mmm-yoso!!!

Five Foodies Attack Tacos in Yuma

Today ed (from Yuma) wants you to join Tina and him and some others for tacos. Kirk or Cathy will be your tour guide for the blog's next post.

Just like Chaucer's pilgrims headed toward Canterbury, true foodies all make a trip to that culinary Mecca of Yuma, Arizona.  Okay, stop laughing - just kidding.  But recently we were fortunate to have Rich Kaszeta, a professional bacon photographer (among other careers) and a food blogger from New Hampshire  (Offbeat Eats) visit our desert metropolis.

Even though he claimed to be in town for work, it seemed like his real -- though secret -- purpose was to eat as much Mexican food as he could in a week.  Micaela, her husband Brian, Tina, and I joined him for one evening of tacoing on 8th St (Calle Ocho).

Since we wanted to try places that the others had not visited before, we started at Asadero Los Compadres, which Tina and I had tracked down to its new location at the corner of 8th and 20th Ave: After we ordered the tacos, we were given a couple of squeeze bottles and a standard wheel of condiments: Certainly nothing very special here. The best, in my opinion was the pico de gallo (also sometimes called salsa la bandera): The yellow squeeze bottle contained guacamole sauce that was rather thin and not especially full of avocado flavor.  The red bottle contained a very fiery salsa.

The only Agua Fresca available was a homemade jamaica: It was decent, but for me, nothing to write home about -- but you never know about somebody whose home is in New Hampshire.

We each ordered uno taco de cabeza: uno de asada: y uno de pastor: My favorite was the cabeza, which was rich, soft, and deeply flavored.

Of course that preference may be because I misjudged how spicy the red salsa was, so my other two tacos tasted mostly like fire.  Chewy and flavorful fire, indeed, but too saucy for me to discern much else. Kirk would have loved them.  The general concensus of the others was that the pastor was good, and Rich and Tina, in particular, said the Asada seemed tender, smoky, and fresh.  Perhaps that is a result of the outdoor grill on which the pieces of steak were cooked: After pausing to appreciate the sunset, which made even the parking lot of a service station seem kind of beautiful, we went off to the next place, Corona: (Thanks, Rich, for that photo)

To be honest, I had been a little disappointed in los Compadres, though that may have been partly my own overzealous squeezing. It had been good, but not outstanding, so I approached Corona with some trepidation; after all, I had not been that impressed with it on my last visit.

That just goes to show how little I know because all of us thought that Corona was, on this evening at least, the better of the two.  Here, the condiments are lined up on a counter, but unfortunately my picture doesn't show the grilled jalapenos and onions: I started with a chicken taco and an Asada taco: We all agreed that the chicken was outstanding, flavorful, tender, and moist.  The best chicken taco I've eaten in Yuma.  While the Asada had a nice smoky flavor, it seemed a little chewier than the Asada at the first taco truck. I can't say more.

Before we began eating, someone said "Micaela's tacos are so pretty, you need to take a picture of them."  So I did: And yes, those are beautiful tacos. And you can also see how much a person can alter/develop/influence the taste of his/her taco by choosing different combos of condiments.

As we were eating, every one was praising the pastor, so I had to have one of those as well. After decoration, it looked like this: Although the meat was a little greasy, the taste of the pastor was excellent -- succulent, tender, smokey and fully flavored. In general, we thought it better than the pastor at los Compadres.

We also appreciated that a free bowl of beans came with each order:
While not the world's finest frijoles, they were still welcome. Of course, we could have added onion, cilantro, and roasted jalapeno etc to the little bowls, but none of us was thinking clearly that evening. 

In addition, we all loved the limonada (oops, not pictured), though Brian and Micaela reported that the horchata was a little grainy at the bottom.

While these two trucks may not be the very best in Yuma, Rich assured us that they were better than any in New Hampshire.  In any case, we all had a good time, and as Micaela said, "it's so nice to go out with people who don't think that it's weird to talk about food all night."  Yup, she's right about that!

A Grillin' Fourth - An updated Lebanese Garlic Paste Recipe, and a simple Greek Marinade

Happy Fourth Everyone!

This year, just like millions of households across the US we decided to do some grillin' for the Fourth of July. We just kept things simple. I do have one bad habit....I'm notorious for trying to squeeze every single last spark from my charcoal, so a morning of grilling usually encompasses at least several different preparations.

 

This year, along with roasting peppers for future use in sandwiches and salads, I found that the Missus loves simple grilled oyster mushrooms. The mushrooms are simply coated with Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and seasoned with sea salt and oregano. The char was removed from the peppers, and it was topped with Greek Feta from North Park Produce and roasted in a pan.

 

The Missus also wanted some grilled sardines, and I found some fresh local sardines(Iwashi) at Nijiya.

 

I also bought some Lamb Shoulder from NPP, cut it into cubes, and used my general purpose Greek Marinade for the meat. It is so easy that I'm kinda embarrassed to share:

Greek style Marinade for Lamb or Chicken:

1/2 Cup Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
6-8 cloves of garlic minced
1-2 Tb dried oregano
1 Tb Kosher Salt

- Mix ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Marinade 1-2 lbs of meat overnight.

I used the meat for kabobs:

 

The marinade did a great job tenderizing the meat. I ate these wrapped in a pita with a nice smear of Garlic Sauce.

Speaking of Garlic Sauce, here's an update of the recipe I posted back in 2006. Going for the "Zankou" effect, I added mashed potato to give the sauce body.

Lebanese Garlic Sauce:
2 Bulbs of Garlic peeled and separated
1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
3/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Large Russet Potato, boiled and mashed
2 Tsp Kosher Salt

- Combine garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a blender.
- Blend until a smooth "paste" is achieved
- While blender is running, slowly add olive oil into the blender in a thin stream until the mixture thickens.
- After mixture thickens, stop the blender and add 2-3 Tb mashed potato, and blend. Keep adding mashed potato until desired thickness is reached.
- Refrigerate overnight. 

Be aware that your breath will probably be politically incorrect for a while after consuming this.

 

The last item for the grill were some chicken wings. I had eight wings total, so I seasoned four of the wings with sea salt and canola oil. In need of some variety, I took a few tablespoons of the garlic sauce, and a few tablespoons of canola oil, added a touch of salt and rubbed the other four wings down with the mixture. I let the wings sit for about 20 minutes or so.

The garlic wings are on the left, the salt only wings are on the right:

 

I think I'll use my "old" garlic sauce recipe and marinate some wings overnight next time. I do enjoy hardwood charcoal grilled wings seasoned with just salt.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Fourth of July!

Chiang Mai: Huen Phen

Man, I can't believe it's been over 10 months since we returned from our Laos - Thailand trip, and I still haven't finished my vacation posts yet! So to make sure that I get these posts done, I thought I'd deviate from my usual chronologic posts and start with our favorite meal(s) in Chiang Mai.

We kind of regret that we didn't check out Huen Phen until our last day in Chiang Mai, we'd surely have wanted at least another lunch there. Huen Phen is located down Thanon Rachamankha, in a more sedate area of Chiang Mai.

 

Huen Phen itself is actually two different restaurants. During the evening, it's the crowded antique filled restaurant. During lunch, the area to the front left of the restaurant serves up steam table and noodle dishes.

 

The lady behind the counter was very nice, and even provided samples. I even sampled the broth for the Khao Soi, which only confirmed (this was third version I tasted) that I didn't care for it. Of course everything we asked about was met with a, "it's good...you try, you try....." Which is kinda what happened, we ended up eating enough to feed a small army. And incredibly we finished everything. 

I've suddenly realized that if I went over every single dish, I'd still be writing on Monday, so I'll keep this to mostly photos. Let me just say, that I really enjoyed some of the dishes, especially the various Nahm Prik (dips/pastes) which is one of the signature dishes of Lanna (Northern Thai) cuisine. So without further ado, here are the photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed lunch so much, that we returned for dinner!

Though we enjoyed lunch more, dinner was no less yummy! Especially the Nam Prik Ong, the classic Chili and Pork dip...think Thai Bolognese sauce. As much as I enjoyed that, the version with crisp pork skin was even better!

So here are the dinner photos:

 

 

 

 

Just a quick note, wouldn't you know that the only dish we didn't care for was the Morning Glory pictured above! Of course the Northern style Fish Soup was super!

 

I think there are times when the photos speak for themselves.

Huen Phen
112 Thanon Rachamankha
Chiang Mai, Thailand

The 2009 San Diego County Fair, Part Two

mmm-yoso is the blog written by Kirk and ed (from Yuma) and Cathy, who is today's blogger.

Well, we finally made it to the Fair.

The Theme this year is "Music Mania" and the entrance gate is decorated like an old jukebox.

Don Diego, the Official Greeter is more advertising that the Fairgrounds may be sold to a private owner if the current fiscal situation in our state is not cleared up.

Inside, the Fairgrounds look the same as always.

All of the traditional County Fair events are happening.

The beef cattle, which will be up for auction on July 4 along with the dairy goats (although the kid born at the beginning of the Fair will not be sold just yet) and pigs and sheep were available for purchase if you did not want to bother with the auction.

(If you want to know auction details, send an email or comment below)

 The Preserved foods, as well as the baked goods, which were all judged before the Fair opened, were on display  with the ribbons  that were awarded.

Interesting tidbit- every morning there is a job of cutting away mold or slime from the baked goods on display. 

When entering items, at least six cookies and whole cakes and loaves of bread are entered for judging.  By the end of the run of the Fair, there are many signs indicating the item was 'too good to last!'...really though, it molded away.

Now, why you are here (on the blog).  Food.  Go to this building, which houses the "Designs in Wood" entries.

Yes.

Go on.  It's $4.75

The small 'leftovers' box is pulled from the freezer.  It contains three strips of dark chocolate covered bacon.
 

This was by far my most favorite item here.  The bacon is thick and salty and cooked well.  The dark chocolate, frozen, compliments the saltiness.  It was the perfect treat.

The fried cheese curds ($6) were lightly breaded in a garlic powder crust and had a nice crunch. 

The cheese was squeaky and good.

The char broiled corn is always good.

 

The Midway is a maze of gadget selling booths.

There is a plethora of tempting sights, smells and sounds.

 But I was here.  And I had to.

Look at the top ad, next to the Frog Legs, which "taste like chicken".  Yes.  A Zucchini Weeni.

$4.75. 

Good idea.  Poor execution.

I admit I have *never* had a corn dog in my life.  The batter on this was not corn though.  It was donut batter.

The hot dog really had no flavor and all of it needed to be dipped in the ranch dressing to have any flavor. 

I had such hopes for this weeni...

Instead, go next door for a "Texas Twister"

A deep fried skinned sausage deep fried with a twist of potatoes. ($8)

Much more flavorful.

Other things we bought included gelato, inside the Bing Crosby Hall.  excellent. (Small, $4)

The Indian Fry Bread- strawberry cheesecake.  Fresh fried bread topped with whipped cream cheese, strawberries and whipped cream ($6.50)

One chocolate and one vanilla cream puff.  ($3 each).  They make the pastry in the booth daily and the filling is real whipped cream.  This is the only "have to" item I get.   I can't get this fresh anywhere else all year.

Artichokes on a stick satisfy that salty craving I have. ($6)

As does Pizza on a stick.($4)

The Footsie Wootsie machines are scattered everywhere and still only 25 cents for a few minutes of unusual pleasure.

Enjoy the Fair.  It closes this Sunday!

Website Opens 11 a.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends. 

COMC: La Playita

La Playita has been well covered in two separate posts by the one and only Cathy. But I thought, since it's getting a bit warm out, this would be a nice chance to "COMC" (Clear Out the Memory Card), and do a short post of mostly photos on La Playita.

   

If you've read the previous posts you'll have good description of La Playita. A little family run shop with, one table, doing most of their business off a counter with six stools.

  

Most discussions center around two main items served at La Playita, the Ceviche:

 

Which is refreshing, if a bit too heavy on the lime for me.

The other item often discussed are the various Cocktel (Seafood Cocktails), which uses the home made hot sauce concoction as part of it's base.

The Missus's favorite is the Vuelve a la Vida ("Back to Life"), She always goes with the large sized cocktail ($13).

 

This wonderful seafood ambrosia is topped off with freshly shucked oysters. The only problem was trying to explain to the Missus that it wasn't the seafood that was coming "back to life", but the term is meant to be the effect of this wonderful concoction on the individual. I've read that this cocktail has a history as a hangover remedy, and brought many a bleary eyed, cotton mouthed, individual back to life.

It would be quite easy to stop at this point on the menu.

 

But I thought you might want to see a few of the other offerings.

The Taco Gobernador ($3), does not quite hold a candle to the version at Mariscos German, but is quite acceptable.

  

It is a bit less heavy.

The Pescadillas ($3) is a molten fried mixed seafood taco.

 

The Aguachili ($14), is a large portion of raw shrimp, "cooked" with lime juice, mixed with red onions which add a nice bite. Speaking of bite, everything is covered with a good amount of sweat inducing chili, especially if you order it spicy like I did.

 

The Caramones a la Diabla (Shrimp Diablo - $14) is a good portion of shrimp sauteed in a spiced up chipotle based sauce.

 

The colorfully named Pulpo Enamorado - "Octopus in love" (Spicy Octopus - $14) is another dish utilizing a tangy-spicy chipotle based sauce.

 

Just in case it's a bit too cold for ceviche, one of these dishes will be sure to warm you up. After all wouldn't it be nice to meet up with an Octopus in Love? Well, maybe not........

Of course, it may never be too cold for Ceviche.....

 

I've always been served seafood of good quality at La Playita.

Don't forget the tostadas and crackers.......

La Playita Seafood
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Road Trip: Hunan Chilli King - San Gabriel (Los Angeles)

During our most recent road trip, after noshing at Qing Dao Bread Food, we decided to give the Missus' Dad's cuisine equal time. My FIL hails from Hunan, which explains the Missus's ability to eat some pretty spicy stuff. My MIL is also able to handle some pretty hot stuff, "tolerance by association" I guess. Our first thought was to drop by Tianjin Bistro, but on a whim the Missus decided that we should have lunch here.

   

The first thing I noticed when we entered was that a good number of the folks eating were fanning their mouths, an ominous sign, as was all the hissing noises of the folks sucking air through their teeth. One of the Servers is boisterous and outgoing, the other, quiet but very kind. The walls of the restaurant is lined with the ubiquitous colored strips of paper with the various specialties of the house written on them.

As we sat, a little dish of boiled peanuts, and some very briney Hunan Pao Cai (pickled vegetables) arrived at the table.

 

The pickles lived up to our standard of Hunan cuisine with unabashedly bold flavors. So we were a bit surprised at the very mild millet porridge that arrived at the same time. Having previous experience, we knew that this would provide the perfect prophylaxis for our upcoming meal.

So what to order? Chilli King is known for the Hunan Steamed Fish Head, but you need to order that in advance. So we just went with what caught our fancy.

The first item we went with Steamed Preserved Meat (La Wei He Zheng - $8.99), a classic steamed mixed smoke meat dish.

 

For me this was not smokey enough in flavor, way too salty, and the meat was mushy, and falling apart. It was nowhere close to the version at Hunan Seafood. The Missus enjoyed it though.

Of course as soon as I saw it, I had to have the Sauteed Lamb (Xiao Chao Yang Rou - $8.99):

  

The lamb was nice and gamey, the spice was pretty much on my "high side". I thought the ratio of lamb to cilantro was excellent. Do you noticed something? If you've ever noticed, at most Sichuan restaurants, all the chilies are deseeded. Notice all the chili seeds in this dish.....it kind of gives you a hint of the spice level.

Last up, comes the most interesting, and painful dish of the day. The Missus saw a dish on one of the papers flying over our head.

 

When the Missus ordered it "Big Spicy", the Server, obviously knowing by Her accent that the Missus wasn't from Hunan, told Her, "our medium spicy, is hotter than most BIG spicy". But of course we stuck to our guns. What had we ordered? Suan Do Jiao Chao La Ya ($8.99). This was basically Smoked Duck stir fried with Hunan Pickled Green Beans and Chilies. As she walked away, the woman turned and glanced at me with an "okay, it's your funeral" look.

 

For me this is an excellent example of the un-apologetically spicy Hunan dish. The smoked duck was nicely flavored. There were two types of chilies in this dish, salt-preserved chilies, and smaller red chilies. Again, check out all the chili seeds! The sour and briney pickled green beans actually heightened the burning sensation. I was okay after two bites....but after three I started sweating, not a big deal, that happens all the time. By my fourth and fifth bites my scalp was tingling, and my mouth felt like an open wound. And then I did it, I drank a cup of hot tea. It was like I poured alcohol on an open wound! Lesson learned, I made sure my tea had cooled off before consuming it. Strange thing was, I was caught up in a heat addiction death spiral. I was snapped out of this by the nice Server, who asked me if I was okay....which sounded strangely like the phrase "do you need CPR"....... As usual we had leftovers. That same evening, I heated this dish in the microwave. When I opened the door, the fumes hit me square in the face and I felt like I had been maced! It was even more spicy! I could only manage two bites, and for some reason my ears started ringing. The next day, I didn't even bother trying to eat the leftovers (loved the lamb though), I knew it would be too much for me. The Missus enjoyed it to the last.......

Of course, on every trip to the SGV, we have a story, so here's the one for this place. We were seated right next to the kitchen door and the counter. While we were eating a short gentleman walked into the restaurant. He was just one of those folks who just kinda makes you laugh. Short, square, animated expression, with his pants pulled up to his nipple line..... He came in and ordered one dish, and tried to pay with a credit card, and was told that there was a minimum purchase of $20 with a credit card. Suddenly, you could make out a few "ticks" and twitches. Faced with this, the man tried to persuade the ladies to let him use his credit card. The Missus kept giggling as he tried different strategies to get his way, trying among other things, flattery ("this is my wife's favorite place"), but was blocked on every end. Finally, he went with his last ace-in-the-hole, the pseudo-guilt trip, "We come here all the time. We live in Irvine, and today I came all the way here to pick up lunch for my wife!" This of course was met with the check-mate "so you come here all the time? Than why would you come all the way from Irvine with only six dollars?" Which of course, instantly insinuated laziness (couldn't go to the ATM), and stupidity (you eat here all the time, and you don't know that there's a $20 minimum for credit cards). Out-trumped the gentleman ordered another dish. Which started up the next discussion. He had ordered on dish "BIG SPICY", and the other "no spicy". Turns out that his wife loves spicy food, but he is unable to tolerate spice! The Missus was cracking up at the way he described the situation....... She told me this is more funny than those Chinese comedies She watches!

As we left the restaurant, I passed a young lady fanning her mouth and inhaling with a hissing noise. I gave her a knowing smile.......I felt (literally) both her pain...and pleasure.

Hunan Chilli King
524 East Valley Boulevard
San Gabriel, CA 91776

I definitely wanted something a bit soothing after this meal.........

Sang Dao through Other Eyes

Welcome to mmm-yoso!!! -- Kirk's foodblog. Sometimes he lets Cathy post here, and today he's letting ed (from Yuma) post about a meal that you may have  read about once or twice already.

On my last trip to San Diego, America's finest city, I fortunately arrived on the same day that Kirk, Howie, and Candice were planning a visit to Sang Dao, a Lao/Thai restaurant recently relocated on to El Cajon Blvd. I managed to finagle an invitation to join them there.

Like many good dining spots run by recent immigrants, it is located in a somewhat dicey neighborhood, between a gold buyer and a payday advance place: I never expected to post about the meal, but it seems that I  took the most photos. Anyway, thought some readers  might enjoy looking at more pictures of the food. But be sure to read Kirk's account of the restaurant and Candice's too - to get expert opinions.

First, the raw beef salad: In this case, my picture is not especially good although it does show the wealth of greens that accompany the salad.  I thought it tasted fine and liked the slight background bitter touch of bile.  It was was not as beefy and, mercifully, not as overwhelmingly hot as the version at Sab-E-Lee (prepared Thai spicy for Kirk) which he and I had enjoyed around New Years.

Next we were served spicy offal soup (anybody remember the name?): This was really good.  The broth was deeply savory and lit up with chile spices.  I kept shoveling various organ meats into my mouth, chewing them up, swallowing them, and going back for more.  Even when I had no idea what I was eating: One dish that I wanted in particular was whole fish -- which I guess is kind of an obsession of mine.  I thought that the tilapia arrived looking very pretty: The taste matched the look of the fish.  The first flavor notes that hit my palate were touches of sweetness, but the sweetness was nicely balanced with citrus flavors. The sauce did not overwhelm the flavor of the fish. I was also impressed by the quality of the frying.  Though the skin was crisp, this fish remained moist from head to tail: Next to arrive was the offal noodle soup: This soup was less enticing to any of us.  The numerous slices of liver dominated the flavor of the bowl.  I crave liverwurst sometimes, but this soup proved that I am not a true liver lover. The super soft noodles seemed OK, but added little.  I would try a different noodle dish on a future visit.

My only other complaint about the meal - the sticky rice tasted a bit dried out.

Candice insisted we try a red curry shrimp dish that she had had before.  I'm glad she did.  As you can tell by the brownish color of the curry, the sauce had intense and complex flavors.  It was so good I forgot to take a picture until almost the entire serving was gone:
I should probably add that I was the one who finished off the last of this wonderful curry.

The final item served was certainly one of the most impressive.  It was a chopped long bean salad prepared with Lao spicing: In some ways, this resembles an extremely funky green papaya salad.  Look at the color of the dressing. The pungent flavor of fish sauce (and/or fermented shrimp?) infused every bite of the salad.  The diced chilies raised the spice level high.  But even with all these other flavors, the intense green bean taste and green bean crunch stood out in every mouthful.  A texture/taste treat. For me, this was an amazing and exciting dish. Nothing like it in Yuma!

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed more pictures. And I hope Kirk, or Howie, or Candice feel free to correct or add to this discussion. Compared to most Thai food, this seemed more in your face funky with more salty than sweet flavors. I, for one, appreciated the extensive menu (unlike Asia Cafe), which seems to invite return visits.

When the bill came, we were all amazed at the low cost for the all the food we'd eaten.  No need to sell that wedding ring or borrow til payday to have dinner here.

Sang Dao Restaurant, 5421 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115, (619) 263-0914 :

Saturday Stuffs: Pho Thanh, Abe's Burgers, and no more "Adovo"

Just some photos for this evening.......

The old location of Cafe Zia on El Cajon Boulevard is becoming Pho Thanh:

 

I had visited several times when it was still Cafe Zia, and saw this unusual event...... a police car was cleaned in the car wash across the street which for some reason I found odd.

The old location of Santana's at 1525 Morena, will be something called "Abe's Burger's and Breakfast":

 

And if you read this post, you found the strange "Adovo" sign in National City:

  

Well, on a recent visit, someone had executed their spell-checking and the sign had been changed:

 

So all is good in the world.........

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!