Fu Lin: A Great Deal in an Obscure Corner

As part of an Chinese family, I am always kept aware of any Chinese restaurants wherever I am.  Some are very obvious to find, especially in southern Montgomery County.  But in the upper part of the county, they are usually concentrated around the downtown areas of Wheaton and Silver Spring.  Outside of this part, you would be hard pressed to find any restaurants that serve authentic cuisine.  But there is one hidden place located in a strip mall surrounded by residential homes: Fu Lin. 

When I walk in, the place was kind of empty.  I wondered 'How could such a place stay in business like this?' But with every ring of the phone on the counter, I quickly realize that this place is primarily a take-out joint.  So yes, they do have that Americanized stuff that we have all know.  But knowing what authentic Chinese food is, it's a Pavlovian response for me to try avoiding that stuff.

One thing that most people do not understand about Chinese cuisine is that dishes are meant to be shared, banquet style.  This is shown in the preset menus that Fu Lin offers.  Each set varies depending on the size of the party (there are 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 people) and are reasonable in prices.  My parents and I selected the one for 4 people ($39.99).  

We start with what they call West Lake Beef Soup.  It is like an egg drop soup with ground beef.  

The second course is tilapia stir fried with vegetables in black bean sauce.  There is a decent variety of vegetables in this dish, including chives, lotus root, carrots, and onions.

The third course is Peking Pork Chops.  It's pork chops cooked in a thick red sauce.  I believe they use pieces of shoulder rather than the loin, so the meat is tougher but much tastier.

The fourth course is a dish of boiled vegetables, in this case bok choy.  It is sauteed with garlic.  Very simple and refreshing.

The final course is a whole chicken served in 3 ways: salt fried, garlic fried, or steamed and served with soy sauce (Hakka style).  We chose the garlic fried version.  The chicken is topped with crushed garlic and sliced chiles.

There is a dessert served with every menu.  But since it is orange slices, I wouldn't count as a course since it's insignificant compared with the rest of the dinner.  I was hoping to get a hot tapioca soup, which is a traditional way to end a Chinese meal.  So I guess you can it was a slightly disappointing end but hey, fruit is good for you.

The next time I come back here, I hope to bring along more people as Fu Lin's dinners for 6, 8, and 10 people include lobster and whole fish, which they store in tanks in the back of the restaurant.

Fu Lin
2235 Bel Pre Road
Silver Spring, MD 20906

La Canela: The Finer Points of Peru

For much of my life, I have heard that Asian cuisines was the best in the world.  And yes, I still believe that.  But I have also wondered about where else would there be good food.  How about South America?  How about Peru?  It would seem to make sense.  It has the Pacific, the Andes, and the Amazon, so there's got to be some interesting food.  I certainly thought there was after watching an episode about Peru on Anthony Bourdain's CNN show Parts Unknown.  I was impressed by what I saw that I immediately started looking for Peruvian restaurants near my hometown.  I was fortunate to find one in a place that I least expected: La Canela in Rockville Town Square.  Now I was surprised as I am not fond of any restaurant in that part of town as they mostly consist of standard American fare and chains.  But this restaurant is tucked away from the hustle and bustle, which makes for an intimate setting.   

As I approach the restaurant, I am already impressed with the old Spanish colonial architecture of the exterior and interior.  It gives an aura of authenticity and makes a very unique ambiance.  As my family and I looked through the menu, we were amazed by the diversity of dishes that were offered, especially the appetizers and entrees.

For this meal, it was an absolute gorge-fest.  We went the whole nine yards with appetizers, entrees, and desserts.  Yes, there were multiple desserts involved.

We start with 2 appetizers.  First, a tiradito of flounder with aji amarillo, lime juice, garnished with lima beans, potato, sweet potato, and roasted corn.  Think of this as Peruvian sashimi.  The flounder was very fresh and went well with the aji sauce, which is made from the aji chile.  Contrary to what you might think, it isn't very spicy.  What is spicy, for some strange reason, was the potato.

The second appetizer was calamari with yuca logs, sarza criolla, and Peruvian tartar sauce.  The squid was ultra fresh, perfectly fried, and went very well with the tartar sauce.  This is the best calamari I have ever had.  The yuca, or cassava, was also very good.  Since it's a root vegetable, it's like eating potato fries.  But yuca is more denser and has a sweeter starchy flavor. Once you have had this stuff, you will never go back to those greasy french fries ever again.  The sarza criolla is a South American salsa.  There are a variety of ways to make it but this version has onions, tomatoes, and cilantro.  This was also served some of the main courses as you will see.

Now it's time for the main course.  Even though each member of my family had separate entrees, we always share every plate with each other.  Each dish was very exciting and filling.  Even though this restaurant is a little more upscale, they don't skimp on the portions.  

My dad got the arroz con mariscos (rice with seafood), which is pretty much like Spanish paella.  It is filled with a colorful array of seafood on spiced rice.  Fresh seafood on top of flavorful rice, what could be better?

My mom ordered the asado de tira or boneless short ribs braised in a cilantro based dark beer sauce, served with lots of pureed canary beans and jasmine rice on the side.  This was the heaviest of the entrees.  The short ribs were absolutely fork tender and moist.  The beans were really good especially when eaten with the rice.

My sister ordered the fettuccini al pesto served with a breaded sirloin steak and huancaina aji oil.  Now you might be thinking why would anyone order a pasta dish at a Peruvian restaurant?  But let me tell you, this pasta is shockingly good.  It is cooked al dente style, meaning it's has a slight chewiness and no mush.  And who doesn't like steak?  Biggest surprise of the night for sure.

Finally, I got the arroz con pato (rice with duck).  The rice is scented with cilantro and beer, huancaina aji oil, and sarza criolla.  The duck leg is extra crispy and boasts a lot of flavor.  The skin was the best part.  As I bite into it, the fat underneath it melts in your mouth.  The rice was a completely new experience for me.  The beer and cilantro infusion made the rice very aromatic.  

Now on to the desserts.  At a first glance at the menu, we weren't sure of what to get, so we asked a waitress for recommendations.  She recommended us the panna cotta de lucuma, torta tres leches, and the creme brûlée de quinoa.  So we picked all of them.

The panna cotta is served with chocolate ganache, almond crunch, and pisco drunk raisins.  This was the best tasting desserts we had.  It was our first time trying lucuma, which is a fruit only found in the Andes mountains.  The dessert was very nutty, chocolatey, and had a hint of caramel from the fruit.

The tres leches cake is served with raspberries and whipped cream.  It is a sponge cake dipped in 3 kinds of milk, hence the name: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream.  The cake itself was good, but I felt the sauce on top of it sort of masked the flavor of the actual cake itself.  This was also one of the most highly regarded desserts too, but I felt somewhat underwhelmed for some reason.  Maybe I was just too full at this point.

I have had creme brûlée many times before and will keep on having it many times again.  But this version of creme brûlée is the most bizarre and unique one I have ever tried.  When most people have creme brûlée, they like it for the crusty sugar coating on top covering a smooth, creamy vanilla custard.  But now imagine it with cinnamon and quinoa infusion.  Wow, whoever knew that would work.  The quinoa adds a healthy touch to an otherwise rich and fatty dessert as well as a new texture to the custard.




Wow, I had a lot of enjoyment eating and writing about this meal and I hope you enjoyed reading this.  This place is truly a gem in an otherwise substandard and stuffy, albeit charming, town center.  There is really nothing quite like it.  I'm really glad I discovered this hidden gem and shared it with my family, especially in an area saturated with Asian restaurants, and I think it will be the next big culinary trend along with the rest of South America.  When I go back (and why wouldn't I?), I plan on trying some ceviche.

La Canela
141 Gibbs St
Rockville, MD 20850

Pho 75

I love a good bowl of noodles anytime, especially pho.  It is a quick, easy meal to fill you up right.  But there is one place that has a particularly good pho, Pho 75.  This hole in the wall uses a broth that is both unique and authentic in its taste.  You can taste the ingredients that are in it, whether it be the beef stock or the spices.

Pho 75 offers their noodles with a various combination of meats (mostly beef) along with a vegetarian option.  Chicken and meatballs are offered but beef is the best way to go.  There is brisket, flank, round, tendon, and tripe available.   It is then finished off with green onions, cilantro and white onions and served with a plate of bean sprouts, hot peppers, Thai basil, and kaffir lime.  There is also bottles of hoisin sauce, sriracha sauce, and fish sauce on every table.  All of these side ingredients allow for a variety of combinations depending on personal taste.

Personally, I would first sample a spoonful of the soup first.  Then, I would add the bean sprouts, basil, peppers, and some lime juice.  After that, I would scoop the noodles from the bottom to the top allowing the bean sprouts to soften up and basil to react with the broth.  This reaction is the best part, as it would create a sudden waft of this magical aroma that is so enticing.  When it comes to the sauces, I would try to not put it in the broth, especially one that is of good quality.  I like to take a spoon and add the hoisin and sriracha sauces together to create a dipping sauce for the meat.

Recently, the restaurant has added spring rolls (egg rolls on the menu) and summer rolls (spring rolls) on their menu.  I have tried both.  To be honest, I would just skip them since they are mediocre at best.  Both rolls' vegetable fillings are consistently dry, making for a not so pleasant taste that can only be washed down by the pho broth.  On top of that, their "egg rolls" are more Chinese looking than Vietnamese.  Vietnamese spring rolls have bubbles or bulges on the skin and are served lettuce leaves for wrapping as well as a variety of herbs.  I have only seen this in New York, but I'm sure this is available in some other large metropolitan areas.  I just haven't checked since I haven't had Vietnamese food anywhere else.

And finally, I would like to mention something that has bugged me for quite some time.  This restaurant is very popular with nearly everyone from all walks of life: young and old, professionals and working class, Asians and non-Asians.  But many of these people do something that makes my blood boil.  They can't pronounce the word pho properly.  It is so widely mispronounced that I have to set the record straight. It's not "foe" or "faux."  The actual pronunciation is "fuh?"  Yes, it should sound like you're asking a question.  Now just practice saying a few times so that you can get rid of that "faux" accent when saying pho.  

Pho 75

771 Hungerford Dr

Rockville, MD 20850

Yuraku: THE Place for Sushi in Maryland

If there is one thing I really like, it's sushi.  Not just any sushi, really really good sushi.  I am very picky person as well as a purist when it comes to this topic.  I only go for places that serve a variety of nigiri sushi since that is the traditional form and I try to go to places that are owned by Japanese.  But since I have to go to DC to do that a Korean owned place would suit me well.  Yuraku is one of those places where the unassuming person would never find it as it is tucked away in a far corner of a strip mall.  But despite that, it attracts large crowds for lunch and dinner nearly every day that I'm there, making it seem to me at least the worst kept secret in the Montgomery County food scene.

Yuraku offers a buffet lunch costing $12.95, which is very reasonable considering the offerings.  There is a menu available if one so chooses.  There is table and bar seating available.  I prefer the bar since it gives you a more authentic experience and allows you to interact with the chefs.  The chef-diner relationship is something that's very unique and rarely seen elsewhere.  They might even give you free samples.  But more on that in a bit.

When you first line up to the buffet, the first thing you see are the modest variety of appetizers and cooked items.  Steamed egg in broth, vermicelli or rice noodles, the house salad, 2 kinds of kimchi (of course), nori salad, shrimp cocktail, and orange slices to the right and spicy mussels, chicken wings, fried rice, spicy tofu, fried bananas, and bulgogi to the left.

Next to that are some shrimp, sweet potato, and green bean tempura.

There is of course sushi, a reasonable offering of Americanized and traditional sushi.  The type of rolls they have may vary and they do make some wild combinations.  In the past, I have seen burrito rolls, strawberry banana, and even turkey rolls.  Now, turkey is not something that I would want anyone to make sushi out of.

But as a sushi purist, I'm all about the nigiri that they offer, even though it's not served in the most proper conditions.  The fish they typically use include salmon, tuna, flounder, mackerel, and red snapper.  They also have eel, shrimp, and squid.  The one type of sushi that intrigues me the most is one that contains salad with either tuna belly or octopus and gochujang (Korean chili paste).

So as I'm eating at the bar, my sister sitting next to me asks what kind of fish the chef is preparing.  As I guessing out loud that it might be fatty tuna, the chef says that it was regular tuna belly.  And next thing I know, without asking, he gives me and my sister a few pieces to sample.  Wow, just exceptional service and a great experience.  On top of that, by the time I was finishing my last plate, I was given a hand roll of what I guess is masago.  Nevertheless, bar seating is something that must be done.

Now let me make it clear.  As much as I like sushi, getting it from a buffet is not the most ideal way of serving.  The dinner serving is better, which will be the subject of a future post.  But nevertheless, Yuraku is still the best sushi place the state.  Till next time...

Yuraku Japanese Restaurant
19773 Frederick Road
Germantown, MD 20876

Hokke? Ok

A few days ago, I had the rare opportunity to eat at Temari (1043 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD),  a Japanese owned Japanese restaurant near my hometown.  It has been about a year since I last ate there.  As I looked through the menu of traditional classics like chirashi, tonkatsu, or ramen, I didn't feel up to it.  I wanted to try something different.  I looked at the wall next to my table where they would list out special items.  One item caught my eye: hokke (Akta mackerel).  I have tried mackerel before but never this kind.  It was grilled and served with grated radish, tofu with katsuobushi, salad, rice, and miso soup.

The fish itself was grilled to perfection.  When I poked my chopsticks into it, the natural juices came out.  I also noticed that the rib bones and the spine was also attached to the filet, which made eating it a little more difficult than I would have expected.  But since I'm used to eating whole fish it was fine for me.  Leaving the bones on actually helped the fish retain its natural juices, which always makes for great eating.

After this amazing dining experience, I wanted to learn more about this fish.  So I went on to Wikipedia, like any normal person would, and discovered that this fish is from the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of Siberia.  There is another Atka mackerel from Atka Island of the Aleutian Islands, but judging from the skin, I know for a fact that I ate the Okhotsk variety.