Sandwiches of New Orleans

There are two famous, and notably different, sandwiches New Orleans is famous for: the po-boy and the muffuletta. I would shave my head to have access to either one on any given work day lunch hour back in po-boy/muffuletta-less San Francisco.

1. Parkway Tavern - Po-Boy

Instead of serving fish and chips or nachos to complement the alcohol that will invariably be consumed on most bar-premises, the Parkway Tavern offers a variety of po-boys, from roast beef with gravy to shrimp, and the bar seems like kind of an afterthought.

Behold the magic that descends from this window

Jenn's little hand clutches a juicy, texturally satisfying shrimp po-boy

2. Central Grocery - Muffuletta

One would not expect, from the heinous clutter exhibited in this window, that pristine muffuletta sandwiches may be acquired from within

To be shared!

A soft muffuletta loaf lovingly ensconces marinated olive salad, coppa, mortadella, salami, emmentaler, and provolone

NOLA, we may meet again

One thing we learned about New Orleans... don't get your crawfish in a restaurant! The good stuff-- with all the right fixin's and spices-- is tucked away in inconspicuous markets outside of the old quarter. Okay, maybe not so inconspicuous, look for a sign like this:

Won't you take me to

ddokbeokki town? (to be sung in the manner of lipps inc, sorry)

Sindang-dong ddokkboekki town

Sindang station (line 2), exit 6

Shrimp Trucks -- Oahu, HI

What is the most scrumptious way to eat jumbo shrimp? Sauteed in butter, garlic, and lemon, of course. Giovanni's Shrimp Truck on the North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii.

Asia, food so convenient

Tropical smoothies in plastic bags made by little Asian women every day for cheap. With extra condensed milk.

Korean Royal Court Cuisine

Korean royal court cuisine traces back to the Silla kingdom (57 BC – 935 AD) and was most famously done in the Joseon dynasty. Recently a friend of mine invited a group of us to his aunt's restaurant, Yongsusan (Hanja for "Dragon Water Mountain") in Seoul.

Here is what we ate, in order.

Jeonbok jook (abalone porridge)

Medley of salad piles

• Translucent mung bean noodles, pickled cucumber, threads of marinated beef and mushroom julienne, sprinkled with black-green seaweed
• Kaesung style mixed vegetable salad of bean-sprouts, radish, spinach and slices of dried persimmon
• Gold strands of jelly fish with Asian pear and cucumber in a mustard dressing served with thousand year old egg
  

Salad with indiscriminate creamy sauce

Bossam: steamed pork belly with cabbage and radish marinated in red chili pepper

Bossam (from previous pic) piled on cabbage; ready to be folded with chopsticks and eaten

Bindaeduk (mung bean pancake) -- served so crispy and paper-thin!

More fried things
Right: Some sort of seafood buchim (fried pancake)
Left: Unassuming deep-fried green pepper, a common sight at street cart vendors, but...

Surprise! It was stuffed with minced pork and its own seeds. Yum.

Dragon pots of soup

From the dragon pot: clear consomme with buckwheat dumpling and rice-ball pasta from Kaesong

Ddukgalbi: rib meat that is minced, marinated, and reassembled into patties, sitting on cylindrical dduk (rice cakes)

Neobiani (royal bulgogi): marinated barbecue sirloin or rib-eye. Neobiani is cut thicker than bulgogi, no stock poured into it; traditionally no vegetables are supposed to be cooked with the beef. Delicious; didn't taste as candy-sweet as modern bulgogi.

For shiksa (literally "meal," but referring to the starch at the end of the meal that fills you up after you've eaten all the meat) the choices were nengmyun, bibimbap, or nooloongji.
I chose nooloongji (burnt rice with water), which was served with a pungent dwenjang (soybean paste)

Dessert: thawed persimmon, dubbed "nature's chocolate" by Austrian dining companion


Watermelon, yakgwa (traditional cookie), and dduk (rice cake) served with maesil cha (plum tea)

Fried Dough (The South cont'd)

Yes, the illusive and infamous French doughnuts I like to refer to as fried dough, aka beignets, at the well-known establishment, Cafe Du Monde. I'm sure you all know the drill here: sit down at a small table under the terrace, put in an order of beignets (comes in 3), and receive fresh, piping-hot beignets in a matter of minutes. How do they do it so well and so effortlessly - serving soft, chewy, and perfectly deep fried pieces of dough 24 hours a day?

I was hoping to find someone back there in Cafe Du Monde's kitchen who had been making beignets since they were 5 years old, carrying on the tradition, and knowing exactly how to prepare the yeasted dough without even thinking about it. Today, it is more reminiscent of a fast-food joint-- various ethnic minority workers (sorry) hustling to take orders for numerous groups of tourists. For all I know, there might be someone hiding in back holding all of Cafe Du Monde's secrets, but I think what Cafe Du Monde has done rather successfully is carry on their technique of making delicious beignets into a life-long establishment that would otherwise be a shell of its former self (not that I have any idea as to what Cafe Du Monde looked like in 1862). My point is that although there isn't the charm of some mom and pop smiling, graciously receiving my presence and artfully preparing my beignets from their own hands, the beignets are still fucking good -- so good in fact that we went back 3 times that day.

Behold: beignet factory

Brings tears to my eyes thinking about these delicious morsels in my mouth