Jefferson's Profile
Chowdown Report: Crab•Crab•Crab + Duck Dinner at Yum’s Bistro in Fremont
With apologies for the delay, photos: http://www.jeffersonscher.com/photos/rest/YumsBistro2/
I've always loved Dungeness crab, with happy childhood memories of fingers messy with bits of crab meat and melted butter. Restaurant preparations often fall short, with overly dry meat or excessive glop. Happily, the crabs at Yum's Bistro were delicious.
The soy sauce marinated crab was addictively sweet and savory and garlicky. From the aroma, I'm pretty sure the marinade contained Black Soy Sauce or a similar thick, salty-sweet variation. Although it was fried, it did not seem oily. Highly recommended for garlic lovers.
The Hunan crab in a clay pot was multidimensional. The chillies worked surprisingly well, delivering a quick jolt of heat but fading almost as quickly to allow you to enjoy all the flavors. The meat remained very succulent, while the bean threads captured the tasty juices that escaped. I eat a lot of spicy food, so this was a good level for me, but for some the "hot lips" caused by sucking on the shells might be a bit too much.
I found the Jakarta chili crab less exciting than the first two. The rich gravy-like sauce was fun to eat with the steamed bread, but it may have been a little too subtle to follow the strong flavors of the first two preparations.
Aside from the crab, the soup broth was particularly amazing. After simmering for six hours, the chicken, pork, duck and dried scallop flavors fused into a smooth, rich, sweet miracle -- served in a tureen that could have fed twice as many. I look forward to enjoying some of the leftover soup very soon.
I could go on, but I'm getting hungry.
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Yum's Bistro
4906 Paseo Padre Pkwy, Fremont, CA 94555
Vegetables that cannot (or at least should not) be eaten raw?
Fresh mushrooms are about 90% water, so 3% protein is good as a percentage of macronutrient content. You just have to eat a whole lot. :-)
Lers Ros Thai restaurant (Tenderloin)
> fish sauce is "pla ra"
Pla ra is hard core! Might be safer to ask for nam pla (nahm bplah).
(I haven't had a chance to try this place yet.)
Chowdown Report: Chinese New Year Banquet at Yum’s Bistro
This was a good meal, and the portions were indeed ample: we would have been hard pressed to finish it all with two fewer diners.
Some memorable tastes:
In the combination plate, I was happily surprised by the smoky flavor of the tofu skin with mushrooms.
I've had shrimp paste in many forms, from Thai shrimp cakes to various dim sum, but Yum's bacon rolls were a novel and delicious combination. (I skipped the mayonnaise, though.)
I've only had it a couple of times, but Yum's crispy chicken stuffed with sticky rice was my favorite version of this dish.
The two vegetable dishes (scallop stir fry and pea shoots with crab sauce) sparkled, with beautiful colors and perfectly tender greens, and a good clean taste.
I don't have any complaints, although I'd probably change the lobster preparation and skip the dried scallops/oysters/moss combination. And I always want more mochi balls.
Photos online here: http://www.jeffersonscher.com/photos/rest/YumsBistro/
And I have to give thanks to Vince for assistance with ingredient translation, and numerous shopping and restaurant stories that helped deepen our appreciation of the dishes and keep us entertained between courses.
Favorite Soy Sauce Brand to go with my xiao long bao sauce?
This thread is a bit old, but regarding using soy sauce with XLB: at Din Tai Fung in Taipei, they hand out a little trilingual instruction card recommending 1 part soy sauce to 3 parts black vinegar. It may well be that the salt content of the dumplings is adapted to this combination, and that the dumplings might taste underseasoned without some soy. DTF's recipe undoubtedly is adapted to Taiwanese tastes and differs from whatever might be considered the original in Shanghai. But the same might be said of XLBs in North America: whatever the chef thinks is right is what you get.
Chowdown at El Hueco Peruvian Restaurant in Redwood City
And now, some photos: http://www.jeffersonscher.com/photos/rest/ElHueco/
Chowdown at El Hueco Peruvian Restaurant in Redwood City
Cruising down busy Woodside Road, you barely notice seven-month-old El Hueco in a strip mall at the corner of Central Avenue. Behind the unassuming storefront in Redwood City, executive chef Jaime Laos was reported to be serving up delicious homestyle Peruvian specialties that rivaled the best in the Bay Area. ChewChew and DeeGlaze called a Chowdown to share their find, and five other hounds answered the call.
The restaurant starts you off with a dish of "corn nuts" (roasted jumbo-sized cancha corn kernels with some bits of fried pork). These quickly dry out your tongue so you will soon need a bottle of the delicious Cuzqueña amber ale.
The first round of small plates were three ceviches: white fish, shrimp, and a mixto of fish, shrimp, octopus, clams, and mussels. El Hueco prepares its ceviche to order in a marinade heavy on the lime juice, and the tender (not mushy) texture and mouth-puckering juices worked well with thick slices of tender sweet potato and enormous corn kernels. Although these are called small plates, they were more than enough raw seafood for seven of us. But we couldn't stop there.
Our next three small plates were Papas Rellena, potato croquettes stuffed with beef; Ocopa, thickly sliced potatos smothered in a creamy peanut sauce rendered brilliantly green by Peruvian herbs and cilantro; and Anticuchos, skewers of surprisingly tender pieces of beef heart. The Ocopa, flavored with Peruvian Huacatay (imported frozen) was the favorite. I was amazed by the texture of the heart, which I would have believed was a short rib cooked sous vide, but it was a bit salty.
In an effort to try everything, we ordered seven big plates. From the menu, Aji de Gallina featured shreds of chicken breast in a rich sauce of mild yellow chillies; this was a pleasant dish, but compared with the robust flavors of some of the others, it was in my view more comforting than exciting. Quinoto featured quinoa and mixed vegetables; it looked like a salad, but was served hot and had a nice tangy flavor. For logistical reasons, we did not get around to the Parihuela, or Peruvian bouillabaisse, until we had consumed five other dishes. By that time, the broth had cooled and thickened, and the soup was uninspiring. Based on the quality of the other dishes, I'm assuming it was much better when first served.
From the specials board, we chose Carapulcra, a stew of pork and chicken (still on the bone) and potatoes. This dish uses dried potatoes, which maintained their integrity through the cooking process, providing concentrated potato-ness and no hint of sogginess. With big meaty flavor, the Carapulcra was a good match to the Zinfandel Melanie Wong so generously supplied. We also got Arroz Chaufa, a surprisingly delicious "fried rice" featuring much more intriguing spicing than your typical Chinese restaurant. And of course we got the Chupe de Mariscos, a soup of mixed seafood in a lively tasting broth enriched with eggs and probably some butter. I had about four servings.
Last but not least, we coaxed the kitchen into making us beef chow mein. Well, actually it was spaghetti-like Tallarin noodles in a Saltado preparation featuring beef, onions, and a bit of soy sauce. The beef was cooked just right, but the slippery noodles were a bit hard to eat (where are my chopsticks?).
To finish, we tried all four of the desserts. The Lacuma ice cream had a pleasant fruit flavor, and a hint of fruitcake or pumpkin pie or Thai iced tea spicing. It wasn't bad, but was overshadowed by the greatness of the other three. The Alfajores were properly delicate, buttery and sweet, and got powdered sugar everywhere. The Picarones were doughnuts served in a lightly spiced syrup. The balance of sweet and savory flavors, and the wonderful texture, could be quite addicting. The Pisco ice cream came on strong, like a vanilla ice cream milkshake spiked with brandy and studded with fat raisins rehydrated in brandy. Woo-hoo.
With its warm service and relaxed atmosphere, El Hueco made us feel very welcome. Our server made every effort to answer our questions about ingredients and sources, showing us the dried potatoes and asking chef Jaime to come out to tell us about (and give us a whiff of) Huacatay. She also was very accommodating with extra plates so that we could eat family style.
Thanks for the invitation, it was a great time.
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El Hueco
593 Woodside Rd, Redwood City, CA 94061
Chowdown at Sun's Chinese Cuisine in San Mateo
It was great to get away to a quiet spot with some 'hounds. Too long have I eaten leftovers at my desk and called it lunch. But I digress.
I should disclose that my nose was under the influence of Flonase: it's possible that I wasn't smelling everything there was to smell. Still, based on the above comments, I don't think I missed too much.
The restaurant made a nice first impression, greeting us at the door and pointing us upstairs to a large table. The lengthy menu was bookended by small photos of a couple dozen dishes, so that made the selection a bit easier. Shortly after we placed our order, we got a complimentary appetizer featuring thin slices of tendon and pig ear, and small pieces of tripe, flavored with sesame chilli oil.
The cigar-width pot stickers were done to a nice crisp on the bottom, and the filling was fine. A plate of cold bean curd cubes with slices of thousand year old egg had a very pleasant sesame flavor and did not suffer from any of the runniness that can afflict a cold tofu salad. The fish in the fish and chive dumplings was so mild that one might not even realize what it was. The subtle vegetable flavor and simple light seasoning cried out for a sophisticated dipping sauce, maybe something with a touch of garlic, but even buck naked (I didn't see the little dish of sauce), they were fun to eat.
The steamed fish (rock cod?), presented in a puddle of sauce on a lotus leaf, was unexpectedly tender. The soy-ginger-scallion flavor was similarly delicate. For your friends and relatives who can't eat anything "fishy," this would be an excellent choice. On the other hand, if you have a cold, this probably would be too subtle. The pork meatball clay pot involved an actual clay pot, but unlike the usual braise, it was an enormous soup with generous quantities of napa cabbage, bean curd, and noodles, and a few pieces of shiitake. The meatballs themselves had a miraculous lightness, meltingly tender but not outright silky. The broth, though, was too mild for my taste; if you are serving a big bowl of tofu, cabbage, and noodles, I just think you need more flavor to offset the plainness. This was the dish that had the most left in it at the end of the meal. The spicy house cold noodle, topped with chicken and julienned vegetables, featured a light peanutty sauce that reminded me of dan dan mein, minus the usual sticky gooey gloppiness I associate with that dish. A nice intermezzo with a little zing.
Some of the dishes fell short of their potential. By the time the XLB reached me, it was no longer piping hot or juicy; perhaps too much time had elapsed taking photos. A "pancake" folded around bits of bright pink beef had a deep bready flavor and chewy texture, but the filling itself was somewhat bland. The broth for the beef/tendon noodle soup seemed watered down, whether from noodle drainage or by design. (But I have had this reaction to other Taiwan-style beef soups, so perhaps my expectations are a bit high?) The braised bacon-cut pork looked great, and the flavor was okay, but somehow between half-inch layers of fat, the meat had managed to become a bit dry. There must be a way to fix that.
For dessert we passed a plate of what I can roughly describe as small "dumplings" of translucent glutinous rice dough filled with a liquidy black sesame or peanut filling, on a field of chopped peanuts and granulated sugar. I love these little things, so it was a terrific finish in my book.
I would like to try the cucumber and shrimp dumpling some time.
Oh, photos here: http://www.jeffersonscher.com/photos/rest/SunsChinese/
Dinner at Shanghai Dumpling King
I had the pleasure of eating at Shanghai Dumpling King recently for brunch. With 5 adults and 2 kids, we could try a variety of things, including two rounds of the donuts (the kids knew them as sugar puffs).
The pork XLB were about perfect, and the crab XLB surprised me with their fresh taste. The fried dumplings (#12, didn't get the name, see photo) were my favorites, crunchy to almost burnt on the bottom, with thin-but-mysteriously-bread-like wrappers and a sweetish pork filling. The string beans were the right doneness, but a little oily. Crispy fried rice was good, but the sliced ham on top was jarringly salty. I think there must be a trick to eating that in balance. Some boiled dumplings were the weak link. And three other dishes, oh my.
I need to go back very soon. :-)
Maui Kitch'n Cooked chips?
If all else fails, this is from a two year old AAA article:
"Mail-order prices range from $26 for a four-package box sent via regular mail to $108 for an 18-package box delivered by UPS. Payment must be by money order or cashier's check. (808) 877-3652; mauipotatochip@verizon.net."
Maui Chow: Sugarcane & Pineapple Pancakes
I will look for Yee's market next week. South Kihei Road is a few miles long; any nearby landmarks to help with finding it?
(Also, for anyone else reading, Gazeo = Gazebo)
Moto?
Was lucky to attend a private dinner for 50 at Moto on Monday. I'm not sure it improves the flavor to convert sesame oil into a chunky powder -- served from gravy boats, "steaming" like dry ice -- but it made the meal more fun and gave us more to talk about. Always helpful during long business dinners. Some of the wine pairings were absolutely amazing; a couple seemed too extreme (like a pinot-style sherry that was super dry and very heavy on the wood).
Of many delicious "misdirections", the most successful in my view was the dessert of "nachos" featuring sweetened corn chips, kiwi bits, mango "cheese", chocolate ground "beef", and cheesecake-flavored sour cream. Definitely not something you could re-create at home.
Is Spiaggia overrated?
I was fortunate to be invited to an "expense account" dinner at Spiaggia Saturday night. There was a snafu with the table (table for 10 broken up for other diners due to our late arrival), but the service was smooth otherwise. I agree that it is not a good value, but I might as well add a few comments on the food.
There was an amuse of a mushroom-flavored cream or creamy cheese, shaped into a tiny quenelle, in a tasty puddle of green sauce. That might have been the best little taste of the evening. I started with the beef tartare, consisting of diced strip steak formed into a squat cylinder lubricated with white truffle "essence" and perched on a small nest of micro greens. Nice, but for my money, not a $25 app. The person next to me ordered the most interesting looking secondi piatti, a plate featuring three preparations of lamb (sounds from your report as though the "chickpea polenta" was bad; perhaps that could be substituted). I had the California spot prawns, wood-grilled and served with polenta. This was of impeccable quality, but a bit boring. Unfortunately it was not a dinner where you could share lots of bites across the table. I forget what I had for dessert, not because it wasn't well constructed, but due to much too much wine. :-)
SF Hound visiting - please critique my list
> Also fun/funky is Delacosta (check it out when you are at Fox and Obel). It is
> latin/fusion with ceviches, tapas, etc.
Hello, fellow SF Bay Area visitor. Two of us here for a conference met an Aussie for dinner at DeLaCosta last Thursday. We ate a little bit light, so just a few comments. The ambiance definitely is trendy; surprised to see two "DJs" for a restaurant. Our server Jeanette had very strong opinions which she spelled out for us in no uncertain terms. It was difficult to disappoint her by making other choices; there were some noises and looks of disapproval. ;-)
I liked the Thai-influenced "ceviche" featuring tender slices of pink tuna, slivers of squid, and a light marinade with coconut milk, galangal, kaffir lime and Thai chili. The salmon ceviche was served over sliced of green apple drenched in (I felt) an excess of very sour key lime juice. Holding the salmon on your tongue until the sourness faded allowed the richness of the fish to come through. Challenging, but ultimately rewarding. The horseradish foam supplied very little bite; could use more horseradish and less air, or perhaps it just suffered in comparison with the other two selections. The third choice was the Ecuadorian shrimp in a tomato sauce, served with popcorn and corn nuts. I am not so fond of floppy shrimp, but oddly the flavors did work with the corn, even if the texture was not to my liking.
An appetizer of 5 diminutive marlin tacos delivered big smoked fish taste, but the shells left a puddle of oil in the hand, which was a bit disconcerting. The lamb ribs (not recommended by our server) were somewhat strong on lamb flavor and smothered in a very sweet BBQ sauce. They were propped up on a black object that we didn't eat until encouraged to do so: a thickly cut yucca fry that had been charred but surprisingly didn't taste burnt. The scallop entree got a good review, but I didn't try it myself.
You could spend a bit less on your seafood at a more traditional restaurant, but this place is more fun.
Beacon in Culver City - Lunch Tomorrow
Tried Beacon last weekend. Black cod and side of string beans with scant sweet sesame dressing was perfect, if pricey. The surprisingly tasty ahi pizza was almost just right (bagel-dough-like crust was a bit chewy for me). A few bites of avocado salad were enough; it probably would be too rich not to share. I sampled bites of the newer items on the menu: beef short rib - tender, plush, decadent; swordfish - cooked nicely, excellent bed of lentils, but the salsa struck me as out of place. The two infused sakes of the day, peach and lychee, were hit (subtle flavor) and miss (too much heavy syrup), respectively. Dessert "bento" had some good selections. A nice level of service, but a bit drafty by the front door. You're paying for the atmosphere, but if you don't mind, it's fun.
And if you're here before 6PM, don't miss spending a few minutes on the $17,000 "2000T" at the Hastens Beds store around the corner. It may be as close to weightlessness as you can get without losing your lunch. http://www.hbeds.com/lastore.html
Xanh in Mountain View & report
I never noticed this place until I was seeking an open restaurant for an early New Year's Day dinner. The cool blue lighting and somewhat industrial exterior caught my eye... The place was quiet at 6:00, but grew very busy by 7:30. The table was quite small for the elaborate plates, but thankfully we could put our feet on the ground while eating.
Misfit Roll: pieces of deep fried soft shell crab nestled among the usual rice vermicelli with cilantro and mint; sliced into 8 pieces standing on end, the four shorter pieces were sprinkled with fried shallots. The four tiny dots of sriracha sauce were not enough to enliven the mild fish-sauce based dipping liquid. Fortunately, there was a slightly above average mintiness, or I would declare them too boring. (Still, for some people, they would be too boring.)
XANH Salad: a very large salad of mixed green, tasty pieces (of rather variable size) of cold, marinated beef, slivers of sweet apple and pinches of avocado, with an excellent neutral dressing that let all of the ingredients shine. The salad is served on large "rice crackers" that are a bit of a waste of calories to eat (and definitely do not refrigerate well). While this is a rather expensive salad at $11, it is huge: we took a third of it home because it threatened to be a meal in itself.
Catfish in a clay pot: a generous number of fried (slightly dry) filets of catfish swimming in a thick, smooth, liquidy sauce that seemed to have a "tomato soup" aftertaste. After a few bites, you notice the heat coming on... rice definitely was helpful here. I'm not sure I like this dish, the sauce seemed more like a gravy than like caramelized pan juices, but we managed to finish it anyway.
Lucky egg noodles: a vertical presentation with a band of impractically long bok choy stems raising a handful of shrimp and chicken chunks to a commanding height above a nest of crispy fried noodles. Our server assisted by breaking up the next and mixing up the ingredients, but the thickness and firmness of the noodle nest detracted a bit from the experience. Hong Kong-style chow mein noodles would have offered a more enjoyable crunching sensation. The gravy was fairly bland, but that provided a good contrast with the catfish.
The coconut rice did not have as much depth of flavor as the one served at Rangoon, but had reasonably good texture.
I don't eat at Tamarine or Three Seasons very often, but XANH strikes me as a strong competitor, well worth checking out.
http://www.xanhrestaurant.com/
Sirayvah-San Carlos (long)
> How hot did "hot" panang curry turn out to be?
Not very hot. Probably what more traditional restaurants would serve for "medium." Seemed appropriate to the setting. :-)
Sirayvah-San Carlos (long)
I tried Sirayvah last night for dinner. I was a bit surprised by the prices, but there is a price premium for wild vs. farmed salmon -- and presumably for the unusually nice ambience. I went a bit early around 7:15 and by 8:00, all the small tables (and most of the larger ones) were filled.
The Meang Kum appetizer ($9) is a variation on a Thai/Lao miang, featuring a variety of flavorful ingredients served on a leaf, in this case a palm-sized piece of butter lettuce. It helps adapt the dish to Western service to have the leaves pre-filled for easy pick-up, but you lose a little something in not being able to compose your own selection. There also were no pieces of (tough) lemongrass or (blistering) Thai chillies; instead, the preparation was vaguely sweet, as though the toasted coconut would have been equally at home sprinkled on a cake. The grilled shrimp looked like a big one that had been cut into one small piece for each leaf. Overall, these would be fun bites to share, but as an individual's appetizer, the balance is too much toward sweetness without enough zing.
For the main I tried the panang curry salmon ($18), vounteering "hot" for the heat level of the sauce (my server didn't ask). Sirayvah serves individual dinner plates rather than family style, and the salmon was prettily arranged over several stalks of asparagus, accompanied by a round of "house blend" rice (seemingly shaped in a large ramekin). The thickest part of the fish could have used a bit more cooking, but since the portion was fairly generous, I simply took that part home. Panang curry is one of the heavier Thai curries, as it is made with ground peanuts. Sirayvah's sauce struck a good balance between richness, sweetness, and heat. The rice is much more absorbent than Jasmine rice, so a little more sauce would have been welcome.
I didn't have room for dessert. The oolong tea was good, and I was offered additional hot water without having to ask or tip the lid on the pot. Service was just about perfect.
Based on my visit, I would describe Sirayvah as follows: An attractive and comfortable restaurant combining an excellent service experience with thoughtfully selected ingredients and highly accessible Thai-based flavors in familiar Western-style presentations. If only the entrees started at $9 rather than $14, or if I lived in San Carlos, I'd try a lot more of the menu...
Another Back-A-Yard rave (Menlo park Caribbean)
I tried the salmon. The spices didn't seem to penetrate the "meat" the way they do with the pork and chicken. A little more like a Cajun "blackened" preparation, perhaps. They're all good, but I prefer the pork and chicken. Like the ribs, too. The goat curry was tasty, but required a lot of careful work with all those bones. :-)
Incidentally, the sweet potato pudding reminded me of a very dense and oddly dry bread pudding. If you microwave it for 10-15 seconds, though, it loosens up considerably. Ovens vary, blah blah blah. Just don't burn yourself!
Oakland Barbecue
I actually parked behind Looney's on Sunday. There was "stuff" (like lumber and various metal objects) in all the spaces so my car stuck out into the lot. It would have been a mess with 5 cars in there...
I took out the combination of sliced beef, pulled pork and chicken and a separate order of spare ribs. The ribs were good, but the sliced beef and pulled pork were too dry. Perhaps Sunday lunchtime is when they get rid of leftovers?
Tried both sauces. Intriguing flavors, but I prefer Texas style sauces.
When ordering sides, I picked the cole slaw (okay) and sweet potatoes (odd spicing) and beans (good). Ken at the counter suggested mac and cheese as the fourth side and although I only sampled a little, it was more interesting than the usual smooth orange cheese sauce.
Eating Low Carb
You've probably heard people talk about "good" and "bad" carbs. Some sweet and starchy plants have a lower "glycemic index" relative to others. Net net, you get the same overall number of carbs from the meal, but the glucose release is slower, so the insulin response is more gentle and perhaps less overall with low glycemic carbs. The shorthand sometimes is expressed as: eat less "white" things and more "brown" things. I'm not sure there is a consistent rule for "orange things."
Los Dias de Los Muertos (Days of the Dead) food
I was in La Paz (Baha California) for El Dia in 2000. People drove in from miles around to sell their homemade tamales. That might have nothing to do with the holiday, but it seems to be a typical thing to do at a fiesta.
Wandering around among the alters, I laughed inappropriately at the one featuring a large bottle of Absolut vodka...
Korean Food Primer
> The letter combinations are b/p, g/k, j/ch, r/l, and d/t
Perhaps not coincidentally, a similar thing is true of Thai transliterations. Well known soups may be spelled tom or dom; both are the "dt" sound; th is used for a hard "t" sound. If you see plah for fish, that the "bp" sound; ph is used to indicate a hard "p" sounds. Shrimp may be spelled kung or goong ("gk"), and so on.
Eating Low Carb
Seaweed is low everything. Nori is also known as laver, which essentially has no grams of anything to speak of, unless you get the sweetened snack ones.
http://nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20gE.html
Fish Sauce- what am I not getting?
I've never heard of a Thai salad dressing without fish sauce. But when you get one with a dazzling, heady, brilliant, perfect balance of lime juice, fish sauce saltiness and table sugar sweetness, it can take your breath away.
Oakland Barbecue
It's remarkable how "hit or miss" BBQ can be. Many places are not honest about meat that isn't ready yet and just sell it to you half done (done enough for health codes, but not for ideal texture), and you wonder why everyone else loved it.
One more place to maybe try is Bobby's Cajun at the Hilltop Mall exit in Richmond (up the hill, away from the mall, about a block). I wan't too excited about the usuals, or about the gumbo (not being a big fan of gumbo in general), but a special of roast pork was decadently delicious.
Thread with discussion re: Bobby's
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/46532?query=bobby
Good regional food in Baja
> Even a great food cart would make him happy.
Super Tacos de Baja California Sur Hermanos Gonzalez
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/16359
First trip to Wailea area in Maui- Need Help, Please!
For reference in searching, the Renaissance is only a few minutes from South Kihei, and you can be in central Kihei (e.g., shopping center where the local Roy's is) in about 10 minutes.
