Post 117: Portland - Brunch Box and Portlandia Food Cart Pods (Portland: Southwest/Downtown)

What we know as food trucks in Southern California they know as food carts in Oregon.  There is a reason or two for this nominal difference.  For one, the food trucks in Southern California truly are traveling motorized trucks.  While they can be expected to visit certain locations on a regular basis, sometimes they need to be tracked down using social media as they move from site to site.  On the other hand, the food carts in Portland are much more sedentary and rarely roll away.  They sit in these pods or clusters in organized in the sort of way that books are neatly filed away on a library shelf.  One such shelf of food carts is located on Southwest 5th Avenue called Food Cart Alley.  We came here to visit Brunch Box, one of the most renowned food carts in Portlandia.

Brunch Box makes all sorts of breakfast and lunch sandwiches using burger buns, bagels, and Texas toast.  For those unfamiliar with Texas toast, it is extra thick slices of bread that is great for holding together sandwiches that are piled high quite possibly with ingredients that leak, drip, or run.  For those more familiar with Taiwanese toast, it is quite similar to brick toast except that it is used to hold a sandwich together.  To say that their menu has a wide array of hearty sandwiches is a complete understatement.  There is even a grilled cheese sandwich shaped into a dinosaur called the Cheezasaurus Rex.  Cheesy filled T-rex? Yes, please.

Of all the artery choking foods on the menu, though, what really caught my attention was the Hawaiian.  It had Spam, and lots of it.  I love Spam... and lots of it.  Along with grilled pineapple, cheese, a runny egg, and teriyaki sauce, the Hawaiian was quite a mouthful.  But it was delicious to the very last bite.  There were a few squirts of Sriracha somewhere in there too.  Good stuff.

Moseying down south one block and east two blocks to Southwest Washington and SW 3rd Avenue is another pod of food carts.  Here we found Batavia, a food cart specializing in Indonesian cuisine.  We ordered a lunch box of the house special Indonesian fried chicken.  It was not the crispy battered fried chicken that we are accustomed to, but it was spiced up and flavorful.  The rice was a great accompaniment, and although it looked like there was a large amount of it, the spicy chicken flavor and sauce went a long way.  In fact, the chicken had so much kick that the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers really calmed the fire on my tongue down.

Also located in the same pod of food carts is Elmasry Egyptian Food.  We saw a good amount of the late night crowd stopping for a bite here in the wee hours of the morning after the bars close, so we hopped in line too.  We got a chicken shawarma that was absolutely huge in proportion.  The meat was tender and juicy enough that I picked at it toward the final bites of the pita wrapped sandwich.  Oh, and the sauce... the sauce is amazing.

There seemed to be quite a few food stands specializing in Thai cuisine in the pods that we explored.  Nong's Khao Man Gai is supposedly one of the most popular carts in the Downtown area, but they were not open for business when we visited.  This will be in the plans for a return visit to Portland this June.  Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20120914-15

Post 43.4: Bay Area - Smorgasbord

I'm all pooped out from writing lengthy posts about San Tung and Burma SuperStar, so this post is going to consolidate all the remaining smorgasbord of meals that I had during my weekend trip to the Bay Area.

Breakfast @ Country Inn Cafe (Bay Area: Santa Clara)

I had my first meal less than an hour after I landed at SJC.  Vickee whisked me away to a very filling breakfast with Ian, Aparna and Jeff.

Country fried steak and eggs over-medium

The country gravy smothered over the top was amazing-delicious.
This was the server's recommendation, and it made the perfect protein-packed breakfast.

Swedish pancakes with lingon berry butter
The crepe-like pancakes were light, but I could barely finish after inhaling the country fried steak.

Wine tasting @ Picchetti Winery (Bay Area: Cupertino)

What's the best way to digest a very filling breakfast? Mid-morning wine tasting of course! This is where my eyes were opened to the Mission Angelica, a Port wine that tasted like honey and was thick like syrup.  The sommelier dropped an ice cube and a lemon rind into each of our glasses for the tasting.  Quite interesting.

The entrance to Picchetti Winery

Wild peacocks roam the premises, so it's not a good idea to bring your pets.

Benches adorn the open grassy area, which makes for relaxing picnics.

The first tasting of many

2007 Chardonnay, Leslie's Estate

Picchetti charges $5 for five tastings.

The tasting room
Festive carolers provide holiday cheer as wine connoisseurs taste their favorites.
Barrels of wine are nestled right under the floor boards of the tasting room.

Lunch @ Santouka inside Mitsuwa (Bay Area: San Jose)

Nothin' beats the ramen from Santouka.  The chain restaurant is usually located inside a Mitsuwa Marketplace food court, but I think their ramen beats out local LA favorites Daikokuya, Orochon, and Shinsengumi.  A simple bowl of noodles in the afternoon really made me feel like I was on vacation.  And a walk around Daiso helped jump start my digestion.

The miso ramen and its spicy sister
Wood ear mushrooms, slices of bamboo and kamaboko lay atop the noodle bed.
The chasu is fatty but firm, and the broth is flavorful but not extremely salty.  The fish cake (kamaboko) is al dente, and the wood ear mushrooms have a texture similar to cartilage.

More wine @ Press Club (SF: SOMA/Union Square)

At Candice's suggestion we headed over to the Press Club near the Metreon to chill out with some wine.  The venue's basement has a spacious modern interior and had different sections of bar counters catering to specific types of wine.  The music was current but not pop, loud but not blaring... the crowd was Financial District yuppie cool.  They've got an interesting concept in terms of paying for the wine.  Patrons swap their Visas and MasterCards for the Press Club's own plastic charge card, and it's later used to cash and check out.

99 bottles of wine on the wall
Jamie, who happens to work for a wine distributor, was kind enough to show us a red wine with tastes of vanilla and leather.  Insert S&M joke here.

Late-night grub @ Golden Boy Pizza (SF: North Beach)

We shed our pre-midnight yuppie casual cool for a bit of post-midnight college kid debauchery at John Colins.  How can you pass up a night out without stopping by Zorro or Golden Boy?

Clam pizza
Minced clams are hidden under a chopped shrub of parsley.  Just a bit of intoxication augments the amazing-delicious taste.  Supposedly, Golden Boy makes the clam pizza only every so often; I'm glad I got to try it before my memory completely faded.

Breakfast @ Curly's Coffee Shop (Bay Area: North Beach)

I've passed Curly's a number a times when walking through the North Beach neighborhood, and I've asked my friend Grace, "How come we never eat here?" It always seemed like a very friendly, neighborhood coffee shop... and it is.  The coffee shop serves up traditional American breakfast with Japanese flair.  I'd stop by again for an early morning meal as a substitute for the long waits of the nearby brunch places.

Spam and eggs
The infamous canned lunch meat grilled alongside eggs with toast and hash browns
I ordered eggs over-medium... not solid but not too runny.  Perfect.
The hash browns were crisp on the outside and soft in the middle.

The ramen
Japanese ramen submerged in a pork broth with chasu and egg.
The soup was sticky and thick, almost like gravy.  The egg was cooked very well... medium-boiled with a slightly gooey and runny yolk.  The broth was a little on the salty side.

I was actually quite surprised at how much I accomplished in less than 48 hours in the Bay Area.  Half a dozen meals, wine tasting, spontaneous bar hopping, 2 near-missed flights, and 2 chance encounters with Nick Wong who ate at the same restaurants for lunch and dinner, San Tung and Burma SuperStar, as I did in the same day.  Minus the sprint through SFO to make my flight back to LA, I felt accomplished and ready to take on corporate America on Monday morning.  Until the next trip, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20110113/20101212

Post 3: Kimchi Fried Rice Fail means Kimchi Omelettes

Goal: Spam+pineapple+kimchi fried rice

Result 1: Spam+pineapple+kimchi omelette
Result 2: radish kimchi omelette (泡菜浦蛋)

Complete fail? Not quite. There's a very simple explanation for how my fried rice became two omelettes. I expected to find day-old rice (the kind you need to make good fried rice) in the refrigerator, but when I peered within the door... milk, eggs, orange juice, uhhh... no leftover rice? What??! I felt like a peasant during the Chinese revolution.

Okay, so time for plan B. Uhhh... Spam+pineapple+kimchi... salad? Gross. Pasta? No way. An omelette? Hrmmm... perhaps. As the least of all evils, I decided that a Spam+pineapple+kimchi omelette was doable. After all, I had just made Korean pork belly with Brussels sprouts and kimchi, and that was delicious. So if this Spam+pineapple+kimchi omelette really tastes as good (or disgusting) as it sounds, at least I would know for sure.

Ingredients:

1. Spam - Original tastes best, but Lite or Low Sodium are also available

It says "crazy tasty" on the label, hahahaha, awesome marketing, Hormel.

2. pineapple - fresh or canned (doesn't matter) but must be drained

3. kimchi and kimchi juice

4. 2 eggs - scrambled

5. salt and pepper (S&P)

Directions:

Step 1. Brown the Spam. A little bit of oil goes a long way here.

Step 2. Add the kimchi and kimchi juice, and let it reduce with the Spam.

Step 3. Toss the pineapple in with the Spam.

S&P (salt and pepper) the S&P (Spam and pineapple).

Step 4. Take out the omelette's organs.
Pour the eggs over the skillet and let it firm up.

Step 5. Put the omelette's organs back in. Attempt to fold/roll the omelette.
It gets interesting here, hahaha.

After an utterly failed attempt at folding the omelette, I came to the sinking realization that Spam+pineapple+kimchi could have made a delicious contemporary pizza a la CPK. *smacks forehead* Feeling disappointed in myself for not thinking about pizza as a possibility, I sank into my overstuffed sofa seat hoping that my kimchi omelette would taste decent at the very least.

Spam+pineapple+kimchi omelette. Good morning, America!
I covered the rip in the omelette with kimchi. You'd never be able to tell otherwise. :P

As I took my first bite, something hit me (I think it's called shock). Savory Spam... sweet pineapple... and spicy (and a bit crunchy) kimchi... all wrapped in a little bit of neutral (the egg)... delicious! But just to make sure my taste buds weren't screwing with me, for my second bite, I raced into the kitchen for a bottle of Tabasco. A dash here, a dash there... bite no. 2. Nom, nom, nom. Mmmm...! The savory+sweet+spicy combo was really working for me. More munching ensued... and a few minutes later...

Demolished. Tabasco and kimchi blood remain.
Chopsticks are more convenient than any other utensil.

I think I've just created an Asian omelette! But another realization hits. I don't think I'm the first one to have created an Asian omelette. There is a Taiwanese-style omelette that is made with pickled daikon radish (Chinese-written: 菜浦蛋; Taiwanese-spoken: tsai bho nngh). I've had this Taiwanese radish omelette plenty of times before. So I went back into the kitchen, excited to try a Taiwanese-inspired, Korean-flavored omelette (泡菜浦蛋). Instead of Taiwanese picked radish, I used Korean pickled radish kimchi. The kimchi isn't as salty or as crunchy as the pickled daikon, but it was well worth a shot.

Taiwanese-inspired, Korean-flavored. Radish kimchi omelette.
I may try scrambling the eggs with the radish kimchi inside next time.

Just as I had thought... not as salty and not as crunchy, but not bad at all. In comparison to the first omelette, the second one is physically flatter and flatter in taste as well. There isn't as much of a "Hmmm... what exactly is this that I'm tasting...?" To improve, maybe I would add another pinch of salt in the egg and then eat it with a side of kimchi (either cabbage or radish).

Surprise! A simple spinach omelette.  
I was in a mood to scramble eggs.

Gah! I've had way, way too many eggs this morning. Kimchi pizza next time? Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20100113