Humbucker's Profile
HAND PULLED NOODLE SHOP 东方兰州拉面 (SHENG WANG) YET ANOTHER TO HIGHLY CONSIDER IN YOUR QUEST FOR GOOD CHINESE NOODLES
They're called peel noodles because the noodles are "peeled" off a ball of dough with a knife.
Zhongzi/Joongs From Grand Street Lady w/ Pictures. Not Mei Mei, But Still Good
From an old thread on the San Francisco board:
"One significant difference between joong and loh mai gai that hasn't been pointed out is that for joong, the rice is soaked but still raw while typically the rice and filling in loh mai gai have already been cooked separately to some degree before wrapping. Joong requires several hours of boiling that would reduce a loh mai gai's lotus leaf to mush. All loh mai gai needs is a bit of steaming to allow the flavors to come together."
Lo Mai Gai usually has rice that is more like sushi rice with more separate grains. Zong zi has rice that is more paste like.
Mustard...the fresh wonderful French kind...where to buy?
The Maille you get on US store shelves is probably nothing like the kind you got; it has no bite and is as mild or more so than Grey Poupon.
Chicken Kati Roll at Tawa Foods
Is this kati roll meal sized or snack sized, like the ones found in Manhattan?
What are the Chances in NYC that Ostrich Meat is substituted for Goat (lamb) and Beef? 把鸵鸟肉替羊肉或牛肉 / Land Of Plenty: best goat in town
The unique texture that a lot of Chinese restaurant beef has is due to treating the meat with baking soda, which denatures the proteins and gives it that sort of pre-chewed texture.
SF hound going to NYC for 5 days March 28-April 1, 2012
I don't think I've ever seen clam pizza at Artichoke.
Red Farm, The Soup in the Dumplings, 529 Hudson Street nyc
I get so annoyed when I see articles recommend that people eat XLB by sucking out the soup first, or worse, letting the soup drain out into your spoon and then drinking it. To me, this is like telling someone who has never had a hamburger to, upon receiving their burger, remove the patty from the bun and enjoy it separately before consuming the remaining "topping sandwich". I'm sure that there are some people who enjoy burgers this way, but generally when foods are assembled in an integrated package, they are intended to be consumed as a single unit.
The awesomeness of XLB is the juice-splosion, otherwise, why wouldn't one order (or make) a bowl of soup and a dish of regular dumplings?
Looking for King Cake
Found this:
http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/nyc/6827/Galette_des_Rois_is_a_pastry_fit_for_a_king.htm
Double Crispy Bakery – Solid Portuguese Style Egg Tarts and Wife Cakes in Chinatown
Double Crispy has husband cakes, which have little nubbins of pork fat mixed in with the rest of the filling.
What exactly is ground Kobe beef?
A true Kobe burger is definitely different from one from regular cattle. I see them at meat counters in upscale markets in Hong Kong and they look like patties of salmon cream cheese; there's that much fat in them.
Inexpensive Pasta
Can anyone recommend places that do good pasta dishes for under $10? The pasta can be authentic Italian or low brow Italian American as long as it's tasty and al dente, not overcooked.
El Shater sunnyside - moving to Astoria
I haven't been to Habibi since El Shater opened, so my memory of the shawarma was a bit vague. One thing Habibi has over Shater is their cauliflower in tahini. It's super rich and a bit fishy tasting (in a good way); maybe it has anchovy in it.
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Habibi
43-02 43rd Ave, Queens, NY 11104
Zaab-Elee, new Thai in the east village, now the best Thai in NYC, perhaps.
Whatever you do, don't order their curry beef stew noodles, which were the worst rendition of curry noodles I ever had. I do not exaggerate when I say the beef stew was 100% gristle.
El Shater sunnyside - moving to Astoria
Habibi has the garlic spread, too. Just ask for toum if you don't automatically get it. The biggest difference between Habibi and El Shater is the toasting.
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Habibi
43-02 43rd Ave, Queens, NY 11104
wonderful goo around meatloaf
" much of it IS congealed blood, as is what floats to the top of the pot when making chicken or fish stock."
None of those things are blood. It's some other coagulated protein.
What do you eat raw that most people don't?
Wow. That looks so good. I wish I could eat this right now.
Why are there 10 different varieties of Kellogg's® Mini-Wheat cereal?
What other widely available graham cracker varieties besides regular (honey) and cinnamon have you seen?
Most authentic , hole-in-the-wall Mexican spot is is THE BEST ??
It's called Great Burrito and it's neither very good nor particularly authentic. The last torta al pastor I had from them was a gristly disaster.
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Great Burrito
100 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
I fought the cemita, and the cemita won
Did you check to make sure the sopes and cemita were truly vegetarian? Sometime masa and beans will have lard in it.
We Want the Funk
Love funky foods.
I could eat marmite/vegemite by the spoonful. Natto is too bland for me. For kimchi, the older the better. I love fermented tofu cooked with water spinach. Truffles and truffle oil are great, too.
A lot of umami-rich foods are funky (anchovies, fish sauce, parm, etc.).
Anything aged/fermented is automatically of interest to me. For some reason, I tend to be drawn to, rather than repulsed by, foods that smell of vomit or flatulence.
El Shater sunnyside - moving to Astoria
I have had the beef at both Habibi and the new El Shater and both were quite gristly and tough. Is this normal? I love their other sandwiches, but the beef was a dud for me.
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Habibi
43-02 43rd Ave, Queens, NY 11104
Chinatown Roast Meats: Warning and Recommendation
Just a nitpick: char siu fan would be a more appropriate romanization than char siu fun, as fun refers to rice noodles, I believe.
Ask Sushi Man
What I wonder is whether most places in the US use the horseradish/mustard powder because that's what some of the first sushi bars that opened in this country used or if it's something that became ubiquitous when sushi became more widely available. Do most mid-range sushi bars in Japan use the real stuff?
The Great Char Siu Bao Debate
SSK's bread is indeed pretty dense, but that's actually why I like it. I should clarify that I usually get the baked buns at SSK and the one time I got a steamed bun, I didn't like it as much (fluffier dough is probably better for that application).
Growing up, I always had little interest in Hong Kong style baked buns because the dough always seemed to be this airy fluff that condensed into a small gummy wad as you chewed it. In contrast, I never had a pineapple bun I liked until I tried SSK's because the bread reminds me of the rich, substantial dough used for cinnamon rolls and the top is super crunchy like an almond cookie.
The fact that SSK's bread is so different from other Chinese bakeries probably means most people would consider it terrible, but I have weird taste and love it.
One thing that SSK does that I think everyone should be able to appreciate is you rarely get baked buns where you bite into it and inside is mostly an empty cavity with a tiny smear of filling. Chinese bakeries that skimp on filling should be ashamed of themselves.
The Great Char Siu Bao Debate
If you don't like a lot of bread, don't even bother with Sun Say Kai. I personally like Sun Say Kai's CSBs the best because even though they're pretty bread heavy there is still a lot of filling and the bread is really tasty.
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Sun Say Gai
220 Canal St, New York, NY 10013
Sushi Azabu - The Best Deal for Quality Sushi in Manhattan
"I eat hijiki salad and miso soup nearly every day these days"
You should know about this, if you don't already:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijiki#Possible_arsenic_health_risk
The virtues of Doublestuff Oreos
They should make "Just Stuf" Oreos for those you just want the insides.
French bistro mustard in the US?
If you want nostril flaring mustard, get Trader Joe's dijon. It's by far the most potent widely available mustard I've had, with an almost wasabi-like nasal burn.
