mmm-yoso!!!

Midweek Meanderings: Is your Itamae (and your bartender) going to start wearing gloves? Chocolate Clams and other "stuffs"....

Yes, really...... Thanks to Toshiko for bringing this to my attention. According to section 113961 of the California Retail Food Code, starting on January 1st, all persons need to wear gloves when in contact with ready to eat foods....this includes your neighborhood Itamae and bartender. I usually don't get involved with stuff like this....hey, I'll just cross state lines to get my foie gras fix. But for some reason, I think this is overkill..... I've seen those folks working for those national "chains" wearing gloves....I've also seen them cross contaminate like crazy, not changing gloves when going from meat to veg, to your table! I mean, really, I think it can give folks a false sense of security..... What happened to good handwashing? Can you regulate carelessness? And man, all those used gloves have got to go somewhere, right?

I actually use these type of gloves at home, mainly for chicken, but it does not replace washing my hands and keeping a clean work area.

I'm kind of interested in what FOY "Liver" thinks about this. This 2007 study states outright "hand washing was less likely to occur with activities in which gloves were worn." I thought this Washington Post article was interesting as well.

For now, it seems that things are in a holding pattern as the the Assembly Health Committee voted unanimously to reverse and "revisit" the rule, so who knows.

Though it would be interesting to see Urasawa using gloves to make nigiri....or would it?

Chocolate Clams:

Last weekend at Catalina, Tommy told me to get some Chocolate Clams. Chocolate Clams? Never heard of them. These clams hail from the Pacific side of Baja. According to this press release, Catalina Offshore is one of the few distributors that can bring them in to the US. I chatted a bit with Tommy and found that these babies were spitting up water like crazy.....they had also been purged and were immaculate. I asked Tommy what the heck was I supposed to do with these.....his response, "figure something out."

And no, these don't taste like chocolate....

They are named because of the chocolate like color of the shells.

Once I opened them, I knew this was going to be easy......

They are quite large, about 5 inches across, and remind me of surf clams....though the flavor is quite amazing. I cleaned one and we tried it. It was quite briney with a good amount of sweetness....a bit too strong solo, but with a touch of soy-wasabi-rice vinegar, combined with some good onion, radish sprouts, and cucumber these were very good.

The Missus wanted to add a nice creamy touch, so we sliced some avocado.

So maybe you should try these out on your next trip down to Catalina Offshore Products.

What next, don't feed the animals?:

Actually, the first thought that went thru my head when I read the "Please Do Not Throw Fruits & Vegetables" was FOOD FIGHT!!! What the heck happened that led to a huge sign like this? I realize that some of the folks here are pretty aggressive, I've gotten dirty looks when I've touched "coveted fruit", but come on, really? Have we sunk so low?

Best line of the week; a little boy asked his mother; "Mommy, did Batman just get off the trolley?"

Circling Back to Yokohama Yakitori Koubou

So here's the latest in my "Circling Back" series......where I return to places that I really thought were "meh".

There's a lot to like, well sort of....about Koubou when compared to Yakyudori. The folks at Koubou have always been very friendly.....some of the Servers at Yakyudori can be downright surly or quickly get into "all business" mode. I've seen service change on a dime when folks dally a bit too long at a table. I'd easily say that the atmosphere at Koubou is a bit more relaxed and inviting.....so I do get it when folks prefer Koubou. But, I'm mostly about food, the prep, the flavor, the attention to detail, and in that mindset, Koubou really didn't cut it. Especially when we did a head to head comparison.

Recently, I heard that the food had gotten better at Koubou, so I thought I'd circle back and see what was happening.

So, this is Yokohama "Yakitori" Koubou, right? So I started with various versions of meat on a stick. At first glance, it seems that the grilling technique has gotten better in the 2 years and change since I've been here.

And yet, the buta shiso, pork rolled with shiso leaf was super tough and dry, lacking enough salt, with virtually no shiso flavor. I think the best item at Koubou is the nankotsu, grilled chicken cartilage, I love the crunch, though this was strangely lacking in salt as well. The teba, chicken wings weren't grilled evenly, the bottom piece lacking the color and crunchy skin.

The chicken breast with miso, green onion, and garlic was nicely grilled and quite substantial, but the flavors oh-so-tame. The kawa, chicken skin illustrates the uneven grilling, the top portion quite good, this was perfectly seasoned, the bottom, flaccid and rubbery.

My good friend Jenne might prefer Koubou's version of Tsukune, ground chicken meatball, but I find the tare here uninteresting and I prefer not to have hard bits in my tsukune....nothing kills your pleasure liking biting into something with the texture of a toenail.

The beef tongue here is still cut too thick in my opinion and need more salt....as I've said before, a thinner cut with crisp edges provides such a wonderful contrast in texture.

So far, not so good......except for my last item....a simple sumiyaki onigiri....yep, a grilled rice ball, which is served with miso soup.

The onigiri was nicely grilled, wafts of smokiness hit my nose......like just about everything else, it was pretty plain in flavor, but breaking it apart and putting it the miso soup; which was decently prepared, no scrimping on the miso, just elevated this very simple offering. You'd get various textures as the rice broke down, crunchy charred bits gave way to softer rice........

Which made me decide to return. After all, these cricking back posts mean more than a revisit. During my meal I noticed something interesting; there was about a 50-50 ratio of grilled versus other dishes going out. Several tables got the yakisoba and most ordered some kind of salad, which I was told is the "Koubou Style Salad".

So I returned a couple of weeks later.

This time I decided to go with more non-grilled items, stuff I'd seen other folks ordering.

Of course I couldn't help myself when I saw Buta Kakuni ($6) as a special. My advice would be to spend the six bucks on something else. This was pretty bad, very weak in the soy and sweet flavors, obviously not simmered long enough. It was served cold and several pieces were unpleasantly dry.

I decided to go with a couple of the robata items. The buta kimchi and the nankotsu (of course).

The buta kimchi was better than the buta shiso, if simply for the fact that it had flavor. Still, that spicy aioli was the only thing I could really taste, though the pork was more tender than what I've had here before.

The nankotsu on this evening is the singular best grilled item I've had here at Koubou. It was almost evenly grilled, there was enough salt, which actually elevated the flavor of the charcoal. The crunchy texture of this is not for everybody....you feel like you're eating chicken gristle, which you are; but it makes the enjoyable for me.

I ordered a small ($4) version of the salad everyone was ordering last time around, the Special Koubou Style Salad. The dressing itself is nothing special; seems ponzu based. There are strips of chicken and such, but it's the textures that make this a decent salad...the crunch of the corn and especially the torisenbei, chicken (skin) flavored chips that add to the it....good combination of flavors from the katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and the onions as well.

A perfectly decent salad.

Of course I also went with the sumiyaki onigiri ($3) again.

What could I say? The best items for me, at a Yakitori place was a salad and a onigiri.......

This time around, I paid even more attention to what was being ordered....and it was about 50-50 grilled to everything else....heck, a table, of Japanese Nationals actually ordered yakisoba, a large salad, and a plate of french fries....french fries! 'Nuff said.

So I guess it stands like this; if I want cheerful service, a shot of milk before my Asahi, chicken cartilage, salad, and a rice ball, this is where I'll come. For yakitori, it's still Yakyudori.

Yokohama Yakitori Koubou
3904 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111

On a beautiful day like today, why are you reading a food blog? Sichuan Liang Mian from Dede's and Fu An Garden and one other you're sure to know.

 Honestly......it's such a beautiful day, why would you read our humble little blog? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't....really! Plus, there's a Blood Moon Eclipse tonight.

Ever since Ba Ren closed, I've been looking for a good Sichuan Liang Mian, the wonderful, spicy cold noodle dish, which has become comfort food for me. It's a simple combination of ingredients working in harmony, creating a deceptively complex balance of the "suan (sour) - tian (sweet) - ma (numbing) - la (hot) - xian (salty). I had recently tried the version at Spicy City, which wasn't very good, so I thought I'd check out Dede's, it had been a while, and also Fu An Garden.

Dede's:

Man, this was a total fail.

The noodles were mushy and the sauce watery and insipid. This had too much vinegar and in spite of the looks really lacked the spice.....probably because it was so watered down.

I've got another post on a better meal at Dede's lined up, but this was terrible.

Dede's
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Fu An Garden:

While the flavor was pretty close during my last visit and the noodles terrible, this was an improvement.

Looking at this...well, I had my doubts...too pale, too much peanuts, where's the flavor? But I was wrong, all it needed was a good mix. The noodles were vastly improved, though in our opinion, the flavor still falls short....not enough "ma", not enough "suan", not spicy (la) enough......just not enough. Sad really, since the chef here used to be the #2 man at Ba Ren.

Fu An Garden
4768 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

In retrospect, perhaps just the simple item to the right will do tonight. The also deceptively simple hàn bǎo bāo. Might be nice to grab a couple  hàn bǎo bāo from jìn​chū​......sorry bad translation, perhaps someone can let me know what it should be called in pinyin. Anyway, grab a couple and go watch the "Blood Moon"....... You know, there's a punchline in there somewhere.

Have a great week!

 

Finally got around to Pho from Pho Nhu Y Clairemont

Taking advantage of that last couple days of rain we had a few weeks ago, I finally made it over to Pho Nhu Y, the Clairemont version for some Pho....well check that. I actually did want the Bun Mam, but had totally forgotten; I was the ummmm, "Korean Guy", that wanted to order Bun Mam before 3pm and scare off all their lunchtime customers. My bad....

I think the garnishes....the single sprig of basil and small amount of bean sprouts are an good indication of Pho in the area and San Diego in general....

The actual bowl of pho looked pretty good. I got number 19; rare steak (usually a  mis-steak), well done steak, tendon, tripe, and flank.

The bowl actually looked pretty good when it hit the table. The broth was dark, but clear, and I liked the amount of fat. Another hallmark of San Diego pho is a totally defatted product, which just kills the richness.

Another unfortunate hallmark of San Diego pho is the sodium/MSG level. And of all the bowls I've had recently, this was probably the worst, way too much MSG.....it made the broth unpleasant. Too bad, because the color looked right and all....but man, I really couldn't taste much.

There was an amazing amount of noodles in this bowl....which was a "regular" ($6.69). Which was way too overcooked and mushy. Man, I really couldn't get a break here.

The proteins were decent, though the tendon was way tough and the tripe really hard. The rare steak was even ok.

In total, a disappointment. I'm not going to beat that "can't get decent bowl of pho in Kearny Mesa" dead horse.....well, I'm going to try not too do that.

So yep, 300 more words of pho......

I'm going to stick to the Bun Mam here.

Pho Nhu Y Vietnamese Grill
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Porto: Avenida dos Aliados, Imperial McDonalds, and Confeitaria do Bolhao

We'd had a pretty busy first day in Porto and I really slept soundly. As is typical for us, we awoke pretty early in the morning to stretch our legs and do some exploring. We'd found that mornings are almost always the best times to see things......you'll be in less of a rush and, especially in Portugal the streets are quiet and empty.

We headed up to the area that seems to be the heart of Porto; the Avenida dos Aliados, the "Avenue of the Allies". The street commemorates the marriage of King John (Joao)I and Philippa of Lancaster, creating an alliance between Portugal and England.

The avenue and promenade is lined with some nice examples of Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings. A statue of King Pedro IV on a horse stands at the lower end of the street and City Hall the top.

I'm sure everything here has a story. It's a nice place to stroll on a cool morning, all the grand buildings around. I wondered about the statue to the right. I could find very little, at least in English on "The Naked Girl - Youth" by Henrique Moreira, sculpted in 1929.

This is also the location of McDonald's....yep, McDonald's. What's the big deal? Well, they call this location, "Imperial McDonald's" and it's supposedly the most ornate and beautiful McDonald's in the world. In case you're wondering....it's not Imperial by declaration. I was told that this was the former site of Imperial Cafe, which became derilict and run down. McDonald's took over the space in 1995.

Man, talk about fancy-schmancy.....I'd feel down right uncomfortable getting my McNuggets on here!

Still, this was just a McDonald's, so we headed back up to the area near Rua Catarina and the large Mercado do Bolhão. Before heading in, we decided on getting breakfast at Confeitaria do Bolhao right across the street.

A large case of pastries, both sweet and savory, a large area to have you espresso and a pastry, this was very "tipico" of what we encountered everywhere in Portugal.

We were mainly after some espresso, but also had a few other items, which were decent, but rather non-descript. The prices were very good....if I recall, two espressos and pastries for like 5 Euros.

We also picked up a Broa de Avintes for later on.....

Confeitaria do Bolhao
Rua Formosa 339
Porto, Portugal

A cup of espresso, carbs in our belly....we were ready for the world, or at least a visit to the Mercado do Bolhão.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Fermentation Nation: Shio Koji - Chicken Wings and more

I'd been reading about what an amazing flavor enhancer Shio Koji was for a couple of years. Apparently it really delivers that "sixth flavor". This fermented product made is from rice, inoculated with aspergillus oryzae, a "domesticated mold" used in the making of sake, miso, and other products, with salt added. The enzymes in shio koji; proteases,breaks down the proteins to amino acids, of which glutamate, has a major part of delivering the "umami", lipase breaks down fats, and amylase, which breaks down starches into simple sugar. There's apparently a lot going on here.....

So naturally, when I saw something marinated in Shio Koji on a menu, I couldn't help but order it, which turned out to be a terrible mistake. It left me disappointed and let's be frank, kind of pissed off.

How could something that has been raved about in Japan over the last couple of years be so....well....weak? So on one of our trips to Nijiya, I bought a bottle. The Missus thought I was nuts. This mildly grainy, gluey substance did what?

It does taste like salty, crude, rice wine.......the stuff you'd make in a jail cell......

I went in blind and decided to grill some chicken wings......

Here's the first recipe:

1 1/2 pounds chicken wings
1 cup Shio Koji
1 Tb Garlic Powder
1 tsp ginger juice
togarashi

I marinated about 6 hours, then grilled.

One thing for sure......this thing will burn quickly if you're not careful. The wings were really tender, the skin actually got somewhat crispy, the flavor was good. A flavor like mild miso marinade, so complex, perhaps a tad too salty......I went overboard with the shio koji....but as salty as it seemed, we weren't bothered with any of the effects of too much sodium. It could have been sweeter, but man....we were hooked!

The Missus wanted me to do this again....the next day! This time I wanted a more well rounded flavor, without drowning out all the wonderful "umami" from shio koji....which is pretty hard to do. So here's the marinade for the same 1 1/2 pounds of chicken wings. Marinaded overnight.

1/3 cup shio koji
1 Tb grated garlic
1 Tb ginger juice
3 Tb mirin
1 Tb hoisin
togarashi

This time, we decided to really push our luck and grill over bincho!

I should mentioned that I don't put togarashi in the marinade. I sprinkle it on right before grilling. Man, this stuff goes really fast and I had to be on top of it. In the end, there was some char....which by the way, is delici-yoso....

Other than having to really be on top of the grilling, this stuff is a total no-brainer......

After our first foray into wings, I went to look for other uses and told the Missus that folks are using shio koji for salad dressing, and you know what, the Missus really got into it.

It does make a really good dressing, with balsamic vinegar, sesame oil, and I don't know what else the Missus puts into the salad. I hate fruits in my salads; but man, the strawberries are really wonderful in this....even the chia seeds! Sorry to say, the Missus can't even tell me portions and such......otherwise I'd give you a recipe. But we had salads three days in a row......

Why isn't everyone using this?

I guess the next step for us is to make our own shio koji, right?

Stay tuned.......

 

COMC - Revisits to Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen and Brabant

C(learing) O(ut the) M(emory) C(ard) on a fairly hectic Wednesday with some revisits mostly in photos.

Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen:

There was a special brew on tap that we just had to sample.

And the menu has been revamped since my last visit.

Fanny Bay oysters are quite consistent, nice cucumber finish, which is probably the reason why Rowan Jacobsen said, "You never get a bad Fanny Bay" in his book A Geography of Oysters.

My favorite item here is still the pretzel.....well, probably the mustard, which the Missus can almost drink.....

Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen
2215 India St
San Diego, CA 92101 

Brabant:

The Missus and I both enjoy Brabant. Yes the food is on the rich and heavy side, and can be uneven as is the menu, the prices seem a bit high. But we both enjoy the vibe....and of course the beer.

The Klokke Roeland is my personal favorite here, it's 11% ABV, so I'll only have one....or two if the Missus is driving.

The Missus enjoys the coarse cut of the pork in the Bratwurst and of course the stoemp.

I'm perfectly fine with a couple of beers and a side of frites......

Though we recently had the vegetarian crouquettes and really enjoyed the flavor....celeriac comes through quite clearly.

Of course, it all comes back to the Belgian's here. When you visit, cozy up to the binder full of beer and tasting notes, some of which are quite entertaining. "Begins with a sawed-off shotgun blast of Belgian funk to your nostrils, along with notes of ash, wet oak, white wine vinegar, and yes, this is NOT a joke - sweaty gym socks..." Now tell me, how could we resist?

Brabant Bar & Cafe
2310 30th St
San Diego, CA 92104

 

 

LW's SD BBQ

Back in September, I shuddered at the thought of what a place with "SD BBQ" in its name was going to make. Well, it turns out I was wrong.......LW's, which opened a couple of months back in the old (and tired) Chinese Garden spot, does BBQ....not something par baked or boiled then slapped over some mesquite and sauced......well, for you hard core BBQ folks, you won't see an ash pile out back....I don't think the owners of the strip mall would take too kindly to that.

Still they actually smoke over hardwood and could easily be the best restaurant within a half mile radius....

OK, before you get to excited, let's hold on there Jethro! There's a couple of things you need to understand, the competition in the area are places like Hometown Buffet, Roberto's, Mountain Mike's Pizza...it's Bay Park, not North Park.

They claim to smoke over hickory....for up to 14 hours. Personally, find that Hickory is a bit too strong to use for some proteins, too much of it can give off a bitter flavor, so I wasn't sold.

I'm also not a fan of the sauces here, kind of powdery, on the bitter side, even though there are 6 varieties all taste like they were made from the same base. The fact that they refuse to serve anything without sauce on it kind of makes me think they may have problems holding their product. When I asked why, I wasn't given an answer.

Still, it's in my neighborhood.......

I first visited when they first opened and decided to get a Beef Brisket Plate ($13.50), no it ain't cheap, but the portion size is generous.

Since I couldn't get this without the sauce, I asked them to go easy. Decent smoke flavor, the beef was a bit too fatty, though this wasn't bad at all. I'd like a bit more bark, but there was a nice smoke ring.

The sides were mediocre, mass produced rolls, bland coleslaw, the beans being the best of the bunch.

Overall, ok......not terrible, there was some potential here.

The same week I smoked a tri-tip, I decided to try the Beef Tri-Tip Sandwich Combo ($8.95).

No, this won't make forget Firestone Grill, but the flavor of the beef was decent (I'm glad they went real easy on the sauce), the beef adequately moist though on the chewy side. It was served a bit too cold (especially with sauce on it) for me.

The potato salad was decent, it had some nice flavor, perhaps a bit too sour and I didn't care for the vegetable mix in the coleslaw.

One night, after getting off from work late, the Missus having already eaten, I decided to drop by and grab a half rack of ribs to go ($15.95). I quietly asked the young man working the counter if I could get it with the sauce on the side....I was pleasantly surprised when he said, "no problem"...... And then I got home.

A bit too "falling off the bone" for me...though the Missus loved it. I ate one piece and that was enough, decent smoke flavor  but a bit on the dry side, and too much sauce. I also noticed that it looks like they didn't remove the membrane from the back of the ribs.

Strange thing was, that during this visit I was told that the owner's were from North Carolina....funny, but the sauces didn't seem like any Carolina style sauce I've had. I tried all of them, from the bottles on the table and they are all too sweet for that style. The "KC" style sauce here would make Arthur Bryant roll over in his grave....take my word for it; I've been there.

My most recent visit was a couple of weeks ago.

It was nice to see the place doing some pretty good business.

I went with a Pulled Pork Sandwich which was nicely priced at $6.25.

Tired of begging for no sauce, I just asked them to go easy, which they thankfully did. This was a decent sandwich, though nothing special; the pork was quite cold and a bit tougher than I like, but this wasn't bad. The coleslaw added a nice textural counter-point and being on the mild side, didn't interfere with the flavor of the pork.

I did make one mistake....curious, I ordered the Chicken Wings (6 pieces - $6.95).

Rubbery skin, bitter smoke flavor, lacking in seasoning....'nuff said. I ate two and pitched it...I hate to waste food, but this was terrible.

The folks here are nice, though sometimes a bit confused. I'm glad places like this are finally opening in this area. Though I'm not a "just happy to have something like xxx in my neighborhood" kind of guy. In terms of portion versus price, I think it's a good value. Is it good BBQ? check them out and let me know what you think..........

LW’s SD BBQ
3057 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117