week 36: totto ramen

and just like that, as if it were on some kind of cue,

it is soup weather. 

{you know, the edible version of scarf weather. the best kind of weather}

not that it needs to be soup weather to eat ramen

because ramen was the non-kosher food of choice at summer camp... 

my friendsies brought cases of the stuff in their duffels. don't even ask how we cooked it. it's really embarrassing. 

but anywho. 

ramen is the type of soup that tastes best when you're eleven and you've just had a really long ice skating practice and you're still in your skating tights and your little skating dress but you must have food to even have the energy to change into your jammies. so your mommy bypasses the leftovers and just sticks some "line noodle soup" on the stove. bless her.

and maybe it's because i'm so used to the mommy line noodle soup that i've not been so terribly wild about all these ramen places around the city {i am no chris p thompson}

but let it be known

totto ramen

is the exception. the first of its kind.

there are two levels of spiciness, but i think one would win:

there was a really long line when i went but i think my friend matt must have given the hostess the sexy eyes or something because we got in way sooner than we expected.

we started with the 

char siu mayo don

pork+mayo+magic rice+green things

even though it was pork, it was very light and clean tasting. like a good albert herring performance... at first impression, you think you're going to want a little something more {like a spicy bit or a sauce} but, no no, it's quite comforting as it is. 

the ramen that both matt and i got was the

totto miso ramen

koji miso+ground pork+paitan soup+egg+green things+bean things+onion+char siu pork

what is a koji and a paitan? i do not know. but they were happy and them two together in the broth were i think the secret behind why i liked this ramen a lot a lot.

the broth was thick. not thick like the dead sea up in thur, but in it you could taste the little miso granules.

and the little granules clung to the doodles.

my goodness it was tasty.

{alas, still no doodle will be mushy enough for me, but these were actually closer to my liking than i expected. yay!}

it was really mega flavory. 

even matt who will only eat at harry's burritos really liked it.

hopefully soup weather is here to stay because the owner of totto has another new place, hide chan, across town...

so don't be surprised if that's one of my 12 remaining restaurants!!!

xoxo

yeh

totto ramen is on 52nd and 9th. 

next to lucky burger, kitty-corner from brian's old apartment {read: many a drunk percussionist know this block well}

hot dogs.

i am back in new york now.

{school starts soon. EECK!}

if there is one thing i miss most about chicago,

it's the hot dogs.

xoxo

yeh

week 31: momofuku {noodle bar and milk bar}

i am going to say it.

i think. 

yes.

i think i can i think i can.

...

...

ok here i go:

 baohaus baos are better

and i think i prefer top ramen ramen.

 

don't h8.

i enjoyed my

momofuku

experience a lot!

i really did!

i even brought my childhood friend michael

{who met snooki that day, for what it's worth}

i simply found more tasties and amusement in the other little snackees that weren't front row and center...

like the boozey slushies!!

in limeade {yum!}

arnie palmer {yum!}

and

lychee {as yum as lychee gets!}

and this...

an egg

fact: hard-boiled eggs are the best way to lose friends in the elementary school cafeteria.

until i got real and discovered bosco sticks,

i was on the constant hunt for ways to secretly enjoy my beloved lunchtime egg while hiding that repulsive eggy smell from my little friends.

{in a true fatty fashion, the egg won, and i was soon left alone}

...and how ironic it is that years later i found myself at a communal table faced with:

an egg

and

michael.

and michael's roommate who also does not like the egg. 

only this time, 

instead of being the weird egg girl,

i was the empowered omniscient guru 

because i ordered

the soy sauce egg

it's more a medium-boiled egg

with soy sauce

and scallions

and crunchies!

the eggy smell was masked.

and the taste was good...so good...

it was good enough to convert both michael and his roommate.

it was so simple and salty. just what an egg needs. how nice of the crunch to join us.

i'll take a dozen.

ok let me explain my doodle preference.

i got the 

momofuku ramen

 lotsa meat, an egg, seaweed and what would ultimately be extracted and handed over to michael: mushrooms and fishcakes {ew}

 and michael and his roomie both got

chilled spicy doodles

cold doodles with spinach, sausage, and 

nuts like those nuts you get from the nuts 4 nuts street stands

{and i kept stealing michael's nuts cause they were so good}

they were both very tasty & flavaful

and i've got lotsa 'spect for meester chang

{have you read his story in the momofuku book? you should, it's fascinating}

it's just that...

i'm a mushy noodle kind of girl 

and these bougey ramen places ain't gonna boil the living daylights outta their noodles. 

as they shouldn't. but it's just not in my style these days.

what is japanese for "al dente" anyways? 

 michael had sodium overload.  

he vetoed milk bar.

so i rode home on the molly mobile and went to sleep

and had a dream that we actually went to milk bar

and i had a crack pie.  

and do you want to know something so trippy?

the very next day, by chance, i happened upon milk bar

and got a 

crack pie.

and it was the same crack pie that was in my dream!

and, with the exception of the name, i had no prior knowledge of crack pie! 

:-O

it's more like a thick half-baked chewy cookie

and it kind of reminded me of a seven layer bar.

it was so rich and gooey and sugary!!!

it really was like crack!!

{wait...}

i also got a compost cookie, or whatevs.

and a sample of cereal milk ice cream {cool idea. but i forgot that i never liked the leftover milk from cereal. in fact, i never really liked cereal. it's what you eat with the babysitter.}

and barbecue ice cream never again.

 ....

i had so much fun on my momofuku days!

i really like the silly ideas that the momofuku people think up...

and even though the pork buns weren't as life-changing as i expected,

i was satisfied with my meal.

it's a fun time.

 it's worth the wait.

now i just have to figure out that goofy ko reservation system...

it's ok, i've got 21 weeks to learn...

xoxo

yeh

noodle bar is on 11th and 1st

milk bar is on 13th and 2nd {next to ssam bar... and no, we did not stand outside of ssam bar for twenty minutes wondering why it didn't look like a milk bar until we found the real milk bar}

week 30: xiao ye

if you're drunk and you're in harlem,

you go to lincoln fried chicken.

if you're drunk and you're on the upper west side,

you go to grey's papaya.

if you're drunk and you're in taiwan,

first of all,

call your mother. does she know you're there?

then,

i'd imagine you'd eat something like the booty call food* at 

the soon-to-open

xiao ye

{from the punks that brought you baohaus}

*it's a technical term, coined by owner eddie

please enjoy these pretty pictures from this weekend's six-course preview love fest:

 concubine cucumbers

no,really, that's the name.

they're deliciously sweet and garlicky pickled cucumbers

with a touch of salt 

that i imagine give you way more joy than a concubine.

tofu bricks

and you will shit a brick, these are so good

if you made a marshmallow into a donut

and then extracted the part where marshmallows are a million times too sweet 

and then added chili sauce and peanuts and scallions

you'd get these.

and you'd never want to stop.

poontang potstickers

filled with pat lafrieda meat

imagine:

a dumpling dressed up as fat bastard yelling at a mini me black label burger, saying 

"get in my belly!"

...

these are your wildest dreams come true.

summa the most outrageous dumplings you'll ever have.

in true pat lafrieda fashion, these melt-in-your-mouth puppies don't need any condiments.

just love.

all love.

taiwan most famous pork on rice

the filling of a barbecue pork bun, ground up

over rice

simple & comforting.

like your favorite hamburger helper on asian steroids.

hainan chicken

ginger

christmas-colored sauces

chicken flavored rice

odd. my grandma didn't tell me she got a job cooking at xiao ye...

sweet potato balls

fried sweet taters with sesame seeds

brown suga

sneakily disguised as red bean balls...

a wonderful, happy ending :-)

.....

ahh the satisfaction.

i can't wait for this place to legit open.

i'm going to get, like, a trillion poontang potstickers.

it's going to be amazing.

whoa.

22 restaurants to go.

xoxo

yeh

xiao ye is on orchard and stanton 

p.s. am i naive for not knowing what "poontang" meant?

i googled it.

bad idea.