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annachan

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Posts posted by annachan

  1. what about after hours hangouts?  i want to go to bourbon and branch, but i'd like to hit some divey spots, too.  where do industry people go?  those are always the best kept secrets.  any japantown hidden gems?

    I really like Takara in Japantown. There's a tank right outside the place with live prawns. When you order your amaebi, the prawns are fished out and on your table in minutes. Though I haven't been, Bushi-Tei seems to be popular. Kappa is another one. Both offer omakase.

  2. What we usually do when we visit San Francisco China Town... would buy a couple pound of roast pig (chopped).  We pick and eat the skin right away in the car!  Crispy and still warm from the roasting oven!  Hell... fat and all, heck with it!  Because the skin will turn chewy within a short time and turn soft if re-cooked.

    The rest, I use them to cook clay pot dishes the next day or two.

    That's what mom usually does, but she waits till we get home. She always make us eat all the skin the day we get the roast pork because it won't be good the next day! I actually like the soggy skin in the stew/soup though....

  3. You may want to head over to Japantown. I think you'll be able to find some Japanese knives there.

    If you can't get reservations at French Laundry, give La Toque (Rutherford, Napa Valley) a try. Some other high end places in SF: Michael Mina and Dining Room at the Ritz.

    Cafe Jacqueline in North Beach, SF is a wonderful - souffle only. The only thing is that you have to plan for a long dinner, at least 2.5 hours.

    Fringale is a really nice French bistro in the SOMA area of SF.

  4. Not weird, sounds like perfectly good American food  :rolleyes:

    I mean American Chinese food

    American Chinese food???? That's how we used to heat up left over BBQ in Hong Kong all the time. We use the same method with roast duck, soy chicken, bbq pork, etc. And we had left over BBQ a lot since my late grandfather owned a Cantonese BBQ shop....

  5. For a nice meal that isn't going to break the bank, try B44 on Belden Place. It's a really cute little alley with about 8 restaurants. It's closed off to traffic and all the restaurants have outdoor tables. It's great atmosphere dining outdoor at night with the street all lit up. If it's cold, there are heaters. B44 happens to be one of my favorite in the city, serving wonderful Spanish and Catalan food.

    Delancey Street Restaurant is another great place. It is part of the Delancey Street Foundation which does great work in San Francisco. Prices are rock bottom (the most expensive dish is $13.95 for lamb chops), but it's far from a dive. It's located in the very nice South Beach area, right across the street from the waterfront. It is set up like a pricey restaurant with white tablecloth and a nice patio that is sheltered and has heaters.

    Ferry Building is a great place to browse. The restaurants there are pricey, but you can get some great to-go items and have a picnic outside by the water. Get some bread from Acme Bread Company, cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, house-made potato chips from Petite Lulu, gelato from Ciao Bella and a few pieces of the best artisan chocolate around from Recchiuti Confections.

    Other neighborhoods that offer cheap eats: Chinatown, Mission/Valencia.

    All the places I mentioned are easily accessible by public transportation.

    Have a great time in SF!

  6. My favorite neighborhood bistro is Chouchou in Forest Hill. It's one of those places where service is friendly, food is good and you'll feel comfortable in jeans or dressed up.

    Another place I really like is B44 (Spanish/Catalan food) on Belden Place. It's not really a neighborhood place, but it's in an alley (along with about 7 or 8 other restaurants) that is lined with outdoor seating, which has a very European feel to it.

  7. We went about 2 years ago. The food was ok and the service was strange. If you're there for the theme parks, the Vineyard Room inside California Adventure has much better food. We went to Napa Rose one night and the Vineyard Room the next, and enjoyed the food, the service and the atmosphere much more for the same price.

    If you're not going inside the parks, another option close by is the White House. The food was also better than the Napa Rose for about the same price. Service was kind of slow toward the end of our meal, but that was the only downside.

  8. Hi all. I decided that for the last day of CNY festival I'd try cooking Hongshao Wanyu or red-cooked carp. But....I don't know exactly what I'd use for the side dishes since I am not real good with typical home-style plating and typical side-dish accompaniments to a main dish (is there a book that explains this topic?) so I just was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for a few easy side dishes.

    At home and in restaurants, we usually look for a balance of dishes(series of courses) rather than looking at have a main dish and side dishes as accompaniments. I would definitely recommend making whatever seasonal vegetables you can get that is fresh to make a vegetable dish. Another option is a mushroom, tofu and vegetable claypot. I would also suggest another protein. If you want something other than plain rice, maybe a chow mein or a fried rice dish.

  9. Jessica's Biscuit is great! Not only are the books cheaper than Amazon, it offers free shipping for $25 or more, a free gift for $40 or more (a selection of books, t-shirts, and 1/2 lb coffee-which is what I got) and a free 1 year subscription of magazine for $50 or more (I got Gourmet). Thanks again, Kerry! :wub:

  10. Will your friend have a car?  The rec's I gave above are all over the city.  It might be easier to give more meaningful recommendations knowing what part of the city he'll be in and if he'll be willing to travel around a bit.

    Just what I was thinking. There are just so many places in the city. I assume that your (OP's) friend is here to visit the city and it may not make sense for him to go all over the city just for meals. If you friend knows which part of the city he will be visiting, then people here can make more specific recommendations in the area where he'll be.

  11. ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America) maybe a useful website for you. The annual book fair is coming to San Francisco next weekend. I've always been able to get some great collectible cookbooks at the fair. You may be able to find some dealers on the website.
  12. So do I need to cook it for 12 hours?  (I have in total about 10 pieces of oxtail.)  I wonder if I should add some liquid to the pot tonight.  It's about 3/4 of the way full.  Should I add more chicken broth or more tomatoes?  I fear things might be going amiss....

    No, it doesn't take 12 hours for the oxtail to cook through and falls off the bone. 4-6 hours should be plenty of time. In a crockpot though, it may take longer.

  13. Thanks for your help, everyone!  All these hints are great!  I just wish I had a crockpot.  Shoot.

    So can I simmer on the stovetop and then move it to a low (275) oven to finish cooking the oxtails?  Would 4 hours of cooking be good enough to make them tender?  I plan on cooking it tonight, chilling them, defatting them and then reheating and simmering for an hour tomorrow for dinner.

    It think that should be enough time. Just check it after the 4 hours and see if the meat is falling off the bone or close to it. The small pieces should be fine, but the larger pieces may take longer.

    Enjoy!

  14. Hey, I'm cooking oxtail right now! If you have a large enough crockpot, that would be the easiest, if not, you can make it on the stove.

    I start with making a stock:

    Oxtail

    Onion

    Carrot

    Celery

    Few cloves of garlic

    Enough water to cover the ingredients

    I let that come to a boil and let it simmer for about 4-5 hours. (Or in the crockpot overnight)

    Once I have the stock, I either make soup by adding more vegetables to the stock (usually more onion, carrot and celery along with cabbage, tomato and potato) or made a stew (about one or two cups of the stock with tomato puree, diced onion, carrot and celery, red wine and seasonings and braise until the liquid thicken/reduced to a sauce).

  15. I like monkfish simply prepared. For easy clean up, what about monkfish papillote? Monkfish with some vegetables in a lemon/white wine type sauce maybe. You can definitely do that with other fish like salmon or sea bass.

  16. Over the holiday, I picked up a 10 lb box of coconut flakes, thinking I would use it for toasted coconut marshmallows. Plans changed and we made all truffles instead. No coconut usage.

    So, what now? I was watching Food TV the other night and saw these Coconut Strips. Anyone have an idea how to make some? I'm thinking that would use up a good portion of my coconut.

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