SPAM for Lunch

I wasn't sure if I'd be called for afternoon round of jury duty, so my limbo lunch plans made today the perfect day to use some left over nori sheets, leftover quinoa-laced rice, and my emergency SPAM Singles Lite pack.

From SPAM LUNCH

While my family tends to keep a can of SPAM® LOW SODIUM as a pantry item, the slice o' SPAM was purcased on a whim when I found it at a 99¢ Only Store. This humble slice has been patiently waiting for me to rescue it from my desk and take it to the kitchenette where it could fulfill its destiny as -- SPAM Onigiri.



I would probably not have enjoyed myself as much if it weren't for the awesome Onigiri wrap sheets I found at a Fremont 99 Ranch.



The wraps are so glam-looking and come with a set of bright orange stickers to "seal" your creation. But the most fantastic element is the built in tear-line. It allows you to remove only half of the wrap, thus exposing only a first-half to your mouth.

Ghost of a Dinner Party

Last month I decided Hurricane/Tropical Depression Felicia was a good enough reason to invite people over to eat. At first I was hesitant to announce my party plans, but after a few days of watching the trajectory, it seemed like it wouldn't do major damage and would die down before landfall. Afterward, I was super-juiced that "my" hurricane didn't kill anyone.

Since Felicia was on a path from Baja to Hawaii, I thought a Mexi-Hawaiian menu would be quite appropriate.

• Bottled Coke (USA and Mexican)
  
• Elotes Asados featuring Japanese Kewpie Mayo
  
• SPAM Musubi
  
• Slow Cooker Kālua Pork Tacos
  
• Dulce de Leche-filled Churros
  

As with most common with my dinners, I rarely remember to photograph what I make. The only pic was of the last cob of grilled corn schmeared with Kewpie mayo, showered with cilantro, sprinkled with Cotija, just awaiting a sprinkle of two of my shortcuts to extra flavor... mouth-puckering Tajín seasoning (dehydrated lime juice is surprisingly addictive) and/or smokey bacon salt.

The Kālua Pork was my first time trying to dry-roast a piece of meat in the slow cooker. I took a hunk of bone-in shoulder, seasoned it with some salt, liquid smoke, and wrapped it in [frozen] banana leaves. The amount of fat it shed was positively shocking. A little Mi Pueblo salsa and fresh corn tortillas warmed on the grill made those suckers tasty, but a the meat was little dry.

Low sodium SPAM was the dark horse and clear winner of the evening. Nga helped my wrap them using my new acrylic sushi mold. There's something deeply simple and pleasurable about rice and pan-fried SPAM.

Stacey and Mark picked up the filled churros at Mi Pueblo. We reheated them on the grill and admired how the dulce caramel oozed from the center of every inch - in one continuous stream, top to bottom.

****

A couple weeks ago, I ended up improving the pork by using fresh banana leaves to line the pot and added a touch of Coke to keep the meat moist. I drained and shredded the roast and seasoned it with a little Mr. Yoshida's sauce a la Costco. I made 17 lbs. of the pork and less than half a pound remained for a crowd of 50.

Roasted Pumpkin Pancetta Fried Brown Rice

From Exploding taste buds lead to exploding waistlines

Lois was at my house a month ago to make French Onion Soup. In order to feed our selves during the long wait of caramelized onions, I used some leftovers to make a quick autumn fried rice as a first course.

The stuff

4 oz pancetta, fine dice (Trader Joe sells a Citterio pack)
1 cup cooked cold pumpkin, diced
1 1/2 cups cooked cold brown rice
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
salt
pepper

The order

1. Start with cold pan. Cook pancetta till crispy, set aside after cooked and reserve remaining fat for cooking.

2. Heat the pumpkin through in pancetta renderings.

3. Toss in thyme leaves and rice. Heat through and season with salt and pepper.

Jo-Jo Tai Pei

Do four Taiwanese eateries within a half-mile radius make a neighborhood a Taiwan-town?

The original two Taiwanese store fronts in Allston Village were Infusions Tea Spa (tapioca pearl tea and tea-time snack haven) and its next door neighbor - Yi Soon Bakery. Then Super 88 welcomed a Wisteria in the food court after the Newbury Street location split into two (the Super 88 in Allston and the East Cambridge sit-down). More recently Jo-Jo Tai Pei moved across the street from the bakery.

I've been there twice and both times have been quite tasty. The first time Sandra and Jack brought me there for the "special pork chop over rice" ($6.99), Taiwanese stir-fried noodles ($6.99), "famous spicy beef noodle soup" ($8.99), and "bow bin" shaved ice (small $4.99).

The pork chop plate really felt like a good value. The chop was season, fried, and enormous. Sides included a tea egg, Chinese broccoli, and some pickled turnip (?) - I never touch it, so I'm never sure. I love the "garnish" of stewed fatty pork belly pieces.





The stir fried noodles were simple, not overly oily, and perfectly seasoned with just enough garlic and onion flavor.



The beef noodles, while pricier than I'd like to pay for, were delicious. The spiciness level was decent and the texture of the noodles was dense enough to give a little chew.



The shaved ice was tasty. Of all the sweet toppings I love the tapioca pearls and boiled peanuts the best. While I do enjoy the sweet beans, my brain never gets used to eating sweetened boiled mung beans.



I followed Jerry and Scott there a second time for the "crispy smelly bean curd" ($5.99), oyster pancake ($5.99), cold dan-dan peanut noodles ($6.99), and large bow bin ($6.99).

It was my first stinky tofu experience. The whole restaurant could smell something was up once our order was fired up. A few Asian and non-Asian patrons asked each other "What is that smell?" For all it's pungency, the flavor and texture were pretty mellow. The pieces of tofu are bite-sized, so it's easy to throw a few down the gullet and act like a season stinky-tofu eater. The oyster pancake was good, but not as amazing as Myers+Chang's version. The dan-dan noodles were tasty - and easy enough to take out for a picnic dish. I enjoy them more than Thai Peanut noodle salad because they use a thicker (almost Soba-like) noodle.

I look forward to going back to search for one of my holy grail, childhood food memory dishes - the Jo-Jo Special Mini Steamed Bun. It's a thicker dough version of a soup-on-the-inside dumpling that's been pan seared. The ones I remember from my elementary school days in a South Bay Taiwanese noodle shop were pan fried on both sides, but the Jo-Jo version online appears to be close enough. I'll find out one of these days.

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.