food

Day 276: Random Saturday Thoughts

Tastykakes from the freezer are the best!

Tastykakes straight from the freezer are the best.

A few random thoughts on a Saturday night:

  1. Tastykakes: They’re an East Coast treat, but over the years I’ve seen them more frequently in Southern California. My local grocery store was having a 2-for-1 sale and I couldn’t resist the power of the Tastykake.  I LOVE the peanut butter Kandy Kakes, which taste like a Reese’s peanut butter cup in mini-cake form. They’re even better when frozen.
  2. Dodgers: The good news is they won the NL West again and are going to the playoffs. The bad news is long-time organist Nancy Bea Hefley is retiring after this season. I hope the Dodgers don’t get rid of the organist position; as much as I love the snippets of today’s pop music during a game, there’s something very soothing about being at Dodger Stadium and listening to the between-innings notes from the organ.
  3. Jeopardy!: It’s always fun to see a player dominate on my favorite game show and Matt Jackson’s five-show run has been terrific. I liked this first-person account from one of his vanquished opponents.

Day 270: littlemeatsLA

Cast-iron skillet kimchi fried rice with smoked pork belly and 14-hour smoked brisket.

Cast-iron skillet kimchi fried rice with smoked pork belly and 14-hour smoked brisket.

Over a month ago, my Yelp buddy Alex posted some photos from a supper club in L.A. The food looked delicious, but when I saw the 14-hour smoked brisket I knew I had to drive out there as soon as I could get on the list.

I’m a sucker for anything cooked low and slow.

My wife and I made it for tonight’s dinner and it lived up to all the hype and then some. Not only was the food phenomenal, but the company was fantastic. Our host Robin and our chef for the evening Stevie were personable and passionate and it was easy to see how much love went into our tonight’s #EthnicAmerica get-together.

littlemeatsLA was successful in creating a space where strangers could have a family experience. Old school hip hop served as our background music as we got to know our fellow diners. Conversation flowed freely and easily; one minute I was talking to an attorney, the next an owner of a popsicle business.

It was an amazing and inspirational meal, highlighted by the kimchi fried rice with 14-hour smoked brisket. It was comfort food elevated to an art form, with every bite savored and enjoyed by all of us.

On the way home, my wife and I couldn’t stop talking about the experience: the food, the conversations, the sense of community when people get together like this … and, of course, our next visit.

Tonight’s menu:

Appetizer:

“Ants on a Log” with Ssamjang butter

Main: 

Cast-iron kimchi fried rice and accoutrements, with smoked pork belly and 14-hour smoked brisket.

Dessert:

Pineapple shiso sorbet

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 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 237: Grilled Squid

Grilled Squid at Gerry's Grill

Grilled Squid at Gerry’s Grill

It’s been five years since I’ve been to the Philippines and one of the things I miss the most is the inahaw na pusit (grilled squid). Today, my wife and I happened to be in the Artesia area so we had an early dinner at Gerry’s Grill.

Gerry’s is known for its grilled squid and I loved it the Philippines. Their restaurant in Artesia is one of two in the U.S. (the other in Northern California) and I’ve had it bookmarked on Yelp for a while.

The interior reminded me of the Gerry’s I’d been to. We tore into the grilled squid as well as the tuna steak and wolfed down the garlic rice.

The verdict? While not exactly like the Philippines location, it’s close enough in flavor that I’ll be back soon.

I’ve also tentatively started to plan my next trip the mother land.

Day 233: Alfajor

Alfajor.

Alfajor.

My family had dinner at our favorite Peruvian restaurant tonight and for dessert we had a few alfajores. An alfajor is basically a cookie sandwich filled with dulce de leche and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

In other words, it’s AMAZING.

Day 227: Nisei Week

Manichi Ramen

Manichi Ramen

We did a family trip to Little Tokyo today to celebrate Nisei Week. It’s the 75th celebration and even though we’re in the middle of a heatwave, we had a fantastic time.

Admission to the Japanese American National Museum was free today, so we checked out the current exhibitions. First was Sugar/Islands: Finding Okinawa in Hawai’i – The Art of Laura Kina and Emily Hanako Momohara, which featured paintings and photographs documenting the migrant workers in Hawai’i. Next was Before They Were Heroes: Sus Ito’s World War II Images, a fantastic collection of candid photographs of Japanese Americans fighting in WWII. I really liked this exhibition, since it showed the day-to-day lives of the soldiers and it also touched on the dilemma facing most of the soldiers: they were fighting for a country that sent most of their families into concentration camps.

Of course, in between all of the sightseeing and museum-ing, we did some eating. On our way there, we stopped at 85 Degrees for pastries and ice coffees, then noshed on ramen, mochi, poke, and ice cream. Yes, even the heatwave didn’t stop us from scarfing down bowls of hot ramen from Manichi Ramen, as shown above.