hello from irene bean and a kickass maine lobster BLT.

the sisters (and parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) had a family styles reunion for reals in new york city this week. activities included short ribs and pies at the irish pub; bibimbap, jap chae and massive amounts of raw beef at the korean barbecue; omelettes, cointreau-flambéed orange french toast, banana blueberry pancakes at brunch, and an immense number of soup dumplings.

oh, and chicken noodle soup in the hotel room. that’s how we do.

irenebean and i started off with a serious case of the munchies. no illicit substances necessary, we pretty much always have the munchies. luckily we encountered paradise in front of us, also known as aji ichiban:

obviously, one is welcome to taste anything they like in munchies paradise. did you know paradise also includes super crunchy mini dried crabs that you eat whole?

paradise also has a huge variety of normalish sweets and candies, but let’s be honest, the really exciting munchies are related to those items found under the sea. for example, wasabi white sesame cod fish snacks really keep you on your toes.

for another interesting textural sensation, try dried hokkaido shredded squid. feels like uncombed wool yarn on your tongue, or so i’d imagine, having never eaten anything remotely resembling a sweater.

even outside of the actual munchies paradise store, the under-the-sea offerings abound. the streets of chinatown are like a marine biologist’s wet dream combined with a fear factor shopping excursion.  below, assorted dried bull penises.

kidding. those are sea cucumbers. i bet you believed me though, because i’m sure you can get dried bull penis somewhere in chinatown. bull penis is much larger though, as i know from personal experience. NOT.

i also am intrigued by the availability of dried fish stomach. what does one do with these besides think of massively oversized bits of giant ear wax?

we’ll end with some normal dinner pictures, if your stomach has managed to make it through the photo album so far. i hit up joe’s shanghai on pell street for dinner with my favoritest new york peeps -  lexi, dan, rachel, seth, and becky.  these are some of my favorite people in the world, and people i always have to see and grab a meal with when in nyc.  the six of us killed a whole bunch of xiao long bao, aka soup dumplings, one of my favorite edible items on the planet. these little steamed pouches of perfection are filled with little chunks of ground crab and pork swimming in a deliciously savory and meaty broth. helloooooooo beautiful.

the best way to avoid a mouthful of burningness is to release some of the molten hot soup from the dumpling before stuffing in your mouth, searing off all your taste buds, and spraying the table with little bits of still-steaming dumpling. this can be done by stabbing with a chopstick or nibbling off a corner, as in this informative cartoon by robert zimmerman, found on the joe’s shanghai website.

as zimmerman says, you can avoid the ralph wiggum ‘tastes like burning’ feeling of mouth pain by allowing your soup dumpling to bleed its meaty innards all over your spoon.

joe’s shanghai also has great braised pork shoulder, which they bring to you in a glistening mass and then slice  up at the table with the blinding speed of a mighty ninja or jedi knight or chuck norris or whoever else has crazy weapons skills.

we had a couple of other delicious dishes, but i’ll end it with the less-than-stellar photo of the unattractively shiny spicy eggplant. however, i know you’re not even looking at the eggplant, because it’s obviously overshadowed by the blindingly good looks of my wonderful friend dan.

dan is one of my favorite eating companions, despite the fact that we spend a great deal of time amiably warring over the fact that i want to eat suckling pig and crispy duckling while he could happily survive on pizza and chocolate alone. i’m working on him though – soon enough he’ll be eating dried crabs,  sea cucumber, and dried fish stomach out of my hands. or maybe i’ll just make a bull penis pizza when you come visit me.  just you wait…

For those of us who love a crispy slice of bacon but also care about the impact of our food choices, eating meat can be a very complex issue. Just for starters, there’s the environmental aspects of meat production, the safety concerns with industrial processing (read this frightening article in the NYTimes about ‘anthrax sausages’) and the thorny ethical questions of animal welfare to consider. It’s a difficult question: how can we have our steak and eat it too?

My current solution? Buy locally and sustainably raised meat from farmers markets. I went to the bustling Union Square Greenmarket in New York City last weekend to explore my meat purchasing options and do some research. And by ‘research,’ I mean ‘eating.’ Here are photos and some reasons why farmers markets are a great place to get your meat fix.

Locally Raised Meat is Better for the Environment

You probably know that industrial meat production is bad for the planet. Many of the terrible environmental effects associated with meat production, such as deforestation/desertification and the energy usage and pollution caused by large slaughterhouses and processing plants, are simply not an issue on small family farms. A producer like 3-Corner Field Farm in Washington County, NY, can put the time and energy into the ‘thoughfulness, creativity, and old-fashioned labor’ required for sustainable farming that respects the environment.

Meat From Small Farms is Less Likely to Kill You

We already talked about ‘anthrax sausages.’ Simply put, industrial meat production is a dangerous and unsustainable equation. Take the sheer number of animals slaughtered for food on industrial farms. Add their disgustingly bacteria-ridden living conditions and the scary things put in their food. Multiply by the high speed of production to maximize profits (400 cattle per hour means little time to inspect for adherence to safety protocol) and you have a recipe for widespread disaster. Smaller farms, on the whole, are more careful with regard to the food and living conditions of their animals as well as safe slaughter methods, not only because it fits with their philosophy but because they have to be more transparent and accountable with their practices.

Local Farmers Care About Humane Treatment of Animals

As mentioned above, small-scale producers are much more likely to place importance on the welfare of their animals. It’s hard to have daily contact and interaction with a small herd of pigs or cows or goats and not pay attention to their quality of life. Flying Pigs Farm, a Greenmarket vendor, is a shining example of this respect for animals – they take steps to ensure their pigs have a wholesome diet, room to roam, a clean environment, and are treated with care.

Ethical and Sustainable Meat is More Delicious!

This is a good argument to convert your Uncle Joe who doesn’t care about polar bears or rainforests but loves a good prime rib. In my opinion, sustainably and ethically raised meat simply tastes better. Healthy, happy animals eating what they evolved to eat (i.e. grass, not other animal parts or ethanol waste) are pretty much guaranteed to be more delicious and flavorful than sad, confined, tortured animals pumped full of antibiotics. But don’t take my word for it. Experts say so, and they are wicked smart.

Farmers Market Meat Offerings are More Creative and Exciting

Big supermarket chains all have the same tired old frozen chicken drumsticks and plastic wrapped ground beef. But vendors at farmers markets have lamb bacon and marrow bones and beef heart and smoked ham steak!

Do some ogling of the lamb bacon from Catskill Merino Farm. Mmmm. Bacon…

Meet the People Who Raise Your Meat

One of my favorite parts about farmers markets is getting to chat with the vendors and producers and learn about their operations. Farming is a pretty tough business, so most people who do it for a living truly love what they do. There are lots of fascinating people and quirky personalities and interesting tidbits of life that you get from a farmers market that you would never get in the sterile environment of a flourescently lit big-box supermarket chain.

When’s the last time you saw a picture glowing almost religiously with goat love at your local grocery store?

Or plywood boards with handwritten gems of foodie wisdom?

Two Words: Free Samples!

The best thing about markets: the food! Ready to be stabbed with a toothpick and placed directly in the mouth.

i’d like to draw your attention to two particular purchases made with one dollar each. no joke. one single george washington, equivalent to 100 disregarded pennies that often inhabit the crevasses of your sofa or fail to merit your attention when lying unattended on the sidewalk.  regard the following plate:

lexi and irene worship at the altar of fried dumpling.

you might start keeping track of pennies now that you know that a hundred of those suckers will buy you a plate of FIVE succulent and freshly folded fried dumplings. yes, deep in the heart of chinatown exists what most be the most straightforwardly named hole in the wall food emporium on the planet: Fried Dumpling. you can tell by the name that this joint sells the best scandinavian-inspired modular shelving units in new york.

kidding. they do make a mean burrito though.

oh ho. i know you didn’t believe that. although if you’re into irony (in the intentionally-ironic-misuse-of-the-word-irony sense), it would be pretty hilarious to have a place called Fried Dumpling that sells something that is not a Fried Dumpling. kind of like how i want to open a place called Chinese Food and Donuts but not sell chinese food or donuts (note: this was inspired by an actual establishment around the corner of my old office in the mission that actually sells both chinese food and donuts. i know, random). my Chinese Food and Donuts will probably be a bar, because the name is more likely to be enjoyed by people who have consumed large quantities of beer. and come to think of it, i might sporadically serve chinese food or donuts, because people who have consumed large quantities of beer are the exact clientele who will also greatly enjoy the availability of fried dumplings and jelly donuts. hmm. okay. mei, i think it’s time to move on.  here’s a photo of the dumpling maker, proving that these dollar dumplings do not come out of the freezer but are made by hand in front of you.

by the way, if any of you steal my chinese food and donuts idea, i will track you down and beat you to death with a wok and then bury your body in powdered sugar.

here’s a closeup of the dumplings. they’re not the best in the world, but they are a totally serviceable fried item and they cost 20 freaking cents each, so stop being such a dumpling snob.

and the other item you can obtain for one single buckaroo?  bright yellow plastic construction worker style hard hats! you probably think i’m lying, because who would sell such fun for such a low price? who places such a low value on the unmatchable feeling of total cranial protection and full skull security? scoff all you want, but you’ll be scurrying down to the restaurant supply store on bowery yourself once you check out the ONE DOLLAR marking on the hard hat.

note how irene demonstrates the proper gravity and reverence befitting the wearer of this headgear.  thanks to wu-tang for inspiring the title of this piece, and generally being nothing to f*** with. final chinatown post, coming up next!

mei: in true family styles, we have a guest post from our stellar cuzzin and woman-about-town, lexi, with some non-italicized interjections from yours truly. along with rachel, one of my oldest friends from back in the meth-and-mary-j-day, lexi, bean and i hit up the banh mi at nicky’s vietnamese sandwiches, where we stuffed our faces to a serious extreme.  above, the juicy pork chop with fresh pickled carrots and other veggies, in the warm embrace of a perfectly crusty/soft ratioed baguette.

lexi: ‘i have delicious yammies’

mei: to be specific, a headless lexi is double fisting the classic vietnamese sandwich with a paté of roasted ground pork and vietnamese ham. YUM. below, delicious savory grilled chicken on a luxurious bed of rice vermicelli. i’ll be honest, i would sleep on rice noodles every night.  as long as i had a soft pillow of summer roll on which to lay my weary head.

lexi: almond bubble tea:  balls.  sweet gooey balls.

mei: irene bean ferociously displays the super amazing tofu sandwich below. the tofu is some sort of warm fried soft mouthful of  textural perfection, like biting into soft clouds of awesome. btw, i know lexi sounds like she’s on e right now, but the real prose is to come.

lexi: BÁNH MI MEEEEE.  cus’ in town = 1. feast 2. dance 3. feast 4.sleep, repeat.  banh mi.

Quynh and fam run Nicky’s on atlantic st.  The handcrafted pho noodles are her father’s expertise.  SO bannnginng.

mei’s friend-slash-neighbor-from-forever-and-ever Sam, is Quynh’s manpiece, so he saved us seats (thank you sam).  he rattled off recommendations and special favorites, giving Quynh’s wee dad a pound (so precious) behind the counter on his way out.  the name ‘Nicky’ is for Quynh’s nephew, and her brother runs the smaller offshoot store on 2nd btwn ave A and B.  this is the kind of family styles i aspire to!  (p.s.  i am still waiting for us li-shiang cousins to bring our dream of the bocce beer garden to fruition)  

behind the counter a little toaster oven sits, which spits out the warm heros of flakey-chewy-goodness, which are then stuffed around pickled sweet carrots and cucumbers and savory meats:  either traditional pork, chicken, sardines, or tofu.  this is a pocket of handcrafted love.  handsdown NOMMYtime.  other banh mi renditions that i’ve tried  (like Banh Mi Saigon, which is hidden in the back of jewelry shop in chinatown, or others closer to soho and LES) seem lacking in the attention to minute details that make this no subway hero:  a fine mince paired with the perfect ratio of warm fresh bread, summed up to make each bite textured and equitably proportioned to pack the punch in a brain-tastebud-explosion.

From left:  the toaster, Dad, and Quynh (taking phone orders, while ringing up bills, while serving patrons) – i don’t know how she does it.

mei: how HOT is quynh?? i have it on authority that this lady is a major crush object for the nicky’s patrons:) but sorry guys,  my brother-from-another-mother-aka-the-boy-almost-literally-next-door, sam, has won this lady’s heart. also, don’t worry lexi, the bocce beer garden serving deep fried items wrapped in dough is still in our future. with the collective force of our wills WE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN.

How can you not love my cousins?  They are so great aren’t they?  Who knows what they are laughing about here.

SO Stacked – remnants of summer rolls, vermicelli and chicken, sardine banh mi, chicken banh mi, pork banh mi, tofu banh mi, pho with chicken… (b)oooof.

mei: above, you can see that rach and lexi are mildly catatonic/about to barf their brains out. EAT MORE, DAMMIT!

mei: a final fam shot with the wonderful quynh of the cramazingly (crazy+ amazing) frawsome (freaking + awesome) nicky’s vietnamese sandwiches (thanks to olivia and chris for those verbal creations).

We love you QUYNH!  Thank YOUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few guides to the bomb banh mi:  Another Bánh Mì in the Oven Is the humble Vietnamese hoagie poised to become New York’s No. 1 sandwich?

Diner’s Journal (mapping banh mi)

Building on Layers of Tradition

all of this, and mei is off tonight – london calling.  though i know it’s just an ocean away, whereas before it was only 3000 miles of the USA, i tell you THIS GIRL.  THISSSS GIRL.

just watch:  she is going to take over the universe with her food writing family styles, orange-jumpsuit-wearing nomm-i-ness that is unmistakeably MEI.  i wouldn’t have it any other way.

holy crap! it’s a deep fried oreo! you know that’s exactly what irene and lexi are thinking. they are peering in awe at the wonder of the intensely spermlike battered and deep fried oreo in its natural habit -  sprinkled in powdered sugar and placed in a greasy paper takeout container.

meandering south from korean fried chicken, we stumbled upon a street fair a little bit south of astor place. as anyone who has ever been to a nyc street fair knows, they are a glorious celebration of all things greasy and deep fried. these weekend festivals  showcase the best of satisfying and handheld edibles, from gyros to sausages to kettle corn and so much more. our eyes were drawn to the classic it’s-summer-and-you-just-drank-four-cups-of-sugary-lemonade-which-you-should-try-not-to-vomit-up-on-the-rollercoaster carnival type booth featuring a plethora of fryable goodies, including the yes-it’s-just-a-plate-of-deep-fryedness funnel cake.

i’m not quite sure whether lexi is panting in anticipation, trying to lick the funnel cake through the glass, or vomiting up what looks suspiciously like a pile of intestines.  attracted to the smell of frying batter like hipsters to an american apparel sale, we decided to spend our most valuable resource – stomach space – on the brave new world of the deep fried oreo.  we saw the adventurous sandwich cookie get dipped in oozy batter, dropped into a roiling pot of hot oil, and then emerge victoriously only to be attacked with an aggressive sprinkling of powdered sugar.  because i have only recently learned not to bite into items that have just emerged from pots of boiling liquid, i waited a few seconds and then trepidatiously took a bite.

you can see irene deeply pondering the existential state of the cookie as it enters my mouth. or perhaps she is girding her loins for the upcoming pain of a mouthful of boiling hot magma in the form of overly sugary deliciousness.

luckily for the overall satisfaction of our food tour, the oreo did not sear off our tastebuds with burning hot fire. here is the glorious concoction, mid-bite:

the deep fried oreo features a barely sweetened, almost salty outer shell of crunchy browned doughiness in comparison to the  sugar bomb intensity of oreo in the middle. the chocolate cookie sandwiches on either side of the intensely sweet creamy center dissolve a little from the heat and meld into a whole hot mess in yor mouth.  this deep fried oreo also features a sort of creepy and slightly burnt baby hand giving a high five up on the right.  thankfully, i’ve been looking for an excuse to link to baby hands.

part three of the fryfecta coming up soon, hot off the grill : fried dumplings!

mmmmmmmm.  giving some love to that other borough where everyone i know now lives, i went to al di la trattoria in brooklyn over the weekend with my lovely friend olivia and her wonderful mother, lois.  this fantastic restaurant in park slope serves incredibly delicious and relatively uncomplicated northern italian food that is local and organic whenever possible. in case you’d like to add another sensory dimension to your food porn viewing experience, i’ve included a brooklyn-based soundtrack inspired by the saturday night shenanigans at the best dance party in the country, the rub.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx5aVI2zsFE&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]

we started with a farro salad appetizer with spinach, goat cheese, and three colors of roasted beets.  ignore the fact that the beets look like raw fish; the dish was warm, nutty, and full of fresh flavors.

above, a fantastic dish of creamy, cheesy polenta topped with sauteed mushrooms,  wilted greens, and a shining beacon of a poached egg in an earthenware pot.

next up, eggs ‘drowning’ in tomato and cheese. doesn’t sound like a bad way to go.

we also had the swiss chard and ricotta malfatti, an italian dish of irregularly shaped dumpling-esque pods, which amusingly translates to ‘poorly made.’

although they may resemble goblin turds in appearance, these flavorful little compressed swiss chard lumps are incredible with a light sheen of brown butter sage sauce. you can find out how to make them in this new york times article.

so green. tastes like springtime. we ended with a superbly fragrant dish of brussels sprouts that filled the air with lemon zest. olivia blissfully inhales their perfume here.

hope you enjoyed the eye candy and the blackstar. brooklyn, way to go.

our next three nyc food tour posts cover one of the ultimate cooking techniques of all time: THE DEEP FRY. oh yes.  i greatly enjoy the excitement of deep frying.  over the course of approximately three hours wandering the streets of manhattan in search of edible offerings, irene lexi and i stuffed our bellies with korean fried chicken, deep fried oreos, and fried dumplings. a trifecta of hot batter-dripping, artery-clogging, waistline-expanding, boiling oil-dipped goodness – a FRYFECTA, if you will.

we were on a dedicated mission to hit up the KFC, thanks to a rave from my friends seth and becky. no, not that KFC, but Korean Fried Chicken, which i first read about back in the day in this article in the new york times. on the advice of seth, we headed to boka, a korean restaurant on st. marks that serves bon chon chicken. you’re probably wondering – what’s the difference between regular old american fried chicken and korean fried chicken? the above article does an excellent job describing the difference in detail, but essentially the fat in the skin is rendered out in KFC to give a much lighter and crispier crust.  as you can see in the top picture, the skin is an crackly, crunchy,  eggshell-thin, topographically varied landscape that crumbles into an explosion of flavor in your mouth.

we tried both varieties – one plate of lightly sweet soy garlic, one plate of hot’n'spicy. so hot irene couldn’t eat it, cause she’s a bit of a wuss (no offense seester:). we also tried to order bacon and pickled garlic sushi. exciting, right? not so exciting when we were served unidentifiable brown meat sushi instead because they were ‘out’ of the bacon and negelected to tell us. WACK.  lexi’s face displays the intensity of our inner torment and anguish.

duuuude. what’s up with that!? after a bite of mystery brownness, we stayed away from the sushi and concentrated on smearing our faces with crispy skin bits and filling our bellies with tasty moist chicken meat.  all the better to save room for the deep fried oreos. coming up next…

stop one: bean and i kicked things off by exploring the hustle and the bustle of the union square greenmarket. here are some photos and random comments from our adventure.

mei: one of my favorite things to do is wander around farmers markets for hours while sampling food, ogling tasty looking displays, and meeting and chatting with the cool people who locally raise/grow/bake/create deliciousness.  also, farmers markets are generally very aesthetically pleasing. yes, there are quite often cute farmer boys, but also so many beautiful colorful flowers. we’ll start with those:

mei: back to food now. here irene, aka vanna white, showcases the tart and creamy honey lemon drinkable yogurt from donnybrook farms you will win if you correctly guess the answer to the wheel of fortune puzzle:

irene: probiotic goodness can turn anyone into vanna white. grow that good fungus, dude!

mei: farmers markets bring such joy! check out the girl on the left and the ecstasy she is experiencing as she purchases fungicide-free items to put in her belly:

irene: i think i can relate to her in many ways, namely, that i feel equally smug and gleeful when purchasing tasty greens.

mei: the variety of items for sale at the greenmarket is stunning. you can buy  food that has been picked, harvested, slaughtered, jarred, fermented, grown, and baked into pies, just to name a few. i see you ginger carrots and jalapeno cheddar.

irene: just want to note that one of my favorite parts of going to farmer’s markets is feasting my eyes on the sweet, unique graphics and handwritten signs advertising food and flora. the following sign is a little less glamorous than some of the most beautiful. but onward!

some eggs:

mei: mmm. they may not be backyard fresh, but i bet these eggs are crazy tasty. you’re probably thinking, WTF!? $10 for eggs? but think of how delicious and cruelty free they will be, and how many meals you can make with a dozen eggs.  when you think about protein bang-for-your-buck, as you probably do often, eggs are quite underpriced. these will probably be the best you’ll ever have, unless you own chickens, which i highly suggest you do at some point.

we also have a funny family worm story:

irene: we’ve had a compost unit in our backyard for quite some time. you know, one of those black plastic garbage can sort of things? anyway, we started out just composting leaves and yard trimmings, but eventually began to keep a small bucket on the kitchen counter for eggshells, veggie and fruit bits, and so on, and our composting prowess and prestige grew in leaps and bounds every day. the greatest leap/bound, however, came when mom got off a plane from san francisco with a box full of specialty composting worms for us to stir into our organic witch’s brew. take that as you will.

anyway.

mei: one of the best things about farmers markets on the east coast is the high probability there will be cider. yum. in addition, where there is cider, there is also a possibility of apple cider donuts. me likey donuts. i prefer my forecasts cider with a chance of donuts.

irene: if anyone ever comes to see me in ithaca (unlikely, i know), there will be apple-picking and fresh cider donuts galore!

mei: here irene is getting FIERCE with a carrot. this is not your average shiny skinny supermarket carrot, this carrot is a WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION!!!!!

irene: that carrot was wild. my expression surely is a combination of fear, awe, vegetable superiority, and delicious-soup-fantasy.

lastly, and bestly, we are met by cousin lexi and roommate jenny!!! the familystyles food tour can now truly begin:

mei’s macchiato of love

1. Aesthetically pleasing, simple, straightforward graphics and designs. They sell cute tumblers and drinkware (including saucers with a little Gimme exclamation point on them), display their menu on a simple black-and-white board, and distribute free Gimme! stickers to their loving customers.

2. Hipster baristas (not like those posers from Starbucks) who wear sleek black t-shirts and Onitsuka tigers. I think that covers that.

3. Buy nine, get one free cards. My first nine are usually lattes, coffees, or teas, and free drink is usually an iced mocha. Daniel’s is usually a quad-shot cappuccino.

4. Local pastries and art. Their coffee comes from far away, but their pastries are local and delicious, and their wall art, which changes every two or three weeks, is local and unique too.

5. Lots of varieties of amazing coffee, including fair-trade and organic roasts. Their 22 kinds of coffee come from India, Central America, South America, Africa, and the Pacific Islands, and the website tells each coffee’s story. The coffees also have great descriptions. Their classic, La Union, has body that resembles a “red ribbon pony,” and their Platinum Blonde blend finishes like a “wild vanity fair of surly miscreants.” Ideal, right?

6. Real dishware, and other waste-reducing practices. Gimme! offers filtered tap water in solid plastic cups, and supplies clean metal spoons with which customers can stir their drinks, and a dirty spoons bucket in which they can discard them when they’re done. Like most progressive coffee shops, Gimme! also gives a discount for bringing your own mug or thermos.

7. Two kinds of whipped cream: cappuccino, and plain, delicious vanilla.

8. Drink art (like this beeyoootiful latte).

9. A helpful website. Complete with guides to buying their coffee, ordering espresso drinks, and making your own coffee, Gimme!’s website leaves no customer behind.

You can usually find me and Daniel chillin’ on State Street before class on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, eating raspberry breakfast bars, drinking delicious coffee, and feeling glad to be caffeinated in such a local, sustainable, hip’n'tasty way. 

Case in point. Glad, caffeinated, hip'n'tasty.

So if you’re in Ithaca, Lansing, or the city, stop by Gimme! and give’em some love for us.

final photo: mei, irene, and cousin lexi on our coffee refueling pit stop during our nyc food tour. a group post on our delightful edibles coming up soon!