Tag: #refreshing

TACOS & BOBA! BOBA & TACOS! TACOS & BOBA!

These are the best tacos in the SGV, San Gabriel Valley, well in my opinion. I come from an area of predominately Asians and Mexicans, so the food in my hometown is very diverse. You can see a Vietnamese sandwich place next to a taco shop, or a Taiwanese boba place across the street from a Japanese sushi place.

Due to this diversity and the intermingling of cultures I stumbled across this delicious street food. This taco truck is located in the parking lot of a 99 Ranch market at the intersection of San Gabriel and Valley. You can not miss it as it is known for it bright flashing lights at the top of the truck displaying the different kind of meats available at the truck in many different languages such as Spanish, English, and even Chinese!

This is a family owned business ran by the father, his sons, and nephews. The father would usually take the orders and is a very good talk. He remembers his regulars and sometimes even hooks it up. This quick and delicious taco stop is called, Arandinos Tacos El Patron!

This stop is perfect for late night craving as it is open till 12:30 am. The taco truck is usually very busy as it gets later in the night and it is very cool to see all kinds of people enjoy this amazing place. People from old to young, Asians to Mexican, students to mothers, comes to this place to enjoy this delicious street food.

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This is the exterior of the taco truck. The bright electric sign on top of the truck is very hard to miss and attracts a lot of attention as it is parked at busy intersection.

Here is the link to there yelp page!
https://www.yelp.com/biz/arandinos-tacos-el-patron-san-gabriel-2?osq=Taco+Truck

*WARNING!!! THEY DO NOT ACCEPT CARD!! CASH ONLY! So if you pay this truck a visit be sure to have cash! *

They have a variety of different options, from multis to quesadillas to tacos to tortas. With many different types of meats and parts as well. Some options they carry are beef, chicken, pork, beef tongue, beef head, intestines, and even sausage.

This very fast and delicious street food is also very inexpensive! Here are the prices and a small description of how it is served down below.

Tacos: $1.25 for each taco, double stacked in tortillas. And you can choose any type of meat you would like. You can also get everything on them (diced white onions, cilantro and a red spicy sauce) or just plain.

Quesadilla: $6.00 for one large one, it is then cut in three slices. You can also get whatever type of meat you would like an have it plain of with everything on it (diced white onions, cilantro and a red spicy sauce).

Mulitas: $2.00 for each mulita. This is similar to a mini quesadilla as it is two tortillas with cheese and meat on the inside, which is then fried on the grill.

Tortas: $6.00 for one sandwich. For those who don’t know a sorta is a Mexican sandwich. You can pick whatever type of meat you would like!

*You can also ask for grilled onions and green peppers on the side!*

Each order comes with a bag of lime and red radishes, perfectly delicious with any of the meals above. These are just the few items they have at this taco truck, there are many more I have not mentioned and can be found on their yelp website.

Another helpful tip if you come to this taco truck is, they have SO MUCH SAUCE! I don’t know about you, but I am a saucy person, I love saucy foods! I personally love the green sauce, also known as salsa verde, this is delicious no matter what you pair it with.

I usually get a CARNE ASADS QUESADILLA WITH EVERYTHING IN IT, GREEN SAUCE ON THE SIDE, AND EXTRA LIME. img_5377.jpg

In the same parking lot you can find another one of my very favorites, AU79, this is a boba shop, which is usually open very late to the morning hours of 1:00- 3:00 am depending on the day!

This is a perfect combination with the tacos at Arandinos Tacos El Patron, just across the parking lot. For me boba and tacos are always eaten together, if I get tacos I have to get boba too and vice versa.

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Here is the exterior of the tea house, they have patio seating for those who would like to have a smoke and a dine in lobby area for students who want to study.

This teahouse is known for there fresh brew tea, served both cold or hot depending on your liking. They have green teas, black teas, milk teas, fruit teas, any type of tea you can think of. The price ranges from $4-$5 per cup, very much affordable.

*WARNING!! With orders less than $10, there will be an extra 30 cents charge for the transaction fee, so if you want to avoid this fee, bring cash or simply order another drink, THEY ARE ALL VERY TASTEY!*

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Here is a menu of all the drink they have! 🙂

When I come here, I usually get a basic Jasmine green milk tea with MINI boba and less ice! Mini boba is the BEST thing ever! It is so much better than regular boba and doesn’t really require a lot of chewing!

Fun fact: I HATE CHEWING, IT IS SUCH A CHORE, but with mini boba it minimizes that chore for me! Best of both worlds, I can eat but not have to put in as much effort!

They not only have drinks at this teahouse, but also FOOD! I don’t usually get the food here, but I will provide a food menu for all those who are curious!

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The food menu! 🙂

The combination for Arandinos Tacos El Patron tacos and Au79 boba will always satisfy my cravings!

I really hope you guys give these two of my favorites a try and who knows soon later they might even be your own two favorites! 🙂

Hope you enjoyed this entry, Sandy signing off. ❤

Che Thai

This is a Vietnamese dessert that first originated from Thailand, its a spin off of the original Thai dessert, as Vietnamese people substituted fruits local to their region and area. So what is in this exotic dessert you may ask? It consists of various canned fruits mixed in with half and half milk for a milky taste.

You might be thinking canned fruits and milk, thats it, what’s so special about that?

Canned fruits and half and half milk does not seem to be the ideal image of a dessert, but most asian desserts are made with the bases of milk along with other types of add ons.

Growing up in the states and having my family being immigrants from Vietnam, they made sure we stayed true to our roots with the rituals we do, the language we speak, and most importantly with the food we eat. Che Thai was one of those easy to make desserts my mom would make when the kids were craving something sweet and refreshing.

There are many different spin offs of this dessert as it is so versatile, you can add the fruits you personally like or dislike. These few ingredients with earn you brownie points as you bring this dessert to a party or gathering. With that being said lets begin!

HOW TO MAKE CHE THAI!

Ingredients:

  • 1 container of Coconut jelly squares
  • Half and half, or can use substitute of
    • milk and coffee creamer
  • 1 can of green grass jelly
  • 1 can of lychee jelly
  • 1 can of jackfruit
  • 1 can of Palm seed slices
  • Brown sugar to taste

Serving size: 8

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Steps:

  1. First you would like to open all the cans of fruits and drain out the sugary syrup.
  2. Can add the coconut jelly, lychee chunks, and palm seed slices into a large container.
  3. The jackfruit comes as a whole fruit, so cute the jackfruit into thin stripes.
  4. The green grass jelly will also require to be cut into small cubes as it is a solid block of jello.
  5. Now you will need a large container to mix the fruits and milk together.
  6. Add all the canned and cut fruit into a large container.

7. Add half a gallon of half and half, or add 5 cups of milk and 3 cups of coffee creamer.

8. Stir up the concoction and add brown sugar to taste. For me personally I usually use  about 3-5 tablespoons of sugar for extra sweetness use more and for less, use less or none at all, the canned fruits already contain a bit of sweetness as it was preserved  in the syrupy liquid.

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9. ENJOY YUM YUM YUM!!img_4765.jpg