155. Bay Area - Tony's Pizza Napoletana is Jonas Approved (SF: North Beach/Little Italy)

While romping around San Francisco and all around the Bay, I thought it would be cool to feast with some fellow food fanatics.  Jonas Tamano of Jonas Approved was the first one that I thought of.  A local of San Francisco, Jonas knows the city and its restaurants like the back of his hand.  He introduced me to Tony's Pizza Napoletana in North Beach, and we chowed down on their award winning pizza.

While the menu has an amazing array of authentic pizzas cooked in half a dozen different ovens, we had to go for the one and only margherita.  After all, the margherita pizza is the World Pizza Cup winner, and Tony's makes only 73 of them in their 900 degree wood fire oven each day.  I couldn't pass up the chance to have this rustic pizza made with a combination of imported Italian ingredients and local farmers products.  San Felice flour cooks into a crisp crust.  The real San Marzano plum tomatoes spread into the slightly sweet sauce.  The mozarella fior di latte derived from cows, not the more common buffalo version that we all know, makes for a milky melt.  And the fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt top off the traditional taste.


Jonas and I also ordered the meatball gigante.  I mean, how could we not? Only 25 are made per day, and the veal, pork, and beef meatball comes served with a choice of one of four sauces.  We picked the creamy wild mushroom sauce with pancetta, and robiola cheese.  The server pours the sauce on tableside, and it makes for quite a show as it swirls together with the red tomato sauce.  For those of you who don't think two people can finish eating a giant meatball the size of a very large grapefruit or small pomelo, think again.  We can eat up a storm.  But some words of wisdom... perhaps you should order the regulation sized Italian style meatballs instead of the gigante...

... unless you are Jonas and me of course... because we can still close lunch off with some egg tarts from Golden Gate Bakery.  Follow Jonas' blog or Instagram, especially if you are a big fan of all sorts of Asian cuisine.  Jonas, like myself, collects the various flavors of Japanese Kit Kats as well.  He also visits the Los Angeles area frequently.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Tony's Pizza Napoletana
1570 Stockton St.
North Beach
San Francisco, CA 94133

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151. Bay Area - Yummy Yummy Vietnamese Raw Beef Salad / 火車頭牛肉粉 (SF: Inner Sunset)

Yummy Yummy in the Inner Sunset is one of those places you never forget.  Though pho is written in Vietnamese on the yellow awning over the door, this restaurant makes more than just bowls of rice noodles.  The raw beef salad is one of the most popular items, and it is what I remembered from my first visit here three years ago.  It is almost absurd as to how squeamish I was about eating raw beef just three years ago because I would easily select fresh steak tartare off any restaurant menu, particularly from Olympic Provisions in Portland.

Thin, almost translucent, sheets of rosy red beef gets showered with such a healthy dose of lemony citrus that it almost cooks the protein.  The fragrance comes from the fried shallots and chopped basil, and the toasted peanuts provide a complementary crunch to the smoothly soft beef.  I detect some quickly fried garlic in there too, and my tongue likes it.

The fish sauce fried chicken wings is a must order item just as much as the raw beef salad is.  The skin is crisp.  The glaze is spicy.  And the chicken itself is damned hot.  There is a big chance of burning your fingers, so if you can manage eating chicken wings with chopsticks, I would highly recommend it. 

The main attraction at Yummy Yummy is arguably the whole crab.  There are about half a dozen different seasonings on the menu.  We ordered cua rang moi, the house special salt and pepper and crab.  The restaurant provides each person a shell cracker, thankfully, and the three of us tore through that sucker and demolished its tender soft inner meat.  Real good stuff... this is the traditional way of eating seafood before Boiling Crab ever came along.


There is much more on the menu... from the requisite variations of pho to rice cakes and rice dishes... to grilled beef, frog, eel, and even a large vegetarian section.  I have yet to try those because I order the raw beef salad, chicken wings, and whole crab whenever I come here, but I don't doubt that I see some cooked beef and rice cakes in the future.  Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Yummy Yummy
1015 Irving St.
Inner Sunset
San Francisco, CA 94122

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129. Portland - Blueberry Bourbon Basil at Blue Star Donuts (Portland: Southwest/Downtown)

Not that I didn't already have enough breakfast at Pearl Bakery, but on the way out I couldn't stop myself from swinging by Blue Star Donuts for just one doughnut... just one.

On top of the almost obligatory maple and bacon hipster doughnut, Blue Star has some creative flavor combinations.  Have a craving for PB&J? Well, there's a doughnut with blackberry compote dusted with peanut powder.  There's also a red berry & rhubarb, a lemon poppy seed, and a meyer lemon & key lime curd... which is delicious, by the way, even after a 10 hour flight to Tokyo.  Oh, and don't forget there's an original glazed too.

I wanted one doughnut... just one.  I could only fit one doughnut in my stomach after already consuming the croissants and coffee from just 15 minutes earlier.  However, selecting just one delicious doughnut from a display of many delicious doughnuts was no easy task.  After much pondering, swaying from side to side, and a persuasive nudge in the right direction by Travis, the very friendly cashier, I pointed to the blueberry bourbon + basil.  I'm not sure what possessed the doughnut maker to create such an interesting flavor profile, but I'm very glad this person did so.  It is sweet, soft, and amazing-delicious.  The blueberry, bourbon and basil hit your tongue in that exact order... it is sweet at first, sultry next, and there is a bit of exotic tingle at the very end.  Yesssss... good choice.  And even better with coffee.  Black, of course.

Well, well, well... that one blueberry bourbon basil charmed the pants off my tongue with such conviction that I went back to the counter to stare at the other doughnuts.  Travis, noticing that I was loitering at the counter and probably creeping the doughnuts out, suggested that I take some doughnuts home with me.  "I'm flying to Tokyo in a few hours," I told him.

No problem! Travis said that these doughnuts last for more than 10 hours.  So I grabbed the passion fruit cocoa nib, the dulce de leche & hazelnut, and a meyer lemon & key lime curd in a box to go.  Taking boxes of doughnuts on a flight seems like a recurring theme for Portland now (post: Cursed by Voodoo Doughnut).  The passion fruit tartness and the crunchy texture of the sweet cocoa nibs makes for a whirlwind of amazement.  I believe it to be one of the best doughnuts I have ever had in my life.

The dulce de leche & hazelnut is good too.  Actually, it's delicious.  The dulce de leche glaze on top almost oozes out at you.  It looks firm and congealed, but it's actually lusciously soft and gushy.  There's a slight essence of Nutella to it but without it being too sweet.

My desire for just one single doughnut quickly turned into four.  This seems like a recurring theme as well, doesn't it? Time to pack up and go meet Ken in Tokyo! Hopefully he can help me munch on these doughnuts.

This concludes my second series on Portland.  The next part of my trip away from home brings me to Japan where I will be spending five days exploring and eating through the largest city in the Land of the Rising Sun.  Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

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Post 84: Squash Carbonara and more - Mrs. Haraguchi Grew Butternut Squash in the Backyard

A few seasons ago, Allison's mom presented me with a butternut squash grown from her own backyard... and I had no idea what to do with it.  Mrs. Haraguchi's suggestion was to roast it, but there's only so much roast squash a guy can eat! By the way, it was a huge butternut squash... huge.  So I planned out two dishes with this grand gourd... a squash and bacon pasta carbonara and a squash and sweet potato Japanese curry.

To make the carbonara, I roasted one half of the butternut squash.  I brushed the top with olive oil and tossed some salt and pepper over the top.  After rendering the bacon, I tossed in the pasta noodles with eggs and heavy cream, making sure not to overheat the pan.  If the pan is too hot, then the eggs will curdle, and the pasta will taste like tofu has attacked it.  While tossing all of the ingredients together, I added cubes of the roasted squash and garnished it with fresh basil at the very end.

Japanese curry is relatively simple to make using the box of concentrated cubes of curry.  Rather than using the usual Idaho potatoes, I substituted sweet potatoes and fresh butternut squash in for the starchy base.  I cut a high quality beef into cubes and browned it along with onions, garlic, celery and carrots.  After adding in the appropriate portion of water to curry cubes, I added in the starches and canned corn.  When serving, spoon the curry over a bed of steamed rice (brown rice if you're feeling healthy), and garnish with toasted sliced almonds.  This is definitely a unique take on the traditional Japanese curry.

With all of my remaining vegetables, I made a vegetable soup.  It isn't the most exciting of soups, so I amped it up with some... bacon! Bacon makes everything more exciting, doesn't it? And to add even more oomph to the soup, I spooned in some pesto to the base... and I also made sure to include the celery leaves (not just the stalks) because they smelled so fresh and aromatic when I first got them.  I also added in cherry tomatoes as an interesting twist. 

I was pretty amazed at the amount of food that I made with just one homegrown butternut squash.  Next time I am going to attempt making a butternut squash panna cotta that I saw on Iron Chef America.  But until then, thanks so much for the squash, Mrs. Haraguchi... let's get S.O.F.A.T.

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Post 83: Lobster Rolls - Aunt Li Had A Pair of Lobster Tails

Auntie Li had a pair of lobster tails, so I made them into lobster rolls... without taking any pictures.  So I went out and bought some more lobster, made some more lobster rolls... and took some pictures along the way.

This time I brought home two live lobsters from 99 Ranch.  At $9.99 a pound, it wasn't too bad of a price considering the season, but at a combined total of 11 pounds, the two live lobsters went way above and beyond my budget.  As a struggling yuppie (not only am I no longer young, nor do I live in an urban community... I am far from professional), it hurt my wallet.  But when the lobster rolls were ready to be eaten, the hurt became a paradoxical painful pleasure that was simply beyond description.

The most common way to tell whether or not a lobster is fully cooked is by checking the color of the shell.  Most people will say that a lobster is done once its shell is bright red.  But when cooking a King Kong lobster like this one (its full body barely fit onto my 18 x 24 cutting board), sometimes the meat in the middle isn't always fully cooked even when the outer shell is red.  Many sites that I read suggest to boil lobster for 10-12 minutes per pound, so that was the recommendation that I followed.  I had one big ass lobster.

To the mayonnaise I added minced garlic, finely chopped red onions, black pepper, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and lemon zest.  Toward the end I tossed in just a pinch of chopped basil, a hint of olive oil and just a few drops of butter just for that seafood essence.  The amount of mayo to add to the lobster tail meat depends on personal preference, but I would suggest to make sure each chunk of chopped tail meat is well coated by it.

And in case you were wondering what kind of bread pairs best with lobster salad, it's got to be the softest rolls on earth... King's Hawaiian.  Just an extra squeeze of fresh lemon, and you've got yourself some pretty dreamy lobster rolls.  And for the many, many friends who thought I was making lobster sushi rolls... these are, in essence, lobster salad sandwiches.  I got good laughs from the many, "You're going to make sushi?" comments.  The lobster rolls were rich from the mayonnaise but light from the lemon and basil.  The sweetness from the bread brought out the seafood saltiness of the lobster.  Oh me, oh my... they were delicious.

Oh, and I had a whole bunch of potatoes lying around, so I made a skillet of cheesy bacon potatoes while I was at it.  I tossed in a handful of chopped Serrano peppers for that nice spicy kick.  This was the best breakfast skillet sans eggs... and eaten at midnight.  Take that, Denny's.

Thank you Aunt Li for employing me to cook those lobster tails the first time.  Thanks to my roommates for enduring the ever squeamish task of boiling a live 5.5 pound lobster with me... twice.  Flashbacks of that scene from Julie & Julia appear.  Many extra thanks for my awesome cousin for shelling lobster meat with me for hours... literally.  Until the next gift of food, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

This post features photography by Monica Han.

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Post 65.3: Taipei - Traditional Taiwanese, Part 3 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北: 大安區)

As the last post in a three-part series on traditional Taiwanese food, I have decided to dedicate this post to a restaurant group that is known for their traditional Taiwanese dishes. 

The Shin Yeh restaurants (欣葉) are known for preparing local fare in upscale settings.  Many of the restaurants sit on upper level floors of buildings that overlook Taipei's main thoroughfares.  Some are even set in lounge like atmosphere with dim lighting, trendy music, and novel cocktails.  This is a stark contrast to other traditional Taiwanese restaurants like Little Lin's Seafood and Sit Fun, where the fresh ingredients are laid out by the entrance in refrigerators or over ice.  According to its history, the owner of the original Shin Yeh knew that Taiwanese fare was a simple food and dedicated herself to developing it into a gourmet cuisine that could be served in banquet settings.  The food here is still whipped up in that distinct Taiwanese style of fresh ingredients and simple preparation.  And of course, the main ingredient in the dish is given the spotlight as the essential star of the show.

My family and I dined at shinyeh' table, a sister restaurant of the original Shin Yeh that targets a younger crowed.  Shinyeh' table (蔥花) occasionally names their dishes in creative ways, utilizing puns and analogies and other tongue-in-cheek methods of capturing the guests' attention.  Not all the dishes have amusing names though.  In fact, most of them are pretty standard, but the ones that do bear amusing names really do stir up a chuckle here and there.

Pork song rice (猴囝仔拌飯)
Pork song (肉鬆), also known as pork floss in some bakeries, is a staple in every Taiwanese household.  It's shredded, dried pork that acts almost as a condiment in items such as rice porridge, sandwiches, and even hot soy milk for breakfast.  The texture has been described to be similar to cotton candy, something that melts in your mouth but still provides a slight crunch on first bite.  It's a great addition to basic, steamed, white rice.  The crunch of the pork song is initially a contrast to the steamed rice, but it eventually blends in with the fluff of the rice as easily as the famous little chocolates melt in your mouth.

Wok seared rice noodles (蔥花米粉炒)
Although a rice noodle dish may seem relatively simple, there is a lengthy preparation that occurs prior to the final step of stir-frying.  Vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, celery, mushrooms and snap peas need to be cleaned and chopped... pork or chicken should be sliced into strips, and even eggs have to be scrambled.  Most of the preparation, however, is focused on the rice noodles.  The best rice noodles are said to originate in a oceanside city called Hsinchu (新竹), about one to two hours outside of Taipei.  The makers of rice noodles there hang the strands of noodles out to dry with the natural sunshine and ocean breeze of Hsinchu in the same way that laundry is hung out to dry in the yard.  It is this process that gets each rice noodle dried into individual threads, and it is that separation of the noodle that makes the best stir-fry.

Poached cuttlefish with five spice sauce (無情軟絲)

Squid served with a side of soy sauce paste and wasabi, fresh shredded ginger, and pickled radish is a dish that captures the essence of the Japanese influence on Taiwanese cuisine.  The soy sauce paste, as the name indicates, has five different spices in it, only one of which I can actually pick out... minced garlic.  It probably took more time for the chef to fan out the squid and to shred the ginger than it did for him to actually cook the sublime sea creature.  Simplicity and presentation in detail... the epitome of a Taiwanese dish.

Wok fried loofah with garlic (翻滾吧絲瓜)

Loofah, garlic, and oil... the simplicity here gets carried all the way to mom and pop shops in Agoura Hills.

Great Wall of pig intestine (半里腸城)

The title employs the Great Wall of China (chang cheng / 長城) as a homonym for walls made of intestine (chang cheng / 腸城).  Presented in a way that mimics the Great Wall across the Strait, the mustard greens and soy will protect you from the invading fears of consuming a digestive organ.

Crispy fried soft shell crab (啵棒軟殼蟹)

Deep fried soft shell crab.  Crispy basil and spicy chili.  Done deal.

Prawns stir-fried with tropical fruit (果粒纖蝦)
We all know honey walnut shrimp, but I can guarantee that these prawns dotted with pineapple, kiwi fruit, and bell pepper confetti will completely wipe honey walnut shrimp out of your mind afterward.  A mouthful of natural sweetness oozes from the pores of the slightly crispy shrimp with each bite.  It's a stir-fried version of what I'd eat everyday if I were trapped on a deserted tropical island.

One of the dishes that had an amusing name was a pork and bamboo stir-fry called Teacher I'm So Sorry (老師對不起).  I didn't understand the attempt at humor at first, but my aunt explained that back in her elementary school days the teachers would use bamboo poles to smack the rear ends of misbehaving students.  Consequently, someone must have thought of combining strips of bamboo shoots with tender slices of pork in a stir-fry dish.  It's humorous in a slightly morbid way.

Some of the other amusing names are listed below.  These will require a knowledge of Mandarin Chinese and perhaps a familiarity with the Before & After category on Wheel of Fortune to fully extract the humor:

• 歐麥咖哩麻辣燙 - a spicy curry seafood hot pot roughly translated to Oh My G--rry Spicy Hot Pot.  Fill in the blanks with either 'od' or 'cu,' and the idea reveals itself. 
• 心肝寶貝 - Precious Liver; a liver dish using liver as a pun for honey, precious, or baby as a term of endearment.  In English it implies that the liver is precious because it's an essential organ to the body.  Well, yeah...
• 白鱈公主 - Snow White Codfish; steamed codfish that uses the character for codfish (xue / 鱈) as a homonym for the snow in Snow White (xue / 雪).
• 虎咬豬 - Tiger Bites the Pig, a pork belly pacman bun (gua bao); the bun supposedly symbolizes the tiger's mouth, and the pig (pork belly) is trapped within its jaws.
• Q呆呆杏仁豆腐 - Dummy Almond Jelly (also known as almond tofu), a dessert that implies that the jello is so dumb that it just sits in the bowl idly.
• 這個那個西米露 - tapioca dessert that had the name slightly altered from Ziga Zaga (zig zag with an Asian accent) to zhege nage, which means this one and that one, implying that there are plenty of tapioca balls in the dessert.
• 等超久蔥花小麻糬 - Waited So Long House Mochi, titled so because the patrons truly wait for a lengthy period of time for the kitchen staff to prepare the hand-made Taiwanese rice cakes to order.

Hopefully this series of posts help everyone gain a better understanding of what traditional Taiwanese cuisine is all about.  It's rare to find this kind of truly authentic Taiwanese food Stateside, so perhaps this will encourage foodies around the world to take a trip to Taiwan for a culinary inspired trip.  Until next time, let's get S.O.F.A.T.

shinyeh' table (蔥花)

台北市 大安區/ Taipei City, Da An District

忠孝東路 4段 201號 2樓/ Zhongxiao East Road, Section 4, No. 201, 2nd floor

How I get there:

MRT: Zhongxiao Dunhua Station (捷運忠孝敦化站)

exit no. 2; entrance is across the front door of Starbucks

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Post 65.1: Taipei - Traditional Taiwanese, Part 1 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北: 大安區)

Taiwanese food is a simple food.

Whereas many Chinese stir-fried dishes employ the yin and yang concept of relative equality (meat and vegetables in balanced importance), Taiwanese cooking does not.  Instead, Taiwanese cooking utilizes one star ingredient and complements it with a subservient sidekick of seasoning, spice, or some form of dipping sauce.

Think of it this way: Chinese cooking is like an ice cream sundae.  The ice cream, bananas, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and even the cherry on top share equal roles within the sundae.  Take one ingredient away, whether it's the ice cream or the cherry, and the harmonious balance of ingredients is greatly disrupted.

Taiwanese cooking, on the other hand, is more like frozen yogurt with sprinkles.  The sprinkles, while important, plays a supporting role to the frozen yogurt.  Take it away, and... well, you still got yogurt.

Here's a look at some of the Taiwanese dishes that I had... along with just a... wait for it... simple explanation.



Star ingredient: Clams (海瓜子炒九層塔)
Side seasoning, spice or sauce: garlic and basil
Cooking method: Stir-fried

There's something about the combination of garlic and basil that makes anything taste good.  From Italian pasta to Taiwanese seafood, the fragrant basil and biting garlic form a flavor that simply can't be beat.

Star ingredient: Shrimp (燙鮮蝦)
Side seasoning, spice, or sauce: soy sauce and wasabi
Method of cooking: Blanched

If it weren't for the shrimp being barely boiled, these sea creatures would be considered sashimi.  Halfway between shrimp cocktail and Japanese prawn sashimi, dabbing cooked shrimp in the soy and wasabi combination gives tribute to the olden days of Japanese colonial rule.  This is simply the way seafood was meant to be eaten.

Star ingredient: Pig's feet (紅燒豬腳)
Side seasoning, spice, or sauce: Soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, garlic, ginger
Method of cooking: Braised

Let's face it.  The pig's foot isn't the most appealing body part for first timers.  But if the same animal can bring joy to people with its bacon, pancetta, and sausage, how can the foot hurt at all? Its fattiness is the most flavorful part.  It's part salty (soy), part sweet (sugar), part spicy (garlic and ginger), and all around tender (rice wine)... this is a great way to experience a traditional Taiwanese birthday food.

Star ingredient: Oysters (蚵仔酥)
Side seasoning, spice, or sauce: Salt, white pepper powder, basil
Method of cooking: Deep fried

Think popcorn chicken.  Okay, now sub the chicken with fresh oysters.  And then add a forest of deep fried basil and a sahara of salt and pepper that you can dip each oyster oval into.  That's a formula for heavenly indulgence... if not a heart attack in the making.

Star ingredient: Beef (烤牛肉)

Side seasoning, spice, or sauce: Black pepper sauce with raw onions

Method of cooking: Grilled

This house specialty is highly recommended by the chef's wife.  Funny, because she runs a restaurant that specializes in seafood.  The chef sears the beef to perfection on the outside while heating the inside to a degree that is just barely passed rare.  The beef is truly tender and flavorful.  If you get a little squeamish about rare meat, there's a bed of raw onions under the loins to help kill off the potential rawness.  Really.

Star ingredient: Frog's legs (鹽酥田雞)

Side seasoning, spice, or sauce: Salt and pepper

Method of cooking: Deep fried

I had my first experience with frog's legs with these little bites.  If the Colonel cooked this up in one of his famous extra crispy batches, it'd just be extremely firm, lean chicken.  Roll them around in the salt and pepper powder, and you would just think that it tastes just like a moist version of chicken breast.  Seriously, even the name in Mandarin means, "chicken of the field."

Star ingredient: Fresh spinach (炒菠菜)

Side seasoning, spice, or sauce: Garlic

Method of cooking: Stir-fried

Everyone needs their greens, right? The best way to have Popeye's favorite is stir-fried with just a few cloves of crushed garlic.  The natural water from the leaves mixed with the garlic infused oil from the wok makes a simply awesome sauce.

Star ingredient: Rice and eggs (蛋炒飯)

Side seasoning, spice, or sauce: Green onions

Method of cooking: Wok fried

Still hungry? There's always fried rice.  But this, once again, is as simple as it gets.  No meat, no other veggies... just rice, scrambled eggs, and finely chopped green onions.  It's wok fried with pork fat and soy in such a high heat that the grains of rice separate into individual grains and eventually melt into the fatty soy sauce.  So good.

Chances are you won't be hungry, though, because chances are that you will be chasing each bite with a sip of Taiwan Beer.  The simple brew is so popular with Taiwanese dishes that Little Lin's Seafood Shop even has a PYT to help serve and pour it for each table.  The pretty young thing could be considered poor young thing; she works the entire night in stilettos.

Not shown are the steamed whole fish, stir-fried rice noodles, and stir-fried Taiwanese cabbage.  Other Taiwanese food and travel blogs such as Angie's Blog, Gygy, and Deep Blue No. 5 all have pictures from their experience.

Although the experience with Taiwanese food always starts off simple with perhaps just a few dishes, it winds up with a multiplex of various meats and seafood and even a few veggies here and there.  Similarly, this post evolved from a simple explanation to a multitude of paragraphs.  Chiah pa! Until some more simple food, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Little Lin's Seafood Shop (小林海產店)

台北市 大安區 / Taipei City, Da An District

光復南路 574之1號 / Guangfu South Road, No. 574-1

大門口在延吉街 / Entrance is on Yanji St.

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Post 39.2: Americanized Taiwanese - Three Cup Chicken Lettuce Wraps

For the international potluck our goal was to bring a dish that represented our culture.  I brainstormed for days... debating whether to bring something substantial like dumplings, a simple snack like Taiwanese sausages, or maybe even some sweets like boba or mochi.  I even ventured into the stereotypical fried rice or chow mein, but I decided that I must show my co-workers something truly Taiwanese.

I made a long list of Taiwanese foods that included: Taiwanese-style tamales (肉粽), braised pork rice (魯肉飯), and even oyster pancakes (蚵仔煎).  I crossed items off the list one by one, eliminating them due to pork or seafood content, level of spiciness, and of course, ease of preparation.  And when I put the final strike through the second to last item, three cup chicken was the dish that was left.  Three cup chicken is about as authentic Taiwanese as it gets... and what could be easier than dumping wet and dry ingredients together into one pot, and letting it simmer until fully cooked?

What are the essential ingredients?

Thai basil, whole cloves of garlic and large chips of fresh ginger.

So three cup chicken is three cups of what?

One cup each of soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil... simmered down to the end.

But as authentic as three cup chicken is... I still ran into a few ease-of-eating problems.

The chicken that's typically used still has a lot of bones running throughout the chicken... and that's not easy to eat at a potluck.  So I substituted bone-in, skin-on chicken with boneless, skinless chicken breast (it's healthier too), and diced them into cubes.

And I thought that lugging a big pot of white rice to work was not a good idea... so I subbed the rice for lettuce! Lettuce wrapped three cup chicken, I thought, would be a creative way to eat something very traditional... and it might get my foot in the door with my co-workers who are not as familiar with traditional Taiwanese cuisine.  (Lettuce wraps are one thing I can thank P.F. Chang's for... but the gratitude stops there.)

I subbed water for the rice wine just in case the alcohol didn't fully cook off, but it made the chicken a bit tougher than how it's supposed to be.  And using diced cubes of chicken breast rather than chunks of bone-in, skin-on chicken probably dried out the chicken a bit more than I would have liked.  The chicken wasn't tender, but it wasn't cardboard... and it wasn't anything a bit of minced water chestnuts (for crunch and moisture), green onion (for freshness), or Sriracha (for kick) couldn't take care of.

Success? For the first time making something my ah ma is pro at... yes, it was a success.

The only failure was for not taking a picture of the lettuce wrap itself.  It was topped off with the water chestnuts, toasted sesame seeds, slivers of fresh green onions, and a swirl of Sriracha.  It was beautiful.  What a fail.

Always take pictures before you eat!

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

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