Fatty Crab... again

Recently we found ourselves going out in the Meatpacking District, and since I'm rarely in that neighborhood, I wanted to go eat at Fatty Crab.  It was a great summer day, so we sat outside, and Redneckhunter and our friend started off the evening right with some Fatty special shots and chasers:  #1 was the Recession Special: whiskey, spicy pickle back, and PBR; #2 was the Panchito Special: tequila, Malay sangrita, and Tecate with lime and chili-salt.

Then came the snacks:  Steamed pork buns (which were good, but less flavorful than Momofuku's), Fatty sliders (pork and beef burgers, with a nice thick Asian-style pickle, and spicy remoulade), the Fatty dog (xo sausage, pickled chili, pickled radish, cucumber, aioli), and charred corn with chili-sugar-salt (a bit overpriced at $6).  We also ordered my favorite dish, Nasi Lemak (chicken curry, coconut rice, poached egg, and otak which is dried spiced fish). We devoured it before I thought of taking a photo.   It's still my favorite dish - just wonderful comfort food -- and of the snacks, the nice surprise were the yummy sliders.  Another shot and chaser and we were ready for the Meatpacking circus!

Fatty Crab

643 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 352-3590

Old favorites: Soba-ya and Spot Dessert Bar

One Saturday night, a couple of friends and I tried to get ramen at Ippudo, which was recently deemed the second best ramen in the city on Serious Eats. We arrived at 5:40 in the evening, to be told it would be a 2 hour wait! For ramen!!


So we went around the corner to an old favorite - Soba-ya. They are known for their soba, but I have to say, I get more excited by the small dishes. This time we got pork belly with a poached egg in dashi, pumpkin with shiitake mushrooms (the green things on the toothpick are fresh gingko nuts!), and shrimp shumai with the most interesting shredded rice flour wrappers.

For dessert we went one block over to Spot Dessert Bar on St. Mark's Place, Pinchet Ong's place. We got what was called Satay Peanut Crema with Concord Grape Sorbet and Condensed Milk Bacon Toast. Mostly we ordered because if there's bacon on a menu, probably I'll like it. It really was a deconstructed PB&J sandwich - not what I was expecting at all, and really delicious!

Soba-ya
229 East 9th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 533-6966

Spot Dessert Bar
13 St Marks Pl
New York, NY 10003
(212) 677-5670

Pure Thai Shophouse, NYC

On our last shopping and eating day, petiteseour and I had a day that was light on the shopping, but excellent on the eating!

We had lunch at Torrisi Italian Specialties where we very happily shared the house-roasted turkey sandwich (to die for - so moist and flavorful, piled high with a wonderful dressing, shredded lettuce, thinly sliced red onion and tomatoes), delicious chicken parm hero, and a variety of sides - broccoli rabe, brussels sprouts, and sweet and sour eggplant relish, which was delicious on bread. Unfortunately we had just missed the eggplant parm - which sold out just a few people ahead of us in line. Also, unfortunately, no pictures - super crowded squeeze and we were just too hungry! We will be back though to try the lasagna, house-made mozzarella and ricotta, and that wonderful-looking eggplant parm!

Next was a stop at old standby Il Laboratorio del Gelato where petiteseour and Anthony went with daring flavors like tarragon pink peppercorn, and basil, while I stuck with delicious fruit flavors of lychee and concord grape. Then off to buy beautiful macaroons at bisous ciao to give as gifts, with a pit stop for coffee and a couple of Robicelli cupcakes at Cake Shop. After visiting our friend and dropping off said gift of macaroons, another tea break at the Limelight Marketplace where I discovered the wonder that is Bacon Marmalade. So good I'm headed back this weekend to pick up more jars as holiday gifts!

But on to the final round - dinner at Pure Thai Shophouse. Being a regular at Recipe and a fan of Land Thai Kitchen, Petiteseour really wanted to try David and Vanita Bank's newest venture - a noodle house in Hell's Kitchen.

We started with the Crispy Shrimp Sesame Crepe - which was not what I was expecting at all, but was really delicious. My only complaint may be that I didn't get much shrimp flavor, though the kaffir lime curd on top was tasty. The actual slices of lime though were a little jarring at times, when you got one on its own. All together though, it was a really interesting dish and one I would definitely order again.

But the main star of this place is the homemade noodles. We got the house specialty Ratchaburi Crab and Pork Dry Noodles along with add-ons of pork cracklings and a sunny side up egg. The egg was a great addition - just gave a little bit of extra moisture to the tie everything together. The noodles were satisfingly firm. The roast pork was the color of Chinese char-siu, but much milder - a nice surprise for my Chinese palate - and the yu choy added a nice bit of crunch and bitterness. We finished the meal with some fruity drinks - chrysanthemum for me and roselle (a bit like cranberry) for petiteseour.

Pure Thai Shophouse
766 Ninth Avenue (bet. 51st and 52nd)
New York, NY
(212) 581-0999

Cooking Momofuku pork buns

We were cooking with friends this weekend, so I decided to make David Chang's signature dish - Momofuku pork buns.

First off, I couldn't find pork belly at either Wegman's or Whole Foods, but thank goodness for the Amish market. I got a great thick piece of pork belly there and set it up to brine overnight in a solution of water, salt and sugar.

I followed David Chang's recipe on epicurious, which was actually different than the one in his cookbook. The one online was brined in liquid as opposed to dry-rubbed in the cookbook, and the meat is kept in the juices throughout the whole process, so I figured maybe we'd end up with juicier pork.

After brining for 12 hours, I set to roasting the pork belly - fat side up - in a low temperature oven - 250 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. Then you turn the heat up to 450 and continue baking uncovered for 1/2 hour to crisp the fat.

Next the whole thing is chilled. This let me skim off the fat from the juices, plus it makes the pork much easier to slice.


After cutting into slices, you keep the slices in the juice, then right before serving, reheat covered in the oven.

Chang also had a recipe for the steamed buns, but I wasn't ambitious enough to try those yet. Instead, I bought buns from the Asian market, and steamed them while the pork was reheating.

Finally last step is assembling - hoisin sauce, pork, cucumbers and scallions. Delicious!


Post by fougoo, photos by 1000yregg

Baohaus, NYC

1000yregg and I needed a snack before a late dinner reservation, so we stopped at Baohaus with petiteseour - a cute snack bar with a small menu of Taiwanese street food - primarily stuffed steamed buns known as bao. There's something great a place that only does a few things, but does them well.

1000yregg and I loved the tongue-in-cheek self-referential FOB-iness (Fresh Off the Boat) of the place. For instance, we ordered the set with 3 baos and a cup of boiled peanuts named (in your best Charlie Chan accent now...) The Straight Frush. The 6 bao set is The Royal Frush.

We got one of each variety of bao: the Haus Bao (Niman Ranch Skirtsteak), the Chairman Bao (Niman Ranch Pork Belly), and the Uncle Jesse (Pan fried tofu coated in sweet potato starch) -- all were served with crushed peanut, cilantro, Haus Relish, and Taiwanese red sugar.

They were all delicious - so much so we had to remind ourselves that we were eating dinner later, otherwise we would have ordered another round!

The peanuts boiled in kosher salt, rice vinegar, and spices were surprisingly tasty as well. For those who live in the Lower East Side, they do deliver as well!

Baohaus

137 Rivington Street (near Norfolk), NYC
646 684 3835

Momofuku Ssam Bar

Petitesouer and I went to Momofuku Ssam Bar for lunch. We got there just before the rush. I like the Momofuku enterprises, but my main thing with them is they are way overpriced. So the $25 prix fixe three-course lunch special seemed like a good deal.

First course was a choice of either the kimchi apple salad, pickles, or roast pork buns. For two bargain-hunters such as us, there was no question -- it had to be pork buns. Petiteseour's stomach was not quite up for fatty pork, but I happily gobbled up her's as well as mine - the pork buns just taste like my childhood.

Since it was 2 of us sharing one prix-fixe lunch, we supplemented with the Satur farm's fried brussels sprouts with mint, scallions, and fish sauce vinaigrette. This was great - brussel sprouts were slightly charred and crispy, but nice and tender and the sauce had a great blend of flavors - and the crunch of the puffed rice was nice.

Second course was a choice of grilled branzino, braised beef brisket, or spicy rice cakes with pork sausage, chinese broccoli, and crispy shallots.

We opted for the rice cakes - it had a nice amount of heat, the rice cakes were well-cooked. The sausage lent it a fusion flavor - different than traditional Asian rice cake dishes. I'd have been happy trying either of the other choices as well - the branzino (which as an entree costs $21) seems like it would have been a steal of a deal, and the brisket (which we saw over at the next table) looked delicious.

Finally, third course was dessert: a choice between blondie pie, and their signature PB&J -- which is a peanut butter pannacotta on a peanutty wafer cookie, topped with strawberry jam and saltines. The whole thing (other than the jam) was oddly salty -- not in a good accent salt kind of way - which I really like in dessert, where you get just a hint of salt to cut the sweetness. No, this dessert started sweet on the tongue and finished salty in the aftertaste. It was interesting, but I would have liked to finish sweet.

I and 1000yregg are curious about the Bo Ssam dish - the whole pork butt with a dozen oysters, served with kimchi, rice, and lettuce accompaniment. The dish costs friggin $200! Petiteseour said she had heard it served about 8-10 people, but when Bourdain had it on No Reservations, it didn't look that big to either me or 1000yregg, but who knows -- we're Chinese and have a skewed sense of what a lot of food is... There is a recipe from David Change online - maybe if I'm ambitious I'll try it.

Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 Second Avenue
New York, NY

Sticky Rice, DC

We tried out dinner at Sticky Rice in the H St. Atlas District in DC. They are a small chain in the DC Metro area serving sushi/pan-asian food with some interesting American items as well.
Their special was the bucket of tater tots served with a special sauce. The bucket was huge.
We got the Chili Roll which consisted of tuna, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno & grilled pineapple. An interesting taste combination.

We got the Jolly Green Wontons, which were deep fried wontons filled with soybeans and wasabi.

Finally, we got the Dirty Vegan, a noodle dish with veggies served with a nice peanut/coconut sauce.
Sticky Rice had the feel of a trendy place- it was really crowded and they have DJ nights, but if they stick with their fun, interesting menu, I would love to go back.

1224 H Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 397-7655

Girls Cooking Night: Food on Sticks

For our food on sticks theme, I wanted to try to recreate my favorite Korean street food - the meat-wrapped dokbokki (rice cakes) on a stick.

I mixed the ground pork with minced ginger and garlic, soy sauce, egg, sesame oil, and pepper, the night before. I bought the dokbokki at the Asian market (it's the shaping of them I think that's the real pain in the ass of making your own), and even though I soaked them in warm water for about 20 minutes, they still didn't really soft enough to skewer on the sticks. I got them onto the sticks, but they didn't really stay on.

So I ended up giving up the stick idea, and just threw them on the grill as meatballs, and served them with my own made-up sauce concoction: roasted gochujang, Shaoxing wine, and sweet chili sauce. Brownie grilled lamb kofte (and yes she got them on sticks) and Melissa grilled asparagus on skewers.

Kim provided a salad (not on a stick), while Debbie made mozzerella s'mores and for dessert - frozen chocolate-dipped fruit skewers.

The next day I cooked my leftover dokbokki the traditional way, stewed in hot sauce. Usually there would be a lot more hot sauce, but I've been very parsimonious with the sauce I brought back from Korea. That's until I find a grocery around here where I can get it! Luckily I can get my fix of dokbokki right here in Princeton at Nassau Sushi Bagel - they make it nice and spicy in red sauce with fish cakes and hard-boiled egg.

Rootwoman's Wedding Banquet, Honolulu

What brought us to Honolulu in the first place was rootwoman's wedding. After short and sweet vows outside Iolani Palace, the wedding banquet was held in Chinatown. Here's a rundown of the courses:

Cold dishes to start: char siu, jellyfish, cold pork, and drunk chicken.

Followed by yin-er (silver tree fungus) soup with chicken.

Peking Duck, served not in the traditional bao bing, but in a small mantou. Then Walnut Prawns with XO sauce.

Steamed chicken with bok choy.

Fried oysters (above) with pepper-salt.

Fatty pork with taro.

Braised duck.

And last course, Sweet and sour fish.

Gorgonzola lumpia, Kapiolani Farmer's Market

We tried a number of different snacks when wandering through the Saturday Farmer's Market at Kapiolani Community College, just at the base of Diamond Head, but by far the best thing we ate were these gorgonzola-filled lumpia.

The stand had a variety of lumpia filled with non-traditional ingredients. I wish I remembered the others...

Gyu-kaku Yakiniku, Honolulu

In Honolulu, our friends took us for yakiniku (Japanese grilled meat) at Gyu-kaku. Turns out Gyu-kaku is a chain with branches in Japan, California, Hawaii, and even New York City. Yakiniku is a bit different than Korean BBQ. The meat is marinated in different sauces, or sometimes simply dressed with just salt or garlic. Also the dipping sauces are different and there's no practice of wrapping in lettuce.

We got 2 sampler plates - one premium, which included 30-day aged filet mignon, wagyu, and premium ribeye.

The other meat sampler had shrimp with garlic, chicken with basil, and some other cuts of beef.

We also ordered the happy hour special Harami (skirt steak) marinated with miso. We also got kalbi with garlic, kurobuta sausage, and beef tongue. And vegetables wrapped in foil to throw on the grill -- potatoes with butter and enoki mushrooms.

Two interesting things I've never had were cheese yakko - our friend Ro had mistakenly remembered this as something else when he ordered it. Turns out it was cubes of cream cheese, dressed with bonito flakes and soy - the way tofu would have been - it was strange and Ro and Lani felt so bad for ordering it they took it home (for their bagels!).

The other was dessert. Little squares of mochi are cooked on the grill until the puff up, which you then throw on ice cream!

Gyu-kaku
1221 Kapiolani Blvd
Honolulu, HI
(808) 589-2989