yimay

I'll be in Tokyo for a few days and was looking to dine at a high-end restaurant. But some do not allow solo diners. I was hoping to find 1-3 dining companions that would like to join me. I was looking at Narisawa, since they take online reservations (no hassle!). Please pm if this interests you! Click here for the terms under which this event is listed in eG Forums.

i don't think these are the same thing as zongzi. they are 糯米饭 (luo mi fan) or glutinous oil rice wrapped in lotus leaves. which i guess are essentially the same thing. but, not. i guess the difference is in the shape and some of the ingredients. glutinous oil rice is more tasty. next time you go to asia cafe, i want in.

sweet. i think all vegetable dishes should come with oysters and pork slices.

i'm not sure if it's a regional thing. i've tried to find this out myself but have never been successful. i grew up (in houston) having peking duck with the flat wrappers. it wasn't until later in life i experienced peking duck with steamed buns. these "tortillas" were unusually thick. they should be very thin, like mu shu wrappers. i like the steamed buns better, but you can get more goodies in the thin wrappers. i'm torn!

gong xi fa cai iPhone na lai!

Peking Duck being carved Peking Duck served this duck makes me drool

is it necessary to call it "mex-mex". shouldn't it just be mexican? hee this amuses me. i just did a google search and omg people use this term.

this chinatown dim sum looks crazy. i like shanghai more and more each time i go. i went today with a friend and we ordered off the dim sum menu. i gotta say that's the way to go (weekday menu ordering). everything is freshly cooked and piping hot. only sad part is no dou hua on weekdays.

tree house italian grill

does anyone know the name or location of the tiny sushi bar anthony bourdain visits in osaka in the japan episode of no reservations?

the spa upstairs is not just a store but a full blown spa with private rooms, massage therapy, wet treatments, beauty services (mani/pedi, waxing, cosmetics) using all natural ingredients and treatments. there is also a classroom for classes on nutrition and wellness and you can get special chef prepared spa meals. i think it ties in quite nicely with the whole foods philosophy which is not just about food anymore.

i have on one rare occasion had an overcooked burger at casino. but i still think overall casino's are better than jackalope's offerings. i always opt for the simple chicago burger with bacon, instead of the drippier choices (buffalo sauce/cheese).

i just called it mochi but it's probably not interchangeable. my bad. but they are basically the same thing so i just call it mochi, because if i say nian gao, most people don't know what it is. i didn't taste any sesame in the nian gao, but i don't really remember since i didn't finish mine. i thought the filling was mung bean paste too, but the server said it was "soybean curd". i assumed he meant soybean paste.

yeah the mochi itself was this odd, greenish-gray color. not sure why. the inside was filled with a sweet soybean paste.

i remember there being wonton/dumpling wrappers actually made with meat that i've had as a kid a few times and then in taiwan a few times as well. i believe you can purchase them frozen. or am i crazy and just imagining this? it's possible the meat dough has flour in it though.

another tip my mom told me is to "bao" the cabbage before braising. "bao" meaning a quick fry in shallow hot oil. i suppose this carmelizes the greens a bit giving the final result a bit more sweet and smoky depth of flavor.

is it breaded at all? is it served with salt and pepper? din ho has deep fried pork intestine, but it's been dipped/dredged and then deep fried, not crispy throughout. soft in the center. i'm looking for the deep fried to a crisp, served with salt/pepper. (jiao yian fei tsang)

omg, i love these so much! my mom called them "fresh dates" also. i did a little research online and saw they also might be called chinese jujubes, but couldn't find photos that looked just like these. holy crap, i'd kill for a bag of those right now.

yay for booze spreadsheets

the local secret alternative to Din Tai Fung is this place right next door to the main DTF location called Kao Chi on Yong Kang Rd. the soup dumplings are just as good if not better (or at least hotter, as they are not made ahead of time for the expected crowd) and there is usually no wait. they also have other dishes DTF does not have, specifically something they call "Crispy Pastries" or hsieh ke huang in mandarin which is a flakey baked pastry filled with a savory onion filling. Ice Monster also on Yong Kang Rd. has the most amazing mango shaved ice dessert. may be too cold for december, but still worth it. the only other place i can remember and recommend is Fei Qian Wu, actually a japanese restaurant. it is famous for ther unagidon (roasted eel rice bowls) and it is so affordable. something most people don't know is taiwan has great sushi for way cheaper than you'd get here in the states and even Japan. i've eaten many sashimi plates at shi-ling night market, so fresh, and so cheap! most of the places i've been to are hole in the wall, local favorites that my uncle took us to. my dad has a restaurant there that is his favorite, i will try to find out the name and location for you. they had the best lion's head stew ever! just try anything and everything you see from the street vendors/markets. one of my favorite market foods are what i think are called chinese jujubes. they are these small, green crispy/crunchy apple like fruits with a small pit. they are so tasty. i would eat like 10 of them in one sitting. picture of the jujubes, and more taipei food here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yi/134344119/

my mom makes this all the time. the secret to the texture is fatty ground pork and you have to mix the hell out of the meatball mixture. i've seen her add water or broth to this meat mixture too. then you deep fry the meatballs before braising them.

T.C. Noodle House in the new Chinatown Center is open. I ate there a few days ago and then gave it another shot today for takeout while working the Austin Record Convention. I think it was very disappointing. Their menu consists mostly of noodle dishes, some rice dishes and a large selection of appetizers. I've tried their pan fried noodles, wonton soup, various noodles with various toppings (duck, seafood, etc..) in broth, their version of a "pad thai" and potstickers they call cantonese style pan fried dumplings. Everything was pretty bland and not memorable at all. the dumplings were ok, but poorly cooked/presented. I only liked it because the filling was similar to a Shu Mai filling which I enjoy. But overall I'm sad. This place was also brimming with Asian clientele, which confuses me as the quality of food doesn't even meet my very tolerable standard of "decent" chinese food. (I don't think i'd consider this food tolerable). But it's possible many of them were there for the first time as well. I also tried the bbq pork Banh Mi at Lily's sandwich shop across the parking lot from T.C. Noodle House... also disappointing, especially after reading about people waiting out the door for sandwiches and them running out in the afternoons. I still like Pho Van's (formerly Cong Ly) pork banh mi the best. However Lily's makes a killer Cafe Sua Da (vietnamese ice coffee). I will be going back for more coffee for sure.

the concensus from most people in the know, that i know, including my uncle who i hold to be the expert on where to get the best [fill in the blank] in taiwan, is that Din Tai Fung, a chain restaurant that started in Taiwan, has perfected the xiao long bao. the founder originally is from mainland china (though suprisingly not shanghai) and moved to taiwan and started his xlb business there. i've never had xiao long bao in shanghai, but i've heard XLB better than DTF is hard to find. i think Kao Chi on Yong Kang, right next to the main Taipei DTF location on Xinyi road has just as good if not better xiao long bao than DTF. both places, in my opinion, have really perfected the technique. they really are quite amazing and have ruined any other xlb experience i have here in the states. the soup and pork filling is dense, rich, flavorful, and the skin is impossibly thin. even the side of finely julienned ginger is perfect. this guy on flickr is well traveled and has eaten many xiao long bao. he claims these he found in shanghai to give Din Tai Fung's xlb a run for their money: http://flickr.com/photos/yusheng/11606203 it may just be the availability and marketing of really great xiao long bao from din tai fung that has put taiwan on the map. they have locations all over asia and 1 in the states. soup dumplings are also very popular in japan and there is a DTF cult following because of their branches in japan. i'm sure that has a lot to do with it as the japanese are maniacal about products they like. however, i have eaten at DTF branches in Tokyo and Kyoto, they are not as good as the Taipei branch. i've heard the only stateside DTF branch in Arcadia is not very good either. shanghai has yet to produce a widely spread chain that makes as consistently good xlb.

fyi, Hong Kong Supermarket is opening a rival supersized grocery store near the Dell Campus.

i think we need to all pitch in and get ah leung a new pan.