Traveling Abroad Food and more: Fantastic octopus

I have traveled the world and recently returned from a two week trip in China. While I have been in Kansas City area for 28 years, I can't just write about Kansas City, its restaurants and food. Of course, they do tie and they part of what I write about but my blog is more for that about my experiences over the years , from all over the globe too.

Shanghai, China was my first foray into tasting the food in China two weeks ago at the start of tour to see several cities in China, the many sights, see the total solar eclipse. Another great possibility was eating some great and unusual food.

After taking a taxi and going to the huge Pearl Tower, we were hungry. We were on our own for the night so we started going down the street. There was not much here. I had heard that there were some good restaurants inside the hotels so I looked inside one the. We ducked into the Ocean

The waitresses were obliging. They did not speak English and we not much Chinese so we pointed and nodded to the menu, names and photos. They were confused that we did not order right away. The menu was extensive and we took our time.

As we looked through the impressive menu, I zoned in one what I did not want. A regular meal for my first time in China, had to be something engaging and memorable.. I wanted something really different other then the Chinese or Asian fare with beef, chicken or more.

The Octopus in Garlic stood out so I ordered while Jordan my friend ordered Salmon Sahimi.

I thought it would just be a little bowl. Instead it came out in a HUGE bowl of dozens of tiny 1-2 inch octopi stewed in many dozens of garlic pods (that looked at first like little potatotoes). I wish I could show you the picture but I had gone out without my pda which was charging and did not want a lug a camera through the streets as I was a little tired. The meal did not look like this bowl as the octopi were darker and more brittle tentacle like.

My meal cost 38 which technically cost in American about $6. That was truly amazing. I wish I had could have taken pictures of the decor, the aquariums in the fish tanks that people could actually choose their diner and more.

Each octopus was a nice succelent bite, a garlicky morsel that was slightly chewey to eat and was cooked perfected stewed with the garlic .

Unfortuntely I did not have my camera or pda with me so I could not take pictures of this impressive dish. So I big the wait staff goodbye. We put down tips but they would not take them.
We also said goodbye to the spiny lobster in the fish tank. Wish I had time to get back in the next day or two and should have but it did not work ot (instead we went with some other of the tour people to a much cheaper restaurant which cost about the same but was very unappealing in a dim sum fashion. Little did I know I would run into more Dip Sum type meals that were not as attractive, flavorful or tempted my taste buds as this starter meal.


See and try the recipes below and let me know if you try any of them.

PS want to learn more in future. Sign me up as friend in Urbanspoon (see below).

Dr. Eric Flescher (dreric1kansas@aol.com),
Put this url on your blog, website and also sign me in as a friend on Urbanspoon.com
Kansas City Traveling Gourmet
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Italian version

Octopus With Garlic - Polipi Veraci All'Aglio Recipe


Recipe Categories: Miscellaneous Recipes
Average Rating: (1 vote)
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
2 Octopus (about 1 1/2 pounds
-each)
1/4 c Olive oil
5 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Bay leaf
1/2 ts Cumin seeds
Salt
1 sm Green pepper, chopped
Rosemary leaves and parsley

Instructions

1. Cut out the eyes and mouth of the octopus. Remove the ink sac and internal bone. Cut off the tough points in the tentacles. Put each octopus on a board and beat them well to break the fibers and make the meat more tender. Wash them in running water until they are very white; do not dry but put them in an earthen- ware dish and season with oil, flavored with garlic, bay leaf and cumin seeds. Cover the dish tightly with a sheet of waxed paper or foil tied around the top with string. Put the dish over a very low heat between 1 and 2 hours, according to the size of the octopus. When they are tender, drain them, season with additional oil, salt, green pepper, rosemary leaves and parsley. Serve in a tureen.


From "Feast of Italy", translated from the Italian edition published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1973. Consulting Chef, Giorgio Gioco. Thomas Crowell, New York. ISBN 0-690-00059-6


It doesn't make reference to it in the text, but in the pictures of both these dishes, it shows one or two largish octopi garnished with reseattes of baby octopi tentacles. I imagine you'd do quite well using the 'baby' octopi like those I see sold around here in the supermarkets, or even with squid.

**t

Zamboanga Octopus
Category: Filipino Popular!
Author: Susan
Added On: 9/30/2005
Viewed: 4,271
Rating:Zamboanga Octopus has been rated 3.00 by 980 users (3.00) votes 980
Rate this recipe


1 kg. Octopus
3 tomatoes, 1 clove garlic, one onion, and bay leaf
3 tablespoons Cooking oil
1 cup Coconut milk
(optional four pieces chili)
Salt
Instructions
1. Wash octopus in water.
2. Place octopus in a covered kettle.
3. Place kettle on electric or gas stove and cook on high heat for 20 minutes. (The octopus will release water.)
4. Remove octopus from kettle and allow to cool down.
5. When cool, slice. Remove and throw away beak.
6. In a saucepan, heat 2 to 3 tablespoon cooking oil.
7. Sauté garlic, onions, and tomatoes.
8. Add sliced octopus.
9. Add a cup of coconut milk (gata).
10. When the coconut milk boils, season to taste and remove from fire.

(Alternate flavoring: flavor with a small piece of cinnamon stick - remove after cooking).

::
Cacciucco-Fish Stew

Recipe Courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Food of Tuscany

Ingredients

* 5 pounds assorted seafood, such as eel, squid, prawns, whiting,
* hake, red mullet, small octopus, John Dory, cuttlefish and crawfish
* 3/4 cup olive oil
* 2 cups onions, julienned
* 2 carrots, julienned
* 2 celery stalks, julienned
* 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
* 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
* 2 hot chili peppers, stemmed and minced
* 2 bay leaves
* 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
* 2 cups red wine
* 4 cups peeled, seeded and chopped Roma tomatoes
* 6 cups light stock, fish or chicken
* Salt and pepper
* 12 slices French or Italian type bread

Directions

Clean the fish, remove their heads and put them aside. Cut the smaller fish into 3-inch pieces. Season the fish with salt and pepper. In a large pan, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and saute for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the parsley, garlic, peppers, bay leaves, thyme and fish heads. Continue to saute for about 3 to 4 minutes or until the fish heads have browned. Add the red wine and bring up to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock. Bring the liquid up to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Discard the fish heads and bay leaves, set aside and keep hot. In a large saute pan, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the squid, cuttlefish and octopus and saute for about 10 minutes. Add the remaining fish and continue to saute for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Heat a large saute pan, and add the remaining olive oil. When the oil is hot, pan-fry the bread for a couple of minutes on each side, or until golden. Fry the bread in batches. Line a large tureen bowl with the fried bread. Lay the fish on top of the fried bread. Pour the soup over the fish and garnish with parsley.

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OCTOPUS STEW
http://www.indobase.com/recipes/details/octopus-stew.php
Recipe Type:
Non Veg.
Difficulty:
Average
Ingredients:
1 kg Octopus
6 Tomatoes
6 Onions
6 Large potatoes
8 Cloves of garlic
8 Olives
1 tbsp Capers
Olive oil for frying
Red wine
Few leaves of mint and marjoram
Pinch of thyme

Cooking Instructions:
Clean the octopus and remove the edible flesh.
Keep the flesh in a plastic bag and beat it.
Cut the flesh into pieces with a knife.
Rinse in salted water and drain.
Transfer the pieces to a pot.
Stew the pieces over a low flame for an hour. If the liquid is too dry, add little hot water.
Meanwhile, Peel and chop the onions. Chop the tomatoes also.
Fry the onions in olive oil till tender.
Add chopped tomatoes and crushed garlic.
When tomatoes become soft, add the chopped olives, capers and all herbs.
Raise the temperature of boiling stew and pour 1/4 bottle red wine.
Now reduce the flame and simmer slowly till the amount of liquid reduces considerably.
Serve the stew with boiled potatoes.

**

Just got back from China and two weeks

I am trying to catch up after coming in from China after a successful total solar eclipse videotaping and photographing as well great eats and touring in Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and Xian. I will be all the stories , the foods, meals, restaurants I frequented , hotel etc food and much more in the coming week along with photos and more.

Someone posted information about wanted to find information about bananas recipes and I will have to hunt them down and post.

My blog was also featured in a section in the Food section today as one of the top blogs in the Kansas City area.
Easy way now to get to his blog, the recipes, information and much more at

http://tinyurl.com/kansascitytravelingourmet

Dr. Eric Flescher (dreric1kansas@aol.com), Kansas City Traveling Gourmet
http://tinyurl.com/kansascitytravelingourmet

Evergreen Chinese okay chinese food

 I've been here several times with other teachers after inservices. The food is good but not spectacular. I prefer some of the chinese buffet places nearby.

China Buffet - it is my chinese "fix" why? good buffet

 I like this buffet for the food which quite good and. When my appetite hungers and I want some Sweet & Sour Soup and am lusting for some Asian fare, I usually go with my "chinese fix" by coming here.
Its reasonably priced, its not too far away for me, the food is consistently good. Meaning that the food, at least that which I ate on the buffet, has good flavor, tenderness and has the flavors.
I get to sample some Chinese fare I don't ordinarily make, like the hot and sour soup, which I should try to make myself. This one is not bad with just the right sour and a little heat. The wonton soup is a little mild but the silky wontons, which I like very much, are soft, supple and light.
I don't bother with salad and other non chinese fare most of the time. I head for the appetizers like the crunchy and meaty chinese wings (seems like a little Chinese spice in them), the crab rangoon (good).
For 2 extra dollars you can have all you want of the thin crab legs (which is a good price).

New face lift but the food inside Peking Taste is still very good

 We have gone here many times before the places new "face lift". It was an affordable place to get good Chinese/ Asian food. The buffet is not the biggest in the world but what they have is very tasty and there are quite few dishes to try anyway. The hot and sour soup is quite good with that little extra sour " note" to it. The tiny shrimp in mild tomato sauce is addictive. The rest of the buffet from beef, chicken, noodles and more is always good and well prepared. The price has risen since the place's "newface liftt". For the price it is still affordable. But if you want more entrees on the the buffet, there are a few more in town to try that might be better suited but it all is a matter of taste.

Life and eating is an adventure: We try Mandaranism, Overland Park , KS

For me life is an adventure. As a world traveler, eclipse chaser, stormchaser, tennis pro, a teacher who has traveled into the crater of Mt. St. Helens and more, I like an adventure and have always liked exploring. Food for me, is another adventure and way to explore. Unlike my wife, I seek every meal to be an adventure whether I am creating a recipe, eating in a restaurant or tasting or eating. I am always looking for something new, a different spice , a new taste, a new combination, different ingredients, a different restaurant, different, different, different. Somethings are the same whilc something are the same but "different".

While we will journey to China (our first time) in July 2009 for the eclipse and will experience much more in Beijing and Shanghai and around in the ways of foods and culture , I am not waiting to find evenmore aboutt classical and different Chinese and Asian fare. I keep exploring with recipes but I find to find and try new restaurants now. One new place that I have wanted to try since I heard about is one of the new places in Kansas City called Mandaranism. A local newspaper and local buzz says this place is "hot" and does a whole new spin on Chinese and Mandarin food.

I really love Thai and Asian food and also like Chinese. However there are too many mediocre Chinese places that are frankly not worth it except " to stuff you face (so to speak)". But when I needed to pick a place to meet my former business partner and his wife for a final get together before they leave for good (to Tucson), I wanted to choose some place that they would impress them. His wife worked at The American and they both have eaten at some of the best places in Lawrence and around Kansas City and the US. I thought they would like this place and we would have a nice time and we would all explore a new restaurant. And I did pick a good place for all of us.

Those who want Chinese can go to a mega buffet with lots of people, moderate to higher amounts of noise, and dozens of entrees to choose from at lower prices. My friends don't go to these places and for the most part such places are not my wife's preference either ( to see the ones I do try and don't like , see my other reviews). Basicallyy, I was looking for Good Price for the Buck $$$, Ambiance , Food that is a Level Above Ordinary (Chinese) Fare and good Service. And for the most part Mandarinism won.

We came in around 2:30 pm. My friends did not arrive until later so we started looking over the menu. The place had subdued tones and was nice looking. It was not noisy at all even with this post lunch and happy hour time crowd. Most were here for the happy hour prices and getting together. There is a selections of wines, specialty drinks, beers etc. But we were aiming for the food. The menu is good but not extensive. A few chicken, beef, fish dishes are here (we wish there were more). More trended in the area of pork, shellfish, shrimp or combination. I had heard that this place did not have Crab Rangoon but it was on the menu. However it did not seem to be any different . There was soup of the day but no Chinese soup staples as in hot and sour soup or egg drop soup. I did not see any "specials of the day". I wish the waitress had asked what she thought was good. But I had " done my homework" and new what items were the some of the best to try anyway.

We could either choose from the lunch menu or the Happy Hour menu. I was not sure if I could get the lunch menu beyond 3:00 pm so I immediately ordered one of their signature items, the Orange Beef for lunch. It took a little while to figure out that one can still order off the lunch menu even though it is beyond "lunch time". The waitress said we could still order off the lunch menu and would come after our friends arrived with their meal. Just wanted to make sure.

My wife ordered the lunch special with Panko Chicken sandwich (without the bread ). This came with the green slaw and sweet potato fries. Thin slices and nicely fried with Panko crumbs it was good. The green slaw had tiny crisp slivers of cabbage that had a slight lemony flavor. The fries were short, thin and baked with Panko crumbs. This side dish were good but not great (I had tasted them at other Asian restaurants and made my own). It possibly needed salt. What was really missing to make this dish great for a side for an entree or with happy hour was a Asian, wasabi, a spicy ketchup or some some sort of condiment. She and I did not think to order something if something was available. It would have been good if the waitress asked it we wanted ketchup or something but I was too busy checking out the other entreess that did not need condiments.

The soup that came with the lunch, had nice tiny white rectangle pieces of tofu, with small pieces of carrots, mushrooms in a clear type broth which had no real distinctive flavor. Still it was good on this very cold day. I gave one of my small vegetarian spring rolls to my wife to nosh on. They were unremarkable. Crunchy but hard to decipher what kind of vegetables were in them (and I was not about to dig in to one of the pieces to find out).

I had heard about this restaurant's signature dish "Orange Beef" which actually uses sun dried tomato. When I heard about this when I checked out the menu, weeks before, I thought that this dish in itself should " raise the bar of the dish". I had actually made a Orange sun dried tomato version of this but with chicken and it was quite good so I was anticipating the flavor. The beef was smothered thin chunks of beef which were first coated (Panko?), fried and then had the orange sun dried sauce poured with it or over it with little thin strips of red and green peppers. This made for a nice combination. I could taste the hint of sun dried tomato with the orange flavor. It was not the fantastic dish I thought it would be, but it was good. The fluffy rice had a slightly nutty flavor had bits of fried egg and little carrots. These " little attention to detail " did not go unnoticed.

My friends had Jasmin tea which came with very nice tea ceramic pots. The hot water goes through the top which has the tea in it, you remove the top part and drink the tea with the bottom part. Cute and effective. Then their beef buns arrived.

I was very impressed. They did not come like a "whole bun with meat inside". Instead three of the "buns" came on a rectangle like dish with a dipping gravy type sauce. Each of the "buns" was a half like portion of the bun which were pretty big in size. Each had beef inside, spring onions and a mild sauce. My friends enjoyed the buns and thought it was cute and well set up. My wife and I tried one. We both liked the different, meaty flavor in the bun and the sauce had a little "twang" to it.

By that time, more people were coming in for the happy hour. However the place still was quite enough so that we could "kibbitz" and talk over life and time, kids stuff and more. We passed on the desserts but took some photos instead.

This place is nice but you might have to check for directions first as it is "tucked " away from the main road. More people have been finding this place or going out of their way to find it and try the different Chinese food that Mandarinism has for you. The menu is a little limited but what they have is quite good. If you prefer a place which has much more abundant food for the price and " the same old stuff ", then this might not be the place for you. The prices are reasonable, the food is different had well presented, the ambiancee is very good and we had a good time. So this place met all my criteria for today. I like this place and could see coming here again. If we want an Chinese or Asian meal next time, we will have to think about some other dishes we can try like the duck buns or some other entree. There is enough here to keep us coming back!

Eyewitness Travel Beijing & Shanghai

Beautiful, helpful, packed with information and light, December 15, 2008

By	Eric Flescher "dreric1kansas@aol.com" (Olathe, KS) - See all my reviews

DK Eyewitness Travel

Since my wife and I would be going to China in 2009 (to see the next total eclipse), I wanted to "get the lay of the land "so to speak and find out more specifically what the cities had for us and more. While we would be on a tour, I still wanted to know more for myself as well as being able to tell more on the videos, websites and presentations I would create. I looked at about 10 books that I thought were good and covered what I wanted. I wanted to find more about not only the sights and traveling (mostly we would be in and around Shanghai and Beijing before and after the eclipse and because of this would not need a book that would include other parts of China) but more about the sights, monuments, art, museums;architecture and more. The layout of the book is splendid. What I really got this book for was the nice color illustrations, photos, maps.It is light enough for me to take with us. The information does have text that is small but that is because the book packs so much useful information (much of what I wanted to know about) . The sections for hotel and restaurant information will help those who might be finding their own way. But since we already have our hotels and most of the places to eat already arranged on the tour, I was not too focused on these but the restaurant information would help when we were had to fend for ourselves. The " Where to Eat " section is quite good and includes what to focus upon in Beijing and Shanghai.I have been all around the world and have cooked and eaten all types of food and recipes but I still found this part well done and helpful.However unlike some other books, it was difficult for me to locate particular restaurants on the map, because the exact location were not noted via a red dot or something to fine particular restaurants, a more easier process (for this I would use another book). However there was an excellent legend key/ set of symbols that can help find restrooms, tourist information and more. There are nice sections on excursions, nightlife information and walking tour info. There is an excellent Beijing street finder map and subway map. There is even a nice little phrase section to learn about the language. So if you are going to Shanghai and/or Beijing find this book and look it over even if you have to use a magnifying glass! (I could still see the type very well). The book is packed with a lot of great information, is handsomely laid out and has much of the information I was looking for. It might be the one for you too.

China Star Super Buffet

We have been several times with kids and friends. But I am not a fan of this place at all. It's food is BORING. Yeah there is lots of food (hey its a buffet!) but there is little spice and flavor on most of the dishes.One of two tasty dishes but that's it. It's like a Perkins Chinese- looks good but no flavor (except Perkins does have real good pies). Its been in business for awhile so people go here for some reason. But its not for me and I will never go here again.

Red Snapper in Kansas City: did it have the snap?

I chose Red Snapper for my gourmet group to dine. I've never been here but some of the group had been. I looked at then menu at the restaurant with the year. The reviews on the forums I read were pretty good and the menu had multi ethnic Asian dishes. We will be going to China in July 2009 to see the total eclipse of that year. No doubt we will sample many Asian dishes during next July tour, as we have samples in Kansas City and in various parts of the US but I thought it was time to looking around for Asian fare around home.

The inside of the restaurant has nice Asian colored tons but it was so dark I had to read the menu with my red light. I liked the atmosphere and the place was full. It was not too noisy so we could hear each other well in our little corner. I like that the kitchen was open so you can watch what is going on for the most part.

The menu had pricier Asian specials but we tried the lunch specials which were reasonable at about $8.00 apiece. The waiter and waitresses had thought smart looking Asian black aprons. The waiter was very personable and answered questions about the food.

The specials included smoked salmon Rangoon which was a nice different spin on Crab Rangoon. It has good taste and I could taste the salmon but not much "smoke'. Also with the lunch special there were soup. If you did not want pork or seafood in your soup, hot drop is the option. We tried the Egg Drop soup although there was sweet and sour, shrimp wonton soup , Thai Thom Yum seafood soup and snow white seafood soup. My wife thought it was one of the better egg drop soups but I could not really taste a lot of egg that might .

The entrees were nicely plated and had lots of food on the plate. My wife and another women tried the special Crispy Red Snapper dish. It was lightly fried on the outside and was flaky and tasted good. I tried a bit of it and it was good and flaky. I think it could have had some condiments with it or something with it to spice it up.

I had heard the black bean chicken was good so I gave it a go. There were a few little black beans among the chicken with a light black bean very light brown sauce. I thought it was okay but did not have the "zip" a slightly sour black bean taste that I expected.

One of the women tried the Mandarin chicken which was mild as well while another had the Fried Noodles. She liked it a lot and looked like a very good dish.

We will come here again sometime. Although not listed per entree, there are other Thai, Korean, Chinese and other Asian type fare. Possible the Korean Sweet and Sour Red Snapper. The Peking duck comes as two breasts and I could see my wife and I sharing that and an appetizer. There is lots to try here.

After thinking the dishes over, I did some searching. This restaurant is owned by people that used to own the Peking restaurant in Westport (which I never ate at). My dish was light , was not spicy. Peking cuisine is said to had subtle seasonings use. They have quite a variety of items on the menu but I am not sold yet whether this place is "great" yet because I thought everyones' dishes were good. I did not hear anyone say it was some of the best they have had. There is a lot to offer anyone who wants to eat a good Asian meal. But how good? I will have to wait until we go back someday. And I will think what to get next time to see how good the asian fare is ?

I found that Mandarin chooses from all regions. Shanghai hails from many Chinese cooking styles. Central (Honan) and . Western provinces include the Szechuan and Hunan and have more spicy type dishes .

We will be mostly near Beijing and Shanghai so I will have to explore what I might be in for in the way of Chinese food next July in and around the total eclipse. I have been to many Asian restaurants over the years and this certainly is a nice place to eat. But how good is this place? My judgement needs another opinion .

Today, October 25th, is World Pasta Day.

All over the world, people are eating their favorite pasta dishes.

Here is more about Chinese Noodles
The wide variety of Chinese/Asian noodles includes everything from standard egg noodles to rice vermicelli that puffs up when deep-fried. Learn more about the different types of Chinese noodles including photographs, and try several recipes.
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chinesecookingbasics/a/chinesenoodles.htm?nl=1