These are two of my favorite Japanese appetizers. It doesn't seem to depend on where you get them as they're always delicious. Today I went to Sam's Sushi because they had outdoor seating, and I wanted a Japanese beer with my food (not legal when you're eating in your car). Agedashi tofu is a chunk of tofu that has been fried tempura style and placed in a bowl of dashi broth (which is made from seaweed and shaved bonito flakes; thus, it isn't totally vegetarian even though the fish flakes have been strained out). Today the tempura batter was sliding off the tofu, but who cares when the broth is this delicious. It was savory, a little sweet, a touch sour, and with lots of ginger (I think they added chopped up pickled ginger). It was garnished with chopped green onion and sesame seeds. The seaweed salad consisted of crunchy seaweed, a few chili flakes, some sesame seeds, and a watercress garnish. The dressing was a balance of sweet, savory, and sour. I enjoyed these appetizers with a large Orion beer, probably the only Japanese brand that is still imported from Japan.
Location: Sam's Sushi, 79485 Highway 111, La Quinta, California. Date: March 13, 2021.
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This seafood tostada was listed on the menu as “street style”, and when it arrived on my table I could see why: unlike a traditional tostada, where the toppings are piled onto a large crispy fried corn tortilla, this was a beautifully presented seafood salad with numerous small tostadas on the side. The salad was composed of sliced scallop, cooked shrimp, lime cured shrimp, cucumber, red onion, sliced avocado, and it was dressed with an oil based chile de arbol sauce with lime juice, soy sauce, and peanuts. This Mexican restaurant is also a sushi bar, so Asian influences are prevalent. I enjoyed having the two types of shrimp: the marinated ones were soft and tangy, and the cooked ones were firm. They played well together. The cucumber in the salad was diced fairly fine, and then there were whole slices for garnish. The scallop was cooked perfectly; there was nothing even close to rubbery about it. There was nice crunch from the cucumber and the tostadas. There was just a sprig or two of cilantro for garnish, and just one thin slice of avocado; personally, I could have enjoyed more of each. The dish came with fresh lime wedges for squeezing. The waitress asked if I'd like the spicy dressing on the side, but I told her to pour it over the salad like they usually do. The result was a salad so spicy that it was endorphin releasing. It hurt for a bit and then I felt really good.
Location: Barra Azul, 115 Ramona Expressway, Ste 8, Perris, California. Date: February 18, 2021. Salad with fish seems to be under represented. The one I had today was on a bed of two types of chopped lettuce and came with green bell pepper, cucumber, grapefruit sections, and a creamy lemon vinaigrette dressing. The bell pepper and cucumber were thoughtfully diced: the stronger flavored pepper was diced fairly fine and the milder cucumber was cut quite a bit larger. The sole was perfectly pan fried with a light crispy crust on the outside, and the fish itself was moist, almost creamy; it was definitely the star of the salad, but for me the grapefruit supremes came in a close second. There was crunch from the bell pepper and cucumber and sweetness and just a faint bitterness from the grapefruit. Nothing was too salty in this fresh salad: the dressing was mild and the fish was seasoned judiciously so that it could shine and not be overwhelmed. Because of the amount of sole, this salad was my main dish, and I didn't even miss the starch!
Location: French Corner Cafe, 72423 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: January 30, 2021. This salad, from The Palms Cafe, features grilled hearts of palm. I first documented it for my book “Coachella Desert Cuisine” which was published in 2017 by Lulu. Back then, my only negative comment was about the greens, some of which were wilted. Today, I'm happy to announce, the greens were perfectly fresh. They included baby spinach, red lettuce, and arugula. On top were well seasoned and moist chicken breast slices and four grilled hearts of palm that were luxuriously creamy. There were lots of canned mandarin sections for some sweetness and juiciness, halved cherry tomatoes for tang and more juiciness, and just enough chopped walnuts for crunch. The standard dressing for this salad is balsamic vinaigrette, one of my favorites, but you can order it with any other dressing you may fancy. The star of this salad are the super creamy grilled hearts of palm. This salad is juicy, savory, creamy, tangy, just a touch sweet, and with a bit of crunch. It's a fantastic salad, a whole meal, and one of my area favorites.
Location: The Palms Cafe, 69930 Highway 111 #120, Rancho Mirage, California. Date: December 26, 2020. This salad consisted of sauteed shrimp, mango, pineapple, coconut, and mixed baby greens. The six tail on shrimp were perfectly sauteed for maximum succulence. The mango was unripe but that works in salad (in Mexico unripe mango is served with lime juice, salt, and chili powder), and the cubes provided a nice crunch. The pineapple pieces added fruitiness and sweetness, and the whole salad was sprinkled with shredded coconut (which was a visual and textural component). I detected some finely chopped and sauteed tomato and onion which I think gave the salad more depth of flavor. The dressing was creamy, sweet, and tangy, but for my taste it could have been even more tangy. This dish was fresh and tropical, and even though it was a salad, for me it was a lovely shrimp dish.
Location: French Corner Cafe, 72423 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: November 14, 2020. This was a collaboration between myself and my friend in San Diego. He had a beef steak that he wanted cooked, but he didn't want to eat it as a steak. I decided to trim it, slice it thin (against the grain, of course), and I seasoned the slices with salt and pepper and then seared them quickly on both sides. I removed them from the pan and added chopped onion and then some Madras curry powder and some Sadaf 7 spice (a Middle East spice mix whose first ingredient is allspice). I added cooked carrot and potato pieces, along with the seasoned water I'd cooked them in, and then I added coconut milk. When it had all come to a boil, I turned off the heat and added the meat and some chopped cilantro. I let it sit for an hour for the flavors to meld, and in the meantime my friend conjured up a delicious organic salad of yellow bell pepper, radish slices, cucumber, red onion, julienne of carrot, raw mushroom, romaine lettuce, candied pecans, and dried cherries, with a sweet and creamy poppy seed dressing on the side. It turned out to be a lunch that I will not soon forget.
Location: Private Home, San Diego, California. Date: October 24, 2020. The menu said that this salad would come with organic butter lettuce, red & yellow beets, matchstick radish, oranges, goat cheese, and candied pecans all dressed with champagne vinaigrette. This was all true except for the yellow beets; there were none. What they called oranges were actually fresh orange segments, and these filled in color wise for the missing yellow beet. The smooth, mild, and creamy goat cheese was piped onto the plate like whipped cream. The crisp butter lettuce and matchstick radish gave freshness, the candied pecans gave crunch and some sweetness, and the orange segments provided juiciness. This was all you could want in a salad, yet it was fairly minimalist; there was no clutter. It was a wonderful salad that I enjoyed outdoors, of course, with a glass of sauvignon blanc that had both fruity and herbal flavors. For the carnivore, you can add chopped rotisserie chicken, and the chicken used here is humanely raised.
Location: Chicken Ranch, 515 N Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: September 12, 2020. Apart from strips of calf's liver, this French salad consisted of goat cheese, tomato, baby greens, mushroom, and a fried egg. The creamy goat cheese and the halved cherry tomatoes added tang, the liver was well done (no blood leaking into the salad), and even though I really like liver, the star of this salad, and what really made it cohesive, was the goat cheese. The mushroom was lightly sauteed champignon slices. The fried egg had a hard yolk, which was initially disappointing, but then I realized that a runny yolk may not have worked as well with the salad. The dressing was creamy and tangy but not at all overpowering. I like including liver in my diet because it's the best source of vitamin B, and even people who don't like liver may enjoy this salad.
Location: French Corner Café, 72423 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: August 29, 2020. The last time I was at the Chicken Ranch, the owner told me that his favorite item on the menu was the Chinese Chicken Salad, so that's what I went for. It's nice to eat chicken here because you know where it comes from; it's local, free range, and it's raised humanely without resorting to antibiotics and hormones. The salad consists of napa cabbage, red and yellow bell pepper strips, carrot strips, orange segments, daikon sprouts, black sesame seeds, wonton chips, and orange ginger vinaigrette made with rice wine vinegar, for a touch of sourness, and grapeseed oil. This substantial salad, which is a whole balanced meal, is crisp from the veggies, it has crunch from the fried wonton skins, sweetness from the fresh orange segments, and the chicken is moist, the flavors are balanced, and it's not over dressed. There's some subtle heat from the ginger in the dressing, and I got more from the black pepper that was ground table side. My favorite part was the burst of juicy sweetness from the orange segments, especially when paired with a crispy wonton chip. One can only do outdoor dining now, which actually enhanced the experience.
Location: The Chicken Ranch, 515 N Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: August 8, 2020. You have your choice of meat with this salad, and I chose pulled pork. The salad consisted of chopped hearts of romaine, avocado, sweet corn, black beans, thinly sliced red onion, halved grape tomatoes, diced red bell pepper, three small fried onion rings, and a corn muffin on the side along with my choice of dressing (BBQ ranch). The lettuce was crisp, there was some creaminess from the perfectly ripe avocado, and some tang from the dressing and tomato, but the pulled pork was the star of this salad: it was smoky with some sweet BBQ sauce on it, and the BBQ flavor was also enhanced by the BBQ ranch dressing. The cornbread was a bit too sweet for my liking, but I detected some ginger in it, and that had me going back for more. The onion rings, that they call onion straws, were crispy with good onion flavor; I'll call them some of the best onion rings I've had. Since this place is also a brewery, I accompanied my salad with a pint of Blackfin Lager, a German style beer that was a mild balance of malty, sweet, and bitter. I enjoyed my refreshing meal outside, and when I went inside to the bar, and met the owner, things got even more interesting. His name is Lucky Callender, and he's the son of the late Don Callender who founded Marie Callender's, the restaurant chain famous for pies that he named after his mother (Lucky's grandmother). Don's pies are featured on the menu at Babe's.
Location: Babe's Bar-B-Que & Brewery, 71800 Hwy 111, Bldg A176, Rancho Mirage, California. Date: June 20, 2020. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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