An Effing Foodie

A Pox on Hot Tap Water!

More downers from the New York Times--turns out, drinking hot water from the tap increases exposure to lead poisoning, as hot water tends to dissolve contaminates from within your own plumbing:

Lead is rarely found in source water, but can enter it through corroded plumbing. The Environmental Protection Agency says that older homes are more likely to have lead pipes and fixtures, but that even newer plumbing advertised as “lead-free” can still contain as much as 8 percent lead.

Scientists emphasize that the risk is small. But to minimize it, the E.P.A. says cold tap water should always be used for preparing baby formula, cooking and drinking. It also warns that boiling water does not remove lead but can actually increase its concentration.
            -ANAHAD O’CONNOR, NYT

Did you get all that?  Boiling hot tap water concentrates existing lead, so for cooking, hot beverages, and particularly for folks making formula for little ones,  run and boil COLD tap water, please!  Thank you!

(Seems I'm going through an precautionary, apocalyptic phase of sorts...this is my way of loving you, dammit!!)

Japanese Comfort Food: Toraya, Village Yokocho, Menkui Tei, SobaKoh, Donburiya, Sakagura

Recently, my very best friend from hometown Honolulu had the sort of cozy meal that I miss most since swapping coasts...luckily, she thought of me and sent piccies.  (Thank you!!)

(L,R): Oyako Don (Marinated Chicken with Egg and Onion over Rice),
Teishoku with Grilled Shioyaki Salmon, Teriyaki Beef, and Tonkatsu,
from Toraya, Honolulu, HI.

Sigh... **sniffle**

But no worries, Alli!  Chances of finding decent poke, malasadas, and squid luau are slim to none, but finding homey Japanese food in NYC hasn't been difficult. I have to give it to the Japanese and the Koreans--in big cities, the relative quality control of their respective cuisines is an astounding conspiracy in which we eaters are winners.

(GET ON BOARD, CHINESE FOOD!!!)

Some of these are cheap eats, and others reeeally not-so-much, but all of them help me feel a little less homesick.

(Top row, L to R): Crab Chawanmushi (Savory Egg Custard),

Friends...Skip the Tuna for Awhile...

A study reported in today's NYT indicated that mercury levels in the tuna currently served in sushi restaurants in Manhattan are at an all-time high.

Samples were taken from popular restaurants and markets in the city:

"Tuna samples from the Manhattan restaurants Nobu Next Door, Sushi Seki, Sushi of Gari and Blue Ribbon Sushi and the food store Gourmet Garage all had mercury above one part per million, the “action level” at which the F.D.A. can take food off the market. (The F.D.A. has rarely, if ever, taken any tuna off the market.) The highest mercury concentration, 1.4 parts per million, was found in tuna from Blue Ribbon Sushi. The lowest, 0.10, was bought at Fairway."
-- MARIAN BURROS, NYT

Super-scary!

So friends, particularly preggers friends and friends who feed small children...please try to keep your regular raw tuna intake to less than 5 pieces a week...

...and YES that means EVERYBODY, from coast to coast!  We don't catch our tuna in Manhattan, people!  It comes from the same tuna stocks flown out daily and internationally distributed to all major cities (i.e. NY's tuna is LA's tuna is Honolulu's tuna is Tokyo's tuna, etc.).

Keep the big-fish foodchain in mind...the bigger the tuna species, the higher mercury count, which is why the Times and the EPA is zeroing on the bluefin tuna, the biggest, most expensive and most coveted tuna on the market.   

On the bright side, most of us are economically restricted, and can't afford a regular diet of bluefin tuna.  Hooray, poverty!

SO...as much as it pains me to say it, here are the big NO-NOs:

• Ahi (AKA bigeye tuna)
• Maguro
• Toro, O-toro, Chu-toro

If you need to get your tuna fix on, aim for the littler guys:

• Albacore
• Yellowfin (AKA hamachi, kanpachi)

...and keep it under 5 pieces a week, please! Humor me!!!! I CAN'T SPARE ANY READERS!!!!

P.S. Canned tuna tends to be big-species tuna, too, so lay off the tins as well...some companies, like Starkist, specifically offer albacore tuna, which is a better choice if you're really jonesing for that tuna salad sandwich.

Franny's is Kind of a Big Deal (Franny's Restaurant, Brooklyn, NY)

Wooof...sorry for the hiatus, folks.  It's been gangbuster nutjob crazy lately.

Times like this, you think of the little things, things that are easy, gratifying, and offer maximal bliss. 

Things like dinner at Franny's.

I know, I'm not the first or the last nosh maven to coo about Franny's...but folks, you KNOW I have an unfettered dislike of places that rise and fall on the Big Hype Tide.  And even I have to put my Hype Hate aside and admit: Franny's is kind of a big deal.

Solely on the merit of their lighter-than-air, wood-blistered pies, you SHOULD be rushing to Franny's right this moment.  But unlike other players in the cult of NY pizza (who rely upon the good will and ducats of single-minded dough fanatics) if, God forbid, there were no pizza available, there would still be plenty of good eating to be had at Franny's.

You could describe their menu as artisanal, market-driven, or localvore-friendly, but all that would be missing the point.  Their food is carefully considered, sophisticated yet unassuming, and ultimately satisfying the way only well-done basics can be.

Super-Expressive Foods: Joe's Shanghai Soup Dumplings

Smile big for the camera!

"I think I've soiled myself. Don't look at me. DON'T LOOK AT ME!!!!"

Skulking in a pack of the dumpling-curious, I finally visited the famed Joe's Shanghai, NYC's soup dumpling temple on Pell Street.  I was psyched, but a little worried about all the hype; in NYC, hype seems to be the worst thing that can happen to true-blue Chinese food. 

New Year, New Post-Bloat Post: Standing Rib Roast

Momma Foodie's trip to NYC wasn't ALL about rolling from restaurant to restaurant--call it daughterly guilt, but I felt the Foodie Clan should have at least one home-cooked meal. So I searched and spliced together a recipe for the Granddaddy of Holiday Dinners: Standing Rib Roast.

I'm not what you'd call a natural at roasting--I make a pretty fierce Thanksgiving turkey, but that's about it in terms of really big cuts of protein.  This may be a myth perpetuated by 1950's Martyr Mommies, but I was inclined to equate muscle mass with difficulty.

Luckily, my momma isn't of this ilk, so when I told her I was a little apprehensive, she shrugged and said: "It's really not hard at all."