KitchenSidecar

UNDERGROUND DINNER: LAQUE DUCK PARLOR

2011-11-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

Saturday, November 19th | 6:30pm
$50 / BYOB
Exact location emailed the day of the dinner

We're hosting a seven-course Laque Duck Parlor next Saturday, November 19th, the first of our dinner series.

As it gets colder, we're moving from street food to sit-down dinners -- unique places that we’ll transform into our version of a Chinese banquet hall combined with a Vietnamese family-style meal, complete with red and gold decor, communal plates, and steaming soups served in red rimmed bowls.
Join our feast on Saturday, November 19th by purchasing tickets here.
In little red stools and rice paper,

Katie + Valerie

MENU

basket of SHRIMP CHIPS

handmade U.S. wild rock shrimp chips

bowl of MACKEREL RICE PORRIDGE | CHAO CA

rice porridge with a salted mackerel, slow cooked egg,

ginger, scallions, and white pepper

DUCK CONFIT IMPERIAL ROLLS | CHA GIO

with mustard greens, and egg noodles

wok fired CHINESE LONG BEANS

with dried shrimp and chilies

LAQUE DUCK BUNS | VIT QUAY

crispy roasted duck in steamed buns, hoisin, cucumbers, scallions

COCONUT SORBET

black sesame powder and almond cookies

a fresh plate of DRAGON EYES fruit

Purchase tickets here

---------------

INSPIRATION
The Laque Duck Parlor was inspired by dishes we’re obsessed with, like Laque Duck, a Peking duck marinated in lime and fish sauce. We’re doing duck two ways: one more Vietnamese (Duck Confit Imperial Rolls, inspired by a soup dish) and Laque Duck Buns that gives a nod to it's Chinese roots with its highly coveted browned, crispy skin, which we achieve by using state-of-the-art technology (aka air compressors). Learn more about our process here.
Our Shrimp Chips, a requisite with Peking duck, were handmade using a three-day process involving some serious summer sun, typically done in Southeast Asia but something we’ve never seen in the States. Wok-Fired Chinese Long Beans is one of our favorite dishes to eat out and fight over with our friends (so much it’s necessary to order at least two). And as customary after a banquet, we’ll be serving dragon eyes, a fresh fruit similar to lychees, but smaller and sweeter.

Spotted: My Doppelganger

2011-11-14T00:59:00.001-08:00

I was watching clips of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, and did a double take when I saw what looked like myself in the video.

I suppose you would've had to know me as a pubescent teenager, but the girl on the left-most side is a dead ringer for moi! I finally found my doppelganger!!!

Pilgrimage Down The Block: A Street Food Short

2011-10-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

Thisstory pre-dates me having a car – for, if I did, we certainly wouldnot have ended up on the side of the road or, moments later, in theback of a Cadillac Escalade. You see, it was the Divisadero Art Walkand Valerie and I had decided to set up outside The Independent to sell Banh Xeo (vietnamese crepes) and Pho Ga (Chicken Pho) to comersand goers, smokers and scalpers.

(Photo by Phil Carter)

Afterbooking a Zipcar, hustling out for groceries, and packing our Mazdato the brim with portable stoves and little red stools, we were onour way to the show.

Ourfatal mistake came an hour and a half into our Zipcar rental when itexpired. Amidst loading coolers of chicken stock and securing quartsof pancake batter, we were drained of time. Back at the Zipcar lotwe made an attempt to rent another car so we could get to ourdestination, unload, and set up. Of the eleven Zipcars housed in theFell and Divisadero gas station, not a single vehicle was available. None. What was worse, we only had two minutes to vacate our car. With no safe place to stow our gear, we stashed it in the bed ofsomebody else's unclaimed Zipcar pick up truck.

Ishould probably mention that The Independent is a total of fiveblocks from our respective houses, and two blocks from the Zipcarlot. However, when you have a six ft table, two coolers, fourstoves, two stock pots, and a trail of little red stools those two blocks are unsurmountable.

Ofthe options we reviewed, my favorites were: setting up in the Zipcarlot under the gas station sign (excellent lighting), serving out ofthe back the pick-up truck (whose renter still had not shown up toclaim his car), and getting Ubercab to take us and all our shit twoblocks to our destination (in their town car). Hailing a cab provedfutile as it was rush hour in a city with no cabs. And we were onthe wrong side of the street for Muni.

“Valerie,I think we're gonna have to bum a ride.” I was half joking, halfdesperate.

Ihad bummed rides before, but only in Asia (and Mexico). Here, on myhome turf, I was pessimistic. Have you ever hitchhiked in SanFrancisco before? So close to upper Haight, I was worried peoplemight get the wrong idea about me. Who gives rides to two girls andtheir kitchen in San Francisco?!

Notsurprisingly, Valerie found the answer.

Turningher eye towards the cars filling up at the gas station, sheapproached the biggest load-bearing one she could find: a CadillacEscalade pick up truck. You'll have to ask her what was said betweenthem, but 40 seconds later Valerie had convinced the young couple togive us and our kitchen a ride down the street.

Iwas utterly floored by their generosity and kindness. The wife, Iassume (I'm embarrassed to say that I don't remember her name),helped us to load everything into the back of the truck, evenrearranging her stuff to accommodate ours. She did not bat aneyelash when there was a little spill in the bed of the car (“I'vegot rags!” Valerie hollered). Who were these people? Sitting inthe back of their car I wondered, into what world of San Franciscodid I just stumble?

Icouldn't understand it. These were the type of people who had whiteleather interiors, mini bottles of water, and scented wet wipes. What the hell were they doing giving two girls and their stock pots aride?

Throughoutmy travels in Asia, I have always wished that I could experience thesame sense of discovery I feel abroad, here at home. Stranded, fiveblocks from my house, I climbed into the gigantic car and navigated through tinted winows.

Needlessto say we arrived in style.

August Moon Festival + Piggies!

2011-09-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

This edges on eerie...

Happy August Moon Festival. Eat lots of moon cakes and, if you're in SF, come on down to Mojo Bicycle Cafe to share one with me for Rice Paper Scissors Banh Mi Thursdays!

Rice Paper Scissors + Blue Bottle Coffee!

2011-08-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Blue Bottle
On Sunday, September 4th we'll be serving up breakfast banh mi sandwiches and Vietnamese coffee at Blue Bottle's kiosk in Hayes Valley from 10am-3pm.

We've been eyeing this alleyway for years, and we're happy to announce we'll be setting up a shop next to their cool little garage/kiosk. Vien (Blue Bottle's barista trainer) graciously showed us how to make his version of Vietnamese coffee using their 17 ft. Ceiling blend (read more about his previous Viet coffee endeavors on SFoodie). We'll be making it with the traditional Vietnamese filters to give you that nice full-bodied flavor with a hint of condensed milk.

//////////Sunday Brunch @ the Blue Bottle Kiosk//////////
315 Linden Street, San Francisco, CA
Sunday, September 4th
10am-3pm

Breakfast Banh Mi - $8
with fried egg and chua lua (Vietnamese ham)
and all the fixin's: homemade mayo and pate, pickled veggies, cilantro, jalapenos
* can be made w/o ham (for the vegi inclined)
Vietnamese Coffee - $3
with Blue Bottle 17 ft. Ceiling and condensed milk (can served iced or hot)

Rice Paper Scissors Goes Up North!

2011-08-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

__
Rice Paper Scissors North
Wednesday, August 10th
6:30-9pm
Location: Announced the day of
Follow @ricepapersf or sign up for the email list to receive the tip

Chris McNally
Hanoi is home to some of Vietnam's more treasured dishes: chicken pho and beef pho, the gateway dishes of Vietnamese cuisine. But since they're a staple in the Bay Area, we wanted to pay tribute to a few of our favorite (and perhaps lesser-known) Hanoi dishes.

Katie's obsessed with the Butter Braised Sweet Corn and Dried Shrimp (Bap Xao), the first Vietnamese street food item she ever tried. She recalls street vendors quickly sauteeing it up, mixing a simple combo of butter, corn, shrimp and chili with scallion oil to create the most succulent and tasty treat.

I'm excited to cook Crab and Shrimp Rice Noodle Soup (Bun Rieu), my first childhood food obsession. My grandma made me this tomato broth soup topped with chunks of ground crab and shrimp and served with rice noodles, fried tofu and Vietnamese herbs.
Lastly, we're bringing a cult favorite from Hanoi: Pan-Seared Tumeric Fish with Dill (Cha Ca). If there is one dish that sums up Hanoi, it is this sizzling hot pan of golden catfish. Born in a quiet alleyway in Hanoi, Cha Ca, or pan-seared tumeric fish, perfumed the air with it's heady mixture of tumeric, galangal, and dill. So well received was this pairing that it gave what is now known as Fried Fish Alley it namesake.
These days, many Hanoi restaurants serve up this simple yet addictive dish. However, none is more renowned than Cha Ca La Vong, which lists it as the solitary item on the menu. Despite its modest decor, hungry eaters brave death-by-motorbike to get down on this fish. Served on a bed of rice noodles and a generous sprinkling of peanuts, it is the only thing patrons need. That, and a cold beer to wash it down. We're only doing a limited number of this dish, so make sure to pre-order it here before our event.

It's awhile since our last pop-up, so we're excited to come back with our biggest menu yet (after the jump!) Join us as we bring truly distinctive Hanoi dishes to the streets of San Francisco!

In little red stools and rice paper,

Valerie + Katie
P.S. If you dig this poster, our uber talented friend Chris McNally will be selling his handmade prints at our pop-up. Be sure to check out more of his bike-inspired prints currently on display at Mojo Cafe.

----MENU----

Rice Paper Scissors Goes North

Wild Rock Shrimp Chips

housemade wild caught shrimp

Honey Caramelized Pork Jerky

housemade and grilled-to-order

Green Papaya Salad

served with fried shallots, roasted peanuts, Vietnamese herbs and house pork jerky

Butter Braised Sweet Corn and Dried Shrimp

sauteed with Thai chili and scallion oil

Crab and Shrimp Rice Noodle Soup

crab and shrimp stuffed tomatoes with fried tofu, rice noodles, and morning glory in a tomato broth

Pan-Seared Tumeric Fish

tossed with galangal, dill, and scallions on a bed of rice vermicelli

and served with black sesame crackers, fresh herbs, and roasted peanuts

pre-order here

Pork Belly Banh Mi

Vietnamese sandwich with pork belly, housemde chicken pate, mayo, carrot/daikon pickles, jalapenos

Seared Tofu Banh Mi

Vietnamese sandwich with Maggi-seared tofu, mushrooms, housemade mayo, carrot/daikon pickles, jalapenos

Vegan Seared Tofu Banh Mi

Vietnamese sandwich with Maggi-seared tofu, mushrooms, vegan mayo, carrot/daikon pickles, jalapenos

Coconut Sorbet

housemade sorbet with black sesame powder

Iced Ginger Limeade

young ginger and fresh lime juice

A Visit to Fog City Rabbitry

2011-07-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

A visit to David Tulkin's Fog City Rabbitry yields Flemish Giants, 14 babies, a breeding, an accidental brother sister breeding, and a rabbit terrine. Curious? These are just a few clips - much much more to come!

Fog City Rabbitry Rough Cut from katie kwan on Vimeo.

Shot and directed by Kasia Cieplak of fake tv and The Atlantic.

Want to buy rabbit for your next meal? Get down to Fog City Rabbitry and buy the freshest little beast you'll ever get!

The best way to get in touch with David is by email at fogcityrabbitry@gmail.com.

--Additional Info--

website: http://www.facebook.com/FogCityRabbitry

interview: http://rabbitbreeders.us/fog-city-rabbitry

posterous: http://dtulkin.posterous.com/

twitter: http://twitter.com/dtulkin

Rice Paper Scissors Gets a Roof - Thursdays @ Mojo Cafe

2011-07-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

Brian Chan
We're very excited to announce that Rice Paper Scissors will be serving up banh mi sandwiches and more at Mojo Cafe every Thursday starting July 21st. In Vietnam, vendors build their notoriety selling the same street corner day in and day out -- and since we're a fleeting pop-up -- we wanted to create a regular spot where you can find us.

Our Thursday night menu will feature three comforting and simple items: a bar snack, banh mi sandwich and a drink or dessert. Pop on over and grab a beer with lotus root chips or pick up a pork belly banh mi after work or before a show at The Independent. Staying true to Mojo and Vietnam's bike culture, we offer free bike delivery for our banh mi sandwiches and more.

Brian Chan (left) and Patrick Kawahara (right)
Why Mojo? We both made our home in and around Divisadero, holding our first Rice Paper Scissors brainstorm-sesh in that orange bicycle-cum-coffee-shop. We've also posted up outside The Independent to sell breakfast banh mi to the fun late night crowd. And we crave the Divisadero love, so we were so excited when Remy (Mojo's founder and resident Frenchie) invited us in.

Patrick Kawahara
You can still find us at our roving renegade restaurants, held in alleyways and warehouses once a month, but now you know where to get your weekly banh mi fix.
Hope to see you at our grand opening July 21st (and hopefully every Thursday thereafter!)
In little red stools,
Valerie + Katie

Patrick Kawahara
-------

Rice Paper Scissors @ Mojo Cafe
639 Divisadero Street (at Hayes)
Every Thursday evening starting July 21st, 6-10pm
Walk-ins and take-out
Free bike delivery
Check out our RPS @ Mojo page for our menu and takeout instructions (menu updated every Tuesday)
Follow our new Twitter handle @ricepapersf to place your order (really!) and for updates on our menu and hours.
-------

Vote KitchenSidecar Into The SF Street Food Festival

2011-07-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

Vote KitchenSidecar into the
SF Street Food Festival!

My future is in your hands! It's easy as 1,2,3!
1. Go to SFStreetFoodFest "Vote For You Vendor" page here.
2. Click on "Login with Facebook to Vote". Log into Facebook.
3. Vote away!

Help KitchenSidecar get into La Cocina's annual SF Street Food Festival by voting for yours truly in the Vote For Your Vendor Contest! La Cocina + Well's Fargo are sponsoring four small (but zesty!) businesses to participate in the Street Food Fest by holding a vote off-- only the top four businesses with the most votes will get in! I WANT IN!!!!!

Hopefully, if you're getting this email, you have enjoyed one of my succulent Banh Mi Burgers and/or other piece of food at Rice Paper Scissors, The Sunday Supper, orThe SF Underground Market. If you like what you ate, PLEASE get on Facebook and vote for me! I would really appreciate the support. To sweeten the pot, I will also give out free bits of pork jerky to everyone who helped me get in! So go here and get your vote on! Then send it on!

Much Love,
Katie Kwan
Founder | KitchenSidecar

Abalone on a Stick!

2011-06-16T14:13:00.001-07:00

First photo I have processed in photoshop. Can't believe it took me so long.

This is an abalone I bought in Tai O, an hour off Hong Kong. Grilled, cut with scissors, painted in brown sauce, and stuck.

Half Worm, Half Fungus

2011-06-04T22:05:00.002-07:00

These little critters are blowing my mind. In essence, they are borrowing caterpillars whose bodies have been invaded by a parasitic fungi. Mummifying the bugs from the inside our, the flowering fungus then grows out of the forehead, breaking soil and appearing as innocent as ever.

What's more interesting is the burgeoning industry of these half animal, half fungal Franken-herbs. A few interesting facts:

- They make up 40% of household cash income in Tibet - 8.5% of their GDP

- They sell for up to $18,000 USD/kg

- They are considered a perfect balance of ying and yang - animal & fungal

- They have been shown to protect the bone marrow from whole body radiation, as well as have anti-depressent effects on depressed mice

Stranger than fiction.

Sources: Wikipedia

Just Another Food Chat

2011-06-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Rice Paper Scissors 3.0 Fri. May 13th (HUE-oh!)

2011-05-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Poster by Adam Barry

At last month's Rice Paper Scissors we visited Saigon, now we're moving up to Central Vietnam for our third edition, going down Friday, May 13th, 6-10pm, somewhere in the Mission.

We're concentrating on Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam, which was ruled by the Nguyễn dynasty for over 100 years. Their food is characterized as being very particular and complex; a story goes that one emperor was so picky that he demanded to eat 50 different dishes, cooked by 50 chefs, and brought to him by 50 different servants.

We're not bringing 50 dishes, but we're still offering an ambitious menu of nine traditional Huế dishes. Because of it's former imperial influence, the cuisine is skews Chinese. (Katie's Chinese, so she's gonna bring. it. hard.)

Our menu includes Happy Pancakes (a Central version of the Vietnamese crepes), Jellyfish Salad, and Bún bò Huế , the region's signature beef noodle soup. We're also bringing back water fern cakes and our signature banh mi sandwiches. See our full menu below.

And there's more! We're very excited to offer a special limited dish: sticky rice stuffed quail, which is available only if you pre-order. It's crazy good, so head on over here if you want to reserve your spot. Bonus: there's a special (and shorter) line if you order this dish!

As always, we're not announcing the location until the day of - but rest be sure we'll transform our space to look, feel, taste like Vietnam, complete with red stools and rickshaws and really good food. Follow us at @littleknock and @kitchensidecar for the location (we'll announce it the day of) or sign up for our email list.

See you soon!
Valerie + Katie

Rice Paper Scissors, Huế Menu

Appetizers

Shrimp chips

Bánh phồng tôm

Water fern cake

Bánh bèo

Steamed rice flour cake topped with dried shrimp, green onion and a savory fish sauce

- vegetarian option available -

Vietnamese Shrimp Dumplings

Bánh bột lọc

Clear shrimp dumplings wrapped in banana leaves

Sesame Jellyfish Salad with Ginger-Poached Chicken and Shrimp Chips

Gỏi sứa gà

Served on a bed of cabbage and nuoc mam cham, a savory fish sauce

Mains

Sticky Rice-Stuffed Quail

Chim cút nhồi xôi chiên

Fried quail stuffed with a Chinese sausage and bacon sticky rice

$13

Pre-order here

Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

Bún bò Huế

Beef noodle soup served with lemongrass, chili, oxtail and pork

Happy Pancakes

Bánh khoái

Crispy rice flour pancakes with shrimp, mushrooms, bean sprouts, drizzled with egg; served with a meaty peanut sauce

- vegetarian option available -

Pork Belly Banh Mi / Veggie Banh Mi

Pork belly or veggie banh mi, served with handmade pate and mayo, cilantro, and blood red daikon and carrot pickles

Dessert

Vegan Coconut Sorbet

Kem đá lạnh dừa

Creamy coconut sorbet topped with black sesame powder

Drinks

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Cà phê sữa đá

Iced coffee served with condensed milk

Rice Paper Scissors in Motion Picture

2011-05-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

Check out this video the Evernote team made on how we use Evernote, a virtual notekeeper, to help us get it done!

We use their iPhone app to keep track of our projects - from menu planning to location scouting to grocery shopping. It was fun to collaborate with these guys to capture our event.

Thanks Kasey, Andrew, and the Evernote crew!!

The Sunday Supper Moves to Saturday for May!

2011-04-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

We're happy to announce the 3rd installment of:
THE SUNDAY SUPPER
Let's celebrate the spring vegetables and [meat curing] projects that have been coming up in May!

Crazy things are happening here-- guanciale curing, pancetta hanging, rabbit harvesting. Great stories to share.

Craziest of all: We are moving THE SUNDAY SUPPER to Saturday May 7th, so that we can free up all the mommies for Mother's Day, May 8th.

----

BUY TICKETS. And check out these beautiful photos that Kasia Cieplak of fake tv took of the last supper!

THE SATURDAY SUPPER: Recreating the Family Dinner Table
May 7th 6:30-10:00 PM

4 Course, $55 (BYO $10 corkage)
Classic Cars West
411 26th st. Oakland, CA 94612

THE SUPPER MENU 5.7

Homestead Charcuterie
Nose-to-Tail Rabbit terrine, Duck liver pate, Housemade farmer's cheese, Lemon marmalade, Wild herb water crackers
Sourcing notes: Rabbits are from Fog City Rabbitry, lemons were gleaned from a Berkeley backyard, goat's milk was bartered through work trade

Second
Duck gizzards confit, Roasted new spring vegetables, Farro, Walnut chimichurri
Sourcing notes: Ducks are from a friend of John's uncle, vegetables and herbs from local urban farms, walnuts were salt roasted by a neighbor

Main
Oxtail Ragu over Handmade Maccaronara w/ Gaunciale and Parsley Salad
Sourcing notes: Guanciale was cured in-house

Dessert
Strawberry Shortcake: Stacked bacon fat biscuits, Macerated strawberries, Raw whipped cream
Sourcing notes: Bacon fat is salvaged from the run-off of a chocolatier's production, Chicken eggs are from a LEED certified urban chicken coop

Drink
We welcome all diners to bring their own (BYO) wine and spirits! There may be a small chance that we will get a hour hands on some craft beer and wine. If so, we will keep patrons appraised!

BUY TICKETS. Join the mailing list to receive advance invites to the next dinners and updates on last minute seat openings.

Follow TheSundaySupperMenu.tumblr.com or @kitchensidecar on Twitter to find pictures of the cooking action the menu and tips for other underground dining adventures.

Join us as The Sunday Supper breaks bread at Classic Cars West Oakland!

These are just screen grabs of photos, so check out the full set of beautiful pictures on fake tv's flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/faketv/sets/72157626367134069/

iii

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Photos of KitchenSidecar + Little Knock's Rice Paper Scissors in the NYT

2011-04-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Valerie Luu (@littleknock) and I have been hustling for the past two months to get Rice Paper Scissors, a Vietnamese Pop-Up Cafe, off the ground and we are so pleased to announce that photos of our event have been published in the New York Times - web and in print (front page Friday, April 15th)!

The photos accompany the article "They Gather Secretly at Night, and Then They (Shhh!) Eat" a great piece on the forageSF Underground Market, founded by Iso Rabins.

We are so happy to be mentioned in the presence of our dear friends, Jilli Ice Cream (@jilliicecream, inventors of the beet ice cream w/guiness chocolate cake), the original Pizzahacker (@pizzahacker, wood fired street pies), Soul Cocina (@soulcocina, badass cook), and Nosh This (@NoshThis, bacon crack pusher), and, of course, forageSF (@forageSF, forager and aspiring hunter).

Here are some of the pics!

Rice Paper Scissors 2.0 Recap

2011-04-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday’s Rice Paper Scissors was perfect for many reasons. We set up in Arc Metalworks, a metal workshop in the Mission that had a roll-up garage door that reminded us of auto-shops in Vietnam. The rain finally stopped and we were blessed with the warmest day that’s hit SF in recent times – a perfect day for green papaya salad and coconut sorbet. Our restaurant was set-up with Christmas lights, little red stools and makeshift cardboard box tables outside the shop on 20th Street.

And you guys came! Over 200 folks came through in the span of three hours to enjoy our South Vietnamese feast: BBQ pork with homemade charcuterie and pate banh mis, mung bean sticky rice, and savory imperial rolls. We loved seeing groups of friends and families hanging out together on little red stools, squirting limes into their snail pho and lounging around until it got dark. We are so humbled.
We served up an ambitious nine-item menu chock-full of our favorite dishes from Saigon and the Delta region, containing some of our fondest memories of Vietnamese food. Katie brought to the table the thousand-year-old egg dish, served with pickled shallots and silken tofu.
It was a dish she became enamored with during her Vietnam trip – she fondly recalled seeing locals eating it with beers, so she ordered it by pointing to the other patrons (because she couldn’t speak Vietnamese). She loved it so much she had the waiter write down the dish for her underneath a drawing she made of it in her travel journal.

The banh beo (water fern cake) was something I grew up eating at family parties. Whenever it appeared on the buffet table, I was always the first to stuff my face with the small rice flour pancakes topped with dried shrimp, fried shallots, and green onions, sprinkled with a savory fish sauce concoction. It wasn’t unusual for my dad to order extra to accommodate my cravings.

We were fortunate to have wonderful food friends to cook with us in our renegade restaurant that night. PizzaHacker took orders, while Soul Cocina managed the snail pho. GraffEats handed out dishes that forageSF expertly expedited. Sour Flourdonated a baking rack that made everything run smoothly, while Jilli Ice Cream lent an extra hand with tweets and making sandwiches. Even Will, the graphic designer behind those ph-unny posters, did a great job arranging our appetizers.

Thanks to everyone who came to help out and those who came to enjoy Vietnamese street food on a rare warm San Francisco evening. We hope to see you again at our next RPS, coming late April.

Sign up for our email list for advance notice or follow us on Twitter at @kitchensidecar and @littleknock.

Additional thank you’s: Jessica, Phil, Megha, Andrew, Amanda, Will #2, James & Meg of Arc Metalworks, Brad, Kasia, Kasey & the Evernote team, and all the cool people who helped spread the word and showed up with their friends!

Photos by faketv

KitchenSidecar In The New York Times!

2011-04-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

Check me out on the New York Times! I was interviewed by Brendan Spiegal about the SF Underground Market, where I have been a Vietnamese street food vendor for the past year!

Check out the article below or the permalink. OH!- Look for me IN PRINT in the Sunday paper!!!!!

The Sunday Supper Underground Dinner, April 10th 6:30-10:00

2011-04-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Join Katie Kwan of KitchenSidecar and John Richter of Harley Richter Catering, April 10th, for the second edition of The Sunday Supper, an underground dinner series popping up in a classic car showroom in downtown Oakland.

From its setting, an intimate car showroom and art space, to its communal seating, sourcing, and menu, The Sunday Supper celebrates the family dinner table. This monthly gathering engages a community of urban homesteaders, purveyors, brewers, musicians, artists, and, of course, hungry eaters in a shared meal.

Sourcing from the bay area's network of urban homesteaders, each edition will highlight the key ingredients that tell their stories. The changing monthly menu will resemble family dinner tables found all around the world. The food will be made by hand and in earnest.

The Sunday Supper: Recreating the Family Dinner Table
April 10th 6:30-10:00 PM BUY
4 Course, $55 (BYO $10 corkage)
Classic Cars West
411 26th st. Oakland, CA 94612

THE SUPPER MENU 4.10

Homestead Charcuterie
House-cured duck prosciutto, Duck liver pate, Housemade farmer's cheese, Lemon marmalade, Wild herb water crackers
Sourcing notes: Lemons were gleaned from a Berkeley backyard, goat's milk was bartered through work trade

Second

Grilled duck hearts, Roasted new spring vegetables, Farro, Walnut chimichurri

Sourcing notes: Ducks are from a friend of John's uncle, vegetables and herbs from local urban farms

Main

Apple cider braised pig snout, Creamy polenta, Charred romaine with green garlic confit

Sourcing notes: Green garlic and romaine from local urban farms

Dessert

Orange Creamsicle Duo: Tangerine sorbet & Vanilla bean ice cream, Grapefruit bitter water
Sourcing notes: Chicken eggs are from the first LEED certified urban chicken coop

To purchase tickets, please click here. All purchases are final.
Join the mailing list to receive advance invites to the next dinners and updates on last minute seat openings.

Follow TheSundaySupperMenu.tumblr.com or @kitchensidecaron Twitter to find pictures of the cooking action the menu and tips for other underground dining adventures.

Join us as The Sunday Supper breaks bread at Classic Cars West Oakland!

Katie Kwan, KitchenSidecar.com
John Richter, HarleyRichterCatering.com

Rice Paper Scissors: From South 'Nam With Love

2011-03-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

It's back!

Our second installment of Rice Paper Scissors is going down next Thursday, March 31st at an industrial workshop in the Mission. It starts at 6pm and ends whenever you guys eat all the food we made for you!

Speaking of food, our menu is inspired by Southern Vietnam, so think bright colors, seafood, and lots of rice and fish sauce. We're cooking up dishes like handmade pate and chacuterie banh mi, duck confit green papaya salad, and imperial rolls. And for those who missed it last time, we're bringing back the snail pho (which sold out in less than an hour!)

We've spent the last month brainstorming the next Rice Paper Scissors: asking tons of auto-shops of they'll stay open late for us (and receiving nice but solid 'no's), curating an exciting menu (including thousand-year-old egg!), and working with designers to make this pho-ny (funny, get it?) poster.

Come for more Vietnamese street food, more Cambodian pop music, and more good times. Remember to follow us at @kitchensidecar and @littleknock; we're tweeting out the exact location on March 31st, the day of the event.

Don't tweet? Don't fret - sign up for our email list and we'll slip you the address in your inbox.

Rice Paper Scissors
Saigon-style pop-up
Thursday, March 31st / 6pm until sold out
An industrial workshop in the Mission / exact address to be revealed day of event
Takeout and sit-down dining / Full menu to be released early next week (so check back here!)

Dining Table Piglette Napkins for The Sunday Supper

2011-03-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

These napkins are so precious to me- probably because I spent the better part of 2 days cutting and double seaming them into place! Oy! They are stamped with the KitchenSidecar logo (a blind contour piglette I drew) and will be used for The Sunday Supper - an underground dinner that I serve in Oakland.

The overall look of The Sunday Supper is changing these days, as we are hoping to move it from a small art gallery to a beautiful antique car showroom - very unconventional. However, the rustic farm-to-table look will remain intact. So far I've got brown butcher paper on the tables, mason jars for water, Heath Ceramics-esque dishware, and plywood runners down the middle of the table.

I am sure these muslin napkins are just the thing to add softness and balance to the table. Cloth, understated, but stamped with a vibrant blue piglette. Perfect.

INSPIRATION - The American Banh Mi

2011-03-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

A Year In Food Entrepreneurship

2011-02-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

Tumblr is your new website

Twitter #FF is your new best friend

Mailchimp is the new Google Analytics

Pop-Up is the new Underground

Hot Dogs are the new Foie

Communal Commercial is the new Home Kitchen

Sidewalk Dining is the new Street Food

Goat roasts will be the the new pig roasts.

Little Red Stools are the only way to go.

This is How They Hung Their Lanterns

2011-02-17T00:32:00.000-08:00

Photo by Alex Kwan

Scene: Chinese New Year in Shanghai
Seen: A thousand paper lanterns. Afloat, like jellyfish.

Nothing Says I Love You More Than a Pot of Crimson Chicken

2011-02-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

Belizean Stewed Chicken (Serve with Fry Jacks)

Cut up a whole stewing chicken (head, feet, and all!) and sear it in a pot with some oil. Remove the chicken and add 1 chopped onion and 2 chopped red bell peppers. Saute for 5 minutes on med-high. Stir in 2 T of recado, or achiote paste, and saute for 2 more minutes. Add 2 c. of stock and the seared chicken (head, feet, and all!) back to the pot and bring to boil. Simmer, covered, for 3 hours.

kiss, kiss

SEEN: KitchenSidecar Roast Pig @ UnderGround Market 2/5/11

2011-02-10T13:19:00.000-08:00

Photo by Kasia Cieplak of FakeTV
Full Flickr Stream
@fakeTV

The crowd grows in anticipation as we furiously break down a roast pig...

RICE PAPER SCISSORS: Vietnamese Pop Up Tomorrow

2011-02-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

If you'll are in SF, please drop by RICE PAPER SCISSORS, a Vietnamese Pop Up Cafe that I am hosting with Valerie Luu (@littleknock). See info below and stay tuned for the exact address!

Rice Paper Scissors
Pops Up for the Vietnamese New Year!

In the spirit of the Tet Holiday and tiny plastic stools, we will be hosting Rice Paper Scissors, a Vietnamese street food pop-up, this Thursday, February 3rd from 5-10 PM in the Mission.
…
Inspired by the sidewalk dining and street food we experienced in Vietnam, we wanted to recreate the experience here in the Mission — complete with small tables, even smaller stools, fresh Vietnamese condiments, Cambodian pop music, and delicious food! We’re serving up Vietnamese comfort foods such as stuffed chicken wings with a Thai chili sauce and crab sautéed glass noodles. Oh, and dessert too.

Drop by our terrace near 20th and Valencia to grab some grub on the go or take a seat at one of the mini-tables to do it up, Saigon-style.

We’ll tweet the exact address on February 3rd; follow @littleknock and@kitchensidecar to receive the tip.

Rice Paper Scissors
Vietnamese New Year pop-up
Thursday, February 3rd / 5-10pm
Private residence near 20th and Valencia, exact address to be revealed day of event
Takeout and sit-down dining

————-
About

Rice Paper Scissors was created by Valerie Luu (Little Knock) and Katie Kwan (KitchenSidecar), two Vietnamese street food vendors in San Francisco who love sitting on small stools. Our cafe will pop up on front porches, garages, and sidewalks and when we’re not figuring out what kitschy Asian housewares to buy, you can find us at various street food events and monthly at the SF Underground Market.

That sexy poster was made by our friend Jessica Taich.

New Camera, Year, News to come

2011-01-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

Hey guys. It's been too long since I posted anything on this mistreated blog. Fear not, fun ventures are abrewing in 2011. Gotta sort somethings out (learn how to use Adobe Creative Suite etc) before I do a full update, so here is a lovely picture of some rosemary caraway water crackers that I made from this Urban Farm Hub.

Take this recipe and make it your own.

This Is Not Street Food, It's Sidewalk Dining

2011-01-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

Just another Winter's day outside Cellspace. Under the sun, it almost felt like 60.

A Whole Roast Pig This Saturday

2010-11-26T01:44:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE: New pics of our first Pig Roast! All Photos by Jordan Ching.**

(David Kwan and John Richter @ Saint Gregory's)

(37 lb roast pig @ Saint Gregory's)

ORIGINAL POST

You've eaten your turkey and, if you're smart, you've boiled it down to an addictive soup. Your short foray into big game birds is over and that stuffing is just a gobble of the past.

So, I welcome you back to the land of pork with a proper PIG ROAST. Yes, as a part of the NEW TASTE MARKETPLACE, a market to benefit the SF Food Pantry @ St. Gregory's in Potrero Hill, I am roasting up a 37 lb swine. The market is stocked with 20 vendors including, a cheese maker, a vegan pastry chef from Millennium, and the chef at Monk's Kettle. For the full lineup, please click here.

WHAT: A PIG ROAST @The New Taste Marketplace

WHEN: 12-5pm

WHERE: 500 De Haro St.

WHY: A Benefit for the SF Food Pantry

WHO: Everyone!

ENTRY: Sliding scale ~ $0-$10

Early tomorrow, I will wake up, load it into a box, and fire it up with 40 pounds of mesquite charcoal. I hope to see your shining faces there. Bring anybody and everybody!

Come by for the NEW TASTE MARKET, a market that benefits St. Gregory's Food Pantry.

Pruning Ladders

2010-11-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

In hot pursuit of chestnut farms, I found this darling photo of pruning ladders.

Most Memorable Meal

2010-10-18T16:39:00.001-07:00

UPDATE: This short vignette was just posted on the Saveur Magazine Website!!!!! Thanks guys! Check it out here.

The journey to that excellent meal started early that morning in Ben Tre, a small fishing village known for its coconut candy exports in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Proud to a fault, I had refused help from the commercial tourist agencies, and had successfully gotten myself lost in the local hustle of Vietnam. Carrying a 30 lb backpack and zero language skills I was off to find the orchard of Anh Binh, a family run homestay in the tangled mangroves of Vinh Long.

To get there I walked two miles to the local bus station, boarded a bus to Saigon, requested an unscheduled drop off in Vinh Long, hopped a moto to the post office, convinced a women to call Anh Binh and inquire about homestays on the island, boarded a commuter ferry that circled the mangroves, and hailed another moto, which ultimately dropped me off in the wrong location. Lost and tired, I started to wonder if I would ever get there. I hadn't eaten all day.

I asked every person I passed if they knew where the orchard of Anh Binh was. However, they could't answer my questions, not because they didn't know where it was, but because I, with my westernized monotonal tongue, could not produce the sounds required to adequately communicate what it was. Moto taxi drivers shrugged and old women pointed me in different directions. One young man knew, but he was neither a moto taxi driver, nor interested in driving a stranger around. He was, however, kind. And he saw the desperation in my eyes. So he sighed and started up his moped, signaling for me to jump on. I leapt at this chance and held on tight as we zipped over two foot wide bridges and under jackfruit trees. When we got there, I tried to pay, but he refused. He said that it was Tet, the new year, and this was his gift to me.

I nearly collapsed on the steps of the house at Anh Binh. A girl smiled down at me and offered room and board for $10 US. I gladly accepted. That night, I sat in the kitchen and learned the secret to the intricacy of those Hoi An spring roll wrappers. Later, I sat down with a few other guests and enjoyed a breathtaking meal of crispy taro spring rolls, deep fried elephant ear fish with herbs and translucent rice paper, poached spot prawns, stir fried pork and bitter melons, a soup of what looked like collard greens. Over lots of Saigon and beer and laughter, we ended the meal with bright magenta rambutans.

Foraging Crab In The Pacific Northwest

2010-09-27T11:37:00.001-07:00

Crabcake from katie kwan on Vimeo.

The last day of summer was also the hottest day of the year. June seemed promising, but July found me in long johns and Russian shearling hats. Never to take the fickle temperament of San Francisco for granted, Liz and I speed off to Stinson Beach at the first scent of warm air.

We walked up and down the 3.5 mile stretch of beach (me, in my velvet Sperry topsiders) as the sun descended into the redwood mountains. It must've been crab season, as we spotted at least ten dry shells strewn about the sand. We thought about taking the shells home-- even carrying some for a mile or two--but ultimately decided against it.

However, just as we started to head back, luck would have it that we stumbled upon a 1 lb dungeness crab, sputtering about on shore! Immediately, I stuck my rubber souled Sperrys out for him to cling to, and dragged him further onto dry land. Being someone who can't ever invest in one's own appearance, I had an arsenal of bootleg office rubber bands for Liz to use to secure his claws shut.

From there, I picked him up and carried him home. "Cake", as we liked to call him, was either in shock or anti-shock (as blood was certainly being supplied to his internal organs by the way I carrying him). Nevertheless, he quieted down and found peace in the paper bag that Liz had previously been using as a waste bucket.

At Liz's house, we prepared him, using only a bit of steam, and ate what proved to be the freshest, tastiest, and most flavorful crab we had ever eaten. Caught only an hour before eating, on the shores of the wild Pacific Northwest, this crab provided the most pure and cleans flavors of the oceans I had ever encountered.

Whole Foods: Get Off My Cloud!

2010-09-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Browsing the weekly specials is part of my Wednesday coffee and salami breakfast routine. There, in the backlight webpages of my computer screen, I find culinary inspiration and sunny optimism. However, today I was astounded to find this ad on Whole Food's website:

So taken aback by their blatant copy-cat tactics was I, that even the kur-plunk of pork into java was unable to wake me. All summer I have been hustling (acclaimed) Pork Belly Banh Mi Burgers at my Pop Up Grill, just to find that a big market chain is about to steal my thunder.

I'm fighting back. WHOLE FOODS: GET OFF MY CLOUD!

Kitchen-Bus-Stop: Photos of KS Banh Mi Stand at The SF Underground Market

2010-09-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

Spectacular photos by Kasia Cieplak Mayer Von Baldegg of faketv.

Is This A Snapshot of SF via Brooklyn?

2010-08-31T15:29:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn opens up a Mission Dolores Bar (based on SF's Mission Dolores District) in Park Slope.
via BrooksAssStuart

Not surprisingly, Brooklyn is following SF's lead (re: Blue Bottle in Williamsburg). Looks a far cry from Zeitgeist. But fun nonetheless. Thoughts?

Shrimp Chips: Ascent to Haute Snackery

2010-08-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

I never grow tired shrimp chips aggressively clinging to my tongue. They are as satiating as carbonated burps in my nose. They are as naughty as an entire bag of Poprocks into my mouth.

Shrimp chips hit a chord of either alien intrigue or nostalgia. I started selling these flavor packed wonder chips at my my pop up grill last may. The first people to purchase my 100% handmade shrimp chips were three Singaporean women at . The moment they spotted my chips, they chirped in excitement, "kupruk! kupruk! kupruk!" To them, the chips were a throw back to hot weather and home - to fresh chips made of real shrimp.

Aside from those three women, the rest of the SF food community was not quite ready for shrimp chips. After all, they were still embracing salted caramel. In fact, my chips inspired faces of distant confusion. In the beginning sales were incredibly low, but I was determined to change the way people ate. I was determined to change the way they saw food and culture. I was determined to claim respect and prestige for those foods that had previously been relegated to the '3 item combo'. Even now, my chips are nowhere near mainstream, but by and by they have grown in acceptance. Tentative hands reach into my sample bag of chips only to find themselves victim of the most unexpected and pleasurable assault. I thank all those fearless palettes, whose curiosity is greater than their discomfort. A coup/e weeks ago, we sold out at Outside.In. I am hoping an audience grows.

Shrimp chips are crispy fried cassava root cakes. These chips can most commonly be found festooning the rim of a peking duck plate. You can find them in most asian stores, ready fried or ready-to-fry (although these look more like poker chips). They come in unearthly colors, such as misty rose, teal, and ghost white. They can be purchased in for very little money. You can also find $2 bags of baked Calbee shrimp chips laced with msg. Very good.

Yet these chips are not my chips. My 100% handmade shrimp chips are made of wild US rock shrimp chips and fresh farm eggs. They are salted with Phu Quoc fish sauce and flavored with hand pounded white peppercorns.

I mix these ingredients into a dough, which I steam in bamboo baskets for an hour. Then I hand slice these cakes into coins no thicker than a nickel. These chips then take a holiday under the dry San Francisco sun. Once they are dried, they are fried in hot peanut oil. It takes 4 seconds to watch these discs bloom into chips four times their previous size. They are as labor intensive as they are delightfully good.

Here is a peek into what the process entails:

I encourage you to try them out for yourself. There is a full recipes (although not the one I use) at javaholic. However, they do take time and very good knife skills.

If you're in the bay area and are not feeling up to the pounding, steaming drying frying, just come on by the stand to pick up a bag of these rare treats. TI am sensing a comeback...

Oh yes! And Shrimp chips + shaved chocolate = bacon caramel 2.0.

Updates on where we will be are posted in the sidebar of my blog and on my twitterfeed: twitter.com/kitchensidecar.

What KitchenSidecar Has Been Turning Out These Past Months

2010-07-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

Truth: I'm not proud of my near comatose online activity. Although it's tragic, there sizzles a reason within. Two months ago, I traded in digital for manual -- labor that is. I started a small Banh Mi Burger stand.

These days the San Francisco food scene is braising with excitement and growth. Everywhere I turn it is bacon carmel this, olive oil muffin that. Everything is fair game, and I'd be a fool not to jump in. Since I started, I've learned so many new things, mulled over so many process improvements. I've also never worked to so hard for so little money. What I now make in a sweaty day's work, I used to make with one leisurely sachet of a vlookup. It's a labor of love.

The details of setup and breakdown are tedious to write, and even moreso to read. Let's move on to the food.

Armed with a 10 inch Sabatier and some serious Adderall, I dice my way through 10 lb pork bellies -- mindfully preserving the texture. I add just a few ingredients to make it sweet, savory, and succulent.

The chicken liver pate is a Vietnamese take on a Spanish recipe, which I posted back in March of 2009. When you smear back the top layer, you are tickled pink by the rosy hue underneath.

The carrots, daikons, radishes, and onions are pickled in sweet rice vinegar. They are tangy and they help to cut through that decadent burger.

The mayonnaise I like to make from pasture raised Amber Oaks eggs. The yolks are perky and very orange. The meyer lemons come from Andrew's parents' tree.

The Vietnamese herbs include mint, rau ram, cilantro, and jagged toothed herb (aka culantro). Many of these herbs are not as delicate as cilantro. They are hearty and flavorful and can stand up to the rugged outdoors of our little cart. Check them out here.

The bread is a high point of debate. I have attempted various methods of procuring the bread -- some much better than others. I have made it myself, enlisted help from Sour Flour, and ordered some very good baguettes from Thorough Bread. Right now I like Panorama, but am having a hard time getting them to take me seriously. Their bread has a crispy thin crust and a light body. It takes a backseat in terms of flavor-- at first that turned me off, but now I realize that it balances out an already energetic sandwich.

Everything that goes between those two slices of bread is 100% handmade - from those those hand cut patties right down to the fermented Sriracha sauce (I lacto ferment fresh red chiles and blend them into a frothy smooth sauce.)

I make these burgers because they make me happy. I hope that you all come down and grab some. Come share with me!

You can receive updates on our whereabouts at twitter.com/kitchensidecar.

Candy Meets Marc Jacobs = Foodcrap on Etsy

2010-05-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

While getting my morning kicks from the Etsy food section, I came upon a rude awakening.

Marc Jacobs has been swiping some cinematographic style points from Miss CandyLove. CandyLove is a less than brilliant confection arrangement specialist from Brooklyn who hosts a site on Etsy. For $2 you can buy a lackluster starburst flower. Alternatively, you can buy a Barbie Doll draped in Hershey bar wrappers for $35. But what she lacks in craft, miss CandyLove makes up for in her use of the disposable kodak camera.

Marc on the left. CandyLove on the right. Do you see the resemblance?

vs.

vs

Visit her Etsy Shop here.

KitchenSidecar Is Now Open For Business

2010-05-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here's the deal:

We are hitting up underground farmer's markets and street corners to bring you this burger:
- Caramelized Pork Belly Patties
- Pickled Vegis: Carrots, Radishes, Onions, Green Papaya
- Chicken Liver Pate
- House Baked Baguettes
- Meyer Lemon Mayo

We'll also be offering special additions:
- Sticky Rice Balls w/ Balck Sesame and Coconut Sauce
- Grilled Tapioca Chips
- Fried Shallots, Cotton Pork, and More!

Follow us for more information at twitter.com/kitchensidecar

Our next showing will be on May 12th at the Disposable Film Fest (7th and Minna), 4-11pm. Come get while we still got it!

Gin Distillation

2010-04-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

In pondering a homemade Pimm's cup, I found this awesome graphic. Shall we?

Boiling Salted Water Diatribe

2010-04-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

Please excuse my tone when I speak about the following subject:

Salted water does NOT make water boil faster! No, No, NO!

Kindly, do not site the numerous (and erroneous) internet sources which insist that it does. It does not. These oratory fables passed down from generation to generation are wrong. Yes, great-great-nanna just threw up in her grave a little.

As a saving grace, salting boiling water is the right thing to do, but just for the wrong presumptive reason. In reality, salting water helps to raise the boiling temperature of your pot of water. Thus, you can cook (commonly) pasta at higher temperatures. This helps to produce al dente noodles, not soggy ones.

The boiling point elevation is a colligative property, defined as a property that depends on the concentration of the solute (in this case, salt). Loosely speaking, the salt helps to stabilize the water molecules. When water is more stable, it is less likely to get up and go dancing out the door, or boil. Thus it takes even more heat to boil the water, thus increasing the boiling point.

Strangely enough, salt also decreases the freezing point. Thus it is possible to have salty water at subzero temperatures. That is why people salt ice in the winter. They want to lower the melting point, so that it will be prone to melt at ambient temperatures.

In the graph below, we can see the behavior of pure water (purple) vs. salty water (blue). The left 'prong' is the line that separates the solid phase (to the left) and the liquid phase (to the right). The right 'prong' is the line that separates the liquid phase (above the line) and the gas phase (below the line). ** Notice that the blue fork is wider than the purple fork. That means that salty liquids can exist as liquids for a larger range in temperatures than can pure water.

How much will the boiling point be raised? Well, in reality its peanuts. Bar nuts.

Roughly...
1 teaspoon salt/ 1 L water will get you a .1C increase in temperatures
1 tablespoon salt/1L water will get you a .3C increase in temperatures.
It is recommended that we add 1 heaping tablespoon salt to 1 gallon of water. That's like a .08C/gallon. Pennies, really.

So, while salty water may raise your boiling point only a smidgen pigeon, it will ensure that your noodles are well salted and flavorful. However, it will not make your water boil faster. If anything, it will make it boil slower.

Crafting Your Own Pizza Oven

2010-04-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

Some of the best advice I ever received came from a shrinking Mexican girl with transition lenses. "Be smarter than the machine!" she would yell, over the tortuous soundtrack of my computer meeting the paper shredder.

And while today brought many failures and frustrations, it also brought successive good fortune as I was able to stick my finger into the latch of the oven door and trick it into thinking that it was locked when it actually wasn't! Splendid! Why do we care?! Because me MUST, if we are serious about making good pizza!

I am tired of reading about the drab reality where my oven is a KIA and a wood fire oven is a friggin' Mazzerati. It wreaks of failure and self-limitation, which is just sad.

So, the Stephen Hawking that I am, I came up with some ingenious solutions to an otherwise doomed predicament:

Getting The Oven Hot Enough
Generally speaking, via J.Steingarten, pizza ovens are between 700F-800F. They cook pizzas at cosmic speeds, between 4-10 minutes. The bottom is crispy and the top is bubbling and brown - none of these weepy Trader Joes situations where the crust is floppy and the ingredients are dried out. Home ovens can only get to 550F; however, this is not due to a lack in capacity, but rather the fact that manufacturers choose liability over greatness. Somewhere between 500F and 700F, manufacturers feel that the general public is be better protected by a latch that locks the oven door shut, when attempting to reach higher temperatures. If they had it their way they would probably weld the oven door shut in fear of another Sylvia Plath. But then they would be selling fused cubes of metal and not an oven.

The only situation where home ovens can reach these higher temperatures, is when they are on the "Self Clean" setting. "Self Cleaning" ovens blast heat from top and bottom (baking+broiling) in order to get the temperatures to 700F-800F, charring all the food bits in sight, effectively 'cleaning' the oven. Well, perfect!

Now all one must do is figure out how to unlock the door and turn on the oven. I haven't seen all the ovens in the world, but here is what I did for mine:

Disengaging the Oven Door from katie kwan on Vimeo.

Baking the Pizza Using Conductive AND Convective Heat Transfer
In order to get that crispy crust without drying out your toppings, you need to cook your pizza using BOTH conductive and convective heat transfer.

Convection cooking occurs when we put our pizza in a hot oven. It will melt the cheese and brown your toppings. It is the most common type of thermal transfer in baking.

Conductive cooking occurs when we put our pizza on something that is already hot, such as the floor of a pizza oven. Heat will directly transfer from the clay into the crust, crisping it up. There are many conductors of heat, such as metal and clay. These two materials behave very differently.

After a discussion with my general chemistry teacher, I learned that metal has a low heat capacity, meaning that it is prone to give its heat away as quickly as possible. It is also a smooth surface, making heating very uniform. This may sound appealing, but upon testing, it produces a rather disheartening product. The crust is too crunchy. It is like biting into 4 crackers, topped with a dribbling of tomato sauce. The heat is transferred too rapidly and the juxtaposition of textures is unsettling. There is no chewy layer for your teeth to grasp.
Clay, however, has a high heat capacity and gives off its heat more evenly and sustained. It is also a porous material that traps pockets of moisture, giving rise to the micro-nooks and crannies that create texture. The crust is crisp, with a seamless transition into a fine chewy layer and finally moist toppings. Perfect!
Now many people can drop the $40 it costs to buy a 'pizza stone', but I that's too rich for my blood. Rather, I called up my local flooring company and asked them if they keep quarry tile in stock. They sell 6"x6" for $1.20, but I was lucky and got mine for free! A note on buying stones: thicker is always better.

AND AWAY WE GO!
Lining the lowest rack of my oven with quarry tile and an oven thermometer, I disengaged the oven door, and set it to "self clean". Forty five minutes later, my thermometer wound past it's 600F max indicator to roughly 700F. I shoved my pie onto the smoldering tile, shut the door, and waited four nail biting minutes.
What emerged was perfect. Nice bubblage (making up new words as we speak), slight char on the edges, crisp crust, molten cheese, beautiful flavors. This pizza was made from a slow risen "00" dough, tomate frito, mozzarella, and spanish chorizo.

At Least I'm Not the Only One Who Makes Typos

2010-04-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

Pasta prose becomes a racial gaffe in Australian Publisher's new cookbook, The Pasta Bible.

"salt and freshly ground black people".

Ooopsie! Read the BBC Article.

Fun with MOO Business cards

2010-04-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

SF Underground Farmer's Market

2010-04-11T17:03:00.000-07:00

Calling all SFers! My friend, Iso Rabins, at ForageSF is running another underground farmer's market. In the past we collaborate on an underground kitchen of porchetta porportions.

I WILL BE A VENDER!!!!!!!
Come taste vietnam roadside at the underground farmer's market.

When: Friday April 16th from 5-11pm
Where: SomArts, 934 Brannan St., SF (between 8th/9th)
How Much: Free

About The Underground Farmers Market
"What's that?" you say "I've heard of underground dinners, but an underground farmers market?". That's right. A market, and a live show, all rolled into one. Think a farmers market, but at night, with music and drinks, and fresh roasted chestnuts roasting over an open flame....

What?
The underground farmers market is a venue where you can taste the food that is being made in the kitchens of our fair city. Call us voyeuristic, but this is a chance to peek into others' kitchens and share in their bounty. Pickles, pies, meats, breads to feast on - all by "suggested donation". But let's not forget the drinks and the music! Yes, we've invited the musicians. I know, sounds like a party, not a market, but why can't you have both? Come together, support our local producers, get some last minute Christmas gifts, and have some drinks to boot. This is about supporting our own homemade diy community, so come out and see what other people are making.

The vendors are still to be selected, but from forageSF you can expect delicious fresh wild mushrooms, huckleberry jam, acorn flour, freshly baked acorn bread, and candy cap mushroom cookies. The other producers will be making jams, pies, soaps, bread etc...

Why?
To sell at a farmers market, you need to produce your wares in a commercial kitchen. This is an impossible expense for many of us, so the underground farmers market lets all those home producers get their products into the light. These are veterans, people who've been making their products for years, but only able to share them with friends. We thought we'd give them a venue to share with the whole SF food community. We'll test all the vendors products, make sure they're delicious and safe, all for you to try.

Pasta and Gravy: Maccaronara alla Marinara

2010-04-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

Keeping little bundles of hand cut A16 maccaronara in the freezer compels me to keep a jar of fresh tomato sauce in the fridge at all times. If I run out, I make carbonara.

Within 10 minutes, I can produce a warm plate of chewy noodles and full-bodied sauce. The fresh noodles absorb the sauce. They are stained a hue of red/orange. My tomato sauce is an elaboration of Marcella Hazan's Simple Tomato Sauce, with a few micro-julienned carrots and shallots added in.

Tomato Sauce Adapted from Marcella Hazan
Makes 2 cups, Total time 75 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3+1 T butter, divided
2 shallots, finely chopped
5 inches of a thick carrot, julienned as thin as possible
32 oz can San Marzano tomatoes (if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, just look for any canned tomatoes imported from Italy)
pepper flakes and salt to taste

1. Melt 3 T of butter in a thick saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and a flick of salt and sweat, ~7 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce flame to low. Simmer for 1 hr.

3. Remove from fire, add 1 T butter, season to taste. Eat or store in a jar in the fridge.

When combining it this sauce with the maccaronara, drop the fresh noodles nests in salted boiling water for just a minute. Meanwhile heat your sauce in a thick pan. Drop the just cooked noodles into the pan of sauce without rinsing. Heat the sauce and noodles together until the sauce is fully imbued.

Plate and finish with some red pepper flakes.

A16 Madness: Maccaronara

2010-04-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

What Nate Appleman explains on one sturdy sheet of paper, I try to do in pictures. This recipe is from A16:Food+Wine (p.144). Since getting my tomato stained hands on it, I have regaled this excellent piece of literature and made all of its iconic dishes.

Maccaronara originates from Campana, Italy. It is a long noodle, yet square in width and depth, roughly 1/8". It only has one egg, which seems to be 2 eggs too few, but that modesty is what gives it an excellence bite. Unfortunately, or fortunately, there is no setting on the pasta machine that spits out a decent maccaronara. Thus, it is rolled out by machine, but cut by hand.

I knead the dough by hand, but you can do it in a Kitchenaid as well-- but what would be the fun in that?! I have paired it with a simple tomato sauce or even a Ragu Napoletana. It shouldn't be eaten with a very chunky sauce. Leave that to the cavatellis of the world.

Maccaronara Adapted from A16:Food+Wine
Makes 2.5 pounds (Can be frozen for up to 3 weeks), Total time 2 hrs

Note: It is recommended that you have a pasta machine for this. If you don't, you can always use an empty wine bottle and some good elbow grease to roll it out.

INGREDIENTS
6 c + more for rolling "00" flour (I wouldn't substitute with all-purpose flour, but Nate says you can)
2 t kosher salt
1+1/2 c water
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, combine the water and egg. Mix to combine.
3. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring constantly with a fork to make sure that the liquid is begin distributed evenly. Knead to incorporate the ingredients, 3 minutes (if using a mixer, set to med-low).
4. If the dough continues to stick to your fingers, add 1/4 c more flour.
5. Remove from bowl and start kneading, a total of 10-12 minutes (if you are using a mixer, continue at med-low).

The point of kneading is the develop the glutens, which will give the noodle a chewy, but not hard, texture. I like to turn my dough 90 degrees every 10 seconds. I also like to fold the dough over itself, which stretches the glutens out.

At first the dough will look very bedraggled. But as you continue to develop the gluten, they will become more pliable. Those lumps will turn into sheets of stretched out gluten.

By the twelth minute, the dough will be smoother and will stretch out further. I have cut a cross section of the dough to show you how evenly distributed the gluten is.

6. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a moist towel and allow to sit for 30 minutes. When you push your finger in, it should bounce back slowly.

7. Cut your dough into 6 pieces and work which each piece individually. I will describe the mechanism of action for one piece, with the assumption that you will repeat with the rest of the pieces.

Clear smooth countertop and dust with flour. Get a large rolling pin or an empty wine bottle -- for all you sober sisters out there, perhaps a long olive jar. Set up your pasta machine with smooth rollers. Place a floured cookie sheet into the freezer.

8. Generously flour and roll out one piece of dough to 1/3 of an inch. Try to make it oblong, so it can fit into your pasta machine. My machine is about 6 inches wide, so I don't want to roll the dough more than 6 inches wide.

9. Pass it through the pasta machine at the #7 setting (~1/6"). Fold the dough into thirds lengthwise and pass it through the machine again. Fold into thirds and pass through 2 more times.

10. Cut the rolled pasta sheet into thirds, approximately 5x5" each. Generously flour each sheet. For each third, pass it through the pasta roller at setting #6 (1/7") twice, and then setting #5 (1/8") twice. The sheet will get longer as you go. Remember to flour the sheet, so that it does not get stuck to the rollers. The resultant sheets should be 1/8" thick, 5" wide, and 10" long.

11. Stack the three sheets on top of each other, with flour in between each layer. Roll the three stacks up like sushi. Cut off the uneven ends with a sharp knife.

12. Cut the roll into 1/8" slices to make slender pinwheels. Uncoil the pinwheels into strands of noodles. Dust generously with flour.

13. Make two small nests out of the noodles. Top with a bit of flour and place on the cookie sheet that has been chilling in the freezer.

Repeat steps eight through thirteen five more times. The noodles are very delicate, so they are best kept in the freezer.

To cook, boil the noodles for 60 seconds in salted water. CAUTION: These noodles cook very fast. When you think they are 80% done, yank them from the water or else they will overcook!!!!!

Luang Prabang Fusion Salad

2010-03-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

While it originates in Luang Prabang, Laos, this salad rests happily here in my tummy.

To further drive in my point that Southeast Asian food is a detante of flavors, temperatures, and textures, there is not one but two dressings in this salad. The first is minced pork in a sweet vinegar broth. The second is a salty sour nuoc cham. The mix is sublime.

Luang Prabang Salad Adapted from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet (Artisan, 2000)
Serves 6-8 Total time 1 hr

INGREDIENTS

Salad
4 eggs
1 pkg or ~14 oz bun (aka dried rice vermicelli)
2 heads butter lettuce, roughly torn
1 c Ngo Gai or cilantro, coarse chop
6 scallions, 2 inch juliennes
1 c celery or parsley leaves (I stole mine from my neighbor's untrimmed herb box)
1/4 c roasted peanuts, chopped

Cold Dressing
3 thai chiles, deseed, fine mince
1 clove garlic, fine mince
2 T lime juice
2 T fish sauce
1 T water

Hot dressing

2 T peanut oil

1 thai chile, deseeded, mince

5 cloves garlic, fine chop

1 T ginger, fine chop

1/2 lb pork, ground or rough chop and mixed with 1 t salt

1 1/2 T brown sugar

3/4 c water

1/2 c rice vinegar

1/4 t ground black pepper

1. Hard boil eggs. I like to use my roommate Kasia's perfect recipe for eggs. Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Add eggs. Boil for 11 minutes. Drain. Cover with cold water for 5 minutes. Crack. Leave for 5 minutes. Peel. **When you add the eggs, do not just drop them willy nilly in as they will crack. Carefully submerge them with a slotted spoon. We are not bombing Iraq here.

1a. Separate cooked yolk from white and place in a bowl. Mash with the back of a fork. Set aside. This will later go into the hot dressing. Slice whites in a beautiful fashion.

2. Soak the vermicelli in cold water for 10 minutes. Boil in a large pot as directed on the pkg. About 5 minutes. Drain. Rinse thoroughly with water. Set aside

3. Combine the contents of the cold dressing in a little bottle. Chill. Set aside.

4. 10 minutes prior to eating, make the hot dressing by heating oil over medium in a pan. Add garlic and ginger and fry for 20 seconds. Turn the heat up and add the pork. Brown for 2 minutes.

4a. Add the mashed yolks. Sprinkle the sugar and pepper evenly on top. Stir fry for 1 minutes.

4b. Add the water and the vinegar. Bring to a boil and allow to reduce by half.

5. Assemble salad on a large platter. Cover the bottom with rice vermicelli, then butter lettuces, ngo gai, celery/parlsey leaves, and scallions. Pour on the hot pork dressing. Pour on the cold dressing. place the egg whites on top. Sprinkle with peanuts.

After eating, you will find a pool of delicious sauce. Sop it up with more noodles.

Caramel Catfish Claypot

2010-03-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

It still surprises me that nobody else sells live fish except for the Asians. You would think, with fine dining's obsession with freshness, they would invest in a little air pump and some pebbles. In Chinese restaurants, fresh fish is the standard. If it's not alive before you order it, you'll soon find yourself between a patron's disdainful finger and a cowering waiter.

The same sentiment goes for buying fish at the market. In Hong Kong, I watched the price of a small fish decrease 3-fold when it sputtered its last breath. Freshness comes at a premium, but it's worth it.

Last week, I found myself amidst mung beans and assertive Asians as I gathered ingredients for a Vietnamese banquet. The centerpiece was to be a catfish claypot. But when my eyes met the festering display of dead catfish, I almost had to rethink my entire menu. Luckily, four heroic tanks of live catfish saved me from a rather questionable vegan goulash. For $4/lb, I secured myself a three pound swimmer, slain and fileted. Here is the head to prove it. Marvelous.

What I did with the catfish was even more marvelous. A caramel claypot, from Bobby Chinn's book, Wild Wild East: Recipes and Stories from Vietnam (Barron's, 2007). I have tried other recipes, including one from Saveur, but this one is far superior. The flavors that come out in Chinn's version are complex and irresistible. Galangal root, a flavor that I have never been able to put my finger on, plays first violin. It is supported by the smokiness of caramel and charred eggplant and the sweetness of sake and honey. It's flavor is so inescapable that I made it six days in a row. On the seventh day, I rested.

Catfish Simmered in Caramel Sauce Adapted from Bobby Chinn
Serves 8, Total Time 1.5 hrs

This dish is rather simple to prepare, but there is a bit of waiting as the catfish will need to braise for an hour.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 Chinese/Japanese eggplants
- 1 c brown sugar
- 2 + 3/4 c boiling water, seperated
- 2 1/4 lb catfish filets (~3lb whole fish), cut into 5 inch pieces
- 4 red chiles, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1.5 inches ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 T black peppercorns
- 7 oz (roughly 7 inches) galangal, peeled, thinly sliced
- 1/2 c sake
- 4 T good fish sauce, phu quoc or Thai
- 2 T hoey
- 1 t salt
ground pepper, julienned ginger for garnish
serve with white rice

1. Charr eggplant on your gas stovetop or under the broiler. Make sure the skin turn black, but the inside is still soft. Place in a paper bag and set aside for 10 minutes. Peel (the skin will slide off easily) and pull apart into rough chunks.

2. Meanwhile, make the caramel by heating the brown sugar in a 4 quart claypot on medium. The sugar will start to melt. Stir so that the sugar evenly. After a couple minutes sugar will started to become dark brown. Be prepared to add 3/4 c boiling water as soon as you smell a caramelized (some simpletons say "burnt") perfume waft from the sugar. Add the water and stir furiously. If the sugar crystalizes, continue to heat until the sugar dissolves.

3. In a saute pan, heat oil on high and sear the catfish on both sides.

4. Add to claypot the seared catfish, ginger, peppercorns, galangar, sake, fish sauce, honey, salt, and 2 c boiling water. Bring to boil, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.

5. Uncover the claypot and tuck the peeled eggplant around the catfish. Submerge in braised liquid. Continue to simmer uncovered for 15 more minutes.

6. Spoon over white rice and plenty of sauce. Garnish with ginger. Bask in the flavors.

PurveyorSF: Finding Fresh Pulpo

2010-03-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

My Sunday goes something like this:

10:00 AM Wake up
10:30 AM Wake up again. Fill a bowl with water. Dump in some dry ceci beans. Wipe the splashback from my eye.
11:00 AM Pull a stubborn spoon out of the disposal. Hiss back at the espresso machine.
12:00 PM Brush the crumbs out of my eyes and off my face. Brush my teeth.
1:00 PM   Stroke the pages of A:16 Food and Wine as ponder: where do fresh octopi come from? I know they have mommies too, but Where can I get one?
1:30 PM   Surf the net for venders of fresh octopi. Google top hits are unworthy of mention. Even San Francisco Fish Company is playing that frozen game. The burden of being a picky cook in SF.
1:50 PM   Lay back down and contemplate riding to the mission to get coffee with Danny G regarding his new venture Sour Flour. Think about biking...bikes... bike shops...Mojo cafe...my underground dinner at Mojo Cafe...Divisadero Street... Pop up like a daisy in May!
1:55 PM   Furiously call Ariana from Andrew's phone and convince her to drop her organic chemistry work and run across the street to buy be a fresh octopus from the Divisadero farmer's market! YEE-HAW!
1:58 PM Haggle with Ariana to haggle with the vender on the price of my wild Santa Crus Octopus.
2:10 PM Arrive at Mojo cafe as Ariana passes off a 3 lb cleaned octopus. Coil it in my back pack and ride off to the mission.
2:30-4:45 Have a 2 hr meeting at a cafe with an octopus in my backpack. Ride 3 miles with an octopus in my backpack. Try on expensive shoes with an octopus in my backpack. Table for two with an octopus in my backpack.

5:00 PM Tuck octopus lovingly into a bed of escarole. Close the refrigerator door. Start to prepare dinner.

For more rare ingredients, go to PurveySF.tumblr.com.

A Recipe of Taste: Nuoc Cham

2010-03-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

Nuoc Cham is all about the balance of flavors and personal preference. The basic components of this universal dipping sauce are always the same: Salty (fish sauce), Sour (lime juice and vinegar), Sweet (palm sugar), Spicy(chilis). BUT THE RATIOS IN EACH RECIPE ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT! Every Vietnamese family has a proprietary recipe pulsing through their veins. But since I didn't grow up Vietnamese, what will I put in my IV drip? I guess I will have to try all the recipes out to decide...

Meanwhile, this one has been working out for me: Bring 1/4 water, 1t vinegar, and 1T sugar to boil. Remove from flame. Allow to cool. Mix in 1T lime juice, 2T fish sauce, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 2 chopped thai chilis.
(Adapted from Bobby Chinn)

Hong Kong Boozehounds: Drunken Shrimp

2010-03-23T00:27:00.000-07:00

When I go, I want to be blissed out in a puddle of rice wine too. So it went for these tiny shrimp as they unsuspectingly paddled about in the formidable liquid. I had bought these tiny shrimp just one hour prior at a live seafood shop in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong. Every morning, my dad and I would brave a jog through the maze of the offensive dolphin statues that obstructed the beach just to arrive at the seafood market in Tuen Mun. The largest attraction was Hoi Tin Garden, a seafood restaurant that was blindly given the Wall Street Journal stamp of approval on their '10 Best Restaurants in Asia' list. Patrons from far and wide would come and visit the seafood vendors that lined the outside restaurant, inspect the illustrious display of crustaceans (things you would only dream of seeing in Planet Earth) and order straight from the tank. They would then go into the restaurant, fold their legs neatly under a table, sip warm tea out of ceramic cups, eat jellyfish with their chopsticks, and wait for their seafood to arrive. I always wanted to play along, selecting beautiful razor clams and langostines from the large tanks, but my parents felt that the restaurant was overpriced. Plus, everything there was farmed.

Around the corner, there was a dingy kiosk that I liked to call my fish vendor. From styrofoam tubs, the owners sold live wild-caught fish and shrimp. They bought their bounty from local fisherman and sold it to old women looking to make great soup. The freshness of their was fish tantamount. Once it sputtered its last breath, a fish would decrease in price 4-fold. It was there where I bought my tiny sweet shrimp.

In my family we value the small shrimp. The big prawns have always been a challenge for me to eat. So much bulk, not enough flavor, always overcooked. The small ones cook for but a second. If they are small enough, you need not even shell. The head tears off easily and you suck out its broth. Everything goes down in one bite. A week prior to our shrimp cookery, my dad had eaten at a marvelous restaurant in Shanghai; he had never had shrimp so small and sweet. We aimed to re-create it.

DRUNKEN SHRIMP Total time 30 mins, serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb Tiny shrimp, alive
2T rice wine
2t sugar
2T oil
1/2t cracked black pepper

1. Combine shrimp, rice wine, and sugar in a bowl and marinate for 20 minutes. The shrimp will stop moving.
2. Peel the shrimp if the shells are thick. Behead the creatures if they make you nervous. Remove the eggs from the females.

3. Heat the oil in a wok on high. Add the shrimp. Cook the shrimp for a moment on one side before shuffling them around with a spatula. The idea is to get some orange color on them. At the point when you are not sure if they are fully cooked or not, remove them from the fire. Add the pepper. Toss. They are done. They should pop in your mouth.

4. Serve immediately with the roe as garnish on the side.

Alternatively, you can artfully line all the eggs up in chromatic order as to come off as cerebral and artsy.

Feasting on Vietnamese Herbs

2010-03-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I can rough and tumble the Tenderloin (in San Francisco) just as much as the next hipster. Needles and human fecal matter a la drug addict? No problem! But not when I am buying herbs. Their fragrant scent leaves a trail behind me more profound than Hansel and Gretel's hopeless dribble of crumbs. When I get on the phone and foolishly brag to my friend about the bounty of green I have stowed in my purse, I quickly hush myself. Shit! Did anybody hear me? I look around to see if anyone is tailing me. Good, no Vietnamese within earshot.

The Tenderloin is little Saigon meets social services for drug addicts. Next to Project Openhand, you have the most delicious Saigon Sandwiches and Pho Ga. It also houses the only Vietnamese and Cambodian Khmer markets in the city, where I buy me prized herbs. Until next summer, when I finally coax greens stalks out of my little seedlings, I am stuck braving the elements just to get these beauties.

Vietnamese herbs are great because they are so damn edible. Ever try to gnaw on a salad of just rosemary branches? Not for me. But Vietnamese herbs, I could eat them for days. They are mild and perfect to throw on salads, soups, grilled meats, and braised seafood. They are the bright element on the dinner table, juxtaposing the myriad of other textures and flavors set forth.

Let's go through them:
Rau Ram (aka Persicaria odorata) is an herb you find with chicken salad, banana blossom salad, and duck eggs. It is a cross between cilantro, mint and lemon. It is also good to eat in a big pile of herb salad.

Ngo Gai (aka Eryngium foetidum) is a a fun one. It is often called culantro, not to be confused with cilantro. Other names include "saw-leaf herb" and "thorny coriander" because of its rough edges. I tear mine up and use it to festoon my pho bo. It tastes like cilantro, but is more fun to eat. It feels great in your mouth, firmer and tougher than the other leafy greens.

Ngo Om (aka Limnophila aromatica) is also called "rice paddy herb", because that's where it grows. The leaves are smaller and more pungent. Citrusy. They are used to balance strong flavors, such as curry and sour fish soup.

Rau Thom (aka Vietnamese Mint) aka the only mint there really is. Upon first taste, my friend Omar's eye brightened as he exclaimed, "It taste like tooth paste!" It is 100% mint flavor. The American kind is 70% mint, 30% dirt. Its leaves are soft and smooth, like that of Thai basil. I eat it with almost everything: green papaya salad, imperial rolls, fried taro rolls.

Tia To (aka Shiso and its sister Perilla) are often found in Japanese and Korean cooking as well. The flavor of shiso is indescribable. The green shiso has a clean lemon and mint taste. The red shiso is cloudier and a bit mustier. You must taste it to understand the flavor. Shiso is often eaten with bun, rice vermicelli noodles. It sits in a pile next to your bowl, begging for a dip into the fish sauce and into your mouth.

Praticum in Julienning: Green Papaya Salad

2010-03-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

For my last day in Hanoi I only had one goal: to eat as much as possible. It was late morning, 10am, and I was already on Course #3 (Course #1 was a crimson bowl of snail soup, Course #2 was a plate of crispy imperial rolls). I was in the shoe alley, mid-bargain, when my eyes shifted onto a group of boys slicing their way through glossy hunks of beef jerky. My eyes followed their knives to the meat, which flew through the air and into a wicker basket. The meat was then carried across the street to a woman holding court at a small plastic table. A couple people sat around her on even smaller seats, their heads bowed down as if they were praying. So intrigued I was that I near ran over a man's lounge chair and tea set to cross the street. (After he yelled Vietnamese obscenities at me, I apologized for grazing his little plastic stool with my left toe and threatening the contents of his little plastic cup).

As I got closer, I realized the people were not praying. In truth, they were planting their faces into a metallic dish of julienned papaya. Immediately, I sat down and ordered pointed. The woman piled a plate high with green papaya, threw on an assortment of meat jerky (including a rather tender liver jerky), squirted on a series of sauces from three plastic water bottles, and sprinkled peanuts and mint on top. What I brought to my lips was a symphony of noises: crunching, crisping, sighing, slurping. How the Vietnamese do make great food!

Back in the states, I am frequenting all the Vietnamese, Khmer, and Philipino markets in the Tenderloin to make me a Vietnamese green papaya salad. Let's talk about how to make one.

The first thing I should tell you is this: if you don't have a good knife, don't even attempt this dish. The cheapest knife from Ikea will not work. Don't be embarrassed. In college I had one too; forcing its nervous blade through the stubborn skin of a butternut squash almost brought me to the amputee reattachment ward. Now, I have a beautiful Sabatier knife. Actually, I have two.

So why the talk of the knife? Well to be honest, a salad is a salad. There is only so much I can show you about salad. We can talk about the components and the the dressing, but I won't insult you by going into specific amounts. Instead, I will talk about how the salad feels in your mouth and how it sounds while you chomp it down.

Green papayas are nothing more than underripe papayas. They are crunchy like cucumbers, but less watery. They may have a faint taste of papaya, but thats it. They contain digestive enzymes that, every morning, make me a happy gal. My sister's friend takes their seeds as birth control - she has had two beautiful girls in the past 10 years. Not bad.

Green papaya salad is a masticater's dream. Try to think about the crunchiest coleslaw you've ever had. Think about the music it makes between your teeth. Now turn the music up. That's what it's like. The way you slice your papaya will transform your salad from good to addictive. I've never been able to take a decent picture of my green papaya salad because it disappears into mouth before I can snap a shot.

I used to julienne my green papaya in 2mm squared matchsticks. I was very happy with them. But then I tried a green papaya salad from The Slanted Door. I was a mad skeptic. The green papaya was julienned to less than 1mm squared matchsticks. I thought I would lose the crunch. Not so. Not only was the texture there, there was more flavor due to the increased surface area. The green papaya picked up even more flavor from the dressing, making it all the more addictive. Now I try to cut my matchsticks into slivers so narrow that you must floss to deepest ends of your teeth to retrieve them. It's a constant practice.

The following is a rough framework for a Vietnamese Green Papaya Salad. This is not the Thai-styale salad, which is also very tasty. The main difference is that Thai salads have much more in the way of aromatics, containing raw garlic, shallots, tomatoes, and dried shrimp.

VIETNAMESE GREEN PAPAYA SALAD

SALAD
Green papaya, julienned
Green or ripe mango, julienned
Carrot, julienned
Persian cucumber, julienned
Poached pork loin/shoulder, thinly sliced
Poached shrimp

TOPPINGS
Fried shallots
Roasted peanuts
Beef Jerky
Liver Jerky
Pork Jerky (Pigpigscorner does a beautiful rendition)
Cotton Meat
Powdered dried shrimp

HERBS
(Vietnamese) Mint, torn
Shiso, torn
Rau Ram, torn

DRESSING
Sour Lime Dressing (1 small red chile-chopped, 3 T sugar, 1 large lime- peeled and sectioned, 2.5 T fish sauce. Pound chile and sugar into a paste. Stir in the lime pulp and pound down. Stir in any leftover lime juice and fish sauce.)

1. Soak green papaya in cold water for 10 minutes. Drain.
2. Fill your plate with salad fixings. Top with a generous amount of toppings - especially the fried shallots.
3. Decorate with the lots of herbs.
4. Dress.
5. Devour.
6. Repeat.

Why Food In Vietnam Tastes Good

2010-03-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

Vietnamese cooks are nothing if not masters of juxtaposition. Eating their food bombards all your senses to the point where you are unable to understand anything more than the happy accident of stumbling into kitchen. Let me try and decrypt some of the reasons why.

1. The dead and alive, in your bowl and at your feet. Nothing makes you want to eat charcoal-grilled squab more than the harmonious squak of hens, or the joy of a feather landing on your eyelid.

You may think that I am being facetious. I'm not. It is an artform dead unto most Americans. Last fall, a trip to Medford, Oregon found me in tears when I was unable to locate an onion at a Costco sized warehouse called 'The Grocery Outlet'...or was it called 'Food For Less'? Admittedly, I did come close, with a pack of Funyuns, a can of French's Fried Onions, and half a dozen types of EZ-Bake frozen rings.

In Vietnam, many people don't have fridges to store frozen foodstuff, let alone stoves and kitchens. Food is cooked curbside over a heap of glowing charcoal. As a result, maintaining the integrity of the ingredients means that your food is either still alive when you order it, sitting happy for a day at 80F, or fermented. When I sit down for a bowl of Pho Ga (Chicken Noodles Soup), I get a sense of the chicken's life as I watch its brothers and sisters free-range at my heals. Food is fresh and you can taste it in the brightness of the greens, the clarity of the stock, the sweetness of the clams, and the hue of the beef.

You may argue that, in the absence refrigeraters, some Vietnamese cooks just serve rotted food. 26 days I ate in Vietnam, and never once did I get sick. No throw-up, no diarrhea, no parasites. Comparatively, 10 days prior to leaving, I suffered a shattering case of the runs at now unforgettable bistro in San Francisco.

2. Salty, Sour, Sweet, Spicy, all there in harmony. The flavors are so well balanced, that there is no need for oils to round out aggressive flavors.

The Salty is from fish sauce, nuoc mam, which probably has more umami than tomatoes in heat and stinky cheese combined. Close your eyes and imagine an anchovy packed in salt, fermenting and weaping juices from its sides. Now lick it. That, my friends, is a great fish sauce. Scared? There is also shrimp paste, which will tackle you and leave you penniless.

The Sour comes in many forms: vinegar, pineapple, tamarind, limes, green mangoes, herbs. These are fruity, ideal for cutting any harshness wafting from the nuoc mam.

The Sweet? Palm sugar, coconut, dates. They are necessary in keeping those sours in line.

The Spicy comes from fragrant thai chili peppers and tangy ginger. Additionally, tiny cloves of garlic are eaten raw, with a bit of salt and pepper. You can feel the kick in your nose.

3. The Hot and the Cold, forever sharing the same plate. This detante goes into more depth than I can manage. Not only is there a balance in the temperatures of the food, but there is also a balance in the medicinal components of the food.

On a hot day, all I want to do is dip my head into a bowl of cool vermicelli, topped with charcoal grilled 3 layer pork (aka pork belly). On a cold day, I want snail soup (pho oc) with cold shiso leaves, culantro, vietnamese mint, and rau ram. I tuck my deep fried spring roll in a lettuce leaf and plunge it into chilled nuoc mam. I eat green papaya salad with fried shallots and roasted peanuts. I am blissed out on deep fried elephant ear fish with cold herbs.

But this contrast of hot and cold is just entry level stuff. The balance is not just determined by thrusting two thermometers into the belly of your vietnamese crepe (banh xeo) and determining a variance, but by understanding the medicinal nature of each ingredient and how they mix. The practice dates back to 500 BC (perhaps even 2000 BC), when the Chinese prescribed cocktails of herbs to provide remedies to the ailing. Each ingredient would be evaluated on a scale between 'hot' and 'cold'. People would also have their own individual 'hot' and 'cold' constitutions (if you're vivacious, thin, and have lots of sex, you're hot, if you are fat, lazy, slow, and have never been touched, you're 'cold'). The ratio of 'hot' to 'cold' food eaten would determine its impact on the body. I cannot say more on this matter, but read this article for further commentary.

Foods that are hot include: Chicken, mutton, beef, hotpot, fried dishes, ginger, garlic, dog, squash, carrots, potatoes, yams, rutabagas, turnips, leeks, onions, rice, oats, butter, strawberries, cherries.

Foods that are cold include: Pork, cabbage, cauliflower, duck, frog, rabbit, steamed dishes, tofu, milk, cheese, and liquids.

In Dalat, Vietnam I met a friend, Linh, who insisted that we eat stewed dog meat paired with rice wine. He said that the fattiness of dog meat was very 'warming' and that we needed the to cut it with rice wine. When we saw people drinking beer with their dog, we frowned upon them.

4. The crunchy, soft, crispy, sticky, creamy, and chewy textures transform your mouth into a music box of break beats.

The vegetables are always crisp. The noodles are always tender. The fried rolls and seafood shatter in your mouth. The 1,000 yr old egg is creamier than brie. The dried shrimp is chewier than jerky. The pickled shallots are crunchier than pickles. They are all on my table.

The vegetables are always crisp. The noodles are always tender. The fried rolls and seafood shatter in your mouth. The tofu is tender.

The 1,000 yr old egg is creamier than brie. The dried shrimp is chewier than jerky. The sweet shallots are crisper than pickles

I tear 5 different types of pork and beef jerky with my teeth and pile a heaping mound of shredded green papaya into my mouth.

26 days I ate in Vietnam, and never once did I crave the stink of a good camembert, the sastisfaction of a Farolito burrito, the sweetness of an A16 Ragu Napoleantena, or the tenderness of Zuni roasted chicken. Now that I am back, I indulge in all these foods in large quantities. However, I am in capable of breaking this romance I have with Vietnamese food. It's to a point here I have visited every store in Little Saigon and interrogated the grocery distributor as to why he does not carry netted rice paper and if he has near term plans to do so.

I have already started tinkering in my kitchen. Catfish with galangal, taro spring rolls, imperial rolls with foraged SF trumpet mushrooms, caramel chicken claypot. I am hoping to build a flower box soon, so I can plant my herb garden of culantro, shiso, perilla, rau ram, vietnamese mint, micro shallots. It takes about 30-60 days for these seedlings to realize. I am predicting a full vietnamese food conversion by May, just in time for my birthday.

The New 'It' Garnish: Fried Aromatics

2010-03-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

'Mes en plas' now includes fried aromatics and fish sauce. Call it Vietnamese cuisine or call it an artful puppy pile of flavors. My romp in Vietnam yields surprises around every corner - the excellent variety of flavors and textures is no exception.

These fried shallots permeate the kitchen, my hair, and much of Vietnamese cuisine. I found these crisps floating in a sea of beef pho, perched atop a small mountain of green papaya salad, and squeezed into the folds of my pork belly banh mi. They are a perfect mix of sweet and bitter. Eat them on your salads, your noodles, your burgers, your everything. They also pair swimmingly with roasted peanuts.They are addictive. I like to make as many as possible, which means that I must go to the Mexican mart to buy them in bulk.

To make them, I heat 1/2 of oil in a thick pan or saucepan over medium, until it registers 265F. I add thinly sliced shallots (2 mm thick) in one layer. **Ideally (if you have time), dry the shallot slices in the sun for 3 hours prior to frying.** I do not allow myself to crowd the pan. I fry at medium-low for ~7 minutes, stirring frequently. (If you do not stir, the shallots closest to the rim of the pan will brown too quickly.) Once they start to turn color, they turn quickly. Try to anticipate the moment when they go from golden to dark brown. Start taking the shallots out once they hit this threshold - maybe even 10 seconds earlier. Drain on a paper towel. Store in a tupperware up to 3 weeks - however, you will likely finish them by the end of the day. Keep shallot oil and use to flavor other dishes.

I also fried up some garlic chips for good measure. Over medium heat, I crisped thin slices of garlic until they radiated golden (~5 minutes). But be careful! They go from good to burnt as soon as you look away. Fry and drain over paper towels. They keep well in an airtight container for a couple weeks. These can be used to garnish salads or noodles. They also show up in Burmese cuisine. Just check out their tea leaf salad or rainbow noodles salads to find these bittersweet chips.

Momofuku Buns 2.0: A Deadly Assault of Leavening Agents

2010-03-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

We interrupt our special-edition-of-Vietnam broadcasting to express our utter shock and disbelief at the new Momofuku Steamed Bun recipe, published in 2009.

As you know, my dedicated reader, I blogged about pork belly buns back in 2008. I used David Chang's recipe as published by Gourmet Magazine and MarthaStewart.com. I found the buns particularly difficult to work with, trying a couple times to get them just right. I prodded at each iteration of dough in search of tenderness and developed gluten. In the end, I got there.

Fast forward a year- Last night, I helped to make over 150 buns for an upcoming underground farmer's market. I was chilled to the bones upon finding out that the updated recipe, in Momofuku (Crown Publishing, 2009), bore little resemblance to its predecessor! It seemed that the initial steamed bun recipe morphed itself from a cuddly boston terrier to a heavy bulldog. Now it's fatter, thicker, and has all the trappings of hypertension.

Let's take a closer look. On left I have listed the ingredients in the 2007 recipe, and on the right, those for the 2009 recipe.

Comparison Synopsis

The 2007 recipe is similar to a traditional steamed bun recipe. The tenderness relies on the low protein cake flour, milk, and delicate kneading. The gluten is developed through the use of less yeast and a longer proofing time. Leavening agents are added in two stages. Yeast is first activated for 10 minutes in warm water and then mixed into the dough. The dough is proofed for 2 hrs. The baking powder is added after the dough has proofed. It proofs again for 30 minutes. As a result, The buns are soft and a bit bland, which is an ideal backdrop for salty, fatty, pork belly.

The 2009 recipe has many more ingredients and fewer steps. The tenderness is due to the addition of lard. The gluten is developed by using a high protein bread flour and an aggressive assault of leavening agents. Unactivated yeast AND backing powder AND baking soda are all added to the dough at once. A whopping 5 times more yeast is required in the 2009 dough. The proofing time is shorter, 1 1/4 hr. Because of the lard, the gluten network weakens and larger bubbles are formed. One tablespoon of salt is added, which is enough to send me to the nearest phonebook in search of chinese bakeries that can produce 150 beautiful back-up buns. As a result, the buns are a little darker, notably salty, and slightly fattier. There is a slight aftertaste of baking soda/powder. The salt is alarming because it adds to the saltiness of the brined belly.

Thoughts

I like to celebrate the evolution of recipes and chefs. There is obviously a reason that Chang changed his recipe. I just wonder why. The reasons I have identified are:
- Differentiation (you won't find it in a traditional dim sum recipe book)
- Mass appeal (consistent with the resurgence of "manly" food)
- Ease of execution. (Product is more consistent. I made four batches of dough that differed slightly in amounts of flour and lard. They all rose. They all became successful buns.)

The jury is still out as to whether these new buns actually taste better. I am not convinced. For me, the purpose of buns are to provide a neutral counterpoint to the rich meat and sauce. When the bun itself is salty and lardy, I am not sure where I can seek respite. In the cool cucumber? Oh shit, now they are pickled too!

Notes on Travelling

2010-02-19T22:46:00.000-08:00

Notes on how to be a good travellor:

1. Take the bus. No, the real bus. You know, like the one that putters by with a gaggle of limbs thrusted from the window. It is likely cheaper than your vodka shot from Buffalo 20.
2. When a taxi driver tells you that a 4 km trip to Chinatown costs 140,000 Dong, the same price as a 6 hour train ride in a soft seat, don't believe him. He is full of shit. Find another taxi.
3. Always have Kleenex.
4. Walk one block away from the backpacker district. Amazing things will happen. There will be no tourists. Prices will drop. Local people will be patrons, not just service people. This phenomenon occurs when you enter what is called Normal Life.
5. Just because you eat street food does not make you a shoestring travellor.
6. Just because the only word you know is Pho, does not mean that you have to eat noodles forever.
7, When a 10 year old kid sits down next to you and asks for change. Cover your boobs. He may try to grab them.

Good Morning From Vietnam

2010-02-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

I am traversing Vietnam solo! I am eating everything in sight and taking pictures. But without a cord that feeds pictures form my camera to the computer, I can only tell you about my days:

Ask me how a man talks on his cell phone, drives a manual bus, and barrels down the left lane of a highway into oncoming traffic, and I will show you Vietnam. Ask me how I held onto my money, my dignity, and my lunch, and I will tell you furiously.

When the kind woman at the hotel told me that I could catch a bus to Quy Nhon at the bus station on Hwy 1, I stupidly assumed that that would be the case. So I hired a motobike to take me on a 20 minute ride, through the backroads of central vietnam, to the bus station. When we finally emerged onto Hwy 1, I found out that by bus station, she meant a 2x2 plot of dirt that was not inhabited by either a fruit stand, a motorbike, or a herd of likestock. You know, a bus station! Sure enough, within 10 minutes, my moto taxi driver was able to hail down a bus, long enough for me to toss my bag in the back and hop in, Little Miss Sunshine style.

We were a party of 25 (plus or minus 10) in a van the size of an ice cream truck. Our sundries included: a gargatuan bicycle, 2 banh mi (hidden in my backpack), 15 cells phones, and one utterly digusting bucket of what looked like petroleum and ice cubes. Surprisingly, it was quite spacious inside, as the Vietnamese frame folded neatly within the confines of the padded seats. The one exception was the Australian farmer, who was intent on biking from China to Europe in order to stop pollution. His legs did not fold neatly. They jutted out like two long baguettes into the seat in front of him. He would later become my confidant in bargaining down the exhorbitant foreigner's ticket price to what was rightfully the standard.

The 7 hour ride did not include air conditioning. It did, however, include frequents stops to pick up more passengers, frequent pauses to eject passengers, and mild molestation from the ticket caddie. At first I saw him as all the other Vietnamese - kind eyes, high cheekbones, full lips. But as he continued to accost me and demand 250,000 VND for a 100,000 VND trip, I developed a mean-spirited narrative for him - one in which he was a transvestite sex slave to the lecherous white sickos. Serves him right. To pass the time I would eat a banh mi, stare out the window, and catch bugs in my mouth. Realizing that we were often on the wrong side of the street, playing chicken with the 18 wheel trucks, and sounding the horn as if it were a radio, I decided to take tally of our flight. It was simple: I would count to sixty and and measure how long we spent on the other side of the road. I did this four times, calculated the average, and took the percent. We spent 31% of our time in somebody else's lane-- that's almost the same percentage of time we sleep -- a treacherous way to spend my sleeping hours.

When we finally arrived in Quy Nhon, the bus station was closed. I was ejected onto the side of the rode and found myself looking for a taxi to take me to Barbara's Backpacker hostel. Nobody would accept less than 40,000 VND for a ride. I bargained, begged, haggled and finally found someone who would take me there for 20,000 VND or take me to a nice cheap hotel for 100,000 VND. I informed him that I did not need a room and just wanted a taxi ride. I jumped on the back of his motorbike and we started down a dark road. Again, he tried to solicit a room, but through his broken english, he said the following to me: "I...WANT...SLEEP...WITH...YOU." I finally felt the panic that I had been trying to silence all day. Real visceral panic. WHAT?! And then he said it again. I yelled for him to stop and jumped off as it skidded to a halt. What followed was a fury of hand gestures and map references. In the end, we worked things out to a misunderstanding, but not before I sized him up. The good thing about that slender Vietnamese frame is that is pales in comparison to our thunderous hormone fed American bodies (the only benefit I see to commercialized food). All I had to do was throw my heavy bag at him and take a running leap and land on his head to crush him to crumbs.

I arrived at Barbara's backpacker hostel shaken but in one piece. There were muffins on the counter and a bunk bed to rent for 50,000 VND. I gladly accepted the offer, ordered a big beer, helped myself to a seat with the other guests, and opened my mouth to talk a gasp of air. It took me 5 watery southeast asian beers and one soggy pork belly banh mi to calm down, but I finally did. By morning, I had secured myself a vietnamese friend (who follows me around like a shadow), a motorride to a remote beach, and free breakfast.

Hopefully, everyday won't be this hectic.

A16: A Cookbook Review

2010-01-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

I'm late to the party, but I am finally willing to admit: Nate Appleman is the man.

Nate Appleman is best known as the executive chef of A16 and SPQR in San Francisco. He has received critical acclaim for his earthy and emotive Italian food, including a James Beard award in 2009 for Rising Star Chef (he was the only chef to win a national award outside of New York). This past year, a svelter version of his former self appeared as a contestant on The Next Iron Chef and excelled wherever there was pork. Sadly, pork does not an Indian meal make, and he was asked to leave the show. I recently picked up A16: Food and Wine, a book that he co-authored with Shelley Lindgren and Katie Leahy, from the library, and in a moment of bold adoration, cemented it to my right arm. I am unable to part with the book, whose pages I have stained with vestiges of its text. Please let me tell you how much I enjoyed it.

Now then, the A16 story begins with a lengthy explanation of the restaurant's name, a reference to the highway that laterally bisects southern Italy (connecting Naples to Puglia). We are given a geographic and socioeconomic account of the region, contextualizing the food and wine. We understand the south to be a bit poorer, a bit more relaxed in its ways, resulting in bready meatballs ratio and slow cooked meats.

Following the introduction, A16 is broken down into three parts: wine, pantry, and food. Shelley Lindgren, owner/sommelier of A16 and SPQR, makes sense of food and wine pairings as I have never understood them. To my delight, she draws distinction between the vineyards speckling each of the smaller highways -- a sort of micro-regionalism.

The baton is then passed to Nate Appleman to speak about the understated food of southern Italy. He first elaborates on the pantry items of the region. In the absence of supermarkets, which bring us rosy produce 365 days of the year, the people of southern Italy rely on preserving their bounty and using every part of their stock. When building our own arsenal, he instructs us to make broth from parmesan rinds (softly boil rinds for 3 hours), oven dry tomatoes in the summer (dehydrate for hours on a bed of salt), and preserve lemons in salt (pack cakes of salt in the sectioned cavity). A keen eye is drawn towards the slow concentration of flavors. I must say, this is my favorite part of the book.

As Appleman launches into the recipes, my hunger grows fierce. I want to cook and eat every recipe in the book, if only to get closer to what it feels like to be in the A16 kitchen or at an Italian dinner table. The recipes themselves are user friendly, easy to re-create in a home kitchen, and inspirational. Most importantly, the recipes show us how to be laid back cooks, patient cooks. Most dishes use the passage of time to develop flavors, instructing us to stew pork two days before eating, preserve tuna in oil, and pre-salt meat a day ahead of time. Additionally, the small number of ingredients gives credence to the less is more mentality.

I have cooked many of the dishes, including the octopus with ceci beans, blistered peppers with oil packed tuna, braised pork with chestnuts, ragu Napoleatena, and handmade cavelleti. They all exceed my expectations in taste and simplicity of preparation. You must try them. The flavor of octopus broth is marvelous, the sweetness of chestnuts is sultry, the flavor of the ragu is powerful, the bite of "00" pasta makes me proud. In a day, I am a maven of south Italy. And if it wasn't enough, Appleman throws in an entire chapter dedicated to the pig for good measure.

All in all, this book is a vivid celebration of the southern Italian spirit. It is also a nasty device used to torture people like me, who cannot stave hunger during the hours of food preparation. As I reach for another pork rind, I look longingly at the ragu… T-4 hours until hog heaven.

SF-ists: BAGEL MONDAY in 2010

2010-01-10T23:26:00.000-08:00

Gearing up for another BAGEL MONDAY!

Danny Gabriner's FREE BAGELS are back in 2010. I am helping out in the production of some golden Montreal style bagels, chewy, crusty, salty, with a touch of poppyseed. Want free Bagels?

Here's the deal:
- Email Danny Gabrine r (Founder of SourFlour) to order FREE BAGELS
- Specify the number of FREE BAGELS you would like
- Pick up FREE BAGELS mid-day Monday at United Market, on 21st and York, SF, CA (Sorry non-SFer's, this is just an SF thing)

Please find out more about his interesting foray into bread-baking at www.sourflour.org.

Warm You Lips: Chocolat Chaud

2009-12-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

Not much blogging around here lately. My life has endured some changes -- I'll tell you about it some time.

But it's not devoid of cooking. And not devoid of reading either. Here's a great hot chocolate, which I will be nursing as I dive back into my blog. I collected this recipe for chocolat chaud from It Must've Been Something I Ate, a brilliant book by Jeffrey Steingarten. He swiped it from Pierre Hermé, master in French pastry.

This beverage is beyond silky. It is also quite light because it includes watered down milk, which has been filtered and blended. Dare I say it almost acts like a foam.

I agree with Mr. Steingarten, when I say that it makes for a better drink. Body without the bulge.

Note: I added dried mulato chiles to the milk as it boiled, imparting depth and a spiciness. Mulato chiles are similiar to pasilla and ancho chiles. They are dark, pliable, and reminiscent of raisons.

Coming back with full force... K

Slow Poached Egg

2009-11-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

Work has swept me out to sea, and with it my beloved blog. So now, I spend Sunday morning in bed catching up on things. And when I get hungry, I paddle over to the kitchen. The southern exposure in there is grand. I am in no rush, and in no need for frivolity.

A slow poached egg with ‘pan con tomate’. (I’d claim this all for Spain, but sadly, the Spanish don’t eat eggs for breakfast.)

The secret to this egg is to let it rest in a warm bath of 147 degrees. Herve This does a good amount of research on the coagulating temperature of eggs in this book Molecular Gastronomy. The whites begin to coagulate at lower temperature (142 F), while the yolks follow just a few steps behind (152 F). The secret is to poach somewhere between those two temperatures to create an egg white that is just set, and a yolk that will slide down you toast.

**Try to get the freshest eggs as possible. Let me tell you why. Fresh eggs have a tighter white. That means that when you break it open it isn’t incontinent. While poaching, you will have a conceivable egg white, rather than one that is feathered off in the water bath.

SLOW POACHED EGGS ON TOMATO TOAST (Serves 2)

- 2 farm fresh eggs, room temperature
- 2 slices of bread – I prefer good bread – Acme Sweet, Rustic sour, Pain au Levain
- 1 tomato, cut in half lengthwise (maximum surface area exposed)
- I clove of garlic
- Good olive oil – arbequina fits nicely
*Thermometer that measures 147 F. I use one that is intended for steaming milk.

1. Take a large pot and rub the bottom with a bit of olive oil. Attach your thermometer.
2. Fill the pot with water and bring to 147F on your burner. The larger the pot – the easier to control the temperature. You will find yourself teetering between turning the burner off and on. The more water, the more consistent the change in temperature.
3. Break the eggs into a small bowl. Gracefully pour the eggs into the pot of water, one at a time. Try to position them apart.
4. Slow poached for 35 minutes at a consistent 147F. Don’t disturb. After the first 25 minutes you can ever so slightly nudge the eggs with a spatula to make sure that they aren’t sticking. They may cook unevenly if they do.
5. 10 minutes before taking them out, toast you bread. When they are toasted, rub the clov of garlic onto the bread to give flavor. 2-3 passes should be fine. Rub the cut side of the tomato on the toast (same side as garlic) to transfer some of the pulp. If desired, pop the toast into a toaster oven, for a little more crisp.
6. Plate the toast and drizzle with olive oil. Carefully remove the gg fromt eh bath with a spatula and set on the toast. Drizzle with more olive oil and season.

Enjoy with a magazine or some company. It’s Sunday.

Salt Bricks

2009-10-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Salt bricks make salt walls and salt houses. These houses house patients with asthma and indicate improved results.

Salt bricks also make great hot plates when heated. You can sear beef quickly, or use as a pizza stone. I want one.

Salt bricks are the new cedar planks.

Hog Island!

2009-10-25T21:06:00.001-07:00

We had been waiting on these reservations for 3 months. 3 MONTHS. My dear friends, that's worse than getting into the French Laundry. My word! But here, it's not a matter of convincing the host that you are important enough to sit at the table, it's a matter of getting the host to pick up the damn phone. Yes, well Hog Island Oyster Company is a wily one.

September 27th finds us plowing through 100F weather as we drive out to Point Reyes. Good thing the top is down. Good thing life is good. My eyes practically pop when I see the spandex warriors blazing on their bicycles. In this heat, I can only fathom a Pimm's cup.

An hour and a half north of SF, there is Point Reyes, a cape that protrudes from the California coast. Tomales bay, a very long and narrow stretch of water separates the cape from the mainland. Point Reyes is also capped at the south end by Bolinas, a lovely town of 1,246 inhabitants (incidentally, they have been wanting to secede from nation since the 60s.)

But I digress. Many good things come out of Point Reyes: Cowgirl creamery, oysters, seabeans, poets. Today we are on the hunt for oysters. And lots of them.

Point Reyes is typically cloudy and cold, but today it shines. It really is magnificent! The boats linger in the bay and in silence. The only thing you hear are the motorcyclists. I'd like to ride a motorcycle-- but not on a day like today. It's as if the heat has turned their leather outerwear into little sausage casings. "They're like a gang out here," one of us says.

We make the near fatal mistake of taking a first turn into the Tomales Bay Oyster company. (Eek! Reverse! Abort! Reverse!) . The place is crowded and hectic - I am certain I caught a wiff of Penn station somewhere in there. In retrospect I would have liked to mark up our journey on a map so that we could avoid encounters such as these.

In Marshall, ten miles north of Point Reyes, we arrive at the Hog Island oyster hole. Surprisingly, the only thing that is excessive about this place is the valet parking, which I am willing to concede. There is a picnic table held for us, equipped with a grill. We set up and our acme bread, molinari salame, Andante cheese (by biochemist turned cheese maker Soyoung Scalan), and Pimms dressings.

Ariana and I run over the giant tubs where the workers are doling out the oysters. They come in extra-small, small, and medium. They also have kumamotos, but caveat them reports of salinity in today's catch. We buy a couple dozen and a pound of clams to throw on the grill. They give us trays, gloves, lemons, tapatio, and shuckers.

The oysters are a dream to open. Ariana and Omar manage to address all of them in less than 20 minutes. We line them up on plates, our eyeballs feasting already. We pretend to comment on how nicely they were shucked and how beautiful the weather is, but give up easily. And then they disappear in to our eager bellies. One after another, some unadulterated, and some with the most mind-blowing Happy Girl spicy tomato juice (recently voted one of the top 50 things to eat in the world by The Guardian UK) and their pickled haricot verts. They were recommended for bloody marys, but I thought they would make brilliant shooters, with a bit of gin.

We also fire up the grill,

ever

slowly,

and attempt to steam our clams in foil. We are unable to start a proper fire. Slow and weak, our fire is. The clams aren't an epic fail, but a timid last compared to the chorizo and clam concoction by the table next door. Our neighbors take pity on our sad little clams and offer us some of theirs. We are grateful.

Later on we try and light a second chimney for the fire. We refuse to use lighter fluid, although I toast the coals with some gin. The coals remain tepid, but at least there are more of them now, and we grill our fresh sardines and 1 inch thick slices of salami. The grilled salami renders a bit over the flame, but ultimately bastes itself as the fat drips down.

We plate a small fish and bring it over to our charitable neighbor to give thanks. Next to his ribeyes and bottles of robust wine, I feel paupered. His eyes open wide when he sees the juicy sardine. "Are these sardines? Fresh sardines? Really? Where did you get these?" We learn that he has been searching for fresh sardines across town. I smile, "he's one of us." He accepts the plate with both hands. Seconds later, the fish is but bones.

It's getting late, both at Hog Island and here as I type in the night. We clean up and head on out. I'm getting ready to shut down my computer - teeth brushed. We head up highway 1 all the way back to the city. It is nice to see that the fog has rolled in to the bay. It cools of the city as we sleep.

NYT: Cakes Gone Wrong

2009-10-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

Those babies sure can ride them carrots!

So odd. For the full show.

Food Trend-Setter

2009-10-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

ITS ALL ABOUT SARDINES

A Wild Feast: Underground Restaurant in a Bike Shop Back Alley

2009-10-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, i willingly launched myself into helping out in an underground restaurant. A Wild Kitchen. A wild dinner. At the end of the night, I emerged tattered and my muscles ached. I wondered how the hell 8 hours slipped by without my notice. I wondered how the hell I got through it. I wondered how the hell we did it.

Here are some numbers (because we all love numbers):
- 25 people
- 4 kitchen staff
- 3 portable burners
- 3 pot of hot fat - of varying temperature and compositions
- 1 pig's face
- 1/2 a front of the house waiter.

I had aspirations of grandeur going in. My assumption that things would work out without serious forethought and anticipation was trampled by the reality of the night - the motions of attending to minutiae and the ticking of that hideous clock. But, I was happy doing so. I felt myself being assertive - with the visceral feel or urgency and, and a desire to do the best that I could. Let me tell you - that is a rare find my friends - a rare find.

Whimsy, does not a successful restaurant make.

I realize that, in any craft, we depend on lists and planning, anticipation and management to get the job done. You also need confidence and assertiveness, and a thick skin.

I require a lot of this when I make wedding cakes for others. I make lists, post-its - killing trees and ficases in the process with my furious pen. I even re-write my plans as if they were notes in class - with each iteration, understanding something new. I thrive off this sort of planning an anticipation. It excites me.

I also learned a valuable lesson in the art of scalability. What can and cannot be served to 25 people with the same quality and expediency as to 5 people? What about to 150 people? Holy hell, my eyeballs are sore.

Here is a little offering of what we did:

We rolled up a skinned pig's face and slow poached it to create porchetta di testo. We sliced it thin. And served it with chicken liver pate.

We flash fried smelts, browned potatoes in vanilla pork fat, and oil poached tuna in a gallon of olive oil in the alleyway of a bike shop. The concrete stained by our destruction.

We thinly sliced fresh abalone (foraged from the sea) on a meat slicer, pounded it thin, and sautéed it, and served it with a sweet sauce.

We fried seabeans (aka pickleweed) tempura style. Natures pickles, fried raw. (Take that NYTimes blog).

And yes, they were epic dishes.

New Obsession: Olive Oil, Rye and Stone Fruit Cake

2009-09-27T23:50:00.000-07:00

Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini's Gâteau de Mamy à la Poire, this cake is my fanaticism. I have made three in the past three days. It takes less than 10 minutes to throw together, and tastes like good quality cake. Delicious cake. The recipe is a dream to remember and acts for like a framework from which theme and variation can play.

I vary the stone fruit/fruit and fats involved in this cake depending on supply. The first was a simple pear and butter cake. Next, a fairtime peach, olive oil and rye flour cake. Next a strawberry, olive oil, and rye muffins.

I am so positively floured up on this cake, I may try sweet corn, brown butter, and polenta next.

In a standing mixer, beat 2 eggs and 1/2 c sugar on high for 3 minutes until white and creamy. Throw in 1/2 c flour (all purpose, rye, or even cornmeal), a handful of nuts ground down to a coarse meal (walnuts, almonds, macadamias etc), 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder into the mixer and whip on high for 2 minutes. Add 1/2c of liquid fat (melted butter, olive oil, or melted lard) to the mixer and beat for 2 more minutes.

Cut up you fruit and lay it at the bottom of a greased 6 or 8 inch pan (enough to cover the bottom of the pan and then some - 3 pears, 2 medium peaches, or 1 pint of strawberries). Pour the batter on top of the fruit. Bake in the oven at 350 F for 45 minutes.

Eat perfection.

Molecular Gastronomy 101: Tinkering with Chocolate Mayonnaise a la Herve This

2009-09-23T23:54:00.000-07:00

Of the books I'd like to finish reading are Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott [Cover Thrift Editions], The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee [Scribners], Molecular Gastronomy by Herve This [Columbia University Press], and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole [Louisiana University Press].

One of them is about the exploration of spatial dimensions - including a very sexist and facist portrayal of the two dimensional world of 'flatland'. Another is an encyclopedia of food science-including photos of gluten and fat molecules under an electron microscope. Another is a discussion on how food science of today leads to innovation tomorrow. The first three books highlight my affinity for the applied sciences while the last is a hilarious book about a slovenly slug, who slings a 400 page indictment against our times.

I will focus on the second and third books - those concerning food science. These books are not everybody's bedside table books. They are not coffee table books either. They may, perhaps, act as large blocks under which you weigh down a simmering pot of dolmas. But I dare say that they are for me.

Let's narrow in on the matter of emulsions, which is mentioned in both books: the unlikely marriage of fat and water. This phenomenon occurs when water and oil get together under the generosity of the globular proteins.

As a review, water and oil regard each other with equal contempt. Think of them as republicans and democrats - shit-slingers. Now think of proteins as these large globular masses that appeal to each side - money, power, and the senate. Begrudgingly, they must unite under the bi-partisanship of the legislative senate to make progressive changes like healthcare reform -- errr -- all the while able to sleep with their lady lovers on the side. **Caution: disturb the balance, by throwing in too many republicans or democrats and the house falls down.

That, my friends is an emulsion. A protein structure that attracts both fat and water in its mass. What are examples of emulsions? Caesar salad dressing for one-the proteins in the egg yolk join oil and vinegar in a happy love tub. Milk as another - the milk fats and waters doing the hippie dance with proteins. Mousses, pates, ice creams!!!!

Tartar me crazy, even mayonnaise is an emulsion! The most perfect example of an emulsion! The large proteins in the eggs are whipped so that they form a jungle gym structure on which the fats (added oil) and and waters (from the egg) can play. In the end, there is that perfect gelled structure - even in color, consistency, and taste - no trappings of internal feuds of oil and water. And to think - all you need is protein fat and water...

Herve This, author of Molecular Gastronomy, proposes that the oil in mayonnaise can be substitute out for some other type of fat -- cocoa fat! Chocolate!

So here I whipped one egg white on high and slowly drizzled in 2 oz of melted chocolate thinned with a bit of water for 5-10 minutes on high. Eventually the chocolate transformed from a dark satin to a light and voluminous cream. The texture is so smooth, you would imagine some kind of cream inside.

This is the application of food tradition set forth to drive evolution of food in the future and thought to be a manifestation of molecular gastronomy. Stay tuned for when I put this delectable substance int he microwave. A flourless chocolate cake in of just two ingredients within 60 seconds!!!! Yeee-haw!

Wild Dinner This Sunday September 20th, San Francisco

2009-09-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

The Wild Kitchen surfaces at Mojo Bicycle Cafe

Join me and Iso Rabins, founder of ForageSF and the Wild Kitchen for a found 7 course meal of...

amuse-bouche

Wild Foraged Fire Roasted Chestnuts
(if we can find them)

firsts

Fried Smelt and Foraged Lemon
Vanilla Fried Potatoes
Garlic-Nastertium aioli

intermezzo

Eucalyptus Huckleberry Sorbet

seconds

Charcuterie Plate
Wild Boar prosciutto
Sweet Pickled Seabeans
Chicken Liver Pate
Porchetta di Testa
Guanciale

intermezzo

Wild Nettle Tea

Main

Poached Local Albacore Tuna
Sweet Corn, Heirloom Tomatoes
Tempura Fried Sea Beans

ends

Acorn Ice Cream
Wild Foraged Blackberries

As you can see, there is a bit of kitchensidecar in this menu - a great opportunity to ponder menus and ideas and angles and considerations. If you can't come, please try and cook along! As you can see smelts and pate are on the menu!

How it works:

The meal costs $50, and is 7 courses. Tickets are very limited and can be purchased at brownpapertickets.com.

Because we use the freshest wild foraged ingredients, sometimes the menu changes, but we’ll let you know before the dinner.

Mojo has been nice enough to let us use their space, and we want to make it worth their while. In contrast to previous wild kitchens, there will be a $10 corkage fee for wine, which will go to Mojo. There will be beer available for purchase.

Dear Chow: Pick Me!

2009-09-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

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Untitled from katie kwan on Vimeo.
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Please check out my baccalao narrative, chocolate mayonnaise exploration, and my burdock root salad

Let Us Be Tan and Eat Smelts

2009-09-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

It's 6:30 pm and we're sun-stroked at the front of my house. Our bodies are boiled from fun. We have drank too much, eaten too much, swam too much. We're useless.

I find that the best thing to do is fry up some smelts. Some crispy fried little fishes. I generously season a plate of cornstarch and dredge their little bodies for that added crunch. I heat a wok filled with oil on high and flash fry them.

The man at the fish counter told me they handled like french fries, only they fry faster --1-2 minutes, that's all they need.

I bring my dad a plate of little fishes, dressed with a lemon. Then, I join the quiet crowd outside. My friends and I squint at the sun and munch down the hot smelts and drink the last of the beer. Head, tail, entrails and all. It's magic hour.

Burdock and Lotus Root Salad

2009-09-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

I was finger licking deep in Christmas pork belly when I tasted my first gobo - and my second gobo. As a matter of fact, I abandoned my crispy hog altogether to focus on this magnificent tuber. What I could not manage to pack into my stomach I hid under the cabinet. I found out later that this was considered rude by many cultures.

Gobo, which is also called burdock, is a very long and inedible looking taproot. It is more than four times the length of a carrot, and just about a thousand times more delicious. It is a Japanese vegetable with an indescribable flavor and texture.

If the word "chalky" was not such a vile descriptor, I might use it convey its flavor-- but it is, so I will stay away from that terminology. Gobo also has the marvelous talent of absorbing any flavor you set forth -- making it even more awesome.

The most fantastic thing about gobo is its crunch. You can eat your way through half of North Carolina slaw and never achieve this epic jaw-slamming crunch. Just try it. I'll go head to head. If the word "woody" did not incite such widespread panic of indigestion, I might use it to convey the texture. Yes, Gobo may have a bit too much fiber for my little engine, but girls, know this: you'll never be irregular again --scout's honor.

So what does gobo have to do with the aforementioned picture? Baby, it has everything to do with the salad I lay forth. The gobo/burdock salad is something I first tried at Delica rf-1 at the San Francisco Ferry Terminal. Since then I have held it as the gold standard for comparison. Delica-rf is a modern Japanese deli serving the perfect balance of salads and fried. How a Japanese restaurant can subsist on just salads and fried is a mystery to me, but to my chagrin, it works completely. Everything they serve is fork scraping good. Even their rice is perfectly steamed, a measure of quality I have grown to use my older years.

There are so many exciting things in the salad that I must got into it-- my apologies. In addition to gobo/burdock, there is young lotus root, konnyaku mountain yam, mizuma, sesame oil, lemon, carrots, and celery.

The lotus root is a refreshing root that resembles swiss cheese and is almost as good as the gobo -- a bit less dense and a bit less flavorful. Younger lotus root, identifiable by a delicate skin, is more crispy whereas older lotus root has a more mature flavor when cooked.
The konnyaku yam cake is a bizarre block of indigestible 'jello' that, when thinly sliced, is reminiscent of a poor man's jellyfish. When braised, it can adopt more flavor and is a delight to eat.
The mizuma are greens that lighter than dandelions but have a similar look. They are not as bitter. Rather, they are bright.

I suggest you go to you near Japanese market when purveying these delights.

Burdock Root Salad Inspired by Delica rf-1 (Serves 4) Total time:1 hour

Ingredients

- 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 c rice vinegar
- 1/3 c water
- 1 T sugar + 1 T sugar
- 1 3"x4" piece of konnyaku, julienned
- 1 2" piece of ginger, peeled
- 1.5 T oil, divided
- 2 T mirin
- 1 t white miso
- 1 2-3 ft. burdock root, peeled and julienned*
- 2 4 inch lotus roots, thinly sliced
- 2 t soy sauce
- 1 bunch mizuma leaves
- 2 carrots, julienned
- 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced on the bias
- 1 t sesame oil
- 1 lemon
- 1 t sesames, lightly toasted

1. In a small bowl, combine vinegar, water, sugar, and onions. Set aside
2. In a small saucepan on high, heat 1.5 T oil and add the ginger. Allow the ginger to blister for a minute and then add the konnyaku. Saute for 2-3 minutes and then add the mirin and miso. Cover and reduce to low. Cook for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the burdock root and lotus. If the skins of the roots are thin, you can use the back of a knife to scrape them off.
4. Heat a wok on high and add 1 T oil. When hot, add the burdock and lotus root. Wait 1 minute before tossing so that the roots touching the wok can caramelize. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Add
the mirin and 1 t sugar. Toss and continue to fry for another 2 minutes. Make sure the vegetables are still crisp.
5. Add the konnyaku mixture to the wok and combine. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
6. In a large salad bowl combine the mizuma leaves, carrots, celery, the root mixture, and drained onions. Squeeze 1/4 of a lemon on top. Add 1/2 t sesame oil and sesame seeds. Toss to combine.
7. Taste and add sesame oil, lemon, and salt to adjust to your liking.

Portuguese grilled Sardines

2009-09-02T03:51:00.000-07:00

I bought fresh sardines on Sunday and they reminded me of my drunken feasts on little fish in Lagos. I plunged a knife into their bellies to gut them and stuffed them with basil. I salted them heavily and broiled them on one side for 4 minutes and on the other for 3.

I patiently folded back the head and the tail and removed the backbone and needle then skeleton with a firm tug. I feasted on these oily fish. I didn't need a lemon.

I bought 6 for $4. I want more. I am going back for more.

Woo Gay Marriage! But Did Anybody Look at the Flavor Profile?

2009-09-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

"Fudge Covered Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels in Vanilla Malt Ice cream"

Rods and cremes and fillings. Slick, real slick.

A kitchensidecar!

2009-08-31T11:30:00.001-07:00

Ride me around in one of these! Keller's hot new wheels. Will he sell his Ad Hoc fried chicken out of it?

(via EaterSF)

Not for the Faint of Appetite: XXX CAKE

2009-08-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

During my time off, I made this XXX cake for a friends' bachelorette's party. It was painful/a delight. Click here for the nudie pics!

Radio Show Podcast

2009-08-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

Forgive me blog for I have sinned.

I have not attended to your needs and the documentation of my intellectual and gastronomical curiosities.

But i assure that I am having fun fun fun. I have cooked chorizo tacos while roughing it at crater lake, oregon. I have tossed my camera into the river in a carefree moment of campy ambition. I have resurrected my biochemistry tomfoolery with experimentation on emulsions. I have read half of Jeffrey Steingarten's book, It Must Have Been Something I Ate, aloud, eulogizing his investigation of MSG on the human psyche.

I admit, I have nothing to offer except for a stock pot full of stories.

I leave this: A link to my most recent radio appearence on Sound Bites, a fantastic new show on the SF food movement by Will Payne. Rock on.

My Undying Love For Strata: 2 Ways

2009-08-11T00:21:00.000-07:00

The strata at Rustic Bakery brings out the little pest in me. My chest manages to thunder down on a few bags of neatly primped granola as I lean up on the counter and catch a peek into kitchen. "Are we there yet?" is replaced by "Is the strata ready yet?"

And then followed by: "well, when will it be done?"

And then: "It's ok, I can eat it hot. Not really, it's ok"

"Still five more minutes?"

I can't wait longer. I can't. I need bready pudding, savory meats, melty cheese strings, eggs colonel custarded up. I need it. My belly is nowhere near empty. In fact it is quite full of a freshly baked and flaked ham and cheese croissiant that I so gingerly helped myself to 5 minutes prior. Oh was it delicious! But that was 5 minutes ago and now I am perturbed as I wait for my Strata...

- You must try some [Rustic bakery: Order the Ham and Cheese Croissant and the Strata - ignore the frivolous wrapping]

Strata reminds me of a wartime food. Really, it does. Take some old dry biscuits, a bit of salted/cured ham, sneak some eggs from the coup and some milk from the utter, and there you have it: Brunch!

So my friend Jacky of Chesblade/Omnieater, had a roaring birthday brunch atop a hillside, overlooking the haight-ashbury. Jacky's dearest man-of-many-wonders, Willie, took care for the spectacular cake (almond with buttercream and peaches) and homebrewed beer (fashioned with "jacky" labels) .

I, of course, tasked myself with feeding a small army with warm savory goodness. (I was convinced that, in the height on summer, not a single person would remember to bring a non-fruit bearing dish. My suspicions were dead on. Indeed. Win!)

Hence, I whipped up two stratas for the occasion:
1. A classic ham, leek, and swiss
2. A chorizo, queso fresco, and onion (Look at me, Martha a la Mexico!!!!)

I used the cook's illustrated recipe - perfect every time.

The framework is such:

The night before *Cut up an 8 oz loaf of Acme Bread (I used a sour Loaf) into 1 inch slices (~8-10 slices).*Toast at 225F 40 minutes. * Lather generously with butter when it comes out hard and dry. *Cover the bottom of a 9x13 dish with slices. *Sprinkle on as much cubed ham, cheese, sauteed leeks in gobs of butter, and salt and pepper as you see fit. * Put another round of bread slices down and another round of fixings - hold the cheese. *In a separate bowl, beat 6 eggs, 1 1/3 c whole milk, and 2/3 cup creme fraiche and pour on top of bread mixture.*Cover bread mixture with plastic wrap. *Take a flat thing, like a large plate, that is just smaller than the pan and place it on top of the plastic wrap to weigh down strata. *Place the strata and plate in the fridge over night. Add extra weight on top of the plate using old cookbooks you don't read - like celebrity chef books that are crummy.

The next day *Pull the strata out of the fridge at least 1.5 hours before eating and preheat your oven to 350F.* Uncover the strata and allow it to come to room temp for 20 minutes and then sprinkle it excessively with cheese! *Bake for 55-60 minutes.

To eat *Use a large wooden spoon as to not burn you lips when you cut into the beautiful casserol and pile drive it into our mouth.

For the Mexican version, saute chorizo - at 8 ounces in a pan and drain the drippings befor eusing. Use a soft Mexican cheese - queso fresco for its bouyancy and fresh flavor (throw caution to the wind and forget about listeriosis says Jeffrey Steingarten).

Current Obsession: Chinese Long Beans

2009-08-04T23:51:00.000-07:00

I live to create interesting food - to look for more in food. I often go far - perhaps too far - with the number of ingredients it takes to make me a happy girl.

But then I look at the food that I love to eat daily. The food that I subsist on and the food that I use to attend to my cravings. Surprisingly - or not at all - they are simple foods. I eat bland Chinese egg noodles. I eat white rice. I eat plain sourdough baguettes.

My current obsession is Chinese long beans, stir fried sweet and a little past crunchy. I can never pass the produce section without excitedly packing them into a bag. I tend to bike home with them bending out of the top of my backpack - there are so many. When I get home I fry a pound of beans in a bit of oil and then add a splash of Chinese shaoxing wine, an overindulgent amount of brown sugar, and a touch of soy sauce.

I pack some in a Tupperware, intending to bring it for lunch, and leave half in the wok. I greedily dive my fingers in and pull out as many beans as I can manage. I tilt my eyes upwards in hopes of further jaw expansion, as I push them into my mouth. I rub my lips together so the sauce coats my lips. I finish the beans in less than 5 minutes.

I eye the Tupperware that I have set aside and impulsively tear off the lid. I pretend for only a second that I am eating just a few, and then consign myself to buying more tomorrow.

That is my current obsession. That along with a mug of ice cold water. What is yours?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Meatball Soup

2009-07-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

Even though it's summer, I still like to turn my stove on. I do. Because here in San Francisco, we still have dewy mornings. We still have bodies of fog that hang low and settle in like hoods at night time. Even when it's summer I rarely smell heat in the air; rather I smell cool spring rain. I am okay with turning on my stove; it suits me.

Another thing that suits me is cooking with Ariana. We make wedding cakes together, we make meatballs together. She is one of those people who can order well at a restaurant, seeing flavors by gut. It works out. We make meatballs in an attempt to leverage them throughout the week - though I always manage to offer them up to everyone and anyone out of sheer pride and excitement.

Our recipes are by feel, and by circumstance. We have a basic idea of what we want and then we throw in whatever strikes our fancy. If we're doing beef, I like to do a red sauce - a bold counterpoint. However, on this particular day, we used a lighter mixture of meat - turkey and pork -- and so I had ideas of something more understated - perhaps a bit more floral even.

A slight Grecian flavor profile: lemon zest, currants, brandy, and a fleck of cinnamon.

Instead of a sauce, I thought a soup, using Zuni chicken stock, Israeli couscous, stinging nettles, and trumpets mushrooms would be fitting. Think of it as a twist on Italian wedding soup - only Greek (ish). Andrew tried it and told me it was restaurant quality: a well edited soup, honed from great ingredients. I am proud to offer this up to you.

Grecian Meatball Soup w/ Stinging Nettles and Trumpet Mushrooms (Serves 6) - 2 Hours

Summary You will make your meatballs and as they bake, prepare the soup. The soup requires building the base in a large saucepan. You will then have to cook the mushrooms separately in a saute pan. You will also have to cook the Israeli couscous separately in another saucepan. Right before you eat, you will throw the stinging nettles into the broth, followed by the mushrooms and meatballs. You will serve this all over the couscous.

Ingredients - Meatballs and Soup listed separately

Meatballs

1/2 lb each ground pork and ground turkey
3T currants
1/4 c brandy
1/2 c fresh bread crumbs
1/2 c milk
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t salt
1/3 lemon, zested
1/4 c parsley, finely chopped
1 egg
1 t oil (to saute)
1 dash of cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Soup

4 c homemade chicken stock - I like Zuni Stock
3 T olive oil, divided
1 celery rib, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 carrot, slice 1/2 inch thick
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 meyer lemon rind, peeled with a vegi peeler
1/2 meyer lemon, sliced 1/4 inch thin
3 cups stinging nettles, washed
2 large trumpet mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch hick
1/2 c parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 c Israeli couscous
1 c boiling water
salt, pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425F.

1. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk to soak. In another small bowl, combine the currants and brandy to soak. Allow both to soak for 15 minutes.

2. In a small saute pan on medium, heat the 1 T olive oil and saute the onions for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes until soft. Season lightly with salt.

3. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, pork, eggs, 1/2 t salt, sauteed onions mixture, cinnamon, parsley, and lemon zest. Drain the currants and add them to the meat mixture. Drain the bread crumbs and add them to the mixture as well. With your hands combine the mixture until homogeneous.

4. Shape them into go balls - ping pong size. Place on a cookie sheet. When you have rolled them all out, bake in the oven for roughly 12-17 minutes. Please check on them as they may vary due to size.

Meanwhile
5. In a large saucepan, heat 2 T olive oil on med-high and saute the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and lemon zest for 4-6 minutes until soft. Pour in the chicken broth and lemon slices. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer.

6. In a small saute pan, heat 1 T olive oil on high. Saute the mushrooms. Don't move to much as to make sure that it develops a slightly golden crust, 5 minutes. Add in parsley and toss.

7. In yet another small saucepan, dry toast the Israeli couscous on high heat until some of the pieces have turned golden. Add the boiling water to the saute pan (it will sputter), cover and shut off the heat. Set aside for 13 minutes. Uncover and fluff.

8. 10 mintues befor eating, Throw the stinging nettles into the simmering stock and let cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the meatballs to the soup and allow to simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve in a bowl over a mound of couscous.

A bit labor intensive, I know. So there is a red sauce option.

Saute 1 chopped onion, 3 chopped celery ribs, 2 chopped carrots in a large saucepan over medium heat in 4 T olive oil, 5-7 minutes. Add 2 32 oz. cans of good stewed whole tomatoes crushed, 3 anchovy fillets, 1/2 of fresh bread crumbs. Bring to boil and simmer an hour. Add milk if desired and continue to cook 10 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Tonno Sott'Olio: Canned Tuna 2.0

2009-07-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

I have nothing against canned tuna, but that 'chunk light' stuff is downright fraudulent!

I open it up in hopes for a nutritious shot of protein in my busy day only to dump out 50% of its contents in water weight. What I am left with is the soot of something that once was a fin in the sea. I can't help but feel hoodwinked.

I covet imported tonno or atun. I use it bit by bit. I stow it in the back of my cupboard. I flake it ever so carefully over salads. I eat it with crunchy pickled onions and sherry vinegar, as in my Andalucian potato and tuna salad. I make sure to use the olive oil that it is packed in too. It is an overlooked luxury- it's like sucking the marrow of lobster tentacles or eating beef cheeks.

Now what makes tonno so so good? Well, If you think about it, packed tuna is the result of people attempting to capture and savour the rich flavor of fish before it descends into funkiness. So good tuna, good olive oil, is a must.

I used Mario Batali's Recipe, which poaches the fish in a briny mixture of vinegar and spices. I olive oil packed it and allowed it to sit for a luxurious 30 days in order for the proteins to fully relax. I must admit, I was too impatient to wait the full 30 days, and stole pinches of the fleshy fish from time to time - each time getting better.

Please make this tuna and treasure it. It is simply with some lemon or vinegar - perhaps over something crisp.

Tonno Sott'Olio Adapted from Mario Batali (makes 10 servings) Total time: 1 hour + 30 days, Active time: 1 hour

Ingredients

-1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 bay leaves
- A couple black peppercorns, allspice berries, cloves crushed slightly
- 1 quarts water
- 2.5 pounds fresh tuna, cut into chunks
- 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a stock pot, combine the vinegar, onion, garlic, bay leaves, spices , 1 quarts of water and cook over high heat until it is reduced by one-third.

2. Add the tuna, reduce to a simmer, and poach for 45 minutes. Drain the tuna and place in a jar or terra cotta pot. Cover with olive oil and seal.

3. Let sit for 20 to 30 days, refrigerated.

You can serve this with fresh bread and onions, make a potato salad, or incorporate it into a tomato sauce. You could also proudly snack while you linger in your kitchen.

On the Radio - Tonight!

2009-07-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

I'm on the radio! If you're in SF, please tune in to 87.9 for Will Payne's new Radio show on food!

I'll be his first guest, reflecting n the pat few months as a food blogger and playing some tunes. Support his show!!!!!! Woooo!