Flaky, yet firm.  Mild yet flavorful.  Plentiful and sustainable.  Farmed rainbow trout is a great fish to include in the weekly diet, but many home cooks tend to avoid it because thin filets of fish can be intimidating to cook.  Either the fish results in being too dry, or it breaks up into pieces before it ends up on the plate.  Rainbow trout is available year-long in most supermarkets and filets usually weigh in at around 4 ounces, which is a perfect serving size.  While baking is a viable method, nothing beats pan-searing. There’s something about getting the skin turn golden brown and crispy.  Here are some of my tips.

1. Don’t cook the fish right out of the refrigerator, instead, cook it when the flesh is cool to the touch, not cold.
2. Spray the skin side with a bit of cooking spray, season the other side, and spray with cooking spray.
3. Heat up 1 tsp of olive oil in a wide stainless steel pan over low heat.  Coat the pan well.
4. Cook the fish on the skin side first.
5. Cook the fish on low heat, 3 minutes each side, or until the flesh turns opaque.
6. Flip once!
7. If the fish sticks to the pan, carefully nudge it loose from the sides with a flat spatula.

Go ahead, give it a try.  No practice needed, and easy to master.

I found this guacamole recipe online, but I wanted a sweet garlic flavor and a bit more kick to it.  Turn your guacamole from good to great with this recipe.  I used roasted garlic and threw in a chitpotle pepper to spice things up.  It’s an easy recipe to follow and it takes very little time to prepare.

Roasted Garlic Chitpotle Guacamole – 4 Servings

• 2 ripe avocados (dice if using a food processor)
• pinch of salt
• black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup mild salsa
• 4-5 roasted garlic cloves
• 1 chitpotle pepper w/ adobo
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 Tbsp of chopped cilantro
• 1/4 of a chopped red onion

Throw all the items into a food processor and pulse it until the consistency becomes semi smooth.  This can also be done manually with a potato masher or something like it.  Just throw the ingredients together and smash away.

Serve with tortilla chips or use it as a spread on hamburgers…or if you’re like me, just eat it as is.

It’s hard to imagine a ramen lover like me took so long to finally come to the much heralded Ippudo NY. Well, here I am, waiting for my food to come. This place is where the ramen is supposed to end all ramens. I’ll be the judge of that.

As I was brought to my seat by the hostess, one of the waitresses went ahead and pulled out one of the bar stools to seat me. Seeing as I came alone, I was seated in one of the six seats located in front of the open kitchen. I get to watch the Japanese cooks prepare the hot food.

I’m going write this post as I eat.

It’s dimly lit in here, as expected. I can hear Guns and Rose’s November Rain being played in the background. The music is actually quite loud. What quickly caught my attention was how the kitchen and waiting staff all say good bye to leaving customers in unison.   They’re loud, but that makes it fun.   And in Japanese no less. I thought that was awesome. I can’t wait until I leave.

My first dish, the avocado and tofu tartar has arrived.

It tasted very clean and refreshing. It comes with a pair of sauces. One looks to be a simple syrup made of brown sugar, and the other one is a sesame sauce. One of the waitresses asked which sauce I preferred. I was digging the sesame sauce over the brown sugar syrup.

Here comes the Akamaru Modern Ramen. It’s pictured in the banner above.

So I just finished the ramen. I was not disappointed, nor was I blown away. The broth was unique and tasty. It was fragrant, not too oily, and was not overpowering. There wasn’t anything special about the ramen noodles, even though they are made in-house. For $13.00, they could’ve thrown in a bit more fatty pork.

It looks like it’s still raining cats and dogs outside. I knew that I should have brought the umbrella out with me.  I guess I’ll wait it out with dessert.

I ordered the mochi dessert.  It was dusted heavily with matcha powder and served with a powdered soy dust and with the brown sugar simple syrup.  It was pretty good, but I think 4 pieces were enough.  I struggled to finish the rest.

Right after my plates were removed, one of the waitresses came up to me to converse for a few minutes.  She told me how the entire kitchen staff and chefs are from Japan.  She was also proud to tell me that the broth and ramen were all made in house.  This prompted me to ask about how business was doing and she said they were doing so well in fact there are plans to open one up in midtown.  She then asked me if I’ve been to Ra Ra Ken for ramen and asked which one I preferred.  I told her Ippudo, of course.  Ra Ra Ken is still good, but Ippudo so far leaves a far better impression on me.

I just received the bill, and the total is approximately $30.00 including tax.

I don’t often say this, but I plan on returning.  Part of the reason is the little things they did.  They were proactive in serving me what I needed.  It also wasn’t that busy when I got there, so I guess they were able to give some additional attention to their customers.  Another reason?  Well, some of the hostesses and waitresses are pretty cute.  Recommended

Food – 4 out of 5

Service – 4.5 out of 5


Price – 3.0 out of 5


Ambience – 4.0 out of 5