Friday, October 11, 2013

Exotic LA Eats (Part 3)

This final installment was the most fun to write. Food explorers eat many things with not everything panning out. It’s those moments which you eat something so different, so unique, it forever changes your palate knowing you can never go back. These rewards are the reason we are constantly seeking but never really finding.

Parts one and two 

Live Uni - Sea Urchin is a tasty treat, live sea urchin is heaven. Sea Urchin are bottom feeding echinoderms found on the bottom of every ocean around the world. California Sea Urchins are found off the coast about 50ft deep in kelp beds. They are blackish purple to red and covered in long spines weighing about a pound. At the Quality Seafood, you pick one from the tank to be masterfully cracked opened to provide access to that deliciously sweet roe. It tastes like essence of ocean distilled into one bite. I should mention the uni still move during the entire process. Bless their little hearts - if they had any…
Quality Seafood, 130 S International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, CA 90277

Goat Birria - In most parts of the world, this meat isn’t exotic. While 70% of the world eats goat, it isn’t common in North America. Perhaps the lean qualities requiring additional care or maybe the sometimes strong flavour limit its popularity. Regardless, goat meat has quite unique flavours and El Parian exquisitely captures them with their stew. Rich, deep and succulent goat stew is accentuated with appropriate peppers and spices. One bite and you can taste the care going into this Mexican dish.
El Parian, 1528 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015

Live lobster tail sashimi - This momentous event was during the live octopus night. While live octopus proved more experience than flavour, that night's most memorable dish was lobster tail sashimi. Perhaps ignorance of its existence prevented me from trying lobster sashimi before that enlightening night, but this is absolutely worth trying. The upside down severed tail shell holds the tail meat and presented alongside the head. The taste is clean and velvety similar to raw crab but sweeter, more plentiful and a flavour that lingers just so.
Chung Hae Jin, 3470 W 6th St Ste 8A, Los Angeles, CA 90020

Immature Egg with Sac - This new discovery in Orange County is served with Chicken pho. As far as I know, Pho Dakao is the only place in SoCal serving this. Immature eggs have undeveloped shells with a bright yellow appearance. Harvested after the hen is slaughtered, these are sometimes still attached to the egg sac. The taste is like an exceptionally delicious egg yolk that is denser yet silky texture. If you like egg yolk, you will like this. Word of warning, if you cannot speak Vietnamese, expect an extremely difficult time to get these exquisite morsels of goodness and it isn't always available. The pho it comes with is also extremely tasty.
Pho Dakao, 15532 Ward St, Garden Grove, CA 92843

Foie Gras Cotton Candy - This was eaten before the unfortunate California ban on foie gras so there was a debate whether this entry should even be written. I justify this entry because the cotton candy was part of a much larger culinary experience involving some avant-garde molecular gastronomy techniques. Blending childhood memories with a very adult flavour made this dish the most memorable. Whether you choose the air bread philly cheesesteak or nitrogen margarita, it will be an experience like no other. The menu is split up by modern and traditional cooking techniques and I advise to order some heartier offerings from the traditional side. New age is cool, but it just didn't seem to provide that same level of satisfaction.
The Bazaar at SLS Hotel, 465 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Rattlesnake and rabbit sausage - While rattlesnake and rabbit are generally uncommon in North America, they are also pretty tasty. Wurstkuche fuses them together into tube format. It’s served in a hot dog bun with all the usual condiments available.The sausage is tasty, but tasted mixed with pork presumably to lower costs since it’s only an $8 sausage or perhaps pork was added to counterbalance the lean rabbit and rattlesnake. Regardless, I would rather eat the meats individually to provide the full effect, but the rabbit and rattlesnake definitely add different dimension to the sausage. They have other exotic meats (for sausages anyways) such as Buffalo, Duck, Crocodile, Lamb and Pheasant.
Wurstküche, 800 E 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA, 90013

Friday, October 4, 2013

Exotic LA Eats (Part 2)

As promised, the second installment of exotic eats in LA. This list are OK tasting things, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat it. (Part one, Part Three)

Drunken shrimp - Live shrimp are doused in rice wine (presumably ShaoXing) and served alive. Shrimp ‘swim’ in the alcohol which act as sanitizer, marinade and a lethal sedative for the happy shrimp. They stop moving after a about minute which is then ready to eat. While live shrimp itself is generally pretty tasty, the rice wine is often harsh and overpowering. I've had this dish on different occasions and the wildcard is usually the wine. I often wonder if swapping a higher quality sake would elevate the tasty categorization, but this isn't exactly a dish you can try at home.
Seafood Village, 1463 S Nogales St Ste A, Rowland Heights, CA, 91748

Sannakji - A couple of variations of live octopus in Korea exists, the smaller octopi which comes whole or the larger ones which tend to be cut up. Whichever version you get, take care chewing since the moving tentacles can stick to your throat.  The restaurant was serving cut live octopus served with a salt sesame sauce. I’m not sure whether eating octopus live adds to the flavour, but it sure does add a memorable experience. For that reason alone, I would recommend trying once.
Chung Hae Jin, 3470 W 6th St Ste 8A, Los Angeles, CA 90020

Pigs head - Top chef winner Ilan Hall opened up his restaurant in the historic core in downtown Los Angeles. All his offerings are fairly unique, but perhaps the most memorable was the half roasted pig head served with tortillas. The best parts are the cheek and neck with the remaining mostly fat. I would highly recommend doing an entire pig, but just the head is somewhat lacking.
The Gorbals, 501 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA, 90013

Crawfish - These freshwater crustaceans resembling little lobsters are naturally found in streams and rivers. The fairly tasty little creatures contain little meat found mostly in the tail and claws. These are typically steamed or boiled with seasoning and served with butter. I noticed crawfish I had at Long Beach Crawfish festival contained more grime in its intestines. Apparently crawfish should be purged for 24hours in an aerated water bath. Skipping this step definitely diminishes the experience. It could be fun getting a huge bag of crawfish poured onto your table with your buddies and beer. Personally however, I would prefer something with a lower effort/meat ratio.
Boiling Crab, 3377 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90017

Squid ink pasta -  Ink is extracted from ink sacs of dead squid and is a black colour. To be honest, I don’t really know what squid ink is supposed to taste like. The squid itself overpowers the ink flavour and I have never just eaten the ink by itself. This ingredient isn't very common but I feel it doesn't contribute much in terms of flavour once cooked in pasta. For those reasons, its hard to be excited about squid ink anything.
Ración, 119 W Green St, Pasadena, CA, 91105

Boudin Noir - These are french versions of blood sausages made blood or dried blood along with some filler. They are black in appearance and look like a normal sausage. The taste is earthy, dense and uninspired. It’s always difficult for me to get excited about blood sausages for some reason - especially when compared to rib eye, liver or just about anything on the menu.
AOC, 8700 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048