Best Manburger

I like mine big, juicy, medium rare, char-broiled, with blue cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and catsup on a pretzel or kaiser bun. Yummy-o! I've found and previously blogged about the best hamburger in Labriola cafe and I was so inspired to go on a mission to find not just the best burger but ...the best MANBURGER. Those gargantuan artery clogging cholesterol filled all beefy goodness.
Along Wolf Road in Orland Park is Hamburger and Fries, an unassuming dive beside a gas station that serves the juiciest manburger I've ever had.

 You can taste the smoke from the charred half pounder complemented by the pungent creamy blue cheese. I love that they don't skimp on the sliced tomatoes, onions and romaine lettuce. It's like eating a burger and salad the same time. The only problem was that the bun did not hold up to the meat and fixings. It was so thin and soft that most of the juices dripped down my plate as I was eating. It was delicious and satisfying nonetheless.
Hidden in the residential area of Wheaton is Jack Straw's Pizza. They have awesome pizza's but I think the manburgers should take center stage.

With names like Andre the Giant, the Stallone, the Eastwood and even the Bundy, you can never be more manly than that. My favorite is the Bronson. It has two all beef patties, gyro meat, bacon, cooling cucumber sauce, red onions, lettuce and tomatoes. I've no idea why they call it the Bronson but maybe he's part Greek or Mediterranean because this reminds me of a gyro or a falafel pita sandwhich. The Andre the Giant is the grand-daddy of all manburgers with three patties, bacon, cheddar, mozzarella, american cheese, 1000 island dressing, pickles, onions and tomatoes --- enough to complete an average person's dietary requirement for a day.

I do have a list of burger places that you might want to check out: MK burger in North Clark (try the mini burger sampler), Lady Gaga's  favorite Kuma's Corner in Belmont, and Hamburger Mary in Andersonville (try the Daddy Mac topped with mac & cheese or the Buffy the Burger Slayer with red wine sauce).  

Where's the best manburger you've ever had?

Best Sushi

                                                   What do you do with left-overs?

                                                   A. reheat in the microwave for dinner

                                                   B. throw away

                                                   C. turn into sushi

My answer is C. I know it's weird, right! When you think of sushi, you think of prime fresh ingredients. But, living in the west suburb of Chicago, this hungry Asian boy doesn't always have the luxury of finding sushi grade fish nor the time and budget to eat out when the craving comes. I don't know what it is about a fresh  tuna or salmon sashimi (raw slice) dipped in wasabi soy sauce, a nice spicy tuna maki (roll) or a salty sweet eel nigiri (grilled or raw fish topped on rice) that is so addicting.

Here is how I make my sushi roll. I use any short-grained rice from my neighborhood Jewel, soy sauce and it has to be Kikkoman brand, pickled ginger, what's left of the fruit I had for breakfast (pear in this case), a vegetable (cucumber from last night's salad), wasabi powder (never from a tube --- that thing is nasty!), nori or seaweed, sushi mat and left-over fish. I have cured a piece of salmon in salt, pepper, sugar, vodka and fennel fronds for a lunch date a couple of days ago. 

I've never been in an Asian home with no rice cooker and my apartment is certainly not any different. That's how I cook my rice. Traditionally, sushi rice is mixed with rice wine vinegar then fanned to make it shiny but I'm not a fan of sour sushi. No pun intended.Then I cut my fish, fruit and vegetable in batonette or french-fries style. As a rule of thumb, I only use three fillings in my roll excluding the wasabi paste: a protein, a vegetable and a fruit. I'm a purist. I hate mayo, cream cheese or any weird western sauce in my sushi.  

I lay the nori dull side up on the sushi mat. Wet my hands with water so the rice won't stick. Spread the rice thinly on top of the nori. Put a small amount of wasabi paste across with the tip of my index finger.

Lay the fillings on top, be careful not to put too much --- it's not a spring roll! 

Use the mat to fold and press with fingers to make a tight roll , preferably with two hands but I was using the other hand to hold my camera.

Cut into equal portions for presentation dipping the knife in water so it won't stick.

Top with fennel fronds and arrange on plate with wasabi cube for more kick, Kikkoman soy sauce for dipping and pickled ginger to cleanse your pallete. Sushi generally doesn't have to be eaten using chopsticks.It's finger food! But feel free to use it for drama. 

Sushi rolls are fun to make and doesn't have to be strictly traditional. I've had Spam sushi in the Philippines, soft-shelled crab roll from Ichiro in Orland Park, vegetable roll from MOMA in New York,  crispy salmon skin cone from Bellagio in Las Vegas and sea urchin from Sushi Taiyo in Chicago. But I must say, the best sushi I've ever had is the one that I make. 

The Best Chinese Food I Ever Ate

As a hungry Asian boy, I must pay tribute to my Chinese heritage or else the ghost of my ancestors will haunt me. Well that's not true. I'm a mutt, mostly Filipino with a little Chinese and Spanish. I love to cook because I love to eat. Eating out and trying new cuisine is my passion. I've tried anything from frog legs to "balut"(duck embryo). I've travelled to Fisherman's Wharf for the best clam chowder, to Bleecker St. for the real New York pizza. I'm always hungry and this may have been because of growing up in a third world country like the Philippines. It's not that I didn't have enough to eat but my choices were limited. I need variety!

                                                         chubby hungry Asian baby

Enough about me. Let's go to Joy Yee's Noodle where I had the best Chinese in 2010. 

Chinatown, Chicago

 This is a family place. The entrees come out in big plates and the soups in huge bowls (as seen here with my nephew Sean).  

This is not a date place unless you don't mind the communal seating, the noise from the kitchen or ungracefully slurping a bowl of  noodle soup in front of your date. The place has an urban feel from the bright yellow walls, incandescent light bulbs and the white industrial chairs and tables. The average meal is just $15 per person and service is fast and very polite. Although the place is in Chinatown, the waiters are fluent in English. Another thing I like about this place is that they leave you alone. I hate it when my server comes to my table every minute just to ask how everything is and interrupts the conversation.

I love everything in the menu especially the spring roll sampler, beef brisket noodle soup, rice in bamboo pot, crispy Szechuan fish and the bubble teas (which deserves a separate blog). Where do you go for Chinese?

The Best Food I Ate in 2010

The more I think about it, the more impossible it seems to pick just one best from all the food I ate last year. I decided to break it down into categories. The first category is the one closest to my heart, HAMBURGER. Living in the Midwest for 10 years, I've become a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Whenever I go to a new restaurant and don't know what to get, I find it safe to order a burger. You can never go wrong with a grilled juicy meat in between 2 buttered buns with deep-fried salty french fries on the side for some extra carbs.

The best HAMBURGER I ate in 2010 was at Labriola Bakery Cafe & Pizzeria in Oak Brook. Named after the owner, the "Richie Burger" is a trifecta of nicely seasoned juicy (I ordered mine medium) patty, the right amount of vegies (onions, lettuce and tomatoes) and the generously buttered PRETZEL BUN. It's not a surprise that a bakery that supplies bread to most Chicago restaurants makes the best pretzel bun I've ever had, crusty on the outside but oh so soft on the inside. What also makes it special is the side of freshly made skin on french fries or potato chips. There, that's the best hamburger I've had in 2010! What's yours?