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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Ditzy Over Dough
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PUPUSAS ARE SO PLEASING
Photo; Phil Skinner/AJC
I recently took my fiance on a trek up Buford Highway to Chef Liu’s since he had never been, and Chinese food is a favorite of his.
Since the demise of Nam Chun Hong, Chef Liu’s is my favorite dumpling dive — here, the cha chiang mein is cut thick, and the black bean sauce, while a little dry, is rich and deeply flavored, scattered with julienned cukes (sometimes the veggies are served in a separate bowl, but not at Liu’s).
But the best is a plateful of pork fried dumplings (shiu mai), perfectly pinched at the top like a little pouch or beggar’s purse. Dipped into the vinegar-and-soy sauce, they are fluffy bites of doughy perfection.
The last week, still searching for a dough fix, a friend and I ventured into El Rincon on Buford, an El Salvadoran pupusa house recommended to me by Ticha Krinsky, chef owner with husband Dan of Tierra on Piedmont. Ticha is from El Salvador, and makes a mean pupusa, filled with cheese and served with a tart curtido on Tierra’s menu.
El Rincon has expanded since I first moved back to Atlanta, now overtaking the massive space of a former laundry mat next door. There is nothing not to like about this dough dive: The smell of masa mixed into dough on the griddle mingling with a little toasting cheese is a harbinger of all good things to come — pupusas of fat tortillas filled with beans, cheese, ground beef and loroco, an enigmatic herb that tastes a little like asparagus mixed with green beans.
Every culture has its chicken soup? Sure, but we all seem to share a love of dough, too.
Do you have a favorite dough dive?
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