Two Kinds Of Hand-Made Noodles In Catonsville; Or "Pair Your Clam Soup With Clam Pancakes"

Hang Ari's clam soup

I have raved before, and I will rave again:  Something terrific is going on at Hanoori Town in Catonsville.

The three restaurants have been revamped in the Hanoori Town section of the H Mart's shopping center.  Hang Ari's hand-cut noodles are the shiny new star.  Imported from Los Angeles.  Unique in the area as far as I know.

But they're not the only hand-made noodles in town.  Chan Mat -- the restaurant in the back -- appears to have chef Chang Yon Huh banging out the noodles for black bean noodles as well.  Those are jajangmyeun, a cornerstone of Korea's Chinese restaurants.  The chef works in an open space where you can see and hear him throughout the dining room.

Hang Ari's clam pancakes

Seriously, these are exceptional, reasonably priced, casual meals.  I treated my parents to lunch of Hang Ari's clam soup and a clam pancake.  One order of each served three of us.  The clam broth alone is worth driving to Catonsville. The bowl can filled with tender clams and again had perfectly-cooked squash and potato.  The noodles are slightly chewy and contrast beautifully with the briny flavor of the clams.

The clam pancake was just as perfect.  Imagine chopped claim with just enough batter to brown and crisp.  The minimal-filler construction of a great crab cake.  That means they don't stay together like a finger-food latke, but they're delicious cut with a fork and dipped in a sauce.

New parenthood definitely makes blogging tough.  We are still learning to be efficient enough to have any free moments.  So I'm writing short posts this weeks on the theme of two items that you could buy at a single stop.  At Hanoori town, you could pair clam soup with clam pancakes or order one dish from each restaurant and pair Chan Mat black bean noodles with Hang Ari's noodle soup.

These are videos below of both the hand cut and "Chinese" noodles being made.

Noodles And Fried Chicken: Pair Chapchae With Spicy Wings At Rte 40's Bon Chon Chicken

Chapchae at Bon Chon

Lil' Chow dances for noodles.  Thick noodles.  Thin noodles.  Fetticine with tomato sauce.  Udon with sesame oil.

That how we discovered the chapchae at Bon Chon Chicken, where we normally just ordered fried chicken and called it a day.

Bon Chon is the local outpost of a Korean chain that does amazing fried chicken -- crisp and crunchy  shell around moist and delicious meat.  We have left satisfied many times after nothing more than chicken and beer.

Fried chicken -- still amazing

But chapchae is a Korean noodle dish -- glassy sweet potato noodles stirfried with vegetables and sometimes meat.  I've recommended them as a vegetarian option at Shin Chon Garden, and I needed them for a boy who will sit patiently through dinner if you keep filling his plate with noodles.

Bon Chon's chapchae was exceptional.  Noodles with a terrific chewy texture.  The mild flavor of a sauce made with sesame oil and soy sauce and a generous mix of vegetables and thin-sliced beef.  Lil' Chow chowed and flirted with the waitresses.  I actually ate some chapchae because it was delicious enough to forgo even a few pieces of that great chicken.  Easily as good as Shin Chon Garden, our standard in Howard County where Lil' Chow had chapchae as recently as Sunday night.

Don't get me wrong.  You can go to Bon Chon just for the chicken and beer -- or the "Chi Mec" as it is known for the first syllable of the Korean work for beer.  But the chapchae makes a great pair if your group wants to try several flavors.  You could also order it vegetarian if your carnivore friends drag you to Bon Chon for dinner.

If you go to Bon Chon, definitely check out Shilla Bakery for dessert.  Bon Chon is in a shopping center that is parallel to Rte 40, but set back from the main road.  You actually enter from Plum Tree Road.  Shilla is in the shopping center that separates Bon Chon from Rte 40, and it has great coffees, pastries, cakes and other sweets.

New parenthood definitely makes blogging tough.  We are still learning to be efficient enough to have any free moments.  So I'm writing short posts this weeks on the theme of two items that you could buy at a single stop.

Pair It Up: Oil And Bread At The Breadery

Oils and vinegars at the Breadery

The basics are new again -- this time at The Breadery in Oella that has added artisan oils and vinegars to the hot breads that they pop out every day.

I have raved about the Breadery since they moved just outside Ellicott City and started to offer a mix of crusty and soft breads, rolls and other items.  Now, I rave again because they're offering flavored oils and vinegars that can make a meal in seconds.

Again, this is basic stuff.  A dash of olive oil or vinegar to dress a salad, improve a sauce, or marinate a meat.  But it's new to me, and I love the ease of adding sweet, spicy and other flavors with just the tip of a bottle.

Honey-ginger white balsamic vinegar

The Breadery's selection is similar to the Secolari store in the Columbia Mall.  Vinegars with berries, chilis, or other spices.  Oils from a range of locations, some goosed with citrus, fruit or spices.  Great fun for a cook.  Great gifts if you buy for one.

For this week's blog theme, I'll emphasize that a Breadery loaf pairs beautifully with these oils and vinegars.  Dipped in an oil.  Served with a salad dressed with vinaigrette.  My Secolari finds let me make an ancho-lime dressing in seconds.  At the Breadery, I took honey-ginger vinegar.

You won't stumble on the Breadery unless you have business up the hill in Oella.  But it's a really easy drive from Main Street in Ellicott City -- even a beautiful stroll up a parkland path if you want to mix eating and exercise.  Definitely worth the effort.  With the occasional BrickNFire appearance, you can go there to eat immediately (BrickNFire's pizza), eat later (the breads) and cook for yourself (the oils and vinegars).

New parenthood definitely makes blogging tough.  We are still learning to be efficient enough to have any free moments.  So I'm writing short posts this weeks on the theme of two items that you could buy at a single stop.

Pair It Up: Kalbi And Tofu Soup At Lighthouse

The table of food you get with a single combo order of kalbi and soup at Lighthouse Tofu

Our new toddler means that we need to be efficient, so this week's posts will be two items to try in a single meal.

First stop: Lighthouse Tofu, one of my favorite Korean restaurants in Ellicott City.  It's a casual place that specializes in a tofu soup called soondooboo.  Very friendly place.  A great spot to expand your Korean eating if you have only done barbecue before.

And my Lighthouse recommendation is a two-part order that lets you enjoy a little barbecue and expand into soondooboo.

Mushroom soondooboo

That's the combo order of kalbi and soup.  You can pick your soup -- mushroom or meat, spicy or mild.  I heard mild ordered as "white" because the basic soup looks white and the spicy pepper sauce turns it red.

Lighthouse's soup is a spectacular winter meal.  Piping hot broth with deep, earthy flavor on its own.  Spicy if you want it.  Thick like a stew with mushrooms or meat and vegetables, then the silky tofu throughout.  I didn't grow up with tofu, so I lack the vocabulary to really capture the pleasure.  It holds its shape, but goes down without the chewing that you'd need for meat or pressed tofu.  It's a delicious, filling bowl.

Then you get a small platter of kalbi as well.  That's beef rib meat, marinated and then cooked tender and full of flavor.  I often pass on kalbi because it can be pricey, but Lighthouse gave me exactly what I want -- rich and flavorful like I don't get from just vegetables, but even better because it was reasonably sized and paired with the soup and side dishes.

Lighthouse Tofu is a terrific restaurant -- casual, kid-friendly, and reasonably priced at $10-15 a person.  I'm highlighting the kalbi and soup here, but you won't do badly ordering anything.  In February, I wrote about Lighthouse as an alternative for Korean Food 101.  That post has step-by-step instructions about going to Lighthouse and ordering some basics.  In Step Two, you could order kalbi instead of the pork belly that I  mentioned there.

I highly recommend Rte 40 and its Korean restaurants for anyone who wants to try great food in Howard County.  I posted a Korean Food 101 that explained how to try barbecue at Shin Chon.  I'm currently infatuated by the noodle soups at Hang Ari, which is in Catonsville but still on Rte 40.  You could also scan down all the posts about Korean food.