All You Can Eat Hot Pot at Hunan Taste, Catonsville, MD

 Well, after a few months break from posting, I'm back to the blog. Over the winter, I managed to get a group of friends back to Hunan Taste, which on weeknights, serves all you can eat hot pot.
We opted for the split hot pot with one side of regular broth and one side spicy broth. They hand you a list of items you can throw into the broth and you order away.  Our favorites were the lamb, fresh fishballs, and pork meatballs. We also ordered winter melon, mushrooms, bok choy, pork, beef, fish filets, and to finish off the meal, clear noodles blended with the final broth infused by everything that had come before.

718 North Rolling Road
Catonsville, MD 21228

(410) 788-8988

Tian Chinese & Korean and Mad For Chicken, Ellicott City, MD

There is no denying I'm obsessed with Korean style fried chicken. I've accepted driving 1-2 hours away to get my fix. I was very excited that Tian Chinese & Korean in Ellicott City started serving it a few months ago. They are making a brand of "K"FC called Mad for Chicken. As is common with "K"FC, you either order in advance or you can expect to wait 30-45 minutes for them to make the chicken, but it's worth it. They offer both the regular soy garlic, and the spicy versions. While I think I prefer the flavor of Bon Chon, Mad for Chicken is a good representative of why I love this stuff: crispy skin, juicy meat, not too saucy. My preference is also for the drumsticks over the wings.
They offer whole chicken on the menu, but this is not made the same way, so I would caution folks to just stick with the wings or drums options. Additionally, the orders include the daikon in vinegar and boiled peanuts (so Asian).

One time, when waiting for the chicken order, I tried Tian's chajan myun. I had heard that the noodles were made in house from HowChow, and they started pounding away in the back when I was waiting for my order.
I had the samson-gan chajang, which came with squid and shrimp in the black bean sauce. It's served with raw onion, pickles, and some chile sauce. It was good. The noodles were light and really held onto the sticky thick black bean sauce.

 8801 Baltimore Natl Pike # 21
 Ellicott City, MD
(410) 418-8198

Raw Food Dinner at Zia's Cafe, Towson, MD

A little over a month ago, I was invited with some local foodie friends to Zia's Cafe in Towson for their monthly raw food dinner. I was a bit skeptical as my prior experiences with eating raw food resulted in me grabbing a slice of pizza afterwards as it just was not very filling, and I was ready to go get a burger across the street should the meal turn out to be not very satisfying.
We started with an slightly sweet apple-butternut squash soup. It was a bit odd at first to have this served not piping hot. The chef told us this was done via prolonged puree in a blender. Because the squash was raw, it had a slight texture of apple sauce. It was a nice starter though.

The second course was a beet root salad with some fennel, greens, and topped with a surprisingly good vanilla vinaigrette.
The combination of flavors was interesting: some earthiness from the beet, the licorice flavor of the fennel, and the sweet vanilla.








The main course was a timbale which was a large greens leaf filled with mushrooms. It arrived on a bed of greens and cherry tomatoes in a sesame, coconut amino and ginger marinade. The leaf was a bit much in it's raw state, but the mushrooms and the small salad were very good.

Dessert was a wonderful fig tart with a cashew butter filling and a walnut crust. This was really good, and by the end of the meal, I was unable to finish this because I was too full. All in all, the dinner was a good experience.
By the way, the next one is planned for this Saturday, Nov. 5th.

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13 Allegheny Avenue
Towson, MD 21204-3908
(410) 296-0799

The Roseda Beef Farm Tour & Cookout

Fougoo, Redneckhunter, & I went on a Slow Food DC event at the Roseda Beef farm in Monkton, MD in Baltimore County one weekend. It included a short history of the farm and business, a hayride to their cow pastures, and a BBQ cookout.
Roseda raises Black Angus cows to specific genetic standards with no hormones, and they age their beef 2-3 weeks before going to market.
In the pasture, the cows gathered around our trailer, grazing peacefully.
For dinner, the hosts had slow smoked the beef. We tried several cuts, the tenderloin, the shoulder, and the rib. My favorite cut was the very rare piece for shoulder I got on my second round of meat.

We also enjoyed some salad, baked beans and grilled corn on the cob with a selection of butters including wasabi and maple syrup (from syrup taken from trees on the farm).
Dessert was a strawberry shortcake made with fresh local berries and a lot of Redi-whip. It was a beautiful evening to have dinner in the Roseda Beef farm barn.

Freddy's Lobster & Clams, Bethesda, MD

The owners of Grapeseed Bistro in Bethesda recently opened Freddy's Lobster & Clams next door. It's a much more casual counterpart to Grapeseed that is in the spirit of a New England clam shack.
I popped in for lunch last weekend, and boy, I can't wait to go back already. I started with a small lobster stew. In tradition with how it's prepared in New England, the soup was basically cream and butter with a huge amount of lobster. It was wonderful. They serve it with a blueberry muffin that I ate the next day.
I decided to try their lobster roll as well. They gave the option of having it warm with a melted butter or chilled with a little mayo & lemon zest. I opted for the cold variety. The lobster was so good, and was really pleasant with just a dash of the mayo.
I need to go back soon to try their fried whole belly clams.

4867 Cordell Ave
Bethesda, MD
(240)743-4257

Kimko Seafood, Korean Style Sashimi in Ellicott City, MD

I often find that going to Korean restaurants can be challenging. Usually, websites for their restaurants are completely in Korean, and at the restaurant, their menus are only partially translated. However, with research and the blessing of Korean speaking friends, I'm discovering incredible Korean places nearby.

My friends Anna & Davis told me about a Korean style sashimi place deep in Ellicott City, just west of the Enchanted Forest site. It used to be called Bethany Seafood Restaurant, but they recently changed their name to Kimko Seafood. They told me that this place will often have San Nakji, the live octopus sashimi, as well as lobster sashimi.
We went this past evening with a group of friends and ordered a large sashimi course. Alas, they had run out of the octopus that night, but I tried several kinds of sashimi that were new to me.

After toasting with some shots of soju, we started with the bonchon appetizer courses. They warm you up with a wonderful cup of congee. We then proceeded to receive 19 different items on plates and in bowls to get us started. This included a large seafood pancake, a soup with seaweed, potato salad, salmon collarbone, cooked eel, and several other preparations of fish. My favorites were the plate of grilled chicken gizzards, and a hot stone bowl of rice with fish roe. It was an unbelievable spread.








They brought in the "large" sashimi platter which was a 1 meter long wood board chock full of sashimi. Anna told us that Koreans eat sashimi a little different that the Japanese. First, while they sometimes use soy sauce with wasabi, they prefer to dip the fish into kochujang, the Korean style red chili pepper paste.
Also, she told us Koreans prefer fish that tend to be more chewy than the Japanese. Whereas tuna is the staple fish in the Japanese palate, the most popular item for the Koreans is halibut. This was reflected in our "plank" of food as a quarter of it consisted of halibut. I estimate we were served about 40-50 pieces.

On the other end of the board, we received sashimi items, I was accustomed to from eating at Japanese places. We received about 60 pieces of delicious white tuna, salmon, and yellowtail.
In the center, they put the specialty items of the house. These sea creatures were stored alive in tanks in the front of the restaurant, and were dispatched only a few minutes before they arrived at the dinner table.

The first item I tried was the lobster sashimi. We were served only the tail. The rest would come later. It came split open and sliced into bites and topped with some roe. The raw lobster still has a wonderful sweet flavor, but since it is uncooked, the texture is different. There is a little resistance when your first bite in, but just past that, it melts in your mouth.

Next I tried the abalone sashimi. It's texture was close to being like squid or a mushroom. It does not have a very strong flavor.

I was very excited as well to try sea cucumber sashimi. I love cooked sea cucumber which has a slightly rubbery texture like tendon when prepared this way. In it's raw form, it is a completely different experience. It is very briny in flavor, and the texture is similar to raw octopus. I loved it.


Our last and final item might have been the least popular at the table. That was the sea squirt sashimi. I wasn't sure how to eat this, and I did not realize they had a soft shell which you could not chew. Instead you just eat the soft bits. My experience was varied with this item. The first piece I had was bitter, but subsequent bites were less so. I would say I am neutral to sea squirt sashimi.








When we had our fill of sashimi, the remaining parts of the lobster, the claw and the head, followed. Of course, we first welcomed 5 more plates of vegetable bonchon to the table.
With the lobster, they take the remainders and, with some fish, toss it into a spicy broth to cook the whole time we were eating. The resulting soup had a flavorful broth that, despite already eating my fill, I could not resist going for seconds and thirds.
With that course, the meal had ended. We were served sliced oranges for dessert, and we were done. It was an incredible dinner. I'm already looking forward to going back to try their San Nakji.

10176 Baltimore National Pike #116
Ellicott City, MD
(410)480-1442

Songkran Festival at Wat Thai, Silver Spring, MD

I went to the Songkran, Thai New Year, Festival held at the Wat Thai temple in Silver Spring, MD this past Sunday. There were dozens of food stands serving different Thai dishes, and even though I arrived as soon as the festival opened, it was already crowded.
Since it was my first trip to this event, I decided to head to the food stand with the longest line first. I made a good choice because it led to my favorite taste of the day, a version of the floating market noodle soup. When I made it to the front, I could see a pile of roast pork as well as other pig parts. They asked me if I wanted everything, and I said, "yes, please".
I received a bowl of dark broth loaded with meat, a soy egg, and rice noodles that were square and came in small rolls. This was topped with cilantro & ginger. At a side table, they told me to add some fish sauce, a spicy vinegary sauce and chili powder. The resulting flavor was sweet and savory, and as I ate, it became more and more spicy.

Now I love all kinds of noodle soups, with authentic Japanese ramen being at the top of the list. I think after having floating market soup, it might just be second on the list, toppling off Vietnamese pho.
When I finished, I proceeded to check out other food stands, sampling small bits of what a could and trying to negotiate for loosies. I felt like Chris Rock from an old skit from back in the day, "How much for a wing? Just one wing."
It seemed like every other stand had grilled satays. I gravitated to one that had pork and beef meatballs. They were drizzled with sweet chile sauce.
I also tried a table that made small savory balls of tapioca filled with pork and chiles.
In the deep frying section of the festival, they were making fresh pork rinds, fried banana, and sweet potato. I had nibbles of all three, the best being the pork rind.

I went on to explore the dessert stands. There was one with that had "soups" that were made of sticky rice or tapioca with fruits, coconut milk and other items. I tried one item that was described to me as Thai "jello", which was a firm custard made with coconut milk on top and taro on the bottom. They also had sweet fried taro cakes that were good.

I made sure I saved room for durian fruit with sticky rice and coconut milk. If you've never had durian, it is a fruit that you either love or hate as it has a strong pungent odor to it. It's texture reminds me of a roasted garlic bulb, soft and a little stringy.
I had another order to eat later, mango with black sticky rice and custard. The black rice is more toothsome than the white rice.

I also picked up a couple curries to eat over the next couple days. First, I had a fish curry. The fish was ground very fine and it was loaded with ginger. I think it's usually supposed to be poured over noodles, but I didn't have any so I used rice instead.

The second curry I got was a red curry with pork belly. This was tasty as well, and again, had a lot of ginger in it.

After this safari, I still have a craving for that floating market soup. It needs to be the next fast food craze.

The Pambazo at La Fiesta Mexicana, Rosedale, MD

I dropped into Fiesta Mexicana, a small Mexican eatery in Rosedale, just outside of Baltimore for lunch.
I ordered their Pambazo, a sandwich that is thought to have originated from Veracruz. It started with a roll brushed with a red guajillo suace and then pan seared. It's stuffed with chorizo, potatoes, lettuce, crema fresca, & queso fresco. It's really hearty and filling.
I also enjoyed a small lengua taco. I like Fiesta Mexicana also because they do not pull punches on their salsa.

8304 Philadelphia Rd.
Rosedale, MD
(410)686-0134

Silk Road Bistro, Choyhona, Pikesville, MD

I had a great dinner at an Uzbek restaurant located in Pikesville, MD called Silk Road Bistro, Choyhona. I tried Uzbek food several years ago in New York City, and I was pretty excited to learn of this place much closer to home. Being in central Asia, it's a unique blend of cuisines from the region, taking influence from areas both east and west and making it their own.
We started with a pitcher their "homemade fruit drink" which was a lot like fruit punch. The pitcher had several half pears floating in it. Personally, I found it light and refreshing, but some fellow diners thought it too sweet.





An important part of Uzbek cuisine is the wide variety of "salads". I tried four kinds.
My favorite was suzma with radish, a sour yogurt with lots of dill, cucumbers and sliced radishes.
Second was the Smak, which was chunks of tomato, a firm cheese, crunchy croutons, and garlic tossed in mayonnaise.



In my previous experience with Uzbek cuisine, I had tried the Markovcha, a carrot salad that was influenced by ethnic Koreans who came to central Asia. The salad is made of shredded cabbage, garlic, & onion, and then is slightly pickled with vinegar. It reminds me of the bon chon dishes you get at Korean BBQ.
The last veggie we tried was the eggplant, which was sliced, deep fried, then served cold with garlic and tomato folded inside. This had a lot of garlic in it and was really good.



We ordered a few Tandoori nan, hot out of the oven. Unlike Indian naan, this bread was not flat. The crust was crisp and the inside was dense and filling.

Manti, also well known in Uzbek cuisine, are basically dumplings. We tried a couple kinds on the menu. Silk Road offers the dumplings filled with meat, potato, or pumpkin.
We got a sampling, first, of the crispy manti. We chose to get it with pumpkin. The filling was a little sweet, and these fried manti were served with shredded pickled onions.

I liked the steamed dumplings better. We were recommended to try them with the potato filling. I expected it to be filled with mashed potato like a pierogi, but instead the potato inside was chunked and from the steaming process became very soft. It was served with a side of sour cream.






Following the dumplings, we ordered another well know Uzbek dish, the Pilav, made with rice, carrots and lamb. It also had a bulb of roasted garlic on the side.
We then ordered a wide variety of shish kebabs, primarily the classic lamb, and the beef lulya, which is ground beef with spices. My favorite kabob was the lamb rib, which was on the skewer, but the meat was still attached to the rib bone. These seemed to be more rich in flavor and were very juicy. I also could not resist ordered at least one kebob with veal liver. The kebabs were served with a spicy sauce, pomegranate juice, and pickled onions which all enhanced the meat flavors.
On the menu, they had a "delicatessen kebab" (pic at top). At first I thought it might be a sausage, but they told us it was lamb testicles. We had to try it. It's texture reminded me of a Chinese fish ball or a lighter chicken gizzard. Not bad.

Afterwards, we shared cups of tea, both green and black, and ordered some dessert.
I tried of bite of their baklava, which is not the same as the Mediterranean counterpart. It's not syrupy. Instead it was more of a dry flaky pastry.
We were also told to get their "chocolate ball" which was not on the menu. It reminded me of a large very dense cake doughnut hole drizzled with chocolate sauce.









607 Reisterstown Road
Baltimore, MD
(410)878-2929