The family descends in town!!!

Well, not the whole family, thank goodness. My sweet cousin and aunt visited me for a weekend recently. We had a ball just doing girly stuff around town and went to a few restaurants that I normally don't go to, whether it's due to price or distance/convenience issues.

We went to NoMi, a Japanese fusion-ish place at the Park Hyatt in the heart of Chicago's Magnificent Mile. I've been here a few times previously, always with visiting family. Not only is their food delicious, the view is simply to die for. We went during Saturday's lunch hour and got a seat by the window easily. The ambience of the dining room and bar was very sophisticated and clean. Service was impeccable and the wine list and cellar looked very impressive. They even had a few different kinds of salts and peppers to choose from, to season your own food! How pretty!


We started off with a very generous assortment of warm breads and butter. Even though the breads were warm, the butter was rock hard. I must say that warm bread always earns brownie points from me, but rock hard butter doesn't. I know that it'll violate some health code if restaurants were to keep butters warm, but it will definitely help if customers didn't have to struggle to spread it on their breads.


We proceeded to a very clean, delicious citrus beet salad that was topped with the most refreshing citrus vinaigrette. Isn't the plating simply elegant?


I was fascinated by the Saffron Bouillabaisse and opted for that despite a hot, summery day out. Not only was it absolutely scrumptious, the scallops and calamari were cooked to perfection: just enough for a bite and flavor. The plating was clean, yet warm. A half of the sourdough crouton was soft from the bouillabaisse, and the other half retains its crunch, which made for a fun mix of textures and flavors.


My aunt also chose something light: the Ikebana sushi platter consisting of a tuna roll, some fresh salmon sashimi and an assortment of cooked and raw sushi. The dish was very fresh, but I don't know if it was worth the hefty $25 price tag!


My cousin, ever the sweet tooth she is, ordered the French Raisin Toast with fresh cream and fig coulis. It was surprisingly light for a French toast: a tad dry and a bit too crunchy. I think French toasts should be rich, creamy and heavy. It might be due to the fact that NoMi kind of places itself as a "spa" restaurant, which is why their light dishes are way superior than their "enlightened" heavy dishes. I could be wrong, but that's my impression of it. The fig coulis, though, was pretty intensely fig-gy (if there's such a word). It would've been perfect with an assortment of cheeses.


The meal was satiating in terms of the range flavors we enjoyed, but the portions weren't uber generous. Fortunately, we had a complimentary dessert platter. The waitress came out with a silvery cylinder with 3 layers. After placing it on the table, she unfurled each layer to reveal the mini treats in them. The presentation was beautiful, very much like a surprise gift. As you can see, each layer has about 3 mini, bite-sized sweet treats. The most memorable items I tried were the fruit tart (I'm such a sucker for fruit tarts!) and a super intense chocolatey truffle.


Overall, it was a beautiful, light meal. I definitely won't recommend this place if you're famished, but it's perfect for a special occasion or if you want something light at a breathtaking locale.

Another place I wouldn't normally patronize is this Korean restaurant on Lawrence Avenue that I stumbled upon by accident when I was really looking for good ol' San Soo Gap San. The restaurant name is San Chae Dolsot. Everything (well, most of it) was written in Korean at the restaurant; I was half expecting them to not have English menus :)

Located in a mini strip mall along Chicago's Korean town on Lawrence Avenue, it looked like the kind of neighbourhood restaurant that Korean families come to for Sunday dinner. But anyway, my aunt, my cousin and I just stuck to good Korean classics such as kal bee, chap jae and a kim chee tofu soup. The traditional banchan (otherwise known as those delicious starters served on small mini plates) served was deliciously tongue-tingling as usual. We thought the kal bee was not that great, probably due to the quality of the meat. However, the marinade was yummy.


The kim chee tofu soup was simply to die for. I'm sure the chill of the evening helped make it taste even better, but the spice was just right and there's so much silky tofu in it! Just add some bean rice and you get a filling, warm stew.


We all really enjoyed their chap jae, which was cooked very nicely. The glass noddle still had a bite to it and the sweet and salty interplayed perfectly. I love that they added so much sesame seeds on top!


Overall, it was a pretty decent restaurant. All of the other patrons were Korean families. Of course, in true Indonesian form, my aunt didn't find the Korean food spicy enough. My family has this practice bringing around a special bottle of Indonesian chili sauce when we go out to eat. I know, I know, it's really weird. But I must say that it really does help bring out the flavor of most Asian foods. Now, my aunt has officially graduted to bringing around fresh chili in a Ziploc bag! And you can bet on her bringing it out for our Korean food adventure!


It was an awesome weekend, catching up with them and trying out some new restaurants. I can't wait to see them again soon!

NoMi
800 N. Michigan Ave., #7
(312)239-4030

San Chae Dolsot
3737 W. Lawrence Ave.
(773)588-5223

A San Franciscan Weekend

The San Francisco bay area is truly one of my favorite places ever. Maybe it's just the "granola" side of me talking but there's a free, green spirit about the area that I adore, what with the constant presence of activism in the street corner or the bi-weekly farmer's market in almost every county. I jumped with joy when I saw that there are recycling and composting bins to be found throughout the city. I also hear that retailers are mandated to use recycleable or compostable shopping bags by law! If San Francisco can do it, why can't the rest of the country?


Anyway, the main reason for my SF trip is to attend a scientific meeting that's held over the weekend. I had to present a poster there and got the chance to attend some interesting talks. Initially I wasn't looking forward to the poster session because I thought that my work is kind of lame. However, many people stopped by my poster and asked many questions. It has truly revived the scientist in me. Wow! Someone's actually interested in what I'm doing, haha! :)

I attended most of the lectures and professional events that I thought were directly related to my work and this still left me with plenty of time to sightsee and basically do whatever I wanted to. On my first night, I met up with two of my cousins who lives in San Jose. Actually, they met up with me. They were so sweet that they picked me up from the airport! Here they are, regaled in plastic bibs!


Actually, the reason they were wearing bibs (I had one on too!) was that we were about to enjoy a crab dinner and eating crabs with your bare hands sure can get messy. Hendra brought us to Thanh Long in San Francisco for its crazy good Vietnamese seafood fare. We went there on a Friday night and it was super packed. Once I smelled the strong, distinctive scent of garlic, I knew that we were at a good place. Fortunately, we were seated within 10 minutes and my cousin Hendra shortened our waiting time by immediately ordering the specialties without even opening the menu. We had a giant Dungeness crab each and tiger prawns served over a bed of garlic noodles. The roasted crab was deliciously moist and super meaty. The sauce (made with garlic and "secret" spices, whatever they may be) was perfect for dunking the chunks of soft crab meat into. The butterflied tiger prawns were also tasty, though a teeny tad overcooked. My favorite just had to be the garlic noodles: a bit on the soft side of al dente and 100% garlicky!



Believe it or not, after that meal fit for giants, we shared two desserts: the molten chocolate cake and fried banana, both a la mode.The chocolate cake was just allright to me but the fried banana brings back memories of my childhood for me. One of my father's favorite snacks is fried banana, a staple of Indonesian cuisine. Growing up, he used to bring me along to a fried banana stand in the heart of the Jakarta Chinatown when he sneaked out of the house for a snack :)



Besides enjoying the seafood in SF, I also headed towards a Californian institution: In'n'Out. I've heard many friends rave about this Cali joint and I've always wanted to try it. The previous times I was in California, I wasn't able to make my pilgrimage for one reason or another. This time, I was determined to not miss it! After I presented my poster at the meeting, I decided to go for a run around SF. Long story short, I ran from my hotel (near the Civic Center) to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then to Fisherman's Wharf, before heading back to the hotel. If it sounds like a long run to you, it's probably because it WAS a looong run. I had planned it out so that I would have my post-run meal at an In'n'Out at Fisherman's Wharf. After a blistering run throughout the 45-degree sloped of Sn Francisco, this was a sweet sight for sore eyes (and legs!).


When I went into the restaurant, there was already a long line ahead of me. This particular In-n-Out was packed with tourists due to the location, but there were a number of locals too. As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do; so I ordered a double double meal. I just can't get over how funny the name is! :) So, the double double meal consists of a double double burger (double the patty and cheeese), fries and medium drink. The unlimited drink part was pretty awesome because I was sooo dehydrated after my run and I must say that I had never tasted a more refreshing or delicious Diet Coke in my life!


Mr oder took a little less than 10 minutes to complete, which makes me believe that they actually cook the food only after they received the order. Although the fries were unimpressive and were on the soggy side (McD fries are better), the burger itself was yummy. I could actually taste the meat! Unlike other fast food joints that serve burgers that are unbelieveably tasteless, I like the beefiness (yes, the BEEFiness) of an In-n-Out burger. As if this is not Cali enough, they wrap their burgers in paper instead of plastic, hand-cut their fries and lettuce, and only use vegetable oil. Isn't it awesome?

The rest of the time in SF, I spent munching and snacking instead of having big sit-down meals. I just wanted a taste of as many things as possible! Of course a trip to SF is never complete without a visit to the largest Chinatown in the US. I searched high and low for this one bakery my cousin brought me to previously, where I enjoyed the most luscious egg tart ever. After an hour or so looking lost and having lost hope, I found it: the AA Bakery & Cafe!

As with most Chinatown bakeries and cafes, this one was filled with older Chinese folks, enjoying their morning egg tart or other yummy pastries over a piping hot cup of milk tea (or nai cha). As for me, I made a beeline to purchase my favorite Chinese pastries: egg tart, steamed "paper" cake and a custard bun topped with a thin almond cookie.

Unlike the Chicago C-town bakeries, in SF, the egg tart shell is made with puff pastry, giving it a rich flavor, flaky texture and a delicate crispness that is distinct from the graham cracker-style crust used in other cities' C-town bakeries. The actually egg custard part is also much milkier and softer, which makes SF egg tarts my favorite ever!


The custard-filled bun topped with almond cookie (I don't know its official name) was also a yummy treat. I've never seen them in the Chicago C-town and I first had this with my cousin in SF a few years back. This bun combines a soft bready texture with the cool creamy filling and a lightly crunchy cookie top. Man, Asian cuisine is chock full of foods and dishes that combine different textures and flavors; and this bun is (in my humble opinion), the most delicious example of that.


The steamed "paper" bun (my absolute favorite Chinese pastry ever!) was not as good as the ones in Chicago (Chi-town pride!). It had a layer of crust (not hard, not soft) on top that the cakes in Chicago don't have. However, the flavor was spot-on and was perfect with a cup of strong latte.


And guess what?!?!? I was in Cali during the cherry season! When I saw a fresh shipment of cherries in C-town, I couldn't resist! Don't worry, I didn't buy all these (though I wish I did)!


On the last day of my trip, I was lucky enough to catch a farmer's market outside the Ferry Terminal building. I mean, how much more Californian can it be than a farmer's market? There were plenty of fresh fruit (cherries, peaches and berries were in season) and to my delight, there was no shortage of samples!




I was particularly struck by the impressive size of some figs and decided to try one. The fig was so big it covered the palm of my hand! Not only was it gigantic, it was actually quite delicious. It wasn't as juicy as some figs I had, but it was very seedy and not too terribly sweet. I enjoyed the subtle flavors and devoured it, skin and all.


As if all this fresh fruits and veggies wasn't enough, there were more gourmet stores in the Ferry Terminal building itself. The one that caught my eye first was Acme Bread Company. I've heard of the legendary Berkeley-based bakery and lucky me! They had a branch in SF! I mean, seriously, this place is so good that there were a couple of folks who made their pilgrimage here either first thing from the airport, or on their way to the airport. What better endorsement is there?



Although I was tempted by the baguette, I decided to stick with a classic: the butter croissant, which went perfectly with a piping hot cup of latte. The croissant was as croissants should be: flaky layers of buttery richness. I enjoyed it immensely, but it would've been infinitely better had it been warm, if only slightly (I know, I know, I'm so demanding!).


There was another bakery (or as they advertise, patissier) in the Ferry Terminal Building named Miette. Their delicate decor and beautiful pastries drew me to this store. In particular, I was enchanted by their macaroon offering.


Suddenly hankering for them, I bought one of each flavor: pistachio, rose, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Tha packaging was totally adorable, with the little cookies swaddled in pretty pink tissue paper within a mini Chinese take-out box with a handle.



Although I enjoyed the flavors of the macaroons, I was a tad disappointed by the texture. Unlike the crisp yet chewy macaroons I had in Paris, these Miette macaroons were just soft. It might've had something to do with having them all stacked up in the large cookie jars, instead of having them lined up in a single layer to be kept as dry as possible. Still, I liked the flavors of the macs, particularly the rose macaroon.

I'm really very happy with the trip to SF. There are still some places I would love to visit or eat at in the Bay Area. Fortunately, I won't have to wait long for that chance because I'm returning there in July for a friend's last hurrah of sorts :) Ciao!

Thanh Long
4101 Judah Street
on the corner of 46th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
415.665.1146

In-n-Out Burger
333 Jefferson St
San Francisco, CA 94133

AA Bakery & Cafe
1068 Stockton St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 981-0123

Acme Bread Company
One Ferry Building
Marketplace Shop #15
San Francisco, California 94111

Miette
One Ferry Building
Marketplace Shop #10
San Francisco, CA 94111

Devilled egg: simple party food with staple ingredients

A friend graciously invited a bunch of us for the Project Runway finale viewing at her place. Our Molecular Nutrition graduate program is famous (or is it notorious?) for loving our food. I mean, seriously, Nutrition program equals food, right? :)

Well, anyway, it was a potluck and I decided to bring something salty instead of my usual forays into the land of desserts. This is not my first time making these devilled eggs. I first made these for another friend's wine party earlier this year. Devilled eggs are no-fuss to make and are so delicious and nutritious; they belong in every party tray. Here's how I made mine...

Start with some nice-looking eggs.


Place the eggs in a pot and cover with room temperature water.


Next, bring water to a roiling boil and let the eggs boil for 5 minutes. Then, put the pot lid on and leave for 10 minutes.

Pour hot water out of pan and to make it cool faster, add tap water into the pot and leave for 5 minutes.

Next, peel the eggs. This is probably the most time-consuming part of the recipe, but I figured out a simple way to do it. Tap the egg on a hard surface lightly until it is cracked all over (and I mean ALL OVER). Now, start peeling from a spot. I was able to peel the egg easily, by pulling out the membrane layer underneath the shell. For one egg, I peeled off the shell in one piece ;)


Cut each egg lengthwise.


Scoop out the yolk into a medium-sized bowl and place the "hollowed" egg white shell on a platter with "hollowed" face up.


Once you've cut and scooped out all the eggs, mash the yolks. Add salt, pepper, paprika and Dijon mustard to your taste. You can add some mayo if you'd like it to be smoother. If you're piping out the mashed yolk mixture, it's recommended that you add the mayo for easier piping.


Scoop about a teaspoon of mashed yolk mixture on the hollowed egg white. If you want to be fancy schmancy, you can pipe the yolk mixture on.


At the end, garnish with a dash of paprika, sprig of dill or a sliver of chive. For a more substantial bite, you can top each with a teeny weeny slice of smoked salmon.

Now, isn't that a fierce?

Happy New Year to one and all!

The holiday season is almost over and I must say that I'm actually relieved. As you may know already, I was stuck in Chicago for the holiday season and ended up going in to work every day the whole month (and counting). It is days like these that makes me rethink the wisdom of my career choice. But anyhoo, the holiday season has been rather toxic nutritionally for me, what with sugary, chocolatey goodness tempting me from every single corner. I must say that I wasn't so effective at combating these tasty temptations and I've decided that I need to detox for the New Year, which brings me to my New Year resolutions.

Of course, there's the requisite resolution of losing weight and leading a more healthy lifestyle, but the one resolution that I think will be more manageable and achievable is to try something new culinarily at least every other week. This includes eating or making a new food I've never eaten or made before. I must say that I've made pretty good progress on this one resolution because I have tried one thing that I've never had before today: caviar. I've heard many rave about this luxurious, exquisite food and I've always been curious about it.

Considered a luxurious food item, real caviar is the processed, salted roe of the sturgeon. The most expensive are from the Beluga, Ossetra and Sevruga varieties. It is often used as garnish or served as an hors d'euvres with creme fraiche on a cracker or mini pancake. A friend of mine was nice enough to buy me a 2-ounce container of paddlefish caviar to further this project of mine. Sure, it may not be "real" caviar, but hey, grad students can't be choosers :)


I figured that since I was going to pursue such a luxury, I had to do it right. Upon more research, classically, caviar is served with a touch of creme fraiche on blini, which is a yeast-raised buckwheat pancake. I found this recipe on Epicurious and substituted some ingredients with whatever I had in my pantry. We started by mixing the yeast with warm water and sugar before letting it stand for 5 minutes until foamy, just to ensure that this dear eukaryotic microorganisms are still alive and well.


Then, the flours, salt, milk, eggs and butter were added to yield a thin batter that looks like this.


The batter was covered with plastic wrap and left to raise for about 2 hours, after which it looked a lot livelier and doughier, which was pretty darn cool! I've never made yeast-raised pancakes before and at this point, I wasn't really sure whether this was what it was supposed to look like, but I went ahead with it anyway.


For this purpose, I heated my nonstick skillet and sprayed it with some canola oil before spooning one tablespoon of the batter onto the skillet for each pancake or blin.


Like making normal pancakes, we wait until the bubbles have populated the surface before turning it and continue to cook until the blinis are browned on both sides. I found that about 1-2 minutes on each side sufficed.


The blinis turned out beautifully fluffy and light. The buckwheat flour, I think, adds a faint nutty flavor to it, which I liked. It was pretty darn good by itself, though a tad bland. It is so fluffy that I think I'm a buckwheat flour convert when it comes to pancakes. I might just start making yeast-raised pancakes too!

So, back to the highlight of this project, the caviar. Due to the unavailability of creme fraiche at my neighbourhood grocery store, I resorted to fat-free sour cream (my generous friend has a health condition that almost bans fat in his diet). Topped with a teaspoonful of sour cream, the blinis are ready for the star of the show. We then spooned a bit of the caviar onto each blini. Doesn't it look beautiful?


I must say that even though I've never had caviar before, the taste is very familiar. It's not terribly fishy, as I expected it to be, but it quite salty, which was definitely brought out by the (relative) blandness of sour cream and blinis. Many told me that superior caviars are in fact, not very salty. Good caviars contain less than 4% salt. It has a yummy crunchiness and I like that the flavor just invades the whole mouth once I bit into these dark, luxurious orbs.


At the end of the day, it was rather interesting. I wouldn't mind trying out the better sturgeon caviars that aren't as salty, but I'm not going to go out of my way to seek out the best caviar. After all, it isn't really within my humble budget. However, I loved loved loved the blinis. Those yeast-raised buckwheat pancakes were so good, even with my minot ingredient adjustments. I will definitely make the blinis again. The recipe's below and any ideas what would make a nice topping for this nutty, fluffy pancake?

Recipe for yeast-raised buckwheat pancakes (Blinis)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/4 teasp. instant yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup sifted AP flour
1/2 cup sifted buckwheat flour
1/4 teasp. salt
1 cup warm skim milk
3 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Stir together warm water and sugar with yeast. Let stand 5 minutes until foamy. If it doesn't foam, start with new yeast.

Add the flours, salt, milk, butter and eggs.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a roasting pan filled with about an inch of warm water.

Let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the batter has expanded in volume and has bubbles on the surface.

Heat nonstick skillet and spray on it some canola oil (or you can use melted butter if you want). Spoon one tablespoon batter for each pancake. Depending on the size of the skillet, you can probably work in batches of 3 each time.

Turn pancakes once bubbles surface and let cook for another minute or two.

These are perfect with creme fraiche and caviar, or simply with some berry jam and cream. Enjoy!

A perfect Sunday morning breakfast is...

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I find that it is the only weekend day when I can totally rest, wind down and really think of things that I don't have the time for during the work week. My favorite Sunday ritual?

Poring over the Sunday paper with a pair of scissors by my side over a mug of perfectly brewed green tea and a simple breakfast. "Why the scissors?", you ask. I'm actually a closet coupon-lover! I'm one of those geeks who loves the bulky coupon section of the Sunday paper, haha! Anyhoo, yesterday morning, I had the perfect Sunday morning breakfast of a mug of green tea (as usual) and a warm, flaky chocolate croissant fresh out of the oven.


I certainly do not have the skills to make croissants myself! I know it's an extremely labor-intensive process and from what I hear about the amount of butter that is used in making them, I would rather not visually witness the ton of butter that goes into my croissant. I actually bought a pack of frozen chocolate croissants from Trader Joe's, one of my favorite grocery stores ever. EVER!

Before I rave about this awesome product, let me just clarify that I do NOT work at TJ's or even own their stock (though I believe it's a privately-held company, but if they were to go public, I'd actually get some of their IPOs, that's how much I love TJ's!). For the benefit of those of you who do not live near a TJ's, it is an awesome grocery store that is most famous for the quality and range of products that they sell under their own name. They carry a lot of natural, organic stuff and are very very reasonably-priced. They're probably most widely-known for their two-buck-chucks (or three bucks in Chicagoland), their own brand of white and red wines that are pretty damn good for a few bucks. So anyway, I decided to try out their frozen chocolate croissants during my sojourn to TJ's this past Saturday.


In order to enjoy these croissants, you have to plan in advance (like, one day ahead) because you have to take them out of the freezer and leave it at room temperature overnight (approximately 9 hours) so that they can rise (or proof, in bake-talk). Check out how big mine grew!



After it proofs, all you gotta do is put it in a 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes and you can enjoy a warm, buttery, decadent chocolate croissant. My verdict? It is pretty darn good, actually! It's very buttery and rich, though not as flaky as some great croissants that I've tasted before. However, it's also definitely better than some croissants I've had from some bakeries too! I will totally buy this again because not only are they delicious, they are also so cheap and so easy to make! Seriously, $1 a piece for warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate croissants? It doesn't get any better than that :)