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Chinese BBQ

Chinese BBQ

I remember in our household, we would have the items above weekly. Everything of course tasted better with an egg. What I loved most about this, and you may not believe it, but it's a penny savor. What makes this meal cost efficient is the rice, a hunka hunk of it! My favorite parts are the duck leg, the fatty sections in the char siu, and the charred parts from the BBQ Sausage. I remember eating a ton of this when I was younger, but not as much when I was on my own. It is something that I've forgotten, but I've found my way back to remembering the best foods from my childhood.

This screams comfort food to a lot of Chinese People! In LA, you can find BBQ chinese meats in San Gabriel Valley and a few in Chinatown. Remember, most places are cash only... or so they say.

If you have left overs, I recommend making fried rice with the char siu and BBQ sausage (or scrambled eggs, MMMMMmmMMMmm!) . I like using the roast duck in noodles.

I can't wait to devour this for dinner. What are you having tonight?

Cheers!

Daiisies

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Kings Row - Piggy Roast

Kings Row is one of those spots that you've seen, but you were never aware of the name. The conversation always goes "Where is that?", "It's in the alley next to Coffee Bean", "OH THAT place! I walk by it all the time and wondered what it was!".

The FIRST time I came to Kings Row was one of my luckiest. I came exactly on the 3rd Thursday of the month. And if you don't know what that means, now you know, because I'm going to tell you, Right, Now.

They roast a whole pig in a China Box for 12 hours. The pig is in a beer brine for 2 days before it hits the box. Happy Hour also ends at 7pm, so whatever drink you are having I recommend ordering a double each time you go up. There's no table service, so all orders are to be placed at the bar. A plate of this succulent will cost you $15, but it also comes with delicious Mac&Cheese and a side garden salad. The pig sees the light at 6PM so come early.

$15 Pig Plate

This was my 3rd time coming to Kings Row. I always ask for the crispy skin, and sometimes, extra crispy (they would fry it). If you don't understand why it's so freaking amazing, just close your eyes and put that sh*t in your mouth. You can't complain about crunchy pig skin. You just can't. I got extremely lucky with my cut this time because it was near the belly. And if you don't understand what that means, then - YOU NEED TO FIND A WAY TO LIVE.

These wings were in a brine for 24 hours, TWICE fried, and drenched in a chipotle honey glaze served with a side of herbaceous ranch. Kings has a pretty fun menu and I would definitely come back just to try out their other items. These wings stay true to the name given. The chipotle was smoky and balances perfectly with the honey. The key is that they were twice fried to make sure that crunch holds up to the drench. Easy to share or hard? I went to order a drink and they were gone when I got back.

Cheers

This image was from the previous time that I stopped by. Salad seems to change, but it's still tasty. But honestly speaking, no one really cares about the salad. Pig and MacCccheeeese, there's no saving from this.

Enjoy and see you there next month! Or before.

Cheers,

Daiisies

 

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Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai

It was a beautiful gloomy Saturday when we went to an Audiophile event in Newport/Costa Mesa. We checked out a few headphones and earphones. But honestly, I was spending most of my time finding a place to eat for lunch. It's pretty much because I was really hungry. All I'm waiting for are the words "ready for lunch?" (who is with me on that?).

My go to place in Costa Mesa is normally Santouka (check it out NOW) and that will always be one of my favorites until I can find another ramen shop that brings me back to a drunken night I had in Japan.. But today, today was a different day. I wanted Tsukemen.

Hot Tsukemen

We decided to try Kitakata Ramen in Costa Mesa. In no time, we were seated. I immediately ordered my Tsukemen with some appetizers to accompany our meal. My Tsukemen came out pretty quickly. You eat Tsukemen by dipping the noodles in the broth you see in the corner. I like to mix mine with the grated radish and ginger. I'll dip the pork in when I am ready to take a big slurp. I also like to squeeze some lime into my dipping sauce which is also provided with this meal. I like that the noodles were kept in a warm bath to keep it consistent with my hot option. I highly recommend this if you've never had Tsukemen. It is NOT comparable to a tonkotsu/shoyu/miso Ramen, so please enjoy this as a different category.

Chashu Tonkotsu Ramen

First and foremost it's Tonkotsu, not Tonkatsu. If you ever want to become a ramen connoisseur, you must get this right. It Pains me, to hear people say they love tonkatsu broth for their ramen. Please Google the difference now, and look that much more amaze-balls in front of your friends next time when you are eating ramen. Trust me, it drives me NUTS. The chashu was very tender and flavorful. Their tonkotsu was very light for this style. Tonkotsu normally has a beautiful meaty, hearty and fatty flavor due to the many hours breaking down the collagen in pork bones. This on the other hand, was good, but not what I would expect for a Tonkotsu ramen. If I have Tonkotsu, I want to feel that fat in my neck and put me to sleep. The flavors, still, was well balanced.

Chicken Karaage

Their chicken Karaage was pretty good as well. What makes good Karaage is the quality of the chicken, light seasoning and batter to enhance the flavor of the chicken. It's very different from your american fried chicken. It has ginger, mirin, and many other asian flavors. This is always one of my favorite Izakaya items to order when I'm drinking or just to enjoy with a big hunk of rice. When I was in Japan, the chicken Karaage was prepared from one whole chicken. We actually received a whole chicken (cut up of course), and that was definitely the BEST Karaage I've had because the chicken they used was really fresh.

Pork Gyoza with Yuzu Kosho. My favorite was the Yuzu Kosho! It was not overly salty like the other ones I've tried and it also had a strong spicy punch that is lacking with the ones I've had before. I actually mixed a little of the Yuzu with my Tsukemen as well. I like to eat my Gyoza with a lot of vinegar, splash of soy, splash of chili oil, and a whole lot of shichimi chili. 

Chashu rice bowl

Because you can never have enough good pork. I eat this with a lot of shichimi togarashi too.

If you are ever in the area, do give this place a try. There's so much more than just Ramen. If you like a certain cuisine, don't be intimidated to try more dishes further. Most of the time, what you like is the only scratch on the surface. 

Happy Eating!

 

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