I love sushi, but I don’t always love to pay the premium price that we often see in Japanese restaurants. Luckily they sell sashimi-grade fish at groceries stores such as Berkeley Bowl, and for $14, you get a whole freaking pound of ahi tuna! And even less for a pound of salmon! I don’t think you understand how much fish you get for a pound…I certainly didn’t. We had way too much fish and leftover sashimi is not the best.

I made tuna poke with the ahi tuna, but I used a tuna poke mix, which ended up being way too salty. Next time, I will try this recipe for tuna poke.

Give it a try! Sushi at home!

James Syhabout

His restaurant Commis in Oakland, has propelled Chef/Owner James Syhabout to culinary stardom. He won a Michelin star for it in 2010, just one year after opening. Ironically, Commis is French for the lowliest of chefs in a kitchen, but once you’ve watched James work behind the counter of his open kitchen, irony becomes common sense. He is quiet, meticulous and had I not seen his face many times in various magazines and online, I would have never guessed he was the owner.

We came to Commis for a birthday dinner last Saturday. This was our second time, but having toasted our anniversary with several bottles of champagne before dinner the last time, we hadn’t really remembered much…Commis is not the kind of place to go with a rowdy crowd, or when you want to have loud, political debates. Go to Commis with a loved one or two that you can be quiet with and sit at the counter if you can. It’s like watching a ballet. All the chefs have a special apron that has a pocket for tweezers and most of the work is tweezed into place with an eye towards artistry.

I find more and more that I appreciate the prix fixed menu, especially when that’s the only thing on offer. I like putting my palette wholly in the hands of a chef I trust. It’s like letting a stylist to the starts do your hair and makeup and dress you from head to toe. Commis offers an ever changing $75 8-course prix fixe that is dictated by what’s to be found at the market. The only things that never change are the “rocks” appetizer (cheesy cracker nibblets coated in ash)-

Guess which two are edible!

and the famed poached (or more accurately sous-vide cooked egg). Sous-vide means under vacuum and it is a cooking method that requires a pricey device that cooks food very slowly at a very low temperature in a sealed, pressured environment. The result is incredibly velvety texture and rich, concentrated taste. James serves the slowly-cooked egg yolk over a puree of dates and creamy onion soup (that resembles egg whites) with toasted steel-cut oats to add crunch to the list of flavors and textures. The result is yum. So yum that even through our champagne haze this was the only dish we remembered from last time.

I will not bore you with minute details of each of the ingredients of each of the gorgeous dishes we were served, but my absolute favorites of the evening were the rich egg, the delicate as sea foam oyster, and the raw sea scallop perfumed with fresh bergamot. I also loved the fact that dessert was light and refreshing (not to mention that it was the best frozen yogurt I’d ever had). So here, without further ado, is the meal in pictures in the order in which we had it. I highly recommend you try it for yourself!

Oyster with pickled celery jelly and sea foam

Sea scallops perfumed with bergamot

Roasted asparagus with dried herring roe

Grilled cod with ginger mustard

Lamb with confit beetroot

Candied rhubarb with frozen yogurt

Naughty Doughnut Queen Hannah Hoffman

Everyone deserves to have access to a place that makes sweet treats called  “Naughty Doughnuts”.  This is why I urge everyone to pitch in and help Hannah Hoffman’s Kickstarter campaign  so that she can open her doughnut shop “Doughnut Dolly”.

As a head over heels food lover, I am crazy for chefs and their never ending drive to bring delicious morsels to the plates of total strangers. I am especially crazy for chefs who are passionate enough to start their own restaurants on shoestring budgets, giving it an all or nothing go. Hannah Hoffman is one such chef. Her creation—the Naughty Doughnut is something that everyone should try at least once, or better yet many many many times. Naughty Doughnuts, lovingly made by hand from the best ingredients available, are so good the last time I ate one I got some in my hair. And I am not ashamed to admit to it.

The Naughty Doughnut In All Its Glory

Hannah has signed a lease in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland and is ready to give a sweet dusting of sugar to an area that is abundant in food goodness, but sadly lacking in places where one can pop in for a sweet treat and a cup of coffee. In order to open her business she needs to raise $12,000 before April 9th. She only has a little ways to go, but needs all of your help. Helping this campaign is like helping yourself. Hannah, the city of Oakland, and most importantly YOU all deserve to spread and indulge in the Naughty Doughnut goodness. Here’s to Doughnut Dolly being the latest Temescal addition soon!

Click Here to Spread Some Naughty Doughnut Love.

Premium Pork Ramen

Ajisen Ramen

Westfield San Francisco Centre
865 Market St
San Francisco, CA 94103

I’ve noticed an influx of great restaurants in our…mall. Yes, shopping mall. Our San Francisco Westfield Shopping Center is home to Beard Papa’s, Cupola, and now Ajisen Ramen. I’ve heard about this ramen place, but it took me a while to find it, not realizing it was located in the old food court.

On a recent shopping trip, we stopped by were greeted by a host, despite the fast food ambiance. We were seated quickly and we ordered the Premium Pork Ramen, the Spicy Pork Ramen, and some fried chicken.

The Premium Pork Ramen came with a few pieces of chasu in a porky broth. The broth was surprisingly very good with a lot of depth and flavor. The downside, however, were the noodles, which reminded me more of spaghetti noodles, lacking the bite that’s characteristic of ramen noodles. The fried chicken was pretty standard; good, but not memorable.

I would revisit Ajisen Ramen if I wanted something quick and was in the the area, but most likely, I would rather make the trek to nearby Katanaya.

Burritt Room in Union Square

Everyone likes being in the know, especially when it comes to cool places to drink. And in a small, well-informed city that LOVES to get its drink on, knowing the bars that are somewhat hidden gives people some serious bragging rights. That’s why, when I came across this article in Pinchit by Ryan Boyle I had to mention it in honor of Friday!

The article is fun to read and though I’ve been to 15 Romolo, love Bourbon and Branch and been meaning to try the Hideout, I was not familiar with The Burritt Room, which I will be sure to put to the test the first chance I get. I am also very excited to add Spec’s Twelve Adler Museum Cafe to my list of “Sunday Funday” (North Beach walk around tipsy days) places, my other favorite being The Saloon.

Thanks for the story Pinchit, and for reminding me yet again of what a great city we live in. Happy Friday everyone. Get your drink on!

Pho noodles and mint

Being a Bay Area resident and having spent time in San Jose, I have eaten a lot of Pho. (For those who don’t know, Pho is a Vietnamese soup dish made with various parts of beef including the shank, the bones and, if you really want to lick your chops—filet mignon.) It has a lot of ingredients and I have always been too intimidated to try and make it although I can think of little else as delicious on a wintry day. This past weekend, under the guidance of my beautiful, very pregnant friend Annabel, I tossed intimidation aside and participated in making the best Pho I’ve ever had. The recipe is from Steamy Kitchen and I am very grateful to Jaden Hair for creating and posting it!

A whole lot of spices!

Ingredients

More ingredients

This green is called "Mexican" cilantro

Ingredients:

THE BROTH
2 onions, halved
4″ nub of ginger, halved lengthwise
5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 lb of beef meat – chuck, brisket, rump, cut into large slices [optional]
6 quarts of water
1 package of Pho Spices [1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbl coriander seeds, 1 tbl fennel seeds, 5 whole star anise, 1 cardamom pod, 6 whole cloves - in mesh bag]
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (halve if using regular table salt)
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar (about 1 oz) – or 1oz of regular sugarTHE BOWLS
2 lbs rice noodles (dried or fresh)
cooked beef from the broth
1/2 lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thin as possible.
big handful of each: mint, cilantro, basil
2 limes, cut into wedges
2-3 chili peppers, sliced
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha hot sauce

Directions:

Onions and ginger

Char: Turn your broiler on high and move rack to the highest spot. Place ginger and onions on baking sheet. Brush just a bit of cooking oil on the cut side of each. Broil on high until ginger and onions begin to char. Turn over and continue to char. This should take a total of 10-15 minutes.

Clean the bones: Before boiling the bones, make sure to rinse them thoroughly until the water runs clear.

Clean bones

Parboil the bones: Fill large pot (12-qt capacity) with cool water. Boil water, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.

Annabel’s variation: Annabel had two pots of water, the large one for the soup, the small one to clean the bones. To get rid of the maximum amount of scum, we first briefly boiled the bones in the first pot then transferred them to pot number two.

Spice ball

Boil broth: Add ginger, onion, spice packet, beef, sugar, fish sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the beef meat and set aside (you’ll be eating this meat later in the bowls) Continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth and return the broth to the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning—this is a crucial step. If the broth’s flavor doesn’t quite shine yet, add 2 teaspoons more of fish sauce, large pinch of salt and a small nugget of rock sugar (or 1 teaspoon of regular sugar). Keep doing this until the broth tastes perfect.

Annabel’s variation: Annabel has a great “spice ball”, which makes adding spices very convenient. It’s like what you would use to steep tea leaves in, but much larger. They are widely available in most Asian markets.

When she said thin, she meant THIN!

Prepare noodles & meat: Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible – try freezing for 15 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. Remember the cooked beef meat that was part of your broth? Cut or shred the meat and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Your guests will “assemble” their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles—there are many different sizes and widths of rice noodles, so make sure you read the directions. For some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 second blanch in hot water is all that’s needed.

Annabel’s variation: Annabel and I went all out and used a beautiful cut of filet mignon, which made the soup all the more rich and buttery-tasting. It may take a while to get the meat-slicing just right, because when Annabel asked me to slice it thin, she meant paper-thin and I couldn’t quite do it. A more practiced friend had to take over for the sake of time, but I’m sure I’ll get it with a bit of practice. The meat has to be thin in order to cook properly in the soup. As far as the noodles go, the ones that we got were delicious, but I was warned that they had to be eaten that day or they would start to stick together. Before boiling them for a few seconds, Annabel separated them all.

Delicious noodles

Ladling: Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests can garnish their own bowls as they wish.

All the ingredients are in, now we just have to wait 3 hours!

The best Pho ever!

This was a very fun day and I highly recommend that you get a few friends together and make this on a blustery day. There is enough activity for several people, and the three hour wait ensures that you’ll have plenty of time to snack, drink wine and just hang out. Happy Pho making!