Mamahuhu’s frozen potstickers cook up in no time, and are gluten-free.
After conquering the worlds of fine-dining with his Michelin-starred San Francisco restaurant Mister Jiu’s, fast-casual with his Mamahuhu eateries in San Francisco and Mill Valley, and cookbooks with his James Beard Award-winning “Mister Jiu’s in Chinatown” (Ten Speed Press, 2021), written with co-author Tienlon Ho, where does Chef Brandon Jew aim his sights next?
Frozen potstickers.
Yes, the James Beard Award-winning “Best Chef in California” in 2022 has just introduced a line of frozen potstickers with his Mamahuhu co-founders, Anmao Sun and Ben Moore.
It garnered a Michelin star only a year after opening its doors in 2021. That same year, it was also named one of the “Best New Restaurants in America” by the Robb Report; one of the “50 Favorite Restaurants” by the New York Times; a “Best New Restaurants in America” by Esquire; and highlighted in Eater’s “Best New Restaurants.”
When it comes to the Korean charcoal barbecue restaurant, San Ho Won in San Francisco, the hype is not only real, but richly deserved, as I found out when I dined last month.
Then again, one would hardly expect anything less from Chef-Owner Corey Lee, who also operates Monsieur Benjamin and whose flagship San Francisco restaurant, Benu, has glittered with three Michelin stars for years. San How Won is a collaboration between him and Chef Jeong-In Hwang, who moved from Korea to San Francisco in 2016 to first work at Benu.
Sure, you’ve probably had your fill of Korean barbecue over the years. But none like this, with an unmistakable clarity and purity of flavor. Nothing tastes muddled, nothing gets lost. Instead, every bite is exuberant.
Indeed, pretty much everything is made in-house, down to the binchotan that fuels the fiery grills. Take a seat at the bar encircling the kitchen for a view of the action. Or if you gather with a group and plan ahead to book the private room, you’ll really get a show when one of the cooks expertly sears your meat on a separate grill in the corner.
Grilled chicken in a flavorful marinade gets served with addictive aji sauce.
There’s no denying that Danny Trejo is a big, big presence on the screen.
So, it’s no surprise then that when it comes to cooking, he’s all about flavors as punchy and gutsy as they get.
In the ultimate transformative story, the former drug addict and criminal became not only a Hollywood star, but maverick entrepreneur who launched a record label, as well as five Los Angeles locations of his Trejo’s Tacos, plus his Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts shop, and Trejo’s Cerveza Mexican-style beer.
This year, he also debuted “Trejo’s Cantina” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy, which is his second cookbook.
While his first cookbook, “Trejo’s Tacos” (Clarkson Potter, 2020), focused on recipes from his restaurants, this one, he writes, is centered on Mexican classics as seen through the lens of Los Angeles.
