Eating My Way Through Japan

Bento Box

The typical Japanese lunch. This one had fried rice, two kinds of

shumai, karaage (fried chicken), eggplant salad, and ginger.

Japanese Buffet*

This was my favorite meal of the trip because it had a selection of

all the popular Japanese foods and a dessert bar! There was

salad, tempura, shabu shabu, saba, yakitori, croquette, seafood

casserole, kabocha, tonkatsu, fried noodles, curry, miso soup,

sushi, a few types of Japanese pickles and salads, fruit,

sakura manju, cakes, and ice cream!

*This was an ironic concept for Japan, since everything

is about portion control and it is customary to finish all

of the food you are served on your plate.

Hello Kitty Water Bottles

American products with Japanese text

Never seen Haagen Dazs Macadamia Nut flavor - not even in Hawaii!

Hot Food Vending Machine

Yes, folks you can even get your lunch out of a vending machine

in Japan! They had drink vending machines EVERYWHERE,

but this was the first food one I found!

(It takes about 2 minutes to heat the food.)

Strawberry Flavored Popcorn

At Disney Sea there were multiple food carts that sold different

flavored popcorn like curry, black pepper, milk tea, caramel,

and strawberry.

McDonald's Value Menu

Most of these items can be found on an American value menu,

except for the Bacon Potato Pie and "Shaka Shaka Chicken"

Also, their Apple Pie is deep fried, not baked like it is here.

Teriyaki Burger and Fries

The "burger" patty wasn't 100% ground beef (probably because

meat is hard to come by in Japan) and tasted more like a

veggie patty. The sizes of fries and drinks are much smaller

than the ones in America.

Economic & Culinary Bliss: K'ya Happy Hour

So I know I've blogged about K'ya before, but last week I discovered that their already budget-friendly, high-quality menu has a HAPPY HOUR. Yes, boys and girls that means from 4:30-5:30 PM it is 1/2 off ALL food items!! Drinks are still regular price, but when you're paying $2.50 for truffle risotto, who cares?

They also updated their menu since December and added a few new items (still none over $15!) like the seared scallops. This fun little tapas spot never ceases to amaze me!

My apologies for the dark pictures, the restaurant was dimly lit...

Flash Fired Calamari with Thai Glaze - $2.50 (Reg. $5)

Seared Lamb Chops with Baby Arugula - $5 (Reg. $10)

Black Truffle Risotto - $2.50 (Reg. $5)

Seared Scallops on Spinach and Mushrooms

with Lemon Butter Sauce & Polenta - $5 (Reg. $10)

K'ya Bistro Bar

1287 South Coast Highway

Laguna Beach, 92651

(949) 376-9718

Reservations highly recommended.

Amazing Breadsticks and Wannabe Carbonara

When eating out, I usually tend to order menu items that are lighter and healthier (for the most part) and won't do too much damage to my waistline. However, for the past month or so I've really been craving a rich, homestyle spaghetti carbonara. Like how an Italian grandmother would make it with tons of crispy bacon bits and freshly shaved parm...Unfortunately, for some reason I just don't see it on many menus these days.

This past Saturday, I found myself at Dominic's (an Italian restaurant in Cypress) for a friend's birthday and low and behold, they had spaghetti carbonara on the menu. Yahoo!

Most dishes here are served with salad and their "famous" garlic breadsticks. "Famous" I'm not too sure, because I've never heard of this place before, but "AMAZING" yes!! Served hot out of the oven and glistening with butter and garlic, the bread was perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Really one of the best garlic breadsticks I've tasted!

After devouring the bread, I anticipated the carbonara even more. Sadly, my craving for this dish was not fulfilled because their "carbonara" was actually served in a cream sauce and really was a carbonara at all. They should have called it "fettuccini with bacon." You see, traditional carbonara is simply made with noodles, eggs, bacon, onion, white wine, and parmesan cheese. There is no sauce like there was in this dish. It was still filling, but slightly heavy and not what I was expecting.

Overall, the garlic bread was the real star of Dominic's. They do have an extensive menu with plenty of other options to choose from. I would recommend the lobster ravioli instead, but as long as there's bread around, I'd be pretty happy.

The Buttermilk Truck

Bored of plain old cereal and milk for breakfast? Then it's time to vamp up your morning meal by heading on over to the Buttermilk Truck's current location. Yes, I said "current" because it is essentially, a roach coach - food that is cooked, sold, and travels on wheels. However, this street food vendor is far from the average person's vision of a roach coach. It is clean, uses fresh ingredients, and offers a creative take on fusion breakfast.

We've all seen or heard of red velvet cupcakes, even the occasional red velvet cookie, but red velvet pancakes?? This is definitely a creative new one. For $2.50, you get six bite-sized pancakes dotted with chocolate chips and dusted in powdered sugar. They already are fairly sweet, so try them without syrup first.

Another popular item is the buttermilk biscuit breakfast sandwich. A homemade biscuit is split in half and filled with an over easy egg, cheese, and your choice of chicken apple sausage, applewood smoked bacon, or tocino (Filipino sausage). Add on a tasty rosemary-garlic hash brown nugget for fifty cents more and this sandwich is good to go!

We also tried the Hawaiian breakfast sliders (my fave!!)and Hawaiian bread french toast sticks. The sliders were three King's Hawaiian bread rolls filled with a generous portion of Portuguese sausage, shoyu scrambled eggs, and grill onions. A bit messy, but definitely worth it! It really made me miss the ono food from islands! Unfortunately, the french toast sticks were very disappointing!! They were dry and over fried.

First it was cupcakes, then frozen yogurt, and now the latest trend is street food trucks. So why don't you jump on the bandwagon and grab your next meal from the Buttermilk Truck?! ...Just stay away from the french toast!

To see the whole menu and find out when they'll be in your neighborhood:

http://buttermilktruck.com/menu

Farmer's Market & Food Writing

Happy belated Valentine's Day :)

This past week has been filled with excitement as I finally started writing for The District Weekly. I was sent out on my first two assignments, which were interviewing and then sampling (oh yeah!) foods from BigMista's BBQ and Big Nick's Pizza.

BigMista's BBQ is not a restaurant, but rather a traveling husband and wife team that sell their multiple-award-winning spicy, smoky barbecue at three different farmer's markets in Southern California. On Tuesdays and Saturdays you can find them at the Torrance Farmer's Market next to Wilson Park. The owner of BigMista's prepared his "Perfect Pulled Pork" sandwich for us and it was darn near perfect - a huge helping of shredded pork (that was slow cooked for 12 hours!), secret sauce, and pineapple coleslaw in between a soft bun. Mmmm mmm! We (the photographer and I) also got to nibble on brisket and beef ribs. He also raved about his wife's super cheesy mac and cheese, but was sad to inform me they didn't have any that day.

We had some time to kill before our next appointment with Big Nick's, so we strolled through the rest of the market and sampled some of the fresh produce.

Now after living in Torrance nearly all my life and only having been to their farmer's market a couple of times, I found myself wondering: Why don't I come here more often??? The produce is fresh - and not to mention cheap - and the food stands are delish! Also, where else can you get a dozen roses for $6.00?! I may have just found my new Saturday morning ritual.

Torrance Farmer's Market
2400 Jefferson St.
Torrance 90501

BigMista's BBQ
http://bigmista.com/ <-- follow them on Twitter and Facebook too!

Chicken Feet and Pork Balls

No, I'm not watching reruns of Fear Factor on Hulu. I'm referring to a few of the Chinese creations I consumed over dim sum last weekend at Great Seafood Harbor in Artesia. For those who've never experienced a dim sum meal before, let me tell you, it is unique, exciting, and foreign - much like the items that they serve. In a well-run dim sum operation, your party is seated promptly and before the waiter comes to take your drink orders, a server pushing a cart filled with small plates of ready-to-eat foods starts offering what they have. You either select their offerings or refuse and wait for the next cart of goodies. Sort of a buffet-that-comes-to-you ordeal. (How much more could a lazy foodie ask for?!)

The first cart that came to our table seemed like we hit the jackpot. It had shrimp potstickers, pork shumai, and a thick noodle covered in hoisin sauce. One of each please! The server stamped our receipt 3 times, once for each dish. This is how they keep track of what you order. (Some items are more expensive and get stamped further down on the receipt.)

Immediately after the first cart left, another one stopped by, "I have charsiu bao, short rib, chicken feet." Yes. Yes. And Yes.

Stamp, stamp, stamp.

Then we flagged down the Chinese broccoli lady. And then the walnut shrimp lady.

Stamp, stamp.

I felt like it was almost time for me to yell "BINGO!" but the distraction of the chicken feet were staring me in the face. I am a firm believer in trying everything once. So as I gnawed off the chewy skin from one toe and sucked it off the bone, I found it to taste mostly like the sweet and sour sauce it was cooked in, but the thought of what I actually was eating did ruffle my feathers a bit. :)

By the time the dessert carts rolled by with mango pudding and boba drinks, we were too full for anything else. We asked the waiter for our check, which he took off of our table, examined the stamps for a minute, started writing profusely, handed it back to us with the tax and total figured out, and stood waiting for our payment. Well if they serve the food to you immediately, I guess they want their payment immediately too.

Great Seafood Harbor

18329 Pioneer Blvd.

Artesia, 90701

(562) 860-7794

Antipasto Pasta Salad

Antipasto Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 package rainbow spiral pasta

3 eggs, hard boiled

8 slices Italian dry salami

1 large jar artichoke hearts

1 small can sliced black olives

1/2 cup Italian dressing

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. While the pasta is cooking, slice eggs, salami, and artichoke hearts into bite sized pieces.

3. When the pasta is done, drain and rinse under cold water.

4. Toss all other ingredients in the pasta and add dressing to taste.

5. Chill for two hours before serving.

Cookies for A Rainy Day

Butterfinger Candy Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 Butterfinger candy bars, chopped

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugars. Add in egg and blend well. Add peanut butter and vanilla.

2. In a seperate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture.

3. Chop Butterfinger candy bars and add to the dough.

4. Bake at 350*F on parchment paper for 12-14 minutes.