Anime Food Re-creation: Yumeiro Patissiere's Strawberry Mille Crepe

Food in anime and manga always looks so tasty! One anime I got really into was Yumeiro Patissiere, which was about a girl named Ichigo who goes to a pasty school and dreams of becoming a pastry chef like her grandmother. One of the first items she makes successfully is Mille Crepe, which is cake made of layers of crepe with cream inbetween. In her own twist on it, she creates a Strawberry Mille Crepe, which has additional layers of sliced strawberries.

Yumeiro Patissiere's Strawberry Mille Crepe

An Adventure to King's Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant

King's Hawaiian

King's Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant
2808 Sepulveda Blvd
Torrance, CA 90505

I have a soft spot for Hawaii. I just love the place! The beautiful beaches, clear water, surf, friendly people... I'd live there if I could! *sigh* Alas, Cali beaches will never come close, but the next closest thing to being in Hawaii, is eating their local food.

King's Hawaiian is famous for their sweet Hawaiian rolls and bread often seen in supermarkets. I recently discovered that they had an actual bakery AND A RESTAURANT down in Torrance. Torrance isn't exactly close to where I live, but I made a special request to dine here for my birthday.

We started off our meal with a beautiful basket of their famous sweet rolls. There were only 4 of us, but the waitress brought out 10 of them - almost an entire dozen you'd buy in stores!

King's Hawaiian Luau Platter

LUAU PLATTER COMBINATION PLATE: My birthday linner (or dunch)! I'm always the type that likes to try a little bit of everything so this Luau Platter fit the bill perfectly. :)
   At the very top, there's Huli Huli Chicken, which I thought was a bit dry.
   In the middle row: Lomi Salmon, which was like a tasty Hawaiian version of salmon ceviche. Kalua Pork, which was a smoky Hawaiian pulled pork. I enjoyed it more than the Kalua Pork from Aloha Food Factory in Alhambra, which I found to be too smoky and salty. And Chicken Long Rice, which was like chicken noodle soup with vermicelli. I liked it and thought it tasted like homemade chicken broth.  
   In the bottom row: Potato Macaroni Salad - I'm not a fan of potato salad nor a fan of macaroni salad, but when you put them together, the sum is greater than each of its parts! Tasty! Lau Lau - It's basically pork cooked in a taro leaf. I really liked it. And of course, White Rice... a Hawaiian staple.

Now, onto the bakery! King's Hawaiian bakes up soooooo much more than just sweet rolls! They have various cookies, breads, danishes... the list goes on and on...

Paradise Cake and Carrot Cake

PARADISE CAKE: One of the items the bakery is known for is the Paradise Cake, which is layered guava, passion fruit, and lime chiffon cake with fruit glaze on the top.

Paradise Cake slice

We bought a slice to take home to enjoy. I liked the guava and passion fruit layers. There's so many different flavors going on that you can't get bored! It's not overly rich either, which is something I liked.

King's Hawaiian Pies

HAUPIA PIE: Since we came out of our way to this bakery, I wanted to make the most of this experience. I had wanted to try haupia pie when I was in Hawaii, but wasn't able to so I decided to buy a slice from King's Hawaiian.

Haupia Pie

Haupia pie is essentially a pie filled with a coconut milk filling. The first slice is always the most difficult to get out of the pan so it wasn't too pretty when the girl placed it in the box for us. It looked like a decadent treat, but it was surprisingly NOT sweet nor rich! The Paradise Cake was a sugarload compared to this pie. I don't know how authentic it is since I have nothing to compare it to, but I wouldn't mind ordering it again at other places to compare any differences.

King's Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Cookies

MACADAMIA NUT COOKIES: oOoooo... these cookies were yummy! They're like the crunchy Asian almond cookies I grew up loving, but made with macadamia nut! If anyone has a recipe, please share! :)

King's Hawaiian Muffins

MUFFINS: And finally, some muffins. Pumpkin, apple, and lemon... or was it pineapple? I actually don't remember what was ordered. My mom wanted these and selected the flavors. I just remembered they were rather unremarkable, ordinary muffins. There were a lot more interesting things to try at the bakery so I'll be passing on these in future visits.

Ah, King's Hawaiian... a taste of Hawaii a little closer to home (though, not close enough to go there regularly :x ). If I can't get to Hawaii, at least I have you. Or your bruddah, The Local Place, which is also on my list of places to try. :)

Mitsuwa - Japanese Gourmet Food Fair 2011

Mitsuwa Market

MITSUWA
21515 Western Ave
Torrance, CA 90501

A couple of weeks back, Mitsuwa hosted a "Umaimono Gourmet Fair," which featured Japanese delicacies straight from Japan!

Rice Crackers Booth + Samples

This had "Culinary Adventure" written all over it! Many booths offered free samples, while others showed demos of how their specialties were made.

Utsunomiya Gyoza Tenou Booth + Demo

The thing I was most looking forward to trying was the special ramen offered by Kitahama Shoten, a ramen place from Hakodate, Hokkaido with Chef Hideyuki Haniu.

Kitahama Shoten Ramen Booth

KITAHAMA SHOTEN SHIRO MISO RAMEN: I'm actually not a big miso ramen person (I prefer tonkotsu or shio style), but I had to try this "No. 1"-rated ramen. The broth itself was slightly sweet and the noodles were a little softer than I usually like, but the chasiu was delicious! The fat literally melted in your mouth. Yumm~

Kitahama Shoten Shiro Miso Ramen ($9.80 + tax)

KITAHAMA SHOTEN HAKODATE SHIO RAMEN: I came to this food fair with my mom so she got the other style of ramen that was offered. "Shio" means "salt" in Japanese so this ramen had a salty broth with the same mouthwatering chasiu. The toppings were slightly different from my miso ramen, but we both agreed that we liked the Hakodate Shio Ramen more.

Kitahama Shoten Hakodate Shio Ramen ($9.80 + tax)

KUKURU TAKOYAKI: One of my favorite demo booths featured takoyaki, which are dough balls stuffed with pieces of octopus and covered with takoyaki sauce, mayo, bonito shavings, and seaweed powder. Takoyaki is a popular festival street snack in Japan. Usually, takoyaki is served in an open container so you can enjoy them immediately and the steam can escape, but Kukuru placed their takoyaki in an enclosed paper box, which ended up making my takoyaki really mushy. :(

Kukuru Takoyaki Booth + Demo (8 balls for $6.90+tax)

Check out Kukuru's Mascot

LAPOPPO APPLE POTATO PIE: The Lapoppo booth demonstrated how to bake an "Apple Potato Pie."

Lady selling Baked Sweet Potato and Sweet Potato Stick Snacks

Chef making "Apple Potato Pie"

I love baking so I had to try this strange apple and potato pie. Who ever heard of potato in a sweet pie anyway??

Burger Adventure: Fuddruckers

Fuddruckers

Fuddruckers
221 N San Fernando Blvd
Burbank, CA 91502

After a fun Conan TV taping and some tasty treats at Porto's Bakery, my friends and I headed over to Fuddruckers for dinner. Fuddruckers is a build-your-own burger joint that I've heard about but never visited before.

Fuddruckers Menu

Basically, you order the foundation of your burger (type of meat, size of your patty, cheese, and any special toppings) at the window and add the veggies and condiments yourself at the other stations. I say "type of meat" because Fuddruckers offers an "Exotics" menu that includes wild boar, elk, buffalo, or whatever other game is in season.

Fuddruckers Veggie Station

Fuddruckers cooks up your burger fresh to order. Once they call your number, you bring your burger to the Veggie Station to add whatever you want in whatever proportions you want. Here, you can add lettuce (whole leaf and shredded), tomatoes, onions (rings and diced), different pickles, relish, salsa, and chili peppers.

Fuddruckers Condiment Station

At the Condiment Station, you can add your regular ketchup, mustard, and mayo, but they also carry some more interesting condiments like BBQ sauce, nacho cheese, nacho jalapeno cheese, Tabasco, malt vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.

Heinz 57 Sauce

They even carry Heinz 57 Sauce, which I've never had before. It tasted a little like slightly sweetened Lucas.

My Kid's Meal - cheeseburger, fries, and a cookie

This is how my burger turned out. Rather messy, I know, but it was pretty tasty. I actually ordered the Kid's Meal Cheeseburger because I didn't want to eat a huge third-pound or half-pound burger. I was scared the cashier wouldn't let me since the menu said it was for kids 12 and under, but fortunately, the cashier didn't say anything. The Kid's Meal came with a burger, fries, cookie, and souvenir cup (not pictured here, but it's in the photo of the Veggie Station). Honestly, the fries weren't anything spectacular and I've had better cookies, but I liked the burger with its buttered bun and beefiness. Next time, I'll order this without the cheese since the Condiment Station carries nacho cheese.

Elk Burger

Here's my friend's Elk Burger with cheese and grilled mushrooms. He ordered it medium, but it came out rather rare. I got to try a bite and the best way I can describe it is that it was like beef without the beefiness... so like... bland beef? It didn't really impress me and the rareness was off-putting so the Elk Burger is not for me. My friend didn't seem to be wow-ed by his burger either so maybe we're just not elk burger people.

Ultimately, I enjoyed my first experience at Fuddruckers and don't mind coming back.

Bakery Adventure: Porto's Bakery

Porto's Bakery
3614 W Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, CA 91504

A place that's been on my "To Try" list for the longest time, Porto's Bakery is one of those bakeries that everyone and their mothers (including my own mother!) have tried, but has somehow slipped through my fingers. I've heard my friends rave about it, but I never got the chance to try it until I found myself in the Burbank area for a Conan taping. It's located a little less than a mile away from the studio so it finally all worked out for me. Yay!

We got there around 6pm-ish and the lines on both the cafe side and bakery side were massive. I have a feeling it was all people who just got off work or finished a TV taping (like myself! :P). I could've sworn some of the guys in the line were in the audience with me!

Porto's selection of baked goods is so large, I honestly wasn't sure where to begin. I knew I had to try their potato balls, cheese rolls, and guava and cheese rolls, but there was so much more to choose from, I was a bit overwhelmed!

Just look how yummy their cakes look!

Here's a recap of all the things I tried:

Potato Ball ($0.90 each)

POTATO BALL: I bought 5 potato balls so I could eat one fresh and take the rest home for my family. These are fried mashed potato balls with a chili-like meat filling. The filling had a slight, but distinct bell pepper flavor. I'm personally not a big fan of bell peppers (I have to be in the mood to eat them) so I didn't really like the filling too much, but it was tasty overall. My bro engulfed his and when he finished he said, "I think I ate mine too fast. I want another." Haha! Too bad I only had one for each of us, but next time I'll know to buy more.

Opera Cake ($2.95)

OPERA CAKE SLICE: Has anyone seen the anime "Yumeiro Patissiere"? This is the cake that Kashino makes for his sister to convince her to allow him to become a pastry chef. Haha, because of that, I wanted to try it for myself. This cake tasted just like tiramisu, but with chocolate ganache. The official description stated that it was "Almond sponge cake soaked in coffee, layer of chocolate ganache, layer of mocha butter cream. Topped with chocolate." The slice itself isn't too big, but it's very rich. I cut pieces off to share with my friends, which left a little more than half the slice for myself and even that was a little too much for me. I love tiramisu and chocolate so this was really good, but I can only have it in small doses. 

Top: Cheese Rolls ($0.70 each), Guava and Cheese Roll ($0.75 each)
Bottom: Dulce de Leche Kiss ($0.50 each), Raspberry Kiss ($0.50 each), Blueberry Muffin ($1.15)

CHEESE ROLL: One of my friends loves these and almost bought 2 dozen, but he settled of just one dozen. These were very similar to a cheese danish but with a sugar coating instead of icing. The outside is like a flaky, buttery croissant with a outer sugar crust and slightly sweetened cream cheese filling. I thought they were pretty good, but didn't particularly like the sugar crust. I'd still buy these again though.

REFUGIADO (GUAVA AND CHEESE PASTRY): This was made of flaky puff pastry with a guava and cream cheese filling. I'm normally okay with guava, but I didn't really like this. It has a distinct guava flavor and when my mom bit into it, she knew instantly that she had had this pastry before. My bro doesn't like guava so he didn't like this at all. I won't be buying this pastry again.

DULCE DE LECHE KISS: This cookie has a buttery, shortbread-like outside with a dulce de leche filling. I really liked these. The center was chewy and not overly sweet even though they were dusted with powdered sugar. While I was in line, a few of the people ahead of me each bought a dozen of these so I thought I'd give them a try. I'm very glad I did and will be buying these again next time.

RASPBERRY KISS: These reminded me of the Knott's Berry Farm cookies. They had the same cookie outside as the Dulce de Leche Kiss, but with a raspberry filling. They actually reminded my brother of a Nutrigrain bar or a Fig Newton. Although they were tasty, I would pass on these the next time I go to Porto's.

BLUEBERRY MUFFIN: I thought this was a solid blueberry muffin with a lot of blueberries. I bought this because my friend's cousin recommended it, but I still like the fresh mini muffins from Souplantation the most. I wouldn't buy this muffin again in future visits, but I might try one of their other muffins.

Materva ($1.40)

MATERVA: And lastly, the Materva. According to the menu, this was an international soda that's only available at the Glendale and Burbank bakeries. I wasn't sure if I should choose the Materva, Malta, or Inca Cola (which are all only available at the Glendale or Burbank locations), but the saleslady suggested the Materva so I got that. (Haha, I bet I could've gotten this cheaper at a Hispanic supermarket! xP) Anyways, Materva is a yerba mate soda that tastes like red licorice in soda form. I'm not a big soda person so I only finished half the can, but it was interesting to try. Needless to say, I won't be getting this again.

Alritey, that concludes my adventure to Porto's. I wouldn't mind going back if I'm ever in the neighborhood again. There are also locations in Glendale and Downey so if those are closer to you, don't be afraid to check them out if you haven't already! (Haha, though I bet you already have since EVERYONE has tried Porto's! Now, including myself! :) ) 

Until the next adventure...

Conan TV Taping 05.26.2011

Hi all! :)

I recently scored tickets to see a Conan O'brien TV taping (Episode 1098 on 05/26/2011)! :O I know, I know... HOW DO I KEEP GETTING TICKETS TO ALL THESE RANDOM EVENTS!? Haha, I honestly don't know, but I consider myself VERY lucky! :) Conan tickets are given out by lottery so it's really all in the luck of the draw. I actually originally got tickets to the May 13th taping, but that show got cancelled and the Conan team rebooked me for the May 26th taping.

Being a Thursday, it was rather difficult finding people to go with me, but I managed to wrangle up 2 other friends.

Wristbands

We got there around 1pm. Even though it was still way ahead of the 2:30pm check-in deadline, I would recommend going there even earlier. We had to go through security, have our ID's checked, and then check in with the PAs (production assistants?), who gave us wristbands, our tickets, and a group number. Then, we were free to roam around the waiting area or leave to grab something to eat. The group number served to keep our place in line so I would suggest going early so you get a lower number and then going out to lunch somewhere nearby.

Tickets, Group Number, and Email Confirmation

Group #28 landed us in the middle of the right section of the audience, which isn't too bad, but it would've been cool sitting closer.

Burrito and Torta Truck

As we waited, one of the PAs informed us about a food truck that usually parks outside so when it came, we decided to try it. Neither I nor one of my friends had eaten lunch and it is always a good idea to eat before a TV taping. (I'm speaking from experience. *cough* Mad TV *cough* Catch 21 *cough* It's never fun finding yourself almost starving in the middle of filming! x__x)

Asada Torta

The truck itself was one of those no name "original" food trucks that mainly served burritos and tortas. (Haha, there's no fancy fusion food like kimchi quesadillas or honey feta fries here.) I got the carne asada torta. (Sorry about the crappy picture quality. These pics were all taken with my phone's camera since we aren't allowed to have camera cameras.) The meat was a bit on the dry side but the ingredients seemed fresh and it was a good pre-TV taping meal.

Water and Music Provided

Something that I loved about Conan's waiting area was that they provided water for everyone and music for people to listen to. They're so considerate of their audience! (When I went to the Mad TV taping ages ago, we had to stand outside in the sun waiting in line. Not fun.) Also, I wanted to note that the security guards are friendly and helpful too! It must be great working there! As a total aside, they also have some of the nicest port-a-potties I've ever been in. They still smell bad like regular port-a-potties, but there's AC and automatic sinks! Strange and yet kind of cool...

Conan T-shirt ($30 there, but $25 online)

Back of the Shirt

There was also a small merchandise shop that opened up while we waited. They had shirts, hats, and wristbands. I caved and ended up buying the shirt above because I liked the color and how the back said "I WAS THERE". (When I came home, I checked online and found that it was cheaper buying it online! D:< The prices were different for the women's shirts for some reason (with some being more expensive online while others were cheaper) so I suggest double checking the online prices before going to the taping if you're considering buying something.)

The waiting area

At 3pm, they started escorting groups to the studio. We were in the 3rd group (Groups #21-30). We walked through the WB lot and got to see where they film The Big Bang Theory (which is across from the old Friends set), Two and a Half Men, and a few other studios. I didn't get to take any photos since they made us turn off our phones, but the guests for the day were Dana Carvey, Mike Zohn & Evan Michelson (from Obscura Antiques and Oddities), and Tinie Tempah. The guests themselves didn't really interest me, but it was a fun experience. I was really hoping Tinie Tempah would sing more than one song (maybe even off camera for the audience present), but that didn't happen which was a bit disappointing.

Some things I noticed while filming: Andy Richter is actually a lot bigger in person! When he stood next to our MC warm-up/prep guy, it looked like Penn and Teller! Haha! The stage itself is also a lot smaller in person. As Dana Carvey said during filming, it really is a rather "intimate" experience. Case and point: one of the guys in the audience had a sign asking, "Can we touch your hair?" and during one of the breaks, Conan went up to him and let him touch his hair! How cool is that!? Just goes to show that Conan really cares about keeping his audience happy! :D

As we were leaving the taping, some people from the Lopez Tonight show stopped us and asked if we wanted to go to his taping. I wanted to because the guests seemed interesting (Randy Jackson, Russell Peters, and someone from Kiss), but my friends wanted to leave to go to the bathroom instead. -.- Perhaps next time... It's alright we didn't get to see them though. It gave us time to go to Porto's Bakery and grab dinner at Fuddruckers.

Conan Check-In is on Level 1

One thing I wanted to see before we left was the Warner Brother's tower, but I missed it! One of my friends spotted it as we were driving, but when we turned, a big building got in the way. Bummer... :( Oh wellz... next time, rite? ;)

"We're walking... we're walking... and we're stopping..." ~ Miss Information (Yay for everyone who remembers Animaniacs! :P)