nowarmsoda

modernist or troll

2012-01-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

I will not buy the Modernist Cuisine for a couple of reasons. One it cost like $500, the other is that the dude behind this collection is a well know patent troll, I just can't support that.

But the Times just posted a few videos of one of its columnist and the troll demonstrating some techniques / dishes from the books. One of them is cooking a rib steak. It involves freezing it for an hour, searing it (or torching it) on just one side, then cook it in a very low oven for like ~1 hour until it reaches the desired doneness.

Since I wanted to drink this bottle of Bordeaux (La Garde, 2007, bin end sale at LCBO online) this weekend, so I thought why not giving this steak technique a try. The result was quite good but nothing revelatory. I do believe it would give consistent results and I would use this more often if I have the time and plan ahead. It worked out in this case because the wine needed a lot of time in the glass to show up.....

pretty nice piece of meat

in the freezer it goes

from the freezer straight to the pan

180 degree F for ~ 1 hr

time to eat

Americans still have speech, it just ain't free anymore.

2012-01-14T14:59:00.000-08:00

Bad shop

2011-11-17T05:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder, should I believe a glowing review from the Times food critic, or dozens of regular folks on various online forum expressing displeasure? Had dinner at this place called Kin Shop in NY a couple of days ago. In this case, the mass won. Wow this place sucked. Supposedly serving some sort of Thai inspired cuisine, it seemed more like a cross of hipster diner food and takeout Thai food: lots of fat, oil but not much flavor or excitement. The only person at the entire place that seemed competent and focused on the job at hand was the dishwasher (I sat at the kitchen counter, I saw quite a bit, I also left smelling like grease).

If you are not a food critic, on TV or don't already know the chef somehow, you will be ignored for long stretches of time. At a restaurant where the chef has a Blackberry (not fruit) in his hand constantly while working the pass, you know you are in trouble.

black pepper crab

2011-11-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

During the most recent trip to Singapore, I had a couple of very good meals. One was a business meal at the Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck restaurant. As the name implied, we had Peking duck (excellent), but the high light of the meal was the 'yellow fish'. This is a fish that some consider a delicacy and the over-fishing has made it quite expensive and mostly only consumed at really posh places or special occasions. Our family used to eat it only once or twice a year, like for Chinese new year or my grandparents' birthdays. At the Imperial, each guest got a whole, palm size fish that was panfried. what made this fish so sought after by gourmands is how soft and delicate the flesh is, it is not soft because it is mushy, it is soft because the flakes are tiny. The flavor is mild, but the texture is just so unbelievable it is unlike any fish or shell fish.

I will get to the point now, some of you may know that Singapore is famous for the crabs cooked in chili-pepper sauce of some sort. A quick search online the names of a few places pop up repeatedly. So we just picked one and went to a No Sign Board (this one is got large round tables in a covered outdoor dining area) restaurant and ordered a crab, a 'medium' crab weighing 1.2 kg and cooked in black pepper sauce. The crab is meaty, perfectly cooked (in my opinion anyway, when the flesh is just opaque, not over cooked like most places in North America), and the spicy sauce was not too thick or overwhelming and has enough of a bite that contrast well with the faintly sweet shell fish. At ~$40 for the crab, it is certainly not something I would want to or can afford to eat regularly, but enjoyable enough that I would indulge now and then, maybe once a year.

that is what she said

2011-09-08T04:20:00.000-07:00

Base on Michele Bachmann's logic, someone up there is not happy with Texas. But why? Most Texans are not liberals. Maybe he is pissed at Perry for some reason, I am surprised that she has not used it to attack Perry. Unlike Bachmann, I am really just joking. Not making fun of the fire though, wild fire is not funny.

Disappointment

2011-07-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

After a great late night meal at the Breslin last summer during a short trip to NY, I was really looking forward to eating at the John Dory oyster bar that was opened by the same folks in a spot just around the block.

So during the trip to NY earlier this month, we went to John Dory on the first night we were there, after a couple of beers and the lamb ribs at DBDG kitchen and bar. The counter seating along the window was really not comfortable at all for eating, but it is okay, it is supposed to be a bar, and who cares if the food is amazing.

It wasn't, not by a long stretch. The crudo (fluke I think) was room temp for some reason and the dish was very muted other than salt. Roasted peanuts with garlic was way way too salty. Morel and escargot on toast tasted only of cream and salt, none of the earthy mushroom or snail at all (there were there physically, not culinarilly). Squid stuffed with chorizo and paella like rice was nice, but the smoked tomato under them just take over your taste bud again with salt once you got any of it on the squid. I like salt, but not like this.

The service was horrendous, we were served three dishes and no one gave us napkins or silverware and no one noticed, not the food runner or our server. (Fortunately we were sitting near a POS terminal, so I was able to grab someone's attention) wine ordered was not delivered until we were pretty much done with the food (done, not in a good way).

The whole experience was almost the complete opposite from what we got at the Breslin less than one year ago. Best part about the place was the globe aquarium above the bar. Now I kind of understand why the original John Dory did not last long. Although this new incarnation might just stick around for a while because of its casual vibe, location and April Bloomfield's now pretty good rep., but not for where it really counts for me.

Soba in NYC

2011-07-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

Outside Japan, I think soba noodles takes a back seat to the now very fashionable and found everywhere ramen. But when done well, soba is equally delicious and perhaps more nutritious. Soba is typically served either cold with a soy based dipping sauce or hot in broth, with a variety of toppings. On my most recent trip to Japan last summer, I had pricy hand made soba noodle in a serene restaurant but also a dirt cheap (for Japan) bowl in soup standing up on a busy street in Kyoto, both wonderful in their own ways.

a tiny three men kitchen

We got something that was a little different when we were in NY last week. A tiny place in the lower east side called Cocoron. There was a decent writeup in the NY Times about it not long ago so I am not going to go into details here other than that everything was done with care, cooked and seasoned perfectly (don't sleep on the few small side dishes like the homemade tofu). And the cold noodle you dipped in hot broth/sauce bobbling on the sterno was a very unique take on noodles of any kind. (as for finishing your bowl with noodle cooking water, it is not uncommon in homes or other noodle places in Asia, I do it all the time after I eat noodles not in broth.)

Tanis @ the Times

2011-06-18T17:34:00.001-07:00

I admire what Alice Waters has accomplished with Chez Panisse (although I feel it is now way overpriced for what you get), but all the talented chefs that have worked in that kitchen over the years have not gotten enough recognition for putting that place on the map and more or less kept it there for three decades.

David Tanis is one of those dudes. More than his cooking at Chez Panisse, his food writing for magazines and his cookbooks are what have drawn my attention to him. The "A platter of figs and other recipes" is such a wonderful cookbook with approachable techniques and recipes that yields delicious results.

Now he has said goodbye to Berkeley and moved to NY to become a regular contributor for the Times, and this week his first piece appeared. Turning white beans from a fall/winter staple into a nice spring salad was a pretty sweet idea, one that I had to try.

I am excited for what is to come and I hope he sticks around with the paper for a while as he did with that little restaurant in Berkeley.

spend vs save

2011-05-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

my wage is very modest, but for the past couple of years, after giving some to the parents, and the essentials, I had a bit left in the pocket. I have been using a large portion that cash for vacations, frivolous stuff I don't really need, etc. But the question of how much I should save and how much I should spend is constantly on my mind.

No one in their 30s can expect social security to be of any help by their retirement, so saving for future financial security is important. But I also see nothing really wrong with the logic of having a good time before the body is ravaged by diseases and old age.

There is always a good balance I guess, and this internal struggle will unlikely to stop. Only if I make a little more money .... maybe I will buy a lottery ticket today.

best part of coming home

2011-05-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

just came back from spending a week in montreal for a conference. it was the third week-long work related trip I have taken this year. I like traveling, work or otherwise, because there is always a chance of eating something different, something interesting or something great.

That said, towards the end of such trips, the thing I look forward to most is coming home, eating something made in my own kitchen, and taking a dumping on my own toilet (sounds horrible, but so true).

clams and daikon in bacon dashi

ramp and asparagus omelet

it is here, I think

2011-05-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

appearance of ramp in the market really signified the arrival of spring, in my humble opinion. it is certainly true that this very unique and seasonal produce has been blown up to a point that it is not only expensive, but the excitement it induces has been tempered a bit. But that does not change the deliciousness.

here I used it in a warm frisee salad with some pig ears and roasted potatoes, with whole grain mustard, sort of bridging the seasons.

First fava of the year

2011-04-23T16:45:00.001-07:00

It has been a really cold spring up here in Ontario, so these ones definitely came from somewhere south of the border. But when I saw them in the market, I just can't help myself.

hot corner

2011-04-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

I heard about this spot from a comment on eatingasia's facebook page. so when I was in Singapore for a short business trip, I decided to check it out.

at this corner of Gaylang and lor 29, there are 5 businesses as far as I can tell. The one closest to Gaylang is selling a duck and rice dishes, going down the lor, you see the stall selling hokkien mee (福建麵), then there is a satay stall, a stall selling fried oyster/oyster omelet, and finally a stall selling drinks.

there are other corners like this on the Gaylang. In fact, I ate lor mee (滷麵）from a stall a couple of blocks away the night before because all the places here were closed by the time I got here. They are like mini hawker centers on street corners, while other corners are occupied by larger, single eating/drinking establishments.

Although it took me two trips to get to try the hokkien mee that I came for, it did not disappoint. While not much to look at, the dish has loads of flavor. Squid, shrimp and egg noodle in a light sauce (I think there were some crab elements in here, but no crab meat), worked over in a wok. The lady saw that I was by myself, asked if I wanted small or medium; I said medium, although I do not regret that one bit, had I left some room, I would have been able to try some oysters too.

I did order some pork belly satay from the stall next to the noodle stall. Grilled over charcoal, nicely charred at places , not fatty and ever so slightly chewy, it was fantastic. the overall flavor with the dipping sauce was a little too sweet for me, but I thought they were worth the premium over the regular pork satay (1 dollar vs 40 cent singapore dollar per skewer).

Judging from the quality of the noodles and the satay, I am definitely coming back to this corner next time I am in singapore to try the duck rice and the oysters.

Stars align

2011-03-20T17:38:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite dish growing up was stir fried rice cake. And the version I likethe most has preserved greens and bamboo shoots. But I have not seen those things often even in the Chinese markets here in Toronto. A while ago I started to make my own preserved green (kale), and yesterday I saw these beautiful winter bamboo shoots. So after a trip to the Korean market to get some fresh rice cake, here you have it.

Apple, the lord of new age sweatshops

2011-02-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/technology/23apple.html?ref=technology

steak dinner

2011-02-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the last time I ate a big o steak. so I decided to do it today, a decent size ribeye. with two veg (spinach and parsley root).

pricey piece of meat, I did not fucked it up, but I don't know, the flavor was lacking from what normally (I think) is a pretty flavorful cut.

lots of butcher shop now give the provenance of the meat, but to most people, these labels mean little, especially when the beef is not that great, considering the cost.

It will probably be another while before I try this again.

hash

2011-02-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

There was a nice article in the Times a while ago about creative constructions of hash (the one you eat, not the one you smoke) by chefs in and outside of NY. I happen to have some duck neck meat I saved from making stock earlier this week for Chinese new year hotpot, so I decided to make some hash with that for lunch today. Although this was good, but I think it would have been much better if the neck was confit.

Icy

2011-02-03T05:34:00.001-08:00

This is my 3rd winter here, but I have not seen the ice extend so far into the lake. Ii is probably because the temperature has not been over 20 Fahrenheit in like two weeks.

Bucatini

2011-01-18T18:19:00.001-08:00

I love rice, I also love noodles, if you don't know that already. But only recently I discovered the awesomeness of bucatini. It is a thick, long and straight noodle with a hollow center, that gives spaghetti an extra dimension (literary) of texture.

I have tried to make this classic dish of all'Amatriciana a few times now, and as you would expect for a simple dish like this, the quality of the ingredients counts a lot. After I got good San Marzano tomotos, good Bacon (pork jowl is not easily found here), I got end results good enough that I can would eat this three nights in a row.

asam laksa

2011-01-16T15:20:00.000-08:00

I have been seeing nice fresh mackerels in the market in the past weeks, and since there is nothing better than a bowl of spicy soup on a cold day (-12 celsius right now), I have decided to make a feeble attempt at this dish for the first time today.

Although I have never been to Malaysia, but I have tried dishes with 'laska' (generally a spicy, sometimes curried rich noodle dish) in their names at various southeast asian restaurants in the past. Nothing ever really stood out, but then I started following this wonderful blog called EatingAsia, I got a bit more familiar with what this is about and really want to get a taste of authentic laska dishes.

From what I can gather, asam laksa gets sourness and fruitiness from the use of tamarind in the stock, and fresh pineapple as one of the garnishes. The stock gets richness and flavor from mackerel and shrimp paste, plus aromatics commonly used in southeast asian cooking (shallots, lemongrass, mint, etc). It is made spicy with both dried and fresh chili.

I didn't want to get a pineapple in the middle of winter, but I think I pretty much had the rest. The result was pretty wonderful, although I would be less timid and use more tamarind next time.

contrast

2011-01-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

in medical imaging research, what people look for is contrast, and the underlying mechanism responsible for this contrast in every picture. what we have here is no research, and it does not take a douchbag radiologist or imaging analysis to figure out what is going on here.

RIP rice cooker

2010-12-27T16:27:00.001-08:00

This rice cooker has been with me since college. My friend Marc dropped it when we were juniors (I think), hence the missing right handle and the busted face plate. But miraculously, it has been working in this condition for more than 10 years.

But this evening while making rice, one of those wire hanging out front snapped, and there was a loud bang. I am not sure if it was dead for sure, but I think I will retire it just to be safe. I am grateful for all the perfectly cooked rice I got from it over the years, I am a bit sad to see it go.

Wine from Lebanon

2010-12-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

read an article in a magazine a while ago about the wine growing regions of Lebanon so I went looking for Lebanese wine at LCBO stores. This cinsault/carignan blend was so good that I went back and got three more bottles. It is earthy, and the tannin soft and dusty, even though it is 2007, it tasted older, in a good way. Nice cherry flavor gives it freshness.

Feeling like making a festive meal for one in these late December days, I drank the last one of these bottles tonight with some roasted lamb (leg).

Winter is here

2010-12-13T10:31:00.001-08:00

-13 celsius today.

pork bone soup

2010-12-05T08:49:00.000-08:00

If you have been to a few casual korean places then you have seen this on the menu. I don't know what it is supposed to be, and I have had different versions that are different in one way or more. But the common denominator of course is pork bone, bone from the neck or spine seem to be the choice here. The other thing that you will always find is soft chunks of potatoes.

Although the broth is typically pretty thick (probably from the potato starch), but they can be in different shades of brown or red, and sometimes spicy and sometimes not.

I have had this dish at a few places on the bloor st. korean town here in Toronto, and a couple places in the chinatown area. But I think the best one I have tried so far is from this little place just a couple of doors down from the korean supermarket on Bloor (sorry, can't remember the name right now).

The broth is slightly spicy and very very savory (in a nice porky sort of way), the pork super soft, and the potatoes practically dissolves once in the mouth. The rice is not the white rice typically eaten in north america (like jasmine or calrose), but this slightly purple, short grain variety that is faintly sweet, which goes well with the spiciness, although cooked to a bit soggy for my taste.

I tore through the whole thing including the nice selection of banchan in like 20 minutes. It was a little too much food for me to eat for lunch, but I just can't help it but to finished it all. As the temperature outside dips below freezing, I think I will add this place to pho Tien Thanh on the list of places to go in the winter when I don't feel like making my own lunch.

not typical thanksgiving

2010-11-26T17:24:00.001-08:00

I was going to pick up a cornish hen for my solo thanksgiving dinner this year in canada. But the butcher at Kensington didn't have them on wednesday and I got off work too late on thursday.

So I had my pretty typical improvised weeknight dinner. I made a noodle soup using the left over braising liquid from the braised pork knuckle last week and some roasted pork belly from a few days ago, plus some king trumpet mushroom I had in the fridge and an egg. It was good, but it just feels a little weird not to be eating a dead fowl of some sort.

good pho in toronto?

2010-11-03T15:53:00.001-07:00

Phe Tien Thanh

I have not been to Vietnam, but I do love a bowl of pho, especially when I have a severe hangover or when it is miserably cold outside. I had pho for the first time when I was a freshmen in college in Seattle. My dad's friend Uncle 劉 who has lived there for more than 20 years welcomed me to the emerald city by taking me out to lunch at a pho joint that is known as the 'pink shack' (as I found out later), located just north of the chinatown. To me, that experience was right up there amongst the times I first tried delicacies like Foie gras, hairy crabs, aged Bordeaux, truffle, etc.

I have had countless bowls all over the places since then, some good some not so good, most simply serviceable and none I can think of that surpasses the pink shack. It is possible that the 'pink shack' is that good (many in greater seattle area swear by it), but the power of that first jilt probably had something to do with it.

In SF, I ate pho at the places in the loin, and sometimes go to the place on Broadway that opens until 4 am when I am good and drunk. Pho became something of a utility meal, not something I seek out. Perhaps it really is just meant to be a simple morning / midday (or late night for me) meal as it is supposedly in Vietnam. But the potential for greatness is there, like steak frites, when all the components are thoughtfully, correctly rendered, the combined affair can be uniquely delicious and satisfying.

I have tried pho at all the shops in the downtown/chinatown area in Toronto in the last two years or so, the best was average, none of them inspire a visit when I have the inclination to boil my own noodles. But only until recently, I have not been to either of the two places on Ossington that I have heard good things about.

The pho at Pho Tien Thanh is good, not pink shack good, but way above the downtown places. What you get here are: slightly cloudy and deeply flavored broth (not too much MSG), standard rice sticks but cooked just right, not a tangled mess (less common than you think), rare beef that is pretty much raw, slices of tender brisket with good amount of fat, tendons/tripe that are not tough but still retain their unique texture. In addition to the lime wedge, basil, sprout, they also give you a whole bird's eye chili, and couple leafs of saw-tooth coriander (regular coriander in the broth). One key thing about this pho that I really appreciated was the temperature of the broth, it stays piping hot even after you add the herbs, sprouts, hot sauce and stirred it all together; lukewarm pho is not good pho in my books. You can tell that a good bit of care was put into constructing this bowl of noodle soup that I would travel to Ossington for, even in the winter.

Rua Vang Golden Turtle

I waited a full two weeks before I checked out the Golden Turtle because I wanted to give it a fair shake after such a good showing from Pho Tien Thanh. But that didn't help. The pho at Golden Turtle was just okay, really pale in comparison next to Pho Tien Thanh. The broth was sweeter and fattier but has less flavor. Rare beef was not as raw nor as tender, brisket was good, but the tripe was way too chewy (I didn't get any tendon for some reason). Coriander of any kind was absent in the soup or on the side; I don't know if that is traditional, but I liked it very much at Tien Thanh, so now I want it in my pho. And finally, the soup did not come to the table nearly as hot as it should be, big minus.

you have to take this with a bucket of salt (n=1), but at Pho Tien Thanh, I saw one white person in a full restaurant (the rest of the patron were vietnamese or chinese), at golden turtle, there were maybe three asian dudes there include me. I am really not a fucking racist, nor do I believe that you can't get good and authentic asian food at a restaurant full of white people, I am just reporting something that I found intriguing.

All I know in the end is that when I feel like a bowl of pho next time around, I am going to Pho Tien Thanh.

Kraut

2010-10-30T10:20:00.001-07:00

My first try at home made sauerkraut. Hopefully it will not kill me.

Just ate some for lunch with an egg, some bread and smoked sausage, pretty good.

make sense?

2010-09-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

When I visited Japan for the first time a few years ago, you can get cigarettes, alcohol from vending machines that are all over the place. But things seemed to have changed since then. This time, after I put in some money into a cigarettes vending machine and made my selection, nothing came out. I couldn't figure out what was going on at first, so I tried a couple other machines down the street, same shit. Then I realized that it needs to read your ID before it will spit out the smokes, that make sense.

But a few days later when we were wondering around town (me, the Iranian, and douche MD - DW) one night, we saw a beer vending machine and proceeded to put some money in it, and it promptly released three cold cans of Asahi, no questions asked. That is the way I like it, but then if dumbasses like us can get beers from a machine without supervision, then so can an 8 year old ....

noodles in Kyoto

2010-09-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

About 6 years ago, bunch of us (including the columbian, duan, curly, Janine etc) went to Kyoto for a conference. While we were lost searching for our hotel (google map either hasn't been created or we just didn't know about it), we stumbled upon this little noodle shop near Kyoto station. We had ramen there for breakfast nearly every morning during our visit, it was that good. I don't think Kyoto is known for its ramen, but what was served at this place was awesome. They also serve pot-stickers and a couple cold dishes (a plate of pickle vegetables, or think slices of pork dressed in sauce and green onion), but everyone is clearly there for the Ramen.

I was fortunate enough to return to Kyoto earlier this month and I went there the very first chance I got. I was able to grab a seat at the 3 seat counter facing the open kitchen a couple times during the 4 visits on this trip and I got a closer look at what made this humble bowl of noodle so delicious.

There are three pots, two of them have broth, one with just boiling water for cooking noodle. Pig parts (large bones and slabs of pork belly) bob up and down in one of the broth pot. A slow drip of cold water runs into the noodle pot to keep it calm and at the right level. They only cook about 4-5 servings at a time (well, the place seats 25 at the most, uncomfortably). When order(s) come in, they line up the empty bowls to the right of the pots, ladling some boiling water into the bowls to warm them. Fresh noodles from wooden crates go into the water and swim freely (no wire baskets here). They don't take their eyes off the pot while the noodle is cooking. when the noodle is nearly done (no timer, no tasting), the bowls are emptied of the water, then bit of a dark sauce (most definitely soy based), and a small spoonful of what looked like lard are put into each bowl. Noodles are added next, then bean sprouts and slices of pork are arranged on top of the noodle, then comes the broth. A pile of very thinly slices green onion finishes them.

What I love about the noodle and the place is the simplicity: No bowl crowding toppings, just perfectly cooked noodle with the right chew and a deeply meaty, salty broth and decent, fatty pork; super friendly efficient service (just one dude) and not expensive (650 yen for a regular size bowl). I am sure that even a soft cooked egg will not improve this bowl. On my last day in town, I ate a small bowl of noodle there before taking the shinkansen to Tokyo, one of the dude cooking noodle who have seen me coming in a couple of times during the week, try to say goodbye to me in chinese.

As ramen places popping up in large cities in north America, I really hope there will be one as good as this (I don't think that has happen yet), so I don't have to go too far to enjoy a good bowl of it.

Clams in a bar

2010-09-07T08:57:00.001-07:00

A little place near shijo subway station in kyoto where people stand around to drink beer and eat little screwers of fried food. What I think is cool is the small acquarium of clams on the counter awaiting their fate.

Cold tea

2010-08-19T19:53:00.001-07:00

Cold brewed coffee is getting some serious attentions in recent times (I just had some awesome cold brewed coffee at Caffeteria Soho in NYC). But cold brewed tea is just as great and much easier. My dad told me about this a couple of years ago: take a large pinch of good quality Chinese tea leaves, put in a large pitcher of cold water, leave in your fridge for about a day, done.

The flavor and perfume will be subtle, pleasantly so, it is delicious and refreshing on a hot day.

Vaccum cleaner

2010-08-10T08:28:00.001-07:00

NYC is grand. But as my fearless leader once said, it is like vaccum cleaner for your wallet.

To nyc!

2010-08-04T06:24:00.001-07:00

On our way to NYC via Porter airline.

no need to lie

2010-07-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

people lie their asses off when it comes to other people's young ones, even if the baby or the kids are the ugliest and the most annoying little monsters in the world, most are still compelled to say something nice about them.

I took a very short trip to the northwest to see some friends, hung out with the expanding holdridge family for a day and half. Last time I was there, Hudson wasn't even walking yet. Not only he is walking, talking and all that, the kid is fucking bilingual at 2 years and 9 months old. I don't think I know shit when I was 3. There is certainly no need to lie when I say both these kids are super adorable (Callie is 3 months old). The tough part about the visit was that I can't swear in front of the kids, damn that was fucking hard.

I also enjoyed my visit with the Schulze family, big contrast there, both Emily and William are in college. Everybody is having a great summer. The strange thing about visiting old friends, why does it always seem like I am the only one who hasn't really grown up yet?

late spring

2010-06-20T17:52:00.001-07:00

minted peas, chanterelle mushroom, asparagus, spring onion.

CN TOWER

2010-06-20T17:12:00.001-07:00

The coolest thing about cn tower in my opinion is not the view from top, but the view from the ground. You can see the fucking thing from just about anywhere in the city core. It is not pretty, but it gives you a sense of order when you catch a glimps of it unexpectedly from afar.

Pull-cap on a bottle

2010-06-13T16:55:00.001-07:00

It is the first time i have seen a pull-off cap on a beer bottle, a russian beer no less. This is one of those good ideas that you wonder why it has not been implemented earlier and more often, like putting a lid on a plastic cup of beer you get at a ball game.

Little piggy

2010-05-30T20:59:00.001-07:00

I buy pork from Wayne on saturdays at the st. Lawrence farmer's market . He is a little weird, but he is more legit and much nicer and truthful than all the pseudo farmers in that place.

rat

2010-05-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

as far as spray paint on building walls go, this looks cool. Banksy? I have no idea.

WTF

2010-05-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

some dude on the subway with a fake monkey, wearing clothes and everything (click on the picture to get a better look). the dude even make the monkey wave when he see people staring.

asleep at the wheel ....

2010-05-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

As someone who doze off at the desk from time to time, I don't think it is a big deal to take a little quick Z on the job as long as no one gets hurt.

I don't think anyone was injuried in this case, but when your napping on the job becomes a news story, it is a slightly bigger deal,

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5178137

This is really funny if I wasn't a long time fan of Griffey and the Mariners, maybe end of the road for him, as for the club, there is no end in sight for their current misery.

Slight improvement

2010-05-09T18:39:00.001-07:00

This is my second try at making duck prosciutto at home. It is a bit dry, but the flavor was good. The biggest problem is that I am going through it way too fast.

Duck eggs

2010-05-08T15:44:00.001-07:00

Got these duck eggs from a nice but overpriced organic butcher shop. They cost about three times as much as regular eggs. They were larger, fuller in flavor, and the yoke seem thicker, but not all that special, especially considering the premium.

Fava = Spring

2010-05-01T18:08:00.001-07:00

To me, the arrival of spring is confirmed only when i have fresh fava beans on my plate. These are a bit small, but they taste like spring nonetheless.

how about a cocktail

2010-05-01T16:55:00.000-07:00

when I was little, I use to go to the market with my grandmother on the weekends sometimes. It is usually early in the morning, not the time I want to get out of bed, but she would buy me rice noodle soup for breakfast, and fresh squeezed sugarcane juice.

They had these contraptions that have two large wheels very close together, then peeled sugarcane were fed through, and the juice collected. Anyone who thinks what you get is just sugar water needs to try it.

My grandma would not think this is a good idea, but, now, add some rum to fresh squeezed sugarcane juice, a squeeze of lime, a few ice cubes ........ that is a fucking killer summer cocktail.

I used canned sugarcane juice here, it is good, but it is not what it can be without the fresh juice.

(given rum is made from sugarcane, it is kind of like adding foie gras on top of duck breast? or bone marrow on a steak? in any case, redundancy is not a bad thing sometimes).

Hazard of squid

2010-04-24T17:24:00.001-07:00

I love eating squid, but preparing it sometimes lead to undesired consquences. but the reward is certain worth the trouble.

Fog

2010-04-07T16:29:00.001-07:00

carbonara

2010-04-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

I was reminded how great this dish is by the recent issue of Saveur magazine. I made this dish a lot when in graduate school, it is really quick and simple but very satisfying. Some good bacon (guanciale was not easily obtained), good cheese and a fresh egg, and then happiness.

salted pork belly and cornmeal dumpling

2010-03-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

I really like fergus Henderson's 'the whole beast - nose to tail eating'. Besides the ethnic eateries, he has been serving offal long before the current fad amongst the pseudo bistro or even high end establishments.

I got this book when the north america edition first came out, and have gone through it a few times. But I have not used many recipes from it, I am not sure why, because they are all quite accessible and delicious.

Case in point, this salted pork belly and cornmeal dumpling I ate last night ... at some point I will need to start watching out how much pure animal fat I eat on the weekly basis, but not just yet.

what else do you expect?

2010-03-10T15:04:00.001-08:00

Duan got married!!!!!!

2010-03-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

Holy shit, it was hard to believe when I heard that he was engaged, it is still hard to believe now that it is a done deal. The weekend was just fucking epic. Duan went to a strip joint for the first time. Cried and dance at the wedding, then french kissed his girl in front of everyone (that may not sound like a big deal for anyone else, but for Duan, it is like seeing a fucking unicorn). Even more awesome was showing up at the dinner in this traditional chinese wedding getup. There was just a non-stop train of these WTF moments all weekend.

(and of course we were served warm beer at dinner, in paper cups).

Black Hoof - revisited

2010-02-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

we went to black hoof this past sunday, I usually would not go out to dinner on valentine's day under just about any circumstance. But this being the hoof, I suspect there would be no stupid valentine's day gambit to gouge dinners and raw horse or grilled beef heart are not exactly what most people looking for when they go out on a date, so this might be just as good a night as any to eat there.

and without waiting, we had seats at the bar right away, shared a small charcuterie platter, followed by the beef heart (very thin taro frites) a warm octopus salad, and finished with foie gras. once again, everything tasted of intense, balanced flavor and cooked as they should. The beef heart was all about the texture for me, I can't stop eating it. the olive puree and a pretty heavy hand on the olive oil and seasoning for the octopus would overwhelm most dishes, but it worked in this case (I liked the celery in it). Foie came with a pretty typical fruity-savory sauce, the marscapone cream and crumble was a nice touch, but I really mostly just tasted the goose fat, which was really the point anyway.

Drank a bottle of decent canadian pinot, much better service at the bar then what we received at the table last time (she chilled the wine down a bit to cellar temp for us, very thoughtful), although I hoped they had changed our flatware before the foie, but I could have said something.

looking at the much expanded wine list and the work that have been done to the place (a real kitchen hood!), not to mentioned the expansion across the street at the old dike bar, I think these guys are doing really well and I am happy for them on their early success, because they are really putting some good shit on the plate at an approachable price point.

pigs head

2010-02-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

I made this following the recipe of pig's head trouchon in the momofuku cookbook but I skip the part that you bread the disks and fried them.

I am not sure if you can really call this thing a trouchon, but it was pretty good nonetheless, although not complex or nuanced in flavor. I would probably add some wine next time I make this.

pigs head, mustard, parsley, and radish, not bad.

barely a shack

2010-02-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite meal during our trip to cambodia coast last summer was at this place in a residential neighborhood of Sihanoukville. The bellhop at the hotel recommended to us when I asked him about places he likes to eat at with his family. The restaurant is essentially tables and plastic chairs in a covered court yard, packed with locals. The kitchen is just bunch of burners sitting on the ground. The menu is simple, 4 or 5 dishes listed under each of the main proteins offered, this being a coastal town, majority of the offering came from the sea: crabs, prawns, squid, lobster, sea snails ....

Everything we ate were impeccably fresh, simply prepared with bold flavors common in less expensive places in these parts of the asia. And it was really inexpensive, we had grilled squid and prawns, stir fried sea snails, and a soup contained a few small, whole crabs, plus rice and couple of beers, the total came to about 8 us dollars. we didn't take any picture of the food, because we ate everything before I thought about pictures.

shit, the lunch I am going to get today at the sunnybrook hospital cafeteria is going to cost more than that, and dare I predict, not going to be nearly as good.

SF chronicle suck

2010-01-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

I used to read the SF chronicle in print when I lived there (Niles always gave me his copy after he was through), now that I live in the land of freezing ass cold, I still read it online periodically.

On their website, you are allowed to leave comments on every thing including news stories, reviews, commentaries, and of course blogs.

I read the food section more often than others, but I do think it is not serving the bay area residents and its food professionally properly. One of the biggest problem has long been the chief restaurant critic and editor, Michael Bauer. The disdain for his extremely subjective assessment of restaurants, his tireless and partial promotions for restaurants connected to people he knows, and his inability to provide sensible and thoughtful critique on anything beyond comfort food is universal for anyone work in service industry.

I have posted many critical comments on Bauer's reviews and blog posts, but I have been careful to keep the comments objective and avoid mere personal attack. But my account has recently been blocked by the chronicle for reasons that I don't quite understand. What is even more interesting is that he recently accused some of the posters on his blog as having psychological problems. WTF? Not only he is a horrible critic who can not take criticism, now he feels qualified to give out mental health advices? What do you think those hard working people of the restaurants that he blasted with undeserved and misguided negative reviews feel?

what is the most baffling aspect in all this is how the chronicle has trusted Bauer in this capacity of influence and power for so many years while he is obviously a train wrack that is happening over and over again in front of our eyes. It may be no surprise then to learn that the chronicle is itself in serious trouble.

all down hill from here

2010-01-19T19:43:00.001-08:00

maybe I am over reacting a little, but I think obama is done.

what was hope now is hopeless.

heat wave!

2010-01-19T04:57:00.000-08:00

the temperature has been hovering around freezing for like 3-4 days now, comparing to the freeze we had during the first week or 10 days of Jan, this feels like heat wave.

Alice's soap box or something good for kids?

2010-01-15T06:57:00.000-08:00

one more news item that caught my eye recently. Caitlin Flanagan wrote this piece (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001/school-yard-garden) in the Atlantic calling out Alice Waters and her edible school yard program.

a lot of people have voiced their dismay and objection to Flanagan's article (pretty typical of more liberal news/opinion outlets). While I don't think the gardens are a bad idea (my first grade class grew green beans right outside our class room, in the middle of taipei, it was fun), and it is good for kids to learn that food doesn't have to come out of a McDonald's wrapper, Flanagan did make some interesting points.

To me, her attack may not have been entirely fair, but I think it did accomplish something important, it is making these programs have to defend themselves from a critical point of view. They can't just keep doing these programs, keep asking for money just because some nice lady who owns a restaurant in Berkeley thought it was a good idea. These programs have to take a harder look to make sure that they are not just wasting the time of the students, and something good is coming out of this. The children needs to benefit, that is the bottom line of an education, that is why they go to school, growing vegetable or not.

google = hypocrite?

2010-01-15T06:48:00.000-08:00

well, my blog might be shut down since google owns blogger.

but like a lot of people, I am wondering how google "managed to gain access to a computer in Taiwan that it suspected of being the source of the attacks" (from the Times). Did they hack this server in Taiwan? If so, aren't they doing exactly the same thing that the alleged chinese hackers were doing? Last time I checked, being a large corporation doesn't give you the right to break the laws .... well, unless it is a company run by Dick Cheney, but I digress.

a good attempt, but no bacon

2010-01-03T15:51:00.000-08:00

here is the last of that duck, the one that yielded a nice dinner of roasted duck breast, salted duck legs as well as the soup with sour mustard green.

this salt cured duck breast, or duck breast prosciutto as some call it, required a little bit of creativity to do in my small and cramped fridge. I found a few recipes online, and followed the general directions, but I think something was lost in my reading because the result was way too salty. It looks decent, but the salt overwhelms all other taste (I used a little coriander and black pepper).

I will probably not be able to eat this on its own, but I can use it to season vegetables or soups.

the duck that keeps on giving

2010-01-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

new years day, snowing hard outside, so clearly I was not going to step outside unless the building is on fire (knocking on my table right now).

I decided to make a soup with the bones I saved from the duck I bought not long ago, with sour mustard green. This is a combination that my grandmother used when making a soup with duck (scented with ginger and star anise). the mildly tart greens cut through the rich broth nicely. adding some rice noodle, this was a simple one dish meal for a cold day.

new year

2009-12-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

when I lived in SF, a real treat for me in the winter months (although there is no winter on the west coast, not after what I have seen up here) was Dungeness crabs at the peak of the season. How do I know when they are at the peak? when they are sold live all over chinatown for $2.99 - 3.99 a lb, live. I would get a 2 lb crab on a sunday, and just go to town, steamed, roasted, sauteed, whatever. Sure the meat of dungeness is not as sweet or delicate as the hairy crab or other smaller fresh water crab I ate as a kid, but it is definitely the best crab I can get in north America.

It has been at least two years since I have eaten one, so even though new years eve doesn't mean shit to me, I decided to use that as an excuse to indulge. Of course they cost more here, but at $5.79 per lb (from B.C.), it is not crazy. And after I plowed through the crab (sauteed and roasted with a pretty typical asian spicy seasoning that people use on a crab), I utilized the remaining sauce with some spaghetti noodles. the only downside of this meal is that the crabby smell in your fingers sticks around for a while afterwards.

happy new year.

you know your life is boring ...

2009-12-31T07:51:00.000-08:00

when you get a little excited about a new coffee cup.

it is fucking cold up in this bitch

2009-12-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

well, anyone who is in the north eastern part of north america at this moment will agree with me on this.

again, why the fuck did I move here in the first place? I am trying to look at the bright side, but I have not found one yet.

oh wait, here is one, I can still afford to heat my home and I have bourbon ..... good night.

duck ham and lentils

2009-12-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

As promised, I attempted the duck ham and lentils from David Tanis' book (menu 23). what is funny was that on christmas eve (after I already brined my duck legs), I ate roasted duck at this dude Sanjay's house (part of a supposedly traditional Czech holiday meal, fantastic), so this is a lot of duck within a week, not that I am complaining.

the duck leg took longer to brown in the oven than I thought (still not that brown when I ate it), so the lentils were a bit overcooked. but the duck was delicious, very tender, if not overly complex in taste (mildly salty, rich), as a nice country ham would be. I started the meal with a salad of pig ears and radish, not exactly what Tanis' described for this meal, but a bit easier.

trash

2009-12-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

I live in one of those building that has trash chute on each floor, two chutes, one for normal trash the other for recycling, located in a little room with a door. For things larger that won't fit in the chute, residents are supposed to take it down to the basement and deposit that shit in the large bins in the trash rooms.

simple enough, and people on my floor seem to be following this general guideline. but in the last few months, large cardboard boxes, and other random pieces of stuff that do not fit down the chute start to appear in this little room. The building staff would kindly clear this shit away, but the pattern continues. It is really fucking annoying because it clogs up this room and that makes the normal trash disposal difficult. what is even more weird and fucked up is that some of the stuff that is not putting down the chute are actually really trash (not just boxes) that rot and smell. Long story short, the trash chute/room on our floor are often inaccessible and fucking disgusting.

well, I sort of suspect the people right next to me as the perpetrators of these inconsiderate acts, since these incidents started to occur since they moved in a few months ago. Yesterday, the building manager distributed notices to the residents on my floor warning us that the ones who violate the rules will be charged for the extra clean if this does not stop. And this morning, I found 4 or 5 of these notices on or at the door step of the unit next to mine. I guess there were others with the same suspicion.

I really don't understand how hard it is to follow some simple guideline to throw away your trash in a manner that makes this place livable for everyone. I don't want to accuse anyone without evidence, but I hope to catch the trash that can't handle trash.

duck breast

2009-12-20T16:01:00.001-08:00

I wanted to get a few duck leg and try the duck ham recipe in the David Tanis' more recent book - a platter of figs and other recipes. But the poultry shop I usually shop at in chinatown did not have legs for sale today by themselves. In an indecisive moment, I got a whole duck instead. It was a smallish peking bird, and at $15, not bad, and I figure I will get two meals out of the breast, two meals out of the legs, and save the bones to make soup later.

the breasts on these guys are not nearly as plump as the ones on Muscovies that are served at up scale places, but still, it is duck breast, and when you don't fuck it up, it is pretty fucking delicious. Well, it was more medium than medium rare (it is hard to properly sear anything, if you don't feel like setting off the smoke alarm in a small apartment), and I should have let it rest longer before I cut into it. But oh boy, I am happy right now.

Spatlese

2009-12-20T09:31:00.001-08:00

it is not often at all that I get to drink wines as old as this. Older vintages are typically very expensive retail, simply because cheap wine is not usually worth aging and it cost money to keep wine around for a lone time.

but I spotted this at a LCBO a while ago for around $30 I snatched a bottle right away, and while I usually drink red on saturday nights, I decided to open this last night for reasons that now elude me.

I had no idea how LCBO came up with this, and with older wine there is always more of a chance that the bottle is fucked, but fortunately not in this case. The wine was still very fresh, still have plenty of fruit to balance the formidable acidity in it, and the sweetness that often distract in a young Spatlese is now much much more subtle, this was very enjoyable.

barley wine

2009-12-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

when I lived in seattle, one of my favorite event of the year was the release of the barley wine ale at the Big Time brew pub in early December. This high alcohol, rich, complex brew always brings great cheer (and drunkenness) to me and other regulars at that place. It was a neighborhood holiday party of sorts.

In the years since then, I have enjoyed many barley wine ale from different brewery at different places, some great and some not so great, but nothing quite compare with the memories of drinking barley wine back in those days at Big Time.

I have had this Mill St. barley wine twice now, that means this is my second winter in Toronto. How many more, I wonder?

escarole

2009-12-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

I finally realized 'what is for dinner' is such a fucking stupid phrase, one that cattle raising folks used to sell beef.

so no more, fuck that.

escarole is one of the more underrated vegetable. I think it's limited utilization in everyday cooking partially because people don't know what the fuck it is. It is like lettuce, but much more sturdy, and it is also nicely bitter like chicory, and that is the family where it came from.

hence, it need some cooking, and some fat/sweetness/spice to balance with the bitterness. but there is not doubt that it is really delicious. Sure I also ate lamb chop and roasted carrots (it is the holiday season after all), but the star on this plate was the green vegetable.

what is for dinner - tofu

2009-12-11T16:47:00.001-08:00

I have been thinking quite a bit about korean food lately, partly because of the momofuku book, partly perhaps due to the wintery weather on the way.

with the temperature taking a shit from 5 C to -10 C this week, a spicy tofu stew seem like a fine idea. I used the remaining juices from a jar of kimchi I bought a while back, some pork, cabbage, carrot and bacon dashi from the momofuku recipe. it wasn't great, but really good enough, considering it did warm me up.

first snow ...

2009-12-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

of the winter, I don't know many things as depressing as that.

what is for dinner - belly

2009-12-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

pork belly and bacon have become a culinary fad in the past few years, I am not sure how it happened, but it sort of make sense, it is cheap and when done well, the flavorful fat - crispy/tender meat would please any carnivore. But what really elevated pork belly and bacon beyond the ethnic cookery / breakfast table territory into the main stream middle upper class dinning scene is the creativity of many cooks have applied to this humble piece of meat.

but there lies the fucking problem, nowadays, hacks who have no idea how to cook anything properly are putting pork belly on menus. the results are often disappointing to say the least. But it may be a relief that now it will fade away back to where it was, for people who really now how to cook them and who really enjoy them.

I have to add, the sous vide pork belly I ate at the late scott howard (the restaurant, not the chef) in SF was possibly the best bite of porcine containing food I have had so far. So, fuck the trend, keep eating pork belly!

thankful

2009-12-02T17:53:00.001-08:00

Spent the thanksgiving weekend in the bay area. Had thanksgiving dinner at kevin's on thursday night. I don't know what the fuck we were thinking when we picked up this turkey the day before (26 lb). We also made stuffing, couple of vegetables and two pies. It was a great time, but a little disappointed at how little of a dent we made into that bird.

rest of the weekend was a blur, actually, I am pretty positive it was a full blown disaster (I spent parts of two evenings with The Disaster, so the outcome was not surprising). Saw some friends, ate more food, drank too much, and the time flew by too fast.

you pay for what you get

2009-11-21T17:27:00.001-08:00

joseph lieberman is really pissing me off. He is opposed to the public option, citing that it will increase our national debt. Well, we have been spending beyond our means for a long time, as a country as well as individually. And what we got to show for all that, two wars and unemployment.

that is beside the point. but if you follow lieberman's logic, taking care of the needy cost money, so we should not do it?! Our citizens need basic protection, that is why we have military, police force etc, to me, providing for the sick and needy is just as important.

American citizens need to realize that things don't come for free (!). We all want good schools, good roads, clean water, security, bluh bluh, but we all have to pay for all that shit. The amount of tax we pay is really low compare to most developed countries, it is time to fucking wake up and deal with the situation, not continue to live in the dilusional world like joe lieberman.

???

2009-11-19T18:15:00.001-08:00

I never understood the appeal of Oprah, sure she is nice, well spoken etc. But I really don't get her insane popularity, how everything she endorse turns to gold. really don't get it.

I do have one thing on common with her, I fucking love fried chicken.

momofuku

2009-11-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

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. As is, it does allow the readers a glimpse of the fine dinning scene in new york in the recent years from the back of the house point of view.

One more thing that sets this book apart for me from so many others is that he pays so much homage to the people he worked for or work with that the book is more than just about him. The high level of humility that comes from this driven, successful chef and restauranteur is quite refreshing.

what is for dinner - no bun

2009-11-14T16:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

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.

what is for dinner - give me some tongue

2009-09-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

I like offal, I eat it often, liver, kidney, gizzards etc, but I think this is the first time I cooked tongue. these are pig's tongue, they are really small, must be from piglets. I braised them in a soy based sauce I use to braise a lot of stuff (duck wings, pig ears, chicken gizzards ...), ate them chillied, sliced, with a little drizzle of vinegar and sesame oil and topped with ginger, scallion, and hot chili. I probably could've sliced them thiner, but as they were (1/8 in slices), they were tender and nicely flavored. Excellent starter for those who don't mind a little tongue from time to time.

what is for dinner - salad?

2009-09-26T18:09:00.001-07:00

green beans and potato, the sort of sides you get at catered wedding, along side of a piece of overcooked salmon or beef. but when sauteed in a skillet, with some whole garlic cloves, chili, then spiked with a little vinegar, mustard after it is cooled slightly. it is a sort of like a no boil potato salad. nothing like the cheap wedding dinner side dish. the beans were somewhat unevenly cooked, and the potatoes were just a tad too firm. but I liked the flavor.

oh I also ate a huge pork chop.

what is for dinner - chicken breast

2009-09-23T18:35:00.000-07:00

I have had an off and on relationship with chicken breast over the years. when I was a kid, I liked it a lot, because it is got fewer bones to pick, easier to eat. But as I got older, I realized that most of the time, a thigh or a drum stick or a wing is going to be juicer, and have more flavor, and at that point I definitely was not shy about getting my fingers dirty to get a nice piece of chicken in my mouth.

but on occasions over the last few years, I have had breast meat from good chickens, cooked properly, that were just as delicious and satisfying as any hind quarter. This particular breast from a free range bird I got a few days ago was just that (it is interesting how we say a lot of things with white meat taste like chicken, but the probability of getting a chicken that have real chicken flavor has been going down for a while now). Although sloppily butchered (it has been at least 6 months since I bought a whole chicken), I didn't fuck this up on the stove (or in the oven). once again brussel sprouts almost steal the show.

What is for dinner - 4

2009-09-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

quick and sloppy spaghetti with tomato, fresh pork sausage from this guy wayne at the farmer's market, a little bit of greens, and the last bit of bread crumb I made last week. the red wine vinegar used for deglazing got together with the mustard green stems and gave a pickle like quality. really not bad, I was really hungry though.

what is for dinner -3 (and go huskies)

2009-09-19T18:55:00.001-07:00

fuck yeah, fuck USC.

A salad of green beans, peach, parsley, and sheep's milk feta cheese. pretty good, but I should have remembered to add a little mustard, as is (even with garlic), the flavor was a little muted.

then a decent size pork chop, small yukon gold potatoes cooked in duck fat, and sauteed brussel sprouts. Satisfying dish, if very conventional/boring in a meat, starch and veg sort of way. Not surprisingly (not to me), the brussel sprouts was the best part. I am pretty convinced that this vegetable tasted best after it is sliced, thinly, then cooked quickly. Garlic, chili, and a squirt of lemon juice or good sherry vinegar help bring along the cabbage sweetness/bitterness quality that I enjoy.

what is for dinner - 2

2009-09-19T09:48:00.001-07:00

everyone wants to be a critic, that is why sites like yelp is so popular. But having an opinion does not make a person a critic. Hell, the long time food critic at the SF Chronicle, Bauer, writes some of the worst restaurant reviews ever. I read them online still even though I don't live there anymore, for the train wreck qualities his columns seem to ooze . Of course, I probably can't do any better than he does.

but just for fun, I am going to start writing critiques of my dinners, and since I cook most of my meals, I will be trying to picking on myself. I wish I could come up with a better title than 'what is for dinner', them I remember for years at the lab at UCSF, Duan use to say 'what is for lunch', to no one in particular, at like 10:30 am. so 'what is for dinner' has a familiar stupid funny quality to it, at least for me.

last night I had noodles with braised pig's feet. I was so hungry that I didn't remember to take a photo until I was half way through. The greens in the soup (baby mustard) was cooked for too long and didn't provide any freshness contrast that you sometimes want in a soup or braised dish. I really liked these thick fresh noodle from China town. The pigs feet were great, essentially falling apart, although I know some like them to be just a little big chewy. With the temperature dropping to 50F in the evening, a hot bowl of noodle was a very good dinner indeed.

what is for dinner - 1

2009-09-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

I will explain the title in a different post.

Orecchietti is one of my favorite shaped pasta, it works especially well with things that are in or are good in small pieces, such as corn, mushroom and sausage. Those things and some leeks, garlic, thyme and toasted breadcrumb, made a decent dish. The flavor is a little flat, I think a little white wine and more herbs would have helped. yeah, a little more fiber, a little more acid.

frogs

2009-08-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of the fried frog legs I ate in Phnom Penh and the nice lady selling them just outside central market. I didn't care for the sweet sauce much, but the frog meat is so tender and delicate, that it has a lot less resemblance to poultry than it does to a meaty fish. And it has to be the cheapest frog legs I ever had (it was like, 50 cents a frog). Next time I visit phnom penh, I am definitely going back there for more.

spiderville

2009-08-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

I tried quite a bit of street food while I was in Cambodia, grilled squid, fried prawns, boiled pig ears, intestines, deep fried fish balls (I think it was fish), and deep fried frog legs (more like legs with torsos attached), but one thing I saw that I didn't want to try was spiders.

my excuse for chicken out is that I have been looking at fucking spiders hanging out right on the other side of my window all summer. At any given moment, there are at least half a dozen thumb nail size fuckers just chilling there. I don't remember seeing them last summer, and I have no idea where the hell they came from. they don't really bother me, since the screen prevent them from coming inside, but it is really quite annoying.

cambodia coast

2009-08-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

I had just return from a week in cambodia, it had to be one of the best trip I have taken. We didn't have great weather during our four+ days at the coast town of sihanoukville. In fact it rained off and on the first three days.

but still, great beaches, fresh seafood just off fishing boats, and really friendly folks made this trip worth all the trouble (and the cost of the flight, which was substantial). I would go back in a heart beat. Being the off season helped too, there was no crowd anywhere, we had long stretches of the beach all to ourselves for hours at a time.

what are we afraid of?

2009-08-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

I really don't see why some folks are screaming against healthcare reform, giving uninsured people healthcare sounds like a good idea to me.

they say that the big government can't do it as well, the bureaucracy will actually drive up cost and drive private insurer out of business etc. For instance, some cite DMV as an example that the public option will for sure suck. But is DMV really that bad? Sure the lines are long, some dudes are rude, but they get it done, don't they? And DMV sure doesn't gauge you. A counter example is the postal service (as obama mentioned at the townhall meeting), not only it is pretty good (how often do you really lose something in the mail?) and relatively reasonable, its existence hasn't stopped company like UPS and Fedex from making a profit, and in fact thriving.

And how about national defense, the government bureaucracy takes care of that, and aren't we proud of our military and how they defend our rights, freedom? As far as I can tell, they have not fuck it up that bad on that front. Sure it cost a lot of money, but I don't see folks bitching about their tax money going to the troops. Is taking care of sick people less important than national security? I would argue that it IS national security. And can you imagine pentagon run by for profit private corporations?

we all know the facts, americans spend more money on healthcare than anyone else, but we don't live as long, and a shit load of people are simply denied care all the time. something needs to be done, and while the opponent of the reform have been yelling, calling names and making up dooms day scenarios, why haven't they proposed any sort of alternative?

philly

2009-07-26T17:30:00.001-07:00

was just in philly for a conference, had half of an afternoon to walk around the city. It was hot and humid, but I enjoyed my time there. The rittenhouse square neighborhood was charming, if a bit yappy and completely white. I was impressed with the variety of tap and bottle beers available even in a dive bar or college kids' hangout, lots of local brews as well as good imports. but my perception is possibly a bit skewed since I have been living in the land of alcohol monopoly for over a year now.

Shared a solid meal at the place called White Dog near campus (where I endured three days of brutal but educational meetings) with chuck and some dudes from california also in town for the meeting. What disappointed me was that the wine list was made up entirely with california wine. Not that there is anything wrong with california wine, but how does an all california wine list make sense in philly? How about some NY wines? where are the french wines? It is probably not that much farther away compare to napa.

in any case, philly is not a place I would plan a trip to return soon without any good reason, but I certainly liked what I saw.

end of an era?

2009-07-15T17:56:00.001-07:00

I just heard that matt's in the market, one of my favorite restaurant for lunch in Seattle, has just changed hands. A year or two ago, it had expended from the spot I knew, which was just a counter and maybe 4 tables, to a larger format. I have not been there since the expansion, now it has gone through another change.

I know I want to visit seattle again soon, but I am not sure if I will step up to the new matt's (or maybe the name need to change as well, unless the new owner's name is also matt?).

stay away from me - part ... oh who am i kidding

2009-07-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

for dinner tonight, I made and ate: pea soup, a salad with fava beans, young lamb shoulder chops with roasted potatoes and caramelized green beans (possibly the easiest and best way to cook them).

I was going to say that you all should stay away from me for the next day or two, like a public service announcement (I think I did this before), but then I realize that, one, nobody reads this, and two, I don't know anybody here; so who gives a fuck that I will smell like ... oh we will find out.

oh no,

2009-07-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

I think this Geithner guy is going fuck shit up worse than it already is.