Sweet Kisses

Another Valentine's Day post! I know...because I am sweet like that! Just kidding.

Anyhow, along with getting sweet chocolate, nothing is more special than feeling loved and getting some sweet kisses! Literally...

Now I know there are many edible, sweet tasting or smelling makeup products out there, like the ones by Jessica Simpson. They are delicious and very fragrant, but what goes into them? I have no idea--I mean, I don't think they add chocolate into a chocolate flavor lipstick, do they?

Talking about chocolate (again)! I am going to teach you how to turn chocolate powder or cocoa powder into a beautiful blush and a sweet dessert for your boyfriend or girlfriend for Valentine's Day! And it's super easy and simple. All you need is a bag of hot cocoa or some cocoa powder!

Oh yes, you would also need a blush brush. And please! If you are allergic to chocolate. DO NOT try this! Your cheek is going to blush but not from the cocoa powder but from rashes!

So I like to mix sweet hot cocoa with darker tone non-sweeten cocoa powder. You want your boyfriend to taste the sweet from the hot cocoa but you want your face to retain the beautiful color from the dark cocoa powder.

When you dap your brush into the powder, tap the handle gently on your hand to tap off excess powder and sugar. Then gently apply it onto your cheek in circular motion. Repeat as needed. I added a couple layer and it's pretty heavy. I can feel the layering on my face. So yes, do not do this often as it will block your pores. Just do it for fun once in awhile.

The cocoa leaves a really strong chocolatey smell on your face. So it act as a mild chocolate perfume as well, which is an added bonus!

Have a Happy and Lovely Valentine's Day!

Namu

439 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA
(415) 666-3553
http://www.namusf.com/

My friends and I came to Namu to celebrate one of our friends, Ei-lun's birthday. I arrived early, so I went in to look around. It is a small, dim, modern restaurant located on the calmer street of the Richmond District. I remember hearing about Namu food stand at the Farmer's Market, and so, I knew Namu is going to use natural meats and organic produces in their dishes.

The service was pretty okay. Our water get filled pretty often and the waitresses and waiters helped us very often and asked how our food was. One of the waitresses was also very knowledgeable about the menu and suggestion, but just need to smile a little more at times.

We had a party of 8, which mean more food for me to look at, yay!

I ordered a Korean Beef Short Rib "Tacos" for my appetitzer, because it was on one of the 7x7 Big Eat SF List. I ordered the Daily Fish, which was Black Cod that night. My friends ordered a bunch of other delicious plates in which I had a chance to try.

Korean Beef Short Rib "Tacos" - Beef short ribs on a bed of rice, nori and topped with daikon and kimchee salsa, kimchee remoulade, and kalbi demi glace

To keep this long entry short...the tacos were DELICIOUS! They were so good that I wanted to order a second plate near the end of the night. The beef definitely has that grill taste and the rice was so fluffy. That kimchee salsa was so good! Great combination!

Daily Fish - Black Cod served over koshihikari porcini risotto, and fried brussel sprouts

The fish and the risotto can be separate dishes by itself. The fish was grilled to perfect. It was so smooth and tender. It had some of the sauce glazed on top of it which added perfect flavor to it. The risotto was super salty since it was soaked in what I believed to be ponzu sauce. The brussel sprout was okay, a bit bitter and again, pretty salty.

Cold Soba Noodle -  Soba noodle with chopped romaine, kimchee, pine nuts, tofu, cucumber with kimchee sesame dressing

I love this appetizer so much! It's so refreshing and everything taste so right together. The noodle was al-dente! The dressing was sweet and light, which makes this whole dish very light and hearty also.

Grilled Eggplant - Eggplant grilled with onion sesame vinaigrette and topped with bonito flakes

Since I think the eggplants were just glazed with the vinaigrette and not marinated with it, the taste was very subtle. A little bland at times.

New York Strip - New York strip with taro roots

My boyfriend ordered this medium rare, but it came out pretty medium. The beef wasn't as tender as expected, and it seemed pretty ordinary. The taro root was pretty interesting. It was mildly sweet.

Crispy Short Ribs - Twice cooked, heritage pork spareribs, gochujang sake marinade with spicy red russian kale kraut

This tasted so, so good! This plate smelled very good too. Just having my mouth touching the exterior of the rib, I could already taste the flavors. The pork rib was so tender that it came off the bone with a gentle pull. Highly recommend this.

Hog Island Oysters - Oyster served with yuzu Ponzu, wabi, chojang korean chili sauce

 Okay, I am not an oyster fan, and since I was pretty hungry, I did not want to eat raw food first. But I could smell that the oyster is pretty fresh, no bad odor whatsoever. Also from the way my friends are slurping in delight, I could tell they are pretty yummy.

We ordered a lot more food, which I did not include here because I did not taste the others. Overall, the food at Namu is good. Since I think the restaurant has only two cooks and we had a party of 8, all the dishes came out whenever they are ready, and not at the same time. We were okay with this because I think any of the dishes we ordered could be eaten at any order. The place is pretty pricey for the amount of food you get though; it seems to me to be more of a tapas style restaurant or one that people can enjoy small portion of food with their beer, wine or sake. Nevertheless, it was a nice dinning experience.

Strawberry Daifuku

Valentine's Day is just a couple days away, and every time I think about Valentine's Day, chocolate covered strawberries come into mind. I made that for my boyfriend last year, and I don't think I want to make that again this year. But I do want to make something with strawberries, because strawberries are so sweet and pretty!

I decided to try making strawberry daifuku because when you cut them open, there's a pretty surprise inside. I am not sure if my boyfriend will get some because I don't know if I will have time to make him some the day before Valentine's Day, but I'll try. But anyhow, I do have time tonight to experiment before I go to sleep. =P

Strawberry Daifuku

 Ingredients:

~ make 6 servings 

100g Mochiko/ Glutinous Rice Flour

2 tbsp Sugar

100ml Water

Katakuriko / Potato Starch (for dusting)

1/2 cup of Anko / Sweet Red Bean Paste  (chunky or non-chunky)

6 small to medium sized Strawberries

Instruction:

1. Wrap the anko or red bean paste around cleaned and steam-free strawberry.
2. Cover with saran wrap, and place the anko wrapped strawberries in the fridge.

3. Meanwhile, mix the sugar with the mochiko flour in a microwaveable bowl.
4. Add the water into the dry mixture, it should look a little watery, like light yogurt. Add more water to get to that consistency. It will get doughy when cooked.

5. Place saran wrap onto the bowl, and microwave for 5 minutes.

6. Scrap the cooked dough onto the potato starch while it is still hot.

7. Divide the dough into six balls.

8. Pat some potato starch onto your hand, and flatten one of the dough ball between your palm. Also use your fingers to stretch them out.

9. Place the strawberry in the center and wrap the dough around it by stretching the dough.

Tatah! A heart inside when you cut it open. You can always replace the anko or red bean with ice cream or chocolate, and the strawberries with fruits you like.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cafeteria at Acadamy of Science

55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA
(415) 379-8000

Since I was sick over the weekend, I didn't really bother to take much food pictures even though I ate a lot. So I decided to find something old and post it now that I am awake.

Awhile ago, my boyfriend and I went to Acadamy of Science. We didn't plan to eat there at first, but were running late, so ended up grabbing food from the cafeteria to save some time.

I ordered a curry chicken salad and a iced tea. My boyfriend ordered a chicken pho and Vietnamese summer roll. Man, all their food are pricey!! My curry chicken costed $10.50 and my boyfriend's pho and summer roll each cost $8.

Curry Chicken Salad - Baby romaine lettuce, marinated curry chicken breast, mandarin oranges and chopped almonds

I could not believe I paid $10.50 for this salad. I could get a better curry chicken salad with more lettuce, better tasting curry somewhere else for way cheaper like Ruby's in Emeryville. I know I know, I shouldn't have eaten there to begin with right? Anyhow, the lettuce leaves were bitter. The chicken was very rough and not tasty. The oranges were sweet and gorgeous, and the almonds definitely added a crunch to the salad. I don't think I would order this again.

Vietnamese Summer Roll

First look, two rolls for $8??! Even at pricer Vietnamese restaurant, they only cost about $6. Wait, but here's the catch. Even though these two rolls cost $8, there are actually a lot of ingredients inside. It's deceiving isn't it?

Unlike most Vietnamese restaurant's summer rolls, which usually contain lettuce, vermicelli, mint, basil, pork and shrimps, this one contains way more. On top of the above items, there are also marinated veggies, carrots, shiitake mushroom, woodear mushroom, and even tofu! It was super tasty! Pretty worth it!

I did not have a chance to taste my boyfriend's pho noodle, but I had a sip of the broth. It wasn't too tasty. It's beefy but blant. They give you decent amount of noodle but not enough chicken!

My iced tea was brewed with unsweetened lychee flavored black tea. It was strong and refreshing but bitter. I asked for lemon with my iced tea when I was ordering it because I did not know it was lychee flavored. The server was very friendly because she told me, it wouldn't taste good with lemon and that she could get me something other black tea they have elsewhere if I really want to put lemon in my tea. Oh yeah, the iced tea cost $2, which is pretty decent.

Yup, I don't think I want to spend so much money on food you can get elsewhere for less money. Although I must say, the food here does seem fresh, and probably are much healthier than those you get outside the acadamy. But of course, to save money, go visit the Acadamy of Science with a full belly or pack prepared food!

2010 Big Eat SF List: #12 RoliRoti, #36 San Tung, #37 Limon & #49 Miette

#12: Porchetta Sandwich at RoliRoti

Went to the Farmer's Market on an early Saturday morning with a bad cold & cough just to line up for this...and I am glad I did. It was so good and juicy! Oh my gosh, one bite and the softness of the bread, the juice from the porchetta, the crunch of the pork skin, the sweetness of the onion marmalade, the fresh of the cress brought me to paradise. You have to try this!!! I am definitely going back to get more of this sandwich!

Porchetta Sandwich - Traditional Italian farmers market meat, pork loin rolled into the belly with crispy skin and spiced with fresh organic herbs and garnished with onion marmalade and curly cress.

#36: Dry-fried chicken wings at San Tung

My family loves going to San Tung for dinner, especially my little brother. He loves this chicken wings dish so much that he can finish one plate himself. Ask for me, I am usually not a fried chicken fan, but I ate so many of this because the sauce makes this dish so good! Spicy, sweet, and garlic-ky....also, it's not super oily like most fried chicken or chicken wings. Eat them while they're hot!

 Dried-fried Chicken Wings - Crispy exterior glazed with a spicy and sweet sauce.

37. Rotisserie chicken at Limón Rotisserie

My friends and I came here before a concert. I also blogged about this before, and you can find my review for this restaurant here. It's so tender and juicy! We ordered one and ended up ordering another one. Definitely worth making onto the list.

Pollo a la Brasa - Chicken marinated the “traditional way” and slowly cooked in the rotisserie.

#49: Ginger snaps at Miette

I love Miette so much because they make good dessert, and they make them not super sweet. I have tried their macarons, their cakes, and their cupcakes but never have I tried their cookies...oh wait, now I have! Oh yeah, you can find my Miette's macaron review here.

Anyhow, A container of 12 gingersnaps costs $7, but it's so worth it! It is so rich in ginger flavor and so crisp and crunchy. It also contains a rich ginger aroma. Hmm hmm! It's a little embarrassing but I am going to say this anyways, I ate 7 of them in one sitting and called it my lunch for the day. It was that good!

Miette Gingersnaps
[Photo Courtesy of Victor Duan]