Dining In: NYC 2011 - Japanese Food Excursions

The Husband and I had our first amazing bowl of ramen at Samurai Noodle in the International District in Seattle. That was when we realized that similar to our unending search for the perfect pizza, we would be embarking on the unending search for the perfect ramen.

Naturally, we sought to continue this search in NYC. First, we and several (very patient) friends waited almost 2-3 hours for a table at Ippudo, one of the more famous ramen joints in NYC. We figured if we made the trip all the way out here we would need to give this place a try.

 Pork Belly Bun

 Akamaru Modern Ramen

Overall thoughts on Ippudo are that I am very glad we tried it, but I will not be returning again. The ramen is quite over-priced at $15 a bowl and while the flavors are quite amazing, they don't justify the price or the insanely long wait. Further, the pork belly bun is simply what I grew up eating at home with my momma's cooking. So while I am glad we tried it to see what the hype was about, I will likely head over to Totto Ramen on our next trip to NYC. 

The second location for our ramen search was at Mitsua, which is a Japanese supermarket in Fort Lee, NJ. Once entering the store, we saw a long line for a ramen stall in which they claimed to have flown in a ramen chef from Japan for "this weekend only." We of course bought into the marketing and had to try it.

Shio Ramen

Super clean, yet flavorful broth. Chewy noodles and great meat and egg pairings. I actually enjoyed this more than my bowl of ramen at Ippudo. 

Tonkatsu Ramen

From another ramen stall inside Mitsua. Compared to the shio ramen this broth was super enriched with fat and meaty flavor. The pork belly was a plus! 

Finally, The Husband chose over $30 worth of sashimi, which we devoured in less than 30 minutes. It was one of the most satisfying meals that we had on this trip. Fresh sashimi is nearly impossible to find in our area so we had to get our fill. 

Our ramen adventures will continue on as we try new places. I'd love to hear from you about the ramen places that you have enjoyed in different cities so we can start compiling a growing list of places to test out. 

Have a enjoyable Wednesday! 

Dining In: NYC 2011 - Flushing Food Tour

Since the Triangle area often feels like an ethnic food desert to us, the only requirement for our recent trip to NYC was Asian/Chinese/Taiwanese/Japanese food and a lot of it! Our friends, J&R, are huge fans of Flushing, NY and since this was where my family used to frequent during our Jersey days, I couldn't agree more. 

The NYTimes recently put together an interactive feature on the Flushing dining scene, which includes several places from our food tour. You can find the feature here. 

First up, Nan Shiang Dumpling House. This place is a treasure trove for soup dumpling and Taiwanese breakfast lovers. We loved it so much we ate here 3 times over the course of our week-long trip. 

Salted Soy Milk

Scallion Pancakes

so buttery, flaky, and crispy

Crab Soup Dumplings

definitely one of my favorite foods ever

Second place on our food tour was White Bear, an unassuming little food spot, that served killer handmade wontons with red oil sauce (number 6). They were so amazing. With limited seating, you might as well buy a box and eat them on the sidewalk, which is what we did. (A small price to pay for great food). 

Third food locale can be found at the Golden Shopping Mall, which contains one of the locations for Xi'an Famous Foods. However, inside there were up to 4 different food vendors from hand-pulled noodles to lamb noodle soups. If we hadn't been so stuffed, I would have tried it all. This location has a definite night-market feel so if you are really picky about ambience, you may consider another Xi'an location. (We even watched a lady feed her Pekingese noodles with chopsticks while we ate our noodles).

A1. Liang Pi "Cold Skin Noodles"

spicy kick and great noodle texture

B2. Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger

not a huge fan of cumin, but good texture of meat and bread

Hand-pulled Lamb Cumin Noodles 

 nuclear spicy level, but super tasty

This concludes part 1 of the NYC Food Tour, which given the sheer amount of food we ate, I've divided into 3 parts to be posted this week. Thanks for reading and hope you get to try these amazing places the next time you're in NYC. 

Have a great Monday! 

Thankfulness

All morning spent braving lines at Whole Foods. Check. Running around town for last minute supplies. Check. Pre-thanksgiving day preparation. No-check. Before the frenzy of prepping and cooking begins, I wanted to take a moment to just ponder and be in the moment of the holiday by myself.

Gratitude is something that I wish I could practice on a daily basis. Taking those precious moments to savor life as it is and to accept it and be thankful. In the busy days, I even have the nerve to (gasp!) complain. Getting to see the world through other people's eyes give me reasons to be thankful and I am very lucky that people are willing to share their lives with me in the ways that they do. 

Here's a list of things that warm my heart right now.

cooking

there is truly something therapeutic about carefully crafting each bite to share with family and friends

family

one never knows how much you'll miss them until they live thousands of miles away

cinnamon candles

reminders of my parents' home during the holidays

my little puppy

who loves to snuggle during cold winter nights

book clubs

with girls who challenge and inspire me

dark chocolate

to treat the late-night sweet tooth moments

friendships

new and old

The Husband

as the joys of a happy marriage keep you healthy

fall colors

red, yellow, orange, and browns all over town

Paris

first (big) trip with The Husband since our honeymoon(!)

What are you thankful for?

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

The Husband makes a killer Asian-style tonkatsu or fried marinated pork chop, but the process of frying and the smell of oil hanging in the house for days keeps us from making it often. One of the best parts of frying pork chops is that they are juicy and have great texture. 

Well America's Test Kitchen recently posted a recipe (and video) for crunchy baked pork chops. Baked alternatives to the foods that we love are often not very satisfying and make us run back to the unhealthier versions. However, this recipe was quite good with juicy brined meat and great crunchy crust. 

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 boneless pork chops no thicker than 1 inch and no less than 3/4 inch

1/4 cup table salt

1 quart water

4 slices good quality sandwich bread

3 garlic cloves, minced/garlic pressed

1/4 tsp of salt and pepper

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 shallot, minced

2 tbsp grated parmesan

2 tbsp parsley

Pinch of fresh thyme

A plate of all purpose flour

3 egg whites

3 tbsp dijon mustard

6 tbsp flour

Directions

1. Brine pork chops in salt and water. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

2. Break bread into 1-inch pieces and pulse in food processor for 5-8 pulses for 1 second each.

3. Mix minced garlic with bread crumbs. Add 1/4 tsp salt and pepper, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, and 1 minced shallot. Toss breadcrumb mixture and spread across baking sheet.

4. Toast breadcrumbs in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool.

5. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. 

6. Prepare 3 plates for breading:

A. 1 plate of all purpose flour.

B. 1 plate combining egg whites, dijon mustard, and 6 tbsp flour.

C. 1 plate for toasted breadcrumbs. 

7. Add grated parmesan, parsley, and thyme with the cooled, toasted breadcrumb mixture. 

8. Remove pork from brine and rise with water. Pat dry with paper towel and sprinkle with pepper. 

9. Bread in A, B, C order from the prepared breading dishes. 

10. Bake on wired rack sprayed with vegetable spray for 20 minutes until internal temperature is 150 degrees. 

Moist and tender meat with a crunchy flavorful crust. Brining actually does work! This will certainly be something I turn to when we are looking for a healthy, yet savory dinner. Served with roasted root vegetables or other sides and you have a complete meal. 

Have a (hopefully) swift pre-Thanksgiving Tuesday! 

See you after Thanksgiving when I update you all on how my first attempt with duck goes. Thanks for reading! 

Dining In: Washington, DC - Founding Farmers

To round out the week with dining in DC, last but not least Founding Farmers. A chic yet rustic restaurant that feels like country farm meets posh urban dining. We had brunch there and I am so glad we ordered the French press coffee (so smooth and delicious).  

Pretty suspended bird lights.

The piping hot doughnut holes were simply divine with chocolate, caramel, and raspberry dipping sauces. 

I had the Benedict Arnold with Sausage and Black Pepper Cream Gravy. Quite a heavy breakfast, but I love sausage and eggs. The leek hash browns were also quite good. 

The Husband had the Pastrami Hash, which he was also quite pleased with. 

I imagine that in most large cities, Sunday brunch is a time when most of the city is out looking for somewhere comforting to eat. This is certainly that kind of place, cosy and nourishing. I'm glad we tried it and next time we'll probably try to return for dinner or lunch to try some of their more complex dishes. *Note, this is definitely the kind of place you want to make reservations for. 

Have a fun-filled weekend!

Dining In: Washington, DC - Kushi

Dinner in DC was at Kushi. This is an izakaya-style Japanese restaurant, which I've never tried before. Imagine Japanese tapas with beer or sake = Izakaya cuisine. Everything was made right before our eyes from the frying, grilling, and basting. 

Delicious yellowtail. The first of our sashimi indulgences on this trip. 

Tender grilled pork belly. YUM. 

Grilled whole fish. Juicy, sweet, and super fresh. 

I can see how this would be a fabulous happy hour into dinner option as you eat and drink over several hours. All of these little dishes pack good punches of flavor and texture. The Husband loves Japanese cuisine and with its simplicity of presentation and refined flavors I can see why. We were able to get a corner end of the bar, which made chatting, watching, and eating all the more fun.

Have a great Wednesday! More east coast trip great eats to come. 

Dining In: Washington, DC - 2 Amys

Hi everyone! I'm back from my blogging hiatus and it was much needed. We recently took a road trip to NYC and spent one night in DC with a friend. Despite the fact that we drove head first into an early snowstorm on the East Coast, our first stop at 2 Amys was a great contrast to the wintry mix outside. 

The restaurant is casual yet chic. You feel like this is somewhere you can down a couple of bottles of wine with a table full of small plates, pizza and friends all the while discussing American literature or global warming.  

They had an amazing charcuterie selection, which in my opinion, made the meal. We had capocollo, prosciutto, and lardo. 

The pizza was so fresh with a thin and chewy crust. The cheese slid off the pizza easily into your mouth and the tomato sauce was super light and mild. While I could eat these all the time, in contrast to the charcuterie, I didn't feel like the pizza was the star of the show. Rather, the charcuterie was fabulous and provided a strong, flavorful note to the pizza.

To its credit, 2 Amys has D.O.C. certification for 3 of its pizzas, which stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which I learned after the fact. D.O.C. is considered to be the most authentic pizza you can get in the States. There are specific qualifications from the dough, to the oven, and imported ingredients. If this is what authentic neapolitan pizza tastes like then I think we need to make a trip to Italy pronto! 

Happy Monday and welcome back! Thanks for reading. :)