Sticky & Slimy...

Mekabu Huwa-Toro Udon There is a franchise udon place called“Hanamaru udon” near the office I work at in the daytime. It is a self-service place which is very convenient for someone who wants to have quick lunch alone, like me. They have a good variety of non-expensive udon and sides, and in the typical fast-food setting, it is usually easy to find a vacant counter seat. Yes, that is a cafeteria-type self-service place where you take a tray first and pick the topping(s) and side(s) you want from the shelves, then order the kind of udon you like, which will be prepared within a minute or so, and finally move to the casher and pay. This sticky & slimy udon is one of their recent entries. They have several versions of this huwa-toro series, including: natto, mekabu and beef, for each of which you can have a choice of either cold or warm soup. The one in the above photo is the mekabu version. OK. Let’s see what the name of this udon, “mekabu huwa-toro udon” tells us. Mekabu is the slimy green stuff next to the egg (right) and it is sporophyll of wakame kelp (Undaria pinnatifida). It is supposed to be rich in fucoidan which is said to have several health benefits. Fuwa (fluffy?) probably came from the texture of the grated yam, the white stuff next to the egg (left). Yam is rich in mucin which is said to enhance the digestion and absorption of protein, and protect the stomach wall, thus lowering the risk of gastric ulcer. Toro (slimy?) applies to all of the mekabu, yam and okura. Here in Japan they say slimy foods are good for health, and the combination of fucoidan and mucin does sound healthy to me. The only problem with this dish was that after you finish udon noodles, most of the healthy ingredients were left in the bowl with the soup. But if I’m not mistaken, they started offering an optional free (?? I’m not 100% sure about this point) bowl of rice with this dish so that you can pour the slimy soup mixture over the rice to make a very healthy and tasty donburi. I might give the donburi a try next time. BTW, hanamaru is a rating given to something that is well-done in Japan. Oh, that reminds me… In Japan, in most school settings, teachers give circles to the correct answers and checkmarks to wrong ones on your written exams. (So you can imagine how shocked I was to see so many checkmarks on my first written exam in the U.S.) In my childhood, kindergarten and elementary school teachers gave hanamaru (flower circle) when they thought a kid did a very good job. I wonder if they still do that these days… Categories: Japanese

Strawberry Mousse

Strawberry Mousse Did I mention about “a layer of white wine jelly over strawberry mousse” in my previous post? OK. Here it is. I gave it a try this afternoon. Yep. I’m the stupid one who forgot about the fact that strawberry mousse does not turn out really red. With a layer of white wine jelly, the dessert would have turned out pretty colorless. So I had to change my mind about the top layer. How about a little Japanese touch... So, to make the top layer, I added some strawberry puree to the white-wine & gelatin mixture to give it a reddish color. It was definitely a better idea than a plain white-wine jelly layer, I think. BTW, I’m a little sick of this same old “strawberry slices and mint leaves” combination. Maybe you are, too? Unfortunately the chervil in my balcony garden is just sprouting now and not ready to be on this lovely dessert today. I could have done something with whipped cream, but I was a little too tired to be creative after getting a haircut this afternoon... I still have a lot left in my fridge. Wanna come over and try some? ;) Categories: Sweets

Buta no Kakuni

Buta no Kakuni (Day 1) Sorry I forgot to tell you this earlier… My bronchitis is completely cured now! My cough was almost gone on Sunday and I posted about it on my another blog, but I forgot to officially announce it here and thank all the readers who cared about me. So, dear readers, thank you for your kind concern. * HUG * Now, back to the buta no kakuni I made at the end of the Golden Week... BTW, I wonder what the best English translation of “buta no kakuni” would be. The dish was called “braised pork belly” on a couple of Japanese websites, but I’m not sure if that is the best translation. Tell me -- what’s the difference between braising and simmering? When you heat pork cubes like these over and over in the soup that is just enough to cover them even for a couple of days until the meat becomes really tender, is it braising or simmering? Anyway, here's a recipe that seems to be one of the common ways to make buta no kakuni. Though I did not follow this recipe exactly, I guess it would give you the general idea of how this dish is made, if you are interested. What I did differently was that I browned the pork cubes AFTER pre-boiling them with green onion and ginger because I read on a Japanese site that it would help removing the fat more effectively. Then I rinsed the meat thoroughly with water, and put it in the slow-cooker with all the liquid seasonings and 2 boiled eggs. About the amount of the liquid seasonings... I kept tasting the soup and adding a little of this and that, so it must have been quite different from the recipe. On the day one, the pork tasted OK but was not amazingly tender or anything. But in the evening of day 2, after repeated heating and cooling, it was sooooooo soft… I was able to cut the meat with only a gentle touch with chopsticks. MMmmmmm… Fatty, greasy … but oh so good … A guilty pleasure, indeed. ;P Categories: Japanese

Food Stalls at a Children's Day Event

Just wanted to share the photos of food stalls at a koinobori-related event in a town called Ino-cho. (May 4th, 2006) Crowded .... "Aisukurin" - with vanilla, matcha, strawberry, chocolate, soda and yuzu flavors This is something you find at almost any outside event in Kochi prefecture. The name aisukurin probably came from ice cream, but it's a little different. Aisukurin is more like a cross between an ice cream and sorbet, with a lot lower fat content than ice cream, tasting lighter and refreshing. My favorite is yuzu flavor. ;) Categories: Miscellaneous, Kochi

Actually You Don't Have to Be a Child to Eat Kashiwa Mochi on Children's Day

Kashiwamochi We celebrate “Children’s Day” on the 5th of May in Japan. Last year I did post something about koinobori, the carp-shaped streamers which are traditionally associated with the holiday, but I didn't mention much about the Children’s Day per se. So this year I joined a koinobori-related local event and ate traditional rice cakes called kashiwa mochi so that I can convince myself that I did something memorable in this year's Golden Week. My post about the local event is in progress now. This site has a good explanation of our customs related to the Children’s Day and the traditional sweets we eat on that day. (Scroll down to the bottom.) Notice the leaves wrapped around the rice cakes look a little different from the regular oak leaves? According to several websites, oak trees are not very popular in western half of Japan, so in some areas, people traditionally used -- and still use -- leaves of other plants such as sarutori ibara (Smilax China). Anyway, what makes kashiwa mochi a special dessert for me is the wonderful fragrance of the oak leaves. Some of my friends do not like it, saying it smells like medicine or something, but it doesn't bother me at all. I like it. It is my privilege to be able to enjoy the harmony of the fragrance of the leaf, silky texture of the rice cake, sweetness of the sweet bean paste filling AND a slight, refreshing bitterness of hot green tea. Mmmmm…. To indulge in this pleasure, I do not hesitate to claim that I am a child at heart. ;) * If you want to see how kashiwa mochi is made, click here. (Best viewed with Windows media player 9 series.) Categories: Sweets

Angel Food Cake

Angel Food Cake Well, the doctor told me to rest, but didn’t say that I had to stay in bed all the time. So, to make my restful afternoon more relaxing and enjoyable, I made this cake. Yes, I had to use up the egg whites from the custard cream for the tarts I made the other day. This is supposed to be an angel food cake, and now I can’t find the Japanese recipe I used, but I guess this recipe is pretty close (proportion-wise). The blueberry sauce is just store-bought blueberry jam thinned with a little water and liqueur. (But I didn't like it so much.) This light and fluffy cake is very dangerous in a way… I can’t stop eating. Now almost half of the cake is already gone before I even realized it… ;P Categories: Sweets

Garden Report - May 2006 -

Blueberry --- Sunshine Blue See the berries growing after the flowers are gone? I'm definitely going to harvest more berries than last year. Myoga ginger I thought this was dead, but NO! Look at this! This myoga didn’t bloom last year, but it might surprise me this year. Who knows?… Dill Looking good! I ought to make dill seed pickles this year. Thyme I don’t remember seeing my thyme blooming like this before… So happy about it. BTW, anyone wondering about my rhubarb plants? Now they are growing wild in my mom’s veg. garden, according to her. Maybe I can make a decent-sized rhubarb cake this year? Oh, I can't wait! ;) Categories: Garden

Sweet Seasons /April 2006 - Bracken Shoot -

I still cannot believe that I skipped a wagashi entry for April, and it took me more than one month to realize it. This post was actually uploaded on June 5th. Sorry! Young shoot of warabi (bracken fern) It was not easy to find wagashi with a theme related to “April” or “early spring” at this time of the year, and this was the best I could. These lovely green balls in the photo above are matcha warabimochi (bracken-starch dumplings flavored with green tea). I don’t know if warabimochi is officially considered as wagashi for spring, but at least, bracken ferns and especially their young shoots are associated with early spring, so there is a connection. ;) Categories: Wagashi

Bouillabaisse...? #2

OK, I have a confession to make. I’ve been sick for the past whole week. It was nothing serious -- just constant coughing and sore throat. But to me, constant coughing for one whole week with no sign of recovery is something totally unusual -- something never happened before. Unfortunately last week was my busy week; I had both daytime and night-time work back to back every day. No time to go to the hospital…(well, I wouldn’t have gone anyway even if I had time). All I did was feeding me with nutritious meals and trying all the common cold remedies I could think of, which did not make my symptoms any better. Finally, yesterday I gave up and bought the cheapest cough suppressant at the nearest drug store. Usually I’d rather stay away from the stuff with high codeine content, but no other choice this time… I got tired of coughing. Anyway, this morning I woke up still coughing a lot, and thought about what kind of special nutritious food I could feed myself with. Then I realized that I was feeling like nice, hearty seafood soup. So, here it is. Bouillabaisse...? This was my supper tonight. I don’t know if seafood is good for coughing (-- the only thing I remember is that my grandma boiled lobster shells and made me drink the soup when I had the mumps), but I felt like eating this today, so maybe there was a reason… or maybe not. Oh, well. For dessert, I made blueberry tarts to finish up the leftover frozen blueberries from the white wine jelly I made the other day. If I would be still coughing a lot tomorrow morning, I would go see a doctor. Categories: Western-inspired

Can You Guess...

... what this is? ;) OK. Time to tell you the truth. Yep, this is octopus. Boiled… or maybe I should say blanched octopus with ume (plum) dressing. This octopus dish was part of last month’s course meal at the kaiseki place I work at. Of course, for the kaiseki course they used much better, expensive octopus from Japanese waters. What I used, on the other hand, was cheap, pre-boiled and packed pieces I found at a nearby supermarket. But I just wanted to give this a try and at least my curiosity is satisfied now. BTW, have you noticed that obachan is gradually getting out of the cave and now tagging the posts? I modified the categories section on my sidebar a bit today. The reason why I have 2 categories sections is that I had absolultely no energy to tag all of my previous entries. ;P And I’m thinking about making another category for my next project, “my favorite appetizers and sake.” After the izakaya I used to work at closed last month, I st… no, I got a permission to take 1) a recipe book of popular izakaya appetizers and 2) an old food cutter with me. ;) Now that my busiest time is over, I may start my experiments as early as this “Golden Week.” I guess from my previous posts, some of my dear readers already know that I’ve been pretty much interested in our traditional drink, sake. I also have to admit that a recent manga has played a big role in intensifying my interest in this alcoholic beverage. The story of the manga is about an American young guy working at a Japanese sake brewery, and by reading it you can learn a lot about sake itself and various ways to enjoy it. I don't necessarily agree with everything that's expressed in this manga, but still I enjoy reading it a lot. Especially I was happy to see the name of my favorite sake, bijofu 美丈夫 included in one of the scenes (if I was not mistaken). :) Categories: Japanese

A Thank-you Gift?

White Wine and Tea Jelly Yep, I quickly recovered from the hangover and enjoyed this white wine. In addition to drinking it with my supper (grilled salmon and baguettes) on Tuesday, I tried out this recipe yesterday morning. ;) This was not bad at all, but next time I want to try something like… uh... well, how about a layer of this white wine jelly over strawberry or raspberry　mousse? P.S. Thank you GENKI people for giving me this wine. A present given to me last night. I’m looking forward to tasting this as soon as this hangover is gone… (Some drinks and karaoke last night. ;P) Categories: Drinks, Sweets

Black Sesame Seed Cookies

Black Sesame Seed Cookies It's been a while since I baked something last time... These sesame seed cookies turned out just so-so because I omitted the almond powder called for in the recipe. I guess it made a big difference in the texture. Well, next time I'll try making these using almond powder. Categories: Sweets

Garden Report - April 2006 -

Gosh! Is it already the 12th?!?! My blog hasn’t been updated for more than 10 days? Sorry, dear readers. I’ve been extremely busy, and when I have time later this week, I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to. These shots are from my balcony garden. See the blueberry flowers? Dog rose. I hope this blooms this year… Categories: Garden

Sweet Seasons/March 2006 - Cherry Blossom -

I know. I’ve been lazy about posting. There’s another post that is still in progress. And I almost forgot about this monthly project. But see? At least I took this photo. ;P This is a type of rice cake called habutae mochi, and the petals represent, of course, cherry blossom. I’ll write more about habutae mochi sometime soon. Sorry, I’m going to be extremely busy this week… For now, please enjoy this photo! Categories: Wagashi

Kaiseki Chronicles #2

March 30th (Thu) The official opening day of the kaiseki place. I wonder if this is the same in other countries, but anyway in Japan, when a new shop/restaurant opens, this kind of huge bouquets(?) are sent from the owners’ friends and business partners, etc. I’ll post more about the day 1 soon. :) -------- OK. It’s been 2 weeks already. And I don’t remember exactly what I did and how it was like on the day 1 any more ;P Sorry. Anyway, we -- all kitchen staff, the head chef, waitresses and the owner – were all a little nervous on the first day. The kitchen looked a little different from before with all those new (more expensive) cooking/eating utensils. The new kitchen staff (one young guy and one elder man) were obviously having a hard time; the kitchen is small with the sinks and dishwasher at rather strange locations, and there is not enough counter space… The head chef looked so busy cooking and at the same time having to give instructions to the waitresses which dishes have to go to which tables. Obviously, the waitresses were having the hardest time. I think most – or could be all – of them did not know the correct order of serving each dish of kaiseki course meal in the past. I heard them apologizing to the head chef many times for some things they didn’t do properly. On the other hand, to tell you the truth, I was the only one who was having an easier time than before. When working at the izakaya, I had to cook some easy dishes and/or prepare plates with some sides in addition to all the dishwashing work. Now, since kaiseki is such a sophisticated meal, I am of course not allowed to cook anything. I can just keep washing. And although we use more cups/bowls/plates for the traditional course meal, they’ll come back in a certain order, so it’s quite predictable, which really makes things easier for me. AND NO MORE SCRUBBING HEAVY AND DIRTY JINGISUKAN PLATES! 　So other than the inconvenience I felt from not having enough counter space, I was quite happy about the change in my work environment. Unfortunately there is not going to be a chance for me to learn how to cook kaiseki dishes. Almost everything seems to be prepared in the daytime before I come to work in the evening, so I will never see them actually cutting and seasoning foods. But maybe I can learn a lot about how they arrange foods on plates and in bowls --- that is something I can see a lot while I work there. So I’m very much looking forward to new discoveries. :) Categories: Kaiseki

Kaiseki Chronicles #1

Maybe some of you have noticed the small change in the “about me” section on my sidebar. Yes, I’m no longer an izakaya worker. After the izakaya was closed, they decided to start a kaiseki (traditional Japanese full-course meal) place there. As this is my very first time to experience what it is like when starting a new restaurant, I’d like to post about it as much as possible and share with the whole world. Last night, all the staff (the owner, new manager, new cooks, waitresses and dishwashers who are ex-izakaya employees) got together at our workplace. We talked about the work shift and tried new uniform on, then went to a yakiniku place together to mingle. :D For a couple of days, all staff members are coming to work to prepare for the opening day which is the 30th (I think). Tonight we are going to do some “practice,” having the owner’s friends only as clients. As some of you might know, I’m interested in kaiseki, and I have tried making “quasi-kaiseki” myself twice before. So I’m very glad to be able to see and learn about real kaiseki at work from now on. On the other hand, I would have to be real careful when doing dishes… Izakaya is a kind of down-to-earth place, but kaiseki is a real classy thing, and eating utensils used in kaiseki course are often terribly expensive. I'm a bit nervous about that. ----- The practice day (29th) went OK… I think. The preparation kept everyone so busy. I had to wash new dishes for a couple of hours in the morning, and went to my daytime work at another office in the afternoon, then came back to wash more dishes in the evening. But once we started serving kaiseki, we didn’t get too busy because we only had limited number of clients who are the owners’ friends. We finished everything at around 10:30 pm, IIRC. Categories: Kaiseki

Garden Report - March 2006 #2 -

My blueberry (Sunshine blue) is blooming, too :D Categories: Garden

It's My B-Day

Yep, it's my birthday today And looks like it's going to be one of my busiest days. I already baked my b-day cake yesterday, but haven't taken a photo yet. Hopefully, sometime today -- before my last work at the izakaya starts -- I can find time to buy myself flowers and take a photo of the cake with them. ------ OK, I took a couple of shots of my cake. This is my favorite cherry pound cake (but again, the top and sides didn't turn out brown...) Yes, I bought flowers :) Now I'm back from my last work at the izakaya. It's been a long day, but finally I can relax and enjoy the cake and some drinks. I know... it's already past midnight, but today I give myself a permission to indulge in something unhealthy -- unhealthy eating habits. It's my birthday :D Categories: Sweets

Izakaya Menu #4 - Beef Tongue Stew -

Beef Tongue Stew I’d never expected to post an entry like this, but here it is… This was one of our Izakaya menu: Beef tongue stew. It was served with these toppings and heavy cream like this (but not with the bread and wine -- these were my additions). Now that our izakaya is closing in 2 days, they stopped serving this dish last night and gave me all the leftover beef tongue stew (frozen). So I had this HEAVY late-night supper last night. ;P And I still have some in my freezer. They also gave me some leftover frozen lamb chops and I’m wondering what I can make with them. Suggestions? Anyway, I’m soooooo happy that I have this nice, new refrigerator with a bigger freezer at the bottom in my kitchen now. If my old fridge had to break, it certainly broke in a good timing. ;) Categories: Western-inspired

Just to Cheer Myself Up ...

No, I didn't make this, of course. I just needed something to cheer myself up, so I spent 300 yen on this today. Categories: Sweets