Guess what's in your premium orange juice?

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Here's a report from ABC News on how premium-not-from-concentrate orange juice is made, using "flavor packs."


A video report on arsenic in apple and grape juice blends follows the video on orange juice.


How healthy is juice?


Another report, from Wellness and Equality, described as "a progressive health blog," discusses how a fungicide was found in shipments of Brazilian-sourced orange juice, which is used in some premium juice blends sold in the United States.


What's in your orange juice?


None of the reports discuss the taste difference between premium orange juice and those from concentrate.


To my son, Tropicana from concentrate tastes "funny," and when I tried to substitute it for Tropicana's premium juice, he took one sip and refused to finish it.


I bought both Tropicana juices at Costco Wholesale last May, and the one from concentrate was only .03 cents less per ounce than the so-called premium juice. I was able to get a refund for the concentrate.

Your first challenge is finding the place

Fort Lee, New Jersey (Photo credit: Dougtone)
You'll find a popular Korean restaurant only a couple of blocks down Fort Lee's Main Street (at Center Avenue, above). 

Editor's note: Today, I report on a visit to a popular tofu restaurant that has been operating under the radar since late 2010, and on our first meal from a vegetarian restaurant.

A popular restaurant specializing in Korean comfort food has been packing in customers for about 15 months in an out-of-the way location in Fort Lee.


BCD Tofu House opened in late 2010 in the Fort Lee Town Centre, a shopping plaza best known for its large Borders bookstore, which closed at the end of April 2011.


On Saturday, we visited the restaurant for the first time -- after I learned about it from my Korean barber, who lives in Fort Lee -- and were handed a pager. We waited about 30 minutes for a table.


The restaurant already was full shortly before 5:30 in the afternoon. The shopping plaza is elevated above Schlosser Street and businesses face an interior parking lot, so unless you know it's there, it is easy to miss.


BCD Tofu House probably is the only Korean restaurant in North Jersey with a playroom for children, including a TV and climbing wall. Next door, is a large Korean bakery and coffee house.


The menu lists 10 soft-tofu stews ($9.95 at lunch, $11.95 at dinner) -- including curry and dumpling -- with a choice of spiciness: Plain, Mild, Regular, Hot and Danger. Additional toppings are $2. Brown rice is available at no extra charge. 


But the restaurant also offers about 20 other traditional Korean dishes, including pancakes, cold-noodle soups, bibimbap and japchae.


We had four tofu stews, ranging from "Mild" for my mother-in-law to "Danger" for my 14-year-old son, who dares Korean restaurants to make his food as spicy as possible. His Sprite cost $2.95.


Although the signature tofu stews are a couple of bucks more expensive than at nearby competitors, you receive seven free side dishes -- including a small, whole fish -- compared to four at other places. 


We also ordered a seafood-vegetable-tofu pancake ($9.95 small, $17.95 large) from the list of appetizers. 


We got our side dishes or panchan after we ordered.  The restaurant serves a deliciously spicy cabbage kimchi, but we didn't care for another version made with raw oysters.


My seafood tofu stew, which I ordered "Hot," was the spiciest I have ever had, and I gagged on the first few spoonfuls. It contained a large mussel, small clams and shrimp in the shell, and I broke a fresh egg into the bubbling broth to poach and eat with my brown rice.


The waitress explained later that our table was so full with stone bowls of stew, side dishes, water glasses and hot-tea cups she brought our rice in small metal bowls instead of the larger traditional stone bowls.


We liked all of the food, even the thick pancake, which glistened with oil but didn't taste greasy, but we could have done without the long wait for a table, the crowds and the noise.


We would have had plenty of food even without the small pancake. With seven side dishes, fresh egg and rice, this soft-tofu meal is a belly buster. 


It looks like the next time we hunger for soft tofu, we'll return to our favorite, So Gong Dong in Palisades Park, a smaller place where we rarely have to wait to be seated.


The first BCD Tofu House was opened in Los Angeles in 1996 and named after a Korean city, Buk-Chang-Dong. Today, there are 17, including restaurants in Korea, Japan, Southern California, Washington State, Manhattan and Fort Lee.


BCD Tofu House, 1640 Schlosser St., Fort Lee; 201-944-2340.
Open 7 days from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. 
No reservations taken. 


Web site: The House That Tofu Built



Veggie Heaven


Don't judge Veggie Heaven in Teaneck from its plain exterior or all the unused space inside.


If you're looking for a totally meatless meal, this is one of the few places in North Jersey to find it.


"Meat," "seafood" and "poultry" are made from bean curd, taro root, wheat gluten, mushrooms, yams and other vegetables.


We tried the Chinese-style vegetarian restaurant for takeout on Friday night, and liked most of the dishes we tried. The woman who took my order and seemed to be running the place said she is from Malaysia.


Veggie Heaven does best with straightforward vegetable dishes and curries, but not so well with seafood and meat substitutes. 


We loved the Seafood Okra Soup with Ginger ($7.95), which provided four small bowls of thick broth and crunchy, green okra. However, eight assorted dim sum ($6.50) were leaden and tasteless.


We also liked Dried Sauteed String Beans, another crunchy vegetable ($6.25 small, $7.95 large). And the sauce in the Curry Vegetarian Chicken was perfect spooned over white or brown rice ($6.95 small, $9.95 large).


But we all agreed the Crispy Vege Jumbo Shrimp ($13.95), described on the menu as "stir-fried soy shrimp," were pretty awful.


I stopped eating meat about two years ago, but the rest of the family still enjoys beef, poultry and other meat, so it's not surprising this was the first time we tried Veggie Heaven.


Veggie Heaven, 473 Cedar Lane, Teaneck; 
201-836-0887. Closed Mondays.


Related articles

• Changes in the Asian food scene (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)
• Kimchi is the star of a Korean meal for 10 (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)
• Pizzeria is displacing Vietnamese restaurant (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)
• New tofu house seeks foothold (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)

Why you should avoid fast food

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A KFC restaurant in Merseyside, England.

A man who stopped at a KFC restaurant was attacked by other customers and lost part of his ear.


Here is the full story from the BBC: No chickens crossed the road

Fairway prices aren't the real shock

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Fairway Market's California roll is made with an artificial sweetener and a preservative.

I drove over to Fairway Market in Paramus today to pick up a few items during its "shock price" promotion, but the real surprise was the ingredients list for one of the sale items.


I picked up the 9-piece California roll for $3.99 -- which is made in the store --  and tried to read the long list of ingredients in very small type. 


I did a double take when I saw "aspartame," an artificial sweetener, and "potassium sorbate," a preservative. They also were listed on rolls with raw fish.


I mentioned the ingredients to a woman ahead of me in the checkout line when I saw she had picked up a salmon roll. She said couldn't read the list, because she didn't have her glasses with her.


Whole Foods Market in Paramus, ShopRite supermarkets and H Mart also make sushi and rolls in their stores, but I haven't tried any recently and haven't paid attention to the ingredients.


At Fairway, I bought three Fuji apples at 99 cents a pound, three 1-pound packages of Campari tomatoes at $1.66 each and Fairway Organic Fair Trade Coffee Beans (Turkish grind) at $7.99 a pound.


The "shock price" promotion runs through Feb. 9.

H Mart ends discount coupons

Super H Mart 008 (Photo credit: Michael Kappel)
Inside H Mart.

 Editor's note: Today's bill of fare includes the end of an H Mart discount-coupon promotion and how I got a pound of free organic salad mix at ShopRite.

H Mart, the Korean supermarket chain, has stopped issuing discount coupons to its Bergen County customers.


I started receiving a coupon booklet in the mail last June, a few months after I applied for an H Mart 1% cash rebate card. But I didn't get any coupons in December or in January, and stores said they also didn't have any.


Today, I spoke with a company marketing employee who said customers didn't use the coupons as much as the Lyndhurst-based Hanahreum Group had hoped.


A new coupon booklet will be issued this month, but only for customers of the Edison store, she said.


Five of the seven H Mart stores in the Garden State are in Bergen County: Fort Lee has two, and there are stores in Little Ferry, Englewood and Ridgefield.


Although the coupons were welcome, discounts with them were relatively small and that may have been a factor in customer indifference.


At the Little Ferry store on Wednesday, I found plenty of items on sale, and the Smart Savings Card still gives you $10 back for every $1,000 you spend. Of course, that's small comfort.

Nongshim Gourmet Spicy Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup was on sale, either in the Family Pack of five portions ($3.49) or in the box of 20 ($14.99). 


But the former was a better buy by about 5 cents on each 4.2-ounce package. The Family Pack usually sells for $4.99.


H Mart always has a terrific selection of fresh whole fish and greens, both Asian and Western, often on sale.


On Wednesday, I picked up fresh spinach for $1.39 a bunch, fresh Chinese broccoli for 58 cents a pound; and fresh yuchoy, similar to but leafier than Chinese broccoli, for 79 cents a pound.


I also bought three prepared items, including stewed tofu for $3.99 and non-spicy radish kimchi for $2.49.


Free organic salad


When Earthbound Farm's organic spring mix and baby spinach salad began showing up at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack late last year, I e-mailed the company to find out if it was a permanent replacement for 100% spring mix.


In response, Earthbound Farm said Half & Half, as the mixture is called, is being sold at Costco in addition to Organic Spring Mix, and sent me a $5 discount coupon.


Costco doesn't take manufacturer's coupons, so I used it this morning at ShopRite in Hackensack, where 1 pound of the Half & Half salad mix was on sale for $4.99 or $2 off.


The cashier in the express lane called over another employee, who took the coupon to show to a manager. Then, it was brought back and applied to my order, so I got the salad mix for free.


I also purchased three 59-ounce bottles of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice at two for $5 or for about the same price per ounce as the larger, 64-ounce cartons of Tropicana at Costco.


The bottles were marked "100% Pure Florida Orange Juice," in contrast to others I bought recently at ShopRite that contained juice from the U.S. and Brazil.


I used a credit card, but the cashier forgot to give me credit for my reusable bag, so I had to ask him for a nickle. H Mart gives 10 cents back for each reusable bag.  

A much better peanut butter at Costco Wholesale

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Creamy peanut butter 

(not from Costco Wholesale).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

At 14, my son awoke one day and decided he want to start eating peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

I didn't try them until I was an adult, and then ate one or two every day -- until I noticed I was gaining weight. I gave them up just as suddenly.

One of my brothers customized his sandwich with the crunch of skin-on seedless cucumbers slices -- which is how I serve them to my teenager.

A couple of months ago, I grabbed two economy size jars of Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter off the shelf at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack -- each one held 48 ounces or 3 pounds of the stuff.

We're almost out, so on Tuesday at Costco, I bought two jars of Kirkland Signature Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, which I saw for the first time on the shelf next to the Skippy brand.

The Costco store-brand peanut butter is made from Valencia Peanuts, grown in the American Southwest and known for their "natural sweetness and flavor," according to the label.

The only other ingredient is sea salt. The Kirkland peanut butter has less sodium than Skippy and no added sugar.

The Skippy label tells you nothing about the roasted peanuts it uses. Other ingredients are sugar; hydrogenated vegetable oils (cotton seed, soybean and rapeseed) "to prevent separation," and sugar.

When I make a sandwich for my son, I use Kirkland Signature 100% whole-grain bread -- toasted -- and two other items from the warehouse store, Sunset-brand seedless cucumbers and a sugar-less fruit spread.

I eat very little bread, so usually have a teaspoon of peanut butter followed by a teaspoon of fig preserves.

Two 40-ounce jars of Kirkland Signature peanut butter rang up at $9.99 -- slightly more expensive by the pound than Skippy.

Dried black figs

Another natural product I found on Tuesday is a 2-pound bag of Made In Nature-brand Organic Black Mission Figs -- sun dried and unsulphured --for $8.39.

The only ingredient is "organic dried Black Mission figs."

Walking up and down the aisles, I also saw the Della-brand Organic Brown Rice I have been enjoying so much in the several weeks since I brought home a bag.

This long-grain rice requires no soaking. I prepare it in an electric rice cooker, adding dried organic lentils and other sprouted beans, plus a little olive oil.

Quick meals

Last night, for a filling meatless meal, I heated up cans of black beans and diced organic tomatoes; cooked fresh Chinese broccoli in boiling water for a few minutes before removing it and drizzling it with sesame oil and a little soy sauce; and then ate everything with this wonderful rice.

This morning, I heated up some of the leftover rice and lentils with bottled Mexican salsa verde, and topped them with two olive-oil fried eggs, sunny side up, sprinkled with a little salt and ground Aleppo red pepper.

That made a great breakfast with radish and cabbage kimchis, and hot black tea.

Other recent Costco buys include Kirkland Signature 100% Pure Maple Syrup ($12.59 for 32 ounces), Kirkland Signature Canola Oil ($8.45 for 5 liters), and  Cabot Sliced Medium Cheddar ($7.99 for 2 pounds).