Sesame Chicken with Zucchini "Noodles"

I recently mentioned that Dan's been working his way through the Best of the Best from Hawaii Cookbook while doing our meal planning.  It's a simple, comb-bound cookbook that's taken the best recipes of dozens of cookbooks - many of them from church groups, Junior Leagues, and other community groups - and compiled them together.  The result is a great cookbook with a really wide range of recipes, from Naan to Mochi, Baked Potatoes to Lomi Lomi Salmon.

Tonight we tried out the Sesame Chicken recipe (originally from Another Taste of Aloha).  The recipe was a little vague about the amount of cornstarch (one of the pitfalls of this cookbook is that the recipes haven't all been fully vetted), but I think I went through at least a cup getting every piece of chicken completely coated.




Since the recipe lacked any vegetable component (unless you're counting green onions, which I'm not), I decided to make use of some of the fresh zucchini from our garden.  I considered frying it, but chose instead to make zucchini noodles - a trick I came up with when I got a new kitchen tool.  I needed a new strainer, and spotted a great deal on MyHabit.com for two strainers and a peeler for $13.  I have another peeler or two, but I really like this style.  And it turned out to have a cool feature...



On the flip side of the peeler are little teeth that instantly julienne vegetables.  Playing around with it, I discovered it made noodles when run along a peeled zucchini lengthwise.  The noodles are so tender that they're tasty raw - so tonight I put them on top of the brown rice before piling on the chicken.  I've lightly cooked them in the past, too, and think they would be excellent pickled.  With the bounty of zucchini we get every year, a tool that can transform it so I can use it in new ways is priceless.  It'll also make preparing green papaya salad a breeze.

(It doesn't look like this specific peeler is available on Amazon, but this OXO Good Grips Julienne Peeler looks very similar.)



Sesame Chicken
6 Chicken Thighs, boned and cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes
Cornstarch
Peanut Oil
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Sugar
1 Tbspn Toasted Sesame Seeds
1 inch Fresh Ginger, finely grated
2 Green Onions, finely sliced

1 tspn Sesame Oil

1 Green Onion, chopped

Coat the chicken thoroughly with cornstarch and refrigerate for at least one hour.  In a saucepan, mix soy sauce, sugar, sesame seeds, and ginger.  Cook over low heat until sugar is dissolved.  Stir in sliced green onions and sesame.  Coat chicken again lightly just before frying.  Deep fry the chicken pieces in peanut oil at 350 degrees F for 3 minutes, or until light golden brown.  Drain on paper towels. Toss chicken in sauce and serve over rice, spooning additional sauce on top.  Garnish with the chopped green onions.

Hong Kong Seafood

Our next-door neighbor told me about a Chinese restaurant that had reopened a little South of us, that she and her kids used to frequent and were excited to visit again. It's been reopened awhile, but tonight Dan & I finally made it down to the Rainier Beach area to try out Hong Kong Seafood. And boy, were we glad we did.



After settling into a window table and getting some tea and Tsingtao, our waiter popped back by to take our order - and make helpful suggestions. Our meal started out with the best Salt & Pepper Squid I've ever tasted.



They looked a little like pork rinds, and were light and crispy and packed with flavor from the hot peppers and salt. I couldn't stop eating them, and imagined they'd be perfect for snacking on during a movie - like spicy seafood popcorn.



Next up, we had the Hot Pepper Chicken - which our waiter jokingly asked "Extra spicy, right?". Dan deadpanned back "Yes", but I don't think our waiter took us seriously - as the dish wasn't as spicy as the squid, though still tasty.





We also ordered the Crab Meat Egg Foo Yung, which was enormous. Three thick, fluffy cakes packed with meat and veggies, and cooked to a golden brown. We ended up sharing just one of the three, and taking the others home for lunches later in the week.



At our waiter's suggestion (after Dan asked if any of our dishes had any veggies in them), we also went for the Pea Vines.



They were very good, and had a distinct flavor that was similar to peas themselves, but with the texture of baby bok choy or spinach. Definitely something I'd seek out again, and I'm glad our waiter told us about them. I later overheard the woman at the next table (who was dining for the second night in a row at HKSeafood) that she really loved the pea vines, too.

My only regret is that we hadn't been sooner. The restaurant was comfortable, the service was excellent, and the food was bright and flavorful... and generous. We'll definitely be back for the Salt & Pepper Squid - and to try more of our favorites, and more of their suggestions.

Stir Restaurant

Tonight we took advantage of 2goServices once again, this time trying out Stir Restaurant - an Chinese place in Renton.

Everything was quite good, perhaps most so the Salt & Pepper Calamari.



Although we shared everything, I ordered the Eggplant in Garlic Sauce



and Dan chose the Beef Chow Fun. Both were generous portions and full of flavor... and exactly what we expected.

Birthday Dinner at Joy Palace

Ever since I created a bunch of Foodspotting guides for South Seattle neighborhoods, I've been a little obsessed with checking out the many, MANY restaurants I discovered in our area. Of particular interest are the tons of restaurants clustered around the Othello Link Light Rail station, at Othello and MLK.



So for my birthday, Dan treated me to a night at Joy Palace - a gigantic Chinese restaurant at Graham & MLK that I'd read about.



When we arrived, we were about the only people there (except for one other couple who arrived just ahead of us). We took a table in the main dining room, with a good view of the many aquariums full of crabs, lobsters, eels and other critters destined to be dinner.



We stuck mainly with familiar favorites like BBQ pork, General Tsao's Chicken and Honey Walnut Prawns, but did start out with a Jellyfish salad - after enjoying a version of the same so much at Chiang's Gourmet.



The jellyfish didn't have the same fresh, bright flavor as the previous version we had, and the BBQ pork was a little lackluster, but overall the meal was "good not great" as Dan & I like to joke.



As we were finishing up, they brought over some warm tapioca pudding for us, which was a tasty way to end the meal. By this time, the place was starting to really fill up with huge parties, and a band was setting up on stage.



It definitely seemed like this place gets hopping in the evenings, and might be fun to check out sometime with a group.

SSERPXE TNEIRO

To prep for some friends coming over this coming weekend, we hit Cash & Carry and the Liquor Store down on 4th Ave South tonight - and decided to grab dinner while we were out. Orient Express - just a block or so from the liquor store - seemed like the perfect choice.



Unfortunately for my photographing, the lighting inside is dark - but what it ruins in terms of good foodspotting, it makes up for in ambiance. The restaurant is made up of old converted train cars, and the decor is a lively mix of Chinese Dive Bar and Train Museum.

We lucked out and got seated next to a table of ladies celebrating a birthday, and the birthday girl loaded up the jukebox with an awesome mix of tunes ranging from blues to techno, hip-hop to country, and everything in between. We were all dancing in our seats by the end of the night... though maybe the Orient Mai Tais had something to do with that.

If you make it down to Orient Express - and I highly recommend you do - I implore you to check out the South side of the building - where the name of the restaurant is spelled backwards (not printed in reverse - spelled backwards)... and is a good indicator of the experience you'll have inside: a little kooky, but you'll leave smiling.

Sea Garden

Dan & I met up with Ruth & Paul at Sea Garden Restaurant in the International District tonight for dinner before seeing Jason S's closing night at Theater Off Jackson. Naturally, I forgot my camera but decided to try out using my new cell phone's camera, which worked pretty well - other than not thinking about the orientation before snapping the shots.

As with every other visit to Sea Garden, the service was very good. I did have a little mishap with a cracked tea cup leaking, but Paul graciously offered me his.

Since we didn't end up getting it at Grand Jumbo, we ordered the Mongolian Beef tonight and I was very delighted by how tender it was. It was seriously melt-in-your-mouth good.

We also went for the popular favorite Honey Walnut Prawns, which neither Dan nor I can seem to resist ordering when at Chinese restaurants.



In addition, we had the Almond Fried Chicken and Squid with Chinese Broccoli, both of which were really tasty.



I was worried about ordering the squid - my contribution to the family style meal - given how my last suggestion (salt & pepper duck tongue) went over. But the squid was nearly as tender as the beef, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I suppose when you call your restaurant Sea Garden, you better know how to cook seafood - and they absolutely do. I only wish the broccoli was cut into smaller pieces, as the long, slippery stalks are always a little unwieldy to me.

The Aptly (re)Named, Grand Jumbo

Philip was in town from LA this weekend, so we got together with him, Ruth and Paul at our place for a drink in the tiki bar to catch up before heading out to dinner. Dan and I decided to make dinner a surprise for everyone. I'd heard great things about a local spot from a coworker, and on the bus ride home this week realized they're having a grand re-opening, so it seemed like the perfect place:

Grand Jumbo Chinese Restaurant!



The restaurant was called Jumbo, but as part of the reopening, they've changed to Grand Jumbo. Having not been before, I'm not sure what else was involved in the reopening, but there definitely seemed to be some fresh stenciling on the walls.



The space lives up to the name - a HUGE banquet hall filled with dozens of round tables of various sizes - including large tables with lazy Susans in the centers - a stage, and a full lighting grid including disco ball. The ceilings are lofty and the walls between the restaurant and bar (BOSS Cocktail Lounge) appear to open up. It's obvious why they're advertising that they rent the space - it would be perfect for a large wedding reception, birthday or bar mitzvah.



The menu is also worthy of the Grand Jumbo name, with pages and pages filled with dishes ranging from the familiar (Kung Pao Chicken) to the exotic (Crispy Duck Feet).



We opted for mostly standard fare - BBQ Pork, Honey Walnut Prawns, and General Tso's Chicken - plus a recommendation from our waiter (Beef Short Ribs), one exotic dish that our waiter thought he was teasing me by suggesting, but I went for (Salt & Pepper Duck Tongue) and a pretty exotic hot pot featuring coconut, taro and duck.



Our waiter was enthusiastic and engaged, telling us some very interesting (though not always appetizing) stories of his childhood in Southern China. Everything was delicious. I even enjoyed the duck tongue, though I think I was the only one who did. It tasted like little bits of fried chicken (mostly crispy skin), though it was a little tricky to eat due to a small bone running through the center.

One might think the name Grand Jumbo is a little redundant, but given the size of the place, the depth of the menu, and the tall tales from the staff, it seems perfect to me. And we'll definitely be back for a dim sum adventure.