Author Archives: foodgal

Grilled Chicken with Garlic and Rice Vinegar — Taiwanese American-Style

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The secret to this bright and zesty chicken? A marinade full of flavorful ingredients.
The secret to this bright and zesty chicken? A marinade full of flavorful ingredients.

Make your Memorial Day cookout a tasty Taiwanese American one.

Forget the burgers and sausages. Make room for “Grilled Chicken with Garlic and Rice Vinegar” instead.

Super moist, delightfully garlicky, and full of smokiness and brightness, this easy recipe is from Win Son Presents: A Taiwanese American Cookbook (Abrams, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Josh Ku and Trigg Brown, co-founders of the wildly popular Win Son and Win Son Bakery, both in Brooklyn, with an assist from noted Brooklyn food writer Cathy Erway who’s the author of “The Food of Taiwan” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015).

Brown, who had cooked at New York City’s Craft and Upland had a Taiwanese American mentor, Pei Jen Chang early in his career. He teamed with best friend Josh Ku, a former property and construction manager whose parents grew up in southern Taiwan, to open the restaurant. It is named for the sweater manufacturing company, Winsome, which Ku’s grandfather started in Taiwan. Its name roughly translates from Chinese to “success and abundance of profit.”

It proved prophetic given the throngs now flocking nonstop to both Win Son and Win Son Bakery.

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Dining At Copra

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Curry leaf-rubbed, slow-cooked octopus at Copra in San Francisco.
Curry leaf-rubbed, slow-cooked octopus at Copra in San Francisco.

When it comes to upscale modern Indian cuisine, Chef Sri Gopinathan and business partner, restaurateur Ayesha Thapar, seem to have the magic touch.

Their first restaurant, Ettan in downtown Palo Alto, opened just before the pandemic hit. It not only managed to survive that turmoil but come out of it flourishing.

In February, the duo debuted Copra, just blocks from Japantown in San Francisco. Taking its name from the word for the dried flesh of a coconut, Copra showcases Southern Indian coastal cuisine, the type that Gopinathan, who held two Michelin stars at San Francisco’s Campton Place Restaurant, grew up eating. You’ll find surprising dishes here such as octopus and bone marrow that you’d be hard pressed to see on any other Indian menu around (well, except at sister restaurant Ettan, that is, where octopus does appear).

If my visit last week is any indication, Copra is hitting it out of the park. The restaurant was jamming and jammed — and this was on a Wednesday night.

Expect it to be even more so now that the Michelin Guide California just announced this week that Copra is one of 19 new establishments that will be in the 2023 guide to be released later this year.

The eye-catching dining room.
The eye-catching dining room.

Like Ettan, Copra is a looker. Whereas Ettan drips with chandeliers and vivid marine blue tones, Copra is done up with earth tones, enough plants (artificial) to resemble a greenhouse, and more macrame than you’ve probably ever seen in one place at one time.

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Asparagus Snuggled In Bacon

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Bacon always makes everything better -- including asparagus.
Bacon always makes everything better — including asparagus.

Pick a card, any card.

Then, fire up the grill.

“The BBQ Companion” collection of 50 recipe cards (Smith Street) is sure to spark fun with backyard grilling this summer.

Think of them like flash cards — only each one contains a different grilling recipe along with a color photo of the finished dish.

The recipe cards, of which I received a review copy, were created by Sydney-based food writer Oscar Smith.

The collection includes 50 different grilling recipes to enjoy.
The collection includes 50 different grilling recipes to enjoy.

The recipes include everything from “Firey Lemongrass Chicken Wings,” “Grilled Lamb Loin with Anchovy & Garlic Butter,” and “Fish Tacos with Chipotle Sauce” to “Haloumi Burgers with Peperonata” and “Rum-Spiked Barbecued Banana Boats.”

In keeping with spring’s bounty, I drew the recipe card for “Asparagus-Wrapped in Bacon.”

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The Oven Does All the Work For Slow-Cooked Beef Ribs in Korean BBQ Sauce

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English-cut beef ribs go Korean-style in this easy recipe in which your oven does all the work.
English-cut beef ribs go Korean-style in this easy recipe in which your oven does all the work.

Consider this devilishly good dish the savory equivalent of a “dump cake.”

Instead of a boxed cake mix dumped over canned fruit in a pan, “Slow-Cooked Beef Ribs in Korean BBQ Sauce” is basically beefy ribs plopped into a pan with a robust mix of minced garlic, ketchup, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, and Korean fermented pepper paste known as gochujang.

There’s no need to sear the beef ribs beforehand, either. Just lay them in the sauce in the pan, slide into the oven, and practically forget about it for the next 6 hours.

The beef will emerge so tender that it falls off the bone, and the meat juices will have melded into the sauce, making it even more delectable.

This super simple recipe is from “RecipeTin Eats Dinner” (Countryman Press, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

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Dining At One Fish

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Reel in the warm cornbread with cultured cream and smoked trout roe at One Fish.
Reel in the warm cornbread with cultured cream and smoked trout roe at One Fish.

Last week, I went fishing — and got One Fish.

Plus a superlative meal.

One Fish Raw Bar opened in 2021 in downtown Campbell next-door to Manresa Bread, and what a find it is. Chef-Owner Trent Lidgey opened his small, fine-dining raw bar after stints as sous chef at San Francisco’s Atelier Crenn, chef de cuisine at The Lexington House in Los Gatos, and most notably, sous chef at Uni Restaurant, a modern izakaya in Boston where he oversaw the sashimi program.

In downtown Campbell.
In downtown Campbell.

The vibe is relaxed and the food meant to be shared tapas-style. There’s a small patio in front with outdoor dining available, as well as seating inside at tables and high-counter seats. There are also seats right at the chef’s counter, reserved for guests partaking of the $185-per-person 11-course sashimi tasting menu. A final option is the 5-course family-style meal ($95-per-person for the standard; $135-per-person for the premium).

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