Now Boarding! Ethnic Eats in Elmhurst Ethnojunket on August 26 at 1pm!

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Here’s another chance to take part in a scheduled ethnojunket to Elmhurst for some amazing regional food from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Myanmar, the Philippines, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia and parts of China.

An ethnojunket is a food-focused walking tour through one of New York City’s many ethnic enclaves; my mission is to introduce you to some delicious, accessible, international treats (hence, “ethno-”) that you’ve never tasted but soon will never be able to live without (hence, “-junkie”). My most popular tours are described on the Ethnojunkets page but there are always new ones in the works.

A scheduled ethnojunket is one which is about to happen soon. Generally, I try to keep the group to a maximum of six people or so; it’s a comfortable size: larger groups tend to get impersonal and less participatory. But occasionally, only one or two people have signed up for an ethnojunket – and when it comes to food tastings, the more participants, the greater the opportunity to taste more dishes! So when that happens, I announce it in the Now Boarding section of the Ethnojunkets page. Subscribers always get email notifications about these.

And this is one of those occasions! There are still some openings available for our Ethnic Eats in Elmhurst ethnojunket on Wednesday, August 26, so here’s your chance to join in the fun! Click here to sign up!
 
 

Nuan Xin Fan Tuan

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It seems like lately whenever I write about Flushing, I’ve been focusing on food courts – and even then, only the big six: Golden Mall, New World Mall Food Court, New York Food Court, The Food Hall at Queens Crossing, Tangram Food Hall, and now Eat Up! Food Court.

But recently, on my way to one of them (because I would have been too full to even think about food afterwards), I stopped by Nuan Xin Fan Tuan where the namesake rice roll is the specialty. The menu lists at least 36 of them, with fillings running the gamut of meats (bacon, chicken, duck, ham, beef, sausage, pork floss), seafood (eel, shrimp, crab), salted egg yolk, cheese, fried dough sticks, and veggies. The ingredient that might make you sit up and take notice is the purple rice that that makes the roll truly special. In this case, the slightly chewy rice enclosed salted egg yolk, pork floss, shredded lettuce, and dried radish, dressed with spicy mayo.

Nuan Xin has three locations: Manhattan, Brooklyn and Flushing; their Flushing outpost is in YF Square at 136-55 Roosevelt Ave along with The Pancake (which I wrote about a year ago) and four other stalls. It’s a mini mall but certainly not minimal because everything I’ve tried is unique and a cut above. Bears a return visit.

(Note to self: Resist the temptation to do a Purple Rice/Purple Rain song parody.)
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

A Study in Contrasts

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(Or, Food Court Press, Part 3)

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On a recent trip to Eat Up! the new food court in Flushing, I visited vendors located at booth #16 (“Bao Boom”) and booth #2 (don’t look for any English but my iPhone thinks it saw “Tasty Taiwan”) that presented a study in unlikely contrasts on both the micro and macro levels. Allow me to explain.

Bao Boom highlights sang ji bao, a featured component in many of their menu choices. Sang ji bao (you may be familiar with sheng jian bao – it’s just a difference of dialect) are remarkable buns, crispy on the bottom but implausibly yielding on top (a contrast in texture). Sang ji/sheng jian translates literally to “raw-fried”: they’re pan-fried and steamed simultaneously to achieve that golden bottom and pillowy top (a contrast in technique). The filling consists of a dense ball of tasty seasoned pork swimming in abundant, surprisingly rich broth (a contrast in state). After the dough is filled and sealed, it’s turned upside-down for cooking so the bottom is actually the top and vice versa (a contrast in orientation) and served with a packet of Chinese balsamic vinegar (a sweet-sour contrast in flavors).


They’re so juicy you might want to heed the instructions offered in their conveniently posted how-to video (along with a history of the delicacy itself) before consuming lest the bao bursts unexpectedly. (Note to self: edit out the “baos bursting in air” pun.) Maybe that’s the Boom reference in the name. But seriously, they may be the best I’ve ever experienced in terms of flavor, composition and technique.


At Tasty Taiwan, I ordered the smoked chicken, an exercise in textbook simplicity. It was chicken. It was smoked. It was tender. It was perfect.

The only non-contrast in this tale of complex bao and simple chicken? The two dishes were equally exceptional.

Obviously, they’re on my food court centric Snacking in Flushing ethnojunket. Let me know if you want to come along!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Food Court Press, Part 2

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More from Eat Up! the new food court in Flushing.

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The Chinese characters below the English “Noodle Time” at booth #20 translate to “Chongqing Noodles” and its menu lists a dozen tempting choices in the “Chongqing Snacks” section – precisely what I was after since tids and bits were the order of the day. Deferring once again to my OCD to make the choice for me, I ordered the first item on the list, “Spiced Meat Roll” in English but the Chinese characters provided more of a clue about what flavor profile to expect: “五香卷”, 5-Spice Roll.


Not only was the seasoning distinctive, but treating the exposed sides of the cut roll to extra time on the grill definitely added to the experience. A cut above, as it were.


From Chongqing in southwest China we travel to the Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwest. (It’s really not far – only three booths away 😉.) I’ve written extensively about the oppressed Uyghur people who reside in the Xinjiang region and their cuisine. Booth #17, “Uyghur Tandoor Samsa” offers several native dishes and almost all are accompanied by samsa, succulent meat pies filled with lamb, onions and cumin among other spices that are typically baked in a clay oven. Shown here in the wild…


…and domesticated (plated at home).

Let me know if you’d like to see more goodies from the new Eat Up!…or if you’d like to visit it with me first hand on my food court-centric Snacking in Flushing ethnojunket!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Food Court Press

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I’m Baaa-ack!

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Flushing is the epicenter of Asian food courts in New York City and there’s nothing more compelling than the launch of a new rival to coax this food writer out of his recent hiatus.

Food courts come and food courts go and I’m old enough to remember the OG food court in Flushing that closed at least a dozen years ago. The latest contender is called Eat Up! located on the lower level of the newish 99 Ranch Market at 37-11 Main St, a formidable addition to the neighborhood in its own right. It’s home to 28 booths featuring a variety of Asian cuisines (primarily Taiwanese and Chinese but sushi, pho and Uyghur samsa round out the assortment) from snacks to complete meals.

Surrendering to my OCD proclivities, I started with Booth #1, Pop Mao, which features Sichuan Maocai, an individual hot pot where ingredients you select are pre-cooked and served in a spicy broth. But faced with 27 additional booths to investigate across the two days I had allocated for the maiden voyage, I thought it best to stick with a snack so I opted for the Pumpkin Pancakes since I hadn’t seen them elsewhere. Crispy outside and a little chewy inside with two layers of flavor, they were a sweet surprise (but not too sweet 😉) – so much so that I opted to bring the rest home and order a couple of other items to go: spicy Wolf’s Tooth potatoes and Sichuan Crispy Pork. Like the Pumpkin Pancakes, both were unique and excellent.

The lesson I took home from that visit is that Eat Up! is not only a top-notch addition to the food court team but the players are significantly different from other venues in the neighborhood – so stay tuned: more to come.

And yes, of course it’s already on my food court centric Snacking in Flushing ethnojunket! Hope to see you soon!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

What Could Be Better?

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I remember being a little kid and going to a birthday party and being served ice cream and cake and smooshing them together into a mouthwatering mélange; it might have been my first exposure to synergy – when the combined value of two components is greater than the sum of their individual parts.

What could be better? Glad you asked.

Think of Vara Juice’s Milk Cakes like tres leches cake by way of Türkiye; each piece lounges in a pool of milk but the creative toppings are what set them apart. They offer six over-the-top varieties boasting fanciful names like Bunduqino, Mango Qashtouta, Sharqi Crunch, Mawzella, and Magic Carnival. Pictured here is Dubai Chocolate with its crunchy pistachio topping. And they taste even better than they look, if that’s possible.

A view from the inside:

Needless to say, this is just one of the treats we’ll savor on my “Flavors of Little Levant in Bay Ridge” ethnojunket. To sign up for this or any of my food tours, please visit my ethnojunkets page.

I’m looking forward to introducing you to my favorite neighborhoods!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Merci Baku

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Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan, and because I’m a fan of both Azerbaijani food and wordplay, you know that I was compelled to check out this new Brighton Beach café the instant I saw its name.

Kutabi (you might see qutabi) are one of the country’s traditional snacks. A circle of thin dough about ten inches in diameter is filled, folded in half, and griddled to dappled perfection. A display of four varieties caught my eye as I entered: minced beef, pumpkin, cheese, and mixed greens. You also know that I was compelled to buy one of each for home research!


Peeling back the layers, the deftly seasoned beef was dotted with tiny, tart red berries (I’m guessing zereshk – barberries), the pumpkin revealed a hint of sweetness (a good contrast for the beef), the crumbly cheese (I’m guessing çökelek, aka şor) was pleasantly tangy, and mixed greens (I’m guessing dill, scallions, and cilantro) were subtly herbaceous. Sprinkled with a bit of sumac, the bread itself was soft and flavorful; a side of yogurt came along for the ride.

So now I have a new favorite source for kutabi and a new stop on our Exploring Eastern European Food in Little Odessa ethnojunket. And next time I’m there, I’m hoping to shake the hand of the person who came up with that clever business name!
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Pow! Right in the Kishka!

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It was during a peripatetic jaunt through Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach area in search of new goodies to share with guests on my Exploring Eastern European Food in Little Odessa ethnojunket that I spotted it. The tiny handwritten sign read “Chicken Skin Stuffed with Matzo,” an Ashkenazi Jewish dish I recognized as helzel or possibly kishka. Like most food establishments in the neighborhood, the pork laden steam table offerings were anything but kosher with cuisines hailing from Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and the like. It looked so out of place that I had to purchase it.

A couple of definitions which the aficionados among you will recognize as oversimplifications:

Kishka (aka stuffed derma) is basically beef intestine stuffed with matzo meal or flour enhanced with grated onion plus the occasional carrot, combined with schmaltz (chicken fat), and baked. Tastes far more appealing than it sounds. It is a paragon of heimish cooking: essentially Jewish soul food.

Helzel substitutes chicken neck skins for the intestines – crispy casing is imperative.


And how did this specimen taste? Salty (of course), carby (of course), fatty (of course), and although swathed in skin, anything but skinny.

Obviously, they couldn’t fit all that on the tiny sign. That’s what tour guides are for. 😉
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Shawarma By Any Other Name?

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You’ve probably eaten shawarma but have you ever tried shaurma? It’s more than just an orthographic alternative: it’s Georgia’s (the country, not the state) answer to the popular Middle Eastern street food – and the rendition served at Genatsvale is first-rate.

Instead of being stuffed into a pita pocket, shaurma is rolled up in thin lavash and then pressed, a technique that happily puts the focus on the filling; you can choose chicken or pork or a mix of the two and opt for spicy or non-spicy. In this photo, I’ve snipped off a bit of bread to reveal the chopped veggies that accompany the generous portion of marinated meat.

I’ve written about Genatsvale’s best-in-the-neighborhood achma and habit-forming qada here and of course, we always pay a visit on my Exploring Eastern European Food in Little Odessa ethnojunket where there’s a thriving Georgian population.

If you’re curious, “genatsvale” is a touching Georgian word that doesn’t readily translate into other languages. At its essence, it is a term of endearment but it’s actually an elision/concatenation of a longer phrase which loosely deconstructed is, “If you are ever in trouble, let me take your place.” Sweet.

Genatsvale Georgian Bakery is located at 3070 Brighton 3rd St in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤
 
 

Sophie’s Rangoon Kitchen

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For the longest while, whenever I did one of my Ethnic Eats in Elmhurst ethnojunkets, we’d pass by the vacant storefront at 81-04 Broadway and pause wistfully at the tantalizing promise of a new Burmese restaurant opening soon. And now, Sophie’s Rangoon Kitchen has fulfilled that promise. Outstandingly.

When I entered, all of the tables were occupied – which was just as well because I wanted to try more than one dish (Burmese cuisine is one of my all-time favorites) – so I ordered three to go:


Laphet Tote (you might see “thoke”) – Pickled Tea Leaves Salad. In Myanmar, tea is not only drunk, but also consumed as food. Laphet is the Burmese word for pickled or fermented tea leaves; tote means salad. In addition to the tea leaves, traditional additions are cabbage and tomatoes plus add-ins like tiny dried shrimp; the dressing, often garlic oil, lime juice and fish sauce; and the all-important “crunchies” – expect fried garlic and fried onion, fried broad beans and toasted soybeans plus peanuts and sesame seeds – all mixed together and garnished with green bird’s eye chilies and slices of fresh raw garlic. Sophie’s rendition was everything I hoped it would be.


Nann Gyii Tote – Curry Noodle Salad. Chicken curry over rice noodles (mix well) plus hard-boiled egg and fish cake, garnished with a lime wedge and cilantro; medium spice level. Simple and superb.

Kyay Oh Sichat – Garlic Vermicelli Meatball. It’s offered with either chicken or pork meatballs and as a soup or dry (shown here); if you choose pork (as shown), it also comes with a few slices of pork liver. Savory garlicky vermicelli with fish paste, fish ball, quail eggs and a perfectly cooked hard-boiled chicken egg, along with Chinese broccoli, it’s served with bone broth and a dipping sauce that’s simultaneously sweet and spicy. (The photo at the top of this post was my attempt at plating the takeout order for the sake of detail.) Do not miss this one!

Every bite represented authentic Burmese home cooking at its finest. In all the years I’ve been writing about ethnic food, I have visited only a handful of restaurants that I intend to keep returning to until I’ve tasted everything on the menu.

Sophie’s Rangoon Kitchen is one of those restaurants.
 
 
Stay safe, be well, and eat whatever it takes! ❤