I quite enjoyed this ramen at Sushi Huku the other day, though I wasn’t clear on the origin of the style. I asked chef Jay and he said it was a pork broth, though it’s not the creamy tonkotsu style where the marrow is released and the collagen breaks down to gelatin and emulsifies with the broth. It was a relatively clear, lighter broth, which was a nice break from heavy tonkotsu ramen. Though, this dish isn’t completely free from sin – the thick, braised pieces of pork shoulder contained a lot of great fat that melted away with each bite.

I don’t know enough about ramen, does anyone know if this is a regional style of ramen, or just a quick and easy take on tonkotsu?

While this ramen definitely constitutes a full meal for less than $9, I couldn’t help but sample a few pieces of sushi. Huku continues to impress. The ikura and uni gunkan maki…oh my.

Earlier today I thought of this lunch when reading Eric Asimov’s article on Sushi Yasuda, his last as NY times restaurant reviewer. He discusses the experience of dining on sushi alone, how it can change and improve the experience, a point I completely understand. The meal turns into an isolated conversation between me and the sushi master. When I’m not screwing around on my iPhone between courses (gotta check those tweets!).

How can you not love a place called Chicken & Beer? Even if it’s really just the subtext for the actual name of the Korean chain – BBQ Chicken. Whenever I’m driving home from Greenville (which is often), I make a point to stop in Duluth for some grub. I usually check out Chow Down and Blissful Glutton’s sites for the must-visit places and make lists of where I want to go, this being one of them.

Which reminds me, I really want to write an iPhone app that is similar to Yelp, except it’s only for viewing (no feedback) and the only content is from bloggers, allowing you to filter by blogger and search geographically. So if I’m in Duluth I could check out a map and see pin points of all the places Chow Down recommends, maybe a 1-2 sentence summary, address/phone, and a link to her full blog post to view in Safari.

The whole problem with Yelp is credibility. As I mentioned yesterday, part of following a single blogger is you can develop a level of trust between blogger and reader. I keep whole lists of restaurants that Gene (Eat Drink Man) recommends, because I generally enjoy the style of food he cooks and the type of restaurant where he dines. It’s much more valuable to me than a bunch of aggregated data from random “Elites” or people with very different tastes. One day. If anyone wants to help, let me know.

Back to the chicken, which was really good. The olive oil fried surface is as crunchy as it gets, with more than a little spice and plenty of seasoning. I dug the flavor from the oil, which they must cook at a lower temp to avoid a bitter, singed crust. Olive oil burns somewhere around 320F. It’s not perfect as the chicken was overdone and not moist enough, but I’d rather more flavor and a super great crust than have a particularly great bird on the inside (LeRoy’s). Recommended for shizzle. It’s right next door to Honey Pig in a newer strip mall. Free Wi-Fi.

I also wanted noodles so I hit up Dan Moo Ji, where I feel about as old and boring as a white guy can feel in Duluth. They’re chock full of young and good looking Korean youngsters, sucking down noodles, and watching Biebs videos on the television. And apparently writing cutesy stuff on the walls. Tee hee hee!

Gratis pickled radish and broth (good even on a hot day) to start.

I started with kimchi gimbap, which is reminiscent of a maki roll. They aren’t mind blowing, but it’s a nice way to get your kimchi and rice fix in bite size form. They’re cheap too.

I also ordered the cold noodles with vegetables and spicy sauce, jjolmyeon. I had not read Jen’s post since last year, and I was definitely put off for a moment when the petite waitress asked me if she could mix up my bowl.

Though I was confused as to why she thought I couldn’t mix my noodles up with my chopsticks, I said sure, and she proceeded to put on a plastic glove and dove her hand into the bowl. As she man-handled my noodles, she gazed at me and asked, “How do you know about this place?”

To which I replied, “the internet.”

“Ah”, she said, as if that made perfect sense.

Just like that my first, and best, handle noodle mixing job was over. I hope it was good for her too.

The noodles were great, super chewy and a bunch of sauce ended up on my shirt as I had difficulty snapping the strands with each bite. Appropriate spice level, I think. Plenty leftover to take home too.

After all that fried chicken and carbs I made a veggie plate for dinner. Tomatoes with chive and balsamic. Pink eye peas with pimienton and a shot of good sherry vinegar. Mandoline sliced squash quickly marinaded in chili oil. And yuzu kosho dosed cauliflower mash (sort of a play on the old horseradish mashed potatoes of twenty years ago). Katie and I were quite pleased with this impromptu and quickly produced meal. Summer vegetable season is a great one.

On my recent visit to the BuHi Farmer’s market, I decided to pull the trigger and purchase some miso paste. I’ve known that there are loads of options for this fermented soybean product, but I had yet to dig into the possibilities.

Miso can be used in a variety of ways – a condiment, the base of a sauce, or perhaps just a flavor enhancer; miso is naturally high in umami. Adding a dollop to every day recipes can round out the flavor, making it more savory and enhancing other natural flavors. Almost like a natural version of MSG.

The consistency is thick, which is what led me to my idea for a snack yesterday. First I par-boiled some tiny Chinese noodles until al dente, which only takes a minute or two. I often use Asian noodles for quick snacks because I don’t have to wait very long for the noodles to cook.

Meanwhile I cooked a few strips of uncured bacon from High Farms (thanks Liz!) and melted 1 tablespoon of butter in another pan. I minced the bacon, added it to the butter, then threw in my noodles. I added a splash of water and stirred to create an emulsion with the butter, then added 1 tablespoon or so of miso paste. It was a little thick so I added another splash of water, then a couple shakes of rice vinegar, and served.

Only after I cooked this did I notice it looked a bit like carbonara. The pork and the rice vinegar helped balance the sweetness of the white miso. While maybe a bit too sweet, it was a very interesting snack, and the gears are moving with all the ways I can use miso in my every day cooking. I’ve also been reading the new Ideas in Food cookbook, and they have a recipe for white miso pasta where the miso is actually part of the pasta making process. I highly recommend this cookbook – I’ve already learned a good deal about brining, pickling, and cryo-blanching in the first thirty pages.

Also, here’s a great article from the SF Chronicle about how miso is made, the varying varieties and how they are best used, with some recipes for salad dressing and the ever-famous miso marinated cod.

I got the itch to make udon noodles after reading this Rasa Malaysia (via No Recipes) post on Kitsune (aka fox) udon, which I then followed up with a revisit to Eat, Drink, Man’s post on dashi. Gene of EDM is now writing for the AJC as the ethnic food writer, and personally I’m excited about their decision to hire him. Gene’s opinions are well thought out, interesting, and honest. He’s also a curious and experienced ethnic cook, which I think is important when trying to judge and understand the cooking from other parts of the world.

On to the food. Everything I purchased above came from the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market.

I made the dashi with the seawead and bonito flakes, careful to only gently simmer the broth. The aromas were wonderful.

You can buy the tofu sliced and fried already, so I sort of went the hard route. I pressed, drained, sliced, and twice fried my tofu before simmering the slices in a mixture of soy, rice wine, and dried sardines.

The fried tofu takes on a deep color, and excess liquid is pressed out.

Once you have the dashi and the tofu, the rest is even easier. I cooked the fresh noodles, then dropped the noodles in the still warm dashi, and garnished with green onion and a couple slices of fish cake.

The salty ocean flavors were delicate but with strong, pleasing aromatics. The chewy noodles and salty tofu provide ample nourishment. It’s filling, and it’s good, clean food.

tea rose dumplings

Thai food is interesting to me. From the time the first Thai restaurant arrived in Greenville in the late 90’s, ubiquitously named “Bangkok”, I’ve been in love with the flavor combinations. Salty soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, funky fish sauce, and fiery curries, garnished with lime and cilantro. It’s a flavor lover’s dream.

But lately when I’m feeling like getting adventurous with some Asian food, rarely do I end up eating Thai food. I think the problem for me is that 95% of Thai menus are all the same, with the exact same presentation, preparation, and taste as a dozen other Thai restaurants in town. It’s as if the food is dumbed down for us, catered for the American palate that can’t handle the heat, that isn’t familiar/comfortable with the street food, and just looooooves to order Pad Thai every time, just like when ordering the General Tso beef every time from Chin Chin.

I don’t mean to be holier than thou, and I’m not saying I don’t ever eat these same dishes – I love some spicy as hell Penang curry, with tons of sauce for spooning over my rice, but it doesn’t excite me so much any more. It’s my Thai “safety order”. What I order when I call for delivery and I haven’t even looked at a menu.

My taste for Thai food may have developed, the offerings seem to all be the same, and I don’t think I’m alone in this interpretation, which is why I think Kokai Thai Bistro and Tuk Tuk have become successful. Am I over thinking this or does anyone else feel the same way?

This post really isn’t a review of Kokai (there are plenty of reviews here), I was just curious about what people think about Thai food. Is it tired to you? Do you order the same thing every time you order Thai? Are you clamoring for more?

ginger chicken – whoa intense ginger flavor!

beef jerky

chicken larb – common dish, but done better than I’ve had elsewhere

boat noodles

kee mao noodles

Thanks to Chloe for meeting me for this lunch. No one else knows this part of town and cuisine like she does.

I had a chicken back and some bones left from the chicken I cut up for the Ad Hoc Fried Chicken, so of course I gave the cookbook’s chicken stock a try. The recipe calls for many more bones than I had (not to mention chicken feet) so I cut the recipe down by a third.

Like many of the recipes I’ve read in Ad Hoc at Home, the chicken stock recipe is very particular and thorough. Keller is adamant that you want a “clean” stock, so no chicken organs are included, and the rest of the carcass is thoroughly rinsed to ensure no blood will cloud up the stock. There are also relatively few vegetables – just a bit of carrot, onion, and leek.

The recipe instructs you to set the pot half way on the burner, to create a circulation effect that will drive the impurities to one side of the pot, making them easier to remove.

This stock had to be tended to for almost the entire cook time, which was one thing I’ve never done with stock; usually I just bring it to a simmer and leave it alone for hours. The heat was increased slowly to simmer, removing the obvious impurities along the way. Once it was simmering, I dropped in a quart of ice, which drives the fat to the top, making it easier to scoop. Then the stock was brought back to a simmer, continuing with the tedious cleaning along the way. See my impurities bowl below. Bleck.

After another hour of this, the stock had reduced greatly (partly through evaporation, partly through my skimming).

Usually I pour the stock through a mesh strainer, but once again Keller says this is a mistake that will cloud your stock. Instead, you are instructed to ladle the stock gently through both the strainer and cheese cloth. The recipe also makes it clear that you should not squeeze out any liquid from the meat.

Then the stock took a nice cool dip in an ice bath.

The stock still had a slight amount of fat in it, but it was very clear.

I’m not sure if mine was cloudier than is intended, but it was much cleaner than my usual stock. The smell was fantastic.

I was only left with two containers like the one below, so next time I make this, I’m going to be sure to wait until I have enough chicken parts to make this worthwhile. If my roommate is reading this, that’s why we have chicken backbones in the freezer.

I was working from home on Friday, and was extremely busy, so when I wanted to make a quick lunch, I threw together this soup. I didn’t have any thawed chicken on-hand, but what the hell, I made some “chicken” noodle soup. At least it smelled very much like chicken. It actually tasted great too. The stock was so satisfying, and I didn’t have to do much to it. Instant nourishment.

Here’s the quick recipe:

• Sauté for 5 minutes – 1/4 sliced onion with a 1” piece of unpeeled, crushed ginger
• Meanwhile cook noodles
• Add 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp curry powder, 2 cloves garlic confit, mix, cook 1-2 minutes
• Deglaze pan with splash of white wine, cook off all the wine
• Add noodles & stock, remove ginger
• Plate, add pointless garnish for dramatic effect
• Season to taste, I like lots of pepper in my chicken noodle soup

The yellow ring around the soup is the curry, not chicken fat. Not the most visually appealing soup, I know.

day 1 dinner: black bean soup with polenta – cost: $1.79

I’m finally settling down after a long Day 2 of Eat On $30, which already has proven to be both rewarding and challenging. I’m definitely learning that under these budgetary constraints, dining out isn’t really an option, and when I have to cook on a budget, some effort and creativity is required, unless I want to end up eating rice and beans every day.

There were a lot of good comments on my day 1 post, particularly in regards to whether I should use pantry items I have in stock. I voiced my opinion on this in the comments, and I think I’m going to stick with it, because I’m not going to waste certain items in my refrigerator just because I didn’t purchase them this week. But I am still on track to use less than $25 worth of food, and I am only using on-hand items that are reasonably affordable to someone with a minimum budget, such as flour, salt, vegetable oil, cayenne, and so forth. I feel like this isn’t exactly what Tami had in mind, but I’m still learning a lot.

I think today felt particularly hectic because I had to cook all three of my meals, I had a ton of work to day, and I’m also going out of town for the next two days, so I had to plan how I’m going to eat while traveling. Trying to fit it all in was tough. My day went like this: I started the day at 6AM with a workout in Piedmont Park, cooked breakfast at 7:15, started working in my home office, made lunch at 11:45, worked until 2:30, cut up my whole chicken and started a pot of chicken stock with the carcass, rehydrated dry black beans in boiling water, then got back to work. I checked the beans/stock a few times and once I was done with work at 7PM I strained the stock. Then in preparation for a couple of meals later in the week I made refried beans and a red enchilada sauce. At some point I also started the chicken noodle soup for tomorrow.

At 8:30PM I finally started cooking tonight’s dinner, and I came up with a meal that was fairly ambitious for me: Pepin inspired chicken thigh, polenta (leftover) “crostini” topped with chicken liver pâté, carrot puree, and fried chicken rind. If this were top chef, I would say this was “beak to foot cooking”, or maybe something witty like “three way poule”. It came out decent, though I slightly burned the chicken skin on the thigh. The poorly lit photo below make it look more burned than it was though.

The amount of planning and cooking has been more tedious than expected, which I think hits home another another point regarding this challenge. Cooking healthy, creative meals on this budget isn’t just tough to manage because of the money – the effort and time required  is just as problematic, further solidifying my respect for those that manage to deal with this situation every day.

day 2 breakfast: black bean soup leftovers over corn tortilla with a poached egg – cost: $0.78

day 2 lunch: ground pork stir fry with leftover noodles and rice from yesterday – cost: $0.82

cutting up the chicken

preparing the chicken liver

searing the chicken thigh (started with too hot a pan, burned the skin)

dinner 2: chicken thigh + mushroom, carrot puree, fried chicken rind, broiled polenta crostini + chicken liver pate – cost: $1.13

fried chicken skin, which I removed from a breast I used for the chicken noodle soup

chicken liver close-up

A few months ago, local food blogger/stylist/trendsetter Tami from Running With Tweezers created a challenge for herself called “Eat on 30”. Tami and a few others decided to see what it was like to eat off $30 for an entire week, which is slightly higher than the $21-$24 received per week by the average person on food assistance. Hunger and food assistance is a topic close to Tami’s heart, and some of the data that she has posted surrounding this heart-heavy topic is staggering, and to be honest, it makes me feel quite guilty about my lifestyle.

I pretty much buy whatever I feel like when I go to the grocery store, often without looking at a price, or having some sort of budget. The same goes for dining out. While I show some restraint (no Quinones yet), I dine out quite often, embarrassingly, sometimes even to multiple venues for the same meal. Since the time which I first started earning good money while working in college, my tolerance for an ever increasing average meal expenditure has greatly increased. Nowadays, if I get out of lunch for under $20, or dinner for $30-40, I think it’s a decent deal. Just last night, I was telling someone how great a deal Abattoir was, because I “only” spent $50. That’s craziness!

I justify this to myself by saying that “food is my hobby”. I don’t spend much money on clothing, I don’t work on old cars, and I don’t fly airplanes…all of those activities are expensive, and I happen to know people who drop lots of money on those hobbies. And while I’ve yet to buy patio furniture for my three year old house, that expenditure is on the backburner while I try to find some caviar for a Momofuku dish I have planned. Priorities…out…of…whack.

When Tami decided to setup another run of Eat On 30, I decided I definitely needed to participate. My goal in doing this is to of course provide additional exposure to Tami’s cause, but I’m also participating for selfish reasons. I hope to learn new tricks about buying smart, planning grocery purchases, prioritizing, and I need to figure a way to take control of my crazy dining out, grocery shopping, and wine guzzling habit. Splurging on a great meal out should be a treat, not an every day occurrence, and I need to get back to that mindset. Hopefully this week will help get me there.

One thing to note – I have a wedding which I’m in this weekend, with numerous parties surrounding the event, which will provide me with at least four, possibly five free meals. The occasional free meal does get offered to many people, but I think that 4-5 isn’t normal, and as such, I am going to try to adjust the $30 limit to $24 and see how it goes.

I’d like to do a more comprehensive write-up on this challenge, but work beckons, and this post is getting lengthy as it is. So I will leave you with a few thoughts on ideas and obstacles that I came up with since I started planning this endeavor last week. Also, I scanned in my planning sheet that I used to jot down my thoughts. I thought it was sort of funny. And finally, below are pictures of my first two meals today, which used $1.82 worth of food.

Please be sure to read Tami’s initial post, which lists the details surrounding this program and its genesis, and also lists the other bloggers participating. I won’t list them all here as Tami already does that, but I read one post from Use Real Butter today that is fantastic and I suggest you take a look at the amazing food she is creating on this budget.

Random Thoughts So Far About ‘Eating on 30’

• Coupon hunting can eat up quite a lot of time, but it is easier to do on the internet – coupons.com and slickdeals.net are good resources. And you don’t have to buy a Sunday Paper.
• Researching prices at one grocery store is much easier. Trying to plan for the specials at 2+ grocery stores would take me more time than I have, though if you do so, you can find better deals that way.
• Things I realized I couldn’t afford on my plan: most cuts of beef, dining out anywhere (though I have considered picking up a $1 chili from Wendy’s), most cheeses, name brands, processed foods, organic vegetables, junk foods, dessert, wine, fish (I did see $3/lb tilapia at Kroger though, and I think three filets could go a long way in enchiladas/tacos), and finally, I realized I couldn’t afford to rush my purchases – every expenditure required research and planning.
• Oh crap, I can’t drink bourbon
• Shopping takes a lot longer when researching and comparing the prices on every item
• Legumes and rice are my friend
• Soups and pasta are hearty items that are nourishing, filling, and economical
• I am making lots of “extras” of items. For example, I had an egg and rice for breakfast, but I made a bunch of extra rice for fried rice tonight or tomorrow.
• I am replacing ingredients in some recipes. A black bean soup I am making calls for chicken stock, but I am using water. I’m sure it will taste just fine.
• Taking my time with presentation…making the meal “look” good, seems to impact my eagerness to both create and consume.

below – my “plan”. yes, my handwriting is encoded.

breakfast 1: poached egg over steamed rice, scallion, soy sauce, sriracha – cost: $0.72

lunch 1: miso soup with noodles, scallion, mung bean sprouts – cost: $1.10

A guest post where someone cooks something different, using unique ingredients, is very much in the spirit of this site – hopefully it will inspire you to get out there and cook up something you’ve never tried before. Thanks Sarah!

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For my Land of Plenty challenge, I chose to make Spicy Cold Noodles with Chicken Slivers (p. 95) and Dry-Fried Green Beans 2 – Vegetarian Version (p. 290). The first thing I did was get all of the ingredients ready.  From reading Jimmy’s posts, I assumed the actual cooking would go quickly and I would want to be ready. I boiled the chicken breasts and then Ben made them into nice slivers by first mashing the breasts with the meat pounder, then slicing them along the grain.

Here is everything for the noodles ready to go, except the noodles themselves.

I cooked the noodles and, following the recipe, spread them out, sprinkled some peanut oil over them, and tossed to coat.  This prevents them from getting sticky while they cool.

While the noodles and chicken were cooling, we made the sauce by mixing all of the ingredients together.  Said ingredients include tahini, soy sauce, Chinkiang (black Chinese vinegar), sugar, garlic, ground Sichuan pepper, chili oil with chile flakes (ours had peanuts in it too), and sesame oil.  The rest of the noodles dish is simply layering everything.  First, I placed the bean sprouts at the bottom of the bowl (as seen in the first picture), then placed a layer of noodles over those.  Here is everything mid-way through the layering process.

I spooned a generous amount of sauce over the noodles.  Lastly, I placed the chicken and some chopped chives on top.  Here is a close-up of the noodles ready to eat.

For the beans, first I cut the ends off the beans, then I sliced the scallions, ginger, and garlic, and cut the chilies in half.

To cook the beans, I heated the peanut oil in a skillet (a wok would be ideal here) and cooked the beans over medium heat for about eight minutes.

I set the beans aside, wiped out the pan, and heated some fresh oil.  Then I added the scallions, ginger, garlic, chilies, and Sichuan pepper.  I stir-fried those briefly then added the beans back in.  After adding some salt, they were ready.

The finished products were very yummy looking.

There was definitely a lot of heat in both dishes.  Once we got past the heat…or more correctly, before the heat set in, the noodles were quite fantastic.  We both said that we taste the many different flavors in the sauce, and that it was a great combination.  The description in the cookbook calls this dish distinctively Sichuanese, so I was glad that we both enjoyed it so much.  We ate the leftovers for lunch the next day.

For me, the green beans were a small disappointment.  They tasted like exactly the ingredients – the beans, the peppers, the garlic and the ginger.  I wonder if I did not "dry fry" them enough, because they didn’t look wrinkly like in the cookbook.  I did cook them longer than the recipe called for, but perhaps I should have kept going.

Overall I was pleased with the results and we were both satisfied after our delicious dinner.  Just to mimic Jimmy’s great style, I should mention that we paired our meal with Sweetwater 420.  And lastly, here is Holden, the most amenable food critic around…

Sourcing

I found all of the ingredients either at Publix or the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market. This was my first trip the Farmer’s Market and it was a great experience.  While it may appear slightly sketchy, it is very well organized, and most of the Chinese products have translations.  The prices are good, and I loved their enormous tea selection.  I felt that Ben and I had to be the preppiest suburbanites in the store, given that we were dressed for dinner at Watershed afterwards.  On our way home, after eating our gourmet southern meal, I kept talking about how I love that Atlanta represents so many different cultures but still retains the best of the south.

But one benefit that I had not planned on is that I’ve met a handful of bonafide foodies who have been kind of enough to guide me in my on-going food adventure, particularly in the area of Korean and Chinese cuisine.

Shamefully, my previous residence was right by Buford Highway (slightly ITP), yet I rarely took a chance and tried anything new; Penang and Little Szechuan was pretty much it. I’m doing my best to make up for it, any chance I get. So when Chloe agreed to take me along to Wan Lai, which she and Bliss have both written up recently, I was pumped.

We met up for lunch, which had drawn a large crowd – always a good sign. I would have been lost trying to order from their large menu, but Chloe quickly suggested a few items, “Jimmy – congee or three dumpling soup?” Before I could answer, she answers herself, “Let’s get both!”. (please watch that video, it’s awesome!)

Chloe placed our order, after which the waiter counted out all seven dishes, then looked at us with a quizzical and sarcastic look. Move it along. We’re hungry.

With my recent Sichuan experimentation, I was interested to see how Cantonese differed. While writing this post, I did some research, and discovered that many of the dishes/ingredients we ate at Wan Lai are Cantonese mainstays – congee, century eggs, and beef chow fun are all staples. Similar to Sichuan, stir-frying, braising, and steaming are the primary cooking methods, but Cantonese sauces are often much lighter and less intense and full of heat as Sichuan. The most often used spice is Chinese 5 spice, which can actually vary and have more than 5 spices, though anise, fennel, and cinnamon are almost always going to be included.

So there’s a small bit of knowledge. But how did it taste? Well, it was one of the best all around Chinese meals I’ve had. I love the heat and boldness of Sichuan, but Wan Lai is rocking. You need to get out there and try it. Order a ton like we did, and you’ll be left with enough leftovers for 3-4 meals. Lucky for me, Chloe doesn’t like leftovers.

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Dish #1: Century egg congee. The eggs looked like mushrooms to me at first, but read the century egg link and you’ll understand. Much like porridge, this wasn’t bad, but can be very plain tasting if you don’t get a big bite of pork and egg. Worth a try if you haven’t had it.

Dish #2: Three dumpling soup. This was ridiculously good. Chinese cabbage (appeared much like broccoli rabe to me), amazing broth, and firm, crunchy (from the shrimp) dumplings. I had to pace myself at this point.

Dish #3: Beef Chow Fun. I loved the beef and the delicious noodles in this dish. The beef was soft, succulent, and texturally awesome. The flavor of the whole dish was overpowered by bean sprouts to me, but this is definitely something to try.

Dish #4: Fried Rice. Eh, it was fried rice, not bad, but too filling for me to waste valuable stomach space on, except for the wonderful pork mixed in with the rice.

Dish #5: Ong choy water spinach. Tubular and leafy greens, sautéed with garlic in a light sauce. I loved this, please try it. 

Dish #6: Pork belly and taro casserole. This was one of the casseroles that takes 20 minutes or so for them to prepare, but I didn’t even notice the wait with all the other food on our table. The sauce was rich, very sweet, obvious 5 spice flavor, and there was tons of pork belly and taro. I thought taro is a root vegetable, but you actually eat the “corm”, which is like a root, but it’s actually an underground stem.

Dish #7: Garlic fried chicken – Ridonkulous. Perfectly crispy and covered with garlic, you are going to want to savor the skin on this bird.