California Dreamin' - The Golden Gate to Seafood Heaven

I spent four years in California during my undergraduate years. These four years were part of my formative years, some of the best moments in my life so far. I met people that encouraged me to think outside the box, I experienced life outside of my home island of Kauai, and I learned some of my early life lessons while in the sunny state.

College was where I learned to be open-minded, where I learned to manage my time, and where I learned that I could eat as much cereal as I wanted, any time. (Growing up in Hawaii, milk prices are ridiculous! $2 for a gallon of milk was an eye opening experience in itself!)

Yesterday, one of my best friends that I met during college sent me a picture that we took 10 years ago. WOW. 10 years ago. Where has the time gone?! We were so young, so carefree...well except the occasional freak out sessions right before an exam. I miss those years and I miss my best friends.

As I was california dreamin', I also came across some pictures I took last month while I was in Northern California for work. I lived out of a hotel for a month in Sacramento, and spent my weekends driving around beautiful NorCal. I wasn't able to visit my alma matter in Southern California (Cali is GINORMOUS!!!), but I was able to go on mini adventures and discover new pockets of beauty.

San Francisco was beautiful. What do you do when you only have less than 10 hours in the city?

EAT, of course! What do you eat in the Golden Gate city? SEAFOOD, of course!

My first stop was to get a cup of clam chowder and cup of crab meat at Fisherman's Wharf. I sat near the water with my precious cups, and did one of my favorite things in the world- people watch. San Francisco is definitely one of the most interesting places to people watch.

The second thing on my list was to head to the famous Swan Oyster Depot. This no-frill seafood shop was featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations show. He claimed it was one of the best places to eat in San Francisco. Apparently I am not the only person that listens to Tony, because when I got there, there was already a line around the block. I waited in line for 2 hours, yes 2 hours...I know ridiculous. But it was well worth the wait.

The shop seats no more than 30 people on a counter. Swan Oyster Depot specializes in anything shellfish. 90% of the items on the menu are raw, fresh, and delicious. 

The shop was first opened in 1912 by four Danish brothers that delivered fresh seafood throughout San Francisco by horse-drawn carriages. Since then it's been bought by another family, but the business continues. They continue to serve fresh seafood to locals and tourists that dont mind waiting for hours.

This is the part of my blog, where I tell my readers: No judgement. 

Waiting in line for 2 hours, makes mai a very VERY hungry gal.

I started with the famous crab butter. Anthony Bourdain claims this is the best thing ever. I had to try this delicacy. Crab butter is the innards of a Dungeness crab. You use fresh sourdough bread to scoop out this delicious gooey yellow mixture. I bet your face is scrunched up right about now, ready to gag, and you're thinking of scrolling away from the picture. 

Guys, it wasn't bad. In fact, it was delicious. Highly recommend for the adventurous eater.

After crab butter, I took my neighbors' recommendation (couple sitting next to me at the counter) and ordered the "sashimi" platter.  I never had sashimi with capers and olive oil. The fish was fresh and delicious. My favorite part of this dish was the raw scallops. I wished T was with me because he loves scallops. When he was a young boy, he called them "marshmallows of the sea". The scallops in this dish were definitely marshmallows of the sea. They just melted in your mouth.

I finished my Swan Oyster Depot adventure with.... of course, oysters. I had to try the oysters especially since I was dining at a place with the word "oyster". I had a half dozen raw oysters that my server shucked for me, right on the spot. He shucked a variety of them- Kumamoto, Miyagi, Blue Point. I think I covered both coasts, East and West coast types. They were soo delicious. I had them just like that. Nothing on them, no garlic, no cocktail sauce. I closed my eyes every time I slurped one up, and it just tasted divine.

Raw oysters are definitely still one of my favorites, even with a bad experience in elementary school. Let's just say, you NEVER EVER EVER want to get hit with a bad oyster. It is the worst experience ever. 

These oysters at Swan Oyster Depot were fresh and just amazing. I want to go back, even wait in line for another 2 hours to eat another half dozen of these.

The service is amazing! I walked out of Swan Oyster Depot as a truly satisfied customer. 

I made my way to Chinatown later that day. Did you know SF Chinatown is home to the biggest population of Chinese outside of mainland China?! Amazing, right?

I walked up and down the hills, watched the hustle and bustle of Chinatown, and reminisced on my time living in Shanghai and Chengdu many years ago.

By the time I got to R&G Lounge, I was ready for round 3 of my San Fransisco seafood adventure.

I sat at the bar by myself, and ordered another Anthony Bourdain recommendation: The Salt & Pepper Crab.

A deep fried Dungeness crab seasoned with salt and pepper. I never had anything like it before. It reminded me of a huge deep fried soft shell crab except it wasnt soft. You had to use a crab cracker to get to the meat. It took some effort to get to the meat, but it was delicious. The fried seasoning around the crab was seasoned right and complemented the crab meat. 

While digging into my crab, a local NorCal Chinese family sat next to me at the bar. They noticed I was dining by myself and started a conversation with me. By the end of my dinner, I felt like i was adopted into a local family. They shared their experiences living in the Bay Area, and were so kind to share their dishes with me-

"Here try this fried oyster. Here try the Peking duck. You cant get this type of food in DC, here have more"

Food brings people together, *sigh. I love that about eating, I love that about food. It really is one of the joys of living. I love to eat, and I dont mind eating by myself but it's always nice when a meal brings people together. It's especially nice when I am eating by myself and I get to meet new people because of food. 

I leave you with this quote, which describes the warm fuzzies I felt leaving San Fransisco that night:

Thanks California, another wonderful memory created. You are indeed a special place.

-mai

mishka commentary:

So happy mai is back with me! I really missed her...BUT, i really wished she brought back some of those oysters for me. Grrrr. well maybe next time. I just have to try harder on my hinting.

KAUAI: home is where the belly is... (part 2)

Home is where the belly is...

...a full stomache makes for a happy heart. My opu tends to get bigger every time I go home. Mom's homemade cooking, dad's sushi, local grinds... you name it. Here are a few more pictures of our time on paradise: 

My favorite beach in the world. Polihale at sunset. Quality time spent with my brother and his pup, Momoko. We jumped over crashing waves and watched the sunset. The stars were so beautiful- We even saw the Milky Way. I love memories like this. 

Photo taken by my best friend, Hokulani Photography

T and I made a colorful brunch for my family. "You are what you eat" or what you are is what you eat? My family is full of life and color. This spread captures my beautiful ohana.

TegeTege shave ice in Kapaa, HI. a truck stand that makes delicious, natural fruit shave ice. Once you go TegeTege, you cant eat any other shave ice. Pitaya, Dragon Fruit, with homemade vanilla icecream was a favorite of mine.

Palms dancing in the tradewinds.

A local favorite, Pono Market, makes my belly happy. poke bowls!

Sunset engagement photo shoot by my brother at my favorite beach.

This is what came back to DC with me. My stash of portugese sausage! Yes, they are frozen and stored safely in my freezer. I will cook them only for special occasions. 

-mai

Mishka's commentary

I want a bite of that portugese sausage! I have been trying to open the freezer when mai isnt home but I can't seem to reach the handle! HELP!

KAUAI: home is where the heart is... (part 1)

Home is where the heart is…

When I left Hawaii 13 years ago, I left a piece of my heart on the island of Kauai.

Growing up on this little rock in the middle of the Pacific, I never understood and appreciated the tremendous beauty of this island. I remember complaining to myself that there was nothing to do on Kauai, and drag my salty feet to the salty beach.

At the age of 17, I was thirsty to see the world and left for the mainland to attend college.  I missed my parents but I never missed the island life. I continued to satisfy my nomadic soul by joining the Peace Corps post-college, traveling to West Africa and Western China. Three years later, I checked off my first bucket list item by moving to New York City, the city of my dreams. I continued to feed my wanderlust by traveling and living out of suitcases in countries like Cambodia and Nepal.

As I travel and experience life each year, I start to realize more and more of how special my little rock in the middle of the Pacific really is.  As I get older, I’m realizing there really is no place like Kauai and it really is a place where I left a piece of my heart at.

Next year I get to share this special place with my love, my family, my future family in law, and my closest friends from far and near. I’ll get to unite my family and family in law by getting married on this island.

T and I recently flew back to Kauai to start planning our dream wedding. Here are a few pictures that captured the first few days back. Stay tuned for part 2 of "Kauai: home is where the belly is..."

good morning home sweet home. view from the backyard.

sunrise papaya, locally grown. nothing beats waking up with this.

salt in hair, sand between toes. this island girl is in her natural habitat.

met mishka's sister, momoko. she loves sleeping in.

the obligatory "hot dog" legs beach picture. 

found mishka's future wifey, tiki, laying on the beach on kauai. this pom mom approves, mishka! (in case you are reading)

share the aloha! bus stop with donated chairs.

mama's home cooking.

-mai

Mishka's commentary:

i am sad that my wolf pack didn't take me with them, but at least they found my future gf and got me this sweet aloha shirt.
Can't wait to say ALOHA to that cute wahine next year.

october is sweater weather...and oysters and pizza weather.

It's already October! My favorite time of the year!

No, it isn't my favorite time because of PSL (pumpkin spice latte). I actually run away from anything artificially pumpkin spice-d...even PS scented hand soap. YUCK!

October is beautiful on the East Coast. The foliage is beautiful and it's perfect sweater weather! It's time for stews and soups. It's exciting to go to Target and see all the Halloween costumes. The kids are all back in school. The work day still ends when it is light outside because it's still day light savings time.

October is also the start of oyster season in southern Maryland.
This past weekend, we drove two hours south to the river house to celebrate my future brother-in-law's birthday.

On the way to the river, we stopped at the St. Mary's Oyster Festival.
An entire weekend festival of everything oysters-From fried oysters to grilled oysters, oyster po boys, to oyster soup, oyster shooters to oyster t-shirts!

I LOVE OYSTERS. NOM NOM NOM.

A full river house with my future in laws, future siblings in law, future second cousins from california, and future dogs in law- It was a nice and cozy weekend.

a river that looks like an ocean. 

Having a Neapolitan future father-in-law means homemade brick oven pizzas.

Sunsets are beautiful here.

The weather is chilly but family and pizza makes it warm.

i see you, pizza.

-mai

Mishka's commentary:

I love October too! Finally the weather cools down and I can strut my fur coat!

Featured Blogger T: Linguine al nero di seppia con gamberi e pomodorini

This week's featured blogger is my very own fiance, T.
He has been cooking pasta since he was 10 years old. He is very particular about everything pasta. His favorite type is SPAGHETTI!!!! 
T has taught me so much about pasta and Italian culture the last four years.

On our first date, he surprised me by making homemade pesto.
Shocked at finding what was for dinner, I forced a fake smile.
*mai thinking to herself.... "Oh no. I don't like pesto"
I never liked the taste of basil. I always thought it tasted like lipstick. However, that day changed my life forever.
*T served me homemade pesto spaghetti. I took a bite.
"O-M-G. WHAT IS THIS?! THIS DOESNT TASTE LIKE LIPSTICK AT ALL!!! THIS IS AWESOME!"
....and it was love at first bite. T won my belly and my heart.

T's father is from Naples, so T has grown up with a strong Italian influence. He is the real deal, folks. I am always encouraging him to enter some cooking show on TV, like MasterChef Junior.

Bonno! Bonno! Let the cooking commence! Bellisimo! Ciao! Ciao!

-mai

Linguine al nero di seppia con gamberi e pomodorini
Squid ink linguine with shrimp and tomatoes

Ciao. Because I am lazy and do not yet own a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with a pasta attachment, I bought the squid ink linguine.  I know, for shame!  I'll figure how to make the pasta from scratch, but at this point, I'll just settle on store bought.  I know, I know, for shame!

Ingredients:
2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on size, 3 smaller ones, 2 larger ones)
Sprinkle of crushed red pepper
Some fresh parsley
Shrimp (I used frozen raw shrimp)
Salt
Pepper
Few cherry tomatoes (around 8)
For Mai and myself, I used half a little over a half of a pack of squid ink linguine, around 250g.
And as always, EVOO.  I have been using Trader Joe's California EVOO just as a TMI tidbit.

And it begins...
Heat up a frying pan, big enough to mix the pasta in afterwards, and then add a small amount of EVOO, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

Add enough crushed red pepper to the oil just to give it a small kick of spice.  I've noticed that the spices vary in the amount of heat that they provide.  For those that aren't as powerful, add a few more.  For those that have more of a kick, add a few less.

Once the crushed red peppers start to sizzle a little bit, add chopped up garlic to the mixture and cook until a light golden brown.

This is the point where you add the halved tomatoes.  One of the things I've found, is if you add just a sprinkle of sea salt to the tomatoes and mix them around, it will bring out their sweetness and allow for them to sweat a little bit.

Once the tomatoes start to get a little bit soft, add the shrimp.  Shrimp don't take very much time to cook and are easy to over cook, so watch them carefully.  Add a splash of white wine right after the shrimp have been added.  Once the shrimp are cooked, turn that shit off and throw some fresh parsley and a bit of crushed black pepper on top!

To cook the pasta, boil the water, add salt to taste.  It'll seem like a lot of salt in the water, but, it probably isn't.  It's ok to taste and add more.  Be careful to not add to much.  You can always add more as it cooks.  For rule of thumb, not so hungry me eats around 100g of pasta.  Hungry me will easily crush 150g of pasta.  Again, for Mai and me, we used a half a pack, around 250g.  Always check to make sure you don't overcook it.  I tend to just undercook the pasta when I'm mixing it with a sauce, because it will continue to cook.

Once the pasta is just under done, save a cup of the pasta water, drain it, but not too much, and add it to the sauce.  I have an electric stove, so I will move the mixture to the hot burner and mix it around.  If you're using a gas stove, first, I'm jealous, second, turn the burner back on on low and mix it around.  Most of the sauce should be absorbed into the pasta.  If it appears too dry, add some of the saved pasta water.

Last step, eat that pasta!!!

P.S - Please notice that this is the only place that I am mentioning parmesan cheese.  When making this dish, please keep the parmesan cheese on the screen and no where near your pasta.  Parmesan is delicious and goes great with lots of different sauces, just not this one.  Authentic Italian rule of thumb- Parmesan cheese is something that doesn't go on seafood. If you want to sprinkle something on top, how about some crushed black pepper?  That would be yummy.

-T

HMMMMM...I spy some squid ink pasta. Reminds me of my posh life in Manhattan. HMMMMM... how can I get up on the counter and grab a bite of this decadent dish. HMMMMM... all this thinking is making me hungry.

New York City, I love you.

homemade pasta with frutti di mare at serafina, midtown.

the empire dressed up for labor day.

i say tomatoes, you say BEAUTIFUL. farmer's market finds at union square.

my favorite type of places to eat- little eateries like caracas in alphabet city. venezuelan arepas and fresh jugo de melon were delicious

rockefeller looking majestic. 

beautiful wyeth. christina's world.

"If I were really really wealthy, I wouldn't buy a mansion, just tiny apartments in every city I love"

...and one of these cities would be NYC.

Oh New York City, I love you.

You are a very special place to me:

You are THE city that I always dream't about living in.
You are THE city, where I completed my graduate studies.
You are THE city, where T and my love story began. Four years later, we are getting married.

You are THE only city that I can say I really love.

I love everything about this city.

From the grimey subways to the occasional stomach ache from eating street food, to the obnoxious honking of the taxis to the overcrowded tourist areas. Nothing fails to destroy my admiration and love for you, NYC.

Of all my favorite things about this city, my favorite thing has to be the diversity that NYC prides it self in.

I love how I can feel so comfortable in my own skin in this city.
NYC is so diverse and full of interesting people.

No where in the world can you be on public transportation and hear five different languages being spoken simultaneously. In a subway car, I can be squashed next to a Russian, a German, a Chilean, a Chinese, a Iranian.... (you get the point), and I would not feel any awkwardness or feel like I stick out. No one glares at you if you are speaking a foreign language. Everyone just embraces it and it's normal. NYC is the ultimate melting pot.
NYC is beautiful to me because of this. It is just so real.

Last weekend I got to spend sometime back in this city I love.
T and I did an apartment swap with our dear friends in Brooklyn. We had a wonderful weekend there.

Every time I step foot into this city, I am immediately reminded that a part of my heart still belongs in NYC. T also agrees that we need to get back sometime soon.

One day, Mai. One day. I will be back, my love. I'll be back. NYC, I am not done with you.

glorious breakfast wrap at a local Brooklyn bodega. one of the must eats in NYC.

love the independent coffee shops scattered around NYC and its boroughs. one of my favorite things to do- sit by the window, sip on some caffeine, and people watch. humans of nyc, so fascinating.

I miss good ramen and I miss good Japanese food. NYC is full of wonderful ramen shops and Japanese restaurants.
Kyoto Ramen at Miso-Ya, East Village.

Though I dont miss walking up and down my unit, and doing laundry at the laundromat, I do miss the charm of NYC buildings.

once you try laduree macaroons, you cant eat any other macaroons. legit.

one of my favorite pieces at the MoMA. dance by matisse. 

motsu nabe at udon west, mid town. a nostalgic flavor. just like how my grandpa used to make it. brings back so many wonderful memories of him. i miss you, ojiichan.

the salty pimp (caramel vanilla icecream cone) was delicious. try out BGI in lower east side.

took a candid picture of this cute old couple in love. hope t and i can be as cool as these folks when we are older. 

basquiat admired by t. what a fascinating soul.

-mai

Mishka Commentary:

you know, I am from NYC too! i was adopted by mai and t in 2014. i used to live in the upper east side with my russian socialite owner but she didn't want me anymore so mai and t welcomed me home. it was love at first sight when i saw mai and t. though i miss my posh life in manhattan, i wouldnt trade my new wolf pack for anything else!