Escape from the East Coast
But first, some ice cream
Hi friends,
Welcome to This Needs Hot Sauce, a weekly newsletter by Abigail Koffler about cooking, dining out and making the most of it. If you’re reading this in New York, you should come to our July happy hour tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. We’re grabbing drinks at Linen Hall and then walking over to Van Leeuwan at 8 p.m. for some much needed ice cream. (If you’re heading over around 8, shoot me an email or DM so we can meet up). Coworkers, crushes, and out of town guests are all welcome.
I’m headed to California with Dale on Friday so next week’s newsletter will be a mini vacation edition! If you have any must eats in LA or San Francisco, send them our way. I can’t wait to see my California people and get out of this humidity!
Now, let’s dive in.
Something to cook:
Not sure what Sunday nights will be like without Big Little Lies. Julia, Julianne and I have been cooking and watching together. Last night, we made this salad with the addition of crispy tofu (step by step highlight here). I also steam the broccoli for a few minutes instead of eating it raw. You can sub peanut butter for almond butter and should add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. If you’ve been to Emmy Squared, they have a really good broccoli peanut salad that’s kind of similar. (photo via Pinch of Yum, as mine did not come out)
And per a reader request, I’m sharing my method for making crispy tofu (Emma and Tilden were the two people who got me more into eating it, so thank you both!) I buy fresh tofu at my local grocery store, which comes in water, but you can use any firm tofu. I drain it and then cut or tear the block into small cubes. I then press it by putting the cubes in a bowl, wrapping them in a paper towel and covering with something heavy, like a can. I’ll do that while I get the other ingredients ready, even if it’s just for 10-15 minutes. Then, I’ll remove the weights and toss the pieces with a little bit of cornstarch until each one is coated. This helps it get crispy. I fry the pieces in a nonstick pan over medium heat with thin coating of oil, making sure they get separated and flipped. Don’t move it around too much at first or it will stick. You have to give them time to get golden and for the cornstarch to be cooked, which takes about ten minutes. With this method, the tofu has a great texture and pairs well with whatever dressing you have planned. If you’re saving something for leftovers, store the tofu separately so it stays as crispy as possible. I also much prefer small pieces of tofu rather than big slices, so I’ll substitute this method if a recipe calls for something else. Try this with: the broccoli salad above, these cabbage wraps, and these noodles.
Making this white bean and broccoli dish saved my lunches this week. It’s such a versatile dish and I enjoyed it over romaine, on its own, and with an egg.
I love a breakfast salad when I wake up craving something really fresh and had some lettuce and cucumber for a quick little hangover salad a la Alison Roman.
It was Julia’s birthday last week and we had a lovely party for her including a photo cake from Princesa that I won’t embarrass her by including here! Instead of making a big cocktail, we bought a $3 bin at the dollar store to fill with ice and used it to keep a selection of seltzers, beers, and wines cold. In the heatwave, lighter drinks were very popular, including Aperol spritzes, which we set up with some orange slices.
The cookies from City Bakery are so close to my perfect cookie (don’t mention Levain) and both of these recipes produce an excellent cookie. I need to bake once it cools down enough to use the oven.
Something to order:
Hayley’s friend Rachel just moved to New York and it was so fun to meet her last week. She works off the L so we went to happy hour at Sea Wolf, which includes $6 wine and dollar oysters, which are great. Skip the buffalo cauliflower, which is sold by the (unevenly sized) floret. They also had some really good bar snacks, including zucchini fries and clam strips.
Melissa invited me to lunch at the new Hanoi Soup Shop, from the owners of Hanoi House, and it was the perfect thing for the heatwave (I love having freelance friends). I really liked their summer roll and the vegetarian pho had a light broth with pressed tofu, tomatoes, and greens (I ate my leftovers the next day and will be back for more). To send us off, the chef gave us cooling avocado shakes with condensed milk, which made the walk to the subway slightly less miserable.
Union Square Cafe was my first vision of a nice restaurant. I went to an apple pie making workshop there as a kid and my family would go for a fancy lunch every summer as soon as the heirloom tomato salad came on the menu. It felt very adult to finally visit their new location on my own dime for Julia’s birthday. We went for the weekday happy hour, which is a steal. From 3:00 - 6:00 p.m., you can get dollar oysters, $9 wines and other discounted appetizers like tater tots with caviar and a daily bruschetta. The service was great, the oysters were fantastic, the free bread with salted butter was a dream, and I tipped off the staff to the birthday, which led to a delicious chocolate caramel dessert. Next time you have something to celebrate or an unexpected afternoon off, swing by. I promise you deserve it.
There’s no place like Win Son. Longtime readers know this is one of my favorite restaurants and maybe the one I visit most. The Taiwanese American food is excellent, the team is lovely and it’s always so much fun. Julianne and I went to celebrate Julia on Friday and ate so well. The waits are pretty long, so eating at the bar is the move if you’re two people (tell Jeffrey I sent you). Or show up early on a weeknight. My must orders are the clams with basil, the fried eggplant, the pea shoots and the sesame noodles.
The Win Son team is also opening up Win Son Bakery across the street and they’re doing previews on Sundays until they open. I got there at 12:30 and they had already sold out of everything but coffee and nail clippers, but check it out (promptly at 11) if you’re around next weekend. The space looks great and I can’t wait to see the final product.
Something to read:
The problem with American Culinary schools, which put french cuisine on a pedestal.
An oat milk taste test with a not so surprising winner
The headline is kind of misleading but it’s interesting, especially given rising avocado prices: fake guacamole is here and you’ve probably had it.
I really need to read Notes from a Young Black Chef and it’s so cool that it’s becoming a movie starring Lakeith Stanfield.
Two food related top shelfs this week: Antoni from Queer Eye and the very glam Angie Mar from the Beatrice Inn
I’m obviously going to link to any Grub Street Diet that includes Win Son (and I want to visit Fiona in LA)
How to (painlessly) choose a restaurant for a date
I love this extremely honest conversation with Samin Nosrat
This Monday night cheese plate is everything I want right now
The eternal promise of the microwave. Say what you will about microwaves, I use mine daily to make oatmeal and have zero complaints.
“The whole view of human rights is very different in Latin America. It’s built into constitutions, and often those frameworks include food and beverage." How Latin America is fighting obesity.
Love this story on vegan Dominican food and wish it had been longer and in a more prominent section of the paper.
What restaurants signal when they choose a bathroom fragrance
Oakland’s vibrant wine scene features bottles made by and for black Americans.
Meet the entrepreneurial couple selling vintage snack foods out of a car
Robert Sietsema, Eater’s iconic borough crossing critic, was in a bad bike accident and wrote about eating in wheelchair and lots more.
The rise of personal finance coffee shaming
Loved Angely’s writeup of a new arepa cafe in Crown Heights
Why so serious? A column about the fun/weird/silly side of food
I’ve known this for a little while, but Little Skips, a ten year old coffee shop and community space in Bushwick, is closing next month. Go support it while you can (the other locations will stay open). I profiled founder Linda Thach this spring and her story is incredible. I know she’ll keep up the good fight.
Now, let’s talk tortillas! And if you’re looking for heatwave eats, check out the answers from a few weeks ago.
Bethany is a tortilla queen: Corn's also my fave but flour is great for certain things! Generally I'd go flour for breakfast tacos, fajitas, buñuelos, quesadillas, or for eating plain if they're fresh, and corn for everything else. I keep a big package of them (usually Vista Hermosa since that's always what's available at the grocery store) on hand at all times for tacos and baked tortilla chips. I probably eat egg/chickpea tacos for dinner at least twice a week because it's so easy and always good!
And I mostly asked this question to get a response from the tortilla master herself, my dear friend Isa. She has some thoughts: Ok so tortillas, aka my favorite topic: tortillas are a perfect food in all their shapes, sizes and grains. I honestly have been struggling since moving to SF because I haven't found an easily accessible real tortilleria (In Philly I had San Roman). I love corn tortillas but all the ones they sell in American grocery stores that are pre-packages in plastic are terrible. They always make me yearn for the Tortilleria in any Mexican grocery store/market popping out piping hot tortillas on a conveyor belt. Aaaanyway, a homemade corn tortilla with a little char from the comal, lime juice and salt is my favorite thing. Was one of my favorite snacks as a kid. I think corn tortillas really shine when put to work as a taco - I'm partial to some al pastor in Mexico City but any filling + lime + salsa on a tortilla is a little bite of heaven. I'm with you on the quesadillas with flour tortillas. My go to at home is just shredded cheese and a little bit of salsa on the side for dipping. Sometime some refried beans too if I'm feeling fancy. Vivan las tortillas!
I’m keeping next week’s newsletter short, so no question this week. But I would appreciate any LA/SF recs. Or you could forward this newsletter to a friend who would enjoy it and follow us on Instagram, where I’ll be sharing vacation updates! I’d really appreciate it.
Can’t wait to see you at tomorrow’s happy hour!
Happy eating and thanks for reading.
xo, Abigail