Bionic Bites » Giveaway

Blogiversary Giveaway – NYC

bionicgrrrl — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:25:11 +0000

As usual, my blogiversary post is late, but by now you should expect it. It’s become tradition. In any case, Bionic Bites turned two this week, and what better way to celebrate than to have a giveaway to thank all my loyal readers. Thank you for all your wonderful comments, tweets, and likes! Honestly, if it weren’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have kept this little blog going for so long.

As a thank you, I’m giving away a bottle of Esperanto Spiced Oil from Esperanto. If you’re not familiar with Esperanto, it’s a great local spot in Alphabet City specializing in Brazilian and South American cuisine. They serve an incredibly indulgent moqueca that I adore, but the place is really known for the spiced oil that they serve with their bread. The oil is a blend of olive oil, canola oil, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorn, red pepper flakes, salt, and garlic. It has hint of heat, and a nice nutty depth from the fennel and cumin seeds. To put it simply, it’s completely addictive. The last time I was there, David and I went through two baskets of bread, and with the remaining oil, we poured it all over our fried calamari. Probably not a smart move, but certainly delicious.

I notice the spiced oil they sell is slightly more mellow than their restaurant version, but I have a feeling that’s because it’s freshly bottled. A little more time, and I’m sure the oil will fully develop.

To win the Esperanto Spiced Oil, write in the comments below how you would use the oil. Dipping is great, but I imagine it would work beautifully in a marinade or simple sauté. I’ll be picking one lucky person at random. Giveaway ends Wednesday (July 28, 2010) at noon. U.S. entrants only. Good luck and thank you again for reading!

Update (7/28/2010): Jenny is the winner! Congratulations Jenny, and thanks everyone for participating. And remember, you can buy the spiced oil at Esperanto or online.

Update (8/28/2010): Attention potential out-of-state buyers, Jenny reports there was some leakage when she received the oil. I received the oil fine, but I live a few blocks away from the restaurant. Please keep this in mind if you live out-of-state and want to purchase the oil.

Esperanto
145 Avenue C (at 9th St; map)
New York, NY 10009
212-505-6559

Senegalese Summer Giveaway – NYC

bionicgrrrl — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:46:31 +0000

I get emails from PR people all the time about events around the city. A lot of times the events are lame, but this one sounded pretty cool. Pierre Thiam, the chef and owner of Le Grand Dakar in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn is having a viewing party called Senegalese Summer next Thursday (June 24, 2010) for his battle with Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America. Not into Iron Chef? Well that’s okay, because there will also be food (such as shrimp & sweet potato croquettes, oven roasted dates stuffed with spiced lamb, black eyed pea fritters, and skewered grilled steak with ginger & peanut crust) and unlimited sangria. Still not convinced? Well, there will also be music. Jojo Kuo — a veteran jazz, Afro pop, and World drummer who has collaborated with Fela Kuti — will also be performing. (There’s a nice story about him and his collab with Fela on Lens, The New York Times‘ photography blog.)

Tickets are going for $25 advance/$30 at the door, but I have two tickets to give away to one lucky reader. To enter, write in the comments below your favorite Senegalese or West African dish. If you’ve never had either, simply write what you’d like to try. I’ll be picking one person at random. No heart-wrenching stories necessary. Giveaway will end on Monday (June 21, 2010) at noon. Good luck!

Update I (6/21/2010): The winner is “someguy.” Congratulations! Thanks everyone for participating!
Update II (6/21/2010): For those who missed out, Serious Eats: New York is giving away another pair of tickets. Good luck again!

Le Grand Dakar
285 Grand Avenue (b/n Clinton Place & Lafayette Ave; map)
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-398-8900

Bionic Bites turns 1 & Blogiversary Giveaway

bionicgrrrl — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:53:33 +0000

Time flies and all of a sudden your blog is a year old. (Technically, my blogiversary was last month, but that’s just a minor detail folks. Better late than never, I say.) I remember two years I ago I wanted to start a blog, but frankly, I was too lazy to do anything about it. Then after a year of hemming and hawing, I finally got my expanding ass off the couch and created Bionic Bites. Now, eighty-six posts later, I’m celebrating a year of past deliciousness. I savored jamón ibérico de bellota in Menorca, found dragon beard candy in Montreal, ate a ton of street meat in New York, and through it all, got sick only once. All publicly, for my enjoyment and yours. Thank you to all those who have been reading from the beginning, and for those that just recently stumbled on to my blog, shame on you! I’ll be expecting more from you in the coming year.

To celebrate my first blogiversary, Hannah (my wonderful sister-in-law and the designer behind byHannahDesign) created a hand stamped silver necklace for me to give away to one lucky reader. On the necklace are three pendants with the words this blog is based on: Explore, Experiment, and Eat. It’s a woman’s necklace, but I’m sure you male readers have a sister, daughter, mother, or female friend who would be happy to receive this as a present. If you don’t, you should probably cry in a dark room and then go out and make a new friend of the opposite sex. Tell the girl there’s a necklace in it for her. But seriously, I’ll try to make my next giveaway more unisex. I appreciate you male readers as well.

To win the necklace, simply leave a comment below about your most memorable edible discovery. One of my favorite finds was grilled chicken from a beach vendor at Anse des Sables in St. Lucia. The chicken was simply grilled over charcoal with a few local Caribbean spices, but it was insanely juicy and flavorful. With a view of the ocean and a bottle of Piton Shandy, which the guy who sold it to me said was “good for you,” the little meal was final respite after three torturous nights at a mosquito-ridden bed & breakfast. I had two pieces of chicken and two bottles of Shandy, lemon and sorrel. Delicious.

One winner will be randomly chosen next week. Contest ends 12 p.m. ET, Monday, August 24, 2009. Good luck and thank you again for reading! I promise more culinary adventures in the coming year. Hold on to your stomach, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

UPDATE: The giveaway contest is closed and the winner is Nicholas! Congratulations to Nicholas and thank you to everyone who participated!

No Name Grilled Chicken Vendor
Right after the gate of the secondary beach entrance,
south of the main entrace
Anse des Sables, St. Lucia

Feasting at Hop Kee & No Reservations Giveaway- NYC

bionicgrrrl — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:38:01 +0000

Yes, it’s another post about Chinese food, because as you may have noticed by now, I love Chinese food. My friend, Eunice, says sometimes I act like they are going to run out of food in Chinatown. They probably won’t, but why take the chance!!! Amazingly enough, I wasn’t crazy about Chinese food until I started dating my boyfriend. I mean I liked it, but not with this much fervor. Growing up, my brother would order Chinese take-out almost every day. In the summers, I would wake up to my brother holding two menus: Chinese in one hand, Italian in the other. As a result, Chinese food was nothing special, it was always around. Well that changed when I started living with David. My boyfriend, as I mentioned previously, does not like pork. In addition to that, he does not like Chinese food. Consequently, Chinese food is now another obsession of mine, and whenever an opportunity arises, I hit Chinatown with a vengeance. Two weeks ago I did just that, when my Chinese food-loving friends, Soo Hyun and Joo Hyun, came to visit me from Seoul. As usual, we did some damage at Hop Kee.

Hop Kee is one of my long-time Cantonese favorites in Chinatown. In college, it used to be one of my go-to spots after clubbing, since they’re open until 4am on the weekends. The place hasn’t changed much since then. They still have the old red booths and the waiters still wear the thin grayish white jackets that make them look like shady back-alley dentists. But most importantly, the food is the same, delicious, cheap, and plentiful.

One of my favorite dishes there is the Crabs Cantonese Style ($11.25). The crabs are cooked in an addictive brown meat sauce with egg that tastes so good you’ll be scooping it up and mixing it into your white rice. Or if you like crab roe, like I do, you can mix your rice into one of the top shells, which always has some roe inside. My only complaint about this dish is that sometimes the sauce can be a bit sandy from the crabs. It’s happened to me once out of a thousand times, so you shouldn’t be too worried about it, but I can see many people being very turned off by that one time. If you think you are possibly one of those people, remember, you’ve been warned.

My other favorite is the Pan Fried Flounder ($16.50) served in a soy sauce based sauce and garnished with ginger and scallions. I love this dish because the fresh flounder is fried super crisp yet the innards are soft and melt in your mouth. Strangely enough, David actually loves this dish, and luckily for me, craves it once in a while. So if you have a friend who is wary of Chinese food, order the Pan Fried Flounder and he/she may become a convert.

Spicy Beef Chow Fun ($5.95), although not very spicy for my standards, is another stand-by at Hop Kee. It’s your basic chow fun with tender beef and a few slices of hot green peppers thrown in for some heat. Nothing too exotic, it’s just classically good.

Two weeks ago, I tried something new, the Steak with Chinese Broccoli ($14.95). Soo Hyun and Joo Hyun liked it well enough, but I found it a bit odd. The thick soy sauce based sauce was fine, as was the Chinese broccoli, but the texture of the steak, akin to chewy rice cakes, was not to my liking. And although I ate a good amount of the steak, I wouldn’t order this again.

After a week of eating out all over New York City, Soo Hyun and Joo Hyun still consider our meal at Hop Kee one of the best. Hop Kee isn’t fancy or trendy, but you’re guaranteed you’ll have a deliciously filling meal each time, even David. Coincidentally, in today’s No Reservation episode titled “Disappearing New York,” Anthony Bourdain goes to Hop Kee, but strangely, eats egg rolls, pork fried rice, and sweet and sour pork. Um, yeah… All I have to say is, were they out of french fries and General Tso’s Chicken? I’ll give Tony some slack this time though, I mean he did eat wild boar anus in Namibia. However, if the next episode is about McDonald’s Value Meals or Subway, I may go postal. I mean, good god, the world already has one Guy Fieri.

In any case, besides the sweet and sour chicken blip, No Reservations is one of my favorite food-related shows, and the nice people at No Reservations are giving me one copy of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Collection 3 to give away. To enter, write the name of your favorite Chinese dish, along with the name of the restaurant and the location, in the comments below. U.S. entries only please, unless you want to pay for international shipping and handling. A winner will be chosen at random. However, any submissions about General Tso’s Chicken or Beef and Broccoli will be deemed weak, and you will be automatically disqualified. You have until 12 am ET Monday (March 2, 2009) to enter. Good luck!

UPDATE I – Just saw the full episode of “Disappearing New York” and Tony redeems himself by eating Pan Fried Flounder and Crabs Cantonese Style after his 70′s cliché Chinese meal. All is right with the world again.

UPDATE II – Official drawing was tonight and the winner is CaseyD! Your name was picked randomly from my straw beach hat. Congratulations Casey! And thanks to everyone who participated. I’ll be hitting up all the NYC spots.

Hop Kee
21 Mott St (@ Mosco St)
New York, NY 10013