mmm-yoso – Page 522 – 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.

Baseball Game Food for others- (A day sort of at the ballpark)

June 24, 2007 Cathy Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso, the blog, never is on vacation. It is a day for Cathy to write about what she ate,and other stuff. Kirk is way busy.

Hi. It’s Sunday June 24. The 2004 National Champion Boston Red Sox are in town. Tickets to this game have been sold out for months. The Mister and I still saw the game, live. But not quite on ground level.

Oh, yes, we were in the new Diamond View Tower commercial building, right next to the ballpark, 15th floor, along with about 100 of our closest friends, some University of Michigan Alumni.

Seems one of our fellow Alums works for Point Loma Bank and the top floor Suite was available we were able to attend this event for a small donation to the University of Michigan San Diego Scholarship Fund.

This is part of the interior view and there is a patio that looks out onto the Ballpark.

Glass windows, floor to ceiling, and six television sets inside. You could hear the bat hit the ball inside the room, while watching the television. You could hear the crowd roar. It was like being there, but with air conditioning and no lines in the bathroom.

Oh, right. It was catered. Quite well.

This is the outdoor Diamondviewtowersum_002 fire pit, clear and colored tumbled glass with a gas line through the center. Beautiful at night. The flames were on during the day, but I don’t think you can see very well (click onto any photo to enlarge). That giant canopied round pillowed chair looked through the glass railings down on to the field.

Food. Right.

Smoked chicken quesedilla wedges topped with a fresh salsa. very nice.

Bruschetta topped with caramelized onions.

Outside, a grill was going.

Soon, these small, yet substantial "Sliders" showed up. Burger, cheese, pickle, caramelized onion on an egg bun. Really tasty, quite enough in four bites and just plain nice.

There was this bow tie pasta salad,

made with a nice basil based dressing.

Also this spinach/artichoke/onion dip, served with a variety of crackers and bread slices.

Then, this sign and setup(click on the photo to read):

Oh. My.

Me and mashed potatoes. and toppings. Life is good. Ballpark food this isn’t.

The Mister’s first "martini"- mashed potatoes, Gorgonzola, bacon, wild mushroom gravy and some fried leeks.

My first "martini"-potatoes, Gorgonzola, parsley and fried leeks.

Oh yes, it was wonderful. Notice I said ‘first martinis’. There were more, a lot more. The chicken curry sauce was wonderful and different, quite tasty, just a little heat.

Oh, sure, there was a coffee set up with some nice dessert bites. The cookies were unique- one seemed to have instant coffee as an ingredient and the other was more of a soft gingersnap. There were diamond shaped brownies, peanut butter topped brownies, lemon diamonds and raspberry oatmeal cookies. All were fresh and tasty, not too sugary.

But, well, if you have paid attention…I am not that into sweets. Remember those crackers outside, next to the artichoke dip? and the Gorgonzola that nobody seemed to be touching? Yep- a nice little cheese and cracker tray.

Then, I just didn’t bother and filled a martini glass with Gorgonzola only.

Hope everyone is having a nice first weekend of Summer!

Oh, Boston won 4-2. The Mister and I have never attended a game the Padres won. Ever. More than 20 years.

Do you ever go back to restaurants? Latin Chef, Tsuruhashi, Asia Cafe, and Izakaya Sakura

A question posed in a recent email (thanks CVChow!), and of course the answer is a resounding yes! It’s just that I’m perhaps a little slower on “the trigger” with places I’ve already posted on. But once in a while I still take photos. But questions like this made me realize that I need to update my “rotation”, and I will do so in the upcoming weeks.

So here are some revisits, mostly photos…kind of what Uber OC Food Blogger Elmomonster would call a “photo super shoot”…in my case, it’s just a bunch of photos….

Even More Latin Chef:

**** Latin Chef has changed ownership and moved to Liberty Station

One of 3 restaurants I need to add to our rotation list. The Cebiche Pescado is a current obsession of the Missus:

She craves this once or twice a week, always finishing by sipping the Leche De Tigre (Tiger’s Milk) with a spoon.

Here’s a photo of the Tiradito:

Tiradito is, from what I’ve been told a Japanese influenced Peruvian raw fish dish. This version was made using the Aji Amarillo. The fish had been sliced into strips and slightly flattened with the blade of a knife. Hmmm, sounds really similar to some of the dishes a fairly well known Chef and Restaurant Owner named “Nobu” does. Nice, though not a refreshing as the Cebiche. BTW, did you know that the Sushi Bar in Lima that Nobu co-founded is still in business? It’s called Matsuei, and on our list of possible restaurants to visit for our trip to Peru later this year.

You can find previous posts on Latin Chef here and here.

Tsuruhashi, Again:

We’ve been eating there every other week or so. In fact, I need to revise my statement about the manager. From our second visit on, he’s been so very nice, and always comes by to chat or to say hello. In fact, as I left the other day, he stopped me, shook my hand, and in the very formal Japanese way, handed me his business card.

So here’s some other stuff!

The Prime Beef Tongue:

Pork Belly:

A current favorite of the Missus, the Prime Tongue w/Onion.

You only cook this baby on one side…

One of my favorite “cuts” is the Prime Skirt, it is also one of the most inexpensive at $5.25.

Though a tad more chewy than other cuts, it is still quite tender. The payoff is the nice beefy flavor.

Another one for our rotation, the original post can be found here.

Even more Asia Cafe:

**** Asia Cafe has closed

That doesn’t mean we still don’t visit some of our favorites. Here’s a few photos from Asia Cafe during a recent really fun meal with Ed from Yuma.

The Yum Asia:

Nem Khao:

With the full complement of Greens and Herbs.

The See Nam Tok:

As good as I remembered. Previous posts on Asia Cafe can be found here and here.

The $12 Lunch Bento from Izakaya Sakura:

So many posts on this place. Here’s a photo I had lingering around, Clayfu has a nice post.

You can read the Chowhound post here. It is a lot of food, almost too much for a workday lunch, if you know what I mean. I’ve heard complaints about the lunch not being very hot….methinks that person does not know what a “bento” lunch is all about. It’s a box lunch, whose history goes back to the 11th or 12th century. While digging around, I found a nice little post here. Other posts on Sakura can be found here, here, and here.

Finally, a bit of Saturday silliness:

Earlier this week, I was standing in line at the grocery check-out, and you know how some couples talk really loud, and sometimes you learn or hear a bit more than you really wanted. This young couple was in the midst of a conversation….

Young Lady: “I heard a joke that I really don’t understand….I think it’s really stupid, and not funny.”
Young Man: “What what is….”
YL: “Some of the guys were joking around, and said – Milk a bull, and make a friend for life…”
YM chokes and spits his gum out involuntarily: “Gasp…..”
YL: “What’s so funny…you can’t milk a bull!”
By now everyone in line is cracking up, the cashier is turning a nice red color.
YM: “Think about it, if you tried to milk a bull…..”
YL: “Hey, I’m not stupid, I know Bulls are male and you can’t milk them!”
YM: “Say, you tried to milk a bull?”
YL: “But you can’t milk a bull….”
YM, by now somewhat composed: “But if you really tried to, ahem, milk a bull…….”
YL: “That’s just dumb….”
YM, looking around at all the laughing people: “Must be a lot of dumb people in this line….”

Have a nice weekend…….

The 2007 San Diego County Fair, Part 3, which was part of Part 2.

June 22, 2007 Cathy Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso, the blog, had some issues last night. Cathy had some issues by wanting to fall asleep. Kirk isn't going to post anyhow. He probably has issues, too.

Hi. I was trying to finish up the post about the County Fair last night and everything kept freezing up on me. Then it was Friday and I had stuff I needed to do. Here is the last of the post, and some general information.

Yep, the newest culinary sensation offered at the Fairgrounds.

I asked you to look at the skeleton on the front part of the grill in this photo.

I assume all of you correctly identified it as being from a snake, and more specifically a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, or Crotalus atrox to be completely correct.

Yes, the newest food fad is rattlesnake. Farm raised and costing the owners of this booth $41 a pound.

So, since everyone is in business to make a profit, they are charging $9.50 for rattlesnake chili and $12.50 for fried rattlesnake bites (or, Snakebites) served with fried potatoes and fried jalapeño slices.

For some reason, I do not consider chili to be a Fair Food, plus the idea of eating a tomato based sauce in the heat and sun just was not right to me, so , we opted for more fried food. Snakebites.

There ended up being nine pieces of breaded fried rattlesnake and as many potatoes and only those three jalapeños.

The breading was light and crispy and the Snake meat was not too tough or chewy. There were three of us sharing all of this food at the fair and our Friend, Ms. T, said the Snake tasted more like rabbit, while The Mister said it was kind of like muskrat, better than turtle and way better than seagull.

It was not offensive to me. I did like the breading and added some hot sauce for the potatoes.

We then went in search of cooling desserts.

Ms. T got a strawberry hot fudge waffle cone sundae.

The Mister got the ice cream square dipped in chocolate and peanuts.

I, however, still being adverse to sweets, got the "Still only 25¢" Footsie Wootsie and called it a day.

Do try and get to the Fair and maybe think about participating in some of the exhibits. It is part of our (rather large)community, but still always local.

*****************************************************

Hmmm- Cathy is wearing Cowboy Boots…why would she do that?

Yes, I wear Cowboy Boots. I know a little bit about rattlesnakes. They appear in my back yard every year about this time.

I would like to show you why farmed raised rattlers cost so much. Basically they are larger since they do not have to forage for their meals. Wild rattlesnakes do grow and gain a rattle about every year, but are constantly looking for food and are more likely to be smaller/leaner overall. Being farm raised and not having to slither all over looking and hoping for food makes you lazy and fat (remember this the next time you are sitting in a Drive Thru lane).

I know this about snakes. Because, as I said, they show up in my yard every year.

Here are the skins I preserved from two of the five rattlers I killed (no, not The Mister -me- I killed five rattlers) in 2005. You will notice the rattle in the photograph is 13 in number. Not his lucky year.

If I was not wearing Cowboy Boots, I would be permanently scarred by that one big boy; when I put the shovel on his neck, he really whipped around and hit my calf.

Here are my boots, and the rattler who died this past Sunday- June 17, 2007. Only 7 rattles.

As you noticed, you don't eat the skin. You save it. Also, you have to bury the head. You don't want it to be left out, even in the trash. Yellow jackets will eat the whole head, including the poison sac, and then if those same yellow jackets go out and sting you, well, you get the venom. You should just call your local Fire Department, on their non-emergency line and they will come out right away, kill the varmint and dispose of him properly. They will ask if you want to keep the snake and his skin. You could. Here is what you do with it.

First, nail each end onto a board, belly up. (This is a Cedar fence board from Home Depot, it costs about $1.67; if you buy a "Cedar Plank" for cooking salmon on the grill, it is one of these boards cut into 4 pieces)(it seems to cost a lot to make three cuts with a saw).

Then cut gently down the center, peel the skin off and remove the meat.

You can really see in this photo that this snake, despite being older, is mostly bone and not meat. It would be a bother to have to de-bone all of this animal and then what meat would be left would barely be worth your time and effort.

Then you flatten out the skin as much as possible and pour salt over the whole skin, to aid in the drying out. I leave it in the sun for at least a week. The one from this past Sunday is still there.

After the skin is dry, you do not want it to get hard and brittle or it will fall apart in a few years. Rinse off the salt and then coat the skin daily with glycerin (sold in the Pharmacy Department of most stores) for about another week will preserve the skin and keep it pliable for years to come.

That's it. Hope everyone has a nice first Summer weekend. Enjoy the Fair.

The 2007 San Diego County Fair, Part 2-It’s open, it’s been open

June 21, 2007 Cathy Festivals & Events, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is the blog. Kirk just wrote about food from a local Vietnamese Grocery store and a Whiskey Soda Lounge in Portland, Oregon, Ed just wrote something about food from taco trucks in Yuma and now Cathy is writing this, food at the San Diego County Fair. Variety, you know. You don't have to go to a sit down restaurant in San Diego for food.

Hi again. The San Diego County Fair has been going on for a few days now. If you recall, from my previous post, it opened in June 8. It goes on until July 4. Here is what it looks like, what some exhibits look like and, oh, what we ate.

When you enter the Fairgrounds, you are always greeted by the statue of Don Diego, who is dressed in the theme of the Fair, this year, " A Salute to Heroes".

As with all County Fairs, there are Livestock – cattle, calves, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys mainly. There are small animal competitions and on June 30 the animals for food are auctioned off.

In the Home Arts section, there are displayed the winners of many of the competitions- Preserved Foods, quilting, collections, various craft competitions, cookies and cakes.

The Fine Woodworkers Association had a vast array of hand made furniture and accessories as well as demonstrations going on all day.

There are also competitions of High School and Junior College students, a Gem and Mineral Show, Photography and Fine Art. There is a Newsroom at the Fair with the local newspaper having staff there to answer questions and.

There are some celebrities- musical performers at night, and the day we were there, the Roloff Family of the Discovery channel television show "Little People, Big World" .

Oh, then there is the Midway with Fun Zone rides, games and general "Fair" diversions…

There is that Chair Lift that carries you from the one gate to the Bing Crosby Hall , where sales of gadgets abound…

Oh, and look at that- there is food. The reason for the blog. Let's get into it.

A sample menu, of pretty much everything you might want to try…and I have, in prior years- Deep fried Twinkie, (Twinkie dipped in batter then fried), Deep fried Snickers Bar (I like how the caramel is warm and oozy) and then new- this year. The Chicken sandwich on a Krispy Kreme donut. Yep; had to.

Not a plain Krispy Kreme, nope- a jelly donut. Salty, yet juicy and flavorful preformed chicken served on a fresh jelly donut. I liked the mix of sweet and salty, for two bites anyhow. They give you honey as a condiment, in case the jelly and glaze isn't enough. This cost about $6. I don't know. It doesn't matter.

The rest of the stuff we got was pretty much the usual. The falafel sandwich, with avocado, which is always my favorite food.

Mushrooms on a stick (eh); artichoke hearts on a stick (yum).

There are also available the turkey legs, Sdcf2007_028 the "Ten Pound Loaf" of bread slice, topped with cheeses and garlic butter, the grilled corn, grilled peppers (stuffed with nacho cheese, I might add).

The Cinnamon Roll Truck-if you look closely, they list all the locations the truck will be this year- the County Fairs-

The cream puffs, fried sweet potatoes, and so much else.

But, there was something new and different this year, oh yes…

See those bones on the front of the grill?

That post will show up soon. Unfortunately, Typepad is doing something odd and I cannot finish this post. I have been trying for the last 30 minutes. This one is done and Part 2 of The County Fair Part 2 will be up before you know it!

The San Diego County Fair, now until July 4 www.SDFair.com

Portland: Pok Pok Whiskey Soda Lounge

June 20, 2007 mmm-yoso Portland, Oregon, Thai Restaurants, Travel

*** The Whiskey Soda Lounge has closed

Before our recent trip to Portland, there was not enough good things I could say about Pok Pok. And as time went by I became even more excited. You see, from the little "shed that could", the Whiskey Soda Lounge had evolved, with a more interesting and diverse menu(no worries…Pok Pok "to go" is still there). I could hardly wait. As I noted in my previous post, this was mainly a trip for my In-Laws, but the Missus and I made plans for at least one meal in each city just for us. And for us, this meant catching the #4 bus, and getting off on SE Division.

Knowing that the Whiskey Soda Lounge didn't accept reservations, we made sure to get there as early as possible. We saw the sign, and the path that traveled down a short cement path to the basement and the Whiskey Soda Lounge. It was quite interesting, the last time I visited this was just a ditch!

The tall gentleman met us at the little portable metal desk, and said simply, "this way", and walked us into the Whiskey Soda Lounge.

I liked the dark and "divey" interior which does play on the imagination, I could almost imagine being in a foreign land.

This is where we hit a bump in the road. I can understand the close proximity of the tables in the WSL. I mean, it is a basement. When we arrived, only 3 tables were occupied, and there were several booths against the back wall, each unoccupied. We were taken to what must be the second tiniest table in the restaurant, right in front of the window where you could see some of the cooking done in the yard. Because the booths were empty, the Missus asked if we could have one of the booths. The tall gentleman looked down at us, and crossing his hands said, "no, absolutely not, the booths are for parties of 3 or more." Which was fine by us…EXCEPT, that not 5 minutes later a couple walked in, and was seated. They asked to sit at the very booth that we had been denied, and the host told them, "ok, no problem!" Go figure…..the Missus, a bit perturbed told me, "okay, you got your restaurant…we're going to eat, and leave, A-S-A-P!" She obviously felt slighted, and didn't appreciate the Host's somewhat gruff attitude.

So off to the food. Of course we started with the Papaya "Pok Pok" and requested Blue Crab…oops, correction, we were told Salted Black Crab($7.50 + $2.50):

As good as I remembered, very balanced in flavor, a nice refreshing salty-sweet-sour in flavor. Still one of my favorite versions of this classic dish.

The Kung Op Woon Sen($14.00). We could watch this clay pot dish cooking over charcoal through the window.

A nice dish, at the bottom of this clay pot was a layer of pork belly, nice and slightly charred, and several very large shrimp, though very mild in flavor, cooked to perfection. The flavor of soy came through quite well.

I was very excited to see Cha Ca "La Vong" ($14.00)on the menu. This dish is one of those, "to have before I die dishes." Of course it would have to be at Cha Ca La Vong in Hanoi.

In retrospect, I should have probably ordered something else, perhaps the Pork Ribs or Chicken Wings. I did enjoy the dill and all the herbs, but I found the "tumeric scented" catfish to be very dry, and the version of nuoc mam cham tasted very weak. I had expected some Mam Tom – fermented shrimp paste to be provided, but should have known better. Some friends recently had their Mom make some Cha Ca for the Missus and I, and it is an amazingly good dish. I did notice that the Cha Ca is no longer on the menu at Pok Pok WSL.

Would I return to Pok Pok? Of course, I think the food here is quite good. Though it'll probably be a solo visit. It seems that Andy Ricker's hard work has paid off, I found out courtesy of Guilty Carnivore, that The Oregonian has named Pok Pok it's restaurant of the year.

Pok Pok
3226 SE Division St.
Portland, OR 97202

You know, I think that what happened to us at Pok Pok was magnified, simply because of how nice people were in Portland. Case in point, we were waiting for our cab to Union Station from the Embassy Suites. It was raining pretty hard, and we had been waiting for about 15 minutes. Before you knew it, the Shuttle Van for the Embassy Suites pulls up, and the nice Bellman comes out and tells me, "we're going to take you to Union Station, your cab is taking too long!" Talk about service!

Return to Vien Dong III – Part 2 Following Up

June 19, 2007 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers

*** Vien Dong Market is now Thuan Phat Supermarket. And updated post can be found here.

I know that those of you who commented on the first part of this post have been wondering when I'd get around to doing the follow-up. Following the initial email from Daniel, I made several visits to Vien Dong, research I guess you could say.

Daniel provided a "list" of several key improvements, and I thought I'd verify them.

"The pungency factor is no longer a factor"

This one was strange. Each time I entered the market, there was the standard issue smell, not quite as strong as before, but it was there. But strangely enough, as I walked toward the meat department the smell would dissipate, growing more and more faint. Each visit was during a different time of the day…mornings are always the best, but there it was, the slight meaty-fishy smell. But several steps later, it was gone.

I don't know if my sense of smell made an adjustment, or if there was an environmental or other reason for this. One thing I did notice was that the cashier area is much brighter, and there's a feeling of "space".

Raised our ceiling added skylights and brighter energy efficient lighting

I'm wondering if the raised ceiling has in some way contributed to the pungency issue. Perhaps all of the smells collect in one spot. Still, on my 4 visits it was not nearly as bad as before.

Renovated the seafood department with newer more accessible tanks and freezers.

This one is quite obvious.

But there was one thing I wanted to check, what was in those vats. I was pretty impressed, the water is well circulated, and very clean. Usually most live seafood lives in poorly circulated, murky, sometimes filthy water. As you can see this wasn't the case.

Expanded produce department to include wider variety and volume of produce

I always thought of the produce department at Vien Dong to be quite good, though somewhat cramped and claustrophobic. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times I've been rapped in the ankles or almost run over by durian laden shopping carts pushed by little old ladies…..

Now the produce department has been spread out a bit, and the aisles are a bit wider, and it seems that the department has been brightened up a bit as well.

And then there's my favorite part….

Resurrected the food to go + deli and bakery area

I know it's really just steam table stuff, but you can't beat the prices (2 items and a starch – $3.50, 3 items and a starch – $4.50). And sometimes there some pretty good stuff to be had.

I'm partial to the fried chicken…it's not bad.

It's nice to get a hearty meal for the price of a burrito….

Thanks for restoring my faith in customer service, Daniel!

One last thing

Daniel sent me the URL for a website Originalpho.com that is being developed by Daniel's Company. Usually, I don't do stuff like this, but because Daniel was generous enough to let me reprint his email in my earlier post, this was the least I could do. So check it out, you can request free samples. And here's something interesting. Our very own Cathy actually requested some samples…..

And in her own words:

You sent me the *very nice* letter from Dan, dated April 28, on Sunday April 29, where he mentioned www.originalpho.com to request product samples, and I immediately checked it out. I know companies send out samples because they want you to try and buy. Good business.

I got to choose a flavor (savory chicken, traditional beef, garden vegetable and succulent seafood). I was torn, thinking I would get a chance to try one small "Cup O' Pho" (as in the photograph) and wasn't sure if I shoudl play it safe with vegetable or go for what I know- beef. I expected one of those Styrofoam "Cup O's" to show up someday in the mail. I know whenever I request a product sample, I end up forgetting about it and eventually, months later, it shows up and I am pleasantly surprised.

You can see from the photo that it was sent on April 30 (I requested it Sunday night) and I got the whole pack, like they sell in the store- 6 cups, 70 gram cups. WOW! I certainly did not expect that much at once. It was a *very* pleasant surprise.

The Mister and I got to try the Cup O' Pho in the plain, unadorned sense- eating it as it came from the packaging (after adding the boiling water to cook the noodles, of course)…and then following the recommended add ins- add 1.5 ounces beef, 0.5 ounce bean sprouts, and red onion with the 'optional' (like it is optional) add ins of lime wedges, fresh chilies, cilantro and basil.

I combined two of the cups/ingredients and the add ins from home and made a very nice meal for the two of us one night. (There is a beef bullion-ish seasoning packet; a dried vegetable packet with garlic/onion/chervil/carrot and a spicy oil packet -shallot oil, soy bean oil, garlic and onion).

The foldable fork is helpful and I always save them from wherever I get them. You never know. I have chopsticks and foldable forks in my car side doors at all times. (really)

I sent Daniel a follow-up email asking him if Originalpho.com really did always send out a 6 pack of samples, and here's his reply:

We plan to slowly introduce more products on the internet and this is sort of our first run at it. We are able to ship very quickly because we've setup a good shipping operation out of our warehouse and are able to ship very inexpensively to commercial addresses. We think it makes sense to send out 6 pack samples because they are already well packaged for shipping and are light weight. We also hope that people will share them, especially come lunch/snack time in the work place, and that people will really understand first hand how convenient and tasty they can be.

So all you instant noodle fans – Free Pho!!!

Yuma Taco Truck Update

June 18, 2007 ed fromyuma Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Hello, this is Ed from Yuma. I know many of you think that I am just a fictional character who exists only in Kirk's imagination and on his blog, but on my good days, I am actually a real functioning in-the-flesh human being. In a moment of folly (or perhaps just laziness), Kirk has asked me, ed from Yuma, to write a post for this wonderful blog of his, so here goes.

Careful readers of this blog will remember that Kirk visited Yuma a while back and sampled some of our unique taco truck cuisine. Considering how much the taco truck scene can change literally overnight, it is remarkable that Kirk's posts are still very relevant in 2007 – though some trucks are closed for the summer. In this post, I will look at the best of the new taco trucks and revisit some old favorites from Kirk's trip here.

Tacos y Mariscos Juanita's

The most important new addition to Yuma taco truck choices is Juanita's. It is located in a lot just west of Avenue A on 8th St. Unlike many taco trucks, Juanita's is more than just the truck. There is a covered ramada with five small tables each offering plenty of hot sauce choices. In addition, restrooms for men and women are provided as well. Not only do these come in handy for obvious reasons, but they also provide a way to clean taco sticky hands.

During Yuma's main season, there is also an outdoor grill next to the truck, preparing meat for carne asada tacos, but seafood is the specialty of the truck. Both shrimp and fish tacos are available ($1.25 each):

The fish taco is on the left, and the shrimp is on the right.

The fish taco (taco de pescado) contains a generous portion of fresh meaty white fish. The lightly flavored white sauce adds a bit of moisture and a little tang , the diced cabbage adds crunch, and the chopped tomatoes add a nice color contrast. While numerous bottled sauces are available, I always use Juanita’s own homemade salsa, and a squirt bottle of this spicy and powerful sauce sits on every table. My only complaint about the fish taco is that its breading is not crunchy. Normally I'm not a huge fan of shrimp tacos (tacos de camerones), but Juanita's version is outstanding. Each small shrimp is individually breaded, and these have the required crunchiness that makes them a delight to eat. In this case, as you can see, I squirted too much of Juanita's great salsa over the taco so that some of the shrimpy taste was lost in picante overload. Very tasty nonetheless.

My favorite item at this truck, however, is the campechana "con todo," with everything, meaning with all the seafood choices and chopped red onions and cucumber ($11):

Juanita’s serves one of the most outstanding campechanas I have ever eaten. The mildly flavored tomato water (who knows exactly what is in it, along with tomato juice, lime juice, and perhaps a little Clamato) provides an outstanding backdrop for the fresh and tasty seafood. One or two squirts of salsa and I am ready to devour. The shrimp here are large and perfectly cooked – completely succulent, juicy, and flavorful. The octopus chunks (pulpo) are not at all tough and rubbery; instead the pieces of octopus are tender and almost soft, having just enough chew to provide some complexity in mouth feel with the other ingredients.

But there is more than just octopus and shrimp:

Yes, your eyes are not lying. This seafood cocktail also contains raw and extremely fresh bay scallops, squarish chunks of canned abalone (thanks Melanie), and three flavorful oysters. For some reason, the oysters are always my favorite as, in my mouth at least, the briny and slightly funky oyster flavor perfectly complements the tomato water while the soft texture contrasts with the crunchy onions and cukes.

If I have any complaint about Juanita's, it is that it is too popular. At peak times during the winter, there is no room at any of the tables, and I have to stand in line to order. However, the food is quickly prepared – and tastes great even when eaten in the front seat of my car.

Taco Trucks Redux

In this part of the post, I just want to add some information about three of the trucks that Kirk visited in Yuma. First, Tio Juan is still making an outstanding mixed seafood cocktail (campechana) although they are closed now for the summer – which is why I have no pictures (sorry). But twice this winter when I visited the stand, the coctele contained unusual and very flavorful black clams. While the exterior of the clam is grayish, the interior is solid black like coal. No matter how strange they looked, the firm textured flesh was clammy sweet. The young man who made my campechana told me the clams came from Los Mochis.

I also watched carefully as he made my campechana and was surprised by the complexity of the liquid. He used small amounts of ketchup, lime juice, Clamato, canned tomato sauce, and dashes of bottled hot sauce. He then ladled shrimp water (“this is the water we get from boiling the shrimp,” he said) into the mix. The liquid was much fishier tasting than in other cocteles I've eaten. My only complaint was that the shrimp were hammered, so overcooked that their texture was not ideal.

Of course, I have returned often to Mariscos el Nayarita as no one can get enough of their wonderful shrimp empanadas. There are, however, at least two other dishes that are done very well at this stand. One of them is whole fish:

This perfectly fried whole tilapia is served with corn tortillas and salsa. The outside of the fish has a nice crunch, but most of the flesh was still moist and juicy. There was no greasy aftertaste whatsoever. As you can see, we liked the fish:

We also tried a very special dish at the truck, pescado zarandeado, a traditional style of fish preparation common along the eastern shore of the Sea of Cortez. Here the whole fish is split in half, sprinkled with Mexican spices, and grilled outside over charcoal:

This type of fish is served only at the height of the winter season, and often one needs to let them know an hour or more in advance so that they can prepare the coals. Again, the fish was served with salsas and corn tortillas. The Mexican spices add a flavorful touch to the fish although this one was slightly overcooked for my taste.

Recently, I was driving along 8th St, trying to locate any new trucks and see which ones were still open. Well, okay, I was also hungry, so this wasn't purely a research exploration. Unfortunately, one of the new trucks I was looking for had vanished, and a couple others are closed for the season. So that brought me back to Deliciosos del Mar, the wonderful little truck that makes the tasty caguamanta, stingray soup. At first it looked like it was not going to be my day as the nice lady at the window finally was able to communicate to me (her English being worse than my Spanish – and that means almost no communication at all) that the soup was not ready yet.

Well, I was too hungry to look for any place else, so I ordered two tacos:

The taco on the right is a decent shrimp taco though I prefer the ones from Juanita’s. The taco on the left was the revelation. It had never before occurred to me to try a cabeza taco at a truck that seemed so focused on seafood. Now I have learned my lesson as this was the best cabeza taco I have ever had in Yuma:

Look carefully at the chunks of Cabeza here. Each one was like a tender flavor bomb, full of meaty and beefy goodness. If you look carefully, you also can see some of the fat that added so much to the richness (and, no doubt, cholesterol) in this taco. The chopped cabbage and red onions and the leaves of cilantro contributed flavors and textures and helped make each bite a true joy.

So even now, a person can find good taco truck cuisine in Yuma, and with temperatures reaching around 110°, the town has plenty of parking places and no lines at the taco trucks. Come visit.

Al Salam Halal Meat and Restaurant

June 16, 2007 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Al Salam has closed.

Hi. Its a Saturday night and mmm-yoso is tired. This is a short post on a favorite place Cathy and The Mister like to go to when they want something healthy and tasty. Kirk isn't posting anything tonight anyhow.

Hi. This will be short; I don't have a photo of the menu- it is one piece of paper kept at the cash register. Also, the camera died…well, the batteries did, anyhow.

Joseph E. asked me about my favorite place or two when I responded to a question about Mediterranean foods on a Forum earlier today. I pretty much have kept this one to myself for a very long time. They have good business mostly from the same local families and walk ins. There are many Mediterranean places in El Cajon, due to the large Chaldean population (when Iraq was having elections, one of the four places in the USA to vote was right down the street from this restaurant on Main Street in El Cajon). There were a lot more places on Main Street, seemingly one on top of another, but they have now spread out over the City of El Cajon. Nonetheless there are many small markets that are very ethnic and I saw a few that are both Arabic and Mexican in inventory on Main Street. (Main Produce Market as 1255 East Main, near Second has a "Coming Soon" sign and writing in Arabic and Spanish).

So, this little place…Most people come in here and get food to go, or just buy some Halal meats from the one refrigerator case, filled with Halal meats (I think the easiest way to describe Halal is "Muslim Kosher".) The menu is mostly written in Arabic with two columns for prices- it is less expensive to get something to go than to 'have service' as the owner says. Nevertheless, we are willing to pay the extra dollar or two per item and sit down at one of the 8 tables.

The building used to be a Doctor's office.

If the lady is working, she speaks good English, if it is all men in there (as it was on Saturday night), be patient. They speak broken English but they cook very well. They have a hard time explaining things if you ask a question-(we tried asking about the ingredients in the salads)- so order something simple (hummus appetizer, lamb kabob, Greek salad) or point and say "yes, I want that". It will be good.

It is clean inside, no air conditioning. They will bring you a pitcher of ice water.

The menu has appetizers, salads, main courses and kabob sandwiches.

We ordered the Shawarma (lamb/beef cooked on a spit with spices, shredded . The taste and texture is a little different than Gyros) and a Greek salad and one hot tea. The hot tea is served in a small glass and there is no refill; it is nice mint flavor and goes well with the food.

You get this GIANT piece of bread- round and hollow like pita, whole grain in texture. A good 12 inches plus in diameter, toasty warm and cooked on one side and folded into a basket.

The condiments on the table are salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and sumac. (Sumac is a powdered spice, kind of lemony/tart in flavor so it sort of also substitutes for salt). You know my camera died, don't you?

Here is the photo of the Shawarma plate. $8. A good pound of shredded, cooked, nicely flavored and still lightly game-y tasting lamb/beef served with sliced raw onion, tomato, parsley and pickled turnips.

The Greek salad was $6- chopped tomatoes, sweet Persian cucumbers, lettuce and a good amount of a very nice salty, fresh Feta cheese. The dressing is a red vinaigrette. Nice and thick, but not too much; you can toss it more so it spreads over the ingredients. I sprinkled sumac on everything- the salad, my pieces of bread…

The Mister gave me a lot of his lamb to put onto the salad, made himself lots of little bites on top of pieces of the torn bread and I had a lot of the bread also and there was still some leftover. Total bill was $15.70

The men were all there tonight and did not interfere with our meal, even to ask how it was going. When we were leaving, all of them asked us how we liked it and when were we coming back…so, don't be offended if you go and they seem to be staring at you. They are more used to the 'to go' orders, and having the lady working there.

Down the same block two stores West is the El Cajon International Foods Market. They sell cooked kabobs inside the store. You could get a kabob at Al Salam and then one at the Market to compare…

Al Salam Halal Meat and Restaurant 550 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619)585-5374

Cathy’s Trip Part One- A short, late, spring vacation…with food

June 15, 2007 Cathy Travel, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is a blog. About food. Sometimes other stuff creeps in here. But it all comes back to food. Cathy is blogging while Kirk has no time to do much writing about food.

Hi. I left San Diego on Southwest Airlines last Friday morning. Early. Got to Phoenix and had to find the other gate in another terminal and waited. This is the rug on the floor in the Phoenix Terminal It is a neat pattern, don’t you think?

So, anyhow, you know I eat and blog about it…but what does Cathy pack to eat on board the plane? Do I merely buy something outrageously expensive in the terminal? Ha!

Smoked salmon pate in a can; two slices of buttered rye bread; raw Spanish peanuts; the bag of Mediterranean herbed olives from Trader Joe’s; Banana Crisp Bonanza Trek Mix from TJ’s; hot tea and a glass of ice from Southwest ( I make my own iced tea; that canned stuff is insipid) and my ever-present (and x-ray undetectable) chopsticks.

I’d just like to let you know this isn’t any sort of special meal; I have flown on Southwest a *lot* (to the point that I get birthday and Christmas cards from them) since 2001 and I want some part of my lengthy in-air time to have luxury. This is, however, the first time I photographed my take aboard meal.

And I flew back east. Here are some of the sights, as well as some more "native" hints at foods to be blogged about.

Some sports fans out there might recognize where I was.

OK, I’ll show some native foods.

A coney- hot dog- an a loose hamburger. Each topped with chili (no beans)(never any beans), mustard and onions (never *ever*cheese). That, on the right, a package of …City Chicken.???

Galabki (gah-whoump-key) sometimes called stuffed cabbage, topped with a tomato sauce, which is also on the mashed potatoes .

Chrusciki- Angel Wings..?

Still no idea? Well… The consumption of potato chips by the people in the county this city is located in is the largest, per capita, in the world (according to the pamphlet at the airport, which I memorized, while waiting, because the plane got in 50 minutes EARLY).

There are Still Big Boy Restaurants in town.

As is the case everywhere I live, or lived, here is one of many taco trucks…

I know, not many who read this blog are actually from here, nor do they particularly choose this as a place to visit for vacation.

OK, easiest clues.

More to follow…

Thai Style Green Papaya Salad

June 14, 2007 mmm-yoso Recipes

It’s been a long day……so just a short post for tonight!

Lately, it seems that the Missus can’t get enough Papaya Salad, She has consumed the equivalent of 5 large green papayas over the last 2 weeks, sometimes having Papaya Salad twice a day!

This means that the "heavy artillery", our large mortar and pestle gets put to good use. The recipe itself is quite easy, and based on the recipe in David Thompson’s wonderful book Thai Food. I’ve varied the ingredients somewhat, mainly because the Missus and I have very different tastes when it comes to Papaya Salad. The Missus likes a lot of lime and fish sauce, and less sweet, with a ton of long beans. I enjoy mine a bit sweeter, with pungent garlic overtones and lots of tomato. Once you make it you’ll be able to adjust the recipe for your taste quite easily. Oh, and watch those Thai Bird Chilies, they vary from batch to batch! Oh yes, and on shredding the Papaya…the Missus insisted that my mandolin did not adequately shred the papaya, so I ended up going to the local Vietnamese Market and picked up a $1.99 plastic papaya shredder. She swears that She can tell the difference!

Green Papaya Salad

1-4 Cloves Garlic
2-4 Thai Bird Chilies
1 Tb Roasted Peanuts
2 Tb Dried Shrimp
2 Quarter Slices Lime
8-10 Cherry Tomatoes Cut in Half
4 Long Beans(aka Chinese Long Beans) Cut into 1/2" Lengths
3 Cups Shredded Green Papaya
1-3 Tb Palm Sugar
Juice of 1/2 lime(or more)
2-4 Tb Fish Sauce(we use Tiparos)

Pound Garlic, Chilies, Palm Sugar(works better for us this way) in a mortar.

Add peanuts and shrimp, and pound into a very coarse "paste".

Add lime and mash. Add tomato and long beans and pound gently until bruised.

Add fish sauce and lime juice and mix. Taste, and adjust seasonings.

Serve with cabbage wedges.

So easy!!!!

For me the ingredient that "makes" this Papaya Salad "tick" is the Palm Sugar. I think it adds a more complex sweetness to the dish.

It could be just me…….

Palm Sugar can be really hard like rock, and a bit difficult to separate and portion. But David Thompson, and the one and only Chez Pim have solved that problem.