Few days ago I had a very satisfying dinner at my friend's place,
Chinese spicy hot pot!
Dumping all the ingredients into spicy broth filled with chili oil and spices,
To bring it up to another level,
You can mix and match different sauces to make your ultimate dipping sauce,
My stomach was almost as big as Himalayas,
No no no, it was almost like a giant volcano that was gonna explode any moment.
In order to calm my belly down a little bit,
The very next morning, I made five colored veggies fried rice,
Let's stay on the healthy route for at least 3 days?
Ingredients (3 to 4 plates)?
2 1/2 cups of brown rice
1/3 cup of dried wood ear
2 shitake mushroom
1/2 cup shimeji mushroom
1/2 onion
1/2 canned corns
1 can of tuna (drained out the liquid)
1/3 cup of cooked salmon flakes (it's ok if you don't have it)
1 small carrot
1 stalk of scallion
Some Japanese light soy sauce
Some roasted white sesame seeds
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper/white pepper
How?
Dried wood ear needs to be rinsed and soaked in water before cooking,
So give them a quick rinse and soak in lukewarm water for about 15 minutes,
Afterwards, drain the water and cut into small pieces, set aside.
Dice the scallion, onion, and mushrooms into smaller cubes/pieces,
Cook the brown rice according to package instruction.
I usually use more water when cooking brown rice since it tends to be dryer than regular white rice.
Drizzle some olive oil in a large pan, toss in chopped onions,
Sprinkle some salt and black pepper, give it a quick stir, cook till the onions turned translucent,
Toss in the scallions, cook for another 10 seconds,
Toss in chopped carrot and wood ear, cook for about 20 seconds,
Add 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce,
I actually used a type of Japanese "soup base,"
It's similar to soy sauce, but infused with the flavors from other ingredients such as mushrooms or katsuo.
Let the carrot cooked in the sauce for a little bit longer,
Once that's done, toss in chopped mushrooms and corns,
Add about 1 more tablespoon of light soy sauce into the mixture,
Mix well, there should be some liquid present in the pan,
That's good, no worries, once we add the rice in, all the liquid will be absorbed by the rice.
Cook the mushrooms for about 1 minute,
Mix in canned tuna and salmon flakes,
You don't really need salmon flakes,
I was just too greedy and thought that one tiny can of tuna won't be enough (especially having such meaty spicy hot pot dinner the day before),
Cook for a little bit longer, taste it and see if more salts are needed,
It should be on the salty side because the flavor will get "diluted" once we add the rice in.
When the mixture is ready, turn the heat to medium low.
Add the cooked rice in 3 batches, don't dump it in all at once,
Mix the rice well with the sauces and ingredients for every batch,
During the mixing process,
The sauce should be gradually absorbed by the rice, turning them into tiny light brown goodies.
Sprinkle some roasted white sesame seeds before serving,
Some white pepper or sriracha sauce is also good with this dish.
Let's see,
Wood ear - black
Corn - yellow
Carrot - red
Scallion - green
Onion - white? translucent?
Mushrooms - black and white
Sesame seeds - white
So many colors, so many vegetables, so healthy!
This is my "detox" or "de-oil" food for at least 3 days straight!
By the way,
I found this link below that will calculate the daily veggies needed based on your age, gender, and physical activity:
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/
Go give it a try,
I found out that I'm actually eating way less veggies than I'm supposed to be...
Well...guess it's time to catch up!
Cindy's Rating: 8
First Chapter:
http://foodmakesmehappy.blogspot.com/2010/07/sls-hotel-beverly-hills-trilogy-first.html
Second Chapter:
http://foodmakesmehappy.blogspot.com/2010/07/sls-hotel-beverly-hills-trilogy-second.html
10 p.m.
12th Course: Japanese Baby Peaches
The little green things are Japanese baby peaches, how cute is that?!
This dish was served with Burrata cheese,
It's a type of fresh Italian cheese,
Imagine the flavor of creamy Mozzarella cheese then you'll get how Burrata tastes like.
13th Course: Hot & Cold Foie Soup with Corn
Cold foam on the top and hot soup on the bottom,
Scoop your bite all the way down to the end and enjoy it all at once,
Nice contrast of flavors,
The sweetness from the corn also has a strong presence in this dish,
Definitely my top three favorites of the night.
10:30 p.m.
14th Course: Norwegian Cigalas
The little cup in the back contains lobster head broth,
Intense flavor, almost comes with a wee bit bitterness,
Not a big fan of it.
15th Course: Not Your Everyday Caprese
Kind of like regular caprese reconstruction,
SAAM applied the same spherification technique here used for the black olives,
As a result, you get a small liquefied mozzarella cheese ball,
The sensation of cheese burst in your mouth is..."fun!"
16th Course: Kurobuta Pork Belly
Kuro means black, buta means pig/pork.
Served with honey lemon vinaigrette and baby vegetables,
Look at that baby zucchini flower, so adorable.
This dish is good, but I tried pork belly from Bouchon by Thomas Keller before,
His was better.
17th Course: Wagyu Beef Cheeks
The three highest quality beef from Japan are:
Wagyu, Kobe, and Matsusaka.
Wagyu and Kobe are more common in the United States,
I haven't really seen Matsusaka here yet (hopefully we'll get some soon, it's so yummy!).
This dish was served with passion fruit seed and pumpkin seed oil,
On the side, porcini onion and mandarin orange.
Meat itself was awesome, almost melt in your mouth,
Sauce-wise, so so, I couldn't get away with that sticky, oily texture on my tongue.
18th Course: Summer White Truffle Risotto
Extra order of the night since SAAM had white truffles from Italy that night,
Very "truffle-y" with al dente risotto.
11:30 p.m.
19th Course: Philly Cheesesteak
Served by a small bronze monkey.
The bread itself is very thin, with gooey cheese in the center,
Philly cheesesteak reinterpretation.
20th Course: Dragon's Breath Popcorn
Fun, fun, fun dish!
The waiter tossed the popcorn into nitrogen liquid,
Moments after, we were asked to chew it with our mouths closed immediately,
A mirror was also provided so we can have a good look of ourselves,
But why "dragon's breath?"
I think you get the idea here.
21st Course: Rose Clementine
Served with rose water foam,
Absolutely loved that foam.
I recalled that the "American Beauty" from Extraordinary Dessert in San Diego was one of my favorite drinks, and it was made with rose water also,
I think I'm just in love with rose water, such elegant aroma.
12...midnight
22nd Course: Lychee and Coffee
Coffee jelly on the bottom with lychee crumble and white chocolate.
23rd Course: Sexy Little Sweets
Little sweets infused with Saffron, passion fruits...
Up to this point, it was way passed midnight,
My stomach was full so pardon me,
I didn't even try all the bonbons from this plate...
This might be my first time say...too much sweet stuff...
My long 4 hours journey at SAAM came to an end,
And that doesn't include the time passed at Bar Centro before our dinner reservation,
Wanna try another 20-something courses tasting menu?
Nah...at least not within the next 6 months.
Cindy's Rating: 7
SAAM @ SLS Hotel
465 South La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048
http://www.slshotels.com/
http://www.sbe.com/sls/bazaar/
