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Pasta with Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce

Jun 9, 2009 ·

I make this dish all the time. It's a great dish to make in the wintertime when you are short on fresh tomatoes. (Don't ask me why I'm posting about it as the summer is about to begin - I have no idea . . .)

Anyhow, this recipe is based off of a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, one of my favorite cooking magazines.

Ingredients
1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes , drained, liquid reserved
1 T olive oil
3 ounces of pancetta (I have successfully made this dish both with proscuitto, bacon, or omitting the meat completely)
½ small onion , minced (about ¼ cup)
1 T tomato paste
2 medium cloves garlic , minced
½ t hot red pepper flakes

⅓ cup vodka
½ cup heavy cream
1 pound pasta
Fresh basil leaves

1) Take about half of the tomatoes from the can (around 5-6) and puree them in a food processor. Dice the other half. Combine the puree and diced tomatoes in a 2-cup measuring cup and add the reserve liquid from the can until you have 2 cups total.

Updated note: you can also use pre-diced tomatoes if you want. According to Cook's Illustrated, the pre-diced tomatoes contain more preservatives than the whole tomatoes, and therefore suffer a tiny bit in taste. I have tried it before with pre-diced and it's not too bad if you're in a pinch.

2) Cook the "bacon" in a pan until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and put on a paper towel to soak up any residual oil. Pour off most of the bacon oil, leaving 2 T.

3) Saute the onions and tomato paste until the onions are shiny and a bit translucent - about 3 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes in the remaining bacon oil and cook for another minute. YUM!

4) Stir in tomatoes and a tiny pinch of salt. Stir.

5) Remove the pot from the heating source!! Slowly pour in the vodka. Bring the pot back to the heating source. Turn heat back up to medium high and boil off the alcohol - about 10 minutes. You can take whiffs at the pot to figure out whether the alcohol is still there or not.

If you are comfortable, you can start cooking the pasta at this point, especially if you are making dried pasta and it will take > 10 minutes to cook. Otherwise, you can work serially as well.

The beauty of this dish is that you can stop at this point if you want to store the sauce and finish the dish another day. The last step only takes a few minutes, and therefore can be done right before the guests arrive. I have often made the recipe up to this point and then stored the sauce and bacon separately in the refrigerator.

6) Of course, if you are serving this right away, then proceed here. Once the alcohol has boiled off, add the cream and stir it in until it's hot - about 1 minute.

7) The sauce is pretty stable at this point. You can start boiling the pasta now, or, if you are a multi-tasker, you would have started boiling the pasta during the vodka-boil off stage.

8) When the pasta is almost done, drain the pasta and stir it together with sauce. Mix.

9) Stir in the freshly cut basil (to taste) and the bacon. Add freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Serve!

~~Sorry - no picture of the dish! We ate it too eagerly!!!!~~
I have made this dish countless times since this post, and I finally decided to take a final picture!

Preserving Tomato Paste from a can

Jun 8, 2009 ·

Oftentimes Italian dishes require the use of small amounts of tomato paste, typically a tablespoon. If you are lucky, you have access to one of those Italian grocery stores that sells tomato paste in a tube - such a good idea!

However, sometimes you might not have access to that Italian store. Recently, I decided to make Pasta with Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce sort of last minute. Because I could only shop at my local American supermarket, I ended up buying one of those cans of tomato paste.

After using up one tablespoon, I had to figure out what to do with the rest of my tomato paste. I can't remember where I read this great idea, but you can just squeeze one tablespoon sized "aliquots" of tomato paste onto a tray and freeze it. After they have frozen, you can remove the pieces individually and put them in a bag. The next time you need one tablespoon of tomato paste, you don't even need to measure it! Just take one of your tomato paste balls from the freezer and drop it into the saute pan. I find that the frozen pieces work just as well in recipes.

Zagat Fast Food Survey

Jun 8, 2009 ·

Funny and interesting results from the annual Zagat's Fast Food Survey.

Best Burger: In & Out (I totally agree. I absolutely love their hamburgers)

Best Fries: McDonalds (I guess in fast food land I might agree. I actually like their fries better than the ones at In & Out. Of course, my all time favorite fries come from here)

Best Coffee: Starbucks with Dunkin Donuts coming in second (Since it's a national survey, I'm not surprised. I think Boston consistently votes for Dunkin first! I'm partial to Peet's myself.)

Best Grilled Chicken: Chick-fil-A

Best Fried Chicken: KFC - (do you agree? I love the fried chicken at Chick-fil-A too, although I agree KFC is pretty tasty . . . )

Here are the rest of the results.

source: Zagat.com/fastfood

Mapo Tofu (Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian versions)

Jun 8, 2009 ·

Updated - as requested, I have included a picture of the hot bean paste jar that I used.

Here is a SUPER simple dish that only takes about 5 minutes, only requires about 3-4 ingredients, and tastes surprisingly good (for something that has is missing meat!)

Heat ~1 tablespoon of canola oil in the bottom of a large wok (medium high heat). Add minced garlic (I put about 3 cloves worth) and chopped scallion bulbs (maybe 2 bulbs?) and cook until fragrant but before it starts to burn (~ 1 minute or so).

Add one package worth of diced silken soft tofu (you can use firm too - it's really personal preference). Stir it around to heat it up.

Add about 1-2 tablespoons of hot bean sauce to taste (la doban jiang).

Stir around until sauce is well mixed throughout.

Top with chopped scallions (green part).

Serve!

You can optionally add ground meat and make this into normal Ma Po Bean Curd. If you have Sichuan peppercorns, you can add that as well for a more authentic Sichuan flavor.

Pierre Hermes Macaron

Jun 7, 2009 ·

The Ispahan macaron is a heavenly pastry which consists of the heavenly marriage of three flavors: rose, lychee, and raspberry. This article by Serious Eats gives an excellent overview.

I absolutely love this macaron, having tried my first one in Paris in 2005. I paid close to 15 Euros for the macaron (at a cafe), but it was totally worth it.

When I went to Japan in April, I again stumbled upon a Pierre Hermes bakery in the basement of one of the fancy department stores in Japan. Since it was "only" about $8 each, I quickly snapped one up to enjoy later in my hotel room. 🙂

Recently, a friend expressed interest in trying to making macarons together some time. I found this recipe for the Ispahan macaron. Unfortunately, it looks a bit too daunting for my first macaron, so perhaps I'll try something much easier, such as this or this. Also check out Joy's post, which details how difficult it can be to make these things!

Grafton Street Pub & Grill

Jun 7, 2009 ·

We tried Grafton Street Pub & Grill again recently. This restaurant is at the edge of Harvard Square and has a decent outdoor eating area. The weather was nice outside, and we scored an outside table!

The restaurant calls itself "a combination of a traditional Irish pub and contemporary European restaurant." They have a big bar with a big selections of beers, and the ambiance inside is definitely buzzing with activity.

As we didn't go inside, I cannot really comment much else about the inside. As for the food, we definitely thought the cooking was solid. My salmon was perfectly seared on the outside and moist on the inside. The portion size was not too big, and the salad on top was refreshing.

Bryan got the seafood paella, which he enjoyed. Again, very reasonable portion sizes. I think we both finished our entire meals, which is quite rare.

Although we enjoyed our meal, in the end, neither of us was wowed. We thought that, for the price, you could get better food. Nevertheless, if you happen to be in Harvard Square and you want solid cooking in a nice atmosphere, Grafton's is not a bad bet.

Bryan's Lunch today

Jun 5, 2009 ·

Chinese chives with 5 spice tofu
Pea Shoots stir fried with garlic
Salmon braised in soy sauce and wine
Spicy Mapo Tofu (vegetarian)

Little Q Hot Pot (Quincy)

Jun 5, 2009 ·

Little Q is my favorite hot pot (shabu shabu) restaurant in the Boston area.

Why? The reason is simple. The broth.

The quality of the broth is key because you're essentially cooking your own dinner with raw ingredients they give you. Here, the broth is really good - kind of addictive actually (I've known more than one person, myself included, who could not stop drinking the broth straight out of a teacup long after the meal was over). My favorite is the mala broth, which is really hot and spicy, but also wonderfully fragrant with a mix of many Chinese herbs.

Because the Mala is so spicy, it's a good idea to have a "ying yang" hot pot where you get half spicy broth and half herbal broth (see picture below).

I personally think getting high quality meat is really important. Although the meat here was nothing like the kobe beef that I had in Japan, I still enjoyed the meat here. I think the lamb was especially tasty here. We also ordered the "choice beef", which I found to be rather ordinary. It might just be worth the $20 to order the highest grade meat.

Little Q is being forced out of its current location by the city, which has other plans for the shopping center. Currently, all the other tenants in that building have vacated. Little Q is fighting to stay in that location until the end of the year. Rumor has it that they have secured a space in Boston. I'm excited about that, because I would definitely go more often!

Update! Little Q has since opened TWO locations, one in Boston and one in Arlington!

Benatti

Jun 4, 2009 ·

Benatti is a new, upscale Italian restaurant that very recently opened in Cambridge in Inman Square. I had read some pretty good reviews about the place, so Bryan and I thought we would try it out tonight.

Over all impression? The food is fine, but really expensive and the portions are tiny, just like all the reviewers said.

Pastas are around $21 and the meat entrees are around $32. You can get ½ portions of pasta for half price plus a $3 surcharge. I came away disappointed because I was expecting to be wowed by the food, but I only thought it was alright. I didn't think it was worth the $94 food bill (before tax & tip!).

This is what we ordered (sorry, I forgot my camera, so no pictures today). I started with the antipasto of grilled vegetables. It cost $11 and consisted of one slice of eggplant, one slice of zucchini, half a roasted red pepper, an asparagus spear, and a small wedge of fennel bulb. The roasted veggies were fine and the balsalmic vinegar + oil dressing was nice. However, the flavors did not wow me, and I thought it was kind of expensive for what I got.

Bryan started with the pan seared sea scallops over sauteed fennel and spinach in an orange juice reduction. This was actually pretty good, and probably the highlight of the evening. Oh, I will say that the fresh bread is delicious! It's warm on the inside and crispy on the outside. Served with balsamic vinegar and oil. I really think the chef likes balsamic vinegar.

My entree was the handmade pasta stuffed with seasonal herbs and vegetables tossed with sundried tomatoes and asparagus. I thought the raviolis were slightly over cooked (just a bit over al dente) and I thought the dish was borderline salty (note - I do not eat very salty in general. Bryan thought the salt level was fine.) I only ate half of my dish (4 raviolis) because I just didn't feel like eating any more of it.

Bryan ordered the lasagna, which was also made with handmade pasta. Although it was good, it was not nearly as good as the pasta that we had at the Monday Club a few days back. The prices at the Monday Club are lower, and the food is better. We both agreed we much preferred the Monday Club.

Well, I was really excited about the idea of a good Italian restaurant that made homemade pastas in Cambridge. Maybe my expectations were just a bit too high. We likely will not go back anytime soon, although I'm willing to go back one more time to give them one last try.

Daikanyama (Lexington, MA)

Jun 4, 2009 ·

Daikanyama is a relatively new sushi restaurant that opened in Lexington Center less than a year ago. It was started by Judy and Ming Chow. Before this endeavor, Judy Chow was a partner at Fugakyu Cafe in Sudbury. Her husband Ming Chow worked as a sushi supervisor at Whole Foods for seven years.

If I'm in the Lexington area, I like coming here for lunch because the prices are reasonable and the sushi is pretty good. Sadly, ever since I went to Japan and had the most amazing sushi ever, I have not been able to enjoy sushi in America as much as I did before.

Nevertheless, this place is a nice place to go for lunch, and I've never had to wait for a seat.

Here is the makimono lunch special, which is only $9.75

The sushi-sashimi lunch special is a good deal for only $13.75.

The sushi lunch special is also good, and you get to choose which maki you want, plus it's only $9.00. Here, my friend has chosen the Alaskan maki, which is salmon with avocados (yum!).

Green tea is free, and the ambiance is nice. On Sundays they only offer the dinner menu during lunchtime, so if you want to enjoy the good value of the lunch specials, go Mon - Sat.

Daikanyama
43 Waltham St
Lexington, MA
(781) 860-9388

Icarus

Jun 3, 2009 ·

Icarus, a great iconic restaurant in the South End, has announced that they will be closing their doors after 31 years of service in Boston.

Typically, entrees here are in the $30 range. However, as a final good-by, they are offering a three course $31 prix fixe from June 1, 2009 to July 1, 2009.

Bryan and I had our first date here back in September 1995. We ate here before heading out to see Phantom of the Opera in Boston. We had an excellent meal - considering we were college students back then, it was quite a stretch on the budget . . (uhh, on Bryan's budget, I guess). 😉

We haven't been back since but now that it's closing, we've decided to go this Saturday sort of for old time's sake, and also just to say good-by to the place where we had our first date.

Of course, I'll post pictures and details of our meal there. 🙂

Garden At the Cellar (update)

Jun 3, 2009 ·

I first reviewed this restaurant back in 2007 soon after it had opened. It has now been two years and I still think the food is just as incredible. Bryan and I probably come to this restaurant at least once a month, if not more. The only reason we don't go more often is that the small "gastropub" fills up quickly - often the wait is longer than 40 minutes on weekends.

The prices are great, the ambiance is relaxed, and the food . .the FOOD!

Here are some pictures for your pleasure. 🙂

Spring Dug Parsnip Soup, black truffle and thyme $9
I really like this soup - I've ordered it at least twice since it has appeared on the menu

Hand Rolled Ricotta Gnocchi braised rabbit, parsnips, mint, English peas $20
Bryan really like to order this dish. The texture of the gnocchi is good, and the flavors work really well together.

Rosemary-Truffle Fries $5
You absolutely have to order this if you come here. This is my all time favorite item on the menu. It tastes *especially* good if you order it as a separate side because it's SUPER fresh when they bring it out - really hot and crispy! It's still good when it's part of the steak frites entree, but sometimes I think those fries sit for a while longer (maybe waiting for all the dishes at the table to be cooked) and therefore they aren't quite as hot when you get them.

Order the side dish ($5) and you'll enjoy the friers at the peak of their freshness in all their truffled glory! YUM . . . .

oh . .and I totally skip the ketchup when eating these. How could you pollute the elegant marriage of truffle oil, rosemary with ketchup????Other dishes that we often get are:

Steak Frites - grilled Prime skirt steak, garlic spinach, parsnip purée, rosemary-truffle fries.
Bryan likes to order this rare, and they cook it perfectly. The spinach is flavorful, the parsnip puree is sweet and fragrant, and the fries .. THE FRIES! They are still really tasty!

Grilled Flatbread
I think all of their grilled flatbreads are really good. I like to order them if I want something a bit lighter that will reheat well if I want to take it home. The crusts are thin and crispy, and the topping are fresh and unique.

On tiny side note amidst this glowing review - I did order the Free Range Chicken with asparagus, bacon braised pea greens, celery root purée and was disappointed.

It was really the first time I was ever disappointed there. The chicken was fine - well crisped skin with moist meat. The problem was the pea greens. I guess I'm used to pea shoots since I often eat them in Chinese restaurants. Pea shoots are really tender and are one of my favorite vegetables.

These pea greens were really tough! It felt like I was eating weeds. I had to spit out about half the fiber from the vegetables because I could not swallow it. I also found the celery root puree to be only OK, especially compared to his parsnip puree (which comes with the steak frites - an excellent dish, btw - and is absolutely delicious).

Anyway, please don't let that stop you from coming to this restaurant. Truly, we still love it and go all the time - just don't order the pea greens unless you want to chew all night.

Cantina La Mexicana

May 29, 2009 ·

Updated Post

We first visited Cantina La Mexicana back in October when one of our Texan friends recommended this place to us. Our initial impressions were quite positive. We have since visited this restaurant quite frequently - almost once a month, if not more.

Some background, first . . .

The restaurant is called Cantina La Mexicana. The take out counter next door is called Taqueria La Mexicana. I believe the food comes out of the same kitchen, and therefore both taste equally good. The great benefit of the Cantina is that it has a liquor license, and therefore you can order Coronas ($4), margaritas ($7-$9) or sangrias ($6) to your heart's content.

What have we learned from eating there so often?

Over all, the food is excellent, and you won't go wrong in ordering most things. If you ever ask them which meat they recommend, they will almost always say "the beef." It's true - the beef is really good. They use Brandt beef, which is naturally raised, antibiotic-free beef raised by a single family owned business that serves high end restaurants, such as Grill 23. I don't even like beef that much, but I always order beef whenever I have a choice.

One of our favorite dishes is the Gorditas Mixtas ($7.95) little cornbread "tarts" topped with avocado, marinated shrimp, and meat (pork, chicken, or beef). Ha ha, my favorite gordita is actually the shrimp one . . although the beef is good too. I like the shrimp one because the addition of sour cream makes that gordita more moist. I rectify this issue for the chicken and beef gorditas by dumping a ton of the excellent free salsa on top. Yum!

Another all time favorite is the Chiles Rellenos ($3.75) with beef, of course. I am by no means an expert on Mexican food, but these are the best chiles rellenos I've had in Boston.

My third favorite, Coctel a la Campechana ($8.95), is a cold ceviche-like dish served in a martini glass. It consisted of Maine shrimp, calamari, crabmeat, and chunks of avocado tossed with a citrus dressing over avocado crema. Sorry, no picture of this.

This is definitely a place off the beaten path that's worth checking out! You can go there on your way to Target in Somerville or Costco in Everett next time.

Favorite Eats in the Boston/Cambridge area

May 28, 2009 ·

Recently, a friend asked for a recommendation for a good restaurant in which to celebrate his anniversary with his girlfriend. Naturally, being a foodie, I sent him a list of my favorite restaurants, based largely on food and atmosphere, of course. 🙂

Craigie on Main (formerly Craigie Street Bistrot)
Excellent French-inspired food. If you want to splurge, you should do the chef's tasting menu, which is where you get to enjoy Tony Maws "at his best." Make sure to call ahead to confirm that they are offering it that night. They often don't offer the Chef's Tasting on Friday nights.

Oleana
This is probably the best Mediterranean restaurant in Boston. It consistently makes top-ten lists for Boston food. I personally love their food because it's creative, healthy, and really flavorful. Try the Deviled Eggs with Tuna & Black Olives or the Whipped Feta with Sweet & Hot Peppers.

Prezza
This is our favorite restaurant in the North End. Really good food and nice romantic atmosphere. The menu changes frequently depending on what's in season.

Monica's Ristorante
Another excellent Italian restaurant in the North End - our former favorite before we discovered Prezza.

Oishii
Probably one of the best sushi restaurants in Boston, but be willing to pay for it! There's a swanky one in the South End (more expensive) and also a traditional one in Chestnut Hill. Food is creatively made, sushi is extremely fresh, and the everything is really tasty.

Bergamot
This new restaurant on the Somerville/Cambridge border has excellent food that's inspired by ingredients that are fresh, local, and seasonal. Keith Pooler is an incredible chef and changes up the menu very frequently. The service is exceptionally good here, and the bar is also fantastic.

Hungry Mother
This East Cambridge Southern restaurant (with French influences) serves up flavorful and perfectly executed food every single time. Every dish I've ever tried here has been incredibly good. It's a super popular restaurant, so book early!

Restaurants with excellent food with reasonable prices

Gran Gusto
This is a really good Italian restaurant off the beaten path in north Cambridge. They have one of the best and most authentic thin crust pizzas.

Mu Que Ca
Really good Brazilian style coastal seafood . They specialize in moquecas, which is a dish consisting of seafood and vegetables cooked in a clay pot. Really delicious. This restaurant is small, inexpensive, and very popular. I don't think you can make a reservation, so you often have to wait.

Hungry Mother
Southern American food with a French influence. This restaurant is wildly popular and serves up quality food at decent prices. The ambiance is festive (if not a bit loud). The food is excellent.

Garden at the Cellar
This local restaurant focuses on fresh, local ingredients and has the best French fries I've ever had anywhere (rosemary truffle fries). The food is delicious here, and the prices are reasonable. It's a great value for the quality of the food.

Steak
If you like steak, Bryan's favorite place in Boston is Grill 23, partly because they have more interesting options (like Kobe beef!). Smith & Wollensky, Ruth's Chris, or Capital Grille are all pretty solid choices as well.

Ice Monster

May 25, 2009 ·

Shaved ice is a classic Taiwanese dessert in the summer. One of the best known places in Taipei is called Ice Monster.

For around $5-$6, you get a HUGE bowl of shaved ice with your choice of toppings. I heard the mango one was incredible (with chunks of sweet, fresh mango on top). I did not hear of this until after I had visited Ice Monster, so I did not order that dish. If I ever go again, I would definitely try it. The Taipei Times has an interesting article here that talks about how the owner, under the pressure of difficult business and tough financial times, developed the mango shaved ice that shot business off the ground.

Anyway, I didn't try the mango. Instead, I ordered the mochi shaced ice.

It was still incredible! It had mochi balls of all different shapes and sizes, and even a huge flat mochi pancake on top. The dish also had sweet red bean topping (azuki) and condensed milk. It was really good! The various mochis had subtly different texture and flavors, so it was fun to try them all. Some were really chewy ("Q" in Taiwanese), while others were softer and sweeter. Over all, they complemented the azuki and condensed milk perfectly. The portion size is generous, and I shared one with my mom. We could have easily shared with a third person.

Ice Monster is located at 15 Yongkang street. Right off of Ding Tai Fung (original), not too far from other good places to eat. Apparently, one of the famous beef noodle restaurants is also on this street. The original Ding Tai Fung is also nearby.

Ice Monster
15 Yong Kang St., Da'an
hours: 11am-11pm

Aoba (Chin Yeh)

May 24, 2009 ·

My mom told me that Aoba ("Chinyeh" in Chinese) was better than Shin Yeh, which everyone on the web seems to rave about. Shin Yeh is a large chain, and recently opened a nice classy outpost on the top of Taipei 101. Since my relatives all said Aoba was better, we went there instead.

The food was definitely solid, but we were not blown away. The 3 cup chicken (pictured above) was tasty, and better than any version we'd ever had in Boston.

The Taiwanese lumpia (pictured below) was interesting, but not that yummy. I think I liked the one I had at a Singapore food stall better.

I loved the rice noodle soup (only $3!). It was tasty with strong umami without being too salty, and it was satisfying to eat.

It reminded Bryan of those rice noodle ramen packages that they sell.

Finally, we ordered the special, sauteed livers. I'm not a fan of liver, so I didn't like it that much. Bryan only thought it was OK.

All in all, it's a nice place to try some traditional Taiwanese food, but if you think your stomach can handle it, you can probably get just as good food on the street for a lot less money.

Yonghe Soy Bean Milk / Sheraton Taipei

May 23, 2009 ·

When we were in Taiwan, we had breakfast included at our hotel every morning. Actually, the breakfast at the Sheraton Taipei is pretty good. Here is a picture below of a typical breakfast. It was a buffet, and I typically would get congee with a bunch of sides (chili bamboo shoots, pickled cucumbers, gluten, fermented tofu) and of course topped with a good heaping of pork sung.

There was also you tiao (fried oil stick) with soy bean milk (not pictured), which we sometimes had.

As a result of the included breakfast, we did not get a chance to venture out and eat Taiwanese street breakfast until the last day!

And oh, how good it was! And cheap! Why didn't we come earlier???

We walked down the street that the Sheraton was on (ZhongXiao East Rd) away from Taipei Main Station for about 15 minutes. We then went to this hole in the wall traditional Taiwanese breakfast place.

Yummmm . . it was so good. This is everything we ordered.

Dan pi is an egg burrito of sorts. The freshly handmade pancake is cooked with a fried egg and then rolled up. It was delicious here, and probably cost around $1. In fact, most items cost around $1 or less. I think the entire meal was less than $5.

Pictured below is a shaobing youtiao. Essentially, it is a fried dough stick inside a sesame pastry. You dip the "sandwich" into the sweet soy milk (kind of like a French Dip).

Salty soy milk is fresh soy milk that had curdled due to the addition of vinegar. The remaining product looks a bit like very soft tofu in soup. Salty soy milk typically includes chopped up "you tiao" (yes, the fried dough sticks from before), za tsai (chopped pickled mustard greens), scallions, and hot oil. If the soy milk is not good quality thick soy milk, the salty soy milk won't curdle as thickly.

The soy milk here was excellent, and the salty soy milk was nice and thickly tofu-like.

If you go to Taiwan, I would definitely recommend you have traditional Taiwanese breakfast at least once!

Sometaro

May 22, 2009 ·

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese dish that I seldom see in the US. I first learned about it when I spent a summer in Japan working at Hitachi Chemical. A family I had met invited me over to their house. They had a special Okonomiyaki-making griddle on which they made these large, pancake-like patties.

The base of an okonomiyaki is flour, eggs, grated yam, and shredded cabbage. The ingredients are mixed together and then cooked on a flat griddle. Oftentimes, the flattened pancake is topped with a savoury and sweet brown sauce (okonomiyaki sauce), and mayonnaise. You can order ones with meat, veggies, seafood, or various other combinations.

We went to a delicious okonomiyaki restaurant titled "Sometaro" with my Japanese friend and her family while in Asakusa, a popular tourist area.

We started with a refreshing salad made from a certain type of green that you never see in the US. It's got a pungent, peppery taste, sort of like arugula. This salad was just a simple mixture of the local greens, bonito flakes, and a light dressing. It was delicious.

The waitress then brought over several okonomiyakis. You can see the striped mayonnaise in the picture. It was very tasty.

Finally, we enjoyed some really good oven-steamed wild mushrooms. It seems like they take fresh mushrooms and butter and wrap the whole thing in foil. Then, they"bake" the wrapped mushrooms in the oven. Very fragrant, flavorful, and a perfect way to end the meal.

Microwave Steam Fish (Chilean Sea Bass)

May 21, 2009 ·

Don't you love steamed fish at Chinese restaurants? I don't have a steamer, but you can easily steam fish in the microwave! It's surprisingly good and super easy.

I've used Chilean Sea Bass in this case (purchased from Whole Foods Market, who only sells MSC certified sustainable Chilean Sea Bass).

Lay the filets out in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with sliced ginger, scallions, and fermented black bean sauce (see picture below for approximate amounts).
Cover and cook on high. I find that 5-7 minutes is enough to cook the Chilean sea bass. Be careful when removing the cover. The steam coming out is very hot!

Add soy sauce to taste and serve!

Daikon Pork bone soup

May 20, 2009 ·

I was in Chinatown the other day buying ground pork when I noticed pork neck bones in the counter. They were *really* cheap - I think the package in the picture below was a little over $1. I had a hunch that the neck bones could be used for soup, so I bought a daikon and also some cilantro.

In order to get a clear broth, it's important to quickly boil the bones for a few minutes and then dump the water out. The initial boiling releases blood bits and other unsightly particles that would appear in your soup later. Rinse the bones with some water to make sure all particles have been washed off.

Next, put the quick-boiled bones back into some more clean water (I put in enough to cover the bones). Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes. Add sliced daikon to the mix and let simmer for another 45 minutes or so. (This is all very flexible. When I did this one night after dinner and, honestly, I didn't really keep track of time. This type of soup can only taste better if it simmers longer, I think).

Finally, salt to taste and serve with cilantro garnish (optional). You can also refrigerate the soup overnight. This intensifies the flavor a bit. Plus, you have the added bonus being able to scrape off any fat off the top, thus making it a really healthy soup.

I think pork neck bones vary a lot in fat. The first time I made this soup, I hardly scraped off any fat. The next time, I scraped off this much fat!

Ewwwww!!!

So, if your bones look fatty - do not fear! You can always scrape off the fat if you refrigerate the soup overnight.

Enjoy the flavorful, virtually fat-free, healthy soup!

Super Easy Pan Fried Vermicelli

May 18, 2009 ·

This is one of those dishes that is super easy to make, takes almost no time, and is pretty tasty and cheap.

I made this with what I had on hand, so it's a bit simple. You can definitely add more vegetables, or meat too if you want. It's a really flexible dish.

If you do add meat, I would slice the meat into thin strips, marinate in soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, and a little rice wine for at least 5-10 minutes)

Soak shitake mushrooms in hot water for about 10 minutes (or until soft). Soak the rice vermicelli in water (or soften according to the instructions on the package). Slice up the mushrooms. You can also chop the other vegetables you want to add. I had celery on hand. Carrots would work well too.

Heat the wok with vegetable oil (~ 1 T) until the oil is hot. Saute mushrooms in oil.

Add veggies (in my case, just celery) and stir fry until soft.

Add vermicelli.

Stir around until well mixed. Add a few table spoons of Chinese BBQ sauce (Sa-Tsa). Stir around until well mixed.

Enjoy! You can eat with hot sauce for a nice spicy touch.

Formosa (In the Howard Plaza Hotel)

May 15, 2009 ·

Formosa restaurant is at the basement of the Howard Plaza Hotel near Ren-Ai Road. I think it's a popular place for people to take their relatives since there are large banquet style tables and they serve a lot of authentic and solid Taiwanese food.

It's like eating night market food in a clean, banquet style atmosphere and paying a premium for that privilege.

My entire family (myself included!) thought that the food was really good. Here's some pictures of the dishes we had:

Stewed Pork belly. This is quintessential Taiwanese, and they made it well here. Yum.

I'd never had these local greens before, but they were good. They curled at the ends, not unlike fiddleheads.

Three-cup chicken. Another Taiwanese classic. This is a super fragrant dish where bone-in chicken pieces are stewed with soy sauce, sugar, wine, and basil.

I had never had this before - some sort of flavored crab rice. It was good.

I love how all these Taiwanese restaurants give you peanut-powder covered mochi balls as a free dessert after the meal. I absolutely love these balls. I might try to make some soon. I'll definitely post my experiments in that arena if I go there. 🙂

Over all, this was a solid, Taiwanese restaurant that is great for large family gatherings. The service was fast, and the food was very good.

Formosa Restaurant
No. 160 Ren Ai Rd Sec 3
Taipei 106 Taiwan

Southern California Favorites

May 14, 2009 ·

A friend of mine is going to California for a wedding and asked me for food recommendations in Southern California. We go to California at least once a year since Bryan is a native Californian. However, most of our eating is centered in Orange County, since that is where his family lives.I don't claim to be anywhere close to an expert on Southern California's best eats. However, I would like to share with you some of our favorite places. I can attest that these places are excellent. Peking Restaurant
8566 Westminster Blvd
Westminster, CA

Excellent Northern style Chinese food - I would definitely order the homemade noodles, the niu ro jia bing (beef slices rolled in a scallion pancake with hoisin sauce and cilantro - incredible! -- see picture above), pan fried dumplings, and boiled dumplings. It's cheap, delicious, and totally authentic. Be prepared to wait if you go on a weekend during lunch.Ding Tai Fung
1108 South Baldwin Avenue
Arcadia,California
91007

If you read this blog, you probably know that this is one of my all time favorite restaurants. Even though it's a 45 minute drive from Bryan's home, we drive there almost every time we are in California. My favorites are the vegetable pork dumplings and the soup dumplings. Be prepared to wait no matter when you go. The last time we went, they had expanded and had taken over another space within walking distance of the original restaurant. We went to this other space and didn't have to wait.

Sushi Gen
422 E 2nd St (Little Tokyo)
Los Angeles, CA
I actually have not been to this restaurant in Little Tokyo, but it's widely regarded as one of the best and freshest sushi places for a reasonable price. My mom told me that all the Taiwanese people know about this place. I definitely want to try it the next time I go to LA!

In & Out
All over Southern California
This hamburger place is classic - with everything made from scratch and to order. Order off the "sceret" menu by asking for a "two by two" burger (2 patties / 2 buns) and "animal style" (with grilled onions and special sauce). I really love the burgers here, and the prices are cheap too.

Tea Station

11688 South St #101
Artesia, CA 90701

(562) 860-7089

This tea shop totally reminds me of Taiwan. Not only does it serve excellent tea (Ten Ren brand plus many others), it serves a host of Taiwanese late night eats, such as noodle soups, tea eggs, popcorn chicken, tofu, and Taiwanese sausages. The ambiance is relaxed, friendly, and nice. When we were in California, we came here almost every night to sip tea, enjoy snacks, and play board games.

Happy Nest (Formerly Little Bean)

18902 Norwalk Blvd
Artesia, CA 90701

(562) 860-8843

This is also another fun Taiwanese place that serves shaved ice, boba tea, and Taiwanese snacks, similar to Tea Station. The store is brightly lit with fluorescent lights. I have not been here too many times, so unfortunately I can't comment as extensively on the menu. Everything I've had there has been good, and it appears to get excellent reviews on various food sites.

Above I've listed our favorite haunts. We've tried other restaurants only once, such as celebrity chef Tom Colicchio's Craft or various other ethnic restaurants (e.g., Peruvian, Italian, Szechuan, and Japanese places). However, we are really not that familiar with the LA foodie scene. I would welcome other suggestions for great places to eat so I can try them the next time we are out there!

Shilin Night Market - Food Pictures!

May 1, 2009 ·

Duck Tongue

Insects? Snails? Barnacles?

"Frog Eggs"

Fresh Fruit

Celestial Restaurant - Peking Duck

Apr 23, 2009 ·

"Best Pecking Duck I've ever had in my life" - Bryan Che

Seriously, the Peking duck at Celestial Restaurant was phenomenal. It's located upstairs of the Royal Inn Taipei on the second floor. The prices are quite reasonable (we paid around $40 for a 3-course duck meal and we did not even come close to finishing the food).

After bringing out the whole duck for show, they take it back into the kitchen, slice it up, and then bring out the golden, crispy skins. The freshly made pancakes were amazing. They were warm, chewy, and just the right thickness. We made little Peking duck "roll-ups" with duck skin, scallions, and hoisin sauce.

Next, the rest of the duck meat came out. Wow, the rolls made with duck skin plus duck meat was even tastier, in my opinion. The flavors of the fresh scallions, hoisin sauce, tender meat, and crispy skin came together in a perfect harmony of flavors.

Wow.

Bryan ate eight rolls (!)

As part of the three course meal, we also got a light stir fry consisting of bean sprouts and small pieces of duck meat. It was good, refreshing, and solid, but nothing extraordinary.

Finally, at the end of the meal, we got a big bowl of glass noodle soup made with the duck bones. The soup was flavorful and warm. We were so full at that point, however, we probably did not enjoy it as much as we would have enjoyed it had we had it first.

All in all, an excellent meal and a great value. According to my guide book , it's the "best value Beijing duck in Taipei" ((The Rough Guide to Taiwan page 126).

Oh - I forgot to mention that we ordered a small appetizer that's pretty well known there: blanched celery in a sweet mustard sauce. It's surprising good. The pungent kick of wasabi is tempered by the sweetness of the sauce. It's quite an interesting mix, and combined with the crunch of the celery, actually works pretty well.

Celestial Restaurant
3/F, 1 Nanjing West Road
Taipei, Taiwan

Din Tai Fung (Taipei)

Apr 23, 2009 ·

I love Ding Tai Fung. It's one of my favorite restaurants, period.

Pictured above is my favorite dumpling: the meat and vegetable dumpling. As you can see, it's mostly vegetable, which I love! It's not greasy at all. It's moist and flavorful on the inside and it's got that AWESOME skin on the outside . . . sooo good (can you tell that I love this restaurant???)

We ate at this restaurant three times during our four day stay in Taiwan since I love this restaurant so much. Perfectly kneaded skin; small, delicate xiao-long baos (soup dumplings) whose skins miraculously don't break even though they are filled with hot, juicy soup.

Heavenly eating experience. I would eat there every day if I could.

Prices are quite reasonable too. Dinner cost about $20 for three people - and we were really stuffed!

We went to several different locations. It's worth trying out the original one just because the ambiance seems more authentic. There is a newer one in the basement of Sogo, but it's just a bit more upscale, and thus you lose a little bit of the character.

In both places, you can watch the guys make the dumplings:

Even their other non-dumpling dishes are very good. We tried their hong-yo chao shou (hot oil wontons), Fried rice, Wonton soup, and Hot & Sour soup [yes, I know these sound like American style Chinese dishes, but honestly, we ordered them based on recommendations from our Taiwanese relatives!]. Although these other dishes were pretty good, I probably wouldn't order them again when I could just order more dumplings instead!

Be prepared to wait almost anytime you go. Our wait times varied between 10 minutes to 50 minutes depending on the time of day. I think it's virtually impossible to show up and not have to wait.

Bryan thought that he couldn't tell the difference between the one in Taipei and the one in California (Arcadia). I'm not sure I'm convinced of that, but I will say that the one in Taiwan is AWESOME!

Original restaurant:
194 Xin Yi Road, Section 2
Taipei 106 Taiwan

Maisen (Tonkatsu)

Apr 23, 2009 ·

Maisen is one of the most famous tonkatsu restaurants in Tokyo. Tonkatsu is breaded portk cutlet, typically eaten with shredded cabbage and a sweet, dark tangy sauce. Maisen has interesting architecture because the building used to be a bath house pre-WWII.

The restaurant is famous for its black pork, which supposedly comes from China and has a sweet, intense flavor. Interestingly enough, the waiter did not recommend that we order the black pork (it was more expensive), and instead just suggested that we get the normal pork set menu.

That still set us back $30 a person!

Our pork cutlets were delicious. tender, and juicy. These were perfectly fried and paired perfectly with the tangy dipping sauce. A high pile of perfectly shredded cabbage on the side completed the meal. Yum. Typically I don't finish an entire chunk of meat, but I couldn't stop eating this one, and I ate the whole thing.

This restaurant is definitely worth checking out. It is a bit hard to find (we wandered a bit), but it's not too far from Harajuku. It's actually off of a side street near Ometesando Hills, and the closest subway stop is the Ometesando Hills stop.

Kyubey (Kyubei)

Apr 23, 2009 ·

No doubt the most incredible sushi I have ever had in my entire life.

Kyubei is a sushi restaurant in between Ginza and Shimbashi. A Wall Street Journal article in January of 2008 named it as one of the ten best restaurants in Asia. They have a rule that a sushi chef can serve no more than 6 people. The restaurant consists of multiple floors. Each floor contains just one sushi bar with ~ 12 seats and 2 sushi chefs. So, even though the restaurant is actually large, the ambiance is very intimate.

We ordered the omakase, which basically means the chef makes for you whatever he wants. Be prepared to spend around $200 per person. If you don't want to spend that much, they do have a menu. However, even the cheapest meal, which is 15 pieces of nigiri, will still run you around $120.

He started us out with some light, white fish (I think he said it was related to halibut, but I actually can't remember). He gave us a ponzu dipping sauce.

We told our sushi chef that we liked toro (fatty tuna). He proceeded to prepare for us piece after piece of perfectly formed sushi. The fish was extraordinarily fresh (Tsujiki fish market is less than a 10 minute walk away); the sushi was cut with exceptional skill; and each nigiri was perfectly formed.
(He's cutting toro here - mmmmmm . . )

Putting wasabi in your soy sauce is a no-no. Instead, for nigiri, you are supposed to just rely on the wasabi inside the nigiri because the sushi chef has already put in the perfect amount of wasabi. The only time you use the wasabi that they give you is when you eat sashimi. You are supposed to put a dab of wasabi on the fish slice, fold the slice in half with the wasabi on the inside, dip the folded sashimi in the clear soy sauce, and then eat.

My favorite piece was a lightly seared toro nigiri sushi shown below. It seemed to melt in my mouth with the most decadent flavors. Yummmmm . . . I love good toro.

I'd never had uni (sea urchin) sushi before. The closest I came to having it was trying a bit of a friend's uni in Boston. I thought it was stinky that time, and decided that I did not like uni.

This uni was sweet, fresh, and had absolutely no off flavors. It was actually quite good. Creamy, sweet, and light. According to another Wall Street Journal article about this restaurant, Kyubei actually invented this particular type of uni sushi (putting uni on top of rice rolled in seaweed).

We also had these unagi (eel) rolls, which were tasty.

A mackerel-like fish.

The weirdest part of the evening was when he pulled out two live shrimp, beheaded them, and then took their tails to make the ebi (sweet shrimp) nigiri that you see below.

The grossest part was that the flesh was still quivering a bit while on the rice. It really grossed me out, and I chewed mine really fast to make sure it did not quiver in my mouth. The taste was sweet, and not a bit fishy at all. However, I was so distracted about the meat thumping in my mouth that I don't think I really enjoyed this piece that much.

Over all, we had an incredible meal here. The ambiance is intimate. You get almost personal service from a very experienced sushi chef (they all have to train 12 years before they can come out and make sushi for customers!) The food is unbelievable.

I won't forget this meal soon, and if I ever go back to Japan, I will visit another one of these amazing sushi places (there are still so many to try!)

More articles about Kyubei can be found here and here

Mushroom Soup

Apr 23, 2009 ·

Here is a simple recipe for a surprisingly flavorful, healthy and light soup. Bryan's parents were in Taiwan last year. While they traveled across the eastern side of Taiwan during a tour, they stopped at a small local restaurant. At the end of the meal, the waitress brought out a pot to the table and essentially cooked a whole variety of wild mushrooms in water with some tomatoes, scallions, salt and pepper.

Bryan's parents thought the soup was surprisingly flavorful, light, and delicious. His mom decided to try it out at home with random mushrooms from the supermarket, and the results were great!

After seeing her over Christmas break (and watching them make the soup once), I decided to try it myself as well. I went to a local Korean market and picked up about 7 types of mushrooms. I'm not sure I can even name all of them, but some examples would be shitake, enoki, portabella, hen-of-the-woods, oyster, white button mushroom.

I chopped up the tomatoes, scallions and mushrooms. I then put them into a pot of water, brought the water to a boil, and then let it simmer for about 30 minutes. I'm not sure how long you need to cook it - it's possible that less or more is fine too. I would just taste it periodically.

Finally, add salt and pepper to taste. There's no chicken broth or any animal products in this meal. The mushrooms add a surprising amount of umami flavor, and the soup is flavorful, light, healthy, and satisfying at the same time.

It's a great summer soup, especially with the farmer's markets now starting!

Suzuran (すずらん)

Apr 23, 2009 ·

I just came back from an incredible trip to Asia (Japan and Taiwan), and I have lots of great food posts I plan on writing over the next few weeks.

One of the first places we visited was Suzuran, a popular ramen place in Shibuya.

Apparently this place is really popular because their broths are deeply flavorful and they make their own noodles. Unlike many other ramen places, you have the option of choosing the fat, pappardelle-like chewy noodles. Suzuran sells tsukumen, which is dipping ramen. Instead of serving everything in one bowl, the noodles are served separately (see picture above) from the soup. You then dip the noodles into the soup and eat it, not unlike soba.

The ambiance here is great. The small bar only holds around 13 people. You sit around the bar and order your noodles. Right when you enter, all the cooks yell out a loud greeting, "Irrashaimase!" When a customer finished her bowl of noodles, she yelled "gotirasama deshita!" and all the cooks yelled back something I couldn't quite understand. It was quite entertaining.

The place feels very authentic. The menu is only in Japanese, and the cooks don't really speak English. I used my broken Japanese to ask the cook to translate the menu. In the end, all he could tell me was that I could choose between soy sauce based broth or miso, and that the toppings were items such as char siu and wontons (I kind of wonder whether he thought we were Chinese and just picked the Chinese sounding toppings for us).

Bryan ordered soy based broth with wontons. I basically told the cook to make me his most famous dish. I received a miso-based broth with these stewed pork slices on top of the noodles. It was not until afterwards, which doing additional research, that I found out that I had eaten Kagoshima style pork belly (buta kakuni).

The noodles were fresh, chewy and delicious. The soup was very flavorful, although I found it a bit salty for my tastes. I typically don't eat much ramen, so it's hard for me to give it a fair review. Honestly, I have no idea how it compares to other ramen across Japan. I can tell you that the freshly made noodles were really good and the soup was satisfying to the soul.

If you like ramen, you should definitely check out this place. If nothing else, the experience of sitting at the bar watching the chefs make noodles and watching all the interactions between the customers and the cooks is worth it.

One note - it was a bit confusing to find this place. It probably did not help that we went on a dark, rainy evening; we didn't have a map; all we had were some directions written by someone on chowhound. It's not too far from the Shibuya JR station. See here for the directions that we used. Supposedly this place often has a long line outside of it. I guess we were lucky since it was a dark rainy weeknight.

3D Cookie Cutters

Mar 17, 2009 ·

These are really cute. I am so tempted to buy them!

Shabu Square - update CLOSED

Feb 16, 2009 ·

Bryan and I decided to try out Shabu Square, the new shabu restuarant in Harvard Square this past Saturday (coincidentally, it was Valentine's Day). Here is the quick summary of my opinion:

Prices: For Harvard Square, reasonable - $10 for a vegetarian shabu order and $16 for a "surf & turf" shabu shabu order. There is a minimum $10/per person requirement.

Ambiance: Nice. The space was completely renovated for this restaurant, so everything is nice and new. It has the ambiance of a Japanese restaurant - clean, simple, and sort of bamboo-y.

Quality: so-so. The vegetables were fine, but the seafood was lower quality. The scallops had no sweetness. In fact, they hardly had any flavor. The beef was fine, but nothing to write home about. They did not have some of the fancier cuts of meat we have seen at other shabu places. They also have a limited number of broth options: Spicy Chinese, Tom Yum, Korean Kim chee, and miso. We tried Spicy Chinese ($3), which was spicy but did not have much deep flavor. We also tried the plain chicken broth (free). In terms of food quality, it is definitely a step lower than the other shabu places we've tried (Shabu-Zen, Kaze, Little Q). [my absolute favorite hot pot place is Little Q, especially the mala spicy broth. SOOO GOOOOD! Too bad it's so far away in Quincy!]

Other comments: We ordered a funny appetizer, mostly because it sounded so strange. It was salmon sashimi rolled inside roti (Malaysian bread) with spicy mayo.

In theory it sounded interesting, but the taste was actually quite average. The roti was deep fried and quite greasy. Since the restaurant did not have a sushi bar, we started to suspect that they just used their hot pot salmon meat and chose not to cook it. Fortunately, neither of us got sick, so I'm going to assume that the fish was fine.

No alcohol, which might be a big negative for some people.

This place is almost like an Asian fusion restaurant run by Chinese people. On top of the shabu menu, they also have pho, Thai dishes (like pad thai and the like), Japanese noodles, etc.

Conclusion: I like having a shabu place in Harvard Square since we can just walk to this restaurant. It is a nice, healthy option in Harvard Square for a decent price. I understand that it's more expensive to run a restaurant in Harvard Square, so I appreciate their efforts to keep the prices reasonable. Just remember, you do get what you pay for. Bryan decided that, if he were to come again, he'd probably just order the beef shabu since the seafood was underwhelming. I would probably stick with the vegetarian shabu.

As a side point, recently my brother in law bought filet mignon from Costco and sliced it up for a hot pot that we were having at my sister's birthday party. It was sooooo good! Yes, he had to slice the meat himself, but the texture of filet mignon cannot be beat. Now that I've had filet mignon at a hot pot, it's hard for me to go back to eating normal hot pot meat. This is why I would probably order the vegetarian option at Shabu Square.

Lychee Martini

Feb 16, 2009 ·

Bryan made one for me the other night, and it's pretty good! Here is the recipe:

1 ½ oz SOHO brand Lychee Liqueur
1 oz vodka (we use Grey Goose)
Splash of lychee juice (from the can)
2 lychees (from a can)

We typically keep our vodka and the liqueur in the freezer (they stay liquid!) so there's no need to shake the drink in a traditional cocktail shaker.

If you like a bit of tartness in your cocktails, you may want to consider adding a splash of lime juice as well. We didn't have any around, but next time we may try that as well.

Korean Style Spinach salad

Nov 18, 2008 ·

This simple, healthy, and tasty spinach dish can be eaten either hot or cold. It works well as a side in many Asian cuisines, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. It is a versatile dish, and can easily be tailored for any of these cuisines by the addition of certain ingredients.

1) First, cook the spinach. You can either blanch it very quickly or steam it very quickly.

You want to make sure that you cook it quickly! I typically steam for about 10-15 seconds (until the leaves wilt) and then I remove the leaves and quickly rinse with cold water to stop further cooking. I do this in small batches.

You don't want to overcook the spinach because it loses its bright green color and becomes overly mushy.

If you blanch, I would only blanch for 5 seconds.

2) Next, try to squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible. I typically take a handful of spinach at a time and squeeze it into a ball, as shown in the picture below.

3) Once most of the water has been squeezed out, I chop up the spinach using a pair scissors.

4) Finally, add salt, sesame oil, and garlic powder (or minced fresh garlic) to taste. Optionally, you can add soy sauce, sesame seeds, hot pepper flakes, or other cuisine-specific spices.

Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

Ro Geng Mian (Ba Genh) - Pork, Bamboo, and Mushroom Noodle Soup

Nov 16, 2008 ·

One of Bryan's favorite Taiwanese dishes is the pork noodle soup shown above. This very common Taiwanese dish is called "Ba Genh" in Taiwanese, or "Ro Geng Mian" in Mandarin, and consists of pork and fish paste nuggets in a thick soup flavored with black vinegar (or Worcestershire sauce), white pepper, mushrooms, and lots of cilantro.

This recipe is adapted from Taiwanese Homestyle Cooking by members of NATWA

Ingredients

6-10 dried mushroom pieces

½ lb pork butt or shoulder (can also use ground pork)

½ cup sliced bamboo shoots

½ lb prepared fish paste

6 cups water

2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

------------------------------------

Marinade

1 T soy sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 t salt
1 T sesame oil
------------------------------

Soup flavoring

1 T minced garlic

½ t sesame oil

¼ t white pepper (can add more to taste)

1 ½ T Worcestershire sauce

½ cup cilantro (coarsely chopped)

------------------------------

Mix 4T cornstarch with 4 T water and mix to form a milky liquid.

click image to see larger image

Preparation

Wash 6-10 dried mushrooms and soak in hot water until soft (about 10 minutes). Slice to desired size.
Drain and rinse ½ cup of sliced bamboo shoots.

1) Cut up about ½ lb of pork butt into ½ inch pieces.

2) Mix the pork together in a bowl with the marinade and marinate for at least 2 hours.

After marinating, mix the pork with the fish paste (available in the freezer sections of a lot of Asian grocery stores. I have bought this both at Super 88 and also at C-Mart).

Combine in a pot the water (6 cups), salt (2 tsp), sugar (1 tsp), mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Bring the pot to a boil. Form a ~1 inch "nugget" with a piece of pork and some fish paste and drop it into the boiling water.

Boil until all the pork nuggets are floating. The soup will look a little something like this:

At this point, you can do one of two things. If you want the thick soup by itself, stir the thickener into the soup and bring to a boil. You can then add the soup flavoring agents. Feel free too adjust the flavors to taste. Serve with chopped cilantro on top.

Alternatively, you can boil some noodles and add it to the soup. I used fresh noodles (purchased from the refrigerator section of Asian supermarkets). Because fresh noodles give off a lot of starch, I was able omit the thickening agent since the soup was already pretty thick once I added the noodles.

Final product with noodles!

Wisteria {NOW CLOSED}

Nov 16, 2008 ·

UPDATE: Now CLOSED - replaced by Unique Dumpling in the same location. The Super 88 Allston location is still open

Wisteria is a Taiwanese restaurant that had been on Newbury Street for as long as I can remember. I think the first time I went there was in 1994 (!). Less than a year ago the restaurant closed its Newbury Street restaurant and opened up two restaurants - one at the Super88 Food Court and the other one in East Cambridge on Cambridge Street.

Initially I was really excited that Wisteria was finally moving to Cambridge. We always liked going there whenever we were on Newbury Street. They were one of the earliest Taiwanese restaurants in the Boston area (before Taiwan Cafe, Mulan, and Jo Jo Taipei opened). It was fun getting traditional Taiwanese dishes such as Three cup chicken, rice sausage, and peanut rice drink.

When it opened at Super88, the waits at that restaurant were super long, and yet we kept ordering food there. It was my favorite stall at Super88. I loved getting the pork and chive dumplings, sauteed veggies, and other Taiwanese specialties. I absolutely couldn't wait for the East Cambridge one to open, since that one would be even closer to my home.

The East Cambridge location finally opened last fall. We've probably been there a total of 5 times since it opened. I think the restaurant is a mixed bag. Some dishes are excellent. For example, I love the egg pancake and the Taiwanese style congee. Other dishes, such as the crispy seafood and oyster pancake, were greasy and bland.

I still really want to love the restaurant, since it would be so exciting to have a really yummy Taiwanese restaurant near my home. I will still continue to try it and figure out which dishes are my favorites. Any one have any suggestions?

I also heard that Mulan has been improving a lot, and it quite good now. Jo Jo Taipei has also been getting rave reviews. One of these days I'll have to do a full fledged Taiwanese food review.

We'll see - the elusive search for amazing Taiwanese food continues . . .

*Update*

We went back to Mulan last week, and this time asked our server (who I think is the owner) to recommend their best dishes. We ended up ordering the House special beef noodle soup, the handmade dumplings (boiled and pan fried), and a lamb stir fry dish (sorry, can't remember!). They also threw in twin lobsters (sauteed with ginger and scallions) for free since we ordered over $35.

This was definitely one of our best meals at Mulan. Even though it was still not amazing (especially compared to restaurants in California or Asia), it was still enjoyable. The House special beef noodle soup was tasty, and the handmade dumplings were pretty good too. The "guo tia" (pan-fried dumplings) are the the long-shaped kind, which I like. I also really liked the lamb stir fry dish.

As a side note, they do have some fun exotic drinks. They sell a whole variety of boba drinks, and they also sell a sentimental favorite of mine - peanut rice milk ("mi jiang" in mandarin, "bi lieng" in Taiwanese) - hot or iced!

Kiwiberry (passion popper)

Oct 11, 2008 ·

Has anyone every tried a kiwiberry? I saw them at Whole Foods the other day. Having never heard of it, I thought it would be fun to try a new fruit.

They are really good! Kiwiberries are like miniature kiwis with a smooth skin (so you can just pop the whole thing in your mouth). About the size of a grape, they are more flavorful than kiwis - they are sweeter and also more tart at the same time.

I thought they were really addictive. According to the website of the one farm that sells this particular variety of kiwiberries (called "Passion Poppers"), "[t]hey are unequaled in taste, blended flavors of super sweet kiwi and exotic melon."

The flavor is definitely unique - sweet, tart, and refreshing at the same time.

Here's another picture to give you a perspective on their size:

If you are interested in trying some, you probably should go to the market soon. They have a very short harvest season (like ~ 4 weeks during the fall between Sept 20 to ~ October 20).

Bulgogi

Oct 10, 2008 ·

This is an "award winning" crowd favorite that I often make for large groups of people (It won 2nd place for "best entree" at a church cook-off). I got this recipe from my brother-in-law, who is Korean-American. 🙂

Ingredients

½ cup soy sauce
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 tablespoon minced garlic
½ pear, mashed (preferably Asian pear, but any ripe pear will do)
2 medium sized onions, sliced
3 tablespoon sesame oil
12 oz thinly sliced bulgogi beef

Marinade
Mix together the soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, pear, and onions.

Mix the marinade with the sliced beef, making sure all the beef is exposed to the sauce. Let marinade for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight (in the refrigerator, of course).

The next morning, add sesame oil to the mixture, stir, and let the mixture sit for a little longer - preferably at least 30 minutes. Finally, grill the marinated meat and serve. You can also cook on a stovetop grill or pan as well. Enjoy!

Taqueria La Mexicana

Oct 9, 2008 ·

One of our Texan friends raves about this place in Union Square, so we finally decided to go there for dinner on the way to Target last night.

On our way in, we noticed all these accolades: "Best of Boston 2000: Burrito; Best of Boston 2000 and 2005: Affordable Mexican."

Wow. We both thought the food was really good, and cheap too! Most of the appetizers and entrees were between $6-$9, with a few bigger platters costing $10-$12, and the most expensive mixed grill platter costing $16.

We ordered four dishes - three appetizers and one side (although it was a pretty big side).

Coctel a la Campechana ($8.95)
This cold ceviche-like dish came in a martini glass. It consisted of Maine shrimp, calamari, and crabmeat tossed with a citrus dressing over avocado crema. It was also tossed with fresh pieces of avocado. The dish was fresh, bright, and perfectly seasoned. Very refreshing.

Gorditas Mixtas ($7.95)
These were little cornbread "tarts" topped with avocado, marinated shrimp (and possibly other shellfish), and meat (pork, chicken, or beef). This was one of my favorite dishes. The tarts were fun to eat (I love anything corn, btw), and the mix of seafood, meat, avocado, and other flavors (tomato? lemon? I'm not even sure), was really good.

Chiles Rellenos ($3.75)
This is a poblano pepper stuffed with meat and covered with cheese and baked. For $3.75 it was an amazing bargain. Again, a happy burst of flavors - it was really good. You would think it might feel greasy, but it was not greasy at all. In fact, it felt pretty healthy, if you can believe that.

Guacamole ($5.95)
Their guacamole is different from what I usually see - the avocados are not mashed up. Instead, it resembles an avocado salad, with fresh cut pieces of avocados mixed with tomatoes, cilantro, and possibly lemon juice. It was a refreshing change from the ordinary, and of course, everything was fresh and delicious.

The ambiance is also quite pleasant. They recently opened up the new Cantina in July. This is an expanded dining area with a huge bar and plenty of seating. The waitstaff was very friendly, and the atmosphere was festive.

We're both really excited that we've found another cheap and tasty option not too far from our home. Seldom do I go to a restaurant, order 4 dishes, and genuinely *really* enjoy every single dish. We can't wait to go back and try more items on their menu.

Easy Homemade Hummus & Pita Chips

Oct 9, 2008 ·

I made hummus at home for the first time last night. It was so easy and relatively expensive! This is what I did:

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas)

⅓ cup tahini (sesame paste)
juice of 1 lemon
½ cup water
⅓ cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
salt to taste

Prep
1) Rinse the canned beans with some water and drain
2) Stir up the tahini (since it will most likely have separated into oil + sesame paste) before adding it to the food processor
3) peal and mash the garlic cloves

Process
Throw everything into the food processor and mix for about 1-2 minutes. Check the consistency after about a minute. You can add water to thin it out, or add some plain yogurt to make it more creamy.

Taste the hummus and adjust the flavors accordingly. Add some salt to enhance the flavor. Some people like to add extra lemon juice to make it more tart, and some people like to add lots of extra garlic cloves to kick up the flavor. Another idea, if you don't like the spicy kick of raw garlic, is to roast the garlic in the oven beforehand and then adding the roasted garlic.

When you are happy with the consistency and taste, scoop it out and enjoy!

Once you have the basics down, you can be creative and add whatever flavors suit your fancy. Some examples I've seen: mint, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and black pepper.

Homemade Pita Chips
One has to have pita chips to eat with the hummus, right? This is also another really easy, fast, and healthy snack food that you can make.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut up pita bread (plain works best, although whole wheat works OK too) into chip size pieces. Spread in one layer (preferably) onto a baking sheet. Spray both sides of the pita slices with olive oil. I use a hand-pumped oil spritzer so I can pick the type of oil I use, but you can probably use a commercial product like PAM. Sprinkle a small amount of salt over the chips, and then bake for 10 minutes.

Perfect, warm and crispy pita chips at a fraction of the cost of store bought chips.

Enjoy!