cilantro-lime rice with pinto beans, kimchi, romaine, some grilled meat
strawberry ice cream topped with toasted bean powder
29 December 2010
25 December 2010
Sweet Potato-Coconut Milk-Palm Sugar Sorbet
I'm really lazy. Can you tell? I can't even come up with a good title for this dessert. It's fitting, I suppose, since this dessert was borne of laziness in the first place. I'm a huge fan of Ellie's blog AlmostBourdain. I just love the recipes she features on her site, especially those inspired by Malaysia. She wrote about making cendol, a Southeast Asian dessert of mung bean flour noodles, palm sugar syrup, and coconut milk all topped off with a good portion of shaved ice. She changed up the original by making the palm sugar syrup into a granita to take the place of the shaved ice. Great idea! But I am too lazy to make mung bean noodles, so what can substitute? At first I thought bananas--and this would still be a great substitution and if sauteed a bit...--but the Okinawan sweet potatoes at the Korean market caught my eye. Why not? So I boiled the sweet potatoes until tender, peeled off the skin, and used it as the base for my dessert. Next up, pour a bit of coconut milk to moisten the starchy potatoes and top off with a palm sugar sorbet. You can make a granita like Ellie to get closer to the original shaved ice texture, but again laziness took over and I figured dumping the same proportioned mixture into an ice cream maker would be less hassle. It was a big hit with the family and very easy to make. Yum!
05 December 2010
conservative eating and cooking
In the last several years there have been a few articles observing the phenomenon of the rise in media related to food despite the apparent lack of any cooking action. It seems that people are interested in watching cooking but they're not actually cooking in their own homes.
I was a regular reader of Serious Eats until I began to notice the visible presence of sponsor ads interspersed with regular entries. I'm not too happy to see these ads. I recognize that they're a necessary evil--the writers of Serious Eats need income after all!--but I can't help but feel that they detract from the regular content. I'm talking about the entries that introduce readers to new foods. They have Chichi Wang's column, "Nasty Bits," and the Culinary Ambassadors series for example. But then as you scroll down the screen, you are confronted with the occasional sponsor recipe for something like "beef taco skillet." Is this what the readers of Serious Eats really eating at home? When I think back to some of the comments I've read on the site, I recall being surprised at the number of "conservative" eaters--I mean people who turn up their noses at anything that seems gross, foreign, or exotic. I am not the only one surprised to see this ad/recipe, given the comments submitted. I guess Serious Eats attracts a more or less diverse crowd of tastes with a tendency towards those newly exposed to "new" foods.
I was a regular reader of Serious Eats until I began to notice the visible presence of sponsor ads interspersed with regular entries. I'm not too happy to see these ads. I recognize that they're a necessary evil--the writers of Serious Eats need income after all!--but I can't help but feel that they detract from the regular content. I'm talking about the entries that introduce readers to new foods. They have Chichi Wang's column, "Nasty Bits," and the Culinary Ambassadors series for example. But then as you scroll down the screen, you are confronted with the occasional sponsor recipe for something like "beef taco skillet." Is this what the readers of Serious Eats really eating at home? When I think back to some of the comments I've read on the site, I recall being surprised at the number of "conservative" eaters--I mean people who turn up their noses at anything that seems gross, foreign, or exotic. I am not the only one surprised to see this ad/recipe, given the comments submitted. I guess Serious Eats attracts a more or less diverse crowd of tastes with a tendency towards those newly exposed to "new" foods.
27 October 2010
Chego
My friend and I went to check out this place last night. We were lucky and managed to miss the huge crowd that arrived after us. She ordered the buttered kimchi bowl while I went for the pork belly bowl. We also shared the Ooey Gooey fries and a shaved ice.
My friend was pretty happy with her bowl, but I was disappointed with the pork belly. I don't mind that it was burnt on the edges (yummy caramelized flavor!), but the meat and fat were tough. Yes, I just wrote that the fat was tough. Isn't that kind of shocking?
The rice was pretty sad and clumpy. I can't remember the last time I had clumpy rice.
My favorite part of the bowl turned out to be the veggies--when I cook Chinese broccoli next time, I'm going to slice the stems into thin rounds, and I am biased towards anything involving kongxin cai.
Chego mishmashes tons of different flavors into one bowl. I like this idea of mixing Thai, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc., flavors into one bowl but an elegant hand is necessary. I can see that the point of these bowls is to blast spicy, sour, and savory flavors so to say it needs elegance is a bit awkward...I just mean that this still requires some kind of balance otherwise the taste just gets muddy. I can imagine this being even better.
Anyway, so the concept is great, but looks like they need to work on consistency and execution. I'm not sure I would go here again for that reason.
23 October 2010
Lemonade
I met a friend for lunch at Lemonade today. Since I arrived before her, I spent some time watching people go through the cafeteria style line up. I had heard a lot about the braises and pot roasts so I was pretty surprised to see that everyone stuck with the salads. Was it because it was lunch time and braises would be too heavy? Most of the customers seem to be locals so perhaps it was a Venice residents' thing? I kind of started feeling guilty about not eating as much vegetables lately and I figured that I could not go wrong following everyone else, so when my friend arrived, I decided to go for the salads.
I decided to split a two-portion salad plate so that I could try four salads. They were all delicious! The first salad had spinach, figs, and blue cheese. I was a bit apprehensive about the figs in case they wouldn't be ripe enough, but the lady at the counter offered me a taste first and I found the figs to be heavy and sweet as they should be.
Then for the second I picked the braised red cabbage with goat cheese. The lady at the counter was very enthusiastic about this salad--she made sure I got two generous dollops of the cheese, which she thought made the salad--such that I was too embarrassed to ask her to go light on the cheese. The cheese was nice, though, to cut some of the tanginess of the cabbage.
The freshest of the batch was a quinoa, radish, and cucumber salad with a very light orange ginger vinaigrette. I'm often afraid of citrusy and fruity dressings because they tend to be too sweet but that was not the case here and the sweetness was balanced by the bitterness of the radish.
My favorite salad of the bunch was the beautiful watermelon radish, seared ahi tuna, and snap peas with sesame. I don't know who came up with this combination, but this is definitely one of the best salads I've ever had. I can't decide if I like this salad better than the 7 veggie salad at Bao, but it definitely wins the beauty contest. It's too bad I don't have a habit of photographing what I eat else you would be jealous. Ok, maybe not. I just checked the photos uploaded on yelp! and...it's not that photogenic after all. Anyway, I highly recommend it!
Lemonade
1661 Abbot Kinney Blvd (at Venice Blvd)
Los Angeles, CA 90291
310-452-6200
www.lemonadela.com
I decided to split a two-portion salad plate so that I could try four salads. They were all delicious! The first salad had spinach, figs, and blue cheese. I was a bit apprehensive about the figs in case they wouldn't be ripe enough, but the lady at the counter offered me a taste first and I found the figs to be heavy and sweet as they should be.
Then for the second I picked the braised red cabbage with goat cheese. The lady at the counter was very enthusiastic about this salad--she made sure I got two generous dollops of the cheese, which she thought made the salad--such that I was too embarrassed to ask her to go light on the cheese. The cheese was nice, though, to cut some of the tanginess of the cabbage.
The freshest of the batch was a quinoa, radish, and cucumber salad with a very light orange ginger vinaigrette. I'm often afraid of citrusy and fruity dressings because they tend to be too sweet but that was not the case here and the sweetness was balanced by the bitterness of the radish.
My favorite salad of the bunch was the beautiful watermelon radish, seared ahi tuna, and snap peas with sesame. I don't know who came up with this combination, but this is definitely one of the best salads I've ever had. I can't decide if I like this salad better than the 7 veggie salad at Bao, but it definitely wins the beauty contest. It's too bad I don't have a habit of photographing what I eat else you would be jealous. Ok, maybe not. I just checked the photos uploaded on yelp! and...it's not that photogenic after all. Anyway, I highly recommend it!
Lemonade
1661 Abbot Kinney Blvd (at Venice Blvd)
Los Angeles, CA 90291
310-452-6200
www.lemonadela.com
20 October 2010
Tofu and Spicy Cabbage Salad Roll
Made another tasty thing today. I used Andrea Nguyen's recipe for a spicy cabbage salad with some substitutions (I used crushed red pepper since I didn't have any fresh chillies and omitted the carrots and herbs) and rough measurements. I wrapped it and some cubes of firm tofu into softened rice paper sheets to make several fresh and flavorful salad rolls. Will make a few more for tomorrow's lunch with the rest of the cabbage salad. Can't wait!
16 October 2010
kimchi sandwich
I have to write about this sandwich because it is awesome. I had bought a jar for sale from 99 Ranch a few days before but I discovered shortly thereafter, to my great dismay, why it was on sale. MOLD. Now I know that can happen to kimchi. It looked so sad in the jar, too, and was strangely lacking in pungent smell (I would have though that the smell would be stronger and more sour...). Anyway, so I drove to Galleria Market in Koreatown to pick up a jar and various other goodies. When I got home, my focus was on the kimchi. How would I devour it?
Somehow I got the idea that I could put it in a sandwich because I wanted the kimchi incorporated into some form that was portable. I did an Internet search to see if anyone else had any bright ideas. I wanted something other than a grilled cheese kimchi sandwich since I'm lactose-intolerant, more interesting than the usual bbq meat partnership, but preferably without meat at all (yeah, I know, I can be picky), and more substantial than a filling in a rice ball. I found a few interesting examples. Perhaps the most interesting was the kimchi and peanut butter sandwich. When I first read the description, I thought, "gross!" But now that I've had my delicious sandwich I can see how it's possible.
This sandwich is based on a brief description of a sandwich consisting of boiled eggs, cucumbers and kimchi. I toasted two slices of Milton's whole wheat bread and spread one side of each with a thin layer of kewpie mayo (I'm sure regular mayo would be fine too). Then I chopped up some of the kimchi to spread over the red leaf lettuce and cucumber slices on the first slice of bread. I topped it with the second slice of bread. And ate it. It was so delicious and satisfying.
I can imagine adding some slices of fried tofu for some protein in this veggie sandwich. As I sat there munching happily, it occurred to me that it was no wonder kimchi worked. After all, what is kimchi if not a kind of pickle? So I guess if there's anyone out there who likes peanut butter and pickle sandwiches and likes kimchi too, you should try the switch. You might be pleasantly surprised. As for me, I'm going to make myself another of this kimchi sandwich tomorrow for lunch.
ADDENDUM: I'll bet this would be great as a Vietnamese style spring roll, too! Will have to try that next.
Somehow I got the idea that I could put it in a sandwich because I wanted the kimchi incorporated into some form that was portable. I did an Internet search to see if anyone else had any bright ideas. I wanted something other than a grilled cheese kimchi sandwich since I'm lactose-intolerant, more interesting than the usual bbq meat partnership, but preferably without meat at all (yeah, I know, I can be picky), and more substantial than a filling in a rice ball. I found a few interesting examples. Perhaps the most interesting was the kimchi and peanut butter sandwich. When I first read the description, I thought, "gross!" But now that I've had my delicious sandwich I can see how it's possible.
This sandwich is based on a brief description of a sandwich consisting of boiled eggs, cucumbers and kimchi. I toasted two slices of Milton's whole wheat bread and spread one side of each with a thin layer of kewpie mayo (I'm sure regular mayo would be fine too). Then I chopped up some of the kimchi to spread over the red leaf lettuce and cucumber slices on the first slice of bread. I topped it with the second slice of bread. And ate it. It was so delicious and satisfying.
I can imagine adding some slices of fried tofu for some protein in this veggie sandwich. As I sat there munching happily, it occurred to me that it was no wonder kimchi worked. After all, what is kimchi if not a kind of pickle? So I guess if there's anyone out there who likes peanut butter and pickle sandwiches and likes kimchi too, you should try the switch. You might be pleasantly surprised. As for me, I'm going to make myself another of this kimchi sandwich tomorrow for lunch.
ADDENDUM: I'll bet this would be great as a Vietnamese style spring roll, too! Will have to try that next.
12 October 2010
playing favorites...or not
I study art and architectural history so I'm often on the receiving end of the question "who is your favorite artist/architect?" I find this a very difficult question to answer because how do you decide on a favorite? For me this cannot be a spontaneous decision but one that I need to sit down and take some time to determine. Mmmm, but doesn't that mean if I have to decide, then whatever it is isn't my favorite? I want to say that my favorites change all the time and often depend on who/what I'm obsessing over at the time...but, unfortunately I am a pretty forgetful person even when it comes to obsessions. When it comes to my research, sometimes this makes me wonder if I do in fact like art and architecture enough to be studying it. On the other hand, the only favorite I can reliably answer to is my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and I can't say I want to study that (aside from the fact that I'm notoriously bad at analyzing literary devices and such). Perhaps this is my only favorite since it consistently gives me feelings of pleasure and titillation every time I read it? What I study is often not my favorite. The fact that I'm studying it, the insights I gain from studying it give me pleasure, but the object itself does not. I guess when I think of favorites, the thing itself has to please me.
hair out of place
If you read interior design magazines you know what I mean. The photographed spaces are impeccable. Impeccably clean and neat. Containing eye-dazzling furniture and decorations but empty of life. Is it possible that anyone actually inhabits these spaces?
I love the sneak peek feature over at designspongeonline, where homes of designers display that bit of whimsy that keep spaces from being too sterile. Yet even these can sometimes seem empty. But then I saw this neat profile of Roche Bobois at Apartment Therapy and was pretty impressed. Sure, there is still a sterile quality to the photos--hey, it's a high-end modern furniture catalog after all--but I love the little signs of life placed here and there. Have you ever seen children's toys left on a couch or strewn on the carpet? I'm not a fan of the matchy-matchy but I can see that coordinating the colors keeps the photos modern and classy rather than I-forgot-to-clean-my-house-for-the-photo-shoot.
11 October 2010
Taco Plus Torta
The first time I tried this place I was wholly unimpressed. Just like any other little restaurant serving somewhere between Mexican and American food except the rice was terrible. I had to wonder why there was a constant stream of people unlike the sad pizza/sandwich/donut place next door.
The second time I tried this place I was hungry and too lazy to go anywhere else. I slipped out of my pjs, which I'd been in all day typing away at my paper, into some acceptable outdoor clothes to walk down the block, and ordered myself a torta. I ordered it so I could avoid the rice. Haha. I did not regret it.
Oh, man, was this a delicious and well-put-together sandwich. The lettuce and tomatoes were nothing to write home about but they provided a crunchy and fresh pause from the creamy pinto beans and avocado and somewhat dry meat. The bread was the perfect balance of fluff and firm to keep from falling apart from the pinto beans scooped over each slice.
I enjoyed the torta so much that when my brother came to visit me a few days later I opted for it again. I tried the rice from my brother's plate and confirmed that I just don't like it. I think I'll just avoid it. The torta on the other hand might keep me from exploring the other items on the menu. Yum.
Taco Plus
1525 S Bundy
Los Angeles, CA 90025
The second time I tried this place I was hungry and too lazy to go anywhere else. I slipped out of my pjs, which I'd been in all day typing away at my paper, into some acceptable outdoor clothes to walk down the block, and ordered myself a torta. I ordered it so I could avoid the rice. Haha. I did not regret it.
Oh, man, was this a delicious and well-put-together sandwich. The lettuce and tomatoes were nothing to write home about but they provided a crunchy and fresh pause from the creamy pinto beans and avocado and somewhat dry meat. The bread was the perfect balance of fluff and firm to keep from falling apart from the pinto beans scooped over each slice.
I enjoyed the torta so much that when my brother came to visit me a few days later I opted for it again. I tried the rice from my brother's plate and confirmed that I just don't like it. I think I'll just avoid it. The torta on the other hand might keep me from exploring the other items on the menu. Yum.
Taco Plus
1525 S Bundy
Los Angeles, CA 90025
10 October 2010
Craft Los Angeles Review
I went with lowered expectations and was rewarded. The meal was not out-of-this-world-good or inspiring as the cost might suggest. This was the second most expensive meal I've ever had in my life and first place is very far-off since it involved an entirely new way of tasting. But the food at Craft was solid.
"regular" and pumpernickel bread and butter -- the bread is sliced in huge hunks, like slices of bundt cake. Tasty. For a long time I stopped spreading butter on the bread so I could conserve calories but at some point I decided that I wanted to taste the butter the restaurant offered. The butter served here had a nice creamy tang to it, almost like buttermilk.
marinated octopus -- the marinade was delicious but the octopus didn't really taste like octopus; I can't decide if this is a good thing because this suggests an flaw in bringing out the pure taste of a food. One at our table suggested that it was more like ham in a good way. the tiny dice of potatoes were a surprising added delight.
chicory salad -- the pureed dates on the plate (was almost like apple butter in substance) did a lovely job marrying together the chicory, asian pear, and salty goat cheese.
At other restaurants the appetizers often outshine the mains, but that was not the case here.
roasted leg of lamb -- my friend has a "secret" recipe (even she uses the quotation marks) and the flavoring of this was reminiscent of that... but I can't remember now which flavors stood out to me the most. I ordered this because I wanted to know how American lamb compares to New Zealand lamb. American lamb definitely has less of the gamey flavor ever-present in New Zealand lamb.
braised kale and cranberry beans -- I love kale, so it was a foregone conclusion that I would like this, but the mouth-feel of the braising liquid stood out. It has this lovely velvety texture, like eating lusciously braised tendon, that made me lick my lips again and again. I just wanted to keep this taste on my tongue for as long as possible
pureed squash -- light, fluffy, tasty. not much else to say
market vegetables -- consisted of baby carrots and other vegetables I can't remember now. I can't remember now because of the brussel sprouts. No, the dish was not ruined by the little green gremlins. I don't know or care what they put into flavoring them, but they were seriously the best brussel sprouts I have ever tasted in my entire life.
I wonder if they made a mistake with dessert because we ate more dessert than dinner.
sticky toffee pudding -- really showing up everywhere. not as interesting as the one at Westside Tavern
ice creams -- light and creamy; texture was not rich but the taste was!
creme fraiche panna cotta with some-flavored shortbread and fermented fruit -- I disliked the shortbread. I have not idea what is meant by "fermented" but the fizzified fruit slices were delicious. The panna cotta tasted like sour cream. Wow, it was rich. The only way to continue eating this was to alternate with the chocolate dessert...
flourless chocolate cake (?) -- so intense that the only way to continue eating THAT was to alternate with the panna cotta.
Probably the best dessert of the night was the toasted lemon marshmallow the kitchen sent out at the end with the caramel popcorn and chocolate bark. At this point even my dessert stomach was full so I stopped at the lemon marshmallow and consumed nothing else after. It was really like a lemon meringue pie in a tiny bite. One dining companion declared it was by far the best part of the meal.
At the end of the meal we were also gifted with a banana muffin which I devoured the next morning. One of the better banana muffins I've consumed in my time.
So I was rewarded for lowering my expectations. Would I go back again? Probably not. I don't think I can lower my expectations twice and looking back at this meal, it was not so much solid but just delicious.
"regular" and pumpernickel bread and butter -- the bread is sliced in huge hunks, like slices of bundt cake. Tasty. For a long time I stopped spreading butter on the bread so I could conserve calories but at some point I decided that I wanted to taste the butter the restaurant offered. The butter served here had a nice creamy tang to it, almost like buttermilk.
The kitchen also sent out an amuse bouche of truffle cream filled gougere. It was not particularly interesting, but was a tasty one-pop bite. This was not popular at the table. I think someone said that the gougere tasted like a cheezit with a tone that meant that this was not a good thing.
chicory salad -- the pureed dates on the plate (was almost like apple butter in substance) did a lovely job marrying together the chicory, asian pear, and salty goat cheese.
At other restaurants the appetizers often outshine the mains, but that was not the case here.
roasted leg of lamb -- my friend has a "secret" recipe (even she uses the quotation marks) and the flavoring of this was reminiscent of that... but I can't remember now which flavors stood out to me the most. I ordered this because I wanted to know how American lamb compares to New Zealand lamb. American lamb definitely has less of the gamey flavor ever-present in New Zealand lamb.
braised kale and cranberry beans -- I love kale, so it was a foregone conclusion that I would like this, but the mouth-feel of the braising liquid stood out. It has this lovely velvety texture, like eating lusciously braised tendon, that made me lick my lips again and again. I just wanted to keep this taste on my tongue for as long as possible
pureed squash -- light, fluffy, tasty. not much else to say
market vegetables -- consisted of baby carrots and other vegetables I can't remember now. I can't remember now because of the brussel sprouts. No, the dish was not ruined by the little green gremlins. I don't know or care what they put into flavoring them, but they were seriously the best brussel sprouts I have ever tasted in my entire life.
I wonder if they made a mistake with dessert because we ate more dessert than dinner.
sticky toffee pudding -- really showing up everywhere. not as interesting as the one at Westside Tavern
ice creams -- light and creamy; texture was not rich but the taste was!
creme fraiche panna cotta with some-flavored shortbread and fermented fruit -- I disliked the shortbread. I have not idea what is meant by "fermented" but the fizzified fruit slices were delicious. The panna cotta tasted like sour cream. Wow, it was rich. The only way to continue eating this was to alternate with the chocolate dessert...
flourless chocolate cake (?) -- so intense that the only way to continue eating THAT was to alternate with the panna cotta.
Probably the best dessert of the night was the toasted lemon marshmallow the kitchen sent out at the end with the caramel popcorn and chocolate bark. At this point even my dessert stomach was full so I stopped at the lemon marshmallow and consumed nothing else after. It was really like a lemon meringue pie in a tiny bite. One dining companion declared it was by far the best part of the meal.
At the end of the meal we were also gifted with a banana muffin which I devoured the next morning. One of the better banana muffins I've consumed in my time.
So I was rewarded for lowering my expectations. Would I go back again? Probably not. I don't think I can lower my expectations twice and looking back at this meal, it was not so much solid but just delicious.
21 September 2010
Minimizing
Even though I know that ultimately it will benefit my health, I feel sad that I cannot eat the way I used to. Sometimes I just want to eat a whole bag of potato chips or a few slices of cheese and feel no effect (in fat and/or pain). This is no longer the case. It seems my stomach has become more sensitive in the intervening years so I can't take dairy at all. I used to be able to take a little bit without a problem, but I discovered a few weeks ago that even a piece of milk chocolate gave me significant discomfort. I know there are more foods that make my stomach complain but I haven't quite figured out what they are yet.
Is this because of getting older? Or is it because I've been more stressed out lately? Sometimes I think I can't be stressed out because I don't feel it outwardly--I express it in watching too many Korean dramas and reading too much manga. Must be my body trying to tell me in other ways...
In any case I am now eating much much less than before to minimize the discomfort. I wish I could say that I feel better, but that is far from the truth. Is there anything I can eat without trouble?! Maybe it's time to start an eating diary to find out.
Is this because of getting older? Or is it because I've been more stressed out lately? Sometimes I think I can't be stressed out because I don't feel it outwardly--I express it in watching too many Korean dramas and reading too much manga. Must be my body trying to tell me in other ways...
In any case I am now eating much much less than before to minimize the discomfort. I wish I could say that I feel better, but that is far from the truth. Is there anything I can eat without trouble?! Maybe it's time to start an eating diary to find out.
21 July 2010
Weddings Recs
a friend who is engaged recently asked me about sites I browsed for ideas while preparing my wedding. So, why not share it on the blog?
highly recommended, good for diy and solutions for trials and tribulations:
www.weddingbee.com
and then
www.thebridescafe.com
www.stylemepretty.com
could be useful
www.bklynbride.blogspot,com
www.apracticalwedding.com
i also browsed sites of local photographers for ideas and locations:
www.briankhang.com
furiousphotographers
etsy is another obvious place to look for ideas.
good luck!
highly recommended, good for diy and solutions for trials and tribulations:
www.weddingbee.com
and then
www.thebridescafe.com
www.stylemepretty.com
could be useful
www.bklynbride.blogspot,com
www.apracticalwedding.com
i also browsed sites of local photographers for ideas and locations:
www.briankhang.com
furiousphotographers
etsy is another obvious place to look for ideas.
good luck!
Cupcake Thoughts
Is the cupcake fad over yet? I don't know. I thought it was over four years ago, but then I heard that Magnolia Bakery is opening it's Los Angeles outpost on Third Street and when I drove by Sprinkles in Beverly Hills the other day there was a line of people several storefronts long waiting to make a purchase. Geez.
Five years ago, my officemates and I embarked on a cupcake tasting experience. I forget the intervals, but every so often a batch of cupcakes of various flavors would be bought and cut up in the office. We tried Sprinkles, Joan's on Third, Auntie Em's, and maybe one other place I forget now. I remember concluding that Sprinkles cupcake was the worst; the cake texture was like muffin... and I HATE MUFFINS. Except buttermilk muffins I make myself because I can make them delightful and tender unlike the chewy toughness you get anywhere else. Ok, enough about muffins. Honestly, I wasn't sure I liked cupcakes at the time. I liked the idea of cupcakes: their portability, the fact that they're single servings, and their cuteness. But then the store bought kind always had too much frosting. Which I don't like. Even at a much younger age when most would happily gobble up the sugary sustenance, I would scrape it off. Too sweet! Sampling the variety of cupcakes did nothing to change my mind about frosting--I ate the frosting after all because I hate to waste, but it was really best to just scrape it off. So, conclusion #1: I don't like cupcakes because I don't like frosting.
I recently had the opportunity to do a comparison taste test between Sprinkles and Dots. I was sure that Dots would come out on top. When I tried the red velvet cupcake a year ago, I loved its fluffiness and buttermilk flavor. This time I decided to do a full analysis and tasted the cake and frosting separately. While the texture of Dots' cupcake was still nice, it was strangely too sweet...I mean, artificial sugar too sweet...Splenda too sweet. How terrible!!! Sprinkles was not very flavorful, but it wasn't too sweet either. But then put the cake together with the frosting...and Dots was once again king. Unfortunately I could not shake off my disappointment at the Splenda-like aftertaste. *sigh.
Since I had breakfast in Eagle Rock I decided to stop by Auntie Em's to pick up a red velvet cupcake. The cream cheese frosting is awesome but the cake itself very greasy and with crumbs falling apart all over the place. Which confirms my prior conclusions. 1) Cupcakes are not about cakes. They are about the frosting. I have a strong dislike for frosting and prefer to avoid the cream cheese variety even though I like it better, hence, I dislike cupcakes and they are not worth my time. 2) Cakes are only worth it if you bake it yourself. It may not be the moistest (if that's what you like) or crumbliest (if that's what you like) but nothing can beat that homemade, fresh-baked flavor.
Five years ago, my officemates and I embarked on a cupcake tasting experience. I forget the intervals, but every so often a batch of cupcakes of various flavors would be bought and cut up in the office. We tried Sprinkles, Joan's on Third, Auntie Em's, and maybe one other place I forget now. I remember concluding that Sprinkles cupcake was the worst; the cake texture was like muffin... and I HATE MUFFINS. Except buttermilk muffins I make myself because I can make them delightful and tender unlike the chewy toughness you get anywhere else. Ok, enough about muffins. Honestly, I wasn't sure I liked cupcakes at the time. I liked the idea of cupcakes: their portability, the fact that they're single servings, and their cuteness. But then the store bought kind always had too much frosting. Which I don't like. Even at a much younger age when most would happily gobble up the sugary sustenance, I would scrape it off. Too sweet! Sampling the variety of cupcakes did nothing to change my mind about frosting--I ate the frosting after all because I hate to waste, but it was really best to just scrape it off. So, conclusion #1: I don't like cupcakes because I don't like frosting.
I recently had the opportunity to do a comparison taste test between Sprinkles and Dots. I was sure that Dots would come out on top. When I tried the red velvet cupcake a year ago, I loved its fluffiness and buttermilk flavor. This time I decided to do a full analysis and tasted the cake and frosting separately. While the texture of Dots' cupcake was still nice, it was strangely too sweet...I mean, artificial sugar too sweet...Splenda too sweet. How terrible!!! Sprinkles was not very flavorful, but it wasn't too sweet either. But then put the cake together with the frosting...and Dots was once again king. Unfortunately I could not shake off my disappointment at the Splenda-like aftertaste. *sigh.
Since I had breakfast in Eagle Rock I decided to stop by Auntie Em's to pick up a red velvet cupcake. The cream cheese frosting is awesome but the cake itself very greasy and with crumbs falling apart all over the place. Which confirms my prior conclusions. 1) Cupcakes are not about cakes. They are about the frosting. I have a strong dislike for frosting and prefer to avoid the cream cheese variety even though I like it better, hence, I dislike cupcakes and they are not worth my time. 2) Cakes are only worth it if you bake it yourself. It may not be the moistest (if that's what you like) or crumbliest (if that's what you like) but nothing can beat that homemade, fresh-baked flavor.
08 July 2010
Updated: Potato Chip Addiction
As mentioned in a previous post, I easily get addicted. To get out of the addiction, I sometimes try to overload so that I get sick of whatever it is I'm addicted to. This doesn't always work; it's often just a temporary fix. The overloading method seemed to work for my last addiction to potato chips, however. I've been potato chip-clean for eight to nine months now. Oops. I just remembered that I ate some Pringles yesterday.... But Pringles chips weren't the kind of chip I ate ravenously when I was addicted. No, I ate regular and kettle-cooked potato chips.
Yum!
Utz Kettle-Cooked
Not the lard-fried kind which frightens me.
Utz
Best mass-produced chip out there. Too bad it is only sold on the East Coast. Thin, crispy, not too salty, and delicious fried potato taste.
Cape Cod
I think this is an underrated kettle-cooked potato chip. Also, why don't more stores carry it?
Dirty’s All-Natural
Lays Kettle Classics
On the greasy side, but I still like it because its robust crunch.
Lays Kettle Classics Crinkle Cut
Greasy, but love the crunchy. Yum!
Lays (Taiwan)
Not too salty, right kind of crunchy, doesn’t stick to teeth as much as Lays USA; has a pleasant, appealing savory flavor (umami). Why can't Lays USA be like this?!
Acceptable, but hard to find:
Zapps
Boulder
Deep River
Route 11
If I'm desperate:
Lay’s
Ruffles
Avoid Avoid Avoid
Terra
More like cardboard.
Archer Farms
Just weird.
Tim’s Cascade
Too greasy.
Hawaiian
Too greasy.
Kettle Chips
Overcooked and brown. Yuck.
I used to give myself excuses to buy potato chips whenever I saw a brand I hadn't eaten before. Unfortunately, I couldn't always recall what I had tried before, so I started running into problems when I revisited potato chips that I later remembered disliking. I guess I have a penchant for lists to keep track of things, so I wrote up list with some notes to keep track of what brands I liked and disliked. When Serious Eats posted a kettle-chip taste test, I was reminded of the list and I decided, why not continue with the addictions theme?, to post it. It's a bit of a silly list since its purpose is to remind me which brands are okay to buy and which are not! In order of preference.
Yum!
Utz Kettle-Cooked
Not the lard-fried kind which frightens me.
Utz
Best mass-produced chip out there. Too bad it is only sold on the East Coast. Thin, crispy, not too salty, and delicious fried potato taste.
Cape Cod
I think this is an underrated kettle-cooked potato chip. Also, why don't more stores carry it?
Dirty’s All-Natural
Lays Kettle Classics
On the greasy side, but I still like it because its robust crunch.
Lays Kettle Classics Crinkle Cut
Greasy, but love the crunchy. Yum!
Lays (Taiwan)
Not too salty, right kind of crunchy, doesn’t stick to teeth as much as Lays USA; has a pleasant, appealing savory flavor (umami). Why can't Lays USA be like this?!
Acceptable, but hard to find:
Zapps
Boulder
Deep River
Route 11
If I'm desperate:
Lay’s
Ruffles
Avoid Avoid Avoid
Terra
More like cardboard.
Archer Farms
Just weird.
Tim’s Cascade
Too greasy.
Hawaiian
Too greasy.
Kettle Chips
Overcooked and brown. Yuck.
23 May 2010
highlights of a gluttonous meal
lightly boiled cucumber with sweet chili sauce and sesame seeds
lightly boiled thinly sliced bitter melon marinated in rice wine vinegar and served with preserved plum
fried dried oysters glazed in soy sauce (?) and topped with sesame seeds
fish maw, crab, and egg white in ham and chicken stock
mashed taro and black sticky rice steamed "cake"
19 March 2010
in no particular order, my current favorites
www.rasamalaysia.com
masak-masak.blogspot.com
nonyapendekmelaka.blogspot.com
nasilemaklover.blogspot.com
eatingasia.wordpress.com
www.roseskitchenette.com
lilyng2000.blogspot.com
chezannies.blogspot.com
myfoodilicious.blogspot.com
Chinese food blogs
en.christinesrecipes.com/
Japanese food blogs
www.justbento.com
www.justhungry.com
Germany
www.thewednesdaychef.com
Seattle
orangette.blogspot.com
Providence
www.lastnightsdinner.com
New York
noodlefever.blogspot.com
Vancouver
www.momofukufor2.com
food photos
www.tastespotting.com
www.foodgawker.com
www.thefoodpornographer.com
lunchstudio.blogspot.com
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