BREAKING BREAD
Breaking Bread
A Food and Restaurant Blog
Welcome to the place where my taste buds meet my words. Let's eat good food together.
NICE TO MEET YOU, I'm Rachel
As an aspiring food critic faced with an unpromising job market, this is a place where I can play pretend. Food is storytelling; food is memory; food is a blissful comfort that
no other sensation can match. Although fleeting, food has the potential to reap lasting effects. Read about them below:
Meet the Coopers, Chinatown's Number One Fans
Second to New Rochelle, New York, The Cooper Family considers Chinatown homebase. Since my mom was a young girl, she and her four brothers would hitch a ride to the lower east side of Manhattan in search of the steamiest buns, the most tender pork, and flavors that would stream through our genes for ages to come.
Today, we trek downtown as a family or solo, sitting beneath a picture of my Uncle on Wohop’s wall of legends. The Cooper family favorites include the shrimp with lobster sauce, the seafood wonton soup, and the snails with black bean sauce. However, I prefer dim sum to these adventurous but flavorful dishes, so I wait until we’re ready to move on to dessert at Mei Lai Wah.
Here, we wait in line for the most delectable roast pork buns in all of New York: every part of the bun is worth savoring, so neither the dough nor the meat, nor the sauce outshines any other ingredient. Unlike many dim sum places, Mei Lai Wah packages tasty perfection into every bite, ensuring that the bun isn’t simply a vehicle for the meat, and vice versa. Everything stands out.
First, the sweetness of the marinated pork, then the softness of the golden bun, steaming hot and supple as all get out. This is a must-try, as well as their egg custard buns and shumai.
If we have time, we hop over to Grand Street to enjoy the legendary onigiri of Harper’s Bread House. The spicy eel is our favorite, but every flavor is mouth-watering because of the fresh, steaming rice and the perfectly crunchy seaweed wrapping. One of the last affordable gems in the city, Harper’s is a must-try.
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In short, GO TO MEI LAI WAH AND HARPER'S!! And bring with you someone you love.
Aberdeen Dim Sum
I've been coming to Aberdeen since I was about six years old. Located in White Plains, NY in the lobby of a Marriott hotel, Aberdeen has fed my mom and I some of the best dim sum outside Manhattan for years. We recommend the steamed shrimp rice noodle rolls, otherwise known as Cheung Fun, which showcases the most satisfying and delicious rice flour texture known to mankind— better than mochi, than tteok, the blanket of rice noodle with a cozy, crunchy shrimp inside, enshrined in a blend of oyster sauce, ginger, scallion, and soy. This dish is sweet and savory, and it never fails to bring me back to a sense of home. Next, we recommend the sesame black bean balls, a sweet dish with a crispy, fried exterior of toasted sesame with a doughy interior surrounding a sweet bean paste center. Lastly, the egg custard buns are the perfect dessert, and the bonus is their cute piglet design. The bok choy is a great side if you want some hearty and tasty greens, as well as really anything on the menu. You cannot go wrong at this authentic gift to Westchester.
Chama mama
If you're like me, your belly longs for the unique flavors only present in an Eastern Europe and Western Asia crossover, get a taste of Georgia's national cuisine on the Upper West Side. My friend and I knew we were in for a treat when we smelled a familiar, yet unique blend of smoky meats and minty herbs wafting from the kitchen. We started off with the Kvari, Georgia's traditional Megruli cheese dumplings with mint yogurt sauce. The Kvari reminded us of pierogi, but with a thicker more dim-sum like steamed dumpling exterior and a more punchy cheese. The texture was chewy, fluffy, dense, yet light, thanks to the neutralizing and refreshing yogurt sauce. We finished off with the Kubdari, a traditional Svan dish. A crispy phyllo pastry in the shape of a small pizza, the Kubdari contained a thin layer of melted cheese with layers of spiced beef, pork, onion, garlic, and "Georgian spices." Every bite resulted in one or both of our moans, and the ultimate mystery became the contents of Georgian spices.. Because we are dying to know. We weren't able to deduce which "Georgian spices" were present because we had never tasted something like it before, but we deduced the slightest hint of mint, combined with some sort of resemblance to za'atar and fragrant alliums to boost them up.
SOUL KITCHEN
Also in Florence, Italy, this hot spot houses the best "Pappa al Pomodoro" that I've ever eaten. A Florentine specialty, the dish combines soaked, previously stale, bread with luminous spices, all of which serve to showcase the mashed tomatoes inside. If the chef is feeling generous, they'll top it off with some fresh basil. Our chef was molto generoso. We dipped crostini and cocoli (fried bread basically, but this one was indescribable.. it was like a cloud that you could jump on without ever falling through, and it tasted like comfort) into the saucy goodness, and the rest of the meal was irrelevant after that.
Pizz'agnolo
If you find yourself in Florence, Italy, do yourself the unforgettable favor of visiting Pizz'agnolo. Last night, a warm and angelic ricotta-stuffed focaccia crust teased me with what it might be like to fall in love. The sauce and toppings are bellissimi as well, but man that crust..
Su Guan
When I sat down on this rainy Monday afternoon, I was planning for a quick bite and a tall glass of beer (surprisingly not a horrible idea right before a class field trip.) Instead, I got a meal that I wished I could treat with complete patience and care.
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Dried tofu skin, while sounding a bit grotesque or even boring, happens to give an equal, if not better, gaminess and bite than you'd ever imagine. These bits were tied in gorgeous knots that gave.. well, give. Lots of give. All cooked in a "special sauce" which I am now DYING to know. Other veggies in the dish included the lotus root, an extremely crunchy and flavor-soaked touch. The sauce blessed these unexpectedly striking ingredients with a sweet-spicy creamy nuttiness.
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On the side I had kimchi scallion pancakes, another circumstantially excellent choice. These were soft as pillows, yet perfectly thick. While I originally ordered them to cut the acidity of my tofu "soup," it ended up being the other way around.
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I didn't know vegetarians could eat this well. I mean it when I say that Su Guan blessed my mouth with its own paradiso in this hidden corner of Florence, beside the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. (Can you tell I'm abroad?)
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Little Trùc
If you haven’t had the bahn mi from Little Truc, you haven’t had real bahn mi. I consider myself to have been asleep for the twenty years I lived before I tried this precious, precious gem. The sandwich is worth every penny, something I mull over as I parse through a smoky blast of flavor and a strong but not assaulting air of cilantro. Go!!! (I think it moves around to different locations, but I had mine in Easthampton, MA)
Daily Operation
You can’t really go wrong when ordering from Daily Op’s menu. My personal favorites are the Blackened Fish Sandwich and the Dry Aged Cheeseburger, as well as the Black Bottom Maple Pie if you have room for dessert. Even with few items on the menu, Daily Op manages to keep things interesting, constantly toying with highly creative palettes and stimulating combinations. I also remember their juice being really good, a rich jug of rhubarb? (I think) and some other little weirdos. This traveling high-quality food truck is also in Easthampton, MA at the moment. (9/2022)
Oriental Taste
When I first heard about Northampton, MA’s Oriental Taste, I assumed it was a kitschy decoy of authentic Asian food. I now realize how wrong I was, that despite its name, it is run by and heavily frequented by immigrant populations who happen to make a bomb Mah Po Tofu. Silkier and spicier than I’ve ever had before, and it keeps me coming back.
India House
Last night I had the privilege to visit Northampton's India House, not to be confused with India Palace or Bombay Royale. As a loyal Bombay Royale frequenter, I was surprised to find that India House has much more tender chicken, creamier sauces, and pungent spicing. The whole experience was lovely, as the dishes came out in small silver cauldrons, the perfect size for a couple people and a possible leftover meal. The naan was not as soft as I wanted, but every food painted my palette with vibrant color. The Saag Paneer and the Aubergine were particularly impressive, and the royalist decor made for a sweet atmosphere.
Amanouz Cafè
Another Northampton hidden gem, Amanouz is a hit or miss for me across the menu. Let me explain— shawarma is delectable, babaganoush not so much, french toast slightly above average but indistinctive, and falafel tasty but paired with an underwhelming bread choice. I love their specialties though; when they rock a dish, they rock it...