The label called it suman malagkit; the receipt, biko bibingka. The gist: Filipino sticky rice cake topped with caramelized coconut cream, from a turo-turo and grocery. My takeout plastic fork was overmatched.
Asian Foods
8335 Parsons Blvd. (84th Rd-Grand Central Pkwy.), Jamaica Hills, Queens
718-658-3841
www.Facebook.com/pages/Asian-Foods/205179066192198
(This venue is closed.) Tuna in coconut milk, part of a Filipino combo that also included rice, a side of bitter melon, and a can of soda that I plucked from the fridge.
Philippine Famous
8330 Parsons Blvd. (Hoover-Coolidge Aves.), Briarwood, Queens
718-526-3760
www.Facebook.com/Philippine-Famous-257574738183791
Once a year, members of this Burmese congregation dole out home cooking. The personal touch is everywhere in evidence: In the wrapping of the spring rolls, in the mixing of the elaborate salads, in the snipping of chili peppers to add a kick to just-griddled parathas. Many dishes are made to order, mixed by hand (gloved hand) immediately before serving for maximal stimulating freshness.
Case in point: rice tofu salad, a pale sibling to the more commonly sighted Shan tofu. The latter is made from chickpeas, split yellow peas, or a combination of the two, often with a little turmeric to amp up the color, and tends toward creaminess. The rice tofu, a fellow fair-goer observed, was firmer to the bite. The dressing — as for Shan tofu, it incorporated peanut, garlic, and chile — took acidic brightness from fresh tomato. And the overall flavor was sour as well as sweet; did the server's final ladle drip with tamarind?
Dishes that have been prepared in advance can be equally engaging. Davoy kanut, shown below, is a mix ("kanut") of vegetables served over rice noodles. Its namesake, and the chef's previous home, is "an attractive town halfway down Burma's tail-of-the-kite south coast," Naomi Duguid writes in Burma: Rivers of Flavor
At one time the fun fair was held in a canopied backyard. In recent years the event has been confined to indoor halls, which afford a little less space but dampen spirits not a whit. For photos of many more items from multiple fun fairs, indoors and out, see my album.
Myanmar Baptist Church Fun Fair
St. James Episcopal Church, 84-07 Broadway (St. James-Corona Aves.), Elmhurst, Queens
www.MBCNewYork.org
(The 2017 fun fair was held on September 9)
(This venue is closed.) On the label, is that a hint? A full-sized apricot strudel would be difficult to smuggle into the cinema; a plastic clamshell is more compact, and broken strudel bits (Fairy Tale Bakery brand, 12 oz., $4.99) are more convenient for noshing. Compared with that bag of movie popcorn, however, you might not fare any better with the calories.
Berezka is a "European delicatessen," according to its business card, of a sort common in the outer boroughs: Bukharian newspapers are stacked near the door, and most dealings are in Russian, though one can manage in English. The cat dozing in back didn't respond to entreaties in any language.
Berezka
138-03 Queens Blvd. (84th Dr.-86th Ave.), Briarwood, Queens
718-291-0055
Thank you!
