Hakata Ikkousha

I think it's safe to say Costa Mesa is up there with Torrance and Little Tokyo as ramen house hotbeds.  Santouka, Kitakata, Ramen Yamadaya are at the top.  I'll throw Shin Sen Gumi in there, but it's technically in Fountain Valley.  Now Hakata Ikkousha can be added to that list. But at a starting price of $9 a bowl, it is sure to be the most expensive bowl in town.  Like any good Japanese restaurant, the place is frickin' small and you can expect to wait for a table.  It's not a horrendous wait (at least for me that night it wasn't), but I've heard there can be a line out the door even before the place opens for lunch.

Hakata like all the other aforementioned joints specialize in tonkotsu ramen.  Like Shin Sen Gumi, you can customize your broth and noodles.  You can also add extra toppings for few bucks here and there.  If you went to town, you could easily end up with a bowl over $30!  Lo-Ma Linda with Big Head TalksAlot's mini me in tow joined me for a first time visit here.

Table side accoutrements.  Can I say that in a Japanese restaurant?  I'm sure there's a better word for it, multiple syllables and probably ends in a vowel.  

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MOzen Bistro

Vegas and buffet are almost synonymous words in my book.  You can't go to Vegas, shop till you drop, gamble like money grows on trees, and NOT eat until you explode.  Almost every Vegas trip includes a visit to whatever the hottest buffet is at the moment.  That hot buffet is Bacchanal at Caesar's Palace.  The Bacchanal has an impressive spread, but it comes with a hefty price tag.  I think the buffet itself is $60 or so, but I've never had the patience to wait an hour in line so I'll pay the extra $15 for the express line.  When all is said and done, I've just paid $80 for a pile of vegetables, butter, and sugar (I lean towards the veggies and dessert bar).

Anyways, this isn't a blog entry about Bacchanal.  It's about a nice alternative to that buffet of the masses.  You've probably never heard of MOzen.  Heck, I never had until Decidedly Undecided told me Big Spoon gave it two thumbs up.  Maybe the appeal of this place is rooted in the fact that nobody else is eating here.  You don't have to wait in line to enter the buffet, to just wait in line again for the crab legs or prime rib.  So yeah, the place was a bit empty, but it was peaceful and relaxing.  I wouldn't be quick to judge the place.  MOzen is located at the Mandarin Oriental.  Who goes to the Mandarin Oriental for anything??

The Sunday brunch bistro is unique for its buffet offerings and choice of entree from their a la carte menu for $65.  So as a result, their buffet is not nearly as extensive and international as many other buffets.  There's an Asian slant, which I don't mind one bit since I always gravitate toward the Asian items anyways.  The focus is on quality rather than quantity.

Caprese Salad

Chickpea Salad chat masala, tamarind chutney

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Lotus of Siam

When planning the eats for my Vegas trip, I needed to balance out all the indulgent heaviness from Public House and Yardbird.  A solid Asian meal was my answer.  A cheap meal to boot!  Lotus of Siam is pretty famous as far as Thai food in Vegas goes.  I enjoyed my meal here on my last visit, but I wanted to see if my matured Thai palate would change my opinion of the place.  Can't Hang is Thai, but he was no help here.  Not an ounce of free booze or food crossed our lips.  You can't have it all I guess.  At least we didn't have to wait in this ugly line.  High five to me for being an anal retentive type A planner who made a reservation.  Booyeah!

Fried Fish Cakes
BigHead TalksAlot loves fried fish cakes so he threw this into the order.  Not bad, but the sauce definitely amped things up.

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Yardbird Southern Table

Yardbird Southern Table might have been the foodie highlight of my Miami trip.  I was super excited to find out they opened a post in Las Vegas.  I was wary though.  Sometimes the quality can falter when places expand to Vegas.  I feel like chains/restaurateurs/chefs just expand to the Sin City for the sake of having a presence in the city.  It doesn't help that Vegas is known more for its gamblers and gluttons, rather than its foodies and Michelin stars.  So, I was pleasantly surprised to find the quality here is spot on and might just outshine the original.  On a revisit, I would normally try to branch out and order some different things, but even Anthony Bourdain ordered all the same things when he visited the Miami location.  So why fix it if it ain't broken, right?

Decidedly Undecided and Rock Dweller both came to the independent observation that the joint looks a lot like a Restoration Hardware.  I remember the Miami spot had a lot more windows and sunglight. The thing with Vegas hotels is that they never want to show you any windows.  They never want you to know that you've just spent the day gambling from sunrise to sunset.  As a result, Yardbird Vegas relies on cool light installations like this mason jar fixture to keep the place bright.

More cute decor!  I wonder if they people who designed/decorated Public House had a hand in the style at Yardbird too?

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Public House

Lo-MaLinda loves gastropub fare.  I like it, but find that it can be a little too heavy at times.  For our Vegas trip, she requested 3 things: foie, French, and gastropub.  It was a little frustrating trying to meet her request because who wants to eat all that in a short weekend trip?  Being the self designated food navigator, I basically made the executive decision to ax the French food.  I found this new restaurant at The Venetian, which had a pretty solid gastropub offering and foie!  Can't Hang and Rock Dweller didn't dive into the food the way Lo-MaLinda and Big Head Talks Alot did, but not everyone digs eating what is essentially fancy fat ie foie and bone marrow.  Can't Hang states the force feeding of ducks to produce foie does not jive with moral code.  What a hippy dippy tree hugger huh?  The restaurant was almost empty at noon on Friday.  The dearth of patrons made it easier to concentrate on the decor.  The design was going for that rustic look, but still felt relevant and slightly hipster-ish.

The men and women's bathrooms
       

Abe Lincoln.  So cute huh?

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n/naka

April is turning out to be one of the best months of the year.  Not just because it is my birthday month, but also Mama H.o.P. and Baby G's birthday month too.  So April has become a month of celebrations, and in my family that translates to a month of eating.  Now that Baby G is old enough to voice his wants, he gets to indulge in a lot of cake and chocolate.  That kid doesn't usually feed himself or when he does it takes a lot of prodding to get him to finish his meals.  Put a piece of cake in front of him and he's double fisting frosting with the biggest smile.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, Triple T is expecting Double Trouble so she had to skip out on n/naka since they do serve raw fish.  No matter, since she has been before.  Smooth Obturator thought I would enjoy n/naka and it had been about 3 years since his last visit.  After watching the episode of Chef Niki Nakayama on Netflix's docu-series "Chef's Table," I learned that the restaurant keeps a log of all diners and previous menus to ensure that repeat visitors enjoy something different on subsequent visits.  I don't think I have ever heard of a restaurant going to such great lengths for diners.  The docu-series definitely highlighted Chef Nakayama's mission to put diners and their experiences at the forefront of her restaurant.

The food at n/naka is undoubtedly Japanese, but it's not just sushi, or izakaya, or tempura.  They serve Kaiseki, which is a Japanese multicourse dinner that balances taste, texture, appearance, and colors of food.  It tends to use seasonal and local ingredients.  There is a certain order of dishes and types of dishes included in the modern Kaiseki.  I've had a Kaiseki experience at Next, when they were serving their "Kyoto" menu.  I was certainly quite impressed with my meal there because it was clean, simple, and perfectly executed considering the chef is not Japanese.  But now I feel n/naka delivers a much better Kaiseki experience, probably because the approach is more modern, while Next was probably trying to be a bit more traditional.

Saki Zuke 

a pairing of something common and something unique

Fanny Bay Oyster uni, ikura, orange, kumquat jelly, fennel vichyssoise
Sometimes the sweet salinity of uni can be easily overpowered, but the oyster and ikura all made for a tasty bite.

Zensai 

seasonal ingredients presented as an appetizer

Fried Renkon Lotus Root lobster
I really enjoyed the tempura lotus root here.  Generally I find lotus root to be an odd texture since I never grew up eating it.  Here it played nicely against the light crispy tempura.

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Pueblo

I discovered some great eats in OC while celebrating my birthday this year.  My memory card was full so I was not able to capture my experience at Juliette Kitchen, which was pretty darn good.  I was pretty bummed about that, so I made sure to be ready for Pueblo.  They are serving up modern tapas here.  Generally, I have not been impressed with Spanish cuisine, but Pueblo does it right.  Teety, Soprano Man, Can't Hang, Rock Dweller, Solarphobic, Auto Geek and his wife joined me for the second birthday dinner for 2015.

We was plenty hungry, so we hurriedly enjoyed the free bruschetta/toast appetizer.

Cheese & Charcuterie
Really great selection, which I can't really recall but its hard to dislike anything served on a wood board, slate board, cast iron skillet, or mason jar.  Am I right??

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SAAM

Zhu Zhu Hamster told me long ago that SAAM was amazing.  I was a little surprised because The Bazaar was just good but overpriced.  She said "No, its different.  It's the special chef's dining room so the food is way better."  Zhu Zhu Hamster piqued my intrigue to say the least.  So SAAM has been floating in the back of my mind for all these years now.  We finally chose Mama H.o.P.'s birthday as the occasion to celebrate at SAAM.  The place ain't cheap so it's not like you're going to eat here on any random Tuesday.

We started the meal with a hot wet towel scented with lavender.  It was refreshing and aromatic.  This wasn't to eat, just to clean up!

Snowball st. germaine, mezcal, lime, cocoa bitters
We started off with the most interesting aperitif in the form of these little white puffs.  They looked like scoops of ice cream, but they were these foamy maybe spongey balls of alcohol.  There was citrus, tartness, and definitely some smokiness going on here.  A for originality, but what an odd texture.

Beet Meringue

Smooth Obturator really likee this simple creation.  Beet jus was made into light, airy, but crunchy meringue filled with a delicately tangy and creamy center.

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Scopa Italian Roots

The Bear Crew gathering is becoming an almost regular occurrence lately.  We are killing two birds with one stone, sharing great food and catching up with great company.  I think deep down inside, some of us may feel that our days our numbered.  Buff Bear and Panda Bear are growing up into big boys now.  Getting real jobs, moving away from LA, the epicenter of our once young adult lives.  While we are never sure where the future will take us, we can be sure that we will be great friends sharing great food.  The scenery and context just may be a little different, that's all.  Tonight, the scene was Italian in the outskirts of Venice bordering Marina del Rey.

Fried Calamari squid ink, lemon

I have concluded that squid ink anything is just a sham, a gimmick.  Squid ink does not add any significantly notable flavor.  It adds a strikingly black color, but my tongue lacks the ability to taste color.  Stupid tongue!  There were still light and crispy, not overly battered.  

Crispy Squash Blossoms ricotta, mozzarella, tomato, chili
Squash blossoms are really just a vehicle for crispy fried goodness filled with cheesy oozy deliciousness.  I don't think I've ever had a bad squash blossom.

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4th Street Market

Growing up in Orange County, Santa Ana was NEVER the place to be.  In fact, it was the place you wanted to avoid if you valued your money, valuables, and safety.  My how the world, has changed.  Santa Ana is now like one of the many small pockets of hipster-dom in Orange County.  It's one of the few places you can go to eat something interesting and tasty.

The 4th Street Market, which is literally across the street from The Playground, my all-time favorite OC restaurant, is sort of like a grunge fancy food court.  What an oxymoron right?  The setting is semi-grunge, paper plates, plastic silverware, simple stalls and decor.  The food is semi-fancy as you will see.  It delivers similar food concepts as the Packing District in Anaheim, in much more manageable and intimate setting.  The same damn hipsters are teeming both locales.  Wait, I'm one of those damn hipsters!  Crap...

 

I think most of the eateries were equipped with iPads and Square receipt apps.  Bye bye are the days of cash registers.

What I love more than anything when it comes to eating is variety.  So we came well prepared, our party of 3, 4 if you include Baby Talks A Lot but she didn't really eat anything but downed some milk.  We ordered enough dishes to get a decent sampling of 4th Street Market's offerings.

Noodle Tramp
Khao Soi wagyu brisket
My time in Portland exposed me to a whole other side of Thai food.  That side includes this dish, a form of curry noodles.  It's not a dish you will find very commonly at most Thai restaurants stateside, and when you do it's probably not that good.  Excellent Thai food strikes a perfect harmony between salty, sweet, sour, spicy, and funky.  Fortunately, Jason Quinn and his Playground crew do this dish some justice, but I've had better.  Heck even the version I make is better.  I'd prefer if they amped up the funk and tempered the sweet.  I might not sure if you really can get this in Orange Country so Noodle Tramp might be your new go to spot.  While traditionally served with chicken, Noodle Tramp gives you the option for brisket which was actually a tasty twist.  The wagyu is nice but not really necessary.

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Earthen

After too many days of eating the white man's food, I really was craving something Asian.  I can't go too many days without eating Asian food.  I crave chocolates and sweets, but my want for Asian food runs deeper than simple desire.  It's like it's ingrained into my genetic makeup to optimally thrive off of Asian food.  With any other foods, sure I'm living, but who wants to just live?  

It probably didn't help that I spent the whole day sweltering under the unforgiving sunshine of the desert to watch the BNP Paribas Open.  When I'm stressed mentally or physically, I turn to food for comfort.  That day was no exception, and I was happy to be out and about with Old Soul, who is definitely a food fan.  He asked what I wanted to eat after our long day.  I said "Asian" and he obliged.  Simple as that.  I don't think I could be friends with anyone who would put up a big stink about what or where we ate.  We really went to town on the ordering and the waitress laughed in disbelief when she confirmed our order of 6 dishes for 2 people.

House Chicken
I've had chicken like this before and it was called Shan Dong chicken.  Old Soul, being the unusually helpful China man that he is can read Chinese and the Chinese description of this dish, which was none other than Shan Dong chicken.  This dish is quite popular here, but I was actually disappointed. The chicken wasn't as flavorful as I've had before and the cold cucumbers nestled underneath the chicken wasn't as marinated as I would have liked.  You should have seen Old Soul turn his nose up at the site of those green cucumbers.  He's allergic to all things green apparently.

Ong Choy
Old Soul turned his nose at the cucumbers, but he had a look of horror when I pushed for an order of ong choy.  I loved how the veggies weren't sitting in a big puddle of its own juices.  They must have been cooked at very very high heat.  I could never get my vegetables this way at home.

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Nana San

Nana San keeps company with Ohshima, San Shi Go, and Ikko as Orange County's best sushi spots.  I've been here before for dinner omakase and was thoroughly impressed with the offering.  It's definitely the most bang for your buck compared to the other 3 places.  Lunch was no exception. Fishing Zebra Man has become my sushi compadre and will never turn me down when it comes to sushi.

Kanpachi (left)

Blue Fin Tuna (right)

Kanpachi was clean, but I've had better blue fin tuna.  I did not like the shiso of course.

Trio of Snappers red, black, goldeneye
Really great sampling.  Goldeneye was my favorite, probably because it was served with a bit of charred skin.

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A-Frame

After Roy Choi's big success with Kogi and Chego, A-Frame was his next attempt at bringing his style of Korean meets LA, street, soul, all the while keeping it real, to Angelenos.  I was supremely impressed at his offering during my first visit in 2010.  I had been back maybe 2 more times since then with each visit impressing me just a little bit less.  I've accepted that maybe I cannot be impressed by the same trick pony?  Maybe other Angelenos have been feeling similarly about A-Frame, possibly driving Roy Choi to change things up.  A-Frame made the recent change from "modern picnic" to "modern Hawaiian picnic."  The menu feels like they took some of the old menu items and reinvented it with a Hawaiian twist.  So of course I had to call up my Hawaiian buddy, Luau Bear, to get the low down on A-Frame's Hawaiian authenticity.  The other bears joined in of course, Panda Bear, Mani Bear, Buff Bear, and Farm Bear.

Big John Chili Rice Cakes beef chili, crispy korean rice cakes, white cheddar, sour cream, chive, pineapple

I don't remember there being chili on the previous menu, but this looked interesting enough.  It was pretty heavy between the hearty chili and the chewy rice cakes.  The cheese and sour cream didn't help offset the big load here.  It was tasty, but maybe had too much going on.

Poke Sampler
Shrimp, citrus, blood orange
Tuna, wasabi mayo, cucumbers, edamame
The tuna with wasabi mayo was also heavy and needed some restraint.  I'm not a fan of overly mayo-ed foods.  We all preferred the citrusy and lighter shrimp poke.

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Kinjiro

Oishi Nazi, who I dined with at my first visit to Totoraku, is the brain child behind Kinjiro, Little Tokyo's newest izakaya restaurant.  He actually operated b.o.s., the restaurant which previously occupied the same space.  b.o.s. had some amazing food, but it didn't quite get the following it deserved.  So Oishi Nazi, being the passionate and ambitious restauranteur that he is, is back at it again with this new concept, a slightly higher end izakaya.  At first, I was reluctant about Kinjiro because the whole point of izakaya is small eats, grilled things, a mish mosh of stuff to be enjoyed over beer.  So the idea of paying more for food that's meant to be casual and inexpensive did not seem appealing.  Smooth Obturator and Triple T went and gave it their seal of approval, so I figured I needed to give it a shot. 

Kinjiro Agedashi Homemade Tofu mushroom ankake sauce
Triple T talked up this dish saying it was as good as the agedashi tofu at Raku.  It didn't quite hit the mark, but it was still pretty tasty.  I wasn't used to the thickness of the ankake sauce, but it brought a delicious umaminess.

Kinjiro Free Range Chicken Maki-Age
I had a similar dish at Raku, but I think they did a better job here, though I can't pinpoint the reasons. It was just very juicy.

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North Left

Orange County is hurting for quality food that is NOT Asian and not part of a chain.  Food in OC can sometimes lack the imagination and quality that LA restaurants demonstrate.  There are exceptions of course, The Playground being my ultimate favorite spot in OC.  Maybe it's no coincidence that North Left is just a block away from The Playground.  I don't think the places are related, but the food they are churning out here is quite reminiscent of The Playground.  It is seasonal, interesting, and imaginative.  Is it the MOST interesting and imaginative food I've eaten or in OC?  Probably not, but I applaud what they are doing here.  Rock Dweller, Can't Hang, Fishing Zebra Man, and Banh Mi were down to check out this relatively new establishment to hit the Downtown Santa Ana dining scene.

Brussel Sprouts san joaquin gold, hazelnut
For once, these little guys weren't fried!  I think I might try sauteeing them in butter like they were prepared here.  The pile of white stuff is cheese, which added a sharp savory note.  Nuts and raisins added nice texture and sweetness.  Yum.

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Phil's BBQ

Phil's BBQ had been on our minds all weekend, considering it was sandwiched just minutes between our hotel and the tennis center.  We were half serious about going here after our dinner at Buona Forchetta to maximize our eating experience with the short time we had in San Diego.  Fortunately, sensibility trumped gluttony and we instead drank beers, got some take out Mexican, and ate Haagen Dazs ice cream bars (finally got my ice cream fix!) in our PJs back at the hotel.  Ooook maybe we were still being gluttons.  Frankly, I had never heard of Phil's which is odd considering it has over 8,000 reviews on Yelp!  It's probably not a place that has popped up on my radar considering I don't do finger-lickin' good foods like ribs.  Please contain your bug eyes, dear readers.  BBQ just does not contribute to the high fiber diet my body requires if-ya-know-what-I-meeeeeeaaan.

We finally had our chance to grub after our grueling matches in the morning where I pulled my quad and my groin.  But it was all worth it to be able to call ourselves SECtional champions!  Our slanty eyes beamed with delightful triumph as we claimed our victory cups (literally cups for drinking, not like a trophy cup...*womp womp*), while our Amazonian opponents trudged home as losers.  It was 3pm by the time we called it a day.  I figured the line at Phil's would have died down by that odd hour, but Potty Pie and Personal Assistant begged to differ.  Holy smokes, they weren't lying!  It was at least a 45 minute line.  WTF man, it's just ribs!  LUCKILY Potty Pie had the inside scoop and knew a way to bypass that line.  I'm sworn to secrecy, but we were so damn happy to not have to wait in that line.  It was already bad enough we were eating lunch at 3pm, but make it 4pm and we woulda had some hangry birds going cuckoo again...

Beefy Rib 
Sweet Baked Beans
While I usually like to save the best for last, I'm too lazy to change the order of the pictures at this time.  So I'll start with a big YUM-O!  I think the baby back ribs are the crowd favorite, but damn, I was all for the beef ribs, which were so meaty, moist, fatty, tender.  The most I could do was 1 1/2 ribs, but I think Personal Assistant threw down at least 2 if not 3.  Antisocial Background Guy couldn't muster up the strength to conquer as many ribs.  What a disappointment.  The baked beans were just meh.

BBQ Chicken

Ping Pong doesn't eat beef or pork, so it was this sad little chicken for her.  Frankly, I'm not even certain Phil's is really her cup of tea, food or scene-wise.  She was a happy camper nonetheless, probably still high off our victory.  She was the one who pointed out to me our opponents were just men in skirts.  As a girl, it always feels good to kick a guy's ass!

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Buona Forchetta

So most of the random followers of this blog who don't actually know me, might be surprised to know that I'm not actually 300lbs.  I just eat like someone who is 300lbs.  I keep off the couple extra pounds by playing a lot of tennis.  I don't mean the recreational crap the housewives at the country club play.  I've played tennis since I was kid, took a huge break during my time severely overworked and underfed, and now am back at it recreationally competitive.  I went to San Diego to play tennis with my ladies doubles league.  After our first day of play where we swept, beating all the tall ass Amazonian chicks (some could possibly have been men in skirts with long hair), we happily celebrated with dinner at Buona Forchetta.

Mama Cracks-that-Whip said to make reservations for TWENTY-SIX people.  You should have seen the horror on my face *insert horrified emoji here.*  My personal preference for group dinners is no more than 6 diners.  So I pretty much tried to find a place 1) that took reservations that large and 2) served simple but delicious food.  It's hard to go wrong with Italian and Buona Forchetta happily accommodated the large group even at the very last minute.  Usually they don't even take reservations.  You should have seen the beehive of hungry patrons swarming outside this place for a table.

I didn't even want to think about the nightmare of splitting the bill among 26 people at the end of the meal, so I just focused on the 5 people sitting around me: Personal Assistant, Potty Pie, Pink LuLu, JoJo, and Shorty Mak Daddy.  We ordered and shared a bunch of things.  While Buona Forchetta is actually known for its pizzas, there were only 2 pizzas ordered among the 26 that night.  Nobody cared to carbo load for our match the next morning.  There's not a lot of running in doubles I guess.

Calamari

The appetizers came out in like a second compared to our entrees.  Not overbattered, not too chewy, just right.

Seafood Risotto

This was the best dish of the night.  Runny enough with each rice granule al dente.  Seafood was plenty.  Mama Cracks-that-Whip made it pretty clear this was her favorite dish.  My ding would be that it was a tad underseasoned.

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Sushi Ota

I have heard about Sushi Ota for a long time.  I have always had the sense it was THE sushi place in San Diego.  I couldn't tell you what that is based on or where I got that notion from.  In any case, when I finally made my way down to San Diego for a tennis tournament of sorts I wanted to be sure to hit up this spot.  Lucky for me, Token Bear and Care Bear call San Diego their home so they gladly joined me here even though they've dined here before.  Unlucky for me, there were no reservations for the bar.  I was pretty disappointed, but I still wanted to take my chances and see what quality sushi could be had at the tables. 

Edamame

Spicy Tuna Roll
I rarely eat rolls these days when I sushi it up, so it's actually nice to eat them.

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Abigaile

Before Little Sister and Dia de Campo, there was Abigaile.  I'm not sure why it took me so long to try out this place since I jumped on Little Sister and Dia de Campo straight out of the gate.  Biker-holic (formerly known as Audio Monkey) and Manicure Queen brunched it up with me at this really cool spot in Hermosa Beach.  Unlike Little Sister and Dia de Campo which are Asian and Mexican inspired respectively, the food at Abigaile is "New American."  This is when the non-foodies contort their face to a puzzled and/or blank expression.  Their website describes it as "globally-influenced + domestically-sourced."  Fancy schmancy verbiage for food that reflects the multi-ethnic fabric of today's America.  No more meat, potatoes, with a side of steamed veggies here.  If you still haven't wiped that dumb look off your face, you can keep reading.

First of all the restaurant is beautiful, with a lovely westward view toward the beach.  It's not quite on the beach, and there are some houses and a bunch of palm trees in the way, but it sets a cool beachy ambiance.  Unlike Little Sister, the digs here are spacious.  Brunch was not crowded at all, unlike my recent experience at Canele.  The menu has good variety, and they also had a "dim sum" menu.  Is it just me, or are there more and more American restaurants with "dim sum" style dining?  We didn't partake in anything off the "dim sum" menu, but it's a neat concept to say the least.  

Pao de Queijo brazillian 'chewy n gooey' cheezy poofs, whipped bacon maple butter

We was starvin' so we got some little munchies to share.  These weren't the best pao de queijo I've had, but they were fine.  The best part really was that bacon butter, smokey, sweet, and pure fat.  The pao didn't really need this to accent it, but I slathered it on anyways.  How else was I going to get it in my mouth?  It would have been so tacky to just stick my spoon in their and go at it don't you think?

Tots rooster ketchup
In retrospect, this was not the most interesting order.  While frickin' delicious as all tater tots are, it was no different that the tots from my elementary school cafeteria.  We still loved them though.  Not sure what was so "roostery" with that ketchup.

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Dumpling Dinner Party

It seems like I've been ho-ing it up with Hobag a lot lately.  Well maybe it's because none of the rest of my so-called "friends" ever asks me to hang out hmmm???  It's likely your loss because if you're not hanging out with me, you're probably not eating all that well.  Hobag's donut and my food baby speak to the very fact that when together, we eat REALLY well.  For a change of pace, Hobag invited me to a little dumpling making party.  The original party was getting out of control with the head count going upwards of 10 people.  So that was scraped and a new party was planned with just 4 of us, 5 if you include the dog.

I missed most of the prep that went into the dumpling filling making.  Hates Food Porno gave me a rough rundown of the ingredients.

Shrimp, Pork, and Chive Dumplings

(makes ~100 dumplings)

2 lbs shrimp

1 lb ground pork shoulder

2 big bunches of Chinese chives

1 egg

1 tsp cornstarch

1/3 of a 16 oz bottle of sesame oil

Salt and chicken bouillon to taste

I've made plenty of dumplings at home, but this by far had to be the best tasting one.  Paucity of ingredients?  I guess most other dumpling recipes have soy sauce, cooking wine, and ginger from what I've noticed.  Ground pork is usually used and the ratio of shrimp to pork is way higher than what I've seen.  Lastly, Hates Food Porno's recipe uses way more sesame oil than I've ever seen before as well.  Though, maybe it was the chicken bouillon powder that added that specialness.  It's a ragtag recipe, but I'm saving it to try on my own one of these days.

I think the tip I picked up here was to stop overstuffing my dumplings.  I think I get super greedy and want to put a ton of stuff in each wrapper.  Each wrapper can only accommodate so much filling and will usually tear when pushed to its limit.

To give you a point of reference, the almighty and ubiquitous Yogurtland spoon was used to fill our dumplings.  Hobag was all out of silver spoons that night.

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