August 2006
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Month August 2006

Entries 5 Total

SoHo Park

Aug 31, ’06

62 Prince Street corner of Lafayette
212/219.2129
about $15 for one, with a drink, without tip
♥

A really uncool name for such a great space and location, SoHo Park opened this week to all kinds of hungry and curious visitors. There were fashionable girls in line while the Brooks Brothers-wearing boys sat at the bar; even backpack-carrying guys joined gray-haired ladies in the dining area. I stopped by after work when they first opened and ordered a Hoegaarden and a Stella at the bar. The bartender had no clue how much beers were. I said, let’s just make it $11, shall we? And he did. (They probably were about $5 apiece anyway.) After drinks, I wanted to see if I can sit on one of the camouflage-covered benches outside. I waited for the hostess to let me know how long the wait was but I could never get her attention. She needed help from other employees fast!

I returned the next day for lunch and the line was long. There were plenty of seats inside but of course, the benches outside were already taken. After we ordered, we were given old license plates that had our order numbers written on them. Perhaps a nice touch to their “park” theme but the servers walked all over the restaurant in search of the correct numbers when delivering orders. (It was 1pm, by the way, but the girl at the counter was still compelled to greet each person in line a good morning.)

The double Park burger was juicy but I didn’t get cheese with it–I wasn’t reminded by the girl at the counter that I could order it as an extra. The hand-cut Belgian fries were also pretty good.
The grilled cheese with pesto smelled heavenly and tasted like it was indeed freshly-made. The onion rings were crunchy, greasy and was our best guilty pleasure side order. The different sauces were notable especially the red-pepper ketchup and the garlic aioli. (Redundant, I know, but they had different kinds of aioli.) The turkey portobello mushroom sandwich was a bit boring and dry but the focacia bread and the barely detectable sauce saved it. (I hope they correct the misspelling on their menu board before my next visit, though.) We also ordered the fried pickles which just turned out to be, well, hot. I think I like my Gus’ pickles just the way they are.

The food took a while to come because of the time of day, but when they did, we were pretty content (and hungry). The foot traffic will be good for business for sure, but they have to act quickly and focus on the service before they start turning people away.

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Fatty Crab

Aug 29, ’06

643 Hudson Street between Gansevoort and Horatio Streets
212/352.3590
about $70 for two, with three drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

Chef Zak Pelaccio is my kind of guy because he would fry pork belly until it’s crispy and serve it with watermelon chunks and its rind, pickled. The result is a delicious balance of saltiness with juiciness and just the right amount of sourness. I can live with just this dish for a while.

The rest of the menu is also good. During our first visit, we tried the quail egg shooters after I was alerted by a reader about an oyster-sake version. Four quail eggs are lightly poached and topped with sambal oelek, a traditional Indonesian spice; the other three come with a single anchovy and shredded dried pork floss. We also ordered the Jalan Alor chicken wings named after what used to be the Red Light District of Kuala Lumpur but where the best street food stalls are now located. It was a messy ordeal trying to eat them with our fork and spoon, and then later, with our hands. A very large serving of short rib Rendang came braised with kaffir lime, coconut and chili. It was absolutely delicious but I wished it wasn’t $20–I would like it in a smaller portion for half the price.

We sat at the bar at 7:30pm on a Monday night and just made it before people started lining up outside to get the next table. It’s warm near the kitchen and with all the spicy food we were eating, we felt like we were actually in southeast Asia; Tiger and San Miguel beers flowed between my brother and I. An extra star for the spoon and fork setup, the oscillating fan on the ceiling, Chef de Cuisine Corwin Kave in baseball cap, and of course, the porn in the bathroom.

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Korea: Jjorim Fish Stew

Aug 29, ’06

Simmering meats or fish for a long time is what Koreans call jjorim. Usually a soy sauce-based marinade is used to make jjorim stew. This is Nabi’s mother’s recipe but she’s adapted it to make a vegetarian version with tofu. I copied and used both fish and tofu and it turned out to be the perfect bowl to nurse during a rainy day. I julienned a carrot and a radish while I roasted a small sweet potato. I put them all together in a pot with some firm tofu, poured over the soy sauce marinade and topped them with a beautiful cod fillet. The saltiness of the soy sauce evaporated when I put everything into a low simmer; I turned off the heat when the fish was white enough to look tender.

Ingredients:
1 1-pound black cod fillet
1 package of firm tofu, diced
1 small daikon radish, julienned
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small sweet potato, roasted, sliced
1/2 cup vegetable stock
5 tbsps soy sauce
2 tbsps white wine
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsps red chili flakes
a small knob of ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
1 garlic, minced

1. Mix and stir all the liquid together with the maple syrup, ginger, garlic and pepper flakes to make marinade.
2. In a Dutch oven, layer all the vegetables and tofu. Pour the marinade into the pot. Add the vegetable stock. Top with the fish.
3. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Top with roasted seaweed.

Related post/s:
More Cooking the World recipes: China
About Cooking the World: Global Gastronomy Food Project

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Yogurt Panna Cotta with Grape Gelée

Aug 29, ’06

This didn’t come out as pretty as I had hoped. I forgot to dip the set panna cotta gelée ramekins in warm water before unmolding for a smoother finish, but at least they came out deliciously purple. This was adapted from Gourmet Magazine. I took advantage of the fresh seedless grapes at Fairway and the leftover gelatin packets in my cupboard. I rarely make desserts but the last couple of summers, I’ve gotten the hang of making gelée and panna cotta. To test the waters, I only made two of these and excluded the grappa on both the gelée and the panna cotta–they still turned out yummy.

Ingredients:
For gelée:
1 tsp of unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup all-natural grape juice
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup seedless grapes, thinly sliced crosswise
oil for greasing ramekins

For panna cotta:
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup plain yogurt
a pinch of salt

1. Make gelée. Sprinkle gelatin over half of the grape juice in a heavy saucepan and let stand for 1 minute to soften. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve gelatin. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining grape juice with the grapes and the lemon juice. Lightly oil the ramekins and put in a shallow baking pan. Divide grape mixture evenly among ramekins and chill in freezer for about 30 minutes or until gelée is set.
2. Make panna cotta while gelée sets. Stir in gelatin and half of the cream in another heavy saucepan and let stand for 1 minute to soften. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve the gelatin. Add the rest of the cream with sugar and return to a simmer until sugar is dissolved. Whisk together yogurt and salt in a bowl until smooth. Pour in cream mixture and whisk until combined well.
3. Pour mixture into ramekins over set gelée and chill, covered with Saran wrap, until firm, about 8 hours.
4. To unmold, run a thin sharp knife along the edge of the ramekin to loosen. Dip in a small bowl of very warm water for about 6 seconds. Invert a plate over each ramekin and then invert panna cotta gelée onto plates, gently lifting off ramekins.

Related post/s:
Gelée with blackberries
Making gelée with sake
Coffee panna cotta

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Searching For a Good Taco: Red Hook, Brooklyn

Aug 28, ’06

I have to admit that we didn’t drive from Harlem all the way down to Red Hook to look for a good taco. We made the trip to check out the Fairway Supermarket that opened a few months ago and do our grocery shopping for the week. Walking along the waterfront of Red Hook, you’ll be reminded that the city was a port city.

Giant machines, old warehouses, heavy containers, big ships, abandoned piers and the squawking seagulls make up the view. There is no subway close to the water so visitors need to have a car or trek from Carroll Gardens to get to Red Hook. It’s probably this inconvenience that’s stopping Manhattan folks from coming and moving in droves. But when you get there, you can imagine the old-school blue-collar New York way before the cafés and art galleries–and Fairway–started to open up in the neighborhood. Gentrification is well on its way, but who am I to snort when I live in one of the newest buildings in west Harlem?

The Times featured the tents outside the Red Hook baseball fields last week where all kinds of different foods are sold. We wanted to pass by and look for the pupusas we had in El Salvador and to slurp the vinegar goodness of Ecuadorian ceviche. We thought that if we find a good taco, then it would just be icing on the cake. Little did we know that we’d actually find the best taco. My search this year ends.

We parked our car and walked towards the park along Bay and Clinton Streets where we could already see blue tents set up for the forming lunch crowd. On Henry Street, however, we spotted a lone table with a tarp tied to a tree, so we decided to check the goods there before heading to the busier part of the field.

Large pieces of pork are stewed in a vat of boiling marinade then cut up into smaller portions before filling soft tortillas with finely chopped onions and cilantro. I haven’t tasted every taco sold in New York City but I’m going to have to lay it out there and say that this is the best taco I’ve had so far.

As a comparison, we bought a beef steak taco from the last stand on the far side of Clinton. Although it was good, it wasn’t enough to make us forget about the taco we just had. The Dr., my brother and I all voted for the first taco as the better one.

The secret in the second taco was the chicharron, or pig’s skin deep-fried into crunchy paradise. I think the lady was thrilled that we asked for extra chicharron when she was putting a taco together for us.

Related post/s:
The story behind Searching for a Good Taco in New York City
Second stop, East Village
First stop, Upper West Side

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