Eat Drink Style West LA X'mas Party, Ugly Ass Christmas Sweaters and Dokpokki

I’m a huge fan of the Farrelly brothers – writers of Dumb & Dumber, Kingpin and Something About Mary. You guys remember that one scene in D&D where Jim Carrey fantasizes about Lauren Holly? I love that part when he’s in the ski lodge with his other sweater friends lighting up his natural gas. God, those sweaters were so awesome. Our 2nd annual West LA party happened on Friday and I wanted to liven things up a little by sporting one of those sweaters. During my lunch break, I headed down to the vintage/thrift shops on Melrose. After going to about three stores, I was worried that my plan wouldn’t happen. Thrift store shopping is hit-or-miss, but once you find something you like, it’s like striking an oil reservoir in your backyard. And to my surprise, I found three of the most hideous sweaters pictured above for me and my 'sweater friends'. I’m the pixellated guy on the left. My friend in the middle actually liked his sweater and is keeping it for reals.


I quickly went home and started to cook food for the potluck. My friend was bringing Korean bbq ribs and I thought some dokpokki, Korean rice cakes cooked in red paste and kimchi, would complement them nicely. Too bad we didn't make any yogurt soju. So I showed up to the party and gave my friends their sweaters. We got a good response and I made the couples take turns wearing the sweaters for photos in front of the fireplace. Truly, a dorky Christmas. Best part of the night besides Best of LA’s smooth-tasting Belvedere vodka was the “Secret Santa” gift exchange. My “Secret Santa” hooked me up with Nobu Matsuhisa’s cookbook. Killer gift. I can now scratch that off my Amazon wishlist of about 20 cookbooks.



After the West LA party, I headed down to some dive bar in West Covina called the Sunset Room… with the red snowflake sweater still on. I walked in and looked for my friends. If there had been a dj there, you would’ve heard him stop the records. My red sweater could not be avoided haha. I got looks from everyone. Good times. Why not? It’s Christmas.


Dokpokki Recipe

Oval or Cylindrical rice cakes (dok)
Gochujang (Korean red chili paste – sweet & spicy)
Kimchi (duh!)
Carrots (diagonally cut discs)
Onions (sliced onions)
Green onions (sliced in 2” lengths)
Garlic
Soy Sauce
White Pepper
Sugar
Water

(1) Start by boiling the rice cakes in a pot until desired ‘al-dente-ness’.
(2) Saute garlic, carrots and onions.
(3) Add the Gochujang into a bowl of water and mix the paste up. Gochujang is quite thick and needs some water and air to loosen it up. Dump the Gochujang/water mixture in with the garlic, carrots and onions and stir.
(4) Add Kimchi and a little bit of soy sauce. Use water and sugar to balance out spiciness/sweetness/saltiness according to your liking.
(5) Strain the rice cakes and dump them into the sauce. Dokpokki has a lot of sauce, so make sure you make enough.
(6) Lastly, add green onions and enjoy.

Happy holidays and thanks for reading.

Eat Drink Style Happy Hollandaise!

Hey sorry for the bad Christmas/food pun but I've had one too many bottles of Sapporo and Sake. Just came back from a stellar sushi dinner at Sushi Zo and I'm about to pass out. Anyway, I wanted to thank all the fellow LA foodbloggers and loyal readers for supporting my low-budget site. I've had a blast this year. I'm leaving for Hong Kong and Taiwan this week and have a plethora of food to eat and write about. Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. Let's give it up for food!!! As always, thank you for reading. Regards, ED&BM.

Eat Drink Style The Gift of Gluttony: Part One - The Osso Buco Veal Shanks Recipe

Pam of Daily Gluttony recently wrote an honest-to-goodness entry about the importance of family, friends and, of course, food. These three are closely intertwined within our daily lives and with every passing moment involving the three, they should be cherished and never taken for granted. Mealcentric, sadly, has also lost a friend who he had shared many moments with while dining. In respect to the fore-mentioned, even the simplest of foods can bring about a smile or reassurance that you actually matter to someone. I couldn’t agree more. It could be slicing up those juicy, Korean pears for your parents. Going on a carne asada burrito run for your friend who says he’s hungry, but has just completely passed out in the back of the car. Wait, that was me in the back of the car. Making chicken noodle soup or porridge for someone feeling under the weather. For me, a bowl of porridge with green onions, fried egg and a little Maggi Sauce brought a smile to my face when I was sick. Only because Mom made it. It’s little moments like these that matter the most.

For me, cooking is one of the best ways to show appreciation for one’s friendship and love. You devote your own time in making sure that they get something yummy in their tummy because it makes them happy. You’re also keeping them one step further away from being on a Sally Struthers infomercial, or being pictured on one of those donation boxes at Ralph’s. This Christmas, I’ve decided to invite friends over for a culinary present. One, because I love to wreak havoc in the kitchen. Two, I am too broke to buy gifts for all the good children of the world. (Thank you, advertising industry.) And three, I want to make sure that my friends gluttonize and make unfulfillable resolutions for the New Year - like working out at the gym. I love to hear that kind of bullshit.

My first guest was MLT, whom I met back in college in ICS classes, which stands for Information & Computer Science. Once upon a time, I believed that I would be writing programs. *Scoff. I bailed out of that major after one semester of pure hell. But, she was fortunately there to provide “aide” for me before I left. Most people know it as cheating, but who cares. We also attended a wedding together this year and like a total jerk, I left my date alone because I was too busy getting inebriated and dancing with other girls. Only a friend would forgive you for such behavior. And I thank her for that.

Me: “Hey, what do you wanna eat?”
MLT: “I like veal.”
Me: “Well I can attempt to make the Osso Buco dish I had at C&O’s?”
MLT: “Sounds good. What should I bring?”
Me: “Wine. Lots of it. After we eat and drink, we’ll go to a bar and I’ll leave you by yourself while I go talk to other girls.”
MLT: “Asshole.”

I studied a few Osso Buco recipes off Epicurious and Food Network. Here’s a tip for those that love to cook. Look up at least 5 different recipes when you plan on making something. Just because Rachael Ray can teach you how to make it in less than thirty minutes doesn’t mean it’ll taste the same. She does use shortcuts because of the time allotment on her show, and a lot of times, compromises the true taste of a particular dish. Emeril loves to desecrate a dish by adding way too much alcohol and garlic just to hear his audience bark like seals at Sea World. It’s important to find the common ingredients that make the dish what it is. Once you’ve memorized the essential ingredients, you can simply add your own twist to it. Only then, can you call it ‘your own’ recipe.


This dish was chosen also because it was an excuse for me to buy a Le Creuset pot - one of the nicest kitchen tools ever. You’ve all seen it. It’s that big, blue or flame red ceramic Dutch oven that all the Food Network hosts use to sauté their mire poix (onions, carrots, celery – what I refer to as OCC) and braise heavenly food. I got a tip about the Le Creuset from Immaeatchu and proceeded to search the internet for the best price. Turns out that I got a good deal at Tuesday Morning, which sells brand name stuff for 50-80% off. I got my brand new, 7.25 qt pot for $144.99 – retailed at $299.99.

I then went to shop for the veal shanks, the main ingredient for the Osso Buco dish. Whole Foods and Bristol Farms wanted to charge me $13/lb and a free raping at the same time. Fuck that. When you need four veal shanks, are YOU going to pay $52 for that? I was driving down Santa Monica Blvd. after an interview last week and happened to see a Kosher meat deli. What is the difference between a Kosher meat deli and say, Ralph’s? The Jewish method of slaughtering an animal requires only one stroke of the blade to the throat of the animal, and is then bled dry. After it is bled completely, it can then be sold to consumers. I was like, "Give me 4 shanks please." I got my four veal shanks for $17 total. Was it good quality? Hmm…. *hint. I AM STILL ALIVE.

Here we go:

(1) Veal shanks are tender, obviously because they are baby cows. Veal is kept within tight, dark quarters and fed milk to tenderize the meat. Unlike Kobe style beef, the young cows are not massaged and fed beer and corn. Right about now, I’m getting e-mails from PETA about this posting, so I better hurry and complete this.

(2) Tie the shanks with butcher twine to bind the tender meat with the bone. One simple knot is fine, just make sure it’s tight. Dredge all sides of the veal shanks with flour that’s been seasoned with S&P. Brown the shanks and remove from the Dutch oven.

(3) Prepare mire poix. Mire poix is the quintessential ingredient for any type of stock, whether it be chicken, beef, veal or lamb. It consists of 2 parts onion to 1 part carrots and 1 part celery. Sauté these in a Dutch oven with EVOO and butter. After about 10-12 minutes, they will become translucent and somewhat brown. Add the shanks back in and add Chianti wine to about the halfway line on the shanks. Submerse the shanks with however much beef broth is needed. Toss in your bouquet garni (4 bay leaves, 4 thyme sprigs, 1/2 a tablespoon of black peppercorns), 2 garlic gloves and a little bit of olive oil. Cover and bring to boil.

(4) Once it’s boiling, toss the Dutch oven into the oven at 375-400. remember to baste the tops of the veal shanks every 20-30 minutes so that they don’t get scalded. It should be done in about 1.5 – 2 hours.

(5) Serve the shanks over linguini. Strain the braised mixture to remove the bouquet garni and mire poix. Season the sauce with S&P and butter, also known as monte au beurre, and pour sauce over shanks and linguini. Say mmmmm and enjoy.

(6) DO NOT FORGET TO SUCK THE BONE MARROW OUT OF THE VEAL SHANKS. MISSING THIS PART IS LIKE MISSING THE ENDING OF A MOVIE. FOR THOSE THAT ARE SCARED, IT TASTES EXACTLY LIKE FAT AND IT’S THE MOST FLAVORED THING ON EARTH YOU’LL EVER TRY. STOP WHINING, IT’S NOT FEAR FACTOR OK?

This dish was the best thing I've ever made so far. I've never said "mmmmm" so many times besides, well, you know what. I hope you do try Osso Buco out sometime and cook for a friend and a loved one sometime soon. It'll mean a lot. As always, thank you for reading.

Eat Drink Style Salmon Makes For A Good Snack

Happy Saturday everyone. Just wanted to post on a snack I had one Saturday. The difference between raw and cooked salmon is night and day. Cooked salmon becomes fishy and dry. But it's the best when raw... so sweet and somewhat similar in fattiness/softness to hamachi (yellowtail).

I think salmon sushi is probably the most beautiful looking out of the common dishes. Ikura (salmon roe) is also nice to look at. The lines in salmon remind me of the marbling on a nice juicy steak. Mmm. Sometimes when I'm at Mitsuwa or Marukai, I'm tempted to buy a block of salmon and just eat it like a sandwich.

I got this block at Mitsuwa for like $5 and yielded nearly 18 small pieces of nigiri sushi. I put too much wasabi in between the rice and fish. Nose-hair fire!

What's your favorite kind of sushi?

Eat Drink Style Olive Garden vs. C&O Trattoria, Marina Del Rey - Who's more Italian?

***Begin Sicilian mandolin music***

Visuals: A huge block of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese being slowly sliced. Hot, steaming red pasta sauce being churned with a rustic-looking spoon passed down from many, many generations. Spring vegetables being flipped in a sauté pan in slow motion. The aromatic steam arising from freshly baked artisan bread. Salads getting tossed (not that kind of salad).”

Voiceover: “Buon giorno. Ai em from Seeseely. Mai femmehlee… ees een Uhmerikuh. Wen ai came too veeseet, ai wanted to eet audendeek Seeseelian food. So dey took me to the Awleeve Garden. And ai felt like I was et home.”

Super: Here at Olive Garden, everyone is family…

*Changing channels.*

Working in advertising, I know when I smell good work and bullshit work. The fore-mentioned TV spot stinks worse than an overflowing port-o-potty at an outdoor music festival. Try getting locked in one by your ‘good’ friends. True story. Anyway, I know I work in an industry that prides itself on selling you things you don’t need – or at least showing you what life would be like without a certain product. For the most part, I think I’ve lived a comfortable life without the ingenuity of products such as the Ginsu Knife, Egg-stractor and Nordictrack, which gave rise to the most, awful style of dancing I've ever seen at raves. When I see an Olive Garden commercial, I nod my head and yell out “oh my god”. I wonder how the creative minds behind those horrific TV spots can actually sleep at night. I sure as hell wouldn’t. I might add that the Darden Restaurant Group, operators of Olive Garden, also run Red Lobster. And we know their commercials don’t quite cut it as well. Just imagine the fore-mentioned TV spot with lobsters, lemon wedges, butter, butter and more butter. Jesus Christ. On a lighter note, if I ever bring my relatives to P.F. Chang's or Panda Inn, I won't be receiving any shiny red envelopes - nor will I see them ever again.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Italian food only because I think the sauces pretty much taste the same. Fine, I guess there’s a variety. Red or white. Red with wine. White with wine. Red with wine and mushrooms. White with wine and mushrooms. The list goes on and on. And as for the pasta, the number of sizes/shapes are unfathomable. Once in a while, Italian food sounds good but I know after I eat it, I’ll be feeling like shit. Kind of like eating a lot of heavy food from Panda’s Inn. Sounds good initially when your eyes are bigger than your stomach and regretfully find yourself lying in fetal position in a comatose state. I do appreciate the simplicity and history behind Italian food but I think places like Olive Garden are desecrating what Italians cherish most about their heritage. They can make amends by changing their name from "Olive Garden: An Italian Restaurant" to "Olive Garden: An American Restaurant."

My first trip to Olive Garden was back in 1997 in college. I didn’t know where else to eat Italian food and got tired of the Ragu and Prego sauces. (I think they taste better than Olive Garden though). I’ll admit it, I was actually kinda stoked to eat there only because I grew up in a Chinese family that ate Chinese food solely. I don’t remember what I ordered, but I know that it wasn’t worth going back for. Jeez, all that for $25? Call me naïve, but my parents deprived us of good, American food. I used to think Sizzler was for rich people haha. I’d envy my friends who ate there regularly, secretly giving my parents the eye for not letting us indulge in all-you-can-eat shrimp. I thank them now for saving me from eating crap.

Now Olive Garden is running their “All-the-Pasta-You-Can-Eat-For-$5.99” deal. How much can you actually eat. Two bowls at most haha? Seriously, if our little Southern California ‘foodblogging’ cohort should ever meet up, we should do Olive Garden for laughs. We're somewhat of a family because of our carnivorous instincts and love for writing, and who else other than Olive Garden would warmly welcome us? I think it’d just be funny to see ‘Daily Gluttony’ take out her frustrations in her blog after eating the Sicilian Parmesan Chicken for $8.99 haha. Point is, it’s because of restaurants like Olive Garden that I have a tainted perception of Italian food all these years. Things have changed. Watching Mario Batali on FN, I’ve really grown to like the more rustic style of Italian cooking, much like French and Chinese food – where nothing goes to waste. Duck liver sautéed with Chanterelle mushrooms and white wine? Yes, please.

As we get older, it seems that the only time we get to see friends is for someone’s birthday. When you have an Evite with over 25 guests, it’s gonna be hard to please everyone’s dinner palate. Most of the time, it’s going to be an Italian restaurant just because there’s something for everyone. The food is safe and simple. You won’t find Parmesan Tripe with linguini, Roasted Balut (duck embryos) in Alfredo sauce or Chicken Feet Marsala. I’ve been to Buca di Beppo and Maggiano’s many times but never C&O’s. I’ve been hearing that name over and over again after I moved to the Westside. For my friend XC (some of you are wondering how many names can actually start with an ‘X’.), we chose C&O’s in Venice and I was really stoked.

We met up around 8 and walked into what I thought was a courtyard. Turns out that it’s the only seating area underneath the Venice sky. Buzzing with heat lamps, the restaurant was adorned with light bulbs attached to wires, giving it a true backyard feel. I really like eating outdoors when I can. The walls were painted with scenes of a distant land with a far lower crime rate than Venice. Unplugged fountains with old water stood frozen amongst all the diners. Indistinct chatter and clanking wine glasses set the friendly atmosphere.

As soon as we were seated, I was smacked in the face by the smell of garlic, parsley and butter. These garlic grenades were none other than the famous, Killer Garlic rolls, adored by many. Yum. I had to stop myself after eating three rolls, otherwise I wouldn’t have had an appetite. The waitress then brought two jugs of Chianti wine, charging $5 per glass I think. We easily knocked down two jugs in 45 minutes. Here’s what we had.























A. Killer Garlic Rolls. Too bad it’s not a scratch n’ sniff photo.
B. Fried Calamari. Good. This dish always taste the same anywhere you go.
Even Sizzler. Not that I would know.
C. Osso Buco. Oh man, my new favorite. I’m actually making this dish
tomorrow. The best part is sucking the bone marrow out of the shank bone. Yum.
D. No idea with chicken.
E. No idea with shrimp. Ok you see what I mean by Italian food. What the
hell is the difference?!
F. Gigantic Meatballs and Spaghetti. Boulders of beef/pork/bread crumb
meatballs.
Didn’t eat it, but I bet it was good.
G. Fettucini Alfredo. Another safe, favorite that I didn’t bother eating.

I think I selfishly ate the whole Osso Buco dish by myself. My friends freaked out once they saw me inhaling the juicy marrow. Another fabulous dish, not pictured, is the Linguini Mare, seafood linguini. IMHO, I love C&O’s. I think it’s a great place to eat large quantities of quality food (wow, quality and quantity. Chinese would love this place.) and drink Charles Shaw Chianti wine in Venice. I haven’t stopped thinking about the Osso Buco and will be back here soon. Thanks for reading.

C&O Trattoria
31 Washington Blvd.
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 823-9491
http://www.cotrattoria.com

Eat Drink Style Cha Gio Recipe - Good Things Come in Pairs

Back in the Sichuan hot pot posting, I explained a little about Chinese 'hot air' and how you should balance out the scalding hot food with cool drinks. The chinese feel it is a sub-category of the 'yin and yang' ideology – that everything has a complementary opposite. If you're tormenting your body with fried chicken on a hot, blistering day, your body is going to whine and moan... "give me a freaking cold drink right now." If not, you won't be doing the body any good. There are endless things that work well in pairs in our universe. But the only one I, and you as a food blog-reader, really care about is food. And the 'yin and yang' ideology somewhat applies. What's a peanut butter sandwich without jelly, carne asada tacos without a
Jarritos bottled-soda, franks without beans, a chili dog without a roll of toilet paper, etc.

This brings us to one of my favorite sidekicks of Vietnamese pho. At places like Golden Deli or Saigon Flavor, it is rare to see a table occupied solely with piping hot bowls of pho. Sharing the real estate is 'cha gio' of course, Vietnamese egg rolls. Eat one egg roll, eat some pho, eat another egg roll, kill the bowl of pho. It's a rollercoaster ride of delicious food. Oh the joy.

I've been wanting to make 'cha gio' for a while but could never find the right skin at the markets. The only kind available to non-chefs were Chinese-style egg roll skins. When these are fried, you don't get the nice bursting skin on egg rolls I've grown to love. After a few minutes of staying out in room temperature, they become flat and soggy. Not so good. Golden Deli, Saigon Flavor and Vietnam House are all San Gabriel-based sister restaurants which make my favorite egg rolls. Pho 79 in Alhambra is damn good too. I think most pho restaurants make the majority of their profit from egg rolls because the ingredients are cheap.

One day while I was at Golden Deli, I decided to approach the owner and ask him. I had heard before that the recipes within these three restaurants were cryptic and top-secret. You basically had to marry into the family to get your hands on the blueprints. I can see it already... a big, cult-like ritual inducting a new family member in. Heart-pounding bongos and drums banging... the tempo increasing as the main event nears, flames rising from pits, snakes wrapped around vines, people with face paint circling around you in attack mode. The whole nine yards. For these egg rolls and pho recipes, it might even be worth a big chicken-bone-through-the-nose piercing and a ritual neutering.

Me: "Excuse me?"
GD Guy: "Yes."
Me: "Do you guys make your own cha gio skin?"
GD Guy: *stares at me*
Me: "These are the best. I'd like to --"
GD Guy: "It's rice paper."
Me: "Oh. I thought you guys made your own skin."
GD Guy: "No, just soak the rice paper in some warm water for a few seconds. Let it air really quickly, and roll your filling."
GD Guy: "Nice."

Quite painless. For a minute, I thought I had struck a wrong nerve. He knew very well that I wouldn't be able to replicate his prized dish. Course not. But it wouldn't hurt to try.

I headed over to 99 Ranch and bought 1.5 lbs. of ground pork, wood ear mushrooms, bean thread vermicelli, romaine lettuce, red/green chilis, mint and rice paper (7" size). Total cost... under $10. You can make at least 25 of these.


Party time:

(1) First soak the bean thread vermicelli and wood ear mushrooms in separate bowls of water. Both come in dried form, water rejuvenates them. Should be ready to go in 10 minutes. Chop the bean threads into 1/4" to 1/2" cuts and roughly mince the mushrooms.

(2) Use salt and white pepper to season the ground pork. Add a little bit of Shao Xing rice wine in to tenderize the pork. Add vermicelli and mushrooms (carrots are optional) and mix everything well. Let them sit and party for about 10 minutes.


(3) Prepare a bowl or pot of hot water for soaking the rice paper. Dip the rice paper in for at least 10 seconds and pull it out, laying it flat on a cutting board. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling on the rice paper and fold it like origami. Bring the sides in, bottom over the filling and keep rolling. Lost yet?

That's why I've prepared a quick "Cha Gio For Dummies" instruction manual. The phallic/fecal-shaped representation of the pork filling is purely a combination of midnight blogging and lethargy.) Everyone knows the Japanese are masters of Origami, but its the Vietnamese that have adapted clever techniques of making paper cranes into digestible food. That's good thinking. I'll take an egg roll over a heart-shaped dollar bill any day.


"Cha Gio For Dummies" Manual

Figure A - This is based on 7" rice paper. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling and shape it into a rectangle as shown in the diagram.

Figure B - What appears to be an angry baseball with eyes and eyebrows is actually Figure B. Grab A and B flaps and fold them right where the filling is placed, as straight as possible. Careful not to mash the filling.

Figure C - While holding A and B with your fingers, use your thumbs to grab part C of the rice paper and fold it over the meat and A & B flaps. Tuck flap C right under the filling, making sure the rice paper isn't loose.

Figure D - As you start to roll everything, make sure you're tucking the filling into the skin. The egg roll shouldn't be loose nor super-tight. Because your soaking the rice paper in water, there is no need for an egg wash because the rice paper will adhere to itself.

Back to the cooking.

(4) Heat up a pan, pot or deep fryer with vegetable or canola oil over medium heat. Never use EVOO – too low of a burning point. Make sure the oil is hot enough by dropping in a piece of soaked rice paper. If the oil is TOO HOT, air will fill in the egg roll and separate the rice paper from the filling and you'll lose the familiar shape of an egg roll.

(5) These take a long time to cook, probably 12 minutes. The skin may still be somewhat white yet edible. If you can achieve the golden look, all the better.

These tasted so good. The skin was super crispy and the filling had a good ratio of meat to mushrooms/vermicelli. I've left out a few things in my original recipe that are unnecessary, like fish sauce and sugar in the filling. The condiments should be doing all the work. Next time, I will try adding grated jicama and minced shrimp. I simply wrapped them in romaine lettuce, sliced cucumber, mint and dipped it in freshly made 'nuoc cham' (fish sauce mixed with water, sugar, chilis, garlic and lemon). I ate about 8 of them and suffered minor blistering on the roof of my mouth because they were so damn hot. Well worth the agony. Thanks for reading.

Eat Drink Style Dear Green Onions... Get Well Soon

Sad day, green onions from Salinas, California have been traced with strands of E. coli (Escherichia coli). Several people have fallen ill in the Northeast from eating green onions. Taco Bell has removed green onions from all of their 5,800 restaurants. Taco Bell is also investigating the facility that provides other produce for their food. Ready Pac Produce supplies Taco Bell with lettuce, tomatoes and onions. I'm sure most of you have heard of Ready Pac salads. They are the ones that sell the 'triple-washed' packages. I've never trusted that. Always wash vegetables efore eating.

E. coli along with other diseases such as Hepatitis C come from food handlers that DO NOT wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Not #1... #2! Nasty.

Yesterday, I was at 99 Ranch and walked by the green onions in the produce section. I stared at them and shook my head in pity. I cannot survive without green onions. I was planning on making Chinese beef noodle soup this week but MUST have green onions. I'm sure they are safe to buy, but I'm not going to risk getting ill until its clear. Just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of this issue. Green onions... please come back soon haha.