Hainanese Chicken & Rice

Dumpling Man really likes Hainan Chicken & Rice.  It's a pretty simple dish that I usually cheat to make since I never wanted to attempt poaching my own chicken and making my own rice.  So I've used various versions of this pre-made seasoning in a jar over the years, and Dumpling Man has always been pleased.  All you do is add a couple scoops to your rice and then pop it in the rice cooker.  As for the chicken, I usually season it and slather it with some ginger and steam it. 

Anyways, I decided to hunker down and do it all from scratch.  Watching the episode of No Reservations, when Anthony Bourdain visits Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken and Rice Stand in Singapore, was the final push to try and do it.  They showed the process of poaching the chicken and using the poaching liquid to make an aromatic delicious rice.  I found an easy enough recipe at Steamy Kitchen.

So when my mom makes bun thanh, which is a kind of Vietnamese chicken noodle soup dish, she says it should be made with a free range chicken.  She's not very clear on why, but it's supposed to be better.  This recipe too, called for a free range chicken.


I have no idea how many pounds the chicken was, but by my guestimation it was at least 4 lbs?

Read more »

Joe's Burger

The argument over the "best burger" seems to be an endless debate for the ages.  Some of the more well known contenders nation wide are probably In 'N Out and Shake Shack.  Every city has its own local battle.  In LA, there's Father's Office, Golden State, Umami Burger, etc.  You can find me in the In 'N Out and Father's Office camp.  In Portland, I'm sure a battle is raging, but I'm not so "in-the-know" and I have no desire to hike all over the city trying different burgers.  I've tried Little Big Burger, which was just ok, but not worth a revisit.  Although I do pass it by on my way to workout and I cannot deny that the aroma wafting from it's doors is intoxicating, especially AFTER my workout.

More recently, I've tried Joe's Burgers, which is located at Bridgeport Village in Tigard.  Imagine the Irvine Spectrum, a highly commercialized and relatively new and shiny outdoor shopping complex in the heart of the suburbs.  There's a large movie theater & IMAX, Crate & Barrel, The Container Store, Banana Republic, etc.  It feels like a little bit of home away from home, so Dumpling Man and I find ourselves there A LOT.  Now Joe's Burger is not a restaurant or even a food cart.  It's a food kiosk, surrounded by other food kiosks like Wetzel's Pretzels, The Sweet Factory, a bakery selling overpriced gourmet cupcakes, and Portland's Kogi wannabe, Koi Fusion.  Despite being just a kiosk, it serves a burger that has come the closest to replicating In 'N Out's deliciousness.

Fries
These were delicious and fried to a golden crisp.  They really remind me of McDonald's french fries, having that perfect artificial fried potato taste very much lacking from In 'N Out's fries.

Read more »

Hong Kong Lounge

So after many wonderful meals in San Francisco (Gary Denko, Ferry Building, Bottega), the H.o.P. was honestly itching for something else.  The H.o.P always gravitates back to our one true love, the complex multi faceted cuisine of Asia.  What better way to satisfy that craving than with some good ole dim sum.  Hands down, Seafood Harbour in Rosemead has got to be THE best dim sum this side of the Pacific.  I haven't had dim sum in Hong Kong, but the rest of the H.o.P. can confirm this.  So far, my experience with dim sum in the Bay Area has been just ok.  Better than anything in Orange County, but nothing that knocks your socks off.  A true dim sum experience cannot be complete without some rude, pushy, and loud Cantos.  You know what I'm talking about.  They smell like mothballs and old closets, they squawk and squabble like wild chickens, and shoving and cutting you off comes as second nature to them.  Haha, I joke, right?  These are the people of Dumpling Man.  He says my people live 10 people to 1 room and are ghetto beyond all ghetto.  Ah, to each his own...

Xiao Long Bao
Tasty and pretty juicy.

Har Gow
Pretty large pieces of shrimp.

Read more »

Bottega

Michael Chiarello has made quite a name for himself by being one of the 3 finalists in the first season of Top Chef Masters.  Let's be honest, the first season was the only season worth mentioning.  Subsequent seasons have been pretty lackluster.  Anyways, I was pretty impressed with Chef Chiarello's mastery of Italian cuisine, so I was really looking forward to trying out Bottega during my jaunt to SF a few weekends back.  The Pouter had amazing things to say from her experience there, so the expectations were high.

Lamb & Egg "house made" lamb sausage, pepperonata, crispy soft boiled egg, red endive, smoked olive oil poached mushrooms
The Pouter recommended this dish.  It was pretty solid.  The sausage was spicy and was mellowed out by the rich runny egg yolk with its crispy exterior and then complimented by the slightly bitter and sharp endive.

Read more »