jhlurie

Went back to "Dumpling Restaurant next to Han Ah Reum" with some other people and it held up. New items tried include -Kimchee Dumplings, Stir Fry style. -Donkatsu (they seem to spell it with a D instead of a T) The Kimchee Dumplings were pretty much a mix of how Rachel describes the Beef Dumpling Stir Fry above and the Kimchee Dumpling Soup, minus the soup. Large dumplings--about two and a half times the size of the small ones--with a mixture of Beef and Kimchee inside. Tossed into a wok and fried in a spicy sauce with some simple vegetables. The Donkatsu was an excellent version. The pork was pounded VERY flat before being breaded and fried, and was presented very artfully on a large platter with fancy cut fruit and a large salad. Excellent place. I had a bit more of a language problem this time (since the guy there with the best English was fairly busy), but we muddled through.

El Gran "renovation" message is still there. This removes any doubt whatsoever. No restaurant as small as El Gran can be "renovating" for three or four weeks and still be in business. They must have paid the telephone bill ahead of time and this message is just from the phone company instead of a physical answering machine. They are history. Finito. Adios! Seriously Fink, if you know otherwise ask them how they can AFFORD to still be closed. If they are having contractor problems or something, this will sink them.

Jin, most Moles don't taste much like Chocolate. True dat...most moles don't even have chocolate as an ingredient. We have chocolate so tied with sugar in our minds that it is impossible to imagine the flavor and subtlety of a molé with pure, unsweetened chocolate as only one of the many rich and varied flavors. Bitter chocolate and fiery peppers are wonderful together. I have several recipes for chili that include a dash or two of unsweetened chocolate to add substance and layer to the final dish. But, I have finally decided, it is utterly impossible to impart the thought of chocolate in a savory dish to those who have not tried it. Yes, shame on you Jinmyo for perpetuating this myth! Go hide in the corner! (and contrary to what someone wrote before... most Moles I've had containing chocolate used the unsweetened variety. To be SPECIFIC I am talking about Mole Poblano--which I have somewhat been assuming was what was being described by this topic instead of any of the other major categories. Poblano alone is made in almost unlimited variations, but unsweeted chocolate does seem to be close to universal)

Jin, most Moles don't taste much like Chocolate.

So end to end how long did it take? I've always heard about some mythical "24 hours" figure, but it doesn't seem like it took you that long. Seeing as how there are literally tens of thousands of variations on Molé, I'm not sure that there IS a wrong way to make it though. It ranges from bitter to sweet, spicy to mellow, thick to thin. I've seen it with at least a dozen different distinctive colors. As for the use or non-use of the Mexican chocolate, that might matter. Then again, if its all unsweetened anyway? You may have a point. It may just be a prejudice. Then again, as I now know from watching an episode of CSI earlier this year (where it was a plot point), the majority of the chocolate sold in the US is actually from Africa and features trace amounts of lead from the leaded gas that prevails everywhere there. So maybe the Mexican chocolate has less lead. Either that, or CSI is making stuff up again.

Whether my potential is glorious or not is yet to be seen. I am buying barley because I need to malt it myself. I am attempting a smoked beer, and the smokiness is achieved by drying the green malt over smoke. <Emeril> I don't know where you buy your malt, but where I buy it, it comes unsmoked. </Emeril> You should post on this--Klink style--over in the Adventures in Eating forum. Might make some good reading.

Just spotted this. Its actually pretty cool.

Ah, "Bunker-speak". My Dad was from the Bronx. Some of the stuff which pops up in his conversation is quite odd too.

omigod, please, would you post your recipe? could you? your servant, stella b Stella, in your neck of the woods, isn't the proper answer to "Sugar!" "Whatever you say, honey"? But those do sound like good cookies.

Even odder, on that list of "Strange NJ Food Places", I've been to SIX of them. Sheesh! So maybe I didn't need the website (although the ones I haven't been to actually seem more interesting than the ones I have). And that theme song on the other site? Is weird.

The Midnight Society: NJ's Tristate Area Historical Society of the Strange and Unusual To make this marginally food related, there is also a Dining Out section!

Since I visited the Ridgefield Han Ah Reum today, this place was on my mind and I decided to bump this thread. Coincidentally, this weekend is apparently the third anniversary of that store. Some signs in the front of the store described some kind of event, but most of the sign was in Korean (and my Korean is lacking...) so I can't be more specific.

How exactly do you smoke a beer? Could someone go into more detail?

Oh great Klink. Now you've started Jinmyo on another "meat rant".

I have an amusing mental picture now of Rosie in a REALLY low chair. For those of you who haven't met her... Rosie is... close to the ground already.

Gee, if they actually are renovating to create seating (three or four tables instead of the one they had would do it) maybe we could have a mini-non-eGullet-official get together. Assuming Fink's boss could give him time off.

See tommy? Rosie is much more flexible with her interpretation of "New American" than you are! Cuban New American and Italian New American! If that's the spirit, I might add that Saigon Republic is wonderful Vietnamese New American!

You posted this over a month and a half ago, but yes your hairdresser is right. I've only had Marlin steak a few times, but its completely incredible (and this is from someone who largely is NOT a fish eater). There's a good reason that screwy old man in the Hemingway book is willing to be towed around until he's half dead!

"New American" may be more of the issue than "not overpriced". There's plenty of good food in Bergen--its just that a lot of it is ethnic. A more exact price range might help too. We know your top bracket ($50 per), but we don't know your bottom.

You need a Tivo. And spqr, Ron Popeil scares me. Even still. I love the infomercials for the Dean Martin Roast videotapes. But that's not cookware. Drat. I don't remember the infomercial that well, but I was always fascinated by the CONCEPT of the "Rotato".

El Gran still has the "renovation" phone message. I think its curtains for them, but I suppose I'll try one more time--in a week or so.

My emphasis. His new chef on SECOND Avenue. SECOND Avenue. Not NINTH Avenue. He opened a new place on SECOND, and this quote resolves nothing about either NINTH Avenue location.

And I've only eaten at the Second Avenue (not impressive) and Clinton locations (very impressive), so I can't comment on the Chelsea one, Chinatown or Lex Ave. Actually, Mr. Asimov's article does clear up a few things, but you have to read closely. And it still leaves a pretty big mystery intact on who actually has day-to-day control of the two locations that people seem to like the most--the Clinton and Chelsea locales. -------------------------------------------------- Chinatown - "In the time-honored fashion, Mr. Zhang split with Liu Hu Shen, his partner in the Chinatown restaurant, after a dispute". So this Liu Hu Shen is controlling that one. Second Ave - "each moved to open his own place, Mr. Zhang's on Second Avenue". So Mr. Zhang has this one. Lex Ave - "and Mr. Lee's on Lexington." Mr. Lee this one. Clinton - ??? No quote about who currently "runs" it, other than the fact that like the Chelsea location, both Lee and Zhang still own a part of it. But who makes the decisions, who cooks the food, etc.? Chelsea - ??? ditto to above. Who actually RUNS it now? Mystery NOT solved. And the following quote cracks me up on so many levels:

It's the Great Mexican stand-off of Bergen County. Eeep! So this is indeed at least the second week El Gran is gone? I'd only been speculating based on the suspicious phone message. Maybe Fink knows about this. If I remember correctly, he originally steered us to this place, and knew the owners somewhat (at least until they sold it to their cousins, or whatever the heck the exact story was...) I've had the non-all-you-can-eat El Portrero. It's better, but it was still nowhere near El Gran.