jschyun

In no particular order. I need a break so here I am dawdling on eGullet again. I'm sick of writing code. Gary Danko: very consistent, love that roast lobster with trumpet mushroom and the crunchy super sweet SH2 corn. (an educated guess). bar has lots of good eye candy for lone diner. Koi Palace: Still my fave in SF but pales in comparison with Sea Harbour down south. Kiss Seafood: the only sushi I really like so far in SF area, but I haven't been there in a while. Shanghai Dumpling Shop: great juicy dumplings though kind of variable lately. great pan fried scallion bread. Good solid food across the board. We keep going back and back and back. Cheap too.

mmm, spam grease

I like Kiss Seafood alot too, in fact, probably the only sushi joint I like in Northern Cal so far. But hey, it's only $35 (I think) as opposed to $250 (before tax, drinks, tip etc) But I have heard from several people who globetrot, that L.A. has the greatest concentration of great sushi for relatively low price. To be honest, SF is kind of a sushi wasteland in comparison. To be honest, I can't think of any Asian food that SF does as well as L.A. with a few notable exceptions. Western style is a different story with French Laundry I guess. FZ: Urasawa made the salt in Japan I believe. God, I don't want to be eating Marina Del Rey salt, that's for damn sure. Oh and definitely not Redondo Beach salt. Oh my God, have you seen the stuff on that beach?

I'm sorry hzrt8w. How sad. I know I am late (and I have had my share of mooncakes this month), but I haven't been in the Bay Area in a month now (due to some activities here) and I thought I would share some with Kee Wah deprived folks up north. Okay I'm back to work. --edit spelling

I really like Kee Wah Bakery here in Southern California. I will get some mooncakes there before leaving for Oakland next week, and I am sharing with whoever wants some. PM me if you want some. I may get the minis so nobody has to worry about getting cooties. They also have great pineapple paste cakes, which tissue (where is she?) told us about. I'm not as big a fan of their custard tarts, even though they have a variety. Crust is not flaky and the egg is too eggy and not delicate for my taste. Lots of other nice pastries.

Not too long ago, I started to saying crazy things, like California rolls are not evil, and I found myself attempting to learn how to like stuff like rainbow rolls. But four hours at Urasawa has restored my sanity. California rolls, bah! And don't get me started on rainbow rolls. Well okay, if the California roll actually has crab in it, fine. In this price range (around $400), I suppose I have a couple of options. I have thought about spending my cash at say French Laundry but I just never seem to get that excited about FL. I mean, intellectually, I know it's good. And the dishes sound interesting. But I kind of made one or two half-assed attempts to get into French Laundry, failed, and then forgot about it. I mean, I will probably go to FL sometime, but somehow I don't have nervous anticipation over it. I had nervous anticipation about going to Urasawa, and it was actually surprisingly easy to get a reservation. When I got there, there was an Indonesian couple sitting there, about halfway through their meal. Fingers were crusted with huge jewels, huge jade pendant hanging from a gold chain. The lady also wore jewelry. Hiro was telling them that he was closing the restaurant for a couple of days because he needed to make a trip to Tokyo to buy pottery. I found out later in the meal that this couple had been coming here every night for the last two weeks, and that he was warning them in case they decided to show up while he was in Tokyo. On Sunday (the day before the night I was there), they had brought 4 members of their family. That's approx a $2000 meal! When I asked them about coming here so much, the man solemnly told me "it's the best". The lady nodded. I also sat next to another couple, one of the owners/chef Bruce Marder of Capo Restaurant in Santa Monica, with his cool, smart girlfriend. Actually, I think that was him. I heard Hiro call him Bruce and I looked it up on google. Anyway, after talking to him a little bit, it was quickly apparent that he is an ingredient freak, and that he really loves sushi. He knew pretty much every ingredient Hiro was using and revealed that the rice he uses for risotto in his restaurant he gets from Mori (of Mori Sushi, famed for the rice he grows in Sacramento and hand mills for his restaurant). It's no wonder to me that Marder showed up at Urasawa because it's all about the fantastic ingredients and (unbelieveable in a young man) skill here. The only thing missing is an old man's crochety attitude. Hiro is friendly and talkative and eager to give you things that will make you happy. In my case, it was unlimited toro, ikura, and uni. I've only had ikura that I like at one other place, Abe in Newport Beach, where it's called the "salmon eggs cocktail" and marinated in sake and some other stuff. Usually it's been frozen and so damn salty and slimy. Urasawa marinates his salmon eggs in several kinds of sake, some soy sauce, and other magic things. The eggs pop in your mouth as you eat it, and I had a lot of pieces, about 6, to tide me over while I go through withdrawal until the next visit. Everything here is organic, and most of it is made by Urasawa himself from the best ingredients, naturally. The ginger that comes with your sushi? Made by Urasawa from organic roots, so much better than that pink stuff that comes with your usual bento box special, you might not recognize it. The salt? Handmade by Urasawa. Soy sauce? I suspect this is not just soy sauce, because it tasted like it had bonito or some fish element in it. It was so much better than your average tabletop Kikkoman, that the Indonesian couple took some home to put on "pizza, rice, sandwich, whatever, haha". Okay, actually I don't know if he made the soy sauce but it was definitely a unique blend of something. My favorites were the amazing "egg custard" that was made with eggs, shrimp, sugar, soy sauce, mountain potato, but tasted and looked more like a yellow sponge cake with a slight briny aftertaste to it. Far, far better than it sounds. I had a bunch of these. The toro he has is so fatty it looks like it is frosted, like you see in the pictures, but can never get at the cheaper places. I had so much toro, cooked on the stone, and raw in sushi and sashimi, that I was a very happy camper. Oh and the uni was the best ever. Sometimes uni can be totally skank, but this uni was legions above practically anything I've had. I mean, he might as well have just cracked it in front of me and handed a spoon. Creamy and sweet oh god. I asked for a lot of uni and he gave it to me. He cracked open a huge live shrimp in front of me and made amaebi sushi topped with the shrimp guts mixed with soy sauce. Oh man, I dream of those shrimp guts. The chawan mushi here was amazing, as well it should be with the caviar, uni, gelee all in one place. But the egg custard itself was silky, like flan only softer, silker, almost pudding-like. His rice is really good. This one thing he did, had I think Japanese pike makerel (didn't write this down) on top of a log of rice he had kneaded with chopped shiso. If you or I were to knead rice like that, it would turn into a gummy mess, but the resulting sushi rice was still somehow delicate, light, with distinct grains of rice still intact. The pike was seared with several long metal tongs and you could see the fat oozing out of the flesh. When the display was over, he cut it up into pieces and the fish was slightly warm and uh melting from the treatment, with the rice formed in my mind the best possible mouthful I had had. I know I've forgotten to mention at least a half dozen amazing dishes, but it's late and I have a ton of work to do. Urasawa is a young chef, only 36 years old, but he's been in the game 30 years, starting with his father's restaurant in Kyoto. He states to customers that his food is Kyoto style and Masa's is Tokyo style, and so they should expect something slightly different. But he does keep some of Masa's favorites, like the shabu shabu. I don't know how he can be open 7 days a week, and yes he does lunch. He wakes up early to get to the fish market (and he told me that Koreans make up half the buyers) then he has to make lunch, then dinner. He barely sleeps and is, of course single. He says he will never leave L.A. "I am staying here forever", and that cooking is his hobby, his passion. But how long can a guy keep this kind of schedule up, even if he is a young whippersnapper like Urasawa? The price of the omakase dinner is $250, but with everything, including sake, tea, Evian water (the only kind you'll get here) the meal comes to about $400. Frankly, I think it's a bit underpriced, considering his ingredients, rent on that little cobblestone area of Rodeo Drive, help costs. But I'm not complaining; I just hope he can stay in business. Meanwhile I will be driving over here from Irvine every chance I get. Price of parking in the structure underneath the restaurant (kind of difficult to find the entrance actually) is about $7 if I remember correctly. Blowfish season is coming up! Anyone? In short, I can't think of anywhere else I'd like to fritter away my retirement money, than this tiny 10 table restaurant. I have found my brand of crack and it's name is Urasawa. ---------------------------------- Pic of Hiro Urasawa whipping green tea for another customer. Here he looks kind of serious, like a monk even. But when he starts talking about sushi, his eyes widen the way kids eyes do when they see their Christmas presents. Toro fat melting on a hot stone, greasing the way for the rest of the toro. Tasted sort of like very tender beef in a way. Aw yeah, beyatch. Foie gras, hamo fish, scallop shabu shabu. A Masa holdover. Note the paper shabu shabu broth bowl over the brazier. Tai, I think herring, and I forget which kind of toro over a huge ice bowl carved by Urasawa himself. What am I saying. He made practically everything including the salt. Chawan mushi with uni, a gelee of some kind on top and Russian beluga caviar Salmon eggs (ikura), bluefin toro, squid with yuzu juice and salt, toro roll with I think cucumber Look at that uni, more toro, I think tai (Japanese sea bream), japanese mackerel (?), scallop

Wow, 2 stars. I know Tartare can't be that bad. In fact, after reading his extremely personal review, I'm going to book a reservation right away (been meaning to go there anyway). Thanks Michael Bauer! Too bad MB didn't take that NY Times position. He would have been right at home there (along with Amanda Hesser and the gang), and we would have been rid of him.

Guess what guys: the matsul that I didn't really know about is the exact same thing as mirin. I asked at the store today and they rolled their eyes at me. the yut (malt syrup) I was thinking of is actually corn syrup. There is another syrup that is actually malt syrup, and brown like what I was thinking of, but this recipe asks for corn syrup. I suspect if you put in enough sugar, that would do the same thing. And since I was at the store, I measured the black beans against the other ones and they're actually slightly bigger than adzuki beans. see this is why melonpan does all the translations... she's more careful. I'll look around for other recipes. --sugar and corn syrup do have slightly different properties sometimes. I don't know that it will make a difference here, but I bought enough beans to try both. Also, cane and beet sugar can make a difference, cane generally being superior. At least that's what I read somewhere.

I suspect any thick syrup product would work. I would be surprised if there was no thick syrup product in Japan that would do the trick. I don't think you need it, I've seen plenty of times where the sauce is kind of watery, but I like it more viscous and sticky. Because I feel guilty about everyone trying to make this, I think I too will make kong jang sometime this week. The things I do for you guys.

pls note the changes at the end of my last post. just some minor ones.

Oh geez, I just read that English recipe and realized it called for a pound of beans. That's a lot of kong jang! Obviously you don't want to make that much on your first try. Here's a quick and somewhat crappy translation of the korean recipe. Not as nice as melonpan's but oh well. Kong Jang Recipe 2(Soy Sauce Marinated Beans) Ingredients: 1 cup black soy beans, 2 Tblspns raw sesame seeds, 2 cups water. Sauce Ingredients: 5 Tblspns soy sauce, 2 Tblspn rice wine (aka mirin), 1 Tblspn sugar, 1 Tblspn corn syrup, a little sesame oil (I will guess 1/4 tsp) 1. Soak the black beans for about 5 hrs. 2. When the skins have started to split, rinse the beans a bunch of times. You don't necessarily want to get the skins off though. You want chewy beans with nice dark brown, shiny yet wrinkly skins. 3. In a pan (the pic has a cute aluminum pan) put the 2 cups water, beans and boil until about halfway done. (As mentioned, the eventual product is supposed to be chewy, not cooked through like baked beans.) 4. Okay then you mix together the sauce stuff: soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, malt syrup. 5. When the beans are about half cooked, throw in the sauce you just mixed in #4 and cook for about 15 minutes and make sure a lot of steam comes out of the beans and the liquid in the pan reduces down as much as possible. The eventual beans are pretty dry, so I would reduce down a lot. However, you also want to make sure the beans don't overcook and get mushy. 6. once steam is coming off and the liquid is pretty much reduced, splash in a little sesame oil. and throw in the sesame seeds. Cool the beans down in the fridge. I guess you could eat them hot, but I never have. (Can you tell I have never made these? I'm telling you, I'm LAZY) Personally, I don't like to eat these cold, but you definitely have to cool them down so that sauce coats the beans and you get that sticky quality. I think the malt syrup is what makes the beans shiny and so nicely sticky. No need for an old nail. Very addictive. Oh, and a drop lid just seems like a generic pot lid. I'm sure you can use a regular pot lid with exactly the same results. ------------------EDIT------------------------- --#2 changed line from "when skins are sort of coming off" to "when skins have started to split" --also I don't think you should use a lid for this recipe. As you can see in the pic, no lid is used, and also you want to rapidly reduce the liquid in the pot. --edited sauce ingred list to make more clear --the moolyut is corn syrup not the malt syrup I was thinking of. it's corn syrup

Oh geez, I can't believe I forgot to mention the kids I grew up with. The father was Thai and the mother Swedish. The kids (I think they had 4 or 5 boys) all had varying shades of red hair and freckles, but Asianish features. That was really cool, but I didn't know them enough to find out what kind of food they cooked at home. That would have been really interesting. Can you imagine what a Swedish-Thai restaurant would be like?

My Chinese friend has been married to her Mr. McRoundEyes husband for 20 years and when they drove through Portland about oh, 5 or so years ago, she told me she was subject to a lot of rude stares and grumbling white people. Of course her husband didn't notice anything. So I am Korean-Am and I'm also dating a big pasty-white boy, and when we went to Portland recently, I was ready and raring for any type of attack. But then we got there, and there were so many Asians holding hands with other races (mostly Caucasian) that nobody noticed us. I remarked on this to our (Caucasian) host and he just shrugged and said something about how there's not much difference between (Far East) Asian and Caucasian. I also think mixed kids are very cute. This new programmer got hired and he's half Nigerian and half white american. he's very cute and speaks 4 languages. not that all mixed kids will be like that but just throwing that out there. --and Tiger Woods is half black-Am and half Thai and he's good looking and has good teeth.

LA Times Food Section -- September 22, 2004 To view the articles below, register a username with www.latimes.com. Registration is free. There is a separate Calendar section with more food articles, but you have to pay a fee for those. Straight from the farm -- Russ Parsons Our man tells us about an unlikely Fresno restaurant, Echo. "It's simple, elegant, delicious food, the kind you expect to find at Chez Panisse and Zuni Café in the Bay Area, and Lucques and Campanile here in L.A. But the difference is, it's in Fresno, and most of the fruits and vegetables that are served were grown within a half-hour's drive....One thing I remember for certain was the elation I felt when I was finished. I wanted to hug everyone in sight. I felt like I'd witnessed a small miracle." Did he mention it's in Fresno? Recipes Hot links to some edgy bloggers -- Laurie Winer "When a good writer chronicles his life, it is art. When an amateur feels the need to chronicle his life by listing what he made or ate for dinner each night, often the best that can be said is that it's touching. In the world of food blogs, you may be touched and find some great recipes in the bargain." Her favorites are Chocolate and Zucchini, The Julie/Julia Project, and Saute Wednesday. Recipe Thrilling chiller -- Barbara Hansen She has the recipe for Ciudad's Minty Lime Cooler Download, then uncork -- David Shaw "There's a new toy on the market for folks I think of fondly as "double geeks" — people who like both fine wine and electronic gadgets. It's called "Parker in Your Palm," and it allows users to download ratings and tasting notes from ERobertParker.com, the online version of Parker's Wine Advocate newsletter, and transfer the data into a Palm personal digital assistant." Wine of the Week -- S. Irene Virbila 2000 Kante Malvasia: "The scent is wildflowers, peaches and honey — summer in a glass — and the texture is reminiscent of Viognier. Bone dry, the 2000 has a bright snap of citrus and a strong minerality that makes this Kante Malvasia ideal as an aperitif or with food. Pour it with grilled fish or shrimp, seafood stews or calamari. " About $30 ------------ CalendarLive stories It's still summer here - Leslie Komaiko Mentions Il Cono (family run gelateria), Al Gelato (restaurant that has gelato), Angelato (American style gelato). Also, "Rika Horie and former R23 owner Haru Maruyama opened Rika this week at Sunset Millennium Plaza. The cuisine is "French-Japanese: using French technique with Japanese ingredients," according to Horie.". Warren Schwartz is now exec chef at Whist, in the Viceroy Hotel. Jon and Bob Long (Georgia and Roxbury) are opening a new club called Central, firsst week of Oct. David Rosoff, formerly of Opaline is now gen manager of Campanile. One door closes; another opens -- S. Irene Virbila She gives 2* to Cafe Capo, in the former Opaline space. Slightly less expensive than Capo. Competent, consistent cooking with great produce and meat, but not exciting. Service varies from "crisply efficient" to theatrically effusive. Suddenly Saigon -- Linda Burum Linda Burum suddenly gets excited about Vietnamese food.

you mean kong jang? eunny jang is spot on. Honestly, I hate to admit this, but I'm one of lazy people that goes to the deli and buys it, or eats it if someone else makes it. I didn't realize this was for black soybeans. Actually, I never thought about what bean goes in there, but it's definitely a small roundish black bean, that you can find in any Korean market. If you have seen adzuki beans, I think they're about the same size. the lone english recipe for kong jang (soy sauce marinated black beans) there's a lot of subtle variations in the Korean recipes but I don't have the time to translate them. one with pics (korean though)

hey there's a parking garage smack in the middle of chinatown so you don't have to drive around for parking unless you feel like parking curbside. Cheap too. Where'd they end up going?

The two places I had fantastic service when I was alone was at Stars restaurant (10+ years ago) and Quince (sometime a couple months ago). I think the Stars people thought I was a reviewer because they kept asking strange questions like "You're from a newspaper right?" But the Quince waiter treated me like I was his daughter or something. He was really very kind. At both places I thought the service outshined the food, but I can't wait to drag a friend or two back to Quince and try it again. Stars, of course, is closed. Gary Danko's bar is amazing too because the most interesting people eat there. last time I met someone who had just come back from Spain and she was a real wine geek and had been to L.A a lot too. Also, the food is pretty good. I like the lobster with corn and mushrooms. To my taste, the meat dishes are somewhat salt-laden, but I still like the lamb. The ahi tuna dish is very pretty (looks like a butterfly), but I haven't had it yet. I'm a big dessert person, but I dunno, theirs don't make me salivate the way I would normally.

My sister got stiffed by so many jerks at this one deli she worked at, I just can't find it in me to do that to anyone else. I usually tip 15% only when I get bad service. If it's really, really bad, I go and talk to the manager. Otherwise, I tip the usual 18% or 20% unless the service is really good and then I'll do more. If someone tries hard, they should be rewarded. Anyway, it's not like I'm going to the French Laundry. Sometimes I tip less when i'm in a group. But not below 15%.

Wow, that was one hell of a weekend!

yeah, it's open on sat from 8-4. but not sundays. If you don't mind bringing me along sometime, I'd like to go with you. I notice I get bigger sandwiches when I'm with other people that don't look related to me. Gustavo Arellano did a piece on a Salvadoran Jew baker in Mission Viejo who does a good pastrami. I haven't had the chance to check it out this claim. He learned about pastrami under Abraham Kaplan (Kaplan's Deli, mentioned above) Arellano's story about Solomon's Bakery --sorry, back to The Hat (By the way, tejon, there's another location for The Hat that is closer to you. click here for locations)

so far i haven't tried them all, but pink pearl and granny smith makes a pretty good pie. Actually I like granny smith mixed with a lot of different kinds of apples.

yeah, it's pretty good, esp for OC. But if you're closer L.A. and it's before 4pm, you might as well go to Langer's instead and make sure you get yours handsliced. I believe this gives me what others on this board have call a "foodgasm" haven't tried the pastrami at katella deli in Costa Mesa. My sis used to work there and her stories put me off my feed, but I heard the pastrami is good.

I think it's great that assholes like Grimes can make such a good living in New York. He can't do this anywhere else. I guess other places don't have enough bitchy queens to support guys like this. At least the queens I know aren't nearly this bitchy. I'm not in New York. If anyone is going for the lowest common denominator, it's Grimes. It's so easy to trash Rachel Ray, it's practically cliche. Canned peaches don't taste as good as fresh? If I may be so bold to quote someone else on this thread, "No shit, Sherlock"! His main appeal is to those who enjoy thinking of themselves as better than everyone else. In other words, elitist, self-satisfied assholes like himself. " Fudge pudding cake, for example, looks like a heaping helping of Alpo." Hmm, pate on a toast point looks like creamy shit as well, but somehow he fails to mention this. "I was stupefied to learn that I was wasting a huge amount of time and effort..." (roasting peppers) Wow, occasionally, even elitist assholes can learn a thing or two! Golly, imagine that! "Critics never stop criticizing. They just change their targets. After nearly five years of finding fault with everyone else, I now impose my exacting standards on the chef least likely to live up to them: myself." ..and then he spends the rest of the piece criticizing everyone else. What is it they say about old dogs? Someone ought to euthanize this one. Trash him lightly? What for? Isn't bitchy fun what this is all about?

LA Times Food Section -- September 15, 2004 To view the articles below, register a username with www.latimes.com. Registration is free. There is a separate Calendar section with more food articles, but you have to pay a fee for those. Poetry in motion -- S. Irene Virbila "A mortar and pestle can bring you back to what cooking has always been about: sensuality, attention, transformation." She makes aioli, pistou, mayonnaise with a low tech mortar and pestle. Recipe Laying the groundwork -- Charles Perry Piece on the different types of mortars/pestles, what they do well, where you can get them, pics. Feasting updated -- Valli Herman Rosh Hashana begins today at sundown and Herman has spruced up some recipes like honey cake, chicken with fresh figs, and herbed rice with seasoned currants. Time is ripe for change -- Jordan Mackay "In the United States, especially in California, the trend toward riper grapes and more alcoholic wines has been significant... With the rise in alcohol, wines, like so many other Americans, have gained weight, becoming fleshier, rounder and softer, as well as more jammy and more monolithic." In food circes, dismay -- Regina Schrambling "Reports of financial irregularities at Beard Foundation bring questions, resignations." recent egullet discussion here He'll always have Paris -- David Shaw "A recent trip to France leaves a restaurant lover longing for more affordable times." $48 appetizers, $37 cheese plate, meals costing him $600 (30% more than before, and without all the goodies he usually gets such as foie gras, lobster, truffles) Los Angeles Times List of Top Food and Cooking Books #1 is "30-Minute Meals 2 by Rachael Ray (Lake Island Press, $14.95) Still going strong. " Wine of the Week -- S. Irene Virbila 2001 Villa Antinori Toscana: "Aged a year in oak casks and eight more months in bottle, it's really a Supertuscan, but without the usual high price tag. The 2001 Villa Antinori beguiles with a sweet and true scent of cherries, but the taste is darker and more complex, earthy and chewy. Seamless and, as always, beautifully made, it's a wine I could drink all night." about $18 Correction Regarding last week's recipe for limoncello: No matter what top you use to close the bottle, you must not fill the bottle all the way to the brim. ------------ CalendarLive stories Adventuresome table -- S. Irene Virbila She gives 2* to Yi Cuisine. Another Asian fusion restaurant. After a shaky beginning, food and service are getting on track. Menu has Hawaiian (updated mac salad, ahi poke, etc), Filipino (pork belly adobo, pata) notes. $20 corkage. Young crowd, less date restaurant than place to hang out with friends.

Even $200K out of $4.7 million doesn't seem like much, but it's better.