I was in Texas for my sister’s college graduation (congrats!!) and Mother’s Day, and of course, in addition to spending time with friends and family (and catching up on sleep), I enjoyed a lot of great food. Here I present to you some of my favorite meals from the week!
Starting off with Chinese food:
Sesame bread (芝麻大餅) from First Emperor Barbecue in Richardson
Warm and fluffy, full of sesame and green onion, this is probably one of my favorite breads. Ever.
Of course, you’ve heard of Tex-Mex (I hope). I was fortunate enough to visit one of the best Tex-Mex restaurants in Ft. Worth, Yucatan Taco Shop:
Garlic shredded beef nachos from Yucatan Taco Shop in Ft. Worth
These nachos are ridiculous. As you can see, in addition to tender and delicious (and rather garlicky) shredded beef, there’s shredded lettuce, tomato, cheese, some sort of sour cream-based sauce, and a huge heaping of guacamole. You actually run of chips way before the toppings… And in case you were wondering, it all actually tasted pretty damn good together.
Something else that you should have heard of is Texas barbecue:
Feedstore BBQ & More in Southlake
Barbecue is basically heaven on Earth, seriously. And Texas has some of the best barbecue on Earth. This is one of them.
This little piggy, place right in front of the meat counter, was just too cute :P
Awesome beef brisket! :9
Pork ribs, corn, and coleslaw
Succulent. Smoky. Tender. Just perfect. Need I say more? This was definitely my top meal of the week.
Moving on to more Chinese food. My stepdad, who is Cantonese, took me to one of his favorite dim sum restaurants:
Char siu puff pastry (叉燒蘇) from Kirin Court in Richardson
Red bean sesame balls （芝麻球）
I loved the char siu puff pastry – you rarely see this item at most dim sum restaurants, and it’s always a treat when I see them. The char siu itself is really good, just sweet enough to complement the puff pastry perfectly. Also, the sesame balls were definitely some of the best that I’ve had in the States (yes, including California!). There was plenty of red bean filling, and the sticky rice was served warm and just the right balance of soft and chewy.
Last but definitely not least, I need to give a shout-out to my stepdad, who is one of the best cooks ever. He has 3 principles: 1) cooking has to be efficient (we’re busy and hungry!), 2) food should be healthy, 3) food should taste good. In his mind, these principles are not in conflict at all, and I am very inspired by his cooking style.
Home-cooked strip steak
He makes grilling a phenomenal steak look so easy! I am so stealing the cooking technique and recipe.
Home-made Greek-style salad
One of my favorite dishes, a simple salad of cucumber, tomatoes, olives, and walnuts tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette. It was super refreshing, just perfect for the Texas heat.
There, I hope that I’ve made you hungry enough for the evening. More food reviews of San Diego restaurants coming soon!
Jinxi Eats 