EN Japanese Brasserie - Still Solid

Our home girl Charissa was in town and as usual she was craving some Asian food, so I figured with Lan sadly gone, the next best place would be EN Japanese Brasserie. EN puts out some solid dishes, but it's in a kinda crappy location - not near any trains and I'm not down with any of the bars in the area. But, after my first visit in a long time, the food was so good I may have to come back soon.

Our Menu

Fresh Yuba Sashimi **
delicate tofu skin served with ponzu citrus soy
Fresh tofu skin had such a phenomenal soft milky texture that was balanced by the salty sour ponzu dressing. Really great stuff.

Uni Tamago Dofu ***
egg custard in dashi topped with sea urchin
The first WTF dish and like the dish before it was a perfect balance of textures and flavors. The sweet uni played off the richness and sweetness of the fluffy egg custard. Add the rich/sweet dahsi broth and this was flavor overload.

Sato-imo Croquette *
taro root & iwa-nori seaweed croquette
Nice and crispy croquette without being overly oily like a lot of tempura joints in the city. Filling was very fluffy and flavorful.

Sea Bass Kara-Age **
sake-marinated medallions lightly fried
Had this before and like the croquettes, these were fried perfectly without masking the flavor of the fish. Pretty awesome stuff.

Saikyo Miso Black Cod *
black cod marinated in saikyo miso, grilled
You can find this dish probably in any Japanese restaurant in America now. This was good, but not great. The miso was not overpowering like at some places, but the fish here should have been more tender and buttery. But, still a good dish nonetheless...sadly, Lan always knocked this dish out of the park.

Sautéed Duck Breast **
with grated daikon in ponzu citrus soy
Nicely cooked duck that is covered in grated daikon in ponzu dressing. The greated daikon with ponzu was so intense, but unfortunately the duck should have been a wee bit juicier in my opinion. With that being said, I still ordered some white rice to eat with the fun daikon ponzu topping.

En Garlic Shiso Fried Rice **
Don't know why, but I really loved this dish at the end. It was perfectly cooked rice with a nice garlic flavor balanced all throughout the dish. The three of us were killing this dish and we wanted more!

Chocolate Cake and Green Tea Ice Cream
Decent, but don't know if I would necessarily recommend this. The cake was a bit too eggy for me, but the green tea ice cream was out of control good. Save your money and hit up L'Arte nearby instead.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Tofu Croutons

by way of special correspondent Lady Fleur de Lys

Take a tetra-pak of Mori-Nu firm tofu and cut into 1 inch cubes. Lay on cookie sheet, season well and toss in olive oil. 400 degrees F and 2 hours later, voila...
You have some healthy tofu croutons that will keep in a ziplock back for a good 2 weeks.

Hey Song Sarsaparilla - 黑松沙士

When I crave a taste of Taiwan... and can't get to Flushing (Queens), I crack open a chilled can of Hey Song Sarsaparilla. Those of you who love Root Beer, the Sarsaparilla root is a main ingredient in Root Beer. Very pungent and oh so good.
Brings a tear to my eye...

Cakebread Chardonnay

Friends in the industry have been telling me Cakebread makes a mean chardonnay.
Wow! Were they right.
Not that overly buttery chard you think of when you here California. Great balance and high marks on the yumminess meter.

I picked up a bottle on my way to my buddy's place.
He made mussels, pasta pesto, baked branzino, and affogato last night.

Molto Complamenti! 

Soft Boiled Eggs

This is what happens when you have make an extra large batch of eggs. 
You have eggs 3 days in a row. 

Boiling Eggs

I actually don't mind if its 4 or 5 eggs in the morning. But deshelling 30 eggs is NOT fun.

Instructions :
Bring up to boil.
Cut heat and cover for 8 minutes.
Cold water bath to stop the cooking.
= Soft Boiled Eggs

Compost Cookies

Words can't describe how magically delicious Momofuku Compost Cookies are.

Wow are they good! Even priced at $1.85 a cookie, the overall goodness far surpasses its monetary cost.

For my "Girls" in the office

Every now and then, I like to treat the ladies in the office with a little home cookin'. 

Today's Menu :
Mapo Tofu
Slice of Pork Belly Chashu
Pickled Cucumbers
Miso Sauce
White Rice

Cooking Matrix

Quick & Easy Chicken Wing Recipe

Note: These are not Buffalo wings.

So I was invited to a party that was supposed to have around 25 people, and it was a pot luck. Most of the people were foreigners, so I needed to represent. Initially, I thought I would make my enchiladas and guacamole. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do something different. I called Porthos to discuss the menu, and he suggested ribs with a bad ass rub, and chicken wings. He sent me the recipe for the rub, but I couldn't find half of the ingredients, even after going to 5 stores, including an international market and a "spice depot." This leaves the wings.

I did a test run on a dozen wings, and I screwed up... but it turned out to be a good thing! I didn't pay close attention, and I heard a sizzling sound instead of a steaming sound, and, well... here's the recipe where I explain why the "mistake" was a good thing:

Ingredients:
Chicken wings
Coca-Cola
Ginger
Scallion (green onion)
Shitake mushrooms

Directions:
Throw wings in a pot, cover with Coke, and boil on high for an hour. While it's boiling, throw in a few sliced scallions, a few sliced shrooms, and a few slices of ginger. That's it! No really... that's it!!

So here's a nicer touch on what I discovered when I wasn't paying attention. As the Coke was boiling away, around the 50 minute mark, I heard the pot "sizzling." Umm, not good. This means all the Coke evaporated away, and everything is burning! I immediately dumped everything onto a plate, looked at it, and tasted the chicken. OMG, surprisingly, it was pretty darn good! Here's what happened - the Coke reduced into a thick, syrupy-like sauce and stuck to the wings. Add a little salt, maybe some Cayenne pepper, and you're in business!

This time around, I made 2 large pots. After an hour, the chicken was done, but the Coke was still there. I spooned out a lot of the Coke, and let it evaporate away. I plated the chicken wings, threw some sliced and diced scallions on top with some kale for garnish, and I brought it to the party. It was a hit!

At least I think it was. Everyone may have just been acting nice to me. :-D

Since many people asked me how I made it, here I am at 1:15AM writing this blog. Enjoy, all! And thanks again, Porthos

Wedding Cakes 101

IMG_7920
Originally uploaded by gkao007

1. You should always have ample refrigerator space for the finished product.

2. If not, make sure you have a ton of dry ice to keep the sugars from melting.

3. You should have a vehicle capable of transporting your 200lbs. wedding cake from point A to point B.

4. If not, make sure your Best Man has a vehicle capable of transporting your 200lbs. wedding cake from point A to point B.

Congratulations Kohji !!!

Having the right tools...

At the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, the chef Ron Seigel uses a bong to create cedar smoke to flavor quail eggs.

(taken from the NY Times)

Wu Liang Ye

I started my day yesterday at 4:30am, making sushi for high school students in the Upper West Side. Then a barrage of meetings here and there, finally finishing up at the Plaza Hotel around 9pm.

I had zero desire to cook for myself so I grabbed my co-workers and we all went to Wu Liang Ye and dined like kings. Or should I say, "Emperor".

I have always wanted to go here but never could round up people. That is until yesterday.

Wu Liang Ye - Highly Recommended
(I'm thinking like all Chinese joints, it helps when you speak their language and convey you specifically came here for authenticity)
36 W 48th St (btw 5th and 6th)
NY, NY 10036
212-398-2308

I'm deeming this joint my favorite Chinese restaurant in Manhattan for sure. Not that there's that much competition, but this was on par with a "mom's cooking".

Items ordered :
Tender Boiled Pork Belly with Spicy Garlic Sauce **
Pu Ehr Tea Smoked Duck *
Szechuan Boiled Dumplings in Chili Sauce *
Squash in Dried Scallops and Seafood Sauce *
Young Chow Fried Rice *

And the default house tea was Jasmine Tea. Extra bonus points for sure. 

Arnie Palmers

Ever since Aramis introduced to me Arnold Palmers (half iced tea, half lemonade), I've been a big fan. 
My coworker spotted a green tea Arnold Palmer today and got me a bottle.

And yes, its quite good.

Faster Food KFC

If you ever have a craving for the Colonel's original recipe... for $1.99 and about 15 seconds... you can charge into a KFC and demand a "get a grip" piece of fried chicken breast.

I just ate one and pretty happy I ventured to give it a try.

There are so many great fried chicken joints now that "fry" a whole lot better than this boyhood chain does, so this was the perfect palate teaser and gave me enough of the 11 magical herbs and spices that make KFC so damn nostalgic.

Food Network New Programming - Murder Mystery?

Looks like a former Food Network chef, "The Calorie Commando" tried to hire some homeless people to commit murder. Looks like he changed his format to slashing people instead of calories - wocka wocka wocka!
http://cbs2.com/entertainment/Murder.plot.food.2.1695659.html?detectflash=false

Madai (Red Snapper)

These were flown in the other day from Japan.
The Red Snapper (aka Madai) is considered the King of Fish in Japan.  Predominantly used for ceremonial and celebratory purposes. And delicious in any preparation.

I took part in a private cooking class held at the Japanese Culinary Center (Manhattan), where a Master Sushi Chef came in and taught us how to break down the fish and prepare the whole fish 5 ways.
From basic Sashimi, to Kelp Marinade, fried Scales, Simmered Split Head in Dashi and Soy, to Soup Stock with Bones.

www.japaneseculinarycenter.com

Ploi Thai

Kinda disappointed today for lunch, but will give them one more try. I desperately want a go to Thai place near my office.

In picture : Hot and Sour / Pork and Chicken Rice Noodle Soup.

How can pork be bad

Terrible "Lechon Asado" from this Cuban joint on Christopher Street in Manhattan. 1 block east of Hudson. The name of the place is slipping my mind, but it was horendous.

In no way was this a roasted tender suckling pig,as the menu suggested. 

Mitsuwa - NJ

Killer lunch special at Mitsuwa (Japanese grocery store and food court in Edgewater, NJ)

In the pic : $7.50 Gyudon with Miso Soup and Pickles