oranj's Profile
Fresh borage in SF?
also saw it at the alemany/bernal heights farmer's market this past saturday
bars serving hitachino beers in SF?
It was several months ago, but I had the rice ale at beretta on valencia st.
20-person Birthday dinner in SF for $20-30/pp?
I had a large group dinner at Taste of Formosa. You can make a reservation and the upstairs area is good for large groups. Not private, but it's a large room. When we went the food was great and the staff took really good care of us. We perhaps overstayed our welcome and heard nary a word. We only realized we had kept them late until we were leaving. I recommedn the green onion pancake and the three cup chicken. I can't remember what else we ordered, but with freely flowing beer and more food than we could conceive of eating we got out of there for about $20 per person.
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Taste of Formosa
2428 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Zackary's Pizza: how is the Stuffed Deep Dish?
I agree that for stuffed pizza patxi's hits pretty close to what i remmebr in chicago. Nice buttery crust, tasty sauce. For some reason ordering a whole pizza tastes much better than dropping in for a slice, which was a little undercooked. Somehow the sauce at zachary's always seems a little acidic. (tomatoes too tart) and the flavors never really come together. Little star is good too, but as mentioned, not stuffed.
Best Sushi Item
my Japanese mother recoils in horror at the thought of eating raw untreated salmon sushi. My theory on htis is that traditionally raw salmon is not eaten in japan and the meat is cured in a sugar soy mixture type of thing. could be wrong though. I hadn't seen raw salmon in a sushi restaurant until the past 5 years or something so it has always seemed like a new thing to me. I love it. My mother won't eat it in spite of being told that freezing kills the parasites.
Asparagus virgin...
That is funny. I had the same thought as well, and I too was raised in a Japanese household.
Maki - Seaweed Question
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the green has already been roasted and the black nori is not roasted.
Egg Gravy
Thanks for the recipe. THe one I am looking for is more asian steamed but I might try using some of the technique here in an experiment.
Single Cup Coffee Maker
This doesn't sound like what you are looking for, but it's inexpensive, makes a fine cup of coffee, is easy to clean, and doesn't take up counter space.
http://www.coffeedetective.com/one-cup-coffee-maker.html
Egg Gravy
The discussion below of the Chinese Minced beef with egg reminded me of how I have been looking for a recipe for the other dish that they mentioned.
It usually loks like this
http://hk.geocities.com/ryou_hazuki2002/cook-meatrice.htm
or
http://static.flickr.com/16/88066897_8ea648a74f_o.jpg
I've only had it with shrimp, and I think that the second photo shows an overcooked dish. It shouldn't look like mega cornstarched egg drop soup. (no strings) I think the dish has a lot of cornstarch and oil in it, but I haven't managed to get an idea for the technique involved, nor have I had any luck looking for recipes. Anyone know how to make this?
Filipino restaurants that serve Ukoy inside SF
The first time I had Ukoy was at the Goldilocks on Mission st. This was a couple years ago. The fod there is pretty greasy though.
There is a grocery store by the 16th st Bart (next to the burger king) that used to get prepared foods and some mornings they would have ukoy available at the front corner, but I haven't been in there for a while. I have a feeling that they were getting it from someone in the neighborhood.
I think I've also had it at Kababayan. I've only had filipino food a handful of times and always from steam table type places. I would have to say that this place is much better than Goldilocks.
Your Favorite Ingredients for (cold) Italian Sub
mmm delicious. THis is exactly my recipe!
Making Chinese Green Onion Pancakes
Here's a link to some of the recipes. I'm assuming it's an excerpt
http://www.shibboleth.org/mrs.chiangs/
Recipes with Hummus
I like it on sandwiches too. Mozzarella, hummos, and avocado. Sometimes I used smoked gouda. It's not for the calorie conscious.
Your Favorite Chocolates Available in SF.
I'm a fan of Richard Donnelly chocolates. I know he's based in Santa Cruz, but I can't get down there easily. Fog City News is the only place in the city where I've found them. mmmm they make me happy.
Non lettuce salad ideas?
Or a red cabbage salad.
I thinly slice the cabbage, removing all the tough white parts. place in colandar, salt and let drain for about 20-30 minutes, then rinse. add neutral oil, lots of lemon, salt and pepper to taste, and refrigerate for another half hour. It's simple and colorful.
Veggie Sausage?
I think you might be talking about the lightlife gimme lean veggie sausage. When I was a vegetarian, that stuff was my favorite.
Suggestions for Asian Food Event
a goood camping stove provides high butane and doesn't require electricity.
Best Vietnamese Around 16th & Val/Mission and Church & Market?
The mission is kind of a wasteland when it comes to chinese and vietnamese food, but that said I usually go to Thanh Tam when I really need a fix. I've never been to Will's. Thanh Tam is okay. THe chicken noodle soup is good. I seem to recall that the Beef pho was kind of boring but I prefer the heavily spiced broth with a lot of anise, etc flavor to it. I prefer this place to Sunflower, but have found the com dishes to be kind of greasy and of poor quality. Stick to the bun and the chicken soup and the vegetarian items and you will get your noodle fix.
ISO quick weeknight recipe for konyaku noodles
In Japan Konnyaku is also referred to as Devil's tongue. I don't know why, but as a child I always thought it was because it was like a tongue scraping out your insides due to it's high fiber content.
Bourbon and Branch - anyone been?
I found the place surprisingly unpretentious especially after the rigamarole it takes to get into the place. (which really isn't much) It's pleasant on the inside. You get an intimate booth in which to have a drink or two with your companions without having to force your way througha crowd or yell. My friend thought his mixed drinks were good (they use fresh juices). I had a sip and agreed, but I like the whiskey straight up. The mixed drinks included a lot of older cocktails and new inventions. I was tempted by the combinations but am hard pressed to remember what they were. Our waitperson was friendly knowledgeable and efficient. Whiskey thieves around the corner has a great selection as well for cheaper, but the experience is worlds away. not better or worse just different. Once in a while it's nice to shell out a little extra to be waited on.
Search for a tasty Vegetarian Chili
I think I got this from the Greens' cookbook. For texture use wheat bulgar. If i recall it was one part wheat bulgar (small grade like you use in couscous) and one part tomato juice. Boil the tomato juice and add to the bulgar. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Then you add it to the soup and finish cooking.
ISO fresh soba
I think Suzu is a Ramen shop and Yakisoba is also made with ramen noodles. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour.
Favorite Natto Recipes
As well as the above recommendations, I also enjoy the following:
Natto spaghetti which is something I will serve to people unfamiliar with Natto to help accustom them to the taste.
Natto, canned tuna (drained), green onion - mix together with flavor packets and extra shoyu, then add hot spaghetti (with butter) and top with cut onori.
romaine lettuce
I love caesar salads and I love romaine lettuce. It's my favorite of the salady greens.Anyway, my issue is that Ilove the hearts only. I bu romaine occasionally. I do not like the bagged stuff. It never tastes right, but I am forced to buy it sometimes because the fresher stuff never seems to have ANY of the heart portion. Is there a reason? Am I missing something? The dark green part doesn't taste as good to me. I live in the bay area, does anyone know where I can get the stuff where you peel back the dark green and get a beautiful heart? Thanks.
Why keep eating the same ethnic dishes?
I know this topic is a little old, but I just wanted to weigh in with the fact that I feel this emotion as well when going to restaurants with friends. It's not that they will order the same thing all the time that bothers me but the fact that we will be in a restaurant where thefood thing is clearly just an item on the menu placed there because people seem to expect it from that type of restaurant rather than because it's food in which the restaurant specializes.
I think it's a combination of lack of knowledge and a lack of curiousity. It may sound a bit braggarty, but I think I am good at reading menus and dismissing the items that are not specialties, plus I do the cursory glance around and try to figure out what "everyone else" is ordering, because I feel that in restaurants this is a large tell.
Anyway. I don't go out with people who won't discuss share items as a general rule because when they won't discuss you end up with an unbalanced menu. too many similar sauces, not enough different meats andin a chinese restaurant a blatant lack of greens.
