Fun Playing With Ramps and Asian Goodies

This last weekend yielded a lot of great foods to play with. Spring has finally sprung, and we made tracks for the North Union Farmers' Market at Shaker Square. We acquired two lovely bunches of ramps, with the roots still intact. We set aside one bunch to plant, and the second to eat. We also got some lovely lettuces and eggs.

Since the season is still early, we allocated more time to the market than we needed to shop it and meet our friends for lunch at Wonton Gourmet. So, we headed to Asiatown, and did some produce shopping at Tink Holl Market. 

There were about a dozen different varieties of mint, as pictured above. Also, lots of Asian vegetables and not-so-Asian vegetables, and fruits. A cornucopia of goodness!

I'd never seen fresh galanga stem before.

We bought some of this intense, giant-sized cilantro, and it played nicely in the dinner we cooked Saturday  night. But I'm jumping ahead . . . .

The freshest, most exquisite water chestnuts I've ever worked with or tasted. Simply amazing. Go get some!

Not one bit of yellow, or mush - not a speck of rot or imperfection. I don't know where or how Tink Holl got these - but I want more! And the ginger - simply exquisite in texture and freshness.

But again, I digress - we had a fabulous lunch at Wonton Gourmet before we dug into the spoils of our shopping trip! (To read about Wonton Gourmet - including prior Wonton Gourmet posts - Wonton Gourmet (3211 Payne Avenue, 216-875-7000, no website), each of the last 8 words, and a couple of the upcoming words, has a link to a different FPWF WG post.) Our crew of 6 was joined at the last minute by the Whittakers and lovely Isabel, who happened fortuitously on Wonton Gourmet before all of our party had arrived. 

After starting with the requisite Turnip Cake, Chive Pot Stickers and Donut Wrapped with Rice Roll, we enjoyed these new or revisited Wonton Gourmet selections: 

Ningko (Rice Cakes) with Chinese Sausage

We've had this before, but not lately - house made, toothy rice cakes tossed with lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and a type of Chinese bacon, veggies and a light sauce - heavenly!

Salt Crusted Calamari

Lovely squid is breaded and expertly fried. Haven't had this in a long time - but this was dynamite - especially with bits of the fiery hot peppers scattered on the plate.

Braised Brisket over Noodles

The word "brisket" means a very different thing to a nice Jewish girl and an old country Chinese. "Brisket" refers to a beef cut also known as "tendon" - loaded with connective tissue and braised to tenderness. I was intrigued to try this new dish on the wall-menu.

This dish was the perfect counterpoint to the spicy Sichuan Fish (shown here). Loaded with not-quite-sweet but intense anise flavor, and the crunch and chew of the noodles - there were almost no leftovers. Though a few chunks of the intensely fatty meat were too much for even this group of power eaters.

 
Garlic-Sauteed Pea Leaves

Our hardy group of 8 adults and one wonderfully adventurous one-year-old managed to consume a delightful feast - which I might note worked out to about $13/per person. Wonton Gourmet is an affordable gastronomic adventure not to be missed!

Anyway, since we lunched at Wonton earlier than we usually do, we actually found ourselves hungry at dinner-time. And so, we dug into the goodies we'd acquired at the farmers' market and Tink Holl.

The centerpiece for the meal was the package of thick, round rice noodles called "banh bot loc". A little internet research revealed names such as "silver thread noodles" and even "mouse tail" noodles to describe this delicacy. In my mind's eye - I was seeing a fried noodle dish served sometimes at Dim Sum, which could incorporate our ramps, and our protein of choice.

So sorry - I completely forgot to introduce you to our protein of the week. Please, put your hands together for another amazing ham from our Breychak  Farms Berkshire Hog half:

 

Bob roasted this lovely on Friday.

For Saturday's dinner, chunks of ham married with the rice noodles, water chestnuts, scallions from the fridge (which needed to be finished before we could dig into the ramps), gorgeous ginger from Tink Holl, garden garlic, oyster sauce, mushroom soy, light soy, a touch of sugar, Chinese Flowering Chives, from Tink Holl, and a sprinkle of the cilantro-on-steroids from Tink Holl:


Rice Noodles After A Short Soak in Hot Water






The combination of tastes, textures and flavors was simply marvelous!

Sunday night - I was craving Italian flavors. I knew that we'd just acquired all of these fabulous Asian ingredients - but the ramps just seemed to cry out for this treatment:


Ramps, Ham, Frozen Garden Peas, EVOO, Cheese, Linguine

 

More marvels!

Finally, Monday night. Despite Spring asthma that is bedeviling my health - I put together this lovely repast (with help from my sous chef Bob):


Yi Mein (Medium-Wide Chinese Egg Noodles)



This particular variety has been among my favorites for Asian noodles for years! Wish I could get some without artificial colors or preservatives - but can't help loving them!


Ramps Sauteeing

 
Plum Creek Egg Yolk for Finishing 




Pasta Carbonara

Inspired by Chef Dominic Cerino's Blue Egg Carbonara - Yi  Mein noodles were cooked and tossed with sauteed ramps, sauteed ham, EVOO, a mixture of egg and white wine, evoo, salt and pepper, cracked black pepper, grated Parmesan, chopped parsley, and a raw Plum Creek Farms egg yolk. OMG - we almost inhaled the whole thing!



Tis the season to visit the early farmers' markets and to play with the goodness to be found there! I can't wait to combine the seasonal goodness with the other toys we picked up at Tink Holl - including Asian eggplant and fresh snowpeas (they actually snap - try that with your supermarket snow peas).  Stay tuned for more fun playing with these lovely foods!

Fun Playing With Seafood From Mister Brisket

Friday, I got a call from Mister Brisket, AKA Sanford Herskovitz. "I have something special coming in tomorrow morning and you want some" he told me. So what could be so special?

Diver Scallops. Dry packed diver scallops - meaning no sodium polytriphosphate, injected chemistry, water, or other yuckies. And these suckers would be big. Huge. "Grill them with a little salt, pepper and olive oil," he said. Ok, I'm with the program - bring 'em on.

Mister Brisket delivered two pounds of the scallops yesterday (he says he eats a full pound of these at a sitting - you have to realize that this is a big man). I wound up cooking up one pound for dinner for the two of us (and we had two left over) - and I gotta say - these are the best scallops I've ever tasted.

We started dinner with salad:




Organic Greens with Mackenzie Creamery Goat Cheese, Cherry Stop Dried Sweet Cherries, 12 Year Old Balsamic and EVOO

We'd accompany the scallops with fried Mei Fun (thin rice noodles) with vegetables. Though I wanted to grill the scallops as Sanford had suggested, the Cleveland weather gods again did not co-operate with my outdoor plans. So, I decided to sear them. After all, I'd watched the fish station saute scallops for about 4 hours at Lola the night before, so I had the technique all down.



I've had dry pack and scallops in the shell - and a lot of so-so scallops packaged other ways - these were some of the best scallops I've ever smelled, touched or tasted.



These things are f*cking huge! Note the ruler - they average over 2 inches in every direction.



Searing in cast iron. I didn't want to use EVOO at this high temp, so I used my Five Flavor Oil.



Served - Kosher Salt, Black Pepper and Five Flavor Oil. It didn't want or need another thing!

I don't want to exaggerate - but these scallops were simply amazing. Like little steaks.

I served them up with sauteed rice noodles and vegetables:



I'm so glad I have another pound of these babies on ice in the fridge for tonight! Thank you Mister Brisket for introducing me to the joys of playing with Diver Scallops!

More Fun Playing with Cantonese Food at Wonton Gourmet

June 15 was Fathers' Day. For Bob, whose dad passed away many years ago, it was a day for gardening. My Dad is in New York, nearly 500 miles away. So, Father's Day wasn't even on my radar when I selected the date for a lunch at Wonton Gourmet. Though we started out with nearly a dozen people planning to join us - once the reality of the day set in, they started to drop out (understandably). By the time we got to the appointed day and time (Sunday at 1:30pm), our group was down to four people. But that was probably a good thing, considering that the place was packed when I arrived, and that they didn't want to reserve a big table for us because of the holiday.

Wonton Gourment has become my favorite Cleveland Asiatown restaurant. I knew it was a good sign, the first time I ventured here, that I observed Michael Hong, Chef of the wonderful Siam Cafe (3951 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland, OH, (216) 361-2323) dining at a nearby table! Wonton Gourmet is located at 3211 Payne Avenue, Cleveland (no website, (216) 875-7000).

Some of the servers remembered us from previous visits, and the owner, Thomas, stopped by every table to ask how things were; he seemed genuinely delighted that we enjoyed the food so much. We dug into the menus, and decided to order one course at a time, so that our small table wouldn't be buried in plates! We started with a selection of Dim Sum items. Though the selection is small, Wonton Gourmet does them extremely well.


Chive Pot Stickers





These fried pockets were stuffed with fresh Chinese chives, shrimp and just a little pork. They were served wok-hot and had a bit of a stiff texture from the shrimp. Yum!


Turnip Cake



I've had Dim Sum in NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, New Jersey, Guangsho (China), Hong Kong and Cleveland. This is, bar none, the most exquisite turnip cake I've ever experienced. As I wrote about it here, it is crispy on the outside, and incredibly creamy on the inside - more like a pudding than anything else. It does not need any condiments (turnip cake is usually served with Hoisen sauce - but Wonton Gourmet wisely serves it just as it is).


Steamed Cilantro & Scallion Rice Roll



This ubiquitous delicacy is usually presented (and is available at Wonton Gourmet) stuffed with shrimp or beef. The rice noodle is rolled around the filling and served over a slightly sweet, soy-based sauce. Something just told me we needed to try it without the filling - and that something was right. The taste of the fresh herbs and the chewy noodles was accented by the sauce - and each mouthful was a delight.


Sui Mai (Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumpling)

Sui Mai is another of those ubiquitous Dim Sum items served by any restaurant that serves Dim Sum. I usually don't care for them - too much frozen shrimp for my palate, and not usually at the freshest. We were determined to order them - as happened last time, the server warned that they take 15-20 minutes - but we were not in a hurry!



This version was topped with a bit of roe (not sure what kind). It had a firm texture - probably from the mushrooms that seemed to replace a lot of the shrimp. I actually liked it better than most Sui Mai, despite the mushrooms, because of that firm texture, deep pork flavor, and, especially - it was so amazingly fresh!



We followed our Dim Sum with a soup course.


Chinese Chive Dumplings in Soup







The pristinely clear pork-infused broth contained little to distract - the toothsome dumplings (amazingly similar to the Chive Potstickers - it wouldn't surprise me if they were the same dumpling), Gailan (Chinese Broccoli) and scallions. A simple, brilliant dish.

We decided that two entrees would be plenty for the four of us, considering the volume of food that we had just consumed.


Wet Black Pepper Beef & Spaghetti





No kidding - the menu has a whole section of dishes "Over Rice or Spaghetti," though this dish came from a wall menu (thank you Stuart for the translations)! Stuart had warned us to expect a very wet dish over rather mushy spaghetti. But this dish was sublime! An unidentifiable, Western-seeming pasta cooked al dente, tossed with tender beef, chunks of onion, scallion, bean sprouts and coated with a brisk Hong Hong-style black pepper sauce that moistened, but did not drown the dish.



In order to get the full effect of the pepper, you really have to eat this dish the Chinese way - out of a small bowl, which concentrated the aromas and flavors, and with a fairly large bite at a time (everyone at the table finally got the pepper rush - it just took the others a little longer because they ate it from a flat plate in daintier fashion). Black Pepper Sauce is one of those Chinese foods I crave, because few places make it (or make it well).


Oil Fried (or Wok Tossed) Grouper Balls



I was expecting something more dumpling-like - but this dish did not disappoint on flavor, texture or freshness. Chunks of fresh fish were battered and deep fried, then wok-tossed with crisp vegetables, a light "velvety" sauce, and lots of garlic. This was a perfect contrast to the spicy noodle dish!



This meal delighted all four of us, and we agreed to return for more soon! It is a real treat to be able to play with authentic Hong Kong style food right here in Cleveland, in a clean and friendly restaurant.

Three of us visited Koko Bakery (3710 Payne Ave, Cleveland, OH, (216) 881-7600, link to menu here) after, since Tom and Kay had never been there before. I left my camera in the car, but wished I hadn't - the joint was rocking! Koko is a Shanghai-style bakery - to the left, a wall of traditional (and not so traditional) Chinese baked and fried buns, stuffed with everything from Char Sui pork to Ham & Eggs. Then, a cooler with steam buns, for take out. The front counter cases carried elaborate Western-looking pastries, and a few Eastern surprises (pork bread?). The menu includes a selection of rice plates, sandwiches and salads, and Taiwanese and Korean desserts. There is a large selection of Bubble Tea and Shaved Ice. I was pleased to see them so busy; Cleveland has lost a couple of Asian bakeries in the past few years, and this one is locally owned and operated. Koko deserves our support.

I picked up a package of Cranberry Cookies for after dinner and wished I could think enough about food to get something else - but Wonton Gourmet had filled me up with goodness and there was no room left, even to think about food. I'll need a return trip to play with the food at Koko's!