Monthly Archives: August 2018

Pretty Pastries from Portokali

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Instagram Post 8/21/2018

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Whenever I’m in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, I pay a visit to Portokali Gourmet Market at 1509 Sheepshead Bay Road. As their signage reminds us (see second photo), the name comes from the Turkish word for orange, portakal. In addition to Turkish delicacies, you’ll find a respectable assortment of Russian and near-Russian products in this medium sized well-stocked market as well: cheese, meats, olives, coffee, dried fruits and nuts in bulk, preserves and the like, candies, cookies, and fresh baked goods. My guess is that local carbnivores come in to grab a “coffee and” before they start their day.
 
 

The Garifuna Annual Culture Pot Celebration

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Instagram Post 8/20/2018

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The Garifuna Indigenous People of St. Vincent and the Grenadines held their Annual Culture Pot celebration recently in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and the food was delightful.

[1] The emblematic dish, cassava bambam, is made from compressed grated cassava and coconut grilled in a ring on a hot griddle. (The name Garifuna actually means cassava-eating people.)
[2] Smoke herring with breadfruit salad; it’s similar to potato salad but with breadfruit as the base. The flatbreads are madungo bakes made from arrowroot starch.
[3] Saltfish (dried cod) with more breadfruit salad (it’s delicious) and provision (boiled plantain) hiding beneath; coconut dumpling on the right.
[4] Pelau. Think pilaf but deeply flavored. And even more breadfruit salad (no, really – it’s delicious) on top.
[5] One of our desserts was dukuna (aka dukana), a gingery sweet potato dumpling, wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled.
 
 

Yu Tea

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Instagram Post 8/17/2018

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For all the times I’ve visited their neighbor, Pata Market, I had never made it into Yu Tea at 81-18 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens until now. Without hesitation, I went directly to the Cheese Fruit Tea Smoothie section of the menu and selected Cheesy Doubleberry (strawberry and blueberry). The three layers you see here are meant to be well stirred, but of course I had to sample each individually: the bottom was sweet and a little syrupy, the middle represented what the final mixture would taste like without the final fillip from the top layer which is where the salty, cream cheesy magic happens. If you’ve ever had cheesecake flavor ice cream, imagine a strawberry/blueberry combo of those; now liquefy it, thin it out, sprinkle in a bit of salt, and mix well. This popular admixture of cheesy-salty-fruity-juicy can be found in malls around your favorite Chinatowns, and yes, it totally works!
 
 

Q Town Asian Cuisine

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There’s another new kid on the block in Elmhurst, Queens: Q Town Asian Cuisine at 82-87 Broadway. They specialize in Taiwanese cuisine, but their extensive menu (some 300 options) tiptoes into mainland cuisines as well. At the outset, I should report that we were a party of 14 with somewhat divergent tastes so our ordering attempted to cater to a cross section of palates. A few dishes we tried, in no special order…

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Beef Tripe with Hot Pepper Sauce. I know this dish as fuqi feipian (aka husband and wife lung pieces, although there’s really no lung in it). This Sichuan dish consists of spicy beef tripe with one other cut, usually tendon, but this seemed more like beef shin to me. Q Town Asian Cuisine did an excellent version of it.


Oyster Pancake. A classic Taiwanese appetizer.


Fly Heads. Another example of Taiwanese home cooking, this dish calls for garlic chives, bits of pork, and fermented black beans (the ingredient that looks like flies’ heads). On the downside, this version would have benefited from a slightly heavier hand with the pork; on the upside, for all the many times I’ve enjoyed this dish, I’ve never had a version that was quite this spicy. I don’t know about its authenticity, but I certainly liked that aspect of it.


Crispy Fried Shrimp. They did a great job with this one. Tempted to try their crispy fried oyster or cuttlefish next time.


Cuttlefish and Squid with Yellow Chives. I understand that this dish is subtle, but even with that, it was lacking in flavor. Fresh ingredients though.


Homemade Tofu Pot – Pork and Oyster. Delicious, but I wish there had been a little more pork or oysters in evidence. In fairness, that observation may be attributable to the fact that we were a convivial group of 14 and it’s truly difficult to portion out dishes like this one equitably, but their flavors made their presence felt. Or tasted, perhaps!


Clams with Basil. Tasty and flavorful. The basil flavor comes mostly from the basil leaves in the dish, not the sauce itself, but that’s fine.


Sautéed Squash – the loofah variety. It’s a gentle dish with a pleasant crunch, a change of pace for the palate; as such, it succeeded.


Kidney and Liver in Sesame Oil. If you’re an offal aficionado and a liver lover (like me), this one is for you. Perfectly cooked, tender meat with welcome slices of ginger to kick it up; excellent execution.


Three Cup Chicken. A Taiwanese classic, theoretically made using one cup of soy sauce, one cup of sesame oil, and one cup of rice wine, but usually tweaked a bit and fleshed out with additional ingredients including garlic, ginger, sugar and red chili.


Sizzling Black Pepper Short Ribs with onions and bell peppers.


Striped Bass swimming in Spicy Black Bean Sauce dodging slabs of tofu. Very fresh and truly delicious.
 
 

Indonesian Independence Day Celebration

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Instagram Post 8/16/2018

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Indonesian Independence Day is August 17 and you can catch the local celebration (Bazaar Kemerdekaan) Saturday the 18th on Whitney Avenue near Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens (11am-5pm). There’ll be fun and entertaining cultural activities and, of course, an assortment of delicious authentic food. I’ve posted numerous photos of Indonesian dishes lately, but not many desserts, and the cuisine has plenty of them to satisfy your sweet tooth. Three of my favorites from Masjid al-Hikmah’s approximately monthly bazaar (48-01 31st Ave, next scheduled event to be announced) are…

[1] Martabak Manis. The pancake has a radically different texture than savory martabak, more like a soft crumpet, actually. It’s folded around chocolate, peanuts, grated fresh cheese, coconut and sweetened condensed milk.
[2] Kue Singkong. These dense cassava cakes can be found steamed or baked in fanciful shapes and sizes. This one, sprinkled with coconut, obviates the need to decide between plain and chocolate.
[3] Wajik. This kue (bite-sized sweet snack) is made from glutinous sticky rice, palm sugar and coconut milk; it’s usually diamond-shaped (wajik is the Indonesian word that describes a diamond or rhombus shape). So good!
 
 

Sing Kee – Pan Fried Flounder

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Instagram Post 8/16/2018

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Our Cantonese banquet at Sing Kee Seafood Restaurant, 42 Bowery in Manhattan’s Chinatown, included a show! With surgical precision, our server performed a spinectomy on this appetizing Pan Fried Flounder:

No scalpels, just spoons for the incision…
…the procedure in progress…
…resection successful…
…and close!
 
 

Awang Kitchen – Part 3

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Instagram Post 8/15/2018

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Just one more (for the time being 😉) from Awang Kitchen, the top-notch Indonesian restaurant at 84-05 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst.

[1] Ketoprak. A vegetarian dish featuring tofu, vegetables and rice vermicelli served in peanut sauce with kerupuk (deep fried chips) on the side.
[2] Fried Cow’s Tongue in Green Chili Sauce. Exactly what it says. And don’t be squeamish – it’s spicy, delicious, and tastes better than it looks!
[3] Mie Goreng Tek-Tek. Sautéed noodles are in the spotlight here; tek-tek is the onomatopoeic word for the sound the wok chan (spatula) makes as the chef taps it against the wok while preparing this dish!
[4] Grilled Pompano, done to a turn – totally turnt and excellent!
 
 

Grill 21

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Instagram Post 8/14/2018

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If you guessed that I can never get my fill of Filipino food, you’d be right. This time, it was dinner for two at Grill 21, 346 East 21st St in Manhattan.

[1] Fried Golden Pompano with tomato and scallions
[2] Lechon Kawali – pork belly that’s crispy on top and meltingly tender beneath, served with a liver sauce (that doesn’t taste like liver!)
[3] Bicol Express – chunks of pork belly and green chili pepper sautéed in coconut milk kicked up with shrimp paste, onion and garlic

Masarap!
 
 

Awang Kitchen – Part 2

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Instagram Post 8/14/2018

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More delicious Indonesian cuisine from Awang Kitchen, 84-05 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, Queens. This sampling includes…

[1] Bakso Cobek. Bakso are meatballs made from finely ground (pulverized, actually) beef accompanied here by tomatoes, tempe, and tofu; cobek is the stoneware in which it’s served.
[2] Ayam Goreng Kalasan. Coconut (kalasan) fried (goreng) chicken (ayam). Crispy and delicious.
[3] Nasi Goreng Ikan Asin. Salty (asin) fish (ikan) fried rice (nasi goring) with a fried egg on top (of course) and kerupuk (deep fried chips) on the side.
[4] Pempek Kulit. Fishcake (pempek) made with the addition of mackerel skin (kulit) served with kuah cuka, a sweet and sour vinegar sauce. Chewy goodness!

Stay tuned for more from Awang Kitchen….
 
 

Pata Market – Sakoo PakMor

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Instagram Post 8/13/2018

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Many years ago I used to frequent a Thai restaurant that offered the street food Sakoo Sai Moo (you might see it as saku) as an appetizer. (Sakoo = tapioca – think sago, sai = stuffed, and moo = pork.) So we have a chewy tapioca starch-based steamed dumpling stuffed with deliciously seasoned pork and peanuts and meant to be consumed wrapped in a lettuce leaf with fresh Thai bird peppers. I was heartbroken when they went out of business and have since been on the lookout for these favorites at Thai prepared food places. Unfortunately, I usually find a sweet version stuffed with peanuts but no pork. Until now. Pata Market at 81-16 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens and their comprehensive grab-n-go spread came to the rescue with a container labeled Sakoo PakMor that contained four peanut dumplings plus two more filled with pork. Yes!