antenna shops

In Tokyo, they have antenna shops, which are outlets for products from different areas of Japan.

Like in Shinagawa, they have an antenna shop for products from Akita prefecture.

When we visited Akita, I couldn't find butter mochi without it having artificial sweeteners in it, so I went to check out the antenna shop.

The first butter mochi I came across at the antenna shop had artificial sweeteners in it and then I looked in the refrigerated area...and they had a version that was made without the artificial sweeteners by Asari Kashiten....whoo!

Oh em gee, the mochi was so so soft, they also had a version with miso and butter, will try that one next.

This is different from the butter mochi we have in Hawaii, it isn't oily...there isn't much butter flavor and it seems a little sweeter than the one we have in Hawaii.

Still, I'm glad I got to try it.

Besides the mochi, I also purchased some Akita Komachi, a type of rice from the area.

I look forward to checking out other antenna shops around Tokyo.

ps the Japanese use the word "antenna" to mean "something trendy", they have their "antenna" up to catch the latest trends...

akita-iwate

We woke up the next morning and the snow was slightly falling.

I didn't eat much breakfast (good thing it was buffet style) because I was actually still feeling a little full from the night before.

Of course, guess who ate like he hadn't eaten in days....sigh!

I was super impressed though that they had a guy hand pouring coffee!

After breakfast, we checked out and went to stand at the bus stop in front of the hotel.

Look at how much snow had accumulated over the last couple of weeks!

At least it was "sunny" and was forecast to be "warm" 4C (39F)...

We caught the bus from Nyuto Onsen to the Towadako Station where we rode the bullet train to Morioka in Iwate Prefecture.

The weird thing about this bullet train was that there were only 3 cars.

2 of which were reserved seats and 1 was the green car (which is super expensive seating).

Our tickets were non-reserved so we were supposed to stand (in the connecting areas between cars)...though if there was no one reserved for that leg of the trip, you could sit in the seat.

The guy that was checking all the tickets, knew which seats would be empty for each part of the trip, BUT didn't bother to tell anyone...so many of us were standing for most of the trip...grr.

The reason we stopped in Morioka was to try reimen (cold noodles).

Not the best choice during winter...I think reimen is similar to Korean Naengmyeon.

Since the wind had picked up and it was snowing a little, we wanted to find a place close to the station, so we checked out Pyonpyonsha. (love saying the name!)

Luckily they had half sized reimen.

Choose your spiciness (they have 4 levels)...I chose the most mild (1), while Satoshi chose "a little spicy"(2).

With my bowl, the kim chee came separately, so that I could adjust the heat with the amount that I put into the soup.

While Satoshi's bowl, the kim chee was put into the soup already...I can only imagine how spicy (and red) 3 and 4 were...

I loved the chewiness of the noodles.

The piece of meat was on the hard side though...boo!

This version was served with asian pear but I have also seen photos of versions with watermelon in it.

Definitely a summery food but I'm glad we tried it and would love to try other places the next time we visit.

From Morioka, we caught the local train to Hiraizumi.

Satoshi wanted to check out Chusonji, an area with many temples.

We had actually visited this area in 2001 (pre-blog), but we were on a tour at the time.

The most impressive thing to see here is Konjikido, a golden structure that also holds the remains of 4 generations from the Fujiwara family.

It was a very tranquil place.

Another tranquil place is Motsuji (about a 10 minute walk from Hiraizumi station).

A temple and a huge garden area gives one a feel of the elaborate garden parties and lifestyle of the Heian period.

I could just imagine how beautiful this place must be during the other seasons.

About 15 minutes away and off the beaten path is Shizuka-tei, the tiny inn we would be staying at.

They only have 10 rooms and luckily, they have a pick-up service.

Our room had a massage chair which Satoshi and I took turns using.

Dinner was again huge and everything was delicious especially the steak that was served, so melt in the mouth tender.

Another busy day, but I'm glad we got to see the areas that Satoshi wanted to check out.

Pyonpyonsha
Morioka Station
9-3 Morioka eki-mae-dori
Morioka, Iwate
Phone: 019.606.1067

Shizuka-tei
10-5 Hiraizumi Nagakura
Nishiiwaigun Hirazumi-cho, Iwate
Phone:0191.34.2211

osaka-akita

From Osaka, it is about an hour and fifteen minutes to Akita Prefecture.

The airport has bus service into Akita city, but since we were going to Kakunodate, we booked a taxi.

The type of taxi was a "share" type...50 minutes later we were in a village that has many samurai residences.

The Ishiguro residence is the only one with actual family descendants still living in it.

It was awesome to be able to see a couple of the rooms of their home.

We were also lucky as it is close to Hinamatsuri, so they had their doll display out. (these are the top rows,

　and these are the bottom ones.

Next door was the Aoyagi residence.

This property was huge!

6 different buildings to wander through with all sorts of samurai swords and armor.

Akita has a sweet called "butter mochi", I thought it might be similar to the type we have in Hawaii, but since it had artificial sweeteners in it, we didn't try any.

Instead, I purchased kurumimochi (walnut mochi), which the area is also known for.

This was slightly sweet though I wish it had more nuts in/on it.

How is this grandpa?! shoveling snow off his roof...so many deaths during this time of year from people falling off their rooftops...though if they don't take the snow off their roof will cave in from the heavy snow.

We also checked out Ando Shoyu where I purchased this mountain greens to cook with rice.

I'm gonna use it in the coming weeks.

I also stumbled upon their kasanemochi (the stacked decorative mochi for New Years) which they hang to dry then fry up as "kakimochi".

Apparently this had been drying since the year before!

Another taxi picked us up and 50 minutes later we were at Nyuto Onsen, an area with several hot spring facilities.

After lunch of Hinaidori (the brand chicken of Akita) oyakodon for me and Nabeyaki udon for Satoshi, we were off to the hot springs.

Satoshi went to 3 different ones while I just went to the one that was next door to where we were staying.

If you are following us on Instagram, you know dinner was huge.

There was all sorts of foods, nabe (hot pot) with hinaidori, sashimi (swordfish, sweet shrimp and cod cured in kelp), simmered rockfish, snow crab tempura, rice with ikura (salmon roe), just to name some of the dishes.

I loved the handwoven baskets that we could use to put our towel and clothes in when we went to bathe in the hot springs.

And most of the doors had different sayings in Akita dialect.

Ours was "garitto" (gah-ree-toe) which means "isshokenmei" (ee-show-ken-may) in standard Japanese and in English means to do something with all one's effort.

It was a long day, lots of snow and lots of eating.

Ishiguro Samurai Residence
1-banchi Kakunodate-machiomote-machishimocho
Senboku, Akita
Phone: 0187.55.1496

Aoyagi Samurai Residence
3 Kakunodate-machiomote-machishimocho
Senboku, Akita
Phone: 0187.54.3257

Kyukamura Nyuto Onsen
2-1 Komagatake, Lake Tazawa
Senboku, Akita
Phone: 0187.46.2244

anzu shiso fuumi

Recently Hankyu Department Store had a Tohoku fair.

We picked up some bento for dinner (Yonezawa beef for me and salmon for Satoshi), iburigakko and anzu shiso fuumi.

If you recall, the iburigakko is a smoked pickle from Akita.

The anzu shiso fuumi (literally means perilla flavored apricot) and is a sweet-sour pickle/jam of sorts.

The taste reminds me of prune mui, a preserve we have in Hawaii.

We first tried this in Aomori, and reconnected with it at the fair.

This version is made by Kariya Shokuhin from Akita.

The owner, Mr Kariya, was a very friendly and good salesman.

So far, we've eaten it as is with breakfast and also chopped it up and added it to yogurt.

These apricot are also grown by Mr Kariya and he makes these with honey and shiso (perilla).

I think the syrup might be good on ice cream or pancakes.

What are you enjoying these days?

iburi gakko cream cheese

Remember that dip we had at Donpachi in Sendai?

Well, I found the tsukemono, Iburi Gakko (smoked pickles in Akita dialect).

Smoked Daikon, a type of pickle from Akita Prefecture.

I used about a 2-inch sized piece and chopped it up.

Then mixed with some cream cheese.

No real recipe.

I also found those Levain crackers, the ones that are made in Japan.

NOTES: This is great on crackers, but I am thinking it might be nice put in with a tuna sandwich too.

I'm making this again.

thank you

Part of a foodie care package from my host-brother's wife, Kazumi.

She sent us these pretty rusks. Rusks are hard biscuits or twice baked bread...kinda like melba toast.

These are made by Cafe Ohzan, in Akita prefecture.

They use croissant dough and bake them until they are crisp, then cover them with different chocolates and decorate them.

I really liked the crispiness of these.

Thank you!