Kari Kari Chili Crisps, Fuji Ramen San Diego, and Homemade Filipino BBQ Plate

Kari Kari Chili Crisps Preview

My friend Nguyen is starting up a new business producing chili oil sauce and gave me a few prototype samples to try. This sauce is similar to the kind that you find in a lot of Chinese cuisines. The main difference and draw are the crispy bits of garlic and shallots. Hence the name, Chili Crisps.

Each jar has 4 oz of the Chili Crisps and features a design from a local artist. There are currently two designs available with more coming in the future. The changing label designs makes me think of the Jones soda bottles that also feature unique graphic images per batch. These can be very collectible!

The Chili Crisps pair very well with noodles, meat, and dumplings. Because they are not as spicy as the typical chili oil you find at restaurants, you can add a little bit more to your food.

The final product, bottle, and pricing are still being worked on. You can follow the official karikarichilicrisps Instragram page for future news.

Fuji Ramen San Diego

Fuji Ramen is a locally owned business that had originally only sold to restaurants. Due to economic changes caused by the pandemic they decided to open up and sell directly to consumers. Anyone in the San Diego area can order fresh ramen noodles at wholesale prices. Score!

The public introduction offerings were a bag of 18 servings or a whopping box of 72 servings. Lynn and I usually don't have that much refrigerator space available so we decided to start off small and order the bag of 18 noodles first.

18 Servings of Ramen Noodles

I told my family about the order and offerred to share some. Like vultures they immediately swooped down and nabbed about 6 servings right after I had picked up the order. This is why the photo above only shows 12 servings in the bag!

Each serving of ramen noodle is about 4.6 oz. I would consider this as a large size portion of noodles at a restaurant as it was very filling to eat.

Some good came out of sharing because my mom later dropped off some homemade pork bone broth that she had made along with some slices of Vietnamese Xa Xiu (Chinese BBQ Pork) and shrimp. Dinner is served!

The ramen noodles absorbed the flavor of the broth beautifully. The noodle's texture, consistency, and taste were also consistent with what you'd expect at a legitimate ramen noodle house.

Ordering and Pickup

These noodles are advertised to last up to 30 days in the refridgerator or 6 months in the freezer. I ended up giving away most of my servings to hungry and curious friends and family though. Had I known there was going to be that much interest I would have ordered a 2nd bag or even the box of 72 servings to share. 

Follow the Fuji Ramen SD Facebook page for recipes and information on their next order and pickup event. Local pickup is currently available in the Mira Mesa and Chula Vista neighborhoods and occur every two weeks.

Homemade Filipino BBQ Plate

Ashley, a local in our neighborhood, created a popup event for homemade Filipino food. This included a plate full of pancit noodles, BBQ skewers, lumpia, and a very sour kumquat!

The meal was delicious and the portions were just right. I started out starving at lunch time and ended with a happy food coma. I especially liked the variety of ingredients and flavors that went into the pancit noodles. You'd think I'd be tired of eating noodles by now but these hit the spot and complimented the savory and slightly fatty pieces of BBQ meat.

Depending on feedback from this trial run, she may consider doing something like this again or even go further. I would love to see this venture grow into a restaurant or catering business. I can easily see people ordering trays of this for parties and events.

Update: You can contact Ashley on facebook to order pork adobo with rice and a side of crab rangoons for pickup this Saturday, 8/22/2020! Limited to 50 plates.