Jaleo

This is the fourth post in the new series about my recent trip to Washington DC right on Julia Child's 100th birthday (Series overview: Happy Birthday Julia Child): Other posts in this series include Wolfgang Puck's The Source, Ben's Chili Bowl - an Inside Perspective, and Exploring Little Ethiopia.

Welcome to the totally redesigned Jaleo.

This Jaleo, which resides right in Penn Quarter in DC, is the original Jaleo, which has been open for nearly 20 years. Deemed by some to be the "DC restaurant most overview for a facelift," Jaleo closed its doors in the winter of 2012 for close to a month to revamp the entire space.

The design of the new space is stunning. Designed by Juli Capella of Barcelona, who also helped Andres design his Las Vegas Jaleo, this new dining space is colorful, whimsical, and fun. The bar is covered with colorful foam hexagons, which double as sound absorbers, significantly reducing the noise levels in the entire restaurant (upper left photo). Tiny fun spaces, such as the hidden "date spot" near the window (lower left photo) offer a romantic semi-private dining area that's great for people watching. Even the front hostess table is shaped like a flower pot, with a huge flower lamp hanging above.

With the new renovation, Jaleo also revamped its menu a bit. Although many of the dishes are the same as before, about 20% of the menu has changed, including more "playful" interpretations of traditional Spanish fare, a few more dishes incorporating Spanish Iberian ham, as well as a slew of new cocktails.

As part of our DC tour, we visited Jaleo in the afternoon to focus on cocktails. According to the schedule, we were to enjoy a one hour "cocktail class" at Jaleo.

It turned out to much more than that. Not only did we learn about (and sample!) several cocktails from Jaleo's new bar, we also muched on a variety of mouthwatering small plates, along with a fun dessert that incorporates some cool molecular-gastronomy techniques.


After getting a tour of the new space, we sat down to learn all about the perfect gin & tonic. According to our host, general manager Jorge Figueredo, gin & tonic is huge in Spain. With this new renovation, Andres decided he wanted to focus on this almost "national" drink by offering six different versions of it.

We started with José’s Choice, José’s own personal favorite recipe for a gin & tonic.
  We start with Hendrick's gin.
and then add Fever Tree tonic.

There's some other ingredients in there, like kaffir lime, lemon, and juniper. I can definitely see why this is José’s top choice. Quality ingredients make a ton of a difference in a simple drink like this one. It was bright, refreshing, and my eyes were certainly opened to a drink that I used to think was only OK.

What better "bite" to enjoy the drinks with than some exquisite, delicate salmon tatare with trout roe and sheep's milk cheese cones (one of the new menu items) from the kitchen?

People who are confused about what drinks to get can request one of the many iPads, which is loaded with tons of information about all the drink offerings.

You could try the Coriander blossom, a lovely cocktail made with lemon and lime  . . .
or Or the Vegetal, an interesting cocktail that is both beautiful and surreal, filled with floating fennel, radish, cubeb, and kumquat.

How about the Barrel Aged, made with Old Tom Gin (whisky barrel aged) with pickled ginger, allspice, orange, and lemon?
Q Q Tonic (which is made with agave syrup) is used in the New Western, made with Silvertin gin, Fever Tree tonic, tarragon, lemon, lime, and borage.
 The staff brought all kinds of little bites for us to enjoy with our cocktails. Pan de cristal con tomate ($8.50) was absolutely fantastic. Pan de cristal (literally "crystal bread") is an extremely light, airy, and crispy bread from Spain. It's a ton of work to make the bread. In Spain, they have these special machines that stretch the dough like bubble gum over and over again. The constant stretching causes the dough to incorporate tons of air pockets, which really gives it a unique texture.

At Jaleo, they ship the bread directly from Spain because they could not find anyone in Boston who could make this incredible bread.

I loved this bread and took multiple helpings. I especially liked how the unique, crispy bread absorbed all the tasty flavors from both the cheese and the fresh tomatoes. The airy, crispy, yet elastic texture is something that's quite unique and definitely worth trying. I would order this again in a heartbeat if I ever returned.

We asked multiple people who worked there, "what is your favorite thing to eat here? What is a must have?" Surprisingly, we continued to hear "you have to try the Croquetas!"

Croquetas are deep fried breaded mashed potato "balls" that typically include some kind of meat (in this case, chicken). It's a tradition for José Andres' croquetas to be served inside of a shoe. In some states, it actually comes in a real shoe. However, D.C. food regulations wouldn't let them do that, so they had to come up with a glass sneaker, instead!

These were hot, savory, crunchy, and oh-so-satisfying.

I wouldn't necessarily say it blew me away as being the most unique or "must-get" thing the restaurant offered (my mind was still on that pan de cristal) but I did enjoy the bite quite a bit.

Ostras ‘Gin & Tonic’ ($15) - This was a cute take on gin & tonic, raw oysters that are actually served with a bit of lemon, gin, and tonic!

Refreshing and light, they were tasty, though I still prefer eating really good raw oysters pretty much plain.

 We also sampled some lovely Mejillones Vinagreta, mussels served with pipirrana (a Spanish salad with tomatoes, potato, and peppers), sherry dressing and honey ($9). 
The theme continued as we enjoyed our dessert, also called ‘Gin and Tonic’. It consisted of gin and tonic sorbet, a fizzy tonic "espuma" (foam), lemon and aromatics. It was fascinating how they emulated the fizziness of tonic with the foam. The manager told us that there was a special type of molecular gastronomy compound that could make foams appear to taste fizzy, even though there's no actual carbon dioxide inside.

It was an illusion, but I was totally fooled!

Jorge Figueredo, General Manager and one of the chefs with whom we spoke. They were fantastic hosts.

Here's the whole crew, sitting at the funny fooseball table (yes, look underneath the glass, you can actually play during dinner!)

It was definitely a fabulous way to spend an afternoon. Not only did we learn a lot about the art of gin & tonic (I personally became a new fan of this drink!), we also had a chance to sample some fantastic bites from the restaurant.

Getting just a small taste of their menu totally peaked my curiosity as to what the rest of the food tastes like. I loved José Andres' food the last time I had it at SAMM inside Bazaar in Los Angeles. I'm also a huge fan of small plates in general. This is why I'm pretty certain I would really enjoy a full meal here at Jaleo.

Definitely the next time I'm in D.C., I'll have to take Bryan here again. I'm pretty certain he'll love the new Jaleo.

Jaleo 
480 7th St NW
Washington, DC 20004


Disclaimer
This trip was part of a media tour of Washington DC paid for by Destination DC, a non-profit organization that supports the DC travel and tourism sector. 

Uni Shooters

Did you hear?

I was beyond excited when I found out that Cambridge would be getting its own H-Mart (Korean grocery store). Really? Finally! Super convenient access to a wide variety of fresh Asian vegetables, tofu, various types of sashimi, soup bases, etc.

Altough we don't really cook that much Korean food at home (with the exception of a few dishes I've learned through the years), I'm still excited at the prospect of a big Korean market near me because, typically, they also stock tons of Japanese ingredients.

As you must have gathered by now, I love Japan and all things Japanese.

A couple weeks ago, my extended family traveled to Los Angeles for a summer trip. While we were there, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Matsuhisa, Nobu's original restaurant in LA (post coming, hopefully soon!). Bryan and my brother-in-law, Mike, ordered uni shooters.

According to both of them, it was one of the best uni shooters they had ever had in their lives.

So of course, when we got back to Boston, what's the first activity we did together?

Make uni shooters, of course.

Mike, who's Korean, (you've seen his awesome Korean recipe on this blog before), headed out to various places (mostly H-Mart in Burlington) to pick up necessary ingredients. A bottle of sake, fresh uni (sea urchin), fish eggs (you can get orange or black - he just prefers black), quail eggs, and ponzu sauce (not pictured). He also gathered some baby scallions from his backyard garden.

One you have all your ingredients, it's really not hard to put it all together to make this shooter. Seriously, after procuring all the ingredients, the most challenging part is probably separating the quail egg yolks from the whites, which is harder than the same task on a chicken egg. If you have an egg separator, you might want to try using it here!
Start with a nice little shot glass and add 2-4 pieces of fresh uni. Honestly, the order is not crazy important, but we added sake and then the yolk, but reverse is probably not a bit deal either.Adding Liquids: This part is a bit subjective and we definitely played around with various ratios (although we didn't exactly measure anything!).  As a general rule, add enough sake to cover the uni, and then add a "splash" of ponzu sauce (like a teaspoon or so?). Too much ponzu will make it unbearably salty. Of course, this will depend on the brand of ponzu sauce you buy as well, as they vary in saltiness.

You definitely want to try to use good ponzu sauce. Ideally, try finding one from Japan that includes real yuzu, (not just lime or lemon), such as this one.
Add garnishes, like finely chopped baby scallions, chives, and tobiko (fish eggs). Mike likes black tobiko, which is a bit more expensive (I think our pack was a little under $10), but the orange kind you typically find works just as well.And then serve!

I seriously thought it was fantastic. Here's my reaction as I drank my first home-made one.



 Uni Shooters
Servings: 6-8 uni shooters

Ingredients
2 "flats" of uni (12-15 pieces per flat?)
1 dozen quail eggs
1 bottle of sake (300 mL) - [Mike's favorite cheap brand]
1-2 tsp finely chopped scallions
1 package of tobiko or other fish eggs (about 4 oz?)
optional - tabasco sauce
1 bottle of ponzu sauce with yuzu

Add 3-4 pieces of uni to the bottom of a shot glass. Add enough sake just to cover the uni (about 1/3 up the glass). Separate the yolk from the egg of the quail egg (easier said than done! If you have an egg separator, use it!). Add the yolk. Add a splash of ponzu sauce (if you like you drinks saltier, you can add more - this is sort of subjective and dependent on how salty your ponzu sauce is). Top with tobiko and chopped scallions.
Serve!

Enjoy!!

Homemade Soy Milk

As a daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, I grew up loving the taste of fresh soymilk. Fresh soymilk is such a staple in a traditional Taiwanese breakfast, where it is often enjoyed hot with a deep fried culler (you tiao) and a sesame flatbread (shao bing).

When I was a kid, my mom used to make fresh soybean milk at home. The process was laborious. First, you soak soybeans in waer overnight. Then you steam the soy beans, blend them (in small batches), squeeze out the milk with a cheesecloth, and then slowly cook the entire mixture again over low heat.

The process would take all day, but the results were delicious.

More recently, my mom told me that my uncle (who is vegan) now makes soymilk at home using his Vitamix blender. Since I have a Blenctec blender at home, I decided to try it myself.

Wow.

I don’t think I’m ever going to buy soymilk at the market again. Not only is this stuff delicious, it only costs  a few cents to make (even organic soy beans are pretty cheap), and I can make it anytime I crave soy milk.

First of all, I do want to clarify that the soymilk that comes out of the Blendtec tastes like fresh, Asian soymilk. It has the full glory of the soy bean taste, which I love, but which some people may find to be too strong.

This does not taste like Silk vanilla flavored soymilk. Instead, it tastes more like the thick, creamy stuff you can buy in Chinatown.

I think it’s absolutely delicious.

First, it’s crucial that you soak the beans, preferably overnight.
Next, you must cook them. I usually steam the beans for about 45 minutes on the stovetop, which works pretty well.

Once the beans are cooked, fill up your blender (in batches, if necessary), with a ratio of 2:1 (water:beans). I’ve been using the whole juice setting on the Blendtec, which essentially pulverizes the beans and forms this thick, creamy milk that’s chock full of protein and fiber. I think the smoothie setting works fine as well.

Some people are perfectly happy to drink the soymilk in this raw form. The texture is slightly thick and a bit gritty, so it's more of an acquired taste.

If you like a smoother soy milk (like the ones in the supermarkets), as a last step you can filter this thick liquid through a cheese cloth. This removes the thick, fibrous part of the bean and results in a fresh, velvety, silk-like texture.

Optionally add sugar and enjoy!

You can enjoy it hot with you tiao (Chinese fried crullers), or chilled and sweetened as a beverage.


Homemade Soy Milk
1 cup dried soy beans
4-6 cups water
sugar (optional)

Soak the beans in water overnight. Make sure the beans are well covered by the water, since they will expand quite a bit. Drain the water and steam the beans for about 45 minutes. Blend the beans and water (about 2:1 water:bean ratio by volume) on the "whole juice" or "smoothie" setting of the Blendtec (50-90 seconds, or until well pulverized). If a smooth soy milk is desired, filter through a cheesecloth. Optionally add sugar to taste.

Chill or enjoy warm.

Leisure Station (Boba Tea) + Giveaway!

My friends and I were arguing the other day over what "Taiwanese" food really was. One person tried to suggest typical Taiwanese breakfast items such as sweet soybean milk with deep fried crullers, but then another person (who's from China) said that these types of dishes were all over China. Another tried suggesting shaved ice, but the Chinese friend again pointed out that you could find shaved ice all over China as well.  Finally, there was only on thing that everyone unanimously agreed was totally Taiwanese.

Boba Tea. (also called bubble tea, tapioca milk tea, pearl milk tea)

Boba tea was invented in Taiwan in the 1980's and has since gained in popularity, first throughout Asia and now throughout the world. Boba tea is a tea drink that typically consists of sweetened tea, milk, and chewy tapioca balls. The balls come in different sizes, but the classic Pearl Milk Tea usually has the bigger balls (about the size of a large blueberry). The drink comes with its own special over-sized straw, through which you simultaneously slurp tea and tapioca balls.

Boba tea connoisseurs typically consider two things when judging tea: excellent tea flavor (brewed tea is typically better than reconstituted powdered tea); and good boba consistency (soft and chewy with a bit of resistance, otherwise known as "Q" in Taiwanese). The boba chewiness factor can make or break a tea drink.

Two months ago, Leisure Station, a franchise of Easy Way in Taiwan, opened its first tea shop on the East Coast. Lucky for me, it opened right in Kendall Square, a mere T-stop away from my workplace!

I had a chance to visit this place last Wednesday.

Ken Huang, MIT alum, is the entrepreneur behind this new franchise in Boston. He's thought up some pretty cool ideas that makes this place different from most places. The place has free Wi-Fi, the ability to take orders via the internet or text message, a karaoke machine, and delivery via a Smart Car.

Furthermore, the tea menu is HUGE! Of course they have the most popular drinks such as Pearl Milk Tea, Pearl Green Tea, Thai Iced Tea, and Coffee Milk Tea. However, they also have a bunch of more exotic flavors, such as Jasmine Milk Tea, Lavender Milk Tea, Honey Citron Tea, and Winter Gourd Milk Tea.

I attended an Open House of sorts and had a chance to try several different items from the menu. Their philosophy really is the concept of custom-made drinks. You can customize your drink whichever way you want. Once you choose a tea, you then choose a sweetness level, a "topping," and a creamer (e.g., soy milk, skim milk, whole milk, etc). Of course you can mix and match at your whim.

I decided to try both the honey green tea and a mango milkshake. I loved the mango milk shake. They use fresh fruits for most of their fruit shakes, so the flavors are really genuine. This shake was just the right level of sweetness (i.e. not to sweet!) and had a nice, fresh mango flavor. The honey green tea was pretty good, although a bit too sweet for me. Thankfully, all drinks are made to order, so I could always ask them to add less honey, or no sugar at all if that's what I wanted.

There are a myriad of toppings from which to choose. Of course, you can add boba, but you don't have to. You can also choose other toppings such as grass jelly, egg pudding, lychee jelly, wheat germ, and aloe vera (just to name a few!). I tried egg custard, lychee, and aloe vera, and I liked all three.

What would a Boba Connoisseur Say?
At a minimum, a picky boba drinker would evaluate the quality of tea and the texture of the pearls (i.e. the tapioca balls). All of the teas at Leisure Station are freshly brewed. No powdered teas here! Only a few drinks, such as the taro milk tea, are made from re-constituted powders. I thought the teas were quite good. I especially liked the honey citron tea, but even the green tea was pretty good, albeit a bit sweeter than I would have liked.

The pearls are made every two hours. They wouldn't tell us the exact secret recipe (something about lightly coating the pearls with brown sugar), but they assured us that the pearls were freshly made throughout the day. I personally thought the pearls could have had more "Q" or bite to them. They were a bit mushier than I would have liked. Nevertheless, they were tasty, slightly sweet, and still enjoyable to slurp through that over-sized straw!

Lunch
Leisure Station recently started selling a few food items. Ken Huang had this crazy creative idea of taking all sorts of non-traditional ingredients and sticking them into a Maki roll!  He calls them "Fusion Rolls." They even have a "Hot Dog Maki" and a "Hamburger Maki"! Imagine, a maki roll filled with ground beef, ketchup, lettuce, and pickles. Bizarre?

We were able to try two different rolls. Pictured above is the Thai Roll, which has shrimp, carrots, corn, cucumber, and a sweet peanut sauce. Pictured below is the Tuna roll, which has much more traditional sushi ingredients such as cooked tuna, egg, avocado, and spicy mayo.

The rolls are huge. I had trouble fitting it in my mouth!

Flavor-wise, I thought they were fine, though nothing exciting. They taste like something I could easily whip up at home. They're fine for a healthy lunch, but at $10.99 (even if it includes a Boba drink and a side salad), it doesn't quite feel worth it. I would rather buy the tea here and get more traditional sushi elsewhere. Having said that, I did not get to try some of the weirder ones, (hot dog anyone?) and maybe those are actually really good.

Giveaway Details
So that's where this Giveaway comes in. Ken was kind enough to offer a $15 Gift Certificate to Leisure Station so that one of you can try it for yourself and decide. You can spend the $15 any way you want. Try a sandwich, or get a bunch of drinks for your friends.

To enter this Giveaway, please comment and tell me one of the following:

1. Your favorite sushi maki roll ingredients or
2. A wild and crazy roll you want to see Ken make at Leisure Station

You can answer both questions (as separate comments) for two chances to win.

Winner gets the $15 gift card to spend at Leisure Station. Good luck!

Leisure Station
Kendall Square
625 West Kendall Street
Cambridge, MA 02142


Disclaimer: Time to time I receive free products from vendors to review. I do not receive any payment for these posts/reviews. The views expressed in the posts are completely my own. For this post, I was given a chance to attend an Open House sponsored by Leisure Station, which included samples of all the food and drinks mentioned in today's post.

Southern California Favorites

A friend of mine is going to California for a wedding and asked me for food recommendations in Southern California. We go to California at least once a year since Bryan is a native Californian. However, most of our eating is centered in Orange County, since that is where his family lives.

I don't claim to be anywhere close to an expert on Southern California's best eats. However, I would like to share with you some of our favorite places. I can attest that these places are excellent.

Peking Restaurant
8566 Westminster Blvd
Westminster, CA
Excellent Northern style Chinese food - I would definitely order the homemade noodles, the niu ro jia bing (beef slices rolled in a scallion pancake with hoisin sauce and cilantro - incredible! -- see picture above), pan fried dumplings, and boiled dumplings. It's cheap, delicious, and totally authentic. Be prepared to wait if you go on a weekend during lunch.

Ding Tai Fung
1108 South Baldwin Avenue
Arcadia,California
91007
If you read this blog, you probably know that this is one of my all time favorite restaurants. Even though it's a 45 minute drive from Bryan's home, we drive there almost every time we are in California. My favorites are the vegetable pork dumplings and the soup dumplings. Be prepared to wait no matter when you go. The last time we went, they had expanded and had taken over another space within walking distance of the original restaurant. We went to this other space and didn't have to wait.

Sushi Gen
422 E 2nd St (Little Tokyo)
Los Angeles, CA
I actually have not been to this restaurant in Little Tokyo, but it's widely regarded as one of the best and freshest sushi places for a reasonable price. My mom told me that all the Taiwanese people know about this place. I definitely want to try it the next time I go to LA!

In & Out
All over Southern California
This hamburger place is classic - with everything made from scratch and to order. Order off the "sceret" menu by asking for a "two by two" burger (2 patties / 2 buns) and "animal style" (with grilled onions and special sauce). I really love the burgers here, and the prices are cheap too.

Tea Station

11688 South St #101
Artesia, CA 90701

(562) 860-7089

This tea shop totally reminds me of Taiwan. Not only does it serve excellent tea (Ten Ren brand plus many others), it serves a host of Taiwanese late night eats, such as noodle soups, tea eggs, popcorn chicken, tofu, and Taiwanese sausages. The ambiance is relaxed, friendly, and nice. When we were in California, we came here almost every night to sip tea, enjoy snacks, and play board games.

Happy Nest (Formerly Little Bean)

18902 Norwalk Blvd
Artesia, CA 90701

(562) 860-8843

This is also another fun Taiwanese place that serves shaved ice, boba tea, and Taiwanese snacks, similar to Tea Station. The store is brightly lit with fluorescent lights. I have not been here too many times, so unfortunately I can't comment as extensively on the menu. Everything I've had there has been good, and it appears to get excellent reviews on various food sites.

Above I've listed our favorite haunts. We've tried other restaurants only once, such as celebrity chef Tom Colicchio's Craft or various other ethnic restaurants (e.g., Peruvian, Italian, Szechuan, and Japanese places). However, we are really not that familiar with the LA foodie scene. I would welcome other suggestions for great places to eat so I can try them the next time we are out there!