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.
Recently, the Missus was craving that smoked fish platter we had at Wildland in Carlsbad. So, since Wildland has a nice outdoor area and JJ likes the area, we decided to head on up.
We thought we’d take JJ on a walk thru the Village and along Carlsbad Boulevard, first hitting up Sleeping Tiger Coffee; which we sadly found is no longer open. Still, JJ enjoyed the stroll all the way down to Tower 35 and back. We had parked a block away from Wildland, which was getting to be pretty busy when we arrived.
I went in to place my order….if you haven’t read my previous post; Wildland is one of those places where you order at the counter and take a number to your table.
Well, disappointment numba 2….I didn’t see the Smoked Fish Plate on the menu and when I walked up to the counter I as told by the very nice guy working that they no longer offer the Smoked Fish Plate. Bumma! He told me that it was a favorite of his as well, but they just didn’t sell enough of it. So, I quickly had to go to “plan B”….which was readily in sight.
Well, at least I’d have another entry for my “Croissant Files“, right? And at least it was $5…..not one of those over $10 one’s I’ve seen recently! The gentleman also recommended the Breakfast Sandwich ($16).
I was handed a number placard and my croissant and headed back to the table. The Missus was indeed disappointed…but the croissant looked much better than the over baked looking one on display.
The exterior was nicely laminated and crisp…flaking away nicely.
The interior layered decently; a bit on the wetter side, but most importantly, lacking in butteriness. Decent by San Diego standards…..’nuff said.
As for the Breakfast Sandwich. It looked quite nice.
That egg was perfect; runny yolk, crisp edges. The Pain au Lait; French Milk Bread was toward the brioche end of the scale to us….sweeter and denser than versions we’ve had in France. The fennel sausage was toothsome, though the anise tones were a bit overwhelming….like having licorice for breakfast.
Not a bad breakfast, especially if we’re on a staycation, but nothing worth the drive all the way up to Carlsbad for…..which to us, that Smoked Fish Plate was. Perhaps one day that dish will return to the menu at Wildland.
As we strolled back to our room following a wonderful lunch at Barshu and exploring Chinatown, the Missus wanted to make one more stop. It was at a place we’d stopped by at earlier. One that “FOY” Sandy accurately wrote as being ” a bit out of my price range” in the comments of that post; Liberty.
This time, the Missus did some serious browsing…..
And in the end, found a scarf that She really liked.
I was actually relieved that, like our visits to Hermes in Paris, it was only a scarf….
Liberty London Regent St. London, United Kingdom
As for dinner…well, it was going to take us about a half hour total. So, after returning to our hotel, we set off. We’d be leaving from Paddington, so the Missus had a chance to check out the sculpture, The Wild Table of Love a bit more closely this time.
The actual ride on the tube was only about 10 minutes and we ended up at Farringdon Station, after which it was a ten minute walk to our destination.
Much like our lunch at Barshu, my choice for dinner had been on my “list” for ages. The destination was once named as Anthony Boudain’s choice for his “last supper”. Unfortunately, we all know that didn’t happen. But since, by total accident, we did actually have what Mr Bourdain had as his last meal, it just seemed right to go to St John….and of course, I’ve been wanting to visit for years, since seeing his shows featuring Chef Fergus Henderson. Of course I had to convince the Missus…since St John specializes in “nose to tail” cuisine….well, showing the Missus photos really didn’t help things. But in the end the Missus gave in…..and we were at St John in Smithfield.
Our dinner reservations were for 645pm, so the place was pretty empty when we arrived. But soon enough the place filled up. The service a impeccable, the staff polished, professional, while being quite amiable. As for the customer base…well, it seemed to be mostly Brits based on the accents we could hear.
The Missus’s preconceived notions changed quickly when the bread arrived.
My goodness……yeasty, crusty….just perfect. The butter, while being on the cold side was well…..so buttery!
Now we’d had quite a bit for lunch, so we had a small dinner; but thoroughly enjoyed it.
I had to get my phone out to translate…well, English to, ahem English for what the heck “Cold Roast Dexter” was. Well, Dexter….is (thankfully) not whom you might think, but actually a breed of Irish Cattle. Think of it as cold roast beef….but just any roast beef. The slices of beef were very savory/bovine-y, quite lean but still tender.
The anchovy based dressing was rich, yet so umami and the cress added a wonderful, crisp, bright pepperiness to things. This was so ono!
The signature dish; the one that Bourdain wished for his last meal is the Roasted Bone Marrow & Parsley Salad…..again, a very simple looking dish. I would add, something this good does not need any fancy additions.
Man, that veal marrow was ooozing, gelatinous perfection. Beefy, almost sweet, and a touch of salt on that wonderful bread….say no more!
The Crispy Pig Cheek and Chicory gave me pause as it looked over-dressed. But again, this was delici-yoso. The pig cheek was indeed still crisp but also quite tender, and so porky! I asked the friendly Server what kind of pork this was and he said “Middle White”. So, of course I got the phone out…. Middle White is a breed of British domestic pig.
Loved the porkiness…definitely not the “other white meat” and the bitter, bold flavor of the chicory! We found out quickly that the dressing had a good bit of pungent mustard in it.
This was quite a nice…though smaller, definitely not light meal! It also gave me an appreciation for what seems to be more traditional British cuisine. Both the Missus and I can’t wait to return!
St. John Smithfield 26 St John St. London, United Kingdom
After dinner, on the way to the metro station, we took a look at Smithfield Market, which of course was closed.
I’ve heard that the market is closing and the location becoming the London Museum.
We got back to our hotel and slept well. Our flight home wasn’t until 1pm, so we didn’t have to wake very early. Plus the Heathrow Express stops at Paddington Station and takes about 20 minutes to get to the airport. Flying Business Class has its benefits as we got to have brunch at the lounge at Heathrow.
And of course we ate on our flight back to San Diego.
One part of the meal in Business or First that I enjoy on British Airways is having the cheese plate for dessert. I really enjoy the Cashel Blue….which I believe comes from Ireland, with a nice port before heading off to dreamland.
And for the next meal…I selected the “light menu”…which ain’t so light.
I actually enjoyed the Smoked Chicken.
Which went well with the ricotta.
Though, my choice for Main Course, the Pesto Trofie was questionable. I guess I was still recalling being in Liguria.
Ever since Covid; it seems that decorating for Halloween has really taken off. Of course, I think the demographic for our neighborhood is changing as well. At times; it seems that there’s a bit of “competition” with regards to decorating….
And J has been enjoying checking things out….though this one scared the heck out of him!!!
And of course JJ is dressing up…..
Did you know his favorite letter is “arrrgh”!
Anyway, JJ and we here at mmm-yoso would like to wish you a fun and safe “Howl-o-weeen”!
Well, it’s been pretty warm the last two days, huh? Coming from weather that was 45 degrees, well, we really feel it! Anyway, thought it might be a good time to get a post on our recent revisit to Yuk Dae Jang done.
The Missus ordered the Premium Bossam in the House Special Soy Sauce ($39.99) and I got the Bi Bim Naegnmyun. At $18.99 it was the most expensive of the three I had.
The young folks working here are always very nice and gracious and soon enough our panchan started arriving.
Like on previous visits; the baechu kimchi does not taste fermented and is pretty weak. The Missus does like the pungent-salty qualities of the buchu muchim, chive panchan and I think the eomuk bokkeum, the fishcake panchan, which is doused with a spicy marinade is pretty good.
As for the Naegnmyun. Well, this version had quite a bit of meat. In this case brisket; which was on the chewy side. Like Woomiok, both the gochugaru and naengmyun sauce was mixed in the bowl. The gochugaru had a nice kick and the sauce wasn’t overly sweet. The boiled egg was fully boiled but not overly so. The noodles were super “stretchy”. While Prime Grill is my current favorite, this was not bad.
As for the bossam?
It came with the standard panchan; the Missus enjoyed that super astringent-pungent garlic and really likes the onions soaking in the savory-slightly sweet- soy based sauce that the pork belly resides in. For some reason, the onions have an almost sweet taste to them.
Purple rice was provided….the Missus took most of this home.
The pork is toothsome and we think that the sauce brings out the flavor of the pork. Wrapping some of the onions, chive, and radish bossam in a slice of pork makes for quite a bite.
The sauce makes this a nice and refreshing dish. And for some reason, taking the leftovers home and having it soak in that sauce makes for a really nice appetizer the following day!
Yuk Dae Jang 7307 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92111 Current Hours: Wed – Mon 11am – 9pm Closed on Tuesday
What have you been having to beat the heat over the last couple of days?
In the comments section of my post on the opening of Yorimichi 2, “FOY” Elle mentioned that the supposed second location of Phuong Nga next to World Foods Supermarket was going to be a place named 999 Quan Vietnamese Street Food. And recently, when I headed up to City Heights I passed by and noticed that the place had opened, so I changed my plans and stopped to take a look.
I saw that the place was indeed open, so I changed my plans and decided to eat here.
The photos of Banh Khot and Bun Rieu caught my eye as I entered the simply adorned restaurant.
I was pointed to a table and handed a menu, I quickly noticed that Banh Khot was not available at this time.
And also…the prices….yikes!
I had thoughts on trying the Bun Rieu, but I decided to try to get the Missus here to check that out….then perhaps Bun Bo Hue? In the end, I just went with the Bun suon bo vien – which was $18!!! But there was a 20% discount because it was grand opening week.
Ina somewhat funny moment….Vietnamese Music Videos were playing when I was seated. I was the only customer at the time. When I placed my order, the gentleman seemed a bit surprised that I didn’t speak Vietnamese….a few minutes later, Blues Videos in English started playing!! You gotta love it!
A glass of cold tea was dropped off…along with a plate of garnishes. Looks at all that Ngo Gai! Something that’s a rarity these days.
The bowl soon arrived and I quickly noticed something.
Along with the suon…the beef ribs…well the noodles didn’t look like bun, more like banh pho!
Which were perfectly cooked and not in a huge clump at the bottom of the bowl. There were nice droplets of fat floating on top of the broth adding a nice tongue feel. The amount of black pepper seemed quite excessive; but the pungency of that along with the raw onions really added to the flavor. Throw in the anise tones of the cilantro and ngo gai, all of this really complemented the soup, which to me was basically a nicely beefy pho. It did have a hint of that “sweetness” that permeates most pho in San Diego, but wasn’t bad at all.
The bo vien, the meatballs were typical, tough and squeaky, not my favorite thing in the world. The thicker slices of beef were decently tender and beefy. The crowning item of this bowl was the beef rib, you know, what I call “Them Bones“.
So tender….falling off the bone, nice and beefy!
This was possibly the best bowl of pho….even though it wasn’t called that on the menu; that I’ve had in a while. I prefer it to Pho Ca Dao which shares the same parking lot.
I tried to talk that Missus into a visit, but She kept declining. So, a couple of weeks later I returned. By now, each table had a menu placed on it! And they had changed the name of the Bun suon bo vien to Pho Suon Bo Vien. And raised the price by $2 to $20! Ouch!
I had thoughts of getting the Bun Bo Hue; but decided on just getting the Banh Mi Bo Kho ($15) instead. It had been a while since I’d had a decent bowl of Bo Kho as my old favorite place for the dish had changed ownership and my last bowl there was just ok.
The banh mi looked typical, but it was light, yeasty, crusty, and warm. The bowl of beef stew was fairly large as well.
The stew, was more of a broth, being on the thinner side. That said, it was full of beefy-anise flavor, with good tomato-pepper tones, and scorching hot!
The beef was super tender, the huge slices of carrots were as well. The tendon was super hard and crunchy…I prefer a more buttery texture.
Overall, loved the flavor, the tender chunks of beef. Would have preferred more tender tendon and a more stew like soup. Still, in terms of taste, it was quite good.
Several groups of older folks came in while I ate. A group of six women sat in back of me….they all ordered the Bun Rieu. Three gentleman, also on the older side came in a bit later, but hadn’t received their order when I had finished. The guy that I think is the owner was eating as I left….he was having Bun Rieu, so perhaps I can talk the Missus into visiting?
I’d probably come back again real soon….but those prices! They also have Bo Ne, that sizzling skillet dish that I only recall seeing at Thien Huong in Mira Mesa.
Elle, have you had a chance to visit 999 Quan? And if you did, what did you think? Thanks as always for the heads up!
999 Quan Vietnamese Street Food 5237 El Cajon Blvd. San Diego, CA 92115 Current Hours: Wed – Mon 9am – 9pm Closed on Tuesday
We’ve been taking JJ on a road trip each month….as regular readers may note; I’m a bit behind on those posts. The last few have been trips to the “mountains”….so, what does the Missus want when we get back home? Well, Chinese of course!
I did take photos of two of those return to “home and get Her fix” visits. They are places I’ve posted on many, many times…… So here’s the first one.
I know I last did a post on Noble Chef in January, but we’ve mostly been doing takeoutvisits since we have JJ. But since the little squirt is getting a bit older now; we can head out and grab dinner on occasion. The last time we’d actually eaten in at Noble Chef was back in January of last year!
Noble Chef gets pretty busy for dinner these days and this visit was no different. We went with our “usual” items.
Like a half Roast Duck.
This was nicely flavored – five spice and all that. The skin was a bit softer than we prefer, but pretty good overall. And the leftovers did quite well.
The Missus ordered the Tofu with Salted Fish.
Nice funky-savory tones. That tofu was perfectly soft.
Of course, the Salt and Pepper Pork Chops were a must.
These were the best we’ve had in a while. Not overly thick, so ratio of crispy-crunchy to enjoyably toothsome was good. Salty-mildly spicy-peppery. Also did well in the air fryer the next day. I brushed off all the garlic and peppers so it would get that bitter burn and it was good.
And of course the Soy Sauce Chow Mien, a dish that takes me back to “small kid” time.
Shortage of green onions on this; but the noodles were a perfect al dente and evenly coated in soy sauce. Decent wok hay as well.
We really enjoyed our dinner at Noble Chef….I guess dining in is really the way to go if you have the time.
The Noble Chef 6159 Balboa Avenue San Diego, CA 92111
After doing the 17 Mile Drive and some shopping in Pacific Grove, we headed back to Carmel. After parking the car, we decided to take JJ down to Carmel Beach which was just a few blocks from where we were staying.
It was kind of overcast, but we enjoyed the short stroll.
We then headed back up Ocean Avenue where the Missus did a bit more shopping.
While looking at this window display, the Artist and owner of the shop, Edi Matsumoto came out. She was so nice and we had a lovely chat!
As we headed on back to the Green Lantern, I happened to look down the driveway off of San Carlos Street and I noticed something.
Hmmm…..
Ok, they really know how to get me, right? You know I just had to see what was down that path.
It was a cute little path, adorned with statuary, fountains, very serene and relaxing.
There’s a little Garden shop.
And the path leads out to Dolores Street and this bookstore.
It was a very nice community bookstore and the owners were oh so friendly and kind.
You can really tell they’re part of the community here!
And you know what; I just happened to open up this Children’s book….
And I saw all those places we’d been walking past! I loved it! I wanted to support this shop, so I bought an Autographed copy! Of course it features pooches, right? But wait, there’s more! There’s a fabulous map, and you can follow Olly’s and Lucille’s adventure using the Voicemap App – from the book’s website!
Pilgrims Way Community Bookstore Dolores St. between 5th & 6th Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93921
On the way back we came across this cute little park between all the art galleries on Dolores Street.
Away from the hustle and bustle, Carmel is quite charming.
We took a short break before heading out to dinner. I had made reservations at a French restaurant for our last dinner in the city. The name, L’Escargot hooked me. The restaurant was a 15 minute walk from our room. It was dinner time and all the traffic was back. Though once we got past 6th Avenue, things seemed to quiet down a bit. The restaurant had ample outdoor seating.
I walked over; peeked into the restaurant and the host seated us at one of the al fresco tables.
I got a Kir Royale and some baguette and butter was dropped off while we looked over the menu.
The butter was cold, but nicely whipped very creamy, milky, and light. The baguette was a bit damp, but the crust was very good!
As we often do; we just went with several apps. Starting with the Duck and Pork Country Pate.
Coarsely ground, but oh so rich….deep earthy-gamy flavors. Those cornichons came in handy. The mustard helped to cut the liveryness. Man, this was so good with the baguette….our Server saw us blasting thru it and brought us another basket!
Of course we had to try the Escargot, right?
Man, these were jumbo sized! Plump, great texture, toothsome, but not chewy! Oh my, that garlic butter was so rick and savory….guess who needed more baguette?
The Sweetbread and Mushroom Vol au Vent was also a big winnah!
Light, crisp puff pastry; crisp and creamy, mildly gamey-sweet sweetbreads, earthy-sweet mushrooms. That mushroom sauce was earth-buttery-perfectly seasoned.
Our Server saw how much we loved this and he brought us another piece of the Veal Sweetbreads – such great service!
Man, I wish this were in San Diego! Even though we were outside of the restaurant; we were checked on on a regular basis. And they gave us that extra sweetbread! This was a delicious meal, our favorite of the two week trip and made up for the other mediocre meals we had in Carmel!
After checking into our room at the Green Lantern Inn we rested a bit and then decided to do some shopping before having a rather early dinner. The place I picked; because it was just a few blocks away from where we were staying…..the sidewalks are small and traffic both pedestrian and autos are pretty bad during peak times; was the Road Trip – Treehouse Café (Carmel) and the 17 Mile Drive. It’s a very cute location.
On the terrace of a charming little building. There’s a nice outdoor eating area.
Carmel claims to be the most dog friendly cities in the US. And heck, there were no less than 8 pooches hanging on the terrace. Including these two!
The pooches were so well behaved….even more so than their two-legged counterparts, many of whom seemed snooty and demanding. And I gotta say; the service here was on the abrupt side…..though that could have been because of the customers. And quite slow to boot.
Treehouse Café has an interesting menu. There are Thai, Mediterranean, and Italian dishes on the menu. A crazy mix that I would usually avoid….but because of how pooch friendly the place was, I thought we’d just have our first dinner here.
I started with an Allagash White, clean, citrus tones. Which went well with the bread and the herbaceous olive oil.
Being quite curious; I ordered the Thai Pork Sausage.
Very porky with a good amount of rice stuffed into it. Lacking in the herbaceous tones and spice I look for though.
Because I could not get enough bread…..I ordered the roasted garlic. Which was interesting as the garlic was still hard and bitter….not soft and spreadable like I prefer.
The olive oil it was soaking in was quite good though.
And for more carbs….we got the Veggie Combo Platter. Along with the overly chewy pita included…counterclockwise; Dolmas, which were too chewy and bland, some incinerated falafel….not good eats, both the hummus and baba ghanouj were good though…nicely blended, creamy, full of flavor.
And to finish off, a basic Greek Salad.
Overall, a fairly mediocre dinner, that took quite long…..and most places were closed by the time we finished.
Treehouse Café 7th & 8th San Carlos St. Carmel, CA 93921
So, we just walked on back to our accommodations and called it a night. I did a post; while someone totally crashed out.
As for our full day in Carmel…well, we decided to do something that we had done once before, when we still lived in LA. We decided to take JJ on the 17 Mile Drive from the Carmel Gate.
But first, I took JJ to get some coffee. Carmel is a totally different city in the morning.
Peaceful and relaxing.
Though I did find that the Seagulls here feel quite entitled as well. I actually saw seagulls taking their time crossing the street, stopping traffic three times! I managed to get a photo of one of those occasions!
When you have time to relax and stroll you notice things……I hadn’t taken notice of Carmel’s City Hall before, though we walked past it twice the previous day!
I went to the Carmel Coffee House and Roasting Company to get the Missus a latte and myself a cold brew.
The Missus enjoyed Her latte; my cold brew was quite smooth and easy to drink.
Carmel Coffee House and Roasting Company Dolores St. Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93921
And then we headed out. We paid our $12.25 fee at the Carmel Gate, then headed out to see some of the sights. We made a few stops.
Of course we had to stop at that symbol of Pebble Beach, the Lone Cypress.
By this time, we’d kind of had our fill and decided just to head on out to Pacific Grove. We turned on a familiar street; Lighthouse Avenue, where we enjoyed exploring the city on the self guided historic houses tour several years back. The Missus had really enjoyed shopping here and so we stopped and the Missus got some shopping in.
And then it was time to head back to Carmel….we still had the afternoon to do more exploring.
Here are a couple of revisits to places that used to be on my regular rotation that I haven’t visited in a while.
Tenkatori:
Man, has it been a year-and-a-half since I last visited Tenkatori? I was craving some karaage and decided it was time to “scratch” that itch and head on over. Like I’ve said before; with regards to Tenkatori, one should call in your order – I called in my order for the Karaage Bento Box – a reasonable $12. However, if you ordered it online – even though they said it’s “no fees” guess what?
That crazy parking lot is not so bad before 11am and I easily found parking. Strode on in, paid and got my karaage.
This is what it looked like.
Unlike on previous visits, the rice was perfectly cooked; the potato salad so creamy and nicely seasoned.
This time around, it was the batter of the chicken that was weird….it was mushy, and the pieces were stuck together? Really strange.
Maybe the 20 minute drive before eating was too long? Or perhaps the oil wasn’t at the right temperature?
The chicken itself was very tasty, perfect salty-umami-soy balance and very moist and adequately tender.
I know that “FOY” ChrisR has been mentioning trying the nankotsu, the chicken cartilage..so maybe I nede to try that next time! Still, in this day and age, the prices at Tenktori has stayed fairly stable for a while.
Tenkatori Miramar 6780 Miramar Rd Suite 104 San Diego, CA 92121
Zgara Greek Grill:
Zgara is another regular stop that I hadn’t visited in a while. Perhaps it was that on my last visit, I found out that Eric had sold the place! Though my usual; the pork gyro was quite good. I had also heard from “FOY” Ron that things had gone downhill a bit in the months following. Still, a revisit was overdue.
I did notice that the Pork Gyro Sandwich was now $11.86 a dollar more than on my last visit. Though still what I consider reasonable for these days.
And of course that’s what I ordered.
Man, this was really stuffed with nicely seasoned pork. Though I think it’s a bit chewier than I recalled.
The pillowy pita held up well, though I think with all that protein, I could have used more Tzatziki and tomatoes.
Still this was fine…..though it does seem to be missing something. But, I can’t quite put my finger on it? Perhaps it’s just a figment, right?
Zgara Greek Grill 1229 Morena Blvd. San Diego, CA 92110
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!
