NY eats: Momofuku Noodle Bar

My second night in NY, my mom and I met up with some old family friends. The story of how we know them is an interesting one, so I'll tell it briefly. When I was 5, we met them on the plane going to China. They, meanwhile, were heading off to Beijing to live there (I think they lived there a good 6 or so years), and their parents were journalists. I became friends with their daughter Cara, my age, and her brother Andy was 2 years younger than us.
MEANWHILE, I got the chicken pox. On the plane. It sucked. My mom didn't want to scare me or anything, but Libby, the mother, had been a doctor before being a journalist, so she knew the symptoms. Her kids had already had chicken pox, so I could still hang out with them. We kept in touch and the year I lived in China when I was 7, we hung out nearly every weekend. Cute story, huh?
Anyways, when they heard I had a food blog, they wanted to make sure we went to dinner somewhere interesting. They chose Momofuku Noodle Bar, a trendly little no-reservations place in the East Village. Momofuku has two other restaurants: one is called Ssam Bar-Bakery, and the other is Ko, which is one of those Omakase-type deals with no menu and a crazy price.
The waiting time wasn't bad at all, but when I walked into the restaurant it immediately struck me that this looked nearly exactly like Avec, the Chicago restaurant that looks like a wooden box.

Just like at Avec, there you could sit at the bar, but if not, there was communal seating on wooden benches. Just like at Avec, the menu was short, seasonal, and organized into sides, small plates, large plates, and dessert.
And unfortunately, just like Avec, the menu was NOT vegetarian-friendly in the slightest. Like Avec, there were many delicious-sounding seafood options that happened to be cooked with sausage.
Momofuku is, I suppose, Asian fusion, but that description makes it sound much less original than it is. For example, the night I was there, here was the menu (short enough to fit the entire thing into a photo):

noodle bar etc.

steamed buns – chicken / shiitake / pork

smoked chicken wings – pickled chili, garlic, scallions

ramen – chicken / shredded pork

momofuku ramen – pork combo, poached egg

kimchi stew – braised kimchi, rice cakes, shredded pork

ginger scallion – dressed noodles, seasonal vegetables***

***(no broth, our only vegetarian option)

market

roasted skate wing – brussels sprouts, kimchi, bacon

bouchot mussels – miso garlic sausage, black kale, fennel

roasted tri-tip steak – nugget potatoes, kimchi butter

dessert

cousin leroy & arlo’s soft serve ice cream – quince / smoked maple / twist

The raw bar online has already changed, so squint and see if you can read it.
I ate very lightly that night. I ordered the hamachi and the only vegetarian noodle option.
The hamachi was refreshing and the fish was good quality-- unfortunately, it was really cold that day and sashimi wasn't what I was in the mood for. The grated horseradish was an economical but effective alternative to fresh wasabi, and the apple was a nice touch. Somehow they managed to turn the beets into a kind of jello. I'll admit, I wasn't in love with this dish, but I was fascinated by the different tastes and textures-- the acidity of the apple, the bitterness of the horseradish, and the sweet and slippery beets, were very unique and minimal adornments that highlighted the fish itself.

The noodles came in a huge bowl and were garnished with lots of ginger, sliced cucumber, roasted cauliflower, scallions, mushrooms, and a nori sheet. However, in an attempt to add flavor to an otherwise bland dish, they were drenched in sesame oil. If eaten in a much smaller portion after eating a spicy dish, I would have enjoyed them more. I mainly just ate the vegetables.


Everybody else took advantage of the carnivorous menu, but according to my mom, the ramen that they ordered was too meaty, and the pork too fatty. All the same, It would have been nice to drink some hot broth.
They also ordered the mussels, but the sausage, rather than being a garnish, was served in huge chunks and apparently overpowered the dish.
Everybody ordered steamed buns: chicken and pork. Interestingly, rather than the classic bao zi, the filling, instead of being minced and wrapped inside, was in block form and sandwiched within the wrapper. I wonder if this is to save time or simply for originality's sake.

I know it sounds like I'm being critical, but it was dessert that saved the day, although I only had a little. The only option was homemade softserve in quince and smoked maple, available separately or in a twist. The adults smartly ordered the twist, whereas my friends and I ordered one of each. We discovered that the ice creams were too overpowering to eat on their own, but with a little bit of each on the spoon, tasted wonderful. On the other hand, it did allow us to try each flavor first. In addition to the impeccable texture (it was topped with crushed candied walnuts), the quince took me straight back to the crisp I made on Thanksgiving. The maple was a little too sweet for me, but my favorite part was the saltiness of the smoky flavor. Really, just incredible. Amazing. The best ice cream ever.

I think as a whole, this place is great for meat-eaters, contrary to what my mom says. meanwhile, I looked at their other restaurant's menu online, and they have some non-meat dishes that sound incredible, such as:
diver sea scallops (ri) – xo broth, orange, snow peas

charred squid salad – ginger scallion, mizuna

pumpkin chawanmushi – grana padano, kelp, pepita

PUMPKIN CHAWANMUSHI? In case you don't know, chawanmushi is the Japanese version of ji dan geng, the steamed egg custard my dad often makes. Grana padano is a Parmesan-like cheese and pepita are pumpkin seeds. Don't know if this dish would be good, but the idea of it fascinates me.

bouchot mussels – nigori broth, pickled ramps, grapes

poached chatham cod – matsutake dashi, pinenut, black garlic

grilled long island monkfish – savoy cabbage, kimchi, pistachio

And so on... as you can see, if you don't eat fish or seafood, do not come to any of these restaurants.

AAA, camera is MIA

I'm telling myself that I'll find my camera, which was in my pencil case. Of course, the one day I can't find my camera case and decide to put my camera in my pencil case, I leave my pencil case at at school. It had better be in my locker... that's all I can say. so alas, today's post is picture-less for now.
Breakfast: VERY SWEET. In theory, dessert for breakfast. It fixed my sweet tooth, though!
2 pieces of banana bread with peanut butter, some berries, and a mug of hot chocolate (must get rid of all this milk!) with 2 tiny kosher marshmallows that just melted in.
I didn't have a snack between breakfast and lunch, but I ended up eating my snack (a Clif nectar bar) at lunch anyways, so I think I should probably still have a snack to keep my blood sugar up. the bar was good... like a Larabar, but less dense.
For lunch I had a great sandwich, although not very filling: pumpernickel-rye bread with avocado, a Laughing Cow, spinach, and sliced green apple.
on the side: a carrot and some grapes.
After school (it feels so nice not to have swim practice!) I took a long walk with my friend Becca, who goes to boarding school. When I got home I was pretty hungry, so I had cottage cheese with a chopped up pear, cinnamon, and a handful of Grapenuts.
My dad cooked a fast, satisfying dinner today... I definitely ate too much, but a lot of that was soup and fiber: he made soup noodles with tons of Chinese flat noodles, fresh mushrooms, pickled cabbage, Chinese greens, carrots, ginger, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and silken tofu. He also opened up a can of this Buddhist dish (Chinese canned food is surprisingly good!) that has seitan, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and quail eggs (I didn't eat the quail eggs).
And now I am so full...
Thanksgiving is so soon! It'll be weird with my mom gone, but my dad and I are planning something fun with his grad students.

Sorry guys! BUT I GOT TO MEET ARUN!

Sorry about the delayed post. Even though swim season is over and this lack of torturous exercise is making me feel incomplete, I don't actually have much time to talk about this, since I also have to blog today. So, yesterday:
Breakfast-- felt like cold cereal for a change. This bowl was OVERFLOWING:
Combination of Puffins, GoLean Crunch, grapenuts, and Mighty Bites (don't really love these, although the shape is awesome... trying to get rid of them).
1 banana, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
soy milk
wheat germ
sprinkle of almonds
On the side: applesauce with a little Greek yogurt.
This was probably a little overkill: all the fiber was pretty much sitting in my stomach. We were supposed to leave for Arun's Michigan house at around 11:30, but I figured it would take us a while to get there and I didn't know how long it would be till I ate. I figured I was safer with a snack:
A sliced pear, a few walnuts and some cottage cheese.
I WAS SO EXCITED TO MEET ARUN! It also felt great to get out of the city, although being in the car gave me a killer sinus ache. We ended up being later than expected, but I still got lots of buffet photos. Arun was really friendly-- in his 60's, wearing a kind of Asian-looking silk jacket, and he shook my hand and kept addressing me by name and everything! It would have seemed like almost a family gathering (lots of Chicago's Thai community) if it weren't for the camera people from the CANADIAN FOOD NETWORK circling around us with those tubular microphones. It was actually pretty funny, because a ton of people started gambling in the other room, and the TV people said, "we won't film that."
There were people there working for the mayor (there was a big Thai Fest in 2005 to fundraise for the tsunami, and my neighbor Marion wrote the book). There was free Thai massage, and there were photographers and the like. Basically, it felt like a really friendly gathering, except, once again, for the cameras.
As for the food, it was excellent! Not exactly "home cooking style," and judging by the size of the kitchen in this vacation house, I'm guessing they brought it over from the restaurant. But still, it was delicious. Of course, as Marion put it, "this is only a picnic for him." Can't wait to see what his restaurant is like! Oh! Forgot to mention that there were framed restaurant reviews all over the walls, including the JAMES BEARD AWARD.









That roasted pig reminded me of Lord of the Flies... other than that, there were great coconut noodles with shrimp, tofu and peanut sauce, vegetarian rolls, fish cakes, pickled eggplant, stir-fried cabbage, eggs boiled in soy sauce, and many more delicacies.
And dessert: Asian cookies and cakes, which I didn't have. I did have this amazing tapioca soup-ish dish... I don't know how to describe it except that it's one of those extremely sweet, condensed milk Asian desserts that I'm usually not a fan of. This, on the other hand, was probably the best thing I ate there! It was called "floating" something (not floating island), but I don't remember. Either way, the "soup" had coconut, taro, and was really sweet, and the tapioca balls floating in it were lichee, taro, and KABOCHA SQUASH. Sold.
Actually, it was Marion's birthday on the 6th (wish she'd told me), and because she's basically Arun's best friend, about 4 or 5 different cakes were brought out! But I was stuffed and stuck to the Thai stuff.
Anything else of note? Just as I suspected, Arun didn't really eat anything, but I did catch him nibbling on a piece of honeydew that somebody else had left out. Poor chefs!
The photographer there told me I should be a model! Not even kidding! I was kind of shocked. She asked if I was part Asian and I said yes. She said she was looking for more Asian models, and that she doesn't have any upcoming projects, but she took down my contact info and said she would let me know. And if that weren't strange enough, the two masseuses also came up to me and said I should be a model! They said "you have a certain grace to your posture. You hold yourself very well and you have an interesting look." I don't think I've ever felt so flattered!!
I had a headache after all the food, so we walked around the house, where there was a beautiful stream. It even started snowing a little! Sadly, we had to drive back.
ARUN HUGGED ME!
By the time I got home, it was almost dinnertime, and I didn't even want to think about food! But eventually, I did start getting a little hungry, and I basically had a "lunch for dinner" kind of thing:
A whole wheat bagel with a Laughing Cow and 2 kinds of smoked salmon (one was gravlax) and pickles
Some leftover pumpkin lentil stew
and later, an apple.
I brought my parents Arun's food.
I am so excited for Friday... Arun's Arun's Arun's...
By the way, the show that they were filming, which I don't think is usually aired on the American Food Network is called "At the Table With," if anyone's heard of it.

Pasta Party

Before I blog about Sectionals and today, I'll go back to last night's pasta party, which was a lot of fun! After practice, we headed over to the party (practice was pretty easy-- just 6 100 yard sprint sets, warm up and cool down, and we were done!) .
It was different from my party by a lot, in that it was all Italian pasta. It was cute-- my friend Aimee's (who asked specifically to be put on the blog) parents put out vegetables, pita chips, pretzels, delicious hummus, and salsa out for us to munch.
I ate a LOT of veggies and hummus.

I really liked the way the pasta and sauces were set up-- very Flat Top-ish and clever!

There were 4 different pasta shapes: corkscrew, spaghetti, rice noodles, and ravioli, and they were all served naked without sauce.
On the side there was vegetarian marinara sauce, non-vegetarian marinara, pesto, low-fat alfredo, mushrooms, chicken, tomatoes, grilled peppers, cheese, and olives, as well as a huge salad with romaine, feta, and tomatoes.
I loaded my first plate with half salad (no dressing was really needed), vegetables, pesto, marinara, and a little of each kind of pasta. The gigantic cheese ravioli hit the spot!
For my second plate, I just got refills on marinara (I could literally drink sauce... I'm weird that way), salad and vegetables :)
Despite dessert not even being the kind of dessert I usually eat, I thought I deserved it and ate it with relish.
There was store-bought angel food cake, homemade chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, strawberries, and Cool Whip.



I wanted a little of everything (except the Cool Whip) and took half a cookie, and small pieces of each cake, along with a glass of milk to wash it down.
After dinner we sang karaoke and made signs for the meet. I was so nervous! I went home and went STRAIGHT to bed, I was so exhausted.

CARB LOAD

A thousand apologies. I'm not sure why I haven't been posting as much... it's not that my interest in food is diminishing, but my interest in photographing absolutely everything I eat certainly is. Because of this, I'm going to focus on posting highlights rather than daily eating habits.
On Friday we had a pasta party at my house for swim team! It was honestly the most fun I can remember having in the past few years. 14 out of the 18 girls on the swim team showed up! After practice, we headed over to my house in groups, where my parents were already busy cooking. I owe them so much for this, since the food was fantastic. Instead of making the usually boring meat sauce and no meat sauce spaghetti, we decided to carb load Asian style.
My dad made two kinds of sauces: one with ground pork, soy sauce, ginger and garlic, and the other my favorite ji ma jiang, or sesame sauce. With your choice of sauce, you got chewy Chinese wheat noodles and could top your bowl with cucumber, bean sprouts, bok choy, and additional soy sauce/ vinaiger.
One girl is allergic to gluten, so we made her rice noodles, which I almost would rather have had.
Just in case there were people on the team who found Asian food unappealing (do those people exist?), my mom also made a simple spaghetti with a tomato and pepper sauce.
We also had salad, and people kept munching on our many varieties of Chinese candy.
It was great to be around other people that eat just as much as me! Everyone had at least two giant bowls of noodles.
Dessert was brownies and Haagen Dazs! Not at all the kind of thing I would normally have, but my eating habits are changing so much. Not at all as health crazy as I used to be, which is SUCH a good thing I can't even put it into words. My obsession used to be an obstacle in the way of enjoying food, and I couldn't take a bite of a food I didn't consider "healthy" without imagining its harmful side effects on my body as I chewed.
Speaking of which, I'm considering stopping my vegetarianism. It's become too hard to get full on what I'm eating, despite a high-calorie diet. Also, I am going a bit crazy with these limitations. On the other hand, I still have strong opinions about the meat industry and its effects on the environment, not to mention the idea of biting into somebody else's leg. The concept behind hamburgers, the number one meat dish that I crave, is so disgusting: mashing different cows' bodies together and sandwiching them on a roll.
One of my best friends is also a vegetarian and on the swim team, and feels the same way. We both want to eat only organic, humanely killed (although I still considering that an oxymoron) meat, and we want to break our vegetarianism together. We're thinking between november and december, so she can have done it for one year and I can have done it for two. I still haven't made a definitely decision. What do you think?