Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts

Monday, May 27, 2013

Restaurant find: San Diego

Well, my wife and I decided to take a weekend jaunt to San Diego(pictures to follow), and we found a truly wonderful sushi joint right off the beach.  Since I love good food in general and sushi in particular, I had to share this with all my nonexistent readers.



We entered Sushi Kuchi and were greeted and seated pleasantly and promptly.  Edamame with sea salt was provided as an appetizer.  For beverages, my wife had a Coke and water and I had an Asahi.

Dinner was the Salmon & Shrimp Roll for Jen and the Rose Roll for me.  Both were fantastic, in presentation and flavor.  The Salmon and Shrimp Roll came on a square plate with a lemon topped with literally flaming pink sugar. 



It had a subtle, delicate interplay of flavor and texture that kept every bite interesting.  You can see some of the Rose Roll in the background.  Its presentation was a bit more understated, but that certainly didn't harm the experience at all.  The Rose Roll has a spicy kick which--while authoritative--never crosses over the line into being overpowering. 

As we finished, we were treated to a deep-fried dumpling of lobster and crab, cut in half, sort of like an after-dinner mint for two.  Jen decided to have the Green Tea Ice Cream, which came in a just-right portion, topped with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup.

And the whole experience came to less than thirty-four bucks.  (You'd better believe we tipped well!)  The night before, we'd eaten at our hotel restaurant, which was about ten bucks more expensive and consisted of preprocessed frozen crap.  Thank heavens we discovered this gem of a place, to end our vacation on a high note.

If you're in San Diego for any reason, I cannot recommend SushiKuchi enough.  For quality, presentation, taste, service and value, I give them five 'Forks Up!'
 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Spicy Sake Ahi

I gotta admit, I love Trader Joes.  Great folks, good food and unbeatable prices.  When one opened up here, I wondered what all the fuss was about, but when Mrs. Wraith insisted we go, I found myself amazed at the selection and value.

Last time we went, we ended up bringing home some ahi steaks, and I decided to make an experimental marinade.


 
Here's what you'll need:  Ahi steaks, a Ziploc bag, green onions, soy sauce, chili garlic paste, sake, ground ginger...
 
 


...and ground mustard.  Chop the green onions, reserving some of the tips for garnish.


Add 1/2 c soy sauce, 1/3 c sake, 2 tsp chili garlic paste,



And 1/2 tsp each of the ground ginger and ground mustard.
 
 


 
Close the bag and shake well to mix.  Add the ahi and marinate for a couple of hours.  Sear each side, then cook about 10 minutes on medium-high heat.  Garnish with onion tips.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

First try at Korean cooking: Dakjim (닭찜)

Well, we had some chicken defrosted, so I got my honky self over to Maangchi's site for some ideas.   On Sunday, I tried my hand at making Dakjim, Korean braised chicken and vegetables.

There were a few alterations necessary.  Mrs. Wraith misunderstood when I asked her to pick up dried red peppers, so I tossed in some red pepper flakes at the beginning.  I also left out the cucumbers and sesame seed garnish.  And I ended up using bean stock for noodles(hey, you try finding starch noodles in Prescott).

So how was it?  Excellent!  Just enough fire; a kaleidoscope of subtle flavor, and very filling.  But if this is considered 'four servings,' I'm amazed your average Korean doesn't weigh 500 pounds.  We didn't even have it with rice, and we had leftovers for half the week.

"Ko mab sub ni da," Ms. Maangchi--I can't wait to try more of your recipes!  고맙습니다.