I don't recall if I had the pigeon at Fat Rice or X Marx, but it came with its head. We definitely had pig head at X Marx, and shrimp head at Fat Rice (filled with sherry - which was delicious but very messy).

leek wrote:I don't recall if I had the pigeon at Fat Rice or X Marx, but it came with its head. We definitely had pig head at X Marx, and shrimp head at Fat Rice (filled with sherry - which was delicious but very messy).

Ha ha ha! Maybe that was a pigeon in my old photo. Well, that's something to look forward to.

With Fat Rice winning a well deserved James Beard Award it going to be impossible to get in so I thought I’d make #eatfatrice pan fried dumplings at home. Full disclosure, raw pork/chive dumplings from Katy's Dumpling House in Westmont. As an aside, had a spot-on lunch at Katy's today.

Lacy Crispy poststickers

How was this accomplished? Inquiring minds want to know.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:How was this accomplished? Inquiring minds want to know.

Non stick pan, generous amount of oil.
12-inch pan, 18-potstickers
Fill pan while leaving an outer edge and a little space between potstickers.
Slowly let potstickers tick away until just starting to brown.
When lightly brown add 1 rounded tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with half cup water and a little sesame oil.
Slowly pour slurry into pan, getting into nooks and crannies, try not to pour directly over potstickers.
Cover, slowly steam/cook/pan fry until the water evaporates and you are left with plump crispy lacy golden brown deliciousness.
Check bottoms, pan fry uncovered another minute or two if necessary.
Don't rush, the higher the heat the more chance of burning instead of browning.
Non stick works best, be generous with the oil, don't rush, loosen the edges and shake to make sure its loose.
Place a plate on top of the potstickers, hold plate with a dishtowel, invert pan quickly, decisively, in one smooth motion.

Eat, enjoy, repeat.

Two additional items, I have no idea how long this took, just don't rush, and potato starch is recommended over corn starch, though both work.

Gary,

I will certainly be giving this a shot sometime very soon.

Thanks!

Regards,
Cathy2

Lacy crispy pot stickers in serious contention for dinner tonight.

Relatedly - we had one of the two pig uterus preparations at Fat Rice. I am not a big offal fan, and this did not persuade me to become otherwise.
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/a ... id=9212969

David Hammond wrote:Lacy crispy pot stickers in serious contention for dinner tonight.

Note:
I edited the technique a wee bit to more accurately reflect multi-step process.
A dipping sauce for dumplings enhances.

G Wiv wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Lacy crispy pot stickers in serious contention for dinner tonight.

Note:
I edited the technique a wee bit to more accurately reflect multi-step process.
A dipping sauce for dumplings enhances.

I was thinking of using something on the order of Mr. Gary's Chili Sauce.

Just saw Abe's recipe for Potstickers Royale with Crispy Crepe in an email from Taste today.

We had an absolutely stellar lunch at Fat Rice earlier this week. The main headline, for fans of the dish, is that a version of Piri Piri Chicken is back on the menu.


Piri Piri Chicken
This take includes bone-in roasted chicken thighs, potatoes, red onions, cornichons, olives and chilis. It's also the spiciest version of this dish that I can remember having at Fat Rice. The sauce is vinegar-based and just packs a ton of slow-building heat.

We also had several other stand-out dishes . . .


Boiled Pork & Ginger Dumplings with XO Sauce | sichuan chilli oil, sweet soy, scallion


Minchi Hash | minced pork & beef, sunny eggs, chillis, croutons, scallions, etc.


Curry Vegetable Samosas | tamarind mustard-seed chutney
These delectable little numbers were sent out to us by the kitchen.


Garlicky Greens
We had to have them but we really didn't need them.


Green Curry Mussels | baby bok choy, spinach, roasted green chilli, thai basil
This was a delicious special. We loved the green curry sauce so much we joked with our server to brings us straws for it!

Now that Abe has won a Beard Award, this place is going to be harder than ever to get into. Dinner has been difficult for quite some time. We walked in at 1 pm on a weekday and the place was 75% full. This kind of success is well-earned and well-deserved. But as a diner, you've got to pick your spots and plan well ahead.

=R=

Fat Rice, the popular Logan Square restaurant noted for its Macanese-inspired menu, is taking its culinary show on the road for a two-month stint in New York City beginning Aug. 13.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct ... story.html

Dave148 wrote:

Fat Rice, the popular Logan Square restaurant noted for its Macanese-inspired menu, is taking its culinary show on the road for a two-month stint in New York City beginning Aug. 13.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct ... story.html

I saw this and got concerned about how much harder it was going to be to get in.

I still had not taken the Mr. b/c he has lots of requirements and one is "keeping his hearing" post meal. So we dined al fresco last night. He loved it. He loved it so much I may even get him to eat inside during the winter.

I should probably make another reservation now for al fresco before the season ends.

I still have a hard time posting pics here without a few other steps so iPhone quality pics are here.

He had the sardines to start w/ euroasian pickles. We quickly ate the olives and almonds so no pics of that. You take a scoop and use a couple of nori sheets to sandwich/"taco" the scoop before eating. I thought this was a pretty interesting take on fish tacos. He loved it. No, I did not have any.

I had the dry fried green beans. The slivers of preserved lemon were lovely. I added the coconut jasmine rice.

He had the arroz frito. He brought home the leftovers. He intends to top them with a fried egg.

This is still a GNR!

Would you pay more at a restaurant to help cover your server’s health insurance? Logan Square's Fat Rice hopes so.
https://trib.in/2Tg9cAp

Dave148 wrote:Would you pay more at a restaurant to help cover your server’s health insurance? Logan Square's Fat Rice hopes so.
https://trib.in/2Tg9cAp

I don't like that idea -- either you price your food to your margins or you don't. Itemizing the overhead boils down to a phantom price hike.

The article did make the point that just raising prices exacerbates the problem that the front-of-house people make more money on tips, while tip-pooling wouldn't give anyone healthcare. Still BS. Improve your benefits, raise your prices to cover them. Happy employees will bring in more customers... and if you're already full to capacity, raising prices a small amount should be balanced by that improved service/quality/etc..

If the problem is the disparity in salaries between FOH and BOH, why then just raise the BOH salaries.

It all boils down to this: I don't want to watch you make chicken stock; I don't want to watch you do bookkeeping either. That doesn't add to my dining experience. If you need to put a statement on your menu, "Our prices reflect our expectation that all our employees should receive a living wage and health benefits" that's fine. Itemizing it is stupid.

JoelF wrote:

Dave148 wrote:It all boils down to this: I don't want to watch you make chicken stock; I don't want to watch you do bookkeeping either. That doesn't add to my dining experience. If you need to put a statement on your menu, "Our prices reflect our expectation that all our employees should receive a living wage and health benefits" that's fine. Itemizing it is stupid.

does having it on the menu take away from your dining experience

Honestly, 4% is really not worth getting exercised about. Chez Panisse has been tacking on 17% for years (the bill informs you that this is *not* a tip). Fun!

gocubs88 wrote:

JoelF wrote:

Dave148 wrote:It all boils down to this: I don't want to watch you make chicken stock; I don't want to watch you do bookkeeping either. That doesn't add to my dining experience. If you need to put a statement on your menu, "Our prices reflect our expectation that all our employees should receive a living wage and health benefits" that's fine. Itemizing it is stupid.

does having it on the menu take away from your dining experience

Inasmuch as it is intended to guilt the diner into feeling personally responsible for whether or not the employees have health insurance, yes.

fair opinion. i feel it is no different than the signs at national parks stating enterance fees help to preserve the park. they dont have to tell me where my $ going. i think the point is to show a portion is going to a good cause. Also, if you are still against it, tip 4% less (or don’t eat there)

gocubs88 wrote:Also, if you are still against it, tip 4% less (or don’t eat there)

Or, you can "raise a stink", since the Tribune article says, "Unlike at some restaurants, the charge will not be optional, though if a customer raises a stink it will be removed."

I don’t understand the need to mention it, whether it is 20% or 4% pass it off in the menu and handle the needs of the employees just like other businesses.

I assume any business/or entity that provides health insurance for its employees, and/or any other benefit has it reflected in the price of its goods or services anyhow.

Then you avoid someone arguing about whether they want to pay it or not.

I think the argument for including it is to highlight the fact that this is not standard in the restaurant industry, and it should be discussed more. Of course they factored in how much it would cost to insure employees — that's how they got a 4% number. It appearing on the menu is a reminder that this is a real issue that needs to be addressed and if one chooses to dine at locations where employees are properly compensated, then they can feel comfortable at Fat Rice.

I get it that when you do something that is so far beyond the norm of your industry, you feel a need to be completely transparent and point it out. But I can also see how presenting it in this form could be off-putting for some customers. It requires them to buy-in emotionally to an issue that can be politically charged and polarizing.

For me, the bottom line is that the Fat Rice team is doing a very good thing and since I think their message and intent are noble, I'm not going to get too hung up on the delivery details.

=R=

pairs4life wrote:I don’t understand the need to mention it, whether it is 20% or 4% pass it off in the menu and handle the needs of the employees just like other businesses.

I assume any business/or entity that provides health insurance for its employees, and/or any other benefit has it reflected in the price of its goods or services anyhow.

Then you avoid someone arguing about whether they want to pay it or not.

They got it sorted out, but in their early broadcasts the day this was announced, ABC7 reported this calling it a "new restaurant tax" which I can see it could be seen as. It was corrected by the 10pm broadcast that evening, but still it shows how some will see this - as a tax.

does having it on the menu take away from your dining experience

Inasmuch as it is intended to guilt the diner into feeling personally responsible for whether or not the employees have health insurance, yes.

gocubs88 wrote:fair opinion. i feel it is no different than the signs at national parks stating enterance fees help to preserve the park. they dont have to tell me where my $ going. i think the point is to show a portion is going to a good cause. Also, if you are still against it, tip 4% less (or don’t eat there)

You make a good point. I used the word "guilted" to suggest a negative effect on the dining experience, but it could very well have a positive effect. People are probably inclined to feel good about their national park entrance fees going right back into the parks, rather than just dropping into the Federal government's gaping maw. It could easily make some people feel good (others neutral, others annoyed) that they're contributing specifically to the restaurant's workers health insurance costs. I can imagine some customers who don't have employer-provided health insurance being among the annoyed. Personally, I agree with how JoelF and pairs4life summed it up.

Katie wrote:I can imagine some customers who don't have employer-provided health insurance being among the annoyed. Personally, I agree with how JoelF and pairs4life summed it up.

You think that people who don't have employer-provided health insurance would begrudge others for getting it? And be angry that an employer is publicly taking a position that the owners believe their employees ought to have health insurance? I suppose I can imagine it too, but I'm imagining some really short-sighted people who haven't thought things all the way through and I'd hope that they wouldn't influence the owners of Fat Rice.

I think this is such a strange thing for people to get worked up about. I love that Fat Rice is raising awareness and that they're a successful enough restaurant that they can do this with minimal risk. The fact that this was in the news reminded me I hadn't been there in a while so I went yesterday for lunch.

When they brought the menus, they also brought a long letter explaining why they're doing what they're doing. I'm fully on board with it, so I didn't bother reading the letter. I'm honestly shocked that people who care enough about food to spend time posting here are worked up about it. Had I thought this was remotely controversial, I'd have posted the letter here.


Back to the far more important issue: the food. The arroz gordo is still a magnificent looking and tasting bowl of food. The food was always enough to get people to Fat Rice. Here's to hoping that people will support them even more now that they've taken a stand on behalf of their employees and employees elsewhere who might need a public push for us to end up in a place where restaurants no longer have to organize fundraisers when bad luck falls on one of their employees.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Here's to hoping that people will support them even more now that they've taken a stand on behalf of their employees and employees elsewhere who might need a public push for us to end up in a place where restaurants no longer have to organize fundraisers when bad luck falls on one of their employees.

Amen, brother. I've been to too many of these events. They're brutal and, hopefully, soon-to-be unnecessary.

=R=

Don't mistake me for one who is worked up. I'm in the I-don't-care-about-your-bookkeeping camp. Just saying I can imagine different types of reactions. I'm not sure I'd characterize it as "publicly taking a position that the owners believe their employees ought to have health insurance." If you're an employer with more than x employees (I don't remember what the number is... 50?), you are required by law to pay the employer's share of the employees' health insurance. My understanding is that there is a smaller number y (25?) of employees below which a small business that provides health insurance (even though it is not required by law to do so) may qualify for a small business tax credit of up to 50 percent to offset the cost of the insurance. I could be wrong on the details.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote: [edit] The food was always enough to get people to Fat Rice. Here's to hoping that people will support them even more now that they've taken a stand on behalf of their employees and employees elsewhere who might need a public push for us to end up in a place where restaurants no longer have to organize fundraisers when bad luck falls on one of their employees.

Oh please, yes.
I remember an incident about 14 years ago when something incapicitating happened to somebody who worked at the Twisted Spoke {Albeit not on the day I worked there.}. The "remedy" was a fundraiser at the Empty Bottle on a weeknight. What I remember from it was that Tiffany {my bartender on Saturday night} actually met another St. Louis Blues {ice hockey} fan in the venue.