7x7 Big Eats 2013 - Wing Wings

Location: 422 Haight Street, San Francisco, California 94117
Date: Friday, January 17th
Food: Angry Korean Wings
Price:$6.00 (for 5)
Comments: These technically shouldn't count towards the list because they were consumed in 2014, not 2013. But since the 2014 Big Eats list was not-yet-released @ that point, we let it slide. I thought the wings were neither angry nor were they Korean. They were just sort of sweet, & maybe a little tangy. Perhaps the fact that these wings had sat in a box for a couple of hours before reaching my palette had played against my experience...but I didn't expect flavor to just completely disappear. For the same price, I would actually recommend the Papalote salsa wings...they were muy delicious.

"Tortoise Tower" Chicken Pho

As you might have read in one of my previous posts, Russell turned (29+1) earlier this month & I wanted to make his birthday extra special by cooking him some delicious food.  Even though I am more Chinese - genetically & culturally - than he is, I had never heard of the Chinese tradition of eating chicken on one's birthday before I met the guy.  He told me that in the Taishan (Toi-San, 台山) dialect, the word for "chicken" sounds very similar to the word for "luck" so a person should eat chicken on his/her birthday in order to ensure good luck in the year to come.

I was originally planning on making surf-&-turf, but chicken is good...until...

Me: "So what kind of chicken do you want me to make?  Fried?  Chicken wings?"
Him: "How about chicken pho?"
Me: "You want to go to out for your birthday?"
Him: "No.  I want you to make it...from scratch."

Seriously?!?

I didn't hit the panic button just quite yet.  His mom had gotten me a cookbook for Christmas that was all about Vietnamese home cooking.  Lo & behold there is a recipe for chicken pho in there.  Phew.  But still, can I tackle making pho?

Watch out for the "trick ingredient"...
     1 chicken, about 3 pounds
     6 whole scallions
     1 2-inch piece of ginger, crushed
     1 tablespoon salt
     0.5 package thick vermicelli noodles
     6 cups homemade chicken stock*
     2 tablespoons fish sauce
     1 scallion, chopped
     0.25 cup cilantro, chopped

And it takes longer than one'd think...
     In a large pot, bring some water (~6 cups) to boil
     Add in the chicken, scallion, ginger, & salt.  Bring back to a boil for 20 minutes
     Remove the chicken & place it in an ice bath for 20 minutes
     Remove the chicken from the ice bath, pat it dry, remove the skin, & shred up the meat
     Cook the vermicelli noodles according to the package instructions
     Boil the chicken stock, seasoning with fish sauce to taste
     In a bowl, place the vermicelli noodles, the chicken meat, & then pour over with the hot broth
     Garnish with chopped scallion & cilantro

Makes 2 servings

What seemed complicated @ first turned out to be more time consuming than anything else.  The end result was not too shabby.  The noodles could have been cooked a little longer & the broth could have used a bit more salt, but that was about it.  The "trick ingredient" I mentioned above is the homemade chicken stock.  I actually went ahead & made one a day ahead & it took about 5.5 hours start to finish.  I think it's nice to have a homemade stock but it is by no means necessary in my opinion.  Actually, store-bought stocks are much more flavorful than the one I made.

So why am I calling my chicken pho "Tortoise Tower" chicken pho?  For those of you who live in or around San Francisco, you might know of a Vietnamese restaurant called Turtle Tower that is quite famous for its chicken pho.  As a matter of fact, it is the only place I get chicken pho.  Since I was trying to riff off Turtle Tower, I thought I should give my dish a cleaver name that involved a similar reptile.  If you want, you can read more about the real Turtle Tower chicken pho here.



* To make the chicken stock, roast 0.5 yellow onion & 1 3-inch piece of ginger at 350F for 1 hour.  Blanch 3 pounds of chicken scraps (i.e. neck, wings) in boiling water for 3 minutes & rinse.  Cut the roasted onion in half & the roasted ginger into coins.  In a large pot, bring to boil 8 quarts of water along with the chicken, onion, ginger, 0.75 tablespoon salt, & 0.75 tablespoon palm sugar.  Reduce heat to a simmer & let it go for 4 hours.  Remove any large solids & strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer.  Refrigerate or freeze in air tight containers.

7x7 Big Eats 2013 - Zuni Cafe

Location: 1658 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94102 (main entrance on Rose Street)
Date: Saturday, February 9th
Food: Roasted chicken & bread salad
Price: $48
Comments: We have talked about getting this dish since August of 2010 & we finally did it!  It was worth the wait & anticipation too.  The chicken was moist & flavorful & all it was missing was that perfect crispy skin.  The texture of the chicken meat was firm; a complete 180 from the supermarket rotisserie chicken that I know too well.  While the chicken was great, the true star was the bread salad.  The bread was grilled first which gave it a toasty undertone & a more substantial body to stand up to the chicken juice that it was soaking up.  The pine nuts & the currants added a sweetness which enhanced the bread.  Last but not least, the bright vinaigrette & bitter greens lightened up the dish & gave it balance.  The 2 of us ate most of the chicken & polished off that salad.  I think if we didn't have appetizers and weren't planning on getting dessert, we would have finished off the chicken too.  The dish takes about 40 minutes to be ready so think about ordering that first & then browse/order your appetizers.

7x7 Big Eats 2012 - San Tung

Location:     1031 Irving Street, San Francisco, California, 94122
Date:            Saturday, May 26th.
Food:           Dry fried chicken wings
Price:           $9.50 for an order of 12
Comments:  Actually got this @ Next Door Sweets next to San Tung because the
                    line at the restaurant was way too long.  The wings were not dry as
                    expected but they were not drenched either.  The flavor was slightly
                    too sweet & not spicy enough but the wings were moist & would be
                    a great snack to have with an ice cold beer.

Quick & Easy - Rice Cooker Chicken Wings

I love chicken wings!  When I was little I can eat a dozen of them in 1 sitting. I think that's because my dad would remove the skin and 1 of the bones before putting them in my bowl.  He formally stopped doing this when I was 12; but sometimes if I am lucky, he still does that for me.

When it comes to eating chicken wings, I don't have a favorite kind.  I love soy sauce wings, salt water wings, buffalo wings, fried wings, etc.  But when it comes to cooking chicken wings, I only know 1 trick: Barbecue-style.  Unfortunately I am not entirely sure the oven @ my place is safe to use.  Now what?

I brought up my dilemma with my mom & this is what she said: "marinate the wings over night in salt & white pepper.  Next day, steam them as you cook rice in the rice cooker."  Say what?!?

I was totally not convinced after our conversation; but what other choice do I have?  I need real food for dinner & I don't have any fancy schmancy condiments.  Salt & white pepper it is.

Here is what happened the nights before...
     Defrost as many chicken wings as you wish to cook.  I used the kind where the wing & the drum stick are separated.
     Rinse the defrosted chicken wings under cold water & pat them dry with paper towels.
     In a large bowl, generously sprinkle in salt & white pepper.  You might want to move the wings around to make sure that every wing is treated equal.
     Using your hands, give the chicken wings a massage so to spread the salt/pepper evenly around.
     Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap & store in the fridge over night

When I was ready to make dinner...
     Take the chicken wings out of the fridge & place them in a plate in 1 layer.
     Put the plate in the steamer attachment of the rice cooker & push cook.

That's all there is to it!  This took about 20 minutes which I spent drafting this blog post.  The finished product was absolutely delicious and the wings were uber juicy.  A bonus - if you like, mix the chicken juice/sauce in the plate with the rice to give it some flavor.

Weekend Dinner - Spicy Zucchini Pasta with Chicken

It was Saturday night which means I get to spend a little bit of time in front of the stove & actually cook a real meal.  This usually also means making a bit of extra to bring as lunch the following week.

I have been meaning use up a packet of whole wheat linguine that has been sitting in my cupboard for a few months but I didn't know how I should cook it.  When I went to the grocery store today, I unknowingly started looking for summer squash only to realize that they weren't available because...haha...it's not summer anymore. Fortunately, I was able to find good-looking & cheap zucchinis so I decided to cook it up with some onion in a tomato sauce.  For protein, I used chicken tenders just cause I had them sitting in the freezer.

The whole thing was pretty easy to make & it took only about 20 minutes.

So here is what you'll need to do for preparation...

     Take an onion - red, white, yellow doesn't matter - & cut them into thin slices.  I used a quarter of an onion because I was cooking for only myself.

     With the zucchinis, scrub with water to get rid of the waxy coat on the outside.  After that, cut off both ends and slice thinly.  If you're not good with a knife, I found that it is easier if you keep the stem end on so you have more to hold on to.

     Chicken tenders are great because they are already in these thin strips & I can just season them with a little bit of salt/pepper.  Chicken breast & high can be substituted since they tend to be cheaper.  Cut them up into strips or leave them as they are.

Now on to the cooking...

     Depending on how much pasta you're cooking, bring the appropriate amount of water to a boil (when in doubt, you'd rather have more water than no enough).  Add in a good bit of salt & cook the pasta according to directions on the package.  I take 1 minute off the instructed time because I like to toss my pasta in the sauce for a little bit before serving.

     In a pan, heat up some oil - whatever kind you like - on high heat & sear the the chicken.  This doesn't take too long, just until the outside to look totally cooked & go a little bit beyond that.  Obviously if bigger pieces of chicken is being used, add an additional minute or 2.  Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside.

     In the same pan, heat up some more oil on medium heat & add in the onion.  Once the onions have turned a little translucent, add in the zucchini.  Add some salt/pepper & 2 spoonful of the pasta water.  I added chipotle pepper powder too for heat.  Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 3 minutes. After the time is up, turn the heat to low; add in 1-1.5 cups of store-bought pasta sauce (I like the tomato basil from Trader Joe's) & stir everything around.  Add the chicken back in and let it cook for a few more minutes.

     At this point, I took the chicken back out because the pieces get in the way.  I took the pasta out of the water & transferred it immediately to the sauce.  Using tongs, mix everything together until it looks nice & delicious.  Serve the pasta on a plate & place the chicken pieces back on top.

That's it!

It might seem complicated to have to cook the pasta, make the sauce, & cook the meat.  But things can be done @ the same time so it's not too bad.  I made enough to feed me for dinner, another portion for lunch, & I still have un'sauced pasta that I can make in other ways.