The New Relocated East Wok

 Sometimes an upgrade isn't always good for a restaurant. The food can go down in quality while going up in price. Old favorites are knocked off the menu . Even a new location can be bad. However for East Wok, formerly of Saddle Brook, New Jersey now in the neighboring town of Elmwood Park changing locations was a glow up.

I;be always loved East Wok. They have the best chicken on a stick as well as a very lush shrimp in lobster sauce Their soups have gotten me through a number of colds and stomach flus. Their chefs produced some of the best food in the worst space possible. All those great dishes were created in a cubby hole in an ancient strip mall. It was tiny , without any air conditioning./ Anyone could see the need for a move.

Move they did - to a corner shop with a revamped kitchen and new floors. This (above) is so much better than their old eatery. There are marble floors and a lovely bathroom. Seats and table line the curved windows where you can see the main street.

Their always delicious fried dumplings and spring rolls actually taste better. Is it because of the air conditioned and bigger kitchen Maybe? Or the fact that its a joy to be in? Maybe. They have added to their menu too. I am dying to try their salt and pepper tofu and chicken as well as their new seafood dumplings.There is also Mala style different meats and tofu, cooked with fiery dry Szechuan peppers..East Wok still has their lunch specials that has the main meal with the choice of wonton or egg drop soups and a soda.

If you're looking for a great Chinese restaurant to visit this weekend stop in at the newly relocated East Wok.It's a great place to get a variety of different Asian dishes. The food is beyond delicious.

EAST WOK
234A Market Street,

Elmwood Park ,New Jersey 07407

Tell.201-556-0032

Will Banh MI Be The New Take Out

 Vietnamese food is fasting becoming an integral part of American cuisine. Now it may become part of American fast food thanks to the creativity of Vietnamese American entrepreneurs. Will it replace burger and fries? Possibly. 

Regular contributor, chef and cookbook author Priya Krishna wrote about this phenomena in today's New York Times Food section. It's starting in Texas where there is has always been a huge Vietnamese population.Paul Pham is leading the way with this, starting a chain called Hughie's.It's much more than a McDonald's or Burger King with offerings of wine to accompany the food. One of his in an old Dairy Queen and he does make that chain's famed chicken tenders., complete with their buttermilk brine and thick crust. The menu features such Vietnamese classics as pho soup along with shaken beef - a quick savory and sweet wok fried meat dish and banh mi - the famed sandwich using baguettes, meat and pickled veggies. In recent years several Vietnamese eateries have opened with that same intent - take out. They all have drive throughs which helped a lot during the pandemic. They hope to expand beyond their community and reach other Americans who love the cuisine.

Fast food and the drive through is a great way to introduce a particular cuisine to Americans. The drive through emerged in the mid Twentieth Century  and flourished in the Seventies. It started with burgers and fries thanks to Mc Donald's and Burger King. Mexican fast food chains like Taco Bell and Taco Cabana have also widely accepted it. The pandemic only emphasized the need for it, with no contact for food pick up. Vietnamese dishes such as banh mi and spring rolls are portable and easy to package. However for Kenny To, co owner with Hien Nguyen , owners of To me Vietnamese Sub, the food is much more labor intensive than just the average taco or burger. He bakes the subs himself and creates the marinades for the meat. These can be limited too. A condiment like Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce can be hard to find in non Asian American communities. At least one Vietnamese fast food has already figured out how to deal with a national audience. One of the oldest,Lee's Sandwiches started in 1983 by Ban Le and Hanh Nguyen expanded into Vietnamese neighborhoods across California and eight more states.

Vietnamese fast food will be as ubiquitou as other fast food cuisines. The food is tasty and filling, a level above the usual drive through fare. It will be a refreshing change from the usual.

The Vibrancy of Filipino Food

The Philippines are a combination of many  influences , from cultural to terrain. The end result is a bright, tasty cuisine that's now  a strong force here in the States. It's easy to replicate and fun for home chefs to try.

It was the subject of an article written by Angela Dimayuga with the help of New York Times Food contributor , Ligaya Mishan. Chef Dimayuga, who is not only was the chef at the famed Mission Chinese Food in New York City. and also a contributor to Bon Appetite Magazine. She returns to the food of her childhood, food that her mom made , food that the first Filipino migrant workers brought to Northern California , in the 1920's. Filipino food is just as complex and layered as the Italian and French cuisines she learned how to cook. It is also a very meticulous cuisine requiring just as much work and technique of any of those cuisines. Chef Dimayuga has the very good fortune of receiving the secrets behind family recipes from her lola,  before the elder passed at the age of 100. The family knows good food coming form the Lyon of the Philippines Papampanga. There were lessons on  bistek , steak with soy sauce and calamansi, a type of

lime. Her grandmother, who was former pharmacist also showed the chef  how to create her chicken releno, stuffed chicken with pork and sausage, similar to a farci, the French meat stuffing.  She realized her grandmother's recipe was exactly like Chef Jacques Pepin's galentine, after watching his video on it.

There are many recipes here. However Chef Dimayuga regrets that some of her favorites are not listed. The Philippines are an archipelago of 7,000 (!) islands, each with a strong culinary background. You'd need a cookbook just to list all the best. The article tries to do just that in a few essential dishes. There is the bistek recipe that has chunky rib eyes drenched in a sauce of garlic, lemon and orange juices., blended with olive oil, soy sauce and garlic. Of course there are rice dishes. There is an arroz caldo - hot rice - with chicken,collard greens and soy cured egg yolks. A fun appetizer or even a weekend meal is the lumpia  Shanghai cousins to spring rolls that Chinese traders first brought to the islands in the Ninth Century. The filling is a mix of beef and pork, with the usual spring roll  ingredients of water chestnuts,,onions carrots, and celery stalks. What's intriguing is that Chef Dimayuga and her five siblings dipped them in banana ketchup - which can be made at home. It's cooking over ripe bananas with tomato paste to create a kind of sweet and sour jam. There is also the famed adobo, brought by Spanish colonizers, however the vinegar laced chicken stew was always a staple in the cuisine long before European settlement. Hers is a coconut milk and coconut vinegar mix with chicken. To end the meal is bibingka, coconut rice cakes , with the surprising addition of salted duck eggs

Filipino food is delicious and complex. It is a treat to make and to try the many flavors and textures that represent the archipelago. The many dishes are perfect to recreate for their brightness of color and tang.

Friday Night Fun Dinners

Friday nights should be full of fun; They're the end of a hard work or school week. There should be a celebration of sorts, namely in the form of some kind of equally as fun supper.Forget the meat loaf and sensible sides. Live a little , from starters to dessert.

For decades families have celebrated Friday night with pizza. They're still doing so.Nothing beats a fresh from the oven pie, rich with tomato sauce and gooey mozzarella cheese. There are still pizzerias that make home deliveries  however home chefs can also make their own. Many pizzerias will sell just plain dough to be baked at home.If you're adventurous  you can definitely create a fun version using everyone's favorite toppings. There's nothing wrong with a chicken pepperoni mix or onions and steak. Seafood lovers can put crab and shrimp on theirs to create a pizza de frutti e mare. Vegetarians can use soy mozzarella  as well as fun veggies such as onions , broccoli and peppers. Even edaname or soy beans can be sprinkled on top. You can also make mini pizzas as starters as well as inside out ones. This last is made by  putting a spoonful of tomato sauce and olive oil  along with a  ball of mozzarella on a rolled out piece of dough . Cover with another piece of pizza dough and bake until golden.For an entirely different spin try spring rolls. They can be bought or made and be stuffed with all sorts of fun fillers. Try baby shrimp and cabbage together  or  minced pork and red peppers. Have dishes of soy , duck and hoisin sauce  on the ready for dipping.

If you've had a staid Friday night dinner then go wild with dessert. Chocolate fondue is a great ender, plus it brings the family together as everyone go for some communal dipping. Have bowls filled with  cut up strawberries and bananas for something healthy and for something wicked think marshmallows, along with  cubed brownies and pound cake.You can also try a caramel fondue by melting caramel  and dipping in apple slices and even pretzel rods.Even though it's January , ice box cakes can still rule.A favorite and easy one to make the night before is the chocolate log, made with chocolate wafers and Cool Whip. Banana pudding cake is another neat Friday night dessert. Again this is simple to construct ,especially when you use instant vanilla pudding.Make Jello stained dessert squares for a party like ending. This involves first making three or four different flavors of Jello in Pyrex pans,  then cutting them in cubes and then mixing them in a blend of unflavored gelatin and condensed milk.The result are confetti colored squares of glistening jewel like squares. If this is too much for you, then stick with the tried and true sundae bar. Have two or three kinds of ice cream with different toppings and syrups along with Reddi whip.

Celebrate TGIF with Friday fun dinners and desserts. You and especially the kids will appreciate a visit to a  culinary party. It's the end of the week. Have fun!!!!!!

The New Hors D' Oeuvre

Not that long ago hors d'ouevres and appetizers used to be bland nibbles. It was either bacon wrapped around pineapple or something smeared on Melba toast. Nowadays there seems to be a revolution in cocktail party foods. They can reflect certain ethnic influences or new trends in foods.

One of the biggest movements in appetizers is foods that reflect a particular group. Empanadas are big right now and they're served in various flavors and  sizes. They can have  spicy black bean or creamy spinach fillings while also being stuffed with various meats. Some are regular size (thin tow or three bites) or tiny (think one bite).Other hors d'oeuvres include spring rolls and gourmet egg rolls.These can be vegan, filled with minced bits of bok choy, cabbage and carrots or meat and seafood stuffed ones. Both are about the size of a thumb . Mini bruschettas are also being passed around these days. These can be the traditional with chopped tomatoes on finely cut prosciutto and cheese topping almost wafer thin rounds of Italian breads.

Some hors d'oeuvres are stylized versions of traditional recipes. Shrimp, that party favorite , has been transformed into a shot, Small plastic shot glasses are filled with individual pieces of the crustacean. dipped in a swirl of shrimp sauce and sour cream.Another updated classic are pigs in blankets.Usually just mini franks in a soggy crescent roll, they've been revised to  being blanketed in  actual mini croissants or vol au vents. Plain mustard was usually served with them however now they can be dipped in honey mustard or a spicy barbecue sauce. Pate was a cocktail party or pre dinner  staple, usually quickly and sloppily on a stale piece of Melba toast. Now the paste has been updated to heart healthy hummus and the Melba toast has been replaced with a elegant flaky cup.

Hors d'oeuvres have undergone a stunning transformation in the last few years. They are more global and  more fun. Even the classics have evolved into true gourmet treats.These little bites are still party classics but they've become the life of the party as well.