Oh Bill Kim, you and your amazing noodles and dumplings. Thursday we planned out an adventure. Boyfriend, his brother and I took the train.. and then the bus and then walked over to… wait… the laundromat? Dollar store?
URBAN BELLY!!!!
Oh me, oh my. What a hidden gem :]
Have you seen the menu???
Don’t kid yourself, you know you’re jealous.
You order at the counter and then sit at the tables… shared tables. Le awesome.
Specials!!!
(we came for the watermelon/pork belly special, but now we MUST go back for the foie gras dumplings…. and you know alllll about my love for foie…)
Awesome. The chef himself :]
We ordered… and got ready to conquer…
View from our seats at the end of one of the tables…
First up… the Watermelon Watermelon salad w/ Pork Belly + Shrimp
Kimchi … sooo good… not just regular cabbage stuff… it had all sorts of veggies in it, including radishes :] LOVE!!!
Duck + Pho Spices Fried Dumplings.. came with this yummy brown dipping sauce. I didn’t know that they were gonna be fried.. pleasantly surprised… they were so delicious!!!
Asian Squash + Bacon Dumplings… the citrus made it perfect.
The bacon wasn’t overpowering at all, just a light sprinkle… I love how cute and round ravioli like they were. Yum! Curious what kind of squash they used tho….
S’s Urbanbelly Ramen w/ Pork Belly, Shiitake and Pho Broth… yummy broth… the ramen was thin and delicious… and how could you ever go wrong with pork belly?!?!?!?…
Boyfriend’s Udon w/ Shrimp, Coriander & Sweet Chili Lime Broth… LOOOOVED the chewy soft udon… delicious soup :]
I had ordered the special: Young coconut broth with spring onion, fresh rice noodle and bay scallops.
A few things about this. But first. EFFING AMAZING.
Ok. Usually I don’t order things with coconut broth and scallops.
BUT, this was light, slightly spicy…. the scallops were sooooooo tender.. perfectly cooked….
I eated it all :]
You know I love my forks and spoons….
Next time I wanna try the soba :] & the rest of the dumplings!!!!
The bathroom:
That’s boyfriend & me… I duno why he looks asian… and I look like a pin cushion head…
Oh you think I’m done with this post eh? I think not…!!!! More food below :]
We ended the night… well.. walking, a LOT… hahaha… so by the time we got to Pasticceria Natalina…
Gelato and Pastries were a must!!!!
(I am the queen of sweets, don’t forget that!!!)
Only 6 Flavors.. but they were 6 BOMBASS flavors…
My dark chocolate and hazelnut gelato!!!! Boyfriend’s espresso was DEEEEEEEEEEELicious… but I didn’t take a pic.
Cookies galore *hearts*
Look at that… WHOLE candied oranges!!!!
This was heavenly.. Banana Cream Cannoncini
The almonds really made it. The banana cream was light… and subtle (kinda skeptical about it at first before trying since banana tends to be overpowering)
I also bought a bag of Cuccidatti: Short-crust cookie stuffed with an earthy mixture of black figs, toasted walnuts, currants, honey, orange peel, and cinnamon in an orange glaze.
A small baggie of Fichi al Cioccolato…Dried black Mediterranean figs that are stuffed with toasted walnuts or almonds, then covered with pure dark Belgian chocolate. There were only 4 and they’re really tiny…. BUT DELICIOUS!!!!
But omg, all this talk of Pork Belly before makes me think of LAN and pork cheeks I had there with R. I need to do a post of that place even tho it was awhile ago.
Get your mind out of the gutter folks. Pervs ;] That’s my job.
The day started out like any other… “What should we make today?”
Boyfriend suggested Polish food.. little did he know I’d agree. I’ve never had Polish food before… so why not?!?!?!… He asked… “Do you like sausage? Potatoes? Sauerkraut? Apples? Sour Cream? Cheese? Mustard?” Nod nod nod.. what DON’T I like? (other than goat cheese)
So off to the grocery store….
To go with the white theme:
SUPER TASTY CHEESE *hearts*
We tried finding spicy snausage, but this was the next best option…
Chop chop choppity chop
Browning them goodies in the pot….
Boyfriend let me try a nibble, pre-browned…, since it’s already cooked…
Nice fatty yumminess…
Some shallots instead of onions…
I was in charge of flipping them
Yum yum apples…
Add in the shallots…
POE-TAY-TOES…
Evil pot burned my hand while I was stirring…
Adding in the kraut
Stir stir stir…
While the pot is cooking away, grate grate grate the yummy cheese (and snack on it a bit…)
Stir stir, taste.
ALLLLL SET TO EAT
Up close and personal….
Now onto the toppings…
Cheese… Sour Cream
Topped with Mustard
(His)
(Her’s) aka Mine
And then with some black pepper and hot sauce Ya’ll know I like it spicy…
I am a girl of few words today cuz I was overloaded with pictures… I might add more text later, but until then…. MEETINGS!!!! Oh, if you want to read more about making it instead of just drooling over pictures, read his post
Another post either tonite or tmw… depending on how lazy I am and if I get any comments on this one :] LOL…
I have so many stories/posts that are gonna come from this trip to Chicago.. and I’m going to be there again in a few days… you guys are in for a treat… or just lots of food blogging/porn vomit
I wasn’t sure where to begin… (altho I was proud I managed to squeeze in a blog post in Chicago about the Ethiopian food :]) I’ll try to be better about posting there… ANYWAYS, so I figured since it JUST happened and it’d be stupid to post about the 4th of July toooo far off from it, I’d start with it :]
We were planning on burgers and hotdogs… but ended up getting sushi to celebrate our Nation’s bday :]
Tzuki
(their sushi rice is mixture of brown rice and premium short grain rice)
Nice, thick, macha green tea :] *swoon* Foamy…
Check out two interesting items the stuck out to me….
Mozzarella Cheese Age Dashi – Tempura mozzarella cheese, red snapper, egg plant with dashi sauce
Pari Pari Pizza – Three pieces of Chef Hemmi’s Japanese style pizza topped with shrimp, tuna , and chicken
Smoked Octopus Salad – Smoked baby octopus and Japanese mountain vegetables over greens
I LOOOOOOOOOOVED this. The octopus was sooo tender. It wasn’t smokey flavored at all, just a slight, almost pickled flavor. The veggies on it were delicious as well :]
Hamachi Carpaccio – Thinly sliced yellowtail topped with ceviche sauce, cilantro with citrus obha sauce
Gyoza Fail:
The taste was lighter than the usual, especially since it was steamed.. but the sad thing is…
The innards were cold :[
Shooters
Uni Shooter & Shot - Fresh Uni with ponzu shooter served with a shot of Ginjyo sake
Squeeze in the lemon and shoot it. Then shoot the sake :] I thought this one reallllly accentuated the sake. I love uni so I loved this one. Boyfriend let me shoot the whole thing.
Spicy Tuna Shooter – Spicy tuna, dashi vinaigrette, served with a shot of Ginjyo sake
Pour in the vinaigrette, mix well and then shoot. We split this one :]
Japanese Spring Salad – Mixed baby spring greens topped with chef’s vinaigrette & smoked salmon skin
[Why am I missing pictures???... Insert missing Smoked Duck nigiri pic]
Cherrywood smoked duck breast nigiri brushed with house sauce
You can never go wrong with Rainbow Rolls…
You can never go wrong with a nice fresh Rainbow roll :]
Golden Salmon Toro :
Masago, jalapeno, and tomato maki topped with
Beni toro, sliced almond, a golden flake,
& drizzled with asparagus sauce
This was nothing like I expected. There was TOO much going on that it was just a blurred mush. We were both disappointed with this one. Everything was kinda indistinguishable… except for the jalapeno crunch and slight spice in it. The white asparagus creamy sauce was not necessary and I couldn’t taste it… unfortunately I couldn’t even tell the almonds apart from the rest of it. In fact, ALL I could taste was the raw jalapenos and tomatoes…
The other one is
Spicy Pinenut Tuna :
Spicy tuna maki with pinenuts, pistachios & rosemary,
topped with white tuna and ginger paste
While the salmon was gorgeous, the spicy pinenut tuna was AMAZINGLY delicious! Everything worked so perfectly together.. a hint of rosemary… the softy spicy tuna… with the crunch and chew of pinenuts and pistachios. The subtle hint of ginger (not overpowering at all like ginger usually can be)
What’s up with the banana leaves everywhere? This was delicious and light and the bottom had granola/nuts :]
Btw, thanks to everyone’s comments about us :] Hehehe.. it’s absolutely awesome dating a foodie with the same love of adventure, curiousity and yummy things as me!!!
Now the story of the cup o’ corn…
mike: ice cone
lady: two?
mike: sure *lady takes out 2 corn on the cobs and cuts it into cups*
tiff’s head: i guess there’s corn in the ice like how asian ppl do…
lady: everything on it?
mike: what’s everything?
lady: mayo… *something something something* cheese *something*
mike: sure, everything but the mayo *lady plops on mayo, we both look at each other in horror…. and then squirts butter… adds a ton of cheese…*
lady: hot pepper?
mike+tiff: sure *lady sprinkles on hot peppers and hands the cups over…* scared… we both take a bite…
tiff: this is like a laxative… corn? mayo? butter? cheese? hot pepper? LAXATIVE…. *toss*
Yeah…. *scared* I don’t like mayo…. he’s not a fan either. We’re such a perfect match hahahaha…
Kids on the beach, lighting fireworks, wearing helmets….
Spent the night watching fireworks (and ice cone-less *pout* haha) at the beach near boyfriend’s :] There were kiddies everywhere blowing up fireworks… we could see the neighboring town’s fireworks, and downtown’s… and we were standing UNDER a ton of them too being lit up around us. Gorgeous :]
Next post either coming up tonite or later this afternoon :]
Monday nite, boyfriend took me to this yummy little Ethiopian place called Demera. We were planning on checking out Green Mill anyways for a little jazz afterwards, so this place was conveniently right across the street :]
First I must say all the waitresses were so smilie and friendly :] Smiles always make me THAT much happier and enjoy my food THAT much more.
Anyways, onwards to the food porn…. We ordered:
The one closest is the lamb, and then (clockwise) was the beef and then the legumes.
Shiro – Mixed legumes prepared with ginger root, rue seed, bishops weed and garlic
before being cooked with berbere sauce.
This stuff was SOOOOO gooooood… I had sooo much of it!!! I even ate a huge spoonful of it by itself. Haha :]
Ye-bug Wot (Spicy) – Tender pieces of lamb stewed with Berbere sauce then flavoredwith onions, garlic and ginger root.
Ye-Siga Wat (Spicy) – Tender beef cubes stewed cooked in Berbere sauce, flavored with onions, garlic and ginger root.
There were extra delicious sides, as you see… collard greens… cabbage… chickpeas? Or maybe it was yellow lentil? I forgot.. haha *headpalm* and a salad….
It came with tons of their delicious bread:
We ended up nibbling on the ones on the plate and getting a second basket :]
Ethiopian cuisine consists of various vegetable or meat
side dishes and entrees, usually a thick stew, served over
injera, a large sourdough flatbread, which is 20 inches in
diameter and made out of fermented teff flour. One does
not eat with utensils, but instead uses injera (always with
the right hand) to scoop up the entrees and side dishes.
It’s so good and light and spongey and has a slight tang to it. OMG, so in love with it!!! It paired SO well with the dishes too….
Just grab and scoop.. :] SOOO good… Do you see the spongeyness of it??? Gah.. IN LOVE!!!!
Looks can be deceiving, it didn’t look like that much food but we couldn’t even finish everything.. we were troopers tho and ate til we popped and then some :]
I love starting out the day with fresh yogurt and fruits :] I feel like I needed some pineapple and fresh coconut as well to complete it but it was oh-so-pretty anyways
His & Her’s \
Up close and personal
Guava, Kiwi, Raspberries, Mango & Fig :] YUM!!!! Alllll on my fav 0% Fage *licks bowl clean*
Last nite was a pb&j and a delicious coffee milkshake :] I’m like 5 again. It’s the simple things in life that make me so happy.
Everyone watch Top Chef Masters last night? Anyone else think they were kinda weak on the interesting “out there” proteins?! Or maybe just cuz I’m Asian and we don’t waste anything and just make it into something else.. even when we’re done to the bones we make soup and then we dry them out, grind them up and make medicine out of it.
Seriously, common night market food is just taking any animal part/organ and just putting it on a stick and frying or cooking it to order.
hearts, stomachs, intestines… chicken butts :] hahaha.. i like mine extra spicy…
Anyone wanna share some ‘out of the norm’ foods they’ve eaten? I mean I feel like in America, people are more scared of anything other than the regular, chicken, beef, pork, fish… I mean I feel like a lot of people aren’t even that adventurous with seafood… or even just vegetables, let alone organs and other body parts…..
BTW, (reminds me of this post) Taiwan sells raw bitter melon juice :]
(ah the jokes that can come out from this pic…)
I guess my coolest latest conquest would’ve been cobra in Taiwan… which isn’t even THAT cool except for the fact that it was a cobra and not just any snake.. haha
It tasted like chicken but had the texture of eel.. just a lot tougher.
What else…
I love duck tongue
Duck tongue in the raw:
I know they look kinda bizarre with the “antennas” haha but they’re not really too out there for me except that they look cool :] Hahaha…
Okay I lied, I didn’t bring my cords to work so no Father’s Day weekend blog. That’ll be tomorrow or later tonite. BUTTTTTT, I still have to blog about my trip to Chicago so all is gravyyyy & cranberry sauce (it doesn’t have to make sense!!!!)
I’m sitting here at working, working away and twittering away.. oh dear I’m such a tweetaholic… twitterholic?…. drinking my BluePrintCleanse juices… which is silly cuz I’m eating too…. but I love their juices :] Esp the green juice!!! This time when I ordered I said I was allergic to nuts to see what they gave me and instead of my fav spicy lemonade they gave me a fruity pineapple/apple/mint one. Tasty. I really need to stop buying these tho…. and use my vitamix more.
Friday the 12th
It began with some “work” hahaha quote unquote “work”… and a lot of hungriness. So we went to one of his fav spots… (he blogged about it once too) for some yummy Bi Bim Bop & Korean Pancakes. I thought it was gonna be like panjeons, but like… actual pancakey likeness…
Check out the menu
Eggs and a bulgogi steak? Bulgogi & Kimchi Omelets? Loves it.
Nom nom nom~
I ate mine with chopsticks. Boy ate his with a fork. He thinks I’m crazy eating pancakes with chopsticks. Us chinese are brilliant tho, we can eat anything with chopsticks. MMM to the jalapeno sauce.
The Bi Bim Bap. Tasty. And with brown rice too….
I think this was before I added the rest of the Gochujang (korean hot pepper paste) That stuff is so freaking bomb… I used to have a tub of it at home but it went away too fast….
I’m a good girl and I clean my plates :] I even scraped the hot paste spoon.
Yep until this day, a Chicago hot dog was just something I saw on the Food Network specials or in the recent issue of Real Simple magazine. (which I was coincidentally reading on my plane ride to Chicago… hehehe, growing anticipation)
According to Wiki: A Chicago-style hot dog is a steamed or boiled, never broiled all-beefhot dog on a poppy seed bun, which originated in the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with mustard, onion, sweet pickle relish (usually a dyed neon green variety called “Nuclear Relish”), a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt; sometimes, but not always, cucumber slices.[1][2][3][4] The complete assembly is sometimes called “dragged through the garden” because of the unique combination of vegetable based condiments. Ketchup is not used on a Chicago-style hot dog.[5]
Nom nom nom…
Oh dang, I frighten myself…. OH DEAR… I’m a special one ;] HAHAHA nosh nosh nosh… I can almost hear me munching down on that hot dog… squish squish….
I brought him some delicious chocolates from Richart and I got him the most unique ones… Spiced & Herbal
Contemplating which to try…. he had cardamom & curry…
I tried a curry myself.. delish!!!
I’ve tried floral and fruity before as well, they’re really really good… I love florally flavors :]
His friend, K, came over and then we headed out to grocery shop for dinner… Speaking of which… I think I could just read his cookbooks forever. Ah food porn.
In the grocery store I spotted this:
Piggy tails!!!!!! I want it… tell me what to make.
Boy slicing tomatoes and making salsa… K being inappropriate…
Me making guacamoleeeee mole moleeee moleeeee
Final snacking products while me cook…
Those are jicama as chips just like in Boston trip :]
Frying them the first round….
The Boy’s brother, S, smooshing the plantains :] Group effort here folks!!!
& then they were refried again :]
The results!!!! NOM NOM.. sprinkle of salt & chili powder made them nice and spicy.
Cutting up the skirt steak.. mmmm steak…
My plate…
I like being creepy and watch ppl eat.. and take pictures of them eating…
I think K caught onto me… hmm maybe it’s a bad idea to creep boyfriend’s friends out on first meeting….
This place was so tasty… how should I begin?!… well I guess I’ll start it off by introducing it the way boyfriend did… the place with…
“Best Chai Latte Ever” – Boyfriend
It was really tasty. It made me sad that I had a boring black coffee.. but I really needed the caffeine… it’s okay I redeem myself later with another drink, you’ll see ;]
Us… I’m SO smooth sneaking in my peace fob sign ;]
First time I ever actually really enjoyed goat cheese. I only had a bite but it was tasty. Goat cheese is usually way too strong for me but it was good.
Boyfriend & K both got this each:
french toast with rhubarb sauce and snausages
S got this:
OH AND SEEEEE.. I told you I’d redeem myself from that black coffeeeee…. BE JEALOUS:
s’mores mocha
espresso, omanhene cocoa, marshmallow torani &
steamed milk topped with a housemade marshmallows, graham crackers & grated chocolate
buttermilk pancakes with homemade pb and chocolate and chantilly cream
These were suppppppppppppper thick and heavy and decadent and dessert like. I actually passed on the dessert menu….. definitely had some texture to it…. yum yum yum :]
This was sooooo goood.. the fruit and jam and everything just fit together so perfectly well!!!
granola, organic yogurt
& local fruit compote
rolled oats, local honey, cinnamon, dried fruit & walnuts
He’s still me to tip it more and drink it faster.. rooting me on… hahahaha
Sunday the 14th
Ahhh… lazy Sundays :] Watched the coolest music video…. and just layed around all morning…… then hunger struck.
Tank Noodle
Roasted Quail.. Not sure if it’s called Chim Cut Roti here too…. but it is at Le’s in Boston :] this came with a ton of white rice on the side and some black pepper & salt to sprinkle over it.
My horchata cherry got popped :] OMG, soooo goood…. which is funny because R was just talking to me about authentic Mexican food and horchatas the other day and then I finally got to try one :]
Lengua Tacos (BEEF TONGUE!!!!!!!) + Chicken Tacos
SOOO good :] The salsa they had at the place was amaaaazing….
AHHHH!!! What an amazing weekend all thanks to him…. (and don’t forget, again to read about our PRIMEHOUSE adventure) I think there was something I ate @ the Vietnamese place tho… too much salt and msg?!… perhaps an allergic reaction to something? My weight went from 107 -> 123 and it took me 2-3 days to shrink back down. @___@ Insanity.
Anyways, on another note, my iron is low again :[ & need to up the iron pills intake. Super lame. I hate popping pills….
OH and since this is a food blog. Boyfriend’s hedgehog seemed to like the way I tasted:
& if you actually watch it the whole way thru.. he makes a creepy spit up face at the end… hahahhahaha
& tmw i’ll be posting about father’s day weekend :] from my delicious figgy ribs i made saturday nite….. to the yummy brunch i had today :] ♥ i’ve missed ya’ll and promise to blog a lot more from now on… i hope i still have a few readers out there…… *crosses fingers*
So who’s a lucky girl? I’m a lucky girl!!! Why? Cuz this cutie not only played host for my first visit ever in Chicago… but also took me to Primehouse for Foie Gras week
We decided ahead of time that we were gonna share the whole 11 of them together :] Altho at first boyfriend thought we were both going to get a set EACH :O Haha silly boy.
Check out this chalkboard.
“Reservations via Twitter or Facebook” << AWESOME!!!
The night started off with a warm toasty popover with butter sprinkled with pink salt :]
YUM!!! Usually I opt out of bread in the beginning since I want to leave room for the rest of it, buttttt….. WHO CAN RESIST A PIPING HOT POPOVER?!?!?!… def not me…
INNARDS ♥
gobble gobble…
Partners in Crime :]
Chilled Seafood Maison
6 Jumbo Shrimp
2 East Coast Oysters
2 West coast Oysters
1/4 lb Mussels
Paired with a yummy sparkling wine
(okay so we trusted them to pair us with good wines with our food…. which resulted in me being a bit… incoherent at the end of the night. OOOPSSS.. but yea I didn’t get a shot of all the glasses…. I asked for a list of the wines but… by the time the night was over I was wiped out… OOOOOPPPPSSSS)
Up close
This was sooo goood with the corn :] I don’t even like creamed corn but this was so good!!!
The cornbread was a bit dry but had a kick of spice to it… me likey!!!
You’ll see in my next post about my trip to Chicago that I finally had my first Chicago hot dog (or in his words, a “real hot dog”) but I loved how they gave us a mini version: Chicago Style “Foie Gras Dog” grilled foie gras, heirloom tomatoes, mango relish, homemade sport peppers
Nom!!!
Foie Gras Pierogies grandma’s dough, ramp kraut
Chicken Fried Foie black eyed peas & pickled okra and hushuppies
This was the first time I ever had a hushpuppy either. hehehe… everything was so tasty!!!
So, before our foies came out, the boy was getting steak envy and we were both drooling over all the peoples’ steaks around us…. SO, we ordered a huge yummy steak :] It came out before our last foie dish (the sweet one)
And *surprise* Asiago truffle fries
55 Day Aged Ribeye bone-in, 20oz (”Chicago Magazine 2008 Best Dry Aged Steak that was aged in their Himalayan Salt Rom)
Her’s
His
Who doesn’t love bone
My last fatty bite
Foie Gras Pot De Creme robert mondavi moscatto gelee, grilled California peaches
Spoonful of yumminess
Dessert MENU!!!
Guess which one we got ???
This is why we’re hot….
Now that you’ve survived my food porn vomit, you can read the dinner in well-written detail at his blog :]
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