Spot & BCD Tofu

I recently tried two new food places that I will most definitely recommend to others. The first is Spot Dessert Bar in the East Village. My friend Lauren and I came across it while I was on my way to pick new eyeglasses from Fabulous Fanny's (best place for eyewear) we popped in for a mid-day snack and ordered 2 cupcakes and a dessert tapas.

"Yuku Eskimo" with a block of yuzu ice-cream, oreo crust, raspberry foam, sliced strawberries, and chocolate ganache. The whole dessert wasn't too sweet and the texture of the ice cream was so good..more like a yogurt.

Chocolate cupcake with green tea frosting with jam inside, it tasted like apricot - yum!

This was the cupcake special of the day. Sea salt caramel apple! Unlike cupcakes from Magnolia's or Billy's, the frosting at Spot is sweet but not super sugary and has much lighter texture. So does the crumb part, they're not dense like Magnolia's. Not knocking on those famous cupcakes because I happen to like them, but a lot of people don't because they think it's too dry.

So, I'm Korean and probably one of the few who until now wasn't a big fan of my own culture's food. I used to be an extremely picky eater to the point that it was almost ridiculous but I've expanded my palate tremendously in recent years. But after a whole day of visiting the MoMA and shopping I was freaking HUNGRY. Brian and I were around Koreatown and I got the most random craving for Korean bbq so we popped into BCD Tofu because people have told me great things. Omg...it was so deliiiiicious!

Assorted mini dishes that are usually served in Korean places. Steamed broccoli with sesame oil, two different kimchis, mashed potatoes, pickles, and a fried mackerel. Those are good but the damn bones are tiny and so annoying to pluck out.

We ordered kalbee, which are short ribs marinated in a sweet sauce with garlic and then grilled. Theirs was one of the best I've ever had because it was more on the sweeter side, which I prefer.

We also got a kimchi soon-doo-boo which is a spicy stew with soft tofu. So good over rice.

And since we are such fatties, we got an additional order of kalbee, but this time we wanted to grill it ourselves on the table. Do you see the smiley face on the onion? Lol

The rice they serve with the soon-doo-boo comes in hot stone bowls, which the servers scoop out for you allowing the remaining rice in the bowl gets crunchy from the heat. They come back with hot water so when the rice soaks in there for a while, it becomes a little clear rice soup. It can be so satisfying when you're feeling under the weather.

Interview

Hanne over at Comme Coco made a really sweet post about my blog.

Check it out here!

Spotted

A perfect trench for spring. It's silk with velvet leopard spots so it's very lightweight and comfortable.

p.s. don't tease my Garfield of a cat, lol.

Trench - 3.1 Phillip Lim
Top - Club Monaco
Jeans - Uniqlo
Shoes - Miu Miu
Clutch - Vintage
Bracelets - Hermes and vintage
Necklace - Van Cleef & Arpels

A la Momofuku

I love David Chang. There is no other way to start this entry. He is a culinary genius and his cooking philosophy results in neurotic dishes that are bursting with big flavors and creativity. His Momofuku empire is taking off and he's become one of the most noted chefs in the country with his 3 restaurants: Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ssam bar, and Ko. Of course there's also the Milk Bar which is an amazing bakery. I've made a post about the Milk Bar previously, but now I'm updating on one of the most delicious cookies I've ever tried..that I made! Christina Tosi, the pastry chef for the bakery, came on the Martha Stewart show to make the blueberry & creme cookies and of course I had to make them for myself since this is my favorite thing to get from the Milk Bar.

The recipe was slightly more labor intensive than your average cookie, but so worth it. The only inconvenience was collecting the ingredients. It calls for 2 things that I've never worked with before: glucose and milk powder. Specialty bake stores will probably carry glucose, but I got mine from Amazon.com..they have everything!

Making the "creme" part of the cookies, milk crumbs.

Let them bake in the oven to dry out

Adding the melted white chocolate to the crumbs

You also need to use a European butter, they specified for Plugra, which has a higher butterfat content making it richer than American butter.

Adding the glucose, this stuff is so messy!

Used a standard ice-cream scoop to make larger cookies.

This great blog, Momofuku for 2, features other recipes. She did a post on her blueberry & creme cookies as well.

My dad surprised me by sending me a copy of Chang's cookbook when it came out. I haven't been ambitious enough to make anything (he's partial to a lot of weird and obscure ingredients..meat glue?!) but I love how it's written and the food looks great! I finally snagged a reservation at Ko for this weekend so hopefully I'll remember to bring my camera and take some photos there :)