Category Archives: – Featured Food Discoveries

Tagine of lamb and peas

Mmm, tagine.  That slow cooked earthy goodness of clay pot magic that is commonly in the form of savory meat stews.  But what a minute… isn’t this a blog about Asian ingredients? Yes, I know that this is really kind … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, Non-Asian | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Cold jelly noodles, the way I like them

Liangfen 凉粉, or cold jelly noodles, are creeping onto Sichuan menus in the US, at places like Philly’s beloved Han Dynasty.  Unlike the thick jelly noodle variety found there, this is how I best like them: The way I first … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, Central Asia/Uyghur food, Chinese food | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Lamian (pulled noodles) in University City

Life is starting to get easy.  A new place opened up next to the Wawa on 36th and Chestnut in University City that does a decent pulled noodle (lamian 拉面–see here for my more detailed entry about this noodle dish).  … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, Chinese food | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Turkish hot pepper paste and cracked wheat salad

Today I’ll share a recipe for one of my favorite Turkish dishes.  It is a fine cracked wheat (a.k.a bulgur or burghul) salad.  In Turkish the salad is called kısır.  This is a very nice thing to eat on hot days, … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, Turkish food | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

7th Street’s Friendly Market

A few days ago I gave a rough breakdown on the many markets on 7th Street.  I didn’t mean to leave out an important highlight on South 7th: the Friendly Market, a market with truly unusual food products.  The sign … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets, Cambodian food, Myanmar/Burmese food, Nepali food, Thai/Lao food | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Guilin rice noodles, part two

Now that the hard part is done with the preparation of the master stock, or lushui 卤水 (described yesterday), putting together a delicious bowl of Guilin rice noodles, or Guilin mifen 桂林米粉, is relatively straightforward.  If you want to make … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, Chinese food | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Tom yum plaa, Thai hot and sour fish soup

Coming home with a nice looking bunch of sawtooth coriander and Thai basil bai horapa ใบโหระพา (not to be confused with holy basil), I decided to cook a pot of tom yum plaa.  Tom yum is pretty common on Thai menus in … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, Thai/Lao food | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Markets of South Philly’s 7th Street

Among Philadelphia’s many hidden charms are its neighborhoods.  Some of those neighborhoods can transport you to other lands, complete with markets, restaurants, religious temples, and even street food–from sources that are commonplace in other countries.  Though long gone for France, … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets, Cambodian food, Myanmar/Burmese food, Nepali food, Thai/Lao food | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Tofu threads, a nice cold side dish

Back in 2010 I enjoyed a northeastern-style buckwheat noodle restaurant in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia.  On the table were several cold plate dishes to eat together with the noodles, among them was a small dish of tofu threads or tofu “silk”.  … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, Chinese food | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Holy basil, my long lost love

Finding holy basil in the states is often pretty hit-or-miss.  In Wisconsin we could occasionally find this herb in local Vietnamese, Hmong, or Thai markets in the summertime.  These days in Philadelphia, I am seeing it around at Cambodian markets … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, Thai/Lao food | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments