Restaurant Review : Gatten Sushi

This week on pandagrub we are going to be doing a restaurant review of Gatten Sushi. Gatten Sushi is a sushi restaurant that serves sushi on a conveyor belt. When you see something you like on the conveyor belt grab it! After you finish eating stack your sushi plates up by color. Stacking up the plates will determine how much it costs.

Gatten Sushi's address is 1530 West Artesia Blvd. Gardena, CA 90248.

The panda in the picture above is named Little Dragon. Little Dragon is taking a ride on the conveyor belt!

Little Dragon is sitting with some edamame. 

Tobiko is the first sushi that Little Dragon picked. Tobiko is fish eggs and rice wrapped with seaweed. Little Dragon enjoyed the tobiko because it was very salty.

Little Dragon and I were very surprised to see takoyaki on the conveyor belt. Takoyaki is a fried dough ball that has a piece of squid in the middle. The takoyaki was very delicious because it was seasoned perfectly and all of the flavors went very well together.

Little Dragon and I both loved the lobster and mayo sushi. It was our favorite because the lobster was really tender and went perfectly with the rice and seaweed.

Gatten Sushi even puts dessert on the conveyor belts! Little Dragon got the jello and fruit. 

Look how many plates we have! 

I had a great time at Gatten Sushi. Little Dragon and I will definitely come back and eat more delicious sushi.

Banana Bread

This week on pandagrub we are going to be making banana bread.

 The panda in the picture above is named Mini Stubby. Mini Stubby is sitting with the ingredients for the banana bread. The ingredients are four overly ripe bananas,flour,sugar,vanilla,and butter,baking soda, and one egg.

 Make sure your bananas are over ripe.

 Now it's time to start making the banana bread. First peel all of the bananas and put them in a large bowl and mash them.

 This is what the bananas should look like after you finish mashing them.

 Then add the sugar,egg, vanilla, baking soda,flour and salt. Then use the melted butter to grease the loaf pan. Now you are ready to put in the banana bread batter into the oven.

 Mini Stubby is very excited to eat the banana bread! The banana is finally ready to eat after being baked at 350 degrees for one hour.

 Mini Stubby is eating the banana bread with the apricot jam that we used in the Three Crostinis.

Mini Stubby thought that the banana bread was delicious because it was very moist and had a very tasty banana flavor. For the full recipe click here.

Happy 4th of July!

This week on pandagrub, we celebrated the 4th of July with a Flag Cake!  

 Kettlecorn loves the 4th of July.  We try to make this cake every year.  The cake is a white cake with buttercream frosting and garnished with raspberries and blueberries!  Hope you had a great 4th!

Three Crostinis

This week on pandagrub, we are going to be making three types of crostinis. We are going to be making a goat cheese and apricot jam crostini, a guacamole and tomato crostini, and a ricotta,tomato,and basil crostini. 

The panda in the picture above is named Stuboom. Stuboom is sitting with the ingredients for the crosinis. The ingredients are goat cheese, apricots, tomatoes, ricotta, the juice of one lemon, avocado, one fresh baguette, and some fresh basil.

Now Stuboom is sniffing the wonderful apricots that were given to us by our neighbors. Stuboom is going to make jam out of the apricots. 

 For Stuboom's delicious jam recipe, click here.

Now it is time to make our first crostini. First take out your baguette that has been baking for eight minutes at 385 degrees. Then cut your baguette into inch thick slices. Now we can start assembling the crostini. First spread your goat cheese on the baguette and then add your apricot jam on top.

Stuboom and I enjoyed this crostini. We thought that it had wonderful flavor and texture.  We liked combination of the rich goat cheese and the sweet and slightly tart apricot jam.

Its time to move onto our second crostini. Stuboom has mashed up an avocado with lemon juice and some salt.

Now Stuboom has spread the avocado mixture onto the baguette and added a tomato slice as a garnish.

This crostini was my favorite because the creamy avocado mixture and the juicy tomato went perfectly together.

Now Stuboom is eating the third and final crostini. Stuboom has assembled some ricotta cheese, tomato slices, and fresh basil leaves which were used as a garnish. This crostini was basically a mini-pizza!

For a quick and easy dinner party idea, try making these delicious and fun crostinis as an appetizer for your guests.  Be sure to make enough for all of your pandas!

Peking Tavern: Noodle Tasting Event

This week on pandagrub I am going to be telling you about the Peking Tavern noodle tasting event. The chef handmade the noodles and dumplings.  Peking Tavern is a new restaurant that is going to be opening in downtown LA this November. At the Peking Tavern there is going to be Beijing Street food such as noodle,dumplings, and beef rolls.

The panda in the picture above is named Linja. Instead of a ninja he is a Linja! I just got Linja. He is just a smaller version of my panda named Jeremy Lin. Linja is very excited to be trying the hand pulled noodles and homemade dumplings.

The chef made the noodles very fast. It only took a few forceful THWAPS on the table and the dough became long even strands of noodles.

Now its time to eat the noodles! 

Shown in the picture above are all of the toppings for the noodles. The toppings are tofu in red bean sauce, pork, bean sprouts, and cucumber.

I put all of the toppings on my noodles. Linja and I thought the noodles were very delicious because of their texture. The texture was perfect, smooth, and not too thick or thin. My favorite topping was the pork because the meat was seasoned perfectly.

Now it's time for dumplings! There were two kinds of dumplings (pork and fish) at the tasting. In the picture above are the pork dumplings.

Linja thought that the pork dumplings were better than the fish dumplings, but the fish dumplings also tasted good. Linja and I were very happy and thought that the overall meal was delicious. When the Peking Tavern opens in November I hope I get to go there.

Savory Tomato Galette

This week on pandagrub we are going to be making a savory tomato galette. 

The panda in the picture above is named Hua Mei. Hua Mei is sitting with the ingredients for the tomato galette. The ingredients for the tomato galette are three regular tomatoes, one heirloom tomato, fresh basil, puff pastry sheets, and ricotta cheese.

First cut each tomato in four to six slices.

 After slicing the tomatoes place in a large bowl. Then drizzle with olive oil and season with oregano,salt, and pepper.

 Now get out your defrosted puff pastry sheets. Gently place your tomato mixture in the center of the dough and fold up the excess dough. Then brush the excess dough and exposed dough with egg wash. Now the tomato galette is ready to go into the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

 After you take the galette out of the oven cool for 15 minutes. While the galette is cooling cut up some of the fresh basil. 

 Sprinkle the basil on top of the galette and serve. Hua Mei is very excited to eat the galette.

For the final touch, add a scoop of fresh ricotta cheese. The cheese adds a creamy texture to the crispy crust and the fresh tang of the tomatoes. 

Restaurant Review: MIHO Korean Restaurant

This week on pandagrub we are going to be a restaurant review on MIHO which is a Korean restaurant in Garden Grove. MIHO's address is 9735 Garden Grove Blvd. 

The panda in the picture above is named Beanie. Beanie is very excited to be going to MIHO and trying samgyetang which is a young chicken stuffed with rice. The chicken is in a simple chicken broth. This is a Korean comfort food. Koreans usually eat this on the hottest day of summer. 

 In any Korean restaurant you will receive side dishes called banchan. My favorite banchan is kimchi. Beanie is sitting with two kinds of kimchi. Kimchi is a spicy pickled cabbage. The kimchi on the right is the traditional cabbage kimchi. The one on the left is a radish kimchi.

 Now Beanie is sitting with some spinach. The spinach is flavored with garlic. 

 Finally for the last side dish of the day, Beanie is sitting with spicy bean sprouts and soy-glazed potatoes.

 The first entree has finally arrived. Beanie is eating a leek pancake that is dipped in soy sauce. Beanie thought that the pancake had too much leek inside of the pancake and not enough batter. Of course this didn't stop my brother from eating most of it.

Finally! Beanie's dream has come true! The samgyetang has arrived! The broth is bubbling right before our eyes.

Inside the chicken, Beanie has found a treat. The young chicken is stuffed with sweet rice. The tender young chicken and the sweet rice go perfectly together. 

In the picture above, Beanie is showing us some of the herbs included in the broth: jujubes,garlic, baby onion, and ginseng. Ginseng is a Korean root plant that is similar to a radish.

My family and I went to MIHO for my mom's birthday. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!