Journey to the West - Day 1 Dunhuang

I don’t even know where to begin recounting my recent trip to Western China. A 7 day whirlwind across China, 6 cities, a dozen scenic destinations and countless meals and snacks featuring local specialties… It was, and still is, a little overwhelming. But despite the fatigue, the indigestion, and lack of modern “facilities” (ahem), it was one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken.

Day 1 – Dunhuang

pic: reproduction on silk scarf of wall mural

Why did I want to visit a city in the middle of the Gobi desert? Well, there’s really only one reason why anyone goes to Dunhuang, and that is to see the Mogao caves. Some of the best examples of Tang dynasty (and earlier) Buddhist art are preserved at Mogao. Imagine, hundreds of caves filled with exquisite wall paintings and sculptures from the 4th to the 14th century. I know. Incredible. And the experience was... transcendental. Seriously, the caves elicited powerful emotions from me, powerful and conflicting emotions - awe for the glory of civilization, sadness for it's demise, reverence for humanity's capacity to create so much beauty yet disbelief at it's selfishness, and most of all, in the face of so much history, beauty, and a greatness bordering on the sublime, I was confronted with the transient and insignificant nature of my own existence. Like I said, it was all very transcendental.

Now on the serious matter of food, Dunhuang didn't have anything "transcendental" to offer, but I did have 2 interesting meals which were memorable in their own way. First, lunch at a Nongjiale (a type of farmer's house turned restaraunt/B&B), and then dinner at the Dunhuang night market.

This particular Nongjiale was very nicely outfitted... with a band no less! You'll notice the traditional courtyard, with east, west, and south wings. We lunched in the east wing. Perhaps feast is more of an appropriate word. This Nongjiale was more of a 4 star B&B than your average mom and pop B&B, so we had rather fancy peasant fare.

I got to sample Jiangshuimian, a local specialty, which is basically noodles in either cold (the version I had) or hot clear soup that is made from fermented vegetable broth. I wanted to like it, but it was just way too sour for me... it tasted like watery vinegar.

One dish I really liked at this meal was their stir fried potatoes. First of all, I love potatoes, period. But this particular dish was just great. The success of this dish depends on the crisp texture of the thin strands of potatoes and it's really easy to undercook or overcook them. These potatoes were perfectly al dente.

A visit to Dunhuang is not complete without a visit to the night market, a one stop shop for outdoor shopping and dining. What's great about the Dunhuang night market is that you eat in a very well managed and maintained open air atrium with outdoor seating well-attended to by waitresses. So it's just like sitting down to a restaurant meal, except you're outside and surrounded by all the sights and smells of surrounding vendors. There are even wandering minstrels singing/performing popular 80s songs, to the delight (and horror) of many a eater.

pic top to bottom: halal fried bread, lamb kebabs (I must have had 10 of these), some kind of noodle hot pot

Soto NY

Good food makes an impression, but great food creates revelations. And Soto's uni dishes were a revelation to me.

I've always thought of uni as foie gras of the sea, not only because they share a certain unctuousness, but because like foie, uni commands respect, respect for the ingredient. And oftentimes, the best way to enjoy such incredible ingredients is in their most pristine and simple form. The least handled, the least cooked, the better. Give me a piece of foie straight up, simply seared. And I thought uni was the same. But that was me before Soto. Now, I shall never look at another piece of naked uni without wishing it was dressed in one of chef Sotohiro's creations.

Ironically enough, my friend and I chose to go to Soto not for it's uni dishes, but for it's lobster sashimi. J called a day before just to make sure they had live lobster and we turned up at 8 on Wed night for our treat. We ordered several items, with the planned highlight being lobster sashimi, but instead we were completely bowled over by our uni dishes.

J and I ordered:

1) Uni ika sugomori zukuri (sea urchin wrapped in thinly sliced squid with nori, served with quail egg and tosa soy reduction). I can't decide whether this was better or the uni lobster... Let's call it a draw, they're equally pass-out good. The copious amount of sea urchin was highlighted and lifted to new heights by sweet squid and egg. I think the squid added some bite to the dish (and it's oddly sticky, but in a good way), while the quail egg enhanced the uni's creaminess. And the tosa soy reduction just tied everything together. The sauce was sooo refined, a little sweet, not too salty... Hm, where can I get some tosa soy?! J and I literally cleaned the plate. Not even a drop of sauce was left once we were done. Oh btw, the menu said the uni and squid was wrapped in shiso, but ours was wrapped in seaweed. I hope they keep the nori.

2) Geoduck clam salad (ginger marinated giant clam, japanese cucumber, daikon and shiso, spicy radish sprouts). I generally do not like salads. Didn't grow up on it, don't like to eat it. But, I would gladly eat this salad for the rest of my life. Everything just worked, and it was so refreshing. It tasted of spring.

3) Maine amaebi sashimi (sweet shrimp sashimi, served with ginger soy sauce). Fresh and sweet but rather forgettable b/c the flavor profile was too singular after such explosive and exciting dishes as the two we've just had. I didn't like the ginger soy sauce, it was too intense for the shrimp's subtle sweetness. But paper thin slices of lime provided just the right amount of acidity and flavor.

4) Live lobster sashimi (live maine lobster sashimi with ginger soy sauce and caviar, yuzu kimizu sauce). *Sigh... this was a dissapointment. And we were so looking forward to this dish too! There was too much ginger involved and the lobster was too salty. Raw lobster meat should be sweet, much sweeter than shrimp, unfortunately when you use too much ginger and/or salt, you completely mask that sweetness. FYI: The menu said this dish was meant to be "lightly poached lobster with ginger truffle soy sauce", but I think b/c we called ahead and asked for raw lobster, Soto took away the truffle (rightfully so since it would have totally overwhelmed the raw meat). Otherwise, this dishe might have worked really well.

5) Cyu toro tartare (chopped fatty tuna with avocado coulis, garnished with caviar, chive, served in sesame ponzu sauce). I thought that chopping toro wasn't the best treatment of such a nice cut of fish. And, avocado really didn't add anything... The dish was ok when you had a bit of toro, avocado, chive and caviar in each bite, but only alright.


6) Steamed lobster with uni mousse (layers of steamed maine lobster and uni mousse in lotus wrap, garnished with smoked uni and caviar). Just when we thought the night was going downhill, BAM, Soto-san hits us with this mindboggler. He puts the aforementioned missing truffle soy in this lobster dish, and boy was it good. Uni and lobster and truffle? Definitely not too much of a good thing.


Such a memorable meal came out to be $200 for two people, that's including a bottle of sparkling sake and a bottle of unfiltered sake. Yes, it's a little much for my budget, but so worth it.

If you love uni, you'll love Soto.

Chinese Hot Pot - Northern Style followup

I previously posted about the ins and outs of home-cooked Shuan Yang Rou (lamb hot pot) here . But I couldn't help posting about Shaun Yang Rou again, this time at my grandparents' in Beijing.

This is the real deal, just look at the "fire pot"! It is designed for maximum heat conductivity. These pots are made out of copper, the best material for "fire pot". It diffuses and conducts heat quickly and cooks food more evenly, with a lower heat source than might normally with another pan, and prevents hot spots and sticking. The "chimney" in the middle allows for a deep trench of soup, but at the same time reduces the volume of soup needed to be heated, that's what I call efficient use of energy! These "fire pots" deviate a little from tradition. First, they are individual sized, as opposed to a communal, family sized one that's put in the center of the table to be shared by everyone. Secondly, we used alcohol burners instead of the traditional charcoal.

Mmm... nothing, nothing beats a steaming meal of shuan yang rou on a cold day!

Santoka (NJ) - handsdown best ramen, like ever!

Ok, I raved about Menchanko's hakata ramen, and I'm becoming more and more enamoured by Ippudo, however Santoka's spicy miso is in a class by itself. It's a ramen to be devoured and then craved for weeks to come. The addictive combination of rich, flavorful, spicy broth, coupled with al dente noodles makes a bowl of the most perfect ramen I have ever had... Perfect because there's no room for improvement, except for maybe a bigger bowl.

::drool::

And for something different, they also have fish eggs on rice.

So even though Santoka's in NJ, I promise you, it's worth the trip. There's a direct shuttle to/from Port Authority ($3) to make things really easy. And you might as well pick up a few bottles of sparkling sake in Mitsuwa while you're there.

Santoka, Mitsuwa Marketplace
595 River Rd, Edgewater, New Jersey

Sparkling Sake Tasting - Part 1

I fell in love with sparkling sake after first having it at P*ONG, and with Hou Hou Shu in particular. Unfortunately, sparkling sake is not widely available everywhere yet, even in sake bars, so I decided to arrange my own little Sparkling Sake Tasting.

I searched and searched for Hou Hou Shu at Mitsuwa (Japanese supermarket in Edgewater, NJ, where I also had some kick-ass ramen at Santouka) but couldn't find it, so I picked up 4 random bottles.

1) Poochi-Poochi


I was ever so hopeful that it'd be similar to Hou Hou Shu, b/c well, both have cute-sounding names! I don't know Japanese, this was all I had to go on, but it's a logical choice right? WRONG. I was expecting a sweet, slightly cloudy liquid, with a pleasant tingle of bubbles, but Poochi-Poochi was dry, high in alcohol content, and completely clear. It tasted like regular sake but with bubbles. I was disappointed. I wanted something as soft and cuddly as the little drunk mascot on their label, not hard liquor!

2) Japon


I thought hey, what an elegant bottle! The taste must be elegant too. Talk about judging a book by it's cover, but I was luckier this time. It was a "light, tasty, sparkling Japanese rice wine", just as it's label promised. Not too high in alcohol content and sweet. But I was missing that taste and fragrance of rice, and that cloudy, slightly viscous mouthfeel. I have to point out something really cool about this bottle though (as well as Poochi-Poochi), the cap design is ingenious! Like popping a can of soda.


3) Harushika Tokimeki


One of the more "traditional" looking bottles, I got this one b/c it has a seal from the "Japan Prestige Sake Association". It's got to count for something right? Everything I was missing from Japon, I got in HT. It was very cloudy, with a very strong (almost too strong) taste of rice. This one I think is the sweetest of the four I tried.

4) Hana-awaka


Bingo! Best one of the four I bought and most like Hou Hou Shu, so similar in fact that I wanted to compare side-by-side with HHS, which is why this is Sparkling Sake Tasting - Part 1. Coming soon: Sparkling Sake Tasting - Part 2 - Hana-awaka vs. Hou Hou Shu.

Ippudo - Coming Soon, Real Soon

I made the pilgrimage to the mecca of Hakata yesterday in the hope that maybe, just maybe they opened ahead of schedule. Ok... no such luck, but I did come by some great info. I knew they were going to open March 31st, but they're having a soft opening next week! Only thing is their limited hours during the week, which is seriously making me consider calling in sick tomorrow.

Soft Opening schedule:
3/24 (Mon) - 3/26 (Wed) open from 11am - 5pm
3/27 (Thu) - 3/29 (Sat) open from 5pm - 12am


Hakata Ippudo
65 4th Ave
New York, NY 10003

Chinese Hot Pot - Northern Style

The tradition at home has always been hot pot for any holiday. Christmas, Birthdays, Memorial Day, even Mother's Day, with the exception of perhaps Thanksgiving when we sometimes (and oddly) opt for roast turkey.

There's something so communal about a hot pot that brings every member of the family together, plus it just makes sense to have on special occasions when everyone's home, so for me, hot pot is not just cooking your own meat in hot boiling liquid, but a festive meal that celebrates family and togetherness.

The hot pot we have at home is the style from Northern China. I grew up eating Beijing's halal Shuan Yang Rou (lamb hot pot), and it's the style that I prefer over other any other, be it Sichuan (spicy) or Taiwanese (shacha sauce). Whereas the rest of China swishes beef, the halal version is exclusively lamb and served with a VERY special sesame paste sauce with lots of scallions and cilantro. A traditional Shuan Yang Rou meal is basically plates of thinly sliced lamb, sliced paper thin, a few vegetables with the staple being Napa Cabbage, Dong Tofu (defrosted frozen tofu that's left with a spongy consistency to soak up more sauce), and Mo (these halal bread things that I can't describe but are so delicious) to finally dunk or soak in the sauce/soup mixture at the end of the meal.

Most Chinese people do not like the taste of lamb, complaining of a gamy smell/taste, and sadly not even members of my family share my love of gaminess, so our hot pot ingredients include beef, chicken and shrimp as well as my beloved lamb. Of course there's the ever-present nappa cabbage, tofu, vermicelli noodles (can't do hot pot without these!). And as if that's not enough, we added some bamboo shoots, mushrooms, quail eggs, and Vietnamese beef tendon meatballs to the mix.

I love beef tendon meatballs!!!


The soup base is very simple. 1/3 chicken broth (Swanson brand) and 2/3 water, with a few slices of ginger thrown in (optional resoaked dried shitake mushrooms).


And instead of the special sesame paste sauce, which no one knows the recipe to, we created something very similar using peanut butter, a little sesame oil and fermented tofu (if you know what I mean, it's the red kind, not the white kind) thinned down with some water. Ok, it might not sound appetizing, but it is delicious and as close to the real thing as we could get it.


Who wouldn't want some of this?!

Or this?!