Browse Category: yum

shuck, suck, and…chuck

On Sunday, we drove to Hog Island Oyster Co. located in Marshall, CA. The drive was long and almost nauseating but well worth it. Vyl and Bang reserved a picnic table and bbq and we all brought fixins for the oysters along with kalbi, watermelon, and plenty of wine/champagne. When you get there you buy raw oysters from guys at the counter and they give you a rubber glove and knife. It’s literally a day of shucking and sucking. I shucked a couple oysters myself and luckily didn’t lose a finger in the process. Raw oysters are actually pretty good. Vyl made a couple good sauces to top the oysters but I think my favorite was the basic cocktail sauce/lemon juice combination. I also enjoyed a bit of kalbi, rice, and kimchee to compliment the rawness.

It was a very pleasant setting with lots of good friends who drove over from the East Bay and SF. Susie and Victor even made it after Susie finished the SF Half Marathon that same morning. Unfortunately, I got a little too much sun and my shoulders burned a bit. On top of that, all the driving on the winding roads, dehydration, and the airplane ride kinda caught up with my by the end of the plane trip home. I kept my composure on the parking shuttle and then let it all go in the trashcan in the parking lot. Once more at home, a quick shower, and a nap made it all better by 10 pm. Ah…it was a good trip. Oh yeah, thanks for the ride to the airport, J!

swirl, sniff, and sip

On Saturday, I woke up early to go for run with Vyl. It was a little chilly and it even sprinkled a bit but it was pretty nice being outside and enjoying the scenery. We ran past the Palace of Fine Arts, up through Presidio, and back. Vyl seriously kicked my ass on that run. We did hill after hill including the famous Lyon Street Steps. My lungs and heart were not happy while my legs kept wanting to go. I think we ended up finishing 4 miles with my lungs weezing and my legs not feeling the burn at all. Weird. The reward in the end was a stop at Starbucks and Noah’s Bagels…mmm.
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For the day, I went to Napa with Jes, Bang, and Vyl. We were late to our 11 am cave tasting at Del Dotto but it actually turned out well considering the wine wasn’t very good and the winery seemed a little shady to me. Later we drove to St. Helena for lunch at Giugnis Deli. I tried to replicate the awesome prociutto/fresh mozerella sandwich from my favorite deli in Berkeley but it came up a little short. The prociutto, however, was noteworthy. After lunch, we went to Sequoia Grove and bought a chardonnay that had the neat buttery finish that we like. Then we stopped at Hall, which was recommended by the guys at Sequoia Grove. We were looking for a good Sauvignon Blanc for the oysters on Sunday and came up short. The wine tasting ended at Mumm. We FINALLY got to do a tasting there. Everytime we go we try to go there at the end for some champagne and end up skipping it because we’re so hammered. Well, this time we were still rather sober at 3:00 in the afternoon and in the mood for something refreshing. We each liked the Blanc de Blanc that we bought for the oysters and then the Cuvee M to take home…that one was especially yummy.
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On our way back, we stopped at the outlets, where I got a pair of $29 strappy sandals to wear to dinner. Dinner was at Fringale. It was a special request made by Jes since we hadn’t been back there for several years and he was missing their special frisee salad. Usually when he obsesses over something like this, it often comes up short. This time it actually lived up the hype. We all ended up getting one and it sure was eggy, fatty, and delicious. I also had the corn soup (A+) and lobster ravioli (A-) that had real lobster it them.

Fun with Fish Sauce

One of my favorite TV channels is The Food Network. Lately, many of their shows have been featuring traditional dishes that were passed down from generation to generation. Well, our mom is a wonderful cook. She makes, I think, the best Thai food ever! That’s probably what contributes to the “magical house” the most. Anyway, in hopes of learning a thing or two, I invited the family to my house and my mom prepared 4 of our favorite dishes. While she cooked, my brother and I watched closely, took video clips and photos, and took notes of ingredients and techniques. It was like making a cooking show for my mom. She made some pretty classic comments about her techniques that make it real “home cookin'”. For example, she was frying some sliced onion and we asked her, “What are you doing?” She replied, “I just do this to make it brown.” Haha. That’s awesome…let’s try writing a cookbook like that. She would also ask if we had something like lemon juice. I’d tell her that we didn’t have any and she’d say, “OK, we don’t need it.” There will be no list of ingredients or measuring spoons in this cooking show. Well, the dishes turned out great…just as I remember. Boy did we have a feast! I’m hoping to have several more of these afternoons so I can document and keep her recipes going for years and years. Thanks Mommy! You rock!

not bad

On Saturday, Jes learned how to make Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup. Vyl came over with the Bangerang to show Jes how she makes it. With an afternoon of simmering, an overnight chill in the fridge, and a little tweaking, it came out rather well. Well, at least I thought so. Jes said it was a little too sweet and not spicy enough. Eh, it was fine and it looked really tasty!

Fish, Friends, and Cocktails

On Friday night we drove up to Hollywood to celebrate Patty’s 31st birthday at Geisha House. It was the usual Hollywood-ish crowd with some weird-looking geishas milling around the restaurant as if they were part of the decor. The dj was basically a girl controlling an iPod upstairs. We tried the Maguro Spicy Taru-Taru Crispy Rice, which was spicy tuna on top of crispy rice rectangles and garnished with a fried slice of jalapeno – pretty creative. Patty had a pretty good cocktail called a Miniari that was made with pomegranate juice, sake, lychee, and mint. It tasted somewhat like a sweeter mojito. I don’t really like mint but if I did, it would have been really tasty to me. Anyway, it was nice to see everyone together and the brother even stopped by. Happy Birthday, Patty!

Maguro Yama…wha?!

Jes and I had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Irvine. It’s called Fukada and it’s a little restaurant that serves healthy authentic Japanese food. While we perused the extensive menu, we decided to try the Maguro Yamakake…we thought, “hm…tuna with some mountain potato…sounds alright…let’s try it.” Haha, what a bad idea. I’m sure it’s an acquired taste similar to that of kimchee or fish maw but I’m not sure we’ll order it again.
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Basically it was tuna sashimi (which I love!!) buried under a glop of white goo that was slimy and flavorless. They were kind enough to include a side of wasabi and a sprinkling of shredded nori but I’m not sure it really helped. It was like eating tuna sashimi with something that looked/felt like what a potato would regurgitate. It’s actually a Japanese yam that is grated so fine that it turns into a glutinous mess. Hm…go figure. Other than that dish, we walked away happy and satisfied as usual.