On My Plate

Kuya's Asian Cuisine

You know it's a good sign when you see lengua and dinuguan on the white board. While I'm not a fan of those particular Filipino dishes, it's nice to know that the option is there. But another glance at the board and you know that this place will have good home cooking, the kind your mom or auntie used to cook for you when you were little. Or in this case, your Kuya. As an affectionate term for brother, Kuya's definitely feels like you're dining at, well, your Kuya's. Large banquet-style tables and large-sized entrees served family style make you feel totally at home. Even the staff is down to earth and will chat with you (well, if you know Tagalog) about the different dishes, what's good today and what you might like. The menu is alarmingly huge, and everything sounds so yummy it would take you many visits to try everything. That said, this is a good place to bring a large party, but be sure to reserve a table for that.

Located on San Bruno's main street, Kuya's looks deceptively small and cramped from the outside, but is fairly roomy inside with a second room to accomodate overflow. Scanning the menu, we was enthused to find that they had five versions of sisig: pork, beef, calamari, chicken and boneless bangus. Since we wanted to try something new, we opted for the Calamari Sisig ($8.25).

Calamari sisig not quite sizzling

Perhaps in our naivite, we assumed that the sisig would arrive sizzling. But the Calamari Sisig arrived room temperature, almost cold. Chopped calamari was mixed in the usual melange of chilis, vinegar, peppers, and onions. It reminded us more of a ceviche--the calamari had that texture of being "cooked" in lime and vinegar as opposed to sizzling on a hot plate. It wasn't bad, just very different. Definitely not what we were craving at the moment.

Boneless Bangus Sisig

We then ordered the Boneless Bangus Sisig ($8.25), which you may recall was our favorite sisig dish ever at the rival Patio Filipino. The bangus sisig arrived sizzling on a hot plate (yah!) and had the usual flavorings of chilis, black pepper, onions, vinegar, and tomatoes. It sure looked dee-lish, but upon first bite we noticed something rather poky. Bones. Lots of them. What the? Wasn't this supposed to be boneless? Picking out fish bones from your mouth isn't exactly pleasureable, and it made eating the sisig quite a chore. It's too bad, because in the bites that were actually boneless, the fish was very flavorful, tangy from the vinegar with a peppery bite from all the spices. Perhaps we had a bad cut of fish. For as we moved our way towards the center of the dish, we stopped encountering the bones. But those first few bone-ful bites was enough for us to move on to the next dish.

Breakfast at Tacubaya

For those times when you're craving something other than pancakes stop by Tacubaya on Fourth Street in Berkeley, We happened to be heading for nearby Bette's Oceanview Diner, but the wait was over an hour at 9am. I knew that Tacubaya had fabulous lunch plates, delicious tacos, tortilla soup, and other Mexican goodies, so we headed on over to check it out. Their Desayuno menu had less than ten items, but they all sounded delicious: Huevos Divorciados ($7.50), two eggs with tomatillo salsa and salsa roja; Torta de Jamon ($5.75), a Mexican breakfast sandwich with thinkly sliced ham, a fried egg, cheese and grilled poblano chiles; Huevos Nortenos ($7.50), scrambled eggs with nopales, scallions, tomato and onions; and of course, Churros ($3.50), fabulous sweet fried dough with sugar and canela. And on Saturdays and Sundays only, Menudo ($7.25), a chile infused beef broth with tripe and hominy. Perfect hangover cure.

 
Smoky, rich chilaquiles

Haupia Pie

Growing up in Hawai'i, I had a extreme dislike for coconut. Something about the texture, the dry, bland flakiness that just made me want to gag. Y'know--Mounds. Almond Joy. Macaroons. Now that I'm all grown up, my tastes have changed, and I've started to like the stuff. In minute amounts. I still don't dig flakes. But Macaroons, when they're really good, can make me rethink this philosophy. On the other hand, coconut milk, the rich goodness that makes many a fabulous curry dish, is definitely an ingredient on the top of my list. Luckily, I live next to several Asian grocery stores where coconut milk can be had for less than a dollar a can. And if all that unhealthy fatty stuff makes you cringe, there's even lowfat coconut milk--I recommend the version from Trader Joe's, in a pinch.

Going back to my small kid time in Hawai'i, there was this one coconut treat that I could eat without running the other way: Haupia. A traditional Hawaiian dish, haupia is essentially coconut pudding. Coconut milk is sweetened with sugar and  thickened with cornstarch over medium heat, poured into a tray and left to cool. Slice into squares. Eat with your hands. Mmmmmm.... Now this is how coconut should be.

My R put a slight spin on the traditional dish and likes to make Haupia Pie. He is the haupia pie master--he can dish up dozens of haupia pies in a few hours (hey, they're great for gifts or fundraising purposes). He learned the recipe from Kumu Kawika Alfiche, award winning Hawaiian musician and hula teacher. This simple, tasty, not-too-sweet dessert will give you reason to keep a can or two of coconut milk readily available in your pantry. Here, we poured the pudding into cupcake cups as another variation--a perfect bite-sized treat.

Haupia Pie (cupcake style)

Basic haupia (base recipe):
1 can coconut milk
1 can equivalent of milk (skim or whole – hardly makes a difference in taste)
1/2 cup sugar
Approx. 5-6 heaping spoonfuls of cornstarch (mixed with a little milk – to prevent clumping)

Dry Ingredients:
Coconut flakes – toasted
Any kind of crushed cookie crumbs, such as shortbread
Macadamia nuts, finely chopped

Baking cups or 2 prepared shortbread crusts

Optional (sky is the limit):
Chocolate or vanilla pudding
Canned pumpkin or mashed sweet potato
Ube (taro) pudding (available at any Asian grocery store)
Custard
Dark chocolate, finely chopped

For Haupia base:
Combine the coconut milk, milk and sugar into a medium pot and bring to a steady medium boil. Add cornstarch mix, lower heat, and then stir contantly until it reaches pudding consistency, about 3-5 minutes. Let cool.

To assemble the haupia in the baking cups:
Lay out all the baking cups on a hard flat surface. Add cookie crumbs to bottom of baking cups to create a pseudo-type crust. Add macadamia nuts.

At this point, you may add any of the optional ingredients at your risk leisure. If adding pudding, be sure to prepare it first according to package directions. Fill the baking cup about halfway.

Add the haupia to your heart's content (or to it's recommended physical capacity). Sprinkle toasted coconut flakes and macadamia nuts on top.

Let cool before serving. Admire its stunning beauty.

Makes plenty.

If the baking cups aren't your thing, use the prepared shortbread crusts. Simply fill halfway with one of the optional ingredients (such as pudding or ube) then top with the haupia base.

Millbrae Pancake House

A bit of red, old-fashioned

We have been meaning to go to the Millbrae Pancake House for many months now, but our previous forays down El Camino Real sent us turning the other way due to no parking and crazy crowds milling about outside the restaurant's door. But it was a Sunday, and we were craving pancakes. And IHOP was not going to cut it. It was also rather early for a Sunday brunch, or so we thought--9 AM. So we headed on down to try our luck.

At that early hour, large groups were already waiting outside. Mostly families with young kids, retired folks and everything to remind you that this is suburbia. We added our name to the waiting list and was given a ticket stub with a number--here, that's what you are. A number. There were eight numbers ahead of ours, yet we were told the wait would be 10-15 minutes. Not too bad. Luckily, it was sunny and warm outside. We watched all the minivans and SUVs pull into and out of the tiny parking lot. Yes, the suburbs.

Inside, the restaurant was bustling with activity. Tables were placed close together and a lot of people were milling about--either waiting for their seats or heading to or from the washroom. Large groups were constantly being seated or leaving, and it was quite loud. Halloween decorations were still up and they overtook the place, with spiders, webs, and bats hanging from the ceiling and walls. The interior was very old-fashioned country, with dark wood and even copper cookware as decorations. I kept expecting to see a deer head or antlers affixed to the wall. The waitresses seemed as if they have worked there for years, but rather than being the embittered hard-nosed diner waitresses, they were extremely friendly. Ours kept patting us on the shoulder whenever she refilled our coffee.   

Hot and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with plenty of butter

Now I like my pancakes in small amounts. That is, I can never just order a stack and be satisfied. I get hungry an hour later if all I eat are pancakes. So we opted for the omelette dishes, which come with two pancakes or two pieces of toast. C'mon, get the pancakes. You will not regret it.

The pancakes arrived hot and steamy, straight from the griddle. They were so light and fluffy with delicious buttermilk flavor. Wow!  They came with plenty of butter and your choice of syrups, from regular to sugar-free, and if you like, you can even ask for honey.

I ordered the vegetarian omelette and R got the California omelette--the difference really being only that the Cali has bacon. Our waitress even got confused and gave us both the California omelette. "Um, hello, there's bacon in here!" I told her. But who could blame her--both dishes looked nearly alike. The large hunk of avocado is really that--a complete avocado half that had been plopped down on top of the omelette. Thankfully, it was ripe and yummy. You think they coulda sliced it though. The hashbrowns were almost like mashed potatoes with a crispy outside. But in a good way. The omelettes had just enough filling and were thankfully not overstuffed like some places like to do.

All egg dishes look alike (the waitress thought so too)

You can easily put on pounds here, especially if you polish off the entire meal, like we did. Everything looked so good and humongous. We watched as families around us devoured plates of this stuff, stacks of pancakes, pigs-in-a-blanket, eggs, hash, you name it. We even watched a staff person squirt four inches of luscious whipped cream on top of a mug of hot chocolate. Um, can I get that, to go?

Millbrae Pancake House, 1301 El Camino Real, Millbrae, CA T: 650-589-2080

Hooray for eggplant

One of my favorite Indian dishes is Baingan Bharta, which is a spicy eggplant dish. I used to live next to a restaurant that made Bharta to my liking--very flavorful, not too oily, and full of eggplant tastiness (if you really want to know, the restaurant is Rupali located at 91 First Ave. in NYC next to "curry row"). Even though I grew up with eggplant dishes such as a Filipino "eggplant omelette" or grilled eggplant served with vinegar, it wasn't until I had this Bharta that I began to even like this vegetable. Now that I no longer live in the East Village (and am far from the great Indian food in NYC), I've attempted to make Bharta at home. Many times. I once had a cookbook that had the perfect recipe, but lost the cookbook in a sad move. Since then, no dish has ever come close, but recently I found a recipe that just might satisfy my cravings.

Baingan Bharta
adapted from aubergines.org

3-4 medium eggplants
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced peeled ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 pound tomatoes, chopped
salt to taste
1 teaspoon garam masala

Preheat overn to 450 degrees F. Prick eggplant a few times with fork. Roast in oven about 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning frequently, until eggplant is nicely brown and the flesh soft and tender. Let cool then remove eggplant peel. Cut off stem. Drain off any liquid from inside eggplant. Chop flesh fine with knife. (Eggplant can be kept, covered, 4 days in refrigerator.)

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add mustard seed and let them pop in the oil. Add onion and sauté 7 minutes or until beginning to brown. Add ginger, garlic, tumeric, cumin and coriander.  Stir for about a minute. Add tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook 5-7 minutes or until tomato is softened. Add eggplant, garam masala and salt to taste. Cook for another 7-10 minutes to let the flavors meld together, stirring frequently.

Serve with naan bread (here, garlic naan from Trader Joe's).

Makes 4 to 6 appetizer or side-dish servings.

P.S. I used Japanese eggplant from the local Asian grocery store, and if I had chilis I would have added a teaspoon or two, chopped, with the tomatoes.

I Dream of Cake

If you're looking for a fabulous cake designer and you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you need to check out this place. Located on fashionable Grant Ave. in the heart of North Beach, I Dream of Cake is the kind of place that will have you finding any excuse to throw a party. Any design you dream of, from your favorite Vuitton purse to Prada shoes to the wedding cake of your dreams, cake designer Shinmin Li will make it. The details on her cakes are amazing. And the best part--the cakes taste great too!

I'm dreaming of a triple stacked dark chocolate cake with organic raspberry filling and chocolate ganache... Or a vanilla bean cake with espresso cream filling... Or how about a retro red velvet cake... Mmmmmm.... And to think layer cakes are becoming the next biggie. How about you? What cake are you dreaming of today?

I Dream of Cake, 1351 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA T: (415) 989-2253