Shoyu ramen with pork, spinach, and bamboo shoots.
Living in the Napa Valley, I’ve long been searching for a decent bowl of ramen that doesn’t require a bridge toll. Unfortunately, there’s no realistic solution to this problem, so far as I can tell. For what it’s worth, I can at least find the Vietnamese counterpart to ramen at Pho #1 in Vallejo, which I also recommend wholeheartedly. But despite their superficial similarities, pho is not ramen, and the latter dish still requires a $5 trek across the Carquinez Bridge, if not the Golden Gate. I mention this fact [... read more ...]
The Preferred Nomenclature: Delicious.
The best Chinese food in Napa? Sounds like a trick question to me. The truth is, every Chinese restaurant in the Napa Valley is homogenized through a distinctly American filter, which is what it is. I certainly don’t mean to disparage a Napa restaurant like Wah Sing, for instance (places that have an undeniably long history here in town), for being too simple or too similar. It’s just that when Wah Sing seems to serve the same food as Mini Garden, which serves the same food as China House, well then, what’s the point [... read more ...]
So far, this pork belly project has been all cooking and no eating, but that will all change today. Although this recipe does require a couple days to prepare, once it has been braised, it actually becomes the foundation for some pretty quick meals. In the photo above, I have braised pork belly over white rice, which is a classic preparation. For the glaze, I reduced the braising liquid by about 90%, then added honey and apple cider vinegar.
For this particular dish, I like to cut nice cube-shaped pieces of pork belly. Typically, the cut of belly [... read more ...]
