Big Catch Seafood House - West Covina

I love raw oysters, carpaccios and all that good stuff. But there's something I find extremely satisfying about grilled seafood. The charred bits on the shellfish that you "accidentally" consume. Big Catch Seafood in West Covina offers a variety of seafood prepared in different ways. You have the raw, the fried, boiled, grilled, and even stuffed in a sandwich. Most importantly, they have beer and lots of it.

We ordered a few things to try, and will definitely be back for more. I always recommend going in a group to try more items on the menu.

Grilled Lobster

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Grilled lobster served with cajun rice and daily vegetables. The lobster was meaty, sweet, and smokey from the char. The charred shell brought an amazing depth of flavor to the lobster. Don't forget to break down the heads and pour the hot juices over your rice. I can eat this all day. Honestly, hard to share because you can't just have a few bites ;P

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Grilled Tilapia filet

Tilapia gets overlooked all the time. The taste of tilapia is subtle, but it can hold up to a lot of marinades and sauces. It really is a blank canvas if you want to test a few flavors on fish.

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Fish and Chips

Recommended location: 112 Plaza DrSte 1465, West Covina, CA 91790

low and slow 8 hour pork butt

After getting a Crockpot recently, I've been on this crazy low and slow cooking mood. I made a pot roast the other day and then this pork butt yesterday. I am in love with how simple this was. I kept the flavors extremely minimal so I can alter the pork according to the types of dishes I want to use it for.

Recipe

• 3 pounds of pork butt
• 1 white onion
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• Salt and Garlic powder to season pork (salt according to your preference)
• 6 large cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of white pepper
• 1/4 cup of chicken stock

Equipment:

• Crockpot

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I got one pork butt around 3 pounds. I trimmed off the fat from the pork. This cut of pork itself has a lot of fat running through it, so don't be afraid of cutting it down or you will end up with a big pot of fat. I cut up the meat in a large chunks, seasoned it with salt and garlic powder, and then seared it in a screaming hot pan with Thrive Algae oil. The smoke point on this oil is fantastic giving these buddies a nice golden hue.

As the pork was tanning, I sliced up 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, and 1 white onion. I also peeled 6 large cloves of garlic, smashed. All the ingredients were thrown straight into my Crockpot with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of white pepper. Layer the pork on top, and Isplashed the top with a little chicken stock. Lid it, and then set it on low for 8 hours.

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MMmmm nothing like pork cooked low and slow, bubbling in it's own fat drippings. I left the pieces of pork chunky, and didn't shred it until I dropped a few in a hot pan. I let the pork crisp on the edges. What you can always do is add spices as it's searing in the pan. Sometimes I like to add cumin, and sometimes I add a little cayenne and paprika. Again, it really depends on the types of flavors you are going after. But this came out so good like this I just left it alone.

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I cooked 3 cups of Jasmine rice because that's what I had. I like to cook extra rice to have enough for work. I chopped up 3/4 cups of cilantro, and squeezed 1 whole juicy lime (you might need 2). Adding 2 tablespoons of butter is optional, but I drizzled a little bit of the pork fat instead.

I quickly mashed up an avocado with a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt as a side. Lastly, I popped open a can of Jalapenos in Escabeche. This was SO GOOD I even washed the dishes after.

With the left over meats, we will have BBQ pork sliders with coleslaw!

Now, go and get a Crockpot and pork butts.

Daisy

Mui Choy Kou Yoke

If I was a comfort food, how will I look like? I've already talked about how rice is a huge necessity in my life, and without it, I would die. But, if I were to look like some kind of Chinese food, it will be this dish right here.

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Muy Choi is some kind of preserved mustard greens which needs to be soaked and re-hydrated before you cook them. My mom should be teaching me the recipe soon, so stay put. But, the work that goes into this is pretty messy. Basically, you are deep frying the skin of the pork belly until it gets super bubbly and golden before you stew it for a few hours until its fork tender. That's how mom makes it. So that's the way. If you zoomed in, you can see the beautiful cracked golden skin from the frying, though it's not crunchy anymore. The sauce is just components of chicken stock, a few soy sauces, some brown sugar and tons of garlic. My mom likes to throw in orange peel, but I like to leave it out.

I had this for dinner last night with a little sriracha drizzled over. I ate this with a giant spoon, baggy sweat clothes while watching the Food Network. How does that not sound amazing? It's pretty cold tonight. And I can barely feel my nose and toes. If this was my last meal, I have no regrets. Why? Because this was my moms cooking. One of those "Come by, I made your favorite" type of phone calls.

So if I really did die (someone please knock on wood), just know, I died in a happy place because I've had one of my most cherished, favorite if not THE one, Chinese dish of all time.

Thank you mother even though you are crazy 95% of the time.

Daisy

Jazz Cat Shabu

I've been going to Jazz Cat ever since they opened their first location in Alhambra, when it used to be next to Noodle World on Valley. They closed that location a few years ago, to open a larger location in San Gabriel. Now, they have a few more locations spread out. I do wish, that they kept the original style of when they first opened in Alhambra. The presentation was different from the tradition hot pot we are used to, it was actually pretty. And, they served this seafood/pork paste in a bamboo tube. Now, it's just a simple plate of protein with the veggies.

I've gotten sick this week, and have been trying to recover, but this weather has been kicking my ass. Los Angeles is finally cold, and here goes everyone complaining now that they missed the sun. Are you kidding me? It was like yesterday when the whole population of Los Angeles were crying for summer to be over. And now it is. So get used to the it. The cold mornings where getting out of bed is like traveling through a blizzard storm. Those runny nose days and green snots.

Luckily, I am not that sick. I am smart enough to force myself to drink fluids all day. Even though I had wine, rum and beer (don't ask), I am still somewhat well rested enough to get through the day. John was nice enough to suggest eating out so I didn't have to cook. But picking a place is always the hardest part. Why is that? No it's not a girl thing. If I had a choice, it will be buffets, burgers, tacos and fried chicken. I have the worst, biggest appetite you will ever meet. And it's scary.

But, Jazz Cat is a place I ALWAYS want to eat at. Raw marbled meat, cooked gently in hot seasoned broth, dipped in Satay sauce, and then eaten with a big hunk of rice. We always order the same thing.

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Jazz Cat House Broth (Non Spicy)

You get the option of ordering it regular, or the "T-rex" version which has more meat, but less vegetables. MORE meat all the way. I didn't order this spicy because I really love the flavors of the soup. If I wanted something spicy I would probably try their other soup bases, and they have a lot to pick from.

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Beef

I've had many hot pot places all over SGV. And there isn't any place I would rather eat at than Jazz Cat. The meats are extremely tender and delicious. It's not all you can eat, but I don't really care for a place like that when I get full from this. For a little under $14 before tax and tip, you can get good quality beef with a delicious soup base. John cooks his eggs over-easy while I like my eggs to be soft boiled.

What I do first: Throw in all my vegetables. I like my veggies extra cooked in the sauce as it also releases flavor into the soup. Once the soup starts to boil, grab your beef, give it a quick swish, dip it in your satay sauce, and eat it with the rice. I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me to have good hot pot. Screw fat kid eats cake, it's fat kid eats rice. My body felt extremely soothed, warm, and ready to sleep which was much needed.

Oh and guess what? The service here is always amazing. Unless you are just a total douche bag, then no. But every time we come, the servers are always coming by and checking if everything was okay and if we needed anything. Like, if we needed anything? Who asks that in SGV? not a living soul. It's more like, don't bother me unless you want a refill or your bill. Not here, service gets 100% from me.

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rice

I just can't give up rice. Ever. I think I might die, like, really. I have a large potato sack worth of Jasmine rice because I just love eating it with my dishes. The whole experience just wouldn't be the same. There's a phrase I grew up with called "Pah fan" which literally mean dig rice. So when we eat rice, we would pah fan, because we are literally digging the rice into our mouths. Funny huh? That explains why I eat a lot of rice since my parents would always tell us that.

If my brother David sees this post, he would be pissed that we didn't invite him... BUT with that said, I am totally down to come back again!

See you soon Jazz Cat.

121 E Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Happy swishy swooshy.

Daisy

Henry's Cuisine

Henry's Cuisine - 301 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801

If you are familiar with 626 restaurants, you can understand there is a lot going on in this area. With that being said, there are a lot of restaurants that stands out, and some that are just trying their best to survive. The more common restaurants like Tasty Garden has emerged over the past several years and has opened a few other locations. Phoenix Inn has been around for 50 YEARS (can you imagine that?) also evolved overtime and some even revamped the interior of their locations. Then, you have the typical Chinese cafes like Garden, Baccalis, JJ, JR, KT cafe, Ledo, and so much more. This is also followed by the many restaurants that serves dim sum in the morning, all the Vietnamese joints, HOT POTS, but we are definitely not going to to go into any of that today. (I'm mind blown just going through all other cuisines in my head)

I picked up my mom today to have dinner. We were trying to figure out how to set up her Bluetooth to connect to her car. I don't know if you remembered from a past post, my mom got a new car.

It took a while before I figured out that... I couldn't really figure it out. We decided to take a break from that and head to dinner. She already had her mind set on Henry's Cuisine because a few of her friends raved about the fried salted pig knuckle. I've heard about it, seen it, and always wanted to try it myself. I am a huge fan of roast pork. Being Chinese, it was really something we grew up eating in the household. We would order a few ribs, chopped it up, made some garlic sauteed veggie, a big pot of white Jasmine rice, and that was our meal. It was tough, but our parents made it easy for us to enjoy tasty meals with a low budget.

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The spread

See? Literally. Meat. Veggie. Rice. With the addition of the porridge because my mom was not feeling well. First thing first.

Deep Fried Salted Pig Knuckle:

Seriously, it was decadent. My mom went straight for the skin, took one bite, and told me "MMMMMM, it's good" in Cantonese or "MMMMM. Ho sik". I tried it for myself and almost cried. The meat was lean, but tender. The brininess of the pork was perfect. This dish was pretty extraordinary. The saltiness of the pork really makes it distinct as well as the hue of the meat. My mom called dibs on the bone, but before she did I peeled a few bits of skin off for myself. She was one happy mom.

Dried Fish with Chinese Broccoli

The vegetable was simple. Something we always order because we need to have some green with our meal. It's just the way every Chinese meal goes.

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Preserved Egg with Salted Pork congee

This is another typical staple in the Chinese cuisine. Whether you are sick, or having breakfast, this is always a go to comfort food. Preserved eggs are not for everyone. I didn't start enjoying the eggs till I was in my 20's. I would normally eat around it because I do like the flavors it brings to the congee.

All in all, thumbs up. This place was not packed whatsoever and that makes me really sad. There were these 2 mainland Chinese ladies that arrived at the same times as we did. They ordered food at the same time, but left in the middle of our meal. My mom overheard them saying the food sucks. I'm like it sucks? "MMMMM HO SIK AH!" that's what I said. The ahh puts emphasis on your statement.

How rude were these ladies? They actually went up to the waitress who was closing out their bill, and spoke in mandarin that the food was poor quality. The phrase in our language is actually a lot worse than the English "It sucks/not good/taste bad". It's a lot meaner to say it in our language. The restaurant was not full, so them saying it a few times stung me a bit. It made me slightly mad. The meal I just shared with my mom was delicious. The service we had was one of the best that we had in the area. The food was comforting and there is no reason to be hostile.

I want this place to do good. So I hope that you all can give it a try (especially the pork knuckle). I would totally save the bone, and make congee with that. Just imagine all the delicious roasty pork flavors you can extract from it?

Or you can chuck it at those 2 ladies I saw.

Chow!

Daiisies