The Week In Yum July 13-19
What a hot, humid crazy week it has been here in Toronto. Who can actually even think about cooking? It's all I can do to even feel like eating so beyond making salad and drinking cold soda water, I have not been into much.
Okay, I know I just told you that the best BBQ pork in the city was at Ka Ka on Gerrard and now, here I am singing the praises of a totally different place this week. Well, these things happen and that is what makes Toronto so great. I can eat my BBQ from one place for years and then someone turns me onto to a new place and my BBQ world is set on it's head. Last weekend we went to Ho Ho BBQ in Scarborough after I read about it on my new app, Chef's Feed. On this super cool app, you can follow tons of chefs and they recommend their favourite restaurants and their favourite dishes at those restaurants. Since downloading the app this week I have made a long list of places in the city where I want to eat now because if it's good enough for Susar Lee and David Chang, it's good enough for me. The Ho Ho BBQ came up a couple of times and I was surprised that I had never heard of it. After some research, I learned that Gourmet Magazine had declared them to be THE best Chinese BBQ in Toronto and one of the very best in not only the country, but North America.
WHAT?? And we have never been there???
I am almost embarrassed by this fact and fear that one of my Chinese friends will come take away my Super Gwai Lo badge.
Anyway, we drove out there and got an order of BBQ pork and cuttlefish on rice. For under $10 we got a HUGE container full of fluffy rice, ridiculously tender bbq pork and some yummy, chewy cuttlefish. The owners were so friendly and nice that we ended up chatting with them about how they get the skin on the roast pork so crispy and the guy who is charge of the crispy little piglets showed up how he bastes them in vinegar and a bit of honey to dry the skin out and make it super crispy. We ended up buying a pound of both the bbq and the roast pork to take home and we will definitely be back. It is a bit far away for me to make it my regular spot so I will still buy my bbq from Ka Ka on Gerrard, but Shack is always out and about in Scarborough so it will become his "thing" to swing by the Ho Ho. Keep in mind there are a couple of stools so you can sit in the window but it's pretty much just for take out. Also, keep in mind that this pork is totally worth the drive. Next time we will try some duck but we were too full of pig to even think about it. I honestly think that I have never had BBQ pork this tender before. I dreamed about it last night and since we are in Canada, I can actually marry it if I like. I just might do that.
After our lunch at the Ho Ho, we swung on by the Galleria SuperMarket on York Mills (at Don Mills) to check out all of the Korean delicacies. Oh my god, it's a great store. They make their own tofu and sesame oil. Never mind the Gucci Loblaws and their wall of cheese, this place has a wall of kimchi! I doubt that there is anything Korean that you could want that you will not find here and you will probably find a few things you didn't know you were looking for until you see it.
I have been told that the prepared food they serve is amazing (especially the fried chicken) but we had come straight from the Ho Ho and had bellies full of piggy. Eating lunch will have to wait until the next visit but we spent a good hour just looking up and down all of the aisles and picking up a few Korean ingredients. I cannot wait to go back and eat the fried chicken and some sort of black noodle that my friend, Ivy, assures me will go over all over my shirt when I eat it. I will just be sure to wear a black shirt and throw caution to the wind.
Remember, it was way too hot to do much cooking this week so that means at least one dinner will come from Sultan Shwarma, on Danforth and Main St, just a couple doors south of the Main Subway station. I am sure that I will hear about the million places that serve better shwarma and falafel but, for now, this is my absolute favourite spot and luckily, it's also a 7 minute walk from my front door. I always get the vegetarian plate with crispy, freshly cooked, delicious falafel, roasted potato, cauliflower and eggplant, covered in their date repelling garlic sauce and then a ton of fresh, crisp, lightly dressed chopped salad topped with pickled pink turnip and hot peppers. The falafel sits on a smear of creamy hummas and those crispy bits of pita are perfect. If you find yourself in the east end of Toronto and you are peckish, make a point of stopping in to The Sultan - the shwarma is really great too. It's pretty much take out only with just a couple of seats in the window, much like Ho Ho.
YUM
Okay, favourite pin of the week:
Crostini with Beet Confit
Favourite Facebook Post took me here:
This Veggie Chickpea Feta Mash Naan'wich by The Sprouted Kitchen
My favourite food find of the week:
Chef's Feed a great new app that lets you follow chefs and find out where they eat and what they eat when they get there
My favourite instagram photo of the week is this stunning galette by aleedallas
My favourite tweet of the week:
Okay, I know I just told you that the best BBQ pork in the city was at Ka Ka on Gerrard and now, here I am singing the praises of a totally different place this week. Well, these things happen and that is what makes Toronto so great. I can eat my BBQ from one place for years and then someone turns me onto to a new place and my BBQ world is set on it's head. Last weekend we went to Ho Ho BBQ in Scarborough after I read about it on my new app, Chef's Feed. On this super cool app, you can follow tons of chefs and they recommend their favourite restaurants and their favourite dishes at those restaurants. Since downloading the app this week I have made a long list of places in the city where I want to eat now because if it's good enough for Susar Lee and David Chang, it's good enough for me. The Ho Ho BBQ came up a couple of times and I was surprised that I had never heard of it. After some research, I learned that Gourmet Magazine had declared them to be THE best Chinese BBQ in Toronto and one of the very best in not only the country, but North America.
WHAT?? And we have never been there???
 |
| I have never seen anyone to happy to be sweltering away in a steam box while poking hanging piglets |
 |
| our favourite Korean coconut crackers, Orion Gosomi |
After our lunch at the Ho Ho, we swung on by the Galleria SuperMarket on York Mills (at Don Mills) to check out all of the Korean delicacies. Oh my god, it's a great store. They make their own tofu and sesame oil. Never mind the Gucci Loblaws and their wall of cheese, this place has a wall of kimchi! I doubt that there is anything Korean that you could want that you will not find here and you will probably find a few things you didn't know you were looking for until you see it.
I have been told that the prepared food they serve is amazing (especially the fried chicken) but we had come straight from the Ho Ho and had bellies full of piggy. Eating lunch will have to wait until the next visit but we spent a good hour just looking up and down all of the aisles and picking up a few Korean ingredients. I cannot wait to go back and eat the fried chicken and some sort of black noodle that my friend, Ivy, assures me will go over all over my shirt when I eat it. I will just be sure to wear a black shirt and throw caution to the wind.
Remember, it was way too hot to do much cooking this week so that means at least one dinner will come from Sultan Shwarma, on Danforth and Main St, just a couple doors south of the Main Subway station. I am sure that I will hear about the million places that serve better shwarma and falafel but, for now, this is my absolute favourite spot and luckily, it's also a 7 minute walk from my front door. I always get the vegetarian plate with crispy, freshly cooked, delicious falafel, roasted potato, cauliflower and eggplant, covered in their date repelling garlic sauce and then a ton of fresh, crisp, lightly dressed chopped salad topped with pickled pink turnip and hot peppers. The falafel sits on a smear of creamy hummas and those crispy bits of pita are perfect. If you find yourself in the east end of Toronto and you are peckish, make a point of stopping in to The Sultan - the shwarma is really great too. It's pretty much take out only with just a couple of seats in the window, much like Ho Ho.
YUM
Okay, favourite pin of the week:
Crostini with Beet Confit
Favourite Facebook Post took me here:
This Veggie Chickpea Feta Mash Naan'wich by The Sprouted Kitchen
My favourite food find of the week:
Chef's Feed a great new app that lets you follow chefs and find out where they eat and what they eat when they get there
My favourite instagram photo of the week is this stunning galette by aleedallas
My favourite tweet of the week:
How to make your own magic shell with 2 ingredients (!!!) http://t.co/b06A7mqWGK
— HuffPost Taste (@HuffPostTaste) July 17, 2013
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