626 Night Market 2014

I cannot wait for this weekend's OC Night Market, so I decided to celebrate by sharing my adventures from last month's 626 Night Market. I went last year and blogged about it, but this year was even more fun!

My mother decided to join me for a night, and I really enjoyed it. It's always nice to go to an event like this with someone new, because they will invariably try something completely different than you would normally. My mother especially is adventurous, and there's the added bonus of her being a much better photographer than me, especially for crowd shots.

I also went with the same buddy from the DTLA Night Market post, as well as Mr. Mochi on a different day. I have way too much fun at these events, sometimes when I'm full I just like sitting there and people-watching. Nearly everyone is having a blast, and watching people get excited over a special food is fun to watch.

DTLA Night Market 2014

Summer has been crazy. June, July, and now August are gone in a blur! I went to the OC Night Market, the DTLA Night Market, Anime Expo, Comic Con, the K-Town Night Market, and the original 626 Night Market. I'm happy to say that I managed not to gain any weight in July, and actually lost weight in June!

DLTA Night Market definitely was a cheat day for me. I went with one of my friends (Incidentally, she is a damn cool chick and introduced me to Shin-Sen-Gumi back in the day) and Mr. Mochi to brave the summer heat and see what downtown Los Angeles had to offer.

DLTA Night Market was much smaller than the other two night markets I've been to, there wasn't as much real estate for them to work with. A lot of the same vendors from the OC Night Market were there, so I am going to focus my post on the different things we tried!

Quail Egg Spam Sliders

It's been pretty hectic since I came back from Japan. I started teaching (registered veterinary technician classes) and it's amazing how the weeks can slip away from you. I can't believe it's almost July.

Though I'm glad things have slowed down a bit, because I have a lot of backlogged recipes to share with you, and I'm especially excited to bring you recipes from my trip to Japan! Plus this summer I have tons of events to share with you, from the plethora of night markets that abound to dancing through Obon matsuri season!

This recipe, however, certainly didn't come back with me from Japan. This is something born out of my love for SPAM and King's Hawaiian sweet rolls. You've already heard about my obsession with SPAM in multiple posts, but King's Hawaiian sweet rolls are another favorite of mine. My Japanese American side of the family always serves them at Thanksgiving, and I love making sliders with some sweet rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry-orange relish at the dinner table.

No, I never grew out of playing with my food. Thanksgiving sweet roll sliders are amazing, though. Dunk them in gravy.

These sliders might be even better. Sunny-side-up quail eggs, crispy slices of SPAM, and gooey American cheese are sandwiched in a sweet roll and drizzled with raspberry sriracha sauce for an easy-to-make party dish that takes only one skillet to make. These puppies are sweet, salty, savory and spicy, all in one bite, with oozey egg yolk and crispy SPAM making for a great textural contrast.

These may sound crazy, or like they have too much going on, but take a leap of faith and try one.

Tom Kha Goong Ramen

I have a confession: I love instant ramen. I know it's chock full of sodium and lacks protein, but it's also cheap and easy, not to mention totally crave-able. My grandma used to serve it for a quick lunch, with some veggies and saltines for dipping in the broth.

One thing I love more than instant ramen is ramen hacks. Simple as adding in some scallions to making a totally different style of dish, ramen hacks are fun and ingenious. My favorite quick hack is adding some fried onions and a shoyu tamago, for added protein and some crunch. Search for ramen hacks on the internet and you find that people have taken the humble noodle to great heights by adding ingredients and modifying the way it is prepared. From ramen carbonera to ramen pizza, it takes the dorm room staple to the dinner table.

If you are looking for a comprehensive guide to ramen hacking, I strongly suggest visiting Serious Eats' ode to the instant noodle written by fellow hapa Kenji. He goes through the simple additions, like adding fish cakes (kamaboko) or sriracha, all the way to ramen poutine!

One idea he put in my head was taking the classic Thai coconut shrimp soup, tom kha goong, and making it into a ramen hack. Below is my version of the theme.

Kogi's Sriracha Bar Clone

After tasting the Sriracha Bar from the Kogi Korean BBQ truck, I knew I had to try and recreate it at home. It was so good yet so seemingly simple! Pure genius! A base of rice krispie chocolate a la a Crunch Bar gets topped with caramel and sriracha infused chocolate ganache. Throw in some peanuts and shroud it all in chocolate for the most addicting candy bar ever. I am not a huge hot and spicy fan, but even I loved the fruity warmth of the sriracha combined with the bittersweet chocolate.

With all the different textures and layers, this seemed like a challenge for Miss Mochi! I have never made caramel before, and I wanted this to be easy enough that I could whip this up on a whim, as well as give friends outside Southern California an opportunity to try this. 

Firstly, this undertaking required some Food Lab-like thinkage. I broke down the bar into sections: Crunch base, sriracha ganache, caramel with peanuts, chocolate covering. The peanuts and chocolate covering were no-brainers...

So how hard could caramel and the rest be?