Crab Two Ways: steamed and crab roe with tofu stew

Don't you love Asian restaurants that take an item and executive it multiple ways? They were the original innovators!

So here's my version of crabs two ways: steamed then crab roe with tofu stew

Steamed is a favorite for purists, steamed until barely cooked. in some places the fresh is still like sashimi... not my cup of tea but then again I am a carnivore! :)



Crab roe with tofu stew is a widely popular Shanghainese dish. But ridiculously time consuming. The reason I steamed first is so I could pick out all the claw meat for the stew, but what truly made this dish amazing is the crab roe... so umami!!

Another weekend meal

Cold soba noodles is one of my favorite summer time meals. From the moment I first had it at Soba Totto, I was shocked how some simple noodles with a soy-based sauce can be so delicious!

Imagine my excitement when I found out I can make this at home! To serve with the soba, some cold cucumber salad (not pictured), baked chicken wings (I steam then bake to eliminate some of the grease), and steamed maryland crabs.

Simple. Light. Delicious. Happiness.

Osteria Morini

Osteria Morini opened a year ago, I went twice the first month and LOVED it! I haven't been back since, there are just too many great restaurants in NY...

So it was great to go back to an old favorite last Friday. We walked in at 6:30pm, the place was already half packed but we were lead to a table in the center of the restaurant right away. No wait, check!

We (I) decided to start with two appetizers, and share a pasta dish and an entree...

Appetizer course:
Mare $12
adriatic style seafood salad, olives, lemon, and capers


Fegatini $13
duck liver mousse, passito wine and grilled crostini


Pasta course:
Garganelli $19
pasta quills, batterkill cream, truffle butter and proscuitto


Entree course:
special of the day - grilled lmab should blades

See top. God, this was one of the best lamb chops I ever had, juicy, flavorful, lamby and soo soo tender!

Antipasta Dish

I love tapas, appetizers, antipasta, snacks, small plates, sharings....etc

Basically I like variety. That's why I love the Hot & Cold appetizer platter at Uncle Nick's Ouzaria in Hell's Kitchen.

This thing has a ton of stuff going on: grilled shrimps, olives, grilled sausages, feta salad, grilled zucchini and eggplant, calamari and shrimp seafood salad, grilled chicken, potato salad, spinach pie, stuffed grape leaves, pickled peppers, 3 bean salad... almost all my favorite foods!

Red Cooked Pork

There's no dish more famous in Shanghai than Red Cooked Pork, yes, the name in translation is horrible. But what can you do? At least the dish tastes good.

Red Cooked Pork is the dish that any self-respecting Shanghainese housewife knows how to cook. And there are so many variations and every family has it's own thing. Kinda like how fried chicken is treated in the South.

Anyway, the basic includes:

pork bellies
lite soy sauce for taste
dark soy sauce for color
rock sugar for the caramelized sugary, savory taste
ginger and scallion

that's it.

Now, there are always ways to improve upon the classic... why not add fried tofu to absorb some of that porky good sauce? and traditionally eggs are also added to stretch the meal and also provide a different texture contrast. But eggs can be boring and they are huge so that means the flavor never really reach the center. So why not add quail eggs? Who doesn't love quail eggs? They are so poppable, just like pringles!!

Being me, I also added some sake to bring out the heavenly scent of meat cooked with wine... now THAT'S love.

Trestle on Tenth

Restaurants are a funny thing. There are moments where everything is perfect, the chef is at top of his game, the wait staff is not hurried and can dedicate just the right amount of attention to you, and most importantly, you order precisely the right thing for you at the right time. The last part is where so many ppl run into problems, and who can blame them? It's hard to order precisely the right appetizer to share, with the right entree catered to that individual's precise desire at that moment and not to mention the right amount of food... so that's why I love it during those rare moments when everything turns out perfectly... precisely perfectly. :)

Trestle on Tenth is one of those restaurants that I really enjoy - affordable, neighborhoody and relaxed. I happily go there versus Daniel or Per Se (more on those later).

To start we shared a simple country pate, so shockingly good at just $5. Picture on Top


Then it was crispy Belgium waffles with caramelized apples and maple syrup creme for me... $10.50


And Leg of Lamb with morels, fingerling potatoes and two eggs, sunny side up $16... he definitely won today's who-ordered-the-best-dish contest

Broiled Vietnamese Pork chops

I love Vietnamese food! And I don't care what anyone says, NY has pretty decent viet food. Yes, I have been to Houston and Cali... whatever, I like my pho here!

And I love the grilled pork chops, they were actually an obsession in college, I used to drive (or make someone else drive) for hours so I can get some pork chops and spring rolls. hell yeah!

So why not make them at home? If you can't bbq (and who can in manhattan?) broiling is the next best thing. So I pounded the porkchops (very shanghainese thing to do) and then marinaded my porkchops in:
lemongrass
lemon juice
garlic
onion
salt
pepper
brown sugar
regular sugar
honey
sake
and finally vietnamese fish sauce (eww! haha)

To serve with that, sauteed belanchan with garlic:


And caramelized shrimps. Btw, this is my favorite way to cook shrimps, imagine all that soy sauce, sugar, ginger, scallions and sake reduced down to an intense, finger-licking, kick ass sauce... and that's what you got