The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Asian food

  • Restaurant Review: Curry Leaf’s expansive options transport customers across the world plate by plate

    Restaurant Review: Curry Leaf’s expansive options transport customers across the world plate by plate

    by Oden Taylor

    Get out your wallets, folks, this is not your average Asian eatery.  

    Curry Leaf: Asian Fusion and Sake Bar opened earlier this month in Eureka, making its place as the only restaurant in Humboldt county to serve Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai food, and more, all under one roof. 

    Opened by Chef Joe Tan, who designed the sushi bar at Bayfront Restaurant in Eureka, as well as partnering to open Nori in Arcata, Curry Leaf is Tan’s third Humboldt restaurant and it’s gearing up to be a major success.

    Walking into Curry Leaf, you are greeted by a pair of Chinese guardian lions. The restaurant space feels refreshed and has undergone renovations since its days as the restaurant Gonsea. 

    My partner and I were greeted warmly and seated quickly at a purple leather booth near the back of the bustling restaurant. I was beyond thrilled when I looked at the menu and saw the range of options available to me. 

    Photo by Oden Taylor | Beef Chow Fun

    Curry Leaf is a cultural explosion for the city of Eureka, bringing many new foods to the diners of Humboldt county. The menu includes ingredients like screwpine leaves, dried chili coated anchovies and fried taro nests, to name a few.  

    To start off the meal, I ordered the fried street wontons with special szechuan red chili sauce. The wontons come either steamed or fried and contain ground pork, shrimp, yellow onion, and black mushrooms. 

    They were so crunchy and flavorful. The red chili sauce is made with a savory spicy bright red chili oil that really compliments the wontons. 

    Even the side salad we ordered was beautifully plated and had crisp, fresh ingredients with a delicious tangy sweet miso dressing. 

    Make sure to order appetizers because though the waitstaff is friendly and professional, it can be a bit of wait due to the popularity of the restaurant. 

    For our entrees my partner and I shared the beef chow fun and the honey glazed prawns. 

    The beef chow fun is a large portion of velvety beef, rice noodles, bean sprouts, soy sauce and green onions. This dish is hearty and perfect for sharing. 

    The honey glazed prawns were the star of the evening. The prawns are lightly fried and coated in a succulent honey lemon glaze. The portion is huge and is served with perfectly cooked broccoli and aromatic steamed rice. 

    For lovers of classic honey walnut shrimp, the honey glazed prawns at Curry Leaf elevate this dish to the next level.  

    As our meal came to a close we shared the almond pudding—a Chinese soft-style jelly made of apricot kernel milk, topped with whipped cream, honey and bright goji berries. 

    This dish is served cold and has a similar texture to flan, but tastes like an almond vanilla ice cream. It’s sweet and rich, making it the perfect ending to a very well crafted meal.

    All of the food was cooked perfectly and plated professionally. Even the drink menu is fantastic with desert alcohols like chocolate nigiri and pineapple sake, as well as more traditional beer, wine and sake. The restaurant also offers free refills on non-alcoholic specialty drinks like Roy Rogers and Shirley Temples.  

    If you are looking for a delicious meal and a good night out, Curry Leaf is the place for you. Curry Leaf is located at 2335 US-101 in Eureka and can be reached for take-out at (707) 798-2049. It is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Monday.

  • Kimchi trend is hard to swallow

    Kimchi trend is hard to swallow

    Many Koreans who grew up in the U.S. probably understand why the recent kimchi trend is a little irritating. Korean Americans know full well the shame they had to endure by their non-Korean friends who expressed disgust of the pungent smell and taste of kimchi. That sense of shame is then heightened by alienation, making them feel as if Korean culture isn’t normal.

    “I see a lot of white guys making Korean food ,and I’ll be honest, it pisses the shit out of me,” David Chang, renowned Korean American chef, said. “It’s everywhere now. Kimchi this, kimchi that. You weren’t like, ostracized in elementary school because everyone thought when they visited your house that it smelled like garbage. They didn’t have to endure emotional hardship. And now it’s cool.”

    Kimchi is a staple Korean food made from various vegetables, most commonly with napa cabbage and radishes. It contains an assortment of spices, including seafood sauce, red pepper paste, garlic and ginger. It has a sour taste, a crunchy texture and a fishy smell that is packed with probiotics, vitamins and minerals.

    “Kimchi is a traditional Korean food manufactured by fermenting vegetables with probiotic lactic acid bacteria,” the Journal of Medicinal Food wrote. “Accordingly, kimchi can be considered a vegetable probiotic food that contributes health benefits in a similar manner as yogurt as a dairy probiotic food.”

    Nowadays, you can find kimchi in supermarket chains, taco trucks and on hot dogs. What used to ostracize Korean Americans has now become trendy, which is annoying in some ways, but exciting that the western world is finally appreciating Korean food.

    Popularization is a foolish way to appreciate ethnic foods. Waiting for celebrity chefs and publications to tell us what cuisine is worthy of attention is a small-minded way of enjoying foods outside of your comfort zone.

    “Declaring an entire ‘ethnic’ cuisine a trend is inherently dismissive,” Khushbu Shah, Thrillist’s senior food features editor, said. “Filipino food, for example, is the main source of sustenance for more than 100 million people around the world today and has been eaten for centuries, even in the United States. So the very nature of tagging something as a trend also gives it a shelf life that is set to expire after its moment of popularity. But that’s not how cuisines work.”

    Kimchi’s trendiness will likely wane, but it will certainly not lose its cultural significance. The first step in exploring foods past your customary tastes is to have an open mind. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but don’t hold it against us.