yoso-silly – Page 38

Odds and Ends

September 3, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

"New" Tajima Restaurant?

I was driving up Mercury Street and noticed a "new" restaurant, so I turned into the strip mall, and was shocked. The sign said Tajima, which is a quite popular Japanese Restaurant residing just a few blocks away.

The sign fronting the restaurant says "Open", but of course, the restaurant was not. I drove a few blocks away to the "Old" Tajima, and it was still open. So I dunno……

The location is 4411 Mercury St, San Diego, 92111.

2006 San Diego Korean Festival

I was reading a local Asian publication, when this flyer fell out:

I know I’ve been lax about posting upcoming festivals and events, so I though I’d just mention this. It’s taking place on Sat-Sun, September 9th and 10th. The location is Engineer Road.

Click on the photo to enlarge. Sorry I just took a photo of the flyer on our frig, nothing fancy here.

Emily’s Back!

I know many of you enjoy EmilyK’s food blog What’s for Lunch. It’s good to know that She was just on Holiday, and is back posting. Welcome back Emily.

The Question of the Day

September 1, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Is…Would you buy this duck????

Parts Missing? What does that mean…like the meat? Or maybe like the Missus says, "perhaps something more precious?" Gulp! And even worse retaining water!!!!

Well it looks like a duck, but I think it’s too late to hear what it sounds like, and I don’t think we’ll be able to see it walk soon. And if it did, I’d be afraid…very afraid.

I really think that there is a better way of labeling this. And I really feel for the poor fellow. After all, I started thinking about parts of me that are missing…I had a piece of my ankle chopped off while being packed on a bike while I was a youngster, 3 discs from my back…..well let’s stop there; I already qualify for this label, lucky thing I’m not a duck, eh?

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Dragonfruit

August 27, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Well, I’m feeling much better, and should resume regular posting tomorrow. In the interim check out this scary dude:

Almost seems like if you tried to bite it, it would bite you back, doesn’t it? It was given to me by friends from their Mom’s back yard. It’s called Dragonfruit, and I’d never tried this before. Here’s a look at the interior of the fruit.

Funny thing, after reading about it, I realized we had this type of "creeping cactus" in our yard when I was growing up, but for some reason I don’t remember any fruit.

According to the Missus, the flavor is similar to Kiwi fruit, the texture is somewhat grainy and gritty. And yes, you eat the seeds and all, just cut in half, and scoop out the flesh. You learn something new everyday!

Chinese Kitchen Part 1 – ?????

August 16, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Over the last year, I’ve gotten many really good recommendations. And a recent recommendation came from the Guys at Sandwich Emporium. The problem was no one could remember the name of the restaurant, so they called their Mom(when in doubt, call Mom). Just so happened, She didn’t remember the name of the restaurant either, but She had a phone number, and also the street, and some general directions. And so I ended up on University Avenue, in the gritty and slightly run down area East of College Avenue. And there was only one place that even matched the description. It was called Chinese Kitchen???? Say What!

As I parked and walked into the tiny shop, the menu gave me pause.

It was a listing of every single Cantonese Fast-Food dish ever created. A scary combination of Chop Suey, Chow Mein, and Kung Pao Chicken!

I had not come to this tiny hole-in-the-wall, and there is a literal hole-the-wall, for Chinese Fast Food.

So even though the Chinese Food was really inexpensive, darned cheap actually, would I find what I came for?

Stay tuned………..

Mid Week Mystery Market – It’s 97 Supermarket!

July 19, 2006 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, yoso-silly

*** 97 Supermarket has closed

Over the last 14 months or so, I've collected quite a few photos. Most of them end up in the recycle bin, since I do "goof-up" alot. I try to be organized, but sometimes I find a collection of photos that leave me scratching my head. As in where the heck was this???? This is such a collection. I did find out which market it was; I had put the "street shot" in another folder, and it was left languishing.

So, I guess it's better late then never. But here's the deal; first 5 Emails I receive that guess the correct Market, I'll send you a cup of Peet's on me. The reason I chose Peet's, is because I can Email Peet's certificates.

Let's start the clues…..

1 – This is a Southeast Asian Supermarket, you know right away, since they stock everything from Betel Leaves:

To Boba:

2 – This San Diego Supermarket, has quite an interesting collection, some looking quite old:

And items that are quite new…at least to me.

3 – As with this type of market, there is the requisite Meat and Fish department. Though it is quite small.

4 – If you've ever been in this market, the produce department is a dead giveaway:

I think I've provided enough clues. But here are a few more photos…..

There is some interesting stuff here.

The Missus always tells me, that after a while, all of these markets look the same.

But I'm willing to bet that there at least 5 of you, who can figure this market out in no time flat.

And you will be much smarter than I, since it took me about 15 minutes to remember where the heck this was.

And though this market, was a bit worse for wear. It was still fun for me! And I'll drink to that, though probably not with Palm Juice.

Once I have enough guesses, I'll reveal the Market. One correct guess per IP address, please have a valid Email address.

Hope you enjoyed this little Mid Week quiz!

Thursday morning update – I probably made this too hard. Though I think if you ever set foot in this market you'd recognize the produce department. So here's some clues, that I've included in the response to comments:

– It's not any of the Viet Dong Markets, nor World Foods.

– It is not on El Cajon Boulevard.

Again, comment away – though I'd rather have email guesses – but since you all like to share….

Thursday noon update – Sheesh…… More clues. Let's see…..

– It is not on Mira Mesa Boulevard.

– It is not in the South Bay area.

– I haven't done a post on this market

– And this should clinch it. If you look real carefully at the photo of the seafood bin – you'll notice part of the market logo….just a small part, but if you've ever walked or driven pass this market you should know it. And possibly made fun of the name…..

My apologies…I must totally suck at giving out clues. Nobody figured it out! I'm totally devistated. The answer is:

97 Super Market
4679 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

I know, I'm terrible at giving out clues…..but tell me, would you want me to do this again? If I made it easier????

Midweek Miscellanea

July 12, 2006 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

I thought I’d do a post about a few items, that I’ve been waiting to mention. So here goes….

The Brunch Master hits the Big Time!

I enjoy Jim’s(aka The Brunch Master) site San Diego Sunday Brunch. Talk about dedication! Jim and His lovely Wife have been to 44 Buffet style Sunday Brunches, and have started in on Menu Brunches as well. Jim’s site is not a review site, but is dedicated to informing us about prices, food, and other useful information. I know that I’ve used His site when trying to figure out which Brunch spot to hit.

So it’s only appropriate that Jim’s hit the "Big Time". On Friday, July 14th, News10, the local ABC affiliate will run a spot featuring Jim and His Brunchmaster Site. After the spot runs, there will be a live in studio section as well. So don’t miss it. The spot is set to run during the 4pm News time slot.

That’s Jim and his Wife with the Guys from News 10.

Congratulations Jim!

Howie hits a Half Million!

600,000 actually. That’s how many recipes you can access on Howie’s Foodieview Recipe Search Engine. Geez and I thought 330 posts was alot.

Curry House Coming to San Diego.

If you haven’t read the post on Chowhound, here’s the info. About 2 weeks ago, I heard that Curry House was coming to San Diego. So to confirm, I sent an Email to House Foods Corporation, the parent company of Curry House.

Here’s the response:

"Thank you for contacting us.

Yes, it is true that we will be opening a Curry House in San Diego. It is planned for its grand opening sometime in the middle of September.

Furthermore, the address of the location is as follows:

-Sunrise Town Center

3860 Convoy St. #102

San Diego, CA 92111

If you have any further questions or need further assistance, please contact us back."

So good news for those Curry House fans in San Diego.

So where’s the food, you may ask?

Okay, just for the heck it:

It’s the Com Tam Nhu Y(i.e. Com Tam Dac Biet – Broken Rice special – $6.45) from where else, Nhu Y Restaurant. Not bad, the steamed egg was quite moist and good, though the slice was on the small side. The fried "tofu-cake" was crisp, though on the bland side. The BBQ Pork Chop was okay, moist, but very mild, and the shredded pork actually had some flavor, and was relatively moist.

Hope everyones week is going well.

Portland: Land of a Thousand….Food Carts???

June 26, 2006 mmm-yoso Portland, Oregon, Travel, yoso-silly

Growing up in Hawaii, I’ve developed a real fondness for Lunch Wagon grub. And I miss those no frills, inexpensive meals. So imagine my surprise as I turned the corner SW 10th and SW Alder to find this.

An entire street lined with what I’m told are called "Food Carts" in Portland. At this point in time, I had just completed checking in, taken a shower, and headed out for a quick bite when I ran into this informal food court lining a public parking lot. Sounded like a nice option for a fast meal. But now I had to make a decision……..

Would it be the Bratwurst Wagon, which I dubbed the "Brat-Mobile"?

Or maybe something else?

I finally settled on something from this cart, Aybla Grill, after the wonderful smells drew me in:

I decided on a Lamb Shawarma "Super Gyro"($6.00):

This was a personal pan pizza sized pita, with quite a bit of tender Lamb Shawarma meat, onions, diced tomatoes, and tzatziki. I didn’t care the flavor of the tzatziki, but the lamb sure was good, very tender and full of flavor.

The very next day, I happened to be passing the same food carts on my way back to the hotel. Hungry and need of a break, I decided to grab some food from from the Food Cart selling Thai Food, Sawasdee.

I just decided to go with the "special", Pad Kaw Gai with Chicken. Only 5 bucks. I waited while my dish was being stir fried, while watching a group of students from the Western Culinary Institute, smoke, eat, and chat, all the while wearing their Whites and Chef’s Toques, looking strange and out of place in this jerry-rigged food court. A few minutes later my noodles were ready and I headed back to the hotel and ate:

There was quite a large amount of food in the container. But right off I knew I should have chosen the tofu version of the dish. Chewing the chicken was like chewing on an inner tube. On the positive side, the noodles were flavored well, nice touches of garlic and soy. Didn’t quite know what to make of the bed of iceberg lettuce the noodles rested on. But for 5 bucks, you really can’t complain much.

I had an inkling of how pervasive Food Carts were after my visit to Restaurant Murata. As I was crossing the street to get to the Portland State University street car stop; I spied two more Food Carts.

Right after I snapped this photo, a group of 5 people mobbed the New Taste of India Food Cart; and you could smell the curry all the way down to the street car stop.

Now I’ve had many Lunch Wagons Meals, visited my share of Taco Trucks in LA, not to mention the really good ones in Yuma. But nothing matches the size and scope of the group of Food Carts I saw on my way to breakfast at Mother’s Bistro & Bar.

This collection of Food Carts lined SW 5th Avenue, from SW Oak Street, to SW Stark Street. The variety was impressive. Everything from Barbecue:

To Borscht:

Which had the "best sign".

To Burritos:

I’m not quite sure what tie in the Elephants have to Mexican Food…..

From the sleek:

To places that might give me a bit of a pause.

There’s even what looks like a little rivalry going on. This Cart, The Real Taste of India:

Was just a few carts over from this Cart, the New Taste of India.

How ’bout we open one up a few carts over called the New Real Taste of India?

Short on cash? There’s even a portable ATM!

Here are 2 carts, right across the Police Station on SW 2nd Avenue:

On my way to dinner at Pok Pok, I passed a Taco Truck:

Here are a few more for good measure. Some of them could even qualify for street art.

Portland Food Carts….they’re everywhere!

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!