Month: August 2013

Categories
Food for Thought

Food for Thought: “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles” by Jennifer 8. Lee

Food for Thought is an occasional series covering creative works that are connected to a food issue or trend. See more.

Open Fortune Cookie

Earlier in the summer, I read Jennifer 8. Lee’s The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. Within the first few pages, I was floored by this sentiment:

“American Chinese food is predictable, familiar, and readily available. It has a broad appeal to the national palate. It is something nearly everyone nowadays has grown up with – both young and old…Our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie. But ask yourself: How often do you eat apple pie? How often do you eat Chinese food?”

Thought-provoking, right? I enjoyed reading about each segment of her quest to understand Chinese food in America, from historical anecdotes to more personal discoveries. A former New York Times reporter, Lee turns thorough, detailed research into engaging storytelling. Here are a few paraphrased tidbits from the book:

  • A Chinese restaurant on the Upper West Side of New York pioneered food delivery in the mid 1970’s
  • Origins of the fortune cookie are disputed, but likely point back to Japan instead of China
  • One time, 110 people across 29 states all won the Powerball just from playing numbers they found on a fortune cookie
  • Chop suey exploded as a “national addiction” around 1900, which was what started the proliferation of Chinese restaurants
  • General Tso’s chicken is a completely American dish
  • One company in New Jersey makes the vast majority of soy sauce packets, chopsticks, and white cartons distributed throughout the country
  • Lee’s search for the greatest Chinese restaurant outside China culminated at a Vancouver strip mall

Fortune Cookie

You can find The Fortune Cookie Chronicles on Amazon, or watch Lee’s TED talk for her overview of the subject.

Categories
Best Bites Chicago

This week’s Best Bite: Japanese pancake and Feijoada fries, La Sirena Clandestina

Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) with asparagus, kewpie mayo, bean sprouts, and green onions
Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) with asparagus, kewpie mayo, bean sprouts, and green onions

Why it’s this week’s Best Bite: La Sirena Clandestina is a South American-influenced restaurant that’s been on my list for a while, but moved up toward the top once I saw their out-of-the-box brunch menu. Faced with too many interesting options, my friend and I split a breakfast empanada to start, then shared two other dishes (and we must have been onto something, because the women at the next table over copied our order exactly). The okonomiyaki was a thick, scallion-heavy pancake with two complementary, umami-rich sauces. This version rivaled the ones I’ve had as appetizers at Japanese and Korean restaurants in the past, but still managed to feel like a morning dish. The fries were what I would imagine Brazilian poutine to be like, generously doused in black beans and gooey cheese with surprising notes from the pickled fresnos and mustard sauce, plus a fried egg to tie it up in a more breakfast-y bow. I loved the whole design of the space, too: turquoise walls, light streaming through salvaged windows, beautiful wood everywhere. To top it off, La Sirena made a spicy, no-frills Bloody Mary with pisco and Fernet that far exceeded the usual brunch benchmark.

Feijoada fries with black beans, provolone, pickled fresnos, green onions, sour cream and mustard sauce, and fried egg
Feijoada fries with black beans, provolone, pickled fresnos, green onions, sour cream and mustard sauce, and fried egg
Bloody mary with Peruvian pisco and Fernet Branca
Bloody mary with Peruvian pisco and Fernet Branca

The details: La Sirena Clandestina, 954 W Fulton Market, Chicago.

Categories
Travel Eats

Travel Eats: A day trip to Michigan’s Harbor Country

Travel Eats documents my food adventures outside of Chicago.

Picking our own peaches at Crane Orchard in Fennville
Picking our own peaches at Crane Orchard in Fennville

Spending a gorgeous Saturday in southwest Michigan does present convincing evidence that the state is as magical as depicted in the “Pure Michigan” commercials, especially when it comes to food. From a picnic by the water in Saugatuck to picking peaches and apples in South Haven and tasting cider in Fennville, we fit in as many delicious summer activities as we could. I was impressed by the quality of everything we tried: excellent bottled cold brew coffee, mellow pear and blueberry fruit wines that would make excellent pairings, five nuanced styles of the Virtue Cider that’s already beloved in Chicago, and a lovely farm-to-table meal at Salt of the Earth, where I also drank the best lemonade I’ve had all summer (white whiskey, grilled lemon, and thyme add up to greatness).

Uncommon Grounds' bottled cold brew coffee in Saugatuck
Uncommon Coffee Roasters’ bottled cold brew coffee in Saugatuck
Nebraska wrap from Boardwalk Deli in Saugatuck
Nebraska wrap from Boardwalk Deli in Saugatuck
Tasting fruit wines at McIntosh Cellars in South Haven
Tasting fruit wines at McIntosh Wine Cellars in South Haven
Where cider is made at Virtue Farms
Where cider is made at Virtue Farms
The Virtue Cider sign
The Virtue Cider sign
Grilled lemonade with Journeyman white whiskey, lemon sour, thyme, and soda at Salt of the Earth in Fennville
Grilled lemonade with Journeyman white whiskey, lemon sour, thyme, and soda at Salt of the Earth in Fennville
Feta and herb pizza at Salt of the Earth in Fennvile
Feta and herb pizza at Salt of the Earth in Fennvile
Eating apple pie from Crane's Pie Pantry by moonlight
Eating apple pie from Crane’s Pie Pantry by moonlight

The details: Uncommon Coffee Roasters, 127 Hoffman St., Saugatuck; Boardwalk Deli, 311 Water St., Saugatuck; McIntosh Wine Cellars, 6431 107th Ave., South Haven; Virtue Farms, 2170 62nd St. (122nd Ave.), Fennville; Crane’s Pie Pantry, 6054 124th Ave. (M-89), Fennville; Salt of the Earth, 144 E Main St., Fennville.

Categories
Best Bites Chicago

This week’s Best Bite: crab rangoon & Painkiller No. 3, Three Dots and a Dash

Painkiller No. 3, with
Painkiller No. 3, with Bajan rum, Jamaican rum, coconut liqueur, passionfruit, pineapple, and cream

Why it’s this week’s Best Bite: Three Dots and a Dash has been generating buzz ever since bartender Paul McGee announced last year that he was leaving the Whistler to be involved with a tiki concept. The basement bar finally opened in River North two weeks ago, and it truly is a tiki paradise, down to every last swizzle stick. The drink menu is extensive – and fully illustrated, of course – so for a girl who really likes rum, it was a paralyzing task to decide which tropical concoction to order first, even with a significant head-start while I waited for friends to arrive. I was thrilled with my first selection, the Painkiller No. 3, which was a frothy, just-sweet-enough blend of pineapple, rum, coconut, and cinnamon, topped off by a flower and cinnamon stick. It’s worth noting that every drink we ordered came in a different ornate tiki vessel with its own beautiful set of garnishes.

Blue crab rangoon with four dipping sauces: mustard, chili, sweet & sour, and peanut
Blue crab rangoon with four dipping sauces: mustard, chili, sweet & sour, and peanut

The snacks we tried proved to be a suitable match for the outstanding cocktails. My favorites were the crab rangoon, fried golden-brown with a thin, smooth filling that actually tasted like crab rather than a hunk of cream cheese. I also adored the divided dish of four dipping sauces (chili, mustard, peanut, and citrusy sweet-and-sour) that were versatile enough to mix-and-match with our Thai fried chicken and coconut shrimp as well. I have no doubt that Three Dots and a Dash will become a major River North destination, but I’m hoping that at least the alley entrance, marked only by a single tiki torch, might take the crowds a little longer to find.

Bunny's Banana Daiquiri, with
Another great drink: Bunny’s Banana Daiquiri, with Jamaican rum, spiced rum, overproof rum, coconut liqueur, banana, lime, and nutmeg – plus the dolphin garnish!
Greeted by this wall of skulls on the way downstairs into the bar
Greeted by this wall of skulls on the way downstairs into the bar

The details: Three Dots and a Dash, 435 N Clark St., Chicago.

Categories
Best Bites Chicago

This week’s Best Bite: French onion soup and chicken curry crepe, La Creperie

Traditional french onion soup, with bread and melted emmenthal cheese
Traditional French onion soup, with bread and melted emmenthal cheese

Why it’s this week’s Best Bite: Sadly, my first visit to La Creperie was in its final weeks of operation – the classic Lakeview café is closing its doors after 41 years in business. With added urgency, my friend chose to celebrate his birthday over brunch here this past weekend, and I was happy to oblige. I was immediately charmed by the back patio, with red-checkered tablecloths and quaint china atop tables that were nestled between the trees. And while it’s a little rare to order an appetizer with brunch, we’d heard this French onion soup was not to be missed – and am I ever glad we didn’t miss it! The broiled lid of emmenthal cheese was everything you’d want this classic soup’s topper to be: mild and gooey inside, with crispier bits to tear off around the edges of the crock. The deep onion flavor shone through in the broth, accented by thyme and not overly salty.

Crepe filled with chicken in Madras curry with chutney & rice
Crepe filled with chicken in Madras curry with chutney & rice

Although I barely had enough room left, I also enjoyed my variety of the café’s namesake dish. The crepe itself was thin, but hearty enough to hold up to the savory fillings. The creamy madras curry sauce was delicious with the tender vegetables and chicken, and though the rice seemed like more of an afterthought, the chutney added a nice sweetness – so much so that I piled on a little more of my own gingery Major Grey when I finished off my crepe leftovers back at home.

Mimosas on the adorable patio
Mimosas on the adorable patio
The café's sign in its final weeks
The café’s sign in its final weeks

The details: La Creperie, 2845 N Clark St., Chicago (closing, effective late August 2013).