Shanghai Gate

After softball on Friday a group of us decided to go to dinner. We were in Brookline Hills, so I thought we'd end up some place typical for the beer crowd. Perhaps Bertucci's?

Bless our team captain, Ted, for suggesting Chinese food instead.

From the confused looks of others, I hoped to lend a worthwhile suggestion: Shanghai Gate?

Shanghai Gate opened up the year I lived in Allston. The minute it opened I knew I had to try it. The menu was small, the setting was s. clean, and it's patrons were almost exclusively Asian. I've been in love with it ever since.

We inevitably go just for the Lion Head Casserole, a Shanghai-style oversized pork meatball served with single piece of baby bok choi and thin soy gravy. It's absolutely tender and salty, with subtle contrasting bits (of water chestnuts?). We've on occasion taken the meatballs to-go just so we could eat them with rice at home. Stephen, a connoisseur of Shanghai food in his own right, says they're one of the top two Lion Head Casserole he's had outside of China.

They also serve stir-fried pea shoots ("pea pod stems" on the menu). It's a simple, huge portion of crispy, tender veggie in a little garlic and oil and salt. They are an excellent, better tasting alternative to spinach. It as a first-time veggie for two in our group, but a big hit. The xiao long bao (pork dumpling with soup on the inside!) was added a year or so into the restaurant menu. It's gotten a lot better since. It's especially nice with the black vinegar and ginger dipping sauce.

I haven't tried to many of the cold appetizers, but specials and fish dishes are always winners. Here's a Phoenix review if you're curious. If you're up for a wild and crazy dish, ask for the corn pancake. a slightly sweet, enormous corn fritter.

Asia Fabulous II - Debriefed

Yesterday was pretty awesome. Pretty much everyone who said they'd come visited the house and joined us for an afternoon of eating and drinking outside in the sunshine. The bonus is that our house is really quite clean and attractive-looking.

beverages included Thai and Malay iced teas and mimosas

dishes included "filichino" pancit, Korean bi bim bap, penang curry, korean-fried tofu with a chili soy sauce, asian salad, adobo wings & hard boiled eggs (we ran low on the chicken and I couldn't stand wasting all the gravy goodness), Shanghai baby bok choy with veggie oyster sauce and toasted sesame seeds, & char siu bao

desserts included Vietnamese seamed sweet mung bean-filled glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaf, egg tarts, Asian cakes via baobaobakery, mango mochi, & sweet red bean buns

The main party crowd left and the die hards moved inside for gender war taboo. Then the babies came! Lisa brought both Holly and their doggie Acer. Jesse came by with Isaiah, too!

In all, good times were had and bellies left full. Until next year's Asia Fabulous!

Asia Fabulous

I'm doing a second annual potluck with my roommates in honor of APA heritage month. It's always interesting what people decide to bring.

Working Menu Basics for Potluck
* Adobo Wings
* Veggie Pancit
* Chicken Pancit
* Thai Iced Tea
* Teh Tarek
* Vietnamese Sticky Rice & stuff wrapped in Banana Leaf
* Asian Snacky-Snacks (shrimp chips and chocolate Pocky)

Potluck Contributions
* dumplings
* curry
* Kalbi
* More TBA

Cooking to Discover Your Roots

I've always imagined that I'd one day want to spend time travelling Malaysia and the Philippines to learn how to go about authentically preparing foods from the homelands. So many of my cookbooks and food memories have compelled me to spend more time understanding what I eat through a more historical and political context.

The cookbook Memories of Philippine Kitchens does just that. It explores chapters by region and by distinct Philippine dishes. And more than just a cookbook it provides family and cultural history behind recipes and ingredients. The authors, restaurateurs in NYC, do a wonderful job of why describing we eat what we eat. I particularly love their research about where dishes originated and how they were named. It's a huge volume and makes interesting reading.

Taco Mex - Yummy Tortas y Pupusas

The roommates with out-of-towners Vicki and Percy ate lunch today at Taco Mex, a Mexican/Latin American restaurant in East Boston's Maverick Square. I had a Pork Adabado Torta - slightly spicy and sour marinated pork.. mmm. The bread was oustanding as was the portion size for $4.75. The chicaronnes pupusa was also a winner. The burritos were reported standard but satisfying, and Thuy approved of the sweet plantains.

I was also happy to try the special drink of the day, atol de elote, beverage made from corn, milk, sugar and cinnamon (lika a corn version of horchata).

6 of us ate well under $50 with tip. The place seats groups of up to 4 comfortably. 5 0r 6 max can sit with the help of extra chairs.

california food log

SoCal:
Jamba Juice - Aloha Pineapple!
Jack in the Box - Grilled Chicken Sourdough Jack
Sprinkles (Beverly Hills) - Red Velvet and Coconut cupcakes!
Denny's - Extreme Slam

Bay Area/Stanford:
Punkins (Pittsburg)
Del Taco
Crepes A-go-go - House special with avocado. Condiment of choice? Rooster Sauce!
Pluto's (Palo Alto) -Farmer's Salad with grilled flank steak and slice of herb slab focaccia. Why can't salads be this tasty in Boston?
The Tree House - Grilled Chicken Quesadilla with pico de gallo and guacamole. Tastes like college.
Jamba Juice - Bright-eyed and blueberry. Creamy and delicious!
Cafe Verde - Black frothy milk tea, no pearls. Classic. Frothy. Yummy.
Rose and Crown - Basket of fish and chips with a tall glass of Stella.

Expensive Cupcakes

http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/
per Jennifer's suggestion, Eddie and I made the Trek to Beverly Hills to find the Red Velvet cupcake from Sprinkles. It was pretty darn good, especially for being over 3 bucks for a normal sized cupcake.