Chantilly (Lomita; South Bay)

Chantilly
2383 Lomita Blvd. #104
Lomita, CA 90717

In the News: Ajisen Ramen Comes to Century City Mall

I just spotted this 'Under Construction' wall at Century City's Westfield mall this past week. Hit or fail? We shall see.

Japanese Candy

(Double-click the photo for a description of all the snacks.)

One of the best things about having family in Japan is that when I send them a gift, they'll send something in return.

In this case, I sent them a pack of Trader Joe's lime and chili mixed nuts. Look at all the stuff I got! Now I feel bad so I'll probably send them something else in return. =P

Marked 5 (Abbot Kinney)

Food trucks are swarming along Abbot Kinney like paparazzi at The Ivy. (Okay, so there were only 3 of them, but that's 3 more than last year.) For me, this sudden explosion of portable eateries had me blushing tonight at the realization that vehicles outnumbered customers. Though I was only here to check out one of them, Marked 5, a truck that serves rice-bun burgers nearly identical to those at MOS Burger, a popular Japanese fast-food joint. (Mountain Ocean Sun; not the green stuff)

My perpetual nostalgia for Japan has a tendency to send me on fact-finding missions like these, so I absolutely needed to know whether or not Marked 5's product not only looked the same but tasted the same.



Okay, so it didn't match up -- the biggest difference being these local burgers are large and cumbersome (great for most Americans!), whereas MOS rice burgers are dainty and bite-size (great for most Japanese!). Both are very saucy, though only one will take the time to grill the rice the way you like it (soft or extra crispy) especially on a slow Thursday evening.



I can only imagine this being the awkward pubescent years in the life of the food truck craze. Some will remain gawky, while others will blossom into something beautiful. Though for our sake, let's just hope they don't all turn into Korean-taco wannabes.

A Load of Vegetables

Here's a way to support local farmers and get a box full of vegetables for only $15. Just go to this site to pay, then select a location close to you to pick up your box. Depending on what's coming out from the ground there's different items each week. My box included:

• Zucchini
• Long Neck Yellow Squash
• Nice (Round) Squash
• Scallop Squash
  
• Blue Kale
• Carrots
  
• Red Beets
• Green Cucumber
• Armenian Cucumber
• Red Potatoes
  
• Okra
  
• Tomatoes
• Green Romain Lettuce
  

My personal challenge for this week is to cook each vegetable however it tastes best. Though if I get lazy I'll probably just make vegetable soup. =P

Flying Hotteok! (Koreatown)

Congratulate me. I just stumbled upon the least talked about Korean roach-coach in Los Angeles. I've seen this yellow truck in Koreatown before and have heard whispers about "that stand that sells really good Korean pancakes" for years, but I only put two and two together after trying a hotteok in South Korea just recently. The crispy/fluffy bread combined with a gooey, black sugar filling got me dreaming about hiring my own hotteok peddler to follow me around all day.




I found the truck in front of a shopping center (of sorts), on Western Ave, just north of Wilshire. There was no Kogi-line to deal with -- which was fine to me --but it also meant that the pan-fried hotteoks were probably sitting around for a bit.

These are a lot flatter than the ones I had in Pusan (see pic below) which were over an inch thick, but they were just as flavorful. The ones in the motherland were also only 50 cents each, whereas these were $1.50. Still, I'm not going to complain. I'm just happy I can get hotteoks, period. Otherwise I'd have to fly back again real soon just to get my fix.

Flying Hotteok
808 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90005

Asia's Sweet and Savory

I just got back from a quick trip to Japan and Korea. I had a lingering cold and I was coming from North America which meant I was stopped, questioned and had a thermometer stuck into me at every port of entry.

But once that was over I got to see my family and friends and enjoy all the food I so dearly missed. Bacon-wrapped mochi was a new one for me, but it works. Juicy, crispy, chewy.... more yakitori shops need to put it on the menu.

This honey toast was a homemade collaboration:



They charged a whopping $6 at the mall food-court, so we instead bought a 1/2 loaf at the next-door bakery, gutted and toasted it, then doused it with honey and ice cream. Results were pretty similar. It's really about how fresh of a loaf you can find.

Soy sauce-flavored Kit Kats, anyone? I've decided to start a Kit Kat collection. There's just way too many random flavors to pass up.



This is actually Cold Stone Creamery. I guess "MARVELOUS CREAM!" does sound better. I wonder what the nickname is...."Maba-kuri"?:



And now to the savory. This is a warm cup of chawan-mushi -- steamed egg-whites and dashi broth mixed with bits of chicken and vegetables. I thought it was quite pretty:



In Los Angeles, a 3-pack of natto will set you back $1.99. At this Japanese market it's 65 cents. Sigh:




Ever wanted to know where bamboo shoots come from? The GROUND!:



This was my first meal in Korea. My brother and I slipped into a random corner shop. The menu was completely in Korean, but that didn't deter me. The place was packed so I knew it either had to be good or cheap; It was both. I hand-signaled the waitress to give us of what the other guy was having. Out came a hot bowl of somen noodles in a very simple broth. I kept adding hot sauce and sweated out my cold:



Some street vendors may have fooled me with bland, meatless potstickers, but this cart was a gold mine for one of the tastiest desserts I've ever had. Hotteok is a fried pancake-donut filled with melted brown-sugar and chopped walnuts. Fluffy, golden, crispy. They can cook it upon order and it's less than a dollar:



This was in the middle of a busy shopping arcade. They're eating the same sort of somen soup I had earlier. Gotta love Asia. Down with sanitation codes! :



The sights and sounds of the Pusan's fish market: