mmm-yoso – Page 483 – 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.

Siem Reap: Even more temples!

September 21, 2008 mmm-yoso Cambodia, Siem Reap, Travel

Have you grown weary of all those posts on the temples of Angkor yet? Are they starting to look all the same? Perhaps you’re suffering from "Temple Fatigue"…. And yet, temple fatigue never really hit us. We found most temples interesting and unique, but I’ll keep the rest of my posts on the various temples short and sweet. Our post lunch started with…..

Banteay Kdei:

Called the "Citadel of the Cells", Banteay Kdei was built in 1181.

Banteay Kdei has been used as a monastery at different points in time.

The most well known feature of Banteay Kdei is the "Hall of the Dancing Girls". Where all of the columns feature beautiful bas-reliefs of Girls doing the Apsara dance.

Banteay Kdei has been kept somewhat unrestored, making for some fascinating viewing.

Some of which is due to poor construction and low quality materials. In addition, no one really knows who this temple was dedicated to, adding to the mystery.

Ta Prohm:

For us, Ta Prohm proved to be one of the more intriguing temples.

Built in 1186 by Jayavarman VII to honor his family, when the efforts to restore the temples of Angkor by the French began, the École française d’Extrême-Orient decided to leave Ta Prohm in it’s natural state.

It’s impossible not to gaze upon the giant Kapok (silk cotton tree) trees whose roots have have become one with Ta Prohm. Several of the trees have taken root on the ceilings and walls of Ta Prohm, giving the temple an air of mystery.

You see the roots of the Kapok trees snaking their way throughout Ta Prohm.

When FOY MrB checked out our photos of Ta Prohm, he immediately told me, "I’ve seen this as the set for Tomb Raider." And he was correct, Ta Prohm is easily the most recognizable of the temples used as a backdrop for the movie Tomb Raider.

When we returned from vacation I read an article that mentioned the the Archaeological Survey of India will soon begin to do some restoration work on Ta Prohm. To my relief all work is planned so that the trees are "not disturbed in any way."

Wandering Chopsticks also enjoyed Ta Prohm.

Ta Keo:

As we approached Ta Keo, we quickly noticed something unusual. There was no ornamentation, and it remained undecorated.

At around 1000AD, construction of Ta Keo ceased, and it was abandoned. Legend has it, that Ta Keo was struck by lighting, which was seen as a bad omen.

Thommanon:

The temple of Thommanon is well restored, and small enough to enjoy quickly.

But the thing we’ll always remember the most about Thommanon is the poor fellow on the right. While his parents and siblings were enjoying themselves, he was having none of it. Yes, "temple fatigue" was rearing its ugly head. His parents and siblings viewed this with much good humor….his brother even made sure to catch some great shots with the camcorder. I’m sure the tired little guy will hear about this for many decades to come! "Remember the time we went to Angkor, and you had a tantrum….."

Preah Khan:

Jayavarman II is credited as being the founder of the Khmer Empire, and according to legend, the Preah Khan, or "sacred sword" is said to have symbolized his power. It is speculated that this was the home of the mighty sword, a copy of which said to still be hidden away at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

Like Ta Prohm, Preah Khan is left in a rather unrestored state.

It is believed that up to 10,000 people lived within the walls of Preah Khan during it’s heyday. And also that a prestigious and famous school was housed on it’s grounds.

After Preah Khan, Narin asked us if we wanted to revisit any of the temples we had seen to end or day. We decided that The Bayon had been our favorite site, and making a more detailed exploration of the wonderful bas-reliefs would be a nice way to end our 2 day visit to Angkor.

Narin decided to take us through the lower East Gate of Angkor Thom, known as the "Gate of the Dead":

It is less restored, and much more peaceful than the famous South Gate.

We ended our day, taking in the bas-reliefs of the Bayon in greater detail.

Narin dropped us back at our hotel. We showered and headed out to dinner.

Siem Reap is an interesting town….during the day, it is very calm, and sleepy. During the evening, after everyone has returned from the temples, it is a bustling, and busy tourist mecca.

During the day this street:

Is transformed to this in the evening…..

Though these street stands are more directed at feeding the locals.

You’ll find an interesting variety of food at these night markets.

Chinese style roasted and BBQ’d meats seemed popular.

With grilled items a very close second.

A very typical meal for the locals goes this way; you walk up to a stand full of pots. It is perfectly fine to peer into the pots. You decided what you want to eat, and your meal comes with whatever is chosen and rice.

On this evening, noodles seemed to be very popular.

These stands use packaged dry noodles that are cooked and kept to the side. When an order is placed, the noodles are stir fried, with bean sprouts, soy sauce, hot sauce, and maggi, and sometimes served with a fried egg on top. A very cheap meal.

So what did we get? Well, you’ll just have to wait for that one!

Road Trip: Beach’s Big Little Saigon Food Tour Part 2

September 20, 2008 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Bun Bo Hue, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

After making 5 stops on Beach’s whirlwind tour of Little Saigon, Beach turned to me and said, "ok, Kirk, let’s get some real food now…."

5 – Cho Cu Bakery:

Beach had remembered that I had become fond of the "bread" in Vietnam. It was light, very flaky (vs crusty), and had a nice yeasty flavor. So our next stop was Cho Cu Bakery, which is located in yet another strip mall in Westminster.

I purchased a baguette ($1), and a Banh Mi Bi for the Missus. Even though the Banh Mi Bi sat in a car for 4 hours or so, it held up well. The Missus really enjoyed the Bi.

The bread, is light, and fairly flaky. A bit more substantial than baguettes we had in Hanoi, but it was the closest I’ve had since we returned. I used half of the baguette for Banh Mi Cha Com, and the rest became breakfast. A simple baguette with smiling cow cheese brought back memories of breakfast in Sapa.

Have you ever noticed that the worse the parking lot, the better the food????

Cho Cu Bakery
14520 Magnolia St
Westminster, CA 92683

6 – Quan Vy Da:

With Beach skillfull dodging of flying autos, we managed to extricate ourselves from from Cho Cu’s parking lot. Beach turned to me and said, "let’s eat lunch!" Beach decided to randomly check out a restaurant, and knowing my affinity for Bun Bo Hue, we made a lunch stop at Quan Vy Da.

Of course we both got Bun Bo Hue:

I thought the meat provided was the best I’ve had in a traditional (non-Pho shop) Bun Bo Hue. Soft, tender, and full of flavor. The noodles were cooked perfectly, not overcooked like many places tend to do. The soup was topped with Rau Ram(Vietnamese Coriander) in addition to the cilantro. The plate of herbs provided was adequate, and included thinly sliced banana blossom. I thought the soup could have been hotter, as I believe that the "garnishes" should be softened by the broth to add more flavor. The broth had a decent lemongrass flavor, but the heat was truly lacking. Both Beach and I noted how mild the broth was. Overall, this was pretty good.

The Banh Beo, those little discs of steamed rice flour, were the best I’ve had.

Wonderfully pliable, moist, with a mild chew, these were great. The ground shrimp topping these wonderful little discs added texture and saltiness. The overall effect was a fantastic savory, with just a hint of sweetness in the background. A splash of fish sauce topped everything off with a touch of umami.

This was a wonderful way to end this road trip for me.

Quan Vy Da
9950 Bolsa Avenue
Westminster, CA 92683

Driving home to San Diego, with my back seats full of my bounty, I could only marvel at how blessed I’ve been. Food Blogging sometimes has its down days, but there have always been more "ups". Without doing this food blogging thing, I would have been deprived of knowing so many wonderful and generous folks. Like Beach…..

Thanks again for your warm and generous heart Beach!

Chicken, mushrooms and basil cream sauce- (What Cathy found in the fridge and kitchen for the $5 Friday meal)

September 19, 2008 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food and Cathy is blogging today.

Hi. I know I haven’t talked about many meals out lately, but things have been busy and I will have a lot of posts in a row for you soon. For now, it is another meal for two that will cost less than $5, based on using some items on sale this week in local grocery stores.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale for $1.97 a pound this week at Vons. They are small, from young chickens the package says. Thighs were on sale last week for 99¢ a pound. You can make this recipe from raw chicken breasts or from already cooked thighs. You cook the chicken first anyhow and then toss it in the sauce at the end.

I ended up using one whole chicken breast, about half the package of mushrooms, 1/4 of the pack of pasta, 1/2 pint of whipping cream, as much basil as I cared to and some salt, olive oil and butter.

First bring *salted* water to a boil. This is the only salt you will use in this recipe.

If you don’t salt the water first, the pasta will never be able to get any flavor.

Cook and drain-don’t rinse.

While that is going on, slice the mushrooms, not too thin and place in a pan with melted butter.

Saute until mushrooms are cooked, place aside.

Put olive oil into the pan, and place cubed chicken breast into oil and saute until chicken is cooked. Place aside. Leave the excess oil in the pan.

Put some butter on the olive oil in the pan, pour in the whipping cream, put julienned basil into the cream mixture, I put the mushrooms and their residual butter into the cream also. Simmer so the flavors meld.

Add chicken last, just to re-warm.

Place pasta in bowl, ladle chicken/mushroom/cream mix on top.

Dinner.

It does not need salt or pepper. Really. There is salt in the pasta and butter. The cream sauce with the infused basil is wonderful.

Cathy’s Chicken and mushrooms in cream sauce

One chicken breast or three thighs, cooked. Remember a servicing is about the size of your palm. 🙂 You can cook by boiling and cooling, taking off skin and bones. You can cook by sauteing in olive oil. You will end up putting it back into the sauce and re-warming.

Large handful of mushrooms Saute in butter and put aside. You will add back into the sauce, excess butter and all.

One pint heavy cream or whipping cream or half and half or whole milk. One handful julienned basil. Simmer with some olive oil and butter so the basil flavor infuses. You can put the mushrooms and their butter so those flavors infuse.

Add the chicken and simmer until warm

Serve on top of cooked pasta. Cook the pasta in salted water. Always.

Midweek Meanderings

September 17, 2008 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

I haven’t done one of these in a while…so here goes.

The Late Vien Dong III Supermarket:

Yes, Vien Dong Supermarket on Linda Vista has closed.

The most recent info I’ve heard is that the new market will be a "Middle Eastern" style market. So we’ll soon see.

It’s called BBQ Chicken:

Driving on Convoy, you’ll always notice something new.

This used to be Flavor Thai restaurant. Now, it is soon to be something called BBQ Chicken. Just what kind of BBQ Chicken you may ask? After digging around for a bit; I’ve heard that the owner is Korean, and this will be a Korean BBQ Chicken joint. Of course, since it says "BBQ Chicken", I’m thinking Dak Bulgogi…tho’ I’m still waiting for a Kyochon style place to open……

September Special at Little Sheep:

This is very late, so my apologies, but Little Sheep celebrates their first anniversary in San Diego this month. And the offer for the month is 15% off the bill for 4 IF your Birthday is in the month of September. Initially I thought this was a pretty good deal. But Cathy quickly pointed out….that’s like having less than your tip covered!

And our Engrish lesson of the day:

I think we’ve discovered a new species!

I hope you’re having a great week!

mmm-yoso raw! A round-up of dishes from Olivetto, Sab-E-Lee, Asmara, and Buga

September 16, 2008 mmm-yoso Ethiopian/Eritrean Restaurants, Italian Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Thai Restaurants, yoso-silly

So I’m having a nice chat with a friend of mine….and we’re discussing our favorite sport….eating! And as I went over what I ate over the last couple of weeks, he comments “you sure do eat a lot of raw meat.” Which caught me off guard. But he was right; as I went through what we talked about…there sure was a good amount of raw meat involved. I came home and went through my photos…and sure enough, he was right. So I thought what the heck, this’ll make as good a post as anything…….

Olivetto Cafe and Wine Bar:

**** Olivetto has closed

Recently, the Missus has become one of those “ladies who does lunch.” And has been grabbing lunch at various places with Her friends. One of the favorites of the “ladies who do lunch” is the new Olivetto Cafe and Wine Bar. “The Girls” have eaten there at least 5 times, mostly because of convenience, service, and the place is usually empty, so a 2 to 3 hour lunch is not out of the question.

During one recent lunch hour, the Missus and I managed to meet up for an now all too rare lunch. The Missus went over what She thought was the restaurants strong points……appetizers(except the cheese & salumi plate). She has been less than satisfied with the burger, pastas, etc….. So now She and the Girls just do appetizers.

So that’s what we did. And to start off the “raw” theme, I ordered the Carpaccio($8.95):

The paper thin beef tenderloin was okay, as was the olive oil, nothing special. The Missus loves parmigianno-regiano, and this was nice a milky. So much for Chinese hating the “congealed – curdled milk of an old cow’s udder”. We both enjoy Arugula, and this was a fine middle of the road version of the dish.

What I really came for were the Truffle Parmesan Fries ($4.95):

The Missus told me that Her friend ‘K’, had raved about these, repeating over and over to the Missus, “can’t you smell the truffle oil”. To which the Missus replied, “it smells good, but I don’t know what truffle oil smells like!” I loved the appearance of the thin, almost shoestring fries. The last several times I’ve had truffle fries, they’ve been oily, heavy, and went soggy quickly. These were the polar opposite, and the Parmesan added a nice saltiness to the dish. As for the truffle oil, this dish had an almost buttery smell, and I felt like I could make out 2,4-Dithiapentane. The fries were rich and filling, and even though I’ve rarely met a fry I didn’t finish, I couldn’t finish these.

We also had the Bruschetta Del Giorno ($5.50), the Bruschetta of the day.

Nice, ripe tomatoes bursting with flavor, basil, Parmesan…all would have been working in nice harmony if the bread had not been incinerated.

The service at Olivetto was very relaxed, friendly without being intrusive(according to the Missus this is not always the case), and our waters and drinks were refilled throughout. I’m glad the Missus has a nice, relaxing, and not the least bit stuffy place to grab a nice lunch with Her friends.

Olivetto Cafe and Wine Bar
860 West Washington Street
San Diego, CA 92103

You can also read Gil and Krista’s post on Olivetto.

Sab-E-Lee:

This location of Sab-E-Lee has closed

Next stop on the mmm-yoso “raw tour”, Sab-E-Lee, and one of my current favorite dishes; Koi Soi (Spicy Raw Beef – $6.95). Like I mentioned before, I’ve had this dish at two other places, one was very good (though not as good as this), and the other was very difficult for me to eat. This on the other hand is very easy for me to eat.

Yes, in spite of the heat from the chilies, this is one dish that I find hard to stop eating. A pinch of the salad in cabbage in one hand. A ball of sticky rice in the other. Once you start you dare not lose momentum.

The Missus would not eat this at first, sticking with one of the two other beef salads on the menu. But once She tried it, She was hooked. Good stuff…..

Sab-E-Lee Restaurant
2405 Ulric St
San Diego, CA 92111

You can read FOY Candice Woo’s article on Sab-E-Lee for CityBeat, here.

Geekyfoodie’s post can be found here.

Alice Q Foodie’s post can be found here.

Asmara:

**** Asmara has closed

Ed from Yuma has already posted on Asmara, so I’ll just go over my most recent meal. Guess what I ordered? Well you can be sure it wasn’t this:

It is an actual item on the menu at Asmara. Spaghetti is not very high on the list of items I’d like to try at an Eritrean Restaurant, though please tell me if you’ve tried it, and like it.

While the Missus went for the sampler:

I went for this:

It’s called Kitfo, and is the Ethiopian/Eritrean version of steak tartar; finely chopped (not ground) raw beef, flavored with niter kibbeh (a herb infused clarified butter), mitmita (a spicy powder seasoning), and herbs. It is served with the ubiquitous, carpet-padding-look-alike-eating utensil(you use pieces of it as your eating implement – don’t ask for a spoon), the sour and spongy flatbread Injera.

This version was not as sour as others, and along with what was used to line the plate, we each received another plate with several “rolls” of injera.

Less you think this is a light dish, it is rich, and the injera is heavy, and we both got really full, really quickly. The portion size is more than sufficient, the spiciness of the mitmita is not too bad either .

Emboldened by Her experiences with the Koi Soi, the Missus dug right in, and was stopped dead in Her tracks. She found eating a raw beef dish that is slightly North of warm (from the clarified butter I assume), and the very strong flavor of the herbs to be disconcerting. This dish stayed with me for a loooong time, as did the aftertaste of the cardamom and fenulgreek. I could still taste it the next morning.

If you’ve never had this type of food before, Asmara is a great place to start. The restaurant is very clean, and the folks who work here are friendly. I think the gentleman who served us was a bit taken aback when I ordered, but I told Him I’ve had Kitfo before at a restaurant on Fairfax in Los Angeles, and he was good to go.

Asmara Eritrean Restaurant
4155 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92114

Canine Cologne posted about her visit to Asmara here.

Buga:

I’ve posted on Yookwe (Yuk Hwe) from Buga before. I’ve never gotten a clean shot off, since the ladies always insist on mixing it for when they bring it to my table. I understand that an unmistakable pile of raw meat, topped with a raw egg can be disturbing. But when it’s good, it’s quite good. Unfortunately, the last 2 times, the meat has tasted a bit off, so I think I’ll pass on this dish from now on. Too bad, Buga is about the only place in San Diego that I trust enough to even order this.

Buga Korean BBQ Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

So there you have it…mmm-yoso, like you’ve never seen it before; from mild to wild, in the raw…….he-he-he…..

Roadtrip: Beach’s Big Little Saigon Food Tour Part 1

September 15, 2008 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Bun Bo Hue, Orange County, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

I’ve mentioned our good friend Beach, a few times. He’s a force of nature, with the energy and personality to match. It’s really hard to describe him, OC Food Blogger extraordinaire Chubbypanda called him "brash, generous, bold, gregarious, earthy, charismatic, and charming." And he’s well known as The Don of Little Saigon to those OC Food Bloggers. Beach has always been amazingly generous to the Missus and I, in fact, we owe much of our Vietnam trip to Beach, who helped us plan it every step of the way. Needless to say, I don’t think we’d have had such a great trip without his help. So recently, I met up with Beach, I’ve covered one short leg of it earlier, in the post on Be Thui. That was but one short part of a whirlwind 2 hour tour of some of Little Saigon’s little shops and eateries. And being Beach, he focused on some of the items we had in Vietnam.

So hang on….here goes!

1 – Thach Che Hien Khanh:

This busy little dessert shop with a line going out the door, specializes in Che, a coconut milk – tapioca ball dessert…I’m simplifying the definition of Che…there are so many variations!

But we weren’t here for the Che…Beach had his mind on a few snacks that I could take home to the Missus. The selection is immense, and the colors vibrant:

From Black sticky rice to the Green rice:

So what did I Beach suggest for the Missus?

The Green Rice had a very mild sweetness and coconut flavor.

But the Missus really enjoyed the Durian Rice!

Though when Sammy caught a whiff of this, he left the Country! I think She’ll gladly have this again.

Thach Che Hien Khanh
9639 Bolsa Ave., #A
Westminster, CA 92683

For much more info on Thach Che Hien Khanh, please read Elmo’s post and Wandering Chopstick’s post, you’ll be glad you did.

2 – Huong Huong Food to Go:

Beach also recalled how much the Missus loved the Banh Gio in Hanoi, so our next stop was Huong Huong Food to Go.

For us it was 2 Banh Gio to go. The restaurant has a ton of steam table type dishes…the smells are really tempting. You can read about Huong Huong’s offerings, albiet the Westminster location in Elmo’s post.

But I was saving myself. When I arrived home the Missus eagerly went for the Banh Gio, heating it up in the microwave.

So how was it? These were much more substantial than what we had in Hanoi. It was much heavier, and the rice flour "wrapper" had a more solid texture. The filling, was well…..very filling, and featured a Quail Egg as the "cherry on the top".

But it was close enough to bring back memories of having breakfast, sitting on kiddie stools, on a street corner of Hanoi.

Huong Huong
9892 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92844

3 – Cho Ben Thanh Market:

Stop number 3 was Be Thui, you can read that post here.

4 – Thai Binh:

Beach recalled the Pork and Green Rice Patties we had in Bac Ha, and our next stop was Thai Binh. One of those little shops on Brookhurst. From the name, you could tell they specialized in various sausages.

So what did I get here?

According to Beach, it’s called Cha Com. This was the defatted lean pork sausage, studded with green rice, which gave it a mild, sweet, nuttiness. It wasn’t quite what we had in Bac Ha, which was more crunchy, not as lean, and had a stronger pork flavor. This was a sausage, what we had previously were more like fried fritters. That’s not to say this wasn’t good….it was quite tasty, if a bit on the oily side, and made some pretty good sandwiches. In other words, if you’re selling this…sign me up.

Thai Binh
14186 Brookhurst St
Garden Grove, CA 92843

And would you believe we still had 2 more stops! Let me tell you, Beach has more energy than a mallrat with a brand new credit card! I know Beach will call me a tease, but I’ll be stopping here for the night, and let you tell me about some of your favorite places in Little Saigon……

Part 2 to come!

BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ

September 14, 2008 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants, Plate Lunch

*** BBQ Express Teriyaki has closed and is now Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori.

BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ (whew that's mouthful), recently replaced the Convoy location of Extreme Pita. My first thought was, just what we need, another Teriyaki joint in the area, or is it a Hawaiian BBQ, or maybe …..???

You've got to give them some points for creative use of a former locations sign….just check out the sign from Cathy's post on Extreme Pita. I guess it's not that far a stretch from Extreme Pita to BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ (I sense some redundancy).

One quick look at the menu, the crew, and the "salads", and you'll know right away this is a Korean owned and influenced restaurant.

So what is the food here like? I walked in and ordered a Teriyaki Chicken Plate ($6.95):

The chicken was taken from a portable steam-table unit sitting on the back counter, chopped, placed on rice, and covered with a too sweet teriyaki sauce. Very mundane.

You get to choose 2 salads, and among the choices was a dangmyeon dish, reminiscent of Japchae, it was in fact the best thing about the whole meal. It also had me wishing for something along the lines of Gina's BBQ, or even a Yummy's Korean BBQ. Now that's a Korean style plate lunch!

This on the other hand…….

Still, thoughts of perhaps getting just the side dishes with rice, brought me back. And I asked if I could just get the Japchae, macaroni salad, and rice….and got a smile, and a blank stare in return. I asked again, and got the same response. I'm guessing that was a "negatory sir"…… So I splurged and ordered the BBQ Kalbi plate ($8.45):

This time the very thinly sliced cross-cut ribs were cooked to order, but I could have done without the very liberal amount of the same bad teriyaki sauce poured over the ribs before serving.

Again the Japchae was the best thing about the meal.

And though the macaroni salad was on the runny side, it wasn't terribly sweet as Korean style mac salad tends to be, and was actually not bad.

In the end, nothing really compels me to return. In spite of the long name…..BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ…I felt the place fell very short. And I'm still wondering what part the Hawaiian BBQ is? To me, it's just another teriyaki joint. Maybe you'll have better luck.

BBQ Express Teriyaki Hawaiian BBQ
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes. It’s what’s on sale this week.

September 12, 2008 Cathy Cooking, Recipes, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food, written by a bunch of friends. Cathy is taking her turn blogging today, because Kirk and ed (from Yuma) have lives…

HI. Back again with another easy meal for two for $5 or less…buying ingredients which are on sale this week.

Let's just get this out in the open- I have *never* made the same meatloaf twice in my life. Never. I don't expect you to, either. Instead, I am giving you some general instructions so you can make meatloaf in your own way, to your own taste. The one I am showing you is *very* basic and tasty, without any added spices…

Start out with meat. You don't have to, but I mix 3/4 ground beef with 1/4 something else- in this case, ground pork. The 80/20 ground beef is $1.69/lb at Vons this week, the ground pork is always $1.69/lb at 99Ranch. I ask for one of my size handfuls of pork when I go to the butcher counter.

Then you need fillers and binders. Today, I used an egg, raw mushrooms, stewed tomatoes and panko breadcrumbs.

Take the juice from the stewed tomatoes and soak the breadcrumbs in it. Stewed tomatoes have garlic, onion , celery and green pepper in it. No need to add any more flavor.

Mix all the ingredients together-lightly. I mix the meat, with my hands, first, then incorporate the wet breadcrumbs, the stewed tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. Form into loaf shapes and place on a cookie sheet with edges (a jelly roll pan). Bake at 350° until internal temp is 170° if you are cooking ground pork, 160° if you are using ground beef only. About 45 minutes for 1 pound total meat.edit: You don't really have to hit 170° these days, but I cook until the thermometer hits 155° and then let it rest and it continues cooking and it should be fine. Well, I'm not dead yet anyhow…

Get an instant read thermometer. That, along with good knives are the kitchen tools you will need and use regularly. The rest of the things for your kitchen should all be multi-use items.

While the meatloaf is baking, assemble the following: potatoes-red skinned, Yukon golds and new potatoes have thin skins that don't have to be peeled. Unsalted butter, salt and white pepper are all else you will need. Nothing fancy. Potatoes are good.

Cut the eyes from the potatoes, then chop into relatively small similar sized chinks, so they will cook at the same time.

Immerse potatoes into cold water-they were grown underground. (You put vegetables grown above ground into already boiling water).

Turn heat on low, let potatoes boil until fork tender. Turn off water and drain-Do Not Rinse!

Put the potatoes back into the pot, add the stick of butter, some white pepper and some salt (you can add more after you have a taste). Mash.

Taste and see if you need more salt or pepper.

I use white pepper so you don't see black specks, plus it tastes kind of nutmeg-gy…you can buy white pepper in any Asian grocery store.

When the meatloaf is done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes. The juices will stay in that way and the cold leftovers will be wonderful in a sandwich tomorrow.

If you want to splurge and really enjoy your meal, (the regular price of this is about $1.49), get this can of Dawn Fresh by Giorgio mushroom steak sauce. SO worth it…just open and heat.

Slice the meatloaf, cover with potatoes and gravy. A meal.

OK, that was a very general recipe. You can fancy up the meatloaf with all sorts of things, you can fancy up the mashed potatoes, or you can do it this way and not have to think about anything. All the flavors work and you don't even have to add salt.

Cathy's Meatloaf

Meat: 3 parts ground beef to one part ground pork or ground turkey

Binder: breadcrumbs, soaked in some sort of liquid; egg

Flavor: stewed tomatoes, spices, garlic, sauteed mushrooms, chili sauce, Worcestershire, capers, olives-open up that pantry

Stretchers: fresh vegetables, including shredded potatoes and/or carrots, ground nuts, dry cereal, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, bulgur

Cook at 350° until internal temperature of 160°is reached. Take out of oven to rest, it will continue cooking.

Cathy's mashed potatoes

One handful of raw potatoes per person, one stick of butter, salt and white pepper. If for some reason there is not enough butter, add some milk sparingly to help mash.

This is how I cook. Really.

Gobo Salad

September 11, 2008 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Man was last weekend hot! Those hot days sure do put a damper on your appetite. Except if you’re the Missus. Asked what She wanted for lunch; She answered "Gobo Salad". When I broke the news that Okan is not open for lunch, She was undeterred: "We can make it, I don’t think it’s too hard." After all these years of marriage, I’ve developed my own internal translation engine, which deciphered that little phrase thusly: "I’m here stewing in my juices, so you better make this for me, or you’re in for an ugly death. And try not to make it suck too much".

You remember the salad I’m referring to, don’t you? If not here’s a photo to jog your memory.

So off to Nijiya I marched, and wouldn’t you know it Gobo (Greater Burdock Root) and Mizuna were both on sale. Ah yes, the Missus’s power ranges far and wide……

This recipe should actually be called Mizuna with Sesame Dressing, topped with Fried Gobo. But I guess that’s a bit too long. Right before doing this post, I googled Gobo Salad, and wouldn’t you know it, the first recipe that displayed was from none other than the wonderful FOY (Friend of Yoso) Kat, who does one of my favorite food blogs Our Adventures in Japan. It’s a bit different than this version, but definitely worth a look, so check it out.

So how did it turn out?

Not bad at all……

Gobo Salad a la Wa Dining Okan

1 Large Stalk Gobo
1/2 Bunch Mizuna
1 Tb Sesame Seeds

1/2 Cup Dashi
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tb Sesame Oil

1 – Heat oil in a wok or dutch oven
2 – Peel Gobo. Once Gobo is peeled, use the peeler to shred the Gobo into strips. Rinse well, and keep Gobo in Sumizu (Vinegar Water – 2 tsp white vinegar – 2 cups water) or plain water to prevent discoloration.
3 – Rinse Mizuna, slice off root sections, place in colander and put back into the refrigerator. The salad tastes best with ice cold Mizuna.
4 – When the oil reaches a temperature of 370, drain Gobo well, pat off excess water with a towel of paper towel, and deep fry until golden brown and crisp.
5 – When the Gobo reaches desired doneness, remove from oil, drain, and place on a plate lined with a towel or paper towel.
6 – Mix together the first 4 dressing ingredients until sugar has dissolved. Add Sesame Oil and mix briefly. Taste and adjust flavor.(always check the flavor)
7 – Place ice cold and dry Mizuna in a large bowl, and dress with 1/4 of the dressing. Coat Mizuna well.
8 – Place Mizuna on a plate, top with fried Gobo, drizzle 1/4 of the dressing on the salad. Top with sesame seeds.

Really easy, huh?

Some notes: There are unlimited ways of "riffing on the dressing", so go for it. If you really want a nice sesame flavor, you can bust out the sur ib ac hi and grind up 4-5 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds. After making dashi I really didn’t feel like it. And what to do with the dashi and all that left over oil? The Missus also wanted agedashi tofu, and there was one more stalk of gobo and enough dressing for another salad in the refrigerator……..

I’m not quite sure if you want that recipe, because I’ve changed it a bit to suit the Missus. But here’s a photo:

Island Style Cafe

September 10, 2008 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Loco Mocos, Plate Lunch

I must admit I was in a bit of a rut for a while. I was getting stale; and a bit bored with the places I had sampling. I have a pretty good collection of meals to post about, but could not muster the energy to post about them. But just like that; things would turn around. Starting first with Sab-E-Lee, followed by Wa Dining Okan, I’ve regained my enthusiasm. Fast forward to about a week ago….. I received an email from FOY "Shawn", who mentioned a new Hawaii kine grindz place that had opened up in Tierrasanta. Having read about my obsession with Loco Mocos, Shawn had taken the time out to send me an email about Island Style Cafe. With nice folks like TanyaS and Shawn keeping an eye out for me, it’s almost as if I have my own Loco Moco Patrol out there! And I appreciate the effort. Shawn had even done my research for me: "The restaurant is owned by a husband and wife. The husband cooks while the wife takes care of the tables. The husband worked as a chef at the Four Seasons prior to moving here. The wife worked for Aloha airlines until they went out of business. They had initially planned on helping their brother/brother-in-law start a restaurant and commuting back and forth from Hawaii. Well, once Aloha went out of business they said what the heck and moved here to make a go of the restaurant business." After reading that story, I made it a point to check the place out.

The interior of the restaurant is spartan, but very clean. The menu is interesting to say the least; all the regulars are represented; Teri-Beef, Hamburger Steak, Korean Chicken, and Chicken Katsu, are on the menu. What really stands out on the menu are the presence of crepes! Crepes? There are 4 "sweet crepes", and 4 "breakfast crepes" on the menu. This place is really into breakfast, as breakfast items comprise almost half the menu.

The other thing that stands out is Teri, who handles the front of house. She exudes warmth, and has the most sincere, wonderful smile. Once She found out that I’m from Hawaii(they are from Kona), the pidgin starts leaking out…from the both of us.

The Loco Moco-ish item on the menu is called the "Kaloko Moco". Unfortunately, the menu says it’s served until 11am, and it’s a bit past that when I entered the restaurant. But with Teri; all things are possible, and getting my Kaloko Moco($8.75) is not a problem. This is one pretty original Loco, I’ll say that much!

It is very pretty, at least to me. If there is ever anything that I’d want a plastic version of, a la Japanese Plastic Food, it would be this.

This Loco came with the standard equipment, 2 eggs easy over (nice and runny), a hand formed hamburger patty (grilled with great flavor, but dry and tough), and gravy (Ono-licious, tasted like it was made from scratch). In addition, it was upgraded with Fried Rice, which I’ve had with a Loco Moco before. The fried rice had a generous amount of chopped Spam and Ham, and if a bit on the mushy side, had really good flavor, without being too salty. The item that was really different was the crepe! Yes, all of this cholesterol goodness was placed on top of a savory crepe. I wasn’t sure if this would work; but the crepe was studded with chopped Spam and Ham, and even though there was a very mild sweetness, it didn’t detract from the overall flavor. In fact, I thought it was a nice combination. And in a nice touch, Teri recognized I was a Kama’aina, and brought the required condiment to my table, a bottle of Tabasco, without a single utterance from yours truly. And though I’ve really cut down on my Loco Moco consumption, I’ll have this again, without doubt.

On another visit, I decided to try out some of the items on the Plate Lunch menu. I went with a "mix plate" of 2 items ($9.75). I chose the Chicken Katsu – Korean Chicken combination.

A bit on the high side price wise, but this was pretty good. The Katsu was chicken breast, and very moist. The cutlet was fried to perfection, the panko crust crisp and light. The Katsu sauce was very "local style", ketchup based and tangy. The Korean Chicken was nicely marinated, and had obviously not been laying in a pan, and reheated. It was moist and tender, I enjoyed the marinade, which had a nice flavor, if a bit on the sweet side. The macaroni salad was spot on with regards to the amount of mayo used. It was also nice and cold, which is exactly the way I like my mac salad. I’m not a big fan of tuna in my mac salad, which is a personal preference, so this version is not my favorite.

As I’m writing this post, I’ve come to the realization that these folks get it, with regards to the food they serve. It is well made, the little things matter (the temperature of the mac salad), they care about what they serve, and it comes across as not just being "a business". At least that’s what I think so far. It helps that Teri is warm and welcoming. The menu has several salads, and I overheard that some of the dressings(Mango Vinaigrette, Papaya Seed) are made in house. Burger are also featured prominently, and I think Dennis will be happy to know that there’s Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich on the menu, though I gotta talk to them about the pineapple ring!

Even though the menu lists the hours being 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, I don’t think they’re open for dinner yet.

You know, 2 out of the 3 of the restaurants that I’ve enjoyed lately have happened because of recommendations. What would I do without you all!

Island Style Cafe
5950 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124

Thanks for the recommendation Shawn, this place is a winna!