Alton Brown, my favorite nerd and Food Network star was a guest Jimmy Fallon’s show this week! He shows us how he makes smoothies, and how big a spaz he really is.

Santouka Ramen does not want to be found. It’s buried inside the food court in the back of Mitsuwa market. Mitsuwa itself is hidden just off Bristol, but hidden behind a 7-Eleven and the plaza with Angotei (which I still need to try!). Neighboring plazas and buildings look pretty dated and are currently getting new pavement poured.

Santouka doesn’t have English signage either, you kind of just have to smell your way (or use the photo provided (: ).

People are constantly walking by, checking out dining options, while order numbers are being called out for all the restaurants over the intercom. Dining in a food court makes me feel more relaxed. It’s a lot more casual. You can be loud and obnoxious, run some laps, and take as many pictures as you like (:.

I’ve had the miso flavor once because they were out of the Shio (salt) ramen, but it was much too salty for my taste. I visit regularly now and Shio remains my favorite!

So here’s the regular sized Shio, topped with slices of tender, fatty pork, a slice of naruto fish cake, bamboo, mushrooms, with chopped green onion in the center. A boiled egg is $0.99 extra. The egg looks similar to the one from my Vietnamese Braised Pork w/egg recipe, but this one’s a bit harder and rubbery. Strange, but good.

(Trust me, there’s ramen under there.)

This soup is served nice and HOT. The noodles have a nice bite to them, and are accompanied by a rich and salty broth sure to leave you dehydrated.

Santouka’s Shio ramen would be fine if it came with just ramen and broth, but all the tasty toppings add unique flavor and texture to each bite. I love the crunch of the bamboo and mushrooms. And the pork is tender, fatty, delivering more of that broth flavor.

It’s important to note that this place does not accept credit cards. I hate carrying cash, but I’ll make that sacrifice for Santouka. Bowls range from about $6-9, and combos are a bit more. Mitsuwa has a BofA ATM at the front now too.

I’m coming to realize I’m eating more and more pork belly, and doing less and less cardio exercises. Stay tuned for a fried pork belly post.

Santouka Ramen
665 Paularino Ave
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 434-1101

Specialty’s Cafe and Bakery is on the 1st floor of an office building located in a business park–clearly meant for the surrounding business towers. They even have little Point of Sales screens inside where you can punch in your massive order for takeout. These guys seem to be big on catering.

This place is ridiculously Irvine-clean, and full of business people on their lunch. If you want to come to a place that makes you feel underdressed look no further.

Make sure you park on the side lot and not directly in front of the store (I found out the hard way–that’s emergency parking only=O ). They’ll validate your parking for about an hour.

I have tried and loved the Chairman, Hot Italian and the BLT sandwiches. Fresh bread baked on-site makes ALL the difference. Specialty’s Cafe and Bakery understands that quality sandwich ingredients is just as important as the bread.

I’ve had one off-day at this place (the bread wasn’t toasted right, or was slightly old), but otherwise it has been excellent. These sandwiches are sometimes dripping with water. I’m not sure if it’s from washed lettuce, the pickle or what, but I could see this buggin some folks. Also, the mustard can be a bit strong, or heavily slathered. Just ask for it on the side if you are timid.

Despite my nitpicking I can’t think of a place that combats the quality here on these types of sandwiches. If you know of some, let me know.

The Chairman:
Sprouts, Herb, Mayonnaise, Stone Ground Mustard, Roasted Turkey Breast, Swiss, Green Leaf Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Cucumber, Dill Pickle, Avocado, Italian Vinaigrette, Ranch Dressing, Black Pepper.

Hot Italian:
Toasted Thyme Focaccia, Mayonnaise, Stone Ground Mustard, Salami, Bologna, Mortadella, Swiss, Provolone, Green Leaf Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Dill Pickle, Mixed Bell Peppers, Pepperoncini, Italian Vinaigrette, Black Pepper.

Hoooly smokes. The Hot Italian hit the spot! It had a tad too much salt on top of the bread, so I just scraped it off. Still, the bread remains incredible. Pairing with quality ingredients sets this one off.

This puts my bread baking to shame. To the kitchen!

Specialty’s Cafe and Bakery
20 Pacifica
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 453-0137

Knowlwood, now 5 restaurants strong, is scattered throughout Orange County. About fifty years ago, husband and wife Roy and Fay Knowlton, with Gene Wood started Knowlwood. The original Knowlwood, and the first one I visited, resides in Anaheim Hills.

My most recent visit was the Fullerton location with David Ronquillo and John Wu. It was of biblical proportions. The Knowlwood menu is has many variations of the hamburger. You get a choice of either 1/3 and even a 1/2lb. burger since some of us can’t seem to get enough beef in our blood (e.g. David). And if you’re wussing out for the day, you can get a Baby Hamburger too.

I was surprised to find fish sandwiches here too. They have fried fish, grilled mahi mahi and salmon. Isn’t it great when they just sell fried “fish”? Imagine ordering “fish” sashimi, steamed “fish”, or if your bagel came with smoked “fish”. However, this is America, where we are used to ingesting loads of dodgy foodstuffs without question anyway.

Knowlwood’s trademark is “Home of the World’s Best Hamburger”. Not limited to food, Americans will compete with their neighbor, cross county, or nationally then claim for themselves a world title. Classy. Knowlwood’s burgers are good, but far from world’s best. Luckily they let you add bacon.

I ordered a Pastrami Reuben sandwich. This one packed a punch–it’s a hand-held heart-attack of pastrami, thousand island dressing, sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese, squeezed between perfectly buttered and grilled rye. Get ready to get your hands dirty. It was delightfully gooey down to the last bite.

It’s a shame when fries pretty much come with everything and it isn’t done right. Maybe I had old fries or something, but that’s no excuse.

I’ll be back for the Reuben.

Knowlwood
150 S Harbor Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92832
(714) 879-7552

Here’s a dish I enjoyed a lot growing up at home. Back in the day, food was pretty mysterious to me.

My parents or grandma would just throw some knives and knock some pans around and like magicians, they made delicious food appear.

Everyone in the family was lucky to have good food all the time.

A few years after my uncle moved out he visited asking my grandma and asked for this recipe he missed. Even incredibly simple dishes such as Dau Sot Ca remains out of reach until you can find one of those kitchen magicians for tips.

What you need:
-1lb. (0.45kg) firm tofu (okay, you can buy pre-fried tofu, but unless you live near a market or factory that pumps those things out daily, I would avoid pre-packaged fried tofu)
-5 medium, ripe, Roma tomatoes

-1 tablespoon tomato paste
-1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (optional, but you SHOULD!)
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 teaspoons sugar
-1/2 cup water
-oil for deep frying

Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Cut the tofu into smaller pieces and dry on paper towels or in a basket over the sink for 20-30 minutes. We want to remove the excess moisture to avoid oil splatter during frying.

I fried these in vegetable oil, keeping the temperature at 300F (148C) using my Polder Thermometer. Let the temperature hit 300F before adding. It should take 2-4 minutes until they brown. Like anyone else in a hot tub, these guys like to bunch together and stick, so move them around a little after adding to the pot.

Cut each tomato into 4 or 8 even pieces each. I’d cut them all into 4ths next time.

Add everything into the pot: tofu, tomatoes, salt, sugar, tomato paste, water, and fish sauce (optional).

Cover with a lid, bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to 30% heat until the tomatoes are cooked. About 10 minutes total.

For this Dau Sot Ca Chua recipe, you can add a little more tomato paste for more color, or more water if you like it a bit more… saucy. As always, add extra salt or fish sauce to fit your taste. You can also stuff the tofu with meat before adding to the pot. That can wait for a future post.

Top with red chili flakes or freshly ground pepper. Serve with rice.