Snacking State-by-State: California Part 2B - the Northern Half (The Best Little Shiu Mai in Chinatown)

To finish with California, I head back to the big city: this time San Francisco, home to sourdough, fog, and the thriving Chinese and LGBT communities of Chinatown and the Castro, respectively (related note: the Castro was the home of Harvey Milk, gay rights activist and the first openly gay politician to be elected to public office in the US). While we don't, alas, think of the gay community's contributions to San Francisco's culinary landscape, Chinatown fortunately has an extensive food history.

Snacking State-by-State: California

Official Name: State of California
State Nickname: The Golden State
Admission to the US: September 9, 1850 (#31)
Capital: Sacramento (7th largest city)
Other Important Cities: Los Angeles (largest, & 2nd largest in the USA), San Diego (2nd largest), San Jose (3rd largest), San Francisco (4th largest)
Region: West, Pacific (small sections of the state can be considered Northwest or Southwest in terms of its food and culture); Pacific (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Acorn, Chile Pepper, Pinyon Nut, Salmon
Bordered by: Baja California, Mexico (south), Arizona & Nevada (east), Oregon (north), Pacific Ocean (west)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: golden trout (fish), California Valley quail (bird), grizzly bear (animal)
Some Famous & Typical Foods: Where to begin? "New California cuisine", diversity of ethnic cuisines, especially Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean (Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Salvadoran, Korean, Italian), citrus (especially in the south), wine (especially in the center and north), seafood, dates, and so much else

One of the oldest Chinatowns in North America, it survived the massive earthquake of 1906 to grow bigger and better than ever. If you ever visit San Fran's Chinatown, as I did a few years ago, don't spend time in any one restaurant. I mean, sure, go ahead and do that, but I had more fun trolling up and down the streets on my own dim sum crawl.

When we usually think of Chinese food, we think specifically of things that nobody eats in China - I mean nobody. Chop suey, for example, is not Chinese food. It was actually just stuff that a Chinese immigrant in California threw together for some white patrons, as New York author Jennifer 8. Lee points out in her fascinating must-read book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles (note: fortune cookies aren't Chinese either - they're of Japanese origin). As for General Tso's chicken? Nope, not Chinese either. Lee gives us the scoop on her search for it in the Hunan province home town of General Tso (aka Zuǒ Zōngtáng) himself:

Unlike kung pao chicken, which nearly every self-respecting Chinese chef can make, a request for General Tso's chicken left many cooks, waitresses, and restaurant owners [in Hunan] scratching their heads.

The refrain was consistent: "We don't have General Tso's chicken here" or "We've never heard of it." Even after I showed them pictures of the dish on my digital camera, they would frown and look at me blankly, then helpfully suggest another chicken dish, often the local specialty, mala or kung pao. [Lee, p. 68]

Out of all the foods Americans are familiar with that actually are Chinese, perhaps the most popular is dim sum. PBS mainstay Martin Yan writes in his Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking about the place of dim sum in China's varied cuisines:

Dim sum is to China what hors d'oeuvre are to France or tapas are to Spain. Dim sum is social food, meant to be enjoyed with family, friends, and business associates along with plenty of conversation.

Dim sum has evolved into an art form over the past eleven centuries since its origins in Guangzhou. The majority of Westerners are only now beginning to realize the elegant simplicity of popular dim sum dishes like char siu bao and maw mai gai. [Yan, p. 1]

Yan starts his cookbook with dim sum, and it's where I end my trip back to California.

The recipe: Surefire Shu Mai (Pork Version)

One of my favorite types of dim sum is the popular steamed version of the pork and shrimp shu mai dumpling, native to Guangdong (Canton) in southern China. Yan swaps out the traditional pork and shrimp for ground chicken. Never a fan of ground chicken, I followed his recipe but put the pork back instead of the chicken, and left out the shrimp.


As with the California roll, there were many varied ingredients. However, most of those ingredients were far more easily assembled than the sushi. Usually I halve the recipes but I love shu mai so much, I made the whole thing.

* dried mushrooms (about $2 or $3 at H-Mart - I only needed two of them)
* ground pork (I used about a pound, $5 at Whole Foods)
* sliced bamboo shoots (one can was less than a dollar at H-Mart)
* an egg (I did buy a dozen for this, but I knew I'd be using a lot of eggs in the near future)
* green onion (just one - a bunch is a buck)
* soy sauce, salt, cornstarch, white pepper and sugar (got it all)
* fresh ginger (same)
* sesame oil (almost out)
* shu mai or dumpling wrappers ($1.75 at H-Mart, in the freezer section)
* one carrot and about a 1/3 cup of frozen peas (decoration)
* lettuce leaves or parchment paper to line the bamboo steamer (I tried both. I had better luck with the latter)

In addition, you will need a wok with a steamer rack, and a bamboo steamer. If you do not have these, you just have to find some other way to steam the shu mai.

Yan also has a recipe for an excellent dipping sauce of powdered mustard, white vinegar, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar and chili sauce. Make it while the dim sum is steaming and refrigerate.



The first part is the easiest: mix all of the above ingredients, rehydrating the mushrooms and mincing them along with the bamboo shoots and the ginger. Yan says to mix it all until spongy.

The next part is the tedious part. Here you will need two moist washcloths or kitchen towels, one to cover the wrappers while you work with them, the other to cover the dumplings that you have made but not yet steamed.

To assemble each shu mai dumpling, take a sheet of dumpling wrapper and put about a tablespoon and a half of the filling in the middle


Next, fold the sides around the filling like a purse, puffing some out until it bugs out of the middle a little bit.

Fold those sides around

Line them up like little shu mai soldiers

Top each dumpling with some shredded carrot and a few frozen peas if you like. I did that. Yan also suggests that you can smooth out the sides with wet fingers to make it look neater. I didn't do that.

Next, prepare your wok for steaming by placing the steamer rack in the center of the wok and filling the wok with enough water to almost come up to the rack. Once it sets to boiling you will set the bamboo steamer onto the rack. While the water builds up to a boil, place the shu mai into the bamboo steamer, making sure they don't touch.


Set them on either lettuce leaves or parchment paper, cover the steamer, and steam for about 20 to 25 minutes.

And of course, put the bamboo steamer lid on the top steamer tray.

I had better luck with the latter, as the shu mai that I set on (albeit small, piddly little) lettuce leaves wound up having goopy, sticky wrappers at the end of steaming, while the parchment paper produced a far more stable dumpling. Note that at no time did any of the filling fall apart. The steaming will make that pretty solid. I had to steam about five rounds of shu mai altogether. Martin Yan says his recipe will yield anywhere from 24 to 30 dumplings. I eked out 35, so maybe mine were a wee bit smaller than they should have been.

Apart from the goopiness of the first round of shu mai, this recipe turned out very well. The filling tasted about the same as any I have had out. Only the dumpling wrappers left something to be desired, and I have to find out if that is due to their having been frozen but not quite thawed, or if the water level in the wok was too high, or if I just left it to steam too long. The next time I make this type of dim sum I will have to experiment to see what yields a less soft wrapper in the end. These are easy to heat up and eat up. After heating in the microwave for about 30 seconds (I did it in stages, 15 seconds each), it was quite good, in fact slightly better than when I first took them out of the steamer.


I leave California having learned about some foods I had never eaten until I lived in the Golden State: California rolls (and by extension, sushi), shu mai (and by extension, dumplings) and California cuisine (as opposed to, say, California's cuisine). And I made my own date shake on top of that! It is not meant as a put-down to say that Colorado, the next state on my list, will be easier to handle. It will - there just aren't as many people. And there are a few key dishes that just scream "COLORADO"! None of them, I might add, involve Coors. Yekhkhkh.

Sources:

Lee, Jennifer 8. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. Twelve Books: New York, 2008.

Waters, Alice, and the Cooks of Chez Panisse. Chez Panisse Vegetables. HarperCollins Publishers: New York, 1996.

Yan, Martin. Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking: The Companion Cookbook to the Public Television Series. William Morrow: New York, 1995.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "California" page and the Food Timeline State Foods webpage link to "California".

Snacking State-by-State: California Part 2A - the Northern Half (California Fresh!)

Last week, I reveled in recipes from the Southern half of California, which I know quite well. This week, I try to understand the foods of the Northern half of the state, a place that is strange and unfamiliar to this Southern California boy. Okay, honorary Southern California boy by way of Baltimore, my hometown and current location.

Just to reiterate the background info:

Snacking State-by-State: California

Official Name: State of California
State Nickname: The Golden State
Admission to the US: September 9, 1850 (#31)
Capital: Sacramento (7th largest city)
Other Important Cities: Los Angeles (largest, & 2nd largest in the USA), San Diego (2nd largest), San Jose (3rd largest), San Francisco (4th largest)
Region: West, Pacific (small sections of the state can be considered Northwest or Southwest in terms of its food and culture); Pacific (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Acorn, Chile Pepper, Pinyon Nut, Salmon
Bordered by: Baja California, Mexico (south), Arizona & Nevada (east), Oregon (north), Pacific Ocean (west)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: golden trout (fish), California Valley quail (bird), grizzly bear (animal)
Some Famous & Typical Foods: Where to begin? "New California cuisine", diversity of ethnic cuisines, especially Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean (Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Salvadoran, Korean, Italian), citrus (especially in the south), wine (especially in the center and north), seafood, dates, and so much else

Northern and Central California are perhaps most famous for their wine. As I pointed out last week, California wines have gotten good enough that they now rival wines from France in many competitions. Most famous among the California wines are those from Napa and Sonoma (though again, they aren't the only ones). I never got the chance to take a tour through wine country, though my friends Jim & Gil, also from SoCal, have talked about it. We will, someday. As Eric, one of my much more local friends, pointed out to me over a New Year's Eve dinner (thanks, guys), California grapes played a very important role in rescuing the French wine industry. In the 19th century, vineyards in both England and on the Continent were ravaged by the Phylloxera. Unable to stop their vineyards from dying, European vintners eventually grafted cuttings from North American vines that were more resistant than the completely non-resistant European varietals.

Of course, Northern (and Central) Cali is more than wine. It's also the home of Berkeley-based chef Alice Waters, the executive chef of Chez Panisse and the public face of "California cuisine". California cuisine is not the same thing as "California's cuisine". It's a whole way of looking at, procuring, preparing and eating food, period. It is the use of the freshest, most locally-grown and most in-season ingredients as you can find, and often prepared as simply as you can prepare them. As Waters writes in her book Chez Panisse Vegetables, we can all live "California cuisine" without even coming close to the Golden Coast:

If at all possible, plant a garden yourself, and above all, patronize farmer's markets. Get to know your purveyors and producers and give them feedback... Always explore your garden and go to the market before you decide what to cook. Decide on your menu based on what you find there. Buy products that are fresh, local, and organic. Select produce that looks freshly harvested and at its peak. Look for vegetables that look right back at you! [Waters, p. xix]

In the spirit of Waters and California cuisine, I looked for something simple and in season to prepare. At first I thought a salad would be a great idea, but lettuce isn't exactly in season in Maryland right now. Winter squash is, and I ended up finding one from the farmers' market right on my counter.

The recipe: Oven-Roasted Squash with Garlic and Parsley


This recipe, from Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook, is a simple and surprisingly sumptuous way to prepare pretty much any winter squash. I found it worked especially well with butternut. It was almost as easy as that date shake I wrote about last week:

* winter squash (mine was a butternut, about 1 lb, which I bought at the farmers' market for a buck)
* olive oil (had it)
* salt and pepper (had those, too)
* garlic (had a few cloves left)
* fresh parsley (had just enough in the fridge)


Peel and seed the squash and dice it into 1" pieces, then toss it with olive oil, salt and pepper. Waters' recipe didn't give exact amounts. I just added enough to my liking. Please, please don't go overboard with the salt and pepper.


Put the pieces on a baking sheet and bake for 375°F for 40 minutes, moving it around with a spatula once in a while to make sure it doesn't burn.


While baking the squash, finely chop a few cloves of garlic (I like garlic, so I chopped about 5 or 6 small cloves) and parsley (a small handful), and then toss with the squash just before serving. That's it.


It sometimes amazes me how such a simple recipe can be so tasty, but Waters' recipe was just that. The butternut just gets nice and sweet in the oven, and stands up so well against all the savory, salty ingredients thrown at it. Please do yourselves a favor and make this sometime. Eat it with a simple salad. Waters recommends a very simple dressing for many of her salads (look in the "lettuce" section of her Chez Panisse Vegetables), based on a finely chopped shallot that sits in wine vinegar and a little salt for about an hour, then mixed with some olive oil, pepper and other items of your choice. I poured a bit of this with chopped garlic over a salad of blood oranges and mixed greens.

Sources:

Lee, Jennifer 8. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. Twelve Books: New York, 2008.

Waters, Alice, and the Cooks of Chez Panisse. Chez Panisse Vegetables. HarperCollins Publishers: New York, 1996.

Yan, Martin. Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking: The Companion Cookbook to the Public Television Series. William Morrow: New York, 1995.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "California" page and the Food Timeline State Foods webpage link to "California".

Why I'm writing about California's Prop 8

We have our own controversial propositions on the ballot here in Maryland - there's that little "yes on slots" initiative. I'm not saying how I voted on that (absentee, remember), and there's that "early voting" initiative. Okay, that's not terribly controversial, but I'm not saying how I voted on that either. That is in addition to that little matter of the presidential election. I'm also not sharing that!

As you know, I have tried to refrain from political commentary on this blog. But there is one thing I have to mention, and it affects me both directly and indirectly. It's California's Proposition 8, which would officially change the California State Constitution to define marriage as only between one woman and one man.

You probably aren't surprised that an unassuming gay man such as myself would be against this latest proposition from the prop-happy Eureka State. But why am I, a lowly food blogger based not in California but in the Mid-Atlantic, bothering to mention it here at all? I mean, it's not like Maryland is going to allow me to get married anytime soon.

I mention it for a few reasons: 1) I lived for several years in California; it's where I came out; 2) many of my friends on the West Coast are also gay men and women who love their partners; 3) I may find myself back in Cali someday. But even if I don't, there's 4) I am not a second-class citizen in my own country, and I will be damned if I am going to sit idly by and not do anything to help my friends - who are also not second-class citizens in their own country - realize that right. To be frank, I'm pretty sure same-sex marriage won't be coming to Maryland for a good while, if I ever see it as long as I live here. But I'm praying, literally, that my California queer compatriots do. And yes, I donated money. If powerful interests can donate millions from out of state to get Prop 8 passed, I can certainly donate a few bucks to get it defeated.

**SIGH** That was good to get out there.

Sean and D Paul at San Fran's Hedonia are lovers of all good food and wine in the Bay Area (no, not the Chesapeake Bay - the San Francisco Bay). They have a very nice post about the blog effort to show support for the No on 8 movement. It was on their blog that I found out about this effort on the Mombian blog (Sustenance for Lesbian Moms) - a blogger event in opposition to Prop 8, with over 400 bloggers around the country posting! The problem: it was yesterday. I am always late for every galdarned thing!!! Well, I'm still submitting this post. If it isn't up there yet, it soon will be!

One more thing: it's nice to know that some restaurants are donating some of their proceeds to fight Prop 8. Take West Hollywood restaurant Taste, for example. On October 20, it donated 25% of all its profits to No on Prop 8. Next time I'm out there, I'm stopping in (courtesy Eater LA).

Oops, now one final thing I just noticed after hitting "Publish Post": According to 538.com (I LOVE that site), the Field Poll is about to release a poll showing that Prop 8 is trailing 49-44 (that means the "No" side is ahead).  They're pretty good with predicting referenda (94% success rate), but it's still pretty close.  So here's hoping.

Finally Flickr'd My Photos From... Cali

I've uploaded my photos from my recent California trip up to Flickr. I had no idea the bastards charged you if you wanted to create more than 3 sets, like, ever. But I ponied up the money (Rrrrr). I'll post a photo from each set below. Each photo links to the entire set (or just check out the whole dern mess of 'em here). And, I've geotagged them! I love that feature. Yes, as far as online mapping tools go, it's pretty primitive (doesn't zoom in as much as the others, and there's hardly any intersection recognition). But it's all they have, so I deal.

Talk about cold feet!

Now those are some big children.

So I guess parking is tough in San Fran! (This was in the Mission District.)


A tribute to interned Japanese-Americans and the spirit of Old Japantown


Peaceful, innit?


Hey, the guys in Sideways could've gone to Temecula! It was hella closer than Santa Barbara.



(Fargo accent:) Ya Harvey, I'm just going to sit here until I remember where you parked the car. Could take years, dontcha know.


Class. Just screams "class."

San Francisco #5: Japantown and Hummus in the Castro

Japantown has a longstanding monument to the tragedy of Japanese internment during WWII, when whole neighborhoods of Japanese-Americans were “evacuated” from their homes and sent to camps, for the alleged safety of the country (this was chronicled in Come See the Paradise, a great little flick from 1990 starring Dennis Quaid and Tamilyn Tomita; it takes place in LA but the same thing happened in SF). A disgraceful, tragic event in our nation's history, and not something that should be forgotten.

In the Japanese Mall on the Peace Plaza, with the large Peace Pagoda sticking up in the middle of the square, there are lots of sushi joints. I mean lots. But stuffed with chorizo and rosewater ice cream (I’m still belching roses), I had no room for sushi. So I just had to wander around and look. I did buy gifts for home, though: two large samplers of mochi and some roasted green tea. And I got a bag of Okinawan brown sugar cookies to boot. And you should see the Japanese grocery stores in this mall. Lots of cool Japanese products!

After Japantown I realized that I only had time to see one more thing before heading to the B&B for my things. I gave up on the Golden Gate Bridge (which, coincidentally, melted in another flick co-starring Dennis Quaid and Tamilyn Tomita, the eco-disaster flick The Day After Tomorrow), which was too far anyway, and hopped on a bus for Golden Gate Park. When I got there I headed past the majestic de Young Museum and (sticking with the Japanese theme) went for the Japanese Tea Garden. It was gorgeous and breathtaking, and very peaceful. Less peaceful were the people drinking tea. I didn’t get any myself.

Long story short: it was late, I hopped on the taxi, made it back to the Castro, fetched my things and sought some food. My last meal in San Fran could’ve been fish, burgers, sushi, but instead I got Mediterranean food at La Méditeranée Café. There I watched the people pass by while sipping a crisp Greek beer, sipping very lemony avgolemono soup (steam was still blowing off of it when I got it) and savoring curried Egyptian chicken on a bed of rice. The chicken was moist and tasty, the veggies retained their own flavors even as they had been stewed together, and the hummus it all came with made it even better. Total cost: $22 after tax and tip.

Done with dinner, I grabbed my mess of stuff and headed for the Muni, ready to wend my way back to Oakland Airport. And wouldn’t ya know it: cheapy airline Southwest (which I used) is going to start up service directly into San Francisco Airport at the end of the month – after I needed it!

San Francisco #4: Snacks for Lunch

I did a lot of walking today y’all, and my feet are feelin’ the burn. That’s even with most of my travel budget going to transportation costs – taxi, bus, mass transit, shuttles. I jogged for (about) twenty minutes this morning, then all but undid it by eating a slice of pound cake left by my bed n’ breakfast proprietor. He finally did pick up my payment, by the way, and let me keep the key to the place for as long as I stored my luggage there

I grabbed an iced tea at the Duboce Park Café on Sanchez Street. This is a fun, sunny place that serves bagel melts and the like for breakfast. I wasn’t hungry by the time I got there. A few dogs, a straight couple making kissy face, a few friendly lesbians and this attractive Australian guy that I think was flirting with me.

I wanted to see if I could walk to the Golden Gate Park, the park in the city that rivals Central Park in Manhattan in terms of size (it's almost 200 acres larger, in fact). Alas, it was too far, and I wound up trudging up hill after hill after steep hill to the Mission District, a place that echoes much of California’s Mexican heritage (to wit, the massive statue of Padre Miguel Hidalgo in Mission Dolores Park). I got a snack, or so I thought, at the Taquería El Buen Sabor at 18^th and Valencia (Reviews behind the link are of burritos, and those San Franciscans seem to love their burritos. I prefer soft tacos myself). For just $2.20 I got a chorizo and bean taco with the chorizo piled high on top of two small corn tortillas. This unassuming little taco was something to eat with a fork. I haven’t had such good chorizo in years. Topped off with a Sidral Mundet apple soda for $1.75, it was a small, simple and satisfying lunch.

Of course, that wasn’t all I had. I set forth up Valencia en route to Japantown and found a delicious Indian ice cream place. Lonely Planet gives Bombay Creamery raves for its sweet and savory offerings. Bombay Creamery offer many flavors that seem simply exotic to us: cardamom, rose, cardamom rose, saffron rose, mango, etc. I tried the rose and the saffron rose. The former had a very strong rosewater flavor, while the saffron rose was milder, saffron-y with lots of rose in the background. I got both, a double scoop for $4.

San Francisco #3: It's A-Rainin' Men!

San Fran being the gay old city that it is, one would be remiss not to stop in a few of the gay bars in town. I am no stranger to gay bars, so I was in my element. But straight people are also quite welcome in most gay bars. In fact, one bar was jam packed with young men and women - some lesbians, but also girls with their boyfriends, and more than a few Wills-and-Graces.

The night first saw me in the slightly seedy SoMa part of town. Okay, seedy after 9 PM, and near the Civic Center which even the travel guides say is not the greatest neighborhood to hang around in. Here I visited the Powerhouse Bar, recommended to me by some friends of mine back down in San Bernardino. Given that it was a Wednesday night, and I was there early - still on Eastern time - there weren't many people there. But the bartender, who had apparently bought a cheesecake for his boyfriend's birthday and had it on the counter for him, was both adorable and damn charming, and got me a Pilsner Urquell draft for $2.50 (happy hour till 10). I had two of those, and then a Guinness (bottle, after happy hour) for $4.50. I'd like to see it when it's more crowded.

Also recommended was the Eagle Tavern. I've noticed that there are a few Eagles throughout the country - New York, LA, Washington, San Fran, and of course in Baltimore, to name a few. These are of the "leather and levis" variety. The folks in these bars are more like to strike up a conversation and less likely to have a pole up their - okay, bad analogy. But they are friendly, and not just in a frisky way. I never made it over there, unfortunately, but I thought I'd mention it.

Back in the Castro I wandered around to see what other bars I could find, and encountered the charming little Edge SF, again with friendly and adorable batenders. Here I had another draft, I forget of what, and chatted with some fellow who, again, was quite drunk. All this drinking on a school night! I loved the decor in here. It looked like a rock outcropping was growing out from over the bar. Next to that were the light fixtures with feather boas in red, white and blue hanging down from overhead. Very cool!

Last I came to the very popular 440 Castro. It advertises itself as a "leather" bar but is nothing of the sort. At first I was put off because it looked like they were turning away "certain people" (read: "You're not attractive enough to get in here") from the door, so I snubbed the place. But later I found out it was just packed and the people hanging around outside couldn't get in because they coldn't fit. Absolutely packed when I got in ($1 cover charge), wall to wall people, gay and straight, male and female, young and old (but much more young). I started developing claustrophobia last night in the 440!

Not in the mood to spend anymore money or do anymore investigating of gay night life in San Francisco, I headed back to the B&B. Next stop? More dim sum? I don't know. I think I'm dim sum'd out.

San Francisco #1: Quickly

Well, the plane ride to Oakland was uneventful. The trip from Oakland to San Fran on the BART Mass transit system was very much eventful, but for other reasons.* Anyway, I got to the bed and breakfast, the Castillo Inn in the Castro section of the city. I have never done a B&B before, and it's, well, different. Very cazh. The proprietor was not here when I checked in, so he told me to leave my payment for the room on my dresser. That was seven hours ago. Oh well. I'll just leave it here.

My first taste of San Fran was the gayest neighborhood in the gayest city in the world - both meant in a nice way, not the way that youths - even gay youths - sometimes use the word "gay" to mean "stupid". You've probably heard someone say "Dude, this is so gay" to mean "Dude, this is so stupid." Nope, of course I don't mean it in that sense. And if I did, a dozen angry drag queens would probably kick the shit out of me. Deservedly so, I might add - and those high heels can hurt!

Anyway, not far from what Frommer's San Francisco Day by Day guide refers to as "the gayest corner in the world" (Castro and 18th Streets), lies my first taste of San Fran deliciousness. It's called Quickly, and it ain't in any travel guide I've seen. This place, founded by entrepreneuse Nancy Yang, originated in Taiwan in 1996 (I think; their website isn't terribly clear). Quickly offers sickeningly cheap, quick bites - like junk food dim sum - from the US, Japan, China and Taiwan, Korea, Mexico and all over Southeast Asia, for anywhere between 60 cents and $4 (most things cost $3; the soft shell crab is one of their priciest, at $4).

I tried their hot dog - 59 cents, a standard but cheap hot dog - and something called chikuwa wrapped in bacon, on a stick. Six of these - in two groups of three fried, bacon-wrapped chikuwas - cost $3. So fattening, so greasy, and so - okay, above average. They fall into that "fried Twinkie" category - tasty once, but I'm not goin' there again, dude. Oh, and the chikuwas? I first thought they were squid, sans tentacles. Now I find out they're shaped like that, but made from the same stuff as krab-with-a-K.

I will get around to posting photos in a few days. I left all the wires I need to upload 'em into my computer back in the Inland Empire, so I couldn't even if I wanted to. It'll save me some time, so I can write about the dim sum crawl I went on today. Like a pub crawl, but with dim sum instead of beer. And dude, I am so stuffed from all that dim sum.

* This was a job offer and a very big choice, that's all I'm saying, and it so figures that I find out about it right now when anyone who cares is far, far away. At least it was good news.)