Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Cake Decorating!

Oh, it has been too long... since my last post! Except I've been really busy with uni, and that's my excuse! But that doesn't mean that the cooking has stopped, no! 

A little blurb on cake decoration for ya!


My friend, Ashley, and I made this cake for our friends who had their birthdays this past weekend! Awesome, no? If you couldn't tell, it's the house from the Pixar/Disney film Up! The balloons are made from food-coloured french vanilla cupcakes and the cake that makes this house is german chocolate cake. Both were from box recipes because I really wanted to focus on decorating here.

Before laying on the frosting, you should know that you can shape the cake however you'd like! You should also slice/trim the rounded top off of the cake if you want it to lay flat. 
TIP: You can use a knife, fishing string, a clean potter's wire tool, etc... to take off the rounded "muffin top." I used a clean steel guitar string because I was strapped for tools. ^^; If using any of the latter three, be sure to pull it taught and pull it across the cake for a straight trim. Now you can eat the best part of the cake separately. :)

I shaped the roof and dormers on the house before actually frosting it; this took quite a lot of thought because I didn't sketch it out--I recommend doing a quick doodle on some scratch paper before taking to the knife. I used a basic Cutco knife to shave off the corners and cut around the eaves of the roof. The chimney is a separate part made from the shaved off scraps. It was pasted on with frosting. 


The frosting is just regular frosting with food dye, laid on with a spatula/spoon. 

TIP: make sure the cake is properly cooled before you start laying the frosting on--the cake will begin to crumble if it's not cooled. Be patient! 

I split the frosting up into portions, one for each colour I wanted. The roof is done with chocolate frosting. No dye needed there. :) I then applied the light colours first. The thin lines are done with a piping bag--which I didn't actually have.
TIP: you can use a ziploc bag just as easily. I did! Just fill up the inside corner of the bag with the respective frosting, twist the bag to seal it off, and snip off the corner of the bag. How much you snip off depends on how thick you want your line of frosting to be. I snipped off about a quarter to a half of a centimeter. 
Practice piping evenly on some scratch paper before putting the makeshift piping bag to your masterpiece. Squeeze the frosting out with one hand while guiding with your dominant hand.

These really are just basics of what you can do with cake and frosting! Fondant is another popular cake-decorating item. Some people are not fond of the taste or texture of it, but it's very popular among the cake decorating shows. Cream, icing and ganache are more alternatives. Whatever you decorate, be sure to think of the texture you want--if you're baking a cake in the shape of the abominable snowman, how about using shredded dried coconut to bring out the texture? Are you baking a Ferrari-shaped cake? Maybe consider using icing instead! Don't limit yourself to the possibilities! :)

*I should have taken more pictures of the construction, but I honestly did not think this would turn out half as good as it did. Perhaps I'll do it again and do a more thorough how-to, but for now this just has some little decorating tips!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Macaron Madness!


Macarons are pretty much the most pretentious cookies on the planet.



I've been obsessing over these little suckers over the past few weeks; I've done about a dozen batches before my mother called her friend to get tips for me! Finally I got a batch that *looked* right! They have the little feet and everything! I adjusted the proportions from several recipes to make smaller batches to just do test runs. Here's my recipe:

1 egg white
40 g almond flour (I just measured sliced almonds out and put it in a my Magic Bullet)
60 g powdered sugar
1.5 tbsp granulated sugar
Piping bag (ziplock bag if you don't have one)
Parchment paper
Oven at 275-300*F

You probably want to make the dry mix first. Do this by measuring out the almonds and blending it with the powdered sugar in a food processor. Next, sift it all out to get a fine powder.
Egg whites! When whipping egg whites, start adding the 1.5 tbsp of sugar when the whites start to foam. Continue the beatings till morale improves. When you pull the beater out of the egg white, the egg white should come up stiff (and not collapse back down). Disaster can also strike if you beat the white too much so be on the alert!

Next, fold the dry mix into your stiffened whites in 4-5 batches. If you're colouring your macarons, put the food colouring in now. Fold enough so it's mixed in and the dry mix is no longer visible, but not too much. If nudged, the dough should slowly sink back down.

Now, fill your piping bag with the macaron mix and pipe little circles onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Leave space in between as they will spread out as they start to rest.

Let stand until film forms over macarons--a "skin" MUST form on the macarons. May take about 30 min. or possibly longer, depending on the humidity of the air; I find it best to make macarons when the weather is relatively dry. Test the macarons by gently touching the surface. If the dough does not stick, you're good to pop it in the oven. Let it bake for about 10-12 minutes.

When checking the macarons, they should have risen a bit to form "feet." They also should come off the parchment paper effortlessly if they're ready. If they're still stuck to the paper, they're not done yet! But watch them closely--if they stay in too long, they could crack, sag, or just get plain rock-hard.
Once again, this is a really pretentious cookie to bake, so don't be discouraged if you don't get 'em right in 10 tries. Seriously. Even professionals struggle with these.

To make a filling, you can use fruit preserve, whipped cream, peanut butter, Nutella or ganache, all which taste great! To make ganache, bring some heavy cream to a simmer and then pour it into a heat-safe bowl of chocolate or white chocolate chips. Stir until even and let it cool off until it's easier to work with. It should be like the consistency of Nutella when it's cool. If it's too liquidy, mix some flour or corn starch in to thicken it.

Fill your macarons with the filling of your choice and then they're free to eat. I have found them best at a day old, as the moisture in the filling seeps into the cookie at that point. Just store them in an air tight container and they're good for a couple days, but I doubt they will last that long! Happy baking! xx

Saturday, September 17, 2011

I do believe I've found a ramen place that tops Asa Ramen... oh dear, I am smitten...

4681 Convoy St., #1, San Diego, CA 92111
(858)576-7244

Tajima is in San Diego county on Convoy, frequently known as the Asian area in SD, where 99 Ranch Market resides. Their website is here.

I had the opportunity to try the ramen with the house broth, topped with the pork belly fat, sliced pork, seaweed, an egg and green onions! Not only was it plenty of food, but the taste was fantastically flavourful and rich and not overly salty! The piece of dried seaweed was actually a nice touch and you can ask for extra if you like. :)

Another bonus is that they give student discounts!! Just bring your ID with you and set it on the table when you order and they'll knock off a percentage! I don't know if you can top a restaurant that pays attention to the fact that us students are actually kinda poor like we say we are!

I do recommend going early if you don't want to wait. The place does start to fill up at around 6 or 6:30 and if you go at peak hours you might have to wait.

Definitely going back to this ramen house for more!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Food Feature: Eggplant Eggstravaganza!

Ah, the eggplant... or aubergine, as it's known in many places around the world. Apart from being a nice winter colour, it's also a meaty vegetable; when cooked right, I find it's density is a bit like a cooked mushroom. The aubergine comes in many shapes and sizes, but for the most part, eggplants are similar in taste and texture from my experience. It's a funny vegetable that looks nothing like it's cousins, the tomato and the potato, and it's a good source of potassium; some studies have shown that the vitamins in eggplants can help in countering high cholesterol, but it's by no means a treatment on its own.

Another fun factoid off Wikipedia: the eggplant has more nicotine in it than any other edible plant in the world! Somehow I doubt that it's enough to get you hooked, as you'd need to ingest about 20 lbs of eggplant in order to get the same amount of nicotine in a cigarette.


They are mighty-tough buggers to cook! If not done right, eggplants could come out hard or bitter or overly-mushy. They also absorb oil like paper towels without so much as being cooked, so I don't recommend pan-frying them like other veg. Eggplants also don't keep too long, so if you buy some, put it in the fridge to keep them, but I don't recommend letting them stay there for over a day, two at most. They're also emotionally-sensitive vegetables, probably because they're pear-shaped (no shame in this!) and can be easily bruised.

I'm here to share some awesome recipes I've discovered over the past year or so, since I fell in love with the aubergine when my friend Lena treated me to some of her mother's fantastic eggplant lasagna (wish I had THIS recipe!). A cool fact is that most of these recipes, if not all are vegetarian or vegan!


Eggplant Fries
One of my favourite treats are eggplant fries! I may possibly like them more than sweet potato fries; if they don't precede sweet potato fries, then they are a close runner up.

Recipe inspired by a website called userealbutter.com

Ingredients: 
1-2 medium eggplants/aubergines
1 c flour
1/2 tbsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp kosher/Hawaiian rock salt
1 tsp dry parsley flakes
frying oil
honey
salt to taste

Make a dry mix of 1 cup flour1/2 tbsp oregano, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 tsp kosher salt and 1 tsp dry parsley flakes. Peel and cut the 1-2 medium eggplant(s) into 3/4 inch thick strips, as long or short as you like and lightly coat them in the flour mix (if it’s too heavily coated, the excess flour will come off in the frying process and ruin your oil). In a saucepan or fryer, add frying oil and heat up. To test the temperature, I like to sprinkle a little bit of flour into the oil; if it starts to bubble, it’s hot enough to start frying your eggplant fries. Fry only a few at a time so the temperature of the oil doesn’t drop too much; I recommend turning them during the process. Take them out when they’re golden (after a minute or so) and set them on paper towels to remove unwanted oil. When they’re done, drizzle with honey and sprinkle salt before serving! (For an herbal twist, substitute lavender seasoning for the honey!)
When I made this for my family, I served this as an appetizer with a Mediterranean-style dinner: Quinoa salad (quinoa, cubed avocado, cubed cucumber, kalamata olives, chopped cherry tomato, olive oil & salt) and a Greek-style chicken dish (chicken cooked in a skillet with a tomato sauce with onions, green peppers and zucchini). The fries absolutely disappeared within minutes! I could almost swear that the lazy susan on the table never stopped spinning because people were constantly turning it to get at these fries. 
Briam
The best way to describe briam, a Greek dish, would be ratatouille. The vegetables in briam can be swapped out depending on the season, so my version has got our star of the show, eggplant, in it!



My favourite recipe for this dish is actually from About.com!

Ingredients: 
1 large eggplant/aubergine
4 large potatoes
Olive Oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced finely
1/2 c chopped parsley
1 tsp dried basil
a pinch of dried mint
a pinch of oregano
2c tomato sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Boil 4 large potatoes in salted water till tender. When they're done, drop the suckers in a bath of ice water. Take a potato and cut the skin around the center of the potato; the ice water will shrink the peel and let you slip it right off! Repeat on the rest of the potatoes. Next, slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds and set it aside.

In a saucepan, heat up 1/2 c olive oil and saute the 1 diced medium onion until they are translucent. Add minced garlic (4 cloves should do it). Saute for another minute. The smell will be fantastic! Optional: add 1/2 c wine and cook it off for a few minutes.

Next, add your herbs: 1/2 c chopped parsley, a tsp of dried basil, a pinch of dried mint, a pinch of oregano (this isn't in the original recipe, but I like a bit of it in my briam). Once that's stirred in, add 2 c tomato sauce and 1/2 c water. Bring all this to a boil, cover with lid and simmer for 15 min or so.

Slice up 4 large tomatoes to whatever thickness you prefer and set aside. I like them at about 1/3-1/4 inch thickness.

If your oven needs preheating, go ahead and switch it to 425ºF. While your sauce is cooking, grab a baking pan! Drizzle some olive oil at the bottom and start lining about half of the potato slices in the pan. Grab your salt and season the potatoes lightly. For the next layer, cover the potatoes with your tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper. Time for another layer of potatoes! By now, you should be using up the rest of your potato slices. Season again and when your sauce is done, go ahead and spoon about half of it over your potatoes and tomatoes.

For the next layer I like to switch off the zucchini for eggplant. Just a personal preference. :) Slice up 1 large aubergine/eggplant to about 1/4 inch thickness and to ahead and layer it on top of the sauce. Top it off with the rest of your sauce. and pop your baking pan into the oven; let it roast till the vegetables are tender. It generally takes about an hour, but watch it so the top doesn't burn. Since your potatoes are cooked, your eggplant will determine the readiness of the dish. Take a fork and poke at the eggplant layer; it should be soft and tender, but not mushy.



Baigan Bharta
Since the eggplant is native to India, we should probably see how it's done in that region, no? Baigan bharta is basically an eggplant curry and I'll just link the recipe since I didn't change anything in it. Here it is!

One thing I do recommend though, is adding a bit more salt; I found myself needing to add it as I was eating. I also have to say, it's funny baking the eggplant. If you fork it to test it's tenderness, it'll emit steam like an angry cartoon character; super entertaining! It's also really strange peeling the eggplant; I've never done anything quite like that to be honest.


Chinese-Style Eggplant Dishes
Chinese eggplants are different from the plumper eggplants you generally see in western supermarkets; they are longer and slimmer, making for easier slicing. Though I'm yet to cook this dish myself, I have to recommend a common dim-sum dish that features Chinese eggplant. It's eggplant that's stuffed with mince fish, battered and deep fried. Generally a sauce is added to it; at today's dim sum, I had stuffed eggplant accompanied by a black bean sauce. Yum! 

In my travels, I've also come across braised eggplant. In Beijing, China, one of the restaurants right outside the Forbidden City had braised eggplant on the menu; when trying to figure out what to order for my friends my eyes stopped at 紅燒 (hong shao), the Chinese word for braised. To say the least, 紅燒茄子 (hong shao qie zi) turned out to be a hit! Braised in a red sauce, it was sweet and really tasty; the dish disappeared quickly among my non-Chinese friends. To be honest, I'm not even sure they knew what it was, but they loved it anyway. :) 


Well, that's about all for today! Huzzah for aubergines! There are tons of other possibilities in the eggplant world yet to be explored! Please feel free to share any in the comments section! Happy eggplanting--well, don't go out planting eggs... I doubt you'll get a tree that blossoms chickens or a bush that sprouts eggs. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Gastronomy in Germany!

Visited Berlin last April on a one month backpacking trip across Europe! Studying and living in England introduced me to the kebap and the döner, of which I was told were Turkish... later I was told that the döner is originally German! Regardless of whether that's true or not, you can guess what my first meal in Berlin was then...

Yes, that is the Brandenburg gate in the background! Anyways, this döner, from a cart in the road (go street food!) was the best one I'd ever had. Probably one of the cheapest too. The döner-kebap is closely related to Greek gyros. The meat in the döner, whether chicken, lamb or beef, is roasted on a rotating spit and sliced off into flatbread and then accompanied by sliced raw onions, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and a yoghurt sauce similar to tzatziki. The veggies were so refreshing after coming out of a carb-saturated tour of Italy!

Amidst a free walking tour, my eyes landed on this famous chocolatier:

Going as far back as 1863, Fassbender and Rausch were chosen as the official chocolate suppliers to the royal German family. That spells quality, no?

After the tour, my travel buddy and I made a beeline back to the chocolate shop (shop is a bit of an understatement as the place consists of multiple floors lined in marble, gold gilding and glass).


After drooling over the truffles, buying samples for ourselves and friends back home, we took the elevator up to the 2nd floor cafe. In the late afternoon there were plenty of people having their between-meals coffees. We popped open the menu and perused a bit after we were shown to a table with a pretty fabulous view.


The menu's prices were around what we expected for a pretty fancy place, but we figured, hey, we're staying in a hostel, not a hotel; we've been eating cheap (but amazing) street food, and we've been walking everywhere, thus saving lots of money. Why not?

What's an afternoon coffee-break without coffee? And they gave a complimentary chocolate!

Traditional apple strudel. Excellent, light, flaky, buttery and perfectly sweet! Great presentation as well!

The eisschokolade (ice-chocolate drink) was definitely my favourite, being a chocoholic. They didn't skimp on the cocoa neither. Plus, who doesn't love fresh whipped cream? Heavenly!

Another venture with sweets that I partook in was a trip to KaDeWe, a fancy superstore of an establishment with a famous gourmet food court.

The inside was absolutely glorious! Fancy glass shelves and cases filled with beautifully plated pastries--everything you can imagine! Cakes, cupcakes, streudels, macarons, truffles, meringues, tarts, brownies...


It was such a difficult time choosing what to sample! So four of us settled to split these two beauties:

Our friend on the right is an apple pastry with streusel on top, a bit resembling a bear claw. The pastry on the right is a strawberries and cream tart (the whipped strawberry cream was spiked with some liquor and pretty strong). I must say, I gave the award to the apple pastry, which was buttery and rather donut-like.

In addition to sweets and street food, we also tried to sample more formal traditional cuisine. Our tour guide recommended a place to us called zum Paddenwirt that was slightly touristy, but served up reasonably priced German food. I decided to order herring with potatoes and sauerkraut.


Being the seafood-lover that I am, I enjoyed the herring quite a lot; it definitely needed the potatoes and yoghurt sauce to balance out the saltiness. The sprig of dill on top was a pretty touch as well.

My friends, feeling quite adventurous ordered pork knuckle/ankle with sauerkraut and potatoes. They enjoyed their fare a little less, so I probably ate most of it, to be honest. A little background: at home I eat pork ankle quite a bit, being of asian heritage and all, so it didn't freak me out. In fact, it was really good trying it pickled instead of braised in soy-sauce, which is also delicious.
Am I making your stomach turn? Maybe I can convince you: if you're willing to eat hot dogs or sausages (assuming you know what these are made of), what's to stop you from trying ankle? Really, it's just another piece of the animal (although, disclaimer: there are parts that I would not try).

Next up, wursts! (I spared you so many terrible puns just now...) Of course one has to sample the various wursts/sausages of Berlin when trying to get a good grasp of the country's culture. It's what Germany is known for, right?

Over our month's worth of trips, we made a habit out of looking up famous eateries; one of them was Currypoint (above). That was actually the last place we went and since we'd already had bratwurst and currywurst, we went for bockwurst!:

Bockwurst is different from bratwurst in that it is usually made with veal; it is also often simmered instead of grilled. It came with a side of potato salad.


Bratwurst is generally made of beef or pork, but it can be found made of veal; eaten with a sweet or hot German mustard, it can be then called currywurst!
Aside from the flavour, something else you should look for in a wurst is that snap you get when taking a bite; when cooked/grilled, the ground meat inside the casing expands, making the casing taut and giving you that satisfying snap on first bite!

Also bought a popular German drink called Mezzo Mix; the best way to describe it is orange Fanta mixed with Coke--in fact, when I spent New Years with my friend Lena in Germany, she and her friends made their own with Coca Cola and Fanta. Alas, we don't have it in the U.S...

Want to hear a secret?
My favourite sausage EVER is actually the käsewurst... which I ate in Leeds at the German Christmas Market.

The real kicker is that packed in the ground meat, there are squares of CHEESE and when the wurst is grilled, the cheese melts! This goes onto the list of one of the best things I've ever eaten.

In a Bowl, on Wheels, Off to Flavortown!

I was hangin' with my brother and our friend Eric yesterday; we decided to go get something to eat because that's our favourite past time.


And it was about 10:30pm and our palates and stomaches were being tortured watching Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate." (And of course there's Guy Fieri of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," whose job we are all secretly coveting... if only it didn't come with the bleach blonde hair and its tool-y disposition).

After making consulting with the crystal ball that is Yelp for a late-night eatery, we decided to make a trip to Asa Ramen, a hole-in-the way ramen shop in the South Bay. It was the last night all three of us were in the same city, so why not grab so local eats!

We were really lucky to have gotten there on the first go as the place is really easy to miss. The shop sign is also in Japanese kanji, which we can barely read. Venturing a guess, we turned out to be right. The restaurant side (I think the other half of the place is a bar) was starting to fill up with its late night patrons so we were seated at the bar. The menu was thankfully short (two ramens with an assortment of takoyaki--fried octopus with various toppings), with big enough writing for the dimly-lit establishment, and reading Yelp reviews made ordering even easier!

"3 Koterri Ramen please!"

I usually smell the food before I eat it--it's just a habit--and I couldn't wait to sip the fragrant broth even though I'm pretty sure they just spooned it out of a boiling hot pot. It tasted just as good as it smelled! Eric told us that "koterri" means "rich," as in "rich in flavour." The seasoning was amazing, having absorbed all the flavour that the sliced pork has to offer (when eating ramen, one of the pillars of judgment is the taste of the broth). It really is one of the best, if not the best, broths I've had in ramen ever! Being both flavourful and tasty, there was a lot of body to the broth, it wasn't oily and the green onions held its hand like an old friend! As a comfort food, there wasn't a crazy lot of dimension to the broth, but that's not what you're looking for in comfort food anyways. Though nice and light, the broth is the statement in the ramen!

The noodles were cooked al dente and are probably made in the shop. The toppings on the ramen were modest, containing plenty of chopped green onions, two slices of pork and sliced bamboo, which I really enjoyed. The bowl cost about $6 (one can upgrade to a large size for an additional $2). Asa is modest in size: when we left, there was a line going out the door. If you do plan a trip there, I would recommend going with a small party, as it's a more intimate eatery. Overall, it was a pleasant eating experience and I am definitely planning on making a trip to Asa Ramen again!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Speakeasies in San Diego

I first discovered the novelty of San Diego's speakeasies when my pal Donna had her 22nd birthday at Vin de Syrah in Downtown San Diego. 'Speakeasy' is a term from the Prohibition era when alcohol faced being illegal, so speakeasies were set up as secret watering holes in the 2o's. I was invited to go along and visit the Alice in Wonderland-themed wine bar and found it absolutely charming in decor!

From large hedge-mazes to playing cards on the ceiling to animal statues, the vibe of Vin de Syrah is a classier place for a night out; I would recommend dressing to impress here. As any speakeasy, Vin de Syrah is hidden in central Downtown San Diego on a corner. A set of stairs lead down to a graffiti-lined basement and a door camouflaged in a hedge.


Being the poor student that I am skipped out on ordering their wide selection of fine wines (I know, go to a place called "Vin de Syrah" and not order wine?! Readers, I'm spending most of my greenbacks on education--whether that's doing anything for me is up to you to decide). Instead I opted to share cheese platters and sangria (white and red) with my pals. The cheese boards were very gourmet and there was one coconut-cured gouda that I was particularly fond of. With the cheese came various marmalades (a honey-ginger marmalade that was lovely), chocolate that resembled that of a heath bar (not too crazy about it), slices of green apple, grapes, an assortment of other cheeses and slices of bread that seemed less fresh than the other accoutrements on the board (in the US I'm not a fan of bread--every other country seems to bake bread better than we do--so maybe I'm a carb-snob).

The red and white sangrias were equally tasty! I don't have an in on their marinating process, but it seemed to have been done well as the sangria was sweet with different layers of flavour. The perfect girly drink!

For DarlingYellow's birthday, we visited The Noble Experiment. This exclusive speakeasy requires you to TEXT a reservation in advance--they do not take walk-ins, so don't expect to be admitted even if you do find the secret door (dressed as a stack of kegs) at the back of The Neighborhood on the east side of Downtown SD. The Noble Experiment is small and intimate, seating maybe about 30 people, so also don't go expecting to have a huge hen/stag party there.


The decor inside is hip and pretentious almost; with one wall lined completely with golden skulls facing the bar, the ceilings and adjacent walls are decorated with oil paintings and LCD screens with trippy graphics, including a mounted deer head graphic that--what is that? Did it wink at me? I should stare at it for the next five minutes just to make sure!!! Flash photos aren't allowed to preserve the ambiance of the speakeasy--okay, fine, it is pretentious. Luckily, the service is quite friendly and not pretentious at all.


The vibe of the speakeasy is pretty classy, so in going I would dress to impress, though not formally. The booths are intimate... meaning they are quite small. They were cramped for our party of six. I'd recommend inviting no more than 3 other people to go with you. The prices are also a bit more, but you are getting fancier drinks; the drinks start at $12 and there is no vodka or beer in the place to keep with the prohibition theme. Feeling girly, I ordered the strawberry daiquiri:


Together, our group ordered strawberry daiquiris, "The Cloud," Country Gentleman and the Morning Glory Fizz (there is a pretty small menu, but despite this, you can order any mix you want). Dealer's Choice is also an option, being that the waitstaff will ask a bit about your tastes for drinks and bring back a surprise for you. "The Cloud" was a drink with grapefruit juice that I loved and would order again. My strawberry daiquiri, though with "light rum" packed quite a punch, so if you're a lightweight like me, go slow. It was definitely the most fragrant drink of them all; the quartered strawberry garnish sold it, to be honest. Taking a sip of your daiquiri also lets you catch a whiff of the strawberry, the main essence of the drink. I personally enjoyed the Dealer's Choice more than the daiquiri.

The Country Gentleman boasted spirits of 100 proof (50% alcohol) and knocked me clean off my feet! The apple brandy was tasty and powerful, but I'm not a huge drinker, so I will let you judge this for yourself.

I enjoyed my experiences at both places thoroughly and I would love to return, but I can tell you it's not going to happen frequently because of the hefty prices. Nonetheless, I recommend them both for quite an experience!

New Layout & Shoutout!



The new layout pays homage to my friend's cooking blog Salt & Spatula. (Check it out! It's fantastic and offers plenty of awesome recipes and tips in the kitchen!) I had lots of fun going through travel photos and picking out my favourites foodie-memories to showcase in the banner. Hope you like it!

Stay tuned for more posting!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Loco Motion

Loco moco is a Hawaiian food that is just about as local as you can get; it's got the basics of what I define to be Hawaiian food (starch + meat + gravy). The classic loco moco is comprised a hamburger patty on top of a bed of white sticky rice which is topped by an egg (usually done sunny side up, although most places will ask you how you want it done). Lastly, and nearly most importantly, is the gravy. Certain joints will home-cook their own gravy and others will use instant gravy from the package. Though quite primitive in concept, every loco moco is different and my brothers and I have been on the hunt for the perfect loco. Maybe I'll ask them to guest blog about their legend of the loco sometime. ;)

It's definitely comfort food, but something that everyone should try at least once. It's really simple, but the quality of the different components can alter the overall experience enormously! If you live in Hawaii or are making a trip there, I recommend a few places for this local delight. Though many people have disputes over the originators of the loco moco, I give the claim to a place I grew up with: Cafe 100 in Hilo, Hawaii.


Cafe 100 offers the original loco in addition to different takes on the original, using spam, smokies, Portuguese sausage, tempura salmon, cutlet (battered and deep fried chicken fillet), shoyu pork (pork marinated and cooked in soy sauce), etc... The Kilauea loco has just about ALL of these in one loco platter. Cafe 100 also offers a slew of other popular plate lunches, soups, teriyaki bowls and grinds for the keiki (kids' meals). To top it all off, all of these are offered at extremely affordable prices! Doesn't get any better!
Tex's, which is nearly smack in between Hilo and Waikoloa on the Big Island, is one of the best loco's I've had locally. Tex's is the home of the malasada, a local favourite. A malasada is a pastry, much like a doughnut, covered in sugar and with the option of a creme or jelly filling (chocolate, bavarian creme, mango, guava, apple, lemon, etc...). Best eaten hot. Back to the subject at hand. The loco moco at Tex's has an awesome gravy and a great patty (Tex's also does burgers pretty really well, so this is expected, I suppose).
Ken's Pancake House, also in Hilo, has a mean loco moco too; it's a nicer place for a meal and is a bit more expensive, but the quality of the loco is also true to the tastiness of the original. My brother recommends the teri beef loco. Also recommended: oxtail stew and tripe stew.

Now, on the mainland, there are two Hawaiian restaurants I recommend in LA. Both staffed by Hawaiian natives, TNT's and Bruddah's serve up large locos to their customers with plenty of aloha! Other dishes at these restaurants that I recommend are Bruddah's beef/oxtail stew and their lau lau platter (if they haven't run out) and TNT's fried rice, the stir fried saimin and the Aloha Royale.

For my next quest, I'm off to hit the Hilo Farmer's Market (another childhood haunt of mine) and the new and much heard-of Puff City. See you witty slickers soon!

One of My Favourite Things to Eat

Hurricane Popcorn!

It's like a book that you can't put down!

If you've ever had Hurricane Popcorn, you probably know why I love it so; it's that furikake and arare rice cracker added in that truly makes it. Of course Hawaii Popcorn Company has started selling the premade stuff for the lazy or short-of-time--I'll admit it, I tried it and eat it when I can't get the kit--but nothing quite beats the original.

Hurricane Popcorn comes with a bag of unseasoned popcorn kernels in a pop-bag, a bag of butter and a pouch of the seaweed-arare mix. The instructions are pretty simple and the outcome is outright heavenly--I seriously hope God has a pantry of JUST Hurricane Popcorn for me when I get there. Of course the toll on your health is totally worth it. The buttery flavour and hint of seaweed is great! Most people whom I've shared Hurricane Popcorn are very hesitant initially, but trust me, the marriage of flavour and tastes is a delicious one.