Mama Lu's or Mama's Lu Dumpling House!?!

Asian restaurants in the United States are funny. The name that's on their menu might differ from the name they had plastered on the front door or awning. When I was growing up we would frequent a Chinese restaurant that we called "Daniel's Place" and I'm pretty sure that's how they would answer the phone, but on the outside, the green awning clearly said "Daniel's Palace." Typo or not, one has to laugh a little.

We find the same little things here in Los Angeles. We were meeting some friends for lunch in Monterey Park, a city full of yummy Chinese food. I looked on Yelp so that we could try something new, and I was craving dumplings. I found 3 listings for what seemed like the same place: Mama's Lu, Mama Lu's, Mama Lu's Dumpling House. Turns out there are two locations, with conflicting names on both the door and the menu. It's comical. But either way, this place rocked. We went to the newer and larger location, and it wasn't even crowded at 11am on a Saturday, surprisingly.

Mama's Lu, or whatever it's called, serves up some delish Taiwanese specialties like pan fried rice cakes, which are like coin-sized rice noodles stir-fried with veggies and meat.

They have beef rolls or wraps - like a Chinese burrito made with a green onion pancake and marinated beef and green onions inside. Yum!

And, of course, lots of different styles of dumplings!

I didn't even take a picture of every dish we ordered. There were four of us, and we polished off seven dishes. A little excessive, but soooo good. And, on top of all the goodness in the tummy, it is CHEAP! We ordered 7 dishes and only spent about 45 bucks total, with leftovers to take home.

This place definitely satisfied my craving, and we will be back. Next time maybe with the baby in our arms. :) If ever in the San Gabriel Valley, try out Mama's Lu in Monterey Park!

Hot Pot At Home

Dumplings and soba noodles boiling in the pot!

The Fondue Pot: Hubby brought this small appliance from his bachelor life into our marriage. Ever since he made me cheese fondue for our first Valentine's Day, I have loved this fondue pot. It makes great meals...cheese fondue, chocolate fondue, and yes, even Chinese "hot pot."

When I was growing up we used to celebrate Chinese New Year at my grandparents' house and have hot pot for dinner, using butane camping stoves atop numerous card tables with metal folding chairs set up around them in their basement. Boiling pots of broth with plates full of raw meats and vegetables, all to be cooked up and fished out of the pot with small gold mesh strainers with long handles. Such fun and fond memories with family.

Now, a few times a year, we try to re-create the experience at our home, but most of the time, there aren't 30 other people in the room around card tables. It's usually just us two and our fondue pot.

I add chicken stock (homemade) to the pot with a splash of soy sauce and some diced green onions. Then I wash, cut and gather all the goodies:

This time I had baby bok choy and broccolini from my CSA box (upper left corner).

I buy pork and beef already sliced at the Asian market. You can also get ready-made fishballs or meatballs there. Then I wash and cut up any combination of baby bok choy, broccoli, and napa cabbage or lettuce. Cut up firm tofu into inch-sized cubes, and this time, I got some frozen dumplings and soba noodles to add to the mix.



Then you just set the table with sauces like soy, chili garlic paste, vinegar, hoisin, and/or whatever else you might have that's Asian in your condiment collection.

The rolling boil of the soup tells you it's ready to dump in the food - a little at a time, and when it's cooked, you fish it out with a strainer or a slotted spoon or tongs (you can see, I have no cute little strainers). Use little dishes to make a mix of condiments and then dip the cooked meat and veggies into the sauce and eat it up! You can serve it with rice or without. This makes a really fun dinner and a great way to use the fondue pot in a different way!

Exploring K-Town, Part 2

, SoLast week, I made my way back to K-town for Korean-Chinese food at China Gate Restaurant. My friends Linda and Sarah met me there and we feasted. For real. Good thing I skipped breakfast.

They have a lot of classic Chinese dishes, but with a Korean twist. For example, we had sweet & sour pork, but it had a thicker batter and they also offer it using beef instead of pork. Though there are mainly Chinese type dishes, you know it's Korean-owned when they pull out the little dishes...

The side dishes: raw onion with fermented black bean paste and kimchee

 My favorite dish was the Jajangmyun. It was the first time I'd tried it, and it was delicious. I could have eaten that whole bowl by myself, but I held back.

Jajangmyun: Korean black bean paste noodles with diced onion and zucchini

Mixing it up and cutting it so it's easier to serve - love the scissors!

From left top, clockwise, the rest of the meal:
steamed buns, sweet & sour pork, steamed white rice, and jellyfish with sauteed vegetables

They gave us mini steamed buns to soak up all the yummy sauces from the sweet and sour pork and jellyfish. Nice bonus. Chinese restaurants usually only give you bread like that with Peking duck. Also, I'd never had jellyfish in a hot dish. It was stir-fried with green onion, zucchini, carrots, and chicken. Pretty tasty, though I think I prefer my jellyfish cold. How do you like yours? ;o)

Overall, it was a great new find. Homestyle Chinese food with Korean flavor - a new kind of comfort food.

A Recipe Detour & Thai Peanut Sauce

Do your recipes ever take a detour?

On Sunday night we had a little mishap with the grill and it turned our hopes of tender, fall-apart, smoked beef brisket into a tougher-than-we-like-to-eat piece of steak. The flavor was really good, though. We were still pretty bummed.

Hubby suggested we make carbless tacos with the meat (or tacos with a lettuce leaf "tortilla"). Way to think positively! That's one meal we do when we're cutting the starch out of our diet.

Well, I looked in the fridge and pantry, and all I had was tomatoes, a can of olives, and beans. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time calling something a taco if it doesn't have sour cream and guacamole. Or at least salsa. I had none. I wasn't feeling it.

So, I thought...(careful, you're about to see how my mind works)..."Lettuce. I have iceberg lettuce. Lettuce wraps. Asian. Peanut sauce. I have peanut butter. I got carrots. Baby ones."

I looked a little deeper and continued my mind banter, "I don't have bean sprouts. But, ooh, I have tofu! Ok, I need something like a water chestnut or a bamboo shoot. Wait, I just bought hearts of palm!!" Score.

Julienned baby carrots and hearts of palm.

Seared tofu: it was better cutting it small first, then searing it with a little cooking spray.
Takes more of the moisture out of it.

I chopped everything up. I took the beef and the tofu to the saute pan and seared them a bit. Then I threw this sauce together:

Thai Peanut Sauce (for lettuce wraps, salad, or satays), makes about 1/2 cup
3T. peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
2T. soy sauce
2T. lemon juice
1 1/2 T. agave nectar or honey
1T. sesame oil
1T. water (or more if you like it thinner)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

It was a TV dinner - with red wine and So You Think You Can Dance

The lettuce wrap with all the components

The lemon juice really makes it good. The next day I made the leftovers into a salad. It rocked.

Moral of the story: don't let a measly mishap mess up your meal. Sometimes life throws you a detour. Just keep going and enjoy the ride. :o)

Exploring K-town, Part 1

Last week we went with our friend Aaron to try Korean-Japanese food in L.A.'s Koreatown (a.k.a. K-town). Aaron was talking up this chirashi bowl that is served with only fish roe. If you've known me a while, you know I love me some caviar. I grew a taste for the salty beads of delight when I went on my first cruise at age 6. Yes, at 6 years old, I ate caviar at practically every meal for 7 days...true story.

We headed to A-Won Restaurant, got seated and ordered our dish of choice: a bed of sticky white sushi rice topped with a layer of marinated seaweed and a variety of fish eggs. Black ones, red ones, yellow ones, fatty salmon ones, sea urchin ones, and even green wasabi-flavored ones. I think I experienced a bowl of HEAVEN for a good 15 minutes until my bowl was clean.

I think I could make this at home. Virtually no cooking involved  (besides the rice)!

Perhaps the best part about Korean-Japanese food (and perhaps the one thing that distinguishes it from just plain Japanese food) is the side dishes. I didn't snap a photo, but we also got about 4 dishes of kimchee and other pickled goodies to munch on. A new love for just $16.95. Stay tuned because this week, I'm going to try Korean-Chinese food! Happy eating!