Umami Mart

Preface:
Loisaida Throwback Crawl: Kossar’s Bialy
Loisaida Throwback Crawl: Doughnut Plant
Loisaida Throwback Crawl: Pickle Battle

From Guss’ Pickles, we walked a few blocks over to Eldridge for one of my favorite spots in the LES- The Dumpling House. They’ve recently renovated since the last time I was here about a year ago, taking over a neighboring storefront to create a space double its original size. It literally used to be a tiny hole-in-the-wall, called “The Dumpling House” (the “Vanessa’s” part must have been tagged on with the renovation), with just a few stools at the counter and a dingy bathroom. There was something charming about that setup, but I was happy to see that business was still booming in their new and improved space.

It was crazy packed when we got there around 1pm- the space was dark and spacious, but the line still snaked around the restaurant. With its new facelift came some sad news: the dumplings which used to be 5 for $1 are now 4 for $1!!!! 4 for $1 is still a spectacular deal though and everyone was excited to get 25 cent dumplings, so I’ll stop complaining now.

They have these huge pans that they use for pan frying about 50 dumplings at once. You’re pretty screwed if you get to the front of the line and they just ran out of dumplings- it means you have to wait until they cook the next batch. The line is super chaotic and long so you just have to be patient here.

The pork dumplings are piping hot and crispy on the outside.

Christy: I always love dumplings, and I think the ones from here were as good as, if not better, than the ones we had in that Flushing shopping mall basement.

Todd: The dumplings were fine, but nothing special. Not worth the crazy line.

I was happy to see that the sesame pancake sandwiches were still the same quality and price, at $2. The lady still makes the sandwich in the window, taking a large sheet of pancake, cutting it down the middle, and stuffing it with beef, duck or chicken, cucumber and carrots.

Customers eagerly await their sandwich. There’s Christy and Troy!

Sesame pancake with beef.

Christy: Matt loved his duck sesame pancake (below)- that was definitely his highlight.

Order of dumplings and pancake sandwich for $3!!!

Payman: Delicious and amazingly priced—the true recession special is here in Chinatown/LES.

Will be back tomorrow for Russ and Daughters. Check out all previous Umamiventures here. Thanks to Christy, Michelle, Jill and Jessie for the pictures. Make sure to join the UM Facebook group to stay updated on all future Umamiventures.

My first meal out in the city of Copenhagen was what my friend Anders dubbed as “a traditional Danish men´s lunch.” On a beautiful, sunny, crisp day, we set out on our bikes to enjoy what Husmann’s Vinstue had waiting for us.

The interior of Husmann’s Vinstue was moody and dark with business men and older men drinking huge, tall glasses of beer. Hearty laughs from well-dressed men and well-mannered waiters offering me menus in English, I could hardly believe that just yesterday I was pushing my way through Beijing avoiding spit rockets.

I knew I wanted to try Danish herring, so I chose herring from the menu first. Fearing that this would not be enough, I also ordered pate with mushroom and bacon. Anders´ ordered broiled eel.

The herring was plated skin side up, cured in a sweet vinegar marinade. For these types of dishes that come with bread, butter is generously spread on the bread and the various contents piled on top. Using a fork and knife, I cut bite-size pieces to enjoy the flavorful herring. The taste was somewhat comparable to Japanese saba as it was heavily marinated in vinegar. However, because because the vinegar seemed to have a very high sugar content, the fishy flavor of the herring was subdued.

Herring Dish

Herring loaded onto bread

Anders was kind enough to provide me with a flawless experience of a traditional Danish lunch and ordered a beautiful shot of snaps for each of us. Woohee! This stuff was strong and I must have been bright red just after two mini sips. We ordered a type of snaps that especially complemented the herring. It neautralized the acidity of the fish and was a perfect match.

Next up was Anders’ broiled eel. Again, I could compare this to something I knew, unagi. The interesting thing about Danish cuisine is that they were obviously not afraid of the skin of sea creatures. The eel was full-on “part of the eel,” as it was served in its cylindrical shape – skin, bones and all. This was the first time I tried eel outside the Japanese food context so it was really novel to try it with just simple salt flavoring. In contrast to unagi, this eel was very tough, with the meat securely bound to the spine of the eel. The toughness reminded me of a cross between chicken and white fish.

Eel Dish

Skin, bones and all

Making sure we were done with the sea creature dishes, the waiter served up our pate with mushroom and bacon. The pate was whipped and light. About one cups-worth was served and we loaded our breads with thick strokes of pate. The smooth taste of this dish really calmed the palette after the sweet vinegar herring and savory eel. The pate was a perfect conclusion to our meal.

Husmann´s Vinstue was clearly a top-class experience for traditional Danish food. I thank Anders´ who insisted on treating me to a “Welcome to Denmark” lunch and picked up the tab for 376.00 krones (68.00 USD).

 
Husmann’s Vinstue
Larsbjørnsstræde 2
1454 København

Hello readers,

I’m the author of Ambitious Deliciousness, a site featuring step by step directions and recipes that inspire me. I hope to inspire people to cook. I find cooking so enjoyable, not to mention eating! I love that food brings people together :)

When I first started reading Umami Mart, I thought that the idea of sharing your fridge contents with the world was a bit… odd. However, I thoroughly enjoyed getting a peek into the fridges of others who have gone before me and wanted to participate in the fun!!

Buckle your seatbelts, everyone… coming to you all the way from Queens… here we go!

There’s my fridge above. Not a whole lot on the outside. There is also a really cute photo of my friend’s baby and a couple of magnets. I’m extremely lucky because I got a brand new appliances when I moved into my apartment :) SCORE!

The purple pad helps me jot down meal ideas with what’s in the fridge so that I don’t forget about what’s inside. Let’s start with the freezer and the make our way down.

Freezer door: on the bottom is dried squid that goes well with beer, and mayo dipping sauce.

Dried kelp squares and dried anchovies in Ziploc bags. This is how I make most broths for Korean soups. It’s really simple to do! On the right – a bag of sesame seeds. All from my mom.

Inside left: Let’s get a little bit more specific…


Really old multigrain bread that I forgot about.

Yum! Vegetable dumplings. Helps when you have nothing else to eat. I like to steam it or make rice cake soup when I’m in a hurry!

Turkey sausage for the weekends when I actually have time to make a leisurely breakfast! I also have no idea how long that’s been in there.

Frozen meats – pork chops and beef for bulgogi.

Frozen onion roti. Takes a while to heat up but supremely delicious. Got 3 of them for $5 and felt like a sucker afterwards. Is that a good deal? I think there are about 6 of them in each bag…

Frozen spinach that I bought when making dip. Buy 1 get 1 free. YAY!

Fruit bars that my friends brought over – a delicious treat!

A strawberry sauce I once made for cake but ended up not using it.

More forgotten old bread!!! I realize this is a bad habit. I would recommend this – three sesame bread with honey from Trader Joe’s.

This literally says “Stone seaweed.” Their marketing slogan is “rice stealer” which implies that this roasted seaweed is so good that all of your rice will be gone. I don’t know if I can vouch for that statement, but who doesn’t like roasted seaweed? If you haven’t tried it, you totally should. It really is a great addition to an otherwise lame meal!

Behind that is, seaweed for California rolls. This is thicker than the other kind and not seasoned. Just in case you’re wondering, keeping seaweed in the freezer helps maintain the crispness. Holla!

Stay tuned next Friday’s for the rest of Ambitious Delicious(ness)’s fridge!

All of my food experiences during my two-night stay in Beijing taught me one thing: the faster the food the better the experience. By the end of my stay, I would choose a place by spying on the doorway of a restaurant for a few minutes, making sure that people were constantly shuffling in and out. In the instances that I did this pre-screening process, I definitely felt I succeeded in finding a place that fulfilled the needs of my tastebuds.

Case 1:

I flew into Beijing at 12:30pm and arrived at my hotel at 2:00pm on a Monday. Determined to explore the city without resting, I set out on foot with a map of Beijing, in Chinese. My destination was Tiananman Square. I neglected to note the scale of the map and never reached Tiananman that day. Sore, famished and frustrated, I decided to find a place near my hotel which was located next to the Beijing Railway Station. A narrow fast-food joint caught my eye, with its sesame bun sandwiches and fried goods seducing me pressed up against the glass cases facing the street.

As soon as I stepped foot into the restaurant, anxiety welled up inside of me. About five patrons piled up after me shouting their orders. I knew I had no choice but to dive into the chaos. I gave them my best mime performance. Luckily the mother-daughter team behind the counter were very understanding and put up with my pointing and gestering. I ordered a spicy rice noodle dish and a bun sandwhich with mystery meat. The noodles were elegantly spicy, tinged with Chinese pepper and lots of cilantro. These cold noodles were just the right medicine for my achey muscles. The wide noodles were slippery and not over-cooked with each strand evenly coated with flavor. I especially enjoyed the fact that the tofu and veggies were all cut up into bits so that with every bite, I experienced a flavor explosion.

Cold Spicy Rice Noodles, Sesame Bun Sandwich and Tea

Sesame Bun Sandwich

Cold Spicy Rice Noodles

This meal cost me 8 yuan (1.17 USD) total.

Located across the street from Beijing Railway Station on Beijingzhou East Street between KFC and Jingyufa Bookstore.

Case 2:

My last meal in Beijing was breakfast on a Wednesday morning at 8:30 A.M. I knew I wanted either noodles or porridge. I also knew that I wanted to eat at a restaurant facing east so that the morning sun would be shining in. I contemplated a couple places before settling on a restaurant run by a husband and wife team. The two were shuffling in and out of the front doorway to fetch the yutao (fried dough) and dumplings which were fried and steamed on the sidewalk. Turnover was so rapid that patrons ordered before they sat down at their seats. I tried to mimick them by pointing to the vats of steel drums. I realized the contents of the steel drums were different so I rushed and defaulted to the options closest to me: porridge.

I sat down with my porridge and had three spoonfuls. It didn´t taste like anything so I looked around. When all else fails, copy. I noticed everyone had a basket of yutao. So I ordered yutao. Sensing that I had no idea what I was doing, the husband owner plopped a fresh meat dumpling into my basket. Quickly thereafter, the communal pickle bowl was frisbeed onto my table by the wife owner. I glanced to my side where a young man of 30-ish took some pickles from the bowl that was now sitting on my table and dunked the pickles and yutao into his porridge. I did the same and it was amazingly delicious.

Yutao on the sidewalk

Meat dumplings on the sidewalk

Meat dumpling

My whole meal, consisting of yutao, dumplings and porridge with pickles.

Communal pickle bowl

This meal cost me 5 yuan (0.73 USD) total.

Located across the street from Beijing Railway Station. Exit Beijing Railway station and turn right. At first traffic light (after Jingyufa Bookstore). Walk approximate 50 meters and restaurant is on the left.

In an ultra-postmodern city such as Tokyo, where sign and meaning are often so far gone from each other, it seems fitting that a cuisine such as American Sushi finds its way “back.”

Many visitors from America who come to Japan are often surprised to find out that the sushi rolls we see in the deli sections of American supermarkets are non-existent in Japan. In fact, rolls such as Philadelphia, spicy tuna and caterpillar might as well be alien food to the Japanese.

This said alien American sushi is served up at Rainbow Roll Sushi in Azabu-juban, Tokyo’s expat central. The theme of the restaurant is exotic fusion, with a drop of Beetlejuice. A dim inteiror makes guests feel sophisticated and daring in their dining choices.

The food gets quite a high mark in my book. Think California rolls with the tenderest avocado, crab straight from Tsukiji, firm seawead that actually smells like seaweed and just a smear of rice. Because my usual complaint when eating sushi in America is their tendency to pack too much rice, Rainbow Roll Sushi’s minimal rice usage is perfect for bringing out the freshness of the ingredients. This is American Sushi using the best ingredients Tokyo has to offer. If the sushi packs we get in the deli section of Safeway are dressed for a picnic in the park, the rolls offered at Rainbow Roll Sushi are dressed up for the ball.

Beef Tataki

Tsukune with Quail Egg

Soft Shell Crab Roll

California Roll

Caterpillar Roll

Maguro and Avocado Tower

Sesame Ice Cream

Rainbow Roll Sushi
2nd floor Monte Plaza
1-10-3 Azabu-juban Minato-ku
Tokyo, JAPAN

I recently had a conversation with a friend in which said friend mentioned to me that he’s not a big fan of “fancy cocktails,” but instead preferred the simplicity of two ingredient drinks, with his go-to choice being the grapefruit and vodka tag-team known as the Greyhound. Implicit in his tone was the notion that any drink with more than a couple of ingredients that requires some level of skill by the preparer is too fussy, thus unbecoming for a man to order it.

Now before I delve into the umbrage I took with his statement, allow me to disclaim: I am no hater of simplicity. In fact I am quite a fan of highballs and many other simple two and three ingredient cocktails, with two of my favorites being the Cuba Libre and the Presbyterian.

However where I took issue was the implication (and the underlying fear) that a bit of sophistication could be the slippery slope that would ultimately result in compromised manhood. I thus reminded him that he was allowing his notions of manhood to be boiled down to the simplistic tenets espoused by magazines and television programs like Maxim and The Man Show, respectively, with their overbearingly nostalgic obsession with the college fraternity lifestyle–to the point where something that was once understood as a comedic caricature has now become a veritable standard that many grown men live by. It is as if sometime in college, between sophomore year and graduation, someone presses a pause button on the psyche of the American male, preventing the natural cycle of growth and maturity to run its course.

Perhaps this problem is not completely of our own making–at least when it comes to drinking–as the behavior may at least partly be an adaptation derived out of necessity, as many bartenders (and the bars which employ them) can’t make a decent cocktail if it involves ingredients that aren’t funneled through a soda gun. Nevertheless, I am here with my finger firmly planted on the play button.

Thus in an effort to introduce some balance and variety to my poor friend’s palate (and hopefully by extension to his life), I decided to take the Greyhound he so dearly enjoys and build on it. That is how today’s cocktail, the Chinatown Express, came to be. Playing on the name Greyhound, I came up with the name Chinatown Express as an homage to the wonderful bus lines in NYC’s Chinatown that shuttle you to various cities along the Eastern Seaboard with such haste that you’d swear Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock were on board. Of course I am aware that the original Greyhound drink references the dog breed and not the famed bus line, so this is merely a playful flourish, if you will.

Chinatown Express
1 1/2 oz vodka
2 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1/4 oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
1/4 oz Li Hing syrup
2 dashes Fee Brothers Grapefruit Bitters

Tools: shaker, strainer
Glass: coupe
Place all ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously for about 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and enjoy!

This cocktail is best enjoyed with the same haste as it’s namesake; remember the first rule in drinking a chilled cocktail such as this: that you ought to drink it while it’s still laughing at you.

I have yet to make this drink for my friend, but I have no doubt that he will at least appreciate the point I was trying to make, if not the cocktail itself. The point being, of course, that we are fully ourselves when we are balanced and open to new experiences, be they in the form of food, drink, or even music. Sometimes it is appropriate to wear jeans, and sometimes it is appropriate to wear a tuxedo. Having the wisdom to know the difference is what separates the men from the boys. Cheers!

Come back every Wednesday for Paystyle’s weekly Happy Hour column.

Photography by Vanessa Bahmani

Preface:
Loisaida Throwback Crawl: Kossar’s Bialy
Loisaida Throwback Crawl: Doughnut Plant

There’s a pickle war in town, did you know? In the Lower East Side, within a two block radius, at that. Well actually, two blocks, and up to Cedurhurst, NY. I had no idea, until Todd, a UM reader who came out with us, gave us a little LES pickle history lesson, which goes a little something like this…

– Izzy Guss opens Guss’ Pickles in the LES in 1920, eventually moving to Orchard Street
– Izzy dies in 1970, family sells the LES business to the Bakers
– In 2001, The Bakers and Leibowitzs (who own United Pickle, the largest wholesaler of pickles on the east coast) allegedly decide to open up a Guss’ together in Cedarhurst, NY
– Alan Kaufman, who worked at Guss’ in the LES, opens up The Pickle Guys around 2002 on Essex Street
– The Bakers, meanwhile, sell their LES Guss’ to Patricia Fairhurst around 2004 (whose son Robert Janin worked for the shop) when the Leibowitzs turned down offer to buy it
– The Leibowitzs claims that they had bought the rights to the Guss empire from the Bakers, and accuses Fairhurst for trademark infringement; Fairhurst files federal lawsuit
– To this day, the Guss’ website solely represents its Cedarhurst location, with no mention of the Orchard Street Guss’. It slyly exclaims on the site, “Imitated but never duplicated!”

Don’t want to oversimplify it, but after reading these NYT articles (here and here) ad infinitum, I think I covered all the bases. Although I have a headache now from trying to understand it all. Please excuse me if I misinterpreted anything, but I think that’s the jist.

So anyway, we stopped in at The Pickle Guys first, and made our way two blocks to Orchard for Guss’ Pickles. Pickle Battle! Thanks to Todd for schooling us on the battle along the way.

When walking into the long and narrow Pickle Guys storefront, you’re greeted by huge red barrels and barrels of all things pickled. Turnips, tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, olives, green beans, the list goes on and on.

“Sour pickle” up top, which has been in brine for a few weeks. Bright green one is the “new pickle,” meaning it’s only been in brine a few days to a week. The third one is the horseradish pickle- I never knew they used so much horseradish in kosher cuisine, but that, I learned, on this crawl.

Okra.

Green beans.

Poster of the LES waaayyyy back in the day. Nope, don’t see the ugly blue building.

Milton, who has been pickling since he was a teenager and has been working at the Pickle Guys since it opened (and also worked at Guss’ with the owner Alan Kaufman), gave us a pickle pep-talk, which was so sweet of him.
We all huddled around him in the front of the store as he explained the history of the pickle (from Eastern Europe), difference between “sour” and “new” pickles (sours are in brine for longer), and the health benefits of drinking the brine (some think it cleanses out your system).

[Todd: In terms of drinking pickle juice, I think that is an old tradition, its got lots of bacteria and the idea is that the bacteria is the kind that is good for you. Its the same concept behind yogurt, in fact it may be the same bacteria, both pickles and yogurt contain lactic acid as a result of the fermentation process.]

I probed Milton a little about Guss’ and why he left to start The Pickle Guys. He keenly swerved the question, but did say that Guss’ was now owned by a “conglomerate” (read: Leibowitz and United Pickle).

I’ll give you everyone’s reactions at the end- first I want to show you Guss’ around the corner. Literally a 5 minute walk. What is so charming about Guss’ is that they literally bring out their barrels INTO the sidewalk, rain or shine. They are closed for Shabbat, as are the Pickle Guys, to keep in line with the Jewish tradition.

Robert Janin, who packed all the pickles the little tupperware could hold, added brine to the top, forced the lid on, put in a plastic bag, spun the top of the bag super tight while simultaneously getting all the air out of it, and knotted it two times. It was amazing to watch him, I wish I got it on video- it was like second nature to him, to pack these pickles.

Mom and owner, Patricia Fairhurst. Holdin’ Orchard Street and the Guss’ tradition down!!!

A blown-up yellowing article about Guss’.
Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the pickles from Guss’!!! But I will say that I enjoyed their spicy pickle immensely. Overall, I would go back to Guss’ for the spicies and the new pickles, which I thought were more flavorful than the Pickle Guys. Here’s what everyone else thought.

Paystyle: I’ve always went to Pickle Guys because I didn’t know about Guss’. I’d say Pickle Guys wins the battle for variety, since they have olives, pickled okra, etc. But Guss’ wins on the standards. Toe-to-toe spicy pickle battle: Gus hands down. Not sure how Guss’ is owned by a corporate conglomerate though like the guy from Pickle Guys was sayin’—seems like some competitive puffery to me.

Alex: The “new” pickles [from Guss’] were delicious and kind of reminded me of a small plate at a Chinese restaurant.

Christy: The “new” pickle from Pickle Guys was tasty as well. The horseradish one was kind of gross. I have a low tolerance for pickled items, but a small amount of pickled beans, okra, etc. is fun.

Todd: Yikes, [the pickle war] is complicated. I think pickles are a natural product and they vary from batch to batch quite a bit and different people have personal preferences as well. I did not detect any consistent difference between The Pickle Guys and Guss’. I’ve been to both place several times, I’ve always liked the service better at Guss’. I myself like new pickles, less salty and still taste like cucumbers. I also liked both the okra and the green beans.

Still Todd: There are many threads on places such as Chowhound arguing whose pickles are better, and some people claiming that Guss’ and The Pickle Guys from time to time use the same supplier. My experience with delis in NY such as Katz’s, Second Avenue etc. is that their pickles are not consistent. When I leave NYC, one of the first things I notice is that the pickles generally become garbage, soft, yellow and tasteless.

The Pickle Guys
49 Essex Street
New York, NY 10002
Tel: 212-656-9739

Guss’ Pickles
85 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
nr. Broome St.
212-334-3616

Will be back soon for Vanessa’s Dumplings (formerly Dumpling House)! Check out all previous Umamiventures here. Thanks to Christy, Michelle, Jill and Jessie for the pictures. Make sure to join the UM Facebook group to stay updated on all future Umamiventures.