mmm-yoso!!!

Recently Consumed

Here's some of the stuff that we've had recently.

I had made three different types of wings for the pig-fest. One of the sauces was sort of a Indonesian inspired sauce that I threw together during a break. It used Kecap Manis, Sambal Olek (an Indonesian brand), lime juice, and honey. Since the only chance I really have of getting to Catalina Offshore is during Saturdays......I try to make the best of things. Here's a pan fried grouper which I cooked in a combo coconut-grapeseed oil.

The sauce went really well with the fish.

The Missus liked it so much that She ended up using it as a dressing.

She placed the fish on top of a shaved chard, kale, brussel sprout salad. The dressing did quite well with the rather bitter salad....even I liked it. So maybe we've found a use for this "wing sauce", which actually wasn't too bad on wings either......

Not everything I end up making is particularly good:

I couple months back, I finally ordered David Chang's Momofuku cookbook. An aquaintance of mine had gone on and on about the "ginger scallion sauce" and the ginger scallion noodles. So I went ahead and made it....exactly like the recipe was written and man, it was pretty bland....so I made adjustments, more scallions, more salt.......man, it was still fairly mild.

The sauce on the right is my ginger scallion pesto, which I made to compare...and I preferred more. It had more  body, the garlic helped the sauce as well....I think hot peanut oil also brought out more flavor. So I dunno......if you look at the photo in the book, the sauce on David Chang's noodles is much darker.

Sometime's recipes from even a trusted source doesn't quite come out. I love Pei Mei's Chinese Cookbook Volume 1. Just about everything I've made from the "Julia Child of Chinese Cooking" has turned out....except for the Sauteed Lamb with Scallions.

I'm thinking it was the additional of vinegar that killed this...... I'll make adjustments and try again.

Luckily, I used only half the lamb and the next night I went back to my stand by; zi ran yang rou.

Cumin Lamb, one of my favorites.......

Shakshuka

This is more of the Tunisian style shakshuka, then the potatoand eggplant Turkish version....we love both. But we were a bit disappointed in the versions we had in Tunisia......so much of it looked like scrambled eggs. So when the Missus, a big fan of Yotam Ottolenghi's vegetarian cookbook, Plenty, gave me the green light to get his latest, Jerusalem, I went ahead and ordered it. And wouldn't you know, the first page the Missus opens to is the recipe for Shakshuka! From previous experience with Ottolenghi's recipes, I was certain, with adjustments to our taste, (remember, a recipe for cooking is just an outline) that things would turn out okay at the least.

This recipe uses no onions, but still has a good amount of pungency from the harissa we used. It's a brand we bought from a woman who seels French good at the various Farmer's Markets. You'll have to adjust the amounts based on that. I also bumped up the garlic slightly. You can also check out Cathy's recipe here. The dish she makes is quite similar. The version in the book also uses 4 whole eggs plus 4 yolks....sounded a bit much for us. So we just stuck to three large eggs.

Shakshuka

2-3 Tb Olive Oil
2-4 Tb Harissa (depending on brand)
2-3 Tb Tomato Paste (we used more since we used fresh tomatoes which weren't super ripe)
2 large red bell peppers cut into 1/4" dice
5-6 ripe roma tomatoes diced
4-6 cloves garlic finely minced
2 tsp ground cumin
3-4 large eggs - I crack them in bowls and leave them on the side
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a pan. We used our trusty cast iron pan.
- Add the cumin to "bloom" (not burn), then quickly add harissa, tomato paste, and garlic.
- When fragrant add the red bell peppers and some salt. Stir occasionally for about 8-10 minutes until softened.
- Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens.
- Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Make divots in the thick sauce and pour eggs into the divots. I stir the whites of the eggs lightly to enhance the cooking time.
- Lower the heat and simmer for 8-12 minutes, or more to let the eggs set-up to taste. If you enjoy your eggs a bit more well done, you can cover them for a few minutes.

The Missus loves the silken texture of the whites...She expected rubbery, but the couple times we've made this, the eggs have always been wonderful.

Here's the requisite drippy egg shot.

One evening, the Missus bought some merguez. I ended up making the shashuka in the sausage drippings......

Really good stuff!

Revisits in photos: Golden City, Pho Hiep and Grill (Linda Vista), Izakaya Sakura, 777 Noodlehouse, Sieu Sieu BBQ, and Pho Lucky

Been in a bit of a rut recently and have just been hitting the same old places. I mentioned this to an acquaintance of mine who asked me what I've been eating recently. I told him, "not much, the same old boring stuff". He then asked me what and where and I ticked off most of these places. He looked at me and said, "your routine is nothing like my routine, nor is it like anyone else I know." Maybe, but it's been pretty boring for me lately....though I can't say eating has been terrible.

Golden City:

Golden City Restaurant
5375 Kearny Villa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Pho Hiep & Grill:

 

Pho Hiep & Grill
6947 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

 Izakaya Sakura:

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

777 Noodle House:

 

777 Noodle House
4686 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92105

Sieu Sieu BBQ:

A quick comment....never been a favorite, but I must have ht the jackpot with the roast pork on this trip because it was moist, the skin thin and crunchy. The char siu was the same 'ol, same 'ol, mediocre-ness.

Also of note....when did they start wiping their tables down with bleach!!!  The place has only been open four years and is starting to look run down.

Yikes.....

 Sieu Sieu BBQ
7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Pho Lucky:

Pho Lucky
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126

Hope you're having a great week!

The Big Island: Teshima's Restaurant and Greenwell Farms - Kealakekua

Much like FOY (Friend of Yoso) Kyle, for some reason I have a problem calling the Big Island, "Hawai'i Island". Don't quite know why.....I just do. So it'll just have to be the "Big Island of Hawai'i" I guess.

Our flight took us just under an hour and we got to our rental car in minutes. It was early, but we were a bit hungry (so what else is new). We hadn't been to the Big Island in quite a few years. We stopped at KTA in Kona, but man, the place looked really dreary. There was a time where we could almost live out of KTA, the hot food, the poke, you name it. For some things, it looked like times had changed. And of course, the prices had gone up quite a bit. Hard to believe I bought the exact same sized bottle of Sriracha at Thuan Phat for $1.79 just 72 hours ago! Yikes, $5.69, and that's on sale!

Kona looked a bit depressed and the Missus wasn't a big fan of a good portion of super touristy Ali'i Drive...heck, She was acting almost like a local! We decided to head to Kealakekua, less then 10 miles out of Kona, where the "highway" was just a single lane going each way. Kealakekua actually looks a bit busy......the Missus made sure to stop in almost every "health food" store She saw, just to check it out.

I've always been charmed by the town of Kealakekua, population somewhere around 1,700. The population belies how busy Mamalahoa "Highway" always seems to be. Kealakekua and Captain Cook still have some of that old "plantation/farm town" feel.

You'd miss our stop for a late breakfast if you blinked. On the side of the road is the simple sign for Teshima Restaurant.

There are two parts to the restaurant....well possibly more if you consider the knick-knacks and snacks they sell. The main dining room is located on one side and a bar with even more seating on the other.

It felt like I was going back in time and eating at one of those "old time" places of my youth.

Growing up, places like this were for special occasions. Nothing fancy, but solid, respectable food. My mom's favorite place for her birthday was the now almost decade closed Wisteria Restaurant. As I got older, a better job, with better money, places like Wisteria became a several time a week place. I thought it would be great for the Missus to eat in these old school shops. Reid, of Ono Kine Grindz states that Teshima's opened as general store in 1929 and kept expanding, becoming a restaurant in 1940......old school enough for you?

We were a bit early for the lunch menu, so the Missus ordered the "special".

Two onigiri with a local kine tamago(egg omelet), Spam, teri beef, and a lightly fried fish. For some reason the Missus really liked the miso soup, which was pretty plain and straight-forward. She also loved the tsukemono and sunomono. I got the Spam and the teri beef which was on the sweeter and tough side. The Missus had Her doubts about the fried fish, which I told Her was going to be decent....it wasn't oily, nor fishy at all. She enjoyed it the most.

She enjoyed the fish so much that She poached mine from the "Japanese breakfast" I ordered.

 This came with tsukemono and sunomono, I ordered my egg easy over....miso soup, which I gave to the Missus in exchange for the Spam, some fishcake which had been browned, and the fish which looked pretty plain but was quite nice.

Of course the egg went on my rice......

I can't resist the drippy egg photo I guess........

 The food isn't fancy, nor particularly amazing, but is honest "old school local Japanese" fare, and has probably been served the same way for the majority of the last 70 years. We've done the Waikoloa Resort thing in the past, we decided to go fairly "old school" on this trip and this, now fourth generation restaurant was a great way to start. One amazing story is that Shizuko Teshima, "Grandma" is still around! She's 105 years old and I heard she still comes by! Man, if these walls could talk!

Teshima Restaurant
79-7251 Mamalahoa Hwy
Kealakekua, HI 96750

One of the things we'd never done while in Kona was to check out a Coffee Farm. Since we were in Kealakekua, where most of the Kona coffee is grown, we thought we'd check out Greenwell Farms and I'm glad we did. There's a tasting stand, where we tried some of the best coffee from an airpot I'd ever had. Established by Henry Greenwell from England and his wife Elizabeth in the 1870's, we found out that Greenwell Farm processes 80% of the Kona coffee in the world. The reason you don't hear about them is two-fold. First, they only roast a small amount of coffee for mail order and sale on the premises. Second, they dry the rest of the coffee to the "green bean" stage and it's shipped out for final roasting.......some of the names thrown out to us, Peet's, Caribou, Starbucks......

We found all of this out on the short 20 minute tour which took us to the weigh and processing station.

 Where we first got to see and taste "cherry", the red, ripe coffee bean, then take a look at the "green bean", the dried coffee.

The coffee is laid out to dry......at this point it can't get wet. We were told that a Japanese engineer designed the solution to protecting the drying beans from the rain. It's amazingly simple. You can see it in this photo. The simply have a roof on a slide that you can move to protect the beans.

As we returned to the stand and our car, we were shown this patch of rather scraggly looking coffee plants, which looked like had been pruned many times.

These were some of the original coffee plants brought here from Guatemala.

We learned so much during this short tour....the consistent 4pm rains, the volcanic soil, the perfect rainfall and sunlight, basically, the much over-used Terroir is what makes Kona Coffee what it is.

Greenwell Farms
81-6581 Mamalahoa Hwy
Kealakekua, HI 96750

Stand open daily from 0800 - 1700

Oh, and one more thing I found out. Much like if a local "Bruddah" in the area asks you "eh, you like smoke" he ain't talking about cigarettes. When you see signs in the area that say "Buying Cherries", they're not referring to Bing or Rainier's..... it's coffee they are after. They call the fruit cherries...... We'd been wondering about that as we drove up Mamalahoa Highway. We had a great time and the Missus is still enjoying the coffee we bought here every morning.....

What we did this past weekend - Porcine Party

In case you were wondering why the blog was so quiet on Friday and Saturday.....first I was kinda fried, then there was the pig. As noted in other posts on this blog, I've got a great group of friends who are pretty much up for anything. We'd been joking about trying to do a whole hog for a while. Finally, a couple of months ago, FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice got involved and things atartedrolling. First, the twin's mom allowed us to use her back yard, second Candice put the twins in contact with a pig farmer who slaughtered said piggy.....meanwhile, I provided a marinade recipe.....I was out of town until just before the said swine was toast.

So on Saturday morning at 5am, there we were.........

There were a bunch of glitches.....but that's what makes things interesting. First the pig had been butterflied instead of prepped for the rotisserie.....so that meant extra sewing. Candice gave the hog a rubdown, while the guys got the pig on the rotisserie.

I got the hardwood charcoal started....a lot of charcoal. 30 pounds to start with refueling as necessary. All told about 120-130 pounds of charcoal.

We were delayed when we figured out that the darn rotisserie just wouldn't cut it....the kept skipping, it just wouldn't work....so after trying a whole bunch of things we just pretty much did it by hand. The sun had risen by the time things got started.......things looked grim.

We ended up doing 1/8 to 1/4 turns manually....it wasn't easy, the pig was over 80 pounds, then propping it up with one of several garden implements.

Things were going swimmingly until our next bump in the road. John thought we needed to lowerthe hog. Well, the heat had caused the metal stands to swell making movement pretty tough...it was also hot as heck and John didn't do too well with it. So we got a step stool thingy, I climbed up placing one leg on the edge of the pan and basically did a modified deadlift while Candice and John pounded the stand with a hammer to loosen it. First side wasn't too bad...the second side we'll be talking about for a long time. I was up on the edge of the pan....John and Candice were trying their darnest to get the thing loose while I held the hog up. I actually watched the hair on my leg (I wore shorts) burn off, but there wasn't anything I could do. Then my shirt caught on fire......so what to do? Third degree burns or drop the hog into the charcoal??? Luckily, just as I was thinking about skin grafts, they got everything adjusted correctly....and I had brought along a spare shirt. Don't ask me why, for some reason I just did. Of course all the vibrations had loosen one of the retaining rods and the pig almost fell face forward...back to the pig lift while the rod was pounded back into place. This was when I popped open my first Beer Lao of the day....

It was already 10am....time had really flown by. Guests had been told to come at 3pm by Peter. The pig had started developing a nice tan....and John was getting into the habit of peeling the skin off the pig and eating it! Sheesh..... Of course the middle of the pig started getting too brown, so the twin's mom suggesting wrapping those parts in aluminum foil.

The pig was doing nicely...Candice was doing a great job of first basting with coconut oil, then coconut water. At right before 11 Peter returned and Candice and I left....we had to prep some of the other dishes.

The Missus dropped me back off at just before 2 pm and this is what the pig looked like.

By this time reinforcements had already arrived.....Ange had worked getting the tables and everything else set-up, TFD and MrC, YY and MrQ (and "Kyle"), Xianjiang...the whole gang. Everyone took their photo with the pig....then it was covered back up.

It was starting to get darker and the internal temp of the hog was still just over110, we weren't going to make it.

Luckily there was back-up. YY and MrQ brought a bunch of food from Mien Trung...Banh Bot Loc and Hen Xuc Banh Trang.

I set about to fry up about 15 pounds of chicken wings....I loved this set-up.

YY told me that the twin's mom knew that we'd need a "plan B" from the beginning and requested the legs. I've previously mentioned what a great cook she is. So I'll let the photos do the talking.

It was some great stuff. Xianjiang appeared with Fanny Bay oysters.......

It became clear the the pig wouldn't make it. So they did what they could.....and left to cook it further.

I had two slots for guests, so I invited Kirbie and DH. I feel bad that I was so busy behind the fryer that I couldn't spend time with them....my apologies!

Of course, eventually the karaoke started up......and etc....... It was an epic night, something we'll always talk about. Thanks to John and Peter for taking ownership and Candice for keeping things on schedule, YY and MrQ  for making sure we had some contingencies, Ange for making sure the area got set-up and decorated, TFD and MrC for always being there for support and help.....and especially the twin's sister Van and their wonderful Mother (thanks for sneaking me all those special dishes!). It was great meeting those folks I knew and those that I met for the first time.

In the end, it wasn't about the destination, but the journey. In the end (no pun intended) we have a heck of a tail,ummm tale, don't we!

Thanks again guys......this was quite an effort......I have heard Ange's request for a goat....but we'll have to get a rotisserie that actually works. And I need some time to recover.

 

Honolulu: Whole Foods Kahala, Ono Seafood, Tamura's Kaimuki, Take's Fish Market, Mini-Garden, and dinner

I won't go into great detail about planning or trip; you can read a bit more in my previous post. 

During my last trip, I noticed a lot of construction was taking place on a huge lot on Keaunui Drive. My in-laws live about a ten minute walk away. On this trip we saw that one of the "mega-Safeways" had opened on the property. I thought this was great, with more choices, and maybe with a better fish department than the nearby Foodland. Unfortunately, like Foodland, this place serves up carbon monoxide treated ahi....bummer. I guess we'll stick with Tanioka's. We were pretty much pooped and didn't do much the first evening.

But we headed out early the next morning. In all honesty, I'm not the biggest fan of Whole Foods. I did however, relish the opportunity to check out the Kahala location. I wanted the Missus to have a chance to grab some local produce. I was pleasantly surprised to see a really impressive looking food bar area......

This used to be the location of Star Market in Kahala Mall, which sadly closed in 2007.

It didn't seem like we'd have any time to visit a farmer's market on Oahu, so this seemed a decent option. Of course, driving from Ewa Beach on a week day morning wasn't exactly the most wonderful thing in the world....

This was of course, Whole Foods, and the pricing reflected that. I'm not a big fan of the prepared and hot foods, many of which I find on the bland side. But the choice of all the local vegetables was very nice. The Missus and I had sort of a breakfast with stuff like Sumida Farms watercress and Ho Farms Tomatoes.

The Missus just loved the watercress and we bought some stuff for dinner.

Whole Foods Market
Kahala Mall Shopping Center
4211 Waialae Ave, Ste 2000
Honolulu, HI 96816

Our next stop was set to be Tamura's Kaimuki, but their poke department doesn't open until 1030, so we decided to get something to eat. Well, we already did breakfast, so I guess we need to call this brunch?

We headed down to Ono Seafood and decided to share a poke bowl. We went with a "combo" poke bowl; for 50 cents more ($7.50), you get two different poke. The one item that I enjoy eating brown rice with is poke....the Missus loves the "brown rice revolution".

The fish here has been sparkling fresh on all our visits. The poke is not over-sauced and the texture of the fish is not compromised. The Missus really enjoyed the wasabi version of the ahi poke, while I liked the less heavily flavored "Hawaiian" style, with inamona adding a bit of nuttiness, and limu for some crunch. All the juice from the poke flavored the rice nicely, though the Missus has a bit of an issue with putting cold raw fish on top of hot rice...... I on the other hand have no such qualms......

Ono Seafood
747 Kapahulu Ave.Apt 4
Honolulu, HI 96816

We then headed back up the hill to Tamura's.

For some smoked tako, smoked fish, and some other stuff for dinner.

Tamura's Fine Wines & Liquors
3496 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816

We decided to make one more eating stop..... We've done breakfast and brunch, so I guess this one is officially lunch? Anyway we headed to Mapunapuna and the former location of 99 Ranch Market. I'd always thought this was a weird location for a market and 99 Ranch Market didn't last that long. It's now a sort of food court with some shops....great for the working folks in the area. Though it still looks kind of seedy.....

**** Both Take's and Mini Garden Express have closed

I'd heard about a little place that makes a nice take-out chirashi with decent quality fish, called Take's Fish Market.

The place is run by a very nice older Japanese couple. They seem very mild mannered, even shy. I ordered the Kaisen Chirashi and was told it was going to be about 10 minutes. So while the Missus walked around I waited a while and actually saw them cut my fish fresh.

I then went for a walk and got the Missus to order something for me from another stand (see below). When I got back, my bowl was ready.

The shari (sushi rice) was prepared decently, not too sour or wet. The fish was very fresh, the hamachi impeccable. By no means is this an earth-shattering chirashi......but looking at the quality and price ($9.95), this is pretty darn good. I really can't, by any means, call this fast food. If I worked around here, I'd be having this just about every week.

Take's Fish Market
1151 Mapunapuna St
Honolulu, HI 96819

While waiting for my chirashi, the Missus and I took a walk. It was just after 11 and this place was packed.

The place was doing major business! Looking at the food the other folks were eating, I could tell....this ain't Panda Express. So I got the missus to order me something while I went back to see if my chirashi was ready.

What the missus ordered for me was the Roast Duck Pan Fried Noodles ($7.95). The Missus handed the styrofoam container over to me and I was surprised at its heft. Opening up I noticed that man, this place really packed it in.

The Missus loved the gooey sauce on the vegetables....mostly napa cabbage. There was a good amount of crisp noodles, one of my favorite thing. I found the sauce more like a fairly bland gravy which needed some flavor. The duck was super meaty and wasn't too salty, though it was on the mild side with regards to anything resembling five-spice or bean paste flavor.

Still, this is a load of food........we had half of it left for dinner.

Mini Garden Express
1151 Mapunapuna St
Honolulu, HI 96819 

Speaking of dinner........it seemed like the Missus could not get enough watercress. We bought some Sumida Farms watercress and Ho Farms tomatoes and made a salad....and drizzled on a bit of soy and sesame oil for flavor.

Along with the stuff from Tamura's.

The smoked tako seemed a bit too sweet for our tastes.

The smoked marlin, which the Missus loved so much that I had to bring some home with me during my last trip, has somehow fallen out of favor with Her.

Turns out that the Missus prefers the stuff I now make at home. Of course it's made with Her taste preferences in mind.

The pipikaula was decent....not too tough, not overly salty.

I could eat a whole container of pickled garlic.....really.

While the Missus could do the same with tako wasabi......

While writing this I realized that we really packed it in.......though if you look through, we shared our food and never ate too much. We really enjoyed this type of "grazing"........

We crashed fairly early, we'd bee headed to the Big Island the next day.

Thanks for reading!

We're Back

In case you've been wondering.....the Missus and I took what seemed like a really short trip, it seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. We were getting a bit stale, so it was time for us to do something. I know I already went home once this year, but we decided to take that trip.

We ended up spending only a couple of days on Oahu and the rest on the Big Island. I've been there at least a dozen times and the Missus about 5 or 6. We had friends who lived in Hilo for a while. But hadn't been back in over ten years and were wondering if things had changed much.

Since we'd been there so many times, we've done all the sight seeing stuff, so we just kind of just wanted to drive around and enjoy....to the tune of 600 miles in four days! So even though we've been here many times before, you can be sure that we'll be at least showing a couple of great sunsets.....

Maybe throw in a waterfall.....

And being on the Big Island, you know we've got to visit here.....

Of course there will be lots of poke....which the Missus just can't get enough of.....

Or even this....a bargain at $9.95:

The Missus really appreciated the local produce on this trip and took full advantage.

Though that doesn't mean I cut this out of my diet.......

We also had a chance to visit a couple of real "old time" favorites on the Big Island, places that are etched into the locals minds. These places have been serving up the same fare for decades and have a place in the history of the Big Island.

From the very "Local-Japanese"......

To a pork chop that was probably cooked in a cast iron pan several decades older than I am.......

It was all good.

Even the Hamakua Mushroom Burger........really!

We didn't have much time on Oahu, literally two nights total, but managed to enjoy ourselves......

So let me regroup and recover and we'll be back with a post!

Hopefully, before pigs fly........

Thanks for reading!

Sausage & More European Delicatessen (Lakeside)

This is mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog.  Kirk and ed (from Yuma)?  Still busy.  Cathy? Blogging today.

A few weeks ago, The Mister and I were craving foods we grew up with. Not wanting to spend time and fuel driving to Tip Top Meats in Carlsbad, we decided to try the European Delicatessen in Lakeside that we had seen for the past few months. 

In researching, we found out that the owners of Sausage & More had worked at Sausage King, which had been a chain of small markets around the County, the last one on Washington Street, which closed when the owner died in 2011.  

Walking in the front door, you are greeted with a small grocery area. Under that archway in the back is one of three comfortable booth and table eating areas.

There is a good variety of European (mostly German) sweets and condiments as well as some bread selections from Los Angeles area bakeries.

The meat case offers a good variety of lunchmeats and sausages. Almost everything is $5.98/lb.

 

There is also one refrigerator case with desserts and one with cheeses.

Several 'specials' were on posters lining the walls and we decided to try the "Oktoberfest Bratwurst", a smoked bratwurst, heated and on a soft white bun, served with mustard and an excellent German potato salad. ($4.75). 

A corse ground, smoked sausage inside an excellent skin, with a great 'snap' upon biting into it.  

 

I tried a simple smoked ham sandwich ($4.25) which was accidentally made on white instead of rye bread. The thin sliced smoked ham was plentiful, however  I did order the sandwich with 'everything' and the lettuce, tomato and onion kind of took away from the basic good simplicity that the sandwich flavors should have.  

On another visit, we just grabbed food to take home.  The Ring bologna, skin on the weiners, Neopolitan cake slice ($3.75 on Friday and Saturday), cookies and licorice were all excellent selections to satisfy more cravings.  

They don't make the sausages or smoke the meat here, but are friendly, helpful and do have a really good selection in nearby East County.

Sausage & More Delicatessen 12241Woodside Avenue Lakeside, CA 92040 (619) 390-1514 Website Closed Sunday and Monday. Other days open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 

<<<(A closeup of the lamp hanging in the archway, in the second photo. It's very old- the plug only has two prongs; no ground. Very cool.)

Que Huong-Lunch with Friends

It's Tuesday and mmm-yoso!!! is getting through the week with another post by Cathy.  Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are just plain busy.

Kirk first posted about Que Huong in August 2005. He subsequently had a series of three posts devoted to the food here in 2008 and he has mentioned some of the dishes, particularly the chicken wings, in other posts (you can use that 'Search" box on the top left of this page) there are 1670 mentions on this blog. The Mister and I had been to this location before 2005, when it was a dim sum restaurant (and I wasn't taking photos of our meals, much less blogging).  In August, fellow blogger (on hiatus) Sawyer was in town, working for his Internship and Kirk, Carol, Dennis and I met up with him at Que Huong early on a Sunday morning for a wonderful celebratory feast.
Located in the corner space of a mini mall, behind the Burger King parking lot on the North side of University at Marlborough, the exterior is deceiving.

Que Huong has a very large interior behind the steel corner door barred location, the tables and chairs always are elegantly covered - for lunch and dinner- and the interior seems quieter and less hurried than most Vietnamese Restaurants.

Kirk did the ordering since he knew what he -and we- would like.  The menu is mind-numbingly large and includes several types of wild game meats and is not anything like a Pho Restaurant. At all.

The pork and shrimp jackfruit salad arrived at the table topped with a sesame rice cracker.

It looks like this.  It's tangy and made with canned jackfruit (which isn't mushy, but firm...kind of al dente, as are all the vegetables).  It's topped with a bit of nuoc mam (fish sauce).

Kirk ordered the table both tamarind and fish sauce chicken wings.  If you've read his posts, you know he thinks the chicken wings here are the best in San Diego.  I agree. The wings are crispy and light and coated perfectly.  It was extremely difficult to decide which was better...it was a matter of if you like a bit sweet or a bit more pungent.  I will say I will never order hot sauce/BBQ sauce/honey anything wings anyplace else ever again.

The seasoned periwinkle in coconut curry sauce was another great item.  The periwinkles are cut on both ends, so you can easily suck the meat out and enjoy the sweet-spicy sauce.  The herb on top is Vietnamese coriander (rau ram). There were about six of the little shelled creatures and some of the sauce left over and I brought those home to The Mister, who really enjoyed the flavors melded in this dish.

This was a salad of minced wild boar sauteed with lemongrass and red and green peppers, topped with the sesame rice cracker. The herb on top has a cumin flavor.  This was surprisingly wonderful and mildly addictive.  The boar flavor wasn't too distinct or odd...I got more texture out of it and enjoyed the melding of all the flavors. 

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Snapper flavored with dill and turmeric is a classic Vietnamese dish: cha ca thang long.  It's served with that plate of goodies at the top- rice noodles, lettuce, perilla leaves, cucumber, pickled carrot, pineapple and mint. this is a meal for two all by itself.  Seriously good.

Above is the catfish Hot Pot, photographed after some of the contents had been removed and the sizzle had stopped. The fish was tender and fresh flavored (not muddy, as sometimes happens with catfish) and a piece of pork belly lined the bottom of the pot.  The sauce was sticky of course, but had a deep flavor of fish sauce in addition to the sweet.  I wish I wasn't so full and could have eaten more. All in all, great food shared with great friends.

Of course, I returned, with The Mister, for lunch.  We started out with the papaya salad.  Fresh, crispy, able to taste all the flavors which were perfectly melded together.  Just enough heat for us.

We chose to share the fish sauce chicken wings, because ...well... we just wanted to try one flavor and The Mister asked me to choose. My choice was savory. Perfectly crispy wings, perfectly sauced and served with a salt-pepper-lime juice for dipping. 

The Mister wanted to see the version of  Bahn Xeo that Que Huong makes.  We ordered it as soon as we sat down, knowing it takes a while to make.  

A perfect light, crispy, rice flour-turmeric based pancake, filled with bean sprout, onion, pork and shrimp. Airy and crispy, wrapped in lettuce leaves with mint added. An excellent version.

We enjoy Que Huong and it has become a regular stop when we are in the neighborhood.  It's just a bit nicer with better food and offerings than some other places.

Que Huong 4134 University Avenue San Diego 92105  (619) 281-6008 

Road Trip-Pasadena: 2013 Rose Parade float Decorating Day and Zankou Chicken

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and sometimes there are stories about how we find places where we eat.  Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy finding places today.  Cathy had an adventure this past Saturday and is sharing today.

Good Monday Morning! Saturday was a *very* long day-The Mister and I had signed up to work on the first "Detail Day" of 2013 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade floats and needed to be in Pasadena by 9 a.m.. We left the house at 6:08 a.m., there wasn't any rain (like we had on Friday evening) and we parked on Raymond Street at 8:08 a.m..   

Volunteers were lined up.

Walking into the Phoenix Decorating Company Rose Palace, eleven floats were parked.  Of course, this barn is not heated and we were glad we wore layers.  You'll notice in almost every photo, everyone is wearing jackets, sweaters and sweatshirts.  (There is one photo of a guy in shorts, but he has on a lined jacket).

Here's what the barn looks like from the upstairs passageway.

Since this was the first of the 'dry' decorating days, most of the people were cutting statice flowers, to get enough to colore the various purple, blue and pink areas of the floats.  Every visible part of every float has to be covered in something that is, or was, alive and blue is a rare color seen in nature.

This looks like three colors to you, right? Well, each of those buckets of flowers got to be divided further, so the various shades of 'blues' 'purples', as well as 'pink' colors could be used on specific areas of the floats. This is how the darkest statice colors got divided:

Really. About six people cutting for eight hours resulted in

this much of one color being finished:

Other volunteers were cutting the petals off of straw flowers, saving the centers for another use.

The Lions Club had a good number of volunteers, steadily working on  their detailed float.

Every volunteer worked through the day.

There was plenty of gluing going on also.  

 

Every exposed surface must be covered with something that is, or was, alive...look again- there are two people working in the photo above. 

Soon enough, the PA System announced it was time to clean up and clear out.  Detail/Dry Decoration Day #1 was over.

We headed down Colorado Boulevard and stopped here, Zankou Chicken.  I had seen the sign on almost every trip we had made up here, but it never was open, since we were always so early.

Large inside, nice and clean. A pretty simple menu, easy ordering and fast service.  You can see many chickens on the rotisseries to the top right.  There were also rotisserie spits with shawerma and tarna.  

Of course, we decided to order the name of the restaurant...and chose a whole chicken, which was cut in half for us. It came with 4 fresh pita breads and a 'powerful garlic sauce'- (it's firmly whipped; not saucy) ($9.99). We also ordered a small (8 oz) tabbouleh salad ($3.49) and a side of two fresh falafel ($1.35).  Everything was excellent.  The chicken was moist with crispy skin..and wonderfully complimented by the 'powerful garlic sauce' (that's the signage description; I now refer to it as 'magic garlic').  The falafel were on top of a good amount of fresh tahini sauce and light with a good, thin crisp crust...and seemed to have a familiar spice in them...maybe cinnamon.  These were very good. The tabbouleh was so fresh and flavorful, the parsley, onion, tomato and bulghur topped with lemon juice and olive oil was so refreshing. We finished it all and were ready for our two hour drive home.

A long day, with much accomplished. I hope all of you had a good weekend.

Phoenix Decorating Company Website -if you'd like to sign up as a volunteer, or watch decorating live on the webcams.

Zankou Chicken 1296 E. Colorado Boulevard Pasadena (626) 405-1502 Website