159. A Burmese Spread at Daw Yee Myanmar Café (LA-SGV: Monterey Park)

After my first experience with Burmese food at Burma Superstar in San Francisco, I have been intrigued by the food from the country now known as Myanmar.  We visited Daw Yee Myanmar Café to eat more of this unique cuisine that blends Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Lao influences into its own native fare.

A must-order dish that provides a glimpse into traditional Burmese fare is the tea leaf salad.  Diced tomatoes, roasted peanuts, fried lentils, and toasted sesame accompany shredded cabbage, whole chilies, and fermented tea leaves imported directly from the mother country.  Our Burmese server-host-instructor extraordinaire tossed the hodgepodge of ingredients table side until it created a harmonious blend of rainbow colored, texturally titillating, fragrant salad.

One of our favorites was the kima platha, a sort of grilled flatbread in finger food sized pieces folded over ground chicken seasoned with Indian masala.  It is almost like a potsticker, but a more bready, heartier, fuller version of the usual fried dumpling.  The kima platha comes with a dipping sauce, but we used it to soak up all the leftover curry goodness on our plates.

Speaking of curry, the egg curry was a highlight of the night.  Get this... the eggs are hard boiled and deep fried, then added to the mix of tomato and onion sauce.  The colorful curry covers the eggs, making them gleam in the golden pool of glory.  Cut the eggs up and let them fall into that sauce... douse the eggs with more sauce, and you've got a spoonful of bliss.  Whoever thought of this (someone Burmese I presume) was a genius.

There are many more items on the menu that are great to share as well.  We also ordered the mutton curry, which was robust in meaty flavor with a tinge of lemongrass.  The mohinga, Myanmar's national dish, should not be missed.  Rice noodles submerged what is known as a catfish chowder piques an initial interest but results in a complete addiction to the comforting noodle soup.  We are definitely returning for more.

Happy birthday, Ron.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Daw Yee Myanmar Café
111 N. Rural Dr.
intersection of Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91755
Closed Tuesdays

ML - 20130909

Post 100: A Quartet of Cupcakes from Wonderland Custom Cakes (LA-SGV: Pasadena)

After finishing up a post on macarons from Old Town Pasadena, I thought it would be fitting to continue posting on sweets from this same neighborhood.  This post features a quartet of cupcakes from Wonderland Custom Cakes.  WCC is one of the newcomers in Old Town Pasadena, an area which has no shortage of cupcakeries and shops that specialize in sweet treats.  However, Wonderland seems more like a seasoned veteran rather than a rookie in the cupcake business.  They are two-time winners of Food Network's batter battle bonanza Cupcake Wars, and it is clear why.  The flavors they feature are distinctly unique, and the taste is neither too sweet nor too greasy.  My cousin Emily brought me some of their champion cupcakes for my birthday recently, and they soon won me over.

The first cupcake I tasted was the chocolate bacon.  Most cupcakeries have thought it quite avant-garde to pair the flavors of bacon and maple.  Wonderland, on the other hand, pairs the flavor of bacon with chocolate instead.  Even better.  The pairing of bacon with chocolate cake tasted less sweet than the typical pairing of bacon with maple syrup frosting.  The pieces of salty, rendered bacon were crispy and provided great crunch against the softness of the cake itself.  In short, it was awesome.

The next cupcake I tried was the biscotti.  I was quite impressed with the idea of a biscotti flavored cake and frosting... the cupcake really did taste like biscotti.  In fact, the cupcakery got the authenticity of the flavors so spot on that the anise seeds are dotted throughout the cake batter.  For those who are not found of licorice flavor, this biscotti cupcake has what seems like a minefield of anise seeds.  Although it brings the cupcake a genuine biscotti taste, the remarkably sparsely added anise seeds gave a startling explosive taste of potent licorice against the background of a mild tasting cake.  For licorice lovers and true biscotti aficionados though, this is the cupcake for you.

After the biscotti cupcake my roommate and I dug into the smores cupcake.  What was really unique about this cupcake was that the frosting was not just marshmallow flavored.  It was actual marshmallow... color, taste, texture and all... white, airy, fluffy, meringue-like, sweet marshmallow.  The center of the cake had a chocolate filling, and the graham cracker was dusted as crumbs.  It was like a childhood campfire in cupcake form.  Oh, what nostalgic genius.

The last of the quartet of cupcakes was the black + white, one of the flavors on the menu of daily produced cupcakes from Wonderland Custom Cakes.  It was a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting complete with little specks of vanilla bean.  The moist chocolate cake and creamy vanilla frosting was a even balance of cocoa sweet and sugar sweet.  It was one of the best standard black + white cupcakes I have ever had. 

A visit to WCC is now in the works after being won over by these cupcakes.  Okay, that is all for now.  Eat more cupcakes.  Sugar high.  Whoo! Until next time let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20121202

Post 37: Birthdays at Maison Akira (LA-SGV: Pasadena)

There are a slew of friends' birthdays coming up, so I have been plotting (err.. planning) a few festivities.  While looking through pictures from last year's birthday celebrations for a few ideas, I came across a series of photos from outings at Maison Akira in Pasadena.

I came here for the first time for the Sunday champagne brunch for Connie's birthday.  I discovered right then that everything Maison Akira offers, from food down to service, is prepared, executed and presented with innate Japanese precision, courtesy of Chef Akira Hirose.  Granted, the brunch buffet is nowhere close to the spread at Universal Hilton, but not a single one of Chef Hirose's dishes are disappointing.  And the doesn't have the same mass-produced feeling that the Vegas buffets or the Universal Hilton buffet has.  Here are some of the expertly prepared plates from the Sunday brunch:

Assorted sushi.
Eel (unagi), salmon (sake), tuna (maguro), egg (tamago), and eggplant (nasu).

Crab chawanmushi.

A petite pool of pesto graces the top of the steamed egg.

The crab chawanmushi was my favorite item in the buffet spread.  The steamed egg is absolutely supple... beautifully supple.  Just slight pressure from the push of my fingers on the teaspoon pierces the skin of the chawanmushi to lift a portion of porcelain delicate, custard colored, tofu textured, protein laded bliss.  The pesto that sits atop the egg allows the tongue to flirt with a slightly saltier flavor for just a few seconds... just long enough for your brain to process the pesto's European origins... but not long enough for your brain to change its views on how Japanese the chawanmushi dish actually is.  Continued excavation into the sake cup sized chawanmushi reveals a pinch-sized lump of fresh crab meat, tender from its recent steam and juicy from absorbing of surrounding egg.  Mmmmm... who's ready to head back for seconds?

The first visit was such a relaxed and pleasant experience that it mandated an evening visit during the dinner service.  I revisited Maison Akira with a group of friends for Allison's big birthday, and we ordered a range of appetizers and entrees in both the tapas and regular plates.

Duo of Japan hamachi sashimi and big-eye tuna tartare.
This dish is so simple yet so tasty.  The wasabi tobiko atop the hamachi
is a creative substitute for the traditional grated wasabi root. 
It literally bursts with nose-clearing spice. 

Trio of big-eye tuna tartare, sashimi and sauteed Hokkaido scallops.
The first dish was a favorite, so we ordered a second helping.  The tartare is fresh,
and the hamachi melts in your mouth.  The scallops are still rare in the middle.  Perfect.

 Tower of portabello mushrooms, yams, tomatoes and maytag bleu cheese.

This combination of vegetables from the ground is piled as high as the pungent 

yet creamy bleu cheese will allow it to go.  It has a transcendentally earthy feel.

Grilled duck foie gras in a port wine truffle sauce

with daikon pot-au-feu and king oyster mushroom.

One of the greatest experiences in life is biting into a chunk of fatty foie gras 

and having its fat juices burst into your mouth and run over your tongue.

Oyster flan in a sea ikura beurre blanc.
This dish combines two of my favorite foods together... oyster and sea urchin roe.
Their creamy textures and ocean origins blend well together.

American kobe beef ravioli in karashi red wine sauce.

Although flavorful, the tender fattiness of the kobe beef is missing from the ravioli.

I'll be having Japanese kobe beef in steak or for shabu shabu in the future.

Sauteed Canadian scallops with king oyster sympatic in lobster jus.
The zucchini basil flan acts as the nucleus for the electrons of scallops,
holding the soft flavor and smooth texture of both flan and scallop together.

Baked Alaska.
Teenage Glutser has an action shot of the baked Alaska during the flambe process here.

I've only ever read about Mrs. White's baked Alaska at Mr. Boddy's extravagant dinner parties in the Clue series as a elementary school kid.  I finally got a chance to try this marshmallow flambeed dessert dish.  The surprise inside is a Japanese green tea ice cream, sweetened by the raspberry sauce and softened by the tough yet airy roasted marshmallow.

 

Vanilla ice cream with fresh berries in a cookie shell with caramel netting.
The best desserts are simple, fresh, and don't push you into a food coma.

The restaurant is nestled on Green Street behind the Pasadena's main thoroughfare in a space that has room for just over a dozen tables.  The mirrors at any ends of the dining room trick the guests into thinking that the restaurant is actually much larger than it really is.  There are chef prix fixe menus as well as a chef's omakase tasting menu, which I am quite curious to see about next time I visit.  Reservations are highly recommended.  Who's ready to drop some bills?

Until we make it rain again, let's get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20101014/20091101+28