Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) November 11, 2014

Manna Korean BBQ, a popular Korean restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, has added vegetarian options to its extensive menu.

While the establishment is mostly known for its All You Can Eat buffet, which includes a variety of beef, pork and chicken items, Manna felt it was important to offer vegetarian selections as well.

We want our menu to cater to everyone. While our menu is full of excellent meat choices, we also have some delicious vegetarian alternatives, the Manna Korean BBQ owner said.

Manna has robust All You Can Eat menus, including the AYCE Gold option for $18.99 per person and the AYCE BBQ Black option for $26.99 per person.

The vegetarian items can be found at both Manna locations, including downtown on Alameda Street and in Korea Town on Wilshire Blvd.

Manna also offers free parking at its downtown location and features champagne showers on guests birthdays.

The restaurant has become a great spot for parties because it can host a large number of people.

Were happy to invite birthday parties or any type of party to our restaurant for a great time, the Manna owner said.

More information can be found about Manna Korean at http://mannakoreanbbq.com/.

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Manna Korean BBQ in Los Angeles Adds Vegetarian Options to Menu

Washington Post Food and Dining editor Joe Yonan gives you a few simple rules to make frying less messy and scary. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

One of those meals that has been seared into my memory is a tempura dinner in Tokyo. It was in a tiny place, with just one cook behind the bar and six of us seated at it. He swooped one vegetable or piece of seafood after another through a batter, into a wok and onto our plates, seemingly that quickly. We ate one piece at a time, dipping each into a simple sauce that added a little saltiness and freshness to each bite, and finishing the mushroom cap or the shrimp or the lotus root before the chef made us another piece.

The most impressive thing was how shatteringly crisp and light the crust was not heavy or greasy in the slightest. Second most impressive was how the flavor of each item came through so strongly. Contrary to expectation, the breading seemed to accentuate, not overpower, the food.

Its surprising, given how often I mention this experience, almost 10 years after I lived it, that Ive only recently started making my own tempura at home. Im a member of the frequent-fryer club, so its not that Im worried, as too many cooks are, about heating up oil. I suppose Ive been intimidated by the precision of Japanese cooking; I had a sense that there was much more to tempura than it seemed, and I never went there.

What I needed, really, was a good guide, and I got one in the delightful Japanese Soul Cooking, by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat (Ten Speed Press, 2014). The book beautifully demystifies so much of Japanese cooking, reminding readers that at their heart, ramen, gyoza, tonkatsu and, yes, tempura are pure comfort food.

The book isnt vegetarian far from it but the instructions for vegetable tempura alone are worth the cover price. The most surprising tip: to barely (and I mean barely) mix the tempura batter, leaving lots of lumps and unblended flour in it, and to mix it up immediately before coating and frying. The goal, the authors write, is to keep the gluten from forming; its the same theory as trying not to overwork, say, biscuits or pie crust. The batters uneven consistency adds to its laciness upon frying, and keeping it cold with ice cubes makes it more viscous and therefore more likely to adhere to the vegetables.

And theres more. The point is to read every bit of instruction and to pay close attention. If you do, youll be able to produce tempura worthy of memories, too.

See the article here:
Weeknight Vegetarian: For frying at its best, learn the art and craft of tempura

Kitchen 388 (388 Grand Ave.) is a popular brunch spot in Oaklands Adams Point neighborhood thats known for its fried chicken and waffles and for serving about a dozen pounds of bacon on any given Sunday. So it was with a certain sense of mischievousness that chef Kevin Schuder chose the cafe to be the site of his new vegetarian dinner series, which hes dubbed Veg 388 a vegetarian pop-up that takes over the normally meat-heavy restaurant five nights a week.

At Veg 388, the seasonal menu of inventive and inspired vegan and vegetarian cuisine might feature a salad of koji-marinated carrots or house-made pasta served with a lobster mushroom ragout. Every dish is served vegan by default, though customers can add a poached egg or grated cheese to certain dishes if they want. Most of the time, people wind up sticking with the vegan option, Schuder said.

Schuder isnt vegetarian himself; hell eat sustainable seafood and, on occasion, meat. But the chef explained that he cut his teeth working as a line cook at Millennium, San Franciscos most well-known high-end vegan restaurant. And when it came time to develop his own restaurant, he decided that he wanted to promote some kind of environmentally sustainable idea. And when he looked around at the other vegetarian and vegan food that was out there, Schuder felt that much of it wasnt very good or, at the very least, it wasnt being done in a way with which he could identify.

What we dont do is label food in parentheses, he explained, referring to the practice of many vegetarian restaurants to describe dishes in relation to meat-centric cuisine: chicken parmigiana or shiitake mushroom bacon. As Schuder put it, Chicken, in quotation marks, isnt chicken.

I guess I do want [the food] to shine on its own merits. People shouldnt shy away from good produce, he said.

What that means, from a practical standpoint, is that Veg 388 serves significantly fewer beans and soy products which are traditionally deployed to emulate the taste and texture of meat than your typical vegan restaurant. (Schuder does, on the other hand, incorporate about five or six different varieties of mushrooms on any given night.) Meanwhile, a foam that Schuder makes with fermented cashews is listed on the menu, simply, as cashew foam not sour cream, in quotes.

Schuders resume is dotted with such prominent San Francisco restaurants as AQ, Izakaya Yuzuki, and, most recently, Bouli Bar. But Schuder said he identifies most with two of the citys best-known permanent pop-ups, Mission Chinese Food and Pink Zebra restaurants known for their punk rock, modern edge.

According to Schuder, what he shares with the chefs of those establishments is a fine-dining background that hes decided to apply in a more casual, accessible setting to strip away the pomp and circumstance of it. Like the chefs at those pop-ups, Schuder uses a blend of traditional and modernist cooking techniques. He does a lot of smoking, drying, and fermenting. But hell also add xanthan gum to a pasta sauce to make it adhere better to the noodles, and he uses an iSi canister to aerate the aforementioned cashew foam.

Veg 388 is now open for dinner from Thursday to Monday, from 69 p.m. Schuder also just launched Kitchen 388s new happy hour program, which isnt strictly vegetarian, from 46 p.m. those same nights.

Read more here:
A New Oakland Pop-Up Serves Vegetarian Food with a Modern Edge

Aggressive marketing campaigns have many of us convinced that eating organic is healthier than conventional fare to the point where sales of organic food in USA increased by over 7-fold between 1997 and 2010. With organic food costing around twice as much as conventional food, we must ask is there truly a health benefit to eating organic?

First of all, lets talk about what is meant by organic. Organic certification requirements vary worldwide (a potential limitation in itself), but in general, organic foods are produced without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, without irradiation or chemical food additives, and without the routine use of growth hormones or antibiotics. Organic animals are fed organically produced food and are raised in an outdoor environment where they are free to move around. Also, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not used in organic food production.

1. The differences in terms of nutrients in organic compared to standard fare are minimal.

There is a slightly higher level of phosphorous in organic food, but this is not thought to make a difference in overall health, as phosphorous deficiency is only seen in states of near-total starvation. There are also higher levels of beneficial fatty acids in organic milk and chicken, and a couple of other small nutrient differences of questionable significance.

2. There was no difference in allergic symptoms or outcomes (eczema, wheezing, etc).

3. There was a 30% higher risk for pesticide contamination in conventional produce compared to organic, but the differences in risk for exceeding maximum allowed limits were small. Two studies showed lower urine pesticide levels in children who ate organically.

4. Overall, E coli contamination risk was no different in organic produce, but the results of individual studies was conflicting and the authors noted that more research needs to be done in this area.

5. In chicken and pork, the risk of exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria was higher in conventional meat compared to organic meat. However, its not clear if this is of importance to human health, because it is inappropriate use of antibiotics in humans (not in the meat we eat) that is the major cause of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.

6. There are no long term studies on the effect of eating organically on human health.

The authors conclude that eating organically does not seem to have a great health benefit But who really knows? Long term studies on human health would need to be done to know this answer for sure. I agree that there is not convincing evidence at this time to say that eating organically has big health benefits but this possibility has not been ruled out. The definition of organic is variable worldwide, and the first step to understanding the benefits of organic food would be to at least standardize how we define it.

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Is Eating Organic Really Better?

THIS MORNING, A WARNING ABOUT A FREE PIZZA OFFER THAT COULD GET YOU INTO TROUBLE. HEALTHCARE.GOV UNVEILS NEW PRICES FOR 2015. AMY DAVIS IS JOINING US WITH THAT AND MORE. TALK ABOUT YOUR MONEY AND HOW NOT TO THE IN TROUBLE. FIRST WE'RE STARTING OFF WITH PEOPLE WHO WANT TO ENROLL FOR HEALTH INSURANCE ON THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WEB SITE. WEB SITE ADMINISTRATORS SAY THEY'VE MADE A LOT OF CHANGES, INCLUDING ONE THAT LETS YOU SEE A PREVIEW OF 2015 PREMIUMS SO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY BEFORE YOU GET TO THE END. YOU'LL NOTICE LOWER PRICES BUT YOU MAY HAVE TO SWITCH PROVIDERS TO GET THOSE LOWER PRICE PLANS. THEY CAN ENROLL UNTIL SATURDAY BUT YOU CAN GO TO HEALTHCARE.GOV NOW TO WINDOW SHOP AND SEE THE PLANS THAT YOU QUALIFY FOR. NATION'S LARGEST GROCER WANTS TO MAKE ORGANIC FOOD AVAILABLE AND AFFORDABLE TO EVERYONE. WE'RE TALKING WAL-MART. BUSINESS WEEK IS REPORTING THAT THE RETAIL GIANT IS EXPANDING ITS ORGANIC FOOD SELECTION AND NOW IT'S PROMISING TO SELL IT AT THE SAME PRICE AS ITS NONORGANIC FOOD. NO DATES WERE OFFERED TO KNOW WHEN WE MIGHT SEE MORE ORGANIC PRODUCTS AT THOSE LOWER PRICES, BUT LOOK AT THIS, WE'RE ALREADY SEEING RESULTS OF THE GROWING DEMAND FOR ORGANIC MILK. MAYBE YOU'VE SEEN A SIGN LIKE I SAID AT YOUR GROCERY STORE. I KNOW I HAVE. IT SAYS WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING A SHORTAGE ON A VARIETY OF ORGANIC MILK PRODUCTS, SAYING IT'S CAUSED BY A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN DEMAND AND THAT THE SUPPLIERS ARE IN THE PROCESS OF INCREASING HERD SIZE AND PRODUCTION BUT THEY EXPECT THE ISSUE TO CONTINUE THROUGH DECEMBER 2014. DON'T BE FOOLED WITH THE LURE OF FREE PIZZA OR FREE ANYTHING, FOR THAT MATTER. A LOT OF CUSTOMERS WHO CLICKED ON THIS, WHAT APPEARS TO BE A FREE PIZZA COUPON THAT WAS eMAILED TO THEM SUPPOSEDLY FROM PIZZA HUT, THEY ENDED UP WITH A VIRUS ON THEIR COMPUTER INSTEAD, A PLOY FOR SCAMMERS TO GET ACCESS TO eMAIL ACCOUNTS AND BANKING INFORMATION. IF YOU DID CLICK ON IT, RUN AN ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM ON YOUR COMPUTER TO REMOVE THE INFECTION, AND I BET YOU'RE THINKING, WHAT HAPPENED? I DIDN'T GET THE DEAL. MAYBE MORE TO THAT THAN WHEN YOU KNOW ABOUT. THAT'S JUST WRONG.

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Walmart plans to expand organic food selection