shokuyoku no aki

During a krazy hot Summer, there are some that lose their appetites.

I have (unfortunately) never experienced this...ahem!

Now that Autumn is rolling around, the Japanese have a saying..."shokuyoku no aki" (literally appetite of autumn) because there are so many delicious things to look forward to during this time of year.

(chestnuts, different types of mushrooms, grapes, pears and different types of seafood...much much more).

I personally look forward to chestnuts, pears and figs.

What are the foods you look forward to in Autumn?

shigezushi

The day after the typhoon passed, it was a holiday...since we had been cooped up indoors, we went to the movies and saw a movie that Satoshi was interested in seeing called "Sekigahara"....blood, guts, samurai...

Dessert was at the Babbi kiosk inside Hankyu Department Store...marron glacé & chocolat gelato...bummer that the marron glacé flavor was overpowered by the chocolat...

Dinner was at a sushi shop that Satoshi has been to with some of his baseball alumni...Shigezushi

The owner is such a cute and talkative man...

Some of the items we had we ikura soaked in some shoyu and other seasonings...

Tai (seabream) sashimi.

And hamo (pike eel)...so fluffy! with the way it was poached. (click on the photo to see the steam rising off of the hamo)

There was also some delicious katsuo (bonito), tender tako (octopus) and some other items, but we were having such a nice time talking story with the owner that I ended up not taking many photos.

Definitely a different experience than the conveyor belt type of sushi places, but I am glad we ate here.

We'll be back.

Shigezushi
2-6-28 Hotarugaike Higashimachi
Toyonaka, Osaka
Phone: 06.6845.2220

update

Thank you for your good thoughts...the typhoon passed us without any damage, I think other areas were not so lucky.

We did have a ton of rain though, at one point it was coming down in sheets or buckets...

One of the things we ate while waiting things out was the other packet of curry gohan.

This time around I measured everything so that I can re-create it...

I will post the recipe when I do get a chance to re-create it.

Anyway, we enjoyed the white rice version over the brown rice one.

Have a nice week!

typhoon

Three day weekend but we have a typhoon approaching....so I spent this morning stocking up on essentials...

(beer & ice cream)...

Have a nice weekend!

kaemon curry gohan

I came across these curry gohan (rice) mixes at Tiny Garden Foods in Lucua 1100.

Left: genmai (brown rice) Right: hakumai (white rice)

Just throw everything into your rice cooker and cook.

Of course, I rinsed the rice before I cooked it.

I tried the genmai (brown rice) one and it came out kinda on the dry side.

I also added some veggies and rakkyo (pickled shallots) after cooking.

These are good to have on hand, but will also try to figure out how much rice and curry they use, so I can make this when I don't happen to have this.

Will also add an oozy egg to top the hakumai version...

copy cat fig salad

I love RF1 salads. You can buy them from the food halls in most department stores.

They are sold by weight, so sometimes we buy several different salads for dinner.

They also sell fried items as well as bentos too.

When I was passing by their counter the other day, I noticed they had a fig salad.

I was interested in trying it but it was a bit on the pricey side, so instead I copied it.

Prosciutto, fresh figs, greens, red onion and a raspberry vinaigrette.

I think their version also had a sprinkling of cheese but I left that out.

I don't know what their salad actually tastes like, but I enjoyed my version and will make this again.

For the raspberry vinaigrette (serves 2), put 1 tablespoon of raspberry vinegar and mix in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Also grind in some fresh black pepper...drizzle 1 tablespoon of dressing for 1 serving.

What are you enjoying this Autumn?

bambucha

Boy, have we been lucky receiving so many bambucha (huge) veggies this year...

If you missed out the previous posts, check out this, this, this, and or this post.

We received this bambucha matsutake from Mayumi-san yesterday.

If you know about matsutake it is one of the most expensive mushrooms. One this size must've cost a lot.

Mayumi-san said she received two from her DIL, so she was sharing one with me.

It was earthy and with a squeeze of sudachi (type of lime), dusting of the zest from the sudachi and a little sprinkle of salt...it was a nice way to welcome autumn.

Thank you!