Soy Sauce Mocktails and 'Tunic'

Two things I won't stop thinking about (for different reasons)

Apr 02, 2022

Welcome to the Double Feature! Each week I write one thing about entertainment and one thing about food. They’re not related, unless for some reason you think they are, in which case it was definitely on purpose.

I drank: a “Change of Address” mocktail

This drink has no alcohol. But wait! It does have… *soy sauce*.

Lately I’ve cut back on my drinking. Because while making a cocktail that would cost me $14 at any bar in Los Angeles makes me feel like Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, I used my powers too often during the pandemic, to the point where I also experienced Prometheus’s punishment for stealing the flame: having his liver pecked out daily by an eagle.

My new rules are no more weeknights unless it’s a celebration of some kind, and only one or two drinks on weekends. And I feel better! But sometimes I wanna mix myself up something fancy on a weeknight, and the other day I found this booze-free drink recipe from Eric Nelson, a Portland-based bartender who has run or consulted for the bar programs at restaurants like Eem, Shipwreck, and Pok Pok. It also appears in Julia Bainbridge’s book of alcohol-less beverages, Good Drinks.

On its face, the Change of Address is a very interesting drink with a temptingly simple ingredients list. Coca-Cola, lemon juice, maple syrup and soy sauce? With mostly ingredients I already have in my fridge and the promise of a flavor combination I’d definitely never tasted before, I had to try it.

Folks, there is definitely soy sauce in this drink. The flavor profile (as I mixed it, maybe Eric has a lighter touch on the soy than I do) is easily 80% soy sauce despite there only being a teaspoon of it in there. I remade it, cutting the soy to a half teaspoon and it tasted better, but… still a soy sauce drink!

Let’s hear it for *Arrested Development* memes.

To be honest, I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t the banger that I hoped it would be. I finished the drink (though I did cheat and top it off with a bit more Coke, further diluting the soy sauce ratio), but I probably won’t make it again! I don’t know, try it if you have the stuff around the house. You only live once, have a soy sauce Coke.

I played: Tunic

This game rips.

The culmination of years of mostly solitary work from developer Andrew Shouldice, Tunic drops the player into a beautifully rendered and completely inscrutable world where they must explore and survive as a little fox. With inspiration nakedly coming from old school Zelda games (the fox’s costume and the name “Tunic” both come from Zelda lead character Link’s signature garb), the player must find pages of an in-game manual in order to progress through the world. But the manual, like almost all text in the game, is written in a strange runic language.

It’s confusing by design, creating an air of mystery for the player. And the mystery is deeply compelling rather than frustrating, thanks to Shouldice’s brilliant design decisions. Sections of the game’s sprawling map are cleverly blocked off, funneling the player toward solutions to their problems without ever feeling too hand-holdy. Rewards for solving puzzles feel significant even if their use isn’t clear at first, propelling the player further into the game’s mysterious world in search of more treasures. Combat is similarly challenging but not too punishing. Dying only costs a bit of coins (if that’s what they actually are, even that’s mysterious), which can be recovered by visiting the spot where you died.

The aesthetics also ease the pain of any particularly challenging moments. Everything in the game is incredibly charming, the main fox character and most enemies are very cute, and the soothing ethereal music makes the world feel even more distant and mysterious. Even though it’s unreadable, the manual provides a few helpful hints alongside some great illustrations and layout design. When stuck at a puzzle or a tough enemy, hitting the button for the manual pauses the game and gives the player something to leisurely flip through and soak in the imagery, and a chance to notice a hint or hidden detail that you didn’t see before.

Every element of the game keeps the player at a perfect distance. The runic text or challenging combat might push you away, but other elements will bring you right back in, eager to figure out the next move in the game’s opaque but welcoming world.

Tunic is available on Xbox, Mac, and PC.

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Sourdough Bread and "Second Hand News"

Bow bow bow bow bow bow bow bow (doo-doodly doo)

Reid O'Conor

Mar 25, 2022

I made: Sourdough Bread

The loaf of sourdough bread I made this week. It was good!

I know how to bake bread with store bought instant yeast. That’s how I learned to bake bread, and I still turn to yeast off the shelf most times I want to make a loaf. I know how it works, I know how long it takes to rise, I know when it’s proofed, and I know for the most part exactly how the loaf will turn out.

Using a sourdough starter feels like baking blindfolded. When you use a starter to bake bread, you’re relying on a fermented culture of “wild yeast” to make your bread rise. To make a starter, you leave an equal parts mixture of flour and water on the counter and give it regular feedings of more flour and water for long enough, then some alien life form takes up residence in the mixture, and you can use it to bake unbelievably delicious bread.

However, using a starter culture can be unpredictable if you don’t have experience. You’ve entered into a contract with your new jar of living goop, but you have no idea if it will hold up its end of the bargain. It forces you to be much more in tune with the dough as you’re making it. You must watch it for signs of change, feel it with your hands to see if it’s become airy enough, even smell it to see if the fermentation is still happening. It’s a total sensory experience.

I’ve flirted with sourdough bread baking a few times, to mixed success. The first time I did it, I relied too strictly on the written recipe that I used, going by the timings listed and not by the look and feel of the actual dough. Also, I didn’t know how to tame the beast that is sourdough. The starter needs more water in the dough to create more fermentation, which creates the network of tiny air pockets that make the dough rise. This extra water makes the dough stickier and much more difficult to handle. I couldn’t shape the dough properly, and I was left with a loaf of bread that looked more like a frisbee than something you could use to make sandwiches.

Each subsequent try has been a step in the right direction. I watched YouTube videos on proper shaping technique. I learned to respect the starter as my strange partner in the kitchen. I keep my wits and my senses about me, ready to watch for the telltale signs of dough readiness. But making sourdough still feels like walking a tight rope between two skyscrapers while also defusing a bomb. And I love it! It’s a thrill that keeps me ready for everything to go wrong at any moment.

It reminds me of how I used to feel baking with store-bought yeast, because I didn’t always know how it would behave. It took me a while to get to the point where I am now with it, and sourdough lets me challenge myself all over again. Maybe at some point I’ll master sourdough, but for now I’m going to enjoy the ride and the extremely low-grade adrenaline rush I get from opening the oven to see if everything actually paid off.

I listened to: “Second Hand News” by Fleetwood Mac

Music critics have been heaping accolades at the feet of Fleetwood Mac’s album Rumours since its release in 1977. Rolling Stone recently named it the seventh best album of all time. The songs “Go Your Own Way”, “Dreams”, “The Chain”, and “Don’t Stop” are all certified classics, it’s almost shocking that they all came from the same album.

Much has also been made about the mythology behind the album: the two couples within the band (Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham; Christine and John McVie) both went through dramatic splits, while drummer Mick Fleetwood went through a divorce with his wife. The recording sessions were all-night ragers, with much of the actual recording being done in the wee hours of the morning while the band was zonked out of their minds on every drug available in Sausalito, California.

But not enough has been written about what a banger the album’s first song “Second Hand News” is. “Second Hand News” absolutely rips while also being maybe the goofiest song ever written, a true testament to a band at the height of its powers.

“Second Hand News” rules. It kicks off the album perfectly, acting as the album’s thesis statement, setting the tone for everything to follow. It’s danceable, it’s about heartbreak, but most importantly it’s about a guy who just wants to be laid down in the tall grass and allowed to do his stuff. And it is by far the best song ever written about a guy who just wants to be laid down in the tall grass and allowed to do his stuff.

The song has no chorus. Or, on the other hand, it has the best chorus ever written. In lieu of lyrics, Lindsey Buckingham just goes hogwild and scats his goddamn head off, rhythmically yelling “bow” over and over again. Not satisfied with this masterpiece of songwriting, he then puts a cherry on top with a beautiful “doo-doodly doo.”

Lyrics by Lindsey Buckingham, screenshot from Genius.com. (Note: I take issue with some of the spellings in this screenshot.)

It’s fantastically stupid and the most fun thing in the world. It is impossible to listen to this song and not have the time of your life.

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'West Side Story' and Pineapple Butter

One thing I loved and one thing I wanted to love.

Reid O'Conor

Mar 18, 2022

I watched: West Side Story

Steven Spielberg’s new West Side Story remake is nearly immaculate. Each frame has been polished to perfection, then dirtied back up just a little bit, somehow achieving an even higher level of perfection. The choreography (by New York City Ballet choreographer Justin Peck) made me pump my fist several times throughout the movie and then afterwards google “dance classes los angeles.” The camera movements, color grading, costume choices: everything feels so correct. Try as I might, I could not stop hooting and hollering at almost every technical choice in the movie. They all work in perfect harmony, like the engine of finely-tuned car.

Yet something in the movie held me at arm’s length, refusing to let me get as engrossed as I wanted to be in Spielberg’s perfectly saturated version of New York.

It might have been the Ansel Elgort of it all, the only actor in the movie who didn’t turn in an amazing performance, and coincidentally, the only actor in the movie credibly accused of sexual assault. I tried to leave that baggage at the door and just enjoy his performance for what it was, but a) that’s impossible and b) his Tony just didn’t have chemistry with Rachel Zegler’s Maria, despite Rachel Zegler’s best efforts (and her efforts are truly wonderful).

It also might have been the run time, which at two hours and 36 minutes stands just past where my attention span starts to show the damage it has suffered in the pandemic. The musical numbers never failed to bring me back in if my attention wandered, they could all be categorized as show stoppers, but some of the longer non-musical scenes found me thinking about doing the few dishes that I had left in the sink.

This movie had so many things I love: enormous group dance numbers, Corey Stoll, playful and exciting uses of lighting, beautifully designed sets—but it just didn’t live up to what I wanted it to be. That’s not to say the movie is bad! I actually think it’s good! I’ll probably watch it again just to enjoy the parts that did resonate with me and to try and solve the puzzle of what didn’t. It just isn’t perfect. Which is frustrating, because it got pretty damn close.

I ate: Duck Al Pastor from Damian

damiandtla

A post shared by Damian (@damiandtla)

Everything at Damian, the latest restaurant from Mexico City-based chef Enrique Olvera, hammers home a central thesis of comfortable luxury. The low light of the cozy minimalist dining room works in perfect harmony with the vibey Latin jazz soundtrack to create the impression that this is a place to relax, not worry about how much you’re spending on food, and chill with your friends.

The food, the most important part of any restaurant, falls right in line with this. Each of head chef Jesus “Chuy” Cervantes’s menu items is a chefy interpretation of a classic Mexican dish, meant to be shared with the table. Diners order everything they want in one go, and the meal is then coursed out by the kitchen, so plates flow endlessly to the table. It makes for an absurdly decadent experience.

No dish on the menu nails the feeling that Damian’s going for better than the duck al pastor. They perfectly sear a spice-marinated duck breast, top it with herbs, onion, and chilis, plate it alongside a dollop of miraculous pineapple butter, and serve it with house-made corn tortillas. The meat tastes rich and flavorful, but the true star (as betrayed by this newsletter’s headline) is the pineapple butter. You build the tacos yourself at the table, and if you go, do not short yourself on pineapple butter. Heap as much as you can on each taco. Make it your goal to achieve the maximum duck to pineapple butter ratio without running out for the last taco. Don’t be a coward. After all, comfortable luxury is the point.

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'Survivor' and Birria Tacos

Two cheesy treats!

Reid O'Conor

Mar 10, 2022

I watched: Survivor

Survivor season 42 cast — The cast of *Survivor* season 42.

The 42nd season of Survivor started last night on CBS and I cannot recommend it highly enough. A few years ago, I was living with my best friends and one of them, Jon, was excited for the new Survivor season to start. I didn’t understand. “Survivor? The pre-9/11 relic about weirdos volunteering to live on an island and play games from elementary school field day for money?” Jon insisted that we all watch the new season as a house, and I obliged, figuring I’d at least have something to make fun of.

Turns out I was wrong! Which shouldn’t have surprised me, because I’m wrong all the time. Survivor is truly excellent television. It is the peak of the televisual medium. Prestige dramas like Succession or Yellowstone about cutthroat characters vying for fortune and power, doing anything they can to lie and cheat their way to the top? Survivor has been doing that for 22 years.

More of a sports fan than a scripted television fan? Survivor is actually, no joke, a deeply strategic game with shocking upsets, come from behind wins, and evenly matched slugfests. And I’m not talking about the challenges! That’s the thing I didn’t realize when I laughed off Jon, thinking it was people playing children’s games in a tropical setting. Watching groups of adults race along obstacle courses can be fun, but it’s arguably the least compelling part of the show. The challenges aren’t the game, the whole thing is the game. The lies, the deceit, players forging deep alliances with each other while simultaneously stabbing each other in the back: all of it is incredible.

But also it is all deeply silly! People earnestly say wacky shit like “I have a target on my back” every six minutes. Challenges can be slapstick masterclasses. Players are either not aware or way too aware that they’re on television, but good news: both levels of awareness make for great television.

Jon: I’m sorry I doubted you. Everyone else: this show rules, you gotta watch it.

I ate: Birria tacos from Birria x Godz

birriaxgodz

A post shared by Birria x Godz (@birriaxgodz)

Birria, a Mexican dish of braised meat often served in tacos alongside its braising liquid as a soup-like side, has blown up in the US over the past couple years. Lucky us, because birria tastes amazing. Done properly, the meat is tender and juicy, and paired with the consommé, it absolutely bursts with flavor.

Birria x Godz, a local LA birrieria run by Ashley Rodriguez, makes excellent brisket birria. Rodriguez runs the restaurant as a pop up with a slate of locations announced weekly on their Instagram, but they regularly appear on Saturdays at Verdugo Bar in Glassell Park. Birria x Godz use their brisket birria in quesabirria tacos and quesadillas, both of which simply rip. The tacos are constructed on the flat top, tortilla first, then cheese and brisket, making the tortillas super crispy by the time they’re ready to be served. The crisp tortilla contrasts wonderfully with the soft melted cheese and brisket, even staying crisp after dipping in the rich consommé. They also make a house salsa, a creamy red that makes the tacos truly sing.

Their quesadillas are monstrously big, made with large flour tortillas griddled much the same way as the tacos, but they stay softer with just a touch of crispness. Also there’s much more cheese, which makes sense—they’re quesadillas, after all. They taste great, but for me the tacos were the star.

Like any birria place, the consommé is the unsung hero of the operation. Birria x Godz’ consommé is rich and flavorful, warmly spiced, and a true savior on a sub-50 degree early spring Saturday night.

Good news: I live very close to Verdugo Bar and I’m gonna get these tacos all the time now.

Thanks for reading The Double Feature! Sorry the delay this week, I’m shifting these to release later in the week so they don’t conflict with Dinner With Pop.

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Shrimp and ‘Escape to the Country’

This newsletter is late because I was too busy eating shrimp.

Reid O'Conor

Mar 01, 2022

I ate: Shrimp at Lotus of Siam

lotusofsiam

A post shared by Lotus of Siam (@lotusofsiam)

Very few dishes have stuck in mind the way the garlic prawns from Las Vegas’s Lotus of Siam have. I’ll be doing laundry, walking my dog, or some other everyday task, and all of the sudden I’ll have a vivid flashback to eating this shrimp. I have no qualms with calling this dish the best shrimp in the world.

To be clear, everything I ate at Lotus of Siam tasted incredible. But this shrimp dish transported me to another dimension. These prawns unlocked neuron pathways in my brain that had never been traveled before. I’ve now tasted new colors that exist on a spectrum the human eye is unable to see.

Chef Saipin Chutima and her husband Bill bought Lotus of Siam in 1999, and have been running it together ever since. In 2011, Chef Chutima won a James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southwest, which she absolutely deserves, but it begs the question: why not a Nobel Prize? Does the UN have some kind of Key to the World that they could give her? Let’s get someone on this, she deserves it.

Lotus of Siam prepares its third-eye-opening shrimp by first peeling them, but crucially leaving the shell attached at the tail. They then deep fry the shrimp unbattered, leaving the meat tender, and the shells shatteringly crisp (per the Lotus of Siam website: “almost like potato chips”). The fried shrimp are then tossed with a light amount of a garlicky, savory-sweet sauce, topped with black pepper, and served to be eaten entirely, shells and all.

They’re so goddamn good. If you find yourself in Las Vegas anytime soon (as I, against my better judgement, have twice during the pandemic), please go eat these shrimp.

I watched: Escape to the Country

Escape to the Country is not so much a television show as it is a warm blanket. It leads the pack of what I call “bedtime shows” by miles: it is as soothing, unchallenging, and quiet as they come. Also, it’s from England, which means it’s sleepy as a matter of national law.

Each episode of Escape to the Country consists a city-dwelling home buyer seeking the titular “escape” going on tours of three homes in the country, guided by one of the show’s rotating hosts. Two out of the three houses meet the buyer’s listed needs and budget, but the host also takes them to a third “mystery” house, which usually has those same needs and price, but kookier somehow. The show’s closest American analogue is House Hunters, but Escape to the Country is both weirder and more natural than its American cousin.

For one thing, the people on House Hunters have often already bought the house that the show depicts them choosing. Producers stage the rest of the search process in order to shorten the production schedule. On Escape to the Country, rarely if ever does someone actually decide on buying one of the houses, it’s all about the tours. The show remains honest in that respect, but completely lacks any closure. Episodes often end with the host just shrugging to camera wondering what the buyer will do.

Escape to the Country also demonstrates the vast gulf between British and American sensibilities. Our common language makes it easy to forget that our friends across the pond have a vastly different culture from us, but watching Brits lose it over houses having “wood burners” will quickly remind you of that fact.

F2450 Non-Catalytic Wood Stoves | Wood Burning Stoves by Regency — This is a wood burner. Brits love these little guys. Whenever they show up on *Escape to the Country* everyone gleefully shouts “Oh, a wood burner!” as though it’s world-renowned actor Jeff Goldblum standing in the living room.

Frequently, the host will show the prospective buyers some kind of converted 1500s woodshed with 5-foot ceilings, no closets, and a price tag of a million pounds and the buyer will absolutely flip at the beauty of such a “character cottage.” In the US, selling someone a house like that would be a federal crime. It’s also great when a buyer on the show will be like “look at this view!” and the view is just a truly unremarkable empty field. The very thin cultural barrier makes watching the show feel delightfully strange. It’s home buying from another dimension.

Escape to the Country has another element of strangeness that’s a little more off-putting. The show’s premise, where city folk want to move to the countryside for some peace and quiet, looks a little bit like white flight from a certain angle. Taken with the fact that the show features mostly white buyers who in their intro segments will sometimes talk about their city undergoing “changes” recently, it can really take away from the show’s cute factor. Most episodes feel completely innocent, but it’s worth noting that some feel a little bit slimy. Also, Dabl, one of the places Escape to the Country airs in the US, airs frequent MyPillow ads. So that sucks.

Escape to the Country features strange people looking at strange houses in a strange land, all packaged with comforting (yet strange) hosts and little British (read: strange) geography/history lessons. If you’re looking to add some quiet surreality to your bedtime routine, you could do a lot worse.

Escape to the Country is available on IMDb TV for free, or on Dabl, a network you can watch for free with an antenna.

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