Shabuway and Genki’s Crepes in SF!

Wandering around while I was browsing on Yelp for a new restaurant/eatery to write about was where I found Shabuway, located in the Richmond district of San Francisco. I had been wanting to try this place for months but never got around to because of my busy schedule. Last month me and a friend met for lunch there, and it was a great experience. It was around noon when I made the commute to SF on an empty stomach. When I arrived at Shabuway I noticed how it was already mostly filled except for a table near their back area. As I was warmly greeted by one of the waiters sat down to wait for my friend she brought me a menu and ice water. I really wanted to get their all you can eat lunch option for over $30 something a person, but I was on a strict budget. So instead I opted for the shabu combination of two meats, sliced lamb, and prime beef for a little over $21. My friend had the same, we shared a pot of two different broths. I chose ginger chicken broth to cook the meat and vegetables in whereas my friend had spicy miso for hers. I was very hungry so I decided to put both things into the boiling and perfectly seasoned hot broth. I enjoyed eating the lamb and beef with the side dishes of the dipping sauces (ponzu and sesame).

 All in all, I had a fun time catching up with my friend there in their warm relaxing yet lively atmosphere. After leaving Shabuway me and my friend were feeling satisfied, not overly stuffed and walked over to a nearby pet shop to look at their cat and dog toys. I was craving something sweet from Clement Street and thought of going to Genki’s Crepes, a Japanese togo crepery with assorted food, drink, candies, and other things that I had not been to in years. I decided on one of my favorite dessert crepes from them, the chocolate ice cream with cheesecake crepe! The portion of it was well worth the price of around $7 to 8 dollars, the thickly sliced cheesecake around the good sized portion of chocolate ice cream was just so decadent and the crepe itself was on point as usual, not soggy at all, but more of a crisped texture.

Having tried a few other shabu places in San Francisco such as Mum’s House of Shabu, Shabusen, and Shabu Club Shabuway surpassed my expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised that after many years Genki’s Crepes still makes awesomely great tasting savory and dessert crepes. If I am ever nearby the Inner Richmond district again both of these outstanding places are on my list to revisit.

Late Night Eats at Daimo in Richmond!

Where I am located in the east bay area there are not many options for delivery besides pizza after midnight hours. Daimo is one of the few restaurants that stays open until 3 AM, and has a variety of Hong Kong Chinese food plus dim sum! I found out about this place last year when I was searching through Google for a new Chinese restaurant to try out. My roommate really wanted ha gow (steamed shrimp filled dumplings) so we took bus and BART, walked a few blocks to get to the Pacific East Mall nearby El Cerrito Plaza. This was our third time having dinner there, and my first writing about a review about it.

For this time we were really hungry after trying to win money from playing slots at the San Pablo Casino and breaking even. Upon arriving we were warmly greeted and picked a big table close to the window. It was close to 1AM and there were not many people. I remembered wanting to try their spicy eggplant with seafood clay pot, but as I went through the menu I found their assorted seafood/meat with mushroom and tofu clay pot more interesting to try. Another entrée that interested me was their roasted pork belly with tofu and vegetables. My roommate ordered a curry chicken starter and yeung chow fried rice that had cha siu roasted pork, egg, and shrimp. I was also in need of something to drink so I first asked for a milk tea with coffee mixed in for a pick me up.

I was amazed not how fast the food was prepared and brought over to us, but at how great it was tastewise and very massive in portion. We could only finish at most half of each item. I really wish I lived somewhat closer to this area of the east bay and this outstanding restaurant since they are open at late hours, the service in my experience has always been friendly, and for what you would pay (around $10 to $14 for each main entrée) the very good quality and massive portions are well worth it, whether for dining in or for a late night dim sum fix. I honestly don’t know why I have not wrote about Daimo until now, but I can’t wait for whenever I have spare funds again to try more of their dim sum and other items from their extensive menu the next time I visit!

Curry Chicken!

Roasted pork with tofu and veggies over steamed rice

Assorted meat and seafood claypot, so yummy!

Yeung chow fried rice

Baking Strawberry and Cream Cheese Cookies!

On Pinterest I was browsing around and looking for cookie recipes to add to my collection and chose to make Strawberry and Cream Cheese Cookies for its ease of finding the recipe’s ingredients and because I liked the combination of fruit baked with a cream cheese based cookie dough. I wanted to try making a dessert from scratch instead of from my usual store bought premade baking mix as something new. The next day I found all of the required ingredients at the local grocery store and tried making these delicious cookies later on during the same day. Something I messed up on while putting together the cookie dough was adding 1 tablespoon of baking powder to the mixture instead of 1 teaspoon (it gave an extra poufyness and almost cakelike texture to the cookies). Another thing is that I would not add as much lemon juice as specified in the recipe or to not add any lemon juice to the strawberries for less tartness. Trying this recipe made 12 cookies, my roommates ate all of them the same night and they actually liked how the cookies were more tart than sugary. I had a lot of fun baking these cookies and I would definitely try this recipe again!

Fresh strawberries chopped into small segments

Mixed cream cheese and sugar

Adding in flour to the mixture

Strawberries precoated with flour then folded in with spatula

prebaking

After baking!

Cookie with sanded sugar

All credits for recipe goes to Vera’s Kitchen Corner

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter-softened

4 oz cream cheese-softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries

2 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

1-2 tablespoon flour

5 oz white chocolate-chopped (optional)

sanding sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Pour fresh lemon juice over chopped strawberries, drain them after a few minutes.
3. Whisk together 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.
4. Beat butter with sugar and cream cheese until it is light and fluffy.
5. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
6. Gradually add flour mixture and mix until it’s well combined.
7. Sprinkle strawberries with 1-2 tablespoon flour, toss them until all strawberries are coated with thin layer of flour and then stir them really gently in the batter.
8. Drop heaping tablespoon of batter onto pan leaving an inch space between.
9. Set the cookies in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before baking.
10. Sprinkle the cookies with sanding sugar if you want, but do not overdo it because they are sweet enough.
11. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges become golden brown.
12. Let cookies cool for a few minutes in the pan then transfer to a plate.

A Great Deal on Jalapeno and Cheese Focaccia at SF Taraval Safeway!

At a Safeway on Taraval Street in San Francisco is the best jalapeno and cheese focaccia that is baked fresh onsite every morning. For only 45 cents each I get a pretty big sized focaccia loaded with lots of melted cheddar cheese and a good amount of spicyness. I would say it is half the size of a regular plate if not sometimes made bigger. The 45 cent price is only for those with Safeway club cards otherwise the regular pricing would be around 89 cents. The jalapeno and cheese focaccia is not only a great deal at this price, but can also be addictive and it is very filling.  

Trying a recipe for rice burgers!

Yesterday I was inspired from watching Cooking with Dog’s video recipe on how to make rice burgers from Youtube to try it myself because it looked very delicious. I thought the use of rice formed into a hamburger bread slice was creative and it was something I did not know about before. Some of the ingredients I substituted due to me not finding all of them at the local grocery store (corn starch instead of potato starch, ground beef instead of sliced beef and adding sautéed spinach and mushroom for toppings). Another thing is I did not have the same mold as chef so I used two same sized circular plastic containers to shape the rice and grounded beef patty. Below are some pictures I took of my process of me making a rice burger, and an alternate version of the recipe too.

Adding medium grain fresh steamed rice with a bit of cornstarch mixed in to the substituted mold

One of the just made rice disc

Using a pastry brush to baste the rice disc with soy sauce

Pan toasting the rice disc on both sides

Forming the hamburger patty

Cooking the hamburger patty

Sauteed baby spinach and sliced button mushrooms for added texture

Assembling the burger

Adding the cooked spinach and mushrooms

Finished view

I had lots of fun making the rice burgers and the end tasting result was that it was so delicious! 

Rice Burger Recipe:

Steamed medium or short grain rice
1 tsp Corn Starch

Garlic Salt

Pepper

Ground beef
Soy Sauce

Vegetable Oil

Optional:

Spinach

Sliced Mushrooms

Have a pan of some oil ready on medium high heat. Take 4 to 5 big spoonfuls of rice and put into mold. Add 1 tsp of corn starch, mix in with hot or warm steamed rice. Use another same sized container and press down firmly on rice mixture. Gently pop out the rice disc and place on heated pan. Brush on some regular soy sauce on one side or both and lightly pan fry for 2-3 minutes each side. Once done pan frying place rice discs on a plate to cool. 

For the ground beef add 4-5 spoonfuls into a mold. Mix in garlic salt and some pepper up to taste. Once hamburger patty is formed, pan fry both sides or until fully cooked through. Sautee two big handfuls of spinach and some sliced mushrooms in pan after. 

Place the hamburger patty onto one of the rice discs, add the spinach and the mushrooms then top with the second rice disc. Can cut into halves to make eating the rice burger easier. Enjoy!