Hot Doug’s (The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium) was really the ONLY place Matt wanted to go to during our Chicago visit. Our conversations leading up to the trip often went like this:

Kayoko: Should we go to Burt’s Place for pizza?

Matt: Sure, I’ll leave it up to you. But we’re going to Hot Doug’s, right?

Kayoko: How about Avec?

Matt: I’ve been, but will go again. Let’s just make sure we get to Hot Doug’s.

Kayoko: I’m thinking we should try Kuma’s Corner, for their ginormous burger.

Matt: Great. As long as we go to Hot Doug’s.

So, not much choice in the matter– Hot Doug’s was mandatory. We took a cab out to the Avondale section on Chicago, which was quite far from the center of town. And guess what? Our cab broke down on the highway! It was definitely a prized moment, me and Matt on the side of the freeway trying to hitch a ride into town. Hilarious!

A gentile Chicagoan pulled over and picked us up– the people in this town are just SO NICE! I still can’t get over it. The genuine-seemingness of the Obamas really all makes sense now.

We made it to Hot Doug’s in one piece. The Sausage Superstore!!!

It was only 11:30am, and take a look at this line! Jesus Christ!

We waited a good half hour– all for the love of the encased meat. The inside was bright and kitchy. Really unique and so adorable!

Menu.

Duck fat fries on Fridays and Saturdays only. It was Friday– lucky us!

The guy taking orders reminded me of Henry Rollins slash Elvis Costello. Great mashup. I really, really regret not getting one of their tshirts.

SAUSAGE TIME!

Let’s start with the basics: THE DOG, which was a typical Chi-town style with “all the trimmings”: tomatoes, onions, housemade neon green relish, celery salt. This might be one of the best things I ate during the entire trip. That relish was out of control– Matt, who doesn’t even really like pickles, enjoyed this.

Special #1: Smoked jalapeño cheddar pork sausage with mole and jalapeño jack cheese. This was super spicy, almost too spicy, as it just really overwhelmed all the other flavors. The mole added a nice smokiness, though.

Special #2: Smoked pork linguica, saffron rouille, and queso Iberico. Que delicioso! So creamy. This was Matt’s favorite.

The fries were great– the duck fat was pretty subtle, you couldn’t really tell one way or the other. The actual potato itself, with the skin and everything, was perfectly cut and fried.

I walked into the bathroom and look what was painted on the wall!!!

ENCASED MEAT AMERICAN GOTHIC!!! So clever. There was a play on Magritte’s The Treachery of Images in the other bathroom, which I peeped. I believe it said Ceci n’est pas une hot dog, with an image of a hot dog. Love this place!

The REAL American Gothic, by the way, is at the Art Institute of Chicago. It was so awesome to finally see it.

More wall photo fun.

This was a fun excursion all around– from the cab breakdown to the encased meats, the fries, the whole vibe of the place. They don’t serve beer, though, which was super disappointing. Work on that beer and wine license please, Doug!

HOT DOUG’S
3324 North California
Chicago, IL
T: 773.279.9550

Top photo by Matt K.

It’s sugar snap pea season! These beans are so sweet and only need a minute in the frying pan, which means it’s perfect for us LASYASSES.

Remember when I wrote about chinese sausages, aka lap cheong a couple weeks back? Let’s add those, and a clove of garlic.

Deveining, or “stringing” the peas is the NOT-so-lazy part. But trust me, getting rid of it will make the eating experience that much sweeter since this part so hard to chew through. Do you know what I’m talking about? The stringy piece that runs along the back of the pod? Like this.

Rip the entire vein off. You get a sink full of these cute triangular, curly-Q pieces.

Prep Time: 5 minutes.

I like to thinly slice the lap cheong diagonally. You don’t need too much of it, since this dish is mainly about the peas. The sausage is just for added flavor and texture.

Alright, add a teaspoon or so of oil (vegetable, olive, whatever) to the frying pan, and add chopped garlic. Remember to add the garlic while the pan is still cold, or else the garlic burns too quickly.

Once the garlic starts browning, add the peas.

Toss for about a minute. Salt, pepper, add a tiny touch of sesame oil, for an extra sumthin’-sumthin’.

That’s it, folks!

One of my loyal Monday night regulars brought me these on the other week. A bag full of Chinese sausages! YAY! He grew up in  San Francisco and swears that this one butcher in Chinatown, Mao Lee, makes them the best (somewhere around Grant and Kearny).

He brought me the regular pork kind, and liver, which is a bit darker in color. I had never had the liver version before, and it’s surprisingly not too gamey and liverish, and is quite easy to eat.

This is quite a staple in Hong Kong cooking, and prevalent in many dim sum dishes. Wiki says that countries all over Asia have their very own versions of the “Chinese sausage”. Oh, the irony.

They came in twos, fastened by a piece of twine and carefully knotted together. I love this.

What I love most about this is that it adds just the right amount of flavor to a dish, without having to use too many. I’ve been slicing them up really thinly and sauteeing them with vegetables. I’ll do a Lazyass Cookin’ post with them soon.

Let’s not get into the nutritional value of these sausages.

Last week I was invited to dinner at the Farm on Adderley in Brooklyn and by chance there was a special dinner going on, so we signed up for it! The butchers from Fleisher’s in Kingston, NY were hosting the prix-fixe meal at a handful of communal tables in the back room. Their shop supplied all the meat and the shop’s founders, Josh and Jessica, spoke about their dedication to local, sustainable meat.

Sometimes I love how small the world is (or maybe just living in New York) because I happen to be reading the book Cleaving right now, and Josh and Jessica are two of the main characters. They are as cool in real life as in the book and I hope to visit their shop someday soon. The menu was delicious but quite pork heavy- there was even bacon in the dessert! My favorite course was the butternut squash soup (above) that had a juicy pile of pork in the middle.

I love chicken livers, but battered in panko and fried???? HOLY HOTCAKES! I could not stop– I think I ate this entire plate all by my lonesome. No sharing, sorry!

The nuttiness of the livers were totally enhanced by the hot crunch of the outer layer– that unmistakable flavor of fried food. Look at how perfectly they’re fried! Golden but not soggy. Crispy but not burnt. Big fat pieces perfect for picking up with your fingers and biting into.

Crispy on the outside, with a special treasure on the inside. This is true happiness.

Check out the rest of our feast here. We definitely ordered the entire menu– watch out, there’s two menus floating around so don’t forget to peak at both. I have to say that the food is incredible at Magnolia. They’ve got all my favorites: oysters, charcuterie and a kickass burger.

And now that I’ve discovered these fried chicken livers, I’m set for life. These will definitely be at my L’ultimo Cena (aka Last Supper).

Get to Magnolia Pub asap– Strong Beer Month only goes until the end of the month! The Thunderpussy Barley Wine was such carmelized goodness.

They’re not kidding about these beers being strong, either– now I understand why they call is “Strong Beer Month”, as silly as that sounds. I was so wasted after three beers, it was embarrassing.

I’m gonna try to have more of these Umamimart Happy Hours, we had so much fun on Monday! Thanks everyone for coming out!

MAGNOLIA PUB AND BREWERY
1398 Haight Street (at Masonic)
San Francisco, CA
T: 415.864.7468

PREQUEL

Umamiventure #22: St. George Spirits & Hangar One Vodka (SF Bay Area)

What’s the best accompaniment to whiskey? BBQ all the way! As I’ve already told you, the very first time I tasted St. George whiskey was at Fette Sau, a barbecue joint in Brooklyn. So it was only appropriate that we complet the Umamiventure with some ribs, brisket and corn bread. YAH!

After St. George, we all went over to Everett & Jones, an East Bay institution for barbeque. It was the perfect way to end the day, as we were all pretty starving after the tour, and it was only a five minute drive from the distillery.

The place wasn’t so packed when we walked in at 3pm. I had reserved a big table, so they were ready for us– the vibe was super casual, with the carving station right in the middle of the restaurant.

THE BEER

KAYOKO
We started off with a couple pitchers of their house beer, the Saucy Sistah Ale. With a name like that, you’ve gotta drink it by the pitcher-full. Here’s a shot of the beer poster in the window, by kipbot. EPIC.

ENRIC
Awesome Saucey Sistah. Where can I get that? I want to see the bottled beer!

KAYOKO
I’m reading that it is brewed by the founder of the now defunct Brothers Brewing Co., Ralston Brown. More here.

THE FEAST

We ordered two platters of ribs, and two combo platters of the brisket, links, chicken and more ribs. Did I mention we got ribs?

THE RIBS

KAYOKO
I didn’t take a lot of pics, but did capture the best part of the meal– the ribs! The meat fell right off the bone, and tasted of smokey tender FLESH. Not stinky at all, then way bad ribs can be.

LIZ
I am thinking about those ribs right now. The sauce is delish. Mmmmmmmm ribs!

JAMES
The ribs were firm, meaty and saucy.

THE LINKS

KAYOKO
Sorry that pic doesn’t do the links justice. They were excellent– they sort of fell apart in your mouth but were very flavorful.

LIZ
The hot links were especially good. Normally I wouldn’t choose that off the menu but since we got a little of everything I am glad I did try them.

THE SAUCE

ENRIC
The hot Master Q sauce was quite spicy but not so much in your nose as it is in the back of the tongue. It was the key component, 100% enhanced with Wonderbread. Thought I might have liked some toasted wonder bread for more enhanced flavors– in Spain we have the torrades which are used to soak the meat juices after cooked.

JAMES
My favorite was the spicy barbecue sauce, sweet and hot. A good kind of hurt.

KAYOKO
They didn’t skimp on the sauce, which I appreciated. It was tart, smokey and sweet going in, with a touch of piquant at the end. It was a rollercoaster in my mouth.

THE MENUS

ENRIC
MC Hammer, Snoop Dogg with Bigga Figga, whoa!

KAYOKO
If I recall correctly, my menu had a pic of Bill Clinton on it. Or maybe it was Hillary. Pretty awesome either way.

FINAL THOUGHTS

ENRIC
This is a place with character.

JAMES
Everett & Jones was a big surprise.

LIZ
Everett & Jones ROCKED.

IDO
Perfect choice on the follow-up BBQ after St. George. Meat meat and more meat. All washed down with a nice couple of pitchers of Saucy Sistah Ale.

KAYOKO
Excellent food, great beer, accomodates big parties, and all affordable (we spent $25 each I think). By far the best barbecue I’ve had in the Bay Area thus far. All around, it was the perfect Umamiventure. Again, thanks everyone for coming out!

EVERETT & JONES
126 Broadway (at 2nd Street)
Oakland, CA
T: 510.663.2350

*Umamiventures are organized monthly, traveling far and wide to find good, cheap grub off the beaten path. Umamiventure #23 will be at Sammy’s in NYC on Sat. 2/20. Please come out!

**Become a Facebook Fan of UM to stay updated on all future trips!

Past Umamiventures include:
1.) Ocean Jewel Restaurant – Flushing, NYC; June 2007
2.) Red Hook Ball Fields - NYC; June 2007
3.) Taste of Jackson Heights – NYC; October, 2007
4.) Sripraphai Restaurant – Woodside, NYC; November 2007
5.) WINTERMARKET – South St. Seaport; December 2007
6.) Jackson Diner- Jackson Heights, NYC; January 2008
7.) Pacificana – Sunset Park, NYC; February 2008
8.) Puerto Alegre – The Mission, SF; March 2008
9.) Dinosaur BBQ – Harlem, NYC; April 2008
10.) Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden – Astoria, NYC; May 2008
11.) Brooklyn Banh Mi Crawl – Sunset Park, NYC; August 2008
12.) Sheapshead Bay Lobster Crawl – NYC; September 2008
13.) Flushing Food Circuit – NYC; October 2008
14.) Strong Beer Month – SF; March 2009
15.) Loisaida Throwback Crawl – NYC; April 2009
16.) Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Pescadero, CA; June 2009
17.) Tomales Bay Oyster Farm – Marshall, CA; August 2009
18.) Din Tai Fung – LA; September 2009
19.) Din Tai Fung – Tokyo; September 2009
20.) Schroeder’s Oktoberfest – SF; October 2009
21.) Fish Taco Crawl – San Diego; November 2009
22.) St. George Spirits & Hangar One Vodka -  Alameda; January 2010

Ibu Oka is one of the most famous food joints on the entire island of Bali– located in a touristy area of Ubud, Ibu Oka serves some of the best suckling pig. Anthony Bourdain has been here, as have many other food celebrities. Since we stayed around Kuta, the drive was about an hour. I was told we have to go before noon, otherwise the good stuff runs out.

We arrived around 11:45am, and it wasn’t crowded.

As I was walking in, I saw this beautifully roasted as. Since I am not a celebrity, I couldn’t go to back to see the cooking process.

Although you can’t see it, they stuff a lot of herbs and blood sausage in the gut.

The restaurant, or I should say shack.

The portion isn’t too large, and this is $2.50. Apparently when locals go, they give you half off. The sauce on top kind of tasted similar to jerk sauce. Very herby and spicy.

Extra order of skin. There were two types of skin, one was just skin (middle three pieces) and almost candy-like, and the other had a bit of meat attached (outer two pieces). This was the bomb! So flavorful, and the crunchiness was just right. You can also tell how candy-like it is in the picture below. I bet it’s from the belly area since it’s hollow.

Some kind of deep fried pork parts. Eating anything deep fried, without knowing what it is, is awesome.

No wonder this place is famous. My expectation was not too high. I thought pig might be a bit stinky, but I was blown away by how succulent it was, and even the blood sausage was very clean and flavorful. I don’t know what they do to it– from what I saw on the Anthony Bourdain show, they basted it with coconut water throughout, and takes about 24 hours, yet, it was super moist.

Amazing job Ibu Oka.  Hallelujah for Babi Guling!!!

IBU OKA
Jalan Suweta, Tegal Sari No. 2
Bali, Indonesia
T: 361.976345

I do love making food like this because the stress is all gone the day you are serving people. All you have to do is re-heat, maybe toast some bread and serve so if you work like I do — the prep the night of is minimal and stress free. Also, with stews or braises the flavors are so much better when they get to “mingle” overnight.

I think there is this pre-conception that dinner parties are stressful but for me I just think of them as an excuse to try out recipes on friends last minute. I make most of these dishes the night prior to people coming over (especially the more elaborate ones) and then voila! heat and serve – I am pretty much a genius. Ha.

I didn’t chronicle every single step of the recipe but you get the point…

Table set – Morgan and Mara are comparing texts:

Mashed potatoes + the Boeuf:

Dig in!

More digging in:

Stuffing my face:

Morgan:

David:

*Samer is based in LA and is currently plowing through the Animal cookbook, Two Dudes, One Pan.

Last week I had some fresh chicken livers in the fridge (from a rooster I killed with my own bare hands!!! More about that some other time). Chicken livers are so cheap, but this was my very first time cooking with them! My mama got this new Cuisinart mixer/food processor that I wanted to try out so I thought I would try making some pate. Mmmm pate…

We all saw what happened to my caramelized onions- disaster! But never fear, I always use what I can. I basically salvaged all the pieces that had even a trace of white left in them- my dad always says that char gives you cancer and freaks out at any sign of burn marks. I actually like my food kinda burnt- especially cookies.

So I started out with the caramelized (erm, burnt) onions, and added a couple tablespoons of butter. I looked through a few recipes and just added what I thought were the right proportions, since I had very little livers. What else went in there?? Garlic, some crushed red pepper and fresh rosemary just cause I had some.

Doused all of that with some red wine and added the livers. The red wine wasn’t such a great idea, I don’t think- you’ll see why in a bit.

Stir and wait a few minutes until the livers turn pink inside.

Ok this is when everything got a little frustrating- first of all, I did not know how to work the food processor. Call me retarded, but I just couldn’t figure it out. So instead, I used the blender.

I added another tablespoon of butter and started pulsing away. Obviously not the greatest choice cause the blender just refused to puree the livers properly. Plus I totally cut up my hand from the blade when I was trying to get all the pate out. Ugh.

This is what came out- chicken liver diarrhea. I think using the red wine and the burnt onion pieces made it this very menacing dark brown color. The consistency was also kinda runny and diarrhea-like. NOT COOL.

I let it chill for a few hours and WHEW! Thanks to all the butter, it lightened the color a few shades. Now it looked a little closer to what pate looks like, and actually appetizing… kinda???

I gave it a hearty mix around for about five minute and it started to turn pasty and not so chunky. HOORAY!!!

The next morning, I smeared the pate over toast.

Then added fried eggs. Best breakfast!!!

Chicken liver diarrhea porn.

Despite all of the kitchen follies this pate went through, it ended up tasting really good!!! Because the livers were so fresh, it tasted really clean- not at all stinky or overly liver-y. The flavors of the wine, onions, garlic and herbs really went well together. I’m definitely making this again! Next time though, I’m using white wine, and caramelizing my onions without burning them!!!

Cooking is so unpredictable- full of bumpy rides and unexpected twists and turns, it’s enough to make you go crazy!!! But that’s why we love it.