One of the things I like about festivals is the high concentration of food booths in a small area. Contrary to mall food culture, in my experience, there's always been some degree of cultural identity with food trailers and booths that leaves one with the feeling "this is awesome and I can't get this anywhere else.
Austin, as of late has been banking on the trailer food culture. Or maybe it's because we're in a recession and they can't afford to lease a building. My honey plum forwarded me this blog on a pan Asian booth at the back of a bar on the East side of town. Everything looked good, I'll give it that credit. The beet fries were fabulous in both flavor (mildly sweet) and texture.
The pork buns were a scam. Seriously. It may not look like your typical Char Sui Bao - but it is. With cucumber. It's Chinese food in overpriced, "pan Asian" clothing. What sucked more was getting less and paying more for it. Really, to people who are actually amazed by this, go to a dim sum place and get Char Sui Baos and ask for some cucumber on the side.
The Curry Buns tasted like some odd kitchen experiment that my little sister could have crapped out. I think the main challenge with those is to achieve the crispy texture while not maintaining all the grease involved. Even then, the innards were not that impressive. You know the peanut sauce that comes with spring rolls? Slather that on a deep fried bun and top it with some of those greens that come with your Pho.
I'm not fond of the gourmet street meat movement. I'd imagine there's more discontent to come.
addendum:
I failed to mention that my great white pumpkin of a boyfriend has been around my family eating events long enough to discern what good Asian food is and even he agreed that East Side King was over-hyped. Next time, we're going to the trailer that blares out the tejano music. >:)
Monday, February 22, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
#10: MT Supermarket saves the day!
I had an appointment today in an area very close to the Chinatown area of Austin. After my appointment, I decided to go to the MT Supermarket to get some cake - which, unfortunately, they didn't have. I decided to go looking for pandan extract for my buns.
You know, you should never assume that other cultures are vastly different from your own. I finally found the rack that said "pandan extract" on the pricing, but I couldn't find anything that looking like it might be it. I don't understand Indonesian and I assumed a bottle that said "vaneli" to be the pandan extract based on the smell. Only later did it occur to me that it was surrounded by vanilla extract and that pandan extract is mainly known by the name pandan. Sigh. Well, just when I was ready to go, I decided to look around the cash registers because unlike regular impulse buy sections, oriental markets have a bunch of weird stuff there - lo and behold, my madness worked and I found my pandan extract.
Of course I wasn't brilliant enough to think that the bottles were not sold in packs of 6.
So I ended up buying 5 bottles more than I needed due to sheer ignorance. Anyone interested in a bottle of pandan extract? $2 per bottle +s/h. Among other cool things I found:
Yes. Octopus flavored chips. They're awesome.
You know, you should never assume that other cultures are vastly different from your own. I finally found the rack that said "pandan extract" on the pricing, but I couldn't find anything that looking like it might be it. I don't understand Indonesian and I assumed a bottle that said "vaneli" to be the pandan extract based on the smell. Only later did it occur to me that it was surrounded by vanilla extract and that pandan extract is mainly known by the name pandan. Sigh. Well, just when I was ready to go, I decided to look around the cash registers because unlike regular impulse buy sections, oriental markets have a bunch of weird stuff there - lo and behold, my madness worked and I found my pandan extract.
Of course I wasn't brilliant enough to think that the bottles were not sold in packs of 6.
So I ended up buying 5 bottles more than I needed due to sheer ignorance. Anyone interested in a bottle of pandan extract? $2 per bottle +s/h. Among other cool things I found:
Yes. Octopus flavored chips. They're awesome.
Monday, February 15, 2010
#9: Hot and Spicy Pickles
Happy Valentines Day! Happy Lunar New Years! I've been in San Antonio lately as is the tradition with my family during the Lunar New Year. I would've liked to do a piece on things to do in Austin during the Lunar New Year, but that will probably never be the case. Picking up off this, Chinese cuisine, as experienced by my family has this strong, but not quite excessive, focus on crazy flavor combination. As such, it takes an experienced and open palate to appreciate hot and spicy pickles.
For future reference, whenever my friend and I end up at Phil's Icehouse our new approach towards narrowing down the menu has come to: look for hot and spicy pickles.
Like many things in life, greatness is in the details. Before, I would look for well seasoned meat, meat that could stand alone. In retrospect, even the best meat patty never stopped me from smothering it with ketchup and mustard - there's not much point in searching for meat that stands alone if I refuse to let it, it's like going to the best sushi place in town only to cover the work with a disrespectful amount of soy sauce.
The thing about pickles, dill pickles in particular, is that they're already a little sweet and a little sour to begin with. When you add hot and spicy to that mix, your taste buds go crazy and have a fiesta.
For future reference, whenever my friend and I end up at Phil's Icehouse our new approach towards narrowing down the menu has come to: look for hot and spicy pickles.
Like many things in life, greatness is in the details. Before, I would look for well seasoned meat, meat that could stand alone. In retrospect, even the best meat patty never stopped me from smothering it with ketchup and mustard - there's not much point in searching for meat that stands alone if I refuse to let it, it's like going to the best sushi place in town only to cover the work with a disrespectful amount of soy sauce.
The thing about pickles, dill pickles in particular, is that they're already a little sweet and a little sour to begin with. When you add hot and spicy to that mix, your taste buds go crazy and have a fiesta.
Friday, February 5, 2010
#8: Monk Parrots
picture from www.foreverwherever.com
I was driving back from the HEB in the Hancock Center earlier and as I was heading towards the parking lot exit, I saw a little green parrot. It' been a while since I've been to the inter-mural fields where, according to my biochem teacher, a colony of parrots has taken over the trees. The Hancock Center is not that far from the inter-mural fields. Once I turned out of the parking lot, about 10-15 more green parrots flew from the ground up into a tree. Nothing like seeing some green on a cold, overcast, sucky winter day like this.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
#7: Apartments?
I'm coming to the end of my time here with Rainier Management and I know I'm going to miss it here mainly because I know I won't enjoy every second living with my sister in such close quarters. I'm expecting a fair amount of my clothes to disappear for a period of time and then comeback in a pile on my bed smelling like pit (as in arm). Anyway, given that I haven't been out lately, I may as well dwell on the past and this post is dedicated to all the places I've lived before and management companies I've had to deal with.
The first apartment I ever lived in was Oak Hollow Apartments (Managed by the Lynd Company). It being my first apartment, my big deal was equity. Most apartment places have a setup where there's one master bedroom and a sort of guest bedroom, I wasn't going for that. What I liked about Oak Hollow was that they had a fairly equal two bedroom setup, also a very awesome canyon view. Another good thing, if you don't have pets, but want some - they also have raccoons.
Sometimes, the water pressure would drop and the water itself would trickle out. The time it took for maintenance to fix these things was a little long also. The management people were always nice though. A rotten potato of mine that had turned black actually stained a pantry shelf, but my roommate and I had no extra fines.
This experience taught me that I get motion sick on buses real easily. I had to move closer to campus and this resulted in my involvement with Marquis Management. All of their properties are within walking distance of campus, which I liked - I was able to get in a good morning walk and occasionally a good morning run to class. They responded to service calls fast and the management was easy to talk to. When I had a problem with a stove, they just replaced the stove. Tub peeling? they replaced the tub. One thing though, that I was also aware of while signing the lease, I knew that no matter what, my roommate and I would get back the full deposit.
Knowing that I didn't need to live so close to campus anymore, I was brought into contact with Rainier Management. So far, they've been great, maintenance is few fast. There are so many apartment cats I've been in contact with. The management people are nice to me. I get holiday treat bags too :) No word yet on the deposit since I haven't moved out yet. Truthfully, I wish I wasn't moving out. I like my big empty dance floor of a living room, but money dictates and beggars can't be choosers.
The first apartment I ever lived in was Oak Hollow Apartments (Managed by the Lynd Company). It being my first apartment, my big deal was equity. Most apartment places have a setup where there's one master bedroom and a sort of guest bedroom, I wasn't going for that. What I liked about Oak Hollow was that they had a fairly equal two bedroom setup, also a very awesome canyon view. Another good thing, if you don't have pets, but want some - they also have raccoons.
Sometimes, the water pressure would drop and the water itself would trickle out. The time it took for maintenance to fix these things was a little long also. The management people were always nice though. A rotten potato of mine that had turned black actually stained a pantry shelf, but my roommate and I had no extra fines.
This experience taught me that I get motion sick on buses real easily. I had to move closer to campus and this resulted in my involvement with Marquis Management. All of their properties are within walking distance of campus, which I liked - I was able to get in a good morning walk and occasionally a good morning run to class. They responded to service calls fast and the management was easy to talk to. When I had a problem with a stove, they just replaced the stove. Tub peeling? they replaced the tub. One thing though, that I was also aware of while signing the lease, I knew that no matter what, my roommate and I would get back the full deposit.
Knowing that I didn't need to live so close to campus anymore, I was brought into contact with Rainier Management. So far, they've been great, maintenance is few fast. There are so many apartment cats I've been in contact with. The management people are nice to me. I get holiday treat bags too :) No word yet on the deposit since I haven't moved out yet. Truthfully, I wish I wasn't moving out. I like my big empty dance floor of a living room, but money dictates and beggars can't be choosers.
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