Upscale Puerto Rican fast food

As I mentioned in my last post, my attitudes toward food changed recently. I’ve gradually become less interested in cooking, so you will see fewer cooking posts on this blog. Instead, I plan to write about trends or issues around food more often. Don’t worry: it’s not going to be all serious though!

La Bodega’s eye-catching storefront

The Bay Area is a hotbed of culinary innovations from urban farms to street food. It also excels in repackaging ethnic food to make it mainstream while still authentic. The clean, modern taquerias in San Francisco’s Mission District that appeal to Latino and non-Latino customers alike are a great example. They are run more like Chipotle than traditional taquerias, but their food is real Mexican fare and not some watered-down, Americanized version.

Another successful case I came across recently is La Bodega, the take-out joint of popular Puerto Rican Sol Food Restaurant in San Rafael. The food was delicious, and although I’ve never been to Puerto Rico and know little about its food, I am confident that it is at least close to the real deal.

I went into La Bodega without doing any prior research (which is rare for me). Several weeks ago, I was looking for a lunch spot in San Rafael, and La Bodega’s lime green glass doors caught my eye. The store has an open layout in which the kitchen is right behind the take-out counter, so you can see chefs working at the back as you order your food.

The kitchen was clean, bright, and shiny because stainless steel was everywhere. The staff wore chef’s uniforms. The menu highlighted natural, organic ingredients. The whole set-up instilled confidence into potential customers.

Service was incredibly efficient. Maybe there weren’t many people, I got my food neatly packed in a brown paper bag several minutes after ordering. It was faster than what I experienced at most non-chain take-out restaurants.

I ate at a nearby square. I was lazy and picked a vegetarian platter that had a bit of everything. It included pink bean stew, mixed green salad, one half of an avocado, white rice, and fried plantains.

Combinacione Vegetariano

Given it was fast food, the quality was great. The plantains were the best. There were two types: testones con mojo (fried green plantains served with crushed garlic and olive oil) and maduros (fried yellow plantains). They were crisp but not greasy. The hot stew was perfect for a chilly day.

Reflecting the Bay Area’s ec0-friendly credo, all containers were compostable. The affable woman who took my order took time to ask whether I needed utensils, instead of shoving them into the bag automatically like at most places.

I later walked past Sol Food, La Bodega’s parent, and saw a line outside snaking around the street corner. I was not surprised.

Make no mistake: La Bodega is upscale fast food, so it’s pricier than its traditional counterparts. But the food quality and service are worth the higher price.

Read more about La Bodega on Bay Area Bites.

Back to basics

My apologies for not having written for a long time.

On par with Acme Bakery: Josie Baker’s seed feast levain

Recently, my attitudes toward food have changed. While I still enjoy cooking, I often make the simplest dishes. Gone are the days when I assembled 10+ ingredients for a recipe. I just go for whatever feels right – no more advanced planning for an entire week’s menu.

Another huge change for me is I crave sweets much less than before. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I took a no-holds-barred approach to sweets. There were days I gobbled up an entire cake or a canister of cookies as a meal. My attempts at cutting down on sweets failed repeatedly.

How did these changes happen? The lunches provided at our office, at least partly.

Our lunches tend to be carb-heavy, with a lot of rice, pasta, and pizzas. I am full throughout the day so I don’t feel like cooking anything complex when I get home. I don’t want more carbs such as sugar either. White rice and pasta are not health food, but they should be more nutritious than sugar.

My diet now harks back to my adolescent and college years, when I ate carbs liberally and didn’t have a sugar craving. Since I started working, I deliberately reduced the amount of carbs in my diet to stay fit. I gradually lost weight, but I increasingly clamored for sugar.

Here’s my theory: I craved sugar because I didn’t eat enough carbs. It sounds illogical to cut carbs with more carbs, but my body seems to be telling me this. The effect of a sugar crash (feeling jittery after a sugar-induced “high”) also became more pronounced within my body, which strengthened my will to stay away from sugar.

Of course I still love cakes and pastries. I buy a croissant occasionally and savor their pictures online, but I haven’t binged on sweets for a while.

Instead I reach for something more wholesome and likely to make me feel full. My latest fetishes: chewy bread and crunchy nuts. I am lucky in the Bay Area where quality artisan bread abounds (top of the post is the seed feast levain from home baker Josey Baker). The raw almonds I get from my local farmers’ market are among the best I’ve had. I hope I’m not overeating them and swinging from one extreme to another.

Incredibly fresh and crunchy almonds from Lujan Farms

Like in cooking, I’m happy with fresh and basic food. When the quality is good, it can be incredibly flavorful with little tampering needed.

I feel better too. Funny how your body constantly sends you signals but you don’t pay attention. This time, I make sure I listen.

Finally wrapping up the (2010) holidays

I know your reaction: why am I writing this when February is around the corner?

Happy Holidays…are you serious?

Blame it on some psychological need. I want to round out 2010 with an end-of-the-year post, like what I did for 2009. Plus, at least in the Chinese lunar calendar, we are still in the old year (Year of the Tiger).

I will focus on the holidays.

Our office threw a holiday party just before Christmas. The highlight was paella cooked from scratch on the spot. The chef prepared two versions: traditional seafood and vegetarian. The vegetarian version contained chickpeas, spinach, tomato paste, etc. with a hint of heat from pimentón (Spanish paprika). When the chef was done, he brought the two huge, steaming pans of paella to the center of the office. It was a spectacular sight, and the aroma was irresistible. Everyone gravitated to it.

Vegetarian paella at office’s holiday party

Those who tasted both versions said the vegetarian version was better. I only had the vegetarian one and was very happy with it. The texture of the rice was just right: it still had some form and wasn’t mushy. The ingredients complemented each other nicely.

At home I tried Seattle’s Field Roast’s vegan stuffed hazelnut cranberry roast – vegan sausage stuffed with hazelnuts, cranberries, apples, and crystallized ginger and enclosed in a layer of puff pastry. A very fall-like recipe. The roast was available over the holidays only and ideal as a centerpiece.

Field Roast’s Hazelnut Cranberry Roast

Vegan sausage roast with sautéed spinach and roasted vegetables

I heated the roast along with some diced squash and carrots in the oven, then served it with sautéed spinach. It was incredibly flavorful and substantial. I loved sausages before turning vegetarian. Field Roast’s vegan sausages are excellent and even better than the real thing.

On New Year’s Eve I visited the Ferry Building in San Francisco and had lunch at Il Cane Rosso, a quick-service Italian joint run by famed San Francisco chef Daniel Patterson. I got an avocado sandwich layered with crescenza cheese, sunchokes, and walnut-mint pesto. Staying true to the Bay Area’s food culture, the ingredients were locally produced.

Il Cane Rosso at the Ferry Building

Good but expensive avocado sandwich

While the sandwich was delicious with sophisticated flavors, it was pricey ($9) for a small portion size.

The holidays provided an excuse for indulgence and I certainly had my share of sweets. Of all the cakes, cookies, and treats I had, the best was something simple and cheap: my old favorite Trader Joe's Fruit and Nut Brittle ($3.99).

Addictive Trader Joe’s Fruit and Nut Brittle

It was a killer combination of sweet and salty: cranberries, peanuts, almonds, and cashews. I couldn’t help finishing the whole package once I started.

This year, I am serious about eating less sugar. While I set out to do the same last year and failed, things have been going quite well this time.  Wish me luck!

Have a prosperous Year of the Rabbit!

A tale of three cities

Earlier this month I took a weeklong trip to China. I visited its three most prosperous cities: Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The trip was eye-opening as both Beijing and Shanghai have changed immensely since I visited almost a decade ago. I could feel the booming Chinese economy while I was there.

Striking architecture: future CCTV Tower in Beijing, construction has resumed after a serious fire last year

In Beijing, huge plots of land downtown have been transformed into glistening shopping malls and office towers. I reckoned none of the buildings on the street where I stayed was more than ten years old. Keep in mind Beijing is an ancient city, then you recognize the scale of the changes. These can be good or bad, depending on your perspective. The question lingering in my mind: what sacrifices ordinary citizens had to make for them to happen?

Not interested in international brands that filled downtown to the brim, I ventured out to find remnants of old Beijing. My find? A century-old pastry shop dated back to the Qing Dynasty called Daoxiangcun (稻香村;  roughly translated into “Village of Fragrant Rice”). I liked it so much that I went there multiple times during my stay, and brought some of its products back to the US as gifts.

Daoxiangcun started as a single store but has now grown into hundreds of outlets across China. There are tens of outlets in Beijing alone. It sells all kinds of sweet and salty, probably bad-for-you snacks. Most of them are uniquely Chinese, but there are also many Western items. It allows you to buy only one piece of an item so I got to try MANY things.

Some sweets I tried: traditional pastries with fillings of adzuki bean paste, mung bean paste, red date paste, black sesame seed paste, osmanthus paste, pineapple paste; walnut and honey cakes; wafers with peanut paste; fried dough in twists (mahua). Savories: ready-t0-eat shredded tofu sheets, marinated tofu nuggets and mock meat.

Daoxiangcun treats VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Almost everything tasted great and was good value. I knew I wouldn’t go wrong as many locals buy Daoxiangcun products for themselves or as gifts. The cost of living in Beijing is surprisingly high (many categories are on par with Hong Kong), so Daoxiangcun is a relative bargain.

I spent two days in Shanghai with my parents. My dad was kind enough to suggest going to a vegetarian restaurant for dinner because both my mom and I are vegetarians. I found Jichancao (吉祥草; roughly translated into “Auspicious Grass”) on Dianping, China’s version of Yelp.

Jichancao’s storefront

Located in the leafy former French Concession, Jichancao has a modern, Zen-style décor with a small Buddhist bookstore appended to it. We ordered savory dishes (pumpkin stew, braised tofu, etc.), Northern dim-sums (steamed dumplings, Chinese flatbread/shaobing), noodles, and sweet rice dumplings to round out the meal. Overall the food was delicious in a Shanghainese way (greasy with a hint of sweetness). The meal was not expensive either given Shanghai’s living standards.

Braised tofu with tomatoes, mushrooms, napa cabbage, Chinese celery

(From left) Pumpkin stew, sweet rice dumplings, Chinese flatbread with diced dill fillings

The most elaborate meal I had during my trip was in Hong Kong. My mom managed to book a table at the talk-of-the-town Amy’s House (愛美素食坊), a vegetarian “private kitchen” in a residential building that serves only one table during each meal period. We had lunch there, and chef Amy presented eight courses typical of a Cantonese dinner banquet. Completely self-taught and now in her late 50s or even 60s, Amy created an innovative feast of different flavors and textures from appetizers to desserts.

The best course was the coral seaweed salad appetizer with shredded carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and guavas. Then there were imitations of Cantonese classics such as pan-fried shark’s fin, steamed chicken, and braised pork belly. Amy gave each dish a poetic name and asked us to guess its ingredients before putting it onto the table. The entire experience was like a show.

Best in show: coral seaweed salad with wasabi soy sauce

More appetizers: spring rolls and fried Chinese squash

Pan-fried imitation shark’s fin topped with braised pumpkin and snow peas

Imitation steamed chicken (tofu sheets) topped with bok choy, minced ginger and spring onions

No doubt Amy is a masterful cook given the complexity of each dish, but the cooking sometimes masked the original flavors of the ingredients. I found the imitation braised beef taste too much like real beef too. Don’t get me wrong: the meal was wonderful, and I appreciated that my mom arranged it for me.

Back in the US, I felt even more grateful to be living in the Bay Area. Although Amy bought her ingredients fresh from the market daily, the quality of the produce here seems better.

Like the last time I was in Hong Kong, I enjoyed eating at home with my family the most though. Too bad I only had time to do this once on the trip.

To my family and friends, happy 2011 wherever you are!

Drenched in vanilla and cinnamon

My pan de muerto, fresh from the oven

What better time than the holidays to forget about dieting and go all out for decadent treats? The problem is I already indulge myself year-round. In late October I attended a Mexican bread making workshop, and I still feel guilty about the ridiculous amounts of butter and sugar we used to make our bread.

La Cocina, San Francisco’s food entrepreneur incubator, organized the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muerto) traditional bread workshop. I like Mexican bread for its dense, scone-like texture and was curious to know how it’s made. The opportunity to bake my own bread and taste it fresh from the oven was too good to pass.

Chef Luis of Chaac Mool Yucatecan Food, a beneficiary of La Cocina, was our instructor. More than 20 of us made it to La Cocina’s kitchen in the Mission District on a weekday night, wore the apron provided to us, and listened attentively to Chef Luis’s introduction of the pan de muerto (Bread of the Dead) traditions and the recipes we would be making.

Dia de los Muerto offerings on a makeshift altar

Pan de muerto, a type of yeasted sweet bread, is offered to the dead as part of the Dia De Los Muerto celebrations. Mexican families set up an altar in their homes and present deceased family and friends with their favorite foods and beverages. The occasion is meant to be festive and not somber – just look at the colorful paper-cut decorations on the altar.

Because Chef Luis doesn’t speak English, a translator repeated what he said in Spanish in English. Although I don’t understand Spanish, I could tell Chef Luis, in his crisp chef uniform, spoke assertively and eloquently. La Cocina does a great service helping immigrant entrepreneurs like Chef Luis tap into their culinary talents and broaden the reach of their home-country cuisines in the Bay Area. He now runs a Yucatan food stand in San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center.

Chef Luis and his translator addressing the group

We first made the standard pan de muerto. Chef Luis already mixed and leavened the dough for us, and each of us got a ball of dough. Suffice to say that the dough contained a lot of sugar, butter, milk, and eggs. There's also a hint of citrus because of the lemon and orange zests and juices mixed into it.

We took some extra dough and rolled it into decorations for the bread. Never good at crafts, I placed a simple cross on top of my dough. Then I sprinkled some sesame seeds onto it.

Finished decorating the dough and chilling

My pan de muerto before baking with the cross on top

After placing our pan de muerto into the oven, we moved on to the next recipe: pan patas de crema. Chef Luis said this sweet bread is his family specialty. We first made a cinnamon cream by mixing cinnamon, sugar, vanilla extract, butter, and flour together, then rolled the same dough we used for the pan de muerto over the cream.

Because the cinnamon cream was too watery and didn’t stick to the dough initially, we had to keep adding butter and flour to the cream. It’s unbelievable how much butter we used.

Our hands were all dirty and smelled of vanilla and cinnamon by the time we shaped the dough into a log (maybe this is why the bread is called pan patas because patas means limbs in Spanish). Chef Luis suggested that we brush the dough with more cinnamon cream to give the bread a golden-brown color. I was still coming to terms with the high-fat, high-sugar content of the dough so I resisted.

Chef Luis’s family specialty: pan patas de crema

Pan patas de crema out of the oven

After the pan patas de crema went into the oven, we finally had dinner. Coincidentally, the woman next to me and I were the only vegetarians in the group. Our dinner platter consisted of mushrooms cooked in cheese, refried beans, a tostada – all topped with a black, mole-like chimole sauce. Chimole is a Yucatan condiment made from chili peppers, onion, garlic, spices and has a smoky flavor. The non-vegetarians got turkey.

Vegetarian dinner platter: mushrooms, cheese, refried beans, and tostada in chimole sauce

The dinner was decent but no match for the ever-stronger smell of fresh baked bread wafting through the kitchen. Out of the oven, the breads were huge with a hard surface. We were like kids marveling at our creations and taking pictures. This might be the best part of baking: the magical feeling of creating something delicious out of such simple ingredients as flour, butter, and sugar.

Because Whole Foods was a sponsor of the event (most of the ingredients were from its 365 brand), we all left with a Whole Foods shopping bag to carry our bread. The bread was warm and supposedly we should let it cool before eating, but the smell of vanilla and cinnamon won over my self-control.

As I walked to the 24th Street BART station,  I couldn’t stop nibbling on the crunchy coating and dense interior of the pan patas de crema. I finished the entire loaf of bread when I arrived at the station. Guess how long I could keep my hands off the pan de muerto for the rest of my trip home.