mmm-yoso – Page 372 – 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.

Post #2046 – Roadtrip: Chung King Restaurant – Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

September 24, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

**** Chung King Restaurant has closed

Why post 2046…well, because it is our 2046th post, really….. I always want to do an anniversary thing, but I seem to always be away during May. I thought about doing post 2000, but then totally forgot. Perhaps waiting until 2500 might be a good idea, but who knows if I'll still be around? So, I went with post 2050, which just got me here….2046 whoooo-peeee!!??!!

And it's quite appropriate to do Chung King. This little Sichuan restaurant in Monterey Park, along with El Rocoto and Tung Lai Shun really fueled my interest in food way back in '98…..yep, almost fifteen years ago. I recall the first whiff of the floral, yet pungent whiff of Sichuan Peppercorn fueled air…the first "buzz" I got after eating a peppercorn dish then drinking water. To this day, I recommend folks do this after the first time they've had a dish with Sichuan Peppercorn. We used to visit sometimes several times a week, and at least once or twice a month even after moving to San Diego. Until we found, (not "discovered", who discovers a restaurant, the new world maybe, but a restaurant?) Ba Ren. Isn't it kind of appropriate that the Chef at Ba Ren, was one of the original chef's at Chung King and a certified master chef at that. Since Ba Ren closed down, something nagged at me….no it's not gas. I kept wondering how Chung King, now a little empire of several restaurants and god knows how many chefs later was doing. Which is what found us back at the what once was our favorite little restaurant in the world.

The interior looks a lot nicer since the last time we visited in 2003……

The place was totally desolate for our entire meal…at lunch time, on a Saturday. The young man who served us was a far cry from the borderline surly women who used to wait on us, being very friendly.

The menu had changed over the years, but what we wanted to start out with hadn't. Some liang cai 凉菜- cold dishes. With one of my all time favorites, Fu Qi Fei Pian – the Husband and Wife meat slices…I was really looking forward to this……

Which was a big let down….the flavor was truly lacking, no mild black vinegar flavor, no buzz form Sichuan Peppercorns, and worst of all, the tendon wasn't prepared nor cut correctly, being very thick, it was like eating plastic. The peanuts were on the dry and stale side, like they had been sitting around for a while. The long beans were decent. I'm used to a very briney flavor, though this edged toward the "very very" salty end of things.

Of course I had to order another of my favorite dishes, Kou Shui Ji 重庆口水鸡 – the mouthwatering (saliva) chicken.

This was the first place I'd ever had this…….and though this looked right, it was literally just a mere shadow of what I recalled, falling short on spice, Sichuan Peppercorn, black vinegar, sesame paste, and sweetness. Kind of sad actually…..

But not as sad as the Rice Crust with Three Delicacies ($9.99). You can just tell by looking at the dish what's wrong.

The sauce was very thin, I remember it being full of "chicken-ny" flavor, this was bland and insipid. The rice crust was strange to being soft and pliable it wasn't firm enough and we ended up with porridge.

Things turned around when the Pig's Intestines with Hot Pepper ($9.99) arrived.

The texture was excellent, crisp at first, giving away to a slightly chewy interior, the intestines were swiney and lovely to eat. This was the first dish to really make me think, "this is ChongQing style Sichuan", with bold and unapologetic flavors. Still short on Sichuan Peppercorns, it was still well seasoned.

The crowning jewel of the meal was something we'd never had before, Sliced Fish Filet with Cumin ($10.99). Man this was good.

I usually don't care for dishes where cumin is used with restraint, but in this case it worked in balance with the floral-pungent flavor of the Sichuan Peppercorns. The heat level was nice as it got the endorphins flowing and I started to get that euphoric feeling and there was a mild sweet flavor as well. The batter was egg based, but not too thick and eggy, making this a nice crisp dish. We even finished up the leeks and all the vegetables. Finally, in the end, this dish came through.

The Missus felt really bad as we drove home since I'd been looking forward to this for a while. I explained to Her that I just had to find out if it was still the same, it wasn't, but what is?

Back in 1979, one of my favorite artists, Paul McCartney and his band Wings came out with an album called Back to the Egg. Trying to get back to his roots with a more edgy rock and roll sound, what McCartney created, at least to me was an unfocused mess;

"When will you see me, my salamander?
Now don't try to tell me,
Oh no, don't answer, oh no….."

Really…… my salamander? No wonder Wings folded up its wings soon after….yes, I actually owned the album…. on vinyl Just goes to show, you can try to go back and get what you had, but sometimes the magic is gone.

It was nice to see that Chung King was still in business after all these years. The meal ended up well, but we feel that the restaurant really hasn't aged well.

Chung King Restaurant
206 South Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Postscipt: I actually think Goodnight Tonight should have been on this album, it was quite catchy:

And not nearly as cheesy as Coming Up.

Guajillo Adobo Grilled Chicken

September 23, 2012 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

The Missus has noted that I really don't do many Mexican inspired dishes, so I figured why not do something for the grill on this lazy Sunday. A recent impulse buy at Northgate Market were some Guajillo Chilies, which are quite common in many recipes.

I decided to do something simple from Roberto Santibanez's cookbook, Truly Mexican. There's a recipe for a Guajillo based adobo that sounded like it would be great with chicken and there is indeed a recipe for grilled chicken using this sauce a few pages later in the book. As I usually would do, I initially followed the recipe, which means that several steps that I'd usually take were bypassed; I didn't use the chili soaking liquid for the sauce, nor did I toast the garlic like I'd usually do. When I got the sauce together I tasted it….and though the smokiness of the peppers came through, along with the mild tart-puckeriness, I ended up adjusting to our taste by adding a whole bulb of garlic and twice the amount of apple cider vinegar. The flavor was now more complex, but still lacked something……I ended up raiding the Missus's "healthy stash" and using some agave syrup to give it a bit more umph…. Guajillo's aren't especially hot, but don't get fooled there's a mild sneaky heat. The sauce came out a beautiful smokey red……looking like a good barbecue sauce……and with mild spice, smoke, and sweet, you could probably make one with a few adjustments.

The book says a two hour marinade is good enough, but I think more is warranted. Anyway, the chicken still came out nice and was topped with some of the extra sauce. The Missus is going to use the leftover sauce for shrimp, which I think will be quite good.

Adobo de Guajillo
12 Guajillo Chilies – each about 3 1/2/ – 5" long, wiped clean, stemmed, slit open with seeds and veins removed
water
1 cup water
4-8 cloves garlic
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp white sugar
2 Tb agave syrup
1 tsp ground cumin
black pepper to taste

– heat a heavy skillet or griddle (I used my cast iron pan) over medium heat
– toast the chilies for a few minutes, pressing down frequently, turning several times until fragrant and the chilies have slight changed color and even blackened in a few spots.
– tear chilies in half and over with water, soak for 30 minutes
– after 30 minutes, drain the chilies
– place chilies along with 1/2 cup water and the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
– add more water as sauce becomes too thick
– make sure to taste and adjust flavor

Pollo Adobado
2 pound chicken thighs
salt
1/2 cup Adobo de Guajillo

– mix all items together in a ziploc bag and marinate for at least 2 hours (I recommend more)

– Grill to your heart's content

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Tunisia: Chott El Jerid and Douz

September 22, 2012 mmm-yoso North African Food, Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

We left Tozeur a hair after 8 in the morning, but the sun was already blazing down on us. We were headed through the Chott el Djerid, Douz, Matmata, then finally arriving in the Sahara at Ksar Ghilaine where we'd spend the night in what was called a "first class tent" in the Sahara.

The Chott el Djerid is a huge salt lake of over 7,000 kilometers and stretches into Algeria. I've heard folks saying that it's not much to see….but the Missus and I were mesmerized by the stark, seemingly endlessness of it all.

There's a causeway about 6 feet over the salt. Ben told us that before the causeway was built, you basically drove on the sand and sometimes took your chances through the water that fills the lake during the short wet season. Ben found a ramp down to the sand and drove out into the salt.

We stopped and got out to take photos….but it's really hard to capture the great, vast, wide, nothingness……

Details really stand out when you have a backdrop like this. Like the little camper parked on the salt 50 meters or so away from us. A French woman peeked out the back when we stopped, then opened the door and gave us a wave. This really isn't the place I'd like to spend a couple of days if you ask me…but the desolation must be attractive to some.

If this place looks a tad familiar, it's where Luke Skywalker contemplated the two suns in Star Wars. Yes, folks, we were on Tatooine. Actually, we visited the Tunisian city of Tataouine a bit further during the trip.

The salt can actually be peeled off in layers…and is quite salty. The little remaining water from the wet season was slowly evaporating in the lower areas leaving a red oxidized residue. All od this, combined with the fata morgana made this quite memorable.

From there we headed through Kebili and then Douz, the gateway to the Sahara. Ben stopped at the outskirtsof town at what looked like a cafe….but was a tourist stop for all things like driving ATVs to flying in an ultra lite, to riding camels. Guess which we picked?

Even though it's a very touristy thing to do, we really enjoyed riding the camels. Once you get used to the way the camel rises up and sits down and the gait, it a pretty easy and enjoyable ride. We also noticed that the camels have some very distinct personalities…they also make sounds that would probably not be real great in the general public. It was indeed much better to ride a camel than to eat one!

This was our first taste of the desert and we were just plain fascinated by the fine sand and the endless dunes.

As we drove off to lunch, Ben told us the desert around Ksar Ghilaine, the Grand Erg Oriental is totally different from here.

We stopped for lunch at a little mom and pop restaurant right outside of Douz.

These restaurants usually serve a complete meal, comprised of brik, soup, couscous, finished with mint tea….which is what we had. It was a pretty hefty meal!

As we were finishing up with our mint tea, a young man walked in with what looked like a giant rodent in his hand……after doing a double take, we realized it was something else….a fox perhaps? I suddenly realized it was a baby Fennec Fox. I tried to take a photo, but it was too darn fast, this is the best shot I got.

After lunch we headed East……. here we saw tons of camels hanging out along the road. Those camel crossing signs were there for a reason!

There are no wild camels in Tunisia. All the camels we saw belonged to someone and seemed totally unfazed by traffic….in fact, there would be a camel lying right in the middle of the road, refusing to budge. All the cars had to go around it! I was told that one had to drive carefully during the night since camels loved the warmth of the asphalt and would sometimes sleep in the middle of the road. So how did the camels get back to their owners? We were told that camels always return to the same watering hole when in need for water…..the owners would usually find them there.

There you go…more than you ever wanted to know about camels I'm sure! Thanks for reading!

Beijing: Temple of Heaven and Wushan Fish from JiangBian-Chengwai

September 20, 2012 mmm-yoso Beijing, China, Chinese Restaurants, Travel

We couldn't leave Beijing without visiting the Missus' favorite site, the Temple of Heaven (Tiāntán 天壇). We caught a bus to the southeastern side of Beijing and entered the beautiful compound of halls, temples, and gardens.

In spite of the crowds, there's still a sense of tranquility here. There aremany older women doing various forms of dance and other exercise. There are three main compounds on the temple grounds. The main one being the Hall for Prayer of Good Harvests, where the Emperor would come during the winter solstice to pray for a bountiful harvest.

The three tiered round structure is quite stunning.

One could literally spend a week exploring the gardens and structures, but we had a couple of hours.

So here are a few places that I thought were interesting. They may not be the most well known sites around the Temple of Heaven, but I enjoyed the stories and history. It's these little things that keeps me entertained.

So why not start with this…….yes, it's a wall.

The wall surrounding the Imperial Vault of Heaven is known as the "Echo Wall". It is said that one can hear the other when on opposite sides of the North wall. We tried it…..but I think the courtyard was too noisy and it didn't work out.

And then there's the door to the right. It's just a door, right? Yes, but there's an interesting story about this door. In the year 1779, Emperor Qianlong was 70 years old and not quite the robust healthy man he used to be. The walk to the Hall of Prayer was getting difficult. His ministers convinced Qianlong to build this door. He would be carried here on a chair, then walk the short distance to the hall. According to the story, Qianlong was worried that his descendants would become lazy and abuse this convenient door he declared that only his offspring that reach the age of 70 can use this door. So it's not called the 70 Year Old Door. Interesting tidbit, none of the emperor's after Qianlong lived to be 70, so he was the only one ever to use this door!

Then there's this.

In a design of three levels of marble stones stands what is know as the circular mound altar. There's a lot of symbolism, much of which refers to the number 9. The inner wall represents heaven. The most entertaining part of this was watching people queue up to have their photo taken standing on the Heaven's Heart Stone in the middle of the top level.

I heard it's supposed to be good luck……

Since this is the Missus' favorite place in Beijing, I'm sure we'll be visiting again. On this day, we were getting hungry and decided to find a restaurant MrD had told us about the night before. So we caught the bus. There's an interesting side note to what we saw with regards to the boom in China. It seemed that many of the traditional manners we being forgotten by the younger generations. The bus we caught was full of middle school kids, chatting on cell phones and smoking cigarettes!! Being cool I guess. When an elderly woman got on a couple of stops later, not one of them stood up to give her their seat. Not the way I was raised so of course I gave up my seat……but stuff like this bothers me. In this China, both parents have to work, so children seem to be raised by grandparents. Children are also treasured so they seem to be treated like they're the most important thing in the world. Nice, but not without consequences. I saw a grandmother try to scold her granddaughter for poor behavior on the bus. Instead of being sorry, the little girl made a fist, reared back, and slugged her grandmother! On the bus, in public…..

Anyway, we got off the bus in the general vicinity of where we thought the Wushan Fish Restaurant was. But of course we couldn't find it. So the Missus eventually called MrD on the phone…first question, "What restaurants are around you?" Like I said MrD, being the foodie that he is, uses restaurants as his main landmarks. He doesn't know the names of the streets! The instructions were something like, "from hot pot restaurant you need to go two blocks, there you'll see the lamb restaurant, keep walking until you see the baozi place, then make a right….."

We got to the restaurant just in time……there was a torrential downpour just as we got there. Funny thing, the place was right across a huge bus station. If we knew that, it would have been easy to ask for directions. But as MrD said, "I don't catch the bus, so I don't know about bus stations…." You gotta love it!

The interior of the restaurant was very modern and the patterns on the wall were made of post-it notes which had been filled out or signed.

Typical of restaurants of a higher tier in China, the menu was a large and book like, full of photos and descriptions.

After going through the menu, we made up our minds and the Missus placed our order as our tea arrived.

We started with what was called stir-fried purple cabbage, but was more of a purple cabbage slaw, like the Missus' relatives in Jinan made and what I make at home.

This wasn't particularly flavorful, more bitter than anything.

The radish sprout salad was much better, balancing the pungency with some acid.

Then of course, was the Wushan Fish. This Sichuan style of cooking fish is really popular in Beijing. The fish looks grilled, but it is really marinated, fried, then roasted. We chose the "No 1 Hot and Spicy" flavor and sole as our fish.

While it looked spicy, it really wasn't that hot. I wished everything was a bit more crisp instead of kind of water-logged, making it seem greasy, and perhaps a bit more of the multitude of flavors they call guaiwei (怪味 – strange flavor). The fish iteself was not bad and as you can tell it isn't bland, but nowhere as good as the "ugly fish at Mocuomen.

Still, it was a nice meal and we were full, even though we didn't order any carbs. It was time to head back for a nap.

Midweek Meanderings: Is Nam An Closed? What about Luong Hai Ky on Convoy? And other stuffs…..

September 19, 2012 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

So, is Nam An Closed or What?:

Was the question posed to me by "Peter" on my original post on Nam An. I was kinda surprised, I know that Nam An had gotten away from serving lunch, but didn't know they had closed for the always ominous "renovations". So I placed a call to a very reliable source who told me that even though the sign says under renovation, the placed has closed down. Sad, this place had potential, but the folks running it had really no restaurant experience and though we enjoyed some of the dishes the service was spotty at best.

We visited a couple of months back and the signs were already there. It seemed that prices had gone up a bit, not a terrible sign in this economy, but we had also noticed that the portion had gotten noticeably smaller.

For me, it wasn't the regular menu of noodle and rice dishes that I enjoyed at Nam An. Rather, it was the appetizer menu that really made things interesting. Sadly, it now seems that there's no good Vietnamese in the area bordered by Aero Drive, the 52, the 15 and the I-5.

Personally, I hope Nam An gives it another shot……but things just don't look promising.

Speaking of which, what's going on with Luong Hai Ky?:

I actually went to check out a different restaurant in that strip mall and noticed that LHK wasn't open. Which was odd since from what I recall the place is open seven days a week from 10 to 10.

The photo above was taken close to noon when I drove by to check things out. Still not open. Well, I wouldn't be surprised, LHK was never the same after the original owner passed away. LHK opened a second restaurant in Mira Mesa and this location became the ill-fated Phat Restaurant. Which eventually failed and the location turned back to Luong Hai Ky. So now what? Well, I dunno….

Meanwhile, since we're on a losing streak:

The place I went to check out is called Apple Korean House.

MrsZ mentioned this place to me, so I wanted to check it out. The hours 5pm yo 2am made it seem like one of the soju houses, but I wanted to see. Of course, with my recent luck….wouldn't you know…..

Well, at least this one is a "small remodeling"…so hopefully they're open already.

But with my recent luck……..

Ramen Yamadaya

September 18, 2012 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Ramen

**** Yamadaya has closed

It's finally cool enough for me to actually do a post on Yamadaya without breaking into a sweat! I first recall reading about Yamadaya in a post on Dennis's blog. Unfortunately, I was on Oahu when they first opened. I kind of dilly-dallied for a short while, but finally made my way there….even though it was a boiling hot day.

Man was the place hotter than heck……I figured that they had just opened their doors and perhaps the A/C wasn't dialed in yet.

I was seated at the counter, which I would have really enjoyed hadn't it felt like I was being simmered instead of the chashu. The folks working here are very amiable and really took time to explain what was up to the folks who really didn't know what was up.

What was up is that Yamadaya serves up Hakata style ramen…which means that the "in" style of tonkotsu, basically a pork bone broth is featured, along with the thin and straight Hakata style noodle. Living and working close by means that I can take my time and get a "feel" for a place. So I decided to start up with the basic straight up Tonkotsu Ramen. Somehow, I talked myself into bumping it up to a combo, which goes for $14.80. That's pretty hefty for a lunch….but what the heck.

First off, I loved the noodles……I had doubts when I didn't order them extra firm, but I should not have worried. These were perfect. They do soften rather quickly, but I really didn't give it time to soften. Much better then any other place that "claims" to do Hakata ramen in San Diego. The broth was surprisingly mild, with almost no nose, just lightly salty. The egg was done well, but the chashu was terrible, lacking in flavor, dry, and my goodness, still cold! Not good eats, but I put that off to the place still finding their footing.

I also got some chicken karaage, which was pretty good, crisp, a hint of ginger, and not bad.

What I really enjoyed was the curry rice bowl. The curry had a very nice distinct flavor, with hints that seemed like Wocestershire.

The texture was nice and smooth….this is something I'll have again.

A few days later I was in the area and decided to stop in again….man, it was still pretty hot in there. This time, I went with what I had my eyes on the first time, the Kotteri Ramen($8.45). If there was any bowl of tonkotsu that would benefit from a touch of extra fat and more flavor it would be this one.

Along with confirming that the A/C in the shop was not up to the task, there were a couple of other reaffirmations; the noodles were indeed prepared well and the chashu was still dry and lacking in flavor.

The broth really benefited from the black garlic oil, which gave it a sweet-pungent lift in flavor. In fact the whole deal was getting to the upper limit of my sodium tolerance but was still good. The extra richness really gave the broth that smooth, tongue-coating richness I enjoy as well.

Nice bowl, minus the chashu……

So of course I wanted to move along a bit more….which was great since "MrZ" was thinking about grabbing some lunch. The day was a bit cooler, but it still is pretty warm in the shop. This time, to see if the kakuni was the cure to the chashu, I ordered the Kakuni Ramen ($10.95). I had thoughts of asking for it kotteri, but decided to see how the buta kakuni fared in the ramen.

Let me just say this; the kakuni is the way to go. While not as great, it was tender and well flavored…oh, and moist. I also believe that some of the braising liquid for the pork was put into the bowl as I sensed a nice background sweetness to the broth this time around.

As usual it was great seeing MrZ…and here's a shout out to the newest addition to the 'Z' family…well, I'll just call him "little Z" for now!

So, there you go, three bowls, and I've got my ramen here dialed in. As simple as Kotteri with Kakuni. We're done, right? Well, not quite….there's one more item I wanted to try. Not feeling like dealing with the heat and man it was scorcher for a couple of weeks there, wasn't it? I went during a weeknight evening. Having been here enough, I started noticing a couple of things. One of them was, it seems like only the dudes who handle the noodles have "Ramen" written on the back of their t-shirts…..I know, I'm probably just a little bit slow, duh……

Since it had been pretty hot and the shop gets pretty hot, why not try the Tsukemen, basically "dipping noodles". I got the 7 ounce noodle portion ($7.95 – carb lovers can get 14 oz for $9.95).

This was way to salty, to the point of being unpleasant. Loved the noodles, meh to the chashu, but even dipping the noodles into the shiro was not a happy time. It also got cold real quickly and the amount of fat in this started concealing and feeling kind of greasy. Again, way too salty. There were bits and pieces of pork in the bottom of the bowl, so I'm not quite sure how they make this….black garlic oil as well.

I recall talking to Dennis about this a couple of days later…..I'm sure he'll chip in his opinion in one of his posts. YY and her husband send me a text message last week telling me they were having ramen here. Before I could warn them off the tsukemen, MrQ had gone ahead and ordered it. I heard he wasn't very happy…..oh, and they told me the place was super hot! So well, we know they're really consistent, right?

Ramen Yamadaya
4706 Clairement Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

You can read Dennis's post here.

Kirbie's post can be found here.

Gastrobits post can be found here.

Shopping and eating in the Market-99Ranch

September 17, 2012 Cathy Markets & Grocers

Welcome back to our blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk is still a bit overwhelmed with things happening, ed (from Yuma) is also dealing with whelming. Cathy is underwhelmed so has blogged this post for you.

For some time now, I've posted about local grocery stores where I shop which have in store prepared food areas. All of them do, you know. 99Ranch is no exception, other than it is also a very large chain, with 36 stores in Northern and Southern California, Washington, Nevada and Texas.

There is only one location in San Diego on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, just East of the 805. It's pretty much a compendium of Asian canned and bottled foods and condiments, snacks and sundries.

It sells the usual and unusual fruits and vegetables and fruits, dairy products, meats, rice, noodles, soy based 'meats' and pickled everything.

There are eight live fish tanks,

a very good variety of whole fish and

also fish steaks are available.

The store is currently undergoing a step by step remodel, with new flooring, adding open freezer areas, new doored freezers…

The bakery area has temporarily moved (where the Soup Lady used to be) and is much nicer than the old area, with new display cases. We've notice new shelving and a rearrangement of the regular grocery aisle, which have been shortened to allow for the new freezers parallel to the meat and seafood cases.

In any case, the Steam Tray/ready to eat area is not yet updated. I posted about the food from this steam table area in 2007 and suppose it's time for an update, although not much has changed.

Nor has the Dim Sum area.

The roast chicken and duck area remains next to the cash register…

There are still Monday thru Friday combination specials, now $3.49. You can see they are subject to change.

This area, where beverage and soup orders are made and the open refrigerators have snacks is now the temporary bakery area from the above new bakery photo.

One day the soup was on special for $2.99. It had five shrimp and pork dumplings along with the noodles and bok choy, all cooked after you had paid and presented your reciept. It was very good. I hope the nice Soup Lady area returns; it was sad to not see her the other day.

This was a Monday Special ($3.49) the fish filet with sauce (the sign says tomato sauce, but this was a sweet and sour sauce) with rice. Good and crisp. Turnover is very quick here and nothing from the steam trays is ever old or stale.

This was a Friday Special ($3.49) and was supposed to be beef stew, but I don't think that meat is beef. In any case, it was a very good sauce over nice (not mushy) vegetables (the sauce is not sweet and not too salty/does not need any condiment added).

I always like the chicken roll wrapped in tofu ($3.50). It's quite large in the tray and is cut to fit into the box once you order it. Perfectly seasoned. No carbs!

One of the grab and go snacks, the Vegetarian Spicy Sauce, is usually a take home item, but one day I decided to buy it and have it as a side, with an a la carte…

Fried whole tilapia ($3.50). It made a nice meal.

Here's my obligatory fish carcass photo.

99Ranch is in a good, central location and the in store food court area serves some very good food. Shopping here is always an adventure, with so many items available. I hope everyone is having a good week!

99Ranch Market 7330 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, San Diego 92111 (858) 974-8899 website

Summer is almost over-even in San Diego. Meals change.

September 16, 2012 Cathy Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog you are reading. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are still busy this weekend, so Cathy is continuing to blog.

Despite this crazy hot weather we've had the past few weeks, the clock tells me that days are getting shorter. Waking at 6 a.m. with darkness broken only by the light of the moon (if there is a moon) and the sun not peeking over the horizon for another half hour or so means the chill I am enjoying only for another hour now will be the norm in a few weeks. A look at the calendar reminds me that menus will be changing. I thought I'd post about some meals and/or snacks enjoyed over some of the warm Summer days.

One June day when I was volunteering, I chose the Pesto Chicken box lunch, thinking it would merely be the least offensive choice.

This was the most surprising, delicious flavor combination and sandwich I have had in a very long time. Not only was the chicken a full grilled breast half, served with lettuce, tomato and a mild cheese along with the pesto, but a grilled red pepper completed the flavor points. I learned to roast peppers over an open flame at home, pop the peppers into a plastic bag to steam and easily peel off that skin and have peppers available in the fridge to satisfy cravings and use on sandwiches made at home.

Starbucks re-released their green coffee based beverages called Refreshers (originally San Diego was a test market in the Summer of 2010), the Cool Lime and Very Berry Hibiscus flavors are available in packets and cans or can be made for you in the store- fresh mint leaves compliment the lime and small berries are in the very berry flavor. Neither has a hint of coffee flavor or bitterness, and neither is overly sweet…they are refreshing Refreshers, but I think they will again go off the menu when other seasonal beverages are back in the rotation.

Cold noodle plates, like this Hiyashi from Yakyudori Yakitori, will be leaving menus soon. So simple, refreshing and filled with flavor. I always wait to see the signage on the walls of Japanese restaurants announcing the return of cold noodles. Must get one last meal of these in before they disappear.

These most creatively delightfully flavored, thick and crunchy Lays potato chips, made in Canada and given to me from caninecologne after her vacation there this past summer are but a mere memory and now on my list when I will be able to visit Canada later this year.

This ingredient list shows you how creative the meld of flavors are to make the chips 'merely' ketchup flavor. Radish concentrate, dehydrated garlic, black current concentrate? Who would've thought?

The small shave ice bowl at Big Joy Family Bakery is only purchased one time a year, even though it is available all the time. The shaved ice is topped with a very good vanilla ice cream, sweetened condensed milk, small mochi and sweet bean powder, surrounded by fresh fruit (pineapple, strawberry, kiwi and banana) for less than $5 makes this an affordable treat.

I hope everyone made it through this hot (but not not humid) weekend and Summer. Another week begins and Autumn will be here on Friday!

Delicias a la Lena- Oaxacan (El Cajon)

September 15, 2012 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Hello. You have somehow navigated your way to mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk as well as ed(from Yuma) are both busy with those end of Summer things and today Cathy writing and sharing another local wonderful eatery.

Well. I've mentioned before that everyone has a 'favorite' taco shop, close to home and close to work. People tell me about their favorite place and favorite items sold there. There's a long story as to how The Mister and I found Lena's; know we had this adventure on our own. The condensed version is we walked into the Liquor Store next to Kaelin's Mi Pueblo Market that had the words "carne asada" on the door, thinking they made tacos, found out they were selling carne asada in a freezer next to bags of ice cubes, asked the clerk if he knew of a place to buy some good ready to eat food and he directed us here:

Garcias Puebla Mercado. It's been here since 1995(I'll do the math for you: 17 years).We ordered two burritos, each weighed almost two pounds (there was a scale at the checkout). While we were waiting, we looked around the small store, saw many people coming in, picking up hot tortillas out of the wooden box on the floor, noticed ready made carne and chicken asada, signs for carnitas meals on Wednesday as well as barbacoa and birria meal specials on Friday, house made mole, salsas, hot carrots and fascinating other items. When we did go to the front to pay, the nice lady told us for really good food -Oaxacan Style- to go to the shop just across the street, about a half block North. Both the store and the shop are family owned and run.

Now, in this crowded strip mall, at the very North end, there is an orange and yellow striped taco shop; that's *not* where you want to go.

This is where you want to be. Notice the grill out front. Every day around 2 p.m., mesquite grilled chicken is ready.

For $10.99, you get a dozen hot tortillas, rice, black beans (nicely flavored, mostly whole and without lard), a choice of red or green salsa (I do like both; house made and a blend of complex flavors) and quite a large chicken. The chicken has that delightful mesquite smoked flavor, even the next day.

When you go inside the small restaurant, a large 99¢ menu is above the cash register,

as well as the 'regular' menu above the kitchen area. Order, pay and have a seat. The food will be brought out to you. There are five tables, 16 chairs. Small, clean and friendly.

On one of our visits, we ordered two each of the carnitas and carne asada tacos ($1 each). You can see the tacos were quite full with the meat, guacamole, cilantro, onions and Cotija cheese and both the red and green salsas were brought out. The fresh corn tortillas, which are from Garcia's across the street, are thick, layered and so very fresh.
Also, we tried the 'less than $1 menu', choosing a quesedilla and memelita – a small memela, a toasted masa cake , with a choice of red or green sauce) topped with more Cotija cheese.

The quesedilla, though small, was quite filled with melty white cheese- Oaxaca cheese.

One of my favorite items here-from the 'regular' menu, #17, a gordita ($1.99). This is a fresh made masa cake with a few black beans in the mix, fried then cut, filled on the top and bottom with those luscious black beans, a lot of shredded creamy Oxaca cheese, crema, lettuce and tomatoes. Crunchy, fresh, and something I never expected.

On one visit, we ordered a $1.99 memela (this time topped with red sauce; much larger than the 99¢ version, although I don't have a reference point in this photo to show you the sense of scale) and a 99¢ Tlacoyo (an oval shaped baked masa, filled with a layer of black beans, topped with a choice of sauce and Cotija cheese)

You can see the thin layer of beans in this cross section view; this simple 99¢ snack is just perfect. It's larger counterpart on the regular menu, the Tlayuda ($6.99), includes a choice of meats and is more than a meal for me.

We noticed "Tostilocos $2.99" sign in the front window and tried the version here. It's a vegetarian version- no cueritos. Good to satisfy a crunchy, salty, tamarind, spicy chamoy craving. (here's a link to my post about my favorite Tostilocos)

Here's a photo of another gordita ordered; you can see the fried then sliced crispy 'bun'. The other item is another tlacoyo, this time topped with the red sauce.

From the regular menu, #14 Mole negro ($5.99). We have been on the lookout for great home made mole ever since Los Pueblos had closed in May. We found it. Lena told us that it takes three women (all relatives) all day to make the mole used here and sold in the small market across the street. You can taste the variety of spices and so many flavors with every bite. The chicken leg had the smoky mesquite flavor which complimented the sauce. The enchiladas are also topped with this mole.

So many items all made from scratch, just like at home. Another great find in El Cajon.

Lenas is not your average Mexican restaurant, not a taco shop. At all.

Delicias a la Lena 1398 East Main Street (between Sultan Baklava and Kaelin's Market, other side of Main Street) El Cajon 92021 (619)590-1138

Garcias Puebla Mercado 1354 East Main Street 92021 (619)590-1416

A Plethora of Tomatoes-easy and quick meal

September 14, 2012 Cathy Cooking, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

Hello. You have found the blog mmm-yoso!!! -it's about food. On this hot day, Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are doing things other than blogging. Cathy is your blogger du jour.

It's getting close to Autumn and our garden, which started from seed, has begun to ripen at an alarming rate. We planted a few different varieties of tomatoes:

These French cherry tomatoes have produced more than 25 stems like this one.

These are Genovese tomatoes, before changing color; six hidden in this maze of leaves. The plants are taller than me!

We planted strawberries in three hanging pots this year, and picked whenever we wanted a snack.

Sweet peppers and Purple German tomatoes (that's how the seed packet was labeled) are in a total of five regular and hanging pots in our front yard.

These are Japanese Momotoro tomatoes. A 6 inch plant was being sold for $1.99 in front of Nijiya Market in April. The plant is now more than 7 feet tall and has produced 24 of these extra large-egg size tomatoes.

We've also planted eggplant, yellow squash, green beans and peas which have already been picked and enjoyed.

There are also eight more ears of corn which will be ready this weekend. Fortunately, we spaced the planting of those. We also planted basil, dill, sage, tarragon and mint which are regularly used when we cook. There are also 6 artichoke plants and 3 cardoon which have not done much but produce silvery leaves.

For a long while, we'd have two or three tomatoes ripe and ready to eat each morning. Then it got to about six a day…then last Monday morning, and almost every day since, this happened:

The International Tomato Festival began: French, Italian, German and Japanese tomatoes, ripe and ready to eat each morning. What to do?

Some shredded Mozzarella, a bit of onion, basil and tarragon are always used. This recipe can vary depending on what else is available.

You can make this with no added ingredients, starting out with olive oil and onion along with the tomatoes in the pan…

Or put some olive oil in a hot pan with the onion and tomatoes (and in this case spinach, sometimes chopped peppers, sometimes squash) and leave on medium heat, uncovered.

The above photo is what the only tomatoes look like when they have cooked down, after about ten minutes on medium.

I remove some of the juice, making small 'wells' in the tomatoes, and put an egg in each well. Cover the pan.

After about a minute (and less than two minutes) the eggs are almost cooked.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the eggs (you can also put fresh herbs on top now) and cover the pan. Turn off the heat. The cheese will melt and eggs will finish cooking.

Pretty easy and the results are wonderful. The concentrated tomato flavor is simple and complex at the same time. We've had variations of this recipe for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it never gets old.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Stay cool!