Recipes

May 10, 2013 Meat

Larb Gai (Minced Chicken Salad)

This is the second of four dishes that I learned to make during my 4-hour cooking class at BaiPai Cooking School in Bangkok, Thailand. This is the fourteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see other posts in this series.

When Bryan first found out he had to go to Thailand for a work trip, he thought he would starve.

You see, Bryan can't eat coconut milk. And he doesn't really like food that's sweet. His limited experience eating Thai food in the US lead him to think two things:

1) Thai food looks like Chinese food but tasted a lot sweeter (e.g., Pad See Yu versus Beef Chow-Fun)

2) Thai food is full of coconut milk.

Now, there are some elements of truth to some of his impressions. Coconuts are native to Thailand and coconut cream and milk are fundamental elements in many Thai dishes. Furthermore, Thai cuisine is all about the perfect balance of spicy, sweet, salty, and sour. This means "sweet" is inevitably one of those elements.

Jen with fresh coconut ice cream at Chatuchak Market

However, there are so many dishes in Thailand that don't fall neatly into one of those two categories. Thai food is extremely rich and diverse, incorporating influences from many different regions.

After arriving in Thailand, we both immediately fell in love with Isaan cuisine, the food from the Northern part of Thailand next to Laos. Certain things make this region's food particularly appealing to Bryan.

First of all, you just don't see the coconut milk based curries. It's not really a predominant part of Isaan cuisine. This works quite well for Bryan, who can't really tolerate coconut milk.

Secondly, the food is extremely spicy, which Bryan loves. The higher level of spice successfully balances out the salty, sour, and - yes, even sweet - aspects of a particular dish. Bryan didn't mind the slight sweetness in dishes we had in Thailand, and I think it's because everything was so balanced it didn't really stick out.

Maybe in the US Thai restaurants have to tone down the spice and increase the sugar, which messes with the perfect balance?

In any event, one of my favorite Isaan dishes (up there with Som Tam, the pounded green papaya salad), is Larb Gai. Also known as lop gai, lap gai, or laab gai ("larb" rhymes with "saab"), this refreshing salad is made with ground chicken, roasted rice powder, lime juice, fish sauce, and a load of gorgeously fragrant herbs, such as cilantro, mint, scallions, shallots, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves.

It's healthy, exploding with flavor, and just about the perfect mix of sweet, spicy, salty, and sour.

One of the key ingredients in this dish is the roasted rice powder that gets mixed together with all the other flavorful ingredients. In our class, the instructor showed us how to toast our own in a wok. She did mention that you could also do this in the oven if you want to make this in bulk.

Over high, dry heat, toss a 1:1 mixture of jasmine rice and sticky rice in a wok with fresh kaffir lime leaves and chopped galangal. Continue to mix until the rice is golden brown and the leaves begin to dry out. Grind in a mortar and pestle until it becomes a fine powder. You can also use a spice blender or food processor.

Set aside. [Note - can be prepared earlier since it keeps for quite sometime]

Over medium heat in a pan, cook the ground chicken in chicken broth and salt until the chicken is cooked. Break apart the ground meat while cooking.

Because we don't want to heat the lime juice (it becomes bitter), remove the pan from heat and add fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chili powder, and the roasted rice powder. Mix well.

Mix in the shallots, cilantro, scallions, and mint leaves and toss together.

Serve with raw fresh vegetables, such as long beans or cucumbers. Optionally serve with sticky rice.

Enjoy!

Please note that the portions we made in our class were single sized portions, so I would most definitely double or quadruple the recipe if you want to make it for more people. I actually think this dish is reasonably flexible, and the amounts of herbs you add are pretty much based on personal preference.

Larb Gai
70 g ground chicken (⅙ lb)
¼ cup chicken stock
2 shallots, thinly sliced
cilantro, one large bunch
2 stalks of scallions, sliced
20 mint leaves

Sauce
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 T fish sauce
1 T lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 T roasted rice powder (see below)

Cook chicken with salt and chicken stock on a wok until chicken is cooked. Remove the wok from heat and add fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chili powder, roasted rice powder. Mix well.

Add fresh herbs! Shallots, cilantro, scallions, mint leaves, and toss.

Serve with raw vegetables like cucumbers, raw long beans, and Chinese cabbage.

Roasted Rice Powder
¼ cup sticky rice
¼ cup jasmine rice
1 T chopped galangal
2 kaffir lime leaves (or lemongrass)

Heat on medium high heat in a dry wok (or oven) until leaves begin to dry out and rice begins to brown.Grind by hand in a mortar and pestle until fine.

Enjoy!

This is the fourteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, and Fun Fruits in Thailand plus posts about recipes from my cooking class at Somphong Thai Cooking School including Som Tam (Papaya Salad), Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken, Bananas In Golden Syrup, BaiPai Thai Cooking School, and Golden Bags.

May 9, 2013 Appetizer

Golden Bags

This is the first of four dishes that I learned to make during my 4-hour cooking class at BaiPai Cooking School in Bangkok, Thailand. This is the thirteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Scroll to the bottom of the post to see other posts in this series.

In my way-too-short five days in Bangkok, I packed in two cooking classes over two days where I learned how to make seven different Thai dishes.

Having very little exposure to Thai food before I traveled there, every new dish was a new adventure. I loved learning about the street food, fresh market produce, and dishes from various regions around Thailand. The cooking classes were great because they got me familiar with Thai ingredients and how to cook them.

Unfortunately, it's harder to get some of these ingredients halfway around the world. There are certainly some dishes that just won't be the same if I try to remake them here in the US.

However, other dishes will translate quite well across the ocean, and I think these deliciously cute little Golden Money Bags are definitely one of them. This particular appetizer relies a lot less on the distinct flavors of Thailand-specific ingredients. It's actually quite flexible, and therefore I think it can stand up to a lot of substitutions.

Better yet, they impressive to look at yet surprisingly really easy to make. I was floored how perfectly my little bags turned out, even though it was my first time ever making them!

Grind the white peppercorns, garlic, and cilantro root together to form a paste. We used the traditional Thai mortar & pestle, but you could just as easily use a mini food processor. If you don't have cilantro root, you can substitute with the leaves and stems. Add this to the ground pork, cilantro, chopped water chestnuts, onions, sugar, and soy sauce. Mix it up!

In Thailand you can easily buy fresh wrappers in the market. In the US, you will likely have to go to an Asian market (probably the frozen section) in order to get these spring roll wrappers. Let the wrappers defrost in the refrigerator, and then just make sure to keep them moist (e.g., store the wrappers under a wet paper towel while wrapping so they don't try out).

Wrap according to the steps shown above.

Tie up the golden bags using your green strips of Pandanus leaves. Use Chinese chives or scallions as a substitute. It is good to parboil your leaves before using them in this recipe. It makes them more flexible and prevents them from breaking when you try to tie them into a bow.

Heat up about 2 cups of oil to ~180 °C (~356 °F). One way to check whether the oil is hot enough for frying is the "chopstick test." Stick a wooden chopstick into the oil. If tiny bubbles form around the oil, it means the oil is ready.

Fry until golden brown (3-5 minutes?) and then remove to let cool. Ideally, place them on paper towels to cool a bit so some of the oil can drain off.

Because the bags are deep fried, it's nice to balance them out with something light and crisp, such as sliced raw cucumbers.

Serve with a sweet and sour plum sauce. Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for the plum sauce. They just served it to us at the school.

Enjoy!

Golden Bags
makes 4 bags

Filling
20g minced pork
5 white peppercorns
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon finely chopped cilantro root
1-2 stalks cilantro, chopped
5g water chestnuts, chopped
5g onions, chopped
2 cups oil (for deep frying)
¼ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon soy sauce

Bags
4 spring rolls wrappers
1 Pandanus leaf, pulled into strips and parboiled
(note, if not available, can use scallions or Chinese chives, which don't need to be pulled into strips)

Grind the white peppercorns, garlic, and cilantro root together to form a paste (mortar & pestle or food processor). Combine with ground pork, cilantro, water chestnut, onions, sugar, and soy sauce. Mix well.

Wrap a spring roll wrapper around about 1 teaspoon filling and tie together with the Pandanus leaf.

Deep fry at 180 °C until golden brown.

Serve!

This is the thirteenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, and Fun Fruits in Thailand plus posts about recipes from my cooking class at Somphong Thai Cooking School including Som Tam (Papaya Salad), Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken, Bananas In Golden Syrup, and BaiPai Thai Cooking School.

May 8, 2013 Asian

Baipai Thai Cooking School

This is the twelfth (!) post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, and Fun Fruits in Thailand plus posts about recipes from my cooking class at Somphong Thai Cooking School including Som Tam (Papaya Salad), Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken, and Bananas In Golden Syrup.

While Somphong Cooking School is a busy cooking school located smack in the middle of bustling Bangkok, Baipai Cooking School feels like an oasis set far away from the crazy crowded streets of the city.

It was day two of my cooking adventures. The previous day, I had spent 4 hours at the Somphong Cooking School in Bangkok learning how to make pad Thai, Panaeng curry, papaya salad, and bananas in golden syrup. I had learned so much about basic Thai spices from our fascinating market tour.

Just about an hour before this cooking class was to start, a van from the school came straight to my hotel to pick me up. It picked up one other couple (who turned out to be from Australia) before heading onto the highway towards the cooking school.

An hour later (traffic in Bangkok can be very bad sometimes!), we finally arrived.

The moment I stepped out of the van, I felt like I was at a resort or a spa. A sense of calm slowly came over me as I took a deep breath, enjoying the clean air out here.

Baipai is definitely a more "luxurious" cooking school. Upon arrival, they gave us each a key to a private locker where we could store our belongings. We were then given ice cold glasses of refreshing tea, a perfect antidote to the hot weather outside.

They handed out these traditional hats for all of us to wear since the sun was so strong outside.

"These are the types of hats they wear at the floating markets," said Nok, one of our instructors.

Instead of going to the local market, we took a brief walk around the little herb garden at BaiPai. There, Nok taught us the difference between galangal and ginger; kaffir lime and normal lime, cilantro and culantro, and many, many more.

Both of our instructors, Chef Phu on the left and Nok on the right, were great.

There were ten of us, and we all sat around this huge table where we all could watch Chef Phu as she demonstrated various cooking techniques. There was even a mirror above her workstation so we could watch (close up) what she was doing.

We learned the traditional way of making coconut cream. It's quite labor intensive! Before the days of machines, people manually carved out coconut shavings for the purpose of squeezing into coconut cream and milk.

We then got to try it for ourselves (see my hat picture above). It was hard work!
And then, it was time to start cooking. I'll definitely write more detailed posts about each of these dishes (including recipes!), but for now, here's a little preview.

Larb Gai, a Northern Thai Isaan style dish that consists of ground chicken tossed together with roasted rice powder, lime juice, fish sauce, and chilies.

Yes, we learned how to make Pad Thai (every cooking class seemed to include this one), but we also learned a neat new way of wrapping pad Thai with an egg. It reminds me of the ones they make at Thip Samai, arguably one of the best pad Thai places in Bangkok.

We made golden bags! I was surprised how easy it was.

And I discovered a new love for this dessert I'd never tried before - rubies in coconut milk. These are water chestnuts which have been lightly covered with a potato starch based coating. It is so tasty and utterly refreshing.

I really enjoyed my class at BaiPai Cooking School. The instructors were really nice, had excellent English, and really took good care of us. Compared to Somphong the location is a bit far out. However, it's nice that they pick you up at your hotel and take you back. It's just one less thing to worry about.

This class cost 2000 Baht, or about $60 USD. Still cheap by US standards, it costs about twice as much as Somphong. What do you get for that extra 1000 Baht? A more luxurious space, professionally printed recipe cards, and transportation to and from your hotel.

Between the two schools, I think the quality of education is comparable, and the dishes we made at both were absolutely fantastic. You really can't go wrong with either. For me, it was fascinating to compare the two different schools - everything from the differences in how they taught the same dish (Pad Thai) to the types of people that take classes at each school (Somphong had younger, more international crowd compared to the older, more American/Australian crowd at BaiPai).

Stay tuned for recipes and more step-by-step photos!

Photos of me courtesy of BaiPai Cooking School (I really liked how they took photos of us during our class and emailed us the files later on - definitely a nice touch).

May 7, 2013 Boston

A Dinner at Home with a Personal Chef (Matthew Harker)

I first met Jillian at a small cafe in Cambridge right near my workplace. She was a student at Harvard Business School, and her teammates had hatched up an interesting business idea that they were considering bringing to market.

It would be a marketplace matching up personal chefs with interested diners.

Personal chefs? Do normal, everyday folks hire personal chefs?

Jillian surprised me with their target price point: $25-$75 per person for a personal chef to come and cook a really nice meal at your home.

I could easily spend that much at a pretty ordinary restaurant.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I had recently sampled a phenomenal dinner from Chef Peter Ungár, an amazingly talented chef who has worked as a personal chef for years. I remember thinking, "wow, there are so many really, really good "hidden" chefs that live in Boston, and most of us have no idea who they are."

Jillian's team's business idea seemed to be a great way for this gap to be fixed. Just imagine - you log onto a website and search for personal chefs. They each give their bios, specialties, sample menus and prices. Better yet, there are user reviews associated with the chefs.

About two months after that initial conversation, Jillian contacted me to tell me that they were indeed about the launch the business, called ChefXChange. Would I be interested in trying the service out courtesy of them?

Who would say no to having a personal chef cook for you?

After a few back and forths, we booked Matthew Harker for small dinner at my home for guests.

Matthew Harker graduated from Johnson & Wales University and has been cooking professionally for about eight years. He's passionate about using local and sustainable ingredients. His extensive travels have exposed him to a broad range of flavors - he cooks Mediterranean, French, Southern, and even Asian!

Matthew called me the morning of our dinner just to confirm my address and any last minute details.

He arrived carrying several large insulated bags full of various containers. After just a bit of orientation in my kitchen, he got to work right away.

I'd never had a personal chef in my home before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was surprised how little I had to do. Aside from showing him where I kept some key pots and pans, he pretty much figured out everything else himself.

I guess when your job is to figure out other people's kitchens all the time, you get pretty good at it.

Before he started cooking, Matthew whipped out some Lemon Hummus he had made and a bag of fancy crackers. He wanted the guests to have something to snack on while waiting for their first course.

Soon afterwards, he took out some bread he had been warming up in the oven. We enjoyed this with his homemade Confit Roasted Garlic Butter, which was a hit with all the guests. They just couldn't stop eating it!

Meanwhile, Matthew began preparing some of the initial courses, such as the velvety smooth spring pea and ramp soup . . .

. . . and these lovely pan seared scallops wrapped in peppered bacon.

After about 15 or so minutes, we sat down and began with our first course: Seared Scallops with peppered bacon, minted pea puree, fired roasted pepper puree, and crispy ramps. This little starter was delicious. The scallops were cooked perfectly (nice and soft), and I liked how the bright minted pea puree and roasted red pepper puree balanced out the rich umami from the bacon and the scallops.

Matthew cleared our plates and began serving our next course, the Spring Pea Ramp Soup topped with roasted local oyster mushrooms, sauteed fiddleheads, a splash of creme fraiche. This soup was velvety and super smooth. Matthew said he strained it multiple times to achieve such a fine, creamy consistency. The portion size was quite generous, and I actually ended up saving some for lunch the following day (yum!). Since we were in my own home, it was easy to pack stuff up into my own containers and put it straight into the refrigerator.

For our main course, we had Grass Fed Beef Short Ribs braised in Malbec and served with a Parmesan polenta, asparagus, buttered carrot puree, and a short rib reduction. Chef Matthew had slowly braised these under low heat for 4-5 hours, and it showed. These short ribs were fork-tender, almost melt-in-your-mouth soft. The red-wine based sauce was on the salty side, but richly fragrant, with elements of anise, cinnamon, and beef jus.

The best part was that Matthew had cooked several extra short ribs, and he gave us all the leftovers, which was enough to feed us for at least two more meals!

As a special surprise, Matthew treated us to some of his "Champagne" Grapes. These grapes are carbonated inside, and taste fizzy when you bite into them! It was a great palate cleanser and segue into dessert.

I'm always afraid of fruit-based desserts because they are often too sweet for me. Thankfully, this Strawberry Rhubarb Tartin, which came topped with Tahitian vanilla bean gelato, was not too sweet at all. I really enjoyed the simple, yet well executed dessert.

All in all, we had a really nice dinner. Matthew was courteous, efficient, and cooked us a great, New England seasonally-inspired dinner. We had requested something a bit more custom and special, and he totally delivered. Matthew's cooking is solid, and we enjoyed every dish he made. His recipes are tried-and-true, perfected over years of practice. Don't expect anything super edgy, risky, or unusual. Instead look forward to well-executed crowd pleasers that are safe, established winners.

His menus on ChefXChange range from $38 to $50, though you can custom order whatever you want. This particular menu cost $90 per head (all inclusive).
Although I usually love cooking and hosting at my home, once in awhile it's nice to have someone else take care of everything for you. Bryan and I ended up taking advantage of the gorgeous weather outside that afternoon by walking 10 miles from our church in Lexington back home to Cambridge.

It was a carefree day. Instead of worrying about what to cook, getting everything on the table in time, and cleaning up the huge mess generated by all that cooking, I just made sure my kitchen was clean and ready for Matthew to use.

He took care of everything else, including leaving me with a spotless kitchen when he left about 2 hours after having arrived.

And me? I got to spend all my time just relaxing and hanging out with my guests, which was very nice.
Disclaimer: ChefXChange paid for this meal. All opinions are my own

May 4, 2013 New England Trip Report

Beautiful Vermont (King Arthur Flour Blog & Bake™)

It's easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life. Work deadlines, household chores, and never-ending errands that pile up.

And then something crazy like the Boston Marathon bombings occur, and it puts everything into perspective.

I flew back to Boston on the day the city was on lockdown as the police tried to hunt down the remaining bomber. I remember feeling nervous, scared, and really uncertain about whether I wanted to travel again. You see, I was scheduled to take a bus up to Vermont to King Arthur Flour's annual Blog & Bake™ event- a unique 2-day "retreat" where bloggers get together and learn how to bake at King Arthur Flour's headquarters in Vermont.

But all I wanted to do was to hunker down in the (relative) safety of my own house. The raw fear of getting onto public transportation in the midst of all that uncertainty was quite real for me.

Thankfully, things got resolved by the end of that surreal day, and the city slowly regained normalcy throughout the weekend.

On Sunday, I packed my bags and hopped onto a bus headed for Vermont.

And I am so, so glad I decided to come.

Vermont is gorgeous. Spending a few days in the quiet, peaceful countryside learning how to bake was exactly what I needed to get over the previous week. It was relaxing, therapeutic, and lots of fun. Heck, even my aching wrists got better from the days of rest away from a computer.

I learned how to bake many, many things, and I can't wait to share them all with you. We'll start a baking series here on the blog which will highlight all the fun things I learned how to make.

For now, here's a tiny, photo-journalistic peek at what I did those two days in Vermont.

Enjoy this beautiful state!

My fellow bloggers who also attended: Audra from The Baker Chick, Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny, Carole from Heirloom Meals, David from Spiced Blog, Erika from In Erika’s Kitchen, Eva from Adventures in Cooking, Jennifer from Bake or Break, Kate from Food Babbles, Katie from Healthy Seasonal Recipes, Marnely from Cooking with Books, Rebecca from Foodie with Family, and Tara from Ladies’ Home Journal.

Disclaimer
King Arthur Flour provided the lodging, food, and activities for Blog & Bake™ 2013. I paid for my own transportation.

May 2, 2013 Cambridge

Chez Henri {NOW CLOSED}

This is the seventh restaurant post in the ongoing series Welcome to My New Hood, a series highlighting the neighborhood between Harvard Square and Porter Square in Cambridge. Other posts in this series: Rafiki Bistro (now closed), Super Fusion Sushi, Temple Bar, Giulia, Cambridge Common, and Ten Tables Cambridge.

I've seen lots of restaurants come and go, but I think Chez Henri has been in Cambridge ever since I moved here almost twenty years ago (man, time flies).Known best for its pressed Cubano Sandwich, Chez Henri actually has a lot of interesting Cuban/French inspired dishes that makes it just a bit different from your typical American style gastropub on this stretch of Mass Ave between Harvard and Porter in Cambridge.

Just recently, news came the this neighborhood stronghold is being sold and may be renamed. Chef-owner Paul O'Connell has indicated that he hopes to sell it to Dylan Black, current owner of Green Street who used to work at Chez Henri.

I met Chef Paul O'Connell at East End House's Cooking for a Cause benefit event last year. He was super friendly, sharing with me fascinating stories about how he has cooked for Julia Child (who used to live in Cambridge really close to the restaurant!) as well as the food blogger, "Julie" of "Julie and Julia" fame.

I'm a little sad to see this neighborhood institution go. I'm hoping that the new owners preserve what's great and unique about Chez Henri, namely its famous cubano, interesting Latin focused dishes, and solid French cooking. Initial news reports seem to indicate this is the intent of Dylan Black and his team, which is encouraging.Nevertheless, if you want to taste the Chez Henri that you've known and loved the past 19 years, you might want to head over there before the end of the summer, which is when the changeover is expected to take place.

Here's a look at the first meal we had there after moving into the neighborhood.

Bryan started with Blanquette de Lapin, which is homemade cavatelli tossed with white wine braised rabbit, cream, and herbs ($15).This dish is definitely more French than Cuban (not sure if it has any Cuban influence, in fact). The texture of the homemade pasta was great, and Bryan liked the overall flavors of the dish. I personally found it to be a bit too heavy and rich, and could only handle a few bites of it.

I started with the Bistro Salad (pictured up top), a pile of fresh greens tossed in a dijon and herb vinaigrette mixed with crispy potatoes, warm bacon lardons, and a soft boiled egg ($12). This is a classic French dish, and they did a fine job on it.

This Cuban-inspired appetizer was a special of the evening, and thus not on the regular menu. The shrimp was cooked just right and the dish had a nice kick that came from the Cuban spices.

We also enjoyed Pressed Cornish Hen, which came with red Kouri squash polenta, truffle pan jus glace viande, and charred greens ($24). The chicken was juicy and tasted pretty good with the nicely browned skin.

For dessert, we shared a Strawberry Shortcake with Pineapple Sauce. Bryan and I have always loved biscuit-based strawberry shortcakes, so we enjoyed this particular dessert. It's not something that blew me away, but we liked how it wasn't cloyingly sweet. The ice cream added a balance to the entire dessert.

We thought all of the dishes at Chez Henri were pretty good, and definitely a step above several of the other gastropubs down the street. Of course, the prices are higher here, so you do pay a premium for the more upscale food. Nothing particularly blew us away, but everything was solid.

If you sit at the bar, you should most definitely try the Cubano, probably one of their most famous items. I didn't get one at this meal, but I've tasted it before, and it's quite good.

We'll miss you Chez Henri. Hoping the "new" you preserves the best of what you already have and adds even more to the neighborhood.

Thanks for a great 19 years!

Chez Henri
1 Shepard St
Cambridge, MA 02138

May 1, 2013 Greater Boston

Lumiere

We'll take a short break from the Thailand! series to focus on a couple Boston restaurants. Newton is a town right outside of Boston adjacent to Watertown, where all those crazy things happened the week following the Boston Marathon Bombings. Newton was under lockdown as well during this time.

I don't go out to Newton much.

Sure, I'll make the occasional special trip to visit one of our favorite chefs who used to work in Cambridge. But it's a trek. Public transportation out there from Cambridge is cumbersome, and traffic can be pretty bad right around mealtimes.

But then last Christmas, Bryan received a really thoughtful gift from one of his co-workers. I guess their family knew Bryan likes eating out, and gave him a gift certificate to Lumiere.

I can't believe we waited this long, but we finally made a reservation to visit this popular restaurant on a Friday night just a few weeks ago.

Lumiere means "light" in French. Indeed, the lights at this restaurant are both whimsical and fun (see first photo on top).

The moment I walked in, I immediately liked the friendly vibe of the restaurant. Though it's an elegant and sophisticated space, the environment is also warm and cozy - not the least bit stuffy. In fact, the dress code listed on the restaurant website is "casual" and conversations are open and relaxed.

Chef-owner Michael Leviton, who is also the co-owner of one of my favorite restaurants in Cambridge, started Lumiere in 1999 and it has been going strong since, often showing up on "best of" lists for the greater Boston area. Lumiere applies both classic French and modern cooking techniques to local, sustainable, and seasonal ingredients. They source a lot of their produce form Verrill Farm in Concord, MA, Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA, and the Northeast Family Farms Cooperative.

The Lumiere menu is divided up into "first courses" ($12-$18), "main courses" ($29-$32), and "sides" ($8-$11). You can also choose the chef's tasting menu, which costs $70 (additional $30 for wine pairing) and includes five total courses (three savory courses, cheese, and dessert).

Not everyone has to get the tasting menu, a philosophy I really, really like. I always feel constrained by that requirement, though I understand why restaurants do it. We decided Bryan would get the tasting menu but I would order some other dishes off of the a la carte menu.

Instead of getting the wine pairing that goes with the tasting, we opted for a half bottle of white to start off the meal and then a bottle of red to finish. Though we were not particularly familiar with their wine list, they did a fantastic job of helping us select out wines.

It's nice when the servers try to recommend bottles that they personally think are great values and not necessarily always the most expensive ones.

We started with a tiny amuse of smoked sablefish pate and cucumber. I loved how the light and crunchy cucumber balanced out the smoky and creamy sablefish.

For my starter, I enjoyed the first bounty from spring! Roasted Asparagus and Spring Onions were topped with a perfectly poached Chip-In farm egg and served together with Romesco sauce, chopped almonds, and hazelnuts. The egg "popped" when I broke it open, and the runny yolk became a sauce covering the whole dish. Yum.

Bryan's first course in his tasting menu was a Fish Tartare topped with avocado cream and served alongside a spicy soy-sesame vinaigrette. The flavors were fine, reminiscent of tried-and-true Japanese-inspired combinations.

Bryan's second course was Barnegat Light Sea Scallops served over a carrot purée and topped with carrot-fennel salad. The entire dish was then dressed with a gorgeously fragrant citrus vinaigrette and fennel oil. Though I typically don't love orange flavored savory dishes, I was so surprised how well it worked in this application. This dish was fantastic and easily my favorite dish of the evening.

I had ordered the entree sized portion (not pictured), which comes with a generous five scallops. You can also get the appetizer portion, which comes with three scallops. The version pictured above is the tasting menu portion.
The main dish was a simple Grilled Steak, which came with Shitake mushrooms, cipollini onions, and beef jus. Bryan ordered it "as rare as you're willing to cook it." When the steak came, although it was *just* a bit over (maybe on the way to medium rare), Bryan thought it was fine and started cutting it and eating it.

A few moments later our server stopped by and remarked, "that does not look like a true rare steak. Let me get the kitchen to make you a new one."

"But I've already started eating a significant portion of it."

"That's quite alright. You should get a properly cooked steak."

She whisked that one away, and moments later, a new, absolutely perfectly cooked piece of rare steak came out.

Now that's really good service.

Although the steak typically comes with fries, the tasting menu portion did not include French Fries, so we ordered a side of it ($8). These fries were only OK, being just a bit soft and not super crispy. Nevertheless, they were tasty enough that we still demolished most of that basket!

The tasting came with a cheese course. We had the Von Trapp Farmstead“Oma” Cheese, which was served with apple mostarda, Aquidneck honeycomb, hazelnuts, and a cider reduction. The cheese was pretty mild but definitely enjoyable. Bryan typically prefers stronger cheeses but he was still perfectly happy to finish this one.

Finally for dessert, we shared Bryan's final course, a tiny homemade Apple Galette topped with Greek yogurt ice cream. It was very good - simple and satisfying.

General Thoughts
I was not sure what to expect here, but I really enjoyed my dinner at Lumiere. I shouldn't be surprised, considering that it's like the "parent" of one of my Cambridge favorites. The food was excellent, and everything was prepared with care. The ambiance was warm, cozy, and relaxed, and the service was superb.

If it were not so far away, I could see myself quickly becoming a regular here. In fact, we met a couple sitting next to us who had been coming almost every other week for the past fourteen years. That's dedication.

We're so thankful to Bryan's co-worker for giving us this gift certificate. Otherwise, I'm not sure how long it would have taken before I went out to Newton to try this place on my own.

Lumiere
1293 Washington St
Newton, MA 02465

April 30, 2013 Asian

Bananas In Golden Syrup

This is the eleventh post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, and Fun Fruits in Thailand plus posts about recipes from my cooking class at Somphong Thai Cooking School including Som Tam (Papaya Salad), Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken, and this post.

I did not expect to like this dish at all.

In fact, when I first saw that there was a banana dessert on the menu for the cooking class, I sort of cringed. After all, I've never liked bananas. There's something about the flavor that just sort of rubs me the wrong way. I can't place my finger on it, but it's definitely something I don't eat often.

But because the Thai cooking class I was taking at the Somphong Thai Cooking School included other pretty amazing dishes, such as Green Papaya Salad and Panaeng curry, I decided to stick with this particular class.

And I stand corrected.

Bananas can taste good. Really, really good.

This dessert is our cooking instructor's favorite dessert, and I can totally see why. It's super easy to make, and the sweet-salty combination of the sweet bananas with the savory coconut cream sauce works together surprisingly well.

I hate to say this, but it was almost mildly addictive.

The bananas used in this dessert are not the normal large bananas we see in North America. Instead, these are mini bananas that are about half the length of the big bananas we are used to seeing in the States.

Here's a woman selling these little bananas on skewers at the floating markets at Damnoen Saduak.

You want to use bananas that are still pretty green (see color in the photo). They need to be firm so they can stand up to the cooking. Remove the peels from all the bananas. You can peel them traditionally by hand, or use a knife to speed up the process.

To prevent bananas from turning brown after peeling, place them immediately in a bowl of water acidified wi lime juice.

We will cook these bananas in a fragrant, pandan-infused syrup. Pandan is a tropical plant commonly used in Southeast Asia in both sweet and savory applications. It has a sweet, fragrant aroma that is very pleasing, making it a popular flavor used in many desserts. If you don't have pandan, you can either add a few drops of pandan essence (a little goes a long way!) or even vanilla extract would work fine too.

Combine sugar, salt, pandan leaves, and water in a pot and bring to a boil.

Add bananas, reduce heat, and cook until the bananas turn a darker shade of yellow, maybe 10-15 minutes. Try not to disturb the bananas too much, though you can flip them once in the middle if desired.

Meanwhile, make your savory coconut cream. It's pretty easy - just dissolve coconut cream with salt and a bit of rice flour to thicken it up. If you want, you can add some pandan leaves for extra flavor, but this is optional.

Once the bananas are done, remove them from the pot, straining out the syrup. Optionally squeeze lime on top, and pour the savory coconut cream sauce all over the bananas.

Serve!

Clearly the students couldn't get enough of this dish, including a very surprised me, who shocked herself by going back for seconds.

Love that sweet + salty combo. Seriously addictive.

Enjoy!

Bananas in Golden Syrup

Bananas
8 small golden bananas
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime juice
Pandan leaves (optional)
Vanilla flavoring (optional)

Peel bananas and immediately put them in a bowl of water to prevent further browning. In a pot, bring sugar, water, salt, and pandan leaves to a boil. Reduce heat and add bananas, cooking at low heat until the bananas turn a darker shade of yellow. Add lime juice and then remove bananas. Top with coconut cream topping (see below for recipe).

Serve!

Coconut Cream Topping
1 cup coconut cream
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon rice flour*

Add the rice flour to the coconut cream (room temperature). Heat over medium heat until the mixture becomes thick and sauce-like. Add salt and stir to dissolve. Set aside.

*I believe the purpose of the flour is mostly for texture, so if you can't find rice flour, other substitutes may work, such as all purpose flour.

April 29, 2013 Asian

Thai Panaeng (Penang) Chicken Curry

This is the tenth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, Fun Fruits in Thailand, Somphong Thai Cooking School, and Som Tam (Papaya Salad).

Thai food is known for its extreme spiciness.

In Bangkok, where there are a ton of tourists, it's not uncommon for the waiter to ask you what kind of spice level you want. Bryan has always loved spicy food, so he never hesitates to say "spicy."

The server will then respond by asking, "Thai spicy?"

If you say "yes," you'll most certainly be blown away by the spiciness of the food. Thailand is the only place in the world where Bryan has ever had to stop eating a dish because it was too spicy.

Thankfully, not all Thai food is characterized by excessively spicy food. Panaeng curry is a perfect example.

Despite its gorgeously bright red color, Panaeng curry is actually a milder, sweeter, and less spicy curry than its heat-laden cousins. Unique because of the presence of crushed peanuts, Panaeng curry is also gloriously fragrant and flavorful due its inclusion of a dizzying array of ingredients, including lemongrass, coriander seeds, galangal, cilantro root, and kaffir limes.

It's the perfect dish for those of us who can't quite handle the crazy heat of Thai food, but still love the rich and complex aromas of Southeast Asian herbs and spices.

Before we get to the recipe, let's take a closer look at some of those more exotic herbs (which we picked up during our fun little market trip earlier in the day).

Pictured above, gorgeous bunches of lemongrass, Thai chilies, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves. This combination of ingredients is used in so many things, it makes sense for the market to sell them together. Our Panaeng curry will use all of those ingredients.

Coriander (or cilantro) root is commonly used in Thai cooking. The root itself gives a more intense flavor than the leaves. Sadly, most US supermarkets cut off the roots of cilantro, and therefore it's harder to find the roots in the US. It's OK to substitute the roots with stems in a recipe if necessary, keeping in mind the flavor will be less intense.

Have you ever seen a kaffir lime (left)? It's much bumpier than a normal lime (right), and also has a lot less juice inside. People mostly use the kaffir lime's zest and leaves in Thai cooking. The juice itself is too tart and not typically used.

At the market, our cooking instructor Koy showed us three different roots that are related but taste very different. Traditional ginger (with which we are all familiar), galangal (a root commonly used in Thai cooking that's sweeter and milder than ginger), and yet another even narrower, finger-like root (whose name I cannot remember - does anyone know?).

According to Koy, freshly made curries taste infinitely better than the stuff you can buy in packages. However, making curry is quite labor intensive, and therefore it's totally understandable why sometimes you may just reach for a package if you are short on time.

Koy gave us one trick for those times when we reach for the package: add extra coriander seed, coriander root, and cumin. It will taste so much better and closer to a freshly made version.

Though the steps for making the curry are not particularly difficult, they are time consuming. You must first measure out and prep (chop, seed, soak, etc) the large list of ingredients. Then, group by group, add the ingredients into a mortar and pestle.

The grinding is tedious.

We physically pounded away at this for about 10 minutes and didn't even come close to a smooth paste.

Theoretically, hand grinding will afford a smoother, more refined curry paste. However, most people these days rely on the food processor because it just saves so much time and energy and still creates a fine product.

Our pastes were whisked away and thrown into a food processor.

Once the smooth paste was done (check out how much finer it looks now in the photo above!) we prepped our ingredients for chicken curry. Above, you can see fresh coconut cream, coconut milk, palm sugar, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves (thinly sliced), and chicken breast meat.

If you can't get fresh coconut milk and coconut cream, Koy recommends just buying the small packaged carton of cream. You can make "milk" just by diluting the cream in half with water.

Saute one tablespoon of the curry paste it in a wok until it is fragrant. Add ½ cup of coconut cream and reduce the heat.

Wait until you see bubbles forming. This is the fat from the coconut milk separating out and rising the the surface. Add the chicken and stir fry until it is cooked all the way through. Add the rest of the coconut milk, fish sauce, and palm sugar.

If you can't get palm sugar around you, brown sugar or even white sugar are acceptable substitutes, though brown sugar is preferred. When shopping for a fish sauce, get a lighter colored bottle. Color is an indicator of freshness. Fish sauce darkens over time and becomes more fishy as it ages.

As a final step, sprinkle thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves and Thai bird chili strips for decoration. If you want, you can optionally add a dollop of thickened coconut cream, which is just made by heating coconut cream up with some corn starch (about 2 teaspoon of corn starch per cup of canned coconut cream). Important note: dissolve the corn starch in the coconut cream at room temperature and then heat up. Otherwise, the starch will clump if added to a warm liquid.

Serve! Over rice, noodles, whatever!

Yum . . . SO good.

Recipes

Panaeng Curry Paste

Ingredients
group 1
5 peppercorns
½ teaspoon roasted coriander seed
½ teaspoon roasted cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon salt

group 2
1 teaspoon galangal, chopped
1 teaspoon lemongrass, chopped
½ teaspoon kaffir lime skin, finely chopped
½ teaspoon cilantro root (or use cilantro stems/leaves if the root is unavailable)

group 3
4 dried spur chilies, seeded and soaked
1 teaspoon chopped shallots
1 teaspoon chopped garlic

group 4
½ teaspoon shrimp paste (or anchovies)
1 teaspoon roasted peanuts

Pound group 1 ingredients (coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns and salt) in a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder). Add the group 2 ingredients (galangal, lemongrass, kaffir skin, cilantro root). Then add group 3 ingredients (garlic, shallots, and chilies). Add shrimp paste and pound until smooth. Finally, add peanuts and crush them in. Use a food processor if necessary to get the texture like a really fine paste.

Set aside.

Panaeng Chicken Curry

serves 1 as a main dish, or 2 as an appetizer

Ingredients
70g boneless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1 teaspoon Panaeng curry paste
½ cup coconut cream
½ cup coconut milk
1 T red spur chili, thinly sliced (remove seeds!)
2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
½ T fish sauce
½ teaspoon palm sugar

Heat curry paste over medium heat until fragrant. Reduce heat and add coconut cream and stir until the oil separates out (you will see little bubbles forming). Add chicken and stir fry until it is cooked through. Add the coconut milk. Add fish sauce and palm sugar.

Sprinkle kaffir lime leaves and chilies and remove from heat.

Optionally add a dollop of coconut topping, made by heating coconut milk and corn starch together. Garnish with chopped chilies and kaffir lime leaves.

Enjoy!

April 26, 2013 Asian

Som Tam (Papaya Salad)

This is the ninth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, Fun Fruits in Thailand, and Somphong Thai Cooking School.

Som tam.

It's the perfect blend of savory umami, sweet, spicy, and tart. It's cool, refreshing, and a delightful blend of textural contrasts: the crunchy peanuts, crispy vegetables, and juicy tomatoes. Heck, it's even been named as one of world's 50 most delicious foods by CNN.

Som tam literally means "sour pounded" in Thai, and is a refreshingly delicious green papaya salad that's popular all throughout Thailand. It originates from the northeastern part of Thailand, (called Isaan) and due to its proximity to Laos, derives quite a bit of influence from Laos cuisine.

I partly chose this particular cooking class because it included this salad, which I've always wanted to learn how to make. I was thrilled to learn that it's super easy. Getting the ingredients may be the hardest (though still very doable!) part.

The main ingredient in this salad is the green papaya. You want your papaya to be as unripen as possible. It should be really hard and firm. This recipe won't work with papaya that has started to ripen, turn orange, or become soft and sweet.

At the market, Koy showed us an example of a perfect papaya.

I'm pretty sure they sell these in the US, because my mom used to make a version of green papaya salad when I was a kid.

First, you need thin, julienne strips of papaya. Please note, the above papaya is actually borderline too ripe for this recipe (you can see how it's turning orange), but Koy, our instructor, was still able to use it to show us how to create the julienne strips for the salad.

Method 1: Simple Knife
If you have no special tools, you can create the strips with just a sharp knife. This is how a lot of street vendors do it in Thailand.

First, whack away at the papaya to create a bunch of vertical "cuts" into the side (see photo above).

Second, slice these strips onto a plate. It looks easier than it is. I tried to do it, and it was tricky slicing off thin, evenly sized strips.

Method 2: Use a Tool!
Of course, if you feel uncomfortable chopping and cutting, the much easier way is to use a papaya slicer. They recommended the brand Kiwi, which I was surprised to find out is actually available on Amazon! With this slicer, it's easy: you just peel away!

I guess you can probably use a mandolin slicer or any other tools designed for shredding carrots and other related vegetables.

Though you can make this with just papaya, we did it with a mixture of papaya and carrots. It adds a nice color and the two work well together.

Gather all your ingredients. You can get long beans at any Chinese supermarket (we eat them all the time too!). Most of the less common ingredients, such as dried shrimp, palm sugar, and tamarind can probably be found at an Asian grocery (I'm pretty sure I've seen them in Boston).

Now, we will pound it all together in a mortar and pestle.

Notice how the som tam mortar and pestle is a little bit taller and narrower? I'm not sure how well this recipe would work with the lower, flatter marble type we typically see in the US, though I'm definitely planning to try it! Alternatively, it's not too expensive to buy a proper one such as this wooden one, though the nice earthenware ones are definitely more expensive.

We begin with the dry ingredients. Pound your garlic, dried shrimp, fresh Thai chili, and peanuts with your mortar and pestle until they are crushed.

Add the wet ingredients: tamarind juice, fish juice, sugar, and the lime. Keep the skin on one lime edge; squeeze out just the juice for the other lime wedge. At this point, to avoid squirting tart acids into your eyes, do a "pound and stir" motion with a spoon. Mix the ingredients together.

Once the sauce is nicely mixed, add the papaya strips, carrot strips (if you have any), long beans, and tomatoes.

Continue the pounding + stirring motion with the spoon and pestle until everything is well mixed.

Just for fun, we also learned how to make "tomato roses." It's actually not as hard as it looks, and the end result is gorgeous! Using a sharp knife and starting at the top of the tomato, slowly cut off the skin of a tomato (we used these pretty orange ones), trying to keep the width consistent (about 2-3 cm or ½ inch). Keep the bottom of the tomato to serve as a base.

Gradually roll the skin in a spiral, trying to keep it as tight as possible.

How pretty is that?

Dump your som tam into a bowl (juices and all). Ideally, it's a pretty Thai bowl for your pictures.

For garnish, top with the remaining crushed peanuts and optionally top with your rose.

So pretty, so delicious, and healthy!

I could eat this everyday.

Enjoy!

Som Tam Thai [Papaya Salad]
¾ cup shredded green papaya
½ cup long beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 Thai chilies
2 cloves of garlic
2 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 teaspoon ground dried shrimp
2 T crushed peanuts
½ lime, sliced into quarters
1 T palm sugar
1 ½ T fish sauce
2 T tamarind juice

Pound garlic, chili, dried shrimp, and 1 T of the peanuts in a mortar and pestle. Add tamarind juice, fish sauce, sugar, and lime (1 wedge with skin, 1 wedge add juice only). Continue to pound and stir. Add long beans, papaya, and tomatoes. Mix well, and top with remaining peanuts and optionally a tomato rose.

*Note*
Palm sugar can be found at most Asian supermarkets (I've definitely seen it in Boston). If necessary, regular sugar can probably be substituted, but add less, since it's a bit sweeter and more refined.

April 24, 2013 Thai

Somphong Thai Cooking School

After a brief break from this series, we return to Thailand! This is the eighth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, and Fun Fruits in Thailand!

Thailand is an awesome place to take a cooking class. The availability of produce in this country is insane, truly creating a playground for the senses. It is a very foreigner friendly country - there are tons of classes taught in English. Plus, prices are very reasonable and you get to cook and eat a ton of fantastic food.

I swear, some of the best dishes I tasted in Thailand were in my cooking classes.

I went to two cooking schools while I was in Thailand. I had time during the day while Bryan was at his conference, and I was curious to compare how two different schools taught Thai cooking.

I initially decided on Somphong Cooking School because it had excellent reviews, was close to my hotel, and offered to teach dishes I really wanted to learn.

It turned out to be a fantastic experience and totally, totally worth the $30 USD I paid for the class.

Somphong Cooking School is very centrally located in the Silom neighborhood of Bangkok right off the BTS Skytrain stop Chong Nongsi. It's located at the end of a very narrow alleyway.

The first thing we did was head out to a local market where we got to see all kinds of fresh meat, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices.

It's at this market that our instructor Koy taught us all about local Thai ingredients, such as how coconut milk and cream are made (above), how to identify various types of herbs, and how to use these herbs in Thai cooking. I'll focus more on those ingredients in the upcoming posts when I talk about the individual recipes that incorporate these ingredients.

Isn't the produce just enviably gorgeous? Never in Boston would I ever have such a unique variety and abundance of fresh vegetables.

After the educational market trip, we all walked back into the open-air cooking school, where Koy began to teach us how to make all sorts of dishes.

Here are the dishes we learned to make, all to be described in much more detail (including recipes!) in upcoming posts!

We learned how to make Panaeng style red curry from scratch. A plethora of spices, fresh herbs, and aromatics are painstakingly ground up in a mortar and pestle.

We used the fruits of our labor to make a delicious curry chicken dish.

We pounded out northeasternThai style Som Tam Thai, or Papaya Salad, the traditional way (yup, with yet another mortar and pestle). We also learned how to make tomato "roses" for garnish.

We learned the many complex steps to making a really good Pad Thai. I was surprised how different the ingredients were compared to what I typically see (and taste!) in the States.

For dessert, we made golden bananas in a pandan coconut milk syrup, which was surprisingly delicious. I typically don't like bananas, but I loved the balance of sweet and salty in this fragrant dessert.

I had a ton of fun at this class and I learned so much. My class was super diverse, and it was fun to meet people from all over the world. In my class alone, we had two people from Bangkok, one from France, one from Belgium, a couple from New Zealand, a woman from Hong Kong (who was originally from Malaysia), a woman from India, and me, the lone American!

It was fun to exchange stories and learn about each others' cultures, all while prepping and cooking food from Thailand, yet another new culture for most of us. We had so much fun together, we were friends by the end of the class, sitting and chatting away.

Bonus! They gave us mango sticky rice at the end of our meal

I would highly recommend the classes at Somphong Thai Cooking School. The prices are really reasonable for the quality of instruction and food that you get. My 4 hour class, which included cooking and eating 4 dishes, only cost about $30 USD (1000 Baht). The class is really well run, and I felt like we had ample opportunities to do lots of hands-on cooking. They even gave us take-out containers and a bonus dessert (yay, mango sticky rice!) to take home with us.

Stay tuned for recipes (and more photos, of course)!

April 23, 2013 Boston

Jen's Top Restaurants to Visit in Boston

It has been a tough, tough week for those of us in Boston.

For me, I landed in Boston right around the time the lock-down was lifted, so thankfully we were able to catch a cab back to our home in Cambridge. Imagine our surprise when about 10 unmarked cruisers sped past our cab on Storrow Drive racing towards Watertown. We continued to hear sirens for several minutes, even after we got home.

Who could have imagined that the tenseness, craziness, and unbelievability of this whole week would finally reach some sort of closure in a couple more hours.

We were all relieved, and it was really, really nice to see Boston slowly coming back to life over the weekend. Going back to normal never felt so great.

In honor of my beloved city, I have written up a post detailing some of my favorite places to bring friends when they visit. I often get requests for where to eat while in Boston, and I've never really written up a proper post putting it all together.

So, please enjoy this write up of some of my favorite places to eat (plus a fun surprise at the end).

And if you have a chance, definitely come and visit!

1. Taste Boston's Famous Seafood

Boston has fantastic seafood - everything from our dizzying array of raw oysters to the awesome lobster rolls and clam chowder. Try the incredible lobster roll at Neptune Oyster in Boston's North End. Their hot lobster roll is especially famous, but everything there is really, really good. I personally love their oysters as well as the Johnny cake. The biggest negative about this place is that they don't take reservations and the restaurant is tiny. Waits can easily stretch to a couple hours long. Thankfully, you can leave your phone number and they will call you when your table is ready. However, don't show up too late. We've come and been turned away before because the line was so long they wouldn't be able to seat us that night.

If you don't want to wait at Neptune, Island Creek Oyster Bar is an excellent alternative because they take reservations (plus they are located a stone's throne from Fenway Park). This place has a great selection of local oysters plus lots of tasty seafood options. Of course, it is also very popular, so book early! Other decent stand-bys for seafood include Legal Sea Foods (very fresh but simply prepared seafood and excellent clam chowder) and (for that fancier steakhouse-like experience), the Oceanaire.

2. Italian Food in Boston's North End (+ pastries afterwards!)

The North End is a vibrant, food-packed neighborhood that is definitely a must-visit. Though most tourists will line up to eat at Giacamo's or Pizzeria Regina, we prefer Mamma Maria, a place serving excellent Italian food in a cozy, townhouse-like environment; or the buzzing Prezza, who has one of the best bolognese sauces we've ever tried and an awesome lobster fra diavlo (but really, everything is fantastic).

For more casual, less expensive, but still excellent Italian fare, try Monica's Trattoria or Antico Forno. I always skips dessert at restaurants in the North End because I love heading over to Mike's Pastry or Modern for dessert. Don't miss the awesome lobster tail at Mike's (my favorite!) or the delicious cannoli at either location. Lines can get long on weekends, though you can sometimes avoid the lines if you opt for sit-down service at Mike's (if there's an open table).

3. A Splurge One Night?
Although Boston hasn't been rated by the likes of the Michelin Guide, San Pellegrino Top 50 Best Restaurants list, or other lists that get passed around, we have our own fair share of fantastic fine dining options. Here are my favorites.

Watermelon Pearls and Oysters at O Ya

For a twist on Japanese food (one of my favorite cuisines), head down to O Ya in downtown Boston where Tim Cushman will delight you with his creative takes on sushi. Must try dishes include the fried Kumamoto oysters nigiri, grilled chanterelles & shitake mushroom "sashimi", and the foie gras nigiri for dessert (yes, chocolate sauce and dessert wine). If you're into sake, Chef Cushman's wife Nancy Cushman is a certified sake sommelier and can create a great pairing for you.

Ken Oringer is one of the most famous chefs locally, and it's not hard to see why. Both of his restaurants, Clio and Uni Sashimi Bar serve beautiful, creative, and well executed dishes. Clio is more traditional French, while Uni Sashimi Bar is a twist on Japanese cuisine.

A Course from The Ultimate Chef's Tasting at Craigie on Main

For true nose to tail dining, check out the ever popular Craigie on Main across the river in Cambridge for overall excellent food. Chef Tony Maws is fanatical about the quality and the source of all his food, and it really shows. His burger is so famous and popular (even at a whopping $18), that it often sells out before 7PM (and you have to know about it to ask for it, since it only appears on the bar menu now). I've enjoyed everything from the casual brunch (best bloody Mary I've ever tried, by the way) to his "Ultimate Chef's Tasting." This guy's got true talent, and it's definitely worth trying his restaurant if you have a chance.

A twist on a Lobster Roll from Menton

For that refined, sophisticated high-end French experience, Menton is well regarded as the best option in the city. Barbara Lynch set out to even out-do herself in offering a new level of haute cuisine never seen in Boston. It seems like Chef Lynch has succeeded, even receiving the honor of being Boston's first ever Relais & Chateaux recognized restaurant, an honor indeed. Menton offers various tasting menus inspired by local ingredients and interpreted with French techniques with influences from all different sorts of cuisines. We've tried several meals there, and have always been impressed by the food, ambiance, and service. It really is one of the best high-end restaurants in Boston.

For a more unusual, Mediterranean experience, check out Ana Sortun's Oleana, which derives quite a lot of influence from Turkish cuisine. Chef Sortun's husband is a farmer, and therefore the restaurant also strongly emphasizes the use of local and seasonal produce, produced with organic methods when possible.

Another fun and unique place is Scampo, an excellent Italian-leaning restaurant located in The Liberty Hotel, a former prison. The architecture of this prison makes this building pretty interesting to visit. The food at Scampo, from Boston's well-known chef Lydia Shire, is also excellent.

4. Boston's Excellent Gastropubs & Neighborhood Restaurants

Russell House Tavern

One thing that has spoiled me here is the plethora of really good gastropubs. I almost thing I take it for granted. Just in Cambridge alone, I only need to walk a few minutes to find a really good, reasonably priced pub where I can get excellent food and a great selection of craft beers. There are tons of these around, so I'll just mention a few of my favorites. Keep in mind that I do live in Cambridge, so my choices may be a little skewed towards places that are convenient for me.

Russell House Tavern is something that's almost too good to be true: a restaurant located at a prime location (the heart of Harvard Square) serving fantastic food at very reasonable prices. They have a huge bar in the lower level (great place to try to grab a seat if no reservations are available), and a great selection of draft beers. They emphasize local and seasonal ingredients, and the food is excellent.

Cambridge Brewing Company
I have a soft spot for Cambridge Brewing Company, one of our local microbreweries. They make a lot of fun beers throughout the year - everything from a pumpkin ale during the fall to a fun, smoky spicy hot pepper beer that we recently tried. The food is good, the ambiance is fun (try the tower of beer!), and sometimes they even have a jazz brunch on weekends, which is fun and relaxing. Garden at the Cellar in Cambridge still (in my mind) has the best rosemary truffle fries around, while Cambridge Common has a mean selection of beers (over 30 on draft) plus inexpensive (and solid) food. Puritan & Co. is helmed by a super talented chef and has great charcuterie and oysters.

One of our favorite go-to restaurants Bergamot falls more into the new American category, although they do have a small bar where we love to hang out. Bergamot has a fantastic $39 three course deal that they offer all the time. Chef Pooler is extremely talented and executes fantastic, flavorful dishes that change frequently due to the seasonality of ingredients.

Another favorite, Ten Tables in Cambridge, offers a warm and cozy ambiance in which to enjoy new American fare made from local and seasonal ingredients. In the summer, enjoy a lovely meal while sitting outside in Harvard Square at the Monday Club at Upstairs on the Square.

5. Best Casual / Ethnic Tastes
It was hard to cull down this list, so it's a bit longer than the others. There are just a lot of good ethnic eats here!

For a unique style of rich, pork-bone broth ramen, try Yume Wo Katare in Porter Square, where you can try the unusual "Jiro"-style ramen not found in many parts of the US. Don't be surprised if you have to wait in line outside to get into this tiny little place which only accepts cash. For hand-pulled noodles made in the style of Xi'an, drive far out into the suburbs to get a taste of Gene's Chinese Flatbread Cafe. Get the liang pi (weekend only), lamb stew, and handmade noodles, but skip the flatbread sandwiches.

My favorite Brazilian restaurant is Muqueca in Inman Square, which offers delicious seafood stews called moquecas. The mariscada is also excellent, and the yucca fries and cashew fruit drinks are just fun to try. My favorite not-so-hidden ethnic gem is Baraka Cafe, a North African Tunisian restaurant right on the edge of Central Square. Service can be a bit slow at this family owned restaurant, but the food is really good and (in my mind) worth the wait. Definitely try the cherbat, their signature Algerian style lemonade made with rose petals and North African spices.

Bartley's Burger

One of the most famous burger places in the entire city is Bartley's in Harvard Square. This place is almost an institution in the Square and often has lines going out the door on nice days. The burgers are named after various celebrities in fun, irreverent ways (often poking fun based on current events). They're also pretty tasty.

One of my favorite local places for excellent salads and pizzas is Area Four in Cambridge right near MIT. I love the thin crust pizzas that they make, which often come with really creative toppings. Their salads are excellent, and are often made with more unusual seasonal ingredients, such as their shaved Brussels sprouts salad (yum). Emma's in East Cambridge also makes great thin crust pizzas. Our favorite is the No. 4, which includes cranberries, potatoes, and bacon.

For excellent Southern American / French cuisine, try Hungry Mother in Cambridge. Reserve early, because this is one of those places that is virtually impossible to book same day reservations (unless if you want to eat at really odd times).

4. Don't Forget the Sweets!

Toscanini's Ice Cream
Boston is obsessed with ice cream and I really think we have some of the best ice cream in America. My personal favorite is Toscanini's (or Tosci's) in Cambridge, which offers an eclectic variety of flavors that is ever-changing. His brother's place, Rancatore's, in Belmont and Lexington also serves similar ice cream, though the flavors are more ordinary. Other popular places include Christina's and JP Licks, but Tosci's is my favorite.

One of my all time favorite baked items in the entire city of Boston is High Rise Bread Company's vanilla loaf. I've even tried making it (though my version based on their recipe still doesn't taste quite as good as the real thing, though it's close!). Aside from all the wonderful breads and sweets that they sell, High Rise also makes excellent sandwiches. There are multiple locations in Cambridge, and it's a fabulous place to have a relaxed lunch (though come early if you want to make sure you get a seat! I usually try to come before 12pm on a weekday).

The most famous bakery in Boston just may be Flour Bakery by Joanne Chang. Her sticky buns are the most famous. They were featured in a throwdown with Bobby Flay and won. Rumor has it that you have to go early otherwise the sticky buns run out, though I've seen them at the Central Square location as late as 6PM. The fresh baked bread here is excellent, and it makes the sandwiches especially tasty.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the really great restaurants in Boston. It's a list of places that I would recommend to my friends if they asked me for advice. I hope you find it helpful, and feel free to comment below or email me with any questions.

Come support Boston!

Boston Strong.

(just for fun, in honor of Boston "coming back", here is an animated video I made a couple years ago with vegetables building themselves into a Boston skyline)

April 16, 2013 Boston

Dear Boston

It all feels too eerily familiar, in a really bad way.

Eleven and a half years ago, Bryan and I were in Italy enjoying our honeymoon. We had spent a fabulous 10 days traveling through Rome, Florence, and Venice. On September 11, 2001, our plane took off from Venice, making a stopover at Brussels before heading back home to Boston.

About an hour into our second leg, a voice came on the intercom.

"There have been terrorist attacks in the US. The US is not accepting anymore planes. We are turning around and going back to Brussels."

What followed was hours of confusion as people on the plane tried to figure out what was going on. I remember landing in Brussels, scared and confused. In the bus ride to our hotel, we strained to make out the news on the bus radio, which was (annoyingly) overdubbed in French. It wasn't until we arrived in our hotel room that we saw the horrific pictures of the fallen WTC towers.

I remember calling my family, telling them I was OK, though I didn't know when I would make it home.

I remember feeling fear, terrorized by the thought that another bomb or plane crash could occur.

I remember feeling terribly, terribly sad, aghast, and disgusted by all the events.

And I remember feeling so, so far away from home. Far away from all my friends and family.

Monday, April 15th, 2013.

I was flying, again, to Europe. This time to London.

Imagine my surprise when we got off the plane and Bryan read on his phone about some "explosions at Copley."

It didn't sink in quite at that moment the seriousness of it all. It wasn't until later, when we got off the train at Paddington Station, that I started to realize what had really happened.

I'm really, really mourning for my beloved Boston. My heart especially goes out to those who have suffered needlessly as a result of this heartless act. The Marathon is supposed to be a happy, hopeful day - a day where we celebrate the hard work of so many runners, the generous hearts of those running for charities, and the countless people running in honor of others. It seems especially cruel to target this bunch.

I continue to pray for this city, especially those that were injured or in any way affected by this horrible tragedy. I feel far away, watching this all from a distance. I am reminded that people in other less stable countries deal with this type of horror much more often.

I have been amazed at the outpouring of love this city has shown. Imagine, thousands of people offering their homes to stranded strangers. And what about all those emergency workers rushing in to help when there easily could have been more live bombs?

Inspiring.

Thank you all who reached out to me, asking me if I was OK. I was really touched by that. Thank you so much.

I know this city is resilient. It will be hard - and we surely will never forget this day - but we will bounce back.

Thanks Boston, for reminding me why I love this city.

April 13, 2013 American

Legal Harborside

It's Patriot's Day weekend! This is one of Boston's biggest holiday weekends (yes, we get Monday off!). The nation's most famous marathon occurs here on Monday. Sooo, we'll take a brief break from the Thailand! series to focus on Boston for a few posts before heading back to Thailand (where we'll begin exploring the recipes from my cooking classes there!)

I still remember the first time I ever visited Boston.

I was seventeen years old and had just received my acceptance to MIT. My mom had a good friend (who also happens to be a renowned cookbook author!) who lived in Salem, so we visited Boston as a family and did all the touristy things - visited the Salem Witch Museum, toured both the Harvard and MIT campuses, and ate at Legal Sea Foods.

Legal Sea Foods has always been one of those places that tourists visit because 1) Boston is known for its excellent seafood and 2) Legal Sea Foods is one of the most historic, established, and well-known names in the industry.

There's much truth to it - the seafood at Legal is excellent.

However, the cuisine is also pretty simple.

You can get your fresh seafood wood-grilled, fried, or baked. They have familiar, New England dishes like clam chowder, crab cakes, and lobster rolls. The sides are classic comfort foods, like mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli with cheese, and French fries. Sure, they've incorporated a few twists here and there, such as dishes with an Asian or Mediterranean bent. However, by and large, Legal Sea Foods is a place you visit to eat simply prepared, classic New England style seafood.

In 2011, Legal opened up a brand new, 20,000 feet flagship restaurant right at the waterfront.

Legal Harborside is huge. It sits right on the water (gorgeous views of the harbor!) and has three floors, each with a slightly different theme. The third floor is a lounge and bar which opens up during the summer into some really nice outdoor space. The first floor is the more casual dining floor. You'll find raw oysters plus classic, simply grilled seafood dishes served at all Legal Sea Foods. They've also added pastas and pizzas.

The second floor is the "celebratory dining" floor. It's really the first time Legal Sea Foods has ever had a more upscale restaurant. Here, we finally get a chance to taste the excellent seafood of Legal prepared in a more creative way.

One day last summer, Bryan decided it would be fun for us to see just what kind of creative dishes Legal Harborside would offer.

The menu has a nice assortment of appetizers ($12-$20) and main dishes ($30-$54). There is also a chef's tasting menu, which changes seasonally. The current menu lists a four-course tasting for $55, which isn't bad considering the cost of a normal 2-course meal could be at least that much. When we went during the summer, the chef's tasting was a five course meal for $75. I guess it changes periodically depending on an number of factors.

The bread was a fun assortment of a thin, spiced (maybe za'atar?) flatbread, mini corn muffins, and a classic loaf served with extra virgin olive oil. This is definitely a bit more "fancy" than the sourdough rolls they serve at the normal Legal.
For the amuse we had a tiny bite of Cantaloupe Gel topped with Cucumber and Prosciutto Dust. The gel was tart and sweet, with just a tad of a kick. We couldn't really taste the prosciutto.
The soup was a cold Spicy Corn & Crab Soup, made with coconut, edamame, and mint. Though the presentation was elegant, I personally found the soup a little too thick and creamy. It was also on the sweet side, and I longed for a bit more umami.

Bryan got a different soup because he can't have coconut milk (an ingredient in the previous soup). His Lobster Soup was a hot soup, accented with hints of sherry. Thankfully, Bryan enjoyed it. I thought it was fine, but it did not blow me away.
We started with a generous salad made with "Brulee" Peaches, Baby Arugula, Figs, Amarene Cherries and Ricotta Salata in a kalamata-sherry vinaigrette. I found the dressing to be just a tad sweet, but overall I though the ingredients were very high quality. The very peppery arugula offset the sweetness from perfectly ripe peach, the sweetened cherries, and the fresh figs. The cheese and the very dry wine (with which this salad was paired) also helped cut the overall sweetness of the dish. This was solid, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Our next course was an upscale Lobster Salad which was served with Avocado, Hearts of Palm, Yuzu Vinaigrette & Nori. There was a slight service faux pas here because the wine came out long after the food came out - oops!

One of my favorites dishes of the evening was the Seared Baby Octopus served with Merguez Sausage, Smoked Tomato Coulis, Caramelize Peppers and Onions. They cooked the octopus perfectly, and the flavorful sauce stood up to the octopus quite well. I loved the spicy, tomato cream sauce, and the sausage had a lovely kick.

Furthermore, the wine pairing was excellent. They do a really good job with the wine pairing!

I really enjoyed the ingredients in our final course, the Grilled Cobia, White Sweet Potato Puree, Smoked Hominy, and Apple Smoked Bacon. The bacon added a nice smoky and salty balance to the slightly sweet corn (hominy) and white sweet potato (which might have had parsnips inside as well?). The fish itself was solid and went well with the accompaniments.
For dessert, we had a Warm Plum Clafouti topped with some Crème Fraiche Ice Cream.
And finally, a few small bites of chocolate as a finishing bite.

Overall, it was a nice meal. The creativity of the food is most definitely several notches above what the classic Legal Sea Foods serves. There were certain dishes that we really thought were winners (like the octopus), and others that were only OK (like the soups).

One huge benefit of all Legal Sea Foods restaurants that I failed to mention earlier is that they have a very strong philosophy about wine pricing: they hardly mark up their wine prices. Their wines are priced only slightly above retail, and sometimes, if the wines are hard-to-get on the open market, the Legal price may actually be lower than the retail price (which we found with a recent Joseph Phelps Insignia bottle that we enjoyed there).

In the past, Bryan always lamented the fact that, even though Legal sold all this amazing, highly regarded wine at such good prices, it was hard to justify spending the money if you were just pairing it with a lighter seafood (not the perfect pairing), or if just eating a plain seafood dinner.

He likes the fact that Legal Harborside gives you the opportunity to enjoy a nicer meal to match the super nice bottles of wine that they sell.

The space is gorgeous, and this is a fun place to visit as a tourist if you want a combination of the high quality seafood, gorgeous views, and slightly more creative cooking. The cooking is pretty good, though probably not the best that Boston has to offer.

Personally as a local, if I were just coming here alone or with Bryan, I would opt to stick with the more "casual" Legal, enjoying a plate of their excellent raw oysters while sipping on a glass of very reasonably priced champagnes (or whatever suits my fancy).

Legal Harborside
270 Northern Ave
Boston, MA 02210

April 11, 2013 Thai

Fun Fruits in Thailand!

Domo digging into some rose apples and baby bananas.

This is the seventh post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak). Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II.

One thing I love most about visiting any tropical destination near the equator (and I've really only ever been to Taiwan and Hawaii before this), are the fruits.

In New England, fruits aren't my favorite things to eat. I'm just not a huge fan of apples, oranges, and bananas. They're OK, but once you've had fruits from tropical locations, it's really hard to go back. The diversity of choices is dizzying, and the flavors will blow you away.

One really fun perk that our hotel room in Thailand provided was a rotating plate of fresh fruit. Everyday, they would put a couple pieces of local fruit on a plate in our room. They even had this fun guide called "Fruits of Thailand" where they described each fruit. They tried to introduce us to fruits that were not only local to Thailand, but also unique to the tropical climate.

Most of us have seen bananas before, but what about mangosteens and dragonfruit? Mangosteen is the little dark purple fruit in the photo above.

When cut open, the inside consists of 6 perfectly formed segments. It's gorgeously sweet with hints of tartness, reminding me of a cross between a lychee and an orange?

I still think dragon fruits are one of the most gorgeous fruits. Just look at that vivid pink color! The inside is soft, sweet, and light, sort of like watermelon. You can eat the seeds as well.

Here's a vendor selling grilled baby bananas on the street.

Fresh orange juice is available everywhere and only costs $1 USD. Isn't it interesting how their oranges have a green outer skin and is orange on the inside?

I've had rose or wax apples in Taiwan (we call them "lembu"), but I'd never seen them anywhere else in the world until I came to Thailand. This fruit is really crispy, juicy, and light. It's perfect for hot weather days. It's one of my favorite fruits to enjoy in the tropics, and I happily munched on some everyday while I was in Thailand.

Our hotel included breakfast, which was awesome because they always had a huge assortment of fresh fruit. Here I've cracked open passion fruit on top. On the plate there's also guava, green mango, papaya, pineapple, jack fruit, and tiny little oranges.

Crazy huh?

Speaking of jackfruit, have you ever seen an entire jackfruit? They are HUGE! Here's half of one at a street cart in Thailand. I swear that fruit is the size of my upper body! Usually, the little segments are removed, deseeded, and sold in smaller "packets".

Jackfruit physically resembles the durian on the outside, though inside they are very different. Durians are stinky and banned from public places. Jackfruit has a slight funk, but is predominantly fragrant, slightly crunchy, and sweet. Bryan liked eating it with blue cheese, which I'm sure is not a traditional Thai pairing! (Our hotel breakfast buffet was international and therefore had European things like cheese as well).
Speaking of durian, I did try my first durian this trip as part of a dessert (Durian over Sticky Rice). It was surprisingly OK. Yes, it does stink, but it sort of grows on you too. Oddly enough, by the end of the dessert, I was starting to think the fruit was richly complex.

Bryan strongly disagreed.

After one whiff of my dessert, Bryan scrunched up his nose, frowned, and refused to try any more. In fact, he kept pushing the dish closer and closer to me every time he got another whiff.

Desserts often revolve around fruits and coconut milk in Thailand. Mango Sticky Rice is quintessential and classic. It's a magical combination and still one of my favorite Thai desserts. Like all Thai dishes, the balance of sweet and salty makes the dish addictive. It doesn't hurt to have access to super sweet and ripe mangoes either!

It was hard to come back and face normal North American fruits after having access to such a bounty for a week. Hopefully the arrival of summer will lessen the blow.

Gosh, I miss Thailand already.

April 10, 2013 Guide

Street Foods of Bangkok (Part II)

This is the sixth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak). and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I.

This is Part II of the Bangkok street food tour. If you're just joining us, definitely check out Part I of this post first before reading this.

It was raining, hard. This was supposed to be a walking tour, and the weather just was not cooperating at all.

Our tour guide Nushi told us to wait at the dock as she tried to hail a cab. As the wind whipped the water angrily around, we stood and marveled at the sheer force of the storm.

Ten minutes later, Nushi came with a cab. She looked wet, yet she was still smiling.

"Hop in."

As the rain pounded down onto the windshield, the cab inched along towards our final destination. Nushi chatted happily in Thai with the driver while we sat in the back.

Finally, about 10 minutes later, we arrived at our next destination.

We were in a cafe in Silom, the business district of Bangkok. It is actually owned by the great grandson of King Rama V. He likes Indian food a lot, and you definitely see a strong representation of that cuisine here. Thankfully (for Bryan's sake), there is also much other food to try, such as ice cream, bakery goods, and a lot of great Thai food. Our first small plate: green curry with pork. Though this is usually served with rice, this restaurant serves it with deep fried roti, a bread influenced by Indian cuisine.
Because Bryan does not eat coconut milk (and thus skipped the green curry completely), we also ordered Isaan sour sausage, a fermented pork sausage from the northeastern part of Thailand. You commonly see this sold on the streets of Bangkok and it is usually served with sticky rice, which is the rice staple up north.

This place had tons of really interesting ice cream flavors. We tried passion fruit ice cream, coconut sorbet, and tamarind sorbet. All of them were fantastic, bursting with the authentic flavors of their individual ingredients. My favorite was the passion fruit ice cream, but I think that's partly because I just love ice cream more than sorbet in general, and I love the flavor of fresh passion fruit, which was so pronounced in this ice cream.

We stepped outside. There was just one more stop, and it was within walking distance.

Amazingly, the sky had completely cleared up. I guess it was one of those fast moving storms. The sun was back out already, and the air was even thicker with humidity than I thought could be possible.

As we walked towards our last stop, Nushi said, "hold on, look! Fried bananas."

There are often long lines at these popular street snack stands, where vendors sell freshly fried items such as sweet potatoes, mochi balls, and bananas. Luckily, perhaps because it was just after the storm, there was no line at this vendor's stand. We quickly stopped and picked up a bag of fried mini-bananas.

They were coated with some special sort of batter that reminded me of a funnel cake. Just imagine a sweet, crunchy funnel-cake-covered banana. It was seriously addictive (and I don't even like bananas!).

For even more sweets, we headed to our last stop, a local bakery. Here we tried a lovely soft bread with pandan custard inside. We tasted a bun filled with sweet BBQ meat, not unlike Chinese chashu except that the outside bread is baked according to western methods. Finally, we sampled a western style cake topped with a traditional Thai style filling (made of coconut, perhaps?) used commonly in wedding desserts.

Finally, I (and Domo?) got to try Thai iced tea in Thailand. It was delicious, similar to the Thai iced tea I've had in America.

And then, just as quickly as it began, our 3-hour tour was over. We were stuffed, both with food but also with a rich wealth of knowledge.

Nushi had taken supremely good care of us, especially considering that a huge rainstorm came down right in the middle of our tour. We were quite grateful at how hard she tried to make us comfortable - everything from getting us umbrellas (from the Tonburi restaurant!), to waiting outside in the rain for 10 minutes in order to hail us a cab. Her English is excellent, and we really had fun on this tour.

If you're a newcomer to Thailand who absolutely has no idea where to start, I would highly, highly recommend taking the Bangkok Food Tour. They do a fantastic job.

The Details
This tour lasts about 3 hours and costs 1050 Baht (around $35 USD per person), which includes all the food. Although usually run in the morning leading up to lunchtime, you can arrange to have a private tour at other times during the day. Because of Bryan's work schedule, we ended up booking a tour from 2-5PM. We got our own private tour guide and paid a little extra for the convenience of the time and the private guide (3000 Baht for the two of us, around $50 USD per person).

It's easy to get to the meeting point, which is right inside the BTS Skytrain station Saphan Taksin.

Next up: fun fruits of Thailand and an introduction to the two cooking schools I attended!

April 8, 2013 Guide

Street Foods of Bangkok (Part I)

This is the fifth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak).

Thanks everyone for your outpouring of support for my wrist. It is slowly healing every day. I plan on looking into a few long-term options, such as speech recognition software or alternatives to the traditional mouse. Now, back onto our regularly scheduled program! 🙂

Where's the best food in Thailand?

If you ask anyone who has been to Thailand a few times, you'll pretty much get the same answer: on the street. Thailand is one of those countries where it's not uncommon to find a street vendor who has been perfecting his recipe for one particular dish for decades. In fact, I've already written about some of these places.

The people in Bangkok are obsessed about food, and it's all over the place. No matter where you live, just walk down the street and you're bound to find a street vendor selling some sort of food. Fresh fruit, deep fried snacks, noodle soups, and on and on . . . the streets of Bangkok are seriously a paradise for the food lover.

The amount of available street food was so overwhelming, I had a hard time figuring out where to start. Because I had only a set number of meals in Bangkok, I wanted to make the most of each meal. So, instead of just randomly trying street stalls around the city (and potentially hitting some duds), I decided to sign up for a walking street food tour with a company called Bangkok Food Tours.

We actually visited quite a few places (over a span of three hours!), so I will be splitting up our tour into two separate posts.
This tour covered a neighborhood called Bangrak, one of the oldest parts of Bangkok. It sits just east of the Chao Praya river and was walking distance from our hotel. Meet our tour guide Nushi (young woman on the right side of the photo), who took us around for three hours sampling some fun foods.

Our first stop was a famous restaurant that served a simple roast duck over rice. Originally inspired by Chinese cuisine, this dish has incorporated certain Thai influences, such as the use of honey in the sauce.

The duck is free-range and therefore does not have as much fat under its skin. According to Nushi, this dish is by far the most popular dish at this restaurant, and people will come specifically for this particular dish.

It was juicy, flavorful, and most definitely had hints of sweetness from the honey. We both thought it was quite tasty, though quite familiar because it was so similar to Chinese food.

It was during this first stop that Nushi pulled out the schedule showing us where we would be going for the day.

One thing stood out to Bryan.

2. Signature curry on egg

"I forgot to mention, I can't have coconut milk." Bryan told Nushi.

Even though not all curry in Thailand uses coconut milk, a large majority of curries do have some coconut milk inside, including the listed egg dish at the next stop. Nushi, thinking quickly, suddenly said, "I know. Let's skip the next stop. I'll take you to one of my favorite noodle joints instead."

Bryan loves noodles, so the trade-off was a no-brainer.

In retrospect, what a great idea. This next "detour" stop became one of our favorites of the entire tour.

Now, it's most certainly not much to look at. In fact, this tiny little eatery sits in an alleyway between two buildings. Yes, Bryan is standing at the front of the restaurant. It isn't too far from the Catholic college nearby, and attracts tons of people at lunchtime, both foreigners from the college and locals alike.

When I asked Nushi the name of the restaurant, she said, "I don't think it has a name. I guess people might sometimes call it Kuey Teow Kla, which means Hakkanese noodle, or Kuey Teow Silom."

It was like a Tom Yum Noodle soup, but made with chili jam.

"What's Chili Jam?" I asked Nushi.

"It's a sweet and spicy "jam" made out of shrimp paste, ground chili, palm sugar, and peanuts."

Yum. I started to wonder where I could get a hold of some.

Inside the soup, there were several different types of balls made out of fish, beef, and tofu. Fresh bean sprouts served to add texture as well a cooling contrast to the hot and spicy broth.

The complex flavors of the broth were astounding - I'm not even sure I can name all the ingredients. It was definitely a pork bone based broth enhanced with various chilies, lemongrass, fish sauce, and possibly lime? The fresh rice noodles were delicious as well. Even though we both got pretty big bowls (I would hardly call these tasting portions!), we both came close to finishing everything. This is in spite of knowing had several, several more stops to go.
Next, we boarded a boat and crossed the river to the Tonburi neighborhood. The clouds were starting to look a bit ominous at this point.

I turned to Bryan, "maybe not such a good day for a walking tour!"

He shrugged. "We'll see" he said.

After getting off the boat, we walked straight down the narrow alleyway leading away from the dock. On the right we saw a simple, bright green counter.
We were eating at an odd hour (around 3PM) mostly because it was the only time we could fit in a tour due to Bryan's work schedule in Thailand. Typically the place is packed, but we were lucky to have the whole place to ourselves on an ominous, stormy Friday afternoon.

We were here to sample some specialties from Northeastern Thailand, also known as Isaan cuisine. The menu was written entirely in Thai here, so I was thankful for Nushi's guidance in helping us pick out some choice plates.
Som Tam is a classic papaya salad that consists of young, green papaya pounded together with carrots, dried shrimp, and peanuts. The dressing is sweet, savory, sour, and spicy with flavors coming from fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, tamarind juice, and lots of chilies! This particular one was very spicy and packed full of flavor. We were both sweating while eating it, but also enjoying it quite a bit.
Nam Tok Moo is a salad made by tossing together pork with roasted rice powder, mint leaves, chili, and shallots in a flavorful dressing made from lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. Again, I love how Thai cuisine achieves that perfect balance of savory, sweet, sour, and spicy. This dish was fantastic and we ate as much as we could handle (yes, it was spicy!!).Finally, we tried Yam Pla Duk Foo, a fascinating dish that consists of catfish that is first grilled, deboned, and then deep fried to form this light, airy, almost weightless cake. You eat it with this vibrant sauce made with green mangoes, shallots, chili, palm sugar, and lemon juice.

This tiny hole in the wall was another one of our favorites, and definitely a place that would have been difficult for us to find without a guide. We loved the northern style dishes, which we found to be quite different from most of the Thai food we see in America.

Suddenly, KABOOM!

And it started to pour.

Nushi was kind enough to ask the restaurant whether we could borrow some umbrellas.

"I'll bring them back later."

We ran back down the narrow dock towards the boat. Even though lightening was flashing across the sky, the boats continued to run. We ran to safety onto the boat as it pulled away from the dock back towards the Bangrak side of the river.

Next Up: Part II of the "Street Foods of Bangkok" Tour, where we will explore fried street snacks, some more Isaan fare, unique local ice cream flavors, and some fantastic desserts.

Stay tuned!

April 8, 2013 Misc

Ouch - My Hurting (but Healing) Wrists

I was so excited about the Thailand posts right when I arrived back in the US.

Like I said, I couldn't wait to share with you all that I had experienced on my trip.

And then the pain hit.

You see, up until a few weeks ago, I was working like a mad-woman. We had loads of patent applications to file at work (yes, I work as a patent attorney during the day), and I was typing, typing, and typing a lot. I did a lot of repetitive mouse motions as well.

After flying to Thailand, I continued to work long hours, but now in contorted non-ergonomic positions inside the hotel room.

Near the end of the week in Thailand, my fingers started to feel numb. And my wrists really hurt. I could hardly open door knobs. Forget typing or using the mouse.

When I returned to the States, my doctor confirmed my suspicion - I had developed carpal tunnel in my right hand.

I got an arm brace to wear at night, and the doctor told me to ice it daily. Ideally, I would refrain from "the activity causing the pain."

So I rested.

It was hard for me to silence the blog completely, so I just put up fewer posts - mostly photo-intensive posts, since I didn't really want to type or use the mouse too much.

So, I'm sorry if my posts have been a bit sparse lately. I've been trying to rest my wrists, and as a result, staying away from the computer.

Thankfully, after resting for a week or so, I'm starting to feel better. I can sometimes pick up heavier objects now. I'm starting to type again, though not for any long stretches. Slowly, I'm beginning to draft blog posts.

I'm hoping to begin ramping up my Thailand posts again. I still have so much to share, even though I've already been posting for 2 weeks! I promise I'll mix in a few other types of posts here and there, just in case you want some variety.

Thanks for reading, and here's to many, many more posts!

Cheers!

Jen & Bryan enjoying Easter brunch at The Blue Room

April 4, 2013 Thailand

Floating Markets of Bangkok (Damnoen Saduak)

This is the fourth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok?, Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok?, and Maeklong Railway Market.

Venice of the East
Bangkok used to be a city of canals. Anchored by the Chao Praya River, the city's intricate system of "khlongs" (or canals) served as the main channels of transportation. More than that, the canals also handled the sewage for the city, as well as house many floating markets.

As time went by, more and more canals in central Bangkok were filled in to make way for new roads. King Rama IV built the first road in Bangkok in 1861 in response to Europeans asking for a place where they could ride their horses and carriages.

As canals disappeared, so did the floating markets. Today, one must travel to the outskirts of Bangkok to see a floating market. Many of these exist more to serve the tourist than the local community. Nevertheless, it's still fun to visit and definitely a fascinating glimpse into a way of life that is becoming quite rare.
The most famous (and probably largest) floating market near Bangkok is called Damnoen Saduak. This market is about 100 km away from Bangkok. You can take bus 78 from the Southern Bus Terminal in Bangkok (takes about 2 hours and costs just a few dollars USD) or hire a driver for the day (our driver charged us about $80 USD and was willing to stop at multiple locations, including the Maeklong Railway Market).

Perhaps the best way to enjoy the market is to stay at one of the local inns the night before. This allows you to visit the market in the wee hours of the morning, well before the tour buses arrive around 9AM.

We didn't have the luxury of time (our plane was leaving that evening!), so we could only afford a half day morning trip to the market.

Money Making Boats
One common way in which the market makes money is that most buses, taxis, etc drop you off at a location that is still about 1-2 km away from the center of the floating market. There are motorized tour boats at this location which charge hefty prices clearly aimed at tourists (anywhere from $30-$100 USD quoted for a 1-2 hour tour of the market). Women holding clipboards will approach you as soon as you get out of your car, offering you a price for the boats.

At this point, you can choose to walk the 1.5 km to the entrance, thus avoiding the high prices for the boats. I've also heard there's a bus that goes to the entrance, but I did not seek it out.

Or, you could just pay for a boat, which is what we did. Bryan and I tried to bargain, and got the price of the boat "tour" down a bit (we bargained her down from 1200 Baht ($40 USD) for 1 hour ride to 1000 Baht ($33 USD) for a 1.5 hour ride). It's still a lot more expensive than trying to get to the center of the market by foot, but we were short on time, and I didn't think it was worth wasting the time walking to the entrance.

Plus, that initial boat ride through the canals into the market was actually quite fun. I love boat rides in general and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the water-side homes and other sites on both sides of the canal.

Plus, I appreciated the less crowded parts of the market that our boat driver took us to visit. Here is a covered area of the market. There are fewer boats, but also fewer tourists. To be honest, I think it was the most authentic part of the entire tour.

This is where we saw local people cooking up the most incredible dishes inside the boats.

Isn't this lady's boat pretty awesome? She has multiple large pots, dishes full of "toppings", and piles of porcelain plates behind her.

This woman had a hybrid operation going, sitting on the edge of the dock while cooking on a floating boat.

I loved the calm serenity here. And don't you just love the gorgeous colors of all those tropical fruits?

As we moved closer to the center of the market, we began to see more and more boats going up and down the canals.

At times, it would get so crowded with tourist boats there would be "traffic jams" in the middle of the canal. Some people found this annoying, but I just found it hilariously amusing.
Aside from the boat vendors, there were also lots of "land" vendors on each side of the canal. If you wanted to buy something, the boat driver would stop at the "shop" and you could purchase stuff.
Prices at these shops were generally significantly higher than the prices at the normal outdoor markets in Bangkok. After all, this is a place aimed at tourists.

Thankfully, the price of food wasn't too bad, though it's still worth bargaining. Here I am buying mango sticky rice from a boat vendor. It was quite tasty, though probably not the best mango sticky rice I had in Thailand.

The prettiest boats were the ones that were filled with brightly colored fruits. There were boats dedicated to bananas, rose apples (above), dragon fruits, and rambutans.

You could also buy beer all over the place. Bryan bought his first can of beer for $3USD, which he thought was pretty cheap.

"How much was the beer?" asked our boat driver after Bryan paid.

"100 Baht" I said (30 Thai Baht is about $1 USD).

He shook his head in disappointment. Bryan looked at me and said, "I guess he thinks I got ripped off."

After that, our driver kept bringing us to other beer vendors who sold ice cold beers for only 50 Baht.

I bought a fun Thai snack that sort of looks like a taco but is sweet.

After taking many photos and videos, our 1.5 hour tour was up and it was time to go back. I hadn't really bought anything except food, which was totally fine by me. My biggest aim in coming was to enjoy the unique experience, take tons of photos, and sample some fun snacks.

Is It Worth Coming?
If you're looking for an authentic, traditional market experience, this won't quite satisfying you. As I said before, things have become quite tourist-oriented at this point, and a trip here may feels more like a theme park visit than a true glimpse back into the traditional Thai life.

However, even if it's touristy, it's still fun. I loved having our own private boat (with driver) take us around the many canals in the area. Damnoen Saduak is definitely a huge market, and there are tons of opportunities to see all kinds of vendors. If you want, you can even venture off the beaten track and ask the boat driver to take you away from the market to explore some of the other canals.

As a person who is passionate about photography, this visit was a dream. There are so many photo-worthy shots, it's hard to stop taking pictures. For the photos, come early in the morning when the sun is better situated and there are less tourists.

Remember to pick your shutter speed carefully! Our boat was moving quite fast, and some of my pictures turned out a bit blurry if I wasn't careful!

If you have some extra time in Bangkok, I would recommend at least visiting one floating market. It's a fun, relaxing, and different sort of destination compared to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. However, if your time is short (e.g., just a weekend in Bangkok), I would skip traveling the 100km to get here and instead focus on all the other cool things Bangkok has to offer.

* * *

Have an itch to travel after reading this post? How about visiting Greece? Visit the famous Parthenon in Athens and the gorgeous island of Santorini. For something a bit more unusual, take time to visit Zante's famed Blue Caves.

Damnoen Saduak
Hours: morning only (around 6AM -12PM)
Distance: ~ 100km from Bangkok (2hr by car)

April 1, 2013 Asian

Maeklong Railway Market

This is the third post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok?

One of the most interesting outdoor markets that Bryan and I visited was Maeklong Railway Market. This market, which has been in the same location for generations, ran into a bit of a problem when city officials decided to build a railway that would run right through the market.

Alas, the market decided it would stay put.

That was back in 1905. Since then (yes, for the past hundred years or so!), this market continues to thrive in its original location. The train comes through seven times a day, and it's quite a spectacle to watch the market during these times.

We planned our visit to coincide with the first train of the day, which comes around 8:40 AM (though times may vary). Here's the Maeklong Train Station right next to the bustling market. You can see they are selling stuff here too.

But the more interesting parts of the market are across the street from the station, where fresh produce is displayed dangerously close to the edge of the track.

You shop at the market by walking up and down the train tracks. As you can see, there's really not much space in this tight market! It's incredible to imagine a train coming through. In recent years, word has gotten around about this interesting market, and you'll most definitely see tourists hanging out around the times that the train is coming through.

When the warning bell triggers, vendors begin to quickly move their stuff away from the edge of the tracks.

Here comes the train! It moves at a rate of about 15 miles an hour and seriously comes within inches of the market. The vendors have become experts at knowing what they need to remove. In some cases (see above), the produce actually can fit underneath the train as it moves through.

And just like that, once the train goes by, the market returns to normal.

Crazy huh?

I just can't imagine ever seeing anything like this in the U.S., which makes this all the more unusual and unique.

Details
The easiest way to get here is to take a taxi (37 miles from Bangkok, about an hour away with some traffic). If you want, you can actually take the train into the market. I'm sure that would be super fun, but we didn't have time to do that. Instead, we hired a driver for a half day ($80 USD), and he drove us here to hang out for about an hour before heading off to the floating markets at Damnoen Saduak (post coming soon!). It's on the way, so you can easily do both in a morning if you're willing to leave Bangkok around 7:00 AM or so).

March 29, 2013 Asian

Raan Jay Fai (Best Drunken Noodles in Bangkok?)

Pad Khee Mao from Raan Jay Fai

This is the second post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok?

Have you ever tasted perfection?

My simple noodle plate at this simple roadside restaurant was one of my favorite bites during my entire trip in Bangkok.

This little, humble roadside open-air restaurant in the old part of Bangkok looks like it hasn't changed in over fifty years. The owner, Jay Fai, is a petite, energetic woman who has been cooking since she was eight years old in her family's street stall. Now approaching seventy, she still personally cooks virtually every single dish that comes out of the kitchen.

The open-air kitchen is simple - just a few really, really hot charcoal broilers which spit out ultra hot flames.

The flames are perfect for creating the ultimate "wok hei", that magical, caramelized, smoky flavor that results from cooking in a wok at high temperatures.

Jay Fai works quickly, skillfully maneuvering two different woks full of different ingredients at different stages. She is known as the "Mozart of the Wok" and her food, especially her Pad Khee Mao (drunken noodle) is legendary throughout Bangkok.

Her dishes costs about four to five times that of those sold around her (about 330 Baht or $11 USD for a plate of noodles), and yet her place is always packed. Lines can get long, so it's best to come during off hours, like at 4PM (opening time), which is when we arrived.

See! Empty restaurant at 4PM!

Raan Jay Fai's dishes stand out for a couple reasons. First of all, the quality of her seafood is unparalleled. The larger-than-average shrimp are juicy, succulent, and extremely flavorful. The fresh noodles have a wonderful chewy yet soft bite to them, and all the vegetables are extremely fresh.

Second, she just executes everything really, really well. This woman is famously known for her wok skills, and I believe the fame is warranted. We both loved the Pad Khee Mao, definitely something you just must try. The flavors and textures of the dish were outstanding, perfectly balanced in so many ways. Plus you just can't quite recreate that delicious wok hey at home, unless if you try cooking right over your charcoal grill.

The dishes were spicy, yet the heat was manageable (surprisingly!) and actually balanced the other flavors in the dish really well.

In fact, Bryan, who used to tell everyone he didn't like Thai food, changed his mind when he tasted these noodles. Instead of being overly sweet, he found the flavors to be perfectly balanced - spicy, salty, and just a touch of sweetness, with fragrant overtones of Thai basil, chili peppers, and that smoky wok hey.

Soooo good.

This place is hard to find if you're trying to use Google Maps. I think the addresses don't line up quite right, so we overshot the first time and had to backtrack. Eventually, we stopped using our phones and instead just looked at the address numbers until we got to the place.

I'm not sure if it helps, but I did take a screen capture of our exact location (on Google Maps) once we were sitting in the restaurant.

If you're only in Thailand for a few days, I would highly recommend making this one of your priorities! It's so worth it!

March 26, 2013 Asian

Thip Samai (Best Pad Thai in Bangkok?)

This is the first post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok.

Even people who hardly know a thing about Thai cuisine know the national dish Pad Thai.

I know because I was one of those people. My family never ate Thai food while I was growing up, most likely because we had very little access to it in the middle of Ohio. Even after I moved to Boston, my brief exposure to Thai food usually consisted of sweet, toned down, less-spicy versions of the real thing. If you asked me to name Thai dishes, the best I could squeeze out would be the commonly known "Pad Thai,", "Drunken Noodle,", and maybe "Pad See Ew."

I was really curious whether pad Thai was actually a really a common dish in Thailand, or it was something that was ubiquitous in America, but didn't really exist in Thailand.

As it turns out, pad Thai is all over Thailand now, though it wasn't always that way.

Pad Thai derives its roots from Vietnam, created when one stir fries Vietnamese "Pho" noodles together with Chinese ingredients such as preserved radishes, Chinese chives, dried bean curd, and shrimp. The humble noodle dish became a national dish in Thailand in the 1930's and 1940's under Prime Minister Luang Phibunsongkhram, who put on a massive campaign for the dish in an effort to promote patriotism, support local rice farmers, and unify the nation.

He disseminated the recipe for pad Thai around the country, encouraging people to sell this new national dish (renamed Pad Thai), on street carts all around the city. He encouraged Western cultures, such as the use of forks and spoons for eating and Western clothing.

The dish became a national sensation, and people began associating the dish with Thailand itself.

To this day, pad Thai is a dish that is mostly enjoyed in casual street stalls. Many will argue that proper, formal restaurants just don't serve good enough pad Thai. It's a dish that's meant to be enjoyed on the street.

So Bryan and I made the journey to seek out the most famous pad Thai in Bangkok.

A healthy walk from Democracy Monument, this roadside unassuming restaurant called Thip Samai employs over a dozen people. It's fascinating to walk by and see all of them furiously churning out pad Thai.

The restaurant opens at 5:00 PM, so don't expect to come for lunch. You will be sorely disappointed if you try (as many tourists have).
There are seemingly workers making pad Thai everywhere, even this guy cooking pad Thai out on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant!

We sat inside, though you can see that the front of the restaurant is just open to the street. Because we came pretty early (close to 5:00 PM), we were able to easily grab a seat.

Every plate of pad Thai is served with a side of fresh bean sprouts, lime wedges, and other greens I couldn't identify.

We ordered the Original Pad Thai, which was tasty and a bargain for the quality. The above dish costs 50 baht, or about $1.67 USD and was filled with all sorts of delicious ingredients, such as dried tofu, cilantro, Chinese chives, and eggs.

Thip Samai uses Chanthaburi Noodles, rice noodles that are dried out in the sun (instead of with machines). These noodles were a bit thinner than what I see in the States, and had a nice, chewy texture. The red color comes partly from the use of shrimp oil, which is made by cooking either dried shrimp or shrimp heads in hot oil.

Pad Thai is cooked to order in steel woks on traditional charcoal stoves.

Bryan, who doesn't love sweet dishes, still found the pad Thai to be a bit sweet for his tastes, and told me he preferred other dishes in Thailand to this one. However, a few sprinkles of the chili pepper flakes made things much better for him.
We also tried the "Superb Pad Thai" (70 Baht, or $2.30 USD), a twist on the original dish because the pad Thai noodles are wrapped in an egg omelet.

Everything was quite tasty, served fast, and cost next to nothing. I thought that the pad Thai reached a nice balance between salty (from the fish sauce), sweet (from the palm sugar), and sour (from the tamarind). I liked how the noodles were nice and chewy, and overall, the dish was very good.
I'm not sure if it's the best pad Thai I had in Thailand. I took a few cooking classes while I was in Bangkok, and I would argue that some of those home cooked versions rivaled this one.

However, I do want to mention that I had just eaten at another street side restaurant prior to this, so the fact that I was already a little full may have also influenced my overall enjoyment of the meal. I bet if I were famished before coming here, I would be raving a lot more about this meal.

I still think it's totally worth coming to visit. It's a Bangkok institution, and it's fascinating just to see all these people making their crazy volumes of pad Thai the old, traditional way. Plus, the dish is really good, and it won't hurt your wallet the least bit.

Come early, to beat the lines. We came right at 5PM and had no trouble finding a seat.
Thip Samai
313 Maha Chai Road
Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon
Bangkok 10200
Thailand

Hours: 5:00 PM - 3:00 AM daily

sources: the morning news msihua

March 22, 2013 Thailand

Thailand!

Is it Friday already?

Time really feels warped when one is jet-lagged. I feel like I've been moving through this week in a cloud, waking up way too early and yet still feeling tired all the time.

We just returned from a whirlwind one-week long trip to Thailand. Bryan had a work trip there so I decided to tag along on this one. Bryan had to work for most of the week, so I decided to entertain myself by signing up for several cooking classes.

We spent most of our evenings together, so we were able to explore Thai cuisine together, which was super fun.

Here's just a snapshot of some of the stuff we saw. It's also a peek at the nature of the upcoming posts in this Thailand! series.

A fascinating outdoor market that's set up along an active train track!

The breathtaking view of Bangkok from the top of the Skybar, where only a short glass wall separates you from the scary edge of this 63-floor high building.

Northern style Isaan sausages and the staple accompaniment, sticky rice.

Making red curry from scratch at my first cooking class.

We learned how to make golden bags.

And Pad Thai.
Bryan and I visited the only restaurant in Thailand to make the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list. The London location of this restaurant received a Michelin star at one point.

I tried durian for the first time, in the form of dessert (durian + sticky rice).

One of my favorite parts was the abundance of fresh fruit. Every day for breakfast, I sampled various tropical fruits that I can't get easily in the US.

We visited one of the most famous pad Thai places in the city, where you can get excellent pad Thai for just a bit over $1 USD.

Just down the street is the most famous Pad Kee Mow (drunken noodle) place in the entire city.
A plate of their ethereal noodles will run you a whopping $10 USD (considered crazy expensive compared to most noodle places, which cost close to $1 - $2), but it's soooooo worth it.

We took a street food tour and tried some fantastic local dishes, such as this tom yum noodle soup which we enjoyed in an alleyway between two buildings!

or these deep fried bananas (yum!).

Ever had a deep fried egg omelet?

We visited the floating markets and I bought mango sticky rice from a boat vendor.

One of the best treats? Seeing Northern Lights from the airplane on my ride home.

I have so much to share with you from this trip. I didn't realize how little I knew about Thai culture, history, or its food before this trip. I feel like I learned so much and I can't wait to share them with you. I've got recipes and techniques I learned for some classic Thai dishes; photos from our street food adventure, and lots and lots of interesting (and tasty!) dishes from the various restaurants we visited. Yes it was only a week, yet I tried my best to pack in as much as possible.

Stay tuned for this next series on Thailand!

Update! The Entire Thailand Series

Eats!
Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok?
Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok
Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I
Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II
Fun Fruits in Thailand

Cool Experiences
Maeklong Railway Market
Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak)

Cooking Classes + Recipes
Somphong Thai Cooking School
Som Tam (Papaya Salad)
Thai Panaeng Curry Chicken
Bananas In Golden Syrup
BaiPai Thai Cooking School
Golden Bags
Larb Gai (Laap Gai)
Pad Thai

Restaurants
Som Tam Nua
Taling Pling

March 18, 2013 Las Vegas

é by José Andrés

This is the last post in the Winter in Las Vegas series. Other posts in this series include Le Cirque and Julian Serrano.

Deep inside Jaleo, José Andrés's well-known and popular Spanish tapas restaurant, lies another almost hidden, restaurant-within-a-restaurant called simply "é." é is one of José Andrés's gastronomical "playgrounds" where he delights diners with various tastes, smells, and sights through the use of molecular gastronomy, among many other techniques.

é joins the ranks of José Andrés's other two "flagship" restaurants that serve related exploratory-type tasting meals: minibar in DC and Saam in Los Angeles. Unlike minibar, which draws from numerous different cuisines and pushes the envelope on using new, modern techniques, é is decidedly more Spanish, applying new cooking techniques to age-old Spanish ingredients and dishes.

With only eight seats and two seatings a night, reservations at this tiny little bar are infamously difficult to get. There's no online book system or phone number to call. Instead, all reservations are simply done via email.

If you're lucky enough to get a confirmed reservation, you actually get an email that begins with "Congratulations, you've made it!" To make it feel extra special, "golden tickets" for the "show" arrive in the mail a few days later.

They urge you to arrive early. After all, it's a tightly orchestrated "performance" that aims to bring you through a journey of 23 individual tastes in a little over two hours. There are two seatings a night - one at 5:30 and one at 8:30. There's no room for error. They must finish the first show by around 8:15PM.

Because we arrive early (as they requested), they bring us to the bar at Jaleo to relax for a few minutes while they finish setting up.

A little after 5:30, we are whisked away to the deep interior of the restaurant, where we find another glass door.

Welcome to the show. Your journey is about to begin.

The seating at é is quite intimate. Eights seats wrap around a semi-circular bar, where every single diner gets up-front and personal front row seats facing the kitchen. Rows of old-school card catalogs line a wall, and whimsical art and odd knick knacks decorate the walls and shelves.

Sous chef Cody Jeffs kicks off the show with a dramatic flair, pouring liquid nitrogen into a flask full of orange blossom water. A pool of smoke arises, spilling all over the table.

This liquid nitrogen-chilled water is mixed with Mazanilla sherry to create our first "course", a Rebujito Cocktail which is absolutely refreshing and delicious.
Chef Cody and another sous chef soon lay out eight molds in the shape of José Andrés's hands.
They gently lay out whimsical balls of Truffle Cotton Candy, our second course, each topped with edible gold flakes. This is paired alongside Idiazabal "Macaron", an tense, cheesy cookie that pairs beautifully with the cottom candy.

It's as if José Andrés is personally serving us all cotton candy.

I sincerely love both. The truffle cotton candy is intoxicating with strong truffle flavor, and the salty, intensely cheesy "macarons" are a perfect match.

Next, the chefs begin laying out perfectly formed hemispheres that look just like egg shells, have the consistency of chocolate, and taste like almonds.

These cold shells, presumably made with the use of liquid nitrogen (?) are called Nitro Almond Cups, and are filled with various almond flavored elements (such as foam) as well as a generous portion of caviar. The champagne with which this course is paired nicely bring out the nuttiness of the almonds.

The next course, called Apple "Brazo de Gitano", reminds me of a similar course I had at Samm in Los Angeles. Airy, almost like styrofoam, this savory bite beautifully pairs together the flavors of apple and a strong blue cheese.

Next we enjoy another bite that looks like it should be sweet, but is actually savory. Barquillo is a traditional Spanish rolled wafer cookie.

Here, the barquillos contain a rich and savory truffle and anchovy filling that has the consistency of whipped cream. The flavors are absolutely fantastic, and our one little bite leaves me wishing for more.
The playful name "Almejas al Natural" literally means "natural clams", though in fact it's anything but. These unassuming "clams" are actually filled with spherified balls of reconstituted clam juice. The resulting bite is gorgeously flavorful with intense clam flavors, and pairs well with the sherry with which it is paired.

The next course, Bocata de Bacalao, again reminds me of Chef Andres's "Bahn Mi" that I had at Samm. Although the fried bread is similar from both places, this é version is more Spanish, made from salt cod, aioli, and caramelize onions. It's deeply savory and quite rich.

Crispy Chicken Skin in Escabeche consists of a paper thin, flattened crispy chicken skin topped with chicken oysters and a foam inspired by "Escabeche" flavors, an acidic marinade traditionally used in Mediterranean cuisine. I find this dish to be tasty, though I am not particularly blown away by the flavors like I was for previous courses.

As a palate cleanser of sorts, we take a break from savory bites to enjoy a huge spherified ball of Cava Sangria. This is fun, and I am surprised at how much it really taste like cava. Knowing from experience, sometimes it's not that trivial to make your spherified liquid taste the same as it is in its liquid form, especially when it comes to complex wines.
I've lost count at this point, but I can tell the dishes are getting more substantial and less like little "bites."

Our next course is Artichoke "Puree" with Vanilla. Three perfectly formed artichoke hearts sit at the center of this dish, served with a rich, artichoke flavored sauce and vanilla foam. It's wonderfully flavorful, though I don't find any groundbreaking new flavors.
It's hard to take notes for this meal, as things happen so quickly you might miss something if you're head is buried in your notebook or phone. For example, during the preparation of the next course, Lobster with Citrus & Jasmine, the chefs draw a little "é" into the sauce of each plate (see middle picture above).

It is only there for a fleeting second, and soon a succulent piece of lobster tail is laid over the pretty letter that was just carefully drawn moments before.

This juicy piece of lobster tail is served with jasmine foam and tiny bits of fruit. The dish is paired with either a Spanish beer or a sparkling white wine (depending on whether guests opt for the normal pairing or grand pairing).

The next dish is one of my favorites of the entire meal. Chickpea Stew with Iberico Ham may sound simple, but the actual preparation that goes into this soup is astounding. Jamon iberico fat is first clarified and then emulsified together with three different stocks made with different types of bones. The "chickpeas" that you see in the photo are actually spherified balls with an intense, creamy essence that is much more than just chick pea. Finally, little bits of actual jamon iberico "bacon" dot the plate, rounding out the wonderful tastes and textures of this complex soup.

We were scraping the bottom of the bowl, trying to get every last drop of this flavorful elixir into our mouths.

Bryan loves bone marrow, and therefore loves the next course, Turbot with Bone Marrow. The simply prepared turbot (probably prepared sous vide) is topped with its skin fried and served with deep fried capers. Bryan loves the breaded and deep fried bone marrow "tater tots" served on the side. I personally find it to be way to rich and fatty, but Bryan loves it.

Chef Cody then brings out an entire lobe of foie gras covered in salt and herbs, appropriately named Whole Lobe of Foie Gras Baked in Salt.

It is served with tiny cubes of confit grapefruit, a paint-stroke of chocolate, and a light, clementine soup. The balance of the slightly salty foie gras and the sweetness from the other components works quite well.

Chef Cody explains to us the meaning behind the next dish, Secreto of Iberico Pork with Squid. The "secreto" is a particular "secret" part of the pig that butchers used to love keeping for themselves because it was so tasty.
This lovely piece of jamon iberico shoulder secreto is served with a squid jus sauce, made from squid a la plancha (on the grill).

Finally, it's time for dessert. We are quite stuffed at this point, and hardly realize there is still so much more to come . . . .
Orange Pith Puree La Serena is almost like a transitional cheese course, savory and sweet at the same time. La Serena is a 60-day aged Spanish raw sheep's milk cheese, strong, creamy and salty. It is topped with a fun, flat foamy sheet and whimsical flowers.

Flan is a traditional Spanish custard. Here, we enjoy tiny little cups of flan alongside crushed fruity ice.

The dramatic show continues as Chef Cody begins to cook "pirate-spiced" rum (lemon zest, vanilla, and cinnamon) and coffee together with this electrifying blue flame.

It's almost hypnotizing to watch the blue flame as Chef Cody repeatedly raises and lowers his spoon.

The resultant coffee rum drink is served in a tiny espresso glass alongside Pan Con Chocolate, literally "bread with chocolate". Here, bread baked in simple syrup is covered with a chocolate powder which tastes like shaved frozen chocolate mousse served with saffron olive oil. The flavor combination works surprisingly well.

"Arroz Con Leche", a traditional Spanish tapioca pudding, comes inside a tiny candied cone as a single, delicious bite.

And the desserts keep coming!

Chef Cody begins to make "25 second Bizcocho", an almond cone-shaped cake that is "baked" in the microwave for 25 seconds.

The cake is moist, not too sweet, and filled with a light cream. This is served with "Air" Chocolate, a fantastic bite of salt-topped chocolate with air holes all throughout the inside. It sort of reminds me of the British chocolate called "Aero."

And finally, a delightfully fun final dessert that is visually huge, but takes up virtually no stomach space. The Cocoa Paper with Dried Strawberry is extremely delicate. I believe it's made mainly from sugar, but this paper-thin sculpture crumbles and quickly disintegrates in your mouth as you eat it.

I love it, and finish my entire piece.

We finish this off with José Andrés's signature drink - his awesome gin and tonic. I first had this drink at Jaleo in Washington DC. It's there that I realized that I love gin & tonic. Andrés's version uses Hendrick's gin, Fever Tree tonic, kaffir lime, lemon, and juniper.

It's a perfect, refreshing way to end the evening.

As you would expect at the end of any show, the "characters" come out for a bow as we applaud their hard work.

It is only about 8:05PM, plenty of time before the next show. Most guests leave, but we hang around a bit, savoring the space, chatting with the staff.

I've got a huge smile on my face, because I've had so much fun the entire evening.

The food was absolutely phenomenal. I loved José Andrés's creative intepretations of traditional Spanish classics. Even though he does some similar dishes at Samm in Los Angeles, I much prefer this meal over that one, possibly because I didn't like the French-inspired dishes as much at Samm.

This could very well become one of my favorite meals I've ever had in Las Vegas.

Seriously, it's up there with Joel Robuchon and L'Atelier.

I like it when I'm surprised by new and innovative flavor combinations, and é does not disappoint. Even though José Andrés says it's more Spanish and more conservative, I still find it to be refreshingly different from the traditional French-inspired tasting menus that you typically find. Plus, his use and command of molecular gastronomy still sets his food apart from most high-end meals around.

Of course, it's also possible I just like the bold flavors of Spanish cuisine more.

Whatever the reason, I had a wonderfully memorable time at é and I would highly recommend trying to get a reservation if you can. It's become one of my favorite meals in Vegas, and I can't wait to try it again when I return. I know they change the menu quarterly, so you can go back and (hopefully) try a range of a totally new set of surprising flavors.

The Details
Reservations are only done by emailing [email protected] up to three months before your date of dining. If they indicate availability, you must fill out and sign a form (more like a contract, really) where you give them your credit card number and agree to a few terms. Any cancellation made less than 14 days before dining date results in a 50% cancellation fee. A no-show results in a 100% cancellation fee.

The tasting menu is $195 and does not include alcohol or gratuity. There are two pairings: the standard pairing costs $130 and the premium pairing costs $300 (see below for both full lists). You can also order off of the extensive wine list (given to you in the form of a tablet!), which is shared with Jaleo.

Definitely put your name on the waiting list, as cancellations do happen. I called less than two weeks before my dinner and was able to secure seats for four due to a cancellation that happened a few days later.

Cheers!

Want to read more Vegas posts? Check out the Las Vegas Eating Guide which includes links to all Las Vegas area restaurant posts I've written.

WINE PAIRINGS
Standard Pairing
2008 Agusti Torello Mata Reserva Cava
La Gitana “En Rama” Jerez; Hidalgo, Manzanilla (Sherry)
Alvear “Carlos VII” Amontillado; Montilla-Morales (Sherry)
Estrella Damm Inedit (Beer)
2002 R. Lopez De Heredia “Vina Gravonia”; Rioja (Crianza Blanco)
East India Solera Jerez NV; E. Lustau (Sherry)
2000 Alejandro Fernandez “Dehesa La Granja”; Zamora (Tempranillo)
2008 Jorge Ordonez & Co. “Victoria”; Malaga (Moscatel)
2004 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Trockenbeerenauslese; (Riesling)
Ron Cremant (Warm rum and coffee cocktail)
Jose’s Gin & Tonic

Premium Pairing
Krug Grand Cuvee Brut NV; Reims
Pasada Pastrana Jerez; Hidalgo, Manzanilla (Sherry)
Bodegas Tradicion V.O.R.S. Jerez; Oloroso (Sherry)
2009 Txomin Etxaniz Txakoli; Getariao Txakolina
2000 R. Lopez De Heredia “Vina Tondonia” Gran Reserva; Rioja (Rosé)
East India Solera Jerez NV; E. Lustau (Sherry)
2003 Vega-Sicilia Valbuena 5° Año; Ribera del Duero
2004 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Trockenbeerenauslese; (Riesling)
Ron Cremant (Warm rum and coffee cocktail)
Jose’s Gin & Tonic

e by Jose Andres
The Cosmopolitan (inside Jaleo)
3708 Las Vegas Blvd
S Las Vegas, NV 89109

March 13, 2013 Las Vegas

Julian Serrano (Aria)

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I've been traveling a lot plus dealing with some crazy deadlines at work. Things will resume back to normal very soon, I promise! Meanwhile, please enjoy this second post in the Winter in Las Vegas series. Other posts include Le Cirque at the Bellagio.

I've always been the type of person who gets bored after eating a few bites of any one dish. As someone who grew up eating Taiwanese food at home "family style" (where you sample little bits from all the communal plates in the center of the table), I could never understand the Western way of eating.

Doesn't one get bored of that same big chunk of meat, the one side dish, and the veggies on your plate?

Although I've learned a lot about the way different cultures enjoy food, I still generally prefer eating in small little "snack"-sized portions. For Chinese food, family-style or dim sum work great for that. For European style food, Spanish tapas might be the closest thing.

After eating some pretty crazy meals in Las Vegas, Bryan and I were ready for something a bit "lighter." We were meeting some local Las Vegas friends and decided on this place because it seemed interesting, was very popular, and allowed us to sample a variety of food.

Us with Julian Serrano (center) at Picasso

Julian Serrano is the namesake restaurant of Chef Julian Serrano, the executive chef of Picasso at the Bellagio.

Though Julian Serrano is originally from Madrid, he became known for his French cooking, honing his skills as executive chef at Masataka Kobayashi's well known French restaurant, Masa, in San Francisco. Around the time he won the James Beard Award for "Best Chef" in California in 1998, he was lured away from the state to join Bellagio's new high-end French restaurant Picasso as executive chef.

Julian Serrano continued to receive countless accolades for his work at Picasso, including 2-Michelin stars.

In December of 2009, with the opening of the new City Center, Julian Serrano finally had a chance to create a namesake restaurant serving the food of his homeland in a more casual setting.

We were definitely most curious to try it.

The decor is bold, colorful, and quite trendy, the first work in America by the famous Spanish design firm, Gente de Valor. The places gets mobbed on weekends, probably due to a combination of its hip atmosphere, good food, fun cocktails, and reasonable (for the Strip) prices.

Bryan can never resist a spicy cocktail, and this one was no exception.

The menu at Julian Serrano is quite large and changes from time to time. The tapas are divided up by type. "New Style Tapas" are Chef Serrano's own creative takes on traditional Spanish tapas, including international influences (lots of Japanese), as well as a bit of molecular gastronomy.

The rest of the menu focuses on more traditional tapas, and are divided up into "Ceviches and Seafood", "Cheese and Charcuterie", "Vegetarian", "Meat and Poultry", and "Paellas." If you still prefer to eat larger plates, they have a few larger offerings under "Platos Grandes" as well, everything from a "mariscada" seafood stew to organic sous-vide pork chops.

The server high recommended getting at least one paella (they are designed to be shared by two people), along with several other tapas. It was hard to choose, but here are the ones we tried.

One of the favorites of the evening, Stuffed Dates ($12) are Medjol dates stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped with crispy pancetta. This came with a side of tomato marmalade. I loved the well balanced mix of crunchy, soft, savory, and sweet.O
We seemed to focus our choices a lot on Spain's famous black pork (Iberico), such as this Black Pig Pintxo ($18), Spanish Iberian pork shoulder meat with caramelized onions served over thick toasts.
We all loved these Artichoke Hearts, which came with gorgeously crispy bits of Iberico pork. Here, the mini crunchy bits of the flavorful pork "bacon" totally made the dish.

Beef and Cheese was a toast topped with prime tenderloin, cheese, honey, and walnuts. ($17)

Rabo de Toro was a fun little bite of stewed oxtail and Îberian pork on top of creamy mashed potatoes ($14).
There are several types of paellas available on the menu, such as the Valenciana which includes chicken, pork shoulder, and Spanish pork chorizo or the seafood focused Rosellat, which includes shrimp and monkfish.

Paellas take 35 minutes to prepare and are meant to be shared between two people, though they can make larger ones upon request.

We opted for the Mixed Paella ($50), which came with an entire half lobster, mussels, chicken, Spanish pork chorizo, vegetables, and saffron rice. This was very well executed. The rice had gorgeous saffron flavors and picked up all the aromatic flavors from the richly flavored seafood stock.

The classic Spanish custard dessert, Flan ($8), was delicious, and one tiny one just wasn't enough to share amongst four people!

It's hard to pass up deliciously fried Spanish churros, a deep fried sugar-dusted "doughnut" served with a spicy hot chocolate dipping sauce (yum!).

Overall, we had a fabulous time at Julian Serrano. I can see why this place is popular. It's fun to sample all the different types of tapas, and he does a solid job at it. It's a HUGE restaurant, but service managed to be pretty good.

On the Strip, Jaleo is the only other obvious choice I can think of for Spanish tapas. Although I've never tried the one in Las Vegas (I hope to, someday!) my experience in DC was excellent, and I would expect nothing less from the Las Vegas location.

You probably can't go wrong with either!

Julian Serrano
ARIA at City Center
3730 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV

March 6, 2013 American

No Mad (Daniel Humm)

It's been an incredible couple years for Daniel Humm.

His flagship restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, finally earned its third Michelin star in the 2012 Michelin Guide, joining the exclusive ranks of only an handful of restaurants in New York (Le Bernardin, Per Se, Daniel, Brooklyn Fare, Jean Georges, and Masa).

He came out with his first cookbook, an eye-popping, absolutely stunning guide describing how to prepare many of the dishes from Eleven Madison Park (check out the gorgeous 4-course meal he cooked inBoston as part of his cookbook "tour" in 2011).

At his flagship restaurant, he revamped the entire menu, offering a more expensive, whimsical "tour" of New York City through twenty or so artfully presented courses.

Jen and Bryan at NoMad

And finally, he just opened up a second restaurant, just "North of Madison" (get it? No Mad?)

During a whirlwind stopover in New York on our way to Australia, we met up with another couple in the Flatiron District to try out Chef Humm's new, more "casual" restaurant.
The NoMad sits in the lobby of the NoMad Hotel. You walk through the bar before entering a huge, expansive dining area with ornate chandeliers, velvet chairs, and dark, plush carpet.

Though it was hard to decide what to order, our party of four opted to get four appetizers, the famous "Roasted Chicken for Two", a pasta entree, and one more meat entree.

Service was impeccable and the bread came right away. Served on a fun cutting board that include a special indented spot for the bread knife, this warm, soft loaf reminded us a lot of foccacia but topped with all sorts of goodies such as fennel seeds, potato "chips", and roasted onions. The bread was surprisingly soft and moist inside and had a lovely, crispy exterior.

Roasted Beets were pickled and were served with smoked creme fraiche and roasted "rye" (crunchy crumbs that added a nice textural component). We differed in opinions, but this was at least one guy's favorite appetizer.

A perfectly poached "Onsen" Egg was served with Tuscan kale, crosnes, and chorizo. Though it was on the saltier side, it was just right, and I absolutely loved the blend of flavors and textures from the salty and smoky chorizo, the gooey yet creamy farm fresh egg, and the crispy bits thrown throughout.

Chef Humm did a fantastic job on the flavors of the simple Tagliatelle with King Crab, Meyer lemon, and Black Pepper. Though I could have wished for the pasta to be just a hair more al dente, the lemony tartness of the Meyer lemons perfectly offset the rich, buttery sweetness of the king crab. The pepper added much needed spice, and really tied together the dish nicely.

The Fois Gras Torchon with Pear, Red wine, and Licorice came with a whole pear poached in red wine. Those who love fois gras really enjoyed creay fois gras and the soft poached pear. A huge, thick slice of brioche accompanied the fois gras was a big hit. "I really like the bread!" said one person.

It was early November, which is right smack in the middle of white truffle season. No Mad had a huge, gorgeous white truffle (see how big it is??!). They brought it by, and we all took nice, deep breaths as we all smelled the crazy fragrant aromas of this lovely specimen.

Bryan decided to get shaved white Alba truffles on his homemade pasta, which was awesome.My absolute favorite entree was the Black Bass slow cooked with matsutake mushrooms and spinach. I was initially drawn to the matsutake mushrooms since I had just enjoyed this gorgeous and very seasonal mushroom in Japan. I was blown away by so much more than just the mushrooms in this preparation.

First of all, the fish was executed perfectly, well seasoned and buttery soft. The matsutake mushrooms were just a bit vinegared, adding a wonderfully bright and needed contrast to the light dish. I can't say much more except that I was thoroughly impressed.

The Roast Chicken for Two is one of the the young restaurant's signature dishes, and the waiter said he always recommends trying that if it's your first time at the restaurant.

Similarly priced to the famous "roast chicken for 2" at Craigie ($80), this one kicks it up many, many notches by adding a thin layer of fois gras, black truffle, and brioche bread crumb "stuffing" in between the crispy skin and the chicken.

Objectively speaking, the chicken at Craigie is more tender (he does this whole crazy prep with sous vide, using really expensive Misty Knolls chicken). However, Humm's version is much more creatively flavored, and is really, really incredible.

Unlike at Craigie, you don't get the carcass to take home here. However, they do pull apart the dark meat and sauté it for you in this cream sauce that was a bit rich for me, but totally loved by others at the table.

Desserts

"Milk and Honey" is famous, and for good reason. It was by far our favorite dessert. Three perfectly formed scoops of "milk" ice (essentially milk ice cream) are drizzled with honey and laid on top of a scattering of crushed goodness that tastes like a mix of toffee, crumbled cookies, and sugar. Absolutely fantastic.

"Coconut" consisted of a coconut cake, crushed toffee, nuts, and coconut flavored ice cream. Our friend said it reminded her of a fancy Mounds bar (I guess the elements are all there). I don't love coconut, so it was only OK for me, but it was reasonably well received. If you only plan on getting one dessert, most definitely pick the Milk and Honey.

Chemex, traditionally made coffee poured table-side was excellent.

Overall, Chef Humm has done a fantastic job on the food at his second restaurant. Though we liked some dishes more than others, I would say there was not a single "miss" on the menu. My personal favorites would be the Poached Egg, Tagliatelle with King Crab, Black Bass, and the Milk & Honey. The "Chicken for Two" comes a close second, and is definitely worth ordering if there are at least two people at your party. Our waiter was very amenable to our "family style" way of eating, and brought us share plates and even split the chicken into two plates for us.

Definitely make a reservation, as they fill up quickly. I booked a few days early, and could only choose between a 5:45PM or 10:30PM reservation. Oh, and don't be confused by the other restaurant in New York called "Nomad." Check the address and make sure you are booking at the right one!

March 1, 2013 Cambridge

Yume Wo Katare

Call me a chicken or call me lame.

Or maybe I'm just not a quite as devoted a ramen fan.

Sure, I'd been curious about Yume Wo Katare even before it opened. Who wouldn't be intrigued by the promise of authentic ramen from Japan, complete with thick, handmade noodles and a rich, flavorful broth?

But then there were the lines. The infamous lines that stretched down the block, especially on weekends. It wan't unusual to wait 2 hours for a bowl of noodles. Of course, from what I heard, the brave souls who waited in these long lines were rewarded with a phenomenal bowl of noodles. Those that were lucky bragged about "only" waiting 20-30 minutes. Those in the know advised going right at 5:00 pm (about an hour before they open).

"Usually they'll open the doors around 5:30 and start letting people in. This way, you only wait 30 minutes."

I live less than a 15 minute walk away from this place, yet I couldn't bring myself to go try it. The uncertainty of potentially having to wait in line for up to two hours most definitely deterred me, big time.

A few nights ago, Bryan informed me that he was going to be late coming back from work. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to try to catch this elusive place at a time when possibly, just possibly the line might be shorter.

We decided to take the chance. It was a reasonably "warm" night out (hey, if it's above freezing here in Boston, we think it's warm), and we were OK going to another backup place in Porter Square if necessary.

Surprisingly, at around 8:30PM, there was no line out the door. Instead, we walked inside, paid for our noodles at the counter, and stood along the wall of the restaurant . . . . waiting. Waiting and watching sixteen other hungry people slurp down their noodles.

Shockingly, within 5 minutes, 4 people finished their noodles and got up to leave.

We couldn't believe it.

We were finally in.

Yume Wo Katare opened in Porter Square (Cambridge) in October of 2012. Chef-owner Tsuyoshi Nishioka has five other ramen restaurants in Japan and decided he wanted to open one up in the US.

It took him awhile to find the perfect location. He tried out a bunch of places, including Hawaii and New York, before settling on Boston. He was searching for a place where there were lots of students - people who didn't have that much money but had huge dreams.

Tell me your Dreams. "Yume" means dreams in Japanese, and "Katare" is tell.

The tiny restaurant is covered with colorful framed signs describing different people's dreams. You can pay $10 to display your dream for a month; $30 for 3 months; all the way up to $10,000 for 10 years (would that guarantee that he would stay open in that location for 10 years? - perhaps "until 2030" like the sign promises?).

Chef Nishioka is passionate about his ramen. He wakes up early each morning and spends two hours making the noodles by hand.

I asked, "muzukashii desu ka?" (isn't that difficult?)

He smiled and replied (in Japanese), "I have been doing this for ten years. I made ramen for ten years in Japan, so now it is not so difficult."

The pork bone "tonkotsu" broth (not to be confused with the breaded pork cutlet called "tonkatsu") is simmered gently for over 24 hours, never allowed to actually boil. What results is this thick, rich broth full of collagen, pork fat, and tons of flavor. Some liken it to a light gravy almost.

The restaurant specializes in one dish and one dish only: Jiro-style pork ramen. This style of ramen typically comes with thicker noodles (made from higher gluten bread flour), chashu pork and belly, and a thick, fatty pork bone broth. A pile of lightly blanched cabbage and fresh bean sprouts feebly attempts to balance out all that porky richness.

This unusual style of ramen (which some ramen purists refuse to acknowledge as ramen) started in Mita near Keio University at a place called Ramen Jiro. The gargantuan portions of noodles and pork became a hit with students who were looking for delicious, hearty food at a good value.

Especially popular with young college males, it soon became a lauded feat if one could polish off the entire bowl of noodles in its entirety - every single thick slice of fatty pork, the huge pile of dense noodles, the gobs of fresh garlic, and that ultra rich broth. It became a bragging right in and of itself.

Since then it has gained a cult following in Japan, spawning off over 30 other branches across Tokyo alone.
Bryan's bowl with extra vegetables and 5 slices of pork

At Yume Wo Katare, the choices are simple:

First, do you want 2 slices of pork ($12) or 5 slices of pork ($15)?

Second, right before serving you the noodles, the chef will ask you:

Ninniku iremasuka? (do you want garlic?)

I would highly recommend it, as the pungent, raw garlic really helps cut the rich fattiness of the pork belly and the broth. Some would even argue that it's not true Jiro style ramen without the garlic. It definitely offers the needed balance. Of course, be prepared to smell like garlic the rest of the night, because you get a lot!

Don't worry if you can't remember all this. There is a HUGE sign that explains exactly what the chef will ask you. At the end of the day, you just have to decide whether you want garlic or not.

Jen's bowl with 2 slices of pork

If you want to be authentic, you reply with "hai!" (pronounced "hi"). Of course, he understands a tiny bit of English. Bryan was so taken aback by the rapid Japanese that came out of Chef Nishioka's mouth that he just sort of looked confused and said, "I'm sorry, I don't speak . . ."

Chef Nishioka kindly repeated in English, "garlic. do you want garlic?"

You can also ask for extra vegetables, which Bryan did. It means you get a much bigger pile of the blanched cabbage and bean sprouts. Extra pork fat is the last option, but neither of us asked for it, since we already thought the soup had plenty of fat.

How does it taste?
It's is definitely different from any other ramen you can get in Boston.

The broth is deep, rich, intensely flavorful, and also quite fatty. It's very soul-warming on an icy cold day. I can just imagine how satisfying this bowl of soup would be for someone who has been standing out in the cold for two hours, starving.

The pork belly is lusciously melt-in-your-mouth soft and very flavorful. One of my pieces had less fat (perhaps it was pork shoulder?) and was just a bit tougher than the round slices of pork belly. I guess it depends on which pieces you get. The vegetables are fine - simply blanched, they are probably there more for texture than flavor. This dish is seriously all about the pork.

And the handmade noodles are great. Bryan especially liked that part.

"These are better than the noodles at Ippudo," he said.

Some may think Chef Nishioka is a ramen nazi of sorts. After all, there are many rules by which you must play if you want to eat here.

First of all, he only speaks Japanese. I almost felt like I was in Japan as I stepped into this little place - everything from the traditional "irasshaimase!" (welcome) that's yelled out right when you enter to the use of various Japanese phrases used throughout (like the garlic one).

Second, the place is cash only and they aren't shy about (gently) kicking you out of your seat if you're done. After all, there's almost always a huge line outside, and they try their best to move things along. We must have hit a lull, because by the time we left around 9PM, the line had started growing again.

Finally, everyone over the age of 12 must order a bowl of noodles - no sharing (even though the portion is huge!). They don't do take-out, and you can't take any leftovers home with you.

This rule was the hardest for me. On the one hand I felt terrible about throwing away so much of his labor-intensive handmade noodles and 24-hour broth. On the other hand, the idea of eating that entire bowl of pork belly, fat, and thick noodles just made me feel a bit sick. I was seriously stuffed even after eating just about half the bowl.

It looks like I didn't even make a dent, but this is what I had to leave behind.

Thankfully, Bryan did eat some of my noodles afterwards. I was seriously impressed with Bryan. Not only did he finish his own entire bowl (which was the bigger one with five pieces of pork), he made a sizable dent in my bowl of noodles.

At Yume Wo Katare, the chef will personally say "good job!" to you if you are able to finish your entire bowl.

Is it worth the hype?

Wow, that's a hard question.

The dish, as a whole, is very good with excellent execution on all fronts. The ramen broth is richly flavorful and the pork belly is luxuriously soft and tender. It's hard to get handmade noodles in Boston, so we really appreciate the care and dedication that Chef Nishioka puts into making them every morning. They have a decent "Q" to them, though I would still classify them as soft noodles.

This is the type of ramen that's hard to eat on a regular basis. It's just so rich and heavy, you're really kind of wiped out by the time you finish a meal here. Forget about trying to get some work done. Just go straight to bed with your pork-fat induced food coma.

I do love the concept of this place, and I liked being there. It transported me back to Japan, which made me very happy. In my own perfect world, I would be able to order a smaller portion size or take home leftovers. I wouldn't mind a wider variety of vegetables, and Bryan was sort of wishing for some hot sauce.

Of course, these are matters of preference, and it's more of a reflection of our personal opinions on Jiro-style ramen than on Chef Nishioka himself. Personally, I think Chef Nishioka is doing a fantastic job, something that is clearly, clearly evidenced by the popularity of this place.

Chef Nishioka will be going back to Japan for about a month (between April 7 and May 6th), during which time Yume Wo Katare will be closed. Update! He has postponed his trip. So you can still go get noodles!

If you want to get a taste of that ramen, I'd suggest trying to go in the next month or so when the colder weather is still a bit of a deterrent for some. Otherwise, if you try to come back after May, you may be faced with those scary 90-120 minute waits again.

I love the fact that more and more Japanese places are opening up around Porter.

Seriously, perhaps I'll have to consider buying a 10-year "dream" just so he won't leave the area anytime soon.

Yume Wo Katare
(Porter Square)
1923 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA

Sources: Ramen Tokyo Rameniac NYTimes CNN

February 27, 2013 Las Vegas

Le Cirque (Bellagio)

This is the first post in the Winter in Las Vegas series.

Out of all the lavish and extravagant things to be had in Las Vegas, my absolute favorite thing is actually completely free.

I'll never lose my fascination with the magical fountains in front of the Bellagio. This dramatic 5-minute long show - where water dances in perfect time to the ever-changing music - never ceases to capture me. I can sit all night and stare at the fountains - song after song after song.

In fact, the one time Bryan and I got to stay in a fountain-facing room at the Bellagio (in the dead heat of the desert summer when rates were actually very reasonable), I just sat in our room and stared out the window for several hours, entranced by this captivating show.

There are just a few restaurants that are lucky enough to have that coveted fountain-facing real estate. I had visited one previously (and absolutely fell in love with sitting on the terrace there). This past trip, I got the chance to visit another fountain facing restaurant: the whimsical and playful Le Cirque.

This is the second "flagship" location of Le Cirque. The original restaurant resides in New York, where it's been there for almost forty years. It boasts its own share of famous past chefs, including Daniel Boulud as executive chef from 1986-1992.

The Las Vegas location has been awarded one Michelin Star (interesting the New York one doesn't have one). Gregory Putin is the executive chef at Le Cirque in Las Vegas. Previously, Chef Putin helped Joel Robuchon open up eight new restaurants worldwide, staying on as executive sous chef at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in New York for 2 years.

He joined Le Cirque in 2011 after earning a Michelin star as executive chef at Veritas in New York.

The Menu
The menu has many options. There's a Degustation tasting menu for $135 per person (6-7 courses). You can also opt for the pre-theatre menu (available 5:15-6:30), which includes an amuse, two courses + dessert for $72 (+$30 for wine pairing). Finally, there's an a la carte menu, where appetizers cost $31 and entrees $52 (yes, dining on the Las Vegas Strip is just expensive!).

The folks at the Bellagio were kind enough to treat us to a lovely Degustation tasting menu showcasing some of their best stuff.
We started with the Santa Barbara Sea Urchin “Ice Cream”, which is served with ginger-lemongrass gelée, fennel purée and topped with Osetra caviar and an edible gold leaf. It's creamy, decadent, and clearly meant to impress. How often do you see edible gold in your food?Bering Sea Snow Crab came next with a gorgeous assortment of colorfully plated vegetables, including turnips, avocadoes, granny Smith apples, and pomegranate seeds tossed together in a rosemary vinaigrette. This was paired with a lovely champagne called Ruinart, Blanc de Blancs, Reims, MV
We could smell the next course well before it arrived at our table.

The Nantucket Bay Scallops were covered with gorgeously fragrant shaved white truffles. We seriously couldn't stop inhaling the aromas of our dish before actually tasting it. The scallops sat over a butternut squash purée, thinly sliced jamón Ibérico (my favorite), potato gnocchi, and chestnut espuma. This was paired with Puligny-Montrachet, Jean Chartron, Burgundy, 2010.New Zealand Langoustine and Foie Gras Royale came wrapped in a thin later of cabbage with black truffles. The soup, a potato and leek velouté (a velvety, creamy soup), was poured table-side. We ate this while sipping on Tokaji, 5 Puttonyos, Royal Tokaji, Hungary, 2008 Alaskan Black Cod was served with crushed fingerling potatoes, grapefruit and “citrus caviar”. A creamy shellfish and coconut nage (a flavorful broth made from shellfish, vegetables, and herbs) was again poured table-side. This came with Condrieu, E. Guigal, Rhone, 2009.New Zealand Cervena Venison was cooked rare and served with a few sticks of spiced squash, quince, and a tiny little cake topped with huckleberry compote. The venison was appropriately served with "Grand Veneur" sauce, a "huntsman's sauce" based on the classic pepper or poivre sauce but made from game meat. This paired with Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vieille Vignes, Patrice Rion, Burgundy, 2009 Japanese A5 Kobe Beef Tenderloin was served with pommes boulangère (French gratin potatoes), cardons gratinés (a cheesy version of a celery-like vegetable), and a croquette filled with Béarnaise sauce. The server told us we were supposed to "crack" the croquette over the A5 beef, thus allowing the creamy and rich Béarnaise sauce to envelop the small piece of beef. This beef was also served with a bordelaise sauce and the entire meal was served with Margaux, Château Giscours, Bordeaux, 2006. Bryan loved this dish and ended up eating half of mine (not the first time this has happened with rich, Japanese steak).

A brief aside about steak in Japan
Just so you can appreciate how incredibly rare A5 steak is, here's a brief aside about Japanese Kobe beef. Unlike in the US, where we just have four grades of beef ("prime", "choice", "select", and "standard"), Japanese beef is rated on multiple different scales. First you have "yield grade" (A, B, or C), which indicates what percentage of good, usable beef you can cut out.

Then you "Total Meat Quality", which takes into account a number of factors, such as meat color and brightness, firmness and texture, fat color, and beef marbling. Most of these are rated from 1-5, except for beef marbling (one of the most important ones!) which is rated on a 12-point scale.

source of chart: J.R. Busboom and J.J. Reeves Washington State University Pullman, WA 99164

The final score is a combination of the average overall meat quality grade and the yield score. The highest score a piece of meat can achieve is A5: a yield score of A plus a quality grade of 5.

Between 2010 and 2012, it was illegal to import any beef from Japan due to fears about foot and mouth disease. It wasn't until late 2012 that this ban was lifted. Now, if you're lucky, you may be able to find Japanese A5 Kobe beef in a few select places in the US (like here!).

Back to our French meal . . . .

For the cheese course, we enjoyed a few slices of warm Epoisses, a pungeant, creamy, unpasteurized cow's milk cheese with a washed rind. It comes from the French village called Epoisses in Eastern France. This was topped with shaved black truffles and served with bread.For our "Dessert Fantasy", the sommelier brought over one of my favorite styles of dessert wine: Sauternes. This one is Le Tertre du Lys d’Or, Bordeaux from 2005.
Each of us received a different dessert, and each one was extravagant and beautiful in its own way. The Boule de Sucre (literally "sugar sphere") comes with chocolate mousse, cranberry gelée, and Oreo dust. Doesn't that just look like a piece of art?
Another delicate dessert came with finely spun sugar threads, ice cream, tiny little batons, and yet another gold leaf.

The Petite Boule de Chocolat has its own dramatic presentation. A perfectly formed chocolate ball, topped with a tiny gold leaf, undergoes transformation when the server pours chocolate sauce over it. As you can see from the photos, the ball dissolves to reveal its insides: a praline mousse, white chocolate ice cream, and a hazelnut caramel crunch.
We thought it was over, but the presentation of Les Mignardises is what really made us gasp. Our little after dinner "bites" came with the most gorgeous sugar swans. It's like hand-blown glass, but with sugar instead. We were floored with the elegance and beauty of the desserts.

And finally, every diner got to take away a small little gift: chocolate truffles are hidden inside those whimsical drawers.

We had a lovely evening at Le Cirque. I would say that the style of dining is pretty traditional upscale French, complete with all your typical "fancy" French ingredients (foie gras, caviar, velouté, Béarnaise sauce, etc.). There are glimpses of international influences, such as the use of jamón Ibérico (very Spanish), sea urchin (Japanese?), and gnocchi with white truffles (so Italian!). The coconut nage in the fish almost made me think Southeast Asian. In general, however, I still think that the flavors lean towards being more traditional, conservative, and "safe." You won't find anything too crazy here, which is good for events like business dinners and situations where you need to please a wide range of palates.

Well, I guess there is one very unique, very special aspect.

We sat right next to the window, and therefore had a perfect view of the lovely fountain show outside. That combined with those breathtaking desserts, how much more romantic can you get?

Le Cirque at The Bellagio
3600 Las Vegas Blvd
S Las Vegas, NV
89109

Disclaimer: I did not pay for this meal. All opinions are my own.

February 25, 2013 Asian

Nobu Miso Black Cod

There are certain dishes that are foolproof and just right. These dish have that magical combination of ingredients that really don't need to be (and arguable can't) be improved. They are already perfect. I believe this Nobu black cod recipe just might be one of them.

I saw "sablefish" in the frozen section of Trader Joe's the other day. Sablefish (also called "black cod" or "butterfish"), is a buttery, high fat white-fleshed fish that can be found in the Pacific Ocean, both near Alaska and also the US Pacific Northwest.

Sablefish is very nutritious, having about the same amount of omega-3 fatty acids as salmon. It's a rich, fatty fish which seems to "melt in your mouth" like butter, thus the nickname "butterfish."

I love this simple yet super flavorful recipe from Nobu's cookbook. This rich fish picks up tons of umami from the magical combination of miso, sake, and mirin. It's foolproof, super easy, and tastes fantastic every single time.

Heat shiro miso (white miso paste) together with sake, mirin, and sugar in a saucepan until everything is melted. Marinate the black cod overnight (you don't have to use a vacuum bag, but I like to maximize the amount of fish that "fits" with a certain amount of marinade, and I find I can save on marinade if I use the bag).

The next day, try to remove as much marinade as possible from the fish (I wiped it off with my fingers). Then simply sear the fish on a hot cast iron skillet until nicely browned (2 minutes), and then finish in a 400 °F oven for about 10 minutes, or until flaky and done. You can use the broiler instead if you don't want to sear.

Serve!

This recipe is forgiving of mistakes and it can still tastes pretty good despite minor mishaps. The first time I made it, my oven wasn't nearly hot enough, so my "broiled" fish became more like a steamed fish. It looked awful, but it still tasted pretty good. The marinade speaks for itself. Also, sablefish is pretty rich, so you can overcook it a bit and it won't taste completely dried out. In other words, if I want something easy that's reasonably foolproof, this isn't a bad dish to make!

Enjoy!

Nobu Miso Black Cod
Source: Food and Wine from Nobu Matsuhisa
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup sake
4 T white miso paste
3 T sugar

Bring mirin and sake to a boil. Add white miso paste and mix until smooth. Add sugar and heat until melted. Let cool. Combine with black cod and place in a vacuum bag or a baking dish, making sure the fish is completely covered. Let marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 °F. Heat up a cast-iron skillet (or grill pan) and briefly sear the fish until it is browned (about 2 minutes). Cook in the oven until flaky, about 10 minutes.

Serve!

And it's not too late to vote for my lamb recipe here! We're getting down to the wire, with only a few days left for voting. If you haven't voted yet, please stop by. No registration or anything necessarily - just click and vote!

Have a great day!

February 22, 2013 Cambridge

Bon Me (Cambridge)

Ever find yourself craving a Vietnamese sandwich? Or maybe a tea egg or edamame in the middle of the work day?

I used to work right in One Kendall Square in Cambridge, and I would have loved to have something like that just downstairs from my lab. It's too bad I don't work in the area anymore, because Bon Me, the popular Asian food truck, has opened up its first brick & mortar location right in One Kendall Square.

Bon Me originally started out as a food truck in Boston. Husband and wife team Patrick Lynch and Alison ("Ali") Fong entered the City of Boston's Food Truck Contest on a whim in 2010 and won. Soon afterward, they opened their first food truck.

Here it is parked right at the Rose Kennedy Greenway (dreaming back to warmer times!). There are now two trucks (a blue one and a yellow one), and you can find them throughout Boston, such as at BU East on Commonwealth Avenue, SOWA outdoor market, and the Seaport area.

Patrick and Ali live in Cambridge and really wanted to open a brick-and-mortar place in their own backyard. Their dreams are finally realized this week as Bon Me in One Kendall Square opens its doors on Friday, February 22, 2013.

I had a chance to check out their menu at their "Friends and Family" soft opening earlier last week.

The menu is relatively simple - not too different from the truck menu - although they are adding a few new dishes, such as a Carrot, Hijiki and Wheatberry Salad.

There are several fun types of Asian-inspired drinks from which to choose. I got the Thai Basil Limade, which is wonderfully fragrant and refreshingly not too sweet. The Vietnamese Ice Coffee is lighter than your typical Vietnamese iced coffee in terms of sweetness and creaminess. I would have preferred a stronger coffee, but overall the flavors were OK, and I'm glad it's not that sweet.

The Deviled Tea Egg is topped with spicy mayo and cayenne pepper and could be a great mid-day snack (much healthier than those chips in my vending machine at work!). Bryan really enjoyed this one.

The Edamame is served with a star anise and sesame salt, which is surprisingly tasty (even for someone like me who doesn't love anise). The edamame is served cold, which surprised me a bit, though that is how they serve it on the truck.

As for main dishes, you choose between three types: Sandwich ($6), Noodle Salad ($7), or Rice Bowl ($6). You then pick a "filling" to go with it. The night I went, the choices were Chinese BBQ Pork, Spice-rubbed Chicken, and Roasted Soy and Paprika Tofu.

If you choose noodles, you get a choice between soba or rice noodles. The rice noodles are a great choice for those who can't have gluten. The soba is a nuttier noodle, with a deeper flavor. I went with the soba and the tofu, which I really liked. All the vegetables were fresh, and the soft, marinated tofu was quite flavorful and carried the dish well.

Bryan went with the brown rice and spice-rubbed chicken. Bryan preferred the flavor of his chicken dish to my tofu dish, probably because the tofu is sort of sweet, and Bryan prefers savory foods in general.

Of course, if a place is called "Bon Me", you have to try their "bahn-mi" (Vietnamese sandwich). The sandwich turned out to be our favorite out of the three dishes. Not surprisingly, it's also their most popular item. It's not exactly a traditional Vietnamese bahn-mi ("decidedly unauthentic" is what they call it). After all, it is filled with Chinese BBQ Pork.

Nevertheless, the combination of the spicy mayo, pickled vegetables, and house made pate works well with the pork. The overall sandwich is tasty, and a pretty good value at $6 (especially for that area!).

The interior space is really nice. It's modern, clean, and comfortable. There isn't a ton of seating, but I anticipate this place will do a lot of lunchtime takeaway business. They also plan on ramping up their catering business, which will serve local businesses really well.

I think this will turn out to be a great, affordable option for a quick, healthy, and tasty lunch in Kendall. They plan on being open until 10PM at night, so it'll also be a great spot for a late night snack if you're hungry.

Best of luck to Patrick and Ali with your new endeavor!

Disclaimer - I did not pay for this meal. All opinions are my own.

February 20, 2013 Las Vegas

A Winter in Vegas

It's become a given at this point.

Every January Bryan and I pack our bags and head out to sunny Las Vegas in the middle of Boston's frigid winter. Usually, it's a welcomed relief from the cold East coast weather. This year, oddly enough, Las Vegas got a horrible cold spell, and, I kid you not, it was warmer in Cambridge than in Las Vegas on the day I flew back.

Despite the cold front that had attacked Las Vegas, we still had a great time. We spent our days checking out the Consumer Electronic Show (cool new TVs, tablets, 3D printers, and even a toy you control with your brain waves!). At night, we visited the incredible restaurants in Las Vegas.

They had on display my new travel-sized food camera, broken down into its parts!

Here's a peek at some of the places we visited!

We may have figured out the secret to nabbing one of those hard-to-get Riserva steaks at Bryan's favorite steak restaurant in Vegas: go during lunch. We scored two Riserva steaks (Bryan was thrilled), and I tried their burger, which was fantastic (how can you go wrong when they are grinding up their own 60-day dry aged beef for this burger?)

We enjoyed paella at a popular Spanish tapas restaurant inside Aria.

This really unusual, off the menu, "secret" drink ("just ask for the "flower" drink) from the bar at the Cosmopolitan comes with these mysterious yellow flowers. Once you chew the flower, the drink begins to taste really really different. It's a wild tongue "trip" that you just have to try to get the full experience.

We were treated to an absolutely stunning, over-the-top meal at one of the nicest restaurants on the Strip, complete with this sugar spun dessert that just blew us away.

This wild, intimate tasting menu consists of 20 courses and incorporates everything from dry ice to blue flames in a 2-hour dinner. It very well may be one of my new favorite restaurants in all of Vegas.

One of the biggest shockers of the whole trip - running into an ex-US president at Mesa Grill. He actually said "hi" to all of us before sitting down at a table really really close to us. Yes, there were tons of secret servicemen around. Apparently he had given a keynote speech at CES earlier that day.
You can't beat this: gorgeous views of the Grand Canyon on my flight out of Vegas.

Stay tuned for detailed posts on many of these restaurants above!

* * *

February 19, 2013 Boston

The Dining Alternative

Supper Club? Not exactly . . . way too refined for that.

Underground restaurant? Hmmm, maybe a bit closer.

Bryan and I had a unique opportunity to enjoy a delightful evening at the home of Chef Peter Ungár and his wife, Ginhee. This wasn't just an ordinary dinner party. Instead, Chef Ungár is a private chef with a pretty impressive background. He recently returned from Paris, where he worked for a year as a poissonnier at the two-star Michelin restaurant Le Grand Véfour.

Chef Ungár's past experience includes spending several years in Boston with the Four Seasons, gaining experience at restaurants such as Aujourd'hui and The Bristol Lounge. More recently, he has worked as a private chef for his own company, The Dining Alternative, which includes these 9-course "Chef's Table" dinners at his home.

One a chilly January evening, Bryan and I receive an email with a location in Somerville and a time of arrival.

It is a bit unnerving, but we drive up to the house, ring the doorbell, and enter Peter and Ginhee's warm and inviting home.

We are immediately greeted personally by Chef Peter, his wife Ginhee, and the sommelier who is helping out with the wines that evening. In a matter of minutes, our coats are whisked away and we are holding glasses of biodynamic champagne from France.

There is a flurry of activity in Chef Ungár's kitchen, where multiple chefs work feverishly to plate the first course, a series of "amuses" for the guests to enjoy with their bubblies.

Chef Ungár personally presents each individual platter to the guests, explaining how each bite was made. We try Rice Smoked Ocean Trout with Lime (top left) , Paprika Thyme Puff (top right), and the Black Olive and Edamame Mousse with Speck (bottom left). My favorite is the Paprika Thyme Puff, which reminds me of a gougere.

WINE: CHATEAU LA TOUR GRISE 2001 SAUMUR, BRUT NON DOSE

Soon after we finish the pre-dinner bites, we sit down at our "assigned" seats. We soon get to know the people who sit around us, which is fun. On my left side is a chef who works in a high-end Japanese restaurant in Portland and totally shares my love of food. On my right is a couple who loves to travel as much as we do. I am totally soaking up information about all sorts of interesting trip ideas, such as visiting Alba during white truffle season (can you imagine??!). I like how the dinner brings together people with similar interests over excellent food and wine.

Chef Ungár takes great care of us, carefully explaining each dish as he brings them out. Chef Ungár is fanatic about trying his hardest to use locally sourced, sustainable, and high quality product. More than once he emphasizes how he only picks out the best parts of a particular cut of meat for the courses he prepared.

Just one look at his kitchen and you can tell that he's extremely organized and meticulous about his work.

Our first course is Sea Urchin, a delicately presented Japanese-style "chawanmushi" (egg custard) served with black trumpet mushrooms and shaved black winter truffles. Bryan loves the strong uni flavor in the dish, which works nicely with the delicate egg custard and the mushrooms. I love the presentation and the delicate egg custard, but I find the pungent uni flavor a bit too strong for me.

WINE: VIGNOBLE REVEILLE 2011 BLANC DE POT COTES CATALANES ROUSILLION, CARIGNAN BLANC

One of my favorite dishes of the evening is the Sea Scallop, served in a gorgeous scallop shell on top of a velvety sauce with flavor elements of yuzu, pomelo, preserved lemon, and avocado oil cream. I already love yuzu (a Japanese citrus), so it's no surprise that I love this zesty combination of flavors. Of course, the fresh scallops, which are nearly raw, are incredibly fresh and sweet.

WINE: PASCAL PIBALEAU 2011 TOURAINE, CHENIN BLANC
One of Bryan's favorite dishes is the Hand rolled Seaweed Pasta (painstakingly rolled out one by one!), which comes with Hen of the Woods Mushrooms (also known as maitake in Japan) and anchovies in a flavorful kelp broth poured table side. I love the Japanese influence in this - everything from the maitake mushrooms to the kelp flavored broth. Of course Bryan loves the texture of the homemade noodles, but more than that, he really appreciates the complex mix of umami in the flavors, contributed by the crunchy anchovies, earthy mushrooms, and kelp broth.

WINE: CHATEAU LA TOUR GRISE 2011 ZEC ROSE, CABERNET FRANC

The lovely, delicate Sea Bream is served on top of a bright red rhubarb sauce and served alongside beetroot "roses" and a gorgeous "roll" that incorporated elements of pomegranate, campari, and sake.

WINE: PASCAL PIBALEAU 2009 CREMANT DE LOIRE ROSE, GROLLEAU

The meatier Monkfish comes with fennel braised in milk jam, an intense parsley sauce, and micro-diced cucumbers served with browned butter.

WINE: CHATEAU DE RONTETS 2009 CLOS VARAMBON POUILLY FUISSE

We pause for a palate cleansing "course" called Schisandra Berry, inspired by a Korean drink called omija cha, so called because this tea is supposed to embody all five flavors in one drink: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and "pungent". Chef Ungar's version comes with a pine nut cookie on top.

We try to taste all five flavors, but frankly, I'm not sure if I can taste all five.

Chef Ungár makes good use of sous vide as a cooking technique. Here you can see him using a blowtorch to char a piece of duck that was cooked under sous vide.

This Miso Cured Duck is one of the most time-consuming dishes to make. Chef Ungár prepares and cures this duck for over a week. It is then served with various "sheets" of flavor, such as pear, daikon, and celery, along with smoked sea salt and an edamame foam.

Bryan and I both love this dish. I don't usually love duck, but I have to admit that this miso-cured duck is fantastic. The miso adds a lovely umami depth to the duck. Furthermore, the sous vide treatment results in gorgeously tender and juicy pieces. This is definitely another highlight of the evening.

WINE: VALENTIN ZUSSLIN 2010 CLOS LIEBENBERG RIESLING ORSCHWIHR, ALSACE

The Dry Aged Rib Eye & Cap of Beef comes with a red curry foam and dots of an intense cilantro sauce. The presentation for this dish is creative: Chef Ungár served two different pieces of beef but tried to make them look the same. I can't remember the details, but he somehow cut the rib-eye and shapes it in such a way so that it resembles a cap of beef. It is interesting to eat these side by side.

WINE: VIGNOBLE REVEILLE 2010 FRANC TIREUR COTES CATALANES, 100+YEAR OLD CARIGNAN

For our first dessert, we again are influenced by Japan with this Green Tea Meringue which has been browned with a blowtorch (and thus smells like fire-toasted marshmallows!). This comes with a mango lime "pudding" (more like a thick sauce) and homemade ginger ice cream.

WINE: VALENTIN ZUSSLIN 2008 BOLLENBERG, VENDANGE TARDIVE GEWURTZTRAMINER
The next dessert is Guava + Chocolate. This gorgeous plate consists of a deep, intense chocolate "cake" (I would almost call it a fudge!) topped with a macadamia nut "crust" and served with rings of guava sauce.

WINE: BRUNO VERDI 2010 SANGUE DI GIUDA OLTREPO PAVESE, BONARDA / BARBERA

Finally, we are given Parting Morsels, which include rose beet marshmallow, chocolate almond shell, and pear lemongrass "chew" (like a pate fruit).

At this point, people are chatting as if they have known each other for years. The atmosphere is noticeably livelier. I'm sure the wine didn't hurt either!

I am surprised at what a lovely time I had. Seriously, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would most people enjoy going to a dinner party with strangers? It's surprisingly enjoyable.

Chef Ungár still has these tastings a couple times a month. You buy tickets beforehand ($150 all-inclusive of wine pairing, tax, and gratuity). Seating is only limited to 12 guests per dinner, so the environment is most definitely intimate and cozy. In fact, more often than not, by the time you leave the place, you've made more than a few friends. It's a fun and unique dining experience, for sure.

Chef Ungár is planning to open a restaurant with this dining concept soon (he's currently looking at locations in Boston). Diners will sit in a bar-like setting where chefs cook right in front of their eyes. This allows them to hand food to the diners the moment it's done. It's a chance to taste food at its freshest, it's best. It sort of reminds me of one of my favorite restaurants in Las Vegas.

I'm really excited about this. Bryan and I *really* enjoyed the cozy evening we had at Chef Ungár's home. Chef Ungár and his staff know how to create a warm and inviting atmosphere in which guests can enjoy stunning food, great conversation, and excellent service.

Bryan especially loved the ambiance of eating in a home setting and seeing the chefs cooking up close. He even said, "if he [Chef Ungár] can recreate that same type of experience in a restaurant setting, I would totally go."

I personally really admired Chef Ungár's devotion to food itself. He is fanatic about everything local and seasonal, going out of his way to carefully source his ingredients. He is also very interested in biodynamic wines. In fact, almost every single one of our wines that evening were biodynamic wines from France.

Frankly, even though $150 sounds like a lot, it's really quite a great value when you consider that you're getting 9 courses, 10 different (smaller) glasses of wine, tax and gratuity all-inclusive. At our meal, we had 12 guests and 6 people working in the kitchen. That's a 2:1 guest: staff ratio - seriously pampered!

Let's hope the best for Chef Ungár as he continues to seek out a space and (hopefully) make this restaurant a reality. I can't wait!

The Dining Alternative
Somerville, MA

Disclaimer: Bryan and I did not pay for this meal. All opinions are my own.

February 14, 2013 Lamb

Happy Valentine's Day! + Lamb Romantic Recipe Challenge

I am one of ten bloggers competing in the American Lamb Board's Romantic Recipe Challenge. Though I've made several lamb dishes, my Lamb Loin with Chili, Mint, and Mustard Seed is the official entry. The winner gets a one year "Lamb of the Month" membership, which means a lot more posts about lamb on this blog if I win!

Anyway, I would love your support! Please click here to vote. Voting is open between February 14th - 28th.

In other news, it is Valentine's Day today. Frankly, it's been years since we've gone out to eat on Valentine's day. I've found that I prefer not to "fight the crowds" on that day. This year, I plan to pick up some nice ingredients from a local gourmet market, cook, and just enjoy relaxing at home. Maybe we'll put some logs in the fireplace and just chill.

And dream about warmer days.

Just for fun, I'm including some photos from our trip to Australia back in November (yes, it was spring down under during that time). Now that we've finally finished the Japan travel series, we will be moving into a couple more travel series: An exploration "Down Under" and also a look at a few more awesome restaurants in Las Vegas.

Stay tuned!

Riding Camels in the Outback in Uluru, Australia

Diving (for the first time!) at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

Looks like Lord of the Rings! Visiting the forests on the Milford Track in New Zealand

February 13, 2013 Lamb

Rack of Lamb with Morels, Asparagus, and Mustard Seeds

Bryan loves rack of lamb but often avoids it because he hates getting his hands dirty. If we do end up ordering it at a nice restaurant, he eats as much as he can (with a fork and knife) and then hands me the bone, which I proceed to gnaw on quite happily.

After all, the meat next to the bone is the tastiest part, right?

This post is part 3 of the crazy lamb-centric meal that I created on Sunday night (right after our crazy snowstorm) in honor of Lamb Lover's Month in collaboration with the American Lamb Board. Other posts in this series include Lamb Loin with Chili, Mint, and Mustard Seed and Lamb Bolognese.
Inspired mostly by Daniel Humm's preparation of lamb rack in his Eleven Madison Park cookbook, I decided to try adapting his gorgeous (insanely complicated) dish into something that a home cook a whip up in a couple hours for a nice, romantic dinner.

Daniel Humm makes a morel mushroom cream sauce by cooking fresh morel mushrooms with butter, shallots, and cream. I simplified this by just cooking reconstituted dried morel mushrooms with a bit of butter and salt.

His recipe also calls for handmade lamb tortellinis (filled with lamb shank, goat cheese, mint, sheep's milk yogurt, among other things). I simplified this quite a bit by making a lamb Bolognese instead and adding "swirls" of pasta on the plate.

I made braised mustard seeds from a recipe in Grant Achatz's Alinea (since Daniel Humm's book didn't have it, even though the picture of the finished product clearly includes mustard seeds).

Finally, inspired by the artful way in which Daniel Humm always plates his dishes, I tried to recreate something that was similar.

Enjoy!

Rack of Lamb with Morels, Asparagus, and Mustard Seeds
1 Rack of lamb, Frenched
Salt and pepper
1 T Olive oil
2-4 Morel mushrooms
1 T butter
2-3 mint leaves
1 teaspoon braised mustard seeds (see below)
1 asparagus stalk

Prepare rack of lamb (two ways described below)

Sous Vide
Generously season with salt and pepper the entire rack of lamb. Vacuum pack lamb inside a vacuum bag with 1 T olive oil and seal. Cook sous vide at 55 °C (130 ° F) for two hours. Quickly sear the edge in a very hot cast iron pot for about 1 minute or until a nice sear has been formed. Slice lamb rack between the ribs.

Oven Roasted
Generously season with salt and pepper the entire rack of lamb. Cover the bone tips with foil to prevent then from burning. Allow rack to warm up to room temperature (about 1 hour). Preheat oven to 350 °F. Sear all sides of the lamb rack in a cast iron skillet. Place in the oven and cook until the rack reaches an internal temperature of 145 °F (medium rare). Let the rack rest of 10 minutes before slicing between the ribs.

Asparagus Ribbons
Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook asparagus for 3-4 minutes. Rinse immediately with cold water to preserve the bright green color. Shave thin ribbons with a peeler.

Butter Morel Mushrooms
Melt 1T butter over medium heat until melted. Cook Morel mushrooms in butter for about 5 minutes, until softened. Season with salt to taste.

Braised Mustard Seeds

50g (1.8 oz) dried mustard seeds
50g water
5g white wine vinegar
3g sugar
1g Kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Cover and let stand for an hour. Water will be completely absorbed and mustard seeds will be plump and tender.

Putting It All Together
Arrange each plate with the components:
1 sliced lamb rack
1 butter morel mushroom
2-3 small scoops of braised mustard seed
2-3 mint leaves
1-2 lamb Bolognese ribbon swirls

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I received free lamb from the American Lamb Board.

February 13, 2013 Lamb

Lamb Bolognese

I've been scared to make bolognese for a long time. Probably a couple years, in fact.

I'm one of those people that is strongly motivated by success. The ugly flip side of that is I'm strongly demotivated by failures. I still remember the first time I tried making bolognese. I had found this purportedly authentic recipe off of a food blog devoted to Italian food. I slaved over the sauce, letting it stew for hours all afternoon. I followed the supposed "rules" of a traditional bolognese - "no tomatoes!" "No herbs!".

After hours of slaving away in the kitchen, I invited Bryan to join me in partaking in my creation.

"It's sort of bland. It's lacking that depth of flavor."

I was so disheartened, I didn't make bolognese for almost three years . . . . until now.

This post is part 2 of the crazy lamb-centric meal that I created on Sunday night (right after our crazy snowstorm) in honor of Lamb Lover's Month in collaboration with the American Lamb Board. Other posts in this series include Lamb Loin with Chili, Mint, and Mustard Seed and Rack of Lamb with Morels, Asparagus, and Mustard Seeds.

This bolognese is a little different because it's made with ground lamb. I pretty much followed a traditional bolognese recipe but with a few tweaks.

First, I used a decent bottle of Italian chianti as the wine. The Nipozzano Riserva Chianti Rufina (2008) retails for about $18. The 2007 vintage (which we also own but Bryan didn't want me to use it for cooking) actually made Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines list in 2010.

Second, I made the bolognese in a pressure cooker. It was awesome - instead of stewing for 3 hours on the stove, I only cooked it for about 20-30 minutes, tops. It came out super tender, flavorful, and was one of the most popular dishes of the night.

Finally, I snuck in a few less conventional ingredients. I didn't have pancetta on hand, so I used a few strips of bacon instead. I also threw in a handful of diced tomatoes because I felt that the sauce could be just a tad brighter. Finally, I did add herbs!

It turned out great, and I totally plan on making this again. The guests I made it for loved it. My one friend who really loves lamb enjoyed this dish more because she thought it had more of that "gamey" flavor. Guess what? I couldn't find American ground lamb at the market, so this pasta was actually made using New Zealand lamb. Of course, you can easily use American lamb if you prefer a less gamey/grassy flavor.

Between using the pressure cooker and the food processor for chopping the mirepoix, this could almost be a weeknight meal that I can still make from scratch!

Enjoy!

Lamb Bolognese
Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main dish

mirepoix (1 carrot, 1 celery, ½ onion)
3 slices bacon, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¾ cup red wine

¼ cup tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth

1 lb ground lamb
½ cup diced San Marzano canned tomatoes (optional)
½ T dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
salt & papper to taste
1 package of pasta of your choice ( 8-12 oz dried; 1 lb fresh)

1. Make mirepoix by finely chopping carrots, celery, and onions in a food processor. Set aside.

2. Cook bacon at medium heat in a pressure cooker (or normal Dutch oven) until fat is rendered. Add mirepoix and garlic and cook in the bacon fat for about 10 minutes, or until softened.

3. Add wine and deglaze the pan. Cook at medium high heat until all the alcohol has evaporated. While waiting, mix together the tomato paste and the chicken broth.

4. Add lamb and cook until no longer pink.

5. Add tomato paste/broth mixture and optionally tomatoes to the pot.

6. Add rosemary and bay leaf and cook under pressure for 10 minutes. Release the pressure.

7. Add 1 cup of water, mix up the sauce, and cook again under pressure for at least 10 minutes or more. During this time, cook pappardelle according to the directions on the package.

8. Release the pressure of the pressure cooker and cook off any excess liquid until sauce is nice and thick. Season to taste and serve with the pappardelle. Optionally roll pappardelle “ribbons” into swirls for plating.

Serve!

Pasta "rolls" accompany a rack of lamb dish

February 13, 2013 Lamb

Lamb Loin with Chili, Mint, and Mustard Seed

I'm sure most people's culinary worlds expand after marriage.

After all, it's unusual for two people to have exactly the same palate, upbringing, and preferences when it comes to food. Inevitably, your tongue will be opened to a wider variety of flavors when these two worlds collide.

Case in point: When Bryan and I first got married, I mostly cooked Chinese food, with a bent towards Taiwanese cuisine. It was the food I grew up eating, and I was comfortable cooking it. As time has gone by, in an effort cater to Bryan's palate, I've moved towards cooking a broader range of food, such as trying to perfect his favorite pasta dishes, making way more steak than I ever would have on my own, and . . . . learning how to cook lamb.

I never really liked lamb because I've always found it to be a bit too gamey. However, for the sake of my husband, I've been dabbling in trying to learn more about how to prepare perfect lamb. In honor of Lamb Lover's Month in partnership with the American Lamb Board, I had the opportunity to explored several lamb dishes this weekend. Bryan was thrilled to eat so much lamb while enjoying some of his favorite bottles of red wine at home.

Me? I'm excited to continue expanding my repertoire of dishes I can make.

And maybe, just maybe, I am finally starting to enjoy lamb.

The American Lamb Board provided me with some lamb loin chops with which to "play" to celebrate Lamb Lovers Month. Most lamb sold in the US is either locally raised or imported (mostly from Australia or New Zealand).

To prepare, I pored over books by Grant Achatz (Alinea cookbook), Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison Park cookbook), and Nathan Myhrvold (Modernist Cuisine at Home) looking for inspiration. I soon realized that most of these dishes were not suited for the home cook, requiring a plethora of complex components as well as fancy equipment.

However, after reading some of these recipes, I was surprised to see that oftentimes, the preparation of the main protein is not necessarily complex. More often than not, it's the creative combination of side ingredients and their flavors that make these dishes three-star Michelin quality.

So I decided to draw inspiration from one of these recipes but simplify it for the home cook. I chose Grant Achatz's "Lamb in Cubism" recipe, incorporating his ideas of whimsically accenting sous vide lamb loins with mint, braised mustard seeds, and red jalapeno chilies.

I do own one piece of slightly "fancy" equipment that I decided to use - my sous vide machine. It makes cooking lamb to a perfect medium rare absolutely brainless. Just set the temperature and cook the vacuum sealed lamb (seasoned liberally with salt, pepper, and olive oil), for about two hours.

Lamb makes me think of spring, so I decided to add a few more "spring-like" accompaniments to the meal, like butter sauteed morel mushrooms and lightly blanched asparagus ribbons (please see this post for recipes on how to make those components).

After briefly searing the sous-vide cooked lamb (just to brown it), top each slice with a tiny mint leaf, braised mustard seeds, and a slice of chili. Optionally serve with morel mushrooms and asparagus ribbons.

Serve!

Thoughts
We were all really impressed with the tender texture of the American lamb. Sous vide is seriously an awesome and foolproof way of preparing lamb. It comes out perfectly each time.

American lamb is definitely much milder than Australian or New Zealand lamb. For those that don't really like the gamey taste of lamb (like me), this lamb is actually tolerable, and, dare I say, enjoyable? Others who love that deep, grassy lamb-y flavor (like one of my guests Sunday evening), may be a bit disappointed. As my lamb-loving friend said, "it's sort of bland." On the other hand, her husband, who usually hates fat on meat, actually thought the fat on this lamb tasted decent.

So, it really depends on whether you like that distinct, gamey flavor of lamb. If not, you may actually want to give American lamb a try before writing off lamb completely.

Other facts: American lamb are also bigger than Australian or New Zealand lamb, so the cuts of meat are generally larger and meatier. A majority of American lamb is finished ("fattened") with grain, which contributes to a more tender and milder meat flavor. Contrast this with lamb from Lamb New Zealand and Australia, which is typically grass-fed (and thus gamier) and likely leaner. On a recent trip to Whole Foods Market, I found lamb from both New Zealand and Maine.

Lamb Loin with Chili, Mint, and Mustard Seed
Serves 2-4 people
Inspired (but severely adapted) from Grant Achatz's Alinea

Lamb Loin Chop
4 lamb loin chops
salt and pepper to taste
1 T olive oil
4 mint leaves
1 teaspoon braised Mustard Seed (see below)

Cut lamb loin meat away from the bone. Set aside bones for other use (e.g., making stock). Tie together two loin sections into a cylinder with twine. Generously salt and pepper all sides of the lamb loin. Cook sous vide with olive oil at 55 °C (130 ° F) for two hours. Remove lamb loin from bags. Quickly sear the edges in a very hot cast iron pot for about 1 minute (or until a nice sear has been formed). Set aside.

Mint Leaves
Pick out smaller, unblemished leaves and keep in ice water for freshness.

Red Jalapenos
Any red pepper the right size will work, so pick peppers depending on your tolerance of heat. Thinly slice rings and set aside.

Braised Mustard Seeds
50g (1.8 oz) dried mustard seeds
50g water
5g white wine vinegar
3g sugar
1g Kosher salt

Plating in All Together
Arrange each plate with the following components:
1 slice of lamb loin
1 mint leaf
1 slice of chili
1 dollop of braised mustard seed

Optionally decorate the plate with other components, such as butter sauteed morel mushrooms and asparagus ribbons.

Serve!

Disclaimer: I received free lamb from the American Lamb Board.

February 12, 2013 Cambridge

Bondir (revisited)

It's a cold, cold snowy night. Where shall I go for dinner?2012 was an unusual winter, to say the least. It was really the first winter in my life where snow did not stick around at all the entire winter. It was our first winter in our new home, and the lack of snow gently eased us into the life of "homeownership".

This year is quite different. All of a sudden I'm dreaming of warm, cozy spaces, crackling fires in brick fireplaces, and hearty, soul-satisfying food. Of course, when I think fireplace, I think of Bondir.

I can't believe it's been this long since I've visited Bondir. It's not for lack of trying, that's for sure. It's seems virtually impossible to book a last minute reservation at this tiny, intimate restaurant in Cambridge. Since I lasted visited, Bon Appetit Magazine crowned Bondir as one of the ten best new restaurants of 2011. There's a reason why it's hard to get a seat here.

So over time, I lost the will to try, and (sadly) it sort of fell off my radar screen.

A couple weeks ago, a local Cambridge start-up called Nara contacted me about trying their new restaurant recommendation mobile app. Now, I get contacted about trying new food type apps all the time, and there's no way I have time to really play with each and every single one. So I have to choose. For some reason, Nara seemed a bit different for two reasons. One, it was started by MIT folks (my alma mater!) who are applying their proprietary algorithms to predict and learn which restaurants you will like - sort of like a Pandora for food. Second, they offered to treat me to a meal in exchange for trying out the app. How could I resist?

After downloading the app, I immediately tried looking for a place. Obviously, since it knew next to nothing about me (I think I answered two questions in the beginning), the predictions were average, at best. However, as I began inputting "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" for every restaurant I had visited, I began to see that it was learning my preferences. Over time, the recommendations got better and better.

You aren't completely beholden to the app's suggestions, of course. You can filter by a variety of categories, such as distance, cuisine, and price. You can even type in the name of the restaurant into the search box, if you really want. The app is integrated with Opentable, which is really really useful for making immediate online reservations. For restaurants that are not on Opentable, an address and phone number are listed, so you can call directly from your mobile phone to make a reservation.

One cold Sunday evening, I did a search on Nara and Bondir popped up. It had really been awhile since I had visited the restaurant. I noticed that they were on Opentable, which (from my memory) was different from a couple years ago when all I could do was call to make reservations.

Shockingly, there was an opening at 5:30PM. Not ideal, but we took it. Lucky for us, there ended up being a cancellation that day, and we were able to dine at 7PM instead.

Thanks Nara!
The most fun part about the menu at Bondir is that every single course is offered in half portions. They recommend getting 3 "half portions" per person, which is most definitely plenty of food. For fun, Bryan and I enjoy variety, so we always get 5-6 half portions every meal.

We began with the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin and Smoked Haddock Soup which came with a variety of toppings that you could add yourself, such as crisp garlic root, ginger salad, and sesame oil.

It's hard for me to ever turn down Handmade Burrata. Here it's served with roasted Jarrahdale pumpkin, red currant mousseline, chestnuts in Vin Santo, petit greens tossed in a huckleberry vinaigrette, olive oil poached jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), flavored with pain d’epices. The Chestnut Flour Tart looks almost like it should be sweet, but it's actually a savory pie, served with butter confit shallots, washed rind cheese custard, seared teff, and puffed amaranth. The tart is topped with sprinklings of mustard "snow" and served with a side of winter vegetable "mignardises."One of our favorites, the homemade Rigatoni Cacio e Pepe, was served with sherry vinaigrette, guinea hog prosciutto, fiore sardo (an ancient Italian hard cheese), and toasted breadcrumbs for texture. The Scituate Scallops with Lobster came highly recommended by the waiter and turned out to be one of my favorites. It came with sesame roasted sweet potatoes, leeks, and Brussels sprouts. Japanese flavors, such as nori (black seawaeed) tuile and the lobster dashi, anchored the dish. Overall, the dish was excellent: the texture of the scallops were perfect and the lobster dashi was richly flavorful and sweet.Capon Galantine (traditional English-style deboned stuffed chicken) came served alongside Saint Émilion milk-poached red onion petal, roasted hedgehog mushrooms, braised mustard greens, and a cute little Rhode Island white flint corn cake. The chicken was extremely tender and the whole dish was hearty and well executed.Our last savory course was a Vermont Lamb Duet, which came with poached quince with dates, roasted Waldoboro "turnip" (a rutabaga from the state of Maine), and rye berries (similar to wheatberries!) in a red wine roasting jus.
Another unusual favorite of ours, the Caramel Poached Sunchoke and Spiced Olive Oil-Caramel Gingerbread Cake, was served with a bergamot mousseline and Lady Apple leather. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) served as a dessert. According to Chef Bond, the dessert was sort of a serendipitious creation, born one night when they ran out of their original ingredient and substituted sunchokes instead. The dessert became a hit, and I think it's shown up on the menu in one form or another time after time. Finally, for a simple finishing note, we sampled a taste of three homemade ice creams: Black Walnut Praline Ice Cream, Blood Orange Sorbet, and Chocolate Sherbet. I loved the intense darkness of the chocolate sherbet, which was rich, bitter, and gorgeously dark. The blood orange sorbet was bright, fruity, and tasted real.
There's some exciting news on the horizon. Chef Jason Bond will be opening a second Bondir in Concord Massachusetts. It will be located at 24 Walnut Street and will be much, much bigger, having the ability to accommodate 128 seats (unlike the current Bondir which only seats 26!). This one will preserve the same "farm to table" style of food that you see in Bondir right now. However, it will have a full liquor license, and will take advantage of the larger kitchen, including the wood stove! They are currently shooting for an August opening.

Jason plans to split his time between the two restaurants. Can't wait to see the new one!

February 10, 2013 Asian

A Snowy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year!

Can I just say it's been a crazy weekend? I really think this is the biggest storm I've ever encountered in my conscious memory. It was fascinating to watch the snow just continue to fall . . . and fall . . . and fall.

The next day, after the storm was over, we ventured out. Check out how deep the snow is! (Yes, it is up to my knees).

Virtually everything was closed in Harvard Square except for the CVS and the Starbucks. It was weird to see the door of the T (subway) closed.

Poor bikes.

The river was frozen over in an oddly yellowish color.

Stuck at home, we obvious couldn't go out. Instead, I ended up cooking . . . a lot! I was a bit bummed that I couldn't have a proper Chinese hot pot on the eve of Chinese New Year. Nevertheless, I did manage to squeeze out something sort of Chinese. 🙂

On Friday night I made a hearty lamb osso buco in the pressure cooker with saffron rice and cilantro gremolata. It was warm, hearty, and the perfect dinner to accompany such cold weather outside.

We had that with one of my favorite vegetable side dishes, roasted Brussels Sprouts with bacon and habanero peppers. So good.

On Saturday morning, as the snow slowly came to a stop, my mom called me to check to make sure we were OK. She also reminded me that it was the eve of Chinese New Year, a time when families get together and eat Chinese hot pot.

Alas, there was no way I could head out and pick up Chinese groceries, so I did the best I could. Bryan and I enjoyed a fun little lunch of fresh udon with XO sauce, Taiwanese meat sauce, and a simple stir fry of spinach with garlic and carrots, celery, and shitake mushrooms with XO sauce. It was surprisingly simple but really hit the spot, reminding me of home.

For dinner, we enjoyed one of my favorite fish dishes that's so easy to make and tastes fantastic. This is Nobu Matsuhisa's famous miso black cod (I'll publish a post very soon about this, or you can just Google it!). It only takes about 15 minutes of prep and never disappoints.

Happy New Year all! I have a few fun Chinese New Year themed posts lined up for the next two weeks, along with some cool Boston restaurants I've visited lately. Finally, we'll start a couple more travel series very soon.

And if you're looking for Chinese recipes, definitely check out my Asian Food Gallery for inspiration. I've fallen behind on adding a photo for each new recipe, but you can scroll to the bottom to see the entire list.

Happy New Year!

February 5, 2013 Japan

Sukiyabashi Jiro

This is the eleventh and final post in the series titled Tasting Tour of Tokyo detailing my recent trip to Japan. Other posts include Kikunoi Akasaka, Rokurinsha, Mikawa Zezankyo, Kaoriya, Sushi Sawada, Sushi Aoki, Street Food in Tokyo, Omotesando Koffee,Ukai-tei, and Japan's Underground "Depachika" Markets

Dreaming of Sushi
How often does one get to personally taste the handiwork of a man who has been obsessively honing his craft for over seventy-five years?

Meet Jiro Ono, one of the most famous sushi masters in the world. The Japanese government considers him a "national treasure." The Michelin Guide has awarded him its highest honor, three Michelin stars. Many world famous chefs, such as Eric Ripert and Joel Robuchon, consider him one of the best sushi chefs in the world. Anyone who has seen the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi understands the devotion, dedication, and near-obsession this eighty-six year old man has for the art of creating perfect sushi.His perfectionism is evident in the way he runs his restaurant. Apprentices begin by learning how to wring out hot towels for guests. For months, all they do is wash dishes and clean, only saying "yes, yes" and never talking back. Eventually, they are "promoted" to other tasks, such as making rice and massaging octopus (for up to 45 minutes to make it soft!). Somewhere in the middle of all this, they finally get the chance to touch fish, make tamago, and eventually - the holy grail - work the front counter with Jiro.

Jiro's restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, has been called one of the most difficult reservations to get in the world. This tiny sushi bar is hidden in the basement of a subway station and only has ten seats. Rumor has it that they only speak Japanese and thus won't even talk to foreigners who try to reserve in English. You may need to book up to a year in advance. Forget modern conveniences like email or credit cards at this old establishment.I'd heard about this place years ago when I started researching restaurants to try in Tokyo. However, it wasn't until recently that I more deeply appreciated the back story of this little place."Jen, you have to watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I think you'll love it."My friends had purchased the Blu-ray disc after seeing the movie because they loved it so much. Soon after we watched it, Bryan declared that he wanted to go to Jiro. Unfortunately, it was just about a month before our Tokyo trip. The likelihood of booking anything so late into the game looked extremely grim. Nevertheless, Bryan's pretty relentless when he really wants something, and will pursue as hard as he can until he gets what he wants.

First Attempt

"Ring . . . . Ring . . ."

"Moshi moshi?"

[in my broken Japanese] "May I make a reservation for dinner?"

[still in Japanese - this is a paraphrase since I'm really not sure I understood everything he said]
"We are sorry. We cannot take the reservation. Please call your hotel concierge and have them make the reservation for you."

I turned to Bryan.

"I'm really sorry, but I tried. They said we need to have the hotel concierge call."

Minor problem: we didn't have a hotel booked yet, which meant there was no concierge.

Second Attempt
Did I mentioned Bryan was motivated? Within a day Bryan informed me, "OK, I've booked a hotel for the trip. Can you email the concierge?"

Soon after, yet another disheartening email:

"Sukiyabashi Jiro is very specific traditional sushi restaurant, having very strict reservation policy. They only take reservation for foreigner who has Japanese friend or who live in Japan. Do you have any Japanese friends or colleague who live in Japan?"

Defeated, yet again.

Third Attempt
Relentless, Bryan contacted his Japanese colleague in Tokyo. The Japanese colleague asked his assistant to call Sukiyabashi Jiro to make the reservation. The restaurant sent an email which included the price of a meal, the cancellation policy, along with other slightly unusual requests, such as "please refrain from wearing a lot of perfume." To confirm the reservation, the assistant hand delivered 20,000 yen cash to Jiro, which Bryan's colleague graciously lent us.

Wow. Crazy.

We couldn't believe it, but we finally had a real, solid - ahem financially backed - reservation to the most sought after sushi restaurant in the world.

Finding Jiro

I know I keep saying this, but it's absolutely true. Restaurants are really hard to find in Tokyo. Even though we are holding really detailed instructions from Bryan's Japanese colleague's assistant (who is truly sweet in trying her hardest to take care of us), we still get lost.

Pictured above is the corridor at the Ginza Subway Station into which you need to turn (C6).

We blindly walk past these glass doors the first few times, heading instead straight up the steps out into the street.

Finally, after asking a store clerk (who chuckles and says, "actually, Jiro is right underneath this store"), we head back down the stairs and notice (for the first time) a set of bright gleaming doors.

If you don't read kanji, it's easy to miss the sign that says "Sukiyabashi Jiro." One easy way is to note that Jiro is right next to Birdland (a very well known yakitori place), whose sign is written in English.

Once you enter the doors, you'll see Birdland on your left and the humble sliding doors of Jiro straight ahead. It is surreal seeing the restaurant for real after seeing it so many times in the movie.

As we enter, we see both Jiro and his elder son, Yoshikazu, who is also a key character in the movie. It is so weirdly familiar, even though we've never stepped foot into this place.

Bryan starts with cold beer, and then we also order a bottle of sake to go with the meal. I am tickled by the cute little gold flower that lazily drifts to the bottom of my cup.

We sit right at the end of the bar. This is good and bad, I guess. Bad because we are sort of far away from Jiro, which means we can't really see his magical sushi-making skills up close. Good, because we feel a bit removed from his serious probing stare, which often makes diners nervous because they feel pressured to eat quickly. Sitting a bit "away" from the rest of the diners gives me a chance to relax, take my photos, and enjoy my bites at my own pace.

The Sushi
Jiro's restaurant only serves sushi. No sashimi, no appetizers, no side dishes. They ask you your drink order, present you with the list of sushi being served that day, and then ask if you have any allergies. The menu is translated into English, which makes things a lot easier.

It's been widely reported that a meal at Jiro flies by, with sushi being thrown at you almost a piece per minute. Diners lament about feeling "rushed", pressured to finish a meal in 20 minutes under the watchful eye of Jiro. One article sums it up quite bluntly, calculating that a meal at Jiro will cost you about $20/minute. Our experience is not quite so rushed; however for fun, I wrote down the times so you could get a sense of the pace of our meal.

I will confess that photographing probably slowed me down a tad, though I pretty much kept up the pace. There was one point where Bryan started beating me and Jiro began giving pieces to Bryan only (!!!). I quickly fixed that, and I believe at the end we both received equal amounts of sushi.
7:01
karei (sole fish)

We start with a gorgeous piece of karei. Immediately, the fantastic rice texture jumps out at me. This is among the best sushi rice I've ever had. Eric Ripert has called Jiro's rice "a cloud that just explodes in your mouth". Jiro sources his rice from a very particular rice purveyor, a person who saves his best rice for Jiro and refuses to sell to anyone who cannot give the rice its proper glory (including the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo!).

Jiro's rice is slightly warm (like body temperature) and soft, yet you can still taste each individual grain. I haven't had such good rice since my meal at Mizutani, whose chef is one of Jiro's proteges.
7:03 Sumi-ika (Squid)
In the movie, we learn that Jiro's apprentices massage octopus for 45-50 minutes in the morning before cooking it. Jiro has learned that octopus needs to be massaged this long, not the 30 minutes he was taught. I regret that the octopus does not appear on our menu. However, the sumi-ika (squid) is one of the best I've ever had. It is insanely soft (not a tad bit of rubbery-ness), yet has a distinct "bite" to it. It's hard to explain, but it goes perfectly with the special rice. It makes me seriously wonder whether he massages his squid too.
7:05 Inada (Yellowtail)

At Sukiyabashi Jiro, as it is with many other high-end sushi restaurants, you don't dip the sushi into any soy sauce or wasabi. Jiro tailors the flavor exactly as it should taste, and you just eat it. For many pieces, including the one pictured above, Jiro brushes just the right amount of soy sauce on top. The wasabi is already inside, so the bite is already perfect as is.

Bryan quickly notices that Jiro's wasabi is a lot stronger than ones he's tasted at other sushi establishments in Japan. Up to this point, I had pretty much conceded that freshly made wasabi in Japan is sweeter and more flavorful, but definitely packs less of a punch. Jiro shows us otherwise.
7:06 Akami (tuna)
We move onto a mini-tasting of tuna, beginning with a simple akami (red tuna) and ending with a couple pieces of chutoro (tuna belly).

Tuna in Japan is completely different from most tuna in America. Before I tried tuna in Japan, I used to dislike tuna sushi because I thought it was bland and flavorless. There is nothing further from the truth. Tuna in Japan has beautifully complex flavors. In fact, it is probably one of my favorite sushi fish in Japan.
7:08 Chutoro (semi-fatty tuna)

Jiro sources his tuna from one very particular tuna dealer at Tsukiji Fish Market who possesses similar levels of obsession about tuna quality. Jiro ages his tuna for ten days, which results in a much more flavorful piece of tuna. The resultant fish stands up well to the strongly vinegared rice, another very signature (and polarizing) aspect of Jiro's sushi.

A lot of Japanese cuisine is defined by subtle flavors. Jiro's sushi definitely pushes the bolder edge of the envelope with its stronger flavors. The rice is more strongly vinegared and the wasabi has a bigger punch. Not everyone prefers his strongly vinegared rice, but it definitely holds up well to many of the stronger flavored sushi pieces. Bryan has always loved strong flavors, and thus prefers Jiro's sushi to most others he's ever had.
7:09 Chutoro (semi-fatty tuna)
I can't get over the intricate "veins" of fat distributed throughout this piece of fish. Jiro has truly procured some of the best tuna belly from the fish market. I find it interesting that there is no otoro (the fattiest tuna belly) on the menu. I can only conclude that there wasn't a piece that was good enough for Jiro's standards that morning.

It's quite alright, actually. I am quite content enjoying my pieces of akami and chutoro.
7:11 kohada (gizzard shad)
Jiro makes sushi in the Edomae tradition. Edomae (often just called "Edo" style sushi) refers to a style of sushi that emerged in the late 1800's in Japan. Edomae literally means "in front of Edo", and the style uses only fish and seafood available during the Edo period when Tokyo was a shogun capital.
7:14 Mushi-awabi (abalone)
Those that stay true to the style only use seafood from Tokyo Bay. Typically, they cure or marinate the fish, using techniques that were common back in the Edo days prior to the invention of refrigeration. This means that some pieces may taste saltier or more preserved. Even Jiro's strongly vinegared rice is sort of a nod to the Edomae tradition.
7:15 Aji (Jack Mackerel)
Aji, another one of my favorite fish, is fabulous. I am loving the perfection of his rice along with the insanely high quality of the fish. Yes, I've only been here for 15 minutes, but it already feels like I've been here for quite some time.
7:17 Hamaguri (Clam shell)
Typically I'm less of a shellfish type of person and prefer raw fish sushi over most types of shellfish. For some reason I don't notice this while I'm at Jiro, even though over half the menu is not fish. He's somehow crafted the tasting menu in a way that keeps me interested.
7:19 Iwashi (Sardine)
One way in which he does this is to intersperse pieces of fish between every few pieces of shellfish.
7:21 Kurumaebi (Prawn)
The fresh prawn is served in two pieces. Though it is juicy and sweet, I actually think that it's still not as good as the "super fresh" one I've had Kyubey, which, admittedly, was killed in front of my eyes just minutes before I ate it.
7:26 Akagi (Ark Shell)
Though most pieces have been coming out every 1-2 minutes, there is a five minute gap between the previous piece and this next piece of akagai (ark shell). It turns out Jiro has left the sushi bar temporarily in order to take a photo with a guest who is leaving. We take a mental note to remember to ask him for a photo at the end.

We do love the akagai, which has a unique, almost crunchy, texture that sort of "pops" as you bite into it. It is surprisingly good, and becomes one of our favorite shellfish pieces.
7:28 Katsuo (Bonito)
Katsuo, or skipjack tuna, has always been one of my favorites. Here's it is just slightly cured (or salted?) and tastes phenomenal.
7:31 Shako (Squilla)
The shako is probably the only one I don't really like. The texture is unlike any sushi I've ever had. It sort of reminds me of dried shrimp - mealy and a bit crumbly. Bryan enjoys it, saying that the deep umami flavors remind him of unagi (freshwater eel). I can sort of see where he gets that, although the texture is so different from unagi that I can't seem to quite agree 100%.
7:32 - Uni (Sea Urchin)
The uni is fantastic, just like most of the uni I've tried in Japan. It's sweet, creamy, and has absolutely no hint of the funky "stinkiness" that I associate with most of the uni I've tried in the US.

I'm hesitant that it will fit in my mouth in one bite, but Bryan insists it's the only way to truly enjoy it. He's right. I love how the uni just dissolves and incorporates itself all around the perfect rice. Quite a heavenly bite, I must say.
7:37 - Kobashira (Baby Scallops)
Kobashira (baby scallops) are piled on top of a gunkan (warship) roll, a style first invented at Kyubey. These scallops are super sweet and also very oishii (delicious).
7:40 Ikura (Salmon roe)
Ikura (salmon roe) is bursting with its fragrant, flavorful, briny juices. Again, underlying all of these pieces, it's the perfect temperature of every component plus the texture of the special rice that creates each ethereal mouthwatering bite.
7:42 Anago (Sea Eel)
The anago is melt-in-your-mouth soft. This is the type of bite that makes me close my eyes and just revel in its perfection. I love the slightly sweet sauce that's brushed on top.
7:46

And then - the signal that things are about to end - the perfect tamago.

Getting the tamago (egg omelet) right appears to be a near-impossible goal for young apprentices at Sukiyabashi Jiro. In the movie, one of the senior apprentices, Daisuke Nakazawa, describes how he made over 200 tamago - all rejected by Jiro - before finally achieving spongy, custard-like perfection. When Jiro finally indicated his approval, Nakazawa wept like a baby.

The tamago here is awesome. Blended somehow with fish paste and sugar (among other ingredients), the tamago is sweet yet definitely has underlying tones of subtle umami. The razor-thin edge is gorgeously browned, and the entire piece is luxuriously spongy, moist, and soft. It almost tastes more like a delicate sponge cake than a traditional omelet.

We slowly take small bites out of it, savoring each small piece.

It has been exactly 45 minutes since we tasted our first bite.

At the end of the meal, Jiro comes and asks whether we want any extra pieces. I am seriously stuffed at this point, and I tell Bryan I can't do it.

Bryan's rationale?

We may never, ever get the chance to try this man's sushi again. If there are ones we want to try again, we should do it.

Bryan orders three extra: akami, chutoro, and tamago. That's right - the egg omelet was that good.

When we finally finish all the sushi, we are whisked off to a side table for "dessert".

8:04 melon
One of the apprentices hands us each a simple slice of melon accompanied by hot tea. The melon is ripe, super juicy and sweet. It's actually a refreshing end to a clean meal, and I feel energized.

We take our time here. There's less pressure to eat quickly since we are at the end of the meal.

8:30
At this point, Jiro seems much more relaxed as well. The restaurant has virtually cleared out at this point, and he seems to be chatting up a storm with one of his Japanese customers - perhaps a regular?
I'm surprised that there are no more customers. Soon afterwards, Jiro retires from the sushi bar and sits down near the front, taking a nice, deserved break after a marathon of sushi making (which probably started early in the wee hours of the morning).

As we pay our bill, the apprentice asks us if we want a photo with Jiro.

"Yes, of course, please."

Jiro dutifully stops what he's doing and walks out with us. We don't really know what to say. All my dumbfounded brain can think of at the moment is, "oishii desu, oishii . ." (that was really delicious). I feel stupid that I can't express more than that, considering the life-altering meal we've just experienced.

We take a few photos, and then Jiro walks back into the restaurant as the assistant escorts us outside.

Epilogue
It's interesting to me to see that the restaurant actually was not completely full the night we dined there. Some think that, because Jiro hands out sushi at a rate of a piece a minute, he can really rake in the dough in a night. Just imagine - $400 USD per person, every 20 minutes. You could make a killing each night.

But Jiro doesn't seem to do that. He seems to be quite selective about his customers. My guess is that he tries to leave open some seats for loyal regulars or (perhaps?) even walk-ins? I'm not sure. I was just really surprised that the place wasn't packed. It's nice to think he isn't in it just for the money but instead wants to offer the best, most personalized experience for his diners. That just may mean making only a certain number of pieces of sushi a night.

The night we went, virtually every diner was a foreigner. Most of the diners were snapping photos of the sushi, and I most definitely heard several languages being spoken around the table. It was clear that the fame from the movie had driven even more tourists to seek out his sushi. In some ways, it was weird being one of those tourists in the dining room that night.

Does it live up to its hype?
I think so. Jiro's sushi is incredible and definitely ranks up there as one of the best sushi meals I've ever had. Several things really stand out: the top notch quality of the fish; the incredible sushi rice; and that delicious tamago.

In my mind, Jiro and Mizutani have provided the two best sushi experiences I've ever had in my life. My dinner at Sushi Mizutani felt a bit more personal partly because I was there with mostly local Japanese people (it was right after the earthquake when foreigners were avoiding Japan) and because I had extended heartfelt conversation with Mizutani (though to be fair, he was pretty shy in the beginning of the meal too).

The atmosphere at Jiro felt a bit more serious. There was definitely an air of reverence by all for the grand sushi master. I didn't exchange a single word with Jiro aside from my half-hearted "oishii" at the end of the meal. All the apprentices were courteous and respectful, but they were also quiet and possibly a bit nervous under the great Jiro?

Jiro believes the key to success is to devote one's life to mastering a skill. Interestingly, despite his accolades, he still says, “even at my age in my work …. I haven’t reached perfection.” Jiro continues to strive to improve this craft he started learning at the age of nine.

"I will continue to climb, trying to reach the top, but no one knows where the top is."

It's hard to imagine that sushi can get better than this, but I'm certainly happy to come back again (if I ever get the opportunity), to find out.

Additional Facts
The restaurant is located right inside Ginza subway station at C6. Look for the Birdland sign. The two restaurants are right next to each other.

Sukiyabashi Jiro
Tsukamoto Sogyo Building Basement 1st Floor 2-15, Ginza 4-chome Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Phone: 03-3535-3600 (+81-3-3535-3600 from abroad)

Reservations: According to their website, you can either call their international phone number or arrange for a reservation through your hotel concierge. However, as you know from my post above, those two avenues don't always work. From what I can tell, foreigners need to have a local Japanese person hand-deliver a 20,000 yen deposit before the reservation is confirmed.

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations can be made up to 1 day before your reservation. If you cancel the same-day, you will be charged 15,000 yen per person.

Cost: There is only one menu (Chef's Tasting), and it costs ~30,000 yen per person. Payment is CASH ONLY. UPDATE! Their website now says they accept most major credit cards. Our meal came out to a total cost of 74,550 yen (71,000 + 3550 tax). We did order a beer, a bottle of sake, and three additional pieces.

February 4, 2013 Asian

Japan's underground "depachika" markets

This is the tenth post in the series titled Tasting Tour of Tokyo detailing my recent trip to Japan. Other posts include Kikunoi Akasaka, Rokurinsha, Mikawa Zezankyo, Kaoriya, Sushi Sawada, Sushi Aoki, Street Food in Tokyo, Omotesando Koffee, and Ukai-tei.

I don't think I'll ever tire of visiting local supermarkets regardless of which country I am visiting.

There's something about a country's supermarket that really speaks volumes about the country's culture. I love roaming the produce aisle to see what's in season locally. I'm intrigued by the junk food that local residents enjoy. Heck, I even like paying with the local cash just so I get a sense of the currency. One of my favorite things to do when I lived in Japan over the summer in college was to shop at the local market and cook in my apartment. For some reason, I felt much less like a foreigner and much more like a local.

It was so fun.

I haven't lived in another country again since that 3-month stint in Japan, but I still love roaming supermarkets whenever I travel.

Here's a fun and surprising look at what I found as I roamed a fancy supermarket underneath a Japanese department store called Isetan, part of a larger underground food hall (the "depachika" - literally underneath the department store).

Japan's underground markets are full of fun places to pick up a quick snack or lunch. Here's a simple set of sashimi that I picked up one evening for a simple dinner.

Produce can feel extremely expensive, especially if it's stuff that's not local to Japan. Here, a single zucchini costs close to $3 USD (238 yen), while two medium sized tomatoes will run you $5 USD (479 yen).

Matsutake mushrooms appear in the fall and are very expensive. Am I reading the package right? Does each package really cost 52,500 yen ($600 USD)??!!!

Fresh wasabi root is a luxury that is hard to find in the US, especially in a US supermarket!

Can you imagine paying over USD $10 for an apple? (1050yen each)

Here's the kicker - 31,500yen (whaaat? $340 USD?) for a set of two gift cantaloupes. I seriously wonder who buys this stuff, and really, how good is that cantaloupe??

It's also fascinating to look at the beef offerings at the market. Here we have Wagyu black beef selling for 5250yen per 100g. Whoaaaa . . . . that's like $500 a pound!!!

This is grade A-5 Matsuzaka Wagyu, arguably the highest quality steak the world. A-5 is the highest rating possible, and many would argue that Matsuzaka beef is even better than Kobe beef (though most say that cows from the two areas are just different, but equal). This one goes for 10,500yen for 100g. Yep, we're talking $1000 a pound. This kind of explains the ridiculous prices we paid for Wagyu the two times we've had it in Japan.

There are also many cuts of gorgeously marbled otoro (fatty tuna belly) for around 5000 yen (gulp, over $50 USD) and maguro (tuna) for about $20.

I could go on and on about the wonderful variety of bentos, prepared foods, and seafood that are available at these markets. It can be expensive, but it's still super fun to explore. I would highly recommend checking out a depachika while you're in Japan. The one at Isetan in Shijuku is awesome if you want to see crazy stuff like the ones I've posted above. They also have some of the best bakeries in the world selling beautiful pastries and lovely boxes cookies and such to bring back home.

Even if you can't get to Isetan, there are many department stores in Tokyo that have underground food halls in which you can roam. I often visited ones in Shibuya, Ginza, and Ikebukuro.

I personally find them to be super fun.

Just remember, Japanese people don't eat while walking, so definitely plan on finding a place to eat all your goodies once you pick them up. I actually just ate my sashimi back in my hotel room while waiting for Bryan to finish a work dinner, which was perfectly fine by me.

Tomorrow: Sukiyabashi Jiro - the final post of this series!