Aw, look at my little bodega sandwich --a roast beef sandwich, which I ordered hot because the new guy that makes the sandwiches definitely smokes a lot more than the old guy, and I know they don't really use gloves. Yeah, you call eating this sandwich gross, but I call that trust. Gross trust. Man, I've had more sandwiches from my bodega lately than I really care to admit. But I got disgustingly sick last Thursday and ate nothing except sandwiches from my bodega and a bagel that I had delivered with soup. Yes, bagel delivery. Thank you, New York. Those probably weren't the best options for a sick person, but such is life in the food desert that is my neighborhood (and fridge). Real food, I will come back for you soon.

Pho Bang

On cold days, I miss living in a city where cars are normal and you don't really have to be outside for long. I also miss a good hot bowl of pho, but for some reason that doesn't exist in this city. And if it does, I'm really pissed that I haven't been there yet. I just mean I haven't found a bowl of it that's made me want to sink into it like a hot bath. Sounds gross but if you have a great bowl of pho, I promise that's what it feels like. Anyway, we tried Pho Bang today on Jeremy's suggestion. It had a pretty decent beefy aromatic broth and the noodles were perfectly soft yet a little elastic-y, not like those clumps of noodles that I've had way too many times here. My favorite part about pho is adding in all the crunchy, crispy greens and lime wedge (best part!!) to round out the deep beefiness. So far, the best pho I've had in New York, yay.

def back in ny

Judging by all the pizza I've eaten, I am definitely back in New York. I've barely been back a whole week and already I've eaten at 2 pizza restaurants, ordered pizza once, eaten pizza by the slice twice, and had a pizza with my drink at Lulu's. In between all that pizza has been a lot more food, including but not limited to the following pictures.

My burger from DuMont Burger, cooked rare, the best way to ask for it.

This burger was a lot more flavorful and way juicier than the last burger I had here, and I inhaled it. I think maybe it's because I asked for it rare. It has this nice like...crust on the outside, before your teeth hit the juicier bits. I loved that, but also, this patty is way too huge. The bun was fine the first few bites but then the patty is so fatty it totally compromises the integrity of the rest of the burger!! Don't you hate having that last bite of just lettuce and burger juice because your patty squished out of the bun? It's still tasty, but disappointing. But it does makes for really porn-y picture that makes me hungry even though I just ate my weight in dim sum.

We also got fried pickles (and a few green beans and jalapenos, for some reason). They were better than most fried pickles I have had because they were actually airy and crunchy on the outside and the batter didn't slip off in a sad way. The beans and jalapenos were the best because they still had a bite to them, but the pickles were a little too soggy. I think it's just because they cut them too thin. It might've been better if they were sliced more thickly.

Ok so getting out of food review mode, Mel made this curry last week. It does look as saucy as it was in real life, but it was delicious. Coconut milk is magic.

I started interning at Serious Eats, woo! It's also right across the street from Bahn Mi Saigon, which I like a lot. I've been twice already. I ordered the pork and pate sandwich, but I don't think I'll do that again. Next time I'll just stick with the BBQ Pork. This was like...kind of gray and rubbery and made me feel a little queasy, which is too bad because the last time I ate it, I loved it.

everything else from home

Leaving one home for another home is always weird. One the one hand it's like, ugh, back to real life, whatever that means. But it's also nice returning to my actual life because when I'm at home, I sometimes feel like I'm still in high school...which can be kind of fun when you're having all your meals paid for or cooked for you. Or when you're going to the mall 3 times a week. Yup. So in no particular order, some things I ate at home:

Duck confit salad from Cafe Campagne in Post Alley

My mom got this but I ate most of her duck liver toast. Because I'm an only child and I can do selfish things like that.

Tuna Nicoise also from Cafe Campagne
One of my favorite salads. I like the combination of really simple almost bland flavors and then getting blasted with a little bit of saltiness to make it all come together. Olive tapenade on toast was a good idea.


Pho from Phoenix Restaurant (maybe? maybe off highway 99 or that road that goes by Food Emporium on the east side, what street is that? I don't know where anything is anymore)
I can't find good pho in New York. Am I not looking in the right places? I swear every bowl I've had is just "ok" and lukewarm. I need to find a good bowl here because it's the perfect winter meal. The broth always feels so full even though it's very thin, maybe because of all the meat getting cooked under the pile of noodles. I always like to add tons of basil to it too.

Oh I made roast beef. It was so easy.

Hmm, these are Korean short ribs that my mom made for me before I left. They were SO good, I have no idea how she made them. There are dates and chestnuts and radishes involved. That much I know. It's sticky and sweet and nutty and so soft, it kinda falls right off the bone. My aunt also made a ton of kimchi and sent it over from Korea (I knooooww). I could eat those two things together forever.

Also, I'm never going back to Taco Bell. I felt like death later that evening and then developed some sort of awful stomach bug for a few days and lost like 6 lbs. Of course, I gained that all back as soon as I stepped foot on New York soil. Like I just inhaled and it all came back. I missed it. It's cold.

Oops

Technically, I can't drive. I don't have a license at the moment, I don't have insurance, and I don't have a car whose engine will start right away. So when I had a dentist appointment at 8 am, I decided to just walk there. It was a sad 30 minute walk along the Mukilteo Speedway, made even longer by the cold heavy rain (I didn't have an umbrella) and the residual throbs of a slight hang over.  Then I came home, ate some toast and fell asleep. When I woke up, I really wanted Taco Bell. Well alright, ok, I want it a lot of the time but I generally have the good sense not to give in. And all the grimy gross ones in New York give me a great reason to not go. But the one that's around the corner from my house is so shiny and clean and they're not grumpy with you. So there I was sitting in my pajamas, thinking I should just make the 6 minute walk over there. Just do it. But then, this was the moment I decided it was ok for me to drive. It took over 6 minutes to get the engine started and it wasn't even raining outside like it was when I went to the dentist. I pulled out of my cul-de-sac, drove the quarter mile down the road, went to the drive through, honked at some high school kids that totally cut me in line, ordered my "cheesey gordita crunch" and drove my sorry ass back home. If there was ever a moment where I needed to re-evaluate my life choices, I suppose this would have been it.

Paseo

I have seen heaven and it is made out of roasted pork. I kind of want to just leave it at that, but no I won't. Yesterday Colin and I finally went to Paseo in Freemont, the Caribbean sandwich place everyone's been talking about forever. It was sooo lucky that we went yesterday because today is the last day they're open before they take a 7 week break. I would have been so devastated if I missed this before going back to New York. If I needed 5 good reasons to move back to Washington (yeah, Washington, not just Seattle), this would be #1. Well, maybe not but somewhere close to #1. Like #3.

Paseo Press : Succulent morsels of roasted pork nestled atop sweet banana peppers, draped with sheer slices of smoked ham, Swiss cheese, and caramelized onions; all melted together between a hot press

Stole that description right off of the website. 

There was also cilantro in there, which I wasn't expecting but was really happy about. It was amazing. Man, I don't even know how to describe it. It was just a sweet sticky sandwich mess all over my face and hands. You can't be afraid to eat this sandwich. The ham and pork were a little sweet made even sweeter by the onions, and held together with the right amount of melty saltiness from the cheese. Then your tastebuds get a little kick from the banana peppers and cilantro, it was perfect. Oh god, and the pork, it melts in your mouth. This is a zero-effort meat, you almost don't even have to chew.

 

Colin got the Caribbean Roast, which is their most popular sandwich. I didn't get to taste it but he seemed to enjoy it a lot. It's "pork shoulder coated in Paseo Marinade & slow roasted 'til falling into succulent morsels."

If I had ANYTHING to complain about (in a really quiet whisper) it would be that I wish they had wrapped the sandwiches better. Like burrito style so that everything stays contained in the sandwich and you can tear down the paper as you go. Those things are huge and so messy, and that's definitely part of the fun because it gives you a good reason to eat with reckless abandon and get sandwich all over your face. But my best sandwich bites where when I got a little bit of every ingredient, and that was sometimes hard to do with it all slipping and sliding around. But even without all the ingredients contained in one bite, it was still one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. I only wish that I had been hungry enough to eat the whole thing.

home again

So I'm almost a week deep into Mukilteo. Does that sound kind of weird? I don't know if this still counts as home, but calling it "my parents' house" feels strange too. Maybe I can have two homes, it's confusing I guess. Anyway, it's been rainy and cold and gray, but that's just winter over here. It can be a real downer, but it's snowing now and that looks nice. Oh, nope. It's raining again. Well, anyhow, here's some food I've been eating.

1 taco and 1 enchilada and refried beans

I think this is that generic kind of Mexican food that you see in taco shell commercials and that people on Yelp will complain about, and you know, I get it. Compared to other more authentic Mexican food I've had, it's kind of blah, where all the elements seem to be right but it all has sort of the same flavor to it.  But with that said, I enjoyed my meal but not for any of the ways it was supposed to resemble great Mexican food in my mind. I liked it because I love cheese and there was a lot of salty cheese, and I like how soupy soft the rice gets after swimming around in sauce. It's nice to just appreciate food for what it is.

Colin's chicken carintas, which was confusing because I thought "carnitas" meant pork. My 20 second skim of the Wikipedia page tells me it means "little meats" but in food language, it means braised or roasted pork. I dunno, maybe it's just how they cooked the chicken.

My mom's been making lots of soups and stews. My first night home she had made ox tail soup, which is one of my favorites and she cooked it for like over 24 hours. It's nuts, she works full time too, so I'm not really sure how that got done. But then, after we had that plain, she added fermented soy bean paste to it and um, these leafy vegetables. It's so great because after a few extra days, the broth gets richer and deeper, and then adding the soy bean paste gives it another layer of flavor.