BAOHAUS

Chef Eddie Huang's Poor Pop-Up Dinner (and How I Made Him Angry)

by Rebecca Kritzer Fri, June 17th, 2011 at 8:31am

Now you see 'em, now you don't. The phenomeno n of the pop-up restaurant is ubiquitous in New York City: a temporary space exhibiting the cuisines of selected chefs, sometimes local, sometimes from abroad, via a fixed menu. If successful, it is a tease leaving you wanting more. If the converse it true, then you are thankful that it will disappear. The latter was unfortunately the case with my experience at LTO (Limited Time Only) promoting NYC chef Eddie Huang of restaurants Xiao Ye and Baohaus (a Taiwanese bun shop in the Lower East Side of Manhattan) for a week. If this menu was a showcase of his best work, then perhaps he should stick to making buns. That was the first item to be served, and if I had to choose from the selection of disappointing dishes, the fried oyster bun was probably the least so. Served in a soft bun schmeared with liver pate and stuffed with pickled radishes, it was good. Though the oyster didn't need to be breaded and fried, with a nice flavor and consistency on its own. The same was true for the fried gator tail. The soggy breading concealed the particular flavor of the gator instead of enhancing it. Perhaps this was intentional as this meat was rather chewy, akin to sweetbreads, and n ot everyone is a fan of that texture. With a kick of spice, the gator could have held promise if prepared differently. The pool of sour cream it sat in did not impart any flavor either.

FIRST COURSE

The Food that Brought Tears to Our Eyes

by Alina Tarkhanian Wed, March 30th, 2011 at 11:30am

Hundreds of hungry food lovers gathered at the 69th Armory to sample the city’s finest fare at the Village Voice’s 4th annual Choice Eats event. Joonbug was lucky enough to attend this veritable food rave. Food enthusiasts and the restaurants they love came together and, in a matter of minutes, we were in a food coma. Here are some of the evening’s highlights.

We met Cathy Erway, food blogger and author of The Art of Eating In. We sampled her wild dandelion pesto with crostini. And get this. She has just picked the dandelions herself fresh that day!
Eddie Huang (BaoHaus) created his own version of kung pao chicken, laced with tons of lemongrass.
Bark Hot Dogs from Brooklyn was featuring their signature Bark Dog, made in-house using pork shoulder, pork shank and beef shoulder.
The sexy duo behind The Meatball Shop, Daniel Holzman & Michael Chernow, created a mini Reuben meatball served with sauerkraut and thousand island dressing.
Luke’s Lobster… There was a huge line to get a taste of the buttery and juicy lobster rolls. We’ll just hit one of the three locations to get our lobster fix.
For pork lovers, there was a tomato-y pork ragu brought to you by Porchetta. The fabulous Sara Jenkins was on hand and gave Joonbug the secret to her famous roast pork. “The recipe is on the website,” she said. Click here for “the secret.”

FIRST COURSE

Lucky Rice, Lucky Us

by Stephany Tefarikis Fri, April 16th, 2010 at 4:01pm

Lucky Rice Festival
When: Thursday, April 29th-Sunday, May 2nd
Where: Locations vary with event
www.luckyrice.com/festival

Over the past couple years, New York City has enjoyed and enveloped itself within the revitalization of Asian culture and cuisine. In commemoration of the Asian awakening, LUCKYRICE.com hosts a festival of Asian significance, joined by culinary superstars. An aggregate of culinary heavyweights-Daniel Boulud, Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert, David Cheng, Masaharu Morimoto, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and others-preside over The Lucky Rice Festival, a weekend long celebration of Asian eats.

FIRST COURSE

Baohaus Steams Pork Buns in LES

by Stephany Tefarikis Thu, March 11th, 2010 at 11:04am

Baohaus
137 Rivington Street
(Between Norfolk & Suffolk Sts.)
New York, NY 10002
(646) 684-3835
www.baohausnyc.com

Taiwanese Gao Bao, or steamed buns, resemble Chinese hamburgers and have made a comfortable and savory home at the Lower East Side's Baohaus. Opened in December 2009, Baohaus features all varieties of stuffed boa, from traditional pork to a vegetarian tofu.

Steamed in lotus leaves, Baohau's stuffed buns are anything but ordinary. The customer favorite and cleverly named Chairman Bao ($4) is filled with Niman Ranch Pork Belly that was first flash-fried and then braised in rice wine, soy sauce, rock sugar, ginger, and star anise-called "red cooking"-and is topped with crushed peanuts, cilantro, Haus Relish, and Taiwanese red sugar. Featured on the Food Network, the Haus Bao ($4.50) is composed of "red-cooked" certified Angus Skirtsteak Bao, spiked with moutai, a 100-plus-proof sorghum liquor.