By the way, how exciting is it that the Shanghai Pudong Airport has a Burger King? I don’t know about you, but one of the worst things about flying in China is the fact that you usually have to use one of those airport dining establishments that charge you 50rmb for a sandwich and 35rmb for a soda. I literally jumped with glee when I saw my gate was located close to these guys.

So how did the burger taste? Not bad, but more or less like a burger with onion rings… only they were random vegetables instead of onions. You can kind of see what they look like in here.

Which, actually isn’t that far from what they are advertising – yes it’s sloppier and a little smaller, but it’s about 70% there and that’s pretty good for fast food ads v. reality. So kudos to Burger King.

A quick Google search says that China may be the first ones to get this creation. I looked at Burger King Japan, but it seems like their new specials are much weirder, veering on gross: An Avocado and Ranch Burger and a Nacho Cheese Burger. Yeesh, even I would think twice.

From NotCot

Unfortunately, since it’s been six months, I admit I’m not as fresh on exactly what went right/wrong with the meal. So I’ll just present the pictures:

Their market vegetables, drowned in butter!

White wine mussels. Om yom yom.

And the bread to soak up the sauce. If I remember correctly, that's a mashed carrot spread along with whipped butter

Oh! I do remember we had a couple bites of the steak, declared it too cooked and told the waiter (we were pretty apologetic about it, like “Hey, sorry we’re so picky, but we really wanted to try a good med-rare steak…”). He immediately took it away and ordered us a new one. So that was nice.

Steak! Frites are in the back.

This was already way more than enough food for two people – we ended up going to Midnight in Paris bellies bulging. Apparently Mon Ami Gabi has several outposts across the United States (it looks like it got its start in Chicago), and all of them seem pretty well reviewed. We specifically went to the Bethesda location, which – yes – isn’t D.C., but it might as well be in the same way Arlington’s technically Virginia but let’s not kid ourselves.

Mon Ami Gabi // 7239 Woodmont Ave. , Bethesda, MD 20814 // telephone: 301.654.1234

Through the bamboo we gooooooo~

Kappo Yu is an intimate kaiseki-style Japanese restaurant, a little sister to one of Shanghai’s dining greats, Sushi Oyama. It’s got ten seats on its red laquered bar, ten seats in private tatami-matted rooms, and a ten-course menu that changes with the seasons. Which means that should you have 690rmb to spend a couple months from now, you’ll be treated to something pretty different from what I got this time.

I’m getting ahead of myself though – here’s what was on the menu this time:

Starter: Crab Chawanmushi (light egg custard)

A half a pomelo on a rock. Just kidding! That’d be some Yoko Ono shizz. Open up the inside and you get…

Course 2: Grilled Cod in Miso-Pomelo Sauce

After the cooked fish… raw fish! Oh man, was it satisfying to dig into good sashimi, knowing these few bites were the last you’d have before it was bye bye Japanese food for the next four months.

Course 3: Nagasaki Sashimi (Fatty Tuna, Mackerel, and... uh, I've forgotten that last one now... Grunt?)

Course 4: Sweet Potato Foam Over Uni, Garnished w Sweet Potato Chip

It’s a shame you can’t actually see the Uni. The color combination of the orange with the purple was fantastic, as was the flavor combination of lightly sweet with salty sea savory.The foam was mixed in front of us and then put into a compressor can. The uni was then placed at the bottom of the cup, the foam was sprayed on top and the sweet potato chip inserted as a final touch. It must be fun playing with compressors for your food.

The next course was tempura – about five different pieces of shrimp and vegetable tempura, each served only after the last piece was eaten. I leave only the first picture because well… all the tempura looked similar once it’d been fried and that piece of paper just got greasier and greasier as the meal went on. Here, everything still looked pretty.

It’s funny to think that we needed a palate cleanser after all the stuff we’d already ate, but I suppose it’s a good way to segue into the second half of the main dishes.

Palate Cleanser: Chinese yam with Salmon Roe

Next up, my favorite dish of the night:

Course 6: Daikon Radish & Monkfish Liver in Broth

And suddenly, for the first time this dinner, we were in choice-ville: Did you want Spanish Prawn in a squid ink sauce or did you want a Beef Sukiyaki? I figured that maybe the Spanish Prawn would be lighter… and it was. Thank goodness, because it was already getting hard to stuff all that food in.

And then, what kind of Temaki (hand rolls) would you like? Eel? Spicy Salmon? Salmon Roe? Yes please.

You got two: This one's the Salmon Roe. Not pictured is the Spicy Salmon Temaki I ate too.

What course are we at now? Ah – Number 9.

The Gohan Course: This is the Fish Soup. Not pictured is a Teppanyaki Rice we received as well.

And finally, dessert, which turned out to be a four part affair. There was this delightful threesome first:

Honey-Apple Sorbet, Milk Ice Cream and a Green Tea Foam Sipper

And just when you thought everything was over, BOOM: Pomegranate and Melted Chocolate.

How did I end up finishing this too?

All in all, besides being insanely filling, it was also quite a lot of fun.  I don’t know if it’s possible to emotionally stock up on Japanese food, like some sort of sashimi camel before its trip through a culinary dessert… but hell if I didn’t try! And what greater note to end my trip to Shanghai on than Kappo Yu?

Kappo Yu // 33 Wuxing Lu near Huai Hai Lu // telephone: 6466 7855

This is the first time I’ve had a chance to go to Sesame, which is a little out of the way if you’re not coming from our actual school campus (it’s on Regent and Lensfield, which is maybe a fifteen minute walk from the Cambridge station). Based on this meal, I’ll definitely go again. Some highlights:

A lamb & spring onion dish, which was tender and flavorful - kind of reminiscent of the Xinjiang stuff I'd get back in Shanghai

Shi Zi Tou!

Mala Fish. It was super super Ma - my tongue felt numb for a good five minutes after. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Our two veggie dishes: A fantastic sesame green bean that I could eat with every meal forever... and in the background, an also incredibly good mao dou dish with flavored vermicelli

Ham slices in spices. By this point in time it was getting hard to get a picture of something befores someone took a bite of it.

And by this point in time, I'd begun to forget to take the pictures before I attacked the dish. That's Ti Pang, of course.

Not pictured, because I’d regrettably lost myself in the waves and waves of food by this point: An awesomely pink mapo tofu (apparently the closest you can come to REAL Sichuan mapo tofu, according to our Sichuanese friend), a salty and satisfying chicken in soup dish, our broiled fish (年年有余！) and dumplings. Honestly, the only miss of the night were the dumplings – they were thick and mushy and reminiscent of the type you get from Chinese fast food in the States. Everything else was a thoroughly satisfying way to welcome in the Year of the Dragon.

So Happy Chinese New Year everyone! It’s nice to know you can still get a taste of home over here.

All MBAs in two of the three tables we had occupied! Red was the color theme, in case you didn't notice.

Sesame Restaurant & Bar // 17 Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 1NW // telephone: 01223 358 899

1) Warm dishes keep food warm longer – put them in the oven before you serve

2) Use chicken leg meat rather than breast meat for Chicken Pitas – it’s both more moist and more flavorful. Other ingredients: onion, red & green peppers and light seasoning of salt & pepper.

Also, sliced apples are great in any salad

3) Rack of Lamb is actually easier to cook right than steak. Rub with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary on each side. Then cook on one side for 2~3 minutes, the other side for 2~3 minutes, then place it on the grill vertically, bone side down until you’re ready to serve.

Served with an equally easy linguine in tomato sauce

Merry Christmas!

]]> http://elaineiseating.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/make-it-yourself-christmas-dinner-with-the-chows/feed/ 0 P1020051 elaineiseating IMG_3599 IMG_3603 IMG_3597 http://elaineiseating.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/cooking-at-home-creamy-chicken-ratatouille-and-dinner-rolls/ http://elaineiseating.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/cooking-at-home-creamy-chicken-ratatouille-and-dinner-rolls/#comments Sun, 18 Dec 2011 06:00:45 +0000 elaineiseating http://elaineiseating.wordpress.com/?p=640 Read more]]> A funny thing happened while I was in Cambridge – my mom began learning to cook! For over 50 years, she was content being a cheerleader in the kitchen, hooting about how lovely the meal we make is going to be and sneaking bites every now and then. Then one day, recently, she decided to enroll in a cooking class. So this is a picture of our first combined meal together.

She made the roll. It was supposed to be a ciabatta smeared with pesto, but the dough was a little overkneaded and I think she put the pesto on before baking, so it kind of burned. Still, it tasted quite good, with a crispy crust and a soft and fluffy middle! Apparently, she’s also tried her hand at cong you bing, bread loafs and curry.

I made the chicken breast with broccoli cream sauce. The cream sauce was a first attempt, and ended up looking a little gross, though it tasted fine – I think milk, even turned into a white sauce, just doesn’t mix as well with melted parmesan as cream does. The chicken breast I overcooked a little. I don’t really cook meat for myself ever (unless it’s in a stew), so I haven’t got the timing down yet.

And the ratatouille was mine as well. I’d throw out a recipe, but there’s not really much to say about making regular ratatouille (as opposed to the Thomas Keller version they featured in the Pixar movie). It’s one of those easy dishes that just about anyone can do, and you usually just need to keep tasting to see if you need to add salt/pepper/sugar/more herbs. I usually put celery and apples into mine for a little extra crunch and sweetness.

Meanwhile, I’ve cooked for four days in a row this week! Man, cooking is fun. I’ve missed it a lot.

Anyway, the chain Mi Ai Xian (which seems to have two other outposts in Shanghai, the oldest one in Baoshan District) has that same clean but plasticky feel of its ilk – Jade Cuisine, Ajisen and Yummie House, to name a few. It seems to be touting its Across the Bridge noodles as its main selling point, which makes sense considering that seems to be the one famous dish of Yunnan. Look at the size of this thing though:

Look at the size of that bowl in proportion to that lady's head! Besides the giant bowl of noodles, you get 10 or so little plates filled with ingredients (ham, egg, spring onions, garlic, spice etc) to customize the final taste to your liking.

I wasn’t hungry enough to attempt it this time, but it’s a steal at 26rmb.

Instead, we opted for some stuff that was easier to doggybag:

Hei Muer and Shredded Potato - I love the taste of vinegar

When we ordered these noodles, the waitress warned us that they were super spicy. She wasn’t kidding! I loved it though. It looks greasy, but it didn’t have that weird oily bland taste you sometimes get with fried noodles here.

Maybe it helped that it was made with a rice noodle, rather than a flour/egg one.

This mushroom dish was fantastic, and probably pretty easy to recreate:

Steamed mushrooms with garlic, some spice and some coriander = perfection

And finally, there was this black olive fried rice. I didn’t really see where the olives came into it – the black in the rice was actually mei cai. Still, no complaints about the taste.

Since I doggybagged this, maybe I'll refry it WITH some olives

So anyhow, not only is there Yunnan fast food now, it’s actually quite decent. If you’re ever around the Jinqiao Carrefour in Pudong, I recommend this over that craptastic quick sushi place right next door. Also, they do delivery if you’re nearby.

Mi Ai Xian // Floor 1, Jinqiao Carrefour, 555 Biyun Lu (浦东新区金桥碧云路555号) // 13391091279

First off: the vegetarian meal is served at the same time as everyone else’s, so there’s no “I’m eating and you’re not” awkwardness (some people pointed that out as a flaw last time I mentioned it).

Also: A salad with greens that aren’t iceberg lettuce! This was also provided for the meat eaters, so don’t worry about forgoing leaf for your beef.

And: The main course was a cheesy vegetable pasta. The baked cheese helped offset the sogginess of reheated penne, and the vegetables still tasted bright. It ended up actually tasting better than some of the noodles I’ve gotten at Pembrooke, which isn’t exactly a high bar to set but is pretty fantastic for in-flight dining.

For the in-flight snack, they served me a sausage roll – and I was half-asleep at the time so I didn’t ask to see if they had a vegetarian option. It was flaky and meaty and surprisingly hot. I had to do that open mouthed huffing face for a few painfully awkward seconds.

And for breakfast, I was even more half-asleep so I just ate it without thinking about what it tasted like. I can’t even remember what I had, just that I didn’t object to it. Yay, unobjectionable food!

Only semi-related: The in-flight entertainment is quite good too… or at least it doesn’t feel like they tried to pick the worst movies of the year to show you. There were a good 40~50 choices, which included Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and several episodes of Arrested Development.

I finally got to catch The Interrupters, which is an amazing documentary about CeaseFire, a group of “violence interrupters” operating on the principle that violence is like measles: to reduce it, you’ve got to stop the spread of it. Watch it if you’re interested in things like applying epidemiology to social problems!

So how is Midsummer House? The restaurant is located on Midsummer Green right by the river in a small townhouse. The decor is classic country, with a feel like you’ve stumbled into somebody’s home dinner party. The service is what you’d expect out of a 2-star Michelin restaurant, attentive but in the background.

And the food… well, I wish I could be more exuberant about it. I mean, there was a lot of it and most of it was really really good. But one or two misses dampened the awe factor of the entire meal.

We all opted for the five-course menu, which lets you choose between two options for your appetizer, your main and your dessert. Additionally, there was an amuse bouche that was big enough to be a soup course, a pre-dessert, a post-dessert and a constant stream of bread throughout the entire meal. They aren’t planning on starving you at least!

I'm proud of myself for showing enough restraint to not just stuff myself with bread, even though it was sooo good and they kept bringing more out!

The amouse bouche wasn’t so much a taster as it was a small soup. It was a really delicious small soup though! Pureed squash soup with croutons and a mushroom mash base that was thick and savory – I could have eaten entire meals of just this and been utterly happy.

It'll be a goal of mine to recreate this sometime - it was awesome.

Appetizer was equally delightful. You had a choice between scallops or a celery and watercress bavarois. Not too surprisingly, most of us opted for the scallops – it’s hard to justify ordering celery cream at a 75 pound meal.

Seared hand-dived scallop, celeriac & truffle puree, julienned granny smiths and apple caramel

The main course was where we hit the first miss. The steak looked amazing, but turned out to be incredibly hard to chew. It’s a problem I’ve seen in a surprising amount of fine dining establishments – I don’t know if it’s because somebody in the kitchen is substituting juicy, expensive cuts of meat for rump and then cooking it the same way or… there’s a bunch of chewy steak enthusiasts out there and I just haven’t been indoctrinated into their jaw-exercising ways.

Slow roast beef filet with celeriac puree, shallot marmalade, spinach and red wine sauce

The turbot, however, was fantastic – flaky and moist, complimented by a bed of zucchini and some amazing crispy-wrapped asparagus. Luckily, that was the main course I got. I especially liked the hint of vanilla they threw into the nutty crust of the turbot.

braised turbot with peanuts & hazelnuts, cos lettuce and asparagus

After the main, we were treated to a pre-dessert:

Vanilla pudding with nuts and a hazelnut sorbet

And a Willy Wonka-esque main dessert. It looked awesome, but the taste was perhaps a little too out there after all the food before it. Lots of crisps and crackles and traditional dessert stuff turned into paste when, really, we could probably have just enjoyed more of the vanilla pudding.

Cannelloni of Chesnut, milk chocolate, kahlua and coffee

They then gave us a post-dessert  to go with coffee, which included some great sugar donuts and some strange mildly alcoholic chocolates.

Post-dessert donut course. Oh man, does thinking about it make me feel fat.

All in all, I guess I’m glad I tried it, though I’m not sure I’d want to do it again… while most of the food was very nice, it wasn’t “I need to shout it out to the heavens” nice and I kind of need it to be that nice to justify the price tag. Still, it’s good to know there is some fine dining to be had in Cambridge (that’s not a Formal Hall)!

Midsummer House // Midsummer Green, Cambridge CB4 1HA // telephone: 01223 369299