Monster Munching

A Thai Nakorn Feast - Garden Grove

2012-05-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

Ah, the splendors of a Thai Nakorn feast. In my humble opinion, the restaurant remains the best Thai in our county with flavors bold and arresting--the kind that stays with you, etched in your memory for days.

I was treated to such a feast recently. To celebrate five years of food reviewing for OC Weekly, we went back to the restaurant I reviewed first: this restaurant. Ordered was way too much food; seven dishes in all for four mouths when three entrees would've been sufficient. But there's no such thing as too much when it comes to this food. Everything is good and a majority of it is great. Close your eyes, put your finger anywhere on the menu, and where it lands is a guaranteed winner.

We got all of our favorites. Staples of tom kha gai slurps with the thickness of coconut milk and the invigorating tang of lime juice. The mee krob is laced with orange zest to tickle your nostrils. A stir try of water grass, the spinach-like vegetable we Indos call kang kung, harbored chilies and roughly chopped garlic. Satays were smoky; the pad see ew silky; and the larb piercing of raw ginger. And the chicken curry reiterates how food can actually make you feel good. Paired with rice, it's a natural antidepressant.

We managed to make a significant dent on our order but had so much left over we reconvened the next evening to finish the rest. Ah, the splendors of Thai Nakorn leftovers!

Thai Nakorn
(714) 583-8938
12532 Garden Grove Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92843-1907

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
South County Pho

Ridgeback Shrimp at The Shack - Rowland Heights

2012-05-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a ridgeback shrimp? They're a local species, caught off the coast of Santa Barbara, and they're finicky creatures. They must be kept alive until the very moment they are to be cooked--otherwise the internal organs start to degrade rapidly and they turn an unappetizing black.

They are also armored with a carapace made for medieval forms of war. BB pellets shot at point blank range would ricochet with a pling-pling-pling. I had some ridgebacks at The Shack in Rowland Heights recently, served and steeped in a plastic bag filled with butter and Cajun spices (yes, just like at The Boiling Crab), and I sustained actual injuries handling them.

The shell is somewhere between a regular Gulf shrimp and a crawfish, but with barbed appendages as sharp as pins. I got an honest-to-goodness cut on my thumb, and she punctured her index finger. Seriously, a chain mail glove would probably be advisable to use here.

But oh the rewards. The meat is inordinately sweet, deep in flavor, not at all fishy, and as delicate as crab. The stripes of a cooked ridgeback are deep crimson instead of pink. You also need to tear into the head, peeling the skull back like a brain surgeon and then nibbling on the meat right behind the beady eyes along with all of that delicious pulpy gunk that surrounds it.

Since these are wild-caught, there will be a disparity in the sizes. They aren't sorted, so you'll often get a few runts along with the Hulk-sized ones. And right about now, since its already at the end of its season, ridgebacks are hard to come by, which makes them all the more special.

The Shack is so far the only restaurant outside Santa Barbara where I've seen them. If you intend to go to The Shack to try them, call first. They've got three suppliers and the owner told me that what I had on this trip may be the last until the season starts up again in September. He sold them for $9.99 per pound, just a dollar more than the regular shrimp. When they do return, you can be sure I'll be back at The Shack...with Band-Aids.

The Shack
18927 Colima Rd.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 839-4700
http://www.TheShack-LA.com

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Anepalco's Cafe - Orange

Bear Flag Fish Company - Newport Beach

2012-05-10T02:00:00.000-07:00

Bear Flag Fish Company's second store has become, if I had to guess, the cheapest place to eat at Crystal Cove Promenade. Of course when I say cheap, I'm comparing it against what other choices you have there, including Bluefin and Mastro's, which would require credit history checks if they were any more expensive.

But here's a tip to make the most of your non-coast-dwelling, meager earnings if you do decide to dine at Bear Flag: when you order the fish plate, you have the option of picking whatever species is displayed behind their butcher case for the same fixed price--so choose the costliest one.

Without looking, I took the mahi mahi, which turned out to be the cheapest. I thought myself a rube as I ate it, thinking of how I could've had the wild salmon instead, which was nearly twice the price at the time.

Still it was a good plate of food, served with steamed jasmine, the kind of rice I always prefer, and a generous amount of stir fried vegetable including zucchini that tasted like it was cooked in a hot wok, a-la-minute.

Comparisons will be made to California Fish Grill, and Bear Flag is certainly in the same genre. It is a moderately priced seafood restaurant first and fishmonger second, even if it has very few seats and looks like a butcher shop. You will rarely see anyone buying raw fish to take home, though you certainly could. But why would you, especially when I've told you the secret?

Bear Flag Fish Company
7972 East Pacific Coast Highway
Newport Beach, CA 92657
(949) 715-8899

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Umami Burger - Costa Mesa

Magic Wok's "Special Combo" Breakfast - Artesia

2012-05-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

I have finally tasted the king of all egg-based breakfasts. No Grand-Slam-This or Big-Breakfast-That can ever hope to compare to Magic Wok's "Special Combo" breakfast--a meal that has everything you need, nothing you don't, and is available all day long. Filipinos call this fried-rice-and-egg breakfasts silogs. And no silogs I've had before, or ever will have in the future will be as perfect as this. You doctor warned you to ease off on the cholesterol-ladened foods? Eat this as your last hurrah.

The combo breakfast is actually three silogs in one (bangsilog, longsilong, and tapsilog), which really just means it has all the essential Filipino breakfast meats on a single plate with the fried egg and fried rice. If you count the egg, the plate has contributions from cow, pig, chicken and sea. It's a veritable species sampler. The bangus (milkfish) is tangy, crispy-fried golden brown and delicious. The beef tapa is sugary, not unlike a boneless glazed BBQ beef rib. The longanisa is bifurcated down the middle, splayed open like a book, then seared on the flat side to a caramel sticky, crispiness and oozing sweet pork fat. The egg, well, it's also well-done. Everything is...like I said, perfect.

Key to the greatness of the dish is that it's served screaming hot. The meats are still essentially sizzling when it comes to you; but even the fried rice is fuming steam, seemingly just seconds from the blazing kiss of a hot wok. You quench everything with douses of vinegar, which also cuts through the richness like a white hot blade.

I go to Magic Wok a lot. I write about Magic Wok often. I'm slowly working my way to trying everything on the menu. Someday, I'm planning a post where I just plaster this page with all the pictures from years of exploration. But this breakfast deserved a post of its own. It's a wonder I didn't try it till now. But when you're surrounded by riches, even the Hope Diamond can get lost.

Magic Wok
11869 Artesia Blvd
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 865-7340

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
The Hobbit - Orange

Yu's Garden - Irvine

2012-04-26T06:35:00.002-07:00

You're probably already aware of Yu's Garden. Me, I'm just getting acquainted. Although it is next door to Tapioca Express, Liang's Kitchen, Kaju Soft Tofu, Chef Chen's, J. Sweet Bakery and 101 Noodle Express, I have not, until recently, stepped into Yu's.

In fact, I've been every single one of those other restaurants, some of them more than a few times. Others I even reviewed for The Weekly. But Yu's Garden was, for all intents and purposes, invisible. I ignored it, shunned it, never even considered it an option.

Boy, was I missing out. I finally tried it after a co-worker mentioned it was his regular takeout place. This alone did not convince me. It was only when he said Yu's levies about $7 for a three item combo with massive amounts of well-prepared food that I stopped ignoring and became a kind of regular myself.

He was right. For exactly $7.08 Yu's will pack on a movable feast into groaning foam containers. The place is about instant gratification and not paying much for it. Most everything you want to eat is ready-made, but all of it fresh, and with that mom-cooked flavor and character. The cold dishes are presented in deep platters; the hot ones in chafing trays.

This is not Panda Express. There is no Orange Chicken or even Kung Pao. Instead there is chicken mousse wrapped in deep fried tofu skin. There is bone-in basil chicken in sauce-lacquered pieces you have to navigate carefully with your teeth to eat. And soy-simmered minced pork, the kind that you top rice with. And mapo tofu that harbors stinging hot peppers hiding between the custardy curds.

When I ordered the latter, I almost thought they were making a mistake. They ladled the stuff into a quart-sized container until it was practically full. Any place else would have slopped it on into the same foam container as the rice. Not here. They are intent on giving you more than you expected and paid for. (The non-soupy items do get put into the same box container your other items).

I've returned a few more times since, especially for the stir fried veggies. I like their hearty stalks of Chinese broccoli; the invigorating bittermelon; and the simplicity of stir fried spinach and mustard greens.

But most of all, I come back because of the value. In a town without a lack of cheap Chinese food, Yu's isn't just the cheapest, but probably the best of the cheapest.

Yu's Garden
5408 Walnut Ave. Ste. H
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 654-2366

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Mil Jugos - Santa Ana

Pho Crystal Noodle House - Santa Ana

2012-04-19T06:56:00.011-07:00

There will be a time in the future when pho will be embedded into the food vocabulary of every American just like pizza and tacos is today. Since we are fortunate enough to live in a county that includes the highest concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam, it can be argued that pho is already part of our everyday lexicon. I don't know anyone who doesn't know what pho is. Do you?

And with the continual proliferation of pho restaurants beyond the borders of Little Saigon, you are closer to a pho restaurant than you think. I had no idea there was one on a street that I practically traverse on a daily basis until one day it popped up on the GPS when I was actually looking for another pho joint.

The grime on the windows suggest that Pho Crystal Noodle House has been there on Bristol Street for quite a while--at least as another pho joint. The artifacts of its former life as Pho Bistro is still on an old marquee the landlords hadn't bothered to change. Apparently it recently changed hands because they're still in that honeymoon period where they give out free bowls of che dessert to every customer. But for all intents, the menu looks no different than what it probably was under the last set of owners. Pho is featured in all the usual permutations; rice dishes and crispy noodles fill in the rest; and then there's the hu tieu, which, if you've read this blog long enough, is what I usually order at pho joints...yes, call me a rebel.

This one is just as lovely as all that I've had before. I opted for mi for my noodle, thin yellow strands that still had a nice al dente chew, and there were more shrimp in the bowl than my picture would suggest--at least two more. But there was also more char siu, those indispensable slices of red food-colored Chinese BBQ pork that's become the workhorse of soups like this. Mine was particularly meaty, with a flavor that's unmistakably pig. And there was slowly wilting lettuce and, most important of all, a broth clear and sweet, like sugar was involved. A squeeze of lemon rounded it off and bubbles of fat--possibly leeching out the piece of fried chicken they dropped in there--skittered and gleamed on the surface of the liquid.

Yes, I did say fried chicken. Pho Crystal Noodle, apart from being the restaurant that seemingly popped out of nowhere, is also the first Vietnamese joint that I know of that offers a piece of fried chicken in its soup. You gnaw it at first by trying to grip the thing with your chopsticks; but then later, you go to town with your hands. To eat it without licking your fingers is impossible...which is the point of fried chicken, I think.

Pho Crystal Noodle House
3037 S Bristol St
Santa Ana, CA 92704
(714) 668-1312

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
North Shore Poke Company - Huntington Beach

N'Ice Cream - Costa Mesa

2012-04-12T05:18:00.015-07:00

You may have noticed from recent posts that I've been haunting the OC Mart Mix like a loiterer, as if nothing else has been going on in the OC food scene. It's not that I'm necessarily obsessed with it; it's just that it seems the current epicenter of interesting eats.

People have called it the new The Camp. I'd have to agree. The concentration of the eclectic and the unique reminds me of it. But at the same time, it's also different since it's mostly an indoor swap meet maze not unlike those at LA's Garment District, but kookier and a lot more hipster.

Most people congregate to OC Mart Mix for Portola Coffee Lab. Me? It'll mostly be for N'Ice Cream. This diminutive gelato counter makes one of the best flavors of ice cream ever: salted caramel.

The color is of rust. You'll know it's the most popular flavor here, trumping even the Greek yogurt drizzled with real honey, because it's almost always about to run out.

It's the salt that makes it great, zapping your tongue like a fully-charged defibrillator, shocking it from stasis like no ice cream has done before. After that, the rich and calming caramel comes, slowly subsiding as it melts and dissolves down your gullet. It's a spoonful you'll want to repeat, again and again. In fact, every other flavor you try after you lick up the salted caramel will taste as dull as plain milk, sort of like a typical strip mall compared to the OC Mart Mix.

N'ice Cream
3313 Hyland Ave. Ste C
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
CUCINA enoteca - Irvine

The Free Samples at Costco - Tustin

2012-04-04T05:04:00.007-07:00

Really? Am I really about to blog about Costco samples? Yes, Virginia, I am. If you consider this as this blog’s “jump-the-shark” moment, I will argue with you that the shark was jumped many moons ago. Next week, I might just start talking about grilled cheese (if you know what that’s in reference to, consider yourself a seasoned food blog follower).

But admit it: if you’re a Costco member, you relish zig-zagging through the aisles picking up a taste of this, a nibble of that, a sip of something else—all for free. It is in our nature as economic creatures to be cheapskates, to gravitate to things that we can get for nothing. Even The Simpsons, the most reliable mirror on our culture, had an opening sequence parodying our collective but unspoken love of free samples.

As soon as I get in the store, those stations appear in my peripheral vision as if they glowed white hot under night-vision goggles. I make a beeline to them like a pig trained to root out truffles, or a divining rod to water.

Some of you will rightly point out that sampling isn’t actually free. You fork over the yearly membership, so you’re technically paying for the experience. And as a selling tool, it works. Costco wants you to take full advantage, because they know the more you taste-test free samples, the more likely you are to buy a whole year’s supply of GoGurt.

Never in a thousand years would I have believed that the Harris Ranch pot roast would be any good until I took a sample. Now I buy it almost regularly. And hemp seeds? They taste rather good. Am I going to buy a whole sack? Not really, but I’m glad to know what they taste like. It goes the other way too. Though it should be common knowledge, I can confirm from sampling that the sushi rolls should be avoided. The rice is more like gluey paste.

To make this post somewhat useful for those of you who still think this blog could be useful, here’s a piece of Costco trivia that I bet you didn’t know: To find out whether your favorite item is about to be discontinued, look for an asterisk or a plus sign on the upper right hand corner of the price label. Any item with a price that ends in a “7” is also likely to become history. If you see any of these indicators on a product you like, you’ll know that that’s the time to buy the year’s supply.

So there you go.

Next week, another post, another shark to be jumped.

Costco
2700 Park Ave
Tustin, CA 92782
(714) 338-1933

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Class 302 - Irvine

Waiiha Sushi - Costa Mesa

2012-03-28T23:54:00.004-07:00

I don't think I've seen a more austere sushi bar than the new Waiiha Sushi at the OC Mart Mix. It looks almost half finished, like they saw the primer being applied and then just told contractor, "Stop right there. That's perfect."

Perhaps they figured the food should be the focus. In tasting a few items, I would have to believe so. The menu is as sparse as the surroundings--rolls with cute names on a single sheet; combo bentos with tempura, teriyaki, and karaage; and some apps in a two-page laminated folio.

I thought I had the place pegged. I thought it would just be like so many others; but I was pleasantly surprised.

In fact those words were exactly what I heard a customer tell the chef when he asked how everything was . "I'm pleasantly surprised," the guy said as he paid his check.

We were surprised with just about everything we tried.

Something called "Moon Light" turned out to be fried shrimp, crab meat and asparagus rolled inside a thin omelet that's cut into six wheels. There was no rice to obscure the oceany sweetness, no wasabi to interrupt perfection. And then there was that crepe-like omelet and I'm always a sucker for things made from an egg.

There was the "Candy Salmon", a $3-a- piece single bite shot of salmon draped over a ball of crab meat mix dipped in fine-grit tempura crumbs. You drag it through a dribbled sticky sweet soy sauce and let the cool silk of the meat dissolve into nothing in your gullet.

Poke nachos ($9) were cubed ahi coated in sauce stacked on top of wonton chip--standard stuff, really, but well-done and gone too quickly. You could say the same about the yellowtail carpaccio ($11), four pristine slices soaking in a complementary sauce with a jalapeño slice.

It was one of those experiences with which we had no prior expectations but came away with much more. Like that other guy said, we were pleasantly surprised.

Waiiha Sushi
3321-D Hyland Ave
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(949) 424-3321

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
The Starling Diner - Long Beach

Thrifty's Ice Cream - Irvine

2012-03-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Those who remember that Thrifty's ice cream used to cost 15-cents will also remember that the whole store used to be called Thrifty's, not Rite-Aid . And with that sentence, I've officially dated myself as a child of the 80s.

My memories of these cones were fond ones. It was a treat that, even as a kid, I recognized as an incredible value. I'm pretty sure I must have used Thrifty ice cream cones as a price index for other things a young person of that age deemed necessary for survival--a Transformers Megatron action figure with silencer, stock, telescopic sight/fusion cannon, for instance, cost a small fortune in scoops of vanilla.

When I have one now, it's always sweetly nostalgic, even if its current price ($1.69) now represents more than 1000% increase from then.

I'm not complaining. It's a fact that Thrifty's...sorry, I meant, Rite-Aid, still charges a fraction of what other ice cream parlors levy these days. And they've kept everything else the same, which is much more important.

Flavors like Chocolate Malted Crunch, the pina-colada-ish Coconut-Pineapple, and the Technicolor orgy of the Rainbow Sherbet are still around. And then there are those cylindrical scoops that push out the ice cream into that distinctive pencil-eraser, flat-top shape with an audible "kachunk".

Those who've had one with me these days can attest that the sound is as reliable as hearing me wax nostalgic about how the cones used to cost just 15-cents.

Rite Aid
18112 Culver Dr.
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 786-0151

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
The Riders Club - San Clemente

Christopher Garrens' Cookies - Costa Mesa

2012-03-15T07:44:00.009-07:00

Was there ever a farm called Pepperidge? If so, why were they baking when they should be farming? I do like a few of their cookies, though. Not so much the chocolate chip ones, which for some reason, never taste as good as they look on the package; but the Chessmen and the Milano Melts can do no wrong.

The chocolate chip cookies at Christopher Garrens are what I'd expect Pepperidge Farm's chocolate chip cookies to taste like: rustic, craggly and embedded with all sorts of chunkage.

We tried about four kinds, ranging from the basic chocolate chip; to something called the "Ultimate Chocolate Chip" with coconut, oats, and pecans; to another cookie with more chocolate chips; and something else I pointed at without thinking about what I was pointing at.

Now get ready for the most useless review/recommendation you'll ever read on this blog: One of them was tastier than the others, crumbly, milky, filling my mouth with a vanilla warmth and grandma-baked homeyness. The others were simply okay and one was inordinately dry. Since they were dropped into the same bag, I can't tell you which one was which.

So there. But then, they're not very expensive, so it's not much of a risk to try them all.

You know who else makes a good cookie? Doubletree. No really. They do. And they're free if the front desk mistakes you for a hotel guest; a buck if they don't.

But I digress. Christopher Garrens is also a cake baker, if you didn't already know. They have a whole room shrine/museum showing off what they can really do with sugar, butter and flour. These are cakes so elaborately designed and artfully decorated they don't look like they should be eaten or even touched. I have no pictures to show you because pictures are not allowed; but they have a few of their mind-boggling edible architectural structures on their website.

I'm sure a commenter or two will tell me to try more there. So let me be preemptive and say that I have every intention of going back, especially if just to narrow down which cookie that was that I liked so much!

Christopher Garrens
3321 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 445-0189

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
THE RANCH - Anaheim

The Spice Table - Los Angeles

2012-03-07T06:59:00.030-08:00

I'd been putting off reviewing The Spice Table in Los Angeles, not because both Jonathan Gold and S. Irene Virbila pretty much said everything in their gushing odes to Bryant Ng's Singaporean-flavored Little Tokyo restaurant; but because I still haven't made it up there for dinner, which I hear from Bonnie Jiang, Ng's chef de cuisine, is the real reason to go.

Also, there was the fact that I wanted to write something about Bonnie herself, who I went to college and am friends with (that's me in full disclosure mode) and whose food I ate and enjoyed before she ditched her technical background designing F-18 fighter jets, went to culinary school, worked at Lucques, and then finally landed this current gig.

I made my first and so far, only, visit last September and caught them in a lull between lunch and dinner. It was then that I ordered the turgid, insane-wich you see above. It is officially called a banh mi, but this thing seemed more grandiose than that. The bread is made in house, and it crunches down with a hearty crackle and supple crumb that became the base and delivery device for tons and tons (did I mention there was a lot?) of marinated and griddle seared (I think) pork belly. The picture I took does not do its enormity justice.

Then on came the slaw in tart, refreshing, snappy fistfuls. And for a final crowning touch? Crunchy golden hoops of fried shallots, a topping that plays directly to my Indonesian-food-loving heart (We Indos like to put fried shallots on top of nearly everything).

It cost me about $11, and it was so much food (and probably the biggest pork sandwich I've ever had put in front of me) that I could only eat about $5-worth in one sitting, leaving the rest to nibble on for the remainder of the afternoon.

So why am I writing about it now? Well, Bryant Ng just got nominated for The People's Best New Chef in Food & Wine Magazine with some heavy hitters like Michael Voltaggio and Corey Lee. And it seemed an appropriate time as any to mention them, even if I still have to make it up there for dinner.

The Spice Table
114 S Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 620-1840
www.thespicetable.com

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Orea Taverna - Placentia

Porto's House Specialties - Downey

2012-02-29T21:10:00.002-08:00

Porto's Bakery amazes me. How is it possible that a place which operates like LAX with a crew of hundreds is able produce food that tastes like someone's dear abuelita made it with her bare hands?

I'm talking about their savory house specialties in particular. Yes, they're masters of the baker's craft. There are cakes pretty enough to be featured on those ubiquitous Food Network shows about cakes. And their cheese rolls remain the benchmark to measure all cheese rolls, be it Cuban, Mexican, or Martian. But have you had their papa rellenas? Incredible! They are mashed potato balls gushing with spiced ground beef, breaded with a fine-grit crumb, then deep fried--a flavor fiesta in your mouth, if you can pardon my frivolous use of Spanish.

The chicken empanadas crumble like savory shortbread cookies filled with meat. The chorizo pie is the ultimate Hot Pocket, with the notorious pork sausage as the ultimate filling. The ham croquettes are luscious pellets of porky paste.

These are just a few of the items on the specialties menu. And I've tried them all. I'd recommend getting one of each, and sample the whole lot for lunch.

One discovery you'll make will be the tamales. It is important, however, that you insist on getting it when it's fresh, right out of the steamer. If they offer you one that has sat around in their hot box, refuse it. Tell them you'll wait for a fresh piece; it's worth it.

We pried our corn husk apart and the steam plume that escaped scalded our fingers. The contents inside was still practically liquid--a creamy, heavenly liquid you'll need a spoon to scoop. It's this cornmeal mush with bits of pork that will fill your senses with sweetness, an unequivocally great snack that will make you wish you ordered two more and wonder whose abuelita is working in the back.

Porto's Bakery & Cafe
8233 Firestone Blvd
Downey, CA 90241
(562) 862-8888

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Ramen Yamadaya - Costa Mesa

Alberto's Chicken Nachos - Santa Ana

2012-02-23T06:10:00.000-08:00

What you see above is a meal I eat weekly, but especially on the weekends when the Alberto's in Santa Ana offers a complimentary soda when you order this or any other form of solid food. In truth, I'd buy it even without the free drink. It is the half-carne asada nachos and it has everything I need: something crunchy, something creamy, something meaty, something cheesy, and something, um, guacamole-y.

But as they say, variety is the spice of life, so sometimes I get adventurous. Sometimes I order the CHICKEN nachos. Yes. The chicken nachos. It is an off menu item, not unlike In-N-Out's Animal anything.

It is what you think it is: they simply substitute the carne asada with the slow-cooked chicken they usually put on the enchiladas de pollo. What results is a different dish altogether. First of all, it feels immediately healthier, though really, it's not.

It's all about the character of the chicken, which is so soft it can be spooned up like soup, and flavored just with a tinge of that seeped-in spicy simmering sauce. The meat does a Spock mind-meld thing with the rest of the components, combining into a wondrous slop that's more appropriate for a fork than fingers.

No, it won't be a replacement of the carne asada for me. But it is yet another good variation of a bastardized dish that, according to legend, has its origins in the border town of Piedras Negras where it was purportedly invented by a man named Ignacio in the 1940s.

What would the supposed inventor think of his dish now? I dunno, but if I were him I'd demand some royalties.

Alberto's
1425 E Edinger Ave
Santa Ana, CA 92705
(714) 834-9680

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Mozambique Peri Peri - Newport Beach

How To Do Shabu Shabu At Home

2012-02-15T05:19:00.000-08:00

I may have mentioned it before during reviews of shabu shabu restaurants: shabu shabu is the one restaurant dish that anyone can replicate at home and lose almost nothing in the translation. Speaking of "translation", remember the scene in Lost in Translation when Bill Murray says to Scarlett Johansson, “What kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?”

Hilarious.

Anyway. I digress. What follows is meant to be an informational essay for anyone who might want to try shabu shabu at home. If you count a goma grinder among your kitchen essentials, you need not read this. You're already an expert.

But first this note: just because we are capable of making shabu shabu at home doesn’t mean that we’ve sworn off patronizing shabu shabu restaurants. We don’t speak in such absolutes. Still, it is significantly cheaper...even if you splurge on the Kobe cuts of meat. But more importantly, shabu shabu, because it’s so interactive, is actually the ideal dinner party food.

You do, however, have to get over the hurdle of start-up costs. There are exactly two pieces of equipment that are required. The first is an induction stove. There are options other than induction. You could use Sterno or even a camp stove, for example. We would still recommend an induction. It’s safer and isn’t that much more in cost. Our local Costco recently had a sale on induction stoves for $49.99, which is a bargain when you consider other models can go upwards to $200.

If you do buy an induction stove, the second piece of equipment you'll need is a stainless steel shabu shabu pot. Those aluminum pots you have at home won’t work on an induction burner. And most pots in a typical kitchen are too deep for shabu shabu. A shabu shabu pot needs to be shallow enough that you can lower your chopstick into it without scalding or singeing your hand. You can buy a shabu shabu pot from Amazon, but you’ll probably find the same brands for much cheaper at your local Chinese super market. 99 Ranch, our local Chinese grocer, had the one we now use on sale for $10. Skimmers and ladles are also nice to have, because there will be scum to skim and items that will be too slippery for chopsticks. Put them in a bowl of water next to the pots.

After the hardware, the next thing you must consider are the ingredients. And if there's one rule, it's that there are no rules. There’s no right or wrong thing to put in shabu shabu. And there’s no technique involved except cutting a few ingredients up into bite-sized pieces. Again, what those ingredients are, is totally up to you. For us, it’s often what’s on sale at the local Asian grocery (in our case, HMart).

Do pay attention to presentation, however. You could do family style, putting the things you’re going to boil in a big communal tray or in sharable saucers; but we like to individualize the plates to highlight the array of ingredients we’ve chosen. If you decide to do it this way, arrange the items with contrasting colors in mind.

Imitation crab adds a splash of red. A green onion stalk laid atop something monochromatic like tofu can make it pop. If you do napa cabbage for your main vegetable (it's cheap and it cooks quickly), consider placing the greener leaves on top to highlight its color. We also find that oyster mushrooms work extremely well. Fish cakes and fish balls we add because, well, because we like them almost as much as the meat.

And finally, there’s protein--which I suppose is the whole point of shabu shabu. But even here, it’s up to you. Pork, chicken, beef, lamb, they all work well so long as it’s sliced wafer thin. When picking out your meat (Korean or Japanese stores will have the best selection) make sure it’s sliced thin enough for shabu shabu. Be sure you're not buying the cuts designated for Korean BBQ, which will turn into leather when boiled. What you want for shabu shabu will often be labled “thin slice” or have some other sort of indication it’s been shaved expressly for shabu shabu.

If you intend to add shrimp, like we did, you can completely peel and devein or leave the whole animal intact. Always segregate the raw meat from your vegetables and other pre-cooked items. Food illness by way of cross contamination isn't a way to win over your guests.

When it comes to dipping sauce, we usually buy the ponzu and goma that are bottled for use on shabu shabu. They're usually about $5 a bottle. But we also offer the option of green onion, grated garlic and Huy Fong Food’s garlic chili paste for anyone who wants it. The sauces, by the way, are not optional. It will provide almost all the seasoning and flavor to everything you cook. After all, you are cooking things in plain water.

Which brings me to the subject of the cooking broth. We opt for just water with some kombu. You could use chicken stock, if you want, but it'll be a waste. We'll occasionally add a little sake to the water, but have found that its flavor contribution is so insignificant we’re better off just drinking it. There’s no point seasoning the broth in any other way unless you intend to do Mongolian hot pot, which is an entirely different subject.

Sometimes you'll see udon noodles being offered at shabu shabu restaurants for use after the meal winds down. But it's rare that that anyone we invite for shabu shabu ever wants the noodles. By the end we're usually too stuffed.

One final touch that we added last time, which further brings home the point that shabu shabu at home can be just as good as those in restaurant, was a fake check we printed up to present to our guests. It was a joke. We all had a good laugh. And no, we didn't take their money...yet.

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Han Yang - Buena Park

Cham Soot Gol - Rowland Heights

2012-02-07T05:58:00.001-08:00

There are Korean BBQ's everywhere these days. Shik Do Rak, Mo Ran Gak, Icheonwon, Go Goo Ryeo--these are just a few of the bigger players. Some do all-you-can-eat. Some don’t. All are there intent to stuff you full of beef, and pork, and chicken, or whatever else can conceivably be roasted and charred atop a table grill. If you don’t leave reeking of smoke and so overfed you feel like dying, you’ve done it all wrong.

You need not go to LA’s Koreatown or Garden Grove’s Korean District to feast on KBBQ. On the Colima Rd. corridor in Rowland Heights, where a small Korean community has sprouted, Cham Soot Gol has to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest KBBQ joint in the neighborhood. It looks like the grand-aunt of all the others I’ve mentioned and it is related to the one in LA and the one in OC. The tables are worn; a few of the plates are warped from being too close to the heat; and the room is dark and dank, and not on purpose.

The servers, by the way, will look like grand-aunts themselves. And for the first few minutes of service, before they attend to the other nieces and nephews, they’ll treat you like one of their own, snipping your kalbi into bite-sized pieces.

This particular Cham Soot Gol is also one of the few places I’ve eaten Korean BBQ where actual charcoal is still employed. The one in Garden Grove stopped doing it a long time ago. Chunks of it are crammed just above the gas burners. That it adds a special smokiness to the meat (not to mention your clothes and hair follicles) should be obvious.

Cham Soot Gol is an AYCE. You probably don’t need to order anything other than the cheapest option called the Special D which retails for $16.99 and gives you round after round of brisket, squid, chicken, shrimp, pork belly and spicy pork. The shrimp is particularly sweet; the thin-shaved brisket melts just like you expect it would. Here, like everywhere else, you wrap the finished morsels around squares of oiled noodle called dduk. Included with all meals is salad, a good array of panchan dishes, a soondubu (soft tofu soup) and best of all, a fluffy, light as foam steamed egg that’s a signature of the Cham Soot Gol family of restaurants.

Yes, the latter is filler designed to throttle your meat consumption so that you don’t eat them out of their profits; but have it anyway. It's good for you.

Cham Soot Gol
18722 Colima Rd. Ste E
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 839-9282

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Brü Grill & Market - Lake Forest,

Dim Sum from Sam Woo - Irvine

2012-01-31T06:37:00.000-08:00

I risk sounding like an old fuddy-duddy when I say that nothing is cheap anymore. Thrifty ice cream is well over a dollar these days. I remember when it was 15-cents a cone! Yes, 15-cents! And last week Philippe's in LA raised the price for a cup of coffee a whopping 500%. It went up from 9-cents to 45-cents. But the important thing is there was an onion on my belt...which was the style of the time...

This is why I'm amazed that Sam Woo's take out has seemingly stayed the same price. Has it always been $5.50? It seems like it's always been. That's about what I remember paying when I was a college student and needed something to feed me over the span of two days, which it still does. If the price has risen over the last two decades, it must have been just to cover the cost of Styrofoam.

Since I've got a slight increase in salary over my college days, I opt for the take out dim sum over the combo meals. I did so last weekend. I ordered a whole stash of items, exactly 20 dollars-worth, then gorged on it at home, in front of the TV while watching an excellent kung fu movie called Ip Man on Netflix.

The har gow was thin-skinned and shrimp inside still wriggly; the egg custard cup called dan taat was still so fresh and warm it collapsed upon itself when I tried to pick it up. The juicy pork dumplings, however, is no match to Din Tai Fung's (it never was nor will be). But dim sum like this, it must be said, is perfect for TV viewing, especially when you can't take your eyes off the screen since the film is subtitled.

I might do the same again next weekend. I've got another twenty bucks and apparently Ip Man has a sequel.

15333 Culver Dr. Ste 720
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 262-0688
www.samwooirvine.com

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
The Playground - Santa Ana

Pho So 1 - Irvine

2012-01-24T05:06:00.000-08:00

I remember eating at a Pho So 1 in either Reseda or Van Nuys or whatever mini-mall-blighted part of the San Fernando Valley I happened to be at the time. Point is I was visiting a friend, and he took me there after proclaiming that it was the only worthy Vietnamese place in the area. I don't remember much about the meal, except that I was hungry. I would have to assume that I liked it well enough, because when a Pho So 1 opened recently in Irvine, I immediately recognized the name.

The first thing I have to tell you about the Irvine Pho So 1 is that it looks un-Irvine. It has to be the most utilitarian dining space in the entire city--a pho joint, which like the best of them, doesn't bother with much decor. If there is pho in the distant utopian future where bald people in all-white jumpsuits have bar codes as nametags, the restaurant that serves it might look like this--clean, sleek, so large it echoes, and so brightly lit it wakes you up even before you order the ca phe sua da.

I like that it gets down to the basics, that there's not much to see or distract. You eat. You pay. You get out.

I ordered what I always order, which if you know me or this blog, isn't the pho, but the mi. And the broth is everything it always is: the same recipe for the sweet, salty, clear yellow soup that I've slurped at every pho joint and Vietnamese restaurant that serves the dish. The main differentiators are the toppings, and it is very good here. The roast pork is plentiful and thick, so tender and so soft it can be masticated by the toothless. The shrimp isn't overcooked and the noodles are still firm enough to be called al dente.

I didn't have the pho, but I did taste a sip of the broth and steal a few meats like the tripe and the tendon, and it was fine. A more thorough review of the pho will have to wait until I recover from what seems like a permanent case of pho-tigue.

Pho So 1
3831 Alton Pkwy. Ste. B
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 251-8829

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Boiling Point - Irvine

Zcafe - Costa Mesa

2012-01-16T07:39:00.001-08:00

There are several areas of refuge in the shopping mall of shopping malls we all know as South Coast Plaza. Macy’s Signature Kitchen is one of them. In the deserted food court where no one really eats, Marcus Samuellson’s MarcBurger still puts out one of the best frozen custards around. But even that oasis of calm isn’t as good or as cozy as Zcafe’s semi-outdoor lounge.

So let’s just keep this tip between you and me, mmm’kay?

Zcafe’s space, shaded by the building’s overhang but otherwise open to the air at the west end of the Bridge of Gardens (the pedestrian bridge that connect SCP to Crystal Court), has plush couches, TVs, heat lamps, Wi-Fi, and what appears to be an actual futon for napping. I have used this space to sit, rest my calves, and even taken a five-minute snooze.

So far the only souls who seemed to have discovered this hidden asylum are the Apple Store employees who routinely use it as their unofficial breakroom.

But first a background: Zcafe used to be CPK ASAP (the fast food arm of California Pizza Kitchen), but since the Z Pizza conglomerate took it over and the space outside, the pace seemed to have slowed down for the better.

I’m not even going to touch on the pizzas here, which are fine but not great. I will, however, talk about the hummus--the only thing you should ever need to order. It’s the perfect food for the space, which I treat as a rest stop, a respite from my chores--a refueling station, if you will.

You don’t want to be weighed down with anything leaden with cheese. A light iced tea should be the beverage to sip with the hummus, a decidedly Mediterranean meal with spears of cooling cucumber, piquant olives, sweet as sugar marinated peppers, and a crispy plank of pizza bread doubling as pita with which to scoop up the dip. I didn’t expect it to be good, let alone supplied with fresh vegetables, but it was this and more.

On top of Mt. Hummus a pool of olive oil shimmered. And it’s relatively cheap for SCP. This $5.95 appetizer plate will feed two easily and could constitute a light lunch for vegetarians or a mid afternoon snack for the rest of us.

ZCafe
3333 Bear St. Ste. 316
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 545-5500

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Tamarind of London - Newport Beach

Mamon from Red Ribbon - Anaheim

2012-01-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've been eating Red Ribbon's mamon for quite a while now. But it wasn't until recently, before a busy morning, that I can say I thoroughly enjoyed one. I realized then how very good they are. Isn't it amazing how life and food taste so much better when you take the time to savor?

I took my first bite with sip of tea, and in that moment, I was sent into a Zen-state of mind. The eggy richness bloomed in my mouth, the cake's texture is fluffy beyond what's imaginable, so airy it almost wants to float. A swipe of sticky sweet butter and a smattering of grated cheese on top seemed the only thing weighing it down, keeping it from lifting away like a helium balloon.

Despite being packaged like a Twinkie, the pastry cake cuffed inside what seems like a coffee filter is the picture of wholesomeness. It list egg whites, sugar and other pronounceable things as ingredients. The expiration date was about two days from when I bought it. After the first one I ate, the rest didn't last nearly as long.

Red Ribbon Bake Shop
601 N Euclid St
Anaheim, CA 92801
(714) 635-0256

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Gen Korean BBQ - Tustin

Maycar Foods' Crackling - The Ultimate Pork Rind

2012-01-03T23:49:00.000-08:00

I have a bag of these that remain half eaten in my cupboard. It's not that I don't want to finish them; it's that I am afraid that I will. This would be the third one I've consumed, and no other foodstuff I've eaten in recent memory has given me more pleasure and levied more guilt than this item. They are literally dangerous--everything that someone with an elevated cholesterol level should not eat.

But oh are they great. They are, in my opinion, the very best pork rinds on the planet. Actually, I'm not sure they can technically still be called pork rinds. The label simply says "cracklings" with the comically matter-of-fact addendum of "fried out pork fat with attached skin" as a descriptor. Actually, I suspect that the product is actually made from fatback.

They are certainly not the garden variety type of pork skin treat. It's noisier by a few decibels, a loud crunch on the lower frequency like Barry White's deep-throated rumble.

There are two separate and distinguishable strata of porcine material at play here: the outer curl, which is puffed-up and light-as-foam, and then the attached inner curl, which is dense and vaguely meaty. When my bite penetrates the latter, a surge of what feels like melted fat gushes out. I know it's not melted fat because the pieces are bone dry and are at room temperature, but it's a thrilling, if somewhat disturbing sensation, all the same.

I've only found them sold at one place, at the counter at Magic Wok in Artesia next to the other chips. I brought a bag to the office once and a co-worker and I finished it in fifteen minutes while we discussed its inherently salty, sweet, magical, and mystical qualities. As he ate, he examined every piece like a curious scientist and concluded that by the end of the bag, we probably just consumed the equivalent of a pack of bacon between the two of us.

No, I never compared the bag's nutritional facts with an actual pack of bacon to see if he was right. I don't want to know.

The Magic Wok
(562) 865-7340
11869 Artesia Blvd
Artesia, CA 90701

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
What We Learned in 2011

Dos Chinos - Orange County

2011-12-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

Face it folks, this food truck fad isn't going away soon. Of the many newfangled food trucks out there, there are few that didn't take its cues from Kogi, the one that started it all. Dos Chinos' Latin-Asian imitation of what Kogi does is flattery at its most sincere. But then, Kogi itself wasn't exactly original. It got the idea from a blogger.

I think Krusty the Clown summarized it best when he said, "If this is anyone but Steve Allen, you're stealing my bit!"

But I digress. Imitator or not, Dos Chinos is great. If you're going to find your inspiration from something as iconic as Kogi (yes, Kogi is now an icon), you couldn't do it better than what Hop Phan and crew have done at Dos Chinos. In actuality, apart from the fusion-y aspects it shares with Roy Choi's concept, Dos Chinos has a flavor profile all its own.

As most of you who've already tried both will already know, Kogi tends to favor the heavy, the cheesy, the bold. Dos Chinos is lighter on its feet and in what it puts into its tacos and burritos. Rice inhabits most things, as does cabbage, cilantro and salsa.

A shrimp burrito actually does taste like something out of a Hawaiian shrimp truck, a scampi-like preparation that mixes so well with the Mexi components that it boggles the mind why no one did it sooner. The Korean BBQ beef is sweeter than carne asada, but it still makes sense wrapped up inside a toasty and pliant tortilla.

But perhaps the best thing the truck produces is the fries, a deceptively simple and humble mound of fried-from-frozen garden variety spuds. It's sprinkled garlic butter and crumbles of cotija cheese to become an addictive substance that is immediately better than the sum of its parts.

It shows that in the end, it matters not who you take your inspiration from. What matters is that you put out something good...that just might inspire someone else to copy you later.

Dos Chinos
doschinos.com

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Three Seventy Common - Laguna Beach

Sushi Imari - Costa Mesa

2011-12-20T06:40:00.000-08:00

If you fancy yourself a sushi purist, you might have dismissed Sushi Imari as a roll-peddler, an entity that would initially appear so diametrically opposed to the respected raw fish masters at Sushi Shibucho and Sushi Wasabi that it becomes like comparing a graffiti artist to Michelangelo and Botticelli. Yes, it has a menu that features rolls with names including but not limited to the "Marilyn Monroll" and "Me Soy Horny".

But if you were judging by only that, you'd be as misinformed as I was when I walked in.

Nearly everything I ordered from the specials board turned me from snobby skeptic to instant fan.

I've been eating a lot of live amaebi lately, some better than others, but Sushi Imari's special was immaculate. I was floored how good it was. The flesh was predictably crunchy and sweet, dispatched just seconds before it's laid on top of the ball of rice; but the way they do the heads was a different beast entirely.

The antennae extended past the boundaries of the plate, arching towards the stratosphere, and were gilded in a thin shimmer of tempura batter that hung off like dew drops. The care taken in cooking the head was remarkable--every millimeter of the carapace was rendered crisp into a sea chip, the best fry job of its kind. It's greaseless and perfect, with just the right amount of salty.

And then there's the uni, so sweet I swore it was made of some sort of heavenly custard, and so sparkling fresh it seemed as if it were just fished out of the lapping waters of the Pacific just a minute before.

When we left, we talked about it again and both agreed: that was some great uni.

The hamachi kama, which I order just about anywhere I can get it, has to be ranked in my top five. The grilled fish collar--skin covered in char, supple flesh imbued with sweet, sweet smoke all the way through--was nothing but two thin bones picked clean by the end.

And yes, the rolls were unexpectedly enjoyable too. There was a cucumber-wrapped crab and tuna thing threaded by toothpicks that gushed flavor and a chillingly cool sensation, like a icy surge of arctic air down your spine.

Sushi Imari was excellent, and for the record, I also like well-done graffiti art just as much as I appreciate Michelangelo's masterpieces.

Sushi Imari
375 Bristol St. Ste 40
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 641-5654

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Le Pain Quotidien - Newport Beach

Gourmet Grill Masters - Irvine

2011-12-12T07:36:00.001-08:00

This lamb shawarma wrap is probably not the thing you ought to order if you go to Gourmet Grill Masters in Irvine. The signature item that put their catering truck--which does rounds at LA’s farmers markets--on Jonathan Gold’s list of Bests is the rotisserie chicken. The Pulitzer Prize winner honored Gourmet Grill Master’s hens as the best roast birds in LA, which is high praise when you consider what’s out there.

But alas, when I came to GGM in Irvine (their first brick-and-mortar store) I was at lunch break and had no desire to mack on a juice-gushing chicken with my good shirt on. A full-on rotisserie bender complete with finger-licking and toum fouling up my breath would have to wait.

In the meantime, it was the shawarma, and it was still more food than I intended to eat in an hour. I was not prepared for its girth. This was a shawarma that beats just about all other shawarmas I’ve had in magnitude. For all intents and purposes, it was a giant Middle Eastern burrito, especially when you consider that it uses the very same pliant and pleasantly stretchy flour tortillas places like Alberto’s employ for their carne asada gut bombs. This "burrito" is just as similarly mottled to crispness in spots, a thin barrier holding back a barrage of onions, tomatoes, lettuce and seasoned lamb meat shaved from an ever-rotating spit.

Along with the excess of filling, there’s an excess of flavor within those tortilla walls. For sure they’ve slathered on a bit of garlic paste, and probably some tahini (and perhaps just a tad too much onion). Not that the lamb really needs the assist: the crumbly and griddle-singed edges of this ground meat loaf-like thing sings of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and oregano. Also contributing to distend my tummy: they gave out complimentary baskets of deep-fried mini pillows of tortilla with a minty dipping sauce on the side, just because they're nice.

Yes, I’ll try the rotisserie chicken soon. I’ve got a shirt ready to sacrifice for the occasion.

Gourmet Grill Masters
14141 Jeffrey Road
Irvine, CA 92620
949-988-7554
http://ggm-irvine.com

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Wood Ranch BBQ - Irvine

Macarons at Pascal - Santa Ana

2011-12-05T07:23:00.001-08:00

Cupcakes, schmupcakes. I never came on board that train; but you can count me in as a passenger on the macaron bandwagon. A few years ago, there was a run on these crispy, chewy, multi-hued and flavor-filled pastries that look like mini burgers. I vaguely remember more than a few exuberant posts Chowhound touting the macarons at Boule, a now defunct bakery. Now, macarons are everywhere.

The best I’ve found so far are made by Pascal Olhats, the chef I most associate with anything French that’s worth consuming in OC. I’m not the only one that thinks so. A co-worker routinely compares Pascal’s macarons to those he’s had in Paris. They’re just as light, he says. To beg forgiveness for his transgressions, he buys them for his wife in lieu of flowers.

The merits of a good macaron, he says to me like an expert lecturer on the subject, is measured on how close it is to eating air. After all, macarons are pretty much a meringue with almond flour added for structural integrity. It can’t be at all dense; and it has to be crispy, leading to a delicate tacky chew on the inside. Ideally it should crumble and melt upon contact with your mouth, whereupon it just caves in on itself, subsiding like a sandcastle at high tide.

Available on the day I went to Pascal at Hutton Center were pistachio, lemon, strawberry, chocolate and chocolate banana. At $0.85 a piece, they’re half the price most bakeries would charge. I’ve seen macarons retail at prices around $1.60 per piece elsewhere. It must be said that Pascal’s macarons are, however, smaller than most. You can conceivably put two your mouth and still have room for one more—their diameters just slightly larger than a quarter…with the cost of about three and a dime.

Pascal
2 Hutton Centre Dr
Santa Ana, CA 92707
(714) 957-3087

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Silver Trumpet - Costa Mesa