Entries tagged with 'Asian'
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The Nasty Bits: More Smelt

When wandering in the seafood section of a Japanese market last week, I came across these little fish and was struck by how nice it feels to be able to eat a whole animal in one bite: head, bones, fins, and all. You can't say that for most land animals we eat.

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San Francisco: Get Your A$$ To Mission Chinese Food Right Now!

Biking over towards 18th and Mission to check out the much-hyped Mission Chinese Food, there was one thought going through my head: "This is gonna be really great, or it's going to suck," as is usually the case when a group of young upstarts (OK, we can call them hipsters) get their hands on a restaurant space and a heretofore un-hipsterfied cuisine. The third option (which turned out to be the reality) hadn't occurred to me: That it was going to be freaking awesome. Bon Appetit just named Mission Chinese Food the second best new restaurant in America, which makes me wonder how freaking awesome must the number one be?

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Seriously Asian: Cold Somen Noodles

Here in the last throes of summer, lunch is sometimes no more than a mound of somen noodles served atop a bed of ice. Somen noodles are thin wheat noodles, as thin as vermicelli, more delicate than buckwheat. Twirled around chopsticks and dipped in a sauce made with soy sauce and dashi, the noodles slide down the throat. They are icy, firm, and rich.

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Seriously Asian: Grilled Rice

This week's recipe is inspired by a segment on The Splendid Table, which I follow not only for the food but to hear Lynn Rosetto Kasper salivate on air. (Am I the only one?) Hearing people talk about food almost always makes me hungrier than watching videos or looking at photos, and this time she was talking about onigiri.

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Seriously Asian: Durian Smoothie

It's that time of year again. My annual plug for durian, the oft-maligned, odoriferous fruit beloved in Southeast Asia and beyond. Usually, my advice to durian novices is to select a fruit with the least-pungent smelling odor you can find since different kinds of durian will range from mildly cheesy-smelling to gym-locker-stench-evoking. Durian smoothies are a treat on a hot summer's day. You might even get a few durian converts if you serve the fruit in smoothie form, which offers a milder kick of that distinctive cheesy taste.

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Seriously Asian: Preserved Duck Egg

I seem to be on a roll in this column with talking about oft-maligned, malodorous foods common in Asian cuisine. Natto, for instance, being the most noxious of them all. Preserved duck egg is another one. It's not for everyone, but of course that's what makes it so special.

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Seriously Asian: Salted Duck Egg

Like curing meats, the practice of salting duck eggs may have started as a method of preservation, but now salted duck eggs are a delicacy. Salting makes the egg whites dense and almost rubber-eraser-like in appearance, but it's the yolks that are especially prized. There's nothing quite like a good salted duck egg yolk. If properly salted, the duck egg yolks are creamy, granular, and oily all at once—an intriguing textural composition that tastes especially rich and salty.

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Seriously Asian: Cellophane Noodles

Cellophane noodles—known in various guises as Chinese vermicelli, bean threads, bean thread noodles, crystal noodles, or glass noodles—should be one of those items you keep in your pantry to use in a pinch. Made from mung beans, yam, or potato starch, the gluten-free noodles are quite versatile. They are equally good tepid as they are warm, and they can be served in soups and hotpots, used in stir-fries in place of wheat noodles, or served cold in salads.

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Wok Skills 101: Dry Fried Chow Fun (Wide Rice Noodles)

Dry-fried chow fun noodles is my little sister's hands-down favorite dish. When done right, the noodles are sticky and tender, intact and distinct from each other, and tinged with a smoky, charred flavor called wok hei (i.e., "wok air," or the essence of the wok).

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The Nasty Bits: Chicken Heart Yakitori

Yakitori is really just a matter of picking out your favorite chicken parts to skewer (though non-chicken parts like beef tongue are common and delicious too). Common chicken parts include chicken heart, gizzard, liver, meatballs, thigh, and skin. The procedure is simple: grill, baste with sauce, grill some more, baste with more sauce, eat with more sauce. Emphasis on sauce.

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