Taiwan 1.1

Location: North, North-West, Central Taiwan
Attatched are some other food photos form the spring break trip to Taiwan.

First real breakfast in Taiwan @Beautiful Hotel
Lots of Lox, candied juju berry, wheat gluten, ham, crisp fish w/ peanuts

 Local Fisherman @ Tanshui Wharf

Mexican Meatballs @ Juming Museum
This was actually just Italian meatballs w/ tomato sauce
Rice and fries were perfect

Coast of Northern Taiwan

Night Market in Taichung
These particular stalls were interesting with the frogs and other stuff.

Known as Monkey Balls:
 Light Dough filled with octopus and topped with bonito flakes and a sweet sauce.

Oyster Noodles: In a gelatinous broth and oyster sauce
Unfortunately the gelatinous texture threw me off a little bit.

Pork Dumpling: Steamed pork enveloped in a thick chewy case. Topped with a savory oyster based sauce. On top of that was a thinner sweet sauce (mochi flavor) to cut the saltyness.

Stinky Tofu: Fried stinky tofu with soy. This stuff could literally be smelt from the whole street. Despite the pungent odor, the taste is decent with a slight sourness.

Taiwan 1.0

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

         So, this spring break I went to Taiwan with my brother and sister-in-law to visit her side of the family. This experience of going out of the country was a life changing trip culturally and culinarily. There were many new things that I had experienced in just one week. It would have been better for us to stay longer in order to explore more of the culinary culture of the culture. What is going to be posted is regarding the many foods that I had consumed and some of the places that we had went.

On the long flight over to Taiwan from LA, the airplane food was quite decent. For dinner, I ate a teriyaki style chicken w/ rice. It was actually really good but the chicken had an interesting texture. The extra stuff that came along with the chicken were outstandings. It was some sort of sesame bean curd which had shitake slices. Then for breakfast I had seafood porridge. Even though it is just airplane food, I thought it was a good start to the trip.

This is the first thing that I ate on Taiwan soil. It was some type of sushi roll thing from the 7/11. I'm was not quite sure what is was from the picture but it might have been some shrimp or something. The insides consisted of a creamy mayo mix with some unknown acidity. It was delicious.

Sesame Bean Curd w/ chile.
This was the dinner meal after a long and very wet, cold, and windy day at the gold mine. There was a small and narrow marketplace with many vendors and small restaurants. As we walked along, we went into this small establishment and went upstairs to an extension dining room. The type of restaurant is definitely different from the States. We sat on tiny plastic stools but what was to come was delicious. The bean curd above was very tasty with salty sesame with a firm texture. Along with this meal (no other photos), there were salted tea eggs (delicious with weird texture for an egg), fresh tofu, simple sauteed veggies, and a beef noodle soup with flat noodles.

 Peanut candy roll- this vendor had a thin rice patty/pancake and placed the shaved peanut candy ontop with cilantro and taro and mango ice cream.

 This was the rolled rice paper roll with cilantro, candied peanut and ice creams. This was very tasty with the peanut candy but what was interesting was the cilantro. It had acted as a savory/umami component which balanced with the sweetness of the taro ice cream. 

Sausage Vendor- There were numerous sausage vendors in the marketplace. Even though I could not understand the labels, they had looked similar to the Chinese style lup cheong.

 Mango "mochi" balls- After dinner and the peanut rolls, we stopped to get another dessert of "mochi" like dumplings in a red bean broth. What made it have the mochi consistency may have been rice flour.

Red bean soup w/ taro and mango dumplings
This soup was very subtle with limited depth but the textures of the dumplings went nice with the small chunks of red bean in the soup.

Shilin Night Market- Apparently the largest night market in Taiwan. Unfortunately, there was limited variation with many vendors selling similar things. After the dinner at the first marketplace, we went to go eat more.

The Stall of the Oyster Omelete
The oyster omelete was quite interesting due to the gelatinous rice noodle slipped inside with creamy oysters, fried egg and some type of brown sauce.

Taipei Yakitori My brother decided to pick up some octopus, chicken, and shitake. These were I think glazed in a spicy soy mixture. These yakitori were quite delectable in that there was the flavor of the protein and then the overwhelming spice of the glaze.

Well, that was just the first day in Taipei,Taiwan. Unfortunately I was very full, but fortunately this was only the beginning of a culinary adventure.

Home Cooking 1.3

Location: At the house

Finally, I went to the local restaurant supplier. This place is literally my toystore. In the back there is a warehouse stored with industrial sized stove, lowboys, large mixers, freezers, two door ovens, basically the works. That day I had picked up some squeezy bottles for sauces and such. Also I finally got the chance to pick up an oil stone for sharpening my knifes. The stone is a savior.

Me doing some knife sharpening.

 My knifes: Both are Globals. One is a six Chef and the other is a veg cleaver.

 In addition to sharpening the knifes that night, I also made a simple pasta. It consisted of: tomatoes, evoo, garlic, brandy, chili flake, parsley, and s&p. Simple yet delicious.

The Sauce

Added some Farfalle to it.

The Intern 1.1

Location: Dell'z California Grill
This last Saturday, I prepped and cooked for dinner service until around eight. Although I did not cook until closing hour, this might have been one of my most stressed nights at the restaurant. Also during my time I had a killer headache which really made me lose a lot of focus that night. Once I got there I sat outside waiting for Rhyan (sous chef) to get there. Once he got there I went straight to the line to check for back-ups because service began in at least 1 hour. Within that one hour, I replenished my station, cut shitakes, julienne carrots, cauli floreets, and reconstituted the sauces.
At five, dinner service began. Often, customers don't come in until around five thirty but customers were already pouring in with two and four tops. Tonight I ran the cold apps, salads, and grill. At this point my headache was throbbing and was in pain. I tried to complete and pt the dishes on the pass as fast as I could. Also this is one of my first nights that I fell behind at least two tables. The ticker kept tickin the whole night. What really screwed me up that night were three orders of mixed greens but each one was alternated. That order set me back at least three minutes. Even though I was behind I kept pushing and dishing out plates. Fortunately, it slowed down a little after a couple of hours. Even though it can often be considered a slow evening and the hours were not long, I was very stressed this night. My headache was still there for the rest of the night.

Dell'z California Grill: The Intern

Location: Dell'z California Grill

For at least the past two years I have been cooking in the kitchen at Dell'z California Grill under Chef Rhandell Molina and his brother Ryhan. Ever since I started, they had me cooking on the line and preparing meals for the customers. One time I even had the opportunity to cook for a wedding party and busted out the chicken dish for the bride and groom. I suppose they have some trust in me becasue they allow me to do almost all of the tasks that need to be done. While at the restaurant, I have learned many skills and techniques by the chefs and cooks that work there. The restautant is quite small and there is a lot of help being passed around. Although I am just in High school, the guys at the restaurant are extremely encouraging and helpful.
I do not get paid (and I definitely don't mind) but in return, I get much of the knowledge pertaining to kitchens and food from the cooks and chefs and I often get to make my own lunch and dinners (One time chef had even let me cook myself a dry aged ribeye which was easily one of the best steaks I have ever eaten). My experiences at Dell'z California Grill has fueled my inspiration of becoming a chef one day. Although during dinner hours, it may get really busy and I may be disoriented, it is totally worth it because it is what I love and I keep coming back for more for that sense of accomplishment and satisfaction of serving a dish. I am forever grateful for the staff and Molina family for allowing me to learn and cook under their guidance.

Here is a link to check out the restaurant's menu.
http://www.dellzcaliforniagrill.com/

Home Cooking 1.1

Location: At the house
Topic: Sashimi Dinner

After surfing, me and the family picked up some fish from a Japanese market in Oceanside. The fish was maguro (tuna) ans salmon. Also we had picked up a nice sized tentacle of octopus. Preparing this dinner was fun because my brother had gotten a sashimi knife from Japan from a co-worker. So here it is.

Busting out some tuna sashimi

The tuna was very tender but was nothing close to toro. The salmon was salmon (as you can tell I'm not much of a fan). The tako (octopus) was actually quite tender and was not too chewy as you find in some Japanese restaurants.

More Sashimi

Even more sashimi. The sashimi was accompanied by freshly grated wasabi root which was quite expensive for a little piece.

Also sake was served with dinner.

This had to be one of my favorite dinners by far due to the simple and traditional flavors. Fish, wasabi, and shoyu.

Home Cooking 1.0

Location: Home

Often, when my brother comes home to visit during the weekends, we try to culminate our collection of culinary skills to bust out a delicious dinner. My brother was my initial inspiration to go into the culinary field. He would often have both of us try various recipes to experiment. While he was in Berkeley, he would take us out to many local restaurants that were both "homey" and exquisite.
 

Vegetables? I guess so.



The following dinner took place last year in 2010.



Ribeyes from Costco with a simple rub of salt, pepper, cayenne, sugar, cumin, and other stuff.



Buttermilk Cornbread. This recipe is perfect since the bread turns out very light yet it is still creamy and velvety.



The ribeyes on the grill. Grilled perfectly to rare. Just how it should be.

 All this lobster meat was quite overwhelming for four meat eaters.





Simply Cooked lobster via steamed



I dished out some homemade cream puffs also. It was made with the traditional choux paste. Crisp on the outside and moist flakyness in the interior.

The cream puffs were filled with a simple lemon pastry cream and dusted with powdered sugar. These were pretty decent. The lemon pastry cream was a substantial filling but I still personally prefer ice cream :)

Best Bakery in the World?

Location: Bouchon Bakery, Yountville

During my past two trips to Napa, it was necessary that we go and try Bouchon Bakery since well, Thomas Keller owns it! The first trip, me and my brother just had some bread and thats about it. By the second trip came around I already had a grip on what I should really get. By the way, during the second trip, Bouchon was filled and we had ordered every type of macaron that day and some other pastries and bread. When we were about to check out Chef Keller walked in and picked up a baguette and he had his cup of joe. Being in his presence made me wobbly at the knees. For the fellow foodies who recognize him, I am sorry for not having a photo...I was in shock.

Seasonal Blueberry Macaron. I believe the brown ones in the back were chocolate and cappuchino or expresso.

Pistachio Macaron

Strawberry Macaron. A little too sweet.

The Blueberry Macaron was my favorite of the day. The exterior had a nice crisp to a transition of soft gooeyness and cream. Literally one of the best snack desserts ever. Chef Keller's pastry chefs did well with this recipe.

Seasonal Blackberry Tart

Simple glazed bread pudding

Brioche

Bouchon Bakery is reputable for its breads that it serves at its associated restaurants but I beleive that it is the Macarons that make this bakery the best in the world.

The Beginning

Since I don't have any new material yet, I will be posting and reviewing some of my past food experiences within the past few years. The first post will be a culinary review of my family reunion at Napa, California. Note: for any other food lovers, this is one of the BEST places in California that I have been to so far. So here it is...

  This was the sample of the most exquisite Jamon Iberico. As seen in the picture, this was 99.99 per pound. Although it was thirteen bucks for a couple of slices, it was totally worth it. The cured pork simply melted in the mouth. It was not too salty and the natural pork flavor was not overpowered. The best part of this was the little strip of fat. The fat was rich and creamy with a hint of pork flavor.  

This is of the beatutiful Napa countryside.

This was a piece of tuna that we got for one of the family dinners. Althought there were some stringy part towards the end of the loin, the majority of it was tender and melt-in-your mouth consistency.



Oysters from Tomales Bay oysters. A slight presursor to Hog Island.





This is by far the best ginger beers in the world! It does'nt have such a bite to it as Reeds's. Its very sweet but it has a true ginger flavor.



My uncle in Hawaii got me hooked on this stuff. This is just one of the numerous brands. It's so good I can drink it like water.