Why would they name it after that?

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury) 12/08/2015 at 00:52 • Filed to: None

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One of my favorite things that my mom makes after Thanksgiving, using the leftover dark turkey meat, is a humongous pot or two of juk. For those that aren’t familiar with it, juk is a Korean rice porridge that also goes by congee , jook , okayu and many other names depending on the country. It’s a staple throughout Asia, eaten any time of the day but frequently at breakfast. I personally like mine with a healthy serving of kimchi, another thing mom makes from scratch (my folks had to get a second, smaller, refrigerator in the kitchen because dad didn’t like the kimchi and other similar things stinking up the main fridge).

Nobody in my family is Asian - we’re just a collection of European mutts (German and Lithuanian on my dad’s side, Ukranian and Polish on mom’s) living in Southern California. Ever since I was a small child my mother has been studying and preparing all varieties of Asian cuisine, and has gotten quite proficient to the point where one of her instructors offered her a job as a chef at a new Vietnamese restaurant she was about to open; mom turned down the job because she likes to experiment whilst cooking and wouldn’t be content cooking someone else’s recipes day in and day out.

Anyway, a few years back I heard something on the news about Nissan unveiling some new breakthrough sporty crossover SUV thing to appeal to today’s hip and trendy youts (yeah, whatever...) called the Juke. I didn’t hear it as Juke , but instead as juk , and started to wonder why in the hell they would name a car after a delicious type of gruel. Oh, right, that’s probably not what they had in mind...

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 12/08/2015 at 01:01

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I’m impressed your family makes their own kimchi considering you live in southern California. I live in Northern California and my family just goes to the local Korean supermarket to get kimchi.

Also, century/thousand year old egg congee is AMAZING! Poultry in congee just reminds me of being sick as a kid since it’s analogous to chicken noodle soup for americans while sick.

Wheelerguy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 12/08/2015 at 01:09

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Ah, congee. I like mine plain, with a teaspoon of garlic and some chives, but I eat other congee, too. Congee is love.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 12/08/2015 at 01:17

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I moved to the midwest a few years back for a job, so I have to go to the local market to get my kimchi fix. It’s just not the same, but at least I was able to find it. Missouri is not exactly known for culinary adventure.

Years back mom wanted to make some of those thin Korean pancakes but wanted to do it from scratch instead of using the simple boxed mix. She wasn’t having much luck so she went next door to talk to the neighbor, Sandy, who was actually born in Korea. As it turns out, Sandy doesn’t make them from scratch but instead uses the boxed mix...

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 12/08/2015 at 01:38

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That sucks. Yeah there definitely is something special about properly home made kimchi.

Man, now I’m seriously salivating thinking about kimchi, congee, Chinese crullers and pho.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Wheelerguy 12/08/2015 at 01:41

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Have you tried it with black bean garlic sauce (bonus points if you add peanuts)? It’s so simple yet so delicious.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 12/08/2015 at 01:51

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Pho - oh yes . There’s a street around here, Grand Blvd., that has really been revitalized over the last few years. Lots of nice looking shops and a dozens of restaurants featuring cuisine from all over the world, but there’s something just a little too polished about everything on this street. But a mile or two south, in a rather seedy looking neighborhood, is an interesting looking Vietnamese place that I just have to try. Something tells me that it is going to be a more authentic experience.

I had a similar issue when trying to find authentic Mexican food like I grew up with. Too many chains, too much Tex-Mex, not enough authenticity. I knew if I could find a place that served all the stuff no midwestern gringo would eat (brain, stomach, tongue, cheek, etc.) I knew I’d be OK. And not two miles from my old office I found such a place and became a bit of a regular. As it turned out, it was owned and run by a family that moved to STL from SoCal...

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 12/08/2015 at 01:57

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Yep, that’s generally the consensus from my experience. The polished places just don’t have that extra bit of flavor that the somewhat seedy and greasy floored restaurants have. Especially when it’s vietnamese food. Chinese food can go either way though. You either want a super high roller restaurant for the exquisite seafood or a greasy restaurant for the homey greasy authentic stuff.

Oh god, yes. All those are amazing. I remember back in college I’d get tongue tacos from a Mexican place near campus. Good times.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 12/08/2015 at 02:04

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Speaking of greasy restaurants, I just remembered the lobster down in SoCal. Regardless of the reason I am down there I always make time to go and get the lobster. Absolutely amazing. Seafood Cove #1 (#2 isn’t that great) is my go to place for that.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 12/08/2015 at 02:11

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My favorite cheap Chinese place around here is just north of the Projects in a converted Shell station. Unlike some of those cheap places that just pour the pre-made stuff into a warming tray, you can actually see the chef in the back frying away in a slew of woks. It’s a hell of a meal for $5.50.

I did chat with a homeless guy out in front of the place one day. He did cleanup around the store and was a pretty cool dude. I was new to the area and he was telling me about all of the neighborhoods he’s lived in over the years. I mentioned where I live and his reply was “ oh I wouldn’t go down there...”

Now that my folks are retired, dad spends a bit more time fixing things around the house himself. One day the microwave above the stove failed, so he took it apart and took the broken component to the local appliance parts shop. “ Is your wife Asian by chance?” the counterman asked my dad. As it turns out, in households where they do a lot of stir frying, the aerosolized oil tends to settle inside of nearby appliances, like the microwave, causing them to fail prematurely. In order to preserve the replacement microwave, stir frying is now done on the patio; they’ve got a big-ass grille, plumbed into the gas line in the house, that has stove-like burner off to the side. Being SoCal, there is rarely weather that prevents this from being used year round.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 12/08/2015 at 02:26

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A local landmark in Newport Beach, the same guy has owned this place since 1951. Some of my earliest memories, dating back to the early ‘70s, was stopping by this place with my family for at least a bowl of clam chowder. Other than the prices, I don’t think this place has changed much in the 40+ years I’ve been going there.

When I finally return home, even if just for a visit, this place is the second place I want to hit, right after In ‘n Out Burger. When I lived in SoCal and had out of town visitors this was one of the first places I’d take them, and lots of them still comment on that place years later.

If I ever become stupid rich, one of the first things I’m going to do is buy a place on the Balboa peninsula, preferably within walking distance of this restaurant. Not to lose my Jalop credibility, I will also get an expensive car of some sort, probably an E34 M5, to park in said beach house, but the house comes first - location, location, location.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 12/08/2015 at 02:34

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Well now I HAVE to try this place. Seafood in SoCal just has a special addicting quality to it for me. Although it might be from the nostalgia I have from visiting relatives down there as a kid.

No arguments from me here. If I ever manage to make a large enough sum of money I would get a vacation home down in SoCal somewhere with an M6 GranCoupe for cruising around and eating all the glorious food.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 12/08/2015 at 03:00

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M6 Gran Coupe - good choice. I couldn’t think of a modern BMW that I wanted, but I forgot about that one.

A good portion of the fish is caught right off the coast of Newport by the local dory fleet ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dory_Fish… ). You couldn’t get fresher unless you caught it yourself and ate it on the boat. And that reminds me of another favorite seedy restaurant story...

Years ago, on a family vacation in Hawaii, we took an all-day tour of all of the islands, shuttling around on an old Beech 18 (I got to sit in the co-pilot’s seat for at least half of the day so I was in heaven, and this probably explains why I fly FSX around Hawaii most of the time). Anyway, on Maui they took us over to a dumpy little hotel near the airport called the Maui Palms Hotel. Inside was the most amazing Japanese buffet you’d ever experienced, complete with platters full of fresh sushi and sashimi amongst other Japanese dishes. Every time we’d go back to Maui we’d always have to go to the Maui Palms for dinner at least once, even though it was 30+ miles from our hotel. Mom and I loved it (we like dives that cater to locals), and my sister and dad went along reluctantly (they prefer fancier, high-end kind of places that appeal to tourists).

Fast forward 15 years, and I take a trip to Maui with a co-worker who spent the last 20 years of her life living in Sweden. I tell her about this place, and we agree to make the drive. We get there and the hotel is dark. Closed. Out of business. Damn! I had been looking forward to that meal for years and now the place is shut down. I tell her that I just need to get out and see the old place and reminisce for a moment before we find somewhere else to eat. I slowly, glumly meander over to the darkened restaurant and notice a hand-written note in the window apologizing for the closure but informing anybody that went that far that the Japanese buffet had moved to the hotel next door! Score!!! And yes, it was as good as I remembered.

Combining the Maui Palms hotel and The Crab Cooker, I had a manager in my Calgary station go on vacations to both Orange County (being Canadian he was going down to watch the Flames play my home team, the Ducks) and Maui. I let him know about both of these places, figuring that inside knowledge is the best when it comes to optimizing vacations. When he got back from OC he asked me why in the hell I would ever leave there to move to St. Louis, and other than trying to avoid homelessness (I was laid off and a job in my field came up in STL), I really didn’t have a good answer.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 12/08/2015 at 03:19

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Good god that sounds like an amazing adventure. I could just eat sashimi for days. Last time I was in Hawaii I begrudgingly could not eat any of the local food (my parents booked the accommodations so I was stuck eating food they were familiar with which is not good at all in Hawaii). I decided that next time I go to Hawaii I will eat ALL the glorious food and drink a bunch of Mai Tais.

That sucks man. Hopefully things work out for you to be able to return to SoCal.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 12/08/2015 at 03:40

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Or Hawaii. I could live there. I once had the opportunity to transfer to Oahu for 18 months when I worked for a defense contractor, but a palace coup gone wrong meant I transferred off that project to take over at our main office and ended up getting laid off (unrelated to the coup - just seriously bad timing), whilst the guys I transferred over there got to keep their jobs. Oops - that didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Another anecdote from that all-island tour, this time actually automotive related. We landed at Kalaupapa airport on the north side of Molokai. It’s a little peninsula where the last remaining leper colony exists (at least in the US). You can get there by boat, aircraft, or a donkey ride down the side of a cliff - no roads connect it to the rest of the island.

Anyway, we landed and took a van to our campsite for lunch. One of the things I noticed near a cane field was an old ‘60s or ‘70s Chrysler wagon that had seen better days. Obviously in a tropical environment there is a lot of rust, but in this case most of the body was just plain gone. You could see through to the steel members under the body panels that gave the body its structure, but there really wasn’t any body to speak of. No roof, no floors, just a dirty, rusty skeleton on a chassis. I wondered to myself how long that car must have been sitting there abandoned and untouched to be in such a state, figuring that it had to be at least a decade for it to look like that. And as we sat there eating lunch, it drove by...