Yelp vs Google

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Chee Bog Singing

Yelp vs.Google: Sinigang at Chee-Bog, as described in my Yelp review.

I am a Yelper. This comes as a surprise to chefs I meet, who typically hate Yelp because they see it as the source of sour grapes write-ups by amateur reviewers who want to bring a restaurant down. But for someone who uses Yelp on a regular basis, it’s easy to spot these reviews and ignore them or discount their value. Consistent reviewers get voted “Elite” for the quality of their reviews, and user feedback on individual reviews is another benchmark. If you know how to read the reviews Yelp can be a very valuable resource, if for example you’re traveling and want to find a good place to eat in a new city.

Google Maps has emerged in the last couple of years as a serious Yelp competitor. I write reviews for both. I don’t cut and paste but repeat as few sentences as possible word-for-word out of respect for Google’s algorithm, which would penalize duplicate listings on multiple websites. Initially (I started writing Google reviews maybe 5 years ago, pursuing some now-forgotten incentive) I felt I was a voice in the wilderness; the reviews were as prescriptive as a listing in a directory. But now there is a lot of thoughtful commentary—not just I liked it, but WHY I liked it. And, very important, there are often many more reviews for a place on Google than on Yelp.

Let’s look at a case in point: Chee-Bog, a Filipino restaurant in Cohoes, NY, a suburb of Albany. The Yelp listing is here with currently 15 reviews, including mine. The Google Maps listing is here, currently with 63 reviews, including mine. But the Google reviews skate the surface, and are so uniformly positive one becomes suspicious; no place can be THAT good. Try this: do a search for “kumayan” on both sites; this is a set meal which is a big part of Chee-Bog’s appeal though it is “secret”. It’s described in detail in Leo Y’s Yelp review and alluded to only as “fantastic” on Google.

Avid Yelpers pride themselves on the specifics in their reviews and are careful to back up positive (or negative) statements with examples from their experience. We have “OYEs” which are Official Yelp Events where Elites get together in person to try a restaurant and the conversation typically is about other restaurants we have visited recently, and where we are going tomorrow. The bar is set high.

Unfortunately, Yelp like other channels has suffered since the pandemic. We have many fewer events than we used to and recently lost the Community Ambassador who arranges them. But I hope Yelp survives. It remains my go-to resource when I need a boots-on-the-ground perspective.

P.S. What about TripAdvisor? This has historically been a reliable source of information for travelers, mostly about accommodations but also about restaurants and attractions. It seems to have fallen by the wayside in the face of Google’s ascendancy. There are currently 0 reviews for Chee-Bog on TripAdvisor.

Posted in Eating, Something Else | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Recipe: Jacques Pepin Tapenade

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Jacques Pepin Tapenade

Jacques Pepin Tapenade.

Here is the tapenade Jacques Pepin makes on the “Jacques Pepin’s Easy Coq Au Vin Will Impress Your Friends” episode of Today’s Gourmet. He serves it as the underlayment of a mild flavored fish, either cod or halibut, meaning the tart ingredients of the tapenade will predominate. That’s interesting but we prefer the more traditional application of tapenade as a hors d’oeuvres spread. Makes about 1 c.

Ingredients:
¾ c pitted olives (we used a combination of salt cured and kalamatas)
1 clove garlic, peeled
4 anchovy fillets, in oil
2 dried figs, quartered
2 T good olive oil
1 T capers, drained
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste*

Method: combine the first 5 ingredients in a mini chop and pulse briefly; you want a mixture that is spreadable but still rustic. Mix in the capers (we didn’t chop them so the little spheres would stay intact). Add a few grinds of pepper and taste for seasoning; you may or may not need salt depending on the saltiness of the olives. Serve with crackers or similar as part of a charcuterie spread.

Posted in Recipes, Sides | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Recipe: King Arthur Deli Rye

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
King Arthur Deli Rye

King Arthur Deli Rye (made with medium rye flour).

Most of the sourdough rye bread recipes in Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread (affiliate link!) have yeast in them (vs relying solely on sourdough for leavening), and so do the recipes on the King Arthur website. I took Jeffrey’s rye bread class so should remember why this is; I think it is to ensure a loaf that is not too dense for sandwiches but still has a nice sourdough bite. Anyway, King Arthur Deli Rye is what you want for your deli sandwich and it was a good excuse to rejuvenate my rye starter. Makes 2 1.5 lb loaves.

Ingredients:

For sourdough sponge:
150 g medium or whole rye flour
120 g water
100 g or so refreshed and lively rye starter*

For final loaf:
850 g bread flour or all-purpose flour
540 g water
Sourdough sponge
2 T caraway seeds
1 T active dry yeast
1 T Kosher salt

Prosciutto Cheese Rye

Prosciutto and cheese sandwich on deli rye.

Method: combine flour, water and starter for sponge; cover and proof overnight or longer until the sponge is well expanded. Mix with other ingredients in the bowl of a planetary mixer (eg Kitchenaid). Run on first speed for 2 minutes or until ingredients are well combined; run on second speed for 6-8 minutes until the dough develops good gluten strength. Cover and proof 1 hour; it will rise but not quite double in size.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and shape into two loaves of about 1.5 lbs each. Place in bannetons dusted with rice flour to prevent sticking and proof another hour. Meanwhile, heat oven with cast iron dutch ovens inside to 460 degrees.

Sprinkle polenta or cornmeal on the bottom of two dutch ovens (be careful not to burn yourself; multiple potholders are a good idea) and flip the loaves into them (upside down, so they end up with nice ridges from the banneton). Slash the tops with a lame or serrated-edge knife. Cover and bake 20 minutes, then remove lids and lower heat to 440. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until crumb reaches an internal temperature of 206 degrees. Cool for at least an hour before slicing.

*Rye starter is the easiest to make from scratch because rye flour is so full of beasties. Jeffrey Hamelman told us it was the first starter he used and for a long time the only one, even when making white bread. Mix 75 g whole rye flour and 75 g non chlorinated water in a bowl; cover and rest overnight. In the morning, scrape out most of the mixture and repeat with a fresh 75 g flour and 75 g water. Do this for several days until the starter comes to life and begins to show bubbles and puff up. Build up the starter with an even ratio of flour and water and let it proof overnight; take what you need for your recipe and refrigerate the rest in a sealed jar for future use.

Posted in Baking and Baked Goods, Recipes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Food for thought: Today’s Gourmet with Jacques Pepin

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Jacques Pepin Today's Gourmet

Jacques Pepin in KQED’s “Today’s Gourmet”.

I recently reconnected with the Today’s Gourmet series of videos which were produced by KQED, the public television station in San Francisco, featuring Jacques Pepin. The series ran from 1991-93 and all or many episodes are available on the KQED YouTube channel.

The show that popped into my feed was “Jacques Pepin’s Easy Coq Au Vin Will Impress Your Friends”. A remarkable amount of technique is packed into a 30 minute show. Jacques Pepin will as advertised prepare a coq au vin, but also a fish dish as a first course, tapenade as a base for the fish, mashed potatoes and even a dessert… all in real time. No recipes or superscript instructions are provided which is part of the fun. Jacques’ technique is clear enough that you can approximate in your own kitchen (assuming you could pause your video, something that would have been a novelty in 1991), but there was also a series of “Today’s Gourmet” books with recipes which as I recall were offered as a fundraising premium.

Cod Tapenade

Steamed Cod with Tapenade. Nice serving plate!

1991 was at the end of the cuisine minceur era: we were still interested in cooking foods in a lighter way with less fat but lots of flavor. Jacques’ technique for mashed potatoes, for example, is to stretch them with turnips and use cooking liquid rather than cream in the final prep. Related: this episode is possibly where I picked up the technique for preparing croutons in the oven, rather than in the frying pan.

Burnt My Fingers had a personal experience during the taping because my wife’s company was one of the KQED sponsors, so we were invited to a private session. Chef taught me the technique of peeling garlic by smashing it with a knife, and some (now forgotten) trucs for decorative carving of tomatoes and orange peels.

Jacques Pepin is a kind, creative and genuine person who is still sharing food techniques many decades later through his Facebook page. The Today’s Gourmet shows feature him in his prime, and with brown hair. Check it out.

Posted in Eating, Food for Thought | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Recipe: Korean Fire Chicken

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers

Korean Fire Chicken with our Radish Kimchi.

You may have purchased gochugaru (Korean chili powder) and gochujang (Korean chili paste) for Korean Fried Chicken or a similar dish, and wondered what else you can do with the chilis. Try this. Korean Fire Chicken comes from the redoutable Maangchi and we’ve made just a couple of very minor tweaks. It’s also super easy to make, comes together in half an hour from pantry to plate. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut into 1 inch chunks (we used a mixture of breast and thigh meat)
¼ c gochugaru
2 T gochujang
3 T light brown sugar
1 T chopped or minced ginger
2 t chopped or minced garlic
1 T soy sauce (a generic version like Kikkoman)
½ t ground black pepper (that’s a lot!)
¼ c water
4 oz tekkbokki (Korean rice cakes)
4 oz mozzarella, sliced or grated
2 T neutral oil
2 T chopped scallions for garnish, optional

Korean Fire Chicken

Korean Fire Chicken as it comes out of the broiler bubbling hot!

Method: combine chicken with gochugaru, gochujang, sugar, ginger, garlic, soy and black pepper and mix thoroughly. Marinate for a few minutes. Unless tekkbokki are very fresh and soft, reconstitute by soaking 10 minutes in hot water, then drain and cut on the bias into 1 inch pieces.

Heat the oil and add the chicken mixture in a cast iron or otherwise oven-safe skillet. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, stirring frequently and adding ¼ c water and mixing in tekkbokki halfway through. Meanwhile, heat the broiler to medium/high.

Drape the cheese over the chicken in the skillet and transfer to broiler. Cook 2-3 minutes till cheese is soft and bubbly. Serve hot, over rice.

Posted in Eating, Mains, Recipes | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Affordable food porn

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Tuna Tartare by Mandi F

Affordable food porn: fried rice paper sheets* are the base for tuna tartare at Noodle in a Haystack.

We don’t worry too much about food presentation here at Burnt My Fingers, as you may have noticed. But sometimes you want to gild the lily just a bit. And we got thinking about affordable food porn… ways you can make your dishes look impressive without breaking the bank.

Deviled Eggs by Christina W

Deviled egg with caviar at Noodle in a Haystack.

We were inspired by Yelp photos from Noodle in a Haystack, a restaurant in San Francisco which charges $175 for an omakase tasting menu built around ramen and is sold out for the remainder of 2023. Here are a few examples, with attribution if you click on the photos to see the titles.

Caviar. Nothing says luxury like a few fish eggs draped over a food product. And you can get 2 oz of lumpfish red caviar cured in vodka for under $15 at Amazon. (Affiliate link!) That’s enough for a lot of garnishing.

Cucumber Pickle by Bob K

Quick pickled cucumber with hijiki garnish.

Seaweed. Dried hijiki and dulse are available in bulk at my local co-op or online. They’re expensive on a per-ounce basis, but you just need a few strands as an accent. And you can’t go wrong sticking in a leaf of nori from one of those snack packs.

Custard by Alice K

Custard with black sesame seed garnish.

Black sesame seeds. Sprinkle a few on a light colored dish (like the custard example here). They’re dramatic and exotic, yet I can buy a little bag at my local bulk bin for under a dollar.

Ramen with Kamaboko

Ramen with Kamaboko (fish cake).

Fish cake (kamaboko) and pickled radish. Two colorful accents you can find in the refrigerated section at your Asian market. Kamaboko is a pressed cake made from surimi (fake crab), often with a pattern in the middle. Dan-muji is a yellow Korean radish pickle with a sweet/sour flavor. Both can perk up a dish with mixed ingredients, included or on the side.

Do you have ideas for affordable food porn? Please share. And here’s a loving article from the SF Chronicle that almost makes me want to spend $175 on a bowl of ramen and accompaniments. Almost.

*Fried rice sheets are those rice paper circles used for making Asian dumplings, fried so they puff up. Haven’t tried doing this yet.

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reviewing McDonald’s new condiments

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
McDonalds New Condiments

McDonalds’ new condiments: Mambo sauce and Sweet & Spicy Jam.

McDonald’s has recently introduced two condiments, Mambo sauce and Sweet and Spicy Jam. Although the advertising suggests you should try them one at a time, there is nothing to prevent you from adding 2 of each to your mobile order at $0 each, which is what we did.

Mambo Sauce McGriddle

Mambo Sauce on our $2 McGriddle

The Mambo sauce has a flavor that is instantly recognizable to anyone who eats Korean food. It’s gochujang! Well, a little sweeter and a little more viscous than the Korean red pepper paste but a very reasonable facsimile. We tried some on our Egg and Sausage McGriddle, which IMO is the best thing on the menu and also a very reasonable $2 on a breakfast mobile special. It did not disappoint. (Digging deeper, turns out this is actually based on “Mumbo Sauce”, a regional specialty of the DC area. But we stand by our Korean comparison.)

The Sweet and Spicy Jam is a pepper jelly we would be more likely to use on a spread of savory items, as we have done with jalapeño jelly in the past. We put it on a cracker with cream cheese, though you could also use brie or another mild spreadable cheese. Or simply put a few dabs of the jelly on a platter and let guests decide what to do with it.

Sweet & Spicy Jam

Sweet & Spicy Jam is a cheerful Cajun orange with flecks of red pepper.

Kudos to the Clown for coming up with two grownup new condiments and making them available for free, when you place an order of any amount. We are going to hoard Mambo sauce and Sweet and Spicy Jam as we did with McDonald’s Grape Jelly and serve them to unsuspecting guests on our charcuterie platters this fall.

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Top 5 recipes of 2023 on Burnt My Fingers

Posted on October 12, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Halal Guys Sauces

On the left, the original Halal Guys White Sauce; on the right, our adaptation.

Another year, another clips post with the most popular recipes in the past 12 months as measured by clicks. A few changes if you compare to 2022 and 2021.

  1. Recipe: Halal Guys White Sauce. Once upon a time, people would read about our efforts to duplicate the legendary food stand white sauce, but not bother to read the actual recipe we developed. Frustrating! We’re gratified that now the research and recipe posts are almost exactly equal in clicks.
  2.  Recipe: Thai Chili Vinegar. Do you actually need a recipe for this simple condiment? Yes and no. Nice that so many readers want to recreate the sauce that’s on the table in every U.S. Thai restaurant.
  3. Special Recipe: Bone Bread. Oh, come on now! Bone bread is like stone soup: a novelty in which we introduced an alien ingredient just for kicks. The post originally ran at Halloween, of course. The recipe will actually make a perfectly decent soudrdough loaf, but we hope you’re going to check our other sourdough recipes like this and this.
  4.  Recipe: German-Style Head Cheese (Souse). Maybe this recipe is popular because it includes a video of half a pig’s head bubbling in a giant vat. It’s a solid head cheese recipe, but if you’re into offal try our transcendent Amish-Style Pickled Tripe in Aspic.
  5. Recipe: Buttermilk Cheese Grits. This is an East Texas Texas staple which we’ve doctored up with herbs and lightened with buttermilk instead of cream. Enjoy with some of Allen Benton’s ham.

So what didn’t make the cut? The Colonel’s KFC Three Bean Salad, for one, which has been on every top 5 list until now. And Vincent’s Garlic Cole Slaw which at one time was our most popular recipe of them all. Maybe folks do as we do, and download favorite recipes rather than continually revisiting them. If you’re a newer reader of Burnt My Fingers, do check out these old standbys.

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Five most popular non-recipe posts in 2023 on Burnt My Fingers

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Best Mayonnaise Taste Test

Best mayonnaise taste test lineup.

Each year at this time we do a recap of our posts that have garnered the most clicks in the past 12 months. The world has convulsed with conflict and climate change yet our most popular posts, and even their order ranked by views, are exactly the same as in 2022. We find that reassuring but predict it will never happen again. Here goes.

  1. Best Mayonnaise Taste Test: Hellman’s vs Dukes vs Kewpie. This post was originally published in April 2021 and has quietly swelled into a juggernaut. (Which, by the say, is not a German term as you might expect but related to Hinduism.) Seems like everyone has an opinion on the favorite sandwich lubricant, including us.
  2. The Halal Guys white sauce mystery… SOLVED! Yes, we cracked the code… and with no help from Kenji Lopez-Alt. We’re gratified that the actual recipe for the sauce now garners almost exactly as many hits as the editorial post (as you’ll discover in our recipe clips, coming up next).
  3. Galbi vs Bulgogi… which Korean BBQ entree is better?  Like our mayo taste test, this post was originally published in 2021 and has steadily grown in popularity. Folks seem to want to express their opinion but not necessarily make the dish, as the actual recipes are not that popular. KBBQ at your local grill!
  4. The sauce that made Mr. Durkee famous. This evergreen post, first published in 2011, has been revised several times as the Thanksgiving staple has migrated from one producer to another. Clicks surged recently when the product appeared to be discontinued. Good news… it’s back, at least on Amazon. (Oh crap, the first batch has sold out. Check back for a link!)
  5. Hacking the Salt & Char Ribeye Cap Steak. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay, who proclaimed this the best thing he had eaten, bought a house in Saratoga Springs for $1.8 million and sold it for $3.2 million two years later. Smart investor. So he’d probably prefer our hack vs the Salt & Char offering which is currently a 7  oz Wagyu version at $150.

Next time: 2023’s most popular recipe posts.

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Perfect hardboiled eggs in the Instant Pot

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Hardboiled Eggs Shelled

Instant Pot Hardboiled Eggs.

We tend to tune out a lot of the fan chatter about the Instant Pot, especially when folks start talking about how to cook something in the IP that has no business there—like prime rib!—or something that would be just as easy and good cooked in a more traditional way. Thus we paid no attention to the many posts and comments praising the IP’s prowess with hard boiled eggs.

But guess what… it works! We previously detailed this method which has an 83% success rate (as in, 10 out of 12 eggs were intact after peeling). But the IP after two tries was at 100%, 12 out of 12 huevos perfectos.

Here is the very straightforward technique for Instant Pot hardboiled eggs:

  1. Pour 1 c water in the IP inner container.
  2. Add the included trivet or other element (like a cheap collapsible steamer from Target) that will keep the eggs from direct contact with the water.
  3. Carefully add the uncooked eggs above the trivet, spreading them out to avoid too much direct content. (Our eggs were at room temperature but I’m not sure it matters.)
  4. Set IP to high pressure, 5 minutes. Monitor the IP as it heats up to be sure it seals properly. (The pre-heat takes about 5 minutes which is why some call this the 5-5-5-5 method: preheat/pressure cook/cool down/ice bath.)
  5. After the pressure cooking is done, leave the eggs in the sealed pot till the timer reaches 5 minutes. Release the pressure (there will be some residual steam) by pressing the valve with a slotted spoon, NOT your hand.
  6. Use slotted spoon to remove eggs to a bowl of ice water (prepared in advance).
  7. Cool eggs for at least 5 minutes. The cooler the better! If you have room in your freezer stick the bowl of eggs in there,
  8. Crack shells by rolling eggs on a hard surface. (This works—much better than cracking in one spot).
  9. Peel and enjoy.

Can you get equally good results by refrigerating the cooked eggs in their shells so they last longer, then peeling before use? Something to try next time. Our instant pot hardboiled eggs are all gone!

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , | 8 Comments