so i brought home a baby.

(she’s not impressed)

Little miss Lan was born on May 4th. A little earlier than expected, and we’ve had a grueling and panicky week so far, what with her hospitalized for jaundice and weight loss. But now she’s safe and home, and that’s all that really matters. Malo Cat is completely uninterested in her, and Shiro Dog has appointed himself Royal Guardian of Baby (whenever she cries he’s the first to run to her bassinet and make sure that she’s okay, and then he will give Hiroki and I a disapproving DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!! stare).  Mitsu wants to kill her because Mitsu hates all small creatures that is not Mitsu herself, and the old little birds can care less.

Our house sounds like a zoo right now, but until things settle down a bit it’ll be quiet on the blog. But I promise to be back soon!

xoxo ila

pho bo (beef pho)

it’s been a week since I’ve moved back in with my parents. one thing I’ve noticed is that they only watch three channels: NHK (the Japanese national television channel), Food Network, and Travel Channel (but only if No Reservations, Bizzare Foods, or Pawn Stars is on).
and everyday on Food Network, there is at least one celebrity or non-celebrity chef making a bastardized version of pho bo under an hour or maybe even half hour (Top Chef and Chopped are the main culprits), and this pisses my dad off to no end. it’s actually pretty entertaining to watch him fume at Emeril Lagasse and yell at the tv screen.

so after a week or so of being constantly miffed…

dad: “you know how to make pho the right way?”
me: (mildly offended) “I know how to make pho.”
dad: “okay, I teach you how to make pho the right way.”

then the next day he returned with bags and bags of beef bones and other necessities for pho bo.

there are many recipes out there that you can follow, and my dad is horrible at writing recipes down. everything is eyeballed and thrown in haphazardly.
so… I’m going to leave you with some basic pointers.

(1) always char your aromatics.

(2) quick boil (or roast) your beef bones and brisket, then dump the first wash. this will make a clean broth.

(3) start your beef pho the day before you want to serve it…
because it takes about 6-8 hours of constant simmering.

(4) raw beef: buy some cheap cut of beef, slice thin, and whack to oblivion.
tripe: quick boil with salt and ginger knobs to get the funk out.
tendon: always cut thin against the grain. seems impossible, but it’ll soften as it warms.
melange herbs: slice onions thinly against the grain, toss with chopped cilantro and scallions.

(5) don’t add the fish sauce until right before you eat.
once boiled, the fish sauce can give your pho a funky bitter/sour flavor.

actual, written recipes for pho bo:
Gastronomy
Wandering Chopsticks
Viet World Kitchen

and Emeril’s recipe if you’re curious.
i’ve had a sous chef make a “beef pho” soup for a soup du jour using hoisin sauce before… so this recipe didn’t look very offensive to me, but my dad rants about it ALL THE TIME.

i’m moving out of the OC and back to the bay area!

10 years since i moved down here to sunshine land…
i’m going to miss all of my friends, the food, and the nice, nice weather…

but i’m excited for the new adventures to come.

so long orange county… i will miss you much!

passion fruit bars.

you would never have though that such a sad-looking, wrinkly fruit
would yield a nectar that is so bright in flavor.

normally i like to squeeze a bit into my carrot juice to make it extra special,
or plop it on top of some nice vanilla ice cream (try it!!!)
but this time i had to use up the butter in my fridge (because i’m MOOOOVIIIIING! blargh)
so i decided to use Mrs. Chef De Party’s amazeballs lemon bar recipe to make passion fruit bars.
recipe below the cut!

Passion Fruit Bars
adapted from Natalie’s recipe – makes 24 cookies

to make the crust:
12 oz cold butter, cut into small chunks (3 sticks)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 cups flour

to make the passion fruit filling:
1 tsp baking powder
4 cups sugar
8 eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp passion fruit juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Make the crust: combine butter, powdered sugar. salt, and flour in a food processor or a stand mixer and mix to combine. You should get a loose crumbly dough. Take this dough and press down on a cookie sheet, about 1/8 inch thick. Work quickly, you don’t want the butter to separate. Also, you might want to line it with parchment paper for easy clean up. Take the cookie sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. Bake the cookie portion for 10 minutes, or until the edges barely brown.
4. While the cookie is baking, make the filling: Whisk sugar, bp, and eggs together. To make passion fruit juice, take about 3-4 passion fruits, scoop out the insides, and give a whirl in the food processor. Strain out seeds and membrane. Combine the passion fruit juice right before you pour the filling into the cookie.
5. When the cookie is done, add the filling. Give it a couple shakes to ensure that the filling is evenly distributed. Pop back in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Rotate the cookie in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.
6. Let cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar. Cut into nice squares and enjoy with a glass of milk.

Pizzeria Ortica

i hate happy hour because they’re usually between 5-7, when most people are still working. when you actually get there, you slide in during the last 15 minutes and try to flag down the waiter, only to be told “sorry, happy hour’s over…”

pizzeria ortica by the south coast plaza shopping center is awesome because they do a reverse happy hour where the specials are 8-10pm Mondays through Thursdays (Sunday 8-9). it’s at the bar area only, and the specials include $7 pizzas, discounted beer, wine, and cocktails.
usually Hiroki will get a Birra Moretti ($3) and a glass of prosecco for me, and then we’d snag a pizza margherita (the simple stuff is amazeballs here). the pizza at ortica is neapolitan style, meaning a chewy, SUPER THIN crust: the kind that you have to fold over or eat with a knife and fork. when we first came here in 2009, we thought that the soggy thin middle part of the pizza was the grossest thing ever… but now we’re hooked and will miss this place so much when we move away. we love the pizza here so much that the last time we were here, we were snorgling our hands because the wood fired aroma from the pizza stuck on. WE WILL MISS YOU PIZZERIA ORTICA.

click for more delicious foods!

Arancini (6). This was a special the last time we went. cheesy risotto balls, deep fried, then plopped on a pool of marinara sauce. so good.

Arugula, treviso, endive, apples, gorgonzola, candied walnuts (11). We have been subbing the gorgonzola for parmesan because I am pregnant and am not supposed to eat unpasteurized cheese. But it’s great with blue cheese too!

Hand-cut tagliatelle spinach pasta, traditional meat sauce, Parmigiano Reggiano (15). THIS. this is Hiroki’s favorite bowl of pasta ever. we once mistakenly ordered a different pasta dish and he was sad for days (it was good, but it wasn’t his beloved tagliatelle), so we had to return the next week to get him his fix. simple, easy on the tomato and super meaty.

they also have a great dessert menu, but I like their ever-changing gelato selection. if you ever run into the chocolate orange one, GET IT. it’s heaven.

Pizzeria Ortica
650 Anton Blvd Unit J
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
http://www.pizzeriaortica.com/

bonus! photos from 2009!

(note: i don’t remember much about the dishes except that the budino was delicous. but then again budino is hard to mess with.)

pizza prosciutto di Parma e rucola

pizza pancetta, ricotta e cipollotto

Tortelli di pere e pecorino al burro e salvia

Budino di Cioccolato

sushi ota in san diego.

every food blogger i’ve ran into has asked me this question, and nobody expects my answer.
it’s as if most think that good sushi does not exist outside of japan or los angeles.

my father-in-law has been mr. ota’s fan for a long time and the family has followed him through his last two previous restaurants. so, mr. ota’s sushi has always been their celebration food. this has been a problem because hiroki grew up to be a sushi nazi and is rarely satisfied when we try other places.

can’t really blame him though.

sakizuke (appetizer) – whitefish nanbanzuke/escabeche.

goh-geous sashimi platter.

hamachi kama.

my mother in law doesn’t eat raw fish, so the itamae-san made her a cooked fish platter.
scallop dynamite, various saikyo-yaki, and kushiage.

raw tako sashimi with yuzu and pink himalayan salt.

torched scallop.

shima aji. or striped jack.

snow crab.

negi toro hand roll.

when you order amaebi, the itamae-san will ask you if you want it in miso soup or deep fried. go with the miso soup.

the cutest tamago in the world.

but wait, there’s more!

sushi ota is also open for lunch. for lunch, they serve a chirashi special that is like the best value ever.

$25 for this deluxe chirashi set.

just look at this monster!!!

Sushi Ota
4529 Mission Bay Dr.
San Diego, CA
858-270-5670
www.sushiota.com

shibori (traditional japanese tie-dye)

i’ve been playing with indigo dye… going to try to make a chevron quilt like this one on PurlBee!
when all is done i will make sure to show you guys lots and lots of photos…