Beach Live Seafood

After sitting for a grueling exam some time ago, I decided to pamper myself a little, so we headed to Buena Park for some Korean sashimi. I've never tried it before and so my love for Korean food compels me to try it at least once. Korean sashimi, hwe, differs from Japanese sashimi in the fact that the fish is still alive right up till you order it. I think fluke is the default fish, but I may be wrong.

When the waitress handed us the menu, I was uncertain which sashimi platter to order as there were 2 types to choose from and the English description was unfortunately not very useful. So, I whipped out my phone and showed the waitress the picture I saw on Yelp and she understood what I wanted and pointed to the second set of sashimi which was $60 for a small set. She added, in halting English, that the set includes rice and soup.

Within moments, she came back with a tray full of banchan (refillable side dishes you usually get at Korean restaurants). We were pleasantly surprised by the variety. There was miso soup, a small bowl of porridge with egg shreds, saba in a sesame citrusy dressing which tasted awesome, sea snails, sliced abalone and edamame. Whoa, I could fill up on these things alone! 

While we were happily filling our bellies with the banchan, our sashimi arrived. The serving was huge! Thin slices of fish sat on shredded radish. I took a slice, placed it on the lettuce they provided and added some dwenjang paste mix which included Korean soybean paste, scallions, garlic and some sesame oil. Mmmm, so good. The texture of the fish is different from Japanese sashimi. It was more toothsome but was just as delicious. Given the gigantic serving, I was barely able to eat my share of the fish and had to concede defeat, leaving hubs to clear the plate.

We were getting ready to pay when the waitress brought out 2 bowls of nurongji, charred bits of rice mixed with tea, a boiling pot of spicy stew and a beautifully broiled mackerel pike. Hubs and I looked at each other, wondering how we're gonna finish these. I took a sip of the spicy soup, despite protests from my bursting belly and widened my eyes, gesturing to hubs to try it too. They gave us a pot of muentang, spicy fish stew. It was so good I couldn't stop. The broiled pike was also good, but not spectacular. While we were unable to finish this last "course" we were definitely happily filled to the brim. For $60 (before tax) this was definitely a worthy meal.

Beach Live Fish Restaurant

5440 Beach Blvd

Buena Park, CA 90621

(714) 521-5555

Mon - Sun 10am - 11pm

Chong Qing Szechuan Mei Wei Restaurant

The temperature reader registered 100 degrees in my car, the sun was scorching hot, yet I was craving something spicy. It was a choice between our trusty Korean tofu pot place or this Szechuan restaurant I've been wanting to try. Decided to go for the latter.

It was around 530pm on a Friday evening, the restaurant was relatively quiet, but people kept coming in for their takeaway orders. We settled for the famed water boiled fish and the wanton in spicy sauce.

The food came out pretty fast and we happily doused the white rice with the spicy sauces. The wantons were huge and there were about 12 of them in one serving for $6.99. The sauce was spicy, sourish and hit the right spots. Our fave wanton with spicy sauce is from A&J restaurant across the street and we've not been able to find a strong competitor until now. While this sauce was not as tasty as A&J's, it was still v good and the value for money should not be overlooked. You get 12 big wantons whereas A&J's are on the smaller side and you probably get about 6 per serving.

The water boiled fish was a great choice as well. While the sauce looks pretty intimidating, it was not as spicy as I expected, though definitely not for those not accustomed to such fiery dishes. The sauce was made with hot bean paste, spicy oil, dried chillies and many other aromatic ingredients. I couldn't stop ladling the sauce over the rice. I would be contented eating just those 2 things :). The fish is most likely catfish. It was smooth and tender and complemented the sauce very well. The napa cabbage which soaked in the sauce's goodness helped eased the guilt of gulping down such a delicious albeit sinful dish. For $10.99 this was a huge portion and we had enough leftover for lunch the next day.

All in all, so happy to have found this place. It will definitely be on our list the next time we crave for spicy comfort food.

Chong Qing Mei Wei Szechuan Restaurant

5406 Walnut Ave
Irvine, CA 92604

(949) 651-8886

Mon - Sun 11am - 9:30pm

Amazing Pasta at Cucina Alessa

Hubs and I found Cucina Alessa about 2 years back when we were looking for an Italian restaurant to spend our Christmas eve.  I'm a carbaholic, so I'm naturally drawn to pasta dishes.  Also, I was hooked on Giada's cooking shows many moons ago and she made pasta look so delectable.  

I remember having a very satisfying meal that Christmas Eve even though we were seating in the cramp patio area with not much decor to speak of. I don't know why it took us so long to go back, but hopefully it won't be 2 years until our next visit.

Cucina Alessa has 2 locations, 1 in Newport Beach and the other in Huntington Beach.  We opted for the Newport one since there were more post dinner activities nearby.  Do note that if you go to the Newport location, you have to go about 20 minutes ahead of your reservations time to ensure you have sufficient time to find parking.  Cucina Alessa has only a few parking spots outside the restaurant and chances that they get filled up when you are there are very high.  It being a beach city also means you're competing with many other people for the scarce roadside parking.

Dinner at Cucina Alessa started with warm bread and a flavorful pesto.  I like that they serve pesto instead of the olive oil + balsamic vinegar combination you usually get at other Italian joints.  Don't get me wrong, I love olive oil + balsamic vinegar, but the fact that Cucina Alessa went the extra mile to churn out the pesto just made it extra special.  The bread was warm and pillowy with a hint of herbs (I'm guessing it is thyme). 

I was pretty bent on getting burrata as a starter as it was something we don't get to eat very often.  I had wanted to get burrata and prosciutto, but when our waitress was telling us about the specials for that night, both hubs and I decided that the fried burrata in marinara sauce was the way to go.  I mean, how can you go wrong with fried cheese?  This appetizer definitely did not disappoint.  The fried burrata had a thin coating of breadcrumbs on the outside.  Cutting into it yielded a soft stringy burrata that oozed out slightly.  And the sauce, oh, the sauce.  I was afraid it might be tart like most marinara sauces are, but this one was sweet and after we finished the burrata, I was sopping it up with the bread.  So so good.

For our main dish, hubs and I both ordered pasta and I must say we made very good choices although I think it may be hard not to at Cucina Alessa.  I chose the Pappardelle Bolognese which had homemade pasta with traditional bolognese sauce.  Hubs went for the Livornese which consisted of fresh fish, shrimp and scallop with white wine oregano tomato sauce and linguini pasta.  I apologize for the bad pictures, we were sitting outside where lighting was bad and I didn't want to keep taking pictures with flash and annoy other customers.  My pappardelle bolognese was a simple dish but hit the right spot. The pasta was rolled out thin and held the bolognese sauce well.  The livornese was chock-full of seafood.  The scallop was huge, with radius of around 2 inches.  The fish was very fresh as were the shrimps.  The sauce had a hint of spiciness to complement the freshness.  I wish I had a better picture for this!  The portions were pretty big, or perhaps we ate too much of the bread, so we doggy bagged around a pretty substantial amount for lunch the next day.

We enjoyed our meal thoroughly and I'm glad we are near this unpretentious Italian restaurant that serves such delicious food.

Cucina Alessa (Newport Beach)

6700 W. Coast Highway

Newport Beach, CA 92663

(949) 645 2148

Napa Cabbage with Goji Berries

Yet another super simple dish. Adding goji berries to vegetables is a great way to increase your intake of antioxidants and to impart some sweetness to an otherwise savory dish.

Napa Cabbage with Goji Berries
Serves 2

- 6 leaves of napa cabbage
- 1 tbsp of goji berries

Wash and chop the napa cabbage into 1-2 inch pieces. Wash and soak 1 tbsp of goji berries in water. Heat 1 tbsp of oil and throw in the cabbage. Stir fry till the cabbage softens and the green turns into a livelier shade. Sprinkle some salt, add in goji berry with some water. Mix everything and serve.

Bitter Melon with Black Bean Sauce

See the title of this post? Those are the 2 ingredients you would need to make this dish. The most labor intensive part of this recipe is the prepping of the bitter melon. You would need to scrap out the spongy filling and the seeds with a spoon and slice the melon into thin slices.

Bitter Melon with Black Bean Sauce

- 1 large bitter melon sliced
- 1 and a half tbsp of black bean sauce

Heat up about 2 tbsp of oil in a wok. Throw in bitter melon and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add in black bean sauce and mix it into the melon. Add half a cup of water and braise mixture for about 5 minutes. Bitter melon should be tender but not completely limp.

If you want to make this into a one dish meal, you can add some ground pork into this dish.  I would cook the ground pork 1st before adding the bitter melon and adding some chilli sauce would kick things up a notch!

5 ingredients or less

I don't have the luxury of time to put dinner on the table at the end of a workday. I think it is important to eat well and healthily, but I don't want to spend too long in the kitchen on weekdays. I like to have time to relax and spend quality time with my family before I sleep and start the madness again the next day.

I dislike making complex dishes that require many many ingredients, shopping for them stresses me out already! Imagine glancing at the recipe every 5 seconds to see what you need to do next. Hence, I aspire to come up with recipes that require 5 ingredients or less, real food that you can cook and enjoy fast. I would probably leave things like salt, pepper and oil out of the count since these are staples that should be in most dishes.

Stay tuned!

L'oreal Youth Code Day Lotion SPF 30 Review

ASOS kindly included the L'oreal Youth Code Day Lotion SPF 30 as a free gift with my recent purchase and I was happy to get it since it is something I   would be able use. I'm currently a happy recurring user of Eucerin Daily Protection Moisturizing Face Lotion SPF 30 but am always on a lookout for similar products that I can try since I simply love trying out new skincare products.

I've seen the Youth Code commercials but never really paid any attention to it. From its name, I gathered it has some anti-aging effects as well. After trying it on for several days, here's a breakdown of the pros and cons based on my experience. I should note here that I have very oily skin.

Pros

Sleek packaging with user friendly lock pump. The pump bottle has a turn and click lock that I find very convenient, no need to be afraid of product oozing out should you leave it in your bag.

Combines moisturizer and sun protection and anti-aging technology in 1 product. I wake up at 5am in the morning. I will not give up sleep to preen myself, so I am thankful for products that are multi purpose.

Lightly floral scented, easy on the nose

Cons

Makes my skin oily 4 hours after application. It creates a slick feeling I hate and even after blotting, the stickiness remains. Major flaw in my opinion as an oily face makes me uncomfortable the rest of the day.

Price point is rather high. At $19.99 (Target's price) for a 1.7oz bottle, I don't see the value since my 4oz Eucerin costs less than $10.

In conclusion, I regret to inform I would not be a buyer of this product. Perhaps it is more geared towards consumers with normal to dry skin.