Author: Ruel

Day 255: Huy Fong Foods

Special 35th anniversary bottles of sriracha

Special 35th anniversary bottles of sriracha

I was fortunate to score a pass to the Huy Fong Foods factory tour today, the first day of the chili-grinding season at the world-famous sriracha maker. Last year I tried to make reservations too late and everything was booked, so this year once the announcement was made, I immediately booked online and got a 2pm slot for today.

My wife and I took our good friends Dave and Liz, fellow foodies whom I consider family, not just friends. We arrived early and saw lots of people milling around with all kinds of sriracha gear, from hats and shirts to socks and capes(!).

Here’s a pictorial of our day at the factory’s open house and tour (click on the photos for a larger version):

Truck full of chilis.

After checking in and putting on the required hairnets (and a facial hairnet for yours truly), we began the self-guided tour. We walked through the ginormous space filled with crates and crates of sriracha (think the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark) and found ourselves at the loading dock, just as a truck full of chilis pulled up. While none of us could smell the chilis when we got to the factory, we could definitely smell them in this area. It was a sight to see … and smell.

Chili grinding

Chili grinding.

We watched the truck dump its contents into the grinder. So cool! These are some potent peppers and my wife was really feeling it. Once we re-entered the building into the main processing area, she was having trouble breathing. Note to any of you potential tour-takers: the smell is strong inside the this part of the factory. If you don’t do spicy, beware. And even if you do like sriracha (like my wife), it can still be pretty overwhelming.

55-gallon drums of the magic sauce!

55-gallon drums of the magic sauce!

It was quite a sight as we walked a few stairs for an overhead view of the entire operation. There were 55-gallon drums of hot sauce everywhere and I couldn’t help but crack Breaking Bad jokes: “Now we know the secret ingredient: crystal meth!” Later, my wife joked, “There was a fly in there.”

Chinese Lion Dance.

Chinese Lion Dance.

We finished the tour in about 30 minutes. There was a cool Chinese lion dance that wound through part of the facility and continued outside, where the free samples were located.

Free sriracha food samples!

Free sriracha food samples!

As part of the open house tour, each guest received free food samples: sriracha popcorn, sriracha potato chips, sriracha croutons, sriracha beef jerky, and sriracha ice cream. Surprisingly, everybody liked the ice cream the best. Each bite was cool and creamy ice cream with a bit of heat as you ate it. We were all impressed by how well they pulled off this balancing act of flavors.

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Free sriracha swag.

Along with the free tour and free samples, we also received a free plastic Huy Fong Foods cup, t-shirt, and bottle of sriracha. Awesome! We stopped by their gift shop, which was filled with sriracha-themed clothing, food, and novelties, all priced reasonably (I scored a $5 shirt for my dad, a $1.50 I Love Sriracha button for myself, and a few other things).

I almost forgot to mention that we got to meet David Tran, the founder of Huy Fong Foods! We all took photos with him and it was an honor to meet this living legend. His sriracha has saved many a mediocre dish for me and elevated a few of my better meals as well.

A fantastic day spent with fantastic people. I could get used to celebrating chili-grinding season like this.

Day 253: New Year, New Teams

Kashyyyk Wookies

Kashyyyk Wookies

For the first time in years, I have more than one fantasy football team. That’s twice the amount of players to follow and stress over. Twice the heartache during the season. Twice the payouts at the end of the year (hopefully).

In honor of Episode VII opening in December, I named my teams the Kashyyyk Wookies and the Tusken Raiders, respectively. I hope the Force is strong in all of my players’ knees and they bring me another championship trophy or two.

Both of my leagues were auction drafts, with slight differences in scoring, waiver wire pickups, etc. The Wookies are in a redraft league and the Raiders are part of a keeper league.

Here are the players I’ll be rooting for and/or cursing this year:

Kashyyyk Wookies:

QB Andrew Luck

RB Adrian Peterson

RB Duke Johnson

WR DeSean Jackson

WR Julian Edelman

TE Dwayne Allen

WR/RB/TE Keenan Allen

Bench: Sammy Watkins, Todd Gurley, Carson Palmer, Charles Sims, Ty Montgomery

Note: I haven’t paid over $1 for a K or DEF in years and have been streaming both positions before it was called streaming. Thus, I’ve left them off my list. 

Tusken Raiders:

QB Drew Brees

RB Mark Ingram

RB Matt Forte

WR Jeremy Maclin

WR Vincent Jackson

TE Rob Gronkowski

WR/TE Keenan Allen

WR/RB John Brown

Bench: LeGarrette Blount, Ryan Mathews, Jordan Cameron, Brian Quick, Pierre Garcon, Carson Palmer, Marvin Jones, Ka’Deem Carey, and Knile Davis.

Day 252: Carcassonne

Carcassone

Carcassone

I dusted off my copy of Carcassonne and played it for the first time tonight, thanks to the weekly gaming group at my FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store). I’ve had this game for over a decade, but it’s never made it to the table. After I bought it my buddies and I got into poker, so that became our weekly and twice-weekly game night for years.

My recent gaming rebirth had me itching to play Carcassonne and three of us played the game tonight. I liked the mellow tile-laying experience; it’s a pleasant game from beginning to end with the only stress being trying to complete the cities, roads, and other structures to score points.

After playing Samurai, Taluva, and Lost Valley: Yukon Goldrush, Carcassonne was a nice and light change of pace. I’m not sure if I’m a fan yet, but I enjoyed seeing the tiles all laid out at the end; it was like we created a nice countryside with meeple citizens.

Day 251: Organized

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This weekend I had a chance to organize my 7 Wonders game: I was tired of sifting through the box whenever I needed to use the military tokens or coins. I went to the Dollar Tree to pick up some small plastic containers when I realized that I had the perfect thing back at home: my extra petri dishes that I bought for Pandemic!

I bought the plastic containers anyways and when I got home I found my petri dishes. They were the right size for each of the military points (1, 3, 5, and -1) and fit in the box. Unfortunately, the plastic containers were too big and they’ll be returned to the store soon.

However, in another bit of good fortune, I found myself at Daiso Japan in Rowland Heights on Monday night. The place reminds me of a hipper, cleaner, and BRIGHTER dollar store: most items are $1.50, with a few priced higher, and they’re all BRIGHTLY colored. In spite of the BRIGHTNESS factor (okay, I’ll stop yelling), my family and I enjoy shopping here. It’s tough not to walk out with at least one item (and it’s equally difficult to pass up the coffee and pastries at the nearby 85 Degrees).

I scored a small food container tin with a plastic top that fit perfectly in the space left over from my petri dishes. The OCD in me would love to have two half-sized containers for each of the 1 and 3 value coins, but I’m not complaining. Perhaps another trip to Daiso is in order.

Day 250: Movies and Games

Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead

Since two of my favorite things are watching movies and playing games, here’s a short list of movies that pair well with games.

  1. Trading Places (the classic Eddie Murphy rags-to-Wall-Street comedy) and Pit (the classic card game that recreates the chaos of Wall Street trading).
  2. The Station Agent (a wonderful and underrated film starring a pre-Tyrion Lannister Peter Dinklage as a quiet fan of railroads and trains) and Ticket to Ride (my choice for the perfect gateway game; easy to learn and fun to play).
  3. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (a documentary about a sushi master) and Sushi Go! (a sushi-themed card game with cute art and fast play).
  4. Clash of the Titans (the original movie featuring the guy from L.A. Law as Perseus) and 7 Wonders (a civilization game using a card-drafting mechanic that you can play in under an hour).
  5. Shaun of the Dead (hilarious zombie movie featuring Simon Pegg in his breakout role) and Zombie Dice (a light press-your-luck dice game that you can play while watching Shaun of the Dead).

Day 249: Fanboy/Girl Moment

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I’ve written about my love of the Fung Bros. and their unique brand of hilarious and informative food vlogs, so it was a treat meeting them last night after my wife and I were done representing Yelp at the 626 Night Market.

The brothers were doing their man-on-the-street interviews and were soon surrounded by fans and curious onlookers. After a few minutes wait, we were able to get a selfie with them. David had some kind words for Yelp, saying that they use the site often while researching their videos.

I’m proud to represent Yelp at events like these and praise like that was a nice bonus. It made our fanboy/fangirl moment of the night.

Day 248: Cuteness Overload

Lazy Bear's jumbo crab stir-fried curry.

Lazy Bear’s jumbo crab stir-fried curry.

I was back at the 626 Night Market tonight representing the Yelp brand. My wife joined me this time and along with our fellow Yelpers Jennifer and Wayne, we spread some Yelp love for a few hours.

Just like at the event I did last month, I enjoyed meeting so many Yelp users and fans. People genuinely like using the app and a few of them were kind enough to share stories with us.

My wife and I had a lot of fun handing out the Yelp swag. During the downtime she picked up our dinner (pictured above) from the Lazy Bear booth. It’s the cutest thing I’ve eaten in a while.

The cutest overload of the food didn’t stop me from going all Hannibal Lechter on it, though; it was delicious, even without fava beans and a nice chianti.

Day 247: Force Friday

Force Friday

#ForceFriday!

I’m enjoying the cold weather this morning on #ForceFriday, the hashtag day created by Disney to shove new Star Wars merchandise down the public’s throats.

I shouldn’t be so cynical. I’ve been trying not to get too excited about Episode VII. Thanks to social media, though, the hype has been even more insane than when the first prequel was released in 1999.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been trying to temper my expectations; the let-down of the prequels punched a hole in the franchise’s invulnerability. Fans learned that George Lucas was not infallible and neither was everything associated with the Star Wars universe. While we could laugh about Mark Hamill’s whining in the original, we couldn’t forgive Hayden Christensen for his portrayal of Anakin (and we were shocked to see Natalie Portman be so flat-out bad).

For the record, I did enjoy Episode III, despite the horrendous acting and dumb moments like this (although it did inspire this piece of Internet brilliance).

So, I’ll pass on the Star Wars merch for now. I’ll continue to ignore every Star Wars-related news online. I’ll keep my wallet closed until December 18th, 2015.

And I expect my bank account to be empty on December 19th, 2015.

Day 246: 626 Night Market

Grilled Squid at the 626 Night Market.

Grilled Squid at the 626 Night Market.

The final 626 Night Market of the year is this weekend. Pictured above is one of my favorite foods there: grilled squid. While it’s not as good as Gerry’s Grill, it’s my go-to food at these outdoor shindigs.

The 626 Night Market is a huge Asian-themed food festival, but it’s much more than that: there’s vendors of all sorts, live music, DJs, artists, and a great people-watching scene, as well as a growing number of non-Asian food choices. It gets bigger every year and, honestly, you’re better off going to any of the nearby San Gabriel Valley eateries to get quality Asian food at non-festival prices (aka cheaper).

Still, for only $3 (and free parking), it’s worth it for the entertainment value alone. I can only handle a few hours of the madness, though, since these days I’m more of a eat-my-squid-and-go-home type of guy.