Blackened Chicken with Zucchini Rice Recipe

Another slightly modified, easy and tasty Blue Apron recipe.

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup long grain jasmine rice
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions
1 ear of corn
1 lime
1 zucchini
2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
1/4 cup Mexican crema, or creme fraiche

Instructions

Rice: Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil and add the zucchini and half the garlic, season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 1-2 minutes, or until softened and fragrant.  Stir in the rice and 1 cup of water.  Heat to boiling on high, then cover and reduce the heat to low until the water has been absorbed.  Stir in the juice of 2 remaining lime wedges, season with salt and pepper to taste,

Chicken: Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with salt, pepper, and the ancho chile powder.  Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil and seasoned chicken, 4-6 minutes per side, or until cooked through.  Transfer to a cutting board, leaving any browned bits in the pan.

Vegetables: Cut the corn kernels off the cob and discard the cob.  Add corn, remaining garlic, and white bottoms of the scallions to the pan (with the remaining browned bits), season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently for 30 seconds to 1 minutes, or until softened and fragrant.  Remove from heat, and add half the green tops of the scallions.

Sauce: Combine the crema and juice of 2 lime wedges; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Plate: Slice the cooked chicken, and stir any juices into the finished vegetables.  Divide zucchini rice, sliced chicken and vegetables between 2 dishes.  Garnish with remaining green tops of the scallions and lime crema.

Korean Pork Tacos Recipe

Modified, easy Blue Apron recipe:

Ingredients

2 pounds ground pork
8 flour tortillas
1/4 shredded red cabbage
3 radishes
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1-inch piece ginger
1 tablespoon gochujang
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup rice wine
Sliced avocado, optional

Instructions

Slaw: Shred red cabbage, thinly slice radish into rounds.  Combine with sesame oil, sugar, half of the garlic, half of the white bottoms of the scallions, 3/4 of the vinegar, and 1/4 of the gochujang.  Season with salt and pepper as needed.  Toss thoroughly and marinate for at least 10 minutes.

Pork: Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil and add ground pork, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Cook until lightly browned, and then add minced ginger, remaining garlic, remaining white bottoms of scallions, and remaining gochujang.  Add rice wine and cook until liquid has cooked off.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sauce: Combine the sour cream and remaining vinegar.

Warm the tortillas over a dry pan and divide the finished pork and slaw between the warmed tortillas.  Top with sliced avocados, green tops of the scallions, and sauce.

High Street on Hudson

We went for brunch after hearing many good things, but I think this would be another spot where I've enjoyed the food, but haven't found it to be so special or outstanding that I would go out of my way to return.

Bodega sandwich: I enjoyed the biscuit, the eggs were fluffy, and the sauce was good too.  That said, the clear, overwhelming taste is the sausage, and it masks the other flavors a bit.  Personally, sausage is not my preferred breakfast or sandwich meat, but I still liked the sandwich overall.

Pastrami and hash sandwich: this one fell a bit short; there was a lot of hash and next to no pastrami.  Pastrami is a heavy meat, but I could barely taste it over the hash.  I found myself picking out the hash and eating it separately in an attempt to balance the sandwich more and actually taste the pastrami.

Duck meatball sub: a good sandwich, but not something  I'd care to order again.  The liver taste was stronger than I expected, so if you're not a  fan of liver, this won't be for you.

Date and almond oatcake: this was the best item for me.  The salt from the buttery pastry nicely balanced out the sweet filling, and the texture felt light and slightly crunchy, almost like a biscuit.  Other pastries looked good too, so may be worth trying more of their bakery items.

Craftbar

I went with a large group of friends for dinner, and we were able to sample a lot of the appetizers and desserts in addition to individual mains.  Overall, the food was decent, but nothing that special, considering the hype that comes with these celebrity chef restaurants.

Appetizers: whipped ricotta toast was my favorite; anchovy and soft egg toast was decent; pecorino fonduta was fine but nothing special...I expected a lot better; kielbasa was okay; beets were sub-par.

Mains: smoked duck breast was very smoky and on the salty side and slightly overcooked, but the mole sauce was great; quail with corn and pretzel stuffing was pretty good.

  

Dessert: milk and cookies were good, carrot cake was a twist on the classic and well done, chocolate tart was not that special.

  

Cocktails: The Great Pretender (mezcal, chocolate-mint, lime, cava) was delicious and the best part of dinner, in my opinion.  (I'm not alcoholic.)  It came with a lot of foliage, but that foliage was dusted with powdered sugar (yippee!  I am a sugarholic).

An American in Paris

Yet another wonderful Broadway show that is closing soon (October 9), so everyone go see it!  This was my first time watching An American in Paris, and it was a lot of fun and a very unique show with all the beautiful ballet.

I was so impressed with the talent -- how do these people dance AND sing so well?! -- in addition to the skillful use of the screen projections (I thought Les Mis did a good job, but this was so much better) and funny, witty quips throughout that lightened the mood for what would otherwise have been a darker post-war love story.  Many of the songs should also be recognizable to the general audience, whether you're familiar with Gershwin or not.

Overall, I would highly recommend An American in Paris to both the casual audience and serious Broadway lover.  The story is compelling, the songs are catchy, and the ballet is lovely.

Bibble & Sip

Super cute bakery and cafe most famous for their cream puffs.  If you haven't seen the video, you can watch it here.

I was in the area yesterday and had some time before a Broadway show, so I decided to treat myself to some cream puffs and much more.  (I clearly don't see a problem with having dessert for dinner.)

Monthly special: malted vanilla soft serve, with green tea and normal fudge, crumbly bits, and green tea sponge cake chunks.  The ice cream and green tea fudge were delicious, and any crunchy/crumbly/cookie bits are always welcome, although I didn't care for the green tea sponge cake pieces, and there were a lot of them.

Matcha and Earl Grey cream puffs: I'm not even a cream puff person, but I could eat these any day.  They look so big, but they disappear within a few bites.  I enjoy both, but maybe a very slight preference for the green tea.
    

Black sesame hazelnut crunch mousse cake: Oh em gee.  I love black sesame.  I love hazelnut.  I love crunchy bits.  I love dark chocolate (cake).  I had high expectations given the ingredients, and I'm pleased to say it lived up to expectations.

Milk bun (filled with pb&j): This was only okay.  The bun itself was a bit dry and dense, making the overall pastry dry and heavy.  Flavor was good, but this would not be my go-to form for pb&j.

  

I still have yet to order coffee (did get matcha hot chocolate once in the winter though, and that was tasty), but all the latte art and teddy bear and alpaca faces are adorable.

If that's not enough reason to visit, their logo is "BS all you want" and their mascot is an alpaca..."because alpacas are awesome too." 

Maine - Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor

My first visit to Maine was to Kennebunkport and Portland, so for my second trip, I wanted to see Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor.  My family and I only had one weekend, so what I've laid out below is a 2-day itinerary.  I liked that it was an easily doable weekend trip, but I would also love to go back and take our time to see more of the park (and eat more lobster).

Activities

• Exploring Acadia National Park
• Drive the 27-mile Park Loop Road 
• Various hikes -- I found this site very helpful; here's what we did
• Ocean Path: very scenic and easy roadside trail (more of a walk than a hike) that runs from Sand Beach to Otter Cliff, with Thunder Hole roughly mid-point

• Cadillac Mountain Summit Loop: Cadillac Mountain is the highest peak on Mount Desert Island; we attempted to go 4 times before successfully making it to the top!  The first two attempts (day 1), the road was closed due to some accident; we went again the next morning but it was extremely windy and foggy, but fortunately the rain and fog cleared by the afternoon, so we finally made it to the top for some spectacular views

• South Bubble: Bubble Rock is a large boulder carried by glaciers and deposited at the edge of a cliff

  

• Jordan Pond: beautiful fresh-water pond; we didn't have time to walk around the entire pond, but we did enjoy the view over lunch at Jordon Pond House

• Educational lobster boat ride: we hopped on the Lulu Lobster Boat to learn about lobster fishing and see seals at play; Captain John was great, and I'd highly recommend them

  

The next time we go back, I'd love to explore more of Acadia, whether it's more hiking, biking, or even kayaking.

Food

The short summary is we ordered at least one whole lobster and one lobster roll every meal, and it was amazing.  The best place we went was Thurston's Lobster Pound.  Jordon Pond House had decent food (also famous for their popovers) but it's worth going just for the view.  We also stopped by Side Street Cafe, West Street Cafe, and Peekytoe Provisions.  As for dessert, we went to Mount Desert Island Ice Cream both days.

Thurston's Lobster Pound

"Before and After" - Thurston's Lobster Pound

footlong lobster and crab rolls - Peekytoe Provisions

lobster mac and cheese - Side Street Cafe

 

Broccoli Salad Recipe

Ingredients

2 heads broccoli, chopped into small florets
1/3 cup red onion, chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Optional: bacon, raisins, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds

Instructions

Blanch broccoli until bright green and slightly softened, and then drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar.  Add the broccoli and coat well.  Refrigerate for one hour.  Toss in optional mix-ins before serving.

Kimchi Fried Rice Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups cooked white rice
1 cup roughly chopped kimchi (including kimchi juice)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2-3 tablespoons gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
1 green onion, chopped

Optional mix-ins: chicken, beef, or other protein; top with fried egg
Optional garnish: seaweed, sesame seeds 

Instructions

Heat vegetable oil in a pan.  Add kimchi and stir-fry for a minute.  If including meat, add and cook at this stage.  Then add rice and mix well, until the rice has soaked up kimchi juice.  Stir in soy sauce, sesame oil, and gochujang.  Top with green onion and other garnish.

Korean Hanger Steak Recipe

Anyone who knows me will know that the hanger steak over kimchi fried rice is one of my favorite items at The Dutch.  I found Andrew Carmellini's recipe on his website, but here it is below as well.

Ingredients

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup Coca-Cola
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 green onions, minced
2 bone-in rib-eye steaks (2.5 pounds each)

Instructions

Pour all ingredients over the steaks in a deep dish (or gallon plastic bag) and marinate for 12 hours.  When ready to cook, bring steaks to room temperature (~20-30 minutes outside of fridge).

Grilling: Preheat oven to 400F (for last step).  Place meat on the rack and grill for 4-6 minutes each side.  Finish it on a rack in a roasting pan in the oven at 400F for 6 minutes, turning it over once so it cooks more evenly.

Broiler: Turn broiler on high, and put steaks on a middle or middle-high rack.  Broil steaks for about 6 minutes per side.

Let meat rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve.

Fish Tacos Recipe

Ingredients

Tacos:
1 pound white fish fillets, such as tilapia or mahi mahi
4 tablespoons olive oil plus more for cooking
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or other chili powder, such as ancho chili powder
1 jalapeño, chopped
Juice from 1/2 lime
8 flour tortillas

Garnish:
1 small head green cabbage, shredded
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sliced avocado, optional
Green onion or cilantro, optional

Jalapeño Guacamole Sauce:
8 ounce sour cream
1 avocado
1 jalapeño, chopped
Juice from 1/2 lime
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Cut fish fillet into 2-inch long pieces.  Marinate in olive oil, garlic salt, oregano, pepper, jalapeño, and lime juice for at least 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare garnish and sauce.  Marinate shredded cabbage and red onion in olive oil, salt and pepper.  For the sauce, blend together all ingredients until smooth.  When ready, grill or pan-fry fish until cooked, roughly 2-3 minutes per side, depending on thickness.  Heat up tortillas over low heat in a pan.

Assemble tacos by adding dollop of sauce over tortilla, adding 2-3 pieces of fish, and topping with garnish and extra sauce as desired.

  

The Tang

I've been craving authentic Chinese noodles, and The Tang lived up to the hype.  We enjoyed the noodles as well as the appetizers.

Smoked duck egg -- flavorful and well cooked, with soft but not runny yolk
Cucumber salad -- okay, but underwhelming; there are better cucumber salads at other spots
Beef short ribs -- very tender (pretty marbled meat)
Chilled beef shank -- flavor good, but meat was a bit tough; they could've also sliced it more thinly
Sesame tofu -- this was the best; highly recommend!
**Side comment: the egg and both beef appetizers are all served over a bed of cucumber; doesn't really make a difference to me, but couldn't help but notice the same garnish/plating in all 3 dishes!

        

ZJM (炸醬麵 zha jiang mian) -- good, simple take on a classic dish; thick and chewier noodles (very al dente, could've maybe been cooked just 1 more minute for me)
MJM (麻醬麵 ma jiang mian) -- chicken was very tender; dish overall felt light and was good for a hot day; slightly thinner noodles than ZJM

  

Overall, good comfort food, and I plan to go back to try other noodles too.

Angkor Cambodian Bistro

This was the first time I've had Cambodian food outside of Cambodia, and I'm glad I tried it!  Amok fish was one of my favorite dishes in Cambodia, and Angkor Cambodian Bistro did a great rendition of it (baked amok).  "Amok" refers to the process of steam cooking a curry in banana leaves.  The dish is made with white fish fillets, prawns, and scallops in a red curry and coconut milk sauce.

We also tried the phnom peng roast duck (in coconut milk and red curry duck), Khmer fish cakes, and nem nuong (barbecue pork hash).  The duck was very tender and flavorful.  The Khmer fish cakes were decent but not standout, and the nem nuong (barbecue pork hash) just seemed like normal meatballs (good but not that special).

    

Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節

大家中秋節快樂!  好久沒吃到月餅了, 幸好今年剛跟爸爸媽媽見面, 他們從加州給我帶了好吃的, 我愛吃的酥皮月餅！

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!  But what exactly is Mid-Autumn Festival, why do we celebrate it, and why do we eat moon cake?

Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar.  Its history dates back to moon worship during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC); however, the moon worship custom did not become a festival and celebration until later in the more prosperous Sui (581 - 618 AD) and Tang (618 - 907 AD) dynasties.  A full moon is a symbol of prosperity, happiness, and reunion, hence this festival is celebrated when the moon is believed to be biggest and fullest.

The most popular legend of Mid-Autumn Festival is of Chang E, the lady on the moon.  Her husband, Hou Yi, was an excellent archer.  A long time ago, there were 10 suns, and they were scorching the Earth.  Hou Yi shot down 9 of the suns, saving the Earth and people, so the Queen Mother awarded him an elixir that could make him immortal.  However, Hou Yi wanted to stay with his wife and did not drink the elixir.  One day, one of his students tried to steal the elixir while Hou Yi was away, so Chang E drank the elixir so that it could not be stolen.  The elixir made Chang E fly higher and higher, and she did not stop until she reached the moon.  Hou Yi was saddened by the news, and prepared a table of food hoping that Chang E would return.  Since then, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, many people offered food to worship the moon.

Another more probable story is that of the Mooncake Uprising at the end of the Yuan dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD).  The Yuan dynasty was ruled by Mongols, and the ethnic Han Chinese wanted to overthrow the empire.  They hid slips of paper messages inside mooncakes and sold them to other Han Chinese as a way to communicate.  A large, successful uprising was organized on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and from then on, people adopted the tradition of eating mooncakes at Mid-Autumn Festival.

Today, moon worship doesn't really take place anymore, but modern day traditions still include moon gazing, mooncake eating, and intricate lanterns/light display viewings.

As for mooncakes, we most commonly see Cantonese/Guangdong style mooncakes in stores these days, but there are other types as well.  Traditional fillings include red bean paste, lotus seed paste, jujube (date) paste, five kernels, and egg yolk.  Here are a few of the more common types:

• Beijing style: two variations, one with a flaky, white dough and the other with a light, foamy dough; Beijing mooncakes are often more intricately decorated
• Guangdong style: thin, cakey crust with rich, dense fillings; most popular ones you see
• Suzhou style: known for its layers of flaky dough

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Cantonese/Guangdong style and much prefer the flaky crusts (Suzhou and Taiwan style).  My favorite fillings include red bean, dates, green bean, and taro.  Thanks to Mother Dear for bringing me my favorites all the way from California!

  

Bo Ssam (Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder) Recipe

Momofuku Ssam Bar's bo ssam dinner is one of my favorite large group dining spots.  The food is amazing, the atmosphere is casual and fun, and it's actually very reasonably priced.  I've gone for work celebration dinners, birthdays, and family gatherings, but I never thought to attempt to make it until one of my friends invited a group of us over for a homemade bo ssam dinner.  I found the recipe online afterwards here and decided to try my hand at it as well.  It's actually not that difficult and a great crowd pleaser, so I thought this would be a good recipe to share.  (Recipe below is the same as the link shared above, but I've included my notes in blue for reference.)

Ingredients

Pork Butt:

1 whole bone-in pork butt (8 to 10 pounds)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup + 1 tablespoon kosher salt

7 tablespoons brown sugar

Ginger-Scallion Sauce:

2 ½ cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts

½ cup peeled, minced fresh ginger

¼ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

1 ½ teaspoons light soy sauce

1 scant teaspoon sherry vinegar

½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Ssam Sauce:
2 tablespoons fermented bean-and-chili paste (ssamjang, available in many Asian markets & online)
1 tablespoon chili past (kochujang, available in many Asian markets & online)
½ cup sherry vinegar
½ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

*Momofuku also sells bottles of their Ssam sauce; I found it at Whole Foods and decided to skip this step and just buy this off the shelf

Accompaniments:

2 cups plain white rice, cooked

2-3 heads bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried

Kimchi

1 dozen or more fresh oysters (optional)

Instructions

Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

*I bought a ~9 pound pork butt and very generously covered it with the sugar-salt rub, but was still left with at least 1/3 of the mixture unused.

When you're ready to cook, heat oven to 300. Remove pork from refrigerator and discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an hour.

*There wasn't really enough juice to baste until after ~3 hours.

Meanwhile, make the ginger-scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if needed.

Make the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and oil, and mix well.

Prepare rice, wash lettuce and, if using, shuck the oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.

When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven to 500. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. Serve hot, with the accompaniments.

*I also very liberally applied the brown sugar-salt rub but had plenty of leftovers.  10 minutes at 500F is probably enough; I set off the smoke alarm at 15 minutes...oops.