le blog de tranny

yummykins mcderish

Month: September, 2009

seoul food <— pun

My (Our) favorite restaurant in Cambridge was easily Little Seoul, the Korean place on Regent Street. At one point during Lent term, when I was too stressed out and tired to cook ever, Jasper and I would eat there two, three times a week. And we would each always order the same thing. First we’d start off the meal with an order of seafood pancakes.

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These are so effing delicious and pair perfectly with a cold Hite. I plan on attempting this recipe soon, for the next asiany-themed potluck Caroline and I have at our new place.

Jasper was a big fan of the spicy pork bulgogi with rice, while I always opted for the kimchi chigae, which was always so good that I photographed it once (duh).

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Anyway, flash forward some months (or one, to be exact) to post-Cambridge life. I was back in Berkeley living in Caroline’s bed for the summer. After asking Jaimie and the internetz for some advice, I was itching to attempt a kimchi chigae of my own. And Caro had really been wanting to make pad thai some night. So we decided that we would make azn foodz 4 the 4th and have everyone over. We took a trip down to Koreana Plaza (this GREAT asiany market on Telegraph and 23rd) and got the proper ingredients for really cheap. Our asian-themed 4th of July potluck was a huge success! Here’s how I made my dish.

1. Slice the pork belly and mince the garlic. Chop up some tofu into cubes.

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All of this frozen pork belly cost only like $2! The asians know how to keep it legit (and cheap).

2. Now would probably be a good time to start the rice. I prefer Jasmine white rice but I guess any white rice will do.

3. Fry the pork belly and garlic in a pan with a little bit of sesame oil until just cooked.

4. Bring like a cup or two of water to a boil and add the pork belly (and delicious pork belly pan fat), tofu and a shit ton of kimchi to it. Pour plenty of kimchi juice in there as well. (You could even cheat and empty one of those flavouring packets from a package of kimchi ramen into the soup to make sure the flavor isn’t lacking.)

5. Boil the soup for at least 15 minutes then at the end, add some chopped green onion. Et voila!

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… Does it look like the picture from the restaurant?

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battle of the pizzas

Dry and Vegetarian (a la Cheeseboard) vs. Wet with a Spinach Bottom Layer (a la Zachary’s)

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The dry pizza had two types of squash, goat’s cheese and string cheese (I didn’t have regular mozzarella on hand :S) on it. The crust was brushed with an olive oil, garlic and leek mixture and pre-baked in standard Cheeseboard fashion. Here’s how it came out:

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Unfortunately I’ve no “before” photos of the second contender, suffice it to say that it was layered with spinach, a marinara sauce, caramelized onions, spicy sausage and the aforementioned cheeses. It was pre-baked like the squash pizza minus the leeks.

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The Zachary’s pizza won. Maybe we were just craving some protein, maybe we needed that extra wetness to counteract our cotton mouth, who knows?! Personally, I’m always a proponent of the hearty.

PS. A note on the crust: The first was made with pizza dough from Berkeley Bowl, the second with pizza dough from Whole Foods. I have to say that I liked the Whole Foods one better! I’m just full of controversial opinions today.

a serendipitous salad

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Lunch that day was beautiful. Three forces had come together: (1) leftover grilled squid and shrimp made by Jane and Matt at a barbecue the night before; (2) heirlooms and edible flowers that I had impulse-purchased from the Farmer’s Market earlier that week; (3) Caroline’s garlic-lemon salad dressing recipe. I’m obsessed with this recipe. The dressing made the salad, and also happened to be a perfect complement to the seafood! Basically you grind kosher salt and garlic together with a mortar and pestle until creamy and then combine it with olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and dijon. Mmmmmm!!!

Spanish favorites

I’ve been thinking about the year I spent in Cambridge. Funny how I was an infinitely more prolific food blogger there, where there was a notable dearth of high caliber cuisine, than I am now in the Bay Area, (in my opinion) one of the food capitals of the world! That’s why the trip I took to Barcelona with L-T right after exams was truly a food getaway (not to mention a getaway to sun, sangria, and other visceral Spanish delights). While I was in Barca, I realized that Spanish food might very well be in my top 3 favorite cuisines of all time. Number 1 is surely Japanese.. I’m also a fan of these “new French” and “new American” strains of cuisine which basically boil down to Alice Waters’ French peasant food made using local ingredients. I guess Korean and Vietnamese food probably also deserve a place up there.. I am obsessed with asiany food after all. But you know, Spanish cuisine offers a lot of what I look for in any type of delicious meal: plentiful garlic, fresh seafood, eggs on things (both times I’ve been to Barca I’ve indulged heavily in (and never had trouble finding) egg burgers and tuna pizza with egg on it). When I’m not in Spain I’m always down for sangria and/or tapas. Anyways, here’s some highlights from the trip to Barca I took in June.

Gambas!

Gambas!

Seafood Paella

Seafood Paella

Yummy and Cheap Sangria!

Yummy and Cheap Sangria!

Fried Calamari

Fried Calamari


You know, this fried calamari could have been better and it was a tad overpriced. It was from this restaurant recommended by the NYTimes… I’ll think twice before taking a recommendation from them again.

Cafe Viena on La Ramblas

Cafe Viena on La Ramblas

The best sandwich Mark Bittman has ever eaten...

The best sandwich Mark Bittman has ever eaten...


… I ate it.

And of course, some lovely pictures from la boqueria…

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East Bay Farmer’s Markets are pretty delicious but don’t really compare I guess..

gumbo party!

These are old photos.. from over Spring Break. Basically this recipe is a mix between my Dad’s and this one from Food & Wine. It turned out amazingly.

Step 1: Saute the mirepoix (celery, carrots, onions) for a bit then add a few bay leaves, a few cups of clam juice and a few dollops of tomato paste. Bring to a simmer.

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Step 2: Chop up some okra, bell pepper and potato. (I was a little out of it at the grocery store and bought potatoes even though neither of the recipes called for them but it ended up being a nice and hearty addition!)

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Step 3: Make the spice mixture! It consists of chili powder, thyme, gumbo file, cayenne, paprika, oregano and a pinch of cilantro.

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Step 4: Saute the okra and bell pepper with olive oil, minced garlic and green onion, add the spice mixture, and then stir-fry it a bit more.

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Step 5: Put the okra and bell pepper mixture into the original pot, along with some canned or fresh tomatoes and some chicken stock.

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Step 6: Don’t forget to make the rice! I found this saffron jasmine rice in a box at the store. Maybe next time I’ll infuse my own rice with saffron (or not). The color combination was unbeatable!

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Step 7: Prep the seafood — wash, peel and devein the shrimp and drain the canned crab!

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Step 8: Add the seafood to the pot in the last few minutes of cooking… make sure the soup comes to a boil one last time before you take it off the heat!

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Step 9: Enjoy! Cooking this meal was truly a feat, especially given that we lit shots of absinthe on fire and took them when the gumbo was only halfway through cooking, causing me to become almost too inebriated to finish :S

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