San Francisco is filled with Asian dessert shops, many of which are open late into the evening. A few Mondays ago, before the beau and I were ready to call it a night, the beau impetuously whisked me off to Creations Dessert House, one of the more popular Asian dessert shops in the City.
The beau and I love black sesame desserts--the nutty and husky sesame flavor is powerful and lingers on one's tongue after each lasting taste. (The provocative and full-bodied flavor of black sesame seeds is almost as potent as coffee.) Therefore, imagine our surprise when we saw black sesame ice cream on the menu!
We decided to share a serving of black sesame ice cream topped chunks of mango, slices of kiwi, cubes of canned lychee, and melon balls. Unfortunately, Creations' black sesame ice cream didn't live up to our lofty sesame seed expectations. The black sesame ice cream didn't taste like ice cream, for it wasn't creamy at all. Rather, the frozen concoction was chalky and gritty from the large sesame particles and ice crystals. Furthermore, though the fruit was fresh and unblemished, the mangoes were a little too sour when compared to the sugary sesame ice.
Nevertheless, I would probably go back to Creations again, to test out their other "creations." If you are thinking about burning the midnight oil and are looking for a place open late (but don't want 24-hr fast food), check out Asian dessert shops, which are located throughout the City!
The lotus root has an interestingly crisp and fibrous texture. When lotus root is cooked, it is not mushy or soft as it might appear. If you've never tried lotus root, the best textural analogy I can conjure up for you is that it feels like you are eating partially-cooked daikon, slices of raw jicama, or a coarse and flavorless Asian pear. Except, lotus root feels as if it has developed stringy fibers that are interwoven throughout the trunk of the root. Even when cooked, lotus root still has a raw celery-type crispness to it.
Afterwards, we strolled over to North Beach to my beau's favorite restaurant, 
As each eye-popping dish was laid upon the linen tablecloth blanketing our cramped table, we took turns pivoting and swiveling the plate around so everyone had an opportunity to appreciate the artistic beauty in each dish.
Both the crab cake and the tartare were paired with a diminutive pile of sweetened caviar beads, which playfully popped inside our mouths with each nibble.
Another ordered the Niman ranch pork chop with pomegranate currant sauce. Although I didn't have an opportunity to taste it, I admired the outstretched petals of cabbage and greens that blossomed outward from the chop, elaborately drawing attention to the protein component of the dish. Pomegranate kernels were strewn across the plate, like a strand of broken pearls, forlornly spilled upon the ground.
Unfortunately, I didn't sample either their entreés, but I shared 1) the grilled sea bass with a garlic ginger soy glaze, garlicky sesame egg noodles, and haricots verts and 2) the black cod in a sake miso reduction with lobster roll with another one of my girls.
Although the sea bass came with a small ramekin filled with soy sauce and grated tendrils of ginger, I found that the flavor of the sea bass had such a depth, that I hardly needed to pay attention to the sauce at all.
The sea bass and the black cod shared the same ambrosial attributes. Both of the luscious fillets were cooked on the rare side, and the exteriors were perfectly seared, sealing in the juices and the moisture into every flake within. The fish was so velvety and buttery, I honestly believed it melted in my mouth.
The crème brûlée was average with other upscale or mid-range restaurants, but the brittle candy crust was too substantial for me. The hard candy lodged into the crevices of my molars and my candy-coated teeth felt like I had prematurely gnawed on hard candy tootsie pop before I was close enough to the center. Furthermore, I couldn't detect the coconut in the dessert, and the passion fruit had not permeated throughout the custard as I imagined it would. Rather, it appeared and tasted as if passion fruit syrup was carelessly slopped on the top of the crème brûlée.
I only had a taste of pudding, but I don't remember being overly impressed or disappointed.
Overall, the meal was wonderful and I was more than satiated.
Also at the table was a chilled wide-noodle pasta dish, with thick ribbons of pappardelle cooked 
Another of my beau's relatives brought thinly-sliced rare "USDA Choice" tri-tip steak, which had been charbroiled on the surface and sinfully rare within. Smoky flavors penetrated through the meat, as if the meat had been prepared in an outdoor smoker. Again, this dish too was accompanied by the abundant and flowing juices of a lemon.
As dessert, we enjoyed a rich citrus cake with crystallized lemon frosting, and a tropical Caribbean (and also African) fruit salad with squares of syrupy papaya, pineapple, mango, of course dressed in a tart lemon dressing.
Also, I won't forget to mention the fabulous version of crispy-skinned lemon chicken (that was a definite improvement from the 
We heartily chowed down on each of the "lemon-icious" dishes, helping ourselves to multiple servings at each round. The lemon flavors were fresh, bright, and naturally invited the feeling of spring-time. It was a delightfully wonderful follow-up to our 
The rest of the dishes were just as varied and delicious as our "lemon" themed potluck. They included: Marinated shitake mushrooms with shredded scallions and ginger;
A wilted spinach salad with a ginger-infused dressing;
Chilled tofu garnished with shredded carrots, scallion strings, and a cold ginger dressing;
Grilled salmon with a sweet honeyed ginger reduction;
Baked ginger sea bass;
A peach, fresh fruit, and ginger cobbler with a crumbly buttered crust;
and a moist brown cake heavily flavored with ginger and darkened by a rich molasses;
The variety of different dishes and bright and beautiful fragrances and flavors from the common ingredients (lemon and ginger) united all the dishes 
In a large pot, heat the oil on high heat until shimmering. Add the chopped yellow onions, and fry until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic and fry until the onions and garlic begin to slightly caramelize.
Add the dry spices and the kabocha squash, and stir rapidly, to prevent the dry spices from burning and to fully mix the dry and wet ingredients.
Serve the soup with wilted spinach.
If you'd like to have meat with this soup, I would suggest adding roasted chicken or turkey breast. 
For the "working eaters," if you don't have enough time to roast poultry, you could also buy a roast chicken from the supermarket, and use a fork to separate the breast meat from the bone. Add the shredded breast meat to the soup, so the meal is still a one-pot (and a one-bowl) meal! Hey, to save on time, you need to save on dishes too! 
