Dessert at Hirozen

After a typical delicious meal at Hirozen, I found myself in shock over the dessert menu. They had Yokan!! This brings me back to when I lived in Japan. Yokan is made from red bean and comes in a jiggly jellied form. There's so many different varieties of Yokan.

The one at Hirozen came with a side of tapioka pudding.

Hirozen
8385 Beverly Blvd.
90048
323.653.0470

K-Town

If you should ever find yourself in a club in Koreatown, You will likely stumble across a fruit plate. If there's one thing I know about Koreans (being that I'm Korean), we love two things when we go out: fruit plates and Crown Royal. I'm still perplexed as to why us Koreans love this Canadian import so much. I apologize for the bad photo. I was probably 10 drinks in at this point.

Bottega Louie

Their food is great and reasonably priced given the location and ambience. But what I really want to talk about is the ice cube in my Dewars. It's 1 big cubic ice cube. It's simple physics: less surface area means the ice will melt slower. More bars should adapt this method. Perfect for scotch and whiskey.

Pizzeria Mozza

Finally had a chance to dine at Pizzeria Mozza. What's everyone gauge when it comes to good pizza? Is it the sauce? The cheese? The crust? I'm a big fan of good chewy and thin crusts.

We tried a few interesting pizzas, one with anchovies (more people should like anchovies), and one with egg, bacon, and yukon gold potatoes. But the real winner was the caprese insalate.

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Avenue
90036
323.297.0101

New iPhone!

I'm terribly sorry for not posting for an entire 9 months. That's all going to change. I now have an iPhone 4 which has been capturing some great quality photos.

Mushrooms

I made a simple appetizer using two different mushrooms: Enoki and King Oyster.

King Oysters are very meaty mushrooms. I sliced them in half and sauteed them in butter.



I also sauteed some Enoki mushrooms. The Enokis take a lot less time to cook. I typically like to put them in my miso soup.

I lightly drizzled the mushrooms with soy sauce and Yuzu juice at the very end. Yuzu's fragrance and acidity balances out nicely with the soy sauce and butter.




We hear the term Umami a lot these days. I often associate the flavor of mushrooms to have an umami quality.

Obama Water

I had to show you all this bottle of water I recently purchased. I guess it's not as strange as it seems, since we're all so captivated by the next hip bottle of water. How often have we been captivated by a bottle of water because it's been filtered 50 times or because it's been melted down from the French Alps? The marketing geniuses certainly won me over.

Kimchi Tuna Melt

Inspired by an item from the Kogi truck, I made my own version of their Kimchi Tuna Melt. Mine was on thick Japanese white toast with a simple tuna salad. The cheese is a Kraft American cheese (not too fancy, I know, but it melts so well). The kimchi relish I made is chopped kimchi, a dash of brown sugar (balances out the sour of the kimchi), and sesame oil. Grill the bread on a skillet with butter.

I apologize for the lack of updates

A ton of updates coming, including a Ludo Bites post. I vow to carry my camera with me at all times.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

I'll say this a million times: everything tastes good wrapped in bacon. The key to cooking this is using a broiler at a high temperature and letting the bacon crisp up quickly without overcooking the scallop. No salt necessary as the bacon provides plenty of salt. I placed them on a drizzle of Sriracha for heat.

Kentucky Grilled Chicken

I remember the plethora of Kentucky Fried Chicken locations in Japan when I was growing up. KFC to me was always the standard in which I measured all other fried chickens. Say what you will about the KFC chicken, but to me, I take comfort in knowing that when I yearn for fried chicken (usually about once a month), there's a reliable drive-thru ready to serve me with the most consistent chicken.

I was shocked to find that the marketing people came up with a grilled chicken. The first batch of commercials featured Sandra Lee (who by the way is the perfect combination of beauty and culinary skills). If this new grilled chicken was alright by Sandra Lee, I was going to have to try it.


I went online to check out the ingredients. I was shocked to find among the ingredients: MSG, rendered beef fat (??), and anticaking agents. The grilled variety is definitely less caloric and fatty by a considerable margin, but if I'm going to KFC, I'm going all out and throwing nutritional figures out the door.

Overall, I'd say the grilled chicken was ok, but the only thing I would ever have at KFC is the original recipe chicken.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World??

I was at Vicente Foods in search of an afternoon snack, and I stumbled upon a big box of chocolate chip cookies.  When the box says, "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies In the World [not kidding]," I can't help but to purchase a box and decide for myself.

Were they the best cookies in the world?  Not really, in my opinion.  They were still good, but had no X factor that would make me say that they're the best cookies in the world.  It's all subjective though, isn't it?  The creators, Bart and Judy, I assume, that in their hearts of hearts, believe that their cookies are the the best in the world.

I like the instruction sheet that it comes with:

"I. How to best enjoy our cookies:

These cookies are packaged in oxygen barrier packaging, -like a fine wine, these cookies benefit from "decanting"."

Pick up a box at Vicente Foods if you feel compelled to be the judge of a very bold claim.

More Mitsuwa Sushi Pics

I love the beautiful red color of Ikura.

Machaca

My friends know I have a terrible fear of heights.  So before I got on my first flight in years, I pounded down 3 shots of Dewars before heading to the airport.  While at the airport, I progressively felt the dreaded feeling of sobriety.  I quickly went to a Mexican food stand at the LAX terminal to order a glass of Bud Light.  While there, I noticed their menu and couldn't stop myself from ordering a machaca & egg burrito.  I don't remember the name of the food stand, but the meat was really tender.

Chicken Soup

Does chicken soup actually cure a cold or is it simply a myth?  This article suggests that it may actually help decrease the inflammatory response with viral colds.

If you don't already have a soup pot, you should definitely invest in one.  I got mine at Ross of all places.

It doesn't get any simpler than throwing chicken, carrots, onions, celery, salt and peppercorns into a pot of water.  Simmer the goodies for about an hour.  I like to use chicken legs and thighs (bone in).

After cooking, allow the soup to cool.  I like to put the soup in the fridge overnight to let the fat rise to the top.  In the morning, skim off the layer of fat, and you have yourself a nice broth.