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To Sok Jip in Annandale

In the continuing quest to explore Korean restaurants in Annandale, we met up with a Korean friend to go to To Sok Jip in Annandale. (TSJ is located across the street from Honeypig and nearby Joseph's Coat, a resale shop.) She ordered effortlessly in Korean and gave helpful recommendations of dishes to try. One day I may finally learn how to read Hangul, but tonight was not that day. We arrived by 5 pm to get in line for a table. With only 7-8 tables inside this small restaurant, it's best to avoid prime time dining hours if you want to get a table without a lengthy wait. Even arriving on the early side, we had a few minutes to wait for a table and were instructed to look over the menu to decide what we wanted to order.

I had heard the pan chan were good and was eager to try them. The array was nice and the quality was better than most other Korean restaurants. To Sok Jip is known for making 'homestyle' Korean dishes. 

Hamul pajeon

A highly recommended dish is their version of the seafood pancake. Much thicker (I've seen it referred to as 'Chicago style') than other varieties, the squid remained nice and tender, not overcooked and rubbery. I think I prefer the version at Lighthouse better.

When you order a grilled or fried fish, you have a choice of soups/stews. This is the doenjang, a spicy miso-based stew with tofu and vegetables. The husband tried the one made with natto (fermented soybeans). While very healthy for you, it's an acquired taste (It smelled like feet). 

Grilled Mackerel

Mackerel can be extremely pungent when you cook it at home.  (This does not stop us. Makes you feel sorry for our neighbors.) We are both fans of the oily fish. This was a very large portion.

So glad I am not the dishwasher here, so many small dishes.

The husband ordered the fried croaker, which has a light almost cornmeal-like crust. I think he would have preferred the mackerel.

Our friend ordered the Fried Belt Fish, which is one of her favorites.

The flavor of the fish is really subtle and nice, although you need some dexterity with chopsticks to pick out the meat around the bones.

Barely looks like we made a dent in the dishes. We took home the remaining fish and pajeon and will have that tomorrow with some more kimchi and miso soup. 

***

All these dishes ended up costing $22 per person including tax and tip. Incredibly reasonable for so much food, and the quality was at the level I had anticipated. It may be a bit more difficult if you go without a Korean speaker, but the menu is also in English. For the different fish types, those are listed on the wall in Hangul, which is more difficult but manageable if you figure out the names for the mackerel, croaker or belt fish ahead of time. 

The husband was a little less impressed with the restaurant. Since I cook for him most nights of the week, he's not in search of a 'homestyle' restaurant. He prefers bbq places where we can kick back and enjoy some soju and Cass beer with the panchan, parade of Korean soups and grilled meats. 

Korean BBQ at Home

The husband loves Korean bbq with a capital "L". I've grown decidedly less fond of Honeypig, which he still really likes. Why don't I like it anymore? Maybe it was the crowds driven by Groupons and Living Social deals exacerbating the already long waits, perhaps it is because of the repeated surly and inattentive waitstaff, or maybe I've grown out of the introductory phase of Korean BBQ and am ready for something more. Trying to find a happy medium, we picked up sliced beef short ribs, kimchi, and vegetables to cook at home.

The electric teppanyaki grill pan is fantastic.

Mushrooms, potatoes, red bell pepper, zucchini; marinated beef short ribs.

While this did make our living room a little on the smoky side, this was a delicious dinner with bowls of rice, kimchi and salted seaweed. No need to wait for a table and surly service not required.

Cooking at Home

I'm an American girl at heart. I love sandwiches at any time of the day, pasta with a cheese blanket, mashed potatoes and a really good cheese burger. My husband is Japanese and while he likes most of my dinners, I know he prefers meals served with rice and preferably Japanese, Korean or Chinese. Trying to accommodate his tastes, I've been making an effort to expand the varieties of our dinners at home.

Kimchi and pork belly fried rice with baby bok choy, zucchini, mushroom and bean sprouts.

Thai red vegetable curry with carrots, zucchini, red bell pepper, cilantro, jalapeno and ginger.

Japanese-style fried chicken (karaage)

***

With a few extra vegetables from our weekly grocery store trip to Super H Mart to use up before we stuff our refrigerator in preparation for Thanksgiving, I made a different weekend breakfast dish.

Sauteed butternut squash and kale with onion, garlic and parmigiano cheese.

Two fried eggs in a rectangular Japanese pan.

It's ceramic and fantastic for frying eggs. 

I topped the squash and kale hash with one of the sunny side up eggs, a dash or two of hot sauce.

Overwood Brunch

We drove out to Bristow last night to try and catch the Obama campaign event. Checking out the online schedule, I saw that Obama would not take the stage until 10:40 pm. We stopped off in Virginia Gateway shopping center in Gainesville, VA to grab something to eat. Unfortunately, by the time we finished eating and headed over to Cedar Drive, the parking lots reached capacity and the police were blocking the access roads. Sigh. 

The husband was definitely disappointed by the missed chance to hear some acoustic Dave Matthews, and listen to Obama and Bill Clinton rally the supporters before the election. After enjoying an extra long sleep-in thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time, we both squeezed in workouts before heading out for brunch at Overwood in Old Town. 

Hello my pretty.

Fried Chicken and Biscuit with Mushroom-Sage Gravy

Instead of my regular order of Eggs Chesapeake (perfectly poached eggs with crabcakes, I tried something new. The menu was full of mouth-watering combinations. The fried chicken was nicely fried, with good seasoning and still juicy meat. The sage overpowers the mushrooms a little, but works nicely when all  of the components are together. Definitely need extra gravy to dip the biscuit into.

Asiago grits with poached eggs, bacon and toast.

Buttermilk pancakes with blueberries.

***

The husband went for a big breakfast. One of the eggs was poached a little too long, but the other egg was perfectly runny. The grits are very good, but get cold quickly. Overwood does a really nice brunch, with a number of creative, southern-inspired dishes. After all of this, time for a little afternoon nap while the Redskins toy with our hearts for another week.

Great Wall Chinese Takeout

Even with a shortened work week, it felt like a long one. Friday night after work, we headed up to Great Wall on 14th Street to pick up Sichuan takeout. I called in the order when we were on our way, and it was ready by the time we finally battled through the traffic. 

We love Sichuan food, and have tried Sichuan Jin River in Rockville, Hong Kong Palace in Seven Corners, Sichuan Pavilion on K Street; as well as Uncle Liu's Hotpot in Falls Church and Mala Tang in Arlington. We ordered our usual favorites to base our comparison on. 

Dan Dan Noodles, Boiled Beef with Vegetables, Mapo Tofu with Pork

The Dan Dan Noodles are topped with ground pork and two sauteed yu choy. 

The sauce is nice and spicy with a good hint of vinegar bite. 

The noodles do get a bit too soft, and I think I prefer the super thin noodle version at Sichuan Pavilion.

Boiled Beef with Vegetables is laden with spice and flavor (and oil).

Solid version, in a three-way tie with versions from Sichuan Pavilion and Hong Kong Palace.

Mapo Tofu with pork and visible black beans.

Topped with a layer of oil that congealed during the time it took to travel from the restaurant to home.

When we got home, this definitely needed to be reheated on the stove to bring all the flavors into harmony and temperature back up to fiery inferno.

Mala Wontons and yu choy with garlic.

***

Admittedly, this is a lot of food, we spread it out over two meals. If you're in the Dupont or Logan Circle area, definitely check out Great Wall. Skip the Americanized Chinese and feel the ma-la burn. If you're closer to Foggy Bottom-Farragut West, check out Sichuan Pavilion. They have much more seating available and also a small private room if you need to host a dinner for 10-12 people. The Sichuan places we go to in Virginia do a comparable version with appropriate heating and spicing. No need to drive up to Rockville to Sichuan Jin River if you're in the DC or VA areas. 

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce and Spicy Italian Sausage

The husband really likes the capellini with tomato sauce at Faccia Luna with grilled sausage. While he always orders this dish, he prefers a thicker pasta. 

I picked up a package of buccatini, some spicy Italian pork sausage from Whole Foods, and gave Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce a whirl. It's a pretty simple sauce, just butter, onion and tomatoes simmered for 45 mintues. Instead of taking out the onion, I pureed the sauce together. Buccatini is thicker than capellini, with a nice tooth-feel. The husband liked it a lot.

Leftovers for Lunch 

Axian Yakisoba

I had lunch with my favorite yoga teacher this week. We were supposed to catch up on Sunday, but the Marine Corps Marathon made more of a mess of public transportation than normal. Instead I had a nice 10 mile run and we caught up for lunch at Axian. I love the sandwiches there, especially on their marbled rye bread. The bibimbap is also a good choice, but pretty large.

Chicken Yakisoba

Tofu Yakisoba

Nice array of vegetables including broccoli, carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, bean sprouts and cabbage. 

***

Had a nice time catching up, although the seating is extremely limited and the couple to our left were a bit on the loud-side. 

Sushi Express Bento

The office was closed on Monday and Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy. Our New York office was also closed for both days, and many could not make it into the midtown Manhattan office on Wednesday with the subway still closed. By Thursday about 80% made it into the office, which is pretty remarkable considering many still were without power at home and the subway was limited. 

Catching up on everything, I ran some errands and picked up a bento from Sushi Express on 20th Street.

Rice with a small sliver of unagi and sauce; two slices of tuna; two shumai (a little cold); broiled salmon; kabocha; broccoli goma-ae and daikon salad with carrots and firm tofu. I prefer ordering a couple of maki instead, but this was decent with choice of small miso soup or salad for $11 total.

Power's Back...Autumn on a Plate

When we lost power, I put some of the perishables into a cooler with ice. With the electricity off for 18 hours, the freezer had a nice defrost, dripping cold water everywhere. Perfect time to finally clean out the freezer from all the odds and ends that are squirreled away. 

With the power back and a few groceries, I embraced the working oven and made a seasonal dinner.

Arugula salad with kalamata olives, clementine slices and lemon vinaigrette.

Roasted potatoes.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts.

Lamb sausage with salad and roasted vegetables.

The lamb sausage was not a hit, and but the vegetables were great.

Homemade Bagel Chips

We picked up a package of whole wheat bagels from Trader Joe's and put them in the freezer. The husband was not a fan of the large whole wheat bagels, and prefers the mini-whole wheat ones. Trying out a different recipe, I made some bagel chips with the disliked bagels. 

Slice bagels in thin wedges. Toss with olive oil, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bake in a 325F oven for 18 minutes. Fantastic snack to munch on during the storm. So good, the husband who disliked the regular bagel, devoured the chips.

Full Kee Pre-Hurricane Sandy

I was right. We were lucky to be spared the destruction Hurricane Sandy unleashed on New Jersey and New York, but we did lose power for 18 hours. The heavy rains, strong wind and uncertainty led both the Federal Government and Metro system to close for two days. My office was closed for both days the Metro was closed as well. 

Before the storm hit Virginia, we went out for dinner at Full Kee.

Seafood Pan-fried Noodles

The husband loves this dish, with the crispy thin egg noodles topped with the light seafood sauce and chunks of seafood and gai lan (Chinese broccoli).

Sauteed snow pea shoots with garlic.

Perfect way to get in some vitamin-rich greens. Nice smokey flavor from the wok.

Beef with Chinese Broccoli.

Trying to get a different protein in, this was a surprise hit.

Glorious, and slightly gluttonous dinner. We brought the leftovers back with us, and had them for brunch the next day while waiting for Superstorm Sandy to hit.

Bacon Mushroom Broccoli Quiche

The weather forecast for the last two days has been warning Hurricane Sandy may strike the Mid-Atlantic states. Since this area falls frequently victim to power outages, we've learned that it's best to be prepared. While we were lucky to not lose power for an extended time this summer when the derecho hit, our luck may not hold out this time. Looking in the freezer and refrigerator to see what I could cook up, I decided to make a quiche.

Par bake the freezer crust first. Then fill with sauteed mushrooms, bacon, onion and parboiled broccoli.

Top the vegetable mixture with diced pepperjack cheese and a mixture of eggs with a touch of buttermilk.

Beautiful cheesy broccoli quiche after 45 minutes in the oven.

Gorgeous savory quiche that helped use up some leftover bits and bobs.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

My husband loves blueberry pancakes. I'm not as much of a fan of pancakes, so this was my first time to make them for him. After a long work week, we had breakfast for dinner. I found a good recipe on Smitten Kitchen with buttermilk, baking powder, baking soda, flour, salt, sugar, butter and eggs.

Using an electric griddle makes is great for cooking four decent-sized pancakes at once. The nonstick surface is great too, just needs a quick swirl of melted butter.

Flip the pancakes.

Oven-baked bacon strips with blueberry buttermilk pancakes. 

***

I was a little surprised how much thicker the batter was, but the texture is nice and cakey. I made extras, which were easy to reheat in the oven the next day for his breakfast. 

Japanese BBQ at Satsuma in Bethesda

My husband's office had some out of town visitors this week. I was invited to join them for dinner at Satsuma in Bethesda. I've been before with my former office coworkers, but have not been back in awhile. For a weekday night, the restaurant was disturbingly empty at 8 pm, with only one other table. They also took off a few of the more unique items from the Japanese bbq menu. I do love the bbq grill inset into the table in the tatami section. 

Gyu-tan, ros, kalbi (beef tongue, skirt steak and marinated beef)

Japanese-style bbq (yakiniku) uses very thinly sliced meat, often marbled with fat.

***

Given the option and the price difference, I think my husband and his visiting colleagues would prefer to go to Korean bbq next time instead. They are also big fans of soon dubu, Peking duck and Sichuan food. Satsuma was nice, but the atmosphere was very odd, with the restaurant nearly empty, and the prices were higher than at the popular Korean places.

Weekday Lunches

Work has been hectic, and I have not been doing the best job at preparing lunches at home. Searching for something delicious, filling and from not too far away, I headed to my favorite haunts near the office. 

Axian reuben with steak fries.

I love the marbled rye bread they use at Axian. Love. The corned beef is a little too thick, but I think I would be just as happy with a meatless reuben on this bread.

Sichuan Express buffet melange

Chicken with Chinese vegetables, bok choy, mapo tofu, vegetables with shrimp and fried chicken.

I love little tastes of everything, and this assuaged my spice craving.