Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
hash house a go go.
i had a fun meal with some fun people at hash house a go go in las vegas.
the huge caesar salad...
the portions here are incredible! needless to say i didn't finish. :(
the portions here are incredible! needless to say i didn't finish. :(
meat loaf pasta...
i realize that meat loaf pasta sounds a bit...different. but it tasted really good. it was a little spicy, with a tex mex kind of feel. with the tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, pasta, and the meat loaf - it all worked. and the crispy parmesan tuille on top was a fun addition to the dish. the meat loaf is one of the signature dishes at hash house, and even though it was on the pasta, it didn't disappoint. (the crispy parmesan tuille was also on my caesar salad!)
hash house a go go (imperial palace) * 3535 las vegas blvd. s * las vegas, nv 89109
i realize that meat loaf pasta sounds a bit...different. but it tasted really good. it was a little spicy, with a tex mex kind of feel. with the tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, pasta, and the meat loaf - it all worked. and the crispy parmesan tuille on top was a fun addition to the dish. the meat loaf is one of the signature dishes at hash house, and even though it was on the pasta, it didn't disappoint. (the crispy parmesan tuille was also on my caesar salad!)
hash house a go go (imperial palace) * 3535 las vegas blvd. s * las vegas, nv 89109
Saturday, July 23, 2011
the ramen tour, stop #7: santouka ramen.
santouka ramen is located in the food court of mitsuwa marketplace in torrance. it is part of a chain of ramen shops in japan, serving hokkaido style ramen, and they have several locations in california. lucky for me! as it is by far one of my favorite ramen places in and around the home digs. my friend y and i, neither of us are very big on ramen (she likes it less than i do) and even she likes it, so i think that's saying something. my favorite ramen there currently is the miso chashu ramen, and of course i have to order the seasoned egg on the side.
there are several slices of yummy roasted pork, along with some menma (bamboo shoots), kamaboko (fish cake), kikurage (woodear mushrooms), and of course, negi (green onion). for me, the broth totally has that umami factor.
you can get shio (salt) broth, shoyu (soy sauce) broth , or miso (soybean paste) broth for your ramen. santouka uses a pork broth as a base for all of their ramen. they have two bases as the miso ramen uses a different pork broth base than the others.
of course, given that the miso chashu ramen is my current favorite at santouka, that's what i ordered. c ordered the shio ramen. the shio ramen is topped off with an umeboshi (salted plum). we barely made it there in time to order our ramen - although the marketplace is open until 8pm, most of the stalls in the food court close earlier, and we both learned that day that santouka takes their last order at 7:15pm.
there's no question that i will go back!
santouka ramen @ mitsuwa marketplace * 21515 western ave. * torrance, ca 90501
there are several slices of yummy roasted pork, along with some menma (bamboo shoots), kamaboko (fish cake), kikurage (woodear mushrooms), and of course, negi (green onion). for me, the broth totally has that umami factor.
you can get shio (salt) broth, shoyu (soy sauce) broth , or miso (soybean paste) broth for your ramen. santouka uses a pork broth as a base for all of their ramen. they have two bases as the miso ramen uses a different pork broth base than the others.
of course, given that the miso chashu ramen is my current favorite at santouka, that's what i ordered. c ordered the shio ramen. the shio ramen is topped off with an umeboshi (salted plum). we barely made it there in time to order our ramen - although the marketplace is open until 8pm, most of the stalls in the food court close earlier, and we both learned that day that santouka takes their last order at 7:15pm.
there's no question that i will go back!
santouka ramen @ mitsuwa marketplace * 21515 western ave. * torrance, ca 90501
Monday, July 18, 2011
starry kitchen.
starry kitchen was once an illegal + underground restaurant in north hollywood. i didn't know about it back then, but i initially heard about it sometime last year, probably about a little over a year they started up (which was may of 2009). i'm sure i would have gotten there eventually, but thanks to blackboard eats it sweetened the deal. 30% off! :)
(before we go any further...i apologize for the darkness of the photos...i only had my iphone...)
k, liz, and i headed out to starry kitchen a couple of weeks back. located in the courtyard of california plaza, they must do really well during lunch since they aren't open for dinner every day. there was a bit of a crowd to order when we got there, and nguyen tran (husband of the husband and wife team behind starry kitchen) laid down the rules of how to order. first - pick your protein. they have a rotating menu of proteins, the only mainstay being the lemongrass chicken. then you pick your vessel (wrap, salad, banh mi style sandwich, or rice plate), and then pick any sides. they also have a few other items on the menu that you can order. so i opted for the korean spiced pork belly on a rice plate. i upgraded the rice to basil fried rice, and it was accompanied by japchae (korean noodle salad) as well as goi (a vietnamese salad). also, for an appetizer i ordered the double fried ginger glazed wings. as good as my plate was, those wings were by far and away the best thing i ate that night. (i even got an order of wings to go!)
starry kitchen * 350 s. grand ave. * los angeles, ca 90071
(before we go any further...i apologize for the darkness of the photos...i only had my iphone...)
k, liz, and i headed out to starry kitchen a couple of weeks back. located in the courtyard of california plaza, they must do really well during lunch since they aren't open for dinner every day. there was a bit of a crowd to order when we got there, and nguyen tran (husband of the husband and wife team behind starry kitchen) laid down the rules of how to order. first - pick your protein. they have a rotating menu of proteins, the only mainstay being the lemongrass chicken. then you pick your vessel (wrap, salad, banh mi style sandwich, or rice plate), and then pick any sides. they also have a few other items on the menu that you can order. so i opted for the korean spiced pork belly on a rice plate. i upgraded the rice to basil fried rice, and it was accompanied by japchae (korean noodle salad) as well as goi (a vietnamese salad). also, for an appetizer i ordered the double fried ginger glazed wings. as good as my plate was, those wings were by far and away the best thing i ate that night. (i even got an order of wings to go!)
starry kitchen * 350 s. grand ave. * los angeles, ca 90071
Monday, June 27, 2011
making yogurt at home.
yogurt is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. i usually tend to get either the french village vanilla from trader joe's or the individual containers of yoplait in various flavors (but only when it's on sale), and sometimes stir in a bit of granola. so about a month or so ago i googled instructions on how to make yogurt at home. upon learning how relatively it was to do, i thought i would give it a shot. so soon after i ventured to make my own homemade yogurt. armed with a half gallon of horizon fat free milk, some plain yogurt, some equipment and instructions, i had a little kitchen project on my hands. i followed the instructions i found on serious eats.
it is really, really, super easy to do. you don't even need to buy any fancy equipment. the only equipment you need is a pot with a lid and a thermometer. the first thing you want to do is heat up the milk to about 185 to 195 degrees F and then hold it in that range for at least 10 minutes. since i didn't want to warm it up too quickly, i opted for the double boiler method to warm up my milk. since it was the first time i was trying this, i checked the thermometer constantly. once i got the milk in range, i held it there for just over 10 minutes. having it on the double boiler really made it easy to hold it in range - i didn't have to adjust the heat on the stove at all. after the 10 minutes was up, i took the pot of milk off of the double boiler and put it into a water bath, and stirred the milk. this helped to bring down the temperature of the milk fairly quickly - the target temperature being about 115 degrees F. it is hot enough for the yogurt cultures to thrive but not hot enough to kill them. once cooled to the desired temperature, i took about a ladle full of the warm milk into a small bowl, and combined it with a few heaping spoonfuls of the plain yogurt i had bought. i actually used siggi's icelandic skyr, which is a very thick strained yogurt. (in my opinion, i think it's even thicker than greek yogurt!)
once the milk and yogurt are combined to make a smooth mixture, i poured that back into the warm milk, and stirred again, to make sure the cultures were well incorporated into the lukewarm milk. at this point, you're pretty much done. you want the cultures to incubate and do their thing, so i put a lid on the pot, wrapped it up in a towel, and stuck it in the oven overnight. in total it probably incubated for about 6 hours. in order to help keep the milk mixture as warm was possible. i actually had the oven on while i was in the process of warming up the milk, and turned it off once i turned the heat off of the milk.
in the morning, i checked on my little project. i unwrapped the towel, opened the lid and took a look inside. it looked and smelled like yogurt. i then put the whole pot in the fridge. once cooled, i checked the results of my little experiment. before making my own yogurt, i had read that the more fat content in the milk, the creamier and thicker the yogurt would be. so since i had opted to use fat free milk, it was rather thin in consistency, but it was a successful first try nonetheless.
i immediately portioned it out into 3/4 cup portions, about the average for most individual yogurt containers, give or take. i ended up with almost 10 portions from a half gallon of milk! one taste tho, and i knew i was in trouble. i didn't mind the thin consistency, but it was tart. i mean, really tart. i like tart but not that much tart. so for my first bowl of home made yogurt, i tossed in some blackberries and blueberries, a couple drops of vanilla extract, and a sprinkling of sugar. that improved the taste a lot and made me feel like i was eating something healthy. to finish eating this first batch of home made yogurt, i stirred in some macerated fruit (mostly berries) and had a fruit yogurt. as you can also save some as a starter for your next batch of yogurt, i opted to leave one portion as a starter for my next attempt.
after my first try into making yogurt, i found out that one of my co-workers had been doing it for years. she advised that no special equipment was needed, and as long as you keep the pot wrapped in a blanket or towel and out of drafts, you should successfully make yogurt every time. she also let me know that after a couple or rounds of reculturing i'd probably want to start with a fresh starter.
since the first attempt, i've made three more attempts. my second batch of yogurt was strawberry yogurt made from strawberry milk. i used store bought nesquick strawberry milk, a packet of yo'gurmet freeze dried starter, and also a spoonful of my first batch of fresh made yogurt. the strawberry yogurt turned out okay, a little more tart than i had expected, and served with some fresh cut strawberries, it was rather good. just a few days ago, i attempted to make yogurt that was slightly flavored with some vanilla extract, sugar, and honey. as a starter, i used several spoonfuls of my first batch of yogurt. however, this batch did not turn out at all - epic fail! i'm not sure why it didn't turn out, because i can think of more than one factor, but i think the main reason was that perhaps the cultures in my first batch of yogurt were no longer active by this time - it had been over a week after all. so the next day, i attempted it again. this time, the market i shopped at was all out of the horizon fat free organic milk i usually get, so i ended up buying the 1% milk. i made another attempt. i didn't add as much other stuff as i had in my failed attempt. to a half gallon of milk, i added 3 tablespoons of honey, and used the freeze dried culture as my starter. everything else i did the same as before, and again, i had successful batch of yogurt.
however, once i tried the batch made from the 1% milk - i immediately observed several differences from my first attempt. the first was its consistency - for being only 1% milk fat content, it yielded a lot creamier and thicker yogurt than the fat free milk. the second was the smell of the yogurt - i could smell the standard tart smell of yogurt, but it wasn't nearly as pungent as my first attempt. and once i tasted it - there was a difference as well. it wasn't nearly as tart as my first attempt. even though i know the honey that i had added to the milk mixture probably helped, it still wasn't nearly as tart. so now i'm wondering if it was the starter - i tried what was left of the icelandic skyr after making my first batch, and it was really and seriously tart, made worse in my mouth due to the thick texture of it. the 1% milk yogurt was made using the freeze dried starter. i'll have to experiment again to make it with the freeze fried culture (or a first generation reculture) but with no sweeteners added to see how tart the yogurt actually turns out. i'm also planning on trying a different sweetener, such as agave.
it is really, really, super easy to do. you don't even need to buy any fancy equipment. the only equipment you need is a pot with a lid and a thermometer. the first thing you want to do is heat up the milk to about 185 to 195 degrees F and then hold it in that range for at least 10 minutes. since i didn't want to warm it up too quickly, i opted for the double boiler method to warm up my milk. since it was the first time i was trying this, i checked the thermometer constantly. once i got the milk in range, i held it there for just over 10 minutes. having it on the double boiler really made it easy to hold it in range - i didn't have to adjust the heat on the stove at all. after the 10 minutes was up, i took the pot of milk off of the double boiler and put it into a water bath, and stirred the milk. this helped to bring down the temperature of the milk fairly quickly - the target temperature being about 115 degrees F. it is hot enough for the yogurt cultures to thrive but not hot enough to kill them. once cooled to the desired temperature, i took about a ladle full of the warm milk into a small bowl, and combined it with a few heaping spoonfuls of the plain yogurt i had bought. i actually used siggi's icelandic skyr, which is a very thick strained yogurt. (in my opinion, i think it's even thicker than greek yogurt!)
once the milk and yogurt are combined to make a smooth mixture, i poured that back into the warm milk, and stirred again, to make sure the cultures were well incorporated into the lukewarm milk. at this point, you're pretty much done. you want the cultures to incubate and do their thing, so i put a lid on the pot, wrapped it up in a towel, and stuck it in the oven overnight. in total it probably incubated for about 6 hours. in order to help keep the milk mixture as warm was possible. i actually had the oven on while i was in the process of warming up the milk, and turned it off once i turned the heat off of the milk.
in the morning, i checked on my little project. i unwrapped the towel, opened the lid and took a look inside. it looked and smelled like yogurt. i then put the whole pot in the fridge. once cooled, i checked the results of my little experiment. before making my own yogurt, i had read that the more fat content in the milk, the creamier and thicker the yogurt would be. so since i had opted to use fat free milk, it was rather thin in consistency, but it was a successful first try nonetheless.
i immediately portioned it out into 3/4 cup portions, about the average for most individual yogurt containers, give or take. i ended up with almost 10 portions from a half gallon of milk! one taste tho, and i knew i was in trouble. i didn't mind the thin consistency, but it was tart. i mean, really tart. i like tart but not that much tart. so for my first bowl of home made yogurt, i tossed in some blackberries and blueberries, a couple drops of vanilla extract, and a sprinkling of sugar. that improved the taste a lot and made me feel like i was eating something healthy. to finish eating this first batch of home made yogurt, i stirred in some macerated fruit (mostly berries) and had a fruit yogurt. as you can also save some as a starter for your next batch of yogurt, i opted to leave one portion as a starter for my next attempt.
after my first try into making yogurt, i found out that one of my co-workers had been doing it for years. she advised that no special equipment was needed, and as long as you keep the pot wrapped in a blanket or towel and out of drafts, you should successfully make yogurt every time. she also let me know that after a couple or rounds of reculturing i'd probably want to start with a fresh starter.
since the first attempt, i've made three more attempts. my second batch of yogurt was strawberry yogurt made from strawberry milk. i used store bought nesquick strawberry milk, a packet of yo'gurmet freeze dried starter, and also a spoonful of my first batch of fresh made yogurt. the strawberry yogurt turned out okay, a little more tart than i had expected, and served with some fresh cut strawberries, it was rather good. just a few days ago, i attempted to make yogurt that was slightly flavored with some vanilla extract, sugar, and honey. as a starter, i used several spoonfuls of my first batch of yogurt. however, this batch did not turn out at all - epic fail! i'm not sure why it didn't turn out, because i can think of more than one factor, but i think the main reason was that perhaps the cultures in my first batch of yogurt were no longer active by this time - it had been over a week after all. so the next day, i attempted it again. this time, the market i shopped at was all out of the horizon fat free organic milk i usually get, so i ended up buying the 1% milk. i made another attempt. i didn't add as much other stuff as i had in my failed attempt. to a half gallon of milk, i added 3 tablespoons of honey, and used the freeze dried culture as my starter. everything else i did the same as before, and again, i had successful batch of yogurt.
however, once i tried the batch made from the 1% milk - i immediately observed several differences from my first attempt. the first was its consistency - for being only 1% milk fat content, it yielded a lot creamier and thicker yogurt than the fat free milk. the second was the smell of the yogurt - i could smell the standard tart smell of yogurt, but it wasn't nearly as pungent as my first attempt. and once i tasted it - there was a difference as well. it wasn't nearly as tart as my first attempt. even though i know the honey that i had added to the milk mixture probably helped, it still wasn't nearly as tart. so now i'm wondering if it was the starter - i tried what was left of the icelandic skyr after making my first batch, and it was really and seriously tart, made worse in my mouth due to the thick texture of it. the 1% milk yogurt was made using the freeze dried starter. i'll have to experiment again to make it with the freeze fried culture (or a first generation reculture) but with no sweeteners added to see how tart the yogurt actually turns out. i'm also planning on trying a different sweetener, such as agave.
Friday, June 10, 2011
the ramen tour, stop #6: hakata ramen shinsengumi.
a week after our visit to yamadaya, and since our list of ramen shops wasn't very long to begin with, we'd come to the point where there weren't many places that were new to both of us, only one of us. c was driving us around for stop #6 and not wanting to go too far, we ended up at hakata ramen shinsengumi, which for reasons neither of us can fathom, is always crowded. however we got lucky and were able to be seated right away at the communal table. i'd only been there once and i can't even remember how long ago that was, and while c had probably been there more recently than me, she couldn't remember when that was, either.
their communal table has the most umcomfortable benches. maybe i have a big butt (ok, i DO have a big butt) but no matter what size your body, those benches are not comfortable. given that, maybe it helps them turnaround their customers quicker but let me just say that there was a couple (not sure if they were just friends or a real couple) who were done eating already when c and i sat down, but were still there when we left. and the conversation to be heard was not always good. the highlights? donkey poop and killing del taco tacos. it was like, please, we're eating here. but i digress.
we both ordered the combo that comes with the ramen, rice, a half order of gyoza, one side dish, and a soft drink. as such, choices abound! first it was how firm would we like our noodles? how much oil? is green onion and ginger ok in your ramen? which side dish? white rice or fried rice? and finally, what drink would you like? as we were both getting the same ramen, we both ordered different side dishes. c ordered the cheese tsutsumi age, and i opted for the nanban chicken karaage.
our gyoza and rice came out first, quickly followed by our fried side dishes. the gyoza wasn't bad, but some of them were really garlicky - as if the filling was not well mixed and/or the garlic in the filling was very coarsely chopped and not entirely cooked through. we definitely got the bitterness of raw garlic when we bit into it. the cheese tsutsumi age was interesting - it's a piece of mozzarella cheese wrapped in an egg roll wrapper and deep fried. who doesn't love anything deep fried? the only thing is if you eat it too slow or wait too long to eat it, the cheese isn't nice and gooey and melty anymore! the winning side dish at hakata ramen for me was the nanban chicken karaage. the fried chicken was probably good on its own, but with that salty and sour sauce on it, it was just that much tastier.
finally - the important part. the ramen itself. the broth of the ramen definitely did not have that umami factor, and reminded me of why i had stayed away. c said it was only a bit above making top ramen yourself. at least to us. to me, it was just salty - no umami - no layers of flavor or richness - but i'm sure there are tons of people out there who would beg to differ and swear by how GOOD hakata ramen is. they are all entitled to their opinion as i am to mine, they must be doing something right to have the crowds that they do. the noodles are just noodles - but i do like the fact that they ask to see how firm or soft you want your noodles. thus far on the tour we haven't encountered that decision, and if chewy noodles are what you want you can certainly get that here.
overall though, neither of us were really intrigued by the noodle offerings at hakata ramen shinsengumi. i'm not in any particular hurry to go back, and neither is c. we may never go back, at least on our own cognizance.
hakata ramen shinsengumi * 2015 w. redondo beach blvd. *gardena, ca 90247
their communal table has the most umcomfortable benches. maybe i have a big butt (ok, i DO have a big butt) but no matter what size your body, those benches are not comfortable. given that, maybe it helps them turnaround their customers quicker but let me just say that there was a couple (not sure if they were just friends or a real couple) who were done eating already when c and i sat down, but were still there when we left. and the conversation to be heard was not always good. the highlights? donkey poop and killing del taco tacos. it was like, please, we're eating here. but i digress.
we both ordered the combo that comes with the ramen, rice, a half order of gyoza, one side dish, and a soft drink. as such, choices abound! first it was how firm would we like our noodles? how much oil? is green onion and ginger ok in your ramen? which side dish? white rice or fried rice? and finally, what drink would you like? as we were both getting the same ramen, we both ordered different side dishes. c ordered the cheese tsutsumi age, and i opted for the nanban chicken karaage.
our gyoza and rice came out first, quickly followed by our fried side dishes. the gyoza wasn't bad, but some of them were really garlicky - as if the filling was not well mixed and/or the garlic in the filling was very coarsely chopped and not entirely cooked through. we definitely got the bitterness of raw garlic when we bit into it. the cheese tsutsumi age was interesting - it's a piece of mozzarella cheese wrapped in an egg roll wrapper and deep fried. who doesn't love anything deep fried? the only thing is if you eat it too slow or wait too long to eat it, the cheese isn't nice and gooey and melty anymore! the winning side dish at hakata ramen for me was the nanban chicken karaage. the fried chicken was probably good on its own, but with that salty and sour sauce on it, it was just that much tastier.
finally - the important part. the ramen itself. the broth of the ramen definitely did not have that umami factor, and reminded me of why i had stayed away. c said it was only a bit above making top ramen yourself. at least to us. to me, it was just salty - no umami - no layers of flavor or richness - but i'm sure there are tons of people out there who would beg to differ and swear by how GOOD hakata ramen is. they are all entitled to their opinion as i am to mine, they must be doing something right to have the crowds that they do. the noodles are just noodles - but i do like the fact that they ask to see how firm or soft you want your noodles. thus far on the tour we haven't encountered that decision, and if chewy noodles are what you want you can certainly get that here.
overall though, neither of us were really intrigued by the noodle offerings at hakata ramen shinsengumi. i'm not in any particular hurry to go back, and neither is c. we may never go back, at least on our own cognizance.
hakata ramen shinsengumi * 2015 w. redondo beach blvd. *gardena, ca 90247
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
the ramen tour, stop #5: ramen yamadaya.
mere days after our stop at ramen california, c and i found ourselves at ramen yamadaya, located in north torrance on 182nd street, just off crenshaw. this made stop #5 on our ramen tour. we both ended up ordering combos - you pay a few extra dollars on top of the price of the ramen you order. c got the tonkotsu ramen with gyoza and kimchi fried rice, while i got the kakuni (pork belly) tonkotsu ramen with chicken karaage and chashu bowl. it was also choices, choices, choices when we ordered. which side dish? which rice dish? do you want thin noodles or thick noodles? we both opted for the thin noodles.
the side dishes came out first. the gyoza here was forgettable in my book. pretty bland and the worst part? soggy. i mean, really soggy. one side of the gyoza has the nice burnt crust, but the rest of it was just mush. when i bit into it, it just released some water and soggy filling. blah. however, the chicken karaage was really tasty and probably one of the best things i ate that night. c liked it a lot, too.
c's kimchi fried rice and my chashu bowl were the next items to come out. the kimchi fried rice was ok - but i could do better on my own. the chashu bowl didn't leave a lasting impression either - as it was just seasoned pork on top of rice and wasn't anything special. between the two, i think i preferred c's kimchi fried rice, but again, i don't think i'd go back for that.
the ramens came out last. i ordered the ramen with the pork belly and while good, i think next time i'll just stick to the regular cha shu ramen. the tonkotsu broth was flavorful and had some depth to its taste. also, you might want to consume the ramen quickly - the fat on the broth starts to skim on the surface. we were sitting right by the door too so that might have had something to do with the broth cooling so quickly.
c and i managed to finish our ramens and our side dishes - the gyoza and the karaage. the rice dishes were leftover and i ended up taking the both home, and combined them with some ingredients i had at home to make my own fried rice for lunch the next day.
ramen yamadaya * 3118 w. 182nd street * torrance, ca 90504
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