Sunday Brunch off Bourbon Street

Posted on June 6, 2011 by dynedain

Posted from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

The French quarter is a strange dichotomy. You have Bourbon Street, famous for racy strip clubs and gutters full of alcohol. But it also hosts some fantastic restaurants. On a quiet, rainy Sunday morning, we made our way from St. Luis Cathedral to Bourbon Street and Arnaud’s Dining Room for a four-course brunch.

Mimosa from fresh-squeezed orange juice

Arnaud’s exemplifies how I’ve come to see the city of New Orleans, a rich, patina of glory in decay. While clean and tidy, the restaurant is really showing its age. Wood paneling is fading, as decades of beeswax polish is undone by chemical cleaners. The beautifully patterned hexagonal floor tiles have lost their shine, and the waitstaff seem grizzled and tired in their worn tuxedos. The glory this place clearly once held is slowly diminishing, much like an ancient plantation manor being overrun by kudzu.

The food was certainly better than the decor. For the first course, I began with a cream cheese Evangeline. Fresh grapes, honeydew, cantaloupe, and strawberries were at perfect ripeness. Covering them was a wonderfully light sauce made by whisking together cream cheese and fruit juices, a refreshing way to start the meal.

Following this was a small salad, butter leaf lettuce, watercress, and Arnaud’s unique house dressing garnished with juiliened celery root and thinly shaved beets. The celery root was a surprise, but like the rest of the salads I’ve had here, the ingredients were at the decidedly warm room temperature, and not chilled as I had hoped.

For the main course, I went for a simple omelet, three cheeses, pancetta, and tomato. Exquisitely prepared, the eggs were very light and fluffy. The tartness of the tomato perfectly offset the saltiness brought by the pancetta. The mozzarella, parmesian-reggiano, and chévre nicely blended together in a perfect mix of sharp, creamy, and gooey. With a side of the thinnest fries I have ever seen, this was easily one of the best omelets I have ever had. I had to stop myself to leave room for desert.

And what a desert it was. A phenomenal bread pudding in a brandy sauce. Using their house bread, a French white with a unique top crust, the pudding is baked into a rich custard for that perfect balance between dry and gooey.

Add this to your New Orleans itinerary. The decor is nice, and the food more than makes up for the aging atmosphere.

Late Night dining in the Big Easy

Posted on June 6, 2011 by dynedain

Posted from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

After a very filling brunch, the little missus and I spent the afternoon wandering the French Quarter and the waterfront, eventually making our way to the Southern Food and Drink Museum. Afterwards it was nigh on suppertime, so we made our way back to the French Quarter with the intention of enjoying K Paul’s. Unfortunately they were closed on Sundays (as is most of this city), so we headed back to the hotel to cool off and wait for our appetites to return. After a few hours, we prepared to venture out to Camelia Grill, but a quick web search showed us they too were closed. At this point we were reaching closing time and decided to search for 24/7 dining options. Just down St. Charles Avenue from our hotel is The Avenue Pub.

We strolled the 4 short blocks and found a dingy gastropub with 47 different beers on tap, all of them smaller craft brews. The wife chose the Fox Barrel Pear Cider, and I went for the Steiner Weiss while we waited for our orders. The weiss had an incredible head that took the bar tender 5 minutes to pour and another 5 to fully settle. It was wheaty, as expected from that kind of beer, and a bit on the thick side. It stayed nice and cloudy throughout my entire meal and left no sediment.

Shortly our food arrived, a burger for the wife, and the grilled cheese club for me. Having seen mixed reviews, I was happy with the results, and the prices were quite reasonable. The grilled cheese had goat cheese, cheddar, and a heavy dose of a soft feta all melted into gooey yumminess. Along with bacon, tomato, and a fresh pesto, the whole thing was served on some nice thick slices of artisinal sourdough and grilled on a pannini press. The burger was good as well, tasty beef and cooked perfectly with all the juices intact, but otherwise nothing too special. Disappointingly, the burger was supposed to come with pecan crusted onion rings we wanted to try, but these were replaced with good, but generic cross-cut fries.

For late night dining, it was surprisingly good, and I would go back to sample more of the beer list, that being apparently scarce in the Big Easy where rum drinks abound.

White on white on white

Posted on May 11, 2011 by dynedain

Located on the 12th floor above Macy’s in downtown Minneapolis, the Skyroom is a lunch cafeteria that Richard Myer would be proud of. Curving white walls, white furniture, and even a white piano surround a soup and salad bar, and stations for pasta, burgers, Mexican food, and American deli sandwiches. Of course, being from LA, I passed on the Mexican station and made my way to the deli counter. Top of the list: a smoked turkey with applewood smoked bacon sandwich on cinnamon-raisin bread with cranberry aoli. The bread, pullaway style, cut thick and toasted, was sweet and packed with cinnamon. Unlike many delis, both the bacon and the turkey were rich with smokey flavor. The turkey portion size was a little small, but the ample amount of bacon made up for it. Coupled with a peppery coleslaw and your typical pickle wedge, this made for great way to spend a warm lunch watching the cold snow fall.

Day 3: Bun, bun-bun, bun… bunnnnn!

Posted on October 7, 2010 by dynedain

On day 3 of our trip to Hong Kong, we started off with a very common Hong Kong dish, the butter cream bun. Found in every train station and marketplace, are shops selling filled buns. They’re even more common than the ubiquitous doughnut shop in the U.S., and fill a similar niche. Think of them as the Hong Kong equivalent to the Parisian crepe.

Unlike what you’d expect from Asian pastries, these are almost exclusively wheat-flour buns, and are baked instead of steamed or fried. For the most part, they have the consistency of Hawaiian bread, and are available with both sweet and savory fillings.

butter cream bun

First off, my favorite of the bunch, butter cream bun. This was a sweet bun, almost exactly the same as Hawaiian bread, both in flavor and texture. It was stuffed-full with a soft, creamy, butter filling. Thankfully, not margarine, and also not heavy or oily as butter can sometimes be. Dusted over the top with shaved coconut, this was a perfect way to start the day!

butter cream bun

We snuck in that first one as we were waiting for the train. We headed to the outskirts of the New Territories to visit my wife’s grandmother at her nursing home. We arrived just as she was finishing lunch, but she quickly joined us in the courtyard to gorge ourselves on these wonderful buns.

Grandma Au enjoying a call from her granddaughter in NYC

Beef Bun

As I mentioned, many of the buns have savory fillings. This one had a nice stewed beef, and made for a perfect balance between a light snack and something more substantial.

Following the beef bun, were two filled with a tuna-salad mixture. These both were topped with chives, and had a hint of onion in the pastry itself.

tuna-filled bun

This next one was a little different. Instead of being a bun, the “curry beef triangle” was baked in the style of a French pastry, with all the flaky crispy layers you could imagine. As you would expect from the name, the filling was a green beef curry. Slightly spicy, the contrast of texture and flavor between the pastry and the filling makes for a wonderful combination.

curry beef triangle

curry beef triangle filling

One last bun, appears to have been made using whole-wheat flower. Covered with sesame seeds, I can only guess at what the filling was. I apparently neglected to take a photo of the inside.

mystery bun

Now that I know about these buns, I can’t wait for a return trip. Apparently, there are peanut-butter filled buns, as well as sausage ones reminiscent of a bagel-dog!

Day 2, the second banquet

Posted on September 26, 2010 by dynedain

So I promised the details on this fantastic banquet we had on our second day. One of the most famous restaurants in Hong Kong is Yung Kee in Central. Renowned for its roast goose recipe, the restaurant now owns the entire 14 floor building that it is located in. It’s even been awarded a star from the Michelin Guide. We had a private room on the more luxurious 4th floor to celebrate the 75th birthday of my wife’s uncle.

Thousand Year Egg

Starting off the dinner was the infamous dish, 1000 year egg. Some consider it a delicacy, but apparently it’s a fairly common dish and is frequently used in congee. It had a jelly-like consistency, tasted somewhat like a pickle, and had the most amazing colors to it. My photo doesn’t do the iridescence justice. Apparently it’s made by wrapping a duck egg in clay, soaked with various salts and acids for up to several months. The longer, the better.

Following the egg was a treo of appetizers representing Health, Wealth, and Happiness. First, “money purses”, small pouches of minced pork, wrapped up in a layer of rice dough and boiled. The end result looks surprisingly like a tiny purse or bag that people used to wear on their belts.

Pork Money Bags

Closeup of Pork Money Bags

The second of the treo was fried sea cucumber stomachs. I had never had sea cucumber before, and was quite surprised. The dish was light and crispy, with a slight ocean taste, but mostly it was like eating french fries.

Fried Sea Cucumber Stomachs

The third of the set was a traditional dish that apparently is very rare today. Stacked up like coins were pork-fat medallions, duck pate, and water chestnut, slathered in an egg-yolk sauce. It was incredibly delicious, even though I generally dislike patte.

Duck Patte, Pork-fat Medallions, and Water Chestnut

Duck Pate, Pork-fat Medallions, and Water Chestnut

The next dish of the meal is the one the restaurant is famous for. The Roast Goose was prepared in a similar style to Peking Duck. Yes, it was as delicious as it looks.

The Famous Yung Kee Roast Goose

Following the roast goose was a common delicacy for Chinese banquets, shark fin soup. This was the second time I had shark-fin soup, but a very different preparation from anything I had expected. It came to the table a very vibrant orange, and had a creamy consistency, although I doubt any dairy products were used. Surprisingly, there was no fishy taste to it at all, in fact if I didn’t know better, I would have sworn it was a cheese soup.

Shark Fin Soup

The next dish was also seafood, so I wasn’t thrilled when it arrived. Individual stuffed crab claws were then breaded and fried, making for very attractive dishes. Perfect portion size, and the tip of the claw exposed, made these very appealing and memorable. I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor and enjoyed the light chili sauce garnishing each claw when served.

Stuffed Crab Claw

Following the crab claws was the most visually impressive dish of the evening. A huge platter came to the table, arranging several different varieties of eggplant in a light sauce.

Crab-Stuffed Eggplant

The purple chinese eggplant arranged vertically was stuffed with crab meat, and on top was sea cucumber. The photos are deceptive, each of those vertical towers was at least 3 inches tall.

Crab-Stuffed Eggplant

My wife was very jealous, as she’s allergic to eggplant.

Crab-Stuffed Eggplant

Even when portioned out into individual servings, the dish was very beautiful. I have to commend the servers at their plating skills. The techniques over the course of the evening as they split up the large dishes were very antithetical to what I’ve come to expect from Chinese cuisine.

After the eggplant came one final seafood dish, lobster noodles. The noodles were cooked in a lobster broth and were clearly the focus of the dish, even though there was lobster piled on top. Again, the photos are deceptive, as the full dish brought to the table was easily 30 inches across, a veritable mountain of lobster.

Lobster Noodles

Wrapping up the main dishes were a huge plate of noodles (clearly the inspiration for chow mein) and fried rice. These are typical ends to a chinese banquet, allowing people to fill up with the over abundance of food. Considering how stuffed we already were at this point, it was mostly gratuitous, but I tried some anyways. Naturally they were delicious.

Fried Rice

Noodles

That brings us to desert. Since it was a birthday, there was a cake covered in strawberries, and of course, since it was a chinese banquet, we also had the ubiquitous red bean soup and fresh fruit platter.

Cake with the Chinese character for Longevity

Red Bean Soup

Melons, Kiwi, and Mango

And finally, the icing on the cake, ( there were mini peaches in the cake decoration), we had Longevity Peaches. However, these aren’t actually fruit; they’re steamed rice buns with a lotus paste and duck egg center. Shaped and colored to resemble peaches, these are a traditional birthday dish. There is a Chinese legend about a monkey who travels to a far-off garden to eat peaches that grant eternal life. Because of this, the peach is a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture, and peaches made from gold are often gifted for long-lived anniversaries or birthdays.

a large mysterious steamer waiting to be opened

Each of these “baby buts”, as my wife likes to call them, was about the size of my fist, and I have large fists.

Longevity Peaches

That’s it for this banquet. Only the second day of our trip to Hong Kong, and already we’ve shot over 100 pictures just of food. Next time, some local snack and everyday dishes.

Dim Sum

Posted on July 11, 2010 by dynedain

It seems all we did on our Hong Kong trip was eat, eat, and eat some more. As soon as we got back from the giant Buddha statue (via the Ngong Ping 360 aerial tramway), we met up with some of my wife’s extended family for dim sum at the Citygate shopping center in Tung Chung. I’ve had dim sum many times before, and since, but this was my first time in Hong Kong, so I was suprised at how authentic the places I’ve been in LA and New York actually are.

My wife’s family was very patient with me as I tried to snap these pictures as quickly as I could. They had started before we got there.

First off, some dumplings. These had shrimp, vegetables, and rice, and I believe the wrapper was tofu skin as opposed to the typical rice wrapper. Next was another dumpling, this one with a thick rice dough casing, similar to pork buns. I can’t remember what the filling was, but it was very attractive with the dark swirls on the surface… then the dumplings just kept coming and coming. Some shrimp, pork, and my personal favorit char siu pork buns (BBQ).

Shrimp Dumplings in Tofu Skin

Steamed dumpling

Shrimp and Vegetable Dumplings

Pork Dumplings

Char Siu BBQ Pork Buns

On to the fried dishes! There were some cute egg-shaped fried dumplings. I don’t remember the filling, but it was probably shrimp, and some vegetable spring rolls.

Fried dumplings

Vegetable Sprig Rolls

Of course, since it’s dim sum, the dishes just kept coming and coming. We had some typical egg custards and the dish that most caught my eye. It was a sweet gelatin dish, but embedded in it were tiny red berries. Very very delicious.

gelatin with red berries

Egg Custard

And of course, a few noodle dishes:

Noodles with shrimp and mushrooms

Noodles with shrimp

And it wouldn’t be dim sum without some turnip cakes. These are made by shredding daikon, pressing it together with shrimp, vegetables, or pork, and then pan frying them so they develop a nice crust.

Daikon cakes

I promise, we’re almost done…. Some pork meatballs, very juicy, and very delicious and served with worcestershire sauce (one of my favorites), and some chicken feet. Chicken feet are not what you’d expect. They’re actually very fatty and tender, almost having a gelatin consistency. They’re cooked in a sweet sauce and are actually quite good if you can get over the mental reservations.

Meatballs

Chicken Feet

Finally, some sticky rice. Take some diced marinated pork, wrap it with sticky rice, bundle the whole thing in a leaf (banana or some similar large leaf) and steam it:

Sticky rice with pork

Sticky rice with pork unwrapped

Now didn’t that all look fantastic? Needless to say, I was stuffed afterwards and not particularly looking forward to eating again dinner. But dinner was so fantastic, a 5-star Cantonese banquet, featuring some very traditional foods that almost no-one makes today because of the labor and cost. Hungry yet? That meal is coming soon!

Tofu on Day Two

Posted on June 29, 2010 by dynedain

I’ll skip the family-only dinner that we had after the wedding. It was fantastic, and very luxurious as it was in a private dining room at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Unfortunately, I was operating on around 50 hours without sleep at that point, and so wasn’t lucid enough to remember to shoot food pictures. All I got was a picture of something that appears to be either ginger creme brulee, or a personal seafood casserole.

Skip to the next day, after I had a chance to sleep.

After having some pastries for breakfast (more on those later) we took the arial tramway up to the giant Buddha statue, a huge hilltop bronze statue that is even more imposing than the Statue of Liberty. It is associated with the Buddhist monastery next door, which my wife’s uncle (and our gracious host) was apparently the architect for. The monastery has a vegan cafeteria, which we delved into for a fantastic late-morning snack.

Trifecta of Tofu

Tofu dish 1, a sampling of 3 desert preparations… sorry for the picture quality. All three items are tofu, prepared to a consistency of a thick jello. The dark grey one (my preference) was sesame flavored. The white and orange layered one in the front is mango, and the other one was pineapple I believe.

Sweet and Sour Tofu Skin

Tofu dish 2 was incredible. The fermentation process for producing tofu causes a skin to form on the surface, much like cooking milk to a near-boil. This skin is perfectly edible, and is skimmed off for dishes needing tofu with much denser qualities. The result has a texture very similar to cooked chicken thighs: moist and slightly chewy. In this particular dish, the tofu skin was stir-fried with a real sweet-and-sour sauce (not that crap you get at American-Chinese takeout). It was absolutely delicious!

Tofu in Ginger Syrup

Tofu dish 3 is probably my all-time favorite tofu dish. It’s a very soft and slightly sweet tofu prepared to the consistency of a light custard. It is served cool, with a simple syrup infused with ginger poured over. Delicious, and a great refreshment on a hot day!

Lick it up

Posted on November 23, 2009 by dynedain

Growing up as a kid, I always loved the Sunday mornings when we would stop by the local doughnut shop on the way home from church. It was steaming hot sugary bliss that was sure to leave my brother and I hyperactive for hours.

Along with the steaming bowls of congee that so pleasantly woke me up, my mother-in-law triggered these fond childhood memories with this delectable pastry that I could eat for breakfast any day of the week.

: Cow Tongue Pastry

: Cow Tongue Pastry

Ngau Lay Soh or “Cow Tongue Pastry” is so called because it looks somewhat like a bovine tongue, but luckily has neither the same taste or texture. Instead, it tastes like a typical American doughnut, but without any kind of topping or glaze. Eat it plain, or dip it into your congee. The slight sweetness and fluffy texture are sure to put a smile on your face.

Outside of Hong Kong, so far I’ve only been able to find this in New York and London. If anyone knows where to get it in Los Angeles, I’d love to know.

Comfort Food

Posted on November 22, 2009 by dynedain

A dreary, chilly November morning in Hong Kong. After a 16 hour flight and only 45 minutes of nap on a hotel bed, what I really need is comfort food. Just as I’m about to jump in the shower, my mother in law enters the room with several steaming bowls of congee.

Congee with Beef Meatballs

Congee is the ultimate in comfort cuisine. A simple rice porridge, it takes on the flavors of whatever is added. It’s a truly heartwarming dish that sticks to your bones. In this case, it had beef meatballs along with the traditional scallions and white pepper. But what truly set it apart from anything I’ve had in the states was the ginger slivers. This added a wonderful flavor to the dish that helped me wake up feeling refreshed. Needless to say, I gobbled it all down.

MyTravelFoods

traveling the world, one bite at a time

Sunday Brunch off Bourbon Street

Late Night dining in the Big Easy

White on white on white

Day 3: Bun, bun-bun, bun… bunnnnn!

Day 2, the second banquet

Dim Sum

Tofu on Day Two

Lick it up

Comfort Food