During my nightly scroll, I was shocked to learn that my favorite restaurant on Saint Mark’s place, the Taiwanese joint 886 was closing, and that the last day of service will be on Monday. On Monday, I will, inshallah, be on a plane to Hawaii*, so it felt like kind of a shock knowing I’d never eat their popcorn chicken again.

886 was not just a restaurant to me, it was such a special time and place of mucking around on Saint Mark’s place with my friends. I am 34 years old, and I just moved out of the city this year, so I guess I am lucky that I had more years than most people do mucking around, but still, it could be a lifetime, and never enough.

I remember the first time that I ate there after not seeing one of my old friends for two years because of COVID, and how magical it felt. Sure, the street was never super clean, that one cult yoga place we all went to a lot during college was shut down for tax fraud and abuse, and I’m pretty sure every time we ate on the benches outside someone would come by and harass us. But there is such a beautiful freedom in spontaneously shoveling down pea shoots with your friends after work, and now that I’m writing this from my bed in the suburbs, it all feels so far away, maybe forever lost.

Sentimental reading in memory of 886:

Eating on St. Mark’s place, May 15, 2021

Five things I ate to stay warm during a Polar Vortex 🥶 Dec 28, 2024

XOXO,
Soph

*Speaking of which, I will be spending 10 days in Maui and Kauai! Please send me your recs – replying to this email works great. See ya in two weeks!

Taiwanese Cabbage with Carrots and Lap Cheong

Don’t sleep on the humble cabbage. It’s really one of the most delicious vegetables out there, sweet and savory at the same time, if you treat it right. Hey, if Din Tai Fung can charge $16.00 for cabbage we can definitely make it even tastier at home. The key to tasty cabbage stir fry is the CABBAGE. You absolutely must get Taiwanese flat cabbage which is available at 99 Ranch at most Asian grocery stores. If it isn’t SHORT AND SQUAT, it’s not going to taste the same. Taiwanese cabbage isn’t bitter at all and it’s very crispy and not at all stinky. Asian grocery stores also always have the hugest and sweetest carrots. I came up with a trick to slice into ribbons for faster cooking. Another key flavor enhancer is to add oyster sauce anytime you cook cabbage. I use the vegetarian kind which doesn’t have shellfish just because. Oh, and never ever put soy sauce in your stir-fries.

For a small 2-person serving:

• 1/2 head Taiwanese flat cabbage, chopped

• 1/2 large sweet carrot, peeled and then sliced into ribbons with a veggie peeler

• 1 lap cheong sausage

• Oyster sauce

• Shaoxing cooking wine

• White pepper

• Salt

Cut sausage into slices. Heat in a large skillet til it starts to caramelize and releases grease.

Slice cabbage and carrots.

Add carrot ribbons to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook til wilted.

Add cabbage, season with salt and pepper and stir fry on medium-high heat.

When wilted, add a large drizzle of shaoxing cooking wine and continue to stir fry.

Add a dollop (maybe a teaspoon?) of oyster sauce, and mix completely.

Turn the heat off when cabbage is wilted but still crunchy in parts.

Enjoy.

Sautéed Baked Tofu

To give tofu the respect it deserves as a traditional and storied food, you should learn a bit about the various types you’ll encounter before you go to 99 Ranch. My favorite kind is the thick dry tofu, sometimes also called five spice baked tofu, here’s an example. This is confusing because you think that it should be eaten as-is, which you totally can as a perfect high-protein snack dipped in soy sauce. But, it’s even better if you cook it, despite it already being twice cooked. Take your tofu bricks and slice thinly, then sauté in hot oil, black pepper, and….. a splash of good soy sauce til caramelized and you will understand what I mean. Yes, I just told you not to use soy sauce in stir-fries but think about this more like quickly braising meat.

Rice Cooker Sausage Rice

This is the ultimate kids’ happy meal from childhood— hot steamy rice with fatty sweet and salted sausage. The most tasty version is with sticky glutinous rice but the way easier, one-step meal version is just to cook your short grain rice as you usually do in the rice cooker, but throw in 1 sliced lap cheong per rice cooker cup of rice. You can add pepper and soy sauce when you’re serving. Perfect with an egg on the side for breakfast or a snack or as a side dish when you don’t want to cook meat.

XOXO,
Soph

I absolutely adore homestyle Mexican cooking and it’s one of my favorite cuisines ever. I’m talking about California roadside stand Mexican food. This rabbit hole really made me miss the best street taco stand ever in LA. Even though it seems nothing like Chinese food on the surface, I feel like it’s actually a very compatible cuisine, mostly because of the love of beans and rice and cilantro. I could eat simple Mexican food every day, which is what I decided to do this week.

I couldn’t find a Mexican grocery near me so I picked up a bunch of basics at the regular grocery store, made some beans, and the result is a lovely bunch of mix-and-match recipes all week. While it’s not quite LA, it did satisfy my cravings!

Shortcut Mexican Food Grocery List

The things in ALL CAPS means you must get this exact type NO substitutes.

• Avocados

• ROMA tomatoes

• WHITE onions

• ICEBERG lettuce

• LIMES

• Jalapeños

• Goya Yellow Rice

• Cojita cheese

• Oaxaca cheese

• Corn tortillas

• Flour burrito wraps

• Torta rolls (or substitute sub rolls or kaiser rolls)

• Mayo (the McCormick Mayonesa with Lime is the legit stuff)

• Knorr chicken bouillon (really important but I couldn’t find it)

• Knorr tomato bouillon (really important but I couldn’t find it)

• Pickled jalapenos

Base Recipes

Instant Pot Black Beans

This wasn’t the best bean recipe ever, which I’m still on an endless search for. For some reason my black beans always turn out slightly bitter. It worked fine in recipes, though. PLEASE GIVE ME A BETTER BEAN RECIPE!

• 1 lbs black beans picked and washed (Goya)

• 7 cups water

• 1/2 onion

• 2 clove garlic

• 2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in an Instant Pot, and cook for 45 minutes on high. Let pressure release naturally (will be another 30-45 minutes). This was a rather watery bean so you can let it thicken down on low heat, or use 5-6 cups of water.

Arroz Rojo

This is from lov.kari on instagram. Just like the beans recipe, it honestly wasn’t the best arroz rojo recipe ever, but it worked fine in recipes. I made a critical error, which is that I could not find Knorr boullion, which I feel is essential. I ended up just making more Goya yellow rice which I personally like a lot. PLEASE GIVE ME A BETTER ARROZ ROJO RECIPE!

• 2 roma tomatoes

• 1/4 white onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1 tbsp chicken bouillon (COULDN’T FIND)

• 1 tbsp tomato bouillon (COULDN’T FIND)

• 1 cup of water

• Oil

• 2 cups long grain rice

• 2 cups water

• Jalapeño (optional)

Blend tomatoes, onion, garlic, chicken boullion and tomato boullion with water. Meanwhile, fry 2 cups of rice in hot oil till toasted. Add tomato puree, 2 cups of water, stir, cover and simmer on low for 20-30 minutes, till fluffy and liquid is absorbed. The original recipe said 20 minutes, I needed to cook for 30.

Shortcut elotes

This is not really elotes, but I had a single corn cob leftover and it made a great side to tacos.

• 1 corn cob

• 1 tbs mayonesa

• 1/2 lime

• Salt

• Pepper

• Sugar

• Cojita cheese

Slice the corn off the cob, add generous amount of mayo, fresh lime juice, a sprinkle of sugar and salt, pepper and cheese to taste.

Mix-and-match meals

Breakfast Torta

Tortas are MAYBE the best sandwich ever. My favorite kind is Torta de Milanesa but I ain’t about to do all of that. So I made a simple one with fried egg, which still satisfies my cravings. The key is the soft roll, iceberg lettuce, and beans, plus frying the roll in mayo.

• 1 torta or sub roll

• Mayonnaise

• 1/2 avocado

• 1/4 cup or so of the cooked black beans

• 1 egg

• A few leaves of iceberg lettuce, washed

• A few slices of white onion

• A few slices of Roma tomato

• Oaxaca cheese

• PICKLED JALAPENOS - optional but really good

Slice roll in half and spread LIBERALLY with mayo. Toast mayo-side down in a hot skillet til browned. Fry an egg over hard. Spread a thin layer of black beans on both sides then add egg, cheese, sliced avocado, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickled jalapeños. Close it up and enjoy.

Leftover steak tacos

My husband showed up one day with a ribeye steak so large it looked like it belonged in the Flintstones. After he charred and grilled it on the BBQ, we still had a ton leftover, which was perfect for steak tacos.

• Corn tortillas — these are more authentic BUT I got flour ones because he likes them more

• Leftover steak

• Avocado

• Pico de Gallo

• Cojita cheese

• Arroz rojo

• Black beans

• Shortcut elotes

To refresh the steak, I cut it into thin slices and airfried it at 400F for about 5 minutes, which made it perfectly crispy.

For the tacos, heat up the tacos the way you want. I know people like to go directly on the flame but I also just air fried it for a minute.

Assemble tacos with whatever toppings you like, you can put rice and beans in it gringo style or serve on the side.

Rice and beans

Nothing beats rice and beans. Top with cheese and lime.

• arroz rojo OR Goya yellow rice

• Black beans (above)

• Cojita cheese

• Lime

XOXO,

Soph

Almond croissant from Mille-Feuille Bakery Cafe

552 LaGuardia Pl, New York, NY 10012

Ever since the tornado hit our town on July 4th life has just been one endless, overwhelming shall we say challenge on my mental and physical health. In the latest episode, we found out that our walls were in fact as water-logged as soggy crackers. After a few days at my parents, where the lack of AC was challenging my spirit, I ended up finding refuge in the city at a friend’s unused apartment. To make myself feel better, I let myself buy whatever I wanted to eat, whenever I wanted it. Now, I’m not saying an almond croissant can magically restore peace to my life, but I do think waking up for just a single day by myself in Manhattan, walking directly to Washington Square park and into this charming little french bakery where the barista was making small talk with an old italian man and showing him photos of her baby son, where I got the biggest most moist and almondy-almond croissant of my life and a properly frothy iced cappuccino did supply me with my will to live for a good long while.

Massaman curry with mock duck at THAI TIME

219 E 23rd St, New York, NY 10010

Sometimes I miss New York so bad I feel like if you gave me a good hard squeeze it would ooze out of my pores. I know it’s stinky and overstimulating AF but somehow it makes me calm because I never feel alone there and I never feel weird. Plus, you can always get good Thai food at any time of day. I have never been to THAI TIME in person, and I have no idea where it was (until I Googled it just now), but it lives forever as my Seamless favorite because it’s fast, moderately-priced, and always cravings-worthy. I used to make Thai curry a lot at home, but it never tasted as good or addicting as curry from take-out so I gave up and just let myself enjoy the restaurant version. I feel like it’s never sweet or salty enough when I try. Massaman curry is the ultimate comfort curry to me because it’s so earthy with the potatoes and peanuts, and mock duck is my favorite fake meat, ofc.

Arrabbiata pizza at Vic’s

31 Great Jones St, New York, NY 10012

Once a week I teach class late so I was STARVING by the time I ordered dinner, which is usually when I make my worst choices. You see, I was craving REGULAR pizza but then I felt intrigued by the menu at Vic’s, which was definitely not a dollar slice place. Even though I like neither garlic nor chilis nor olives on pizza, I decided to order the arrabbiata pie, which had all three. And to my great surprise, I did not like it at all. The problem wasn’t the toppings, I swear, but more because I don’t really like fancy restaurant pizza, which is always both too thin, too cheeseless and too small, and I like it even less when I’m hungry. A dollar slice definitely would have done the job, but I was several dozens of dollars down the hole instead – lesson learned.

Iced cappuccino at Madman Espresso

54 University Pl, New York, NY 10003

I enjoyed the iced cappuccino, a drink I never usually order, at Mille-Feuille so much I decided to try my luck by ordering it at another place. Once again, I was punished for steering off course when I should have just gone back to Mille-Feuille. Madman Espresso had great reviews, but I found their iced cappuccino to be undrinkable, a tall, watery glass of milky ice. To add further confusion, I think I actually ordered my drink at Madman Bakery, which is a few doors down, so I don’t know if that is the reason it wasn’t good. To be sure, because I like having a bad time I guess, I went back to Madman Espresso proper for a second coffee, and also hated it. I got a cold brew and found it watery and weak.

Strawberry rugelach at Breads Bakery

18 E 16th St, New York, NY 10003

Everytime I go to Breads Bakery it costs me an arm and a leg, but unlike some of the misses this week, the baked goods are really good and worthwhile. I always pick up the classics – a chocolate babka and some rugelach – but I appreciate how they incorporate seasonal flavors in for fun variations. This week, I saw that they had supercute PINK strawberry rugelach, which of course I had to try. Usually the fruit rugelach is raspberry or apricot so I enjoyed the strawberry twist, which had a good, jammy dried strawberry filling. Please note that Breads’ rugelach style, along with their babka, is more croissant-y and laminated. One little rugelach will set you back three whole dollars but it was very cute and delicious. I especially enjoyed the freeze dried strawberry topping because it reminds me of my favorite cereal from the 00’s, Special K.

XOXO,

Soph

As if a giant storm tearing through town leaving us without power for 3 days and internet for 10, toxic smog, and extreme heat wasn’t enough, I am apparently no longer allowed to eat my emotional support berries thanks to a parasite that causes “explosive diarrhea.” No thanks, Cyclospara.

Apparently home grown produce is still not totally free of risk for reasons I don’t understand why (can a scientist jump in?), but it’s much, much safer. Thankfully, the garden is peaking right now, and the crookneck squash is definitely this year’s clear champion, producing at a breakneck rate. I personally prefer the taste of regular zucchini, which I find sweeter, to crookneck squash, so I’ve been finding ways to grate it and use it up instead.

Yellow Squash & Flower Fritters

Makes 6 fritters, perfect to share for a snack, or eat them all for a meal.

• 1 crookneck squash

• 6 male yellow squash flowers, washed and pistil removed

• 1/2 red onion

• Salt

• pepper

• garlic powder

• 1/4 cup flour

• Tiny pinch baking powder

1. The first step of any fritter or zucchini pancake recipe is to grate the squash and the onion, then toss it a large pinch of salt, and let it SIT, so all the water comes out.

2. Once the mixture is all watery, SQUEEZE as much water as you can out of the mixture. I honestly didn’t squeeze hard enough and some of my fritters fell apart. You can probably use a cheesecloth for better results but I didn’t have one.

3. After you SQUEEZED as much liquid out as possible, add the seasonings, a tiny pinch of baking powder, and ¼ cup flour. Mix until combined.

4. Heat a pan on medium-high heat with a large drizzle of olive oil.

5. Dollop fritters (I fit about 3 in a pan) then place a flower on top. Cook til browned on the bottom, CAREFULLY flip, and cook on the other side.

6. Serve warm, maybe with some yogurt or sour cream.

STAY COOL AND SMOG-FREE,

Soph

P.S. If you have a great recipe for squash blossoms, let me know! I have a really hard time properly cleaning and stuffing them.

This newsletter is called “Five Things I Ate,” but this week I only harvested two things from the garden, so two recipes ye shall receive. (Also, I spent a day commuting in the hell that is the NJ Transit – it was literally on fire – on a 103 degree day so I need to recover!)

Air fried breaded squash

Oh hey do you remember the final episode of Soph. vs. Zucchini from last year? Breaded zucchini (or squash) is the ultimate way to use up an excess of squash! The thing I like about this recipe is that even a slightly older/bigger/tougher squash tastes crunchy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside with this method. This year, we get an air fryer upgrade for extra crunch!

Air fried breaded squash

Makes: One big plate of breaded squash

• 1 big squash

• 1 cup of panko

• ½ cup of flour

• 1 large egg, beaten

• Garlic powder

• Italian seasoning

• Salt, pepper

• Olive oil spray

First, cut squash into ½ inch rounds. You don’t need to cut them too thin. Sprinkle with salt on both sides and let them sit while you prep the rest.

Set up three stations: 1 shallow dish for flour, 1 shallow dish for breadcrumbs, and 1 shallow dish for beaten eggs. The key to this dish is seasoning EACH station well. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and italian seasoning to both the breadcrumbs and flour, and season eggs generously with salt.

Coat each slice of squash first in flour mixture, then beaten egg, then coat with breadcrumbs and put on a plate. Repeat until finished.

Spray bottom of air fryer with olive oil, lay down a layer of squash, and spray with oil on top. Air fry at 400F for 20 minutes. You may need to do two batches.

Serve warm, with marinara dipping sauce.

“Approximately 3 cup” chicken (大概三杯鸡)

Thank you so much to the reader who recommended 3 Cup Chicken (san bei ji) as a solution to my excess basil! I always forget that you can easily use Italian (round-leaf) basil as a substitute for Thai basil in stir-fries. IMO, it works just as well. 3 Cup Chicken is a Taiwanese dish that reminds me of Thai chicken basil stir-fry, but it’s not as spicy and more sweet, which is perfect for my palate. Usually it uses chicken thigh, but I only had chicken breast strips, and it turned out great.

“Approximately 3 cup” chicken (大概三杯鸡)

Makes: Two servings

Mix together:

• 10oz chicken breast strips

• Splash of Shaoxing wine

• Pinch of baking soda

• Teaspoon of cornstarch

• White pepper

So it tenderizes.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, simmer til aromatic:

• 2 tbs sesame oil

• 1-2tbs minced garlic (a lot)

• 1 tsp chili flakes (use more if you want, we are a low-spicy family)

• 1-2 stalks scallions, cleaned and cut into 2inch pieces

Push to side, and add chicken (don’t pour in the juice).

Stir fry til cooked, you can just let it brown on each side.

Add:

• 2 tbs Shaoxing wine

• 2 tbs soy sauce

• 1-2 tbs brown sugar

Cook til thickened

Then add in 1-2 cups fresh basil.

Enjoy with hot white rice!

Enjoy the long weekend!
Soph

For my birthday my mom gave me an entire produce drawer full of ripe champagne mangos – really a perfect gift from an Asian mama. Of course, the best way to eat ripe mango is as-is, but the second best way is in mango sago, a super refreshing, creamy dessert. (To my surprise, I learned that mango sago was invented in 1980’s Hong Kong!) This is the cool Summer counterpart to the creamy, cozy taro sago and it’s a lot more palatable to Western palates if you couldn’t get over the idea of hot sweet potato soup.

As a bonus, I made a super easy, no-cook chia seed pudding version because I’ve been trying to make myself eat chia seeds for years now. To my surprise, it turned out really delicious! So if you’re too lazy to boil sago pearls (the hardest part), totally try the chia pudding recipe.

Mango sago 🥭

Makes 8 dessert servings.

It’s so easy and fun to make mango sago! The only slightly tricky part is cooking the sago pearls, which can be notoriously finicky to cook all the way through. If you can’t find sago pearls, not to worry – you can use tiny tapioca pearls, or even regular sized ones for more chew. This is a simple base recipe, but the more mix-ins you add the more fun it will be! Coconut jelly is a popular addition, as is fresh pomelo. My friend suggested throwing in some lychee – canned ones would be delicious (no need to peel!).

For the sago:

• 2/3 cup sago pearls

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Simmer for 10 min. The pearls will still have a white center. To cook all the way, LEAVE COVERED for 10-15 min til white center is gone. Please be patient! Then, rinse and drain.

For the mango base:

• 2 cups coconut milk (approx 1 can, use the Thai kind, Goya also works, I don’t like Trader Joe’s brand)

• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk

• 4 mangos, peeled and diced

Set aside 1 cup chopped mango. Puree the rest in a food processor.

If you’d like a pretty swirly sago, you can save 1 cup of the mango puree for swirling.

Mix the mango puree with the milks, and whisk well. Add the sago pearls and chopped mango.

Serve chilled, with a swirl of mango puree in the glass, if you wish.

Mango sago chia pudding 🥭

Makes 2 hearty servings.

I’ve had a longtime fixation with chia pudding that has not quite translated into me eating it because every time it tastes a bit too healthy and seedy for me, or it’s too thick and goopy. After many many many trials I have finally created a recipe I’ll eat for breakfast (a big win as a person who has no appetite in the morning except for coffee and pastries!). This is inspired by mango sago and if I squint I can almost pretend it’s dessert. The key for me is to use thin (carton type) coconut milk (the opposite of the can kind for the real sago!) for the actual pudding and reduce the amount of seeds so it’s lighter and not so goopy.

• 1 champagne mango (peeled and chopped)

• 1/4 cup chia seeds

• 1.5 c coconut milk (thin carton kind, I used Trader Joe’s brand)

• 2 tbs honey

• 1 tsp vanilla paste

• 2 tbs coconut milk OR coconut cream (thick can kind - use a Thai brand, or Goya)

Whisk together chia seeds, coconut milk, honey, and vanilla paste in a mixing bowl and let it sit til slightly thickened.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the mango, set aside chunks for decorating, and puree in a food processor.

Divide mango puree into the bottom of 2 jars or tupperwares.

Top with chia pudding, 1 tbs coconut milk (creamy kind) whisked with a tiny bit of vanilla paste, and top with mango slices or chunks to decorate.

Chill overnight.

Have a good weekend!
Soph

P.S. If you make your own sago, send me a pic!

Cold Ramen from Santouka Ramen

595 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ 07020

For my birthday last week I had one request: That my husband take me to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater and spend time with me there. The first time I took the pilgrimage to Mitsuwa was in high school, nearly 20 years ago. It’s crazy how much this place manages to stay the same, but still is so cheap and good. Sure, the plastic ramen displays at the food court might have weathered, but the food remains excellent, at a low price. For $14, the cold ramen at Santouka really, really hit the spot on a hot muggy day. Every summer I get a crazy craving for cold noodles, whether it’s cold ramen or Naengmyeon or soba. This was the perfect balance of vinegar-y and sweet and I loved the dab of spicy mustard on the side. I cleared the plate.

Strawberry Daifuku at Shofuku

595 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ 07020

My eyes went as wide as saucers when I walked past this mochi stand with giant strawberry daifuku. It really looked like anime food! At $6 each, I decided to only splurge on one, a mugwort mochi with chunky red bean paste wrapped around a giant ripe strawberry. The giant strawberry was so sweet inside I couldn’t believe how un-flavorful most strawberries I’ve had are! The mochi was so thick and chewy, and most importantly, Not Too Sweet.

Kaisen Bento at Otaru

595 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ 07020

This was the only miss of the night for me! Otaru is a sushi stand in the food court, but by the time we got there (Sunday evening), there were only pre-packaged boxes of sushi left. At $19.99 I expected more out of this box, which drew me in because of the mackerel pressed sushi. But each piece was wrapped in plastic and too mealy, the rice too vinegary. Next time I’d get the sushi fresh, or from another stand.

Matcha Castella at K. Minamoto

595 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ 07020

The matcha castella at K. Minamoto, an upscale washagi shop, has become the unofficial birthday cake of our family. (The official birthday cake, of course, is the Paris Baguette strawberry cream cake, which my friends so generously sent to me!) There used to be a location at World Trade, but it sadly closed, so now the only location in Manhattan is on the Upper East side, a place I can never go to, according to the unofficial contract I signed 15 years ago that binds me to the West side. So I was delighted to learn there’s an outpost in Mitsuwa! Castella cake is like the eggier, luxury version of the Chinese sponge cake. It’s more yellow in color and richer in egg yolks, or in this case, it’s green because of matcha.

Loquat jelly at K. Minamoto

595 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ 07020

Of course, the pièce de résistance of my delightful birthday treats was this absolutely gorgeous seasonal treats box from K. Minamoto. I chose it primarily because of how beautiful the packaging looked. I started by trying this jelly because there were two of them, and I’d feel less bad about eating one. The packaging is a beautiful golden yellow paper that was surprisingly hard to tear, so I needed to employ scissors. Inside, I was greeted with another foil packet, this time explicitly telling me to use scissors. When I finally broke free of both packaging, I was greeted inside with a surprisingly wet(!) jelly floating inside the foil inner bag. I’m going to be honest: I have no idea what a loquat is, and I’ve never had one. I googled it and it looks like it comes from Southern China and looks vaguely like an apricot. I imagine this tastes like a loquat, which really is just like a whisper of summer breeze: Soft, gelatinous, and strongly not too sweet, this tastes like a mild apricot with a hint of mango.

Have a good weekend!
Soph

Confetti Bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes

No locations in NYC, but a few in NJ.

I’ve never tried Nothing Bundt Cakes before, so I was excited to try their free birthday bundlet cake! All you have to do is sign up for their rewards app, no purchase necessary (a qualifier for making it on my list ofc). I dragged my husband into this side quest by taking me to the store because I can’t drive on the highway, but he can 😎. You can choose any flavor including a gluten free raspberry one which was super tempting, but I decided on confetti for a classic birthday cake vibe. I would give this freebie a 10/10 in terms of delightfulness since you get a full mini birthday cake to yourself! I got it the weekend before my birthday then enjoyed a mini slice of cake with my espresso all week, highly recommend. (The cake itself is a tad sweet FYI!) The freebie is valid for 2 weeks before/and after your birthday date.

Iced persimmon green tea from Cafe Grumpy

Locations.

Cafe Grumpy gives a $5 off coupon for your birthday month if you sign up for their rewards system. Of course, the cold brew I wanted was $5.50 for a small size. Determined to stick to the theme of free food, not fifty-cent food, I went instead for an iced tea, which was exactly $5. It was, unfortunately, nowhere near as satisfying as an iced coffee on a 95 muggy degree in Manhattan. I generally don’t like the flavor of green tea outside of East Asia because I feel like it literally tastes like paper. Next time, I might splurge on that extra 50 cents.

Freebies not yet redeemed: Happy Birthday Cake Slice at Paris Baguette

Multiple locations. My current default is in midtown: 6 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001

Paris Baguette is not the best Asian bakery, but it is the most reliable and in that way it is my favorite. It’s sort of become my safe space because there’s one in all of my hangout locations, whether that’s Manhattan Chinatown, near Penn Station, or in the ‘burbs of New Jersey. Also, we already know how much I love the strawberry cream cake. If you’re even remotely into Paris Baguette I really recommend downloading their app and signing up for rewards. I occasionally get an iced coffee out of it, and their birthday rewards is pretty great: You can choose any slice of cake! This rewards is valid about two days before your birthday extending to the week after.

Freebies not yet redeemed: Free drink at Starbucks

Your local Starbucks.

This is the freebie that started them all: The annual free Starbucks drink! I only get Starbucks when I’m traveling (as I’m more of a Dunkies girl), whether that be at an airport, at Penn Station, Union Station, or on a road-trip drive-thru, but I make exceptions for extremely hot days, the mall, or on my birthday! I haven’t redeemed this yet because it’s only available on my actual birthday date, but I’m excited to try the iced ube coconut cream shaken espresso that I’ve been eyeing for literal months but haven’t decided to splurge on yet.

Carvel Birthday cake (not free) at Stew Leonard’s

700 Paramus Pk, Paramus, NJ 07652

I highly recommend buying an entire small size Carvel Cake the weekend before your birthday, then eating a tiny slice each day until it’s your birthday. While this method is not free, it does amount to approximately $2 a day. Downsides include: Staining your lips an artificial blue color from the frosting, Googling what the “whipped cream” frosting is composed of, and also being sick of ice cream cake by the end of the week.

Have a good weekend!
Soph

P.S. Am I missing any favorite birthday food freebies in the NYC/NJ area? Let me know!

Seaweed soup with beef (Miyeok-guk) at H-Mart

60 NJ-17, Paramus, NJ 07652

You might be asking yourself: Does this bitch live in H-Mart? The answer is… maybe, but also as a die-hard public transit fan who moved to the depths of suburbia and currently has no car, it was the only Asian grocery market I could take the bus to, even if it was quite a dusty journey there. Plus, I do love H-Mart and the one in Paramus is really nice! They have a full section of marinated meats for BBQ, and cut fruit samples at the door. Whenever I go to H-Mart, I pick up a quart of miyeok-guk, or Korean seaweed beef soup, at the prepared foods section. This soup might not be flashy, but it’s one of my absolute favorites. The flavors are clean and simple, it’s chock-ful of seaweed with just enough bits of beef to keep me occupied. Apparently Korean people eat miyeok-guk on their birthdays to honor their mothers, since it’s a food for postpartum women, which I find kind of endearing. I love how salty and oceanic it tastes, it really feels like it could heal me.

Pink pineapple at H-Mart

60 NJ-17, Paramus, NJ 07652

I was so excited to try pink pineapple from the fancy H-Mart, as I’ve never had it before. They sold it in whole pineapples, half pineapples, and pre-cut chunks, which were the most expensive. For economical reasons, I got the half pineapple and then quickly understood why chunks were more expensive for worthwhile reasons. It’s a pain in the ass to cut pineapple and you end up wasting like ¼ of the mass. Anyway, I finally took a bite and… I was met with… PAIN?! The pink pineapple itself was soft, but sort of mild and tasteless, compared to the super ripe yellow kind. But each bite felt like my tongue was covered in barbs!! Was this pineapple tenderizing me, like meat for the grill?

Matcha affogato at Fujiissa

330 5th Ave, New York, NY 10001 (inside of Hashi Market)

This week I clogged the sink TWICE so I threw myself into no cooking jail and tossed the key into the Insinkerator, where it also jammed. As a result, I did not eat very healthy. I meant to get a healthy (ish) yogurt smoothie from Hey Yogurt but alas the nutrition gods were conspiring against me because on the hottest day of the week, the kiosk was broken. So I was forced to get a matcha soft serve affogato against my will. Fujissa is a matcha cafe that is located inside Hashi Market, a Japanese market that is a lot of fun. This was not healthy but it was amazing, I don’t regret it. The matcha shot was very thick and flavorful and the soft serve was nice and creamy cold so the matcha would freeze delightfully like magic shell. 10/10.

Strollos Italian ice to go!

Locations, ordering, etc

Nothing tastes more like summer to me than Strollo’s Italian ice. All other Italian ices really pale in comparison. For some reason Strollo’s makes the fluffiest lightest Italian ice ever, so even though I’m sure it’s just sugar water it manages not to taste too sweet! The best flavors are classic cherry and pistachio, and my husband surprised me with a quart of each! Even though the paper squeeze cup is a key part of the Italian ice eating experience, it scooped surprisingly well and stayed fluffy.

Coffee of the week: Banana iced oatmilk latte at home

Syrup here.

I am forever craving Dunkin’s banana line and I wish the banana cold foam was a permanent fixture. To cope, I ordered a bottle of Torani’s “créme de banana” syrup for my home cafe. There are almost certainly better and less artificial banana flavors out there, but after trying to make various homemade banana syrups from real bananas I’ve come to realize that I like mildly artificial banana. To make a latte, I made 2 shots of dark roast espresso on the Nespresso machine, and mixed it with a little vanilla bean paste and let it cool. Then I filled a jar with ice, and shook the espresso with a pump of the syrup until frothy, poured it into a glass and topped off with full fat oatmilk.

XOXO,

Soph

P.S. A TOTALLY UNOFFICIAL, UNSCIENTIFIC WORLD CUP SURVEY:

Are you a NYC commuter? Do you take the NJ Transit? How do you plan to get to work during the World Cup? I’m especially interested in hearing from workers who don’t have an option to work remotely.

Japchae at BonChon Fort Lee

2467 Lemoine Ave, Fort Lee, NJ 07024

Did you know that Bergen County has the highest per-capita Korean population of any county in the US? That’s thanks to Palisades Park, which boasts the highest percent of ethnic Koreans (55-60%) of any town in the US, and Fort Lee (23%).* Obviously, you already knew that if you live in the tri-state area, but still, the numbers surprised me! I know that you can get BonChon chicken anywhere, but I swear that some locations make better food than others, and the Fort Lee location is bussin’ thanks to that 23% Korean population. The fried chicken wings are enormous (we got drumsticks) and juicy, but my favorite dishes are the sides. The japchae with bulgogi was really nice, and a perfect compliment to the heavy fried chicken. Bonus: The 1-year old that was visiting us loved them too.

*My source is Wikipedia. Happy Gemini season!

Strawberry dragonfruit yogurt at Hey Yogurt

Multiple locations in New Jersey and New York. This one was in downtown Ridgewood.

My relationship with yogurt is very on and off; weirdly, the only time I desperately craved it was when I got COVID during the depressing depths of the pandemic and totally lost my sense of smell. The smooth creaminess comforted me. Frozen yogurt always seemed icy to me and never as tangy as I desired. Hey Yogurt, a Korean chain with multiple locations, is not quite frozen yogurt. They sell drinkable yogurt with mix-ins, served in a boba cup, and it’s really quite nice. I feel like my primary complaint with yogurt is that I don’t like chalky thick Greek yogurt (which is all that’s around these days with our protein obsession), and also that it’s not tangy and milky enough. This addresses both of my needs well, it reminds me more of Chinese yogurt. I got the strawberry dragon fruit flavor with “low” sugar and I was pleasantly surprised that it was not too sweet. I’m not totally convinced that it’s health food, but it’s definitely more filling than boba, a good grab and go mini meal.

Chicken Ganjeong at H Mart Midtown

38 W 32nd St 2nd floor, New York, NY 10001

Did you know that the H Mart in Manhattan Koreatown has a whole second floor with a food court and beauty store?? As someone who practically lives in that H Mart I guess I just never looked up (or is it new?). It’s nothing crazy but there’s a hot food bar and a wall of kimbap and a stand where you can get simple hot foods to order. I picked up a small container of sweet soy/ garlic chicken gangjeong and a bulgogi kimbap, plus a bottle of corn silk tea. The corn tea (which tastes exactly like corn husks and has no sugar or calories) washed the garlic soy chicken down perfectly. I enjoyed eating this by myself sitting on a stool facing the wall alone, which is the proper way to enjoy H Mart.

Pretzel Babka (Bubby’s Chocolate Flavor) By Yoni’s Pretzel Challah at Cedar Market

646 Cedar Ln, Teaneck, NJ 07666

On Memorial Day I woke up late and was enjoying a leisurely coffee when my husband asked me when we were going to the supermarket to pick up food for the BBQ. It turns out, that because someone in our group has an Android phone, I completely missed the group chat informing me that we were about to host 5 kids and 4 adults in our home for dinner. This probably would have killed the old me, but it turns out that I am a totally different animal now that my enclosure contains some outdoor space and grass! I was instead completely unbothered, even when I learned that all 9 people were Kosher. We simply went to the Kosher supermarket in Teaneck, called Cedar Market, where we picked up a ton of hotdogs and hamburgers. Of course, when I saw there was a PRETZEL babka I had to pick up one out of sheer curiosity. I am sorry to share that this honestly does not taste like pretzels at all to me, just chocolate babka, but it was pretty good. I tried very hard to squint and imagine pretzels, but nope. Perhaps they use pretzel dough? But without the whole boil and bake process it just tastes like regular babka, albeit a very tasty one, dense and chocolate-y.

The Churrasco Experience at Fogo de Chão

1 Garden State Plaza Blvd Unit B2, Paramus, NJ 07652

I’ve never been to Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo de Chão and I’m really glad I didn’t until we moved to New Jersey because it really is a delight, and now I’ll associate it with the mall. It’s a rare place that appeals to both me and my husband equally, him because of the endless roasted cuts of beef, me because all 10 brain cells in my ADHD addled brain were amused at once! There’s cheese bread! Tropical fruits at the salad bar! Delightful fruit juice mocktails! Kiwis scattered everywhere on the buffet table! (Sidenote: Did you know that kiwis are native to CHINA?? Why are they hanging out with dragonfruit and papaya in the tropical fruits aisle?!) It’s like a carnival and a mid-tier family steak house all in one. Definitely take your hungriest friends to make it worth it. My favorites were the lamb chops and pão de queijo.

P.S. In researching all the Fogo de Chão locations it was kind of fun to see how much the price varied. When we went, the full Churrasco was $74 per person, but the most expensive menu I saw was of course in Manhattan, at $80 pp. That dropped all the way down to $65 in Murray, Utah. Perhaps we can use the FdC index to approximate city affordability?

Have a good weekend,

Soph

Tomato focaccia from Cafasso’s Fairway Market

1214 Anderson Ave, Fort Lee, NJ 07024

I was admittedly very very nervous about moving to the suburbs as a former NYC apartment indoor cat, but I shouldn’t have worried so much. Like everyone else who survived the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m no stranger to Animal Crossing. Well, living in the ‘burbs turns out to be exactly like Animal Crossing: You owe a large amount of money to Tom Nook/the bank, and you go around chopping wood, chasing out bees, and bringing small gifts to the neighbors. Oh, also people actually ring your doorbell which I find quaint. Sometimes I space out and they just sound like <Animal Crossing noise> to me as well. I didn’t particularly like playing Animal Crossing because it’s basically just… idk chores and capitalism? But I do really find comfort in the fact that my life is Animal Crossing now because it’s quite familiar. And overall it’s cuter than playing Frogger x Grand Theft Auto in NYC everyday. Speaking of neighbors, our very kind, very Italian American neighbors dropped off what I’ve decided is the peak housewarming gift: A bottle of red, a large hunk of parm, and the best tomato focaccia I’ve ever tried. I sliced it in half and toasted it and made a sandwich with Trader Joe’s vegan kale pesto, smoked turkey, tomato and cucumber and it was the best sandwich I’ve ever made. The focaccia is so fluffy and cloud-like, be sure to toast it for best results!

Cinnamon vanilla style cold brew at Rook

Online order here!

This week the temp hit nearly 90 degrees(!) and I missed being at the Jersey Shore so bad that I shipped a box of Rook Coffee to our new place. Rook Coffee is the coffee of the Jersey Shore and my favorite part is their cold brew, which comes in many limited edition flavors (catnip to my brain). My favorite flavors are their banana toffee style, which I can never seem to nab, and also blueberry pie, two flavors of coffee that only I could love this much. The quintessential summer favorite, though, is cinnamon vanilla, which honestly tastes more cinnamon than vanilla. I like to have it shaken, not stirred, with a lot of ice, a splash of full fat Oatly, and a drizzle of maple syrup. It’s really smooth and easy to drink every morning.

Mint mojito mocha cold brew at home

This is the cold brew I used.

Rook makes a mint mocha flavor, but since it’s a seasonal, limited edition, and I don’t live at the Shore anymore, I had to create my own. I found this absolutely adorable chocolate mint plant at the Stew Leonard’s nursery so of course I had to take it home. (I also picked up a strawberry mint plant. Apparently there is a Willy Wonka mint factory out there!) The OG best mint coffee comes from Philz, of course, but it’s easy to make a simple dupe by adding a nice big sprig of mint (washed, of course) to the bottom of your tumbler, filling it to the top with ice and a drizzle of maple syrup, and shaking the heck out of it until the ice begins to crush and the mint is nice and smattered. Add your cold brew concentrate (or mocha cold brew), shake more, and then top with oat milk.

Mexican mocha style cold brew at Rook

Here she is.

I am no stranger to odd food combinations. After all, I love minty coffee. But this week I learned that apparently I draw the line at SPICY coffee. I don’t mean PSL sort of spice, I mean cayenne. Coffee already makes spicy food worse, and despite having a morning diet that no dietician would approve of (caffeine, sugar, dairy), I really don’t feel like fucking around and adding SPICE to that mix. When I chose the Mexican mocha flavor I thought it meant cinnamon but alas it’s CAYENNE. This is a pass for me, so if you’d like my nearly full bottle, let me know!

Banana bread with walnuts at home

Recipe from Red Wine Dragons

I had exactly two ripe bananas and about 2 cups of flour left in the house, and no milk or substitutes so I Googled until I found a banana bread recipe that uses two bananas and no other liquid ingredients. The result was this recipe, except I substituted chopped walnuts for chocolate chips. I often find that chocolate chips really overwhelm banana bread, but I also like chocolate, so I’m 50-50 on them. Anyway this bread turned out to be a little dry, not moist like its title, but in a pleasant way? Like it’s firm and easy to slice and it actually feels more like a bread for breakfast. I’m beginning to realize I like banana bread that’s more bready than cakey, even if my usual ranking methods favor the latter.

Have a good (rainy, cold) weekend!

Soph

I Love Mom Strawberry Soft Cream Cake from Paris Baguette

A seasonal release.

We grossly, grossly underestimated how long it would take to move into our new house, somehow convinced everything would be done and dusted by 5pm (ha!), when in fact, the movers were still lugging furniture at 1:30AM. That’s how we ended up hosting my parents for Mother’s Day, on approximately 5 hours of sleep and 10,000 cardboard boxes deep. Thankfully, Paris Baguette came to the rescue! Not only do they have my Favorite Cake™️which I request every year for my birthday (Strawberry Cream Cake) they have super adorable cakes for holidays that are both decently priced, and more importantly, can be quickly delivered. Originally I ordered the “Triple Chocolate Strawberry Fraisier,” but they were all out, so I ended up with the “I Love Mom Strawberry Soft Cream Cake,” which is what I secretly wanted all along. How could you say no to a heart-shaped, pale ballerina pink, strawberry-cream covered strawberry cake?! Even my mom loved it, which is really the highest praise (and what mattered the most).

Cookies & Cream Milk from Stew Leonard’s

Full list of locations.

I feel like I am the only person in the history of mankind to ever utter this sentence, but Stew Leonard’s was not(!!) as overstimulating as I hoped it would be?! Maybe it is my raging unmedicated ADHD speaking, but when I dragged my husband to take me on a Tuesday evening it was actually pretty empty, and as someone who literally never looks up I didn’t see the animatronics until he pointed them out. We decided it is best described as “Wegman’s meets IKEA,” aka the food selections seemed Wegman’s-esque (maybe not as nice sushi, though), but the structure is like an IKEA maze. I was SUPER excited to see they had the legendary flavored milks, although apparently not the cookie milk which is a limited edition. I decided on a bottle of Cookies & Cream milk, which I thought would taste like Oreos (™) but actually tasted like a really rich, milk-chocolately chocolate milk.

Hot dogs, hamburgers with grilled onions, and corn at home

Supplies from Stew Leonard’s.

As soon as the weather goes above 65F, I’m all about hamburgers all the time. This meal is best grilled but we didn’t hook up our grill yet, so I made do in the kitchen. For the burgers, I cooked them on an extra hot cast iron pan until browned on both sides. For the onions, I thinly sliced a vidalia onion and added them to the burger juices after they were done. For hot dogs, the air fryer does an amazing job – just cut slits first, then cook at 400F for 5 minutes. Lastly, I simply microwaved corn on the cob for about 8-10mins for 5 ears of corn laid flat on a plate.

Super simple crispy chicken cutlets + cucumber tomato salad + rice at home

Recipe from my mind.

I recently discovered how easy it is to make chicken katsu at home, but since it was moving week, I didn’t have any eggs or flour in the kitchen. Turns out, you really don’t need the fuss of the whole 3 plate dipping process to make amazing, crispy chicken cutlets. All you have to do is make sure your chicken breast is pre sliced (or you can cut a regular chicken breast in half, horizontally), otherwise it won’t cook through evenly, pour panko + season with salt into a baking dish (you don’t need too much— 1 cup will do). Heat a large stainless steel heavy bottom pan on medium flame til water droplets sizzle. Pour in a shallow amount of olive oil, then fry on both sides until browned and dry on paper towels. Squeeze of lemon and it’s perfect- crispy and the perfect summer meal, very Italian countryside. I like to serve with cucumber and tomato salad, plus a side of white rice which cooks in the same time it takes to fry the chicken.

P.S. Leftovers make amazing sandwiches, re-crisped in the air fryer with a slice of tomato, mayo, and greens on ciabatta.

Bahn mi pate at Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich Deli

369 Broome St, New York, NY 10013

Of course, I couldn’t stay out of Chinatown for long— my husband had a doctor’s appointment in the city so I jumped on the opportunity to do some errands downtown. Saigon Vietnamese is an iconic place, and on a sunny spring afternoon it’s really a vibe. There’s a few stools inside, a few stools outside, and the R&B track really hits with the smooth and sweet strong iced coffee. I went for #5, which is the Pate Supreme, as I’m a big cold cuts lover. This is an old school spot that is cash (and now Venmo) only, and the total for an iced coffee and huge sandwich came out to be $16. The bahn in is super hefty, and please be aware that it is CRUNCHY. I made a huge crumbly mess eating it. Otherwise 10/10.

Have a good weekend,

Soph

As a reminder, I am still currently looking for my next job! I am really trying to hold out for something cool, that values my time, compensates fairly, and allows me to dig into one of my interests: Elections research, healthcare in the US, reproductive rights, and science literacy!

Interested in hiring me? You can reply directly to this email.

If you’re not hiring, you can support me by sharing my posts, or telling a friend to subscribe to this newsletter, which is high quality content at free 99 😎 !

Wish me luck on packing and moving!

Meanwhile, I’ll be sitting on a kitchen stool sweating as I wrap 1000 of my tiny trinkets in bubble wrap and crying (ha ha ha).

See ya next time,

Soph

Disclaimer: This Substack, as always, is written with zero editing by either AI or humans. It is not, and will never be, representative of any employer I have ever had.

Matcha iced latte with Sakura cold foam + lavender syrup at Matcha Cafe Maiko

Rockefeller location.

In a previous episode of Five Things I Ate, I swore off Matcha Cafe Maiko because I kept getting soft serve floats and eating it is sort of like a humiliation ritual because it is structurally unsound and drips all over me as I walk through the streets of New York but BABY IM BACK! (How’s that for a sentence that is so structurally unsound that no AI could have written it? And no, please don’t try it.) It really didn’t take much for this breakup to be over, all I had to do was spot an absolutely adorable, SEASONAL Sakura matcha latte on the menu. It comes with a little cherry blossom cup holder band and it’s PINK AND GREEN and tastes like melted cherry ice cream, so yeah, I’m in. To up the ante I asked for lavender syrup and it was 1000/10 on the whimsy. The Rockefeller location is a bit hidden underground so to get there you need to go underground and also navigate past throngs of women in Aritzia carrying tiny dogs but it’s worth it.

No bake guava swirl cheesecake at home

Adapted from this recipe.

The Trader Joe’s guava spread continues to cast its spell on me, so much so that I purchased another two jars this week. Since it pairs so well with cream cheese, I decided to make it into a no-bake cheesecake! I came up with this genius idea at 11pm, so then I was trying to very quietly whip cream by hand in the dark so as to not disturb my husband’s bed time but apparently I was still very noisy. So I guess make this in the light of day? Then you can use a mixer and be as loud as you want! It’s so delicious, I made a small batch by whipping together 4oz cream cheese with 1/4 cup powdered sugar, zest of half a lemon or lime, 1 tbs lime juice and a splash of vanilla. I then beat 1/2 cups heavy cream to soft peaks and folded in the cream cheese mixture. I then lined a small 5x7” Hello Kitty Pyrex dish with Biscoff cookies— 4 fit perfectly. You don’t even need to make a crust, they’ll soften and be perfect! Add cream cheese mix, and swirl in 1/2 cup of guava spread on top and let it set overnight! 10/10

P.S. lol remember when we all made YOGURT AND COOKIES pretending it was cheesecake (I wasn’t super convinced) just make this instead it has the same calories but is better

Lemon poppyseed muffin at Vesuvio Bakery

160 Prince St, New York, NY 10012

It’s been a long time since I tried my luck on the Too Good to Go App, aka the app where you can go around scavenging for discount food at closing time. In theory this should be my favorite thing ever; in practice, I quickly got bored of paying $5.99 for 5 stale rolls. Until this week! I got a stellar haul at Vesuvio Bakery in Soho on a whim and I’m thinking of getting back in the game. For $6.52 I got a whole loaf of sourdough, an olive roll, a COVETED almond croissant, a fat cookie, and a lemon poppyseed muffin. I haven’t had a lemon poppyseed muffin in years. Maybe since childhood? I don’t really know if they’ve fallen out of fashion, but I think they (and not low-rise jeans), should be making a comeback. Lemon and poppyseed is such a great combination. I really don’t know what the poppyseed adds aside from texture and the potential to fail a drug test, but somehow, it adds a lot. Plus lemon is such a great flavor of muffin, it pairs very well with an iced latte or espresso.

Vanilla cold brew with peanut butter cold foam at home

Made this shit up, but it was good!

Peanut butter and coffee is an unlikely amazing match. I mean, I guess if you get down to it, both of them are kind of beans, except one (cacao) is the seed of a fruit pretending to be a bean, and the other is a bean pretending to be a nut. Scammers all around! We’ve finally teetered into cold brew season, so I whipped up a simple peanut butter cold foam by mixing ½ cup of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of Torani vanilla syrup, and about 1 tablespoon of creamy un-natural brand name peanut butter. For the drink itself, I added a pump or two of vanilla syrup into cold brew and shook it with ice, then topped it off with the peanut butter foam.

Papaya from H-Mart

From H-Mart in midtown.

The other day I decided to buy a huge papaya from H-Mart, but I only had a small purse, so I was forced to carry it home like a baby on the subway. Which is one of my most on-brand moves I suppose, you can always catch me going around commuting with some tropical fruit in hand. Thank God I did it though because my intuition was right – this papaya was perfectly ripe! When I cut it open that night I gasped because the color was so orange it was almost red. Of course, it was no Hawaiian papaya (I still dream about those), but rather the more common Mexican kind which is not as fragrant and a little musky, but it still satisfied my cravings for tropical fruit.

Til next time,

Soph

P.S. Does anyone know where I can buy Hawaiian papaya in NYC?

Iced guava matcha latte at home

Famous guava spread from Trader Joe’s.

The other day I totally spaced out on the subway and took the train to my old work place instead of back to my apartment. To compensate for the psychological damages, I picked up two jars of the coveted pink organic guava spread from Trader Joe’s, which I’ve been meaning to try forever. It was 100% worth the hype and I finished an entire jar in one week. I’ve really been enjoying it on top of cream cheese on matzo (I am strange and I enjoy the mild taste for nonreligious reasons) or toast. It was also great in an iced matcha latte. To my surprise, the fruity flavor blended perfectly with the drink and needed no extra sweetener. To make it, I put a heaping tablespoon of the guava spread in the bottom of a glass, and blended it with about an oz of hot water. I filled the cup with ice and added ½ cup of whole milk. For the matcha, I whisked 2 teaspoons of high quality matcha with a splash of hot water, and poured that on top of the drink. I was worried the guava flavor would be too weak but it’s actually amazing! I hope it never discontinues, it’s like sunshine in a jar.

Carrot cake iced latte at home

Carrot cake cream cheese from Trader Joe’s.

While I was at Trader Joe’s, I also nabbed a second viral item, the whipped carrot cake cream cheese. I looove cream cheese. I also LOVE carrot cake. So I thought I would triple love this, but sadly, no. I saw a lot of people on Instagram use it to make a carrot cake cold foam, so I tried it by whipping together 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of whipping cream, along with a pump of vanilla syrup. I poured that over a basic iced latte with two shots of espresso and milk on ice. Now, I know that we’re big fans of Not Too Sweet here, but somehow this is too not too sweet for me. Even with vanilla syrup, I could not get a proper cream cheese frosting taste. Plus the carrot part is a little too authentic and has little bits of carrot strips in it, and I absolutely hate any kind of chunks in my coffee. I would love to make a carrot cake iced latte, but I think it needs a little bit more workshopping and an actual carrot syrup. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Pour over hot coffee with tahini-vanilla softly whipped cream at home

Recipe from my mind.

It is hard out here to be a hot coffee girl in an iced latte world! It seems like 99% of coffee reels I watch and coffee recipes I see are all about iced beverages. I, of course, am a big iced beverage fan (as evidenced above) but nothing ever beats a hot, steamy mug of pour-over filter coffee with freshly ground beans in the morning. For me, the Queen of Coffee is hot, long, and has a good splash of half-and-half. I wish I could make pour-over coffee trendy, but she is more of a classic style kinda girl. The only thing that can make hot coffee better is to top it off with homemade whipped cream instead of creamer. Seriously, it’s the best and coziest beverage ever in the morning. I was making tahini-vanilla whipped cream as a tester for a Passover dessert and it really took things to the next level. I just manually beat together 1 cup of heavy cream, ¼ cup of powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste till soft peaks formed, then whisked in 2 tablespoons of room-temperature runny tahini.

Brazil “Legender” Natural at Amalthea Coffee Roasters

133 E Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450

I loooove a local coffee roaster. There is something about a local coffee shop and roaster that just makes me feel nice and safe because I know there are at least a few people with the same interest as me and a great attention to detail. Part of what is making our move to the suburbs feel a little better is the fact that I found a great local shop in Bergen county at Ridgewood Coffee Company. We are not moving to Ridgewood, which is a real bougie town, but it’s close enough that I could make my bi-weekly beans pilgrimage here. There is a coffee roaster, Amalthea, in the back, with lots of single-origin coffees. This time, I tried out the Brazil one, because I’ll never forget my favorite beans my sister brought me from Brazil on her work trip there. It was a really nice medium roast that went well with milk.

Vietnamese Coffee & Condensed Milk Cronut® at Dominique Ansel Bakery

189 Spring St, New York, NY 10012

For nearly 8 years I worked a block away from Dominique Ansel Bakery, the home of the Original Cronut (®!!!) and during that time I think I had a piece of a cronut maybe once. For many years, the line would wrap around the block with tourists. So I feel like it’s fitting that in my last month as a New Yorker (for now), I walked into the bakery and asked for one cronut, please. The lines have since died down, so even around 4pm, there were cronuts left. Also, the flavor of the month was Vietnamese Coffee & Condensed Milk, the most Soph-coded flavor ever, so how could i resist? When I got home, I carefully unfolded the wings of the yellow cardboard pastry box, made a shot of espresso, and sliced into the cronut. What surprised me, which I faintly recalled from last time, is how dense and hefty Cronuts are – you really feel the sturdiness of the croissant, vs how my favorite yeast donuts (like the ones I still dream about from Donut King in Hawaii!) melt like puffs of clouds. The whole thing is covered in sparkling sanding sugar, so it was perfect to dip into the espresso. The pastry cream was nice and light, with a light coffee flavor, so it was a nice pairing with espresso. I hate to admit it – but in that moment, my grief over everything – leaving the city, my joblessness – all melted a little bit, and became more bearable. And that is what little treats are for.

Til next time,

Soph

Roasted lamb shank bone at home

Lamb from Whole Foods.

Passover is maybe my favorite Jewish holiday, because it involves a lot of family, way too much storytelling, a very late dinner for a holiday geared towards children, multiple glasses of wine and inevitable chaos. This year probably takes the prize when all the toddlers accidentally drank Manischewitz wine instead of grape juice. (Rest assured, no children were harmed, although I can’t say the same for their parents.) I also had no idea that Passover Seder is celebrated two nights in a row, which is how I ended up at the Whole Foods in Tribeca at 4pm on the first night, running around like a headless chicken in search of a lamb’s bone for the ceremonial plate, like I was some kind of medieval errand boy. One thing I do appreciate about Judaism is that it feels very old and allows me to pretend I’m playing a RPG where I have to complete a number of ancient quests. This quest was completed by conversing with the butcher, who saw me wandering stressfully back and forth, and rescued me by giving me a lamb shank bone for free! Apparently Whole Foods (at least in Tribeca) has lamb shank bones for Passover if you just ask, which is neat. When I went home, I roasted the bone at 400F for 40-60 minutes, until it was deeply charred. It actually smelled really good and lowkey I wanted to gnaw on it (the dog agreed) however that is not its intended purpose.

Za’atar roasted rack of lamb at home

Lamb from Whole Foods.

I knew that I would try to gnaw the ceremonial lamb bone, so to protect myself against that I purchased a rack of lamb to make a nice entree for us. One warning is that rack of lamb is apparently very pricey, nearly $30 a pound! That being said, one rack was more than enough for two people, very easy to cook, and a showstopper to boot. This would be a great dish for either Easter or Passover. To make it, I simply rubbed the rack of lamb all over with salt and pepper, and set it aside for 30 minutes while I made rice and side dishes, and preheated the oven to 400F (this oven is old and takes a long time). When ready to cook, rub rack of lamb with olive oil, then generously dust all over with za’atar. Bake approx 20 minutes for medium rare (15 min for medium rare). Test for doneness. Let sit for 10 minutes before carving. Delicious!

Fennel & radicchio with lemon salad at home

No recipe needed.

As a huge bitter herb lover who rarely eats bread, this holiday is my jam. Passover is just an excuse for me to buy radicchio and fennel, two of my favorite greens. No recipe needed. Just slice one bulb fennel fronds and all thinly as possible. Mandolin would help. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Zest half a lemon and squeeze juice into fennel. Toss. Add one ripped head of radicchio. Perfect with lamb to cut the bitterness. I find it delightfully addictive. It probably would make a good Italian food side dish, too. The leftover salad was great for lunch the next day, topped with egg salad on matzah.

Assorted mezze at Kings Highway Glatt Meat

Two locations, including the OG on 497 Kings Hwy, and the NJ location at 250 Norwood Ave, Oakhurst, NJ 07755

Kings Highway Glatt Meat really deserves its own newsletter edition, but for now, I’ll sneak in a little intro. It’s one of my favorite grocery stores (up there with Tashkent and Zabar’s) and really a delightfully old school New York/New Jersey place to visit, regardless of whether you keep Kosher or not. KH Glatt even has its own New York Times article about it from 2014, which I can only read half of before I’m paywalled, so I hope the ending is good. The reason (aside from the thick Brooklyn accent that everyone who works there has) I enjoy this Kosher butcher so much is that it’s packed with a ton of Sephardic Jewish precooked and frozen foods. If you’re only used to Ashkenazi Jewish food (bagel, lox, knishes), you’re in for a treat. You’ll find every type of mezze and ma’ashi (vegetables stuffed with ground meat and rice) along with tamarind paste, tahini, and fresh challah. And, of course, they have a whole selection of K for P products, my favorite being the kibbeh which I find even more fluffy and tasty than the regular kind. (While you’re there, throw in some lahmabagin, tahini sauce, and frozen stuffed onions – that’s for another newsletter.)

Smitten Kitchen’s chocolate-covered almond horns at home

Recipe here.

This is my absolute favorite Passover dessert recipe. I also made them last year for friends and family Seder and they were a big hit. They remind me of bakery cookies, and it’s fun to make them at home. They’re K for P and gluten-free, but definitely not nut-free, so you have to be an almond and almond paste lover. The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, and be warned the dough is super sticky so it can be a little finicky to shape. I just put on disposable gloves and wet my hands. They always turn out super pretty no matter what once you dip them in chocolate and cover the ends in fun sprinkles, like I did. A huge hit with kids!

Til next time,

Soph

Mixed meat banh mi (Bánh Mì Thịt Nguội) at Pho Today

75 NJ-17, East Rutherford, NJ 07073

It has come to my attention that some of you are out here hating on New Jersey. I won’t stand that kind of slander. I just went to a strip mall 10 minutes away from the original Bada Bing with a Panera Bread, a pho shop where a bunch of asian uncles and one black dude were eating lunch, and a K Beauty outlet with 50 types of Korean sunscreen and two teenage girls running the shop. The pho shop only had 4 stars on Google Maps but in my heart it deserves five stars, because I really enjoyed the bánh mì and can’t stop thinking about the iced rocket fuel. My favorite kind of bánh mì is the traditional/mixed meat Bánh Mì Thịt Nguội. This one was really solid on several axes. Most importantly to me, the meat/baguette/pate/veg ratio was really good. The bane of my bánh mì existence is thick dry crusty-ass baguette and this was nice and thin and airy with a delicate crust and good chewy. There was a noticeable schmear of pate, and lots of cilantro, pickled daikon and carrot, and a few mild and juicy jalapeños. It was also a pretty good portion size, for $10.99 you got a cartoonishly long sandwich. I didn’t eat breakfast and was very hungry and polished about 2/3 the sandwich, but you could easily save half for later.

Cà phê sữa đá (Vietnamese iced coffee) at Pho Today

75 NJ-17, East Rutherford, NJ 07073

I swear that cà phê sữa đá, or the classic Vietnamese iced coffee, is the most powerful beverage known to man. I mean, I don’t even think that statement is in contention. Since it classically uses robusta beans, which have nearly twice the caffeine of arabica, which is mostly what we drink in the states, a sip of this coffee feels like an electric jolt, both in terms of caffeine and flavor. To balance that boldness out, there’s tons of sweetened condensed milk, Asia’s favorite canned good. I have no idea how Vietnamese restaurants make their iced coffee – they surely can’t be using a phin drip filter, which takes up to 10 minutes, for every order, but for some reason I can never ever recreate that perfect charcoaly-sweetness at home. I tried using Nguyen Coffee Supply’s Hanoi beans but it tasted slightly too fancy and gave me heart palpitations. If anyone has worked at a Vietnamese restaurant before, could you please let me know??

Dunkin’ banana cream cold brew at various Dunkin’ donuts

I had this drink like 3 times at 3 different Dunkins. Here is her official press release.

This beverage is either an absolute abomination to coffee OR the best thing ever. Personally I am just an absolute sucker for artificial banana flavor combined with coffee, and if you aren’t on the same page about that this drink is not for you. In my eyes, though, She is Perfect. While I am more of a Starbucks girlie overall, I did serve a penance being depressed and going to grad school in Boston which means that Dunkin’ has earned its respect in my eyes. In my opinion, Dunkin’ has superior cold brew AND superior cold foam, also superior plain hot coffee. I wish I could buy a huge jug of their cold brew. Everything else, like all the espresso-based latte drinks, are a hard pass to me. My order is 1 small cold brew + 1 banana flavor swirl + 1 banana cream cold foam. I would love to replicate this at home but so far I’ve not been able to come up with an adequate substitute and I fear the answer is 100 grams of sugar.

Reese’s Baking Cups & Peanut Butter Pieces Candy at the local bodega

Photo reference.

Did you know they make bags of Reese’s pieces mixed with MINI Reese’s cups??? It is found ONLY in the baking aisle which to me feels like just such a huge loss of opportunity. Reese’s pieces are the absolute best and the only way the original peanut butter cups can be made better is by being made smaller and cuter! As we all know there already exists, famously, mini peanut butter cups wrapped in foil but these are even SMALLER (maybe nano cups?) thus even CUTER and have the perfect chocolate - pb ratio. This bag is labeled a baking mix, but it should really be sold at movie theaters and gas stations everywhere. I bought one for baking (see next entry) and another just for snacking. If this was nutritionally complete it would be the perfect human kibble for me.

Reese’s pieces peanut butter cookies at home

Original recipe from Hershey.

Of course, I had to use one bag of the reese’s pieces and cups mix for its intended purpose, baking. For quite some time I have been dreaming of the perfect peanut butter cookie, which for me means a chewy, sugar-cookie style dough. After reading all of the entries on the Pancake Princess’s very meticulous bake-off, I decided to ignore all the results and go with a wild card, a recipe from the Hershey website itself. I feel like the Pancake Princess is who I aspire to be, and who my resume says I should behave like but in reality I am the person who chooses the Hershey’s recipe on a midnight whim, and guess what motherfuckers that recipe was perfect. I used a small/tbs ice cream scoop to form the cookies and slammed the tray once out of the oven so they’re flat and chewy like sugar cookies. They remind me of store bought grocery store cookies in a good way, 10/10 perfect smallish cookies size. And of course you must use UNNATURAL peanut butter, don’t even get me started on that.

Til next time,

Soph

Svalia Cheese Bar, Strawberry at Tashkent Supermarket

378 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011

I really, really wasn’t going to write the newsletter this week – I have way too much going on – but then I stepped foot in Tashkent supermarket, the glorious Uzbek grocery store that conveniently opened a location near Washington Square last year. From the very first step, I was sold: Stars glittered in my eyes as I swept a glance of the mountains of fresh fruit (all at a reasonable price), hot food bar filled with mountains of freshly baked samsa and warm manti, oh, and did I mention there was a whole syrniki station by the windows?? I was super tempted by the ice cream bar freezer, as well, which was stocked with the notorious CCCP ice cream bar. I’ll have to give the Soviet ice cream a try another day (it’s apparently very good), because I was really trying to limit the haul, but I couldn’t help but pick up two flavors of “svalia cheese bar” from the syrók section near the dairy. For those who are unfamiliar, syrók looks sort of like a mini ice cream bar, but it’s actually a chocolate-covered curd cheese sweet. That sounds kind of gross, so perhaps it’s better to simply describe it as a mini cheese cake, which is exactly what the strawberry one tastes like: A mini chocolate covered strawberry cheesecake.

Напиток безалкогольный Черноголовка Дюшес or as Google translate says, “Duchess Drink with Pear Flavor and Artesian Water of Chernogolovka” at Tashkent Supermarket

378 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011

The last time I ate in Brighton Beach was nearly seven years ago, and my favorite Uzbek restaurant, the iconic Cafe at Your Mother-in-Law, has sadly closed since then. But I’ve never forgotten the taste of that pear soda, drank while sitting on plastic-y chairs while older men sipped small pours of vodka they’d brought to the restaurant themselves in plastic bottles. So when I saw a bottle with a picture of a pear on it at Tashkent, I grabbed it right away. When I got home, I tried to translate the label, and the best I got was “Duchess Drink with Pear Flavor and Artesian Water of Chernogolovka.” I would best describe this as a sweet, vanilla-y pear-flavored soda drink. On further Googling, it appears the “duchess” part refers to a variety of aromatic pears, which gives this drink its iconic flavor.

Beef pelmeni at Tashkent Supermarket

378 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011

I mistakenly called these vareniki (bigger, Ukrainian dumplings) but they are in fact pelmeni, aka Siberian dumplings. Either way, they are extremely delicious. I absolutely love that Tashkent has a whole section of the hot bar dedicated to dumplings; there’s huge lamb manti and beef manti which you can buy for $3.99 each but I enjoy these small ones. They were $10.99/lb and I ended up getting about half a pound which was perfect for dinner, since these are nothing like Chinese dumplings and are very rich, with a filling that’s purely meat. The wrappers were silky-thin with flavorful juicy beef inside, covered with slivers of fried onion. The only mistake I made was not picking up a tub of labneh or sour cream; an absolute essential for any Slavic Girl Dinner, so make sure to pick some up yourself otherwise it’s a bit dry.

Beet and onion salad at Tashkent Supermarket

378 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011

I feel like the SALAD AISLE at Tashkent is like the real true test of character. Personally I have a high tolerance for Central Asian salads, but when it gets a little too Slavic I draw the line, like when we get to Herring under a Fur Coat, or anytime it’s like mysteriously pink mayonnaise. I love everything up to that though, like this beet and onion and walnut salad really drew my eye. Something that’s fun about the Central Asian beet salads is that they really season them well. This had garlic, cumin, and parsley along with the beets, sliced white onions, and walnuts. It’s not for the faint of the heart but it really cuts the richness of the pelmeni well.

Fresh Jumbo Dates at Tashkent Supermarket

378 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011

There was a shelf of dates on sale for Ramadam, so of course I had to pick up a pack. If you’ve never had really good, soft fresh dates, you are really missing out on one of the world’s oldest delicacies. (The name “fresh” has always confused me, though, because “fresh” dates are technically semi-dried.) You can tell that they will be delicious by the size and softness – these plastic-wrapped styrofoam looked super promising, and were only $7.49 a pound, a great price. Good dates are so sweet and rich I honestly could just eat them as-is for dessert, but because I was on a chocolate-dipping kick, I stuffed them with an almond and then coated them in white and dark chocolate, which was a beautiful, easy candy for my chocolate craving. The dates are almost too sweet for me to eat by themselves, so the dark chocolate and nuts were a good balance.

Til next time,

Soph

Iced lavender cream matcha at Starbucks in EWR

I think this sells out at most Starbucks so check to see if it’s in stock on the app first.

I took 2 forms of public transit to get to the airport so as a reward, I treated myself to a Silly Little Drink. This iced lavender cream matcha was a 1000/10. Truly a perfect drink. This drink was made for The Girls, and the girl in front of me got the exact same thing, but jumbo, and handed me my small one. I made a few mods which I feel like made it even better: I got a tall, with just 1 pump syrup and coconut milk since I am lactose intolerant. That way the matcha part isn’t too sweet. The coconut milk is also a nice flavor IMO a better match than oat milk. The lavender cream top was heavenly and I’m definitely going to try to recreate it at home.

Emotional support cinnamon roll from Kroger

227 W Michigan St, Indianapolis, IN 46204

On the first day of my work trip I accidentally woke up at 5:30AM due to stress and I saw that the hotel mini fridge had mysteriously leaked a giant pool of water, yellowing on the edges, onto the floor, which I stepped in with my limited supply of fresh socks. This cinnamon roll from the bakery section at Kroger did exactly what I needed it to do, which is provide a boost of sweetness, perfect with a cup of coffee, to keep going in my day. I hate it when cinnamon rolls look better than they taste but this was great, not dry at all, the right salty to sweet ratio and a hefty size.

Grande cold brew with banana cold foam at Starbucks

Not on the Starbucks menu, I just asked for it.

This one was not as much of a banger as the iced lavender cream matcha, but probably because it wasn’t a set menu item, just something I wanted to try personally. I’ve really been obsessed with the idea of banana + coffee since I made this banana bread syrup way back when. (That syrup is really good, by the way, and I might make another batch when I get home). The banana cream cold foam is pretty surprisingly nice and banana-y, apparently they use banana powder and it even had a banana texture, like a banana was blended in it, which I don’t think it was. I liked that it didn’t taste like artificial banana. But, unfortunately it just kinda sat on top of the cold brew, and I sort of wish I put some syrup or creamer in the cold brew itself. To make it more banana-y, I ate a banana alongside it, but it’s probably better on top of a creamy iced latte.

Fish and Chips with diet Dr Pepper in my hotel room (from High Velocity sports bar)

10 S West St, Indianapolis, IN 46204

I was going to make a cute food guide for my work trip to Indianapolis but I ended up feeling so wiped and overwhelmed I rewarded myself by getting fish and chips from the hotel lobby restaurant three nights in a row. So sorry this is not a very interesting newsletter, I did have a great adventure of going to the Uzbek supermarket Tashkent earlier which I need to write about, but this is all I can give you this week. The first night I got in late and the fish and chips were excellent, big portion and crispy. The second day I got takeout during peak dinner hour and the fish was slightly soggy. I also got sweet potato fries instead of regular fries and the portion was smaller.

Coffee of the week: My pourover travel kit !

Something I am actually proud of.

And… absolutely no one asked but here is my travel coffee setup. If you are also crazy, or maybe a mathematician or some other type of coffee nerd or on the spectrum you know the struggle of having good quality standardized coffee while traveling, especially these days when most hotel chains no longer have even shitty Keurig machines or real fridges. After trying many things, my perfect travel kit is the simplest one: A classic $12 Hario v60 plastic dripper, a baggie of 002 filter papers, a freezer baggie of freshly ground medium roast (I brought Counter Culture Hologram but just between you and I in a pinch pre-ground Starbucks will do and can be found at any grocery store), and this awesome small metal travel kettle that is the size of a thermos. This will all run you about $50, but I consider the kettle an essential item; like my ancestors before me, I refuse to go anywhere without my own electric kettle.

Back to interesting NYC food posting next week, I promise!

XOXO,

Soph