Category Archives: meat

Mamak

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Asian, BBQ, bucket list, celebrations, fish, halal, herbs and spices, Malaysian, meat, New York, Queens, seafood, snacks, spicy, urban

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I had one of the top ten meals of my entire life last night at Mamak, a brand new Malaysian restaurant that serves authentic Penang style halal cuisine! It’s the only place in New York City that exclusively features this delectably complex culinary tradition on their menu.

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Mamak is a colloquial term used in Malaysia to refer to Tamil Muslims who operate roadside food stalls, mamak stalls. Above is the udang nasi kandar, a generous portion of succulent shrimp with a spicy mamak style sauce.

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Murtabak is a stuffed and folded savory crêpe. The name comes from the Arabic word “مطبق” (folded). At Mamak murtabak is stuffed with minced beef and egg, and served with pickled red onions. We were blown away by the subtly complex flavors of the beef inside. There was definitely a hint of cumin — and maybe aniseed, clove, coriander, and cinnamon?

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You must try the lamb satay. The meat is so tender it melts in your mouth! Cubes of rice, cucumber, and red onion are served on the side, along with a bit of the most delicious peanut sauce I have ever tasted!

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We got to meet the amazing owner and chef, Nani Yusof Hughie! Thank you, Nani, for such amazing meal! We will be back soon!

Mamak
35-20 Farrington
Flushing NY 11355
(718) 886-4828

M. Wells Dinette at PS1 is Open!

28 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in American, bucket list, Japanese, meat, New York, Québécois, Queens, snacks

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Sarah Obraitis told me today that horse on the menu was a “figment” of someone’s imagination and that they served it once, like, “weeks ago”.

We ordered clam chowder (amazing), beef tartare sandwich (SO good and reminded me of a fatty tuna sushi roll), the frisée with lardons (just OK and came with a little green caterpillar in the greens), and the rabbit terrine (also amazing).

M. Wells Dinette was great but I totally miss the old M. Wells and their maple pie… snail and marrow… green salad… soft shell crab BLT…

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M. Wells Dinette at MoMA PS1

Balut Eating Contest

02 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in American, Brooklyn, bucket list, Filipino, meat, New York, snacks

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I was a contestant in Maharlika’s first annual Balut Contest last weekend. The embryos seemed to be a little more developed than the ones I have had at Maharlika.

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Originally I entered the contest just to eat free balut — I have never been a very fast eater. But when el momento de la verdad arrived, something came over me and I really wanted to win!

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In five minutes I was able to shove 11 baluts down my throat. I almost choked a couple of times. It seemed like the guy next to me, Wayne Algenio, (the guy who won) wasn’t even chewing them! He ate 18!

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Here’s me with the champion!

Boston’s Dumpling Cafe

05 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by in Boston, meat, snacks, Taiwanese

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The minced pork over rice was about $5 and came with a delicious tea egg.

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The oyster pancake was full of juicy oysters. The batter was crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. I loved it.

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I’m not gonna lie — I make better duck tongues. When I get back to New York I’m going to defrost the ones I have in the freezer and dazzle myself.

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The beef noodle soup was “ok”. The broth was “fine” but the beef was too “chewy”, according to someone in the know.

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My favorite part was the pork and chive soup dumplings. I learned that these xiǎolóngbāo (小笼包) require cubes of broth jelly. The cubes are wrapped up with the filling and, when steamed, fill the pouches with a delicious soup. I had these dumpling for the first time at Din Tai Fung in Tokyo. I could eat them every day for the rest of my life.

Dumpling Cafe
695 Washington Street
Boston MA 02111
(617) 338-8858

UPDATE: There is a Din Tai Fung in Seattle! I’m going on Thursday!

Canned Whale Meat

26 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in Asian, bucket list, Japanese, meat

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This can of stewed whale meat that I bought at Tsukiji Market in Tokyo has been sitting in my cupboard for almost four months. So often I buy special things and don’t use them because I want to wait for a “special occasion”. I don’t know what came over me yesterday but, even though it was just a regular old Wednesday afternoon, I decided to open the can of whale!

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I am very happy to report that there was also a little bit of blubber mixed in with the meat. I wish I had another can because it was delicious! Reminded me of Бефстроганов, beef Stroganoff.

Weird Food from St. Louis, Missouri

12 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in American, BBQ, bucket list, meat, snacks, sweets

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I was in St. Louis, Missouri last weekend for a wedding and, since it was my first (and probably last) time in that city, I set out to try all of the local specialties. Crispy snoots are a unique part of St. Louis BBQ. They are simply the fried face of a pig. In my case, it was a hairy pig that forgot to shave (notice the bristles on the snoot in the photo).

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One of the few places that sold crispy snoots was Smoki O’s, just down the street from the Four Seasons where we were staying.

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The gooey butter cake was, according to the local legend, invented when somebody messed up a pound cake.

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Toasted ravioli are known as T-ravs and typically come with a side of marinara sauce. These were the grossest of the three St. Louis delicacies.

Pok Pok Ny

12 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in allium, Brooklyn, bucket list, meat, New York, seafood, snacks, spicy, Thai

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Roses and thorns about Pok Pok Ny? I like to start with the thorns. There is only one tiny toilet for the entire restaurant and the wait is typically 7-8 people long. The part that bothered me is that when the employees at Pok Pok have to use the bathroom they cut in line and say to everyone, “I just need to check to make sure the bathroom is clean for you!” In line last night one employee did this and as he was walking out he was adjusting his fly, clearly having just urinated. Moments later another employee cut in front of everyone again saying, “I just need to check to make sure the bathroom is clean for you!” My friend told her, “Somebody just did that 30 seconds ago.” The employee looked embarrassed, as it was apparent that we had caught on to their system. Pok Pok: rent some Porta-Johns.

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The food was good but nothing was so memorable that I would actually go to Redhook again for it. In fact there was one “Vietnamese” style catfish over vermicelli dish that was covered in dill (I wonder if it was really pak chee lao) and it reminded me of a foul Slavic dish of carp with dill.

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The papaya salad with salted black crab could have been a little spicier.

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I felt kind of swindled after my Singha slushy arrived. The server omitted the part about it basically being a bottle of beer that was left in a freezer for too long. She pointed to a fanciful battery-operated wooden barrel that twists back and forth, mixing ice and salt around the bottles to lower the temperature and turn the beer into slush.

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The wings and the papaya salad with salted black crab are also available at Pok Pok Wing in the Lower East Side — so you won’t have to go all the way to Redhook to try those menu items.

Did I forget the roses? I think I’m just focusing on the thorns because I’m so sad I live in Queens, so far away from this amazing restaurant. It really is a special place with herbs and ingredients hard (impossible?) to find elsewhere in the city. I suppose it’s a case of sour grapes because I know I won’t be able to return for a while and taste their awesome food! PS: the staff is super friendly even though they tend to exude a certain Portlandia vibe.

Pok Pok Ny
127 Columbia St
Brooklyn NY