Foodstruck in the 415

Migrated.

2009-07-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

I don't think anyone checks this site much anymore, but just in case any stragglers stumble upon this site, I wanted to let you know that I've moved to Yelp, which I think is a more appropriate forum for writings of this sort.

Here's my Yelp site: http://vivianeats.yelp.com

Thanks for visiting, and I'll see you on Yelp!

Cheers,
Vivian

How Long Will You Wait for Biscuits?

2008-05-26T22:39:00.000-07:00

Today, I realized just how much of an influence Yelp has on the restaurant industry. I went with Tiffany and Betty to Brenda's, a French Soul Food establishment smack in the middle of the Tenderloin, not a very pretty place to be. We were simultaneously saying "Damn the Yelpers!" when we saw the huge crowd of people waiting outside, yet also acknowledging that we're part of the guilty party too. We are the internet generation.

Ah. Internet social networking at its best/worst!

We waited for over an hour and a half! Over 1.5 hours!! I was getting increasingly more furious as the minutes ticked by, but I justified the wait by telling myself that if I will put up with waiting for over 2 hours to spend 30 seconds on a rollercoaster, then I can certainly wait 1.5 hours to get a good meal. So, this begs the question. Was it worth it?

Let's run down the foods first.

We started off with the beignet appetizers. These are fried doughnuts of sorts, but Creole-style. We decided that we didn't want the sampler, which consisted of a plain sweet beignet, a chocolate one, a granny smith one, and a crawfish one. Somehow the idea of eating 3 sweet donuts right before a large meal didn't sit too well with us, so we opted for the crawfish beignets. The inside was cheesy and gooey, but I couldn't really taste too much of the crawfish. I thought the top was over-spiced and overly salty. The insides were great, but they could still make this a good dish if they laid off the salt on the outside.

I will admit that I love the colors. Awesome colors.

Tiffany got the peach pancake cobbler special. It came with some creme fraiche, which tasted like yogurt to me. I'm not a dessert foods person, so I didn't try any, but it looked pretty good.

Betty got the Hangtown Fry special, an oyster bacon scramble. Most entrees come with a creamy biscuit and some cheesy grits. This is what I should've ordered too.

But instead of ordering what Betty got, I decided to go with an omelette. I am a lover of good omelettes, but this one was not to my liking. I ordered the Cheddar and Andouille Sausage omelette, and the thing fell apart as I was eating it. I hate when omelettes don't have enough cheese and fall into a separated mess as you're cutting into it. And the tomato relish on top did nothing for me. Nothing! Absolutely unnecessary!

But! I will say that these grits were fantastic!! I loved them! Actually, my favorite part of this meal were the sides. The grits were so creamy and cheesy; they felt so hearty, and I can just imagine waking up on the weekend and eating a bowl of this. So good!

And OMFG. The biscuit. The biscuit was heavenly. I have never had a biscuit that good in my life! It was flaky and buttery, and when you add more butter onto it, it tastes even better! Not so good for my heart, but so worth it!

So, in conclusion:

Beignet: 6/10
Omelette: 4/10
Grits: 9/10
Biscuit: 10/10!!!

If you're thinking about coming here, please come in a party of 2. The wait is long, and it's much easier to get a table if you're a party of 2. The poor party of 4 that came before us had to wait over TWO hours because the waiters didn't think to put two tables together to seat them first. And come on a weekday, if you can. If you can't, you should come at like 2:30pm and you'll get seated right away instead of waiting over two hours.

If I came again, I think I would order a side of grits and a side of biscuits, and I'd be happy. The wait is worth it. But only for the sides. LOL.

Another note: Yelpers love to overrate things. This is definitely overrated. Even if the biscuits are to die for.

Brenda's French Soul Food
652 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94012

Peace, love, and biscuits!

Sunny Day, Sweepin' the Clouds Away!

2008-04-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

If I had things my way, I would be trying all sorts of new foods every week. Unfortunately, this would burn a whole in my wallet, and I don't have the time or the money to indulge as much as I would like. This past Saturday, however, I was lucky enough to center my day around eating many foods, walking downtown streets with the rare SF sun blazin' down (these warm days come once every blue moon), and introducing my parents to new, exciting foods.

I really didn't start exploring the Mission District until I started college. As an Asian American kid growing up on the western end of the city, I spent most of my childhood on streets that were formerly sand dunes, rollerblading up and down the Avenues while the fog rolled in and obscured our area of the City from tourists and the Downtowners, sticking mainly to the edible Chinese fares on Noriega and Clement. That was my childhood and teenagehood. The world of pupusas, sushi, pad thai, injera, and more didn't really cross my path until my college years.

But now, post-college, I find myself discovering areas of my hometown which I really hadn't explored. I really can't begin to explain in words the feelings of happiness I get when I eat a delicious new food. Well, maybe I can. If you've ever watched Ratatouille, you'll remember the scenes in which our protagonist Remy shares the almost-hallucinogenic and magical effects of devouring a new blend of foods. There's the scene when Remy eats a piece of cheese and a mushroom together and the background is all black, and then there are colorful fireworks and explosions as the tastes meld perfectly in his mouth. That pretty much sums it up!

Anyway, enough chit-chat...I'll get right into this weekend's food explorations. I went with Emily and Stephanie to Balompie, a little cafe in the Mission serving Salvadorean food. Their little blurb on their site describes it as: "Scrumptious, authentic Salvadoran food. Get your fill of empanadas, pupusas, pasteles de puerco and curtido, all the favorites!!" This is a pretty popular spot for brunch, and after coming here twice, I can see why. Their pupusas are pretty terrific. The dough is thick and hearty, and the insides of the pupusas are warm, cheesy, happy-tasting. Happiness-inducing foods always make my list of foods that YOU should eat! Here are some pics from our excursion.

One of my pupusas was filled with chicken and cheese, and the other contained zucchini and cheese. The dough is chewy and the fillings are generous. I feel like making these things is an art. Aren't they beautiful in the light?

A close-up so that we can all admire the art that is pupusa-making.

I've added some salsa and slaw for that extra bit of spice and zest. Nice colors, eh?

My friend Stephanie ordered a side of plaintains, and these things are crispy on the outside, hot and sticky and chewy on the inside. These would go great with a side of vanilla ice cream, don't you think so? Although, even on its own, it's already very good.

After lunch, we walked to Tartine Cafe, a famous little French bakery. I must say, the prices are a bit too hefty, and I am not in a position where I can easily plop down $7 for a little dessert tart. That said, I can still walk into these places and enjoy all the eye candy and absolutely beautiful art that is pastry making. And maybe get a little somethin' somethin' that won't burn a whole in my wallet. Also, just a little side note: if you've been following the latest and hottest trends on the internet, you'll know that Stuffwhitepeoplelike has been the internet blogosphere darling for the past several months. Tartine Bakery deserves an entry on that site.

Some eye candy for you:

This is Emily's double soy latte. It was so large that we had to take a picture of it next to her hand for some perspective!!

And lastly, on our edible journey today: Dinner! My parents have been living in the United States for over 25 years, yet over those last two-and-a-half decades, they've always stuck to Chinese food when eating out. Lately, my sister and I have been trying to get them to eat more different foods. We live in one of the most diverse food cities in the country, and it makes sense to take advantage of this. I feel like I've been extremely lucky in this respect, and I want my parents to access that too. So, last night, we all went to Assab Eritrean Restaurant. I've been here before and liked it. The food comes out on this giant family-style platter. The mixes of curries and meats sit on thin pieces of flat sourdough bread called injera. You rip off pieces of the injera to scoop up the food with your hands. What I like best about this cuisine is the way all the different flavors - the sourness of the injera, the cooling taste of the yogurt, the spice of the meats - blend together. Not to mention, the visual flare of the plates is really something to admire.

We ordered the meat combination platter, the alicha beggee (lamb), and the kantisha (mushroom dish). The meat combination sampler had top round beef, cooked with onions, tomatoes, and hot pepper; skinless chicken leg on the bone; and mildly seasoned cubes of lamb mixed with potatoes, carrots, and bell peppers.

A closer look at the lamb, my favorite!

My parents' verdict after eating at Assab: We are never coming back to this place ever again! My sister and I personally love this stuff! Please don't let my parents' opinions change your sense of adventure because this really is very good. During the entire dinner, my parents kept saying, "Chinese food is the best food in the world." I don't think I will ever change the nationalism they feel or change their political stance, but I think I can keep trying when it comes to new foods. Maybe one day I'll strike jackpot, and my parents will finally see that there are other foods in the world that are worth eating other than Chinese food!

I leave you with some fun pictures, some tasty, some not-so-tasty.

You know, I have absolutely no idea what this is. I think it was for a bagel shop in the Mission. Whatever it is, I had to take a picture of it because when else are you gonna see an alien riding in a bagel spaceship?!

This is for Stephanie. She loves the Coffee Bean.

The view from the top of Dolores Park. The setting for most of our adventures today. When the sun comes out, the people start roastin'!

So, if you're in the neighborhoods, and you want a bite to eat, hop over to these place!

Balompie Cafe
Neighborhood: Mission
3349 18th St
(between Capp St & Van Ness Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94110

Tartine Bakery
Neighborhood: Mission
600 Guerrero St
(between 18th St & 19th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110

Assab Eritrean Restaurant
Neighborhood: Western Addition/NOPA
2845 Geary Blvd
(between Collins St & Wood St)
San Francisco, CA 94118

Signing off, now!

Peace, love, and new adventures!

Hungry for some Pupusas?

2008-02-22T00:35:00.000-08:00

Well, then, head on over to the Mission District of San Francisco. It's where I come to get my favorite of Mexican and South American cuisine. A favorite of many food connoisseurs is the Salvadorean pupusa, a thick corn tortilla stuffed with your choice of pork, chicken, cheese, zucchini, or even shrimp! I went to El Zocalo, a cute little place on the edge of the Mission District, near Bernal Heights, to try some of their pupusas. They also serve up mean breakfast items, including my favorite, huevos rancheros!

Here is my delightful pupusa. Oh, how filling and hearty it looks!

Oops! You were so delicious that I had to get a bite of you! It was filled with chicken and cheese, two of my favorite edible things in the world!

To top it off, one of these pupusas is only $1.80! My friend Emily says you can leave feeling satisfied and full on only two of these! That's a meal under 5 bucks, not counting tax and tip! And for someone who's just graduated from college and without a large income, that's definitely alright with me!

In addition to the food of the Mission District, you should come for some of the sights. Including the hipsters. We took a stroll down Mission and walked in Holly Park in Bernal Heights. We were lucky that it was a gorgeous day, complete with blue skies and not a cloud in the sky. From where we were, we caught a great view of this fabulous city, and it once again reminded me why I love living in San Francisco.

So, here are some sights and, of course, foods for you to enjoy!

This is the view from Holly Park. Check out the tree on that hill in the distance! Isn't this quaint? The San Francisco Chronicle calls Bernal Heights an "urban village" and I couldn't agree more.

This is from Que-Tal, a cafe in the Mission. I didn't actually eat anything here, but it was such a colorful place that I couldn't resist the urge to snap a few shots.

Everyone in the City loves a good bagel.

I'm not a huge fan of really sweet desserts, but sometimes even I like to say that I have a separate "dessert stomach" as a means of justifying the need to devour more food/desserts after a large meal. This looks too good.

So, in a nutshell, go to the Mission for the great food, the colorful sights, and the hipsters (whether you like them or not, because they really are everywhere)!

Cafe Que-Tal
Neighborhood: The Mission
1005 Guerrero Street
(between 22nd St & Alvarado St)
San Francisco, CA 94110

El Zocalo
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
3230 Mission St
(between 29th St & Valencia St)
San Francisco, CA 94110

Peace, love, and pupusas!

Le Pain Quotidien

2007-12-19T21:39:00.000-08:00

I visited my wonderful college, Pomona College, over the last four days and had a fabulous time revisiting good friends and seeing people that I missed. It reminded me of how absolutely GREAT college was and still is; physically having access to friends all the time; and eating together while watching friends argue about math and probability.

I had the pleasure of eating with my Chinese professor, Professor Allan Barr, and we went to the new restaurant Le Pain Quotidien in the new Village Expansion in Claremont. It is a Belgian and French-inspired chain from New York City, and as soon as I walked in, I felt like it was a very classy, higher-end restaurant. The light wooden tables give the place a rustic feel, but the atmosphere is undoubtedly modern and hip, with the soft lighting and bright feel.

Professor Barr recommended the vegetarian quiche, and I took his advice and ordered it. It was the most delicious quiche I have ever had in my life. Whereas most quiches that I've tried before have been firmer and pie-shaped, this quiche was soft and had the consistency of soft scrambled eggs. It was full of delicious vegetables like leeks and the salad was a nice, light complement too. I would wholeheartedly recommend this place to anyone who's still enjoying the college life at Claremont.

A shot of the entire dish:

A close-up of the quiche. Notice how soft and hearty it looks. The colors are so vibrant and beautiful.

The mixed greens salad adds a nice aesthetic touch to the dish, no?

*Le Pain Quotidien means "Daily Bread" in French.

Peace, love, and Claremont loves!

Finally! Pinkberry Copycat in Norcal!

2007-12-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

After months of pining over the loss of Kiwiberri (after moving back up north to SF because of college graduation), some of us have finally found a decent Kiwiberri-like Korean frozen yogurt place!

Anh-Thu, Stephanie, and I were in Berkeley several weeks ago, and we stopped by some place that I think was called Michelle's (it's right by that parking structure with the anarchist bookstore, Revolution Books, in the basement). It had a Kiwiberri/Pinkberry spinoff called "Mangoberry." (Yea, what's with all these "fruitberry" names, right? I don't get it either.) After finding this place, we all got extremely excited because we hadn't had Korean frozen yogurt in such a long time. We all purchased pretty big sizes, and when we started eating it, the only word that I can use to describe the experience is "interesting." It was very sour and tangy and tart; not at all like Kiwiberri. I guess, in this case, for me, "interesting" is a euphemism for "not good." Sorry to admit it.

Anyway. Yesterday, the three of us were in Berkeley again for a movie and food excursion. After a satisfying lunch at Naan 'N Curry which left our clothes smelling wonderfully spicy and savory, we popped into Ryno's on Telegraph, which we'd passed by a couple weeks before.

JACKPOT.

This is basically Kiwiberri, almost exactly. For anyone who's tried any of the versions down south, like Kiwi, or Pinkberry, you know what I'm talking about. For the uninitiated, Korean frozen yogurt is VERY different from "normal" frozen yogurt, which usually tastes like soft-serve ice cream. Korean frozen yogurt is basically FROZEN yogurt. It is a combination of sweet and tangy, the distinct flavor of regular yogurt. Usually, these places also have a variety of toppings which you can pile on top of your yogurt, including fruits (lots of berries!), chopped nuts, cereals, and even mochi! It's really light and satisfying, and that tiny bit of tang definitely adds a little somethin' somethin' to it.

So, the next time you're in Berkeley, track down this place on Telegraph and get some! My favorite (and highly recommended) combination is regular flavor yogurt with strawberries, blueberries, and mochi! Sliced almonds are delightful too, if you like that bit of crunch munch!

Some documentation, to prove this place actually exists:

You can't really miss the place. It's smack in the middle of Telegraph Ave.

It's very minimalist, the decorations. Lots of white.

The toppings! Here you go! Sorry you can't really see. They're all covered with lids! But there's stuff like mangoes, strawberries, blueberries (all fresh!), mochi, almonds, walnuts, granola, lots of different kinds of cereals, and stuff I can't remember! Healthy, eh?

Stephanie's snack. Strawberries, mangoes, and blueberries! On original flavor.

My snack! Mochi and strawberry! I didn't get blueberry this time, but it was still so good!

Another shot!

Ok, this is the last one, I promise.

And this is a blast from the past. My long lost love. Kiwiberri with animals, back in the day!

Ryno's
2380 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94704

Peace, love, and frozen yogurt treats!

Schubert's

2007-11-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

This entry is just eye candy. Schubert's Bakery in the Inner Richmond on Clement Street makes really beautiful and tasty desserts and cakes. One of my favorite items here is the Double Chocolate Mousse Cake (which sadly, I do not have a picture of), with white and dark chocolate shavings all over it, and creamy and light white and dark chocolate mousse inside between layers of cake. The cream is fluffy too. The next time someone's birthday comes up, I'll make sure to take pictures. But in the meantime, here are some other pretty pieces from this delectable dessert shop.

Schubert's Bakery
521 Clement St.
San Francisco, CA 94118

Peace, love, and double chocolate mousse!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T00:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all! So now, the holiday season officially begins. Macy's just had its Annual Tree Lighting ceremony, and their window displays are supposedly filled with real little puppies and kitties waiting to be adopted into a nice, warm home.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love that this is such a food-filled holiday and free of all the religious overtones of holidays like Easter and Christmas. A recognized date to remember those who are important to us and for whom we are especially grateful to. And to remember that we are lucky to have people to share our thanks and our love with. That to be surrounded by family and friends is a very good thing, because they keep our lives exciting and filled and help us remember why we live.

And of course, the food on our plates. This is one of the reasons why Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's also a celebration that's centered around sharing food, eating lots of it until you can't button up your pants anymore. So yes, as the weather gets chillier, as the days get shorter, let's remember to be grateful for these particular celebrations which give us occasion to spend time with our family and best friends. Good food+family+friends=recipe for life! Yum!

I leave you with a Thanksgiving-themed meal from Squat and Gobble Cafe and Crepery in the West Portal district of San Francisco.

Thanksgiving crepe, stuffed full of cheese, stuffing, dark meat turkey, and some other things here and there. This was so delicious, I would totally go back again for another one! Comes with a side of mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce too!

Close-up of what's inside this fantastic crepe. Okay, so maybe it looks like there's too much cheese here, but it's really very good.

Peace, love, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Ella's

2007-11-12T01:04:00.000-08:00

Ella's Restaurant in Laurel Village is a cute little restaurant that serves "Neo Classical American" food. I came here for breakfast/brunch with Anh-Thu and Stephen one morning, and the food was fabulous, although a bit on the pricey side. We asked the waitress what qualifies as "neo classical American" food, and she said it was just a fancy way of saying "comfort food."

But this is no greasy spoon joint or dive. The furnishings are modern, the place settings minimalist but elegant, the lighting dim and cozy.

I had the daily egg scramble with potatoes and honey oatmeal raisin toast. The egg scramble was FANTASTIC. I can't remember everything in it, but I know there was bits of ham and bacon, spinach, and feta cheese. The portions are generous. They must've put at least three eggs into my scramble! The potatoes were perfectly cooked, crispy and hot on the outside, soft melt-in-your-mouth goodness on the inside. The toast was quite tasty too.

I would definitely go again. It's in the yuppie part of town, but the neighborhood is friendly and safe. But beware the parking police! Stephen got a parking ticket after our meal!

Props to Anh-Thu for this picture.

Ella's Restaurant
500 Presidio Avenue
(between California St & Masonic Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94115
In the Laurel Village neighborhood.

Till next time,
Peace, love, and scrambled eggs!

Chicagoes

2007-11-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

So. I've been on hiatus for a LONG while. It's been a combination of LSAT studying, working, and being fed up with blogger's painfully slow uploading of pictures. But now that I'm back (for now), here are some pictures from a good foodie city, Chicago.

Okay, so maybe a Filet O'Fish isn't exactly Chicago fare, but I tell you, this burger from McDonald's is heavenly. I've always thought so, since I was a wee little lass and I was eating this on the streets of downtown San Francisco and a homeless man grabbed my hair and induced me to throw up on his shoes. This sandwich is SO GOOD, even though McDonald's has gotten stingy and only puts half a slice of cheese in it instead of a full slice. The McDonald's on Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley sells these for $1.o0. Go get some!

Mapo tofu. House brand. This is what UChicago law students eat. It's very good and easy to make.

This is what UChicago law students bake in their spare time. Some Crust mocha cookies. They are heavenly, I tell you. 21 ounces of chocolate into 18 cookies is quite indulgent and SO rich.

Moonstruck is a company in Chicago that does chocolate right. There's also one in San Francisco in the Marina District, on Chestnut and Pierce.

Ah ha! So THIS is what deep dish pizza is! Finally! And I always thought that Pizza Hut's Pan pizza was a good representation of deep dish. This is what deep dish pizza pie should look like! Very delicious!

This is the coolest gadget EVER. It is an apple corer/slicer in one from IKEA! How convenient!

I found out Italian Beef Sandwiches are a Chicago-area specialty too. Lots of beef, lots of peppers (the peppers were delish!), and the sandwich is dipped in some type of beef juice. Suggestion: Don't dip. Your sandwich gets so wet that you'll feel like you just drenched your bread in a cup of water (which is kinda what they do). But otherwise, it's alright (but maybe a bit too much beef for me).

There you go. That was Chicago. Illustrated through a variety of pictures.

In the time I've taken off from posting, I've had Brazilian food, Eritrean food, lots of Chinese food, and several other good and bad adventures with food. I'll try harder to chronicle my adventures in between LSAT studying, working with children, and online exploits.

Till next time,

Peace, love, and bullet-proof marshmallows!

My Little Dragon Bags

2007-07-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

I've sure most of you have already been to the wonder that is DinTaiFung in Arcadia, California. The only American branch of the famous Taiwanese "little dragon bag" restaurant, DinTaiFung serves up xiaolongbao, succulent little pork dumplings inside a thin layer of dough, like you've never tasted before. The secret is to inject almost-frozen meat juice into the piece of pork before it's cooked, and then wrap it in the dough skin, steam it, and then juice melts into the juicy soup that xiaolongbaos are famous for.

Since we don't have any DinTaiFung chains up here in San Francisco, though, the closest thing to authentic is: Shanghai Dumpling King, located on Balboa Avenue in the Outer Richmond, between 34th and 35th avenues.

This tiny restaurant is literally a hole in the wall, but it's not a secret that this place is good. The Chronicle's reviewed it before and it's known among SF circles to be the best place in the city to get our little dragon bags of pork.

Shanghai Dumpling King serves up Shanghainese cuisine, which means lots of sweet and soy-sauced dishes. Now, here's my honest opinion of the restaurant.

There are only three good dishes on the menu, four if I'm feeling generous and not-so-picky. I'll run through all of them right now.

Our first candidate is the obvious one. Our little dragon bags. Xiaolongbao. They may not make them pretty as one can tell from the picture, but these are pretty darn authentic. I already wrote an entry on how to eat them properly, and these don't disappoint when it comes to juice-sucking. $5 will buy you a steamer of 10. A good deal for some good dragon bags.

Lucky number 2 is the Shanghai rice cakes, or chao niangao. This is super soy-sauced, chewy, hearty, and the tiny slivers of meat and vegetables are perfect for balancing the soy-saucey goodness of the rice cakes. The texture is the best part. Wait, no. The taste is the best part. Wait, no. Okay, they're both good. This is also a must order when you come here.

And our last finalist is the green onion pancake, lovingly known to many as congyoubing. It's got green onion. It's flaky and crispy. I think I've said enough. Go eat it.

There you go. The three good items on the menu. Everything else is standard Chinese food. The shengjianbao, or pan-fried dumplings, can be pretty good too, but sometimes I think they're just a bigger version of our little dragon baos.

So if you're somewhere in the Outer Richmond, braving the fog and the cold on one of Mark Twain's favoritest of summer days, come inside and let the juicy pork warm you up. It's gooood.

Shanghai Dumpling King
3319 Balboa Street
(between 34th Ave & 35th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94121 (415) 387-2088

After you have a bite to eat here, stroll down Balboa Street and visit the grocery shops, go to the bank, or catch a movie at one of the few independent art-house theaters left in the city: the Balboa Theater. The Outer Richmond is a pretty boring place, but it's still a very San Franciscan neighborhood. There's the local public school where my little sister attends, with all the ghetto fabulous Chinese kids; there's the small eateries spanning from 35th Avenue downwards which the high schoolers frequent during lunch time; there's the fog, of course; there's Muzzy's Attic for your quirky and eclectic furniture needs.

So, yes. Eat your dumplings. Take a walk. Embrace the fog. Watch a movie.

Maybe this popcorn from the Balboa Theater will be enough to entice you.

Till next time,

Peace, love, and little dragon bags!

My Soymilk Brings all the Boys to the Yard

2007-07-05T01:27:00.001-07:00

Okay, not really. No boys. No yard. I live in the city.

It's still tasty, though.

ANYWAY.

It's been a while since I last wrote an entry! The last time I posted was almost three weeks ago! During that hiatus, I spent two weeks in Yunnan, China, traveling in a tour group with my family, which means trying out lots of different foods and having a lot of fun. Expect a long post of Yunnan foods in the coming week, but for now, as promised, a step-by-step tutorial on how to make soymilk in your home.

Let me warn you, though: this takes quite a bit of time, and if you're doing it alone, it can be a bit painful if you're making big batches of it. I'm talking about making soymilk from scratch, with soybeans, and without the aid of a soymilk-making machine. This is all done by hand--no fancy machines.

But, if you have the time and energy, I highly suggest you consider making this homemade, ORGANIC drink! It's quite labor-intensive, but worth it. You don't have to go to some fancy-schmancy Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or any other bougie organics-loving expensive supermarket to get your organic fix. This is REAL organic for you. This is how we do. It's:

1) Cheap! (less than a dollar to make several gallons of soymilk!)
2) ORGANIC, for all you healthy organic-loving kids! (you know exactly what goes into it! no preservatives or additives!)
3) TASTY! (It's thick and fresh. Imagine fresh-squeezed orange juice, but with milky. AND, you can control how much sugar you put into it, so the sweetness level will be perfect for each individual!)

So, let's go. Ingredients first.
-a ton of dried soybeans. You can buy these at your local Asian supermarket. They're beige/tan colored and dried.
-a ton of sugar
-water, of course
-a cheesecloth, or any type of semipermeable cloth for straining
-a POT

Now, onto instructions, with pictures:

1) Soak your soybeans overnight in water. The soybeans will soak up the water and grow in size, and end up looking like this.

2) I'm not good with measurements, so I'll just say that you fill your blender with this much soybeans and this much water. If I were to guesstimate, I'd say 1:3 soybean to water ratio. Usually, you want to add more water if you want your soymilk to be more watery; or less water if you want it to be really thick. But it tastes better when it's more diluted, I think. So yes, eyeball it.

3) Liquefy! Liquefy! Liquefy! Blend for several minutes until you can't see bits of soymilk floating around. Once you turn off the blender, you'll get a mixture which looks something like milk with a layer of foam on top. Just like this.

4) Get ready your cheesecloth! And pour your milk into the cheesecloth but remember to have your pot under your cheesecloth to collect the milk!

5) Oh, look! All that yummy milk inside the cheesecloth!

6) Start squeezing! Squeeze until you can can't squeeze anymore milk out!

7) Okay, once you finish squeezing, you'll have soymilk in your pot, and in your bag you'll be left with the soy hash, and it'll look something like this. You can use it again. Put this hash back into the blender, and add about twice the amount of water, and repeat the above steps. Generally, after the first squeezing/straining, you can use the hash one more time to get more milk out of it, but I wouldn't recommend using it a third time because then it just gets too diluted. After blending/squeezing the hash for the second time, you can put aside the hash. SAVE IT. I'll tell you what to do with it later.

8) Okay, so after all that blending and squeezing and re-blending and re-squeezing, and after you've used up all your soybeans, you'll have a pot (or two or three, depending on how much soybean you bought) of soymilk. There'll be a thick layer of foam on top, and you need to take a spoon and scoop it off the top and trash it.

9) No more pics from here on out, because now it's all descriptive, no pictures necessary. You take your pot of soymilk and cook it on high until it comes to a boil. AFTER the soymilk starts boiling, add your desired amount of sugar. A word of advice: more is better. You might think you're putting too much, but believe me, it takes a LOT of sugar to make your milk sweet. And also, never put in sugar before your milk starts boiling because the sugar will sink to the bottom of the pot and burn, and you'll end up with a burned pot of milk--not so tasty.

Believe me, this is MUCH the TASTIES. Usually, there's a thin layer of film that forms over your cooked soymilk, and it's really delicious and hopefully you're lucky enough to be the one to get to eat it. This soymilk is best either REALLY hot or REALLY chilled.

So, like I said before, it's

Cheap.
Organic.
Tasty.

Oh! And the hash that's left over after all the straining can be used to make soy green onion flour PANCAKES. I haven't figured out a great recipe yet, but I'm trying it out tomorrow, and as soon as I figure out a decent way of cooking it, I'll post it. So, yes, we shall not waste any bit of the soy. This is totally efficient and sustainable cooking.

Much better than Vitasoy. And that's saying a lot, because I really like Vitasoy.*

Anyway, till next time,

Peace, love, and twice-baked brownies!

*Only the Chinese version, though. The white box with the blue "Wei ta nai" lettering. None of that American Vitasoy trash for me.

Chicken Ain't Meat

2007-06-13T01:19:00.000-07:00

My family (minus my sister and I) doesn't really understand what being a vegetarian means. When vegetarians say they don't eat meat, my mother thinks that they only don't eat pork, beef, lamb--all the red meats. Chicken is not "meat." Chicken is chicken. Fish is fish. Seafood is seafood. Those things are not meat. They are their own food groups. But most definitely not meat. An example of a common misunderstanding is shown below:

Mom: Oh, let me feed you and your friends the foods!
Viv: Okay, but X doesn't eat meat.
Mom: That's okay. I will make clam chowder.
Viv: Clam chowder has clams in it.
Mom: That's not meat.
Viv: Yes, it is. Clam is meat.
Mom: No it's not! It's seafood!
Viv: Meat is anything that's alive!!
Mom: But clams are seafood!
Viv: Okay, X doesn't eat seafood!
Mom: Oh, okay.

It's not that my family (and a lot of other Chinese families) don't understand what vegetarianism entails. It's more like, there are different terms in different languages that define the different types of "meat." Whereas in English, meat encompasses poultry, red meat, seafoods, and whatever other living things, in Chinese, the word for "meat" is rou, which--even though it is translated into "meat" in English--is processed in Chinese people's minds as red meat. Or, maybe it isn't? This is something that confuses me as a 2nd-generation ABC. I sometimes understand Chinese terms in the context of English, which gives me a warped and sometimes incorrect idea of what certain words mean. I think everyone in my family who was actually born in China (Mom, Dad, grandparents, etc.) thinks of rou as "red meat," but in my and my sister's mind, rou is synonymous with all meat. There's also separate words for chicken (ji), fish (yu), and seafood (haixian). Whereas in English, all those subcategories fall under the larger category of "meat," in Chinese, they seem to me to be distinct categories, and not necessarily all falling within the umbrealla term "meat."

That's my explanation for it. It has to do with language, but a lot also has to do with miscommunication and misunderstanding.

Food is generally an uncomplicated pleasure, but in the context of being a 2nd-generation Asian American, one can't help but run into awkward or confusing situations with language and consequently, foods.

At least it still tastes the same in all languages. =)

Home Cookin'

2007-06-06T01:49:00.000-07:00

People always ask me what I eat at home. I usually reply with "just Chinese food," but I think that most people have a very weird relationship with or idea of what Chinese food is. To the uninitiated, Chinese food is the stuff that comes in those cute little take-out boxes, or Panda Express 3 entrees for $8 type of thing. Sweet and sour pork. Kungpao chicken. Chop suey.

That's not what I eat at home. My grandmother laughs when we talk about Americanized Chinese food. There's this saying in Chinese, when referring to Americanized Chinese food, which translates roughly to, "Oh, it's for the purpose of tricking foreigners." For those who read Chinese characters, it's pretty much "騙外國人." What she means by this is pretty elitist, actually. It entails the assumption that "we" are in the know when it comes to food, and that the uninitiated aren't privy to our secrets so we can make a profit off the "ignorance" of "foreigners." Every culture and people has its quirks and its prejudices, and this is just another example. I find it funny, appropriate, and even justified, albeit not quite PC. Isn't the idea ironic, though? Chinese families baaaallin' off the ignorance of the MAN. Haha! I suppose it's a way to work the system, yeah? You beat us down, so we find our ways to fight back!

Why am I writing this? Too many family secrets are being revealed...

Anyway, back to home foods. Everyone in my family cooks. Cooking is not a gendered activity in my house; whoever is home and available will do the cooking, which means my mom cooks when she's home, or my dad cooks when he's home. Cooking is something everyone should know how to do, my parents believe. In this respect, I am still incompetent and have much to learn.

So, usually we always have a bowl of rice. Medium-grained Kokuho Rose variety. None of that long-grained trash. I'm serious. Once you've had short- or medium-grained rice, you won't want to go back to that long-grained stuff. It's not versatile enough.

In addition to a bowl of rice, we'll have several side dishes. Usually one meat dish and three or so vegetable dishes. This is a story in itself which I will entertain you with later. Chinese people have a different definition of what is "meat," which makes it difficult for some older Chinese people to understand what exactly vegetarianism is. That's another story for another time, and I promise I'll entertain you with it because it's pretty funny. But here's a very small sampling of some typical foods and side dishes I eat at home:

This is "red-cooked" eggs and pork, with all the delicious fat still attached on the pork. It's also got this vegetable that's scattered around it called, well, I don't know right now, but I'll find out later. Red-cooking is basically stewing with a lot of soy sauce and sugar. In general, Shanghainese food uses a ton of sugar and soy sauce. This is a typical dish that uses this method of cooking very well. The egg and the pork soak up the flavor very well, making each mouthful a burst of tasty yum.

Snow peas. Very tasty and crunchy. I like them for the crunch. Loud munch! Can you hear it?

This is red-cooked chicken sitting on a bed of snow peas. This is my favorite way of eating chicken legs. Oh, wait. I like fried chicken too. Hmm, this is hard. Well, I'll make a compromise and say that this is my favorite way of eating chicken at home. Soy-sauced and slightly sweet, and the meat just falls off the bones. Oh, but the plating usually isn't this nice. My family doesn't really care for beautiful plating arrangements; I just decided to randomly do this for this one picture, but this is a rarity. We're all about the taste and flavor and less about presentation. No frills eating.

This means we'd probably lose in the presentation category on Iron Chef. Oh wells.

I need to take more pictures for the home-cooking sections, but this is it for now. We usually end our dinners with a bowl of soup, but I don't have any pictures or any soup on hand, so that's for another day.

So, yes. Lessons learned in this post:

Lots of soy sauce and sugar
Meat and vegetables and rice
A bowl of soup
Chinese people have a different definition of meat
We don't care about food presentation
We are tricky and like to fight the MAN

For next time, a brief entry on my family's ideas on what "meat" is, and a step-by-step lesson on how to make soymilk in your home. My family recently got into this health-conscious fix for various reasons, and making organic soymilk by hand (literally! literally squeezing beans!) has become a weekly activity.

Eat up!

Peace, love, and grilled-cheese wontons!

Pho-reaking delicious!

2007-06-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite joints for a simple bowl of pho or Vietnamese food in San Francisco is PPQ Restaurant on 19th Avenue and Irving in the Outer Sunset. You can always locate it as you're walking down Irving St. because it's got a cardboard cut-out of a large cow standing in front! Suh-weet! They straight up tell it like it is. I like that. Honesty.

So, this joint serves up your standard Vietnamese fare, including bowls of pho, vermicelli and rice plates, egg rolls and spring rolls, and other noodle plates. The prices are very reasonable, ranging from $5-$8 for a generous entree, and the atmosphere is casual.

It's pretty fun to go here with large groups, because it's one of those kinds of joints. I also like taking tons of pictures at Vietnamese restaurants because the presentation of the foods is AMAZING and beautiful. Pretty plating and also, because many dishes normally use lots of herbs and vegetables, you have a natural infusion of bright leafy colors. Lots of green! Which is my favoritest of colors, as one can tell by my wardrobe.

Some select pictures of recommended dishes:

Five-spice Chicken with imperial rolls. I've never had this, but apparently, this is one of the signature dishes at PPQ.

I swear, there's actually more to this dish than just peanuts and vermicelli noodles! This is a vegetarian dish with nuts, silver noodles, mint leaves, herbs, and the veggie works! But yes, from the picture, it certainly does look frighteningly too nutty.

When I discover a certain food that I like at a particular restaurant, I tend to become a creature of habit and order that dish over and over again. This is one of my favorite dishes at Vietnamese restaurants, and I often get it because I know it will be stellar wherever I go. Charbroiled pork with egg rolls and chopped peanuts on top of vermicelli with a bowl of fish sauce! The charbroiled pork is cooked to perfection, with just the right amount of charred taste and tenderness. The egg rolls are always perfectly crispy. I've never had a bad egg roll in this dish. It's a safe and tasty choice! MMM! And at PPQ, it's #15! I recommend!

Now, let's sing a song!
T to the
A to the
S T E Y
Food
YOU TASTEY
T to the
A to the
S T E Y
Food
YOU TASTEY

ANYWAY.

Another good thing about PPQ is that it's located on Irving Street, which many consider to be the "New Chinatown." Not nearly as crowded or historical as San Francisco's Chinatown, Irving Street is where the local Chinese-American community go to get their hair cut, to eat out and grab a cup of tapioca (naw, we don't call that stuff "boba"! that's only for the SoCal crowd), to buy their groceries. There's a good mix of cute accessory and stationary shops, grocery stores (Sunset Super on 25th and Irving), Asian and fast-food restaurants, hair and nail salons, many bakeries, and even a Bay Area/Frisco merchandise and clothing store. The local high school kids at Lincoln and Lowell High Schools also come here to hang out and eat afterschool too, so expect to see lots of loud crowds of happy kids.

After you fill yourself up with a hearty lunch at PPQ, you should definitely stroll down Irving and grab yourself some tapioca and walk the calories off.

Walk it off!

Peace, love, and bullet-proof marshmallows!

Little Paris

2007-06-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Literally a hole-in-the wall on Chinatown's Stockton Street, Little Paris Coffee Shop serves up a mean sandwich, with the works! And at $2.50 to $3.00 each, it's definitely a bargain! Each six-inch sandwich is filled with a generous helping of cilantro, a combination of hams, radishes, carrots, and other goodies that typify a Vietnamese Sandwich. The French bread is warmed up for you, and as the woman behind the counter hands you the sandwich, it is still warm, crispy, and fresh. One of my favorite things to do on a sunny San Francisco afternoon is to take the 30-Stockton bus down Stockton, hop off in front of Little Paris, grab a sandwich, and stroll down Stockton Street to pick up random groceries and goodies, eventually reaching North Beach, home of Little Italy and even more food sights.

Little Paris Coffee Shop
939 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94108

The best part, besides the deliciousness, is the location! Stockton Street is the real Chinatown, where locals come to buy groceries and get the best deals. Tourist Chinatown is one block down on Grant Avenue, but Stockton Street is where the real living--and eating--happens.

Shanghai, baby!

2007-06-04T00:56:00.000-07:00

So, during the summer of 2006, I went to Shanghai on a school grant to conduct thesis "research." I ended up spending much more time exploring the city and its culinary tradition than on academic fieldwork.

My culinary experience of Shanghai last summer was a combination of everything, and I fully recognize that this was only possible because I was a privileged American using American dollars in China. I experienced a diverse array of street food, food court meals, home cooked meals with fresh ingredients, and expensive multi-course meals in the most expensive of five-star restaurants. For the typical American visiting Shanghai, or any other Chinese city, your American dollars will buy you a five-star dining experience; but my advice would be to sample the street food and smaller joints for a more diverse sampling of the local cuisine. Here's a few pictures of foods I enjoyed while in Shanghai:

This pancake-like creation is called "chung bing" and is a thicker, more dough-y version of a standard Chinese green onion pancake. Some versions of this food are slightly sweet too.

The basement floor of most malls in Shanghai have giant food courts with many different types of Asian cuisine, ranging from Chinese dim sum and snack foods, to Korean BBQ and soondooboo, to Japanese sushi. Each stand's displays of food are enticing, and coupled with the fact that a typical hearty entree will run about $3 (25-30 yuan), you can try as much food as your stomach can handle. This particular food court was located in the downtown Xujiahui district in the Meiluocheng shopping center. I highly recommend the Korean bibimbap stand.

The Asian bakeries in America cannot compare to the gourmet bread stores in Asia. This chain, called BreadTalk, sells pastries and breads filled with a variety of savory and sweet fillings, ranging from red bean and mung bean to hot dog and green onion. Mmm, a delicious snack! This particular bakery, if I remember correctly, was located in the Xujiahui district, in the Meiluocheng shopping center, but there are chains all over the city.

This was just really interesting to look at. I think it was for a fruit smoothie stand at the mall.

Making tea is an art which I am not well-versed enough in to talk about extensively here. My commentary, though, is that tea is a soothing drink on a hot Asian summer day.

Oh, look at me! I'm such a cute little pretty bun! What could be inside??

Oh, not so pretty and perfect anymore! Oh, but it was worth it! I have never, in my life, eaten such a wonderful veggie bun. This particular bun consists of a light, thin dough skin, with just the right amount of chewiness. The inside consists of spinach and small bits of mushroom and tofu. There's a small stand, a hole in the wall, called Guangmingcun, on Huaihai Lu, which sells these delectable treats for only a few cents a bun. They're freshly made each morning, and you should make sure to go early because they only make a limited amount and they sell out fast! The day before my sister and I left Shanghai, we took the bus to this stand and bought several dozen of these things to bring home to the States! They were worth it! Comes in red bean variety too, but the vegetable bun is a must-eat!

If you go to the less "developed" areas of the city, you will see fruit stands everywhere. Just beautiful.

Sometimes, you can get the most interesting and unique foods when you leave the actual city. This concoction consists of rice, various pine nuts, mochi balls, and this strange red fruit which I don't know what to call in English. We ate this in a little rivertown about half an hour outside of Shanghai called Qibao, literally translated as "Seven Treasures."

Another edible treasure from Qibao. Giant tangyuan, or glutinous rice balls filled with your choice of black sesame, peanut, or meats. Several of these will make a filling meal and won't hurt your wallet either--they're only a few cents each!

The flavors of Lay's potato chips in China are really...strange, to say the least. Strange, as in AMAZING. Flavors like Beijing duck, Korean kimchi, French chicken, Hokkaido grilled crab, or Mexican Tomato Chicken. Of course, in reality, each flavor really just tastes like different types of "salty," but it's cute that they try to give these chips a multicultural feel. :)

*Props to Betty Wang for this picture.

And, of course, I had to include a picture of a Shanghai specialty, xiaolongbao, literally translated as "little dragon bags." How cute! Each succulent pork dumplings is filled with a burst of flavorful pork broth and a juicy piece of pork. To ensure that you don't squirt yourself or lose the precious broth, dip your dumpling in vinegar first, place the dumpling in a soup spoon (so that it collects the broth in case it spills), and then take a small bite from the side of the dumpling, suck out the broth carefully, and then eat the whole dumpling. Eating xiaolongbao is an art! Unless you rather prefer stuffing each dumpling whole into your mouth and letting the hot juices explode in your mouth, scalding your insides. Your choice.

Happy eating! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

The Start of Something New

2007-06-04T00:52:00.001-07:00

This is the obligatory first post, because I feel strange about immediately writing about foods before an introduction of sorts. I suppose this will do for now.

Food not only brings me delicious instant gratification, but is also intertwined with my family history, happy memories, community building and friendship. I come from a family of very good cooks, although I didn't realize this when I was younger and only gradually recognized this as I grew older and left for college. We've got three generations under the same roof, three generations worth of stories, experiences, and recipes. But since we're Chinese, we don't write anything down. That's something that Americans invented. So, I grew up watching my family cooking, picking up certain tricks of the trade and time-honored "recipes" not through scraps of paper, but through watching and, sometimes, participating.

Making wontons and jiaozi dumplings out of scratch was a monthly occurrence. On her days off, my mom would knead dough and mix up a batch of meat and vegetable filling as I would watch from the sidelines. My dad can also whip up a mean meal as good as any amateur chef. It's amusing watching him get a kick out of baking cakes and making green onion rolls; he never lets anyone else "help" during the cooking process, fearing a less competent soul will ruin his creation. So, long story short, everyone in my family cooks, and I grew up learning that to be a competent person, I had to 1) learn how to cook, and 2) enjoy eating.

Holidays were another story, occasions during which both my immediate and extended family unleashed their culinary skills. That's another reason why I like food. Just like certain songs or objects are evocative of memories or childhood, food is so evocative of the best times of my life. Think about it. The celebrations and holidays you shared with family; the lunches shared with friends during school while sitting on the bench; the midnight runs to greasy spoon joints to cure those munchies; the dates you've shared with your loves; the picnics, barbecues, cookouts, bonfires, oh how I could go on forever! Think back to your happiest moments with family and friends, and I'm sure many of those memories are characterized by a common thread: the sharing of food.

This obsession with food started when I discovered the Food Network in the summer before my junior year of high school, and I started thinking about food not as just something to eat, but as a philosophy of life. Over the last few years, I've very often talked about food, sporadically wrote about food, occasionally taken pictures of foods, but this is the first time I've decided to do something more with food. As I'm leaving a familiar chapter of my life--the schooling phase--and embarking on the next, unknown chapter, I've been told repeatedly to be proactive in life, to take risks and actually start doing new things. This is a move in the direction of starting new things. I've wanted to write about food for a long time, and it's about time I start this--and having just finished college and with all this new free time, I think it's the best time to start.

So... I like food, and I like writing, and this is my way of sharing my love with you.

Cheers!