Sneak Peek: Noodles

Wow I haven't updated this site in too long.. have a lot of work to catch up with since the cruise trip. ^_^;; I promise I'll be better about it after my semester is done!

I've been making a lot of different types of noodle soup lately. Here's a sneak peek,:) I'll be following up with recipes soon!

Tonkotsu Japanese Ramen

Taiwanese Beef Stew Noodle Soup

 

Review: Plan B

Great gourmet burger place in Glastonbury, definitely a "plan A" I might say. :)

(Warning: Due to my spontaneous unplanned food cravings, the pictures in this post are brought to you by my Palm Pre.)

Plan B has a rustic feel, classic pieces recreated in new ways. The dining room area are lit by open dim incandescent bulbs and black crystal chandeliers. The bar has giant stacks of bottles lined up along the wall and classic wooden bar.

 Appetizer: Beef Wellington Bites
Plan B is supposes to always use never frozen organic ingredients so everything is really fresh and healthy. This beef wellington bites was really good, the beef was perfectly cooked. It's beef, mushrooms baked in a puff pastry with a blue cheese sauce. The beef is nice and pink center with a good char, well seasoned and it has the texture of a very tender fillet. I didn't really notice the pieces of mushroom though the flavor was there, the puff pastry was really well seasoned and buttery.. so tasty and goes great with the beef and garlicy blue cheese sauce, just melts in your mouth.. :D

Pretzle Burger with Parmasan Fries

What a sight. :) The burgers at Plan B are always pretty glorious, giant beef patties piled high with toppings. I actually have never tried this particular burger before, but it did not disappoint. This monstrous burger sits on a specially made pretzel bun with spicy mustard, lettuce, pickles, and cheddar. My burger came with some pink, just as I ordered. :) I really have to talk a little bit about this pretzel bun, it was really good, it's actually not HARD like a pretzel, it has a good chewy texture of a really good asian bread but with a thin skin of pretzels, the same kind of salty taste. The pretzel mixed really well with all the toppings, the spicy mustard and pickled played off that saltiness of the pretzel and keep you interested with the acidity. All the different flavors complements the beef and actually draws more attention to the nature flavor of the beef and the cheddar cheese just ties everything together. Mmm... plus since the beef patty was so thick it really preserved a lot of the nature juices in the beef.

The fries was really good too, it's the same thickness as mcdonlad fries and it's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, I was impressed how much parmasan was on each individual fries, it's as if it was cooked onto the surface of the fries. They most likely tossed the fries in the parmasan cheese right when it comes out of the frier so everything sticks perfectly.

Yup it was excellent, I need more of those fries.. haha :) I think this is my favorite burger out of all the ones I had there so far (italian job, baja, cajun). 

Plan B
120 Hebron Avenue, Glastonbury CT 06033


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Review: Szechuan Tokyo

I've been putting off blogging for too long! :( It's been really busy and kinda stressful since I started my new role at work, it's difficult being new again, especially since its a new field I need to learn everything and get a handle at the scope of the subject..I have to say, though I enjoy learning a broad range of subjects, I look forward to the day that I become a expert at something.

I kind of feel bad reviewing a meal so many days after the occurance, hopefully I can still remember everything well. I find the pictures really help me recall the qualities of the dishes.

This time I'm reviewing one of my favorite authentic Chinese restaurant around Hartford area, and hey, if I say it's authentic, it's pretty authentic. haha As you can see, Szechuan Tokyo has a pretty spacious dining area with some Asian decors, nothing too fancy:

I went with some co-workers for lunch, there was 8 of us so we had a family style meal as I order a couple of my favorite dishes for everyone.. I would recommend eating family style when you go to Szechuan Tokyo since their entrees are well sized for that purpose and you can get more varieties that way. Note that they have 2 different menus, one which is a menu book that is purely Chinese and another which is a single sheet with Chinese characters on it. I would only order from the Chinese menu if you're looking for something authentic, the english menu has the normal stuffs most American influenced Chinese places have.

So for our menu I ordered 7 dishes for 8 people (one of which was an appetitzer), and it was definately enough, we even had leftovers. :)

First up is the Braised Pork Riblets w. Black Beans. This is actually a appetitizer on the menu, but I'd say it's definately entree size, and for 7.95 it's a pretty good deal.

 

It's really good, the meat is really flavorful with plenty of black beans sauce, there is nice chunks of onion and hot green peppers in the dish that gives it a little kick. The rib is really tender around the bones, it tasted like the meat itself was marinated in the roast pork seasoning then stir fried in the black bean sauce, it's got that tad of roast pork sweetness to it that just keeps you wanting more. The only complain I have is that some end pieces of the ribs are used so it has some odd shape bone that is difficult to eat, and some people might even entertain the idea of having a piece of bone in their food. It doesn't bother me tho, it's pretty common in Asia.

I apologize for the blurry photo, we were kind of excited to eat so I had to take the pics rather quickly. This is the Dry Sauteed Chicken with Peppers.

This is one of the favorites around the table, I personally didn't get to eat too much of it (that's how fast it went away..haha). From what I had I thought it was pretty good, the chicken had a light crispy exterior, almost like it was fried before stir frying. The flavors were good, kinda spicy with the chili peppers and some nice crunch with the celery and to break the spice. The particular pieces of chicken I had were a little dry, perhaps it's different for some of the bigger pieces.

Chengdu Duck

Man, this duck kind of surprises you with the smoky flavor. You don't usually expect a lot of marinated flavor with duck since it's naturally flavorful, especially for roasted duck, the meat generally don't taste too much like anything other than duck (which is reallly tasty in itself IMO). This duck however is definately very well marinated with five spice before cooking, I suspect this duck was fried not roasted, or it was fried before serving, because the texture of the skin is definately a harder crispiness than how it would've turned out if it was roated. Overall I think the duck was really tasty, the flavors blends together really well to make a lip smucking savory taste that kind of lingers on your tongue. The meat itself was quite juicy, the skin a little too crispy, and the tip/leg end are a little dry, which is generally a common mistake for roasted meats.

Beef with Hot Chili Oil

Mmm.. this was my favorite. It's really spicy, with a lot of different kinds of hot chili peppers, including the szechuan peppers. Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavour that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers, but has slight lemony overtones and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth. Given the heat level of this dish I realy love the fact that the beef still tastes really good, that's a really important thing I'd say. Sometimes you get a spicy dish that all you taste is, spicy. Not this dish, you get the spicy flavors out of the oil and peppers, but the beef and veggies itself seems to have been stir fried before adding the hot sauce so it isn't completely obsorbed in the meat. That's how you get that tasty beef flavor along with the heat. Another note is that I noticed how tender the beef slices were, they were prepared in a coating of cornstarch and egg white (a common practice in szechuanese cruising, according to Lu), this serves to tenderize the meat and gives it that kind of sticky texture that adhere the sauce well. I really appreciate the cabbage, celery and cilantro in this dish as well, it just adds the freshness and that sparks of flavor.

Twice-Cooked House Smoked Pork Belly

Many people might not know, but the original "double cooked pork" was usually made with pork belly meat, which is the equivant of bacon meat in america. This dish was good as well, the pork were smoked in an traditional chinese flavor called "la lo", it's a pretty deep flavor that penetrates even the pork fat. It's kind of hard to describe.. but I guess it's kind of a roast salty smoky peppery flavor. Haha..The pork are cooked al dente so it's got a savory texture of the chewy skin/fat, and tender meat. There's big pieces of leeks and scallions in the dish as well, those flavors adds another dimension to this dish.

Bean Curd Home Style

This dish was good, not the favorites, but I think partially might be because we were used to the bold flavors of the other spicy dishes so this milder dish didn't stand out as well. The sauce is always important in a bean curd dish, since bean curd basically acts like a sponge and would easily absorb the sauce. This sauce was very garlicy and semi sweet, with a hint of vineger and heat. It goes quite well with rice.


Dry Sauteed Beef Tendon

I swear that I've gotten this same dish when I ordered their other beef tendon dish last time, might've been some kind of mistake. The beef tendon was stew tender and it's stir fried in a nice black bean garlic sauce, not really spicy. Pretty good.

All in all I would recommend trying out Szechuan Tokyo if you love spicy food, and remember to order from the Chinese menu! On a side note, they also offer live jazz on Thursdays and Friday which are usually quite good, so try it out for a nice after work hang out, though be sure to sit farther away from the speakers, it could get kinda loud. ^_^;;

Szechuan Tokyo
1245 New Britain Ave, West Hartford, CT 06110-2404



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Open Source: Grandma Ople's Apple Pie

I went apple picking the other week, and I picked at least 15lbs of apples..I always over pick when I go fruit picking. :P The funny thing is that I don't actually like eating apple on its own..! haha but this gives me a perfect opportunity to bake apples pies. :)

This is a apple pie recipe that I've been using for awhile now, it's absolutely incredible and really easy to make. (Modified from the original grandma ople recipe)


INGREDIENTS
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoon of lime juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 apples (try to have at least 3 different varieties) - peeled, cored and sliced

DIRECTIONS
*Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Toss all of the apples with 1/4 cup of the sugar, place in a colander set over a large bowl and allow to drain for 1 1/2 hours. Save the drained liquid (should have at least 1/4 cup).
   
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add the drained liquid from the apples, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer. Mix in cinnamon and lime juice.
   
3. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
4. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Yumm-o!

 

Tip: Dicing Onions

(I'm demonstrating with the shallots I cut from the chili sauce) It's very easy to dice onions if you don't cut all the way through when you make your first horizontal cuts

Leaving just enough to keep the whole thing attached, so when you cut the cross sections the whole onion will be really easy to handle, you can even cut it with one hand! lol

Open Source: Chinese Hot Chili Sauce

I just happen to have leftover shallots so I had the idea of making an aromatic hot chilli sauce with some of the spices I have around in my spice cabinet. :) It actually turned out really well, smells amazing and it really spices up any food you add it to. Check it out, it's super easy to make.
 

INGREDIENTS:
5-6 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 whole shallot (chopped)
1 tbspoon fermented black beans
3 cups of whole dry red chili peppers
1 tspoon of sesemi oil
1 cup of olive oil
sea salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:
*Note: make sure there's no water in the blender or jar when you store the sauce, it'll keep longer.

1. Blend chili peppers in blender/food processor into bits (you can try cutting it too, but it's kinda tough to cut dry peppers)

2. Heat the olive oil in the pan till hot, stir fry the chopped shallots till lightly browned
3. Lower the heat to medium low and add in black beans and red chili flakes, stir fry for 3 minutes (you can hear the popping sounds of the flakes in the oil, it smells awesome :) )
4. Add in the minced garlic and salt and turn off the heat
5. Drizzle the sesemi oil on the sauce and let it sit to cool.

Store the sauce in a glass jar, if you kept everything clean it'll probably keep for a coupe of months in the frige. :)

Open Source: Dark Chocolate Marble Ricotta Cheesecake

I know some people are wondering about my recipe for the cheesecake.. so here it is! Following the open source concept, feel free to try the recipe out, modify it, and share any new ideas! :)

INGREDIENTS:
12 oz of whole milk ricotta cheese, I sometimes put a little more than 12 ozs (the more the lighter and milkier, but could also be less smooth)
1 8oz bar of cream cheese
1/2 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of Semi-sweet chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:
*Preheat oven to 350F

Cheesecake Batter
1. Drain the ricotta cheese, take out as much moisture as you can, put
it in a cheesecloth and squeeze some liquid out. (if you don't have cheese cloth, paper towel work just as well)
2. Blend the ricotta cheese till smooth then add and blend in the cream cheese + sugar.
3. Blend in honey + vanilla extract
4. Mix in the eggs till just blended.

Chocolate Marble Batter
1. Heat and melt the semi-sweet chocolate in a bowl.
2. Add in half cup of the Cheesecake Batter you made, mix well.

Pour the cheese mixture over the crust in the pan. Spoon on chocolate marble batter and swirl the batter with a knife. Place the pie pan in a large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the pie pan. Bake until the cheesecake is golden and the center of the cake moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour and 5 minutes (the cake will become firm when it is cold).

Transfer the cake to a rack and cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold..then devour! :)

Tip: Chocolate Marble Cheesecakes

So maybe everyone already know this, but it's actually really easy to make a swirl/marble and not have to worry about it sinking or doing something unexpected. All you need to is to melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips and the trick is to mix that with a cup of the actual cheesecake batter then spoon some on top of the poured batter and just use the knife and swirl it around to make the marble pattern, this way you get the dark chocolate taste without the difference in texture or density(not too much at least). :)

Just baked this dark chocolate swirl ricotta cheesecake yesterday, probably not a great picture representation of a marbled cheesecake.. but you get the point. :)

Review: Sakura Garden Japanese Steakhouse

I had a pretty heavy lunch today at work so I decided to go have some sushi for dinner with one of my college friends. Naturally I decided to go to Sakura Garden in Glastonbury. It's one of my favorite Japanese place around here, there's not that much options, but this one is pretty nice I'd say.

One thing I really enjoy about this place is the ambiance of the dining area, it's got a trendy techno feel, kinda different from a lot of the other places in CT.

I wish I had my real camera with me, so I apologize for the bad quality photos, it will not happen again. >_< haha though I wanted to try out the geotagging function of the pre camera. (for those of you who knows me knows how obsessed I am over this phone and its functions.. maybe I should start a phone blog too? haha)

Anyhow, Khanh and I shared a boneless grilled honey ribs as our appetitizer:

It was pretty good, taste kind of exactly like what you would get for roast pork from a Chinese restaurant, except a bit sweeter. It's in a interesting bowl that looks like a plate from the top down but its actually a bowl on the bottom (did I mention this restaurant has neat plate set? Seems to be a trend in most Japanese places). The honey glazed pork was hot, and it was laid on top of a bed of cold pineapples, the combination went together surprisingly well. Nothing too special tho.

But of course I was there really for the sushi. I ordered a smoked eel avocado roll and a spicy tuna roll:

The rolls were delicious, the eel rolls were slightly smaller than the regular rolls but it's got the flavor to rival against. The eels were nicely cooked, very juicy and goes down smoothly with the avocado. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of filling they give you in the spicy tuna roll:

(you want some rice with that tuna?)
Some people might not like it that way, but seriously.. why not?? The roll was tasty, though it was not really spicy, but I am usually disappointed at the lack of heat in spicy rolls. I do like the fact that they add a bit of the crispy tempura pieces in the mix to add that little crunch factor, could definitely use a little more though.

Overall it was a good experience as usual, I always feel pretty good after eating sushi, kinda refreshed and light. Definitely a good choice after a heavy lunch day. :)

Here's my first time making a geotag photo map, it's pretty awesome.. basically my phone gps automatically embeds location coordinates on the photos I take with my phone and I can load them onto the computer and it'll automatically map themself to google map (after going through some setup process of course).

Sakura Garden
120 Hebron Ave, Glastonbury

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Spur of The Moment

In the spur of the moment I decided to create this blog. I mean.. I've actually always been thinking about it: a blog about food. It's only natural, since food has always been one of my passion, it's silly I know. But I just love eat food, describing them, and I even love taking pictures of food, what can I say? :) So now I have a home for all my enthusiasm! Haha be prepare to come with me on a culinary journey through life, let it be restaurants, cooking, or any food related topics.. I'll be there.

With that said, I dunno why I am creating a food blog at 2:27AM at night when I have to wake up for work tomorrow at 8AM, this just goes to shows how committed I am doesn't it? haha

-Aiki