Koi Palace

This weekend, J and I fulfilled a long time dream of trying Koi Palace for dinner. We've had great dim sum there in the past, but we wanted to see what it would be like to order out of the impressive fish tanks and glass displays at the front of the restaurant!!

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is probably the most unique dish offered at Koi Palace. It's a classic Chinese dish, the kind of thing served to VIPs and on very special occasions. In my bowl above you can see some fish maw and a very thick piece of dried abalone. Neither J nor I have ever been served anything but thin slices of abalone; it's like being given a wedge of truffles instead of a sliver!

The price for the soup was steep: $43 for this tureen. However, a little bit goes a long way. We ordered 4 tureens for 7 people and really should have stopped at 3. The broth was really intensely flavored. I'm sure I'm missing some ingredients, but I saw sea cucumber, fish maw, sharks fin, dried abalone, shitake mushrooms, Chinese ham, dried scallops, ginseng, and mountain yam. What an amazing way to start a meal.

We moved on to a seven pound spiny lobster, which was served two ways. Here's the first: sashimi over ice. Lobster sashimi is almost flavorless, but has a very sweet aftertaste accompanied by a light oceany scent. Just the tiniest bit of soy sauce and wasabi makes this dish really shine. 

Then came the visual stunner of the evening: a roast suckling pig!! We knew this pig was overkill for seven people, but we couldn't resist. It was served as soon as it came out of the oven and came to the table with flashing marischino cherry eyes powered by a small battery pack tucked under the pig. We pulled out the battery because it was creepy and distracting!

A close up of the crackling skin. WOW! I can honestly say I've never tasted anything quite like this. It really is the best pig skin I've ever tasted in my life. When the pig is done, the restaurant slices up the skin and removes the fat from the underside of the skin. What's left is a thin, crackly skin that's served with a thick, sweet soy sauce and steamed buns. The crunch on these was amazing!! I think I ate five pieces and had room for more. 

Moving on with our unusual dishes, we had mantis shrimp. They were kind of like a cross between a prawn and a lobster, soft and lightly sweet but without a very strong flavor. 

The weirdest thing about mantis shrimp is that they are purple on the inside. 

By this time everyone was pretty full, and we took a vegetable break. Even the vegetables were good! We had large pea shoots in a savory broth, and every last bit of it was tender beautiful. 

We quickly went back to eating seafood. The second preparation of our lobster came out and pretty much did us all in. 

By the time the second preparation of the pork came, all we could do was politely take a bite and ask the server to pack it all up. J and I will be eating a LOT of pork this week! But the entire meal was a lot of fun and well worth it. Our dinner came to about $800 for a group of seven, but it really could have served ten. The manager told us about a 10 person banquet menu that features a whole suckling pig, sharks fin, and sea cucumber for under $600 on week nights. It includes a bunch of other dishes as well, and sounds like a real bargain. It's hard to get 10 people together on a week night, otherwise I'd be all over that deal!

Tuna Poke, Scallops, and Escolar

It was a busy, event-filled Memorial Day weekend as we showed J's family around SF!! His parents and sister brought his grandparents to visit us for the very first time. The weather cooperated beyond our wildest expectations, and we ate extremely well!!

There were nothing but blue skies and gentle sea breezes all weekend long. The Angelenos were very impressed by our fine weather and clean air. 

Their first night in town, J and I prepared a big welcome dinner. Here's tuna poke wrapped in cucumber slices. 

And for our main course, we served up seared scallops and escolar topped with graded French radishes and ponzu. The vegetables included miniature carrots, English peas, and purple romanesco cauliflower. Fresh, clean, and light flavors. We figured that's what everyone likes after a long car ride! We finished the meal with bowls of mixed berries and a box of mixed mochi from Benkyodo. I forgot photos but the fresh strawberry mochi was a hit!

Peonies

"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." And now, the literary-minded amongst you suspect I have an important dinner in my future. Call me old fashioned, but a dinner party really isn't complete without fresh flowers. But in this (amongst other) respects, I think I have Mrs. D beat. She didn't pick up any peonies like these!!

Peonies and dahlias are amongst my favorite flowers because of their full oversized blooms and countless variations in color. These are coral peonies, a fairly commonly seen color. 

I think my apartment is too hot. These were tight balls when I brought them home, and as soon as I put them in a vase they turned like this! I hope they last the weekend. Peonies usually keep in a vase for over a week!

These are my favorite peony variety. The are double petaled, with flat round outer petals and sharp zig zaggy inner petals that look like they were snipped with scissors. I couldn't quite capture the color, but the intense wine red is really gorgeous. 

Close up of those inner petals. You just don't see flowers like this! I had three grown men stop me and ask what flowers I had and where I'd gotten them. I hope there are some lucky women (or men) who get surprised with peonies tonight!

American Cupcake

If there's one thing I've learned from living in this city, it's that San Franciscans do NOT joke around when it comes to food or parties. And when the party is about food, forget about it!

Tonight I had the extreme pleasure of being a guest at American Cupcake's opening party. Situated on Union Street (near Laguna), American Cupcake is definitely hip enough for the Marina crowd. The entire restaurant is lacquered white, and the ceiling is decorated with color-changing bobbles and wall lights. The overall effect is that of being in a room whose color almost imperceptibly changes. It was blue when I walked in, then later I noticed it was pink, and at one point it was rainbow. In addition to fun decor, American Cupcake offers a menu of not just cupcakes but also an array of All-American comfort food (more on that later.) 

The most visually unique cupcakes were definitely the cotton candy cupcakes. American Cupcake does cupcake well: moist and fluffy with silky frosting. What more can a girl ask for?

In answer to that question, the staff at American Cupcake really kept the treats coming tonight. As soon as my friend and I sat down at one of the booths adorned with cotton candy, servers swept down on us with olives and a trio of nuts (not pictured). We sat back with our bubbly and soaked it all in. I think more restaurants should substitute cotton candy for flowers in their vases!

Before I could get very far into the cotton candy, we were presented with pulled pork sliders, topped with house made barbecue sauce and house made pickles. These were moist, delicious, and just big enough for four ladylike bites (okay, okay, two big bites). One thing that really impresses me about American Cupcake is that they're tackling both baking and cooking all in one venue. They even serve coffee and an extensive menu of peanut butter and jelly variations--apple or banana slices, anyone?

Back to food. The prettiest dish was rare beef on top of toast, topped with a quail egg and caviar.. Talk about decadent!

The big winners for me, however, were the soups. Pictured above is the corn and clam chowder, which was really smooth, sweet, and true to flavor. I didn't get a photo of the cream of asparagus, which came with a poached quail egg at the bottom of the cup. I think the asparagus may have had a leg up on the corn just because asparagus is at the height of its season right now. Both were really amazing. 

We finished our evening with two cocktails: the incorrigible and the shameless. Yes, we picked cocktails that describe us: guess which one I am if you dare. American Cupcake offers its customers "cupcake flights," which are cupcakes paired with a drink. There was too much food and too many cupcakes floating around tonight to test this concept, but for example you can order a coconut cupcake with a Maui coconut porter, or a chocolate cupcake with a Guinness-based cocktail, etc. It's a cute concept, especially for the late night crowd that wants some food with their alcohol. I wish American Cupcake all the best! I always enjoy cafes that mix themes (shout out to Sugar Cafe!).

Mixed Seafood Stir Fry

Pretty, isn't it?

Seafood in a light starchy sauce is a standard Chinese menu item. At home, I like to make a lighter version of the dish using a lot of fresh vegetables in addition to seafood. I forgot to add some mushrooms to today's mix, but I used green onions, celery, carrots, napa cabbage, cuttlefish, and shrimp. Like fried rice, anything you want to use up can be added to this dish: chunks of fish filet, clams, mushrooms, bok choy, bamboo shoots, etc.

The process is simple. Add ginger and oil to a cold pan, then heat the pan to as hot as you can get it. Add the vegetables one at a time, starting with the one that takes longest to cook. Allow about thirty seconds between each addition to let the pan heat back up, then add the seafood and a cup of chicken stock. Add a few dashes of white pepper and a pinch of hondashi, then cover until the seafood is barely cooked through. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in a slurry of cornstarch and water. I usually mix several heaping tablespoons of cornstarch with half a cup of water, then add about a fourth of the slurry at a time until the sauce is as thick as I want.

Sotto Mare

A hunt for great linguine and clams took us to North Beach this morning. Specifically, we ended up at Sotto Mare. This small, homey, restaurant has been on our radar for quite some time now. It is near the now-defunct Lobster Shack, so we passed by it many times on our way to lobster rolls. Little did we know, Sotto Mare is a local favorite!

The linguine and clams ($19) were lovely. Made with large Manila clams, the white wine sauce was on the creamy side, lightly herbed, with pasta cooked ever so slightly past al dente (which is how I prefer them. Don't judge). 

We had heard the cioppino ($27) was a sight to behold, so even though it cost more than I ever pay for lunch I thought I would give it a try. Imagine my surprise when it came in a tureen!!

And then imagine my double surprise when I took off the lid!!! Seafood lovers, this cioppino is a BARGAIN. There's easily enough to make dinner for two, three if you order some raw oysters or want room for some sides and dessert. Embedded in a thick tomato broth were at least half a crab; half a dozen mussels; almost a dozen clams; a handful each of shrimp, scallops, and squid; and plenty of penne pasta at the bottom in case anyone had room for carbs. My one criticism is that the cioppino was intensely salty. With this much seafood in it, however, it would take some serious attention to detail to not overdo the salt. So stay away if you're sensitive to salt like I am. Otherwise, head over and chow down!!

Non-sequitur of the day: my new project is a crocheted blanket! Our new apartment is warm all the time, but there's always room for pretty throw blankets. 

Xiang Chun Curry

Hyper closeup!!!

We had a lot of simple, close-to-vegetarian meals this week, one of which was a simple chicken curry. I know, chicken isn't vegetarian, but I only used two small pieces of thigh meat for a whole pot of curry. I always switch up my curry ingredients depending on what I have in the fridge. This week I used onions, a red bell pepper, baby potatoes, and yama imo. And then to really kick things up a notch, I added the leaves of xiang chun, an edible tree from Henan, China. Xiang chun leaves are purple when they're babies, and mature into long beautiful green leaves. They have an intensely musky flavor, so much so that when my young cousin saw me picking leaves off her tree she asked "Those are edible? I thought it was just a smelly tree."  I think they're delicious, and they added a whole new dimension to boring old Golden Curry.

Uni Pasta

Major yum!!

We finally broke into a bloke of frozen vana that we bought when down in San Diego for a friend's wedding. There's a seafood distributor down there called Catalina Offshore Products, and in addition to plenty of fish they sell frozen blocks of vana that restaurants use to make sauces, mousses, and panna cotta. Vana is basically a fairly low grade of uni. It has great flavor but is not formed into beautiful, solid pieces that can be placed attractively onto sushi. Vana also tends to be darker, and sometimes has tendons or shell bits in it. But because of all these reasons, it's perfect for sauces! I need to tweak my recipe, but the idea is to make a custard with egg, dairy, butter, and uni, and use it over spaghetti or soba. My first try was tasty but dense; I'll post a recipe as soon as I have the right texture!

Russian River Brewing Company

Thinking this weekend would be as beautiful as this week, J and I planned a little outing thinking it was high time we got out of the city a little. Alas, the weather did not cooperate; however, we did still have a great time! 

We finally got to visit the Russian River Brewing Company, home of the famous Pliny the Elder. PtE is a double IPA. I tend to dislike the bitterness of pale ales, but I was blown away by the intense fragrance of passion fruit in this beer! It was totally unexpected and really quite nice. 

We bought a bottle of the Pliny, and filled a to-go growler (that's half a gallon) with Little White Lie, RRB's wheat beer. White beers are my beer of choice, so we figured we'd have a better chance of getting through a half gallon if we got something I loved. 

One cool thing about RRB is that you can get samples of their beer for about fifty cents if you can't decide which of their brews to try. We went through all the Belgians today. My favorite was the Little White Lie (not pictured), followed by the Noble Experiment, Damnation, and Perdition.

Bye bye, Santa Rosa! Snoopy knows what's up. Nor Cal does rule. For those who are wondering where I found this Statue, Santa Rosa is the home of the Charles M. Schulz (and Snoopy) Museum, and the city is dotted with dozens of Peanuts Gang statues. It's a whimsical trait of another lovely Bay Area city.

Spirited Away

When dining at Chez Pei, one can expect fine libations in addition to delicious dining. This weekend, we decided we'd had enough with curtains and paint. Our home project of choice: loading up the liquor cabinet. Given that this Sunday is Bay to Breakers, a "little" alcohol seemed in order. 

Exhibit A: For casual drinking, we often find ourselves mixing up an old-fashioned, margarita, or mojito. Buffalo Trace is the best Kentucky bourbon $20 can buy, chock full of vanilla flavor and a nice full body. Ketel one is one of my favorite vodkas, especially when it's on sale. This is the go-to liquor for a lot of frozen drinks. Flor de Cana will be the mojito base of the summer, and Pura Sangre is a bargain tequila that's standing in until we run out and buy Milagro (also the SF Chronicle's favorite under $30 this year). We bought some cheap and interesting sake today. I've been reading good things about Hana Lychee, and Sho Chiku Bai nigori is a no-brainer at $7 a bottle. 

Now, enough of the cheap stuff. If you are a good friend of Chez Pei, you might see me reaching for one of these bottles when you visit. From the left:

Rhum Barbancourt (Haiti): support Haiti, buy rum! This is our aged rum suggestion. I haven't tried it yet, but it got a huge nod from the helpful staff at Bevmo and smells like butter.

Casa Noble (Mexico): One of our favorite anejo tequilas of all time, Casa Noble now boasts organic plants and a gorgeous purple bottle.

The Glenrothes (Scotland): A Speyside scotch, for those who love a floral, non-peaty Scotch.

Magellan Gin (France): One of the few blue gins on the market, this is a bright, crisp gin with plenty of grassy juniper notes. I'm not the biggest gin fan, but it's quite nice and makes a gorgeous cocktail.

Imperia vodka (Russia): A clean, balanced, ever so slightly sweet vodka distilled from grain. I'm of the opinion that expensive vodka should be served straight from the freezer and disappear on the tongue, hinting at flavor and heat rather than actually tasting of either. Imperia, while not premium enough to quite meet that standard, is definitely among my top 5 for premium vodka, and it's more often on sale more often than Chopin or Stoli Black.

302 Class

Another photo from last week. Trips to LA often include a run for snowflake ice. The picture is worth a thousand words!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Chevre-Stuffed Peppadews

Peppadews are a whimsically named pepper from South Africa. A few years ago they started appearing in the fresh produce aisle of Whole Foods, and a friend told me that traditionally they are marinated in a little balsamic vinegar and stuffed with goat cheese. Last week, I saw some pre-marinated peppers at Whole Foods and decided it would make a nice snack with some chevre and large black olives. Peppadews have a very sweet, fresh flavor that goes perfectly with the tang of vinegar and salt from a good strong cheese. Don’t worry if you can’t handle spicy food; peppadews are perfectly harmless despite looking like habaneros!

Akasaka

Thank you, Hacienda Heights, for always keeping it delicious. I just got back from a hectic week in Los Angeles. And as much as I love San Francisco, I can't deny that Los Angeles has the edge on several culinary fronts. Today, I present Akasaka's $32 chirasihi:

When my sister brought up the idea of a $32 chirashi for lunch, I looked at her like she'd sprouted antlers. $40 per person for lunch? Did someone win the lottery and not tell me? Turns out, this is no typical chirashi! It's the most beautiful chirashi I've ever seen, and easily enough food for three typical lunchers. I was too hungry to carefully count what was in the bowl, but there were at least there kinds of fish roe, a large chunk of really creamy ankimo (fish liver), marinated cuttlefish, a large sweet scallop, at least one ama ebi (the heads came fried on the side), both maguro and albacore tuna, salmon, unagi, hamachi (yellow tail), and tako (octopus). 

A close up of the deliciousness. I should have held the bowl with my hands to show how truly amazing it was. Mixed up with some shiso leaves and wasabi, this really hit the spot. 

For a table of six, we got two chirashis, a rainbow roll, an order of deep fried tempura, and had two people's worth of leftoves for the next day. Insane, right?! Our total bill hovered around $100. Above you'll see my sister's hand next to half a rainbow roll. That's right, I said half.

And in case you're eyes aren't boggle yet, here's another hand model, this time holding a quarter. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it? Food is bigger in Los Angeles. It's a fact.

Apo Apo

I'm really getting my fill of good eats this trip! Truthfully, I'm ready for a nigt at home with a bowl of plain soup (stay tuned for exciting times). But last night I had some more Taiwanese night market style food. My sister and I shared stewed pork belly over rice and wontonss tossed in a garlicky chili sauce remniscent of what Taiwanese vendors pour on oyster pancakes or cold noodles. Both were quite good, and we finished off with some unphotographed shaved ice. 

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Love Letter Pizza & Chicken

I'd been hearing a lot lately about Love Letter's famous sweet potato gold pizza, with mashed sweet potatoed enveloped in the crust. It was pretty tasty, and so was the fried chicken! Bonus points go to Love Letter for serving both roaringly hot, but minus points for excruciatingly slow service. 

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Lucille's BBQ

Photos now, commenttary later!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre