Top ten fabulous food discoveries of the past five years

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732322676995190327.post-7410989951027291862008-04-02T04:45:00.010+02:002008-04-03T16:09:12.844+02:00Top ten fabulous food discoveries of the past five yearsAfter happening upon <a href="http://www.athomeindc.blogspot.com/">my friend's blog</a> about all things edible and drinkable in Washington, D.C., I've been addicted to reading her tantalizing descriptions of that metropolis's restaurant fare. Since D.C. is a bit of a trek for dinner, I started searching for homegrown Beantown blogs of similar bent with which to tempt my palate. I was not disappointed. My favorite so far is <a href="http://thefoodmonkey.com/">The Food Monkey</a>, which gives student-budget-friendly updates on special deals (as well as covering more traditional, salivatory food blog material such as neighborhood-specific "Taste Of..." events). Another favorite is <a href="http://www.latartinegourmande.com/">La Tartine Gourmand</a>, a blog by a French ex-pat who also writes for the Boston Globe Food section. Perhaps more importantly, she is also a food stylist and photographer, so the pictures on her site are phenomenal. I think reading food blogs is my new preferred mode of procrastination. I don't have the time or inclination to eat out frequently, so this is a way to feast my eyes and mind, at least :). In any case, with gastronomical delights on my mind, I decided to make a list of all the food-related epiphanies I've had since coming to Boston. (I know that's a long time, but keep in mind I was eating dorm food for four of the past five years). Perhaps it reveals my ignorance, since pretty much all of these things have existed for centuries, if not millenia. That is okay. These things are good. <a href="http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/shang_shamus/dandan1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/shang_shamus/dandan1.jpg" border="0" /></a>1) Dan dan mian (Mandarin), dun dun mein (Cantonese). This is cheating, because I actually discovered it in Hong Kong this past New Year's Eve when we were out to dinner with my relatives. I'm told I've had it before (who knows), but it was a perfect finale to a week of dimsum and wonton soup in the formerly British territory. This Szechuanese dish is characteristically spicy, with noodles piled into an angrily-red hot sauce containing ground peanuts and sesame sauce, and garnished with thinly sliced cucumbers. Since coming back to Boston, I've already had it three times. Highbrows beware: I am decidedly not a food snob, and I actually like P.F. Chang's version of this dish (and I enjoy their rendering of #2 below, as well). 2) Eggplant. I used to hate this stuff. I guess this is also somewhat cheating, since I first became fond of it when I spent the summer in Shanxi Province, China. The two other interns and I would go around the corner to our favorite roadside eatery, sit down at an open-air table, and order hongshao qiezi (red braised eggplant). The eggplant served there was of the green variety (which I still haven't seen at a grocery store here) and hit the spot every time. (Let me also mention that this was the same restaurant where we stumbled upon a Chinese version of mashed potatoes, tudoni. The spuds are served smothered in meat sauce). In Boston, Taiwan Cafe serves a mean take on eggplant sauteed with basil, which we ordered when T. was visiting from NYC. Still haven't found a good hongshao qiezi though. <a href="http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/50/11/23051150.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/50/11/23051150.jpg" border="0" /></a>3) Chawanmushi. This is a delicate Japanese egg custard with Shiitake mushrooms, shrimp, scallops, and other seafood layered in. I had it for the first time at <a href="http://www.ginzaboston.com/">Ginza</a> last week, and it was served in a tiny ceramic teacup. Thankfully, I wasn't at all hungry (having consumed CPK for lunch) or else that would not have been nearly enough to satisfy me (it's meant as an appetizer, but I orderded it as my main course). It was a lot of fun to eat, though, especially since it's something we wouldn't make at home. 4) Fisherman's Stew. Yi-An's dad found a great recipe for this in a New England cookbook that we subsequently snatched. This should really be called "white soup" because its distinguishing features are white pepper, white wine, and white fish. We make it with cod, but I think you can use other types as well. We add red bell peppers and mushrooms, buy a loaf of cheap but fresh Italian bread from Stop and Shop (see #5 below), and there's a fancy meal! 5) Bread and olive oil, at home. One of the best parts of eating out is the pre-meal snacking on fresh bread, especially if it's accompanied by olive oil. My favorite take on this by a restaurant is <a href="http://www.cccrmg.com/city_cafe.htm">City Cafe</a> in Rochester, MN (it's also the best eatery in town). Yi-An and I realized that it's supremely simple to replicate this in the comforts of our own apartment by getting a loaf of Italian bread from Stop and Shop (though I prefer Shaw's, which has a much better crust) and adding black pepper, red crushed pepper, and Parmesan to olive oil. Awesome. 7) Slow cookers. This has saved many a dinner for us this year. It's a lot easier to chop vegetables and throw everything into a crockpot in the morning than after a long day at work or at school. We have the Hamilton Beach Stay and Go slow cooker from Target. It was a wedding present, cost maybe $20 or $30, and is my favorite kitchen appliance, ever. 8) Taiwanese brunch. I never knew it existed, but it's like a Taiwanese version of Cantonese dimsum. Shangri-La in Belmont and Mary Chung's in Cambridge have tasty and slightly different renderings of this. I like the bowls of sweet soy milk (Yi-An prefers salty - yes, that exists), the xiao long bao (soup-filled dumplings that are really Shanghainese in origin), and the nian gao (glutinous rice cakes). My favorite Cantonese dimsum dish is fried turnip cakes, and Shangri-La makes an unusual version of this served with red hot sauce. There's also dozens of things we eat for which I don't know the names, but pretty much anything we order off the brunch menu turns out to be delicious. <a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/137797560_07f006ef63.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/137797560_07f006ef63.jpg" border="0" /></a>9) Indian food at the Burlington mall food court. Burlington is north of Lexington, which is north of Arlington/Cambridge. There's a big mall there, and we go on weekends when they have their specials (we say we know it must be authentic because we see throngs of Indian people eating there). Our strategy is to observe what said Indian people are ordering, point to something that looks good on their trays, and ask for it. We've discovered dosa and samosa chaat that way. Yum. 10) Online recipes. <a href="http://www.allrecipes.com/">Allrecipes.com</a> (for day-to-day cooking) and <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/">Epicurious</a> (when we have more time) are excellent resources. The ingredient search function on Allrecipes is helpful when we have random leftover jars of tahini sauce or sauerkraut and don't know what to do with them. The comments left by users inevitably improve upon the posted recipes - it's like a braintrust of food knowledge. Uh, this was all actually an excuse to blog about something people actually like reading about. That is, blogging for entertainment value. Expect the next fabulous food discoveries update in another five years, since I probably won't eat out frequently enough to discover much annually. Photos: <a href="http://shanghaiist.com/attachments/shang_shamus/dandan1.jpg">Dan dan mian</a>, <a href="http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/50/11/23051150.jpg">chawanmushi,</a> and <a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/137797560_07f006ef63.jpg">samosa chaat</a>Kristinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12194078107819036706noreply@blogger.com