I’m off for a little rest and relaxation. But I’ve left you some posts to tide you over while I’m gone, so don’t be alarmed if you comment or send me an e-mail and I don’t reply!
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Fun Friday
Fun food photos by Laser Bread:
crumpled paper food by Laser Bread
banana by Laser Bread
how to fry an egg by Laser Bread
News and events
Too many things going on right now. Between work and trip planning and events, I haven’t had much time for myself, let alone to think about the blog other than to write up posts as quickly as I am able.
- Only Here for the Food did a Q and A feature on yours truly. Regular readers of this blog probably won’t see anything new, but you might enjoy my “last meal” answer.
- I have a reservation for a certain London nose to tail restaurant, so I figure that this article declaring Fergus Henderson the World’s Most Influential Chef and this blog post by someone who did a stage at St. John Bread and Wine is appropriate.
- Gary from Everything Everywhere is doing a street food experiment during his Asia travels
- Japadog in Vancouver is getting a LOT of media attention thanks to the Olympics. I recently read this article about special hot dogs they’re making for the Olympics, and they were on NBC’s Today’s Show on Monday morning.
- Founder of Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods transfers business to employees – now that’s a good boss!
- How a soft drink became Quebec’s homegrown insult – interesting article on the meaning of Pepsi in Quebec
- How quinoa came to the U.S. – Indiana Jones couldn’t have done better
- Safer beer mugs FTW!
- Travel Alberta features Alberta’s rural cuisine
- A couple of small dining notes – went to dim sum at Golden Rice Bowl recently and was gobsmacked at the high prices. The (somewhat) new Famoso in South Common has a great layout. And another Famoso branch is going to open in Christy’s Corner – YAY!!
- And lastly, the third Edmonton Foodie Meetup is happening in March. I’m going to miss it (yet again), but if you’re free you should attend!
Momofuku cookbook – fresh oysters and pickled Asian pears
Gong hay fat choy! Happy Chinese New Year! And happy Valentine’s Day to you as well! I’ve got a special treat for you today as a present from me to you, with help from Valerie and Beavie over at A Canadian Foodie. When Valerie found out that I got a copy of the Momofuku cookbook by David Chang and Peter Meehan for Christmas, she had a great idea for us to pick out recipes and do them at the same time in order to compare our experiences.
Momofuku cookbook
A quick flip through the cookbook told me one thing – David Chang doesn’t do simple recipes. At first glance they may seem simple but this initial impression is deceptive as most of his main recipes comprise of 2+ recipes combined together. Some of them can take days.
I had first choice, and I wanted to start with something simple, so I picked fresh oysters with a pickled Asian pear and black pepper mignonette.
The book has a fairly detailed section on how to choose, clean and open fresh oysters (pages 131-133). I was already familiar with most of these rules, but I thought one rule was a great reminder for myself: smell the oyster before you serve it and see if it smells clean and fresh and sweet – of the sea but not fishy.
I chose some lovely (but small) Malpeque oysters from Prince Edward Island. I gave them a good scrub under cold water, and kept them in the fridge until I was ready to shuck them.
Freshly scrubbed oysters
Double Greeting Won Ton House, Edmonton
If you are looking for cheap and greasy Chinese food, this is the place in Edmonton to get it.
Double Greeting has been around for longer than I can remember. I ate here as a kid, and I still eat here as an adult. It’s one of those places that look a little dingy but has a steady set of loyal customers – both Asian and non-Asian.
The key to ordering here is to stick to noodle and rice dishes. Won ton too, of course. The congee is okay too.
Beef chow fun is one of my standby dishes at noodle cafe such as Double Greeting. There are variations of it that you can order – seafood instead of beef, more vegetables, etc. This is one of the dishes that I use as a bellwether to test the quality of food at a restaurant.
Double Greeting’s beef chow fun has lots of tender beef, lots of bean sprouts (but not too many), the noodles are firm but soft and not at all gluey, and the dish has enough grease on it to make the noodles shine but not so much as to make it taste really oily in your mouth. Oh, and see the slight char on the noodles? Yum.
beef chow fun
Another dish that I order a lot – mostly because I like it and not because I use it to judge the food at a restaurant – is salted fish and chicken fried rice. A good version of this dish will have a little bit of egg, small to medium sized chunks of tender chicken and plenty of shredded salted fish scattered throughout the rice. Too much fish means the rice is oversalted, and too little fish will mean the rice is bland.
salted fish and chicken fried rice
I was let down by Double Greeting’s version of this dish. It wasn’t greasy, which was good, but they skimped on the salted fish and as a result the rice was bland and I was craving flavour. I would rather have Spicy Garden’s version.
If you are in the mood for rice at Double Greeting, I suggest trying the pineapple and chicken fried rice instead of the salted fish and chicken.
Double Greeting Won Ton House
10212-96 Street, Edmonton
