Tacos al pastor

One of the things I love most about the States is the perfusion of Latino food and culture throughout the country.  The Hispanic population of the States is growing and growing.  There are Latino TV channels, Latino radio stations, and whole neighbourhoods full of wonderful food, music, and culture.  Mexican food is right up there on my "to eat" list every time I return here, and top of that list is tacos al pastor.

Tacos al pastor are tacos filled with chopped, seasoned pork.  The marinade varies widely on the taqueria, but is rich and tangy, with mild chilli.  The meat is piled on doubled-up soft corn tortillas.  Many taquerias will do either "American-style" tacos, with sour cream, tomato, and lettuce, or "Mexican-style," with chopped coriander (aka cilantro), raw onion, and cheese.

Tacos al pastor are a local interpretation of Lebanese shawarma, lamb on a vertical spit (similar to souvlaki or doner kebab).  Lebanese migration to Mexico began around 1880 in response to pressure from the fragmenting Ottoman Empire.  See here for a very interesting article about the intermingling of Lebanese and Mexican cuisine during this period.  Over time, the lamb became the more locally-available pork, a transition now only reflected in the name, "tacos al pastor" - shepherd's tacos.  Above you can see the spit, or "trompo", used in some restaurants to make tacos al pastor, although at the taqueria above, the raw meat was only presented on the spit; to serve, it was shaved off and fried on a hot plate.

Another great Mexican street dish is the torta, a type of sandwich. The torta bread is soft and slightly sweet. This is torta al pastor. Divine!!

In every Mexican restaurant, while you wait for your food, you get an unlimited supply of homemade fried tortilla chips, usually with your choice of red or green salsa.  The red has a tomato base while the green is made with tomatillos, which resemble green tomatoes but are actually a separate vegetable altogether.

Another uniquely Mexican taste is horchata, a sweetened "milk" made from rice.  This refreshing, healthy drink is common across South America, but different countries use different bases, such as sesame seeds in Puerto Rico or different indigenous seeds in Nicaragua and El Salvador.  This tradition comes from Spain, where the drink was originally made with tigernuts, a type of tuber.  This plant and the tradition of making a beverage from it was brought to southern Spain by the Muslim "Moors," who ruled it from 711 to 1492.  This period, which spanned some of the darkest periods in medieval Christian Europe, saw huge developments in philosophy, science, and medicine.  It is known by many as La Convivencia ("the coexistence") for the relatively peaceful coexistence of Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Spain at this time.

If I could import anything from the States to Australia, it would be a simple little taqueria like this one, Mr Salsa in Uptown. What passes for Mexican in Australia is nothing short of abysmal.  Real Mexican food is light, fresh, both very simple and very complex.  The regional variations are staggering.  I look forward to learning more... but always after a tacos al pastor starter!

Mr Salsa (map)

1025 W Montrose

Chicago IL

If you are exploring Chicago's restaurants, yelp.com is a great place to start.

Zento ..... Contemporary Japanese Fine Dining - A Degustation Experience

Zento had created a little storm when it open its doors to serve contemporary Japanese food to food-crazy Singaporeans. It seems that Zento's novelty may have died down as I was able to get a last minute reservation, just an hour before our desired dinner time on a Saturday night. However, when we were eating our dinner, the restaurant was eventually got fully occupied .

I wasn't too keen on contemporary cuisine at first, but a few trips to the States open up my receptiveness to contemporary Japanese cuisine (Mikuni Sushi in California is quite good). So there shouldn't be any reason for avoiding Zento especially when it was headed by Chef Gunawan Wibisono, who was a former protege of American Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.

Volcano Roll

Shrimp Tempura, Smoked Salmon, avocado, tobiko, and crabstick, then deep fried

Our S$58++ Degustation Set Dinner

Cappacio, topped with garlic, ginger, yuzu, simmered in hot grapeseed oil

Zento Soy Paper Handroll

Signature handroll perfectly mixed with house crunchy and avocado

Seafood Chawanmushi with Scallop and crab meat

Epice Pan Seared Norweigian Salmon, Sauteed Mushrooms and Vegetables

US certified Angus Beef, Truffle Mashed Potatoes, Garlic Soy Jus

Plum Wine Jelly, Traditional Japanese dessert wine - Umeshu

Zento Caramel Cheese Cake

Blk18B Dempsey Road
Singapore
Tel : +65 6474 0378
Zento Website

Tung Lok Classics @ Chinese Swimming Club ...... it's dim sum back to the classics for us

It was at Tung Lok Restaurant, the one that used to be inside Liang Court, where I had my first taste of Crab Meat and Shark's Fin Dumpling. They served one of the best. HY introduced me to this dish and I had loved it ever since. It was this Tung Lok's crab meat and shark's fin dumpling that set a standard for comparison whenever we go for dim sum.

The dim sum dishes in Tung Lok Classics are traditional, not as fancy as the the dim sum served in several five star hotels restaurants. However, the taste was still as exquisite and at the same time reminisces of the Tung Lok dim sum that I had almost a decade ago.

We ate at the restaurant inside the Chinese Swimming Club. The restaurant is not in the old club house building but a newer, swanky club house right across the road. There's plenty of car park space for non-members to visit the club.

It's been a long while since we step back into a Tung Lok restaurant as we've been mesmerized by the many dim sum 'hotspots' that had sprouted everywhere in Singapore. We're back here thanks to a treat from my dad. Even though the restaurant's location is different, even though the ambience has changed with time, HY and I felt that it was back to the classics, back to the Tung Lok that we used to visit, and back to when I first had my virgin taste of crab meat and shark's fin dumpling.

Crispy Roasted Pork Belly

Heavenly combination of crunchy crispy skin with the tender meat. A swipe of Dijon mustard enhanced the fragrance of this mouth watering roast pork belly.

Freshly Boiled Fish Porridge

A 'smooth' Cantonese style porridge with those tender slices of fish.

Crispy Silver Baits

Crispy yet not too salty.

Deep Fried Shrimp and Banana Roll

Sweetness of the banana and savory shrimp are contrasting taste but this is the attractiveness of this dish.

Deep Fried Yam Croquette

Smooth yam paste within the crispy, puffy exterior.

Deep Fried Beancurd Skin Rolls with Shrimp

A classic taste of the well fried beancurd skin and shrimp.

Steamed Shrimp Dumpling

Juicy Minced Pork Dumpling

Steamed Pork Dumpling

Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun

The pork bun's skin was soft and fluffy .....

...... and filled with barbequed pork in fragrant oyster sauce

Crab Meat and Shark's Fin Dumpling

This dish is our 'must-have' in Tung Lok. This is the standard that we use as a yard stick of comparison to other dim sum place that serves this dish. Thin dumpling skin ..... obvious shark's fin and tasty clear soup. Others that I've eaten before, have foie gras or salted egg yolk added to the dumpling but none was up to the standard of this less fanciful crab meat and shark's fin dumpling.

When I burst open the dumpling, all the ingredients like shark's fin, shrimp, mushroom poured out into the soup.

We always leave a spare tank for good dessert ........

Chilled Mango, Pomelo and Sago with

Ice Cream served in young coconut

This was HY's choice of dessert. Crunchy cereal was sprinkled over the blend of mango, vanilla ice cream. This was a nice concoction of sour from the mango, sweetness from the ice cream and fragrance from the coconut. Nice soft flesh from the young coconut can be scrapped out to go with the rest of the ingredients.

Chilled Herbal Jelly with 'Cheng Tng'

I chose the more 'cooling' herbal jelly with 'cheng tng'. It taste good but the taste didn't blend well. Although they were mixed together, the herbal jelly tasted quite distinctly separate from the 'cheng tng'. It's strong herbal taste overpowered the light 'cheng tng'. May be I didn't add enough syrup that was provided.

21 Amber Road #03-00

Chinese Swimming Club

Singapore

Tel : +65 6345 0111

Tung Lok Classics Website

Pickled Eggs

PICKLED EGGS...reeeeally pickled...yum

well, i'm a little embarrassed to say, this is the only pickling i have done this year...who am i trying to kid here...this is the ONLY pickling i have EVER done in my life. i've always wanted to get into the whole canning thing so i thought pickling would be a jump start and kind of in the same category...pretty food in cute jars.

these bright little pink gems are not only pretty, but really tasty and much more fun than a regular ol' hard boiler. they are so easy to make and i was quite pleased (tickled pink you might say) with the results. i think they would be great as a colorful egg salad or deviled with some interesting filling...there are many many possibilities i'm sure...

so if you're a pickling novice, like myself, give these a go and be sure to use older eggs for your hard boilers..they make for a clean peel. a clean smooth peeled egg is key...no cracks or holes in the whites makes for a good picklin'

PRETTY IN PINK...PICKLED EGGS

To pickle, drain 1 can (16 oz.) sliced beets, reserving juice. Set beets aside for another use. In medium saucepan, combine reserved beet juice, 1 3/4 cups white vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons whole allspice and 1 stick cinnamon, halved. Bring to boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Arrange 8-9 PEELED hard-boiled eggs in 1-quart jar with tight-fitting lid...TIGHT being the operative word here..you do not want this bright pick juice to leak. Pour hot mixture over eggs. Cover tightly. Store in cool place OR cool at room temperature 1 hour. Refrigerate to blend flavors, at least several days or up to several weeks. After opening, refrigerate and use within 1 week.

Deep dish pizza

Oh, why could my husband not have been Vietnamese?  Instead, he had to be from the meat-and-cheese capital of the world.  Every time I come back to Chicago, instead of eating light, tangy Vietnamese coleslaw and cleansing, refreshing pho, I "have" to eat pizza, hot dogs, burgers, and beef sandwiches dripping with juice.  At least this trip I do not have a car, so I am forced to walk everywhere to get my fix of classic American food.  Sounds balanced - until you get something delivered!

Giordano's is a chain that makes Chicago-style deep dish pizza.  I normally don't like chains, but in this case, the chain is right up there with the mom-and-pop hole-in-the-wall joints.

A deep dish pizza has a thicker base than a normal pizza, and the dough comes right up the sides.  It's layered first with cheese, then with toppings, then with sauce.  The sauce is often then sprinkled with just a little Parmesan.  It's really not as rich as people would think.

This spinach deep dish was so, so good.  The sauce was so thick, tomatoey and rich.  On a deep dish, I prefer toppings like spinach that don't need to be crisped for good flavour (e.g. pepperoni).  Giordano's crust is stuffed with cheese.  Other places will line the crust with cheese, so that it caramelizes between the crust and the pan.  Giordano's crust is doughy; other places might have a cornmeal element to theirs.

Gotta go - the bike path is calling!

Giordano's (map)
2010 W Montrose, Chicago IL
Other locations throughout Chicago and Chicagoland

三马路祖传肉骨大虾面 Queen Street Prawn Noodles

Queen Street Prawn Noodles and it's fans.

Folks who frequent the Goddess of Mercy's Temple at Waterloo Street would have already know about Albert Food Centre. There's plenty of hawker food but I thought that the Queen Street Prawn Noodles is worth a mention. Queen Street Prawn Noodles has been in business ever since I was a kid prowling the streets in the Bugis district. The old uncle was not cooking inside the stall, but he's still around and helping out while I was there the last time. So what's the highlight of Queen Street's Prawn Noodles?

This is my S$6 worth of dried pork rib and big prawn noodles. To worth the effort sharing this, for prawn noodles, first, the soup has to be good. Queen Street Prawn Noodles serves quite a good soup but still not as thick and intense as Beach Road Prawn Noodles and Joo Chiat Prawn Mee. There was a good amount of pork ribs and they were tender and juicy. What I didn't like was that they only gave me 3 halves of prawns. Just too little. The chilli sauce from the stall is powerful stuff so be careful when you ask for more.

There was generous amount of pork ribs that was soft and succulent..........

Blk 270 Queen Street #01-50
Albert Centre Market and Food Centre
Singapore

Cobb Salad Pizza

You'll have to forgive the pictures on this post. Sometimes pictures are done in haste. Sometimes you're just too hungry to worry about plating, lighting and aesthetics. Sometimes when you have a beautiful warm salad, tossed with chicken, bacon, avocado, blue cheese, cherry tomatoes and a homemade vinaigrette, soaking into a freshly baked pizza crust, you don't want to be bothered. You just want to eat it.


I suggest you do the same.

Grana Padano

For as long as I can remember I've heard that Parmigiano Reggiano was the king of cheeses. It's the cheese I ate in Italy and cooked with as well. It's the cheese I always buy. I knew about Grana Padano, but believed it was inferior to Parmigiano. A substitute. Poor man's Parmigiano. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

First of all, technically you could say Parmigiano is a type of Grana. Grana means grain and refers to the grainy texture of the cheese, and Padano refers to the region where it is produced. Parmigiano is produced in Parma, Reggio Emilia, and Modena. Grana is produced in Piedmont, Lombardy, Piacenza, Veneto, and Trentino. Both cheeses are lactose free and a good source of protein and calcium.

Grana * Produced in a large region * Less expensive than Parmigiano * Made from raw, skim milk * Cows fed grass, cereal & silage * Cows can be treated with antibiotics * Aged from 9 to 24 months and up * Natural preservative, lysozyme

Parmigiano * Produced in a small region * More expensive than Grana * Made from raw skim milk & whole milk * Cows fed grass & cereal * Cows not treated with antibiotics * Aged 24 months or more * Free of preservatives

Because Grana uses more skim milk it is lower in fat and develops flavor more quickly than Parmigiano. I tasted and compared Grana Padano that was aged only 16-20 months and Parmigiano Reggiano that was aged 28-32 months. Here are my tasting notes:

Grana
Buttery, rich, sweet and mildly salty, nutty, creamy with a floral and fruity scent and a flaky, crunchy crystalline texture

Parmigiano
Very salty, rich, nutty, earthy, some crystalline crunchiness

The shocking verdict? I actually preferred the Grana! Because cheese is a natural and seasonal product there will be differences throughout the year. But I encourage you to do your own taste test. I no longer believe Grana is a more popular cheese in Italy only out of price considerations. I will still buy Parmigiano on occasion, but for day to day use, I'll be switching to Grana. Both cheeses can be used as a table cheese, grated over pasta, salad, in traditional risotto dishes and with roasted vegetables.

Recipes using Grana

Recipes using Parmigiano

Notes: I bought the Parmigiano from Rainbow Grocery, the Grana was provided for me and came from Di Palo Selects. The Grana is pictured on the left and the Parmigiano on the right.

Chicago-style hot dogs

I don't care what anyone says - America's national food has got to be the hot dog.  The Tribune recently reported that between Memorial Day and Labor Day alone (the American summer), 300 million Americans consume 7 billion hot dogs.  7 BILLION!  While hot dogs for Australians mean those awful, pallid things encased in violent pink skin that is wont to split unappetisingly, American hot dogs are actually more like sausages, albeit heavily processed ones.  Many brands are available that do not have any fillers or byproducts.  Kosher brands are particularly well regarded.

Byron's in Wrigleyville, Chicago, serve dogs by the Vienna Beef company, favourite of many Chicago hole-in-the-wall dog joints, and they are famous for their own take on Chicago-style toppings. 

A Chicago-style hot dog is topped with mustard, relish, raw onion, pickle spear, tomato, celery salt (ground celery seeds mixed with salt), and "sport peppers" (small, hot chillis).  Byron's adds cucumber and capsicum and uses pickle rounds instead of long spears.  To add tomato sauce (ketchup) is sacrilege.

Spot the hot dog under all of that!  It really is the best way to eat a hot dog.  The processed, salty meat is tempered by all the fresh vegies and tangy pickle, relish, and mustard.

Byron's recently served their famous hot dogs at the White House's annual congressional picnic. Good choice - the Obamas are Chicagoans, after all!

Byron's Hot Dogs (map)

1017 W Irving Park Rd

Chicago, IL 60613