Dare Connoisseur--Lava Lips

After a long long hibernation, I finally came back my dear friends!!!

How about starting with a "hot" stuff right in this hotter and hotter season?

So I firstly went across this place in Groupon's website. Indy's first Hot Sauce BAR? That's fancy! Marked and here I came!

Let's begin with the basics:

Website

Address: 
4915 N College Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46205

Opening hour: 

Monday           Closed Tuesday         1:00 – 8:00 pm Wednesday    1:00 – 8:00 pm Thursday        1:00 – 8:00 pm Friday             1:00 – 8:00 pm Saturday         11:00 am – 8:00 pm Sunday           1:00 – 6:00 pm

This little shop is located in broad ripple area with a pretty ease parking option. The Board is not that catchy and bold enough in my opinion. If people just passed by, they probably won't pop in without former looking up. But I am OK with that and I will just consider it as a "nerdy place" for "nerdy foodies" like me. LOL.

Actually it is quite spacious inside. Except a private party room back inside, there is a "bar"-like area in the center, shelves full of hot sauce with different levels of spiciness are around the wall.
 

A special show table for some commonly seen categories like jalapeño , tropical and garlic that provide the newbies a chance to get start. 

















There are also some other food with spicy theme like XXX hot salsa, special hot BBQ sauce, rubs, chipotle caramel, spicy popcorn et. al. (take a look at the following pictures!)

The "rubs" corner.

The spicy popcorn!

Extra strong coffee!

Here is how it works. You can bring your own food like chips, fruits and drinks or start with a mini size tortilla chips purchased there ($0.5). You can either talk to the really nice "bar tender" Alex to start with some recommendations or browse around to find your own "zing". Then, Alex will open that bottle for you to have a taste. Of course, if it is already being picked before, the opened one will be waiting for you. All the tasting is for FREE!

I really went out and tried a lot...There is literally a 3-inch-tall piled-up testing mini-cups in front of me!





































I also tried some salsa which is also pretty good!
   

I am the kind of person who can actually tolerate quite high level of spicy but would rather not go too far and numb my taste. If you just want the "excitement" and "pain", what's the point to have a "recipe"? So I particularly try to search the finesse and deep wisdom of the people who create the sauce if there is any…And I was glad that I finally found one. (picture comes last)

Actually I did ask for some "funky" flavors and Alex suggested me a banana rum one (picture below) and a brand specifically used cane vinegar rather than white vinegar called amazon. They are not bad but also not quite worth "collecting".

Ahh, I also tried the ghost pepper which is supposed to be really really hot but still in a normal range. (You will know why I said "normal range" later). They are not that bad and I do want to say. Poor Americans' tolerance to spiciness...I am very sorry you missed gigantic amount of delicious food... 

OK, here comes the real craziness. There is a shelf full of hot sauce that made with extract of the pepper--the capsaicine.  I didn't tried myself but there was another guy sitting there tasted probably the 2nd or 3rd hottest sauce in the whole store. It took probably 2-3 bottles of water and 2-3 small cups of caramel sauce to quench it only a little bit down. 
Honestly I really didn't see the point to make or eat something that just "bite" you. Anyway, I do appreciate that the designers indeed spend some time designing the bottles which are eye catching.

The price of the hot sauce there usually range from $7-12. Those with extra capsaicine might be pricier. In the end, I got a mango habanero (this is so far the best and has a really good balance between hot and sweet with a hint of tartness. Also, I just love the design of the bottle) and some other random stuff like a Tellicherry pepper chocolate (a gourmet black pepper) which is not that impressive actually.


Other random thoughts that came cross when I tasted the wide range of hot sauce:
 I do like fruit in hot sauce a lot especially tropical fruits. My old impression was like that nearly all of them like mango, pineapple, peach and passion fruit should be pretty match with the spicy aspect. BUT! I was wrong! Actually I would conclude after tasting more than 10 different "fruity" hot sauce. MANGO is still the best across the board! No wonder Southeastern Asian cuisine or those Hot Wing store usually carry far more Mango hot sauce flavor than other fruity ones. There is a reason! 

Summary at a glance:

All in all, this is really a unique place to try. They can host private party especially if you got a group of "funky" friends. (In a good way.)

And here is my rating:

Environment: 5 stars
Selection: 4.5 stars (They don't have that much supermarket brands like Tabasco and Cholula, but they do have Shiracha! I guess it makes sense that you can totally purchase them in the supermarket, then why bother. But the reason I didn't give them full stars is because the overall quality of the hot sauce is not that great based on my taste test. But I have to say the choices are enormous!)
Service: 5 stars
Highlight: the free end-less tasting is indeed awesome!

Worth of the money: 4 stars (considering about the average quality of the hot sauce, the price shouldn't be that high. But maybe it was rather difficult to do all of those collection)
Overall: 4.5 stars
Bottom line: I would probably go back but maybe not that often

Chinese new year/Valentine's day special--Lady's Kisses

Chinese new year/Valentine's day special--

Lady's Kisses, A unique Italian nut cookie

It's been quite busy weeks for me...But the Chinese new year (Jan 31st in this year, the year of Horse!) is coming and I couldn't quite put this down.  I know, I know, I should have pick a Chinese recipe to try...

But, what ever, the Valentine's day is also coming right? ;-P

This is traditionally made from Hazelnut, same idea of Nutella.  Ferrero Roche etc...I am curious but is there a story behind this tight bond between Italian and hazelnut?

Actually I heard about a legend that if you ask the Italians to pick ONLY one specific food to save during famine, they would pick NUTELLA! The ingredients are simple and straightforward, just hazelnut and chocolate "spread" which usually include saturated fat and sugar besides cocoa, of course the recipe is still a secret mystery. But honestly, it is one of the most amazing inventory in the food world in my mind.  

Ok, back to the recipe. I first read about this in an Italian dessert book called Dolci about one year ago. Unlike butter based shortbread/cookies that you probably would find equivalents somewhat everywhere  in the world. There are some special finger goodies that are so unique that you just couldn't find them elsewhere like Macarons in France, sweet rice cake in Asia and a BUNCH of in Italy like Biscotti, Savoiardi(Lady finger) and this one--Lady's Kissis.
This is what the authentic look like:

Other than the original recipe in Dolci, I also referred to several written and video recipes online. Then, I came up with this super-easy-memorizing recipe using almond flour instead of hazelnut flour since I just happened to have that at hand. So here we go!

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

Equal weight of butter, plain flour and almond flour. It is not really rigid there, so to make it even easier:

1 stick butter (both salted and unsalted are fine, I used salted)

1 cup of plain flour

1 cup of almond flour/hazelnut flour (I bought a bag from Trader Joe's called "Just almond meal" which still includes the skin compared to regular "peeled" almond flour you usually see. To make almond meal/flour from whole almond: You can buy blanched-peeled almond or regular raw almond then blanch&peel them by yourself. Drain them well and put into the food processer until you get fine-sand-like texture. Same deal if you sick to the classic, hazelnut. NOTE: don't press the almond flour because that will make the dough tough)

1/3 cup regular granulated sugar

Orange peel from a small orange

Vanilla extract

Optional: if you use unsalted butter, add pinch of salt (~1/8 teaspoon)

For  the filling:

30g Nutella

15g melted 70% dark chocolate

The reason why I used this combination is to make a "nutella truffle" batter. So that the filling can hold its shape better and won't stick to everywhere.

But this is kind of time consuming, actually I found just Nutella is fine and really, any filling like peanut butter, almond butter or jam would work!

Steps:

1. Bring the butter up to room temperature, set aside
2. Mix the rest ingredients in a bowl (dry ingredients)
3. Pour the  dry ingredients to the butter bowl and patiently knead everything until they just form a dough which can hold its shape without too crumbly.

4. Use measure spoon (I used the "1/2 teaspoon") to make small semi-sphere dough and set them on baking tray lined with parchment paper or oiled aluminum foil

5. Chill them about 30min in the fridge
6. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C
7. Bake them about 15min until the top is a tiny bit tinted
8. After completely cool, assemble them together! (I used a zip loc bag to piping the filling out for a better looking purpose;-P But dipping should be fine. Let's make life easier!)

NOTE: You might found the dough is quite dry at first and though this is not going to work! But trust me, as you gradually melted the butter with the warm from you hand, the oil from almond flour is also going to "ooze' out. Then you would probably start to worry it's going to be too wet. So here, DON'T over kneed the dough because that will end up with hard rather than fluffy and short cute cookies. If it is really really too dry, add a little bit more melted butter to smooth that out.

The end result is another extreme short and crumbly delicious cookies just like Margarita cookies I used to make but completely different flavor! The high light is definitely the orange peel. I was not a big fan of citrus. The volatile essence oil is too much for me. But I found it works perfectly in this recipe. The orange, almond, butter and chocolate are just harmonized together so well!

To make it Valentine's theme, I use a little bit red icing to pipe some little hearts.

AND, to make it Chinese new year theme, I change the PS setting….Does this look a little Chinese style? LOL…

Hope you enjoy this recipe and give it try some time!

Happy Chinese New Year and Valentine's day :) 

INdulgent New Year! Ichiban Sushi Bar near Greenwood

INdulgent New Year! Ichiban Sushi Bar & Asian cuisine

I was visiting my aunt in Lexington KY this Christmas vacation. When I drove back to Indy from south. It was just around lunch time. Then I went to this sushi bar...
Actually I have been keeping this restaurant in my "INdulgent wish list" for a long time. But since it's not a quite convenient location for a downtown-er, I just grab this lovely chance to give it a try.
So here we go! So excited!

Begin with some basic info:
Official website
Address, contact and opening hour:
8265 US 31 S, Indianapolis, IN 46227
(317) 883-1888
Mon - Thu: 11am - 2:30pm,5pm - 9pm
Fri - Sat: 11am - 2:30pm, 5pm - 10pm
Sunday: 12am - 2:30pm, 5pm - 9pm

Like a lot of alternative/international restaurants in the U.S., the out side looks quite shabby which also usually locate in a shabby neighborhood.  But as always, like many things else, don't make judgement too early only by the appearance. 

Let's peek the inside. 

First of all, it is a really spacious restaurant. I really didn't expect this huge space.
Then comes the warm greeting from the chef behind the sushi bar. The environment and ambient is a quite good start!

The sushi bar area: "L" shaped 

The other arm of the sushi bar. Fresh and colorful ingredients! Yum!

The private room #1 (There is also a room #2 which can hold up to 8 people I think). The design is quite Japanese which reminds me of some restaurants in Beijing.

The Bar area which also have small screen for Sports fans.

A Japanese style corner.

OK! Let's come to the food!

Start with the Special Roll Menu. I particularly showed this menu is because this is exactly the weakness of other Japanese restaurant especially Americanized sushi places. 

In my opinion, a great dish should be a well balance of visual, smell and taste. Obviously Japanese food usually don't have much smell because they are either cold and raw or too healthy to barely have any strong taste (No offence. LOL...) . 

So why not high light such visually divine dishes with a menu with REAL PICTURES just like this??? So, Great Job Ichiban! You can pick the appearance most attractive rolls really!

I didn't try these this time but again, this is what called Professional!  Of course, they have a written detailed description menu for these rolls as well. The ingredients combination is not super creative but good enough for variety of pallets and preferences. 

I am a huge fan of Eel (I know, I know, there are so many people out there doubting that Eel doesn't make any sense for its fishy and gel even rubber like texture with scary skin still on it.) But this is really the knocking stone for a Japanese restaurant or chef. It's just such a delicate ingredients. And even though it's just Teriyakki sauce cooked with eel, it's still one of the most difficult technique to grasp in Japanese cooking. So here we go. They have lunch special Unagi Don (Eel rice bowl) which means smaller portion and cheaper ($12). Perfect!

Start with complimentary salad and miso soup. It's not surprising but safe and good.

Tah-dah~ The shining leading player!! Visually appealing really. 5 Stars! The taste is pretty good. But maybe a little dull which means the sweetness is too straight. But still pretty satisfying already. As for the texture, in my mind, a perfect unagi steak should have a melting soft flesh with slightly chewy skin which is due to re-hydration after sizzling on the grill. This one lacks a little crispy-chewy skin but again, already did a super job!

Actually speaking to Unagi Don. I have tried two other restaurant ones in Indy. Mikado in downtown and One world in Castleton Corner area. They are all quite pricy ($19.95 for lunch) but Mikado one is definitely the best among these 3. One world is a neat Japanese grocery store with a small dining area. But their Unagi is quite disappointing I would say. For quality price ratio, Ichiban is a full win!

Then, out of curiosity, I also ordered a hand roll with the filling/topping of Spicy Tuna. The tuna is great! No funny after taste, great texture and most important, Temperature which should be cool but not cold. The Nori lacks a llllittle bit crunchy but still pretty good already. The overall flavor is quite balance and satisfying.

At last but not least, I want to specifically talk about their rice. It's probably the best sushi rice I have ever have in the US. Perfect "Mochi-mochi" texture which means slightly chewy but not too sticky, not too hard, not too mushy. The aroma is also clean and sleek. Great surprise!

As a summary, Ichiban is definitely a worthwhile place to try about Japanese cuisine. 5 stars in nearly every way maybe except for the location...

Another small surprise is, the sushi-monger told me the staffs are actually most Chinese and they started with only Japanese cuisine but gradually supplemented the menu with some Asian cuisine from China and Thai afterwards. This reminds me of the owner of Mikado which also runs Shanghai Li. He is from Taiwan.  So what's the deal with these cross-nation business? Showing the real spirits of the US--melting pot and culture collision happening everywhere? Great!  

When I stepped out, I just realized from the press poster that the sushi-monger I was talking to is actually the owner. Such a young and down-to-earth type boss!

Ah, last of the last. I knew this restaurant from a website called Indy-A-list which is an annul ranking system of nearly every possible business fields in Indy. From restaurant to salon, from tattoo shop to candy store. Check it out, you may find some hidden gems just by your place!

Indy-A-list

BTW, stay warm dear mid-west friends!