miss chopsticks

Macaron Tasting: Laduree, Maison du Chocolat

2011-11-13T22:37:00.020-05:00

It was a UES kinda day. Since we brunched at JoJo (yum btw), we decided to swing by both Laduree AND Maison du Chocolat. Impromptu macaron tasting? Yes please!

Line at Laduree was ridonc, but with a tasting plan firmly in mind, we committed to the 50 min wait. And what resulted was a delicious way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Our spoils:

My mother-in-law lived in Paris for 10 years, so she knows what's up with macarons. She liked Laduree's macs better than Maison, however, I'm more of a chocolate ganache kinda gal. There was one OMG macaron for me from Laduree though, and that was Caramel, which was intensely flavored, with the most perfect, fudge-y, chewy filling. Yum.

Laduree standouts:

Caramel, Coffee (intense flavor), Coconut (really enjoyed the flakes!), Lemon (you can taste the zest in the lemon curd filling)

Laduree fails:

Cinnamon (or was it Liquorice? Either/or - yuck!), Rose (tastes like it smells, which was oddly disturbing), Chocolate (go w/ Maison's creamier version), Raspberry (alright, but it was too sweet for my taste)

Maison du Chocolat standouts:

Chocolate (it is afterall, the house of chocolate), Raspberry (tart fruitiness nicely complemented creamy ganache), Passionfruit (vibrant)

Maison du Chocolat fails:

Hazelnut (what hazelnut?)

Overall, Laduree macarons have a more airy pastry, and are sweeter than Maison's. Since I like my macarons less sweet, I prefer Maison. However, Laduree really can't be beat in terms of it's diversity of flavors.

Journey to the West - Day 1 Dunhuang

2009-07-27T16:55:00.181-04:00

I don’t even know where to begin recounting my recent trip to Western China. A 7 day whirlwind across China, 6 cities, a dozen scenic destinations and countless meals and snacks featuring local specialties… It was, and still is, a little overwhelming. But despite the fatigue, the indigestion, and lack of modern “facilities” (ahem), it was one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken.

Day 1 – Dunhuang

pic: reproduction on silk scarf of wall mural

First stop - Mogao. Imagine, hundreds of caves in the middle of the Gobi desert, filled with exquisite wall paintings and sculptures from the 4th to the 14th century. I know. Incredible. And the experience was... transcendental. Seriously, the caves elicited powerful emotions from me, powerful and conflicting emotions - awe for the glory of civilization, sadness for it's demise, reverence for humanity's capacity to create so much beauty yet disbelief at it's selfishness, and most of all, in the face of so much history, beauty, and a greatness bordering on the sublime, I was confronted with the transient and insignificant nature of my own existence. Like I said, it was all very transcendental.

Now on the serious matter of food, Dunhuang didn't have anything "transcendental" to offer, but I did have 2 interesting meals which were memorable in their own way. First, lunch at a Nongjiale (a type of farmer's house turned restaraunt/B&B), and then dinner at the Dunhuang night market.

This particular Nongjiale was very nicely outfitted... with a band no less! You'll notice the traditional courtyard, with east, west, and south wings. We lunched in the east wing. Perhaps feast is more of an appropriate word. This Nongjiale was more of a 4 star B&B than your average mom and pop B&B, so we had rather fancy peasant fare.

I got to sample Jiangshuimian, a local specialty, which is basically noodles in either cold (the version I had) or hot clear soup that is made from fermented vegetable broth. I wanted to like it, but it was just way too sour for me... it tasted like watery vinegar.

One dish I really liked at this meal was their stir fried potatoes. First of all, I love potatoes, period. But this particular dish was just great. The success of this dish depends on the crisp texture of the thin strands of potatoes and it's really easy to undercook or overcook them. These potatoes were perfectly al dente.

A visit to Dunhuang is not complete without a visit to the night market, a one stop shop for outdoor shopping and dining. What's great about the Dunhuang night market is that you eat in a very well managed and maintained open air atrium with outdoor seating and waitresses. So it's just like sitting down to a restaurant meal, except you're outside and surrounded by all the sights and smells of nearby vendors. There are even wandering minstrels singing/performing popular 80s songs, to the delight (and horror) of many a eater.

pic top to bottom: halal fried bread, lamb kebabs (I must have had 10 of these), some kind of noodle hot pot

Soto NY

2009-04-04T01:53:00.008-04:00

Good food makes an impression, but great food creates revelations. And Soto's uni dishes were a revelation to me.

I've always thought of uni as foie gras of the sea, not only because they share a certain unctuousness, but because like foie, uni commands respect, respect for the ingredient. And oftentimes, the best way to enjoy such incredible ingredients is in their most pristine and simple form. The least handled, the least cooked, the better. Give me a piece of foie straight up, simply seared. And I thought uni was the same. But that was me before Soto. Now, I shall never look at another piece of naked uni without wishing it was dressed in one of chef Sotohiro's creations.

Ironically enough, my friend and I chose to go to Soto not for it's uni dishes, but for it's lobster sashimi. J called a day before just to make sure they had live lobster and we turned up at 8 on Wed night for our treat. We ordered several items, with the planned highlight being lobster sashimi, but instead we were completely bowled over by our uni dishes.

J and I ordered:

1) Uni ika sugomori zukuri (sea urchin wrapped in thinly sliced squid with nori, served with quail egg and tosa soy reduction). I can't decide whether this was better or the uni lobster... Let's call it a draw, they're equally pass-out good. The copious amount of sea urchin was highlighted and lifted to new heights by sweet squid and egg. I think the squid added some bite to the dish (and it's oddly sticky, but in a good way), while the quail egg enhanced the uni's creaminess. And the tosa soy reduction just tied everything together. The sauce was sooo refined, a little sweet, not too salty... Hm, where can I get some tosa soy?! J and I literally cleaned the plate. Not even a drop of sauce was left once we were done. Oh btw, the menu said the uni and squid was wrapped in shiso, but ours was wrapped in seaweed. I hope they keep the nori.

2) Geoduck clam salad (ginger marinated giant clam, japanese cucumber, daikon and shiso, spicy radish sprouts). I generally do not like salads. Didn't grow up on it, don't like to eat it. But, I would gladly eat this salad for the rest of my life. Everything just worked, and it was so refreshing. It tasted of spring.

3) Maine amaebi sashimi (sweet shrimp sashimi, served with ginger soy sauce). Fresh and sweet but rather forgettable b/c the flavor profile was too singular after such explosive and exciting dishes as the two we've just had. I didn't like the ginger soy sauce, it was too intense for the shrimp's subtle sweetness. But paper thin slices of lime provided just the right amount of acidity and flavor.

4) Live lobster sashimi (live maine lobster sashimi with ginger soy sauce and caviar, yuzu kimizu sauce). *Sigh... this was a dissapointment. And we were so looking forward to this dish too! There was too much ginger involved and the lobster was too salty. Raw lobster meat should be sweet, much sweeter than shrimp, unfortunately when you use too much ginger and/or salt, you completely mask that sweetness. FYI: The menu said this dish was meant to be "lightly poached lobster with ginger truffle soy sauce", but I think b/c we called ahead and asked for raw lobster, Soto took away the truffle (rightfully so since it would have totally overwhelmed the raw meat). Otherwise, this dishe might have worked really well.

5) Cyu toro tartare (chopped fatty tuna with avocado coulis, garnished with caviar, chive, served in sesame ponzu sauce). I thought that chopping toro wasn't the best treatment of such a nice cut of fish. And, avocado really didn't add anything... The dish was ok when you had a bit of toro, avocado, chive and caviar in each bite, but only alright.

6) Steamed lobster with uni mousse (layers of steamed maine lobster and uni mousse in lotus wrap, garnished with smoked uni and caviar). Just when we thought the night was going downhill, BAM, Soto-san hits us with this mindboggler. He puts the aforementioned missing truffle soy in this lobster dish, and boy was it good. Uni and lobster and truffle? Definitely not too much of a good thing.

Such a memorable meal came out to be $200 for two people, that's including a bottle of sparkling sake and a bottle of unfiltered sake. Yes, it's a little much for my budget, but so worth it.

If you love uni, you'll love Soto.

Chinese Hot Pot - Northern Style followup

2009-01-05T22:09:00.014-05:00

I previously posted about the ins and outs of home-cooked Shuan Yang Rou (lamb hot pot) here . But I couldn't help posting about Shaun Yang Rou again, this time at my grandparents' in Beijing.

This is the real deal, just look at the "fire pot"! It is designed for maximum heat conductivity. These pots are made out of copper, the best material for "fire pot". It diffuses and conducts heat quickly and cooks food more evenly, with a lower heat source than might normally with another pan, and prevents hot spots and sticking. The "chimney" in the middle allows for a deep trench of soup, but at the same time reduces the volume of soup needed to be heated, that's what I call efficient use of energy! These "fire pots" deviate a little from tradition. First, they are individual sized, as opposed to a communal, family sized one that's put in the center of the table to be shared by everyone. Secondly, we used alcohol burners instead of the traditional charcoal.

Mmm... nothing, nothing beats a steaming meal of shuan yang rou on a cold day!

Santoka (NJ) - handsdown best ramen, like ever!

2008-10-26T10:17:00.005-04:00

Ok, I raved about Menchanko's hakata ramen, and I'm becoming more and more enamoured by Ippudo, however Santoka's spicy miso is in a class by itself. It's a ramen to be devoured and then craved for weeks to come. The addictive combination of rich, flavorful, spicy broth, coupled with al dente noodles makes a bowl of the most perfect ramen I have ever had... Perfect because there's no room for improvement, except for maybe a bigger bowl.

::drool::

And for something different, they also have fish eggs on rice.

So even though Santoka's in NJ, I promise you, it's worth the trip. There's a direct shuttle to/from Port Authority ($3) to make things really easy. And you might as well pick up a few bottles of sparkling sake in Mitsuwa while you're there.

Santoka, Mitsuwa Marketplace
595 River Rd, Edgewater, New Jersey

Sparkling Sake Tasting - Part 1

2008-04-10T18:42:00.003-04:00

I fell in love with sparkling sake after first having it at P*ONG, and with Hou Hou Shu in particular. Unfortunately, sparkling sake is not widely available everywhere yet, even in sake bars, so I decided to arrange my own little Sparkling Sake Tasting.

I searched and searched for Hou Hou Shu at Mitsuwa (Japanese supermarket in Edgewater, NJ, where I also had some kick-ass ramen at Santouka) but couldn't find it, so I picked up 4 random bottles.

1) Poochi-Poochi

I was ever so hopeful that it'd be similar to Hou Hou Shu, b/c well, both have cute-sounding names! I don't know Japanese, this was all I had to go on, but it's a logical choice right? WRONG. I was expecting a sweet, slightly cloudy liquid, with a pleasant tingle of bubbles, but Poochi-Poochi was dry, high in alcohol content, and completely clear. It tasted like regular sake but with bubbles. I was disappointed. I wanted something as soft and cuddly as the little drunk mascot on their label, not hard liquor!

2) Japon

I thought hey, what an elegant bottle! The taste must be elegant too. Talk about judging a book by it's cover, but I was luckier this time. It was a "light, tasty, sparkling Japanese rice wine", just as it's label promised. Not too high in alcohol content and sweet. But I was missing that taste and fragrance of rice, and that cloudy, slightly viscous mouthfeel. I have to point out something really cool about this bottle though (as well as Poochi-Poochi), the cap design is ingenious! Like popping a can of soda.

3) Harushika Tokimeki

One of the more "traditional" looking bottles, I got this one b/c it has a seal from the "Japan Prestige Sake Association". It's got to count for something right? Everything I was missing from Japon, I got in HT. It was very cloudy, with a very strong (almost too strong) taste of rice. This one I think is the sweetest of the four I tried.

4) Hana-awaka

Bingo! Best one of the four I bought and most like Hou Hou Shu, so similar in fact that I wanted to compare side-by-side with HHS, which is why this is Sparkling Sake Tasting - Part 1. Coming soon: Sparkling Sake Tasting - Part 2 - Hana-awaka vs. Hou Hou Shu.

Ippudo - Coming Soon, Real Soon

2008-03-23T16:35:00.007-04:00

I made the pilgrimage to the mecca of Hakata yesterday in the hope that maybe, just maybe they opened ahead of schedule. Ok... no such luck, but I did come by some great info. I knew they were going to open March 31st, but they're having a soft opening next week! Only thing is their limited hours during the week, which is seriously making me consider calling in sick tomorrow.

Soft Opening schedule:
3/24 (Mon) - 3/26 (Wed) open from 11am - 5pm
3/27 (Thu) - 3/29 (Sat) open from 5pm - 12am

Hakata Ippudo
65 4th Ave
New York, NY 10003

Chinese Hot Pot - Northern Style

2008-02-17T16:37:00.022-05:00

The tradition at home has always been hot pot for any holiday. Christmas, Birthdays, Memorial Day, even Mother's Day, with the exception of perhaps Thanksgiving when we sometimes (and oddly) opt for roast turkey.

There's something so communal about a hot pot that brings every member of the family together, plus it just makes sense to have on special occasions when everyone's home, so for me, hot pot is not just cooking your own meat in hot boiling liquid, but a festive meal that celebrates family and togetherness.

The hot pot we have at home is the style from Northern China. I grew up eating Beijing's halal Shuan Yang Rou (lamb hot pot), and it's the style that I prefer over other any other, be it Sichuan (spicy) or Taiwanese (shacha sauce). Whereas the rest of China swishes beef, the halal version is exclusively lamb and served with a VERY special sesame paste sauce with lots of scallions and cilantro. A traditional Shuan Yang Rou meal is basically plates of thinly sliced lamb, sliced paper thin, a few vegetables with the staple being Napa Cabbage, Dong Tofu (defrosted frozen tofu that's left with a spongy consistency to soak up more sauce), and Mo (these halal bread things that I can't describe but are so delicious) to finally dunk or soak in the sauce/soup mixture at the end of the meal.

Most Chinese people do not like the taste of lamb, complaining of a gamy smell/taste, and sadly not even members of my family share my love of gaminess, so our hot pot ingredients include beef, chicken and shrimp as well as my beloved lamb. Of course there's the ever-present nappa cabbage, tofu, vermicelli noodles (can't do hot pot without these!). And as if that's not enough, we added some bamboo shoots, mushrooms, quail eggs, and Vietnamese beef tendon meatballs to the mix.

I love beef tendon meatballs!!!

The soup base is very simple. 1/3 chicken broth (Swanson brand) and 2/3 water, with a few slices of ginger thrown in (optional resoaked dried shitake mushrooms).

And instead of the special sesame paste sauce, which no one knows the recipe to, we created something very similar using peanut butter, a little sesame oil and fermented tofu (if you know what I mean, it's the red kind, not the white kind) thinned down with some water. Ok, it might not sound appetizing, but it is delicious and as close to the real thing as we could get it.

Who wouldn't want some of this?!

Or this?!

New Pinkberry near Port Authority!!!

2008-02-02T22:43:00.001-05:00

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!!! Pinkberry will be opening a new store less than 10 blocks away from where I live!!! From now until it opens, I will be obsessively checking the 596 9th Ave location for updates (btwn 42th and 43rd St).

In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to continue making my trek to K-town every weekend to get my fix... it's kind of sad really, but I buy Pinkberry in BULK and what I can't eat in one sitting, I stick in the freezer for later (Pinkberry actually tastes amazing frozen, but sometimes I can't wait that long to dig in). It's ok in the winter to make the happy trip home with my containers of yogurt since it's pretty much freezing outside, but it doesn't work out so well in the summer... It won't be the case THIS summer! I'll be able to sprint home with my stash and not have it melt into a complete mess!

Yeah, uh-huh

Looking forward to a freezer full of this

Sat Brunch at Perry St

2008-01-08T12:37:00.004-05:00

Miss Chopsticks is picking up a fork!

I don't know if you noticed, I have sort of a theme going here, i.e. Asian food, but Perry St was too pretty to ignore.

First thing I must mention about brunch at Perry St is the amazing deal you get. $24 tasting menu, any 2 items off the menu plus 1 dessert. How awesome is that?

The amuse bouche was a celery root soup with cranberry foam (pretty in pink!) I'm not the biggest fan of celery root, but I enjoyed this soup. Btw did I mention it was pretty? See?

Their bread was pretty amazing. It was chewy on the inside with a wonderful elasticity, I only wish there was less of a crust to crumb ratio.

I ordered 2 appetizer courses (I know, I know but I had something earlier and was really craving soup and some sort of shrimp). And the shrimp came out first. It was dusted and grilled with lots of yummy spices. Served with toasted pumpkin seeds and buttenut squash puree. The butternut squash was a little on the sour side, but it's ok, the succulent and flavorful shrimp didn't need any accompaniments. Those pumpkin seeds were really addictive...

My friends ordered 1) Fresh Mozzarella (with pineapple), 2) Red Snapper Poached in Chili Oil (stunning colors), 3) Peekytoe Crab Salad. 1 & 2 were very subtly flavored and unfortunately tasted rather bland on my palate after the shrimp. However, the Peekytoe crab salad I loved. Not surprising since I'm bound to love anything fried...

My next course, tomato soup, was visually stunning. Bright orange soup with a crouton piled high with soft pillowy grated cheddar. But besides the drizzle of olive oil which I found delicious, I thought the soup was a bit too sour again. Maybe some people will find the tartness refreshing, but there was a lack of sweetness to balance the acidity. =( The other entrees 1) Pan Roasted Salmon, 2) Pancakes (it was brunch afterall), were alright... But pretty standard fare, so I won't go into detail (and the pics didn't turn out well, so no pics, sorry!).

Dessert was Chocolate Pudding and White Chocolate Mousse. I have to say I'm glad I got the mousse. The pudding was rather unexciting and uninspired. And the mousse would have suffered the same fate had it not been for the yuzu sorbet. If they only offered the sorbet as a dessert by itself, I'd be back in a heartbeat.

All in all, it was an enjoyable meal, pretty and elegant. Although food-wise I only loved 3 things: the shrimp, the peekytoe, and the sorbet. Maybe I'll go back when I'm on a diet and only eat those 2 appetizers... like that'll happen...

Perry St
176 Perry St
at West St
New York, NY, 10014
http://www.jean-georges.com/

Kenka - One drunken New Year's Eve

2008-01-01T11:22:00.000-05:00

New Years Eve was a food and drink rampage. 4 hours of non-stop eating and drinking. Hooray! What more perfect way to conclude 2007 and usher in 2008 than on a full stomach, buzzed and covered in sweet fluffy stuff?

After an early dinner and some underground sake bar drinking we ended up at Kenka, (cause a 16oz steak just wasn't enough!). I wouldn't say the food was spectacular, but it's sake selection and prices are unbeatable and probably the best drunk food you can dare yourself or better yet, your buddy, to eat. Go for the bull penis, I think it comes grilled and skewered on a stick. I wasn't drunk enough to order the penis on a stick, but I did manage to find something else. They had an interesting item called "gristle" on the menu. I asked the waitress what it was, and for a lack of English translation she demonstrated on her own arm that it's something in/on/around the elbow. The elbow of what I didn't know, but I was intrigued! And here it is - a plateful of gristle:

The gristle tasted surprisingly like fish, which kind of baffled me... I didn't know fish had elbows?! The texture is great, definitely some sort of cartilage, I just can't tell you of what animal and/or part. If you can get over the mysterious origin and combination of flavor and texture, it makes for a great sake snack. Gristle close-up:

Other people ordered ramen. I have to say, the broth was pretty good.

And we all washed it down with some more sake. This one might have been a bit of a girl-y choice... it's very light, but careful, it goes down VERY easily.

And we ended the night on a sweet note - mochi ice cream and pink cotton candy. There's a cotton candy machine outside the restaurant, and at the end of the night, they give you little cups of sugar powder to make your own cotton candy, how cute! And did I mention it was pink?

Kenka
25 St. Marks Place
(btwn 2nd & 3rd Ave)
New York, NY, 10003

Din Tai Fung vs. Joe's Shanghai - Battle of the Soup Dumpling

2007-12-23T19:07:00.000-05:00

It's time for a soup dumpling showdown, West Coast vs. East Coast style. Who's got the best soup dumpling? Is it NYC Chinatown's popular Joe's Shanghai, or Arcadia's famed Din Tai Fung?

I did a little investigation around Christmastime:

Size - DTF dumplings come in cute bite-sized morsels, whereas JS's dumpling are twice the size (traditional Shanghai Xialongbao size). On the whole, JS's dumplings being larger, although are messier to eat, are more satisfying and substantial. But you can't deny the craftsmanship of DTF's tiny dumplings! Each one is perfectly made, and being that they are so small, are more demanding in the construction process, therefore more props to DTF.
Soup - I find the ratio of soup to filling to be higher in JS's dumplings. In fact you can get a whole spoonful of soup from one JS dumpling! JS's soup tends to be oilier than DTF, but hey, more fat, more flavor!
Skin - A literally make-it-or-break-it kinda deal for me, and unfortunately, JS's dumpling skins break very easily. It's so heartbreaking to watch your precious soup spill everywhere when you're trying to carefully pick up a soup dumpling only to have the skin break. Argh! Maybe it's b/c there's so much soup that makes JS's dumpling too heavy? But DTF's dumpling skins are AMAZING! Even though the skin's paper-thin, no matter how badly you hold the dumpling, even poke it a little bit, the skin remains resilient and won't break! Plus, great texture and bite.
Taste - Both JS & DTF pork dumplings are very porky and flavorful. I find that DTF filling has a more notable scallion flavor, which to me is more reminiscent of boiled dumplings (jiaozi) than steamed dumplings (xiaolongbao). The crab dumplings however vary tremendously in taste. DTF's are made with, and tastes distinctively of, crab meat, whereas JS's dumplings are made with crab roe. JS's crab roe dumplings are therefore oilier and has more of a flavor akin to uni (just not as sweet as uni).

Conclusion - I can't help but love DTF for it's cute bite-sized dumplings that will not leak no matter what. However, JS crab dumplings really cannot be beat in terms of taste... So it's an even match: 1-1.

Cong Ly - Best Pho in the City.... BUT....

2007-12-07T13:51:00.001-05:00

Yes, I found a bug leg in my pho!

I swear this is an unadulterated picture, and I'm so not out to get Cong Ly. In fact, I LOVE Cong Ly. They serve the best damn pho in NYC, hands-down. It just really bugs me that I had to find this thing in my favorite pho.

After my initial wave of disgust upon finding this, this... limb in my pho, I quickly took a few snaps to document the discovery (for perhaps an upcoming exposé?!). But on closer examination something perplexed me about the whole picture... Notice the leg's whole-ness and structural integrity, i.e. little hairs? (Click on the pic to zoom in for a closer look.) Isn't it odd that it hadn't disintegrated more in the hot soup and steam? After much speculation and discussion, B and I came to the conclusion that the thing didn't come from the kitchen, but rather blew into my bowl as a result of a wintry draft. It all made sense since I was sitting next to a wall, which we noticed later on, had a pile of dead insect parts lying precariously on the paneling.

So, no, Cong Ly's kitchen is not crawling with bugs and their soup is not contaminated with dead insects. Just be careful where you sit down. Don't sit too close to the wall and preferably as far from the front door as possible to avoid a dangerous draft. Once you've found the perfect spot, you're ready for a bowl of the city's finest pho. Edit 2/8/08: After another chowhound found bug parts in their pho, I'm not sure it was a draft afterall!!!

Seriously, I'd brave the possibility of another leg in my pho to have this steaming bowl of goodness any day. What makes it so good? The broth, it's perfect - not too salty, overly fish-sauced, or over-spiced with cinnamon or star anise, and very beefy. Not the watered-down version you get at some places. The noodles themselves have the best texture I've had in the city. Oh, and fresh vegetables... no yucky brown spots.

Happy slurping!

Cong Ly
124 Hester St,
Btwn Bowery & Christie

I <3 Menchanko Tei

2007-11-25T08:41:00.002-05:00

Oh Menchanko Tei
I wish I could eat you everyday
Especially when the days are cold and gray
Like today...

Hm... what else rhymes with "tei"? Sadly my attempt at an ode to Menchanko Tei ends here. But what I did say, came from the heart! I really could eat Menchanko everyday and not get tired of their Hakata Ramen. EVER.

Maybe it should have been more of an ode to Hakata Ramen? Nah... I've had Hakata elsewhere, and it's just not the same. Menchanko's Hakata kicks all other Hakata ramen's butt! Even Shinsengumi, the famed LA Hakata Ramen establishment doesn't measure up to Menchanko (it's not as well seasoned and has this smoky (?) flavor). Besides, Menchanko has a delicious Oden bar, and a mighty tasty konbu riceball.

Look look, slivers of konbu enveloped in warm rice and crisp seaweed (don't let the seaweed get too soggy!). I compared the konbu riceball from Yakitorri Totto to Menchanko, and Menchanko won, yet again! Totto's konbu is too hard and not as flavorful... just plain salty.

And the beef tendon is soooooo tender... not at all tendon-y. I usually love a springy tendon, but I have nothing to complain about here since it tastes so goooood.

But, the star of the show at Menchanko is really their Hakata Ramen. When you take your first sip of this hot, rich, porky broth, you'll be blown away by how porky, how complex and refined the broth really is. It's like you're ingesting the very essence of pork. You see this big bowl of ramen? That's the full-sized Hakata. If I ate a whole full-sized ramen, I'd have no space to eat my favorite riceball, so I get their half-sized Hakata (pictured above with tendon and riceball). PLUS, it comes in a prettier bowl!

AND! I can squeeze in some dessert.

By the way, there are two Menchanko Tei locations in Midtown. I don't recommend going to the one on 45th St. Their Hakata Ramen soup tastes like instant noodles! I won't be surprised if they used MSG... Go to the one on 55th.

Menchanko Tei
43-45 W. 55th St
(btwn 5th and 6th Ave)
New York, NY, 10017

Zongzi

2007-11-07T15:56:00.000-05:00

While I was in Chinatown getting durian (see last post), I passed by two little old ladies selling Zong Zi (bamboo leaf wrapped sticky rice bundles) by the road. You know it’s good when food is only labeled in a foreign language with no English translation. I stopped when I saw they were selling black sticky rice zongzi. I love black rice (it’s actually more of a purple than black… really pretty), so I jumped at the chance to sample some black sticky rice, and bought a white sticky rice bundle for comparison.

The black sticky rice was nuttier and had a firmer texture than the white kind, but the white was stickier and smoother. I liked both, especially when they were made with copious amounts of mung beans… mmm… But I wish they sold the sweet kind that I used to get in Beijing, with dates and red bean paste… Alas, most of the zongzi sold in Chinatown are Guangdong style, which means they’re savory. Still pretty good, but just doesn’t taste like home…

Black sticky rice with mushrooms, red kidney beans, mung beans.

White sticky rice with pork, mushrooms, red kidney beans, mung beans.

You can get a bigger selection of different fillings on offer at a hidden zongzi store next to Joe’s Shanghai (on Pell), although they don’t sell ones with black sticky rice.

My first durian

2007-10-28T22:05:00.000-04:00

It was love at first bite... rich, sweet and unexpectedly savory, creamy and custard-y. Yum.

Phew! Thank goodness I’m in the same camp as Anthony Bourdain (my hero) and not Andrew Zimmern. Zimmern’s taste in food is questionable… how can he NOT like durian when he’s the self-professed lover of “bizarre foods”?

Not that durian is bizarre at all. Ok… maybe it looks like raw foie gras (see below) and tastes a little like roasted garlic custard, but the flavor combination is out of this world! Maybe it’s the smell that gets people? Or the texture? Not unlike kimchi, durian has a unique fragrance, a little gasoline-y, but definitely not a foul stench as some people would describe it. And the texture is sooooooo creamy! Just like a thick custard, or chocolate pudding. So what’s there not to love?

I got my durian from the durian man on Grand and Bowery. It was the same guy featured in one of Andrew Zimmern’s episodes on Bizarre Foods, and I couldn’t help but ask him about the TV host. His response was: “he stupid”. I agree! Ok. So you don’t like durian, but there’s no need to spit out the durian and gag on TV right next to the vendor stall! Kinda rude wasn’t it Andrew?

Respect the durian.

Durian stall
Grand and Bowery
NW corner

Minamoto Kitchoan

2007-10-27T20:26:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to try traditional Japanese desserts for a long time. Having read about Minamoto Kitchoan on Chowhound, I decided to drop in on this beautiful Fifth Ave shop for an introduction to wagashi.

Everything looked exquisite, almost too pretty to eat... ALMOST.

You can buy each confection individually, or beautifully packaged in boxes of varying sizes and shapes (like the above). But those pretty boxes don't come cheap, so I decided to buy four individual confections. The Matchamanju (green tea bun), Momoaya (peach jelly), Tokiwagi (egg and bean paste cake), and Daikitchoimo (cinnamon sweet potato roll). By the way, isn't it cute how the sweet potato roll is packaged to look like a sweet potato, and the peach jelly like a peach? The peach even has a little paper leaf on top! Awww!!

My favorites were the peach jelly and the egg and bean paste cake. The jelly was intensely peachy and refreshing.

Despite the description, the egg and bean paste cake did not taste like egg at all. Other than that, the Minamoto Kitchoan description was dead-on. It was a moist cake with a very creamy texture and flavor.

Those who enjoy cinnamon will love the cinnamon sweet potato roll. It has a strong cinnamon fragrance.

I was expecting Matchamanju to be similar to green tea daifuku, which I've recently become addicted to. But besides physical appearance, they are nothing alike. This confection was very sweet, made for nibbling with tea. The matcha flavor was barely noticeable, and I was unsettled by the dry, almost powdery texture of the outside "bun".

Minamoto Kitchoan
608 5th Ave
New York, NY, 10020
(at 49th St)

Kee's Chocolates

2007-10-19T21:28:00.000-04:00

"Life is like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're gonna get"

If my life was a box of chocolates, I'd like it to be Kee's, with a few macarons thrown in. I've tried neighboring Vosges and Marie Belle, and I'm sorry to say that they, as well as Mr. Brenner and Mr. Torres, have nothing on Ms. Kee. Intensely chocolate-y and tasting intensely of whatever flavor it's supposed to be, Kee's chocolates (and macarons) are just a more intense experience all around. I never thought passionfruit could taste so good, and mango green tea? Wish I could bottle it and eat it with a spoon.

Ms. Kee makes her chocolates on-premises fresh, daily. And you can taste the freshness. It's in the richness of the chocolate, in the brightness and intensity of flavors. Alas, there's a catch... you have to make sure to go to Kee's early because popular flavors like Mango Green Tea always sell out early in the day. Sadly, that's what happened when I went just before closing yesterday. My two favorites Mango Green Tea and Passionfruit were sold out, but I did not leave empty-handed!

Of the selection below, B's favorite was Tiramisu, he said it's "meltingly good". I prefered the Green Tea because I like a more flavorful truffle (the tiramisu was too subtle for me). I used to love Thai Chili for the punch of heat that complemented so well with cool, rich dark chocolate, but I'm not sure if it's just my imagination or it really is less spicy now, I found the Thai Chili to be less exciting this time around. I tried Lavender for the first time yesterday, and although I can't say I loved the combination of lavender with chocolate, its fragrance was distinctively there.

Ms. Kee only makes macarons once or twice a week, and lucky me bagged four flavors! Raspberry - pink, Key Lime - yellow, Sesame - white, Kaffir Lime (?) - green. I literally swooned over the yellow and pink macarons. I really enjoyed the balance of fruity tartness with the smooth chocolate ganache filling, and both flavors were outrageously vibrant. However, I was confused by the green one and it was my least favorite. I forgot what flavor the green one was supposed to be and had to looked it up on the online menu. It was supposed to be Kaffir Lime but I didn't taste any kaffir lime! Despite the unremarkable flavor, the macaron itself was PERFECTLY made. Ah, a perfectly proportioned macaron is a beautiful thing. Thin delicate crusts enveloping a luscious filling provides a textual experience like nothing else.

Unlike many other chocolatiers, Ms. Kee doesn't employ fanciful packaging or marketing gimmicks to attract customers. She lets the product and quality of the product speak out for itself, as evident in the nondescript shopfront and unpretentious packaging.

Kee's Chocolates
80 Thompson St
New York, NY, 10012
http://www.keeschocolates.com/

Hakata Tonton - Yummy Gelatinous Goodness

2007-10-17T19:58:00.002-04:00

"Any schmo can grill a fancy steak, it takes a cook to transform a humble pig’s foot into something people clamor for.” – Anthony Bourdain

You won’t find sushi, yakitori or ramen on the menu at this new Japanese restaurant in Greenwich Village. Hakata Tonton specializes in the yummy gelatinous goodness that is pig’s feet.

And chef Himi Okajima certainly knows how to cook a good hoof! Looking at the menu, I was so excited I thought I had died and gone to pig’s feet heaven. His menu is like a glorified edition of an original Iron Chef Japanese episode, where the secret ingredient is pig’s feet. Each item on the menu (desserts excluded), features pig’s feet, cooked in various ways. The extensive 40 itemed menu was a little intimidating at first, and B and I were tempted by the $35 tasting menu, but ultimately decided to choose a la carte b/c there were so many tempting dishes I wanted to try.

Tasting Menu $35 per person (2 person minimum)
Vietnamese style shrimp Tonsoku spring roll
Avocado and Tonsoku salad with wasabi-mayonnaise dressing
Chinese style shrimp, squid & Tonsuku fried spring roll
Himi’s special salad
Tonsoku simply grilled with salt
Tonsoku hot pot. A specialty of Hakata, Japan. Tonsoku and vegetables served in a savory broth
Rice bibimbap (used after hot pot)
Egg
Rare cheesecake
Black sesame ice cream

I think the tasting menu gives you a pretty good idea of the kind of food Chef Okajima serves. He brings influences from around the world, China, Korea, Vietnam, Italy (Carbonara), Spain (Paella) and France (Ratatouille) to his menu.

B & I finally settled on the following: 1) Chinese style shumai (dumplings) $8, 2) Tonsoku consommé $6, 3) Tonsoku hot pot $12, 4) Tonsoku simply grilled with salt $6, and 5) Chicken pork and beef balls made with Tonsoku and marinated in a teriyaki sauce $6.

Tonsoku Simply Grilled with Salt was anything but “simple”. The Tonsoku might have been flavored with some sort of seasoned salt, but I can’t tell you exactly what kind. All I know is that it was yummy and everything pig’s feet could and should be. There’s a little mound of pickled Korean lemon on the side that you must try with the Tonsoku, it adds just a little bit of acidity and complexity to the dish. B and I agreed this was the one dish that we both enjoyed the most. Not to be missed.

Unfortunately, the next dish we both agreed was not as successful. The Tonsoku Hot Pot sounded like a good idea on a cold night like we had Saturday, and it looked enticing steaming away, but when we dug in, we found it to be too sweet. Tonsoku is a very rich ingredient which needs some sort of acidity to balance it. Cooking it in a thick, sweet broth as it was, made it overly rich. My recommendation for anyone ordering at Hakata Tonton would be to forgo the hot pot.

The next dish, Chinese Shumai, redeemed the night. It is exactly the opposite of the previous dish. Physically, it is not much to look at, and B actually thought the presentation was a bit of a turn off (personally I thought the toe/claw sticking out of the dumpling was quite delightful, but then again I think chicken feet look appetizing). The dumplings were yummy. It is much more dense than any dumpling/shumai I have ever had, with chunks of Tonsoku dispersed liberally throughout. But what made the dish work was the sauce it was served with. I didn’t ask to confirm, but it might have been ponzu. The sauce gave the dumplings much needed acidity.

The name of the next dish was a little misleading. I thought I was going to get separate chicken, pork and beef meatballs, when in fact each meatball was more like a meat patty, and the three different meats were mixed together. Fortunately we had some ponzu sauce leftover from the shumai, which went well with the meatballs. I felt the meatballs were ok, flavor-wise nothing particularly outstanding, but texture-wise were very juicy.

The last dish, Tonsoku Consommé, I wished was served earlier on, perhaps in place of the hotpot, b/c both B & I were pretty stuffed at this point. If you’ve ever had Hakata ramen, you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that the soup was like an intense Hakata ramen broth, x10 concentrated in flavor, and very thick and rich, but refined. Yum.

In the end, I must say that although I LOVE pig’s feet, the five items we ordered between two people seemed a bit much, particularly when each dish heavily featured Tonsoku. A salad would have been nice somewhere during the meal (there are two to choose from), and/or a rice dish. But overall, I really enjoyed the dinner. I don’t know about the supposed beautifying effect of collagen in pig’s feet, but I do know that it made for some delicious eating.

As for the restaurant itself, it is warm, inviting and intimate with 10 or 12 tables. When I went, 80% of the clientele was Japanese, so you know this place is good. Hakata Tonton is BYOB, and if you forget to bring some Sapporo, there’s a place close by that the restaurant will happily direct you to.

Hakata Tonton
61 Grove St,
New York, 10014
btwn Bleecker & 7th Ave S
http://www.tontonnyc.com/