Category Archives: Good Eats

Fuska House

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Instagram Post 11/7/2019

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Ask anyone from Bangladesh about fuchka (ফুসকা – you might see fushka, phuchka, phuska, or fuska as it’s spelled on the Fuska House truck) and they will recount a personal story laden with affection and often a wistful touch of homesickness about this beloved street food. Fuchka is Bangladesh’s take on Indian panipuri: It starts with puri, a deep-fried, puffed up, hollow shell of unleavened bread filled with a variety of components, often including potato, onion, cilantro, delicious aromatic spices, and thin, tangy tamarind chutney. It’s that wonderfully drippy chutney that dictates that you pop the whole thing into your mouth all at once to get an eye-popping burst of those savory ingredients coming together in a symphony of flavor.


The Fuska House truck is parked on 37th Ave near 73rd St in Jackson Heights, Queens. While you’re there, check out the other snacks they offer like this Mix Vorta: slices of fresh mango and peara (guava) so piquantly seasoned as to awaken even the most tired taste buds.
 
 

Pata Market – Marinated Pork

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Instagram Post 9/21/2019

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Just wanted to make you aware of some amazing Marinated Pork sold by the equally amazing Pata Market, 81-16 Broadway, Elmhurst. I’ve written about Pata before; it’s a mini market featuring shelf stable, frozen, and refrigerated Thai snacks and ingredients, but it’s also a mini-café of sorts – very mini, actually, with a just few stools in front of a window-ledge table, a perfect photo-op stage for folks on my Elmhurst ethnojunket.

It’s the prepared food that blows me away every time though: authentic, incredibly delicious, and able to stand up to the cookery from the profusion of excellent Thai restaurants surrounding it. This marinated pork (sourced from UThai Cookhouse in Rego Park) is bursting with Thai flavor, soft and tender, and the perfect snack for meat lovers.

More to come from Pata Market. As always.
 
 

Piast Meats & Provisions

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Instagram Post 9/5/2019

Serendipity took hold as I threaded my way from the bus stop on an isolated, sleepy, residential street to this year’s Peruvian Festival in Passaic, NJ. (Where would we be without our smart phones and Google Maps? Lost, I guess. But I digress.) As signs of commerce gradually began to emerge, I stumbled upon Piast Meats & Provisions at 1 Passaic Street in Garfield. One of a family-owned mini-chain of three stores, the atmosphere was old world Polish charm (in other words, the aroma of smoked pork and garlic permeated the air); storemade kielbasa, cold cuts, pierogi, and baked goods along with Polish specialty foods tempted me to purchase more than I should have since I’d be schlepping those treasures around all day. It was worth every achy muscle.

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Among many other items I bought, these two were particularly intriguing and utterly delicious. This Przysmak (delicacy) Piwny (relating to beer), translated as “beef jerky”, was incredible: soft, spicy, dried beef but not dry beef and not sausage. Sometimes “beef jerky” should be translated as shoe leather, but not this succulent stuff. On closer inspection it looks like marinated flank steak sliced into ½–¾ inch wide strips. Outstanding.

Another sign identified “pork meatloaf”, more of a cold cut really, that looked promising, but right next to it was the same item rolled together in porky matrimony with bacon, Boczek Faszerowany, translated as “stuffed bacon”. Indeed. So it’s sort of pork stuffed pork. Nothing succeeds like excess.
 
 

Mandato Fruit & Grocery Corp.

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Instagram Post 8/13/2019

You’re going to hear more from me about Mandato, 7220 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, not only because it’s the only Mexican destination along my Bay Ridge food tour, but because I absolutely love the place.

For starters, it’s really three spots packed into one: a genuine panadería where they bake their own Mexican panes dulces; a market where, in addition to packaged goods, you’ll find authentic Mexican ingredients including quesillo, nopales, store-made barbacoa, carnitas, and an array of at least eight mind-blowing salsas; and a takeout restaurant serving tortas, cemitas, tamales, picaditas, tlacoyos, sopes, quesadillas, huaraches and more – the subject of today’s post. All of this is under the aegis of Pedro, a partner in the family business, who is probably the friendliest, most helpful person you’d ever want to meet and who customized these delicious wonders for me.

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This quesadilla is brimming with queso fresco, queso Oaxaca (aka quesillo), lettuce, crema, and huitlacoche, sometimes called Mexican truffle. Do you like mushrooms? Do you like corn? Then you should try huitlacoche.


Sliced in half to reveal its inner beauty.


Huaraches start with a double layer of masa enclosing a thin coating of mashed refried pinto beans, hand pressed into a thick oblong shape and fried (literally “sandals” because of the shape). This one is topped with chorizo and potatoes, onions, queso fresco and crema.


Cross section; look very closely at the bottom and you might see the layer of refritos.
 
 
Auténtico. That’s the word for it. More to come soon from Mandato: the panadería, the store-made goodies, and beyond!

(Note that this venue is officially Mandato Fruit & Grocery Corp, not the restaurant of the same name next door – there’s no connection.)

 
 

Bone Man

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Instagram Post 8/11/2019

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It’s no secret that I’m pretty easy to please when it comes to almost any Asian style of fried chicken; this no-longer Secret Fried Chicken (and its attendant aroma) originates from Bone Man where you can get your chix fix on or off the bone, man. They’re the new kid on the block, 135-45 Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing to be specific, they’ve got their own style, and I like it. A lot.

They feature somewhat fanciful descriptions for their parts: chicken wing roots, middle wing, and keel along with less whimsical designations like wings and strips. I’ve tried the dark meat (dark meat only for me, please) nuggets and the on-the-bone pieces and both were yummy to be sure; it’s basically a single recipe (a tasty one at that) so your choice is really about form. The spicy version incorporates an undoubtedly secret (because it is distinctive) recipe that’s sprinkled atop your order. And they provide plastic gloves (a nice touch) for people who actually know how to eat 😉. Gizzards and French fries are available as well. Next time.

First photo was taken after my return from Bone Man. Pro tip: If, like me, you have cats, don’t try this at home, kids.


The original box, pre-feline opera.
 
 

Naranjilla/Lulo

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Instagram Post 8/4/2019

Newark New Jersey’s Ironbound district is a mecca for all things Portuguese and Brazilian. I did a somewhat comprehensive post way back in April 2019 about Teixeira’s Bakery although I need to do another now that I’ve emerged from the sugar coma. Just kidding. I haven’t.

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This post, however, is concerned with produce, specifically the fruit known as naranjilla in Ecuador and Panama and lulo in Colombia. Even a nodding acquaintance with high school Spanish (and I remember a student who did indeed nod off in that class) would lead you to believe that it’s a “little orange” but although the fruit is little and orange, it’s not in the citrus family. It’s a cinch to track down at one of the five (count ’em, five!) Seabra’s markets in the area, all within walking distance of each other. (Next visit.) In NYC, you can readily find the pulp frozen and sold in pouches in many Latin American markets.

The fresh fruit is green when unripe, orange when ripe (like these), and although you can eat the fruit out of hand (squeeze out the juice and discard the shell), it’s more commonly incorporated into a batido or liquado, a shake, either milk- or water-based or ice cream. Some report that the flavor is a cross between rhubarb and lime (well, yes, but…). Suffice it to say that it’s tart (you’ll want to add sugar), the color of the juice is greenish even when ripe, and because it’s not overly sweet (I know how important that is to some of you) it’s an easily customized drink.

The first photo shows it cut across its equator. In the second photo, I’m holding a quarter-inch slice in front of what passes for a window in my apartment in an effort to capture a schmancy, backlit view.

Pro tip: Don’t go on a Sunday – restaurants, bakeries, markets and bars are open, but most other shops are closed. (I know, I know, what else would a foodie be interested in there anyway?)

Watch for my upcoming post about that day’s visit to a rodízio style churrascaria.
 
 

Sabor Ecuatoriano Bakery – Humitas de Maiz

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Instagram Post 6/19/2019

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Breakfast.

There is a soft spot in my heart for humitas de maiz; this blend of corn, cheese, eggs and cream, swaddled in a corn husk, steamed, gently tinged with the warmth of direct heat, then anointed with a dollop of crema started my otherwise gloomy day with an uplifting bite of sunshine.

[1] This one came from Sabor Ecuatoriano Bakery, 40-42 82nd St, Queens, on the cusp of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst and, like many of their baked goods, tasted like it came straight from the ❤ corazón.

[2] A peek inside.
 
 

Mr. Liu Henan Wide Ramen – Big Squid

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Instagram Post 6/15/2019

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Remember the Vincent Price movie “The Tingler”?

So anyway, I’ve been prowling around Elmhurst, Queens lately doing reconnaissance for my new ethnojunket and eating my way through the new HK Food Court at 82-02 45th Ave as part of the syllabus. Among other offerings, the eye-catching signage announcing stall #25, Mr. Liu Henan Wide Ramen, featured a photo captioned Big Squid on a stick with the hand-written exhortation “Try it!”. Always a fan of grilled cephalopod, that sounded like a plan; I opted for spicy. I had my kitchen scissors in tow (semper paratus – you know a better way to disarticulate a squid?) so I was able to make some judicious editorial cuts. You might consider asking for it extra spicy if you like special effects.

More to come from HK Food Court soon.
 
 

Santol

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Instagram Post 6/14/2019

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There are few moments more rewarding than stumbling upon some sort of food that I’ve never experienced. (Okay, so it takes all kinds, I guess.) Consequently, I was delighted to find santol (you might see santal) in the refrigerator case at Pata Market, 81-16 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens.

The fruit hails from Southeast Asia and according to my research looks a little like a peach-colored mangosteen before preparation. Fortunately, the troublesome work of removing the thick shell-like rind and carving the edible part into delicate slivers had already been accomplished. I separated the seeds (don’t swallow the seeds!) from the slices; it had a flavor I found mildly sweet and a little tart, and a soft, pulpy texture like a pear that’s not quite ripe.

It’s sold with a sweet, very spicy sauce made from palm sugar, fish sauce, shrimp paste, pounded dried shrimp, and chili along with a little cup of roasted coconut and peanuts plus a touch of cayenne.

Dressed with its accoutrements, it was a pleasing change of pace. If you secure one of these, be forewarned about the spice level of the syrup; it won’t assault you, but the taste of the fruit is subtle and you don’t want to overpower it. It’s a righteous complement, however.

<rant> In researching santol, I found a number of videos on the web that were actually embarrassing to watch (sorry, that’s the only word that fits) with more misinformation than I could countenance based on my own limited experience. I do understand that YMMV regarding specific cultivar and degree of ripeness, but really. If so many people in that part of the world consume and enjoy these, maybe you’re missing something and should consider giving it another go? </rant>

Have a nice day! 🙂
 
 

Egg Yolk Custard Bun

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Instagram Post 6/13/2019

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Pata Market at 81-16 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens just keeps getting better and better; the prepared food section (which is truly the focus of the place) has some of the best Thai food you’d ever want, and want it I do. On a recent visit there as I was scoping out my new Elmhurst food tour, I noticed a steamer box filled primarily with fluffy white baos, but it was the sign beside it depicting egg yolk custard buns that caught my eye: sweet, golden, runny, drippy, x-rated attention grabbers.

I only bought one. Whatever was I thinking? 😐