Winter Break Day 2

It's good to be home.

I got back from Paris tonight and felt that I didn't have the heart to unpack...so I decided to blog instead. It's definitely fun to take a trip once in a while but having to venture more than 15 feet to get a cup of tea is way too much work for me. I like my hot beverages close and made to my liking hehe. In any case, I'll get around to putting up some french food porn before the week is through.

And now, back to ny and fooding from last week that I never got to blog about!

After homecoming at ye olde high school, Sarah, Johnny, Diana and I trekked down to union square in spite of the severe cold. (It actually wasn't that cold, but I was foolish enough to think that I didn't need to wear socks that day :( ) The holiday fair was bustling as usual but we paid no heed for we had a more glorious destination in mind-namely, Momofuku! David Chang's Momofuku actually has three locations within a few blocks of each other- the noodle bar being the original establishment and the ssam bar and bakery being later progeny. If you haven't heard of David Chang, give his name a quick google so that we can talk about him and how freaking awesome he is. One of these days I'll put up a post about all the chefs I'm madly in love with and why they're as amazing as I fervently claim they are. Erm...and returning from that tangent, back to the food!



We went at a bit of an awkward hour (3?4?) but the place was still packed.

Decisions, decisions...

Sarah's wonderful lychee soda that I completely swiped from her. I really only meant to take one sip but it was so fizzily delicious that I must have had at least half...my apologies!

Momofuku ramen with pork and a poached egg.



The chicken ramen.

The ginger scallion noodles with seasonal vegetables...this also happens to be the only vegetarian option on the menu.

The seemingly mundane steamed pork buns.

And...HAH! Not so mundane now, huh?! These were wonderfully soft and juicy but a little too fatty for me. I actually had to cut all the odd globs of half-melted fat off the pork because the sensation of grease slowly melting down the back of my throat was just too weird for me. Otherwise they were out of this world and definitely unlike any other pork buns I have ever encountered.

Momofuku Noodle Bar
171 First Avenue (bet. 10th/11th)
New York, NY 10003


Next up:
Chocolate by the Bald Man
Macarons Galore from Pierre Herme and Laduree

Winter Break Day 1

Happy winter break everyone! Now that I have my very own camera and tons of free time, I can almost guarantee a steady stream of posts for the next couple of days. And yes...all the photos that have appeared on this blog thus far were generously provided by friends. Thank you for putting up with me, guys!

So let's see...breakfast was a quiet affair in ktown at Cafe Muse. Samson and I were hungry after the somewhat depressing mood at the DMV and stopped by the first cafe we saw.

Almost deserted at ten in the morning.



Hey there handsome~

Samson, I don't know if you're comfortable with this photo being online...but I just found this to be oh so cute!! Gosh one of these days I'm going to put you in a pokeball and carry you around in my pocket...

After buying some nice containers at the Container Store (aka the happiest place in the world) and walking up and down 5th avenue we went to Hooters for lunch. Yes that's right...Hooters. It's not a terrible restaurant per se and the scantily-clad women are friendlier than most waitstaff, so don't be too quick to judge!

And we ascend...

I don't want to seem like a total creeper but I wanted to give an idea of the..uh..ambience.

I thought that the steak sandwich would be a fairly boring affair but oh how very wrong I was! I don't know what made this sandwich so good...the steak on its own was kind of tough and the bread was chewy but together, each component canceled out the other's flaws to make a harmonious whole. Kind of yin and yang, except in the form of a Hooters sandwich.

Samson's entree part 1...these had a fun name that I don't quite recall...Rio Grande fries? Mexican something fries? In any case, you can't go wrong with piling sour cream, cheese, beans, meat and guacamole on a tower of curly fries!

Samson's entree part 2...a basic bacon cheeseburger!

And finally...the wings- oh glorious things! Notice how they glisten with their freshly deep-fried loveliness.

Cafe Muse.
43 W. 32nd Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 290-1414

Hooters
211 W 56th St # 2
New York, NY 10019
(212) 581-5656

Fro-Yo

So here's a question that some of you may have been wondering about in the dusty corners of your mind: what is UP with koreans and their obsession with fro-yo??! (Or maybe I'm the only one who's been pondering this riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma...) It seems like franchises have been popping up all over the states from L.A. to N.Y. with each city having its own particular brand and the associated fierce brand loyalty. Near campus we have both a Sweet Green and an Iceberry within 5 blocks of each other, and the old Korean men at Iceberry have revealed that they're trying to make a deal with Epicurean to sell fro-yo there as well. It's madness, I tell you! Tangy, creamy madness!

Iceberry is similar to other fro-yo places that I've visited (Pinkberry, Red Mango, etc) but stands out with its lovely variety of fro-yo flavors! The honeydew tastes so much like Melon Bar ice cream that it makes me want to weep with joy. In addition to the honeydew, I think that they have green tea, strawberry, chocolate, and of course, the original flavor. So yea....I will declare my Iceberry loyalty here because uh...Sweet Green has neither awesomely tasty flavors nor mochi. :D

The cheery exterior.

The cheerier interior!

Green tea with honeydew.



Strawberry.

All good things must come to an end...

And that's it! Have a WONDERFUL winter break guys~!

Iceberry
30th and M Sts.
Washington D.C. 20057
(It only opened a little while ago, so there's no phone number available just yet)

The Tombs

It's about high time that I mentioned the Tombs on this blog! Although I haven't been in D.C. for too long, it seems that the Tombs is beloved to the point that it's become an institution here. Conveniently located a stone's throw from the gates, it serves up a nice selection of comfort/bar foods that are for the most part, fairly good and inexpensive. More than anything, it's a restaurant as solid as the brick walls that house it...the vegetarian ravioli is probably the closest you'll get to an exotic dish on the menu, if you get what I mean :P

One last note before the photos...it kills me that all the waiters/matronly waitresses wear cute little bow ties.

Behold the cheeseburger in all of its cheesy glory! This thing was such a monster I felt like I had to eat it before it ate me.

Gosh this photo makes me hungry...

The buffalo chicken sandwich.

Derrick's steak as he makes the first stab (Et tu Brute?!)

Gumbo?

Frank claims that this is a salad...but aren't salads supposed to have more greens than toppings? To tell the truth, I don't even know what this is a photo of...

Salt and Pepper stand tall!

Group shot without Michael who is unfortunately the one behind the camera :(

**Photo props to Derrick!**

The Tombs
1226 36th St NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 337-6668‎
www.tombs.com

A Cartoon

So here is a little peek of what I usually spend my time doing in class...the Deadweight Dragon is a character I made up in Microeconomics one day when we were learning about deadweight losses. He's a dragon who doesn't yet know how to fly...it gets him into all sorts of scrapes and adventures in the margins of my notes. (Thanks for uploading it Shannon! :P )

The first caption is "The Deadweight Dragon did not have anywhere to sleep that night" and the second is, "The Deadweight Dragon never did learn the mashed potato mambo..."

I might put up another one of the Integra Bull, another one of my characters, this time from the barren wasteland of my calculus notes. (Hehe get it? Integra Bull --> Integrable!)

Main Street Bakery

I found these old photos while browsing my albums and realized that I have yet to write up anything on Main Street Bakery! This was where I had my very first job so it holds a special place in my heart. In the warm, golden-brown section of my heart reserved exclusively for bakeries, of course :P I guess I could say that I really began to understand the importance of quality while working there and as a result, became a fanatic about butter, tea, and overall presentation. If you happen to live in Port Washington, I strongly urge you to go have a look at it because there is nowhere else that you can get bread from Balthazar other than Main Street Bakery and Balthazar itself. (Hooray for exclusive distribution contracts!) The scones, baguettes, and croissants sell like, well...uh...hot cakes and are usually gone by 9 or 10 in the morning, so get there early if you can!

Here are some photos from brunch with my mom and auntie:
Reflection shot!

My mom eats espresso granita and patiently waits for our order.

The eggs benedict. Sometimes I feel like my love for eggs benedict borders the extreme, but when it's well-prepared, I feel like my passion is justified. Toasted english muffin + crispy canadian bacon + perfectly poached egg + liberal serving of hollandaise sauce = happiness!

French toast with strawberry maple syrup.

fruit tart!

The fruit tart is joined by its companion, the raspberry cheesecake, while key lime pie and tiramisu lurk in the background.

Main Street Bakery
170 Main St.
Port Washington
516-304-5214

Egg bundles!

I'm not sure what spurred me to make this last night...I was in the living room dutifully writing out my Chinese characters when i suddenly remembered a recipe that I saw a couple years back. I'm not sure how faithful I was to the original recipe, considering that I didn't recall it all too well, but I did try my best! The basic jist of the recipe was to wrap fried rice in a little web of egg and tie the bundle with a thin slice of chive or green onion.



Egg bundles:

-1 cup white rice
-1/3 cup diced onion
-1/3 cup diced carrots
-1/3 cup peas
-3 eggs, whisked with 3 tablespoons water
-soybean oil

Heat the soybean oil in a pan and add the onion, carrots, and peas. Fry the vegetables until they smell quite nice and season with salt and pepper as needed, then add the rice. Put the eggs in a squeeze-bottle and work quickly to create egg webs. Place several spoonfuls of the rice in the center of each egg web and tie with a sliver of herb.

I apologize for how shoddy this recipe is, but I honestly don't remember much other than this :P

The Thanksgiving Entry

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a night filled with great food and family and that you're now peacefully drifting off to food-coma-induced sleep. :P

Dinner at the Ko household.

And again...

My favorite holiday pie!

I haven't uploaded a recipe in a while, but I've been cooking like a madwoman ever since I got home. (There's nothing nicer than coming home to find your pans and spices exactly the way you left them, unsoiled by mudblood hands!) This recipe for korean yam pie is one that's proved its worth by taking the place of pumpkin pie at my family's thanksgiving dinner. I suggest that you do give it a try because it really is worth the time and effort. The subtle sweetness of korean (well, asian really...) yams adds a certain taste and texture that regular southern yams just can't provide.

Yam Pie with Gingersnap Pecan Crust

For the Crust:
-5 tablespoons butter, melted
-flour for dusting the pan
-1 cup finely crushed gingersnap cookies
-1/2 cup pecans, toasted
-2 tablespoons granulated sugar
-pinch salt

*I suppose one could bake one's own gingersnap cookies for this recipe, but I'm far too lazy to do anything like that...hehe*

For the Filling;
-3 medium roasted yams
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-1/3 cup water
-2 large eggs
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-pinch salt
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-1/2 cup rice milk
-1 tablespoon dark rum
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To Make the Crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the pie tin and lightly dust with flour to prevent the crust from sticking. Toss together the ingredients until crumbs are well moistened and press into pie tin. Bake approximately five minutes and set aside to let cool.

To Make the Pie Filling: Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Roast the yams until tender- about 45 minutes. Remove the yams after they can be easily pierced with a chopstick (or toothpick if chopsticks are lacking lol), peel the skins, and mash them until there are no visible lumps. Place the sugar and water in a small pan and heat until the mixture melts into a lovely golden caramel colour. Remove from heat immediately. Combine the mashed yams with the eggs, cinnamon, and salt until the mixture is smooth. Add the milk, cream, sugar mixture, and vanilla extract and blend well.

Pour the filling into the crust and bake approximately 40 to 50 minutes. If the crust appears to be browning too quickly, create a bib of aluminum foil and crimp around the edge of the pie tin.

Serve warm and enjoy!

...and on the third day God created cupcakes

So the other day the lovely Miss Eunae got me a little surprise from Georgetown Cupcake. Well, to be specific, SIX little surprises! (Thanks again hon! :P) For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Georgetown Cupcake is to DC what Magnolia is to downtown NYC. It's quite popular here and you can regularly find a devoted following lining up outside its doors for frosted goodness, or spot people on the street carrying its distinctive pink boxes. At first I was a bit wary of the hype surrounding Georgetown Cupcake...I mean, how could it ever take the place of Crumbs with its massive cupcakes (i suspect that they're actually frosted muffins but wtver), Buttercup Bake Shop, or dare we say, Magnolia itself? I hate to admit it, but these cupcakes are quite good. Delicious, in fact!

And here we go with the food porn!

The exterior...this photo is jacked from Flickr but shh don't tell anyone!

So cute!





Oh cupcakes, I already miss you! If anyone wants to try them, give me a holla and I'll bring some back over break! *Photo credits to Eunae!*

Georgetown Cupcake
1209 Potomac Street NW
Washington DC 20007
www.georgetowncupcake.com

Vietnamese on M

Hey there guys!

I hope that you're all doing well at your respective schools and that you have tons of good stories to tell me once we get on break! I looked at my calendar today (well not a REAL calendar but the one on my macbook hehe) and I realized that we only have a week and a half left to go before break starts! Since I'm going to be back in ny soon I suggest that we compile a list of places that we should visit (or revisit) and review for this blog! First on my list is Babbo since we WERE going to go that one time but missed our reservation and ended up eating somewhere else...boo~. After Babbo I'm not too sure so I'll just throw out some names and you NYCers can vote to decide where we should hit up: Momofuku Ssam Bar, Donut Plant, Balthazar, City Bakery, Magnolia, art of gelato (or will it be too cold?), Tomoe...er...and then some oldies but goodies like the ktown area, Fay Da, Naruto and maybe even Patsy's. What do you think guys? :P

And now moving on to the meat of this entry...dinner at Miss Saigon! I know that it's a chain and that chains are evil but really, how could you hate a place that serves up delicious, steaming hot bowls of pho??! (By the way, I'm curious as to whether you guys pronounce it like the "fo" in "forreal" or like "pha". I've always pronounced it as "fo" but it seems that people at Georgetown say "pha") Considering how reasonably priced Miss Saigon is, the food isn't half bad :D

This was the biggest bottle of Johnnie Walker that I've ever seen in my life. This photo really doesn't do it justice because the bottle was literally the size of my head.

My dinner buddies for the night: derek and derrick! (Props to Derrick for awesome photo-taking and later editing the photos for me hehe) Note the rice paddy hats used to cleverly hide the lighting.

Fob shot! The monstrous johnnie walker is in the background.

Pho pho pho pho pho! (pha haha). You really can't go wrong with ordering this...I don't remember ever encountering a pho that I didn't love with all my heart. I put a little too much sriracha in this, which made me tear a little but that was entirely my fault.

Mi Xao Don Hoac Mem. Shrimp, scallops, and squid sauteed with vegetables in brown sauce and served on top of crispy noodles. (I was smart and remembered to nick a menu before I left this time hehe)

Bo Luc Lac (Vietnamese steak). Cubed steak marinated in garlic and wine sauce, sauteed with buttered onions and home cut potatoes and served on a bed of greens. I don't know what buttered onions are but I guess the good people at Saigon do. Derrick was very excited about the steak, as he is about all steaks, so I'm assuming that it was henhaochi.

Ahhhhh so many utensils and not enough hands!!! It was funny though, as soon as we got our water the waiter discreetly handed out chopsticks to us. After a few moments we looked around and realized that we were the only table to get them hahahaha.

The tragedy of the noodles that were left behind, aka a record of how Jenko was unable to defeat her pho :(

Miss Saigon
3057 M Street N.W.
Washington D.C. 20057
(202)-333-5545