Recipe
02 Apr 2009

Jicama and Mandarin Orange Salad

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3 Comments

There’s something about the combination of fresh lime juice, minced garlic, and chopped cilantro that gives this fresh and chunky Jicama and Mandarin Orange Salad an uncanny resemblance to traditional Vietnamese goi (salad).

  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 6 mandarin oranges, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
  • 1 pound jicama, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks (3 cups)
  • 3/4 cup packed cilantro sprigs, chopped

Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt, then whisk together with lime juice, oil, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.

Just before serving, add mandarins, jicama, and cilantro and gently toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Adapted from Gourmet, November 2008

Now Closed
01 Apr 2009

Violet's Cakes – Pasadena

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8 Comments

A quest to find a local cupcake joint that can rival my beloved Sprinkles in Beverly Hills brought my friend Carissa and me to Violet’s Cakes. Unlike Sprinkles’ modern and sleek space, this shop had a homey, DIY kinda feel. Violet’s offers a multitude of flavors that change daily. Depending on what time one drops in, there can be up to fourteen varieties or quite a few less. When we visited on a Friday afternoon, there were ten or so flavors to pick from.

Carissa chose the Raspberry Lemonade ($3.25), which she said was tart and sweet with just a hint of “fruity goodness.” The one bite that she shared with me registered as one-dimensionally sweet. Too sweet, really. The bakers need to lay off the sugar and embrace more lemon juice and zest.

I picked the Chocolate Chip cupcake ($2.50) since it was the closest one Violet had to my favorite combination of yellow cake with chocolate buttercreme frosting. By the way, all of Violet’s cupcakes are double lined—there’s a regular paper liner underneath the outer aluminum one. We thought that was very peculiar.

My cupcake contained chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough within the batter, which was a pleasant surprise. Compositionally, the cupcake was very Pamela Anderson-esque—top heavy, if you will. The cake was too squishy and fluffy to balance out the thick, sloppy swirl of frosting on top. I also disliked how the frosting had a thin, hard outer shell due to the substantial lull in between baking and eating. The sprinkles atop the cupcake, especially the bulbous pink ones, were terrible as well.

When I go out for cupcakes, I expect to consume a product that is better than what I can bake at home. Unfortunately, this was not the case at Violet’s.

POWER RANKINGS

Sprinkles Cupcakes > Dots Cupcakes > Vanilla Bake Shop > Crumbs Bake Shop > Auntie Em’s Kitchen > Yummy Cupcakes > Violet’s Cakes.

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Violet’s Cakes
21 E. Holly Street
Pasadena, CA 91103
Phone: 626-395-9821

Violet's Cakes on Urbanspoon

Violet's Cakes in Los Angeles

Restaurant Review
31 Mar 2009

Taihei Restaurant – Monterey Park

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Whenever my mom comes into town for business and wants to meet up for dinner, I almost always find a joint in Monterey Park. The city is brimming with amazing eats and is perfectly equidistant from my home and her hotel room. Plus, I’ve yet to have a meal here that’s come anywhere close to letting me down. You could say that Monterey Park is the America’s Test Kitchen of restaurant towns—foolproof.

Not in the mood for Chinese fare on this visit, my mom suggested sushi for our meet-up. A little fiddling around on Yelp yielded Taihei, an age-old, family-run sushi shop that’s notoriously busy on the weekends. Luckily, we were dining on an uneventful Wednesday night.

The Astronomer, my mother, and I decided to share a variety of nigiri and rolls this evening. Instead of ordering verbally, we filled out an order form with a number two pencil. The nigiri, which come in sets of two, arrived first. The scallop nigiri ($4.25) was piled high with delicate baby scallops dressed lightly in mayonnaise and roe. It was a delightful treat and my favorite nigiri of the evening.

My mom requested an order of uni (M.P.). The first time I tasted uni was at Kanoyama in New York City a couple years back. Even though my brother hyped it up like no other, the experience wasn’t all that mind-blowing, and I haven’t had it since. The uni this evening was incredibly fresh, but there still weren’t any fireworks between us. Maybe next time.

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