Ka-Noon Thai for Lunch

So I’m always at the doctors’ lately.  I’m always coughing and hacking away….. so after another doctor visit I headed straight to Ka-Noon to meet mama for lunch.  I’ve been craving Thai for EVAAAAA… so SO glad I gott some.  I also haven’t been here in ages and the quality is always changing.  This time I liked.  It was around lunch time so actually was super busy.

MMMM… best salad dressing ever. Possibly better than that Japanese stuff… has some sort of Peanuty-ness to it. YUM

Summer Rolls

I’m trying to get my mom to eat healthier, she likes the fried ones… but I told her to stick with these. I love the non-fried ones more anyways.

Mama got a Tofu Stir-Fry with Brown Rice

Tofu Garden – Stir fried w/ mushroom and assorted vegetables in brown sauce [Broccoli, Baby Corn, Carrots, etc.]

And of course I got a Jungle Basil Curry – Coconut free curry w/ mushrooms, string bean, eggplant, peppercorn, bell pepper, wild ginger and sweet basil – with Chicken.  I LOVE Jungle Curry but it wasn’t as spicy as I usually have it, but delicious none-the-less.

Just some delicious Thai Hot Tea to drink…. I need to get some for myself to make at home.  And suggestions on where and what to get?  Thanks!

P for Pabu & Perfection [Baltimore, MD]

PABU.

SAll I can say is that I have heard so so so SO much about this place. And I am a HUGE Japanese / Sushi fan. I’ve eaten a LOT of it. EVERYWHERE.

Literally. EVERYWHERE.

Definitely lives up to the hype. I suggest you take a trip to Baltimore specifically to eat here. Make sure you have a big empty tummy ready to fill up.  If needed, walk around the aquarium first.

[Note that it's day time and bright out... we ended up skipping our original train ticket to eat more and go home later!]

I’m ready to rock and roll… [WOK and roll HAHAHA get it? Yeah I know bad joke, but AT LEAST I'm laughing!!!!]

Look familiar? Apparently they donate 1$ to breast cancer research everytime someone orders this. YAY

It’s called the Maiko Onee and contained hakutake sochu, pamplemousse rose, and yuzu. YUMMMMMM…

And before we knew what we were getting ourselves into, a little plate of small bites arrived. DELISH

Happy Spoons [oysters, caviar, mine had uni and lots of happiness], eel rilette, miso- carrot/burdock, ohitashi [the spinach], lotus root and tiny tiny white fishies.. I forgot what they’re called but so tender and yummy

SUCHHHH a palette opener. SO delicious. I could’ve used another plate. Haha. Sharing is hard when food is this good.

Good thing next course W and I both had our own bowls of sashimi.  AMAAAAAZING.

There was this one fish, seared… you eat with ginger and scallions. OMFG. Amazing. This was the most amazing fresh delicious creamy sashimi EVAAA

And suddenly we got free sake

Next came the most beautiful creamy custard-y soft homemade tofu. SOOO much better than the other day.

Some nori, scallion, mushrooms, japanese yam and OMG the tofu…….

Seeng this guy at work knew… yakitori was in the works

Foie Gras Pops wrapped in Nori.

HOLY FUCKING HELL. SOOO GOOD.  I love my foie. This was amaze balls.

At this point I was about to burst.  So I ordered some hot tea to help wash it down…

But I’m a trooper, so off I go go go

I’m pretty sure there were more nigiri… but.. just relooking at all of these makes me full again hahaha… we ended with this.  ”Just one more… just one more…”

And it was simple and delicious.

But of course there is always ALWAYS room for desserts.

Gingerbread amazement. MIND BLOWING.

Dessert

No words just perfection. Go. Now.

Home Sweet Home

Nothing like being home, sick, and eating good old homemade mama’s cooking every single day YAY

Bittermelon & Pork Rib Soup

Spicy Pork Belly, Bamboo & Scallions

Marinated Cold Beef with Cilantro

Black Bean Bitter Melon

Chicken and Jujube Soup

Corn & Pork Rib Soup, Loofah & Japanese Mountain Yam, Spicy Pork Belly & Bamboo & Kong Shin Cai

Homemade Chicken Noodle soup with Shiitake and Spinach

Fried Eggs with Soy Sauce and Hot Sauce

Seaweed, Tomato and Chicken Soup with Oatmeal

Wood Ear Fungus with Ginger and Chicken

Dry Fried Green Beans

Spicy Eggplant

Pork Belly and Bitter Greens

Pre-Birthday Dinner at Asiana Bistro

After a long day of work and meetings I came home, changed and got ready for dinner with the parents.  A pre-Birthday dinner at Asiana Bistro, in Bedford.  My mom has been there for lunch with her friends and she totally loves the place.  As for me, any “asian place” that has Thai, Malaysian, Japanese, Chinese, etc… is a bit sketch.  But I’ll play along.  I just need a break from work… and some good food. PLUS, QT time with both my parents, which, lately, is far, few and rare.

Hells yeah. I know I know, I’m so freaking THUG.

So we’re looking at the menus and all of a sudden I go

“WTF?!  The bottoms of the menus have bible verses…”

My dad cracked up and my mom started reading them and translating them into the chinese versions…. I guess she memorized them.

This is only funny to people who know what is going on with my mom and church lately… haha

BIGGEST. TEAPOT. EVA.

 I got some Rose Champagne… they gave me a cute little bottle and a tiny little glass… I felt so Marie Antoinette. I need these glasses

Srsly. I want those glasses. Feel free to send some to me :] It’s still my birthday month ;]

Miss Tiffie
PO Box 803
Sudbury, MA 01776

Jellyfish Appetizer

Atop pickled carrots and daikon.  So delicious, crunchy and refreshing! I added some chili oil to it so that it’d give it a kick. I love my cold jellyfish spicy!

Scallion & Ginger Lobster

It was their last lobster and it was big and fat.  Delicious.  SO fresh, I mean come on it IS New England so it better be.  I love the chewy crust around the lobster from the stir-fry.YUM…. My favorite part is the…

Where it’s the body connected to the legs.. the most tedious and annoying part, which is great cuz no one eats it so it’s ALL FOR ME. I like to chew on the shell and the oil and crust come off with the meat, it’s SOOO decadent and gluttonous….. Which reminded me of when I was at Tony & Ashley’s wedding last year I got so sad they took my lobster away… I ended up pounding off the entire dish… hahaha

Found a fun video – Go Ming Tsai

Baby Bok Choy with Shiitake
The sauce was a bit too starchy – too much Corn Starch to make it thick but it was good.. I scrapped off the sauce and while I’m not a huge fan of Bok Choy, since every restaurant uses it to make it “Asian”, it was good. I LOVE mushrooms… so this made me uuber happy. UUUUUUUBER!!!

Salt & Pepper Spicy Soft Shell Crab
My mom LOVES soft shell crab.  This was cut into tiny pieces.. and the crab itself was tiny – LAME.  But it was tasty.  Crispy.  Spicy.. Too much fried noodles ont he bottom tho… I just like it over lettuce and bigger juicy chunks of the fried crab.

Whole Peking Duck

Wrappity wrap wrap

Nom nom nom

SOOOO GOOD.

The duck was SOOOOO juicy, fatty, and the skin was crisp to PER-FEC-TION.  It was SO freaking delicious, I was eating SOOOOO MUCH!!!  I added cucumbers and tons of raw scallions to my wrap.  Just a TOUCH of the sauce.  SOOOO FREAKING GOOD.

Fortune Cookie

I liked this fortune until Mommy had the same one. WOMP. HAHA.. no fun. We had some leftovers, but this was actually a really good meal :] I may have to try some of the other cuisines sometime.. I DID see Roti Canai on the menu <3 JOY

Bye Bye Detroit, See you never – Sora, best Japanese food in Detroit… at the airport

I left for the Detroit Metro Airport a bit too early so I had a lot of time to spare once I checked in.  I actually left my ID IN my pocket. In my shorts. The pair I wore the night before. And packed it up. In my suitcase. The one that was getting shipped. OOPS.  Good thing I had my Passport from going to Canada.

I finally got to try the Japanese place I’ve seen at the Delta side of the airport.  Sora Japanese Cuisine. I got a seat for one in the front of the restaurant by the sushi bar and opened the menu. GLEE.

I expected the worst but was pleasantly surprised.

LOOK! They have Takoyaki AND Ramen!

Unfortunately my stomach was killing me from the night/day before so I tried to eat light.

A Plum Wine/Sake Martini concoction. Maraschino cherry. A bit on the girly side for me… and too sweet, but it was pretty fun.

Edamame

Tako Su

Super fresh… seaweed, slightly pickled cucumbers and delicious super tender fresh octopus!!!

Sashimi

Salmon and Tuna.. the safest bet.  Beautiful vibrant colors!  Soft, a bit on the small side but tasty.

I had another martini.. contemplated getting more food but decided to buy some candy and snacks instead and play on my ipad until my flight.  RIGHT before boarding I grew starved and wanted a burger. BOO. I checked my giant Chanel travel bag for my banana and it was squished ALL. OVER. the bottom of the bag. SO SAD.

Word Search on the plane waiting to be able to use electronics.

Blade Sushi Bar/Lounge at Fountainbleau

On our last day in Miami, W had an early start to a busy day so I just slept in cuz it as rainy/thundering on and off all day in Miami… woke up around 1130 and got ready to spend a day shopping and eating…

After some shopping around and fell in love with the most gorgeous Philipp Plein seude biege crystalized skull bag/tote… UGH I WANT IT… it was almost 5grand SIGH… AND these jean shoes… I finally headed over to Blade for some sushi.

I was surprised to find out that Bladen and La Vida are actually one.  La Vida is american and Blade is, well duh, sushi/Japanese but you can get both in the same place.

Sushi Bar

My view

Ready to eat

…with my Sparkling Sake Mojito

Sparkling Sake, Bacardi Superior, Fresh Mint, Hand Pressed Lime, Soda, Cane Nectar

Water a la Z with Lime & Lemon

Edamame
Steamed Soy Beans with Sea Salt

It was a huge piping hot STEAMING bowl. YUM!

Octopus Carpaccio
Sweet Pepper, Tomato, Red Onion, Cucumber, Spicy Vinegar Dressing

This was the dish that got people thinking I was in the food industry/restaurant biz hahahaha….

Green Salad
Rice Vinegar, Dressing, Carrot, Radish Sprout

This was so much more decadent than I expected.  Squash, avocado, tomatoes, carrots, amazing. SOOO GOOD.

Naruto Maki
Thin Sliced King Salmon, Crabmeat, Masago, Avocado, Scallion, Vinegar Dressing, Wrapped in Cucumber

Not that great but fresh

Salmon & Scallop Sashimi

The scallop wasn’t on the menu but I asked for some.  And I asked for them to give me thin slices of lemon with it.  Can you believe they charged me freaking 23$ for that one thinly sliced up scallop?!  It was delicious, but I’d hav appreciated more lemon in the slice lol.

Apprently this was too much food for lil ol me?! So said food neighbors… waiter also thought I was in the restaurant biz/food industry cuz I got the octopus hahaha and probably cuz I was picky about scallop.

Half way thru I finished my mojito so I got a Lychee Martini.  Grey Goose, Lychee Liqeur, Orange Bitters, Lychee Juice.  I was trying to eat super slow and enjoy myself and scenary.  Fuck the girl next to me who told her mom “OMG I wouldn’t even go into a STORE by MYSELF” go back to your salads bitches.

Delicious.  I also ended up buying W a Blade Roll / Panko crusted Toro, Pickled Ginger, Asian Pears, XO Sauce and Bleau Roll / Tuna, yellowtail, salmon, avocado, scallion, masago wrapped with daikon, soy onion dressing.  But we didn’t get a chance to try them cuz we were in a hurry to make it to the airport, boo :[ Next time, maybe… lol…

More than just half a dozen oysters… @ Saltwater

Yayyy.. the Detroit blogs continue. Yes I know you’re excited.. that I’m still alive ;D TEEHEE

ANYWAYS — at this point, I’m pretty sure the MGM Hotel Room Service knows me by now and shudders when I call for food. I also usually just pay for it by card so it probably annoys them to death walking up and down, to and fro, but aside from that, I’ve made friends with the food senders hehe.

Lunch was a chopped vegetable salad [capers, tomatoes, celery, greens, feta, pinenuts, etc the WORKS] and this:

Spicy Tuna Tartare with avocado, pickled ginger and sesame wonton crisps. Delish!  Definitely helped with my sushi craving as well…  I can never get enough of raw fish!

The crisps were SO freaking good, DEEE-VOURED. I think I was supposed to eat them WITH the tuna but I inhaled all the creamy tuna first, put the avocado on my salad and then crunched on the greasy wontons.

BTW. I had the truffle chips with blue cheese the other day. SO GOOD, but SO BAD. I got SOOOO sick from them :[ Guess they were too rich and greasy for my stomach to handle. WTF is going on with me and being sick lately? It's like I got a bug that'll never leave. That or my tapeworm is the one getting sick hahaha. BTW, see how it says "Seasonal Soup of the Day"? Just for kicks I called them to ask what their soup of the day was... EVERY DAY and it's always asparagus soup. HAHA. Just say no to stinky pee.

Ok onwards. Workity workity but I had oysters on my brain. CONSTANTLY. So I decided to throw on some clothes and visit the boyfriend at work.

It was pretty empty when I first walked in and plopped myself at the bar. After too much booze the last time I was here, sober dinner it was. Well, snack rather... I ordered a half a dozen oysters... and got so so much more :]

And look, W came out just to shuck some oysters for me personally :]

I’m a spoiled little princess!

I ended up with a dozen GORGEOUS, perfectly shucked, delicious oysters.. and a few raw clams as well :] YUM!

I thought that was it, but W texted me from the kitchen saying that there was another dish….

And then out came these:

If you can’t enjoy fresh radishes with butter & salt, I duno if we can be friends anymore.

Crunchy. Beautiful. Fresh. Crisp. OHHHHH JOY.  I was SOOO HAPPY!!!! My neighbors got radish envy so they got some too :] Compliments of Chef W <3 HEHE. BUT THAT WASN’T THE DISH!!!!! There was another surprise in store for me….

Fresh gorgeous raw tuna on cubes of cheese.. tasted like a mild feta and some crushed/crumbled croutons and EVOO – AMMMMAZE BALLS!

Damn. Now I’m craving radishes….

LA LA LA. Joy!

Trout and Green Beans, Two Ways – East Meets West

After church and a nice brunch, I headed to Whole Foods got a few trouts and decided to make it for dinner.  Since we ate so late and so much we decided to eat late that night… so we took Didi for a walk….

I don’t get it….

Chinese Sausage, Red Onion, Garlic and Chestnuts….

Add in steamed green Beans…

Trout asian style: Garlic, Ginger, Cherry Tomatoes, Scallions, Rice Wine, S&P

The other style— “Mediterranean” Style:
Spicy Green Beans… And the trout was made with cherry tomatoes, shallots, garlic, meyer lemon, s&p, rice wine and sprinkled with chives before serving.

I sprinkled some freshly cut scallions on top of the asian style before serving.

SOOOOO GOOOD, Fresh and FILLING!!!!

I. LOVE. Trout.

Chinese New Years Dinner for Two at Lavender

On the first Day of the New Years you have to eat vegetarian until noon… so what else than frying up some Nian Gao. 甜粿

SOOO GOOOD :] I love the crispity edges from the egg…

The Guangdong variety is also called nian gao. It is sweetened, usually with brown sugar. It is distinct with a dark yellow color. The paste is poured into a cake pan and steamed once more to settle mixture. The batter is steamed until it solidifies and served in thick slices. It may be eaten as is. The nian gao becomes stretchy and extremely sticky. It can also be served as a pudding flavored with rosewateror red bean paste.

The next stage is optional as it can be pan-friedafterwards,often with egg, to make (煎年糕, jyutping: zin1 nin4 gou1; pinyin: jiān nián gāo). When fried it is slightly crispy on the outside, and remains pasty on the inside. During Chinese New Year, it is cut into square pieces and served along with similar cake dim sum dishes like taro cake and water chestnut cake. [Source]

No rest for the wicked.. still gotta work. Just no swearing or fighting or cleaning [so no real eating at home! haha] today. Mom and I decided to go out to eat at our local fav chinese restaurant right by our house for the main event. We craved Peking Duck & Lobster…. so I slapped on some red lipstick for good luck – Red means lucky DUH and headed out for good eats.

Lavender

Wonton Strips to snack on….

As soon as we sat down we ordered the duck, since it takes awhile to prepare.  We also got two glasses of Pinot Noir but it was meh. You know it’s bad when I DON’T want the booze LOL.

Peking Duck

Juicy, meaty, crispy delightful skin! OH LOVES!

A little meat, a LOT of skin and lots of scallions…. I put 4x more meat and skin on after the pretty picture hahahahah…

SEE!!! Freaking Peking Duck burrito!!! SOOO GOOOOOD!!!

Salt & Pepper Soft Shell Crab

Why not indulge on holidays?!… I always indulge since I’m always feeling like everyday is a holiday HAHAHAHA… these were pretty good. Lots of spicy salt & pepper toppings… chunks of jalapeno. NOM!

Steamed Chilean Sea Bass w/ Ginger & Scallion

Typical way of cooking fish in a chinese restaurant.. but it was a bit TOO thinly cut and overcooked :[ Still tasty. Totally wish there was bigger portions for this dish...

Lobster Tails w/ Onions & Scallions
Tasty and meaty!  Very fresh lobster and TONS of yummy sauteed onions around it SOOO FREAKING GOOD.

Gai Lan & Bok Choy

I couldn't choose which veggie dish I wanted so our waiter, he knows us, gave us half portion of both on a plate. TEEHEE.

Complimentary Pineapple

And we each got TWO fortune cookies :] My tradition in college was to always grab THREE fortune cookies and pick the best fortune out of the three – no more no less! HEHE

They also gave us Red Envelopes – :] YAYYY more lucky money to go in my pile under my pillow. I remember last year I actually found a WHOLE stash of old red envelopes I had stashed under my mattress I had forgotten about… SCORE~ money money moneyyyyy

Late Night Wings…

SOOOO in my quest of pretzels… I needed wings! I was planning on getting some wings at Met Bar today but I forgot they took them off the menu.. Sad. :[ So I was PSHHHH I can make better wings ANYWAYS! After dinner I headed to Whole Foods to pick up my fav sliced in-house roast turkey breast [addicted! I go thru a 1lb bag in 2-3 days!] I also picked up some wings.. wish they were bigger and not cut apart… apparently their guy always gets their wings separated - lame. And yes, I talk with the butchers there all the time :] I’m a talker… just not like this:

Hi ;] Hi :D Hiiiii!!!!! :9

FYI, I hate talkers during sex. I don’t need to know what’s going on in your mind except for funky time. Kthanx.

SOOOOO… after making the dough for the pretzels and letting them rest I started on my wings…

Soy sauce, Ssame Oil, Garlic, Ginger, Scallions, Chilli Peppers….. 

Also added two secrets, a bit of cocoa powder and miso :] as well as beer & rice wine :D I’m a boozeaholic even when I cook… hahahahah!!!

Mixxx-a mixxxxx-aaaaa MIXXX-AAAAA!!!!

Panfried a bit and then added all the marinating sauce… added a bit extra soy sauce and rice wine!!!

RESULT?!?!?!?! DEEEEEEELISH!!! I sprinkled with some fresh scallions and I wanted to add white sesame seeds to make it super asian BUTTT… we were out… :T LOL

Might be nibbling and blogging now :] What’s left of it… *licks bowl*