Breakfast would be at the restaurant inside Ranch 99,
one that I've always walked by or peered into but never ate at, until today...
Sam Woo is not a person but a Romanizaton of the Cantonese pronunciation of "triple harmonies" which are heaven, earth and humanity according to Feng Shui principles; I also read that it also meant "man and nature in harmony".
Damn, I was really hoping it was named after a Chinese guy or as racist conservative commentator Ann Coulter would say, a "Mandarin" (WTH! Someone shut that ig'nant bitch up!).
We got there right when it opened...8:30. Several others were already seated and waiting to be served.
It's nice to be early and beat the crowds. By the time we left, the place was nearly packed. This would be my first Chinese breakfast and as an added treat, a belated birthday breakfast from Cathy.
We shared #3 (fried noodles with bean sprouts), #8 (Fish fillet porridge), #11 (roast duck with noodles soup), and #14 (beef brisket with noodle soup); each entree was $4.25. If you look at Cathy's posts from previous years, you will see that the price has steadily risen from $2.50 to the present price point.
Hot coffee was only .30, which is served with a small container of condensed milk. She also ordered hot tea as well (also .30).
The beef brisket noodle soup (thin egg vermicelli noodles, hidden) with napa cabbage. I liked the actual meat pieces but not the fatty parts. The soup had a good flavor as well. I was afraid it would be too "five spice" flavored but it wasn't.
Roast duck and noodles soup - The duck skin was pretty tasty and it was good having the noodles on the side so you could control how much you wanted with your broth.
The Fish Fillet porridge was nice and warm. It reminded me of arroz caldo but with fish and with out green onions and fried garlic pieces on top. There were tiny slivers of ginger in there as well. To give this flavor. we used the chili oil provided on each table.
Fried noodles and bean sprouts with soy sauce. This was a texture I wasn't used to having for breakfast, something crunchy. I ended up using this as a topping for my beef brisket soup! I liked the crunchiness of this.
This was quite the feast for breakfast (there were even leftovers to enjoy which Bert did later on this evening). As we left, I was going to take a photo of the whole hanging fried pig carcass but the work hacked off a big piece so now it looks like this:
I liked that there was a bowl underneath to catch the drippings. I wouldn't have minded tasting some of that Wilbur/Babe skin!
We got some grocery shopping done that morning as well. It wasn't so crowded yet despite it being Memorial Day weekend. I also got to learn about different types of chickens from Cathy. The top shelf had the expensive Jidori chicken. This one was the brown chicken which also cost more than the regular kinds. The next photo underneath this had the silky chicken, which has a black skin. I've never eaten these before and maybe might consider it for a future cooking experiment.
This was Cathy's favorite longanisa...another must try next time item.
I always find this amusing, the ballz assortment.
"Simulated" lobster ball eh?
When TC was young, we didn't need to go to an aquarium...we went to Ranch 99. Seriously man.
Those were huge prawns (spotted to be exact) and same with the ginormous lobsters and crabs!
This was a pretty large octopus in frozen form. Only $35 too.
My obligatory shot of the candy aisle which also includes cough drops because cough drops = candy if you're a grandpa or grandma. TC used to hate being offered candy by my dad because it was always a Hall's cough drop or something like that.
On the top shelf of their Indonesian products aisle were these packages of chocolate sprinkles. Eating these on top of bread is a thing in the Netherlands. Apparently, it is also a childhood treat in Australia. Bread with the crusts cut off, slathered with butter and topped with a ton of sprinkles (in Australia this treat is called "fairy bread" and sprinkles are called "hundreds and thousands"). Wow. just wow. Sprinkles on bread. I can feel the cavities growing already just looking at this.
We admired the fierce looking Farmer (wearing capris too, noted Cathy) adorning this garlic peanuts snack.
In the aisle next to the take out food place were random food items like rock sugar...
and packages of hot pot flavoring mix (Little Sheep brand)...
as well as shallot sauce in a can. I am curious about this now.
My curiosity is now satisfied. I found this cool commercial of this same brand of sauce!
and this one too:
I like that it shows how one can use this product. Not being Chinese, I didn't grow up eating this so it's fascinating to me, heh heh. Now I want to buy a can of this!
The Mister said this section was the only "American" section of the store - the processed lunch meats and hot dogs as well as Lunchables (which are terrible in my opinion; I never bought those for TC when she was small, ugh).
There's a whole cold case of prepared foods...
I hadn't been to this bakery is a few years, when my neighbor and I were looking for the Chinese version of Portuguese tarts. This time, I ended up getting a selection of other types of pastries and breads, some of which were half off (day old).
The two for one deal were the almond puff sticks and the blueberry puff muffins (these were very light in weight). I got the sesame bread to give it a try as well as Cathy and the Mister's favorite pastry, the milk bun with cheese inside (it had an interesting powdery texture and sweet flavor).
I want this again! The puff pastry was on top and the rest of the pastry was incredibly soft. I loved it.
Here's what I bought - spicy peanuts with Sichuan peppercorns (Kirbie bought me these before), Taiwan beer for Bert, Nata de Coco mango flavor for TC, plus banana chips (Filchips; we thought the name of the brand was funny) and by special request, TC's favorite flavor combo for Hi-Chew candies.
Cathy also gifted me with these food items, which was exciting and also fascinating. Bert will have to make those chocolate chip mint pancakes for me!
The Better Made brand potato sticks snack comes from her hometown, Detroit. Bert was happy to see these as it was one of his favorite snacks as a kid. The "prize" for the Cracker Jacks is no longer an actual toy. It is now a website link that you type into your computer for a free game. Huh! What fun is that? Times have changed. I guess the manufacturers can't put in non-food items in a food item for fear of kids choking on them?
The wafer package above comes from this box (below; image courtesy of Cathy). Her husband bought several boxes on clearance last year when Haggens was going out of business. These wafers are higher priced but are quite delicate with a very intense sugary filling. The wafers are quite thin and just three of them are just enough for that sugar rush. Unless you snarf them down and then you'll be bouncing off the walls.
I was happy to get some cold brew as well, individual hazelnut spread packets, a lemon lime flavored coconut water packaged in a fake coconut husk, thin Austrialian water crackers (now we need pate or hummus), and healthy apple chips!
Like in Zion, these typese of mushrooms are so cheap ($1.79, $2.39; I forget which kinds where what but compare to Sprouts where these packages are $4.99 each).
I sauteed the mushrooms with onions and ginger, added some eggplant, green onions and napa cabbage. I seasoned it with soy sauce then added water so the vegetables could braise with the lid on. A meatless dish done on the fly.
It was a fun and productive morning!
Other bloggers' posts on Sam Woo:
Here's one I dug from Kirk's vaults, Sept. 2005 (prices, of course have risen since then!) along with
Cathy's original posts from 2007: Part 1 and Part 2 (lunch specials) + her posts on their breakfasts April 2009, "The Day After Thanksgiving Breakfast" (Nov. 2011) + a more recent one this year where she and the Mister celebrated Chinese New Year; and last but not least, Kirbie's post from 2009.
Update - Here's a few more bloggers' posts on other meals at Sam Woo:
Faye has a great post featuring many other dishes I'd never seen (salt and pepper oysters? I want to try that!) and Jinxi; both posts are from 2013 and 2012 respectively.
Previous visit to Ranch 99
"A trio of ethnic markets: Seafood City, Ranch 99 and Zion" July 2015
Previous visit to Desir Bakery
"E & Drink 3x plus a tale of two tarts" July 2013
Sam Woo BBQ
7330 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite 103
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 505-9888
There is no website/reviews from you know where
It's always fun hanging out with Cathy and her Mister!
8 comments:
Ooh I actually love that shallot sauce, haha. It's a staple in Taiwanese cooking and is used in one of Taiwan's most iconic "comfort food" dishes, minced pork rice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minced_pork_rice
We'll have to do an Asian cuisine potluck sometime :D
What a fun recap of that morning! The breakfast was great and so were all the shopping 'finds'. Your stir fry was inspiring for one of our no meat meals.
Hi Jinxi
Oh wow! That's so cool! Now I definitely need to buy that! I wish it came in a smaller can though. Let me know when you want to do Asian cuisine potluck! That would be so fun! I'm down for that.
It certainly was a fun morning...and productive too. I discovered new favorite pastries and also the magic of the shallot sauce! The stir fry should last for the next few days. I like to cook two things on weekends so I don't have to cook that week.
That was a great post! I have yet to visit Sam Woo for breakfast. I thought the breakfast was only offered on weekends for some reason. I love visiting Sam Woo when you see the roast duck being hung - that's when you know it'll be hot and fresh. Did you notice the time the duck and pig (Wilbur reference was funny as all heck) were put out? I always thought it was around 11a?
They must have new seafood tanks at 99 Ranch. Friend and I were just talking about the seafood section and he says his stomach gets queazy when he visits that section. Not by the sights of the live/dead seafood but the strong smell he gets every time (he says, and I quote, 'must mouth breathe in this section').
I love the mushroom/napa stir fry. That looks very homey. My grandmother used to make that for us and her secret ingredients, to add to the dish, were dried shrimp and hondashi.
Happy belated bday -
Thanks Faye! I'll have to try Sam Woo for their other dishes. I like seeing hanging ducks and pigs, especially when they're roasted (and hopefully juicy with crispy skin, ha ha). The ducks were out when I got there at 830. I think the pig was there too.
I did not notice a smell in the seafood tank section. It's really not that bad at all like at some other places. I kind of feel bad for the lobsters, shrimps and crabs that are just packed into those tanks. They can barely move.
Thank you for your kind words about my stir fry. I like that the mushrooms are meaty enough to kind of count as meat...but not. It's pretty healthy I supose.
I haven't eaten here in so long! It's too bad the breakfast prices have gone up steadily, though it does still seem to be a pretty cheap meal.
I am actually going back soon...one of my friends wants to go there for breakfast after reading my post. That's good so we can try other items
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