115531 Tue Mar 16 09:02:39 -0800 2004 20 7 Chicago Area 0 630347 As I am planning to spread the gospel of Ed's to a friend who has yet to eat here, I realized that I had misplaced a copy of GWiv's translated menus. The link from a prior post (http://www.sptsb.com/ed.htm) seems to not be working in this morning hour. Would someone with a copy mind to post it to the board or direct me to the working link? Thanks in advance. And while I've got you here... Any new dishes to try? I feel like my meals at Ed's are always "pork-heavy." Maybe because I always require the regular potstickers, the soup dumplings, and the scallion pancakes! Please advise on anything you've had recently that you have enjoyed (not a huge seafood or placenta fan). Ed's Potsticker House 3139 S. Halsted St. (312) 326-6898 ------- And on another note (I don't remember discussion of this yet): The wood-burning oven at Follia churns out excellent, authentic pizza. During a trip through Europe a few years ago I ate pizza in every city I visited. My favorite spot, believe it or not, was in Nice at someplace on the water. The pizza at Follia instantly took me back there. It had extremely fresh and bright flavors, a crust that complemented but did not dominate the sauce and cheese, and topped with a few leaves of peppery basil and a splash of fruity olive oil. IMHO, better than Pizza DOC. And at 10 dollars for a Margarita, the thought of pairing the pie with a bottle of red, sounds like a repeat visit is in order. BTW, the pastas were great and so was a dining companion's steak, but certainly not the relative bargain that the pizza was. The oven is out front for those in the dining room to see the pizza being prepared by hand ona granite surface so there is no doubt burning wood was nuturing the development of my dinner. Finally, we went on a weeknight when street parking was a free breeze, reservations were unneccessary, and conversation was easily held. I found the place (at least on a weeknight) to be less pretentious than metromix reviews would lead you to believe- I guess you take a deserved hit when the front of the place has manniquins modeling couture fashion. Follia 953 W. Fulton Ave. 312-243-2888 Tue Mar 16 09:02:39 -0800 2004 0 JChow 1 630382 One of my favorites at Ed's is the thinly sliced rice noodle with minced pork. The rice noodle is rolled and sliced into the size and shape of a nickle. The sauce in that dish is excellent. Tue Mar 16 13:05:14 -0800 2004 630347 0 YourPalWill 2 630434 Will, are those the "rice cakes" we had at the last Chowhound outing to Ed's? If so, they also get very high marks from me. I remember them being more like quarter sized but man were they tasty. Tue Mar 16 20:58:52 -0800 2004 630382 0 Octarine 3 630458 Hi, I have seen these rice noodles in the exact size and shape we had at Ed's at Chicago Food Corp. They are sold in the refrigerated section for a couple dollars for 1-2 pounds. I am still puzzled how to cook with them. I put a post on the general board recently, which suggested using them in a soup. Ed's preparation is very different from the classic Korean use for these rice noodle forms. I wish I had asked about preparation methods when I was at Ed's last week. If someone get's there before me, please ask and advise. Regards, Cathy2 Wed Mar 17 00:23:30 -0800 2004 630434 0 CAthy2 4 630471 I'm not sure about the soup variation, but my mom taught me how to make it stir-fried w/ vegetables. Basically, you just boil the rice cakes in some salted water till they're al dente. Then add them to the cooked vegetables and stir-fry a little longer. It's really good and pretty easy. You just have to watch out that you don't overcook the rice cakes. They will turn very gooey. I don't have the sauce ingredients off the top of my head, but it was basically sesame oil, soy sauce, and a little sugar. You can use any vegetables you'd like. I usually go w/ whatever's in the fridge that needs to be used up. Wed Mar 17 10:58:26 -0800 2004 630458 0 Janet C. 5 630525 Janet, Lincoln Noodle House does a nice version of rice cake with hot sauce and veggies, Zuk-Suk Tuk-Bok-Ki, cooked on a portable burner at the table. I am also quite keen on their Mul-Man-Doo, which are small broiled meat filled dumplings and completely addictive. Mul-Man-Doo are served with a dipping sauce, though I suggest asking for the hot sauce, which is actually a small bowl of hot chili paste mixed with dried fish and various other mystery ingredients, slightly salty, but quite addictive. LNH also has a very acceptable version of Bi-Bim-Bap, though the Dolsot version is not on the English menu and it is sometimes difficult to communicate, unless you speak Korean. LNH is a great little restaurant, clean, friendly, good basic Korean and very, and I do mean very, inexpensive. Enjoy, Gary Lincoln Noodle House 5862 N Lincoln Ave Chicago, IL. 60659 773-275-8847 Wed Mar 17 14:40:11 -0800 2004 630471 0 G Wiv 6 630559 Thanks, Gary. I actually have been to Lincoln Noodle a couple of times. I love their tofu casserole (?). I always forget the Korean name, but it's the one that comes sizzling in a clay pot and you crack a raw egg into it. What's the difference between the English menu Bi Bim Bop and the Dolsot version? I did have a bi bim bop there once, too, and it was pretty good. I had an order of their dumplings to go, but when I ate it at home, it seemed overly greasy. I liked the skin, though. I also like their red bean buns for dessert. Couldn't figure out if they're really homemade or from frozen, but don't really care either b/c they're delicious Wed Mar 17 20:22:10 -0800 2004 630525 0 Janet C. 7 630579 Dol sot bibimbap is bibimbap served in a heated stone bowl, which keeps the rice hot throughout your meal and has the bonus of a tasty crisped layer of rice at the bottom. LAZ Thu Mar 18 08:40:25 -0800 2004 630559 0 LAZ 2 630451 Those are "rice cake" dishes, one of my favorites. =) Rice cakes, a.k.a. Nian Gao (literally "higher and higher each new year), are made from sticky rice. There are also other types of rice cakes commonly seen in the Chinese New Year. They are usually sweetened, some with red beans, and can be eaten deep fried or steamed. Great for the New Year because of their auspicious name and the sweetness. Ed's rice cakes are the plain type to be cooked either stir-fried or in soup. I usually get my rice cakes in the asian grocery stores and make the dishes on my own. Yum! =) Those rice cakes available in the U.S.A. come in all types of shapes but are usually dehydrated. You don't always see the fresh rice cakes anywhere. Some of them are pre-sliced and ready-to-cook. Others, also pre-sliced, will have to be soaked in water (change the water everyday) from 3 to 7 days depending on the temperature. After they are well-soaked and softened, they're ready to wok-n-roll. I usually make mine with Chinese mushrooms, Chinese greens, wood ears, shrimps or slivered, velveted pork or chicken, and, most importantly, a nice homemade chicken broth. The key is to let the rice cakes take in the broth as much as they can (yeah be mean and push the limits), otherwise the rice cakes themselves are actually flavorless. While in the meantime the starch in the rice cakes will be "liberated" into the broth so as to make a creamy sauce clinging to everything tightly. Voila! I really love the way the rice cakes hugging my teeth. It's addictive. =) Rice cakes, along with other foods made from sticky rice, are harder to digest than white rice or noodles. Having some hot teas would help, though. Enjoy! Tue Mar 16 23:46:46 -0800 2004 630382 0 Maomi 3 630459 Hi, I guess I didn't read this post accurately the first time. You answered some of my questions about their use. These can be bought fresh at Chicago Food Corp, as I have bought some recently. Bought fresh, then threw them into the freezer! Now I have some direction for use ... thanks! Regards, CAthy2 Wed Mar 17 00:26:09 -0800 2004 630451 0 Cathy2 3 630491 Thanks for the clarification. Wed Mar 17 12:44:02 -0800 2004 630451 0 YourPalWill 1 630385 J, The host server was in for a tune-up, up and running now. Here's the url for Ed's menu. http://www.sptsb.com/ed.htm I'll link to photos of a recent impromptu Chowhound dinner we had at Ed's. Brenda, the owner, with input from RST, put together the meal and it was amazingly delicious. I just looked at the menus, but did not see, at least on what I have up, garlic eggplant aka fish fragrant eggplant, this is a must order, at least in my book. I also do not think the corn cakes are on a menu, ask for Brenda and you will have no trouble getting either the corn cakes or a memorable meal. Enjoy, Gary Ed's Corn Cake Link: http://www.sptsb.com/EdsPotsticker.htm Image: http://www.sptsb.com/EPCornCake.jpg Tue Mar 16 13:09:53 -0800 2004 630347 0 G Wiv 2 630413 Damn, that's some tasty looking food. Especially the potstickers. Might have to get in there late this Sunday afternoon during my brief trip up this weekend. Tue Mar 16 15:36:02 -0800 2004 630385 0 Steve Drucker 3 630427 Ditto on the tasty. Who knew to order corn cakes at a Chinese restaurant? Link: http://vitalinformation.blogspot.com Tue Mar 16 17:15:32 -0800 2004 630413 0 Vital Information 4 630431 Wow! I got all the heavyweights out to answer my query. I am looking forward to all your delicious suggestions. And so will the rookie I'm taking... PS: After years of driving by Spoon Thai, and endlessly and fruitlessly attempting to convince her to go, my fiance ran up to me with last months Chicago magazine in disbelief to see Spoon Thai in the Dining Section. I'll let you know what I think. Tue Mar 16 19:26:23 -0800 2004 630427 0 JChow 5 630436 Since the sad decline in overall quality of pretty much everything at Pizza DOC, I think Follia is making the best crafted, most authentic Roman/Neapolitan-style pizza in the city. A previous thread is linked. . . joel Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/114287#622109 Tue Mar 16 21:08:55 -0800 2004 630431 0 joel 6 630445 Follia is no longer uber-hip if it ever was. There were several families together when I ate there. The waitstaff seemed okay with this but the chefs looked upset the pizza guy was doing all the work. Our other food was pretty tasty nonetheless. Thank you for completing my thoughts about Follia with that article. From time to time I feel I should post on the board out of lurkers guilt. Tue Mar 16 22:38:41 -0800 2004 630436 0 JChow 1 630394 Do not miss the jelly starch noodle dish that G Wiv. photographed. Given that the noodles are made to order, it is one of the most *creative* dishes that I've had in a Chinese restaurant. R.S.T. remarked that this would be a fabulous summer dish. It wasn't too shabby on a cold, dreary night! The cumin lamb and the fish fragrant eggplant were also big winners. Geez, almost every thing we had was great. The corn cakes and the soup--which the waitress likened to sauerkraut--were personal revelations. Have fun, Erik M. Tue Mar 16 14:07:00 -0800 2004 630347 0 Erik M. 2 630452 Hi, There is a similar cornstarch jelly noodle dish at Dragon King. I found these noodles not easy to chew because they are so slippery. In fact, they even slipped down the throat. The dressing for these noodles includes freshly reconstituted mustard, which can sting your nose like horseradish. As a summer dish, it would counteract any hot, humid day ... but eat it fast before it melts! The sauerkraut soup, wasn't it made with Szechuan Preserved Vegetable, didn't impress me until the next day when I had it by itself for lunch. It was really very refreshing. The fish fragrant eggplant had a new cooking technique for eggplant. They cut the eggplants into sticks with walls 3/4 inch square, coated with corn starch then fried. The resulting eggplant had the texture and crunch of a french fry with a soft middle. In the fish fragrant sauce, it was outstanding. Of course, I could just eat the scallion pancakes filled the canadian bacon-ish, scallions and hoisin sauce. On this occasion, our dinner revolved around the $95 fixed menu with some additions and substitutions. Regards, Cathy2 Tue Mar 16 23:57:38 -0800 2004 630394 0 Cathy2 1 630456 With all the judgements Follia has against them in court I doubt he'll be there for long. Wed Mar 17 00:18:21 -0800 2004 630347 0 Vehrrtyte@aol.com 2 630482 Would it be possible to go into just a little bit more detail about the restaurant's problems? I was there about a month ago, and apart from the place being relatively empty, I couldn't tell that they might be having any difficulties, operationally or legally. joel Wed Mar 17 11:59:55 -0800 2004 630456 0 joel