Chocolate Rugelach

Chocolate rugelach from Junior's (taken on lined paper at my office)

Super-soft sponge cake

I stopped by Chinatown last week and remembered to make a slight left onto Baxter St. in search for the hole-in-the-wall sponge cake shop. Hing Win Coffee Shop (got to double check on the name) the sign probably said in red letters above Chinese characters on a gaudy yellow plastic board.

When I stepped into the shop, it was tiny. There was just one glass display case with a few shelves that could have at one time featured eye-glasses or jade jewelry. Whatever it used to hold or could have held, now it encases Asian and American baked goods wrapped in clear plastic bags. If you were to wander into the store, none of these would really appear to be appetizing. There weren't beautifully decorated layer cakes, loaves of fluffy butter bread or even egg custard tarts when I went in. I think I was disappointed for the first 5 seconds of stepping into the shop. Dare I ask about a possibly non-existent spongecake? YES!

"Hi, do you guys sell spongecake?" I asked the man behind the extremely old-fashioned cash register. In fact, everything in that store looked like it had stayed the way it had been for over 50 years. While it was clearly an Asian bakery, there was no sign of any Asian workers. Was this the right place? I couldn't help asking myself this ever since I came in to survey the offerings.

"Yes, we do. How many?" he replies. "Oh, um 4. Wait, no. Two. Yes, two," I say with my usual indecisiveness when it comes to ordering food. An elderly Asian woman walks in through the entrance and she says "two dozen" to the man and he automatically hands her a white plastic bag full of what looks like the delicious sponge cakes I am about to tell you about.

I bought my two cakes, each only 60 cents, which is a bargain considering these days the major bakeries sell bland-tasting sponge cakes for 85 cents or more. But not only were they a great value, they were probably the best sponge cakes I have had to date. Now, it seems you can practically get them anywhere so how special could these be, but I ripped a piece off the golden, oval cake and immediately fell in love with its ultra-soft texture. It reminded me of a bath loofah, the kind that's gentle on your skin with very few holes. It was literally sponge-y, but equally fluffy (think a wad of cotton candy before it melts into sugary bits on your tongue) and light with a hint of egg-like sweetness. There was no sign of any oily residue, something I often find at chain bakeries or markets where the plastic bags themselves are smeared with grease from whatever they used to bake the cakes with.

Lately I've been trying to figure out why strawberry shortcakes are usually a disappointment, even at high-end restaurants and it dawned on me that it may be the lack of a euphoric cake base. But this was it! I could already see macerated strawberries sitting atop the ever-so-elegant, oval sponge cake topped with some lightly-sweetened, fresh whipped cream. The next time I go back to this shop, I'm going to do as that woman did and ask for two dozen.

Lesson of that day: When in doubt, just ask!

Fleur de Sel

A chocolate cake with cherries, blackberries and crushed pistachios. It was accompanied by...
...cherry sorbet that sat atop chocolate cookie crumbs, vanilla sauce and white pepper gelee from the French restaurant Fleur de Sel.

Birthday beauty

A gorgeous Almond Apricot Cake that Hy bought me from Black Hound New York for my birthday last year. It was one lovely sweet surprise.

Province

It's still a battle trying to get through the streets of Chinatown, even on a gloomy, wet day. But I finally fought my way down to Province Chinese Canteen at Church and Walker St. the other day. How I did so this week I'm still confused about because it has felt like a long one with things scheduled almost back-to-back. I really wanted to check the place out because they specialize in "mantou" sandwiches...the steamed white bun bread normally served with Peking Duck, hoisin sauce and scallions. I think the most well-known one to New Yorkers is the Berkshire Pork Buns at Momofuku Noodle Bar (at right), which I might add are amazing and a happy meal in of itself. It will have to be another day when I gush about how delicious the sauce and fat combine with the juicy pork.

At Province, they make a variety of versions with a larger bun studded with toasted sesame seeds. These almost look like hamburger buns, but are pure white and more the size of an English muffin with extra puff. Listed under "sandwiches," the meat options are Grilled chicken, Braised pork shoulder, Spicy pork, or Short Rib & kimchi (at left). I was surprised by how fast I was able to place my order for the Braised pork and Short rib & kimchi sandwich. It wasn't my usual 10 minutes of indecisiveness though I was tempted to order them all to try.

I took a seat in the rather empty place. And when they say "canteen," they surely mean it...it's a no-frills place with wooden benches and wooden dividers with holes scattered in the boards. It isn't an ugly joint but slightly bare and cold. The only warmth that can be found is probably from the white xmas lights dangling from the ceiling or being able to look out into the street and people-watch through the huge glass windows.

Anyhow, my sandwiches came on a blue food tray with a wax-paper bag of what seemed like freshly made shrimp chips-the kind you sometimes can see crowning a plate of Peking Duck and mantou. I tried the Short rib & kimchi one first and had to think for a while whether or not I liked it. It was not that it was bad, but I think that sort of slightly fatty and sinewy meat is too difficult to eat as a sandwich. It felt like I needed a toothpick after each bite or I had to bite down hard and yank the sandwich away from my mouth so as not to pull out the entire sandwich filling. I'd individually everything was tasty. I like the meat because it was well...your basic marinated Korean short ribs and the kimchi wasn't too sour or funky. For some reason, I couldn't really taste much of the mantou...it was just sort of a tasteless bread, but the toasted sesame seeds gave the whole sandwich a nice touch texture-wise. Next, I tried the Braised Pork version and it was better because most of the pork was tender and slightly fatty. The flavor somewhat reminded me of the addicting pig trotters my mom makes: the fatty meat slow-cooked in a slightly sweet soy sauce with chunks of soft, Chinese white turnip. But it wasn't addicting here. There didn't seem to be much personality in the taste...not even the comfort I usually feel when I have my mom's dish. I guess in general there's nothing to be ecstatic over, but I'd say that it's a decent place to hit up if you're in the mood for the mantou sandwiches.

Overall? I probably won't trek all the way down to Church St. again for the sandwiches. The shrimp chips were fun but I'm not a fan of them in general. I may go down for their cold noodle salad though.

Lesson of the day: There's always time for food.

Province Chinese Canteen
305 Church Street (at Walker St.)

Boston binge eating

A posting I had been waiting to put up until after I had gotten a good photo of Cocoa Pudding Ice Cream With Ginger Snaps. However, up it goes today!

Written 10/4/07:
I was in Boston for a couple days and it's like a nice, mini vacation. Far enough from NYC, but close enough where going home doesn't mean having to go to a horrible airport and wait 4 plus hours for who knows what.

I got off work on Sunday morning around 2 a.m. Went home to shower and pack a bit...slept a good 45 minutes and decided to just head down to the Lucky Star bus stop in Chinatown around 5:30 a.m. to catch the 7 a.m. ride to Boston. It was weird being out in my neighborhood while there was almost light coming out. Eery is the best word to describe it. Some bakeries and coffee shops are already bustling with workers but at some streets the absolute silence was deafening. I made it the stop 30 minutes ahead of departure. A real rarity for me as I have ALWAYS made a mad dash to the stop 2 minutes before departure time or 2 minutes after the scheduled time. I slept the entire bus ride through rather uncomfortably with my neck strained on both sides. Ugh. However, to my surprise, one jolt on the bus made me wake suddenly and pull out my earphones to find that we had arrived...20 minutes early. Nice! I'm no newbie to Boston as I've visited on countless occasions so I took the T to Central to meet Dan for lunch. Wow, it was early enough to get lunch. We went to Daedalus in Harvard Square and it was so-so. Nice ambiance but to my great sadness, his poached eggs in the Eggs Benedict were mostly cooked through...really the utmost worst you could do to Eggs Benedict. I got the crab sandwich which was ok, seeing as it was fried so you could barely taste much of anything. Blahblahblah. Don't want to waste space rambling even more...

We ended up at Toscanini's, the famous ice cream place in Boston, where it took us both a long while to decide what to get. The board had like 15-20 flavors that had the classics and the creative. So we asked the woman behind the counter, who ended up giving us a sample of like 6 flavors she liked most. We tried the Mint Chip, which we both muttered "toothpaste" under our breaths. Had the "hazelnut" but it just taste like sweet cream colored brown. BlahBlahBlah...other flavors. And then we hit upon Cocoa Pudding with Ginger Snap Cookies. Let me tell you it was like winning Bingo! It was fabulous! Tons of cocoa flavor as if you were running your tongue over the smooth, silkiness of real, rich chocolate pudding. The Ginger Snaps were such a pleasant surprise. Large chunks of what tasted like gingerbread soaked in a bit of chocolate paired so well with the cocoa ice cream. The next time I go I will do as I always do: order the same flavor that I know I will like. Why try the other 15 when you know which one you really like already? Many would disagree with me but sorry, this is non-negotiable. In fact, I could just inhale that flavor! Anyhow, sadly no picture as I did not have my camera with me. Perhaps my next visit I'll make another post on the ice cream with photo included. We also opted for a Cappuccino and a Vanilla Hot Chocolate. I'd say the drinks were tasty, but don't go to Toscanini's without the intent of ordering ice cream even if you think it's much too cold out...their ice cream really hits the spot when you find your true flavor. Yes, it's almost like finding the love of your life.

I can't possibly write EVERYTHING I ate in Boston. This one entry would be even more tiresome to read. However, after Toscanini's, I met Jan at her lab at the Charles MGH stop. My favorite ride is from I believe Kendall to Charles MGH where you can see the water and sailboats. We walked to North End for Mike's Pastry, a place really well-known for their cannolis. They are quite delicious as I had them I believe earlier this year, but the crowds at this place are a little intimidating. Instead of stopping here again, we went into an adorable cafe called Vittoria Cafe for coffee gelato and a sfogliatele, an Italian pastry that translates to "many leaves/layers" because well, it's made of many flaky layers that enrobed a cake-like center. The "cake" center was almost like a the soft part of a crumpet that taste like it was flavored with almond paste and hints of orange. Eh, sorry no photo but it did almost fly off the plate because of my extremely unskilled eating techniques. Gelato: Kind of tasted like brown-colored sweet cream like the hazelnut ice cream at Toscanini's. But it kind of grew on us so we continued to eat it. The sfogliatelle...it was nice. Authentic to me probably because I'd never had one in or from Italy.

Ok, blahblahblah...had dinner. Make it quick! Make it quick, you say? Ok...

For my last meal before heading back to NYC, Dan took me to a place called Miracle of Science. Ah, what a totally appropriate restaurant name for the area! The geekyness of it makes me smile! Anyhow, it wasn't that the food was amazing, but rather how simple the menu was AND it was written like a periodic table. I ordered the Cs...for Chicken Sandwich and Dan got the Ms (I think) for the Mesclun Salad (but added chicken to it as you can see above). The food was straightforward. You got what you ordered. The chicken in my sandwich was juicy, thin and tasty (at left) and it came with a spicy mango chipotle sauce that gave it a nice extra kick. The homefries were addicting and I'd go back just for those as they were perfectly cooked chunky, red-skin potatoes with just the right amount of seasoning. I'd say the word "minimalist" best describes the place. But that in no way means the decor was ugly. Everything was unpretentious...something quite lovely when many places these days go all out to impress diners with crazy things like life-size plants, giant Buddhas or indoor waterfalls.

Lesson of the day: Boston is definitely a place to be!

Hungry for home-style

This is a very long-overdue entry that I've been meaning to post and decided today was the day to do it without anymore excuses.

So Eric and I went to Pistahan back in September, a place you probably would just walk right by without a glance because it looks almost like a fast food/take-out joint. With bright-orange painted walls and a glass window fridge that allows you to pick desserts to-go (and some random perishable items), the place was dimly lit and rather empty.

But I had read about this place in New York magazine and was curious to know what they called a culinary hodgepodge of Asian cuisines was like. I ordered the Chicken Adobo while Eric asked the waiter whether he should get the "Grilled Pork Belly with vinegar and soy sauce" or the "Deep-fried Pork Belly with special liver sauce." She stood there rather indecisive herself. "Um, they are kind of the same," she says. Now Eric was set on getting something deep-fried that night because well chances are that usually translates to: "You're gonna LOOOOOVE it no matter how bad the meat really tastes," even though he told me after dinner that he was hoping to be "less squishy again." Yeah, fat chance if you're dining with me. And guess what, he got the deep-fried pork belly. He was also smart to get us a plate the garlic rice.

The chicken adobo arrived at the table first. While not a dish to marvel at over the presentation, we both thought the adobo sauce was really fabulous. It wasn't inundated with vinegar; in fact it was almost sweet and broth-like, soaking in the natural flavors of chicken. While the meat didn't slip off the bone as I have had at other places, it was still a hearty dish with a simple, home-style character to it. But there were two things we had wished for for this dish: 1) The chicken could have been marinated in the sauce much longer. The meat closer to the bone had very little flavor, while the exterior was enveloped very well with the adobo sauce (While it is normally made with garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, chilies, tomatoes and onions, this one was simply vinegar, soy sauce and onions). 2) There was more bone than meat to be had. Lots of time was spent getting the meat off that for the most part I was worried I'd be flinging the rest of my food at Eric. While I wouldn't have minded that the food hit him, it would have a been a great loss to not have eaten the flying pieces. However, only one chunk managed to fly off the plate and unfortunately it was in my lap. Thankfully the chicken wasn't too oily. I think my clothes will not suffer greatly. But the flavors were nonetheless delicious, simple with nothing so heavy to throw your digestive system in a funk.


The garlic rice was a bit of a revelation because it was fragrant, bold and even had pieces of grilled garlic in it, yet was safe enough to eat without having to worry about breathing garlic on everybody for the rest of the night. Ew. But the rice was cooked perfectly, each grain glistening with some sort of oil to keep the rice moist and appetizing. It was such a complement to our two dishes that I'm guessing any entree in the house could use the rice as a side (except for the desserts).

The Deep-fried Pork Belly came at last and you could tell immediately it was going to rock. How? Because the rind looked crispy, there was a thin layer of fat between the fried skin and the very tender, juicy pork. The rind was a bit difficult to chew as it was semi-thick and hard, but combined with the fat and the meat, the trio is a must for a fried-food lover because you get the crunch but you also get forward-flavor pork and smoothness from the fat...ending your bite with plenty of textures and pure pork bliss. The special liver sauce reminded me of the sweet-sour sauce normally served with Peking Duck, which I never use anyways. I wasn't a fan of it though I wouldn't say it was bad. Eric and I naturally dunked our pork in the left-over adobo sauce instead. Yum.

We finished everything except the extra bowl of white rice we had ordered. Probably because we devoured the dishes so there was none left to accompany the lonesome rice. In fact, if my memory serves me well, I think Eric almost licked clean the bowl with the adobo sauce in it. That good you say? Yeah, it was but don't expect a mind-blowing experience. Sometimes simple is just plain satisfying and I'd say the adobo sauce is tasty enough to convert almost any dish into comfort food.

We considered dessert, but decided against it and instead went to Something Sweet, a place that has the best Truffle Buttons (almond macaroons with chocolate ganache and dipped in Belgium chocolate) I've had so far. That entry will be for another day. Today its Pistahan...and I pat myself on the back for finally getting this account up on here. Oh and the photos are courtesy of Eric's phone camera...quite clear, eh? Please take special care in noticing how well-fried/crisp the pork is, how shiny the rice granules are and how succulent the chicken chunks look.

Lesson of the day: I take it out of a line from this above entry..."Sometimes simple is just plain satisfying."

Pistahan
229 First Ave. (between 13th and 14th Sts.)
212-228-9000