momofuku

I have not been to any of the momofuku restaurants, but like anyone else who has the slightest interest in food, I have read about David Chang, and other folks running this small and growing empire. What I like most about the things I have read is the way he talks, he pulls no punches, and he swears a lot. Thus I thought his book might be an interesting read, plus recipes, and those if anything like his restaurants' reputation, will likely be good, honest and straight forward.

And the book really didn't disappoint, the stories were funny at times, but I really admire the seriousness he takes in everything he does (not that other chefs are not serious about their food, but that doesn't always come through in a book as it does here), and the balls he has. I also liked the food described here, but I almost would trade some of the recipes for more stories along the way.

what is for dinner - no bun

in case you have not noticed, I love eating sausages, and i am always trying to get better ones. I got this mexican chorizo at a shop in kensington market the other day. it is really nicely spiced, but the ground is a little too coarse for me, little piece of fat were still intact as you cut into the dog, and because the fat hasn't melted during the cooking process, the thing was a bit dry. it may work better on a hot grill, but in a skillet, the result was less than perfect. but with a salad of sugar snaps and potatoes cooked in duck fat, it was a decent meal.

what is for dinner - wonton soup

found some 薺菜 in the frozen section at one of the markets in chinatown. My grandmother use to make shanghai style wantons (large, thick skin) with this green and ground pork. According to her, this vegetable grows wild around the farms where she was from. Anyway, it adds a very unique fragrance to this simple dish. Of course, the frozen stuff I got is nowhere near what I remembered back home, but certainly good enough for dinner.

she is the one to blame

this whole thing about Gourmet magazine closing really pissed me off. I am not as bothered by the fact that this big publishing firm decided to shut the doors of an under performing division as I am by all the praise and attention showered on Ruth Reichl. She may be a great writer, she may have tried to report serious food culture related topics in the magazine the way other food publications wouldn't, but the bottom line is, Gourmet didn't work.

every time I flip through an issue at a book store or a stand, it just look like a mess. No coherence, no direction, the pictures of the stories and advertisement blended together, and food that looked uninteresting or over wrought. Isn't that what an editor in chief supposed to do - producing a good magazine? Gourmet may have some occasional good articles, but it was definitely not a good product, in my opinion.

she has used her position at this publication to elevated her own reputation, sold tons of her own books, probably made a pretty coin in the process. But under her guidance, the sale and subscription of this magazine has been going down steadily. Please don't blame readers for this, Ruth. The magazine failed definitely not because we are not interested in difficult questions about food; the rise of internet based media is not it either (plenty of magazine are still in business, reporting serious or casual, fun stories about food). This magazine failed because under her direction, it was not a good magazine, as simple as that.

it just pissed me off more as I turned on NPR on this saturday morning, listening to her peddling her new book, while plenty of people who used to work with her are now out of a fucking job. Yes, she is to blame.

what is for dinner - quail

I really like quails, I use to eat it all the time when I lived in SF. I have not made them in a while because I have not been able to find a place that sell them individually, all the stores in chinatown here sell them in pack of 6; deboning 6 of them at a time just seem like too big of a project for a lazy saturday afternoon.

But my craving for them this week reached a point that I decided to get a 6 pack; I prepared two right away, put two of them in the freezer, and save two for later in the week.

quail can take on quite a bit of seasoning and spices, and yet still have that distinct gamy flavor. they are fairly forgiving on the stove as well, as long as they are below the well done stage, they will be pretty tender and juicy. I like them just about medium, maybe a little less.

I seasoned these two with five spice powder, stuffed it with a piece of ginger and a slice of garlic. they were good, but I think they would have been better if they were a bit more heat to it. I pickled some hot peppers last week, maybe I will eat some of those with the next two quails.

what is for dinner - liver

liver is good for more than pate, fresh chicken or calf's liver, when sauteed quickly so it is not overcooked, are delicious. A lot of places labeled regular beef's liver as calf's liver, when they are really big and deep burgundy, chances are, they are not liver from a calf. but when I saw these pale slices at one of the butcher at st. Lawrence market (a little pricey for liver, but not that bad), I knew what I wanted for dinner.

caramelized onion, potatoes cooked in shit load of butter, and a few slices of the liver made a fine, if completely unhealthy dinner. the liver spend maybe 30s too long in the pan, (they were thin), but still moist and soft. too lazy to make vegetable, since the onion, potatoes and liver already produced 3 dirty pans.

at some point I need to start watch out what I eat, but not just yet.

that was good

I just watched the third episode, season 4 of soprano. the digression in the end in the car regarding race and discrimination is pretty good.

sorry dude .... not really

okay, if a dude is bad or evil enough to rape a 13 year old girl, he is allowed to walk freely on the streets? well, people are saying that things are not clear, or misunderstood etc, so what is the problem of having a trial? Lets hear all the evidence, maybe get a just (big maybe) and right conclusion for this matter. 32 years does not make a wrong right, or the other way around.