kimchi -

by BS

Artsy Photo of the Day: Kimchi, Meet Egg

Spotted at Tasty n Sons in Portland, Oregon: house-made kimchi, sauteed vegetables, brown rice and a sunny side up egg.

by Emily

Beet Fries, Pork Belly and Tongue Buns

Pork belly is having a serious moment in Austin. I know it’s been a trend for awhile now (what, the past 3? 5? years…?) and I know I recently gushed over Tacodeli’s pork belly tacos. But seriously! I had never seen SO. MUCH. Pork belly love until I moved down here. This is evident in the popularity of East Side King, Top Chef winner Paul Qui’s Asian fusion food truck with three locations in East Austin. Ask anyone what they like about ESK and the answer is always the same: “oh my god, the pork belly!”And yes, it’s good. Really good.

I’ll happily state that East Side King is one of the best, if not THE best, food trailers in Austin. Their original trailer at The Liberty is my favorite. To be slightly controversial, though, I will say this: I think the ESK pork belly hype unfairly overshadows some of the other delights on their menus. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely amazing, but I feel as though most people discount the fried chicken and even some other less obviously delicious options like the tongue buns and beet fries.

Want to see what really, really, REALLY good food from a truck looks like? Of course you do. (I’m really trying hard to restrain myself from making any sort of obvious “food porn lol buns” remarks here.) Photos a the j.

Deviled Eggs Gone Wild

Remember when deviled eggs were simple, mayo-soaked apps your aunt used to make for family picnics? Not anymore. Inventive restaurant chefs and food bloggers around the country have taken good old deviled eggs to a whole new level. Here are our top 10 favorite new-school deviled eggs.

10. Decadent Deviled Eggs

There’s no rule that deviled eggs have to be hard boiled. Wait, is there? Regardless, chef Thomas Dunklin of B&O American Brasserie in Baltimore doesn’t abide by it, soft boiling his eggs and deviling them Maryland style, with crab. Read his recipe for decadent deviled eggs with crab salad and mustard aioli here.

9. Kimchi and Bacon Deviled Eggs

Blogger Momofukufor2 whips up these deviled eggs filled with the ingredient of the moment — kimchi — and the ingredient of every moment — bacon. Hungry? Read the kimchi and bacon deviled eggs recipe here.

8. Lobster Deviled Eggs

Founding Farmers restaurant in Washington, D.C. takes the yolk out of their deviled egg completely (again — is this allowed?) We’re gonna say yes, because they refill it with a mound of poached lobster meat. It’s one of four creative deviled eggs served at Founding Farmers — read the recipes for all four here.

7. Dessert Deviled Eggs

Still have leftover Easter candy? Cakespy uses them up in the most delicious looking deviled eggs we’ve seen yet: Cadbury’s creme eggs filled with vanilla buttercream.

6. Smoky Deviled Eggs

Sundried tomatoes and paprika lend a more exciting color palette to A Couple Cooks’ smoky deviled eggs, garnished with crispy shallots. Recipe here.

Next: Top 5 Deviled Eggs Gone Wild

in Bacon / Eggs / Featured / Lists / Pig / Restaurants / Top 10 Lists / Trends 3 comments

by Borracho

Super Bowl Grub: Kimchi and Apple Brats

I have never been one for slow cookers. I understand the appeal and do not deny the results but I typically take little satisfaction from putting all my ingredients in a crock pot and letting it do all the work. That being said, the Super Bowl is the slow cooker’s — well — Super Bowl. When you have a bunch of friends coming over, nothing is easier than having a portion of the game day eats just simmering away without needing much attention.

And what better to have simmering than sausage? Recently the governors of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin made the typical Super Bowl bet of food/drink from each respective state. Included in Wisconsin’s bet is a selection of bratwurst, cheese and beer. Besides making me want to visit Wisconsin for the first time in my life, it also had me craving some brats. But instead of the typical sauerkraut and brats, I decided to top mine with Korean kimchi, the spicy, funky Korean cabbage dish that is basically what sauerkraut wants to be when it grows up.

Cheese in the Far East

Even though I’ve been home from Japan and Korea for about a month, I’m still seeing different friends for the first time and telling travel stories. I’m often asked what my favorite meal was or what country’s food I liked better or what was the craziest thing I ate. Often I mention the one instance 80 and I tasted cheese in the Far East as one of our best dishes.

We were shopping and strolling in the area near Seoul Women’s University. It was drizzling. Kinda chilly. Comfort was in need. It became our ritual to walk in, sit down and then leave restaurants if we couldn’t maneuver the menu or waitstaff. Because sometimes even hand gestures get lost in translation.

My co-worker Sherry told me about her sister’s views on Korean food while she lived in the country. The sister wasn’t fond of Korean food but enjoyed the country’s take on Italian food. 80 and I really did, for the most part, dine on each country’s cuisine. But at this moment, with seventy-five percent of our trip past, we needed something a tinge familiar. We needed cheese.

We walked into an Italian restaurant but then quickly left. We couldn’t communicate and weren’t up for the long batter of guesses. We snuck out. And instead we found college grub. Fusion college grub.

This place would fucking kill in the US. Huge bowls of hot rice, options of kimchi, veggies, chicken, whatever, then topped with melted mozzarella. Stir together with metal chopsticks. Awesomeness. Spicy, gooey, stomach-coating. Perfect drunk or hungover food. Plus, this place serves a side cup of broth to start. God I miss broth at every meal.

(PS–I hated Korean chopsticks: metal and thin. Hard to hold, become slippery easily. )

in Food Travel 8 comments

by gansie

Patrons Shouldn’t Have This Much Power

Tiring of kimchi, the fiery fermented cabbage side dish that is served at every single meal in Korea, we decided to try another cuisine on one of our last nights in Seoul. We thought Thai would be a good choice: how does one Asian country create another Asian country’s food?

Dilemma ensued. When trying something familiar in a new setting, does one (a) choose something they’ve never had before, something one cannot get in her country of dwelling or (b) choose a favorite dish to see how it differs? I choose (a) and 80 choose (b).

At Pattaya I didn’t love my super spicy (did they sneak kimchi in there!) vegetable-packed noodle dish (the fettuccine looking noodles were flavorless, which is an uncommon occurrence compared to the rest of my meals in Japan and Korea), but 80’s red curry was creamy with an appropriate amount of heat. I should have went with my fav, Pad See Ew!

Because we took such a long time deciding, the waitress dropped off our drinks (Soju!) and then never came back for the rest of the order. It was late and all of the other tables had eaten, which we found to be the case most nights. We didn’t find a place for dinner until after 8:30 or later and I think every night we were the last to order. Guess they haven’t been to Barcelona.

Anyway, we were waiting and waiting and then I see this granite looking block on our table. It’s not a salt shaker. It has Korean writing on it and then says the word “Mic” over a button.

Are we mic-ed? Can they hear our conversation about the slow service? Should we push the button?