veggies, and add flavorings(give me lots of onions and garlic), and various sauces and have it cooked on the super hot griddle. I’ve always hesitated getting it a Hsu’s, and have never been very impressed with the food, which struck me as very generic American-Chinese-Sichuan.

The Lunch Specials are well priced at Hsu’s, ranging from $5.55(Vegetable dishes) to $6.75(Shrimp w/ Green Beans). The Lunch Special Mongolian BBQ is priced at $5.95 including an Egg Roll(all wrapper, hardly any filling), Won Ton(bleh), Fried Rice or Steamed Rice(Hint; get the steamed rice, the fried rice is D-R-Y soy sauce rice w/frozen peas and carrots), and Soup. On this day it was Hot and Sour Soup which was pretty good, nice and gooey with strip of bamboo shoots, though not spicy at all, the soup was not bad at all. So having ordered I walked up to the Mongolian BBQ, and selected some Lamb. For lunch the meat is pre-portioned in an overly small bowl. You add on additional vegetables, spilling most of it on the floor or counter, and head toward the "sauces".

The sauces are disappointing. All of them are watered down, the garlic is actually a few cloves of chopped garlic in a container of water, and so is really garlic water, same with the ginger. Looking at the "formula" placard explains all.

Try and do this with a group of people waiting in line behind you. Having no one behind me, I doubled everything. And headed over to the high heat griddle, handed the bowl over and the Young Man started cooking. I now understood why the sauces were so watery. The "Cook" just stir fries the ingredients, and doesn’t add liquid(I’ve seen a combo of wine and water used), just mixes around the ingredients and dumps it on a plate.

This is where it gets interesting. As I was reaching for my plate I heard "Hey, you, you no take pictures!" And turned around to find a little older Chinese Lady holding a stick in Her hand behind me. I instinctively raised both hands to shoulder height(guilty as charged Your Honor) and the voice in my head told me to "step away from counter". So I put my camera away, "okay, no problem". "You no take pictures here!" My response, "fine, no problem, my food is getting cold, I’m just going to eat". As I grabbed my plate I asked Her why she didn’t want me to take photos, I’m not placing any individuals in any of the pictures. Her answer? "You going to steal our secrets and open same kind restaurant across the street!" WHAT!!!! Yeah, I’m going to take photos of watery sauce, and a generic Mongolian BBQ, and open up another Mongolian BBQ in the same little strip mall on Clairemont Mesa Blvd???? OK, industrial espionage, I got it….. If anyone requests that I not take photos that’s fine with me, no problemo! But as I was walking to my table the Lady asked, "So what you take pictures for?" So I explained that I had a website(foodblog) about food in San Diego. At this point She smiled and said, "You go ahead and take all the pictures you want". Uh-uh, by this point my food is getting cold, and the dining room is pretty dark anyway, I’ve put away my camera, and it ain’t coming back out.

So the food? A pretty simple plate of stir-fry like veggies and lamb. The Lamb was decent and fairly gamey, the Young Man overcooked the veggies though. I also had to add soy sauce for more flavor. Still, for $5.95, this ain’t that bad. Not that I’ll be back soon, but it’s not terrible, just mediocre.

Some notes: Hsu’s also offers all you can eat Mongolian BBQ during dinner for $9.95 per person. Most of the menu is Americanized Sichuan; Kung Pao Chicken, Mu Shu, and such. Prices are pretty reasonable as a whole. The service overall is professional, though not very friendly. I’m still looking for decent Mongolian BBQ in San Diego, any rec’s?

Hsu’s Szechwan Cuisine
9350 Clairemont Mesa Blvd # S
San Diego, CA 92123