Jasmine Garden in Virginia

Jasmine Garden (Chinese)
8106 Arlington Blvd.
Falls Church, VA 22042
703-208-9989
703-208-9986

Jasmine Garden is a Chinese Restaurant that also serves Sushi at the restaurant. They are more of an American Chinese Restaurant but they do have authentic Chinese dishes that are displayed on a whiteboard when you enter the restaurant. It is worth checking the menu that is on the whiteboard as it is not commonly available elsewhere. Below are some of the dishes that I ordered last time. The 'Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables' and 'Fish Fillet with Pickled Vegetables' are ordered from the whiteboard.

Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables

Seafood Delight

Fish Fillet with Pickled Vegetables

Crispy Salted Scallop

Cost:
Sushi $5 to 6
Sushi Rolls $5 to $12
Soup $2 to $7
Salad $3 to $6
Appertizers - $3 to $7
Lunch Main Entrees - $7 to $13
Dinner Main Entrees - $8 to $30

Suggestion:
The food at this restaurant is meant to be shared like any other asian cuisine. If you are with a group of people, share your food. 1 Main entree per person and there will be plenty to share. This is more of a Chinese Restaurant, so I will suggest that you stick to the Chinese food.

Tachibana in Virginia

Tachibana (Japanese)
6715 Lowell Avenue
McLean, VA 22101
703-847-1771
http://www.tachibana.us/

Tachibana is one of the few real Japanese Restaurant that actually have Japanese sushi chefs. At Tachibana, there is always something on the menu that will catch your eye. They have a wide food selection on their menu, from appertizers to sushi to cooked food. You will not be disappointed. Below are some of the dishes that I ordered during my last visit.

Grill Black Cod

Age Tofu

Soft Shell Crab and Vegetables Tempura

Nabeyaki Udon

Chirashi

Soy Ramen

KatsuDon

Spicy Scallop Roll

Left:Toro and Jalapeno Roll Right: Futo Maki

Cost:
Sushi $3 to 8
Sushi Rolls $5 to $10
Appertizers - $7 to $10
Lunch Main Entrees - $7 to $20 (Includes Soup and Salad)
Dinner Main Entrees - $15 to $30 (Set dinner includes Appertizer, Soup, Salad and Dessert)

Suggestion:
The food at this restaurant is meant to be shared like any other asian cuisine. If you are with a group of people, share your food. I suggest 1 appertizer per person plus the main entree. If ordering sushi as appertizers, I suggest 1 roll per person. The spicy scallop roll is a must try at this restaurant.

Penang in Maryland

Penang (Malaysian)
4933 Bethesda Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-657-2878
301-657-2875

Penang consists of a variety of culture. Their food consists of a collection from the Malay, Indian and Chinese culture in Malaysia. They have appetizers, soup, porridge (congee), rich dishes, noodle dishes, house specials and desserts. Below are some of the dishes that I ordered during my last visit.

Omelette with Baby Oyster

Penang Lobak

Sarang Burung

Kangkung Belacan

Sambal Petai

Penang Tofu

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Bubur Cha Cha

Cendol

Cost:
Appertizers - $7 to $10
Main Entrees - $10 to $25
Desserts - $3 to $7

Suggestion:
The food at this restaurant is meant to be shared like any other asian cuisine. If you are with a group of people, share your food. I suggest 1 appertizer per person plus the main entree. Save some room for desserts.

Minerva in Virginia

Minerva (Indian)
10364 Lee Hwy.
Fairfax,VA 22030
703-383-9200

Minerva is an Indian restaurant. They serve buffet for lunch everyday and a la carte for dinner. But they have a better selection for buffet on the weekends. They serve mostly southern indian style. On the weekends, they usually have a variety of bread, one type of biryani, two types of meat curry, four types of vegetables curry, indian chinese style cooking and a few types of dessert.

Cost:
Lunch -
Buffet $12
Dinner -
Appertizers - $4 to $10
Main Entrees - $12 to $25
Desserts - $3 to $5

Suggestion:
The food at this restaurant is meant to be shared like any other asian cuisine. If you are with a group of people for dinner, share your food. I suggest 1 appertizer per person plus the main entree.

A&J Restaurant in Virginia

A & J Restaurant (Chinese)
4316-B Markham St.
Annandale VA 22003
703-813-8181

A & J is not your typical Chinese restaurant. They serve Northern Chinese dim sum. This should not be mistaken for dim sum either, cause it is not like the Hong Kong dim sum. Below are some of the dishes that I usually order.

From Top Left Clockwise: "Beef Tendon with Garlic Sauce", "Vegetarian Delight with Gluten, Dry Bean Curd & Mushroom", "Bean Curd Rolls with Assorted Mushrooms", "Sliced Pork Ears with Hot & Spiced Seasoning", "Sliced Beef Tripe with Hot Red Sauce" and "Pickled Long Bean with Ground Beef"

Braised Pork on Rice

Chinese Style Fried Pork Chop on Rice

Wonton Soup Shanghai Style (Ground Pork & Vegetable Wonton)

Chinese Style Fried Pork Chop Noodle Soup

Cost:

Side Dishes between $2.50 to $5

Main Entree between $5 to $7

Suggestion:

The food at this restaurant is meant to be shared. If you are with a group of people, share your food. I suggest 1 or 2 side orders per person plus the main entree.

Popiah - Spring Roll (Chinese Malaysian Style)

This is one of the variations of Spring Roll that is often made by Chinese in Malaysia.

Ingredients:
2lbs Chicken (Boneless and Diced finely)
5lbs Jicama (sengkuang in malay)
1.5lbs Carrots
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Can of Chicken Stock

To use for wrapping:
1 Bunch of Romaine Lettuce
1 packet of Spring Roll wrapper

Toppings:
Chili sauce
Fried Shallot

Steps:
Making the filling.
1. Julliane the jicama and carrots. (Suggest using food slicer)
2. Diced the chicken finely.
3. Chop the garlic.
4. Heat oil in cooking pot and fry garlic till fragrant.
5. Add diced chicken and cook till it is almost done.
6. Add in the jicama and carrots.
7. Add in can of chicken stock.
8. Add in salt (or soy sauce) and pepper to your liking.
9. Cook till the vegetables are soft or till gravy is almost dry.

Making the Popiah.
1. Use spring roll wrapper.
2. Add 1 piece of Romaine Lettuce on spring roll wrapper.
3. Add cooked vegetables on lettuce.
4. Add toppings (chili sauce or fried shallot)
5. Roll by folding the sides and bottom. (It probably takes a few tries to get the perfect rolling technique.

Notes:
Instead of using Chicken, you can use minced pork. The amount of meat and vegetables is up to your liking.

Costs:
This recipe is good for 6 to 8 people and it cost less than $10 to make.

Chicken Soup with Rice Noodle

Feeling a little under the weather? Craving for some homemade chicken soup?

Ingredients to make Chicken Soup with Rice Noodles:
4lbs Chicken (boneless or bone-in)
1lb Carrots
2lbs Potatoes
2lbs Tomatoes
Bean Sprouts
Rice Noodles

Steps:
Chicken Soup
1. Boil a pot of water.
2. Clean carrots and cut it up to desired size (Preferable bite size). Add carrot into boiling water.
3. Clean potatoes and cut it up to desired size (Preferable bite size). Add potatoes into boiling water.
4. Clean chicken and cut it up to desired size (Preferable bite size if using boneless. If using bone-in, leave it as whole pieces. For example, legs or thighs). Add chicken into boiling water.
5. Cut tomatoes to desired size (Preferable halves or quarters). Add tomatoes into boiling water in the last 30mins.
6. Simmer the soup for at least 2hours. Add salt to taste.
7. In a separate pot, cook the rice noodles and bean sprouts.
8. Put rice noodles and bean sprouts in a bowl and add the chicken soup.

Cooking Rice Noodle Technique
1. Soak rice noodles with cold water for 10mins.
2. Boil a pot of water.
3. Add rice noodles into boiling water for 2mins. Stir the rice noodles to loosen it up.
4. Remove rice noodles from boiling water.
5. Soak rice noodles in cold ice water for 2mins.
6. Remove rice noodles from cold ice water.

Cooking Bean Sprouts (Not necessary. Can be eaten raw.)
1. Clean Bean Sprouts.
2. Boil a pot of water.
3. Add bean sprouts into boiling water for 2mis.
4. Remove bean sprouts from boiling water.

Notes:
The bean sprouts and rice noodles are not necessary to the dish. Any other desired vegetables can be added to this soup.

Cost:
This recipe is good for 10 to 12 people and it cost less than $10 to make.