Ever crave liquid pork?

 
Here's a sneak peek at what's coming in this week's Food section: Our Find of the Week is Ramen Yamadaya in Torrance:

Tonkotsu is the heart of the matter at Ramen Yamadaya, an unassuming little ramen shop in Torrance squeezed between a skate shop and the 405 Freeway. Proper tonkotsu broth is made by simmering pork bones for the better part of the day, and the result is a lush, intensified, liquefied pork. A good tonkotsu broth feels like a crushed velvet smoothie.

Yamadaya's tonkotsu broth looks promising: cloudy, dense with porky particulate. A first sip doesn't disappoint, revealing a sensuous version of tonkotsu broth -- almost fuzzy, like drinking a pork Snuggie.

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-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times.

Video: 'Welcome to the SGV'

Stop what you are doing and watch this clever video from Andrew Fung and his brother, David, as they  pay homage to San Gabriel Valley eats and Jay-Z.

The pair, from Seattle, found themselves in "the SGV" for six weeks this summer and were blown away by the Asian food options. "If you grew up in the SGV, you might take it for granted..."

The only choice was to memorialize it in song and video.

Among the rap lyrics: "I've been a fan of this place since I got here / You ain't eating good Chinese if you're not here" and the refrain, "Only thing on my mind is where we eat tonight."

Andrew explained more in this e-mail: "Seattle is a nice place, but its variety of Asian food is extremely limited to teriyaki shops, a few sushi places and an aging Chinatown. When we stayed with our cousin in Monterey Park we would be in awe of the great food that Garvey Avenue offered. Then we started hitting places in Alhambra, then Arcadia and soon we had eaten at many highly rated (thanks, Yelp) restaurants in the immediate area. The song doesn't do the SGV complete justice because there are tons of places missing, but it's safe to say I will be coming back very very soon."

You can follow the brothers on Twitter @andrewjfung and @davidbfung, and keep up with their amusing (and often food-filled antics) at their YouTube pages, here's Andrew's, and here's David's and blog, Making it in the Motherland.

 -- Rene Lynch
Twitter.com / renelynch

The Find: Green Zone

It's not easy being green in the frenetic, food-obsessed San Gabriel neighborhood where Green Zone put down roots almost four years ago. At first, the modest restaurant's organic offerings generated little enthusiasm from those who preferred to prowl the area's malls and boulevards lusting after obscure regional Chinese dumpling varieties or caustically spiced Hunan stir-fries. "People would stand outside and argue about whether to come in and try us," remembers co-owner and Green Zone creator Jilian Cam.
Today, things are very different for the restaurant. You're lucky if you can snag a seat without a lengthy wait at peak mealtime hours. Read on about Green Zone, which is our Find of the week.

Photo: Katie Mac and her son Kyle Fung, 21-months-old, have lunch at Green Zone, which specializes in fine organic cuisine. Credit: Christina House / For The Times

 

[Updated] There's just no stopping the Nom Nom

Is this a record for a reality TV show?

The L.A.-based Nom Nom Truck has rolled to an unbelievable five straight victories on "The Great Food Truck Race." Even more amazing -- they've done it without winning a single "truck stop" challenge, which gives the underdogs a shot at toppling the front-runners.

This week's challenge underscored the power of the banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches that are sold by the Nom Nom truck:

The three remaining food trucks pulled into Jonesborough, Tenn. To date, the trucks have been selling their wares in cities that are pretty hip to the whole food truck thing, like L.A. and Fort Worth, Texas. But Jonesborough, a quaint little town of 5,000, had never seen a food truck. Would the townspeople even care? Would they go for the tried-and-true burgers sold by the L.A.-based Grill 'Em All Truck or experiment with the French flair of the cuisine sold by the San Francisco-based Spencer on the Go Truck? Well, it looked like all 5,000 townspeople showed up to find out what this food truck fuss was all about -- and it seemed like nearly all of them got in line for Nom Nom, even though some had no idea what a Vietnamese sandwich was, and couldn't even pronounce banh mi with some gentle coaching.

Then came this week's "Truck Stop" challenge, the best one yet. Host Tyler Florence brought the remaining contestants to, believe it or not, Old Man Johnson's Farm, down by the river. There, he told the contestants that food trucks are nothing new, they just used to be called chuck wagons. And this week's challenge put the contestants' cooking skills to test in a game that so far has been dominated by Nom Nom's brilliant marketing skills: They had to make a five-course meal over an open fire, just like in the old days. Well, the twist "worked." Nom Nom crashed and burned, and Grill Em All ended on top. The prize was a stunner: The opportunity to park the truck at a local auto show, where they were guaranteed to do  a solid night's business, while Nom Nom and Spencer had to look for customers in Jonesborough, which basically shuts down each night by dusk.

Given this turn of events, it looked like Grill 'Em All had this week won. But then came the shocking totals:

The Find: Western Soondae and Moobongri Soondae

No matter what you order at Western Soondae and Moobongri Soondae restaurants in Koreatown, whether it's the ice-cold spicy noodles or the luscious raw oysters drizzled with tart chile-infused sauce and wrapped in soft cabbage leaves, you'll be getting a generous side of soondae, the juicy, snappy-skinned blood sausage that's one of Korea's culinary obsessions. The two restaurants are Koreatown's newest shrines to soondae. At both places, the moist links are worked into stews, soups, appetizer platters — all designed to quell a nostalgia for the street-side hole-in-the-walls and tiny market stalls in Korea that craft the specialty. Read on:

Moobongri Soondae's soondaekook soup is seasoned to taste at the table with ingredients such as spring onions, mustard seed and chile paste. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

 

Chi Dynasty to open a second location in Studio City next week

Chi Dynasty, the 27-year-old Chinese restaurant that helped give rise to the hopping restaurant row on Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz, is heading to the Valley. Owner Jonathan Chi has teamed up with restaurant and nightlife mogul Mike Israyelyan of Muse Lifestyle Group to open a second location in Studio City next week.

Israyelyan, a long-time Chi Dynasty customer, is also behind the decadent nightclub Playhouse Hollywood, as well as a number of slick and fashionable restaurants including Ninethirty and the Backyard. The new Chi Dynasty will be marked by a Muse-style hipness while retaining the same demure, upscale sensibility as the original (lots of rich reds, midnight blacks and gold detailing).

The menu will be much the same as in Los Feliz and includes the restaurant's signature Chinese chicken salad (tossed with ginger, scallions and ground peanuts in a special vinaigrette); Dynasty chicken in ginger-curry sauce; Hunan lamb sauteed with leeks in garlic sauce; kung pao tofu; and walnut shrimp in a rich white sauce.

A friends-and-family party is planned for the weekend, but the general public can get their mu shu on midweek.

Chi Dynasty, 12229 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. (818) 753-5300; www.chidynasty.com.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Chi Dynasty, Studio City. Credit: Paul Dunker.

Xoia Vietnamese Eats to open Friday

It's official, Xoia, the new Vietnamese restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park, next door to El Prado and across the street from Masa, passed its final inspections last week and will officially open for business on Friday. (Can I say it's ready for its pho-sup?)

With the addition of Xoia and Mooi, Echo Park is beginning to look like more than just a place to get your drink on. Beginning at Alvarado and ending at Douglas, the neighborhood (along Sunset) now has Elf, City Sip, Pizza Buona, Burrito King, the Brite Spot, Taix, Costa Alegre, Two Boots, Rodeo Grill, Happy Tom's, Masa, Barragan's, Allston Yacht Club, Tacos Ariza, El Compadre, Lot 1 (not for dinner, but sometimes for brunch) and the Park. Surely I'm missing something, so feel free to add omissions in the comments section.

And although it's not on Sunset, I feel compelled to mention the oft-overlooked but truly tasty little restaurant called It's Thai Hometaurant, which is located in a strip mall next to a Burger King, just below Sunset Boulevard on Glendale.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Slow-roasted pork belly banh mi. Credit: Xoia

Xoia Vietnamese Eats to open this month in Echo Park

Reports have been trickling in from interested corners of the Internet (thank you, the Eastsider) that a new Vietnamese restaurant called Xoia Vietnamese Eats is opening on Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park, next door to El Prado in the old Par Paint space. And now I've received official word from the folks behind Xoia (say "soy-yah") that the Internet was right.

Chef and owner Jose Sarinana (who grew up in the neighborhood) plans to open the restaurant, which features a covered outdoor patio, later this month. Sarinana credits his inspiration for Xoia to the "rustic" cooking of Hoi An, a historic harbor town in central Vietnam.

The menu will include traditional offerings such as pho, banh xeo (crepes) and banh mi sandwiches, as well as regional dishes including my quang (yellow noodles with shrimp, pork and fresh mint), chicken curry noodle soup, bun thit nuong (noodle salad) and pork belly lettuce wraps.

House specialties include a pork noodle dish called cao lau, which is made from al dente short noodles that can only be found in the town of Hoi An. There is also a pho beef taco and abirria noodle soup that showcase Sarinana's Mexican roots.

On a strictly practical side note, I can't believe someone hasn't opened up a restaurant like this in Echo Park before. Judging by the pathological popularity of Pho Cafe in Silver Lake, hipsters are hungry for Vietnamese eats.

This is food that caters to vegans, vegetarians and hardened carnivores; it's next door to a popular bar; and it highlights the mixed ethnic/Latino identity that is an important aspect of this changing neighborhood.

For now Sarinana plans to open Tuesdays to Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. But I have a hunch that if he stayed open until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights he'd have a blockbuster of a restaurant on his hands.

Xoia Vietnamese Eats, 1801 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photos: Top, the pho tacos; bottom, the covered patio seating. Credit: Xoia Vietnamese Eats

The joy of porridge

"Congee is basically rice boiled with water until it has a porridge-like consistency. I know, it sounds pretty boring. But don't stop reading yet...."

Give Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila the chance to explain that the "genius is in the garnishes — which can be seafood, sausage, pork, duck, thousand-year-old egg and a kazillion other tidbits." Read more here, recipes included: 

Photo: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

 

 

A Mexican food quiz, meatless Mondays, Happy Meal hoopla and more

--Even Mario is doing it. Going meatless on Mondays. He'll offer vegetarian friendly items on all his menus. [Huffington Post] 

--Blogspotting: The quarter-pound double chocolate cookies at Dawn Finicane's blog, Vanilla Sugar. Your Twip of the day: Follow Dawn @vanillakitchen

--Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a margarita and a ... Mexican food quiz. Do you know your pico de gallo from your pozole? [Houston Chronicle]

--As the debate continues to rage over Happy Meals, a new dad pleads for a level playing field: "Given that obesity is leading to insanely skyrocketing healthcare costs which are draining our economy ... it seems we should examine why children need to be bribed with toys to eat food which causes diseases." [Wall Street Cheat Sheet] 

--Sushi at home is simple. Just skip the fish. [New York Times]

--Horticulture professor Jay Scott thinks he's created a variety of tomato that will taste just like a tomato any day of the year. [Washington Post]

--Rene Lynch
On Twitter @renelynch

Photo: The quarter-pound double chocolate cookies. Credit: Used by permission of Dawn Finicane