All Entries Tagged With: "BBQ"
Dai Jang Kum Korean Restaurant on St Edwards Drive and Bridgeport, Richmond
The thing we enjoy most in blogging is getting to know people. We had made a lot of friends over the years through this blog.
Some of you guys may remember this book on the left.
When we blogged about Pinpin right after our Spain vacation, we also mentioned the Culinaria Spain which we enjoyed reading. It is the book we used as a reference in planning our gastronomic vacation in Spain. Rey was kind enough to loan us the book and we mentioned that we returned it to him.
Well … Kan-Man, who was a silent reader of Chowtimes until recently, wrote to us saying that he had the same book. He asked if we wanted it before he donates it to the library.
As much as we were reluctant to accept it, Kan-Man was kind enough to insist that we take it, given that I mentioned I enjoyed this book. This book that Kan-Man gave us is in hardcover.
We made arrangements to meet up and have dinner with his young family. We always enjoy meeting up with our blog’s readers.
We went to Dai Jang Kum. Dai Jang Kum is located on Bridgeport at the intersection with St Edwards Drive. It is on the same place as The Bricks. The restaurant is owned and operated by Koreans. So it is as authentic Korean as it gets.
Dai Jang Kum is named after the main character of the popular Korean period drama called Dae Jung Geum. The pictures of the Jung Geum actress adrons on the walls. I am not sure why the name got spelt as Dai Jung Kum. Maybe it is because it is spelt phonetically according to Chinese characters.
Have any one watched the TV series before? It is a series based on Korean history of a girl named Jung Geum who rose from the imperial kitchen to become the emperor’s personal physician. I heard that in the TV series there were always a part where they show Korean cuisine.
Here is a youtube of what I mean. The above is 9 minutes and is a series of several. Check it out … you might be as mesmerized as I was.
Unfortunately what we had did not come close to what is on the youtube video. LOL!
However, like a feast that Korean cuisine is used to, we were served 8 types of Banchans (Kimchee, potatoes, salad, seaweed, daikon, beancurd, soy bean sprout, and eggplant).
Kan-Man made the order mostly since he had been here several times before and is familiar with the menu. Dai Jung Kum’s menu is large but generally has about the same items that you will find in most Korean restaurants.
There were two families dining and so we had a 2-person BBQ Combo, 2-person hot pot, a pancake, and oxtail & knee bone soup. Oh, we also had Chicken Fried Rice for our boys.
The meal came with five bowls of rice which I think came with some of the food we ordered. The metal bowls are hot from the steamed rice.
Did I tell you this before? Unlike Chinese and Japanese, Koreans do not lift the bowls from the table when they eat. So it is OK then that they serve rice in a metal bowl.
We also had three bowls of soup which came with something. Again, I am not sure what they are for.
The above is BBQ Combo A which is a combination platter of BBQ meats including chicken, beef, beef short ribs and pork. We had the order for 2 person which costs $29. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Nando’s Chicken on Marine Way, Burnaby
This is a complementary meal from Nandos. We are not paid for this post.
Nando’s wrote to us out of the blue a couple of weeks ago letting us know that Rochelle Schätzl, the world’s foremost authority on Peri-Peri Chili, will be in Vancouver asking if we would be interested in meeting her. Rochelle is an award-winning author and chef from South Africa, the home of the Peri-Peri Chili. She had written a book about it called “Peri-Peri: The Contrasts and Contradictions of the African Bird’s Eye Chili”.
We said yes, because we knew it will be an opportunity to learn more about the Peri-Peri Chili and its exotic flavours … and boy, was that some learnings we had! Never in my imagination could someone share non-stop about everything Peri-Peri for two straight hours. LOL! We had a great time and this is what we learned.
After a few email exchanges, Mark suggested that we meet at the new Nando’s Restaurant in South Burnaby, in the new big boxes shopping mall by Marine Way. We were greeted by Nick, the owner of this outlet, and Mark and Rochelle. Believe it or not, Suanne and I had never been to Nando’s before because we thought that it was just a spicier version of fried chicken.
We found out how different Nando’s is from KFC and Church’s and that it is not quite the fast food the way we know it. Well, it is like a cross between fast food and slow food is how I would describe it. You place your orders at the fastfood style counter and given a wooden block with a number where there will bring the food to your table when it is ready.
This particular store was busy during lunchtime when we were there during a weekday.
Nando’s originated from South Africa in 1987 and is a restaurant with a Portuguese theme. Nando’s operates in 35 countries today with their biggest market in South African and Britain. There were a lot of other facinating stories about Nando’s history and beginings but am not going to bore you with those.
Anyway, this restaurant we visited carries the South African theme with African decor and artifacts. The restaurant was pleasant, clean and tastefully designed.
Rochelle gave a copy of her beautiful book on Peri-Peri. It took her two years of research to write it. It was a privilege to be given the inside scoop of this brilliant pepper and how it is impacting the global culinary landscape. Specialty Food Magazine recently listed the Peri-Peri Chili as one of the Top 10 Flavour Trends of 2009.
From our time with her, we can clearly see that Rochelle is proud of South Africa, it’s food, people and culture. She told us how the tiny Peri-Peri Chili represents very much a way of life of the South African adding that all restaurants in South Africa will have some form of Peri-Peri.
Peri-Peri is the African version of the Bird’s Eye Chili. It is very much like the South East Asian version of Chili Padi or Thai Pepper. This chili packs a punch despite its size. Peri-Peri is used in a dry form and not fresh. Do you know why?
Let’s see a comparison of Scoville Scale (a measurement of hotness) of Peri-Peri Chili against other common peppers:
- Law enforcement grade pepper spray: 5,000,000 Scoville Rating
- Naga Jolikia (Hottest chili in the world): 1,000,000
- Habanero: 100,000 to 300,000
- Peri-Peri: 50,000 to 175,000
- Thai Pepper: 50,000 to 100,000
- Cayenne Pepper: 30,000 to 50,000
- Tabasco Pepper: 30,000 to 50,000
- Chipotle Pepper: 10,000 to 40,000
- Jalapeno Pepper: 3,000 to 8,000
- Bell Pepper: Zero!
There had been attempts to cultivate Peri-Peri Chilies outside of a small region in southern African but all attempts had failed. Rochelle said that the Peri Peri is a chili with a bad attitude … the harsher conditions and weather, the meaner the chili gets. There had not been much success in cultivating the Peri-Peri commercially.
Suanne and I sampled a lot of food at Nando’s but there is one I love a lot … the Chicken Livers ($7). Oh major yum. I guess it is not for everyone but if can get over the texture and the thought of it, chicken liver is really delicious.
We ignored the bread that came with the Chicken Livers. We can’t help but notice the tempting looking Portuguese Garlic Bread ($2) … More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Meok Ja Gol (MJG) Korean Barbeque Restaurant on Kingsway and Nelson, Burnaby
I bet you will find Meok Ja Gol (MJG) interesting enough to want to check it out — we did.
Even though I work one short block away from MJG, I had never paid any attention to it.
This is because MJG is hidden in a recess from Kingway in Burnaby. The best way to find it is to know that it is located east of Nelson on Kingsway. But then the address is not really Kingsway … kind of weird I know. If you are driving and want to get to MJG, the entrance is on the short road almost parallel to Kingsway called Newton St. Forget what I just said … just drive to the back lane on Kingsway!
I feel for MJG. They are a very unique and interesting restaurant and yet the location sucks. What a shame.
MJG is so authentic Korean that they can hardly speak English at all. They were so authentic that they even have loads of Korean magazines and newspapers neatly stacked for the customer’s use. Even the TV was playing Korean serial drama. They asked if we wanted to switch to another channel but we told them we’re fine … Suanne loves Korean love drama with dashing young handsome Korean actors. LOL!
Suanne and I went before 5PM … the place was empty at that time. Actually, MJG had only a couple of tables taken the whole time we were there. We like the cleanliness of MJG and also the rustic villagey feel to it.
They brought is some hot tea in a plastic container just as we got settled down. I assume that Korean restaurants commonly serves tea this way.
They have a really big menu … 16 pages of glossy pages with lots of pictures. Even their take out menu is printed in high gloss and comes in a 16 page booklet. You can’t beat that, can you? If there is an award for the best take out menu, MJG will win hands down.
Without even bothering with the rest of the menu, Suanne and I already know what we wanted. It is on page #1 … the one thing that MJG is known for … the MJG Dinner BBQ Combo. Read on … this is NOT any kind of Korean BBQ you normally see around. This one is high tech. LOL!
Ordering is simple:
- For 2-3 people: $49.95 with 12 (best) items
- For 4-5 people: $99.95 with 13 (better) items
- For 6-7 people: $149.95 with 17 (bestest) items.
With this combo, you don’t need to order anything else. There are more than enough food for everyone — trust me!
We were warned that it will take at least 30 minutes to prepare. Sure, we could wait said … we had all the time in the world that afternoon. I was actually quite pleased with the wait because it meant that good food cannot be rushed.
Since everything is Korean, it was hard to entertain ourselves during the long wait. If you go, bring along a book or something. Let’s talk a bit about ho hum matters. OK … for one, they have one of those wireless service buttons on each table. I was not sure initially what it is because there is no icon or something to indicate what it is. I guess this also acts as a panic button of sorts in case the BBQ flares up.
I can’t get used to Korean chopsticks. They are so flat and narrow that it’s hard to get a grip. Japanese and Chinese chopsticks are easier to handle. Also, you will notice that Korean spoons have very long handles. I think there is a practical reason for it but am not sure why … anyone knows?
The above is their high tech BBQ computerized device (their brochure said so!). It was pretty interesting. It is a complete eating system designed from the ground up not just for table top charcoal BBQ but also for soup, etc! Read on … you will know what I mean.
This is what the wait was about … the charcoal. They need 30 minutes to heat it up. It was a pretty glow-y sight … and very hot. I can feel the heat radiating from where we were sitting.
They do everything for you. When they left the charcoal by the side of the table I thought I am supposed to handle this myself! They opened up the grill and put in the two baskets of charcoal.
Underneath the charcoal is a tray of water. I guess the water serves a dual purpose of moderating the heat and also to prevent the entire BBQ’ing cavity from getting too dry.
The delicious looking meat is put on skewers specially to rotate at a constant speed in the BBQ machine. Our combo included beef ribs, beef ribeye, chicken and prawns. Mind you, I am not even half way there on this blog entry!
Master Hung BBQ Restaurant on Blundell and Garden City, Richmond
Shawn (Suanne’s brother) loves Master Hung. When he was staying in our place a few years ago, I remember how he would take my bicycle to Master Hung to buy their roast duck twice or trice a week. He likes it so much we think he could have roast duck everyday if given the chance.
It had been a long while since we last went to Master Hung since we don’t normally drive through this part of Richmond. It was like out of sight, out of mind.
Master Hung is located on Garden City and Blundell. What brought me here was the thought of roast duck. I don’t think there are many places which specializes on Cantonese Style Roast Duck here in Metro Vancouver … well, not that I know of. Most BBQ Chinese joints specializes on Roast Pork of which the one in Parker Place is absolutely our favourite.
Master Hung appears to us to be very much a neighborhood restaurant. They do have a lot of customers who works or stays nearby because many of the customers does not really dress up (i.e. many in their work clothes) here. We also saw that they have quite a lot of people ordering take aways.
There were quite a number of empty tables. Since the smaller tables were taken up they seated in their larger tables. Before we know it, they came by and asked if we mind sharing a table with another party of two. No way, we said. We hate sharing tables with strangers.
We did not realize initially. We were wondering why Nanzaro asked for pen …
… they have Sudoku printed on their paper mats. This is the first time I had come across this. Pretty clever, I thought.
Master Hung provides free soup of the day. The menu calls this “low for tong” which literally translates to old flame soup … i.e. soup that had been boiled for a long time. The soup was quite flavorful but more importantly it does not seems to be laden with MSG.
We ordered half a Roast Cuck which costs $9.80. We absolutely love the shining reddish-brownish crispy skin … a sign of a well made BBQ Roast Duck. One thing I wish they serve with this is scallion. I know, scallion normally goes with Peking Duck, not Cantonese duck … but still I think it would be great.
The scrumptious Roast Duck was deliciously moist. The plum sauce as a dip is good but I personally prefer hoisin sauce. OK, some of you would tell me that hoisin sauce is normally served with Peking Duck but still.
The duck meat is consistently fleshy and thick here in Master Hung. That’s what I love so much about it because many places serves skinny duck meat.
Their other specialty of Master Hung is the Roasted Crispy Pork. It is very fatty but that is what makes this great … six layers of alternating lean and fat meat topped with a very crunchy crispy pork skin. This plate is $8.80. Between Parker Place and Master Hung, I still think that Parker Place is better in most counts. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Salt and Sugar Shrimp
This is another thing I prepared for the recent BBQ at the South Arm Park. It is simply called the Salt and Sugar Shrimp. The recipe for this was also from the Safeway Great Grilling Recipe. All the recipes are simple but yet looks very appetizing. Check out their website: http://shop.safeway.com/superstore/default.asp?brandid=1&page=corphome.
The shrimps are marinated in 2 tablespoons of kosher salt and sugar for at least 45 minutes or up to 2 hours. Rinse the salt and sugar mixture and pat dry. Thread in a C shape onto skewers.
Pour 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic over the shrimp. Grill the shrimps uncovered, turning once until the shrimp are bright pink on the outside and opaque but sitll moist-looking in center of the thickest part (cut to test). This takes 5 minutes.
I found that the shrimps way too salty. I suggest that you reduce the salt in the marination.
Polly brought some chicken drumsticks, some vegetables and also some beef short ribs for the BBQ. We had a great time at the BBQ.
Grilled Pepper Poppers
I got this recipe from Safeway on one those free recipes stand. I made it for a BBQ get-together with Polly and family a couple weeks ago. It is a great cheesy appetizer — not to mention it being so colourful.
The filling in the sweet peppers consists of chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion, chopped fresh cilantro, shredded cheese and salt to taste.
The peppers are grilled over medium heat for 5 minutes or so until the peppers blistered and slightly charred on the bottoms.
The cheese in the peppers would have melted when they are ready.
Transfer the peppers to a clean platter with a wide spatula. Serve the peppers with a teaspoon of sour cream over the hot peppers.
