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up again winning an award for being one of the spiciest foods in nyc again a favorite food of mine anything spicy it had to be done had to despite being a little out of the way and in a neighborhood that us two were so out of place in that we got asked twice in the block between the car and the restaurant if we were lost by the cops we were impressed taking preventative measures or being helpful unclear once in the restaurant we would have been out of place had there been anyone else there we ordered seafood soup pictured and chicken stew aside from containing nearly an entire crab multiple prawns clams and a good chunk of fish the soup had tripe chicken feet and a pork knuckle i was impressed at the array of stuff in it as a sopped it up with fufu the thick starch it was served with it was spicy in the best kind of way a slow burn that works its way into every part of your mouth including the outside leaving you with fruit punch lips akin to that kid in elementary school the chicken was less spicy but possibly even more flavorful the underlying richness in these foods the warmth and flavor that is cooked into them really sets them apart a pair of gentleman in cable company uniforms sat at one of the other tables they held their giggles at our tears of pain and joy regarding the spice level and asked us if we were enjoying it we were they were from liberia they told us and loved the food at maima s it was just like what their mama would make in africa if that is not what an immigrant cuisine restaurant can strive for i m not sure what is all i know is that i d like to borrow a liberian mama maima to start a restaurant in seattle xi an fine foods xi an fine foods is no news to people in new york i d like to hope that anyone who truly loves great food wouldn t find it news either the shop we went to is in the basement of the flushing mall mall being a loosely used term zigging and zagging through a maze of deliciousness we got distracted by a dumpling here a soup there before we got to this stand lamb hand pulled noodles were the only thing on my mind until i looked at the menu then i wanted everything but i was there for the noodles and i d found to many distractions on my way in to afford more stomach room those noodles the most friendly little texture a noodle ever did have filling my mouth with big thick noodle then chewing apart with the lightest of toothy touches the flavor stood up to the texture spicy savory that combination of middle eastern cumin edge with bright popping chinese cooking techniques this is the noodle dish that my dreams are made of nan xiang xiao long bao we actually ended up going here twice by accident that was a very happy accident disappointed that new yeah shanghai house our favorite soup dumplings or xlb seemed to have closed we had researched what the next best might be and come up with nan xiang we went just the two of us and really enjoyed them i didn t think they were as good as new yeah but i did like it better than those from joe s shanghai and a number of others in new york a few days later we were headed back to flushing chinatown with my friend t a flushing native in fact her dad owns a restaurant in the area which has sadly been closed every time i ve been in town i ve had his food though me her fathers lobster sauce and a 5 hour drive it was not pretty right back to nan xiang t was excited to bring us to her favorite xlb spot in the hood which was of course nan xiang she felt bad that we had already been but us having been already were not complaining the food was again great this time we were able to branch out and try a few more things i wasn t a fan of their other dumplings but the noodles and the rice cake dishes were both excellent and then we found a giant pile of frozen awesome it was almost 100 degrees out and this was mango flavored frozen awesome from a basement of a mall behind nan xiang filed under african chinese new york offal seafood soup travel 1 comment aura at nita lake lodge in whistler posted on december 22 2010 by thegastrognome whistler is like a second home for me i grew up flying down its slopes and was raised on the what little great food was available there in 1989 not to sound too much like an old timer but when people ask me for a restaurant recommendation in whistler both the places i suggest have been open since the mid 80s sushi village and the rimrock now i have a third suggestion though i ve been there a tiny fraction okay the once of the times i ve been to the others i m inspired and hopeful about the ambitious innovative and yet totally fitting menu that aura at the new and already under new management restaurant at the nita lake lodge like so many restaurants aura had an off season prix fixe menu that was a great value we ended up there because my father had been previously for cocktails and snacks on the porch and was impressed meanwhile the rimrock was closed for a private party and the bearfoot bistro another place i d heard good things about and is not affordable in season couldn t be bothered to answer their phone i mentioned on twitter that we would be checking out aura and the restaurant wrote back excited i mention this only because some of the treatment we got is most likely not normal after talking with the manager i learned that he and the chef had previously worked together at the famed wickaninnish inn in tofino it made sense that the adventurous yet locally focused food had a history in tofino as between the wick inn and sooke harbour house that s what the town is building a name around you can see for yourself that the menu is ambitious and creative while i was sad that they didn t have the chicken oysters in savory oatmeal while i was there i enjoyed my appetizer which was the a duck confit agnolotti afloat in a mushroom broth so rich that robin hood would have been eying it the pasta on the agnolotti was rolled thicker than ideal but it held up to the broth because of this and once opened the soup was further enhanced by the meat my dad had a seafood ceviche trio that was fresh and bright accompanied by angostura bitters foam mandatory eye roll for foam compressed watermelon hitting food trend nail on head and my favorite part the granulated local honey the sweet of the honey and fruit matched up well with the seafood but it was the texture of the granulated honey that i thought made the dish that little bit of crunchy sweetness with the soft seafood after our appetizers and our ridiculously cheaply priced and good cocktails the chef came out to say hello he mentioned that he was doing all his charcuterie in house i know that my face lit up i love cured meat like a fat kid loves well cured meat he very kindly brought us a charcuterie sampler which was accompanied by a lovely fruit beer not my usual style but it paired perfectly my favorite from the platter was the veal cheek pastrami though the pickled tongue was also delicious as part of the off season prix fixe 41 3 course menu in season the chef told us there would be more options but it would be more expensive we got the previously mentioned appetizers as well as mains and a dessert the amuse bouche was a nice touch though not overly memorable for our mains my dad s tongue twister of a dish was charred arctic char with swiss chard hardy har har a perfectly cooked piece of fish with lovely accompaniments but my braised veal with buttermilk spaetzle was unbelievably good my dad refused to believe that such flavor came from simply grilled and braised meat could be so good and was asking for what spices were used i just continued to fork off pieces of meat did i mention the amount of meat on this dish could have fed a family of four we finished up with dessert or in my case a cheese plate of local varieties which was nice as i had never tried any of them before overall the meal was an incredible deal and while i will definitely be back for the prix fixe menu for as long as it remains such a good value three courses including an entree big enough for leftovers for 41 most of all though the 7 10 cocktails and the charcuterie plate really stood out for me which means i think i know where i m going drinking next time i m up in whistler as is often the case with ambitious chefs i worry that the crowd willing to put down the cash for the food will be too stodgy for the creativity it offers and that by the time i return in the next off season for a second helping the chef will have been stifled all i can do for now is keep my fingers crossed and plan my next meal filed under charcuterie dinner expensive travel tagged aura nita lake lodge whistler leave a comment alterna thanksgiving peking turkey posted on december 17 2010 by thegastrognome somehow somewhere i got the idea that i needed to make a peking turkey for thanksgiving this year it was extravagant cross cultural a project it was perfect most people just looked at me sideways as i excitedly described my plan i even found evidence that someone had done it before and was able to use their recipe to guide me my parents left town for thanksgiving and left to my own devices i took over their kitchen nicer than mine and there s a dishwasher and created a feast with my friends photo by valentina vitols i was also lucky enough to have the amazing valentina at thanksgiving dinner so she is responsible for the incredible photos of the meal we set the turkey on a bed of sliced radishes and scallions and sliced it in traditional peking duck style with the skin separated from the meat coming from a girl not really enthralled by traditional roast turkey this was my personal favorite preparation of turkey it took a little bit of work but not much more than a brined bird about 20 minutes the day before and two hours plus prep and resting time on the day of photo by valentina vitols this is my sweet potato gnocchi from an old recipe sauteed with sage i m a sucker for dough based items so this was a great alternative to traditional mashed or baked sweet potatoes photo by valentina vitols k and t brought these super easy and quick appetizers so easy that since the kitchen was in such heavy use k was able to prepare these while sitting on the floor with a cookie sheet just unroll a sheet of pilsbury crescent dough spread with cream cheese top with a a layer of roast beef and a little arugula roll up slice and bake not my usual route but they were delicious and i could definitely see doing riffs on this with herbs and horseradish for extra zing they were a huge hit photo food by valentina vitols these would be even better if only we had a little bacon someone said perhaps it was r valentina s husband as she crafted these little arepitas mini venezuelan corn pockets bacon was procured we had to add it to butter for the oyster stuffing if i m honest arepitas were stuffed beecher s cheese curds and bacon and then consumed i m impressed that valentina managed to snap a photo but she s good like that it wasn t a traditional thanksgiving by any means but it was a delicious one with good friends good wine and great food filed under chinese dinner event home cooked meal tagged asian turkey chinese thanksgiving peking turkey thanksgiving leave a comment steamy whole wheat kabocha rolls posted on november 30 2010 by thegastrognome the heat in our apartment appears to be controlled by martians so the cool days have been inspiring me to do something i fear like the reaper bake by martians i may actually mean the girls that live below us point is its cold during the day so instead of being productive with work i want to bake i had an idea in mind though stumbling across this post confirmed to me that it was a good idea i also had a kabocha squash my very favorite kind sitting on the counter squash winter warm bake visions of warm buttery rolls floated through my head emitting puffs of steam when you pulled them apart letting pats of butter melt into their every crevice knowing that baking isn t my forte i set out to make something involving flour eggs and squash and then a few quick hours later there they were too hot to handle ready to fulfill all of my bread related fantasies if you still have giant amounts of cranberry sauce left as i do it makes a great compliment to these whole wheat kabocha squash rolls 1 small to medium kabocha squash canola oil 1 2 cup warm water 1 5 tsps baking yeast 2 tsps brown sugar 2 eggs 2 cups white flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 3 tsps salt more flour for the board rub the oil on the outside of the squash and roast it until soft for me this was about 30 minutes in a 375 oven cut it open scoop out the guts and toss then scoop out the meat and save put the water and the yeast into the bowl of a food processor then add the sugar leave it for a few minutes then add the eggs and squash about 2 cups and process until smooth at this point add the salt and leave the processor going on low and add the flour through the tube once all three cups are in let it process until it forms a ball or close to it you ll probably want at least a little more flour but i err on the low side its easier to add than subtract once you ve got it in a ball place on a floured board cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for an hour roll in to balls i got ten out of this cover and let rise another 45 minutes to an hour if your house is freezing you can turn on the oven and let it come up to 375 degrees while you sit in front of it during this time either way place on a floured pizza stone or baking sheet and put it in the oven after about 5 minutes open the oven and splash a little water in this gives the rolls a crustier exterior let it keep baking for about 25 minutes in total then cool and eat or don t cool and eat filed under baking tagged kabocha rolls squash whole wheat 4 comments gin class learning to love a new spirit and a contest posted on november 13 2010 by thegastrognome no b said definitely on the phone when i asked if he wanted to attend a free gin class with me that night i was taken aback by this sudden change of heart usually he can be bribed anywhere with the thought of free booze i had emailed him but when he called i thought i d bring it up the phone rang again seconds later after he had seen the email gin class i thought you said gym class i sighed in relief that my boyfriend had not been kidnapped by alcohol hating aliens if you are a gin lover you can stop reading right now as i understand it gin aficionados don t like hendrick s by whom the class was sponsored also this post is the story of me learning to appreciate a new beverage and encouraging others in the anti gin coalition to give it a shot if you already like gin you don t need encouraging on the other hand if you re like me and think most gin and gin based cocktails leave you with that feeling that you just got lost on the way to the bar and ended up in grandma s perfume drawer then this is for you the class was sponsored as i said by hendrick s gin much like t...