If not Chinatown, then Journal Square...for a bowl of wonton noodle soup

Wonton noodle soup at Hung Hang

Meatier options, like roast pork
wonton noodle soup, also exist

The ambiance at Jersey City's Hung Hang is rather ho hum as most Chinese take-out places in urban settings tend to appear. Thick layers of dust cling dearly to chairs that hark back to the 70s and the storefront lettering has faded to nothingness. But I'll succumb to Hung Hang's dingy trappings for a chance to slurp back a bowl of Chinatown style wonton noodle soup, an authentic, unlikely menu option that shares space with the typical Americanized Chinese fare like General Tso's chicken, beef and broccoli and the sweet and sour pork (shudder!). On days I'm too sluggish to trek to the real-life Chinatown in Manhattan (average commute is 25 minutes: 10 minutes via subway then 15 minutes via foot), I'll make a quick stride to neighboring Hung Hang for one of my favorite Asian comfort foods. Compared to the noodle dens of Chinatown, Hung Hang's version is just as invigorating. Broth is brewed with an unctuous chicken flavor and the abundent mound of noodles is boiled to a soft consistency. Vivid stalks of choy sum lend the soup a pop of color and a necessary serving of veggies. The dish's most alluring feature of all, naturally, are the generous number of wontons - 8 in all - fairly rotund in their shape. I was delightfully surprised to find more pieces of shrimp than ground pork inside the wonton; usually, it's the other way around. Hung Hang's noodle master ventured a bit too daringly with the salt, but overall, I loved these wontons. Price? Only $4.95, the average price of a Chinatown wonton noodle soup, too. But the Chinatown factor doesn't stop at just a basic wonton noodle soup. Meatheads can savor noodle soup versions topped with succulent cuts of roast pork or roast duck. Hung Hang expounds the Chinatown sensation even further with an offering of a whole roast duck itself. Even fried plantains dazzle the menu; not a Chinese specialty, of course, but it validates the fact that Hung Hang cooks outside of the Chinese take-out box.

Grimy chair that needs a soapy wipe

Fried plantains are also for the taking

Consummate scallop dish for fall

Sweet potatoes get tossed in simple
flavors of olive oil, salt and nutmeg,
then get lined up for their baking

While investigating the internet for scallop recipes, I bumped into this dish of pan-roasted scallops with roasted sweet potatoes that Bon Appetit adapted from Caiola restaurant in Portland, Maine. At first thought, scallops and sweet potatoes seem like an unlikely pair, but the flavors deliciously played off each other. Instead of cleanly shaved yams, the skin is left on for a more rustic mood. The recipe calls for the use of a whole nutmeg but I utilized a more accessible powdered version that was already sitting in my cabinet. Just a sprinkling of nutmeg awakened the natural sweetness of the yams. And its this overall sugary taste, along with the tartness of the cider, that offset the scallops' deep sea characteristics. I didn't want to overbrown the scallops, so I stopped frying them when they reached a subtle, golden hue. Even just the pound I cooked up yielded enough for two full meals. If you're feeling wistful for those bygone seafaring dishes of summer, get your tastebuds in gear for this scallop dish fitting enough for fall.

Scallops, washed and patted dry

Seasoned with salt and pepper,
the scallops begin to heat up

Plated up

Recipe for Pan-Roasted Scallops with Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Source: Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

• 2 red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; 1 1/2 pounds total), unpeeled, halved lengthwise, each half cut into 4 to 5 wedges
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Whole nutmeg (powdered is fine as a substitute)
• 1 1/2 pounds sea scallops, side muscles removed
• 6 tablespoons apple cider
• 6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Place potatoes on large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil over; sprinkle with salt. Lightly grate fresh nutmeg over and toss to coat.
• Roast potato wedges 10 minutes. Turn wedges. Continue roasting until wedges are tender, about 8 minutes longer. Increase heat to 450°F and roast until potatoes are browned in spots, about 10 minutes longer.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Working in 2 batches, cook scallops until browned and just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer scallops to plate; tent with foil to keep warm. Add cider, cream, and lemon juice to skillet; simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup, scraping up browned bits, about 2 minutes. Whisk in butter. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in any juices from scallops.
• Divide scallops among plates. Drizzle sauce over. Divide sweet potatoes among plates and serve.

R-r-r-rendang

Beef in its pure, marbled form

To say my mom is known for one signature Indonesian dish would do her a grave injustice. She actually holds a multitude of trademark culinary specialties such as ayam opor, risoles, martabak and my ultimate favorite, rendang (or what some fondly call "ringdong"). The vigorous dish's main ingredient is beef, which gets slowly cooked in coconut milk and various spices until the liquid evaporates and the meat absorbs the flavors. Though it originated in West Sumatra, rendang is ubiquitously enjoyed all across the Indonesian islands and has founds its way among the tabletops of Malaysian and Singaporean homes. Up until recently, I didn't dare try my hand at whipping up this beefy meal for fear it could never parallel my mother's grand expertise. But I shed my apprehension to happily make a batch for Matt. Once I conquered trimming the fat from the two-pound rump roast, I mastered the remaining steps with confidence and enthusiasm. I substituted the shallots with onions; many ethnic grocery stores exist in my international neighborhood where you can find everything from poblano peppers to aloe vera plants, but somehow, shallots always seem to evade me. Fragrant stalks of lemongrass can be hunted down at most Asian grocery stores, while the more unusual galangal and lime leaves can be spotted at more specific Southeast Asian spots. As for Sambal Oelek, general supermarkets nowadays carry this chili sauce, which supplies heat to your dish yet doesn't tamper with the flavors of the other ingredients. The only painful aspect of cooking rendang is the two-hour and then some wait for the liquid to simmer down and the beef to soften up. The verdict: Matt loved the rendang! The dish is best served with jasmine rice, which beautifully soaks up the spicy remaining sauce. Now I'm not so skittish anymore. Mom's cooking will always be top notch, but at least I now have the gumption to step into the role of apprentice and test these dishes out until they become signature meals of my own. Next up: the ayam opor!

Recipe for Rendang
Source: Mom!

Mix the following ingredients in a blender until a paste forms:

• 3-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
  
• 10 shallots, diced
  
• 1 galangal, chopped
  
• 1 knob of fresh ginger, chopped
  
• 5 tablespoons of Sambal Oelek
• 1/2 cup of water
  

After making the paste:

• Trim the fat off of two pounds of rump roast and cut into square pieces
• In a pot, pour two cans of coconut milk and add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, two stalks of lemongrass and five lime leaves
• Stir in the above paste and let this sauce bubble
  
• Add the chopped beef; bring the heat down to a simmer and cook the rendang until the liquid is absorbed and the beef is soft
  
• Add salt to taste

The rendang simmers away

Stay afloat aboard the pork boat

Beauty on the inside

Those with a deep affection for all foods piglet will rejoice over the "Pork Boat," a titanic of a dish composed of pork roast and kielbasa sausage, further dressed up with sauerkraut and topped with bacon. This pork sensation comes pre-assembled from Rolls Meat Market in Altoona, PA, an artisanal purveyor of all things meaty, from the fancypants outback pepperjack sausage and venison bologna to the classic chicken Cordon Bleu and filet-mignon steak. I practically tipped over when we unveiled the pork boat in its purest form; something about the intoxicating scent of raw bacon sends ripples up through my nostrils and down to the rest of my body. We dusted the strips of bacon with a special chili powder and shoved the nautical bundle into the oven for its two-hour bakeoff. As the smoked smells of all the piggy components floated through Matt's house, our mouths drooled at accelerated speed. We kept peeking into the oven, monitoring its status with greedy, famished eyes. Finally, the pork boat was ready to dock. It still crackled and sizzled as we took it out of the oven. The bacon was charred around the edges more than what we desired, but, it guaranteed that the pork roast and sausage were solidly cooked through. Split among Matt, myself and his brother Paul, this powerful trio of pork with supplemental sauerkraut was more than enough to feed us. I surrendered after just one helping. Overall, the pork boat isn't dramatically seasoned, mainly because the roast, sausage and bacon already possesses a natural, succulent flavor. The chili powder added just an extra bounce of excitement to the dish and the mounds of sauerkraut provided a complementary tartness to the meatiness. We slowly sank into a deep abyss as the weighty structure of the pork boat washed all over us.

The pork boat in its rawest form

Rolls Meat Market
101 3rd Ave.
Altoona, PA
Ph: 814-942-2329
Web site: www.rollsmeats.com

Wham, I love to slam a Tim Tam

Kim just returned from an Aussie adventure armed with gorgeous photos of Sydney and foodie stories to match. She also brought forth a special souvenir. From her bag she yanked out not a kangaroo but another one of the land down under's beloved beauties: a package of Tim Tam biscuits. Manufactured by a company called Arnott's, these fun-loving treats are composed of two chocolate malt biscuits filled with a creamy middle and enrobed in a textured coating of chocolate. Tim Tams come in the original chocolate filling as well as more "gourmet" versions like black forest delight and choco cappuccino. My cookies are of the more traditional chewy caramel variety, but the experience is beyond provincial. A sophisticated twist on the Twix bar, this Tim Tam's sugary caramel scent strongly presented itself as soon as I ripped open the package. Such bewitching phermones are still prevalent when I open the Tupperware container I've stored these goodies in. Biscuits themselves are playfully crunchy, the chocolate milky and the caramel lusciously sweet. Swallowing multiple Tim Tams in one sitting is impossible to swerve. In essence, Tim Tam's motto precedes itself: the most irresistable chocolate biscuit!

The most exclusive club in town

Inside the Bon Appetit Cafe

A hush sweeps Manhattan around autumn as New Yorkers rev their appetites and whip their bibs out for the yearly Bon Appetit Supper Club and Cafe, where nationally renowned chefs boast their cooking chops to produce seasonally crafted meals. While the supper club is more suited for industry heavyweights and uppercrust gluttons, the cafe is geared toward the more "pedestrian" crew-office drones in need of a corporate reprieve and the idle unemployed desperate for a thrifty, yet posh lunch (ahem, like me; nothing topped out more than 11 clams at this forgiving cafe). Popping up just south of Central Park on 101 S. 57th Street during the week of September 21st, this year's lunch schedule featured cooking demos and book signings from celebrated chefs like Gina DePalma, Cat Cora and Fabio Viviani.

Tom Douglas' crab Louis salad

Alex Stupak's chocolate ganache cupcake

I joined the masses of lunchgoers for my chance to chip away at a haute meal and catch a glimpse of Tuesday's line-up of culinary giants. Like savvy fashionistas anticipating their turn to tear into a sample sale, we were ushered into the cafe in batches. The first floor was set up cafeteria style: a soup station with servers ladeling hot brews like Rick Bayless' creamy corn soup and Dean Fearing's tortilla soup with chicken; a sandwich counter with staff handing out Emeril Lagasse's roast turkey panini with pesto, red pepper and fontina and Nate Appleman's marinated peppers, zucchini and ricotta sandwhich. As I bounced from the option of cozying up to a hot bowl of soup to stacking myself up against a robust sandwich, I lifted my compact self for a fragmented glance of Jose Andres signing his book in between other patrons' heads and backs. His meatballs with peaches strutted out as the cafe's daily special by the way. But more attracted to the idea of canoodling with a seafood-themed salad, I plucked Tom Douglas' crab Louis salad from the fridge, where it sat cooley among its frenemies of Daniel Boulud's terrine trio and Mario Batali's arugula salad with hen of the woods mushrooms and parmesan. Out of the neatly displayed desserts, such as Baked's chocolate cloud cookie and Nancy Olson's pumpkin whoopie pie, it was Alex Stupak's chocolate ganache cupcake that tugged at my sweet tooth. My tray of goodies was almost full. After grabbing my daily serving of Diet Coke, I supplemented the imbibing with a complimentary glass of red wine from Santa Margherita. I seemed to somewhat wobble and shake as I grabbed my lux drink from the counterboy and balanced all my items while waiting in the zig zag of lines. Bonus: each patron received a gratis BA Supper Club and Cafe tote with his/her purchase.

Complimentary Santa Margherita wine

I took my treats upstairs to the casual dining room where I was surrounded by budget foodies galore delving voraciously into their meals. Douglas' signature Northwest style was definitely evident in his crab Louis salad. I disrupted the impeccably composed dish, deeply tossing the bright, fresh ingredients with slashes of the Louis dressing. Tangy, zingy, sweet and hot all at once (sounds like your first love, right?), this dressing was probably one of the best that ever smacked my lips. It harmoniously rounded out the complementary flavors of the salty bacon, the crisp Bibb lettuce, the buttery avocado, the mustardy deviled egg and the seafaring crab (generous lumps of the Dungeness kind). Getting to the bottom of this fulfilling salad was a somber reconciliation! But my feast had not officially ended. I tackled Stupak's cupcake with childlike enthusiasm. The WD-50's star pastry chef baked up a moist, yellow cupcake topped with a whimsical swirl of chocolate ganache. It cleansed the palate magically of the salad's lingering savory ways. Belly coated but not in the aching sense, I trotted back downstairs to circle the floor one more time while managing to witness Boulud sign his books for his adoring fans. This time, the view was full frontal.

Daniel Boulud's book signing

Well I'll be damned!

Damn, you're big!

Perhaps more paramount in structure than the South Fork Dam itself are the tacos at Johnstown's Scott's By Dam. Quite a surprise that this unassuming sports bar heavily coated in Steelers gear would vamp up such everyday Mexican fare. But it's a fact: the shell is drastically larger in diameter than you would get at your typical Mexican venue; allow me to insert a tacky joke by saying it's monumental enough to hold back another flood should such a catastrophe hit Johnstown again. Beyond the size, however, are the tacos' distinctive texture, homekneaded back in Scott's kitchen. The pancake-like disk is not a hard corn shell, nor a soft tortilla shell, but a chewy version that's comparable to an arepa. The lightly grilled finish provided the shell a subtle crunch. It proved to be more prominent in taste than the so-so interior. I ordered the chicken taco while Matt ordered the beef one. Shells were jam packed with meat, cheese, tomatoes, onions and lettuce, but somehow, the melding of these ingredients lacked an overall savory bounce. We realized deep into our chomping that the server forgot to bring us the hot sauce, much needed to jostle these flavors out of their sedation. Even for these small, $6 portions, we couldn't finish our tacos, so we traded our remaining halfs to enjoy for breakfast. Had this monstrous rendezvous not immediately followed our sundowner experience, I'm sure we could've finalized our tacos with smashing success.

Notice the "Here We Go" Steelers chant
above the Scotts By Dam sign

Scott's By Dam
327 Market Street
Johnstown, PA 15901
Ph: 814-535-1676
Web site: N/A