Mariam – Page 71 – Yogurtsoda

Yuca

September 30, 2012September 30, 2012

“Take us to The W, please.”

I had a quick work trip in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this summer, and after the long flight my colleagues and I were relieved to get in the cab and ask our driver to take us to our hotel, only a few minutes away. Except he took us to the wrong one. In Miami, an hour away.

And that’s how I found myself in Miami for dinner one evening. It turned out to be worth the detour, and I took in as much of South Beach as I could while we searched for a good Cuban restaurant. We settled on Yuca — not quite the homestyle, authentic cuisine I was looking for, but rather an upscale, fusion-y rendition of Cuban classics. Or as Yuca calls it, “nuevo Latino.”

I started with a Hemingway mojito. Mojitos were a favorite of Ernest Hemingway’s, but I’m not quite sure what makes a mojito “Hemingway” as opposed to not. Regardless, this was one of the best mojitos I’ve had – rummy and heavy on the mint, just the way I like it.

We shared a few appetizers too, including beef and chicken empanadas served with jalapeno chimichurri dipping sauce. These were crispy on the outside, flaky on the inside, and piping hot with spicy meat. No complaints here.

We also shared an order of a citrusy shrimp, calamari, and octopus ceviche, and a plate of piquillos de pepin. Okay, two plates of piquillos de pepin. What are piquillos de pepin? And why isn’t there a photo? You might be wondering. Sorry, I was too busy scarfing down what might be the most delicious appetizer I’ve ever tasted to snap a picture. Imagine roasted Spanish piquillo peppers stuffed with porcini mushrooms and chorizo, drizzled with creamy cabrales cheese sauce. My new food goal in life is to learn how to make these at home.

I had the ropa vieja with plantain fufu and fried onions as my entree. Fancy ropa vieja is fancy. Ropa vieja translates to “old clothing,” so I couldn’t help but appreciate the irony here. Angus steak, slow cooked to shredded perfection and the fufu soaked up the garlicy tomato sauce. This dish may have been having an identity crisis, but it was delicious.

Yuca was reason enough to make our accidental detour worth it — and the additional hour ride back to Fort Lauderdale. I’ll raise a Hemingway mojito to that.

Shanghai Dumpling King

September 22, 2012

Shanghai Dumpling King is probably the most well-known restaurant in San Francisco serving xiaolongbao, or Shanghai-style soup-filled dumplings. But the casual, no-frills Shanghai Dumpling King is deep in the Richmond District, so I’ve always stuck to restaurants in Chinatown serving these piping-hot morsels instead.

I finally took the plunge one evening with a couple of friends, and we endured the wait in the windy, cold fog. It was worth it once we were seated.

We started with the stir-fried pea shoots, a light and delicately-seasoned dish that brought out the ever-so-slightly sweet crunch of the veggies.

Next came the Shanghai fried noodles: thick, chewy noodles stir-fried with greens, meat and cabbage. These were more greasy than what I’m used to but otherwise tasty.

The spicy wontons were my favorite dish of the evening: fiery, juicy, full of flavor, and brimming inside with savory goodness. Mmm, wontons.

Lastly came the piece de resistance: the Shanghai soup dumplings. These were delicious. Filled with scalding broth and meat, I took care to dip my xiaolongbao in the accompanying black vinegar and ginger sauce without breaking the thin dumpling wrapper.

I’ll still probably frequent my favorite xialongbao restaurant in Chinatown, but now I know where to go when I find myself on other side of San Francisco. Between the two, I’ve got enough to hold me over until I actually make it to Shanghai proper.

Mission Pie

September 15, 2012September 15, 2012

I don’t like pie. At least I don’t like most pie. I prefer savory over sweet, and most pies seem too sugar-laden to really taste the other ingredients.

At least that’s how I felt until I ate at Mission Pie. Fresh off of an epic taco crawl in the Mission District, I sat down with a couple of friends for a cup of coffee and a bite. (Because after three tacos, a cone of ice cream, a cob of elotes, and a watermelon agua fresca, we clearly weren’t yet sated.)

We tried their walnut pie, and Internet, I swear this is the best pie I’ve ever tasted. It’s nutty, it’s gooey, it’s sweet but not too sweet, and the crust is flaky and oh-so-buttery. Behold, the perfect pie. And what better to wash it down with than a strong cup of coffee?

The vibe at Mission Pie is warm (there’s sunlight in this hood!) and casual (big, beautiful wooden tables), with none of the hipster pretentiousness that’s permeated some other parts of the Mission (*cough* Valencia *cough*). I could sit here all day, and if it weren’t for all the tacos, I may have gone back for a second slice. Perhaps I love pie after all.

Casey’s Pizza

August 26, 2012

Food trucks have taken over the world. At least that’s what it feels like in downtown San Francisco. When a colleague first told me about Casey’s Pizza, I was intrigued, and not just because I love pizza (who doesn’t?). Casey’s Pizza features a brick oven in its truck, an impressive feat that makes all the difference for their old world-style and locally-sourced pizzas.

Casey’s Pizza changes its menu daily, and on the day I visited on California and Sansome, they featured margherita, kale, and Zoe’s pepperoni pies. I went for the pepperoni and was not disappointed. Salty pepperoni, aged mozzarella, and full flavored grana padano cheese topped the thin crust, which had achieved that perfect crispy-yet-chewy texture.

This pizza truck moves around daily, so check ahead of time to see where they’ll be at. Paired with a root beer, Casey’s Pizza makes for a terrific lunchtime meal in the (fickle) San Francisco sun.

Kimchi Fried Rice

August 16, 2012February 7, 2019

I guess kimchi fried rice has officially arrived since I noticed last week that Trader Joe’s now sells it, prepared and frozen. But why?! I thought to myself. Kimchi fried rice is so easy to cook!

Kimchi is one of my favorite foods (at the moment I have three jars sitting in the fridge), and this is one of my go-to dinners. If you already have day old rice, putting this dish together takes only minutes. There are endless variations, but don’t substitute the butter. A little goes a long way here. Lastly, use overripe kimchi. If you have a jar that’s at least a couple of weeks old, the flavor will be perfect for fried rice.

Ingredients

1 cup overripe kimchi, cut into bite size pieces
2 cups day-old rice, chilled
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon gochujang, or Korean red pepper paste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1/2 green onion, thinly sliced
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon shredded nori seaweed, for garnish

1. Heat a frying pan or wok on medium heat and add butter. Add the kimchi and fry for 5 minutes, until it is slightly browned. Add gochujang and stir. Remove kimchi from pan and set aside.

2. Add 1 tablespoon cooking oil to pan and fry 1 egg, stirring to break up into bite-sized pieces until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add kimchi mixture back to pan.

3. Add the rice to pan and mix thoroughly. Add soy sauce and sesame oil and mix again. Turn off heat and the rice mixture aside.

4. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a small frying pan over medium heat and crack remaining egg in pan. Cover the pan and cook until the egg white is solid, about one minute.

5. To serve, put the rice mixture in a serving bowl, and top with the fried egg and shredded nori.