DEEP FRIED KIMCHEE

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 13

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:53:14 GMT

Finally today we got to go to the famous Tsukiji fish market! We didn't go until later in the afternoon around 2:00pm. Most of the action like the tuna auction happen early in the morning. It is a different experience going later in the day. A lot of the shopkeepers have time to chat with you.

We started with some grilled unagi. Right is the regular meat, left is the guts.

We found this guy's stall with tons of fresh oysters, crab, and sea urchin.

We ordered up some oysters and he grilled them right there for us.

This one was my favorite. So juicy and tastes like the sea but combined with a light but delicious umami-ness.

Yes that is what it looks like. Live sea urchin!

Check out this video:

http://deepfriedkimchee.com/2009/09/22/dfk-goes-to-tokyo--day-13.aspx

Another stand sold these little balloons filled with flavored tofu. You buy one and he brings you out a bowl and then you pop the balloon and eat the goodness inside.

Here's a popped one. Wasabi added.

This shopkeeper sold other stuff as well. There were several different grades of karasumi. We bought some of the most prized (and expensive) one and prepared it with pasta a couple days later.

The shopkeeper at this place was so nice. He brought out a few plastic crates for us to sit down on and even grabbed some glasses and a couple of beers out of his fridge and shared them while we chatted with him for an hour or so.

He was an older guy and had a lot of great advice including:

"The best uni is from Rebun Island near Hokkaido."

"Don't go to restaurants in Japan that give out fliers" (A universal truth perhaps?)

"Try to make one great memory a day every day of your life."

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 12

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:51:47 GMT

Today we had an awesome dinner at this place that serves "ho-ru-mon" (sounds like Japanese pronunciation of hormone). It is basically Japanese twist on Korean barbecue. However, in addition the regular cuts of meat found at Korean BBQ joints, they specialize in guts, including all parts of the intestine.

We started out with some wagyu liver sashimi. This was the best liver I have ever eaten. It was exploding with flavor - sweet, bitter, fresh - and the texture was smooth, creamy, and buttery. It did have the familiar bitter liver aftertaste - but it was a lot more subtle than in any other liver I've eaten. I can still distinctly remember the taste and texture of this dish and I wish I had some in front of me now!!!

Instead of a gas grill on the tables, they had these woodburning ones which got surprisingly hot.

You get plates of raw meat, just like at a Korean BBQ place, and you cook it yourself on top of the hot grill.

the top left is strips of fatty pig. everything else is wagyu. Starting from top right and going clockwise: harami, throat, tongue, tail, and bottom left is wagyu kalbi!!!

Meat was superfresh and lightly dusted with salt and pepper. We didn't cook these for a long time preferring most cuts rare.

Here is a shot of some of the cooked stuff. The harami was sort of liver-y. The tongue was crazy. It was tasty but the texture was just too weird for me. Usually I've eaten tongue chopped or shredded but this one I felt like was actually eating an entire tongue! Tail was great. The throat was mostly cartilage and I didn't really care for it. The kalbi was some of the best I've ever had. It was not marinated but it's just so hard to beat wagyu. Wagyu trumps all...

So here is their specialty, the HoRuMon. It's basically all the guts, intestine, etc. It is so hard to differentiate it just looking at the plate. But we determined that our favorite was shojoo, small intestine.

Here's a shot of the small intestine cooking on the grill. Even the HoRuMon we preferred rare. It's taste was savory, a little bitter, creamy, and a tad sweet.

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 11

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:33:22 GMT

Today was one of my favorite days in Tokyo and definitely one of my favorite eating days. Went to an okonomiyaki joint in Shinjuku. Okonomiyaki is kind of a savory, eggy pancake with all kinds of stuff in it.

There is a hot grill plate on the table. Add oil.

Then you basically start by making a kind of omelette with some cheese and spiced aioli.

Not my omelette skills, fortunately I had help.

Next you add the good stuff including shrimp, pork, cabbage, squid, and pickled ginger.

Mix it up. Add it to your omelette. And then attempt to flip it.

I volunteered to filp it. It didn't come out too bad!

Then add some yakisoba noodles and sauce.

Fip the hour glass (I like the pink sand).

And cover it up to get everything cooked through.

When time's up move the noodles off the top and add okonomiyaki sauce. Very pretty.

Put the noodles back on top and add egg. Then start eating!

The next thing we had was called monjayaki or just monja. Includes pork, cabbage, and kimchee (good kimchee too, I ordered a side of it to munch on).

Sorry for sideways picture but you basically just mix everything up on the grill and make it into a little volcano that you pour the batter into. The batter is very runny and liquidy so a good volcano is important!

See all the runny batter in the middle?

Here it is after cooking a while. Then you spread everything out over the grill and let the runny sauce cook up until it is kind of crusted against the grill.

Each person gets these little scraper things and you scrape away some of the crusted batter off the grill and scoop up some of the other goodness creating a perfect superbite.

Later we went to a nice dessert place in Shinjuku called Takano.

Some beautifully presented and very tasty fruit parfait. The mangoes were as good as any I've eaten in the Philippines.

Also got a melon parfait with some gelato. Melon was so good. Fruit in Japan is crazy good.

After a big lunch we didn't really have a planned dinner. But on weekdays, many Japanese go to izakayas which are really pubs, but they serve amazing food. Also there are many different themes. Some izakayas look like restaurants and mostly serve food - the soba place we went to was technically an izakaya. Other izakayas look like any dive bar you might find in the U.S. except the food they serve is incredidble - a lot more options than chicken fingers and fries.

So on this night we started off at a Celtic Pub izakaya, then went to a Mexican izakaya that served huge margaritas (and also some of the worst Mexican food I have ever had the misfortune tasting - NOTE: I tried a burrito at another place on a different day and it was horrendous. Don't ever get Mexican in Japan!!!). We finished off the night at a yakitori izakaya in Ueno and by that time we had some appetite back.

This is daikon on a stick served in a sauce with hot mustard on the side.

Potato croquette. Good not great.

Chicken heart sashimi. This was so good. One of my favorite things I ate in Japan. It had a texture like bologna and the taste reminded me a little of really fresh rare roast beef.

This is the grilled throat of the pig on a stick.

Looks like throat, doesn't it? It was tasty but a little too chewy and crunchy. I didn't love the texture. In the future I would eat it if it was on the table but probably wouldn't order it.

You know, I really liked our other yakitori place better than this one. But I'll have to say this was the single best yakitori dish I had in Tokyo. I was told it is the neck meat of the chicken. It was so savory and mouthwatering. Very chickeny. The texture was like thigh meat but it was bursting with flavor.

I'd say it was a pretty good eating day today!

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 10

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:30:39 GMT

Today we went to a place famous for tonkatsu (pork cutlets) located in the Ueno district of Tokyo . It was quite a filling meal so I didn't eat anything else all day.

The tonkatsu was good - the best I've had. So many different kinds of pork to try!

This was the standard tonkatsu. It is the one they make the most so the are very good at it. It was one of my favorites.

These were the fillets which were supposed to be the best quality pork. I found them a bit dry but the taste was phenomenal.

This is the Black Pork. I wish I had a better picture to show the really dark color of the meat. This was my favorite one by far. The meat was not only delicious but very juicy with some nice fat in there. There was a distinct uniqueness to the pork that I was unfamiliar with but I really enjoyed.

While there we also enjoyed some breaded whole shrimp. These suckers were so crispy that you could just bite the head off and eat it. The head was a little crunchy but tasted great. I ended up eating several heads that my dining companions weren't as eager to eat.

This was a delicious meal! It was definitely the heaviest meal I ate in Japan and I was full all day. Most of the food I tasted in Tokyo was much healthier/lighter then food served in the U.S. but this was fairly greasy what with the pork fat and the fact that it's fried in fat. In fact I would say that was the biggest difference between the tonkatsu I've had in the U.S. - most of the tonkatsu I've eaten stateside has had less fat and in turn it's been drier and less tasty.

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 9

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:25:57 GMT

This was the coffee shop in Akihabara where we started out most days. It is a chain that serves really good coffee. Segalfredo's and another chain Veloce serve the best coffee in town. Our usual was a quadruple shot of espresso over ice. This took some time to explain what we wanted to the staff as it's not an order they get a lot. By the time we left, they knew us and had the quad shots waiting!

We had a special lunch today, shabu shabu at a restaurant in Ueno. And what made it even more special is that we were able to try three different grades of Wagyu beef. For those who don't know, shabu shabu is a style of eating where raw veg and meat is brought out and you cook it yourself at your table in a light broth. (kinda like some kinds of fondue). For the veg you might cook it for a couple of minutes but for the thin sliced beef you don't let it leave your chopsticks and if you like it rare like me you are good after about 7 seconds!

Sorry for bad overexposed pic! Left plate is the highest quality and right plate contains 2nd and 3rd grade. (Think O-toro, Chu-toro, Maguro)

Condiments including minced daikon, green onions, shoyu/vinegar, walnut dipping sauce.

Some noodles for adding to the broth.

More overxposed pics!!

The wagyu was incredible. Even the lowest grade wagyu was better than any shabu shabu I've had stateside. It was full of good beef taste. The fattier cuts were savory without being greasy.

After finishing all the meat and veg, you are supposed to add some of the shabu shabu broth to a cup with some of the shoyu/vinegar sauce and some other condiments creating a little soup to finish them meal. Oishii!

At night we went to a local udon noodle joint. They make all their own noodles in house. One thing I thought was much different from the U.S. is that they had about 10 different types of udon, but ONLY ONE OF THEM CONTAINED MEAT! In the U.S. you would see like Chicken, Pork, Beef, Combination, and like one vegetarian option. Here it was 9 veg options and one that just said "meat" (turned out was pork but they didn't even specify). The options instead were like different combinations of seaweed and other vegetables and herbs.

I went with the seaweed. Also they always add one of the delicious Japanese eggs. At the suggestion of my dining companion, I ordered it cold. It was definitely refreshing in the summer heat, but after I had slurped the noodles down, it was strange to drink the cold broth, my American palette couldn't finish it whereas I think if I would've ordered it hot I probably would have finished every last drop!

My friend told me that it is a Japanese saying that the perfect number of udon noodles to grab with your chopstick is three! The noodles were so good! Best udon noodles I've ever had by far. Firm, a little chewy, and delicious. The broth was slightly sweeter than what I'm accustomed to but went well with the other ingredients especially the egg!!

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 8

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:24:39 GMT

Another light eating day today. Had a croissant with morning coffee and not much all day. At night we went to the yakitori place in Ueno and ordered much of the same dishes I've posted about (chicken sashimi, skewer grilled chicken, chicken skin).

Here is a new dish we ordered. Bacon wrapped eniokitake mushrooms. Juicy, fresh, delicious.

A few thoughts on eating in Tokyo based on my very short stay:

- Many more mom and pop shops. Instead of a TGIFridays and P.F. Chang's on every corner, there are many small 10-seater restaurants owned and run by a husband and wife team. This is not just true of restaurants, but little markets and stores as well.

- Food not so greasy in Japan. For the first few days when I got back to the U.S. I felt like everything I was eating was so greasy that I was constantly grabbing for a napkin to wipe the grease off my hands.

- More respect for cooking as an art. There are many, many restaurants I've been to in the U.S. where the chefs hold the food in high regard and exhibit respect for the plates which they serve. But there are many more that do not. In Japan, for the most part, I did not find many restaurants where there was such a lack of respect common in many American eateries.

- KOBE BEEF! I've eaten Japanese Wagyu beef a couple of times in the U.S. Once I believe I paid $160 for 6 ounces and also at the French Laundry it was a $100 add-on. But wagyu is so common in Japan. I had it multiple times - grilled, shabu shabu. You can even buy it at the 7-11! On several occasions we ran down to 7-11 and bought some wagyu to have with our eggs in the morning.

- Eggs are amazing in Japan. I can't help but think of David Chang interviews where he talks about his inspiration for his egg dishes coming from the time he spent in Japan. Usually soft boiled, not runny but more of a firm pudding consistency. Yolks are sunset orange. I will definitely miss the eggs.

- Fruit. I had some amazing fruit. The grapes are so grapey! And flavorful, and juicy.

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 7

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:58:56 GMT

Another light eating day today. Been eating so much I guess I needed a break.

While walking down the street I saw this sweet "ROBOT SHOP". I was in a rush so did not have time to go in, but it's probably better that way as I doubt the store would have lived up to the images my mind conjured up when I saw the name.

We went to a restaurant in the UDX building in Akihabara that sold a lot of things, but their specialty was miso soup. They had a whole menu with 20 different choices. We sampled the following five:

Mugi barley miso - This had seaweed and spinach. It was my fav of the ones we tried today. It had incredible depth of flavor - bitter, a little tiny bit of sweet, some umami, and extremely fresh tasting. Plus I'm a sucker for barley.

Sendai -Brown miso with eniokitake small mushrooms. This was also very good. But it had a tiny bit of that unfamiliar aftertaste but perhaps thats just an acquired taste that my unsophisticated palate can't appreciate. But in spite of that one of my favs.

Shiro White miso - White miso is most common in the U.S. and certainly what my palate is accustomed to. I was really impressed with the depth of the flavor of the miso. A little more intense than what I've had stateside with some subtle undertones earthy as well as slight sour. I did like this one very much.

Haccho Red miso This had watercress, turnips, and some enokitake mushrooms. It had an astringent aftertaste that i couldn't appreciate. Probably my least favorite.

French fries butter miso - This is just a gimmicky one I guess. Imagine eating a bowl of drawn butter with bad dried out french fries floating around in it and a slight miso taste. Actually this was probably my least favorite but I'm not really counting this. Makes for a good photo though, right?

That night we went to Park Hyatt in Shinjuku - the one from the movie Lost in Translation. It had breathtaking views of the city but a fog rolled in later in the night. This is a shot I took out of the window while we still had some visibility. One note I was really surprised at how poorly the servers spoke English. You'd think in this most famous of all hotels in Japan that they would be pretty fluent. Their English was ok but definitely not perfect. Glad we were with some fluent speakers. It was also ridiculously expensive.

DFK goes to Tokyo - Day 6

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:52:08 GMT

Today was not much of an eating day. Sampled some pastries with coffee in the morning and didn't really eat much else all day.

At night we went to Azabu-Juba for Soba. Soba is noodles made on the premises from buckwheat flavor. Served hot or cold, I have only ever eaten it cold and that is how we ordered it. We also ordered the special "walnut dipping sauce."

Here is the setup. Walnut dipping sauce in upper left corner. To the right of that is the soba tsuyu sauce made of a dashi, sweet soy and mirin. Below that is a bowl that you eat over that also has some wasabi you can add to the tsuya. To the right are the buckwheat noodles on a bamboo tray called a zaru. The process is to pick up some noodles with your chopsticks, dip them in one or both of the sauces, and then slurp them up. Slurping noodles is not rude at all in Japan, it's the norm and it's the way to get the sauce (or broth in the case of ramen or udon) into your mouth.

Also served on the table is a hot kettle of the water that the soba noodles were cooked in. When you finish your noodles (oops I didn't finish all of mine!) you pour the soba water into the whatever is left in your tsuya sauce and it becomes a little cup of soup to finish off your meal.

We also ordered a side of tempura mixed vegetables. The pumpkin was great - sweet and full flavored. I also really liked the tempura peppers - not too much heat but lots of taste. Probably the favorite was the eggplant - well cooked, juicy, and very tasty. Japanese vegetables are delicious.

Didn't really eat much else all day besides some pastries w coffee in the AM, so that's all I got for Day 6.

DFK goes to Tokyo - Day 5

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:50:01 GMT

On day 5 we went to the UDX building in Akihabara for Kushiyagi which is a style of cooking where items are lightly breaded in panko, skewered, and then deep fried in a secret blend of oil. Seating is sushi bar style and the cooks are just on the other side making each of your items fresh.

This is the initial setup you are provided with including 5 different sauces. From left to right: hot mustard, sauce similar to katsu sauce, curry peanut sauce, shoyu, and lemon juice.

This was a delicious beef with green onion in the center. The breading is light and tasty.

Shrimp - eat the whole thing tail and head.

There was salmon with cheese in this. I like the presentation.

Asparugus

Wagyu steak

Shitake mushroom - juicy and tasty.

Duck - cook recommended using the curry sauce for this one.

This crab was one of my favs, just wish there was more meat on the bone.

They called this one "onion" but it actually had a secret little piece of hot dog in the middle!

There were so many other options here. They offer 42 different items. If you eat all of them you get your name in Japanese on this cool plaque - maybe I'll go back and try for the record!

Later we were walking through Ameoko, the outdoor markets in Ueno. We decided to stop by a takoyaki stand (fried octopus). I guess theme of day was fried food.

You start by putting a katsu type sauce on the Takoyaki (also called "octopus balls") then add mayonaisse.

Finish it off by adding seaweed and katsuobushi (shredded fish). This stuff was straight out of the fire and took a while to cool down. Once it did it was quite good. Although I'll have to say I've had stuff this good or almost as good in the U.S. (like on St. Mark's in NYC).

At night we went to an izakaya in Shibuya. Although izakayas are defined as drinking establishments that serve food, they are very different. Some look like regular sitdown bars whereas this one looked like a dive bar you'd find in the U.S. Only difference was the type of bar food available. My favorite thing on their menu was chicken fried cartilidge. It had a nice crunch and good flavor. Dip it in ketchup!

Another interesting thing on the menu was stingray. This was fairly bland and tasteless much like most other whitish, slimy-ish, translucent things from the sea (e.g. sea cucumber, shark fin, jellyfish, etc).

Later that night we went to a ramen place in Shibuya. Again we got the don kutsu (bone marrow) ramen but it was quite different here. The one we went to on Day 2 was lighter and you could see little bits of marrow in the broth. This broth had so much marrow in it that it was super thick almost like a gravy. The egg was again the soft boiled variety which I've found at so many places throughout Tokyo. Also shown above is sliced pork, green onions, and peppers.

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 4

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:44:06 GMT

We started day 4 off at our regular coffee shop, Segalfredo's in Akihabara (I'll be sure get some photos of that later).

We then checked out Yodobashi which is the 7 story electronics building in Akihabara - an area known as the Electronics District. There are so many different products, after spot checking a few items I found that there wasn't anything that much more advanced than what we can get in the U.S. and because the dollar is so weak, the prices were a little higher. There are definitely many things that I've never seen before like a $1,000 rice cooker that emulates cooking rice over a hot stone.

There is a Sushi Zanmai location at the bottom of Yodobashi and we scouted it out earlier and noticed they had large Shima Aji (striped jack) in their tanks. These were 2 - 2.5 lbs compared with the smaller .5 lb mackarel (Aji) we had eaten earlier in the week. So we decided to go for it.

The sushi bar

Our sushi chef

Notice the tank in the background.

http://deepfriedkimchee.com/2009/09/01/dfk-goes-to-tokyo--day-4.aspx

In this video notice our sushi chef behind the frosted glass killing the Shima Aji removed from the tank. You can also see the tank on the top right of the screen with a couple of other Shima Aji's swimming around in there.

This is a long video of our chef cutting it up.

The finished product. I've had Shima Aji a lot in the U.S. it's one of my favorites. But eating something that was basically still alive and had been swimming around just a couple minutes earlier was next level. It was buttery. The temperature was slightly warm. It was one of the freshest tasting things I've ever put in my mouth.

Trying to feed him a piece of himself.

Yes we got more of the 67c maguro shown above.

Instead of getting the head and tail tempura fried, we had them put it in a miso soup. It was very good - I got some of the cheek meat which is quite tasty when cooked. The miso soup was a great way to end a delicious and memorable meal.

At night we went to Shomben Yokocho (literally translated "Piss Alley") which has dozens of yakitori places lined up. It is a short walk from Shinjuku station - the busiest station in Tokyo. We didn't have any intelligence on a which of these were any good so we just arbitrarily picked one place. It was not anywhere near the quality of the one we have been going to in Ueno, I think we were spoiled by that. But it was a fun experience walking up and down this alley and Shinjuku station is truly a sight to be seen.

Negi ma - Pork and young onions

Chicken skin

In the middle notice the sliced Renkon (Lotus root). It had a fairly neutral flavor, somewhat earthy. Goes well with beer or as a pallate cleanser. Yakitori joints are basically drinking establishments that serve a lot of grilled food on skewers (yaki tori means "grilled chicken" but they grill up all kinds of other things or as we saw earlier this week sometimes they don't cook it at all!!!)

Chicken liver on left and pig tongue on right. Eh - I've had better liver. Tongue was pretty good.

Chicken heart and pork cheek. The pork cheek was excellent - very tasty and tender. I'd get the heart again too, some bitterness mixed with umami, but this one was slightly overcooked.

Another fun day in T-Town!!!!

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 3

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:53:41 GMT

Maguro Bito Conveyor belt sushi in Asakusa. This was my first bad eating experience in Tokyo. I guess I was just spoiled from all that live fish I had been eating. The quality of the conveyor belt just didn't cut it for me. Hope I'm not ruined for sushi in the U.S. now!

My friend said that he had heard that you just figure out what you want coming around and then ask the sushi chef in the middle and he will make you a fresh one so that's what we did. But that was a bad call, all the guy did was go around grabbing our order off the conveyor belt. I am out on conveyor belt sushi.

Later on we went to a place that serves traditional dishes made of dojo. It's like a little fish that has been sitting in a soy sauce based marinade.

When they bring it out the fish are room temperature and they are heated up by the flame in the bottom of the serving dish.

You then top it with fresh onions and peppers and it all kind of combines into deliciousness. I would get this dish again.

This is a second dish served with those fish and combined with eggs. It was good but I liked the first one better.

We then headed over to Omotesando which is like the 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive of Tokyo. In the Omotesando Hills Mall there is a tea and confectionary shop that we stopped by, We started with this hot tea their own special blend "R-Blend". It was tasty - nice flavor. Not real strong but nice undertones some sweet some bitter.

This is ice cream, mochi, and azuka beans - reminded me a little of Filipino halo halo.

Next was mochi on a stick that you grill up yourself over an open flame. (Kinda like the do-it-yourself-S'mores served at the N9ne Steakhouse in Las Vegas.) There were two dipping sauces, a savory and a sweet.

This was my favorite. Mochi with this awesome cashew dip. The dip was so delicious I even dipped some of the griled mochi in here. Such beautiful presentation on everything too.

At night we went back to the same yakitori place in Ueno that we went the other night. Pictured above is grilled chicken thigh, grilled breast with ume (Japanese apricot) and breast with basil. We started out with this and some of the same stuff as we got the other night, but then things started getting weird.

This was amazing. It was some amazing cheese (I will find out what kind) marinated in a sweet soy sauce. Up until this point on the trip I had used every bit of self control to never re-order a dish we had gotten, but after one bite of this I had to run it back and immediately got a second order. It was sweet, little sour, creamy, and so delicious. Dip it in the wasabi to take it to the absolute next level.

Yes that is what it looks like. Raw chicken breast sashimi. It was totally different then I imagined. The consistency was like a scallop and the taste was somewhat bland with mild undertones of chicken. Yum - I would get it again if I was at a good place like this one.

So after eating all that chicken sashimi they brought out another raw chicken dish. This one was tossed in a soy sauce vinaigrette with crisped onions on top. I liked both this and the chicken sashimi but think I preferred the pure sashimi a little bit more.

Another solid day in Tokyo!!!

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 2

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:19:09 GMT

The second day in Tokyo we went to a ramen place in Akihabara considered to be the best.

This is the ton kotsu (not ton katsu) broth. Which is made with pork bones and all that white stuff in there is marrow! This was so good. I had just eaten at Momofuku Noodlebar in NYC the other day and thought that was really good, but honestly that stuff sucked compared to this. The noodles were tasty with a nice chew. There were huge chunks of fresh char siu pork. And there was a soft boiled egg marinated in soy sauce thrown in as well. I did my best to slurp up the noodles like everyone around me. It's a good way to get a lot of the broth in every bite. When I finished my meal and drank the broth the owner/chef was surprised. He said most foreigners don't finish the broth. He also then informed me that he had intentionally toned down the taste of mine because he didn't think I could handle it (damn). He said he usually does that with foreigners and women. Next time I'm going to order an extra manly bowl of ramen!!

After hearing about our sushi experience the night before, a couple friends wanted to go back to that same sushi spot and you didn't hear me complaining. In addition to getting a lot of the same things as last night we tried several new items.

This was a fresh clam pulled out of the same tank as that fish. It was still moving when we ate it. The sashimi tasted a lot like giant clam - maybe a little more of a crunchy texture. The best part of this was the liver and guts that had been soaking in warm water so it was kind of warm. That was delicious.

This namashirasu was a specialty made with a bunch of these tiny little baby eels. I wasn't particularly fond of the taste - a little bitter.

Here is a shot of the fresh octopus.

We did the fresh aji (mackarel) out of the tank again and this time I got a shot of the tempura fried head and tail.

Ok don't freak out but this is raw horse meat. Fairly common in Japan at Izakayas. I've had cooked horse meat in Iceland before but found it a little gamey and didn't really care for it.. This stuff was good. I tried and tried to pick up the slightest hint of gaminess, but nothing. Notice the marbilization? It reminded me of wagyu beef. It had a slightly different taste then beef, but not in a negative way.

Don't hate me greenpeace, but this is whale sashimi and it was awesome. It was very tasty a little bit like tuna, but the texture was more reminiscent of beef then fish - I guess that makes sense considering it is a mammal.

After sushi we got some iced green tea from a streetside vendor.

I'd say day 2 was a pretty great day!!!

DFK Goes to Tokyo - Day 1

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:18:29 GMT

I arrived in Tokyo Monday night and I am totally in love with this town. First impressions? Clean, not nearly as expensive as I had thought it would be, and so much great food at every corner!!

One of the first places I hit was a Yakitori joint in Ueno.

All sorts of chicken on skewers. Shown here is chicken breast and chicken thigh.

The chicken breast was served rare. They actually offered chicken sashimi but we went with the omakaze (chef's choice) so we didn't get any this night. But I will be going back for that!

Tsukune - This was like a minced chicken with cartilage added for crunch. It was definitely my fav

Shown here the skin on a stick as well as some pure cartilage on a stick. Chicken perfectly cooked

Later that night we went for sushi. Sushi Zanmai is a chain around town with ridiculously cheap prices. A piece of the best maguro (tuna) nigiri I've ever eaten was $0.69 USD!!! The chain gets some of the freshest fish from the famous Tsukiji Fish Market. In fact, one of our dining companions had just been to the fish market yesterday for some sushi and said that the stuff he ate here was way better!

Sushi Zanmai in Asakusa

We sat at the sushi bar. The plain maguro was absolutely the best I've had. The chu-toro and o-toro were excellent, but like $3.50 an order compared with $15.00 in NYC! Also had some fresh octopus (I've only ever had previously frozen raw octopus), seared tuna, VERY GOOD UNI, and one more special treat.

Can you see what this guy in the back is doing? He's got a net and trying to catch us a mackerel out of that tank.

It was presented to us as shown above. Even though the meat had been sashimi'd out the head was still staring at us, moving it's head around us, and gills opening and closing. After we finished the sashimi they tempura fried the rest of the fish and it was you eat the whole thing - head, tail, and bones. Delish!

Here's a video of the fish still moving:

http://deepfriedkimchee.com/2009/08/26/tokyoday1.aspx

Moses Lake Hawaiian Luau 2009

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:06:41 GMT

For as long as anyone can remember, Richard and Stacey Ribellia have hosted a luau each summer on their beautiful property in Moses Lake, WA - about 3 hours east of Seattle. Old high school classmates from Hawaii fly in for this occasion as well as family and friends from the surrounding as well as California, Las Vegas, and Arizona.

When I picked up my rental car, I knew it was going to be a good weekend:

One of the main attractions of the luau is the Kalua Pig prepared from scratch. Just as we arrived, two freshly slaughtered pigs from neighbor Lou Hesse's farm arrived.

Each pig weighed approximately 250 lbs and as soon as they arrived, the team went to work on them.

Gotta clean the guts out, right?

The swine are skinned and cleaned.

After being cleaned, the pigs were quartered then salted and left to sit for a little bit as the underground over or "imu" was prepared.

Some people found fun uses for the pig heads. There was no mention of swine flu during the event.

This is the pit the Ribellia's have built into their backyard just for cooking up pigs every year.

Wood is placed in the pit then stones are placed on top of the wood. The wood is lit and as it burns it heats up the rocks. By the time the wood has completely burned the stones fall into the pit and are white hot. The Ribellia's imu is lined with steel so it retains heat more than the traditional imus that were just holes in the ground. Therefore the pig is ready much quicker - 8 hours compared with the 18+ hours without the steel lining.

Once the hot rocks have fallen, it is time to add the pig. First the rocks are covered with chicken wire.

Then a thick layer of watercress is added. Traditionally banana leaves were used but in the Moses Lake region of Washington state, there is a lot of watercress in the local creeks that was gathered earlier in the day just for this purpose.

The quartered pigs are brought out. A crowd starts gathering.

The pig is then covered with another layer of watercress.

Burlap bags had been soaking in rainwater all day. They are wrung out by hand and the damp bags are put on top of the watercress.

This shot looks cool with the steam coming up off the pit as the burlap bags are being wrung.

After the burlap bags are added, a plastic tarp is put over the top then the edges covered with dirt and the whole thing is hosed down. All of these steps keep the moisture and steam inside to better cook the pig.

Meanwhile during the day, fresh food was being prepared for the evening meal. Here lumpias are being fried up.

They were dang good lumpias.

Also some fresh pancit bihon was whipped up.

And some delicious Chinese chicken with mushrooms and tofu.

Fresh char siu pork

The evening meal was served and everyone lined up.

This was my plate includes a healthy portion of Uncle Dennis's famous spaghetti - Sriracha added.

Some time later that night homemade egg custard pie was handed out - yum.

Shortly after the 17 roosters started crowing at the crack of dawn (it actually felt like hours after the roosters started crowing if you were in a tent anywhere on the property) - the burlap bags were removed and the pig taken out of the ground.

The watercress was removed from the pig as it was taken out of the pit.

The pig was taken to another area where it is shredded by hand.

Meanwhile other preparations were being made for the big lunch meal. Here fresh yellowfin tuna purchased at Pike's Place Fish Market in Seattle was being cut up for poke.

At the appropriate time, our awesome host gave his classic "LoveFest" speech and a prayer was done.

All sorts of delicious food was on the table. The soy sauce cucumbers on the left were incredible.

More fresh lumpias.

Amazing salad with noodles and sliced fish cake.

Here is the star, the shredded kalua pig. Delicious. Makes my mouth water just thinking about how good it tasted.

Shoyu chicken

Someone brought Elk meat!!?!? It was good!

Fresh king salmon also purchased at Pike's Place Fish Market sashimi'd up

Lomi lomi salmon

The mac salad was delicious - had black olives in it.

The poke marinade was made using an "old school recipe" which included a healthy amount of Mrs. Butterworth's maple syrup.

This food line was very long.

Here is my plate.

Of course there was a huge dessert table.

The mochi was my fav

Those who weren't suffering from stage-3 food coma played volleyball.

Later that evening a THIRD 10,000 calorie/person meal was served up. Started again with a prayer led by our host.

One of the surprise guest stars at this meal was Zippy's chili.

The kalua pig was, of course, the star again, however this time it was served up in the traditional way with fresh cabbage.

BBQ chicken

Kalbi ribs - great marinade.

These cakes shaped like slippahs were so delish, I had like 4 pieces.

NIght time food line.

This was an amazing experience. Special thanks to Richard and Stacey Ribellia for offering up their beautiful home for the party and also to all the friends and family who cooked and gathered to make this event so special.

DBS3 - Daily Breakfast Sandwich Season 3 - 7/15/09

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:19:00 GMT

"Going out with Style" - 2 fried eggs, bacon, grilled tomatoes between two grilled cheese sandwiches. Ketchup added..
DBS RATING: 4.5 / 5

This is the last day of my NY trip and the final installment of the first part of DBS season 3, so I figured I'd have to go out with some style. This isn't the first time I've experimented with what Adam Kuban refers to as a "fatty melt" (burger between two grilled cheeses), but this is the first time I've done it with a DBS. After carefully going over the order twice with Rafael, the grill cook at Valentino's (pictured below), he uttered a one word response...."wow".

The sandwich was as good as would be expected. Very cheesy, very rich. The grilled tomatoes were Rafael's touch. But even with those it still needed the sweetness of some additional ketchup to offset the saltiness of the bacon, butter, and cheese. In fact it would've probably been a 5.0 if I would've thought to add the magical touch of sliced avocado.

This concludes the first mini-stub of DBS season 3, which will definitely be continued later this year in September. Until then "DON'T WASTE A MEAL!!!" - Richie

Other prep cooks have come and go, but Rafael (pictured above) has been the man on the grill for all three seasons of DBS.

DBS3 - Daily Breakfast Sandwich Season 3 - 7/14/09

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:53:00 GMT

"The McDonald's Cheeseburger" - 2 fried eggs, sausage patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, mustard and ketchup on a hamburger bun.
DBS RATING: 4.5 / 5

This sandwich originally suggested by DEEP FRIED KIMCHEE subscriber Deeps was first showcased in DBS season one. This is a tasty and filling sandwich. It definitely reminds one of a cheeseburger. In Season One I went with mayo but today I went with ketchup and mustard which I prefer a tad more than the mayo version, but am still giving the same rating 4.5.

This has definitely been a limited DBS Season 3. Tomorrow will be the last DBS for this season if I'm able to find time to pick one up. Maybe I'll resume Season 3 on my next trip to NYC kind of like how Lost just stopped mid-season and resumed months later...

Although I haven't had many DBS's this trip, it's been a great time. I had dinner at Masa and that was one of the best dining experiences of my life - approaching the level of awesomeness I had previously only found at the French Laundry. This trip I also had the Bo Ssam at Momofuku Ssam Bar and I had a chance to go back to Minetta Tavern to confirm that yes, they do have the best burger head and shoulders above anything else out there.

I also got a chance to spend a lot of time with some cool people who I didn't even know were DFK subscribers like BackGammonJoel and MadManJeremy. (BTW Joel - You were right, that song is by the Black Eyed Peas.)

Number one rule in blogging is to never apologize or make excuses for why you haven't posted much lately. I will just comment that my life's been a little crazy this last few weeks and hopefully it will return to a certain level of normalcy in the coming weeks that will allow me to resume posting with a higher degree of regularity.

Until then,

DON'T WASTE A MEAL!!!

-Richie

DBS3 - Daily Breakfast Sandwich Season 3 - 7/8/09

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:56:00 GMT

Egg whites, bacon, tomato, avocado, and onions on a toasted English Muffin.
DBS RATING: 4 / 5

Sticking with the "healthy" avocado theme again and it's still working for me. Regular bacon today but you know regular bacon isn't that much worse than turkey bacon, let's be honest. Also, last time I tried egg whites on an English Muffin I found it dry. But the avocado is like a wonder ingredient. I could eat this sandwich every day - very good. They put a little too much onions on it, but other than that it was a great way to start the day.

DBS3 - Daily Breakfast Sandwich Season 3 - 7/7/09

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:37:00 GMT

Three egg whites, turkey bacon, tomato, and avocado on whole wheat.
DBS RATING: 3.5 / 5

Yes! DBS is back!!! In case you missed the first two seasons, here are the links for DBS season one and season two.

I always seem to start the season out with some attempt at a healthier sandwiches and by the end of the season it's like peanutbutter, sausage, and egg yolks on a chocolate croissant (oh great, now that I've said that I'll probably have to order one of those). The avocado is one of the fattiest ~~vegetables~~ fruits? but it's good fat, and plus this is a critical part of today's DBS. Notice, there is no cheese or egg yolk, so this sandwich has the potential to be very dry. But with the rich, creamy goodness of the avocado I'm not missing either.

Boon Bung Phai - Laotian Firecracker Festival

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:35:30 GMT

Last Wednesday I attended the Laotian Firecracker Festival held at the Kantithamaram Temple in northeast Vegas. There's a tight knit community of folks from Laos living in Vegas and from what I'm told, festivals like this occur once every couple months. Everyone was having a great time, there was a stage with singing and a dance floor. Many were dressed in traditional garb and there was plenty of delicious homemade food (and a lot of cold Budweisers to wash it down with!)

Replica of That Luang - A temple in Laos that has become one of the national symbols and is said to contain relics of The Bhudda.

Stage and dancing area

Get down grandma!

Lots of tents with all sorts of hot and cold food.

Sai Kok - Delicious Sausage.

Nam Kao - rice , pork sausage, coconut, cilantro, pepper, ginger. This is made by mashing up deep fried rice cakes. So delicious - one of my favorite dishes of the night.

Frying rice cakes for the Nam Kao

Kinda looks like deep fried kimchee in this pic!

Larp Tao - "Seaweed Salad" (made from spinach, fish, snail, bitter melon)

Delicious fried chicken - this was very tasty and also a big hit that night.

Clockwise from top left: cocunut drink, fried chicken, pork strips, Nam Kao from above, spring rolls.
Center: Kao Tom Moo (rice stuffed with pork), Sa Ko Nyut Sait - Pork in tapioca wrapper

Sa Ko Nyut Sait - Pork in Tapioca Wrapper. This was my favorite of the night. Instead of a dumpling wrapper it is a thicker, stickier, slightly sweet tapioca that had some delicious marinated pork in the middle.

Left pan: grilled marinated chicken
Right pan: Clockwise from top left: beef, steamed fish, crab, shrimp, fried fish

The skewers were a big hit at our table. Served with sweet and sour sauce.

Grilled marinated chicken skewer. Very tasty.

Crab ball skewer.

Papaya Salad - made to order.

She let me sample as she was making it. This spicy enough? Little more please. [adds chile pepper] This spicy enough? Little more please. [adds chile pepper] OK is this spicy enough? Mmmm, maybe just a little more please, Kop Jai ("Thank You" the one Laos word I learned that day.)

Definitely very fresh, but I must admit I like the Lotus of Siam rendition better!!!

Several tents sold homemade beef jerky. It was delicious and so cheap compared to buying it at the grocery store.

Beef jerky wasn't the only food available to take home.

Left: Nam Wan Kao Salong (rice noodles dyed green, coconut, palm syrup). This is a tasty treat I bought a couple of these to take home. Reminded me a little bit of Indian kheer.
Right back row: Som Kai Ba (fermented fish eggs) These were also very good. Not fishy or overly fermented-tasting at all. I brought one of these home, too.
Center: Jael (kind of a Laotian salsa) I am going to try and make this myself for a future post. Great flavor.
Bottom right: Sum Pa (fermented whole fish)

Kao Tom Guai - Steamed Banana Rice

Ka Nom Kok - "mortar candy" This was a nice treat hot off the griddle. A little bit sweet, kind of reminded me of little Columbian arepas I've bought at street fairs in New York but this batter is made from rice flour and coconut with a little green onion on top.

6/10/2009
Kantithamaram Temple
4243 Judson Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89115

Advanced Hot Sauces - Mad Dog 357

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:03:00 GMT

After talking about the basic hot sauces I keep in the fridge and other ways to add heat we have moved on to some of the more advanced, special order hot sauces I like keep on hand.

So far we've looked at three: Blair's After Death Sauce (49,250 SHU), Mad Dog Inferno (90,000 SHU), and Dave's Insanity Sauce (180,000 SHU). Today, we're talking about Mad Dog 357. Coming in at 357,000 SHU (Scoville Heat Units), this is almost eighty times stronger than Tabasco, and is twice as strong as last week's Dave's Insanity Sauce.

Name: Mad Dog 357
Manufacturer: Ashley Food Company
Heat: 357,000 SHU (ratings obtained from ChiliWorld.com)
Main Ingredients: Vinegar, Chile Extract, Evaporated Cane Juice, Fresh Habanero Peppers, Garlic, Onion, Cayenne Peppers.
Uses: Chicken or beef marinades, mix with chip dip, extra hot Buffalo wings, practical joke on your friend.

To get the true taste, I mixed a drop of this sauce with a small glass of water and found the most dominant taste to be the chile extract. I could also pick up a little of the garlic and vinegar.

Just for this post, I tried using it as a dipping sauce for a pork adobo pandesal (basically meat stuffed bread) It was not fun. I could not handle it. With my mouth on fire, I switched to Sriracha and, it felt like I was dipping in cool refreshing ketchup! Mad Dog 357 is definitely not a dipping sauce.

I also recently tried adding a half of a teaspoon of 357 to about a cup of sour cream based chip dip. It was borderline inedible for even my freakish tolerance. It had a real undeniable, in-your-face bite to it.

This sucker is hot. I have only ever used this for marinades. Especially chicken and beef. I've also used it to create extra spicy condiments such as ketchup, mayonnaise, and even mustard. I would never apply this sauce directly to food.

DISCLAIMER: As with any of the advanced sauces, be extremely careful when handling them, and always be sure to test first. The best way would be to dilute one drop with 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise and taste it. If that's ok, then try it with half as much mayo. Then half as much again. Do not apply this sauce directly to food or to your tongue.

BLOGSCAN 06/10/09

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:15:00 GMT

Anyone who's dined with me will get a kick out of this: Top Ten Things To Expect When Dining With A Food Blogger [UnderTheHighChair via Serious Eats]
I thought this was very odd but flattering I guess. Someone translated the DFK Ko Guide into Portuguese. And I think they actually translated it themselves and added some commentary as opposed to just using Google Translate. I like the title "Sistema De Reservas Videogame"
Speaking of Ko, check out this wacky video David Chang and four of his cooks made. Kind of like Pink Floyd meets Top Chef [via Gothamist]
It's summer and this Vietnamese Frappuccino looks like just the trick to escape the heat. Yum. [via Gourmet]
No BLOGSCAN would be complete without some reference to bacon. And this list of the 10 Craziest Products Inspired by Bacon is f'ing sweet. My favs are the bacon bandages, bacon flavored dental floss, and bacon air freshener (READ: please get me for holiday or birthday gifts) [via Oddee]
Some interesting tips on cooking Adobo, the Filipino national dish. "Mix with liver spread or mashed liver. Broiling or roasting liver over coal adds a nutty flavor" [via Pinoy Food Blog] I ordered that adobo cookbook they mention by the way.
I just ordered some of these wood smoked Ghost Peppers. Blair Lazar of Blair's Hot Sauce fame says, You will clearly note the unreal heat, but more important, the fruit flavor with the mellow wood smoke, make this the very best Chili I have ever consumed. (Of Which I have put aside a serious stash of my own) Yes, that is a strong statement for me to make, it's funny, as I write this I realize I have never said that before, I may never again. [via Scott Roberts]
Finally, we are very proud that we were picked up by EATER.COM again! Yay. DEEP FRIED KIMCHEE subscriber Chucky used the DFK Momofuku Ko Guide to successfully get Ko reservations and when he showed up he was seated next to Chef David Chang's parents! According to Chucky's comment, Mr. Chang senior had been trying to get Ko reservations for a year. Hopefully next time he'll use the DFK system. (Here's the link to the first time we were on Eater)

Recipe: KALBI

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:12:00 GMT

It's summer time and there's nothing better then fresh-of-the-grill Kalbi. These marinated Korean short ribs have a high enough fat content that each bite explodes with flavor in your mouth, and the marinade provides a subtle sweet, salty, and tangy backdrop. It's simple to make, and they cook up quickly on a hot grill. This recipe was adapted from DEEP FRIED KIMCHEE subscriber Turtle's mother's recipe.

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds beef short ribs (untrimmed)

For marinade:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin (rice wine)
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup unsweetened white rice vinegar
2 bunches green onions (chopped)
2 tablespoons fresh garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons fresh ginger (minced)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup palm sugar and use only 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup chopped Korean pear

For garnish:
chopped green onion
sesame seeds

Directions:

1) Combine ingredients for marinade in large sealable tupperware.
2) Wash each rib carefully removing any bone fragments.
3) Combine ribs and marinade. Marinade should completely cover ribs - add water if necessary.
4) Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5) Place ribs on hot grill until done (about 1-2 minutes per side).
6) Garnish with chopped green onions and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serve hot.
7) Get some tortillas and a Twitter account and start your own knockoff Kogi Truck (you'd crush it, these are much better than Kogi)

These pre-cut short ribs are available at the Asian grocer. Each rib is about a quarter pound so the 2.5 pound package pictured holds ten pieces. When cooking for a group estimate 2 ribs per person. It's important to wash each one carefully to get rid of the bone fragments which were created when the butcher cut them. Sometimes the ribs freeze together in which case you should run them under COLD WATER (not hot) to separate them. Either place washed ribs immediately in marinade or pat them dry.

Serve with rice and kimchee for a complete meal!

Best Dam Barbeque Championship - Boulder City, NV

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:09:00 GMT

Boulder City, the town that built the Hoover Dam, hosted its annual Best Dam Barbecue Championship over Memorial Day weekend. It was a good time, and I sampled a lot of food (way too much!). Although the BBQ I tried at this event didn't quite match up to the food I ate at the World Championship Barbecue Contest held at Memphis in May, it was definitely up there. It was also less of a mad house and nice that I didn't have to fly to Graceland to attend!

We got beautiful weather that day, and our strategy of arriving early to beat the crowds paid off.

As is common in these type of events, there were a lot of competition tents that were competition only and did not sell to the public. However, compared with the World Championship Barbecue Contest in Memphis, there were a lot more teams selling their BBQ at this event.

Another competition only tent, the BBQ Nerds received 4th place in the Pork Ribs category.

Smokers of all different shapes and sizes.

BBQ Bad ass!

Big T's was one of the tents who sold their fresh BBQ to the public.

Big T himself

One of Big T's ribs. This was maybe the second best rib we ate that day. Very juicy and tasty, just not quite falling off the bone tender.

Big T's rib (back side)

Not sure if these guys were selling anything to the public but we did not sample anything from them.

Another competition only tent. Nice to see the Irish getting involved.

Montana Bar-BQ. Selling pulled pork, beef brisket and pork kebabs.

Montana Bar-BQ Pork kebabs.

Combination pulled pork and beef brisket plate from Montana Bar-BQ slathered with their BBQ sauce and some grilled onions thrown in for good measure. Solid dish, pulled pork was better than the brisket.

This competition only team took first place overall at the competition. Too bad we couldn't sample any of their goods.

Local competitor Pope's competition only tent.

Rib plate from Real Smoked Bar-B-Que out of Morongo, CA. DFK did not love these dry, heavily spiced ribs.

Whiskey Ranch BBQ

Racks of ribs wrapped in foil then smoked in an enclosed drum.

Whiskey Ranch ribs were the best we tried. This photo says it all. Juicy, falling off the bone, nice smoky flavor, and very tasty.

Overall it was a fun event with lots of great food, well worth the 30 minute drive from Vegas. I'll definitely be going back next year, just gotta remember not to eat for a couple days prior!!!

Emeril Lagasse vs Jim Cramer

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:18:00 GMT

Is Jim Cramer the Emeril Lagasse of Wall Street? You be the judge.

Clip from Jim Cramer's show Mad Money with guest Emeril Lagasse.

Here are the facts:

EDUCATION
Emeril, born October 15, 1959 (age 49) in Fall River, MA, graduated from the culinary arts program at Diman Vocational High School and turned down a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music, to pursue a career as a professional chef at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated in 1978 and the school later awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Cramer, born February 10, 1945 (age 64) in Wyndmoor, PA, graduated from Harvard College in 1977. He spent some time working in political journalism and then attended Harvard Law School, earning a Juris Doctor degree in 1984.

MAKIN' BONES
Emeril made his bones as exec chef of Commanders Palace in New Orleans, then opened his own restaurant Emeril's in 1990 which was designated "Restaurant of the Year" by Esquire Magazine. Since that time Emeril has opened many restaurants in New Orleans and other parts of the country.

Cramer made his bones at Goldman Sachs as a stock broker and went on to start a hedge fund, Cramer & Co. The fund reported one down year from 1988-2000. Cramer is currently an adviser and the largest shareholder of TheStreet.com, an investment advisory website he cofounded in 1996.

TELEVISION
After developing a cult following with the show Essence of Emeril which first aired in 1996, Lagasse took the world by storm with his hit show Emeril Live which first aired in 1998. This show was groundbreaking in that it combined in-your-face entertainment with education, a concept Cramer will later coin "infotainment". This show intrigued everyday people and can be credited as one of the original catalysts for the food movement over the coming years and to present.

Cramer, a frequent guest on CNBC, co-hosted Kudlow & Cramer which debuted in 2002 and ended in 2005 after Cramer called Kudlow a "sweet potato bull macho" on air. Later that year Cramer began hosting his own show, Mad Money, which has become CNBC's most popular show. Just like Emeril Live, this show brought in viewers who were everyday people, not just those in the financial industry. Despite the show's success, there is little evidence so far of a "financial movement" compared to what we've seen in the food world. Although there are a plethora of much less popular shows on CNBC and other networks, there is no "NEXT GREAT FINANCIAL NETWORK STAR" nor have any of the major networks put any financial related shows in their primetime lineup...yet.

INFOTAINMENT
Both Emeril and Cramer are very animated during their presentation (notice they both have their arms outstretched in the video above.). They both encourage audience participation - Cramer only occasionally performs in front of a live audience but he has viewers call in every show.

Emeril tries to liven up his shows by getting the audience excited with several catchphrases, which according to Wikipedia include: “kick it up a notch,” “aw, yeah, babe,” “feel the love,” and of course his most famous "“BAM!”

Cramer incessantly uses a variety of pre-recorded sound effects such as a sounds of a bull, bear, pig, ghost, submarine diving, and someone jumping out of a building. His catch phrase is "BOO-YAH" which is how his viewers greet him each time they call in.

CRITICS
Emeril has been widely criticized by best selling author and television personality Anthony Bourdain.

Jim Cramer has been widely criticized by best-selling author Eric Tyson and television personality Jon Stewart. Cramer appeared on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show on March 12, 2009 and by most accounts he got his ass kicked by Stewart (see for yourself).

After eating at Emeril's restaurant, Anthony Bourdain apologized to Emeril on an episode of Bourdain's show No Reservations which aired in 2008. Emeril has also been applauded for the way he treats his employees and for his commitment to the community of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

None of Cramer's critics have apologized at this point.

CONCLUSION
Cramer has certainly brought some of Emeril's antics to financial news reporting and in many ways taken them to a bizarre new level. His impact on the industry remains to be seen as it is too early to tell if Cramer will spark the financial "infotainment" industry as Emeril did the food television industry. At this point anyway, Emeril seems more chef than entertainer (despite his brief attempt at a sitcom), while Cramer, educated and experienced as he may be, comes off as more entertainer (read clown) than financial expert.

BLOGSCAN 05/20/09

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:57:00 GMT

Remember the Eater.com op-ed piece written by David Chang that we mentioned in the

4/17/09 BLOGSCAN? Well the foie gras protester freaks followed through with their threat:

Check out Grub Street for the full article, which includes excerpts such as this from their Animal Protection & Rescue League's How-To-Stage-An-Angry-Protest Handbook:

A sustained presence of demonstrators, using the foie gras campaign posters and literature, should protest at the restaurant on a regular basis, preferably a minimum of once per week during their busiest hours. These demos will be quiet vigils designed to make diners lose their appetites as they view posters on their way in to the restaurant.

I guess these idiots don't realize that people only get coveted Ko reservations a week or two in advance and are charged $150 if they don't show up. There's no way a couple of losers with handwritten signs hanging outside the front door will deter a single customer. There were also protesters there who were protesting the protesters. This guy is awesome. "EAT FOIE GRAS! EAT FOIE GRAS!"

Came across this interview done in January with Corey Lee, Chef De Cuisine at French Laundry (who was also mentioned in the aforementioned BLOGSCAN). Lee says the two best meals he's eaten in his life were at Masa in NYC and Urasawa in L.A. (Both added to the DFK "to-eat" list.)

Declaring that Banh Mi has jumped the shark has so jumped the shark. Here's a post and another post trying to find the next great Asian sandwich. I've eaten the bulgogi dog, Num Pang and Xi'an's Famous Foods lamb burger - all were delish. Danku's Indonesian Sloppy Joe, however, was a let down (sounds cool though, right?) Submitted by DEEP FRIED KIMCHEE subscriber JimmyDawgz.

Funny post on EatMeDaily.com with video about Stephen Colbert's adventure eating $1,000 dishes from three different restaurants. There is one from Serendipity that is a regular sundae but with $999 of edible 24k gold added which Colbert proceeds to put on his face like a mask. This of course begs the question, after eating that golden sundae do you attach a rocker box to the toilet?!? In this economy I'm sure I'm not the only one who would do that for a g. Heck for $1,000 I'd attach a rocker box to Colbert's toilet.

INFORMATIVE: How to Do Just About Anything in The Kitchen. (I know what you're thinking and no, it's cooking related - pervert.)

Kogi ripoffs are popping up all over L.A. (and across the country). Here's an interesting post on the Kogi website about their experience with one of these shamshops.

I'm Gonna Get You Suka! Great overview on the blog Burnt Lumpia discussing different types of vinegar (called Suka in the 'Ppines) used in Filipino cuisine. And hella funny, too!

These mini-watermelons look awesome:

Pepquino's - coming to America soon. [via U.K.'s Daily Mail]

I guess people know about my Rooster fetish. A total of FOUR different DEEP FRIED KIMCHEE subscribers (Turtle, Chucky, BostonPowers, and Hanuel) each submitted this article about Sriracha from the NY Times. Thanks for the heads up guys!

Check out this great post on Serious eats with great photos of Seoul's 7th International Tteok Fair. I've eaten a lot of tteok, but nothing that's looked as beautiful as those. If you're asking, "what the f is tteok?" (pronounced kinda like duck) Check out the Wikipedia entry.

Did you get your tickets to the 2009 Vendy Awards?

I did!

I just noticed it's in Flushing - sweet! And if you purchase your tix online here before May 31st they are only $60 each ($100 at the door). You're saving 40 bucks. In this economy can you really afford NOT to go?

SMACKDOWN: 2nd Ave Deli vs. Katz's Delicatessen

richie@deepfriedkimchee.com (Richie) — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:23:00 GMT

Katz's and 2nd Ave Deli are two of New York's most well known delis. Ever since I first moved to New York I've been aware of the long running debate over which is the top dog - er, top Kosher dog. I've eaten wonderful, delicious food at both places, so it's always been difficult for me to pick a favorite. Until now.

THE PLAN

Pick a base location for the test that is approximately half way between Katz's and 2nd Ave (Thanks to DFK subscribers Sandy and WhirlyBirdJeff for volunteering their phat pad).
Send a team down to Katz's to pick up the following to-go:

Pastrami on rye
Extra lean pastrami on rye
Corned beef on rye
(NOTE: I've had Katz's delivered but I think it was a big order and also ordered during a not-so-busy time of day - we didn't want to risk it for the purposes of this experiment so we picked it up ourselves.)

When the Katz team nears the front of the line to place their order, they greenlight the team back at base to call in an identical order for delivery from 2nd Ave Deli.
The Katz team then hops a cab with the goods, and heads back to base.
If timed correctly, 2nd Ave Deli should deliver about the same time as the Katz team arrives back at base.

Things worked out pretty much according to plan. 2nd Ave arrived about 15 minutes after the Katz team returned.

The two heavyweights prepare to go head-to-head.

TOP: 2nd Ave corned beef, lean pastrami, regular pastrami
BOTTOM: Katz's corned beef, lean pastrami, regular pastrami

FAT BEATS LEAN
One thing I learned early on in this competition is that I prefer standard, fully-loaded-with-fat pastrami to extra-lean pastrami. We wanted to order both to make sure that the extra lean version of one wasn't better than it's full fat counterpart. But, my taste buds definitely liked the regular pastrami from both competitors much more than either of the extra-leans.

After the extra-leans were eliminated in the preliminary heats, we move on to the finals for best in breed.

2ND AVE PASTRAMI vs. KATZ'S PASTRAMI

From left to right: 2nd Ave pastrami and Katz's pastrami. Side by side cross section comparison.

Appearance:
Katz is the clear winner on appearance. The colors are beautiful and run the full spectrum from pink to glistening red to the deep black on the crust. ADVANTAGE: Katz's

Texture:
The textures of each sandwich are quite different. 2nd Ave pastrami is extremely tender and does not offer much resistance when biting into it. Katz's pastrami has a more rustic texture. I wouldn't say Katz is any less tender, but it has distinguishable layers when you bite into it. Katz's pastrami is also slightly juicier and more butyraceous. ADVANTAGE: Katz's

Taste:
This was the most difficult decision. They are both very tasty but made with slightly different spice blends and probably use different meat purveyors. I went back and forth on taste but in the end Katz's got the nod on taste as well. (But I wouldn't kick 2nd Ave Deli pastrami out of bed, that's for sure.) ADVANTAGE: Katz's

Winner:
2ND AVENUE DELI !!!!! Haha just kidding. After sweeping all three categories, Katz's pastrami is the clear winner here. This would not be obvious to me without a side by side comparison. 2nd Ave pastrami is good, very good. But Katz's pastrami is the benchmark to which I shall compare all pastrami in the future. There may be better pastrami out there, but it I would be surprised to find anything significantly better than Katz's.

2ND AVE CORNED BEEF vs. KATZ'S CORNED BEEF

From left to right: 2nd Ave corned beef and Katz's corned beef. Side by side cross section comparison.

Appearance:
This is close. Both sandwiches look great and both have beautiful shades of pink. The colors of the Katz's corned beef are deeper and redder making it slightly more attractive. ADVANTAGE: Katz's

Texture:
Look carefully at the picture and you'll notice the 2nd Ave corned beef (shown above on left) is actually cross cut which means when you take a bite it crumbles into little cubes of deliciousness. This has the effect of making the meat very light and airy (and heavenly). However, one drawback to this preparation is that it creates four times as much surface area causing the 2nd Ave corned beef to dry out quicker. Hence, the Katz's corned beef was slightly juicier. We ate these sandwiches first, but later on I went back for more 2nd Ave corned beef and found it had dried out considerably. For purposes of this smackdown, we're assuming you either eat at the restaurant or immediately upon delivery. ADVANTAGE: 2nd Ave Deli

Taste:
This was very close. Again both use different recipes. I went back and forth and back and forth. Then back and forth a few more times. What? I was hungry. They are both very tasty and slightly different. In the end I really couldn't make up my mind which tasted better. ADVANTAGE: Tie

Winner:
This was not an easy decision. If you're in the mood for good corned beef, you really can't go wrong with either one. The slightly juicier Katz's or the airy cross-cut 2nd Ave? I'm giving the nod to 2nd Ave Deli on this one. The feel of the crumbling cubes of 2nd Ave corned beef breaking up in your mouth is really an awesome life experience. As an additional note I didn't use mustard for the comparisons between the two because I wanted to focus on the taste of the meat. But normally I do apply mustard and the nooks and crannies in the crosscut 2nd Ave Deli corned beef takes mustard amazingly well creating a delicious synergy.

OVERALL SMACKDOWN WINNER:

Katz's Pastrami - OVERALL SMACKDOWN WINNER

Of all the delicious sandwiches we ate, Katz's pastrami was head and shoulders above the rest. I learned from this experiment that I prefer the bolder taste of pastrami to the more subtle corned beef.

2nd Ave Deli is still a great place to eat. It is a true Jewish Deli while there has been debate in the blogosphere as to whether Katz's is a Jewish deli or just a deli that offers some Jewish delicacies. I'll stay out of that debate, but I do know that 2nd Ave Deli serves the best Matzah ball soup I've had, and it has a cozy, comfortable dining area as compared with the jailhouse cafeteria style dining area found at Katz's.

Thanks to DFK subscribers Sandy, WhirlyBirdJeff, TexasCho and JimmyDawgz - this smackdown wouldn't have taken place without you guys!