Kotohira Restaurant

I'm not in this area often, but was attending an audiophile event in the area. What I love about traveling a few 10-30 miles outside of my neighborhood is that it really pushed me to find a new restaurant to try. Being at the event, walking up and down stairs, visiting rooms by rooms filled with amazing HiFi can really stir up an appetite. It can also make me very hangry. 

What sucks about being a nowaday foodie is no matter what, you are in charge of picking a place. Even if that baton has passed... it always comes back.

Kotohira was discovered by the love Yelp app. I'm not a fan of the reviews people leave, but I use it just to know what there is around me. I've been to this plaza before where Kotohira is located. I've eaten at Furaibo a few times mainly for their tebasaki karaage. 

I wanted something warm, hearty, and comforting. Kotohira was a perfect choice. It had the traditional Japanese lunch combos available with sizeable bowls that will make you take a nap. Here are a few things I was able to snap.

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Side udon that comes with a combo. Slurp away.

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Pan fried gyoza. Dip this in a mixture of vinegar and hot chili oil.

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Chicken Karaage. Another one of my favorite dishes as mentioned before somewhere in this blog. I love extra lemons. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Bento combination with tuna sashimi, chicken karaage, grilled saba, tempura, and Japanese root vegetable. When I went to Japan a few years ago, I ate a lot of combinations like this. It's really comforting and brings back a nostalgic memory.

unagi over hot rice. 

Subtle scoop of Neapolitan ice cream.

Edit 1747 W Redondo Beach Blvd Gardena, CA 90247

Chew Noodle Bar - Anaheim, CA

Chew Noodle Bar just opened a few weeks ago and still going through with their soft opening. Their Chef, Amy Pham, competed on Food Network's Cutthroat Kitchen (such an intense show). They are currently serving a course menu for $15, but will have a full menu out soon. 

Here's what I had:

Short Rib Gyozas - Very tender, flavorful and decadent. 

Smoky Shishito Peppers - Flash fried with a mild yuzu aioli.

Spicy Shoyu Ramen and Tonkotsu.

Death by Affogato - Perfect dessert and wake-me-UP.

918 S Magnolia Ave Ste B Anaheim, CA 92804

Daikokuya - Monterey Park

Everyone went crazy when Daikokuya opened in Monterey Park. The whole 'Yay we don't have to drive to little tokyo!' or 'Yay we don't have to wait that long!' perception will be crushed in a matter of seconds that moment you start writing your name on the wait list. Along with the line of other groups ahead of you. As you slowly count up and realize you are not number 1, but number 15. And then you start reflecting on your life. Have you ever been number 15? It's worse than a midlife crisis. Or, you're all happy pulling up to see tons of parking spaces. But then you see the crowd of people huddled outside like it's below 0 when it's hot as a mother F'er.

Honestly, I have no idea where that rant came from. This is what happens when you have hot noodle soup during a hot summer day. You start seeing and saying sh*t.

Luckily, my friends and I got here in time where we didn't have to wait over an hour. Maybe it was 30 minutes, but it's fine since I ran into really good friends of mine.

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I wouldn't say famous, but this is a very delicious bowl of salad that comes with an order of Ramen. It's their own house dressing which you can also purchase a bottle to take home. A must have.

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Tsukemen

I ordered their Tsukemen which is all the fixings; Seared Chashu, green onions, sprouts, soft boiled eggs and ramen that has been cooked and cooled under running water. Served with a bowl of pork broth.

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Salmon Carpaccio

Salmon sashimi with housemade carpaccio sauce, passer leaf, salsa and parmesan cheese. A lot of flavor, but quite tasty.

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Chicken Kaarage

Honestly, chicken Karaage is the ultimate beer food. I take that back, it's the ultimate food to have with any alcohol. I love this stuff. With a lot of lemon. And when I am really hamming, over a bowl of rice. Sitting on the floor, with stretchy pants..

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Daikoku Ramen

This is their signature Tonkotsu Ramen (Ton-KO-t-su, not katsu please). The tonkotsu (pork base soup) is infused with their house blended soy sauce. Served with boiled chijre style egg noodles, kurobuta pork belly chashu, marinated boiled egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprout, green onions and a dash of sesame seeds.

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Shredded Pork Bowl

Their famous shredded pork bowl. Ok I'm not sure if it's famous, but it's extremely popular. Tender kurobuta pork belly that's grilled and served over rice with green onions, pickled ginger and a sweet sauce. If you are hungry, and want something extremely umami like, this is it. It's hard not to get this and even harder not to take a bite when someone offers.

111 N Atlantic Blvd, Ste 241, Monterey Park, CA 91754

Gyoza diet

If you are on a diet, you are going to die. I mean, there's a sign that tells you pretty much. DIE-t. Diet sounds like quit it. So we should all quit diets. Please. Someone. AGREE WITH ME! Why can't I eat chili cheese fries and drop 10 pounds at the same time? WHY? Why must life be so hard! Shutup all you skinny fast metabolism mother f'ers because one day you will get grubby. Or you will have babies with someone with fat genes. (this statement ONLY applies to people who giggles, and say 'I can eat whatever I want and not get fat ho-ho-he-he').

Ok... ok ok ok I'm sorry for being so vulgar. Let me take a step back.. But I'm sure, we've all been, tried, or still on some kind of diet. The diet doesn't necessarily mean weight lost. Some can just be a way of eating habits. Some can be... on a cookie diet. I love cookies... and fries.. and chicken.. fried... and I am DEFINITELY one of those people that goes to a steak house, and look for the largest oz of steak on the menu. I don't believe in 12-16oz steaks... 24oz+ and I'm in HEAVEN!

*sigh* I digress.

GYOZA TIME:

Recipe:

1. ONE BAG OF FROZEN GYOZA.
2. 4 tablespoons of Olive oil (or vegetable).
3. 1/4 cup of water

I've been using a lot of canola oil after seeing Bobby Flay use a ton of it on his show "BBQ addict" shown of Food Network from 6:30AM-7:00AM pst. But, I realized that it had a strong flavor I wasn't too pleasant with. Normally, I can't really taste the difference between oils. But after using the Olive Oil from Costco for a LONG TIME (literally 2 large jugs for like, $24, a STEAL), I've grown to love the flavors it provided to my dishes. With that said, I could really taste the canola oil take over the dishes that I've made. So for this gyoza, I would honestly, use olive oil.

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This is the intense part. No one is allowed to talk to you in this moment of solitude. The sound of the sizzle, the oil splatters, the sounds of your heartbeat as you are scared to your buns that oil is going to pop your eye out. Don't worry, that will all end. I poured the water into the pan maybe about 2 minutes of watching it sizzle on medium high. After the water drops, close the lid for about 5 minutes. Once the lid opens, the gyoza should look translucent. But the real test is when you flip them.

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This is when I die. The crispy bottoms just makes me oh-so-happy. I tilt all of them to their side to get the slightest color on them before turning off the stove. During the process of waiting for the bottoms to color, I needed to add a little more water to make sure the dumpling was cooked throughout. But this really depends on your stove and how much your pan wants to work with you that day.

I ate this with a lot of Sriracha and some Broccoli sauteed in a lot of garlic.

So quick, so comforting, so happy.

Happy dumplings and oil splatters.

Daiisies