basquecook
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Posts posted by basquecook
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it wasn't just shrimp,, it was stingray and shrimp in a white wine sauce. I forget the name now.
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Today, I had the veal stew that had chunks of veal, tomato, chorico, bacon, peas, potatoes and carrots.. This was delicious as per usual.. They bumped up the lunches to 14,95 today.. Very tricky.. The place was vibrating with the cheers of the defeated.
I arrived early, there were several saved seats at the bar.. The bastards didnt even show up till half time.. I squeezed in to a spot only to find out, non of the televisions were tuned to the US game..
I finally talked them in to putting a tv on the US game, in the way back.. I sat by myself, squinting and standing.
two wines, two brandies. 4 espressos.
i should live in a Country that appreciates Siestas.
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From the other day
So, I am going to go broke, become a drunk and die of a diabetes brought on by obesity from the World Cup..
Watched the second half over at my spot.. I now get hugs from the owner, a handshake from the busboy and a kiss on the cheeks from the bartender.
stingray, shrimp and rice.
plate of cheese and a few coffees
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Given my way, i would eat dinner every night at 930 or 10 o clock. We left the house around 930 with plans to hit up, the Golden Mall.. There is this Sichuan Restaurant there I have been wanting to try.. Unfortunately, the place was just closing down when we arrived..
A quick look on my Yelp app, brought me to this place.. With 978 reviews and 4 stars, chances are the place is going to be good. Once arriving at the restaurant, the multiple Michelin Stickers on the window, gave further hope.
And good it was. While I wouldn't go off and say it was life changing or necessarily worth the drive for, they were certainly well made.. As you walk in, the first thing I noticed was a large pile of ground pork behind the counter where two women working around.. They would take a scoop of pork, place in a dumpling, deftly fold up the dumpling and start the process over again. It was tiring just watching their continuous work.
We started with a plate of cold dishes.. Beef and tripe and pig ear combo..
A very nice combination of flavors with the tripe.. It tasted different than most versions I have had because, I believe they added a tomato flavor. Good none the less..
The star of the show or why everyone comes here is because of the soup dumplings.. We ordered pork mixed with crab dumplings and plain old pork dumplings.. Our clear favorites were the pork and crab. But, both were very enjoyable..
They were super juicy.. The top a little harder than I have had on some of the better ones I have had. My wife asked me how I thought they compared to Joe Shanghai or Shanghai something or other.. I don't really remember.. These were good. I would eat them again but, i wouldn't be traveling specifically for these. If I lived closer to Flushing, I would most likely put this place on my rotation though. Speaking of which, I suggested we find a small apartment in Flushing for the weekends.. She passed on the idea.
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white manna Hackensack.. In my opinion the superior location
It's probably been a couple of years.. These burgers are fantastic.. I had front seat and was able to watch how they are made.. It's a griddle that is really not that hot.. Firstly, there is no heat coming off it, secondly, the burgers cook for a while with tons of onions and nothing gets charred.. I am guessing the heat of the grill is around 280-300 degrees.. A ball of meat, small, perhaps 3 ounces is plopped down.. Then super thin onions are placed on top and it is smooshed down.. The burgers cook, roughly 3 minutes on the one side, then flipped and 3 minutes on the other side, onion side down.. While that is happening, cheese is placed on top of the burgers.. Then, entire buns are placed on top of the cheese, that's on top of the burger, thats on top of the onions.. Now the buns are steaming. Eventually, about maybe another 1.5 minutes, the burgers are lifted off the grill, the buns are separated and the patties are placed inside the buns..
here you can see the buns resting on the burgers getting a steam on the far right., burgers getting cheese after being flipped in the middle and on the far right, newly placed burgers topped with onions getting the first side cooked..
It gives more of a steamed burger flavor and the buns are perfectly warm and soft.. The buns are martin potato roll 12 pack..
there is an intense onion flavor, the pickles are really light and I add mustard.. They were super delicious.. Better than I remembered..
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thanks guys.. I am in Chengdu for the next few days.. Tonight, i am heading to Yu's Family Kitchen or Restaurant. It's a place that has been on my list for some time now.. Chengdu is better than what I expected.. Such a pretty city.. Today I visited this gorgeous Buddhist Monastery ate a bunch of spicy food and was just able to walk and walk for the first time in a few weeks.. I have been basically immobile sitting at a desk 12 hours a day for close to 3 weeks straight. So, getting out and about is a freedom i am enjoying.. I even slept a little!
here is a little something spicy for ya!
i plan to finish up the postings when i return to desk life..
Thanks for following so far.
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I have yet to cook a burger sous vide, mostly because of the convenience factor (my own that is), and also, because I rarely cook burgers anyway. I can tell you that I am not a fan of sous vide steak -- I prefer other methods (scorching hot mineral pan or steamed at 130, then seared) -- but that is all preference -- I simply didn't care for the sous vide steak -- that being the only item I didn't love to do sous vide. I also think that there is a small trend out there that is implying that if you sous vide, you are simply lazy or unable to do it otherwise, which I disagree with. At the end of the day, preference and time are what controls. Sous Vide is part of a huge set of tools to get to what we each determine to be perfect in our own minds and palates -- if someone isn't choosing to use it, they are using other tools -- and there is nothing wrong with that. But there is also nothing wrong with relying on sous vide. I am definitely going to make sous vide burgers this week though -- and finally get that grinder attachment out that has been sitting in its packaging for far too long. I assume the burger will be delicious -- but maybe not to my liking.
i recently viewed a post of your's on the dinner thread in where you sous vide a sweetbread prior to deep frying it or pan frying it.. Would you say that you were happy with the results or that sous vide'ing the sweetbreads helped the results.. You spoke of briefly cooking the sous vide. Can you talk more about this.. i am not attacking you and I understand that with out experimentation, nothing can be gained.. But, i just wanted to know more about the results.. To me, it looked unsuccessful but, i am curious as someone who is not a sous vide person to beginwith, how you feel about it..
this sort of sparked my feelings on sous vidiing a hamburger. as something that is so simple not requiring such a complicated process.
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Perfection is what one finds in a vending machine, studio album, calculations or automated mass production. Grilling/cooking with friends conjures pleasing nuances, similar to the crooked lines on hand-blown goblets, live music and heirloom vegetables. Pasteurizing a burger so that it is safe to eat doesn’t strike me as exciting and brings an almost clinical element to the event, kind of like that unpleasant tingly feeling I get anytime someone puts on rubber gloves to perform and benign task (though I use them exclusively when cutting proteins or messy tasks –keeps the fingernails clean).
And it’s a hamburger, the great equalizer, humdrum National mascot, America’s backyard contribution to food culture and perpetuator of cheap feedlot beef; not tournedos Rossini. Though maybe some like to play minigolf with a full set of specialized clubs and a caddie or hire Billy Bean to manage a recreational co-ed softball team. To each their craving and obsession.
Most important is the provenance of the meat (moisture, fat, dry-age, animal age, animal’s diet, marbling, tenderness, sinew, etc…) ground in clean conditions and the proper forming of the patty sufficiently in advance (a day prior) to let the myoglobin do its thing and allow the ground meat to stick to itself and not fall apart. After that, a clean hot grill, basic senses (touch it, feel it, hear it, smell it) and even modest skill will make for a fine, plump, juicy burger eaten with some haste so that it doesn’t lose all its juices.
Grilling over charcoals or wood provides the flavor –both the heat source and drippings from the ingredient which smoke over the embers. Color of doneness within an accepted margin is aesthetics, and it will disappear after charring, caramelizing the natural sugars and creating near unanimous good flavor and crusty crunch. Caramelized/seared beef tastes better than poached beef. That applies to almost anything from nuts to toast.
Aside from appearing to be gimmicky, contrived and perhaps a waste of time and resources (plastic bag, electricity) the notion of “perfection” is hopelessly subjective given that the original ground beef product is not a constant, varying from meat to and meat and patty to patty. There are very few constants in cooking aside for maybe water, rendered fats, industrial condiments, processed cheese and factory milled flours. Even dried beans vary from year to year and while the method of cookery is deemed “perfect”, the results might not be.
SV may very well be helping a generation to unlearn how to cook using fundamental senses and make them entirely dependent on technology; reduced to pressing buttons and setting timers to hit an unfixed and organic target. SV definitely has its merits, but we’ve all enjoyed seemingly “perfect” burger before the advent of cooking in warm fish tanks. As for the pictured SV burger, the caramelization looks delicately thin, like a lacquer. I’d wager that a heartier sear would taste better.
i wish i were as eloquent.
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These posts are wonderful. Thank you very much! The mice-like rice are particularly entrancing.
thanks.. i really appreciate you following along.
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well, it was a short lived victory... i am now way too full again.. It was a major holiday and our last night working with our customer.. So, we went out for a celebratory traditional yangzhou dinner..This place is really good. it remains my favorite restaurant in yangzhou.. It is also my hosts favorite restaurant in town.. We went out with some of their friends and family.
Jellyfish salad with bead curd.
this makes me know i am in Yangzhou.. This shredded tofu is really the best here.. i have had it in other parts of china but, it is never as tender and fresh as it is here.. i have purchased this type of tofu in the US in plastic bags and it is hard and spongy.. Here it is soft and tender and just amazing. Yangzhou is famous for this dish and it is a proper accolade.
Little shelled shrimp:
everyone got one of these.. a large head on shrimp in a sweet and sour sauce with little pieces of rice and bits of pork.. Almost like a risotto.
a gorgeous chicken.
yangzhou fried rice:
individual lion head meatballs. the broth is so rich and delicious.. the meatball so light and airy
favas and local vegetable.. it bleeds red. i have had this from Southern China in Pinghu up to Yangzhou.. it's a good green
spicy cauliflower and pork
a very whimsical dish.. "mice like rice".. playing on the zongzi, it was little mice made of sticky rice stuffed with his like sugary vanilla egg custard..
one of my favorite parts of my trips.. My friend, she is very business..very tough, very sweet. she is the boss of her business and house.. i introduced her to Bob Marley tonight.. She loved him.. At first she was like, who is this ugly guy.. She listened to Trenchtown Rock, No Woman No Cry, Three Little Birds, and Stir it Up..She was like enthralled and mesmerized.. I only wanted her to listen to one song and she kept demanding i show her more songs.. At the end, she was like, I no longer think he is ugly, i think he is beautiful. I can only assume she will have dreadlocks when i see her in november..ahhh crap. i don't know how to attach a video from flicker but, she is listening to No women no cry for the first time.. She is loving him..Off to Chengdu tomorrow! So close to home! but the work is over.. Nothing left to do but, smile, smile, smile.-
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no worries, not offended at all
lunch.. I am proud of me.. After skipping dinner last night, after skipping breafast this morning, i was finally hungry for lunch... And, without over eating and without drinking beers, i left the table not over stuffed and ashamed.. It turns out i do have some will power.
it turns out the chef is not from Yangzhou. He likes to pride himself on his originality of his dishes.. Today he was on his game.. The meal was really damn good.
We started with cold pork jowl with tofu.. You know, this way a vegetarian and a carnivore could sit down and happily share this plate.
beans cooked with star anise and peppers.. I almost created an international incident when i asked to see the chef's Anise.
I was mistaken.. This is not cucumber, it is a cocooza. spelling.. thought it was a cucumber but, it keeps it's shape and texture much more.. I forget the spelling and google isn't' helping.. but, it's those large plants that grow huge cucumbers.. the guy in my office grows them and gave me a few.. it was in a spicy broth. Really nice
greens
with little shrimp:
more chicken like yesteday
pork bone soup with sliced pork and tofu bean curd sheets.
because of the holiday today, they brought out free zongzi.. it's because of a Poet i believe.. today is a special holiday but, we are ruining it for them by making them work. they accompanied it with a sweet sugar that i would compare to the inside of a pixie stick
these were beautiful fish in a muddy spicy sauce. they had a really soft texture, not a lot of bones and was full of roe.. it was delicious.. favorite thing on the table
this item shows off the chef's creativity.. yangzhou is known for it's lion head meatballs.. These were called, Lion King Meatball in Chinese.. While there was very little meat, it was mainly tofu, egg and nuts.. there was a slight cinnamon taste.. it was really unique.. While i didn't love it, i thought it was good.. it was the last thing that came out so, the fact it wasn't a huge meatball was a relief.
Forgot another plate of greens
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b and b was the place that was terrible, the batali restaurant in the palazzo/ venetian.
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i had really horrific service while i was there last time.. our waiter was just out to lunch in every way.. we were flagging down random servers walking through the room.. We ordered perhaps 70 percent of the menu and things were inedible.. they cooked a rabbit so poorly that it turned to mush.. I don't know how the did it.. Things were salty. I remember an octopus dish was good.. But, i think before tip, it was well over 200 bucks a head for the 2 of us and we were so disappointed.. i have been going to Babbo since the first month it opened and can't compare the two. though, i have been only a few times so, it could have all been coincidentally off nights.
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ah, i am sure my posts are riddled with errors.. In between long work days and everything else, i don't spell check, proofread, or edit.. i just post stuff.. i work enough all day! if grammar mistakes upset you, or anyone, you have been not so much forewarned but, mid warned.
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i am sure i am misspelling it.. my internet is too slow, it would take me 5 minutes to spell check. does google work well by you? i have to use yahoo and it always times out.
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i guess.. i am talking about places in NYC that use sous vide.. and these are like the top tier restaurants around town.
i can identified when it's used and often find it while perfect looking, it tastes dry to me, not juicy and really soulless. i guess for all the reasons people like it, i don't.. the same reason why i guess people like it, i guess i don't.. i have experimented with it sous vide off an on for 10 years.. i am just not a fan. it is possible i guess, for a person not to like sous vide.
edit to add, it makes a killer poached egg.
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ok, i am down.. when i get back from my china trip, which i posting here, http://forums.egullet.org/topic/148537-may-2014-china-trip/?p=1970232
i will happily do a comparison.. and cook burgers both ways.. maybe even, shutter, deep fry one.
in terms of the bun, what should i do about that? i find that using baked buns is highly annoying as when baking bread, there are wildly different textures in the bread. the outside is dark, the inside has various layers of doneness.. do we still use buns, or is there a way to sous vide bread as well? should i use lettuce wraps or perhaps a crepe
(this is obviously a joke)I for one usually dislike meat that is cooked sous vide.. especially meat that could be cooked medium rare.. biggest example is duck breast which, is probably the most satisfying thing one can do with the least amount of effort..
but, hey, i am not above experimentation.
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they serve hagen daaz ice cream on United Airlines to china... That must be like a point of luxury then. It doesn't prove anything, I find it interesting, i was just sharing.
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these geese are being delivered somewhere.. so, this guy is loading them up.. but, they didn't seem under duress they were just like chilling.. even the guys tied to the side of the cart..
That is a good question.. I am not sure at this point.. I am really comfortable with most of the people i go visit at this point..Some i have 12 year relationships with.. They know me and i often show my exasperation in their ordering too much.. Today, i was done before the fish and noodles arrived..
Someone else asked me how expensive these meals are.. I took a walk tonight around town as i am sort of full and very bored.. i really like the foot massages here but, with a broken toe, I don't know how that would work! Though, allow me to make a 10 percent off the foot massage joke.
the meal today was probably 250 to like 320 rmb.. Tonight at the grocery store, a pint of hagen daaz costs 88 rMB.. So, you could have eaten that entire meal for the cost of three or 4 pints of ice cream..
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Ha... still working. just starting drinking beer and more tea to soldier through.
The goose was boiled.. As I said, the geese are literally downstairs. I have had this simple cold dish of goose many times in China. it wasn't grey, perhaps it looks that way on your computer.. the meat was really lovely actually. The fish, i don't think is chub but, that's what her translator said on the phone. They would not have brought anything in from outside of the town.. This restaurant is a little restaurant in a little shitty hotel that a small family runs. We were in a small sectioned off room while maybe 15 people were sitting in another room watching television.
The husband is a chef who bought the restaurant and it happened to have a hotel attached.. The food ranges from average to excellent.. Being a saturday, being children's day, I don't think he brought his A game.. But, the eggplant was pretty fantastic..
edit to add.. whoops, today is Sunday..
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In terms of dining etiquette, i don't think they would be offended, in terms of angry.. but, they would be concerned that I was not happy and ultimately, keep ordering dishes until i said, wow this is really good and ate it.. Like, i have gone to dinner with people that were scared to eat the food in China or were not feeling well that night or we just not hungry.. They kept ordering dish after dish, watching to see which one these chose. I of course was eating every dish like i was on a deserted island for the last 12 years..
All of my hosts have been so warm and concerned for me.. There is such a graciousness.. Like the three of us stand like idiots in the elevator waiting for the other one to go first.. It takes us like 2 minutes to walk through a door as i want them to go first, they want me to go first.. It's just such a kindness and a consideration.. So, to answer your question, i wouldn't say offend, it would make them concerned that someone wasn't happy.
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i usually come back a pound or two either way.. some times I have lost 5 pounds.. I broke a toe and have another injury and came over sick so, i haven't been using the gyms.. but, this is the first trip i haven't been going to the gym everyday while i was here.. the scale in my room has been broken but, i am nervous to get on the scale..
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Lunch today.. Huge amount of food. It's Children's Day here.. A big holiday.. We are working through it, I don't think people are happy with me.. But, hey, business is business and if it makes them feel any better, i missed Memorial Day.
cold goose.. they sell live goose directly outside of this place.. they butcher them on the spot.. there are tons of geese sitting in this box.. there feet are tied together and the are squawking all day..
cucumber
pork ribs-
This was stupid delicious.. fried eggplant that were cut into coins.. in the coins, it was stuffed with pork.. served with a spicy garlic and ginger sauce.. So delicious.. My bride would have loved this as well.
fish ball and bamboo mushroom soup.
fish head. when asked what kind, the chinese translation was chub. It looks fiery and while, kind of hot, it's more salty than anything. Hot doesn't bother me. unless it's super hot, i don't even realize it.
I think because i asked about the tofu bone sauce yesterday, they thought i liked it.. today it was not nearly as good.. the sauce more watery.. taste less rich and more like dishwater.. while yesterday, i may have guessed there was butter in it.
chicken with ginkgo nuts.. they were very bitter.. i am not sure if they were ginkgo, someone else called them cloudy beans..
As if there was not enough food, they ordered noodles at the end of the meal.. very delicious.. in a garlicky brown broth.
Not many leftovers..
so full, once again.. like after every meal, i am disappointed with myself.. i give myself a pep talk, don't over eat this time, don't over eat this time.. I thought i did well and that the meal was over.. next thing you know the fish head comes out, which is one of my favorites.. then come the noodles.. I am so ashamed.. I just can't control myself..-
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Pork Rectums
in Cooking
Posted · Edited by basquecook (log)
My buddy and I ate something called Bungus at a Korean Restaurant. It was super gritty so, obviously it was gross. Was not cleaned well. But really, what's the difference. I don't understand why one part of an animal is considered acceptable to eat. It's all marketing. For me, the least desirable animal part to eat is perhaps a chicken breast. Or maybe, cooked filet mignon